Christmas was the most wonderful time of the year and Jonghyun’s favorite holiday. Luckily for him, it was happening now and as per every year, he felt the inevitable sense of warmth, happiness, and togetherness sweep over him and cling on until after the new year. These feelings are what drove him to act on his suspicion that two of his close friends, who also happened to be his bandmates, had feelings for one another so Jonghyun took it upon himself to make something happen between them.  

It was clear to anyone who had eyes that Minho and Kibum were fighting some sort of between them. Their love/hate relationship was as clear as a crisp day too and blindingly obvious to anyone who observed them. Jonghyun was the sort of person who delighted in seeing his friends happy, it warmed his heart. Maybe Kibum and Minho would go into the new year as a couple as all they needed was a little friendly nudge of sorts just for encouragement. 

SHINee had a week off, no single interview, performance, or fan signing on the schedule, it was all empty much to their relief. Being Christmas and all that, the most traditional thing to do was to have a costume-themed Christmas party which made Jonghyun think of a plan with such precision and dedication that you’d be forgiven for thinking it was some military strategy.

It was the morning before the Christmas party and Jonghyun was gradually coming back out of a lovely sleep, the sun was shining through the window giving his otherwise pale skin a beautiful golden glow. 

A small yawn left his lips while lifting his arms above his head in a long stretch, soaking up the warmth of the sun rays and smiling evilly at how an idea had come to him during his slumber. It was brilliant, easily the best plan his cunning little mind had conjured up. So cunning...that he simply had to share it with Taemin and Jinki, his future partners in crime. Don’t tell anyone that he had a secret weapon to get them into his plan, he just had to use it if they refused. 

The big masterplan that he had thought up was to place mistletoe all over their dorm, making the inevitable kiss unescapable. Maybe, just maybe...this would give Minho and Kibum both the confidence and inspiration required to confess their love to one another and live happily ever after. Jonghyun was almost sure his plan wouldn’t fail and with that, he jumped out of bed, grabbed a towel, his clothes, and skipped towards the bathroom with a new-found excitement to plan everything out. 

After washing, he pulled on a dark pair of blue jeans with a belt, a white shirt, and a blue jacket. Jonghyun grinned as he combed through the fluff on his head and give himself the once over in the mirror, feeling very good about himself today with his recently dyed pink hair. Reaching for the door handle made his heart race with even more thrill as he recapped his foolproof plan. 

Ripping the unsuspecting door from its hinges, he strolled into the hallway towards Taemin’s open door and in one mighty leap landed onto his bandmates bed, startling the poor younger man out of his sleep.

‘’Taetaetae!’’ Jonghyun grabbed his arm, ‘’I have this perfect plan to get Key and Minho together!’’ He yelled all gleeful with sparkling Mocha eyes and a bright smile that would put the stars to shame. ‘’W-whut?’’ Taemin responded completely confused, voice thick with sleep, eyes barely open as he tried to focus on his bandmate who was too hyper for his taste so early in the morning. 

‘’Wake up lazy bum! It’s time to play matchmaker!’’ the Vocalist commanded and proceeded to drag poor Taemin from his warm comfortable bed, ignoring the pained groans of mental anguish at being woken up so unceremoniously. ‘’Meet me in Jinki’s room! Cheers!’’ Unable to contain his excitement, Jonghyun released Taemin’s arm and left him abandoned and cold on the plush carpet before bounding off through the door towards his next victim.

Taemin let out a long-suffering sigh, ‘’Who gave him the last piece of the Candybar yesterday?’’ that person was going to get a kick in the if he found out who made Jonghyun high on sugar. The younger man eventually climbed to his tired feet and trudged his way into the hallway where he followed the excitable yelps of Jonghyun yelling at Jinki. 

Leaning against the wooden door frame, Taemin watched while rubbing his face as Jonghyun leaped once again onto Jinki’s bed and started shaking him awake. "Jinki! wake up...jinki!...jinki!....jinkijinkijinkijinki!" he cried out with the biggest grin he could muster upon his face.

 ‘’I have a plan! We need mistletoe!!..and lots of it!’’ He finally revealed which earned him a confused frown from Taemin while Jinki refused to open his tired eyes and instead pulled the blanket over his head to block out the cute noises. He didn’t want to feel the urge to molest Jonghyun so early in the morning.

The one-year younger man didn’t agree with the action and yanked the blanket harshly from Jinki’s grasp with a quick sniff to the fabric without anyone noticing. Jinki’s scent was just so comforting, he quickly shook his head as he heard Taemin’s voice from the direction of the doorway. ‘’Mistletoe?...but why?’’ He asked as he fought back a yawn and scratched the back of his head instead. 

Jonghyun grinned, ‘’It’s gonna make Minho and Kibum kiss! Don’t you see??... It’s perfect! If we cover the dorm in it then they kiss, confess their love, and Boom!... happily ever after.’’ Jonghyun babbled with energy matching that of a bubbly puppy. 

Taemin leaned his head against the door frame and closed his eyes to rest while thinking over Jonghyun’s idea. Jinki, on the other hand, didn’t even have to consider it. ‘’No...you do it. I’m going back to sleep.’’ He replied, nosing his pillow only to be suddenly interrupted by the smaller man flipping him onto his back. ‘Time to bring out my secret weapon.’ Jonghyun thought as he gazed at Jinki with his adorable, impossible to resist big puppy eyes. 

‘’Jonghyun...stop…’’ Jinki warned weakly, unable to look away from the heart-warming sight that instantly made him feel like he wanted to protect Jonghyun. The puppy eyes only intensified as a lower lip jutted out at the same time, ‘’Pleeeeease Jinki-Hyung?’’ Jonghyun pleaded cutely until Jinki had no choice but to give in and accept his part in the plan. 

‘’No…’’

‘’Pretty pleaaase with a chicken on top?’’ Jonghyun fluttered his eyelashes for extra measure. Rolling his eyes, the other sighed and finally asked, ‘’Alright, alright, fine!...what can I do?’’ With a smirk, the Vocalist thought for a moment before finally coming upon an idea. 

‘’Well...we need to go shopping first!’’ He began before hugging Jinki, wrapping his arms loosely around the older man’s shoulders. ‘’Thank you Hyung!’’ the smaller man chirped as a second later, strong arms curled around his waist. ‘’Y-yeah...no problem.’’ Jinki gulped as his body reacted to the softness of Jonghyun’s skin against his own and the warm puffs of breath against the side of his neck. 

Jonghyun pushed away from him, jumping off the bed with glee. ‘’I will meet you two in the kitchen!’’ and then he was gone like a whirlwind of blue/white and pink. Taemin looked back at Jinki with a raised eyebrow, silently questioning what the hell just happened. Jinki shrugged, just as baffled as the younger was, and fell back on the bed with a tired sigh. 
 

Kibum and Minho were already in the kitchen as Jonghyun had his whole episode with Jinki and Taemin. He was happily humming under his breath, munching on rice with eggs and bacon, Kibum seemed to be in a good mood to even consider making them this tasty breakfast. 

Jinki and Taemin soon joined them and small talk naturally progressed between them all until the big question came. ‘’What are you all doing today?’’ the Feline man eyed Jinki, Taemin, and Jonghyun up, Minho probably already told him about his plans. 

Jonghyun’s mouth dropped open, eyes wide in panic before looking at Jinki who mirrored his expression. He didn’t think this far, what was he going to tell Kibum and Minho! They shouldn’t know about his master plan! ‘’U-Uhm uhmmn’’ He stammered, shrinking in his seat as Kibum was focusing his attention on him now. ‘’Are you sick?’’ Jonghyun quickly shook his head before Kibum could do anything like babying him by playing the mother-hen.

‘’Don’t worry Key-Hyung, we’re going shopping.’’ Taemin smoothly intervened, eating his food as if nothing was wrong with the question. ‘’Shopping? What for?’’ Kibum asked in confusion before taking a bite out of his bacon, ‘’I already bought everything for the party.’’ 

Taemin smirked, ‘’Getting some extra wine as I invited the Exo-members.’’ Signing in disbelief, Kibum placed a hand on his forehead, ‘’Lee Taemin, how big do you think the dorm is? We already invited the Suju members.’’ The younger shrugged and looked at Jonghyun who nodded in approval.

‘’Okay I’m going with you guys.’’ the Feline man stated as he was done with his food and stood up to make himself ready. ‘’NO!’’ Jonghyun yelped, resulting in everyone to jump in shock. ‘’I-i m-mean…’’ He coughed, ‘’Wouldn’t you rather decorate the place?’’ 

Kibum blinked, arms crossing as he smelled something fishy going on. ‘’Why are Taemin and you acting odd, what’s going on?’’ Jonghyun nervously laughed, his brain a jumbled mess as he tried to come up with an excuse, his face was getting redder by the second and the only thing he could do was direct big eyes at Jinki.

Jinki gave in almost immediately. ‘’I think it’s faster if you and Minho decorate the dorm, you can give Minho directions as he’s tall enough to hang garlands in places that Jonghyun wouldn’t be able to reach.’’ 

Jonghyun flashed a thankful grin towards Jinki before he realized what the older was implying. ‘’Hey!’’  Minho smirked and leaned back in his chair whilst patting his full stomach, ‘’Good idea Hyung, Jonghyun probably needs to bring a chair, we’ll be busy decorating all night if he has to drag it all around.’’ 

The smaller man glared before a small idea had him grab his Chopsticks and flick a piece of egg into Minho’s direction, successfully hitting him in the smug face. ‘’Why you!’’ Minho growled. 

Kibum spread his arms between them, ‘’Enough guys! It’s better if you three go shopping, I don’t want to clean after a food fight before the party starts.’’ Everyone didn’t dare to argue with him, grumbling their agreements instead as they stood up to clean the dishes then split into two groups and went their separate ways. 
 

‘’So...it’s a costume party?’’ Taemin made sure he heard right and Jonghyun nodded in confirmation, a box full of mistletoe in his arms. ‘’Yep, Kibum and Minho got their costume already, and look we’re gonna buy our own now.’’ He gestured towards a costume store with mannequins standing in the windows portraying a Vampire, Santa, and a Princess. 

The three men made their way across, weaving past people and hoping no fans would stop them for they were on a quest. Once inside, Jonghyun left his mistletoe box on the floor near his feet, sliding it along with his foot as he browsed through the various costumes that hung on a rail. 

Taemin took the opposite side and conducted his search there while Jinki was tasked with accessories once the costumes had been selected. ‘’Remind me again what we need to do,’’ Jinki asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around at the brightly colored garments. 

‘’Okay well, we need to put the mistletoe up first then once everything is ready we just need to lure them both under the same piece of mistletoe and hopefully, nature will take its course,’’ Jonghyun explained while holding up a reindeer outfit and studying Jinki’s body. ‘’Here Hyung...you take this and see if it fits.’’ 

Jinki sighed and accepted it while heading off in search of a changing room. ‘’Ha...I’m wearing this!’’ Taemin announced with a smirk as he held up a costume of a giant Candy cane. Jonghyun’s eyes widened at the sight and he couldn’t help but grin, ‘’Alright…but how are you gonna walk and stuff?’’ He asked but Taemin shrugged.  

‘’Who cares? I get to be a Candy cane!... I’m getting it.’’ He declared before following Jinki. Jonghyun shook his head and fished out a red and green elf costume and shrugged. ‘’A little tight at bottom but it will do.’’ He grunted while picking up the box and going after his friends.

Jinki came out proudly wearing his reindeer outfit which was just an onesie with an extra fluffy tummy and hood. He pulled the hood up and beamed in approval before doing a little victory dance as he watched himself in the mirror. 

Taemin left the changing room and rolled his eyes, hip pumping Jinki out of the way to study himself in his Candy cane outfit, careful to ensure he was not taken out by one of Jinki’s flailing limbs. ‘’Nice tail Jinki-Hyung!’’ Jonghyun teased as he appeared behind them both and playfully grabbed the little brown tail on the back of Jinki’s onesie, making him squeal with surprise. 

As Taemin looked at Jonghyun, he noticed the other still hadn’t let go of the tail. With a raised eyebrow he returned to his reflection, thinking nothing of it. ‘’I like this...like...I’d wear this all year after our schedules, it’s so soft, I could just sleep in it forever,’’ Jinki admitted as he rubbed the furry belly of his onesie. 

Jonghyun released Jinki’s tail and watched himself in the mirror while putting on his little elf hat with massive ears. ‘’Hm...I dunno...I kinda want a reindeer Onesie too now.’’ He mumbled with a frown and a slight pout, clearly not feeling the red and white tights and crazy shoes. 

Jinki looked over at him and his eyes slid down to Jonghyun’s legs, taking note of how defined all the muscles looked in those tights, not to mention smooth and kissable. Jinki’s eyes darkened with a sudden yearning ‘’Your legs look great though.’’ He complimented with a husky tone in his voice that wasn’t there before. 

He poked Jonghyun’s thigh with the tip of his finger whereas Taemin watched this in the mirror and fought back a smirk, now realizing that perhaps there was something between these two as well. 

‘’How about I go see if they hav