November came and went like a short breeze of cool air. The leaves had long since fallen and the trees looked bare and cold. It made for runny noses, flus and wind-swept hair. Jongdae didn’t mind it though, he enjoyed the walks in the crisp air and the feeling of having to wrap up tight to keep warm.

Yixing and Jongdae had started spending a lot more time with each other too, which wasn’t all bad. Jongdae enjoyed the company after school, Yixing would walk with him and they’d stop sometimes to pick up a hot chocolate on their way home. One night, while Yixing was over helping Jongdae with his AP Music Theory homework (he had taken the course last year), they had baked cookies that turned out terribly wrong, filling the whole house with smoke. They opened all the windows to air it out before Jongdae’s parents got home from work. When they finally arrived home, they questioned the flour smeared on Yixing’s cheek. Both boys giggled. Two days later, Jongdae’s Mother found a blackened cookie under the stove.

Now, Christmas was fast approaching and Jongdae found himself wondering more often than not what Yixing might want as a gift. He figured he had a lot of time to ask.

Today was the day after the fourth issue had been finalized. On the front page, there was a photograph of Baekhyun and Chanyeol playing the pepero game in celebration of pepero day. They thought it would be funny and it seemed like everyone agreed. At the rate the paper was selling, they’d be out of copies within the week.

“We’ve made it to December,” Junmyeon smiled, “I’m so proud of you guys for getting us all the way here-”

“You’re not going to cry are you, hyung?” Chanyeol snickered.

“I’m not prepared for your waterworks!” Baekhyun laughed.

Junmyeon huffed, “I’ll just cut to the chase then. Since we’ll be out of school for almost two weeks for vacation and another full week will be left for mid-terms, I would like to announce that this month we will not be working on a newspaper. Instead, we’ll just relax and study.”

Minseok smiled at that, “Thank you, Myeon. I could really use this time off.”

“I know,” Junmyeon smiled warmly at him and silent words passed between them that no one seemed to notice. No one except for Jongdae who waited for a reaction from Yixing, but none came. Instead, the older boy just caught the younger’s gaze and smiled shyly before looking away.

Yixing cleared his throat then, “Tell them about the thing, Junmyeon.”

“Oh right,” Junmyeon chuckled nervously and pulled out a small plastic bag, “Since we’re not going to have much time to spend with each other, Yixing and I thought it would be fun to keep each other in our thoughts anyway. And so we’re going to do a secret santa!”

“Oh that sounds fun!” Baekhyun laughed.

“Here’s hoping Baek doesn't get me!” Chanyeol chuckled as Baekhyun shoved his hand in the bag. That earned him a hard slap right on the shoulder. The smirk on Baekhyun’s face when he read the name didn’t make him feel any better either.

Minseok drew a name next and then Chanyeol (who had to draw again, because he got his own name). Finally, the bag came to Jongdae. He reached in and pulled out the first piece of paper that his fingers touched. He opened it up and there, staring back at him, was the name he had secretly wanted.

Zhang Yixing.

Everyone’s words fell on deaf ears as he stared at the name, absentmindedly chewing on his bottom lip in thought. Now he really had to figure it out, but he couldn’t ask him - it would be too obvious… He sighed and tucked the piece of paper away in his pocket. When he looked up, he found curious eyes sparkling at him.

“Who’d you get?” Yixing asked on their walk home.

“It’s called secret santa for a reason, Yixing.” Jongdae grumbled in response.

Yixing scrunched up his nose, “I got Junmyeon.”

Jongdae rolled his eyes, “You’re not good at keeping secrets are you?”

“No, no,” Yixing laughed, “That’s not it. I was just wondering, you’re his cousin, what might he like?”

Jongdae raised a confused eyebrow, “You two are best friends, aren’t you? Why are you asking me? Shouldn’t you already know?”

Yixing hummed, “Well, could you at least go shopping with me to help me pick something out?”

“I guess so, hyung.” Jongdae shrugged.

Jongdae didn’t show it, but he was inwardly freaking out at the idea of going shopping with Yixing. They barely did anything outside of school aside from the occasional tutoring session or walk. Jongdae didn’t think he’d ever seen Yixing in anything other than his school uniform and wondered what his style might be like. He also thought that this could be a good way to figure out what Yixing would want as a gift.

✐✐✐

The mall was positively crowded with people. Jongdae unwrapped his scarf and let it hang loosely around his neck, framing the black coat he picked out earlier. He had yet to step foot into the mall, waiting for his partner to show up. A chilly wind blew through his hair and he shivered, taking to the nearest coffee stand for something warm to drink. As he took his first sip in bliss of the heat, there was a small tap on his shoulder.

Jongdae turned to reveal a boy looming over him with a bright smile on his face. The boy was wearing black jeans with rips in them, a black leather jacket over a grey hoodie and grey beanie. It took Jongdae a moment to realize that this was actually Yixing, but when he did his heart just about stopped. Yixing was… Hot, for the lack of a better word.

“I didn’t keep you waiting long, did I?” Yixing asked with a chuckle.

Jongdae shook his head from the trance he was in (he seriously hoped that Yixing hadn’t noticed he had been checking him out), “No, no. Did you want a coffee?”

Yixing laughed and held up his hand with a small white cup in it, “Already have one.” Jongdae smiled laughed too, not because he thought this was funny,  but because he was feeling kind of nervous, “Shall we go in?” Jongdae nodded.

When they entered the mall, they were not expecting so many people to start pushing past them. The place was huge, but it was packed. They stood off to the side of the doorway and let their eyes wander over every sign and every store window that they could see. This was more intimidating than facing an exam.

Both boys were not shoppers and had no idea where to start. It didn’t help that Jongdae had never been to this mall before. And it didn’t help that Yixing wasn’t very good at following directions and kept getting them lost.

“Junmyeon likes comics,” Yixing said aloud, it was more of a thought than anything, “I can’t seem to find the-”

“Nerd store?”

Yixing grinned, “Shush, that’s mean. Besides, I’ve been to your house. You have Iron Man collectibles.”

Jongdae laughed and looked around, searching for a mall map or anything that might help them out. However, with the huge crowds of people, it seemed almost impossible. Jongdae was so lost in his search that he barely noticed the warm hand that had snuck down into his, until it squeezed lightly.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Yixing mumbled as he forced his way through the crowds of people. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, which startled Jongdae a little. They had spent almost two hours here already and the entire time they had walked in circles unsure of where they were going. At least, that’s what Jongdae had thought.

Bustling crowds flocked from store to store, crowding the halls of the mall, but that didn’t stop Yixing. He was a man on a mission. Jongdae was just being dragged (quite literally) along for the ride. They pushed past clusters of schoolgirls, parents and their children and the occasional couple walking with their hands held. The sight of the couples had Jongdae’s cheeks burning, because here he was with Yixing and they were holding hands too.

His thoughts were immediately interrupted when Yixing came to a halt in front of a store and Jongdae bumped right into his back.

“Oh,” Yixing chuckled and turned around, “Are you okay?”

Jongdae rubbed his nose with a goofy grin spreading across his face, “Peachy.”

They entered the store, which wasn’t as crowded as others, but still crowded nonetheless. At the back of the store, there was a wall of comic books, the large shelves stretching from floor to ceiling. Jongdae’s eyes wandered from the bottom to the top of the wall and he could already tell that they would be here forever. There were just so many comics to look through, too many. How would they be able to find one-

“Found it!”

Wait, what?

Yixing hummed as he slipped a comic book from the shelf, “Junmyeon has been talking about this edition for a while now.”

“That was fast,” Jongdae laughed, “Almost as if you already knew where it was.”

Yixing coughed, “It’s not like I scouted it beforehand. That’s absurd.” He was bad at lying.

Jongdae raised an eyebrow in disbelief, “Mhm.”

“Alright, I may have been here earlier this week,” Yixing chuckled.

“Why didn’t you buy it then?” Jongdae asked as they walked to the counter at the front of the store.

Yixing shrugged, “I wanted to go shopping with you.”

“Oh,” Jongdae said rather stupidly. He hadn’t been expecting that.

As they exited the store, Yixing suggested that they go to the food court for some lunch. Jongdae had eagerly agreed after his stomach growled embarrassingly loud in response to the word ‘food.’ On their way, however, Yixing became easily sidetracked, stopping to stare in the window of another store. Jongdae when he felt the loss of the taller’s hand holding his and looked back to find the elder gaping at a row of guitars.

“Do you play guitar?” Jongdae asked curiously as he walked back to stand next to his friend in front of the music store.

“W-What?” Yixing asked turned to look at Jongdae, he had been too absorbed in the sight of the guitars being put on display.

“Do you play guitar?” Jongdae repeated with a laugh.

“I did…”

“You don’t anymore?”

Yixing shook his head, “It’s not that. I just… When I came here for school, Mom said I wouldn’t have enough space to take my guitar with me. I had to leave it home. But I saw other students taking theirs! By then, it was too late for me to turn around and go get it. So, it’s in my bedroom on it’s stand until I get back… I kind of miss playing it.” he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Why don’t we go in so you can play a song or two?” Jongdae asked, tugging on Yixing’s hand and pulling him towards the shop.

“Really? You want to?” Yixing asked with a small smile.

“Yeah! I’d love to hear you play.”

It wasn’t long before Yixing was strumming the chords of an acoustic he’d pulled from the wall (after careful observation and picking just the right one). He hummed lightly as he let his fingers flow over the strings, creating a beautiful melody that made few customers in the store stop and watch in amazement. Once the song ended, a loud applause erupted that startled both Jongdae and Yixing. The elder having been too caught up in playing guitar and Jongdae having been too caught up in falling further for his hyung.

“That was awesome, Yixing,” Jongdae gasped, “I could’ve listened to that forever.”

“Really?” Yixing’s face was burning bright red already from the attention of strangers, but somehow he managed to blush even more with Jongdae’s words.

Jongdae nodded, “I wish you had a guitar so I could hear you play all the time.”

“Me too,” Yixing smiled, eyes falling to look at the guitar in his hands, “One just like this so I could play for you whenever you asked.”

They looked at each other then, for a long time. Silent words passed between them that neither quite understood. Jongdae was the first to break the awkwardness by standing abruptly and laughing to fill the quiet. Yixing giggled and picked up the guitar in his hands, turning it over once more and staring at it with a slight longing. He sighed before handing it to the employee hanging guitars on the wall.

“I guess I’ll see you back at school after exams?” Jongdae asked as they stood on the bus stop.

Yixing nodded, “Good luck in yours, okay? If you need any more help in your music course, you know who to call.”

Jongdae laughed and nudged Yixing’s arm, “Thank you. And good luck to you too!”

The bus pulled up and Yixing looked back at Jongdae curiously, “Aren’t you coming?”

“No,” Jongdae shook his head, “I’ve got to pick something up for my Mother and then she’s coming to get me. Go on ahead!”

Yixing bowed his head, “See you later, Dae.”

As the bust pulled out of the curb and down the street, Jongdae turned to march back into the mall. He felt bad for lying to Yixing, but this was supposed to be a surprise. He finally knew what to get him for Christmas.

“Back again? Where’s your friend?” the employee hanging guitars asked.

“How much is the guitar that he was playing earlier today?” Jongdae asked suddenly.

“Hm?” The employee reached up and pulled the guitar down, “This one, right? $275.00, no tax.”

“I’ll take it.”

✐✐✐

It had been weeks since Jongdae had found the perfect gift and he was itching to give it to Yixing. It took almost every fiber of his being not to blurt it out loud whenever he was around and so he did his best to avoid him. It was not too hard for him, since everyone was so busy studying anyway. He was able to use that as his excuse and most times Yixing was busy himself too. It was just when they were in passing in the halls that Jongdae had to shout out that he was heading to study hall so he could keep his secret a secret.

Partner Zhang Yixing
Your music exam is today, isn’t it? Good luck, DaeDae! ^-^

Me
Thank you, hyung! Good luck in your physics exam, I know you’ll do well <3

They spoke via text message for nearly a week until, finally, exams were through. Junmyeon called the meeting almost immediately, informing everyone to bring their gifts and to hide them in the room somewhere. Jongdae had snuck in early that morning and hid his gift in the back behind the unused filing cabinet.

That afternoon, everyone got together to start decorating for Christmas. Chanyeol and Baekhyun struggled with the tree lights after they finally stood it up. Minseok and Yixing worked on hanging various ornaments around the room and they even drew a fake fireplace on the chalkboard. Junmyeon laughed at their cleverness and hung stockings filled with candies on the ledge of the chalkboard while Jongdae struggled with hanging a garland of snowflakes in the doorframe.

Most of the school was decorated too. Clubs and teams had gotten together to decorate their own rooms and then the halls and cafeteria. The place was starting to look like Santa’s elves had shown up and threw Christmas decorations everywhere. Jongdae figured it was pretty close to the truth when he watched Chanyeol, who wore a green Santa hat courtesy of Baekhyun, fumbling with the ornaments for the tree.

Before long, the club room was overflowing with Christmas decor and the boys were all sitting on the floor in front of the tree, laughing and carrying on. They talked about the end of exams and the upcoming vacation and the excitement of the approaching new year. But, mostly, they tried to guess who everyone had picked as their secret santa and what gifts might be waiting for them.

“I’ll go first,” Chanyeol grinned as he stood and stalked to the rear of the room. He pulled out a box from under the broken chair in the corner and walked straight back to the circle.

“Whose is it?” Baekhyun asked, eyes sparkling.

“It’s not yours,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes, “This is for you, hyung.” he said handing the perfectly wrapped box to Minseok.

Minseok looked mildly surprised but graciously took the box, “You wrapped it so nicely. Hard to imagine with those clumsy hands of yours,” he smirked.

Chanyeol pouted, “Would you just open it?”

Minseok pulled gently on the ribbon until it slipped off the box. He pulled the lid off and almost sorted with laughter when he caught a glimpse of his gift.

“What is it?” Baekhyun shouted trying his best to look into the box.

“It’s an assortment of coffees,” Minseok said laughing and pulling an oversized coffee mug from the box filled with different coffee mixes.

“Isn’t it perfect, hyung?” Chanyeol asked with a bright smile.

Minseok nodded, “Perfect. Thank you, you thoughtful giant.”

“Me next!” Baekhyun grinned opening up his bag and pulling out a thin envelope, handing it over to Jongdae.

“Oh! Me?” Jongdae grinned and took the envelope, opening it gently. He pulled out the card and opened it up, a photograph falling out onto his lap. He picked it up and looked at it partially confused, “This is a blurry selfie of you…”

“Yup!” Baekhyun laughed, “I autographed it too! Turn it over and see!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Baekhyun, I swear to-” Jongdae stopped mid-sentence as he stared at the back of the picture, taped to it were two tickets, “Baek, these are for The Nutcracker Musical… That show was sold out! How did you get these?!”

Baekhyun winked, “I have connections.”

The afternoon continued this way with more gift giving and receiving and the soft playing of carols in the background on a CD that Baekhyun had insisted on sticking into the stereo. Minseok had bought Baekhyun a pair of shoes, Junmyeon bought Chanyeol a new set of headphones, and Yixing got to revel in the giddy giggles from Junmyeon as he opened up the comic book.

“Yixing, you still haven’t received your gift!” Chanyeol exclaimed and then looked at Jongdae, “You got him, didn’t you?”

Jongdae laughed awkwardly and stood up, trodding over to the filing cabinet to pull out the guitar case, a bow stuck to it. Yixing watched in awe as Jongdae lifted it and brought it back to the circle.

“Gee, I wonder what it is,” Baekhyun snorted.

“Shut up, you,” Chanyeol muttered pulling the shorter onto his lap and clamping his hands over his mouth.

Yixing took the guitar case carefully, his hands shaking nervously as he opened the zipper and peered inside. His breath hitched and his eyes watered at the sight of the guitar he’d played in the store when he went shopping with Jongdae. He looked up at the younger, a goofy grin spreading on his face as the tears fell from his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but no words would come out.

“Merry Christmas,” Jongdae smiled and reached out to pull Yixing in for a quick hug.

Their moment was soon interrupted when Baekhyun yelled out that he wanted hot chocolate. Yixing and Junmyeon worked quickly to plug in the kettle and get the water boiling while they filled paper cups with the chocolate powder. Minseok stretched and sat next to Jongdae, telling him all about which courses he shouldn’t take in the future if he wanted to avoid awful exams. No one seemed to notice the mischievous duo, Baekhyun and Chanyeol, as they snuck up behind Yixing and Junmyeon, dangling a piece of mistletoe between their fingers above them.

“Look who’s under the mistletoe!” Baekhyun shouted with a laugh.

Junmyeon looked around and then upwards, a small blush creeping onto his cheeks as Yixing’s gaze followed his.

“Kiss! Kiss!” Chanyeol chanted, “You have to kiss!”

Jongdae rose to his feet suddenly and ran out the door, letting it swing behind him. He wouldn’t let himself be witness to this… Not when Yixing liked Junmyeon… Not when he, himself, liked Yixing. It hurt too much. He felt stupid for running. It was just a small kiss for some stupid Christmas tradition, but he couldn’t watch it. Wouldn’t watch it.

“Hey wait!” Yixing called out, “Jongdae, where are you going?!” the elder ran after him and finally caught up, taking Jongdae’s hand in his.

“What?” Jongdae snapped, he wasn’t sure why he was so angry.

“I got you a gift, I wanted to give it to you…”

“Why? You weren’t my secret santa…”

“Not, but I got you something anyway,” Yixing smiled and handed a small bag with tissue paper messily poking out from the top, “I thought, why not? Because we’re friends…”

Jongdae blinked in confusion and took the bag in his hands, slowly pulling out the colourful paper until he came to the bottom. There was a small box there and he grabbed it out, eyeing Yixing curiously as he lifted the lid off. Inside, sitting on the velvet, was a silver dogtag necklace. Engraved on it was ‘Kim Jongdae 09.05.2014’ which was an interesting date, since it was the first day of school of the year.

And as if Yixing had read Jongdae’s thoughts, he had an answer ready for him, “That’s the date,” he smiled sincerely, “That we met.”

And, oh, Jongdae hadn’t realized how sentimental Yixing could be...

“Hyung, this is so nice of you… But, why did you-?”

His words were cut off when a pair of warm lips met his in a chaste and sweet kiss. Jongdae was hesitant at first, but felt himself slowly fall into Yixing’s embrace, eyes fluttering close as the elder wrapped his arms around the younger’s waist. Their lips didn’t quite fit together, but it was perfect anyway. Jongdae could’ve held onto Yixing like that for a long time, letting their lips slide together shyly, but it ended too soon. Yixing was the first to pull away, his breath fanning over Jongdae’s lips, both boys left with their eyes still closed and the taste of chocolate lingering in their mouths.

“What was that for?” Jongdae breathed, his heart skipping a beat as Yixing ran his thumb over his bottom lip.

“Mistletoe,” Yixing hiccuped, finally letting Jongdae go and pointing above them.

Sure enough, as Jongdae opened his eyes and looked up, there was mistletoe hanging in the hallway just above their heads. Jongdae could feel his heart fall a little since Yixing had only kissed him, because of some silly tradition. But not too much, his heart still throbbed in his chest at the thought of the kiss. He cleared his throat and Yixing looked everywhere, but at the younger student in front of him.

“M-Merry Christmas, Jongdae,” Yixing managed to stutter out while keeping his eyes trained on his feet.

“Yeah,” Jongdae coughed, “You too, Yixing.”

/crawls out of no where/ okay so I haven't updated in like three days, but I HAVE A VERY LEGITIMATE REASON OKAY, SO HEAR ME OUT: Yesterday was my birthday and up until then, I had to prepare for a friend's wedding between babysitting my nephews... And now I'm going out again so I will edit this when I get home maybe? ^^; I hope you enjoyed this update! Oh, and the kiss, finally. xo