Fire On Fire [TK]

Wild (37)

"You make my heart shake
Bend and break
But I can't turn away
And it's driving me wild
You're driving me wild"

❀

- V -

Taehyung felt like his lungs were going to burst any moment. He had managed to blow up fifteen balloons all on his own while silently cursing Namjoon for somehow breaking the balloon pump. He plopped down on the sofa for a short break.

It was the maknae's birthday eve and the six of them were busy preparing their living room for a mid-night surprise.

Jin had prepared seaweed soup, Jimin brought the cake, Yoongi brought some soju, and Taehyung along with Hoseok were on decoration duty. Namjoon however, had been made to sit in his room and distract the maknae after everyone realised he was destroying more stuff rather than helping out.

Hoseok sighed beside him and picked up a few more balloons to blow, passing some to Taehyung.

When it was five minutes to midnight, they scurried over to the center table.

"I'll get the cake," Jimin announced opening up the cake box.

Yoongi arranged the shot glasses in a neat circle.

Hoseok poured in the soju. "I've texted Namjoon to send Jeonggukkie out at exact 12."

Taehyung lit the candles, and picked up the cake in his hands. Jimin switched off the lights, and all stood silently waiting for the birthday boy.

The door to his room creak open and he heard a faint grumble from the maknae about Namjoon being lazy before Hoseok switched on the lights and they burst into the birthday song.
"Saengil chukha hamnida~"

Taehyung saw the surprise on the maknae's face which eventually turned into full blown glee, and then surprise again. Completing the song with an opera version, Jimin put a hat on the maknae's head as he closed his eyes and joined his hands to make a wish.

Taehyung stood there grinning wildly. He had been working really hard to make the younger's special day memorable. Staying in Seoul was necessary to pursue their dream, and giving their all was necessary to become an idol but the industry extracted it's prive from all those who dared to step into it. Staying away from your family was one of them.

Taehyung always understood when Jeongguk really missed his family back home. They all did. It was somehow brutal to be away and missing every important moment that mattered to them but the misery of loneliness could be salvaged by having a makeshift family away from home. This is what they had become. A makeshift family, seven eager boys working tirelessly towards a dream, the exhaustion in their bones like bricks on a wall and the sweat on their brow like the cement holding it together. Seven stangers with the backs bruised with the weight of their ambitions when apart but a family fitting into a perfect jigsaw puzzle when together.

So when the time came for their birthdays and their schedule did not allow them to meet their loved ones, they managed to make it special for each other, easing the melancholy in the own little ways.

After getting a bite of cake each, and one too many bottles of soju and many clouded thoughts later, Taehyung found Jeongguk standing in the balcony overlooking the roadside. Autumn was fading in like a softly sung hymn as September approached. There was a rosiness to the leaves that wasn't there only a week ago. Soon the trees would be aflame, a riot of gold and red. Taehyung kept the cardboard box beside the door and shuffled towards him, hearing him heave a small sigh.

"Birthday blues?" He asked as he stopped to stand beside the younger.

Jeongguk smiled. "Aniya, I just-"