before you love me | jjk

chapter eighteen

━━━༻ ˚✩‧₊ march 2020₊‧✩˚༺━━━

Narae was ecstatic, overjoyed, elated, thrilled – any positive or happy emotion, that's what she was feeling. She had woken up the morning of her birthday to tons of messages from friends, family and fans wishing her happy birthday. Seeing the outpouring of love never failed to make her smile and her birthday was no exception, in fact, it was amplified.

She was currently getting ready to meet up with Asa for her birthday festivities. Her waking up early meant that she had time to straighten her hair and spend longer on her make-up. Usually she kept her hair in its natural state or had it in braids or wigs amongst other protective styles, but she was feeling like a switch-up from her normal routine.

Leaning closer to her mirror, Narae held her breath as she put her lashes on in one quick movement. In the early stages of her career, there had been few make-up artists that knew how to do make-up for darker skin. As a result, her and Asa had quickly mastered the art of doing make-up themselves, especially under time constraints, and had become pros at it. Now, she was a big enough star to have a whole team of qualified make-up artists, but she had still retained her skills.

She had decided to dress up a bit and was wearing a brown bralette top with cream wide leg trousers. Since it was still a bit chilly, she had opted for a long trench coat to wear on top, the outfit completed by a small white handbag that was barely big enough to carry anything useful and low white heels. Her makeup matched the neutral tones and was pulled together by a glossy lip.

Satisfied with her look, and after taking pictures to post whilst in the car, she made her way out of the dorms to where her driver was waiting for her. The boys had already left to their various scheduling for the day, so there was no one to talk to as she made her way out. As she slid into the car, she told the driver where she was headed and they arrived there in record time, due to it being the middle of the work day.

She strode into the quaint but chic restaurant where she immediately spotted Asa, her dark attire making her stand out and several people take surreptitious glances in her direction. They often frequented the restaurant back when they were still in ECLIPSE, and had made it a tradition to meet up for lunch there on either of their birthdays when possible. The restaurant was more high-end, but still served generous portions and offered the clientele a level of privacy that was appreciated. People sometimes took pictures and asked for the occasional autograph, but for the most part, they could dine there in peace.

"Asa-unnie!"

"Rae! Happy birthday bean!" Asa stood up to hug Narae, a wide smile on her face. "Here's your present by the way!"

As they broke apart, Asa reached down to pick up a massive gift bag that had been resting on one of the chairs. Narae peeked into the bag and immediately squealed when she saw its contents.

"You didn't!"

"I did." Asa smugly countered, knowing she had gotten the perfect gift – or gifts rather.

"Not the Telfeezy!" Narae exclaimed as she pulled out the lavender Telfar shopping bag.

"Singular?" Asa questioned.

In Narae's excitement she hadn't realised that the gift bag contained more than one present. She hurriedly rushed to pull out the rest of the items, all Telfar bags in various shades. In total there were ten of the small bags: tan, cream, white, pale blue, pink and yellow, sage, mint, dark brown and the original lavender one that Narae had first seen.