~October 4~

{Apartment 410}

    Jeonghan couldn’t help it, he was crying. And of course since Jeonghan was crying, it meant that Jisoo was also crying. And because they were crying, Chan was crying (he’s a sympathetic crier), which in turn lead Soonyoung to cry (being the over emotional puppy he is). And pretty soon almost everyone in the room was crying. Fortunately it was the good sort of crying, the happy sort, but that was really besides the point at the moment. Long story short, it was almost seven o’clock on a Tuesday night and apartment 410 was packed full of crying boys.

Two Hours Earlier

    Jisoo could hardly wait, there was less than twenty minutes left before Jeonghan would arrive and it was absolutely, positively nerve-wracking. He was a strange mix of kid-in-a-candy-store excited and pee-yourself-then-throw-up nervous. Regardless of what happened at this point, it would be an interesting evening to say the least. But right now would probably be a good time to sit down. Or drink some water. Or possibly both- Jisoo was feeling a little faint.

    “Are you okay?” Jihoon eyed the older boy warily, mentally noting that he would not want to be around if and when he threw up.

    “Yeah, of course. I’m totally, completely, absolutely, positively, 100% fine. Why would I be otherwise?” Jisoo cursed internally, even he could tell that he didn’t sound convincing.

    “Really?” Jihoon raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re not nervous or anything?”

    “No, definitely not” Jisoo laughed weakly

    “Josh You’re not fooling anyone.” Hansol joined the conversation staring pointedly at the older boy. He was still just a tad salty that Seungkwan had apparently been “too busy” to come.

    “Fine. Maybe I’m just the teeniest, tiniest bit nervous. But only a teany bit.”

    “Everything will be fine, trust me.” Jihoon was being surprisingly comforting, even extending a hand and patting Jisoo’s back. It was a bit awkward, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

    “He loves you plus your gift is pretty darn great, and I’m not just saying that because I helped with it.” He smirked, this was more like the Jihoon that Jisoo was familiar with.

    “Just relax, okay? I’m going to go talk to Soonyoung.”

    How surprising, Jisoo thought, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he watched the smaller boy head over to where Soonyoung was waiting. Upon seeing his approach, Soonyoung broke out into a wide grin.

    “He’s right you know.” Hansol slung an arm around Jisoo’s shoulder, drawing his attention away from his dongsaengs.

    “Jeonghan will love you no matter what you do. He’ll love this party too- even if it’s just by association.”

    “Thanks for that. He’ll love it by association. Really makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. That’s what I’ve worked my off for the past month-and-a-half for, love by association.”

    “Dude.” On a scale of one to ten, Jisoo was currently about an 8.5, maybe nine. It hadn’t quite progressed to the point that he would swear (an incredibly rare occurrence) but it was getting close.

    “You seriously need to calm down. Take a breather, maybe eat some reject cake.” (Jisoo might have gone a tad overboard and baked seventeen different cakes, deeming four of them “unfit to be consumed” whatever that meant)

    “Don’t you think that I’ve already tried that?” Jisoo was in full out panic mode when his phone conveniently went off.

Today 5:52 PM

Hannie

> Sorry I got caught up helping Jun

> I swear this boy sometimes

> [Insert eye-rolling emoji]

> IT’S MY BIRTHDAY

> Anyways

> omw home now

> Can’t wait 2 c u

> ;) <3

“OH MY GOD, HE’LL BE HERE IN LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES!” Jisoo practically threw his phone across the room

    “Jeez, it’s not like you’re proposing to him.” Hansol rolled his eyes before stopping abruptly.

    “WAIT, you’re not proposing right?”
    “Not yet. I’d like to at least graduate first, if that’s at all possible.”

    “But you will one day?”

    “Of course.” Jisoo said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

    “We’ve talked about it together and decided that waiting a little while longer is for the best. There’s no way I’m ever letting my angel go.” As Jisoo spoke, Hansol smirked- his plan was working. Nothing calmed his friend down like talking about his boyfriend.

    “Eww. You’re gross Josh.” Laughing, Hansol rolled his eyes and Jisoo blushed.

    “Sorry.”

    “Don’t listen to him,” Seungcheol popped up, slinging his arm around Hansol’s shoulder. “He’s just salty that no one loves him.”

    “Am not! Besides when was the last time you dated someone, hyung?” The half-american wrestled his way out of the embrace, which was really more of a headlock at this point.

    “I’ll have you know that the ladies love this,” he gestured dramatically to his lean, muscular form. “I got four numbers yesterday helping Jeonghan hand out pamphlets.”

    Before Hansol could respond, a loud banging came from the door.

    “Guuuuyyyyys let me innnnn! He’s like right behind me!” Jisoo opened the door and a very winded Jun stumbled in.

    “You…. Have… No idea…. How fast….. I had to run.” He panted, slowly regaining his breath. “Thought I was going…. Going to die…” He practically collapsed on top of Minghao who had come over to investigate the commotion. Minghao grunted under his weight, letting out a slight whining noise- Jun was sweaty.

    “You seriously owe me.” Jun spoke, still crushing Minghao and finally regaining his breath.

“You should have seen him. He wouldn’t stop complaining while helping me and if looks could kill, I’d be dead. Every five minutes it was ‘Shua this’ or ‘Jisoo that’. He can be such a baby sometimes.”

“I’m sorry about that.” Jisoo had experienced first hand just how needy his boyfriend could be. He couldn’t help but feel the least bit guilty, Jun had spent the last two hours pretending to need Jeonghan’s help so that Jisoo and the others could finish setting up Jeonghan’s surprise party.

“Nah, it’s fine. I knew what I was getting myself into. If anything, I’ll be using this against Jeonghan next time he tries to bail on me.”  Jisoo giggled and there was another banging at the door.

“Shua, can you let me in? I left my key at home.” Jeonghan’s voice filtered through the door.

“OH MY GOSH HE’S HERE!!” Jisoo whisper-yelled. “ACTION STATIONS, ACTION STATIONS!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” Everyone rapidly hid themselves, diving behind counters, crouching behind couches, and shutting themselves in closets. Jisoo carefully fixed his already perfect hair and straightened his sweater. Taking a deep breath he went to open the door.

“Jisoo!” Jeonghan practically pounced on him, wrapping him in a tight hug. Somewhere behind the counter Mingyu almost snickered before Wonwoo slammed his hand against his mouth.

“I missed you!” The long-haired boy snuggled his face into Jisoo’s shoulder, causing the incredibly tense boy to relax a little.

“I missed you too. Happy Birthday Jeonghan.” He pressed a gentle kiss against Jeonghan’s forehead, blushing a little as he knew his friends were watching. Jeonghan, who still had no idea that almost everyone they knew was packed into their apartment, pouted as Jisoo pulled away from the embrace.

“Is something wrong, Shua?” Rather than answer his question, Jisoo grabbed his arm.

“Just come with me, okay?” Jeonghan nodded enthusiastically, immediately imagining a million reasons why Jisoo was acting this way.

“Oh my god. Are you finally going to do that thing?”  He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Jisoo flushed even darker. Meanwhile, everyone else wondered what the thing was. Except for Jun and Minghao. Jun was busy trying to make out with his boyfriend in a closet while Minghao kept trying to shove off his advances. But that’s another story.

“Hannie, please just come with me.” He sighed as his boyfriend pecked him on the cheek again. He really just wanted to scream ‘STOP TOUCHING ME ALL OF OUR FRIENDS ARE HERE’ but that would ruin the surprise now, wouldn’t it?

“Why did you plan something? Did you make me dinner?” He had to admit, as he pulled his boyfriend through the short hallway, that Jeonghan was incredibly cute when he was excited like this- his eyes sparkling as he wildly tried to guess what Jisoo was planning. Despite all of the planning, however, nothing could have prepared him for what was waiting.

“SURPRISE!!!” His eyes widened as all their friends appeared out of thin air, practically (okay actually) tackling him.

“W-what?” He was incredibly taken aback as they pounced on him. Noticing a particular chinese boy (who had given up trying to make Minghao love him), his expression changed. “JUN YOU LITTLE BIRCH TREE YOU SAID YOU NEEDED HELP WITH YOUR CHEM WORK! I TRUSTED YOU AND YET YOU LET ME SLAVE AWAY ATTEMPTING TO TEACH YOU STOICHIOMETRY AND WASTE HALF MY BIRTHDAY” [a/n I don’t actually know what they study in college chemistry as I am not in college yet. But we did stoichiometry a little while back in my AP course and it’s supposed to be like a college level class, so who knows. Sorry if I got this wrong] Jun just rolled his eyes.

“Your such a drama queen it was only two hours, besides Jisoo asked me to.” Jisoo shrugged apologetically.

“I’m sorry Hannie, I needed time to set up.” And he really was sorry. He hated making Jeonghan uncomfortable, even if it was in order to make him really happy later on. Upon seeing the look on Jisoo’s face, Jeonghan softened, pulling himself out of the mass of bodies which he was still buried under and encapsulating Jisoo in a warm hug.

“I’m so lucky that I have you in my life,” he whispered into Josh’s ear as he placed a gentle kiss against his jaw, sending tingles down Jisoo’s spine.

“Thank you so much for this. You have no idea how much it means to me.” Someone cleared their throat behind them.

“Don’t you think there’s another somewhat sizeable group of people here who you should also be thanking?” Hansol piped up, Jeonghan just laughed burrowing deeper into Jisoo’s embrace.

“Nope.”

“I so did not get up at 4 to meet Jisoo in an abandoned gas station parking lot for this nonsense.” Now that caught Jeonghan’s attention.

“Seriously babe?” Jisoo flushed, well more so than he was already flushed at the level of physical contact they were maintaining in front of their friends.

“It wasn’t 4 am.” He muttered into Jeonghan’s shoulder.

“What was that?”

“I said it wasn’t 4 am, it was 5 am. I just wanted everything to be absolutely perfect and special and surprising.” Jeonghan laughed, ruffling his boyfriend’s hair.

“You didn’t have to work so hard for me. I’d love anything that you’d do.”

“Why does nobody understand me?? I don’t want love by association, I want you to actually love it.” Jisoo pouted and Jeonghan laughed.

“Of course I actually love it.”

“Ooookkkkkaaaayyyyyy~ if you two are done being all lovey and gross, we have a party to start!”

It wasn’t long until the party was in full swing (or as full swing as a party can be at 6 o’clock on a Tuesday. And despite calming down a lot, Jisoo was still somewhat nervous. Ture the party had been a definite success, Jeonghan was both happy and surprised, but he still had the  main part of his gift to give. And the thought of that alone was enough to make him slightly queasy.

“It’s time.” Seungcheol popped up leaning on Jisoo’s shoulder. “If you want to keep with your crazy schedule, it’s now or never.”

“Okay.” Jisoo took a deep breath as he moved towards the center of the room.

“I’ll get your guitar.” Seungcheol gave him a small smile before running to get Jisoo’s guitar from the bedroom.

“Hey everyone, could I please have your attention for a moment?” His voice came out much smaller than he had initially intended. It wasn’t like he was afraid of performing, years of singing and playing guitar had long since cured him of his stage fright. It was moreso because of what he was performing. But it was far too late for second thoughts. It was too late for second thoughts the moment that he threw caution to the wind and moved across the Pacific ocean for the love of his life.

I can do this, Jisoo took a deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing his mind. Just think about the music. Just think about the song. Just think about Jeonghan.

“Guys, can I have your attention?” This time it worked and Jisoo felt his face burn slightly as ten pairs of eyes focused on him. “Thanks.”

“Shua?” Jeonghan looked at him questioningly and he smiled back. Seungcheol returned, handing him his guitar.

“Um, well this is something that I’ve been thinking about doing for a while, but I finally decided to do it.” Ugh, why was he this nervous? It was just his friends for crying out loud. It wasn’t like he was performing in front of thousands of people or anything. He took another deep breath before continuing.

“Jeonghan, I’m so thankful to have you in my life. You make me so happy it’s crazy, happier than I ever thought possible. In all honesty you can be kind of a brat at times but you can also be funny and sweet and kind and wonderful. I think that you’re an absolutely amazing person and you deserve to have the best birthday in the entire world. So this is for you. I love you and happy birthday.” And with that he started to sing. It was all too much for Jeonghan, the way Jisoo sounded when he sang, the way he looked as he played his guitar, the way Jisoo was looking at him eyes so full of love, but with a hint of worry in his expression, as if he was afraid that Jeonghan wouldn’t like his gift (as if he could ever dislike anything Jisoo did). He couldn’t help it. It was too much, it was his world, and he was crying.

Jisoo finished his song and Jeonghan practically tackled him the moment he put his guitar down, smothering him and telling him how much he loved it through his tears. And of course since Jeonghan was crying, it meant that Jisoo was also crying. And because they were crying, Chan was crying (he’s a sympathetic crier), which in turn lead Soonyoung to cry (being the over emotional puppy he is). And soon almost everyone in the room was crying. Pretty much the only two people not crying were Minghao and Jihoon, who were standing a little apart from the rest of the group, shooting each other uncomfortable looks as as both Jun and Soonyoung clung to them respectively. Wonwoo was also not crying, but he wasn’t technically in the room, he was in the hallway.

Five minutes and a box of tissues later the room was pretty much back to normal, or as normal as it could get with the selection of boys present.

“So, are we going out or not?” Chan piped up. He was of course referring to the final part of Jisoo’s ultimate birthday plan: heading out for dinner to kill a few hours before partying it up at Club OMG where a certain Birthday Boy’s favorite underground rapper had agreed to do a special performance.

“Of course, but remember-”

“I know, hyung” Chan rolled his eyes. “Drink water.”

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[A/N]

I’M SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS TOOK!!! I’ve just been so busy with school. I’ve also been dealing with some pretty weighty personal issues that have finally started being resolved. I hope to update this story more frequently from now on!
    The next few chapters will be about various character’s experiences at the club for the rest of the party. I have it all planned out, so hopefully I’ll be able to update again soon! Thanks for all the support!