Midday, Twilight, Night

After finishing the birthday livestream, Son Youngtaek and Bong Jaehyun continued their conversation as they left the company for a stroll. They'd been friends since their school days, through their trainee years, and now as idols in the same group, their bond had never wavered.

"Ah, it feels great to have eaten so much cake," Bong Jaehyun said, satisfied. Son Youngtaek frowned, "You ate it all! Both the ice cream cake and the strawberry cake. I'm the birthday boy here!"

Bong Jaehyun responded, "I'll get Jangjun hyung to repay you."

"Why Jangjun hyung?" Son Youngtaek asked, puzzled.

"You've made up with him, haven't you? This will bring you even closer," Jaehyun said gently, his reasoning simple. Youngtaek, however, merely lowered his gaze and gave a faint smile.

"We've made up, I guess," he replied. Hopefully, it wasn't just his imagination.

-

Lee Jangjun stared at his phone screen, repeatedly refreshing the page to see if any other members had posted on Twitter. So far, only Bae Seungmin had posted, and Jangjun didn't want to be the second. He had no real reason for it, but he wanted to post something soon to give Son Youngtaek's birthday a nice ending.

"What photo are you going to post? Have you picked one yet?" Choi Sungyoon asked, noticing Jangjun's deep frown.

"Are you going to post?" Jangjun countered.

"I'm waiting for you to post first," Sungyoon said playfully, his mischievous grin deepening Jangjun's frustration.

"Why wait for me? You all could post first."

"Youngtaek is probably especially looking forward to yours." Sungyoon patted Jangjun's shoulder, but Jangjun sighed and lowered his gaze.

"Reciprocal gestures like this are really annoying," Jangjun muttered, thinking how balanced relationships could be the worst.

-

After the group's usual evening dance practice, Son Youngtaek stayed late into the night at the company, working on music production and arrangement. Even on his birthday, he remained dedicated to his goals, knowing that hard work was key to achieving them.

Around midnight, Youngtaek checked Twitter but saw no birthday messages from his members. However, he wasn't disappointed, having already enjoyed their earlier celebration. While struggling with some technical difficulties, Lee Jangjun suddenly appeared with a warm drink, breaking his concentration and offering him a hot cocoa.

"Why are you still here?" Youngtaek asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Jangjun replied, handing him the drink.

"Thanks."

"Finish up soon so we can head back to the dorm together," Jangjun said, curling up in a chair nearby.

"You could've gone ahead without me."

"You didn't really want that," Jangjun teased, to which Youngtaek chuckled.

As they sat together, Youngtaek asked for Jangjun's help with a tricky section of his music, and Jangjun, always supportive, pulled up a chair and listened.

Maybe this kind of closeness wasn't so bad after all.