For shiningbeasts + LoveNeedsSpark + hzelnuts + eyethelaw

AN: How was everybody’s Christmas? Here’s my new year’s offering! I wish all of you a very happy and healthy 2014…and hopefully, more exopink interactions?

Narcissus

Naeun, Hayoung and Namjoo were at a cafe for a little catch up session as a way to "recap the year", as Namjoo put it. It was New Year’s Eve and at 6 in the morning, the girls met up for some breakfast, yawning and still rubbing away the sleep from their eyes. The cold weather was also perfect for a good sleep in. Namjoo was the first one there, and in five to ten minute intervals, her friends also arrived. With a tired smile they all greeted each other with a "good morning".

Naeun came in last, and as she settled into the seat at their favorite booth, she flipped open the menu.

"What are you guys having?"

"We're thinking of going for the breakfast sampler and I'm having a good cup of coffee while Namjoo wants some OJ..."

"I'll have the same, but change the OJ and coffee for some hot chocolate"

They placed their orders with the waiter who politely set up their table. He had a dimpled smile and cute pouty lips whenever he spoke. 

"Is that all I can get for you girls?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"I'll be back shortly with your orders."

He bowed, and as he lifted his head back up, his head tilted towards Namjoo. Hayoung and Naeun started side-eyeing and nudging their friend when he had left.

"Hey, he's pretty cute..."

Namjoo looked over to the boy who was walking back to the kitchen area. When Namjoo thought about it, the boy had a cute little .

"He is..."

"Liven up...he's totally checking you out..."

Namjoo looked over to the counter, and sure enough, the waiter was making eyes at her in between working the coffee machine. Namjoo sighed.

"He's probably not looking at me...he’s probably looking at one of you guys..."

"Well, the both of us have boyfriends and we'll gladly reject him for our best friend who's been completely depressed from her supposed and possibly self-induced loneliness especially during the holiday season..."

"Yeah! We're kind of tired from hearing you complain about your lack of love life...make a move or we'll do it for you..."

Before Namjoo could reply, the boy came back with their drinks. He turned around to leave but Hayoung stopped him.

"Excuse me, but, what's your name?"

"It's Yixing, but my friends call me Lay..."

"Yixing?"

"Yes. I'm originally from China..."

"Oh...your Korean is very good..."

"Thank you..."

He turned around to walk away again but Naeun spoke up.

"And by the way, I'm Naeun, that's Hayoung and this is our friend Namjoo..."

"That's a pretty name..."

"She's pretty as well..."

"Of course..."

He heard the bell ring to signify that their orders were ready. He walked over and grabbed them before handing it to the group of friends and then walking back to the staff station and serving another customer.

"He totally likes you..."

"He doesn't even know me..."

"You always come here...who knows? Maybe he's been admiring you from afar..."

"Pssshhh...I'm not getting my hopes up"

For the next couple of hours, the three friends talked about anything and everything. The cafe had started to slowly fill up with more people, but most of the orders were for take-out and so it was only them and a few others plus the wait staff that were at the cafe. Soon enough, Naeun got a text from her boyfriend, Chanyeol, telling her to meet up at some secret location that Naeun wouldn't disclose. Naeun said her goodbyes and said that they should catch up again soon. Within a few minutes, Hayoung's boyfriend Kai came to pick her up from the cafe for their date, and Namjoo was left all alone again at the cafe. She out her head down on the table hoping they wouldn't mind that she was sleeping at a public place. At least, she thought, if she fell asleep here, she wouldn't seem so lonely surrounded by people, even if they were random strangers. When her head hit the table she managed to get a few moments of shut-eye in before someone placed something down on the table and sat in the opposite seat. She looked up to find the cute waiter staring back at her.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up..."

"Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"I'm off duty now. See?"

He stood up to reveal that he was no longer in his uniform or wearing an apron.

"So, what are you doing?"

"I'm giving a lonely girl, who is very pretty, if I may add, some much needed company..."

"Wow...are you sure you're not Korean? Because your skills at smooth-talking are pretty good..."

"Well, my Korean teacher told me that the best way to improve my Korean was to get a Korean girlfriend...and my friends also agree with that fact..."

"So you spent your Korean lessons learning how to pick up girls?”

“No…but anyways…I’m staying here…”

“Okay, stay, if you want but I'm going to sleep..."

"Wait...you can't!"

"Why not?"

"You need to keep a lonely boy, like me, company as well...here I made you some hot chocolate..."

He pushed the steaming mug towards her and although she intended not to accept it at first, the adorable design of a panda on the froth warmed her heart and she took a sip.

"Did you do the design yourself?"

"Yeah...my friend, Minseok, taught me how after he took a barista course"

"What's your name again?"

"Yixing, but you can call me Lay..."

"I like your first name better..."

"Yixing it is then..."

"So, what are you doing sleeping at a public area?"

"I have no plans today, so I might as well, sleep it off, surrounded by people, instead of, being in the dark, alone, at my apartment..."

"Well, now you have plans...you're hanging out with me today..."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Wait!"

He stood up from his seat and walked backwards to towards the stage, where there was a piano, eyes never leaving Namjoo. He sat down on the chair and started to play, softly at first and then gradually reaching a crescendo.

Oh baby don’t leave
Don’t leave me to wait alone
Oh baby I’m in front of you
Love is waiting for you to come by my side

He ended his piece with a short body wave, that earned laughs from the few who were watching, and them got up and bowed before returning to Namjoo's side.

"So, will you spend the day with me?"

"Okay...did you compose that yourself?"

"Uh huh...was it good?"

"Your piano skills and voice are really calming..."

"Let's go?"

"Where?"

"On our date, silly! You agreed to spend the day with me!"

Yixing dragged her out the door as another couple went up on the stage together for an impromptu round of karaoke. They bickered as they went up on stage.

"Yah! Don't pinch my side like that!"

"You're cute!"

"Just pick a song already!"

"How about that one?"

Eunji smacked him across the back of the head.

"What? It's a good song!"

"Let's just do 'Way Back into Love'!"

"Fine!"

When the boy and girl finished their duet, the girl was about to walk off the stage when she heard the boy speak through the microphone.

"Eunji-yah..."

"What are you still doing there? Follow me! It's embarrassing!"

"Ahhhh...Eunji is so cute when she's embarrassed!"

"Palli! Do you want me to really hit you?"

"I'll take any of your hits any day. I know that's how you show affection towards the people you love. Admit it...you love me..."

"You're not even my boyfriend!"

"I can be if you want me to..."

She softened at what he said but didn't give him any reply.

"You may hit me all the time, and you pick fights with me, but I've always liked you for it. I like you because you're loud, but you're pretty and have a really good voice. You're like my vitamin that I need to take every day. Without you, my life is boring…Eunji-yah! Can I be your boyfriend?"

She walked onto the stage and dragged him off but he wouldn't budge.

"I'm not leaving until you answer?"

"What if I say no?"

A few people who were watching yelled "say yes!" and the boy had to laugh.

"Yah! Kim Joonmyun! I don't like it when you put me on the spot like this!"

"But you always know that you're in the middle of my spotlight! Come one! Say yes!"

Eunji seemed hesitant but she had a bright smile on her face. And in a whisper, she answered.

"Eung..."

"Excuse me? Could you please repeat that into the microphone?"

"Fine. You can be my boyfriend!"

Joonmyun pumped his fist into the air as a few people clapped. Eunji grabbed him by the hem of his shirt and dragged him out of the cafe.

"Let's do that!"

He pointed over to where a young couple were sitting on a park bench taking selcas together.

"That's too romantic! And we're definitely not the romantic couple!"

"Come on! Eunji-ji...commemorative photo for our first day as a couple..."

"Just one!"

Eunji got out her phone and as Joonmyun was pulling her closer to him, she snapped a quick picture which took him off guard.

"Okay. It's done. Let's go someplace warm now..."

"I wasn't ready!"

"You agreed to one picture and I took it. Let's go!"

The photograph came out with Eunji smiling with a wink as Joonmyun looked towards the camera with a shocked expression and in unflattering lighting.

Meanwhile, with Namjoo, she received a new message. She opened it up to reveal a photo of Hayoung with her boyfriend Kai, sitting on a park bench, with the caption, "jealous? Unnie! My New Year’s resolution for you is to go out with that cute wai..."

"What was that?"

Namjoo laughed and then continued to follow Yixing as he walked in front of her, trying to find a place to take her to.

------------------------------------------

"Oppa!"

"Mmmmm...I missed my Hayoung-ie"

"I missed my Oppa too..."

"Let's move over there?"

"Eo...let's do whatever Oppa wants to do today..."

"Oppa just wants to spend time with his favorite girl in the whole world."

Kai then proceeded to give her a big hug as they sat down on the bench.

"Pictures! Let's take lots! I need more photos for my Hayoung collection..."

"Ahrasso..."

They started to make cute poses as Hayoung snapped away on her camera. After she was done, Kai then took out his phone and started to take more photos with it. It was snowing and he thought that his girlfriend looked so pretty, that every photo he took, even though some were candid, looked like a painting or some magazine pictorial.

"Let's send one to Namjoo?"

She began to type the caption on the photograph as Kai rested his chin on her shoulder. He suddenly snatched the phone away and hit send.

"Why?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was sending a photo!"

"You were talking about another guy!"

"What guy?"

"Look! 'That cute waiter'?"

"Oh yeah! He worked at the cafe where you picked me up from this morning. He was staring at Namjoo, not me. So don't get jealous! Even if he was looking at me, you know that I only see my Kai Oppa..."

"Okay...I can't stay mad at you for long...haaaaa...how did I get so lucky with a pretty girlfriend? No wonder why all the guys look at you..."

"Yeah! You probably saved a king in your previous life! I can't believe I ended up with you..."

"Okay...that's enough...let's go for our date's second course..."

"Go go go!"

They walked towards a jewellery store, where Kai told her to pick out something that she wanted and that he would buy it for her. As Hayoung looks around she hears her boyfriend chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

He leans in to whisper into her ear.

"That couple over there...they're fighting because the couple rings that the guy bought doesn't fit and the engraving spelt her name wrong"

"Shhh…they might hear you...Oppa, does this suit me?"

------------------------------------------

"Luhan! How could you possibly get my size wrong when you always insist on holding my hand?"

"Sorry...Chorong-ah...ahhhh...how can I make this better?"

"And to top it all off, you didn't check whether the engraving was correct before handing me a ring with Choroq on it!"

"Ahhh....I'm really sorry...we'll just get it fixed!"

Chorong reluctantly followed him inside the jeweller’s store. She let him do all the explaining to the jeweller and made sure to emphasise her annoyance with crossed arms and a stern look on her face.

"Hi. Umm, can I get the ring resized and the engraving fixed, please?"

"Sure. What size? And what part of the engraving, sir?"

"Just one size up and please fix the 'q' to a 'g'. Thank you."

"Alright, sir. We'll have it ready in three days."

Luhan handed over the ring and then he grabbed Chorong's hand and walked them both outside. She gets a sudden call.

"Hello? Bomi? Yeah...yeah...yeah...were on our way now...yeah...we'll meet you there it just that Luhan...yeah...sure...okay...we'll see you there..."

Chorong hung up the phone and then turned to Luhan.

"What did she say?"

"We're late. Bomi and Kris are already there waiting for us..."

“I’m sorry…”

“You should be…you have to make it up to me before the year ends, or else we’re both starting off the new year on a bad note…”

“Okay…let’s go meet them…”

--------------------------------------------------------------

Kris had turned up early in the morning at Bomi’s house, completely decked out in a black track suit and toting a large bag around. His girlfriend welcomed him inside with a not-so-happy face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you know what time it is?”

“Yeah! It’s 5.30 in the morning…”

Bomi hit him.

“What are most people doing at 5.30 in the morning?”

“Sleeping?”

“Then why are you here?”

“I thought that we should exercise to welcome the New Year in a healthy way…”

“Okay…”

She took the bag out of his hands and then dropped it on the floor and led him to the couch.

“Babe, next time, when it has something to do with early wake up calls, that is not for an emergency or some romantic gesture, and most especially for exercising, please, don’t include me…”

“Why? We see couples exercising all the time and you always say that you want to do it together?”

“And what time do we see them exercising?”

“In the afternoon?”

“Good boy…”

She patted his head and then gave him a smile.

“Do you know where I’m going with this?”

“Don’t wake up Bomi early in the morning?”

Bomi pinched his cheeks and he gave her a toothy grin.

“I knew that you were smart! Come on!”

“Let’s go back to bed!”

She dragged him off of the couch and led him to her bedroom where she slipped under the covers. When he didn’t follow her, she opened the doona and patted the space next to her. He took off his shoes and went beside her. She grabbed his arms and then wrapped them around her torso before falling asleep. He eventually took the hint and fell asleep too.

Bomi woke up in the middle of the afternoon by herself. She took a quick shower and got dressed before heading down to find Kris in front of the television playing Xbox Kinect.

“Are you that eager to go exercising?”

“You’re up?”

“No. You’re seeing a ghost! Yes! I’m up!”

“Always the sarcastic one…come here!”

He opened up his arms and she ran straight into them. She pulled away abruptly.

“What?”

“You stink! How long have you been playing?”

“A few hours…”

“Go! You brought clothes right? Take a shower and then let’s head out for lunch…or an afternoon snack. Then, we have to go meet Luhan and Chorong, remember?”

She took the remote and turned off the game before pushing him towards the bathroom, and then making them some toast and coffee.

When Kris emerged from his bath, he was no longer wearing some form of a track suit, but jeans, white crew neck shirt and a thick jacket.

“Ever so cool…my boyfriend cleans up good! Here, have the last piece of toast!”

He took it from her and shoved it into his mouth, before they both left the house and walked to their double date meeting spot. They waited patiently for 20 minutes until Bomi couldn’t take it anymore and called Chorong. When she ended the call, she gave Kris the look.

“They’ll be here in 10 to 15 minutes max…apparently Luhan did something…”

“That guy! Always does something to make Chorong angry…”

“Don’t laugh…you’re as clumsy and lost as he is sometimes when it comes to woman’s sense…”

--------------------------------------------------------------

“Yixing…”

“Let’s watch the fireworks at the Han River?”

“Really?”

“Let’s start the year off with a bang!”

“What are we waiting for?”

--------------------------------------------------------------

“Eunji-yah…”

“What?”

“Let’s go to the Han River?”

“For the fireworks?”

“Yup!”

“I told you! No mushy romantic stuff!”

“It’s not romantic! We’re just watching a bunch of things go off and blow up into different colors and make loud noises and there’s free music…”

“When you put it that way…”

Eunji didn’ finish her sentence, before Joonmyun pulled her in the direction of the Han River.

“I’m taking charge of the relationship! Just follow me!”

“Yes, Sir!”

--------------------------------------------------------------

“Oppa, what’s the third course of our date?”

“Hmmm…lots of kisses and fireworks at the Han River?”

“I love you…”

She leaned in to give him a kiss but he stopped her.

“Save that for later…we want to get a good spot…’

--------------------------------------------------------------

Luhan, Chorong, Kris and Bomi had finally met up at a café for a light snack. The girls went off to the bathroom, while the guys minded the table.

“Where are we going after this?”

“I don’t know but Chorong’s expecting me to make it up to her after messing up our couple rings.”

“Same. Bomi’s still a bit angry that I woke her up early in the morning to go exercising…”

“Why don’t we just go to the Han River to watch fireworks?”

“Brilliant! It’s free, clichéd and romantic!”

The two guys high-fived as their girlfriends came back to their seat.

“What was that for?”

“We’re taking both of you to the Han River!”

The girls squealed in excitement and the guys just exchanged smiles, proud of their quick thinking and good date planning.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The hour before midnight, there was going to be a live DJ show for the countdown. The specials DJs were winners from a couple competition. The two made their way to the centre of the stage and introduced themselves.

“Hello, guys! We’re going to be your special DJs tonight. My name is Chanyeol”

“Hey, everyone! My name is Naeun. Are you guys ready for a good time?”

The crowd cheered.

“Chanyeol-ah…turn up the music!”

Everyone was dancing and clapping along. Most of the people that had turned up were couples.

“Okay, guys…there’s only half an hour left before it’s the start of the New Year. We’re going to take a break and hand you over to the capable hands of DJ Jongdae, and we’ll be back for the New Year’s countdown…”

Chanyeol and Naeun made their way down the stage and were met with some praise by some of the people.

“My girlfriend’s a natural…”

“Well, Oppa taught me how and all our practice at home for the past few weeks helped out.”

“Well, playing for an audience of stuffed animals really made you confident…”

“Playing for my boyfriend who is so supportive helped a lot…”

“What can I say…I’m just awesome!”

“Would you like to dance with me?”

“Of course!”

When it came time for the countdown, Chanyeol and Naeun were almost late because they were having such a good time.

“It’s time folks!”

“There’s only a minute to go!’

.

.

.

.

.

.

“30 seconds….”

--------------------------------------------------------------

30

“Namjoo-yah…what are you going to wish for in the new year?

29

“I wish that you and I could hang out more often…”

28

“I think I could make time for you…”

27

“And that you would make me more hot chocolate with cute patterns on it…”

26

“It’s a date then…”

And they both turned their heads towards the sky and made that wish.

25

“This is going to be the best year yet”

24

“How can you tell?”

23

“Because I get to spend it with my Eunji…”

22

“Too cheesy…”

21

“Get used to it…like I said I’m the one in charge!”

Eunji could hide the smile on her face.

20

“Another year with me Hayoung-ie…”

19

“Another year with my Kai Oppa…”

­18

“Let’s make even more memories together”

17

“And take more photos so that we could make our own museum…”

16

“I can’t take it anymore…”

Kai crashed his lips onto Hayoung’s and the two were lost in their own bubble again.

15

“I’m sorry about the ring, Chorong…”

14

“It’s okay…we’re getting it fixed…”

13

“Have I made it up to you, enough?”

12

“You still have one thing left to do…”

11

“Kiss me…”

And Luhan gladly complied.

10

“Is this the kind of romantic you would wake up for?

9

“As long as it’s you…I will wake up at any time of the day…”

8

“But you said…”

7

“Who opened the door this morning?”

6

“Okay. I get it. I love you”

“I love you too…”

5

“Naeun! I love you!”

4

“They can hear us you know?”

3

“I don’t care!”

2

“I love you too!”

1

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

The fireworks commenced, as everybody looked towards the sky, hoping for a good year ahead.