The weight on his right shoulder is finally lifted once he drops his bag on the floor when he enters his room and he quickly slumps himself onto his bed, feeling the softness below him makes him forget about his busy day earlier. He looks at the ceiling blankly and his eyes wander around every inch of it while his mind starts to rewind every lesson that he just learned before and he sighs when he remembers the amount of assignments that needs to be done by next week.

He turns himself around and around on the bed, making his neatly done bed into a mess but he stops when he hears a knock coming from his door. The door is being open slightly, just enough for a person to peek inside of his room once he stops moving and he is greeted by the presence of his roommate.

"Jihoon-ah, we need to go to the launderette because our washing machine is busted, I don't know why but it seems to be short-circuited… I already called the repairman but he can't come until Sunday…"

"Oh, I see…"

"When are you free?"

"Anytime you are, Wonwoo-ah…"

"Okay then, in 5 minutes…? Is that okay?"

"Yeah…"

"Mingyu is preparing dinner, so in return, we do his laundry too…"

"Fine by me…"

Wonwoo closes the bedroom door, leaving Jihoon alone in his own company again and Jihoon quickly changes his clothes into a fresher oversized, black hoodie and dark-brown, skinny jeans after that. He takes his used clothes along with the other from the previous days which messily laying on the floor at a corner of his room and puts them into his laundry basket. He cleans his room while at it until he hears another knock follows by Wonwoo's voice behind the closed door.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah!" screamed Jihoon from inside of his room before taking his laundry basket and heads outside to join Wonwoo for their trip to the launderette, five floors below their shared apartment.

They both walk across their individual rooms and they continue to walk ahead until Wonwoo stops by at their kitchenette to say goodbye to Mingyu, who is working on their dinner before dropping a kiss onto the younger's shoulder.

Jihoon can't hide the smile on his face when he can feel the lovely warmth filling his heart as he watches the couple. Mingyu has been staying with them for months now and Jihoon likes his company. It is not like he's taking advantage of Mingyu being an all-rounder genius, who mostly makes their everyday meal healthier and more delicious because every one of them has their own responsibilities in their shared apartment. Mingyu handles their meals, Jihoon will do the cleaning despite his own room is quite messy and Wonwoo handles the utilities with their shared money.

Everything is great and Jihoon loves how smoothly they are as roommates without any fights and disagreements because they will settle any misunderstanding among them as soon as possible, but Jihoon feels something is missing inside of him whenever he sees Wonwoo and Mingyu together. Maybe he feels the desire to seek out a romantic relationship with someone too.

Wonwoo walks his way back to Jihoon and that happy smile on his face doesn't leave even when they reach the front door. Jihoon knows Mingyu is blushing hard even without looking at the younger with his own eyes to prove it.

 

They take the elevator down to the ground floor and when they turn right at a corner, a decent amount of other residents are already occupying the washers and the dryers in the launderette. They walk over to an unoccupied 10kg washer and as Jihoon starts to fill in his clothes into the cylinder tub, Wonwoo apologetically whispers to him that he'll be right back to take the detergent left in their apartment and Jihoon nods.

Jihoon continues to organize their clothes after checking on the materials and the colors before putting inside of the cylinder tub. He closes the washer's door, latches it securely and leaves their laundry baskets together in front of their washer before he goes to the token dispenser machine at the front of the launderette to convert the money. After he gets the correct amount of token, he goes back to their washer to find Wonwoo filling in the detergent at a small compartment on top of the washer.

Jihoon inserts the token while Wonwoo chooses 'Warm' program for their medium soil garments and presses the 'Start' button. The washer slowly starts to spin their clothes circularly and the time measured for the process to be done is shown at the small screen at the top corner of the washer. Jihoon and Wonwoo take the available seats in front of their washer, waiting for their clothes to be washed.

The smaller guy looks around the launderette while Wonwoo is scrolling through his phone, the comfortable silence slowly conquering around them. Jihoon automatically starts counting the number of washers and dryers in the launderette; there are 7kg washers, 10kg, 16kg and 27kg about 2 each with only 10kg and 16kg dryers about 3 each. Jihoon thinks the amount is too much but then he remembers on how many residents living here, in their apartment building.

 

He never went to a launderette before; this is his first time in his life he has ever been to one and he finds it amusing on how the calming, everyday sound of the washers can boosts up his tired state. Ever since he was a kid, he has always loved the white noise that a washing machine makes when it's on a spin. He knows this sound is very random, but he finds it strangely relaxing and to hear the white noise in all directions makes him happy somehow.

Not sure if it's only the sound that is soothing or maybe watching the colours as the clothes whizzes around inside of the washer add the extra calming effect on him. He surprisingly starts to love the whizzing sound, hiding quieter sounds and rhythm. He relaxes because the other distracting noises fade away, hidden by the steady pulse of the washer.

Jihoon then is interrupted not soon after he starts to engulf himself deeper into the calming noise.

"Hey…"

Jihoon looks over to where the slightly deep and husky voice comes from.

"Do you have a smaller change for this? I'm 1,000₩ short…" Jihoon can see the said taller guy in white shirt covered underneath his beige jacket and skinny blue jeans is holding a big bill of won in his hand while looking at him apologetically, with hope that Jihoon would help him out. That smile on his face is sincere to Jihoon. Jihoon doesn't know what force takes over him when he obediently takes out his wallet and searches for a smaller change of 10,000₩ but he doesn't have enough so he gives the guy 1,000₩ instead.

"Here…" handed Jihoon the 1,000₩ bill to the guy.

"Are you sure?" asked the guy for confirmation.

"Yeah, you don't have to pay me back, it's okay…" replied Jihoon while continuously staring at the guy.

"Thank you…" said the guy and before he disappears to another washer, Jihoon receives the most beautiful gummy smile from him, leaving Jihoon speechless to the extent that he has to ask himself how there is a person who can smile so beautifully like the guy because Jihoon have never seen such genuine and happy smile before.

Jihoon doesn't how long he has been staring blankly into the direction where the guy left until he can feel a hand gently closes his gaped mouth.

"Hey Jihoon-ah, that guy is kinda hot though and wow, his smile is beautiful…" said Wonwoo and Jihoon can feel the sense of teasing in his intonation. Jihoon quickly stands up to check on their washer, hiding the visible pink blushes on his cheeks.

"Shut up."

 

**********

 

An alarm clock ringing can be heard from Jihoon's room for more than ten minutes, no sign for the annoying noise to come to an end when the owner is still in a deep slumber. Jihoon is comfortably sleeping since he burned the midnight oil to finish his assignments but then, someone comes into his room and stops the alarm clock from screaming.

Wonwoo sits on the side of the bed, looking at his tired housemate and whispering slowly to wake up the smaller up.

"Jihoon-ah~ Jihoon-ah~" said Wonwoo while shaking Jihoon's petite body gently. Jihoon's eyes open for a second to look at Wonwoo before closing it back. He hugs his comforter, wrapping his body in a cocoon from the coldness. Wonwoo shakes him once again and Jihoon ignores him like he always does.

"Jihoon-ah… Come on, get up… The repairman is coming today and I need to be with him to see what's wrong with our washing machine, so I need you to do the laundry for the three of us…"

"Can we do it together tomorrow?" said Jihoon lazily.

"No can do. It needs to be done by today…"

Jihoon hugs the comforter over his body tighter.

"Jihoon-ah~ Please~"

Jihoon stays quiet, ignoring Wonwoo like a statue.

"Who knows maybe you're lucky enough to see that guy again…" said Wonwoo mischievously. Jihoon quickly pushes Wonwoo away from his bed and shushes him out of his room.

"Jihoon   "

"Yes, yes… I'll do it later, geez~"

Wonwoo smiles at him knowingly before closing the door and Jihoon quickly dives into his bed once more. The temperature in his room gets warmer all of a sudden ever since Wonwoo mentioned about the guy; he kicks the comforter off his bed and plans to continue sleeping, but no matter how hard he tries, he can't go back to sleep when the images of the said guy's smile is replaying inside of his head.

 

Jihoon looks at himself at a full-body lengthed mirror then he starts to touch his hair, placing every strand of his bed hair and the fringes into places but it doesn't stay at its spot, so he grabs the cap instead, keeping his messy bed hair hidden underneath. He fixes the black hoodie over his small body and takes a look over his ripped, worn-out-blue jeans; feeling satisfy with his adequate appearance before going outside of his room to find himself home alone.

He walks over the counter near the kitchenette to find a post-it note saying;

"Jihoon-ah, I'm going out to a hardware shop with the repairman to find the part for the washing machine. Mingyu is going out to do some grocery shopping. I already put mine and Mingyu's clothes together in my laundry basket at the front door. Thank you~" –Wonwoo

 

Jihoon looks over at the front door to find the mentioned laundry basket so he quickly takes his and Wonwoo's out of their apartment. Jihoon is having a hard time trying to bring two laundry baskets at one time and being small himself doesn't really help in this situation. He walks slowly heading towards the elevator at the end of the corridor of their floor and pushes the downwards arrow quickly for him to catch his breath while waiting for it to arrive.

He really has no idea on how Wonwoo did it because when the elevator arrives at his floor and the door is open widely welcoming him inside, he can see the guy from the launderette the other day standing inside of the elevator with his laundry basket, looking back at him with that smile of his. The guy welcomes Jihoon inside when he pulls his laundry basket closer to him, giving Jihoon enough space for himself and the two laundry baskets with him. The guy helps bringing in Wonwoo's laundry basket when Jihoon is struggling with his.

"Thank you…" Jihoon mutters in low key but the taller heard it because then he replies back.

"No problem…"

The door closes once the two of them are inside and the elevator starts to go downwards. The silence inside the elevator is awkward to Jihoon but he tries to avoid that feeling when suddenly the guy breaks the silence.

"Hi, I didn't get your name the other day… I'm Seungcheol…"

"Jihoon…"

Seungcheol nods as he learns the smaller's name and too fast to their liking, the elevator stops and the door opens in front of them. Seungcheol takes his laundry basket, but before he goes out of the elevator, he looks at Jihoon to find the smaller struggling to carry Wonwoo's laundry basket.

"Here, let me carry this one…" said Seungcheol as he carries Jihoon's lighter laundry basket using his other hand, unintentionally showing off his muscular strength to Jihoon.

"No, no… it's okay…" replied Jihoon but Seungcheol keeps on insisting to help so Jihoon focuses his attention back to Wonwoo's laundry basket.

 

They walk outside of the elevator heading together to the launderette, watching every washer taken by the other residents who arrive earlier than them until they spot one unoccupied 16kg washer at the end. The washer is too big for them to use separately and Jihoon hesitates for a while when Seungcheol offers to share the washer.

"Hey, you wanna share?'

"I…uh… I don't know…"

"It'll save the both of us… money and time…" said Seungcheol, trying to convince Jihoon.

"We can use my detergent if you want to…" said Seungcheol again when Jihoon stays quiet, thinking of every possible way to avoid from sharing the washer but to no avail. Then again, sharing doesn't sound so bad since he gets to save money and what a coincidence, he forgets to bring along their detergent. Jihoon mentally slaps himself for being such an idiot. He has to agree for the offer because it'll cost him more since he has to pay for the supplied detergent in the launderette.

"Okay…" answered Jihoon weakly but loud enough for Seungcheol to hear since he can see that radiating smile coming from the guy again.

They start to organize their clothes, checking every material and every color to avoid any possible bad encounters such as shrinking and color-fading. Seungcheol then turns his clothes inside out to avoid any faded color from mixing onto the outer layer of his clothes. Jihoon is too lazy to follow, plus with the amount of Wonwoo's and Mingyu's clothes, Jihoon doesn't have the strength to do all of it.

After putting their clothes inside of the cylinder tub, Seungcheol closes the door and latches it securely before going to the token dispenser machine while Jihoon stands in front of their shared washer, looking around blankly, doesn't have any idea of what to do to help Seungcheol. He can't just shamelessly pour in Seungcheol's detergent without his permission so his eyes follow Seungcheol wherever he goes.

When Seungcheol arrives in front of the smaller, he hands the tokens over to Jihoon; Jihoon feels slightly electrified when the tips of their fingers brush against one another. Jihoon swiftly inserts the token to avoid the taller from seeing his blushes while Seungcheol is busy pouring in the detergent. After they pick the program and Jihoon pushes the 'Start' button, the washer starts to function.

 

Jihoon doesn’t know what to do to kill the time, but he joins the taller obediently when Seungcheol walks over to sit on the unoccupied seats not that from their washer. He doesn't know why he sits next to Seungcheol when he can just sit somewhere else, but maybe since they share the same washer, he is obliged to follow Seungcheol? He doesn't know why he does that but he just did.

Jihoon leisurely becomes comfortable with the whooshing sound coming from the washer, the whistling sound coming from the dryer, the whirring sound coming from the ceiling fans; all these white noises make him at ease. His eyes start to wander around, looking at the other residents in the area. He takes note on the faces for it to be familiar to him once he becomes a regular user in the launderette as he already falls in love with the launderette's atmosphere.

Just as he thought to appreciate his surrounding, Seungcheol breaks in.

"So… I-I never saw you here before…" started Seungcheol a conversation.

"Oh, our washing machine busted a few days back and my housemate told me that the repairman is coming to fix it today…"

"Ah… that explains everything."

"Do you usually come here to do your laundry?"

"Yeah and I come to recognize the regular users; that's why I find it weird since I never saw you before…"

"Your housemates don't want to get a washing machine at your apartment?"

"Nope, and apparently, we're just housemates, nothing more… Everyone in my apartment mind their own businesses."

"Oh…" Jihoon doesn't know how to reply as he doesn't want to sound sympathizing the taller either.

"But I guess you and your housemates are close, huh?"

"We're pretty close, it was used to be only me and my friend, but then his boyfriend came over often to the point that he started living with us… Not that I mind since he's a good kid…"

"Ah I see…"

Jihoon doesn’t know how to continue the conversation because they just talked to each other this long, knowing nothing much about one another and he would be lying if he doesn't have any topic on how to prolong the conversation because talking to Seungcheol is surprisingly fun to him, but since Seungcheol stays quiet after that, he remains silence as well.

They both wait for the washing to complete until it stops spinning and a green light flickering on and off. Jihoon and Seungcheol both stand up and head towards their washer to take out their clothes from the cylinder tub before proceeding to the dryer and this time, Jihoon insists in paying since Seungcheol has already paid for the washer and they used his detergent.

Another period of time passes by like that when both of them stay silent while waiting for the drying process to complete. Jihoon keeps on playing with his hoodie's sleeve paws and Seungcheol keeps on adjusting his pine-colored hoodie above his black jeans. They both are shy to say out loud to each other how the clothes that they wear complement one another. 

When the dryer comes to stop and that familiar green light flickering again, Seungcheol quickly stands up from their seats to unlatch the door and take out his clothes while Jihoon follows behind. Jihoon stands aside, giving way for Seungcheol to take out his clothes first, leaving the rest to him but when Seungcheol already has all his clothes to himself, he helps Jihoon by taking out his laundry and bringing one laundry basket until they arrive at Jihoon's floor.

Jihoon is really clueless on how to stop Seungcheol from being too kind to a stranger, but he likes it every bit.

They both stop in front of Jihoon's front door and Seungcheol waves goodbye before parting ways.

"Bye~"

"Goodbye… oh, and thank you for helping me…"

Seungcheol can see that shy smile coming from the smaller and he finds it cute.

"My pleasure…"

 

After dinner, the three of them are relaxing in the living room, watching television when Jihoon gets up to get their laundry baskets from his room. Wonwoo and Mingyu start to gather their clothes once both laundry baskets have been put in front of them, mixing together with Jihoon's clothes since the smaller doesn't separate their clothes respectively before.

Jihoon looks at the couple gathering their garments and when the article of clothing is being separated from tangling together, the different detergent releases its sweet fragrance, causing the couple to stop their action and avert their attention towards Jihoon.

"Hyung, I don't remember our detergent smells like this?" stated Mingyu in confusion.

"I forgot to bring it down so…" replied Jihoon while looking away.

Wonwoo is giving the smaller a knowing look because he knows that the supplied detergent in the launderette doesn't smell like this and plus this fragrance is way too sweet and comforting for the launderette to offer so easily with an average price to the residents. Wonwoo untangles Jihoon's scarf from their clothes and throws it perfectly onto Jihoon's arms.

"Hey Jihoon-ah, did you meet the guy?" asked Wonwoo, giving the smaller a mischievous look while leaving Mingyu far from understanding anything. He rubs Mingyu's hand gently to assure that everything will be unveiled soon.

Jihoon shoots Wonwoo a death glare but when he looks at Mingyu's blank expression, he calms down a bit. At least Mingyu won't tease me, he thought.

"Yeah, I did… We had a short conversation…"

"And…?" asked the couple eager to know more.

"And we shared the same washer and dryer since the others are already taken…"

"And…?"

"And that's why our clothes smell different than usual…"

"And…?"

"No and, no and! That's all."

"How did you manage to bring these two laundry baskets, hyung? Did you make two trips to the launderette? I doubt that..." said Mingyu.

"I… uh…" Jihoon's cheeks start to blush in red and the couple is more excited to know when they see this reaction coming from the smaller.

"Don't tell me he helped you…?" asked Wonwoo the obvious question.

"Yeah…" answered Jihoon slowly and the couple awed in return. Jihoon looks at the couple who are in silence with mouths open widely; probably surprised to hear how fast the improvement Jihoon and this mysterious, kind-hearted guy went so Jihoon decided to tell them the whole story.

"We went to the launderette together since we took the same elevator and apparently he's staying on the upper floor and we learned each other's name by then and he helped me out since I'm struggling to do the laundry all by myself and I'm lazy to do two trips and we ended up sharing the same washer, dryer and detergent and he still helped me to carry one of the laundry basket all the way in front of our front door… Are you happy now?"

Wonwoo smiled proudly while Mingyu blushed like a high-schooler because he secondhandedly feels shy on Jihoon's behalf and Jihoon knows by then they both are going to for his entire life. Jihoon quickly hides his redden face in his scarf.

"Hyung! Hyung! When will we get to meet him?"

"Jihoon-ah, ask him over and let's have dinner together some day…"

"Yes, yes… I would like to cook some for him too… I wonder if he's going to like my cooking…"

"Of course, Min-ie… Everyone loves your cooking…"

"Everyone, you mean Jihoon-hyung and you, Woon-ie   "

"If you guys done separating our clothes, can one of you leave mine together in my laundry basket in front of my room? Thank you…" Jihoon slowly stands up and walks heading towards his room, not wanting to watch the love scene.

"Hey Jihoon-ah, you can ask him to move in… The more, the merrier, don't you think?!" screamed Wonwoo over from the living room loud enough to reach Jihoon who's standing in front of his room. Wonwoo gets no respond in return but a door is being slammed can be heard instead.

"Woon-ie, don't you think it's too early to ask the guy to move in with us?"

"Well, he will eventually move in if he likes it here and if he likes being friend with Jihoon… Do you like seeing Jihoon alone, Min-ie?"

"No…"

"The more reason why we need to get those two closer…"

Wonwoo gives Mingyu a reassuring smile before leaving a sweet peck on the younger's lips.

 

**********

 

Jihoon doesn't know why the sweet fragrance smells so strong today unlike the other days. He is sure that he did the laundry with Seungcheol weeks ago and he's been doing the laundry in their apartment ever since their washing machine has been repaired, but he doesn't have a single clue as to why this white knitwear still has Seungcheol's scent. Or probably Seungcheol's scent and that sweet fragrance of his detergent have been completely implanted into his sense of smell.

Jihoon adjusts the oversized white knitwear on his body and the black, skinny jeans wrapping his legs before pulling his sling bag securely onto his shoulder. He walks pass by the guard house and intentionally takes the further route to his apartment just to walk across the launderette at the ground floor.

He stops in front of the launderette to catch that refreshing smell of freshly-done laundry and that comforting sound of white noises so he decides to walk in just to enjoy the moment a little longer. He heads towards the nearest seat while looking around the surrounding and giving smile to the other residents. He takes a seat and his hands quickly hold onto the seat next to his side and his legs start to swing back and forth, expressing how happy he is to be there.

If only Seungcheol was here too.

Not long after that, Jihoon's phone rings throughout the launderette, gaining eyes and attentions to himself so he quickly takes the call.

"Jihoon-ah…"

"Yeah? What do you want, Wonwoo-ah?"

"Are you on your way back?"

"Yeah, I'm at the launderette…"

"What are you doing there?"

"Nothing, just stopping by…"

"....." Jihoon knows that silence, Wonwoo is probably smiling mischievously right now.

"Why?"

"Oh, nothing… just checking you out…"

"You're weird sometimes, Wonwoo-ah. I'm hanging up…" and he really does it the second after.

Wonwoo ruins his moment. Jihoon sighs and stands up to head back to their apartment.

 

He walks in the elevator once the bell rings and the door opens. He presses the fifth floor button and waits quietly as the elevator rises to the upwards. He is alone in the elevator and since he has the space to himself, he whistles to break the empty silence until the elevator stops at his floor and the door opens automatically for him.

Jihoon walks heading towards their apartment, feeling worried that the couple would make a mess out of it. He fishes out his key when he reaches the front door and slowly inserts the key to the keyhole before turning it open, resulting a 'click' sound and Jihoon turns around the doorknob before pushing it open.

"I'm home~"

He takes off his shoes and puts it on the shoe rack before he sighs at the mess that lies before his eyes. Their living room is filled with various pastel-colored helium balloons floating against the ceiling and those white ribbons attached to each balloons hanging loosely, swaying left and right once it gets hit by the wind coming from the standing fan next to the television.

On the coffee table situated other birthday props such as colorful party hats, blowouts, party poppers and pastel-colored plastic cups and plates. There are also a few candy buffet containers filled with various types of candies and sweets, marshmallows and jellybeans. A few undone birthday confetti lie on the carpet and on the sofa and Jihoon then spots a soft pink-colored birthday banner hanging on the white wall above the television with "생일 축하해요 이지훈" written on it.

Jihoon would be lying if he doesn't get touched from all of this effort, but he doesn't want his housemates to make a huge deal out of his birthday. He prefers to celebrate his birthday just like the rest of his normal days, but the couple always prepares so much for him. He walks across the messy yet heartwarmingly decorated living room to find his housemates at the kitchenette around the corner and when he turns at the corner, he stops at his track to find three guys instead of two.

"Jihoon-ah~ Oh my god! You shouldn't come here yet…" said Wonwoo.

"Hyung, come on! You're ruining the fun. We were supposed to surprise you…" joined Mingyu.

"Well, I already said I'm home earlier but I guess everyone is busy…" and Jihoon's eyes land on the familiar guy at the counter, lighting the candles on a nicely-done birthday cake. The guy smiles at him when their eyes meet.

"Hey Jihoon…"

"Hey~ I don't mean to sound rude, but what is he doing here, guys?" Jihoon directs the question to couple but Seungcheol quickly enlighten the smaller.

"Actually I came by to ask for my knitwear, but I guess you're wearing it…" said Seungcheol shyly while rubbing the back of his neck. Little that Jihoon and Seungcheol noticed, the couple is silently enjoying the scene while cutting the fruits by the sink and stirring the seaweed soup on the stove.

"Wait! This is yours?" asked Jihoon as he tries to calm down from panicking.

"Yeah, I think this is yours…" Seungcheol takes a paper bag on the counter before pulling out a similar white knitwear but smaller in size. Jihoon looks blankly, doesn't know how did this happen.

"I thought my knitwear shrinks because of the dryer, but we accidentally swapped because this is not the brand that I bought from…" and Seungcheol shows Jihoon the tag at the collar of the knitwear. Jihoon examines the familiar brand name and he doesn't know where to hide his face when everything that Seungcheol just told him is possibly true. They may be swapping their white knitwear on the day they did their laundry together at the launderette, but that was weeks ago.

Why didn't Seungcheol notice this earlier?

As if Seungcheol could read his mind, the taller continues.

"I was supposed to wear it on my play today, but since I couldn't fit, I borrowed from one of my friends in the club."

"O-oh… Sorry, I   "

"That's okay, Jihoon…" said Seungcheol while smiling reassuringly at the smaller and Jihoon smiles at the taller back; half-guilty, half-embarrassed.

"Okay, so Seungcheol-hyung, you're joining us tonight…"

"I-I can join…?"

"Sure! We've been wanting to meet you for a lo   " Wonwoo shuts Mingyu from talking by pinching the younger's waist.

"Sorry?"

"I mean, we've been wanting a guest to come here… for dinner, yeah dinner…" Mingyu tries to cover up the mess his made before Wonwoo helps him.

"And since we're celebrating Jihoon's birthday tonight, it'll be merrier to have more people around, isn't that right, Mingyu?"

"Y-yes, Wonwoo-hyung…"

Jihoon mentally slaps himself as those two try so hard to make the taller stay for the night, but probably it would be better to make a difference on his birthday this year. The couple brings along a stainless steel pot of seaweed soup and a plate filled with edible-sliced of apples, oranges and watermelons to the living room, intentionally leaving Seungcheol and Jihoon together in the kitchenette.

"I hope it's not a burden for you to join tonight…"

"Are you kidding me?! I would love to join… oh by the way Jihoon, I couldn't get you a present earlier…"

"You don't have to, Seungcheol… It's okay…"

"When I came here, Wonwoo was the one who get the door for me and he quickly pulled me inside and asked me to go and buy a birthday cake for you. So, tadaaa~" Seungcheol shows Jihoon his birthday cake with lighted '2' and '0'-shaped candles and he puts Jihoon's knitwear back in the paper bag before putting it on the counter for him to bring the cake to the living room.

"Seriously, you don't have to buy anything for me, Seungcheol…"

"That's okay, besides, I think my knitwear looks good on you… You can keep it, think of it as my birthday present." said Seungcheol as he leans a little too close to Jihoon, invading the smaller's personal space until the smaller had to hold in his breath because of the close proximity.

"Happy birthday, Jihoon~" said Seungcheol sweetly and seeing his beautiful smile and his disappearing eyes from the close distance, Jihoon can feel his heart racing erratically and his cheeks burning hot from the visible blush.

"Thank you…" muttered Jihoon weakly while looking away from the taller. 

 

---

I love jicheol in knitwear so much T^T anyway, happy birthday to our Jihoon-ie <3 #HappyWOOZIDay #우리_지훈이_태어나줘서_고마워