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Walking down the stairs, I halted a step before the last. The sudden smell of chocolate vanilla and gingerbread was fresh in the air. Peeking my head out from the side of the wall, I saw Chanyeol walk around the house plugging in all of the lights into its outlet location and second by second, the entire first floor was a scene from a Christmas Wonderland set. My eyes were amazed at the beautiful sight and I continued observing his every move as he walked back into the kitchen, grab two mugs from the cupboard, and carefully poured some freshly made hot chocolate. Nervousness had now left my body and all I felt was warmth and happiness. Without realizing it, I subconsciously made myself be fully seen to the older.

"Oh! Kyungsoo!" The sudden call had my ears redden and my heart skip a beat. Looking dead in the eye with the taller, I realized something. Chanyeol was the same as he was before the incident.. The bright white smile and pointy ears were the same as before... as if nothing happened. The hunger from his eyes was now gone and the look of a beast had gone away so that all that was shown was the usual adorable boy of a toy. I stood frozen at his sudden call when he came over to me which caused me to flinch and take a step back. Acting no differently, Chanyeol showed off his precious white jewels before grabbing my hand and pulling me inside where he afterwards had me sit at the bar kitchen table. Handing me a cup of hot chocolate, I observed him as he walked over to the pantry and pulled out the box of cookies from earlier. He too had his pajamas on and slippers, I didn't make up what just happened.. did I??  With the bangs of his flaming red hair tied up into a small ponytail, he seemed relaxed and ready to go to bed. It's official, I've gone insane.

"So Soo!" Chanyeol called out to me which caused me to snap out of whatever thought was going on inside my mind. "Y- yes?" I softly responded. I noticed the widened eyes on Chanyeol's face and blushed a bit. "Wae? I- I mean, yes?" I felt my face redden from pure embarrassment which made the taller chuckle. The small open space between his top and bottom teeth was shown whenever he laughed. How is it that regardless of what happens, the fact that his double eyelid crease pops out whenever he smiles, causes me to fall for him more and more? "Well.." responded the taller as he continued to laugh, "My tradition.."

I stared in confusion before letting out a small sigh, "Oh.. what about it?" I didn't know what to feel or think, but I was confused and somehow tired. "Well!" Stated the taller with a burst of excitement, "it starts with us getting into our pajamas and having a cup of hot chocolate while eating- oh.." I looked up at him and noticed his eyes stare at the now empty box, "I'll go get another box!". I hummed in agreeance and watched him walk back to the pantry. Is that was just happened? Did he.. take advantage of the start of his tradition? I think it's starting to make sense but, why is he acting as if nothing happened?

"Aren't you hungry?" I finally had the courage to speak up in which the taller immediately turned around and raised his ears. "I mean.. I thought you wanted Korean barbecue. Aren't you hungry?" Chanyeol softly smiled, the fact that he had his bangs tied up made him seem like a model for a children's magazine. God how I would subscribe to that magazine for a lifetime. "Aaaah, are you hungry?" Questioned the model. I looked to the clock and noticed that it was a bit past 7:30PM. "Are you?" I replied, "your delicious hot chocolate and cookies filled me up a bit. But as I mentioned earlier, there's food here if you would like to cook." Chanyeol brought up his hand to his chin and began humming a song, aigoo some habits just won't change. "No, the tradition is to eat after the tree top has been placed. We can decorate the tree and eat afterwards." Thinking of his plan, I nodded and smiled where he then walked back, placed the new box of cookies on the bar counter-top, and took a seat in front of me. By now, the uncomfortable feeling from earlier was long gone; somehow, him being.. normal has put me at ease and calmed me down. The sudden change in tone brought shivers down my spine. "Okay" I spoke up to the taller, "then.. what is the next step in your tradition?"

Chanyeol showed a small smirk and responded, "well! It's time to set up the tree!" As soon as he said that, excitement instantly rushed over my body, causing me to jump a bit in my seat. "Really! I haven't been able to decorate a tree in years! I'm so excited!" This was the moment I've been waiting since childhood and it's finally here! "Whoah!" yelled out Chanyeol. I stopped what I was thinking and immediately turned to him, only to see him staring at me with widened eyes the size of large precious pearls and an even bigger gap between his top and bottom teeth, flashing his large white smile. "Wae. Wae?" I responded. Chanyeol looked away and blushed a bit, "aniya, I was just starting to think that Christmas made you upset." I slightly raised my eyebrows in confusion, "why would you think that?" The taller chuckled a bit and continued, "I'm just joking. You seem so serious.. though I probably know why.. but never mind that." I watched as he finished the last sips of his hot chocolate and placed the mug inside of the dishwasher. "You stay here" he added, "finish your drink and meet me in the living room in ten minutes. I'm going to prepare some stuff." I nodded and watched as he smiled back before walking upstairs and disappearing into the hallway of bright lights and fake snow.

Sitting alone, I thought of his words. What did he mean by that? "Though I know why.." Was he referring to what happened upstairs? Or was it because of something else? Looking into my nearly empty mug, I