“you miss me?”

“do you miss me?”

it’s his birthday and you’re not with him. but this isn’t anything new– still, there’s an ache in his heart and
he wishes you could be here. he’s grateful to be with the other members– they’ve done enough to celebrate his birthday,
but it isn’t the same without you.

“maybe.”

“maybe?” he asks in a dramatic tone of surprise– “then maybe i miss you, too.”

a pause on the line– then a faint feeling of disappointment.

“i wished for you to be here.”

“you can’t tell anyone what you wished for, dummy.” 

you laugh and so does he. you recognize that tone in his voice– he sounds as fine as ever to others,
but there’s this lingering undertone of sadness. but it doesn’t discourage you– you know that he’ll cheer up soon.

“–tell you what,” you continue, steps echoing in the hall as you approach a familiar door,
 “i asked hansol to put my present outside so you could see it– go check.”

“why didn’t you just ask him to give it to me?” he sounds genuinely curious and you can hear him shifting about; you roll your eyes and shake your head.

“check.”

and he listens– you hear footsteps from inside and nervousness settles in your stomach as the doorknob turns.
the door opens and you hear the surprised noise he makes both in person and through the phone.

“surprise–” amusement is laced in your voice before you hang up. “the bow was seungcheol’sidea.”
you comment, pointing to the red bow on your head. your voice is blunt and a flicker of annoyance falls upon your features,
but it disappears once your lips curve and your arms stretch out towards him– he doesn’t hesitate to hug you.

“happy birthday, jeonghan.”