Kyungsoo glanced at the clock and cursed but didn't let the time crunch rush his hands and risk ruining the pastry. He finished squeezing the last of the strawberry ricotta cheese filling into the cannoli shell before taking a breath and massaging his hands. He had looked up an easy cannoli recipe on the internet, bought the ingredients and pre-made cannoli shells, and drained the ricotta cheese yesterday, but he hadn't imagined that finding the right blend of strawberry, strawberry juice, confectioner's sugar, and cheese and then piping the filling into the shells without mess would take over an hour. Or cramp his hands so badly. He had woken up early though, because he knew his habit of perfecting when it came to baking.

He had to send Jongdae and Yuwon a text saying that he would be late and for them to head to school without him. Jongdae had immediately called him to pout and complain and wouldn't stop pestering him with questions about why he couldn't make it until Kyungsoo told him his plan of making cannolis for Jongin's birthday, which only unleashed another storm of questions. Luckily, Yuwon helped keep Jongdae busy in the conversation, so Kyungsoo only had to clarify some things every once in a while, allowing him to finish filling the last cannoli without mishaps. 

"But Kyungsoo! How come we don't get cool pastry treats on our birthdays?"

He started drizzling the chocolate syrup over half of the cannolis. The recipe called for choco pieces, but Kyungsoo didn't want the strawberry flavor to be overpowered, so he ended up melting the chips down. When that was done, he picked up the perfect strawberry he had set aside and put it back into the fridge.

"I told you that I just decided this on a whim," he said into speaker phone.

"Then why don't you decide to do this on a whim on our birthdays?"

"Don't be a baby, Jongdae," Yuwon said in the background.

"I am most definitely not a baby. I'm a man. Can I have one when you get to school, Kyungsoo?"

Kyungsoo heard Yuwon chuckle and positioned the cannolis in a layered ring, leaving the center empty.

"You can't. It has ricotta cheese in it."

"What? Darn. Curse this dairy allergy!"

"But Kyungsoo, I have to ask," Yuwon said. "How'd you get the idea to make cannolis for him?"

"He said cannolis are his favorite dessert."

"When'd he say that?"

"He told me when we went out to Stay Mallow Café. I'm almost done, so I'll see you guys at school."

Setting a plastic cover on top, he carefully left the sweets in the fridge before racing from one part of the kitchen to another, plucking the used cooking utensils and dishes he had left everywhere and throwing everything into the sink to soak. He left the powdered sugar on the table as a reminder for him to dust the cannolis when he came home, grabbed his backpack and phone, and sprinted for school.

He managed to make it to the classroom two minutes before the bell rung, letting himself collapse in his seat once he sat down. He peeled off his backpack and dumped his coat on top. He had already given up wearing it when he started running. As he caught his breath, he heard Jongdae's chair scrape closer to him.

"Sooo, how was making the pastries?"

"I finished."

"Can you make me a dairy-free version next time?"

"Uh." He coughed as he in air. "Maybe. I have to look up the recipe for it."

"Sweet! Oh, do you want a napkin? Your sweat is on your desk."

Kyungsoo wrinkled his nose and lifted his head. Jongdae pulled out a napkin from his pocket and dabbed at Kyungsoo's face before wiping the desk, hopping out of seat and shooting it into the trashbin.

"Also, don't look now, but Jongin is looking over at us."

Kyungsoo stopped breathing, then gasped as his body screamed at him to stop torturing himself. 

"He is?"

"Yup. He looks curious. Can I tell him?"

"No." He coughed again and dug around his backpack for his water bottle. He drank a sip before mumbling to Jongdae, "I want it to be a surprise."

"How're you going to tell him? When?"

"Uh, I don't know. I didn't think that part through. I didn't really want to text it to him because I wanted to say it in person."

"Aww. You want to personally wish him happy birthday?"

"Not so loud."

"Okay, then I won't say anything."

Jongdae flashed him a grin, and Kyungsoo caught some sneak in it.

"What're you planning?"

"Nothing," he sang.

Before Kyungsoo could ask anymore, the teacher walked in and lessons started. Kyungsoo's gaze strayed from the board one or twice, but all he saw was the side of Jongin's head like before. Kyungsoo inwardly groaned at the fact that there even was a 'before' but shook his head and told himself to focus on the lectures.

When biology finished, he raced out of the classroom before Teacher Zhang could possibly call him back and hid behind a corner in the hall in case Jongin happened to see him. While watching his classmates leave the classroom though, Kyungsoo remembered that the most interaction they had during school was a greeting wave, so he didn't have to necessarily hide, but he decided that he wouldn't chance it.

As the crowd thinned, he spotted Jongin leaving the classroom and ducked back behind the corner before peeking his eyes out again. Jongin looked up and down the hall then stared at the space in front of him for a moment. Jongdae came out of the classroom after him, almost bumping into him. Kyungsoo retracted back behind the wall but leaned his ear as close as he dared to in their direction. The consonants of Jongin's voice cut the air, but Kyungsoo couldn't make out the soft vowels of his words. Jongdae's voice, however, rang clearly through the hall.

"He was late to school doing something fun!"

Kyungsoo facepalmed himself. He wanted Jongdae to keep it a secret, but he didn't want him to make it sound like he was doing something weird.

"I can't say! It's a secret!" There was a pause. "Jongin, the cafeteria's this way."

Kyungsoo leaned in a little closer. Did he not go to the cafeteria at all?

"Do you have food though? ...Okay, that's good then. See you later!"

Kyungsoo listened, but Jongin's steps were practically nonexistent. He wondered when would be an okay time to come out. Just as he counted the seconds to five, the sound of something cracking then squishing together distracted him. He turned to the where the sound was coming from and choked at what he saw. He flung himself back and skid his across the floor, clamping a hand over his gaping mouth. The plaster had pulled itself from the wall and molded into an eye shape, like the contractor had come back with sculpting tools and left a scary-digit surprise for the building owner. A cackle echoed after Kyungsoo landed -first on the floor, and he knew that ringing laughter anywhere. 

"Jongdae!"

His friend rolled out from behind the other side of the wall, slapping the tiles in laughter.

"Did you see your face? I scared the icing out of you."

"How'd you do that? Put it back to normal before someone sees!"

With the remnants of laughter, he put his hand on the wall and the protruding plaster eye melded back into the building. Kyungsoo breathed a sigh of relief before getting up and smacking his friend upside the head.

"Don't EVER do that again."

"Aw, come on! I made sure no one was in the halls first."

"How'd you even do that? Are the walls made out of carbon?"

"Plaster has limestone in it, which is calcium carbonate. I can control most things in this school actually."

"Dear god."

"Hey, I'm very responsible. Plus, did you see the eye? I have great control."

Kyungsoo did have to admit that the eye looked pretty intricately detailed.

"But you can't just go around sculpt-doodling everywhere. Min hyung would go bananas on you if he finds out."

"That's why please don't tell him, Kyungsoooo." His friend clung to his arm. "I was just having fun."

"Alright, fine. Let's just start walking before Yuwon asks where we've been. How'd you know that I was there?"

"I figured that you were hiding somewhere to avoid running into Jongin but were waiting for me. Also, I can sense things through the moisture in the air if I want to. I'm not as good at it as Min hyung though."

"Polynomials. That's cool and creepy at the same time."

"Polynomials," Jongdae laughed. "Oh, Teacher Zhang was worried that something bad happened to you and asked me if you were okay."

He would have to apologize to and thank Teacher Zhang next time he saw him.

"And Jongin too. He asked me why you were almost late to class and all sweaty."

Kyungsoo facepalmed himself and stepped through the lunch room doors.

"And your response was because I was doing 'something fun'? Now he'll think I'm weird."

"He won't if you tell him about the surprise already."

He gave his friend a look and scoured the cafeteria for Yuwon. Spotting her orange and red highlights, Kyungsoo led the way to her and sat down as she set her feet down from the seat.

"Late again? Your biology teacher must love you."

"No, Jongdae was just being irresponsible."

"Noooo, Kyungsoo was being shy. You need to tell Jongin about your present, so you can actually give it to him."

Kyungsoo grumbled against his first bite of his lunch. At least his sandwhich understood him.

"Why not invite him to your belated birthday celebration? Then we can all hang out."

"I don't want to because it's his birthday today. He might have plans. Plus, wouldn't it sound strange to invite him to a belated birthday hang out when it's his birthday?"

"Good point. I wasn't thinking. Then tell him to come pick it up before or after his plans."

"I will... eventually."

Yuwon sighed and shook her head.

"Jongdae, he's hopeless."

He nodded, and Kyungsoo gave them both looks. They continued eating and talking, mostly about what they could do for Kyungsoo's belated birthday celebration. By the time lunch finished and they reached their last class, the realization that he hadn't spoken to Jongin at all dawned on him. His last chance would be right after Teacher Liu dismissed them for the day.

Kyungsoo started going over the words in his head. He couldn't be too direct, because he wanted it to be a secret right up to the last moment, but he couldn't sound creepy either. After going through several trials and embarrassing errors, he decided on something like 'Hey, when you're free, want to come to my house? I have something to give you.' Direct yet secretive and also not too creepy. Kyungsoo nodded with approval and turned back to the lecture.

Except, the teacher wasn't there. And the students had already started standing up and chatting amongst themselves. Kyungsoo looked over at Jongin's desk and found him already leaving the classroom, his steps in a hurry, his hand holding his phone to his ear, a smile gracing his face. He must have had somewhere to go.

Kyungsoo planted his face into his desk with a groan.

"Kyungsoo, I think you missed your chance."

He groaned again to tell Jongdae that he knew.

"You could always text him."

He groaned again to tell him that he didn't want to.

"Then how're you going to deliver his gift? Do you know where he lives?"

He lifted his head, squinting through the clouds of his memory. He had dropped Jongin at his house once before, after the study group for winter finals, but he couldn't remember exactly which house or what it looked like. It had been dark, and the only thing Kyungsoo remembered about it was that the porch light had been left on for Jongin that night.

"I dropped him off at his house once, but I don't remember where exactly or what the house looked like."

"Kyungsoo."

He just sighed and piled his things together. Jongdae did the same and slung an arm over his shoulders.

"It's okay. We'll get it to him somehow. For now, you should only be allowed happy thoughts! Let's hurry and meet up with Yuwon!"

Jongdae dragged him out of the classroom and school until they met up with Yuwon, and then he was dragged down the street by both his friends. When they got to his house, the first thing Jongdae did was hunt through the pantry. The first thing Yuwon did was pull a cakebox out of her backpack, and Kyungsoo had to do a doubletake.

"You were carrying THAT in your backpack the whole day?"

She looked at him like he was nonsensical.

"Of course not. I asked my archery coach to hold it in her fridge for the day. And now, it will rest in your fridge until we finish our activities of celebrating you."

"We have to eat dinner too, you know."

"Oh, yeah. Then for dessert!"

He opened the fridge for her, and she set it down inside then paused.

"You have only one strawberry left in the fri— Woah, is that it? Is that Jongin-shi's present?"

Kyungsoo nodded and felt a heat creeping into his cheeks as she opened the cover, looked at the cannoli ring, then gave him a sly smile.

"I want to see!"

Jongdae leaned in next to Yuwon's head, practically resting his head on her shoulder, to look in the fridge.

"Woah! That's fancy! Wait, can I have that strawberry?"

"No, you can't. I'm going to carve it into a flower and put it in the middle."

"Ooh, even fancier!"

Jongdae pulled his head back from Yuwon's shoulder, then started silently wigging out behind the door of the fridge. He had turned and started fanning himself in between flailing about and scrambling his face and hair, but Kyungsoo saw that even his ears had turned red. That was normal of Jongdae after getting within a ruler's length radius within Yuwon's space, but what surprised Kyungsoo was when he shuffled towards the fridge and leaned in to see Yuwon's face, and her cheeks looked as red as Jongdae's ears. She noticed him and probably how his eyes had ballooned up, because she hopped up and smacked her hands over his face. He groaned at getting a full-face Yuwon slap.

"Sorry! But don't tell Jongdae," she whispered.

He pulled her hands off his face by her wrists and gave her a look, the best look he could with his face stinging while blinking the blurriness from his eyes anyway.

"I got it," he whispered back. "Just close the fridge door and stop wasting electricty."

She beamed a sheepish grin at him and pushed the door fridge close. Jongdae had toned down his wigging out by doing squats with his back to them.

"Jongdae, if you're gonna do squats, go do them in the living room. I'm going to wash the dishes from baking first."

"Wait, I'll help you. Yuwon, can you get the stuff set up? I brought my share in my backpack."

"Gotchu."

"What'd you guys bring?"

"No peeking, Kyungsoo!"

Yuwon whisked herself out of the kitchen, though Kyungsoo thought that her rush might have had more to do with the blush on her face than the stuff in Jongdae's backpack. As soon as she left, Jongdae fell to his hands and knees and wheezed. Kyungsoo squatted next to him and patted his back.

"You just literally O-T-L-ed."

"I know. Are my eyes still in stripes?"

Kyungsoo looked at his eyes and nodded.

"They're even brighter than when I last saw them like that."

He whispered something that Kyungsoo was one-hundred percent sure was a qiao'uyi curse word and patted him on the back again.

"Don't worry too much about it. I think Yuwon didn't mind."

That was definitely an understatement, but he told Yuwon that he wouldn't say... a lot. Pulling Jongdae up, Kyungsoo started him to work on putting the dry dishware away while he started soaping. When they finished, Yuwon hadn't finished so Kyungsoo had to face the fridge and wear a blindfold while Jongdae helped her. He grew nervous when he heard some furniture moving and some balloons popping, but he didn't peek. When they allowed him back to the living room, Jongdae guided him in and took off the blindfold. The living room blinds had been closed, letting the evening sun shine into the room. Kyungsoo thought that it was beautiful but was soon distracted by the billions of streamers, balloons, and party hats populating the living room.

"HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, KYUNGSOO!"

Yuwon strapped one of the many party hats onto his head while Jongdae blew four party blowers in his mouth. 

"How are there so many party hats?!"

"They're all here to celebrate you, Kyungsoo! Say hi!"

"I am not doing that."

The three of them exploded in laughter and began their marathon of games. They played on game consoles provided by Yuwon and spent the next few hours slaying monsters, traversing virtual dungeons, and accidentally hitting each other during sport games because they weren't spaced out enough. Yuwon had the idea of putting a punishment so that if Kyungsoo was hit, they'd have to grant him a small wish, and if Kyungsoo accidentally hit Yuwon or Jongdae, he'd have to show them a cute act. He made sure to vacate the vicinity before he made any limb movements to avoid that punishment.

Jongdae was actually better than the other two in not acidentally hitting persons, but at his last attack in the bottom of the ninth, Jongdae swung his arm right into Kyungsoo's back and got his first punishment. He mashed his index finger over Kyungsoo's lips before he had even thought of the favor he wanted to ask of Jongdae.

"I know your wish, Kyungsoo. You don't have to say anything."

"Buv I didn' ehsk it yit."

"Shhh. I understand without words."

Yuwon laughed, and Kyungsoo nursed his lips as Jongdae pulled out his phone, tapped something for a bit, and then put it away, giving him a giant grin.

"Did you do it? Whatever it was?"

"Yup."

"What was it?"

Jongdae didn't lean towards Kyungsoo to answer his question. Instead, he leaned over to Yuwon and whispered in her ear. Kyungsoo watched as her eyes widened, and her face burst into a blush.

"Good, huh? Woah, Yuwon, is your face okay?"

"YES. Oh, yes. Great move— I mean idea, Jongdae. I'm going to go to the bathroom. Be right back."

She dashed to the hallway bathroom with her hands over her face, almost running into a corner. Kyungsoo worried if she was okay, but he worried more for Jongdae when his friend seized him by the shoulders and started shaking him.

"Is she okay? Is that a human thing? Do all your faces get that red in the face? Why? I've never seen that happen to Yuwon before."

"Jongdae, relax. She's fine."

He stopped shaking him. "She is?"

"Yes. Ugh. Don't shake me so hard." He stared a little when he saw the green swirls, brighter and shifting, in Jongdae's eyes again. "Dude, relax. Unless she suddenly got heat in my perfectly temperature-controlled house, she's just madly blushing."

Jongdae looked from Kyungsoo to where Yuwon had disappeared to and back to Kyungsoo, the green fading back to brown.

"Really? She's okay?"

"Yes. Way more than okay." He couldn't help but tease his friend with a sly smile. "Did you guys use my belated birthday celebration as an excuse to flirt with each other?"

"The fridge thing was just in the moment! And she looked like she really wanted the sword powerup and... Wait, you used a plural. Was she flirting with me too? WHEN?"

"If you can't figure it out, then it's not for me to say," Kyungsoo teased.

Jongdae whined and fell back on the couch, wriggling his limbs before sticking them up like he was a poisoned cartoon mouse. His tongue lolled out for a moment too before he let them fall. Kyungsoo chuckled and tapped the console screen back awake, the T.V lighting up with it.

"Hey, Kyungsoo."

"Yeah?"

"You're happy, right?"

"Yeah. You and Yuwon made today really fun. Thanks."

Jongdae sat up, looking at Kyungsoo. 

"Well, that's a given. But I mean when we're at school."

His answer stopped at the tip of his tongue but only for a second, and he reformulated his words.

"It's school. Not much to expect."

Jongdae frowned a little then but tapped the couch in thought.

"Is it better with Jongin?"

Kyungsoo didn't expect him to mention Jongin, but because he did, Kyungsoo thought about it. Their tutoring sessions, when he shifted uncomfortably against the consideration of interest in Jongin's eyes, how that had gradually changed into laughing orange slices, the apology and indirect declaration of disregarding the rumors about him, his wish and mission to hear Jongin's laugh without any hand or coat obstruction, to be his friend—getting to those points hadn't all been happy or certain, but Kyungsoo liked them. And looking back, ever since Jongin walked in during the math tutor meeting, he felt that he could endure a little more, for a little longer.

"Yeah. It's been better with him."

He looked at Jongdae. His friend wore surprise, and it didn't dye under the influence of pleasant or bad. Kyungsoo rarely saw that in Jongdae, who reacted quick, who would spring into the next action as soon as possible. That surprise hung on his face like the silence in the air until Kyungsoo stepped forward and tipped him over by poking his forehead.

"You're still my best friend. Don't worry."

Jongdae popped back up, his mouth back in a grin, and hugged him.

"Well, if you insist, Kyungsoo. And I'm glad that you have a new friend too."

"We're not officially friends yet."

"Aikyang, Kyungsoo. Only you would make making friends this difficult."

"I just want to make sure!"

"If the cannolis don't take the cake, then I don't know what will," Yuwon said, coming out of the kitchen, looking much less red in the face. "They look so GOOD."

"Yuwon, if I can't have one, then neither can you."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and he did the same.

"Okay, you two children, we should get dinner ready."

"And then it's cake and present time!"

His friends let out dessert-eating victory screeches as they moved to the kitchen and helped Kyungsoo reheat the stir-fry noodle dish he had prepared. They played more video games as they ate and laughed, especially after Jongdae died on the same level for the fourth time in a row because he couldn't time the jump onto a platform.

After dinner, his friends made him sit in the kitchen blindfolded again before Yuwon guided him out to the living room. She took the blindfold off, and the first thing Kyungsoo noticed was the room shaded in darkness and a cake alit with candles.

They sang happy birthday to him, he made a wish (that he would be friends with Jongin and that his friends and family would be happy), and blew out the candles. He divided up the cake, pausing every so often so that Yuwon could take pictures, and handed everyone a slice. Chowing down on the sweet treat, Kyungsoo sighed. He never did get the cannolis to Jongin, and he wanted them to be as fresh as possible. He wondered if he worked Saturdays, or if he should save himself the embarrassment, ask for his address, and then just drop it off. Or would that potentially create more embarrassment?

"Kyungsooooo," Jongdae called.

"Hm? Yeah?"

"I asked if you want to open my present or Yuwon's present first."

"Oh, it doesn't matter to me."

"Then open mine and Min hyung's first! Do you mind, Yuwon?"

She shook her head and waved at them to go at it. Clapping his hands, Jongdae pushed the burgundy-striped gift bag towards him and practically vibrated in his seat with excitement. Kyungsoo chuckled and pulled out the tissue paper first then peered into the bag. He facepalmed himself but couldn't hide his smile in the least. He pulled out the plastic bag encasing the rectangular penguin pillow. Little webbed feet stuck out on one side of the pillow, and the other had tiny flippers and its facial features, complete with a beak and white and black coloring.

"You got me a me."

"That's not all!"

Jongdae pointed in the bag, and Kyun