999<3 | ONESHOT [ ✔️ ]

coups_bday_2022.mp4

happy belated, choi seungcheol. i havent been this inspired to make birthday dedications. final a/n with thanks at the end <3 enjoy the last of 999!

•••

쿱스형 [coups hyung]
방 안에 있어? [are you in your room?]

[yeah, why?] 어 왜?

쿱스_생일_2022.mp4
이거 봐 ^^ [watch this ^^]

??

the screen's black. plugging in headphones, seungcheol recognises the screams that he's heard millions of times before. and he smiles. his own clip on stage during a ment fades in. he's adjusting his in-ear and does his greeting.

"hello, i'm seventeen and carats' leader, s.coups."

with a big smile and a wave, the clips slows down while the cheers carry on, then everything fades.

some soft music comes in over it, and he hears his own voice say "it's my birthday". he remembers it, mostly because he also remembers messing up his line after that. he laughs at the memory.

yes. it is his birthday.

mingyu fades in, obviously on one of their going seventeen shoots. he gives a wave to the camera and smiles wide. "happy birthday, coups hyung!" he whisper-shouts. "thank you for taking care of us. let's be happy in the future!" he makes a fist and nods. "i love you."

"seungcheol-hyung, happy birthday!" seokmin's voice is clear as day, shot quite professionally in one of the meeting rooms.

"hm... thank you for everything you've done for us and for looking after us! i hope we can move forward together and celebrate more and more birthdays! i love you!" he smiles and waves enthusiastically.

some candid clips of him and other members joking around fill in the gaps, making seungcheol laugh just remembering the funny contexts of them. "look at them," he murmurs, a proud smile never leaving his face. because, well... look at how they've grown.

"coups hyung!" chan's face gleams. "happy, happy, happy birthday! maybe if you were nicer, i would've said more. but that's all you get!" he pretends to be mad, but a smile can't help to break through.

"i'm kidding~" seungcheol laughs and cringes a little. oh, chan will always be such a little brother. "but treat me to more meals now that you're one year older~ i love you!" both his hands wave and seungcheol has to copy him.

"coups hyung... i'm with jun-hyung right now and he said he was lazy to film his individually so-" minghao's cut off by junhui kind of pushing him. laughter comes through seungcheol's headphones. these sounds were the most precious to his ears.

"hyung! i'm not lazy okay? i just thought it was better to do it together since i'm already here-" there's an abrupt cut that scares seungcheol a little but minghao and junhui returning on screen, sitting proper, with straight faces after all the chaos sends seungcheol into hysteria. they debate over who goes first, monotonously.

"happy birthday, hyung!" minghao breaks, junhui echoing him after. "thank you for taking care of us so well. you work hard every day. let's do well in the future!" junhui says with determination in his voice. minghao nods, "let's enjoy our days together. happiest birthday, hyung."

jeonghan comes in with a vertical video. seungcheol laughs, knowing wonwoo must've given him an earful. and he's right. "i know wonwoo might tell me off for shooting this vertically but i'm not retaking it." his giggles refuse to die down.