Year One

“This is Li Wei Lin,” Park Yoora announced, tugging the short girl into the house.

Mr. and Mrs. Park regarded the girl with confused but kind eyes. Chanyeol eyed her too, standing by the staircase and using his height to his advantage, to look over his parents’ shoulders.

“H-Hello,” the girl stuttered, bowing clumsily in greeting.

“Wei Lin is a transfer student from China and her host family had to go to Busan to meet some relatives so I told her she could spend Christmas with us,” Yoora explained, eyes bright and grin wide.

Mr. and Mrs. Park nodded in understanding, smiling at the short girl.

“Of course,” Mr. Park helped Yoora and Wei Lin bring their suitcases in.

“Come on in, dear. It’s quite cold out,” Mrs. Park fretted. “Why don’t you settle down and I’ll bring you some hot cocoa,” she promised, walking to the kitchen after giving the girls a motherly smile.

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes as the intruder stepped into his house.

That’s what he considered Li Wei Lin, an unwanted guest intruding into his family holiday.

Chanyeol was the youngest in his family and as a result, he was often doted on. Christmas usually meant he’d be the center of his parents’ and sister’s affection. But now this random girl had managed to grab all three of their attentions in less than five minutes.

Chanyeol decided he didn’t like her.

“Oh, Wei Lin, this is my younger brother, Chanyeol,” Yoora introduced him to the girl with obvious reluctance.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, but took a moment to judge Yoora’s friend.

Li Wei Lin was short, much shorter than Chanyeol and barely grazing Yoora’s shoulder. She had chubby cheeks and round brown eyes which paired with her black hair pulled into loose pigtails made her look like an elementary school student.

“Started befriending elementary school students now?” Chanyeol commented, snidely.

He was surprised to see red bloom across Wei Lin’s pale cheeks until her entire face was flushed. She refused to look up at him, her shoulders hunching so she looked even smaller.

It brought a wicked smile to Chanyeol’s lips. One that his sister was quick to notice.

“Ow,” Chanyeol yelped as Yoora smacked him over the head.

“You be nice to her Park Chanyeol,” Yoora threatened, giving him an angry glare. “Or I’m telling mom and dad what really happened to their favorite vase last summer.”

Chanyeol paled slightly. Knowing his sister would hold true to her words, he scowled but relented.

“Come on Wei Lin,” Yoora tugged on the girl’s hand, leading her towards the living room.

Chanyeol watched the two girls. His scowl turned into a smirk when he noticed Wei Lin, still being dragged along by Yoora, turn slightly to look back at him.

When her eyes connected with Chanyeol’s own brown ones, her cheeks flushed once again and she turned to the front immediately.

Chanyeol snickered. He had a feeling this Christmas would be interesting.

Once the girls had shed their jackets and scarves, Mrs. Park had them all sat on the couches, nursing mugs of hot chocolate.

The living room was beautifully decorated to suit the occasion and a giant Christmas tree, taller than Chanyeol himself, was nestled in one corner of the room.

“Are you in the same year as Yoora?” Mrs. Park asked their guest curiously.

“N-No, I’m a first year,” Wei Lin replied with a shy smile.

“How did a final year high school student become friends with a first year?” Chanyeol asked.

Wei Lin blushed at his hard stare that didn’t waver in the slightest from her face.

Chanyeol was starting to find Wei Lin’s red face incredibly amusing. He still resented her for taking up his family’s focus but he was also fascinated by how easily she blushed and at the slightest bit of attention too.

“We’re in the school news team together,” Yoora answered on the Chinese girl’s behalf, making sure to shoot Chanyeol a warning look.

“Oh, do you want to be a journalist too?” Mr. Park asked this time.

“Wei Lin works as the video producer,” Yoora answered for her again. “She’s a genius with the camera.”

“N-No,” Wei Lin denied, abashedly. “Yoora sunbae is just being kind.”

“You’re fifteen then?” Mrs. Park asked.

Wei Lin nodded, sipping at her drink.

“Only one year younger than our Chanyeolie,” Mrs. Park squeezed her son’s arm. “You two should get along well.”

Chanyeol’s eyes met Wei Lin’s wide, startled ones.

She really did look like a doll. So shy and polite. So quick to blush. It made Chanyeol want to until her cheeks looked like they’d permanently stay red.

So, he grinned wide, teeth gleaming almost sinisterly.

“I’m sure we will,” he answered in his deep voice.

Wei Lin’s eyes turned even wider if possible.

She looked so scared. It was absolutely adorable.

Chanyeol made it a personal goal to make Wei Lin blush as many times as possible. She didn’t really put up a struggle.

He counted nearly twenty successful attempts by the time they were done with dinner.

He was aware of his sister’s heated glare on the side of his face but he pointedly ignored her, instead focusing on their guest.

“So Wei Lin, are you like Yoora’s sidekick? Do you two stalk people in your school hoping to collect gossip that you can announce on the school news later?”

“Yah, Park Chanyeol,” Yoora growled, struggling to keep her voice soft so that the adults in the kitchen wouldn’t be alerted.

Make that twenty one successful attempts.

“N-No, we don’t,” Wei Lin answered Chanyeol anyway.

Yoora stood up in a huff. “Wei Lin, you don’t need to answer him. He’s being an idiot. Come on, let’s go up to my room,” she led the girl to the stairs.

She stopped to shoot Chanyeol a nasty glare. “Stay away from her,” she mouthed before following the short girl up.

Chanyeol scowled, feeling like a child whose favorite toy had been confiscated.

‘It’s okay,’ he told himself. ‘She’ll be here tomorrow too. I’ll just mess with her then.’

But it looked like Park Yoora had read his thoughts perfectly for she kept a close eye on both Chanyeol and Wei Lin all of Christmas Day, making sure to intervene and drag the Chinese girl away every time Chanyeol tried to make a smart aleck comment to her.

Christmas Day came to a close with the Park family exchanging gifts. Mr. and Mrs. Park apologized to Wei Lin, feeling guilty as she was the only one without any gifts. Yoora hadn’t informed them about bringing over a guest, after all.

Wei Lin was quick to assure them that it was perfectly fine. The red hue that Chanyeol loved making a comeback with a vengeance.

That was the last time he saw Wei Lin’s blush for the girl left early the next morning while Chanyeol was still asleep in the comfort of his bed.