Finally it's the 25th~ There's a bit of a twist in this chapter... I suspect some of you are gonna be mad at me xD; Next update ought to be on Saturday. 

Sunggyu's Christmas plans flow exceptionally well, in his opinion. In the evening, he winds up at a bar in a district he's never been to. The bar itself isn't much. There's nothing stylish about the decor or the plastic holly stuck above the bar and there's a distinct underlying aroma of beer and piss. The punters range from teenagers obviously too young to be there to men twice Sunggyu's age. Nevertheless, they serve real German beer and the band's good, so Sunggyu's more than content. 

He even makes a friend, maybe. A man about his own age with lavender hair and a face full of piercings slips in beside him. 

"They're alright, right?" he says, leaning close to be heard. The man's voice is pleasantly rough from cigarette smoke, although his face is quite childlike when you look past the piercings. 

"Yeah, they're good." Sunggyu squints at the lead singer as he bursts into the second verse. "Their lyrics are weird though. What is he even singing about here? I thought it was a first love song. But now... I don't know. I have no idea." 

The man laughs out loud. He offers an explanation - involving a first meeting, a pet tortoise and a small aubergine - that makes Sunggyu snort top grade beer out his nose. 

"Oh ," he says, giggling and struggling to breathe, "That was expensive. You owe me another." 

It's a joke, of course. Yet, a few minutes later, Sunggyu has an even more expensive bottle of unpronounceable beer sitting in front of him along with two tulip glasses. 

"You didn't have to," he attests to the, apparently rich, lavender-haired man. He only waves a hand dismissively. 

"You're providing an excuse for me to order the good . Forget about it."

Conversation is easy after that. He learns that the man's name is Junhyung. They have shared appreciation for beer and for squirreling out obscure music venues. Whilst Junhyung claims to mostly be a hiphop fan, he can spout off arcane knowledge about nearly any band under the Sun. Junhyung's also another out-of-towner, meaning Sunggyu doesn't feel too embarrassed to whine on about Seoul and Seoulites. After almost an hour, Sunggyu also learns that Junhyung is the producer and song-writer for the band on stage whose lyrics Sunggyu insulted. 

With the good company, Sunggyu drinks more than he intended. He still manages to resist Junhyung's attempts to get him to head on to somewhere else whent he bar starts closing up at 1am. Instead, Junhyung waits with him for a taxi on the side of the street. The alcohol's numbed the cold. It's not bad - standing there, conversing lightly, sometimes about common interests, mostly about nonsense. Christmas carols float in the air, coming from the convenience store nearby. Groups of raucous college students, including a lot of girls dressed as elves, fill the streets. Sunggyu can tell he's becoming a proper adult because he's exhausted. Pleasantly so. He's sure he didn't used to feel so drained by the end of a night out. 

People around them keep grabbing the taxis, so the two men are standing for a while. It doesn't help that they both keep getting distracted and forgetting to actually hail down the passing cabs. 

"Say, can I get your number?" Junhyung asks, as they watch yet another taxi pull up and get filled with people who aren't them. Sunggyu fumbles with his phone for a moment before giving up and simply ing it at Junhyung. Junhyung keys in his number and takes Sunggyu's. When he's handing the phone back, he enquires, "And can I have a kiss?"

Sunggyu grins a tired grin and mumbles, 

"Yeah, sure."

He wakes up a little when he feels Junhyung's dry lips on the corner of his mouth. Conversation's not so easy after that. Thankfully, neither man forgets to hail the next cab. 

Sunggyu drags himself to work the next morning with a headache, a bad stomach and two and a half hours of sleep under his belt. He wonders if the kiss last night was a dream. Perhaps Junhyung was a dream. Happening to meet a lavender-haired song-writer with great taste in music, a y voice and a cute smile? Really now, Kim Sunggyu? 

A message that comes in as his morning coffee is kicking in and he's settling down to work confirms otherwise though. 

Hi. It's Junhyung from last night. Do you remember me? kekeke I had a lot of fun and Id rly like to meet u again. There's a band I think youd like playing this Sunday (not 1 of mine this time, keke) + I know a couple of great places to eat near the venue. How about it? If ur not free, we can work something else out, no worries. Txt me when u can, OK? ~JH

When Woohyun also messages him mid-morning to ask if they can meet later, Sunggyu can't describe or explain the feelings clawing at him.