"Okay, I'll be over in about an hour." Felix's voice chirped excitedly from the other side of the phone call. "See you soon!"
I hung up the phone after saying goodbye and flopped back onto my bed, a happy grin painted across my face. Within a few seconds, the pure joy of being on the receiving end of Felix's affections and attentions overwhelmed my whole being, and I dissolved into incoherent squeals while kicking my legs and thrashing about on top my bed. Once I felt the surge of happy chemicals begin to wane, I relaxed again and giggled to myself.
"He's coming to spend the evening with me." I smiled widely. "Felix is coming here to spend time with me." I got up and looked at myself in the vanity mirror near my closet door and pointed at my reflection. "He wants to be here with you." With a few hops and skips, once I scooted myself off the bed, I made my way out of the master bedroom of my apartment and into the kitchen to make some sweet tea like I had it when I worked in the United States.
Transferring to South Korea and then specifically into Seoul had been the best life change I'd ever made. I loved being able to relocate countries with my job. Otherwise, I would have never met Felix. He was making everything about this relocation worth it.
I kept moving around my apartment to kill time by picking up any clutter and putting away things that I had been procrastinating on. Eventually, Felix showed up bearing gifts in the form of my favorite gimbap, snacks, some face masks, and a plastic container with something dark inside.
He leaned over to plant a quick kiss on my lips, "I brought snacks... and..." He brought the container around to thrust it into my hands with a toothy grin. "These!"
My eyes got big as my hands hurriedly popped the lid off. The decadent scent of brownies wafted up from the container. I inhaled deeply and looked closely at the contents.
"Are these salted caramel brownies?" My jaw hung open in surprise.
He nodded vigorously. "Yes! I remembered you saying how much you love salted caramel things, so I tweaked my recipe to make these for you."
I tried to control my energy even though it was itching to explode out of me in chaotic dancing or some equally sporadic movement. "I can't wait to try them! Thank you, Felix. You're the sweetest!" With my free hand, I reached around him and hugged him.
He hugged me back and then let go to bring the food to the kitchen. I followed behind him, pointing to the fridge and letting him know I made sweet tea for us. His face lit up. I had made it for him the last time he was here, which was weeks ago before he had a profusion of events on his schedule, and he absolutely fell in love with it. He made a giddy sound and dropped everything to go fix himself a glass. I couldn't help but laugh.
"So, what do you have on your mind? A movie, board game, cards, video games?" I asked, unwrapping the gimbap and shoving a piece in my mouth. My hands and shoulders rose and began to move in my happy food dance. His throaty chuckle from near the fridge made me turn around and smile at him, then I opened my mouth and showed him the food I was chewing.
"You're so gross!!" He yelled and shielded his eyes. "Aaah!"
I grinned back at him while I finished chewing my food—mouth closed, of course. "Well?"
"Video games first?"
I nodded vigorously and grabbed a plate for the gimbap. Once we moved all the food and our drinks to the coffee table, we got situated on the coach and signed in to our current favorite team game to play together. We laughed and talked smack to each other, tried to sabotage each other occasionally in the game, snacked and finished off the gimbap and tea.
After quite a few rousing rounds, where I swear my neighbors were going to knock on my door at any point when we got rowdy, we turned the game off and switched on a movie we'd both seen already. I'd grabbed a bottle of wine I thought would go really well with the brownies. I poured us each a glass while he opened the container again. The luscious smell coated the entire room in seconds, and my mouth was immediately watering. I couldn't wait to try this new recipe. Sitting down on the couch next to him, I handed him his glass of wine. He in turn broke off a chunk of one of the brownies and fed it to me. It was gooey and buttery from the caramel, and chocolatey sweet, crowned with that crunchy, flaky Korean salt. My eyes almost rolled into the back of my head, and I let out the most inappropriate moan between us.
Felix's eyes got big as saucers and he laughed hard. If it weren't for the wine glass in his hand, I bet he would have been slapping the arm of the couch. He laughed for several seconds and then handed me the container of brownies.
"Here. You take them. If just one bite made you do that, I want to know what a whole one will do."
"The answer might make you sad." I winked at him and snatched the container out of his extended hand and set it in my lap. I retrieved the remainder of the brownie he had taken from and took a huge bite. Again, an ungodly moan, followed by, "Oh my god, Felix, yes!"
He almost choked on the sip of wine he was taking. Sputtering and coughing, he patted his chest hard over his lungs. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"Then who would make me these orgasmic brownies? No, sir. You're sticking around." I flashed him a million-dollar smile.
He chuckled and took another sip of his wine before turning the volume on the movie up and grabbing the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch. He settled in against the arm of the couch. I happily munched on a few more brownies before washing them down with the wine and scooting over to lean into Felix. Within a couple minutes, we were stretched out across the couch, cuddling and watching the movie together.
The next thing I knew, I was being dragged out of a dream by a multitude of voices and the smell of food being cooked. It was very confusing. Was I being brought out of a dream or diving deeper into one? The individual voices sounded familiar to me. It was the gritty whining of one that kept getting louder, followed by several others shushing it at the same time, that drew me completely to the surface of waking.
I groaned, stretching in my bed. I suddenly realized I was in my bed. I don't know exactly when I had fallen asleep the night before, but I vaguely remembered feeling Felix shift me, pick me up, and carry me to my bed. After tucking me in, he kissed my forehead and whispered something about 'tomorrow' before walking out my room. So, that explained how I got in bed... But who were those voices and why were they in my apartment?
I slid out of bed, grabbing my robe and a ponytail holder to pull my hair up. I quietly shoved my feet into my slippers and went to open my bedroom door. I cracked it open to try to hear the voices more clearly. Then recognition hit. I flung the door wide open and walked out into the kitchen to stand there with my arms crossed.
There they were, all 8 members of SKZ, in my kitchen, fussing over various tasks. Changbin—the whining I'd heard before—was at the sink washing the dishes. Chan and Lee Know were cooking at my stove. Jeongin was hovering over what looked like a fancy waffle maker. Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Felix were standing at different sections of the counters cutting things. Han was rummaging through my fridge for something.
I cleared the phlegm out of my throat and spoke up over them. "Good morning? Why, pray tell, are you all here?"
Han screamed and shuffled toward me with his hands outstretched. "Nope, nope, nope! We're not ready yet! Go get cleaned up and then we should be ready."
I gave him such a stank face. But, that soon dissolved into an appreciate neutral expression when Felix placed a steaming cup of coffee into my hands and enclosed my fingers around the warm mug. He leaned over and kissed me sweetly.
"Good morning, sunshine. We have a surprise for you but we need a little more time."
Bewildered, I looked up at him for a moment before slowly nodding acquiescence. I turned on my heel and walked back to my bedroom, coffee cup in hand and a whole lot of questions in tow. Once my door was closed, I released a nervous laugh. I drank several sips of coffee and then shrugged to myself.
"I guess I'll do what he asked."
I took my time showering, brushing my teeth, drying my hair, and getting dressed. I felt like I knew the guys well enough that I didn't need to put on airs with them, so I left my face bare and tossed my hair up into a messy bun. I threw on a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of leggings. With a nod of approval at my reflection in the vanity mirror and the last gulp of coffee from the mug, I exited the master bedroom and walked back into the kitchen with a warning.
"I'm coming in!" I spoke up.
As I set foot into the kitchen and dining area, shouts of "Happy Birthday!!" and applause erupted in the room. Popping streamers and noisemakers sounded off, all making me jump in surprise. My heart nearly exploded in glee as I surveyed my surroundings. Spread out across my dining table were cooked beef and pork, waffles with berries and whipped cream, a big charcuterie tray, scrambled eggs, and some of my favorite pastries.
A click of a lighter could be heard, and before I knew it the guys were singing Happy Birthday to me while Felix walked toward me with a cinnamon roll with a lit candle sticking up out of the middle. A tear slid out of the corner of my eyes as I scanned all 8 loving faces of these wonderful men as they sang ridiculously to me. When the song was over, I blew out the candle.
"Did you make a wish?" Jeongin asked.
"No, because it's already coming true right now." I replied, wiping another happy tear away that had slipped out.
"Happy birthday, sis." All the guys gathered around me and group hugged me.
"Happy birthday, love." Felix's voice in my ear made up for every birthday I spent alone up until now. It felt like a new beginning. In fact, it felt like a promise for all future birthdays.
I wasn't alone anymore.