December 18, 2013

“Do you guys want one of your presents early?”

Oh, he was notorious for doing that. They had all vowed to wait this year, not to give in to temptation; to abstain from that sort of behaviour. But they all glanced up anyway, intrigued in an instant, even though the promise nagged in the back of their minds – well, those who had actually meant it, anyway. More than a few of them might have had their fingers crossed behind their backs.

Meaning Luhan.

Sehun stood in the doorway looking excited and the tiniest bit smug. In nine words he had them all by the balls. And he knew it.

“No,” Kris reeled out, before he could stop himself. Automatic reflex, sort-of like tripping on the bed covers when dragging himself out of bed.

“Sehun,” Suho warned.

“Its an honest question,” Sehun defended himself, holding both hands up. “Chanyeol agrees. Don't you, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol surveyed the room when eyes turned to him. “Uhhh...”

“See?” Sehun smiled. “Come on, you can't tell me you're not the least bit curious.”

“Of course we're curious,” said Lay. “But we made an agreement and we're sticking to it. Just because you don't want to wait doesn't mean we won't.”

They turned away from him then and Sehun threw himself down beside Chen, but the seed of doubt had been planted. From time to time he snuck covert glances to find the others doing the same, and Chen let out a half-sigh, half-groan like a dog just waking from sleep, tipping his head back against the covers.

Luhan was wearing his antlers again, the ones given to him in the café. Sehun gnawed on his lip for a moment in thought, then relented.

“So I guess I'll just put this back,” he said flippantly, pulling out a small gift wrap from his pocket.

A tag on the side of it said one simple thing: Chen.

… Promise? Pfff. What promise. Chen's expression turned sinister, like a panther on the prowl. Kyungsoo stiffened as the man beside him rose as if to collect his prize.

“No, Chen. Chen, sit down – sit – Xiumin!”

Xiumin lunged to grab him but it was too late. Chen snatched the parcel and shot off snickering down the corridor, with Sehun looking after him proudly.

“Damn it, Sehun!”

“Who else wants some?”