"i'm gonna stay up and watch you hide all the presents for me," aera giggles, sitting on the table while jungkook works on the desk beside her, hiding his smile as she doesn't know everything is already set. he looks up at her, scrunching up his face and leans towards her, poking her tummy which earns an instant laugh from her lips.

"then you won't get any presents,"

"no," she grins and pushes his assignment papers aside, shifting on the place, resting her elbows on the table with her chin in her palms, "i wan' big gifts from everyone, you said i'm the princess."

"so? doesn't mean you'll get everything you want." jungkook smacks her head, making her frown at him, falling for his words which eventually brings her playfulness down, replacing it with a pout. "and start speaking like a big girl,"

"no, say you have gifts!"

"i don't," jungkook laughs, leaning back on his chair to avoid getting hit by the sister as she starts whining and smacking his arms and chest. "ah! stop stop! it hurts!" he pushes his feet against the ground, making the chair roll away from the desk.

"where is my gift?!"

"i don't have it," he shrugs, "i couldn't buy anything because you never left me alone this whole week. now there's nothing from me for your birthday,"

"noooo!" aera whines, jumping down from the desk and hits him again, "you're stupid!" she grumbles, storming out of the room, calling for the eldest brother while jungkook falls back on his chair, laughing at her.

meanwhile aera rubs her eyes, too hurt by the fact that his own brother- the real brother who shared the same blood as her- didn't get any birthday present for her, especially when she's turning ten tomorrow! that is next to being a crime in her eyes. the pout never leaves, accompanied by a deep frown of unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life as she strolls down the stairs, lost and hurt when yoongi's voice fills in her ears.

"hey, what's gotten you so upset?" he said, touching her chin gently to make her look up at him. aera pouts as she hugs his waist tightly, pointing upstairs with her right arm, having the left one wrapped around the elder's waist. "jungkook?"

"koo don't have any presents for me!"

"oh? and that means?" yoongi frowns, not quite catching what she wanted to say, making the girl whine more, stomping her foot on the floor.

"no presents for me!"

"ah okay, i get it," he nods slowly, "but presents for what?"

for a second yoongi wanted to laugh. he wanted to throw himself on the floor and roll about laughing at the priceless reaction he received from the almost ten-year-old in front of him. her lips tug down, eyes holding tears of betrayal and cheeks puffed a little as she's too upset with his words.

"you forgot appa?"

"uh forgot what? what are you saying, will you tell me everything in detail?"

aera looks down, sniffing softly, rubbing her eyes, melting yoongi's heart, making it hard for to keep up with the act of not remembering her birthday. when he tries to reach out for her, the child pulls herself back, not interested in him anymore and sits on the second last stair in the corner, resting her head on her arms wrapped around her knees.

"my child," yoongi could only mutter to himself, instead of lifting her in his arms and kiss her until she's smiling again, letting her know that her appa will never in his right mind forget his only princess's birthday.

but for the sake of the plan the boys made, he finds himself sighing at the thought, slowly backing away from her and pretends to mind his own business as though he wasn't a bit bothered by her little sniffles and her tiny finger tracing doughnut patterns on the sneakers she's wearing.

"gosh, just look at her," he mumbles, grabbing the nearest hand who passes by, happens to be jin and points at aera, "she's upset because i forgot her birthday,"

"how can you do that?" jin gasps, smacking yoongi's head, earning a sharp hiss from the the latter and a displeased look, "we planned everything and you forgot? really yoongi? she calls you appa and you couldn't remember her birthday?"

"i do remember! it was the part of the plan to act like i forgot! no you know what? just go, do whatever you were doing," yoongi rolls his eyes as jin now laughs in embarrassment, nodding his and pats his back.

"i'm so funny!" jin fake laughs, getting a weird look from yoongi who shakes his head, focusing back on preparing his coffee, frequently glancing at aera to make sure she's not being too sad.

"where's jimin and tae?"

"stuck in the traffic," jin sighs, adding another cup next to yoongis's and nods for him to prepare some extra coffee for him too. yoongi however, scoffs, pushing the cup away, getting another smack on the head which makes him groan this time, turning to the elder with a snap, "i'm the hyung," jin smirks and yoongi grits his teeth, taking the cup back, carrying on with his work.

"there you go, hyung," he sighs, pouring the warm coffee in two cups, handing one to jin and one for himself.

"ah thanks yoongi-ah, you really didn't have to." jin laughs, patting yoongi's shoulder who stares at him with a are-you-serious look, "hyung loves you,"

"jin hyun- oh hey aera," namjoon slows down at the end the of the staircase, staring at the little girl, curled up with an imaginary black cloud hovering above her which yoongi and jin could see very clearly, making them sigh.

aera looks up slowly, the pout residing on her soft lips as hurt as before, "what are you doing there?" namjoon asks, bending down to pat her head as he fails to understand what's going on, or if she's being punished like that by the elders.

"i'm sad..." she mumbles, looking down, having jin and yoongi turning fluids in their places, hearing the cute voice of her and expression as though she just had the toughest heartbreak of her life.

"aw why?" namjoon sits next to her now, wrapping his arm around her and pats her cheek, "riri looks better when smiling,"

"i don't feel like smiling..." she mumbles, leaning onto namjoon with some hope and looks at his face, "appa forgot my- do you know what is tomorrow?" she stops and tests him too, pulling away from the hug and stares at him with hopeful eyes, making namjoon gulp under the pressure of her puppy eyes casting a spell for him to fall into and nod.

however, two more pair of eyes stare in his direction, emitting rays that pull him on their side of persuasion, shaking their heads for him to deny. he sighs softly, looking back at aera, trying to open his mouth and say something, but the fear of hurting the child, doesn't let him speak. so he ends up shaking his head a little, releasing a deep breath when the girl averts her eyes from him, staring down. broken all over again.

"you can go," she mumbles, her index finger poking the tip of her shoe, "jinnie oppa is in the kitchen..."

"uh yeah, thanks," namjoon nods quickly, getting on his feet already speed-walking to the elders watching him. "that was so close!" he whisper yells, placing his hand on his chest where his heart is apparantly located.

"i feel you," yoongi sighs, sipping his coffe and nods towards him, "you wanted to say something?"

"ah yeah, about the cake," namjoon holds up his phone in front of the elders, showing a picture of a white and pink cake with a crown of what looks like vanilla chocolate and edible glitter, decorated with stars and pearls on the sides and top around the crown. then he slides the picture, showing them another one which is a light blue colored cake, on top of it is a smiling olaf sitting and snow flakes are adorning on the sides. "which one?" he asks, switching back and forth between the two cakes. 

"uh blue?" yoongi frowns, glancing at jin who's seemingly inclined for the pink one.

"it's hard to chose," jin shakes his head, "which one do you like?"

"i like both," namjoon scrunches up his face, smiling a little, "can we–"

"of course," yoongi chuckles, "order both. aera will be happy,"

"great!" namjoon smiles widely, nodding his head as he taps a few times on the screen, bringing the phone close to his ear and walks away, talking to the bakery owner.

aera stands up from the stairs, sparing a short glance at jin and yoongi before lowering her gaze again, dragging her feet to the theatre room. she slouches on the couch, hugging a big cat plush close to herself and buries her face in the soft fur. "no one loves riri..." her voice mutters, closing her eyes in silence which eventually makes her sleepy.

•••

it's already past seven when jimin and taehyung arrive, both looking happy as the job they went out for is done. jimin had hoped for aera to be waiting for him with a hug but when the child doesn't run up to him despite his voice calling for her, his brows scrunch together, exchanging a confused glance with taehyung who shrugs as well not understanding the awkward silence in the house.

"where's riri?"

yoongi nods towards the theatre room, standing up with a heavy sigh, "she's so upset."

"why?"

"we forgot her birthday,"

"ah that," jimin chuckles, entering the kitchen where the rest of the boys are gathered now. jungkook waves at him and taehyung, grinning as he stands up to show something and holds out his phone which has a picture of a ps5, making jimin roll his eyes. "we're not getting anymore ps5's for anybody."

"i wonder how you're not bored of it yet," yoongi shakes his head, "you already have three of those in three different rooms."

"one is mine, one is tae's and one is common for everyone. riri doesn't have hers." the youngest claims, getting weird looks from the hyungs who scoff at him, ignoring his words and carry with a different conversation.

"i won't buy you what you want when i start earning,"

"okay?" jimin looks at him, making the others laugh while taehyung pulls the younger boy closer, throwing his arm around his neck.

"don't worry, tae hyung is alive."

"thanks," jungkook nods with a sigh, grabbing a bag of chips and sits on the elder's lap as he didn't let go from the hug, leaning on the table with a serious face, "okay now jokes apart, riri is real upset with us."

"yeah, she didn't even come out for snacks," hoseok adds.

"i don't like this plan of making my daughter unhappy," yoongi grumbles, fake glaring at the boys, "now jimin, you don't have to act like you forgot her birthday. she'll cry, have some mercy on her."

jimin laughs, nodding at the words and glances at the others, "so i just console her?"

"certainly," namjoon nods, "that would be good, because really we don't want her crying on her birthday even though later she'll be happy but still."

"okay," jimin agrees, "i'll go to her then–"

"she's sleeping," jungkook says munching on his chips, leaning back against taehyung and glances at his face, "i told her i didn't get any gifts for her and she almost cried."

"and why are you telling me that?"

jungkook frowns at taehyung, shrugging his shoulder and taehyung laughs, patting his side, "get up, i'm gonna go now," jungkook stands up, letting him pass and looks around, putting the bag of chips down, following jimin who's going to the theatre room.

jimin glances at the boy not saying anything and opens the door to the theatre, surprised on seeing there's no movie or anything playing, in fact it's pin drop silence with aera laying on the couch, holding her cat which is nearly her own size. the brother smiles at the sight, approaching the sleeping girl quietly and sits by her, stroking her hair gently with his hand.

"aera," he calls in a soft voice, patting her side, "get up kiddo, how will you sleep at night if you keep sleeping now?"

"ri," jungkook shakes her too, "wake up, i have chocolates,"

"mm," aera grumbles, burying her face in the cat's chest and snuggles back to sleep, making jimin chuckle.

"hey, get up," he strokes her back, "appa told me riri's upset about something, what is it?"

aera opens her eyes at that, lifting her head up to look at jimin and nods, getting a knowing smile from him as he shifts a little, pulling her in his lap and kisses her cheek, "now tell me what happened?"

"they forgot my– no," she presses her lips together, not believing anyone anymore and pulls herself straight, staring at jimin right in the eyes, "do you know what is tomorrow?"

"tomorrow is..." jimin pretends to think, glancing at her, "december 20? saturday?"

aera pouts again, her eyes filling with tears this time as she kicks her legs, freeing herself from the brother's embrace and smacks his arm a few times, "you're bad! e'ryone is bad! no one loves riri! i will go away!"

"ah stop hitting me!" jimin laughs, holding her hands and pulls her close again, "okay sorry, i was just kidding, of course i remember my baby's birthday." he smiles fondly, kissing her cheek again, "now don't be mad, birthday girl needs to be happy."

"you remember?" aera stares at him, her pout intensifying as she steps between his legs, hugging him tightly with her arms wrapped around his neck, "thank you, i love you so much, you're not bad oppa."

"ah thanks," he chuckles, standing up and scoops aera up in his arms, making her giggle. he leans down to her ear and whispers, "let's go and get changed now. then we'll have a movie night and tomorrow we'll celebrate riri's birthday. don't tell this plan to anyone okay?"

"yes!" aera cheers, hugging him tightly, "let's go!" she turns to jungkook, sticking her tongue  out at him mockingly.

•••

next morning

"blue?"

"blue!" aera nods and starts putting on the baby blue denim jumpsuit, making jimin sigh as she could finally decide what to wear after standing in her underwear and a t-shirt for more than half an hour. he helps her put it on quickly, tucking the white shirt inside exactly the way she wants it done and pats her back once she's ready, grinning at the mirror. "how do i look oppa?"

"cute," jimin smiles, pinching her cheeks and blows a kiss to her reflection in the mirror, "you look like a cute little doll,"

"hm, i think so too," she nods, making the brother laugh amusedly, arching up a brow at her. she grins, hugging his waist and looks up at him, "you wear blue please, we'll match!"

"alright, whatever my birthday baby says,"

"no, birthday girl," aera corrects him.

"not a baby? why?"

"i'm turning ten today, that is big,"

"ah right, ten-year-olds are big kids,"

"yeah," aera nods once, interrupting jimin's further sentence with a whine when he accidentally brushes her hair the wrong way. he hisses softly, making her sit back again and braids her hair into two buns on either side of her head: a hairstyle for aera and a relief for him that at least she won't bother him about her hair for a while now.

"i'm ready!" aera chirps, jumping on her feet with a giggle. "oppa i love you," she says out of nowhere, pulling jimin down and pecks his lips before he can even react.

though when he does react, it's a mixture of fondness and playfulness mimicking from his sister's expression. his arms wrap around her smaller body, pulling her in his lap and leans down to shower plenty of smooches all over her face and jaw, eliciting joyous laughs from her lips with her eyes scrunched close and hands weakly trying to push him away as though doing it without will.

"aera, hyung," jungkook's voice interrupts their play as jimin responds to the younger brother, telling him that the door is open and he can come in. aera on the other hand doesn't like the idea for her smile is replaced by a frown and she turns to face jimin, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "jin hyung said to call you both to eat," jungkook says, glancing at aera with a frown, making jimin shake his head subtly as a gesture for the younger that it's nothing serious.

"ri, happy birthday," jungkook smiles, nearing the siblings and aera pushes his hand away with a huff. "ah why are you mad princess? i got some gift for you now,"

"what?" she mumbles, not turning to him yet and jungkook pulls out a chocolate from his pocket, holding it in front of her as he stands behind jimin to look at her face. aera stares at the sweet, taking it at the loss of willpower and sighs, "thanks koo," she pouts, "open it,"

jungkook grins, tearing open the wrapper and hands it back to her after taking half of it and putting it in his mouth, "ahhh! mine!" aera whines, breaking into a sob instantly, hitting the brother while crying and whining.

"jungkook really?" jimin gives him a straight face.

"relax hyung," jungkook says, hoisting the sister up in his arms, despite the aggressive kicks, punches and scratches she gave him. he walks out of the room, heading downstairs and  smiles towards the living room, "look there," he says, putting her down and points towards the living space.

aera doesn't listen to him, busy hitting him and crying at the same time until jimin arrives after them, hugging the child and rubs her back, "don't cry, love. i'll scold kookie hm?"

"he's so bad..." she sobs into his shirt, hugging his waist, "i don't like koo..."

"even i don't like him sometimes," jimin sighs, glancing at the younger who fake huffs in anger, making the elder roll his eyes, "who told you to make her cry idiot?"

"i didn't know she'd cry," he whispers back, "i'm sorry,"

jimin scoffs and focuses back on the sister, kneeling down in front of her as he wipes her tears and kisses her cheek, "we don't cry on our happy day. also, riri's turning ten today, didn't you say it's a big girl thing? and big girls don't waste their precious tears on silly things y'know?"

"but koo is so bad, oppa,"

"i know, baby, we're gonna punish koo later hm?"

"yeah," she nods, rubbing her eyes and jungkook sighs.

"fine, i'll do whatever you say. but for now, let's–"

"no, don't touch me!" aera swats his hand away, staying near jimin who suppresses a laugh while jungkook stares at the sister with a straight face.

"alright, come with me," jimin takes her hand and points towards the living room, "do you wanna see a surprise?"

"a surprise? for me? yes!" aera nods excitedly, suddenly too happy after a lengthy crying session. jimin leads her to the room where the couches used to sit till yesterday, but today there's a huge bounce house standing, taking up almost all of the hall. aera gasps at the sight,  stepping forward to touch the castle shaped, air-filled house having white and shades of blue here and there to depict ice as it's probably based on frozen theme.

the brothers smile at her reaction and jimin slowly lets go of her hand, stepping back while jungkook has got his camera, recording every gasp and smile, and every giggle and the shimmering dreamy eyes of his sister. some movements make audible noise, gaining aera's attention. to her surprise, when she turns to the side, there the rest of the boys are jumping out with bunch of white and blue balloons, making her jump in excitement, quickly running towards them for a hug.

"appa!" she runs straight into yoongi's arms, letting him pick her up and swirl around, pulling out a warm giggle from her lips. "i thought you forgot my birthday!"

"how can i forget my little girl's big day hm?" he replies, kissing her forehead, "happy birthday princess,"

"happy birthday!" they all cheer together, making it a group hug which aera loves.

"so you all remembered?"

"of course we did," namjoon boops her nose, smiling at her, "we had to make a good surprise for riri,"

"hm, it worked," she nods, giving him a thumbs up and looks up at the rest, "thank you,"

"aw you're most welcome, little one," jin pats her head and aera hugs his waist, looking at him with her head tilted up, "y'know jinnie oppa, koo ate my chocolate amd i was crying,"

"aish! jungkook-ah!" jin turns to the youngest boy with a questioning look, making him smile mischievously behind his camera as he pulls out a bigger box and nods for aera to come get it.

"i ate that because this is the real gift," he grins, "you don't want it?"

aera walks to him, taking it quickly and turns around so that he won't snatch it too, making the elders laugh. she sticks out her tongue at him, climbing on the bounce house and to the top of the castle, waving at the boys, "you can't catch me!"

"oh you just wait," jungkook huffs, shoving the camera towards jimin and climbs after her, making aera squeal playful, hurried with her movements and she crawls away, getting through tiny gates and windows which for jungkook seems like a tough job considering he's not a child.

aera laughs at him when he stops between two such gates and sighs, "this gotta be bigger, come on!"

"koo is a loser!" aera mocks at him, peeking her head inside from one of the gates and jungkook smirks, getting her in a headlock with one swift movement.

"who is a loser?" he pulls her in, holding her in his lap while aera laughs, squirming between his arms to get away. "i never lose you little human,"

"and you rabit," she pokes his cheek, accidentally catching a glimpse of jimin holding jungkook's camera which makes her gasp, turning around and hides her face in the brother's chest. "no pictures!"

"why not?" jungkook tries to pull away but ends up falling on his back with aera still clinging to him.

"no, this is my secret place, no cameras." she says, moving her hand for jimin to stop, "ah koo hide!"

"this is the best i can hide in here," jungkook replies.

"why are you so big?" asra sighs, laying on his chest and looks at him, "if you were small like me, we could play here."

"or maybe if you were big like me, we could be stuck here," jungkook says, making aera laugh. he smiles at her, kissing her cheek and pats her back, "happy birthday little kookie and sorry for making you cry."

"it's okay, i forgot about it already," she giggles, "thank you for this and chocolates,"

"yeah? is that how we thank–"

"i knowww! hush!" she places a finger on his lips, leaning down and pecks his lips, smiling at him widely when he nods. "koo, i love you so much you don't know,"

"i don't know?" jungkook chuckles, seeing the sister shaking her head as a no, "well, give me an idea then,"

"uhm yeah, i'll show you," aera hums, standing up and climbs to the top of the slide, "jiminie oppa keep recording okay?" she says, getting a chuckle from jimin as he gives her a thumbs up and she turns to jungkook.

"koo look, from here," she starts from the top and slides down to the very end of the bounce house and taps on the edge, "till here. i love you this much!"

jungkook breaks into a fit of laughter, turning to his hyungs who are smiling at the girl, seeing her all happy with the amount of love she has for her brother. the boy shakes his head, getting near her and hugs her tightly, "thank you, princess," he says, letting aera sit on his lap as he sits cross-legged, tilting his head to look at her face, "i love you to the stars,"

"stars?" aera gasps, "but that is so big, koo."

"mm-hmm, i love you that much, even more in fact,"

"oh thanks koo, i love you to stars too," she says, "not this bouncy house, it's so small. stars is big,"

"yeah," he chuckles, glancing at hoseok who has brought the cake for her and the rest of the boys are standing next to him, "let's cut riri's cake now. then we'll go to the amusement park, then have lunch outside, after that we'll visit an aquarium."

"and after that?" aera asks, peeking at his face as he winks at her, "treasure hunt?"

"yes! if riri can find all the gifts, she can keep them and if not, then i get them."

"i'll find them!" aera chants, springing up on her knees and crawls to the end of the bounce house toward hoseok, "but why are we cutting the cake now? what about evening?"

"we have two cakes, so don't worry," jin says with a smile handing her the knife and pats her back encouragingly, "come on now, blow the candles,"

aera smiles sheepishly, closing her eyes and lacing her fingers together, "i want a new skateboard," she whispers to the cake and quickly gathers as much air as she can in her lungs to force it out at once, blowing off the candles that are in the shape of a one and a zero.

"a skateboard? that's all you had to ask?" jungkook sighs in disbelief, "if i were you i'd wish for a new car,"

"but i don't want a car," aera shrugs, cutting the cake and holds it in front of jungkook's mouth. he takes a bite, feeding the rest to her and puts some of the cream on her cheeks. she smiles, taking another piece and feeds it to jimin, "happy birthday to me," she sings, making him chuckle as he takes a small bite and makes her eat the rest.

"you didn't eat oppa," she sighs, attempting on feeding him again and this time feeds him the entire slice of the cake. "wait i'll..." she grumbles, getting on the floor and uses both her hands to take the cake, feeding yoongi and namjoon, then jin, taehyung and hoseok.

"it's nice right?" jungkook stares at taehyung waiting for a nod and smiles, taking the cake from the table sitting with taehyung in the kitchen while the rest of the boys are busy with aera, as she's forced them to join her in the bounce house.

"i could eat this all day," taehyung muffles out with the fork still in his mouth as he looks at the younger who is already taking another bite.

"same hyung," jungkook groans at the taste, "it is so good, i hope they don't mind us finishing this right now."

"they won't," taehyung declares, "they got another one right? why will they be mad."

"yeah and eating too much sweet is unhealthy,"

"exactly!"

•••

in the evening

the cars pull in the drive, opening the doors for the boys to get out. jungkook, namjoon, jin and aera from the first one and the rest from the second. although having an active day with a lot of playing, walking and adventurous rides, aera doesn't look tired. she skips her way next to jungkook, knowing the real fun of her birthday is about to begin now when she'll recieve the presents.

"i can't match her energy," jin sighs,

"same," yoongi watches the young girl, moving impatiently by the door while jungkook is unlocking it, looking too desperate to go in and win the treasure hunt.

"kids," jimin chuckles, patting the elder's shoulders, getting soft smiles from them as the first thing the boys do is throwing themselves on the couch. the bounce house is still in it's form which gives aera another boost of serotonin, having her climbing on it to slide down.

she reaches the top, almost pushing herself to slide, when her eyes land on something shiny in the corner on the other side of the slide. a gasp leaves her lips, being too aware of what it might be, she rushes in the direction, pulling out the golden packed box, "i found it! oppa look, my first gift!"

"it has started already," taehyung mumbles, shuffling to find the camera and turns it on as aera has started opening her first birthday present of tonight.

"what is it?" jimin asks, seeing the girl smiling at jungkook who smiles back, shrugging his shoulders.

"airplane!" aera pulls the model out of the box, "a remote control airplane. but we need to fix this first,"

"i'll do i–"

"no, i'll do it tomorrow," aera says, "i'm smart,"

"okay," jungkook nods, "now get going, there are more around the house, not the first floor though."

"ah okay," aera nods, putting the airplane on the carpet and runs to the thetre room first with jungkook and taehyung following her behind like cameramen. she looks around the couches, tables, speakers, then stops yo think more carefully, which is when her attention shifts to jungkook's ps5, which shifted a little ahead. she peeks at the back, smiling widely and points there, "there it is!"

"get it out," taehyung smiles, seeing her picking up the small box easily in her hand.

"i'll open it later, let me find everything first,"

"alright," jungkook holds the gift box, moving on as aera quickly another one on the shelf.

a few more minutes pass and now jungkook is having trouble holding all the presents, "my goodness we had that many gifts for her?" namjoon gasps when the trio enters, seeing jungkook about to drop a box or two as he's walking. he sighs deeply, dumping the stuff on the carpet and sits next to aera while taehyung takes up the nearest couch.

"these are what y'all bought. me and kook just packed them remember?" taehyung snickers.

"she couldn't find one, that is mine," jungkook says, "now, ri, start opening these."

"hm, i'll start with the pink ones," aera says, taking a circular one wrapped in baby pink heart themed wrapping paper. she tears it open, breaking into a giggle on finding a new box of colors, a tiny pink notebook and a pink colored heart shaped badge, all having a peachy tint and soft furs or feathers attached somewhere. "this is so cute, i like it!"

then she opens the next one, getting three pairs of socks: baby pink bunny, white panda and the last one having peach color puppy. the last pink gift was a big box, having a hoverboard inside with pink, white and cyan neon lighting as what jungkook told her it would glow when charged.

"now yellow," aera says, choosing the nearest box which on opening reveals, two hoodies and matching pants: one having a bunny hood and the other one with a puppy hood.

the next turns out to be a pair of high rise sneakers, then a small box which had a beautiful bracelet, having little stars and a moon attached to it. aera puts it on quickly, showing it to jimin who smiles in response, bringing her hand closer and kisses her wrist, "do you like it?"

"i love it!" aera says, sitting on his lap and shakes her hand making a soft sound of clinking of the stars, "appa, jinnie oppa, do you like it?"

"of course, seems like it was made for our aera." yoongi pats her head.

aera nods, leaning against jimin and glances at jungkook, "you open the rest, i'm tired now,"

"i'll keep them if i open them," jungkook jokes.

"no, they're mine. appa will beat you if you steal mu gift,"

"he won't say anything,"

"he will! he loves me more,"

"he loves me more, i'm the youngest brother,"

"but i'm his baby,"

"ah okay," jungkook says, glancing at yoongi who is smiling to himself, listening each and everything with his whole heart. his eyes slowly scan the boys, noticing their smiles and fond eyes on aera who is busy telling jungkook gift to open next and then taehyung, who is recording everything. 

yoongi sighs softly, wanting to save this moment, somewhere very close to his heart, maybe even in his heart itself where he could cherish these smiles and feelings of togetherness with the closest and the most real family. his eyes tear up at the sight, seeing jungkook clapping as aera's up on her feet, showing the new skirt that was in one of the boxes.

"hyung," jimin's voice pulls him out of trans, making a tear drop from his eye. he clears his throat, rubbing his eyes and smiles, "are you okay?"

"yeah," he nods, "just watching,"

"i know," the younger whispers softly, nodding towards jin, namjoon and hoseok too, and yoongi realises he was not the only one lost in these sweet moments.

"it's too beautiful to unnotice," yoongi lets out almost like a whisper, i hope they can keep smiling like this always,"

"i hope so too," jimin smiles, chuckling when cheers loudly getting the last two gifts which are skateboard and a big box of chocolates. the fairy net skirt is still on her waist as she stands between hsi legs, leaning forward and wraps her arms around jimin's neck.

"i love all the gifts, thank you so much," aera says loud enough for everyone to hear as she sits on his lap, glancing at the boys, "but i love you all more than the gifts,"

yoongi chuckles, the tears from a few moments ago returning in his eyes as he exchanges a glance with jimin who smiles, "ri, won't you give appa a hug?"

"yeah," she nods, quickly leaning towards yoongi and hugs him tightly, kissing his cheek, "i love you appa, this was my best birthday,"

"i'm glad," he whispers, "happy birthday, little one,"

__________

a/n- what is the best birthday gift that you've got in your life?

mine was my phone, last year 😌

vote if you like the chapter, i'm gonna ho sleep. i'm so sleep deprived these days 😭 bye take care

btw aren't they really cute? 😍