Once again, it was time for the annual teacher Secret Santa. Every year, those who wanted to signed-up to take part in the Secret Santa draw, finishing at the staff Christmas party at the end of term. Baekhyun waits eagerly, shoving his hand into the hat as its finally passed to him to draw out his slip of paper. As far as previous Secret Santa’s went, Baekhyun faired pretty well: one year he got a cool mug that showed a picture of Yoda every time hot water was poured into it, another time he managed to get a box of pretty pricey- and very tasty- chocolates, and last year he was given a couple of his favourite cinnamon scented candles.

“I hope Joonmyun chooses me this year, I heard he gives out the good stuff!” he exclaims excitedly, a couple of the teachers laughing at him as he passes the hat across and holds his folded-up paper in his hand. With giddy anticipation, Baekhyun open the slip up and his expression falls from excited to disappointed instantaneously as he reads the name on the sheet.

Park Chanyeol

Of all people, why did it have to be him?

Chanyeol, like Baekhyun, was one of the school’s music teachers. Conveniently, he only lived a couple of apartments away from Baekhyun and so the two of them would commute to work together. Inconveniently, he found himself slowly beginning to like him.

Baekhyun couldn’t fault Chanyeol in any way, the guy was practically perfect. That’s what annoyed Baekhyun the most. He was kind, funny, was one of the most passionate teachers in the school, and all of his students loved him. There was never a time that Baekhyun had seen students leave his class without a smile on their faces. He also had a great smile, one that could light up anybody’s day, people heard him before he saw him, but there was never a complaint made against him. Everybody loved Chanyeol, and Baekhyun found himself being added onto that very long list.

“Did you hear? Yuri saw Chanyeol with Jongdae yesterday evening. Just the two of them in the coffee shop down the road from here”

“I heard they were also seen together outside of school just this weekend. I was told they were seen shopping together”

“Jongdae and Chanyeol though? I wouldn’t have ever paired those two together!”

Baekhyun scrunches up the slip of paper and shoves it into his pocket with a dejected sigh. Rumours about Jongdae and Chanyeol had been circulating around the staff circle for a while now. It had started when Seungwan saw both of them spending lunch inside Jongdae’s classroom. Then Siwon saw then out together eating at a local restaurant on his evening run. More of these sightings began to filter in, and soon there were rumours that the two was dating.

The problem about this rumour was that Baekhyun couldn’t say anything wrong about Jongdae either. If there was a ranking of popular teachers amongst students, Jongdae would rank second behind Chanyeol. Baekhyun’s also spent some time with the guy and he’s just as bright and bubbly as Chanyeol is. If the rumours were true and they were dating, then they were perfect for each other.

“Are you okay Baekhyun? You look kind of down”

Baekhyun jolts out of his thoughts and puts on the best smile he can muster, nodding his head and jumping up out of his seat. He had just over a week before the staff Christmas party to get Chanyeol’s present, and then he would use the rest of the year to try and get over the guy. Like that was going to be easy.

Baekhyun remains in his classroom after students clear out at the end of the day. Most of the music equipment is packed away, save for a couple of the class’ ukuleles which students had complained about sounding out of tune. Now, Baekhyun was a music teacher, but his specialities laid more in pianos and keyboards.  When he strummed his fingers across one of the ukuleles, he couldn’t tell if it sounded out of tune or if it was meant to sound like that.

There was only one other person who would be able to help him. With a reluctant sigh, Baekhyun gathers the ukuleles into his arms and ventures to the classroom next door, Chanyeol frowning as he helps a struggling Baekhyun through the door.

“I know you’re more of an expert on the guitar, but I’m guessing ukuleles are a smaller version of them so if you could help me tune them, I’ll appreciate it greatly”

With a laugh, Chanyeol picks one of the ukuleles up, strumming it and turning some of the tuning pegs a couple of times before nodding his head in satisfaction and putting it down to pick up the next one. Just like the previous ukulele, Chanyeol makes quick work of tuning this one and is onto his third one in record time. Baekhyun feels bad for letting Chanyeol do all the work, so he picks one up himself, studying how Chanyeol did it before attempting it as well. The only difference between him and Chanyeol however was that whilst Chanyeol was making the ukuleles sound better, Baekhyun was making them sound much more worse.

“I think I’m doing more harm than good” Baekhyun says dejectedly, putting the ukulele back onto the table

“You’re almost there” Chanyeol replies, picking the ukulele back up and placing it back in Baekhyun’s hands, using his hands to help Baekhyun tune it back to how it is meant to sound.

“You make this look so easy”

“Stick around and I’ll make you an expert”

Baekhyun looks up to find Chanyeol looking down at him, smiling warmly at him. In any other context, the height difference between them would have been humorous. In this moment though, they’re standing so close together, that if Baekhyun wanted to all he had to do was stand on his tiptoes.

The knock on the door almost has Baekhyun jerking himself away from Chanyeol, but he doesn’t and instead jumps a little instead. When he turns to look, Jongdae is entering the classroom, looking between him and Chanyeol. With some help to safely load the ukuleles into his arms, Baekhyun leaves to give them some privacy. Once back in his classroom and the ukuleles are put back into their rightful places, he slumps into his seat with a defeated sigh, softly head-butting his desk.

With only five days left until the staff party, Baekhyun uses the weekend to start looking around for possible Secret Santa gift ideas. He really had no idea what he was going to get Chanyeol; though they lived near each other and often commuted to work together, Chanyeol mostly talked about his dog he had recently adopted or the restaurant his parents owned nearby. He rarely spoke about himself and whilst for the most part it was quite endearing, this time it actually frustrated Baekhyun.

“Why not work it into a conversation with him? Ask him what he’s interested in” Taeyeon had suggested one lunchtime

“Subtle isn’t exactly my middle name. He’d know what I was up to straight away!” Baekhyun had exclaimed back

“Well, if you’re really struggling, you could just get him a shower set or some spray”

“But they’re such lazy gifts!” Baekhyun had whined, but as Baekhyun currently wondered around the city, he was seriously considering Taeyeon’s suggestion.

At one point during the day, he ends up in a pet shop and stumbles across an Ewok costume that’s just the perfect size for Chanyeol’s dog. Just imagining his dog in it had Baekhyun biting back a squeal. He makes a mental note of the store and exits before he actually buys it. Whilst it would make Chanyeol’s dog look adorable, it would more so be a gift for him rather than Chanyeol.

Just walking down the street was torture for Baekhyun. No matter where he turned, there always seemed to be a couple either holding hands, enjoying food together in surrounding cafes, or in one horrifying moment making out in front of passer-by’s with not a single care in the world. Baekhyun scrunches up in his face in horror, even making sure to loudly scoff as he passed by them, deciding then that he had had enough for the day and it was time to go home. 

Being single around Christmas time . 

Baekhyun reaches up for the keyboards sitting on the shelf above him, his fingertips barely grazing the bottom of one of them before he sighs and gives up. Grumbling to himself, he grabs the nearest chair to him and drags it over.

“Who even puts shelves this high anyway?” he asks himself, “Do they never take small people into consideration?”

“Need any help?”

Baekhyun turns to the direction of the voice to find Chanyeol leaning against the doorway with an amused expression on his face. Baekhyun looks from Chanyeol to the chair before letting go and blushing lightly.

“Yes please” he mutters embarrassedly and with an amused snort, Chanyeol kicks himself away from the doorway and easily reaches up to grab the keyboards, handing them to Baekhyun as he places each of them onto different tables.

“There, like that was hard” Chanyeol teases

“Screw you tall person! You’re, like, a giant compared to me!”

Chanyeol laughs loudly and helps Baekhyun set the keyboards up. His laughs were like their own sweet melodies and Baekhyun silently cursed to himself over just how much of an effect Chanyeol had on him.

“You know, it feels like I haven’t seen you in a while now. I know our classrooms are next door to each other, but we never commute together anymore”

Baekhyun laughs in embarrassment and rubs the back of his neck, “Yeah… I’ve been going to bed pretty late these past couple of days which means I’ve been oversleeping”. Truth be told, Baekhyun deliberately left later than usual to avoid commuting to work with Chanyeol.

“It’s the end of term, you’re allowed to oversleep” Chanyeol dismisses, “But we should definitely go out somewhere and have just a little catch up sometime before the party. Just the two of us”

Ignoring the butterflies in his stomach, Baekhyun nods his head and pretends to think about it. “I’m free this evening if you want to go somewhere then?”

Chanyeol smiles and looks like he’s about to agree, but then stops himself and frowns, shaking his head. “I can’t. I promised Jongdae I’d help him out with something tonight”.

Just like that, Baekhyun was reminded of why Chanyeol was the absolute worst person of the moment. As he finishes setting up the last keyboard, a sweet melody fills the room and Baekhyun instantly recognises what it is, turning around to watch Chanyeol play the keyboard.

“You know how to play Yiruma?” he asks once Chanyeol finishes

“It was one of the first songs I taught myself to play on the piano”

“You self-taught yourself piano?” Baekhyun asks in surprise

Well yeah, my parents would only pay for my guitar lessons" Chanyeol replies with a shrug before playing another song. Why did this man have to be so perfect?

It’s three days before the Christmas party and Baekhyun still hasn’t found anything for Chanyeol. If he can get out of school quick enough, he could probably make it to the pet shop in time to buy that silly Ewok costume and pass it off as a jokey present. Maybe he would even use Taeyeon’s advice and get him a shower set as well.

Gathering up his belongings, Baekhyun rushes out of his classroom and towards the exit, not caring how silly or desperate he looked to make the next bus.

“Baekhyun! Wait!”

Halting his steps, Baekhyun whines and turns around to see Chanyeol jogging over to him.

“I’m free this evening if you wanted to go out for that catch up we talked about?”

Now was a very inconvenient time for Chanyeol to ask him, especially because if Baekhyun didn’t go out to buy Chanyeol’s present today, there was no way he was going to buy one at all! Seeing the hopeful look on the latter’s face however, Baekhyun just didn’t have the heart to reject him.

“S-sure! Just pick the place and I’m cool with it!”

The huge smile he gets in return makes him melt on the spot.

Instead of choosing an actual place, Chanyeol takes Baekhyun to a stall that’s selling mulled cider, paying for both of them before they walk around the city and do some window shopping. This was probably the most casual catch up Baekhyun had ever been on, it was also a time he used to get to know Chanyeol a lot more than he had done previously.

“I love this group!” Chanyeol exclaims as both of them stare at the billboard advertisement above them

“EXO? The indie band?”

“Hell yeah! I’ve loved them since their debut” Chanyeol exclaims, “On Thursday, before the official release of their new album, they’re doing a special event where the first 50 people in the shop get a special signed edition of their album. They won’t be doing it any other time but that time! I would go but… I have a meeting with other members of staff and by the time I finish, all of them will have gone”.

They continue on in silence, Baekhyun finishes the last of his cider just as a strong gust of wind hits them, making him shiver.

“Don’t you have a scarf?” Chanyeol asks

“I don’t even own a pair of gloves… it’s probably why I’m always sick during this time of the year”

Baekhyun laughs to himself and carries on walking, freezing when he feels something being wrapped around his neck.

“Um… what are you doing?” he asks as Chanyeol finishes winding his scarf around Baekhyun

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m keeping you warm”

“B-but you need it! You’ll get cold yourself!”

“Says the guy who’s had more sick days off than I can remember” Chanyeol teases, and luckily his scarf is so long that it’s covering the blush on Baekhyun’s face. Embarrassed, he turns away from Chanyeol, his eyes landing on a particular shop that has him gasping loudly, running over to.

“Oh my God!” he shouts excitedly, face pressed against the window

“They’re just snow globes” Chanyeol comments, joining him

“They’re not just any snow globes, you wind them up and music comes out of them” Baekhyun explains, “My grandma had one that I adored as a kid and on my nineteenth birthday she gave it to me. When I accidentally broke it, I honestly shed a few tears”. With a dejected sigh, Baekhyun pulls himself away from the display and turns away from the shop. “I would buy myself a new one… but they’re so expensive! And a guy needs to pay rent!”

They stay out until some of the shops start to close, and barely make it for their bus home. It’s packed, and once or twice Baekhyun almost falls over, Chanyeol reaching out to grab him and bring him close and stopping him from doing so. He even keeps one arm wrapped around Baekhyun’s shoulder until they get off at their stop.

“We should go in there” Chanyeol says, pointing to the karaoke bar across from the road

“Whilst I would love to go in there and show people a thing or two, both of us have work tomorrow and I don’t want to turn up tired and hungover… again” Baekhyun replies, shuddering at the previous memory, “It’s almost winter break, we have all the time to go then”

“Alright then, it’s a date!”

This almost feels too good to be true, and if Baekhyun was alone he’s pretty sure he’d be jumping around and squealing in delight. Then he reminds himself that Chanyeol was probably joking with him, and that the rumours surrounding him and Jongdae had yet to be confirmed to deny. As Baekhyun heads towards his apartment and waves to Chanyeol one last time, his mood had definitely soured from what it had been before.

A day before the Christmas party, Baekhyun is just as antsy as his students for the bell to ring and signal the end of the day. When it does, he quickly says goodbye to his students and gathers his belongings, and rushes out of his classroom himself. He shoots a quick goodbye to the school secretary and exits through the main entrance, rushing over to the bus stop nearby.

“Hey Baekhyun, you free right now?” Taeyeon asks from her car

“Not tonight sorry, I’m going over to my parent’s house to help them out with something”

Truth be told, there was no way Baekhyun was about to tell her or anybody else just what he was about to do. He would never get over the embarrassment, and they would never let him live it down.

With presents stacked on a table to the side of the venue, music blasting around them, and the consumption of alcohol taking place, the staff Christmas party was well underway. Baekhyun had to hand it to the organisers of this event, year on year since he had started, they had always managed to throw some amazing and memorable end of year parties.

“Let’s just hope we don’t have a repeat of a certain drunken dance off again, right Baekhyun?” Siwon teases, laughing when Baekhyun’s face turns bright red and he nudges him in the side.

“I thought we promised to never speak of that again” he mutters.

Since arriving, Baekhyun hadn’t seen Chanyeol once. He wasn’t even sure if Chanyeol had arrived yet and never gets a couple of minutes to go and check because people keep wanting to talk to him. The only confirmation of Chanyeol’s existence at the party is when all the staff come together to open their presents from their Secret Santa.  

When Baekhyun opens his present, he laughs loudly at the contents inside; a very ugly Christmas jumper, and a pink set of hat, scarf, and gloves. There’s only one person he knows who would get him something like this and be able to get away with it, so Baekhyun makes a mental note to thank Heechul sometime later. Everyone else is busy opening their presents, and Baekhyun manages to catch Chanyeol just as he opens his, hearing the gasp that escapes his lips as he holds up a limited edition signed copy of EXO’s newest album. Baekhyun turns his attention somewhere else before Chanyeol can make eye contact with him and he turns into a mess on the floor.

Once all presents were opened, the buffet was finally open, and numerous members of staff had already occupied the dancefloor, throwing some very interesting shapes. Baekhyun stands alone in the corner, munching on the tiny bit of food he had taken for himself. Taeyeon and Heechul have tried to pull him out onto the dancefloor a couple of times, but each time Baekhyun’s managed to worm his way out of it. Maybe after a couple of drinks he’d go out and dance with them, he still owed Heechul a rematch from last year’s antics.

Baekhyun sets his plate down with a sigh, looking around the venue. Though he told himself he wouldn’t get caught up in Chanyeol after the party was over, he knew all along he was telling himself one big fat lie. He had caught Chanyeol searching for him immediately after opening his present, and Baekhyun made sure that he wouldn’t be able to find him. Now however, Baekhyun felt like an idiot and needed to talk to him. When he does find Chanyeol though, his heart sinks when he sees him chatting and laughing with Jongdae. They both look good together, happy together, and Baekhyun can’t stand it.

With a dejected sigh, Baekhyun turns and begins walking out of the venue, ignoring calls for him to come join the others on the dancefloor. When he gets outside, he sits on the steps and rests his chin in his hands. How could he let himself get so caught up with one person?

He’s snapped out of his thoughts when he hears someone sit down beside him, looking over to see Chanyeol holding out a plate full of mini chocolate eclairs and profiteroles.

“Come on, I know you want to” Chanyeol tempts, wiggling the plate in front of Baekhyun until the latter laughs and takes an éclair, humming in delight when he eats it. “You wanna hear something silly?”  

“Always”

“So, me and Jongdae are happily chatting away, joking around, in the staff room yesterday afternoon and Sunyoung comes up to us and tells us we’re a lovely couple!” Chanyeol begins, looking at Baekhyun with wide eyes, “She thought we were a couple! We thought that was ridiculous and then we find out that about ninety percent of the staff also think we’re a couple as well! Like… how funny is that?”

“I most certainly didn’t think that myself” Baekhyun replies, ignoring the look Chanyeol gives him, “But you can’t blame them. You two were always seen together in and outside of work”

“Because I was trying to get Jongdae to confess to Joonmyun!” Chanyeol admits with a laugh, taking a profiterole for himself.

“Wait. Jongdae likes Joonmyun?”

“Oh yeah, ever since Joonmyun joined at the beginning of the year. I’ve been spending time with him to try and get him to man up. I came to find you when I caught them finally talking to each other.”

Baekhyun sits there in silence, completely surprised by what he had heard. All this time, Chanyeol was just helping Jongdae land himself a boyfriend? He got himself this worked up over something as simple as that? Was he really that much of an idiot?

“I also came to find you to thank you for my present”

“H-hey! A Secret Santa is never supposed to reveal their identity” Baekhyun jokes as Chanyeol smiles and nods his head.

“I know, I know. Besides myself though, there was really one other person who knew I really wanted that album. So, thank you, it can’t have been easy to get it”

Baekhyun definitely wasn’t about to tell Chanyeol what he had to do to make sure he got one of the final signed albums. It wasn’t pretty.

“I also have a gift for you!” Chanyeol announces happily, reaching behind his back and holding a box out towards Baekhyun, a cute ribbon on top of it.

“Y-you didn’t have to get me anything!” Baekhyun exclaims as Chanyeol laughs and nods his head

“I know” he says, “Just take it.”

With shaking hands, Baekhyun takes the box and opens it up. Gasping loudly, he takes the snow globe out, tears welling his eyes. The scene inside the snow globe depicts a couple of houses with some figurines holding presents and wrapped up for the winter. Twisting the dial underneath the snow globe, a sweet melody begins playing around both of them. If a stray tear or two falls down Baekhyun’s cheeks, Chanyeol makes no comment about it.

“Do you… do you like it?”

“Chanyeol, I love it.”

Baekhyun waits for the melody to stop playing before he turns his attention back to Chanyeol to properly thank him. When he does so, Chanyeol’s attention is somewhere else, and when Baekhyun looks up, sees the reason behind Chanyeol’s smile.

“Huh. Mistletoe” he comments before he feels a hand on the back of his neck, gently pulling him back towards Chanyeol, who promptly kisses him. Baekhyun sits there stunned for a moment, but not before he starts to kiss Chanyeol back.

“So, about that date at the karaoke bar, you wanna go this weekend?” Chanyeol asks once they part

“I would love nothing more” Baekhyun replies as Chanyeol smiles and gets up off the steps, holding his hand out and helping Baekhyun up as well.

“Come on, when I came to find you, I left just as Heechul had pulled Siwon in for a dance battle! I think they’re still going!” he says excitedly and Baekhyun allows himself to be dragged back inside, the smile on his face the biggest it had been for a while.

( - Joonmyun eventually agrees to go on a date with Jongdae after he stops the bumbling idiot from embarrassing himself even further
- Baekhyun wears his secret santa gift on his first and second date with Chanyeol. Chanyeol both loves and hates it.)