Roller Coaster || Seongjoong ||

Fin(?

--Open it--Seonghwa said excitedly. 

The gift ribbon was pulled and a big brand on the face cream was shown before the boy's eyes. 

--No shit, hyung--Wooyoung exclaimed. 

--Language--he received a small slap in the back from Hongjoong, which he didn't even feel because the younger one rushed into the arms of the older one of the group. 

--You really heard me--he said excitedly. 

As much as others might see it as a simple face cream, Wooyoung could only see it as "THE Face Cream" he wanted for weeks.

Wooyoung looked at himself once more in the mirror, as much as San kissed his face and told him that he looked adorable, something in him didn't convince him. It was the season where his skin dried up and he hated how the guys he knows don't care, or how his friends told him they didn't see something wrong, but he does see it, it's all over his body and he hates it. 

And then he dropped one day that he couldn't get a cream because it wasn't in any pharmacy known to him and if he could find it, then it was at a price his kidney couldn't afford. Thinking nobody understood or listened to his small whisper.

 --Hyung, I don't know how to pay you back--He said, unable to let go of Seonghwa.

--Idiot, it's your gift, the idea is you don't have to pay for this...--Hongjoong remembered how Seonghwa said those same words to him when he gave him a gift as well.

--Hwa...you shouldn't have... 

--Yeah, I had to, remember when you said you wanted to try painting your nails? well, it's your time--the older one smiled and left a kiss on the boy's cheek in front of him.

Both tried each and every color of the nail polishes that came in the box, 10 in total. Between laughter and mistakes in getting their fingers stained, Hongjoong painted all his fingernails while Seonghwa only left his pinky and two more fingers painted, but at the end of the night, Seonghwa had to remove it in case he forgets in the morning.

Wooyoung's birthday was special, no...it always was, but that year it was much more, that year was the first and definitely not the last that he spent next to someone he admitted loving one day, with lifelong friends and with a new member who made Hongjoong-hyung shine more than ever. 

-- But, a doubt 

-- Hmm?--Yunho replied when they were all lying in the grass, simply on their phones but accompanying each other in comfortable silence. 

--Why do you give me presents right now if you're supposed to come to my house later?--They looked at each other, none of them knew how to answer exactly until Yeosang gave the first word. 

-- We just wanted to cheer you up today, we planned it because we assumed you were excited

Wooyoung didn't say anything, he could cry in that very instant, in that very place. But he could only smile sideways and scold them for not being patient. Everyone knew it was a joke, especially those who knew him better, so when Wooyoung's parents showed up in their room with a cake and lit candles, asking to eat out in whatever place the birthday boy wanted, they could admire that more vulnerable side of their best friend. 

The second younger did his best not to observe the door of his brother's room, not to enter and find again all the memories that haunted him from the first moment. Although there was no sleepover that day, Wooyoung slept like the people he loved the most were with him all night, feeling calmer again.

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--I promise you that some year we will spend New Year together--said Hongjoong. 

--Uhh, we definitely have to do that--Jongho said excitedly. 

--Yah but you're already spending new year's with your favorite hyung--San joked. 

-- Yes, but I want to spend it with the funny hyungs--The laughter of the rest of the group was heard on the call, there wouldn't be a day when his older brother didn't have a joke addressed to him. 

--JJong-ah learns from the best--Mingi said with laughter. 

--But you too are a victim of mockery--Yeosang said suddenly, causing more laughter among the others. 

-- Yah! At least I'm tall enough to face you all--the little-eyed one defended himself. 

--You want to die?--Hongjoong suddenly stopped laughing, not only intimidating poor Mingi but causing others to laugh at his expression. 

-- Anyway, who would be the one saying "We haven't seen each other since last year"?--Asked San.

-- Definitely Jongho or Seonghwa-hyung!--Wooyoung exclaimed. 

-- Ugh, you're right--Yeosang grimaced.

--What do you mean by "Ugh"?-- Questioned Seonghwa raising an eyebrow.-- I'm not promising again that I'll bring you cookies next time we meet. 

--Hongjoong, your uncles arrived--His mother's soft voice was heard before he smiled at her and said goodbye to the call, wishing for a new year before he hung up.

--Hong-ah! How're you doing?!-- He was received by the exclamation of his uncle to the living room, where the rest of his cousins and other friends of his parents were found whom he calls uncles. 

His parents managed to free themselves a little from the laborious tasks of the church at least for that day, so they took the opportunity to celebrate it more appropriately than other years and show the achievements of their son, how educated and great he is. He was told to fix and remove all kinds of jewelry or paint on him, and dare him not to paint his hair until at least mid-February. 

--Do you have colleges planned yet? your friends? How do you do? do you have a career planned? do you have a girlfriend?--Those were the most frequently asked questions he heard throughout the night, but the last one definitely had the greatest impact because his father's best friend saw him smile slightly and started to annoy him about it. 

--Giving them a little subject to talk about wouldn't hurt, would it?-- He said to himself when all eyes were on him.

-- About that...