Surprise?
Title: Surprise?
Rating: PG 13 (language)
Pairing: 2min
Summary: Taemin never really took birthday wishes that seriously, because he never thought they came true.
A/N: this is for phigwhig because happy birthday!!!!!????????? um this wasn't actually your original birthday fic i had planned but I didn't know when I would be able to properly finish parts 2 & 3 it so HERE /POPS CONFETTI I hope you like it it's kinda stupid but hey
also I know that Taemin's birthday is actually in july but JUST BEAR WITH ME OK PLEASE
'Decided what you want for your birthday yet?'
His birthday was on the coming Saturday, marking the 17th year he had come out of his mother's womb or something. He kind of really didn't understand the whole big fuss, but Kibum enjoyed the anticipation of the party and the buying of presents and Taemin liked the dinner (expensive food, usually steak) and present part of it. Taemin glanced up at his friend, who had his head bent down over his lunch across the table.
'You know what I want,' he sighs.
He had wanted the same thing for two years, but admittedly his present wasn't exactly easy to obtain.
Kibum raises his eyebrows at him.
'Can I buy it in the shops?'
'...No.'
'Choi Minho?'
Taemin glanced around them, half heartedly telling Kibum to hush in case any of their classmates heard. He saw Choi Minho in the corner of his eye, flawless in his school uniform and laughing at a joke his friend told.
'Yeah. So technically it would be a case of kidnap-him-and-run rather than buying it in the shops.'
'Taemin, as much as I love you, I’m not gonna help you convert your basement into a holding chamber. Your parents would think that I’m a bad influence on you. And we both know that I’m good for you,' he smirked.
'Not when you force me to dress like a girl,' he muttered.
Friday rolled around, Kibum excitedly presenting him with a cake at lunch as their friends looked on. He had even brought in matches with him for the candles ('oh god Kibum you better not get arrested for arson' Taemin had said), but he told the birthday boy impatiently to 'make your damn wish I didn't haul my ass out of bed at 6.15 for wax to drip over the icing'.
Taemin tried to think quickly of what he wanted in life - he had good friends, he loved his family and he already got good grades. Then he remembered this morning, when he had been running late due to the waffles his mum had made for breakfast.
The bell had rang, and he didn't want another late mark on his record. He ran up the steps quickly, seeing the person just entering the school building pause to hold open the door for him. Taemin only saw who it was when he was a few steps away at him, feeling heat on his cheeks when he realised how out of breath and windswept his hair must be.
Choi Minho, looking way too good for this early in the morning. He smiled effortlessly at Taemin when he muttered a 'thanks', then walked beside him as they made their way to the lockers.
'We had an essay for english, didn't we?'
Taemin breathed in the faint cologne that he wore - just enough for the scent to occasionally waft in his nose and be enticing rather than overwhelm his senses.
'Yeah. I didn't get that much done though, only about three sides.'
Minho laughed. 'Better than me. I only got two, and I crammed in as many quotations as I could. See ya, Taemin.'
Taemin remembered the scent of his cologne and his deep, quiet laugh in the middle of the chaos that was the school canteen, and he thought, what the hell.
And as he closed his eyes and tried to blow out all seventeen candles in one breath, he wished, I wish I could have Choi Minho.
'Remember that I’ll pick you up tomorrow!' Kibum called after his back when he turned to go home.
Taemin waved a hand behind him, not bothering to reply verbally. The birthday outing to go to the cinema with their group of friends was arranged for Saturday, along with whatever Kibum had planned after. But for tonight, he was content to go home and shower and wait for his parents to come home and take him out for dinner.
He rolled over in bed, sighing as he opened his eyes to frown against the morning light, then cuddled back into his blanket. The house was quiet as his parents had left to work again, and he turned to check the time. It was only 10am, and he had to be ready by 3 so he reckoned he could spent at least another 3 hours in bed. He paused.
That box had definitely not been there last night. It was massive, the width and length and height of it at least three metres in diameter and placed neatly in the middle of his carpet with an oversized bow attached to the top. His curiosity was piqued, and he climbed out of bed and stretched in his pyjama shorts and vest before he went down to the kitchen to get a pair of scissors.
He slid the sellotape on the box carefully open, walking awkwardly on his knees as he made his way around the parcel. The box was too heavy for him to rotate, and Taemin was really hoping Kibum hadn't bought him a play house for some strange reason.
It finally opened as he ripped at the lid. Taemin paused. Was it really...
Choi Minho?
He appeared to be sleeping, head tipped against the wall of the box he was in and Taemin took a moment carving his smooth features into his memory before Minho seemed to stir awake slowly.
'What the fuck...am I in a box?'
He squinted at the light source, Taemin falling away from the crack with a squeak as he tried to avoid Minho's view.
'Is someone there?'
Taemin considered the options he had right now. He could call Kibum, ask if he really kidnapped Minho for him and listen to him as he laughed hysterically in Taemin's ear and asked if he appreciated the effort he went to this year. He could run as far away as possible right now so Minho would never find out it was him. He could wake up from his dream. Taemin pinched himself on the arm, letting out a hiss of pain when he discovered it wasn't a dream - and that he had pinched far too hard.
'Taemin?'
Shit. Minho had successfully ripped the box a little more, exposing Taemin who had been dumbly sitting on the floor cross legged.
'Uh. Yeah?'
'Do you have any explanation why I’m in a box? Why are you here? Whose room is this?'
'Um...'
'Why are you not wearing proper clothes?'
Taemin blushed as he looked down at his bare legs. He noticed that even though Minho was the one in the box, he was dressed far more appropriately than he was in slim, close fitting jeans that made his legs look like they went on forever and a casual fitted shirt. Minho, on the other hand, had discovered bubble wrap in the box. He shifted to pull some from beneath where he was sitting, then began the process of popping it.
'Oh, sorry,' he said when he noticed Taemin staring at him. 'Want some?'
He took the proffered bubble wrap from him, spreading it across his bare knees.
'So, why am I here?'
Taemin didn't really know what to say, and he wasn't quick enough to say something like, 'I don't know, why are you here?' so he said, '...it's my birthday?'
Minho laughed, a nice, calm sort of laugh that didn't say why the fuck am I in a stranger's room? 'Happy birthday, Taemin. But that doesn't explain why I’m here.'
The laughter was still absorbing into Taemin's ears when he said, 'I guess it's because I wished for you for my birthday.'
The popping between Minho's fingers stopped.
'You wished for me for your birthday?'
'Oh god I shouldn't have said that. I don't know how this happened, please don't freak out, because I swear I didn't drug you and drag you here-'
'I suppose it's a good thing that it's your birthday and not mine,' Minho mused.
'What?'
Minho snorted. 'Come on, Taemin. Why else do you think I hold open doors for you and ask you stupid questions about english homework?'
'Because...you're a nice person?'
'The same reason that I’m here, probably, if I haven't got this wrong and you really did wish for me for your birthday.'
'So you're my birthday present?'
Minho noticed the bow stuck to his own chest, then grinned widely at Taemin.
'Yeah, I guess I am.'
'And you hold open doors and ask me stupid homework questions why?'
'Because I like you?'
'So you're ok with being in a box and in my room with no apparent good reason?'
Minho laughed again. 'It's a good thing you weren't my birthday present. I don't know if I could control myself if you had a bow stuck to you.'
Taemin blushed. 'Do you wanna get out of that box then?'
'Sure.'
Taemin helped Minho rip the opening in the box until it was sufficiently big enough for him to crawl through, then stood awkwardly as Minho gazed around the room with fascination.
'Hey, is this your room? Is that your baby picture on the wall? Aww Taemin you look cute! Same chubby cheeks.'
He frowned as he discreetly tried to kick last night's underwear under his bed.
The silence was broken by a rumbling, and Minho looked down at his stomach in surprise, brushing the bow on his chest as he patted his stomach.
'Breakfast?' Taemin asked, and Minho nodded his approval as they made the way out of his room.
Breakfast was cereal and toast and eggs and bacon, Minho rattling around the kitchen enthusiastically in an attempt to help.
'Sit down, Taemin,' Minho had told him. 'It's your birthday, after all. I can cook.' But Minho didn't know where anything was, resulting in Taemin getting up anyway to get whatever it was he needed.
Minho cracked eggs with one hand, leaning over with the other to put bread into the toaster. Taemin watched and wondered was this really real what on earth did I do to get Minho in a box and have him to cook breakfast for me am I in a food coma because I ate too much last night?
But Minho asked him where the plates were and he handed them over in a daze, nearly dropping the one he was holding as he watched Minho layer eggs and bacon over toast. Taemin grabbed the orange juice out of the fridge and they sat at the kitchen table with the morning sun brushing over their skin.
'So what have you wished for before for your birthdays?' Minho asked as Taemin bit into a piece of egg, only to hear a loud crunch. He was too polite to spit out the (large) piece of eggshell, so he avoided chewing as he swallowed.
'The normal things. A dog, a unicorn. Those never happened though.'
Minho laughed, patting the bow on his chest. 'I like it. At least I’m not wearing my birthday suit, I guess.'
Taemin nearly choked on the gulp of orange juice he had taken to help wash down the eggshell.
'Anyway, this is a lot more exciting than my usual Saturday. Oh, hang on, should I phone the guys to tell them I’m not coming to football?' He glanced at the kitchen clock. 'Shit, yeah, there's only ten minutes and I’ll never make it on time. Can I borrow your phone?'
Taemin went up to his room, searching for his phone under his pillow and hastily texting Kibum saying what the fuck did you do as he made his way downstairs again, handing it over to Minho who pressed in a number.
'Hey, Jjong,' Taemin heard Minho say.
'Yeah, yeah, I know it's not my phone number, it's Taemin's I’m over at his.'
Cue some rather loud screeching at the other end, with even Taemin being able to hear YOU GOT FUCKING GUTS CHOI YOU SCCOOORRREEEED NOT EVEN IN FOOTBALL MAN YOU'RE A PLAYA YOU HEAR ME? GUYS, HEY GUYS, THIS IS MORE INTERESTING THAN THAT PORN YOU FOUND LAST NIGHT ALRIGHT GUYS CHOI GREW SOME FUCKING BALLS AND-'
Minho coughed rather loudly into the phone, and Taemin thought that they probably matched in the shades of red they were right now.
'Jonghyun, Taemin's right in front of me and I’m pretty sure that he heard every single word you said. You want me to put you on loudspeaker as well?'
'oh,' Taemin heard more quietly. Then; HEY TAEMIN CAN YOU HEAR ME THIS IS FUCKING NEWS DID YOU KNOW MINHO'S HAD A CRUSH ON YOU FOR AGES HE KEPT TRYING TO FIND STUPID THINGS TO ASK YOU ABOUT SO HE COULD TALK TO YOU AND-
'Fuck's sake Jonghyun, could you make me sound any more of a creep?' Minho said exasperatedly. 'I only phoned you to say I wouldn't be able to make it to practice.'
Minho you DOG what were you up to last night are you really that sore? HEY TAEMIN CAN YOU HEAR ME WAS HE GOOD TO YOU IN BE-
'FUCKING HELL JONGHYUN I’M HANGING UP ON YOU.'
There was a little bit of silence, before it was Taemin's turn to cough awkwardly.
'So. Um. Was that Jonghyun?'
Minho looked embarrassed to say the least, scratching his forehead ruefully.
'I’m considering whether or not to bang my head against this table. But then I might end up unconscious and it wouldn't look great to the police if that happened and you still had a human sized box in your room.'
'Yeah, that wouldn't be the greatest idea. You could go back and do it in your own house, though. Then they wouldn't be able to convict me of anything.'
His phone buzzed, alerting them to the fact that he got a message and it was still in Minho's hand. Minho looked down as the screen lit up.
'Oh, it's Kibum.'
He handed over the phone and Taemin opened up the text.
What do you mean I’ve only just showered and I’m about to prepare for your surprise tonight
Huh, Taemin thought.
'What did he say?' Minho prompted, looking up at him with his eyes round with concern when Taemin didn't reply for a little.
'Just about tonight.' he said absently.
'Oh. Should I go then? Am I intruding? I probably disturbed your whole morning, haven't I? Ok yeah I’ll go, sorry about the breakfast I think I actually broke your toaster I swear I only pressed the down thingy but-'
'Hey, Minho, it sounds kinda crazy but do you wanna go to the cinema with us? It's not like the morning hasn't been weird enough already but it's ok if you don't want to-'
'Seriously, did you hear Jonghyun? I'd love to. What time? Should I go home and get changed first?'
Taemin laughed. 'I think we both need to calm down a bit.'
Minho grinned sheepishly. 'Yeah. Um. Happy birthday?'
They spent the rest of the afternoon watching lame weekend TV and took turns in the shower to wash, Minho not bothering to go home because he discovered the clothes he was wearing was brand new; they still had their labels on, which was why he had felt a constant itching on his back. Taemin made to take the bow off his chest, before Minho stopped his hand with his own.
'I like it there,' he said, beaming so much that his eyes crinkled a little bit at the edges. 'It makes me yours, doesn't it?'
'What about after tonight, when you take it off?' Taemin asked.
'Oh. Well, I’ll still be yours if you want me. There's that whole thing about a dog isn't just for christmas, you know, not to guilt you into anything.'
Taemin had sort of forgotten that Kibum was coming to pick him up, and 3pm rolled around a lot sooner than he thought it would. His front door banged open, with Minho who was sitting beside him stiffening and whispering, 'Who is that? Is it a burglar?' with Taemin just sighing as Kibum barged through the living room door and already complaining.
'Taemin, you didn't reply to my texts and you know that bugs me - hey, Minho. What are you doing here?'
'I don't know,' Minho said rather happily.
Kibum turned slowly to Taemin, mouthing what the fuck happened please enlighten me now why did you not tell me that you were gonna do this so I could help you woo him off his feet?
'Yeah. Uh, Kibum. See, here's the thing. I don't really know what happened here either.'
'I know you said you wanted him, but I didn't know what you were gonna do, did you drug him? Because even though I'm so not ok with this you have to make sure you give him the right dosage-'
'Woah. He came in a box, ok? Like a present or something. And I can't say, 'I’ll explain later' because I really don't know what happened.'
Kibum looked perplexed.
'Alright. Should we go then? We're gonna be late.'
'Yeah. Minho's coming too, if that's ok?'
Minho got up to follow Taemin, only a step behind like a puppy on his heels.
And so his seventeenth year started, but it also marked his first year of learning how to love in his first relationship. The never quite figured out what happened on the morning on his birthday, but they accepted it because hey, it all worked out for the best. They went back to school on the following Monday, Taemin still eagerly shy even after he had been texting Minho for the whole of Sunday and Kibum still baffled at how all this happened in the first place.
Still, Minho walked up to Taemin when he was at his locker, leaving behind the whoops and egging on from his mates, Jonghyun especially loud. They sat together at lunch now, Taemin dragging Kibum with him only for Kibum to switch sides to Jonghyun and tease the couple endlessly.
It worked. That was all Taemin had wanted, although his parents were curious where the massive box in his room had come from.
'Kibum,' he offered as a one word explanation.
They nodded unsurely, accepting his reasoning as he continued on trying to help his mum cook dinner.
A/N: idk man this is apparently a thing I'm sorry
I'm done idk I just kinda thought of the whole 'wow i got a present oh look there's a person inside' fanfic thing that seems to happen and it's treated as perfectly normal so I thought, 'hey why not write one where the person wakes up and is like 'why the fuck am I in a box' ' but this happened.
so hey thanks for reading
also this is the only time time differences come in useful.