Mostly inspired by Hoya going live on Instagram on Woohyun's birthday, not to forget the many photos Woohyun blessed us with during his Japan trip. Hope you like this! ^-^
Special thanks to Tidi, Cian and Jo who continually encouraged and helped me along the way <333

It was almost three in the morning when Howon finally heard the door unlock. Excitedly, he bounded towards the door. "You're home! I’ve missed you. Did you have fun with your friends in Japan?" Howon exclaimed as he enveloped Woohyun in a warm embrace.

While it was true that Howon was busy filming his dramas, he could not help but to worry about the slightly older man. Woohyun was greasy and always reminded his fans to beware of colds, yet he never heeded his own advice despite being prone to them. Howon also missed his warmth. Their cuddling sessions never failed to help him relax after a long day of filming and Woohyun's absence had been hard on him. Although he was physically and mentally drained, it had taken him longer than usual to fall asleep. Truth be told, Howon could never understand how someone so warm could be so prone to colds.

Woohyun simply snorted as he wriggled out of the younger's hold. Nudging past the latter not-so-gently, he made his way to their shared room. The mattress bounced as he flopped face-down on the bed, silent and unmoving. In the distance, he heard a tap run. A ‘plop’ and a ‘fizz’ followed soon thereafter. Footsteps neared the door. “Come on, I’ve drawn a bath and added a bath bomb. One of your fansites sent some recently for your birthday. Let’s clean you up so you’ll be more comfortable in bed, alright?”

Grudgingly, Woohyun got up and trudged into the bathroom. He could not believe that Howon had successfully manipulated him into doing his bidding, knowing he would never put a perfectly good gift from a fan to waste. It was Woohyun’s firm belief that fans were to be appreciated. I know you aren’t that expressive when it comes to displaying affection but you need to think of fans as your girlfriends. Without them, there would be no INFINITE. When Woohyun had informed Howon of his upcoming trip to Japan, he was expecting some resistance—this would be their first birthday spent apart after all. He got even more upset when Howon did not contact him throughout the trip. A simple ‘Happy Birthday’ would have sufficed and surely, it would not have taken long to send him a text or a tweet? To say that he did not enjoy his trip would be a lie (who wouldn't if you had visited Tokyo Disneyland and attended Jaejoong's solo concert?) but he would have enjoyed it much more if Howon were there with him instead. Woohyun sighed. Perhaps, he only had his over-imagination to blame. When he did not hear from Howon after the first few days, he had assumed his boyfriend was trying to wrap up his filming so that they could spend his birthday together in Japan. He kept a lookout for Howon the entire day, his body thrumming with excitement. By the end of the day though, he was sorely disappointed and fatigued. He even messaged Howon before boarding his flight but his lover was nowhere in sight upon his arrival. Woohyun had been contented with lying in their comfy bed, grime and all. Yet here he was in the bathroom, staring at the myriad of colours swirling in the bathtub.

“Hey, let me help you,” said Howon sotto voce, breaking the trance Woohyun was in. Carefully, he stripped Woohyun’s clothes off and lowered him into the tub. Woohyun felt his muscles relax as he closed his eyes involuntarily and inhaled the scent-infused air. Howon’s fingers soon slipped into his hair, coating the coppery strands with his favourite shampoo and lightly massaging his scalp. He bit hard on his lips, struggling to stifle the moan that threatened to spill from his lips under Howon’s gentle ministrations. It felt great to be pampered again after their short separation; honestly, he would have fallen asleep in the bath if Howon had not chuckled deeply. “Wake up before you catch a cold from the bath, love. Let’s go back to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow, you big baby.” Whistling to an unknown tune, Howon rinsed the shampoo off and dried his hair. When he was satisfied, he placed a chaste kiss on Woohyun’s forehead and pulled him up from the bath, wrapping a larger towel over him. Fingers intertwined, they padded back to their room and fell on the bed, cuddling.

~~~∞☆∞♥∞☆∞~~~

Woohyun woke up in an irritable mood. The sun had shone through the curtains, disrupting his sleep. To make matters worse, he found himself alone on the bed. After a few days of separation, he had expected Howon would want to cuddle for a while more. “Apparently not,” Woohyun muttered grouchily. He quickly washed up before making his way to the kitchen. He was surprised to see the younger puttering around the stove, humming to a happy tune. He was so engrossed that he did not notice Woohyun's presence until he had set the table and placed a hot bowl of miyeok guk right in the middle. Howon gave a bashful smile. “Good morning, love. I know I don’t cook very well but I got this recipe from your mom. Do me a favour: finish the soup even if it doesn’t taste as good as hers, please?”

Woohyun was perplexed. Why does Howon keep implying or mentioning my birthday without actually wishing me? Have I misunderstood him? Before he knew, hot tears brimmed in his eyes and loud ugly sobs wracked his frame. Worried, Howon rushed towards him. “Hey… Hush, darling… This is definitely not the response I was expecting,” he teased, hands Woohyun’s upper back in an attempt to pacify the crying man.

“I-I don’t understand… Why did you pretend that you forgot my birthday? You didn’t contact me the whole time I was away; I didn’t receive a birthday text nor tweet from you so I thought you were going to surprise me in Japan. Even when I messaged you I would be home soon, you didn’t welcome me at the arrival hall…”

Howon backed away in surprise, Woohyun now an arm’s length away so that he could look him in the eyes. “Was that why you were so upset?” Shifting uncomfortably under his gaze, Woohyun looked away and eventually nodded in response.

Howon groaned. He had intended to surprise his boyfriend, though in retrospect, it was not as well thought-out as he believed. “W-well”—Howon sputtered, blushing brightly—“I wanted to try something new… You know, I have been exploring Instagram’s features lately and I actually wished you on my live feed on the way home from filming—OUCH!”

“Serve you right!” Woohyun stuck out his tongue cheekily as the younger rubbed at the abused spot. “Why would you wish me on the live feed when you weren’t even sure I would tune in? There wouldn’t have been a misunderstanding otherwise!”

“I'm sorry but I was just eager to test the feature out and thought it would be a great idea, ok? I spent my free time thinking how I should surprise you! And I didn’t pick you up from the airport because I was learning to prepare this soup under Mom’s guidance. No soup for you, you ungrateful brat!” Howon retorted.

“What?! Don’t you try taking the soup away from me, Lee Howon!” Woohyun pouted as he hurriedly ran to the table. With his left hand gripping the bowl of soup protectively, he quickly shoved mouthfuls of soup with rice with the other hand.

Settling himself into the other chair, Howon chuckled as he watched Woohyun stuff his cheeks with food. It’s no wonder why fans think he’s adorable when he eats. After a thoughtful second, he whipped his phone out from his pocket and started typing. When he was done, he placed the phone right in front of Woohyun. “Here you go!”

Music was playing in the background and after a while, Howon appeared onscreen. Waving at the viewers, he subsequently sang along to songs on his playlist, fixed his hair while making adorable faces, and occasionally interacted with fans.

Nearing the 13-minute mark, Woohyun scowled. “Yah! You told Razorbeam hyung to stop streaming because you’re broadcasting live for the fans! Are you sure you meant for me to watch this? Would you have chased me out too if I had tuned it? 13 minutes into the stream and you haven’t wished me either!”

“Well, aren’t you my fan too? And since I was too busy to be the first person to wish you, I decided to be the last!”

Woohyun’s face softened at the reply. Grinning, he took the phone. “This is taking too long; let me show you the power of Nam-tizen! Aha!”

Sure enough, the clip of Howon singing to his title song from his first solo album—affectionately known as Noddy—started playing. Woohyun watched the clip attentively, lips curling into a proud smile as Howon sang the high notes with relative ease despite the late hour. Everything seemed normal, until he improvised the ending of the first chorus—instead of singing “Nod nod nod”, Howon had switched it for “Happy Birthday~”.

Satisfied, Woohyun leant across the table and gave Howon a thorough kiss, the clip still playing in the background. They broke away eventually, only because Woohyun had bitten Howon’s tongue. “What’s that for!” yelped Howon.

“You made fun of my lyrics! Why did you change it to ‘Seomyeon~ Busan Seomyeon~’?”

“We were kissing! Your attention should be on the kiss, not on my singing! Aish… It hurts…” whined Howon, his tongue alternating between either side of his inner cheeks due to the discomfort.

Apologetic, Woohyun cupped Howon’s face. “Let me kiss it all better.” And he did.