a reason for being | jung jaehyun

eleven

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟏

- 18이지만 더 낫다 - 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

🍾💫

SEONMI STOOD IN THE DOORWAY, wide eyed and heart palpitating at the echo of shouts and the sudden eruption of cheers, accompanied by soft jazz music. a loud 'pop!' of what seemed to be come from a bottle of champagne echoed, followed by more "woohoo's!" and varying cheers. seonmi's lips parted in realization, then she began to feel embarrassed, remembering half of her face was covered in frosting. quickly, she turned away, about to wipe her face, when suddenly a voice chuckled softly from behind.

"hey, seonmi! happy birthday!" hendery's comforting voice laughed, carefully staying a few feet away from seonmi as she tried to frantically wipe frosting off her face. he laughed more, averting his gaze so she wouldn't feel any more embarrassed. "haha! don't worry, i don't think anybody judged!"

"ahh," seonmi looked around, seeing at least 30 people in the room. it was so crowded and her bright red face spoke her embarrassment more than her awkward sounds. "thank you.." amongst the crowd were familiar faces, and some who were new. but most recognizable especially was jaehyun, whose height stood out most in the large group of people, alongside his radiating smile and protruding happiness on his features as he looked over at seonmi from across the room.

"the gifts are all over there, okay? make sure you open mine last. it's a showstopper!" hendery teased, pointing at the countertop which was swarm in gifts. seonmi's jaw dropped at the sight, not expecting such a mass of presents to all be for her.

jaehyun was right. he planned me something big, just as he'd promised.

with her face illuminated with joy, but still flushed slightly pink, seonmi began to tear up. this was beyond her expectations. while in a daze of shock, several other patients and hospital staff gave her hugs, greeting her 'happy birthday!' or 'happy 18th!' as they did. overwhelmed, seonmi would stutter as she thanked them, nodding respectfully and trying to control her quivering lips.

when everyone finished giving her tight hugs and greeting her one-on-one, seonmi drifted to the isolated jaehyun, trying to avoid the confetti that was being shot in the air by hendery and flinching once in a while. jaehyun chuckled, not fazed by her awkwardness and clumsy demeanor. he debated reaching over to give her a hug, but immediately became hot with embarrassment at the thought.

"생일 축하해, 선미 (happy birthday, seonmi)," he greeted calmly, smile still as flashy and radiant as ever as he studied her incandescent facial expression.

"th-thank you, jaehyun," she shied, slightly rocking in place as she looked up at him. "you did all this?" she had to speak a little louder than usual, with the murmured chatter and jazz music playing in the room.

"with a little help," jaehyun smiled, briefly glancing over at hendery. "but...it was mostly me."

seonmi laughed airily, catching the doctor off guard as he ran his fingers along the glass he held in his hands. "what's that?"

"샴페인 (champagne). do you want some?" he offered.

"huh?!" seonmi gasped. "i can't until i'm 19."