The dim rays of the first morning light woke me up from my slumber as the pain of last night’s drinks pounded its way around my head. I grumbled as I pressed my palms to either side of my head and slowly rose up from under the soft sheets. I glanced to my side table to see that it was six in the morning. I was schedule free today…thank god.

As I swung my feet of the side of my bed and headed for the bathroom, my body swayed left and right as I collided with the wall a few chuckles left my lips as the realization of what today was hit me.

“Happy Birthday to me.”

At the age of twenty six, my life’s story started off with a bang at the age of eighteen but slowly spiraled down into a pit of self destruct the moment I hit age twenty five. I discovered things that have left me broken. I started habits that were to be the death of me and all at the price of a dream that was long washed away the moment I accepted my first pay check.

Dancing was no longer a part of the job description and the passion for it dwindled as it was the cause of the pain and suffering I had to endure for three years between my so called brothers. I lost a love for something that kept me sane.

After slipping into a simple black hoodie and blue jeans, I headed out of my bedroom to find piles and piles of gifts lining the walls from my front door to the back window. My fingertips grazed over the thoughtful gifts and picked up a small one on my way to the kitchen. I shook the box gently and heard the little trinket inside hit the sides when I looked up to see my brother standing over a small bag and an even smaller cake at the counter.

“Happy Birthday, Hyung.” JongMin beamed in a hushed tone of voice as he lifted up the small bag to me, “You’ll really appreciate this.”

I raised a brow at him and took the bag from him, shaking it to get an idea of its contents, “Oh really?”

JongMin nodded his head as he turned around to the stove leaving me to open up his gift.

I reached into the small bag and felt a familiar cylinder in my hands. Pulling it out from the bag, the dark of the humor of his gift had me frowning, “Pain Killers? As my birthday gift?”

JongMin sighed as he waved a hand to the three finished wine bottles on the opposite counter. I looked over to them and felt bad for not throwing them out last night like I was supposed to. I set the medication on the counter just as JongMin set a hot bowl of soup in front of me beside it, “And a nice hot bowl of hangover soup.”

“Where did you learn to make this?” I was taken aback at my brother’s skills as I sipped the soup, immediately filling it kick in as my mind was started to clear.

“You pick up a few things when you live with a dad like ours…hey, I have to head to school early to talk to EunNeul so I guess I’ll see you,” JongMin wiped his hands on a dish cloth and squeezed my shoulder, “Happy Birthday, Hyung.”

His voice was not cheerful this time but came out almost like a condolence. I turned to him with a smile as he let go my shoulder and rushed out of the apartment without another word.

The smile was wiped clean of my face the moment I heard the door shut and I grasped the painkillers in my hands, opening it like my life depended on it and downed a couple without a chaser. It was a force of habit.

I finished off the last of the soup JongMin made for me when I noticed that the small cake that sat on the counter still had a burning candle stuck right in the center of it. With a scoff I leaned down to it and whispered to myself, “Make a wish, Kim Jong In.”

With the slight pucker of my lips and a small puff of air, the candle was blown out but no wish was made.

~*~

I stayed in my apartment all day, looking through the gifts my fans had sent. Reading through the fan mail, piling together the same gifts, and keeping close to me the cute plush toys that caught my attention, I was in a bathing in a state of happiness that came rarely.

I picked up a framed picture of me back when EXO first debut standing with eleven other guys that reminded me of a family that once was. One by one, I mentally crossed out the ones that no longer belonged to this so called family of a group when I realized that each of us carried a large X over our faces.

We were no longer a family, but a staged group that worked for the public. No longer were are dreams put into consideration, no longer were feelings attached to the person beside us, we were all heartless machines used to make money.

I threw the happy picture to the side, hearing as the glass shattered against the wall and fall to the hardwood floor. I laughed drily, aching for a glass of wine or a nice beer. My body moved robotically towards the kitchen when it was brought to a stop as the doorbell rang. I groaned inwardly and trudged towards the door, grudgingly opening it to find a bundled up EunNeul.

She wore a long trench coat that she held tight at the collar. I looked down to see bare ankles that led to a pair of black stilettos that had me raise a brow. I leaned against the door frame and took note that her straight bouncy hair that I loved was put into a loose high ponytail, “What are you doing here?”

EunNeul grinned at me as she pulled a bag from behind her and shook it, “Happy Birthday…Aren’t you going to let me in?”

Everything about this moment from her choice of clothing to the suggestive bag had me hesitating as I stepped to the side and let her in. The loud thuds of her sleek stilettos on the wooden floors echoed in my head as she set the bag on a chair and surveyed the piles of gifts that swarmed my living room, “Quite the birthday you had.”

I stood behind her pooring myself a glass of that needed spirit when EunNeul looked at me, still covered with her trench coat. I eyed the girl carefully as I sipped my drink and walked towards her with a smirk, “May I ask what you are doing here with such a suggestive choice of clothing?”

She took a step back from me and placed a hand behind her as she collided with the back of my couch. She placed a hand up that landed my chest as I continued my advance on her, “It’s not what you think…It has something to do with my present for you.”

I laughed out loud and set my drink down on the table beside the couch as trapped her in between my arms, “You are really something, Choi EunNeul…I must say.”

“Kai, it’s not what you think. You just need to get out of those clothes and—“

I pressed up against the girl when she gasped and froze under my touch, “Just stop talking…” I leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her temple before pulling back and grabbing the bag she brought with her, “So, let’s see what you really got me.”

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