Haechan's POV-Age: 9
Balloons floating perkily around the room, colorful parchment streamers lining the halls, mountains of food, shinily wrapped gifts, and a cake patiently waiting to be eaten on the kitchen counter could only mean one thing: my birthday!
I turned nine as soon as the clock hit twelve o'clock earlier today, and I immediately became ecstatic to celebrate it with my friends. Which brings me to now.
Zipping around the house, I keep making sure everything was ready, from the party games to the cone-shaped party hats that I'm going to hand to everyone once they arrive. I already stuck a hat on my head, my hair poking out weirdly as I run to the front door so I'll be there once the first person arrives. Pulling a stepstool to me, I jump on top of it to look through the small, round peephole that shows everything outside of the house. I feel restless, just want everyone to get here now. Everything's just too exciting!
"Mommy, when will they be here?" I whine, looking through the peephole with one eye, my hands pressed up against the door for stability.
"Calm down, Haechannie. They'll be here soon, but they won't any quicker if you keep standing at the front door," she shouts from upstairs, where she's doing some work. I pout, frowning at my mom's words, even though she's right. I'm just impatient, I guess. I can't help the fact that I'm so excited to see my friends.
When they come, I have so much planned for us to do. We can play board games, paint, decorate cookies, play catch, or pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. And of course, I have a few pranks up my sleeve, which is obviously for Mark. He'll be so annoyed, but he loves me too much, so he'll get over it quickly. Mark is by far the easiest target for pranks, so I can always count on him when I'm planning a new, diabolical prank.
But just as soon as I turn my attention away from the door, the doorbell rings, startling me slightly. Blinking back the shock, I look through the small peephole to make sure it's not a stranger, and just as I had hoped, everyone was there, waiting to celebrate with me.
"Mom, Dad, everyone's here! I'm gonna open the door!" I shout to my parents, cupping my hands around my mouth. Twisting the doorknob eagerly, I open the door, revealing my friends, presents in their hands and big smiles on their faces, "Yay! Come on in!"
Everyone waves to their parents, who are in their cars parked on the driveway, before shuffling in and taking off their shoes. Except for poor Jisung; Taemin had to drop him off because his mother is busy with work again.
"Happy birthday, Haechannie!" Renjun exclaims, attempting to pick me up with his stick-like arms, but failing. I just giggle and give him a hug.
"How does it feel to be so old?" Jisung quips, a mischievous smirk on his face.
"It feels great, especially knowing that you still have to respect me, Sungie," I snort, rolling my eyes at the little pest-in-disguise. Sometimes Jisung is a little, huggable angel, and sometimes he's a complete pest. He and Chenle trade roles sometimes, and now seems like one of those times.
"But you told me that I didn't use honorifics," he whines, grabbing onto my shirt dramatically.
"I did tell you that, but because I'm so old according to you, I take that back. You better get used to calling me 'hyung' now, Sungie!"
"Haechan! Why are you doing this to me?"
"I'm just kidding, Jisung. Calm down, you little pest," I joke with Jisung, ruffling his hair affectionately, as he continues to pout at my antics. I can't help the fact I'm annoying, I guess. It's just part of me, but everyone has learned to get used to it.
I hug and greet everyone else, before getting to Mark, who looks genuinely excited. It's been a while since I've seen him so happy; he's always so busy with extra work that his tutor and parents give him. He only seems to be happy when he's with us, which is sad in some ways, but I'm happy that I make him happy again.
"Happy birthday, Haechannie," he wishes me casually, giving me a sweet, calm hug, the brim of his red baseball cap grazing my ear as he leans his head over my shoulder, "Wow, I can't believe you're nine already. It feels like such a short time since I met you and the kids, but it's been the best thing that's happened to me," he reflects, smiling brightly at me. Even though we're all still young kids, Mark always adoringly refers to us as 'the kids' because he's the oldest.
"Thanks, loser," I tease, slapping him playfully on the shoulder. I pretend not to be touched by Mark's words, for the sake of our interesting friendship, but my heart warms a little by learning how much our friendship means to him, "Let's go do something!" I announce, clasping my hands together.
"What games do you have planned?" Jeno questions, excited for the events for today.
"Let's start it out with a bang, boys. How about we play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey?"
"Sure, that sounds fun! I'm always up for a classic game!" Chenle responds emphatically, jumping in delight, his eyes creating half-crescents. What a cutie! I coo at his cuteness, always infatuated by how cute the younger ones, especially Chenle, are.
I set up everything in my living room, the boys helping my hang up the boards for the game. "So, for this version of the game, we're going to split up into two teams and whichever team overall gets closest to where the tail should be, will win some candy of their choice. How about that?"
"Great!"
"Yup, sounds cool."
"Okay, let's do youngest against oldest. So Chenle, Jisung, Jaemin, and I will be on one team, and the rest of you will be on the other team."
"Sounds great for us, Haechannie, but I believe you've chosen wrong. We're gonna flatten you all losers like a pancake!" Renjun snaps happily, doing a little jig, his stick legs flailing around.
"Nah, Junnie. I wouldn't count on that. I'm the master cheater, and you guys can't tell on me for cheating because it's my birthday," I quip victoriously, ready to pull some tricks out of my sleeve, "Let's have Mark and Jaeminnie go first."
I pull Jaemin, my partner in pranking, to the side and whisper mischievously, "So, when we put the blindfold on you, we'll leave a little-uncovered space so you can look through the bottom. Also, make sure to prick Mark's butt with the pin on your way over to the donkey."
Jaemin's mouth turns into an evil smile, looking at me plottingly, "Great idea, Haechan."
We slip the blindfolds on each other, as I make sure there's a little room for Jaemin to see. We then spin Mark and Jaemin around a few times to disorient them before letting them free, to pin the tail on the donkey posters on the wall.
"You got this, Jaemin!" Chenle shouts resound through the room as Jaemin looks on the right track towards the poster with the comical donkey drawn on in. But then, Jaemin suddenly redirects himself towards an unassuming, blindfolded Mark who's roaming around, trying to find the wall. Jaemin lunges, poking Mark's behind as he lets out a yelp of shock.
"Ow! What the heck?" Mark squawks, putting his hands over his butt protectively, as he rolls onto the floor dramatically. We all roll back in laughter, as we can tell that Mark's not actually hurt. He just happens to be the butt (A/N: get it?) of our jokes so often that we can tell when Mark is mad, hurt, or just annoyed.
It takes a while for all of us to compose ourselves, as Mark sits helplessly, an embarrassed blush painting his cheeks, "This was your doing, right Haechannie?"
I nod, still covering my mouth as I continue to chuckle. Mark leaps up from his sitting position, taking me by complete surprise as he tackles me onto the couch. I keep laughing, as does he, and our wrestling session turns into a full-out pillow fight with all of the boys.
Soon enough, my parents come to check on us to tell us that it's time to eat cake. We all jump in delight and run over to my spacious kitchen as we all gather around the pretty dessert: a layered vanilla cake, detailed with blue and green frosting. But the best part was that I had Max from TVXQ printed onto the center of the cake. I love TVXQ's music, and I especially loved Max and his beautiful vocals. I may have also had a small crush on him, but it was just a crush of admiration. He's my role model.
I lick my lips, ready to devour the sweet treat, but I control myself as everyone starts singing 'Happy Birthday,' to me. I sway along to the sounds of my friends' and parents' nice voices, especially hearing Chenle's beautiful tone in the mix of people.
The song comes to an end, and right before I blow out the already flickering candles, Mark whispers, "Make a good wish, Haechannie." So I listen.
Closing my eyes for a split second, I make my wish.
I wish I stay friends with Jisung, Chenle, Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, and my Mark, forever. They mean more to me than almost everything.
And so I did. Or tried to.
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