X-Jongin was panicking like he had never panicked before.

It was kind of his boyfriend’s fault, really. Who told Chanyeol that it was okay to say that it was Valentine’s Day – a holiday for celebrating love – and ask X-Jongin to keep his afternoon free before leaving for work? Now X-Jongin was freaking out alone in their shared apartment because this was the first time he had ever heard of Valentine’s Day and he was coming to all the wrong conclusions.

He hadn’t thought much of it at first, but once Chanyeol had left and he was alone in the apartment, X-Jongin began to think, and a thinking X-Jongin should never be left to his own devices.

The first thought that X-Jongin had was that Valentine’s Day was a holiday like Halloween. It was a simple and harmless thought…until X-Jongin remembered that Halloween only lasted one day. One day for trick-or-treating, horror movies, and pigging out on candy, and then the next day, everyone went back to their lives before Halloween came around. Nobody went trick-or-treating on November first.

If Valentine’s Day was like Halloween, then did that mean that he and Chanyeol would no longer love each other once the calendars said February fifteenth?

At first, the anxiety only manifested in X-Jongin chewing on his fingernails, but it didn’t take long for it to blow up into full-on pacing as X-Jongin rubbed at the rings around his fingers. It lasted for five minutes before X-Jongin just couldn’t take it anymore and decided to ask his hyungs for help.

After teleporting to X-EXO’s hideaway, the first person X-Jongin found was his boyfriend’s counterpart. X-Chanyeol glanced at him as X-Jongin approached, greeting him with a grunt before turning back to the stove where a pancake hissed from inside a pan.

“You look like ,” X-Chanyeol said, voice still rough from sleep. “What’s got you all jumpy now?”

X-Jongin slowly sat on one of the stools next to the counter. “I’m scared.”

Upon hearing those two words, X-Chanyeol’s head shot up. At the same time, one hand came up and turned the stove off. Abandoning breakfast, X-Chanyeol turned to fix X-Jongin with a stare as intense as the searing flames he commanded. The look was infamous for making anyone outside of X-EXO feel as though their body was being burned away, leaving their soul bare for X-Chanyeol incinerate, but to X-Jongin, it meant that X-Chanyeol was absolutely going to solve whatever problem was bothering X-Jongin.

“Did you see something?” X-Chanyeol asked. His tone betrayed none of the worry that showed in his hands, which gripped the pan's handle so tightly that his knuckles were white. “Is it the Red Force?”

X-Jongin shook his head. The Red Force had been gone for almost a year now, destroyed with the combined efforts of EXO and X-EXO. There was always the underlying fear that it would revive and follow them to Earth, but X-Jongin hadn’t seen or heard anything since its demise.

X-Chanyeol relaxed slightly and looked away, turning the stove back on. “Then what is it? You’re usually only nervous when one of your hyungs is tense first. Did Chanyeol hurt you?” He suddenly faced X-Jongin again, eyes glowing once more in a piercing stare.

Again, X-Jongin shook his head, but this time, X-Chanyeol didn’t relax immediately after. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and asked, “Are you sure, because if he is, I can always pull him aside and get him acquainted with my blue flames.”

“I’m sure, hyung,” X-Jongin vowed, “And please don’t hurt him with your blue fire.” He didn’t want his boyfriend to be scorched until not even ashes remained.

X-Chanyeol regarded him for a moment longer before relenting. “Alright. Then what’s the problem?”

X-Jongin toyed with one of his rings. “Did you know that today is Valentine’s Day?”

This time, X-Chanyeol looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. “Valentime’s Day?”

“Valentine’s,” X-Jongin corrected, “Chanyeol told me that it’s a holiday for love, like how Halloween is a holiday for scary stuff.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So I was wondering,” X-Jongin continued, “since people only celebrate the scary stuff on Halloween, then does that mean we can only celebrate love on Valentine’s Day?”

X-Chanyeol looked contemplative as he shut off the stove and transferred the pancake onto a plate. “It sounds like that’s how it’s supposed to work. Have you eaten yet?”

“Yes,” X-Jongin answered, feeling the pit of dread in his stomach grow. “So if we only celebrate love on Valentine’s Day, then does that mean Chanyeol and I won’t be in love anymore starting tomorrow?”

X-Chanyeol’s eyebrows were still furrowed when he sat down next to X-Jongin with his pancake. “Well, with what you’ve told me, that’s the conclusion I would come to, but I don’t know anything about Valentine’s Day. Today’s the first time I’m hearing about it.”

X-Jongin hung his head, nodding along with what X-Chanyeol said. Suddenly, there was the sound of a door opening and slamming shut. A string of swears followed, and then X-Jongin heard the stomping of footsteps heading down the hall. Shortly after, there was the clattering and banging of someone searching for something.

“Sounds like our Baekhyun is back,” X-Chanyeol muttered as he stuffed a piece of pancake in his mouth, “Maybe you should go ask him. Seems like he’s in a ty mood though, so be ready to teleport for your life.”

X-Baekhyun was almost always in a horrible mood, so X-Jongin was used to approaching him with caution. This time, however, X-Baekhyun’s temperament seemed to be especially sour, so X-Jongin hovered in the doorway for a moment, watching his hyung pull out rolls of bandages and alcohol wipes from their medicine kit.

“I don’t recall teaching you to stand in someone’s doorway like a creep,” X-Baekhyun snapped without turning to look at X-Jongin. “What do you want.”

Embarrassed, X-Jongin stepped into X-Baekhyun’s room and reached out to help the other shed his leather jacket. The thin sweater X-Baekhyun wore underneath it was torn in several areas, and patches of fresh blood stained the white numbering into a dark red.

“Did you get into a fight with their Baekhyun again?” X-Jongin asked, hanging X-Baekhyun’s jacket on the back of a chair.

X-Baekhyun snorted as he removed his face chain and ruined sweater. “Who else.”

X-Jongin reached over and plucked out an alcohol wipe. “Don’t we have a treaty with them though? We agreed to help each other take down the Red Force, and it’s been months since…”

“We don’t know that!” X-Baekhyun spat. He tore open a packet and slapped the alcohol wipe onto a wound, not caring that blood immediately soaked the cloth. “None of us stayed to confirm that the Red Force is truly gone. For all we know, it could still be alive out there, and it’ll come for us when it has recovered its strength!”

X-Jongin stayed silent, opting to let X-Baekhyun rant while he helped his hyung clean and bandage his wounds.

“Have you seen the way he fights?” X-Baekhyun continued, obviously talking about his counterpart now. “Slow movements, sloppy execution, doesn’t kill his opponent when he has the chance. He can’t even use his light power to its full extent! What does he want to do, give the enemy a damn sunburn?”

As X-Baekhyun continued to grumble about how Baekhyun would never be able to survive the Red Force on his own, X-Jongin found the nature of his complaints very familiar. It reminded him of back when they were still training under the Red Force, and X-Baekhyun was teaching X-Jongin how to fight.

“Is this all you can do?” X-Baekhyun had stared at him in disapproval as X-Jongin struggled to keep up, “Flounder around and keep running away until one of us comes to save you? We have no room for kindness, Jongin. ing kill your opponent or lie down and die.”

Yet despite his harsh words, X-Baekhyun was always the one who mercilessly crushed anyone who pointed a gun at X-Jongin.

“I think this is the first time you’ve ever been so critical of someone since you taught me how to fight,” X-Jongin commented as he bandaged one of X-Baekhyun’s lacerations. “You want their Baekhyun to become a better fighter because you care about him, right?”

X-Baekhyun’s fingers twitched as though they itched to wrap around his rapier. “Scram, you little brat,” he hissed.

X-Jongin didn’t need to be told twice, vanishing and reappearing out in the kitchen. He scratched his head as he stood in the empty room and pouted. He didn’t get a chance to ask X-Baekhyun about Valentine’s Day.

There were still three members of X-EXO that X-Jongin hadn’t consulted yet, but if he was being honest, only one of the three was likely to offer him any substantial information. X-Sehun gave off the impression of someone who wouldn’t know jack about Valentine’s Day, and X-Jongdae was more likely to make fun of X-Jongin with snide comments and underhanded jabs.

That left the leader of X-EXO, X-Junmyeon, as the sole person who might give X-Jongin some actual insight.

He found the leader meditating in the training room and hesitated about approaching, wondering if he should wait until X-Junmyeon was finished. In the end, he didn’t have to decide because X-Junmyeon opened his eyes and gave X-Jongin a smile.

“Jongin,” he greeted, soft voice hiding a cruel temperament the way the smooth surface of a river hid the vicious currents that churned beneath. “Do you need something?”

X-Jongin sat down next to X-Junmyeon, mimicking his leader’s crossed legs. “Hyung, have you ever heard of Valentine’s Day?”

X-Junmyeon blinked and raised an eyebrow. “No, I haven’t. What is it?” He listened as X-Jongin explained everything and hummed in contemplation afterward. “Since this Valentine’s Day comes once a year, it sounds like you and their Chanyeol can just date again next year.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t what X-Jongin wanted to hear, judging by the small pout and whine that made X-Jongin seem more like an abandoned puppy than a full-grown man.

X-Junmyeon tried again. “Or you could just disregard the holiday and continue dating after Valentine’s Day ends.”

X-Jongin was tempted, but he also wanted to break free of the life the Red Force had created him for. The life that would have crowned X-EXO as kings through their violent disposition, where they were supposed to kill EXO and then massacre thousands more in order to stand at the top. X-Jongin hoped that by obeying societal rules and toeing the line of a model citizen on Earth, he could rebel against his original purpose and perhaps begin to make up for the hundreds of soldiers he had killed.

It also made Chanyeol happy to see X-Jongin trying to mold a new identity for himself rather than carry around the one the Red Force had assigned.

X-Junmyeon sighed imperceptibly at X-Jongin’s lack of response, and his smile became tight. “Perhaps,” he suggested, “you should ask our counterparts about this. They are the ones who have more experience with earthly customs.”

X-Jongin nodded and teleported out of there before X-Junmyeon could lose his patience. The tranquility of X-EXO’s hideaway gave way to the sound of chattering voices as X-Jongin materialized in EXO’s home. He blinked and looked around to see Baekhyun and Jongdae staring back at him from their spot on the couch.

“Jongin-ah!” Jongdae greeted him with a smile as he returned to bandaging the cuts that Baekhyun had received from X-Baekhyun. “Chanyeol isn’t here.”

“I know.” X-Jongin shuffled his feet. “He went to work.”

Wincing, Baekhyun reached out and patted the empty spot beside him. “So what are you doing here then? Got bored at home alone?” Suddenly, he let out a hiss and turned to Jongdae. “Ow, Jongdae, can’t you be gentler? I am a wounded man!”

“Not wounded enough if you can still talk,” Jongdae retorted, although his movements did become more careful.

Baekhyun bared his teeth in faux aggression before turning back to X-Jongin with an expectant smile. X-Jongin sat down, taking care not to brush against any of Baekhyun’s injuries.

“I think I have to break up with Chanyeol.”

Out of shock, Jongdae tugged too hard on the bandage he was wrapping around Baekhyun’s arm. As a result, Baekhyun let out an unholy screech, which startled X-Jongin into curling up into a ball and teleporting to the second couch on the opposite side of the room.

He watched Jongdae apologize to a glaring Baekhyun, figuring that it would be better if he sat a bit further away from them because both Jongdae and Baekhyun had a tendency to be loud.

Once Baekhyun had accepted Jongdae’s apology, they turned to him. “Why do you think you have to break up with Chanyeol?” Jongdae asked as he put down the bandages. When X-Jongin shrank further into the couch, he added, “We’re not angry. We just want to know why since you seem very fond of Chanyeol.”

X-Jongin begged to differ as he eyed Baekhyun, who was staring at him as though X-Jongin had insulted his dog. “Because of Valentine’s Day.”

He didn’t expect Baekhyun and Jongdae to look confused. “What’s wrong with Valentine’s Day?” Baekhyun asked.

“It’s a holiday for celebrating love, and you’re not supposed to keep celebrating it once it’s not Valentine’s Day anymore, so once Valentine’s Day is over, I can’t date Chanyeol anymore,” X-Jongin explained.

He didn’t understand why Baekhyun and Jongdae started laughing.

“Jongin-ah,” Jongdae said, “Who told you all that?”

X-Jongin shrank into the seat even more. “Is it not true?”

“Not at all!” Baekhyun drawled as Jongdae picked up the bandages again, “Valentine’s Day is a holiday for love, but I guess it would be more for showing your significant other that you care for them. No getting together or breaking up involved!”

“Don’t worry about having to break up with Chanyeol,” Jongdae added as he dabbed at one of Baekhyun’s wounds with an alcohol wipe, “Just keep dating him as you always have.”

X-Jongin nodded, feeling much better now that he knew nobody was forcing him to break up with Chanyeol.

Seeing that X-Jongin wasn’t nervous anymore, Baekhyun turned back to Jongdae and said, “You’re still not done?”

Jongdae whined, “Well, who told you to go get injured so much? Do you pretend to be a pincushion every time you see your counterpart?”

“It’s not my fault my counterpart is such a !” Baekhyun squawked, “I don’t want to fight him, but he stabs me with his rapier just for breathing. I want to get along with him like you guys get along with your counterparts, but he’s just impossible!” He turned to X-Jongin. “Is he always like this, or is it just with me?”

X-Jongin fidgeted, knowing that X-Baekhyun would try to skewer him for what he was about to say next. “He–that’s just how he is with the people he cares for,” he explained, “He thinks that there’s a chance the Red Force didn’t die and wants to be prepared in case we get attacked.”

“Even if he’s worried about that, it doesn’t mean that he can just beat up Baekhyun every time they see each other,” Jongdae sighed, “You just don’t beat up the people you care about, not like this.”

“We don’t know how else we can show that we care,” X-Jongin said softly, “For us, the situation has always been life or death, and we want each other to live. How can we survive if we don’t make sure that we will be the ones still standing after a fight?”

Even now, X-EXO still didn’t understand that there were softer ways to show that they cared for each other. X-Jongin had seen how viciously X-Baekhyun and X-Chanyeol trained together, coming out of each session with injuries that could make even the EXO members uncomfortable. X-Junmyeon’s cold and strict demeanor never went away, holding himself at arm’s length and making sure that X-EXO was still at the peak of their strength. X-Jongdae’s reservoir of barbed comments showed no sign of drying up, always ready to test someone’s patience or crush their self-confidence. X-Jongin and X-Sehun were the only two who were beginning to shed their roughness and adopt the gentler ways of showing affection.

Jongdae hummed in sympathy but didn’t add anything more. However, Baekhyun had a pensive expression on his face. “Hmm, maybe I should greet him with a hug next time.”

Jongdae paused. “What?”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun nodded, “My counterpart doesn’t know how to be soft, so I’ll teach him by giving him a hug!” He turned to X-Jongin with a smile. “That’s a good idea, right?”

“Are you kidding?” Jongdae interrupted before X-Jongin could respond, “He’s going to flip out, slice you up, and turn you into grilled Baekhyun skewers!”

X-Jongin silently agreed, but he also decided that he didn’t want to be involved when Baekhyun messed with the sleeping tiger, so he teleported out of there and left Jongdae and Baekhyun to squabble.

It was nearing lunchtime, so X-Jongin went to the kitchen, wondering if there would be some leftover food. To his surprise, his own counterpart was already there, preparing to heat some food for lunch. They froze when they made eye contact, and then Jongin smiled. “Hey.”

X-Jongin nodded back. “Hi.”

The silence between them was thick with awkwardness. X-Jongin fidgeted with the sleeves of his jacket while Jongin scooped food out onto a plate for heating.

“Have you eaten yet?” Jongin asked, turning to look at X-Jongin. When X-Jongin shook his head, Jongin added, “Want me to heat up some food for you? There’s chicken.”

“Okay,” X-Jongin nodded, taking a seat at the dining table. “Thank you.”

Jongin hummed in acknowledgment. The roasted chicken and fried rice smelled delicious as the two of them shoveled the food into their mouths. As they ate in silence, X-Jongin thought back to what Baekhyun and Jongdae told him about Valentine’s Day, and he soon found another dilemma on his hands.

“Can I ask you something?”

Jongin swallowed a mouthful of chicken. “What is it?”

“Why do we have Valentine’s Day?”

Jongin’s chopsticks stilled in his hand. “Um, isn’t it for celebrating love?” he began slowly, but something in X-Jongin’s expression made him stop and say, “Wait, why are you looking at me like that? Am I wrong? Is this a trick question? Am I supposed to give some sort of deep, philosophical answer? Can I pass on this question?”

“I–no?” Now X-Jongin was confused, too. “I just want to know why we have Valentine’s Day when people are allowed to love each other every day.”

Deep in thought, Jongin stared at a spot above X-Jongin’s right shoulder. “Huh, I’ve never thought about that before, but I feel like you have a point.” He pondered it for a while longer before shaking his head and prodding at his fried rice. “Now that I think about it, it’s kind of a useless holiday, honestly,” Jongin mumbled.

“If it’s useless, then why do people do it?” X-Jongin asked.

Jongin looked stunned for a moment before he put his head in his hands and said, “Look, I don’t know anything, okay? I just wanna eat and sleep right now, so go ask someone else. Junmyeon-hyung might know the answer.”

X-Jongin nodded and stopped asking, not wanting to frustrate his counterpart with excessive questions. However, as X-Jongin finished eating and left his dishes in the sink, he noticed that Jongin was munching on his chicken with a faraway look in his eyes and wondered if he had accidentally driven his counterpart into having what Chanyeol would call an existential crisis.

He found Junmyeon sitting up in bed in one of the bedrooms, but EXO’s leader wasn’t alone. On his left and right, Sehun and X-Sehun were cuddled up against him, and X-Jongdae was lying on top of Junmyeon’s torso. X-Jongin paused in the doorway, surveying the pile of bodies and wondering what he walked in on.

A harem, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Baekhyun’s helpfully supplied.

Junmyeon looked up, fingers still combing through X-Jongdae’s hair, and smiled. “Jonginnie,” he greeted, gesturing for X-Jongin to sit down. “How are you and Chanyeol?”

“We’re fine,” X-Jongin answered as he sat down. Sehun and X-Sehun glanced at him through bleary eyes before going back to dozing. X-Jongdae, however, opened an eye and watched him with curiosity, one corner of his mouth curling up into a knowing smirk.

X-Jongin did his best to ignore X-Jongdae, pointedly refusing to look the latter in the face as he picked at a loose thread in the blanket. “Can I ask you something?” he asked, looking at Junmyeon from underneath his lashes.

“You can ask me anything,” Junmyeon replied sincerely. X-Jongdae muffled a snicker, and Junmyeon frowned down at him but X-Jongdae didn’t offer an explanation.

X-Jongin asked, “What’s the point of Valentine’s Day?”

Junmyeon blinked in surprise, looking as though he didn’t expect X-Jongin to ask that specific question. “Why do you ask?”

“Chanyeol mentioned it this morning.”

“Was that before or after he let you him?” X-Jongdae cut in with a catty smile.

X-Jongin choked, face flushing. This was why he didn’t want to talk to X-Jongdae about anything, especially Valentine’s Day. “That’s–I–we didn’t–”

Junmyeon sighed and tugged on X-Jongdae’s earlobe in reproach. “Valentine’s Day is for celebrating love, Jonginnie.”

X-Jongin frowned. “I know that…but why is there a specific date for celebrating love when love is allowed every day?”

Junmyeon hummed and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. “I suppose,” he said slowly, “Valentine’s Day is more of a celebration for the existence of love. Sort of like a birthday. For someone’s birthday, you celebrate their existence, but that doesn’t mean they stop existing on the other days of the year.”

Nodding, X-Jongin chewed on his lower lip in thought. “So if Valentine’s Day is more like a birthday, does that mean we need to give a gift to the person we love?”

“That’s up to you and Chanyeol,” Junmyeon replied, “Since this is your first Valentine’s Day, I doubt Chanyeol is going to expect a gift from you, but he’s probably going to get you something. He likes buying things for the people he cares about.”

“If you don’t have a present for him,” X-Jongdae drawled as he traced patterns on Junmyeon’s stomach with a finger, “then you could always just give him a good dicking.”

X-Jongin didn’t manage more than a few outraged splutters before he turned to Junmyeon. Eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed in indignance, he pointed at the cackling X-Jongdae.

This time, Junmyeon gave X-Jongdae’s earlobe a harsher tug. “Be nice,” he scolded.

“Okay, okay,” X-Jongdae relented, wrapping his arms around Junmyeon’s middle and closing his eyes after sending X-Jongin a wink.

“Do you have any more questions?” Junmyeon asked kindly.

X-Jongin tugged at his sleeves. “I…is it too late to get something for Chanyeol? I don’t want to show up emptyhanded if he gets me something.”

Junmyeon beckoned X-Jongin closer, and the latter obediently crawled further up the bed and laid down beside X-Jongdae, who extricated one arm to wrap around X-Jongin’s shoulders. Meanwhile, one of Junmyeon’s hands reached out to pat X-Jongin’s head.

“If you want to get Chanyeol a gift,” Junmyeon said, “then make sure that you’re giving it to him because you want to see him happy, not because you feel obligated to return a favor. But again, since Chanyeol didn’t bother going into detail about Valentine’s Day to you, I don’t think he’s expecting you to give him a present.”

X-Jongin nodded, feeling his eyelids grow heavy under Junmyeon’s ministrations. With a full stomach, X-Jongdae’s arm draped around his body, and Junmyeon’s fingers massaging his scalp, it was easy for X-Jongin to doze off after a stressful morning. He napped for a few hours and woke up to Junmyeon gently shaking his shoulder.

“Jonginnie, your phone is ringing.”

X-Jongin finally registered the vibrations coming from his pocket. Wide awake now, he scrambled to sit up. The action disrupted Sehun, who let out an irritated grunt and shot X-Jongin a glare, which X-Jongin ignored in favor of opening his text messages.

There was a string of messages from Chanyeol, telling X-Jongin that he was almost back in their apartment and reminding him that they had plans that afternoon. X-Jongin crawled off the bed, jostling the other occupants. Sehun gave him another nasty look, but Junmyeon smiled and asked, “Are you leaving?”

“Yes.” X-Jongin ducked his head. “Chanyeol is going to be home soon.”

“Alright. See you around, Jonginnie.”

“Bba bba,” Sehun muttered, still annoyed as he waved a hand halfheartedly.

X-Jongin teleported back to Chanyeol’s apartment just in time to see Chanyeol push open the door and step inside. A wide, toothy smile spread across Chanyeol’s face the moment he saw X-Jongin.

“Did you go out today?” Chanyeol asked, walking forward to give X-Jongin a hug.

“Yes,” X-Jongin replied, “I went to visit the others. Are we leaving immediately?”

Chanyeol pulled away to give X-Jongin a once-over. “Go put on some thicker clothes first. We’re going to be walking a bit, and it’s cold outside,” he said.

“Can’t I teleport us there?” X-Jongin asked as he headed to the bedroom.

Chanyeol gave him a cheeky grin. “You don’t know where we’re going.”

Once X-Jongin had bundled up properly, the two of them headed out, walking through the streets of Seoul. Snow had fallen a few days earlier, and the white powder still covered parts of the sidewalks. X-Jongin’s and Chanyeol’s breaths were visible in white puffs, and the two men spent the walk pretending that they were fire-breathing dragons.

“What did you do with the others today?” Chanyeol asked once their mouths had become too cold and dry to keep in deep breaths of the crisp air.

X-Jongin burrowed deeper into his scarf. “I asked them about Valentine’s Day.”

“Huh?” Chanyeol looked at him with wide eyes. “How come?”

“You didn’t explain what it was to me this morning before you left, and I was getting the wrong ideas about it, so I panicked and went to talk to them.”

He could sense Chanyeol staring at him. “You were getting wrong ideas about Valentine’s Day and panicked?” Chanyeol asked. “Really?”

X-Jongin nodded, kicking at a stray bit of snow that hadn’t melted yet.

Chanyeol draped an arm around X-Jongin’s shoulders and pulled him close. “Sorry, I should have explained it more,” he apologized, “What sort of wrong ideas were you getting though?”

Now that X-Jongin was no longer panicking, he felt embarrassed about his earlier misconceptions. Hoping that Chanyeol wouldn’t notice his red cheeks, he pulled his scarf higher and said, “Nothing much. It was stupid.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t,” Chanyeol reassured, “Tell me.”

X-Jongin pouted but relented. “I thought that since Valentine’s Day is a holiday for love, we wouldn’t be allowed to love each other anymore once it ended, so I was worried that we would have to break up.”

Chanyeol made a strangled noise, and X-Jongin glanced over to see his boyfriend clap a hand over his mouth. He scowled, knowing that Chanyeol was trying to hide his laughter. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“I’m not, I’m not!” Chanyeol dropped his hand and faced him, lips pressed tightly together to prevent any snickers from slipping through. “What did the others tell you?”

Sulking, X-Jongin grumbled, “Junmyeon said that Valentine’s Day is more like a birthday and that it’s still okay for us to date even after it’s over.”

Chanyeol hummed as he interlaced their fingers. “Junmyeon-hyung is right. Besides, we were dating before Valentine’s Day came around, and nothing happened, right? It’ll be the same after Valentine’s Day is over.”

Feeling a little better, X-Jongin nodded. Chanyeol smiled again, softer than before, and then faced forward. His expression brightened, and he quickened his pace, pulling X-Jongin along with him. “Oh, we’re here!”

X-Jongin glanced up, managing to catch the words ‘animal shelter’ written on the sign at the front of the building before Chanyeol dragged him inside.

The high-pitched yips of dogs greeted X-Jongin as he stepped through the doorway. Through the glass windows behind the front counter, he could see a tortoiseshell cat lounging on a wooly platform. In the unit next to it, a pair of kittens chased each other up and down a cat tree. X-Jongin could see them meowing at each other through the glass.

Meanwhile, Chanyeol walked up to the counter and spoke to the lady sitting in front of the computer. X-Jongin watched as the lady pulled out a sheet of stickers and wrote something on two of them before peeling them off and handing them to Chanyeol.

“Please make sure you sanitize your hands whenever you want to enter a different pen,” she said.

“Got it.” Chanyeol nodded as he handed one of the stickers to X-Jongin. They plastered the stickers onto the fronts of their coats, and then Chanyeol was pushing open the door to the left of the counter, beckoning for X-Jongin to follow.

“What are we doing?” X-Jongin asked as the sound of barking dogs escalated.

They stopped in front of a closed pen. A golden retriever stood behind the door, staring up at them with its tongue dangling out of its mouth and its tail wagging. X-Jongin shot Chanyeol a confused look when the latter reached out and opened the door, but Chanyeol merely grinned and pulled him into the pen, saying, “We’re here to play with the dogs.”

The moment the two of them entered the pen, the golden retriever sidled up to them, tail swinging faster than before. Chanyeol immediately knelt on the floor, patting and cooing at the dog while introducing himself. Basking in the attention, the golden retriever sat down, at Chanyeol’s hands whenever it got the chance.

Tentatively, X-Jongin knelt beside Chanyeol, smiling when the dog scooted closer to him, clearly inviting X-Jongin to start petting it as well. X-Jongin obliged, letting the dog his hands as well.

“Hello,” X-Jongin said quietly, “I love your fur. It’s so soft and pretty.”

The dog’s tail wagged even harder.

X-Jongin turned to Chanyeol. “How did you get the idea to come here?”

“You know how when we go out for walks, we always walk past that dog park?” Chanyeol reached out and picked up a bright orange ball from the floor, passing it to X-Jongin. “You always stared at the dogs in the park, so I figured you’d like coming here to play with the dogs.” He looked at X-Jongin hopefully. “Do you like it?”

X-Jongin nodded, and Chanyeol beamed.

They spent a few more minutes playing with the golden retriever before Chanyeol suggested that they visit the other dogs. The two of them stayed in each pen for about ten minutes, making sure to visit each dog in the shelter. They even went to check out the cats, but Chanyeol ended up being allergic, so they decided to leave because his sneezes were scaring all the felines.

Standing outside of the shelter, Chanyeol sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “Are you hungry now? We spent a couple hours in that shelter.”

“Food sounds good,” X-Jongin agreed.

They ate in a restaurant they frequented often, where the food was good for relatively cheap prices. As they ate, X-Jongin asked, “Do you think we can adopt a dog one day?”

Chanyeol swallowed a mouthful of soup and said in all seriousness, “Of course. When we have the money, we can adopt as many dogs as you want.”

That night, while Chanyeol was in the shower, X-Jongin took the time to teleport to Junmyeon’s bedroom. EXO’s leader was alone in bed this time and jumped when X-Jongin appeared out of thin air, but he looked more surprised and worried rather than displeased about X-Jongin showing up at bedtime.

“Can you help me get Chanyeol a Valentine’s Day gift?” X-Jongin asked.

Junmyeon studied him for a few seconds before laying back down with a small smile. “Okay, okay. It’s too late now, but we can go tomorrow morning.”

Therefore, X-Jongin teleported into Junmyeon’s bedroom the next morning to find that Junmyeon was already up. They left before any of the other EXO members woke up and headed to a nearby supermarket at X-Jongin’s request.

“I could try and cook something for him?” X-Jongin suggested, eyeing the ribs that were on display. “He really likes galbi. You just need to grill the ribs, right? I’ve never cooked before though. I don’t want to mess up his favorite food…”

Junmyeon smiled patiently. “Why don’t you pick out a precooked food? You could find something sweet, like a cake.” He herded X-Jongin to the baked goods section and pointed out a cake. “There. I think Chanyeol would really like that one.”

X-Jongin looked at the price. “Ice cream cakes are too expensive, especially since you’re technically paying. I couldn’t ask that of you.”

Junmyeon reached up and patted down X-Jongin’s hair. “It’s okay. I’m offering. Nothing is too expensive when it comes to my dongsaengs.”

In the end, they walked out of the supermarket with the ice cream cake, and on the way back to Chanyeol’s apartment, they found a store that sold stuffed animals. X-Jongin picked out three stuffed dogs that Chanyeol would like but was unable to decide which one would be best. He asked Junmyeon out of desperation, and the latter’s solution was to buy all three of them.

As they left the store with the stuffed dogs and an ice cream cake, X-Jongin said, “I’ll find a way to pay you back for these. I promise.”

However, Junmyeon smiled and replied, “If you want to pay me back, then convince the rest of your group to drop by and hang out sometime. I see you and your Sehun and Jongdae often, but I haven’t seen the other three. I would like it if we could all become close.”

X-Jongin really tried to keep it together, and he succeeded until after he dropped Junmyeon off in the latter’s bedroom. The moment he was back in Chanyeol’s apartment, however, the tears started to flow. He sniffled as he put the ice cream cake in the freezer and carefully arranged the three stuffed dogs on the couch.

When Chanyeol came out from their bedroom, he found X-Jongin quietly crying in front of a trio of stuffed dogs. He was at X-Jongin’s side at once, one hand rubbing X-Jongin’s back while the other wiped at his boyfriend’s tears. “What happened? Why are you crying? Did someone say something mean to you?”

X-Jongin shook his head. “I went out…with Junmyeon earlier. He called me his dongsaeng.”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Then why are you crying?”

“He also said–” X-Jongin sniffled “–that he wanted our groups to become close.”

The pieces finally clicked in Chanyeol’s head. He shifted his position so that he was sitting and pulled X-Jongin into a hug. “Congratulations, Jongin-ah, the in-laws have accepted you.” He eyed the trio of stuffed dogs on the couch. “What are those for?”

X-Jongin scrubbed at his face with one sleeve. “They’re for you.”

Chanyeol looked at him with wide eyes. “For me?”

X-Jongin nodded. “I couldn’t decide which one you would like the most, so Junmyeon-hyung bought all of them.”

He watched Chanyeol pick up one of the stuffed dogs and stare at it, squeezing the soft plush in his hands. For a long time, Chanyeol didn’t say or do anything, and X-Jongin was getting worried until he saw Chanyeol wipe at his eyes.

X-Baekhyun had always complained about how soft-hearted X-Jongin was, and X-Jongin could only prove him right by bursting into a fresh wave of tears at the sight of Chanyeol crying.

“Why are you crying?” X-Jongin practically wailed, “Do you hate it?”

Chanyeol’s voice was thick and muffled as he replied, “No, I love it! It’s great! I just–” He cut himself off and sniffed.

“You’re making me cry when you cry!”

“I’ll cry when I want!” Chanyeol bawled.

As the two of them spent the remainder of the morning sobbing from their overwhelming emotions, X-Jongin couldn’t help but wonder how a holiday for love became a cryfest instead.