Ishmael had gone upstairs to shower as she smelled like fried food and bananas. While she was gone, Seo opened the patio door for some fresh air in the house and he also set up his mother's guqin for her. Since they were alone, it was the perfect time for him to hear her play it. He was glad that they finally had some alone time. She came down in her pjs, the legs rolled up as they were far too long. They were navy blue with stars and she had on a grey tshirt. Walking into the living room, the house was quiet. Hearing the sounds of the cicadas and crickets, she looked towards the patio and saw a beautiful guqin already set up for her to play, a nice embroidered stool was on the floor for her.

Seo was standing out on the patio deck, his back to the door as he gazed out into the garden. Ishmael quietly walked over to it. She had missed the beautiful sound that the instrument made. Sean's mom started to teach her to play, but after he came out, his mom refused to have anything to do with her.

Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and hoped her fingers remembered the songs she had taught herself. Raising her hands to begin, she would let guqin tell her what song would be played.

https://youtu.be/h0AAFhx3RmA

Hearing the first notes, Seo turned around. Ishmael's eyes remained closed as her delicate fingers magically slid along the strings. Fingers plucking the notes from them, Seo was amazed as he leaned on the door frame. He stood there, letting the music surround him as he too closed his eyes. Even though it was his mother's instrument, she never played anything like what he was hearing. Each note was full of emotion. Soon there was silence again. Seo was unaware of it until he felt himself held in a warm embrace. Opening his eyes, Ishmael was no longer sitting there, she was now against him in a tender hug. Without saying anything, he wrapped his arms around her. The two didn't say anything for minutes as they held each other just enjoying being close.

Ishmael finally looked up at him and smiled. Looking down at her, he gently held her face and kissed her. Seo felt her relax against him. A kiss to the nose and they were looking into each other eyes again.

"That was beautiful."

"Me playing or us kissing?"

"Both. Will you play again? I want my mom to see you play."

"Sure. You want me to play the same song?"

"Mn."

Ishmael took her seat again and readied herself to play. Fingers to strings the music began. She played as beautifully as she had before. When she finished, she looked up at him and smiled. His mom wasn't saying anything.

"Mom are you still there?"

"...yeah..." His mom was crying, he had video called her.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Seo. I didn't mean for you to cry!"

"Ohhh hon, that was so beautiful!"

"Thank you. I'm glad you liked it!"

"I didn't like it, I loved it!"

"Thank You."

"Wait, where is everyone?"

"They went for a walk mom. It's just the two of us until they get back."

"Ohhhh I see!  Well thank you again dear, it was beautiful. You two enjoy yourselves before the other's get back. You can send Dae out to the cabin tomorrow."

"Oh she can stay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay, you two have a good night."

"Night Mrs. Seo."

"Night mom."

Call ended, Ishmael helped him return the guqin to his mom's office. It was not something they wanted sitting out. She saw a family picture on the desk. Seo saw her looking at it and let her know it was his parents and aunt.

Returning to the living room, they sat on the couch and Seo started up a movie. Ishmael snuggled up against him, surprising him.

"Well you're awfully cuddly!"

"Yes, now that we're together, I'll always be this cuddly."

"Good."

Twenty minutes into the movie and they were both asleep, Ishmael had fallen asleep first after she laid down on the couch. Her head resting on his lap, he had his hand on her shoulder, soon after that he was out too.

The others had found an ice cream cafe and had stopped. Now that it was getting dark they decided to head back to the house. While they were out, Sean and Haru told them of Seo's birthday surprise lunch. They were to get Seo out of the house by 11 and return around 2. His parents would be there also and they were having a BBQ. The guys agreed to help get him out of the house without giving anything away. Min and Dae would stay to decorate and help Ishmael. On the way back, they passed a small daiso so the girls went inside to get party supplies.

Min and Dae walked out of the store, each with a large bag of decorations. Dae was excited as it had been years since they had an actual party for her brother. Walking back to the house the two of them chatted the entire way as they guys had their own conversation. The ladies had quieted down before entering, The house was dark and quiet except for the glow of the tv. Everyone tiptoed into the living room, not wanting to disturb the new lovebirds. Entering the living room, all they saw was Seo but he wasn't moving. Seong cleared his throat to get his attention which startled him. Seo looked over and quickly hushed them.

"She's sleeping."

Dae had to take a peek as she sneaked over to the couch and looked down. Ishmael was curled into a ball, her head resting on Seo's lap. Dae covered her mouth as she tried not to squeal and laugh. They thought she was dead asleep.

"Stop laughing at me Dae." Ishmael surprised them as she had woke up when she heard the front door opening, she just didn't feel like moving. She sat up and looked around, everyone giving the two of them knowing smirks. Ishmael scrunched her face and stood up to stretch. She saw the bags Dae and Min had and winked at them. "What time is it?" Ishmael was still asleep but able to function.

"Almost 10 babe."

"Babe?!" Dae and Min giggled as Ishmael gave Seo a look and shook her head. She headed to the kitchen to get the breakfast casserole going which wouldn't take long. Min had already chopped the vegetable beforehand. Sean saw her pulling eggs out the fridge.

"You starting on breakfast sis?"

"Yeah, this won't take long and can cook overnight so it's ready in the morning."

"Oh."

Min and Dae rushed upstairs but not before Seo saw the bags they had.

"What's all that?"

"Nothing!" The two of them disappeared at the top of the stairs.

He walked into the kitchen. "How long will this take?"

"About 10 minutes then I'm going to bed."

"Good." Another kiss to her forehead and Seo went back to the guys. They were planning on playing another game and Seo joined them. Ishmael just needed to mix the eggs and pour them over the veggies in the crockpot. She had forgotten to spray it with oil so she had to dump the veggies out, spray and pour in the egg mixture. She set it on low and went upstairs to the room.

Min and Dae were in there going through all the stuff they got.

"Woooooo!! You guys did good!"

"Oh we got so much stuff MelMel!!" There was a huge happy birthday banner. The colors were blue, white and silver. They had gotten balloons, streamers and table ware.  Dae let them know that her parents would bring a helium tank for the balloons.

"Ugghh...There's so much to do!" Ishmael collapsed on her futon, overwhelmed with what all needed to be done.

"Dont worry! We'll help!" Dae was all smiles.

"I know. Okay let's get a game plane. So we have to act normal until the guys leave."

"Oh! Everyone is on board, they will get him out of the house by 11 and have him back by 2."

"Excellent. When will your parents get here Dae?"

"A little after 11 they will be at the cafe down the street, I just have to message them when he's gone."

"Okay. Once the guys leave we'll clean the patio area and start on the decorations. I'll work on getting the meat ready in the morning before he comes downstairs."

"Dad said he would BBQ!"

"Wooo! So there will be things of tea and lemonade to make. Potatoes to peel, dice and boil and your mom said she would make the cucumber salad. While the meat is cooking I will make the strawberry cheesecakes. Plus we still have the cookies. Oh! And we need to get veggies from the garden, those can be chopped, wrapped in foil packs and cooked on the grill."

"Ohhhh!!! He is going to be so shocked when he sees everything!"

"I hope so, do you think he'll like it Dae?"

"He's going to love it! He's just been so busy that he never has had time to come back home to celebrate his birthday."

"Well tomorrow he will. MinMin!! I forgot to tell you we're moving offices. Joon purchased a new building the other day!"

Min squealed loudly but the guys just ignored them. Ishmael brought up the street on google maps so Min could see it. "Oh there's a cafe next door!"

"Let me see!" Dae was moving closer to get a glimpse of the tablet screen.

The three of them chatted for about another hour on the upcoming surprise party. They went to sleep around midnight while the guys continued playing video games downstairs.