On camera, Baekhyun always jokingly presents himself as Chanyeol’s present. Behind the cameras, though, there’s always a little gift waiting for him. And while both know that it’s a joke, it’s always making them a little nervous, as if it means more than what either are willing to show.

This year, Baekhyun hasn’t wrapped himself up in confetti on one of their stages. This year, when it’s already the morning of Christmas day, Baekhyun hasn’t presented himself to Chanyeol. In fact, Baekhyun seems to avoid him, while showering the other members with attention.

More and more, Chanyeol feels self-conscious over the present he bought Baekhyun this year, because it doesn’t seem like this Christmas is going to be the same. He has already secretly peeked beneath the Christmas tree in the shared living room of the dorm, but there’s no present for Chanyeol with Baekhyun’s handwriting on it.

It was supposed to be a joke. Chanyeol got Baekhyun a phone-case, covered in little hearts and on the bottom, he had from Chanyeol printed, small enough to not be noticeable to anyone who doesn’t pay close attention. It was supposed to just be payback for Baekhyun always giving himself. It was definitely not supposed to make Baekhyun blush and Jongdae cackle and Joonmyun coo and Sehun and Jongin snickering behind a hand or a pillow.

At least Kyungsoo is able to keep a straight face – for the first three seconds, then he breaks out into a grin, a knowing grin. And Minseok is the only one who pats Chanyeol on the back because he happens to sit next to him. Looking at his hyung, Chanyeol knows his entire face plus ears are flaming red with all this unwanted attention. Then even Minseok smiles, but it’s a brotherly smile that makes Chanyeol bury his face in his shoulder to hide from the world.

What a mistake he made. Yixing will get a call in a few minutes and then everyone will know.

Chanyeol was right about there not being a present for him from Baekhyun. But of course he had a great night because he was with people he loves dearly, people he has come to see as his own family. But still, when Chanyeol is about to sleep, hoping to have some energy left for when he visits his real family tomorrow, he feels sad. He takes off his sweats, but doesn’t get further than that because he gets lost in his own thoughts.

Because Baekhyun avoided eye-contact the entire night. Normally, they’d share special glances that flip his stomach. They’d have short moments of skin-contact here and there, tingling Chanyeol’s skin and making him feel like he’s on fire. Baekhyun would try to catch his attention by annoying him and Chanyeol would pretend he’d ignore him, but deep inside, his heart would be warm.

None of all that this Christmas. And now that he thinks about it, Baekhyun has been distant for a few days already. Of course he politely thanked Chanyeol for the phone-case, but really? No snuggling for even a second? Baekhyun seemed glued to pretty much everyone that isn’t Chanyeol and he believes it’s about time he sends him a text already. Just to ask what’s up, if he’s feeling alright – if Chanyeol has done something wrong. His fingers still when they’re hovering over the small keyboard of his phone.

What if he has done something wrong? But Chanyeol hasn’t done anything differently lately than what he’s always done. Does that mean that Baekhyun has grown tired of him? Does it mean that… Chanyeol has no idea. It’s daunting, he doesn’t want to lose his friend. But he can’t  make his fingers type up that text because he doesn’t know what to say, he doesn’t want–

A knock sounds on his door and Chanyeol freezes. He lets his phone slip from his fingers and, just for good measure, puts the sweats back on that he’d just taken off.

“Yeah?” he says, sounding maybe a little dejected, but he can’t always be buzzing with energy, now can he? Especially because after the Christmas happening ended, it’s now nearing three in the morning. Chanyeol made a point not to drink though and to his surprise, others followed him with that. Maybe it’s because he’s not the only one who will meet up with their own family tomorrow – or today.

The door to his room is opened and Chanyeol wants to be cool about it being Baekhyun who steps inside. He’s not so much. His palms start sweating and he feels as anxious as the moment he saw Baekhyun unwrap his present earlier.

“Hey,” Baekhyun greets and it’s somewhat of a relief to know that Chanyeol isn’t the only one who feels nervous. Why would he come here, though, after seemingly avoiding him for days?

“Hey,” Chanyeol replies, fidgeting with his fingers, “shouldn’t you be getting ready for bed? I thought you said you’d have lunch with your parents.” It’s awkward, it sounds terrible to his own ears, but Chanyeol doesn’t know what else to say right now.

“Oh. Well yeah. But I was… I wanted to give you your present earlier, but with the way everyone was being so goddamn childish, I kind of couldn’t,” Baekhyun says, a smile playing on his lips while he still stands awkwardly in the middle of the room. Chanyeol instantly feels better though – even if he doesn’t see a present. Well at least he knows Baekhyun has something for him and that’s really all that matters.

“Yeah wow what the hell was that all about… like it’s not like they didn’t give cheesy gifts,” Chanyeol pouts and Baekhyun laughs, the sound bringing a smile to his own lips. He likes hearing Baekhyun laugh, it’s one of the better things in life. “Wait did you think it was cheesy?” he asks, feeling a little uneasy now that he realized Baekhyun laughed and maybe thought–

“Well a little. But I think it’s cute and I’m already using it,” he says and, just to show, takes his phone from his pocket only to shove it right back in. “Is it okay if I gave you your gift now?” Baekhyun asks, a small smile on his pink lips and Chanyeol feels on fire for some reason. Nevertheless, he nods enthusiastically.

“Yes, of course, I mean why not – I mean I always like your gifts,” he rambles and Baekhyun laughs again, this time, a little bashfully and the silence that follows, is filled with just shy glances back and forth.

“Okay, come you have to stand up and close your eyes. It’s a gift after all and I can’t wrap it up well,” Baekhyun says eventually and as if struck by lightning, Chanyeol jolts up. Maybe it’s something like a necklace? It’s small and hard to wrap up if it’s not in one of those small boxes. But standing in front of Baekhyun like this, looking down and seeing him catch his eyes nervously, Chanyeol’s heart squeezes. “I said to close your eyes,” Baekhyun says with a nervous smile, hitting Chanyeol against the chest while he looks away. And of course Chanyeol complies, though he bites his lip to somewhat suppress his nerves. “Don’t bite your lip,” Baekhyun scolds and what is that he feels – Chanyeol’s heart beats so fast and it’s becoming so warm and he’s sure he doesn’t know what the hell is happening. He stops biting his lip though, obedient as he is for Baekhyun.

Chanyeol feels Baekhyun’s hands on his shoulders. Timidly at first, but then, they slip around his neck. Chanyeol doesn’t feel the cold material of a necklace though, instead, he feels goosebumps and Baekhyun’s fingers reaching up a little higher. His heart is pounding when Baekhyun’s slender fingers bring his face down gently, until he feels his breath ghosting over his lips.

Of course Chanyeol knows what’s coming, but that doesn’t mean his breath isn’t knocked right out of him when Baekhyun presses their lips together. It’s a soft kiss and it’s short, Baekhyun pulls away very quickly, but Chanyeol’s hands find the small of Baekhyun’s back. When he opens his eyes, he sees Baekhyun looking at him nervously, then glancing away with a tiny smile on his lips.

“I didn’t wrap myself up this year,” Baekhyun says, noticeably self-conscious, “but this time it’s… I want to be yours – for real.” Chanyeol doesn’t fully realize his smile, but he knows that deep down, he’s been longing to hear those words for a long time now. He leans down and kisses Baekhyun’s lips. Once, twice – as many times as it takes before Baekhyun doesn’t look worried anymore, but is smiling just like him.

“So I take it you’ll be my boyfriend?” Chanyeol asks, unable to step away from Baekhyun and the smaller man is equally glued to him, fingers tangled in his hair again.

“Yes, of course.”

When Chanyeol wakes up to his alarm, a smile slips on his face effortlessly. Snuggled against him, groaning and whining because he doesn’t want to wake up, is Baekhyun. It wasn’t particularly their intention to sleep in the same bed, but Chanyeol didn’t want to send him away and Baekhyun didn’t want to leave either.

All Chanyeol needs to do for the whining to stop, though, is nuzzle his face in the side of Baekhyun’s neck. He feels his now boyfriend freeze before Baekhyun crushes him in a tight hug.

“Good morning,” Chanyeol merely says when they look at each other, both with silly smiles on their faces. Chanyeol wriggles a hand free and traces Baekhyun’s cheek with his thumb.

“Morning.”

Walking side by side into the living room has never been so daunting before. Because what are they going to say? Is anyone else even up already? Even though it’s past ten already and most other members have family visits later on during the day, it was a late night yesterday. But Chanyeol’s heart drops when he sees everyone sitting there, waiting for them. And when Chanyeol and Baekhyun enter the living room, all eyes on them, it’s silent. So dreadfully silent. Jongdae is the only one who can’t keep his face in check though, a grin splitting his face in half and Chanyeol quickly looks away from him.

“So uh… so, you know–” Baekhyun stutters and it’s literally the cue for the other members to chuckle, laugh, coo – it’s the Christmas present exchange all over again.

“Yeah we know. We knew before you knew,” Joonmyun says, in a way that makes it sound as if he meant to comfort Baekhyun, but it does the opposite. Chanyeol finds his boyfriend’s hand and even though it ignites another round of coos, he speaks up, knowing how his cheeks are red.

“So you all came out here early to … make fun of us?” he asks, self-conscious and maybe a little upset, but seeing Kyungsoo’s face fall and a quick scan at the other members' faces showing him similar responses, he knows better.

“We wanted to support you because you’ve been so awkward,” Kyungsoo says and then it’s silent again. Chanyeol feels how Baekhyun holds on to his hand more tightly for a moment until Joonmyun speaks up.

“So this is the moment where you should stop being awkward,” he says, sounding awkward himself and Chanyeol thinks it. He turns to Baekhyun and seeing how his boyfriend is startled, he smiles and ignores the gasps – which are obviously fake – and gagging sounds from their unwanted audience.

He’ll show them, he thinks and leans down to kiss Baekhyun’s lips. And it starts as a little payback for not giving them privacy, but Chanyeol soon loses himself. Feeling Baekhyun smile against his lips, feeling his slender hands reaching for his shoulders, Chanyeol doesn’t even care about anyone else.

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There it is :3 it's really short, but I still hope you enjoyed it! <3 I hope you have a good Christmas time <3 and also, thank you so much for subscribing! <3