“SURPRISE!” 

Renjun heard the danger before he was blinded by it. 

Multiple streamers, balloons, confetti and glitter was thrown at him when he entered the door after closing up the cafe. He couldn’t help but find the screams of his friends endearing as they all jumped on him at once, shouting messages of happiness and the best wishes for his future. Renjun couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled in his throat and escaped as everyone was crushing him in hugs.

“You’re legal now, hyung!”

“Just don’t follow Jeno-oppa’s steps, alright?!”

“Yah! Jisung! Lami! What’s that meant to mean?!”

“Dongyuck-oppa told us about Jaemin-oppa saying you have bad things under your bed!”

“Those things are really bad, hyung! You shouldn’t even have them!”

“Donghyuck!! What the hell did you tell these two?! Wait! Donghyuck! Get back here! Ahhh! Jaemin, help me!”

“Nope! You’re on your own, babe!”

Everyone’s words were blurring with his own laughter and Renjun hadn’t felt this happy in a while.

“To be honest, I knew. I actually knew, guys,” Renjun wheezed out and saw everyone stop laughing and stare at him in disbelief. 

“But we hid it from you!” Donghyuck shouted back, eyes conveying the amount of betrayal that he was feeling as Jeno had him in a headlock. Preventing most of his giggles from coming out, Renjun walked over to Chenle who watched him silently, expression reflecting disbelief. Renjun made sure to smirk before he hugged his boyfriend’s neck and stood on his toes to reach Chenle’s ear. The hands on his waist were distracting but Huang Renjun had a plan to execute. 

“You were cute sleeping but the card next to your head was cuter,” Renjun whispered in Chinese and ran to hide behind the one person who wouldn’t hurt him in the room: Park Jisung. 

“Ge! What do you mean?!” Chenle shouted back, walking and craning his neck to get a look at the shorter Chinese male behind the young giant who looked confused at their interaction.

“I mean that you fell asleep with your card that declared your love for me next to you,” Renjun said louder in Korean and saw the horrified faces of his friends directing towards Chenle’s own. 

Observations of rich people #33: When they fail, they fail spectacularly.

“So you knew this whole week?” Chenle asked in a quiet voice, Chinese sounding unstable. Renjun simply nodded and giggled once more behind Jisung. Even though he was happy, Renjun was the only one laughing and didn’t like that fact. 

“Come on! Don’t be like that! Even though your surprise was ruined, I still want to be at this party! Mark-hyung and Ten-hyung organised it right? Let’s celebrate my eighteenth birthday!” Renjun exclaimed and saw the relief wash over on his friends’ faces. After a short while, everyone was drinking and having fun while Renjun made it his goal to thank everyone there in person that night. He didn’t have to go anywhere far since Yukhei and his ‘secret’ boyfriend came over (Renjun didn’t think that they were a secret since Yukhei had his arm around Jungwoo’s waist). 

“Renjun! Happy birthday!” Yukhei shouted in Renjun’s ear when the couple had come over. Jungwoo also congratulated him on turning one year older, albeit more politely than Yukhei did.

“Thank you, Yukhei-ge, Jungwoo-hyung. Thank you for coming,” Renjun replied and saw Jungwoo smile brightly at him. 

“Actually, Renjun…don’t tell Ten-hyung but the two of us are dating,” Yukhei whispered in soft Chinese and Renjun laughed slightly since he had already known.

“I knew, it was obvious to me. But why don’t you tell Ten-hyung? He’ll be happy for you!” Renjun argued back and was surprised when Jungwoo cut in.

“It’s because he can’t know until he sees Johnny-hyung again! Well that and he thinks I’m still in the closet…even though I’m not,” Jungwoo quietly exclaimed in Korean and Renjun raised an eyebrow at Yukhei, silently asking how Jungwoo understood Chinese. 

“He’s studying Chinese at the university. We met at the cafe, remember? That one name that we couldn’t read because Ten-hyung’s writing was bad?” Yukhei asked and Renjun made a noise of understanding. Deciding to talk to Jungwoo, Renjun switched to Korean to make it easier for the other male.

“But we don’t know when Johnny-hyung is coming back-“

“What do you mean, Injun?” A deep voice interrupted his sentence and Renjun turned to see a tall male with a face that was one of the most unique faces he had ever seen.
“Johnny-hyung…” Renjun whispered as he heard Jungwoo chuckle in the background.

“Johnny-hyung is actually in town for the newest scoop for Nakamoto News. Hence, why he’s here,” Jungwoo explained and Johnny laughed heartily after that statement. 

“Either way, I’d somehow have to find my way into this party if I wasn’t invited. Happy birthday by the way, Jun,” Johnny said and Renjun thanked him, confused slightly.

“Why is your scoop Jeno’s new relationship or something? Hate to break it you, hyung, but Jeno’s been really public about his relationship with Jaemin after the two talked it out a few months back,” Renjun said and his confusion only grew when he heard Johnny laugh. Shaking his head, Johnny only stared amusedly at Renjun’s face.

“My scoop isn’t Jeno and Jaemin, Renjun. It’s Zhong Chenle and his boyfriend,” Johnny stated and smirked while walking away. Renjun wanted to call him back but couldn’t find his voice to do so.

“Calm down, Renjun. Chenle asked him to,” Yukhei explained and then bid his farewells as he dragged Jungwoo to the snacks to have some chips. Renjun, still in shock, didn’t realise Lami sneaking up to jump on his back with Jisung in tow. 

“Renjun-oppa! Happy birthday!” Lami squealed in his ear as Jisung said his own greeting, watching the two carefully. Chuckling, Renjun let Lami get off him and saw Hina and Kouen coming out of the corner of his eye, shouting their greetings on their way over.

“How’s things with the dolphin, hyung?” Jisung asked him as Renjun laughed and slightly complained about Chenle’s tendency to misplace his belongings.

“Awwww look at you two! A domestic couple!” Lami shouted and received the attention of everyone in the apartment. “Whoops…Jisung, we have to run!” She squealed and dragged Jisung by the wrist in the direction of the living room to where the two would probably put a movie on that they wouldn’t be able to watch in the cinemas due to their age.

“But really, Jun, how is he?” Kouen asked him, motherly as always, smiling softly.

“He’s really annoying,” Renjun stated and saw Hina’s eyebrow rise in question. “But it’s also endearing,” Renjun finished, shyly looking away from the two as they gave him knowing looks. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll come around to give you a happy birthday kiss~!” Hina exclaimed, laughing hysterically when her girlfriend pushed her away from Renjun, signalling the end of the conversation.

“Well, look who it is! The lovestruck Moomin, himself!” Donghyuck’s loud voice came from behind the kitchen counter, gradually getting louder to where Renjun stood near the front door. “What are you doing here all alone?” He asked, Mark hovering by his side like the faithful boyfriend he was. 

“Observing?” Renjun supplied uselessly, seeing Donghyuck’s face change into a mix of disbelief and horror. 

“Observing at your own party?!”

“I didn’t ask for this party, Hyuck.”

“Still!” Donghyuck shook his head and grabbed Renjun’s hand in his available one as his other hand was in Mark’s.

“He just wants you to be crazy like him,” Mark explained, sighing at the end  due to his boyfriend’s antics.

“You have to have fun once in your life, Renjun! You can’t be a carbon copy of Mark, all work and no play!” Donghyuck shouted happily when he finally reached Jeno and Jaemin who were making out in the corner of the living room. As expected, Jisung and Lami had put on Men in Black on the TV with Korean subtitles to ‘enhance their understanding’ since both of them were too embarrassed to admit that they didn’t know a lot of English and Lami seemed to be teaching Jisung how to braid her hair. Well…at least they’re not watching the movie…

“Quit making out and greet the birthday boy!” Donghyuck shouted at the couple, releasing Renjun’s hand to pull Jaemin away from Jeno who was pinned to the wall. 

“Happy birthday, Renjun!” Jaemin greeted and nudged Jeno to do the same. Both did and then proceeded to push Donghyuck away to gravitate towards each other once more. 

“This is abuse! Minhyung! They’re bullying me!” Donghyuck complained and Renjun left the two after hearing Mark mumble something about Donghyuck deserving it. 

It wasn’t long before he bumped into someone literally. Getting a good look at the person he bumped into, Renjun was met with innocent eyes but a smug smile.

“Hey, enjoying the party?” Sicheng asked him and Renjun could only bring himself to nod and smile.

“Happy birthday, Renjun-sshi!” Kun exclaimed from behind Sicheng, followed by Sicheng’s own ‘Happy birthday man!’. Renjun was about to reply when someone slapped him on the back.

“You like my organising? it’s great, right?!” They shouted into his ear and Renjun didn’t need to turn to see that it was Ten-hyung. “Rich socialites are kept to a minimum so us broke kids can show them what real fun is!” Renjun couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“Does this mean you brought alcohol again?” Renjun asked and wasn’t surprised when Ten shoved a plastic cup into his hand. “Have some liquid courage, birthday boy~!” Laughing, Renjun took the cup.

“What is this? Liquid luck?” Renjun asked jokingly and figured that Ten probably had a little over too much alcohol, judging by his expressive pout.

“It’s so you can finally do some fun things with that cute boyfriend of yours!” He screamed and walked away, leaving Renjun to scream after him about how Chenle was underage. When he tried to find his precious older friend and his boyfriend’s brother, he found that they had mingled into the crowd and were talking to Yukhei and Jungwoo. Seems like everything’s fine…this is how it should be.

Suddenly, Renjun’s vision was taken from him as someone (spoiler alert: he knew who) covered his eyes and forcibly steered him to go outside of the front door after unlocking it with one hand. You could have just told me we were going out, Chenle.

“When are you going to let me see, Chenle?” Renjun asked the person who was covering his eyes as he walked blindly, trusting that Chenle wouldn’t let him fall and spill the so-called ‘liquid courage’ all over himself.

“Soon, ge. Soon,” Chenle replied in a whisper when Renjun felt cold night air pierce his skin. Renjun took a sip from the cup, feeling like he would need it for whatever might happen. 

“Okay. There we go,” Chenle whispered as he removed his hands from Renjun’s eyes and moved to stand in front of him. The picture of the sunset illuminating the city behind Chenle dulled in comparison and Renjun found that he liked to ethereal glow that the other had with the sunset behind him. Renjun couldn’t help but stare despite how much he wanted to look away from the other’s gaze. Finally drawing his attention to the cup in his hand, Renjun took a long sip of the alcohol that he was now allowed to drink.

“Happy birthday, ge,” Chenle whispered as he practically shoved a wrapped object into his hands that had a card attached and Renjun couldn’t help but smile, knowing what it was. He saw Chenle throwing out a plastic bag in the nearest bin. So that’s how he carried it…

“Is this the Moomin toy you made me?” Renjun asked, side eyeing Chenle while smirking and could barely contain his laughter when the other stared back disapprovingly.

“You can always pretend that you don’t know, ge…” Chenle mumbled back and grabbed Renjun’s right wrist, successfully dragging him to sit on the street curb.

“Oh no! I wonder what it is!” Renjun exclaimed sarcastically and felt another laugh escape when Chenle shoved him playfully.

“Just open it, ge,” The younger complained and Renjun quickly took another sip of his drink before disposing the cup and most of its contents in the nearby bin. Carefully taking off the card and setting it beside him for safekeeping, Renjun began to peel the wrapping paper.

“Alcohol tastes bad?” Chenle asked him and Renjun shook his head.

“It’s bad but I’m sort of used to it since parties in my world have cheap alcohol anyway,” Renjun replied and was met with Chenle’s disapproving look yet again.

“That’s not healthy, ge,” He heard Chenle mumble as he carefully unwrapped his present, off-white fabric shining in the dim night.

“Nothing in this world is ever healthy if it’s excessive. The trick is to have everything in moderation,” Renjun stated and pulled out the Moomin plush toy from the confines of the wrapping paper. Other than a few loose threads, the shape of Moomin was slightly disfigured but still perfect in Renjun’s eyes. What he found himself loving the most were the three Chinese characters embroidered into the small red heart that the plush toy was holding.

“Chenle, why did you write ‘Huang Chenle’ on this?” He asked, cheeks colouring slightly when Chenle began to look shy once more. 

“I thought it sounded nice…” Chenle mumbled and if Renjun wasn’t straining his ears already, he would have missed it.

“I’m sorry but you what?” Renjun asked in disbelief and found joy in watching his boyfriend act super shy around him. It was refreshing compared to the confident air that the younger usually had.

“I…I think it sounds nice,” Chenle whispered into the night air and hid his face in Renjun’s shoulder, making Renjun chuckle. 

“Oh…you do? Hmmm…you’re better at stitching than I thought you’d be,” Renjun whispered in reply and smil