A young man jolted awake when his phone suddenly sang out loud in the middle of darkness, his eyes blinked several times trying to get used to the lack of light inside his room while his brain tried hard to register what had just disturbed his precious sleep into his consciousness.

As soon as his eyes could see faint silhouette of things arranged neatly around him, he heard familiar voice of his favorite singer bounced filling his bedroom and his head. Turning slowly to his side, the man saw a bright source of light coming from his phone and he finally realized that the song he had been hearing for a whole minute was actually his ringtone and that only meant that someone had called him in the middle of the night.

Grumbling under his breath, reluctant to sit up and moved away from the comfort of his blanket, the man wriggled on his bed to grab his phone on the bedside table. Squinting his eyes hatefully at the screen which blinded his eyes into slit, the man who could be seen having messy dark brown hair framing his annoyed yet still sleepy expression, frowned once he read the name of one of his best friends. Glancing up at the corner of his phone to check the time, he swiped the answer button before tapping the speaker. “What do you want? Calling in the middle of the night?” He asked, not hiding his annoyance to whomever on the other line as he dropped his phone to his bed and he laid back again.

Yawning as he waited for response, he thought he heard someone whispering a small countdown and before he could ask again, the one who called him practically shouted into his room.

“Jeon Wonwoo! Happy Birthday!!!”

Wincing away from his phone, Wonwoo looked at his phone as if offended. Words of congrats from different people continued filling his dark room as he stared at the device. Huh? Propping up his side with his elbow, he took his phone and heard more words coming into his phone as one sided conversation.

“Ya! Jeon Wonwoo! Where is your reply?!”

“Hyung? Are you awake yet?”

“Hyung, are you sleeping?”

“ Helloooo ~~???!! HYUUUNNGG???!!!” A smack was heard and one high pitched voice tried to growl at -probably- his offender

“Is he even awake in the first place?” Confused tone which layered with hint of amusement filled in after lot of background noises from several people.

A snort respond to that question before that person said, “If he isn’t awake, the call wouldn’t connect.”

“Maybe, he has fallen asleep again.”

“Seriously, we stay up late to give him surprise….”

“Hahaha! It’s Wonwoo after all.”

“Wonu-hyung, really doesn’t reply at all.” Soft light accented voice said.

“At least, he answered.. Even though with a complain..” Deep worried voice commented.

“I guess, he has gone back to sleep again.”

“Well, whatever. I’m outta this..”

“Maybe he was tired. He said that he had got ton of workloads this week.”

“Bet, it was just an excuse so he didn’t have to come with us here.”

“If I have an excuse, I wouldn’t come here with you too, hyung, actually.”

“YA!!” There were sound of sorry uttered with a yelp, more shouting and laughing in the background.

“He really doesn’t reply. I think he is really sleeping.”

“Let him sleep. We can call him again later in the morning.” A calm yet playful tone came, weighed down by decision

“You’re right. Good night, Wonwoo.”

After that last polite and soft voice, the call ended without Wonwoo could voice out his thought -more like complains- to the group of callers. The man just stared at his phone until its screen went dark after several seconds of inactivity. Gripping his phone carefully in his hand, Wonwoo stared at it thoughtfully. Right, it was his birthday. He had just remembered and even though he was still angry at his best friends of eleven for waking him up at such ungodly hour, he was grateful that his friends stayed up late to wish him birthday.

Placing his phone back on the table, the young handsome man stared up at his ceiling. Sleepiness had gone away from him because of the rowdy yet familiar and not ill-based banter he had just heard, and he was actually not that tired that he need to go back to sleep soon. Thinking back to the year before, Wonwoo did what he always did on his birthday, reflecting of what he had achieved, gained, lost, left, and everything during the year.

He got himself a good job, the job he had been dreaming of to have and everything had gone -maybe not that- smoothly. He gained more friends whom he could trust and depend on, even though he kinda not liking the fact that they could be noisy and annoying friends.

Chuckling at the thought of his friends, Wonwoo reached out for his phone again, this time tapping a short message to Seungcheol whom he believed would relay the message to his other friends.

-Thanks. I'm sorry for not answering properly.-

Sending it out, Wonwoo stared at his phone again, waiting for the message to be received and read by his hyung. He found himself slightly wondering why his friends decided that night for an all night outing when in matter of hours all of them would have work greeting them.

Ignoring his own thought, Wonwoo chose to focus back on his phone. Soon after the read notification came out, his phone rang again with a long reply.

-Kkkkk. No problem. We're sorry too for calling you in the middle of the night. Rest well, Wonwoo-ah. Saranghae-

Smiling at that, Wonwoo exited the chat app without replying, hoping that his friends were aware enough to not get drunk he drew back to his home screen. It was nothing special at first glance, just a pic of empty beach and sunset painting the sea and sky with its vermilion hue, yet when one looked at the left bottom side, there was something peeking from that very corner which was also covered by an icon. Sweeping the screen, the wallpaper moved alongside his finger. And there, instead of empty beach, were two person sitting side by side on the golden colored shore staring at the horizon. Two person, him and his lover.

The photo was taken secretly by Jeonghan, one of his -their- friends who that time started taking a liking in photography. It was simple and didn't have any special nor professional vibe, Wonwoo told out his opinion right after Jeonghan showed it to them and also their other friends during the dinner afterwards, yet even so starting that night he had always been using that very photo as his phone wallpaper -a secret he would never tell to Jeonghan-.

Stifling his laugh, he stared fondly at the silhouette off his lover. He was still able to recall that moment clearly in his mind. The thirteen of them had gone out to the sea and had small party, a goodbye party for Hansol -his lover- who was leaving for New York with his family. The slight meeting of their shoulders in that silence moment waiting for sunset was enough for both of them to relay their feeling toward each other, no words no hugs no kisses needed because they knew that they would still be together even when they were far apart.

Talking about his lover… Wonwoo wondered what hansol was doing. Checking the time,  the younger by two years man was probably still at work, explaining why Hansol hadn't sent anything to him about his birthday. Not that he was expecting anything, it's just that Hansol had always been fast when it came to someone’s birthday, like months ago when Hansol wished Seokmin’s happy birthday first thing in the morning -Korea time, at Hansol’s place was still evening and 17th- even though his birthday was on the same day, or on Seungkwan’s birthday they talked to each other like no end and then wished his best friend happy birthday when the clock exactly hit midnight.

Putting that aside, remembering his own work he had to tackle in the morning, Wonwoo muted his phone and decided to get some more sleep. Hansol would say it anyway, either sooner or later.

Morning came smoothly like the sun filtering into his room and Wonwoo woke up with a grumble wishing for more sleeping time. Preparing himself for the day, he checked his phone and he had lot of unread messages as he had expected. Birthday messages from his family, friends and work colleagues. Yet, still, there was no message at all from Hansol. while wondering about it, the black haired man busied himself with each messages, thanking them briefly as he had light breakfast and coffee.

At work, everything went just fine, nothing drastic happened and he had finished all work for that day so he could go home on time, no need to work overtime. Stepping out from his workspace, he was greeted by Soonyoung, Seokmin and Mingyu who had waited for him beside his car with extra wide grin.

“Let's go.” The grinning dance choreographer called as soon as he saw Wonwoo stepping into the parking ground.

“Where?” Wonwoo asked in disinterest, already knowing the plan his friends had for him and where they were going to have the small party. His facial expression didn't change much as he walked toward the three whose car, he noticed, wasn't parked in the basement parking. “And how did you get here?”

Soonyoung who bravely meeting him halfway, slung his arm over his friend’s shoulder. “Jeonghan hyung dropped us here to make sure you come to the party.”

“Well, he did well.” Wonwoo rolled his eyes, taking out his car key and said. “Get on.”

Following his command, the other three slipped onto the passenger seats, knowing that Wonwoo wouldn't let them drive the car even after million years. Mingyu was the one who sat next to Wonwoo while Soonyoung and Seokmin sat on the back seat.

Starting his car, Wonwoo asked again. “Where?” Slowly he pulled out from the parking space toward the road.

“The usual place.” Seokmin said, checking his phone. “Jeonghan hyung has reached there, he said Seungcheol hyung will reach there soon after picking Jun and Minghao up in their agency.”

A hum sounded from Wonwoo as he nodded. “Seungkwan’s restaurant then.. Okay..” After taking a smooth turn, he drove faster as he now sure about where to go.

 

“Happy Birthday!”

Walking into the familiar restaurant he and his friends often hung out at, Wonwoo was greeted by the same scream he heard earlier that day. Exactly the same eleven young men who had disturbed his sleep had gathered in this very place his friend –Hansol’s best friend- owned.

Smiling lightly at the familiar sight of his friends cheered loudly, Wonwoo couldn’t help but hug the one stood closest to him. “Thanks.” He muttered, genuinely glad he was, having this group of friends who always stayed by his side no matter what.

Seungcheol, the lucky hyung who get the rare hug, cooed at his taller junior and hugged back. “Chukkae, Wonwoo-ah.” The older said, patting Wonwoo’s back as his smile grew happier.

“Group Hug!” Dino shouted from the back of the group and everyone did as he said, crowding the two with their own hug and the only thing could be heard in that room was shared laughter.

As everyone -one by one- pulled away from the hug, Seungcheol was the only one who still had his hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder. The two stayed at their spot for a while as they watched the other prepared the table with Seungkwan, Mingyu and Jisoo continued working in the kitchen for their little snack feast while Jeonghan taking picture here and there, trying his best to capture every moment of this celebration, and chipped in whenever he caught any interesting conversations which was all the time.

“How is your work?” Seungcheol asked as he took two glass of beer for him and Wonwoo.

Taking the glass offered to him, Wonwoo nodded as he leant on the other table, continued watching his friends, he had always prefered to be on the sideline even though he was supposed to be the main character in some occasions. “Stressful as ever.” He answered, sipping the almost transparent beer. “The author I’m working with is being stubborn as ever.”

Laughing, Seungcheol asked further after gulping down his sip. “But you can take care of it, right?”

“Of course. I’m Jeon Wonwoo after all. Everyone should follow my words.” Chuckling at his own joke with his hyung, the birthday man shook his head, sometime he couldn’t believe himself with making joke.

One by one foods came out and served on the long table as everyone conversed loudly. And when everyone had sat down on their chair, the conversation turned from lively into livelier with Seungkwan -their non stop talking friend- joined the talks. Wonwoo enjoyed hearing stories from his friends who each had different job, yet when the attention went back to him, he felt great uneasiness when Seungkwan asked him concerning certain someone.

“Hyung. Have you heard from Hansol?” The oldest of the maknae line asked. “I tried to send him messages and called him too, but none get through.”

“Oh.. right. The same happened with me too.” Jisoo added in with concern latched onto his face. “All of my messages I sent since last night hadn’t been received by him.”

“Did something happened?”

Everyone now turned to Wonwoo who felt uncomfortable with this situation, he too had tried to contact his lover and in return received nothing at all. “I don’t know. I also hadn’t heard anything from Hansol.”

After saying that, Wonwoo could feel the situation turned awkward and he tried to change it. “Maybe Hansol is planning something. You know that he’s always full of surprise.” He said it himself, but he didn’t have any ounce of belief in his own words.

“Hyung is right. We just need to wait for his surprise.” Much to Wonwoo’s relief, Seungkwan helped him changed the topic. “By the way, I had cleared my restaurant for this occasion, and I still have to open this at 7. All of you have to help me clean everything until my staffs arrived.” The owner of Boo’s kitchen said, glanced expectantly at everyone one by one to send his words right into them.

Checking his watch, Minghao said, “7? But it’s already 6.41.”

Standing up from his seat, Seungkwan took a bite of tteokbokki before clapping his hand. “Then let’s clean things up.”

“I thought we’re staying here until after dinner?” Seokmin asked, from his seat he had started gathering empty plates and piled them up by shape and size. And then pushed the plates which still had some foods to the center of the table.

“ That’s right . But that doesn’t mean that I have to close my restaurant, right?” Seungkwan said back, he wouldn’t lose a chance to get money, would he?

Tuning out the sound of his friends, Wonwoo went back to his phone when it rang again for the umpteenth time that day. Even though the caller wasn’t the one he expected, this person had a close relation toward his Hansol. Answering it, Wonwoo smiled widely as he walked away from the loud noise and said into his phone. “It’s been long time, Hangyeol.”

“Wonwoo Oppa! Happy Birthday!” The voice from the other side said excitedly. “Yeah, It’s been a long time since we last talked. I miss you~~”

Laughing at the tone, Wonwoo replied softly. “I miss you too. How’s everything there?”

There was shuffling sound, short conversation in English and loud footsteps from Hangyeol’s side. Then, after the sound of curtain pulled aside, Hangyeol finally answered. “Appa and Oemma too said Happy Birthday  to you!”

“Tell them my thanks.” Wonwoo answered back politely, he was still happy and glad that the older couple had let him date their only son.

“Of course.. And they asked when they are going to celebrate your birthday as family.” After another set of knowing laugh between them, Hangyeol answered to his previous question. “Everything’s very good here! Remember the sunflower I planted 2 years ago?” she asked, and when Wonwoo replied with a yes, she continued. “You have to see it! It’s beautiful!”

Smiling gently at that, Wonwoo teased the younger girl. “Is it as beautiful as you?”

“Oppa!” Hangyeol laughed quite aloud that he need to pull his phone away for a moment. “It’s as beautiful as me~~ But maybe not as beautiful as Hansol Oppa~” she teased back, making Wonwoo laughed even more.

Looking back at his friends who had almost finished with the cleaning, Wonwoo asked. “How is Hansol? Is he there?”

“Hmm? Hansol Oppa...? Why ask?” The little sister replied with question, she sounded confused from the way she drawled her words a little.

Coughing into his fist, Wonwoo told her. “I hadn’t heard anything from him since last night.. Did something happen?”

Hansol’s younger sister took long time to reply and when she did, she sounded like knowing something he didn’t know. “Well.. nothing much happened. But if you wondered.. just wait until Hansol Oppa contacts you~ He will..” Cutting off the sister’s word, Wonwoo faintly heard Hangyeol talked to someone else –probably her father , because she talked in Korean-.