Kihyun had a bit of a predicament: he had a crush on his friend and junior, Im Changkyun. The feisty kid had confidence in his romantic prowess most of the time, but with Changkyun, he seriously couldn’t tell if the younger liked him or not. He was an enigma to Kihyun- his dry humor and expressionless stares threw him off his game more often than he liked admitting, and as a self-proclaimed romantic, this was unheard of.

Today was going to be different than all his other attempts at confessing to Changkyun, however, because this time, he promised himself that he’d actually go through with it, regardless of how intimidatingly serious Changkyun looked at him. Before classes started was a pretty good window of opportunity for his fifth attempt, and Kihyun walked over to Changkyun’s locker, approaching him with a confident gait and a tiny letter clenched in his slight sweaty palm.

Kihyun cleared his throat, trying to attract Changkyun’s attention while the younger boy was getting books out of his locker. Having seen his nervous approach several seconds ago, Changkyun softly chuckled, eyes flashing over to look over at Kihyun as the boy finally got close to him.

“So… Changkyunnie,” Kihyun began, voice trembling despite his assured expression. Changkyun nodded, turning to look over at Kihyun, eyes serious and mouth set in an unwavering line. He glanced down, noticing that Kihyun had his hands behind his back. Quirking a brow, Changkyun turned back to his locker, grabbing one last book as he spoke.

"Whatcha got behind your back, hyung?” Changkyun asked, and Kihyun froze on the spot, body stiffening as he clearly panicked from the unexpected question. Quickly shoving the letter in his pocket and displaying his, recently emptied, hands, Kihyun laughed, the sound nervous and strained.

“N-nothing! Haha, what’s gotten into you?” Kihyun asked, a flush rising to his cheeks. Gah, he couldn’t read Changkyun at all. Changkyun merely nodded, the motion about as noncommittal as he could muster, throwing off Kihyun even more.

“What’s gotten into you, hyung?” Changkyun asked, tone deep and blank as he slammed his locker door shut, leaning against it as he directed his gaze back to Kihyun. “You’ve been doing this for a few days now, I’m curious to find out what you’ve wanting so desperately to show me~” Changkyun added, chuckling as Kihyun visibly flustered, his eyes flickering around the crowded hallway. Too put on the spot to go back to his plan, Kihyun mentally gave up on trying, knowing that when the time was right, he would finally get Changkyun right where he wanted him. 

“Nothing, of course,” Kihyun argued, his lips and adjusting his bag, already planning how to flee from the scene. “I was just gonna ask you if you were excited about Winter break, since it officially starts tomorrow and all, haha,” Kihyun said, terribly and obviously lying. Changkyun nodded, and they both began walking down the hall, as their classes were in the same direction.

“Yeah, I am,” Changkyun replied, voice airy and light. Kihyun nodded, prompting him to further elaborate. “I have something special planned for somebody later today that I think is going to make my break a lot of fun,” Changkyun mysteriously continued, and Kihyun felt a strange pang of jealousy rise up in his chest. The worry that he was about to miss his opportunity to ask out his crush was weighing on Kihyun, and he frowned, biting his lip.

“Who is this special person?” Kihyun asked, awkwardly chuckling in a weak attempt to appear casual and chill. Changkyun smiled, the curve small and mysterious. 

“You’ll find out very soon, hyung,” Changkyun merely replied, his dark eyes flickering with something ominous and mysterious. Kihyun swallowed, his throat feeling dry all of a sudden. “Going to class now, I’ll talk to you after class,” Changkyun said, giving a short wave and a smile as he walked into his first-period class. Kihyun couldn’t even manage a wave in reply before Changkyun was already out of sight, his mind barely able to keep up with him.

“After class…” Kihyun mumbled to himself, moving his heavy limbs to his class. He’d figure out this mystery in just a few short hours… hopefully.

Classes past at a snail’s pace, like usual, only today it seemed especially hard to make it through his daily routine. But finally, they were over, and Kihyun headed to his usual meet up spot with Changkyun, noticing that the boy was already there, leaned against the tree. Kihyun walked up to him, a skip in his step despite his slight trepidation.

“Hi, Changkyun- how were classes?” Kihyun asked, trying to keep the conversation light, The love letter was burning a hole in his pocket, however, reminding him that he needed to act fast before he lost his chance with Changkyun. Nodding in acknowledgement, Changkyun took off his backpack, staring up into Kihyun’s face with a remarkably blank expression.

“They were slow, boring,” Changkyun replied, and Kihyun nodded in understanding.

“Mine too,” Kihyun replied, and then a thick silence passed over the two. Swallowing nervously, Kihyun smiled, mostly a habit at this point. He didn’t know what to say to confess to Changkyun, and right now… he was worried he wasn’t going to be able to muster up the nerve to do it anyway.

“Kihyun, do you want to go out with me?” Changkyun said, voice finally holding a fragment of emotion in them. Those words rang in Kihyun’s ears like a bell tolling, and he looked into Changkyun’s eyes, surprised to see a small, genuine smile on his face. He flustered, eyes darting around the school courtyard, briefly pondering the possibility that Changkyun was only messing with him.

“Um, I…” Kihyun replied, pursing his lips. Changkyun reached his hand out, grabbing a hold of Kihyun’s.

“Hand me that note in your pocket, hyung,” Changkyun calmly requested, and Kihyun swallowed nervously, unsure of where this was going. He handed Changkyun the crumpled up letter, cheeks on fire as he watches Changkyun finally read it.

“It says, ‘I’ve had feelings for you for quite some time now, Changkyun-ah. I wanted to ask you to come with me to watch the Christmas fireworks this weekend, but couldn’t figure out how to say it in words, so I wrote it in a letter. Would you come with me?’,” Changkyun said, reading the note verbatim. Kihyun flushed, his cheeks burning with embarrassment, eyes flickering down to the ground. “It took you this long to ask me this?” Changkyun asked. 

“Y-yeah,” Kihyun says, clearing his throat nervously. He still couldn’t tell if Changkyun was ing with him or not, and avoided his eyes.

“Well, I accept your invitation for a date,” Changkyun said, and, when Kihyun looked up, he was shocked to see how rosy Changkyun’s cheeks had become. Overwhelmed with happiness, Kihyun broke out into a huge smile, stepping closer to Changkyun and feeling a freezing gust of wind.

“So… come pick me up at 7, okay?” Changkyun concluded, leaning his chin up to place a chaste kiss against Kihyun’s cheek, and then promptly scurrying away. Watching him leave, Kihyun pressed a finger to the spot where Changkyun had kissed him, his eyes filled with hearts. Finally- he got to ask Changkyun out! Er… maybe Changkyun was kinda the one who asked him out, but that didn’t matter!

“I will! And make sure you dress warmly!” Kihyun called out, chuckling as he watches Changkyun wave in acknowledgment. Kihyun smiled, and then pressed his back against the tree trunk, the bite of the cold air not even fazing him anymore. This was going to be a great Christmas, he just knew it! <3