8/25 Lily 🎂 Happy Birthday ✨

💜💗💜💗💜 Story 💗💜💗💜💗 Another Surprise Backstage After the concert ended, the stage lights went out one by one, and the cheers from the audience gradually faded into the distance. Even after entering the backstage lounge, Lily could still faintly hear people outside calling her name. “Lily—!” “Happy birthday—!” The voices came through the thick walls, no longer as deafening as before. Instead, they sounded distant and strangely warm. Lily stopped and glanced back toward the corridor leading to the stage. “I can still hear them…” Miku stopped beside her. “They probably don’t want to leave yet.” Rin poked her head out from behind them. “If I were in the audience, I’d stay a little longer too!” Len looked at her. “But you’re already backstage.” “I mean if I were a fan!” “Oh.” “That ‘oh’ sounded so dismissive!” Just as the two of them started bickering, MEIKO turned around from up ahead. “You two, stop arguing for a minute.” Teto immediately pointed at them. “Yeah, today is a birthday party.” Len frowned. “You were way louder than us onstage.” “The stage is the stage. Backstage is backstage.” “What kind of rule is that?” “The Teto Rule.” “That has absolutely no credibility.” Lily couldn’t help laughing. The exhaustion from the concert gradually felt lighter amid their familiar banter. She followed everyone down the hallway. But when they reached the lounge, she noticed the door was closed. Lily stopped. “Huh?” KAITO immediately looked off to the side. Gakupo also stood there as if he knew absolutely nothing. Lily slowly narrowed her eyes. “Again?” Luka smiled. “What do you mean, again?” “Every time all of you suddenly go quiet today, something suspicious happens.” Teto muttered under her breath, “She’s getting smarter.” “I was never stupid!” “Oh, she heard me.” Lily walked up to the door. “So what’s inside this time?” No one answered. She turned around. Out of the nine of them, the other eight were all wearing very suspicious expressions. Especially Rin. She was visibly struggling to hold back a grin. Lily immediately pointed at her. “Rin.” “W-What?” “You’re about to laugh again.” “I’m not!” Len added from beside her, “You are.” “Len!” MEIKO sighed. “All right. If we drag this out any longer, she really is going to figure it out.” Lily blinked. “So there really is something?” Miku stepped beside her. “Open the door.” Lily placed her hand on the handle. She paused for a second. Then slowly pushed the door open. The instant it opened— “Happy birthday—!” Pop! Two party poppers went off at once. Lily jumped backward. “Whoa!” Golden and yellow streamers flew out of the lounge and landed directly in her hair and on her shoulders. Teto and Rin immediately cheered from inside. “Success!” “Second success!” Lily reached up and removed a piece of confetti from her black headband. “Weren’t you two just standing behind me?!” Teto grinned proudly. “We ran in through another door.” Lily froze. “When did you even do that?” Len pointed off to the side. “While you were busy looking back toward the stage.” “You planned even that?” KAITO laughed as he entered the lounge. “Everyone prepared very thoroughly today.” Only then did Lily get a proper look at the room. The ordinary backstage lounge had been completely transformed. Black and gold ribbons hung across the walls. A modest banner was displayed in the center. Happy Birthday Lily There were no dazzling stage lights like the ones outside. Instead, warm yellow string lights glowed softly around the room. A black tablecloth covered the long table. It was filled with simple food, drinks, fruit, small cakes, and snacks. The enormous three-tier cake from the stage had not been brought backstage. In its place was a much smaller round black-and-gold cake. Written on top were the words: For Lily Lily stared at it. “And this one is…?” Luka walked over beside her. “The one we’re actually going to eat.” Lily paused. “So the one onstage wasn’t edible?” MEIKO answered, “It was.” She paused. “It was just way too big.” KAITO nodded. “If the nine of us tried to finish it, we’d probably still be eating tomorrow.” Teto raised her hand. “I’m willing to take on the challenge.” “No.” MEIKO rejected the idea immediately. “Why?!” “Because I don’t want to take you to the hospital in the middle of the night.” “It’s just cake!” Len said, “If you eat three whole tiers by yourself, it stops being ‘just cake.’” Lily laughed again. She slowly walked into the lounge. The formal atmosphere from the stage was completely gone. Some of them had already taken off their jackets, while others had removed their more elaborate accessories and kept only what was comfortable. Gakupo draped his long coat over the back of a chair. His long purple hair still fell neatly behind him. Luka removed some of the ornaments she had worn during the performance and placed them near the edge of the table. Miku was already sitting on the arm of the sofa. Rin and Teto had begun inspecting the snacks. MEIKO noticed immediately. “Not yet.” Both of them froze. “Ehh—?” “Wait for Lily.” Rin immediately pulled her hand back. Teto was half a second slower. MEIKO looked at her. Teto reluctantly withdrew her hand too. “I was just looking.” “Your hand was already touching the plate.” “I was checking its position.” “Want to say that again?” “…I didn’t say anything.” Lily walked over to the table. Then she noticed the pile of presents at the other end. Boxes of all shapes and sizes were stacked together. Some were wrapped in black and gold. Others were decorated with ribbons in the giver’s signature color. “These are all…?” Miku immediately hopped down from the sofa. “Presents!” “All of them?” “All of them.” Lily looked at the table, then at everyone. “Didn’t you already give me a present onstage?” Len folded his arms. “That one was from everyone together.” Rin quickly added, “These are individual gifts.” Lily looked surprised. “There are more?” Teto grinned. “Didn’t we tell you?” “The cake was only the first surprise.” Lily suddenly remembered everyone acting mysterious at the beginning of the concert. “So when you said there was ‘more,’ you meant all this?” Gakupo spoke from beside her. “Some of it.” Lily immediately turned toward him. “There’s still more?!” Gakupo smiled slightly. “Until tonight is over, it may be better not to jump to conclusions.” “How much did you all prepare?” Luka gently patted her shoulder. “Sit down first.” “Today, all you need to do is accept everything.” Lily looked at everyone. In the end, she could only smile helplessly. “Fine.” The nine of them sat around the long table together. Lily naturally took the center seat. Miku and Luka sat on either side of her. Gakupo sat beside Luka. MEIKO and KAITO sat toward the other end. Rin, Len, and Teto were already moving chairs around and arguing over seats. “I want to sit next to the cake,” Teto said. Len immediately asked, “Why?” “So I can help cut it.” “You mean so you can steal some.” “Do you have proof?” Rin pointed at Teto’s hand. “You’ve got frosting on your finger.” The room instantly fell silent. Teto looked down at her finger. There really was a small smear of white frosting. “…” Lily stared at her. “Did you sneak a bite?” “No.” “Then where did the frosting come from?” Teto thought very seriously for a moment. “The cake touched me.” Len collapsed onto the table laughing. “That excuse is ridiculous!” Even Gakupo had to turn his face away to hide a small laugh. MEIKO rubbed her forehead. “Forget it.” “The concert is already over anyway.” Teto’s eyes immediately lit up. “So we can eat now?” “Wait.” “Again?!” MEIKO took out a lighter. “At least let us light the candle first.” This cake did not have dozens of candles. There was only one slender golden candle. Lily looked at it. “Didn’t I already make a wish earlier?” KAITO smiled. “The wish onstage was for everyone.” “This one can be for yourself.” Lily paused. “For myself?” Luka nodded. “Yeah.” “Don’t think about us.” “Don’t think about the concert.” “Just think of one thing that belongs only to Lily.” Lily fell quiet. She watched as the candle was slowly lit. The tiny flame was nowhere near as bright as the lights onstage. But it was closer. And warmer. “A wish just for myself…” Miku smiled. “This time, we won’t ask.” Len nodded. “And we won’t guess.” Rin immediately looked at him. “You were the one who wanted to ask the most earlier.” “I’ve decided not to now.” Teto rested her chin on her hand. “Then I—” Everyone looked at her at the same time. “…I won’t guess either.” Lily laughed. She gently clasped her hands together. Then closed her eyes. This time, it didn’t take long. After only a few seconds, she opened them again. “Done.” “That fast?” Rin looked surprised. Lily nodded. “Because I already thought of it earlier.” She leaned forward slightly. Then gently blew out the candle. The tiny flame disappeared. Applause immediately filled the lounge. “Happy birthday!” “Happy Birthday!” “Happy birthday, Lily!” Lily looked around at everyone and smiled. “Thank you.” MEIKO finally picked up the cake knife. “All right.” Teto immediately sat up straight. “Finally!” “The first slice goes to Lily.” “What about the second?” Rin immediately asked. Len looked at her. “Again?” “Isn’t this important?” Lily laughed. “Give the second slice to Teto.” Teto’s eyes widened instantly. “Really?!” “Because you’ve been waiting for a long time.” “Lily!” Teto nearly lunged toward her. “I love you!” Lily hurriedly held up a hand to stop her. “Wait! You still have frosting on your hand!” “Oh.” “Don’t get it on my outfit!” Everyone burst into laughter. MEIKO began cutting the cake. KAITO helped pass out the plates. Luka poured drinks for everyone. Gakupo moved some of the presents aside to make more room on the table. Miku secretly placed a small strawberry on Lily’s plate. “This is for you.” Lily looked at her. “Don’t you like strawberries too?” “Today, you’re the most important one.” “Then I’ll take it.” Rin immediately placed a chocolate decoration from her own plate onto Lily’s. “This too!” Len frowned. “Wasn’t that the one you said you absolutely wanted to eat?” “I changed my mind.” Teto looked at her own plate. She thought for several seconds. Then, with obvious reluctance, pushed a golden candy decoration toward Lily. “This… can be yours too.” Lily looked at her pained expression. “You don’t have to force yourself.” Teto immediately pulled it back. “Then I’ll eat it.” “You took that back way too fast!” Laughter filled the room again. The fatigue from the concert seemed to slowly disappear amid all the noise. No spotlights. No cheers from tens of thousands of people. No perfectly timed stage movements. Just nine people sitting around one table. Eating cake. Drinking together. Teasing one another. Occasionally, someone would pull out a phone and take a completely informal photo. In one picture, Lily still had a fork between her teeth. In another, Teto was trying to steal fruit from Rin’s plate. And in yet another, Len was in the background trying to stop both of them. KAITO laughed when he saw the photos. “These might actually be more real than the official stage picture.” Lily looked at the screen. “Yeah.” The photo from the stage was beautiful enough to look like an official commemorative image. But these photos— some people weren’t looking at the camera. Some were still eating. Some were laughing so hard their expressions were completely out of control. Some photos even showed only half of someone’s face. And yet Lily looked at them for a long time. “I like these too.” Gakupo asked, “Because they’re more natural?” Lily nodded. “Yeah.” She looked up at everyone. “Because this is what we’re actually like.” Rin immediately raised her phone. “Then let’s take another one!” “Right now?” “Right now!” Before everyone could get ready, Rin had already started the selfie timer. “Wait!” “I still have cake in my mouth!” “Teto, don’t block Lily!” “Len, move back!” “Gakupo, come closer!” “Luka, look this way!” “KAITO, hurry!” “MEIKO, don’t hold the knife!” “I’m still cutting the cake!” Only one second remained. Lily didn’t have time to fix her hair. She didn’t have time to put on the perfect smile she used onstage either. She simply started laughing naturally amid everyone’s voices. Click. The photo was taken. All nine of them were squeezed together. The half-eaten birthday cake was still on the table. Behind them hung the simple Happy Birthday Lily banner. No one was standing neatly. There were no extravagant lights. Lily looked at the newly taken picture. Then quietly saved it. The birthday surprise onstage had been dazzling. The fans’ blessings were precious. But after the concert was over, in the place where all the stage lights had already gone dark, there were still eight people beside her, continuing to celebrate her birthday. And Lily suddenly thought— perhaps this was the warmest surprise of the entire night.