#nonranghaes.golcha

[nonranghaes]

bomin doesn't let you go. most mornings, he does, reluctantly, but this morning is special because neither of you have to work. so when you get up to go, well, anywhere, he's catching you by the wrist and pulling you back into his arms. he's too tired to be awake this early, and if he's too tired, then he knows you are, too. such is the life of two people who try to sleep in whenever they can (he thinks you're his perfect match sometimes because of it).

"no." he's grinning, pressing a kiss against the side of your face. he's as little more awake than he wants to be, but he'll doze right back off when you're cuddling with him.

and you just mumble incoherently, drawing up his hand from where his fingertips have grazed your collarbone so that you can kiss the side of it. "i'll be right back," you murmur, untangling yourself from him.

he sighs, and lets you go before curling back up. yet it takes more than a few minutes, and by the time he lifts his head, he sees you carrying a bag with tissue paper crinkling a little inside of it. the mattress dips underneath your weight as you crawl back in, dropping it in front of him.

and he just picks it up, dropping it right onto the nightstand. "later." he says, opening his arms up. "let's go back to sleep."

"but--" you pout, but it doesn't last long. with a sigh, you move under the blankets again, slowly snuggling into his embrace. "fine. but you have to act extra impressed for me."

he snorts just a little, and kisses your skin one more time before shutting his eyes. "i will."

but he feels the way you smile against his own skin, pressing your own tiny kiss against his neck. "happy birthday, my bomin."

[nonranghaes]

donghyun's laughter is light in the air. he taps away at his keyboard, watching as you nearly die once more in your game. "you're really bad at this."

you are. you always have been, to be fair. the only reason you play is because donghyun loves it, and he likes teaching you the ropes... even if he does tease you constantly. your little pixel character trails after donghyun, clutching their staff all the while. normally you let him kick your ass in that racer game, but he chose this online game instead. it's easier for you to follow him and his friends and play healer (and sling spells from a safe distance).

"don't leave me!" you whine.

"i'm not," he giggles again, keys clicking as he messes with something. you don't even know what. "i'm just scouting--"

the lights shut off. his desktop shuts off and you get booted from your game, laptop screen illuminating your face as you stare at donghyun.

"shit, no--"

donghyun's unbothered for the most part, making his way over to the windows. "it's not just us," he says. "the lights are off in the building next door, too. must be an outage."

you pout. "but... what about your birthday?" you melt over the back of the couch, pouting at him. "you said this was all you wanted."

his phone chimes. "jibeom's asking where we went." he types back quickly. "we could go get food instead."

"we?" you push. did he mean it as a date, or...?

he smiles a little. "us. i'm going out with the others tomorrow night." he rounds the couch, extending a hand to you. "it's my birthday," he teases you lightly, "and you said we could go anywhere..."

"alright, alright," you wave him off, closing your laptop and setting it on the desk next to his own desktop setup. "i'll grab my wallet. it's my treat, okay?" you peck his lips. "happy birthday, you dork."

[nonranghaes]

"and this is..." bomin pauses as he holds the box, glancing over the name before rolling his eyes. "you already know who it's from."

joochan accepts it, and he's not afraid to admit (at least to himself) that he does. he saw the wrapping paper you used, tucked away in the back of a closet where he wasn't supposed to see it. no matter how much he tried to weasel the information out of you, you kept a tight lip on what you bought him. not that he thinks it would have worked: you've never let it slip before.

he tugs at one end of the white ribbon, the bow coming undone all too easily. he'll tie it around one of your wrists later, always conscious of how you liked to save little things like this. setting the top aside, he stares down at a ring.

not just any ring. a wooden ring. it's shiny in the light, and smoothed the way that he taught you how to do so long ago. he thought you quit. he thought you grew too frustrated with the process, mumbling to yourself that maybe some hobbies weren't meant to be shared when he was dating an idiot. he hadn't taken the former part of the statement to heart at all, immediately moving in to calm you down and comfort you. they were words uttered in a moment of frustration, after all. he knew that sometimes crafting things like this would always be harder for some people. you never hesitated to shower him in love and praise for the things he created, always valuing his hobbies the same way he valued yours, and that was enough. he'd taught you guitar anyway, and he honestly enjoyed teaching you that more.

he looks up at you, eyes glossy as he fights back the urge to cry. when did you...? how did you...? someone whispers about whether this is a marriage proposal. and maybe, in your own way, it was something akin to that. he'd made you a ring similar to it forever ago and you still wore it now, always so careful with it. and now his matched.

you just hide a smile. "happy birthday, honey," you say, as if this isn't a big deal. as if he's not about to cry right now, in front of all his friends, because he knows how much you struggled with his help. how much did you struggle without it? and how many times had you wanted to quit but kept going because you knew how much it'd mean to him.

he'll ask. and he'll get the full story, and then he'll kiss you once your alone. but for now, he slides the ring onto his wedding ring finger instead, and thanks you as casually as he can.

[nonranghaes]

the uproar that greets sungyoon when he returns to the green room catches him off guard. he gives one of those awkward "oh, woah, really?" smiles as people start singing 'happy birthday' to him, and it slowly melts into a genuine one. when did everyone find out...? his friends knew. he hadn't mentioned it much to the cast, though, since tonight is a show night and he didn't want any big distractions.

and yet the moment he lays his eyes on you, standing with a bouquet of flowers in your hands, it all clicks. there's a cake with lit candles (his favorite flavor, he's sure) sitting nearby, and he's ushered toward it (and you, you, you, waiting there and smiling at him like he's the moon, the sky, and everything in it). he blows out the candles soon enough, and then he's turning to you.

you just give him a chaste kiss before leaning in to whisper. "happy birthday, honey. sorry about the surprise."

and then you push the bouquet against his chest, smiling at him still. you'll be in the audience again tonight, the same way you were for his first performance. the same way you'll be for his last. but he ends up following you out into the hallway when it's time for you to go, and he kisses you again.

"thank you," he says, savoring this quiet moment between the two of you. "i'll see you after the show."

"maybe you will," you give him a cheeky smile, just to tease. "break a leg, honey."

and then you leave him with one final kiss before you disappear down the hallway, and he's left with the sweetness of buttercream on his lips and a tender look on his face.

[nonranghaes]

heads up! food mentions

"i'm sorry. i know it isn't much, but money's a little tight right now, so..."

youngtaek lets you take his wrist into your hands, raising it up so that you can tie a bracelet around it. your fingers are warm as they brush against his skin, and he just stares at the tiny beads for a moment. it spells out his given name, separated by tiny flowers, but you raise your wrist a moment later to reveal you have a matching one for yourself.

"so... we match now." you give him this uneasy smile, yet he sees how scared you are in your eyes. you genuinely think he wouldn't like it? or that he'd be upset with you for prioritizing your own well-being? "i also pitched in a little for the cake--and for dinner, too, but, um, daeyeol kept telling me not to worry about it, and--"

he gazes at you so softly now. "i love you." he pauses, catching himself. shit, he didn't mean to say that, and he quickly tries to cover it up, "i love it! thank you--you didn't have to bring me anything."

you just smile shyly, that fear in your eyes gone. with a relieved sigh, you drop your hands back to your side. "should we go back in?" you nod toward where the others have hopefully set up donghyun's gaming console so you all can play party games (and maybe annoy daeyeol's neighbors).

his hand grazes against yours for a moment. we don't have to yet, he wants to say. he likes getting this time alone with you. but the two of you will ride home together on the bus before parting ways at the end of the night. he thinks it's selfish to keep you to himself now, even on his birthday.

you pause at the sliding door, turning back to youngtaek. "happy birthday, by the way. i know i said it before, but..." for a moment, you just fidget, only to look up when jangjun yells something out to the two of you that youngtaek doesn't fully catch. you smile again, brighter than the candles on his birthday cake. sweeter, too. "shall we?"

if you're going? then he'll always follow, if just to see that smile again.

[nonranghaes]

"hey... you know jangjun's been flirting with you this entire trip, right?"

joochan has settled onto the steps next to you, half-leaned forward as he tries to keep this between the two of you. you look at him over the rim of your sunglasses, glancing for just a second to where jangjun is getting ready to chop firewood. you realize way too quickly that joochan is entirely serious.

"what? no." you look at jangjun again, watching the over-exaggerated way he stretches, only to drop the act immediately when he sees he's caught your eye. he waves, you wave back, and your eyes meets the very unimpressed ones of joochan. "he's just being jangjun."

"really." his voice is flat and slightly annoyed. "he's been making a fool of himself all week."

"isn't that just jangjun?" you can't hide your smile, though: you like jangjun and how funny he is. but jangjun? flirting with you? you can't see it.

"he literally dedicated our meal to you last night--"

whatever joochan says next, you don't hear because you've caught the sight of jangjun with an axe in hand. with a swift swing, he splits the wood all too easily, and your heart leaps into your throat. joochan looks between the two of you for a moment, noticing that proud smile on jangjun's face that says he's succeeded in what he set out to do.

this is hopeless. you're both idiots. joochan gets up to leave you, and barely seconds later he can hear jangjun flirting with you again ("hey... you come here often?" "jangjun, we're literally on vacation together..."), and he fights the urge to roll his eyes. it'll take locking you two idiots in a room together for you to realize anything.

(maybe that'll be his next move. jangjun just did the fake "yawn and stretch and put-arm-around-other-person" trick and you're eating it up without a second thought. he'd rather you two be insufferable together than as oblivious idiots.)

[nonranghaes]

heads up! agent au. mentions of gunshot wounds and surgery and blood.

"they're awake, you know." daeyeol stands before jangjun in the hospital waiting room, hands tucked into his pants pockets. "and they asked about you."

technically, you've been awake for a while now. the surgery went fine, and you're alive (thankfully), and jangjun can't bring himself to leave this spot. his hands, which are carefully tucked away into his own pants pockets, still have your blood on them. his shirt is still stained with both his and your blood, and he hasn't left the hospital since the moment they brought you in, only ever budging when someone looked at his own wounds. daeyeol ends up pushing him ahead of him, following behind to make sure jangjun doesn't get any other ideas.

by the time he shows up to your room, it's empty aside from you. everyone else has likely heard the story by now, and he stops in the open doorway. it takes another shove (this time from joochan, he thinks--he doesn't get a glance before someone pulls the door shut behind him), and jangjun is within your field of vision.

you breathe in, long and quiet, and exhale. "you look like shit, lee."

he's already tearing up as he crosses the room, all but collapsing onto the space next to you as he takes your face in his hands. "don't do that again!" he says, voice harsh but wavering. "i could have taken a bullet--"

"you needed to be--"

"i know where i needed to be," he says. "just... don't do it again." his voice is softer now, and he can see it in your eyes. jangjun isn't like this. jangjun isn't deadly serious: that's your job. he's the social one who puts people at ease all too easily, you're the no-nonsense one who often has to pull him away before he can finish a bit. "okay?"

his eyes are red. he's been crying, but for how long? how long were you even out? everything's still a blur, and no one's answered your questions yet.

you smooth back his hair from his face, hand shaking slightly. "okay," you say, one of your hands warm and secure in his own. "i won't." a moment later, you flick the tip of his nose with your finger, a hint of a smile crossing your face. "but this is payback," you say, quiet enough that it stays between you both, "for last time."

and for the first time in what feels like an eternity, jangjun finds himself smiling a little, too. "fine," he says, softer this time as he leans forward to kiss your forehead. "i'm glad you're alive... partner."

it earns an eye roll from you, but you don't bite back like you usually do. you're sure everyone knows anyway. "same goes to you, partner." you scoot over, giving him ample room to sit next to you. "c'mere. you look like shit, lee. take a nap before i kick you out."

(he smiles and snuggles in. you aren't going to kick him out: that much he knows. but cuddling with you? that he can do.)

[nonranghaes]

daeyeol smells something burning the moment he walks into the apartment... and then he sees something burning as you try to wave smoke out of the kitchen window. "honey?"

"no! no, no, no--get out! don't look!"

his eyes widen a little, and he does the exact opposite as he rushes further into the apartment. there's a smoking pan of something burnt to a crisp, and he pulls open the doors to the balcony to help air out the smell. he almost gags a little, but by the time things are a little more under control, you're crying. it's not hard to connect the dots when he sees supplies to decorate a cake on the counter.

he's gentle though when he takes your hands in his, looking them over carefully. "did you burn yourself?"

you shake your head, wiping furiously at your face. "i... i forgot to take the cake out. i made dinner and--and it went well, but... the cake..."

"did you hurt yourself...?" he doesn't seem to notice as he looks you over carefully. "no?" and when you shake your head, he breathes a sigh of relief. "good." he leans in to kiss your forehead gently. "i was worried..."

"daeyeol--" you wipe your eyes again. "i ruined your birthday."

"we still have dinner," he says. "i don't need a cake to enjoy my night in with you." he pulls you into his arms. "work was hard today. thank you for the birthday dinner."

you wrap your arms around him and squeeze gently. "your welcome. but... if you want dessert... we could order it for delivery?"

he smiles as he kisses the side of your head again. "i'd like that."

[nonranghaes]

jangjun is ruining all of your plans right now, the evil fucker. you were going to wake up early and surprise him with breakfast in bed... and instead, your dumb, cute boyfriend won't let you go.

"i know you're awake, you dork." you lightly flick his forehead just to see the way his face scrunches. "let me surprise you still."

he holds you tighter. "what if i want you to stay? hm? it's my birthday. are you denying my birthday wish?"

you roll your eyes. "your birthday wish... is to cuddle."

"yep." he snuggles in. "we can go out for breakfast. it's cold," he whines, "and i don't want to get up yet."

fine, you decide. he wins. you snuggle in, pressing a kiss against his forehead. "by the way," you say quietly, "i misspelled your name in the bakery order. i was typing too fast, so..."

"give me a name tag and i'll wear it to my surprise party."