The kitchen was filled with the smell of vanilla and buttercream as you and your friends huddled around the half-decorated cake. It was your turn with the hear me out cake trend, and everyone had been hyping it up all week.

“Okay, so we each add someone we think is attractive, but not like, super obvious,” your friend Leah explained, already giggling. “No idols like Cha Eunwoo or whatever. Think outside the box.”

You nodded, piping another swirl of frosting along the edge. “Fine. But no making fun of mine.”

One by one, your friends added their picks—random actors, a classmate from math, even a cartoon character. The cake was slowly becoming a collage of chaotic photos printed on edible paper.

Then Leah smirked. “I’ve got mine.”

You watched as she pressed a small square onto the cake and smoothed it down. At first, you didn’t register who it was. Then your stomach dropped.

“…Leah,” you said slowly, staring at the picture. “Is that—”

“Jungwon,” she finished proudly. “Your brother.”