Jooheon sighs heavily as he glances out the window of his family home. It’s the day after Chuseok holiday officially ended, and it’s the first time he’s been home since the beginning of their world tour. It’s great being back home, really. He gets to see his brothers and his parents, which is more than he can say for his last birthday. Last year his birthday had also been their comeback day. They’d been entirely too busy all week to even think of celebrating his birthday, but Jooheon hadn’t minded too much.

After all, he’d been able to see countless Monbebe because of that.

He glances down at his phone, and begins to scroll through all the fancafe messages again. Even though he hasn’t been able to see Monbebe today, they’ve still left countless messages and letters for him there. It warms his heart to no end. He smiles to himself, writing out a thank-you message to his fans for their kindness.

 

Minhyuk sighs in exasperation as Dambi, his mother’s dog, yet again trots away from him in favor of crowding his mother’s feet while she works in the kitchen.

“Dambi-ya~” Minhyuk calls after the fluffy brat. She merely pauses in her journey, turns to wag her tail teasingly at the young man, and continues on her way. Minhyuk groans in frustration, and throws himself back onto his childhood bed. He stares up at the ceiling with an unamused pout. He decides with a huff to look at the fancafe.

As he goes through the different posts, his heart twinges ever so slightly. It feels weird not to see his precious Jooheonney on his birthday, especially after the hectic past few months they’d all just had. He puffs out a sigh, rolling his bottom lip in between his thumb and index finger thoughtfully. He pulls at the skin, a crazy yet fantastic idea coming to him. He immediately dials Jooheon’s mother’s number, bolting up on his bed as he listens to it ring.

“Halmeoni!” he greets cheerily as soon as she answers. “How was your Chuseok holiday this year?”

“Minhyuk-ah!” the woman says, sounding somewhat surprised. “My holiday went very well. How about yours?”

“It’s been perfect,” he replies. “I was curious… what have you got planned for Jooheonney’s birthday today?”

 

“I’ll go with you,” Jooheon offers, already moving to get his shoes. His mother has just announced that she, his brother, and his father are all going to town for a few errands. Jooheon, of course, had been eager to join them.

“No, no, no,” his mother quickly interjects, waving her hands in outright refusal. Jooheon raises a quizzical brow, pouting a little.

“But—”

“Just wait here, Heonney Bee,” she tells him, giving him a half-hug. “We won’t be long.” Jooheon hums, hugging his eomma back as if his life depends on it. Being away for so long has really made him cherish the time he manages to get with his family. Granted, he’d much rather spend his birthday at home, but he’d now choose spending time with his family over anything any day. But, he’ll stay behind if his mother asks him to.

She nods to him, and pulls at his cheek affectionately before hurrying out the door. Jooheon sighs after she leaves, the rest of his family in tow, and figures he might as well take a shower. With nothing else better to do, as he’s exhausted the fancafe for the time being and he’s been unable to focus enough to write any usable lyrics since he’s gotten home, showering seems like a good enough plan.

 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Minhyuk-ah?” Kihyun asks, readjusting his hold on the box in his arms. He can’t believe he’s been dragged into one of Minhyuk’s crazy schemes during his time off, no less. But, he will admit, it’s one of his better crazy schemes. “We really won’t be putting his family out?” Minhyuk shakes his head, a smile plastered to his face.

“Not at all,” he assures his same-age friend. “Now be quiet and carry the stuff inside. Make sure Jooheonney doesn’t see you!” Kihyun grumbles under his breath at the slightly-older, but moves to comply anyway. The others scurry after him, chuckling under their breath in anticipation.

 

They make sure to keep quiet, as they can hear Jooheon clearly singing in the shower. The rapper absolutely hates showering with the door closer, a fact they’d all learned the hard way when living with him in their trainee days, so it’s pretty easy to hear him. Minhyuk even manages to sneak down the hall to snap a picture of the glorious sight of a Jooheon. After all, his pale skin glistening in the steam of a hot shower is a sight that can brighten Minhyuk’s mood, no matter the circumstance.

He quickly scurries back to the others upon snapping the perfect shot. He smiles brightly at seeing the finished set-up, complete with a cute cake just big enough for them with a dozen candles set atop it. The others gather round the table with confetti poppers in their hands, Changkyun with noticeably more poppers than the others. Kihyun wrangles one of the captured poppers free from the maknae and hands it to Minhyuk, who takes it with a knowing chuckle.

The sound of the running water suddenly ends, and Minhyuk bounces excitedly on his heels. He just can’t wait to see Jooheon’s face when he sees this.

 

The last thing Jooheon had expected to encounter right after his shower was an attack of confetti poppers. He’d wrapped his towel around his waist, but had paused at hearing rustling about in the living room. He assumes it’s just his family, though, coming home from the store. He pads into the living room on bare feet, fully intending to ask his mother if she had thought to get some marshmallows while in town.

He opens his mouth to ask said question, but instead screams in utter terror at the ear-piercing explosions suddenly surrounding him.

“Happy birthday!!!!”

Jooheon sighs out a pained breath, grabbing at his chest as his heart tries to pound its way out of his body. He’s paralyzed in shock, and he can’t even bring himself to process what’s happening around him. His band mates are in his house? There’s a cake? Who the hell thought scaring him to death would be a good idea?

“Jooheonney~!”

Ah, of course. Minhyuk.

Jooheon is barely able to meet Minhyuk’s gaze as the older closes the distance between him and crushes him with a hug. Jooheon suddenly becomes acutely aware of how he’s practically right now… Sure, that’s nothing new for the members to see, but he’s pretty sure a birthday party merits clothes.

“Hyung?” Jooheon finally manages to ask as Minhyuk pulls away, his goosebumps beginning to fade away. “What are you all doing here?”

“It’s your birthday,” Minhyuk tells him, pulling away to pout at his question. “Where else would we be?” Despite his aggravation at being scared half to death on his birthday, he can’t help but smile at the tone his hyung uses, as if the reason is obvious.

“Come blow out your candles, hyung!” Changkyun interjects, popping up suddenly to pull the older over to his cake. It’s got bee decorations on it amidst the tall candles, supposedly buzzing little pathways around the icing. Jooheon beams around at the others surrounding him, his heart swelling with affection for his caring members. He feels Minhyuk set his hand atop his shoulder, and he turns a little to smile at him.

Minhyuk beams at him warmly, love and affection shining in his eyes. He leans down to press a kiss to his cheek. The tips of Jooheon’s ears blaze a bright, embarrassed red at the public display. Minhyuk merely coos and pulls his cheek at noticing, and gestures for the rapper to comply with the maknae’s request.

Jooheon closes his eyes, and tries to come up with something to wish for. Used to, he’d wish for his debut to finally come. Then, he’d wish for himself to finally get the nerve to talk to Minhyuk about his feelings for the older. Now, there’s only one thing left to make his life perfect…

I wish we get first place with this next comeback, so we can prove to Monbebe that we’re artists who deserve their support.

He then leans forward, blows out his candles with a single breath, and smiles delightedly at the applause that surrounds him.

He looks around at his caring bandmates, unable to stop smiling as he realizes how lucky he is to have them.