From Something To Everything (Bounprem)

115. Birthday celebration

Having had a good sleep, a stomach full of delicious food and a nice long bath, Boun felt revived. He made his way downstairs cheerfully.

The lights went out the moment he set foot in the living area. He wondered what happened when darkness engulfed his surroundings. Suddenly a sound from the other side attracted his attention and he looked over.

Under the dim light, he could see a wall decorated with balloons and fairy lights. A string of letter balloons that spelt H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y hung in the middle.

"Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you..." Prem walked over with a cake in his hands, singing the birthday song.

Boun's gaze fell on the cake Prem was holding. It seemed to be a chocolate cake but didn't have frosting, instead, it was covered with a layer of melted chocolate and decorated with m & m. He could see that Prem had taken his preferences into consideration. For the first time in years, he felt that celebrating his birthday wasn't such a bad idea.

"Make a wish and blow out the candle, Hia." Prem held the cake in front of Boun.

Boun joined his hands and closer his eyes in silent prayer. He reopened his eyes with a smile and blew off the candle.

Prem placed the cake on the table and handed him the plastic knife. He sang the birthday song again when Boun cut the cake.

Boun was smiling ear to ear. After so many years he was celebrating his birthday and he was celebrating it with the person he cared about the most, which made him extremely happy. He fed Prem the first slice of the cake, who fed him back.

"Happy birthday na Hia." Prem pecked his cheeks.

Boun smiled and pecked back on Prem's lips. "Thank you, Pao."

"Hearing thank you from you feels weird." Prem cringed.

"Did you have to ruin the moment?"

"It wasn't supposed to be a moment. Gosh, I am tired." Prem groaned like an old man and cut out two more slices from the cake and placed them on small plates and handed one to Boun and took the other for himself.

He settled down on the couch.

"You bought this couch?" Boun looked at the newly bought L-shaped couch that he wanted to buy when they went furniture shopping before they moved in together.

"Of course. I had to refurnish the whole place." Prem replied forking his slice of cake.

That was when Boun noticed that everything that he broke earlier that day was replaced and the whole place looked brand new. He smiled guiltily and sat next to Prem. He dug into his slice of cake as well.

"Why does this cake taste like your favourite biscuits?" Boun asked after a bite.

"Because it is made from those biscuits." Prem flashed a plastic smile at him and went back to eating his cake.

"Don't tell me you baked this cake as well." Boun stared at the slice in his hand.

"No. The ghost next door did," Prem replied sarcastically.

"Why are you being so cranky?" Boun eyed Prem suspiciously seemingly understanding the cause of the crankiness. He leaned in and whispered in his baritone. "The cake is really tasty."

Prem controlled his lips from curling upward. "I know. I am also eating." He retorted.

Boun knew that Prem wouldn't give in so easily. He stood up and picked up the remote to the home theatre. "What is a party without some music and dance?" he put on the music before snatching the plate from Prem.