“Babe, did you pack everything?” Minghao asked as he stood in the door of your room. “I did, but it was really hard to pack as I don’t even know where we are going.” “Just pack your usually ripped skinny jeans and nerdy sweaters, and you’ll be fine,” he winked and you rolled your eyes. “I feel like you are making fun of my closet right now,” you crossed your arms and he started to go towards you. “I’m just teasing you big girl. Tomorrow you are going to be officially older than me. I feel like I should use honorifics,” he said cheekily and reached out to hug you. “Don’t you dare little boy,” you laughed and let him hug you tight. “Okay babe, so let’s go. The car is going to depart in thirty minutes. Soon you’ll know where we are going,” he said and left you alone so you could finish up what was left to do in your room. 

You felt sad when you had to say goodbye to your cat. Cosmo was sitting on your pillow and looking at you as if she was upset. You didn’t have to tell her that you are leaving, she already sensed it. “Be a good girl,” you said while stroking her head. She meowed with disappointment then ran away to her bed. She was in good hands though. You asked your best friend to take care of her while you are away… in an unknown place for God knows how long. 

The car was borrowed from the company as you didn’t own your own car and Minghao didn’t have his international license, so he just asked one of his managers to drive you. It was a bit awkward at first as you didn’t know many of the staff members, not even the managers. Minghao liked to keep his private life separate from work, though that didn’t mean that you never visited him. You actually spent a lot of time in the office because sometimes you helped in preparing for comebacks. But people who directly worked with the boys were a bit unknown for you. It was for the best. You liked that you were able to be in a comfortable relationship and that nobody had to gossip about you around him and bother him with questions. 

You were surprised to see that you were going out of Seoul. The highway was packed with cars but it wasn’t bad in terms of traffic. The car was quiet and you didn’t want to bother the driver so you shared your headphones with Minghao and listened to the songs that you both liked. His hand was wrapped around yours the whole time and you could feel that he was nervous based on how sweaty his hands were. 

You almost fell deeply asleep on his shoulders when the car finally stopped. When you opened your eyes the only thing you saw was the sea. The car was parked by the shore and the driver was gone. It was only you... and only you. Even Minghao was suddenly gone. When you looked around, you noticed nobody was around you. So, you decided to get out of the car. 

Minghao was talking about something with the driver and when he noticed you, he waved. You waved back awkwardly and didn’t know what to do with yourself.

“Babe, we are going to leave the car here. My manager will be back the day after tomorrow so don’t worry about that. Let’s get out the bags and then we can take the ferry,” he said and he rushed to the back of the car to take out your bags. You wondered why you needed to take the ferry? 

“Minghao, where exactly we are going?” You asked, now a bit impatiently. 

“To Japan,” he said without showing any signs of nervousness but he was worried you won’t like his idea. 

“Wait, are we in Busan right now? Did we drive for this long? Why are we going to Japan?” 

“Ah, babe, you are asking too many questions. Let your boyfriend surprise you, pretty please,” he whined and then gave a kiss on your cheek. You decided to just let him do what he wanted to do for your birthday. 

After you checked in and found your place on the ferry, it started to hit you that you are going to Japan! You loved the country and you never imagined to go there by ferry. It was even new for Minghao so you were both nervous in the unfamiliar environment. It was nice to see him being all confident with his Korean. He used to be quiet a lot and feel insecure, but time and more Korean knowledge made him feel like he finally belonged in Korea. 

For your surprise, in three hours you were in Fukuoka. You went through a little storm which made your stomachs sick, but it was all worth it. In Fukuoka, it was actually sunny and the air felt even a little warmer. From the ferry station, you took a taxi to a hotel where Minghao already booked a room. In such a short time, he was able to plan this out so well and you felt touched. 

Everything seemed so different from Korea and you didn’t even know how to grasp all these new information around you and the beautiful city. When you got to the hotel, you felt really tired of all the traveling so you just jumped down on the bed and stretched a little bit. Not long after, Minghao joined you or more like snuggled up next to you.

“Let’s sleep a little and then we will check out the city later tonight,” he said while stroking your head and you nodded with a sleepy face. 

When you woke up and looked out of the window, you saw the whole city light up in front of your eyes so beautifully. You didn’t even notice how high your room was, but it was definitely worth it to have the trip there. You wanted to thank Minghao, but he was still sound asleep. You guessed he still didn’t have the chance to rest enough after the tour so you just let him sleep. In the meantime, you made tea and decided to check out useful information about the city and to freshen up your Japanese vocabulary, which you gathered from watching anime endlessly over the past years. 

It was an hour later that Minghao woke up and after you took a shower, you decided to go see the nightlife of the city. It was very different from what you expected, it was very busy and loud, but in a nice way. You went into a restaurant where you had dinner and he told you why he thought it would be a nice idea to bring you to Japan on your birthday. 

“I wanted to make a very special memory. First, I thought we should go to China, but we couldn’t make it in three days. I know once we got to China we would spend weeks there, of course, if I would have time for that. But Japan is a beautiful country and it’s fairly close. Unfortunately, the weekend I have to spend in the dorm and get ready for a festival that’s going to take place. But I wanted to enjoy our time together until then. Just the two of us,” he said while kissing your hand, which he was holding tightly to warm it up. 

“You really shouldn’t have done this for me,” you said burying your head in your other hand. But Minghao just chuckled. 

“You know I would bring you even on the Moon if that’s what you wanted... and if it would be easy to access and safe as well. Which is not really, so let’s just stay on Earth,” he said smiling widely. You shook your head but you couldn’t help it, you just felt so loved by him. 

After you ate dinner and were done with a little shopping stroll, you went back to the hotel and next to a mug of hot chocolate, you talked about your days that you spent separately from each other. You told him how your days went and how hard it was to be without him, and he told everything about the tour and all the foolish things the boys did, and how much he missed you. After your long and warm conversation, you finally decided to go to bed. 

The next day, when it was finally your birthday, you walked around the city and explored some parks, some more shops, and ate delicious food. In one of the small bakeries close to the sea he bought a chocolate cake for you and brought it to the shore. You sat down on a bench and while the wind was blowing, he tried to light up the candles for you. 

“This is just not going to work,” he said, feeling embarrassed. You chuckled and tried to shield the wind away with your hands. After a while, he finally managed to light the candles and before it quickly went out, you made a wish. Of course, the wish was something about him... but you can’t tell or it won’t come true. 

“I feel like I could be anywhere on Earth, I would feel happy as long as I’m with you,” he said, not looking into your eyes, but just staring at the strong waves. 

“I feel the same, you cheesy little fluff ball,” you laughed and put your head on his shoulder. 

“I’m sad that you are older than me... you are going to get tired faster now. You won’t keep up with me. You are going to have more and more back pain,” he teased you. 

“Oh just be quiet, in a week you will be in the same boat as me,” you scoffed and he laughed. 

“But you know what I hope the most?” He asked, finally looking at you. 

“What?” 

“That no matter how much pain we will have and how much we will change because of getting old, at least we will grow old together,” he said with bright, hopeful eyes and he just couldn’t stop staring at you. 

Happy Blake Day

Dating PunkMusician!Minghao