the pizza girl | p.js

19-happy birthday

Park Jisung woke up on February fifth at 7 am to the sound of his phone ringing loudly in his ear. He didn't even think twice before hitting the big red button that would make the noise stop. He had not processed anything yet. What day is it? What time is it? Where am I? Who am I? Jisung didn't know the answer to any of these questions until his phone started producing another loud sound.

He finally came to his senses. He picked the phone up and squinted at the small device. A notification from Chenle read: "Happy birthday bro!" followed by a series of celebratory emojis. Right above that notification was one from Anjae. A very detailed paragraph about their friendship along with heartfelt emojis.

Finally, he saw it. The notification from Heeyeon. Two missed call notifications versus a text message. He pressed on the notification prompting the call screen. It only rang once before a loud shriek came through the phone.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JISUNGGG!!!" Heeyeon yelled at the sleepy boy through the phone. "I miss you so much and I hope you have an amazing day!" She said sweetly. Jisung wasn't bothered at all by the loudness, his face broke into a huge smile.

"Thank you, bunny. I can't wait to get back, so I can celebrate with you!"

Jisung and Heeyeon ended their phone call after a good 45 minutes. They were just exchanging sweet nothings about how much they miss each other. (cute.)

Jisung finally got out of bed after checking the rest of his messages and responding to all of them. He got dressed and walked downstairs to be met with the amazing smell of his grandmother's cooking. She would always make him a special birthday breakfast when he would visit.

Jisung walked into the kitchen to greet his grandmother. She took the boy into her embrace with a proud smile. She squeezed tightly and gave him a kiss on the cheek before letting him go. "My goodness boy, you seem to grow three feet taller every time I see you." She exaggerates.

Jisung goes to greet his grandfather, who's on the front porch with a cup of coffee. "Look who's finally up! Happy birthday, grandson." He looked over at the boy proudly. People have always told Jisung that he takes after his grandfather a lot, but today it seemed that much more prevalent. Jisung was almost a carbon copy of his grandfather when he was that age.

"Breakfast is ready!" His grandmother shouted from inside. The men outside walk in and claim their seats at the table in the dining room. Jisung digs in and they discuss plans for the rest of his stay.

~

"I'm surprised you managed to keep this a secret, even after everything that just happened." Chenle said. "Anjae said the exact same thing. I honestly don't know how it happened. I guess I just forgot?" Heeyeon guessed.

"Anyway, Jisung's trip seemed to work out in my favor. I can use this time to finish setting everything up for his party."

Heeyeon had gotten up early in order to finish decorating and to make sure that everything was in order. She wanted to get it done early for the simple reason that she doesn't like doing things last minute.

"I'm only here because I was promised an Americano!" Jaemin reminded his cousin. He assumed she forgot because she completely passed the coffee shop on the way over to the arcade.

Heeyeon had dragged him out this early with a bribe. She also recruited the help of Chenle and Anjae. She didn't have to promise them anything but Jaemin is not a morning person. At all.

"Americanos come after we're done. Don't worry, it won't take long at all." She wasn't joking. It was an arcade. There's not really much to decorate. She just needed help hanging the banner and setting up the big table that they would all be sitting at. This was the last part of the process. She had already rented the place out (with the help of others), met with the owners, and talked with the catering services.

Once they were finished, everybody was invited out for coffee. Jaemin ended up ordering two iced Americanos with four shots of espresso each. He would have made it three but Heeyeon shot him a death stare and he decided to settle for two. She knew the coffee was going to make him extremely hyper but she had already promised him without really thinking about that part.

"How do you drink that?" Anjae asked. One thing Anjae and Heeyeon had in common was that neither of them liked coffee. It amazed Anjae that Jaemin was sitting there sipping the bitter drink with a straight face like it was nothing.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "It just makes me feel alive." Anjae nodded slowly, pretending she understood his logic. Chenle just chuckled at her confusion. Chenle and Heeyeon both used to be amazed by how much Jaemin loved coffee and how he could drink it with no cream or sugar. Scratch that... how he chose to drink it that way.

"Guys, thanks for your help today! Jisung will be back tomorrow and we'll be holding the party on Saturday." Heeyeon informed the group. Tomorrow was Friday and Jisung would be coming home at night so she didn't plan on seeing him until Saturday.

"Everybody be there at the arcade at 12 pm, got it?" Heeyeon scanned the table and saw everyone nodding their head in agreement. No one noticed one of the baristas heavily listening in on their conversation. She took careful note of everything Heeyeon had said.

~

It was Friday night at 11:45 pm when Heeyeon and Jaemin heard a ring on the doorbell. They both looked at each other with an expression that read: "Were you expecting someone?" They both shook their heads and wondered who could possibly be visiting this late at night.

The cousins hadn't been doing much before. However, they both had fallen asleep while watching Netflix. A half-awake Heeyeon stumbles on her way to the door. She opened the door to be met by a tall boy with a very familiar face but something was different.

His sleek black hair had been replaced with brown hair and blonde highlights. (His look in Ridin era).

"JISUNG!!" Heeyeon shouted happily, jumping into his arms. He tightly squeezed the girl. "I missed you so much! And look at your hair!!"

"I missed you too, and what do you think of it?" He asked, referring to his hair. Heeyeon loved his highlights but nothing could beat his natural black hair in her (and my) opinion.

"I love it!!" She replied. Jisung blew out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad, I was worried that you'd hate it." He confesses. "The new hair makes you look a little bit older actually. I don't know what you were so worried about. Not even a bad hairstyle could make you look bad." She complimented.

"Aww" Jisung blushed shyly.

"Woah, new hair." Jaemin said from behind Heeyeon. "Looks good." He complimented. Heeyeon invited Jisung inside. He couldn't stay for long because he needed to see his parents after his trip. Heeyeon decided to take this time to give him his birthday gift.

She ventured into her room and returned with a medium-sized gift bag. Jisung feigned shock when she brought it out. "For me?" He asks jokingly. "No, it's for your mom...of course it's for you!" Heeyeon giggles.

"Anjae helped me pick it out!" Heeyeon informed as she watched him open the gift. Jisung reached inside the bag and pulled out a wallet along with a keychain. According to Anjae, Jisung's old wallet was practically falling apart. She even told Heeyeon about the time Jisung dropped a five dollar bill. She picked it up and didn't return it either.

"Hey!! I needed this! My old one was so busted up, I'm surprised I haven't lost any cash." Jisung exclaimed. His focus then shifted to the small keychain. The keychain was fully Heeyeon's idea.

It was rectangular with rounded edges. The word "DREAM" was on it in bright green letters. There was no particular reason for choosing it, Heeyeon just thought it looked nice.

"Thank you Heeyeon, I love it so much." Jisung placed the items back in the gift bag. He stretched his arms out for her. She hugged him tightly.

"Hey, I helped too!" Jaemin said, coming out of the kitchen. He opened his arms for Jisung. Heeyeon couldn't help but laugh as she watched the guys hug each other.

"Thank you guys so much! I have to get going though. I'll see you later, goodnight." Jisung said on his way out of the door. Heeyeon and Jaemin bid him a goodnight from the door. Heeyeon waved as she watched him drive off.

Really long chapter to make up for the short one!