"Wow," Siwon looked at his younger brother "I can't believe you finally have someone to sit next to you at the table this year."

"Shut up," Joonmyun slumped down in the passenger seat of the car. It was Christmas Eve morning and they were on the way to their family home for the annual Kim Christmas reunion. To say that Joonmyun was not thrilled was an understatement. He would rather be in his apartment celebrating with Lay alone. But it was one of very few times in the year when he got to see his whole family, so he had no choice. On top of that, he was finally going to introduce Lay to his family which he thought was an accomplishment in and of itself. He and the doll had been living together for seven months so it was about time Lay meet his parents. They weren't dating (Joonmyun wasn’t really sure what their relationship status was) but it was what his doll wanted and his parents wanted him to finally be with someone. A win-win situation for everyone.

Except Joonmyun.

The brunette sighed as he looked at the doll asleep on the backseat. He had gone into sleep mode so he would be fully charged when he met Joonmyun's parents, at least that's what his owner was assuming. It could be something totally different and completely unrelated, but being ready for his parents sounded most like Lay. If it weren't for that doll, Joonmyun probably wouldn't be in this car right now. In this car listening to his rich and successful brother rattling on about how shocked he is. Siwon had graduated from college with honors and got a job instantly. Then he rose quickly to the top, got married and had kids, and now he was the favorite of their parents. Of course their parents said otherwise, but Joonmyun knew better than to believe that. The moment he had come out to his parents, Siwon had become the automatic favorite and Joonmyun was just the second child they happened to have. Another reason not to go to this stupid dinner.

"Joonmyun are you listening?!"

"What?" The younger brother turned his attention to the elder "What do you want?"

"I want you to tell me about your boyfriend back there," Siwon glanced at his brother "He must be special."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"He's not?! So why are you bringing him to our family dinner if he's nobody special?"

"I didn’t say he wasn't special, I said he's not my boyfriend."

Siwon furrowed his eyebrow in confusion "That doesn't make sense."

"Can we not have this conversation right now?"

"Fine, not that it matters. You're going to have to introduce him when you get to the house anyway." Thank goodness Joonmyun had already thought of that. He already knew what he would tell his parents when they asked about Lay. The brunette was prepared for any question his parents could possibly ask.

"Oppa~"

Joonmyun was not prepared for that, especially not for his brother to hear that. Siwon burst into laughter "You have a dirty !"

The younger male glared at his brother before turning to face his doll who had clearly just woken up "What is it?"

"Are we there yet?"

"Unfortunately no." Joonmyun pushed a hand through his hair "We'll be there soon hopefully."

"So," Siwon cut in to the conversation "Lay tell me about Joonmyun, what is he like when he's with you?"

It was about 4pm by the time they reached the Kim house. The car ride had been embarrassing to say the least and Lay had basically told Siwon how nice Joonmyun was when it was just the two of them. Siwon laughed and poked fun at his little brother while the other just had to accept the embarrassing hand he had been dealt. He was more than happy when they had pulled up to the country mansion and were greeted by Mr. and Mrs.Kim. "Joonmyun!" Mrs.Kim ran up and hugged her younger son who she felt like she hadn’t seen in forever.

"It's nice to see you too mom," the brunette awkwardly patted his mother's back. He didn't know that they were on hugging terms again after the falling out they had last year. She had insisted on setting him up and was very angry when he didn’t show up for the date. She was desperate for grandchildren and Joonmyun could see the anger in the back of her eyes every time she looked at him. His parents had accepted his uality, but he wasn't dumb enough to believe that they didn't resent him for it.

Lay stood behind as he watched his owner interact with his family. He wondered if he had a family that he didn’t know about back where he came from. He was technically a doll, so his family had to be dolls too. Maybe they were in the store that he came from or with owners of their own. He wasn't sure, but he'd ask Joonmyun later if they could go check.

"Mom, Dad" the doll was broken away from his thoughts from an arm that was suddenly slung around his shoulder. He looked up at Siwon who was suddenly tugging him forward with a weird grin on his face. "This is Joonmyun's boyfriend, Lay uhh what's your last name?"

The doll blinked and stared at Siwon like he was crazy. "Zhang!" Joonmyun spoke up before the doll could reply back. He pulled away from his mother and took the doll's hand "This is my friend Zhang Yixing. His nickname is Lay. That’s not like his real name or anything."

Mrs.Kim looked at her husband with wide eyes before turning back to Joonmyun "Look honey, Joonmyun finally brought someone home." She was not impressed. The boy looked aloof and dopey. And he had a big head. And what was with his name? It was such an odd name. She plastered on a smile

"Well Yixing, it's nice to meet you. We're Joonmyun's parents, Mr. and Mrs.Kim."

Siwon snickered as he walked past them to go into the house "I'm sure we'll all get along great."

Lay was staring at Joonmyun, somewhat surprised at the new name that he had been given, but he nodded all the same. He turned back to Mr. and Mrs.Kim and bowed ninety degrees “It’s nice to meet you. Please take good care of me.”

"Well at least he's polite," Mrs.Kim whispered to her husband "Anyway, let the servants get the bags and we can go inside. I want to hear all about the person my son has been dating."

Joonmyun took Lay's hand and pulled him back "Lay, I really need you to go along with everything I say alright?"

"Oppa, who is Yixing?"

“That’s going to be your name, okay? So if anyone asks, you’re Yixing and you’re twenty-four years old and a transfer student from China trying to get a medical degree. Got it?”

The doll nodded still not totally understanding what was going on. He didn’t have time to ask questions as he was dragged into the house to meet the rest of the family.

Dinner had not gone very well considering Joonmyun’s parents had been practically interrogating Lay since they had arrived. Of course having dessert wouldn’t mean that the interrogation would stop. Joonmyun tried to intercept whenever his parents asked a question but the next one wasn’t one he expected.

“Lay, tell us about your family,” Mrs.Kim looked at the boy sitting across from her. There was something wrong with this boy and she could sense it. She didn’t like the idea or possibility of her son seeing someone that below her standards.

“I’ve never met them,” the doll spoke honestly. That had been the most honest thing he had said to the family all night. He didn’t know anything about his own family. He just remembered waking up one day and being with Joonmyun. His owner and Kyungsoo always talked about their childhood memories and the thing they used to do with their families years ago, but Lay had none of that. He had no memories of being a young boy or having a family of his own. “I don’t remember anything before the day I was delivered.”

“Delivered?” The family had all gotten quiet and their attention was on the doll. Mrs.Kim put her fork down and tilted her head “Delivered from where?”

“Alright, I think it’s a good time to sing Christmas carols.” Joonmyun tried to steer away from the bad things he knew were about to happen.

“The store.” Lay remembered being and programmed before he was placed in his box. For a brief moment, he had seen the other dolls and people like himself, but they weren’t moving. He had wanted to talk to them, but he was quickly shut down and put in his box for delivery. The next thing he knew, he was standing in Joonmyun’s living room. “I was custom made for Joonmyun-oppa and delivered to him. I’ve been living with him ever since that day.”

For a moment there was nothing but dead silence. Everyone was staring at Lay in complete utter shock. Mr and Mrs.Kim were practically glaring at their son. And Joonmyun was trying not to faceplant into the table now that their cover was blown.

Siwon broke the silence as he doubled over in laughter “Joonmyun’s dating a robot! Man, I knew you were lonely but that is just pathetic.”

“Everyone out,” Mrs.Kim finally spoke “OUT!” Everyone began to clear the room when she pointed to Joonmyun and Lay “You two. Sit.” Doll and owner awkwardly sat back down in front f the woman who was clearly enraged.

“What did I do?” she asked “What did I do to deserve this kind of punishment?! Are you trying to ruin our family name? First you come out as gay. I was willing to forgive you for that and I was so close to finally coming to terms with it and now this?! You come to our family dinner with a doll! Not an actual human person, but a doll. Have you lost your mind? Are you trying to embarrass me?!”

Joonmyun had been trying for who knows how long to gain his mother’s approval and he had gotten so close. Then Lay had to go and ruin it by telling everyone that he was a doll and not a real person. He glared at the doll who was shivering next to him and his eyes softened immediately. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t be angry with Lay even if he wanted to. He loved his doll and he was willing to admit that despite how his parents felt about it. “I’m sorry,” he lifted his head to look at his mother “I’m sorry that you think I’m such an embarrassment or disappointment, but I won’t apologize for Lay. I love him and I don’t care if he’s a doll or a human because he’s perfect. He’s been everything I ever wanted and needed. He’s never asked me for anything and always give me so much. He even begged me to let him meet you because he wanted your approval even though I knew that something like this would happen! For once in your life, can’t you be happy for me? I’ve done everything else you have ever wanted me to do with my life, but being with Lay is the one thing I’m doing for myself. Please just let me be happy.”

Lay looked at his owner and gasped; there was water coming out of his eyes. “Oppa, are you crying?” he reached his hand up to touch the other’s eyes “Don’t cry, it’ll be okay.”

“Joonmyun does have a point,” Mr.Kim shrugged his shoulders and turned to look at his wife “I think it’s time we let our son run his own life.”

“But--”

“He’s a grown man! If this,” he motioned to Lay “If this boy is what he wants, then we have no right to be angry. We may not agree on it, but we should give him a chance since our son believes in him.”

Mrs.Kim looked at her husband then back at her son and sighed “Fine, but you should know that I don’t approve of this at all.”

Joonmyun nodded silently and was grateful that his parents were at least somewhat on his side now. Lay smiled and hugged the other boy around the neck “I told you everything would be okay.”

“I’m gonna be sick,” Mrs. Kim groaned as she dragged her husband out of the dining room.

Lay tilted his head when Joonmyun still hadn’t looked up at him. He felt really bad for not going along with his owner’s plans, but he felt more guilty about lying to the entire family. When the truth was discovered, it was like a ton of bricks had been lifted from him. “Are you mad at me?”

The older boy looked up and shook his head with a small smile “No, I’m not mad at you. To be honest, I’m surprised that you’re not mad at me.”

“I could never be mad at oppa.”

“That makes me happy. Lay, you make me happy. I’m sorry that I made you lie to my family just to make myself look good for them. I had no right to do that. You don’t treat people you love the way I treated you.”

Lay was speechless. Had Joonmyun said what he think he had just said? “Oppa loves me?”

The brunette boy looked down before looking back up at his doll and nodding “Yes. I love you more than anyone else.” Before Lay could respond, he was pulled onto Joonmyun’s lap and their  lips were pressed together. Their first kiss. It was unexpected, but enjoyable for the both of them. Joonmyun realized how much this doll had grown on him in the past few months and now he didn’t want to imagine what his life would be like if Lay had never entered it. He pulled his doll closer and held him tight. He promised himself that he would never let this doll go.

Santa  hadn’t granted Lay’s wish that year, unfortunately. Of course, now that he thought about it, it was probably an impossible wish to grant anyway. He was gifted with something else though. Joonmyun. They had decided to be together not as owner and doll, but as boyfriends. Lay had a feeling that it wasn’t exactly going to be the easiest thing in the world, but he figured they could get through it together.

“What are you doing, Yixing?” Lay heard his boyfriend call his name. It was his new name and maybe the closest to being human he was going to get. He wasn’t so sure about the name at first, but it had definitely grown on him over the past two years.

The doll turned and saw Joonmyun standing in the doorway, smiling as usual. “I’m just looking at the family photo from two years ago.” They hadn’t been back to the Kim house after that year, but Siwon and Jongdae always came to visit during the holidays. Joonmyun’s parents had even sent them a gift last year but no invitation to return to their home. It didn’t matter. Lay was happy to just be with his love during that special time of year. He put the photo back down on the dresser before running over to his boyfriend “Should I make us some peppermint hot chocolate?”

“After a long day at work, that sounds amazing,” Joonmyun put his arm around Yixing’s shoulders and they headed to the kitchen together.

The empty seat that was next to Joonmyun all those years now had an occupant.

A/N: I have no excuses whatsoever for taking so long to update this. Writer's block. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't worth the wait. The first half was pretty bad, and it only got decent at the end. So the answer to my trivia question was *drum roll*: it's an item on the Starbucks menu that they only serve around Christmas time. It's my favorite kind of hot chocolate. Seriously, it's really good and everyone should try it. So this chapter was lot of flashback and a bit of flash forward. I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for your repeated forgiveness for my horrid updating intervals. Until next chapter, subscribe, comment, etc.

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