When it was announced, the first thing Yongguk did was to look at Daehyun’s reaction. The younger man’s face fell instantly; he always wore his heart on his sleeve. The lights in his eyes dimmed a little, despite the joke he had been making earlier and Yongguk felt a surge of anger at the company, at the scheduling that caused his dongsaeng’s excitement to diminish even just a little.

            “I understand,” Daehyun whispered quietly. Even Youngjae had stopped laughing at the joke. There was an uncomfortable silence and that night Yongguk held a pow wow in his room, minus Daehyun.

            “Daehyun-Hyung is asleep,” Junhong whispered as he folded his long limbs and sat on the ground. “I think he cried himself to sleep.”

            Yongguk would be lying if he said his heart didn’t ache just then. “Our 2,000 days anniversary is coming up. We should do something special.”

            They tossed out suggestions: food! Lots of food. But that was too simple. “What about a whole day at the spa, or playing outside?” That was Jongup. Himchan refuted. “No, silly. We have to interact with the fans too.”

            “We need to compile the Dae-care with the Baby care,” Youngjae said.

            It took a lot of thought when Yongguk smiled and laughed. “This will be so bizarre, but remember when we made chocolates?”

            “Are we cooking again? Because that was a disaster. You guys can’t even turn on the damn oven without having to inspect it ten times over.”

            Yongguk allowed his eyes to roll upwards at his best friend. “Of course not. Why don’t we make something just as romantic? Like candles.”

            The idea was out of the blue and there was a beat of silence. “I like it,” Junhong said, always the first one to support Yongguk. Jongup nodded and Youngjae gave his assent as well. It took Himchan a little longer but he eventually smiled. “Wow, Bbang, I didn’t know you had this inner romantic.”

            And it was decided. They were going to hold a candle making contest, and Daehyun would be the winner, no matter what. “After all, it’s important for him to smile again.”

            The next day, all of the members acted surprised when they received their mission for the live recording. “Candles? That will be interesting. Does this mean we get to light things on fire?”

            “Junhong!” Himchan scolded. Daehyun didn’t even comment. He just sat there and turned the glass over in his hands. Himchan felt himself deflate a little. Usually their antics would get him to join in. Usually, he would be the one at the center of such fooling around.

            They respected Daehyun’s decision to sit at the very end although Youngjae felt like something was amiss without the loud accompaniment next to him. But he knew that with Daehyun’s voice not feeling well, and his emotions not high, it was better to let him stay out of the limelight. Instead, he made a promise to himself to get at least one smile out of him today.

            The materials were presented to them and immediately the room exploded into noise as they started discussing their ideas. It was a very off-kilter noise level, however. The front of the room louder than the back.

            Yongguk kept an eye on his decorating but another on Daehyun. The main vocal had his head lowered as he concentrated. He decided to let his dongsaengs make the live stream chatter-filled, and he’ll do what he does best: look on and protect Daehyun quietly. Even as his own fingers twisted the petals off the flowers, he saw that Daehyun had only chosen a select few materials. The colors he chose were a beautiful pink and rose red theme, and he had white sand.

            Once in a while, Yongguk would lean forward and talk to Daehyun, anything to prompt him out of his concentrated daze. Each answer he received back was short and low. The worry permeated through even though everyone else, himself included, laughed brightly. When one of them was down, they all felt it.

            “Daehyun, please explain what theme you’re going with.” Youngjae couldn’t help it. It has been too long without hearing his best friend talk more than three words at length. He hadn’t realized how much he missed the voice until it was gone.

            “Ah, I decided to go for a more calm theme. I wanted a calming candle.” Daehyun smiled at the camera and Jongup felt the brightness next to him. Even when Daehyun was down, he couldn’t hide the sunny personality.

            Yongguk couldn’t help but feel a little pained. Daehyun wasn’t one for calm. He was one for romance and happiness. He “accidentally” reached out his foot and rubbed his leg against Daehyun’s since arm for comfort wasn’t possible. At the movement, Daehyun glanced up, startled and a shy smile tugged at the corner of his lips.       Yongguk winked, enjoying the blush that dusted the younger’s cheeks.

            Junhong glanced over at the interactions and sent Yongguk a questioning look which he ignored. It was okay if that moment could be kept private between him and Daehyun. Yongguk knew that during his own hiatus, Daehyun may have been less vocal about his concern, but he had felt it. It was time for him to return the favor.

            This little bit of encouragement seemed to work in Yongguk’s favor. Daehyun picked up a plastic cup and lamented, “Ah, I started to do my decorations in this cup. And I realized that if I lit it up, I would start a fire.”

            “Like the one you started in the dorm?” Himchan muttered not so quietly and everyone chuckled at the memory. Daehyun was starting to perk up more.

            When it came to deciding which candle was the winner, everyone fought hard for the honor. “Mine is clearly superior,” Jongup announced. “When do you think of candles but winter? And a pair of lovers celebrating Christmas is the most romantic scene. It has to be mine.”

            Even Yongguk joined in the haggle. “Mine is a quiet beauty. I wanted to convey happiness and a joy that’s more muted. Just like how a candle can be a subtle source of light.”

            But ultimately, it was Daehyun who won. When the winner was announced, the smile that lit up on Daehyun’s face made losing worth it. Yongguk picked up a few stems of flowers and absentmindedly began twisting them together.

            “Oh, what is Yongguk doing? Everyone, he’s making a bouquet for Babyz!”

            Yongguk laughed shyly. “These things will be thrown out anyway.”

            He made the perfect blend of six different flowers and twirled it in his hands. When everyone was turned away and talking, he reached over and placed it in front of Daehyun. It took him a second but when the surprise turned to happiness, Yongguk couldn’t help but feel that sometimes this affection thing was fun.

            “Love you, Daehyunnie.”

            Next to them, the maknaes’ ears turned pink at the deep-voiced confession. But Yongguk was unapologetic because watching Daehyun turn bright red and laugh nervously made his heart warmer than all the candles in the world could.

Happy 2,000 days with my Babies ♥ It was exactly this day 5 years ago that I saw the No Mercy teaser and fell for B.A.P

I hope Daehyun all the happiness in the world, and I really do hope he can smile again soon. ♥