"Happy birthday, Yoochun-ah!"

 

A small pop of confetti and streamers pelted up and flew down onto Yoochun's head and shoulders, while some floated to the floor, once the said man opened his front door. He was greeted with a familiar face, lips drawn up ear-to-ear in an excited smile.

 

"You've finally caught up to my age!" Jaejoong exclaimed excitedly by the door, pulling Yoochun into a bone-crushing hug while muttering, "Oh, how I missed you, Chunnie!"

 

"Thanks, I guess?" Yoochun chuckled, allowing the older man to hug him to near-death, and ushered the man inside his home. After slipping off his suede shoes, the elder literally skipped into the living room. It was clear to Yoochun that Jaejoong seemed to have something planned for the both of them on his special day.

 

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Jaejoong asked, spinning around quickly to face the younger. Yoochun blinked then shook his head 'no'.

 

"I was about to, until you showed up," Yoochun replied then tilted his head, "Have you?"

 

"Oh, not yet, but that's okay!" the elder grinned, clapping his hands together in glee, "Let's have breakfast outside!"

 

"Hmm, alright," Yoochun smiled warmly, allowing himself to soak in Jaejoong's sheer excitement for the day. "You're ridiculously happy today. Let me go get changed."

 

"Because it's your special day! Now, hurry up," Jaejoong shooed the younger off to his bedroom to change. Once Yoochun was out of sight momentarily, he fished out his phone to check his notifications and typed in a quick text. He pocketed his phone just a second before the birthday boy returned to view.

 

"Ready to go?" Jaejoong slung his arm with Yoochun's.

 

"Yep."

 

"Oh, one more thing," the older stopped in front of Yoochun, holding an empty hand out, "Gimme your phone."

 

Perplexed, Yoochun raised an eyebrow, "What? Why?"

 

"Just do it."

 

"No way! You're going to take selcas again, like last time!"

 

"I'm not going to do anything!" Jaejoong interjected with a pout, "I don't want our day to be ruined, that's all! Now, give me your phone, Yoochun."

 

Sighing in defeat, Yoochun pulled out his phone from his pants pocket, handing it over to Jaejoong, who gladly took it. "I'll give it back later, I promise."

 

"Yeah, yeah," Yoochun huffed.

 

The pair slipped on their shoes and headed out, deciding to take Jaejoong's car since the man mentioned he had many plans in store for Yoochun today. Deciding not to argue with an eager Jaejoong, Yoochun complied and let Jaejoong take the wheel, looking out the window as the city of Seoul rolled by throughout the whole drive. As the man watched Seoul whirr by outside, he listened to Jaejoong enthusiastically talk about his new upcoming album.

 

The car pulled up to a small, cozy cafe. Switching off the engine, Jaejoong bolted out the car first, with Yoochun following suit. They both entered the cafe and chose to sit by the window, where Yoochun always preferred to sit at. He liked watching people go by with their own business. In contrast to his always busy life--the flashing lights and constant attention from fans and media alike--in the entertainment industry, Yoochun found a strange bliss in watching ordinary people going about their daily lives, not having to worry about paparazzi.

 

Once they ordered their coffee and breakfast, and the waitress walked away, Jaejoong leaned forward.

 

"Jaejoong, you're starting to creep me out," Yoochun commented, lifting an eyebrow at Jaejoong's odd behaviour.

 

"Oh, don't be silly! I've always been like this," Jaejoong waved a hand in dismissal, thanking the heavens for the little acting skills he had left to mask his panic, "You just haven't seen me in a long time that you forgot how I am."

 

"I've known you for years to know you're never really like this very often, Jae," the younger narrowed his eyes then pointed an accusing finger, "Something's up, isn't there?"

 

"Wh-What?! No, no! Yoochun, how could you?!" Jaejoong faked a gasp, holding a hand to his chest as he leant back his chair for added drama effect.

 

"Stop lying."

 

"I'm not lying! Honest! We're just having a normal birthday coffee and breakfast," the elder pouted, "Though, I want to also take you shopping."

 

"Shopping? What for?"

 

"So I could get you a present!"

 

"And you never thought to buy me a present beforehand because...?"

 

"Because I don't know what you want, okay? Geez, so many questions!" Jaejoong huffed, crossing his arms across his chest as he continued to pout.

 

"Only trying to figure out the fishy situation here," Yoochun chuckled.

 

"Anyway," the elder cleared his throat, leaning onto the table once again, "How are you?" Yoochun furrowed his eyebrows at the odd question. Unless Jaejoong sensed something was amiss with s, he wouldn't ask how they were.

 

"I'm alright," Yoochun answered anyway, "It's my birthday, so..."

 

"Yep, it is! Happy birthday! We'll get you a cake later, okay?" Jaejoong clapped, then his grin turned to a frown, "I heard Junsu can't get a day off from his duties today. I'm sorry, Yoochun-ah..."

 

"It's okay," Yoochun smiled, though his smile didn't reach his eyes. Jaejoong knew Yoochun missed the other man dearly, but the said man was currently on military duty until the following year. Thus, Jaejoong planned to entertain the birthday boy on his special day.

 

"Do you miss him?" the elder asked.

 

"Yeah..." Yoochun dragged a finger idly to and fro on the table, his eyes cast down onto the slick surface. "Of course I miss him, hyung. That's no question. He's my boyfriend."

 

"Just checking," Jaejoong held his hands up in mock surrender, grinning, "Don't want you to be checking other guys out in Junsu's absence."

 

"Stop it, hyung! I wouldn't do that!"

 

"Again, just checking," the elder grinned cheekily.

 

---

 

"Are you seriously getting me all this?" Yoochun asked in bewilderment, sporting smart casual wear at one of the clothes stores Jaejoong frequented whenever he shopped for new clothes, "I said I'm okay with getting just a book, not clothes."

 

"Nonsense," Jaejoong dismissed the other's protest, blowing a raspberry, "Trust me, you'll need to look good on your special day."

 

"What could possibly happen today other than me spending my time with you?" Yoochun interjected, bewildered.

 

"Like I said, trust me, Yoochun," the elder smirked, bouncing off to the counter to pay for the clothes he hand-picked for the birthday boy.

 

Yoochun rolled his eyes. There was no point in turning down his hyung's offer, especially when the man was ultimately determined such as today. He turned to face the mirror, looking at his reflection. He didn't look so bad in the outfit, he admitted. He seemed to appear younger, if that was even still remotely possible for him, with the slacks, polo shirt, and light sweater get-up. Snaking a hand through his hair, he combed his locks to slightly stick up. That was much better. He suddenly wondered if Junsu would like it.

 

"I see you've taken a liking to the outfit," Jaejoong's sudden interjection pulled Yoochun from his own little world.

 

"O-Oh, yeah..." Yoochun turned back to the mirror.

 

"Here, let me fix you a bit," Jaejoong stepped closer and cut off the tags from the clothes Yoochun were wearing. Afterwards, he straightened the collar of Yoochun's new shirt, then fixed the man's hair.

 

"Even if you cut off the tags, it doesn't mean these are washed, hyung."

 

It was Jaejoong's turn to roll his eyes, shushing the younger, "You would be forgetting that later."

 

What did he mean by that? Yoochun wondered, but decided not to comment further as it may only lead to whining.

 

"Okay. Well, umm, thanks hyung," Yoochun mumbled.

 

Jaejoong smiled at the sincerity in Yoochun's voice, despite the mumbling, "You're welcome. Now, let's get you a cake."

 

Once Yoochun gathered the rest of his clothes into a bag, the pair left the store, the elder man once again leading the other, this time to his favourite bakery. Yoochun busied himself with looking at the cakes, trying to decide which he wanted while not paying attention to Jaejoong who was momentarily on his phone. Unbeknownst to Yoochun, the eldest began to grin at himself at a particular text he received.

 

"Hey, Chun?"

 

"Yeah?" Yoochun looked over his shoulder to where Jaejoong was standing behind him, phone still in hand.

 

"I'm going to the bathroom for a bit," Jaejoong said while pointing towards to where the restrooms' general direction, "I'll be right back, okay?"

 

"Yeah, sure," was Yoochun's reply, returning his attention back to the displayed cakes. Jaejoong scurried off the bakery shop, making sure he was out of sight, especially through the bakery's window. A few stores away stood the person he was extremely excited to see, not for himself, but for Yoochun.

 

"He's in the bakery over there," Jaejoong informed the other, gesturing to the said bakery a few stores down. He patted the uniformed man on the back as the man nodded in appreciation and grinned. Jaejoong watched him walk towards the shop, grinning from ear-to-ear.

 

Yoochun still wasn't able to choose which cake to get. The bakery definitely had many to choose from, and from those they had in store, he was only able to narrow it all down to three different cakes: a blueberry cheesecake, a mint chocolate cake, or a coffee flavoured chiffon cake. Who knew it was still this difficult to choose one for his birthday at this age of his life?

 

"See anything you like?" a familiar voice next to Yoochun said, the owner of the voice standing right next to the birthday boy to look at the cakes with him.

 

"Yeah, but it's hard to choo--" Yoochun abruptly stopped talking, his eyes widening at the sudden realisation of the different voice he heard. That voice was definitely not Jaejoong's, but someone else's; the voice belonged to someone he knew very well. Slowly, he turned his head to the man next to him, not believing the sight he saw.

 

There he was, Yoochun's boyfriend, standing right next to him while grinning that famous smile of his. Although in uniform, Junsu was right there in front of him and he didn't seem to be going away when Yoochun blinked a few times to challenge whether this was all a dream. Junsu was definitely there with him, but how was this possible? He thought Junsu was unable to make it to celebrate his birthday.

 

"Hey."

 

"I-- H-Hey," Yoochun breathed out, still in shock at the surprise, "Junsu, I..." unable to form coherent sentences and control himself any longer, Yoochun held a hand to cover his mouth, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

 

"I got a day off," Junsu smiled, chuckling at how much Yoochun has reacted to his birthday surprise. He pulled the man into a tight hug, kissing his temple, the spot where Yoochun liked to be kissed aside from his own lips. Smiling wider, he whispered into his lover's ear, "Happy birthday, Chunnie."

 

Yoochun wrapped his arms around his other half, pulling the other man closer to himself while burying his face to the other's neck. He earned an amused chuckle, which he ignored. All he cared about right now was Junsu's presence, and the fact that the man was able to convince the officials and went out of his way to meet him on his birthday.

 

"It really is you," Yoochun was finally able to speak, "Y-You're actually here!"

 

"Silly, of course I am!" Junsu laughed, rubbing the other man's back to ease Yoochun from his happy tears, "I will never miss your birthday, Chunnie."

 

"I love you," Yoochun blurted out. Junsu smiled, warmth spreading throughout his chest and especially to his heart. Butterflies floated in his stomach and chest, as they always did whenever he was around Yoochun. These were the feelings he always felt with and towards the man, and he would never get tired of them.

 

"I love you too, Yoochun. So much."

 

---