Things have been busy in the NCT household on Christmas day. The younger boys were assigned to put on some final decorations and to clean the entire dorm while the older ones were in charge of cooking. Doyoung and Taeil went back to their hometown to spend Christmas with their families—they didn’t say out loud but both guys sure as hell did not want to be third wheeling all the couples—and Sicheng flew back to China together with Kun for a vacation. Jisung was the only one who was stuck at the dorm and silently regretting every second that he’s spending together with all the lovebirds in the room.

In one corner of the living room, Jeno and Jaemin could be seen arranging the comic books properly and giving each other heart eyes. In another corner, Chenle and Renjun would be setting up the dining table for the party later and saying sweet things to each other in Mandarin. Jisung obviously didn’t understand a word they’re saying but the blush on both Chenle and Renjun’s cheeks were enough proof. Mark and Donghyuck were cleaning the rooms and Jisung would rather not know what they’re doing alone by themselves inside a bedroom.

Jisung sighed as he continued wiping the TV console to get rid of the dust accumulated. After a few rounds of wiping, the cloth was quickly covered with dust and Jisung went to the kitchen to clean the cloth.

Over in the kitchen, Taeyong and Jaehyun were obviously the main cooks preparing the food and standing too close to each other in Jisung’s opinion. At the workplace, Ten and Johnny were decorating the Christmas cake for dessert later. They had cream on their faces and Jisung turned away in time to not see them leaning in to each other. Yuta and Hansol were standing by the sink, probably washing and preparing the ingredients. Yuta was flinging droplets of water to Hansol and Jisung was thankful they were speaking in Japanese because their actions seem a little suspicious.

Jisung quickly cleaned the cloth and went back to wipe all the cabinets.

I never want to be put through this again. I’m begging mom to come take me home next year even if it kills me.

Dinner time finally arrived and everyone was seated around the table—meaning everyone was seating next to their significant other leaving Jisung to be seated between the Chenle and Renjun couple and the Ten and Johnny couple.

At least it wasn’t Taeyong hyung and Jaehyun hyung. Their PDA is sickening.

“Have some meat, Jisung!” Chenle said, putting a slice of grilled beef on Jisung’s bowl. Jisung looked up in surprise, seeing Chenle’s bright smile.

“Thanks hyung.” Jisung said in a soft voice, not expecting to receive any attention from anyone.

Chenle patted Jisung on the head. “No problem!”

Jisung ate the beef. It was plenty good by itself but somehow it tasted even sweeter and delicious because of Chenle hyung. He chewed happily, smiling to himself.

“Sungie, you have sauce on your cheek!” A voice to his right said and Jisung didn’t need to look to figure out it was Ten hyung.

Before he could react, Ten was already wiping the sauce away with a tissue. After making sure his cheek was stain-free, Ten flashed his bright smile and continued eating.

Dinner continued on without much event—at least for Jisung, that is because he would still rather not know what the couples were doing.

The boys started clearing the table, bringing the dishes to the sink. And guess what? It was Jisung’s turn to wash the dishes! Great.

Not.

Jisung sighed as he rolled up his sleeves, revving up his engine to finish up cleaning the pile of dishes. Next to him was Mark who is his cleaning partner. The dishwashing went on smoothly and quietly until Jisung fell a stinging ache on his finger.

“Ow…” He winced, quickly pulling his hand out of the soapy water. The chemicals made the pain even more painful and he could feel tears welling up in his eyes.

“Jisung?! What’s wrong?” Mark immediately asked, going on panic mode as he saw blood trickling down his finger.

“Oh my god! Who leaves a knife out in a sink where there are loads of plates? It’s dangerous!” Mark shouted to the other guys who were outside having fun.

Hearing Mark’s agitated grumbles, Taeyong zoomed into the kitchen, face filled with concern for the youngest member. Jisung watched as Taeyong and Mark hurried to retrieve the first aid kit and started treating his wound. He didn’t say much, but when he saw Taeyong hyung and Mark hyung fussing over him, Jisung felt kind of special and he likes it.

Once his finger is bandaged, Taeyong instructed that Jisung would not do the dishes anymore until his finger healed. It wasn’t a deep cut but Jisung could take the opportunity as it is. Jisung headed out the kitchen where Jaemin and Yuta were engaged in a fighting game. The other guys were plopped on sofas and bean bags littered on the floor.

“Oh Jisung! Come play with me! Yuta hyung in this game and I beat him way too easily.” Jaemin called.

“Wha—me?” Jisung pointed to himself.

Jaemin gave him a deadpan stare. “Is there another Jisung in this room? Of course I’m talking to you!”

Yuta scoffed at Jaemin and handed the controller to Jisung before sitting down next to Jisung. When Jaemin wasn’t looking, Yuta lowered his head and whispered to Jisung.

“I’m actually really good in this game. I just wanted to prank Jaemin. I’ll help you beat his .” Yuta said with a smirk and Jisung giggled.

“Hey, what’re you two talking about?” Jaemin asked as he started the game.

“Nothing!” Yuta quickly answered.

The game went on smoothly and Jisung was shocked at just how skilled Yuta hyung is at the game. Even Jaemin had no chance against Yuta hyung and he was defeated in one go. Once the round ended, both Yuta and Jisung cheered and hi-fived each other.

“You lied! No fair!” Jaemin whined, pouting.

Jisung immediately felt bad for his friend and went over to him.

“I’ll play with you next time without Yuta hyung helping me.” Jisung offered and Jaemin looked at him excitedly.

“Yes! And I’m sure I’ll beat you!” Jaemin said jokingly, giving Jisung a light slap across the back.

Taeyong and Mark returned to the living room by the time the boys were just about to start a movie. Jisung thought he would be seating by himself but when Ten and Johnny told Jisung to seat between them, Jisung was all too happy to comply.

“Merry Christmas, Sungie!” Ten ruffled Jisung’s hair and Johnny placed an arm around Jisung—his arm was so long it actually stretched all the way till Ten’s shoulder.

Jisung didn’t have the chance to say it out loud since the movie was starting, but in his heart, he truly wished all his beloved hyungs a merry Christmas.

Maybe I won’t want to ask mom to take me home next Christmas. Being around all the hyungs is pretty fun.

Merry Christmas, hyungs!