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Junmyeon sighed in relief. The excited puppies that are the members of Exo, Kyungsoo, Kai and Sehun, had just left his hotel room after surprising him with lopsided birthday cakes and playful birthday smacks.
He walked back from the hallway into the bedroom. He smiled as he watched Chanyeol sitting on the lone armchair and munching on the birthday cakes. It is so funny how Chanyeol is still eating it using a pair of chopsticks. He is really the epitome of a Korean man.
"Taste good?" Junmyeon asked, starting a conversation.
Chanyeol looked up from the plate and nodded. His lips darted after a stray cream that was staining the corner of his lips. He chewed and swallowed before replying.
"It was so delicious, especially the mango cake. Sorry I eat too much of your bithday cake," Chanyeol replied sheepishly.
Junmyeon sat on the bed, facing Chanyeol. "No, no, it's fine. There will definitely be more cakes tomorrow, I need to save some space for that."
"Now that you said it, I think I need to stop eating too." Chanyeol looked down at the cake, contemplating. "But this mango cake is seriously so good," he exclaimed before taking another bite.
Junmyeon laughed at Chanyeol's antics. This seems going to be a repeat of that Kai's dubai waffle episode, when Chanyeol enjoyed the food so much he forgot himself. Junmyeon plopped backwards onto the bed, leaving his legs hanging on the side. He is happy.
"You know what this reminded me of? That year when you and Sehun came to my house and surprise me with a birthday cake. How long has that been? Like ten years or so." Junmyeon chuckled to himself.
"That was a fail. You were not even surprised," Chanyeol grumbled in between bites.
"By that logic, shouldn't this count as a fail too?" Junmyeon asked.
"Are you not surprise?" Chanyeol raised his eyebrows in question.
"Well, I have an instinct that you guys will do something for my birthday. And the manager said that he will come to my room for a thing later. So, I just anticipated it. I took a shower early and everything. I was thinking of staying up until half past twelve. Only if nothing happened by then, I would go to sleep," Junmyeon elaborated.
Chanyeol sighed. "Your sharp obversation is annoying sometimes. No wonder you are still wearing your contact lenses," Chanyeol grumbled, much to Junmyeon's amusement. "You know, our L will definitely cry for losing the opportunity to see you in your glasses."
"But it's embarrassing," Junmyeon whined. "I don't know why they like that. I was so blind that the glasses was so thick to compensate for it. I look like a grandpa."
Chanyeol shook his head adamantly. "No, you're not. You look cute."
Junmyeon rolled his eyes. "You are the only one who thinks that. In fact, I don't think any of my friends had ever seriously call me cute except for you."
"But you are cute!" Chanyeol protested. "Your eyes, despite being hidden by the frame, are very round, like a rabbit. You have plump shiny cheeks and wide forehead. You have the prettiest milky skin even without make-up. And your lips are very pink, your cupid bow are very prominent. You are a man with golden ratio face, you are cute. Accept it."
Junmyeon blushed furiously as he listened to Chanyeol describing his facial features one by one. What is this? Compliment Junmyeon day? It's just his birthday, there's no need for that kind of exaggeration.
"You are so silly," Junmyeon replied in embarrassment. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Chanyeol's trademark smirk graced his face. "Is that your birthday present? A long list of compliment?" Junmyeon asked jokingly.
"No, your birthday present is back in my room. Should I go get it?" Chanyeol asked back.
Junmyeon sat up. "You really bring the present here with you?" he asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I don't actually know when to give it so I brought it, just in case there's a chance to." Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. His eyes darted away from Junmyeon.
Junmyeon smiled in happiness. "Go get it," he ordered.
Chanyeol jumped up excitedly and passed the plate of birthday cake to Junmyeon. Without a word, he left the room for his own.
Junmyeon blinked dumbly at the whirlwind that was Chanyeol. He shook his head in amusement once before digging into the cake. He thought his stomach was full, but the sight of the cake in his hand is so tempting that he has to take a bite. Or two. Or three.
Chanyeol was only gone for two minutes but in the short time, Junmyeon managed to finish the matcha cake slice.
He turned when he heard the door opened again. Chanyeol walked in with his hands hidden behind his back.
"Close your eyes," Chanyeol ordered.
"Why??" Junmyeon whined. He was already anxious from before when he thought the members are going to play a prank on him while he blew the candle. He doesn't want to close his eyes just in case this is a prank too.
"Just trust me," Chanyeol replied with a cheeky smile.
"How am I suppose to trust you when you look like that," Junmyeon grumbled but acquiesced to the demand nevertheless. He stood and put the plate back on the table. He turned towards Chanyeol direction before closing his eyes. "This better not be a prank."
"It's not, it's not." Junmyeon heard Chanyeol's reassuring voice approaching him. "Now, hold your hands out in front of you."
"Like this?" Junmyeon cautiously followed the instruction.
Chanyeol hummed in satisfaction.
Junmyeon felt something heavy was wrapped around his left wrist, while a paper bag strap was hung on his right.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now."
Junmyeon slowly opened his eyes and gasped when he saw his birthday present. Wrapped around his left wrist is a new gold coloured watch. He inspected it closer and realised it is from the luxury brand Hublot. In his right hand is a shopping bag stamped with the word Lotte on it. Its top was stuffed with tissue papers so he couldn't peek at what's inside.
He turned back to look at the watch. It's so gorgeous. The gold wasn't blinding, the detailing is so pretty, and every inch of it was shining.
"Do you like it?" Chanyeol asked nervously.
"I love it..." Junmyeon replied softly. He broke into a wide smile. Looking at Chanyeol's earnest face, he added, "I don't know what to say. Thank you so much, Chanyeollie. It is so pretty. It's even the right shade of gold, unlike those old men watch. I really love it. I can't wait to wear it everywhere."
Chanyeol smiled in relief. "There's more. Look inside the bag."
"There's more?" Junmyeon echoed. He sat on the bed and started rummaging the paper bag.
He carefully took out all the tissue papers from the bag, revealing two small boxes and a white envelope. After taking the items out, he realised one of the boxes come with his new golden watch as it has the word Hublot and its logo engraved on it. The other box is more simple and plain looking.
Junmyeon opened the other box, revealing a pair of white running socks. Its side was stamped with the silhouette of a person running and letters spelling the word Choi's Crew underneath it.
Junmyeon burst out laughing. "Did you seriously got me a pair of socks from your running show?" He held his stomach with one hand as he laughed, while his other hand waved the socks in Chanyeol's direction.
Chanyeol laughed along with Junmyeon, satisfied that he was able to make the older man laugh with his gag gift.
"They are limited edition! You can't get it anywhere else in the world unless you come as a guest on my show. Just for your birthday, I got you the socks eventhough you have yet to appear as a guest. You're welcome," Chanyeol joked.
Junmyeon wiped the stray tears that was leaking from his eyes from laughing too much.
"Thank you, Chanyeollie. I will make sure to come to promote my upcoming project later in the year," Junmyeon said in between giggles.
After calming down, Junmyeon put the socks aside to look at the enevelope, which contained a birthday card. On its front is a picture of a white rabbit facing a pastel coloured cake. The rabbit is wearing a party hat.
"Can I read it now?" Junmyeon asked, just in case Chanyeol wanted to run away first before he started reading the card.
"Yes, it's your birthday card," Chanyeol answered. He crossed his arms defensively. He looked visibly nervous and his ears has started reddening in embarrassment.
Junmyeon hid a smile and pretended not to see Chanyeol's blush. He opened the card and started reading.
Dearest Kim Junmyeon hyung,
Happy birthday! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Junmyeon, happy birthday to you~ woo~
Hyung, this is Chanyeol.
First of all, I wanted to congratulate you for your birthday. I met you when you were what, 17, 18? Now you are 35. We have spend more than half of our lives together now. That's a really long time! I hope you are not bored with me still following you around after all these years. ㅋㅋ
On this special day day, I hope all the things you wishes for comes true. I hope you get so many happiness and good energy from all the warm wishes you receive on your birthday. I hope you will stay healthy and live to be over 100 years old. I hope we get to grow old together, and I will be able to listen to your angelic voice for a long long long time. May your life continue to be a road full of flowers and sunshine.
Hyung, I wanted to thank you for being born. Thank you for being the best hyung I could ever wish for. Thank you for living as a kind and good person, and lead Exo with so much compassion and strength. Without you, there would never be Exo Chanyeol. I want to sincerely thank you for being the best leader, for holding Exo up with all of your might. I will continue to support you however I can, through the darkest of the night, to the sunniest of the day.
If the pressure from the world is too heavy to bear alone, please allow me take some of the burden from you. From the back, from the side, from the front, wherever and whenever you want me, you just need to call, and I will come running. I am yours to lean on, and yours to draw strength from.
Happy birthday. Thank you for being you. Love you, Junmyeon-hyung.
Always by your side,
Chanyeol
Junmyeon held back the tears that were almost spilling from his eyes. His heart felt so full from reading the warm words written by Chanyeol. He traced his fingers over the words, trying to memorise them.
His eyes returned to Chanyeol's swirly signature. Beneath it was a sticker of a bunny hopping towards a QR code. It was labeled with the word "your present".
"What is this?" Junmyeon asked, mostly to himself.
"Check it out," Chanyeol replied.
Junmyeon retrieved his phone from the bedside table and scanned the code. It led to a private soundcloud playlist entitled Junmyeon hyung Birthday Mixtape.
"You made me a mixtape?" Junmyeon gaped at the playlist. He scanned the songs, recognising most of it titles.
Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually, at first I wanted to give you an MP3 containing the songs, but I'm worried if the MP3 was lost or broken, you wouldn't be able to listen to them again. Then, I thought I could give you a NFC keychain that lead to the link, but I also worry that if you lost the keychain and someone else found it, they would be able to access the songs. In the end, I decided to just give it like this on your birthday card so you can keep it safe, and be able to download the songs on your phone or tablet or computer. And if you lost your devices, you can still download it to your new one," he elaborated.
"You really thought of everything," Junmyeon said in wonder.
"No, it's nothing," Chanyeol denied shyly. He rubbed his own arm in embarrassment. His eyes were fixed onto somewhere above Junmyeon's head, as he couldn't make eye contact with the older man.
Junmyeon quickly stood and wrapped Chanyeol in a tight hug. He will not allow the younger man to downplay his own effort like this. Who knows how long he took to prepare this birthday present, he didn't get to brush it off just like that.
"Thank you, Chanyeollie. This is the best gift ever. You make me so happy, you don't even know." Junmyeon expressed in muffled voice as his height only reached Chanyeol's shoulder.
Chanyeol returned the hug. His hand automatically wrapped around Junmyeon's waist in return. "Seeing you happy makes me happy too. I'm glad you love all the presents."
"It must have taken you a long time to make the mixtape. I am touched, I really am," Junmyeon stressed again to make sure Chanyeol understand how much he appreciate the mixtape.
He felt Chanyeol pulled away from the hug so Junmyeon reluctantly stepped back. Looking up, he could see Chanyeol's wide smile and his cute dimple appearing on his cheek. His eyes were sparkling with affection and happiness. Junmyeon felt his heart skip a beat.
Then, without any warning, Chanyeol darted forward and plant a firm kiss on his forehead. Junmyeon's eyes widen in shock as blood rushed to his cheeks. His mouth went ajar.
Chanyeol's soft smile turned into a satisfied smirk at Junmyeon's speechless reaction. What a menace.
"Well, that's your birthday kiss. Since the concert is tomorrow, I'm going to bed first. Good night. Bye," Chanyeol uttered rapidly before rushing out of the room.
"Wait–" Junmyeon tried to call Chanyeol after he broke out of his stupor. But the door just clicked firmly, leaving him alone in the room.
Junmyeon sighed and rubbed his faced, torn between feeling annoyed and happy. Chanyeol is still a cheeky brat, leaving him like this after giving that heartfelt card and mixtape. 'That's not even a proper kiss!' he complained inwardly. He shook his head and smile to himself. Junmyeon loves him anyway.
Junmyeon took his time putting his new watch back in its box, removing his contact lenses and swapping them for his thick glasses. After brushing his teeth and doing his nighttime skincare routine, Junmyeon turned off the main light and made himself comfortable under the duvet.
Junmyeon took a closer look of the mixtape's tracklist. There were twelve tracks altogether, with the last track being a voice note from Chanyeol. He belatedly realised that the tape is not just a unique playlist being put together but all the songs were also sung by Chanyeol. He had recorded cover versions of them, except for the eleventh track, which is an original song.
Eventhough it was late, Junmyeon immediately dived into the playlist. He knew he will be regretting not going to bed as soon as possible since he would have a full day tomorrow, but he can't stop himself. He had to listen to them right now.
Unfortunately, no matter how ambitious he was, Junmyeon still lost against his jet lag. He fell asleep just two tracks in. Chanyeol's husky voice continued playing in his ears as he drifted off to the dreamland.
***Junmyeon-hyung Birthday Mixtape playlist***
**covers by Chanyeol**
- "Birthday" – Suho
- "Stay With Me" – Chanyeol & Punch
- "Sing For You" – EXO
- "Just Us 2" – EXO-SC ft. Gaeko
- "Chiisana koi no uta" (little love song) – Mongol800
- "Confession" – Yesung ft. Chanyeol
- "Thinking Out Loud" – Ed Sheeran
- "Promise" – Doyoung
- "Ichibu to zenbu" (some & all) – B'z
- "Ocean Drive" – Chanyeol
- "Dear Kim Junmyeon / Durable Cotton" – Chanyeol demo
- Outro: Voice note from Chanyeol