“Donghae-ah?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m writing Christmas cards, dummy-hyung.”

“Christmas cards? For who?”

“Just the usual. My family and old friends, oh, and Henry and Zhoumi in China! I miss them a lot, so I want them to know that I’m thinking of them!”

“Oh… That sounds nice.”

“You think so, Shindong-hyung?”

“Yeah…” Shindong ruffled the younger’s hair slightly and sat down next to him on the couch. Donghae was curled up in the corner, his feet pulled up underneath him with a book resting on top, being the ‘writing board’ for the brightly colored card the fishy was currently writing on. At the small coffee table nexto the couch, five or four similar written cards were spread out, and another stack of them at the far end told Shindong Donghae might not be done yet. A couple of red envelopes and a few spare pens were also put on the small table, along with a glass of something steaming – most likely tea or hot chocolate, if Shindong knew his dongsaeng right. Suddenly, he wanted a cup of something warm as well.

Other than the two of them, the living room was mostly empty; Hankyung sat quietly in a chair, reading some book in Chinese, while Kangin was half-sleeping at the opposite end of the sizable couch. His earplugs were in, and his head lolled slightly as he breathed. Shindong was not particularly interested in the whereabouts of the rest of the members; it was still early afternoon, and he was to meet Nari in a couple of hours – the boys were none of his concern.

Maybe he should write a Christmas card to Nari, Shindong thought to himself as he watched Donghae return to his writing. The younger male was smiling to himself as he wrote, probably satisfied about the card in question. He was sure that if he asked, Donghae would give him one of the cards to write on – he would probably find it cute that Shindong wrote a card to his girlfriend, despite spending so much time with her this Christmas.

But Shindong had never written a Christmas card before – not really. Before he became a member of Super Junior, his celebration of Christmas had been limited to an extreme minimum, if any at all. It was a tradition he had never gotten used to as a kid, and seen no reason to start with when he got older. He knew Nari was more into Christmas than he was, and she knew too. Really, she would probably be ecstatic if he actually bothered.

New problem arises; Shindong did not have any clue as of to how one should write a Christmas card.

What to include, how to say it, what kind of mood?

Weird things, anyways.

“Donghae-ah?”

“Yes?”

“Do you, uhm, think I could borrow one of your Christmas cards? I want to write one for Nari,” Shindong quickly excused himself. Donghae smiled eagerly in return.

“Of course!” he said brightly, leaning over to grab a card and a pen before promptly stuffing them into Shindong’s hands. “It’s really cute, I bet she’ll love it! Man, you’re a good boyfriend, hyung.”

“Thanks,” Shindong chuckled as he accepted the tools. The card was only a folded picture, the motive being a bunch of expectant kids gathered around a grandly decorated, bright green tree with lots of presents underneath. It was obviously either originally made (or at least inspired) by painting, each visible for those who dared look enough. It was bright and colorful, and Shindong was sure Nari would love it. “I bet Eunhyuk would write you a card too, if you didn’t live together like this, though.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t see Nari almost every day, anyways,” Donghae almost smirked, eyeing his hyung with a peculiar look. “It’s still adorable. Right, Hankyung-hyung?”

“It’s cute,” Hankyung agreed briefly, not even looking up from his book. Shindong resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Kangin was still asleep on the couch.

“I still don’t know what to write, though,” he finally said, looking at the younger male skeptically. “I’ve never really written any cards like this before.”

“You haven’t?” Donghae cocked his head slightly, eyes wide in curiousity. “That’s weird, hyung.”

“It’s not, Donghae,” Hankyung spoke up from his armchair again, but still, his eyes were glued to the book. Shindong made a mental note to thank him later. “It’s actually not all that normal to write cards, you know.”

“Yeah, I’m not really all that into the Christmas things, anyways,” Shindong added, shrugging slightly.

“Hmm, whatever,” Donghae brushed them off, and collected a couple of cards from his pile on the table, holding them out for Shindong to see. “It’s really easy, actually. You just tell the recipient about how you’re doing, briefly of course, and saying that you hope they are good. Maybe mention how Christmas is a hassle, or things like that. Give them your best wishes for the Christmas, and a happy new year, and for Nari, you should tell her how much you love her. Look, these are the ones I’ve written to Henry and Zhoumi. I don’t know if you can read Chinese, but…”

“I can’t,” Shindong smiled, put patted the other’s knee nonetheless. Donghae just smiled sheepishly.

“Well, I’m having Hankyung proofread everything before I write it down, so I’m only so-so myself,” he admitted, the older making a slight sound of recognition from his chair. “Being a member of Super Junior M doesn’t automatically make me fluent in the language, after all.”

“I bet,” Shindong smiled. “But thanks for the tips, anyways. I guess I’ll just give it a try – Nari’s sweet like that, she’ll appreciate my fails anyways.”

“I said you’re cute,” Donghae smirked.

“But speaking of, what did you write to Henry and Zhoumi?” Shindong frowned, putting down the card for now.

“More or less what I just told you now,” Donghae said easily, taking up one of them to look at it further. “What we’ve been doing with Super Junior since we last saw each other, my best wishes for them until we meet again, and hoping that they’ll have a great Christmas. I don’t think they celebrate Christmas much, come think of it, but Henry said he appreciated my card last year. Oh, of course, I told them how much we all miss them, and that we hope they’ll visit soon. Man, it really has been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“A really long time,” Hankyung agreed from his chair, making both of them look up for a second before returning their glances to the task at hand. If their gazes had lingered on the Chinese man, they would have seen the smirk forming on his thin lips. Except for Kangin, who was still asleep on the couch. “I’m sure they will visit soon.”

“I hope you’re right, Hankyung-hyung” Donghae nodded, oblivious to his hyung’s look. “Anyways, Shindong-hyung! You should finish your card and bring it to your date tonight!” Shindong blinked awkwardly.

“How do you…?”

“Rumors fly in this house.”

“… How did anyone…?”

“Relax, hyung, I’m just joking,” Donghae laughed, but Shindong did not find it particularly amusing.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, pursing his lips slightly in an imitation of a pout. “But aren’t she supposed to get it on Christmas Eve?”

“No, silly, hyung!” Donghae laughed again. Man, Shindong loved the guy, but he hated it when the fishy did that. “Christmas cards are meant to be received before Christmas; it’s the gifts you get on Christmas Eve! You are getting her a present, right?”

“Excuse me for not knowing these things, then!” Shindong exclaimed, looking at Donghae incredulously. “And yes, I’ve gotten her a necklace. A pretty one, mind you.”

“A classic,” Hankyung commented again. This time, Shindong really did roll his eyes, and turned to the older.

“Hyung, will you either join the conversation or shut up?” he said, almost briskly. “It’s so off-putting when you do that.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” Hankyung smiled brightly at him as he looked up from the book. Though it was obvious to everyone that yes, he understood perfectly. Donghae burst out laughing, rising from the couch to give Hankyung an appreciative hug. Shindong could not fathom why Donghae would not just high-five or bro-fist him, like most other guys, but then again, the fishy was only rivaled by Siwon in his love for skinship. Mostly not his problem, though.

Frowning again, Shindong turned his attention back to the card itself, as he briefly registered Donghae announcing he would take a break. Kangin was still sleeping on the couch. Hankyung’s focus had once more turned to the book he was reading, and the living room fell quiet again. Shindong noticed Donghae’s abandoned cup of tea, as it turned out, and took it upon himself, as the kind hyung he was, to drink it before it got cold, seeing as Donghae appeared to have forgotten about it. Shindong always worked best when he was drinking or eating something good, after all.

Shindong took another sip and looked at the still empty card. Where to start? What would he tell Nari? How he loved her more than anything, how she was his light, and how he could not live without her? It was all true, but not original and horribly cliché. What about a joke how she should stay in the kitchen and make him sandwiches? No, way out of line, considering the occasion.  But this was Nari, after all, his Nari, whom he loved the most, and that always understood him and helped him when things were getting too hard…

His concentration was interrupted by a loud snore from Kangin. Shindong promptly tossed a pillow at the napping man, making fall all over himself in his wakening. It only took a few seconds for him to find a new position, though, and falling asleep once more. Fortunately without the heavy snoring. He failed to see Hankyung’s neat eyebrows raising in surprise and slight amusement.

As the quiet approached once more, he sighed and turned towards the card. It was staring at him, almost defiantly, almost as if daring him to write anything at all; it would be ridiculous and wrong anyways.

Would it not?

What was the definition of a ridiculous Christmas card anyways, Shindong decided, frowning. Things would never get awkward between him and Nari, and so a card could never be either. Nari was too kind to be upset by whatever he wrote on that slim piece of paper – hell, he could write whatever he wanted, and she would only focus on the good parts and ignore the rest. If he tried to make jokes, she would laugh at them, because she was his Nari. If he explored his non-existent poetic sides, she would not find him weird or ridiculousl

No.

It was like he said to Donghae; Nari would appreciate anything he wrote, as long as it was he who wrote it for her. Whatever would be good enough – more than good enough. Nari was not expecting a Christmas card, but she was going to love getting one.

With that thought in mind, Shindong finally began writing.

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Yes. I have no idea as of to what kind of person Nari is, but I ship her and Shindong TO THE EXTREME a lot.

And no, I had not forgotten about Henry and Zhoumi! (And Shindong). And I really haven't noticed Kangin appearing very little apart from when he's Teukie's backwarmer. More or less. I don't know why, it just turned out that way. And then he was so little in this one too. xD

Anyways, yes. This chapter is sort of weird, for some sort of reason, because I'm an insomniac right now; sleep deprivation is not your friend. D:

I will also effin reply to your comments. Most likely tomorrow. BECAUSE DAMMIT, YOU DESERVE IT. >.< Also, if all goes according to plan, my personal favourite chapter will be up... Tomorrow. Please look forward to it~!