Chapter 62 - A Birthday Surprise

K woke up with a peace he had not known recently. Rolling out of bed, he shook his head vigorously before looking at his phone. A moment of melancholy and longing later, he closed the messaging application and began a playlist of songs that he usually enjoyed as he went towards the bathroom to freshen up. Planning his day in his head, he wondered if he should do a live broadcast before or after their practice session. 

Just then, there were a series of knocks on the door and Apollo's voice sounded through the door, "Hey! Sleeping beauty! Are you up yet?"

Shaking his head, he took a detour and went to open the door as he shouted," Hold your horses! I am awake!"

In the next minute, a chorus of happy birthday song started to sound through the room as all the members and a few cameramen walked in. Carrying a cake, a banner and flowers- Felix, I.M, Gyeom and Apollo walked in with big smiles on their faces. Soon ,the room was filled with laughter and chatter as everyone talked over each other's voices as they teased," We are going to make wishes for the birthday boy! And this year, we wish that he is blessed with a beautiful life partner as he is already so old! And we should be blessed with a cute sister in law!" Booing, everyone yelled at I.M for having such a boring wish and started to throw wild suggestions for Adam to make a wish from getting a magical wand to having eternal beauty to having a harem. Closing his eyes, Adam made the wish that he had made for the last few years and blew out the candles, cutting the cake. But the next minute, he had been pushed and the tasty cake which was supposed to be in his mouth was now on his face. As Adam glared murderously at the mischievous Apollo, the cameras captured Felix wiping K's face quietly with a tissue, making all the couple ships of Klix (K and Felix) cheer online. 

Usually, they did not do live of surprises, as it would usually need editing, but the recent worries of the fans about K's health had made them decide to do a live as it would be more natural.

Deciding to use the opportunity with everyone there, Adam turned on his own live broadcast and connected with their fans as well, receiving thousands of birthday wishes in comments. As he thanked everyone with a big grin on his face, answering comments about his health, no one could guess the pain his heart was undergoing at that moment. This year, the wish he had made was the same as the last few years and yet different. The memories of their small part had been lesser and he had been unaware of her whereabouts. But now he knew where to find her. Now he knew that she was still the same and yet different. And he knew that she had once again forgotten about him. Maybe not totally erased from memory as in the past, but just not there on her mind, He hated the fact that she found it so easy to forget him while he could not stop thinking of her.

A while later, as Adam closed the door behind the troops promising to come for the party they were organizing that night, the smile on his face vanished and once again a chasm of loneliness seemed to engulf him. Forcing away the troubled thoughts, he tried to cheer himself at the fact that he had been gifted with such loving brothers who were much better than family but in his heart, the place that belonged to Alice was too empty.

Once again a few knocks on the door sounded and this time, K glared at the door as if it was his mortal enemy. Could a man not have any rest on his birthday also? Pulling open the door, he scowled at the hotel employee who almost stepped back in alarm. Pointing to a small luggage trolley in the corridor, the employee continued," Sir, these gifts have been delivered by your company and they are from fans and investors from all over the world. I have also been arranged to answer all the Thank you messages on your behalf. May I bring them in?"

K stepped aside and nodded before ordering," I will personally thank the people. You can simply leave them here." Most of their fans would not send things as they already knew that SKY never accepted gifts. All they had asked from their fans was that they shower their love by loving their music.. So, he knew that most of these would be from their sponsors and brands that they endorsed. For a moment he wondered if Faye Group had also sent him something but then ruthlessly suppressed the thought. Even if they had, it would have had nothing to do with Alice. More likely, their company's HR must have sent some token gift. No point in trying to look for it.

As Adam watched the man arranged the items one by one on the nearby table. As he pulled out the last item, a strong aroma spread into the room, making K sneeze violently in quick succession. Donning a mask, K opened the elongated box and frowned at the beautiful lilies inside. They were too beautiful but too strong. Usually he was not allergic to flora but these lilies emitted a strong aroma. His eyes watered and he wondered if he should just check the name of the sender and then ask the flowers to be taken away. 

But before he could say anything, he sneezed more and more until his nose had turned red. Opening the windows in the room, Adam ordered between sneezes, "Just tell me the name of the sender and leave the the message card on the table. Please take away the flowers and let them be placed somewhere else.

The employee had also noticed that their guest seemed to be having a severe reaction, so he immediately picked up the flowers, took out the card and placed it on the table before turning back to the door as he said," Sir, the flowers are from a Miss Alice Faye. I will take them away now, Sir. Please let me know if you need something else."

Adam continued to nod, not listening to what the other party was saying as the smell had lessened a bit and he could catch his breath a bit. However, just as the door closed behind the employee, the name of the sender registered in his mind. Did that guy say Alice Faye? No.. He had to be mistaken. But what if he was not mistaken?"

Widening his red eyes, he rushed out of the room, looked around and noticed that the man had already reached the end of the corridor and the elevator doors were about to be closed. Shouting," Hey! Give my flowers back!" Adam startled the employee who could only watch stunned as Adam grabbed the flowers from his hand and took them back to his room, hugging them to his chest. Even while stopping himself from breathing so as not to be assaulted from their strong fragrance.

Placing the flowers near the door, Adam slowly walked towards the table where the name card was placed scared to even read the name of the sender. But as he looked down at the card, he felt that every sneeze was worth it," Our beautiful memories will never fade away, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't create more… These stargazer lilies are here to tell you that I miss you. Happy Birthday - Love Alice."

A big grin appearing on his face, Adam hugged the card to himself. He was almost jumping in joy at the thought of Alice not just remembering him but she also told him that she missed him! A vague voice in his head tried to intrude that this was not her style, but Adam suppressed that thought in the bud and moved as far away from the blooms as he could while keeping an eye on them. Taking out a mask, he put it on to cover his nose and then tied a scarf around his face to cover the smell, but still he continued to admire the beautiful red and golden blooms. Since she had already taken the initiative to approach him, there should not be a problem in him contacting her and saying Thank You.. But before that he needed to write the Thank You to the others and thus he got to work, deciding to thank Alice in the last. Soon most of the thank you notes had been written and ready to be sent to the company for them to forward. But that is when Adam realized that his head had slowly started to ache and the previously dull ache was now throbbing painfully.. Taking out his phone, he messaged everyone that he was going to be a bit late for work and they should not wait for him.