Heechul and Leeteuk stood around Donghae's apartment with clothes scattered everywhere and several sort-of empty boxes in each corner. Donghae was busy digging through another box that he failed to see the way Leeteuk prevented Heechul from pouncing him. 

"Leeteuk, let me go." Heechul gritted as he tried to reach for Donghae's neck. "I'm going to teach this brat a lesson once and for all."

"Heechul, relax." Leeteuk looked back at Donghae and sweatdropped when he saw the latter carefully taking out another set of clothes and a pair of used electronics from the box he just packed. Shaking his head helplessly, he kept a firm grip on Heechul as he too controlled himself from saying anything. "It's a process. We said we were going to let him decide."

"He's not deciding anything!" Heechul pointed out voice full of frustration. "We might as well not have touched anything."

"Heechul, we have to let him do this by himself. It's already a good first step that he agreed to do this in the first place."

Heechul grunted in annoyance but did concede to Leeteuk. He took a deep breathe followed by a long heavy exhale before he grabbed a dirtied bright green scarf that was hanging on the couch and showed it to Donghae. 

"Donghae-ah, what about this? Can I pack this one away?"

Donghae looked at what Heechul was holding and widened his eyes. "No!" He half yelled then immediately stood up to grab it out of his hands. Seeing the look Heechul and Leeteuk were giving him, Donghae felt a little embarrassed and tried to make up a reason to keep it. "I- uh...I need this..for-for winter..."

Rolling his eyes, Heechul grabbed the pink one that was laying next to it and showed it to Donghae. "What about this one? Or are you going to make a fashion statement this year by wearing two scarves?"

Donghae looked down guiltily hearing Heechul's sarcasm but did take the matching scarf out of his hand. Without saying another word, Donghae went to his closet and carefully placed both scarves neatly on the hook where Hyukjae used to hang them in. His hand carefully touched the neon green scarf and remembered the day Hyukjae gave it to him.

Flashback

"Hap-py Birthday to you~ Happy Birthday to you~ Happy Birthday my Lee Donghae~"  Donghae laughed and looked brightly at Hyukjae who was walking towards him carrying a small strawberry cake surrounded by brightly colored candles. "Happy birthday to you~ Yaayyy - Make a wish, Hae!"

Donghae giggled seeing Hyukjae so excited for him and closed his eyes and pretended to make a wish. Honestly, it took him a minute to think of a wish because at the moment, there was nothing else he could have wished for. He had Hyukjae and they were both extremely happy together. Opening up his eyes, the first thing he saw was Hyukjae's bright eyes and gummy smile directed his way. Donghae couldn't help but smile along with him and leaned forward to kiss Hyukjae's lips as he made his wish. 

'I wish I could always see you happy like this.'

"Hae! Your shirt. Aish," Hyukjae grumbled after Donghae pulled away when he saw a small stain of icing, barely the size of a penny, on his shirt. 

Donghae ignored his whining and blew the candles before any of the wax fell on the cake. 

"Yah! You lovebirds - serve the cake first so we can leave before you two start making out in front of us."

"Hyung!" Hyukjae blushed at Heechul's words but did put the cake down on the table and started slicing it. The first plate he served was given to Heechul who winked and smirked at him. Hyukjae rolled his eyes then handed Hankyung his own plate. 

"Stop acting like a , Hyukjae." Heechul continued to tease as he took a bite out of the piece of cake given to him. "I caught you and Donghae enough times to know you're nowhere near as innocent as you look." 

Hyukjae's face was bright red by the time he handed Leeteuk his plate who was laughing along with Heechul. Obviously entertained by Hyukjae's teasing, Leeteuk decided to add fuel to the fire. 

"I thought I was the only one." Leeteuk added. "I swear if I wasn't so broke in college I wouldn't have put up with hearing those two go at it every night."

"Hyung!" Hyukjae screamed hoping it would be enough to steer the conversation somewhere else. "It's Donghae's birthday."

"Oh! Donghae's birthdays were the worst!" Leeteuk continued to tease, his grin so wide you'd it could match the joker. "I always had to sleepover with Kangin whenever 'birthday' season came around. I remember one time, Hyukjae had these bunny ears on and Donghae-"

"Okay! Alright - enough!" Hyukjae cut Leeteuk's story short  with a huff as he was forced to sit next to Donghae who was laughing along with them. Hyukjae glared at the birthday boy and crossed his arms together. "Keep laughing. Those days are over for you."

Donghae's eyes widened in shock while the rest of the room filled with laughter. 

"Hyuk, no! You can't break traditon- ow!"

"Yah!" Hyukjae cut Donghae off by hitting his head with the spoon he was holding. "Meongcheong-ah. Don't say things like that."

"Hyukkie, that really hurt." Donghae whined then pouted. 

"I can't believe you're actually turning 30," Kangin commented which only made Donghae pout harder. "How is it possible that you actually get more childish every year?"

"Hyukkie~" Donghae whined now hugging Hyukjae close to him while he buried his head on the side of his neck. "They're being mean to me."

"You deserve it, you dummy."

"As much as I enjoy reminiscing Hyukjae's capades," Heechul interrupted then casually ignored the glare that Hyukjae sent his way, "I have to be up early tomorrow so-" Heechul grabbed the small gift bag he had with him and handed it to Donghae, "here you go, Donghae-ah. Happy birthday!"

Doonghae lit up and took the present from Heechul. Leeteuk followed after him and gave him a wrapped box with a neat bow around it. Donghae then looked at Hyukjae eagerly but the latter merely smiled at him. 

"Did you not get me a present?"

"Of course, I did." Hyukjae shifted his gaze towards their guest then continued, "I'm just waiting for them to leave."

Hearing the vague condition Hyukjae gave, Heechul couldn't help but cackle as he let his dirty mind assume the "" present that Hyukjae was hiding from them. 

"Alright, alright. We got the hint you monkey." Heechul teased one last time before standing up from his seat and dragging Hankyung out with them. "Don't go too hard on him, Hyukkie. He might not be as energetic as before."

Hyukjae just groaned out loud as he was forced to put up with Heechul's constant jokes about him. Hankyung just patted Hyukjae's back as a form of apology for his lover's behavior to which Hyukjae was grateful for. No matter how excessive Heechul might be sometimes, Hankyung was always there to neutralize him no matter what. It was like a superpower that only he had the ability to do. Leeteuk and Kangin was right behind him on their way to follow Heechul out. 

Donghae walked up next to Hyukjae and bid their guests goodbye. As soon as the door was shut and the two of them were once again left alone in the apartment, Donghae was quick to grab Hyukjae's waist and pushed him against the wall. 

"Ugh! Donghae!"

Donghae brought his face close to Hyukjae's own and ghosted his lips over his. "What was that present you were gonna give me?" He whispered.

Hyukjae turned his head a little so that he could make eye contact with Donghae before letting out a breathy laugh. He put his left hand on the side of Donghae's neck as his left hand caressed the side of Donghae's cheeks. Closing the gap between them, Donghae had closed his eyes and waited for Hyukjae's lips to touch his own. Three seconds later, when he still felt nothing, he opened his eyes and looked at him curiously. Hyukjae smirked seeing the look on Donghae's face and moved to kiss his cheeks instead. 

"It's in the bedroom, Hae."

Hyukjae lightly pushed Donghae away and went towards their shared bedroom with the latter eagerly following him. Taking the secret box he's hid under their bed for the past three weeks, Hyukjae proudly presented pink gift bag to Donghae. 

"Here you go, Hae! Happy birthday!"

Although not exactly what he had in mind, Donghae accepted the gift gleefully. As far as he's concerned, Hyukjae's bubbly cuteness was enough present to keep him going for another year. Taking out the felt wrappings from the bag Donghae pulled the pink scarf from inside the bag and immediately knew from how soft the fabric was that this was the scarf that Hyukjae's been wanting to get himself since he saw it from the shop a month ago. 

"Hyukkie, weren't you the one who wanted this?"