Chan Yeol pulled into the driveway of his house and got out of the car with Ri Ah. However, she was held back from taking a step further when he grabbed hold of her arm. "You said the birthday boy gets whatever he wants on his special day." Ri Ah nodded in acknowledgement of her previous words. "Then how about some ice cream?" he excitedly asked.

Ri Ah stared at him in disbelief. "You want ice cream now? When it's so cold out?"

"Haven't you heard of shiwon-hada? Cold stuff is best eaten when it's cold," he seriously argued.

Ri Ah giggled at his backward explanation but gave in to his wish, treating him to a German chocolate cake ice cream cone while she chose a fruity mango and banana popsicle for herself from the convenience store near their house. They walked back towards home from the store while enjoying their ice creams, Ri Ah shivering slightly at first as she hers, yet soon finding herself feeling warmer as a result of eating the cold treat.

"Ah, this is so good!" Chan Yeol exclaimed as he eagerly his cone. He glanced over at Ri Ah nibbling on her popsicle and mischievously smiled to himself. He sped up his pace and swiftly turned around right in front of her, making her stumble backwards at the abrupt action. "I get what I want today," he stated in a highly privileged manner.

Ri Ah blinked at him in surprise at how impudent he was coming off. "Yes, as long as it's doable," she reaffirmed with some hesitation. "Is there something else you want?"

Chan Yeol leaned down so he was at eye level with her and tilted his head slightly. He stared at her with a blank expression for a few seconds, like a curious puppy, a very adorable looking one, Ri Ah thought. He inched closer, making her eyes widen and her heart rate pick up. What exactly did he want from her? The corner of his lip curved upwards into a sly smile before he swiftly took a bite from her popsicle that she held in front of her, and then straightened back up. Ri Ah watched, mouth agape, as he chewed on the ice cream in serious deliberation.

"Mmmm, this one's pretty good," he concluded. "You got mango and banana, right?" She nodded her head since words seemed to fail from escaping her still gaping mouth. He flashed a big grin at her. "I should get that next time," he decided before facing forward and resuming his towards home with a spring in his step, delighted with how much power he had been granted on his special day.

Ri Ah forced close as she placed a hand on her wildly palpitating heart. Why did she let herself think that he was going to do something else? The idea was preposterous and it only made her unnecessarily nervous. She stared at her popsicle that he had bitten into and with some apprehension, continued to eat it while trying to catch up to Chan Yeol.

They had now neared the swing set and Chan Yeol, done with his cone, skipped towards an empty swing, took a seat and started kicking his legs. "The birthday boy wants you to join him!" he shouted from mid-air, still trying to reap the privileges bestowed upon him in order to spend more time with Ri Ah.

Ri Ah shook her head at how childishly demanding Chan Yeol was being, but it was hard to say no to him for anything when he was behaving in such an irresistibly adorable way. Throwing away her finished popsicle in a nearby trash can, she took a seat in the free swing and watched him continue to glide back and forth through the air. Her expression turned to one of concern as she tried to comprehend how he was able to withstand the chilly wind he was creating around himself. "Aren't you cold?"

He slowed to a stop and sniffled his runny nose. "Yeah, I guess I am," he answered. Apparently he hadn't even noticed his own nose and cheeks turning red from cold burn. He shifted his attention to Ri Ah with a "begging puppy" look. "Warm me up," he ordered with a pout.

Ri Ah was taken aback by his demand. "What?" she asked, as if she had heard wrong.

He took out his phone to show her the time. "It's still my birthday, and you said I get what I want today," he explained, as if the answer was obvious.

Ri Ah blinked at him in flabbergast for a few seconds before she gave in. "H-how?"

He leaned his swing closer to hers, making her recoil back slightly in response. He took hold of one of her hands holding on to the chain of her swing and pulled it towards his face, resting her warm palm on his cold cheek. "Like this," he answered with a gentle smile. Ri Ah swallowed hard at that particular smile that, ever since her own birthday, made her heart flutter every time it made an appearance. "Your other hand too!" he whined, wanting the same comfort from the cold for his other cheek.

Ri Ah was forced out of her daze by his sudden command and she hesitantly released her grip from the other chain and led the hand towards his neglected cheek. His smile turned into a happy grin as he placed his own palms atop her hands to press them closer to his cheeks. His hands were just as warm as hers and she wondered why he didn't just use his own instead of asking for hers.

Chan Yeol's grin was replaced by a look of sudden realization. "Ah, are you cold?" Before she could even answer, he removed his hands from hers and placed them on her cheeks, which evidently were as cold as his own. He smiled that heart-melting smile again at the thought of being a source of warmth to her.

But Ri Ah was feeling uncomfortably hot as her cheeks flamed quickly from his touch. She retracted her face from his hold, while withdrawing her own hands from his face. He stared back, somewhat hurt but mostly confused, at her sudden alienation towards him. She instantly felt a pang of regret at witnessing his pained expression and she quickly tried to think of a reasonable explanation for her actions that even she wasn't quite sure of herself why she had done.

Ri Ah cleared to buy her a few seconds of time when she remembered that she still had something to do before his birthday was over. "Your present," she blurted, "I still need to give it to you." It was because they were at the exact location where she had given him his birthday present the previous year that she even recalled it at all. Hopefully he would like her gift this time just as much as he had then.

Chan Yeol's eyes immediately lit up in alacrity, wiping away any sign of affliction from just a few seconds ago. "What is it?" he asked while eagerly stomping his feet on the ground.

"You don't have any guesses from the hint I gave you?"

Chan Yeol racked his brain for a few seconds as he tried to think of what the correlation between the drama and her present could be. His eyes enlarged and his mouth fell open as one possibility struck him. "I get to meet U-Know Yunho?!"

Ri Ah dumbfoundedly stared at his response. "U-U-Um, not exactly. Actually, no, not at all," she reluctantly answered. "It's not quite that exciting," she mumbled. She breathed a sigh of defeat as she felt her confidence in her gift waning. She didn't think he would ever come to such a conclusion from that hint, although thinking back, she did point out herself that his all-time favorite idol was starring in the drama.

With much apprehension, she pulled out a gift-wrapped rectangular object from her bag resting on the ground next to her swing and handed it over to him. He took the present with great anticipation and unwrapped it to reveal a movie marker. "A clapperboard?" he asked as he played with the slate.

Ri Ah nodded in affirmation. "It's signed by Kim Won Ho, the famous music video director...who's directing that new musical drama."

"Ahhh," Chan Yeol said with a snap of his fingers when he finally understood the connection between her present and the hint she had given. His grin widened as he noted the black signature inked on the bottom. "Then this thing is worth a lot!" he remarked as he now held the object with high esteem.

Ri Ah chuckled at his overexcitement. "He's actually a very inspiring person," she started to explain as she absent-mindedly stared at the space in front of her with a contemplative gaze. "He went to an acclaimed college like S University, and continued on to medical school afterwards to follow in his father's footsteps of becoming a doctor. However, he realized that it wasn't his passion, so he dropped out after a year and took a risk pursuing something that he's always enjoyed, making videos. His father was disappointed with his decision, and even cut him off, saying that he wasn't going to fund such a nonsensical hobby. Yet, even without his father's support, he still managed to make it big in the business."

She turned her attention back to Chan Yeol with an almost apologetic smile. "I know that you've been stressing about choosing a major, and I wish I could be of more help to you than I have been…But, I do hope that next semester, with all the different classes you're taking, Intro to Film being one of them, you'll find something that you could see yourself doing as a career. It might not be directing," she nodded towards the clapperboard in his hand, "but hopefully that will remind you that it's okay to not know what you want to do right now. So even if you end up picking a major only out of necessity, that doesn't mean you can't change your mind when something better comes along."

Chan Yeol stared at her gift in his hands with a new mindset, touched at how much thought she had put into his gift and at how much she was worried for his future. He was stumped for words on how to articulate his gratitude. "I don't know what to say," he softly said. He turned to her with the sincerest of smiles. "Thank you. This really means a lot to me. Actually, more than I can express." Ri Ah smiled back at him, elated to hear her present had turned out a success after all. He grazed his fingers along the black ink. "How did you get his signature, anyways?"

Ri Ah giggled at his question. "Well, turns out being friends with Baek Hyun Sunbae…" she paused as she caught herself calling him "Sunbae", "I mean Baek Hyun Oppa…wow, this might take some getting used to," she muttered to herself before returning to the initial topic, "anyways, being friends with him really has its perks. His sister was the one that got it for me."

Chan Yeol nodded in understanding, but something else was now bothering him that Ri Ah had just let slip out. "Are you really uncomfortable with calling me 'Oppa'? I mean, if you don't want to--"

"No," Ri Ah quickly refuted. "I don’t mind. I mean...I want to," she clarified. "It's just that I've always addressed Baek Hyun as 'Sunbae', so it's weird calling him 'Oppa' now. But, I think I like 'Oppa' better. I really do feel like I've gotten a lot closer to your friends since I first met them, and referring to them as 'Oppa' kind of affirms that," she said with a reassuring smile. "And strangely, calling you 'Oppa'…it actually comes out naturally." Chan Yeol's heart skipped a beat at hearing that. "Chan Yeol Oppa," she said, trying it out again as a smile played on her lips. "It doesn't feel weird at all."

Chan Yeol inhaled the cold, night air in extreme contentment. "I think this is the best birthday I've ever had," he said aloud. "Spending it with my friends, no cake face, getting my wish as soon as I make it, receiving special treatment from you, and now this priceless gift," he said as he held up the board. "I don't know if it can ever be topped." He looked over at Ri Ah with a big grin. "But then again, I thought last year's birthday was the best and here I am saying this year's was better." Ri Ah smiled back at him, happy to see him happy.

Chan Yeol was starting to wonder what the following birthday would hold for him given the streak he was having. Whatever it was, he had a feeling it would be amazing as long as he got to spend it with Ri Ah.

It was late by the time the two finally entered the house. Ri Ah had an early class the next morning, so she had to quickly shower and get ready for bed. But before she could enter her room, she was again stopped by Chan Yeol. "Since it's still technically my birthday, I have one more wish," he suddenly said, causing her to turn back around and give her attention to him. He went over to a side table in the living room and took out a marker from the drawer. "Will you sign it?" he asked while holding the clapperboard and marker out to her.

"Me?" she repeated in surprise.

Chan Yeol nodded. "You've actually been more help than you give yourself credit for, so I think your name should be on here too," he explained.

Ri Ah was flattered to hear that and humored his request. She took the board and marker from him, and was about to write a message in a small corner, but paused as she thought about how to start it. For some reason, writing "To my puppy" was unsettling, as if by inking the words in permanent marker, it would symbolize their unchanging relationship as friends, and nothing more. But she was happy to have Chan Yeol as a friend, right? She never expected, or wanted, anything more from him than that. So why was she hesitating? With a forced conviction, she continued her note and returned the board back to him when she was done.

"To my puppy," he read aloud with an amused laugh, "whatever you choose to do in life, I'll always be cheering you on. Fighting! - Your loving owner, Ri Ah." He looked up at her with a sincere smile, and impulsively pulled her in for an appreciative hug. "Thanks," he softly said as he held her.

Ri Ah froze in his grasp. It wasn't atypical for Chan Yeol to give her sudden hugs, and while she would always be caught by surprise when he did, she generally relaxed into it soon after, thinking nothing of the friendly gesture. But lately, she was finding their moments of skinship unusually disorienting. Her heart was racing, she felt her cheeks heat up, and her mind went blank as his scent, the aroma of the cologne he sprayed on his clothes, filled her nostrils.

Chan Yeol didn't notice her tension as he continued to hold her. "What am I going to do without you next semester?" He pulled back and looked at her with a pout. "Four months is a long time we won't be able to see each other." Ri Ah was still trying to regain her senses from his embrace and merely stared at him in consternation. He exhaled into a reassuring smile as he held up her gift. "But, I really mean it when I say this, thank you for this. You're always looking out for your puppy."

"I-I-It was no problem," Ri Ah finally managed to utter with an awkward laugh.

He glanced at the time on his phone. "Well, it's officially not my birthday anymore, so I can't ask you to do anything else." He heaved a reluctant sigh as it dawned on him that his birthday privileges had now expired. "And I guess you have to go to sleep soon for your class in the morning. Good night," he bade her with his heartwarming smile.

"Uh yeah, good night," she stammered back with a lazy wave before finally entering her room.

Ri Ah walked towards her bed and plopped down on the edge before reaching for Yeollie resting near her pillow and holding the stuffed animal dog in her lap. She glanced over at her desk, where her plane ticket for England was pinned up on a board, then turned back to stare at the stuffed animal with distress weighing on her shoulders. "Yeollie, something's wrong. My feet are starting to feel…cold."

Author's Note

Just a heads up, next update for this story may be a while for two reasons. The first: school. This semester is more difficult than the last (more core classes and less electives, ugh!), in addition to my extra curricular activities outside of school. The second: the end of Fall semester of Year 2 is approaching and I'm still deciding on how exactly I want to end it; I tend to get hung up on the small details >.< But hopefully you liked the Ri-Yeol moments in this chapter. I feel like some fluff between the two was long overdue in light of what's happened in the past few updates.

February 23, 2013, 9:51 AM