Desire (ATEEZ Boy x Boy Oneshots Book II)

A/F | A Peaceful Birthday | Hongjoong x ATEEZ

Happy birthday to our captain, Hongjoong!

Hongjoong bopped his head along to the beat. Music ran from his rounded headphones into his ears — the drums thumping loudly while the melody repeated in his head. Everything was going along well.

Hongjoong looked at his phone. Close to 11.

The young man wanted to leave soon. That way, he would sleep early and wake up well-rested to spend a lovely day with the others, celebrating his birthday. They'd have dinner, eat a little bit of cake, then move on with their routines.

Hongjoong's never been a big fan of parties. Something small was ideal for him.

He almost wished everyone had forgotten about it. Because why hassle setting things up for a single day?

After making a few more changes to his work, Hongjoong shut everything down and began the trek home.

Everyone was silent for this hour. The dorm was dark and quiet. No way everyone could be asleep this early. But Hongjoong wasn't complaining.

Relieved, Hongjoong tossed what little he carried on himself and went to wash up. In just a few minutes, he lay on the living room couch, ready for bed.

...

....

.....

"Happy birthday to you~!"

Hongjoong stirred awake. San was approaching him with a large cupcake, and a single candle lit above. Jongho and Yunho were beside him, wearing cone hats. The others were in the back singing too.

"Huh..."

"Happy birthday, captain!" Wooyoung shouted. Several cheered, and some clapped.

"Oh, you guys," Hongjoong slurred. He rubbed his tired eyes. "You didn't have to do this..."

"Blow the candle out!" Mingi shouted. "Come on!"

Hongjoong groaned, sitting up from his warm cocoon of blankets to blow the candle.

"Yay!" they celebrated.

"Can I go back to bed now?"

The members laughed.

Yunho extended a finger to swipe some of the icing and touch Hongjoong's cheek.

Wooyoung shamelessly kissed Hongjoong goodnight.

Jongho removed his cone hat and slipped it over the leader's head.

"Goodnight, captain!"

Hongjoong sighed as they all retreated towards their rooms, full of laughter and content.

"Can't I just have a peaceful birthday?" Hongjoong whispered. He made sure to wipe the frosting off before falling asleep.

The following day Hongjoong woke up a little before noon. How? Did he sleep that heavily?

"Guys?!" he called. No one. That was... strange.

Hongjoong walked around the dorm in search of them. Everyone's beds were neatly made.

"So everyone just got up and left, huh?"

On the kitchen counter was Hongjoong's cupcake from last night. It was vanilla, with a nice amount of purple and blue frosting carefully swirled three times around. The blown-out white candle was still sitting on top, and Hongjoong could see the area a finger had passed over.

He took the cupcake and plopped on the couch to eat it.

Hongjoong figured the guys all left to get him things -- a cake or gifts. It was their day off, so there wasn't necessarily any urgent work to do for any of them.

So Hongjoong released a calm breath and looked through their TV for some movies to watch.

"...Seonghwa?"

"You've reached the voicemail box of..."

Hongjoong raised an eyebrow. Seonghwa wasn't one to miss calls. Not that often, anyway. He checked their group chat only to see his sent messages from today.

'Where are you guys?' one read.

'Are we having dinner somewhere?'

'Guys?'

Hongjoong tossed his phone to the side in deep thought. He wondered what they'd all be doing at this time.

A sudden vibration caught his attention. He quickly grabbed his phone but sighed. Some notification. Not from his members...

Hongjoong flipped through the channels again. It was close to the evening now.

Ding!

'Oh! Happy birthday, Hongjoong!'

Hongjoong stared at Yeosang's message for a moment. Soon several others came in from the rest. No one seemed to reply to his questions, though, and just flooded the chat with celebration emoticons.

"Is this a prank or something?" Hongjoong quietly muttered. "Did they somehow forget?"

"Or did they all decide to leave together? And forget me?"

Hongjoong didn't even realize he was starting to cry.

"I... I deserve this, don't I?" he whispered. "For wishing for peace?"

More tears flooded down his cheeks. Hongjoong choked on his sobs, hugging himself closer and feeling alone. He thought what he was doing was probably childish, but he couldn't help it. The members meant so much to him. They were so close, like friends... like family.

"I'm sorry," he croaked. "I'm sorry."

The main door opened. Hongjoong lifted his head at the noise with wide, yet blurry, eyes.

"Who is it?" his voice weakly asked.

"Hongjoong?! Why are you crying?" Seonghwa left the bags he held on the ground and rushed over. Being in the male's embrace only made Hongjoong feel smaller and cry even more.

"He's crying?" Wooyoung also joined them, wrapping his arms around Hongjoong's waist. Yunho worriedly patted his friend's head, and the other four stood around them -- equally concerned.

"Hongjoong, don't cry," Seonghwa softly said. "Take some deep breaths."

Hongjoong did as told. He wiped his tears with his sleeve.

"Good."

"What's wrong?" San asked. "Why are you crying?"

"I... I'm sorry." Hongjoong looked down. "I wanted a p-peaceful birthday, and I was just so tired... I thought I drove you all away."

"Hongjoong..." Wooyoung caressed Hongjoong's hand.

"But sitting here, all day, alone..." Hongjoong shook his head, raising his attention to them. "I want to spend it with you all. Because you guys are like family."

Immediately the members cooed. They threw their arms around their captain to form a tight group hug.

"We understand, Hongjoong," Seonghwa began. "And we're also sorry for leaving you without an explanation."

Mingi hummed. "We were just trying so hard to keep it a secret."

"Huh? Keep what a secret?"

"Uh..." Mingi looked around, then shrugged. "Your birthday party!"

"Mingi!"

"Ughhh."

"Oh, Mingi," Yunho mumbled.

"It was a surprise, Mingi."

"I know. But Hongjoong was going to find out anyway." Mingi grinned and tugged Hongjoong's hand. "Come on! Get dressed."

Hongjoong laughed at his excitement. Having the others around him was such a relieving feeling. The people who surrounded him loved him, and he loved them back too.

He'd make sure to enjoy his birthday with them tonight.