It would not be original. It also wasn't the first time that he would be doing this but he couldn't afford a proper birthday cake, a gift even more, so this should do, at least for now. He hadn’t promised anything, grand or small, but for all the things that Yixing meant to Yifan, it felt wrong to not do anything for the younger no matter how simple.

Yifan quietly snuck out the door, tiptoeing through their creaky floors, Yixing already knocked out cold after training since early in the morning. He clocked in too many hours days prior so he could spend his special day flat on his bed with plans to catch up on his missed dramas and maybe eat out with the money he had saved from starving himself unhealthily. The elder of the two had wanted to stop Yixing from leaving the dorm early and coming back late but he knew the other had a purpose for it and it wasn't as if the shorter male did it frequently. He was also aware that Yixing only did that so he wouldn't feel bad about missing practice on his birthday which seemed absurd to Yifan but he had been friends with the dancer long enough to know that his brain does not work the same way as others – aka Yifan's.

Outside, he blindly felt for the walls that would lead him to the kitchen, stopping halfway through the hallway to pat down his pockets to make sure he had the lighter. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he found it in the left pocket of his sweatpants. He carefully found his way to the kitchen without the help of their white walls, his eyes having already adjusted to the dim lighting. He switched on one light then headed to the farthest corner from the entrance. Once there, he opened one of the cabinets and moved as quietly as he could, placing the packets of noodles down to the counter to reach the back of the small space where he hid a box of choco pie and a birthday candle he bought secretly before going back to the dorm.

The tall male stopped when he heard a door open, thinking whether he should return everything back into the cabinet or pretend he had been hungry so he decided to go out and cook himself something. The mess would have been too much for his excuse but his sleep-deprived brain could not formulate anything better. He held his breath when he heard the footsteps get closer. A small shadow walked right into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water then turned around to leave but before the figure could disappear back into the dark, a voice spoke, full of sleep.

"For Yixing, right?" Minseok's voice filled the small kitchen. He spoke in Korean even though they had a Mandarin Only rule whenever they were inside the dorm but Yifan allowed it, considering how the elder must not be able to think well of these policies with his still-in-slumber state.

The taller made a sound from his throat that he hoped sounded like an affirmative, not wanting to create enough noise to wake the others. The Korean trainee nodded, making Yifan turn to finally look at him. His eyes were still closed even as he drank the remaining contents of his bottle.

"It's nice that you remembered." There was a smile on the elder's lips which turned into a small frown, barely visible but Yifan knew it was there. "Sorry we couldn't contribute, though. You know how little we get."

"It's alright, hyung. It's not like I'm giving him a proper birthday either."

Minseok shrugged, eyes opening slightly to see the choco pie that Yifan must have searched for since it was one if not Yixing's most favourite Korean snack. The smaller one hummed then nodded once more.

"It's better than nothing." He said before he smiled at the Chinese male, finally leaving the kitchen to go back to his shared room with Lu Han.

Checking his watch, Yifan saw that he only had ten minutes left to Yixing's birthday then he started panicking. He tore the box of the choco pies carelessly and he almost let one of the snacks fall on the ground when he started opening each pack hurriedly to place them neatly on the plate to form a small pyramid. Lastly, he took one of the candles and poked a hole on the pie at the top with it. Seeing as he still had a bit of time, he got rid of the trash first before taking the plate of chocolate pies.

Slowly and just as silently as he left, he entered their room, holding the plate tightly on his left hand. Yixing was still fast asleep, thankfully, blanket pulled up to cover his whole body. Yifan padded to the side of the shorter male's bed, setting the plate on the nightstand beside him before crouching down. With a small smile on his face, he watched the dancer's relaxed expression, mouth slightly parted as he huffed out hot breaths. He felt a little bad for waking the other up but he selfishly wanted to be the first to greet Yixing on his birthday, be the first one to see his face when he turned nineteen and also be the first person Yixing would see on his birthday.

Yifan reached for the lighter inside his pocket and used his large hand to shield the flame from the breeze coming in from their window. Once the clock struck twelve, he lightly shook Yixing and gently rubbed the younger's arm until his heavy-lidded eyes slowly opened, blinking once, twice before his gaze locked with Yifan's.

"Ge?" His voice was rough with sleep, which the elder expected, as his much smaller hands came up to rub his eyes. "What is it?"

Yifan pulled back gingerly and took the plate. He pushed it forward, in front of Yixing's face, the light that came from the candle illuminated the shorter one's expression. His eyes were wide open, the hand formerly fisted to rub the sleep away were covering his mouth and the gasp that left his lips rang in the elder's ear.

"Happy birthday, Xingxing." The taller male greeted quietly, the volume just enough for the both of them to hear.

"Oh, Ge." Yixing let the hand fall down from his mouth, kicked the covers away then pulled himself up and off the mattress. "Thank you."

His eyes shimmered as he looked at Yifan, gaze flitting from the elder to the piled up choco pies as if it were a three-tier cake.

"Make a wish before the candle melts completely."

The birthday boy nodded and put his palms together, ready to wish. He closed his eyes with a smile on his face, the dimple on his right cheek indented deeply. When his eyelids fluttered open, Yifan watched the shadows each of his eyelash created on his cheeks, enamored by every little thing about Yixing. The room was once again covered in darkness when the younger blew the candle, the smoke cleared instantly and the moonlight that filtered in through the curtained windows played shadows on the smaller one's face, the content smile still sitting on his lips.

Yifan was about to ask what the other wished for but the words get caught in his throat when the younger suddenly leaned forward and placed his hands on the taller male's shoulders. His eyes widened when he saw Yixing's face slowly inching towards him, eyelids falling shut when the distance between them was close to disappearing.

It was abrupt and unexpected that when Yifan registered the feel of soft lips on his cheek, it was already gone. In front of him, Yixing sat with a slouch, hands still on the elder's shoulders. He did not even look the slightest bit bothered while a thousand butterflies and maybe even bees buzzed inside Yifan’s stomach, his cheek warm with embarrassment. 

The sleepiness the taller male felt when he forced himself to stay up to wait for Yixing's birthday disappeared when his gaze met the other's, the warmth of his smile radiated and wrapped Yifan in a comfortable cocoon. As much as he wanted to go back to his bed to finally have his beauty sleep, the happiness in the younger's eyes kept him in place, made him want to see Yixing's smile more clearly and keep it there where it belonged on the other's lips. He unconsciously lifted his hand to cup the smaller one's cheek, an action he found himself doing a lot lately.

Yifan felt the other nuzzle his palm, the soft lips that were on his cheek just seconds ago were placing small kisses on his large palm. Yixing tugged his wrist afterwards, pulling back the covers to let the elder in. He wanted to reject it, in favour of crawling back to his own bed as the space wasn't enough to have both of them. However, it was hard to deny the birthday boy of what he wanted especially when he was smiling up at Yifan invitingly.

With the plate of choco pies forgotten on the nightstand, Yixing buried his face in the crook of the elder's neck, arms wrapped securely around the taller male's torso. Yifan tried his very best to suppress the shiver that threatened to make his body tremble in the younger's hold. Cautiously, he enveloped the birthday boy in his arms, smiling to himself when he felt the smaller body melt in his embrace.

The smile on his face grew exponentially wider when he felt the tickling hot breath against his skin with the words Yixing whispered in the night, "Thank you, Fanfan."