The Ninth Meeting
The Little Things
November 30th, 2009
“Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuu! Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuu! Happy birthday dear Minhoooo!”
His eyes snapped open.
“Whoever is sitting on my leg is going to die,” he grumbled, turning away from s. Immediately, he felt the weight that was on his leg lift. He smiled in satisfaction until someone threw their body on top of his.
“Minhoooo.. It’s time to wake up, yeobo,” a voiced cooed in his ear as a finger traced circles on his chest. “Don’t you want your.. Birthday surprise?”
“Hyung!” Minho shouted in disgust as he sat up from his bed and hit his head against the top bunk. Key’s laughing body was sprawled on the floor from being thrown by Minho. The rest of the members all jumped into Minho’s small bed and landed with thuds when being thrown off the bed from the pushing.
Minho was surprised to see all of the members awake. Usually, he was one of the first to wake up in the morning. He did have his midterm the other day, so Minho guessed his exhaustion got to the better of him.
He had aced his midterm, much to his delight and Kim seonsaengnim’s approval. After finding out his score, he immediately texted his parents, members, and ____ who all congratulated him on his hard work.
But his manager, despite the congratulations, had put him on the Dream Team Canada special. Truthfully, Minho was thrilled; he held quite a bit of affection for the athletic variety show and the hyungs he made while on the show. But he would be spending his nineteenth birthday alone in a foreign country when all he wanted to do was relax from his busy schedule. The members had told him they’d celebrate his birthday before he left.
Needless to say, he hadn’t exactly been counting on a rock version of ‘Happy Birthday’ by Onew hyung, to be sat on by Jonghyun hyung and Taemin, and to be practically molested by Key.
He loved s. He really did. But the growing lump on his head when he hit the top bunk was telling him otherwise.
“Ya! Choi Minho! Get ready for the best not-your-actual-birthday of your life!” Key shouted as the boys dragged him out of bed. “Breakfast is ramen by our own maknae, Lee Taemin.”
Minho couldn’t help but grin.
“Taemin… something’s wrong. This isn’t right,” Minho said as the others nodded in agreement. “What did you add?”
Taemin smiled weakly as he scratched the back of his head. “Well, you see, I though the ramen tasted pretty bland when I made it so I thought some milk and honey would be great - “
Four pairs of chopsticks slammed on the table as chairs screeched against the floor. A loud patter of footsteps rushed away from the kitchen.
“LEE TAEMIN!!!”
The four oldest boys ran to the bathroom, pushing and shoving to reach the sink and shower head. They grabbed their toothbrushes and furiously began brushing while Taemin sat at the table with a sheepish smile.
He shrugged and continued to eat.
“Well, I thought it tasted fine.”
The boys had decided to indulge Minho in a soccer match. On a normal circumstance, whenever Minho mentioned playing a game together, the other boys headed for the door. It wasn’t too fun when they always lost to the smug boy or when the flaming charisma erupted in flames from his loss. But since Minho couldn’t go home to his parents’ home because of his departure to Canada the next day, they figured a soccer match wouldn’t hurt.
Badly, at least.
They laughed at Onew’s ability to trip over the soccer ball and the appearance of the tin foil microphone from their Replay days. Taemin would manage to kick the ball to hit the other team players’ ankles and Jonghyun would continuously say that he was really good at soccer but he didn’t want to beat Minho on his birthday. Although the boys had failed on an actual match, Minho was laughing throughout the game.
These were his brothers that by similar dreams and a twist of fate, had come together.
“Let’s go get some cake for Minho hyung’s birthday!” Taemin said while looping an arm over Minho’s shoulder as they decided to walk back to the dorm. He whispered to Minho, “Hyung, ask for chocolate.”
Key threw a glare at Taemin while throwing his arm over Minho’s other shoulder. “I heard you Lee Taemin. You know Minho prefers vanilla,” Key chastised the younger member. “It’s his birthday. Let him get what he wants.”
“So? Minho hyung is almost a man! Nineteen! Men don’t eat vanilla cake,” Taemin argued baselessly. “Haha! If he wasn’t an idol he’d have a job and attend college and model and have a girlfriend! Oh.. Wait, he has three out of four. How about you, Key umma? You’ve been nineteen for over two months and you only have a fourth.”
Key sneered at Taemin, refusing to confirm until Jonghyun wrapped an arm around Key’s shoulder.
“What are you talking about, Taeminnie? Key? Yeobo? You didn’t tell him about last night?” Jonghyun cried in a high, girly tone. “I thought you were serious about us!”
“I’m sorry. I have a son,” Key seriously stated as he nudged his head in Taemin’s direction.
Onew twirled around backwards to face s with a wild look in his eyes. “But you always sung a song to Minho!”
The mood suddenly fell as Onew burst into laughter by himself.
“Whatever he does, it’s Onew sangtae!” the other members sang while clapping their hands.
Minho grinned as he walked with the members to the bakery. He may have not been with his umma or appa or hyung but..
He was home.
After an impromptu karaoke session, a couple orders of fried chicken, dukbokki, and chajangmyun, and some carefully brought in soju from Onew, the boys laid passed out on the living room of the dorm. Minho had refused to drink to the point of getting drunk, but he was admittedly a bit buzzed from the soju. He snorted when looking at Jonghyun hyung who was spread out all over the floor and silently sleep-singing Ring Ding Dong.
He yawned before throwing some blankets on top of s and reaching his phone. He quickly scrolled down his contacts list, prepared to send a message.
The phone buzzed in vibration as he received a text.
‘You’re leaving tomorrow, right? Come outside so I can say properly congratulate you on your midterm?
- ____’
Minho jumped in surprise and threw on the nearest jacket he could find. He quietly left the dorm before running down the stairs.
He saw her sitting on the apartment entry’s steps, dressed in sweats and her hair up in a messy bun. Her face was illuminated by the street light and she turned to him with a tired smile.
As soon as Minho sat down next to her, her nose scrunched up and she scooted away from him.
“Soju? You’re not even nineteen yet. Tsk tsk, if the papers found out about an underage Shinee member drinking,” she drawled mischievously at his defensive look. “But it’s not any of my business. Congratulations on getting that A! And happy almost birthday!”
She pushed a small box to him and began to walk away. He quickly opened the box to find a silver chain bracelet.
“Hey!” Minho stood up, chasing after her. “That’s it? That’s all you say after stalking me to find where I live?”
She stuck a tongue out at him. “I didn’t stalk you. And yes, that’s it! It’s two am out and a girl is never safe with a guy who’s been drinking. Oh the scandalous situation! I came by to say that and that I’m leaving for the States. Just a vacation. I’ll be back in January, I think. So until… Whenever we see each other again!”
“Hey! HEY!” Minho ran after her though it proved to be a challenge with his stumbling psoture. “’January, I think’? Don’t you even know when you’ll be back?”
___ just shrugged, much to Minho’s annoyance. “I’ll be back in January, but I’m not sure when. I have to finish the customs paper so I can be an official citizen here and bring all of my stuff to Korea. It shouldn’t take too long since I’ve been working on it for a while.”
“Well, don’t I get some sort of goodbye other than, ‘Whenever we see each other again!’?” Minho pouted, “A hug for the birthday boy?”
Wow.. Did you really just say that? Minho cringed inwardly. No more soju. Ever.
She seemed to think along the same lines and snorted at his subtle slur. She walked up to him and quirked an eyebrow at his slightly glazed eyes. “There’s no point in it if you’ll hardly remember it tomorrow, Minho oppa. Happy birthday and goodnight!”
Minho felt a warm pressure on his cheek but couldn’t register what it exactly was. He simply stared at her retreating back until she was out of sight.
Putting on the silver bracelet, he walked back to his dorm with one thought in mind.
Happy birthday indeed.
Author's Note: Kekekekeke. I just wanted to write little snippets of the daily life of Shinee from what I gathered from various magazine interviews. It's mostly dialogue (which makes me uncomfortable when reading this over), so I'll make up for it next time! Thanks for reading! :D
LOL CHASETHESTARS I OWE YOU AGAIN. <3
Comments