Author's Note: Late Merry Christmas! I'm very late on posting this because I've been very busy, but I hope this can make up for it a little bit! Part two of Taekai's Christmas ♡

That evening Taemin stayed close by Jongin as they met up for dinner with some friends. Taemin knew most of them, though a few were not so familiar. Chanyeol was there, with a girl who could have only been his girlfriend. She took the place of Baekhyun, who was notably absent. This was a little disappointing for Taemin, considering Baekhyun was one of his closest friends among Jongin’s. This was why he mostly kept to himself and remained by Jongin.

Even so, it was a fun dinner, everything lighthearted and easygoing. Afterwards, the group was off to Chanyeol’s place, where their numbers seemed to double as other friends came by for the party. Alcohol appeared, and the atmosphere quickly grew even lighter. There was one thing though, that perhaps Taemin should have anticipated – but he didn’t notice until it was too late.

Early into the night, after he had finished his first drink and Jongin was through his too, Taemin had offered to get new ones for them. It gave him an excuse to look like he wasn’t just awkwardly lingering around Jongin. However, as he reached the doorway of the living room, he crossed paths with someone coming into the room – Kyungsoo, holding a drink of his own that he seemed to have just grabbed. And then, out of nowhere, Chanyeol was screeching.

“MISTLETOE!”

He must have been waiting for it since they’d arrived, the glee and satisfaction radiating from his voice as people looked around. Taemin jumped too, glancing to Chanyeol and finding the older’s eyes on him, grinning wickedly. Looking up in the doorway, Taemin spotted the little sprig of flowers and berries hanging above it, between him and Kyungsoo. Oh no…

Immediately, Taemin’s face was turning bright pink. Even Kyungsoo’s cheeks flushed a tiny bit, though his expression didn’t otherwise change. Not sure what to do, Taemin gave an awkward laugh. “I’m- sure he’s just joking,” he tried to reassure, moving past Kyungsoo without otherwise acknowledging Chanyeol.

Chanyeol, who was very much not joking, wasn’t having it. He jumped up, chasing after Taemin and shouting. “Hey! Get back here!” He caught up with Taemin in the kitchen, grabbing him by the wrist and looking at him pointedly. “You better come back right now. You have a kiss to give.”

“W-what?” Taemin chuckled nervously. “That’s just a joke…”

“No way!” Chanyeol was pulling on Taemin as he continued trying to get their drinks sorted. Taemin whined until Chanyeol finally let him go, filling his glass and Jongin’s before Chanyeol started again. “If you get caught under the mistletoe, you have to kiss. It’s the rule!”

Taemin looked up at him with wide eyes. Chanyeol knew. He knew about Taemin and Jongin. He also knew about Taemin still being in the closet, and surely could have the decency not to force him to come out right now. Chanyeol sort of seemed to take the hint, but he still tried to drag Taemin back to the living room.

“Alright everyone!” he announced in his loud, bellowing voice. Taemin tried to wriggle out of his grasp to return to Jongin, but Chanyeol would not let him go. Despite his size, Taemin had never really thought of Chanyeol as being particularly strong – but it turned out he was indeed, at very least, stronger than Taemin. “Since Taemin here tried to run away from the mistletoe, I’ve brought him back to fulfill his obligation.”

There were some obnoxious hoots while Taemin wished he could melt into the floor. Fortunately, Jongin had seen and was hurrying over, grabbing Taemin’s other arm and glaring at Chanyeol. “Quit it,” Jongin said under his breath. “He’s not kissing anyone…” His tone of voice implied, if only to Taemin’s ears, a slightly different, added meaning. Anyone unless it’s me.

Chanyeol shot Jongin a subtle wink, as though he were already concocting some sort of plan. Please, I don’t want to be part of your games. “Maybe he doesn’t want to kiss Kyungsoo, so I’ll be generous. Since it’s my mistletoe and all…” Some people chuckled, and it made Taemin nervous. What was Chanyeol thinking? And how was Taemin supposed to get himself out of this? “I’ll let you choose who you want to kiss instead.”

What? Chanyeol would have known who Taemin’s obvious choice would be – except, Taemin couldn’t choose to kiss Jongin in front of all these people. It would be far too strange. Best friends didn’t want to kiss each other. But at the same time, Taemin couldn’t choose anyone else…

“You can even kiss my girlfriend if you want,” Chanyeol offered, making Taemin glance to the girl in question. Her eyes widened, and then she gave a firm head shake. Taemin shared the sentiment, though he tried to think of a good excuse to say no.

“I don’t want to kiss someone I don’t even know…” Then he was pulling himself away from Chanyeol entirely, moving closer to Jongin for protection. “Please, can’t we just forget about this?”

“No! You need to do it,” Chanyeol announced firmly. “Go on! You choose someone.” Then he started chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss!” And soon others were following along, pressuring Taemin further.

Taemin didn’t know what to do. He didn’t like being the centre of attention, and he definitely didn’t like being forced into situations against his will. Looking around, he saw everyone watching him though, waiting for him to entertain them somehow. No matter who he chose, they would end up assuming things about him – that he liked the person, especially if it were a girl; or that he was gay if it were a boy. There was no winning for him.

Miraculously, Jongin jumped in to save him. “Alright! Everyone, look-” And before Taemin could react, Jongin was grabbing his face and kissing him on the cheek. A few people cheered, and there were a couple more hoots.

Chanyeol wasn’t one of the ones celebrating.

“Aye,” he booed, giving a pointed thumbs down and looking around to the crowd. “We can’t accept pathetic, itsy little kisses like that! It needs to be the real deal!” Then he turned back to Jongin and added loudly, “Appreciate your attempt to save your friend, but that’s just not good enough. He’ll have to get a real kiss from someone.”

Taemin’s anxiety was only mildly quelled by the death glare Jongin shot their friend. “He got his kiss; what more do you want?”

“It needs to be on the lips,” Chanyeol clarified, looking around to his other friends. “Right guys?” There were a couple cheers. “I doubt you’d be willing to go that far though,” he added to Jongin.

Why on earth is he trying to get someone to kiss me on the lips? Taemin had to wonder. Was he trying to out them, or was it just because Taemin had happened to be the first caught under the mistletoe? But if that was the case, then Kyungsoo should have been part of this too. And yet there Kyungsoo was, hiding in his drink across the room, escaping punishment in its entirety.

While Taemin thought about what on earth to do now, Jongin leaned in to speak to Chanyeol. His words were just quiet enough for Taemin to catch over the sound of the music. “Cut it out before I kick your …”

Letting out an amused guffaw, Chanyeol said loudly, “You only kiss girls like that, huh? Well, I might just have a way to make that work for you, my friend!” Then he was clapping Jongin’s shoulder and pushing the pair of them to sit on the couch, ordering Jongin not to look as he hurried out of the room to go grab something. Everyone gathered when Chanyeol came back, telling Jongin to turn his back to Taemin for a moment.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jongin grumbled. Chanyeol just waved a hand.

“Trust me, and turn around!”

Trusting their drunk friend seemed to be a poor idea, but Taemin didn’t really have any control over the situation anymore (not that he had ever). Jongin seemed to have come to the same conclusion, as he reluctantly turned around, before Chanyeol made Taemin do the same. Then Chanyeol was squatting in front of Taemin and pulling something out from behind his back.

“Is that-”

Chanyeol held a finger to his lips, Taemin silencing himself and staring at the clump of hair in Chanyeol’s hand. It looked like a strange animal for a second, but Taemin soon realized that it was a black wig. He didn’t, however, understand what Chanyeol was doing with it – until the older was pushing back his hair.

“Stay still for a second,” Chanyeol instructed, pulling the wig onto his head. There was some difficulty, and Taemin had to try not to feel entirely humiliated – because what is going on? – as Chanyeol tugged the wig onto his head. After a minute, Chanyeol leaned back and patted his cheeks, grinning dopily. “Perfect!”

Taemin sat there, wide-eyed and confused as he gained many looks and laughs. He didn’t even get the chance to open his mouth before Chanyeol’s girlfriend was coming over and brushing out the shoulder-length strands with her fingers. “Why do you even have this?” she wondered, but Chanyeol just put a finger to his lips again. The question made Taemin curious too, but he would have to wait for the explanation.

“Something’s missing,” Chanyeol noted, looking Taemin over with a frown. His girlfriend glanced over Taemin’s face too, then reached into her bag and pulled out a little pink tube. Chanyeol’s eyes lit up at the sight of it. “I knew I chose you for a reason,” he said, sounding slightly affectionate.

“What is that?” Taemin asked, eyeing the tube with concern. Yet again, Chanyeol was putting a finger to his lips as the woman uncapped it. There was a little stick attached to the end, covered with the same deep, warm pink, and Taemin confirmed that it was indeed makeup. And it wasn’t for her; it had to go along with the wig. He could only imagine how he must have looked as she started applying the pink liquid to his lips, his cheeks growing warm as he wasn’t used to anything of this sort – having someone so close to his face, touching his mouth; and not to mention him wearing a wig and now makeup.

When she was done, Chanyeol’s girlfriend moved back and gave a satisfied hum. “Wonderful!” Chanyeol exclaimed, gesturing for Taemin to turn back around. He did so, finding Jongin’s back still to him.

“What are you guys doing?” Jongin grumbled, sounding impatient.

“Well, you said you only kiss girls, so…”

Jongin hadn’t said that, but Taemin suddenly understood. Chanyeol had been planning this all along, which was why he had twisted what Jongin had actually said to him into… this. Maybe Chanyeol was trying to help them get the chance to kiss without people judging it. Except… No way. They couldn’t be expected to kiss now, even with however it was that Taemin looked.

Unable to wait any longer, Jongin peeked over his shoulder with a painfully curious eye. Spotting Taemin, his jaw dropped, and then he was spinning around to look at Taemin fully.

The wig completely covered Taemin’s blond locks, giving him cute bangs and shoulder-length hair that made him look exceptionally sweet and innocent. Paired with his wide doe eyes and pink-flushed cheeks, plus the pink lipstick (in a shade that seemed to be made for him) emphasizing his already-plump lips, Taemin was admittedly quite pretty. He’d always had softer, feminine features anyway, so he suited the look naturally.

Jongin was pretty sure his heart leapt out of his chest and onto the floor. Having had no clue what to expect, he hadn’t remotely imagined something like this. And if he ever had thought of Taemin as a girl, he’d never have thought him to be so pretty. He was fairly sure his eyes turned fully into hearts, but he did his best to control his expression. Snapping his jaw shut, he looked to Chanyeol.

“What the hell is this?”

Chanyeol grinned, pulling out his phone. “I have to show Baekhyun, he’ll love it,” he said, snapping a picture. “It’s his wig, from a Halloween costume last year.” Taemin was sure he only blushed more at having his photo taken, barely able to appreciate the answer he’d been waiting for.

“Why is Taemin wearing Baekhyun’s wig?” Jongin prompted, though his eyes didn’t leave Taemin’s face. Don’t stare like that, people will wonder…

“To make it easier for you to kiss him,” Chanyeol explained casually, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. A few people ooh-ed and gave taunting cheers.

“Why am I the one kissing him anyway?’

“You’re the one who was fine kissing his cheek!”

“His cheek, not his lips!”

Everyone erupted with laughter, and Taemin had to hide his face in his hands. It was a good thing he did, because Chanyeol added, “Well fine, it’ll be easier for someone else to kiss him then. Any volunteers?”

Taemin didn’t lift his head, not wanting to see the reactions from Chanyeol’s friends. Thus, he missed the way Chanyeol playfully signaled for everyone not to offer. Then, after a moment he announced, “Guess it’ll have to be you.”

Jongin groaned, his eyes finally peeling off Taemin to glare in Chanyeol’s direction. “Why don’t we let Taemin decide rather than forcing me?” he grumbled, although his eyes quickly returned to Taemin and Taemin couldn’t miss the longing look behind his eyes. Obviously there was no way Jongin was going to just sit back and watch Taemin kiss anybody else. But there was also no way for them to choose each other right now.

Everyone was watching by now, though a few were looking away at Jongin’s suggestion – evidently not wanting to be chosen to kiss Taemin. As pretty as he may have been (especially to Jongin), most of the guys still wouldn’t swing that way, and it seemed like some of the girls weren’t too interested either. A couple of them were still looking his way, a few eyes looking more intent now (because Taemin didn’t notice it, but he always attracted some attention wherever he went). Someone might end up lucky enough to kiss him, especially with how intent Chanyeol seemed on making it happen.

“Fine then,” Chanyeol agreed, turning on Taemin and raising an eyebrow at him. “You take your pick. I’ll even let you choose me if you want,” he added, winking. Taemin pulled a face.

“I- I don’t want to kiss anyone though,” Taemin mumbled, looking down at his hands. This had Chanyeol groaning and turning to his other friends.

“Should I just make them kiss?” The group gave a few shouts again, and Chanyeol smacked the back of Jongin’s head. “Hurry up then. We’re all waiting!” For good measure, the man went and yanked the mistletoe down from over the doorway, holding it between the two of them instead.

Taemin didn’t move, but the taunting seemed to get under Jongin’s skin. Abruptly he was grabbing his drink and backing it, before he scooted closer to Taemin. “Come on then, before I punch him in the face,” Jongin muttered.

While a few people laughed, Taemin’s eyes flew up to look at him in concern. What?! How was he even thinking this right now? But there was no hesitation in Jongin’s eyes at this point, and Taemin doubted there was anything for him to say or do to make a difference. He could try to fight it for show, but he was too stunned to even do so convincingly now. Instead he just sat there, eyes wide as Jongin moved toward him and grabbed him by his shoulders.

“J-Jongin, wait…” he mumbled half-heartedly, though Jongin wasn’t really listening.

“Hush,” Jongin ordered, and someone gave another ooh. Taemin looked around, feeling the amount of eyes on them and biting his lip. We shouldn’t be doing this. “Don’t do that…”

Taemin tried to stop his nervous habit, but instead he could only cover his face in embarrassment. “Why is this happening?” he whined quietly.

This made Jongin chuckle. “Déjà vu?” he said, moving Taemin’s hands away from his face and cupping his cheeks. “It’s fine, just close your eyes…”

It did feel like déjà vu, Taemin’s mind flashing back to the time – years ago – that Jongin had been dared to kiss Taemin. But that had been different, easier somehow. Even if his feelings had already been starting to develop back then, it was nothing he’d had to be afraid of – he hadn’t even known his own feelings, let alone having a whole relationship to hide.

But Jongin didn’t seem to care – of course, he never cared. Chanyeol wiggled the mistletoe over them, and Jongin leaned in, Taemin unable to close his eyes this time as he watched him get nearer. Unlike the time of that old dare, it wasn’t unfamiliar to see this now, Jongin leaning in like this. But people are watching…

There was another second before Jongin’s breath was ghosting over Taemin’s face, the smell of alcohol hard to miss. Then Taemin heard a couple gasps as he felt the younger pressing his lips to his. Finally Taemin’s eyes fell shut, and he let the kiss happen. The younger tilted his head just slightly, still holding Taemin’s face in his hands and crawling closer to get comfortable.

It was hard not to kiss back, so used to doing so whenever Taemin felt this. Jongin’s lips were as soft as ever, though it felt slightly different with the chalky liquid on his own lips, the lipstick smudging out of place from the slight force Jongin was applying. Taemin tried to keep his mind on the people around him, hearing a few more sounds from them and knowing they were surprised by what they were witnessing.

Jongin kept the kiss gentle, fortunately not pushing anything too far and pulling back after a couple seconds. When Taemin leaned back, speechless, he saw the darkness in Jongin’s eyes that he knew too well. Usually Taemin knew to prepare for more at the sight, but now he was silently praying for Jongin to have self-control. Please don’t kiss me again. Not that he didn’t want his boyfriend kissing him, but… They weren’t at home. But then Chanyeol gave an encouraging yell, and it seemed to break both of them out of the moment.

“Happy now?” Jongin shot at their friend, who merely smirked. Then Jongin was rubbing at his mouth with the back of his hand, pulling a face as he saw the pink smear off on it. “I’m going to your bathroom to get this off,” he muttered, giving Taemin the briefest look which Taemin read as follow me.

“Me too,” Taemin mumbled, quiet enough that he wasn’t sure anyone actually heard as he stood and trailed after Jongin down the hall.

He knew what was coming long before they reached the bathroom. The door wasn’t even fully closed when Jongin shoved Taemin against it, shutting it firmly with the force of it. Then Jongin’s mouth was on his again before Taemin could even look at him properly, hands on his waist as he pressed their hips together. This time, the kiss wasn’t tender, and Taemin knew the lipstick left on his mouth was ruined in seconds as Jongin’s desperation poured out into it. Without holding back, Jongin kissed him deeply, lips soon parting and tongue over his lips. Only then did he pull back briefly to make a face.

“Ew,” he mumbled. “Lipstick always tastes terrible…”

Taemin giggled softly, trying not to think about how many girls Jongin must have kissed to know this. His eyes fell to Jongin’s mouth, seeing the colour smudged all over his lips now and reaching up to thumb at his lower lip. “It’s a weird colour on you,” he murmured. Something about it was strange, though maybe it was just because Jongin never wore lipstick.

“You look gorgeous,” Jongin replied, leaning in to kiss him again. “So pretty. I want to steal it from her, if you’ll wear it for me…”

Oh… Jongin really liked it, then. He wondered how it must have looked on him, glancing over Jongin’s shoulder to the mirror to try and see his reflection.

His heart nearly stopped as instead he caught sight of another person standing there.

“Um-”

Jongin’s head whipped around, alarmed at the sound of another voice. Chanyeol’s friend Kyungsoo was standing by the toilet, looking utterly lost as to what he was witnessing. They couldn’t even pull apart, because there was no point – he must have seen everything. All of a sudden, Taemin was feeling lightheaded. Stupid. They should have checked that the room was empty before just claiming it for themselves.

When neither of them said anything, Kyungsoo spoke again. “Sorry, I was just- did I miss something?”

“It- it was Chanyeol,” Jongin stammered, finally pushing back from Taemin and looking slightly panicked. “He made us…”

“Yeah, I saw that,” Kyungsoo nodded, brow furrowed intensely. “But… I mean, is this- part of… that?”

Oh no. Taemin felt like he was going to burst into tears any second. This wasn’t supposed to happen; they weren’t trying to tell more people right now. His heart was thudding in a nauseating way in his chest, the weird churning feeling up in his throat instead of his stomach, the way it always was when he started getting scared people might know. And Kyungsoo definitely knew now; there was no way they could talk their way out of it. The way they’d just been was too intimate to just be a dare, and Kyungsoo wouldn’t believe they were just drunk. It was too obvious…

His knees gave out, Taemin sliding to the floor and Jongin’s eyes flying back to him in concern. “Taem?” He sunk down beside him, the fake hair and looking worriedly back to Kyungsoo. “Please, just don’t tell anyone, okay? Forget what you saw…”

Kyungsoo came over, his own eyes lit with concern as he knelt by Taemin too. Taemin just hid his head in his knees, though he felt Kyungsoo’s hand on his shoulder. “You guys are together, then…” Jongin didn’t respond, and Taemin tried to swallow, but his throat had closed off. “It’s okay, I don’t care. I won’t say anything.” His hand gave a squeeze, and Taemin heard Jongin exhale. “I had sort of wondered, but I figured you were just like Baekhyun and Chanyeol or something…”

This brought a shaky laugh out of Jongin. “Yeah, we were. But… things changed,” he admitted. “We just aren’t really telling everyone still. Taem, are you okay? It’s okay…” His hand moved to the top of Taemin’s head, and Taemin finally lifted it. Jongin’s eyes scanned his face, while Kyungsoo gave him a reassuring half-smile.

“It’s cool,” Kyungsoo promised. “You aren’t my first not-straight friends, I don’t mind at all.”

That was true; he at least had Baekhyun as a friend too, and Baekhyun was far from in the closet. Taemin’s heart began calming a little, though his muscles all remained tense. After another moment, Jongin sat down beside him and pulled him into his lap, hand running up and down his spine. Kyungsoo got up, heading over to the sink for a moment and then coming back with a wet wipe.

“Here, try and get that makeup off you.”

Jongin took it, gently rubbing at Taemin’s mouth until it seemed to be clean before doing his own. Then he kissed Taemin’s cheek. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t being careful…”

“You never are,” Taemin mumbled, resting his cheek on Jongin’s shoulder. Kyungsoo gave a rare laugh, getting back to his feet.

“I’ll go talk to Chanyeol,” he told them. “I’m gonna say the attention was making you anxious, just so we can keep our story straight.”

“Thanks,” Jongin said quietly for both of them, Taemin merely closing his eyes. It was a good excuse, and he was grateful Kyungsoo was so quick-thinking. They scooted back a little so Kyungsoo could get out the door, and then he was closing it again and Jongin was reaching up to lock it. He leaned back and held Taemin close to him, cooing soft apologies until Taemin started to relax and grow drowsy. “Do you wanna just go home baby?”

They hadn’t even been there all that long, but part of Taemin wanted to say yes. Still, he knew Jongin had been looking forward to the evening, and he didn’t want to ruin that for him. He could always just find a corner to hide in, or maybe go lie down in Chanyeol’s room or something.

Taking a deep breath, Taemin gave his head a shake. “No, it’s okay. Let’s just stay…”

Jongin kissed his temple, rubbing his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful,” he promised, although he had said as much more than once before. Taemin merely hummed, slowly getting up before Jongin was jumping to his feet to help him. Before they left, Taemin checked his reflection – and let out a laugh.

“This wig is so ridiculous,” he said, glancing to Jongin in disbelief. “How on earth do you think I look good right now?” And he supposed he couldn’t deny that he did look more like a girl, but Taemin thought he was far from a pretty one. Jongin clearly had other thoughts though.

“You’re not seeing yourself right,” Jongin said, moving to hold the sides of Taemin’s head. He bent closer to steal a kiss, then swept his gaze over Taemin’s features. “Long hair looks good on you. You’re so pretty. I’d date you as a girl too.”

This made Taemin snort. “I hope so, if you’re willing to date me as a boy.” He pushed Jongin’s hands away gently, then tugged the wig off. Jongin’s hands were there again, brushing through his hair and sorting it out for him. Then Taemin turned toward the door, looking up when Jongin didn’t move.

“You’re pretty as my Taemin too,” he assured, making Taemin’s face heat up again. “The prettiest.”

“Please, you’re being so cheesy,” Taemin breathed, tempted to take Jongin’s hand but reminding himself that they were returning to the public. Instead he reached for the door, opening it for them. “Behave now.”

Jongin gave a salute before walking to the door. “Yessir.” Then he led the way out, Taemin making sure to stay close so they weren’t separated.

When they got back, the living room had changed into a setup Taemin remembered – people crowded on the couch while cushions were spread out on the floor. He didn’t need Chanyeol to announce it to know that it was movie time – Christmas movies tonight. Taemin was grateful for this because it gave him an excuse to avoid socializing. After giving Chanyeol back the wig, he and Jongin cuddled up together, Taemin too worn out to bother caring what people might think about them. It seemed like people were already starting to catch onto them anyway, and he just didn’t care enough to do damage control tonight.

One who was never any better, Jongin seemed thrilled when Taemin allowed him to spoon him. His fingers Taemin’s hair, playing with it absently throughout the movie. Once they got to the second one, Jongin started leaving subtle kisses under Taemin’s ear and against the back of his neck. By that point, Taemin was too sleepy to chastise him, twining their fingers together and holding onto his hand until he fell asleep.

Jongin ended up throwing a blanket over them, hugging Taemin tight until the movie ended. For a little while after he talked quietly with the others, the conversation going over Taemin at some point as someone asked if he was alright. There were a couple jokes about how traumatized he must have been from Jongin kissing him, which Jongin took in stride. At one point, someone asked if something was going on between the two of them, but Jongin brushed it off.

“We live together,” he said softly, running a hand through Taemin’s hair – though this didn’t really help their image. “We’re just used to being close…”

There was too much alcohol running through everyone’s systems to really think deeply about it, people half-attentive or passing out as the conversation continued to flow about this and that. Eventually, Jongin was dozing off too, falling into peaceful sleep, but not before whispering a gentle Merry Christmas only for Taemin to hear.

Author's Note: The secret continues to come out~ All of their friends are starting to figure it out, and it's getting a little out of their control (to Taemin's dismay and Jongin's great indifference). How is this going to unravel? Drop your guesses for them~ ♡