T H I R T Y - S E V E N
.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

It was my birthday.

And my first... present, also my last, was waking up in the same bed as Minho, in a quite... intense position.

Our legs were intertwined completely. My head lay on his strong chest and his arm was wrapped around my waist tightly. Both of my arms held him, too. His chest moved up and down in steady motions, and each time he breathed out, a small wave of air hit my skin.

My whole face flushed pink when I noticed this. Not long after I woke up, Minho let out a groan. My heart nearly stopped beating from how he would react to this.

Yes, he asked to join me. But still!

"Uh... morning." I muttered.

His grip on my waist loosened, then tightened. His head moved around a little, and his eyes were opening and closing. Until he fully opened them and blinked a few times, then met my eyes.

"Hey." He said, awareness of everything that was happening and had happened informing him fast. "You okay after... what happened? The dream... or uh, flashback?"

"Yeah." My voice was so low I was close to whispering. "Thank you for... this, I guess."

A small smile. "Of course."

"I shall get off you now." An awkward laugh escaped my mouth as I rolled off Minho.

The clock told us it was eleven a.m. already. We slept in, because honestly, it was the most comfortable night of sleep I ever got.

I checked my phone quickly. Ten missed calls my mother. Minho was already stretching his body out and fixing his messy hair with his hands, then announced he had to go to the bathroom.

I scrolled through my phone a bit, happy no one else had called or texted, except for my mother, then. Decided to call her back later.

I wasn't planning on telling anyone this, as I said. Aiden told me birthdays were useless. So I didn't celebrate them anymore, now because we didn't seem to have time either, I didn't want more money wasted on me, and it wouldn't really add anything to the holiday.

Minho came back a few minutes later. I, at first, wanted to take a shower, but then overthought it; it would seem like I thought he stank or something... yeah, no shower for me.

"Breakfast?" I raised an eyebrow.

He nodded. "See if we can get any leftovers."

As I was about to reach the door handle, my phone went off. Sighing, I picked it up, and mouthed 'sorry' to Minho, who stood next to me.

"Quinn, honey!" My mother was on the phone, close to yelling from... happiness? "Happy birthday!"

There was no way Minho didn't hear that. Crap.

"Yeah, uh, thanks, Mom." I managed to sound cheerful, but shrunk in my own skin. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm doing amazing. My girl turning nineteen years old already!" She squealed. "What are the plans for today?"

As fast as light, I stepped into the bathroom to hopefully have a slight chance Minho didn't hear anything else and wouldn't bother my birthday.

"We're not really going to... celebrate." I explained slowly. "My own decision, not theirs, don't worry."

"Alright. I'll promise I'll give you a present when you get home and visit me in the clinic, yeah?"

"Oh no, that's not necessary, Mom. Really." I said.

She laughed through the phone. "I'll see. Gotta hang up now, aren't allowed to call for a long time. Bye, honey."

"Bye, Mom." 

I wanted to bury myself alive.

I was close to have a heart attack when I slowly entered the main room again, finding Minho standing there with crossed arms and a cold look on his face.

"Uh, hi." I peeped. "Should we got get breakfast? I'm sure the others—."

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"

Shuck.

"What?" My muscles tensed, cheeks turning a bright red. "It's not my— it kind of is, but no... it's not really— I don't know."

"Were you planning on telling me?"

"Not really." I looked down. "Hey, let's just—."

"You're turning nineteen, right?"

I averted my head completely now. "Yeah. But let's just go get breakfast and forget—."

"All right." He interrupted again. "We'll go have breakfast. Just get dressed... I don't know if you were planning on going downstairs in your pajamas three seconds ago...?"

"Right." I mumbled, embarrassment washing all over me. I chose casual clothes. Black cargo pants with a green top, then also realized I was in such a rush before my mother called, that I was actually about to walk out off in my shorts and shirt.

Minho's jaw was clenched, which made me wonder if I made him angry about the fact that I didn't tell him anything.

"Let's go." He pressed a button on the elevator. It started to move down. I was tapping my foot, a bit annoyed he cared so much even after I promised myself not to celebrate again. Time waste.

"Hey, where are you going?" I stopped moving when instead of going left—to the room where meals were shared—he went straight forward to the exit door.

He turned around, his eyes sharpening at me. "We're getting breakfast."

"Yeah. That's right here." I pointed at the door.

"Not today." Taking my arm, he continued walking to the car that was waiting for us outside the hotel.

"What? Hey! Where are we going?" He didn't reply. "Minho! Can't we at least tell the others we're leaving?"

"Last time you and Thomas left, y'all didn't say anything either."

I scoffed. "Are seriously still pissed about that?"

"Just get in the car."

I exhaled and stepped in. He closed my door before sitting down himself and rushing out of the area fast.

"Why wouldn't you tell me?" Minho asked, his hands gripping on the wheel. "Did you tell Thomas? Anyone?" He pressed the pedal even harder.

"You shouldn't drive this fast." I said. "It's gonna cause problems."

"I asked you something."

I exhaled in frustration and stared out of the window. "Because... why would I? You're busy working, the rest wants to do other crap that does not include celebrating my birthday. It's a waste of time... and money."

"I don't agree to any of that." He said. "But okay, fine. Which flowers are your favorite?"

"I don't know."

"Favorite chocolate?"

"I don't know. Chocolate always tastes nice."

"Please tell me you do have a favorite color."

"Green."

"Okay, perfect." After a few more minutes, Minho stopped the car, opened my door, and let us out. "Sandwich, pancakes, bread, or eggs?"

I watched him with an overwhelmed and unsure expression. He was waiting for my answer, a questioning look on his face. "Pancakes."

"Alright. This way." He put a hand on my lower back, guiding me to wherever he wanted to go as if I couldn't walk myself (I would've ran back into the car).

"I don't like this." I whispered. "Can we go back?"

"Shut up and let me do this." He snapped quietly.

I remained quiet.

"Wait." Minho stopped walking for a second. Turned his head to me. "Shut up in a polite way. Shut up, Princess. Nicely shut up."

A soft slap on the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah. I'll shut up nicely."

He smirked stupidly while entering some kind of bakery. It was a small, cute shop. Food was stacked on counters, tables spread around the place, and vines with pink flowers hanging on the walls.

Minho forced me to sit down before he did the same, but across from me. A menu got placed in front of us, and Minho bugged me to make an order so long that I had no other choice.

"Don't you have work?" I muttered.

"Work can wait." He replied. "Did you sleep well?"

I nodded, slowly... slightly confused. "Yeah. Did you?"

"Yep."
We proceeded waiting for the food awkwardly.

Then they brought me my pancakes and Minho his sandwich, along with drinks. I started eating, soon enjoying it a little bit more because of the sweet taste. Syrup and sugar covered the airy pancakes, and they were a perfect brown color.

Minho's sandwich included lettuce, bacon, tomatoes, and some sauce. Looked quite good.

As we neared the end of the meal, he took something out of his pocket, sliding it over the table with two fingers. "Here."

A bankcard. I blinked. A black bankcard.

"While I go... to another store, you buy yourself something. Or multiple things. I don't know."

I frowned. Stared at the thing as if it was a virus. "It's black."

Minho scratched the back of his head. "Yeah... it is. Uh— just buy something and—."

My mouth was gaping half open. "You have a black bankcard?"

"You don't?" He joked.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't hide how stunned I was. "But black means..."

He titled his head. "Yeah, well... please just take it and let's not talk about that."

"Doesn't it mean the owner of the card spends at least 250k a year...?"

"Kind of."

"Is it your dad's?"

"No...?"

"It's not?"

"It's my bankcard." He confirmed, both proud and awkward. "And I want you to take it right now, and buy yourself something."

"But—."

"If you will, I promise I won't tell anyone else it's your birthday. So we will pretend the presents you are about to buy yourself are from them, you know?"

I considered that option for a moment. Was thoughtful, then, "Fine."

He smiled, followed by a bleep of him paying for the food. When we walked out of the building, Minho told me bye and left to the place he claimed to go.

I stood in the middle of the city awkwardly, so not planning to buy something from Minho's money. I mean, come on!

I waited for him to come back, ignoring the way the red letters of H&M were staring at me like they invited me to buy something.

It took him half an hour to arrive next to the bench I sat on, another smile stuck on his face. "Do you like roses?"

I scrunched my eyebrows. "Yeah, I think so."

"Perfect." A bouquet got pushed in my hands. Beautiful red, with an amazing smell. "Do you like Kinder Surprise eggs?"

"Mhm."

Two of those eggs in my hand. "Amazing. What about a sage green card that sings Cruel Summer?" 

I gasped when he revealed that. He literally just bought me this...? Roses, a card, and chocolate?

Okay, okay— I had to stop tears from forming in my eyes, because this was the first birthday present I had gotten in years. And he did this voluntarily??

"Thank you." I attacked him with a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He laughed a pure laugh. One that made his shoulders shake and his head to get thrown back a little. "You're welcome, Princess. You're very welcome."

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

A/n: Can someone give me that for my birthday? (Along with Minho)

😃❤️ x Vera