SONG REC: "MIXTAPE: OH" - STRAY KIDS
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When Lee Know had first recruited Yun, he had talked with her to finish her file. Absently going through it now, he stared at the selfie she took because she didn't want anybody – any "man," she said specifically – to take her picture unless she trusted them. Which she didn't, at the time.
He chuckled at how she was grinning at the camera, oblivious to how Hyunjin and Han were behind her, holding up peace signs and sticking out their tongues. Looking closer, he spotted Felix giving Changbin a kiss on the cheek in the back.
His eyes trailed down to her statistics, and he realized that it was her birthday tomorrow. October 25th, the same day as him. And then he frowned.
"It's my birthday, tomorrow," he mumbled to himself. He had forgotten with all the stress and...Yun. Like he had promised, he visited her room often. Sometimes, they just sat there, and other times, they had conversations long enough to last until sunrise.
Every single time, no matter how much he prepared himself, he would find himself staring and admiring her. And although he could've imagined it in his desperation, he would catch Yun staring at him too.
He knew that by this time at night, everybody was sleeping. He walked out to the kitchen and prepared the cake batter, which he did for each member's birthday. Usually, he had help from Felix, but he didn't want to wake him up when he could bake the cake himself. He worked on the cake and messed up, sighing. If only Felix was here.
As if Felix was telepathic, he walked out to the kitchen with a bag of cake batter and bursted out laughing.
"Minho, are you making a cake for Yun or yourself?"
"Yun."
"That's wonderful, but your cake looks hideous. You should've woken me up since I always do the decorating. Here, let's make a new one and save this one for cake pops."
Lee Know huffed but smiled with relief. "Thanks, Lix."
"Oh and..." Felix grinned. "I woke up all the other members so we could decorate the place as Yun sleeps. We wanted to surprise you too, so go back to bed. I'll bake the cake."
"No, I'll help–"
"Nuh-uh-uh, you're going to bed." Felix took off Lee Know's apron for him and gently pushed him in the direction of his bedroom. "Even better if it's Yun bed."
Lee Know pursed his lips. "What?"
"Don't pretend like you guys haven't been staying up all night together. Now, shoo." The members began filing in as Felix grinned.
Flustered but refusing to show it, Lee Know obediently walked to his bedroom. On impulse, he walked to Yun's room, but hesitated. He knocked gently, and the door opened in a split second.
"Hey," she smiled.
"Hey," he said awkwardly. Whenever he was with her, he couldn't act like his usual, calm self. "What are you doing here? I mean – I know it's your room, I just meant, what are you doing awake, right now?"
She grabbed his wrist and pulled him into her room, locking the door. Facing him, she scratched her head.
"Well, see, I was going to go buy a cake or something...for myself..." she admitted. "Why are you awake?"
"Because I was baking a cake. For you." He sat on her bed and smirked at the baffled expression on her face. But then, she began to tear up.
"You were...baking a cake?" Her eyes were brimming with tears, and she was obviously doing everything she could not to cry. "For me? You remembered?"
He was about to explain how he was looking through her file, but decided that explaining all of that would be more complicated. "Yeah. But Felix and the other members wouldn't let me, uh" – he paused remembering that this was supposed to be a surprise – "and well, we'll do whatever you want tomorrow. Since it's your birthday and all that."
"Lee Know," she murmured, before bursting into tears. "I'm sorry," she managed to choke out, turning her face away to wipe at her tears. "I just – I haven't celebrated my birthday in a while, that's all. Nothing to cry over," she said, almost to herself.
He sat on the edge of the bed, his heart overwhelmed with the amount of emotions he felt for her in that moment. "Come here," he said.
With her face covered by her hands, she slowly walked over until she was standing between his knees. She took gasps of air, trying to control her crying.
Slowly, Lee Know raised his arms and wrapped them around her waist. She shuffled a few inches closer, until he could place his forehead on her stomach. He hugged her tighter, and she gently cupped his face and tilted it up so that he would look at her.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"For what?" he asked, smiling just slightly.
"Just about everything."
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When she woke up with Lee Know beside her, she decided that she liked his sleeping face so much that she wouldn't wake him up. But as she rose from the bed, he groaned and gently grabbed onto her wrist.
"Wait," he murmured with his eyes closed. "Let's go out together."
Her brain, sluggish from just waking up, came to a complete stop. "Go...out together? Like date?" And then she realized what he meant. "Right. Outside, together." She turned away with a bright red face, hoping that he wouldn't notice or point out her mistake.
When she looked back, he was smirking with his eyes trained on her. "Right," he said. "Outside."
"Go back to your room," she said, "I have to change."
He mumbled quickly, "Do I have to?" He winced. "I, uh–"
She sighed but pointed at the wall. "Face that direction." He obeyed and she quickly changed, hyper-aware of the fact that she was changing with an extremely attractive man in the room.
As they walked outside, the decorations all over the house made Yun laugh. There were "LEE KNOW X YUN'' posters, balloons, and confetti everywhere. When she got to the living room, the members all jumped out from their hiding spots and began to sing Happy Birthday.
They finished the song with, "...Happy birthday dear Yun, Minho! Happy birthday to you!"
Yun slowly faced Lee Know. "Lee Know...it's your birthday, too?"
He shrugged. "Yeah."
She squinted her eye and pointed at him. "Sir–"
Felix hugged her from behind and she turned to hug him back. She went around the room, wanting to hug all the members one by one.
Most of the members gave her normal hugs, but Changbin tried patting the top of her head and dragged her down roughly to match his height. Hyunjin kissed her on the cheek and sent a wink to Lee Know. Han hugged her and got so excited, he started screaming and lifting her from the ground.
When she got to Lee Know, she stood in front of him sheepishly, before he opened his arms and they hugged. His hugs were different. Or at least, it felt different. It soothed a part of her heart that the others couldn't. She lingered in Lee Know's hug before pulling away, knowing that all the members were watching. His hands stayed on her waist until she backed up enough to let go.
She excused herself to the bathroom, and when she came back, the members were all sitting down on the couch. The only space left was between Han and Lee Know. As she walked over to her spot, she took a too-long glance at Lee Know. He was now wearing a loose, gray button-up. He was also wearing tight black-leather pants that showed off his thighs, especially because he was man-spreading and leaning back against the couch lazily.
She gulped and looked away as soon as she realized she was staring, and resisted the urge to just plop onto his lap. Lee Know's eyes burned into her as she ignored his gaze.
Changbin brought out the cake and she laughed at how messy it looked. Minho and Yun were written onto the cake sloppily.
"Blow the cake out together!" he said. He sat down as Felix ran to the front of the room where the camera was standing.
Yun faced Lee Know and admired him again. She crossed her arms, looking him up and down. He just looked too good.
"What?" he asked with a smirk, knowing exactly what she was thinking.
"Okay!" Felix shouted as he clicked a button and headed for them. "Cam's on and filming!" He sat down on the edge of the couch beside Changbin and looked at the camera. "Wait! I'm out of the frame."
"Scoot over!" Changbin shouted to the members, pretending to be frustrated. "Nobody has a butt like me so we should all be able to fit in, no excuses. Scoot over for Yongbok!"
Yun moved to her left, trying to still leave space in between her and Lee Know. But the members all the way on the right scooted towards the middle, and Lee Know and Yun were sitting with their thighs and shoulders pressing together. There was almost no room in between them. She sat straight up, stiff. Her thigh felt like it was burning.
"You okay?" he asked in a low voice.
"Fine."
"You can put your legs on mine if you need to." He looked pointedly at her knees, which were pressed together uncomfortably.
She shook her head. "It's okay, I don't want to take up your personal space."
"You won't. Or at least, more than you already have." He gave her a lopsided smile, and she hesitantly placed a leg on Lee Know's thigh. He naturally wrapped an arm around her and she found herself scooting closer to him.
She pulled away from Lee Know as the members started singing Happy Birthday again, and she leaned forward with him to blow out the candles. When she looked to the right, she realized that everybody had ran behind the camera, leaving only Lee Know and her in the photo.
"Happy twenty-two to Yun! And twenty-four to Minho!" the members cheered.
"Looks just like a wedding photo," Seungmin said, peering at the camera. Everybody mumbled agreements as Yun took a deep breath to avoid blushing. The members sat down again.
Han whispered in her ear from the right. "We all saw you guys getting closer." He laughed.
Yun turned to him, wide-eyed. "That obvious?"
"Babe, everybody could see, and we have the video to prove it," he teased.
The mood stayed light as the members ate the cake and played games. At one point Han kept bothering Lee Know, so he reached around Yun and smacked Han's butt. Everybody froze and then burst out laughing.
And during one, private moment, Lee Know grabbed onto her hand and squeezed.
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