PERFECT (F4 THAILAND)

candle (46)

"Birthdays are supposed to be celebrated with the people you're close to," Ren says after a long silence.

His eyes remain fixed on the ocean, watching the waves crash against the shore as though the answer is hidden somewhere beyond the horizon.

"The people you love. The people you actually want beside you."

A bitter laugh escapes him, quiet enough that it nearly gets swallowed by the wind.

"But every birthday I've had was celebrated with strangers."

Rose turns toward him slightly.

Ren digs his fingers deeper into the sand, letting the grains slip through them. "Yeah, my friends were there but There were always people. The house would be packed, music blasting, everyone laughing and drinking and pretending they were having the time of their lives." His jaw tightens.

"But none of them were the people I actually wanted there."

The words come easier now, as if once he'd started speaking, he couldn't stop.

"They never showed up with a cake. Never stayed until midnight." His gaze drops to the water at his feet.

"Instead, I'd get a text. Maybe a phone call if they remembered. Sometimes a video message sent from whatever country they were working in."

For the first time that night, there's no sarcasm in his voice.

"Every year, I'd stare at my phone waiting for it to ring." He lets out a slow breath. "And every year I'd tell myself I wasn't disappointed."

Rose feels her chest tighten painfully.

She's never heard him speak like this before.

The Ren she knows is guarded to a fault. He hides everything behind jokes and that cold yet warm face, turning every serious conversation into an silly argument before it can become something real. Yet sitting here beneath the moonlight, with the ocean stretching endlessly before them, he's letting her see something fragile.

Something lonely.

Without thinking, she shifts closer until her shoulder presses gently against his.

"Guess we're in the same boat."

Ren blinks and turns toward her.

"What do you mean?"

His gaze flickers briefly to where their shoulders touch, but he doesn't move away.

Rose stares out at the waves. "My birthdays weren't much different."

A small laugh escapes her.

"They were always huge. Expensive decorations. Fancy venues. Hundreds of people I didn't know." She picks up a shell near her foot and turns it between her fingers.

"I'd spend the whole night smiling at strangers and thanking them for gifts I didn't want."

She can still remember the bright lights.

The cameras.

The endless speeches.

The exhaustion.

"Everyone would talk about how special the day was." She rolls her eyes. "How important I was. How lucky I was."

Her smile fades slightly.

The confession settles between them.

Rose shrugs lightly, trying to make it sound less painful than it really was.

"I'd spend the entire night surrounded by people and still feel alone."

For a moment neither of them speaks.