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Jiwoo woke up to the sound of his alarm going off. Yet he doesn’t remember setting an alarm on a Saturday. Jiwoo outstretched his arm from under his blanket to double tap the stop button on his phone. Unplugging it from its charger and bringing the device closer to his face, he reads on the screen REMINDER: It’s the day before Mr. Kayden’s birthday!! Buy Mr. Kayden a gift today!! Jiwoo’s eyes widen as he realizes why he set the alarm in the first place.
The teen yanks the blankets off himself and rushes to the bathroom. When he’s done and walks back to his room too change into a simple outfit of black jeans and a blue hoodie. He picks up his phone to check the time.
It’s only 10:12am.
Maybe he can convince his friends to go shopping with him. He clicks through his numbered passcode and opens up the messages app. On the top is his most recent conversation which includes a group chat with him, Wooin, Jisuk, and Subin.
Me [10:12am]: Hey guys! Do any of you want to go shopping with me?
Jiwoo sees that they all read his message and multiple people are typing.
Jisuk [10:13am]: yea im down
Wooin [10:13am]: Where are we going?
Subin [10:13am]: im in becuz im boreddd
Me [10:14am]: Have you guys seen that recent TikTok trend? The squishmallows? I WANNA GET ONE!
Jisuk [10:14am]: y am I not surprised
Subin [10:14am]: I know exactly what ur talking abt
Wooin [10:15am]: I’ll go
Jiwoo smiles victoriously.
Me [10:15am]: Great! I was thinking we could go to the mall that we always go too
Wooin [10:15am]: I’ll get ready now
Subin [10:15am]: should I get one too...
Jisuk [10:16am]: ew u want one?
Subin [10:16am]: yea so I can throw it at ur face
Jiwoo locks his phone and shoves it in his back pocket. Grabbing his wallet from his nightstand and pockets it into his hoodie, and slipping a pair of socks on Jiwoo makes his way downstairs. Glancing a look over his shoulder, Jiwoo notices Kayden is standing in the kitchen stirring a spoon in his cup, “Good morning Mr. Kayden! I’m going out to hang out with my friends, I’ll see you later okay?”
Kayden nods as he doesn’t look up from his stirring, “Okay have fun, don’t stay out late.”
Jiwoo marches over and gives Kayden a quick side hug.
****
At the mall Jiwoo and the squad paced around the place for a while before they found a store that sold the squishy pillows.
“I touched it first so it’s mine.” Jisuk exclaims through gritted teeth as he tugs a stuffed toy towards his chest. But Subin, who is holding the same pillow but from the other side, pulls the toy towards her side, “No, I touched it first so let go and get another one.” Subin retorts while glaring up at Jisuk.
“Why don’t you two get another one.” Wooin suggested. Both of them turn to glare at the quiet teen, “But I grabbed this one first so I call dibs.” Subin answers as she tugs the pillow out of Jisuk’s grasp. “Guys you might rip it.” Wooin chimes it again without looking back at them. Instead he looks through the fluffy pillows as well, contemplating on getting one.
“..fine..” Jisuk and Subin both mumble and let go of the stuffed toy.
Meanwhile, Jiwoo claims dibs on an axolotl squishmallow. Already mentally cheering about how cute it is and how perfect this gift would be for Kayden.
“We should check out that bakery by the water fountain, I think I saw them having a sale.” Jisuk suggested as he walks ahead of the group towards the bakery, the smell of vanilla and cinnamon gets stronger as they walk closer to the small store. Jisuk and everyone trailing after him all agree to go into the bakery and discuss the kinds of sweets they hope to find.
“It smells so good here I’m going to buy some sugar cookies. You like sugar cookies right Wooin? Wanna buy some with me?” Subin asks, but before Wooin can get a response out, the short haired girl is pulling him by his arm towards the clear display case of the types of cookies the shop sells.
‘This is a perfect time to buy Mr. Kayden a cake.’ Jiwoo’s round eyes widened in realization. He stalks over to the types of cakes they have and they all look, and smell, delicious.
But he runs into a problem.
He doesn’t know what flavor Kayden would like.
Should he pick a basic flavor like chocolate? Or should he pick one with multiple flavors for the sake of variety? Would Kayden like that? Should he send a quick text? No, that'll be suspicious.
“Young man, may I help you?” A kind voice breaks through his inner scattered thoughts. He notices he was blankly staring at the glass display case, when he lifts his eyes he sees an elderly woman behind the counter.
She gives him an elegant smile.
“Uh, no- well maybe, actually I don’t know.” Jiwoo flushes with embarrassment as he turns away from her face, and scratches the back of his head. Was he so into his thoughts that now he can’t form sentences?
“What’s wrong? Maybe I can help if I hear what’s going on.” The woman encourages warmly, a patient smile stretches along her lips.
“Okay, so a friend of mine has a birthday coming up but yet..” Jiwoo starts to explain but his voice trails off. “..yet I don’t know what flavor of cake they’ll like. I want it to be good, so I don’t know if I should go with a simple chocolate cake or something more fancy. But what if they don’t like either of those.” Jiwoo tugs his hair a little and squeezes his eyes shut in stress.
The young woman laughs gently, “Oh dear, you are an over-thinker huh?” She cuts off to laugh again.
Jiwoo frowns, but cracks an eye open to stare back at her.
“How about you buy one of our favorites. One of our popular kinds of cakes. Customer reviews are a solid four stars.” The woman gestures for him to follow him. She points at the cake in the center, “This is our butterscotch cake with vanilla frosting. It’s fluffy and tastes amazingly sweet.” Jiwoo stares at the brown and white cake, with its white swirls and chocolate sprinkles over top of it.
“Yes, this one please,” Jiwoo nods and looks oddly serious. An extreme contrast to his blushy face and shy demeanor from a moment ago. Even the woman is slightly taken back but she doesn’t let it show. “Amazing, I'll ring you up for this cake.”
“Wait, is it possible to get something written on it?” Jiwoo asks. “Of course you can, you can write the message here.” She hands him a piece of paper with a pen. He scribbles out his message and hands it back to her. “This shouldn’t take long,” As she looks at the message.
She walks to the back to retrieve a fresher version of the cake up front, as well as to incorporate the happy birthday message Jiwoo wrote down. It takes about ten to fifteen minutes when she comes back. She carries the box to the counter and punches in the purchase into the cash register. Jiwoo pays for it and with that he buys both a present and a cake for his mentor.
He looks at his friends to see if they’re ready to go or not. He looks concerned to see that Subin and Jisuk are in the midst of buying nearly every cookie the store sells. With more abundance of sugar cookies. The store clerk looks afraid as he scans through the multitude of cookies, and it isn’t helping that Subin and Jisuk are smirking wildly and giggling like maniacs. Wooin stands further back from them, as a silent way of saying “I have no part in this.”
Everyone carries their boxes and bags in their hands and walks out of the store.
****
It’s the next day.
Jiwoo is rushing down the stairs and quickly sees Kayden feeding the stray cats their dry food. “Good morning Mr. Kayden!” The young boy shouts as he runs into Kayden’s chest squeezing him tightly. The older awakened one gives the kid a small squeeze in return before he’s pulling away.
“You’re in a good mood.” Kayden says with a small smirk. The teen looks ecstatic as he meets Kayden’s eyes with hands balled up. “That’s because today is your birthday Mr. Kayden. Happy birthday Mr. Kayden!”
The older awakened one blinks for a second before realization is replaced, “Oh, it’s that time of the year already? Damn, well,” he pats Jiwoo’s head, “Thanks.” The teen smiles widely and raises his fists up in a cheering way, “And that’s not even all of it Mr. Kayden, I have a plan to make today fun for you.” Kayden raises a challenging eyebrow, “Oh really? Fine we’ll go by your plan but there’s one thing I get to choose for today.”
Nodding along and waiting for Kayden’s next words, Jiwoo can’t help but wonder what would Kayden want. Does he want a certain kind of meal today? Does he not want anything at all? Can Jiwoo afford it?
Kayden huffs as he crosses his arms across his chest, “I don’t care if it’s my birthday you are still training today. No expectations.”
Oh, it’s just training. Jiwoo can do that.
“Alright Mr. Kayden!”
The young awakened one takes off up the stairs, he may have used his speedy power a little bit to change his clothes.
****
Training goes on for a little bit longer than they both anticipated. But that doesn’t make Jiwoo discouraged nor does it stop him from doing the “fun things” he had planned.
If only Kayden could’ve asked Jiwoo to emphasize on what his idea of fun was.
At the present Jiwoo is pressing a wet rag against Kayden’s forearm. No matter how many times they do this the cold rag always makes his skin sting. Jiwoo presses down and holds the rag in place for thirty seconds, and hums to himself as he counts down in his head.
When the thirty seconds are up Jiwoo lifts the rag from his arm. Grabbing the corner of the damp paper, Jiwoo peels slowly at paper revealing a shiny picture of a snake going up Kayden’s forearm.
Jiwoo’s eyes glisten, “Wow that one is probably the best one yet. It looks really good on you too.”
This is the fourth temporary tattoo Jiwoo has given him.
Kayden admires the black and white tattoo on his arm. “You’re right this does look kinda cool.” Kayden moves his arms from side to side to look at that snake from different angles. For some water tattoos this isn’t half bad, okay so maybe this is a little fun. Jiwoo picks up a couple of sealed tattoos near him. Deciding which one he wants to do next.
“Mr. Kayden I would like this one,” Jiwoo hands his mentor a yin and yang tattoo. Kayden grabs the sticker and dips the rag into the bowl of water in between them, “Where is it going?” Kayden asks as he wrings the rag.
“Here,” Jiwoo answers as he pokes over his wrist on his right hand. Kayden peels the seal off and places it on Jiwoo’s wrist. “Why are we doing this for each other again? We could do this ourselves.” Kayden says but he still applies the rag to the teens wrist, holding it in place for thirty seconds.
“Because it’s more fun doing it for each other. Also, I want to do the next one for you but it’s going to be a secret. You can’t look at what it is.” Jiwoo replies with a finger over his lips. Kayden rolls his eyes playfully at the kid, “Alright.”
Kayden takes the rag off Jiwoo’s wrist and puts it back in the bowl. He carefully peels away the thin paper revealing the small yin and yang symbol. He tosses the wet paper with the others around them carelessly.
They’ll clean it up when they’re done.
“By the way, when is this tattoo session going to be done, please tell me we aren’t using the whole packet you bought,” Kayden asks as he closes his eyes as a silent prayer goes through his mind. He can deal with a lot of things but in the amount of time Kayden has met Jiwoo and his rowdy bunch of misfits, Kayden’s level of sanity has decreased. Keeping Jiwoo’s promise of not looking as Jiwoo looks for the mystery tattoo, he hears Jiwoo laugh gently in amusement as if he was expecting this question to be brought up, “No Mr. Kayden, we won’t do them all just a few more and we’ll call it a day.” Jiwoo answers, “Okay Mr. Kayden keep your eyes closed.”
Kayden nods as he keeps his eyes closed. A few seconds later he feels Jiwoo press the tattoo paper against his cheek, but very close to under his eye. Kayden smirks a little, “This is the big surprise, right under my eye.” He hears Jiwoo hum in approval and not a second later he feels the damp rag be applied to his face and winces slightly..
Kayden peeks through one eye just to see if it’s all clear to look now. I mean it’s not like he can see the tattoo, but Jiwoo catches him. “You can open your eyes now Mr. Kayden.” The older awakened one opens both eyes and looks at the teen in front of him. “You’re getting a face tattoo after this,” Kayden says with a stoic expression.
Jiwoo giggles and the thirty seconds are gone in a flash. Jiwoo removes the damp cloth and puts it back in its bowl. He takes the corner of the thin paper and peels it from Kayden’s skin, “That’s fair,” He answers.
He discards the now blank paper and his eyes sparkle with joy, “Awesome! This turned out good.” Jiwoo flips around to grab his phone and opens his camera app.
He turns back around to face Kayden, “Are you ready to see your new tattoo?”
“I guess so.”
Jiwoo holds his phone to Kayden’s face. He sees his reflection and notices that a butterfly is placed under his eye. A butterfly with pinks, reds, and orange colors all over it.
Kayden can’t stop himself from a smile forming along his lips because of course the kid would choose to put this one on his face.
He squishes Jiwoo’s face with one hand, still smiling at him, “A butterfly? That was your big surprise?” He asks as he sees Jiwoo scrunch his face while holding in giggles, “It makes you so handsome Mr. Kayden.” The kid says while opening his eyes again. Kayden let’s go of his face, “You’re a dork.” Kayden says while still smiling in entertainment.
Kayden‘s gaze turns to look down at the water-base tattoos surrounding them. He smirks as he picks up a colorful one which is a beautiful flower.
“This one is going on your face.” Kayden makes up his mind.
“Okay Mr. Kayden.” Jiwoo says.
Of course the kid wouldn’t care.
Kayden takes the rag from the bowl, wringing it first, then presses the temporary tattoo onto Jiwoo’s cheek. Followed by smacking his face with the rag a little roughly, Jiwoo makes a “ack” sound.
“Thank you for doing this with me Mr. Kayden.” Jiwoo conveys but there’s a distant look in his eyes. Kayden has been living with him for so long he can spot the signs of the words that Jiwoo doesn’t say out loud. Whether it’s his nonverbal behavior, from shifting front foot to foot or even just his eyes looking heavier.
Kayden sighs softly, “Spill.” Jiwoo’s eyes change into a look of confusion, “What are you talking about Mr. Kayden?”
Kayden’s face softens, “I know that look on your face. You were thinking about something and were debating about whether or not to say it out loud or not, so tell me what it is.” Jiwoo stares in surprise but the corners of his lips turn up a little, “Okay,” he starts.
Kayden removes the rag and puts it back in the bowl.
“You know how I had a hard time trying to make friends when I was young. Well, when I stood on the sidelines and watched other kids play with each other or laugh with each other,” The older awakened one pinches the corner of the wet paper and peels it off Jiwoo’s cheek slowly, revealing the shiny and pretty flower design underneath.
“I would see girls braiding each other’s hair, I would see boys fist bump each other, and it made me realize that I didn’t have what they have, I had no one.” Jiwoo takes a deep breath before continuing, “But that was in the past. I’m not alone anymore because I have friends now. Jisuk, Subin, and Wooin,” Looking up and flashing Kayden a beaming smile Jiwoo finishes, “And you Mr. Kayden. I’m so thankful, and us playing with these washable tattoos makes me think ‘this is what friends do.’”
Jiwoo rubs his other arm, looking down as a blush forms across his cheeks, “Uh, sorry that is too sappy and weird.”
Patting the teeen on the shoulder and giving it a squeeze of reassurance, “You don’t have to apologize.” And he means it because the kid shouldn’t have to say sorry for things that aren’t worth apologizing for. Kayden knows about Jiwoo’s backstory but he’ll hear it again and again if it means his student can feel some kind of comfort in talking about it out loud. The teen nods his head, “You’re right Mr. Kayden, thank you.”
Kayden smiles at the teen as a funny thought crosses his mind to lighten the mood, “If girls braiding hair is what it takes to be friends then they got nothing on us. Only real men give each other fake tattoos.” Kayden voices while cupping his own chin and tilts his head to the side. Dramatically showing off the side of his face with the butterfly tattoo Jiwoo gave him.
Jiwoo nods his head again, “Yeah only the prettiest kind,” Jiwoo adds as he pokes next to the butterfly tattoo. Kayden knows Jiwoo touched near it not on it but he still wanted to mess around with the kid. The adult in this situation gasps loudly and swiftly places his hand to his own chest, staring at Jiwoo with disbelief, “You dare touch my natural beauty mark?” The young awakened one catches on to Kayden’s acting and adds to it. He leans forward in a deep bow at his mentor, “Oh, the great Kayden, I’m so sorry. I beg for your forgiveness,” Kayden smirks upon seeing Jiwoo carrying on with their little skit. Continuing with this joke they’ve got going he cups his chin again and hums blatantly in thought, “Hmm..I suppose I’ll forgive you if you call it a day and we stop doing these tattoos.” Jiwoo lifts his head from his bowed position, “Yes sir!”
They both clean the area around them and put everything back where it needs to go. Looking out the glass balcony doors shows the beautiful nautical twilight sky.
‘I should get Kayden’s cake and a gift.’ Jiwoo’s inner voice echoes in his head.
The young awakened one peers over at his mentor who is in the mist of washing the dishes. With Kayden distracted, Jiwoo bolts up the stairs to his room, rushing over to his closet and pulling his closet doors open. He crouches down to retrieve his cake and since he couldn’t keep it in the fridge, for the obvious reason that Kayden would see it and get suspicious, Jiwoo may or may not have had a mini cooler shoved in his closet to keep his cake cold. For this very reason.
Only the best for Mr. Kayden.
Either way, Jiwoo picks up the boxed cake in one hand and with his other arm takes a hold of the shopping bag, through the bag loops, that carries his mentor's present. With everything ready Jiwoo climbs down the stairs, “Mr. Kayden! I got something for you.” He yells as he descends from the stairs.
Jiwoo makes it to the end and skips over towards Kayden, who is by now standing in the living room. Kayden’s expression turns into confusion as his eyes immediately fall on the box in Jiwoo’s hand and the bag around his forearm.
“Happy birthday Mr. Kayden!” Jiwoo yells happily and holds the boxed cake towards Kayden. The older awakened one slowly takes the box from Jiwoo’s hand, “Oh, right it’s still my birthday. Kid you didn’t have to do all of this.” Jiwoo knows he didn’t have too, hell many people don’t even give their own bosses a gift when it’s their birthday. “I know Mr. Kayden but I wanted too.” Jiwoo replies with a smile and a light dusting of pink on his cheek bones.
The taller awakened one takes the box to the kitchen to place it on the table. And to, more importantly, open it up to see what the cake looks like.
Jiwoo follows closely behind.
Kayden opens the box and sees the simple brown and white cake with “Happy Birthday Mr. Kayden!” written in black icing across the middle of it. Smiling fondly at the cake, Kayden then turns his head to give Jiwoo the same affectionate stare. He pulls Jiwoo to his side for a one arm hug, rubbing a hand along Jiwoo’s side. “Thanks kiddo this is really sweet of you.” Jiwoo leans further into his side, his inner self feeling all too relieved that Kayden isn’t rejecting his cake.
“That’s not all Mr. Kayden, I also got you this,” Jiwoo lifts the shopping bag containing the squishmallow.
Kayden releases from the hug to take the shopping bag from Jiwoo’s hand. Kayden’s eyes drift to the bag and softly whispers, more to himself than to Jiwoo, “Kiddo you didn’t have to do this,” But he takes the present nonetheless.
He takes out the squishmallow and his face drops with instant confusion again. He squeezes the axolotl repeatedly and even flips it over on the other side. He grins at Jiwoo’s way and continues to squish the pillow in his hands. “Thanks for getting this..insanely addicting and squishy pillow.” Kayden says as he glares down at his own hands.
Jiwoo laughs and lifts his hands in the air, “I’m happy you like it Mr. Kayden. Let’s cut this cake and see if it tastes good.” Kayden puts down the plushie and walks over to grab a knife, two plates, and two forks.
He cuts two slices for him and Jiwoo. The young teen watches as his mentor takes his first bite and there’s a pause. Kayden doesn’t move and it’s hard to tell from his blank expression what is going on inside his head.
The teen gets a little panicked. His feet shift together under the table.
Yet a moment later Kayden is digging into his cake like it’s the end of the world. It’s not a forcing kind of way, his face isn’t grimacing and his eyes aren’t twitching.
He must really like it then.
Jiwoo giggles from across from him, “I take that you like your birthday cake Mr. Kayden.”
“We don’t speak of this,” Kayden points his fork at Jiwoo with a non-threatening glare.
“It’s a relief that you like it. I didn’t know what kind of cake you’d like so the women behind the counter had to help me. She recommended this.” Jiwoo explains as he takes a few bites from his plate. A small blush makes its way on his cheeks.
“I can imagine that happening.” Kayden mumbles through a mouthful of dessert.
They ended up getting seconds but after their seconds they were full. Jiwoo did the honors of putting the cake in the fridge as well as cleaning up the dishes. Kayden takes his squishmallow and flops on the couch, Jiwoo following after him.
Kayden doesn’t miss the opportunity to hit the back of Jiwoo’s head with the small toy. “Huh? What was that for Mr. Kayden?” A look of shock paints over Jiwoo’s hurt face. Kayden glares back at him while stuffing the behind his head, “Cause whenever you’re slacking during training or get into a situation you weren't supposed to be in, I need a non-lethal weapon to punish you with so I was testing this one out,” pointing his thumb to the plush behind him.
Jiwoo laughs and rubs the back of his head timidly, “But Mr. Kayden you usually just hit me with your paws which is a lethal weapon,” Kayden rolls his eyes and looks away, “True.”
The young awakened one stares at his mentor for a second, “I’m glad you like my gifts Mr. Kayden even if it’s hard for you to say it out loud but do you really..have to make weapons out of them?” Scooting away from his mentor for good measure, who knows he might smack the back of his head but this time activating his awakened power.
“Shut up,” Kayden growls under his breath and turns his focus to the television that plays a random superhero movie.
Dropping the subject, both awakened ones take interest in the movie instead. As time goes on the three strays inch closer to the pair on the couch, before ultimately jumping on the couch to sit on their laps, purring contently from the pets they get from both awakened ones.
At the end of the day Kayden enjoyed his birthday. It’s definitely the first one he's ever celebrated, but with the addition of his student in his life he's sure this won't be the last time they celebrate it either.