When Daehyun opened his eyes, he was met by a smiling angel. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and cooed happily at the little girl sitting on his chest. His daughter was dressed in a pink and white cotton dress with polka dots and had a large bow tied in her hair, like a birthday present. He picked her up and kissed her cheek.

            “Aigoo, did mommy put you in this?” he nuzzled her neck as she laughed and her hands patted him on the face in her own excitement.

            “No,” an all-too familiar voice drawled. “I did.” Daehyun lowered his daughter to see his best friend come into view.

            Youngjae smirked and perched himself on the bed. “Good morning, Daehyun. Happy birthday to you, mister. Do you like my present?”

            Daehyun sat up and held Jaylie in his arms. “Jaylie is your present? I don’t think so.”

            His best friend scowled lightly. “My present is far superior.”

            Daehyun aimed a kick at the annoying male and Youngjae laughed. “I’m joking. My present is outside. You need to get ready to see it. Let me take my precious goddaughter first and you can go get dressed.”

            Daehyun inquired for his wife and Youngjae rolled his eyes. “Always her. What happened to our friendship that you never seem happy to see just me?”

            “Don’t be stupid. Are you really getting jealous because I want to see my wife more than I wish to see you?”

            Youngjae wiped a tear away dramatically. “There used to be the days when I was enough.” But he was only joking and walked out, babbling nonsense to Jaylie as he gave Daehyun privacy.

            By the time Daehyun walked downstairs, he found breakfast waiting for him. He inhaled it, savoring the yummy eggs and buttered toast before Youngjae walked back in. He handed Jaylie to him and then the three of them went outside.

            “What in the world?”

            There was, set up in their backyard, a giant inflatable maze. Youngjae cleared his throat and read from a scroll. “There is a prize unmentionable at the end of this maze. You need to pass all the obstacles in the labyrinth as well as keep your precious treasure safe. Please proceed carefully, and keep in mind, we want you alive to see your next birthday.”

            Daehyun gave Youngjae an incredulous look but set forward into the winding path. He held Jaylie in his arms as he walked, laughing at the walls. Youngjae, and whoever had come up with this idea, had pasted old pictures of Daehyun on the walls.

            “Cake!” Jaylie screeched, pointing at one particularly embarrassing one of Youngjae smashing his face into a cake so many years ago.

            “Strawberry chocolate, do you want some when we get back?” When Jaylie nodded, Daehyun kissed her again and finally saw a kiosk. Assuming this was one of the obstacles Youngjae had been talking about, he pressed the button.

            Yongguk’s voice came on. “To pass by this obstacle, you need to get a score of 100 on the karaoke machine. Please proceed, and remember, it needs to be a duet with Jaylie.”

            Daehyun laughed out loud and pressed the machine only to find the songs were preset. B.A.P’s “Happy Birthday” came on and he took the microphone. He tried to sing as loudly as possible, fumbling a little over the rapping part but Jaylie was shouting and throwing her own musical talents into it, humming a different melody of her own.

            The score was a 98 and so he had to try again. This time it was “1004” and Jaylie fell quiet, recognizing one of her favorite songs her father would sing to her. She laid her tiny head on his shoulder, on her thumb, as she closed her eyes. The 100 blinked on the screen and Daehyun kissed her cheek. “Come on, let’s go.”

            From the kiosk came a golden ticket and he took it before setting off. The next obstacle was to take a selca with Jaylie and post it onto Twitter. Daehyun laughed. Of course Himchan-Hyung would make this his task. He took a picture of him kissing Jaylie’s cheeks, with the baby tugging on his hair, wide open in a smile, and uploaded it. Spending the birthday with the Princess, he captioned and immediately was bombarded with mentions and favorites.

            Youngjae made him have to suffer a water balloon treatment; the goal was to keep Jaylie one hundred percent dry while he himself suffered. Daehyun took the golden ticket grudgingly but smiled when Jaylie shrieked with delight at being splashed with some of the leftover water.

            The next task was a fun one. He had to crawl through a miniature obstacle course, all the while helping Jaylie pass too. She was an expert crawler and could walk on all fours faster than he could. He held her on his lap as they went down the miniature slide, Daehyun keeping his head lowered to avoid getting hit.

            He could see another kiosk coming along and this one was a memory game. He saw pictures from their past and had to answer questions regarding the background of what had happened. This ticket was the most exhausting to get. But when he achieved all six tickets, a hole opened in the wall of the maze and Jaylie screamed.

            She grabbed onto Daehyun’s neck and pointed at it. “Boo boo!” she wailed, squirming in her arms. He kissed her face and soothed her. “Shh, shh. Baby, it’s just a door that we have to go through.” He bopped her up and down and smacked his lips on her skin as she calmed down.

            Daehyun stepped through the opening and saw a giant gift box in the middle. He grinned, having a suspicion of what was inside. “A prize unmentionable,” he remembered Youngjae saying. Looking at his daughter with his eyes sparkling, he smiled. “Are you ready to see mommy?”

            “Umma!” Jaylie giggled as Daehyun pulled the lid off the present to reveal a disgruntled looking woman.

            She smiled upon seeing her family but the moment Daehyun helped her out, was a bundle of complaints. “Stupid Youngjae, not even leaving me some air holes to breathe in. I swear, he’d be fine if I suffocated.”

            Daehyun eyed the dress she had on appreciatively and when she caught him looking, her eyes narrowed. “His idea too. How about we get inside and get the cake? The others are in there, waiting.”

            Daehyun sidled up to her and shifted Jaylie into a more comfortable position in his arm before kissing her. “I love you.”

            She blushed and touched the bow in her head. “Well, I suppose that makes up for the suffering.” But she was smiling as she said it. “Happy birthday, Daehyunnie.”

this is for Lux333 and -boundless

I know I completely changed your request but it's Daehyun's birthday ♥

Please read my newest blog post for my Daehyun birthday appreciation

I love you, baby boy ♥