A Shared Birthday

Mei Wei's birthday was approaching in a few days.

Mei Wei's birthday celebrations were held for two days in the Mei Mansion.

Mei Wei was always alone in this house; he didn't have many friends. It wasn't like people didn't try, but Mei Wei had the talent of being able to see through people's facades. 

Either these people wanted to be friends with him to mooch his money, or they only cared because he was the heir to the Mei Groups.

Therefore, Mei Wei didn't like to interact with fake people.

Hence, Mei Wei always celebrated his birthday alone with people close to him. 

His worried grandfather, Mei Shao, always wanted him to make more friends and interact with others.

Thus, he would organise a large banquet for Mei Wei on the day after his birthday. At this banquet, rich and famous people from around the world would come. The guest list included businessmen, politicians, celebrities, social workers, and many other influential people around the country.

Mei Wei didn't like it because all the people here were fake and were there just to expand their contacts. Nobody was exactly happy for him except his grandfather and now Aman.

Although Mei Shao is not alive now, the party was nonetheless arranged by Mei Wang.

It was not because Mei Wang cared for his son's well-being; he only wanted to meet like-minded people, which was quite easy at this party.

Only four days were left for the grand party, and everyone in the house was busy preparing for it. When Mei Wei was done doing his daily exercise, he saw Aman reading a book in a language he couldn't understand. He sat beside Aman and said tiredly, "I am really done with it."

Aman looked at him and asked, "What? The exercise?" 

Mei Wei replied, "No, silly! This corrupt people annual meeting in the name of my birthday celebrations!"

"The greatest irony is that said birthday boy himself doesn't want to be a part of this celebration. Then what's the need for that?"

Aman sighed, put his book away, held Mei Wei's hands, and said, "My Prince, it's only for one day. Let's bear it together. Okay?" 

Mei Wei nodded. He looked at Aman; it looked like he suddenly remembered something. He then asked Aman, "Aman, when is your birthday? It's been more than a year since you have been here, and you didn't mention your birthday even once. Are you keeping it secret from me?"

Aman looked lost in thought. He smiled and said, "I am not keeping it a secret, but the truth is, even I don't know when my birthday is." 

Mei Wei asked him, "How can this be possible? Sure, your family must have told you your birth date." 

Aman told Mei Wei, "My parents passed away when I was very little, so I can't remember even if they had told me."

"Oh!" Mei Wei exclaimed. "I am really sorry for asking that. Please forgive me."

He thought about it and felt regret for asking that question. Why does Aman's real birthday even matter?

He can share his everything with Aman. Even his birthday.

"It's sad that you don't know your birthday, but it doesn't matter now; my birthday is your birthday. I will share my birthday with you. We will both celebrate my real birthday as our joint birthday."

Aman was surprised to hear this, and Mei Wei comforted him.

"I have told you so many times that you are not alone. I will always be there for you." Aman's eyes watered for a bit, which Mei Wei thought were tears of happiness.

But in Aman's mind, there was only one thing: "My birthday is your birthday; I will share my birthday with you."

Aman smiled and said to himself, "Why is it happening again, my love? Why?"

********

It was midnight on the night before Mei Wei's actual birthday, and only five minutes were left for Mei Wei's birthday.

Mei Wei suddenly called Aman up and asked him to come to his room.

When Aman reached there, he saw Mei Wei's eyes were closed, though he was sitting properly, so it meant he was awake. Seeing him like this, Aman asked him, "My Prince, why do you call me?"

Mei Wei told him, "Just sit in front of me, be silent, and just smile." 

Aman thought it was strange. Still, he followed Mei Wei's strange wish and did as he was told.

He sat in front of Mei Wei and smiled. When the clock struck twelve, Mei Wei opened his eyes, looked at Aman, smiled, and then held Aman's hand and wished in his mind, 'I wish that till my last breath, on every birthday, I see Aman's smiling face like this in front of me.'

Though Aman didn't know about the midnight wish, he did know that wishing the birthday boy at twelve was a tradition, so he said to Mei Wei, "My Prince, happy birthday to you. May you live a great life and remain unscathed from the evils outside. I wish you all the happiness in the world."

Mei Wei thought, 'That happiness is you' but he just said, "Happy birthday to you too, my Aman. And if you want to live a happy life, just stay with me," he said half-jokingly.

Aman ruffled Mei Wei's hair while laughing. 

When Mei Wei woke up, he felt excited for his and Aman's shared birthday. A servant helped him with his daily routine. When he reached the dining table, his nostrils caught the smell of his favourite breakfast.

On his birthday, his grandpa always made this particular breakfast himself. Mei Wei loved it, but this year he was not here, but the breakfast was. Mei Wei was amazed. Aman appeared in front of him with his favourite breakfast.

Mei Wei was quite surprised because everyone in the house knew that Aman was vegetarian. But Mei Wei's favourite breakfast consisted of dishes that were made with meat.

He asked Aman, "Aman, did you make it? I thought you were vegetarian." 

"I still am, my prince. Having made it doesn't mean I will eat it. It doesn't matter if Mr. Mei Shao is here or not; your birthday breakfast will always be prepared. And happy birthday again, my prince," Aman told him.

Mei Wei thanked him sincerely. He didn't want to disrespect his deceased grandfather, but when he tasted the breakfast, he felt pure bliss. And he also felt Aman's love in it.

Mei Wei praised him: "This breakfast is really tasty, and happy birthday to you too again, and after breakfast, get ready because of our shared birthday. First, we are going to the cinema, and then we will go on a picnic. Do you like my idea?"

Aman answered, "Very much."

Thus, like this, they first went to watch some movies and then to a picnic.

While on the picnic, Mei Wei asked Aman to fetch water for him. When Aman returned, he saw a cake with both of their names written on it.

After giving Aman a small surprise, Mei Wei laughed and said, "Come, let's cut the cake, and don't worry, it's eggless cake."

Aman thanked him, and they both cut the cake and fed each other. It was quite a sweet moment. When they went back home, they saw a familiar man sitting beside Mei Wang in the living room.

The man was Melvin Evans. He was back from who knows where.

Melvin had not set foot on this land for quite some time, but this time he didn't know that coming back here was the biggest mistake he had made.

Because a ploy of revenge has been knitted by a spirit of vengeance...