"Follow me!" Ten grabbed Byeol's wrist again and led her up the path to the big house.
"Ten, whose house is this?" She asked in a hushed voice, only hesitantly letting him drag her. She was too busy scanning her surroundings– neat lawn, extravagant Christmas decorations– that she didn't realize they had reached the front door. Ten stopped and she crashed into him, then stepped back, rubbing her head.
"Close your eyes," He told her. She looked at him dumfounded.
"Um... why?" She asked.
"Just do it!" He said exasperatedly and she rolled her eyes and closed them. She heard the door open and felt Ten's hands gently nudge her from behind, so she took careful steps forward.
"If you make me fall, Ten, I swear..." She mumbled as she stubbed her toe against a stair. She waved her hand around to find Ten's and once they collided, he guided her up the few stairs. Byeol could hear faint shuffling in front of her. He closed the door behind them and they were engulfed in darkness.
"Ten...?" She called out hesitantly.
"Open your eyes," said a voice that sounded kind of like... Chenle? When Byeol opened her eyes, they took a second to adjust in the darkness.
But then she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide.
In the darkness stood Chenle, Jungwoo, Jaemin, Yangyang, Xiaojun, Taeyong, and Ten. Yangyang was holding a lilac colored cake with sixteen candles around it and slightly messy icing that read HBD Byeol ✩. Ten was filming the whole thing on his phone as she laughed, looking at them sweetly.
"Surprise!!" They shouted, grins all around. "Happy birthday!!"
"You guys..." She trailed off, not even knowing what to say.
At the end of the line of boys, Xiaojun was, well, struggling. He was in charge of the confetti popper but he couldn't seem to make it work. He was supposed to pop it when she opened her eyes! He nudged Jaemin and the two tried to figure it out in the corner.
"Blow out the candles; the wax is getting on the cake!" Yangyang told her and she took in a deep breath.
"Wait! Make a wish!" Taeyong said. She closed her eyes and wished for the happiness of everyone she loved, then blew out the candles.
"Happy birthday to you~" They all started singing in perfect pitch.
"Why isn't it working?!" Jaemin whispered frustratedly as he turned the popper in his hands.
"Happy birthday to you~" Byeol's smile melted in horror as Chenle took some frosting from the cake on his finger and walked closer to her.
"Chenle... bestie... please, no..." She tried to back away but Jungwoo had already grabbed her from the back and held her in place. The other boys got more frosting and she struggled in Jungwoo's grip as they decorated her face in frosting.
"Happy birthday dear Byeol~" The continued to sing as she half-whined, half-laughed. "Happy birthday to you~"
A loud pop suddenly sounded and Byeol got bombasted with a million tiny colorful pieces of paper. Everyone looked towards the source of the shot and found Xiaojun and Jaemin, the latter holding the confetti popper in Byeol's direction. Both of them looked horrified for a split second.
Jaemin shoved the empty cardboard tube into Xiaojun's hands and stepped away from him. "It was Xiao's fault!" But Xiaojun didn't even bothering defending himself– instead, he was on the floor laughing at Byeol, face purple with rainbow sprinkles. Everyone else joined in and Byeol simply stood there, shocked.
YOU ARE READING
Counting on Stars // NCT Ten
Fanfiction"It's just me, you, and the music." Byeol has moved schools again. It's normal. But just because things happen often doesn't make them easier. Throughout her difficult time adjusting to the new settings along with leaving so much behind, Byeol meets...
