[11] Candy Night

January 31, 2023, 5:30 am, Minhyuk's Settlement, Daegu, South Korea.

Zeke and Seojun were awake early for training. They were just waiting for Jihyo to wake up so they could start their warm-ups and continue their hand-to-hand combat training.

Zeke was practicing some punches when his phone made a "Ding!" sound. It had to be some sort of notification, since he knew there's no signal of any kind right now to recieve calls or messages.

He opens his phone and checks. It was a calendar notification.

"Reminder: TWICE Park Jihyo's Birthday is scheduled in 12 hours and 30 minutes from now."

"Right, I almost forgot it's Jihyo's birthday later! And it's training day so I can't take day offs to prepare..."

Zeke thought about it for a while.

"The training has been quite difficult lately... It would be rude if I asked Mr. Seojun for a day-off to prepare for this, right...? Sigh..."

Zeke approached Seojun, who was sitting at the edge of the training grounds, sipping coffee.

"Mr. Seojun..." Zeke's voice trailed off.

"Oh, Mr. Zeke. What do you need?" Seojun said.

"I want to take a day-off today." Zeke said.

"Why? Are you feeling unwell? Are you injured?" Seojun replied.

"Well, I... just want to prepare for Jihyo's birthday tomorrow. I want to surprise her. I don't know. I just want to do it."

"Oh, I see! I see." Seojun replied. "So it's her birthday tomorrow, hmm... Does it really have to be an all-day preparation, Mr. Zeke? We have vital techniques that we need to learn today."

"Uhm, well, not really... I...it's okay if you don't allow it, Mr. Seojun. I'll just make time for it later toni--"

"Just make it good, okay?" Seojun said, cutting Zeke off.

"Eh..?" Zeke gave a confused look.

Seojun sips his coffee. "I'm allowing for your day-off. But you have to promise me that you'll make the surprise for her birthday as memorable as possible."

"I... I will, Mr. Seojun, thank you.." Zeke said as he bows.

"Now, go on. I'll make up an excuse. Don't go anywhere near the training grounds so that she wouldn't see you, alright?" Seojun said as he winked at Zeke.

"Okay...! Understood. Once again, thank you, Mr. Seojun!" Zeke said as he runs off back inside the settlement.

He then sees Hyungwon preparing for his expedition with a few of his men in tow. He runs toward them with speed as he called his name.

"Hyungwon! Hyungwon!" Zeke called as Hyungwon turned around.

"Oh, goodmorning, Zeke-nim." Hyungwon said. "What's the rush?"

Zeke was panting hard, catching his breath. "I... need you... to help me... I'm planning... A surprise party for Jihyo...tomorrow..."

"Don't you have training, Zeke-nim?" Hyungwon said. "And do you have ample time to fully prepare for this?"

"Well... the time isn't the problem because I took a day off, so..." Zeke said.

"Hmm. I'm sorry, Zeke-nim. Even if you took a day off for this, I couldn't be here to help you, in all honesty. I'm going on a supply search today and I'll be out until sundown. This cannot be delayed, I'm afraid..." Hyungwon frowned.

"It's okay... I understand. I'm sorry for bothering..." Zeke said as he gave a slightly sad face.

Hyungwon thinks for a while. Deep down, he does wanna help Zeke set up a surprise party for Jihyo, but he can't postpone his expedition because he'll be needing scrap metal for the further fortification of the settlement barricades.

He soon comes up with a solution that will meet both ends.

"I have an idea..." Hyungwon said. "If I find something from my expedition that we can use for her birthday, I'll be bringing it here for you so we can set it up. I don't know what it will be, but I promise it'll be useful. I'll also try to help as soon as I get back."

"Really, really? Oh my god, thank you, Hyungwon!" Zeke said with a smile on his face.

"No worries. Now, while you wait for me, Zeke-nim, you can approach my sister to help you with the other things." Hyungwon said. "She's no stranger to setting up birthday parties, AND concealing them from the celebrant."

"Wow, your little sister has alot of talents, hmm?" Zeke replied.

"She may be annoying, and a little too energetic, but yeah, she is." Hyungwon smiled. "Don't tell her I said that, though, Zeke-nim. She's not going to stop boasting it to me for weeks. I don't want that kind of fuss in my line of work."

"Alright, alright... don't worry..." Zeke said. "Thank you, once again."

"See you later, Zeke-nim." Hyungwon waves as he turns back to his men to brief them for their expedition.

Zeke then travels to where Minji is---another makeshift apartment just near Minhyuk's office. She's outside, seemingly fiddling with her phone.

"Minji!" Zeke waves at her.

"Hi, Zeke-nim!" Minji said. "Goodmorning! What brings you here?"

"I'm here to ask you a favor. You see, it's Jihyo's birthday tom--"

"I'LL HELP!" Minji abruptly said.

"Wha...? That's... that's quick! I haven't even said the details yet!" Zeke replied.

"I know how this goes, Zeke-nim. You come to me, you're gonna ask me for help to surprise Jihyo on her birthday WHILE hiding from her to conceal the preparation. And let me guess, you took a day off of training just to fully prepare for this. Am I right?" Minji said, crossing her arms and tapping her feet.

"Yes.. yeah." Zeke replied. "But how did you know...?"

"Believe me, Zeke, I've been asked favors like these for years now, so I know how this goes." Minji laughs. "Come to think of it, I should've been an event organizer instead of a nurse, you know..." Minji said as she scratches her chin.

"Well... thank you in advance for helping me out..." Zeke smiled.

"For Miss Park Jihyo, anything, actually. She deserves the whole world." Minji smiles as she pulls a notepad from her slingbag. "So, what do we need?"

"Let's see... We are gonna prepare for the decorations. It's not much, but all we need are a few things: some pentel pens, a banner, some balloons, couple of LED lights..." Zeke said.

"Uh-huh." Minji jots down the stuff needed for Jihyo's surprise party. "You know how to prepare a party, Zeke-nim. But we lack something else..."

"What is it?" Zeke replied.

Minji thinks for a while, and then she had a "eureka!" moment.

"That's it! A hospital bed and a patient's robe. There!" Minji said.

"....Wait, why do we need a hospital bed and a patient's robe?" Zeke was baffled.

"You'll see." Minji smirks. "Now, go to the medical area this instant, wait for me there. I'll go Seojun-nim first and tell him of our plan, as well as do some other errands. Go! And hurry, Jihyo-ssi is gonna wake soon!"

January 31, 2023, 7:33 am, Minhyuk's Settlement, Daegu, South Korea.

"What...?" Jihyo said. "Zeke's sick?"

"I'm afraid so, Ms. Jihyo. That's why he can't attend training today. He's at the medical area for now and the doctors are checking up on him." Seojun replied as he frowned.

Jihyo was worried.

"Seojun-nim, can I visit Zeke first? I just want to see if he's okay..." Jihyo said.

"Alright, alright. I'll accompany you." Seojun replied as they began walking towards the medical area just inside one of the buildings in the settlement.

Jihyo enters first, and she sees Zeke lying on the hospital bed, in a patient's robe. Around him were several nurses, scribbling notes as they were checking his vitals.

"Zeke..." Jihyo looks at Zeke as he slowly opens his eyes.

"Oh, hey, Jihyo..." Zeke groggily said.

"What happened to you...?" Jihyo said with worry.

"Ah, I think I may just be experiencing overfatigue... I woke up and I can't feel my arms and legs. The doctor said I was stressing out on my training and I have to rest for a while..." Zeke said as he tried to move, and winced in pain.

"Ah..! Don't move!" Jihyo exclaimed.

"It's alright. I'll be okay. Please... continue with your training..." Zeke said as he winced in even more pain.

"But..."

"You need to finish the training sooner than I do. You still have to find Mina and the rest... Don't worry about me, I'll follow as soon as I get better, okay?" Zeke smiles slightly.

"I believe he's going to be fine, Ms. Jihyo." Seojun said. "Overfatigue really is a normal occurence during intense training. Especially when it comes to Zeke, since he doesn't have a Manifest. He'll recover. I'm sure." Seojun said as he winks at Zeke.

"Okay, Seojun-nim... Zeke... I'll visit you at lunch, okay? See you." Jihyo said, with her face still showing visible worry as she and Seojun left.

Zeke waited a few minutes as one of the nurses peek outside.

"All clear, Zeke-nim." The nurse smiled. "She's gone. You can stand up now."

Zeke took a deep breath and sits up. "Whew! Thank you all for helping me and Minji set this up. I'm sorry if I bothered your working time..."

"Oh, its nothing, Zeke-nim. There isn't any injured people around so basically we are all idle."

"Thanks again! I'll be heading to Minji now. Take care!" Zeke waves as he slowly leaves, with his patient robes still on.

He arrives soon at Minji's apartment as he knocks. Minji opens the door immediately, but just stands there, looking at Zeke.

Suddenly, she giggles.

And then laughs.

"What?" Zeke said.

"I'm just... HAHAHAHA...! It's just... HAHAHAHAHAHA! N..no offense, Zeke-nim... b-but.. it's just that, the way you look... HAHAHA, you look like a kid patient that ran away because you're scared of a small injection... HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Hey!" Zeke frowned. "That's rude!"

Minji wasn't listening as she continued to laugh hysterically. Zeke was still frowning, his arms crossed as he just waited for Minji's laughs to die down.

"Ohoho.. oh god that was rich..." Minji said as she wiped her tears. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, Zeke-nim... Hooo! You can go inside now, the materials are ready."

Zeke sighs, then goes inside and sees all the materials ready.

"Wow. All these stuff... Right, right. They're complete! Didn't know there were plenty of these."

"Yeah, I'm going to start decorating soon! Oh, by the way. I went to the food stalls and asked around if they can prepare the food and cake for Jihyo. Could you check on them and see if they're doing fine or if they need any assistance?"

"Yeah. Definitely." Zeke said as he took off his hospital robe and went out to the stalls.

He arrives soon after, and he meets a man--- a cook who handles a small stall that serves amazing lunches.

"Ah, Zeke! Goodmorning." The cook said as he bows. "I see you're here for the food that you're going to serve later for Jihyo-ssi's birthday."

"Ah, yes, yes." Zeke replied.

"Great. Now I just need a little heads up on what am I going to cook, you dont need to actually do anything else. Do you have any idea what she likes?"

"I'm not well versed into South Korean cuisine, but..."

Zeke remembers what Jihyo said a week ago.

"....Well, it would be honestly nice to have loads of meaty foods for my birthday."

"Do you have... any meaty food you can make?" Zeke asked.

"That's my specialty, honestly." The cook smiles. "Hmm... Now that you mentioned it... I suddenly know what to cook her. It will be extremely delectable, I guarantee it!"

"Thank you so much for your help." Zeke says as he takes a bow.

"No problemo, Zeke. Oh, while you're here..." The cook digs around and gives Zeke a small plastic bag. "Can you give this creamer to the cook on the other side of this settlement for me?" The cook says. "It's for the cake. I'm sure she'll need it.

"Ah, yes. Sure!" Zeke takes the bag.

"But be wary though. She's kinda cranky... tell her it came from the "sweet cook who makes you beautiful lunches." Works everytime." The cook winks.

"O...kay?" Zeke chuckles as he goes to the location of the next cook.

He arrives at the stall soon enough, and he sees a lady rummaging around her oven.

"Uhm... Hello... goodmo--"

"What do you want? Are you here for the cake? I'm just starting. Your friend  Minji bugged me out of it so I have to make haste." The cook said, not turning to look at Zeke as she continued to set her oven. "Come back after lunch and don't bug me further."

"Uh... I bought some materials you might need. It came from... the sweet cook who makes you beautiful lunches...?" Zeke said.

The woman freezes and turns around to look at Zeke.

"That pabo. Flirting with me again. Give me that." The woman takes the plastic bag off Zeke's hands. "This is the ingredient I need for the cake. Took him long enough. He's really annoying."

"Uh... is he bothering you and you feel uncomfy...?" Zeke asks. "Do you want me to talk to him..?"

"You don't have to do that, Zeke. He's my idiot of a husband." She replies.

"....Oh!" Zeke replied.

"Married him for fifteen years, and still never ceases to flirt well with me..." She muttered under her breath as she blushed a bit.

"What was that, ma'am...?" Zeke was baffled as he didn't hear what the cook said.

"Nothing. Now if there's nothing else you need, run along. And make your surprise for Jihyo good, okay?!" She said.

Zeke was taken aback by what she said. He then nods.

"Okay... Thank you..!" Zeke said as he ran back towards Minji's apartment. "That woman was so scary...!" Zeke thought.

Zeke returns to the apartment as Minji was working on the doodles.

"I'm all done helping the people at the stalls." Zeke said.

"That's good, Zeke-nim! Now let's do these decorations first. There's a lot of them here..."

Minji and Zeke spent hours working on the decorations: arranging the LED lights, writing letters, and drawing some cute stuff on the banners.

Soon, they were just doing the finishing touches.

"Zeke-nim, I'm almost done. I'm just going to borrow a glue gun for the bann--"

Minji froze as she looks outside. She sees Seojun and Jihyo slowly walking towards the medical area, seemingly talking about the training they just had.

"Zeke-nim..! They're coming to the medical area!" Minji panicked.

"WHAT?!" Zeke froze and checks the time on his phone. "But its just 11:17am! They're early!"

"I'll distract her, Zeke-nim! You go to the medical area ASAP, tell them of your predicament!" Minji said as she immediately heads out towards Jihyo and Seojun.

Zeke immediately wears his hospital robe once more.

"Oh, hi, Jihyo-ssi...!" Minji began blocking the view to her apartment as she signals Zeke to hotfoot out of there. "Ehe... you're early...? ....yes yes Zeke is still there...!"

As soon as he gets an opening, Zeke makes a run for the medical area, evading Jihyo's sight by moving around in a non-suspicious, but quick manner.

"...Ah, okay." Minji looks at her apartment and sees that Zeke was not there anymore. "Yes, Jihyo-ssi. Let's go to Zeke now." They soon walked toward the medical area.

As they enter, Jihyo sees Zeke once more on the bed. He waves at her and she gives back a faint smile.

"Hey, Zeke! How are y--- wait, why are you sweating?" Jihyo asks.

"Uh, well... I had fever, you see. But it went down just about an hour ago, so..." Zeke replied, trying his hardest not to pant.

"I see... Good to know you're doing okay now. Look, I asked Seojun-nim if I can take a day-off so that I can look out for you, and he granted it! So don't worry." Jihyo said.

Zeke and Minji's eyes widen.

"Mr. Seojun did WHAT?" Zeke said to himself as he looked at Seojun. The old man shrugs.

"E-eh?!" Zeke blushed. "But your training--"

"It's okay. After all, Seojun-nim allowed me, so... yeah." Jihyo smiles. "Anyway, I'll go get us some lunch. I'm starving! I'll be right back." Jihyo said as she immediately goes out of the medical area.

"Mr. Seojun, you allowed her for an off, too?" Zeke turns to Seojun. "Why?"

"Well..." Seojun scratched his head. "She insisted. I mean, what else I could've done? She looked too distracted to train, so I just gave her the off she wanted. Besides... It's her birthday tomorrow. I think its just a fitting decision."

"Aww... come on. How am I going to help with the surprise now?" Zeke grunted as he sits up.

"You don't honestly have to worry about that, Zeke-nim! I'll handle this one. All that's left is the cake and some other decors, and we good! I'll let you know if the surprise is ready so you still get to take part of it. After all, this is your idea." Minji smiled.

"Thank you, Minji." Zeke smiles back.

"Yeah, yeah. So... sit back, relax, and be a good little overfatigued patient!" Minji laughs as she went out of the medical area.

Zeke sighs, unable to do anything but wait and leave the surprise all to Minji.

January 31, 2023, 7:57 pm, Minhyuk's Settlement, Daegu, South Korea.

Minji was making final preparations for Jihyo's birthday with the help of Hyungwon, who was now back on the base to help with the decorations. They decided to decorate Zeke and Jihyo's makeshift apartment since Jihyo wasn't there----for she decided to spend the night at the medical area, guarding Zeke through his apparent "sickness".

Hyungwon returned to the makeshift apartment from the truck, bringing in a LCD monitor that seemingly came from a subway.

"So this is what you foraged during your expedition outside, brother?" Minji said. "You sure do know how to pick a suitable birthday decoration. Thought you'd only bring lame confetti, or snowglobes that are just... snow inside of a fish bowl or something."

"Hey. What do you take me for? A dumb nerd with no taste for sophisticated birthday greetings? Minji, we're doing this for a Korean idol. So it best we give her the best surprise yet."

"Well, well, fair point..." Minji said. "I have a birthday photo of Jihyo here from last year, I could edit it a little to make it fit the LCD..."

"Great. This LCD still needs some tweaks, so I gotta work on this as soon as I can." Hyungwon replied.

"Make it quick, we don't have much time!" Minji replied.

February 1, 2023, 12:01 am, Minhyuk's Settlement, Daegu, South Korea.

Event: Jihyo's Birthday

Jihyo was scrolling around her phone next to Zeke when Minji barged in the medical area in utter panic.

"Jihyo-ssi...! Your apartment... It's on fire!" Minji said, looking worried.

Zeke slightly opens his eyes.

Jihyo froze. "What?! What happened..!"

"I... I dont know! The fire's inside, we have to deal with it quickly!" Minji replied as Jihyo immediately rushed out of the medical area. Minji then looks at Zeke.

"The cake, Zeke-nim. It's on my apartment. Get it fast and catch up to us!" Minji said as she followed Jihyo outside.

"We have to get our stuff out of there!" Jihyo said as she made her way to the doorknob. We have to inform Min...."

"..hyuk-nim.."

As she opened the door, she was greeted by a wonderful sight.
The floor was waxed spotless. There was a long, white table with flashing yellow LED decorations around it.

On top of the table were different kinds of delicious meaty foods; some of which were Jihyo's favorites. There were alcoholic beverages, too.

On the wall, there were also yellow LED lights, and hanging papers that had drawings of elephant faces on it. In the middle of it was the LCD monitor display, with her picture in it, and the words "Happy Jihyo Day!" flashed on screen, in pure gold design, with the current date behind her Dance The Night Away outfit.

Seojun, Minhyuk, and Hyungwon were there, dressed in casual wear.

"Happy birthday, Jihyo!" They said.

"Ha...happy birthday, Jihyo-ssi...!" Minji said as she caught up with her, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath.

"Too late. We just greeted her." Hyungwon said.

"Shut... up...!" Minji replied. They all laughed in unison as Jihyo slowly walked to the table, still out of words.

"...You planned all of this...? For me..?" Jihyo said, her hands on her mouth in shock.

"Well... we just did all the decorating and cleaning here. It's him who had the idea." Hyungwon said as he pointed behind Jihyo.

Jihyo slowly turns around and sees Zeke, still in his hospital robe, holding out a simple chocolate cake with candles on it.

"Happy birthday." Zeke smiles.

"Zeke..." Jihyo's voice trailed off. "But you're--"

"I faked it." Zeke said. "I faked getting sick so that you wouldn't see the surprise. I almost felt guilty fooling you like that because you were so worried about me. But I had to, so that we could make this the best surprise possible. I also wanted to help them all set this up, but I couldn’t do anything with you guarding me in the medical area."

"..." Jihyo just looked at him.

"I...I'm sorry if I tricked you. And I'm sorry this is the best we can do. I hope we made you happy." Zeke said.

Jihyo frowns and crosses her arms, glaring at Zeke.

Zeke shudders at her look. It seems like she was about to get mad at him for lying to her like that.

But then, she slowly pouts and her face softens, tears now starting to form on her eyes. She lets down her arms.

"You guys..." More tears stream down Jihyo's face as Zeke immediately places the cake on the table and gives her a tissue. "I love this, you know. I never had a surprise party like this. I'm happy... There's even loads of meaty food! Just like I told you, Zeke... you remembered...!"

"Yeah. I did." Zeke smiled.

"Thank you..." Jihyo said as she wipes her tears.

"Aww... this is nothing! We just wanna make you happy on your special day, Jihyo-ssi!" Minji replied with a smile on her face.

"We've only met for a month, Jihyo, but you're already the light of our lives here. I only wish for your success, strength, and well-being your birthday." Seojun added as he smiled.

"Truer words cannot be said. It's only fitting we give you an amazing celebration, Jihyo-ssi, while we are at it. You deserve it." Hyungwon added.

"Mhm. I totally agree with everyone." Minhyuk added.

Jihyo wipes her tears and smiles as she looks at Zeke.

"W-well... what can I say? They literally just said everything I wanted to say." Zeke facepalms as everyone laughs in unison.

"But you know... I just hope what we did was enough to make you feel some semblance of home. That's what I had in mind when I taught of surprising you." Zeke said.

"The anggeul wants you to know it's more than enough." Jihyo said as she gives off her trademark gummy smile.

"Glad to know." Zeke smiles back as he nods. "Now, make a wish!"

Jihyo goes to the cake on the table. She closes her eyes and takes a few minutes before she blows the candles.

"YAAAAY!" Minji cheered. "Let's take a picture first before we eat?"

"We should." Minhyuk goes to Jihyo. "Miss Jihyo, if you want, we can use your phone."

"Yes, yes! Here, Minhyuk-nim." Jihyo said as she gives him her phone.

"I'll just... change clothes, okay?" Zeke said as he tried to go out. He was soon stopped by Jihyo.

"No, Zeke. You're staying here with that garment on. This is your punishment for tricking me." Jihyo said.

"Seriously?" Zeke said.

"Grant my wish. Its my birthday~" Jihyo replied as she gave a teasing smile.

Zeke gave out a defeated sigh. "Okay, okay, fine."

Jihyo laughs as they all went together, taking several pictures with the decorations behind them. As soon as the photo ops was over, they were finally on the main event: eating and drinking.

"Now that's setttled... we can dig in to the food and drinks!" Minji said as she was about to grab a food, only for her brother to stop her.

"Minji! Where are your manners?!" Hyungwon said. "It should be the birthday girl and the elderly first!"

"It's okay, Hyungwon. If she really wants to eat first, she can go ahead." Jihyo said as she smiles.

"YAAAAY! Take that, Hyungwon!" Minji let out her tongue at Hyungwon as she dug into one of the foods on the table. Minhyuk takes a bottle of alcohol and slowly sips, while Zeke just converses with Seojun about the day that passed.

Jihyo looks at them all, and she is suddenly reminded of her friends. All around her. Just laughing, eating, drinking. The ambiance was the same, yet it also felt... different. Tears form on her eyes once again.

Zeke notices this and gives her a pat on the head as Jihyo snaps out of her thoughts.

"Hey." Zeke said. "You okay?'

Jihyo wipes her tears. "Never better."

"I hope you loved our little surprise." Zeke said.

"I do. I really do." Jihyo smiles a bit. "It  just feels new celebrating with different people this time, but I'm happy to know people care this much for me..."

"You are always loved, that's why." Zeke replied as he smiled. "So... What did you wish for?"

Jihyo looked at him as she takes a deep breath.

"I wished that... on my next birthday, we're finally complete once again."

Zeke nods.

"We'll make that happen. I promise." Zeke replied.

Jihyo just smiled, feeling a bit hopeful and determined this time.

"Yeah. We will."