Birthdays in the SHINee household came five times a year. However, in order to keep things fresh and original, each one of those birthdays were traditionally celebrated by the five boys in different ways. For example, Key’s birthdays were always lavish but private affairs (usually held in a high class restaurant), Minho would surely drag (and half guilt) his friends into buying five tickets to the nearest soccer game in town, and for the next coming up, their baby Taemin’s birthday, it was always to be a surprise party.

Just how the youngest, after five years of living together, never once saw it coming was beyond them, but the four other men decided to just store it in their record books a victory on their part. They strived to keep it that way and this year was going to be no exception.

 

-

 

Onew opened his eyes at the sound of his chiming alarm clock. It was 5AM, such an ungodly hour to even think of crawling out of his warm covers and into the cold, unforgiving world. But today was an exception. He had a huge responsibility to take care of—his only (but most important, Key emphasized) job was to keep Taemin out of the house for as long as possible while the others were given time to scramble about, preparing everything that needed to be set up.

Easy as pie, piece of cake, Onew had thought, though he was a bit miffed as to why he was given the simplest job of the day—he was the leader after all and inadvertently labeled the most responsible one (right?). However, his task was soon proven easier said than done when evidently Taemin, still wrapped heavily under his blankets, refused to budge, leaving the elder a bit flustered as things were not going according to plan.

“Taemin, you have to wake up,” Onew gave the large lump on the bed a light shove but all he got in response was a light groan and then silence. “Please?” But in the end, after several failed attempts at being the nice hyung, Onew finally decided to take matters into his own hands as he forcefully picked up the lump in his arms and threw it deftly over his shoulders.

“Woah! Put me down! I’m awake, I’m awake!” Taemin’s muffled yelps were heard throughout the house as Onew sauntered down the hallway and kicked open the bathroom door. He gently plopped the writhing body down onto the cold tile and took a step back, retreating out of the room as he looked back. Taemin was just sitting there, his brown hair disheveled in every direction and his eyes were still thick with sleep as he rubbed at them and looked up at the leader.

Onew gently leaned over his ruffle his hair, closed the door and called out a, “brush your teeth and get dressed, I’ll be waiting in the kitchen,” before leaving the confused and rather disoriented maknae alone as he sauntered down the stairs, whistling casually as he went.

 

-

 

After a quick, impromptu breakfast, Onew quickly shuffled Taemin out of the house—the younger was simply too tired to oppose and obedienty followed after his leader, sipping half-heartedly on his carton of banana milk as they walked down the dim street. Before long, they ended up on a rather tall hill in the park near their home. Onew patted the spot beside him where he was already sitting cross-legged and Taemin wearily joined him, not so subtly side-eyeing the elder the whole way. “Why are we here?” Taemin asked, feeling a bit more alert now and a bit more aware of the strange nature of his surroundings. But before he could ponder more about his situation, Onew was quick to cut in with a hearty laugh, a bit too enthusiastically, and slung an arm over the younger’s shoulders, pulling his slim frame close to his own.

“We’re here to watch the sunrise of course!” He flashed a beaming smile towards the other.

“What, why? What about the others?” Taemin threw him a skeptical look, which Onew took gratefully. Hey, as long as it wasn’t suspicion, right? Onew was taken aback in mock hurt as he shook his head at his friend.

“Is there something wrong with wanting to spend some quality time with my youngest friend here?” Onew made a fake whimpering noise, which sent the maknae clambering.

“No, of course not! It’s just…” Taemin found a smile touching his lips as he took in the leader’s gesture as one of compassion.

“Just what?”

“Can’t we do that when… the sun’s already out?”

Onew just laughed with Taemin chuckling beside him as he nodded and pointed towards the horizon. The very tip of the sun was beginning to crest and glow, casting the entire sky in a tint of beautiful oranges and blues and signaling the beginning of a new dawn. “Today is a beautiful day,” Onew murmured. And though Taemin didn’t catch his drift, he couldn’t help but agree, smiling as his eyes never left the sight in front of them.

Another thing Taemin failed to notice as he concentrated on watching the sunrise was the way Onew’s eyes never left his face the entire time. “Today is a beautiful day…”

 

-

 

After the sun had risen, and after Onew insisted they take a long walk around the large park, Taemin nudged Onew on the side, causing the other to snap out of his pondering of just what they could do to occupy their time afterwards. “Onew…”

“Hmm?” Onew raised his eyes to peer up at the younger, noticing that his arms were crossed and clutched over his chest and his lips were forming a slight pout. They had stopped in front of a small fountain and Onew contemplated offering to rest for a while there to kill time.

“Can we go home now? I’m cold…”

Although Onew felt a bit sympathetic towards the boy, it wasn’t enough to deter him from his mission. Instead, Onew shrugged off his own brown jacket and handed it to Taemin, causing him to frown. “I can’t take that—then you’ll be cold.”

“It’s fine,” Onew assured with a smile.

“I can’t…”

“Go ahead.”

“Can’t we just go home?”

“Sorry, no can do—“ Just then, Onew’s eyes caught the sight of something rather unusual. There was a shuffling heard from the bushes behind Taemin and a tuft of silver fur was sticking up from behind it. Unconsciously ignoring Taemin’s growing impatience, and staring acutely at the bush, Onew almost gasped as a head suddenly popped up and caught eyes with him. Mirroring a similar horrified expression on his face, and with a leaf or two stuck in his silver hair, Jonghyun quickly ducked underneath the brush again, and waved Onew off with a dirt-covered hand.

Taemin was quick to notice the elder’s lack of attention and furrowed his eyebrows, turning ever so slightly to catch what Onew had been staring at. But at the movement, Onew quickly snapped out of his trance and took Taemin by the shoulders. Taemin tilted his head, “what’s wrong?”

“Huh? Oh nothing, nothing you just uh, had a piece of lint on your shoulder,” Onew smiled and pretended to pick at the fabric of his sweater. But Taemin wasn’t convinced and pointed behind him.

“Then, why were you looking over there?”

“Oh, there was just a dumb dog—“ he seethed, but a split second later he went back to smiling, “—in the bushes over there, don’t worry.” But Onew nearly slapped his own face as Taemin’s lit up with a thousand watts.

“A dog? I wanna see!” And at the same time Taemin turned his body around, Onew attempted to throw himself in front of Taemin’s line of sight. However, and either unfortunately or fortunately, at the last second, Onew managed to trip over his own feet, stumble over the edge of the fountain and crash head first into the cold water.

“Oh gosh! Are you ok?” Taemin was quick to run to his leader’s rescue, pulling him up harshly by the arm and tried to shield himself from the wash of droplets that rained down onthem as a consequence.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine,” Onew sputtered, “just a bit… cold.”

“Come on, let’s get you home to change,” Taemin chided, taking him carefully by the arm. But Onew started to internally panic—he had to think fast.

“NO!”

Taemin was taken aback.

“I mean, uh—“ Onew bit his lip, “let’s go buy some new clothes!”

“What are you, crazy?! Let’s just go home—“

“The store’s right down the street from here and it’s next to that great restaurant you like,” Onew reasoned, trying to hide the fact he was beginning to shiver underneath his dripping clothes.

“You mean the chicken restaurant you like?” Taemin eyed the leader.

“Precisely!” Onew nodded before gripping Taemin by the arm and dragging him off before he could protest.

Onew didn’t know if the other member was still watching, but he made sure to make a slicing motion over his neck towards the bush as a warning.

 

-

 

After Taemin reluctantly helped Onew pick out a new outfit to try on, and after the leader had stepped out of his change room to find the former, Onew spotted him looking longingly at a particular t-shirt on the rack. “Taemin,” he called out. The younger seemed to snap out of his trance and looked up sheepishly, waving as if embarrassed to be caught. Taemin looked Onew up and down before giving him thumbs up.

Onew made sure to shoo Taemin out of the store ahead of him before he paid for the items.

 

-

 

Being the kind soul he was, Onew allowed him and Taemin to skip over his favourite restaurant and settle down in a smaller café for lunch upon Taemin’s insistence. It was a nice smelling place with many sweets and cakes lined behind the glass panel at the front and Onew could see why Taemin had wanted to bring him here so badly.

In the middle of their shared strawberry smoothie where they had settled at a small table in the back, the bell of the front door chimed signaling a new customer. Onew decided to look up at the sound. He immediately regretted it however when he knew he recognized that rainbow coloured hair and the heavyset trench coat the man who had just entered was currently wearing. Of course, only with his luck at that same moment, the boy in front of him decided to stand up, telling Onew that he was going order a surprise for him. Onew scrambled up with a clamour, making the new person’s, who was now in line, attention snap to him. “No, Taemin let me order for you.”

“What? No, you don’t know what to order,” the younger huffed, walking away from the table. Onew tried to stop him but was met with an even more disgruntled Taemin who insisted with finality that he was going to treat them.

Onew was at a loss for words and actions—he couldn’t let Taemin see Key here in the same place or else all their efforts might be ruined. Onew was forced to think fast once again, but he wasn’t as fast as Key evidently. As Taemin approached the register with only a few feet separating him and the Almighty, Key made sure Taemin had looked away before he quickly vaulted over the counter, earning a few surprised looks from the workers. It didn’t phase him however, and he swiped one of the worker’s hats off their heads and plopped it over his own, making sure to tuck in his fluorescent hair and keep his eyes and voice low as he took Taemin’s order. “What can I get you today, sir?”

“Two slices of red velvet cake, please.”

“Certainly.”

And it was then Taemin realized that the employee in front of him wasn’t looking at him. “Um, is anything wrong?” He asked tentatively. The employee quickly shook their head and readjusted their hat.

“No, sir. Is that everything you need today?”

Taemin frowned slightly. He thought that voice sounded oddly familiar but when he realized a line had been forming behind him, he shrugged it off and he smiled, “yes, thank you.”

 

-

 

As they were leaving the store, as fast as possible under Onew’s insistence, the leader made sure to point to the cakes they had packed up to Key who gave him a sign of understanding.

“You know, that employee was awfully weird,” Taemin blinked up at the older as they walked away.

“How so?” Onew had to bite back his growing smirk.

“I don’t know just,” Taemin pursed his lips, “I hope that guy gets fired,” he shuddered, wondering just why Onew had burst into laughter.

 

-

 

It was afternoon by now and Onew had done a rather good job at keeping Taemin preoccupied if he could say so himself. Though as the time went on, and he kept nudging Taemin into store after store on the short shopping strip, Onew couldn’t help but keep glancing down at his phone to check the time and for any updates. He could only keep the youngest interested in window shopping for so long, and he was running out of ideas, fast.

Before he knew it, they had entered into a small arcade on the corner of the street. Onew couldn’t help but notice the way Taemin’s eyes danced with excitement at all the glowing lights and machines. He smiled and patted the youngest on the shoulder before he promptly left to collect a bucket of tokens for them to use.

 

-

 

It felt like they could spend hours in the arcade—there were just too many games to play and too many prizes to win. Onew felt himself letting out a breath of relief as he had found the ultimate way to keep Taemin busy despite the hole in his wallet the experience burned. (Onew was more than willing to join in on the fun and it was nice to see the maknae smile so he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.)

They competed, worked together and tagged teamed. Both had even tried their best in winning a particular bear plushie Taemin had been pining over, to no avail. With both their heads held low and Onew’s hand rubbing consoling circles onto Taemin’s upper back, he lead them towards a pair of machines facing back to back where another tall, lanky man was already sitting behind one of them. “Come on Taemin, cheer up. You can play with fighting game against that other guy.”

Taemin nodded and sat down on the stool in front of the control pad and Onew stood beside him. He was nodding towards the screen until he heard a voice hiss his name and he whipped his head around in confusion. He heard his name again and this time snapped his attention towards the other machine where the other man was peering over the side with a bewildered look in his large eyes. “Minho?” The leader mouthed in disbelief.

“What are you doing here?!” Minho mouthed back.

Onew shrugged in response. He was really wondering why Minho was there of all places—shouldn’t he be preparing for the party? In any case, Onew gave him a look. “You better leave.”

“Onew?” This time the voice that called his name was beside him.

“Taemin, let’s uh, go. Let’s play another game,” he suggested cheerfully but was only met with a confused look from Taemin.

“What, why? I wanted to kick this guy’s first!” Taemin whined before turning back to the machine, this time with a wicked expression on his face. Onew sighed before looking back at Minho and nearly smacked the other upside the head. Onew knew that look that was now burning within the taller’s eyes and it didn’t mean anything good for their situation. Onew gave him a stern look, which he deftly ignored and whipped back to his own machine.

“I’ll show you who’ll kick whose ,” he grumbled, which only Onew could hear. Knowing that any reasonable logic he could use would be thrown away by both players, Onew resigned to bury his face in his hands and let the games begin.

 

-

 

“I WON!! I REALLY WON!” Taemin shouted and fist pumped, earning a few startled stares from the children around them but nonetheless he continued to shout. “YES!”

Onew had to hand it to him though, beating Choi Minho at anything was a cause for celebration, and so he allowed the youngest to gloat all he wanted, watching amusingly as the tall man, still hidden behind his machine, gripped his hands into fists. “Hey mister,” Taemin called out, “want to have a rematch? I’ll go easy on you this time.”

“You little—“ Minho’s deep retort was cut off by Onew’s stern glare and he shut his mouth, knowing he had to get out of there before the youngest found out his identity. “I mean uh, no I have to head home now…”

“Why are you leaving so quick? Going back to your mom's place?”

Three deep breaths got Minho out of that one. “Uh no, just—I need to go right now.”

“Ooh someone’s a scaredy cat. You’re just scared of losing again aren’t you? Scared of losing again just how you just lost to me.”

The moment that Minho swung around to strangle the maknae, Onew quickly pulled Taemin off his stool by his collar, causing him to stumble face first into his chest. “Now, Taemin, I think that’s quite enough.” And with a gruff shove and one quick glance at the now seething Minho, Onew pointed towards one particular game with one particular prize that Minho stomped towards full force.

 

-

 

“Onew, can we go home yet?” Taemin asked once again.

Onew bit his lip, “not yet Taemin, not yet. And why? You don’t like spending time with me?“ He teased.

“Oh no, no,” Taemin defended with his hands in the air, “today’s been fun but my feet hurt and—“ he was interrupted by the chime of Onew’s cellphone. Onew excused himself to take a quick check before he looked back up at the younger and nodded.

“Actually, I think it’s finally time to go home.”

 

-

 

“Why do I get the feeling I’m missing something?” Taemin wondered out loud as Onew and him walked up to the front door of their shared dorm. The older just shrugged before handing the keys to Taemin.

“Want to do the honours?”

Taemin didn’t understand why the leader was offering, but he nodded nonetheless and slipped the key into the knob, turning it and opening the door.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

Taemin was left standing there, dumbfounded as his friend began to swarm around him with confetti. “Wow.” All of the members went still and stared at his blank face. “I am really, really dumb, aren’t I?”

“Uh well…”

“Yeah, kind of—hey, ow!”

 “Nonsense!”

And Taemin was pulled into the home with a face splitting smile on his face.

 

-

 

“So you all planned this out behind my back, huh?” Taemin questioned as he shoved another piece of red velvet cake into his mouth.

Key sat back into his armchair and smirked with his hands on his knees. “We all had our own jobs.”

Taemin smiled and turned towards the oldest with a teasing flash of his tongue, “so while everyone else was running around town helping prepare for my party, all you did was drag me around?”

Onew gasped, “excuse me, didn’t I have the most important job of the day? And just whose idea do you think all these gifts were?” Onew motioned around the room to the cake, the shirt and the large plushie sitting in the corner of the room, “well… except for Jonghyun’s because… I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean.”

“Hey,” Jonghyun called out in shock, clutching his bouquet of flowers close to his chest, “I was going for the o’natural type of gift this year.”

“Really? Because it seems like you just picked them from the park—“

“Silence you giant! Do you think being tall is everything?!”

“What does my height have to do with this?!” Minho roared back.

Onew just rolled his eyes at the pointless banter and turned back towards Taemin with a scoff, “and don’t forget how hard it is dragging around a spoiled brat everywhere—“

Onew’s breath was cut short as Taemin leaned over to place a quick peck on his cheek. “Thank you,” he breathed as he pulled back.

Onew’s entire face felt like it was on fire as he stared back dumbly at the smirking maknae.

“Yah, Lee Taemin! Don’t you think I didn’t see that! You better appreciate what everyone else has done too!” Key shouted from across the room, throwing a pillow straight into Onew’s face. “Ha, oopsies.”

But Onew didn’t care, not one bit, as he slowly brought up a hand to place it over where Taemin’s lips had pressed again his skin. Taemin patted him twice on the leg before he moved to get up. But Onew quickly reached out to stop him, grabbing him gently by the wrist. “Yes, hyung?” Taemin smiled down, and Onew smiled back.

“Happy Birthday, Lee Taemin.”