Of Birthdays and Friendships
“Mom,” Chen Ru Yi started as he set his chopsticks down with a serious expression.
“Yes?” His mother tilted her head as she gave him her full attention. Mimicking her son’s behavior, she also placed her chopsticks down.
“Is it okay if I invite some friends over for tomorrow?”
Her eyes widened in surprise, and the atmosphere around her brightened immensely when the biggest grin appeared on her face.
“Of course! Do you want me to buy any snacks? Or dessert?”
Despite having an inkling that his mother would have agreed, Ru Yi couldn’t help but let out the breath that he was holding in. A small, relieved smile graced his lips. Now that he had finally popped The Question, he returned to his breakfast with lighter shoulders. He pondered over what she asked as he placed his last piece of egg in his mouth. After a bit, he finally nodded his head.
“My friends like sweets, so maybe some cookies or cupcakes? And some drinks. Strawberry milk and banana milk.” He nodded again, recalling what his friends often drank during their lunch breaks.
“Okay, I’ll get everything on my way home tomorrow then.” His mother shot up excitedly and collected all the empty plates. She hummed happily on her way to the sink and continued doing so while she washed the dishes.
Ru Yi blinked at how cheerful she became. His mother seemed more excited about tomorrow than he was... He felt a small pang of guilt that he couldn’t always make her this happy.
It’s not like Chen Ru Yi wasn't aware that his existence was dear to his mother. He could tell by the fact that she never failed to give him a smile when she saw him, even when she had just returned home after working long hours of overtime. Ru Yi was sure that those were genuine smiles as well, but his mother was practically radiating happiness right now.
Did it really make her that happy that he was inviting friends over for his birthday?
Ru Yi felt a heaviness in his heart, albeit it was a warm weight.
… For her sake, he should do it more frequently…
“A’Yi, isn’t it almost time to leave?”
Ru Yi snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the clock. Ah. He quickly set his dishes on the sink counter and grabbed his coat, hat, muffler, and backpack that he already prepared the night before.
“Mom, I’ll be going now.”
“Have a safe trip!”
Ru Yi glanced at the photo frame on top of the cabinet near the front door. It was a picture of his parents and a younger Ru Yi in his father’s arms, all with big, radiant smiles on their faces.
“I’m going now, Dad,” he greeted softly as he gave his dad a small smile before heading out the door.
When he left the gates of his home, he was immediately greeted by a blur of red and pink.
“Ru Yi, morning~!” His neighbor, Chu Yan, greeted him brightly with a grin.
Ru Yi didn’t know how she could be so energetic this early in the morning. Especially when it was freezing cold out here. He shivered as the wind nipped his skin and nodded in response to her greeting. “Morning, Chuchu.”
They walked side by side as Chuchu told him all about her evening last night. Ru Yi nodded along and interjected every now and then.
This time last year, he would’ve never done something like this. He would have tuned her out and walked as fast as he could to the school building, both to escape from the cold and from Chu Yan.
So much has changed in a year…
Glancing at the animated girl, who was still immersed in storytelling, he couldn’t help but reminisce about all the work she had put into befriending him.
Once upon a time, Chen Ru Yi had thought he was the most damned soul alive; nowadays, however, he felt that he was quite lucky to have been able to meet someone like her. An existence that pulled him out of his depressing nightmare and into the light (quite literally).
He was nothing but thankful for her existence, even if he wasn’t the best at showing it.
That’s why tomorrow was an important day for him. Perhaps for once, he could show even a snippet of his appreciation for her. Which reminds him... He gulped and took a deep breath. He couldn’t help but clench his fist as he prepared himself to ask her The Question.
“Chuchu.”
The girl paused when Ru Yi stopped walking. She tilted her head with a smile, encouraging him to continue.
“Tomorrow… Do you want to come over? For my birthday.”
Incredibly embarrassed and awkward to ask her something like this, Ru Yi stubbornly stared down at his boots the entire time he was waiting for her response. Despite how often they hung out after school, a small part of him was still unsure… But he didn’t have to worry for long because her reply was almost immediate.
“Of course I want to come! Thanks for the invite, Ru Yi!” She laughed brightly as she smacked him on the shoulder a couple of times, almost as if congratulating him for successfully getting the words out.
Ru Yi grimaced under his muffler.
Ouch…
But at least that was another weight off his chest. He sighed, feeling much lighter.
One down, one more to go.
“Oh! What time should I come by?”
“Mom’s not home until six, so anytime after that?” He had stuff he wanted to prepare as well.
“Okay~ I’m so excited!” Chuchu flashed him another one of her one-hundred-megawatt smiles. As if infected by her, he couldn’t help but smile back slightly. He stopped when he realized what he was doing, and he was thankful that his muffler blocked the lower half of his face.
To be honest, though, he was also excited. Just a bit. Birthdays were always big fanfares in the Chen household, but Ru Yi thought it would change when his father passed away. When a core part of what made those celebrations so joyous disappears, how could it possibly remain the same?
But after the surprise birthday party he received from his mother and Chuchu last year, Ru Yi realized something; birthdays in the Chen family did change, but it also did not.
It will never be the same as when his father was around, and he will most likely always grieve that fact on his birthday. But grief would not be the only emotion he feels on that day. Not when there were people who cared about him and wanted to celebrate his day together.
It might just be a naive kid’s wishful thinking, but perhaps his father would be amongst them when they celebrate. Perhaps he could see the happy smiles on his family’s faces. Perhaps he would be grinning ear to ear too, like he always did on any of their birthdays.
Perhaps he’d be happy for Ru Yi and realize he didn’t have to worry about his son anymore. If he still did. If he still could.
When they entered the classroom, Ru Yi immediately scanned the room for the other person he wanted to invite, but he couldn’t find him. That was weird. It usually wasn’t this hard to spot him, especially since he stood out with that bright yellow hair and uniform.
“Ah, Chu Yan, Ruyi! Good morning to you two,” a gentle voice greeted from behind them.
“Morning Yingying!” Chuchu chirped from behind Ru Yi, who turned around to face the boy. Speak of the devil. (Or angel, as his classmates liked to refer to him.)
“Morning, Ying.” He returned the greeting to their classmate and student council president, Bai Ying. In his hands was a flower vase, so he most likely just returned from watering it.
Wait a minute…
Ru Yi frowned at the flowers. “Are you on duty today?”
“I’m not, but the poor flowers looked like they were about to dry up, so I thought it would be okay to do it myself.” Bai Ying smiled sheepishly in response.
Ru Yi frowned even harder.
Typical Bai Ying behavior.
He hated seeing the kind get taken advantage of, so he took the vase from Bai Ying and placed it on the teacher’s desk himself. While there, he looked at the ‘Helper List’ for the week, specifically at the name of the student who was supposed to be in charge of the classroom’s flowers. Of course, it was that kid. Ru Yi was not impressed.
Reminding himself to let the teacher know later, he returned to Chu Yan and Bai Ying, who were happily chatting about their days so far.
Oh, this was probably his best chance to ask Bai Ying The Question.
“Ying,”
“Yes?”
“Are you free tomorrow around 6?”
Ying blinked before a look of realization crossed his face. The boy’s eyes widened, and his hands held onto the desk as he leaned slightly forward towards Ru Yi.
“Yes! I mean, I’ll be free all evening tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Ru Yi replied on default, distracted by how Ying’s eyes seemed to shine with excitement, before realizing he should probably explain more about the situation.
“Oh um, it’s for my birthday. Party.” Ru Yi winced at how stilted that came out, but Bai Ying didn’t seem bothered at all; he just nodded in response.
“Thank you for the invite, and I’m really looking forward to it.” He beamed happily at Ru Yi, flowers blooming behind him. The first time those flowers popped up, Ru Yi had wondered if they were a hallucination. He was used to them by now though, after experiencing it for almost a year. Habituation, you know?
The flowers usually came out when Bai Ying was in a really good mood, and the thought of that tickled Ru Yi’s chest a little. Because it told him that Bai Ying was happy to be invited.
“Okay then, see you both tomorrow,” Ru Yi nodded, and the two happily nodded back at him.
Well. That’s that. The most important part of his mission was over now. The rest of the day passed in a blur as Ru Yi had used up all his energy for the day in the first two hours of being conscious. Before he knew it, he was back inside his house.
How did he even get there?
He blinked. Oh, he was so out of it.
Ru Yi headed to the bathroom to wash his face, changed out of his uniform into his comfortable pajamas, and then sat down at his desk with a determined expression.
Now to finish planning tomorrow’s itinerary…
When Chen Ru Yi woke up the next morning, he was immediately greeted with numerous balloons floating around in his room. He blinked. Some were round, while others were star-shaped, heart-shaped, and rabbit-shaped. They were also really colorful… But…
Thirteen balloons. Thirteen years old.
Again, he felt an indescribable warmth bloom in his chest, and he quickly pulled the covers over his head so that no one could witness his awkward expression from his inability to control his facial muscles properly.
After calming down, he peeked out from underneath and glanced at his alarm clock. His eyes widened at how late it was, and he immediately jumped out of bed. He didn't have school today, but he had something he wanted to do...
Ru Yi opened his door and looked around, but he couldn’t find his mother. After walking over to the dining table, which only had one person’s worth of breakfast left, it was obvious that his mother had already left. His shoulders drooped a little at that before he noticed a light blue post-it note on the table. He picked it up.
‘Happy birthday A’Yi! After seeing how hard you were working yesterday night, Mom didn’t have the heart to wake you up >.<; ; I made your favorites, so I hope you enjoy it! And I hope you like the view in your room this morning, my precious baby!! Of course, more is coming tonight!!’ She doodled a kissy emoticon at the end of the note, the same one that his father always drew for them.
Ru Yi couldn’t help but smile at that, the disappointment from being unable to eat with her fading away. He walked back into his room and placed the note on his desk before getting ready for the day. There were still some loose ends he had to deal with before the evening party…
DING DONG!
Ru Yi perked up at the sound and got up from the couch. He quickly checked his appearance in the mirror once more before heading to the door. When he opened it, he was immediately greeted by bright smiles.
“Ru Yi, happy birth!”
“Happy birthday, Ru Yi.”
Ah, the warm feeling in his chest was back again.
“...Thanks, you two.”
He let them in and led them to his mother.
“Auntie, hi! Here are some dishes and snacks my mom wanted me to bring over!”
“Ah Chuchu, thank you! And thank your mom for me too, please.”
“Ms.Chen, thank you for having me over. I also brought some snacks.”
“Aw, you didn’t have to A’Ying, but thank you; I appreciate it! You three go play while I prepare some of these snacks for you.” His mother smiled at them and practically kicked them out of the kitchen. When the two had their backs turned to her, she winked at Ru Yi.
Ah, this was his cue. Right. Fiddling with the sleeves of his soft turtleneck, Ru Yi opened his mouth. “Do you two want to play Mario Party?”
Chu Yan beamed at him while Bai Ying nodded with a smile. Despite himself, Ru Yi’s eyes glinted, a sign of satisfaction that his plan was going well (and also a sign of his competitive streak coming alive again.)
When the game loaded up, everyone picked their usual character— Toad for Chu Yan, Yoshi for Bai Yingi, and Shy Guy for Ru Yi— the same characters they had chosen since Day One, when Ru Yi had first invited the two over to play almost a year ago.
Ru Yi’s been keeping scores ever since then too; Chu Yan was currently in first place with 13 wins, Bai Ying in second with 10 wins, and Ru Yi, unfortunately, in third place with 8 wins. One day, the tables will be reversed, and every game until then was just a step in that direction. (Or a step in the opposite direction, but he didn’t want to think about that.)
“...Chuchu, your rolls…”
“It’s all just luck~!”
“....Where is my luck then….”
“There, there, Ru Yi…”
.
“It’s two against one, we got it this time, Ying!”
“Y-yes! I’m ready.”
“Good luck, you two!”
“Are you mocking me?”
“No?”
“.....”
“There, there, Ru Yi…”
.
“Ah!! We were so close!”
“Sorry…”
“No, it’s not your fault, Ying. It’s mine for getting careless at the end…”
“It’s okay guys, there’s always next time!”
“Chuchu… be quiet..”
The sound of laughter from behind caught Ru Yi’s attention, and he turned around to face the source. His mother stood behind them with a hand covering her lips as her shoulders shook. Even though he couldn’t see her full expression, he knew by the curl of her eyes that she was grinning widely, just like she did yesterday morning. Even though she was laughing at his expense, he was happy to see her like this again. He couldn’t help the curl of his own lips as he turned back to the screen for his turn to roll.
Dad, do you see this?
I’m happy.
We’re happy.
As if a sign from the heavens, Ru Yi rolled a six, his first ever since the game started.
“Wow,” his mother gasped as she applauded, her lips forming into a grin. “Congratulations Chuchu on another victory!”
Chu Yan beamed at her. “Thanks, Auntie!”
Ru Yi frowned harder at that. After losing to Chu Yan yet again in Mario Party (the score was now 14:10:8, tsk), they played Mario Kart for a bit (of which he won one of three games) before moving on to card games. Chu Yan had just won yet another game of Uno…
As if sensing his dampening mood, his mother clapped a few times to gather everyone’s attention.“Okay kids, let’s move on to the main event now, shall we?” His mother clasped his shoulders and maneuvered all three of them to the kitchen.
As they approached the dining table, Ru Yi’s eyes shimmered as he gazed at the set-up. The table was covered with various sweets (all his favorites) and fancy decorations; it was as if they were transported into one of those fantasy storybooks and were attending one of those fancy tea parties.
Ah. The warm, fuzzy feeling was back again, but this time a lump in his throat accompanied it. Unable to trust himself to look into his mother’s eyes or say a word without his voice cracking, he simply squeezed her hands.
Thank you.
He could feel her gaze on him, but she didn’t say anything, simply opting to squeeze his shoulders tighter. He was thankful for that too.
Of course.
“Wow, Auntie, it’s so fancy! And beautiful!”
“It’s such a cute set-up…!”
“Thank you!” His mom beamed. “I thought a royal-style tea party would suit my ice prince son, so I went all out for him!
At that description, Ru Yi raised a brow. What kind of nonsense was his mother saying? He thought they would laugh at the joke, but the two simply nodded in agreement.
? Guys?
Before he could say anything, he was rushed into the seat at the head of the table. He fiddled with his sleeves again, feeling awkward as all eyes focused on him.
But he knew he had to say something, so he willed himself to speak.
“...First of all, thanks for coming over. I really appreciate it.” Was that enough? Should he touch on how fortunate he feels to have met them? Was that too cheesy? Though he had a feeling that even if it was, they wouldn’t tease him about it.
While he was deliberating on what to say next, the lights suddenly went out.
“...! Is everyone okay?”
“Hm, that’s so strange… Let me go check on the breaker.”
“ I’ll go with you, Auntie!”
“I’ll go with you Mom, so stay seated Chuchu.” It was dangerous to walk around when it was pitch black, so of course the ones who were the most familiar with the house should go.
They went down the stairs and located the breaker quite quickly. After fiddling with it for a couple of seconds, the lights turned back on.
His mother sighed in relief. “I’m glad it was an easy fix.”
“...Yeah..."
“Okay, let’s go back n-” She halted as she felt a pair of small arms wrap around her waist.
“...Thank you, mom.” His voice was muffled by her sweater, but she seemed to understand him perfectly.
“...Of course, anything for you sweetheart.” She murmured, turning around and stroking his hair. “Are you having a fun time?”
“Yes… It’s the most fun I’ve had in a while.” And he wasn’t just referring to today— he was talking about all the good memories he made with his friends- all the good things that happened after he thought that nothing could ever make his world light up in vibrant colors again.
“...That’s a relief to hear.”
Neither of them commented about the hitch in the other’s voice, and they headed up the stairs in comfortable silence.
Only to find the kitchen still in pure darkness.
Ru Yi raised a brow. That was strange. The lights should have automatically turned on once they flipped the switch.
“Chuchu? Ying?” He called out from the hallway, but there was no response. His footsteps became more hurried as he rushed to the kitchen.
“Gu-” He flicked the light switch and was immediately greeted with-
“SURPRISE!”
He blinked.
Huh?
At the head of the table, where he had sat earlier, stood Chu Yan and Bai Ying, who were both holding one end of a stand. A cake stand.
A cake stand with a cake on it. A cake with five figures on it.
Ru Yi blinked.
Each of those figures, despite being clumsily made, resembled someone. Someone that he knew. One had pink hair with a red bow and a happy grin. Another had yellow hair and was wearing a smaller smile, but not any less happy. One had dark hair partially covered by a hat that resembled their school uniform, and it had a big smile on its face (even though he had an inkling that the person it was modeled after never smiled that wide before.) Behind them were two taller figures, one with long black hair and the other with. The other with a police hat. And on their faces were the biggest smiles of them all.
They were all there. All those he held dear in his tiny heart.
“Happy birthday, Ruyi!” Two voices exclaimed in sync, and Ru Yi tore his gaze away from those derpy five figures and focused on the two holding the cake.
Their smiles were carbon copies of the pink and yellow figures on the cake.
Seeing that, his vision started to blur.
Ah, crap. He crouched down and buried his head into his sweater. He really didn’t want to show this embarrassing side of himself to them...
He heard soft gasps before footsteps rushed towards him.
“Ru Yi, are you okay?!”
“Did you accidentally hurt yourself in the dark?”
Hands gently patted his back as they waited for him to respond.
Good job Chen Ru Yi, now you’re making them worry about you.
“I’m fine,” he sniffed as he rubbed his eyes. “Just got some dust in my eyes.”
“Rubbing at it won’t help, Ru Yi, let me see please.”
“Yeah, do you want me to blow on it?”
He couldn’t help but let out a watery laugh at that comment.
“It’s okay, I think I’m fine now.” He lifted his head and smiled at them.
And he genuinely believed so. He would be fine. As long as he had them by his side.
Seeing such an unabashed, content smile coming from Ru Yi of all people made the other two blink, but they soon returned it with a smile of their own, equally content. Equally happy.
Ru Yi finally stood up and walked towards the cake, the other two following close behind.
“So you two made my birthday cake?” He asked, feeling shy for some reason.
“Yup! It was lots of fun! The process was a little messy, but overall it turned out very well! We also made those figures ourselves! Can you see the resemblance?”
“It was our first time baking, I hope you like the result.” Ying smiled gently before his eyes widened. “Ah, I hope that didn’t alarm you; we made sure it was more edible than our first few tries!”
Ru Yi blinked. “Tries? Did you make more than one?”
Chu Yan and Bai Ying glanced at each other before Bai Ying smiled sheepishly at Ru Yi. “The first one came out burnt, and we accidentally mistook salt for sugar for the second one…” Bai Ying explained, fiddling with his fingers.
Ru Yi blinked again. “You two… that’s so careless.”
Bai Ying winced slightly at the comment, but Chu Yan just beamed at him.
“But it’s thanks to the lessons we learned from our first two tries that we could make this yummy cake for you! They were just happy accidents!”
Ru Yi raised a brow at her logic before deciding to let it go. Just this once, he won’t refute it. It’s the least he could do for her after she spent so much time on his cake.
His cake. His friends made him a cake.
The fuzzy feeling was back again.
“Ru Yi... Your smile is really cute!”
“...! I’m glad our actions could make you so happy, Ru Yi.”
“....What are you talking about?” When did he smile?
“Aw, it’s gone...”
“Stop talking nonsense, let’s eat the cake now.”