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Hobi rolled over in bed.  The early morning light was peeking under his shades.  Trying to coax him from bed.  But he was stalwartly ignoring it.  He yanked his pillow over his head and squeezed his eyes shut.  He didn’t want to crawl from beneath his covers.  It was still too cold out there.  He didn’t wish to face today.

But then he heard Jimin grunt in his sleep.  Hobi’s head slid out from under his pillow, and one dark eye cracked to examine his friend, still slumbering in his bed.  As his gaze slid over Jimin’s familiar and beloved face, ARMY’s Sunshine suddenly realized what today was.

His birthday.

His eye fell shut, and he sighed.  Would today disappoint him as so much of the last year had?

Or would it hold a magnificent surprise?

Instantly, he remembered the five birthdays that had preceded his this season.  Each of his friends – everyone but Yoongi, whose birthday was still a few weeks away – had received a special something waiting for him outside his bedroom door on the morning of his birthday. 

Except Jin.  Who had received a bunch of empty boxes.  They’d been empty so that the Bangtan Boys could fill them up.  Which they had done with zest as Jin had despaired of ever receiving an actual gift.  Still, he’d been blessed in grand style by his six brothers.

Hobi should expect no less today.  Surely, they wouldn’t fail him.  Though the past year had been fraught with disappointments, Hobi had faith in his friends.  He knew they would come through for him. 

So it was that he began to anticipate with gladness the opening of his bedroom door this morning.  He yawned and reached out to grab his hoodie off the end of his bed.  He shivered as he slipped his arms into the gray sweatshirt before crawling from bed to smile down at Jiminie.  The boy was still sound asleep.

Good for him.

Hobi slid his feet into his blue slippers before heading for their closed door.  He reached for the doorknob but paused a moment before opening it.  To let the anticipation build. 

There’d been so few good things to look forward to of late.  He was going to relish every single second of this day.  And the surprises that surely lay ahead of him.  A wide grin suddenly broke out across his face, the first true hint of a smile that he’d enjoyed in several days.  He swung the door open to find…

A gray box with a blue ribbon.  Lying at his feet.  Just outside of the door.  In similar fashion to all the boxes his friends had received.

He stood gazing down at it.  The colors of this box were unique, though.  He wondered if Tae had picked out this box and its tie.  Perhaps this was a little echo of his song, Blue and Grey. 

It was suddenly playing in Hobi’s head as he bent to retrieve his present from the floor.  With interest, he studied the plain, silvery box as he carried it towards his bed.  Its lid had been secured with a navy-blue, velvet ribbon.  Tied into a perfect bow.  As he considered it, he wondered if Namjoon had tied it.  It had been fashioned so expertly.

A moment later, he collapsed onto his bed with a fluid grace that could only flow from a born dancer.  He took his time peering down at the box.  Heightening his excitement.  He even debated waiting for Jimin to awake before he opened it.  But something drew him onward.  Alone. 

So he reached down and tugged on one end of that midnight blue ribbon.  As it fell away from the box, he lifted the lid and peeked inside.  He gasped in delight as he saw what that grey box contained…