MY FINALS ARE FINALLY OVER SO NOW I CAN FOCUS ON THIS AND HOPEFULLY FINISH IT SOON YAAAAS also Master Key is doing a hella good job releasing unaired Ongniel footage, my heart cant take

it ; v ; if I happen to finish my currently unfinished chapter then I might update again within the week

Also Merry Christmas in advanced, this was originally suppose to be posted on Christmas but its too far away hahaha

Daniel stirred in his sleep when the sun’s rays finally landed on his face as it seeps into the room through the blinds on the window. The brunette made a soft groan before he finally opened his eyes and saw the bespectacled male sleeping beside him with his glasses askew across his face. The said male was about to turn to his side when Daniel gently removed the wireframes from his face before Seongwoo could break it and placed it on the bedside table.

When Daniel finally looked around the room, he saw the TV playing a random screensaver and an inverted bowl on the floor (probably the one they used for the popcorn last night). That was when Daniel finally realized that they both actually fell asleep on Seongwoo’s bed while watching the supposedly last movie of their movie marathon.

Although still heavy with sleep, the dance major jerked awake when the door suddenly opened albeit gently. The brunette’s shoulders sagged when he was relieved to see the no one else but the elder woman peeking into the room with a smile on her face because of the cute scenario. Daniel was sitting up on Seongwoo’s bed while the older male was still curled in a ball, snoring quietly and not loud enough to be heard.

“Good morning to you Daniel,” Greeted the elder woman with a smile which Daniel returned with a small ‘goodmorning’ heavily laced with sleep. “I already made some hot chocolate downstairs. Could you wake him up for me and bring him down for breakfast?” The brunette hummed at the request and the elder woman finally left them alone. Even though he himself was sleepy, Daniel placed his hand on the older male’s shoulder and gently shook his figure.

“Seongwoo... Seongwoo..” Daniel softly called out in which the older male softly groaned, “Wake up, your mom just made some hot chocolate.” Seongwoo hummed before turning his back to Daniel and mumbled out a ‘five more minutes’. Daniel himself was still feeling a bit sleepy but he was tasked with waking the bigger child up so he had to keep shaking Seongwoo to get him to move.

“C’ mon... Your mom already came here earlier..” He reasoned out with a voice deeper than his usual, but Seongwoo lightly tugged on his shirt to bring him back down on the pillow. “Stay..” He mumbled out, eyes closed and an arm draped across Daniel’s chest. The younger male was too sleepy to object and ended up giving in to sleep as well with Seongwoo clinging on to him like some body pillow.

In the end, Mrs. Ong had to come back and wake both of them up for breakfast since the hot chocolate was getting cold. Before that, she of course took a shot in her phone and put it away before she proceeded to wake up the two individuals. Like two children, the two freshmen sat up with slow movements while rubbing the sleep off their eyes.

It took at least 10 minutes before Mrs. Ong finally got them to get up from the bed and wash up before going down to eat breakfast. Just as the elder woman was reheating the food and hot chocolate for the two youngsters, the said duo came down not too long after laughing with each other’s jokes as if they’ve been awake since the past hour.

After the hot chocolates have been reheated, the elder woman carefully pours it onto their mugs and hands it to the two boys in the midst of their animated conversation. Seongwoo was the first to take a sip of the drink when he noticed the minty scent and taste, “How come the hot chocolate is minty?” The elder woman chuckles at his words, “Have you two been enjoying so much that you forgot what was today?”

Daniel blinked and checked his phone for the date.

12월 24일 일요일

(December 24, Sunday)

“Christmas Eve! Seongwoo, it’s Christmas Eve!” He exclaimed with such excitement while Seongwoo was left with his mouth hanging open. “Were we that distracted?” The elder woman chuckles at their childishness and wonders if these two were indeed college freshmen and not middle schoolers. “Did you not recall decorating the Christmas tree the other day or did you only remember smothering each other with glitter using the Christmas ornaments?”

Seongwoo’s face became red at the memory while Daniel chuckled, “Since it’s Christmas Eve, the neighborhood is up for another karaoke night of Christmas songs and they’re already expecting you two later on so don’t forget to visit later on.” The elder woman reminded the duo in which they eagerly nodded in reply.

“Then shouldn’t we take note of the songs we can sing later on?” Seongwoo suggested and Daniel was practically buzzing in his seat, “Yeah you’re right, let’s go!” Just when Daniel was about to stand up, the elderly woman held his shoulder and pushed him back down on the seat while Seongwoo was laughing at the side.

“Right after you finish your breakfast.”

~ .oOo. ~

 

Everything was already set by the time they arrived. Since the neighborhood was a tightly knit community, they often celebrated on the roads itself since their small town was quite far from the main road. Tables filled with food lined the sidewalks and tables and chairs littered the road with a small platform by the center where the karaoke machine stands. Various colors of rice light and fairy lights hung from the street lamps to encompass the area while some of the elders even dressed up as Santa for the children.

That night, the duo lead the karaoke night with the residents asking them to sing different songs. Daniel would take charge of the rap if the song had any while he left Seongwoo with the higher notes. If the song didn’t have any rap parts then they would both sing still with Seongwoo in charge of the higher notes because Daniel always insists for him to do so. Sometimes they would also invite the residents, regardless if they were children or adults, to sing with them.

The songs they With slight difficulty due to the number of high notes but Seongwoo being Seongwoo pulled it off in the end).sung that night had a huge variety of Christmas themed songs. They first started out with the usual Christmas carols such as “Santa Claus is coming to town” and “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer” and soon transitioned into K-pop Christmas songs such as “The Winter’s Tale” by BTOB and “Miracles in December” by EXO (

The song was basically 70% Seongwoo and 30% Daniel since Daniel would only sing the soft parts of the song while Seongwoo would take charge in the chorus. In all their songs, Seongwoo has exerted effort in “Miracles in December” the most. The bespectacled male doesn’t usually try to sing higher keys but Daniel encouraged him to try.

In the end, everyone would fall silent at the chorus to grasp at the emotion that Seongwoo radiates while singing. The freshman himself was taken aback by his abilities, not once thinking that he could pull off higher notes but was very happy to finally explore his voice more. Seongwoo took a break after that, Daniel following close behind him and handing him a glass of water.

“You did really great I almost I forgot I was supposed to sing with you! The notes were really high but your voice is a tinge higher than others so I think that’s one thing that makes your voice color unique but I guess that's what also made it easier for you to reach those notes, huh? I told you your voice control was great! In fact, I picked that song on purpose to prove to you that you have no problems if you tried and―”

Seongwoo was still sipping the water from the glass while watching Daniel and only then did the younger male realize that he was probably talking too much, “... I was rambling again, wasn’t I?” He asked while he sheepishly scratched his cheek and Seongwoo only giggled at the display, “Yes. Yes you were you giant puppy but it’s okay. You’re not Daniel if you don’t talk as much.” Seongwoo said with a smile while walking over to the food and Daniel was left dumbstruck. “... Am I supposed to be happy about this comment? I’m confused.” Came his reply while following close behind Seongwoo.

“I don’t know, that’s something for you to think about. Now let’s eat before we go for another round of songs! We’re just halfway our list!” Seongwoo said with excitement lacing his tone and Daniel chuckling at the older male. Probably excited to explore his vocals more. “Alright alright. Hey! Maybe you should try doing the rap parts too! I sing too don’t I?” Daniel teased and ended up getting a playful hit on his shoulder in return.

“I already covered the high notes for you, you can do the rapping just fine.” Seongwoo argued and Daniel shrugged, “I really can’t win over you, can I?” The bespectacled male pushed back his glasses while chuckling at Daniel’s childish statement. “You’re going to have to try harder.” He finished while he playfully stuck his tongue out at the younger male.

~ .oOo. ~

 

It was already around 4 am by the time everyone decided to call it a day and cleaned up the whole road of their festivities. Daniel and Seongwoo were already physically exhausted but their minds were still buzzing with the excitement over Christmas. To finally end their little Christmas celebration, the two ended up in the kitchen sitting by the barstools on the counter munching on cookies with milk. A typically childish thing to do but both didn’t feel like sleeping just yet.

“Did you ever believe Santa was real?” Came Daniel’s sudden question and Seongwoo, who was still munching on a cookie, hummed in thought. “I used to right until I was… 8?” Daniel raised an eyebrow, “Oh? What happened then?” The bespectacled male shrugged and looked back at the younger male getting another cookie from the plate. “Caught them leaving the gift under the tree that night with ‘Santa’ written on it. Thought that Santa might’ve passed it on to them since we didn’t have a fireplace but I caught them again the following year.”

Daniel hummed as he munched on the cookie, “At least you found out, they had to break the news to me when I was 13! I even cried and accused them of lying and how Santa will list me as a bad boy if I believed them!” Seongwoo couldn’t help but laugh, the loudest he has probably done. Although Daniel was embarrassed, he couldn’t help but notice Seongwoo’s happiness and how he doesn’t get to see that expression on his face often.

Daniel always liked being the cause of those huge smiles on Seongwoo’s face. To Daniel, it radiates a different kind of warmth. One that he finds comforting yet playful. The brunette has long figured it out, the way he treats Seongwoo differently and how it isn’t normal. He has long acknowledged the fact that he was probably infatuated.

No, scratch that.

He has probably fallen in love by now.

And Daniel doesn’t mind the slightest.

This person has always deserved all the love, someone that was meant to be protected from the harsh realities the world could offer. Seongwoo was one of the kindest people he has met. Daniel has long since noticed him since the start of the school year but he hasn’t had an opportunity to approach the bespectacled business major (No, he did not ask around for his major. Definitely not.)

When Daniel looked back at the day Seongwoo bumped into him, it was probably the best day of his life to be given such an opportunity to finally meet him. Daniel was surprised at first when he found out that the slightly older male was extremely shy and stuttered around people a lot. But eventually, he found it adorable along with the fact that he was even wearing glasses that added to his innocent image.

Not once did he think that they would reach this point in their friendship. They have only met for how many months but they talk and interact as if they’ve been the best of friends for 10 years. It’s been months since they first met yet Daniel has been seeing more sides of Seongwoo and he feels like falling more and more every day.

“Daniel?” Seongwoo questioned with a small wave to his face and suddenly, Daniel notices how close the bespectacled male’s face was that he could practically see his reflection on the lenses. “Y-Yeah..?” Seongwoo chuckled at Daniel’s confusion, “I was just asking if you want to go to bed now but you seemed like you suddenly spaced out while you were staring at me I thought I had something on my face.”

“A-Ah well... It’s just..” Daniel suddenly felt embarrassed being caught blatantly staring at Seongwoo until his gaze landed on the moles on Seongwoo’s cheek. “Y-Your moles!” The bespectacled male raised an eyebrow in confusion as he brushed his hand through his moles, “What about them?” Just another thing I happen to love about you. “I got distracted by them. It’s just reaaaally unique, you know? I like it.”

Nice save! Daniel mentally said to himself with an imaginary pat on the back.

Seongwoo ended up doing his usual habit of being embarrassed: pushing up his glasses while looking down to cover his face and Daniel could practically squeal if it weren’t for the fact he would look weird. “S-So.. do you want to call it a day?” Seongwoo asked and Daniel nodded, “Yeah, it’s definitely been a great Christmas Eve but I’m feeling tired now.”

The freshmen duo started to put away the cookies and the milk before they finally washed up and changed into their pajamas. Seongwoo was the first to finish and was already preparing his bed when he heard Daniel enter the room after he finished washing up in the bathroom. “Hey, Seongwoo..” Came Daniel’s voice from behind him and Seongwoo hummed in question.

“I have something to give you.” The bespectacled male blinked and turned around to see Daniel standing a few steps away, holding a small velvet box with a plain silver band resting itself on its center. To someone else, it may seem strange or like a marriage proposal (minus the kneeling) but Seongwoo already figured it out.

“You seemed to really like wearing a ring on your finger before and you just seemed when you lost it in the snow before so... I tried to look for the closest thing to the ring you had. I based the size on my fingers though so I’m not so sure if it’s going to fit ―”but if it doesn’t then I can get it replaced for you so I can get the right size

Daniel’s rambling was cut off when Seongwoo stepped closer to him and took the ring from the box without a word. Daniel felt tense, probably because he was just hoping he didn’t embarrass himself by getting the wrong size but then Seongwoo slipped it into his index finger with ease. The bespectacled male smiled and looked back at Daniel with his hand raised to show to ring. “It’s a perfect fit, Daniel.”

The brunette suddenly lets out a relieved sigh he didn’t know he was holding and silently sent a prayer to the gods. “Actually..” Came Seongwoo’s voice that cut him off from his thoughts, “I’ve had this with me for a while now but I forgot to give it to you..” The older male then made his way to the closet and dug out a small box from the back part of the drawer.

Seongwoo opened the box and made his way towards Daniel before he held the brunette’s hand and placed a keychain on his palm. “I got it from the market during the day when you suddenly came here at night.” Daniel eyed the keychain with a wide smile on his face as he examined the details. “Well... It’s embarrassing really... The seller gave it to me because she caught me staring at it.”

Daniel chuckled and looked back at the older male. “Why were you staring at it thought? Well, it is a pretty keychain after all.” Seongwoo bit his lower lip and Daniel became curious. “It just so happens that... It reminded me of you.” Seongwoo admitted with a faint blush on his cheek which has Daniel once again internally squealing. “O-Okay don’t misunderstand... It’s just that... You know.. You used to have pink hair and you like cats s-so... It just reminded me of you..”

Seongwoo just stared at the floor after pushing up his glasses because of his usual embarrassed habit. The silence that enveloped around them made Seongwoo nervous and fidget with his new ring. But then Daniel walked over and tightly wrapped his arms around his lithe frame. “Thanks, Seongwoo. I really love it!” Seongwoo has never felt so relieved and yet his heart continues to pound against his chest.

Daniel’s warmth was really something else. Seongwoo has never felt so safe in someone else’s arms but Daniel just radiates home, as if he was meant to be there in his arms. Out of instinct, Seongwoo hugged him back with a smile unconsciously widening on his face.

“Merry Christmas, Daniel~,” He said with a cheeky grin and Daniel smiled back. “Merry Christmas, Seongwoo-yah~”

I love you.