“Happy birthda—”   The door was slammed right in her face. On any other day of the year, it would’ve made her laugh. But in this freezing cold month of February with her bare hands holding a cake, the rejection was less than amusing.   “Woohyun, open up before I kick down your door!” Hyunmi threatened, wondering if she could balance the cake in her hands while aiming for the door. She did not have very good coordination, and the mere thought of bulldozing the door itself threw her off balance.   The door opened at the perfect timing, and Woohyun was surprised by her stumbling. He quickly grabbed her wrists, keeping the cake intact and her from falling.   “You threatened to harm my door, not to cake my face,” he said flatly, releasing her hands. “Besides, is that how you treat a person on their birthday?”   “Aw, it almost sounds like you’re actually excited for today,” Hyunmi cooed, casually taking off her shoes as she entered the apartment she had visited countless of times before.   She remembered it was about eight years ago when her mother suddenly exclaimed her best friend had moved back in town. That same day, they all visited the Nam family in this exact apartment. The Nams welcomed their family with warm hugs and kisses on the cheek. And upon sighting Hyunmi, they were immediately delighted.   “We have a son about your age,” the woman said, immediately calling her son over to greet them.   That was the start of their longtime, unbreakable friendship.   How much had changed over time. To think that this place used to extrude a welcoming warmth when now, Woohyun was living on his own. She was probably his only regular visitor.   “Yeah sure, make yourself at home, not like this house doesn’t belong to you,” Woohyun said sarcastically as he watched his friend get busy with the preparations. She took a few of those little ceramic plates along with forks from his kitchen and laid it out on the small coffee table in the living room, proving her perfect knowledge of the house’s floor plan and all.   “As if you don’t secretly enjoy your friends coming over for your special day,” she said, grinning at him with the superior knowledge only a best friend could possibly possess.   “You mean it’s not just you?” Woohyun blinked, joining her at the coffee table, reluctantly helping her distribute the plates. Well, he should’ve known considering she had taken more than just two plates.   “Of course not. Where would the fun be in that?” She poked the birthday candles into the cake, and Woohyun couldn’t help making a face, wondering why she was doing all the preparation at his place when it was supposed to be a surprise. Probably because she couldn’t keep the candles lit up with the crazy wind out there.   “I think they’re just late,” she continued.   “I think you’re just early,” Woohyun corrected, knowing she valued her time to every single millisecond. Being on time or too early was something she took pride in—a quality that doomed the entire class when she reminded teachers of collecting homework when the entire class prayed the teachers would forget.   Hyunmi glanced at the wall clock once, nodded to herself, and continued the preparation. Woohyun could only assume everything was going perfectly according to the mental schedule she had created in her head.   “Hey, this cake smells like coffee,” Woohyun suddenly remarked, dipping a finger into the icing before she caught him. It even tasted like caffeine.   “What a fine sense of smell you have, sir. Why, indeed, it is caramel macchiato,” Hyunmi said in a fake fancy accent, even twirling her hand for effect.   “But you don’t like coffee flavored anything.”   “It’s your birthday and you love coffee flavored everything,” Hyunmi beamed proudly, again feeling superior over the small details she knew about him. She looked at the cake like a prized possession, a choice well made.   He couldn’t help but smile. “So I guess you didn’t make this yourself?”   “After you guys decided to throw the cake at Sungjong’s face last year, I decided not to even try.”   Woohyun laughed at the memories. Usually it was an unspoken tradition to prank the birthday boy, and his friends had done exactly that. But Woohyun, knowing what to expect, quickly stepped aside while Sungyeol was holding the cake, thus hitting poor Sungjong who stood behind him. Woohyun had never cackled and rolled on the floor until that very moment. It made his birthdays a bit more bearable.   If it weren’t for his friends, he probably wouldn’t want anything to do with his own birthday anyway. Three years ago, both his parents left overseas for business. They barely contacted him from being too busy, but made sure to transfer him some money from time to time. It was not what he wanted. Woohyun saw no point in celebrating his birthdays if his loved ones weren’t here.   Even so, Hyunmi insisted in throwing him birthday parties every year. It had only taken him once to admit that his family wouldn’t be there for his birthday, and he thought he had hidden it pretty well behind his perfect grin. But she had shamelessly declared that they were his family. Thus, these yearly birthday parties.   The doorbell rang and Hyunmi was already up before Woohyun could move, treating the apartment as if it were her own once again. He shook his head.   His friends stormed into his little apartment all at once, each yelling “happy birthday” through each other. At every recognizable face, Woohyun stood perplexed. They were all there; his closests friends. Except for Sunggyu and Hyunmi’s brother, Dongwoo two had gotten busy since they transferred to college.   “I’m surprised so many of you managed to make it on a Saturday. I thought you’d have better things to do,” Woohyun said, unable to contain his smile.   “We do,” Kibum casually acknowledged. “But you’re more important than my weekly Gucci shopping spree. So, happy birthday.”   “I wouldn’t dare interrupt your trip if you were buying a present for me,” Woohyun shamelessly said, extending his palm out to receive the gift.   “My presence is the best present you can get,” Kibum said.