Minecraft: I Am The Demon King

Chapter 633 - 633: Cherish

As soon as Pengpeng finished speaking, Steve and Pocolo both turned to look at Black Blade.Although Grayfist was wearing a cheap Death Knight mascot suit that made it impossible to see his eyes, judging from the direction the suit's "snout" was facing, he was probably looking at Black Blade too.

Seeing everyone sell him out so quickly, Black Blade looked speechless. He quickly waved his hand and explained, "I only told them it was your birthday today. That's all."

Seeing Black Blade immediately clear himself of responsibility, Steve smiled helplessly and said, "Alright, it was my idea to give you a surprise."

He paused, glanced at Grayfist in the cheap mascot suit beside him, then continued, "But... I wasn't the one who prepared this surprise." He even deliberately emphasized the word "this."

The moment Steve finished speaking, the cheap Death Knight beside him raised a hand as if eager to claim credit.

"It was my idea! So? Surprised? Unexpected?!"

It had to be said that Grayfist was the mood-maker of the group. The moment he spoke, everyone burst out laughing.

"Surprised! Unexpected! When I opened the door just now, I thought I was dreaming!" Pengpeng laughed as he immediately started helping Grayfist take off the mascot suit.

"Hurry and get out of it. If you get heatstroke later, don't come asking me for medical expenses."

Seeing this, Grayfist carefully handed the gift box in his hands to Steve and slowly took off the mascot suit with Pengpeng's help.

To be fair, Grayfist had really gone all out to give Pengpeng a surprise. Under the mascot suit, he looked like a drowned rat. His clothes and hair were completely soaked with sweat.

Seeing that, Pengpeng pointed toward the bathroom and said, "Go take a shower first..."

After looking him up and down, he added, "You should be able to fit into my clothes. I'll get some for you later."

Grayfist nodded. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at Pengpeng.

"Oh right, I've already prepared the meal for you too."

After saying that, Grayfist turned to Pocolo.

"Don't be nervous. Treat this place like your own home. If you need anything, just tell Black Blade and the others to help you."

Before Pocolo could react, Grayfist hurried off toward the bathroom.

Seeing this, Pocolo immediately started sweating.

Today had simply brought him too many firsts.

His first time meeting Grayfist, Black Blade, Steve, and Pengpeng in person.

His first time being invited by Grayfist to take part in preparing an important birthday surprise for Pengpeng.

His first time visiting Pengpeng's home.

Pocolo was so nervous that his tongue had almost tied itself in knots when he gave his birthday wishes earlier.

Among everyone present, Grayfist was the one he knew best. Now that Grayfist had gone to take a shower, Pocolo suddenly didn't know what to do with himself.

[T/N: When your mom goes to make snacks and leaves you alone with the guests]

At that moment, noticing everyone's eyes on him, Pocolo steadied himself, took a deep breath, and looked at Pengpeng.

"Um... Grayfist only told me this morning that it's your birthday today. I don't know what you like, so I didn't have time to buy you a gift. So I just brought myself..."

As soon as he said it, Pocolo realized something sounded wrong. He coughed awkwardly and quickly corrected himself, "Uh... what I mean is... I don't really have any special strengths, but my cooking is pretty decent. Leave today's meal to me!"

After speaking, Pocolo silently lifted two large bags of ingredients from behind him.

The moment they saw the two huge bags, Pengpeng and Black Blade were both stunned.

The two spoke in unison, "Are you planning to make a full banquet?"

As soon as they finished saying that together, they simultaneously reached out and took the bags from Pocolo.

Pengpeng and Black Blade seemed so used to working together that after taking the ingredients, they both headed toward the kitchen.

Watching this scene, Pocolo and Steve exchanged a glance, and neither could stop smiling.

Seeing that Pengpeng wasn't nearby, Pocolo glanced at the gift in Steve's hands and asked, "So when are we opening that surprise...?"

As Steve fetched a pair of slippers for him, he replied, "We can't hide it for long. Once Grayfist finishes showering, we'll probably open it."

After changing into the slippers Steve handed him, Pocolo nodded.

"Alright, then I'll go prep the ingredients first. Call me when it's time."

After entering the apartment, Pocolo immediately followed the others to the kitchen. Steve placed the gift box on the dining table, then walked to the sofa, turned up the TV volume a little, and headed to the kitchen as well.

At that moment, the tiny kitchen was packed with four grown men.

Among those four men, three couldn't even fry an egg.

Other than sweating from being squeezed together, they weren't helping at all. Pocolo finally couldn't take it anymore and directly kicked Black Blade, Steve, and Pengpeng out of the kitchen.

After the three settled onto the sofa, they started chatting casually.

Not long later, they saw Grayfist walking over while drying his hair with a towel. He had a bath towel wrapped around his waist, with half his upper body exposed.

Seeing this rather eye-catching scene, the three people on the sofa felt their vision darken.

It wasn't clear whether everyone else treated themselves like family, but Grayfist definitely didn't treat himself like an outsider.

Seeing this, Pengpeng quickly stood up.

"I left the clothes outside the bathroom. Do they not fit or something...?"

"Oh, I saw them. It's too hot, so I didn't put them on," Grayfist said indifferently.

Black Blade silently picked up the air conditioner remote and walked over.

Standing in front of Grayfist, he lowered the temperature to sixteen degrees, then pointed toward the bathroom.

Although Black Blade didn't say a word, his meaning couldn't have been more obvious.

Grayfist rolled his eyes and grumbled as he turned back toward the bathroom.

"You're way too particular. We're all men. What's the big deal..."

After Grayfist was properly dressed, Steve called Pocolo out of the kitchen as well.

Seeing everyone gathered like this, Pengpeng more or less guessed what was happening.

Looking at the gift box on the table, he smiled, "Looks like it's time for the gift-opening part?"

Black Blade nodded, "This is a gift from all of us."

As he spoke, he joined everyone else at the dining table.

Naturally, Pengpeng felt excited looking at the gift.

It had been a long time since he had celebrated a birthday.

It had also been a long time since he had received a birthday gift.

Before opening the door today, he hadn't even realized it was his birthday.

That was why when he told Grayfist he was surprised and caught off guard, he wasn't just saying it to make him happy.

Those were his genuine feelings.

He really hadn't been this happy in a very long time.

To him, simply being able to gather together, eat, drink, and spend time with everyone would already have been enough.

He never expected them to prepare an extra surprise for him.

With those feelings in his heart, Pengpeng slowly opened the gift from everyone.

The moment he saw the fluffy little puppy inside the box, tears instantly poured from his eyes.

He slowly reached out with slightly trembling hands and picked up the puppy from the box, examining it carefully as if it were a priceless treasure.

Although it didn't look anything like his old dog and wasn't even the same breed, for some reason, Pengpeng didn't feel disappointed at all.

Instead, he cherished it even more.

Seeing this, Black Blade patted Pengpeng on the shoulder and explained, "It may not look like Mochi, but the three of us chose it together. Everyone felt sure you'd like it."

[T/N: Mochi was his previous dog's name]

"Give it a name."

At this moment, tears were already streaming down Pengpeng's face.

Although Black Blade hadn't said much, Pengpeng understood the intentions of Black Blade and everyone else.

Pengpeng loved dogs.

But even after all these years, despite having the means to raise one, he never got another dog.

The reason was simple.

He had never truly let go of Mochi.

Black Blade and the others could easily have chosen a puppy that looked exactly like Mochi.

But after thinking it over carefully, they decided against it.

What belongs to the past should remain in the past.

People need to welcome new lives and a new future.

It was because he understood their intentions that Pengpeng was so deeply moved.

He wiped away his tears, gently held the puppy in his arms, lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, then smiled with complete relief.

"Cherish."

Then Pengpeng looked at everyone and said, "I treasure your feelings like a priceless gem."