Chapter 12- Birthday Surprise...s?

“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEON WONWOO!” 11 voices shouted. Wonwoo was shocked to see 2 very tall young man. The rest of his friends were there smiling and laughing at Wonwoo’s expressions. They pulled Wonwoo into the kitchen where trays of food were laid out there, with a birthday cake right in the centre. The boys sang Wonwoo a birthday song and clapped. They made Wonwoo make a wish before blowing out the candles. I wish that all of us can be happy like this forever and ever! If we could stay together forever, that would be the best! Wonwoo wished. The boys sat down at their usual seats to eat together rowdily. “Oh yeah! Wonwoo-ah! Meet Joshua hyung! He will be tutoring us in English! He was here when you went to Jun’s house!” Soonyoung announced, pointing to Joshua. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jeon Wonwoo.” Wonwoo greeted. “Oh yeah! And one more! Our ever-so-good-looking hyung. Jeonghannie hyung! He always visits us during his free time. He is the best at Mario Kart! Wonwoo hyung you should try playing with him one day!” Seungkwan announced, pointing to a guy with long hair and pretty features. “Annyeong! So you’re the infamous Wonwoo all these kids were talking about huh! Wah. You really are quite handsome for an 8 year old. Just like Mingyu said!” Jeonghan said, winking at Mingyu as he exclaimed towards the end of his sentence. “OHHHHHH! KIM MINGYU!” The boys teased, shooting arrows of hearts towards Mingyu. Mingyu blushed the darkest shade of red, before chomping down as much food as he could to cover up his embarrassment. Wonwoo grinned happily before eating all the food the rest prepared. After lunch, all of them gathered in the living room to play console games and listen to music. Jeonghan competed against Wonwoo in Mario Kart and unbelievably, Wonwoo won. Get it? Wonwoo won. Okay I’m sorry.

Wonwoo had the time of his life, having cake, playing games, singing along to songs and watching Seungkwan, Soonyoung and Chan dance along to girl group songs. Wonwoo swore he never had so much fun in his entire life. “Hyung! Let’s go to our room! I have something for you!” Mingyu called out, before he held onto Wonwoo’s hand, pulling him up from the sofa. As they entered their room, Mingyu took out a nicely wrapped box from his school bag. “Here! Your present from me!” Mingyu smiled widely, handing it to Wonwoo. Wonwoo was stunned. He never expected Mingyu to buy him a present. Wonwoo carefully unwrapped his present, and out came a Polaroid camera inside a box. “W-what is this Mingyu-ah?” Wonwoo asked, not knowing what to do with the camera. “It’s a Polaroid camera! We can take lots of pictures together with this!” Mingyu said excitedly. He took out the camera, wanting to take a picture with Wonwoo. The first film was a test film. “Wonwoo-ah! Smile at the camera!” Mingyu said, wrapping an arm around Wonwoo. The two smiled happily at the camera. FLASH. Out came a Polaroid picture. “We just have to wait a while for the picture to develop.” Mingyu said, waving the picture around excitedly. “Wah! The picture is done!” Wonwoo exclaimed, snatching the picture from Mingyu. “Thank you so much Mingyu! You’re really the best!” Wonwoo said shyly. Mingyu grinned happily, “You have to make it up to me!” Wonwoo looked at Mingyu with a questioning look, “What do you want in return? Isn’t this my birthday present?” “I planned this entire surprise by myself. I bought the cake, the food and even your present!” Mingyu exclaimed, wanting to claim credit. “Fine. What do you want?” Wonwoo asked, giving in to Mingyu. “Let’s take a few pictures together!” Mingyu exclaimed with a mischievous look on his face. Mingyu held up the camera with one hand, putting his other arm around Wonwoo. “Say cheese!” Mingyu exclaimed. As he pressed the shutter, he pressed a gentle kiss on Wonwoo’s cheeks. “YAH! KIM MINGYU! What are you doing?” Wonwoo exclaimed, wiping his cheeks. “Hehe. My present in exchange for yours.” Mingyu said shyly. Wonwoo’s face blushed a dark red. His face was burning.

Mingyu then ran downstairs with the camera in his hand, leaving Wonwoo in their room alone. What was that…why is my heart beating so fast? Wonwoo thought to himself, placing a hand on his heart. “Yo. Sloth. What are you doing here alone? Where’s Kim Mingyu?” Jihoon questioned as he walked into the room. “Huh? I don’t know…” Wonwoo muttered, the blush still evident on his cheeks. “Yah! Why are your cheeks so red? What did you guys do?” Jihoon asked, his eyes staring at Wonwoo. “N-nothing. Why are you here?” Wonwoo asked, before pointing to his bed, asking Jihoon to sit down. “Here! Our present for you!” Jihoon said, passing a wrapped up book. Wonwoo carefully unwrapped it, and he was surprised to see the latest volume of his favourite comic book. “WAH! THANK YOU SO MUCH MY JIHOONIE!!!” Wonwoo exclaimed. He hugged the smaller boy tightly. “Okay. I think that’s enough…” Jihoon said, pushing himself out of Wonwoo’s embrace. The two then headed down the stairs to join the rest in the living room. They played and celebrated till quite late. It was almost 9pm before Vernon, Jun, Joshua and Jeonghan left the orphanage. “Happy birthday Wonwoo! I hope you had lots of fun!” Seungcheol said one last time before he left to go home. The kids packed the place up. There were cushions on the ground, food wrappers everywhere. “Erm. Wonwoo and Jihoon. I need to talk to you two. Can you boys come to the office for a moment?” Mr Choi called out. Wonwoo and Jihoon looked up, shooting questioning looks at each other, before walking down the hallway into the office. “Wonwoo! Happy birthday! I hope you had fun today?” Mr Choi wished Wonwoo, before getting Wonwoo to sit down on the chair. Wonwoo nodded, taking a seat next to Jihoon.

“So…I know it’s your birthday. But I just wanted you boys to have some mental preparation.” Mr Choi said, taking a pause. Wonwoo’s eyebrows scrunched together, not having an idea of what Mr Choi was about to say. Jihoon was feeling very nervous at this point in time. He was playing with his sleeves. “A couple. Wants to adopt two of you. Together. They’re really nice! Don’t worry! They will take very good care of you two. Trust me! They’re friends of mine from college!” Mr Choi let out the news. Wonwoo was shocked, like literally his jaw was wide open. Jihoon, on the oth