Written by: "lazychu"

Pairing: Wooyeol

Prompt 1: One of the members is determined to hide his Christmas present from his bestfriend in the group.

Sungyeol the Sneaky Santa

(words: 1,165)

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Generous as ever – that was one of the traits that made the idol group so loveable; amongst others and themselves. You could call it a tradition around this time of the year, where they all bought gifts for those who they treasured, even each other. Although Christmas wasn’t quite a large, to say in the least, in Korea as it was in other places, say America for example, it was still a day to enjoy with a little more festivity and excitement than other days. Despite the seven of them having that particular day of merry spirit packed breaming full to the seam with schedules, it did nothing to deter them from carrying on the tradition of the spirit of giving; especially for the child-at-heart (and arguably at-mind too) Lee Sungyeol.

Sungyeol thought he’d been pretty sneaky with his present buying. He thought wrong. It had been the midday when Sungyeol returned from a few good hours spent on shopping. Being free of schedules definitely had its perks sometimes. What he hadn’t expected was to find Woohyun lazing on the couch. Sungyeol swore that when he checked the vocalist’s timetable it had said that he was supposed to be out until later that night. His attempt to make it to his room unnoticed failed as soon as he walked past the said member.

“Where’d you go?” Woohyun asked without looking up from his phone. Any sane person would have known that Woohyun had merely asked out of curiousity and slight concern for the friend he held dear. However, Sungyeol wasn’t quite sane due to the fear of his ‘secret’ gift not being a secret anymore; the tall male could only open and close his mouth dumbly. The lack of response caused Woohyun to turn his attention from his device to the frozen other. His eyebrow rose in self-inquisition before his lips curled up slightly as though to tease the tall one. No, it really was indeed to .

“What’s in here?” Woohyun asked, his voice holding a playful lilt as he sat up and leaned over, his hand reaching out to pull at the paper bag. Of course, he never actually intended to look inside. Even if his curiousity could kill him, Woohyun did respect and expect the element of surprise that followed their tiny familial tradition. The screech, jerk and dash from Sungyeol drew a bright laugh from Woohyun; totally worth the tease, the playful male thought.

The moment Sungyeol got into the room (and locked the door behind him) his flurry of panic riled up even more, almost to a swirling storm even. With the paper-bagged gift hugged securely against his chest, he ran circles around and across the room, eyes searching for places to hide the object but his mind still caught up in that sneaky moment that Woohyun had pulled. He must have been like that for minutes because, in what had felt like the next second, there was a knocking at the door and Woohyun’s smooth voice asking, “Is everything okay in there, Yeol-ah?” Again, Sungyeol knew he should have answered but that only pushed him into more childish panic as he sat on his bed by the pillow, the present not-so-effectively hidden underneath the plush item.

Sungyeol had been so obsessed and focused on making it seem like there was nothing hidden under the pillow that he hadn’t even heard Woohyun open the door with the spare key and make his way inside. Maybe if he had been paying attention he would have heard Woohyun saying he was coming in, but he wasn’t and so he didn’t. “Yeol~” Woohyun sang, his eyes discreetly glancing at the humped pillow. He made his way closer to the awkwardly grinning male and placed his arm around his shoulder. “Are you alright? You seemed a little pale and sweaty,” Woohyun asked, feigning concern for he knew why the other had been looking per the description. The moment he made a move to sit down on the cushion Sungyeol had squawked, again, and pushed at the shorter’s hips so he wouldn’t crush his own present.

‘Of course I’m fine,” Sungyeol replies, perhaps a little too quickly and breathlessly paired with a too-wide smile. Playing along, Woohyun makes his way to the other side of his taller friend and sits down, his face still showing concern despite having being shoved not a minute before. “Did you not dress warmly enough when you went out before?”

“Of course I did,” Sungyeol, again, replies quite rapidly, unconsciously leaning towards the pillow and somewhat was protecting the secret gift.Bad move because it had Woohyun leaning towards him as well and even worse, reaching around to support him from the other side.

“Be careful. Do you want to lie down?” Sungyeol is completely deaf to Woohyun’s words as he eyes the hand that’s (in his opinion) too close to the present. It’s only when he hears a barely restrained bark of laughter from the side that he hadn’t been paying attention to that he knew the other male had been teasing him the entire time. His head snaps towards the shorter figure, eyes narrowed at the playfully teasing smirk that sat on Woohyun’s lips. This time there was no resistance from himself as he slapped the other’s forearm hard enough to create a lightly reverberant echo through the room.

­­­The hidden gift had remained out of sight and mind from the person who had bought it for a good few days. Not to mention, undiscovered by that thieving weasel; as Sungyeol had so intimately named Woohyun in his mind. Well it had been until Sungjong came out one day holding onto a paper bag and displaying it in front of the other members. “Who’s is this?”

Both Sungyeol and Woohyun locked eyes before making an equal dash forward towards the innocent Sungjong, who, had been unsuspecting of the sudden attack. His longer limbs gave him an advantage over Woohyun’s midget (once again, lovingly described by the endearing friend) bodily extensions and he was barely just able to swipe the bag away before Woohyun could. With an indignant screech, Sungyeol returned back to his actions of rushing into his room and searching for a new place to hide the gift; Woohyun’s stop in approach went by unnoticed by the flurried male and the other members could only shake their head at the two’s antics.

Pairing: Gyujong

Prompt 2: One of the members gets in a fight with another member, but wishes to repent for Christmas. How will he go about it?

The Gift of (For)Giving

(words: 1,085)

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Sunggyu was always tired beyond comprehension these days. Still, it was reasoned by many, including himself, that there was no excuse for the way he had treated their youngest. The leader could only sigh as he watched the door of Sungjong’s shared room close behind him once again, and as of recent, without a word; his forlorn looks were ignored by the other members with distant shrugs, the rest of them knowing this was something between the eldest and the youngest only.

FLASHBACK

“Yah! Lee Sungjong!” Sunggyu’s voice could be heard booming around the dorm. The called-for male came out, showing himself to the one who demanded for his presence. As per usual, he didn’t look too pleased but what could he do? This was how things worked, though in Sungjong’s personal opinion, it could have gone around in a less brute manner.

“What is it?” Usually, Sunggyu would have been aggravated if he responded with a burdened sigh but this time it must have been the sassy undertone that set him off. To be fair, however, Sungjong had already had enough of being spoken to in such a manner. What did he do to deserve such treatment? He usually did everything the leader asked him to so it wouldn’t hurt for the said leader to talk to him more humanely.

“I told you to wash these!” Sunggyu pointed towards the sink which was occupied with a few – not many, perhaps two or three – dishes. The one being scolded sighed and looked back defiantly. “I did,” he retaliated, “You know, someone probably ate something after I washed it and put their dishes in the sink. And thank God for that because who knows what would have happened if they left it on the dining table or the floor. Maybe the world would have ended or hell would have frozen over.”

It wasn’t necessary for Sungjong to raise his voice. The venom laced in his tone was an ample indication for Sunggyu to know that he’d crossed the line one too many times. At that time, as Sungjong turned and isolated himself away from the leader, Sunggyu could only stand in shock; numbed by the outburst to any functioning of his thought or actions.

It wasn’t as though Sunggyu hadn’t tried to gain back the younger’s friendship, assuming that that was what had been lost (though really, ‘injured’ was a far better way to describe it). He’d gone through various methods, including: doing the chores in place of the youngest, apologising several times, buying him small treats, etc. Of course, all of these efforts went to waste and he received nothing but a laboured sigh or annoyed huff. The only times when Sungjong would talk to the older male was when they were on broadcast, in other words, when it was necessary.

Hell, Sunggyu had even gone so far as to asking the other members for help. The oldest three weren’t very useful, only giving him knowing looks – ones that conveyed the “you-should-have-seen-it-coming” kind of message. It also must have been an unfortunate time for him when he approached Myungsoo and Sungyeol. The two had been lounging and sharing a laptop while they entertained themselves with some sort of comedic showed they’d downloaded; what it was exactly, Sunggyu could recall. After all, he had more pressing matters at hand. In the end, he’d only weeded a useless “apologise to him” out of Myungsoo before the said male squealed in shock from a blow to the thigh delivered by Sungyeol during his laughing fit. They then proceeded into a friend brawl on the couch.

At last, Christmas came approaching just around the corner. Their schedules became even more hectic due to higher demands associated with the festive season, making it harder for Sunggyu to obtain some one-to-one time with the maknae. Even harder for the leader was scraping the little time he had to make things somewhat easier for the youngest of their group, for example, doing a few extra chores. Of course it was quite taxing on his body but the fatigue made him think, was this how he had been making the other feel?

In Sungjong’s room, Howon had come to the latter to talk about the arisen situation. The dancer hadn’t, at all, expected that sort of response though when he asked whether or not the younger thought he was pushing their leader too far in this cold war.

“Of course not. This is what he get for pushing me around like his slave. I am his bandmate and family, not a slave.”

The icy tone made Howon shiver; at that moment even he was afraid of getting onto Sungjong’s bad side. All he could do was leave a small, verbal note for the younger to observe the leader before making such ‘judgements’.

Unknown to the dancer, Sungjong had taken his words to mind and began observing and recalling the small acts of kindness that Sunggyu had been doing for him. Indeed, the leader did look quite worn out. Being the representative for many events probably made it no easier for him either. A frown graced his petite lips as Howon’s question was repeated in his mind.

It was Christmas evening when Sunggyu had found some time to rest. It wasn’t much so he was planning to catch a few winks on the couch. However, the moment he settled onto the said piece of furniture and closed his eyes, he felt a weight dip the cushions beside him. Curious, he opened his eyes. Shocked, he could only stare at Sungjong who was revealed to be that person. On top of that, he was holding- no, offering a mug of freshly brewed coffee to the leader.

“Thanks,” Sunggyu mumbles and takes the mug. They sat there in silence, even after Sunggyu had long finished the mug of coffee. He still kept the ceramic in his hands after though. It was hard for him to decipher just what this meant. Not minutes later, the manager poked his head through the front door and called out for Sunggyu. Surprisingly, again, Sungjong held his hand out. Sunggyu could only stare obliviously, completely clueless towards the younger’s intentions.

A deep sigh expelled from Sungjong’s lips made him flinch but it was somehow a little better when he saw a small smile grace those lips after. “Merry Christmas.” Was all that he got after the younger took the mug from him and took it to the kitchen to wash up.

Admin's Note: Good job to the author for writing two stories using the two prompts! I'm sure ricebunny18 will both enjoy the stories! :)))))

- Myungjhejhe