AFTERGLOW
I’M IN AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE WITH DONGHAE AND I AM JONGHYUN’S SISTER AND HIMCHAN LOVES ME AND TOP IS A VAMPIRE WHO WANTS MY SWEET NECTAR BLOOD AND REN IS PART OF A GANG THAT KIDNAPS ME BECAUSE HE WANTS TO KEEP ME AS HIS WOMAN SLAVE AND ON TOP OF IT ALL I A
RECOVERED!!
We pimped out the forward, so you can go check that out. Now prepare to get hit over the head with massive amounts of fluff. AW YEAH, CHRISTMAS IN JULY ES. Also, you know those fics where all the characters are gay? Like, all of them? Well... here you go.
The atmosphere was warm and fuzzy as you observed the cheery band of vampire Hunters, all imbued with the spirit of Christmas, decorating the halls of the hideout and making every Christmas tradition come true. It was the first time they all were celebrating Christmas since joining the ranks against the undead, so they were all smiling and doing their best to make it the best holiday ever.
They were all doing their part, decorating the tree or hanging up mistletoe (the only tradition Kai had insisted on). Baekhyun had baked holiday cookies, and the sugary smell fragranced the air, which was slowly becoming occupied also by the smell of the dinner Kyungsoo was currently making. Xiu Min was currently bothering him in the kitchen under the pretense of “helping,” trying to steal a taste of the main course before it was served. A classical CD of traditional Christmas songs was playing, completing the scene.
You took a sip of your hot cider and bounded over to Chanyeol, who was hanging garlands and greenery on walls near the ceiling, transforming the starkness of the place into a festive home.
“Merry Christmas!” you said to him cheerfully.
He turned to you and smiled the biggest smile you had ever seen, and it dazzled you. Or something.
“Merry Christmas, Mary Sue!” he replied a little louder than was normal. You giggled at how excited he was.
Then, as you stared at him, your face fell a little and you bit your lip. There was still a lot that was left unsaid between the two of you. Your mind went back to the night of his birthday, when he had kissed you and then pushed you away.
He noticed the change in your expression, and he shifted awkwardly, probably having understood. He hadn’t talked to you about that night since it happened, and your adventure the same night, as well as the night of the eclipse, kind of pushed discussions of your feelings out of the way. But now that that was all over, your thoughts on all of that resurfaced.
Chanyeol cleared his throat. “I have something for you,” he said, pulling a small package from his pants.
You looked at it before taking it from his hands and holding it in your own. “What is it?” you asked.
He chuckled. “Open it and see.”
You complied, and opened the gift to find the Phoenix Talisman Chanyeol had given to you the first night you met. You held it up, smiling.
“You can keep it for good now,” he said to you. “Not that you’ll need it anymore.” He grinned. “You don’t need anyone to protect you now.”
Your eyes widened and you stared up at him. Did this mean he was leaving you? That he didn’t want to be around you anymore, and he was giving you his talisman as a keepsake to remember him by while he went off on some new grand adventure and found himself a different girl or something or other—your mind was working too fast for it to be comprehensible anymore and you could only look at him with a panicked expression on your face.
You suddenly regretted never talking to him about whatever it was the two of you had. Maybe it wasn’t too late! Maybe you could still talk to him. Maybe you could convince him to stay—
You didn’t need to convince him. His lips were on yours before you could comprehend what was happening, and suddenly your entire mind was blank and you knew nothing but this. The room disappeared—or maybe you just closed your eyes—and you forgot what you were even thinking about seconds ago. The world was nothing but the small patch of ground beneath your feet, and the only people occupying this world were you and Chanyeol. When you stepped closer together, wrapping your arms around each other, the world even shrank a little. You felt so elated, smiling as you moved your lips against his soft ones, and you didn’t care if your chest was about to explode. Nothing could make this moment any better.
Well, Tao felt really awkward now. He and Kris were decorating the tree, and Chanyeol was hanging garlands, until he started making out with Mary Sue in the corner, like there weren’t any other people in the room. Or the world.
He and Kris shared an awkward glance, and Kris tried to clear his throat a few times, hoping the two lovebirds over there would get the hint. But it clearly wasn’t working.
So Tao just rolled his eyes and tried to avoid looking at them altogether. He reached to place another shiny bauble on the tree, and Kris’s hand brushed over his with a string of tinsel. Tao felt heat rush to his face. He was avoiding looking at all sorts of places right now.
He and Kris hadn’t talked at all about what had happened the day of the eclipse. It had sort of been an unspoken agreement to not tell the others about Tao’s suicidal dive off of the drop off. Or Kris’s equally suicidal dive after Tao. It was a delicate topic.
Just then, Kai burst into the room. “Ugh, gross! Get a room, you two!”
Relieved at having something else to direct his attention towards, Tao looked over to see Chanyeol and Mary Sue embarrassedly separating themselves.
“Sorry,” Chanyeol muttered, his face having turned completely red.
Hm. Even though they stopped, Tao still felt awkward. He wasn’t really sure how to act at the moment. They had never celebrated Christmas before, or any holiday for that matter, and it had been over ten years since Tao did anything of the sort. It was supposed to be a joyful occasion. But he wasn’t sure how to be happy anymore. It was something he wasn’t used to.
The night after the eclipse was the first time he didn’t dream about exacting his revenge. He dreamt of his parents though. But for once, it wasn’t just a replay of the night Max killed them. It was a different memory. One that he had forgotten.
He was so young, maybe seven years old. And they were outside, walking beneath the shade of the freshly bloomed tree branches. It must have been springtime, because the branches and the ground were littered with pale pink and white petals. There was a light breeze, and the sun was bright, and the sky was so clear. And his mother was humming. Such a simple memory. Yet it filled Tao with such peace.
He had woken up that morning, and he realized he had no reason to train anymore. No reason to fight. There was a strange emptiness in his life suddenly. What do you do when you’ve accomplished the one thing you’ve devoted your entire being preparing for? What was Tao supposed to do with himself now? Was his life meaningless now?
He heard Kris clear his throat, bringing him out of his reverie. Kris was looking at him, his eyebrows drawn together a little, and he realized how he must have looked just standing there and staring off into space. Kris kept his gaze on Tao as he draped another length of tinsel—as if this tree wasn’t shiny enough as it was—and spoke.
“Don’t you feel…free?” He tried to smile, but it seemed a little unnatural on him, and he stopped.
Tao blinked at him. “Free?” he wondered softly aloud.
The other man finally broke the tense eye contact. “Yeah,” he muttered to the ground, reaching into the box of ornaments. “You don’t have the pressure of revenge weighing down on you anymore. It’s not taking over your life now. You can relax a bit, and, you know.” He looked back up at Tao and cracked a much more genuine, crooked smile. “Live a little.”
Tao felt his own lips drawing up into a smile. Kris was right—suddenly he could see a clear horizon. He was free. Free to do whatever he wanted. And with anyone he wanted.
Kris tossed him an ornament, and he caught it deftly, his cheeks a little more colored than before. It was two white birds—turtle doves maybe? Tao remembered turtle doves having something to do with Christmas. Their wings were spread wide, and they were attached to each other, flying together forever. He snickered a little at it and reached up to hang it where it would be visible.
“Merry Christmas,” he murmured softly as he gazed up at it. Kris grinned at him as he untangled yet another mass of tinsel.
It was snowing lightly and a few shops were miraculously still open. For those extreme last-minute shoppers, Sehun guessed. Which was pretty much what they were right now. Last-minute Christmas shoppers, buying gifts for all the others who were celebrating together in the warmth of their church residence.
Sehun smiled to himself, much happier to be out in this peaceful setting with Luhan, even if it was cold. It was nice.
They were already laden with several bags full of items, and Sehun wondered how much they could even afford.
“How much money do we have left?” he asked, just to be sure.
“I brought more than enough, so you don’t have to worry,” Luhan replied shortly.
“Really?” Sehun said. “Have you been saving up or something?”
The other smiled. “I had a good amount with me when I joined the Hunters.”
Sehun gaped at him. “And it hasn’t run out yet? How did you have so much? Don’t lie to me,” he insisted. “You were a bank robber, weren’t you?”
Luhan laughed. “No.”
“Ah, drugs then.”
“I never dealt drugs—“
“Don’t tell me you were an !” He looked over at Luhan, scanning him. “You’re certainly pretty enough to charge—“
“Oh Sehun, what kind of person do you take me for?!” he snapped. He was still smiling though, and Sehun almost believed the story with the effect it had on him.
After a pause, Luhan explained, “My family was really wealthy. I had enough saved to live on. So I emptied my bank account before I joined the Hunters.”
Sehun mulled over the explanation. “What’s it like being really wealthy?” he wondered aloud.
The other smiled. “Big house. Private lessons. Servants tending to you constantly. Meals made by a top chef.”
“Why would you want to leave all that behind?”
Luhan grimaced. “It’s lonely. For anyone. But me especially.” He sighed, his breath condensing in front of him. “I discovered my power when I was just a kid. And I thought I was special at first, but my parents tried to smother it. Like it was wrong. They couldn’t let anyone know their son was…different.”
Sehun watched Luhan as he spoke, and Luhan stared straight ahead of him as he recalled his past.
“It was stifling,” he continued. “Trying to maintain self control of something like that. And then one day I just had this urge to get away. I felt like I belonged somewhere else, like I was needed.” He smiled slightly. “I withdrew all my savings and just left. Travelled until one night I had an encounter in the street. I thought it was a mugger at first, but it was a vampire. I would’ve died if it wasn’t for Suho.” He smirked at the memory and faced Sehun, who was still watching and listening in a daze. “I joined the Hunters when I was seventeen.”
Sehun blew his breath out his cheeks. “Wow,” he mused. “That’s, um…hard.”
Luhan just laughed before he dragged Sehun into a bookshop to their left. The glow of the yellow light pouring out from the windows was warm and inviting, and the warmth washed over them as they entered.
Sehun was lazily browsing titles, generally bored by the idea of buying books for everyone when they had shelves upon shelves of them at home. He never really cared much for them.
His eyes fell upon a title that he couldn’t read at all. It was in a different language. Which reminded him of something.
“Luhan?” he called out.
“Yeah?” he answered from the next aisle over.
Sehun stepped over to talk through the shelf separating them. “What does mi amice te amo mean?”
He caught Luhan’s smile through the gaps between the books. It still had the same effect on him. Without looking up from his browsing, he replied, “’I love you, my friend.’”
Sehun grinned, the warmth of the bookshop reaching his face. He liked that meaning. It still sounded like music when Luhan said it.
Outside was cold, but the air was still, and so was the perfectly smooth blanket of snow. Well, it was perfectly smooth before Jonghyun and Key destroyed it with their snowball fight. Jonghyun scooped up another handful of snow, packed it, and threw it in Key’s direction. A second later, he took a snowball to the face. The sudden shock of cold was enough to make him stumble backwards and fall down in the snow.
Key’s laughter split the air.
Jonghyun didn’t move to get up. Instead he just closed his eyes and lay there, letting the cold seep slowly through his clothes and the brightness of winter seep through his eyelids. He heard soft footsteps approach and stop near him.
“What are you doing?” Key asked.
Without answering or opening his eyes, Jonghyun started moving his arms and legs in the shape of a snow angel. Laughter filled the air again, and Jonghyun was unable to contain his smile. He heard the sound of Key dropping into the snow beside him, and the scraping sound of wool and denim against snow.
Finally opening his eyes, Jonghyun looked over at his boyfriend lying in the snow next to him. They hadn’t actually discussed their relationship, but Jonghyun supposed that was what they were. That’s how they acted anyway. Without any pretense, he crawled over to Key, who propped himself on his elbows, and kissed him softly. Jonghyun decided he liked kissing Key, and he wondered why he didn’t start doing it earlier.
He broke away with a contented sigh. Then they stood up, the cold of the snow finally becoming a nuisance to them. Jonghyun just stared at Key. He wondered when this—their friendship, relationship, whatever ship it was—had become so easy. Maybe when he was finally honest about his feelings. Jonghyun smiled, remembering what Donghae had said to him.
“What are you thinking about?” Key asked, noticing his thoughtful expression.
Again without words, Jonghyun wrapped his arms around Key’s waist and hugged him close, then buried his face in his neck and just breathed in.
“You haven’t developed a penchant for blood, have you?” he asked, partly in humor, but just slightly out of seriousness.
“No,” Jonghyun mumbled into his neck. “I just wanted to be close to you.”
At this, Key hugged him tightly back, and they stood like that for a while, before both agreeing that it was getting too cold, and they should probably go inside now.
“Ho, ho, ho!”
Everyone looked over to see Suho entering the room with a huge bag slung over his shoulder, Luhan and Sehun trailing behind him, smirking and laughing at the antics. He wasn’t even dressed as Santa; he just had insisted on carrying all of the gifts they had bought in the bag and bringing it to everyone.
Now that they were all gathered together in one room, they decided to open them. None of them were specifically marked for anyone, so they just accepted whatever they got. Which was fine, since most of the gifts were ordinary things like sweaters and books. The only random one was when Kai unwrapped a stuffed baby reindeer and held it up confusedly with one eyebrow raised, before Sehun snatched it away and presented it to Luhan, saying it was for him. Luhan accepted it gratefully and held onto it for the majority of the night.
Dinner was delicious and left everyone stuffed to their limits, and afterward they all gathered again in the main room to talk or cuddle or doze off, whatever each preferred. It was warm and relaxing and everybody was content.
Kyungsoo smiled to himself as he observed the scene from his place in the doorway. Everyone was happy and there was so much love in this room (of varying kinds), and he thought no one could be having such a great Christmas as they were.
A sudden flash of smoke in his peripheral drew his attention to Kai, who was now standing beside him in the doorway with an eyebrow raised suggestively and a characteristic smirk. Kyungsoo eyed him suspiciously.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked warily.
Kai only responded by directing his gaze upwards. Kyungsoo followed his line of sight. Oh.
“Mistletoe,” he muttered. He looked back at Kai, who was now biting his lip and letting his eyes travel up and down Kyungsoo.
“Ah! You guys are caught under the mistletoe,” Chen shouted merrily at them, drawing everybody else’s attention.
Kyungsoo felt his face turn completely red, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the sudden attention, or from Kai looking at him like that. Or both maybe.
“Now you have to kiss,” Suho laughed.
Kyungsoo stared wide-eyed at everybody staring at them, waiting for them to kiss, at Kai, who wasn’t helping the situation any by making strangely faces at him—and really, this was all Kai’s fault, he had probably done it on purpose, and he wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about that—and then back at everyone else, who were still looking at him expectantly.
“What?!”
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