Really, the things she does nowadays…

…

…

…

I woke up with a jolt when a booming Christmas melody resounded throughout the mansion until it abruptly stopped, accompanied by a woman yelling at someone—screaming about not having the music too loud or something.

The music came back on, but in a more moderate volume where it is appropriate to the ears.

I blinked.

I blinked once more.

And all of a sudden, I feel like an idiot.

Ah, it’s Christmas already, I thought to myself with a small smile before frowning. Will SHINee ever come? I’d like to see their reaction when they first come here…maybe not.

Then I noticed something different about my bedroom. My white bedroom didn’t look so white anymore as I saw Christmas lights decorated around my room. Green, white, red flashed in the large area. There was even a small Christmas tree near the window and somebody put a freaking pink ribbon on my basketball.

That would explain the fresh, minty aroma…

I sat up on my bed and let out a yawn as I stretched my arms, arching my back inwards. I ruffled my hair and picked up my phone to check the time. 9:37 AM. I slid my phone across to check for some messages. I smiled when I found that SHINee all wished me Merry Christmas today.

How nice of them… I smiled when I saw the group picture, trying so hard to keep my laughter in when I’ve seen how silly they looked in the photo, wearing Christmas hats and Reindeer horns.

“Hahaha, how cute,” I uttered happily underneath my breath before putting it away. I couldn’t reply back because I knew that first thing in the morning they are already busy. Even on Christmas…but hey, at least there’s a Christmas Special for them!

I looked to the end of my bed and smiled when I saw my five animal toys there. I gathered as much of them as I can, and hugged them tightly, silently imagining each of the toys to be SHINee as I gave them my luck for whatever they may need in their way. Especially Jonghyun—I hope he’ll gather the power to confess to Min and tolerate the terror of getting rejected.

I put the animals back next to the small teddy bear – the one that reminds me of Sulli. I placed the puppy next to the bear, but after staring at them for a while, I swapped the bunny and puppy – the bunny being next to the bear and the puppy being at the end. However, I then remembered about Onew’s crush on Luna and I felt a twinge of remorse in my heart, so I stuffed the frog between the bear and the rabbit toys instead.

I looked around and saw the bag near my guitar stand. If anyone knows what’s in that bag, it’s Min-Ae.

So she must be the one who ornamented my room, I hummed in thoughtfulness before growling. But must she place a freaking pink ribbon on my basketball? I fancy a baby blue color, thank you very much!

I huffed as I swung my legs over and stood up from my bed, stretching once again to make sure that every joints of my body were fully loosened before I walked around. I ruffled my hair, making it messier than before as I staggered out of my bedroom, going downstairs to check out the hubbub.

…

Good grief.

I gaped at the sight in front of me. Everything looks really…sparkly. But then again, it’s the Christmas lights doing its thing. Everything look all Christmas-y, with its ornaments and decorations and—“Who the hell put that mistletoe up there!? We are not kissing anyone!” I yelled in negation, shaking my head.

There was a huge – and need I not repeat – huge Christmas tree in the corner of the large living room. I’m so glad it didn’t block the television in the area, but the fact that it almost reached the ceiling shocked me.

“Good Lord, look at the size of that thing! How did you even fit that through the door?” I shrieked as I watched Kangdae put on the last decoration, the star, on the top of the tree. The entire area stunk of fresh mint and trees due to its largeness – almost like I could feel a large mass of oxygen pouring into my lungs.

He sighed heavily. “Don’t ask… I can tell you that it took us some time.”

I grunted as I waved a bit to my father who was also helping Kangdae set up the Christmas tree. I turned to see Min scolding Min-Ae, the brunette pouting as she began adjusting the volume once again.

“Aish, let me do it – I didn’t watch spy movies for nothing, how did you think I set up the speakers to connect with your phone?” Min scoffed, pushing her away gently as she fixed the sounds to a more appropriate volume. “It should have been like this!”

Min-Ae gaped at her shocked. “But that’s what it was before!”

“Not exactly,” I interrupted as I stepped up to them, smiling. “I woke up when I heard it all the way from my bedroom.” Min glared at the other party next to her who apologized to me remorsefully. “I see you’re getting along well. What, are you faking again?”

They glanced at each other and smiled. My playful expression changed into one that displays my shock. “Wait, what? Are you serious right now? You guys are—”

“Back together?” Min butted in as she stood up, wrapping her arm around Min-Ae’s shoulder, a grin on her face. “You could say that.”

I stared at them before a moment before cheering. “Good riddance, finally, you guys are back as best friends! Jeongmal, I was about to break something whenever I see you guys avoiding each other or whenever Min glares at you,” I told Min-Ae with a shake of my head. I looked at the said brunette who was blushing; pretty much embarrassed that she did all that glaring at the older female.

“Good job,” I told them in English. They understand simple English phrases like what I’ve said just then, but not complex ones when engaging in conversation. “I’m glad that you got over that now.” I paused for a moment before looking at Min. “But Min, what are you doing here?”

She smiled at me as she counted with her fingers, “One: I wanted to join the party – that and I pretty much forced myself an invitation”—I scowled at her forebodingly—“Hey, you weren’t planning to not invite me here, were you?”

“—I was planning to invite SHINee instead of you, however.”

“How rude, I deserve to come here! Anyway, I’m here and you can’t stop me”—now it was Min-Ae’s turn to scowl—“Wow, you two must be long-lost twins if you were to continue glaring at me like I’ve done something wrong. Two: I want to dress you up. No way am I letting you join the party in…in…pajamas.”

I looked down and saw that I was wearing my long blue shorts and a grey loose Mickey Mouse tee-shirt.

…Mickey Mouse shirt…

Wait a minute, this shirt isn’t mine…

…

…

…

Ah, crap.

I scowled at her to hide my shock and embarrassment, as well as my awareness.

“You can’t just barge in and tell me what to wear! Thanks for your help, but I rather not need it all the time!” I saw that she was about to open to protest, but I cut her off sharply, “Choi Min, I said no!”

“Baek Mi-ja!”

Oh, come on!

I froze upon hearing my full name in a deadly tone. I turned to see my step-mother behind me, her arms folded over her chest. I glared at her as she stepped closer to me.

I could see that she’s livid.

“How dare you act so ill-mannered to our guest? She’s just telling you what you need to wear for the party and I must agree with her – those pajamas are shabby and who would buy such a dirty old top like that!?” She retorted, pinching the shirt by its sleeve.

I fumed. This was Taemin’s shirt and she just insulted it indirectly.

But nobody needs to know that, do they?

Min-Ae stepped up, calming her down. “Mother, let’s not—Mi-ja’s still recovering from the incident, we shouldn’t have a fight so early in the morning.”

“Yeah,” Min interfered, “unless you have a preference of having a black eye and a broken nose on Christmas?” I leered at Min who winked at me. My step-mom gasped at her before scowling at Min-Ae who snickered at the remark.

“Insolent children…!” She muttered under her breath as she shrugged Min-Ae off her shoulder and went into the kitchen. Appa came down afterwards, eyebrows furrowed at the small commotion we had earlier.

“What was that about?”

I shook my head. “Just her being a bi—I mean…she’s upset that I treated Min so wrongly. I don’t think she understand the definition ‘friends’ very well.”

He shook his head in incredulity. “Aish, Sunhee-ah… I’ll go ahead and consult with her. You guys get ready and have your fun.”

I nodded with a small smile on my face and watched as he entered the kitchen from the large living room, passing the dining table. I looked back at the girls and let out a sigh. “Jonghyun has every good reason to dislike my step-mother, that’s all I’m saying.”

Min chortled. “Don’t worry – even Dubu Onew didn’t like her.” I rolled my eyes, folding my arms over my chest. “Anyway, it’s time for you to change and fix yourself up. I have a present for you, but it won’t be coming until this afternoon. Possibly quarter to 12? It sort of came in late…”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “How big is it?”

“It’s really big.”

I groaned. This is what I’m afraid of – something expensive always burdens me. “Min, you should know I don’t like expensive things – I don’t want it to burden you too much because of its cost.” I paused for a moment before asking again, “It’s just one? Only one present for me and that’s it?”

She nodded.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“I’m being serious.”

I raised my arms in defeat, showing that I believe her after seeing her glare. “Alright, alright, I’m going to take a shower and change into something Christmas-appropriate, aish,” I told her as I my heels to go back up the stairs and enter my bedroom.

I actually just want to celebrate Christmas and open presents in my pajamas, but alas, I don’t have a say in this, do I?

It was two hours after I came out from my shower, changing into something comfortable (but fashion worthy for Min’s sake and for Christmas) before I was there in my room, sitting on my bed and checking my phone.

I was dressed comfortably, indeed: a denim jean shirt with a knitted grey button sweater; a necklace to match my outfit along with a few rings – and yes, I still wore that rainbow ring. The rainbow ring and I are inseparable. I wore shorts, but they sort of look like leggings at first glance.

I slid my thumb across the screen as I smiled at the text. SNSD’s Jessica sent me a holiday greetings and told me of how the rest of her members wanted to see her as she sounded ‘really cute and adorable’ and ‘modest’ as well as being ‘nice and kind’. I let out an amused sigh. They judge me by words a bit too earnestly. They should lessen it down a bit – who knows if the person acted differently from what you thought of?

“Mi-ja, you have companies!” Min-Ae shouted from the stairs.

I got companies? It was only 11:23 in the morning when I came out—it wasn’t even near 12 in the afternoon. Who is visiting me today? “Coming,” I called out. “Be down in a second!”

I pushed my phone into my back pocket of my jeans, fixed my fringes and ran down the spiraling staircase. What I didn’t expect to see shocked me.

“Oh! Mr. and Mrs. Hwang…? What a surprise to see you here!”

I was utterly flabbergasted to see them sitting there in the living room. Mr. Hwang stood up from his seat and smiled at me. “Hello, Mi-ja. I hope you’re having a lovely Christmas this year – we just thought to stop by and, well, enjoy the party for a bit.”

I smiled at them before it turned into a scowl. “Su-Min…isn’t here, is she?”

Mrs. Hwang chuckled, standing up from her seat and walking towards me. She had the slippers on we left by the door, in case we had visitors. She placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled warmly at me. “Don’t worry, she’s not here – she’s grounded today so she should be at home. Nonetheless, I was a bit startled when she came home with a bandaged nose and an icepack to her eye.”

Min snorted in the background. I glared when I turned to look at her before looking back at the woman with a remorseful expression. “Should I be sorry for that?”

She shook her head. “Though it was not nice of you to put your anger onto her, I suppose I’ll let you off since she told me the reason – I know how much it hurts to have someone insulting your family,” then she sighed. “And to think she would insult your deceased mother like that… I’m very sorry to hear about that.”

I shook my head before allowing them to venture further into the house. “Please, allow yourself into the house. I think Appa is in his room by then, so please wait patiently for him, if you don’t mind.” I smiled as they thanked me and left me by the stairs.

My phone rang, playing out its default ringtone. I took it out and answered the call. “Yeoboseyo…?”

“Annyeong~ I’m here to wish you a Merry Christmas, Mi-ja!”

I smiled at Luna’s voice. “Thanks for the greeting, Luna-ssi. I wish the same for you and f(x)!” However, she sounds like she’s struggling with something. “Luna-ssi, are you okay?”

Luna huffed, “If you open your door, you’ll see why.”

Eh? I thought to myself in confusion as I looked at the front door. She’s here? How the hell did she know my address – aish, I’m getting more and more stalkers with every moment. With this in mind, I hung up the call and walked up to the entrance, opening the door. I shrieked in shock to see Luna carrying so many bags that even one was hung around her neck. Her head was pressed against her shoulder, which would be her cell phone, I assumed.

“Omo, Luna-ssi…! What in the world is this?!” I asked her as I took the bag from her neck and grabbed the other two bags.

“Aigoo, Mi-ja, what are you squealing for—what the heck!?” Min-Ae shrieked when she saw Luna at the front door, her eyes wide in shock. Seeing Luna was surprising, but seeing her get ambushed by the bags was a more shocking image.

I looked at Min-Ae and pleaded her to help me. “Don’t just stand there, help me! She’ll die from the amount of bags deposited upon her!”

Min-Ae coped to pry out five bags and I held out four – she was able to carry the other four—two in one hand and two in the other. The phone was then put into her pocket by Min-Ae, earning a soft ‘thank you’ from her.

She let out a deep sigh and smiled as she stepped in the building, putting down the bags with a grave huff. “Gomawo – aigoo, they were hefty.”

I looked into the bag and saw gifts inside them. “Omona, don’t tell me you bought all of these presents?”

She shook her head. “Aniya—Krystal, Sulli and Amber bought you guys presents as well. Victoria unnie made food for your party and wished you a Happy Holiday.” Surely enough, when I looked into the bags Min-Ae were holding, there was food in there, as well as beverages. I felt touched.

“Wah, tell them I said thanks! I’m sad that they won’t be able to join us… Hey, how did you know the address to get here?” I questioned, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Luna brushed off the imaginary dust off her coat and told me, “I called Min earlier that I had things to give to you but I didn’t know where your house is – so she gave me the address,” she paused before looking around the interior. “But wah, your mansion is better than our dormitory! You’re so cool!”

I flushed at her gushing praise before shooing it off. “I-It’s nothing…”

Luna pouted, “I wish I could stay longer, but I’m on a tight schedule right now. I hope you’ve had fun!” Then she leaned in to whisper in my ear. “But if SHINee ever comes here for the party, tell them that they will face my jealous wrath when we meet.”

I giggled at her playfulness. “Arasseo, I’ll be sure to tell them, if they come here, of course.” Then I snapped my fingers when I remember her repayment for helping me out with Talent Showdown. “Ah, right! Luna, can you wait for a few more minutes? I forgot to give you something!”

She nodded, giving me her consent to go into the house and find her present. It wasn’t long when I reappeared at the front door, walking up to her, giving her a few slips of paper. Her eyes widen when she saw what I got her as a repayment.

“No…way…! It’s the—”

“—invitations to that famous restaurant you always gushed about? Yes, yes it is,” I smiled as I gave them to her. “I bought extras so you and f(x) can go there when you have time. And it’ll last for 10 years so you’re free to go there anytime, even if you’re 30. I also bought five more if you want to bring your manager along or your family members. I think it would be good to do a get-together, don’t you think?”

Luna stared at the invites in astonishment before looking at me with watery eyes. “You remembered…”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Though it may seem like I wasn’t interested since I didn’t look like I was listening to you back then, I can tell that you really wanted to go there. And since I don’t know when you will have a chance to do things like this as you’re an idol, I wanted to give those chances to you now.”

I watched as she contemplated the invitations before running up to hug me. I was a bit startled because I wasn’t expecting it, but I still hugged her back nevertheless. She pulled away and dabbed her fingers underneath her eyes, hoping not to smear the eyeliner with the tears that spilled out.

“Gamsahabnida…” she whispered to me before she walked out the door. “I should go. I’ll keep them safe, okay!”

“You better! Or I won’t buy you a new one!” I joked.

I waved at her when she left, going into the car. I heard Min-Ae snort from beside me. “If she had her manager, why didn’t that person help her, huh?”

…Hmm, I thought with furrowed eyebrows as I watched the car drive away. That’s true… I shrugged it off as I noted, “Probably lazy to pick up the presents and help her out.” I looked at the bags that were laid upon the floor before calling out, “Min! Kangdae! Help us out with these bags!” Then I turned to Min-Ae who held the five bags. I assumed that three of them were food, so I took the two bags from her that was presents.

“Ugh, you and Min put the food bags into the kitchen. Kangdae and I will put the presents underneath the tree.”

Min-Ae chuckled at me as I picked up as many as I could carry in my hands, leaving the rest for Kangdae once he comes down. “Today’s a busy Christmas this year I see?”

I nodded in exasperation.

“Definitely…”

It was 12:23 in the afternoon then.

I was in the kitchen, setting up the food that not only Victoria gave to us, but also the food that me and Min managed to cook for the Christmas dinner.

I could hear laughter in the living room – it sounds like my Appa is having fun with Mr. and Mrs. Hwang. I could hear a few titters from my step-mom, but I knew that they were not genuine. I don’t suppose she liked them very much.

Min, Min-Ae and Kangdae were possibly singing in the living room as well, hence the loud laughter when I heard Kangdae’s voice crack at the highest note. I almost dropped the knife when I heard it, biting my lower lip to hold in my laughter.

The doorbell rang at that moment, ceasing all movements and sounds, aside from the music playing.

“I got a delivery for Baek Mi-ja!” A man called out from behind the door.

“Must be the present I sent!” Min said from the other room. I could hear shuffling footsteps and the door opening. The sound of wheels rolling caught my attention the most. I hastily finished off the job and washed my hands before drying my hands onto my short shorts. I went out the kitchen and see the present.

Or, should I say, presents? Notice that I put the “s” in presents.

“What the hell, Min! I didn’t want five boxes as my presents!” I shrieked as I saw five large boxes lined up inside the living room. Suddenly, I felt really burdened. And I don’t like to be burdened. I let out a heavy sigh when Appa patted me on the shoulders, smiling as he did so.

“It’s not that bad – you deserve to be spoiled once in a while. You’ve been too generous nowadays,” stated my father, who proved a logical point there.

Well, that is true, since I’ve been working hard and never let anyone spoil me, but I didn’t expect to have five big presents lined up in front of me. I could feel my step-mother’s glare from the back of my head, almost jealous that I get such gifts for Christmas. Although, something felt really suspicious—I examined the boxes from the distance and I saw holes on top of the lids, each one of them.

They were lined up in order of colors: the first box was green with a silver ribbon on top of its lid; the second was sky blue, with red kisses onto the wrapping; the third box was rosy pink with a colorful flower pattern, each flowers in different colors; the fourth was vivid red with green Christmas tree patterns onto the wrapping and the last, but not least, it was a brilliant, sunny yellow box with a lovely red bowtie on top.

Except for Min-Ae and Min, we were a bit surprised when one of them moved slightly. I glowered at Min who smiled at me. “If you got me dogs, I will kill you,” I told her as I moved towards the green present. “I don’t think my step-mother would approve having five big dogs in the house.”

I heard a scoff and I glanced at the old hag to see her rolling her eyes. Min shook her head. “No, but it’s much better.”

I looked at her with furrowed eyebrows before snorting. “What, dragons?” I turned my head to the green box and saw the most unexpected thing.

Sparkling brown eyes were staring at me underneath the lid.

I screamed as I stepped back, staring at the person before placing a hand to my chest when I saw who it was.

“God, Onew, you got to stop hiding in unnecessary things! Are you striving to give me a cardiac arrest!?”

He smiled and stood up in the box, taking the lid off his head. I stared at him in shock and I’m sure the rest are in shock too. I looked at him – he looked like an angel, wearing all white and his blond hair swept aside. He looked really, really…beautiful.

He smiled as he softly said to me, “Merry Christmas, Mi-ja.”

“Oh, this is so cute, I’m going to throw up rainbows,” Min-Ae retorted, whining when she earned a playful pinch on the arm by Kangdae.

I couldn’t help but smile at him before realizing something. I turned to Min once again and leered at her. “Really, Min, really – you put SHINee into a box and dropped them into a truck? What if they got motion sickness?”

She rose her hands up in surrender, “Hey, you’d have to admit, they were the best presents you would ever gotten for Christmas. Except for Minho, because, well, he’s just stupid and annoyingly ugly. Plus he’s mean and can be a jerk of a cousin so you can’t have him.”

“I heard that!” His voice came out from the red box and I couldn’t help but laugh. I gave Onew a quick hug before moving onto the next. If Onew’s an angel, that what is Jonghyun and the others?

I lifted up the lid and tossed it away. I was startled when I got into a bear hug all of the sudden.

“Merry Christmas, my dear MiMi – I hope you love me!”

I scoffed at his corny joke as, well, he’s the present, so, it’s basically saying: ‘I hope you like my present’, except, you know, that he’s the present—if you get what I mean, that is.

However, it felt really strange because I felt bare skin… I pulled away to look at his attire before my face went red. I could hear Min-Ae screaming, her stomping footsteps and surely, all I could see was her attacking Jonghyun, with Min pulling her off of him.

“I told you not to do this sort of thing, you ert! You are not going to be near my best friend for a lifetime!”

I glanced to see my step-mother and Mrs. Hwang staring at Jonghyun with reddened cheeks, fanning their faces with either their hands or the magazines they had been reading as they averted their eyes to the floor.

Jonghyun is pretty much the y version of Santa Claus, with his fuzzy red coat and white skinny jeans, only wearing a cross necklace as an accessory. He also has his Santa hat on.

That’s mainly all he wore – no shirt or anything. His chest and his strong, defined abs were marked with red kiss prints – and they looked surprisingly real because I could see that it was done with red lipstick. I glanced at Min who was holding Min-Ae back and looked at Jonghyun who gave me his dorky grin.

“God, Jonghyun, sometimes, you surprise me by doing the impossible. Fans would kill me if they knew that I’ve seen you like this,” I stated.

“I say likewise,” retorted my step-mother. She recoiled a little when she was met by Jonghyun’s and my glare, our eyes mentally telling her to shut the hell up before we looked back at each other.

I inspected his apparel once more before I spoke up. “Plus, didn’t you wear this at your concert?” I questioned him with a raise of my eyebrow.

He nodded in confirmation. “That’s right, but you’re the blessed one to see it up close.” Then he opened up his arms. “You can touch me if you like or would you rather do something else?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

I heard Mr. Hwang let out a snort and I turned to see Appa looking rather defensive of me as he took a step towards him. He halted when I gave him an assuring stare before I turned back to the silver haired male and shook my head.

“No thanks. We’ll do that elsewhere,” I pretended, winking at him before glancing at Min who stared at us with wide eyes that sparkled with envy. I winked again at Jonghyun, getting his act and he only replied back with a smile.

“By the way, who put those kiss marks on you? They look so real and I can obviously see that they are lipstick,” I questioned him again, staring at the red lipstick marks on his bronze skin.

“That would be me,” Key popped out from the pink box, the lid coming out as he smacked his lips, the red lipstick in his hand. His black hair was tousled ily and he was wearing the same attire as Jonghyun’s, except it has been inverted. This time, it was a white fuzzy coat and red skinny pants. He has a white tank top on, but that didn’t stop his appeal from oozing out. I can see that they both have staffs: Key’s having the black one and Jonghyun got the white version.

I could see the redness of Key’s bow-shaped lips as he leaned over to Jonghyun, placing a kiss upon his neck.

And cue the squeals from the girls (yes, including Mrs. Hwang and my step-mother).

I smacked Jonghyun and Key on the arms and laughed. “Yah, no fan service in this house, you’re irritating the men here!”

Key smiled, “Oh come on, don’t deny it. You definitely liked it.”

Yes I did. “No, I did not.” Damn you mouth.

And to think that they actually chanted out ‘JongKey’ officially near the ending even though it was indirect – wow, Mi-ja, I think you’re reading way too much fan fictions. Curse my curiosity…

The black haired male still continued to smile and pulled me over by the wrist, and, with the lipstick that he has left on his lips, gave me a kiss on my cheeks, marking it with his red kiss mark. I could feel my step-mother’s betrayed glare – after all, I did tell her that I felt nothing for him and yet I let him do it.

“Merry Christmas, Mi-baby,” he told me against my skin.

I smirked in pleasure to myself and pulled away.

“69 and I’m still counting,” he whispered in my ear as I pulled away. I remembered that the 69 was supposed to be on my lips but he failed to do so. My cheeks reddened at the memory, but I only huffed and turned away swiftly, going over to get Minho out of the box. I snickered when I heard Minho laughing out of embarrassment as I came close. I knew that the last one has to be Taemin, but he sounded awfully quiet inside there when I took a peek at the yellow box.

He…He’s not dead, is he?

…

…

…

Oh, god, I hope not.

If anything, I’ll blame Min when first comes to serve.

“Minnie-oppa, I’m coming for you~” I cooed, laughing when I heard a growl from the red box, the object rattling angrily at the said nickname.

“I swear to God, Mi-ja, your family must be crazy to bring up a deranged little girl like you,” he retorted. I pouted at my father who suddenly let out a laugh before covering his mouth abruptly when he saw my glare.

“Oh, shut up, Appa, you were the one who got my mother pregnant with your ding-a-long,” I remarked. Mr. Hwang let out a hearty laugh, holding onto my father’s shoulder for support while Appa’s face went bright red. Even Onew and Key were holding in their laughter.

I heard Minho let out a sharp ‘ha!’ at my remark. “Serves him right, indeed,” he laughed.

Jonghyun snorted at me. “You sassy little girl – you talk big for your age!” I slapped him on the arm when I heard him say that. I lifted up the lid and almost collapsed into fits of laughter at his silly get-up.

Oh god, why.

It has to be the ‘Macarena’ get-up, has it?

Min, Kangdae and Min-Ae were pretty much on the floor now, dropped to their knees as they cried in laughter.

“It’s not funny,” Minho hissed as he glared at my trembling figure, my shoulders shaking as I tried to keep in my laughter while the rest of the group was just laughing.

(A/N: If you want to know how silly he looked, go onto YouTube, type in ‘Minho Macarena SM Week’, and watch the fancams. Even though Onew was in there as well as a duet with him, but I decided to save him some face and let Minho get the laughing bits—which is, indeed, funny, if you think about it LOL)

I fixed the Mexican hat on his head and fiddled with the fake wig and giggled, “Mianhae, but…it is funny.”

“Just be happy that I got you all your normal clothes to change into!” Min remarked.

Min-Ae looked at her astonished. “No wonder why you were carrying backpacks, I was wondering why you would have them with you in the morning!”

The brunette shrugged but looking back at Minho, she laughed again. “But oh, my god, I cannot believe this is my manly cousin I’m witnessing,” Min snorted before shrieking when Minho, surprisingly got out of the box by kicking down the wall in front of his legs, the side crushed with a loud rip. The next thing you know, the Choi cousins had disappeared into the large maze of the mansion – possibly playing Tag or Hide-and-Seek if you saw how big the house is.

“Be sure not to break anything! Oh, and don’t spill any blood when you’re killing each other!” I yelled out, making a joke. My Appa chuckled, rolling his hands as he patted my shoulders.

“I’ll go and find them, to make sure that doesn’t happen on Christmas and have both of them either in jail or in their coffins,” he told me, giving me a playful wink. I let out a disbelieving huff, yet a smile plastered on my face. My step-mother rolled her eyes and had left the scene, her high heels tapping onto the polished floor. I stared at the quiet yellow box.

I don’t know why, but everything seems to slow down for a moment before it sped back up, the Christmas music low around the area. Jonghyun managed to have got out of his box and is currently helping Key to get out of his. Onew…I don’t know how, but he was on the ground when I looked.

(And cue the ‘Onew Condition’ song!)

“Alright, people, let’s go into the games room”—she glanced at Jonghyun who stared at her with wide eyes—”Yes, Jonghyun, we’ve got a games room. And a recording room, a cinema, indoor pool and—you know what, I’m just going to show you around this big mansion that Mi-ja never showed you before.” Min-Ae told them as she began pushing Jonghyun towards the area, gesturing the others to follow her. I furrowed my eyebrows at her, but she only winked at me.

That woman… I shook my head and stared at the last present that I yet have to open.

“Taeminnie…please don’t be dead,” I whispered to the box as I slowly lifted opened the lid.

I peeked inside, and smiled at the sight.

Who would have thought to see a sleeping Taemin? His apparel was different from Onew’s – he was all black and he had a fuzzy leopard-patterned coat hung around his shoulder. It was the same clothing he wore for his solo – ‘Cry with Me’ if I remember clearly.

Honestly, I was impressed with the song – the song that comes only once in a lifetime. I could see that, even with a bit of help from his older brother, he took his time writing the song and arranging the notes. I can see that he did all this just to show his composition to his fans. The song itself was sad, heart-breaking even, but it was melodious and warming. I remember listening to his song in one of his fancams on my Samsung before. I can hear him express his emotions so well – it shows on his face.

In all conscience, I’m resentful of him.

He deserves to sing more (however, not too much as he can’t handle high notes very well) and deserves to get more opportunities; may it be acting, musicals, movies, anything.

I reached out and petted his black hair, the locks soft underneath my fingertips. But I retracted to some extent when he moved somewhat, his head rising as his eyes fluttered open.

“Hmm…?” He mumbled to himself as he looked around before meeting eyes with me. I almost smiled at him.

“I see that you had a nice sleep in the box while the delivery truck was driving. Was it a good dream?” I with a playful smile. His eyes went wide and abruptly stood up, fixing his attire before staring at me.

“Ah…no…I just…” He stammered over his words, his cheeks red. “Was I too late?”

I shook my head. “No, the others just left to explore the mansion. How did you like the place?”

Taemin looked around, and, now that he’s paying attention, his eyes went to the size of saucers before nodding in impression. I can tell that he was more shocked because of the tall Christmas tree. Trust me, the first thing that will catch people’s attention would have to be the tree because, wow, it’s gigantic! “Wah… you’re rich – how come you don’t act spoiled at university?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “And be a ? Do you really want me to be like Su-Min?”

He stood silent for a minute before speaking up with a nod of his head, “Point taken.” I watched his eyes go down to my cheek and I knew what he was looking at.

“Key kissed me,” I said it casually to hide my nervousness and to force down my blush that almost showed onto my face.

It was a bad move, because Taemin’s eyes darkened at the thought of his own bandmate kissing me more than he has.

Actually, I don’t think Taemin had kissed me once. So far, Jonghyun has done that to me so many times, Onew has, just twice on my forehead and even Minho kissed me on the cheeks (not counting the moment when he almost kissed me on the lips)

…

Oh, wait, he has, possibly twice as Taemin did peck me on the cheek when I found out that I’ll have to sleep in the same bed as him, but the other one was more of a gentleman gesture—kissing the back of my hand, I mean, so I don’t think it was counted.

I smiled and held out my hand. “Here, take my hand. You need to get out of that box anyway; you’ll miss the tour and the fun,” I told him.

He smiled and took my hand. My ears burned at the simple skin contact when he clutched onto it tightly. I stumbled a bit when he hand his other hand on my shoulder to steady himself as he had one leg out of the box. As soon as he was fully out, he crashed onto me, stumbling a bit as he held me close, his arm wrapped around my waist to catch himself.

My heart thudded when I eyed his face, his plump, kissable pink lips, his sparkling brown eyes, his rounded face. My hand unconsciously rose up to touch his cheek as I stared more into his eyes, and he gazed more into mine.

We stood there like that until we both heard a woman clearing . I pushed him off me and looked at my step-mother with a reddened face.

She didn’t seem too pleased, however.

She looked at Taemin with a fake smile, “I’m glad you’re here – welcome to our house. But I’m sorry as I need to speak with Mi-ja for a moment.” Then she pointed down the hallway where the others had left. “The others are in the games room, if you were wondering.”

Taemin looked at me, shocked that I even got a games room. I nodded and pushed him away. “Just go down the hallway and take the corner to your right. You should be able to hear the noises down there and see a large sliding door by your left.”

But even if I told him the directions, he lingered about slowly as he walked, looking at me worriedly before finally leaving the area.

I glared at my step-mother who did the same to me.

“I thought I’ve told you to make sure it stays that way.”

I huffed arrogantly. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I stated ironically, “but how in the world was I able to do that? I leave them for one second and they always follow me. They liked me that much and you’re just jealous that I have more admirers than you.”

She gasped, disgusted of my new personality. “I liked you better when you were that pitiful girl who didn’t talk back. Thanks to them, they’ve brought back a witch who talked back and is such a bratty child!”

“Says the big bad witch who smiles falsely at cameras and acts like she has the entire world in her hands,” I retorted.

Slap!

My head was turned to the side, feeling the stinging pain on my left cheek. It wasn’t as hard as Su-Min’s slap to leave a mark, but it still hurt. I believe that the kiss mark has been smudged on my skin, so I wiped it off with the back of my palm before I slowly looked back at her with dark eyes, taking in her angry features.

“Don’t do this to me,” I whispered. “Lest you want to become injured like Su-Min too.”

She huffed, her hand shaking in terror before it rose again. But she was stopped by someone I least expected to see.

“…Kangdae?” I questioned with wide eyes.

Kangdae roughly put down her hand and glowered at her. Her, his own mother by blood.

“I don’t suppose it’s a good idea to hurt Mi-ja when we’re trying to have a special celebration on Christmas, Umma,” he hissed, still gripping onto her wrist.

My step-mother gasped, flinching in pain when he grasped onto her wrist tighter than before. “W-What is this?! You shouldn’t be injuring your own mother like this!”

“And you shouldn’t be injuring my step-sister either. What had she done to you that made her repulsive to you, hmm?” Kangdae interrogated. I tried to sneak away from the scene, but I was caught by his other hand clutching onto mine. “Mi-ja, stay.”

“But…”

“Stay.”

I never seen him so mad before. I was startled by his livid eyes, but I knew that he was caring for me, so I didn’t get scared of him. It’s just…it’s just that I never saw this kind of side before.

The woman tried to come up with something but realized that she had none. Sensing this, he let go of her wrist and scoffed. “See, you have none. So I suggest you put away this silly act and leave her alone.” He tugged onto my hand, pulling me with him. “And,” he started, stopping to look at her dead in the eye. “I’ve always doubted you. So don’t think I will stick up for you when you need me. You no longer need my help anymore and I had enough with you.”

My eyes widened at his words. He dragged me away, down the hallways. I glanced behind me to see her, just in time to peek at the saddened expression that came over her features before she looked down.

I looked back to see the back of my step-brother’s head. I feel his seething aura looming off him.

I let out a sound of pain as I spoke up, “Kangdae…you’re hurting me…”

He perked and instantly let go of my hand, his eyes wide in shock. “Oh, mianhae, I didn’t realize that I was holding you too tight!”

I smiled to assure him, albeit my hand hurts. “It’s fine,” I simply responded. We stood in silence before Kangdae went beside me, his hand on my back as he gently led me towards the games room. I looked at him and he looked at me.

We had a bit of a stare battle until he smiled. That’s when my cheeks burned and I looked away stubbornly with a huff. I heard him chuckle in amusement at my reaction as we walked together.

“Hey,” I started, sneaking a quick glance at him before telling him, “don’t be mad at your mom, you know. She’s just having a bad day.”

He snorted. “I wish you heard yourself. You’re defending her when she just slapped you?”

I clamped my lips shut. I couldn’t say anything to that. Why did I defend her, that malevolent hag?

“Still, she’s your mother. She gave birth to you and you can’t hate her like it’s the end of the world,” I stated, hoping to not have a bond broken because of me.

“You’re wrong,” he told me, taking me by surprise. “My father was the one who made me. She was just pregnant when she had me first.” Then he turned to look at me with a grin on his face. “I’m just stating a point.”

I puckered my lips in annoyance when he rustled my hair. “You’re unpredictable.”

“And rare,” he chuckled. “You forgot to mention rare.”

“Oh, let’s just go to the games room, already,” I shoved him off with a laugh as we went to our destination, our pace picking up to get there faster.

They were clearly having fun.

I could see that Minho hadn’t killed Min and had time to change into his normal clothes – they consisted of a simple white shirt and black jeans. In fact, the rest of SHINee had changed into their ordinary every day wear that they usually put on around their house or airport (even though some may call it ‘airport fashion’).

Minho and Min were playing a racing game on the Xbox – and as usual, they were growing competitive about a simple game.

A game, people! A game!

…Albeit I’ll be the same as them if that happened to me, I thought reasonably with an acknowledging nod.

I walked closer and sat next to Key, snuggling next to him.

It was almost as if he knew that it was me because he wrapped his arm around my waist and hugged me close. I looked at him and saw his smile. I smiled back, although I silently wished that he didn’t hear my pounding heartbeat and my reddened ears that I hid behind my hair.

“Are you alright?” He whispered to me, his bow-shaped lips still red from the lipstick. I nodded meekly to answer his question, although I know my heart isn’t. Between those I like, I’m going to have trouble choosing one of them.

I felt his hands sneaking their way underneath the hems of my denim shirt, his fingers tickling my skin. I’m glad that everybody else were paying attention the game and not at us behind them. I squirmed underneath his touch, and, unconsciously, I pressed myself up towards him.

“Key,” I hissed in his ear. “Keep your blasted hands to yourself – and you were the one who was worried about me having with someone.”

Key smirked, quirking his eyebrow upwards, teasing me. “As long it’s me, of course.”

“ing bastard,” I swore quietly with a small scowl, though it was a bit of a joke. I pushed him off of me and scooted away from him, although he was giggling playfully and scooted closer towards me.

I stopped him with my foot on his leg, pushing him away. He pouted at me, ceasing all efforts to get nearer to me but smiled and let me be, turning his head away to resume watching the game. I glanced slyly at him before looking back.

I felt rather uncomfortable when I swore that I felt a pair of jealous eyes fixated on me. I looked around to see no one looking at me. I glanced at Taemin whose eyes were glued at the screen, sitting in front of Kibum. I puckered my lips in confusion before looking at screen, watching Minho and Min trying their best.

In the end, Minho won.

“Ah, what the heck?” Min complained, putting down the game console with a pout while Minho cheered, dancing around the room. I let out a yelp when he grabbed my arm and forced me to dance with him.

“Ah, Minho-oppa, stop!” I shrieked at him, but in the end, I ended up laughing with him as he spun me around the room. When he was finally done spinning me around and put me down to the ground, I shoved him away and let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, yeah, congrats on your win, now let’s do something else instead.”

Kangdae and Min-Ae rose their hands up cheerfully, “Karaoke!”

I smacked my palm onto my forehead – remind me that Kangdae is also Min-Ae’s brother…

“Aigoo,” I muttered under my breath as I dragged by the two step-siblings towards the large TV screen on the other side of the room. “But I don’t want to sing!”

“Nonsense!” said Min-Ae as she positioned me in front of the screen, forcing me to hold the microphone as she curled my fingers around the object. I watched as she spun around me, my body following her as I turned around in the same position “It’s Christmas! At least sing to loosen up a bit! And we only have some time until dinner anyway!”

“Dinner won’t start in an hour.”

“Well, then… that’s that!”

I rolled my eyes at her. I’ll take back everything I’ve said about her – she’s a nut job. No wonder why Min get along with her—they match each other perfectly. Then I cheered sarcastically, Yay for 2Min.

I looked behind me to see SHINee snickering at me. I glared at them, clenching the microphone and almost wanting to throw it at Jonghyun who laughed the most at me. I averted my eyes back to the screen and saw that Min had already chosen a song.

“What the heck?!” I screeched at her. Min modestly smirked at me and put down the remote.

“Oh, relax, it’s a song you should have heard by now,” she told me with a shrug of her shoulder. I glared at her as she walked back to Jonghyun’s side.

Jonghyun, confess to her soon before I kill her with my own hands.

There was lot of beanbags around the area, so most of them took their seat on them – only Kangdae and Onew chose to stand up. I saw that Kangdae had a microphone as well.

I looked at him. He smiled at me.

“Jeongmal,” I asked, “You’re seriously…”

He nodded, a warm smile playing on his lips. I rolled my eyes at him and faced the screen.

The song played out Hyorin’s ‹O.M.G›, having this funky bass resounding from the speakers. It pretty much publicized everyone up, bouncing to the beat. I stood there, rigid like a statue as I looked behind me. Minho and Key gave me thumbs up and I let out a nervous chuckle. I looked away when I saw a wink in Minho’s eyes, my face burning red.

I really do not want to sing.

Especially when a song pretty much verifies my feelings to three certain males.

Minho would know. I told him—remember that day at Su-Min’s party?

Seeing your eyes for the time, my heart stops.
How can you have that kind of charm?
You start talking to me and above the sky;
your smile spreads like the white clouds!

It was exactly my situation whenever I look at either Taemin, Minho or Key. Whenever they show their charm…my heart just explode. In addition, when they smile at me…well…you know the rest.

What kind of Christmas is this?

Should I go to you first? Should I talk to you?
One minute and one second are too fast!
Do you have a girlfriend? I get nervous;
will you open your heart tonight?

I just…sang.

Actually, I danced and sang. This song makes me want to dance, for some odd reason, even though I did not want to. And, as much as I did not want to admit it, but this song definitely matches my current situation between the three people.

I hate it when songs can match to your current situations.

Oh, oh, oh my god, I get so
Oh, oh, oh my god, it’s dangerous because of you
Oh, oh, oh my God! Oh, oh, oh my God!
I panic, panic, I run out of breath for no reason.

In fact, I had fun singing. I had the biggest smile on my face when I faced the group, singing the second verse. They all were clapping with the beat as they sang along with me, each voices having different pitches.

Your charm overflows, time stops, each moment is a miracle.
Are you looking at me or around me? Your eyes confuse me!

I held my head with one hand and shrugged my shoulders before laughing, grinning at Kangdae who gave me his best, bright smile.

Should I go to you first? Should I talk to you?
One minute and one second are too fast!

I looked at Taemin when I sung this line. He smiled at me, clapping his hands.

Do you have a girlfriend? I get nervous;
will you open your heart tonight?

As soon I did, I turned towards Key, pointing at him when it was the ‘you, you’ part. He playfully pointed back at me before clapping his hands out of happiness, laughing at me and screaming out ‘cute’ at me. I pointed to Minho for the second part of ‘you, you’ and he just burst out laughing. I blew him a kiss and smirked to myself when he pretended to touch his cheek, his eyes wide and his face red.

I panic, panic, I run out of breath for no reason.
My body gets electrified but I pretend to be OK.

Yes, that verse seriously matches me right there. I fanned myself for gesture when I sang the ‘I run out of breath’ part, leaning over to the side and shaking my body. I giggled when I heard Key squealing like a fangirl behind me. I suppose he was strangling Minho because I heard him yelling at him to get off him.

I turned back to the screen and followed the lyrics until it was the rap coming. I looked at Kangdae in awe when he began his part.

“Aye~ he’s good!” Jonghyun praised him cheerfully, surprised of his talent. I was surprised too as well, even though I had seen him rapping a few times when I passed by his room on my way to the games room during the weekends. However, this was different – I can hear his voice more clearly now and he is broadcasting his talent in front of us.

I rolled my eyes when he went near me, broadcasting me as he rapped about my beauty and my fragrance, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and nodding together with him before shoving him off with a playful glare. He glared back at me with a smile as he rapped. Even though it was a short part, he was good.

I grinned when he ended the last line—‘This time is for ya’—bowing and pointing at me politely like a butler as I resumed singing, nodding my head to the beat as I clapped my hand gently against the microphone as I sang.

I panic, panic, I run out of breath for no reason.

By then, the song finished and everyone started clapping as I did a V-sign over my eye, winking at the audience, which got me an extra boost. I let out a sigh and returned to my normal self, my cheeks burning red.

“I don’t get why you always refuse to sing,” Key protested, “you sound so good when you sing! Why are you neglecting your own talent?”

“I just don’t want to, okay? The Talent Showdown was a different matter,” I mentioned as I put down the microphone. “I…I should go and ready the table. You guys can continue to play until my Appa tells me to call you down for dinner.”

They have all cheered at this notice, Key and Min-Ae being the first to grow apart from the group. I turned around to leave until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked to see that it was Minho smiling at me.

“Would you mind if I helped you out?” He asked with a sweet smile on his face.

I smiled back and shook my head as I answered back, “No, I don’t mind.” Then I held out my hand for him to take. He grabbed my hand, interlocking our fingers. His touch was electrifying, but I pretended to be OK as I smiled warmly at him. He smiled back at me as he stood next to me, ignoring the pair of daggers that landed behind his back.

I successfully held down the blush, albeit my heart still pounded. I held it tightly as he dragged me out of the room.

I saw Minho glance back at someone with a smirk, but I did not see who it was as he had already pulled me out of the room.

“Wah, you are so good with cooking!”

I looked to see Minho behind me when I brought out the tray from the oven, wearing the cotton mittens. A large chicken sat upon it.

“Onew will be so proud that you baked chicken for him,” he joked. I laughed at this, taking off the mittens and grabbing the knife, even though it is true because, well, aside for his love for Luna, his love for chicken will always come first.

I jolted when he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head upon his shoulder. The last thing I need from him is he doing this when he knew whom I am beginning to like and whom I am struggling to choose.

Moreover, Minho’s part of it.

“Don’t do that!” I shrieked as I clutched onto the knife. “I can’t risk getting you killed accidentally—especially when today’s Christmas!”

Minho’s chuckle echoed in my ear, his voice tickling my brain. “But I want to hug you like this…”

I stood quiet as I sliced the chicken s into perfectly measured slices.

“Are you still thinking about it—your decision?”

I paused my actions and looked behind me, eyes meeting his handsome face. We stared at each other for a while, and I could have sworn that I have heard our heartbeats pounding in dead silence. I blinked a few times before looking away, shrugging sadly, as I resumed cutting. “Well, yes…I suppose you could say that.”

He released his arms from my waist and gently wrapped his hand around my wrist, lowering the knife to the counter. He made me loosen my grip on the handle, which made me confused, because my knuckles were pale white.

Why was I gripping unto the knife so tightly?

He turned me around and grabbed my hands now, covering them with both of his large hands. He looked determined and serious, whatever he has to say.

“I want you to make up your mind, and choose already,” he told me in a soft voice.

My eyes widened at his words. How can harsh words mingle with his soft, warm voice?

He wants me to what?

“You want me to what?” I whispered in shock. He shushed me as he leaned close, our foreheads barely touching.

“Be quiet,” he told me, “Taemin’s listening unto us,” he whispered in my ear before leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

Okay, now that’s twice from him.

The odd thing is that his lips were close to my lips… too close.

I heard faint footsteps walking away from us, going somewhere although I do not know where he would go in my house… It is too big for him to know where the rooms are.

Minho pulled back, looking at the opening to the kitchen before looking back at me. He smiled apologetically. “Mianhae, I hope I didn’t upset you.”

I stood soundless before wordlessly shaking my head, telling him mentally that I was not upset. “But… why did you do that?”

“…To make you realize something.”

I tilted my head in confusion, my eyebrows furrowed but he only shook his head with a smile, leaving me alone, taking the glasses and plates out into the dining hall.

I pouted, hating the fact that I am being kept in the dark once again, but to be honest, solving mysteries has been… more fun nowadays. The strange occurrences of my forgotten memories; as to why SHINee knew me like an open book when I never told them; and as to why secrets was not shown to me. And as to why they are acting so weird around me…

I just have to do everything, do I?

Appa came inside the kitchen and looked at the food in awe. “Wow, look at all these foods, Mi-ja! They look so good!”

“And half of them aren’t done by me. The rest of them were food made by Victoria-unnie. She’s really good at cooking,” I told him proudly, spreading Victoria’s power to him.

“Well, tell her that we said thanks for her marvellous cooking, okay?” He chuckled and ruffled my hair before grabbing the knife from my hand. “Alright, now, let me do the rest on preparing the food. Go find the others and tell them come down for dinner.”

I nodded and was about to leave when my name was called again. I turned to see him smiling at me.

“I love you, Mi-ja.”

I smiled and nodded, replying with reddened cheeks, “Love you too, Appa.”

And with that, I left to get the others.

“I’ve got to call Victoria and have her join us for cooking next time,” Key stated as he sat at the table, eying the delicious food in awe.

I rolled my eyes at the dark haired male. He continued to boast about the food next to me and I let out a heavy sigh.

We sat at the table in a certain order, displayed as this:

LEFT ROW/SIDE:
Choi M(1) ¦ Kim JH(2) ¦ Lee TM(3) ¦ Choi MH(4) ¦ Park MA(5)

RIGHT ROW/SIDE:
Hwang JW(1) ¦ Hwang SY(2) ¦ Lee JK(3) ¦ Baek MJ(4) ¦ Kim KB(5) ¦ Park KD(6)

LEFT END: Baek Younghwa [Appa ~ ♥]
RIGHT END: Baek (Park) Sunhee [evil hag step-mother]

To be precise, I am more between Taemin and Minho just across the table as Onew has to squeeze in to sit next to me, and Kangdae is more between Min-Ae and the empty seat next to her and next to his mother (my step-mother). The table is quite large so it was not a problem—it was the number of people we have, as ‘13’ is quite an odd number.

Kim Jonghyun is lucky to sit next to Min and Minho, for some odd reason wanted to sit across me – once again, beating Taemin to it. Key…

Aish, that person wants to be my side at all times.

Appa and my step-mother are sitting across each other from both ends, although the distance is quite far. Not what you expect from a married couple such as them, but you knew my step-mother, you would understand why.

However, I was a bit confused as to why he would not sit next to her when he is so in love with her.

…Or is he not?

Heck, Mr. and Mrs. Hwang are sitting so closely together that I even thought of them to be happily married. I shook my head, pushing away the thoughts that I did not want to have on Christmas.

“Mi-ja, help me out with the food!” I heard Minho call out. I let out a groan and quietly excused myself from the table. No wonder why the rest of the food was taking quite some time. We do not have any house cleaners or servants, as we have sent them out for their holidays.

Appa is just that generous.

My cheeks burned red when I heard chuckles from the Hwang couple and my Appa as I left to the kitchen. I paused in my steps and looked at Min.

“Yah, Min, come help me with Minho.”

She looked at me shocked, glancing at Jonghyun before whining, “Wae?”

“Just come.”

She let out a sigh before she stood up from her seat. I saw a flash of apology on her face towards Jonghyun before coming up to me to aid me as we went into the kitchen.

We came out later on, our hands full with trays of what, ham, dumplings—oh, whatever, there is many food on the plates. Even the large chicken seemed to delight Onew and I had to smack his hands quite a few times to not be so rude in front of everybody.

“Thank you for the food~” we chorused, and soon enough, we began eating.

Key chewed onto his rice and pork belly before grinning, swallowing his bite. “Indeed, your cooking is the best! But I like my own cooking better.”

I glared at him. “You bastard.”

My step-mother gasped, “Manners, Baek Mi-ja!”

I rolled my eyes and leaned forwards to meet eyes with Park Kangdae, who nodded and looked at his mother.

“Umma, leave her be. They’re close enough to curse,” he calmly stated as he ate.

Hmm, having him around can be useful to shut her up now – I should keep him by my side at all times whenever I’m with her.

I looked over to see Minho laughing at Jonghyun who choked on a large piece of meat. I chuckled, realizing that it was Min’s doings since she looked so pissed off.

“Aigoo, you have to stop stuffing so much food in his mouth – he could die earlier than expected,” I joked, chuckling when I earned a hiss from the latter.

Key seems to be unsettled about something as he said to me, “I still can’t believe that Su-Min did that to you, from what I’ve heard. Did she really curse out your mother?”

I let out a sigh and nodded. Mrs. Hwang looked at me and smiled sadly before assuring Key, “Don’t worry. She has been dealt with. I feel so sorry for Mi-ja – she had been a great mother.”

I didn’t want them to talk about it anymore, so I wrapped some meat for him and gave to Key, surprising him. He smiled at me and took it into his mouth before kissing me on the cheek. I glared at Min-Ae who squealed first before covering out of embarrassment. My cheeks went red, however, when his hand rested on my thighs, tickling me with his fingers.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Taemin stabbing his food with a fork as he looked down at it coldly. He’s killing the cooked chicken unlike Onew beside me, who’s happily munching on it.

I looked at Minho who smiled at me before resuming eating his dinner.

“So Mi-ja,” Onew started after swallowing his bite. Thank God for him, or we would be eating in awkward silence. “I heard you’ve got presents for us?”

I glared at Min-Ae. “Min-Ae!”

“What?” She defended herself. “They had to know! Presents are not presents for nothing! Hell, it’s Christmas, for goodness’ sake!”

“I have to say, she’s right.” My Appa is agreeing with her on this? I let out a groan, leaning in my chair as the rest merged into laughter.

“Alright, alright, fine, I did get presents. And I snuck out of the house to do so, mianhae, Appa,” I quickly apologized to him who looked at me stunned.

Mr. Hwang patted his shoulder with a chuckle. “Give your daughter some freedom – she did have other plans than to stay in her bedroom all day.”

I looked at him shocked. “How did you know?”

“He came to me crying about it.”

Jonghyun almost spat out his drink as he hurriedly set down his drink and covered his mouth, turning around to hide his face as he coughed. Taemin and Min were helping him, patting his back to get out the trapped air in his throat. I glowered at him.

“Why are you laughing about it, Mr. Cry-baby?” This got Key laughing, resting his head on my shoulder. Jonghyun glared back at me, his face red.

“Shut it,” he retorted, his voice hoarse from all that coughing.

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Mr. Hwang from near the left end of the table. “He cried about the fact that I said I hated him?”

He nodded.

I looked at my Appa who looked away embarrassed. Then he tried to change topic, “Alright, I see you’re almost done with dinner! Mi-ja, why don’t you and the others find your presents underneath the tree once you’re finished?”

“That’s a great idea!” Min chimed in happily.

Jonghyun nodded with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, great.” He yelped when I threw a knife at his head. He’s lucky that it was an eating utensil and not a cutting one or he’d end up in a hospital.

“Mi-ja!” I ignored my step-mother and looked at Min-Ae. She smiled at me and set her chopsticks down on her empty plate. We both sat up, excusing ourselves. I had finished mine, so I was able to leave my seat.

Key whined when I left his side, but I assured him that I’m just going to set up my presents, which made him go ‘oh~’ before letting me off.

As soon as we left the dining hall, Min-Ae pulled me close, wrapping her arm around mine. “Will they like it?”

I looked at her incredulously. “Of course they would! Why wouldn’t they?”

She shrugged. Then she spoke about something else, “I’ve seen Taemin at the table and he seems down. What do you think happened? He wasn’t in the games room when I checked.”

I thought back to when Minho kissed me on the cheek and that Taemin was listening in. I wasn’t able to look at him – I couldn’t look at him.

But I do know that he was not happy about it.

But looking at him, it made me feel like he’s looking at me as a different person. I can see it in his eyes when he stares at me with that sweet smile on his face, but…who?

Geez, since when my fairy tales had some mysteries in it?

Realizing that I was taking quite a very long time to answer her question, I shrugged. “I think he got motion sickness from the truck?”

Min-Ae rolled her eyes. “And I told Min that even the extreme-lovers can get sick. Aish.”

I laughed as we went up the stairs. Then I asked her, “Do you think Jonghyun will confess today?”

The brunette looked at me and smiled. “With the two of them sticking so closely together, I’m positive he will.”

I hummed. Then I remembered about the mistletoe near the doorway in the living room. “Hey, why was the mistletoe there in the first place?”

She seems to be as confused as I am as she thought of it. “I don’t know. If it were for my mother, I wouldn’t want to see. If it was placed there by Min, then I’m afraid that she has another plan coming.”

“…Your best friend is scary.”

Min-Ae chuckled, patting my back as she led me upstairs. “And I love her for that.”

It was opening presents time!

(My most favorite moment out of all on Christmas!)

The adults were not in the room, so it was just mainly me and the rest who are here.

I sat next to Taemin as I held the bag and the large teddy bear in my arms. The dancer whined when I smacked his hand away from the plate of cookies and our glasses of drink—mine being orange juice because I’m still underage to drink alcohol.

“Aye, what with the teddy bear?” Minho pointed out, reaching to touch its head with a grin.

“This is my present for you all – all of you. If I hear anything from Min that you have been fighting over it, I’m taking it back,” I warned, glaring at them playfully before giving it to Onew. “It should be in safe hands with the leader.”

“I don’t think that is a very good idea,” Jonghyun deadpanned, which made Key laugh and nod in agreement. He’s known for ‘Onew Condition’, so he can be rather clumsy. But I still entrusted him with the teddy bear as I smiled at him.

“Okay, shall we take turns giving gifts?” Kangdae suggested. We all agreed with the idea and took out our presents. They were more interested in f(x)’s presents as they got more than us.

“Luna came by to drop them. She told me that the next time you guys meet, you will feel her jealous wrath,” I told SHINee. Onew’s face went red at the mention of Luna’s name and I can’t help but smile.

“S-She came here?” Okay, now he’s just being goddamn adorable—and obvious.

He’s lucky nobody noticed that, or his secret would have been long gone.

I nodded in confirmation before asking everyone, “Who’s going first?”

Key was quick to raise his hand as he shouted out, “Me! Let it be me!”

“Aigoo, you child, I wonder how you’re Minho’s hyung,” I chuckled.

Minho nudged me by the elbow, pointing at him as he sneered and said, “I wonder if he’s even my hyung in the first place.”

“Yah!” Key picked up his pillow and threw at him, at which he had unfortunately missed as Minho dodged it in time. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at him for a while before taking out a small-sized box, wrapped in pink with a silver box. The color reminds me of Etude House, when they were in the ad with Sulli and Krystal.

I found it cute, but rather embarrassing to watch that I could barely keep my eyes on it for more than 10 seconds.

In fact, it’s like I can feel their embarrassment that radiated off the screen.

It’s mostly Jonghyun.

The dark-haired male gave it to me, placing it upon my lap. “I found this during my free time and I thought it would suit you,” he told me with a smile.

I rose an eyebrow at him before staring down at the pink present on my lap. “Let’s see what inside it…” I mumbled to myself as I ripped out the silver ribbon first before unwrapping it. Opening the box, I stared at the contents inside with wide eyes before looking up at Key with a smile.

It was a perfume. I could smell its sweet aroma – my favourite type of perfume. I like sweet smells and those that smells fruity – such as vanilla; that scent was my most favourite.

“Since you smell like vanilla every time we meet, I thought that it would be nice if you had another of your favourite scents in a different brand,” Key told me with a smile on his face. “Would cherry blossom and peach works for you? That’s the name of the smell when I asked.”

I looked at the brand and chuckled. Victoria’s Secret. Of course, mostly sweet scents would come from this brand. I nodded and smiled at him. “Yes, this is just fine. Gamsahabnida, Key-umma.”

Key smiled and leaned his cheeks towards my direction. I pushed his face away as I told him with a groan, “No, you have given me enough kisses for today, I don’t want to go over the limits.” I saw him pout cutely, his button nose scrunching up in annoyance, but I waved him off and looked for the next person. “Who’s next?”

I was a bit surprised to see Kangdae raising his hand. Then he bowed to SHINee. “Sorry I didn’t have any presents for you – I don’t know you much like Mi-ja, so I only got something for Min, my sister and Mi-ja.”

Onew shook his head, telling him that he did not mind, so did the others as they told him that it was all right. I watched as he gave a small box wrapped in red with green Christmas trees patterns on it – her two favourite colours in one. I could literally see the sparkles in Min-Ae’s eyes when she saw her present.

I nudged Taemin by the elbow and pointed at her excited face. We both giggled at how childish she looked when she screamed, “Oppa! Saranghae!”

“Yah, you haven’t even seen the present yet, don’t say I love you without looking at it!” Kangdae protested and I had to agree with him on that.

Min-Ae giggled in embarrassment before unwrapping her present. Her eyes sparkled when she saw that it was a golden heart necklace.

Kangdae scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks red in embarrassment. “I just thought you would like it…”

“I do,” she answered within a second before smiling at him. “Gomawo, Kangdae-oppa.”

This is why I love siblings’ love – they are just goddamn cute!

He turned to Min and gave her a rounded object. Despite the shape, it was still wrapped neatly, to our surprise. Min didn’t hesitate to rip open the wrapping.

“Min…” I slowed her down as I narrowed my eyes at her. “That was really unnecessary.”

Minho sighed, “I wonder if you’re really my cousin…”

Min smiled at the brunet and kicked him in the leg. “Shut up, I’m just eager to see what it is.”

She took out a soccer ball amongst the papers and smiled at my step-brother. “Thanks for considering that I like sports.”

He shook his head. “That’s not all. If you find it, you would know.”

“On the ball?” she asked with furrowed eyebrows. He nodded in confirmation. Even I was curious to know as Min looked at the ball confusedly as she turned it around, observing it. Jonghyun peered in and looked for it as well. I knew Min had found it when she froze; staring at whatever it was in her sight.

Jonghyun gasped, “Wah, daebak!” He covered his mouth and looking at Minho with wide eyes. “You won’t believe this, I swear!”

“Wae, wae?” Minho pressured, sliding next to Min and looking at the sight before gasping with wide eyes. “Yah!” he yelled at Kangdae in jealousy, the elder laughing in amusement. “You should have given this to me! How can you have Park Jisung’s signature on the ball!?”

“Park Jisung signed it!?” Key and I screeched as one and we all crowded around the object. It was there, his signature fresh and clean of ink from using marker. I glowered at Kangdae who rose his hands in surrender.

Kangdae took his time to explain himself, “Hey, I took a leave and went to London, hence the fact why you didn’t see me around the house the past week.”

I groaned in annoyance. “You are really unpredictable.”

“And rare,” jested the latter.

“Shut up,” I told him with a small smile on my face as I went back to my position. He handed me a medium-sized box, wrapped in baby blue. I eyed in curiosity before glancing at my step-brother.

He only smiled at me. I groaned at him. “Don’t~ when you smile like that, it makes me feel like you have something in your sleeves.”

Kangdae shrugged.

I unwrapped my present and opened the lid from the box before shrieking in happiness. I must have scared Taemin because he yelled in shock, surprised by my sudden outburst when I was so quiet earlier. I covered my mouth and murmured an apology to him, my cheeks colouring red. Nevertheless, I was just so happy to see my present.

“You got me a pair of headphones I’ve always wanted! How did you know I wanted them?” I asked him, my eyebrows raising in curiosity because I know for sure I did not tell him.

Once he nodded his head to his right, everything makes sense. I looked at Min-Ae whose face was red.

“He asked!” She accused him first, pointing a finger at him.

I shook my head before smiling at him. “Gamsahabnida, Kangdae… Now, for mine!” I held out the bag and took out all five presents. “These are for SHINee.”

Jonghyun hummed in impression as he had his present, the one with the blue ribbon. I made sure everyone had their presents according to their colours. They all thanked me for the presents, hugging me tightly.

“I just thought…well, since you’re always missing me and all, I thought it would be nice to give you something that might reminds me of me,” I told him shyly. “However! I cannot risk the paparazzi think that you got these from a girlfriend and cause a scandal, so I tried to make them as SHINee-like as possible.”

“Wait,” Onew started, “these are personalized?”

I nodded. Key stared at me in awe. “Wah~ these must have cost a lot!”

“Heh, no kidding,” Min-Ae murmured underneath her breath to which only I could hear. I glared at her silently.

Well, if you have let me paid for it, you would not be feeling the heavy boulders on your shoulders.

“Well, on the count of 3!” Minho suggested. “Hana, dul, set!”

They opened their presents simultaneously and smiled at their presents, taking out the accessories and examining them.

I smiled; glad to know that they liked it. “I made them into necklaces and bracelets, according to your style. And for Onew-oppa, as he hardly wear any accessories, I just made a charm for his bag.”

Onew chuckled and crawled over to me with the large teddy bear in his lap, wrapping one arm around my shoulder as he hugged me tightly. “Gomawo, Mi-ah~!”

Minho and Taemin already had fitted on the bracelet onto their wrists, smiling warmly as they looked closely at the charms.

Then it was time for them to read the letters.

I rolled my eyes at Key’s gasps and his squeals as he read my letter to him.

Dude, it’s just me wishing you a Merry Christmas, not that it’s anything to squeal over, really…

Taemin, however, looked shocked.

I tilted my head in confusion, wondering what is it that could have possibly made him look so shocked. When he met eyes with me, I saw shock and…panic?

“M-Mi-ja…” he whispered to me.

“Mwo? What is it?”

“Is that true?”

Okay, now what is going on here? “What?”

Key leaned over to Taemin’s side before gasping. “Yah!” he yelled at me. “How come you don’t give me a card like his?”

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about…” I answered unsurely, having no idea of what is happening.

Minho plucked out the card from the maknae’s hand and showed it to me.

Oh, I am going to kill Min-Ae.

“Park ing Min-Ae!” I shrieked as the brunette had already gotten up from her seat, holding the original card. That little devil, she swapped cards and gave Taemin the ‘I Love You This Much’ one!

Damn it all!

She stuck her tongue out at me as she ran away. “Yah, get back here and give me the original card!” I scrambled to my feet and chased her into the house.

However, I am so glad I was able to escape the embarrassing scene.

I need to explain and sort things out to Taemin—this is not what it is supposed to be like!

I panted, no longer chasing the brown-haired woman around as I ended up in the second floor.

It's probably evening since we had our dinner and our gifts giving.

“Great, now how am I going to explain myself to Taemin?” I mumbled angrily to myself. I could hear the music still playing, but this time, it is playing other songs. The one playing then was SHINee’s ‹Wowowow›, its beat carrying throughout the building.

I walked around, calling my evil stepsister’s name. “Min-Ae! Yah, come out!” When I received no answer, I assumed that she must have vanished downstairs or somewhere on the ground floor. I walked faster, going down the hallway to the spiraling staircase.

When I hit the bottom floor, I only saw Taemin in the living room. My heart thudded, seeing his profile as he stared up at the tall Christmas tree, his brown eyes sparkling in delight.

“Taemin?” I shyly called out, my voice soft but audible enough for him to hear. The dark-haired male turned to me in surprise, his eyes wide before they softened. I walked closer into the living room but not close enough to be near him. I looked around the area before my eyes landed back on him, seeing him still in the same position as he was earlier. “Where did the others go?”

He shrugged. “Someplace around here… They must have gone to the indoor pool room, I think.”

I let out a hum, nodding at his words before averting my eyes elsewhere. It felt awkward standing there in the same room with the person whom I have accidentally got my cards switched by my step-sister (which was done on purpose, by the way) and having him to read it by chance… well, it’s just awkward.

“I know it was a mistake.”

My head perked up, startled when I saw him in front of my face. I stepped back to maintain distance, although he came one step closer.

He smiled and held out the original card in his hand; the card that was supposed to be given to him. “Don’t worry. Min-Ae explained what happened to me about the card. She said you were tired that whilst she was joking around, you accidentally registered it into your mind and wrote it down in the letter.”

…I wasn’t tired that day. Not even the least tired at all.

I mentally looked away, as if glaring at the audience in front of me. Must she have to lie to the innocent dancer?

But then again, she saved me from embarrassment, so I’ll give her props for that.

“Ah,” I decided to play along just this once. “She did?”

He nodded, now stepping a bit closer. “Yes. I understand that you didn’t want me to receive the other card, so let’s just assume that it was a mistake.”

I nodded, glad that he understood me. Then I noticed the distance between us that was slowly closing in. “Y-Yah!” I called out, my hands on his shoulders, holding him back as I stared at him, my cheeks red. “W-Why are you getting so c-close?” Curse my stuttering!

His eyes glanced upwards before they landed back on me. I followed his eyes before groaning in annoyance.

You’ve got to be ting me.

“Ah, jeongmal,” I sighed as I saw the dangling mistletoe above us. Then I glared at the smirking Taemin. Angel Taemin is out and Devil Taemin is in.

He wrapped my arms around my waist and held me close to his body in an aggressive manner. I’m never used to this side of him – not when I’ve witnessed this back then at their house.

“Lee Taemin, you are despicable,” I emphasized my words strongly as I had my hands on his chest then, my strong eyes glaring darkly at the male in front of me.

Taemin shrugged. “Fine then. Would a kiss on the cheek works out for you?”

I stared at him before agreeing. “I’ll kill you and rip your intestines out if you ever think about tricking me to kiss you on the lips.” Then I growled to prove my point. “I’ve almost killed Su-Min, do you want me to have you in a hospital then?”

Taemin gulped, his Adam swelling as he shook his head. I was the one who’s the Devil then, smirking at him as I patted his cheek. “Good Tae,” I teased, earning a protesting scoff from the latter.

“Baek Mi-ja, you are wicked.”

“Thank you. I intend to stay that way,” I sarcastically mocked him. The dark-haired male and unwrapped his arms away from my waist.

My plan to make Lee Taemin uncomfortable has been a success! I stared at him with a poker face to mask my rapidly beating heart. “Mwo? Why did you move away?”

Taemin looked at me with a pout. “You’re being so mean! Aish, since when you have become a devil?”

“Since you first changed me into one,” I grinned. “You and your evil motives to prank your hyungs.”

He sighed. “Now I understand Key-hyung and why he wants to keep my innocence… I’ll start to see people like you.”

Now I’m offended.

“Yah~!” I yelled out, hitting him playfully on the arm, causing the latter to laugh and pretend to be in pain. “Oh, be quiet, you babo!” I pretended to beat him up more, the brunet laughing more as I poked him in the sides.

“I give, I give!” He surrendered to me, grabbing my wrists and pulling them away from his torso. I smiled at our playful fight and pried my wrists out of his grasp. We stared at each other before looking down at our feet. I held my clasped hands behind my back, twisting the rainbow ring on my finger.

We only hummed in awkwardness.

Taemin was the first to speak up as he stepped back. “I…I should go.”

“Huh? You’re leaving without the others?”

He nodded. “Just…well…” he trailed off, his eyes dimming a bit before smiling at me. “I want to go somewhere to clear my mind a bit.”

Well, he’s still an idol, so I suppose he did need some things to clear up. Maybe he’s stressed, despite celebrating on a joyful holiday.

I nodded at the bracelet on his wrist. “Don’t lose it. It’s your only hope.”

Taemin rolled his eyes, “Of course not!”

“Can I trust you on those words?” I pushed him, smirking at him.

He wavered. “Ani,” he started, which made me scoff in disbelief at the admittance. “But I’ll try not to. If you want, you can check me to see if it’s on every week.”

I tapped my finger on my chin before nodding. “Call!” Then I told him, “It’s snowing outside now. You should wear your coat. Min hung it up in the coat rack near the door. Please be careful on your way down to the bus stop. You’re not calling your manager, right? Please call him to let him know where you are—I cannot afford to have a lost member of SHINee in the middle of nowhere.”

He shook his head, chuckling at my stupid assumption. “Aniya…I’ll be fine. Stop worrying, I might as well ignore your nagging like I do to Key.”

We both laughed before calming down and only smiling at each other. When Taemin turned around, his back facing me, I called out his name again, in a more delicate manner.

“Taemin.”

He turned around to face me. His eyes went wide when he felt warm lips on his cheek. I pulled away, smiling shyly as I fixed his collar.

“Be safe.”

I nodded as I walked away, waving him goodbye as I went to the hallway, going to find the indoor pool area.

When I was nearing the room, I heard whispers to my right. I stopped in my steps, confused of the sounds before looking, seeing that I was standing in front of an open doorway in the room. The door was half-way closed, but I saw them.

And inside that room was Jonghyun and Min.

Kissing.

I mean like, kissing. Without a mistletoe.

I quickly hid behind the wall by the door and peeked in, seeing that Min had her arms wrapped around his neck and Jonghyun had his arms around her waist as they pulled away. Min was blushing red as she smiled at him.

“I’m glad you confessed. Because I like you too.”

So, did this mean...?

I smiled to myself, silently cheering Jonghyun on and congratulating him for confessing to her as promised.

Not wanting to feel like a creep any longer, I stealthily went away from the door and went on my own way. A couple more steps forward, I felt a strong grip on my arm. I would have screamed if it weren’t for the hand covering my mouth.

I was pulled around the corner, just where I began to see the large doorway to the indoor pool. I was turned around, meeting eyes with brown irises.

I groaned, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Must you have to do that, Key?”

Key chuckled apologetically. “Mianhae, but did you see them?”

“See who?”

Key sighed, staring at me with the ‘you-know-what-I-mean-don’t--with-me’ look, his hands on his hips. I chuckled and nodded, verifying that I’ve saw Jonghyun and Min together. He squealed, jumping a bit in his spot.

“I knew it! I knew I’m not the only one hoping for this to happen! I mean, seriously, have you seen how obvious that guy is? Even Minho knew, but he had to play along for the sake of him,” then he sighed, placing a hand to his temples. “I was about to burst, jinjjayo! No, jinjja, I was going to explode from frustration.”

I chuckled. “The only person who’s slow to realize it is Onew-oppa.”

Key snorted. “Oh, I’m not telling him that we knew. You’ll be the one to break the ice.” We both went into fits of giggle before calmed down and asked me, “How are you tonight?”

“I’m tired. I’m dead beat tired and I can’t wait to go to bed when I get you guys out of here,” I told him honestly, wrapping my arms around his upper body as I snuggled into his chest, feeling comfortable around him. He hugged me back, his chin on my head as he kissed the crown of my scalp gently.

“Oh, my poor Mi-baby…” he cooed, rocking me softly in his arms. “You deserve a good night’s sleep when we leave. But for now, we’re still having fun,” he told me as he pulled away from the hug and held me by the shoulders.

“Can we not? I’ve spent my energy chasing Min-Ae around and doing my plans for this Christmas,” I told him with a sigh. I looked up at him to see smiling at me.

Key nodded before noticing an absence in the house. “Where’s Taemin?”

I bit the inside of my cheeks. “He left,” I answered. “Without you guys. He didn’t call his manager since he decided to take the bus home. He looked like he needed fresh air.”

Key stood silent, taking all of this before mumbling, “Is that so…” Then he nodded. “I see. Thanks for telling me. I’ll notify hyung when we leave. Come to think of it,” he paused, thinking of Taemin’s condition. “He did look like he’s a bit stressed.”

I didn’t tell him about the kiss when Taemin caught me and Minho in the kitchen, but he looked far too distracted to even think about one thing.

I felt my hand dragging as I was pulled along with the male, going somewhere.

“Wha—? Where are we going?”

“Outside!”

I let out a complaining whine. “Outside?! But it’s cold! And it’s not helping with the fact that it’s snowing!”

Key snorted. “Oh, quit being a girl about it.”

“…But I am a girl,” I deadpanned.

“Ani, last time I checked, you were a man who tackled down Hwang Su-Min and almost murdered her with a bloody face. What do you think of that?”

Hmm, point taken.

Soon enough, we were out the front door. Actually, Key was outside the front door. I was inside, standing by the open doorway while watching the childish fox dance in the snow. Even if he wore his sweater and tight jeans, it’s still freaking cold outside.

The snow was piled up from yesterday, so this gave him a chance to sprinkle snow around him, I believe.

To tell the truth, outside was beautiful.

With the neighbors’ houses decorated for Christmas along with the trees full of blinking Christmas lights, everything looked magical.

The scene looked like something that just came right out of a fairytale.

And the boy was happy with his Christmas magic.

That boy was Kim Kibum.

I smiled as I watched him fall on the snow onto his back, squirming his legs and arms as if trying to make a snow angel.

“You should come out and try it! It’s cold, but if you play in it, you’ll forget about it!”

His voice was so melodious and joyful, I cannot help but smile. Looking outside, I brazenly took a step outside, the snow making crunching noises underneath my boots.

I looked up at the dusky sky, the snow falling from the heavens as I saw glistening snowflakes landing upon my reddened cheeks.

“It’s cold, Key-umma!” I whined, rubbing my arms for warmth. The male sat up then, shaking the snow out of his hair before standing up.

“Oh, relax,” he told me as he walked next to me, shaking his entire body to get rid of the snow. “It’s not that bad.”

I stared at him for a couple of seconds before I saw him shiver. “See? You’re cold too!”

Key nodded before taking my already cold hand into his. “Snowball fight?” He asked me, a trembling smirk on his face.

I narrowed my eyes at him before mirroring the same smirk, my cheeks red from the cold. “You’re on,” I challenged.

We both went opposite ways, our backs to each other as we began to make snowballs. It’s freezing my fingers off since I wasn’t wearing mittens, but I was determined to win.

I shrieked when I felt my collar being pulled back, and along with it, cold. I stood up, a prepared snowball in one hand whilst the other hand and rapidly patting at my back, trying to get the snow out of my skin.

“Y-Y-Y-Yah, Key-umma! T-T-That’s r-really u-unnecessary!” I hissed between clattering teeth before grabbing the laughing brunet by the collar and shoving the snowball directly into his face, throwing it like I was throwing custard pie. I let out a shuddering laugh as he shrieked, his entire face so red that I thought he would explode.

“It’s cold!” He uttered, wiping off the melted snow off his face, his hands looking paler than usual.

I snorted. “Serves you right!” I giggled as I ran away from the male, the other chasing me around.

He was right. I did forget about the cold when I played around with him outside. I can hardly feel the cold at all as heat rose throughout my body, burning out my energy.

I screamed when Key practically tackled me down onto the snow, his arms around my waist. We laughed as we laid on the snow with insufficient amount of warm clothing but we didn’t mind this.

“Hey,” I felt his warm breath against my cheek as he sat up, staring at me then. “I know you’re including me. I’m one of the three people you like, right?”

My eyes widen. “How…?”

Key chuckled. “You, out of all people, should know that the Almighty Key sees all. It’s in your eyes whenever you look at me, despite whatever expression you have on.”

I frowned, my cheeks red in embarrassment. “I’m a babo…I cannot believe I started liking you right after I rejected you.”

I heard him chuckle and helped me stand up from the snow, patting my back to get rid of the white snow. “It’s normal, Mi-ja. That’s called ‘being human’. I can understand that,” he told me before turning his back to me, pointing at the large white mass of snow from his behind. I helped clean it off him, shaking them off his jeans and sweater. “Besides, it’s possible to like someone after a rejection. Since I confessed, you stopped seeing me not as your friend, but as a man. Of course there would be a possibility of you falling for me.”

I bit my lower lip as he turned to me with a smile. “But, I’m sorry. I think…I think I prefer us when we first met before now. Not that I regret confessing to you, heck no, I’m glad that I did it!” I rolled my eyes at his answer. “But I believe that you deserve someone who can truly protect you.”

I stared at him before telling him, “But you’ll still protect me, right?”

His eyes widen slightly as I said more, “Even if I were to like someone else, you will still protect me…right?”

He gazed at me before smiling warmly with a nod of his head. “Ne,” he answered simply. No more, no less—it was all he need to say.

I grinned as I held his hand, intertwining our fingers. “Good.”

And we got back inside the house to escape the freezing chill that overcame our body.

It was 2 o’clock in the night when I came out of my bedroom, covering my mouth as I let out a yawn. SHINee and the Hwangs had left at 11:00 PM, thanking us for the amazing celebration before wishing me a Happy Holiday. Manager Hoo was a bit upset to know that Taemin had left earlier than expected, and he expected him to be back at the dorm by then. The group gave me hugs and when Jonghyun hugged me, he whispered in my ears about what happened.

“I confessed,” was all he said, and I could only nod, telling him that we’ll talk about it next time.

I sleepily walked down the stairs, craving for a glass of water as I dragged my feet on the floor, my blue pyjamas pants loosely swaying against my ankles. I shifted my glasses on my nose, on which I had put on without a care as I was tired.

And by tired, I mean: worn out! Woo, Christmas can be hard to celebrate.

“Bap, bap, bap, bap…” I mumbled out, chanting out ‘rice’ unconsciously as I entered the ground floor and made my way to the kitchen. I rubbed my eyes, my auburn hair messily tied up into a single, braided ponytail. As I opened the cupboard, a knock on the door.

I stared out the opening to the living room and looking around for a clock. Then I looked at my wrist, seeing the digital watch before narrowing my eyes at the second knock, which sounded sloppier than the first.

“What the heck…” I mumbled, covering my mouth again as I yawned, going to the front door. “Who in the right mind would be knocking on the door at 2:15 AM?”

I came up to the door quickly, sensing that the third knock was still sloppy, but louder this time. “Alright, alright, I’m opening!” I yelled, loud enough for the other to hear. I’m so glad my parents are sleeping on the third floor of the mansion.

And they are both heavy sleepers.

I unlocked the door and swung the door open, glaring at whoever it is on the front step. “Yah, you must be a or a bastard to start knocking on the—”

“Mi-jani~”

Wha—? Mi-jani? What kind of name is that?!

My eyes opened wide when I saw who it was, leaning beside the wall, his face entirely red and his mind drunk as he grinned foolishly at me.

Why do I have a drunk SHINee member in front of my mansion?

…Wait a second, is that…oh God.

“Taemin…?”

Drunk!Taemin is drunk. Just sayin'.

I bet you weren't expecting to see him like that, weren't you? Well, neither did I as I just wrote whatever came to mind.

Who would have thought that this would end up like this? Huh.

This is what you get from drinking too much, Taemin... tsk, tsk.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the (premium) chapter! 

But guess what. After I finished writing the chapter, I found that this chapter is exactly 33 pages and 17429 words.

Yup, this is a monster chapter alright...

But anyway, I shall see you next update for Mi-ja's Adventures with a Drunk Taemin -- I-I mean... the next chapter. >__> ;;