unbetaed, so please excuse any mistakes <3

Sehun’s friends were the worst. Despite the fact the fact that his crappy studio apartment was about as big as a shoebox, they had somehow convinced him to purchase the largest size that the plastic Christmas trees came in. To make matters worse, Jongin had the gall to cancel their Christmas party last minute, so there was really no point in putting up the stupid tree anyway. Not that three grown men sitting around watching Christmas movies, eating takeout, and exchanging gifts they all bought from the nearby convenience store could even be considered a party. 

Fortunately for Sehun, he hadn’t even unboxed the damn thing yet when he had received the text that both Jongin and Chanyeol were going to their boyfriends’ homes for the holidays. Curse his friends. Curse couples. Curse everyone. 

Not only was Sehun pathetically single, had been for the past three years after his ex dumped through email- he didn’t even have the decency to do it through text for God's sake- he also couldn’t afford a flight back to his parents’ house. The most wonderful time of the year my , Sehun mentally scoffed. 

Without Chanyeol’s obnoxiously big pick-up truck, driving the tree back to the store was not an easy task. Sehun’s head nearly touched the ceiling of the car when he sat up straight, it was so small. His parents had gotten it from a used car lot his senior year of high school, a gift for him to take to college. Five years later and he was still driving the dump because all of his money went to his rent and feeding the monsters that were his best friends. 

The line for the returns counter was alarmingly long. Sehun dragged the giant box containing his abandoned plastic tree behind an angry looking mother holding a beat up tox box. Boy, did he feel bad for retail workers this time of the year. The line barely moved an inch after half an hour. Another inch and a half after a full hour. After an hour and a half, Sehun immensely regretted forgetting his earbuds in the car. He could go out and get them really quick, though he would have to risk this whole crowd of angry people accusing him of cutting the line. He decided against it. 

He had gotten to the store around nine; it was now almost eleven and the store closed at eleven thirty. Great. There was still a decent amount of people before him and with the pace that they’re going, he wasn’t even sure if he was going to make it to the actual counter. They had been waiting so long that almost everyone behind him had left, leaving only one more person after him. He was debating whether or not he should just admit defeat and just leaving when he heard someone call out to him. 

“I can help the next person!”

Sehun sighed in sweet, sweet relief as he dragged the heavy box to freedom. The employee at the counter looked surprisingly chipper for someone who had been dealing with angry and unreasonable customers all night. Wide rectangular grin, twinkling crescent eyes, a very tacky green and red elf hat sitting atop his head. 

“What can I help you with, sir?” 

“I wanna return this tree.”

The employee eyed the huge box underneath Sehun’s hand and pouted. Sehun searched his body for a nametag to put a name to the face. Baekhyun. “Aw, you’re abandoning it before it even got a chance to fulfill its Christmas duty?” 

Sehun frowned, “Yeah, it’s too big for my apartment.”

“Oh, well are you gonna buy a smaller one then?” Baekhyun asked, making Sehun wonder if this was why the line was taking so long. Was he always this inquisitive with all customers? 

“I-uh don’t know. Probably not.” He only ever really decorated when he had a reason to and now that no one was coming over, there was really no point. 

It was Baekhyun’s turn to frown. “Why not?” 

“Because,” Sehun sighed, beginning to grow frustrated. He just wanted to return the damn tree and put some food into his empty stomach. He hadn’t eaten since lunch. “I don’t have any guests this Christmas and there’s no point in decorating if no one is going to see it.” 

“You don’t have anyone coming over for Christmas? Is it because you don’t have any friends?” 

If Sehun had known he was waiting in line for hours just to get insulted by a stranger, he wouldn’t have come to the store in the first place. “I have friends! They’re just busy this year- Oh my god, why am I even telling you this. I don’t need to explain myself to you,” Sehun grumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. “Can you just please hurry up and return this for me, so I can finally go have dinner?” 

Baekhyun stifled a laugh as he finally started to do his work, further irking an already annoyed Sehun. He handed him the return receipt with that wide grin again. “Have a good rest of your night, sir.” 

“Yeah, whatever. You too,” Sehun muttered begrudgingly.  

As soon as he got into his car, Sehun went on his phone to look for the nearest place he could stop by to grab a late dinner. He knew for a fact his fridge was empty and he wasn’t exactly stoked about eating instant ramen.

Most of the places that were still open were fast food, but there was one diner near that he and Jongin had stopped by once after work. It was open twenty-four seven, god knows why. Sehun could only imagine the amount of drunkards and weirdos coming in at three in the morning. 

The waitress, a very tired looking middle aged woman wearing a yellow uniform dress and a white apron tied around her waist, told him to sit wherever h