January 30.
It was Seo Hoyun’s birthday, The Dawn’s sub-vocal.
The Noeuls were buzzing with excitement.
[Guys, The Dawn must be really popular!!! Ah, I’m so proud ㅠㅠㅠ There’s a fancam from the department store and there were so many people, and they all knew the fan chants ㅠ]
[So moved I told you he’d become the prince of yen~~~]
[Even if Japanese fans call him a “silly cat,” we can graciously let it slide.]
The excitement was partly because The Dawn was doing well in Japan, and…
[It’s Hoyun’s birthday soon]
Everyone had been looking forward to Seo Hoyun’s birthday while listening to “Colors,” a track included in their Japanese album.
[Wow, seems like Seo Hoyun really is a popular memberㄷ Korean fans are so hardcore, they’ve even put up a birthday ad for him on a billboard in Japan right after their debut there.]
A birthday celebration video ad was even displayed on a building in the heart of Tokyo’s Shinjuku.
It was only a short clip of a few seconds, but it was enough to fill the fans’ hearts with joy.
[But watching the video made me tear up…
So thankful Hoyun was born…
Truly moved…
└Why am I feeling so sentimental today?
└Because Hoyun was born with a godly face……..
└That’s really touching…]
[The guys will turn on V-Live for the birthday party, right?
The only downside is that it’s in Japan…]
[Have we decided what the birthday hashtag will be??]
As the fans chatted excitedly…
[Seems like a surprise camera is impossible ㅎㅎ]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ A surprise cam for Hoyun…?
└Confused…]
[He’d pretend to be surprised, wouldn’t he?
└Of course]
That was the general consensus.
Imagining Seo Hoyun being surprised and crying over a surprise party or hidden camera prank seemed impossible.
[Crying would seem like a hallucination now
└Ah ㅅㅂㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Therefore, the fans were only expecting the members of The Dawn to do something simple, like making a cake together or having a gift exchange.
[Mission Impossible – Silly Cat Surprise (Feat. 2 Units)]
But the V-Live’s title was strange.
[?????]
[What???]
As the fans quickly logged onto V-Live, Kang Ichae’s face appeared.
“Hello~.”
Wearing a black hoodie with the hood up, and doing a flower pose with both hands, he grinned widely in a hotel room.
“Everyone’s slowly coming in. Since we’re short on time, let’s get straight to the point. You all know what day it is, right?”
Kang Ichae hummed as he tapped on the laptop keyboard, a device prepared by the planning team.
“It’s our sub-vocal’s birthday… We can’t just let that pass, can we?”
[What what what]
[OMG are you guys really doing a surprise??]
[Wow, Kang Ichae is so daringㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Seo Hoyun no longer fell for such tricks.
Initially, he might have been caught off guard, but now he knew the members’ personalities all too well.
Moreover, his already shameless nature had been upgraded with a steel mentality, making it impossible to tease him.
He has changed a lot. It used to be fun teasing him until the role reversal game.
Even if they teased with “Silly cat” or “HouHou,” now he’d just retort with something like “Carrot Carrot,” leaving Kang Ichae feeling defeated.
I can’t just let it go. My pride won’t allow it.
So, Kang Ichae put a lot of effort into planning this.
He was quite satisfied with the scheme, and if well executed, even Seo Hoyun could be fooled.
“Mission Impossible Silly Cat Surprise Party. Now, let’s quickly go through the plan.”
Kang Ichae snapped his fingers.
As if on cue, the Mission Impossible theme song started to play.
―Dun dun, dun dun dun, dun dun!
“If we try to put a camera in front of the suspicious Seo Hoyun or clumsily set it up, he’s bound to notice. So, with the hotel’s permission, we’ve reserved the entire floor’s corridor, a part of our rooms, and installed cameras everywhere in advance.”
[Crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Stop playing spy movie music, you crazy bastardㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Planning with the team in advance made cooperation easy.
“You can check everything from here.”
A large TV screen behind Kang Ichae lit up, displaying CCTV footage divided into quadrants.
Fans could also monitor the situation through V-Live, thanks to Kang Ichae having connected the laptop to the TV in advance.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋKang Ichaeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Why are you so seriousㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
The fans found it even funnier than some terrestrial TV variety shows due to the thorough preparation.
Yet, the fans weren’t too hopeful.
[Seems a bit much for Hoyun… lol]
Because they understood Seo Hoyun too well.
“Throwing a surprise party for Seo Hoyun is impossible. He’s the type to ask something like “Where’s my cake?” the moment he arrives.”
[Too accurate]
[ㄷㄷ]
“But that’s why it’s called Mission Impossible, isn’t it, everyone?”
Challenging the impossible.
Kang Ichae wore a confident smile.
As the movie’s BGM reached its climax and the second hand hit zero,
“Mission Accepted!”
Seo Hoyun’s surprise party began.
.
.
.
– “Where’s my cake?”
As soon as January 30 arrived, Seo Hoyun, who had to return to his room as if he was being chased away, opened the hotel room door assigned to Jeong Dajun, Seong Jiwon, and Kim Seonghyeon, and asked.
There, Jeong Dajun could be seen wearing a hat with teddy bear ears and colored glasses with a drawing of a candle, holding a cake with both hands.
Seong Jiwon was putting the candles on while wearing a cone hat with glittering stars and a blue party scarf wrapped around his neck.
And Kim Seonghyun, holding a match with his partially unwrapped cone hat dangling around his neck, was standing still.
All were frozen in surprise.
– “Why, why, why are you here already?!”
– “What? Can’t I come if I want to?”
“Exactly….”
[Shit Seo Hoyun didn’t miss a single thing in his question]
[Kang Ichae’s character analysis is spot on, goosebumpsㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
While the Noeuls were freaking out in the comments, Kang Ichae keenly observed the situation.
First and foremost, the setting that they didn’t celebrate birthdays was a stretch.
Apart from the preparations and activities for “Second Chance” and the period of Shining Star Season 1, which Kim Seonghyeon had struggled with, The Dawn had always taken care of each other’s birthdays.
It was good content for both building strong relationships among the members and with the fans.
So, that was the setting of this Mission Impossible.
A ruined surprise birthday party.
– “How, how did you know? No, why did you come in already?!”
Passing by the wide-eyed Jeong Dajun, Seo Hoyun nonchalantly sat down on the single sofa.
– “How could I not know?”
Of course, he knew.
Even when Jeong Dajun awkwardly asked to take his phone so he couldn’t see the V-Live, and when he was dragged out of the room under the pretense of preparing the party, Seo Hoyun had willingly followed.
He had been sure from that moment.
– “So, where did Kang Ichae go?”
“Look, look!”
Kang Ichae was up to something.
“He’s already looking for the camera.”
[Got goosebumps on my arms]
[Wow, this is really thrilling..]
Indeed, Kang Ichae was a formidable opponent.
As Seo Hoyun’s eyes moved from top to bottom scanning the room, Jeong Dajun, Seong Jiwon, and Kim Seonghyeon’s natural acting unfolded.
– “Ichae is downstairs buying drinks… It’s such a shame to be caught.”
– “Hey, how could you…”
The Noeuls watching the video found something unexpected.
[Wait, why is Seonghyeon acting so well?]
Besides shining on stage while dancing, the Noeuls were well aware from the group’s self-produced content that Kim Seonghyeon was not known for his acting skills.
Kang Ichae smirked leisurely in response to the Noeuls’ repeated questions.
“Seonghyeon-hyung doesn’t know anything.”
[?????]
That’s right.
Kang Ichae didn’t have the heart to ask Kim Seonghyeon to act.
No matter how hard Kim Seonghyeon tried, Seo Hoyun would definitely catch on.
So, Kang Ichae looked for one way to involve him.
“By now, he must think the hidden camera prank failed, right?”
And that was by deceiving even Kim Seonghyeon.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋKang Ichae, are you crazy? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Not only in V-Live comments but also on SNS, people were flipping out in real-time.
Of course, no one said it was too much.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋAh Seonghyeon, I really love youㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
The ones laughing the most were Kim Seonghyeon’s fans.
– “Couldn’t you at least pretend to be fooled? It’s really disappointing…”
– “My bad?”
– “So annoying.”
Each time the innocent Kim Seonghyeon genuinely expressed his frustration, the chat was flooded with laughter.
Kang Ichae carefully observed the situation and then put on his earphones.
It was connected to a device prepared after having a separate discussion with Seong Jiwon and Jeong Dajun, to adjust their actions according to the situation.
Jeong Dajun wearing an animal-eared hat and Seong Jiwon wrapping a flashy scarf around his neck were both attempts to conceal the devices in their ears.
“Maknae, let’s go inside.”
Just as Seo Hoyun, who had even found a fake camera, was about to politely greet everyone and end the situation, Jeong Dajun moved on to the next stage.
– “Ah, what the…”
Puffing his cheeks and pouting, Dajun, who often made such a face when he was upset, muttered as he put down the cake with candles halfway inserted on the table.
– “Hyung, but couldn’t you have pretended to be fooled, at least?”
It was time for Phase 2.
The “Feeling Hurt” strategy.
– “We spent hours preparing, and I didn’t think hyung would be easily fooled… but you could’ve at least pretended.”
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋDajun’s passionate actingㅋㅋ]
[Jiwon’s pretending to be subtly aware is perfect on the side]
In reality, the maknae, Jeong Dajun, who was rich in emotions and sensitivity, would’ve been slightly upset even if the real birthday party had failed, so his reaction was half acting, half genuine.
– “Wandering around in this weather to buy a cake for hyung. It must have been tough…”
Dajun, fully immersed, blurted out his lines with a choked-up expression.
– “Yet hyung didn’t even pretend to be deceived.”
Dajun sneakily glanced at Seo Hoyun, lowering his gaze.
The atmosphere in the room also dipped.
After turning off the fake camera, Hoyun turned around and looked at Dajun.
– “…”
And he remained silent.
[Wow, Hoyun actually got fooled]
[Look at his expression;;]
Fans murmured in surprise, anticipating the success of the hidden camera prank, but Kang Ichae narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin.
Really?
Ichae knew that Seo Hoyun was no easy target.
Having observed Hoyun recently, Ichae carefully crafted each word to make him waver, and Dajun practiced them over and over.
Finally, as Dajun’s eyes reddened, Hoyun sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
– “Haa…”
Seizing the timing, Dajun threw his last planned line.
– “Every time you do this… I kinda hate it.”
The carefully chosen words, the perfect timing, and Dajun’s tearful performance!
It was the perfect trio.
Min Jiheon would have marveled at the line delivered by Dajun, who tightly closed his eyes and deeply bowed his head.
Hoyun quietly observed him.
Then, he said,
– “Do you really hate it?”
For additional chapters, swing by our Patreon and join the club!
Love the series? Share your thoughts on Novel Updates by rating and reviewing it now!
