Chapter Text
Twas spring, the night of March 8th. Only minutes away from March 9th, or in other words, Emery’s birthday! To be honest, the last time he was this happy about a birthday must’ve been when he was in middle school, and it was mainly (absolutely) only about the presents he received from his parents, such as magic kits that were made for toddlers.
But, he can think about all that some other time.
He was so excited because a little under a week ago, Amari told him he got a present for him. He didn’t even prompt it, all Emery said was, ‘Oh, it's March 1st,’ and Amari replied, ‘Yeah. I got you something.’ and left it at that. Not that he’s complaining– he’s very grateful and all, it was just a weird occurrence. Though, knowing Amari, he most likely got him something magician-y since he constantly talks about wanting to be one someday.
Oh, his small friend group containing Makoto, Iris, and Sera, also said they’d get him a gift, despite countless attempts of Emery saying they didn’t have to. (He met them via Makoto, she introduced him to a few of her friends by putting them into a group chat with each other, and they’d meet up occasionally.) He told them he was fine with just a card— or scratch that, he didn’t need a card, just their friendship was more than enough for him. (Of course, they didn’t take this as an answer and insisted on still getting him a present.)
He felt like he was being overwhelmed with kindness. If he had to make a rough estimate, he’d say he hasn’t gotten a birthday gift in eight years.
He didn’t try to excuse himself from Amari’s gift since he already picked it out and everything, so he figured it’d be rude because Amari went out of his way to get him something. Besides, it was nice knowing that Amari already got him a gift before March even started.
Speaking of Amari; Amari said he also wanted to stay up with Emery so they could watch the clock tick down together. He figured out Emery’s plans when he advised him to sleep at 11:30-ish, and Emery responded with, ‘I’m gonna stay up until midnight, it is almost my birthday after all!’
Well, to clarify a bit more, Amari didn’t really say he wanted to stay up solely to watch the clock turn twelve, but he also didn’t say he did not want to stay up. Either way, he still stayed up regardless with no complaints.
Ever since that happened, they’ve been sitting on the side of their respective beds, facing each other, and filling the otherwise silence with nonsense banter, consisting of all types of topics, to Amari complaining about assignments he thought were useless, and to Emery expressing how he was having a hard time perfecting a magic trick he learned a week ago.
“So,” Emery started, changing the topic of their conversation for the umpteenth time in the past twenty minutes or so, “remember when you said you had something for me for my birthday?”
At Amari’s confused nod, he continues.
“I mean, it’s practically my birthday already so you can just tell me what it is. What is it? A how-to-be-a-magician book, a picnic in the park, going to the cinemas, oh! Perhaps, maybe, possibly, a cup of coffee from Coffee Roasterie?”
Amari rewarded him with a blank stare.
“No?” He gathered, hesitantly.
Amari shook his head apprehensively, “No, but I’ll think about the last one. Did you want to go out for your birthday?”
Emery blinked. “Come again?”
The other tilted his head five degrees to the left before rephrasing, “Did you want to go outside?”
“Oh,” Emery looked to the side, eyeing the stained ice cream outline on his nightstand. It came to be from the ice cream he bought months ago being forgotten on top of it. When he woke the following morning after putting it there, he found a hole in the packaging, and lifting the wrapper revealed the troublesome discoloration splotch it left behind. He figured that it only stained easily because the nightstand was made out of cheap plastic. However, the ice cream being chocolate and the nightstand being pure white certainly didn’t help avoid any unwanted blemishes. “Yeah, I suppose I do.”
It sucks, too… I knew I should’ve gotten salted caramel. If I did, then at least it’d blend in more. Bummer.
Owning up to his past transgressions and swearing that he’d never get chocolate ice cream again, he went on to explain himself, “I mean,” He looked back over at him, “I’m not opposed to staying indoors or anything. Why? Am I changing your mind?”
Amari thought about that for a second. “Depends. What will the weather be like?”
Emery reached to the side of him, grabbed, and unlocked his phone, then proceeded to the weather app. He smiled in unconstrained happiness.
“Sunny! No clouds, high of 68. Fahrenheit that is, uh– that’s around 22 Celsius? I’m not sure which one you use,” Amari hummed a response as he set his phone back down.
“I’m sure I can think of something,”
He nodded and quickly thought about what else they could talk about before they reached an awkward silence. “‘Kay, uhm– What do you think about pecan pie?”
Amari approached the topic with surprising caution. “Pecan pie? For your birthday?”
Emery shook his head, “No, just in general. I saw a how-to-make pecan pie recipe on YouTube earlier today.” He provided the last part for additional context.
Amari relaxed back down, “Well, it’s only good with whipped cream on it,”
“I agree! Without it, it just looks–”
ding!
“Sorry,” He didn’t reach for his phone and instead continued on, “What about pecan cheesecake? Actually, anything involving cheesecake is good–”
ding!
“Uh– except maybe lemon, that seems too sour–”
ding! ding!
…
ding!
“You should probably answer that.”
“Yeah… Sorry,” Emery, now wholly embarrassed, finally grabbed his noisy phone and clicked it on to see the notifications.
Yeona🐰
YOYOYO HAPPY BDAY
🥳🎁🎉🎁🎊🏅⭐️⭐️🪅✨✨👑👑🎁🎁🎉🎁🎉🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🎊🎉🥳🎁🥳🎊🏅🏅⭐. . .
The message trailed off, it being too long to be fully displayed on his home screen.
SKATER AND FUTURE SKATEES
Sera🛹 (so cool!): Happy birthday, little bro!! ⭐️🔥
Makoto!: Yeah, happy birthday Emery! Seoung says happy birthday too. What time can. . .
Makoto!: I think Iris is sleeping loool she's the only one with a good sleep schedule bro it’s. . .
Emery’s eyes went to the top of the screen and widened comically as he took in what time it was.
“Amari!” He exclaimed, tearing his eyes away from reading the notifications and putting them on to him. “It’s the day!”
Amari answered his exclamations amusingly. “Is it, now?”
He nodded his head in obvious joy. “Yeah! It’s a bit past twelve,” He showed him his phone so he could see the exact time, momentarily forgetting that Amari’s own phone was less than a foot away from him. “We must’ve lost track of time talking…”
“Hmm,”
Emery looked back down at his phone and unlocked it so he could read them fully, not thinking anything of Amari’s hum. He quickly responded to his friend's kindhearted messages with, ‘Thank you!’s’, and ‘We can meet at the skating rink, maybe?’ to Makoto’s other message.
It genuinely did mean a lot to him— them messaging him a few minutes after midnight just for his birthday. He knows very well that they stay up well past twelve because of the horrendous sleeping schedule their university graciously provided him, but still. He couldn’t have asked for better friends.
ding!
Mari
happy birthday
And then there’s him.
“...Mari, we are in the same room, you know,” The magician stated, half admonishly and half playfully.
“Oh, I know,” ‘Mari’ said back, mischievously.
Who knew he could be such a menace sometimes… Emery shrugged off his behavior, used to his antics by now.
He typed out a message to Makoto’s response of confirming the meet-up spot, date, and time. They were going to meet on the following Saturday; it’s the safest option if they all want to make it there without any surprise procrastination in the way.
Closing out of the now wrapped-up conversation, he resumes talking with Amari. “So, any idea what’s gonna happen tomorrow? Or, when we wake up, technically.”
There was a brief moment of silence. “Yeah, actually.”
Emery glanced up, a bit shocked, and put his phone under a pillow. A habit that he had yet to break from his childhood. “You… do?”
Amari evidently chooses his next words carefully to avoid spoiling his ‘surprise’, “I have somewhat of an idea,” He makes a small gesture with both his hands, “you’ll find out when you wake up.”
He accepted this, waking up was around 8 hours away, so he’d live. “Oh, alright,”
Amari lightly advised Emery, “Make sure to go to sleep soon, it’s late as it is,”
Emery nodded slowly in confusion at the new shift in his personality. “I will,”
Amari rosed up and made the bed more suitable for sleeping in, before getting back down and climbing in.
Emery interrupted his actions unsurely, “Hey, and…” Amari was upright, halfway in the blankets. I just wanted to say, thanks for the happy birthday. I appreciate it. Really.”
Amari had the gall to give him a thumbs up before laying on his side, back facing him.
Well… Glad to know he’s still Amari.
He too shuffled in his sheets, certainly not as elegant as Amari did, and laid down on his back.
At least he talks to me now compared to last year.
He shouldn’t be thinking about saddening topics, it’s his birthday, the one day out of the year when he can get away with anything that wasn’t illegal.
Knowing this, and knowing that it’s only three months to summer, he can’t help but worry some more.
He can’t believe he’s dreading it being summer of all things, today being his birthday must’ve made him aware of how fast time’s going by.
He closed his eyes, sleep overcame him instantaneously due to how tired he already was.
❀
In true honesty, he didn’t know what he was supposed to expect upon waking up. He didn’t know what to expect. After countless years of not celebrating his birthday in favor of focusing on schoolwork, he forgets what the morning of his birthday felt like as a kid. Was he supposed to be happy first thing? Or maybe he was meant to be greeted with ‘happy birthdays’ and gifts?
He wasn’t sure.
All he knows is that he’s happy when he wasn’t subjected to that, being praised for just being alive right when he woke up is something he knows he wouldn’t take well, and he’d be way too groggy. Verbally at least, online is entirely different-– there he could be whoever he wanted at all times of the day. He can handle practically anything as long as it’s after he gets ready for the day. That’s how it’s always been all his life– and that’s how it most likely would continue to be.
So why did his subconscious dream about it being any different? When he went to sleep last night, (this night?), he dreamed about waking up to whats-his-face saying ‘Happy birthday!’ with a smile on his face with balloons all around the room. He felt and still feels deeply disturbed by it. It was so out of character for Amari so much so that it was uncanny, and he immediately knew something was up.
Waking up from that nightmare in disguise, he was thankful that it didn’t come true. Instead of there being balloons and a strange smiling Amari talking to him, there was silence. Almost too silent, save for the sound of Emery’s breathing.
He shifted in his sheets to look over at Amari’s side of the room.
Amari wasn’t there, but that didn’t concern Emery, he only checked to satiate his curiosity if he was the only one in the room or not. Sometimes Amari left early for his morning classes, and other times he left to meet up with his friends before his afternoon ones, so it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Today they both don’t have classes, though. They only had classes taught by professors two times a week, and they could skip those as long as they didn’t have exams. Still, Amari usually texted him when he was going out on off days, saying that he’d bring back lunch, or just complaining that he had to go outside.
He checked his phone, but only saw a ‘Happy birthday!’ message from Iris.
He typed out a quick thank you response to the part-time florist part-time college student, then turned off his phone and plopped it back on his bed, unthinkingly.
He probably just forgot today, it’s fine. I hope it wasn’t an emergency, though.
He tried to focus on distracting himself from worrying, getting up out of bed, and quickly making his bed back up to look presentable. He slid on his slippers and went to the bathroom.
He only walked for a meter or so before turning back to get his phone so he could play some music while going through his morning routine, but stopped when he spotted a note and a brown bottle on his nightstand, they both stuck out like a sore thumb, and he can’t believe he didn’t see it earlier.
He made his way to the nightstand instead, and read the note placed suspiciously close to the infamous ice cream stain.
It said the following,
----------
I’ll be back soon, we’re gonna be
leaving when I’m back so get ready
Congrats on your birthday,
Mari
----------
Next to ‘Mari’ was a small cat doodle—nothing exemplary, just a simple doodle even a 9-year-old could make.
He let out a soft smile, then proceeded to carefully fold up the note and place it inside of his nightstand for safekeeping. ‘Congrats on your birthday’ was so like Amari.
He went back to what he was doing before, grabbed his phone, and decided that he’d also take a shower. Grabbing extra clothes, he made his way to the bathroom.
❁
Amari had superb timing. Right when Emery was finished getting ready for the day and stepped outside of the bathroom door, their dorm door opened, and in came Amari. Kinda. It was obvious that he was struggling to open the door.
“You- Do you need help…?” Of course he needs help. This is like asking someone who’s 4’11 if they need help reaching the cookie jar. He scolded himself for asking and went to the door to help him.
“I don’t,” Amari’s voice cut out, causing Emery to greatly slow down his steps. “Could you… Where are you in the dorm?” Amari managed to open the door just enough to where he couldn’t see anything but his back, but could still hear his voice loud and clear.
He looked around to gauge his place and replied perplexed. “In the middle? I was coming out of the bathroom when you got here,”
Amari let out a breath, “Great, go back in there,”
“Are you serious–?”
“Yeah. Call it a surprise, or whatever.”
A surprise? That isn’t unwrapped and needs to be bought first thing in the morning? “Oh! A birthday surprise?” He asked for confirmation, and to narrow what he thought it was.
“Sure.” The tone Amari replied with had him feeling he would’ve said ‘Sure’ to just about anything Emery could’ve suggested it was.
Nonetheless, he relented and went back towards the bathroom, “You could’ve just said that—I’m going now!”
Another breath of relief was let out, “‘Kay,”
He shut the door when he got him, and heard the door opening fully, before the sound of another, much smaller, door opening. He heard the shuffling of objects, and a soft slam of a padded, insulated door
I know that sound from anywhere…
What he’s hearing is the noise of their mini fridge, opening and closing. He’s gotten used to the sound, too, with how many iced coffees he put into the fridge and took out during study nights.
After a moment, Amari’s voice called back out, “You can come back out,”
He opened the door to find Amari standing by his dresser, on the opposite side of the room from the mini fridge, which was situated on Amari’s desk. The location of the mini-fridge tended to change now and then.
He thinks he’s so sly.
This was the first time he was seeing Amari today, and woah did he look different. He actually brushed his hair this time– no offense– and put it up in a half ponytail in the back. He had a brown shirt that had black long sleeves and a design reminiscent of the new ‘year 2000’ clothing trend that was going on. He also was wearing dark blue ripped jeans that were patched with black fabric, and embroidered with white-colored words. On his hips was a studded belt, and his shoes were Converse.
Emery wasn’t wearing anything nearly as eye-striking, just dark blue normal jeans, a beige and red racer jacket with the number ‘7’ on the sleeves, and his Converse. Converse is an extremely popular shoe brand, so he’s not surprised that they’re matching on that.
He nodded towards Emery’s nightstand when he saw him coming out. “You didn’t drink that?”
Emery looked in that direction and spotted the chocolate milk bottle. He nodded bashfully, “I think I forgot about that, actually,” He quickly thought of a great idea. Going over to his nightstand, he plucked the bottle up and went to the mini-fridge. “It’s fine, I can just put it in the minifridge for later.”
Amari intervened in his path and closed his hands around the bottle. “I’ll do it.”
He pretended to be confused by this, and let the bottle be taken out of his hands. “Okay…? Fine by me,” So it is the mini-fridge.
Emery turned back around, to give Amari time to put the bottle in, and when he heard the quick opening and closing of the door, he began talking again. “Soo, what were you doing?”
Amari looked over at him before looking away, settling on tying his shoelaces that became untied. “Nothing, nosy.”
Emery hummed with a smile. “You sure?”
He got back a plain, “Yeah.”
“So I can look in the minifridge, yeah?” He teased.
“No.” Amari said, a bit too fast.
“Why not?” He egged on.
“It’s your birthday, so… I need to… open… doors for you…” He managed out, cringing at his words. “Including small fridge doors. Crystal said so.” Amari wrapped up, quickly. He was always so quick to blame things on her. She doesn’t deserve it, either, she was a nice person, from what Emery could tell after meeting her once when Amari brought her to a magic show, so it was a wonder why he did this.
Crystal is Amari’s roommate for the summer. Naturally, when the campus dormitories were closed and only opened to students taking the summer term, they had to have somewhere else to stay. Amari stayed with her, (he doesn’t know how they met, but did know they fought like siblings), and Emery lived by himself in an apartment.
“Ah…” He nodded in fake understanding, playing along. “You’re gonna open every door for me?” Emery decided to take this one-in-a-million chance and mocked, joyfully.
He received a short, curt nod. “Yeah…”
“I mean, alright. You should do that more often.”
“You’d want—?”
“Well- It’d be a nice change of pace.”
“...Sure.” Emery stared in surprise, confused about how easily he accepted. Amari abruptly turned to the door. “Let’s go.”
He’d leave Amari be just this once, only because he opened their dorm door and the main building door for him.
❃
When they both turned left after leaving the campus, Emery had a sneaking suspicion that they were going towards Coffee Roasterie. It was merely a guess, there were other places they could be going to, but that coffee place was around a ten-minute walk, so it was plausible.
Maybe if they do go there, he can say hi to Yeona.
Yeona and him met at the beginning of the school year, at Coffee Roasterie, where she works part-time. Coffee Roasterie is close to the campus, and Emery was a hardworking college student, so it makes sense why they would cross paths.
He came in on numerous occasions before they became friends, the reason why they did was because he recognized her Byungho photo card on the back of her phone.
If he thinks back hard enough, he could remember it going like this,
“Is that– Is that Byungho I see…?” Emery spoke tentatively, at the ordering desk in the well-lit café. The barista immediately shot up from his place crouching under the desk, looking for something. Her phone was left face down on the counter.
“Where—!?” She immediately shot up, looking around energetically, before her eyes landed on her phone and smiled warmly. “Oh, my phone case,”
She grabbed her phone and slipped it into the pocket of her apron. Her nametag read ‘Yeonaᡣ𐭩.ᐟ” in black Sharpie.
She continued on giddily, “Yeah! You know STAR*STRUCK?”
He made an ehh sound and waved his hands around lightly, “Not quite, just Daejung mostly, I watched that one Daejung interview that featured Byungho, so, that’s how I… you know…”
She responded just as happy as before, “That’s alright! I can teach you!”
“What—?”
“What’s your major?”
He blinked, not used to the question and still trying to get over how forward she was being. “Well-“
She cut him off in an eager tone, “You go here, yeah?”
“Yes, uh–“ He confirmed, a bit uncomfortable with the subject of his major. A major that was practically forced onto him. “I’m a business major, psychology minor.”
She gasped, awestruck. “Ooh! So you could be, like, my boss someday?”
He looked around wearily. “…I suppose,”
Sensing his discomfort, she changed the subject to take the attention off of him. “I’m Yeona, a dance major,” She gestured towards her nametag, “You probably already said the name, though,”
He nodded, a bit amazed, “I’m Emery, and, uh– they have those here? That’s so cool…”
They talked for a bit more before exchanging numbers. He remembers feeling proud because he made a friend all by himself. (Even if Yeona was carrying the conversation)
Remembering it now, he thinks he was terrible at socializing back then. It all worked out in the end, though. Since then, Yeona and him remained in contact via her sending him STAR*STRUCK music videos, having him stream them for free coffee, and even participating in music show awards.
She even taught him all the member's names, although she clearly focused on Byungho a lot more than the others, and it was obvious that she was righteously excited. He used the word ‘righteously’ because she later admitted to him she never had any K-pop friends before, and it was nice to talk about her favorite group with someone without being alienated. They seemed alike in that way.
Amari turned a corner, and he followed after, leaving Emery’s suspicions now confirmed. They are going to Coffee Roasterie, this path being all too familiar. Sure, there were buildings surrounding them that were cafés and places of interest, but they both liked the coffee at Coffee Roasterie better.
Besides, he asked Amari specifically last night, this night, whatever it is, about going there. He didn’t expect to go there then—But being taken down his path, especially in the morning, the most viable choice was Coffee Roasterie.
Speaking of Amari and coffee, he once met Yeona a month later after Emery did. That story was a lot shorter, he joined him on a coffee run, and he saw Yeona’s phone case. Upon seeing it, he said something along the lines of, ‘Is that Byungho? Kpoppie.’ It wasn’t great for first impressions, but technically not the worst, either.
Emery doesn’t know how he knew it was Byungho in the first place, and he could tell Yeona wanted to comment on it, too, but refrained. He also wanted to say something about it but stopped because he didn’t want to make Amari mad.
Not that he was scared of Amari being mad, he just didn’t want to ruin the bit of fragile, rocky relationship that they had at the time. Truthfully, they only said the occasional word or two last year when they first started rooming together, in that following summer they started talking even less, before sometime in mid-July when they skyrocketed in messages. That time in July transferred over to this year.
He doesn’t know why they started talking more in July, maybe it was because they were warming up to each other and just started feeling comfortable with one another. For example, before July, Emery was messaging him daily with things like ‘How’s your day?’ and got back, ‘Fine. You?’ as a response.
After July, Emery could send that same good morning message but instead get, ‘It was okay. I had to do grocery shopping today, and there was no 70% dark chocolate at the store. What about you?’ From Amari.
Looking at it this way, it seems more like Amari got more open with him instead of them both opening up. Trust him, though, Amari and him are similar in that way; being more social online. He also talked to Amari about his hard days. Most of them, at least.
When they moved into their dorms at the beginning of the year, they were awkward, but soon fell into the same dynamic they had while texting. They even used the ‘Mari’ and ‘Em’ nicknames they made for each other in their online conversations in person. Sure, It wasn’t a friendship considered in the dictionary, but it was something.
That’s what movie nights are there for; to learn more about each other. Amari’s the one who suggested them, and that little reassurance of ‘ Maybe he suggested this so we can get closer’ made him hopeful for the future. At least he now knows they both want to be friends.
Or maybe Amari just doesn’t want to have any more painfully awkward engagements with his college roommate.
No, that can’t be true. If it was that bad, he could’ve just requested a different roommate. That’s what his first roommate he got in year 1 did when their terms ended. When year 2 started and he was informed by the staff that his old roommate requested a different person, he was devastated. Even if he didn’t talk to the guy, he was still in his head about it.
That’s probably why he didn’t talk to Amari much at first, he didn’t want to be a nuisance or a bother.
Though, that’s beside the point. Truth is: if you told Emery a year ago that Amari would get him a birthday gift, and take him out somewhere, he would’ve thought you were mocking him about his feelings.
Feelings—? What type of feelings was he thinking about? Surely platonic. How could it not be—At the time he wasn’t even talking to him. Or was it endearment– no, not that, more like forlorn. What was it he said earlier? Because it’s his birthday he could get away with anything as long as it wasn’t illegal? Last time he checked, telling his mind to be quiet and stop thinking about the person walking next to him wasn’t illegal. How’d he even start thinking about Amari anyway–
A voice interrupted his thoughts, “Pothole,”
Emery immediately jolted back.
“Kidding. Those don’t happen on sidewalks, Em.” He lectured, eyeing him, before looking straight so he could watch where he was going. “What’s got you jumpy?”
…This is who I’ve been freaking out over for the past year. He’s so… Amari.
“Hm?”
“Huh? Oh, aha, my dear–” He can’t just say friend, wouldn’t that be presumptuous of him? “fellow walker,” He mentally slaps himself. “I’ve just been thinking about that new project; the one about financial service marketing, you see,”
Amari’s disappointed tone rang out. “Again? I told you you’d do fine,”
Emery felt guilty lying to him. “I know that, but I can’t help it,”
Amari tsked, “You don’t even want a business degree. Why do it?”
He stilled, processing the words. “ Amari , I can’t just–”
Amari also stopped, turning to face him. “You can.” He insisted.
Emery looked down, focusing his sight on a pebble. “I can’t.” He kicked the pebble. “You know what my parents would say,”
“Can they even be called parents?”
A silence strangled Emery. He never thought about it before, could they? They provided for him, granted he attained high grades and honours, but what else did they do besides that? They certainly never supported his independent interests.
Amari must’ve interpreted the silence as something else. “...Sorry. I took it too far.”
“No- I get what you mean.” He looked at Amari, hoping to get his point across.“I just, I can’t back away from it now, this is my third year,”
Amari nodded and turned back to the direction they were walking in. “Yeah. I… never mind. Sorry.”
“You’re good,” He reassured.
They continued walking, albeit a bit awkward than before. “You probably know already—but we’re going to that one place.”
“Coffee Roasterie?” Emery questioned.
“Yeah. I just don’t want to say the name; it sounds stupid.”
He let out a laugh, glad they were back to their normal selves. “Well- Now that I think about it…”
The rest of the walk mainly involved Amari complaining about incompetent people having incompetent naming tastes.
Turns out, Amari was heavily picky when it came to names. Whether it be names of people or names of establishments. The people had an excuse, the buildings, however, didn’t and suffered the brute force of his opinions.
The more he kept talking about it, the more Emery realized that, yeah, Mountain Dew was a peculiar brand name.
Eventually, they ended up at the café's doors.
Amari opened the door for Emery, looking at him expectantly. With a quiet thank you, he entered and Amari followed. I didn’t think he was serious about that.
“Welcome in!” Called out a familiar voice upon hearing the telltale sound of a door opening and closing. Yeona didn’t look at the door yet, busying herself with making a coffee order.
Coffee Roasterie’s interior was the epitome of cozy. It had linen walls, wide picture windows, low-hanging lamps, plants in every corner, and a few pictures on the wall that aesthetically matched the overall color scheme. Linen, classic taupe, and cafe au lait. The plants gave it a pleasant contrast with the green.
Tables and chairs were filling the center of the building, and an ordering counter was at the front. Behind the counter were all types of coffee equipment; like espresso machines, frothing pitchers, blenders, etc. A small blackboard was stationed on the counter, listing the specials of the week, and on the wall behind the counter was a bigger blackboard stating their main menu.
They approached the ordering counter, “Nice to see you, Yeons,”
She turned back with a gasp and smiled. “Emery! And Amari! Happy birthday! I’m glad you’re here,” She swiveled back, putting a lid on the cup she was holding before making her way to the counter, calling out a name Emery hadn’t heard before. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten you a gift right at this moment, I’ve just been swamped.”
Emery surveyed the café, there was a handful of people there, but he knew the breakfast rush was half an hour away from ending, so he very well believed that. He doesn’t think she’d lie to him, anyway.
The person she was calling out came and got their coffee. “Oh no, it’s fine, Yeona. You don’t need to get me anything at all, it’s the thought that matters.”
She leaned on the counter, looking at both of them. “Weelll, you guys came here for coffee, right?”
“I assume so,” He looked over at Amari and then back at her.
“I’ll pay for it! Whatever you want.” She exclaimed, “Even yours, too,” She said to Amari in particular.
“It’s fine, Yeona, you really don’t need to–” He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
“He means yes,” No I don’t…
“Uhm,” He glanced at Amari, who mouthed the words, ‘Free coffee’, and relented. “if you insist,”
“Oh, I do!” She confirmed, eagerly.
“Then I suppose…”
She made a quiet cheering sound, “Take a look at the menu! I’ll be back, gotta keep up with the health code, and all.”
“Okay,”
She went to the sink to wash her hands and wipe down the surfaces she was using. They kept talking to each other in a low tone so they wouldn’t be eavesdropped on.
“Mari…” He started, looking over at him.
The person in question looked back at him, feigning innocence. “What? She insisted,”
Emery sighed. “I know, but I could’ve still paid for it.”
The hand on his shoulder patted it, “I was gonna pay for you, Em.” Amari replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
The aspiring magician was shocked for a moment. He didn’t expect that . It was scarily sweet of Amari.
Amari must’ve read his thoughts, because he followed up with, “You thought I was gonna make you pay for yourself on your birthday? Come on,” The hand on his shoulder removed itself, leaving a phantom touch. Amari turned his attention towards the main menu. “They have breve cortado,”
Emery welcomed the topic change, a bit embarrassed at his previous words. He should’ve known that was gonna happen, that’s probably Birthday etiquette #1. He regrets not reading up on this. “Yeah, they’ve had it for months,” Emery ordered it countless times. “What are you gonna get?”
“Chocolate galão.” He said with sheer confidence.
How many times is he gonna surprise me in one day? “Chocolate milk with coffee–?”
Amari turned back towards him, with a tiny frown on his lips, but looking hard enough, he could see a smile threatening to break out. “Hey, don’t judge. It’s not just milk; it’s steamed milk.”
Emery snickered, “If that makes you feel better,”
“It does,” He assured him, causing Emery to laugh again. Amari’s slight frown flipped.
“Do you get this every time?”
“Not every, I tried it once a month ago and I’ve been ordering it since,” He defended himself. Emery tried to think about how often Amari went to get coffee. “you should try it sometime.”
Yeona chose that exact moment to reintroduce her into the conversation. “Sorry about that,” She said apologetically. “What can I get for ya?”
Amari took the liberty of ordering for the both of them, one chocolate galão for him, and a breve cortado for Emery. Yeona gave a knowing smile to them both, no doubt having expected them to get those drinks. Maybe we should diversify our taste in coffee.
She smiled with her eyes, causing her dimples to stand out. “I’ll be back with them! You can sit down and I’ll bring it to you, or just, wait here and we could talk more? I’d like your opinion on something,”
“We’ll wait here,” He spoke for both Amari and him.
She nodded, “Okay! It won’t take me long,” Then, she turned back and began preparing the beverages.
Emery saw Amari shuffle in his peripheral vision, he assumed it was from impatience and he made sure to solace the other. Looking over at him, he tried to console him with, “It really won’t take her long, she’s pretty skilled at her job,”
Amari met his eyes, then looked away, opting to read the specials menu. “Sure- I’ll go and find us a table when she gets back with our drinks,”
It wasn’t like it was gonna be hard finding a place in the café, the rush hour passed and there wouldn’t be another one for the next few hours. Emery looked at him, befuddled. “Huh? It’s alright if you want to stay here.”
He received a shake of the head, “I don’t want to intrude. She doesn’t like me at all.”
Emery was quick to reassure, “Mari, that’s not true, she just thinks you’re intimidating. I used to think that, too,” He admitted. It was true; when he first met Amari, he was worried about even breathing the wrong way near him, convincing himself that he was already hated.
“When?” He asked.
Emery didn’t foresee this question, “Uh– when we first met? It never went away until earlier this year, actually.” If I tried to talk to him more back then, could we have been this close sooner?
“Oh.” Amari noticeably started thinking for a while, “Maybe it’s the clothes.” He decided.
Emery laughed softly, “Possibly,”
Amari looked at him again, “Should I change the color?”
He hummed, “If you want, it’s not like black doesn’t, er, suit you,”
Amari nodded with a small smile. “...Thanks.”
“Donee!” A cheery voice called out, and both of them looked toward her. Yeona set the coffees down in front of them, one thanked her enthusiastically, and the other thanked with a murmur.
Amari grabbed the two coffees by the handles, and announced his departure in a quiet voice, “I’ll go now, Em,”
He looked back at him, “I’ll be there soon!”
She waved at him cheerfully, then when he walked away she turned towards Emery.
Yeona immediately started delving into what she needed his opinions about. “About what I said earlier— I was thinking of doing an event here at the café, but needed help on how to convince my manager? I’ve been thinking about this for weeks now.”
He was a marvelous problem solver (as long as the problems didn’t involve him) and started thinking about how he could help. “I’ll certainly try to be of help, what event, exactly?”
“A… cupsleeve.” She spoke hesitantly like she was embarrassed. Which, she shouldn’t be, Emery’s used to K-Pop terms by now. Perhaps she thought it was something he’d laugh at?
He wanted to be sure of what it was, though. “Like where K-pop fans gather?”
She picked back up her joyful tone. “Yeah! Exactly. They go there to discuss birthdays and whatnot, but cupsleeves can also be hosted to celebrate a group's debut anniversary.”
Emery nodded slowly. “I see…”
“Emery!” Her exclamation took his attention, as well as three other people in the café. “Pop quiz time, When did STAR*STRUCK debut?”
He had to remember this stuff!? “Uh, April 28th?”
Yeona sighed like a teacher would to a student who got the answer wrong for two plus two. “...March 19th. That’s in ten days!”
Emery suddenly understood why she was so frantic now. “I understand your dilemma. You need help convincing the manager and decorating the place if they do say yes,”
She nodded vigorously, “Exactly. I can do the advertising part by myself,”
His mind thought about the root of the problem; how to convince the manager. They shouldn’t think about decorating if they haven’t even attained permission yet. “Well— as for convincing your manager, you could say that it’d bring in customers? Perhaps show them videos of them online, maybe sell unofficial merch in arbitrage?” He said that last part as a joke—However, he doesn’t think Yeona did.
She thought about it for a second, then showered him with praise. “Emery! You are a genius! Thank you so much! I’ll let you know how it goes,”
“It was nothing, Yeons,” He grinned, it always did make him happy; him being a helpful hand to people. “I’ll help you with the decorating too if they do say yes.”
She nodded and practically bounced with happiness. “Great! If you want, you should come to it, even! People hand out a bunch of free stuff,” She spoke quickly.
How she was talking made it seem like she had firsthand experience, so Emery decided to ask her that. If she has had it, then they know what to realistically expect since videos typically only show the good parts of events. Emery was wholly determined to help her. “Have you been to one before?”
She shook her head, “No, but! I’ve seen people post about it online, it seems simple enough to manage,” She shrugged her shoulders.
…We’ll make it work. “Just tell me what day and I’ll make time for it,” Her eyes lit up even more, if that was possible at this point. “as thanks for attending my magician show back in February.”
Yeona made her arms into an X position, “That was nothing! It was more like you thanking me, anyway with how cool it was!”
He smiled wider at that, “I appreciate it,”
“I like the new outfit that you wore, too, it just screamed magician,” She never once lost her smile through the whole complimenting frenzy.
He accepted it, nonetheless, “Thank you,”
She went on, “You made lots of jokes on there, too! If you reeaallyy wanted, you could even be a– Oh, did you- did you bring an umbrella with you?” Her tone shifted as she stumbled, settling into one of confused worry.
Emery was equally confused. “No…?”
She started taking the apron off herself, “It just started raining, wait here for a second,” She opened the door to the staff room and threw the apron in there. “I need to bring the cat in from outside,”
Raining? “Oh, take your time,” She smiled gratefully and walked past the service counter, leaving through the front door of the café.
It wasn’t meant to be raining. Emery checked the weather forecast not even eight hours ago, there was no way it was raining. Looking at the windows proved otherwise, though.
Emery rechecked the weather app, and low and behold, he was presented with, ‘ 73 °, Rain. Rainy conditions from 8AM-11AM, with cloudy conditions expected at 1PM.’
At least it’ll stop soon… The dorms are a ten-minute walk away, if we wanted to stay dry we’d have to wait over two hours.
It only took Yeona a moment before entering back holding a cat. The cat was a gray Scottish fold, the pupils scarily big as if they were frightened of being here, or by the rain—which would make sense if Yeona was constantly taking the cat in shelter before it rained, the way she said she needed to bring the cat in implied that it was a routine.
She went inside the staff room and beckoned for Emery to follow.
When Emery hesitantly did, she shut the door after him.
The staff room was similar in aesthetic to the cafe, except it had only a few counters and cupboards with a -ironically enough- coffee maker placed onto one of them. There was only one table and 4 chairs surrounding it.
Emery looked around the room unsure of himself. “Are you sure I can be in here—?”
Yeona nodded before he finished his sentence, “You’ll be fine,”
The cat, now on the ground, was shaking in a way to get water off him. The gray companion backed up into a corner underneath a hanging plant leaf with drawn-out meows.
They both looked at the sight, sympathetic. “I think he’s hungry,” Yeona concluded, Emery said a small I think so, too “I can only get him food during my lunch break, I can’t leave the counter unattended,”
Emery took note of the cupboards behind her. “Is there some in the cupboards?”
She turned her back, opening them to look inside, “Let’s see…” She moved a few things around to look behind items, and with a sigh, she stated, “Nope, though there are two umbrellas, if you want one you can have it for the whole rain thing,”
She crouched in front of the cat, attempting to coax him (Yeona referred to the cat as a him earlier, so he started using that) out.
That proved fruitless, as it only caused the cat to attempt to back up even more. Emery figured that this has happened multiple times in the past, as Yeona doesn’t appear to be giving up anytime soon.
Emery nodded in appreciation. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
He joined her in front of the feline, holding his hand out to the cat, causing him to sniff at it and then back away. He took his hand back, thinking to himself.
“I believe I have another trick up my sleeve,” He tried to lighten the somber mood with his speech.
It appeared to do the trick, as Yeona bubbled up again. Looking at him, “Oh! Do you have some on you?”
“No, but I do know someone who might,” He hurriedly said upon seeing Yeona’s expression to the ‘No’.
She thought about that for a split second. “Amari has cat food on him?”
“How’d you know it was him…?”
She lightly smiled, “Just a guess,” Then went back to trying to persuade the cat.
Emery accepted that answer, and pulled out his phone, unlocking it and going to the messages app. “I don’t know for sure if he does, I’ll ask,”
Emery ⭐
hey, do you happen to have canned cat food on you right now?
Sent 8:44
He didn’t receive a response right away, so he addressed one of his concerns with Yeona. “Hey, uh, while I’m asking, isn’t having a whole cat in here also a health violation?”
She didn’t turn back to look at him this time, most likely expecting this question. “It’s fine, I wash my hands right after and put on a new apron,”
Well… Still seems like a health violation, but sure. “Do this often?”
She nodded, “Yeah, it’s better than knowing they’re outside freezing.”
“True,”
He heard a ding! from his phone. The loud noise scared the cat, and he apologized quietly. The notification showed that Amari messaged him back.
Mari
👍
He smiled at the simple emoji. “He does,”
Yeona’s voice called out, “Tell him to come to the staff room,”
Emery ⭐
can you come inside the staff room? it’s the door behind the counter
Mari
ok
you okay?
A voice behind him cooed, “Aw, isn’t that sweet?”
He jumped, not expecting Yeona to be behind him. How’d I not hear her?
“…Shush, Yeona,”
Emery ⭐
yep, come see
Read 8:48 AM
She walked to face him. She probably was giving the cat some space, so he’d feel more comfortable to come out when food’s involved.
“Wait, didn’t you tell me he was allergic to cats or something?”
“Shoot.”
Emery ⭐
yeona brought a cat inside so just be careful with ur allergies and all
actually ill just come to you
Sent 8:49
He put his phone into his pocket at record speed. “I’m gonna go to him, I’ll be back,”
Before he opened the door, Yeona called out, “Okay, if there’s anyone waiting to order can you tell them I’ll be right out soon?”
“For sure,”
He didn’t have a chance to open the door. Someone opened it for him and they both tried to walk simultaneously, causing him to bump into Amari– bump into Amari…? He backed up away from him.
They both looked at each other in surprise. Emery was first to break the shocked silence, “Uhm, I was gonna come to you,” Isn’t that the most awkward-inducing thing I could’ve ever said in the entire plethora of sayings I could’ve chosen from.
Amari tilted his head cutely. “You told me to go to the staff room?”
“I did like a few minutes ago, did you happen to read my last text messages?”
At that, he looked even more confused. “No?”
Emery prepared himself to run through what went down in the past ten minutes. “Oh, uh, Yeona brought a cat in from the rain, the cat was meowing so we thought they were hungry and I thought about that one time you said you always keep cat food on you, so, I asked you to come but then I realized– er, Yeona realized that you have cat allergies so I was gonna go to you,”
“It’s only minor allergies.” That’s all he got from that?
It’s funny that Amari mentioned this. After the whole bringing the cat into the dorm thing that occurred in December, Emery started researching about allergies. Cat allergies, to be specific. It’s not something to be taken lightly, he learned. “Mild can become severe, fast.”
Amari shrugged, “I’ll be fine, probably.”
Emery realized that he instead should’ve been researching the Amari language. …Whatever. Maybe I’m the one worrying over nothing.
Yeona peeked out the still-opened door, held open by Amari’s body, and Amari pulled out a single canned cat food container and passed it to her. She thanked him, then said to the both of them, “You guys can go back to your stuff. I’ll just leave this here and let the cat back out after the rain stops,”
“Oh, alright.” He looked at Yeona, who was right next to him, and Amari, who was in front of him. “You sure you’ll be good?”
“Yep,” She smiled, then frowned as if she was recalling something. “If I remember correctly, you had a hot drink, right, Emery? I’ll make you a new one, it’s probably cold by now,”
Emery shook his head, “It’s fine, I like it cold,”
She nodded with a grin, “If you’re sure,” She went back into the staff room and turned around with a wave, “Have a happy birthday!”
“Thanks! See you when we leave,”
The door to the staff room closed, leaving Amari and Emery still standing behind the counter. He spotted two familiar cups on a countertop.
“You put our cups here?” He asked.
“Yeah, I didn't want to leave them unattended.”
That’s kinda smart… “Ah,”
They went to the table Amari was originally situated in with their respective coffee in hand. Making small talk during the walk.
Emery took a sip during the short journey. His coffee was lukewarm, but it was still good. It’s nothing to bother Yeona about with making another one.
“Is it still warm?”
Emery replied honestly, “A bit, but it’s fine.”
They got to their table and sat down in the comfortable chairs.
“Soo, what were you doing while I was away?” Emery asked, curiously. He was gone for maybe seven minutes and was wondering what Amari was doing during that time.
“Nothing much,” At Emery's disbelieving expression, he went on, “Crystal needed help with which crystal quartz to get.”
He straightened, intrigued. “Oh! Was it tough?”
Amari shook his head, sighing. “They were both terrible quality but she made a promise to the seller to buy at least one.” Then, he took a sip out of his chocolate galão.
He smiled, “That’s nice of her,”
“I guess,” Amari looked out the window beside them. “It sucks that it rained, though. I was planning on taking you to the park for a picnic later,”
He stared at him, in disbelief. Is this the real Amari? Not wanting to seem rude for staring, he hastily replied, “Is that, uh, what you brought in this morning?”
Amari conveniently took a sip when he asked that, then proceeded to say, “…No, that’s something else,”
So then what is it? Maybe he’s trying to save face? “A picnic without a picnic?”
Amari rolled his eyes dramatically, “We were gonna go out and buy the food together , obviously.”
Nope, he was telling the truth. “Obviously.” Emery repeated playfully, then thought about how they could make it still happen. A picnic does sound like a fun idea, after all. “Let’s go on one Sunday, hopefully the grass’ll be dry by then.”
Amari softly smiled and nodded, agreeing with the set date. (Date as in the day, not romantic, obviously.)
They kept talking about what they were going to do on Sunday. Debating on whether the red and white checkered picnic blanket was overrated or not, and what types of foods they’d want to bring.
They found themselves to have finished their coffee in the middle of their ‘is it worth it to bring sandwiches when they’d just make you be full fast’ debate. (Amari was against bringing it and insisted on fruit. Emery was extremely set on tuna fish sandwiches.)
They didn’t have to look out the window to know the rain was pouring down even harder than before they sat down.
Emery remembered something Yeona mentioned earlier, “By the way, Yeona said we could use an umbrella, she found two earlier in the staff room.”
Amari didn’t even bat an eye or miss a beat. “It’s fine, probably someone else’s and they just forgot it,”
That would explain it. Came to work when it was raining with an umbrella, it turned sunny during the shift and they’d leave in a hurry to get home. “You’re right,”
Amari glanced at the window and checked his phone, likely for the time because of what he said next. “Let’s order something; Yeona’s paying, she owes me for the cat food, anyway.”
‘Canned cat food is two dollars whereas café food is overpriced and subject to sales tax.’ That is what I would say if I wasn't hungry. “Fiine.”
After mentally writing Amari’s order of strawberry macarons, he went up to the counter, once again greeting Yeona. He ordered himself chocolate croissants, and Amari his macarons. Yeona wasn’t annoyed in the slightest about them ordering more and instead looked overjoyed. She was probably still feeling guilty about not getting him a birthday present.
He walked back to his seat after she told him she’d bring it out to him, relayed it to Amari, and resumed talking about their sandwich dilemma. Soon enough, Yeona brought them their orders and they began eating.
While eating they finally solved their sandwich dilemma—it concluded with them both agreeing to take strawberry sandos. After that, they made their way into the next debate seamlessly. Emery didn’t notice when it stopped raining, only realizing it did when he finished his second (and last) croissant.
Then, they made their way out of the homey café, saying bye to Yeona and thanking her despite her trying to refuse gratitude.
When they got outside, and were walking back to the dorms to grab an umbrella in case it started raining again, Emery saw that not only did it stop raining, but the sun was also shining down. A nice way to end the… what part of the day was it? Should be still morning, right?
He checked his phone. 11:26
.
.
.
That long? Almost three hours? No wonder why it stopped raining.
It was nice, though.
✿
They both decided to not eat lunch, as they were still full from their tremendously late breakfast. Instead of lunch, they took a trusty umbrella in hand and walked in the park, scoping out where they could set up their picnic on Sunday. After finding a nice spot twenty minutes into their mission, one not too close to the water but still well within view of it, they began to make their way back.
They strongly considered going to an arcade also, before figuring that it’d be overkill. Amari said he had a spot planned out for dinner, so they could just chat in their dorm until then.
That’s exactly what they did when they got back. Amari switched between guarding the minifridge and watching Emery play a horror game on his phone. (Emery absolutely does not do horror, but mustered up the courage and tried to appear brave when Amari said he wanted to watch him.) After a bit, they both played a ghost-hunting game together.
Emery got a few messages throughout the day, mainly just his friends talking in their group chat, and replied to them when he wasn’t with Amari on the off chance that they’d say something strange.
One of the messages that he got was from Makoto, containing pictures of the cat he took in during the previous winter. There was a video also, the video showing the cat, Makoto said she named her Suna, playing with a ‘GoCat Da Bird’. He’s gotten videos of Suna before and always teared up whenever he saw her being energetic. It was a massive difference to the lethargic cat he met.
All in all, his birthday certainly wasn’t anything extravagant or worth bragging about, but it was still more than he could’ve ever expected it to be, and for that he was grateful. He didn’t care if most of his day was spent indoors playing video games—it was his birthday and he could do whatever he wanted. (As long as it wasn’t illegal.)
Come seven, and Amari drove (yes, drove) them to the dinner place. The place was a twenty-five-minute drive, makes sense why he wanted to drive and not walk, and it was actually a diner. Emery liked this better than some Michelin-star restaurants. Comfort food is better than high-end gourmet. Plus, they’re college students. Emery may have gotten a scholarship, saving him thousands on the tuition, but he didn’t have the time for a full-time job. His part-time was whatever gig he could get his hands on.
They both ordered the classic, cheeseburger and fries with a strawberry milkshake.
Emery doesn’t think he ever stopped smiling the whole time there.
✾
It’s been a few hours since dinner, they were now in their dorm and the clock read 11:19. A few minutes ago, Emery let Amari know that he was going to sleep, something they do to tell the other to be quiet. He was tired after a long day of existing and needed to recharge, so a reasonable person would say ‘Okay,’ and leave it at that.
This is Amari, though. When Emery told him he was going to sleep, he said ‘No’.
That’s it, just a ‘No’. What is that supposed to mean?
When asked for a reason, he referenced the time in the morning when he brought something in and told Emery to wait in the bathroom. Emery widened his eyes when he remembered something specific. He said that it was a surprise.
Amari was either waiting for him to piece it together or just didn’t want to say it outright, because when Emery voiced his thoughts, he maneuvered his way to the mini-fridge.
“Close your eyes, please,” He didn’t have time to be shocked at the unusual manners due to his eagerness to know what it was and quickly closed his eyes.
He heard the sound of a tiny door, a mini-fridge door, open. Then, the sound of a box being pulled out, before the door closed. The next noise was Amari opening and rummaging through a drawer on his desk, closing it, and then the sound of a lighter flicking on. Emery didn’t even know he had a lighter.
He heard Amari walking right in front of him and then stopping. “Can I open my eyes now?”
A sound of plastic ripping ensued, “No,”
Emery nodded, waiting as patiently as he could—which isn’t patient at all.
After a long while of plastic opening, cardboard, another lighter noise, more plastic, walking, putting the plastic back into a drawer (he guessed because he heard the sounds occur in succession to each other), and even more walking, he was presented with the long-awaited words.
If Emery didn’t know better, he’d say Amari’s voice sounded nervous. “Stand up, uh, you can look now,”
He stood and opened his eyes to be greeted with the sight of a chocolate cupcake held on a paper plate by Amari, who was holding it up to him. The cupcake had navy blue frosting, bright yellow fondant stars, and a fondant-made upside-down top hat with a cute rabbit peeking their head out, paws out to support them. Next to the rabbit was the candle wick, lit and coming out of a fondant-made wand.
“Mari…” He said, stunned. “This is what you brought in this morning?” A yeah… was heard. “It’s incredible…”
Amari spoke up hesitantly, “I had to go out to the shop I ordered from this morning to pick it up, that’s why I was gone for a bit…”
Emery nodded, still in awe. The one cupcake was the best thing he’s ever seen.
“Sorry I’m not saying much, I’m just still processing…” He tore his eyes off of the dessert to look at him. “You did this for me?”
“Of course, Em,” Amari grumbled out, embarrassed. “You should blow the candle and make a wish, or something,”
A wish. Anything I wanted, but it wouldn’t come true if I told what it was.
He thought for a second, before closing his eyes and blowing out the wick. Amari smiled, watching.
✤
They were sat on their respective beds again. It was only a few minutes after he made his wish, and he was now eating the cupcake while talking to Amari. He insisted that they’d share, but Amari refused each time, leaving no room for arguments. Emery was mostly still awestruck, sometimes just staring at the cupcake despite it being half-eaten already.
Emery finished swallowing a piece of the cupcake, “Honestly, you must have tons of experience with planning birthdays. Today was great! Amazing, even,”
Amari looked at him, “I got an amazing?” He teased with a smile. “This is a learning experience for me, too,”
He paused. “It… is?”
“Yeah. I only had a handful celebrated, properly, that is,” He gestured for Emery to keep eating and he did, but not before asking,
“Properly?”
Amari nodded, “As in, usually parents plan a birthday, they bring cake or cupcakes, a gift or such.”
Emery chewed extra fast just so he’d be able to respond faster. “So, then how are the others celebrated? If not properly?” With a brief pause, he later added, “Sorry, I shouldn’t pry,”
Amari shook his head, “It’s fine. It’s just a bit embarrassing.” He palmed the back of his head, a new habit of his, Emery noticed. “Some my friends would get me something and not my parents, because, uh, yeah. Others I kinda just…”
Emery could practically feel his uneasiness radiating off of him. “You don’t have to tell me.”
Amari mumbled something under his breath, but it was unintelligible to hear.
“I’m sorry?” He prompted for him to repeat.
“Party…” Party? He… He’d party…
“You– party—?”
Amari took a deep breath in and out. “...Yeah,”
Emery immediately tried to reassure the other. “I mean, it’s not bad or anything! Just a bit unexpected, but better than what other people do! Like, I don't know, maybe people throw oil into the ocean on their birthday, some people don’t care about pollution and would very much enjoy doing it, so, partying isn’t anything to be embarrassed by, or anything. As long as you didn’t hurt anyone, and at the time you enjoyed it, there’s no harm done, right?”
And he meant every word he said. Sure, people can equate partying to a bad personality trait, but Emery would never do that. In the end, their life is their life. He’d never judge that.
This time, had to have been the first time today, Emery was the one shocking Amari. Shocked Amari had slightly widened eyes and nothing else.
He nodded, slowly. “I guess,” He said, “thanks, Em. We should probably go to sleep,”
Emery nodded, happily and tiredly. He finished his cupcake a little before Amari’s ‘confession’ and was ready to sleep. “Yeah! Sure,”
“Or,” Oh no… “that ghost game got updated an hour ago. We could play that.”
Emery raised an eyebrow, “It did? How’d you find out?”
Amari lightly smiled. “It says ‘update’ in the title.” He waved his phone around.
“I now see why you think that.”
They both laughed. Amari refocused his attention to his phone, and Emery walked to the trash can to throw the cupcake wrapper and the paper plate away.
“Hey,” Emery started, “Does this mean that we’re… friends or something?”
Amari looked at him. “Aren’t we already friends?”
If Emery hadn’t just thrown away the only thing he was holding, he might’ve dropped it right then. “What!? You haven’t told me that we were!”
Amari put his pointer finger to his lips, telling him to shush. He then spoke lowly, “Do you tell your friends that you're friends with them or just talk with each other for a few days and come to a mutual understanding?”
Emery pursed his lips. “I see.”
“Join me, friend.” Amari pat the space next to him. He was sitting with his back against the wall.
He purposefully ignored the mocking tone and joined him on his bed, brought out his phone, and then a few moments later in the actual game. He’s not sure when exactly they’ll go to sleep, but he’s sure that he can stay up for at least a few more hours. Somehow, even after the long day of going out they had, he wasn’t tired sitting next to Amari. He could’ve sworn he was a minute ago.
If they showed up to class tomorrow, half asleep, and people asked why, they could just keep it between themselves. Saying ‘We stayed up to hunt ghosts on a block game’ doesn’t sound the best.
Or– maybe they shouldn’t keep it to themselves. They might get the wrong idea.
Yeah, that’d be horrible if they did misunderstand. Extremely. Terrible.
…He should probably care more about it.