Your phone beeped with a notification just as midnight rolled along - ‘pabo’s day’, it read. Not that you needed the reminder; you were well aware of the date that day. You were horrible at remembering dates, especially birthdays. You had even forgotten your own on more than one occasion. But you always knew what the 25th of August meant. Without fail.

But instead of picking up your phone to send the usual essay-long message you wrote every night before the day, you just stared at the notification wistfully before swiping it away, dismissing it, as well as any thoughts about the dog-loving drummer that came with it.

Dowoon was your best-friend. Your parents being best buddies from high school through college, they often held get-togethers even after they marriage and children were in the picture. As a result, Dowoon and you had known each other since you two were just babbling, wailing infants.

Your parents even had footage on an old VCR (your father was a videography fanatic) of one time back when the two of you were toddlers, playing together. In nothing but your diapers. And yes, your parents still tease you about that video till this day. But really, that was no play date.

Rather, it was Dowoon emptying out all of your play-doh containers, turning them upside down and slamming on them with his tiny little hands - the kid was a drummer since then - and you angrily throwing the multi-coloured dough at him for making a mess.

So much about putting thoughts of him away. You fell asleep with a small smile at the memory, forgetting the reason why you were so mad at him that you didn’t even send him a birthday wish.

-

It was half past 3 in the morning when you received a call. You blinked sleepily at your screen and groaned when you saw the name displayed. You answered the call and remained silent as you lay back down on your bed, eyes closed.

The other line carried over sounds of chatter and clinking of cutlery in the background, making you furrow your brows in annoyance as the noise assaulted your groggy consciousness. You pulled the phone away from your ear, tired of waiting for the caller to speak up. You remembered why you were mad, now. Enough games, you .

You were just about to press on the end call icon when you heard a loud yet slurred “YA!” emanate from the call speaker. You brought the phone to your ear once more as the deep voice grumbled incoherently for a bit, before speaking clearly enough for you to understand.

“You. You! What the hell, man? Where the duck are you? My 22nd birthday and you don’t show up, let alone send me a text?! Like bro i don’t know about you, BUT I’M FEELING TWENTY TWO-”

Someone was clearly drunk beyond salvation. His satoori was thicker than ever (not that it mattered since you understood him perfectly, coming from the same hometown). And he was singing Taylor Swift. He hiccuped, then realised he had gone off track and steered back to topic.

“Now, don’t go saying you weren’t invited. I know fULL well Younghyun hyung… that nOSy hyung.. called you to try and persuade you to come. I-” he was cut short and you heard a familiar voice in the back swear, followed by a shuffling sound before the phone was probably wrenched from the drunk country boy.

“Yo, y/n-ah. Man, sorry bout that. We left the table to get more food and he called without us knowing.”

You assured Jae it was fine before the phone was snatched away again. You braced yourself for a screaming Dowoon again but instead you heard Brian’s voice.

“Hey. I know you’re still mad at him and all but could you put the grudge away for a second and just come down here? The kid’s suddenly crying. Again.”

You grumbled under your breath but gave in,telling Brian to text you their location just as you heard Dowoon yelling at them (in informal language) to return his phone and Jae screeching back, “is that any way to speak to your hyungs?!”

You rubbed your temples and sighed deeply before throwing on a hoodie over your shirt and sweatpants before making your way to the address by foot since it was nearby (and it was almost 4 a.m. - none of the buses were running and you weren’t about to waste money on a cab).

You ducked your head under the plastic curtain that served as the entrance to the street stall that you often frequented with the boys, nodding in greeting as Wonpil waved you over when he noticed you walking in.

Sungjin dragged out a stool for you next to him which was, much to your dismay, next to Dowoon as well. You sat down and poked a stick into a piece of tteokbokki, chewing it in annoyance at the figure that was passed out on the table next to you. How typical of him to call you over but be unconscious when you arrive, cheek pressed to the cold metal of the table.

You clapped your hands right above his ear, making him blink in shock as he slowly lifted his head, blinking at Jaehyung who was to his left. Jaehyung lifted his hands up in innocence and pointed a finger in your direction. Dowoon furrowed his brows at him and turned around to find you chewing on your third piece of tteokbokki.

A pair of arms were thrown around you and you almost choked. Your head snapped to the dark-haired owner of those arms. “You came!” he exclaimed, making you flinch at how loud his voice was with him so close. You shoved him away, peeved that he was doing whatever he pleased. Did he really not remember anything?

He pouted at you, resembling a puppy as he tilted his head. You internally sighed. This is why you didn’t want to see him, you could never stay mad at him for long. Already looking at his expression right now was dissipating your anger. Granted, your fight was a petty one. But you weren’t about to let him get away with blaming you for something that was entirely his fault.

<<<

It was about a week or two ago, when you and the boys met up with a few other friends and Dowoon suddenly snapped at you, confronting you for not texting him at all for almost two weeks. You were taken aback at the sudden cold demeanor. He rarely got angry at you.

“I was busy, and besides, so were you. It’s not like you bothered to text me either.”

Instead of conceding at your point, he scoffed.

“Busy?” he repeated, tone incredulous. He pulled his phone out, swiping at it for a few moments before shoving it in your face. “So busy you couldn’t send me a ‘hey, sup’ but you can time to hang out with this guy?”

On his phone screen was a post on your instagram page of you and a junior at a cafe, captioned ‘coffee date with this kiddo’. The boy was smiling so widely, he clearly had a thing for you. But you were always oblivious to these kind of things.

“Look, I was just passing him some past year tests and giving him some advice and study tips. Can’t I have other friends? You’re not my only damn friend, Dowoon.”

He snorted. “Friends? This kid obviously likes you.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “What’s your goddamn problem, Yoon? First you yell at me for not texting you when you’re the one that’s so goddamn busy touring and having shows that you don’t even bother calling any more,” - his expression softened a little when he realised you were on the verge of tears - “do you have any idea how frustrating and annoying it is to have to look up you guys on SNS to see what you’ve been doing and if you’ve been alright?”

He reached out to hold your arm but you shrugged him off. “And now this??” you gestured to the phone in his hand. “Even if he does like me, so what? It’s not like I’m your ing girlfriend!” tears were running down your face by this point, and you weren’t even sure why. It was probably a mix of all the stress from school and not hearing from him for so long, paired with the fact that your monthly was almost on the way - them hormones were running wild.

“Y/n, I’m sorry, I didn’t know-”

“You know what? Forget it. I was going to stay home and study but dragged my here because I freaking missed you, but then I get this? Just… forget it.”

And with that, you left. Leaving Dowoon to wonder how he managed to up that badly in under 5 minutes.

>>>

Dowoon hiccuped as he looked down at your feet, then looked back up at you, eyes slightly lidded. “You’re still mad…” So he did remember. You were on your 6th piece of tteok now.

“You’re right, I’m sorry I didn’t call…”

You sighed and finally turned to look at him. Only to find his face inches from yours.

“And yeah, you aren’t my girlfriend,” he  paused as he blinked at you, brows furrowed and expression genuinely confused. “Why is that?”

What?

“Dowoon, you should drink some water and sober up fir-” your words were cut off when he leaned in and quickly pecked your lips. He pulled away, smirking triumphantly even with his eyes with half closed. “There. Now you are.”

“W-what?”

He frowned, wondering why you didn’t understand his logic before placing his hands on your knees and leaning forward to peck you again. Slightly deeper this time. He pulled away and held his hands out as though presenting a point. “We kissed. You’re my girlfriend now.”

You couldn’t find the words to speak. But you didn’t need to, since Dowoon passed out on your shoulder the next second. You finally turned to look at the rest of the boys who either had their eyes bulging out, were smirking or trying to hold in their laughter, or covering their mouths in surprise. When did their little maknae get so bold?

“Just how much did he drink-?” you asked, noticing there were only two bottles of soju on the table. Two bottles. To five people. And he didn’t reek of alcohol, even when he kissed- you blushed at the still fresh sensation of his soft lips against yours.

“Drink?” Wonpil cocked an eyebrow at your question. “He only had one shot.”

“Then how-”

“He also had two large tubs of your favourite ice cream from 7-11,” Jae clarified and you almost facepalmed.

Your best-friend (and now self-proclaimed boyfriend) was drunk, alright. On sugar. You nudged your shoulder a little and Dowoon woke up again, before grinning at you widely and nuzzling his face in your neck.

“Yah, Yoon Dowoon.”

“Yes, my girlfriend?” he hummed.

“I’m not your girl-” you sighed exasperatedly. “That isn’t how it works, Yoon.”

He raised his head and looked at you. “Then how does it work?”

“Well, you’re supposed to ask me, for starters.”

“Oh.”

You scratched the back of your neck awkwardly. “Yeah…”

“Okay,” he stated simply. “Y/n, will you be my girlfriend?”

You stared at him, unsure how to respond.

“Well????” he whined, shaking you by the knees.

Jae started chanting ‘Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!’ in the back and you shot him a glare that silenced him.

“Dowoon, are you even aware of what you’re saying right now?” you questioned him worriedly.

“I’m just high on sugar, pabo. I’m not drunk-” he hiccupped again and laughed before bopping your nose with his finger. “I know. I’ve been wanting to ask for foreeEEeEver.”

A pink hue colours your cheeks. “Really?”

He nods, lips clamped together in surety. “So…?” his expression turned slightly nervous as he looked at you again. You flicked his forehead, making him blink in surprise and reach up to rub it instinctively.

“I thought you’d never ask, you pabo.”

And with that he pulled you in and kissed you again, tasting of caramel and coffee and all things sweet. You pulled away first and cupped his face, laughing at the silliness of it all. “Happy Birthday, Dowoon-ah,” you finally wished him and he wrapped his arms around you tightly in reply.

He was shy to kiss you again once he fully got off his sugar high, though. Just for a while - he couldn’t resist, really. And God, the endless teasings from the rest of the members. He almost regrets the way he finally asked you out. Almost. But not really. You were by far the best birthday present he got that year.

A/N: i wrote this for Dowoon's bday but i didn't post it here cos i had just posted the other one lol. hope yall like it!