March 13^th, 2017

“Happy birthday!”

Myungsoo fluttered his eyes open, groaned, and then covered his ears with the pillow before trying to go back to sleep again. He has always hated it when he was being woken up from his sleep, he wouldn’t even be able to hear what the people who were waking him up saying, still wanting to be in the dreamland.

“Happy birthday!” Those people repeated, waking up Myungsoo once again. Myungsoo sighed and finally gave up. He rolled his body and then sat up, blinking his eyes to clear his sight. He saw Sunggyu and Woohyun sitting on the bed, with a cake on Woohyun’s hand and a smile on their faces. Myungsoo couldn’t help but smile, too, seeing his loved ones surprising him.

He looked up at them and asked, “This is not a dream?”

“No, this is not,” Sunggyu said, smiling brighter than he usually did, and once again said, “Happy birthday.”

And then suddenly, Woohyun threw the cake to his face, with fires still blazing on the candles—

—and then Myungsoo woke up again and saw that there was no Sunggyu or Woohyun. He woke up at once, and as his mind became more in tune with the reality, he sighed and realized, it was really just a dream. He didn’t know why he dreamed that dream, it wasn’t like they never celebrated his birthday, and they had surprised Myungsoo a lot of times, too. Instead of feeling happy because of the dream, Myungsoo ended up having a bad feeling about that day.

He stepped off the bed and went out of his room, finding out the apartment vacant of people other than him. That meant that Sunggyu and Woohyun had already gone to work, leaving Myungsoo alone. Myungsoo worked overtime last night remotely because of a bug in a released game, even though it was Sunday, so his supervisor allowed him to come to work late today. He guessed that Sunggyu or Woohyun didn’t want to wake him up, even if it was for congratulating him on his birthday.

He went to the kitchen and approached the refrigerator, feeling thirsty and in need of a cold drink. He saw some notes, one from Sunggyu saying, I won’t be home tonight, I need to go to Busan, which made him pout in disappointment. There was no birthday congratulation and he also felt disappointed since Sunggyu was out of town too on his birthday last year. He looked at the key hanger where Sunggyu usually hung his car key and felt glad when he saw that it was there. Even if Sunggyu wasn’t here, at least Myungsoo could use his car to went around.

He saw another note from Woohyun, simply reminding him, Don’t forget to warm up the food!, making Myungsoo glanced at the dinner table and saw that Woohyun has cooked some food for breakfast. He put back the notes on the refrigerator door and then went to the dinner table to check out the food. He didn’t find a bowl of seaweed soup like he had hoped to. He checked on the food and there was none, too. He sighed and felt silly for hoping.

He ended up forgetting that he wanted a drink and went back to his room, unplugging his phone from where it was charged. He opened his katalk and search for Sunggyu’s chatroom, messaging him, Can you buy me fresh seafood? and then he searched for Woohyun and send him a message, Thanks for the food.

He wouldn’t admit it, but he waited if they would congratulate him on becoming older.

March 13^th, 2011

Myungsoo had no idea what he was doing here when he should be out celebrating his birthday. He felt awkward as there were a lot of people around them, his hands were sweaty as he clapped the both of them for too long. He felt a little out of place, seeing all these savvy looking people running around. It was a test and interview day for an internship, and Myungsoo regretted applying for it not only because he didn’t really need it, but it was a business-related internship so it was not related to his major at all. The initial test was more about personality and behavior than the skill, so somehow, Myungsoo managed to pass that test and ended up here for more tests.

There were grouped into a group of three people and now Myungsoo ended up gathering with two more people. He had always felt nervous when it was about mixing with other people. So, he felt a little unnerved, right now.

“My name is Nam Woohyun,” one of his group members, a guy with a brown mushroom-like hair and a twinkling in his eyes, introduced himself and flashed his smile, and continued, “It’s my sixth semester, I am majoring in Applied Music so honestly I am not sure about what I am doing here. Remember my name, I am going to be a famous singer someday.”

He sounded so confident and not awkward at all, it made Myungsoo felt a little jealous because he wished that he had that skill. He felt glad to find another person who didn’t fit in, though.

“You are a singer?” The other guy, a guy with middle-parted brown hair and judging eyes, asked in disbelief. He seemed like a calm and collected person, though a little scary.

“Yeah,” Woohyun nodded, “I am really good if you need someone to sing in an event feel free to contact me.”

This guy really had a lot of confidence. Myungsoo felt really jealous.

“I am Kim Sunggyu,” The judging guy finally introduced himself, sounding as confident as Woohyun but with less bravado, “It’s my last semester, actually. I am studying Business so I am at the right place.”

Myungsoo wondered if looking for internships during your last year is a little too late. He started to also wonder when he should start looking for internships that actually fit his major. Maybe next year? He didn’t want to be too busy, yet. School was already slowly killing him, he didn’t need the added stress, yet.

“Where are you studying?” Woohyun asked curiously, probably attempting to have a conversation going on. Myungsoo kept silence, unsure if he should introduce himself or not. He probably would if he was asked to.

“SNU,” Sunggyu answered casually and Myungsoo’s ears perked up at that because he was from the same university.

“Wow, that’s so cool,” Woohyun said amazedly, there were admirations in his eyes now, “I have never met someone from SNU.”

“But there are a lot of us.” Sunggyu frowned, Myungsoo thought that maybe Sunggyu was confused, or found Woohyun weird, Myungsoo wasn’t sure which one, “I am sure you have met at least one.”

“Really?” Woohyun frowned too, thinking hard and then a few seconds later shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

“Where are you studying then?”

Myungsoo listened to them converse. Still feeling confused and unsure of what to say. He was new in this type of thing, and he felt that even if he had experiences, he would still feel confused. He had no idea how the other two could seem so relaxed.

“Dongah.”

“Aaah,” Sunggyu said, nodding in understanding.

“You,” Woohyun suddenly turned to Myungsoo, making Myungsoo almost took a step back in surprise, not expecting them to acknowledge his presence so soon, “You haven’t introduced yourself.”

“Kim Myungsoo,” Myungsoo introduced himself, bowing to them quickly and then started to rattle, “I am still in my fourth semester. I am majoring in Computer Science. I am from SNU, too.”

Did he miss anything?

“You too? Why are there so many smart people here?” Woohyun wondered, astounded. He shouldn’t be, actually, a lot of people from SNU got accepted as interns in this internship program. Myungsoo wondered if Woohyun didn’t learn about the program. Well, Myungsoo shouldn’t judge him, considering he himself only understand what kind of internship after he got here. Woohyun then realized, “I am definitely going to lose.”

“Well, even if you get accepted, it’s useless for your major,” Sunggyu pointed. Myungsoo observed him and he seemed to be a very frank person. Those kind of people were scary.

“That’s right,” Woohyun nodded, leaning on the wall casually, “I am just here for free food since my senior said that I should at least come to try the apparently good foods.”

Sunggyu looked at Woohyun judgingly, again, and then sighed, “It’s going to be so annoying if you get accepted.”

“I don’t think I will,” Woohyun said confidently. As Myungsoo wondered when the tests were going to start, he turned to Myungsoo and asked again, “So, I guess you are the maknae between the three of us. What year were you born?”

Myungsoo answered shortly, “1992.”

“When, exactly?”

This guy was definitely the noisy kind of people.

“March 13th,” Myungsoo answered again, hesitantly. Thankfully Woohyun or Sunggyu didn’t seem to realize what that meant, so somehow he felt relief even though there was nothing he needed to worry about.

“Ooh, I was born in 1991, so you are definitely the maknae.”

“You’re not asking me when exactly I was born.” Sunggyu said, almost as if he was offended, “I could be the maknae too.”

Woohyun scoffed at that, “Well, I don’t need to. I only need to look at your face to know that you’re definitely older than me.”

Well, Myungsoo agreed with that. With that hairstyle, Sunggyu definitely looked older than him and Woohyun. He should try other hairstyles, ones that could make him look younger. The eyeliner didn’t help him looking younger, too.

“What?” Sunggyu asked, obviously offended. It seemed that he was going to say something else, until he seemed to have a realization and turned his head to Myungsoo, “Wait, today is March 13th…it’s your birthday.”

“Huh?” Woohyun uttered, “Today is March 13th?”

“Yeah…” Myungsoo confirmed quietly. Well, turned out they were the kind of people who forgot dates easily.

“Happy birthday!” Woohyun yelled, while suddenly pulling Myungsoo into his arm, wrapping his arm around Myungsoo’s shoulder, making Myungsoo stiffens, “We should go out and eat together after this.”

Somehow, he really ended up treating two strangers to dinner after they finished their tests and interviews.

(Sunggyu got the internship, Woohyun and Myungsoo didn’t.)

March 13^th, 2012

Today was a y birthday.

Myungsoo couldn’t feel happy at all, feeling down for the whole day and no matter how hard his friends tried to cheer him up, he couldn’t manage to lift up his own mood for their sake. It had been a week since his boyfriend for one and a half year broke up with him, and he still hadn’t gotten over it. It hurt even more that his ex-boyfriend broke up with him over a text, telling Myungsoo that he thought that their relationship had gotten stale and that he needed something new.

He almost broke his phone after he read that text.

Honestly, he wasn’t in the mood to go out, instead, he wanted to stay in his room all day. But he had promised Sunggyu and Woohyun that he would meet them because hadn’t met Woohyun for a little more than one month. The last time he met Woohyun was on Woohyun’s birthday, which was celebrated in Woohyun’s family restaurant. They all kept up after that internship day, while he and Sunggyu ended up meeting quite a lot since Sunggyu hang out at SNU a lot since Woohyun was from a different school it was hard for them to meet as often.

When he arrived at the noraebang they promised to meet at, Sunggyu and Woohyun was already there, in front of the place. He tried to smile when he saw them even though it was hard. He wanted to hide his bad mood from them, but Myungsoo knew that he was going to fail.

“Hey, long time no see,” Woohyun said, hugging him right away when Myungsoo was finally near, “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you,” Myungsoo said. At least he felt a little happy when he finally met his not-so-new friends again.

“Are you okay?” Sunggyu asked him right away, looking at Myungsoo, obviously observing him, “It’s your birthday but you don’t look happy.”

“I am fine,” Myungsoo forced himself to say, and then said in a hurry, “Let’s get inside. It’s cold.”

He entered the noraebang quickly and the other two followed him. They got a room right away since there weren’t many people right now, Myungsoo wondered if he could forget his sadness by having fun singing.

Turned out the answer was: no, not really.

Sunggyu and Woohyun kept picking sad songs to sing. Sunggyu chose a lot of sorrowful Nell songs, while Woohyun chose a lot of ballad songs. It didn’t help that they were both good in singing, which made Myungsoo felt even more pained with every note they sang. Myungsoo was the only one choosing pop songs so he could have fun. And yet he still felt sad when he was singing.

The peak of his sadness was when Sunggyu asked him to sing Becoming Dust together with him. It was a song his ex-boyfriend liked a lot, so Myungsoo ended up crying in the middle of the song as he sang the lyrics. He started to sob at the and tears fill my eyes for no reason part, and it’s even sadder that the lyric fit the situation.

“Myungsoo, are you okay?” Woohyun got up right away upon seeing Myungsoo cry, “Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?”

Myungsoo had no idea why Woohyun thought he did something wrong, but he shook his head and said, “No, it’s not you.”

“Then…” Woohyun trailed, and then looked at Sunggyu accusingly, “Hyung! What did you do to Myungsoo?”

“What? I didn’t do anything!” Sunggyu said, waving his hand in refusal. He looked bewildered and if it was not because of Myungsoo, Myungsoo would laughed at him.

“It’s not Sunggyu Hyung,” Myungsoo told them before they had a chance to fight about it. He felt silly for crying in front of them when he didn’t even cry in front of his mother, but he couldn’t stop after bottling up his feelings and trying hard to not cry for the last week.

“Then who is it?” Woohyun asked angrily, “Who dares making my baby cry?”

Somehow, being called a baby made him sob even more. He wasn’t a baby, Woohyun wasn’t even that much older than him. He whined, “I am not a baby.”

“Great, you are making him cry even more,” Sunggyu said, before ckck-ing. He pulled Myungsoo to the seat to sit down and pat his back, “Here, here, tell us what’s wrong.”

So, he ended up ranting about how his ex-boyfriend went uncontactable for a month, and how that ex-boyfriend only replied to him to break up with him with a lame reason. He told them all of that while sobbing, while Woohyun wiped his tears with his own hand which was dirty, but Myungsoo didn’t have time to complain.

By the end of it, Woohyun was in a rage and Sunggyu looked like he was going to explode.

“How dare he did that to my baby,” Woohyun growled, he put his fist in the air and said, “I am going to shred him into pieces and feed his meats to sharks.”

Myungsoo wondered why Woohyun suddenly kept calling him a baby. But he didn’t question it because it was not the time for that. So, he ended up saying, “I guess I am too boring for him.”

“Don’t say that it’s not your fault, don’t try to find fault in yourself to justify his action,” Sunggyu scolded him.

“How can you be so sure?” Myungsoo asked, suddenly feeling defiant, “You don’t know how our relationship was like.”

“I am just sure that you’re not at fault,” Sunggyu insisted, crossing his arms over his chest, “If someone broke up with you like that, he doesn’t deserve you.”

Woohyun nodded, “You’re too good for anyone.”

“Don’t flatter me,” Myungsoo pouted at that.

“Stop crying, you look ugly like that,” Woohyun said, erasing Myungsoo’s tears with the palm of his hand again, “Here, here, let’s continue singing your heart out, okay? Sunggyu Hyung and I will plan a revenge plan for you.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Myungsoo said in a panic, eyes widen at that sudden plan to plan a revenge. He didn’t tell them his story so they would take revenge.

He expected Sunggyu to refuse, but unexpectedly, Sunggyu looked like he was set on something and looked at Myungsoo right in his faces, telling him in a determined voice, “Don’t worry, I’m good at making subtle and petty revenge.”

March 13^th, 2013

“And then that idol said, ‘I tried really hard! But I couldn’t do it!’, I don’t know why companies debut idols when they couldn’t event sing a line properly yet.”

Myungsoo just smiled as he listened to Woohyun’s story to his days as a new composer in an entertainment company. Apparently Woohyun had changed his dream from being a superstar into a songwriter. Myungsoo was sure that Woohyun still had the dream to become a singer, though. But he didn’t think he knew Woohyun enough to felt sure on why he suddenly gave up on that dream.

“Well, some idols debut not because they could sing, but because they can attract fangirls or fanboys easily,” Sungjong, Myungsoo’s friend, commented. Woohyun was sociable enough he could easily befriend Myungsoo’s friends. Ever since he graduated, Woohyun hang out a lot with Myungsoo and his friends. At first, it was because he had nothing to do since he wasn’t sure on what to do after graduating, but now it had become a habit.

It was Myungsoo’s birthday anyway, and they were celebrating it by eating at a restaurant together, so it was not questionable why Woohyun was there.

Myungsoo’s phone vibrated and he silently checked it out. He got a message from Sunggyu, telling him, I am outside. Myungsoo turned his head to look outside, able to see through the transparent glass. He saw Sunggyu standing there outside, instead of coming in to join them. Myungsoo was confused since he thought that Sunggyu wanted to join him since he asked where he was. He typed in a reply, Come in, you should join us.

Myungsoo waited for Sunggyu to come in, but Sunggyu seemed to be typing in an answer to his message instead, I need to say something to you privately.

Myungsoo took that as meaning that he should get out and met Sunggyu outside, instead.

“I need to get out for a minute,” He told his friends, but didn’t wait for their permission to get up from his seat and walked out from the restaurant.

He smiled at Sunggyu as he approached him, wondering, “What is it, Hyung?”

Sunggyu looked so serious, it was actually a little scary. Myungsoo felt that he did something wrong.

“Come with me, please,” Sunggyu asked him, walking away. Myungsoo followed him in a hurry, feeling a little unnerved. He wasn’t sure if there was anything wrong, wasn’t sure why Sunggyu needed to talk to him. As far as Myungsoo remember, they didn’t have any problem, not between each other, at least.

They arrived at a parking area soon after and Myungsoo could see that they were walking towards Sunggyu’s company car. Were they going away from there? Myungsoo couldn’t just leave his friends like this, though. Not to mention, he left his bag there, which was probably a bad decision considering how mischievous his friends could be. He was certain that Sungyeol had attempted to check out the contents of his bag at least once.

“Is there anything wrong, Hyung?” Myungsoo asked once they arrived at the car, “You are making me nervous.”

“Get in,” Sunggyu ordered, looking very timid. Myungsoo had never seen Sunggyu like this, so it felt weird.

“You are not kidnapping me, aren’t you?” Myungsoo asked again jokingly, trying to ease the situation he didn’t understand.

“Of course not,” Sunggyu shook his head so hard Myungsoo was afraid that it will fell off, “I am a nice person. Get in.”

Maybe Sunggyu was not in a good mood. So Myungsoo just obliged and got into the unlocked car, sitting in the passenger, wondering what Sunggyu wanted to talk about and if Sunggyu was going to take him to somewhere. Sunggyu didn’t get into the car right away, he seemed to be taking something from the trunk so Myungsoo waited for him, looking at his clock nervously. He turned his head towards the driver seat when Sunggyu finally got in, with a bucket of flower on his hand.

Sunggyu handed the flower to Myungsoo and then in the quietest voice ever, confessed, “I love you.”

“What?” Myungsoo asked, failing to hear what Sunggyu was saying. He accepted the flower hesitantly, his forehead wrinkled as he started to get more confused.

“I love you,” Sunggyu repeated, this time louder. He seemed to refuse to look at Myungsoo.

Myungsoo looked left and right, making sure that there were only him and Sunggyu, making sure that it was not someone else Sunggyu was confessing to. Obviously, there were only the two of them there. Sunggyu really was confessing to him.

“Me??” Myungsoo asked, making sure that it really was him. He really didn’t expect Sunggyu to suddenly confess like this. He didn’t expect Sunggyu to like him more than just as friends. He never seemed to have a crush on Myungsoo, or if he had shown it before, Myungsoo didn’t realize it at all.

“Yes, you,” Sunggyu said, he looked down and said, “I know this is so sudden and all, but I just feel that I have to confess as soon as possible.”

“I…” Myungsoo started to say but finding it hard since he was really surprised. He looked at the flower in his hand, and then Sunggyu, and then at the flower again. Suddenly he was having a headache.

“You don’t need to give me a response, I just need you to know how I feel,” Sunggyu said, finally looking at Myungsoo, “Even I myself was astounded that I can feel this way.”

Myungsoo had always liked Sunggyu a lot. It was rare for him to find someone who seemed so…dependable, more mature than he was. He had always felt that he could rely on Sunggyu a lot. Though, Myungsoo had never thought about dating Sunggyu, since Sunggyu didn’t seem interested in dating and Myungsoo had always thought that he was straight. But now that Sunggyu suddenly confessed to him, Myungsoo felt very happy, even though he might not look like it.

“I like you a lot, too,” Myungsoo blurted out, nodded, and then repeated, “Yeah, I really like you too, Hyung,” and then he came to a conclusion, “Let’s date.”

It had been a year since he became single, anyway, and Sunggyu was definitely a good choice to be his boyfriend. At least Myungsoo was sure if Sunggyu wanted to break up with him later, he wouldn’t do it through a text message. Sunggyu didn’t seem cowardly when it came to things like that.

“Really?” Sunggyu asked. Myungsoo thought that it was the most excited tone he had ever heard Sunggyu used. It made him smile. He felt like he was finding the new Sunggyu for the last..well, twenty minutes.

“Yeah.”

“I’m so glad,” Sunggyu said, smiling brightly. He suddenly looked younger, when he smiled brightly like that. He shyly continued, “So today is our first day together.”

“Yes,” Myungsoo nodded, his stomach twisted in excitement and embarrassment, he wasn’t so sure about what to do after this so he suggested, “Do you want to tell others?”

“Ah, I need to get back to work actually,” Sunggyu told him, full of regrets, “I went here without any plans, so…”

Myungsoo laughed, “Just to tell me that you love me?”

If Sunggyu suddenly abandoned his works just to say that, it must be really important.

“Yes, as I said, I suddenly feel that I need to confess as soon as possible.”

Sunggyu could be very random, sometimes. It was different from how he was usually. Usually, Sunggyu was very well-planned in everything.

“I see, I should probably go back, though,” Myungsoo sadly said. His friends were probably waiting for them. Myungsoo was sure that they stole all of his food while he was away. But at the same time, he didn’t want to be away from Sunggyu when they just became a thing.

“Let me drive there, you can get off right away and I will go back to my office.”

“Okay.”

Sunggyu started the car and then soon after drove away from the parking lot. They didn’t say anything on the very short ride, both feeling shy and giddy after that moment. Myungsoo held onto the flower tightly, almost crushing it. It felt nice, to love and be loved again. The giddiness he was feeling made Myungsoo felt younger.

They stopped in front of the restaurant and before Myungsoo got off, Sunggyu told him, still with a wide smile on his face, “I will chat you again later.”

Myungsoo nodded and quickly got off the car, almost didn’t want to let Sunggyu go. He watched Sunggyu drove away, watching the car go until it disappeared from Myungsoo sight. Myungsoo looked at the flower and felt so giddy he jumped several times before finally calming down himself, and went into the restaurant. As he approached his table, his friends looked at him curiously, obviously wondering what happened. They were not being subtle at all.

“Is that Sunggyu Hyung?” Woohyun asked right away, eyeing the flower on Myungsoo’s hand.

Myungsoo sat down and answered, “Yes.”

“Why didn’t he join us?” Sungjong asked while eating a chicken foot.

“He still has works to do.”

“So why did he come?” Woohyun asked again. Myungsoo felt like he was being interviewed or interrogated. Somewhere between those two.

“He just confessed to me.” Myungsoo finally told them, happiness obvious on his face. Perhaps it was a rushed decision, perhaps it was a decision he had to think over again. But he hoped that it was not a decision he would come to regret.

“What?!” Sungyeol yelled, acting too dramatically, and then he calmed down after realizing that hew as too loud, changing the way he talked into a whisper, “Really?”

“Yeah, I accepted him. We are dating now,” Myungsoo said, couldn’t help but grin when he said that. The others started to congratulate him and asked him to buy more food, and Myungsoo just did their request because he felt too happy.

But that day, Myungsoo failed to notice Woohyun’s crestfallen face.

March 13^th, 2017

Myungsoo couldn’t concentrate at all at work. He found himself glancing at his phone once in a while, waiting for Sunggyu and Woohyun’s other replies. They both had answered his messages, but the answers were not what he was expecting. He stared at the codes in front of him, trying to find which code that caused the error in the new game his company was developing. It was a headache because this part of the module wasn’t coded by him, but the programmer who did this code was on a leave and now he was the one who was stuck with it. Myungsoo had a feeling that this should be easy, but he couldn’t really think well that day.

He sighed and decided to take a very short break, relaxing his stiff body after staring at the computer screen for too long. It was a miracle that his eyes were still good considering how much he stayed in front of the computer. He still felt tired and sleepy after getting his free time stolen the previous day, and there was nothing that had managed to lift up his mood.

He wondered if Sunggyu and Woohyun really forgot his birthday, because that seemed impossible. He didn’t know why he felt so upset about this, didn’t feel that he should be upset about it. After all, one-time Myungsoo blurted out confidently that Woohyun’s birthday was on February 14th even though it was wrong. But on his defense, it wasn’t that he forgot Woohyun’s birthday. His mind just associated Woohyun with February 14th than with February 8th since Woohyun did Valentine’s Day event often.

He groaned and then hit his own head on the desk, suddenly feeling stupid not only for feeling disappointed but also for unable to solve the problem on his computer screen. He earned some looks from his colleagues, but they probably thought that he was too stressed from work.

February 8^th, 2014

“I was going to ask him out that day!” Woohyun drunkenly yelled, and then point his finger at Sunggyu, “But you! You confessed to him first before I managed to do it!”

“Ah, so that’s why I had a bad hunch that day,” Sunggyu realized, eerily calm after listening to Woohyun ranting about how Sunggyu ‘stole’ Myungsoo from him. Myungsoo could only look at him at disbelief, baffled by everything.

Woohyun had been avoiding both Sunggyu and him for the last few months and none of them knew why. Myungsoo thought he was just busy because of his new job, because of his rising status as a songwriter. But now he knew why, when Woohyun suddenly called Sunggyu to come to this pojangmacha. Myungsoo ended up coming, too. When they arrived Woohyun was already wasted, and now he was drunkenly spilling the truth about what had been going on with him. Drunkenly admitted that he liked Myungsoo and was going to confess last year on Myungsoo’s birthday.

“I even bought a ring,” Woohyun whined. He was attracting looks from other customers, it made Myungsoo felt embarrassed.

“What for??” Myungsoo asked in disbelief.

He felt guilty because he didn’t realize Woohyun’s feelings for him. He wondered what did he do to make both Sunggyu and Woohyun liked him, because he never did anything special, and he didn’t really understand how people could like him.

“I can’t even get mad at you because I like you too,” Woohyun said to Sunggyu, apparently ignoring Myungsoo. He had been acting as if Myungsoo wasn’t there, though maybe Woohyun was so drunk he didn’t even realize that Myungsoo was there, listening to every word of his rants, “But not as much I love him. Do you know how much sad songs I composed for the last year?”

Woohyun let out a cry and sob on the desk. Sunggyu watched him, seemingly contemplating something. Myungsoo knew that face well, especially after they started to date. Though, even after almost a year of dating, Myungsoo still couldn’t guess what Sunggyu was feeling. Sunggyu was quite good at masking his feelings and Myungsoo had learned that if he wanted to know what Sunggyu felt, he should ask right away.

“What should we do?” Myungsoo asked, feeling at loss. He didn’t know what to do with this new information, he felt bad for Woohyun for breaking his heart, his heart even ached for Woohyun. He made Woohyun looked like a mess right now.

“Do you like him?” Sunggyu asked him, making Myungsoo felt even more baffled.

“Huh?”

“Do you like him?”

Myungsoo didn’t know how to answer that question. Wondering what was the right answer, afraid that he would hurt Sunggyu by his answer. Myungsoo felt that he used to like both Sunggyu and Woohyun a lot because they were like the older brothers he had never had and both of them took care of him well. Woohyun was more upfront in taking care of Myungsoo, so Myungsoo’s heart used to flutter a lot at his actions. But since he and Sunggyu started to date and Woohyun started to disappear, even though he missed Woohyun a lot, his feelings for Sunggyu started to grow stronger.

Myungsoo decided to tell him part of the truth, “Well, I used to like both of you a lot…”

Sunggyu sighed, touching his temple as if he was having a massive headache. Well, this situation was a headache. Myungsoo bit his lips and stole a look at Woohyun, who seemingly had fallen asleep on the table. This was a sad birthday for Woohyun.

“Well, it hurt my pride a bit but,” Sunggyu started to say, “How if I share with you with him?”

“…” Myungsoo tried to digest what Sunggyu said, trying to come up with a response only to end up with a, “What?!”

Myungsoo didn’t understand how that was what Sunggyu had to suggest. He didn’t even expect Sunggyu to think of something like that. Sunggyu had always had some unexpected thoughts and solutions to the problem he was facing. But this—this was simply weird.

“Do you think that can work?” Sunggyu wondered, seriously thinking about it. Myungsoo had never thought that Sunggyu would be the kind of person who easily shared his belongings. Myungsoo wasn’t even just a thing, Myungsoo was his boyfriend.

“How will that work?” Myungsoo asked. He still didn’t understand what Sunggyu was planning to do. How sharing someone, an actual living person, worked. He couldn’t really fathom what this really meant. Did Sunggyu not love him enough so he could easily shared him with someone else, or what?

Sunggyu looked at Woohyun in sympathy, “Let’s get him home first.”

March 13th, 2014

Myungsoo fluttered his eyes open, feeling a lot of warmth creeping all over his body. As he turned his head, he smiled upon seeing Sunggyu on his side. For the first time when they slept together, Myungsoo was the first person to wake up. It was actually nice, seeing your loved one sleeping beside of you when you woke up.

He turned his head to another side, seeing Woohyun also still in a deep sleep. It was not only Sunggyu and Myungsoo, now, but it was Sunggyu, Woohyun, and Myungsoo. The three of them, in an unusual relationship—a kind of relationship Myungsoo never thought he would be in. It was only two weeks since all of them decided to pursue this relationship, after contemplating about it and thinking about the pro and the cons.

At first, Woohyun thought that Sunggyu and Myungsoo only pitied him. He even got angry at them for suggesting the idea. Myungsoo felt conflicted too, about it, wondering if it was right for him to have two boyfriends at once, even though he was not cheating. It took a while for Sunggyu to convince him that this didn’t mean that Sunggyu didn’t love him enough. Moreover, his and Sunggyu’s relationship was already hard to accept by the society, this three-way relationship would definitely give them a harder time.

And then he just thought to it, since he liked both of them and he was already in a relationship that people wouldn’t accept so easily, so being in a more complicated relationship should be no problem.

They all had an in depth talk about it more than once, and in the end, they had finally established that they all liked each other, so it was possible to pursue it. So now they were trying and so far, Myungsoo didn’t think that there were any problems. They hang out together, going on a date together, and people would only think that they were friends who were hanging out together. At first, it was awkward, and Myungsoo was sure that Woohyun felt out of place between him and Sunggyu. But Myungsoo tried to make him at ease.

Last night, they had their first together, the three of them, and it was great, albeit tiring. Perhaps it was a little more chaotic since there were three of them and they barely knew what to do even after watching videos. But they just let it flow, as they stopped being nervous and timid, letting it flow, about it everything went much smoother.

Perhaps, that was also how they were going to do in this relationship: just let it flow.

February 8^th, 2015

Myungsoo went out of the bathroom happily, feeling happy this morning because it was finally Woohyun’s first birthday with them, and they were going to celebrate it since the morning since now they were all living together. He walked towards the living room, feeling certain that Sunggyu and Woohyun were there. He wanted to give Woohyun a tight hug and gave him a gift, which he hid well.

When he reached the living room, though, he saw that Sunggyu and Woohyun were sitting together on the sofa, Woohyun’s head on Sunggyu’s shoulder. They seemed to be talking about something, immersed in their conversation. Myungsoo smiled at them, finding it nice to see since it felt that sometimes their relationship was centered around Myungsoo, so seeing them being chummy with each other, without Myungsoo, felt relieving and satisfying for Myungsoo.

Myungsoo quietly took a step back and went to their bedroom instead, deciding to make himself look good first, deciding to let Sunggyu and Woohyun had their own moment.

March 13^th, 2015

Myungsoo skipped happily, feeling bright after having a very smooth job interview. So far, this was the second time in his life where he had a job interview on his birthday. But he had gotten a lot better now, not even feeling too nervous anymore when had to face one since he had gotten some experiences and learned from Sunggyu. He had always wanted to change where he worked, having been interesting in game development lately. So, when a famous gaming company opened a programmer position, he applied for it. His two-years contract with his old company was going to be over soon, anyway.

He felt even happier seeing Sunggyu and Woohyun were already in the lobby of the company. He waved at them, running towards them. Sunggyu pulled him once he was there, patting on his back affectionally while asking, “How is it?”

“I aced it!” Myungsoo told them loudly, almost scaring some people around them. Woohyun gave him a hug, while Sunggyu was holding a flower bouquet. Somehow, Sunggyu was always the one ending up holding a flower bouquet. Myungsoo remembered that on his graduation day. Sunggyu was the one holding on to the flower bouquet, too.

“Congratulations!”

Sunggyu smiled and handed Myungsoo the flower, “Here, your flower.”

He didn’t know a flower was necessary since he hadn’t gotten accepted, yet, but Myungsoo accepted the flower and then suddenly both Sunggyu and Woohyun kissed him on the cheek at the same time, making him squeal and got away from them. His two lovers laughed, amused that he was surprised by it. They had come a long way, nowadays there were not shy anymore about showing affection in front of the public.

“Let’s take a photo first,” Woohyun suggested, already opening his camera app. Sunggyu and Myungsoo just obliged, knowing that it would be useless to refuse. Woohyun had gotten addicted to Instagram lately, so he had to take photos of every moment and every food. They took a quick snap, taking a selca of the three of them with Myungsoo being in the middle, since this was his day.

“What do you want to eat now?” Sunggyu asked as they started to go away from the lobby, while Woohyun was busy checking out the photo, “I’m sure you’re hungry.”

“I’m really hungry,” Myungsoo confirmed, his stomach growled and he added, “I feel like I am going to pass out from hunger.”

Sunggyu shook his head amusedly. Woohyun, who was still not looking up from his phone, editing his photo and probably would upload it right away, suggested, “How about some seafood?”

“Yes!” Myungsoo agreed, suddenly wanting to eat crabs when Woohyun mentioned seafood, “Not the raw ones please.”

“You know we all hate raw seafood.”

“Just a reminder,” Myungsoo grinned, “The usual place?”

“Yes, Gyu Hyung is buying.” Woohyun chirped, earning a sharp gaze from Sunggyu.

“It’s your turn to pay, though!”

“Nope, it’s yours!”

“No, I remember that I was the one who paid for our last dinner.”

“I will pay today,” Myungsoo interrupted, not wanting them to argue about whose turn it was to pay for the big dinner. Myungsoo at least remembered that it was him who paid two big dinners ago, “It’s my birthday after all.”

“Nice,” Sunggyu said, satisfied with the conclusion. The one thing that Sunggyu and Woohyun had in common, other than their love for music, was their stinginess. Maybe it was because both of them came from a family that used to struggle. Myungsoo was sure that between the three of them, Myungsoo had the better life.

“But can I drive today?” Myungsoo wondered, wanting to drive suddenly after the successful interview. He even felt like speeding, but he knew that it was wrong and he still loved his life. He still wanted to live for a long, long time.

“No,” Sunggyu refused firmly, “You definitely can’t.”

“Come on, you should let me drive once in a while,” Myungsoo pouted at him. He had gotten his driving license a month ago, but they still hadn’t let him drive a car for the sake of their lives. They didn’t even know that Myungsoo had gotten good at driving. Well, at least he thought that he had gotten at driving.

“No, you should just enjoy the ride and let me or Sunggyu drive you,” Woohyun said, finally putting his phone back in his pocket and walking beside of Sunggyu and Myungsoo after getting left behind because he was too focused on his phone.

Myungsoo didn’t really like that because it felt like he was using them, felt like he was being coddled. He wanted to do something for them once in a while too.

“You said you are going to let me do anything I want to today,” Myungsoo reminded them, making Sunggyu and Woohyun looked at each other. Myungsoo could almost see surrender in their eyes.

“Well, it wouldn’t be so bad, I guess…” Woohyun muttered, looking away from Sunggyu.

“Yay! Where is the car? Let’s go!”

Sunggyu gave up and lead all of them to his car, which was in the parking lot. Sunggyu slowly gave his key to Myungsoo, hesitating about it until Myungsoo snatched the key from Sunggyu and unlocked the car.

“I’m going to sit in the back seat,” Sunggyu announced, opening the backseat door and got in right away.

“Me, too,” Woohyun said, joining Sunggyu.

Myungsoo scowled at them before he entered the car too, taking the driver seat. He put his flower on the front passenger seat since Sunggyu and Woohyun refused to be there. He felt elastic between there and his excitement grew as he the car and heat it up, ready for a ride.

“Let’s go!”

Myungsoo put on a fast speed on purpose to scare Sunggyu and Woohyun. He had fun seeing Sunggyu and Woohyun held onto each other for dear life.

March 13^th, 2016

“We even went to Namsan Tower today,” Woohyun bragged, while Myungsoo chuckled beside of him, “We ate so many times I felt so full.”

“Meanwhile I am stuck with Hotel foods here,” Sunggyu sighed, his sigh could be loudly heard from the laptop speaker, “Why when Myungsoo’s birthday is finally on a Sunday, I have to go?”

They were making a video call with Sunggyu who had to be away today, stuck in another city because of his job while Woohyun and Myungsoo went out all day to celebrate Myungsoo’s birthday. They were laying down on their stomach on the bed, staring at the laptop screen. They were not that tired even though they played all day. They went to watch a movie, skating, watch a movie again, went to Namsan tower, and then had a culinary tour around Myeongdong. Myungsoo felt sad that Sunggyu wasn’t there with them, though.

“Because the earth wanted Myungsoo to spend his birthday only with me,” Woohyun stuck his tongue out at Sunggyu childishly, “We had fun without you, Hyung.”

“No, you don’t,” Sunggyu growled from the screen jealously. Myungsoo found that cute.

“Yes, we do.”

“I miss you, Hyung,” Myungsoo said, interrupting the childish fight. He genuinely missed Sunggyu, though he had a lot of fun with Woohyun for today. It would be the same if it was Woohyun who couldn’t be there. Myungsoo noted, “You have been there for three days already.”

“I have to fix all the mess here,” Sunggyu told them. He looked really tired, apparently, he was sent by the CEO of his company to fix some problems in the company subsidiary, “Honestly I feel so tired. I want to change jobs.”

Sunggyu was always tired from work. He worked really hard, rising in position quickly because he was hardworking and smart. Myungsoo wished he would take a long break once in a while, though, because now he had been working hard for more than 5 years.

“I told you to just join my company,” Woohyun scolded him, “We are now in need of someone who is good at business strategy. Our current business strategies are a mess.”

“You’re just a composer there, how would you know that?” Sunggyu wondered.

“You know that I have good ears.”

“You mean you are good at gossiping,” Myungsoo corrected him. Woohyun had a lot of connections and sometimes Myungsoo thought that Woohyun knew about everything and anything, even the things he shouldn’t know.

“You know me so well,” Woohyun grinned, moving his face closer to Myungsoo’s to rub their noses together. They ended up doing a short Eskimo kiss. He and Woohyun liked doing that, even though it was Sunggyu who initiated that with Myungsoo for the first time. Myungsoo was sure that he did Eskimo kiss more with Woohyun than with Sunggyu.

“Don’t do PDA when I can’t join you,” Sunggyu complained, groaning very loudly, definitely wishing that he was there and could join in.

“It’s not PDA, we’re in the apartment,” Woohyun rolled his eyes, turning to the screen again and winked at Sunggyu, “We are going to have fun tonight.”

“Don’t—“ Sunggyu started to stay, but Woohyun already turned to Myungsoo’s expectant face again, tilting his head and started to kiss Myungsoo on the mouth, this time, making Sunggyu yelled, “Ya!”

And the Woohyun shut the laptop, muting Sunggyu’s yell. He didn’t even turn to look at the laptop again, continuing kissing Myungsoo until he felt satisfied. They took a short break only for Woohyun to push Myungsoo to lay down on the bed, while he himself was on top of Myungsoo, pinning him down. They kissed again like that, Myungsoo wrapping his arm around Woohyun’s arm, making Woohyun almost fully press his body against Myungsoo’s.

They smothered each other’s mouth messily and without any clear direction, just like how they always did. There was a difference when Woohyun kissed him than when Sunggyu kissed him. Woohyun was more impatient, taking the kiss to the peak in a short time because sometimes without Myungsoo knowing it, Woohyun was already leaving a mark on his body. While Sunggyu took the time to build the tension, escalating the passion little by little. Myungsoo didn’t have a preference, it was all depending on his mood which one he liked. They all had learned to adjust to each other’s preference if they wanted to do it together.

Woohyun finally let Myungsoo’s mouth go to take a breath, breathless after taking on time in taking charge. Myungsoo took a breath too, feeling a little restless.

“Do you think he will be mad when he come back?” Myungsoo asked, amused by what Woohyun did. Sunggyu was definitely annoyed that they hang up on him like that.

“Well, he will be annoyed maybe,” Woohyun shrugged, “We can just shower him with love later.”

“I feel bad for him actually,” Myungsoo admitted. It must for Sunggyu. But Myungsoo was sure that his hard work would do him well in the future, so this was just a price he had to pay first.

“Me too,” Woohyun nodded, “But well, he has to deal with the consequences. Do you want to continue?”

“Of course,” Myungsoo said, already feeling the mood even though he felt bad for Sunggyu. It wasn’t like this was the first time they had with only the two of them, so it should be fine, “I need to wake up early, as usual, tomorrow, so let’s do it now.”

“Okay then.”

Instead of kissing Myungsoo again, Woohyun got off the bed and took the laptop that was lying down on the sofa, getting rid of a hindrance. And then he started to take off his shirt, and Myungsoo sat down on the bed, unashamedly started to watch as Woohyun stripped off his clothes.

April 28^th, 2016

Perhaps it was karma or something, but Woohyun ended up not being there when it was finally Sunggyu’s birthday. Myungsoo didn’t want to call it karma, though, because it was because Woohyun’s mother was sick and had to be hospitalized, so Woohyun decided to be there for his family. So this was the second birthday that year where they were not complete.

Sunggyu and Myungsoo were lying down on their bed, only having dinner as a celebration of Sunggyu’s birthday because they felt sad for Woohyun. Myungsoo buried his face in Sunggyu’s arm, both of them were quiet. Sunggyu had decided that they would just celebrate his birthday properly later, when Woohyun could join them again. Myungsoo didn’t know when would it be, but he wanted to make a surprise party for Sunggyu later. They hadn’t even eaten a cake.

“Come to think about it, it has been three years since we officially dated,” Sunggyu randomly said, reminiscing of the past, “But only two years since Woohyun became a part of it.”

“Yeah,” Myungsoo nodded, pulling away so he and Sunggyu could look at each other, “But my life felt even more complete now.”

“It felt like it has been a really long time since we become…well, us,” Sunggyu told him.

Myungsoo frowned, “Is that a bad thing?”

“I don’t think so,” Sunggyu told him. Myungsoo felt relieved at that, because for a second Myungsoo almost thought that Sunggyu was already gotten bored of him, something that he was always afraid of would be happening. Sunggyu caressed Myungsoo’s face, a look of fondness appeared on his face, “It means that we adapted better than expected. I feel completely comfortable with both of you around me.”

“Me too.”

Sunggyu and Woohyun were very different people, but at the same time, that was why together they made the perfect combo for Myungsoo. They made up for what each other lacked. Sunggyu was calmer and more emotionally stable than Woohyun, but Woohyun brought brightness into their relationship and was more sensitive to feelings, whether it was his own feelings or others. Woohyun was the one more daring to take them on an adventure, any kind of adventure.

Myungsoo wasn’t sure of what was his role in this relationship. Perhaps he was the middle ground, the one who united them. But other than that, he wasn’t so sure. He had stopped thinking about it too much, though. But having two lovers certainly had its own advantages. And there were times when Myungsoo thought about how if he was the first one to die between the three of them, he would felt glad that Sunggyu and Woohyun still had each other.

“Since I met you and Woohyun, I went through so many unusual things,” Sunggyu mused, “First I fell in love with a guy, and then ended up being in a polyamorous relationship with two guys.”

“I’m sorry,” Myungsoo apologized, because somehow it felt like Myungsoo had taken Sunggyu away from a shot at a normal relationship.

“Don’t be,” Sunggyu said, pulling himself closer to Myungsoo to give him a forehead kiss, “It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Myungsoo smiled, happy that none of them regretted it. He touched Sunggyu’s chest, playing with the fabric of his shirt, “We should go visit Woohyun and his mother tomorrow.”

“Yeah, we should.”

March 13^th, 2017

Myungsoo got off Sunggyu’s car from the driver seat, still in a bad mood for today. Woohyun suddenly called him to ask Myungsoo to pick him up at a restaurant where he had a meeting with some managers, still without saying ‘Happy Birthday’. He leant on the car and chatted Woohyun, I’m in front of the restaurant.

Woohyun responded to his chat right away, telling him to come in, asking him to have dinner there instead of going home right away. Myungsoo didn’t reply, he pocketed his phone and decided to walk towards the restaurant. It looked like an expensive restaurant and Myungsoo couldn’t help but wonder if they had a Birthday discount so he and Woohyun could save some money. After years, Woohyun’s tendency to look for discounts had rubbed on him.

A doorman welcomed him when he arrived at the door, directing Myungsoo to go inside the restaurant. Myungsoo felt confused when he saw that the restaurant was empty—he looked left and right but he didn’t saw anyone. He turned to the doorman and asked, “Why is it so empty?”

The doorman just smiled at him and Myungsoo almost jumped when a guitar started to play, making look to find the source of the music. His eyes widen when he suddenly heard Sunggyu’s voice, talking in English. He gaped when he saw that now Sunggyu and Woohyun were in the middle of the restaurant, holding mics and wearing similar cloths. Woohyun started to sing after Sunggyu finished the short English narration, the music played loudly from the speakers in the restaurant.

I felt it instinctively

that you will be my lover

I can’t forget the shiver that went through me,

the first time I laid my eyes on you.

And then Sunggyu sang too,

I don’t know whether you’re a good person.

I’m just madly attracted.

Even if it might be a hasty conclusion,

It seems like it’s love

Myungsoo started to realize that this was their birthday surprise and at once, his bad mood went missing in action. Some people started to bring out cakes and balloons. A big banner rolled down from the ceiling, with a big ‘HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY KIM MYUNGSOO’ on it. Sunggyu and Woohyun kept singing through that, while they slowly approached Myungsoo, singing right in front of him. Myungsoo couldn’t really remember what the title of the song, but he knew that he had heard it before.

There was a rap part in the song, and Myungsoo burst into loud laughs when it came and both Sunggyu and Woohyun knelt down and started to rap messily and heartily together on the floor. Myungsoo saw some of the employees flinched hearing their rap, and he laughed even more.

Myungsoo didn’t really understand why they chose this song because from the lyrics it was more fitting as a confession. But as the song was coming to an end, Myungsoo finally remembered the title of the song and realized that it was the song Woohyun told him he was going to sing for Myungsoo 5 years ago as a confession. But he didn’t manage to sing the song for Myungsoo that day, so perhaps he finally decided to do it with Sunggyu today.

The song finally ended, and someone handed the birthday cake to Sunggyu. Myungsoo smiled widely and told Sunggyu, “I thought you were in Busan.”

“Well, I lied,” Sunggyu said, “Blow the candles. Wait, no, make a wish first.”

Myungsoo laughed lightly and then closed his eyes, starting to list of his wishes. He wished that all three of them will be happy together forever, wished that his family and friends were living well and also would always be happy, and lastly he wished for world peace and Korea reunification. After he felt satisfied with his wishes, he opened his eyes again and blew the candles. Confetti suddenly exploded in the air, surprising almost everyone in the room.

Did they plan all of this?

“I thought you two forgot my birthday,” Myungsoo said, suddenly wanting to cry because of the surprised and because he was so easily fooled for the whole day.

“You should have known that is impossible,” Woohyun laughed, “But I guess we succeed making you thought that we forgot your birthday.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Please cry,” Woohyun requested, making Myungsoo pouted at him.

“I don’t want to!” He said, even though his eyes were a little teary, “Did you two have been planning this—“

“Yes,” Woohyun answered without letting Myungsoo finish his question, “We wanted to make a grand surprise for you, and well, Sunggyu wanted to celebrate your anniversary, too.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Myungsoo said, touched by what they did for him. After last year’s birthday where Sunggyu was missing and they were incomplete, this one felt really special.

“Well, we did it already, so saying that is useless,” Sunggyu said in a matter of fact.

A waiter handed Woohyun a knife, who handed it to Myungsoo, “Come on, slice the cake.”

Myungsoo did what he was told to do, he started to slice the cake slowly, trying hard to not ruin it too much. Another employee handed him a small plate to put the slice of cake on, assisting the whole thing. Myungsoo didn’t know why, but this situation felt a little funny.

“So, who is the first slice for?” Sunggyu asked expectantly.

Suddenly Myungsoo was in a dilemma on who should get the first cake, Sunggyu or Woohyun. But then he got a bright solution, which would offend everyone or no one.

“For me. I’m saving this for myself,” Myungsoo told them happily, putting the plate on the nearest table. Sunggyu muttered under his breath, that’s smart, while Woohyun just looked like he didn’t expect anything. Myungsoo started slicing the cake, dividing it into several parts but he didn’t put them on the plate, yet.

Sunggyu, who was holding the cake, started to whine, “Let’s sit down. I’m tired of standing.”

Myungsoo laughed again, and sat down the chair near him, while Sunggyu put the cake on the table in a hurry and let out a loud sigh of relief when he finally sat down. Woohyun shook his head at him and chided him, “You really should start exercising with me.”

Myungsoo just chuckled at them and starts putting four slices of cake onto two plates, before handing them to Sunggyu and Woohyun. He looked around and the waiters were already gone, leaving them alone in the empty restaurant. Since it was so empty, Myungsoo assumed that they rented the whole place. It must be really expensive and Myungsoo didn’t think that they had enough money to waste like this.

“I can’t believe you are doing this for me,” Myungsoo said, still touched that they would spend a lot of money for him, “It must be expensive.”

“Don’t worry, we didn’t spend too much money on this.” Woohyun assured him, tapping Myungsoo’s arm on the table, “The owner of the restaurant is my friend, so I managed to get some discounts.”

Well, that shattered Myungsoo’s thought about how they were so willing to waste money on him. But nevertheless, they still spent a lot of efforts on this.

“I am so happy,” Myungsoo confessed, feeling a little dizzy from all the love he was feeling, “I don’t deserve you two.”

“No, you deserve us,” Sunggyu said right away, always determined to correct Myungsoo every time he said something like that, “Love is not the matter of deservation, anyway, right?”

He turned to Woohyun as if he was asking for some support. But Woohyun just looked clueless, not understanding what Sunggyu was trying to say. Sometimes, there were things that just went over Woohyun’s head. Honestly, Myungsoo didn’t really understand what Sunggyu was trying to say, either, because love definitely needed to be earned, at least for him.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. But yes, Myungsoo definitely deserves us,” Woohyun ended up saying, after several seconds of pause, he ended up changing the topic, “The food in this restaurant is good. We are going to eat a lot of it.”

“I will definitely do something great for your next birthdays,” Myungsoo promised, ignoring Woohyun’s last sentences.

“You don’t need to do that,” Woohyun assured him, patting his shoulder, “Your existence is already a great gift.”

“Your love for us is a gift, too.” Sunggyu chimed in, unexpectedly joining on the cheese fest.

Myungsoo pretended to get shivers, shaking his body dramatically, “Stop it. I am getting shivers at your tries to be cheesy.”

They all laughed and started to eat their cakes. They were eating while talking about mundane things, like about the song Sunggyu and Woohyun just sang and how they were having a hard time choosing to right songs to sing to him so they just chose to sing that song. And Myungsoo started to tell them about his day at his word, until Sunggyu suddenly remembered something and interrupted Myungsoo, “Oh, I can’t believe that I almost forget about it.”

He took out a small red box out of his pocket and opened the cover, showing it to Woohyun and Myungsoo and then putting it on the table. Myungsoo looked at it in astonishment—there were rings in that box and instead of having only one or two rings, it had three rings instead.

“What is this?” Woohyun asked him, looking as astounded as Myungsoo was. So Woohyun was not included in this part of the plan, it seemed.

“Rings,” Sunggyu answered.

Woohyun rolled his eyes at the answer, “I can see that, I mean what are these for?”

“You out of people should understand,” Sunggyu said, pretending to look disappointed at Woohyun. Myungsoo just looked at the rings closely, observing them quietly. Sunggyu started to get serious again, and finally explained, “I know that we won’t be able to get married, but it doesn’t mean we can’t exchange rings.”

Yeah, they wouldn’t be able to get married, to officially registered their relationship. They had accepted that they would only be able to keep going like this. Even if they went to the USA, they wanted every one of them to be married to each other. So the easy solution was, to just kept going like this.

“So, are you proposing to us?” Woohyun asked. He looked touched, too, and surprised. Myungsoo could tell that he wanted to cry, “I didn’t expect this from you, Hyung.”

“I can be romantic too, sometimes,” Sunggyu bragged. It was true, Sunggyu could be romantic too, but it was rare. Woohyun was the one who was good at doing romantic things. Myungsoo was pretty good too, he had a lot of inspirations for the romantic comics and novels he read.

“This is so nice, we finally have something to show others that we are each other’s,” Myungsoo finally spoke up. He had been wanting something like this, something to show the world that he was not available.

“So, put your rings yourself,” Sunggyu ordered them, while taking a ring for himself, “I don’t want to think about who should put the ring on who.”

Myungsoo took one, too, and he looked at the rings again, finally noticing that the ring had all their names on it.

“It has our names on it,” Myungsoo pointed out as he put the ring on his index finger. It fit well, Myungsoo had no idea how Sunggyu managed to get rings that would it all of them, “It feels so weird, there are so many pleasant surprises today.”

Woohyun nodded, he admired the ring on his finger and started to tell Myungsoo, “You know, we have prepared surprises on the—“

Sunggyu suddenly shoved a spoonful of cake into Woohyun’s mouth, the cake that he was going to eat. It managed to shut Woohyun up well, making Woohyun looked at Sunggyu curtly while munching on the cake he was given. It looked cute.

“It’s not a surprise if you tell him about it,” Sunggyu scolded. He looked at Myungsoo and smiled suspiciously, “Let’s enjoy this place first before moving on, okay?”

Myungsoo suddenly felt curious about what other surprises they had prepared. But well, he would find out when they went home.

End

Final Author's Note: So, I didn't expect this to end up being this long, as I come up with it in a hurry and wrote it in two days so I didn't have time to polish and expand the story, only able to give glimpses of their life. This is also my first attempt at writing an OT3, so I hope it isn't too bad and at least decent ><