A/n: first person, Jaehyun's perspective
"Today is Valentine's Day and Jaehyun's birthday, I feel like we should all do something special," Minah chimed once the boys and I had finished our usual dance practice for upcoming events.
My eyes kind of drifted over to the only person that had my attention the past half hour or so, ever since she had sneaked into the practice room. Jiwoo had been sitting at one of the empty chairs and scribbling into her notebook the whole time, not even paying mind to us nor Minah. The girl was the one to greet me first at midnight through phone call, something that always bring a smile on a face every time I thought about it. She had been so cute, rambling about how I deserved all good things in the world and all that, all while she was on the verge of falling asleep. However, she hadn't said a word ever since arriving.
Just a mere hello so to not disturb our dancing, and that was it.
If I said I wasn't disappointed, I'd be lying.
Maybe I was expecting a special birthday hug or a kiss?
... That was probably asking too much.
"Jiwoo, what do you think?" Johnny had called out to her. The girl snapped her head up to the group, her gaze briefly meeting mine. At the confused expression etched on her face, the American-based member repeated what our stylist friend had suggested. "Hello?? You should be the one most excited about today. You're dating the Valentine's boy himself!"
A faint blush reached her cheeks at the statement. Her eyes drifted back onto him, as if pleading for help. I let out a chuckle as I patted Johnny's shoulder. "Hey, stop that, hyung. Today is too busy a day to be doing anything, that's why we didn't plan anything. At least I get to see her today."
"Ey, you're too whipped, hyung," Haechan uttered after taking gulps of water.
"Come on, Donghyuck, leave the couple alone," Taeyong put into our defense, much to my delight. "We can't help being too busy today. That's why we celebrated Doyoung, Johnny-hyung, and his birthday that one day."
"But don't worry, we still got a cake to eat for later!" Doyoung added in. Yeah, right before the scheduled interview this morning, my members had surprised me with a cake. While we couldn't really eat it at the time, Jiwoo's cousin, Seokju had taken it and put it into the refrigerator of my dorm to keep cool and fresh.
"Hey, but still," Minah frowned a bit at the current situation at hand. The older girl turned towards my oddly quiet girlfriend. "Really, nothing at all?"
Jiwoo grimaced, "Seriously right after this two hour practice, the boys will have to drive a whiles away out to do The Show and then they'd barely have time to do anything afterwards because they're flying over to China for an event tomorrow at 4 in the morning. As much as we would've liked to do something, there's no room for it."
Minah whipped her head towards me, throwing pointed finger in my direction. "You two could've done something just now! We could've covered for you if the dance instructor came in to check on you."
I shrugged. "Jiwoo insisted I keep practicing."
The girl's attention was back on the other. "Jiwoo-yah!"
"I'm sorry??" my girlfriend huffed out with a pout herself. "I barely managed to slip out from my work with the other composers to be here. I'll have to go back soon. Trust me, I tried to convince Seokju-oppa to give me some free time today, but he said that he couldn't."
I walked over by her side and squatted down in a way so we were more on level with each other. "It's okay,I'm just happy to see you."
An angelic smile. "I'm happy to see you too, birthday boy."
"Oh god, gross. Get a room!" Yuta shouted out towards us.
I only turned around to stick out my tongue out at the Japanese boy before averting my focus back to my precious girlfriend. I don't even care if I don't get anything from her today, her simple appearance within my busy schedule was a gift itself. No one could say otherwise, not when my heart swelled with joy every time I see my beautiful girlfriend.
Our fingers entwined together. I could feel the great contrast from her slightly chilled hand with my heated one, mostly caused by the rigorous practice we just had. "I really am sorry I can't do much for you, Jaehyun-ah. We really should try to find a day where we're both free so we can do something."
"I'll be okay with whatever, jagi." As if some kind of fate was against me, Jiwoo's phone began ringing in her sweater pocket. Once taking out the device and seeing the caller idea, I noticed it was the name of one of the composers she works along with. I let out a solemn sigh once seeing it, because that could only mean they had realized how long their youngest composer had been missing. "You should go back to work."
"I... should." Jiwoo finally stood up from the chair and tucked her notebook with pen under her arm.
"Can I walk you back?"
"You know you can't go up to the seventh floor."
"At least into the elevator?"
"Deal."
Jiwoo bid her goodbyes to all the boys and Minah before the two of us left the practice room. The two of us kept our distance from each other as we strolled down the hallways, more so not to be caught by the passersby of our relationship. If only we didn't have a strict dating rule, I would've wanted to be holding hands with Jiwoo as we made our way to the elevator. I would want to wrap my arms around the girl and keep her close to me whenever we could, but we couldn't. No signs of PDA to the public.
But we both had agreed.
As long as we knew we like each other, we won't let this rule get to our heads.
However, sometimes it's too agonizing.
And it didn't help that today was a special day.
Once the elevator opened, we slipped inside while greeting the fellow SM employees who were already inside. I had pressed the button to a different floor higher than Jiwoo's, so to make it seem I was just riding the elevator for my own convenience. Fortunately for us, the elevator cleared out before we even reached Jiwoo's desired floor.
"Happy birthday again, Jeffery~" Out of the blue, she had grabbed my shoulders and left a short yet sweet peck on my cheek. Instantly, I felt like I was on overdrive, the kiss definitely catching me off guard. I swooned a bit at the delicate touch. "Please continue working hard. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch you later... Maybe after your shooting."
The way she said that got my heart aflame. "After the shooting?"
Jiwoo meekly nodded in reply. "I'll call you later, alright?"
"Alright."
After a hug goodbye, I let the elevator doors close, just as Jiwoo waved at me before it did. But now I was hopeful, reenergized to do whatever I have to do.
Jiwoo got something planned. Jesus christ, I shouldn't have doubted her for one second that she wouldn't do anything for me. Was it possible to like her even more than I do right now? Surely my adoration for her multiplied tenfold.
. . .
It wasn't until midnight until I gotten a call from Jiwoo. As much as I was expecting it to be earlier, I was still as excited to see my girlfriend's name pop up on my phone screen.
She said that she was outside the dorm building.
Without waking up the already passed out Johnny, I tiptoed my way out of the dorm, of course leaving a note of my disappearance just for safe measures.
I rushed down the stairs while struggling to put on my jacket and out the exit doors right to where Jiwoo stood, all bundled up and cozy in her layers of clothing. Upon seeing me, she smiled brightly, that much obvious despite the scarf and mask that covered her face. "Omo, why did you run? It wasn't like I gave you a time limit to meet me here."
"I know, I just wanted to see you as soon as possible."
She clicked her tongue. "You like me that much, dummy?"
"Of course I do."
Jiwoo then ushered me to the awaiting cab, who had been waiting for us the entire time. She then gave the driver directions quiet enough to which I couldn't hear her. Once doing so, she sat back down, grabbing my hand in hers and cuddling up right to my side. "You're not too tired, are you?"
I shook my head. "I'm not. I think now that I'm 20, I feel more awake. If we think about it, we're the same age right now."
"Yeah, that it not until three more months. Don't think you can slide by not calling me noona in public."
"But, since we're in private, you're my jagi." I gotten the right reaction, that cute flustered expression with her lips pursed. And at that point, I couldn't help it, I finally returned the kiss on the cheek to her. "You're too adorable for me."
"Jesus, Jae, keep doing that and I'm not going to survive the rest of our date. Stop with the cheesiness, will you?"
"It depends."
"On what?"
"Depends on how many times I want to see your blushing face."
"You're the absolute worst???" I attacked her again with another kiss, this time on her nose. An incoherent, soft screech left her lips as she pulled at her scarf to cover her entire face.
I couldn't stop grinning as I wrapped my arms around her smaller body. And we ended up in that position for the rest of the ride to our destination.
Once seeing where we were dropped off, I wasn't even too surprised. The quaint coffee shop before us was now a constant meetup place whenever we could have quick dates. Jiwoo had turned for me and gestured that we go along inside the still open cafe.
However, I didn't expect the cafe to be completely empty of customers... and the place to be decorated with balloons, confetti, and a single clothed table in the middle of it all. Jiwoo had shuffled her way over to the table, hands extended outwards as if to say yup here it is!
"Surprise, Jung Yoonoh, Jeffery, Woojae, Casper, and etc!" She cheered, pulling at a small popper for added effect. "If we really think about it, it's still your birthday on other parts of the world, so this is still very much valid." From the table, she picked up the box heart and handed it over to me. Of course, I opened the box to see pieces of homemade chocolate inside, some of which had J + J written on top. "This one is for Valentine's. And I promise you they're good! I had some help making them."
Her eyes drifted to the back to where two women were. Upon seeing the cafe owner and Jiwoo's own sister there, I bowed over at them in greeting. "Jiwoo... You have no clue how happy I am for all this."
"Well, hold on, there's still a bit more to come!" She chimed. "Anything to drink? There will be some food coming out shortly."
"Really?"
"Yes, have the real deal ramen rather than the instant ramen we're so used to! After all, we have future owner of the family noodle shop here."
"That sounds... great."
Jiwoo and I gotten some complimentary drinks as well as noodles to eat, thanks to the two women. After eating and chatting about the past week's events, Jiwoo suddenly then stood up. "Now, I do have a birthday gift planned. So stay here while I get it ready okay?"
She walked about the cafe, while as Jira had come to help her grab a chair and place it in front of me. She had flashed me a thumbs up and a wink before returning back to the owner, as if I should anticipate more for something. From the back, Jiwoo arrived back with a guitar, hers especially since I could see the faint engraving of her initials along its body. She sat down in that very chair, guitar in hand.
"Get ready to be serenaded by your girlfriend, Jung Jaehyun."
My stomach was twisting in knots, but I managed to nod anyway.
There came the first note.
Her slim fingers strummed along the strings, making a slow but melodious tune.
Then she sang.
Oh god. Her singing was possibly my most favorite in the world, and I'm not saying so because I was biased. Shim Jiwoo was someone who was going to become an idol years ago, she always had the potential.
A prodigy, some have said.
She was proof, this here was the proof of that, of how multitalented she truly was. And as she wasn't someone to sing so often nowadays, this was an honor. Her smooth and honey-like voice and her skilled guitar playing was only for me. And she was completely invested in the song, the way her eyes fluttered closed and let the lyrics of the song flow out from her. She poured every ounce of her feelings into this song.
"I'm dreaming, I hope there will be more smiling days than days wet with tears..."
Eyes opened as she finished the song. She gazed at me expectantly, the shyness coming back to her. "I actually just finished writing the lyrics today... that was kind of my main reason why I sneaked into the practice room. I needed the inspiration. So it kind of seems a bit rushed... but all it matters is what you think on it, Jae."
I like her...
So damn much.
I reached over and took the guitar out of her hands, much to her bewilderment. And before she could let out another word, I leaned in and finally kissed her where I wanted to the whole entire day. She gasped, possibly out of surprise, but soon enough, she melted into the kiss. I kept her there for a good minute, trying my best to portray all my love for her in that very kiss.
As an established idol now, I know having such a relationship with a girl is very risky. We're always constantly worried whether we'd be found out by either the media or by our company, both being bad to be exposed to. But this, this moment, I couldn't care much about any of that. Because, finally in a long time, I felt more like my age. We were two people off on a date, more importantly so because it's Valentine's Day.
Honestly, who knows what could happen in our future. Anything could still happen, everything up in the air while we're still trying to live our lives. But as of now, I like her... maybe I actually love her.
... I love her.
And even as limited our time here was, I will cherish every bit of this moment as much as I can.
A/n: song used was Dreaming by Han Hee Sung, Weightlifting Fairy Bok Joo ost~ give it a listen in the mm!
And ah, yes, I decided to write a special chapter to our Valentine's Boy❤ I just love him so much, so here's this chapter! At first, I wanted to finish an ACTUAL chapter to the story, but I decided to just do this... since it's kind of self-indulgent too.
Whether this chapter is canon to the story or not, I'm not 100% sure as of now. It can be, it just depends how the story continues on. But oh well, a very fluffy chapter to all anyway!