C h a p t e r  O n e
0506;

On the evening of May 6th.

Just about a minute ago, with the lit strawberry cake in my hand, I was crouching right behind three of our friends as we hid behind the door of his second unit outside Seoul.

The lights were off but our friends turned the torch of their phones that served as additional lighting aside from the candles from the cake.

Speaking of the cake, I stepped in front of his surprised expression while our friends circled him and sang the loudest happy birthday song he had probably ever heard in his life. He let out a loud laugh as he darted his attention to them. His eyes turned into beautiful crescents as he kept on laughing as Junho and Hyunsung, our male friends were purposely singing off-tuned to annoy him.

Then as his attention fell to the cake I was holding; I could very much see the tinge of happiness in his eyes as they lit up. Admittedly, I had seen him wearing this look countless times on stage or when he was working on camera but now, this specific expression he had written on his face was exclusive to us, his friends from diaper years.

He’s beautiful, I briefly thought just a second before he looked up to meet my eyes. The corners of his lips rose and so did mine naturally.

We held gazes as I made a couple of steps closer to him and the singing died down as I stopped with the cake between us.

“Happy Birthday, Baek.” I greeted.

I noticed how his smile grew wide and his lashes made the slightest move as he blinked and resumed looking at me afterward. It had become quiet until I heard someone from our friends clear his throat.

“Make a wish?” I suggested right away to break the silence.

“Okay.” He nodded as he closed his eyes for a few good seconds before blowing out the candles.

After the candles were blown, our friends clapped their hands and we chorused a loud Happy Birthday.

“What did you wish for?” Hyunsung asked this time, standing close to Baekhyun and draping an arm over his shoulders.

“Well.” He shoved a hand inside his pants pocket and then trailed his attention on all of us, one after the other. “Nah, I’m not telling you guys.” He replied, a hint of a laugh in his tone.

“C’mon, man.” Junho tried to persuade him by jokingly cupping his face with his hands. “You must tell us.”

Baekhyun laughed at what he did just as they met eye to eye. We ended up laughing as it was just a normal sight among us.

“Fine.” He agreed. “Promise me you won’t laugh at my wish.” He told us and waited for us to nod before lifting a hand to his temple and scratching it. “I wish I don’t lose any of you, ever.”

All of us fell silent. Mina and I exchanged looks before we did with the rest of the guys. Baekhyun seemed to have wondered why none of us talked. I guess because what he said moved all of us.

He, being the Byun Baekhyun the world knew, was someone who seemed to have everything in life and could have wished for anything else, but still wished for our friendship to last. That’s the thing about him, he might have had fame in the palm of his hands but he had remained grounded to this day. The truth was, at times we would wonder what it was in us that Baekhyun saw that he stuck by our sides for this long. Truly, he’s brave yet he was humble.

If I was not mistaken, I saw Junho and Hyunsung’s teary eyes as they blinked and it was such a rare sight. Mina also wore the same expression. While I locked my eyes on him for the next few seconds, he seemed to read the room.

“Why would you wish that and make us feel sentimental, Byun Baekhyun?” Mina spoke, in a downward curve while she swiftly wiped the corners of her eyes.

Baekhyun let out a laugh as he gave Mina’s shoulder a slight tap to comfort her.

“But seriously guys,” He spoke. “You know how much you kept my sanity intact all these years and I draw a huge part of my strength from you.” He took a deep breath. “I can’t thank you enough for sticking by me all this time.”

I remember all the previous times we all set a time to attend his concerts and how every single time he would jump running to us as we waited backstage after the show was over.

“Yah.” Junho groaned, sniffling. “Who gave you the right to make us cry today? You were supposed to be the one to shed tears because it’s your birthday and not the other way around.”

“Don’t go crying on me now Han Junho.” Baekhyun jokingly punched Junho’s arm. “You too man,” He turned to Hyunsung. “What are you, a kid?”

“Who’s crying?” Hyunsung quickly denied it as he exaggeratedly straightened his posture. “It’s weird, the wind in your apartment is quite strong, it is hurting my eyes. I suggest you check the ventilation.”

We all burst into group laughter once more due to Hyunsung’s remark.

“Hari isn’t crying though.” Baekhyun looked at me, suppressing yet another smile.  

“You know she’s heartless,” Junho replied and made us all laugh once more.

“I could cry,” I reasoned out. “But I’m the one holding the cake, I’m afraid my tears would make the cake salty.” I went on, trying to keep a straight face as Baekhyun gave me a look of doubt. “Yah.” I laughed. “I baked this one for you, Mister.”

His eyes formed into crescents once more as he tilted his head to laugh before facing.

“With the amount of strawberry in it,” He took one of the strawberries from the cake. “I bet you did, Hari.” He added as he ate the fruit, nodding as soon as he tasted how sweet it was. “It’s sweet, thanks.” He told me. “The birthday cakes you bake are the best ones I’ve had.”

I nodded in response, laughing a bit at the thought that he would always compliment the cakes I baked for him and our friends. Junho also took one of the strawberries and ate it as well.  

“Okay, now.” Baekhyun caught our attention. “You brought some more food, didn’t you?” Baekhyun asked as he leaned closer to the cake.

“Of course we did,” I answered, as I waited for him to taste the cake because that seemed to be what he was going to do.

“Great.” He added as he used his index finger to poke at the cake and brought it to his mouth but stopped.

We all watched him as he fell quiet. I was staring at him, wondering. Then all of a sudden, bringing me utter surprise, his finger wrapped in icing landed on my cheek.

“What the-?” I asked, wide-eyed. “BYUN BAEKHYUN!!!”

Then it happened so fast. One second, we were just all standing, the next we were chasing each other in the dark as the others joined in the cake-smudging game that Baekhyun initiated.

I was still holding the remnants of the cake that I couldn’t see because none of us even thought of turning the lights on. All I could hear were the random, boisterous laughs of all five of us trying to get away from each other.

I stood in the corner where I hoped no one would find me since I had enough icing on my face already. I stayed there and listened to the others. I heard Mina scream as someone must have caught her. I heard Junho and Hyunsung’s voices too. I wonder where Baekhyun was.

I looked around, squinting my eyes trying to see when I felt a hand on my wrist. Surprised, I dropped what I was holding on the floor, the cake board creating a slight thud.

Though I couldn’t see anything, I knew who was standing closely next to me now. It was his familiar perfume that gave him away. It was Baekhyun.

“Don’t say a word.” I heard him whisper.

“You just did-” I replied with my normal voice but had to stop when I felt his hand cover my mouth.

Almost naturally, I made a step back and my back felt the wall behind me. What was he doing?

There was complete silence between us for the next few seconds. We listened to Mina cursing at Junho and Hyunsung on the other side of the area. We also heard footsteps everywhere as if they were looking for us.

We stayed there, standing next to each other as he finally removed his hand from my mouth. Nonetheless, he was still standing very close to me. Then I remembered what he did to me earlier and how he started this whole chaos. Just in time, I noticed I still had icing on my hands, so very quietly, I lifted my icing-covered hand to where his face was and made sure to spread it on his right cheek.

He let out a combination of a sigh and a small laugh. And even in the dark, I could perfectly imagine the reaction on his face. I had known him for too long I already memorized most of his expressions by now.

And then right at the same moment, someone switched the lights, making me immediately exchange looks with Baekhyun.

A small gasp, almost a silent one, escaped my mouth when I realized he was closer to me than I thought. One hand was leaning on the wall, specifically the spot next to my head. Had we ever been this close before? Probably, but why did this exact moment give me a weird feeling behind my chest? I swore my heart fluttered due to the proximity and the way his eyes were boring into mine.

I noticed the icing on his face and it was obvious that I was the only one who gave it to him. I let out a small laugh, feeling triumphant. He seemed to have caught on to what I was thinking and smirked, shaking his head sideways.   

We heard several pairs of footsteps approaching our spot which made us alert. He was busy trying to listen when I lifted my other hand and spread more icing on his other cheek this time. His eyebrows furrowed at my act looking betrayed. His mouth parted, probably to say something but the rest had found us.

“Hey losers,” I quickly greeted them, trying to act cool and un-panicked. “Look who I found,” I added, making sure I sounded as confident as I should.

“Woah!” Junho burst out laughing seeing Baekhyun’s face as he took his phone and took a photo of him. “This is going straight to the group chat.”

“Song Hari,” Mina clapped her hand. “You are something.” She gave me a pair of thumbs up.

“You mean, she’s dead,” Hyunsung spoke. “If his fangirls know what she did to his handsome face…”

“Well, it’s not like Baekhyun’s gonna share it publicly.” Mina reasoned out. “Right, Baek?”

“Now that you’ve mentioned it,” Baekhyun spoke and he took his phone from his pocket. “I think I can.”

My mind went full-on speed, thinking about what would likely happen. I already picture my future crumbling before my eyes. So, before he could even do anything with his phone, I snatched it from him and gave it to Junho.

“Why don’t you think about it first Baek, hm?” I turned to him. “Think well before you decide to destroy my life.”

“Destroy your life?” Baekhyun asked in return, stifling a laugh. I just know.

“Yes,” I answered briefly before I held his wrist and dragged him to the kitchen. “This is nothing a wet tissue can solve, right?” I told him as I started to wipe his face with a tissue, making sure to remove the icing on his face. “You destroyed my cake too, the least you can do to make up for it is to make sure I can walk on the street without someone pulling my hair out…”

I was concentrating on what I was doing when I thought something flashed. I turned around and saw the three of them a few feet from us, Junho taking a photo of us.

“In case we need more proof,” Junho said as he quickly hid his phone.

“I swear if you don’t delete that