for nayama;; (1841 words)

Sungyeol laid alone in his bed, scrolling through his SNS feed with a somewhat lazy finger. He stopped at the image of his bandmates, posing around him as he held his birthday cake.

“Happy birthday to me.” He whispered to himself, a frown coming across his face. Sungyeol had been pleasantly surprised when s had presented him with the sugary treat in the middle of dance practice. They sang the customary birthday song and took a proof picture, uploading it onto Twitter for the rest of their fans to see. Sungyeol was expecting the festivities to continue, for practice to be cut short so they could go out and enjoy a dinner together, but instead Sunggyu had taken the cake from him and directed them to return to their formation to continue practicing.

“Stupid leader.” Sungyeol complained out loud, although the older man couldn’t hear him. He was slightly upset that practice had continued on as normal, but after returning to the dorms he was expecting to be treated to something special. But instead of showering him with attention, they had all gone their separate ways to clean up.

“Didn’t even offer me the shower first on my birthday, so rude.” But eventually he had his own turn, washing away the stress of the day and slipping into something fashionable, as he was sure that they would be heading out soon. But after getting dressed he was greeted by a silent dorm, not a single person going out of their way to wait for him or ask him if he wanted to go somewhere fun for his birthday.

He retreated to his room, clearly sulking but with no one to notice. Sungyeol thought longingly of his cake, the leader hadn’t even let him have a piece of it before going back into drill sergeant mode. Sungyeol hadn’t protested at the time, since he was sure there would be desserts later, but now he saw the error of his ways. He looked at their smiling faces in the photo, a sneer coming across his own. What had he done wrong to them to be treated so coldly on his birthday?

A knock sounded on his door, and his thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of the main vocal and the maknae in his doorway.

“Sungyeol hyung! We are going upstairs to play in the other dorm.” The maknae called out, already waving goodbye.

“Don’t miss us too much! Even though I know you will!” Woohyun called out in a sing song voice, before shutting the door behind them and leaving the dorm to go play with the other members.

Without Sungyeol.

“What the hell is this?!” Sungyeol yelled out, slamming his pillow down on the bed in anger at the unfairness of this situation. He was deep into the throes of a mental breakdown, his mind tortured by the night’s events. “Worst birthday ever!” He grumbled, hiding his face in the mattress.

Phase 1; Denial

This couldn’t be true; surely the members had something up their sleeve besides the uncut cake and the five minute break from dance practice. Being left alone on his birthday like this… it had to be a dream, right?

Phase 2; Acceptance

Sprawled out on top of his covers, his limbs stretched out in every direction, Sungyeol let out a heavy sigh.

“It isn’t all about you Lee Sungyeol.” He chastised himself, staring up at the ceiling with a pout. He wasn’t a little kid anymore, people weren’t obligated to pamper him on his birthday. “Maybe for them, my birthday isn’t all that important.”

Sungyeol knew better than anyone how busy all seven of them were. Schedules always seemed neverending, and when there wasn’t a broadcast or interview to attend, there was always practice, practice, and more practice. Was it selfish of him to want the members to go out of their way to celebrate with him, when they were so overworked and clearly tired.

Maybe Sungyeol was expecting too much from them.

He turned to his side on the bed, snuggling up with his pillow as he moped. Sungyeol’s eyes landed on the picture on his nightstand, a selca he and Myungsoo had taken on the night of their debut together. They were smiling, their hands thrown up in V signs as they posed for the camera. A grin came across his own face as he recalled the memory, a little warmth creeping into his heart.

But seeing the visual’s face made him realize that he hadn’t seen Myungsoo once seen they had returned home from practice. And if anyone should be paying attention to him on his birthday, no matter how tired he may be, it was Myungsoo. He was Sungyeol’s best friend, and he should at least put a little effort into making him happy on his birthday!

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