“Happy birthday to me…”

Taehyung sang quietly to himself, cocooned in the darkness and warmth of his blankets. Harsh slices of light flashed across his skin, on-off, on-off, neverending. The house behind him was dark and silent; the street beyond his window was smothered with yellow light, darting with motion. His breath misted out over the glass; growing and shrinking with every exhale.

He glanced to his side. 12.01am, the alarm clock announced.

Taehyung twisted his legs to the side of the bed, shifting blankets his softly and creaking the bedsprings lightly. His toes made contact with the carpet. Levering himself off the bed, he blindly made his way across the room, his feet making slight shushing sounds on the carpet. He could just make out the door at the shadowed edges of his room.

Silently turning the cold doorknob, he crept out of his room, ears held to attention for any noise beyond the closed doors of the dim hallway. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dark.

He quietly made his way to the kitchenette, picking out the outline of the refrigerator. He passed a window, cold white light spilling around his slim form, his shadow stepping out of the gloom, sliding across the cool tiles, and melding back into the darkness.

Taehyung reached a slender hand to the cool metal edge of the refrigerator door and pulled. A soft sshmck pulsed through his senses. The soft yellow lighting pooled around his feet, stained his clothes and skin. A low humming sound buzzed in the air, soothing and full.

He reached through the cold to the back of the metal rack, towards a lone cupcake wrapped in crinkly brown paper. His fingers encountered the velvety wrapping. After retrieving the small dessert, he quietly pulled open a drawer. Using the lighting, he silently shifted the contents aside and curled his fingers around a slim blue candle and a box of matches. He nudged the drawer closed and stepped back, allowing the wide triangle of light spilling from the refrigerator to close to a sliver, before finally disappearing.

Taehyung turned to the counter. He placed the matches upright on the smooth, cool surface. Gently pulling at the vellum-like paper , he softly placed the cupcake on the counter and pushed the candle into the center. Taking the matchbox, he pushed it open and selected a match.

Shkkt. A brief flare of light; then darkness, before light flared up again and illuminated Taehyung’s slim fingers, his pallid face, his sleep-mussed hair. The flame lowered in a smooth arc, drifting to focus on Taehyung’s wrinkled, oversized shirt and the chocolate cupcake.

Flare. A second flame joined the first, leaping from the wick; the sphere of light grew, pushing at the edges of darkness.

Hfft. The match was shaken; the sphere shrank.

He bent towards the candle, towards the warmth radiating from the flame, as if poised on the edge of a precipice.

Taehyung paused. He could almost taste the stillness, drifting through the illuminated air like motes of dust, before being whirled away by his gentle breath, stuttering the candle once, twice, then finally extinguishing. A silvery strand of smoke twisted from the wick, before dissipating.

The sphere shrank to nothing.

“Happy birthday to me…”