Kyungsoo didn't hate Christmas.
Everybody kept saying he was worse than the Grinch but he really wasn't. He just couldn't quite understand what was so amazing about Christmas trees and sparkling lights, and he hated to see everybody around him looking so excited basically over nothing. 
He only felt sad and alone, that's why he decided to take the shift at the coffee shop the night before Christmas.
'But Soo, Christmas Eve is important! Why don't you come over?' his sister tried to convince him.
'You only want me there because you need someone dressed up as Santa for the kids' he snorted.
'We miss you' she had a sad voice.
'I'm not coming. I have to work'.
It wasn't a lie, anyway. He begged his boss Junmyeon, to let him take the shift that night, and the other accepted a little bewildered.

He was making hot chocolate for a customer when he heard an accented voice behind him.
"So" Zitao sat at the counter, watching him with a grin "tonight we're throwing this party"
"And we want you to come over" Sehun ended for him, chin propped on his hands, with a sly smile.
"Sorry guys, I have to work" he deadpanned, turning to prepare coffee for another customer "and I don't like Christmas parties"
"You're such a Grinch" Zitao rolled his eyes, Sehun pouted.
"You're no fun, Soo" 
Kyungsoo was about to say something when the door opened and a little girl ran toward the boys, followed by her older brother Jongin.
"Tao, Sehun!" she squealed happily when Zitao lifted her up into his arms "Hello, Kyungsoo!"
The boy waved at her, then he turned again to make some coffee.
"He's avoiding me again" Jongin whispered looking down. Sehun patted his back sympathetically.

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Kyungsoo should have know it wasn't a good idea leaving Sehun and Zitao alone with his boss.
The two managed somehow to persuade him to close the coffee shop that night, making up about tradition and importance of Christmas along with a pitiful 'but Junmyeon, you look so tired, you should rest a little', and when he finally agreed, they started to pester Kyungsoo to convince him to come over for the party. The boy closed the shop with a scowl on his face, and strutted away without even saying goodbye.
He was so angry he didn't even bother to cook something for dinner, he just grabbed a few bottles of beer and went to bed.
Christmas was bad enough for him, and seeing Jongin at the coffee shop that afternoon upset him even more. 
He felt so guilty. He didn't want to treat the other that way, but he couldn't stop running away from him. 
Why couldn't Jongin just hate him? It would have been easier.
With a last sip from the last bottle of beer, he decided to call it a night. He threw himself on the bed and pulled the covers over his head, hoping that Christmas would pass soon.

                                                                                                     *-*-*-*-*

Kyungsoo was sleeping, or well, he thought he was. 
He was still tipsy for the beer he drank a few hours ago, and now he was lying in his bed with a strange feeling. The room looked darker then usual, and there was so much silence it was suffocating.
He didn't know if he was dreaming, but he felt a light pressure on his nose.
He scrunched his face trying to go back to sleep, when he felt that sensation again, followed by a fit of giggles. His eyes shot open and he sat on the bed with a gasp, frantically searching for the lamp on his drawer in the dark, and when he finally managed to turn the light on, he found a boy beside his bed looking down at him with a huge smile.
Kyungsoo had never screamed so hard in all his life. 
He grabbed the first thing he could reach, his red alarm clock, and aimed it at the other's head, backing away from him with wide eyes and heart beating like crazy.
"Who the hell are you?? How did you come in here??"
"Whoa, easy there!" the boy raised his hands laughing. His grin was really huge, and it was like a bright light flashed from it everytime he smiled.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past" he said with a smug look on his face "but you can call me Jongdae" 
Kyungsoo threw his alarm at him, but his eyes went huge as the object passed right through the other's chest, landing on the floor in the other side of the room.
The spirit scrunched his face and closed his eyes in anticipation  "Please, don't freak out" .
Kyungsoo screamed louder than before.
"Stay over there! Don't come near me!"
Jongdae shook his head "Every damn time" he muttered to himself while approaching the other, who jumped from the other side of his bed in a failed attempt to exit the room. 
"Look, Kyungsoo" the spirit rised his hands again "I just want to talk"
"This isn't happening, you're not real" the boy was hyperventilating "It's just a nightmare"
With a swift move, Jongdae cornered him "Maybe it is" he smiled amused when Kyungsoo shrieked again.
"I'm here to show you something"
"You're a freaking ghost!" 
The spirit rolled his eyes.
"I thought we were over that part" he grabbed Kyungsoo's arm and the boy didn't even have the time to scream again that a flash of light surrounded them. He closed his eyes with a yelp, and when he opened them again he found out he wasn't in his room anymore, but in a well decorated and oh so familiar house.
"What the did just happen?" he looked around with wide eyes "Where are-oh God".
Kyungsoo brought his hands over his mouth looking at the scene before him.
Two figures were cuddling on the couch, the whole scene felt like a terrible deja-vu.
They were in Zitao's house, and the figures on the couch were himself and Jongin.
It was the last Christmas he spent with his friends, at Zitao's Christmas party.
Jongin was smiling while running slowly his hand through Kyungsoo's dark locks, the smaller boy sleeping peacefully in the other's arms, cheek pressed against Jongin's chest.
"Do you remember what happened last Christmas, Kyungsoo?" Jongdae asked.
"Yes" the boy whispered "he kissed me".
The spirit nodded "You got a bit drunk, and ended up sobbing over his shoulder. You told him about your parent's death, remember? You told him why you don't like Christmas so much"
Kyungsoo clenched his jaw.
"Then he kissed you" the ghost tilted his head towards the figures on the couch, smiling slightly "Jongin looks so happy".
Kyungsoo had his eyes fixed on Jongin, when Jongdae spoke again "But then..."
In another flash of light the scene before them disappeared, and they where suddenly in another place.
"...you had to ruin everything".
Jongin was now sitting alone on his bed, clutching his phone in a hand with a sad expression on his face. 
Kyungsoo kneeled before him, his heart clenching at the sight.
"Why are you showing me this? What do you want me to do?" he frowned.
"Nothing. You just need to know how selfish and horrible you've been to him" Jongdae folded his arms over his chest with a stern expression on his face.
"Running away like that...so despicable"
"Shut up. You don't know why I did it"
The spirit snapped his fingers, and after another flash Jongin disappeared. 
They were standing before two graves in a cemetery now, the snow was falling slowly around them.
"No" Kyungsoo shook his head taking a few steps back "I don't want to see this"
"But this is part of your past" Jongdae spoke softly "This is what happened. And you can't change it"
Kyungsoo let out a sob, looking at his parent's names written on the tombstones. They died in a car accident on a Christmas day, a few years ago, the memory was still so vivid in the boy's mind that his heart felt like exploding.
"Christmas used to be happy before this happened" the spirit tilted his head toward the graves "You thought you were over it when you opened your heart to Jongin last year. He could help you have your happiness back, you know"
Kyungsoo shook his head, tears still running down his cheeks "He only pitied me. Now please, take me home, I don't wanna be here".
In a flash they were in Kyungsoo's bedroom again. The boy was still crying when he let himself fall on his bed.
"What the " he passed a hand over his face "Is this real?"
"Very much real" the spirit nodded solemnly.
"Well, I have to go now. My work here is done" Jongdae smiled cheekly "Tonight you will be hunted by two other spirits. They're cool, nice guys. Don't worry too much" he pointed a finger towards him "and don't freak out!"
"Wait! What am I supposed to do now?"
"Think about the things I showed you" the spirit shrugged, then faded before the boy's eyes in a bright light.
Kyungsoo rubbed his eyes still shocked. His gaze fell on the alarm clock still lying on the floor.
"Maybe I'm just going crazy".