XIII

It was Christmas Eve and Rina was at the book store with Woohyun while Nami flew around the place, tidying it up before the holiday. Before she could forget, Rina placed her book down and cleared .

The other two turned to look at her.

"Hey, um, my family is having a Christmas party, I guess, and I was wondering if you guys wanted to come? I mean, you guys don't have to ditch your families or your previous plans to come! I invited the other guys and their families are going to come along! You don't have to worry about being left out because it won't be much, I guess? Um, well, yeah!" she exclaimed, slurring over her words as she tried to say them quickly.

Nami giggled at her shyness and Woohyun let out a stiffled laugh. Rina's cheeks turned beet red from embarrassment.

Woohyun closed his book shut. "My mom wasn't even thinking about having a Christmas dinner anyways so I'm sure she'll be glad to come."

Rina blew out a sigh of relief because she hadn't made a fool of herself for nothing. She looked at Nami for her answer.

"I'll ask my grandparents if it's okay," she smiled.

Oh thank God I didn't completely fudge that up.

She went back to rereading A Midsummer Night's Dream with a much calmer heart since she had gotten that off of her chest. The Kim residence was going to be very crowded tomorrow. She wasn't sure how her mom would react with so many boys at one time. She hoped that they wouldn't drool over Rie though because the last thing she needed on Christmas was to have more people fall in love with her older sister and forget about her completely. She had been overshadowed so many times but she could never get used to it and she didn't want to, at all.

As usual, by the time the words on the books could not be visible in the dusk of the room, the three friends set off towards home after bidding each other farewell.

Nami waved at Rina with a grin. "I'll see you tomorrow!" She waved back.

After the cheerful, baby-faced girl disappeared from sight, Rina headed towards the direction of her house.

"Rina!" Woohyun called. She turned around with a questioning look on her face. Woohyun beamed at her with his signature grin, the one that made her want to pinch his cheeks. When he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace, Rina's head starting spinning. "I'll see you tomorrow, also. Good evening!"

The boy let her go before running away in the opposite direction.

She was so confused. It was just a friendly hug, right? Then why did it not feel like one? She shook her head. Special friends was what they were. Speical friends.

With a jumbled mind, Rina trudged through the snow towards home. When she stumbled through the front door of her house, she was greeted by the three boys playing video games in the parlor again. One of their distant relatives had apparently given Ryan a replacement for his broken Xbox 360 as an early Christmas present, as if his brand new PS3 wasn't enough.

She walked over to where Shi Hoo was sitting and wrapped her arms around his chest, kissing him on the cheeks. Ryan crinkled up his nose in disgust. Just to annoy the hell out of her brother, Rina slightly turned her boyfriend's head and kissed him on the lips which he didn't really mind.

Ryan groaned, throwing his controller onto the coffee table. "God, go get a room!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Last time I checked, displaying affection in my own living room wasn't against the law! Plus, it wasn't like I was eating him or anything!"

"Dear lord, I don't need that image in my mind!" he yelled as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Just another day in the Kim residence.

"Oh shut up, you little hypocrite! I know what you download on that new Mac of yours!" Rina snapped in English, leaving her brother completely speechless.

Rina: 1 - Ryan: 0

Jong Suk couldn't hold his laughter any longer and let out an impolite guffaw which soon led to Shi Hoo and Rina chortling at Ryan's misery. When the oldest Kim sibling walked into the room to see everyone laughing while the youngest sibling was sitting in a corner dying from embarrassment, she was confused. "What's going on?"

Jong Suk wiped the tears from his eyes while holding onto his aching stomach with another arm. "Ryan just completely got served by Rina," he managed to say through his hiccups.

Rie eyed her two siblings, raising an eyebrow. Rina accusingly jabbed a finger at Ryan. "The brat started it!"

His jaw dropped in disblief. "Did not! Noona started it!" he retorted.

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Did t---"

"Stop it, the both of you! Rie yelled, raising her voice for the first time in years, shocking not only herself but everyone else. She coughed, clearing after making the atmosphere awkward. "M-must I remind you that Christmas is tomorrow? Everyone must be nice to each other! Extra nice, caring, and loving!"

Rina frowned, pressing her lips into a thin line. "Oh please, I'd like to see Ryan try to be nice and caring." she scoffed.

"You're always the one being mean to me!" Ryan retorted, throwing a pillow at her face.

Oh snap.

Shi Hoo's eyes widened when he saw his girlfriend fall down from the surprise impact.

"Oh , you just earned yourself a death wish." Jong Suk commented with sparkling eyes.

"O-o-oh God, save me. MOM!"

Everyone that had been invited to the Kim's Christmas dinner had arrived and were all downstairs. The men and children were in the parlor socializing meanwhile the women were hard at work in the kitchen preparing the scrumptious Christmas dishes that needed to still be worked on or in the dining room setting everything up.

Only friends were over(mostly Rina's) because they had already eaten lunch with the family. Most of the family members were back in Baltimore or in other places of the world such as France, London, and Melbourne though.

"My my, your house has such marvelous interior design! This must have cost you a fortune, Mrs.Kim!" Sungyeol's mom exclaimed as she prepared the egg salad.

Rina's mom smiled, taking the ham out of the oven. "My youngest daughter's boyfriend bought the house for us, actually. One of his friends did the interior design and since my daughter used to be an arts student, she's working on the exterior design right now."

All the moms stopped what they were doing out of shock. The looks on their faces were priceless because Rie couldn't help but stiffle a laugh.

"O-oh really now?"

They all went back to work while creating small talk and Mrs.Kim(Rina's mom) soon became very close with the other mothers that have known each other for a very long time.

By the time everything was set and ready, Rina had yet to be seen. All the adults were sitting down at the elegant dining table while the teengagers and little siblings were in the parlor.

Mrs.Kim sent Rie to go upstairs to call her sister down to eat and so she did.

"Rina, come out and eat!" she said, knocking on her door. She heard a series of grunts and groans before the noises were right by the door.

"But I don't want to go out! I look---I look---I look like a Barbie doll!" Rina exasperatedly exclaimed in disbelief. "It'll be the end of the world if the boys see me in this! Can't I just wear jeans?"

RIe couldn't help but smile. "I bet you look cute. After all, you are my sister! Just come out, I bet you don't look that bad."

When she stepped out, the sight that Rie was met with was far from 'that bad'. For the first time in centuries, Rina didn't look like a rebellious child. She looked like an angel! With soft curls in her slightly faded orange hair, a lacy white dress that went past her knees, make-up and if you ignored the scowl on her face, Rina could totally pass off as a model or something!

Even her sister was blown away. "You little brat, you look absolutely gorgeous!"

Rina rolled her eyes in annoyance as she brushed past her, taking note of her sister's own attire. "Oh whatever! You still look prettier than me anyways. They're never gonna let me live this down."

Downstairs the boys were all dressed formally and gee, they looked mighty fine. Even Jong Suk and Shi Hoo had a special sort of pizzazz to their appearance. When Rina appeared before them, her change of image knocked the breath of even Myungsoo away.

"Yah Ryan, Sungjong nudged his new same-aged friend, "who is that girl standing next to your oldest sister? She's gorgeous!"

The smile that Woohyun had on his face grew brighter. He jumped up and was about to go over to Rina but someone beat him to it.

"Remind me to force you to wear dresses more often," Shi Hoo joked as he s an arm around her waist.

Woohyun awkwardly sat back down again, clearing his throat with flushed cheeks when Shi Hoo leaned in to peck her on the cheek.

The couple sat down next to each other and it wasn't long before Rina remembered something. "Oh, did you guys get formally introduced yet?"

Shi Hoo chuckled. "Don't you think that that was the first thing I did?" He lightly flicked her forehead.

SHe laughed that bell-like laugh of hers which made all of the boys, excluding Woohyun and Jong Suk, cringe. Sungjong wrinkled his nose. "Ryan, you weren't kidding when you said that their affection towards each other was nauseating."

Rina narrowed her eyes at the two. "Hey, little jerk, do you want me to tell mom what's on that laptop of yours?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jong Suk ruffled up Ryan's hair, "Now now, don't tease the poor boy. It's a process of growing up. Every man in this room has watched it at least once or twice, you know? Even Steven hyung."

The two sisters choked on their saliva while everyone else started laughing. "Someone get that image out of my head!" Rina screamed as she started to playfully sob.

"It's educational for not only him but you too, little one." Jong Suk kept on teasing but this time, in English.

The people that didn't understand were confused as to why Rina started shuddering. "Shut your trap, Lee Jong Suk! There are little children running around!" As if on cue, one of the boys' siblings ran through the parlor and back out again.

"Little children," he repeated while wiggling his eyebrows.

Before Rina could vomit and commit first order murder, Mrs.Kim interrupted the loud commotion to tell everyone to start eating. Only when they were stuffing food in their mouths did everyone quiet down a bit, talking only when necessary such as, "pass the gravy" or, "chew with your mouth closed".

It was---peaceful, in a way. After everyone had been stuffed full though, things only got louder. The adults couldn't handle the noise level to the point where they even resorted to standing outside with their alcoholic drinks on the patio. Little kids were seen running around the property, the teenagers were socializing like they would in a regular party; it was complete chaos.

But hey, at least everyone had fun right?

Even if Woohyun didn't like the intimate moments between Rina and her boyfriend, it was still nice to be in her presence.

As for Rina, well, she finally had friends. Who could have asked for more? The bad memories were being replaced with wonderful new ones.

She turned her hea to the left where she saw Woohyun and Sunggyu laughing about something by themselves. A warm smile appeared on her face just as Woohyun had turned his head. He nodded in her direction.

"Merry Christmas," she mouthed.

"Merry Christmas, Rina."