MY JAWS drop open in disbelief, and for a moment all I seem to be able to do is just that. None to a hundred of thoughts pass through my mind all at once, and to be honest, it's making me feel a little woozy as I stand by the door staring at the blue-haired boy.
Mingyu is still grinning, but seeing that all I'm doing is stand there like a complete idiot, his smile falters and he starts making his way towards me with a concerned look on his face.
"Crystal? What's wrong?" He asks, tilting his head in confusion. "Oh, God. Don't tell me I got the wrong date?"
"How... Did you know?" I start, knowing well that I've never told him anything regarding my birthday. Even I didn't remember that it's today, so how come he does?
"Oh, thank Jisoos I'm right after all." Mingyu lets out a sigh, obviously relieved that he hadn't offended me or embarrassed himself because he got the wrong date.
"Who?"
"Just a friend of mine." The boy answers dismissively, "So if it's your birthday, then why aren't you happy?"
"I am..." I reassure him, still blinking hard at the scene before me. "It's just that, I don't know... How do you know when my birthday is?"
Mingyu smirks, somewhat enjoying the sight of me puzzled. "I have my ways."
"Are you some kind of stalker or something?"
"I can if you want me to be."
I choke on my spit then, making Mingyu rush over to me worriedly and pat my back. I wave him off once I recover, telling him that I'm fine.
"Yah, stop scaring me like that!" He scowls, pouting as he crosses his arms in front of him.
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"I'm sorry!" I whine, before letting out a light chuckle. "Thank you for the surprise, though. Even I didn't realize that my birthday is today."
"Oh, but I have more." He replies, smiling from ear to ear.
"You what?" I say, knitting my eyebrows together as if I hadn't heard him right. "More surprises?"
"Of course! You didn't think that that was the only thing I had in store for you, did you?" Mingyu asks, taking my hand and tugging me out of my room. "Now c'mon, I've got the whole day planned out already."
✧ ✦ ✧
AFTER kicking Mingyu out of my room so that I can change, I pick out a plain white shirt and a plaid skirt to wear instead of my uniform. I don't exactly know where we're going since the boy wouldn't tell me anything, so I decided to wear something decent and not too formal and the outfit I had chosen seems to be good enough.
For my shoes, I picked out a pair of white sneakers, choosing to be comfortable, and go down the stairs with Mingyu, him walking slightly ahead of me.
Once the two of us are out, I lock the door to the house. The moment I turn to look at the driveway, however, I notice an expensive-looking car parked there, making me immediately turn to Mingyu for answers.
"Hop on," He tells me, nodding at the car. "The place we're going to takes some time to get to." I oblige, but just as I am about to open the passenger door open, he says, "Wait!"
"What?"
Hurriedly, Mingyu comes by my side and opens the door for me instead. He flashes me a charming smile, and I roll my eyes playfully at his cheesy but sweet gesture.
Once he's in the driver seat himself, we both fasten our seat belts and Mingyu smoothly backs out of the driveway and into the open road.
"Is this your car?" I ask, taking in the sleek interior of the automobile. The car smells new and clean, it's seats covered in black leather. To be honest, I feel a little out of place sitting here, but I don't say anything and look at him as I wait for a reply.
"The agency's, technically, but yeah."
I nod, not really knowing what else to say to that. "So how did you know Wonwoo?" I ask him, changing the subject.
He takes his eyes off the road to take a quick glance at me, a ghost of a smile making his lips curve upwards. "I told you, he's an agent who grew up with me."
"Come on, Mingyu-ah. Tell me the whole story."
"Alright, alright." He chuckles, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "As far as I can remember, Wonwoo and I have been together in the agency ever since we were very young, training and preparing ourselves for the job. We never really knew our parents—no one in Seventeen does, really—but we consider each other family. So, yeah. Wonwoo and the rest of the boys are basically brothers to me."
"I see,"
The rest of the car ride is then spent in silence. It's not exactly the awkward kind of silence, the type that'll make you want to jump out of the car, but rather than a comfortable kind of silence. Frankly, though, I don't really mind.
Around twenty minutes later, Mingyu pulls over in a somewhat-crowded parking lot and opens the passenger door for me once more. He then continues to lead me towards an entrance, and only then do I realize where he'd taken me to.
Striped red and white tents are set up on the ground in front of us, and game stalls and food stands are scattered all over and making the place all the merrier. Playful music is blasting through the speakers, and I can't help but feel a little touch of warmth in my chest at the familiarity of this place—the carnival.
