One could not fail to see the invisible fumes of smoke emitting out of Minhyuk’s ears.

           His master plan had been executed rather well, at least during the start of it. Hyunwoo had left for work at eight, as per usual. Instead of having breakfast together as they normally do, Minhyuk put the acting lessons he took in school to the test by pretending to sleep in as convincingly as possible. This meant he had to avoid the amount of tries Hyunwoo had exerted in an attempt to wake him up, including some of his rather unorthodox methods.

(Read: planting kisses along the curve of Minhyuk’s neck. Having been married for two years and dated for three, Hyunwoo knows by heart what his husband’s greatest weaknesses are.)

Luckily enough, Hyunwoo gave up after ten minutes of futile efforts. Okay, it might be inaccurate to call them futile since Minhyuk had been coerced into dealing with a serious case of morning wood after Hyunwoo left. Thank god he was sleeping on his stomach this morning.

           After making sure Hyunwoo had really left the house, Minhyuk leaped out of bed to prepare himself for the upcoming surprise party he was going to hold later that day in his husband’s office. Kept outside of his knowledge, of course. Putting on a pale blue sweatshirt and a pair of tight-fitting jeans that Hyunwoo had expressed multiple times just how much he loves, he heads for the kitchen to make a quick breakfast before he gets going.

           Initially, Minhyuk was planning to make his own breakfast, but this was a nice surprise too. As it turns out, Hyunwoo had made a second plate of pancakes along with a yellow sticky note placed on the fridge.

           Morning, sleepyhead. Enjoy the pancakes!

           The bright grin stretched across his face when he reads the note could blind a man. Minhyuk gobbles down on the plate of sugar-coated, blueberry pancakes after realizing the amount of things he has to do for the day, and so right after he wipes off the remaining sugar dust off his lips, he grabs the keys to his motorcycle and is already outside of their apartment by the next minute.

           Minhyuk drives off the motorcycle under the scorching heat of the sun hanging high above his head. He’s made a special checklist in his head as he drives through the bustling streets of Seoul, abuzz with liveliness and excitement to match his ever-pumping adrenaline.  

           First and foremost: the cake.

           He had been smart enough to order the cake a few days before Hyunwoo’s birthday – a lesson learnt from one of Hyunwoo’s previous birthdays where the cake arrived three days after the party. Minhyuk has made sure he bought the cake from the shop that makes Hyunwoo’s favourite macarons (a dessert the two had been thoroughly enjoying together since their very first date), and that their cake would be readily available on the day of his birthday. He hops off the motorcycle with helmet in one hand the free hand fixing up his hair.

           The shop is nice and comfy, decorated as if it was an elegant Parisian patisserie. There aren’t too many customers since it’s still a little early, which means Minhyuk doesn’t have to wait too long to pick up his cake. The staff there greets him with sincere warmth, putting an equally as sincere smile on Minhyuk’s face. Nothing could go wrong from here, right?

           “We’re very sorry to tell you but the cake that you ordered a few days ago is currently unavailable. Would you like to us show you our other cakes that you might be interested in?”

            no.

           Minhyuk bites back the bitter response because now the party won’t be as perfect as he wanted it to be. The sincerity has worn off and he’s struggling not to scowl at the young and innocent-looking cashier. “That’s completely fine,” he says instead. “What are your other cakes?”

           He proceeds to listen to one of the staff members show her a wide variety of displayed cakes and it quickly grows tedious, so Minhyuk ends up choosing a red velvet one at random. They take a while to pack it into the box, causing him to tap his fingers on the counter out of jittery restlessness. Minhyuk pays for the cashier and offers them a quiet thank you before leaving the shop in a hurry, placing the plastic bag containing the box ever so carefully.

           It’s currently 10:15 AM, which means Minhyuk more or less has two hours before Hyunwoo’s lunch break starts. He speeds out to the other side of the town where he has to buy the party decorations but remembers to be highly cautious for the sake of the cake.

           A “sorry, we’re closed!” sign on the glass door of the store. This was definitely not what he had expected.

           Minhyuk wants to pull his hair and scream in frustration because he just drove all this way to find out that the only place in the city that sells the cute pastel pink balloons is closed on Thursdays, goddammit. In the end, he ends up buying vibrant red ones for children’s birthday parties at a shop where he encountered a revoltingly haughty teenager for a cashier.

           Just another thing to further ruin his day. How wonderful.

           Minhyuk just hopes that Hyunwoo wouldn’t mind the images of Mickey Mouse on his birthday party’s balloons.

           Unfortunately, oh so very unfortunately, Hyunwoo’s office is located miles away from where Minhyuk currently was and the maps application on his phone tells him it would take him approximately an hour and half to get there. That is, if he manages to successfully rush through the morning traffic.

           He relies on his luck instead and hopes for the best.

           Thankfully, he skillfully swerves past honking cars and is now quickly becoming much closer to the area where Hyunwoo’s office is situated. The once sour mood is replaced with an ever-growing enthusiasm that makes his heart beat in great rapidity and his smile crinkle up due to the wide grin etched on to his face, concealed by his helmet.

           Minhyuk reaches Hyunwoo’s office building before his lunch break, but there’s just one problem: he only has five minutes to get ready.

           Out of the blue, his phone buzzes in his pocket, prompting him to take out his phone in a hurry as he parks his motorcycle and heads for the entrance of the building. It’s Hoseok, Hyunwoo’s secretary, on the other end of the line.

           “Where are you?” he asks, the panic evident in his voice.

           “I’m here, I’m here,” Minhyuk is panting from all the running. He steps into the elevator and his finger punches at the button of Hyunwoo’s office floor, the box of cake in the grasp of his left hand and balloons in the right. “Where should I go?”

           “I’m already waiting for you at the receptionist’s, I’ll show you where to go from there on.”

           “Where’s Hyunwoo?”

           “In a meeting,” Hoseok shortly replies and there’s a hint of impatience in his tone. “Now get up here!”

           The other man hangs up just as Minhyuk arrives at Hyunwoo’s floor. The elevator makes a small ding sound before the cool, metallic doors open to reveal the sight of Shin Hoseok with one arm propped up on the receptionist’s counter and a kittenish smirk on his face as he chats up the young lady behind the counter. And to top it off, he’s dressed in a skin-tight white button up shirt, with a few buttons left unopened and sleeves rolled up to reveal his well-earned (Hoseok’s words) muscles.

           As expected, Minhyuk thought.

           Hoseok immediately takes notice of Minhyuk’s presence, eyes darting from the balloons to him. “Couldn’t get any better balloons?” he asks, earning a giggle from the receptionist that he’s made his next target.

           “You still work for my husband, now shut up and get going.”

           That comes off a little ruder than Minhyuk had wanted it to be but he has very little time to care. After muttering a small geez under his breath, Hoseok leads him to Hyunwoo’s office room, where Minhyuk could set up his birthday celebrations in peace. God had granted Minhyuk a single congratulatory gift that day: Hyunwoo’s meeting might run longer than Hoseok had expected.

           “Good luck,” says Hoseok, before closing the door shut. Minhyuk has an estimated ten minutes before Hyunwoo returns from his meeting, so he has to make all this completely and utterly perfect.

           He sets up the balloons all around the room and places the cake on the coffee table. Later on, he sticks the candles into the cake and makes sure he has a lighter at the ready. Lastly, Minhyuk fixes the crinkles of his shirt and cards his fingers through his wind-swept hair and now all he has to do is wait.

           Minhyuk waits, but that’s all that’s he’s pretty much been doing for two hours now. Eventually, he falls asleep on Hyunwoo’s couch, reserved for guests and other people of highly important business affairs.

           He jolts awake when he feels cold fingers brushing against the skin of his cheek and then he realizes it’s him.

           And in addition, he realizes that Minhyuk’s surprise birthday party didn’t end up becoming a surprise at all.

           “Morning there,” says Hyunwoo, a warm smile settling on the small curve of his lips.

           “Oh god,” Minhyuk groans. “This wasn’t supposed to happen! I was supposed to surprise you and it was all going to be so perfect and it wouldn’t have been ruined if I had just stayed awake when I waited for you and—“

           Minhyuk’s frustration is drowned out of him when he feels a familiar pair of lips crashing against his own. A familiar pair of lips followed by the familiar sensation of melting into Hyunwoo’s fingertips – a feeling only he could invoke.

           “I’m sorry the meeting took so long,” Hyunwoo apologizes, but it only fills Minhyuk up with more guilt.

           “Don’t apologize. This wasn’t your fault,” he sighs. “And I’m the one who’s made more faults today. I didn’t get the cake with the macarons you liked, didn’t get the balloons I wanted, and I fell asleep on your nice sofa, for heavens’ sake. I should be the one apologizing.”

           Hyunwoo doesn’t say a word, but instead he takes Minhyuk into his lap, strong arms enveloping around his waist. In return, Minhyuk rests his head comfortably on his chest, nuzzling his face into the warm expanse of his neck. “I really wanted to make it perfect for you,” Minhyuk mumbles, inducing a soft chuckle to fall out of the latter’s mouth.

           “This is already perfect. You’re perfect.”

           Minhyuk wonders how Hyunwoo is still very much capable of causing the ever-present butterflies to appear in his stomach, even after all this years.

           “Are you sure? Because I got you red velvet cake and you don’t even like red velvet—“

           “I actually really like red velvet.” Hyunwoo cuts him off.

           Minhyuk’s eyes widen in response, out of both surprise and annoyance. “You never told me that! Way to make me feel like a bad husband.”

           “Well, I’m pretty sure the cake would serve as remedy for your apparent frustration,” says Hyunwoo, before lifting Minhyuk off his lap to getting up to cut a slice of the cake sitting on the table. Soon, Minhyuk stands up as well, however he was taken aback when he sees that Hyunwoo was walking towards the other end of the room where his desk stood.

           “Come.”

Hyunwoo’s simple command was enough to make Minhyuk’s cheeks flush a violent red, the heat spreading across his face and reaching the tips of his ears. He approaches him in both apprehension and anticipation but the sight of Hyunwoo in a nicely fitting suit that hugs his figure just right is far, far too tempting.

Once Minhyuk reaches him, Hyunwoo switches positions and props Minhyuk on his desk table. Not a single word leaving his mouth.

Hyunwoo is now standing in between Minhyuk’s legs, making the blond feel twice as flustered than he was before. Minhyuk doesn’t even realize that Hyunwoo has cake frosting on one of his fingers before he held it up to his lips, which he eventually it off clean.

(The smirk on Hyunwoo’s face when Minhyuk’s tongue swirls across his finger is a sight to treasure, honestly.)

“I feel underdressed,” Minhyuk mutters, eyes locking on the crisp white shirt Hyunwoo’s wearing under the dark suit jacket.

“I’d rather have you undressed, to be honest.”

Minhyuk feels Hyunwoo’s breath ghosting against his lips, faces inches apart and growing increasingly closer – before an unexpected third party interrupts their moment.

“God, you two are disgusting.”

If Minhyuk had a written list of things that ruined his day, Shin Hoseok was a definite entry.