“It’s Christmas Eve, guys,” Minho whispered to Key, Onew and Jonghyun. The four of them had gathered in the kitchen while Taemin was still fast asleep.

 

“I know. Not the best day for our maknae. Plus, we still have some shopping to do,” Onew whispered.

 

“Poor little maknae. Remember last year when the girl he’s liked for years turned him down after he told her how he felt? On Christmas? I couldn’t get him to come out of his room for days,” Key whispered as he shook his head.

 

“So, what do we do now?” Jonghyun questioned the other three boys, all of whom shrugged in response.

 

“Do about what?” a voice mumbled, still half asleep as he rubbed his eyes.

 

The older boys’ eyes widened as the maknae walked into the room.  Taemin sat down at the kitchen table and looked from one boy to the other, waiting for someone to respond.

 

“Uhm...we just remembered that we still have shopping to do,” Key chimed as he jumped up with a smile on his face.

 

“On Christmas Eve? Seriously? Who does that…” Taemin mumbled.

 

“Yeah. Sorry about that. We know you don’t really like this time of year so if you want to stay home you can,” Onew offered, rummaging through the refrigerator.

 

“Stay home. All by myself? Nope, I'm coming,” Taemin announced as he walked back to his room.

 

“This should be fun,” Jonghyun joked. The rest of group followed the maknae’s lead and returned to their rooms to get ready.

~*~

 

“Okay, now here,” Key said as he pointed to another little store in the shopping mall.

 

“I’m gonna go sit down. We’ve been here for hours and I’m tired,” Taemin mumbled as he grabbed the bags and made his way to the food court. Exhausted, he sat the bags by his side and slumped down in a chair at a random table.

 

“I am so tired!” Taemin exclaimed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. His eyes quickly shot open as he heard a girl sniffling very close by.

 

Sitting up, Taemin spun around faster than the wind and started to look around. He looked left and right but found nothing. He could clearly hear a girl sniffling, but couldn’t find her. All the people around him seemed happy and full of joy.

 

“That’s weird...I thought I heard a girl sniffling,” Taemin said to himself as he scratched the  back of his neck.

 

“M-Mianhae. I-I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’ll leave if you want me to.” Taemin heard a girl’s voice speaking. Oddly enough, it sounded like it was coming from behind him.

 

Furrowing his brows, Taemin slowly turned around to find a girl sitting on the other side of the table. Her eyes were red and he could see a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

 

“Mianhae! I guess I didn’t see you sitting there,” he quickly apologized to the girl. She slowly shook her head at him.

 

“It’s fine. Not many people pay that much attention to me, anyway,” the girl whispered under her breath.

 

“Are you okay?” Taemin asked, a concerned look on his face.

 

“No, not really, but I will be,” the girl answered.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

She shook her head once more. “Nothing that I need to burden someone else with.”

 

“I asked didn’t I?” Taemin questioned in a commanding tone.

 

“Are you sure you want to know?”

 

Taemin nodded confidently and put his head into his hands, listening closely to the sad girl in front of him.

 

“Well, Christmas just doesn’t seem to be my time of year. Every year around Christmas, my luck seems to run out with the guys I date,” she chuckled sadly. “See, this time of year is when I usually get dumped, and this year is no exception.”

 

Taemin nodded in understanding at the girl.

 

“Look, I’m really sorry. I’ll leave now. I’d hate to bother you any more,” the girl sighed as she got up.

 

Taemin’s eyes widened and he quickly grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving. The girl looked back at him with a questioning look as Taemin smiled at her.

 

“Don’t leave, please? You’re not bothering me. I’m actually enjoying the company. I know how you feel. The same happened to me last Christmas. There was a girl that I kind of fell for, but I guess she didn’t feel the same about me. She turned me down on Christmas, the day after I told her I loved her. So won’t you stay for a little while?”

 

The girl smiled at Taemin and sat back down in the chair across from him. “You got dumped? You seem like such a sweet guy.”

 

“Thanks, I could say the same about you. My name is Taemin. It’s nice to meet you…”

 

“Boa. It’s nice to meet you, too, Taemin,” Boa smiled at Taemin from across the table.

 

“You should smile more. You look really pretty.”

 

Boa blushed and looked down at the table. Taemin grinned as he reached across the table and cupped her chin to make her look up.

 

“Don’t hide your face either.”

 

Smiling, Boa nodded at him, “Thanks, Taemin.”

 

“Taemin! Who’s your new friend?” a voice interrupted the younger boy when Taemin was about to speak.

 

Before Taemin had a chance to turn around, he could feel a set of arms on his shoulders. Looking up, he found Key with a huge grin on his face.

 

“Did you make her cry?” Onew’s voice spoke up. Within minutes, the entire crew had gathered around.

 

“No, he didn’t. It’s a long story, but I feel a lot better thanks to Taemin. Thank you again.” Boa smiled at Taemin before standing up and walking off.

 

Taemin panicked and jumped out of his seat to run after her. Grabbing Boa’s arm, Taemin spun her around and smiled. “I really like hanging out with you, Boa.”

 

Boa’s eyes widened as she looked at him. Before she could speak, someone interrupted the pair.

 

“Are you doing anything tonight? If so, change your schedule. Your spending Christmas Eve with us. Let’s have dinner at our place. I’m sure Taemin wouldn’t mind,” Key said.

 

Boa hesitated, but eventually agreed to the offer.

 

“Good! Let’s go!” Taemin exclaimed. He took Boa’s hand and led her out of the shopping mall. The rest of the gang watched the younger pair and grinned.

 

“Looks like Taemin will have a merry Christmas after all,” Minho laughed as he looked at the other three boys.

 

“Yeah, you’re right. Both of them will,” Onew agreed.

 

Jonghyun nodded and added, “A very merry Christmas.”