After another half hour of homework, I looked at the clock, and it was already 6:00PM, so I decided to get some dinner before going to work. Leaving school, I walked to the closest supermarket to buy a sandwich.

While passing by the pastry section, my mind flashed back to the text from Jungkook’s mom. Why would his mom wish him happy birthday if it wasn’t his real birthday? I doubt a mother would forget her own son’s birth date. I contemplated for a bit before grabbing a cupcake and a candle along with a sandwich. Who said you can’t celebrate a birthday twice?

I arrived at the café a little bit earlier, so I snuck the cake into the fridge and got dressed before Jungkook came in. The rest of the night went on quite well, with the usual mass of girls coming into the shop and of course other customers that are actually here for the food and drinks.

Junmyeon left before us, which meant Jungkook and I had to close up the shop. After finishing the cleanup, I watched for the perfect timing to bring the cake out. Jungkook finally went inside to the locker room, so I quickly prepared the candle on the cupcake and turned off all the lights. Hiding behind the counter, I waited for him to come out, and as soon as he does, he turns the lights back on. “What the. Hey, why’d you turn off the light—”

“—Happy birthday to you~, happy birthday to you~, happy birthday to Jungkookieeeee, happy birthday to you~~~. Make a wish!” I held the cupcake up to his face.

He stared at me for a long time before rolling his eyes with a smirk. “Stop reading other people’s text messages.”

Oh, looks like he figured it out. “Well, it’s not my fault that your phone screen turns on when you get a message. You should have brought your phone with you to the bathroom then. Come on, make your wish, my hands are getting tired.”

He sized up the cupcake and gave me a “are you serious? you call this a birthday cake?” face. I smiled back with a “this is all I can afford, deal with it” face, and he finally closed his eyes to make a wish before blowing the candle.

“Yayyy!” I pulled the candle out and gave him the cupcake. “Now you can eat it, and don’t tell me your wish, ‘cause then it won’t come true.”

He split the cake in half and gave a piece to me. “I wasn’t planning on telling you in the first place.” Rude, but at least he’s sharing the cake.

After finishing the cake and closing the shop, the two of us walked to the bus stop together. “If you really want a real birthday cake, I can buy or make you one on New Year’s to make up for it.”

“It’s okay.” He stayed silent for a while and I have been trying to think ways to ask him about this. Apparently, he read my mind. “When my dad registered me for school back then, he forgot when my birthday was and thought it was January 1st. My mom told him it was the first day of school, but he remembered it as the first day of the year.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “Jimin hyung saw my birthday from my old school ID, so they think that’s my birthday, and I never bothere