Joonmyeon was staring at the empty corner in his cafe while enjoying his cup of chai tea.  He tilted his head in curiosity as he inspected the corner, it was missing something. Joonmyeon took another thoughtful sip as his eyes wandered around his shop and he saw the whole place was excellently decorated, thanks to his great leadership. The garland was hung from the ceiling along with brightly colored ornaments dangling from the tinsel. The windows were frosted with snowflakes and snowmen. It took almost all night for them to decorate but it was worth it. The cafe was beautiful. It was still missing something however.

“It's missing something,” Joonmyeon muttered to himself, taking another sip, “but what?”

“Hey Suho!” Called Kyungsoo from the kitchen, “Can you inspect these sugar cookies we just made? I think we need a little more Christmas tree cookies.”

Christmas tree…That's it!

“A tree!” Said Joonmyeon loudly, smacking the table at his realization, “Of course!”

Joonmyeon jumped from his seat and was about to make his way back into the kitchen to tell Kyungsoo they needed to get a tree for the cafe when the front door opened and in walked Jongin, hugging his knee length coat closed, wearing his usual black attire, clearly coming back from teaching a class at the university.

“I need cocoa!” Cried Jongin, throwing his scarf off his face and neck, “and don't be stingy with the whipped cream or marshmallows!”

“Good morning Jongin,” greeted Joonmyeon with a smile for his cousin, a little too enthusiastic on the smile.

“And a blueberry muffin would be nice too,” continued Jongin as he threw himself in the nearest seat. “I am pooped from class.”

“They had class today?” Inquired Joonmyeon, as he went behind the counter and got Jongin’s order ready.

“They cancelled early morning classes but I still had to instruct my 10 ‘o'clock as planned and let me tell you, no one looked like they wanted to be there.” Explained Jongin with a loud yawn, “So I cut them some slack and let them leave 15 minutes early.”

“That was thoughtful of you,” commented Joonmyeon as he prepared the hot cocoa,

“Everyone is cramming for finals, it was the least I could do,” shrugged Jongin

“So I take it you're off for the rest of the day?” Asked Joonmyeon, feigning innocence as he finished topping the hot beverage with some cocoa powder

“Yeah?” Asked Jongin slowly as he watched his cousin walk around the corner with his order, smiling strangely at him.

Jongin made a face when no one came to the door, even after he rang the bell for the fifth time. Joomyeon’s assurance of Chanyeol being home (‘He works from home during the day and goes to the studio at night.’ explained Joonmyeon) were the only thing keeping Jongin from turning away and just pretending that he asked Chanyeol to accompany him to look for a tree. Even Kyungsoo (though reluctantly) assured him that Chanyeol was home and was “almost” back to his normal cheerful self.

“Do I ring the bell one more time or should I leave?” Jongin asked himself out loud as his finger hovered over door bell, chewing his lower lip in contemplation.

“Or you can step aside and let me open the door for you.” said a low deep voice that make Jongin jump in fright

Jongin whipped around and saw Chanyeol standing behind him, wearing a large black puffy winter coat, fur hat, bright red scarf, holding a coffee to-go cup in one hand and a grey shopping bag in the other (clearly coming back from the convenience store around the corner), along with a puzzled expression. Jongin smiled sheepishly up at Chanyeol before stepping aside letting his friend unlock the door for them. When they were inside, Chanyeol ignored Jongin and walked down the hallway where his personal office was, throwing his jacket on the couch along with his scarf and hat. Jongin shrugged his shoulders and threw his coat off too before following Chanyeol down the hall.

Chanyeol was in the middle of tossing some music sheets into a corner of his desk when Jongin walked in, holding out a seasonally decorated bag filled with pastries.

“Chocolate croissant?” asked Jongin casually as he sat down on the only other office chair in the room, playing with the level of the seat to his preference, “Joon made them fresh this morning.”

Chanyeol politely shook his head as he sat down in his own chair, leaning back while taking a long sip from his coffee. Jongin shrugged again and put them on the nearest surface (which happened to be an electric keyboard), not before taking one out and stuffing it into his mouth.

“So what’s up?” asked Chanyeol out of the blue, toying with the tear in his black jeans

“I was in the neighborhood,” said Jongin nonchalantly, shrugging once again, “Thought I’d come by and share some homemade pastries with you since I’m off for the rest of the day.”

“No class?”

“Not today.”

Chanyeol nodded his head and went back to drinking his decaf coffee. They sat in silence for several minutes, Jongin sneaking croissants every now and then while swiveling back and forth on his chair. The dance instructor glanced at his friend from to time, trying to figure out a way to ask Chanyeol to go with him to look for a tree. When he couldn’t think of a clever way into asking him, Jongin decided to just take his chances and ask Chanyeol.

“Hey,” started Jongin, brushing off his hands on his pants before continuing, “Joon asked me if I could go out and get him a Christmas tree for his shop, you wanna come along and help me pick one?”

Jongin peeked over at Chanyeol who had at that time turned around in his chair, tossing his empty cup into the trash bin and was facing away from him. Jongin watched his back, trying to pick up whether or not he made Chanyeol uncomfortable about the simple request. Chanyeol always went stiff and emotionless when asked things pertaining to the holidays. Jongin was half worried that Chanyeol would walk out of him and not speak to him or worst, tell him to get out and not come back. Surprisingly, Chanyeol did none of these. Slowly turning around in his chair, the composer faced Jongin again with a neutral expression.

“Why?” asked Chanyeol bluntly

“For the cafe.” answered Jongin almost nervously

“No,” brushed off Chanyeol, planting his feet in front of him and folding his arms across his chest, “Why are you asking me to go with you to get a tree?”

“Because everyone else is busy,” replied Jongin with a half shrug, “And I’m already here and you're here.”

“What about Baekhyun?” suggested Chanyeol, shifting in his seat to get more comfortable

“He’s at home sick as a dog,” explained Jongin, almost smiling at the memory of Joonmyeon telling him what happened to his cashier the night before

“Baekhyun, sick?” asked Chanyeol surprised

“Yeah,” grinned Jongin, “Apparently that crazy bastard drove his scooter last night in the snow to be with Yixing when his car broke down.”

“Ha, that sounds like Baekhyun,” muttered Chanyeol, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips

“Yeah,” nodded Jongin in agreement

Chanyeol snorted and shook his head. Jongin took that as a sign that Chanyeol wasn’t entirely against the idea, so he kept on going with his plan to get his friend to go out with him for the day.

“Joonmyeon hyung also said if I don’t bring back a tree by the end of the day, he will no longer serve hot cocoa to me for the rest of my life,” sighed Jongin, “And will blacklist me from the shop.”

“Damn,” chuckled Chanyeol shaking his head, he could actually see that happening

“So hyung,” said Jongin sweetly, pouting for effect, “Come with me, please? Joon’s is the only place in the city that makes their hot cocoa from scratch. Don’t deprive me of my chocolate and marshmallow needs.”

Chanyeol actually barked out a laugh at that last sentence. Jongin smiled at his friend, it had been awhile since he actually heard Chanyeol laugh. Jongin whined a little, pretending to make a fuss at the older male laughing at his expense, but he didn’t really mind. He made Chanyeol laugh, that’s all that matters. After a moment or two, Chanyeol stopped chuckling and looked at Jongin with a small smile.

“Well I can’t let you go without your daily dose of hot chocolate, so I guess I’ll help you find a tree,” he said lightly, “I know a place near here that sells decent Christmas tree’s for a good price.”

Jongin cheered and jumped up to his feet.

“You are my chocolate savior,” declared Jongin, “I will remember what you did for me today hyung!”

Chanyeol nodded his head and got up from his chair, stretching as he did so.

“Well let's get going.” he stated, “Tree hunting is a very strenuous activity and this will probably take all day.”

“I’ll buy you dinner Chanyeol, I promise.” vowed Jongin

“You better,” argued Chanyeol, walking out of his office, “And it better be expensive too.”

“What, am I made out of money?”

Jongin doesn’t think he has ever seen so many variety of Christmas tree’s before in his life. They all looked like great, green trees but, Chanyeol told him there were different types of trees. Jongin doesn’t want to tell his friend that they all look like your run of the mill Christmas to him, because they all do. Seeing that familiar light in Chanyeol’s eyes as he explains the difference between a fir, pine and spruce trees keeps Jongin from running his mouth.

“What about this tree?” suggest Jongin, pointing at a bright green tree to the left of where they are standing

“That’s a pine tree,” explained Chanyeol, lightly touching the needles on the tree, “But the needles look like they are already falling off so, not this one.”

Jongin slumps his shoulders and keeps on walking down the row of trees. They had been here for over a hour, they didn’t even step foot into the nursery for 30 minutes because Chanyeol was asking what type of tree Joonmyeon wanted and when Jongin didn’t have an answer for that, Chanyeol started going on about the different types of trees were used for Christmas trees.

The first tree they inspected, Jongin thought was a pretty good one, it was big, wide and tall, perfect for the corner in Joonmyeon cafe. Jongin thought they were done but when Chanyeol gripped the trunk of the tree and gave it a good shake for most of the needles fall off, and the top of the tree snapped. Shaking his head, Chanyeol told him the tree was a flat out ‘no’ and gently pushed him onto the next one where they both jumped back in fright when a pigeon flew out the branches.

“I think we should either go with a fir or a spruce tree,” muttered Chanyeol, “These pine trees look sad and unkempt. They really need to water them.”

“Okay,” said Jongin, “Let’s go check out a fir or spruce tree.”

“On second thought,” said Chanyeol suddenly, “Lets go with a fir tree. These spruce trees were picked too early and the needles will fall off sooner than the pine trees we saw.”

Jongin rolls his eyes but keeps on walking. Who knew Chanyeol was so picky about picking a Christmas tree. They keep walking row after row, Jongin almost whining, pointed at different trees asking if this tree or that tree was a fir tree. Chanyeol shook his head at each tree he pointed out and told him to keep walking. Jongin looked down at his watch and saw that they had been there close to 2 and a half hours and groaned. He didn’t think looking for a tree was going to take this long! How did his father or even Joonmyeon even manage to find Christmas trees the previous years was something Jongin was pondering when Chanyeol grabbed him by his arm and yanked him back and dragged him down a completely different row.

Jongin was about to protest and ask what got Chanyeol all riled up when he saw what caught Chanyeol’s attention.

The two couldn’t help but stare in awe at the tree in front of them. It easily towered over Chanyeol (they were using his height to pick out the tall trees), it was wide (Jongin didn’t think he would fit his arms around it), the needles were a dark green with a hint of silver on the underside, and had many many branches. Jongin stepped forward and couldn’t help but inhale the sweet aroma that the tree seemed to be oozing.

“Hyung, I like this tree,” mumbled Jongin, leaning forward and smelling the tree once more, ”it smells so good.”

“It's a fresh tree too.” concurred Chanyeol as he touched one of the branches and rubbed the needles between his fingers

“Hyung I like this tree,” repeated Jongin, “No, I think I’m in love with this tree.”

Chanyeol snorted at the comment

“I want this tree.” sighed Jongin

“Let’s get this tree.” nodded Chanyeol, “You can also stop trying to hug the tree by the way.”

“Can I marry this tree?”

“So, how are we going to get this tree back to Joonmyeon’s?” asked Chanyeol, walking back to where he left Jongin and his tree (he named it ‘Lucy’)

Jongin stopped his sniffing and turned to face Chanyeol looking confused.

“What do you mean?” asked Jongin

“Well we bought the tree, now we have to find a way to get it to the cafe,” explained Chanyeol, shoving his hands into his pocket

“They don’t deliver?” asked Jongin innocently

“Nope.”

Jongin pouted and turned back to face the Grand Fir tree they purchased. How the heck was he suppose to get this tree back to Joonmyeon’s?

“We drove here in your car,” suggested Chanyeol, bouncing on his feet lightly, “We could probably tie the tree down on the top of your car and-”

“Oh no, I just bought that car” interrupted Jongin shaking his head,

“Then how do you propose we get it there?” demanded Chanyeol

“We can carry it?” suggested Jongin

“It’s twenty blocks!” exclaimed Chanyeol

“It’ll help us to get to know Lucy better,” shrugged Jongin, “and smell it a bit longer.”

“I ain’t carrying your girlfriend tree twenty blocks.” said Chanyeol firmly

“Well I ain’t putting her on top of my car.” retorted Jongin, “It’s cold.”

Chanyeol threw his hands up in the air in frustration.

Joonmyeon giggled to himself as he watched Jongdae and Minseok struggle to bring the tree inside the shop. He gently nudged Kyungsoo in the side when he heard his pastry chef snicker at Jongdae falling over the table when Minseok and he tried standing the tree up.

It took awhile but Jongin finally brought the tree over on the top of his car, complaining loudly to anyone who would listen that Chanyeol bullied him into strapping the tree on top of the car, and how random drivers honked, shouted and made rude gestures with their hands when they drove around them because he was driving 15 miles below the speed limit. Jongin even got a ticket for disrupting traffic with his slow driving, Chanyeol wouldn’t stop laughing at that bit. Chanyeol went hysterical with laughter when he told them about Jongin yelling at the police officer for calling their tree a ‘tree’ and not ‘Lucy’ like he said he should.

Kyungsoo gently patted Joonmyeon on the shoulder and muttered he was taking off. Joonmyeon nodded his head and waved good-bye to his friend.

He finally had a tree for the cafe, now he needed to decorate it and his vision would be complete.

“You promised an expensive dinner, not expensive take out.” grumbled Chanyeol as he glared at Jongin.

After dropping off the tree and driving back to Chanyeol’s place, Jongin wandered off into the kitchen and started calling all the take-out restaurants Chanyeol had saved on his refrigerator and planted himself in front of the tv, stating he was too tired to go out and take his friend to dinner after their little tree hunting adventure.

“You promised I wouldn’t get pulled over by the cops for driving with precious cargo, yet we did.” recounted Jongin, “Now shut up and pass me the garlic chicken.”

Chanyeol snorted and gratefully handed over the chicken to Jongin while opening up the first pizza box on the coffee table.

*

Hello again!

I think I may have confused a few of you in the first chapter so I thought I'd use this time to clear the air on a few things.

The Kims.

Jongdae and Jongin are brothers and Joonmyeon and Minseok are brothers. 

They are first cousins (Their mothers were sisters.)

So as you can see, they are pretty close with each other. I initially was going to make all four of them brothers but in the end (it doesn't even matter~!) I went with them still being family but not not brothers.

Can cousins have a bromance?

I like to think so, I swear my brother and my cousin have like the strongest on going bromance I've seen in a long time. They pretty much do everything together and are like, the bestest friends (My brother even got offended when my cousins coworker came by and said they were best friends. My brother told him he had to find another best friend because our cousin was already taken  as his best friend - _ -')

SuChen are cousins but they have a bromance going on (and a bromance is strictly platonic by the way!) *I mean seriously, who else was going to put up with Jongdae while his best friend, Minseok was away?  Minseok's younger brother Joonmyeon obviously!*

I hope I cleared some of the air with that little explanation.

As for this chapter...*walks away laughing*

I saw this chapter going two ways. 

1. Jongin getting lost and starts to lose it

2. They end up with a Charlie Brown Christmas tree and they both get banned from the cafe lol

But this story kind of took on a mind of its own and I just went with the direction it went. If you've ever seen or smelt a Grand Fir tree you will know that those trees are very beautiful. Expensive, but beautiful. And they smell amazing! I had one growing in my yard as a child. I think I had a good chuckle at how Chanyeol sounded like such a tree expert XDD 

I think I said too much today. See you guys tomorrow for Chapter 3: Hot cocoa?

yaminom out~!