You stood in the bakery and tapped your finger against your lip thoughtfully. What type of cake did you feel like having today? It was your birthday but your parents were away on a business trip and your brother was away in college. You sighed and peered through the glass.

            “Do you need help with that?” you looked up and saw someone your age smiling at you. You gave him a polite smile back but shook your head.

            “No thanks. I got this.”

            But he doggedly tagged along. “What type of cake are you looking for?”

            “Er, I like tiramisu.”

            He nodded enthusiastically. “Okay. We have an excellent selection over here. Do you like it with more coffee flavor? How large do you want it? Is it an occasion?”

            “Yeah, it’s my birthday but nobody’s home so it’ll just be me.”

            His face fell. “But that stinks! Birthdays are meant to be spent with people!” He held out a hand for you to take. “I’m Woohyun. And if you like, you can share your birthday cake with me and I can share mine with you. My shift ends really soon so we can go over to my dorms and you can meet my friends.”

            You let go of him and shook your head. “No, it’s quite alright. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

          Woohyun made cat ears and smiled brightly at you. “Come on, it’s my birthday too!” he cajoled. “It’ll be fun!”      

            You stared at him. Maybe being cute was a second job to him because he had it down to perfection. “I suppose. What type of cake do you have?”

            He grinned and hugged you impulsively. “I know my hyungs don’t like strawberry that much and I have a dongsaeng that likes anything lemon. But I personally like pudding cake. Old fashioned black forest with a layer of delicious pudding.”

            You stepped back from his embrace and smiled shyly at him. “Ah, I see. Okay, well that sounds good. I guess I’ll go with the tiramisu one.”

            He pulled the cake out with a flourish. “Quite an excellent taste, my dear lady!” he praised you. You blushed. “I’ll give you an employee’s discount. Here’s our address. Or. Better yet, you can just come with me! The boys will love you.”

            You shuffled awkwardly. “Er, I was just going to go home and have dinner. Celebrate with a good book and go to sleep.”

            He waved your words away. “Please, it’ll be so much more fun if you hung out with us! I promise, the seven of us are all different. You’ll be entertained.”

            You ran a hand over the counter and stepped aside for the newly arrived customers. You observed Woohyun professionally explaining to them what they needed. You hid a smile. He was really cute. And when the little girl started crying because she couldn’t see, Woohyun picked her up and made cat ears with his fingers. Her mother nodded gratefully.

            When they were done, another boy walked in. “Yeah, happy birthday man. You can go now. I got this.” He nodded at you and Woohyun slipped off his apron. He carefully packaged both your cakes. You reached out to help him take one but he slid it away.

            “Nope. I got it. No gentleman would make a lady hold his burdens.”

            You bit the inside of your cheek and Woohyun started walking off towards the residential area of town. You followed and he started blabbering. He asked you how old you were, he asked about your family. You answered him because it was Woohyun and he seemed harmless enough. He paused and you took opportunity to launch him with questions as well.

            He answered them and you started to build up a picture of the other six boys he lived with. They had been buddies in college and now are working on releasing albums and songs, hoping to get noticed. Woohyun was their lead singer.

          “So, your voice should be the one I hear when we’re singing the birthday song right?” you .

            Woohyun turned red. “Noo, Sunggyu-hyung is also really good too.”

            Woohyun led you up a hill and turned the corner to a dorm-styled building. He pushed open the door with his foot and asked you to take out his keys. But before you could, the door swung open and a really tall boy stood in front of you. This must be Sungyeol.

            “About time! We already have dinner ready for you! Come on!” He looked at you. “Who are you?”

            “Oh, it’s her birthday too and we’re going to celebrate it together.”

            Sungyeol nodded. “Sure, welcome!” You stepped in and immediately, noise overwhelmed you. You weren’t used to such festivities since your brother moved out a few years ago.

            The boys were as fun as Woohyun promised. They took better care of you than they did of Woohyun. They joked around and teased the two of you, already decided that the two of you would make an excellent couple. When Woohyun took out the cake, Sungjong clapped.

            “Hyung, make a wish that you’ll be with her! Do it!” he bounced excitedly in his seat.

            You glanced up and saw that Woohyun was blushing shyly. He reached across for your hand and you nearly jumped out of your skin. Woohyun bowed his head and you did the same, wishing that you would be able to have many more happy birthdays like this to come.

            You felt your hand tug and opened your eyes. Woohyun had placed the end of a fork in his mouth and was dangling a piece of cake on the other end in front of you. You laughed and the rest of them chanted for you to eat it.

            After you swallowed, you playfully scooped up a finger of the icing and dabbed it on his nose. “There you go. Happy birthday, and thank you, Woohyun.” You whispered as they burst into song. 

Happy birthday Manganerd302

I missed Woohyun's birthday so I guess this is compensation