I slid onto my stomach as I disappeared underneath our tree. Bobbles hit me in the face as I stretched to tie the back of the tree-skirt together; I succeeded and began to retreat, trying not to knock over the tree. Just as I made it out enough to sit up straight I heard glass smash form behind me. My stiffened my back and turned slowly with narrow eyes. I saw a very nervously-shocked Taemin and Minho looking at me with anticipation. I rose from the ground and began to open my mouth to un-shamefully yell at them – but I was stopped by a piece of popcorn hitting my head.

I snapped my mouth shut and look to the direction it came from. I looked at a smirking Jinki with of bowl of popcorn in his hands.

“Leave the kiddies be.” He said chuckling. I softened my stare slightly and walked over to the guilty party.

“Clean it up. And don’t break anymore bobbles!” I smiled meekly at me, and I smiled a proud smile back and walked off towards the kitchen.

I looked up as I crossed the threshold of the room to see Jjong and Chaerin squishing together, seemingly fighting over something that was in the fridge. I wrinkled my nose at the sight. I don’t know why though, maybe I was jealous. Jealous of what though? I don’t know. I walked in without making myself known, just to see how far into their obvious flirting they were.

I continued to get a stack of plate from the cupboards, cutlery, and about fifteen mugs from another cupboard before I felt like I’d given them enough time to notice me. Since they didn’t, I wasn’t going to be nice about asking them to move.

“Yah! Move already! I need to get the desert from in there!” I shouted from behind them, having lost all my patients already. They were startled and bumped heads before jolting upright and turning to face me. Chaerin looked slightly annoyed, while Jjong looked guilty with a flushed face. I smirked and pushed the two apart to get out the two-tiered cake I’d baked earlier that day.

I completely ignored the thick tension in the room and gather all my supplies I had laid out. With a special skill I’d picked up years ago, I’d shifted the cake to the upper part of my arm, sliding my fingers under the stack of plates, balancing them on the palm of my hand. I laced the finger in my free hand through as many mugs as I could, and gathered the rest around my arm and hugged them to my chest. Without even looking at their faces again I walked out of the kitchen.

“Dessert time!” I called as I unraveled myself from my cake and plate dress. I started to teeter a bit; thankfully Sandara caught the cake before it fell off my arm. I smiled at her, and she gave me a warm smile in return.  She set the cake down on the coffee table next to the rest of the stuff. She then moved over to the couch and sat down. I didn’t expect her to be so polite at a time like this.

“Dara” I said, she looked up at me, “keep your smile on your face, its pretty. Stay bubbly love.” She blushed lightly, but did as she was told and gave a big smile. Seeming to feel more comfortable she leaned over and started to help me with the coffee and cocoa.

“Omo! Sorry we took so long!” Bom and Minji came rushing in from the front entrance carrying about six different boxes and bags in their hands.

“Don’t fall!” I yelled sitting up away from the cake. “Here, Minji give me some of those.” I held my hands towards her. She gave me an impatient look.

“Oppa! I said call me Minzy.” She gave a fake pout and handed me the bags, keeping the boxes in her arm. I laughed.

“Sorry, Minzy.” She smiled at me and walked over with Bom to the tree and set the down underneath it. I followed after them and did the same with my bags.

“Okay, can I eat now?” I heard Jinki say from behind me. I looked back at him.

“Oh yeah, sure,” then more loudly, “Everyone! Come eat! Serve your own plates too; I’m not doing it for you.” And soon enough every one shuffled into the living room of the hotel we were all staying at. Well, we were all staying here, but not in this particular hotel room.

“We should play a game.” Kyuhyun mumbled from one corner of the room, cake shoved into his mouth.

“Oh?” I heard Taemin question, getting up from the couch arm he was sitting on. “Like what hyung?”

“Like… Mistletoe!” he said grinning. Bom glared at him.

“I don’t think thats appropriate.” She said matter-of-factly. Kyuhyun-hyung gave her puppy dog eyes.

“Noona! Please? It’ll be fun!” her straight face wavered until she gave a small smile.

“Fine. Let’s play mistletoe.” Half of the room stood up while the younger half – i.e. Minzy, Taemin, Minho, Songyeol, Woohyun, Howon, Sungjong and myself – stayed seated.

“Whats ‘Mistletoe’?” Sungjong asked.

“Well, it’s this weird tradition thing that comes from the wes-”

“I know what mistletoe is! I meant the game!” He snapped. I looked at him with shocked that eyes, I know he and Woohyun were band mates, but I don’t think Taemin would ever snap at any of us like that. Woohyun just glared at him then looked away, that’s when Kyuhyun-hyung stepped in.

“The game goes like this; you split up into two teams, and put all names of one team into one hat or bowl or whatever, and the same for the other team. Then, you pick four names out of the opposite team’s hat and your goal is to get two of your chosen people under the mistletoe, if you succeed, they have to kiss. Kind of like punishment for losing.  But if two people from different teams are under the mistletoe, then the teams decide what they do.” He finished by taking a big breath of air.

“We don’t have mistletoe-” I said stepping forward, only to step back when Jinki pulled out a bundle form behind his back.

“Yeah, we do.” He said laughter in his eyes. Someone is planning something. “Okay! Let’s split up!”

In the end, the teams were as follows: Team A; Taemin, Jinki, Woohyun, Kyuhyun, Songyeol, Minzy, Bom, Dara,  Sungmin, Eunhyuk , Donghae, Minyoung and me. Team B; Sungjong, Sunggyu, Howon, Minho, Jonghyun, Chaerin, Kangin, Heechul, Dongwoo, Myeongsoo, Suzy, Jia and Fei. I don’t know how it ended up like that, but it was decided somewhere along the way.

“Alrighty, everyone got their victims – I mean people?” Kyuhyun-hyung asked, standing on top of the now empty coffee table holding two bowls of name-filled paper. When everyone agreed, he counted down to start the game.

“Hana, deul, seht! Sijag!” he bounced off the table and everyone took off around the room running, some people going to hide, others gripping at the back of fleeting people’s collars. I looked to my left and saw Minho just standing there.

“Oh no…” I said backing away slowly.

“Sorry hyung.” Was all he said before scooping me up over his shoulder. I started to squirm and yell.

“Put me down! Minho! I said put me down goddamn it! Are you listening?! Respect your elders! Minho!!” I was kicking and banging on his back as hard as I could, but he walking as if carrying a sack of flower. The prick.

I then noticed the air in the room began to thicken with a competitive feel. I looked up to see everyone was frozen, then all of a sudden broke loose and chased after the remaining seven people that could go under the mistletoe. Once people caught on that they were an option they started picking up weapons to defend themselves, like pillows or shoes.

I had stopped fighting Minho at that point, he had carried me all the way to the mistletoe by then, and I just couldn’t be bothered to try and fight my way out. So I’d have to give someone a peck. Who knows maybe it’ll be someone funny like Chaerin.

I was set right-side-up underneath the mistletoe; I just stood there, hip popped, arms crossed. I took in my surroundings and noticed everyone had stopped moving like wild animals, and saw only six people moving. Jia and Dongwoo were working together to get Songyeol over here. And on the other side, in a desperate chance to not lose, there was Jinki and Kyuhyun, bring over Jonghyun. Jonghyun.

I started to panic, and broke out in a cold sweat, I was going to try and escape but Minho noticed and held onto my shoulders.

“It’s for your own good hyung.” He whispered into my ear. I shook my head. No way, no way was I going to kiss Jonghyun. Especially in front of people I knew! I stared at him as he slowly got closer to me, trying his best to break free from the other’s hold, unsuccessfully I might add. And soon enough, there he was standing right in front of me. I gulped. Then I relaxed, or right, this means it’s a tie, and the captains get to decide what’s happening next. Right.

“Who’s team captain?” Bom chirped from behind Minho. Minho smirked, I gulped again.

“I am,” he said. Then Kyuhyun stepped forward from behind Jjong.

“And I am.” He looked at Minho, and he nodded in return, seemingly in response to an unspoken offer.

“I didn’t propose this game, just to have it end with no kiss.” Kyuhyun began.

“So, Jonghyun-hyung, Kibum-hyung, pucker up!” Minho finished with his stupid smile. I looked at Jjong with pleading eyes. Please, please, please, let him protest!

He didn’t protest. He just looked at me in the eyes, and then at the mistletoe above us – he blushed lightly then, and it almost made me want to smile – then back at me. I stared into his big puppy-dog eyes as the slowly inched towards me. All of a sudden it’s like the air was out of the room as our lips met.

It felt like it was hours we were standing like that – though I’m sure it was about six seconds, maybe ten – and it felt like I’d just gotten zapped. My lips tingled when he pulled away; I subconsciously touched my lips as soon as they were no longer occupied.

Suprisingly, no one reacted like they did in the movies, they all laughed and clapped and then dispersed. We all agreed it was a fun game, but it was getting late so most of them went to their rooms, apart from a few stragglers.

Last time I saw Jjong he was with Chaerin in the kitchen again. Hmpf. Whatever. I slumped down in front of the fireplace, the same one the mistletoe was still dangling in front of, right next to are hastily decorated tree. I looked over at it and chuckled. This was a fun Christmas Eve. Just as I thought that, I felt someone step up behind me and sit down.

“Did you feel it too?” I whipped my head around to see a poker-faced Jjong staring into the fireplace, watching the flames rise and crackle. I blinked.

“Feel what Jjong?” I asked in what I hopped sounded like a clueless tone. He smirked – he didn’t buy it.

“The sparks, Kibum, the surge of energy, whatever you want to call it, it was there when we kissed.” I looked down at my hands, folding and unfolding them on my lap.

“Well, maybe it was nerves, it wasn’t exactly the best ‘first kiss’ scenario, probably not the best way to find out you belong with someone.” I mumbled in hurried speech. I peered up at him, he face closer than I remembered.

“Well, let’s make this the ‘first’ one then.” He closed the remaining gap between our lips; again the same shock hit me. This time I know the kiss lasted for than a few seconds, because when we pulled up for air I was sitting in his lap, arms around his neck. He had his hands on my waist, pulling me closer to him. I looked at him in realization and blushed a deep scarlet.

“Well, that answers that.” He said with a smile.

“And you’re okay with this?” I asked, blinking.

“Yeah sure, what's wrong with falling in love with your best friend? Even if I didn’t know for the longest time… This seems like a pretty good way to find out.”

“What do you mean?”

“Its twelve-oh-one, merry Christmas Kibum-ah.” he smiled at me and blushed again. He leaned in and gave me another Christmas present.