Ho, ho, ! Merry Christmas! At least... it's still Christmas here. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday and if you don't celebrate, I hope you had a good day anyway. :)

This is incredibly lengthy and may not seem like the same story at first, but it is. Your comments on this story have been amazing and I really hope this next part doesn't let you all down!

Oh! And something important. Just... just watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_dq94AOQc8

    A little girl no older than five giggled as she bounced across the wooden living room floor, the sequins on her pretty red Christmas dress twinkling under the festive lights. She shrieked in delight as a tall man hoisted her up in the air and spun her around. The man set her on his hip and smiled at her, whispering something in her ear that couldn’t be heard by the other partygoers.

     Xu Minghao and Lee Chan sat across the room on a sofa watching, feet folded under them and glasses of sparkling cider in their hands.

    “You know,” Chan mused, “he seems really good with kids.”

    Minghao snorted. “Yeah, only because he acts like one himself.” He then furrowed his eyebrows as the two of them watched the man set the child down on top his feet, then took her hands in his and started spinning her around the room to the beat of the music playing in the background. No one else was dancing.

    “That’s true. But you know what I think?” Chan questioned, turning his head towards his friend. “I think...that someone spiked the eggnog.”

    “Oh please. It wasn’t spiked.” Minghao scoffed, and Chan looked taken aback for a second before Minghao’s face morphed into a smirk, “It had alcohol in it from the start. Vodka, to be exact. Seungcheol’s aunt just didn’t tell anyone. I only knew because I was helping make the cookies. Why do you think I made sure to grab us the cider instead?”

    Chan gaped. “You mean...Mingyu really is drunk?!” They both looked back at the giant, who had been led by the girl over to a small table. She was currently drawing cat whiskers on his face.

    “I would say so, yeah.”

    The two boys turned to face the sound of the voice, belonging to their other friend Jeon Wonwoo. He had come up from behind and was leaning on the back of couch between them. His gaze was focused on Mingyu and he had a look on his face that might have been second-hand embarrassment.

    “Who does that child even belong to anyways?” he asked.

    Yoon Jeonghan sauntered up to them from the other direction. “I think her name’s Youngmi. Or Youngji. Something like that. She like, Seungcheol’s cousin’s kid.”

    Chan’s head dropped into his lap. “Ugh. Seungcheol has so many relatives! Remind me again why we’re even at his family’s Christmas party? I get him bringing Jihoon because they’re dating. But why the rest of us?”

    “Oh come on.” Wonwoo flicked the back of Chan’s head. “The thirteen of us are family. We have the right to be here just as much as everybody else. Blood related or not.”

    Their conversation was cut short when a commotion broke out in the dining area. One of the party attendees had yelled out “Mistletoe!”, catching everyone’s attention. Others had gathered around and started cheering.

    At the center of it was Seungkwan and Hansol, who both stood in the open doorway of the back porch. Above them hung the aforementioned plant. It appeared as if Hansol had just come in from outside, a can of soda from the coolers out there in his hand. Seungkwan stood just off to the side, where he had been engaging in a conversation with Seokmin.

    Both boys stared in alarm at each other then back at the crowd, now all expectantly watching them. Seokmin cackled and clapped his hands, he started shouting “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” and got everyone else to join in. Something told Minghao it wasn’t so much of a coincidence that those two ended up in that situation together.

    Seungkwan seemed to work under a fight then flight response. In a panic, he shoved Hansol back out the door, who skidded across the ice on the porch and tumbled off the side. Right into a snowbank. Then Seungkwan took off running down the hallway and out of sight. Probably into the main entry hall.

    Everyone burst into laughter. An elderly woman rushed out to help Hansol and pulled him from the snow. She brushed him off and patted his when she was done, frightening Hansol and humoring the crowd. Seungcheol’s mom appeared at that moment, waving the lady off with an “Auntie, don’t scare the poor kid!” before leading Hansol out of the room as well, saying she would give him a change of clothes to borrow. She was such a sweet lady. Minghao remembered several occasions where she was there to save the day from whatever mishap her son and his friends caused. There had been one time a couple years ago when Minghao’s braces- No. Best not to think about that.

    Jeonghan cooed, “Aww, that was cute! In a weird way. But still cute!”

    Minghao made a face. “I don’t get the point of mistletoe.”

    His friends turned to him with curious faces. “What do you mean?” Wonwoo said.

    “Well like, what’s the point of it? Christmas is supposed to be about joy but the only time I’ve seen mistletoe bring any joy is in movies. In real life it just causes humiliation.”

    Chan cocked his head to the side, “Well… it creates joy for the people watching.”

    “It can also give the two under it joy! Like a couple already dating! They’d be happy to have an excuse to kiss each other. Plus it’s adorable!” Jeonghan chimed in.

    Minghao shook his head, “But what are the chances of a couple both randomly ending up under it unless it was a set up? Very little. They only end up there together if it was planned by at least one person. And why do they need an excuse to kiss anyway? You know what, I wonder how many people per year end up with someone they either don’t know or definitely do not want to kiss under mistletoe. If you ask me, it’s just a lame way to force someone to kiss you or an awful prank to pull on someone.”

    “What? So you hate the mistletoe tradition?” Jeonghan looked a bit offended.

    “It’s not that I hate it,” Minghao shrugged. “I just think it’s pointless and too complicated. That’s all.”

    “Blasphemy!” Jeonghan cried, “You’re just cynical! The only reason you don’t like it is because you’re alone and bitter! I bet you wouldn’t think that anymore if you had someone to kiss under it.”

    Minghao rolled his eyes. “Where on earth did you pull that assumption from? I’m not bitter. And even if I did have someone, I doubt that’d change my opinion.”

    “Oh, so I bet you think kissing someone at the of midnight on New Year’s is dumb, too?”

“Stop making it sound so harsh! And you’re overreacting!” Minghao complained. “But yes. I don’t really care for that tradition either.”

    Jeonghan looked passed Minghao and made eye contact with Wonwoo, looking like he was going to bust a fuse. A message seemed to be passed between them and Wonwoo sighed deeply. “Don’t take it personally, Jeonghan. But still, never say never, Minghao. Maybe you’ll find yourself doing both in the future.” Wonwoo clapped him on the back.

    Jeonghan felt the need to continue in a huffy tone, “Yeah. With someone you really like. And you’ll be glad those traditions exist. That day will come and I’ll be there to say I told you so. In fact, I bet we’ll all be there to watch you. The both of you. Whoever it could be. Maybe someone you already know. Maybe someone you’re close to, like, really close. Maybe-”

    “I think he gets it, Jeonghan.” Chan interjected, reaching over to jab the other and shoot him a look.

    Minghao stared at them skeptically. There it was again. That bizarre way they’d talk and act occasionally. Like they were trying to hint at something or be indiscreet. This definitely wasn’t the first time it had happened either. If anything, it seemed to be getting more common. Is there something I don’t know about? He set the thought aside for another time.

    Seungcheol appeared at that moment, wearing a classic Santa hat that sat lopsided atop his head. Minghao hadn’t seen him since the party started, but he seemed to be having a good time. A big smile was on his face as he walked in their direction, exchanging greetings and hugs with all his relatives.

    “Hey guys!” he cheered when he reached the four of them. “How’s everything hanging?”

    Jeonghan crossed his arms. “Minghao thinks mistletoe is stupid.”

    Seungcheol glanced at Minghao in question, “Really? Why’s that?”

    “I just don’t see the appeal, really.” He stated simply.

    “Ah. I can respect that. You’re not really the romantic type anyway.” Seungcheol brushed off the topic and slid into a new one. “Anyways guys! Gather up the reindeer and head upstairs to the gameroom. My uncle said we could hang out in there by ourselves the rest of the night! It’ll be totally wicked! Be there or be square!” He tapped Jeonghan on the nose, shot them finger guns, then quite literally bounced back off into the mess of people and Minghao briefly wondered if he too, had some of the eggnog.

    Chan stood up. “He had me at ‘gameroom’. Come on. Let’s grab Mingyu and go!” He took Minghao’s hand, holding his glass of sparkling cider in the other, and led the others in a little train.

    Mingyu was no longer with the little girl. Instead he stood with another guy who Minghao could only assume was another one of Seungcheol’s cousins. The two boys were whispering amongst themselves and giggling uncontrollably. Mingyu’s face was a mess of marker ink, the cat whiskers only a small portion of what had been drawn on it.

    “Mingyu!” Chan screamed, rushing up to them and letting go of Minghao to latch onto him. He then lowered his voice so no one else could hear. “There’s a gameroom upstairs and Seungcheol said we’re allowed to go and play in it. Come on, let’s go!” He started dragging him off in the direction of the main entry where the staircase was located.

    Mingyu didn’t put up a fight and the guy with him seemed to forget all about their conversation. Instead he turned in Minghao’s direction, flashing him a gummy smile. Minghao recoiled. He didn’t mean to, but the kid’s teeth… he wore braces. And attached to the hooks were thin little rubber bands, spreading across his mouth like a web. Minghao could’ve sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes. Don’t freak out. You’re fine, just walk away. He gave the guy a wry smile before pushing past him, Wonwoo tailing after.

    Jeonghan had stepped off to the dining room in search of Seokmin, finding him being highly entertained with biting off the heads of gingerbread men. He grabbed the other and all seven of the friends regrouped in the corridor, trying to keep up with the pace of Chan, who looked like he was going to break into a sprint at any moment.

    Seungcheol’s uncle was living a nice life, that was for sure. The house was enormous and Minghao had the itching urge to just duck off and explore the whole place by himself. Which, in hindsight, probably wasn’t the most polite thing to do, but who could really blame him? The main entryway was extravagant, with high ceilings and marble floors. People crowded in here as well and it really was a wonder if all these people were relatives. Highly doubtful, considering Seungcheol’s eleven friends had essentially turned up uninvited. Not that anyone earlier seemed to mind Minghao willingly help prepare the food.

    The grand staircase was located on the opposite side of the room from the hall the group emerged from. It, too, was made of marble and a long, plush, white rug was draped all the way down it. Walking up it was what Minghao would think being on clouds felt like. The way the contents of Chan’s drinking glass was sloshing around as the boy rushed up had him worrying about it being spilled all over the pristine carpet. So he did the most logical thing; snatched Chan’s glass from him and start drinking it himself. By the way Chan only sent a glance behind him before surging onward, Minghao could only assume there were no objections. Perfect. More for him.

    The staircase disappeared into the ceiling of the first floor and gave way to a large room with a chandelier, more corridors branching off from it. The group had no indication of which way might lead to the gameroom.

    “Um...where are we supposed to go?” Wonwoo voiced everyone’s thoughts.

    Jeonghan groaned, “We should’ve followed Seungcheol. Now what are we supposed to do? Open every door?”

    Minghao tilted his head, he did want to look around. “We could split up and take different halls.”

    “Shut up, Scooby Doo.” Okay...so it appeared Jeonghan was still upset over the mistletoe conversation.

    At that same moment, a shriek broke through the air and a door being flung open could be heard before someone was screaming bloody murder and two pairs of footsteps could be heard quickly approaching them. Kwon Soonyoung materialized from one of the hallways seemingly frantic and came sprinting towards the group, yelling something incoherent. Wen Junhui followed soon behind, speeding after Soonyoung like he was out for blood.

    Mingyu tried to grab Soonyoung by the shoulders and they fought against each other, the latter still making loud and disturbing noises. He kept looking back at his pursuer, who was rapidly approaching and managed to cry out, “Please don’t!” before Jun tackled him to the ground. The two wrestled for a few moments until Junhui managed to pin Soonyoung to the polished floor, sitting on him and no doubt crushing the poor kid under his weight.

    “You take that back, Soonyoung! I swear I’ll kill you!” Jun proceeded to knee him in the gut.

    The sound that came out of Soonyoung was grotesque but oddly amusing. He seemed like he might be having a hard time breathing but with effort managed to wheeze out, “You can’t take back what’s true.”

    Jun’s eyes blazed with fury and then Soonyoung was screaming again as Jun pulled at his hair. The smaller managed to throw Jun off his body and the two began to writhe on the floor again. Whatever they were yelling at one another was incomprehensible.

    Nobody else made any move to help. They all stood around in a semicircle and watched their friends attempt to mutually kill one another. It wasn’t until Jun’s knee came up to hit Soonyoung in a very bad spot did Chan elbow Minghao.

    “Do something before someone gets seriously hurt!” he whisper shouted.

    “Why me?” Minghao asked boredly.

    “Because I said so!”

    “I bet Soonyoung deserves it for whatever he did.” he stated lamely.

    Chan sighed exasperatedly and shoved Minghao forward, catching the attention of the two on the floor. They immediately froze and exclaimed his name in sync. The duo looked back at each other and then back at Minghao, then back again. It reminded Minghao of two children who had just been caught doing something bad.

    “Hey hey, how about you guys like...not do that?” he said cautiously, as if they’d pounce on him next if he wasn’t careful.

    Jun released Soonyoung and scrambled up, dusting himself off and grinning nervously at Minghao. The blonde followed his movements, albeit less hastily. They stood before him, looking like kids who were trying to hide a secret from their parents.

    Examining the two, Minghao noticed something off. Sure, the two idiots usually caused chaos, but not quite to this extent. The way they held themselves was sloppier than normal. Leaning in just a bit, Minghao inhaled through his nose. Yep, just as I thought. These bozos are inebriated.

    “Did you two try the eggnog?” he asked, playing the question off like a casual conversation starter.

    Soonyoung and Jun both beamed at him, nodding their heads excitedly.

    Soonyoung cheered, “We did! It was so good we kept refilling our cups! Did you have it too?”

    Minghao twisted his body around to look at the rest of the group. Seokmin and Mingyu looked on curiously, but the other three all groaned.

    Wonwoo stepped forward, “Whatever, it’s not important. But I don’t suppose you guys know where the gameroom is? Because we’re all meeting up there.”

    Junhui’s face lit up like the huge Christmas tree downstairs. “Yeah! We were just in there! Most everyone else is already waiting!” He did a weird shimmy dance and beckoned them forward, turning back down the hall he had previously emerged from.

    Both Seokmin and Wonwoo followed right behind him, but Minghao lagged back to walk with Chan, Mingyu stumbling along beside them.

    Jeonghan had pulled Soonyoung back, waiting until everyone else was a bit further ahead before hissing, “Great, just great! We haven’t even started and you both already ruined the plan!” Soonyoung whined in response.

    Minghao didn’t know what the so-called ‘plan’ was, but it sounded like it wasn’t something he was supposed to hear. He pretended he didn’t. Whatever mess Jeonghan was planning, he so did not want to be the one in the middle of it. Or be stuck cleaning it up. Usually, he’d have the urge to stop his friends from doing something potentially bad, but recently he had taken to the philosophy of Not my circus, not my monkeys. Following that one rule alone had saved Minghao from loads of embarrassing and/or difficult situations. The ones he had interfered with in the past were enough to last a lifetime.

    It also helped bring down his anxiety levels a lot. His friends had always referred to him as the high-strung one of the group and by strictly minding his own business, Minghao found himself much more at peace. If they wanted to run off doing crazy shenanigans, then they could. Minghao would much rather stay at home, safe and warm, watching a movie. So what if he felt like he was being left behind? Or like his friends were getting bored of him- No, no, no.

    It was much better this way. Minghao didn’t need to jump on board with their antics to have a good time. And he was enjoying his night so far as well, binging on cookies and cider. He wasn’t about to mess that up by butting into the undoubtedly stupid idea Jeonghan and Soonyoung were conjuring.

    The gameroom was just as cool as Minghao imagined. Not one, but two, flatscreen TVs were set up on adjacent walls. On one was a match of Super Smash Bros, Star Fox versus Ike at Hyrule Temple, played by Hansol and Jisoo respectively. Hansol had changed into a fresh white dress shirt and pair of jeans.

    On the other TV, Seungkwan and Jihoon were going hard at a round of Just Dance, the song being “Bad Romance” by Lady GaGa. It was hard to tell who was winning. But Minghao had to admit, the two were both doing a pretty good job. The mistletoe accident must’ve been forgotten, seeing as how Seungkwan had reverted back to slinging insults at Hansol, stuff like “Star Fox totally !” and “You don’t stand a chance against Jisoo!”, all the while still dancing.

    Spread out throughout the room were all other kinds of cool things. A foosball table, air hockey, a soda bar, a pinball machine, table tennis, billiards, and oh. Oh Yes. Jigsaw puzzles.

    The couches were a white leather and there was a copious amount of bean bags, giant cushions, pillows, and blankets littered everywhere. It was pretty much every indoor fort builder’s dream and Minghao could feel himself tingling with excitement at the thought. Maybe later he could get the others to all join in and build one together.

    Junhui had pulled Minghao over to the ping pong table, the opposite direction of where the puzzles were stacked. But Jun’s declaration of “I can’t believe I haven’t hung out with my best friend at all this entire party!” made him feel guilty enough to not walk away. So he picked up a paddle and started a round of a game neither of them could actually play.

    Turns out Jun was even worse at table tennis while intoxicated than while not. Hm, go figure. As if he wasn’t awful enough before, he somehow managed to get the ping pong ball to hit Minghao in the face almost every time he served. Which was a wonder, considering you were supposed to serve downwards. He decided Jun was doing it on purpose after he managed to get the ball down Minghao’s shirt. The younger called it quits after that.

    The others had all dispersed and started their own activities, but the video games were still going strong. Jihoon, Chan, and Soonyoung were about to play a round of Just Dance but insisted Minghao join them as the fourth player, so there he found himself following along to the onscreen choreography of “Bang Bang” by Jessie J. Minghao copied the movements of the girl in the leather pants, with Jihoon as the curly haired girl, Chan the one in the skirt, and Soonyoung the one with the high pony-tail. Not that it mattered, but it totally did. It was a lot more fun than Minghao wanted to admit.

    Seungcheol came bursting into the room not long after the song had finished, holding the biggest pitcher Minghao had ever laid eyes on, filled to the brim with… eggnog. Right then he knew whatever was about to go down was not going to end well and just hoped no one threw up on him.

    “Guys! Look what I managed to convince my mom to let us have!” the oldest blurted. He tried to bring it over to the big coffee table set in between the couches without spilling but stumbled the whole way and some sloshed onto the floor. Hansol was quick to wipe up the trail.

    Some of the others were ecstatic by his arrival but the four who knew of the eggnog’s true identity could already feel their souls leaving their bodies. Or at least, that’s how Minghao thought they felt judging by their expressions. It certainly rang true for himself.

    Everyone abandoned their posts and gathered around the couches, all being together for the first time since they arrived at the house. Minghao took a spot on the end of a brand-new looking loveseat, Jun plopping down right next to him and slinging an arm over the back of it. Wonwoo sat on the opposite side of him. Seokmin and Mingyu had walked over to the drink bar and grabbed glasses for all thirteen of them.

    “Now that we’re all here, we should play a game!” Seungcheol announced, pouring himself a glass and downing half of it in one go.

    “Oooh, ooh! Charades!” Chan offered.

    Seungkwan wrinkled his nose, “Ew. What are we, a suburban family on game night? Choose something that’s not going to make me want to gouge my eyes out.”

    “You know,” Jeonghan drawled, at some point he too had poured a glass of the milky drink and took an experimental sniff before swirling it around in the cup. “We haven’t played Truth or Dare in a really long time…”

    Minghao felt his blood run cold. It was true. They hadn’t played it in awhile. Not since the accident that occurred two years ago, when he was sixteen. Ever since then, Jisoo had made the game unofficially officially banned and no one ever challenged him over it. That was... until now anyway. Suddenly Minghao felt uncomfortable sitting next to his best friend as a wave of bad memories washed over him. I haven’t thought about it in so long but it has to come up now?

    Jisoo, sweet glorious Jisoo, was quick to step in. “Whoa hey. I don’t think that’s a good idea. There’s a reason we stopped playing.”

    Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding me? That was forever ago! Let it go already.”

    I will not let it go! I can’t! Minghao’s thoughts screamed.

    “Actually, I agree. Plus, Truth or Dare sounds really fun right now.” Jihoon mused. There were murmurs of agreement from the others.

    “Let’s take a vote.” Seungcheol suggested. “All in favor of Truth or Dare?” Eleven hands rose. Minghao gave Jun a betrayed look, whom only mouthed back an insincere apology. “All opposed?”

    Only Jisoo and Minghao’s hands shot up. Not that they expected anything different. They’re all traitors. Filthy and useless traitors.

    “See?” Jeonghan looked at Jisoo with a smug expression. Minghao could’ve sworn that, just for a split second, the long-haired boy had flashed him a murderous grin as well. No...no...he can’t possibly be that upset about the mistletoe thing, can he?? Why would he take that so personally?

    The rest of Minghao’s so-called ‘friends’ giggled with glee as the first round began. With one hand Junhui held his eggnog, with the other he rubbed Minghao’s back. Minghao wished he had a knife to chop the limb off.

    Most all of them were pretty much drunk off their rockers, Jeonghan included. Wonwoo had one glass before calling it quits and stopping while Chan only accepted the sip Hansol had offered. Only Minghao and surprisingly Jisoo had refused the beverage all together. The latter had taken a whiff of it before making a face and declining, leading him to believe Jisoo was the only one smart enough to actually be able to identify the blatantly obvious stench of alcohol.

    It didn’t take too long into the game for Minghao to realize something was up. And suspicious behavior combined with this satanic form of a pastime was enough to have him ready to bolt out the door at the first sign of immediate danger. For now it was just barely imminent, sitting there lurking.

    It had started when Seungkwan had chosen truth and Chan had asked him who amongst them he’d like to kiss the most. A number of them got antsy and started chanting, “We already know! We already know!” Seungkwan turned bright red and answered Seokmin. They all called him a liar.

    Next was when Jun had dared Wonwoo to give Mingyu a , to which everyone lost it. Several exclaimed they ‘totally shipped it’ and proceeded to whip out their phones to film the ordeal. Minghao covered his eyes throughout the whole thing because that was so not PG.

    At one point Soonyoung, totally wasted and out of it, had begun to rant. “You know, if some people would just stop avoiding their feelings already, there could be so many cute coupl-” Jihoon shoved a pillow over his mouth.

    There they go. Acting like this again. Like there’s something they all know but don’t want to outright say. Minghao pretend he didn’t have an idea as to what any of it could be. It wasn’t his business anyway.
    It escalated to the point where no round went without it being centered around this little secret-but-not-really-a-secret topic. Minghao himself was no exception. But he was determined to not let them have a chance to grab onto anything. So he only chose truths, just like he always used to, and worked his way around them as much as possible.

    “Minghao, do you like anyone?”

    “The people who put extra butter on your popcorn at the cinema.”

    “Who was the last person you kissed?”

    “Your mom last night.”

    “What would you say was the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?”

    “Becoming friends with you.”

    “Would you date one of us?”

    “Maybe if I ever break up with my bed.”

    The fifth time Minghao had been chosen, about an hour and a half since they had started the game, was when the others had had enough.

    “Alright dude,” Hansol began, “I know you’re just going to choose truth, you know you’re just going to choose truth, they all know you’re just going to choose truth,” the others nodded along. “We all know. Which is why this time it’s not your choice. You’re doing a dare.”

    Minghao had a weird sense of déjà vu, or maybe not so weird, because he distinctly remembered something like this happening before. He could feel his stomach drop and begin to churn a little bit. The others cheered, Jisoo’s face morphed into one of fear. Same, bruh.

    Hansol scanned the room for a moment before casually locking eyes with Junhui. He mouthed something like, “Now?”  to the older. Jun give a single shake of his head before mouthing back a “Not yet.” Minghao presumed it was supposed to be an unnoticed exchange but they were too out of it to take into consideration others were watching. Nonetheless he felt himself getting goosebumps at the thought that those brats had something planned and were saving it. Probably so he could feel maximum shame. Oh, Minghao was so not going to be kind to Junhui during his hangover the next morning. If he starts puking, instead of rubbing his back I’m going to drown him in the toilet bowl.

    “So… I dare you to…” Hansol looked around again, searching for a impromptu Plan B. He set his sights on the coffee table, “Chug the rest of the eggnog.”

    Now Minghao’s stomach was turning for real. They all had been drinking the stuff like no tomorrow but the pitcher was humongous and was still about a quarter filled; most likely the equivalent of half a regular sized one. His wonderful friends seemed to really enjoy the idea.

    “No way! Guys, no one should drink that much so quickly! He’ll get sick! I object!” Jisoo screeched, eyes frantic for several reasons. Mostly because that wasn’t just a festive beverage. Chan and Wonwoo looked worried now too, and agreed it shouldn’t be done.

    Their pleas were brushed off. “Honestly. I don’t know why you guys are freaking out. If he actually starts feeling sick, he can just stop. It’s not like we’re going to pour it down his throat.” Jeonghan was really pushing it. He continued, “Minghao, do something a little more risky than riding a bike without a helmet for once.”

   Minghao felt his eye twitch. Jeonghan’s attitude towards him was seriously starting to get on his nerves. And he of all people knew what was in that stuff. And he also knew just as much as everybody else that Minghao didn’t drink. For a split second a thought crossed through his mind that maybe Jeonghan was just sick of him as a person and was trying to run him off. But… no. That’s ridiculous. Jeonghan is one of the nicest people, especially to me. I didn’t offend him that much… right?

    He continued, “This isn’t even bad. I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

    Minghao took a deep breath. “Cross my heart and hope to die.” That means whatever happens, I can at least be charged with consensual murder in court. He just gave me permission.

    His drunk friends were now cheering him on and he knew he wasn’t getting out of this. Wonwoo had a tight grip on the couch and his eyes were shut tight. Chan was standing off behind the big couch, hands covering his face and eyes peeking through his fingers. Jisoo sat on the rug, looking ready to hyperventilate and mumbling under his breath. Minghao wondered if it was a prayer for him or a curse for the rest. In the midst of what felt like doomsday, he was grateful these three cared. Although it wasn’t most of the others’ faults, they were still clueless over the fact the eggnog was really vodka with a dash of Christmas.

   Minghao felt like the pitcher itself had eyes, staring him down, challenging him. The others were too loud. He wondered if he’d drop dead, or at the very least unconscious, if he did the dare. Maybe he was just caving under peer pressure, but it was worth a shot.

    That’s how Minghao found himself reaching forward, snatching the pitcher up using two hands, and starting to consume it. He didn’t drink liquor, and with good reason too. The stuff tasted awful and he had to pause for a second to gag before continuing. Everyone was still cheering and he could barely register Jisoo yelling. It went on like that until about half was gone and his head was spinning. His stomach churned even faster and if he didn’t stop, he’d definitely hurl. Merry Christmas everybody.

    He slammed the thing down like it shocked him, pushing it away with the leftover contents still swirling around inside. He brought his legs up onto the loveseat and curled in on himself, burying his face into his knees. Maybe they’ll leave him alone now. Jun started rubbing his back again.

    “You idiots! There’s alcohol in that! Why do you think he wouldn’t touch it?! Why do you think I wouldn’t touch it??” Jisoo finally broke. He was standing now and looked pretty furious. The room was silent. “You just pressured him into drinking it! You should all feel awful!”

    Good old Jisoo, always got my back. Minghao thought, trying to swallow the bitter taste in his mouth.

    “Hey… hey…” Seungcheol stepped in as the mediator, seeing things turning bad. “He’s fine. We’re not doing anything except hanging out. Everything is okay.”

    “He.Doesn’t.Drink.” Jisoo’s teeth were clenched together.

    “Well…we made him do it, so it’s not like he did it because he wanted to. No harm done.” Soonyoung tried to reason.

    Jisoo was about to argue because yes, harm done but Minghao waved his hand at him, signaling him to give it up.

    The game continued on and Minghao strangely felt more relaxed. Everyone was still acting off but why should he care? As they went around tormenting each other, he eventually ended up curled into Jun’s side, head resting on his chest. His best friend didn’t seem to mind, arm wrapped tightly around his waist. Wonwoo seemed nervous next to them, constantly shooting them glances. What was up with him? Did he have to pee? Was he about to soil his pants?

    Seokmin had just sat down, having finished his dare of seductively a ping pong ball. Minghao thought it might be the same one that went down his shirt.

    It just so happened that Seokmin chose him to go for the next round, maybe he knew about the ping pong ball. But as everyone told Minghao he had to do a dare, he found himself not minding too much. Why didn’t he want to do one before? These looked fun.

    Jisoo and Wonwoo were fidgeting and the others were all mouthing to each other again. Minghao thought Chan might have passed out in a giant pile of blankets and cushions. Finally Seokmin turned to him and said, “I want you to do a y dance to a song of my choosing.” And that just seemed like such a Seokmin thing to say. From the other side of Jun, Minghao heard Wonwoo exhale slowly. He should really go pee if it’s that bad.

    A y dance seemed like a fun and silly thing to do, so he stood right up and walked over to an open space, where all of them would have a good view. It just so happened that there was a sound system in the room and Seokmin had dragged Soonyoung over to it to choose a song. The two had their heads together, giggling as they scrolled through the music on their iPods. Aw, they must be wanting to find a really good song. What nice friends.

    The two seemed to make a decision and a song started up as they returned to their seats, sniggering the whole way.

    The song started slow but when the beat kicked in, Minghao found he really liked it. He didn’t know what language the lyrics were in but his guess was maybe Spanish. It seemed like the kind of thing they’d play during a zumba class. Not that he knew anything about zumba… except that he, Junhui, Soonyoung, and Chan attended lessons every Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00am. The others didn’t need in on that information though, especially since Seungkwan would so want to join.

    He really didn’t have any idea what he was supposed to do, or what a ‘y dance’ was exactly, so he just started improvising, making sure to add in a lot of hip movement. If his friends’ whistles were any indication, he’d say he was doing pretty good. Perhaps he lost himself in the music a bit too much though, because before he knew it, the song was over and while most everybody was in stitches, Jisoo and Wonwoo looked horrified and Jun was staring with wide eyes.

    When Minghao sat back down, Junhui’s face had turned red and he whispered out, “I can’t tell if I’m too drunk or not drunk enough.” He returned to his position of resting against the other and barely took notice that the older’s heartbeat was abnormally fast.

    Minghao couldn’t tell if they had been playing for three hours or five. He didn’t know what time it was nor did he have any idea if the party downstairs was still going on. All he knew was that he felt drained and the burst of energy he had gotten earlier was gone. Now he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. But still on they played. At one point Jun had whispered in his ear that he could rest in his lap if he wanted and then he felt something at the back of his head that could’ve been a quick kiss but probably wasn’t. It was most likely just Junhui doing something creepy again. He did a lot of creepy stuff lately.

    When Minghao was picked for the newest round, he almost groaned out loud. Soonyoung said he had to do another dare to balance out all the truths but Minghao thought the blonde was just too lazy to come up with a good truth. He complied though, too lazy to argue at this point.

    The dork sitting almost directly across from him looked over at Jeonghan who nodded and they both looked over at him, or rather, at Junhui. Then they nodded again. It was so in sync it was almost like out of a horror movie.

    Junhui’s right hand was suddenly on his waist, his left grabbing Minghao’s own hand and intertwining their fingers. He was twisted around to face the brunette before Soonyoung even said a word.

    “Minghao~” Soonyoung sang, and once again he was feeling déjà vu. “I dare you to kiss Jun.”

    Jeonghan gave Soonyoung a nasty look and whisper shouted, “You said it wrong, you idiot!” The others started laughing behind their hands while Soonyoung just shrugged.

    Minghao blinked. This… this was just like before. And they were telling him to do it again. Like… like they were mocking him.

    “Are you making fun of me?” he asked them while standing up, and they all stopped to look at him.

    All their secrecy and stupid questions. The looks. The getting him drunk, because now he registered that he was indeed drunk and it was Jeonghan who made him do it. Jeonghan knew from the start what was in that drink. But Soonyoung was in on it too, Jeonghan had been discussing his plan with him. And Hansol knew as well. And… and Chan. Chan had stopped Jeonghan from saying something downstairs. Jisoo and Wonwoo were looking at him now with faces filled with sorrow. They knew too. And Junhui. Junhui was at the center of it all. They all seemed to consult him before making Minghao do anything. All of them. They were all in on this.

    “Are you trying to embarrass me?” he asked them, but they all stared back dumbstruck. “Were you trying to get me drunk enough to do stupid things so you could laugh at me? Is that what this is?” Still no one said anything, so he took it as a yes.

    Once again the thought of Jeonghan wanting him gone popped into his mind. Maybe… it was true. But it wasn’t just Jeonghan.

    “Do you want me to embarrass myself in front of you guys to the point I can’t show my face around you anymore?” Their mouths fell open but no sounds came out.

    Minghao whipped around to look at Jun, who stared up at him, eyes wide and arms raised like he was going to try and touch him again. “You.” Jun’s arms dropped. “You planned this.” he accused.

    He turned looking at all of them. Tears started to sting his eyes. He had to leave now. “If you wanted me to leave, you could have just said so.”

    And then Minghao was out the door, slamming it shut behind him and rushing down the hallway. There was the sound of the door flying open behind him and his name being called by Junhui, so he sped up his pace. Oh my god, I can’t believe this is happening. He’s my ride, too. Oh god, I live with some of them as well.

    “Minghao! Wait! Please!” But he didn’t and now he was back in the big room with the chandelier and all the corridors.

    “Minghao!” Junhui grabbed his arm and spun him around.

    He didn’t give Jun a chance to speak. “Do you know how humiliated I felt when my braces got caught in yours? Do you know how ashamed I felt going out in public like that? How mortified I was to be around any of you for months afterwards? And you had to go and mock me over it all this time later.” Jun winced but Minghao kept going, tears now streaming down his face. “Have all of you been trying to get rid of me this whole time? Have all of you been desperately trying to figure out ways to shame me out of your lives? Was I just an annoying pesticide that wouldn’t go away? Because let me tell you something, Wen. If you hate someone, you should just say it to their face.”

    Junhui was frantic. “No, no, no! Minghao, none of us hate you! We don’t hate you! We weren’t trying to embarrass you either! We just- well we-” He fumbled for words.

    Minghao reeled back. Maybe they just kept him around as their own little fool. Maybe they made Junhui pretend to be his best friend so that he could trick him into going along with whatever new sadistic thing they came up. Minghao’s mind flashed back to the time Junhui had convinced him to go cliff diving with them. They had all prepared to jump but at the very last second backed out. All except for Minghao. Turns out it was high tide too, and the water got pretty rough. He broke his arm that day.

   “You know what, Junhui?” He looked at him, his best friend for all these years, and choked out, “I don’t think I want to be friends with you anymore.”

    Jun stared at him for what felt like the millionth time that night, then he took a deep breath. “That’s good. Because… because I don’t want to be friends with you anymore, either. I mean- I don’t want to be just fri-”

    “Glad we can agree then.” And then Minghao was turning away towards the staircase, ready to find Seungcheol’s mother, because he didn’t know who else to go to, and ask for a ride to his college campus. He’d tell her he forgot his laptop there and that since it was late, he’d just crash at a friend’s dorm. Maybe the kid he often sat next to in his math course didn’t go home for the holidays and would welcome him in for the night… If not, the student union had couches and kids fell asleep in there all the time. Well, not during winter break but still…

    “Minghao, wait! That didn’t come out right!” His body was whirled around again but this time Junhui had trapped him in a bear hug. “I meant, I don’t want to be just friends with you anymore! We weren’t trying to hurt you or anything, I swear! They were just being good friends and trying to help me. It went so wrong though, I’m sorry! And no one was supposed to drink alcohol. It was supposed to be cute and remind you of the first time we kissed but it backfired and I’m so sorry! Please, PLEASE don’t stop being my best friend!” Jun pulled back to look Minghao dead in the eyes. He looked scared.  “I- I’m in love with you, Minghao!”

    ………...What.

    There are times when a person gets so caught off guard that they react without thinking, going by their body’s reflex only. Sometimes this comes in handy, like when someone throws something at you, you might immediately go to catch it. Or maybe to dodge it. Whichever. Minghao’s mother always liked to call that reflex your ‘emergency helper’. That was great and all, but Minghao really wished his emergency helper wasn’t so violent.

    Junhui confessing to him while he was in tears and on the verge of breaking down was an example of one of these occasions. He was drunk and he didn’t really think the words had truly sunk in either before he did the first thing his instincts told him to.

    He slapped his best friend across the face.

    The sound echoed around the room and then both of them were standing in shocked silence. Minghao felt satisfied for a second before realizing Jun just told me he loved me and then I hit him. Immediately he felt horrible. A mix of horrible and angry and baffled and just all around upset.

    Junhui was holding his cheek, looking like he had no idea what just happened. They stared each other down in confusion before Jun breathed out, “Is this the part where you hurt me and then we make out?” His lips turned into a greasy smile.

    Okay, so maybe Minghao felt less bad about slapping him now.

    “My cheek stings. Will you kiss it to make it better?” If it was possible, his grin seemed to grow even bigger.

    He was probably still too intoxicated. That was the only reason Minghao could find as to why he complied and while still very confused, kissed Jun on the cheek.

    He couldn’t even find a single word to say or a single thing to do, so when Junhui asked him if he’d like to go home, he nodded. And when on the ride to their apartment Junhui asked to hold his hand, he let him.

    “You… like me? When did that happen?” Minghao finally found his voice, but he was still just as lost as before. The two of them sat at the kitchen counter, drinking hot tea with only a single lamp on in the whole apartment. It was two in the morning.

    “Hm…” Junhui raised his cup to his lips and took a sip, “After the braces incident, I think? I don’t know. Maybe before that.”

    “That’s… that’s a long time.”

    “It is.”

    “And the others knew?”

    “Yep.”

    “For how long?”

    “Longer than I did.”

    “Is this another joke?”

    “There were never any jokes in the first place.”

    “...You’re dumb.”

    Jun barked out a laugh. “I know.”

    They lapsed back into silence. Jun’s liked him for about two years. Possibly longer. That didn’t seem to make sense. He dated people all the time. Although… it wasn’t as frequent as it was before. And come to think about it, Minghao didn't think Jun had once mentioned going on a date in over four months.

    But… he never indicated he liked Minghao. Or at least, not that Minghao could remem- His mind flashed back to various memories.

    “Hey Minghao, will you go to prom with me? I mean, it’s my senior year and I thought it’d be fun to spend it together.”

    “Uh… turns out the rest of the guys can’t make it. Like, all of them. Guess it’s just us two.”

    “The festival’s packed. I’m afraid we’ll lose each other in the crowd. Here, hold my hand.”

    “My ex called me an attention . I think she’s right. I just want someone’s attention.”

    “Maybe if I date enough people, no one will be left and then we can just live together for the rest of our lives and get dogs. I’d like to own dogs with you.”

    Oh...OH. Okay, well in Minghao’s defence, those were really obscure hints that anybody could overlook.

    “Minghao…?” Jun called hesitantly. He looked up to find the other staring at him. “Is it…” he shifted. “Is it okay if I kiss you?”

    He tried to find a reason to say no, tried to pretend he wanted to say no. But he couldn’t lie to himself. It was all so bizarre, he never even thought about this before. So how was it that he maybe, dare he say, liked the idea? I’m drunk. I am so drunk right now. Minghao tightened his grip on his mug and nodded.

    Junhui leaned in, smiling softly. He again was reminded of the first time they kissed, except no one was watching and Jun no longer had braces or long hair. But his smile was still the same.

    Kissing him was different too. There was no movement and thankfully no tongue. Minghao still didn’t really understand that part.

    The kiss was calm and made him feel a little tingly. And everything around them seemed almost eerie. Eerie yes, but not scary.

    They pulled apart and Minghao found himself in a stare down all over again. Jun bit his lip.

    “Minghao… would you… like to be my boyfriend?”

    Minghao couldn’t find a reason to say no to that either.

    Jun beamed at him. “I think I can die happy now.”

    Minghao blinked. Would… would this qualify as consensual murder as well?

    Something was tickling his face. And combined with his headache, it was incredibly irritating. Cracking his eyes open, he came face to face with Jeonghan of all people, dangling leaves over him. Bloody leaves.

    “Wakey wakey Haohao, there’s mistletoe for you and Junie~” he sang and shook the leaves around in his hand.

    Mistletoe? What mistle- Oh no. Nuh-uh. Not today.

    Jun shifted next to him on the bed. Opening his eyes, he gave Jeonghan an unimpressed look. “Would you kindly leave my boyfriend and I alone until we’re actually awake for the day?”

    Screams of excitement came from the doorway and then ten more bodies were spilling into the room, making far too much noise for Minghao’s pounding head. Why were they all here? Only five lived in the flat. Minghao wrinkled his nose, remembering he wasn’t exactly all too happy with any of them at the moment. He groaned as loud as he could before unceremoniously rolling right off Jun’s bed and onto the wooden floor. There was enough space between the bed frame and the ground for him to fit so he did the obvious thing and rolled right under the bed.

   Everyone was having a riot and Jeonghan called to him, “I expect to see you two face at midnight at the New Year’s party!”

    Not if you’re dead before then.

    “Jeonghan, don’t be nasty. That’s disgusting.” Junhui said, but Minghao knew he probably wanted to do exactly that.

   There was still yells of “They’re dating! They’re dating!” to the point it was starting to sound like a demonic chant. Jisoo had knelt down by the bed and asked Minghao if he felt okay and if he needed anything. Some peace and quiet would be nice.

   The calls for Minghao to come out only made him want to stay there until next spring and as he drifted off again, a thought surfaced that made him snap wide awake.

   I never got to play with the puzzles.