Chapter 43

On the day of Christmas, everyone gathered at Kris’s place.

Although it was a very cold morning, Soyoung forced herself out of bed. She shouldn’t have gone to bed so late last night, but she couldn’t help but stay up. She had tried to sleep early just so that she could wake up early for this special day, but she ended up lying on her bed for two hours before realizing that there was no way she would be able to sleep.

Nonetheless, Soyoung was excited for this day.

She had just received a text from Baekhyun that he’ll be picking her up in the next ten minutes, because there was no way she’d carpool with Luhan, especially when she wasn’t quite sure of what to make of their friendship anymore.

When Baekhyun arrived, Soyoung invited him inside.

“My parents aren’t home yet, so don’t worry about needing to stay quiet,” Soyoung assured him as she led him up to her room.

Since two days ago, when Baekhyun told Soyoung about his brother’s situation, the two had only grown closer. They do say that sharing tears would bring people closer, and it did. There was no more awkward atmosphere, and Soyoung didn’t bother bringing up the topic again, because she knew it would only hurt Baekhyun, so the best she could do was keep the information inside her head, but for him, act as if she had never heard anything.

“When will they be back?” Baekhyun wondered as he followed right after her.

“Around night time?” She guessed. She opened the door to her room and led him in. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure,” he held no hesitation.

He paused when he realized what her favor was after entering her room. His eyes were the size of saucers. There so many boxes, wrapped neatly with dazzling bows.

“I’m guessing you already know what my favor might be?” She sheepishly smiled.

Baekhyun closed his mouth and pursed his lips. “Soyoung, you do know how Secret Santa works, right?”

“Of course I do,” she laughed lightly.

“And you do know that Kris didn’t tell you to buy a present for everyone, right?” Baekhyun glanced at her. Just how much money did she use for all of these gifts?

“Yes, right, I know,” she gave another light laugh as she folded her arms over her chest. “I just wanted to give you guys gifts, okay?”

“But wouldn’t that be unfair to whoever has you as their Secret Santa?” Baekhyun turned his attention to the boxes. There were many sizes. Big. Small. Medium. Tall.

“That’s why I got them more than one gift.” Soyoung uncrossed her arms and looked at her neatly stacked boxes of gifts. “So are you willing to help me?”

“Of course,” Baekhyun offered a soft smile before he got to the move.

It took about ten minutes to shift the gifts to Baekhyun’s car.

“Alright! Ready to go?” He asked as he put down the last present into his car.

Soyoung nodded with a smile. “Let’s go. I already locked the door.”

Just as they opened the driver and passenger’s door, Luhan came out from his house, surprising the two. Luhan, too, was surprised as he looked up to find them going into Baekhyun’s car. At the sight of Soyoung, his heart did acrobatic flips, then again, his heart sunk deeply. As if the oxygen was taken from him, Luhan felt as if he couldn’t breathe, and he knew this feeling.

It was the feeling of missing her so damn much.

Baekhyun immediately smiled. “Luhan! Were you heading to Kris’s place too?”

Without words, Luhan nodded, indicating his answer. With Soyoung’s eyes on him, he couldn’t find the right words to say.

“Then get in my car!” Baekhyun offered. “Carpool with Soyoung and me. It’ll save you money for gas, and plus, it’ll help us warm up the car faster.”

Luhan glanced at Soyoung, who flushed and averted eyes immediately. Of course, her action had hurt Luhan. He turned his attention back to Baekhyun.

“It’s okay. I’ll just—”

“Aw, come on!” Baekhyun gave a pout. “It’ll warm up the car a lot faster. I’m freaking cold. Come on, Luhan!”

His eyes flitted over to the female, and his heart warmed immediately. How much he wanted to pull her into his embrace.

“Fine,” he muttered as he walked over to Baekhyun’s car.

Luhan opened the backseat door as he looked Soyoung get inside before shutting her door. Luhan followed suit, and pretty soon, Baekhyun was inside. He turned the heater on hi before driving away.

Although it was still very early in the morning, Kris’s home was filled with warmth and joy. Everyone was having fun just chilling around and speaking to one another. It wasn’t just Soyoung and the guys.

Kris had also invited a few others, and the guys had also invited a few personal friends of theirs, so instead of just Soyoung and the 12 guys, the house was filled with at least 20-30 people, not that anyone minded, really.

It was a great bonding time. Friends were making new friends, and others were meeting each other in a long time.

Soyoung was in the group in which she was making new friends. Each and every friend that the guys had brought over were people that she had never met before, but they were all kind and very welcoming. She hadn’t met everyone yet, but she could already tell they would be the same as well.

Since arriving at Kris’s place, Baekhyun suggested that they not bring the gifts inside yet until it was just her and the 12 of them, since they were the only ones playing Secret Santa. Luhan had quietly agreed to it as he quickly made himself inside the house already.

Kris had been busy all morning getting food prepared for everyone with the help of others.

Although Soyoung did feel slightly out of place, mostly because she barely knew anyone here, it wasn’t bad at all. Once in a while, she would make eye contact with one of the guys, and they would give her a warm smile. Just that much told her that they hadn’t forgotten about her, and in fact, they’re glad that she was here.

“You made it!” Kai grasped her arm as she passed by him. A smile was brightly lit on his face.

Soyoung smiled back. “Yes, I did. Did you think I wouldn’t come?”

“Well, no.” He let go of her arm and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I just thought you wouldn’t come at such an early time.”

“Kris called me and told me to come early, so I thought, why not? I have nothing to do anyways.” She leaned against the wall. “Why are you here so early?”

Kai rolled his eyes. “That’s like asking everyone else here why they’re here so early.”

She laughed at his words. He was right.

“Oh!” An exciting grin plastered onto Kai’s face. “Come here.”

She took Soyoung’s hand into his and led her up the stairs, where no one else was. Kris’s house pretty big, and it was spacious. Just his first floor alone was enough room for 30 people, so no one felt the need to trespass to the second floor.

Of course, in Kai’s case, it wasn’t trespassing. He once told her it was just ‘making use of his friend’s house’, or so he said.

Kai led her into a guest room that he often used whenever he slept over at Kris’s place. After Soyoung entered the room, Kai closed the door shut and even locked it before leading her over to the bed.

“What are we doing here?” She wondered out loud as she sat on the bed.

“I have something for you,” Kai replied before he walked towards a ‘Forever 21’ bag. He picked it up with one hand and walked back over to Soyoung. “Here.”

She gave him a suspicious look before hesitantly taking it into her hands. “What is it?”

“Don’t you know what Forever 21 is?” Kai raised his brows as he sat beside her on the bed. She speculated the bad before looking up at him.

“Yes, I do know what it is, but why are you giving me this?” She narrowed her eyes at him. She was filled with suspicion.

Kai rolled his eyes. “It’s just a Christmas gift for you, okay? It’s not like I’m giving you a dead rat.”

Hearing his words, Soyoung couldn’t help but be surprised. From what she had heard from the rest of the boys, Kai wasn’t one to just give out gifts and presents just because it’s their birthday or just because it’s Christmas. Even though his parents are rich, Kai didn’t leech off of them. He actually worked for his money, so he didn’t like just wasting money like he had everything in the world, so when it came down to money, Kai could be slightly stingy about it.

“Don’t give me that look,” Kai laughed as he thumped her head lightly with his fist. “You make it like it’s a miracle I’m giving you gift.”

Soyoung gave a slight pout. “Well, from what I heard, you giving me a gift definitely sounds like a miracle.”

Once again, he laughed as he moved on, urging her to look at the gift he had chosen out for her. “Take a look at it.”

Soyoung ripped her gaze away from him and looked down at the bag. She opened it, and inside was a thin box wrapped neatly with blue, sparkly gift wrapping paper. She grabbed the box and set the box aside. Carefully, she tore the wrapping paper and was met with the whiteness of the box. She took the cover off of it and was immediately filled with awe.

A beautiful, golden, high-low dress appeared in front of her, neatly folded to fit inside the box.

Upon seeing her reaction, Kai smiled warmly.

She carefully pulled out the dress and set aside the box. The dress stunningly unfolded as she held it up.

“Kai, it’s beautiful.” For someone who didn’t necessarily know Soyoung’s style in clothing, Kai was quite on point with the dress. She loved it dearly. It was just downright beautiful.

“Go try it on,” he urged her with a big smile. “I’ll wait here for you.”

“You want me to try it on right now?” Her eyes grew wide. This, she wasn’t expecting.

He shrugged, “Sure, why not? I want to see you in the dress I bought. It’s the first dress I’ve ever bought any girl. Even I’ve never bought a dress for my own mom.”

And hearing this, Soyoung was definitely touched.

He pulled her up and pushed her towards the guest room’s restroom door. “Go change. I’ll wait here.”

Although she was hesitating on whether or not she should, she didn’t argue and closed the door.

Kai went back to the bed and waited patiently.

After a few minutes, he heard the restroom door unlock. Excitement filled within him. He glanced up and waited as Soyoung slowly came from behind the door.

“Do I look okay?” Soyoung had always been slightly insecure when it came down to wearing dresses. She wasn’t one who liked to show skin, so she never really found it comfortable in dresses, although it was fine for some occasions. She had never really tired out a dress just for one guy to see, and she had always dreamed that when it does happen, that one guy would be the one who’ll vow to love her till the of time. Although that dream had crumbled with no feelings of regret, she didn’t mind. She was just rather surprised that the guy who would be the first to see her come out of a changing room just to see her in a dress would be Kai.

Kai was filled with awe. “You look beautiful,” he emphasized on the last word, and he was being sincere. A warm smile spread across his lips as he approached her, looking her up and down. “I chose the perfect dress for you.”

“I guess you did,” she sheepishly smiled as she, too, looked down at herself. The dress wasn’t bad. In fact, she loved the dress. “I’ll go take it off now that we’ve Okayed it—”

Kai stopped her by pulling her back. “Don’t take it off,” he shook his head. “Just wear it since you’re already in it. Plus, many of the females here are dressed nicely. You’re practically the only one who’s in sweats and a tee.”

“Are you saying I should wear this to fit in?” She joked with a raise of her brows.

Kai laughed and shook his head. “I was just using that as an excuse, but really, you should just leave it on. You look great in it.”

Soyoung looked down at herself once more and reconsidered. Maybe, she will be leaving it on. “Should I leave it on then?” she asked herself.

“Yes” Kai responded for her with a lop-sided smile.

Soyoung laughed and shook her head, “You’re impossible.” She smiled. “I won’t be taking it off then. Should we go back down now?”

She headed for the door when Kai pulled her back by the arm and into his embrace. Her body slammed against his chest as his arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

“Kai?” She whispered, taken aback by his action, but she didn’t push him away either.

A warm smile played on his lips. “Welcome to the family, Kim Soyoung.”

His words stunned her. That wasn’t something she had ever expected to hear from anyone.

Wait.

Okay, so maybe she had expected her future mother-in-law and future father-in-law, and maybe future brother & sister-in-law to say that to her if her future husband has siblings, but she didn’t think a friend would ever say it to her.

“I know the guys often tell you that I’m often stingy and mean, so maybe I am, but if they haven’t told you yet, and if you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not someone who easily expresses what I really feel, especially when I’m thankful towards someone.” Kai exhaled and rested his chin on her shoulder, his arms still tightly wrapped around her. “Because I’m not able to express my inner emotions well, I never really got the chance to tell it to you. Welcome to the family. I’ve really tried to tell you before, but I could never do it. It’s probably too late, and you probably already feel welcomed and know that you are, but I just had to get this off my chest. Really, welcome to the family. Welcome to us. Welcome to our lives. We’re 12 boys who will probably drive you insane, but we really appreciate you. More than us, Luhan appreciates you more than we do. Right now, he may seem like the last person who wants to be near you, but Soyoung, you have no idea what’s going on in his mind. The guy’s just stubborn as hell, even more stubborn than I am. We all count ourselves as each other’s family member, and now, you’re part of us. We count you as our family, so never hesitate to ask us for help. I know there are times when you feel rude to do something towards some of us. You’re so polite towards some of us that it drives us insane. We all treat you as if you’re really our sister. We say the stupidest things, crack the stupidest jokes, say the meanest things towards each other right in front of you, and we aren’t afraid to do so because we see you as part of our family. Family members aren’t embarrassed to do anything in front of each other, and that’s what we want you to see. You’re part of our family now, so whatever you need, whatever you want to say, whoever you want to hit, whoever drives you made that you want to curse that person out, just do it. I’m sure that there will be sometime in the future when we will get into arguments, but no matter what happens, things will go back to how they were. We’re a family, and family stays together. When I say this, I really mean it. Soyoung, welcome to our family.”

Silence was passed around the two for some time before Soyoung broke into a soft laugh, and pretty soon, Kai broke into a smile as well.

“Do they know that you can speak kind words like this?” Soyoung questioned as she wrapped her arms around her good friend. “Because you really moved my heart.”

“They probably don’t know, but don’t get used to me moving your heart, because this will probably be the first and last time,” Kai laughed as he pulled back, ruffling her hair lightly. “Let’s go down. If you’re cold later on in the day, I’ll just lend you a sweater of mine.”

Soyoung nodded in agreement, and together, the two exited the room.

On their way down, Tao and Sehun spotted them. Both males were stunned by Soyoung. She shined, yes she did.

“You weren’t wearing that earlier,” Sehun pointed out, not wanting to look stupid by just staring.

“Yeah, it’s Kai’s Christmas gift for me,” Soyoung smiled brightly.

“Hey, where’s my present?” Tao frowned subtly before walking away.

“You look nice,” Sehun admired before leaving right after Tao. Soyoung didn’t even get the chance to thank him.

“Alright, I have to go pick someone up. Have fun, and if you need anything, just tell Kris, or whoever.” Kai dismissed himself and left Soyoung within the crowd of strangers.

Kris and a few others worked hard enough to feed about 30 people for both breakfast and lunch. The house was still as loud and joyful as ever. Everyone was enjoying themselves, and even though Kris had been in the kitchen for most of the time, he didn’t complain. In fact, he seemed to have been enjoying himself as well.

Soyoung watched those in the kitchen helping him out and smiled to herself.

Kris was definitely the ideal older brother. He was so hard-working. She watched as he made wanton by wanton with some few others.

Soyoung came to his aid as she washed her hands and plastered on gloves.

Standing next to him, she grabbed a wrapping and followed the steps he was doing.

“What are you doing?” Kris questioned with a grin as he continued. “You should be out there socializing.”

“No, you should bet the one out there.” Soyoung smiled and looked up at him. “You’ve been in here for the past few hours, you know?”

“I don’t mind,” he replied without giving her a glance. “I’m guessing Kai has already given you your Christmas present?”

Soyoung laughed lightly and nodded as she returned her attention to the wanton-making. “How did you know? Did he discuss my gift with you?”

“He did. It was the first time he asked about giving woman gifts.” Kris placed a finished wanton on the silver plate and continued to make more. “I was surprised when he told me he wanted to give you a gift. He has never given any woman a gift before. Not even Xin Lei.”

Soyoung slightly paused upon hearing the female’s name. Kris had said her name without hesitation. It made her wonder if he was okay to just say her name so openly.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” He laughed softly as if he had read her mind.

“Is it not hard for you to just say her name?” She questioned as she continued on.

“At times it’s hard, but it’s not as hard as it used to be.” Kris smiled and took the last wrapping, finishing the last wanton up. He walked over to the sink. Pulling off his gloves, he washed his hands under warm water with Soyoung right after him. “I don’t think Kai would like it if you get your new dress stained by food. He’ll kill me.” He smiled and patted her arm. “Go and chat. Make new friends. I’m going to go fry these wantons.”

Soyoung smiled and nodded before making her way to the living room.

Slowly, as time passed, more people started leaving as they had plans with families.

It finally came down to just her and the boys, and some others, along with another significant female. It seemed like she had just arrived as her nose was red, and it was Soyoung’s first time seeing her today. She had recognized Soyoung right away as well. A smile came across both female’s lips.

“You’re Kai’s friend,” the female approached Soyoung.

Soyoung nodded with a great smile. She had never expected this female to show up at Kris’s house, as they had only met a few days ago. “Yes, I am. Do you know Kris too?”

“Kris?” The name was foreign to the female as she shook her head. “I actually have no idea who Kris is. I just got here five minutes ago.”

“Oh, really?” Soyoung raised her brows as she urged the female to sit down. Kyungsoo moved over for the two, not paying too much attention to them. “Then how did you get here?”

“Kai invited me.” She bit her lower lips, blush forming upon her cheeks, and Soyoung was sure it wasn’t because of the coldness she had just come from.

“So you were the friend that Kai said he needed to pick up?” Soyoung was beyond surprise when the woman nodded. This was the female employee that mistaken Soyoung and Kai’s relationship a few days ago when the two went to find a gift for Zico. Since when did Kai and this female employee become friends? “Wow, that’s amazing,” Soyoung muttered with a smile.

“I’m Seo Eunbyul, by the way,” she formally introduced with a plastered smile.

“I’m Kim Soyoung,” Soyoung smiled.

“And I’m Kyungsoo, but you can call me D.O if you find that to be easier,” Kyungsoo jumped with a wide grin. He wasn’t paying attention, but at the mention of Kai inviting a woman over, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but be interested. “So, how did you and Kai meet?”

Soyoung’s eyes widen and nudged Kyungsoo’s side to keep the guy quiet. *You’re going to scare her!*

With a tint of red on her cheeks, Eunbyul replied, “He was shopping with Soyoung and I was an employee where they shopped. No fancy meeting or anything.”

“How long has it been since you’ve met him? He hasn’t told me anything about a girl before. I didn’t even know he was meeting up with a girl.” Kyungsoo gave a pout. “Unless he was hiding this from me. Soyoung, you didn’t know about this either, right? So I’m not the only one he kept it a secret from? Oh, Eunbyul, just so you know, Kai’s a very picky person, so if I were you, I would reconsider about becoming his girlfriend—”

Just before Soyoung could clamp her hand onto Kyungsoo’s blabber mouth, someone had already done so, and that someone was none other than Kai himself.

“You talk too much. You’re going to scare my new friend away,” Kai warned as he lightly thumped Kyungsoo’s head. The guy scrunched his nose up in dislike and scooted over to make room for Kai in which he gladly sat. He looked over at Eunbyul. “Sorry about him. He can be overly excited at times.”

“It’s fine, really,” Eunbyul shook her head with a light laugh. “He’s funny, so it’s all good.”

“Did you want anything to eat?” Kai questioned.

Soyoung and Kyungsoo were rather surprised as his gentleman side. Kai was usually the gamer who could care less if someone had eaten lunch yet or not. He was usually the care-free type of guys that didn’t seem to care about anything really, and seeing him ask her sparked interest in Soyoung. She shared a glance with Kyungsoo, and they knew they both were thinking the same exact thing. *Kai likes her.*

“I’m fine for now,” she politely rejected the food offering.

They all shared some seconds of awkward silence.

Soyoung could see that Eunbyul was, indeed, slightly uncomfortable, because for one, she didn’t know any of them all too well, and two, she knew this wasn’t Kai’s house. Was she even allowed to be here by the owner?

“I like your dress,” Eunbyul pointed out. It was the truth. She had actually liked Soyoung’s dress. It was really elegant and beautiful. Just her style.

“Thank you!” Soyoung grinned widely as she gave Kai a side glance. “It was Kai’s Christmas gift for me.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen.

“Yes, really,” Soyoung laughed it off. “Don’t you think it’s kind of him to have gotten me this?”

“He didn’t even give me anything,” Kyungsoo gave a pout, earning a laugh from Eunbyul and a slight annoyed glance from Kai.

“That’s because you’ve been a bad boy this year. I’m doing Santa a favor.” Kai rolled his eyes at the over-dramatic Kyungsoo and returned his attention to Eunbyul. “Did you get a chance to look around my friend’s house?”

“Not yet,” Eunbyul replied with a smile.

“Come on, I’ll show you around.” Kai stood up and offered her a hand in which Eunbyul took and stood up as well.

Soyoung kept a hidden smile. *They look like the perfect couple!*

“We’ll be back,” Kai told Soyoung as he walked off with Eunbyul.

“Hey, wait for me—” Kyungsoo was pulled back down by Soyoung.

“You can’t go with them,” she hissed quietly so that Eunbyul wouldn’t hear.

Kyungsoo frowned deeply. Child-like, yes, but very damn adorable that it made Soyoung break into a smile. “But why? I want to show her around to!”

“Kyungsoo, really?” Soyoung laughed. “We all know the reason why you want to go. You just want to torment Kai, because you know as well as I do that he likes her.”

Kyungsoo pursed his lips and sighed in defeat. “Fine, I admit, but don’t you think it’d be fun though? I mean, it’s once in a blue moon when Kai actually finds someone he’s interested in!”

“Leave him be,” Soyoung rolled her eyes but laughed. “If he loses this woman, he’s going to kill you then regret becoming friends with you in the first place.”

“Fine, fine!” Kyungsoo sighed playfully. “Just because I don’t want to get killed, I won’t go mess with him and his future relationship with her.”

She patted his back and stood up. “Go enjoy yourself. I’m going to help Kris out in the kitchen.”

On the way to the kitchen, she could hear Kyungsoo whine. “Everyone always leaves me!”

With a small laugh, Soyoung left him.

Night finally dawned over the once-bright day. Though it was dark outside, the lights that filled both the inside of the house and the decorative outside of the house made everything seem safe.

Kris’s house was still as loud as ever with the guys, and Eunbyul, playing games, chilling out, and having fun. Everyone else had already gone home. Just the 14 of them left in the big house.

“I’m thinking of opening our secret Santa gifts right now,” Kris told Soyoung as the two filled the glasses of cups with fruit punch. It was just the two of them in the Kitchen. The rest of the guys were too lazy to help out refill cups for just the fourteen of them, and Eunbyul had volunteered, but Kai didn’t allow her to go anywhere, mostly because he had wanted to remain by her side.

“Oh, alright, that’s fine. We can do them right now.” Soyoung filled the last glass with fruit punch. She paused and thought. “Wouldn’t Eunbyul feel left out though? If only I was told she was coming, I would’ve prepared a gift for her.”

Kris shook his head. “Kai told me ahead of time. I just didn’t get a chance to tell the others, but in advance, Kai and I already have gifts prepared for her, even though it’s my first time meeting her.”

“It’s my second time,” Soyoung grinned. “Did Kai tell you how we met her?”

“He did, actually.” Kris chuckled and brought the glasses over to the boys. “Here, lazy asses, and Eunbyul.”

The boys glowered at Kris as Eunbyul laughed. “Thanks, Kris.”

Soyoung helped pass out the drinks so it would be easier for the boys to get to them. It was then that she realized someone was missing, and it only dawned onto her now that she hadn’t seen him since they arrived early this morning. She frowned. How did she not notice until now? What a bad friend she was.

“Hey, Kris, I’m going to go get Luhan for the Secret Santa gift opening,” Soyoung quietly told Kris. He gave her an okay.

Soyoung then headed over Baekhyun and pulled him aside. “Do you think you can help me bring in the gifts for the boys? I would help, but I gotta go find Luhan. Kris is planning to do the secret Santa gift opening right now.”

Baekhyun gave her a friendly smile and patted her arm. “I got it. Don’t worry. Go ahead and find him.”

Soyoung gave a quiet word of thanks before towards the hallway of rooms. Room by room, she checked, but Luhan wasn’t in them. At least not on the first floors.

She then headed upstairs. After checking the rooms near the stairs, she turned to the right hallway on the second floor and headed towards the room at the end of the hallway. She had only remembered Baekhyun saying something about that room being Luhan’s favorite room, because it had a balcony in which he could gaze at the sky at night.

After knocking, Soyoung received no response. She opened the door carefully.

The room was pitch black except for the moonlight that was coming through the balcony. She had almost left when she looked at the balcony.

*There he is! So Luhan had been here the whole time?*

Through wary, Soyoung entered the room and closed the door. She approached the balcony. The wind wasn’t strong, but it was still cold as it lightly blew into the room.

She stepped onto the cold balcony with the slippers. “Luhan?” She called out softly, her voice barely a whisper.

Luhan slightly turned his body to face her. Soyoung could see that he was surprised to see her there. “When did you get here?” He asked out of curiosity.

His question had seemed so normal that it created pain in her chest.

How long had it been since he had spoken to her as if nothing had happened between them?

It was only now that Soyoung realized how much she had really missed Luhan. It was as if their friendship had vanished into thin air.

“Just now,” her voice a light whisper. She averted eyes. For some odd reason, it was hard to look at him in the eyes. For some odd reason, having him look at her seemed to have brought her the feeling of guilt, and she had no idea why.

Luhan blinked, then lowered his gaze, and finally turned away once again to look at the beautiful night sky.

“Kris wanted you to come down. We’re opening gifts for the secret Santa even right now,” Soyoung remembered her reason for coming here.

She received no response, and she frowned. Wow. It was as if he was ignoring her, and feeling as if he was ignoring her hurt her. She could feel the rejection and pain. Were they really back to square one?

She sighed quietly and turned to go back, but Luhan stopped her when he grabbed her wrist.

“I didn’t tell you to leave,” he spoke quietly.

Soyoung was surprised by the skin contact. It’s been quite a long time since they’ve had skin contact like this. Now, feeing it in a long time, it felt weird, but it felt nice. She turned to face Luhan again.

Luhan glanced at her, before taking in how beautiful she was in such a dress that perfectly suited her taste and body. Then he noticed how she slightly shivered when the wind blew towards them. Such a beautiful woman in such a thin beautiful dress shouldn’t be outside in the cold with no coat on. Luhan ped his sweatshirt before wrapping it around her shoulders. He knew that his actions had surprised her, but he wasn’t going to say anything about his actions. After all, he didn’t want her to get sick due to the cold. His sweatshirt wasn’t all too thick, but it would keep her warm for now. His eyes lifted to her face once again after fixing his sweatshirt nicely on her.

Soyoung looked up and locked eyes with him.

Luhan’s gaze that was once on her was turned away, and she was sure she made out the redness in his cheeks even under the moonlight. She wanted to say it was due to the cold, but her conscious told her it wasn’t.

Luhan glanced at the starry sky once again.

“Remember when we made up under this sky?” Luhan questioned her as he pulled her gently to his side, letting go of her hand. “I think that night has got to be the most memorable night for me.”

Soyoung bit her lower lip. How was she to answer? She had gotten so used to not speaking to Luhan, that even hearing his voice made it so hard for her to speak.

“I think that out of the two of us, I’m the most grateful for coming out onto my balcony that night,” Luhan confessed with a gentle smile, one that Soyoung hadn’t seen since forever.

Seeing it sent her heart into flips that she had never expected would happen. Just what was happening to her heart?

“I know we have our useless ups and downs, but through everything, I’m still grateful for that night. If I hadn’t come out that night, we would probably never become friends like we are now. We probably would still be yelling our heads off at each other, or even worse,” Luhan paused and inhaled. “Or even worse, we probably wouldn’t even take notice of each other’s existence.”

His words stunned her. Something about his words seemed to have pulled onto her heart strings, not in a good manner. She couldn’t imagine it, and she would never want to experience that road. Luhan not in her life? She would probably hate that life.

“Baekhyun told me,” Luhan informed her after a pause. “He told me that you think I’m avoiding you because you’ve done something wrong.”

A part of Soyoung cursed her silently. She should’ve known Baekhyun would tell Luhan. Now she was going to have to face words that she probably won’t want to hear. Well, at least she would be hearing of what she had done wrong. She still couldn’t figure it out.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Luhan gazed at her. The shock that came across her face was evident. Pain hit his immediately. The shock that she received from hearing his words told him that she had been living in guilt this whole time. A frown came across his face. “I never avoided you because you did something wrong. In fact, if there was anything you’ve done wrong towards me, I would’ve talked to you about it already. I can’t stay mad at my friends for long. Not at all. I can only recall a time back in middle school when I got extremely angry at Chen for accidentally breaking Yun Yi’s arm once when we were all playing soccer. It only took me a week to forgive him what he had done. That was the longest time I’ve been mad any of my close friends. There’s no reason for me to be mad at anyone for so long unless it’s really something I can’t forgive. There has never been a time when you’ve done me wrong to the point where I can’t forgive you. In fact, if anyone, you’re the one who’s supposed to hate me and not forgive me. That accident with Mei Lien, you had every right to cuss me out and not forgive me, but you did. I can’t think of any reason why I would be able to hate you after you saved a precious life. There’s just no way I can hate you at all. There’s no way I can stay mad at you for so long. I would never be able to do that, Soyoung.”

“Then, why were you avoiding me?’ Soyoung frowned. Although she was glad that she hadn’t done anything wrong, she was still confused. She sighed in frustration and turned her body towards him. Her eyes locked onto his. “I don’t get it. If I didn’t do anything wrong, why were you avoiding me?”

Luhan glanced at her hands that were clenched into soft fists. She wasn’t mad at him, he knew. Her fists were closed due to the cold. Gently, he took her hands into his and rubbed her hands against each other with his. He didn’t dare look into her eyes. He kept his gaze on their hands that were warming up by the second.

“I hadn’t intended to avoid you at all. I had meant to play everything cool, but the more I came closer to you, the more it became harder for me. That was why I started avoiding you. It was selfish of me, but I admit it, I started avoiding you for my sake.”

Soyoung furrowed her brows. She couldn’t even make out his face, because he was looking down at their hands. “What do you mean? What became harder for you?”

Luhan stopped rubbing their hands together and finally lifted his head. A soft smile played on his lips.

“Many things made it hard for me.” He pulled his hands away and took something out of his pocket. Soyoung’s eyes followed what he had pulled out. “This is for you. I was your Secret Santa. Merry Christmas, Kim Soyoung.”

At the sudden change of subject, Soyoung was caught off-guard, but nonetheless, she was grateful and surprised at the same time. How ironic it was that Luhan was her Secret Santa. Though hesitant, she took the small black velvet necklace box into her hands. Opening the lid up, she was even more touched.

*Great minds think alike.* The saying popped into her head. A warm smile painted itself on her lips even though it was so cold outside. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’ll look even more beautiful on you.” Once again, his words sent beautiful chills down her spine. She didn’t recall a time when he had used such sweet words. Her heart did weird flips once again, and she was starting to wonder if she should get a checkup tomorrow.

Luhan took the black velvet box from her and took out the necklace. Putting the box aside, he unclasped the necklace and looked at Soyoung. He leaned in and hugged the necklace around Soyoung’s neck.

Soyoung had expected him to pull back after he clasped the necklace into place, but with his arms around her for longer than usual, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was okay.

Luhan’s arms lowered so that his arms now hugged her waist instead. He tightened his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulders. This position felt so nice. If Luhan could stop time, he would stop right here so that he could keep her in his arms forever.

“You have no idea how hard it was for me to just avoid you,” he said softly, his hold on her only tightened as he closed his eyes shut tight. There was something about his voice that made Luhan seem so fragile at this moment. “I had to do everything to not come face to face with you. This past month was probably the hardest time of my life.”

Soyoung sighed, a feeling of bliss passing through her. She willingly wrapped her arms around him as well. After all, she had missed him dearly. “Why were you even avoiding me, you dummy? As hard as it was hard for you to avoid me, it was hard for me to not think of why you were avoiding me. I was having the hardest time of my life as well.”

A fragile smile made its way to Luhan’s face. “But you weren’t going through the same pain I was. You’d be beyond surprise to know why I was literally mourning in my room all day.”

That caught her attention. Just what had he meant.

“Soyoung,” he breathed her name as he opened his eyes. Light tears brimmed his eyes, and once again, he was reminded that he wasn’t the one for her, and probably will never be.

She hummed in response.

“I know that you like Taemin, but maybe, just for tonight, just for right now at this moment, do you think you can like me more than him?”

Soyoung froze in spot. Had she heard correctly? Did she hear wrong?

Luhan pulled back and gazed at her face. Without reading his actions, his hands cupped her delicate, yet beautiful face. “After this, I think I might end up avoiding you for the rest of my life.”

With no words to speak, Soyoung could only stare in shock. What was happening? No. What was going to happen?

Luhan’s eyes locked onto her lips. He gently swiped his right thumb on her bottom lip, then his eyes locked onto hers again.

And the next second, as if time had stopped, their lips met.

Author's Note♥:

Guys! Lovelies! Beautifuls! I'm such in a good mood right now! Kris just released his OST for "Somewhere Only We Know" & it's such a beautiful song, that I had to put it in for this chapter & it's perfect! Beacuse this chapter was totally up to fit this scene! The last scene, that is! Yes, I know! I know! Luhan kissed her! Luhan kissed Soyoung! Guys, I'm the author, I the writer, but I'm fangirling over this scene right now! Is that even possible-- Like, Just Luhan! Luhan is like, so amazing-- & Kris's beautiful voice made this scene even more meaningful! You have no idea how happy I am right now! I miss Kris & Luhan so much :'( So writing this story about Luhan really helped me through things, and as for Kris, hearing this beautiful song just warms me up so much! :') This Chapter got me all up in my feels 0///0

By the way, like what I did with many EXO songs already, I also did with Zhoumi's Rewind! I love his solo debut, just saying! I worked with the song, putting both the Korean & Chinese version into ONE song, so check that out if you want. The Link will be below :) ♡

ZHOUMI K&M - REWIND

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