calendar ↠ the boyz

ten

October was her month. It was the month where nothing much seemed to happen, except for her birthday.

Jinae tried her best to let this month be stress free, but she found that difficult to manage at times. She was a highly anxious person, stress was a daily occurrence.

"I wouldn't come to school on my birthday," Chanhee shrugged at the table.

"Well luckily it isn't yours then," the girl replied sassily, the boy rolling his eyes at her. "What else would I do?"

"Lie in bed all day, watch movies, eat lots of food," Changmin listed. "Maybe your best friend would've taken the day off too to come and join you..."

"Don't guilt trip me!" Jinae smacked his shoulder. "You're coming over later anyway."

The boy rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his chocolate bar. "So I can witness firsthand the Smackdown between Jinae and Sanha, and a scene from The Notebook performed by Jinae and Sunwoo!"

"Shut up," the girl groaned, Chanhee looking on in amusement as the rest of the boys kept to themselves.

"Who is this Sunwoo character?" He questioned.

"Her big brothers best friend," Changmin answered, shrugging. "She's had a crush on him since forever."

Jinae leaned forward to look past her best friend to Chanhee. "This is simply not true."

"Okay..." Chanhee seemed unconvinced. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Jinae smiled at her phone, seeing the lovely text from Younghoon wishing her a happy birthday. "Who's got you smiling like that?"

"Like what?" She asked, not taking her eyes from her phone as they walked towards the school gate.

"Like an idiot."

The two bickered, their words echoing as the school was now emptied out. It was somewhat sad that they even stayed behind to study when it was time for celebration.

But that was Jinae's choice, and Changmin was used to it by now. "I never said I liked him-"

Her best friend fell silent as he looked behind the girl. "Hey, man."

"Hey," Haknyeon smiled awkwardly, the girl turning on her heels to look into the eyes of her first love. "Hi, Jinae. I just wanted to say Happy Birthday."

"Oh," the girl's mouth stayed open slightly. "Well, uh, thank you, Hak."

His nickname rolled so effortlessly off his tongue that he had to stop himself from squeezing his eyes closed following the pain in his chest.

Instead, he just smiled, nodding before walking in the opposite direction.

The two friends began to start walking home, silence upon them. "Don't you miss hanging out with him?"

"Meh," Changmin shrugged. "A little, but he made his choice. When he came back he got new friends, and that's okay too."

Jinae nodded, hanging her head low.

"Do you miss him?" The boy asked, the girl looking up instantly to shake her head. "It's okay if you do."

"I don't," she nodded. "Promise."

Jinae stared at the television as Changmin scrolled through his phone beside her. She could feel her eyes closing but they opened the second she heard the front door open and the sound of not one but two annoying laughs.

"Oh, Jinae!" Her brother sung, the two looking over. "I have cake."

"You aren't supposed to tell the birthday girl you've got her cake," Jinae said lazily, her head resting on her best friends shoulder. "Wake me up after you've put candles on it."

"Tired much?" Sunwoo peaked his head through the door frame.

"Very," she nodded, and Changmin could've been mistaken but he saw the boy smile before turning away. "Is there cake yet?"

He tore his eyes from the confusing scene. "No, idiot. Not yet."

"Cake!"

"Spoke too soon," Changmin nudged the girl. "Let's go."

The two walked towards the kitchen, the absence of Mrs Yoon made the place feel empty, but truthfully the siblings were used to her not being there for important things like this. Being a single mother, she had to do what was best.

So, in this instance - Sanha was head of the house. "Happy birthday to you..."

The three sang as the girl stared at her candles, her mind pondering of a wish.

Maybe she wished next year her mother would be here to hold her hand and sing to her.

Maybe she wished that by this time next year, her head would be clear and she would have an idea of what she wanted in life.

Or maybe she wished in this moment that Sunwoo would tear his eyes from her so that she would feel free of that stupid pressure he made her feel.

"Thank you," Jinae smiled nonetheless after blowing out the last candle. "Give me the biggest slice."

"You got it, kiddo," Sanha ruffled her hair, the two smiling at each other.

Changmin and Sunwoo watched on as for once they seemed to get along, and it was a nice sight. The doorbell ringing drew them all out of that simple moment.

"I'll get it," Jinae responded, her feet dragging her to the front door. "Coming!"

Upon opening the door, the girl wasn't sure anything could've prepared her for the sight at the other side of it.

"Hey," Eric grinned, a bouquet of flowers in his hand alongside a card. "Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you!" Jinae gushed as she embraced him in a hug. "Come in for some cake, please."

"Oh, don't be silly," he shook his head, seeing a boy's head peek out from behind her before he retreated back inside. Her brother, maybe? "I gotta get to work, I have to cover someone's ass..."

The girl tutted, but smiled nonetheless. "Thank you again, for this and covering me."

The blonde flashed his famous smile before turning back down the pathway. "Anytime."

She waved him goodbye, staring down at the bunch of hawthorns. "The flower of May..."

Jinae continued walking with a smile on her face before she bumped into someone's chest. Assuming by his height that it was Sanha, she was surprised to look up and see Sunwoo.

"Oh, they're pretty," he glanced at the flowers. "Who gave you those?"

"Eric," she answered simply, catching his eye for a mere second before she walked to the kitchen, placing them in a watered vase.

It was then that Changmin knew what he had been seeing all along.