1, 2, 3, Mic Check, Heart Check || Sim Jaeyun

Chapter XI - Birthday

Yunjin had her camera out, snapping candid shots—some blurry, some cute. Yeji was organizing drinks while sneaking bites of chips. Hyunjin threw himself dramatically onto the floor after taking a sip of soda that was "too sweet for his mature palate."

It was warm. Light. Easy.

And Soo-jin thought to herself—'maybe this was healing.'

And maybe it's time to finally let herself breathe from whatever he had left to her. From the memories to his entire existence in her life.

She should stop thinking about it.

And that was one of her wish for her birthday.

─── ⋆⋅ ❤︎ ⋅⋆ ───

[Saturday — November 15 — 5:41 p.m.]

They played a few silly games after eating. Charades. Song guessing. Random dance battles that had Yeji collapsing onto the floor from laughter. Even Soo-jin danced more than she expected to—light, shy movements at first, then real steps when Hyunjin offered a hand with a playful bow and a "May I?"

She laughed. "You're ridiculous."

"But you're smiling," he said simply.

And she was.

Maybe not the kind that lit up a room, but real enough. Gentle. Free.

Yunjin cheered as they spun around once in the middle of the room—Hyunjin holding her hand just long enough before letting go like he knew where the line was.

Like he respected it.

She was grateful for that.

Grateful for him.

"Okay, now switch partners!" Yeji called from the bench.

"Yeah, Soo-jin and I are tired of each other," Hyunjin teased.

"Hey!" she elbowed him, grinning.

Hyunjin giggled as he held a hand on his stomach.

─── ⋆⋅ ❤︎ ⋅⋆ ───

[Saturday — November 15 — 9:18 p.m.]

Soo-jin stood in front of her bedroom mirror, her party clothes traded for an oversized hoodie, hair now loose from all the dancing and laughter.

The evening had ended with sleepy hugs, blurred photos, and a lot of crumbs. They'd even sang "Happy Birthday" twice—once normal, once in a ridiculous opera voice that Yeji insisted on doing.

It wasn't perfect.

But it was hers.

She sat on the edge of her bed, phone in hand.

Still no message from him.

And this time—she didn't check twice.

Instead, she opened her group chat with Yeji, Yunjin, and Hyunjin and typed:

 [Soo-jin]:
 today was fun 🩷
 thanks for making it feel light again

Yeji and Yunjin responded almost immediately with spammy heart emojis and voice messages of "YOU'RE WELCOME, BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!"

Hyunjin replied just a few seconds later:

 [Hyunjin]:
 you made it easy to show up for you

She stared at the message a little longer than she meant to.

And for the first time in months, she let herself think—

'Maybe this is the kind of attention I deserve.

Not confusion. Not waiting. Not unread messages and ghosted birthdays. But presence. Soft, steady presence.'

Her fingers hovered over the locked folder in her phone—the one with old photos, old chats, old videos.

Then, without thunking twice she finally deleted it and locked her phone again.

And turned off the lights.

─── ⋆⋅ ❤︎ ⋅⋆ ───

[Saturday — November 15 — 11:57 p.m.]

Across town, Jaeyun sat in the dark of his bedroom, the pale blue glow of his monitor casting faint shadows on the wall.

He had left Sunghoon's house a while ago.

His phone lay beside him, unopened since that afternoon.

He didn't check it.

Not because he didn't want to.

But because he knew he wouldn't find her name there.

So he opened that same locked Notes app again.

And typed:

She didn't text.

Then, after a pause:

But she shouldn't have to. It's not her job to remember for the both of us.

He stared at it.

Backspaced.

Typed again:

Maybe we're really done now.

But didn't delete that one.

He saved it.

Because maybe they were really done now. Without a proper thing to start with. They ended a thing that never even happened.

He sat in silence as the clock struck midnight.

Another birthday gone.

This time, completely apart.

And maybe... that was the point.