12. Birthday

TWELVE

There are some things,even in the brisk rush of preparing for an upcoming comeback, that wait for no one.

The comeback is going to be titled Wasteland, and it's Miyong's birthday.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…"

The members sing a little off-key, and it's a luxury to be able to have this, this moment of all of them being silly together. They could sing beautifully if they really wanted to, but this is really a sign that they're not at work—not right now.

There was another cake on Miyong's birthday live. This one feels more special. Kiki and Joonie-hyung had taken the time to make it. It looks homemade. It's a carrot cake with lumpy frosting on top, smoothed over by one of the butter knives in their kitchen. Carrot cake just for Miyong, although neither of them had ever made it before, because carrots are Miyong's favorite.

He feels so special as it's placed in front of him at their table.

"Happy birthday, Miyong! Woo!"

Ragged cheers and claps go up across the room. A pointed birthday hat sits crooked on Miyong's head, and he reaches out to right it as it threatens to fall off. Holding it in his hand, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and blows out the colorful, waxy candles.

They all grin. Kiki takes the cake away and cuts it into eight pieces. It isn't very big. They'd made it in a bread pan they'd found, so the pieces aren't overwhelming. Miyong licks the icing off the bottom of the candles while Kiki and Joonie-hyung portion out the cake onto plates and pass it around the room. Miyong gets a smudge of icing on the side of his hand and then licks it off.

"The cake is really good," Miyong says, his eyes widening as he takes his first bite.

It really is. They'd dredged up some spices from somewhere and grated the carrots very fine. The cake is chewy and soft, perfectly moist and sweet in a way that blends well with the slightly tart cream cheese frosting. Thick raisins burst between his teeth every now and then like bits of candy.

"Glad we didn't do too bad," Kiki says, hanging over the back of the couch and reaching out to ruffle Miyong's hair.

Xiao Yu holds Kiki's plate out to him, and he accepts it, taking a thoughtful bite of his own.

They all find comfortable places to sit in their living room, draped alternately over couches and chairs.

"Oh, shoot, did someone get a picture?" Miyong asks, slightly dismayed. In all the flurry of excitement, he'd actually forgotten.

"I did," Mouse says, holding up his phone and wiggling it.

Miyong sighs with relief. "Thanks," he says bashfully.

Mouse is already waving him off with a flick of his hair, but a few seconds later, Miyong's phone buzzes with a notification—Mouse had sent him copies of the pics he'd taken.

Charis sits out the cake. Kiki offers him a slice, tilting a plate in his direction, which Charis declines with a gentle headshake and a raise of his hand. This close to their comeback, he's on a strict diet, watching his weight to make sure he's as slender and sharp as possible. He does take a bite of cake that Mouse offers him, though.

They end up slouched on the same couch, and it's all so perfectly casual. Mouse holds out a forkful of cake, cupping his hand beneath it so it doesn't fall, and Charis only looks at it for a second, his eyes crossing minutely as he focuses on something so close to his face, before opening his mouth and letting Mouse feed him.

Mouse takes advantage, sneaking a few more bites to Charis as they all hang out and talk, and between the two of them, they end up sharing the majority of the slice.

Charis feels warm and lazy today. It isn't a feeling he's especially used to. There's a certain lassitude in his bones. He feels fizzy but not in a way that's hurting him like it was that day after the concert. They talk for quite a while as the night ticks by outside the window, and as his body gets more tired and more comfortable, his head starts a slow descent toward Mouse's shoulder. His mouth is full of the sweet aftertaste of Kiki and Joon's frosting, and he idly wishes he had a coffee.

Mouse startles slightly when Charis' head hits his shoulder, but he doesn't show it. He has good control over his body, and he uses it to keep himself steady so as not to startle Pocky.

Soohyun locks eyes with him for just a second before looking away, and Mouse uses the muscle control formed by hours and hours of isolation training to shrug his unoccupied shoulder in a gesture of what're you gonna do?

Charis doesn't fall asleep. He merely drowses, not feeling any particular need to be ‘on' right now or to participate in the conversation that ebbs and flows around him. He didn't think he was so tired, but as soon as he stops moving, it's like all the collective exhaustion of the last several days hits him like a sack of bricks. His body grows heavy, and he feels like he's sinking into the couch. Even his eyelids grow leaden, pulling inexorably downward. It's a struggle to keep them open. Every time he finds his eyelids slipping shut, he breathes in deep and drags them open with more effort—it seems harder each time.

A bright peal of laughter goes up around them, and it lightly startles Charis out of his doze. His dark eyelashes flutter open.

Mouse touches the side of his head lightly, shielding him momentarily from the overhead light and the sound.

"You can sleep, Pocky," he murmurs.

Then he takes his hand away, and Charis feels the gentle vibrations of his voice. Mouse responds to something Xiao Yu had said. His voice isn't pitched softly for Charis. It's just as strong and loud as it always is, but Charis, like the rest of them, can fall asleep anywhere at this point. He finds the familiar noise of his members a comfort, one that reaches deep into his hindbrain and makes him feel cocooned in safety.

He licks the sugary taste of frosting from the inside of his mouth once more, chewing at it softly. Mouse can feel the moment Charis falls asleep again because the weight against his shoulder gets heavier. He glances over and sees Charis with his eyes closed, breathing deeply rhythmically in and out.

"Charis-hyung looks so cute," Miyong whispers.

His ability to whisper quietly hasn't really gotten any better, and Soohyun makes a motion for him to keep it down.

No one really feels like going to bed, so they stay up talking for a while longer. Mouse is careful of the position of his body, being careful not to jostle Charis so much. There are shadows beneath his eyes, more visible on his bare face once he's taken his makeup off. Charis looks like he could use the rest. Even when his arm starts to go a little numb from the weight, Mouse doggedly ignores it. He can deal with a little muscle pain and tingling; it's not like it's a big deal.

Soohyun is the one to call it a night first. Despite being their leader, he isn't especially good about resting. Soohyun is usually one of the last ones in bed—it's just that late.

"Well, I think that's it for me," he says with a stretch of his long limbs that cracks his spine. He twists his head to the side, and there's an accompanying satisfying pop in his neck. "The rest of you can stay up if you've got it in you. I'm going to bed."

Kiki sits up from where he's been resting against one of Xiao Yu's arms, craning his neck from one side to the other, pressing his ear down toward his shoulder to stretch the stiffness out. He gives a yawn that curls his pink tongue like a cat. "No, I think that's it for me, too. Gonna try to sneak a catnap before tomorrow."

"Catnap?" Xiao Yu asks. "What time is it?" He catches sight of the clock and swears. "Fuck. Yeah, I guess I gotta turn in, too."

And just like that, it's over.

As Soohyun gets up, it's like the spell is broken. Miyong and Kim Joon get up as well. Miyong seems reluctant to let the party end, clinging to this bright moment with all of his friends, but even he's mostly dead on his feet.

"Come on, let's go to bed," Joonie-hyung tells him. There's an understated but real trace of warmth in his voice, one that Miyong can easily pick out.

Kim Joon stacks the paper plates together, tossing all the silverware into the sink to be dealt with tomorrow. Soon, their trash can is filled with the remnants of scrapes of frosting and paper hats that have outlived their usefulness.

"Happy birthday, kiddo," Xiao Yu tells Miyong as Miyong blinks blearily and waits for Joonie-hyung to come back from the kitchen. He sways a little bit on his feet.

Xiao Yu puts a heavy hand on Miyong's head and flattens the beanie he'd given Miyong against it. It's so long that it pushes Miyong's bangs in front of his eyes, obstructing his vision with strawberry blond locks and midnight blue knit cotton.

"Thanks!" Miyong says, although he's not that much younger than Xiao Yu.

"You know, in China, you're now considered an adult. What're you gonna do with your newfound powers?"

"Ummm… eat the leftovers of Joonie-hyung and Kiki-hyung's cake?" he says hopefully.

Xiao Yu laughs and pulls the sides of Miyong's hat down around his ears again. "Careful you don't get fat eating like that."

"I won't!" Miyong promises fervently.

"You guys coming to bed too?" Kiki asks Mouse, turning his attention to where they're still on the couch.

"Eventually," Mouse says. "Don't worry about us."

"Wasn't gonna," Kiki says with another yawn. He scratches the back of his head and goes to collect Xiao Yu. Their doors are right beside each other on the same floor.

Everyone clears out. Joon pauses by the entryway with his hand poised over the light switch. He catches Mouse's eye and raises a straight eyebrow in question.

Mouse nods, and Joon flicks the switch on his way out. The living room of the dorm is immediately plunged into a cool, comforting dimness. The lights are still on in the hallway, and some light comes in through the large, unobstructed windows, so there's plenty of light to see by.

Mouse looks less imposing when he's in his loungewear. His face is scrubbed clean of makeup, which somehow makes it look both more delicate and sharper. There are very faint freckles across the tall bridge of his nose if you look closely. He leans his head back against the back of the couch and lets his mind drift.

He actually isn't all that tired, and he isn't in an enormous hurry to get off to bed. It's kind of pleasant to just float aimlessly. Mouse might be the social media-addicted one among them, but he hadn't actually grown up using screens all the time. In a lot of ways, this is almost a comforting return to younger times.

He doesn't know how long he sits there just letting the pleasant fuzz in his head reign. Pocky seems really tired. He doesn't show any signs of getting up, not even moving a muscle where he's still sleeping against Mouse's shoulder. The only sounds in the room are the dull drone coming from the refrigerator in the kitchen and the smooth, even sounds of Pocky's breathing.

Mouse considers just falling asleep here and letting Pocky sleep on him all night. In the end, he dismisses the thought out of hand. Pocky will wake up with a stiff neck if he does, but it's not all altruistic. Mouse will get sore if he sleeps here, too.

He doesn't wake Charis harshly.

"Hey," he whispers, moving slightly and feeling the buzzing sting of his sleeping limb slowly coming back online.

"Mmh…"

Charis stirs, coming awake and off Mouse's shoulder with a slow blink. Mouse's shoulder feels cold all of a sudden, exposed to the air now that Charis is no longer being his personal space heater.

Charis blinks in the darkened room. The lights are so low that they don't hurt his eyes. He's disoriented in the seconds it takes him to regain his bearings.

For a moment, he doesn't remember where he is. Then—right. Miyong's birthday party. He sits up fully, wincing at the slight stiffness in his neck. He stifles a yawn behind his hand.

"Everyone already went to bed?"

"Mm. Yeah, not too long ago."

"You should've woken me."

Mouse shrugs. He gets off the couch with a small groan and holds out his hand to Pocky, who takes it and lets Mouse pull him up.

"Going to bed?" Mouse asks.

"Yeah." Charis blinks, getting his bearings once more once he's standing. "You?"

Mouse pushes a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I'm heading off to bed, too. Night, Pocky."

"Night."

Charis licks the inside of his mouth. The taste of cake and sweet frosting has gone stale, leaving the inside of his mouth feeling slightly fuzzy. He's glad Mouse woke him up. His body feels disgusting. He wants to wash his face and take a shower, brush his teeth before he heads off to sleep. He hears the sound of water running in one of their bathrooms and thumps his butt back down on the couch rather than bother with trying to get in line.

He rests his elbows on his knees and holds his head in his hands lightly. He always feels kind of disoriented when he takes too many naps. It gives him a headache. Not that that's Mouse's fault. No one made him fall asleep again.

He could fall back asleep here, but he's not tired enough to fall asleep sitting up, and he doesn't let himself lie back down again. Sooner rather than later, Charis hears the water in the pipes shut back off again, and he levers himself off the couch with a light grunt of effort. How strange that he's the last one left awake in the house, or at least that's what it feels like.

Things haven't been awkward between them since Mouse and Charis slept together. For one thing, Mouse is the king of not making things awkward. He'd had a fling with Kiki back in their trainee days, not long before Knight Quest and they'd all debuted.

Kiki had been fun. He wasn't a personality that Mouse could get attached to, but he was someone Mouse understood, and he was very easy to get along with. They had an easy understanding.

Kiki wasn't looking for anything serious, and neither was Mouse. They were all insane in those days, barely sleeping, hardly eating, working themselves to the bone in order to get the approval to join the show and fight for the chance to debut.

Mouse doesn't bother turning on the light to his bedroom as he collapses back onto the bed with a sound huff. He'd already taken his makeup off before going to Miyong's shindig. He's not going to bother getting up again.

Mouse cares about Charis, a lot. He's probably Mouse's best friend here. The relationship Mouse has with Soohyun is different. It's more professional, more cordial.

Mouse's arm stays tented over his eyes for a minute before he reaches out and grabs his phone.

Although it's late, he sends out a message on FanApp, the app where they can connect with their Charms who have subscribed to their feeds. It's designed to look like a DM, and Mouse kind of likes the instant line to thousands of people around the world.

Hey,he sends.

What're you doing?

He minimizes the app and scrolls for a while through his Tiktok feed on his burner account, swiping to watch whatever videos pop up on his FYP, mostly dance videos. He sees a few people he knows from other idol groups. There's even a video of some kids doing one of their dances.

He opens FanApp again to a flood of responses from their Charms. They're studying or having dinner or watching videos on their computers. Some are playing games. Some boldly admit to watching Fairytale content or just tell Mouse that they love him.

Hmm? Why are you up so late?he asks.

The reply kicks the hornet's nest into a flurry of activity.

Why are you up so late?! most of the responses scold him.

Honestly, telling them they're up too late when Mouse himself is up past 3 in the morning. No one ever said their Dark Prince was well-mannered.

Can't sleep,he types. We had a birthday party for little Miyong earlier.

Well. I guess not so little anymore, kekekekeke.

He sends a picture of the cake Joon and Kiki had made. It looks very charming. It's a candid shot that isn't overly artful, with the soft, warm glow from the birthday candles painting Miyong's cute face in a radiant light as he holds the colorful plate. In the background, everything else is washed away by a kind of pleasant, grainy dimness.

He tucks his arm behind his head and scrolls through his phone one-handed. This time, he doesn't really bother to read the flood of incoming responses as he does other things. He sets his alarm for the next morning before he forgets.

Goodnight, sleep well,he texts their Charms.

Don't forget to bundle up and stay warm.

To a flurry of promised, We will, Mouse-oppa! Stay safe! Be warm! he tosses his phone to the side and falls asleep.