“Happy Birthday!” Kris shouted, and lifted his hands from Yixing’s eyes.

He was at the beach. Though he already knew before they stepped out of the taxi, Kris nevertheless made Yixing piggyback him all the way down as he masked Yixing’s eyes with his hands. It was a small, cozy beach and completely deserted.

They completed the small trek to the beach through a combination of Kris’ lousy directions, and sheer perseverance on Yixing’s behalf.

“Onwards!” Kris had shouted, laughing evilly as Yixing stumbled a few times. He had nearly fallen over on countless occasions, but collected himself right at the last minute because he was determined to not drop the fragile giant situated on his back.

When they made it to the shore, Yixing bent down slowly, letting Kris slide off onto the sand. Kris set down his crutches, which had been wedged under his arm.

Yixing sat down next to him, and stared out into the magnificent blue hues of the water. The sun was hidden by an array of clouds today, as the weather was starting to grow colder. The wind whipped at his hair, making strands flutter all over his face. He dug his hands and feet into the soft sand, wiggling his fingers and toes and feeling it slide between them. He took a deep breath, letting cool salty air fill his lungs.

He was confused this morning, when Kris hobbled into his room with an abnormally excited look on his face. He didn’t say much, telling Yixing to get dressed for his “birthday surprise”. Though neither of them were allowed to leave, sneaking out of the hospital proved to be much easier than anticipated in normal clothes. They climbed into a taxi, Kris whispering their destination into the taxi driver’s ear quietly enough so that Yixing couldn’t hear.

When Yixing saw the deep blue horizon approaching closer and closer, he knew where they were going.

Next to him, Kris was already rolling up the ankles of his pants. He stood up unsteadily, wobbling on his crutches as he tried to balance them in the sinking sand. Then without a word he took off, bounding towards the shore.

Yixing watched as Kris goes into the water a few steps, the water darkening the bottom of his jeans, before he ditches his crutches completely in the water and dives straight in. He’s gone briefly, before he emerges from a few meters away, shaking the water from his hair and waving at Yixing.

“Come in Yixing! The waters not cold at all!” Kris calls out to him. He smiles, this time the smile from his gummy mouth actually reaches his eyes. Yixing obliges, rolling up the bottom of his jeans as well.

He takes a few steps into the water, the icy water feels sharp against his skin. He walks in deeper until it reaches his waist. Then he stops as something glistening in the water catches his eye. Kris was still a good few meters away.

“What’s wrong? Come in deeper!”

“Look Kris! A fish! There’s a fish here!”

“We’re in the ocean Yixing! Of course there’s going to be fish!”

“No I mean a really, really, big -” but Yixing’s sentence is cut off as Kris dives at him, dragging him down into the water. The water rushes up his nose, filling his lungs. He quickly finds his footing on the sand bank and breaks out from the surface, coughing and spluttering salty water.

He turns around to see Kris laughing, a few meters ahead of him. He was floating in shallow water, his finger pointing at Yixing while wiping the tears from his eyes.

You’re dead.

Yixing launches at Kris, completely forgetting about his injury and tackling him into the water. He hears Kris let out a yelp as his back makes impact with the sandy shore.

“Oh! Sorry!” Yixing quickly climbs off of Kris, suddenly remembering about his leg. But he’s surprised to see Kris laughing, lying on his back with his hands on his chest.

This was no doubt this was the happiest Yixing had ever seen Kris. He could fake a smile or a laugh but he could never hide the sense of undisguised, almost violent longing that swam under his eyes from Yixing. Today he was pure and whole-heartedly happy. No strings attached.

 It was a complete change from his somber self back in his hospital room a few weeks ago.

He honestly hadn’t expected anything from Kris for his birthday. But seeing Kris like this had been the best possible gift.

Kris rolls over, and splashes water that flies straight into one of Yixing’s eyes.

“Owe! That hurts!” he cries, trying to sound as convincing as possible and rubbing his eye. Kris freezes, his expression going blank in an instant.

“Tricked you!” and Yixing leaps up and runs back into the ocean, as Kris hurriedly gets up, hopping on one leg back into the water after him.

-

“How was it today?” Yixing asks, a few hours later as they were resting on the sand.

“Happy. Definitely a happy.”

“Really? What happened to always being a “lonely”?”

“Not today."

"Here, this is for you.”

“What is it?”

“Starfish. Dried up one. Found it in the sand.”

“Thanks, Kris.”

“Happy Birthday, Yixing.”