"Talk to him."

"No."

It was two hours after Jaehwan had started crying, and Taekwoon took it upon himself to avoid the boy like the plague. Hakyeon, being the good friend he was, had been trying to force Taekwoon into talking to Jaehwan. Everybody else just acted as a barrier, sitting between Taekwoon and Jaehwan. It was incredibly awkward for everyone.

Jaehwan had stopped crying after an hour, but he didn't try to apologize to Taekwoon. He knew that the latter was upset. He didn't want to add fuel to the fire. Jaehwan had settled for staring at the broken present that was lying at his feet. It didn't do anything to help the tears he was trying to keep in, but he had nothing else to do. Taekwoon was upset, and Jaehwan was going to give him time before he went to apologize. Jaehwan didn't think that two hours was enough time.

Anyone would have thought that it was pointless for Jaehwan to blame his brothers, but it wasn't. After Jaehwan had befriended Taekwoon, they were really mean to him. They never let him play with their toys with Jaehwan, and they usually ignored him. If Jaehwan was home, but one of his brothers answered the door to see Taekwoon, they would close it on him immediately. Jaehwan's brothers were also in charge of wrapping the presents this year. Jaehwan had left the gift in the box with the box opened, so it wouldn't have been difficult for his brothers to destroy Taekwoon's gift.

As Jaehwan gave it more thought, he realized that it was partially his fault. Jaehwan should have wrapped Taekwoon's present himself instead of risking it. If Jaehwan had done that, he wouldn't have cried. If Jaehwan hadn't cried, Taekwoon wouldn't be upset with him. Jaehwan broke his promise to Taekwoon. Jaehwan broke a pinky-promise. A pinky-promise that he had kept for six years, even during the times he really wanted to cry, even if it was for a childish reason.

"Hey." Hakyeon sat down next to Jaehwan after giving up on Taekwoon.

"Go away." Jaehwan turned his head away and waited for Hakyeon to leave.

"No, I'm not going to. I'm not going away until you tell me that you are going to apologize to Taekwoon."

"Even if I apologized, he wouldn't forgive me."

"You don't know that. He's your best friend, right? He'll forgive you."

"He was my best friend. I broke our promise, so he's not my friend anymore."

"Ok, please explain to me about this promise you made. Taekwoon mentioned how you broke your promise, but I'm lost."

"It's stupid."

"Nice to know you think our promises are stupid!" Taekwoon yelled at Jaehwan from across the room, and everyone was surprised at the sudden outburst.

"T-that's not what I meant! Taekwoon!" Jaehwan turned to Taekwoon to find the latter facing away from him. Jaehwan let out a defeated sigh and turned back to Hakyeon. "I'll explain to you, ok?"

Jaehwan ended up telling Hakyeon the entire story of how him and Taekwoon met. He told him about how on their very first meeting, Taekwoon made him cry. Hakyeon ended up knowing about the pinky-promise he made to Taekwoon to never cry again, and the cost of what would happen if he broke the promise. Hakyeon finally realized why the situation was as bad as it was, and he took it upon himself to try and mend Jaehwan and Taekwoon's broken relationship.

"Taekwoon." Hakyeon walked back to the boy facing the corner.

"No." Taekwoon didn't even look at Hakyeon.

"Talk to him."

"No."

"Then at least tell me why you can't be the better person and put this behind you."

"He promised me he would never cry again or else we wouldn't be friends anymore. Him crying now is like a smack to the face and him telling me that our friendship is over."

"You're being over-dramatic."

"Says you. Freaking drama queen of the school."

"Excuse you. That was rude. Like I was saying, you're being over-dramatic. You can't actually expect him to never cry again. He's only human."

"If it was major I wouldn't mind."

"Hey, maybe he worked really hard on that present. Maybe he was really looking forward to you being extremely happy about it. If my present for my best friend ended up destroyed, I would be really upset. I wouldn't cry, but since Jaehwan hadn't cried in about six years, this was probably his breaking point. Think about it. He did cry for an hour. Maybe this is a really big deal to him."

"I'm not talking to him."

"I can tell already, Taekwoon. You're not going to last long without him by your side all the time. You've gotten so used to his presence that you'll shut yourself out without him."

"I already do that."

"You're more open than you think, but without Jaehwan, you'll be lost. Just forgive him. I'm right, and you know it. Sort it out before New Year's Day. I want next year to start out happy, not with two of my closest friends ignoring each other."

Taekwoon didn't reply, so Hakyeon just let out a sigh and walked to be a part of the human barrier the others had made. Jaehwan was still staring at the broken present at his feet, and Taekwoon kept peeking at him from his corner. Everyone else just awkwardly sat in silence, glancing between the two every now and then to see if either were going to make a move.

"Ok, I'm done with this." Sanghyuk startled everyone with his sudden outburst. "I am not staying at someone's house if they're upset."

Sanghyuk stood up, and everyone thought he would walk right out the door from his words, but he walked over to Jaehwan instead. He grabbed Jaehwan by the elbow and dragged him into the kitchen. He returned a few moments later and dragged Taekwoon into the study that was across from the kitchen.

"You two are going to write down how you feel, and Hakyeon will deliver the papers with your feelings on them."

"Why me?" Hakyeon watched as Sanghyuk settled down.

"Because I just ran out of courage and want to go hide somewhere now..." Sanghyuk mumbled before burying his face in a couch cushion.

Hakyeon stared at his cousin, slightly amused, and agreed to be the one to deliver the papers. He walked into the kitchen first and walked to the study after getting a paper from Jaehwan. Taekwoon had his hand held out expectantly when Hakyeon walked into the study, and Hakyeon scoffed. He slapped the paper onto Taekwoon's palm and watched the latter's face for reactions.

I'm sorry.

Taekwoon grabbed a pen from the top of the desk he was sitting at and began writing back to Jaehwan. He handed the paper to Hakyeon and watched as his friend left the room. Hakyeon gently placed the paper in front of Jaehwan so the latter could reply.

You broke our very first promise. After six years. Sorry's not going to cut it. It makes me really upset.

Jaehwan began tearing up, but he scrunched up his face and willed the tears away. Hakyeon sighed at the action and patiently waited for the paper to be handed to him. He walked to the study and resisted the urge to read the conversation.

I know...I just worked really hard on your present. Seeing that it was broken hurt more than it should have. Please forgive me for crying and breaking that promise.

YOU said pinky-promises can't be broken. YOU broke one.

Taekwoon, I feel really guilty. Please forgive me.

Don't you know how betrayed I feel? Six years, Jaehwan. You kept that promise for SIX YEARS. It'll take more than an apology for me to get over this. I really feel like I hate you right now.

You can beat me up if it'll make you feel better. It'll make me feel better if you did.

Are you seriously saying that right now!? This is serious, Jaehwan! Besides, as much as I want to hate you for breaking that promise, I could never do more than smack you. You're my best friend.

You still think of me as your best friend?

Of course. You were my very first friend, and you'll always be my very best. I do forgive you, you know.

Thank you so much! I'm still really really sorry.

Stop apologizing, idiot. I said I forgive you. It'll just take some time for me to get over the fact that you broke the very first pinky-promise we made together. That promise started it all.

I'll pinky-promise you a second time to never cry again.

You don't have to. Like Hakyeon said, you're only human. You have to cry every once in a while.

Wonshik, Hongbin, and Sanghyuk were having a field day watching Hakyeon run back and forth between the kitchen and study. Despite Taekwoon and Jaehwan being upset, they couldn't help being amused by Hakyeon dragging himself to the rooms. Hakyeon was sick of it, even if it was helping his friends. He noticed that their moods changed for the better somewhere during their conversation. He walked into the kitchen and decided he was too tired to keep going back and forth.

"I'm too tired out to keep being some sort of delivery boy for the two of you!" Jaehwan jumped at Hakyeon's exclamation. "You're at a good enough point in conversation! I know it! Just go and physically talk to Taekwoon already!"

Hakyeon stormed out of the kitchen and fell onto the couch, face-down. The three boys that were watching him let out noises of amusement when Hakyeon groaned. Soon after Hakyeon had planted himself on the couch, Jaehwan walked out of the kitchen. He hesitantly walked toward the study and entered it.

Taekwoon was surprised to see Jaehwan. He was expecting to see Hakyeon walking through the door, not Jaehwan. The boy shuffled closer to him and stared at his feet. After a few minutes of nothing happening, Taekwoon stood up and hugged Jaehwan. He couldn't take seeing Jaehwan looking so dejected.

"Cheer up. I forgive you." Taekwoon felt Jaehwan hesitantly raise his arms before hugging him back.

"I'm really sorry."

"I feel bad when you apologize, idiot. Just try not to cry unless you just can't hold the tears back. I hate seeing you upset."

"Do you still trust me?"

"I do, but not as much as I did yesterday."

"I hope you can trust me that much again."

"I will. I know I will. You're my best friend, right?" Taekwoon looked at Jaehwan, who smiled.

"Yeah."

The rest of the day went on as if nothing bad had happened. All six boys found it in them to laugh loudly and joke around as if a friendship wasn't almost broken like the promise that almost caused it. They had a Christmas movie marathon and ate a great dinner. They had fun with their presents and fell asleep with smiles on their faces. All the negative events of the day were pushed into the darkest corner of their minds, and they could all say that it was a good day.

Five boys were too far gone in dream-land to notice the person by the fireplace, destroying the piece of paper that would've caused unpleasant memories to resurface in the future.

A/N: So...yeah...they made up.

...

That's all I really have to say about this chapter.

...bye...