• • •
Wooyoung
It's lunch on Friday when Hongjoong suddenly pipes up, discarding what he'd been doing on his phone and trails a finger down his crimson hair, a bright grin on his face.
"Guys, guys -- Remember what's going on tomorrow?"
We're seated at one of the tables located inside the college's cafeteria. It was Mingi's idea to eat here today as we usually ate outside, and I knew he wanted to be here only because today's menu consisted of this type of pie that he really, really likes.
"What is?" Yunho looks up with a mouthful of food, and I have to chuckle. Doesn't matter whether he likes his food or not, the guy will eat anything.
Hongjoong rolls his eyes and stares at him with an exasperated look on his face, hoping that somehow Yunho will be able to read his mind due to him being part witch, but Yunho just continues giving him this lost look on his face.
San, who's seated right between Yeosang and I looks at me with one eyebrow raised, and I smile at him, just shaking my head.
Yeosang leans over and flicks Yunho's forehead. "It's Wooyoung's birthday tomorrow, idiot."
Yunho winces and immediately recoils back, glaring at Yeosang while rubbing the now reddened spot on his head. I can't even hold back my laughter any longer.
"Oh fuck, Wooyoung," he begins, "I'm so sorry."
"It's no biggie," I reply. Next to me I can spot San slightly fidgeting, unable to hide the surprise displayed on his wide eyes. The red in them matches overly well with the green oversized hoodie he's wearing. "It's no secret you're kinda terrible at remembering birthdays."
And it's true. Yunho's the worst at recollecting them. Sometimes he can't even remember the day of his own birthday when someone asks him about it.
"Yeah, you do suck at them," Mingi teases. He pokes Yunho's cheek, laughing when Yunho just smacks his hands off. "Hope you won't forget mine when the time comes."
"Yours is next year and isn't important enough for me to remember, dude," Yunho replies. His tone is harsh but there's a growing smile on his lips. It broadens when Mingi pouts.
"This is how I know you've been spending too much time with Yeosang lately," Mingi huffs. He points an accusing finger at my friend. "Yeosang, please do not contaminate him with your evil."
Yeosang scoffs, and, with a pinch of his thumb and index finger, a small fish appears out of nowhere, slides over to Mingi and starts to wriggle like it's angry, scaring the living daylights off of him.
Hongjoong looks so done with us while Yunho and I begin to cackle. San even cracks a bit of a smile.
"Oh my god. Yeo, stop it." Hongjoong sounds like a tired, disappointed mom.
The fish stops moving and disappears, but not before flicking its tail at a pale-faced Mingi.
"That evil enough for you, Mr. Song?" Yeosang's voice is sarcastic as hell.
Hongjoong sighs while Yunho looks almost dead from laughing too much. I'm chuckling as well until my eyes unexpectedly catch San watching me. It's then that I stop, darting my eyes elsewhere and suddenly feeling quite self-conscious.
"So," Hongjoong commences once Mingi has stopped freaking out, "since we all know Wooyoung absolutely despises it when we get him gifts for his birthday -- "
I immediately straighten up, trying my best to look offended. "Come on, hyung. I don't despise gifts, I just don't want you guys spending money on me just because it's my birthday. Just you guys' company is more than enough to make me happy."
"Aww," Mingi gushes, appearing to have forgotten all about Yeosang's fish scare already because his attention span deviates that easily. "That's so sweet."
"That's gross," Yeosang fakes a gag but his eyes are sincerely satisfied by my comment.
"Thanks, Woo. I know our friendship is far deeper than material things such as gifts or money, but I still can't help myself." Hongjoong takes his phone on the table and flashes it to all of us. "That's why I just purchased us all the tickets for tomorrow night's Magik Flight game."
At this Yeosang lets out a long, gutteral groan, while Yunho's jaw almost drops. San looks confused.
"Hongjoong, we're going to a goddamn game?" Yeosang says. "But they're so long, and they're so boring."
"And, aren't the tickets like, expensive?" I have to input. I don't know much about these games other than the fact they're hugely overpriced and girls actually go there to look at the players since a majority of them are like eye candy.
"Come on guys," Hongjoong argues. "They've put the tickets on discount, which is just great since tomorrow's Wooyoung's birthday. And there's a special offer too since it's our school team's turn to play as well. The school that wins the game -- as well as their supporters -- will get a bunch of good luck charms that'll last them the rest of the year."
"Sounds cool," Yunho replies.
"Sounds dumb," Yeosang snorts. "But whatever."
"Hey, isn't Seonghwa like, one of our team's players? If that's the case I'd like to go then. He gave me his homework to copy so I wouldn't get my ass beat by Prof Hao," Mingi adds. "I want to cheer him on."
As if on cue Seonghwa passes us by and waves, kindly greeting us with a smile.
I notice then how shyly San waves him back whilst pulling at the hem of his beanie like he wants to hide, and something at the back of my mind wonders if there's something going on between them.
"It's good you're here. Got something to tell you," Hongjoong's saying as he rises to his feet and walks up to Seonghwa, but my eyes can't seem to want to leave the guy.
I know he's a great guy -- everyone knows this as well -- and as he stands there and silently converses with Hongjoong, he looks as handsome as ever with his unique coloured hair and piercing green eyes. With those kind of looks, it won't be hard for someone to fall for him.
I discreetly peer at San again, hating how I'm suddenly thinking about this.
The heck is up with you, Wooyoung? I think, slapping myself across the face in my mind. Chill out.
Yeosang chews on a berry and grimaces when he spots the seaweed on Yunho's plate. "How can you eat that? That's like, eating your own mother."
"How would you know? Did you eat your mom?" Yunho answers, and luckily, that whole weirdass conversation is enough to distract everyone else and keep me from drifting too far off into my thoughts about San and Seonghwa.
• • •
Tomorrow starts off with a considerably better weather than last night's, since it isn't raining anymore. I also wake up in a far better mood than yesterday night, so maybe that has something to do with it.
Newly twenty years old, I rub my irritated eyes and roll over my bed, grabbing my vibrating phone from the drawer close by and turning it on. Almost immediately I'm nearly blinded again due to the bright light that greets my vision.
"Goddamnit," I groan. Why do I always forget to lower that darned phone's brightness?
I take note of the messages I've now been sent by my closest friends, and can't help but smile.
singasongbro:
AHPPY BDAY WOOYOUNG
delivered 12:00 am
singasongbro:
*HAPPY SHJSK
delivered 12:00 am
singasongbro:
hope you'll have a good
day today!
but then again, aren't we
spending the night together??
delivered 12:01 am
singasongbro:
wait,, that sounds wronj
delivered 12:01 am
singasongbro:
*wRONG
delivered 12:01 am
singasongbro:
god i need sleep
delivered 12:01 am
singasongbro:
anyways happy birthday🎉🎉
- from, minhi
delivered 12:02 am
singasongbro:
MINGI
delivered 12:02 am
I laugh as I'm sending him my reply.
youngie:
thanks for the bday
wishes minhi😆
delivered 6:34 am
Mingi's reply is almost instant.
singasongbro:
WHOS MINHI
delivered 6:34 am
Yunho's message is just as energetic as Mingi's.
puppyyun💕:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WOOYOUNG!!
delivered 3:14 am
puppyyun💕:
as soon as i see you i'll smother you with lots of hugs!
delivered 3:14 am
young jung:
can't wait ! 😍
delivered 6:36 am
yeosnake:
you should totally buy
me some bday cake
delivered 3:23 am
woowoo:
i will
and love you too, yeo haha
delivered 6:37 am
Yeosang replies me not too long afterwards.
yeosnake:
happy birthday, wooyoung 💜
delivered 6:37 am
koolaidhyung:
i'm paying for all the stuff
you're buying today, birthday boy
delivered 4:45 am
wowyoung:
does that mean i'm
your sugar baby then? 🥺
delivered 6:38 am
I can only snort as I start to imagine how Hongjoong's going to reply to that.
I place my phone back on the drawer and hop off my bed, a bit curious as to if San's still asleep. At least, a part of me hopes he actually got some rest instead of staying up all night like he usually does. I know he's a vampire, but the lack of sleep shows on him at times.
At the corner of my room, I spot something dark and round and immediately know it's a Wish Ball. It's one of expensive ones made with pure wizarding magic that grants up to three permanent wishes and is effective up to a month. Once a wish is granted with those things, it's extremely hard to reverse it.
I make a mental note to thank my mom for that later, knowing how hard it must've been to get one of them for me and how many contracts she must've signed to make sure I don't use the ball for evil.
Leaving my room, I quickly notice the beam of light coming from the end of the hall. I can also hear footsteps scuffling about, as well as a couple of whispers.
Curious -- and a bit worried, I tiptoe into the livingroom, finding the place completely dark except for the illuminated kitchen. The place looks like a party scene, its array of colours reminding me of a rainbow.
Two shadows are at the counter, and I bite my lip, wondering if I should speak or hide.
"Uh...San?" I ask tentatively. "Is that...is that you?"
I hear an Oh shit that doesn't sound like San, and then the sound of someone hitting a part of their body commences, and that's when I see Yunho in his pyjamas.
"Fuck -- ow," he nervously laughs as soon as he sees me. "Didn't know you'd wake up so early, ha ha."
Before I can say anything else, he continues to talk.
"So...I won't like, interrupt you guys any longer. I'm not even supposed to be here anyway. See ya!"
With that, Yunho vanishes into thin air, leaving a still silent San and me.
"I -- " I start to say when Yunho suddenly appears once more just to give me a tight, warm hug. And then he's nowhere to be seen again.
"At least he kept his promise," I mutter to myself. Seeing San still staring at me, I clear my throat and chuckle. "So... Uh, good morning, I guess."
San's nervous. He's so nervous I can practically taste it. Donned in his black pyjamas, his ash-toned hair pulled back with a dark beanie, he scratches the back of his neck.
He doesn't look at me as he wishes me a happy birthday.
"Thank you," I smile.
"You can, uh, leave the lights off and take a seat at that table over there. I mean -- since you're awake and all, I guess you can have breakfast now," he tells me soon after.
I obey his instructions, and after taking my seat, I watch as he moves about in the kitchen. That is when I realize he's serving me food.
I can only stare at him wide-eyed as he places a plate full of breakfast in front of me, and now I know the reason why he wanted me to keep the livingroom's lights off.
The food, an almost perfect display of a tradional breakfast, glints through the minimal darkness with several shades of colours akin to crystal gems. I'm aware of the spells used on this plate of food alone, as well as how hard it is to activate this kind of spell, still keep the food's original taste, and not make it toxic.
"God," I gasp, unable to speak for a second, staring at the pretty sight in front of me. I've only managed to cast this kind of spell only once during middle school, and the results truly fascinated me. Now is no different.
The food continues to beautifully change its colour, and when San places a glass of sparkling fruit juice next to it, I look up at him and playfully nudge his shoulder, unable to wipe off the grin on my face.
"San," I beam, "this is so cool. I love it so much."
San looks down. "You're welcome, Wooyoung. Uh, Yunho, he helped me with it. The breakfast, I mean. I wouldn't have been able to do it all by my myself. And then I...thought about that night at Hongjoong's house when you made food glitter for me, and I had brought up that idea to him last night. He, uh, said you'd definitely like it for your birthday."
"I do," I pick up a fork and bite into a piece of crispy red bacon. The colour smoothly transitions into a fiery orange. "God, this tastes really good."
The berries on the side of the plate cast soft lavender lights on San's features, highlighting his cheekbones and making his long lashes all the more prominent. His lips are pulled into this shy smile, dimples on display.
You're absolutely gorgeous, I almost blurt out, but keep my loud mouth shut thankfully.
"This is like, the coolest breakfast I've ever had in my life. This is so dope." Basking in my excitement, I cut off a piece of the fluffy pancake and move it closer to him.
I only laugh at his puzzled expression. "I'm sure you and Yunho worked really hard on this for me, and I appreciate it a lot. So I want you to have a taste too."
San doesn't respond immediately, and it gets me a bit anxious. Before I can take back my statement though, he leans in and eats the pancake through the fork I'd used earlier.
"It's good, right?"
San nods and swallows it. "It tastes great, even though I'm a vampire."
I laugh, but then the annoying part of my mind chooses to barge in at that moment to ruin everything.
You just had an indirect kiss with Choi San.
I quickly will that thought away, but my attention is easily diverted when San suddenly starts to cough.
I grab the glass of juice. "You okay? Do you need a drink?"
San's back to avoiding my stare. "No." He shakes his head. "It's fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine."
I nod, not wanting to question him further. "I'm glad everything's fine."
I eventually finish breakfast, and when I'm done, I turn on the lights and return to the table to gave San a thumbs up, leaning in.
"Guess what rating I gave this food."
San looks thoughtful, biting his lower lip. That annoying part of my mind wants to strike again but I won't let it.
"Uhh... A seven?"
I make a show of gasping, while San just laughs.
"Dude, come on, this is no laughing matter." I grip his shoulder without thinking, lightly shaking it. "Have some faith in your cooking abilities. You're great."
San blinks, his face quite close to mine. I keep talking, choosing to ignore this fact.
"I rated it nine and a half, 'cause it was that good. And sweet. I mean, the gesture -- and the taste as well. Obviously."
"And why isn't it a ten, then?" San's eyes stare so deep into mine it makes me gulp and avert my gaze. I don't even think he's doing it purposefully.
I push myself back against my chair and cross my arms, trying to keep my cool. "I'm saving the extra half for when you decide to make me breakfast again. That is," I shrug, "if you want to do so. No pressure."
San grins impishly. "I'd like to. But I can't promise it'll change colours like the one you just ate."
"Doesn't matter. As long as it's you that's making it, it's gonna taste fantastic."
It takes two seconds to make me realize what I've just said, but before things can get any more awkward I stand up and simply leave the room.
• • •
a/n: thoughts?