It was this time of the year again. Nichkhun opened the fridge and peered inside to find nothing that was worthy of celebrating Lunar New Years Eve. Closing the fridge, the Thai Prince sighed and took out a packet of instant noodles. It was better than nothing after all. s had all left early in the morning to go back to family, to go filming, it was depressing to be alone for New Years Eve.

As the exasperated 2PM member grabbed a pair of chopsticks to eat the noodles, the phone suddenly rang.

“Hello?” Nichkhun answered the phone as politely as he could as he tried to slurp down all his noodles so that his voice wouldn’t need to sound so muffled.

“Son?”

Nearly choking, Nichkhun quickly wiped his mouth and adjusted the phone so that he could hear better, “mother?”

“What are you doing? You should’ve called me as soon as you woke up!” the voice from over the phone said hastily but full of affection.

“Ah, sorry, I was hungry, I thought it would be better if I called later”, Nichkhun apologised, a small smile on his lips.

“It’s okay, just wanted to tell my son to make sure he’s eating well on new years eve!”

Chuckling a little, Nichkhun took a quick glance at his instant noodles, “Mother, I will, don’t worry too much!”

“You have to persevere and do well this year too, okay?”

Smiling, Nichkhun nodded, “I know, it would be nice if I could see everyone soon.”

“The chance will come when it’s right, now, your mother is going to be busy preparing for the New Years, work hard okay? We all love you~ I’ll call you again tomorrow!”

“I love you too!” Nichkhun responded just in time before his mother hung up.

Quickly finishing up his noodles, Nichkhun wondered what he should do for the whole day. Perhaps he should go visit Taecyeon and Wooyoung at their set…but he’d probably be a hindrance to them, so that idea was forgotten.

Cleaning up the little dishes he had used, the pale skinned man wondered around his living quarters aimlessly before he decided that he should go out for a short walk around the park, hopefully, everyone would be at home celebrating instead of crowding around the streets.

Pulling on a big jacket, a warm scarf and an inconspicuous hat, Nichkhun stepped out into the chilly street.

Perhaps Nichkhun was just too tired, he had forgotten that it was perfectly normal for families to be celebrating on the streets, the festive atmosphere caught him by surprise. Nichkhun didn’t know how long he had been wondering around for, but by the time he had reached home, it was already dark.

Hurriedly turning the heater on, Nichkhun opened the fridge for the second time that day, he took out a few ingredients and decided he’s make himself a simple dinner. He wasn’t in the mood to eat out or take away. His mother did tell him to eat well, and making his own dinner seemed like something reasonable to do.

It was a simple vermicelli dish, yet Nichkhun felt strangely proud. As he ate his dinner by himself, he felt as though he could not feel any lonelier, yet when his mind wandered to the people he wanted to spend new years eve with, he felt immensely lonelier.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated. Nichkhun opened his phone and read the SMS that was sent to him.

Hyung~ Can I stop by your place today?

It was Minho. Nichkhun blinked blankly at his phone. It was strange, Minho was supposed to be with his family…was supposed to be training hard at SM. Perhaps it was a cruel joke someone was playing by sending such a hopeful message to him from Minho’s phone. A little worried, Nichkhun immediately called the younger artist.

“Hello?” Minho’s voice came sweetly when the call connected

“Minho?” Nichkhun asked with hesitancy

“Hyung? Did you get my text?”

“Oh…”, Nichkhun figured it really was Minho who had sent the text, “Minho, happy new year!”

Laughing heartily, Minho returned the greeting, “happy new year to you too! So, is it okay if I come over in a bit?”

“Oh, of course”, Nichkhun agreed instantly, “there’s only me here today, there’s no problem, but Minho, it’s new years eve, don’t you want to spend it with family?”

Minho clicked his tongue, “of course, hyung! But I have to make sure I visit all the family I can, and you’re not an exception!” Without waiting for a reply from Nichkhun, Minho continued talking, “hyung, I’ll see you in a bit!” And the SHINee member hung up.

Nichkhun wondered if it was okay for him to feel touched, to feel immensely loved. It did not take long for the doorbell to be rung. Coming back to his sense, Nichkhun opened the door, already knowing that it was Minho on the other side of the door. The 2PM member instantly pulled Minho inside and wrapped his arms around the younger artist.

“Ah, hyung, you were all alone today, must’ve been lonely~” Minho sympathised as he wrapped his arms around the other, “you’re so warm~”

“Hm?” Nichkhun hugged the other a little tighter.

“Ah, manager-hyung…it’s new years eve, so I came here by public transport, it’s really cold outside.” Minho tried to explain.

“What?” Nichkhun asked with alarm as he held onto Minho’s shoulders and looked into the other’s eyes.

“Can I sleep here tonight?” Minho asked quietly with pleading eyes.

Just albeit hesitant, Nichkhun nodded and braced himself for the gigantic bear hug that he knew Minho would bless him with. And his expectations were reached when Minho flung his arms around Nichkhun’s neck.

“Thank-you so much!” Minho laughed before pressing his lips against Nichkhun’s cheeks.

“You’re freezing”, Nichkhun finally stated as he dragged Minho into the kitchen, “I’ll make you some hot chocolate, okay?”

Nodding, Minho took a seat, “hyung, I bought some fireworks over, so let’s light them up together later.”

Nichkhun took a glance at the handheld fireworks that Minho had brought over. He felt a wave of nostalgia as he remembered all the times he had lit fireworks with his family. Wordlessly, Nichkhun went over to hug Minho again, leaving a kiss on the other’s mop of black hair before putting his attention back to making hot chocolate.

However, Nichkhun could only boil the water before Minho stopped him with a suggestion, “Khun-hyung, let’s go light the fireworks first, it’s cold outside, and then we can come back in for hot chocolate.”

“Okay, sure”, Nichkhun agreed with a smile, his hands immediately cupping the other’s cheeks, a futile attempt to warm Minho’s iced cheeks.

The two idols laughed over small things as they huddled together and lit the fireworks outside.

“This year, the year of the rabbit is going to be great”, Minho told Nichkhun as he waved his handheld firework around like a little kid.

“What kind of wishes and aspirations does Minho have?” Nichkhun asked, his smile widening with Minho’s perfect smile.

“I can’t tell you that, otherwise my wishes won’t come true”, Minho smiled apologetically.

“What about your goals?” Nichkhun asked even though he kind of already knew the type of answer someone as diligent as Minho would give him.

“I want to be able to smile every day, knowing that I’ve worked hard!” Minho announced proudly, “hyung, what about you?”

Nichkhun wondered if it was okay to tell Minho that it was his wish to see the other every day, he wondered if it was okay to tell Minho that he wished Minho would call him Khun, call him Khunnie…”Minho”

“Hm?” Minho looked at Nichkhun curiously, expecting the other to tell him his goals for the year 2011.

Without saying anything, Nichkhun held Minho’s chin with his free hand and pulled the younger man towards himself, pressing their lips firmly together. By the time Nichkhun had nudged Minho’s lips open, their fireworks had died and Nichkhun had pulled Minho into his lap, his hands moving to hold the back of Minho’s neck and around his thin waist.

Minho wasn’t quite sure what had influenced Nichkhun to suddenly kiss him out of the blue like that, but he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy it. By the time their lips separated, Minho was in a daze, a little confusion dancing in his eyes.

Smiling just a little sheepishly, Nichkhun led them back inside, where it was warm. When Minho had finally snapped out of it, he found himself in Nichkhun’s lap once more, holding onto a cup of hot chocolate.

“You were dazed for so long, what were you thinking about?” Nichkhun asked, looking affectionately at Minho.

“I…”, Minho did not know how to answer as his fingers gently traced over Nichkhun’s lips, “I don’t know.”

“You know”, Nichkhun started, “I thought for sure that today you were either going to spend it at your parent’s place or practicing hardcore back at SM.”

“So?” Minho asked, sipping on the hot chocolate.

“I didn’t know you’d end up here”, Nichkhun playfully pressed Minho’s nose, “did you miss me that much?”

Pursing his lips, Minho shrugged, “I just knew that you’d be feeling lonesome today.”

Nichkhun ran his hand through Minho’s hair, naturally smiling when he thought about how much Minho’s hairstyle reminded him of a little boy, “Minho-ah, when you’re done with the hot chocolate, let’s go to bed, okay?”

Nodding, Minho quickly finished the hot chocolate.

When the two had finally climbed into a single bed together, it was already way past midnight. Yet Minho still wanted to talk as he fiddled around with Nichkhun’s fingers.

“Khun-hyung”, Minho called out the other’s name in the dark, “tell me your goals for the new year.”

“Hmm~” Nichkhun slowly pulled Minho into his embrace as he thought, “firstly, it would be nice if we could do even better than last year this year, secondly, I’d like to smile more this year, thirdly, I’d like to learn Japanese well and lastly, I’d like it if Minho called me ‘Khun’ by the end of the year.”

Minho blinked blankly in the darkness, “I can grant your fourth goal now…Khun” Minho said softly, a little embarrassed.

Laughing, Nichkhun muttered a ‘thank-you’ before he started to sing a lullaby to lull the younger one to sleep.

In the morning of the Lunar New Year, Nichkhun woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. Tiredly, he picked up the phone, “hello?”

“Happy New Year son!” a cheerful voice came from the other end.

“Oh, mother”, Nichkhun yawned, scratching the back of his head, “happy new year to you too~”

“Why do you sound so tired at the start of the day?”

Blinking, Nichkhun shrugged, before realising his mother couldn’t see what he was doing, “late night, sorry~”

“Oh, my dear son, I’m so sorry, it must’ve been tough and lonely spending new years eve without family”, the mother stuttered apologetically over the phone, “your mother’s heart is in pain for you.”

“Ah!” Nichkhun’s eyes opened wide, “no, mother, it’s okay, please don’t worry. I had a lovely new years eve”, Nichkhun took a glance at Minho who was slumbering quietly, “truly, a beautiful new years eve with family.”