At 12 midnight KST, the fandom, especially the Xingmis/Xbacks (individual fan base name for Lay), began posting heartfelt messages for the "International Bee" while also using the abovementioned hashtag. Within minutes, the tag escalated to No. 1 worldwide. Of course, apart from profound messages dedicated to Lay, a plethora of fans also took this chance to use memes and reminisce his hilarious moments with his brothers - Xiumin, Suho, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, and Sehun.
As of writing, the hashtag remains standing firm on the trending list in various regions and is still sitting prettily as No. 1 in the Philippines. EXO's official account also posted its birthday greeting to Lay along with the hashtag "#HappyLayDay," as well as the many brands that the EXO member promotes: Calvin Klein, Tide, Pizza Hut, Daniel Wellington, Converse, and many more.
What was the sweetest of it all, however, was when Lay's mother wrote her greeting on her Weibo page and even included a throwback photo of her with then-younger Lay striking the "peace" sign. It is evident in the picture that they were at an amusement park.
Lay's mom wrote, "Thank you for coming to our family and letting me become a mother on this day of 28 years ago. And also thank you all for picking him, loving him, protecting him and made his success. To Lay Zhang, Happy birthday."
On the Twitterverse, a fan said, "Happy birthday, Yixing, our most precious sheep. I love you so much! I miss you but also I want you to rest and be healthy! I hope you spend your birthday with your loved ones and have a great day you deserve."
Another one was quoted saying, "Happy Birthday to the sweetest, most thoughtful, and [most hard] working individual, Zhang Yixing! I am so proud of you and all that you have done. It was not an easy journey, but know that we will be by your side until the end of time."
Meanwhile, Lay's bandmate and EXO's leader Suho is known for sharing a selca with whomever member of his is celebrating his big day. With Suho publishing not just an Instagram post dedicated to the Mando-pop star but also a screenshot of the two video-calling each other on his Stories, EXO-Ls surely did lose it and are presently at "peak devastation" (the state of being emotional over a certain thing that their bias or ultimate group does) on Twitter.
So far this year, he has shared selfies with the members that already celebrated their birthday except for Chanyeol who is turning 28 (in Korean reckoning) in November.
