unbetaed, so please excuse any mistakes.

They say the 20s are the best years of your life. Baekhyun calls bull. Another year has gone by and yet he’s back exactly where he was when it started: sitting in his crappy, overpriced city apartment alone on New Year’s Eve. The crisp night air nips at his nose and fingertips as he pulls his window up and climbs out onto the fire escape with a piping mug of hot chocolate. 

Even while wearing three layers of sweaters and the long puffer coat his mom had sent him for Christmas, he still shivers when the harsh winter wind gusts past him. He’s got to get the landlord to fix that damn heater before he loses all his fingers and toes from frostbite. He places his mug down on the window sill to wrap his scarf tighter around his neck. Down below there are couples walking hand in hand and groups of people wearing tacky and obnoxious New Year’s accessories that make Baekhyun laugh and feel a bit envious at the same time at how much fun they seem to be having. 

There’s music blasting from the apartment underneath him. He can see colorful lights flashing through the curtains. When he remembers the person who lives there is the seventy-four-year-old grandmother who owns the floral shop below their apartment building he laughs so hard he almost spills his hot chocolate. At least someone is having a good time tonight. 

Baekhyun could’ve been having as much fun as she was if Yixing and Junmyeon hadn’t abandoned him here to go celebrate New Year’s in Yixing’s hometown. Okay, so maybe their abandonment was justified, but still. He is a twenty-six-year-old man still in his prime. He should be hitting the city, be drinking sparkling cider, and be getting ready to kiss a special someone at the of midnight. But here he is, sitting out on his fire escape freezing his off as he sips on his fifth mug of hot chocolate of the day. 

He hears the sound of a window opening above him, then a voice that’s all too familiar. “No exciting plans tonight, hyung?” 

His tone sounds as cheeky as his grin looks. Baekhyun looks up at him, frowning. “Are you making fun of me? I told you I was just going to be staying home when you asked me the exact same question last week,” he says, pouting. 

Sehun laughs as he climbs out through his window onto the fire escape and descends the ladder to Baekhyun’s level. He’s only wearing jeans, a hoodie, a denim jacket, and a beanie atop his head. Baekhyun wonders how he’s not dying from the cold. 

“Why don’t you have a coat on? You’ll get sick,” he scolds.

Chuckling, the younger reaches out to adjust his scarf for him. “You’re the one who always gets sick, hyung. Why are you even out here?” 

It’s true. Baekhyun’s gotten sick three times this month already. Sehun had tapped on his window late at night during his last cold with a container of soup he made following a recipe he found online. It tasted horrible. Baekhyun ate all of it anyway becau