Happy birthday to Jongho :) I can never miss b-day oneshots, no matter how late they are.

Jongho groggily woke up at around seven because of someone else's alarm.

Things were difficult when you shared a room with five others at an orphanage.

He rubbed his eyes. Great. The start of the week. By Friday, he would no longer be the age of fifteen. He would turn sixteen.

Jongho liked that.

"Get up, Jongho."

The first day of the week tends to be harder than the rest. Jongho still had to go to class and sit through the boring lessons.

But he liked his school. It was his first year there, but he feels like, over the past month, he's met some friendly people.

Speaking about them, he spotted his group of six at one of the round lunch tables. One more, and it would be seven.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi, Jongho!" San greeted. "You wouldn't mind pulling up an extra chair, would you?"

"Oh? Why?"

"There's a new guy in my history class," Wooyoung said. "I invited him to our table."

"What's his name?"

"I... Oh..." Wooyoung looked down and sighed. "I'm terrible at remembering things."

"Should... I pull a seat?" A voice asked. Jongho looked up and swore his body stopped functioning. Everything shut off. His eyes stared at the new student.

Deep, piercing eyes. Blonde, full hair. Sharp looks that made him appear more than a simple high school student.

"Jongho?" Hongjoong smirked. "Can you get him a seat, please?"

"Yeah. Sorry." Jongho's hands shook as they reached for a chair at an empty table. He wasn't sure where to place it, so Mingi took it instead and put it across Jongho.

"Thank you... Jongho," The boy said while removing his school bag. Jongho quickly nodded before returning to his lunch.

"So... um..."

"Oh! I'm sorry. My name is Yeosang."

Yeosang. Such a beautiful name. Jongho thought over and over.

He wasn't even concentrating enough to hear about Yeosang's origin or talents. But one sentence caught his attention.

"My parents just moved, and I guess I have to make friends."

Jongho looked up. How nice it must be to have parents, he thought. Wow, let's not be too sad, the other side of his brain added.

Yeosang smiled. "But you guys are nice. I look forward to meeting you all better.

And he did, especially with Jongho.

Jongho wasn't sure how it happened. In the afternoon, he and Yeosang just... talked. They talked after school until his parents came to pick him up. Only then did Jongho walk to the bus stop and take the public bus back home.

But it was worth it. For the next three days, Jongho and Yeosang grew closer. There was just some connection they felt like following—something strong between each other.

And on those three evenings, after Jongho was granted permission to go to the park, the two had deep conversations while watching the sunset go down.

"Can I ask you something?" Yeosang brought up after silence came between them.

"What?" Jongho asked as he bit into the last cookie from a packet.

"Do you... like anyone?"

Jongho gulped his snack down. Was this Yeosang testing him? Did he know about the crush? Or was he merely curious and had no interest in Jongho at all?

But Yeosang stifled a laugh. "You do, huh?"

Jongho blushed. "Maybe."

"That's cute. Is it a girl?"

"N-No." Jongho fidgeted with his sweater while smiling.

"Oh. A boy?"

"I guess."

"You guess?"

Jongho jumped in frustration. "Okay. Stop asking me questions!"

Yeosang chuckled. "You're flustered."

"No, I'm not."

"I can't ask you, so I have to assume," Yeosang stated. Jongho slumped down with a sulk.

Yeosang chuckled and side-hugged Jongho close. "Isn't the sunset nice tonight? Means the last bits of summer are leaving."

"Yeah..." But Jongho wasn't focusing on the sunset. His mind was on Yeosang's heart and how fast it beat against him.

"Let me walk you back," Yeosang softly said.
~

Jongho watched the time tick down slowly.

"C'mon, clock. Move faster," He huffed.

The hour hit 12, and the minute was double zero.

Jongho jumped in bed because of excitement. Finally sixteen. Another year has gone by.

Sadly Jongho wouldn't be getting any party. However, that wasn't new to him.

He never knew what it's like to have a birthday party, much less to be celebrated. He's lived at the orphanage since he was four, and if his parents had even made anything for him, Jongho didn't remember.

"Go to sleep," A boy muttered, annoyed. Jongho sighed and turned to sleep.

The next morning, Jongho found Yeosang just leaving his mom's car as he stepped off the bus. Yeosang saw him and stood by.

"Hey. Friday, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Is there something wrong?"

Jongho shrugged. "Nah."

Yeosang thought to himself with worry. Why was Jongho like this today?"

"Do you know what's up with Jongho?" He asked Wooyoung during class.

"No idea. Aren't you two close, though?"

Yeosang swallowed hard. "Well, yeah, but he won't tell me."

"Oh." Wooyoung thought for a moment. Then he gasped and smacked Yeosang's chest. "You idiot!"

"Ow. What was that for?"

"It must be his birthday."

"Really? How do you know?"

"I think he told me it was in October. Oh, poor boy," Wooyoung sadly mumbled.

"What?"

"Jongho's been an orphan ever since he was four. He's never been in a stable home for more than a few weeks. I doubt someone's celebrated his birthday before."

Yeosang nodded. "I didn't think about that..."

Wooyoung took a deep breath. "Okay. Here's what we're gonna do."

Jongho left his class in annoyance. The teacher, the subject, everything annoyed him. It didn't help that none of his friends were in that class.

He arrived third at his lunch table. Seonghwa and Hongjoong were already there, sharing some types of papers. Jongho thought they were probably notes.

"Hi, guys."

"H-Hey." Hongjoong quickly stuffed the papers in his bag. "How was class?"

"Terrible." Jongho looked around. "Where are the others?"

"I don't know. Maybe they went out for lunch."

"Oh." Jongho started taking out his lunch. He wasn't even aware that Seonghwa had turned and given a signal to his friends standing near the door. Everyone in the cafeteria turned as well.

Jongho looked up as soon as several voices started... singing? He gasped when he saw those voices coming from his friends--holding a lit cake and several balloons with them.

"Happy birthday to Jongho~ Happy birthday to you." The song ended with cheers from both the group and others around the lunchroom.

Yeosang held the cake before Jongho. "Blow them out, Jongho," He softly said.

Jongho smiled and blew every candle out. The applauding continued.

Jongho found that the smile wouldn't leave his face, not even after lunch ended. He left the school in a brighter mood.

In the distance, his school bus was waiting. Jongho made sure his balloons were tightly knotted before walking towards it. Yet a car horn caught his attention.

"Hey! The party just started!" Yunho yelled. "Get in!"

Jongho grinned and turned the opposite way towards them.

"The park?" Jongho asked.

"Yeah! I'll take these." Yunho took Jongho's balloons.

"I can carry them, though."

"I think you have something else to do." Yunho nodded to an area behind Jongho. The birthday boy's eyes widened. An outlined path of white flowers led down past a few trees and to a site that Jongho knew so well.

"Okay."

Jongho played with the bottom of his sweater as he walked down the path. What was he going to see? Another surprise? He was sure nothing could've made his day even more. Well...

"Yeosang?"

Yeosang turned from where he sat on the bench. He smiled.

"Hey, Jongho. Come sit with me."

Jongho nervously sat down beside him. Something was going to happen. He knew so.

"Do you know why I'm waiting for you here?"

"This is our usual meeting spot?"

Yeosang chuckled. "Yeah."

"Thank you for the cake and everything. You didn't have to do that for me."

"I wanted to talk to you about that. There's a reason I did it."

"I know. Wooyoung told you, right?"

"Mmm, yes," Yeosang nodded. "But also something else."

Jongho huffed before saying, "So what?"

"I like you, Jongho."

Jongho stared in shock. Yeosang likes him? Is he serious?

"Yes, I'm serious." Yeosang took Jongho's hands into his own.

Jongho cursed the tears falling from his eyes. "Y-Yeosang... I like you too."

Yeosang brought him into a hug, where Jongho sobbed in his shoulder.

"I'm s-sorry for crying," Jongho croaked. "I've never felt cared for before."

Yeosang gave him a warm smile as they broke apart. "Get used to it, because I have a lot of love to give you. Including this one."

A small gap left Jongho's lips as Yeosang held his chin and leaned in.

Their lips softly came into contact together. Everything was new for Jongho, but he eventually got the hang of it once Yeosang helped him relax.

"So, can I consider it a yes to a date tomorrow?"

Jongho smiled. "Yes."

Yeosang took Jongho's hand and kissed his temple. "Happy birthday, Jongho. I hope I can make this year one of your bests."

"You've already started it off better than I could have ever imagined."