Onew drove the two younger boys back to his apartment silently. The passenger seat beside him remained empty, both boys having chosen to sit in the back. From the odd glances he threw at them from the front seat he could see their fingers intertwined. JongHyun’s hand was placed delicately over the back of Key’s trembling one. Had the situation been any different he would have punched on the pair with a hundred and one questions.

            All he could do at the moment, though, was thank the luck he’d had. When his employees had left he’d received a phone call from the police station in regards to the robbery saying they’d identified the perpetrator and it was all a matter of finding him now. And sure enough… This had happened. In Onew’s mind it was a victory to be celebrated, but judging by the gloomy expressions on the two younger’s faces there would be no room for celebrating.

            It was a great lousy Christmas.

            The two boys in the backseat had completely forgotten about the Christmas holiday until they climbed the final steps to Onew’s apartment.

            Garlands hung from every area possible, a big tree stood majestically in front of the window decorated with colourful bulbs and tinsel. A couple presents lay under the tree with name tags dangling off their sides. The plain brown coasters on the coffee table had lively red ones with jovial Santa Claus’ painted on them. The smell of hot apple cider still hung loosely in the air along with gingerbread leading the two to believe that Onew had either baked or invested in a new air freshener.

            From the snowflake stickers on the windows to the Christmas tree and candy canes – everything was decorated.

            Key turned in a small circle to inspect it all thoroughly. His mouth was agape as he was taken back to a more extreme version of last year’s Christmas.

            “Hyung,” he whispered. “When did you do this?”

            “When you guys left… I felt bad for forgetting about Christmas… I was just finishing the presents when JongHyun called,” Onew explained sheepishly.

            “You did all this?” JongHyun asked.

            “I wanted to give you guys Christmas…” Onew confirmed.

            “He gave us Christmas!” Key whisper-yelled, amazement laced with his words.

            “Yeah…” Onew scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and moved further into the apartment. He felt somewhat ridiculous now after that whole scenario. Everything seemed much too cheery and bright in comparison to the other’s moods. His hands d at the garlands, tugging them down and tossing them under the couch pillows.

            “No, keep it up,” Key begged, replacing the dismantled garlands. “We need some Christmas…” His voice cracked halfway through his sentence and he made it his purpose to keep his back to the other two so they wouldn’t see how his tears were sliding down his cheeks.

            “You want to keep the decorations up?” Onew asked incredulously.

            Key nodded. “Yes… Let’s celebrate Christmas…”

            “I think it’s a good idea,” JongHyun agreed. “TaeMin loved Christmas… Oh no!” He brought his hand to his forehead as he remembered something.

            “What’s wrong?” Key asked, wiping his tears so he could face his boyfriend.

            “I-I had a present to give to TaeMin, but I left it at the hospital… I didn’t open it for him because of this…” JongHyun said.

            “We can give it to him tomorrow, okay?” Key suggested. He migrated from the garlands to JongHyun so he could hold his hand. He was unsure of what to do at first since he didn’t know how he would react, but he relaxed as soon as he felt JongHyun’s fingers tighten around his.

            “Okay… That sounds good,” JongHyun agreed. His lips pulled back into a gentle smile which he gave to Key. Amusement buttered his mind when he saw him blush.

            Together they moved to the kitchen where Key began trifling through the cupboards. He pulled out bowls, pans and a bunch of utensils and ingredients.

            Onew walked in, a slightly confused look on his face. “He glanced at the scattering kitchen items on his counter.

            “What are you doing?” he asked curiously.

            “I’m making a Christmas meal,” Key announced.

            “Make some chicken,” Onew prompted. He received a sharp slap to the arm with a spatula with that remark.

            “I’ll make chicken if I want to!” he snapped.

            A chuckle blew out of JongHyun at Key’s childish behaviour. He let go of Key’s hand so he could travel to the refrigerator. He pulled out some vegetables that he wanted Key to make and dropped them somewhat carelessly into the sink and started the water. Key ended up smacking him on his with the spatula again and yelling at him about being more careful with the food.

            No one knew exactly how the transition happened, but some quiet Christmas music started playing and all three boys were singing along whilst cooking. Onew tossed some onions into a pan and belted out a long note only to have his voice crack in the midst of it. It caused a rippled of laughter to pass over the boys. JongHyun picked up from where he left off, managing to nail it unlike Onew.

            Cheerful as ever, JongHyun bounced over to Key, pretending to reach around him to get something when he really just wanted to be close to him.

            “Yah, hyung,” Key whined, blushing a whole new shade of red.

            “I’m just getting some salt,” JongHyun excused.

            “Of course you are! Set up the table you big idiot.”

            A cheeky grin sculpted JongHyun’s face. He gave the soup a final splash of salt before yanking out some plates and chopsticks. The rice bowls were set at the top with the cups.

            Onew came behind him with a steaming tray of food which he placed in the middle of the table. Key arrived soon after and aided them in setting up the remainder of the food. Everything looked scrumptious.

            “Let’s eat!” Onew said.

            All three of them seated themselves around the table. Key took care in filling their glasses with carbonated water and then raised his glass.

            “To… A different Christmas,” he toasted.

            “To a different Christmas,” the older two chorused.

            Their glasses clinked together forming a small song that signalled the start of a very different way of living. Unbeknownst to them, everything was slowly changing for the better and for the worst.

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First, I'd like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABY UNNIE! THIS IS FOR YOU AND LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR NEXT GIFT SOON!

Second, I'M SORRYYYYY! With work and school and it being end of term I have had too many projects and acitivities and not enough time to update. I'm really, really sorry! Also, I'll be posting more and more of my original stories so I hope you keep supporting me!

Third, I'm getting some serious problems with my hands/arms... My right wrist (my writing hand) already has carpel tunnel but recently I've developed this lump in my elbow lying on top of one of my veins and it makes it very painful to unbend and bend my arm. I get a tingle feeling and pain when I bend my arm, it hurts to add pressure and even now as I'm typing I can feel it pressing against my veins and now the vessels in my hand are bugling and tightening and it's very painful and awkward... So please bear with me if I'm very slow to update...

Anyways, sorry for the long wait, and I promise not to leave an author note like this again...