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Astra is a well known idol in a girl group of four. She was the leader of the group, followed by three other people: Maeng So-Yun, Ru, and Nino.
She had just left the practice that she had gone through with her idol group - St4rCrash.
The day was coming to be late and the sun was quickly setting. She’d have to get home quickly, or her brother would most definitely be worried.
Though, something slightly concerned her. Something that made her pace quicken ever so slightly. Astraeus had texted her, telling her to come home as soon as possible because it was important. Astraeus never did this, so something must’ve happened.
The other members had asked questions as well, so her worry was pretty obvious.
Almost immediately, her mind went to the worst case scenarios. Had Astraeus lost their job as the group sponsor? Did they get hurt? Was something about to happen to them and their money?
She was more than just a little bit stressed. That seemed to shine through the moment the facade of happiness and enthusiasm seemed to fade away after she stepped through the exit door of the company building. Astra swung the door open just a little bit harder than she had intended to and began speed-walking the whole way home, stressing about whatever could’ve possibly happened while she was away.
Astra walked down the stone pathway to her car, quickly sitting inside and driving off to the main roads to begin her drive home. She had gone ever so slightly above the speed limit on the highways and main roads, but it was in the back of her mind right now.
When she had finally made it back to their house, the day had finally reached its conclusion and the moon was starting to shine through in greeting. The thing that made her worry more, although, was that the house was completely dark. No light from inside left the windows and the curtains were closed. What could have possibly happened?
Astra frantically tried to stick her key into the lock of the front door multiple times, failing to get it in three times before managing to slot the key in on her fourth and twisting the handle as quickly as she possibly could. She immediately stepped inside the house, taking the key out of the lock and closing the door behind her. Astra took off her shoes, not bothering to put them into the shoe cabinet, and ran inside the moment that she was able to. And everything just seemed to get worse as Astraeus was nowhere to be seen.
They weren’t sitting at the table, enjoying dinner like they usually would. Nor were they working on anything in the study room. Astra would know, because she would be hearing the frustrated grunts and the clacking of the keyboard in the room next to the front door.
“Astraeus..?” She’d call out. Once, twice, yet no response. Astra stepped further into the room before something appeared in the shadows and she visibly flinched in surprise.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” A sudden voice would yell- Astraeus’s.
Astraeus was hiding in the dark this whole time.
Astra let out a sigh of annoyance, yet the heat in her action wasn’t actually there. Instead, it was entirely fond, which just seemed to get worse the moment that she heard her older brother giggle at her reaction.
“Looks like I managed to catch you off-guard. The surprise worked~” They taunted, turning the light on and stepping closer to her, embracing her in a tight hug. Astraeus rested their head on top of her hair, and she just grumbled in faux complaint.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. The surprise worked, big deal.”
“It is a big deal! It’s your birthday, my dear. It’s always a big deal.”
Astra responded by shoving them lightly, but never fully pulling away. Astraeus chuckled once again and planted a fond kiss on her cheek before finally stepping back and out of the way of the dining table. And that’s when her eyes landed on the new arrangement:
A pile of gifts, all with different senders on them, as well as a cake sat dead in the middle of it all. There were serpentine streamers taped to the wood of their table, and a large ‘Happy Birthday!’ banner across the wall in front of the two of them.
“I tried to get everyone here on time, but unfortunately, most were busy. Tuesdays seem to do that to a lot of people… In return, I took the day off from my job and went around Seoul and even outside the city to collect the gifts and cards from your friends so you could get them in time. I hope it’s enough for you-”
“It’s more than enough. Seriously, you didn’t have to go through all of this for me. I wasn’t even planning on celebrating my birthday, since the company did so already-”
Astraeus interrupted her with a choked noise, then a genuinely disappointed sound at the fact that Astra wasn’t even choosing to celebrate the day she was born in her own time.
“Idiot. Your birthday is arguably the most important celebration in the calendar. I think so, at least. And I’m sure a lot of other people do as well. You should treat yourself every now and then!”
They scolded her, to which she simply responded by rolling her eyes. Astraeus sighed and began to speak once again.
“Oh well. Sit down, you’ve got a lot to get through and the rest of the day to celebrate. I won’t allow you to stand around and not choose to spend the rest of this day not being dedicated to you!”
And with that, Astraeus ushered her to the dining seat right in front of the cake and grabbed the lighter, lighting the candles that were carefully positioned on the top of it. They smiled, sat down, and began to sing happy birthday to her the same way that they had always done since they were kids.
Nothing really changed between the two of them. Their relationship was always as tight as a knot. Astra really liked it that way.
Astraeus cheered the moment that the candles were blown out and allowed her to cut into the cake first before they dutifully stopped her and cut the rest of the cake themselves, even if it was just two slices. Astra thought it was ridiculous, but Astraeus insisted that they did the cutting. She got the first slice of cake after that, and Astraeus got the second before the cake went to its rightful space inside the fridge. After they had eaten their portions, Astraeus cleared the table of the plates and spoons before setting the gifts in front of her and recording each reaction to the presents individually. They planned to send her reaction to all the friends that had given her gifts because they knew they would be thankful, and as much as she was embarrassed, she appreciated the thought of keeping her friends in mind, even if Astraeus didn’t know them at all.
Most of the gifts consisted of artwork and art supplies, which she was endlessly grateful for. Art was a big hobby in her spare time that she got around to every time she finished with her duties from being an idol, and gifts like this reminded her of how much both art and her friends really meant to her.
There were a few other gifts that really stood out to her- a cute little yellow chick plushie, a keychain of a chibi wolf, and just a few other things that could be used as decoration for her everyday life. Either way, she was eternally grateful.
Even if she didn’t want to celebrate her birthday today, others did. She was in the minds of her family and friends during this day, and the thought alone made her slightly embarrassed, sure, but appreciative of everyone out there.
After the two had settled down, Astraeus rushed her to get comfortable on the couch so they could watch a movie. They gave her the remote as well as a blanket, before disappearing into the kitchen to get popcorn and drinks ready for the two of them. They moved to turn the light off once more and get settled on the couch right next to her, and Astra hit play on the movie that she had chosen for the two of them. At some point, Astraeus had wrapped an arm across her shoulder and leaned into her side, to which she just sighed, but let them cling for a little bit longer. They didn’t get to see each other too often, despite Astraeus being her sponsor, so she would savour it for as long as she could.
Maybe celebrating today wasn’t so bad in the end.
(Happy birthday, Star!)