[9:30 am]
Riley arrives at the boys' rented home. She thanks her uber driver, tipping him before getting out of the car. She opens up the gate, closing it behind her as she walks up the hill and to the front door. She knocks a few times, ringing the doorbell. She takes a few steps back, waiting for someone to open the door. A few seconds later, she hears the door unlock and swing open. She is greeted by Beomgyu. She smiles over at him, seeing his tired eyes. "Hi Gyu," she says. Beomgyu gives her a half smile, "Oh, hey Riles. Are you here for Yeonjun?" Riley nods her head, humming in respond. "Yes and I'm here for you too. Can I come in please?"
Beomgyu nods his head, stepping over to the side. Riley walks in, stands on the door mat, taking off her shoes before walking onto the wooden floor. "Is everyone asleep?" she asks him. Beomgyu closes the door behind her, "I think Soobin is, but everyone else should be awake. Yeonjun is showering, he should be out soon." Riley thanks him, walking over to the living room and then sits down on the couch. Beomgyu doesn't know what to do, so he awkwardly stands around for a second and then walks back upstairs.
Riley making a popping noise with her lips, awkwardly waiting for someone to come by. She looks over to her right, looking down the empty hallway. She then sees a large figure coming towards her. Confused, she squints her eyes to see purple hair. She smiles as she stands up, seeing it's Soobin. "The giant bunny is awake!" she says, giggling at her own comment. Soobin rubs his eyes, confused as to who it is that's talking. He then smiles, walking over to Riley. "Riley! So glad you're here, happy birthday angel." He wraps his arms around her tiny frame. Riley, being overtaken by the tall boy, wraps her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. She groans as he hugs her back, getting squished by him. "Soobin.... Can't... Breathe," she says with a breathy voice. Soobin frowns, letting go of her before fixing her hair. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! I got too excited, are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Soo, it's okay! I'm fine, stop freaking out," Riley tells him, giggling as she reassures him. Soobin smiles before walking over to the kitchen to grab something to eat. "Have you eaten yet? Are you hungry?" he asks her. Riley looks back at the tall boy, who is grabbing a plate from the cabinet on top. "Already ate, thank you," she tells him with a smile. She turns around to face the stairs, looking up at the balcony that's above her. Waiting for Yeonjun to pop out.
"Ri-Ri!" Riley hears from the distance, making her turn in the direction the noise is coming from. A tall, curly haired boy pops out from the hallway. Riley smiles as she sees it's Huening walking towards her, carrying a big goldfish plushie in one hand and carrying a molang bunny plushie in the other. "Hyuka, hi!" she tells him. Huening hands the goldfish plushie over to Riley, smiling as big as he can down at her. "Happy birthday, noona. I got you this goldfish plushie, now we can both have plushies to sleep and cuddle with," he says he holds his bunny plushie tightly in his arms. Riley lets out a small giggle, smiling over at the youngest. "Thank you Kai, I am never letting this go." Riley hugs the tall boy, before stepping back as she hears footsteps coming down the stairs.
Huening looks over her shoulder, seeing Yeonjun walk down the stairs. "Yeonjun hyung is awake. If he yells, hide behind your plushie. I always do," he says to Riley before walking away from her. Riley turns around, seeing Yeonjun who looks extremely tired. She holds the plushie in her arms, bracing herself for what's about to happen. Yeonjun walks over to her, fixing his hair after drying it. He faces Riley, looking down at the plushie she's holding.
"Did Kai give you to protect yourself?" he asks her. Riley nods her head, hiding half of her face behind the toy, looking up at Yeonjun. Yeonjun lets out a sigh, scratching his head. "You said you needed to talk to me. But if you're gonna hide away from fear, I don't want to near you. If I scare you, then it's best if you stay away from me," he says with a monotone voice, walking over to the kitchen. Riley's heart races, feeling it pound harshly against her chest. She watches Yeonjun walk away, surprised by the emotionless tone in his voice.
She takes a deep breathe in and then lets it out, following Yeonjun over to their kitchen. She sits down on the stool near the island, placing the toy down on the countertop. Yeonjun pours himself cereal, looking over at Riley who is now facing him. "Can I at least get a happy birthday first before you walk away from me?" she asks him. Yeonjun places the cereal box down, "Happy birthday, Riley. Listen, I don't want to ruin your day more than I probably already did. So if we're going to talk, let's talk. But if I see you hiding behind your plushie, I'm going to end the conversation because I don't want you feeling scared around me."
Yeonjun walks over to the fridge, grabbing the milk carton out, pouring it into his bowl. "If you're going to give an attitude because I don't know how to process this, then I'm not gonna waste my time on this or you anymore. I thought you would understand that what happened last night was really hard on me. I've never seen that side of you, Yeonjun. I saw a side of you I was not prepared to see. And I got scared thinking what would've happened if something actually happened between me and another guy, would you have committed murder?" Riley says. Yeonjun grabs a spoon from the drawer, placing it in his bowl. Then he puts the milk carton away.
"It wasn't easy on me too, Riley. You are the first girl I've actually ever been in love with. So to hear Beomgyu talk about you the way he did, I got jealous. And I got heartbroken and angry. I felt so many emotions at once, I didn't know how to control it. Yes, what I did was my fault. I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have made you or him feel like you were unsafe from me. It's not an excuse, I'm not trying to. But I fucking love you, man. I don't want you leaving me because someone else wants you. I'm scared of losing you, I don't want you to go." Yeonjun's voice starts to crack. Riley gets up from the stool, looking over at Yeonjun with a worried look.
He looks away from Riley, clearing his throat. "Junnie, look at me," Riley says. Yeonjun blinks his eyes a few times, holding back his tears before looking back at Riley. "I love you more than I can ever describe or tell you. I didn't think I was gonna fall this deep, but I was wrong. Super wrong, actually. You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me. Meeting you and meeting all the boys feels like an actual blessing. It doesn't matter who the person is or how charming they are. If their name isn't Choi Yeonjun, I don't want him. I love Beomgyu, but he's not you. He's never going to be you. No one's ever going to be you. You promised me the world and I'm ready to give you the world. We're in this together, forever. You can't get rid of me that easily."
Riley walks around the island, over to Yeonjun seeing him smile and his ears turn red. "God, way to make me cringe over that, Riles," he tells covering his face with his hand. Riley moves her hand up, grabbing Yeonjun's hand and moving it away from his face. "Shut up and kiss me you idiot," she says. Yeonjun looks down at Riley, cupping her face as he leans down to kiss her several times on her lips. Riley giggles she kisses her boyfriend back. Afterwards, she wraps her arms around him, pressing her head against his chest. Yeonjun wraps his arms around her, kissing the top of her head.
"I love you princess, now. I have very special day planned for you. I cleared my whole schedule today to spend all day with you," Yeonjun tells her as he pulls away from Riley. Riley looks up at Yeonjun, playing with her necklace. "Let me talk to Beomgyu first and then you can tell me what you have in store for me, okay? I need to clear the air with him before anything," she tells him. Yeonjun nods his head, kissing Riley's forehead. "Go ahead babygirl, I'll be here when you're done," he tells her. Riley mouths 'Thank you', grabbing her plushie from the countertop.
She walks up the stairs, walking down the hallway slowly. "Beomgyu? Can we talk?" Riley says as she tries to find his room. Beomgyu pops his head out the final door at the end. Riley gets startled, walking over to him. "Huening Kai?" he asks while pointing to the plushie Riley is holding. She smiles, nodding her head, hugging her plushie close to her. "I need to talk to you," she tells him. Beomgyu nods his head, leading Riley to his room. Yeonjun, standing at the bottom of the stairs, yells at them. "No funny business! And leave the door open!" he says.
Riley tries to hold back her laughter, "Yes dad!" she yells back, walking into Beomgyu's room. She awkwardly stands across his bed. She moves his desk chair away from the table, sitting down as she spins herself around. Beomgyu sits down on the edge of his bed, watching Riley spin around with the chair. Riley stops as she faces him, "Sorry, I'm a child." Beomgyu smiles, chuckling once, "It's okay. What is it that you needed to talk to me about?" Riley places her goldfish plushie on her lap, playing with its small fins.
"About what happened yesterday and you confessing that you like me. Why didn't you just tell me? I know Yeonjun is intimidating as all heck. But even if you would've came to me and tell me you liked me, he wouldn't have done anything. Frankly, yesterday's actions is not the best example at that. But you know him better than me, you know he would've understood. I would've understood," Riley tells him. Beomgyu sighs heavily, looking down at his hands while speaking back. "Because I knew what I felt for you was wrong from the beginning. I knew the second I gained feelings for you, I was already hurting Yeonjun. He's my best friend, I felt guilty about it. And I was going to come clean to you eventually, but I just didn't know how," he emphasizes the last word.
Riley leans forward, placing her hand on top of his hands. Beomgyu moves his head up, looking over at Riley. "'Riley, I like you. And I know you're with Yeonjun, but I have major feelings for you. I'm sorry, but I just needed to let it out. It's been killing me on the inside for a while now. I thought I can control it, but I know you noticed my off actions lately. And I'm sure by now you know what's going on. I'm sorry,'" Riley tells him. Beomgyu nervously chuckles, "Took the words right out of my mouth." Riley removes her hand away, leaning back into the chair. "I love you Gyu, but you know I love Yeonjun more. I know that's probably not what you want to hear. But I'm always gonna be in your life, you're my best friend. I trust you more than anyone here in the group, besides Yeonjun. But you gotta respect that I am with him and I'm not planning on ending us anytime soon. I hope you can understand that," she tells him.
Beomgyu nods his head, moving the hair out of his eyes. "I do, I understand completely. Thank you for not blowing up on me like Jun did," he says. Riley laughs a bit, "Yeah, I'm sorry he did that to you. Next time he does anything like that to you. Tell me and I'll wack him." Beomgyu nods his head quickly, smiling widely. Riley stands up, placing the plushie on the chair. "Now hug me you goof," she says. Beomgyu stands up from the bed, wrapping his arms around her. They both hug each other tightly, pulling away after a few seconds.
"Great, now that we have that out of the way. Everything can go back to normal, yeah?" Riley says. Beomgyu nods his head again in agreement. Riley grabs her plushie from the chair, walking out of his room, only to be greeted by Yeonjun who is leaning against the wall close to his door. Riley jumps out of surprise, placing her hand on his chair. "Jesus, Yeonjun. Nosey much?" she asks. Yeonjun chuckles, "I needed to make sure nothing was happening in there." Riley's eyebrows furry, pouting as she holds her plushie close to her. "And what exactly was gonna happen in there Mr. Choi?"
Yeonjun rubs his hand on Riley's head, messing up her hair. "Junnie!!" she says with a whiny tone, making Yeonjun laugh. "Oh lighten up, brat. I'm just messing with you," he says. Riley crosses her arms, holding the plushie between her arms and chest, pouting her lips as she looks up at her boyfriend. Yeonjun holds back his smile, looking down at Riley. Riley stares at Yeonjun, making an angry look, while staying quiet.
"Now we're throwing temper tantrums? Okay, I guess the spoiled princess isn't getting her gift. I'll just call my hair dresser and cancel her appointment," Yeonjun says as he pulls out his phone. Beomgyu in the back, placing his hand on his mouth. Holding back his laughter as he sees Riley desperately jumping up at Yeonjun. "No, no, no! Don't do that! Junnie! No!" Riley says as Yeonjun holds his phone up, laughing loudly while see Riley trying her hardest to get his phone. "Are you going to behave?" he asks. Riley whines, stomping her foot on the floor. Yeonjun looks down at her, "Riley Page, stop being a brat. It may be your birthday, but I can easily just cancel everything I had for you."
Riley sits down on the floor, sitting criss cross. She places her plushie on her lap, fixing her hair while looking up at Yeonjun. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'll be good, I promise. Please don't cancel my hair appointment, I really wanna cut and dye my hair," she says with a frown. Yeonjun chuckles, shaking his head as he places his phone back in his pocket. "Only because it's your special day, I'll let it slide. But don't think I'ma let it go, once it hits midnight, you're gonna get punished for that," he says. Beomgyu's eyes widen as he walks back into his room, closing the door behind him. Riley nods her head as she grabs her plushie again, hiding her face behind it. "Yes, daddy," she says, giggling out of full blown embarrassment. What the fuck, Riley, she thinks to herself.
Yeonjun looks at her with a surprised look, mouth slightly open as he looks around to see if anyone else heard of it. Feeling his ego get fueled, he looks back down at Riley again. "Call me that again," he says. Riley shakes her head, feeling her face and ears get super hot as she stays hidden behind her plushie. Yeonjun bends down, scooping up Riley in his arms. Holding her bridal style, while Riley squeals as she feels herself getting picked up. She holds the plushie in her hand as she looks to her side and over at Yeonjun. "I was gonna wait until we get back to do this, but you left me no choice babygirl," he says.
"Did I make daddy upset?" she says, placing her hand on his cheek, giggling while seeing Yeonjun bite his lip. He nods his head and then walks them both his room, closing the door behind him.