he wakes up with moisture at the corners of his eyes. he blinks it away, reaching up to swipe at it, pulling his finger away to see teardrops. he sits up slowly, comforter crinkling around him as he yawns and wipes at his eyes-- getting rid of everything at once. patting around on his bed for his phone, he looks at the time-- and looks at the date.
"happy birthday"-- the first notification reads. from: dad.
he puts his phone on 'do not disturb' and slides out of bed to get ready for the day.
4:25 pm.
"good work everyone," yeosang bows his head to each of the staff members as they bustle past him, returning the friendly smiles and the cheery calls that were frequent after a finished shoot.
he's heading back to the dressing rooms, hands busy unbuckling the accessories hung on his pants when he's stopped by his agent with a wave of his hand.
"oh yeosang, you're in a hurry-- have some birthday plans?"
yeosang blinks at him slowly, smile frozen on his face-- "ah-- i didn't think you would remember," he chuckles, waving off the protests with good manners. "no, i'm headed to the noraebang to work today, they asked me to come in a bit earlier so i'll at least get off before midnight today."
the older man nods his head and claps him on the back a few times.
"such a hardworking kid. get home quick so you can celebrate with your family, hm?"
"...yeah i wi--""
and like the busy man he is he's off after that, leaving yeosang behind, the chain accent hanging limp from his fingers.
5:10pm
"ah yeosang," the auntie at the desk greets him as he walks into his apartment building, "a big package was left for you today, do you need any help carrying it up?"
"of course not," yeosang blinks at her and responds with an easy laugh, "i can handle it mrs. oh, thank you."
and so he puts his duffel bag on top of the box and carries it up the stairs, slowly-- it was hard to see over the large cardboard box. he drops it to the ground to unlock his door, breaths coming out in short spurts as his chest rises and falls, trying to go back to normal. he pushes the door open and manages to gently get the box inside with a few careful kicks, the door falling shut behind him with a soft click.
he falls to his knees next to it, elbows resting on top as he exhales a sigh. curious, and with a bit of difficulty, he flips the box until the taped paper with all the information faces upward.
to: kang yeosang, address: -------- seoul, south korea
yeosang stares at the tag for a few minutes, mouth parting slightly. his phone reminder alarm snaps him out of his daze and he's on his feet and in his room to get ready for work.
he leaves the apartment without another glance behind him.
11:50pm
soft yellow light flickers off of the walls, the shadows dancing across the white surface and bouncing off of the tables. it flickers off of the white cardboard of the box that had been placed carefully next to his door, but had not been touched since. his eyes are closed, hands clasped together on the table, soft fur tickling his skin and heat radiating from his side. he opens his mouth-- and he blows.
the light goes out.
yeosang stands up and treads carefully over to the light switch, flicking it up and squinting as light floods the small area of his living room. rubbing at his eyes slowly, he walks back over to where dubu is sitting and wagging his tail-- he barks once at him excitedly. a soft, fond smile lifts the corners of his lips as he sits back down on the floor in front of his coffee table, scratching the pup between his ears, "thanks."
he plucks the candle out of the small cake he'd picked up on the way back from work ( matcha and vanilla-- he wasn't much of a chocolate person ). he reaches into the plastic bag and pulls out a cup of whip cream he had requested, setting it down and uncapping it for dubu.
ruffling his fur affectionately and leaving his hand resting on the dog's back, he leans back on his other hand and murmurs,
