"he turned me into a killer," baekhyun says despondently, staring at the lifeless body.

"stop being so melodramatic," junmyeon chides, shaking his head. "it was going to die no matter what."

"but before it was able to fulfil his purpose in life?" baekhyun chokes on a sob.

"it's a stick, baekhyun."

baekhyun gasps in horror. "how dare you?! you take that back before i forward chanyeol the essay you wrote about his long legs and how much you want to climb them."

with the threat of exposure, junmyeon scurries back to his cubicle, leaving baekhyun to mourn the death of his precious partner. "we had good times last year, didn't we? even if we didn't manage to catch ourselves a do kyungsoo."

"he's not a pokemon!" baekhyun hears junmyeon shout from his desk.

"my mouse is hovering over the send button, any unnecessary comments may startle me, causing my finger to slip!" baekhyun would never really follow through, but junmyeon isn't aware of that fact. and so, baekhyun will continue to leverage his best friend's crush on park chanyeol, their department's it support guy, for as long as he can.

"did i say something? you must be hearing things!" junmyeon hollers back from across the office.

"yeah, that's what i thought." baekhyun returns his attention to more important matters. or rather, the dried out mistletoe resting on his desk.

after acquiring the sprig, baekhyun had developed a fool proof plan to fulfil his christmas wish. and though the mistletoe has lost its vitality and fresh green spruceness, the small branch still symbolises his resolve to make his move on do kyungsoo—the man he's been pining over for the past year.

when kyungsoo had been introduced as the new team member in their department, baekhyun had almost fallen out of his chair swivelling around in his seat to steal a second look at the man. baekhyun had been pleasantly surprised when the back view of kyungsoo had been just as nice as the front.

good looks notwithstanding, kyungsoo had encapsulated everything baekhyun sought after in a potential boyfriend. kyungsoo had shown kindness, offering half of his home made lunch that time baekhyun had forgotten his wallet at home. kyungsoo, equipped with culinary skills, and baekhyun, boasting a healthy appetite—it had been a match made in heaven.

after several attempts to ask kyungsoo out on a date ending up with the entire office tagging along for the ride, baekhyun had almost deemed the entire pursuit a lost cause. but with the festive season fast approaching, it had granted baekhyun the perfect opportunity to snag his crush, once and for all.

baekhyun had formulated a plan with the codename 'operation: kissmas.' it would provide baekhyun a perfectly valid excuse to kiss kyungsoo should they conveniently find themselves under the mistletoe. all baekhyun had to do was catch his crush in the right place, at the right time. it had seemed easy at the time, however, baekhyun had gravely underestimated how much of a slippery bugger kyungsoo was.

recalling the previous year's attempt, baekhyun had messaged kyungsoo, asking him to meet baekhyun by the water cooler, having already prepared the mistletoe in advance. when stood under said mistetoe, baekhyun had pointed to the ceiling above them. "oh, my. would you look at that?" he had commented, his voice so high pitched, it had been unrecognisable to the owner. however, one must credit the valiant attempt to sound nonchalant, not an easy feat when the subject concerns one do kyungsoo.

baekhyun had imagined the scene play out in his head twelve times over. the subtle flush of pink creeping to kyungsoo's cheeks accompanied by a shy expression as their faces draw closer. baekhyun couldn't have been more wrong.

"when did we get a cactus in the office?" kyungsoo had asked with unblinking eyes, gaze firmly fixed to the ceiling above them.

baekhyun could think of no other way to respond but to scream at the top of his lungs. even to this day, baekhyun still doesn't know what prompted him to react in such a matter. kyungsoo had been a good sport, never mentioning the incident again and it was as if it had never happened.

with christmas just around the corner again, baekhyun would implement 'operation: kissmas; the sequel.' with the help of his trusty ally—one kim junmyeon—baekhyun is sure this year's plan will yield successful results. all junmyeon needs to do is appear with mistletoe in hand whenever baekhyun and kyungsoo were spotted together. it couldn't be more simple.

"what do you mean? i suddenly don't understand the words that are coming out of your mouth."

junmyeon rubs the back of his neck and offers nervous smile. "i'm sure it's on my desk somewhere. i just don't know where exactly."

baekhyun can feel his blood pressure rising through the roof. how many times has he told his best friend to clear up the pig sty he calls a desk? "so you're telling me, you've lost it."

"temporarily speaking."

"the mistletoe i've been saving for an entire year without once not knowing of its location and you've somehow managed to lose it in..." baekhyun glances at his wristwatch. "under an hour. i think this is a new record, even for you." baekhyun shakes his head, the temptation to fall to his knees screaming "why me?" growing exponentially by the second.

"i've got an idea! wait, i'll be right back!" junmyeon scuttles off in a hurry, almost crashing straight into kyungsoo as he leaves.

"where's he off to in such a hurry?" kyungsoo asks, dropping off a stack of paperwork on baekhyun's desk.

"beats me," baekhyun replies, and he can feel the blush rushing to his face. kyungsoo is looking mighty handsome today. okay, so he looks beautiful everyday but damn, he looks good today.

"so... any plans for the holidays?" kyungsoo asks, resting his chin on the ledge of one of baekhyun's cubical wall.

"not really. it's another year alone for me. you?" baekhyun catches himself staring at kyungsoo and forces himself to look away.

"well, i was thinking—" kyungsoo starts before being rudely interrupted.

"LOOK, MAKE KISSES!" junmyeon shrieks, attracting the attention of the entire department floor. he sprints across the room with a sheet of paper raised above his head.

as junmyeon approaches closer, baekhyun leaps from his chair and spear tackles junmyeon to the ground, and snatches the sheet from his hands. "what the hell is this?" he hisses at his best friend. baekhyun stares in disbelief; junmyeon's just gone and printed out a clipart of a mistletoe. who even uses clipart anymore? junmyeon could really do with it lessons from chanyeol. ready to ball up the paper and toss it in the bin, something catches baekhyun's eyes. "and why is there a bunny on this? did you draw this?"

"bunnies are cute!" junmyeon barely manages to croak, still winded from baekhyun's attack.

"am i... disturbing you two?" kyungsoo eyes the pair, his gaze shifting back and forth from baekhyun to junmyeon.

baekhyun stands up and brushes off his trousers. "no, don't mind him. he's just leaving." he nudges junmyeon with his foot.

slowly rising back on his feet, junmyeon places a hand on kyungsoo's shoulder. "you think bunnies are cute, don't you?"

kyungsoo shrugs. "do you know who likes bunnies, though? chanyeol. well, one in particular apparently. anyway, i should get back to work. see you around, kim. bye, baek. you can return the paperwork by the end of the week." and with a friendly heart shaped smile, kyungsoo turns to leave.

much like the previous year, an unknown force takes control of baekhyun's body. before he can fully process his actions, baekhyun's raising the printout above his head. "wait, kyungsoo! we're under a mistletoe!"

kyungsoo looks up with wide eyes and baekhyun's heart has never beated so fast. baekhyun starts to panic over the implications—what if kyungsoo rejects him? oh, the shame. he needs to backtrack stat if he's going to save face. "but we don't have to kiss on the lips, in fact we don't have to kiss at all. we can just bro hug or—" before he can finish his sentence, kyungsoo leans in and presses their lips together.

baekhyun gasps at the sudden pressure applied to his mouth. kyungsoo's lips are warm and soft. baekhyun elicits a soft moan before he hears a persistent cough as subtle as a wrecking ball. oh, to have a best friend like kim junmyeon.

kyungsoo pulls away and baekhyun observes a blush on the man’s face. and he can feel the muscles in his own face betraying him, pulling his lips upwards in the widest smile you could possibly imagine.

"stop by my desk later?" kyungsoo asks, chewing his bottom lip as if he's nervous baekhyun would shoot him down. as if.

rendered speechless, all baekhyun can manage is a nod of his head. kyungsoo lights up, brighter than the sun and stars tenfold.



"merry christmas, baek," kyungsoo says as he hands baekhyun a palm sized gift box. "it's not much but when i saw it, it made me think of you."

baekhyun had managed to hold off for four whole hours before caving in. after all, he had promised to pay kyungsoo a visit, and byun baekhyun is a man of his words. baekhyun hadn't been expecting a gift from his crush, the kiss had already been the highlight of his year—his life, even.

carefully unwrapping the perfectly packaged box to unveil the surprise within, baekhyun peers inside with excitement...