~ time skips ~

it was getting late, and y/n already left. kihyun went into the bathroom to shower, which made everyone else gather around in the living room.

"since his birthday is coming up, we have to make a surprise for him." minhyuk suggested. the others agreed with him, nodding.

"we have to bring y/n." jooheon added on. "that's the highlight of this."

"and we need to get chicken; he can't live without that." shownu joined in.

"imagine if we made y/n go into a big box, and when he opens it, she pops out with the cake." jooheon said. everyone else looked at him as if he was stupid.

"no way we're doing that. he is not a child, changkyun." minhyuk told him, rolling his eyes.

"or, what if we ask y/n to ask him out?"

"we don't even know if she likes him."

"there's only one way to find out!" changkyun exclaimed, taking out his phone from his pocket. the older ones stopped him.

"no way we're doing that now. let's wait, and see if we all come up with new ideas since his birthday is only two weeks away." shownu suggested. the others stopped just in time because kihyun came out of the bathroom.

"what happened? i heard yelling." kihyun asked, looking a little concerned.

"the youngest was gonna do something stupid." shownu replied. kihyun just sighed and chuckled, shaking his head at the same time.

"you rascal." he told changkyun, walking to his drawer.

~ couple weeks later ~

"hurry up! get the cake!" jooheon scolded changkyun. it was finally kihyun's birthday, and they bought his favorite food and cake.

changkyun quickly took the cake out of the freezer and unboxed it, putting the candles on top of it. shownu lit them, and the four of them waited for kihyun to come back from the store.

they heard the door unlock and saw the doorknob turn. the door opened, and kihyun was there, holding paper bags full of groceries.

"happy birthday, yoo kihyun!" the others cheered. minhyuk was quick to run and placed a party hat on his head to match with the others. kihyun smiled brightly, happy that his friends were able to do a sweet thing for him.

"thank you." he thanked, putting down the groceries by the kitchen sink. the others sang happy birthday to him, and he made a wish, blowing out the candles afterward.

he looked around the dorm, a little sad at the result. "did y/n come?"

"did she?" changkyun teased. all of a sudden, someone knocked on the door. kihyun looked at the door, then back at the others.

"is that her?" he asked, excitement slowly filling his body. the others shrugged.

"go see for yourself." jooheon replied, smiling. kihyun quickly walked to the door and looked into the peephole. his heart started to race, seeing her on the other side.

"i might explode." he told them, looking down at the ground. "i don't know if my heart can handle seeing her."

"hyung, stop being a chicken and open the door!" changkyun complained. "i wanna see y/n too, you know?"

kihyun took a deep breath and opened the door. she looked up from the ground and met eyes with him. the two of them started to blush, their feelings getting to them. they looked away from each other quickly, embarrassed.

"happy birthday, kihyun!" she quickly said, giving him a gift bag and balloons. he smiled again, his face starting to get more red.

"thank you y/n." he let her into the dorm, closing the door after him.

"no hug? come on, y/n always hugs the birthday boy!" jooheon exclaimed. the two looked at each other again, then looked at the ground.

how am i supposed to do this? y/n thought to herself, her mind going blank. kihyun, on the other hand, was brave enough to pull her into an embrace. she hugged him, missing the feeling of it. she felt that they have not hugged in such a long time, and hugging him now made her feel happy all over again.