Year Seven

For the very first time, Chanyeol was on the opposite side of his front door on Christmas Eve.

He rang the doorbell and quickly stuffed his hands into the warmth of his coat pocket. The frosty air nipped at his skin and made his teeth chatter.

Chanyeol had decided to rent an apartment close to his university for the final year. It was a small studio but it saved him travel time and gave him the privacy he sometimes wanted, so he couldn’t complain.

But living away from home did mean that he missed his parents terribly. He had been looking forward to Christmas for weeks now.

The thought of seeing his parents, Yoora and Wei Lin again made his heart flutter.

He rang the doorbell again.

There was some shuffling on the other side before the lock clicked and the door swung open.

“Chanyeol,” Yoora squealed, pulling her younger brother into a hug.

Chanyeol chuckled, his voice warm and deep. “Noona, Merry Christmas.”

Yoora grinned. “Merry Christmas to you too. Come on in.”

Chanyeol shed his jacket and followed Yoora into the living room. He wished his dad and kissed his mom’s cheek before settling into an armchair.

“Where’s Wei Lin?” he asked, noticing the absence of the pretty Chinese girl.

“Wei Lin’s not joining us this year,” Yoora commented. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you.”

Chanyeol frowned. “Oh,” he muttered.

His happy mood died just a little.

“Eat a lot,” Mrs. Park smiled dotingly at her children.

The table was laden with all their favorite foods and Chanyeol didn’t hesitate to dig in. During his semester away from home, he had missed his mother’s home cooked meals the most.

Mr. and Mrs. Park made casual conversations over the meal, asking Yoora about her new job at the Korean Broadcasting Station, about Chanyeol’s university and his new apartment, and other such things.

After dinner, the family gathered to exchange gifts.

Chanyeol put his mug of hot cocoa to the side and rooted through his backpack for the neatly packed presents.

He pulled out four boxes and then paused.

With a pout, he shoved one of the boxes back into his bag.

‘I’ll ask Yoora noona to give it to her later,’ he decided.

“Noona, can you give this to Wei Lin when she comes back from China?”

Yoora blinked at the box but accepted it.

“Sure,” she agreed. “But she’s not in China.”

Chanyeol furrowed his brows. “What? I thought she was spending Christmas with her family this year.”

“I never said that,” Yoora frowned.

“Then where is she? Why is she skipping out on this tradition?”

Chanyeol was aware that he sounded very much like a spoilt kid who’d been denied something. Yoora rolled her eyes.

“Her boyfriend invited her to meet his family so she’s spending Christmas with them,” she answered.

Chanyeol’s jaw dropped. “B-Boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” Yoora shrugged, not caring to elaborate. “I’ll give her the gift when I next meet her, don’t worry.”

Chanyeol nodded in a daze. He took the stairs up to his room, feeling winded and confused.

It was well past midnight but Chanyeol just couldn’t fall asleep.

In the silence, everything seemed amplified a thousand times.

His breathing was too loud.

The blanket was too scratchy.

The trees outside his bedroom window were too distracting.

His mind was on a million things at once, and yet it always drifted back to one specific thing. Or rather, one specific person.

Li Wei Lin.

Chanyeol to his side, using one hand to rub at his chest, hoping it would lessen the feeling of discomfort.

He wasn’t sure why he was feeling that way.

Maybe he just missed Wei Lin.

After all, he’d been away from home and Wei Lin had become a part of the Park household, at least during Christmas holidays.

Chanyeol sat up abruptly, deciding he couldn’t go to sleep like this.

He scrambled in the darkness to find his phone and then sat back on his bed with pursed lips.

He opened up his messenger app and found the name he wanted.

After deciding to be friends last year, the two had exchanged phone numbers. Chanyeol had only ever texted her to wish her for her birthday though, and vice versa.

‘Merry Christmas, Li Wei Lin,’ he typed. Then after a small pause, he added a smiling face emoji.

He bit his lower lip unsurely.

“Ah whatever,” he mumbled and hit ‘send,’ throwing the phone onto the bed beside him and falling back onto his pillow.

Less than a minute later, he sat up again. He picked up his phone and checked the screen.

No message.

‘Why didn’t she see the message yet?’ Chanyeol frowned. ‘No, no, it’s only been a minute. She’s probably busy,’ he consoled himself.

But then grimaced. ‘Yeah, busy with her boyfriend.’

Even though he was saying the words in his head, the last word was uttered with such intense emotions that Chanyeol could swear his mouth felt bitter.

His phone buzzed then and Chanyeol excitedly opened the message.

‘Merry Christmas, Chanyeol.’

“That’s it?!” Chanyeol couldn’t stop the words from escaping his mouth in an incredulous gasp.

He slapped his palm against his mouth and listened carefully to see whether he'd woken anyone in the house.

After a minute of silence, he released the breath he’d been holding and glared furiously at his phone screen.

‘That’s all she has to say to me?’ Chanyeol fumed.

‘I mean, what else was she supposed to say?’ The rational part of him argued.

‘Um, apologize for breaking the important tradition of Christmas with the Park’s!’

‘It’s not her fault.’ The rational side soothed again.

‘Yes, it is.’

‘No, it’s that stupid boyfriend of hers.’

Chanyeol paused.

‘Finally, something we can both agree on.’

Another pause.

“I’m losing my mind,” Chanyeol groaned softly, throwing his phone aside and burying his head into his pillow.

Sleep came to him slowly and until it did, his mind was filled with jumbled thoughts of Li Wei Lin and her mysterious boyfriend.