“Finally free.” He took a big breath of freedom-filled air, enjoying the rich smell of Christmas spices. “Jaejoong, I love you and your family but sometimes they are too much.” The person spoken to could only laugh at his best friend. “Come on, you survived.”

“Yeah, not thanks to you. You owe me hyung. You are going to pay for my food tonight,” the taller one demanded bitterly.

“One thing only. I'm going to pay for one thing. Do you want to see me broke?” Jaejoong asked scandalized. He still had plans for the next two weeks and if he had to pay for his friend's gluttonous needs he wouldn't even be able to pay for the ticket to get home the next day.

*

They went from booth to booth, looking at beautiful Christmas decorations or trying some of the delicious mulled wine and eggnogs. Here and there Changmin got something to eat from roasted almonds to candied apples and chocolate covered strawberries. “Aren't you full at all?” Jaejoong asked with a hand resting on his full belly. If he saw anything more to eat he was going to be very ill. He still wanted to do something special tonight. “Not yet and don't think that I have forgotten that you owe me. And I know what I want. I want one of these,” Changmin replied while he pointed to a booth that sold stuffed pieces of bread. “Okay, I will give you the money and wait right here and have one more cup of the mulled wine. Because if I smell any more food I'm going to be ill.” With that, he took some notes of his wallet and handed them to his best friend.

With the money in his hands, Changmin went to said booth and got in line. While he stood there and waited for his turn, he tried to decide which one he wanted. “Bacon and cheese or mushrooms and cream, which on should it be?”

“Can't decide which one it should be? Same here.” Someone behind him replied to Changmin's self-asked question. “You could take the bacon flavor one and I will take the other one. And then we share. Like this we get to try both,” the man with short brown hair suggested. Changmin couldn't believe his ears. He had the chance to taste both flavors and had to pay for only one. But still, should he really trust this stranger? He eyed the other man critically. If this was some kind of creep who wanted to try something he would get some bad surprise. The stranger laughed nervously at the inspection he got from the taller one. “I really don't want to try something.”

Could this guy read his mind? “Look I just have the same dilemma and my friends have abandoned me to drink some more over there.” And with that, he pointed towards the same booth were his own friend was waiting for him. “Okay. But you are not some creep who wants to get into my pants?” He was still sceptical of the other. His only answer was a deep rich laugh. “No. I like to get to know the person before such things happen. But with you maybe I would change my mind,” the brown haired man said flirty and winked. 'Too good to be true,' Changmin thought and turned away from the other man. “Sorry,” the brown-haired man said and put his hand on the taller one's shoulder turning him slowly around. “I went too far. I think I had one mulled wine too much.”

The only reply he got was a “ off” when he was shoved away. The smaller one didn't mean to piss the other off but as he wanted to apologize again, he got interrupted by the sales assistant, “Next one, please.”

Before Changmin could place his order he got shoved out of the way and the smaller one placed his instead, “One of every flavor, please. And could it be possible to cut them in halves and do them on two plates, so that every flavor is on one plate?” He got a “Sure, sir,” and paid for both stuffed pieces of bread. He took the plates, turned around and handed one of them to Changmin. “I'm really sorry.” And with that, he vanished into the crowd in search of his friends. With his own plate in his hands, Changmin could only shake his head. He slowly made his way over to Jaejoong not realizing that a small smile was grazing his lips. “I know that you love food, Changmin, but you really should save that smile for a person,” his best friend . “Come on, I heard they have the ice rink again. I want to do some rounds and a few spins.” With that Jaejoong took Changmin's arm and dragged him through the crowd.

*

A few minutes later they were at the rink. Changmin stood at the edge of the ice rink, watching his best friend how he tried to lace his shoelaces of the skates. He couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips. This was going to be funny. Jaejoong was so wasted. Maybe he should stop his best friend, but that would mean to lose his nightly entertainment. As he tried to decide which action he should do, Jaejoong took already his first round around the rink. Jaejoong called out to his friend and did a sign with his hands in the form of two Js before he attempted to do an axel. He almost made it. He got the right height and rotation but the problem was the landing. He hadn't planned to jump into someone else. Both got overwhelmed from the power of the jump that they fell onto the ice. Jaejoong could hear Changmin's “It's JJ-Style!” in the background and the other's laugh as he realized that his landing was kinda softened by another person. Looking down at the person below, he couldn't help that a small smile was sneaking up on his lips. “Hey,” he said suggestively.

“Hey!” answered the other one and leered at Jaejoong.