A twelve year old Choi Siwon was always either the broad shouldered class captain, the quirky boy whose childish antics didn’t match his 15 year old face or the ever dazzling captain of the soccer team, but here a day before christmas, he was what he had never been before; a lovestruck fool. 

There he stood before his new neighbour with chestnut soft curls, and being one klutz of a blabber mouth with absolutely no gears on his tongue, the words slurred out of him in one long ephemeral spark of incomprehensible noises.

“youhaveanawfullyshorthairforsuchaprettyfacebutyourestillveryprettymyyouresopretty.”

Choi Siwon smacked himself mentally on the head, way to go suave Siwon. Seeing the pale being in front of him still agape and silent, Siwon wanted to just turn into snowflakes and combust then and there.

“I’m not pretty, I’m a boy,” the pale figure stuttered almost too slowly. As more snow hung on soft curls and orange coat, Siwon stood flabbergasted, and the occasional rustling of leaves were the only noises heard along with the shuffle of his brown boots against mounting snow.

“I don’t care,” Siwon proudly declared after having a mental battle in his head as he puts his mitten cladded hands on his hips.
“You’re still pretty, there’s nothing wrong with a pretty boy.”

“Kyuhyun. Cho Kyuhyun,” the lithe boy suddenly blurted and a shade of deep crimson was vivifying on his pale cheeks and neck as he stared down at his feet; lashes slightly grazing his plump cheeks. The silence was too loud and deafening as Siwon felt his heartbeat accelerated up to his ears on the sight of the blushing boy. Siwon smiled and deep dimples surfaced on his face, accentuating his too friendly of a smile as he held out his right hand.
“Siwon, Choi Siwon.”

Their first meeting continued with Siwon treating the younger male a cup of hot chocolate and the elder’s not so subtle flirting plus showers of cheesy compliments -- the whipped cream looks so soft like your skin, I’m sure the hot chocolate gets sweeter if you’re the one drinking it, kyu you’re pretty -- that not rarely had the younger choke on his drink. Amidst his constant teasing and the younger’s (insanely cute) blush, Siwon found out that Kyuhyun is a very, very shy boy and really liked christmas and all its array of festive foods, but his ultimate favorite was funny looking gingerbread men. The younger boy told him that he always made them with his mum on christmas and decorated it himself. Siwon, again being the blabbermouth he was can’t help but also blurt out everything about himself, how his parents were currently visiting his sick grandparents and that he was home alone, how despite his big stature he was a big softie for cute things -- like you, kyuhyun you cutie -- which earned him a whack on his head from the ever flushed Kyuhyun. Aside from that the younger also told him that he didn’t have many friends, but after a tense pause he shifted his eyes and continued,
“actually, I don’t have any since moving here.”
He chuckled after that, but Siwon didn’t buy it because the way Kyuhyun's hands trembled a little didn’t make it convincing. 

Before they went out of the cinnamon scented coffee shop,  Kyuhun told him something he was sure was the best thing anyone has ever said to him. Even better than when he was elected as the leader for the local church’s children fellowship. Siwon, would you like to spend christmas at my place? We can bake together, I’m sure my mother won’t mind. Kyuhyun hung his head down and bit his lower lip as he stared at the snow collecting on his boots and blushed again for the umpteenth time that day.  Siwon being the very expressive person he was smiled the widest, most creepiest grin Kyuhyun had ever seen and his dimples seemed to bore holes into his tanned face. They finally strutted back to their apartment with Seoul’s neon LEDs illuminating their features, highlighting their too bright of smiles along with the local christmas carol that seemed to include a soundtrack to their scripted like encounter -- too happy, too enchanting, too perfect. Kyuhyun was surprised at how the elder got to him almost too quickly, but it was a surprise he gladly accepted.

 The next day came by almost too slowly and by ten in the morning Siwon had already dressed up neatly in his favorite blue jumper and a matching cerulean beanie. He stuck his forehead on the window as he scrutinized the falling snowflakes that had Seoul bleed a glaze of delicate white and somehow it made the fluorescent headboards a little blurry on the edges, or maybe it was just the precipitation on his window. The doorbell rang and Siwon’s sock cladded feet automatically jumped and went to fetch the door because he knew it must be Kyuhyun. He was greeted by the sight of a lithe boy wearing a baby blue hoodie that was at least two sizes too big, and there were no words to better describe it than undeniably cute. Siwon thought Kyuhyun must be very sensitive from his neck upwards, because eighty percent of the time they spent together, Kyuhyun was always red on the face. He and Kyuhyun went down a level because that was where the Cho(s) live. The apartment was expectedly very homey, with the domination of warm colors on both furnitures and flooring, a fluorescent christmas tree stood at the corner; its technicolor lights reminded him of Kyuhyun’s bright smile. The younger’s parents welcomed them with two servings of chocolate cake and chamomile tea as they conversed with Siwon. Aside from the fact that they were very well brought up and friendly, Siwon realized that they had the same pale complexion as Kyuhyun, the same melodious voice and soft smile too. 

Their gingerbread making session began with Siwon eagerly memorizing the recipe given by Kyuhyun’s mother and the way his brows furrowed and forehead crinkled made Kyuhyun erupt in a very loud laugh. His attempt in trying to subdue his laughter by placing his hands over his mouth went futile as the giggles erupted even more. After what seemed like hours of confusion for Siwon and tummy ache inflicting laughters for Kyuhyun, they finally started the baking process. It then moved on to flours sticking at every possible crook and cranny of the furnished marble kitchen, making the room seemed like it had just rained soft powdered snow.
“Yah, hyung be careful!” 
Kyuhyun sounded slightly desperate as he ruffled his own hair because a certain broad shouldered klutz had at least knocked over four (fortunately plastic) containers in the past hour. The elder just grinned in return and Kyuhyun thought that Siwon might have a rupture in his jaw some years from now because the guy smiled too much, not that Kyuhyun minded though. Mrs Cho entrusted the kitchen to the both of them as she along with Mr Cho had a company dinner to attend to, and with the fifty percent of cooking ingredients ending up everywhere but the baking tray and mixing bowls, Siwon and Kyuhyun were bound to do some intensive cleaning after this. Out of the supposedly two dozen they managed to make 12 decent ones, because even before they baked, half of the ingredients had splat and flew and inevitably ending up somewhere it wasn’t supposed to be. Surprisingly, decorating the cookies went by almost too smoothly and the only noise heard was the clanking of utensils that reverberated in soft hums and shuffling of sock cladded feet through the ivory painted walls. Both boys were too immersed and were fortunately still very careful. The silence didn’t stay long as Siwon noticed Kyuhyun drawing two horizontal lines of chocolate icing above the eyes of his gingerbread man.

“What’s that line?” Siwon asked, pointing at the two lines Kyuhyun drew.
“It’s you, you have thick eyebrows.”

After what seemed like centuries of scrubbing floors, cleaning tables and washing dirty plates. The two  boys now strutted down the pavement towards the apartment’s playground with a plastic bag of gingerbread men on Kyuhyun’s left hand.
“The playground will be empty on christmas, we can have the place all to ourselves!”
Siwon tugged the younger’s hoodie and Kyuhyun just smiled, having never felt so treasured by a friend, he didn’t know how to respond and the thumps in his ears made it hard for him to think clearly. The elder was right, the playground was all snow and golden christmas lights that hung on the poles of the slide like luminous fireflies on tree branches. Siwon went up the slide first and extended his hand to help Kyuhyun up. He was surprised to find the younger’s hand to be so warm and a contagious warmth that is, because in a flicker Siwon was lost as the warmth crept up his veins and into that spot on his left ribcage. Both of them sat on top of the freezing slide as Kyuhyun unpacked their gingerbread men and a prepared dinner lunchbox Mrs Cho had packed. Being two boys with fluctuating testosterones and heavy appetites, the food finished in a glitz, again with the company of the elder’s corny attempt to swoon and the younger’s apple red cheeks. Siwon arched is head upwards at the sky and gazed.
“Kyuhyun I just discovered a picture of us,”
he slowly uttered, the words sounding hushed but Kyuhyun could clearly hear him because that night was incredibly quiet. Siwon paused for a moment and another smile lit up his face as he pointed his forefinger upwards, a little to the left.
“See that star on the corner, it’s the brightest amongst the others, a diamond amongst crystals, even though it’s alone in a corner it’s actually right next to the moon.”
Siwon pursed his lips, considering something in his head as he began,
“you’re the bright star, because everyone is just jealous of you because you’re beautiful but you’re not alone because you always have the moon with you. I’m the moon because I’m big and I can protect you, always ... ”
Kyuhyun just stared at the ‘Siwon Gingerbread’ in his hands as a gunk of snow fell on his boots. Siwon began again,
“well, not really. I’m sorry I’ve never been good at poems, I don’t know why I’m the moon besides the fact that it’s beside you and I’m just awesome.”
Siwon lit up with another smile, teeth showing this time. Kyuhyun only stared at the crystalizing sheet of snow on the base of the plastic slide as the elder’s words slowly sank down his limbs like lead. Kyuhyun wasn’t capable of handling compliments especially if it made his heart swell like this and he was afraid that his heart will burst out from his lips if he attempted to speak. Siwon, knowing how much of a shy introvert the younger was, let him be because the shade of crimson that illuminated Kyuhyun’s cheeks from the inside out was enough. The elder reached out for the younger’s lone hand and interlaced their fingers as he continued gazing upwards.
“It’s warmer like this, isn’t it?”
The younger squeezed the elder’s hand a lighter tighter in response, because again he was too afraid that the seams of his heart will burst if he ever tried to speak. Kyuhyun knew it was selfish of him, but he truly hoped that Siwon would understand and patiently wait for him to finally be able to convey his emotions properly -- because Siwon was different. There was no noise, just the quiet tune in their premature lungs; Siwon’s steady breathing, Kyuhyun’s ceaseless inhales of  long diminuendos because he feels lightheaded and all thoughts of exhaling or even breathing is forgotten -- and his cheeks burn.
“Merry Christmas, hyung.”
The younger’s voice was faint, unsteady and trembling but Siwon knew Kyuhyun tried, hard.
“Merry Christmas, Khyunnie.”
He smiled and held the younger’s hand a little firmer. The night went by as two little boys wordlessly held hands. Both feeling the unsteady contractions on their hearts, surprisingly the snow on raven hair and chestnut locks didn’t feel at all cold. The leftover gingerbreads, seemed to smile under the spectral illumination of the moon, their sugar lips bent upwards. 

Fifteen years later, Choi Siwon was either the broad shouldered CEO of Hyundai Corp, the quirky director whose childish antics didn’t match his rank nor age, or the ever dazzling son of Mr & Mrs Choi. One thing changed though, amongst all that, he was now always the lovestruck fool for a certain Cho Kyuhyun. After years of friendship or something beyond that, Siwon had managed to break down Kyuhyun’s walls -- amidst intoxicating kisses, still a bucket of cheesy swooning, midnight sessions of staring at the ceiling and talking till their fatigue gave in and many, many attempts to bake the perfect gingerbread men -- the shy introverted boy is now a very talkative and snarky mathematician.
Yep, Kyuhyun’s a mathematician and his thick black framed glasses made him even cuter -- because for Choi Siwon, Cho Kyuhyun is the personification of cute, as an eleven year old boy or even a beautiful twenty six year old man. Today is their sixteenth christmas together, and like every other year, it’s always spent at that one special place. No matter how odd it was to see two grown up men on a place like that.
With a container of homemade gingerbreads, both of them sat on top of the freezing slide, the plastic jaundice, yellowing over age.
They wordlessly held hands, as they had so every previous christmas, because every 25th of December they were once again a twelve and eleven year old little boys in love all over again.