Sorry for the wait on such a cliffhanger~ Let's see if we're able to get some answers and figure out ust what's going on.

~~~

Baekhyun was currently a crying mess on his sofa, hands full of Kleenex and surrounded by his friends, all entirely confused by what just unfolded in front of him.

“Baekhyun, come on, please don’t cry.” Junmyeon said, patting his back and handing him more tissues.

“NO! It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to!” Baekhyun yelled, gripping the tissues in his hands and slamming them on the sofa. Everyone sighed.

“At least he’s still himself.” Jongdae said, rolling his eyes. “Welp, we don’t need to worry that much.

“Something had to have happened.” Baekhyun mumbled. “Maybe someone from work came by when he was answering the door earlier and told him all of those terrible things.”

“That can’t be. You had Kris hyung and Kyungsoo in the living room making sure no one showed up at the door as soon as they got here.” Chanyeol pointed out. “They even told me a couple of people did show up, but they scared them away almost instantly.”

“And if it had happened before that, surely he would have said something before now.” Yixing said. Everyone was silent for a moment, trying to think of what could have happened.

“I’ve never…seen him so angry before.” Baekhyun said quietly. Junmyeon continued to try to comfort him, rubbing his back. Everyone looked at him sympathetically.

“You didn’t have to jump in like that, Sehun!” Jongin said, throwing a pillow at the rainbow haired boy, currently lying casually on the other sofa-chair.

“Yeah! Exactly how was that supposed to help things?” Chanyeol added, from Baekhyun’s other side. Sehun ran a hand through his hair.

“Okay, okay. Sorry if it sounded harsh, but seriously! Someone had to have told him some kind of foolish bullsh*t if he can’t see how much Baekhyun adores him!” Sehun explained. “It was too nonsensical to not say anything!”

“You should have just let it up to Baekhyun.” Luhan added. “I understand what you mean, but so much was going through his mind at that moment, your comment probably seemed sarcastic to him.”

“I guess we didn’t help much either. He probably heard us whispering and thought the same thing.” Minseok pointed out.

“He never really hangs around all of us at once a lot to know our teasing wasn’t meant to be negative.” Yixing said. “It’s our fault too, Baekhyun. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“But it is…I’m supposed to protect him.” Baekhyun said, sadly.

“You don’t have to take all this responsibility on your own.” Chanyeol reassured. “You of all of us should be the least guilty.”

“How am I the least guilty? All of his anger was directed at me.” Baekhyun said, tears resurfacing in his eyes as his eyes dropped to the floor. “Because I couldn’t protect him.”

“He was going on about people laughing at him.” Jongin said, thinking. “What did he mean? None of us were laughing at him like that.”

“Jongin is right, like Sehun said earlier. He had to have seen something before today.” Luhan said. The all sat in silence for a few moments trying to place what might have happened. Baekhyun suddenly sat up quickly as if he’d thought of something.

“He must have heard those jerks at work yesterday!” Baekhyun realized. “It was right before we went on break. He must have still been in the store and seen everything. He thought we were laughing at him. That has to be it.” Baekhyun said.

“Ah! You mean what you told me about last night?!” Chanyeol asked, as Baekhyun quickly nodded his head.

“Wait, wait, wait. Slow down. What happened? Fill us in.” Junmyeon asked. Baekhyun took a few minutes to explain to everyone else what had happened the day before at work.

“All that happened?” Sehun crossed his arms. “Fine day for none of the rest of us to be working, huh?”

“I get it. So if he saw it from far away, he would have thought you were talking about him with those other guys behind his back since they kept looking at him.” Minseok said.

“And since you told him before to wait for you outside…as if you didn’t want him around while you were talking to them…it does kinda look that way…” Luhan added.

“They…they were laughing at him…but…it wasn’t me…I didn’t…” Baekhyun said, before Junmyeon pulled him into his shoulder to cry in.

“Of course you didn’t, we know that.” He said. “But I guess I can see how it probably looked to Tao. Can’t you?” Baekhyun nodded against him.

“My Taozi…he must feel awful…he probably thinks I betrayed him…he’ll never trust me again…” Baekhyun said, through his sniveling. Everyone looked at him sadly, unable to think of what they could say to comfort him.

“Even after all of that, he’s still just worried about Tao...” Jongdae said quietly.

“Especially seeing as he’s the one who got yelled at...” Minseok whispered back.

“You need to talk to him, Baekhyun.” Junmyeon said. “And you need to tell him exactly how you feel.

“We know you’re kinda shy and not very good with talking about these kinds of things, but he’ll never understand it you aren’t straight with him.” Luhan said.

“But he won’t want to listen to me…” Baekhyun mumbled. “What would I even say to him?”

Just then, they heard footsteps coming from the staircase behind them.

“Hey guys, what’s happening?” Everyone turned to see Kris.

“Where were you?” Minseok asked.

“Kyungsoo and I figured no one should show up at this point, so we were upstairs for a minute on some MMORPG he said he had to check on. I was just coming to tell you we’d join you guys in a minute…but…” he stopped noticing the somber atmosphere, red, puffy eyed Baekhyun with tears on his face and tissues strewn all over the place, and the lack of Tao.

Now that Tao had taken a minute to think, maybe he had been a little harsh on Baekhyun. After all, Baekhyun had done a lot for him since he started working at the store, far beyond someone would if it was just for him personal gain in the end of earning Tao’s trust. There were many times Baekhyun would expend his time towards Tao to teach him something to the extent that he could have gotten himself in trouble by shirking his own work. And Baekhyun had spent his own money towards him, too. He’d seen how tight Baekhyun could be with money at times, so why would he be so willing to spend it on lunch or snacks for Tao if he didn’t really care?

He’d also paid for his sweater and to get his hair dyed…but…of course he would if that was a part of his plan, right? But then, he defended Tao…from that girl in the store. If he didn’t care that much about Tao, why had he even been paying attention to the conversation in the first place? He could have been doing anything else at that moment since Tao was no longer standing with him, but he was not only listening to what was happening, he went the extra step to defend him. He had to admit, he did enjoy seeing her get humiliated the same way he felt.

Also, inviting Tao out here in the first place, if it was truly just to humiliate him, would be something Baekhyun would have definitely done at the first opportunity to be sure he’d show up. But he hadn’t even told Tao he was invited. Baekhyun assumed Tao knew he was supposed to come.

And how could he ignore the obviously expensive gift he’d bought him? Unless it was also intended to be a part of the joke and he never intended for Tao to even keep the bag, there’s no way anyone, no matter how invested they were, would buy something that expensive for someone else if they didn’t like them.

Tao sighed again, putting his head down on the table. He didn’t know what to think anymore. He wanted to believe that he was wrong, but there were too many factors suggesting the opposite. Could his adorable little childish and annoying hyung really be capable of something like this? Deep down, was he really that good at putting up such a front? What was he supposed to believe?

“He really did it, huh? I have to say I’m impressed. I didn’t think he’d really do it.” Tao heard a voice behind him say, causing him to pick his head up.

“Kris?” Tao said. “Where did you come from?”

“Was upstairs with Kyungsoo just now. Been in the front room most of the day.” Kris said, taking a seat next to him.

At this point, Tao wasn’t really thinking about not trusting Kris. For one, as far as he was concerned, even if he was Baekhyun’s friend, he hadn’t been with the others laughing at him before. Not to mention, as far as he knew, Kris didn’t know about what just happened in the room next door, seeing as he said he’d moved upstairs with Kyungsoo, so he figured he could get some answers from him that would be more genuine, instead of him trying to respond to the specific claims Tao had accused Baekhyun of.

“What do you mean you ‘didn’t think he’d do it’? What are you talking about?” Tao asked getting a strange feeling in his stomach. Did Kris really know the answers which he sought?

“The sweaters. He actually made you go out and get matching sweaters, huh?” Kris said, pointing.

“What do you mean? He told you about this?” Tao asked. So he had told others about this? He’d let them know his intentions of humiliating Tao with them upfront? But...if that were true, surely Kris wouldn’t be telling him this now? He wouldn’t even bring it up. So...was it something else?

“He’d just been talking about it at work for a while that it was something he was dead set on doing.” Kris said. “I doubted him a bit, at first, but I guess I needed to see it for myself. He’s really determined, that kid.”

“W-Why? Do you know why?” Tao asked, his heart pounding. This answer could very well confirm his suspicious about Baekhyun. Unless Kris was quite the actor like his beloved hyung might have been, nothing about his demeanor right now made his seem like he was trying to be deceptive or making things up.

“He said he wanted you to feel like you had someone close to you. Something about, ‘People will know how much I value him if they see us dressed alike.’ Baekhyun wanting to be seen wearing the same thing as you.” Kris tried to explain. “Since I guess you can see how it’d be hard to not associate you two with each other after that.”

Tao suddenly felt as if he couldn’t breathe. That wasn’t what he was expecting to hear at all. Was this…true? Just hearing the words seemed too much to register at the moment. Did Baekhyun really tell the others that he “valued” him? Blatantly?

“He knows how hard you have it at the job and how people tend to avoid you, so he said if you dress alike, people will know that he finds you to be someone okay to be around. Almost like a signal to people that he accepts you even if they don’t.” Kris went on.

Tao tried taking this all in, but it was still too much. Baekhyun was trying to show others that he saw him as a friend? He actually made the effort and wanted people to know?

“It’s kinda hard to explain…you know…Baekhyun and all…you should probably ask him…not that I think that’ll make it any easier to understand.” Kris tried to explain. “He’s actually not very good at expressing what he feels…maybe you’ve noticed, so…good luck there.”

Tao almost felt like crying and laughing at the same time. Because this was something Tao could truly believe! This was the Baekhyun he knew! He wasn’t alone in having a hard time understanding the boy, either. So Baekhyun didn’t dance around his questions because he was trying to deceive Tao. From what Kris was saying, he just seemed…shy. It was easier for his Beef hyung to communicate with him through actions than words.

That was why he would hug him tightly instead of outright apologizing if he felt he hurt Tao’s feelings. Or why he’d snuggle with Tao if he thought something was bothering him instead of trying to console him with words. Why he’d childishly pout until Tao consoled him the same way if he was upset, himself. At first, Tao had just thought Baekhyun was just prideful or just trying to not look like a weakling, but everything seemed to be coming together now. But he still had more questions.

“Do you know…if that’s why he wanted me to dye my hair like his?” Tao asked.

“Uh, I dunno, he didn’t say much about it to us, but I think Chanyeol said something about trying to look like brothers or something like that.” Kris said.

“B-Brothers?” Tao asked. So he not only thought of him as a friend, he wanted people to think of them as brothers?

“I know he may have a weird way of showing it, but Baekhyun really cares about you and wants to be close to you.” Kris said.

“So, he wasn’t ever trying to make fun of me?” Tao asked, his stomach turning in knots again at the question he was about to pose. The one thing that basically made him think these thoughts in the first place were true. “Even at work…I saw him talking with those other co-workers that…hate me. They looked at me and laughed because of something he said, didn’t they?”

“What do you mean none of us are invited?!”

“Yeah, who the hell is going, then?!”

“Not you guys, that’s for sure.” Baekhyun crossed his arms. “I’m only telling you guys so none of you thinks you can just show up at my house.”

“What are you talking about, Baekhyun, we always go to your party.”

“You mean to tell us none of us are allowed to go?”

“Not you guys.” Baekhyun said. “Chanyeol, Jongin, Sehun, Jongdae, Kris, Minseok, Luhan, Yixing, Kyungsoo, and Junmyeon.”

“JUNMYEON GETS TO GO OVER ME?!”

“What kind of party is it with so few people?”

“What’s with you lately? You don’t talk to us or hang out with us anymore. You just inviting those other ten guys isn’t a surprise. But aren’t we close, too?”

“Why do they get to go and not us?”

“It’s that weird kid, isn’t it?! Ever since he started working here, all you do is hang around him all day!”

“So that’s it, huh? Replacing us with the creepy Chinese guy?”

“What did he do to any of you?” Baekhyun yelled. “Why did you judge him when he didn’t do anything to you guys? And treat him mean and call him creepy and weird all the time? I’m only regretful that I used to hang out with you guys in the first place.” At that, everyone’s attitude changed to disdain.

“Know what? Who cares about your stupid party anyway?”

“Yeah, if the weird kid goes, no one else is gonna want to go! He’ll scare all of them away, you know?”

“Even if he’s the only one there, it’ll still be the best party ever!” Baekhyun said back. “I’d rather him over any of you guys!”

“Ugh! What did he do to you? Or what did you do to him? How could you convince him to stay by your side all this time? And him of all people?”

“There he is now.” Tao was about to walk out of the store on his break. They saw him look their way, before looking away and leaving. A few of the workers looked, their eyes suddenly widening, and chuckled a bit, obviously noticing he newly blonde hair and matching sweater.

“Huh, so that’s why he’s blonde all of a sudden. You made him dye his hair like yours, didn’t you? Is it out of pity? Trying to make him think he’s included?”

“Oh my gosh, and they’re wearing the same sweaters, too?! You must feel so bad for him.” The workers who were still there laughed even harder.

“The only reason I feel bad for him is because he has to work with people like you!” Baekhyun said, before storming off.

~~~

Tao stared at Kris in shock. It was just like at the clothing store. Baekhyun was defending him just like he had then. And he joined himself for break right afterwards, and seemed to be in one of his clingier moods for some reason Tao couldn’t discern. Perhaps that was always the case; Baekhyun being a bit clingier when people were speaking poorly of Tao, sort of as a means of comfort even though Tao hadn’t been there himself. Like an apology for them.

“They laughed when he told them you were invited.” Kris said. “Let’s just say, they…weren’t interested anymore once they found out you were going…no offense.”

“N-None taken…it’s not you.” Tao stuttered, still in shock.

“The whole reason Kyungsoo and I were in the front room earlier while everyone else was in the living room was because Baekhyun asked us to make sure no one showed up to bother you.” Kris explained. “And all those things you heard everybody whispering? They weren’t laughing at you, they were most likely more teasing Baekhyun because of how attached he is to you, but they all actually find your bond really special.”

At that moment, Tao felt like the worst human being on the face of the planet. Baekhyun never wanted to hurt him at all and, on the contrary, did everything he did because he wanted Tao to have a friend. Not only that, he wanted other people to know that he viewed him as a friend. Baekhyun had treated him nicer than anyone he’d ever met, and for what seemed like no reason; for no gain of his own. Everything Baekhyun had done had been sincere and earnest and he just yelled at him in from of all of his friends, questioning his motives. How was he supposed to face him now?

He then remembered what Sehun said.

“Who lied to you?”

He sounded so outdone. As if it were absurd. Even when it happened, Tao thought for just a second that perhaps he had everything all wrong, before deciding to storm out. To Sehun, the very idea that Baekhyun would be doing all of this in an attempt to hurt Tao wouldn’t just be a misunderstanding. It couldn’t be possible to think so.

It had to be a lie.

Tao felt sick to his stomach.

Kris put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

“I know what happened in there. They told me there was a bit of an incident between you two.” Kris explained.

“Kris…what do I do?” Tao sounded desperate. “He’ll never want to talk to me again after what I said to him.”

“I know it may seem hard, but you have to talk to him. You know that.” Kris said. “You have to let him know that you’re sorry if your friendship is important to you.”

“D-Do you think he’ll…forgive me?” Tao asked, nervously.

“I can’t really give you an answer to that. You just have to try and see.” Kris said. “Honestly, I can’t think of a time this has happened to him before, so I can’t really tell you I know how he’d be thinking right now.”

Tao was terrified. A part of him thought he might have a chance seeing as Baekhyun had been concerned about him when he was trying to leave, but…just like his mind had been changed by Kris over these past few minutes, the very same well could have happened with Baekhyun out there and he no longer wanted to be his friend, thinking over how much he’d did for him, only to be yelled at in front of all of his friends in return. Kris patted him on the shoulder.

“Just sit tight. I’ll go tell everyone you want to talk to him. After they clear out, you can go in whenever you’re ready.” Kris said.

 “Okay…thanks Kris ge.” Tao said.

He nodded as Kris got up and went back into the other room, closing the door behind him. He was feeling squeamish again. All he could do was to try to remain hopeful and think of how he could apologize. Even if Baekhyun didn’t forgive him…he had to let him know how sorry he was.

A minute passed and Tao was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by a loud: “OKAY, WE’RE ALL GOING UPSTAIRS NOW!”, courtesy of Jongdae, shortly followed by a slamming of doors upstairs.

Tao’s heartbeat quickened. He knew it was just Baekhyun in the other room. What should he do? Should he see if Baekhyun was going to come in there, or should he go to him? Surely he should go to him. He was the one who had to apologize, after all. Tao kept telling himself this as he got up from the table and slowly made his way to the door. He was ready to push it open, but his hands were frozen. How would he start? He remembered seeing tears forming in his hyung’s eyes when he left. Had Baekhyun actually cried? How would Tao be able to see him like that? And knowing it had been because of him.

He couldn’t think about it anymore. The longer he waited, the more time he was giving Baekhyun to decide not to forgive Tao. He swallowed his fear and pushed the door open, his eyes immediately widening with a sight he didn’t expect.

~~~

Baekhyun stood right in front of him, his hand out just like Tao’s as if he’d been about to open the door at the same time. They stood for a moment just starting at each other in shock, neither really knowing what to say. Tao felt horrible seeing his hyung the way he looked now; eyes red and puffy, he’d clearly been crying, and he now looked just as shocked as he figured he probably looked. Both were averting their eyes for a while. He couldn’t take it anymore and spoke.

“Hyung, I-”

“I’M SORRY!!” Baekhyun said suddenly. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings like that.”

Tao’s eyes widened. This was the last thing he expected to hear from him. What was he sorry for?

“Hyung, please, just…there’s-”

“I wasn’t trying to embarrass you or make people think you’re attached to me or dependent on me or anything.” Baekhyun continued, speaking quickly. “I don’t think of you as my toy or anything!”

"H-Hyung...listen, I-"

"I wasn't laughing at you at work yesterday! It's true those other guys were, but I can explain!"

“Hyung…it’s not…”

“Please believe me! I would never want to feel like how those people at work make you feel! You’re so much better than what they say and-”

“Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun stared at him wide eyed. He’d never used his regular name without calling him hyung, and he figured Baekhyun was as shocked as he was when he’d called him “Zitao” earlier. But there wasn’t any time to wonder if he’s just been rude by doing so. Tao gripped Baekhyun’s shoulders and pulled him into a kiss. He didn’t really intend to; it was pretty much on the spur of the moment, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to. He didn’t really know if this was all that appropriate, but he couldn’t really stop himself.

He’d been thinking everything over after Kris left to talk to the others. Everything since he first started working at the store. Since he first started talking to Baekhyun. The first time they hung out. The day they went shopping, when he defended him. Everything that he’d done for him. How he felt whenever Baekhyun looked at him. How his heart would race and how happy he’d feel. Tao now realized just how he felt about the boy.

Tao had already felt Baekhyun pressing his lips back against his own and pulled their bodies closer together briefly before pulling back, remembering they had a few more pressing matters to attend to. He didn’t know what to make of what he’d just done and the fact that Baekhyun responded to it; perhaps he’d just gotten caught up, too.

“What was that for?” Baekhyun asked, a little breathlessly.

“Partly to shut you up. Partly because…uhm…” Tao said, glancing around awkwardly.

Baekhyun looked up and couldn’t believe it. His mistletoe was hung back in its proper spot. When had it gotten back there?

“I’m sorry!” Tao said.

“I’m sorry, too.” Baekhyun said, lowering his head.

“You shouldn’t even be apologizing for anything at all. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was me. I’m so sorry hyung…for everything I said.” Tao said.

“No…I should apologize, too. I shouldn’t have made you think otherwise. I should have been more blatant…” Baekhyun said.

“It’s okay, hyung, it’s not your fault.” Tao said. “It’s okay if…you express thing differently…”

“Tao…”

“I shouldn’t have ever accused you of the things I said. All you’ve done is been nice to me and I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions just based on things I saw." Tao said. "Kris told me everything. I should have known you wouldn't have made fun of me with those guys at work."

"He told you?" Baekhyun asked, but Tao kept speaking.

“You didn’t invite any of them here. You gave up on so many friends just for me. Even though you’ve known them longer. That makes me feel so special.You're...amazing hyung. All that you did for me...I don’t even know how to thank you. I'm so sorry...”

Baekhyun shifted around on his feet breifly. Tao began to feel nervous himself. He still didn't know if this apology was enough for Baekhyun. He felt his heart stop when Baekhyun looked up at him suddenly.

“I…wanna ask you something…” Baekhyun said quietly.

“S-sure, go ahead.” Tao said, his heart pounding.

“You think…I’m annoying, right? Like at work.” Baekhyun asked. Tao felt a bit uncomfortable being posed this question by Baekhyun himself. He didn’t want to hurt his feelings anymore, but he wanted to be upfront with him. He didn't want to damage thier relationship anymore by not being honest.

“Er…well…I was annoyed by you a lot at first…yeah.” Tao explained, also in a quiet voice Baekhyun looked up at him with large eyes that seemed to tell him it was okay to be continue.  “I…sometimes still do get annoyed…

“If I’m so annoying, why don’t you just report me?” Baekhyun asked, averting his gaze. “Get me moved somewhere else? Or just stop hanging out with me altogether?”

Tao thought it over, even though, deep down, he’d thought about it before many times and knew why. Why he’d never gotten Baekhyun or even himself moved so they wouldn’t be around each other and he wouldn’t have to be bothered by the troublesome boy anymore. He put a hand on Baekhyun’s cheek.

“Because even as annoying and troublesome as you are…you still notice me. You pay attention to me. Without you there’s no one there to even acknowledge me. I liked being noticed for once.” Tao explained. “But the more I got to know you, I learned you’re much more than just some annoying guy at work. You take care of me and make me feel like I'm wanted. I would have never had any of that if not for you being annoying."

Baekhyun didn't say anything and Tao was again wondering if his answer was alright. In the midst of thinking, however, a thought of his own made him bring Baekhyun's face to look up at him.

“Were you...like that on purpose…annoying?” Tao asked, hoping it didn’t sound rude, but he didn't know how else to word it.

“I did it because I wanted your attention. You looked lonely and sad working there every day and I didn’t like it. Then I heard others talk about you and I was upset that they talked about you like that without knowing you. So I wanted to get to know you. I got my position moved next to you so no one would bother you.” Baekhyun explained. Tao nodded, seeing that his expression said that he had more to say.

“But when I tried to talk to you normally, you didn’t notice me since you didn’t really talk to anyone. And I thought if you never noticed me…you wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. So I thought if I annoyed you for a while, I’d force you to pay attention to me. Then we could…be friends.” Baekhyun continued. “But the others…they said sometimes I went too far and I didn’t want you to think I was bullying you and…make you start to hate me.” He held Tao’s hand on his cheek; Tao knew he was sorry for it.

Tao started to understand what he meant. Even he’d noticed that although Baekhyun was always hard to deal with, he had stopped his attempts at bullying him a long time ago. Tao had almost not noticed the transition being that it happened so suddenly. It seemed that Baekhyun’s annoyingness lasted just long enough for him to start to talk to him more frequently, without getting aggravated enough to actually get fed up with Baekhyun (no matter how much he would threaten to report him). Baekhyun was right that he didn’t talk to him much at first since he’d figured he was only being nice to him since he was new. The only reason he started having real conversations with Baekhyun was when he started getting on his nerves with back and forth banter. But Tao thought about something else that scared even him.

“But your plan could have backfired like you said.” Tao said. “What if I did report you and get you moved from behind me? What would you do then? Would you give up on me?” At that, Baekhyun looked up at Tao with large eyes before he threw his arms around him, squeezing him tightly.

“NO! I’d still come by you every day! And take breaks with you! And teach you whatever you needed me to whenever you asked. And if I got fired, I’d just shop there more! Always come to your register and talk to you until your break, and follow you there, and-”

“I get it.” Tao said, pulling Baekhyun into his chest, wrapping his arms around him. He was trying to keep himself from crying in front of him and said with the utmost sincerity: “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me.” Baekhyun mumbled. Tao pulled back a bit so he could look Baekhyun in the eyes.

“I do! You may not know it, but nobody has ever done that much for me before in my life! I don’t deserve to have such a friend like you. Even after all I said to you, you came to apologize to me and...” Tao said, his voice breaking and trembling a bit, feeling tears in his eyes. Baekhyun looked up at him and reached his hands up to hold his cheeks.

“Don’t cry for no reason.” Baekhyun said, wiping the tears from Tao’s eyes with his thumbs.

“I just wonder why you went through so much just for me.” Tao asked. “I was just some new foreign guy. Why did you go so far for someone like me?”

“I wanted you to have a friend.” Baekhyun said, turning away from Tao, who still had his arms wrapped around him, keeping him from moving away. “I didn’t want you to be alone. I wanted to be there…”

Tao kissed Baekhyun on the forehead. “I couldn’t have asked for a better one.” There was so much he wanted to say but he just couldn’t think of how to voice any of it. For now, he hoped staring lovingly down at his hyung would suffice. The two didn’t say anything for a short while. Tao looked down when he noticed Baekhyun turn his head slightly and pulled back a bit so he could see his face, though Baekhyun wouldn’t meet his eyes.

 “Earlier you said…you live by yourself…” Baekhyun said.

“Yes.” Tao nodded.

“And you have…nothing you’re doing this week…do you?” Baekhyun asked.

“No…” Tao shook his head.

“Tao…will you come back…maybe on Christmas?” Baekhyun took both of Tao’s hands in his own, looking down at them. “We could…spend the day together.”

Tao’s eyes widened. Spend Christmas with Baekhyun? He hadn’t really thought about what he was going to do that day and certainly didn’t expect this. But he didn’t know how to feel. Was this something he would ask the others, as well?

“Just us two…” he continued, gripping Tao’s hands. Tao thought he must have read his mind. He felt his cheeks heat up as he realized Baekhyun was essentially asking him out. Seeing how nervous his hyung was, Tao tried to lessen his anticipation the way he thought the beagle, himself, would.

“Is this a request?” Tao smirked. Baekhyun blushed deeper and leaned back into Tao’s embrace. 

“You…stay with me.” Baekhyun mumbled into Tao’s shoulder, pouting. Tao couldn’t help laughing to himself. Another thing he now realized his hyung was bad at expressing was making a request of Tao he thought the younger might refuse (not that he ever really did). So he tended to tell him in the form of a command; an order from his hyung he couldn’t say no to.

“I’d love to.” Tao said. Baekhyun looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Really?” he asked. Tao giggled and nodded.

“It would be the best way I’d want to spend Christmas.” He said.

A grin spread across Baekhyun’s face as Tao pressed his lips on Baekhyun’s again.

“YES! THEY DID IT! I KNEW IT!”

Baekhyun and Tao quickly pulled apart to see the other guys watching them from atop the staircase in the living room, quickly followed by Jongdae screaming and falling to the bottom.

“I’M GETTING SICK OF THIS, JONGDAE!” Kyungsoo growled, choosing to wrap his arms around Jongdae’s neck, rather than helping him up.

“Yeah, you ruined it.” Minseok said, starting down the stairs into the room. Everyone casually walked over the chokehold happening at the bottom of the stairs.

“At least we got to see it, right?” Sehun said, stretching his legs to not trip over Jongdae and Kyungsoo. Everyone moved to the center of the room to get a good look of the two currently flustered boys.

“Guess the couple’s made up, then?” Luhan grinned, approaching them, teasingly.

“Huh…couple?!” Tao said, looking over at Baekhyun who moved to hide behind Tao, holding his arm in front of his face. Luhan leaned closer to him

“Haha! His face is so red!” Luhan teased.

“Stop embarrassing them, Luhan!” Yixing said.

“Yeah, isn’t there something else we should be saying?” Jongin added.

“You guys…should be saying, not me.” Kris said with his arms folded behind his head. “Just saying.”

“Oh…right…” Luhan said, taking a step back by everyone else.

“Tao, we’re all really sorry for what we said earlier.” Junmyeon said, with everyone nodding in agreement. “We didn’t mean to make you think we were making fun of you.”

“They didn’t mean to make fun of you.” Kris stressed, crossing his legs on the couch. “I didn’t make fun of you.”

“Would you shut up?!” Chanyeol smacked him on the back of the head. Tao laughed.

"Anyway, we're just really sorry." Junmyeon said, sincerly. 

“It’s fine, no problem at all.” Tao said, bowing to everyone. “I’m sorry too, for overreacting and…ruining the party like that.” Baekhyun jerked on Tao’s arm, expressing his displeasure with his answer.

“You didn’t ruin it at all.” Luhan said, speaking for Baekhyun. “If anything, I’d like to think we’re also closer because of this which just makes everything better.” Tao grinned, more grateful than ever that he'd been forgiven.

“GROUP HUG!” Chanyeol yelled dragging everyone together.

“Yeah, group hug!” Jongdae squirmed out of Kyungsoo’s hold to join the hug. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and followed behind him, throwing his arms over whoever he could reach. Every pulled free and began giving individual and mini group hugs, as well.

“So since we got that out of the way…” Luhan started.

“We can karaoke now!” Jongdae yelled.

“I guess if Kyungsoo’s here then…” Jongin smirked.

“WHAT IS THIS?!” Jongdae yelled.

“Come on, guys!” Yixing said, making his way into the front room. "Let's get set up!"

“I still wanna beatbox!” Chanyeol threw his hands in the air.

“There is no such carol!” Junmyeon argued.

“Yo, yo, check it.” Sehun began rapping.

“Doesn’t anyone listen to me?” Junmyeon sighed.

“I’ll do vocals~” Luhan sang.

“I call Luhan for my team!” Yixing said.

“Off limits.” Minseok pulled Luhan into his arms, who started blushing.

“No fair!”

“Baekhyun, hurry up, you have to be on our side!” Chanyeol said.

“Oh…coming!” Baekhyun called back.

“You, too, Tao!” Yixing whined. “I need someone on my side!”

“Okay!” Tao laughed.

As everyone went into the other room, Baekhyun and Tao looked at each other and grinned, squeezing each others’ hands before they went to join the others in one of the most peculiar hip-hop Christmas carol karaoke sessions they'd ever seen, just happy to be surrounded by each other and the others they loved.

~~~

Well that's the end! :3

Is what I originally planned, but I think I want to do a bit of an epilogue showing some things that happened afterward~ You can't just have a Chritsmas fic and we don't know how they spend Christmas~ Especially after Baekhyun's "request"~ X3 So please anticipate a little bonus chapter of sorts, since I'm sure people will want to know what happens next~

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think (and if you think epilogue idea's alright) :3