Chapter 20: Forever Is A Long Time (But I Wouldn't Mind Spending It By Your Side)
This is technically a much later update since I was busy last month, but either way I hope you will enjoy this breather episode of EJ and Jeonghan celebrating their joint birthdays.
Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' or Ten from "Weightless". Ten, Vernon, Joshua and Jeonghan belong to my friend @zealous_light. I only own my original characters. Enjoy the chapter.
October 5th, 2019
This had been a smaller private event between the close-knit group of friends, before the larger birthday party at EJ's house tomorrow.
"Nothing says 'I'm getting over a heartbreak and pulling myself back together on my birthday' like going to a cat cafe." Ten declared in a cheery tone, getting out of EJ's car.
"Nobody says that." EJ deadpanned.
"C'mon, you know how much we like coming to pet cafes after exams."
"Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see the cats." Ashlyn was feeling giddy about coming to the cat cafe. "It's a shame they don't allow us to bring our cats in."
"Eh, probably for the better. Remember the time we brought our cats to the pet park: your cat Blanca climbed up a tree and stayed there the whole time, EJ's dog Kota kept chasing after the squirrel, and my cat Louis brought back a dead bird." Ten reminded.
"Eej!" Cress's voice called out from the other side of the parking lot.
"Happy birthday, you dork." Cress looped an arm around EJ's arm.
"Thanks, C." EJ returned the hug gladly.
"Happy birthday to the love of my life!" Cress exclaimed happily, rushing over to lift Jeonghan up like a princess.
"I can't believe it, 3 months they'd known each other and they're already at the affectionate stage of friendship. It took me 6 months before Cress even gave me a hi-5." eJ mumbled under his breath in disbelief.
"Hannie, are those new shoes?" Cress gushed.
"Those are the same ones she was wearing yesterday–" Vernon commented.
"Nonsense, these are a shade lighter!" She instantly placed a finger over Vernon's mouth to shush him.
"Never thought the day I'd become Jeonghan's third-wheel but here we are." Joshua joked.
"Here's to my birthday almost-twin and my brother from another mother, wouldn't know where I'd be without you." Jeonghan wrapped an arm around EJ's shoulder for a hug.
"We are not even joking, the nurses used to put our baby beds close to each other back in the hospital." EJ clarified.
"Now you know how I've felt since day one." Jeonghan's little sister Jisoo deadpanned by the side.
"Who's the thirdwheel?" a boy standing beside Jisoo asked.
"Mark! Dude, haven't seen you in a while." EJ exchanged a handshake with his cousin's friend.
"Happy birthday, you two!" Mark greeted the older teens with a grin.
"Anyways, Mark, Jisoo and I need to catch up on school gossip." Ashlyn looped her arms around Jisoo and Mark's arms.
"Fine by me, enjoy yourselves." Jeonghan nodded
"So it's fine to leave Mark to accompany me when you get overprotective with other guys near me?" Jisoo spoke up. Her older brother was always protective of her around boys, Mark was one of the few that was in the Ok list. The first place goes to Phyrros but since Phy has chickenpox, Mark is the next best thing.
"Well Mark is a very trustworthy guy." Jeonghan shrugged, "He's like a guard dog."
"Did you just compare Mark to a guard dog?" Ten was trying not to laugh.
"That can be easily bribed with food, a new hat or Spiderman merch." Jisoo finished her brother's sentence.
"Aww, you know me so well." Mark pretended to swoon.
"So being a simp is a natural trait to the Yoon siblings' future partners?" Vernon commented, feeling amused by the whole Cress-Jeonghan and Mark-Jisoo dynamics.
"Yes." Ashlyn nodded her head at the conclusion.
"I'm betting 10 bucks Mark and Jisoo end up together long-run." Joshua proclaimed, out of the other teens' earshot.
"You do realize if and when the time comes, Jeonghan would throw hands at him." EJ chuckled.
"Well those two do have great chemistry…" the gears slowly turning in Ashlyn's head. "I mean Mark's type is girls with long black hair which Jisoo has."
"So does Ten's cousin Tern but you don't see Mark swooning." EJ commented.
"Psh, coward. I'm betting 20." Vernon scoffed playfully.
"Deal." Joshua grinned.
Once they were inside the Cat Cafe, the older teens crowded one of the tables while Ashlyn, Jisoo and Mark excused themselves to catch up at another table.
For some reason, Ten had the charisma of a Disney princess because all the cat cafe kittens seem to prefer him. One of the cat cafe visitors even tried to strike a conversation (in other words: flirt) with him but Ten only mistook her flirtations towards him for EJ instead.
Their friends were greatly amused that Ten assumed the girl from the cat cafe was trying to get EJ's number.
"You're going to love my present." Jeonghan handed EJ a gift.
"If you say something like 'My presence is the only present you need', I will hurl you out the window." EJ quipped back in response, used to his birthday twin's antics. He carefully opened the present, revealing…
"A scrapbook?" EJ stared in silent awe at the gift.
"Did you seriously include a picture of your moms meeting before the deliveries?!"
"Aww look, I was a big baby." Jeonghan quipped, gesturing to a picture of 5 day-old Jeonghan next to a 3-day old EJ when Mama Yoon was checking her son out of the hospital.
"You are 2 days older than me." EJ rolled his eyes, before he grinned smugly, "besides can't say the same now huh?"
EJ was ironically the tallest guy of the bunch at an unfair 6'2", it never fails to tick people off who used to call him short.
EJ flipped to another page and saw a picture of him dressed as Romeo when he was younger. Beside him was Jeonghan in drag, Ten with a bald cap, Vernon and Joshua in medieval costumes.
"Oh god, is THAT from 6th grade?!" EJ broke into a laugh.
"What happened in sixth grade?" Cress asked, she hadn't met EJ and Ten until 7th grade.
"Don't. Please don't remind me…" Ten grimaced at the memory.
"Back in sixth grade," and thus Joshua launched into storytelling mode, "Eej here got casted as the male lead for the school play. And Amelia here was casted the leading lady."
"Hey, don't blame me for getting food poisoning at the last minute." Amelia Palmer grimaced at the memory.
"I think that was just your body naturally hinting you weren't straight to begin with by having a natural reaction at the idea of kissing a boy." Her girlfriend Marisol remarked.
"You're comparing comphet to lactose intolerance." Amelia struggled not to laugh at her girlfriend's assessment.
"With Amelia out of commission for the second act, we had to find a stand-in stat, and nobody else was available. So we had to get the next best thing…me."
"Why wasn't there anyone else?"
"Ten got casted as Friar Lawrence. Vernon was our Tybalt, Joshua was casted as Benvolio."
"The fact that those three idiots tried to talk me into shaving for the role when I could have worn a bald cap." Ten deadpanned, gesturing to EJ, Jeonghan and Joshua respectively.
"You can imagine my surprise when I climbed up the ladder for the balcony scene and found Jeonghan in a wig and a dress." EJ grumbled into his hands.
"The food was so good it turned Juliet into an Asian." Vernon snorted.
"Hey say what you will, I looked gorgeous in the dress." Jeonghan strutted a pose.
"That you are." Cress agreed.
"Anyways EJ refused to kiss me." Jeonghan waved a hand, visibly disgruntled EJ had went offscript back then.
"For good reasons! One of which is that the lipgloss you used was not your color." EJ retorted. Jeonghan simply responded by flipping the birds at his birthday twin.
Another page.
"Oh my gods, it's you!" Cress gasped in recognition of Jeonghan with long hair. "Dude, I saw you at a park on the 4th of July BBQ a few years ago!"
[ Answer: the moment EJ, Ten, and the Lakeshore gang realized Cress and Jeonghan were in the same location, they had devised a plan to keep them away from each other as often as possible. ]
"Dude, you were my first Sapphic Awakening! How could I have not known my first girl squeeze was a guy?" Cress exclaimed.
"If it's any consolation, he has the same effect on EJ too." Joshua patted her arm. "Seriously, Eej returns home from camp and mistook Jeonghan's long haired look as a girl and thought Jeonghan had a cousin who's visiting town." Vernon cackled at the memory.
Meanwhile with the younger group of teens…
"I still cannot believe those two finally met." Ashlyn mumbled in silent horror.
"Me neither, but hey they've honestly never looked happier." Mark chuckled fondly.
"It's 12am in the morning! What's the emergency?" Tern hissed from the other side of the line.
"Cress and Jeonghan finally met!" Jisoo revealed.
Tern's face instantly paled at the revelation, "Ok, that's an emergency."
"Wish I could be there…" Phyrros sighed wistfully.
"Phy, you got chickenpox! You are stuck at home until further notice." Jisoo exclaimed.
"Everyone here has gotten the chickenpox except you and Mark and Ashlyn." Phyrros deadpanned. "You're next."
October 6th, 2019
"Happy birthday, EJ!" Cress charged into EJ's house and gave him a bear hug on his 18th birthday party. She made a ton of birthday cookies and a very life-like cake of EJ (with another separate one she made on Jeonghan's birthday).
"You're friends with Seven–?" Marisol Martinez was about to ask a question.
"No, Joshua Hong's hair is on the other side." Joshua interjected, taking a seat on the couch.
After singing the birthday song, cutting the cake, and then some the group of teens were lounging in the massive karaoke room of Caswell residence.
"...Uh Ten, Leo's trying to woo that cat again!" Vernon looked out the window and noticed one of Ten's pet cats Leo had snuck out of the house. Said cat was seen attempting to flirt with one of the neighbor's cats.
"Dang, even the cat's getting more than us." Cress mumbled, taking a sip of hot chocolate and set everyone else off with her remark.
Anthony had lost it at her remark, he laughed so hard that he snorted out his drinks.
"NOT HELPING!" EJ hissed.
"Mierda, I can't breathe!" Marisol had fallen off her seat wheezing.
"So are we ever going to find out what EJ stands for?" Sean Seabury asked out loud.
And just like that, he indirectly kickstarted the first party game.
"My bet is Enrique Javier." Marina threw in her best guess.
"Ernesto Joaquin." Marisol shrugged, throwing in her hat in the ring.
"Esteban Julio." Marissa Martinez also took a guess.
"Is that a Suite Life reference?" Joshua raised an eyebrow, recognizing the fandom reference.
"Heck yeah, my first crush from 'The Suite Life of Zack and Cody'." Marissa nodded her head.
"You, have good taste." Sean Seabury grinned, offering Marissa a fist-bump.
"Should have known your type in men are Himbos. And your type in women is basically Stella from Winx Club."
"No"
"Edward Jacob. Or Emmett Jasper." Sean Seabury threw in his metaphorical hat in the ring of guesses.
"Twilight reference!" Amelia Palmer recognized the pop culture reference.
"Ethan James, after my favorite character from Power Rangers: Dino Thunder." Anthony guessed with a playful smile.
"Choi Eun-Jae." Jeonghan raised his glass of root beer.
"Eun-Ji." Joshua continued the train, followed by Vernon.
"Eun-Jo."
"Y'all are just copying, pasting and paraphrasing the answers." Ten chuckled, noticing the names.
"Got any guesses, Tenny?" Jeonghan elbowed his friend.
"英俊 (Yīngjùn, Handsome)." Ten gave his best guess.
"Dude, Yīng doesn't even start with an E." Joshua spoke out.
"No, but it sounds enough like an E." Ten rebutted.
"Economy Jobless." A huge smug grin formed on Cress's face.
"That's not my name." EJ at this point looks done with the whole game. As funny as some of the guesses were, he is not revealing his name anytime soon. Only a select few knew what EJ is short for.
"My money's on Elijah." Amelia shrugged.
"Catchy and on-brand, unfortunately not my real name."
"I just assumed it was Eric Jr. You know, after me." Jeonghan grinned cheekily.
"You're older than me by two days, it's nothing big."
"Therefore I get the OG Eric, you're just Eric Jr." Jeonghan cracked a joke, earning some chuckles from their blended friendship circle.
"I am VERY SURE that isn't what happened!" EJ exclaimed, looking mildly annoyed yet amused. "Besides, if my name were Eric Jr, I'd have been named after my mom's dad, grandpa Eric."
"Yeah, you should actually see the pictures he's shown me. The resemblance is uncanny." Ten quipped, remembering looking at old pictures of Grandpa Eric in his youth.
"Well at least now we know EJ would age gracefully if Grandpapie Eric's genes are any indication." Cress nodded sagely.
"I like my story better." Jeonghan shrugged slightly, pretending to be unconvinced.
Later once the party has ended and (most of) the guests have gone home.
"Ok everyone, get in the damn picture!" Cress called out.
"No, let me take the picture, your hands are too short." EJ casually snatching the cellphone from the shorter friend.
"Excuse me?! My hands are long enough to snap your elbow like a wishbone!" Cress started making verbal threats.
"Damn it, guys I have a phone stand!" Vernon facepalmed at their antics.
"Hey, do you think we'll celebrate our birthdays together forever?"
"Of course, I couldn't even imagine a single birthday without you guys."
October 5th would always be their (Unofficial) Shared Birthday, nothing in the world would ever change that.
Gotta say, I love the friendship dynamics between the characters. I based EJ's birthday off Matt Cornett's birthday IRL (October 6), and then realized Jeonghan's birthday (October 4th) is just 2 days before EJ's.
Chapter Talk: -
(1.) The Cat Cafe is its own scene (with an offhand mention in 'Weightless' when Ten assumes EJ had a crush on some girl who asked for his number at a cat cafe). The Cat Cafe Girl is mentioned offhand here with her own cameo but I find it funny Ten's love-dar is very broken.
(2.) "They don't even have a white guy in the band" is based on THIS clip from the Twilight spoof movie 'Vampire Sucks'. As a nod to 'Weightless' season 3 with EJ having a Korean nickname 'Choi Eunjae'. That being said, there's a running gag in Starburst with Cress and the Lakeshore Trio successfully gaslighting several people into thinking 'Choi Eunjae' was a Trainee.
(3.) The Siblings Squad made a cameo (with Tern in Thailand and grumpy with time zone calls and Phy with chickenpox): Mark and Jisoo usually stick together because they go to Lakeshore, hence why some of the older teens assumed those two may end up dating in the future. Mark is a sweet guy to be around and his dynamic with Jisoo is so fun to explore. Plus Mark and Phy are respectful gentlemen to their female friends (Ashlyn, Jisoo, Tern).
(4.) There are mostly mentions (via photograph flashbacks) of their childhood years together, I like to think the five guys (Ten, EJ, Jeonghan, Joshua and Vernon) are all childhood friends (or befriended each other at some point and stayed friends). Gotta love the Childhood Companions Trope.
(5.) Also yes I had to bring in Jeonghan's long hair era. He was so absurdly pretty he made Cress and EJ question their sexualities. In which Cress mistook Jeonghan for a girl and considers "her" as the first girl she was attracted to. EJ however, all bets were off to his mortification when he realized the long haired pretty girl is his birthday twin/brother-from-another-mother.
(6.) The name guessing game had to be one of my favorites to write because all the Senior Squad (from East High and Lakeshore respectively) are all interacting. Sean was a Twilight fan, Anthony was into Power Rangers, the Martinez Triplets used to watch the Suite Life Series.
And that's all for now. Thank you so much for reading, feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comment section. Have a fantastic day, and see you in another update later this month for the Halloween special.