You know how sometimes you’ll hear an annoying story where the snotty rich kid spends the month before their birthday reminding everyone that it’s coming up, and then expecting (and receiving, mind you) all that they asked for?

Or the lonely tale of the kid who doesn’t get enough attention at home, so they learn to just keep quiet about their birthday; only dropping subtle hints to their friends and family in hopes that they will remember that special day?

Well, being Taemin’s friend, Minho never expected to have to be the one to take that last scenario and do a 180 flip with it. What kind of person has to have hints dropped about their own birthday?

Sure, all his friends understood that Taemin had enough things to deal with already- being the oldest kid in that dirty, disgusting embarrassment of an orphanage having its own extensive responsibilities and all- but they never thought that it would make him lose so much of his own self that he’d forget a day like his birthday.

Most kids spend that day doing what? Hanging out with their best friends, partying, eating cake and drinking, opening presents… whatever, really. But this selfless little bastard takes it upon himself to wake up early to do extra chores just to give some of his dongsaengs a break and let them sleep in for once.

Sometimes Minho thought that he was too considerate; he’d often worried about the kid getting physically sick from how hard he worked around the orphanage. But if that’s what he really wanted to spend his time doing, who was Minho to say anything about him being ‘too nice’?

“Tae, you seriously need to take a break,” Minho called from his corner table at the coffee shop where Taemin worked as a barista. He really wanted to give the younger the present that he got for him, but Taemin refused to take his 15 minute break he was allowed during his shift.

“Shut up, Minho-hyung, I’m working!” a very annoyed Taemin responded before turning back around to politely serve a rude man his order.

Minho played around with a string hanging off the bottom of his jacket- a nervous habit. Still, he managed to chuckle at his best friend’s silliness as he turned his gaze down to the table in front of him, where a manila folder sat simply on the glass, looking plain and boring. But Minho knew that it wasn’t just a ‘plain and boring’ folder.

He knew it would be worth it.

The excitement to show Taemin his gift became overwhelming, and if Taemin wasn’t going to willingly take a break, he’d have to find another way. Getting up out of his seat and collecting his belongings, he made his way to the front counter.

“Jinki-hyung,” Minho called out to the older boy who was working behind the counter.

“Ah, hey Minho. Nice to see you, man,” Jinki greeted amicably.

“Hey, so would you mind terribly covering for Taemin-ah for the rest of the day? That idiot doesn’t remember it’s his birthday and I really don’t want to sit around waiting for the next few hours of his shift-“

“Say no more, Minho. I’ve got it,” Jinki responded, smiling warmly at how cute Minho was, being bothered so deeply by something like this.

“Oh thanks so much, hyung, you’re the best!” cheered Minho, clapping his hands like an excited little child.

“Not a problem, kid. Go have fun, that boy works too much anyway,” he replied. “Taemin-ah! Get over here!”

Taemin looked up from his work wiping down an empty table with a worried look in his eyes as to why Jinki was calling him over so suddenly. Nonetheless, he stopped what he was doing and stood by Minho in front of the counter.

“Yes, hyung?”

“You’ve got the rest of the day off, kiddo. I’ll cover for you,” Jinki said with a mischievous grin.

“W-what? But I need the money, hyung! Why?” Taemin tried to argue, but neither Jinki nor Minho would have any of it.

“That’s quite alright, don’t worry about a thing! Now go on, have fun.” Taemin didn’t even catch the wink that Jinki had sent discreetly towards Minho.

Taemin groaned in frustration and confusion as he took off his little apron and nametag, ing them into Jinki’s arms in hopes of showing his dissatisfaction to the older, who simply chuckled at his dongsaeng’s behavior.

“C’mon Tae,” Minho said eagerly, grabbing Taemin’s wrist and dragging him outside the coffee shop and to his car. Once the two were seated and driving away from the building, Taemin sighed and looked over to Minho expectantly.

“Ca