A Normal Life at Last: Haknyeon's Story of Freedom

17

On the next morning, Haknyeon is still asleep peacefully in his room. While he is sleeping, his room door opens gradually and someone steps inside the room silently. He slowly walks over to Haknyeon's bed and he steps to either side of him. He is probably trying to be careful and not make a sound so that he doesn't wake Haknyeon up while he is sleeping.

"Haknyeon. Haknyeon ah"

Haknyeon awake and see who calling him.

"Kevin hyung?"

"Morning, sunshine. You sleep very soundly. Were yesterday walk was really tiring you?" asked Kevin.

"Yeah. A bit. What's time now?" asked Haknyeon.

"Almost 9 o'clock now. Let's go down and have breakfast" said Kevin.

Haknyeon nodded. He wake up and walk to the bathroom first to wash his face. Kevin accompany him. He wait outside the bathroom until Haknyeon finish washing up. After he finish it, they walk down to the dining room.

The moment they walk in, a few pops sound been heard and the confetti fall down in front of Haknyeon.

"Happy birthday, Haknyeon!"

Haknyeon was stunned.

"My... birthday?" asked Haknyeon.

"It is. Today is your birthday" said Kevin.

"I... I didn't know" said Haknyeon.

Sangyeon walk to Haknyeon and pat his head.

"It's okay. We all want to celebrate it with you" said Sangyeon.

"Hyung, what is birthday?" asked Haknyeon.

"Birthday is a celebration of your birth. A day to mark your existence" said Sangyeon.

"My... existence?" asked Haknyeon.

Sangyeon nodded.

"We want to celebrate it for you" said Sangyeon.

"Why?" asked Haknyeon.

"To remind you that you are loved, and that you always have someone rooting for you. It a special day" said Sangyeon.

"Special day..."

"Haknyeon?"

"... Sorry. I don't how to react" said Haknyeon.

Sangyeon understand. Everyone understand. They understand that Haknyeon never been able to have a proper celebration of birthday party before. Haknyeon has been through a lot in his life and he has missed out on many normal and happy experiences, including the experience of celebrating his own birthday.

"It's okay. It's gonna be your first time celebrate it" said Kevin.

"How do we celebrate it?" asked Haknyeon.

"We can show you how" said Sunwoo.

They all gather around to celebrate Haknyeon's birthday by singing the 'Happy Birthday' song to him. In front of Haknyeon, there is a cake with a lit candle. When they finish singing, Jacob tells Haknyeon to blow the candle out. Haknyeon then follows the instructions and blows out the candle in just one blow. The other housemates then clap and praise Haknyeon for his quick and accurate blowing out of the candle.

"Cut the cake, Haknyeon" said Changmin.

Haknyeon takes the cake knife and stares at it. He gets a strange feeling of nostalgia, but it's not a good one and it seems to make him feel uncomfortable. Then, he sees an illusion of the knife being covered in blood, which makes him flinch and recoil. The sight of the blood is disturbing and sickening to him, and it reminds him of a painful incident in the past.