Soojin wasn't blind, as much as she didn't wanted to say it out loud and feed the basketball player's ego, she was more than aware of how beautiful Shuhua is, with the pale skin and attractive eyes, fitting the korean beauty standard despite being foreign, and how she always got people's attention on her thanks to that; But that didn't make it any less annoying to walk around and having girls and boys pass by them with their eyes fixed on the taiwanese girl who didn't seem bothered at all as she looks around this new place they've walked in. 

"This place is huge, what do you even do here?" Shuhua asked as they walked into the bar area and ordered some drinks, Shuhua still looking around amazed by everything, meanwhile Soojin looked at Shuhua with a smile in her face; For a moment all the cheerleader could see was the cute 16 year old girl who had a strong accent and followed Minnie around instead of the cocky captain of the basketball team that had girls all over her. 

' what changed? ' She wondered for a second before the waiter came with their drinks, watermelon juice for the both of them, Shuhua enjoyed her drink as they walked around the place while Soojin looked at the younger. 

"Oh, unnie, where do we go now?" She asked and it took Soojin some time to register what Shuhua said as her mind was too focused on how she was called unnie again; It's the expected from someone younger but coming from Shuhua it felt different somehow. 

Different, but not bad. It felt oddly good , But she couldn't tell why and there's something in the back of her head saying that she should know.

Soojin took Shuhua by her hand as she guided her around the place,  They end playing billiards after Shuhua saw the pool table and asked to play, Soojin couldn't stop smiling at her excitement, she was like a kid and it was the first time she wasn't using all her energy to overwork herself so the older end up doing whatever she wanted.

"Oh! You're good!" Shuhua said as she watched Soojin play, her own hands awkwardly holding the cue stick as she watched the other girl move around, standing next to her. "I never played this-"

Soojin gasps, faking surprise. "You're telling me you're not good at everything ?" She mocked while the younger rolled her eyes and frowned, looking at the pool table again before she felt Soojin's hands on her hips. 

"What-"

"Just lean in, I'll help you dumbass" She replied, but the younger could feel a new type of warmth in her words as she smiles at Soojin before looking forward again and doing what she said; She was her friend now, Soojin of all people and of course, as they kept playing, it was no surprise when Soojin eventually won much to Shuhua's annoyance, always the sore loser; So the older was more than willing to make fun of the younger's pout. 

"You can't win every game-"

"Yeah, Yeah. Wait until I get better and I'll win against you" 

"You're so competitive" Soojin playfully slapped her shoulder and Shuhua ended up laughing before playing the serious role again, mumbling something about how she was great at games which had Soojin rolling her eyes. "Okay so what about we move on to something else?" That caught Shuhua's attention.

"Like what? Another game?" Soojin shook her head and held the younger's hand, taking Shuhua with her as she walked around.  

Soojin eventually took Shuhua with her to the bridge near the lake the club had, close to where some families were playing golf which had Shuhua making even more jokes about rich families and their boring sports;However as they stood together at the bridge, they fell silent taking in the view as the sun was starting to go down, and Soojin was a bit embarrassed as she notices all the couples around them, hugging each other and some were even kissing! Suddenly she felt like they both stood out in this sea of affection. 

She looked at the younger, she seemed anxious, her hands playing with her own fingers as she looked around, her eyes never stopping on something and Soojin was wondering if she was awkward about being around too many couples as well, but then again she always saw Shuhua hugging Yuqi and Minnie all the time, she didn't think the younger would have a problem with some PDA. 

Soojin gently taps her hand, and Shuhua quickly looks at her. 

"Are you okay?" 

"Me?"

Soojin chuckles. "Yeah, Who else?" She joked, trying to get rid of the sudden awkward tension as Shuhua scratched the back of her head. 

"Can we move to s-somewhere else?" Shuhua asked.

"What, What's wrong? You're not liking it?" Suddenly she felt her insecurity building up in her own chest, replaying the past moments in her head trying to find something that went wrong but they had fun so far so she doesn't understand the sudden mood swing, She was just trying her best to become friends with her.

"I'm really scared of water" She heard Shuhua say and suddenly all of her overthinking stopped as she stared the younger in surprise by those words, suddenly thinking back of all the pool parties she refused to go with them and how nervous she was on Soojin's backyard a few weeks ago, her back turned to the pool the whole time. 

"Oh, I'm… I didn't know-"

"It's okay" Shuhua reassured her. "Only Yuqi knows about it" She added, looking into her eyes and Soojin held her gaze, knowing she was doing it to calm herself and avoid looking around too much. 

"Why did you let me drag you here?"

"I didn't want to ruin the mood and," She laughs, and Soojin tilts her head to the side, was that a hint of shyness? "You looked really happy" she added with a smile and Soojin smiled back before looking down at her feet then back at Shuhua.

“That’s oddly nice coming from you, are you sick?” She asked and the younger frowned. 

“Ah, You- … We were having a moment and you ruined it!” Soojin laughs at her reaction but then offers Shuhua her hand; She has been doing that a lot in the past few days, but didn’t quite realize it yet.

Shuhua held her hand almost automatically then looked at the older.

“Come on, let’s get you somewhere comfortable”

.

.

.

“CAREFUL!” Soojin flinches at how high Miyeon’s voice is, she should definitely be a singer with those lungs. “Don’t drop it!”

“I’m sorry but Yuqi has no sense of direction!” Soojin complained, ignoring the younger glaring at her; Both were carrying a huge chocolate cake, since the one Miyeon was supposed to bake that morning for Minnie’s birthday passed away due to her being too focused texting everyone to remember she was supposed to focus on the oven; So besides having to pay for decorating Miyeon’s house, they also had to buy a cake as well. 

“Unnie, You keep going left when I’m going right!’

“Why are you going right?! The kitchen is on the left!”

“I thought the cake was going to be in the living room?” They both stood still staring at each other and then Miyeon groaned, she was starting to get frustrated; They only had 20 minutes left until Minnie was here, thankfully Shuhua was doing a good job at distracting her. 

“Take the cake to the kitchen, she can’t see it until it is time!!” Miyeon finally said. “I’m going to finish decorating with Soyeon in the living room. Again, do not drop this cake!”

“Of course, you don’t trust us?”

“No” She then left before the two could react. 

Soojin and Yuqi then took the cake to the kitchen, after Soojin almost had a heart attack once Yuqi suddenly had to sneeze while they tried to keep the cake steady; Thankfully they managed to place it on top of the kitchen counter and sigh in relief never expecting for this to be the most stressful moment of their life. So far at least. 

Soojin then heard her phone buzz and quickly picked it up. 

Shuhua:

Are you guys done? 

Minnie is really whiny and sulky

She really thinks my birthday gift for her is a handshake. 

Soojin tried not to laugh at the messages, not noticing Yuqi looking at her wondering what her big smile was about as she texted. 

Soojin:

Almost done, We had to replace the cake since Miyeon kind of turned the first cake attempted into a rock. 

Shuhua:

Who allowed her to cook?!

Soojin:

You're not that much better, silly!

She heard a cough and looked up, suddenly realizing Yuqi was still there, watching her with a curious look in her face as she vaguely pointed at her phone, the hint of a smirk on her lips. 

"Did you finally get Hui's number?" Soojin frowned at the odd question, not knowing why she thought the younger was bringing up the boy. 

"No, It's Shuhua-" 

"Shuhua?"

"Yeah, she was asking if we're done" She replied, and Yuqi felt even more confused; She sent Soojin a text? Not her or Miyeon? That was odd, as odd as the smile on Soojin's lips as she was texting. "I'll go ask Miyeon if I should tell them to come" It's all she said before leaving the kitchen, phone still in hands as she typed away. 

.

.

.

"Why are you pouting?" Shuhua asked, earning a glare from Minnie "Seriously, aren't you the unnie here?" She teases, now earning a whining noise. 

"You're so mean to me!" Minnie complained and Shuhua smiled, she was sure if they were sitting right now, the older would be kicking her legs like a petulant child. "I can't believe you forgot my birthday! all of you" She crossed her arms. "Even Miyeon"

"I'm sorry, school and the halloween party got in the way" Shuhua replied, trying her best to keep herself from telling the truth but the frown and pout combo was making it hard. "I'll give you a kiss if that's what you want?" She asked, making exaggerated kissy noises to tease Minnie; It seemed to work cause she laughed.

"Where are we going anyways?"

"To Miyeon's place"

"Why? I'm mad at her" The thai said. "She didn't even send me a birthday text!" She added and Shuhua sighs.

"Come on, I'm sure Miyeon didn't mean to hurt your feelings."Shuhua said as she pats her shoulder. "She's just-..." The younger tried to think of a proper word. "Clueless, sometimes" she paused for a second. "A lot of times… About so many things"

"I still wanted a 'happy birthday' text" Minnie replied. 

"Well, why don't we go to her place and you can tell her how you feel?"

.

.

.

It goes without saying that Minnie was definitely surprised when walking into Miyeon's house and finding everything decorated, with pink and white balloons everywhere and, as suggested by Yuqi, Minnie Mouse stickers here and there while her girlfriend stood in front of her with the yuyeon couple on which side of her, clapping as they sing Happy Birthday to her followed by Soojin coming from the kitchen with the chocolate cake that they all agreed lying about and saying Miyeon baked it herself.

Shuhua stood near the door with a smile as she watched Minnie hug Miyeon as she whines over and over about how she thought everyone forgot her birthday, making the others laugh as they apologize; Her eyes then fell on Soojin who was smiling at the couple as well before feeling Shuhua's gaze on her, making her turn to look at the younger who walked to her right away. 

"How was it?" The older one asked once Shuhua was close enough. "Distracting the big baby?" 

Shuhua chuckles. "She almost got the truth out of me for a second, other than that it was funny watching her whine"

"Who would think Minnie was such a baby?" Soojin laughs. "So much for her tough girl image" Shuhua laughs at that as she nods. 

A few minutes later they're in the living room, each one of them with their piece of cake. It was Shuhua's third piece as she was the chocolate lover of the group meanwhile Soojin wasn't eating much, as expected from her Chocolate hater self; Shuhua leaned over the older.

"You eating that?" The girl asked while still chewing the cake from her own plate, Soojin frowned and as she placed one finger on Shuhua's forehead, she pushed the taiwanesse away.

"Eyes off my cake"

"Come on, You're not even eating-" She stops mid sentence when Soojin used the napkin to clean the chocolate stain from the corner of her mouth with an annoyed frown in her face.

"God, are you a toddler? You make such a mess" She mumbled while Shuhua complained at her lack of gentleness to clean her mouth only to be lectured that she should be thankful to have a dedicated unnie. Both of them not noticing the curious gaze of a certain person. 

Once everyone ate their piece of cake, some -It was Shuhua- more than they should, it was time to move on to opening the gifts and of course Miyeon as the girlfriend was the first one, earning a glare from Shuhua.

"I hope you didn't pick the same gift as me again " The younger warned holding the box on her lap as she watches Miyeon pick up her own gift and give it to Minnie who quickly opened it, gasping at the pink couple mugs Miyeon got them. 

"That's so cute!"

"That's so lame" Shuhua whispered to Soojin who covered her mouth to keep herself from giggling. "That's something my parents would give to each other" She said, earning a playful slap on the arm. 

Next was Yuqi, with one of those christmas sweaters that Minnie oddly liked to collect, from the times Shuhua has been in the older's room she could make an army of people dressed in those; Somehow she never repeated any of them either; Then it was Soyeon's turn to nobody's surprise she had several volumes of One Piece's manga. 

"Oh my god the weeb is at again" Shuhua said, ignoring her glare.

"I loved it, I'll make sure to read it," Minnie said, hugging the gift. "Ignore Shuhua, I bet she's grumpy because her gift isn't as cool"

"How dare you question my dedication to give you a good gift?" Shuhua said. "I used all my allowance on your gift last year"

"That end up being the same as Miyeon's"

"That sounds like her problem" 

"Anyways-" Soojin finally interrupted before Miyeon could join the 'argument', leaning forward and giving Minnie her own gift, more like almost tossing the box at her.

"Woah didn't even bother to stand up," Shuhua said.

"Shut up" The older said, and to everyone's surprise, Shuhua did while smirking. 

Soojin's gift was actually a perfume, which was Miyeon's suggestion since she didn't know what to choose to give to the older; Of course Minnie was thankful as always before she turned to Shuhua and lifted her hands for the younger to give her gift.

Shuhua arched an eyebrow but eventually rolled her eyes as she stood up and giving it to Minnie, watching as she opened it and then gasping once she realizes what her gift that year was; Troye Sivan’s album, autographed and all, which was very difficult to find and as excited as Minnie looked she sure hoped she wouldn’t notice the-

“Wait-” 

‘ God, why do you hate me? ’ Shuhua thought, of course Minnie would notice. 

“Who’s Minna?” She asked, pointing to the name and Shuhua shrugs. “You bought someone else’s album?!”

“Just cover the name and pretend it was for you” Shuhua replied as she sat back down and crossed her arms, ignoring Minnie looking at her in shock. “Or you can try to write your name on top of hers?”

“She tried to do that with her Hyuna poster,” Yuqi said. “That’s why she end up ripping the name off”

Besides being disappointed by the fact that the autograph wasn’t dedicated for her, Minnie end up taking Shuhua’s suggestions and trying to write her own name over it much to Miyeon’s distress as she was lecturing Shuhua over lying, but had no right to when her own girlfriend was encouraging her like this; They’re too much alike for her to handle sometimes and eventually actually end up doing a good job at covering up the name with Minnie’s.

The group eventually moved to the backyard, Shuhua was now in charge of carrying what was left of the cake as the Mimin couple set up some chairs for them to sit down, by them it means Miyeon and Soyeon since Minnie was currently trying to teach Yuqi one or two things about basketball while the younger looks utterly confused by her explanation. 

Soojin laughs at that, as she places a cooler, filled with soda, near the table outside, her eyes looking back and seeing Shuhua a bit far away, staring at the ground with this strange look in her face, so the older decided to get closer, hugging her sideways which caused the younger to look at her startled by the sudden motion.

"Are you okay? Do you plan on growing roots there?" She asked playfully and Shuhua looked confused for a second before shaking her head.

"No, It's nothing-" She said as Soojin let her go and crossed her arms casually as she waited for Shuhua to answer properly. "I just had this weird feeling of déjà vu."

The blonde frowned. "That's weird, do you know why?"

"Well-"

"Hey! If you two don't speed up I'm eating the rest of the cake" Minnie said which caused Shuhua to gasp as she quickly grabbed Soojin by her wrist and dragged the older with her as she whines about how she was a guest and Minnie shouldn't eat it all to herself; As for Soojin, the younger's words were still ringing in the back of her head.

 Like they always did.