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Part 15: Twinkle twinkle little star

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Kibum's head lolled to the side and he opened his eyes again. He was wrapped around a blanket once more, huddled beside Jonghyun on the corner of the sofa as they watched “Tangled” in the entertainment room*. His temperature rose up after they ate lunch so he had to take those ‘stupid meds’. Again. Chunhee was sprawled on the floor with her pink teddy bear enjoying how Rapunzel used her hair to escape from the cave. Jonghyun, whose arm was resting on the back of the sofa, shook Kibum lightly when the younger’s head rested on his shoulder. Kibum opened his eyes and raised his head to look at Jonghyun. His eyes were half-lided and teary.

“You’ll hurt your neck if you sleep like that. Lie down properly.” Jonghyun said as he adjusted himself and placed a throw pillow on his lap.

Kibum mumbled some incoherent words before sprawling on the longer side of the sofa, head on Jonghyun's lap. He dozed off immediately after that.

Jonghyun was starting to nod off too when he heard a shriek from Chunhee. He snapped back to wakefulness and looked around to see what was going on. Oh yeah, Rapunzel and her prince charming. He sighed and checked on his own princess. Kibum was still sleeping soundly, not aware of the death defying adventures on the screen. Jonghyun traced Kibum's facial features with his eyes, admiring how the younger looked so peaceful in his sleep.  The irony of life, he thought, how could you be so angelic when you are sleeping but sinfully gorgeous when you are awake, oh? His eyes landed on the younger’s slightly parted lips…

“Hyun appa… what are you doing?” Chunhee called, the credits were rolling and she was then looking at her umma and appa on the couch. Jonghyun's arm was comfortably placed on Kibum's waist and his other hand was caressing the younger’s hair. He just placed his index finger on his lips, telling Chunhee to keep it down. The little girl got what her appa was saying and she zipped her lips. Jonghyun just smiled at her. She grabbed the remote control first and turned the projector and the player off before walking towards the couch.

“Appa, Chunhee is also sleepy.” She rubbed her eyes with one hand while the other was holding the teddy bear’s hand.

“Okay. Shall the three of us sleep together in your room then?” he asked as he patted her hair softly.

She just nodded after a yawn. Jonghyun smiled at her again before shifting to pick Kibum up and just carry him to the room. But the sick dancer opened his eyes and sat up; rubbing his eyes the way Chunhee did earlier.

“Bummie, can you walk? Chunhee wants to sleep together in her room.” Jonghyun asked as he stood up and stretched a little.

Kibum nodded after a yawn, stretching his arms towards Jonghyun to pull him up from the couch.

- - -

“Chunhee sleeps in the middle.” The little girl said when Kibum found his place on Chunhee’s bed.

“Of course, little princess.” Jonghyun said as he smiled and walked to the other side of the bed. He laid down and pulled the covers on the three of them. The afternoon sun peeked through the floor-length curtains giving them a warmer feel.

“Good night Ki umma… good night Hyun appa.” She said before pulling Kibum's and Jonghyun's arm to hug her.

“Good night Baby.” Kibum mumbled, eyes already closed as he lied on his side hugging Chunhee closer.

“G’night Chunhee-ah.” Jonghyun replied. I could really get used to this, he thought with a smile on his lips before he followed the other two in dream land.

 - - -

“Appa… Hyun appa~”

Jonghyun cracked an eye open and saw a tuff of brown hair leaning on his shoulder. He remembered about their afternoon nap but was still too sleepy to get up. Playing with a hyper-active kid and taking care of a sick diva felt like the last bit of his energy was drained out of him. So he just hugged the figure closer, eyes closed again, humming lightly for the little girl to continue. But instead, he heard giggles from his other side—that other side which was supposed to be vacant. He shot up from his position and the sudden movement made the other male on his side groaned and shifted in his sleep.

“Yah, Chunhee-ah! What are you doing there?” he asked quietly, careful not to disturb Kibum.

The little girl sat on the end of the bed, a sweet smile plastered on her lips. “Chunhee woke up to pee. Then when she returned, Ki umma and Hyun appa…” her giggles were muffled as she covered with her hands.

Jonghyun didn’t need Chunhee to continue on her little story because he kinda knew it already. He thought Kibum was Chunhee. So when he felt someone pressing closer to his body, he just pulled him—in Jonghyun's head it’s a her— closer against his body.

“Ki umma just needs a hug because he is feeling cold.” Jonghyun tried to explain and he was lucky that the little girl seemed to buy it quickly. He pulled the covers off of him and got off the bed. Chunhee stretched her arms up to him and he picked her up. They were on the stairs when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll go get it.” Jonghyun said as he made his way towards the gate-monitor with Chunhee still in his arms. She pressed the button and they heard the people coming in.

“Jonghyun hyung?”

“Hey lover boy, you are here!”

They greeted when he opened the door.

“What are you guys doing here?” Jonghyun asked when they were all settled in the living room. Chunhee was sitting on his lap playing with his fingers.

“We should ask you that.” Amber said as she grabbed an apple from the fruits basket that they brought.

“That’s right. We’re here because ahjuma said that Kibum was sick when we called earlier and since we are his friends, we came over.” Sulli answered.

“So hyung, why are you here?” Taemin asked again.

“Hyun appa is here to take care of Ki umma~!” Chunhee answered for him earning shocked faces from the three visitors.

“Uhm, Chunhee-ah, go check if your Ki umma is awake now.” Jonghyun said, placing the little girl down and sending her upstairs.

“Did that little angel really called you Hyun appa or I was hearing things?” Amber asked, the apple forgotten in her hands.

“You’re not the only one who heard it noona.”

“What did you tell her to call you that? And she seemed close to you too!” Sulli commented, her round eyes scanning Jonghyun as if he told them that he was a secret agent of some elite department. It took some people, herself for one, a long time to get Chunhee to talk to them. Either Chunhee didn't like that person or she did want that person to be near her umma.

“Yah! What did I do? Chunhee-ah was the one to call me that when I arrived this morning. She was actually calling me Hyun oppa yesterday—“

“What happened yesterday?” Sulli cut through him.

“It’s a long story.” Jonghyun tried to reason out.

“Then make it short, duh.” Amber said then she her apple again.

“We met at the mall yesterday. I saw Chunhee first, she was lost and yes, I was the one who found her and it turned out that she was Kibum's cousin. And that’s it!”

“You are leaving parts out, hyung.” Taemin said as he narrowed his eyes on Jonghyun.

“What? You said I make it short!” that earned him more glares and he sighed. “Okay! I went around the mall with them. And I dropped them home.”

“What did you do in the mall?”

“Ate ice cream, played in the arcade, ate dinner and watched a movie.”

“You are lying.” Taemin finally said after a moment of silence wherein the three of them recovered from their shock.

“No, he is telling the truth.” Kibum said as he joined them in the living room.

“Oh, umma! How are you feeling now? You look kind of paler than usual.” Taemin noted as Kibum sat on the space opposite Taemin.

“Just a little headache now, the fever is gone. I guess.”

“Hm. Seems like your husband is doing a good job.” Amber said which Sulli agreed as she nodded her head.

 “Shut up.” Jonghyun and Kibum said in unison, making them both look away.

“By the way, don’t you think we should schedule our own Christmas party? Let’s go to a norebang!” and Kibum was glad that Amber changed the topic for him.

“Yes umma! It’s been a long time since we went to one.” Taemin said, his index finger tapping lightly on his cheeks as he thought about it.

“And we can invite Jonghyun oppa too!” Sulli exclaimed as she clapped her hands together.

“And Minho hyung too!” that earned Taemin weird glances but they just dropped it off when he added that coming to a norebang with the whole band would be fun.

“Yeah whatever. Just schedule it before the twenty-second. We will be spending Christmas with almoni in Daegun.” Kibum said.

“Hey you didn’t tell me about that.” Jonghyun said as he turned to get a better view on Kibum who was sitting beside him.

“Well you didn’t ask.” The younger replied, shrugging his shoulders and plucking a grape from the basket.

“But they didn’t ask either!” Jonghyun whined.

“You’re bickering like a married couple again.” The trio said in chorus followed by a round of laughter.

The three stayed for a little more but decided to leave before dinner.  In the end, they agreed to go to the norebang at the seventeenth which was two days from now. Taemin said he had some projects to finish so that he would be free on the seventeenth. Amber said that her mother wanted her to run some errands. And Sulli just made a lame excuse so as not to be left together with Kibum and Jonghyun. And with that, they were both alone again.

“I think I should go too.” Jonghyun said breaking the dragging silence as the were enjoying the hot choco that ahjuma gave them. Chunhee was in her room totally fascinated with the stars that they put up earlier.

“NO!” Kibum said, a little too loud than what he meant it to be. “I mean, aren’t you gonna wait for mom before going?”

Jonghyun placed his cup on the coffee table and patted Kibum's hair. “You can just ask me to stay longer. But okay, I won’t go home yet.” Kibum pouted, obviously defeated. The older chuckled and was not able to resist himself from pecking Kibum's pouty lips. That made Kibum back away in surprise. It was a good thing that the hot liquid in his cup was almost finished and if it wasn’t, it might have spilled over the both of them.

“Sorry, I—”Jonghyun was not able to finish because Kibum's lips silenced him. But it was gone as soon as he felt it.

“Truce.” The younger said as he smiled, his dimples showing. I can get used to this.

“Aegyo~!!!” Jonghyun poked Kibum's dimples and Kibum flailed his arms trying to shoo the other away.

- - -

“Amber-ssi, you didn’t tell us that you are really a great rapper!” Jinki said after the score was flashed.

“Yah! Jinki-ah, you can just call me Amber. It feels weird with the formalities and we are partying here.”

They all laughed. Taemin was right that it was more fun if they invited Jonghyun, Minho and Jinki. They were really enjoying themselves singing songs of famous Kpop and foreign artists. Sometimes they would even dance to certain songs. They also had a contest where the person to get the lowest score would have to do a certain dare.

“Why do I feel like this happened before?” Jonghyun asked when the dare was finalized. Kibum slapped his arm at that, knowing full well that the lead singer was talking about their class’ Christmas party. “What?!” he asked Kibum innocently.

“Whatever.”

In the end, it was Jinki who got the lowest score. “And you call yourself a singer, hyung?” Minho teased.

- - -

“Kibum hyung, can I borrow your phone? Mine’s dead. I’ll just text my mom that I’ll be later than usual.” Taemin said from across the little space that they were in. Kibum just nodded and pointed towards his bag on the sofa.

“Go find it there.” He said and went to reach for the glass of iced tea.

When Taemin just declared that he saw found it, Kibum chocked in his beverage. “Wait! Wait!” he said between his coughing fit. They all stopped, even Sulli who was singing. “Give that to me first.” Taemin handed the phone to Kibum, confused.

When it was given back to Taemin, it already showed the message screen. That made him more confused and curious. He knew how to navigate through that phone, so why would Kibum do that? He typed the message and was about to send it when Kibum called him again.

“Let me send it. I have a different name for aunty there.”

And if it was an anime series, Taemin might have sprouted cat ears and a tail. Something is up.

That’s why when everyone else were dancing and singing to Seaside, he slipped beside Minho and whispered something in his ear.

“Now that you mentioned it, Jonghyun hyung did the same when Jinki hyung tried to play with his phone yesterday.” The tall drummer said. “I think there is really something up.”

The youngest males exchanged glances when Kibum and Jonghyun went out of the room to order more food. Taemin grabbed Kibum's bag immediately and rummaged for the silver phone. Minho already got Jonghyun's phone because the singer left it on the table.

“What are you doing, Taemin? Kibum oppa wouldn’t like that!” Sulli said. They all knew that Kibum didn’t allow anyone to touch his stuff without his consent.

“I found it Minho hyung!” the young dancer said, ignoring Sulli’s warning.

Amber and Jinki would have stopped them, if only they didn’t know what was going on. They were also curious of the ‘over protectiveness’ of the pair with their phones. So when Taemin tapped the screen and when Minho flipped the other phone, they were a little surprised to see a picture of Jonghyun, with his weird habit of sleeping with his eyes half open as Kibum's wallpaper. It was the same in Jonghyun's phone, only, Kibum was the one sleeping.

Even in that state of mild shock, they managed to put things back before the pair returned. They all knew that it won’t really be pretty if they got caught. And when Jonghyun and Kibum finally came back with more snacks and drinks, they acted as if they knew nothing. Because in reality, they really had no idea what was happening between the two, aside from what they could see.

For the rest of the evening, the five noticed that the other two acted different with each other. Different, as in, they were much closer than before because when Jonghyun tried to make Kibum eat corn chips, which the younger called evil food, he declined but end up opening his mouth and munching on the chips. They also noticed how Jonghyun would whisper something on Kibum's ears and Kibum would try to stiffle his giggles and hide his blush.

- - -

It was a busy night in the Kim’s house in Daegun. Members of the family were going here and there doing some last minute preparations for Christmas Eve. Kibum was helping his almoni in the kitchen. He was mixing colors for the icing while the choco-marble cake was in the oven. Chunhee was watching him ‘magic’ blue and yellow for green.

When the timer dinged he got pot holders and pulled the cake out. He turned it over on the revolving tray to cool down a bit before putting on the icing.

It was just a quarter passed ten in the evening when they finished all the cooking and cleaning. They decided to call it a night and just wake up again at midnight. Out of habit, Kibum just sat on the sofa in the living room, the tv was on but he was not watching. Since he learned that Santa was his dad, he didn’t sleep while waiting for midnight. His reminiscing was cut off when his phone rang.

“Yoboseyo?”

“You’re still awake?”

“No. Maybe I’m sleep talking.” Kibum answered sarcastically. He received a chuckle from the other line.

“Don’t tell me you are camping out, waiting for Santa?”

“No, Chunhee is doing that.”

And they continued to talk about random stuffs from Santa to the falling snow to how the night sky was so clear at that moment.

“Hey, can you see the moon from where you are?”

Kibum looked outside the window but there was no moon in that angle. He stood up and walked to the window and sat on by the windowsill. “Yes I can see it now. Then what?”

“Can you see the bright star to the left?” Kibum nodded but realized that the other won’t see him so he said yes again. “Look at that star, I’m also looking at it now. Imagine that we are just sitting side by side.”

Kibum didn’t notice the time so he was surprised when the other person stopped mid-sentence and sing.

♪♫Ulmyeon andwae
Ulmyeon andwae
Santahalabeojineun uneun aiegen
Seonmuleul an jusindae

Santahalabeojineun algo gyesindae
Nuga chakan aenji nabbeunaenji
Oneulbame danyeogasindae

Jam jal ddaena ileonal ddae
Jjajeungnael ddae jangnanhal ddaedo
Santahalabeojineun modeun geoseul algo gyesindae

Ulmyeon andwae ulmyeon andwae
Santahalabeojineun uneun aiegen
Seonmuleul an jusindae ♪♫

“Merry Christmas, Bummie.”

Kibum laughed.

“Yah! Why are you laughing?”

“You are so cheesy, Jjong!” he replied, still laughing. But deep inside, he was touched.

Jonghyun was still whining on the other end when Kibum heard Chunhee squeal when she saw a big present with her name under the tree.

“Merry Christmas too, Jjong.”

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a/n: hi guys~ erm. Merry Christmas? gaaah! i'm so sorry i'm so out of the season! it's summer over some parts of the world and here i am singing "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" OTL

but i hope i did not disappoint you guys or anything? please speak out your minds and comment ^^ thank you~ ♥

credits to: emagasia for the lyrics

photo by: evil-genius-23 @ deviantart