SO I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING OR WHAT THIS IS BUT IT'S JUST PURE FLUFF IDKKKSKDFKSKDFKSDF SDFSD CHRSTMAS IS NEAR ALSO SICADAY21 WAS A HOE AND MADE ME WRITE THIS

i might do one for every exo member

Tree Decorating

“That,” I say, “is one big tree.”

Jongdae follows my finger. “It’s pretty.”

“It also begs the question how you got it into the apartment, because I’m pretty sure the door wouldn’t fit that. And how are we going to put the star on top?”

“We can use a ladder,” he replies with a shrug, then grins at me in that way he always did—eyes crinkling, lips pulling into that beautiful smile—bright, shining, full of joy—the one that makes me involuntarily smile back at him. “Or you can stand on me.”

I make a face at him. “We all know how well that went the last time we tried that.”

Jongdae winces at the memory. “Right.”

I watch as he carried the boxes of Christmas decorations in front the doorway. Most of them are in giant boxes, some with the lights already dangling from the opening. Ornaments drop out from the overflowing box, and I scramble after Jongdae to pick all of them up. A minute later, there’s four boxes of decorations next to the Christmas tree, and Jongdae and I are staring up at it.

“I still don’t get how we’re going to get the star on top,” I finally say.

He squints up. “You underestimate my height.”

“No, Jongdae, I do not, because you’re short and that’s a fact—”

“Shut up.” He reaches for the first ornament box. “Taller than you’ll ever be, thank you very much.”

There’s also a couple dozen candy canes that we’d gotten when we went shopping, and they’re spread out on the tea table next to the couch, an assortment of different colors and flavors. There’s the classic green, red and white ones, then there’s strawberry, butterscotch, and the list goes on into over flavors I don’t quite remember buying. Jongdae likes them, though—every Christmas he insists on getting at least one of each flavor so he can try them all.

He hands them to me. “Do the candy canes first.”

Jongdae moves for the ornaments—there are a couple we made together a year or so ago, and then the fake metallic-looking one bought from stores. For the next five minutes or so, it’s just playful banter and smalltalk as we hang the decorations, and then the boxes are empty with only the Christmas lights remaining.

I stare at them. “We can get the bottom of the tree fine.”

“But the top,” Jongdae finishes, then gives me an easy grin. “That’s fine. You’re smart. You can think of a strategy.”

“I thought you were going for a ladder?”

“Well, we could, but I’ll have to ring Minseok to bring that up and I don’t want to inconvenience him more than I already have.”

“Than you already have?” I echo. “What else did you ask him to do?”

He doesn’t reply, but then it dawns on me and I glance towards the tree again. “Oh my goodness. How long did it take for him to get that inside the apartment?”

“A couple hours…?”
 

I throw one of the ornaments at him, which he evades easily, laughing at me. “C’mon, it was worth it. It’s a nice tree. Get the lights, let’s hang them up.”

There’s a lot of untangling to be done, and when the Christmas lights have finally been taken out of the box successfully, Jongdae and I wrap most of it to where we can reach. There’s still a small portion of the Christmas tree that is relatively empty, and it’s also missing the star at the top.

“A chair,” I say. “Try using that.”

Jongdae complies without argument and drags one of the chairs out from the kitchen. He sets it up as close as possible on the Christmas tree, then eyes it warily, because two of the legs are on the carpet and two are not, which make it wobbling, and it doesn’t exactly look safe. There’s the golden star in the box, I can see, reflecting the light.

“Who’s climbing that?” he asks, then gives the chair a slight push. It sways dangerously for a moment.

“Uh…” I pick up the star. “Do you think I can reach?”

He suddenly looks a bit nervous. “That chair isn’t going to hold my weight.”

“You make it sound like you’re two hundred pounds or something. Go up, you claim to be taller than me—”

“You’re lighter!" He bails, then moves over. “Here, I’ll catch you if you fall—it’ll be like, onto the couch anyways—and I’ll hold the chair!”

“Jongdae–”

“And make you hot chocolate later,” he promises, and that’s how I end up standing on the still-wobbling chair, struggling to keep my balance as I wind the rest of the Christmas lights onto the tree. Jongdae’s plugged them in already, so they’re glowing, twinkling merrily, as I stand on my tiptoes and try to attach the star to the top.

“This isn’t working,” I tell him after a couple moments. “I’m not tall enough. Your turn.”

Jongdae shakes his head stubbornly. “A deal is a deal.”

I glare at him and he pouts back, because he knows that I always fall for it when he pulls out that face—it’s lethal—so exactly fifteen seconds later, I find myself stretching as far as I can, trying to put the golden star on top of the tree.

It takes a couple desperate tries to finally get it up, and it’s just my luck that when it’s finally properly attached, I tumble off the chair rather tragically.

Actually, I slip—the chair’s already wobbly and my balance isn’t great, especially when I’m on my tiptoes—and then I’m crashing downward, nearly taking the tree with me. It’s a good thing I don’t quite manage to grab onto a string of lights as balance, but I do, however, manage to fall right onto Kim Jongdae, who gives a shout of shock before it’s abruptly cut off and we crash onto the couch.

He lies beneath me, winding and trying to gasp for breath, laughing as he struggles to breathe. For a while, I try to get over the scare, though it still somewhat amusing because Jongdae cushioned the fall and he’s currently dying beneath me. I scramble off him as he wheezes.

“Hurts,” he gasps out. “Oh my God.”

“Sorry, but you were the one who made me stand on that!”

I try to get up, but apparently he isn’t as incapacitated as I thought, because he manages to roll over and wraps his arms around me in an inescapable grip. “Got you.”

I roll my eyes. “I thought you were winded.”

He wraps his legs around me too. The position reminds me of a koala, and it makes me laugh. “I am winded,” he proclaims. “This is revenge.”

“Sure.”

He tightens his grip—not to the point of suffocating, but still pretty tight. “You’re never getting away.”

“I’m a black belt in taekwondo, I can kick your off me right now—”

“C’mon,” he whines. “You love me. You wouldn’t kick my .”

I think for a moment. “False.”

“I hope the false part is only for the fact that you wouldn’t kick my , because I’d like to think I’m loved.”

I’m about to tell him that it’s false just to spite him, but then he releases me from the death grip and sits up. “Lets get hot chocolate.”

Glancing at the Christmas tree one last time, I note that it still looks kind of messy because for one, the star hasn’t been put on properly and is still crooked. There’s a lot of ornaments—too much—because the tree is covered—but it’s cute anyways and I follow Jongdae into the kitchen.

It’s then that I hear his groan of despair. “Marshmallows,” he laments, and I figure it’s going to be a long day. “We’re out of marshmallows. I can’t make hot chocolate without that.”