With U // YunGi

Birthday Surprise

Yunho woke up to the smell of pancakes. He rolled over in bed and saw the red numbers on his clock. MON 8:00am. For a split second he thought he was dreaming. He was supposed to wake up an hour ago to prepare breakfast before Jongho went to work.

But the pancakes were real.

Yunho scrambled off his bed and made his way out to the living room. There was a huge stack of steaming pancakes in the middle of the dining table, with two sets of cutlery and plates laid out next to it.

A large, wrapped box occupied the chair where Yunho usually sat.

Whistling, Jongho emerged from the kitchen with more pancakes balanced on a spatula. He stopped when he spotted Yunho, and broke into a wide grin.

"Hyung! Happy birthday!" Jongho added to the precarious-looking tower of pancakes and hastily untied the cartoon apron he wore on top of his business suit. He went around the table and gave a quick hug to Yunho, who was still fighting off the drowsiness and astonishment he felt, before presenting his gift. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to keep quiet and hide it from you all this time! Go ahead, open it."

Yunho blinked a few times. The box was in his hands. "W-wow... I totally forgot it's my birthday today. Thank you, Jongho."

"As you know, I'm not a good cook." Jongho laughed sheepishly. "But I am okay at making pancakes. I decided you could use an extra hour of sleep. Besides, I feel bad as it is that you have to come to work with me today."

Tearing the gift wrap slowly, the words on the packaging inside was revealed. Yunho's eyes widened and he perked up at Jongho. "How did you know I wanted this VR headset?"

"I saw you drooling over it on your laptop when it first came out. I know you wouldn't have the heart to spend the money from your savings on any kind of luxury," Jongho said. He watched the birthday boy caress the box with affection. "Do you like it?"

Yunho set the box down. "Are you kidding me? This is the best birthday present I've ever received!" He wrapped his long arms around Jongho in a bear hug and jumped and swayed side-by-side with the excitement of a ten-year-old. "Thank you so, so, so much! I love you!"

Jongho giggled and patted Yunho on the back. "You say that every year no matter what I bought you. Come on, you're squishing me. I can't breathe. Let's eat the pancakes before they go cold."

Yunho let him go immediately, apologized with a chuckle. At the dining table, Yunho complimented on Jongho's pancake-flipping skills and asked what kind of meeting they had this morning.

The director adjusted his glasses and explained that his first appointment of the day was at the hospital that Mingi worked in. "I got wind of the CEO's recent schedule. He's on a week-long business trip, so this is my father's chance to negotiate a deal with the co-CEO, who is the CEO's younger brother. Nebula Group is planning to buy it. Father wants me to go 'learn' from this negotiation."

"So... the co-CEO is Mingi's uncle?" Yunho placed his fork down. It was now three weeks since he had any sort of contact with Mingi. If he went to his hospital, there might be a chance to see him.

"Oh yeah, I didn't even realize." Jongho nodded with a thoughtful look on his face. "Anyways, I don't care if the negotiation is successful or not. This is another good chance to embarrass my father in front of a stranger and show him that his only son is such a 'failure' for wasting money on a lover he doesn't approve of because of his gender."

Yunho smiled ruefully and placed a hand on Jongho's. "You're not a failure. Even though I don't think it's the best way to go against your father like this, I'll always be on your side. Do what you want, I know how to play along."