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“ …she’s sleeping again.”
Nangong sighs with a smile, hands on her hips. She nods towards Aria.
“Go home Aria~” Nangong grins, warmly waving her off, “We got a big day tomorrow— or well, today. It’s already midnight, somehow. Go make sure everything’s in place, and don’t wake ‘the baby’~”
Aria gives her an excited thumbs up, then a salute, then a double thumbs up. She then tiptoes away. As for ‘the baby’…
Sunna lies slumped against her desk, peacefully sleeping. The faint light of the monitor was the only dim illumination to their studio room.
The ‘how’ was pretty obvious: once again, Sunna had overslept, and once again, Sunna had completed a track just days before the deadline. Inspiration always struck her hard and fast— but so did sleep deprivation.
Nangong chuckles quietly. Yes, that’s just how it was with Sunna… a total mess in lots of ways, but her mess. Even if she tripped and stumbled to every goal, Nangong knew Sunna would always manage to make something beautiful.
Because everything she did was beautiful.
…because she was, in everything she did.
Nangong slowly rolls over a nearby chair, and sits by Sunna. She then rests her head against the table, gazing endlessly at Sunna’s peaceful, sleeping face.
“…look at you, oversleeping like a dummy~” Nangong says with a warm smile, booping her nose gently.
Sunna’s eyes scrunch up subtly, causing Nangong’s eyes to widen in return. But— thankfully, Sunna doesn’t wake up. It was already midnight, and it’d do Sunna some good to actually get some sleep.
That and… Nangong and Aria had a lot in store for her tomorrow. How could they have all the fun they planned out if Sunna could hardly keep her eyes open to see it?
So her dear Sunna needed to be asleep— and Nangong would make sure no one would disturb her.
…except for herself, in the morning.
“You didn’t even take your backpack off,” Nangong thinks to herself, shaking her head softly, “I still don’t know how you do it, Sunna. If I’m not comfy, I’m not sleeping— it’s PJs or nothing. But you’ve clearly got your own superpower here— sleeping everywhere and anywhere. Thouuuugh I guess that’s just ‘cause you’re sleep deprived all the time.”
Nangong chuckles.
“Oh, Sunna— you’re living a self-fulfilled prophecy with that, you know? And I could name like five other silly habits you have that lead you into your own trouble. Like how you always have waaaay to many tabs open at once— though to be fair I sometimes do that myself— or forgetting to eat because you get too focused on making a new song, causing you to be too hungry and tired to practice at your best…”
…
“Sunna, my beloved wonderful beautiful mess of a girl…”
Nangong’s eyes lower ever so slightly.
“…do you know how much I think about you?”
Nangong feels a deep yearning in her chest rise up from her sternum, forcing her to take a deep, long sigh. It wasn’t like her— being so… emotional. Sure, she teased Sunna all the time, and sure, they had fun all the time, but that’s about the only emotion she’d allow— ‘fun’. To mostly everyone.
Of course, there were a few exceptions— Aria, Ms. Cecilia… but…
…no one stirred up her heart the way Sunna did.
“…you’re my whole world, and… I don’t even think you realize it,” Nangong quietly says, chuckling to herself, “No— you wouldn’t even acknowledge it even if I told you. It’s not like I’ve been hiding it or anything? You’ve always been a little— nah, very… stuck in your own head.”
Nangong sits up a little.
“…I mean, I was too— until I met you. Now— you’re stuck in… my head.”
“…Nangong…” Sunna murmurs, her eyes still closed.
Nangong jolts up, eyes wide like a deer in headlights.
She stays deathly still for a few moments, watching Sunna very carefully…
“…I’m now the… dancing queen… bmflgmgmb…” Sunna mumbles incoherently.
…and lets out a sigh of relief when nothing comes to pass. Just Sunna smiling derpily— and… drooling a bit.
Nangong giggles to herself quietly again, and finds a nearby tissue to gently dab the drool away.
Once she returns, she can’t help but chuckle to herself again.
“Yeesh, I got scared by Sunna,” Nangong says, shaking her head, “And she’s just dreaming about whatever… like a careless dummy.”
Yet, even as she says this, she can’t help but feel a strange, profound pride in Sunna. For what exactly, she couldn’t put a finger on it… but maybe that was the point. There was nothing ‘exact’ to make her proud of Sunna. She was just proud of Sunna for… being here, in her life.
“…or maybe I’m just proud to be part of Sunna’s life.”
Nangong gently brushes Sunna’s bangs.
“Yeah,” Nangong smiles warmly, “That’s definitely it.”
…
An idea— or more accurately, an urge, pops into Nangong’s head. She brushes her own bangs, getting a bit flustered at the idea of it— but…
…if it was for Sunna, she’d do anything. And today’s her special day.
“Hope you’re ready for a long day tomorrow, birthday girl~” Nangong whispers.
She then leans in, and— with a bit of hesitation, pushing Sunna’s bangs back… gives Sunna a gentle kiss on her forehead.
Sunna stirs ever so slightly, causing Nangong’s eyes to widen in panic once more—
“Under the light… I create… melodies of the future…” a still sleeping Sunna mumbles.
—but it seems Nangong’s luck was still on her side… for this particular instance.
That luck wouldn’t make the deep red blush on her face go away, though. That was still very much there.
“Are you trying to be a magical girl, Sunna?” Nangong lightly giggles.
…
“…wait I guess we’re only like 2 steps away from that, aren’t we? Minus Aria— she’s pretty much already there.”
“Sunna, Sunna, smiles so sweet! Sunna's melodies can't be beat! We love you Sunna!” Sunna begins sleep-talking awfully coherently.
“…is she—”
"L—O—V—E, lovely little Sunna!” Sunna continues to murmur in her sleep, "Wow!! Thank you all for coming to my birthday show! Please continue to support the Angels of Delusion, thank you so much!!"
A smile spreads onto Sunna’s sleeping face thereafter. She hums a bit disjointedly, before returning to peaceful sleeping breaths.
“What in the…” Nangong scoffs with a smile, “Your sleep-talking’s smoother than your last performance, and you've even got an audience participation segment…?” Nangong hears Aria quietly enter the room, blanket in tow.
“Sunna's really been putting in the work during practice,” Aria whispers, “She must be worn out!"
Aria hands over the blanket to Nangong, who drapes it over Sunna. She’d remove the backpack, but— that’d definitely wake Sunna up. Now Sunna looked a bit like a turtle— which caused both Nangong and Aria to have some suppressed giggles.
“She really has been putting in the work,” Nangong nods, looking back towards Sunna with pride, “A good girl like her has definitely earned a break~”
Aria smiles, sharing that same sense of pride.
“Ah, but you should sleep too, Nangong!” Aria reminds her gently, “I’ll handle all the morning plans. Intelligent Constructs don’t need to sleep, after all! Or well— most intelligent constructs anyways…”
“Yep~” Nangong says, a hand on her hip, “Don’t worry about a thing— I don’t wreck my sleep schedule like Sunna over here~”
“…though I very easily could if I didn’t schedule myself so meticulously to avoid exactly that…”
Aria nods, satisfied with that answer, and departs to help set up said plans. …and it was now just the two of them again.
“Sleeping so carefree, huh?” Nangong thinks to herself, “Right up on that keyboard…”
An inexplicable sense of warmth fills her heart.
“…but… honestly? I hope you’ll keep being able to be a dummy like that. To sleep so peacefully, and dream about things so… honest. Like this entire group here— us Angels of Delusions… this shared dream. You’re the center of it all.”
Nangong moves beside Sunna, resting her head against Sunna’s own.
“Others might see you as a crybaby— and I call you that because it’s-true-and-also you’re-adorable-which-means-I’ll-never-stop-teasing-you— but just because I call you that doesn’t mean it’s a ‘bad thing’. Heck no. To me, the way you’re a ‘crybaby’ just means… you’re authentic.
“Listen… don’t call me a therapist— the only therapy I know is the percussive kind— but after being with you so long… that’s what I’ve come to think of you. Unlike me, you’re not afraid to feel— because you feel… so freely. No one could match you, Sunna. Not your music, not your charm, and not your heart— which you have… so much of. It makes me a little jealous. Not that I’d admit that. Probably. Dunno.
“This is… the life I want to make with us, together. With Aria and I by your side… we’ll make the word ‘impossible’ meaningless. We’ll safeguard every delusion of ours, and make it real. I swear it to you, Sunna.
“Today’s your special day— but no matter how many days, months, or even years pass, you’ll always be the most precious person in my entire life. I try not to be sappy about things but it’s true— I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
… …
“I should write this down.”
***
Sunna, at her house’s dinner table, lays down the birthday card, absolutely stunned. She bites her lip, trembling, tears welling in her eyes from the surging tide of emotion she could never hope to hold back.
“Nan…” Sunna stammers, “Nan— NANGONGGGGGG!!!”
Sunna pulls Nangong into a tight squeeze of a hug, sobbing tears of pure joy. Nangong smiles back at her, filled with joy the very same.
“That was so incredibly sweet, Nangong…” Aria says, similarly teary, “But you… left in the ‘I should write this down’ at the end…??”
“H-huh?” Sunna blinks, wiping some of her tears, “Oh— you… you did…!”
“Oh shoot whoops”
“I was being authentic myself~” Nangong smirks with a shrug, “It wouldn’t be an accurate retelling if I left that part out, right?”
“I… guess?” Aria blinks.
“Nangong, you liar!” Sunna pouts playfully, “You just wrote that without thinking, didn’t you?”
“Nawwwwwwwwww~”
It had been about twelve hours or so since that moment. Many things had already occurred for Sunna’s birthday… but Nangong left this for last.
As Sunna shakes Nangong’s shoulder, trying to get her to admit her mistake… another thought crosses Nangong’s mind. One she found to be kind of cheesy, but… if anything, Sunna has taught her that being ‘cheesy’ can really often mean just being… ‘honest’.
So she allows the words to flow:
“Really though… as long as you’re here, every day of my life will be special. So… happy birthday, Sunna. Ever since the day you were born, you’ve brought joy into others lives— and you’ll always bring joy into mine, too.”
As the words flow, however, the shoulder shaking comes to a slow, prompting Nangong to look over in curiosity.
“Hey… Nangong?” Sunna says, her face beet red. Very beet red.
“Yeah~?” Nangong grins. Though, her cat-like grin soon turns to shock when she sees that Aria seems to be similarly stunned, covering her face with her hands (but leaving a gap to peek through them). …
“Oh god damnit I was thinking out loud again wasn’t I?”
Sunna smiles at her— her smile wavy yet pure— confirming Nangong’s thought without even saying a word. Clearly, the words did flow— just not in her head.
Nangong, though deeply embarrassed, eventually just chuckles earnestly— Sunna and Aria joining in with her.
“You know, last night you were talking in your sleep about having everyone love you or something~” Nangong says to Sunna, coyly leaning her elbow against the table.
“Wha… whu— I… I WAS?!” Sunna shouts.
“Mhm!” Aria confirms, clasping her hands together joyfully, “It was a birthday show, I think!”
Sunna’s expression turns into a blank mortified smile of ‘oh god I sleep talk oh god I sleep talk’.
“…but it’s kind of funny— you’re dreaming about something that’s already true~” Nangong hums.
“…h-huh? But I didn’t have a birthday show!”
“That everyone loves you, dummy~!” Nangong grins.
“W-well I don’t know ab—”
Nangong places a finger to Sunna’s lip.
“Everyone that matters,” Nangong says, earnestly, “Everyone in your life.”
Sunna’s eyes move towards Nangong’s finger, a blush spreading across her face.
“…so let me prove it,” Nangong smiles, staring deeply into Sunna’s eyes, “Starting with me~”
“Nan—” Nangong moves in for the kiss— and Sunna pulls in Nangong closer. They both shut their eyes, and get so into it that they end up toppling a chair and pressing against the wall.
Aria feels her core components start to overload from the scene before her. Her hands are over her eyes— but through the gaps in her fingers, she sees everything.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh—”
THE END