Thanks to everyone who commented and read the previous chapters~ Hope you enjoy~ :3

A lot of different perspectives in this chapter, but it'll calm down in the next one~

~~~

Tao woke up bright and early the next day, making his way to Baekhyun’s house, his gift bags in tow. He couldn’t believe he was actually going to his first friend in Korea’s house for a party. He never would have imagined he would have had someone to spend the holidays with when he first arrived. It was amazing how things turned out for him when they’d started out so poorly.

Walking past the many houses on the street, one with an inflatable Snoopy balloon outside caught his eye. He walked closer and saw the address, checked the reference picture Baekhyun had had sent him the day before, to assure him he wouldn’t get lost, and knew he was at the right place.

He rang the doorbell slightly nervously. He hadn’t told Baekhyun he was coming and hoped he wasn’t intruding if he wasn’t fully dressed or anything. Though, he figured since he had a party to prepare for, it would be pretty unlikely. Still, his nerves racked as he heard the door unlock from the inside.

“Tao, what are you doing here?” Baekhyun asked, looking surprised as he pulled the door open. Tao held in a laugh, seeing Baekhyun, who was wearing an apron over his beloved new sweater.

“I thought I should come over early in case you needed help with anything.” Tao said.

“You can help me bake and decorate!” Baekhyun said, clapping. “I’m making cookies and cake! Come in!”

Tao stepped through the door, not really used to being in someone else’s house. Baekhyun’s house was pretty nice. It was a lot bigger and cleaner than Tao’d expected. He had a pretty looking Christmas Tree in the front room, lights strewn on the walls, in an otherwise normal, yet pleasant looking house.

“Your house is nice.” Tao said, as Baekhyun pointed to a place on the side for him to leave his shoes. “Where are your parents, hyung?”

“Oh, they always go on a vacation during the holidays since they don’t want to be bothered with my ‘crazy house parties’. Baekhyun said with air quotes. “Y’know, I’ve never asked, do you live with your parents here?”

“No, they’re in China.” Tao said. “I live by myself.”

“Is that lonely?” Baekhyun asked, looking sympathetic.

“A bit sometimes, but I don’t mind.” Tao explained, shrugging. “I’m used to it by now.”

“Well, you won’t have to worry about that today!” Baekhyun said, now sounding very cheery. “You’re gonna have so much fun once everyone else gets here! You ready to help me cook then?”

“Yeah, okay.” Tao grinned, getting up.

“You can put your bag on the sofa if you want.” Baekhyun said, gesturing to the colorful bag in Tao’s hand. Tao gave him the judgmental look for once.

Doesn’t hyung know a Christmas bag when he sees one?

“Uhm…Merry Christmas, Beef.” Tao sheepishly told Baekhyun as he held the bag towards him. Baekhyun’s eyes grew and his mouth hung open before turning into a huge smile.

“A present! A present!! Presents! You really got me something!” Baekhyun said, rushing over and taking the bag.

“Of course I got you something.” Tao said. “You going to open it now?”

“Yeah! What is it?” Baekhyun said, frantically pulling all of the colored paper out.

“Just open it hyung, duh…” Tao said, grinning.

Baekhyun first pulled out a large stuffed panda toy, his eyes growing wide with a grin spreading on his face.

“It’s so cute!” Baekhyun hugged the large stuffed toy.

“Sorry…I can’t help thinking of you as a kid sometimes, so I got you a toy.” Tao said, sheepishly.

“And it’s a panda, too!” Baekhyun said. “Like you!”

 “I wanted to get you something that you’d always remember was from me.” Tao said, blushing a little.

“I love it! I’ll sleep with it every night!” Baekhyun grinned up at Tao, whose face reddened even more.

“Don’t say it like that! It sounds weird!” Tao said, quite flustered. Baekhyun giggled before looking back into the bag.

“Oh, there’s more?” He said, reaching into the bag as Tao nodded. He pulled out a small white box and looked at it for a second before pulling the lid off.

 “It’s a necklace. See, look at it.” Tao said, pointing. Baekhyun took a closer look.

“It has the sign of Taurus!” Baekhyun said, earning a nod from Tao.

“I have one like it, too.” Tao said, pulling his own from under his sweater. “So now this can be something between the two of us.”

“I love it! Put it on me right now!” Baekhyun said, handing the necklace to Tao and turning around. Tao carefully pulled the chain around Baekhyun’s neck and fastened it for him.

“Thanks so much, little Beef.” Baekhyun grinned, hugging Tao, who laughed at the new nickname.

“You’re welcome, Beef hyung.” Tao said, hugging him back.

“Come on. Let’s get to work right away!” Baekhyun said, tugging Tao towards the kitchen.

 ~~~

The two spent about thirty minutes finishing up what Baekhyun had started with the cake and beginning work on the cookies.

“Once we get these cookies and cake in the oven, we’ll be good to go!” Baekhyun said.

“How come you didn’t just buy them?” Tao asked, now donning an apron himself, stirring the batter for the cookies. “How did you expect to finish this all by yourself on the day of the party?”

“Well, honestly, if I didn’t finish in time, I was gonna run down to the store and buy them anyway.” Baekhyun said. “I just figured it would be more fun to try and make them myself.”

“Good thing I showed up, then, isn’t it?” Tao grinned. Baekhyun grinned back.

“It was perfect!” he said.

“These are ready to go in the oven, I think.” Tao said.

“Yep, they look good. I think the cake is now, too.” Baekhyun said, and the two moved both their mixes into the oven.

“Now just a bit more decorating and we’ll be done!” Baekhyun said, taking his apron off. They went into the main room, digging into a box for a bunch of Christmas decorations.

“I’ll hang the ribbons on the walls.” Tao said.

“Okay, I’ll put up the wreaths!” Baekhyun said, holding them above his head. The both moved around the house trying to fill every blank space.

“Do you think the cake will be ready soon?” Tao asked.

“Hungry already? We just put them in the oven!” Baekhyun laughed. “Wait a bit, it’ll probably be done by the time everyone gets here.”

“I really want to try it.” Tao grinned.

With the two splitting up around the house, it didn’t take long before most of the house was fully decorated.

“Everything looks so pretty.” Tao said, clapping. “Is that everything we need?

“Wait, help me hang this up.” Baekhyun said, holding something in his hand.

“A mistletoe? What are you going to do with that?” Tao asked, feeling his cheeks warm up.

“Well, I hang it up anyway since it’s Christmas you know?” Baekhyun said, before adding with a smirk. “It’s just an extra bonus here in case we get to mess with someone, right? Imagine if I could get Chanyeol under here with Sehun!”

“That’s cruel, hyung!” Tao laughed, hanging the mistletoe in the doorway of the kitchen. Just then the doorbell sounded.

“Tao, can you get the door? I’m gonna check on the oven.” Baekhyun said, returning to the kitchen.

“Sure, hyung.” Tao said, heading to the front room and unlocking the door.

Kris, Luhan, and Yixing stood in the doorway with somewhat seductive model-esque poses.

“What do you three think this is?” Tao deadpanned.

“It was their idea.” Yixing chuckled, pointing at Kris and Luhan.

“I thought we looked pretty good.” Kris said. “And we were trying to screw with Baekhyun!”

“No surprise you’re here first.” Luhan said, giggling a bit.

“What do you mean?” Tao asked.

“Nothing, nothing.” Luhan said, walking past him, as the other two followed after him.

“Don’t bother sitting down or anything.” Kris said, patting Tao on the shoulder. “The others are right behind us.”

“Oh, okay then.” Tao said. Sure enough, he saw Jongdae being chased and yelled at, as well as several of the neighbors yelling at him from their doors.

“HEY!!! WHAT’S UP GUYS?!!!” Jongdae yelled as he reached the door.

“There’s no reason to shout! It’s still early, you know?” Minseok scolded and Kyungsoo grabbed Jongdae in a headlock.

“You’ve got the whole neighborhood yelling at us.” Kyungsoo growled.

“AAUUUGGGHHHH!! Okay! I’m sorry!” Jongdae whimpered.

“Geez, guys…come inside already before they kill you all.” Tao groaned. Jongdae grinned and darted into the house once Kyungsoo’s grip on him loosened.

“Well, at least it’s-”

“HEEEEEYYY!!!” Chanyeol’s voice boomed in Tao’s ear. Tao winced, covering one of his ears as he turned to see Chanyeol, Junmyeon, Jongin, and Sehun behind him.

“Do you and Jongdae ever turn off?” Sehun groaned, with a pinky in his ear.

“Ugh…you guys, too…” Tao mumbled. “’Morning…”

“Are you alright, Tao?” Junmyeon asked. Tao nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good.” He said.

“Sorry about that.” Chanyeol sheepishly smiled. “What’s up?!”

“Nothing much. Baekhyun’s in there.” Tao pointed inside.

“SWEET!” Chanyeol rushed past him. Sehun followed behind, still looking irked and Jongin looked amused as he laughed to himself.

“Come on,” Junmyeon said, closing the door for Tao. “That’s all of us.”

“Oh, okay.” Tao said before following Junmyeon to where everyone was gathered. Just then, Baekhyun appeared from the next room.

“Is everybody here?” Baekhyun asked.

“Yes! Now start already!” Jongdae said, not much quieter than before.

“Huh, this is everyone?” Tao said, mostly to himself, and rather surprised. The way everyone talked about the parties at work, he would have expected a bunch more people. He didn’t even see any of the coworkers he knew were friends of Baekhyun that had been talking about the party for weeks. It was only the people he’d introduced him to. Perhaps they’d be there later?

Not that Tao was complaining. He could do without them being around at every opportunity.

“Minseok, are there normally this few people for his Christmas parties? I kind of expected a few more.”

“Uhh…” Minseok started, before Baekhyun’s loud voice cut him off.

“Alright, everyone shut up and gather around!” Baekhyun said loudly “I have an announcement to make!”

“What is this? I came for food!!” Jongdae exclaimed as a circle formed.

“Yeah, you said we could play your new video games.” Kyungsoo said, already holding a controller in his hands.

“Just be quiet and we can start!” Baekhyun said. “This is really important!”

“It better be.” Chanyeol said.

“Er-hem, now then.” Baekhyun said, pulling Tao in the middle of the circle. “I want to dedicate this party to our new friend, Tao!”

“What? Me?” Tao said, completely shocked. He hadn’t expected this at all.

“Tao worked really hard having just moved to Korea and everything and we should all be proud of his determination despite the difficulties.” Baekhyun said.

Everyone clapped and cheered, congratulating Tao, who laughed a bit embarrassed.

“Thanks everyone.” He said. “I wasn’t really expecting this. Hehe, I don’t really know what to say, but thanks, hyung.”

“You could call him out on that speech he probably wrote on the back of his hand.” Kris said. Chanyeol and Jongdae filled the room with their explosive laughter.

“Guys, quiet!” Junmyeon scolded, as the two covered their mouths. Baekhyun smirked in triumph as they were forced to end their laughter.

“Now then…I bet you already forgot about our deal, didn’t you?” Baekhyun said, pulling a large gift bag from the side of the sofa. Tao’s grin spread across his face.

“Honestly, I did, I guess…” Tao said sheepishly. Baekhyun had treated him to so many things lately, he’d completely forgotten about Baekhyun’s original promise to buy him a special gift.

“Merry Christmas, Tao!” Baekhyun said, handing the bag to him. “You really earned it!”

“Go on, open it!” Luhan said, excitedly.

“I wanna see what it is, too!” Yixing added.

“I already know!” Chanyeol said, proudly.

“Don’t spoil it!” Jongin said.

Tao grinned as he pulled the colorful paper from surrounding the gift and his eyes grew bigger than even Kyungsoo’s.

“Is this…a Gucci bag?!” Tao exclaimed, looking it over. “How did you know I wanted something like this?”

“Oh, just a talk with a certain hairdresser.” Baekhyun smirked.

“Who knew Tao liked things like this?” Yixing said, looking it over.

“I didn’t get anything this cool from you!” Jongdae complained, crossing his arms.

"And you never will." Kyungsoo smirked.

“Hyung…how did you afford this?” Tao asked, now looking at Baekhyun in shock.

“I told you I’d get you something special, so don’t worry about the price.” Baekhyun said, waving his hand. “You like it don’t you?”

“I love it, hyung! This is great! This is an amazing gift! Thanks so much!” Tao said, before quietly adding. “I…wish I could have gotten you something better…”

“No way, yours is amazing! I’ll love it forever!” Baekhyun said, before going over to the others. “Everyone, did I show you what Tao got me?” They all crowded around to look at the necklace adorning this neck.

“Wow, look at that.” Minseok said. “It’s pretty cool.”

“Tao has a necklace like this, doesn’t he?” Kris wondered out loud.

“Isn’t that sweet?” Luhan grinned.

Tao quietly watched them, looking down at his own expensive bag.

Did he really mean it? Was his cheap old plush toy and necklace really as good as this gift? Perhaps he was just saying it to be nice.

“Now that we got that out of the way, let’s start the party already!” Baekhyun said. “Everybody into the living room!”

~~~

“I always love how well you decorate.” Luhan said walking around the room, in awe at the decorations adorning the house.

“It looks so much more Christmassy than my house does.” Yixing said, nodding. Luhan rolled his eyes.

“That’s because you always forget to decorate until the week before Christmas!” Luhan said.

“Oh…right…” Yixing laughed. “I’ll remember this time, though!”

“Christmas is this week.” Luhan said. Yixing’s eyes widened as his mouth hung open in shock, causing Luhan to sigh and pat his head. “I guess I’ll have to help you decorate…again.”

“I’ll go get the cake.” Baekhyun said as everyone flooded around his living room. “For now, eat the snacks on the table. There’s also drinks, too.”

“Do you need any help, hyung?” Tao asked.

“No, don’t worry about it, go ahead and join everyone else.” Baekhyun said. Tao seemed to think it over and followed after Baekhyun.

“I’ll help you carry it.” Tao said. “And the cookies, too.”

 “You’re the best, Peach-ah.” Baekhyun grinned.

“We should all sing Christmas carols!” Jongdae yelled, flinging himself on the sofa. “Let’s make it a contest!”

“No one wants to hear you yell anymore.” Chanyeol said.

“What kind of competition is it with Kyungsoo in the other room, anyway?” Jongin said.

“What do you mean by that?!” Jongdae complained. "I could sing way better than your boyfriend!"

"Ooooh!" Chanyeol teased. "Is that what it is, Jonginnie?"

"No! Shut up!" Jongin said, hitting both of them with pillows, face slightly red.

“Just let him sing so he stops yelling.” Sehun said. “I’ll do the rap parts.”

“Me too! Me too!” Chanyeol said. “And I can do the beat box!”

“What kind of carols to you guys sing? Junmyeon stared, looking more confused than a unicorn.

Luhan approached Minseok from the side as the older was pouring a drink for himself.

“Hey, fancy meeting you here.” He said.      

“…By the drink table?” Minseok gave him a weird look, seemingly trying not to laugh.

“Well, yeah…it’s kind of a coincidence, you know? Luhan chuckled a bit.

“You just said you were coming right behind me after I said I was gonna get a drink.” Minseok reminded him.

“Oh…well…I suppose…” Luhan said, glancing around.

“Yeeeeaaaah…” Minseok nodded awkwardly, with Luhan doing the same. “I’m gonna go sit down now…”

“Okay. I’ll be over in a second then.” Luhan laughed a bit awkwardly as Minseok walked away. He watched him until he was out of earshot before tuning and sighing to himself.

“Dammit!” Luhan said, glancing up at the ceiling.

“Alright, cake time.” Baekhyun said, coming from the kitchen, carrying red and green tubes of icing.

“Decorating the cake at the party?” Tao raised an eyebrow with a smirk, following behind Baekhyun with the cake in his hands.

“You can’t get this kind of interactions with your guests at any other party.” Baekhyun laughed.

“There better be more to put on it than just icing.” Jongin remarked.

“Relax, there’s more. Just got to grab the rest from the kitchen.” Baekhyun turned to go back to the kitchen before looking up looked up at the doorway, the lack of something there catching his eye. Scratching his head, he wondered:

Where did my mistletoe go?

~~~

The party was going along well, with most of the boys on the couch decorating the cake with whatever they could get their hands on while singing the occassional Christmas carol from time to time. 

“There’s so little variety in the icing.” Tao whined. “I want more!”

“It needs more colors.” Sehun said, stretching his arm out from the chair he was leaning sideways on to point.

“Can you guys calm down? We still want it to look like a Christmas cake.” Junmyeon said. “We should just stick with the Christmas colors.”

“We all know it’s a Christmas cake. More icing means more flavor, too.” Sehun reasoned. “I’m just trying to make sure it’s the best it can be.”

“Not everything needs to look like your hair, you know?” Jongin said. "Besides, all icing tastes the same."

“You’re not even contributing! You can’t make suggestions!” Chanyeol said.

“I’m contributing ideas.” Sehun retorted.

“What’s with all the hostility?” Yixing said.

“You guys make so much noise.” Minseok said. “Talk less, decorate more so we can eat.”

“Hey, someone bring us something to drink!” Kyungsoo yelled from the other room.

“Just a second. “Minseok called back before getting up to go to the drink table.

“Need any help?” Luhan asked, running up behind him.

“Er, not really…” Minseok said, chuckling a bit. “It’s just two bottles of Powerade. I’ve got two hands just fine.”

“Well, if you want to put it that way…” Luhan said, shifting on his feet.

“Are you alright?” Minseok said. “You’ve been acting weirder than usual.”

“What do you mean weirder than usual?” Luhan grumbled to himself as Minseok went into the other room.

“UGH! What’s it gonna take to-”

“Luhan, what are you doing?!”

“What?!” Luhan jumped, seeing Baekhyun standing behind him.

“I know you keep moving my mistletoe!” Baekhyun said with is hands on his hips. “This mistletoe has been hung in that spot for generations!” He pointed to the kitchen doorway.

“Generations?” Luhan deadpanned.

“You get the point!” Baekhyun said, crossing his arms. “That’s just where it goes.”

“Listen, I’ll put it back, I promise! Just…after…” Luhan said, glancing over at Minseok, passing them to go back to his seat.

Baekhyun groaned and rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky I have more important things to see to.” He said and made his way to the front room.

“I swear before the day is over…” Luhan mumbled to himself.

~~~

“Is it almost done yet?” Tao asked, before calling out. “Beef hyung, hurry and come back! You've been in there too long.”

“We’re gonna cut the cake without you.” Jongin called.

“I think we did a good job, guys.” Yixing said.

"Are your eyes closed again, Yixing?" Sehun asked.

“Kyungsoo, Kris hyung, come get cake!” Chanyeol called.

“They haven’t moved since they got here.” Minseok said. “Just be a good person and bring it to them. I went last time.” Just as he said it, Kris stuck his head in from the other room.

“Kyungsoo and I are in the middle of a game, so just give me both our pieces.” Kris said.

“Obsessive much?” Chanyeol said as he went over and handed Kris the two slices of cake.

“Thanks.” Kris said then, with a shy smile, gave Chanyeol a quick peck on the lips.

“W-What was that for?” Chanyeol stuttered, blushing. Kris only responded with a glance above the two of them before returning to the front room. Chanyeol looked up as his eyes widened in shock to see a mistletoe hanging about them.

“NO FAIR!!” Luhan growled, grabbing Chanyeol by the shirt. “HOW DID YOU GET IT TO WORK?!”

“What are you talking about?” Chanyeol asked, still flustered. “Where did you come from?”

“IT WAS MY TIME! MY TIME!!” Luhan said through gritted teeth. “That’s fine…I’ll just have to put it…”

“For the love of-!”  Baekhyun said, coming out from the front room.  “Give me that!” Baekhyun snatched the mistletoe from Luhan and shoved it in his back pocket.

“But…!”

“Honestly, Luhan, this is a bit pathetic. You do this every year!” Baekhyun said. “Why don’t you just tell Minseok you like him?

“Yeah, it’s not like we don’t already know!” Jongdae yelled from the couch.

“Know what?” Minseok asked.

“Nothing!” Baekhyun and Luhan called back in unison.

“Quit screwing around and just go eat.” Baekhyun said pushing Luhan back towards everyone else.

“I finally get to try the cake!” Tao said and Junmyeon was slicing through.

“What did you guys do to it?” Baekhyun said, staring at the cake. “Is this even a Christmas cake anymore?”

“We made it look like a wreath!” Chanyeol said. At least they’d tried. None of them were really all that good at drawing floral patterns with icing and it came off more as a Christmas bush than a wreath.

“Some people don’t appreciate true art.” Jongdae crossed his arms.

“What, did Kris make this?” Baekhyun laughed.

“Needed more colors.” Sehun mumbled.

“Be quiet and take your piece.” Junmyeon said, passing out several plates to everyone around the table.

“It’s good isn’t it?” Baekhyun asked as everyone started eating. “Taozi and I made it ourselves.”

“Surprisingly not bad.” Minseok remarked with a smirk.

“Yeah, it’s really good. “Yixing gave a dimpled grin.

“Oh yeah? Let me see…” Baekhyun reached over and took Tao’s cake off of his plate.

“Hey!” Tao said, trying to take the snack back from Baekhyun, but failed as he stuffed it into his mouth. As Tao reached further over Junmyeon and Jongdae, Baekhyun stood up and moved to the middle of the room. Tao got up to chase Baekhyun in a futile attempt to get his cake back, frowning as Baekhyun swallowed it.

“What was that for? I don’t get cake?” Tao said, pretty genuinely upset. After all, he’d been looking forward to it since they started fixing it. Baekhyun laughed a bit and picked up a bigger piece than he had previously from the table.

“Relax, of course you get cake. Open wide, my panda~” Tao looked a bit confused as Baekhyun held the cake up to Tao’s lips, which he slowly bit into, making the older boy grin.

“See, isn’t this better? I wouldn’t have been able to feed you with Junmyeon and Jongdae in the way!” Baekhyun laughed.

“What are you trying to say?!” Jongdae yelled.

“Quiet, you’re ruining the moment!” Chanyeol smacked him on the arm.

“Be grateful, it’s so much easier to see now.” Junmyeon chuckled a bit.

This was weird. Why was Baekhyun suddenly making such a big show of this? It didn’t particularly bother Tao, but it seemed weird, suddenly. Everyone was watching them, giggling and snickering. A couple of them groaned.

“Just run now, Tao!” Jongin said, rolling his eyes with a grin on his face.

“Yeah, get away while you still can!” Jongdae added, patting the spot next to him. “I’m much cooler than he is!”

“Much?” Luhan and Minseok laughed, with Luhan adding. “In that case, I’d stick with Baekhyun!”

“Just wait, he’ll see how much cooler I am than you.” Jongdae said. “Then he’ll be mine.”

“No way! Tao would never leave me, right?” Baekhyun grinned at Tao, patting his hair.

At that, everyone seemed to start whispering amongst themselves all at once. Tao raised an eyebrow, subtly glancing at them.

“Wow, he feeds and pets him like that? I can’t believe it, it’s actually cute. Like he’s a cat.” Chanyeol said by Junmyeon’s ear.

“And it’s cute, isn’t it, how they’re dressed alike?” Junmyeon said. “They did it yesterday at work, too! Shame none of us were working to see it.”

“And isn’t their hair alike, too?” Yixing said, surprised. “Baekhyun even managed to pull that off?

“Seriously, how did he convince him? Who would want to go around looking like Baekhyun?” Sehun said quietly.

“They really got close so fast.” Minseok leaned over to Luhan. “I’m surprised they can stand to be separated for more than five minutes.”

“Well, didn’t you hear him earlier? He was pining for Baekhyun when he left to get some food and then went by him to make sure he could easily set up. It tugged at my heartstrings how Baekhyun got so close to him that he’s like that.” Luhan whispered, giggling.

“Yeah, I was like ‘Woah, he really does that?’ Have we finally found someone who can stand to be around Baekhyun on his own?” Minseok replied.

This was even weirder now. What did they mean, Baekhyun had managed to pull of getting them to dress alike and have the same hair color? Looking like Baekhyun? Is that what they said? And what about how Baekhyun “got him so close that he’s like that?” Got him to be his friend? What did they mean? Was Baekhyun intentionally trying to make Tao be his friend? But why? Did they find this funny? Was it…some sort of joke?

Was this…all just some trick?

He thought about it. Was Baekhyun just trying to use him? Show people that he could make Tao become his friend just to laugh at him when he actually did? How did Tao look to them right now? Dressed alike and with the same hair color as Baekhyun. He probably looked like some kid who worshiped Baekhyun. Or maybe that Baekhyun could get him to do whatever he wanted. Or that he was the desperate one who needed Baekhyun. That had to be it. “I heard him pining for Baekhyun….” How could Tao have been so stupid to realize it before?

Tao couldn’t believe it was actually true.

But there was nothing else it could have been. Why else was Baekhyun so quick to dodge answering any of his questions? Never giving him any kind of straight answer; just asking a question back and changing the subject. All this time, he’d just been trying to earn his trust. What he’d seen yesterday had been exactly what he thought it was; Baekhyun probably told them everything. No wonder they were laughing so hard. He’d been made a fool of.

No wonder he was so adamant about liking his pathetic gift earlier. It was all apart of his teasing, so his friends could see he couldn’t get Baekhyun a gift anywhere near the same scale as he’d given Tao. All of it was just to make him look pathetic.

The number of emotions running through Tao’s head right now seemed to keep increasing. He was angry, hurt, saddened. He felt foolish, embarrassed, betrayed getting laughed at by all these people who he thought were his friends. And all by the boy standing in front of him, laughing with them. Just looking at his innocent act made him angry.

“Are you still upset, Tao? Don’t worry, all of this cake is for you!” Baekhyun smiled, trying to feed him another piece. Tao smacked Baekhyun’s hand away from his face and pulled back from him.

“Hey!” Chanyeol exclaimed from the couch, getting hit with the cake that flew from Baekhyun’s hand.

“What was that for?”Jongdae said, having also gotten pelted.

“Taozi, what’s wrong?” Baekhyun asked, looking concerned. He reached for one of Tao’s wrists to stop him. Tao turned around angrily to face him.

“Why did you invite me here?! Just to humiliate and make fun of me? Is that why you wanted to talk to me all this time? To trick me to think you actually wanted to be my friend so you could laugh at me?”

“Why are you saying all this suddenly?” Baekhyun asked, still seeming confused. Now Tao was pissed. He still wouldn’t answer his questions. Didn’t he realize he’d been found out? Why was he still trying to put on this act?

“Am I just the guy who you get to do whatever you want without question?! ‘I can get him to dye his hair the same color as me. Or wear the same clothes as me.’ You want people to think I’m just your little toy you can control?!” Tao went off.

“Tao…why would you think that? Did one of those jerks from work show up and say something to you?” Baekhyun held Tao’s hand in both of his.

So now they’re jerks to you? They weren’t jerks when you were laughing at me with them?!

“Don’t hold me like I’m some child! But that’s what you think of me, right? I just cling and follow you around like I need you.” Tao tried to jerk away from Baekhyun, but for some reason, he felt too weak to. Like he couldn’t bring himself to.

“Zitao…please…are you alright?”

Tao froze, hearing his full name on Baekhyun’s lips for the first time. It sounded strange to him...like it didn’t sound right. And the tone in his voice wasn’t helping. Or the look in his eyes. If Tao had to describe it, he looked like a child who’d just had everything he loved taken away and destroyed right in front of him. Were those…tears? Tao looked away. It was just an act. Why should he feel something towards seeing him like this?

“Who lied to you?” he heard the sassy voice from one of the sofas. Tao looked over and saw Sehun who had an incredulous look on his face as if Tao had just said that looking at flowers was illegal in all countries.

Tao looked around the room. Everyone was staring at the two of them. They looked just as confused as Sehun. Some also looked concerned like Baekhyun. But why? Weren’t they in on it, too? Weren’t they laughing at him a second ago? Were any of these people actually his friends? He wanted to leave but, Sehun’s comment, the look on Baekhyun’s face and the pure concern and sadness in his voice…

“I’m going to the kitchen.” Tao mumbled, just wanting to get away from the whole situation. He’d already caused enough of a scene, but something in him just didn’t allow him to leave. As mad as he was at him, the look in Baekhyun’s eye was just…pure sadness that he’d never seen in him before, to the point that…he just couldn’t leave like that. He kept telling himself that he stayed because it would be like Baekhyun still won if he actually drove him off from the party.

“Tao…wait! Taozi…” Baekhyun said, as Tao slipped out of his grasp. His hands were trembling too much for him to keep a hold on Tao’s arm. Without looking back, Tao went into the kitchen.

Everything was silent. No one uttered a word or what seemed like an entire minute.

Baekhyun suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder.

“I know a lot just happened and you probably want to go talk to him... and I really think you should...but...would this be…a bad time to…if you're gonna be in there for a while...” Luhan subtly tried to point to the mistletoe hanging from Baekhyun’s back pocket. Baekhyun’s hand curled into fists before he grabbed Luhan by the shoulders and shoved him so that he fell in the chair on top of Minseok, throwing the mistletoe at them. Minseok tried to stop his fall by catching him by the hips while Luhan had his on either side of Minseok’s head, their faces inches apart.

“MINSEOK HYUNG! WILL YOU PLEASE JUST MAKE OUT WITH LUHAN ALREADY?!” Baekhyun yelled, the tears starting to fall from his eyes, too filed with emotion. Junmyeon and Chanyeol quickly got up to comfort Baekhyun. Jongdae and Jongin sat on the couch watching Luhan and Minseok, stuffing cake into their mouths.

“I’m waiting.” Jongdae said, with his mouth full. Minseok looked up at Luhan with confusion while Luhan’s face was full of shock, both with very red faces.

“I…uhm…” Luhan stuttered. Minseok blinked and grabbed the back of Luhan’s head before he pulled their mouths together for a brief kiss. They pulled apart, staring at each other, momentarily.

“That was nice…” Minseok said with a small smile. “But we should probably help Baekhyun now, don’t you think?”

“Sorry…yeah…we should…” both turned back with looks of concern at the whimpering Baekhyun trembling on his knees surrounded by most of the others.

“What…happened to my Taozi…?”

~~~

Well that was a turn of events, wasn't it? So what is the truth? Has it all been just a trick by Baekhyun to make a fool out of Tao? Or is perhaps Tao missing something? Just how will this get resolved?

Also Luhan who has all the wrong priorities. -_-

Bonus Krisyeol in light of the new recent delulu Krisyeol moment. Chanyeol seeing Kris' Mr. Six poster and stopping to look at it/take a picture~ :'D

On 160101 Wonderful way to start the year :'3 I wasn't even planning on shoehorning it into this fic but I been hit with the feels thanks to Yeollie~

Let me know what you think and hope you enjoy~