Part 5: Christmas Market

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A small committee is there to fetch Baekhyun from school on the 6th December, for Saint Nicholas Day. It's another tradition that Baekhyun really looks forward to. He's been extremely excited for the whole day, chatting to Taeyong about how he found chocolate in his shoes that morning in addition to the usual sweet hidden in his Advent calendar, and Taeyong listened to him jealously, saying that his parents still haven’t been convinced to start such a thing in their house. They don't really get the whole Saint Nicholas thing, apparently.

When they get ready to leave school, though, Baekhyun hurries to get to the door before Taeyong, who is slow to pack, and takes out one of the big chocolate Santas he found waiting for him that morning, which he took to school on purpose, and leaves it in his friend's boot. He then smiles happily at his little trick and screams goodbye to all of his classmates before he runs off to meet his fathers, who must certainly be there already. But Baekhyun freezes as soon as he’s out the door, his eyes widening impossibly before he throws his arms in the air.

"Woohoo!" he yells.

And Yukhei, of course, imitates him from where he's sitting in the biggest baby holder Taemin could find. Baekhyun completely ignores his fathers and runs to Chanyeol who's smiling brightly at him and spreading his arms to catch him.

"Chanyeollie hyung! Chanyeollie hyung, you're here! Are you coming with us? Are you coming to the Christmas market?" Baekhyun squeals in happiness.

"Yes, I am!" Chanyeol beams.

Baekhyun roars and starts talking his best friend's ears off about all the things he did that day and all the things he wants to do at the Christmas market.

They're all walking, quite loudly, to a more secluded place for Jongin to teleport them. Taemin’s already made all the plans, talking Jongin out of his idea to take the family to Strasbourg, in France, because of the time difference. There was no point in going to a Christmas market in the morning and no, waking the kids up in the middle of the night to go to France wasn't an option either.

Chanyeol is very excited to teleport with the whole Lee family; it shows in the way his face brightens up when Baekhyun and Yukhei do the countdown together. And in the blink of an eye, they find themselves in Tokyo, Japan. Yukhei is disoriented and shaking his head in confusion after the teleportation, and Chanyeol is being dragged away by Baekhyun who can see the lights already, even from far away.

Yukhei is babbling and gesturing for his fathers to hurry after his brother and his best friend, so he’s not left behind. Jongin tightens his hold on Taemin's hand, kisses his husband's cheek, and pulls him forward, toward the Strasbourg Christmas Market in Tokyo.

"What's that name?" Chanyeol asks, confused.

"Strasbourg is a city in France," Taemin helpfully says. "They have one of the oldest and most famous Christmas Markets in Europe, and they imported it to Tokyo. It's the next best thing when you can't go all the way to Europe."

Chanyeol nods softly, and Baekhyun is already stamping his foot with impatience because he wants to go and eat a bunch of things covered in chocolate.

"Come on, Yeollie hyung! Let's go! Let's go!" he whines, pulling Chanyeol by his hand.

"Wait," Chanyeol starts laughing. "Just a minute."

Baekhyun starts pouting, and Chanyeol turns back to Jongin with a smile.

"Do you want me to take Yukhei too?" he offers.

"Uh? What?"

"I can take them both if you want to spend a little time together," Chanyeol says, looking between Taemin and Jongin with a grin.

"Really?" Jongin asks.

"Yeah, of course. If Yukhei wants to come with me…," Chanyeol laughs as he looks down at the toddler who opens his eyes wide and starts wiggling around even more.

"Yes, yes!"

Yukhei's immediate approval takes Taemin out of his surprise, and he frowns, putting one hand on Jongin's arm since his husband is already taking their kid out of his baby holder.

"Wait a minute, Jonginnie," Taemin mumbles before he looks at Chanyeol worriedly. "Are you sure you can handle him?"

"Yes, of course! I've already looked after him many times," Chanyeol shrugs.

"I mean, can you handle him amongst a crowd?" Taemin insists with a pointed look.

Baekhyun is sighing loudly, looking with forlorn eyes at all the Christmas stands that are waiting for him just a little further away, while those terrible adults discuss unnecessary things.

Chanyeol straightens up a little and nods, his face now serious.

"I'll be very careful with him, I promise. I'll also make sure not to stray too far from you. I'll just keep the kids entertained for you to stroll around, and we'll stay where you can see us."

Taemin seems satisfied with his answer, and he gives the teenager a small smile before he takes Yukhei out of the baby holder and leaves Jongin to take it off and give it to Chanyeol. It takes a couple of minutes for Chanyeol to get ready, and Baekhyun looks almost lifeless by his side, bored out of his mind. He's quick to bounce back to his energic self as soon as his best friend claps his hands.

"Let's go, boys!" Chanyeol roars.

Baekhyun and Yukhei both squeal loudly, and Taemin laughs.

"Thanks a lot, Chanyeol!" Jongin calls out as the three go off to brave the crowd.

Taemin snuggles closer to Jongin with a large smile, looking very proud of himself as he leans into Jongin's side.

"I was so inspired when I said we should invite Chanyeol, wasn't I?"

"Extremely," Jongin chuckles as he presses a kiss to Taemin's lips.

Abruptly, Taemin stills and widens his eyes.

"Wait a minute, Chanyeol can't speak Japanese, will they be okay?"

Jongin tightens his hold as Taemin is already moving to run to the kids, and pulls his husband back against him to steal another kiss.

"Actually, he does."

"Really?" Taemin asks, squinting in suspicion.

"Yeah. The kid is a genius... He doesn't speak as many languages as you, but he knows enough Japanese to survive this Christmas market."

Taemin relaxes in Jongin's arms, and they finally make their way to the little stands. Soon, Taemin sees Chanyeol looking back to them, making sure that they hadn’t gone too fast already, and it's enough to reassure him.

There's something about seeing Taemin all wrapped up in a big scarf and beanie, looking at Christmas lights with stars in his eyes, that Jongin can never get tired of. His heart jolts in his chest as he glances at his husband with a soft smile, happy just to see him close his eyes and inhale deeply to enjoy the warm smell of mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and gingerbread that’s floating around.

They walk slowly, taking in the sight of each stand, and Taemin is always extremely excited to point out every polar bear figure they come across. They try on some ridiculous beanies and buy some chocolates to take back home. Then Jongin goes running to give some money to Chanyeol so the kids can treat themselves to waffles and hot chocolate. They eat a proper meal together a little later, which Baekhyun and Yukhei unsurprisingly cannot finish considering the number of sweets they’ve devoured.

Taemin gets five reindeer headbands of different sizes and distributes them around, helping Yukhei putting his on his head, and he swears Chanyeol gets teary as he wears his proudly.

Jongin drags them all to the little ice rink at the end of the Christmas market, and Taemin takes back Yukhei so that Baekhyun can play with his best friend safely. Yukhei is far too young to ice skate on his own, so he goes in between Taemin and Jongin, and the three of them skate together slowly, holding hands. Yukhei is laughing so hard he's snorting, and he screams every time Baekhyun quickly passes them, followed by a wobbly Chanyeol who doesn't seem that stable on his skates.

"I'm not good with ice, not good at all," he whines as he tries to keep up with Baekhyun.

Baekhyun keeps going long after his fathers and younger brother stop. They gather outside of the rink, eating churros as they wait for Chanyeol and Baekhyun to get tired of skating. Yukhei curls up in Taemin's arms, not even caring about the sweet food Jongin is trying to feed him. He shakes his head and whines softly before he puts his thumb in his mouth and lays his head on Taemin's shoulder, his eyes fluttering closed.

"I think it's time to head home," Jongin says softly, smiling at the sight of Yukhei falling asleep.

Taemin presses a few kisses to the top of his child's head before glancing at his husband.

"I didn't realize how late it was getting."

"Time goes quickly at Christmas markets," Jongin giggles.

They warn Baekhyun that they'll be leaving in five minutes, and after a little pout, Baekhyun ends up nodding. Jongin lets him play with Chanyeol for ten more minutes before he insists on taking them all home. Yukhei is still sleeping deeply on Taemin.

They all walk back to a secluded alley, Baekhyun on Chanyeol's back, and Jongin teleports them all home. Baekhyun is a little grumpy to have to part with his best friend, and the exhaustion from such a long, exciting day makes him quite pouty and whiny. It gets better when Chanyeol promises to come back on Sunday to play in the snow with him, maybe have a snowball fight.

"Thank you for everything," Taemin says softly to Chanyeol before he goes to put Yukhei to bed.

"You're very welcome! It was my pleasure!"

"Will you be okay, going home alone?" Jongin asks, squeezing Chanyeol's shoulder.

"It's only 10 pm, Hyung," Chanyeol snorts with a little smirk. "We stay out far later when we're on missions..."

"Still, get back home safely."

"I will."

Jongin closes the door as Chanyeol waves happily and leaves the front yard, then he quickly climbs the stairs to the second floor and finds Baekhyun asleep against the wall in the bathroom, his toothbrush still in his mouth. Jongin giggles as he wakes him up and takes him to his bedroom.

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