Later that night…

 

Chanyeol, along with the others returned home. Baekhyun and Minseok came downstairs and joined the others, but Kyungsoo and Jongin stayed in their room. Kyungsoo insisted they go down, but Jongin was terrified of facing Chanyeol.

 

Kyungsoo understood and stayed in the room with him. They listened to the soft roar downstairs as Jongin lay down with his head in Kyungsoo’s lap.

 

“I'm sorry,” Jongin said softly.

 

“What?” Kyungsoo looked down.

 

“I'm sorry for who I've been for a while now. I'm sorry I've made all of your lives more difficult. I'm sorry I ruined everything,” Jongin said and felt tears stinging the back of his eyes again.

 

“No, Jongin. You shouldn't be apologizing. It's us that should be apologizing. We left you alone. We were giving all our attention to Minseok because of what happened. It wasn't fair what we did. Chanyeol won't admit that but he knows it.

 

“He feels so bad Jongin, but it won't be the same unless you let him in first. He loves you Jongin. We all love you, even Minseok. We couldn't live without you Jongin. We're all idiots for treating you the way we did. But I promise that it's stopping right now. You will feel nothing but love for the rest of your life Jongin, I promise.” Kyungsoo’s tone surprised Jongin.

 

He knew the anger in Kyungsoo’s voice wasn't directed towards him, but it still made him uneasy.

 

“C-can I apologize to Minseok now?” Jongin hiccuped.

 

“Let’s wait a bit. You did give him a good scare,” Kyungsoo was right, he always is.

Late into the night, when everyone was in their rooms tucked into their beds, Jongin was still lying wide awake. He recalled the events of the day. What a complete jerk he had been. How could he have said that he didn't care about Minseok right in front of him? How could he have been so rude to Chanyeol? How could he have done that to Minseok? He felt heavy with guilt. He couldn't wait any longer. He had to make sure Minseok was really okay.

 

He quietly snuck across the hall and gently pulled open Minseok’s door.

 

“Minseok?” he whispered into the darkness.

He heard a small hum in response.

 

“Can I come in? Or are you too scared of me?”

 

Jongin didn't say this to mock Minseok. He truly wanted to know if entering the room would send Minseok into a panic attack. There was no response for a while.

 

“I’ll just leave Minseok, sorry for bothering you,” Jongin started to close the door.

 

“No, wait,” a little voice squeaked. “Please come in,”

 

Minseok sat up and moved over so Jongin could sit next to him. There was no denying that Minseok was terrified. But, there was something in Jongin’s voice that told Minseok that, for right now, he could trust him.

 

Jongin sat down next to Minseok and hugged him.

 

“Minseok, I'm so so so so so so sorry,” Jongin felt on the verge of tears again.

 

Minseok returned Jongin’s hug and nuzzled his face into Jongin’s neck.  

 

“I should've never yelled at you. I should've never hurt you, I'm sorry. I promise I'll never do it again. I swear on my life I'll never hurt you again. I'd much rather protect you,”

 

Jongin felt Minseok’s tears start to soak his shirt. Minseok cried for what seemed like centuries. He cried until Jongin couldn't take it anymore and was saying “It’s okay, Minseok” into Minseok’s light brown hair like a mantra. After an immeasurable amount of time, Jongin no longer felt Minseok’s tears soaking his shirt. And if his heart hadn't stopped breaking, at least the angel’s tears had stopped falling as he became prey to sleep in Jongin’s arms.

 

He laid Minseok back down and gently replaced the covers on him. He left a small kiss on his forehead and snuck back into his room. He finally fell asleep.

The next morning, the seven boys were given fantastic news, Mr. Choi died in his sleep. Maybe there is such a thing as miracles in December.