christmas special ; peppermint mocha

[hyungwonho version]
word count : 1,917 words

Hyungwon had slept well when he returned home yesterday, his cheeks dusted the usual pink and the sparkle returning to his eyes that had been missing the past week. He had cleaned the counters and gathered orders from the customers with the brightest smile they'd ever seen, the small patisserie losing the dark cloud that had been hanging over its head. He'd work until he yawned, before perking himself up and continuing, thinking only of the mocha-haired male that had smiled so brightly because of him. Finally it was closing time, the three males bidding goodbye to the last of the customers before they closed the shop and cleaned up. Luckily there wasn't much, the girls not liking to leave a mess for them to clean, so moving all the display food into the large fridge in the kitchen they all headed upstairs.

The three of them all fell into bed together, dressed in Christmas-themed pyjamas. Minhyuk was dressed in a green shirt with christmassy words in white creating a pattern of a wreath and black bottoms. Changkyun being the joker that he is, had a red shirt with black writing 'Santa, I've been very naughty this year' and black bottoms. Hyungwon wore a white tank, with mistletoe-pattern bottoms. Huddling together under the covers, the tallest of the three was in the middle of a very colourful sandwich as he was the one that was unable to sleep on his own. Minhyuk and Changkyun hadn't minded with that fact, being clingy in their sleep so it worked perfectly and all three usually had great night's sleep. Pressing a soft kiss to both of the younger's foreheads like a mother would, Minhyuk said his good nights and curled up against one side of Hyungwon's chest. Changkyun soon followed after, clinging the older's other side as he fell asleep also. The second youngest of the three moved his arms around until they were under their bodies and pulled them even closer still before allowing his dreams to pull him into sleep. 

•❄️•

Hyungwon woke up in a start the moment, sensing the exact moment that he had become lonely, sleeping alone as the other two males left him. "Minhyuk! Changkyun!" Hyungwon called out, desperate for a reply as tears already gathered in the corners of his eyes as he panicked. For a few moments, there was no reply and Hyungwon's fear consumed him as he cried. Minhyuk rushed in, brightly covered presents previously gathered in his arms, dumped on their bed carelessly as he gathered the boy into his arms and rocked him back and forth. "Shush, we just went downstairs so that we could all open our presents together in bed" the blonde soothed as the rocked the both of them back and forth, which soon turned into rocking all three of them as Changkyun also entered the room and went immediately to hug the tallest male. 

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't panic this much but I was so scared" Hyungwon sobbed, now feeling ridiculous as all they wanted to do was celebrate a perfect Christmas with him, and instead he's crying his heart out. "It's not your fault you have severe separation anxiety disorder" Changkyun soothed this time, rubbing his back softly as the other male gathered the presents in front of the three of them. They cuddled for a long time, the second youngest finding comfort in the two people he had rejected becoming his friends for the longest time. It felt like such a stupid decision now, with the vast amount of good memories that Hyungwon was able to immediately bring to the forefront of his mind. 

"Let's open these" He finally stated when the sobs had left his voice, eager to turn this Christmas into a truely perfect one. Minhyuk and Changkyun seperated the large pile of presents into three groups, with different types of wrapping paper to tell which present belonged to who. With a quick glance at each other, they tore into their presents and the patisserie was filled with excited squeals as they all received what they had wished for, a perk reserved for best-friends who knew you like the back of their hand. 

However, when all the presents were finished, the pair of them pulled out another present which had Hyungwon's wrapping over it, which confused him as he tried to think of anything else he had wished for and came up blank. "Now this one can only be used today. We know you didn't ask for it- but um.." Changkyun started but trailed off, looking desperately towards the eldest for help. "You didn't ask or wish for this present, but it will help you. Trust us" Minhyuk continued on and sent a warm smile that had Hyungwon smiling back, trusting him. Slowly opening the present, he got more confused however when he was met with green leaves, white berries and red ribbon. 

"It's mistletoe, so you can get that kiss your heart is longing for" Changkyun said teasingly, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively which made both Minhyuk and Hyungwon hit him, although the second youngest' face was bright red. "S-Shut u-u-up" He stuttered, trying to regain his composure as he held the festive plant in his hands. 

"It's ten a.m now, the patisserie doesn't open until eleven since the customers will probably want to spend time with their families so your break will be at twelve. What Changkyun and I were thinking was that you—" Minhyuk explained before telling Hyungwon the very detailed plan on how to use the mistletoe to kiss Hoseok, and to be honest, Hyungwon was loving the plan and his heart was already beginning to pound in his ears in anticipation. "Okay, I'll do it" Hyungwon smiled brightly, gently playing with the fake white berries of the plant. 

"That's great! Now we have to choose our Christmas outfits" Minhyuk announced suddenly and went to stand up, but his foot got tangled in the sheets and he ended up going sprawling to the floor which caused the other two to burst out laughing. "That's great, what great friends you are" The blonde  said loudly from the floor, struggling to release himself from the cocoon of sheets. He wriggled around, pulling the sheets completely off the bed and almost bringing Hyungwon and Changkyun with them. He finally freed himself when the two youngest had finally stopped their laughter and got off the bed to help him. 

"Let's just go pick our outfits" Minhyuk sulked, stalking over to their combined closet although smiling when the two engulfed him in a group hugged and murmured their 'sorry''s into his shoulder blades. 

•❄️•

Eleven a.m came and went, midday slowly creeping up and Hyungwon wanted to grasp the fake plant tightly but it was hidden away in the jacket he was supposed to wear when he went on his break. He cleaned down the tables, hearing the customers still awwing over his shirt and deer antlers on his head. Hyungwon had deer antlers, Minhyuk had a Santa hat and Changkyun wore a Elf hat with a bell that hung on the end, tinkling whenever he moved around. "Hyungwonnie, it's twelve now. Time for your break, good luck" Minhyuk called out and the both of them winked at him before laughing, Hyungwon just shaking his head at them and grabbing his jacket to slip on as he left the patisserie. 

The wind was cold when he stepped outside, nipping at his skin whilst the snowflakes floated down to settle in his hair and on his clothes. As much as he wanted to walk slow and enjoy the snowflakes falling, Hyungwon knew that it was all a trick of his mind to push away what he was about to do until his self-esteem refused to let him go through with the plan. With the growing snow crunching under his shoes and his anxiety growing as he came closer, Hyungwon grasped the plant as reassurance and continued to walk. Finally entering the little cute café, he shook the snow from his body and released the plant, taking his hand out of his pocket as he went up to the counter where Hoseok stood. "Merry Christmas, cutie" He said confidently, although his eyes wanted to search for any hanging mistletoe, finding the bunch in a place that Hyungwon had missed walking under. "Me-rry-y Ch-hrist-t-tma-s, Hoseok" the ebony-haired male replied back, causing shivers to go over the other male's skin as the stutter left his voice when his name was said. 

"I-I won-n't b-b-e able tt-0 stay, the pati-sser-r-ie is pac-cked" Hyungwon lied, hoping that his stuttering voice was due to the male in front of him and not because of the little white lie that escaped his lips. He watched as Hoseok looked down sadly for a moment, obviously wanting to spend time with him on Christmas, Hyungwon's heart clenched painfully and he almost considered telling him the truth until he thought of the end result and how happy Hoseok would be. "Oh, that's okay I understand. Can I at least walk you to the door?" The mocha-haired Male said sadly, pouting as he begged the taller with his eyes, which Hyungwon easily agreed to which made the pouting older smile brightly. "Yay, let me make your drink then" He stated, turning his back to Hyungwon as he made the hot beverage. 

Hyungwon's eyes drank in the older males back, the muscles almost rippling beneath the tight-fitting Christmas shirt that had him melting internally. When Hoseok turned around, he caught the male staring at his back quite openly, not caring at all who was watching. "Tsk Tsk, staring at me now. You are too cute" Hoseok said playfully, a pink blush instantaneously covering Hyungwon's face. "Here's your drink, peppermint mocha. Let me walk you to the door" He continued and the younger smiled and nodded, grabbing his drink in one hand whilst the other slipped into his pocket to grasp the fake plant between his fingers. 

They reached the door quickly, Hyungwon's nerves heightening but he kept his face calm as he turned to Hoseok to say goodbye. He lifted the plant above their heads, the older not noticing as his eyes locked on Hyungwon's. "Goodbye and—" Hyungwon cut off, his eyes flickering upwards to the plant before connecting with his again. Hoseok's eyes followed, widening comically as he noticed the plant, widening further when his lips were covered with Hyungwon's. 

The kiss was soft, both males still not accustomed to each other as this was only their second kiss. Hyungwon having both his hands full, wasn't able to hold onto Hoseok but that was okay, the other male was having no trouble, gripping his jacket in one hand and Hyungwon's waist with the other. Freshly roasted coffee beans and flowers engulfed him as the two came closer together, his heart beating crazily although it matched Hoseoks in perfect timing. The two broke after a couple minutes, their lungs screaming for air.

Pressing their foreheads together, they ignored the applause and cheers of  "so cute!" "aww new couple" from the customers and focused on each other. "Did you like my gift?" Hyungwon questioned and the other smiled "Best. Present. Ever" Hoseok replied and leaned in, their lips meeting again for another kiss.