Eunhyuk sat in the kitchen of the dorm, watching the sugar sink to the bottom of his strawberry lemonade.  His glass had been full for the past twenty minutes, the weight of his mood giving him only the ability to sit and sulk.  He let out a deep sigh and stood up, taking the tall, thin glass in his hand.  He walked over to the small kitchen sink and dumped the strawberry sweetness down the drain.  His jaw clenched in stress.  He hated to see the lemonade go to waste, but he just wasn't in the mood for anything.

They remembered Siwon's and Kyuhyun's and Sungmin's...why not mine?

He didn't want to be angry.  In fact, Eunhyuk hated himself for getting mad for such a stupid reason.  Birthdays were an annual thing.  It wasn't like they came around once in a lifetime.  He still had next year...and the year after that...

The burning sensation in his eyes signaled the oncoming flow of tears.  He bent his head over the sink and squeezed his eyes shut, disabling the waterworks that were about to explode.  He felt ashamed; embarrassed.  He knew the members still loved him.  He knew they were all preoccupied with their schedules and couldn't possibly be bothered to give him a simple "Happy Birthday, Hyukjae!"  Because saying those three words would be such a hassle for all of them...

Stop getting all bitter.  You need to get a grip.  You have your own schedule.  Pull yourself together and get your head on straight.  It's your birthday.  So what?  You can't always expect busy people to remember.  Just go on with your life.  It's not the end of the world.

Eunhyuk nodded slightly, acknowledging the voice inside his head.  However, resigning himself to the fact that no one was going to remember didn't get rid of his hurt feelings.  He pushed away from the kitchen counter and headed into the living room, where Donghae sat on the couch, watching TV.  Eunhyuk plopped down next to his fellow member, pretending to be fascinated by whatever nonsense flitted around on the screen.  He didn't dare try and start a conversation, knowing that it would go along the lines of:

"So...it's my birthday today..."

"Oh, really?  I forgot."

"...Yeah."

"Sorry."

Eunhyuk wasn't about to kid himself into thinking the other members actually cared.  It was already four in the afternoon, and the only "happy birthdays" he had received were from his parents.  The only thing he could do now was sit and pretend like his heart wasn't throbbing.

"Eunhyuk, don't you have to be at Sukira now?"  Donghae mumbled, his eyes not straying from the girl groups that danced across the screen.  Eunhyuk wasn't sure why it bothered him so much that Donghae was forever mesmerized by them, with their too-short skirts and all-too-exposed bodies. 

" Ryeowook and Sungmin are the hosts now...remember?"  It was hard for him to hide the bitterness that leaked into his voice.

"Oh yeah," Donghae responded absently.  Eunhyuk thought he saw a flicker of something in his brown irises, but it left as soon as it came.

"Where is everyone?"  Eunhyuk's voice trembled slightly.  He tried to cover up his vulnerability with a slight cough.

"I guess Sungmin and Ryeowook are at Sukira, Yesung went to Why Style again, Siwon took Kyuhyun out to eat, Leeteuk is with Sora, and Shindong is in his room.  He might be writing a song."

"Oh."

The awkward tension that saturated the atmosphere of the room was suffocating.  Eunhyuk would have been able to handle it if not for the fact that his ego was severely wounded.  He had been expecting everyone to be showering him with good birthday wishes and words of love.  He thought back to the previous year, where they had even thrown him a surprise party and shoved cake in his face.

For Kyuhyun's birthday, the group celebrated during the Super Show and after.  At the show in Paris the day before, none of the members had even mentioned his birthday.  It would have been nice for them to at least acknowledge it, whether or not he had been  expecting it.  Eunhyuk focused his gaze on the hard-wood floor, counting every grain of wood that nestled within the surface through the wetness that formed around his eyes.  He then felt a warm hand wrap around his waist, another sliding over his eyes and ing his vision into darkness.

"D-Donghae, what are you doing?"

"I have a surprise for you."  Donghae's voice, so bored and emotionless before, was saturated with some emotion that was impossible for Eunhyuk to identify. 

"W-What kind of surprise?"  Eunhyuk was getting nervous.  It wasn't public knowledge that he had always been scared of the dark.  Being unable to see anything made him extremely wary.

"You'll see," Donghae chuckled, amusement seeping into his voice.  "Just promise to keep your eyes closed."

"I...I promise."  Eunhyuk's disgruntled thoughts regarding the nonexistence of his birthday disintegrated, leaving in its place a whole lot of discomfort.  Despite that, Eunhyuk kept his eyes shut tight as Donghae removed his hand from his face.  He couldn't help but notice that the hand which Donghae placed on his waist was still in its initial position.

Eunhyuk heard Donghae's slow, deep breathing draw closer to his face.  The way his sweet breath washed over him cause subtle trembles to run through his body.  He felt something soft and delicate brush against his lips, caressing them ever so slightly.  His eyes flew open to look at Donghae, whose face was mere inches away from his own.  Donghae wore an impish grin, his eyes shining with uncontained enjoyment.  Eunhyuk felt waves of scarlet flood his cheeks, displaying his shock and embarrassment for the world to see.

Before Eunhyuk could protest, Donghae moved in for another kiss.  Eunhyuk couldn't move.  He was rooted to his seated position on the couch, fists clenched at his sides.  Donghae's kiss was insistent, gently trying to get Eunhyuk to respond.  Unconsciously, Eunhyuk's mouth began to move with Donghae's, their lips dancing with each other's, molding perfectly together.  Something small and sweet slipped into Eunhyuk's mouth, having been transferred by way of Donghae's tongue.  Donghae pulled away once again as Eunhyuk savored the strawberry candy that now resided within his mouth.

"Happy birthday, Hyukjae."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

a/n

Fail attempt at fluff...omg...im dying from the awfulness.

im gonna stick to writing angst....

will be deleting this in like an hour omg