14^th September, 12a.m. Jongsuk’s phone started buzzing with notifications, messages he received from friends and acquaintances, wishing him a happy birthday. He had a love-hate relationship with birthdays. Birthdays, after all, was a happy occasion. However, he found it a chore having to reply to birthday wishes, especially to people he wasn’t close to. He found those messages really superficial and meaningless, and he didn’t like it. He lied on his bed and picked up his phone, skimming through the list of notifications and messages he received, and selectively replying the messages from his closer friends. He was only in the midst of replying the first message when the doorbell rang.

14^th September, 12 a.m.  Jongsuk jumped out of bed and headed to open the door, a voice inside him telling him that it was going to be Woobin. He swung the door open, and his smile disappeared and a disappointed look flashed across his face when he saw no one at the door. A curious look slowly took over his face when he saw a nicely wrapped box lying on the floor, with a post-it stuck on top of it. He bent down to pick up the box and peeled off the post-it note.

“Happy Birthday <3 Rest well tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow.” the note read. There was no sign off. There was no need to, because that handwriting definitely belonged to Woobin. That iconic, beautiful and font-like handwriting just shouted Woobin. Jongsuk stepped out of the house and looked around in search of a hiding Woobin, but he saw no one. He shrugged and returned home, smiling at the box and note in his hand.

He quickly swept up his phone that was lying on the table and dialled Woobin’s number but no one answered, only to receive a text shortly after. “Busy now, said I’ll see you tomorrow. Rest well. Happy Birthday.” Jongsuk stared at his phone, wondering what Woobin was up to, but couldn’t figure out anything. Shrugging, he opened the box and found a collection of lego sets, and he naturally deduced it was his birthday present. Jongsuk was really excited to see the lego sets. He really liked small toys and items like these, as compared to the usual watches and wallets he usually got as gifts. Jongsuk always had a heart for small items and toys, just like most other boys, and he immediately opened the Marvel box and started fixing it.

He went to bed that night after fixing his lego sets, setting his present and the note by his bedside, happy with his new toy.

Jongsuk got woken up by the banging of the door the next morning. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and from the looks of the lighting in the room, he deduced it was probably barely past 6 in the morning. He squinted to look at the clock on the wall, as the knocking on the door became louder and more hurried. The clock read 6.20a.m. He groaned and dragged himself out of bed, groggy and cursing the person who was at the door.

He grumpily trudged to the door with heavy steps, his eyes half open. He opened the door to a smiling Woobin. He groaned and mumbled a hello, not really registering why Woobin was there, leaving the door open for Woobin to enter before sleepily moving to the couch and throwing himself onto it, ready to fall back asleep.

“Yah!” Woobin grinned and nudged Jongsuk with his knee.

“Whaaat?” Jongsuk mumbled as he flipped and the couch, turning away from Woobin and making himself comfortable.

Woobin laughed and looked down at Jongsuk’s profile, nudging and shaking him. “Morning temper eh? Wake up!!!”

Jongsuk sighed and gave up, sitting up on the couch and rubbing the back of his head, his hair in a mess and his voice husky. He rubbed his eyes lazily and looked at Woobin, his eyelids struggling to keep open and his head dropping as he dozed off.

Woobin shook his head and laughed at the sight, before pushing Jongsuk’s shoulders down so that he was lying back on the couch. “Guess there’s just going to be a change of plans.” He shrugged and let Jongsuk go back to sleep before heading to the kitchen and fixing up a simple breakfast for two with whatever little ingredients he could get from Jongsuk’s nearly empty refrigerator.

After breakfast was fixed, he headed back to the couch and shook Jongsuk awake again. Jongsuk tossed a little before opening his eyes sleepily, getting a slight shock when he saw Woobin’s face in front of him, springing himself up to a seating position and accidentally knocking against Woobin’s forehead while doing so.

“Ouchhh!” Woobin jumped a little by the sudden knock. “Wh-whoa, why are you attacking me?!”

Jongsuk rubbed against his head as well, and tilted his head to look at Woobin. “Ouch, sorry, I didn’t mean to. But wa-wait, when did you get here? And why am I not on my bed?!”

Woobin looked in disbelief and burst out laughing, flicking Jongsuk’s forehead. “You opened the door for me and went back to sleep on your couch? You don’t remember??!”

“I did?”

“Omg, yes.”

“I was probably half asleep.” Jongsuk shrugged.

“It’s going to be very easy to break into your house.” Woobin laughed as he pulled Jongsuk up from the couch, pushing him to the toilet. “Go wash up. Breakfast is ready.”

“H-huh? What breakfast?” Jongsuk was still in a state of confusion.

Woobin chuckled and gave Jongsuk a light kick, pushing him into the toilet before heading back to the kitchen to make some coffee. Jongsuk came back out shortly after, his hair still in a mess but looking a lot more awake than before. “So…care to tell me what you are doing in my house?”

“Making you breakfast, can’t you see? Sit down, let’s eat.”

Jongsuk took his seat as instructed, starting his day with the cup of coffee Woobin had made. “No, but really, why are you here?”

“Yah, don’t tell me you forgot. You are supposed to keep the entire day free for me. Your day is mine, for today.”

“Oh right, yes, I was. I didn’t forget, and so?”

“I had plans but someone couldn’t wake up, so there has been a change of plans.”

“We are going somewhere?”

“Yeah, we were supposed to. Don’t worry too much about that, just eat first.”

Jongsuk was curious. He had many questions he wanted to know, but Woobin wasn’t going to reveal anything. All he could do was do as instructed. “I’ve questions.”

“You can ask, but I might not answer.”

“Why did you just leave the box outside the door last night? Why didn’t you just hand it to me personally?”

“I was busy, had work. Could only drop by to drop the gift. Why? Disappointed I wasn’t there?”

“As if I would be. Thanks anyway, loved it.”

“Knew you would.”

“But you could have waited till this morning to pass it to me, no?”

Woobin shrugged. “I just wanted to be the first person to give you a birthday gift, and the first to wish you happy birthday in person…kind of.”

Jongsuk grinned and nudged Woobin’s arm. “Best friend material.”

“Am I not already?”

“Maybe?”

They finished their breakfast teasing and hitting each other. It was a simple breakfast, Woobin was never a great chef, but it was one of the most satisfying breakfast Jongsuk had in a while. He usually either skipped breakfast or just grabbed something by the convenience store and chucked it down his throat. Jongsuk smiled in satisfaction and thanked Woobin for the food, as Woobin hurried him off to get changed into casual going out clothes while he did the dishes.

“Hey, I’ve work later, you know?”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll get you to your fanmeet venue on time. You can count on me for that. Grab your work clothes as well.”

Jongsuk got changed into his favourite T-shirt and jeans, put on some make-up and did his hair, and packed his bag, getting himself ready for the day.

“Don’t expect too much. I don’t care that it’s your birthday, your day is mine today. We are doing what I want to do.” Woobin reminded Jongsuk.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Where’re we going?“

Woobin shrugged and smiled as he left the house, and Jongsuk couldn’t do anything but obediently follow behind. Jongsuk had figured it’d be easier to just not bother finding out anything anymore, getting into the car and singing along to the songs that were playing on the radio in the car, obviously out-of-tune.

“Did anyone tell you you shouldn’t sing?” Woobin grinned.

“Look at who’s talking.” Jongsuk chuckled and continued singing at a louder voice, just to annoy Woobin.

They arrived at a house soon after. Jongsuk recognized the house, of course he would. It was the house that they had used for the filming of School 2013. It was Namsoon’s house. Jongsuk turned to look at Woobin, with a questioning look on his face. Woobin ignored and got out of the car, pushing the gate open.

“Yah! You sure you can go in just like that?! Isn’t it trespassing?”

Woobin turned and smirked. “Yeah I am sure.”

Jongsuk furrowed his brows and followed, unsure about what he was doing. When he entered the house, he was genuinely surprised to see that the interior of the house was exactly like it was when they used it for filming. He walked around and inspected the room in awe, a smile forming on his face.

“I just wanted to relive Heungsoo and Namsoon.” Woobin spoke as he sat down on the floor, against the cupboard in Namsoon’s room.

“W-why?” Jongsuk asked. It was a rhetorical question, he didn’t have to ask. He had the answer, but the question just came out naturally. He wanted to hear it from Woobin.

“It was because of Namsoon and Heungsoo that we became the friends we are today. It is like…going back to where we started from. You know how important Namsoon was to Heungsoo, it feels like that as well. You to me.”

Jongsuk smiled and sat down next to Woobin, grabbing two pillows and throwing one to Woobin. He took the comic books that were lying around and threw one to Woobin, who by then was slouching against the cupboard like Heungsoon would be. “Same rules, first to talk will be the slave for the day.”

They spent the entire morning lazing around in that house, reading the comics which they have already read countless number of times as Heungsoon and Namsoon. They weren’t exactly reading the comics. They were remembering the times they had spent together. They were reminiscing their friendship. They were relating to Namsoon and Heungsoo. They weren’t acting, but they felt it. Woobin to Jongsuk was like Heungsoo to Namsoon, and Jongsuk to Woobin was just like Namsoon to Heungsoo. No one spoke. 

“I’m hungry, make me ramyeon.” Woobin broke the silence after a couple of hours. And of course, it had to be ramyeon.

Jongsuk grinned. “More like you make me ramyeon.”

Woobin scrunched his nose and shook his head. “But it was always you who made the ramyeon.”

Jongsuk put aside his book and got up to the kitchen. He knew right from the start that he would be the one making the food, and didn’t bother arguing. There was no need to.

He cooked one pot of ramyeon and set it on the table, grabbing two pairs of chopsticks and handing one to Woobin before the both of them started eating from the same pot.

“You make the best ramyeon.”

“That’s the only thing I can cook to be honest.”

“I kind of guessed, seeing how your kitchen was so empty this morning. You need someone to take care of you.”

“Yeah I do. I’ve been waiting for someone who can, not like you didn’t know.”

“Waiting. Start looking, young man.”

“Too lazy.”

“Then how are you ever going to get a girlfriend?”

“I don’t want a girlfriend. You can take care of me the same way, can’t you?” Jongsuk looked at Woobin cutely, only to get Woobin rolling his eyes at him. They spent the rest of the time in the house, fooling around, playing with the console games and doing nothing in particular.

“Can we drop by the school before sending me to work? It’s a weekend today, the school should be empty.”

Woobin had the same idea in mind. They cleaned up the place a little before heading to the next destination. The school was empty as they had expected, but the gates weren’t open as well. They turned and gave each other a look, nodding in unison as they got off the car and started climbing over the walls.

“Imagine the headlines tomorrow if we get caught.”

“Deal with that later.”

They got into the school without much difficulty, heading straight for the classroom which they were really familiar with. They headed straight to the corner of the classroom where their seats were located.

“This brings back loads of memories.”

“Totally does….”

“To be honest, do you miss those days?”

“Mmhmm, a lot. We should all meet up some day, with Yikyung and the rest of them.”

They spent a little time touring the school, recalling the days they spent filming and laughing at their inside jokes – the jokes that would never grow old. They left the school the same way they came in, climbing over the walls, and Woobin sent Jongsuk off to his fanmeet venue.

“Staying?” Jongsuk asked.

“Nah, it’s your day. Don’t want to spoil it.”

“You know you won’t spoil it.”

“It’s okay, I’ll lend you to your fans for now. Note that it’s lending. I’ll be back for you later. See you.”

Jongsuk laughed and whacked Woobin’s arm before getting off the car, and getting into his working mode. “See you later then.”

The fanmeet passed by pretty well and everything was going as planned. Woobin had actually sprung a surprise on Jongsuk and appeared with a cake at the last segment of the fanmeet. He had been liaising with Jongsuk’s manager for that surprise and they managed to hide it quite well. The shocked look on Jongsuk’s face was priceless and Woobin wished he had taken a photo of that.

“Wow, thanks!”

“Don’t mention it, the least I could do.”

“I mean….just, thanks. For everything today. It was great.”

Woobin shook his head. “Thanks, for giving me your entire day. And just so you know, it hasn’t ended. Post-party.”

Jongsuk cleared up some things with his manager before leaving to meet Woobin, and he drove them off to a jazz bar. Jongsuk never liked bars. He never liked having to drink alcohol, but he guessed Woobin had already compromised by choosing a jazz bar, which was relatively quieter, and so he didn’t say much about it. They got a seat at the bar counter, and to Jongsuk’s surprise, Woobin had ordered for two non-alcoholic drinks for them.

“You’ve never liked alcohol and I need to drive, so… Anyway, the ambience here is really good. Good music and all.” Woobin explained.

Jongsuk smiled. He had grown to really appreciate Woobin’s thoughtfulness. Woobin took out from the pocket of his jacket a small box, pushing it over to Jongsuk. “Happy Birthday.”

Jongsuk looked at the box. “You’ve already given me a present.”

“Another one. Just accept it. I don’t like taking back something I’ve given out.”

“Thanks…” Jongsuk nodded and opened the box. Inside it was lying a silver wristlet, with “Leejongsuk” engraved on it. Jongsuk stared at the wristlet and admired it before quickly taking it out and putting it on. He loved it. “This is really pretty…I love it.”

“Glad you like it.” Woobin smiled and stretched his arm, a similar wristlet was on his hand. “Friendship wristlets.”

Jongsuk laughed. “Oh my, you’re cheesy.”

“Deal with it.”

It was a night where they just chilled by the bar, enjoying the ambience music and joking around, hitting each other a lot like they always do when they get excited. As they were about to leave, Jongsuk called out to Woobin and gave him a really tight hug. Woobin just smiled and returned the hug, knowing that Jongsuk was really really happy with the entire day. 

They were in the car in front of Jongsuk’s house. “Want to stay for the night?”

This caught Woobin off-guard. “Want me around?”

Jongsuk nodded. “Would be nice if you were. I’m scared I’d feel really empty tonight, especially after today.”