Xiumin: Xiumin and you were snuggled on the sofa; it was a couple weeks before your first Christmas together so it meant it was time to tell each other what you wanted for Christmas. But when it got down to it, you both ignored the topic as if your lives depended on it. In all honesty, you wanted your gift to Minseok to come from your heart, and not from what he told you. Besides, you were pretty sure you had the ideal gift for him. Minseok only had the first book of his favourite manga series, because it was so difficult to track. You knew with some time and dedication, as well as a very good bartering skills, you’d be able to get at least two more of the series. You could just picture his face as he opened the wrapping to find two mint condition manga novels in his possession, his gummy smile to compliment his big eyes. You were excited to track down these books for him.

He told you all about how he wanted these manga books months ago, and had probably forgotten about it already. Even if you brought it up, he knew how hard the books were to track and would probably attempt to dissuade you. But every time he took a plane ride back to Korea, he had packed that book with him. Of course you had to buy him the next ones in the set! In return, Xiumin should know you well enough to know that all you needed was a signed poster of the Exo members, to match your signed CD’s.  You had been talking about it since he had told you that Exo was doing a poster, and of course as their biggest fangirl you had to have it. Especially if you could get it, and signed before the rest of the other so-called fangirls could get it, you’d have a sense of pride. But you figured Minseok would go for something more romantic, knowing him.

The next day you were on all the websites you could find. You found someone, she seemed really nice too! You started chatting with her, talking to her about how your boyfriend only had the first of these books, and he kept it in pure mint condition, but you wanted to get him something more so that he could continue the series. The girl even mentioned how much she liked you so she’d be willing to make a trade with you for the books. You looked through your bookshelf, looking for anything to worth trading. There was nothing, except for your prized Exo CD’s. You stood there for a moment, thinking about how you didn’t want to give away these CD’s, but then it hit you. That picture of Minseok’s bright smile, and how excited he would be about this. Begrudgingly, you sat at your laptop and told the seller you had signed Exo CD’s.

The deal was made. The girl accepted it in a heartbeat. You sent her pictures, feeling your gut wrenching in pain. These were gifts from Minseok, and you loved them so much, but you knew that this would be worth it. Before he got back, you quickly went to pick up the books and give away your CDs. You could even feel yourself cry as the girl’s face lit up with happiness, happiness you felt when you first got the CDs. It made you almost happy that you had made someone that happy, but you also felt like punching her face in and stealing the CDs back and running away. Unfortunately for you, that wasn’t socially accepted, so you watched in defeat as the girl walked away with your precious albums.

In your heart you knew it would be worth it eventually, no matter how horrible you felt in that moment.

You wrapped them together so they looked like a thick book or a box and hid them at them under the tree in the back corner where Minseok wouldn’t look right away. You constantly had to remind yourself that this was all going to be worth it eventually. Minseok was going to make this worth it or you would have to pester him for a new album. Not that you didn’t have plans to do that already.

Soon enough it was time for the dreaded exchange where you would have to tell Xiumin that you had traded away the CDs he got you for the manga he had wanted so desperately. You curled up with his presents in his lap, a blanket hiding you as you cuddled the couch. He was supposed to be home any moment now, and you had prepared everything. Dimmed lights, candles, cookies and hot cocoa (because it was so chilly outside) were set out and pending his arrival. The jingling of the keys from the other side of the door notified you of his arrival and a shot of anxiety ran through your systems. You bit down on your lip tightly, not sure if you were ready for this after all.

You watched him as he slipped off his shoes and grabbed a long cylindrical parcel that stuck out of his bag. He quickly shuffled over, catching your lips in a soft kiss. You wanted to melt as he smiled down at you. “I’m home jagiya, Merry Christmas.” He ran a couple fingers through your hair and jumped over the back of the couch, landing on the side opposite of yours. He presented you with the long parcel and you opened it. Lo and behold, he had remembered exactly what you wanted, posters of both Exo-K and Exo-M. “Kris had them, so I had to get them from him, but look, I got them jagiya! You wanted this right?” He chirped sweetly, you felt as if someone punched you in the gut.

You smiled weakly and kissed his cheek, “Exactly what I wanted. Here, open mine now.” You handed over your small gift and watched as he unravelled it in his excitement, his expression to drop only when he saw what it was. You frowned as his look changed from excitement to disappointment. “What’s wrong Minseokkie?” You asked looking at his dejected expression.

Minseok’s eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out how to say this to you. “I… traded Kris the first book of this series for the posters…” He admitted quietly, only to look up in shock as you burst out in laughter. “Jagiya, are you ok?”

You couldn’t contain it anymore; you were crying and laughing at the same time. “Minseok, I traded my CDs to get you those books.” Soon enough he was joining you in laughter as you both put your gifts down. “Aish, I love you baozi.” You mumbled as you kissed him quickly, settling yourself in his lap as his arms wound around your waist.

“I love you too crazy kid.” He mumbled as he rested his head on your shoulder. “At least I know what to get you for Valentine’s day…”

Luhan: Luhan knew that you were more than excited for this Christmas season because this would be your first Christmas away from home. As soon as you had seen Starbucks bring out their red cups, you were in a “flurry of feels” as you had commonly described them. He never really understood what a feel was, or how it actually became a noun, was it even a noun? He didn’t know what sort of language term was supposed to be used to describe this use of the word “feel”. All he knew was that you were generally insane when it came to the idea of Christmas.

So much so that you had made it a point to buy a Starbucks drink since the red cups had been put on display. As well, you had already downloaded and put all your Christmas music into a playlist, and it was nonstop. Luhan was pretty sure he knew all your English Christmas music by heart. He smiled to himself thinking about you as he lounged casually on the sofa. He had already picked out the perfect gift for you, and it was already hidden at Exo’s dorm, in a place you would never, ever look for it.

But that wasn’t enough, he knew he needed more. He reached over to his laptop, peering over his shoulder to check if you were home. There was no sign of you, but a boy could never be too safe. “________?” He called out a few times. He paused a few moments, waiting to see if you’d reply. Silence. A grin broke out onto his baby face as he quickly opened the laptop and then an incognito window. There was absolutely no way you would be finding about this little research of his. Luhan smirked at his brilliance as he looked up things he could do for you this Christmas to get you more pumped as this next month to the magical day passed. He absolutely loved the way you lit up when the day was mentioned, so hopefully his little tasks could make you light up even more in anticipation. Just this whole scheme made him bubble in excitement for the holiday.

That’s when he found it, it was practically perfect. 10 Things to Do in Preparation for Christmas.  Could he have found a better website? He quickly jumped up, running into the bedroom. The deer was on a mission, pen and paper. Where in the world was the pen and paper? That’s when it hit him, he could just write this into his phone, and it’d be better because you probably wouldn’t look into the notes on his phone. Unlike if you saw a piece of paper just lying around the apartment; you would probably be more inclined to read that.

Luhan quickly looked around the apartment for his cellphone, because in his excitement he had forgotten it was sitting in his pocket. The boy shoved his hands into his pockets out of anger, knocking his phone in the process. As he pulled it out of his pants, he blushed in realization that he had looked around like an idiot for nothing. He smiled sheepishly to himself, walking himself back to the sofa, his bare feet padding against the wooden floor happily. He crossed his legs, balancing the laptop in on his thighs as he carefully scanned the words. Most of these ideas seemed very basic, things that anyone would do on Christmas. Set up lights, bake, go to events, plan events, buy gifts… He needed something more than that!

That’s when he read it. It was a genius idea! Going to see Santa at the mall! You would never ask something like that from him, and it would be easy enough to surprise you with, potentially. He’d definitely think about the perfect scheme. This would get you so psyched! The bouncing boy shut the program, and his computer, making sure to save his ingenious idea. Now, all he had to do was plan…

You were excited, Luhan was taking you shopping! You were getting gifts that you could ship home for your family and friends back where they were. This was the first Christmas you were planning to spend away from home, so of course you had to send at least something back for them. You held his hand as you walked from store to store, purchasing things that made you think of people back home.

Suddenly, as you walked through the mall, all went down. You panicked as you felt hands cover your eyes. “Luhan!” you gasped in shock. “What are you doing?” You didn’t like what was going on. Mind you, you weren’t really a fan of surprises, so whatever Luhan was planning was already getting you both anxious and angry.

“Baobei, just sh ok? Let me do this one time okay?” Luhan said as he guided you to the very short line for pictures with Santa. Of course, your nerves only grew as you overhead children asking someone, presumably their mothers, what two adults were doing there of all places. Why the hell was Luhan bringing you to a child’s place? You frowned until you felt him guide you to sit on something… or was this a someone? You opened your eyes to see a little Asian man dressed as Santa, and you looked to your boyfriend in surprise. “Surprise Baobei!” He chirped excitedly as he sat on the other side of Santa, looking at you. “I figured that coming to visit Santa would get you more excited about Christmas, and we could buy lots of pictures to send back!” He grinned brightly, causing you tear up a little. His grin faltered and he leaned forward, catching any tears before they got far. “Baobei what’s wrong?!” He asked worriedly. “Did I screw up? What’s wrong baobei, tell me? We can go if you don’t want to do this?”

You shook your head. You were not crying sad tears, nor did you have an irrational fear of the holiday figure. “Méiyǒu, Luhan, I’m really happy.” You choked out, reaching out for a hug. Naturally, your loving boyfriend complied and hugged your quickly. “Now baobei,” your boyfriend instructed as he broke the hug, “Tell Santa what you want so we can take the picture.” You nodded and shooed him away, whispering your wish into Santa’s ear and then eagerly calling him back.

You posed, putting up your ever so trademarked v signs and flashing your biggest of grins. Like two children in a candy store, you checked your picture and willingly paid the expensive price to get at least one of the pictures. (You could easily just scan and print more copies once you returned home.)

As he carried the bags out, Luhan jumped as you wrapped your arms around him, burying your head into his back. “Thank you Luhan,” you mumbled happily. “That was the greatest surprise I’ve had in a while.” You chirped, letting go only to give him a quick kiss. “You’re the greatest.” You helped him load the car with all the gifts and his newly swelled pride. He had done a good job.

Kris: You sat there in the kitchen, anxiously fixing yourself up and making everything around you absolutely perfect. Nothing was happening on the computer, nor were you skyping anyone. But you would be soon. Your parents and you were terrified to tell them that you just didn’t have the funds to come home that Christmas. A sanctified tradition in your family was that everyone was home on this holiday, and you would be the first to break that tradition.

You didn’t think Kris was home yet, but he was, watching you quietly, waiting to make himself known. You started Skyping your parents and Kris smiled. He loved to watch smile, and how you bubbled when you were with your parents. He grit his teeth, trying to hold himself back from pulling you into his arms as you delivered the bad news. He caught his bottom lip between his lips as you burst into tears, forcing yourself to end the conversation. You ended up retreating to your room, and he stood there defeated, helpless. This had been a decision you had made on your own part, without his agreement. Kris had of course offered to pay the tickets to go home, but you had adamantly refused because you didn’t want him to waste his money on tickets, especially if he could have surprise schedule.

Kris left the apartment, calling his manager and begging his superior to have at least five days off, at the least. When he was granted that, he quickly snuck back inside and booked two tickets back to your hometown, because he knew exactly how he was going to surprise you this Christmas. When he purchased the tickets, he signed into your Skype. Kris peered around, figuring it wasn’t safe enough to Skype your parents in the kitchen, so he stepped into the hallway. He figured out their emails, and then sent them one from his account after much thought. You were smart enough to figure out if he Skype’d your parents.

Naturally, your parents were more than willing to house you and Kris during your surprise and impromptu stay. Now all Kris would have to do was plan, and pack, and book tickets. Sure, he knew how to do 3/4ths of what he had initially listed, but how was he going to pack for you? The man clicked his tongue as he schemed again, furrowing his brow ever so slightly. These speed bumps were not helping him out, but he’d do this. You deserved it. You deserved to go home and see your parents, and all he wanted was your happiness.

The next day as you took a shower, the giant decided to play spy. He sleuthed around the shared apartment, in hunt of a cellular device that was not his own. But there was not much time for this operation, and his foe was so good at hiding things. Had you taken your phone with you into the bathroom again?! How many times did he tell you not to do that? It wasn’t like you could text in the shower, and whoever you were texting could wait for you to be clothed before you replied! That’s when he saw it, the beautiful device quietly charging in the corner. He dove, scooping the phone up into his arms and frantically checking the number as the shower became quiet. Time was pressed. He quickly plugged in your password and stole the number of your best friend, unable to make the call now to get you to sleep over the night before your trip. When you were not looking, Kris shot your friend a couple texts with the plan and finally, everything started to fall into place for him.

A few days later you were spending the night with your friend, thoroughly distracted and having an amazing time. The only thing that had you a tad confused was that your friend had told you not to bring anything. No pajamas, just a pair of clothes for the next day would be all that you needed. Mind you, worrying about your lack of stuff just failed to occur due to extreme happiness and the fact that you were having so much fun. You hadn’t had a sleepover like this in years, and parting was hard. But it was a sweet sorrow since Kris was the one to pick you up in the morning. You eagerly looked out the window, but only frowned when you realized you were headed to the airport.

“Are you going to Korea without telling me again?!” You snapped, glaring at him harshly. You could feel your anger rising as you watch his calm expression turn into a little smile and chuckle. “Answer me!”

“No _______, we are not going to Korea. Would you just go with the flow please?” He asked as you parked in a long term parking spot and he got out. He unloaded all of the luggage, some for him and yourself. “Come, grab your stuff, we have to go check in.” You nodded confusedly and followed behind him, a tad curious to what he was up to.

He brought you to international flights and you frowned. Was he taking you to Korea this time? He breezed right past the airlines that went to Korea and you jogged to catch up to him. “Kris! You passed it!” You chirped, happy that he was at least willing to take you to Korea. But he shook his head. So, you weren’t going to Korea? Finally he stopped at Cathay Pacific and your jaw dropped. Cathay Pacific went home… you were going home! You looked up at your boyfriend in shock and he just gave you one of his cocky but ridiculously y smirks. “Kris…” You whispered as you felt the tears cascade down your cheeks.

He chuckled and wiped them before they got to your chin. “Baobei, don’t cry over something like this. We’re not even on the plane yet.” He teased as he pulled you into a hug. “I didn’t like seeing you cry, so Merry Christmas?” He offered, kissing the top of your head. You nodded and just hugged him, waiting for your tears to stop.

Lay: It had been a long day at work, and honestly, you could feel yourself starting to resent this day more and more. What made it all worse was that today was Christmas Eve! You had to deal with all the men who had forgotten to get their significant other anything for the holidays. You had to deal with women who were so stressed from holiday shopping that they took it out on you, the poor sales associate. What the hell did you do to them to spite them so? Nothing, that’s what. Yet all of a sudden you were subject to hearing all about how stressed they were, and how picky their present list was. Quite frankly, if the people you’re buying presents for are that picky, then you should be buying them anything because they’re ungrateful brats.

To boot, Yixing said he couldn’t pick you up from home, so you had to walk through the snowy and sludgy streets back to your shared apartment. The streets were lonely, but that was probably because everyone was already at home with their loved ones while you were out in the cold walking. Mind you, Yixing had told you he wasn’t going to pick you up, because he was setting up his plans for tonight. He had plans for tonight? That was more than intriguing.

You were interested to know what Yixing had planned for you guys. You got to the door and unlocked it. “Yixing?” You called as you slipped off your heels, “I’m home!” You chirped, happy that your shoes were now off your feet. They were really hurting you. Mind you, heels were not meant to be worn for more than a couple hours, but you were doing full standing day shift in them. Not your best idea, but your boss had strange demands, and all workers had to comply. You had complained to Yixing about this many times before. He was such a good boyfriend, planning things like this for you and listening to your complaints, you really didn’t do all that much for him. But this year, you were sure you got him an awesome gift. He had been dying to get one of those super fancy microphones so he could record himself at home, and being the good girlfriend you were, you got one for him, as well as one of the best music editing programs you could find.

You walked into your apartment, surprised that no one was answering you. But that’s when you saw it, tea light candles and rose petals scattered around the floor of your living room. Your jaw dropped in awe, it was absolutely gorgeous. “Oh you’re home!” You snapped around to see Lay standing there holding two plates of handmade dinner.  “You came back sooner than I expected.” He chirped, kissing your cheek before placing the food down on the table. “Come, sit and eat, tell me all about your day.” He said as he poured two glasses of champagne. You sat down and ate, telling him all about your day. He even offered to give you a foot massage but you decided to save that for later tonight.

When dinner was finished, you helped him clean up and both of you returned to the sofa with your glasses of champagne. You crawled over to him, resting your head on his chest as you pulled a blanket over the two of you. You could hear his heart beating, and you smiled. “I love you…” You whispered happily. His lips pressed to the top of your head as he whispered the phrase in return.

You felt your eyes starting to close and your body drifting off to sleep until he moved to stand up, pulling you with him. “Jagiya, sleeping is for later! I have more things to do before you can sleep!” He chirped with a giant grin, which brought out one of your favourite Lay features, his dimple. You raised a brow in curiosity as he pulled you into his arms, using the remote to turn on the radio. The smooth voices of American Christmas crooned you into a slow dance. Yixing’s arms tightened around you as you rested your head on his shoulder. Your ears found his heartbeat again; it was such a soothing sound. Once more, your eyes drifted closed as you swayed with him to the music. “I have one more surprise for you jagiya, and then you can go to sleep.” He whispered in your ear, finally letting you go as the song died down.

Your interest was piqued as he sat you down on the sofa and disappeared into the bedroom. When he emerged, he was holding his guitar, and quickly joined you on the couch. “I learned a couple songs for you jagiya, so hopefully you can sing along. I mean, you know English better than I do.” He mumbled bashfully as he prepared himself to play. He quickly tuned up and started to hit chords, chords that were very familiar sounding. That’s when it hit you. He was playing Frosty the Snowman!  You quickly started to sing, supremely touched that he would learn how to play these for you. Before you knew it, he was singing along with you in his cute English with his accent.

One song passed, and then the next. The sheer number of Christmas carols he knew was simply amazing! You had never heard him practice these songs before so you were surprised that he was suddenly playing them so flawlessly. And singing to them too no less! You were proud, and you were happy. This was the perfect way to end your otherwise horrible day. While he was segueing into the next song, you got up and quickly prepared two hot chocolates with whipped cream and marshmallows. You definitely had stocked up on sweets for the season, and returned so that the drinks would have cooled down to drinking temperature by the end of the next song. As you sat down, you smiled at him. “How many of these did you learn?” You asked with a bright smile.

He blushed slightly, smiling at you. “Just a few, I only know one more, but… it’s more of a solo song baobei.” You nodded eagerly, more than willing to let him serenade you while you drank cocoa by the candle lit floor. This was the absolute, best Christmas you had ever spent… so far. He sang for you, serenading you with his smooth voice and you melted into the sofa. Your thought pattern in that moment floated around the idea of how lucky you were to have him by your side and as the song ended, you were pulled out of your reverie.

The corners of your lips pulled into a wide grin. “Yixing, that was amazing!” You squealed as you threw your arms around him, connecting your lips together. “Aish, you’re so talented.” You chirped with a giggle, nuzzling against his neck.

He smiled and stood up. “I’ll be right back, and then maybe we can take those cocoas in bed with some cuddles.” He said excitedly as he ran back to your bedroom, depositing the guitar on its stand. You were standing there waiting for him to return, most of the lights in the living room had finally blown out. Upon his return, he quickly did away with whatever flames were left and lifted you in his arms, eliciting a squeal from you as you tried not to spill any cocoa. Lay carried you back to your room and placed you on the bed, connecting his lips with your again. “Merry Christmas baobei,” he mumbled, trying not to break the contact.

“Merry Christmas Yixing.” You cooed, pressing your forehead against his. Ready to make a perfect night even better.

Chen: It was the catchy chorus of Exo-M’s song Machine that blasted from your phone, causing you to jump into action. It was Chen! Or someone using Chen’s phone, but you knew it was going to be Jongdae because no one used his phone besides him, at least not to call you. Today Jongdae was going to call you to confirm the plans you guys had for Christmas. His only job was to book off three days, which should be easy enough since he had done it a month ago. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day were days you had planned to spend together. As you ran for the phone, you stubbed your toe on the furniture, sending the phone to the ground, and you just after it as you dove to catch it. “Hello!?” You gasped, hoping you had answered in time.

That soft laughter from the other side of the line was heavenly for you. You could just picture his smile as he thought how cute you were for rushing. “Jagiya, are you okay? You sound out of breath and I’m not even there!” He teased quietly, causing you to blush. You tried to think of something clever to say, but came up short, only able to open your mouth and think. He chuckled and continued, “Jagiya, mianhe , I have some really bad news for you…” Jongdae took a serious tone, “I won’t be able to be home for Christmas, the group has a lot of promotions, I’m so sorry.”

Your heart hit your stomach and your stomach dropped. How could he do this to you? He knew you had been waiting for this! Tears welled up in your eyes and you could feel your voice wavering. You needed to end this call now. “Ah, Jongdae… It’s okay… Just, keep well okay? Merry Christmas…” You hung up right away even though you had heard him trying to call for you. You couldn’t take it. Tears cascaded down your cheeks, you couldn’t help but cry.

Chen on the other hand, was getting off the phone with a disheartened look. This stupid prank was making you cry, but at the same time, he was happy that you had no clue what was going on. The members looked at him confusedly. “Ah, I just got off the phone with _______, the plan is on for sure.” He said with a small smile. “I just feel bad; I think she’s crying…” He mumbled as he looked down. The idea of you crying was killing him inside. The members just pursed their lips and shook their heads at him. “What?” He asked out of curiosity, pursing his own lips. “This is a great idea. She’s going to be so happy!”

“If she doesn’t kill you first,” Lu Han pointed out. “You are telling her you won’t be there for something she’s been waiting forever for, just so that you can pull one of your stupid stunts and troll her. Your gift better be worth it Chen or she’s going to hand your back to you on a silver platter.”

Chen chuckled. You had a good head on your shoulders, and managed to put him in his place on more than one occasion. He nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I was wondering you guys, what do you think I should get her? I was thinking some jewelry. Like a really nice necklace.”

Luhan nodded in his approval, “But it better be something pricey Chen, make it worth her time and her pain. You’re acting like a .”

Chen nodded eagerly and ran to his room, pulling out a slim but long jewelry box and ran back out.  He opened it and a beautiful necklace lay in the box. “What do you guys think?” He asked placing it on the table; all the members gave their approval. It was a big hit with the boys, especially Luhan.

On Christmas, you were upset. But not just a little bit upset, this was an “I’m going to kill him” upset.  You were forced to stay in because everyone you knew had plans that day, so you just sat on the sofa, watching Christmas specials with a tissue box because you were heartbroken. The first Christmas you had so meticulously planned was ruined. You wanted to kick him in the balls so hard that his testes would jump up to his throat.

What you didn’t notice was him entering your apartment with the key you had given him, bringing your favourite takeout food. You hadn’t even noticed him enter since you were in your world of Christmas specials. Chen snuck into the kitchen, plating all the food and laying it out for you. As soon as it was set, he took one of your cheap glasses. He knew you wouldn’t miss it. “I’m sorry jagiya, but Merry Christmas.” He whispered as he hid from your view, ready to make a mad dash to your bedroom when you stood. He tossed the glass to the ground, watching it shatter as he waited for your reaction. Jongdae felt like a spy on a mission for the greater good. As you stood up to go check what the noise was, he ran to your room and hid again.

You had jumped as you heard a glass shatter in your kitchen. “What was that?!” You asked panicked as you went to check the front door. It was locked, Chen was smart enough to lock it on his way in so you didn’t panic and call the cops on him. You frowned and grabbed a broom, only to walk into the kitchen and find not only a mess on the floor, but dinner laid out for you as well. Smiling softly, you thought you had a pretty good idea as to what was going on. That troll. You smiled and cleaned up the mess quickly, sitting down to eat after the floor was safe to walk on again.

Of course it was delicious, not that you were expecting anything less than that. You stood up slowly, tip toeing into your room, because you actually thought you could surprise Chen at his own game. But when you got into your room, no one was there. You ran to check the washroom, and inside your closet, but you couldn’t find him anywhere. That’s when you noticed the necklace box sitting on your bed. You gasped, opening it to find it empty with a little note inside that read: LOL JK LOVE YOU JAGI. You felt your face flush as you grew angry, but something dropped in front of your face and a cold metal pressed against your chest.

“Yah, jagiya… you shouldn’t get so mad.” Chen scolded as he fastened the necklace, giving you a mirror so you could see. “Merry Christmas my beautiful jagi,” he whispered softly into your ear, leaving a quick kiss on your cheek. You stood there for a moment, holding the mirror up on your own as you admired the necklace. Chen wrapped his arms around your waist and rested his head on his shoulder. “Don’t I have such good taste?” He chirped happily.

You shook your head. “No, you’re absolutely tasteless! I can’t believe you’d pull a stunt like this!” You scolded as you smacked him softly. A knowing smile pulled onto his lips as you pouted cutely, puffing out your cheeks. “Merry Christmas you jerk.” You muttered as you hugged him. “It’s beautiful, thank you…”

Tao: There was a stressed tension that filled the boardroom as idols worked desperately against the clock. Young Tao had been working on this project for a week now, and tonight was the night it would be going into action. Christmas Eve, it was going to be the perfect time to fix everything wrong he’d done over this past week because he knew his beloved girlfriend probably forgot about what day it was. His plan was flawless; you know except for the part that he couldn’t remember English lyrics all too well. That was why at 11pm on Christmas Eve, he was sitting in a boardroom with Key, Amber, BoA, Tiffany, Henry and his beloved duizhang Kris. A week ago he had asked help on pronouncing the lyrics to the Michael Bublé cover of “All I Want for Christmas is You”, which just so happened to be your Christmas jam. Everyone was sprawled in their chairs tiredly as he carefully read over the words, trying to get his English to be as flawless as possible.

“Yah!” Key snapped, snatching the paper. “You can’t read it out to her when you sing it. You have to memorize it!” Of course he was becoming cranky; the group had been in that room for hours now.

Tao whined and sighed, knowing his sunbae was right but he wasn’t sure if he could nail it. “But, what if it isn’t perfect?” He whined, reaching out like a baby for the paper.

Tiffany shook her head as well. “Tao, you need to do this from the heart or it won’t be as good. It doesn’t matter if you make a mistake.” She pointed out as she rubbed his back, understanding why he was panicking. From what Tao had described from the fight, it was definitely a fight that would make or break this couple.

BoA rubbed her temples and sighed, “Tao, can you try it again? Because honestly, if we stay here any longer, you’re going to miss the time frame you were hoping for.” Everyone looked at the clock and realized that they were more than pressed for time. Time was almost out. All eyes fell back to Tao and he gulped nervously.

His eyes shut as he pictured the words in his head with the pronunciations that his sunbaes’ gave him. He started to sing, to croon as best he could in English, and when the song was over he hesitantly opened his eyes. Not prepared to see the reactions from his label mates.

Amber was the first person he saw and she was grinning. That’s good! She smiled and clapped in excitement. “Tao that sounded great! You’re set!” She said as the others nodded in agreement. A sense of pride swelled up in his chest. He had done it. He flashed a look to his leader, who nodded in approval and motioned for them to head out. Kris was going to bring him to your place. On the ride there, all Tao did was study, reading over the lyrics, singing over the lyrics. Anything he could do to make this as perfect as possible, he could.

Kris sighed and parked outside of your building, “Take off your sweater.” He instructed, starting to strip the younger boy of his clothing. Tao’s jaw fell loose as his leader stripped him of his sweater and threw it into the back seat. Right when he was about to protest Kris unlocked the car doors. “Get out.”

Tao’s eyes widened in shock as he sputtered, “Y-yah gege! Are you crazy? I’m going to freeze!” The boy reached back to grab his sweater but was whacked by the older man, only to be ushered out of the car after he was physically abused.

The cold hit Tao hard. He shivered as he walked up to your window, Kris calling you and waking you up. You had gone to sleep for what felt like the third time this week. Mind you, you had lost track of the days since you and Tao had broken up. It had shattered you, you were heartbroken without him. The fight had been so stupid that you had completely forgotten what you were both were arguing about, but you remembered the passion behind it. You felt horrible about the fight, and your guilty conscious would remind you of it every day. You had hit him in your anger, and he even raise a hand against you… not that he acted upon it because you kicked him out before he could. After that, you just became too prideful to bother apologizing to him. Something inside you, even though you couldn’t remember what the conversation was about that lead to this moment, was telling you that it was all Tao’s fault. Following Kris’s instructions, you went to the window, rubbing your eyes tiredly while one hand opened the glass contraption. That’s when your eyes bugged because you saw him.

Tao was standing outside in the cold, in a wife beater. He was singing too. You paused, and that’s when it hit you that he was singing in English, and it was Michael Bublé too. The words were sung with so much meaning that you felt yourself tearing up. Quickly, you disappeared from the window and ran to grab a blanket. There was no way you were going to let your panda just freeze like that. You ran outside and as he was opening his eyes, you were wrapping the blanket around the both of you. He quickly lifted you into his arms since you were barefoot and you both kept close under the warmth of the blanket.

“I’m so sorry baobei…” Tao mumbled, pressing his face into the crook of your neck as he walked you back inside. “I’m sorry we got into such a big fight and I’m sorry it took me so long, but hopefully you forgive me.”

“Tao, all that matters is that you came.” You chirped happily, resting your head against his chest. “Now let’s go to bed and celebrate Christmas properly in the morning.”

Tao grinned and kicked off his shoes in your room, crawling into bed next to you and falling asleep right away. You swore you felt a hard box when you brushed against his thigh, but you’d probably find out what it was the next day…