it's non-au but maybe you'll find some inaccuracies for i needed this story to set well~ merry christmas!!♥ and happy new year :)

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“This is ridiculous,” Heechul grumped. “No way he’s going to like it.”

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Donghae?” Leeteuk asked, fixing his hat – a red festive headdress with the prettiest white frill. “He loves stuff like this.”

“Didn’t know that guy’s into grown-up men dressing into cheap costumes.”

“They aren’t cheap!” Yesung exclaimed defensively. “Ryeowook paid so much for the cloths!”

“And how do you know?” Heechul asked without any interest.

“He made me pay.”

Somehow no one was surprised. They weren’t even surprised the guy, who willingly sew the costumes for them, didn’t make one for himself. He made up an excuse – something about being extremely busy because his parents needed him to do something – but the members knew he just didn’t want to ‘embarrass himself’ by doing it. They knew each other too well, after all.

That’s why they weren’t surprised Kyuhyun said he was busy. Pretended to be surprised Shindong didn’t even want to look for an excuse when he refused to do it. Got genuinely shocked when Siwon turned out to be busy for real and didn’t manage to squeeze enough time for that in between his schedules.

In the end, those were just Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung and Hyukjae doing that; with the latter being the one who initiated the whole thing.

They were just making fun of him – the usual way they treat Donghae on the shows. Not because they hate him, of course not, it was just funny to as the guy always offered the most adorable reactions one could only hope to see. But in between all those teases, somewhere in between acting on camera and them being their real selves, that guy just made a real wish.

And he wished for Santa Claus to come this year.

You see, it started long, long ago. Even last year, during one of his lives, he wished for Santa Claus to come and put the presents under his Christmas tree. Hyukjae didn’t pay much attention.

Mostly because he never kept track of all of Donghae’s lives. Yeah, sue him.

But he was busy enough with his continuous schedules, with things he had to do apart from that, and well, he needed some ‘me time’ as well. If he could watch the guy’s live, he did. If he couldn’t – oh well. A few minutes of sulking, and Donghae will forgive him anyway.

He never got to watch the full video of that live, just saw fans going crazy over that later. Them saying he’s very cute, assuming he really believed in Santa and was waiting for him. Hyukjae could only smile at that. The suggestions were cute, too bad they weren’t true.

Or so he thought.

The moment Donghae made that wish Hyukjae – trust him, he never ever remembered about that live before – thought, what if.

Just what if that guy, well… didn’t really believe in Santa but wanted some sort of miracle to happen, maybe?

He himself couldn’t tell how the idea was born. They, he and Donghae, were both like that when it came to each other – all about random ideas, weird presents and silly jokes. His mind didn’t need more than two seconds to think about doing one thing.

And by the end of the shooting, Hyukjae knew what exactly he wanted to do already. And he needed the help of s. Not every one of them supported the idea, but some were quite enthusiastic (or maybe, had no other plans?) to agree.

That’s how he, Leeteuk, Heechul and Yesung happened to be in one room, changing clothes before going to Donghae’s apartment. They all gathered at Leeteuk's place for he was living close to the one they have prepared the surprise for.

Did you guess the reason right?

Yeah, they were dressed up like Santas.

“Alright, but are you sure he’s home right now?” Heechul asked Hyukjae eventually.

“Yeah, he’s usually home this time because he studies English.”

“Maybe it’s better to call him?” Leeteuk offered.

“It’ll be even more suspicious. He’ll realize I’m at yours if Koongie decides to bark,” he sent a long look to a little dog that’s been eyeing all those weird men doing weird stuff with her owner. “Besides, I never call him. Because I never come to his apartment by myself.”

“Yeah, sure,” Heechul rolled his eyes.

“That’s true,” Yesung spoke all of a sudden. “Hyukjae always acts like he’s annoyed and doesn’t want to see Donghae, so he never initiates coming over to his house, and Donghae has to either invite him or come to their dorm by himself.” Everyone looked at the man, and he shrugged. “Who do you think listens to his complaints on phone when this guy feels lonely?”

“As far as I know, you’re the only one who feels lonely enough to call us,” Hyukjae remarked.

Yesung looked at Heechul, “Do you think Donghae will get upset if I’ll kill his boyfriend on Christmas Eve?”

“Stop, kids, behave,” Leeteuk sighed. “Call him this time. We don’t want it to be awkward if he’s not home, right?”

Hyukjae agreed eventually. He didn’t really know how to make his phone call not sound suspicious, but to be very honest, he secretly hoped Donghae will be too overjoyed to think about it.

“Hyok~ chae~” came out of the phone the moment the singer picked up a call, twisting Hyukjae’s name the way he loved doing it recently. “You’re calling right on time!”

“Oh, am I?” the man, who put his phone on speaker and tried to ignore Yesung’s suggestive gaze and Heechul’s smug smile after they got to hear the way their younger friend spoke, asked. “How come?”

“Ah, it’s a surprise!” the other guy laughed. “I don’t want to spoil it by telling you. You don’t even know how bad it feels when you want to surprise someone but things are about to get ruined.”

“You don’t say,” the dancer gave everyone around him a look. “Anyways, are you home, bunny?”

Yesung coughed and whispered, “Bunny?!”

“Shush, idiot!” Hyukjae mouthed with no sound, hoping Donghae’s ears will fail him.

They didn’t.

“What was that sound on the background?” he asked. “Where are you?”

“I’m, uh… outside?”

Pause.

“Why?”

“Because I…” Hyukjae looked at the others in panic, trying to get some kind of support and maybe ideas from them, but those big kids were so chaotic. Heechul started imitating he’s been drinking (probably for Hyukjae to say he went for a drink). Leeteuk started cleaning the house and his co-members weren’t sure whether he was giving an idea or just panicked and decided to clean the house to calm down. And Yesung? Yesung pretended to choke Hyukjae as if the guy was the only one at fault here. They were of no help, so the man had no choice but to say, “Because I’m on my way to your house. That’s why I asked you where you are. So, are you home?”

“You what?” Donghae asked in disbelief. “But you, you… You never come on your own will… You don’t always come when I ask you to even!”

Hyukjae frowned a little, “Hey, it can’t be that bad…”

“I had to ask you to come to my apartment for two days when I bought it! And you never ever asked me yourself whether you can come before!”

The dancer laughed awkwardly. Probably… he was that bad, after all.

“Well, I’m trying to change it now and coming to your place. Are you home?” Pause. A long one. “Donghae?”

“That’s because you never come first!” the guy raised his voice all of a sudden, sounding like he was just betrayed. “I’m near the dorm.”

“The… dorm?”

“Yeah.”

“Like… near the dorm where I and Kyuhyun live?”

“Like, near the dorm you barely invite me to, so I had to invite myself this time again.”

Hyukjae facepalmed. He didn’t even want to see the faces of others.

“Hyukjae?” Donghae tried in a while. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“That’s okay, it’s not your fault. Go to the dorm and wait for me there, I’ll be back soon.”

“But I’m in my car and you don’t have one at the moment… maybe I might just come back? Or meet you somewhere? Where are you now?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll manage. I’m here already, so I guess I’ll go greet Leeteuk and then go back, so don’t worry and just go. Kyuhyun is busy now, so please make sure to bother him.”

“Is he filming for a show?” Donghae asked in a small voice; too anxious after it was revealed Kyuhyun likes to shoot for the shows in their dorm without warning Hyukjae.

“Not today, but good of you to remind me. Make sure to look sad enough for him to not have a heart to leave you alone, so that he’ll work extra hours at night. See you.”

He hung up before the guy managed to say anything else and let out a deep sigh.

“So,” Leeteuk was the first one to speak, “I was right when I asked you to call him.”

“As always. Well, we should go then.”

“To the dorm?” Heechul asked and pointed at the beard in his hands. “Like this?”

“You want to change to your clothes and then change back to this in Leeteuk’s car?”

“And you really want to walk the streets like this? I knew you have weird preferences, but didn’t know you’re into this stuff.”

“Why didn’t you ask Donghae to come back?” Leeteuk inquired, trying to calm the guys down.

Hyukjae looked at the one who’s been his leader since forever and then lowered his eyes to see the dog looking at the intruders like she wanted them to leave.

Otherwise she’ll kill them.

“Personal reasons,” he ended up saying and sighed. “What’s done is done. Let’s hurry up.”

The others sighed as well – all except Yesung who kept observing Hyukjae carefully – and started packing all the things they needed. The dancer called Kyuhyun and asked him to make sure to keep Donghae busy until they arrive and didn’t even listen to his objections, just said, “He will be very, very upset to know you didn’t want him around. But if he’ll think you were the one who also decided to participate in this event for him… Oh, can you imagine how happy he will be? His beautiful face will become even more beautiful once he smiles…” Kyuhyun gulped. “And he will go for hugging and all. While looking that handsome.”

The youngest among them had no option but to agree. That was too easy, Hyukjae thought.

But well, things didn’t go as planned originally, so they deserved some break.

Once everyone was done, the men decided to not waste any more time and move. Since Yesung’s eyes were still on him, Hyukjae asked, “What’s wrong?”

His hyung’s face brightened – looks like he’s really been waiting for the guy to ask about it – only for a deep frown to form again.

“Bunny?!” he asked in disbelief. “Really?”

Hyukjae rolled his eyes, “Let’s discuss all the lovely names I have for Donghae once we’re done with this quest.”

“Oh, so there are plenty?” Heechul snickered. “And how do you call your baby, Hyokchae?”

The dancer sent Leeteuk a pleading look, and the older nodded in understanding.

“It might be a little uncomfortable to discuss it here,” he said.

“Thank you!”

“Let’s make sure to bother him enough about it in the car.”

Sometimes, just sometimes Hyukjae wondered why he even decided to go for it with those guys.

***

“You look…” Kyuhyun, who was chewing on apple, struggled to find the words. “Outlandishly.”

“Well, that’s not the worst thing you could come up with,” Hyukjae admitted.

“Thanks, I’m practicing being nice before Donghae comes.”

The men who were about to enter the apartment froze.

“What the do you mean by ‘before Donghae comes’?” Heechul was first to ask.

“That he isn’t here, obviously.”

“And you didn’t warn us because?..” Hyukjae demanded.

“Because you didn’t even tell me when will he come? Dude, you called me saying Donghae and you are heading to our dorm, how am I supposed to know when that might happen?”

Silence. Dead silence.

“Can I?” Yesung broke it.

“You can curse in the living room. Don’t want our neighbors to think we don’t have manners,” Kyuhyun said.

“Thanks.”

Yesung made it inside, Heechul was about to start cussing out loud without caring about anything or anyone, Leeteuk was trying to calm him down. Kyuhyun kept on chewing his apple while being a spectator while Hyukjae dialed Donghae’s number only to wait for the guy to pick up and yell, “Hey, Donghae, you!..”

“Hyokchae!” he heard a cheerful voice on the other side and put the phone on speaker for the others to hear and be quiet. “Good you’re calling. Are you still at Leeteuk’s house?”

Hyukjae didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“You won’t believe me,” he said.

Donghae didn’t get the clue.

“You’re still here, right?” he chirped. “It’s okay, I’m not mad for the waiting or something.” Heechul made a weird grimace hearing that. “In fact, it’s good. I was so afraid it might be inconvenient for hyung to give you a ride and also didn’t want you to wait for taxi or something… And it’s just so cold to walk outside, don’t you think so? That’s why I didn’t make it to the dorm and went back, so you don’t need to bother! You’ve been working hard lately, take some rest. Oh, also,” the sound of his voice changed a little. That’s how Hyukjae understoo