Music:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZevPr99prc

 

Star Empire Entertaintment - Shooting Star

 

---

It was December 23.

 

Snow heavily covered the roads.

 

DO and Kai sat on the couch by the fireplace.

 

~

 

T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the house

 

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

 

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

 

In hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there

~

“Hyuuunnnnggggg, stop it!  You’ve been reading those stupid Christmas poems all day!” Kai groaned.

 

The others had gone out to shop for Christmas presents

 

DO hit him on the head with the book of poems.

 

“Shh!  It’s tradition!” DO told the younger.

 

Kai kicked his legs into the air.

 

“What kind of tradition lasts until 11?!” he screeched.

 

DO’s face scrunched up at the shrill sound, but continued on with the poem.

 

Kai sighed at his unrelenting brother.

 

He then grabbed a pillow off the couch and put it over his face.

 

Why meeeee?!

---

 

The boys came back home, only to find shreds of their couch pillows and its stuffing everywhere.

 

They looked around for any sign of life.

 

DO was still on the couch reading Christmas poems.

 

Suho and Xiumin walked into the kitchen and set the plastic bags down, only to find Kai with wads of cotton stuffed into his ears as he sat on the floor

eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

 

Sehun sighed at his two hyungs and went up to his room, leaving his plastic bags with Chanyeol.

 

The boys all laughed when they saw Kai on the floor eating cereal with white fluff coming out of his ears.

 

DO smirked.

 

Before they could continue on with the festivities, it was time for the young ones to go to anywhere but downstairs.

 

After they put away everything, the older brothers, Xiumin, Luhan, Kris, Suho, Lay, and Baekhyun began to wrap the presents for their family members.

 

Last year, the younger six of them had wrapped the presents, which fell apart the moment someone touched it.

 

So this year, the older boys were tasked with wrapping.

 

Suho sighed at the pile.

 

The six of them all thought the same thing.

 

It’s going to be a long night.

 

---

 

The next day, Exo were busy running all over the house, getting ready for the big Lee Family Christmas Eve Party.

 

Every Christmas Eve, at 6, after the sun sets, the Lee family would throw the most extravagant reunion party, and then on Christmas day, they would

spend time together as a family, indoors.

 

It was one of the most important family reunions of the year.

 

Right after Thanksgiving, of course.

 

---

 

Kris looked into the mirror, flashing both sides of his face to see where stubble had grown.

 

The lights shone down on him in his dark granite bathroom.

 

It’s only been three days and I already look like a hobo.

 

He put a hand over his chin, then looked down at the sink.

 

Dry shave?

 

His hand hovered over the electric razor, but then his eyes flittered over to the can of shaving cream and razor next to it.

 

Kris checked his watch.

 

I have enough time…

 

He ed his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves, hoping to not get it wet.

 

Kris turned the water on and splashed his mouth area.

 

Then he picked up the can of shaving cream and shook it.

 

Satisfied, he sprayed some shaving cream onto the palm of his hand and then spread it generously over his stubble.

 

A figure whooshed by.

 

Kris’s eyes flickered blue.

 

Someone’s here.

 

He turned around in his small bathroom but saw no one.

 

Kris turned back around to face the mirror, only to find Eun Mi, sitting on the side of the sink, wearing black shorts and one of his white dress shirts.

 

She smiled up at him and pushed her hair back.

 

“I wanna help you shave!” she grinned up at the taller.

 

Kris slowly nodded, unsure of what to do.

 

Eun Mi rinsed the razor and then began to shave.

 

As she gently shaved his stubble away, she grabbed some shaving cream and dabbed it on Kris’s nose.

 

Kris chuckled and wiped some more on his nose.

 

Then he nuzzled his nose onto Eun Mi’s cheek, causing her to burst into giggles.

 

“S-stop!  I need to finish shaving your stubble!” she laughed.

 

Kris relented, pushing the toilet cover down so he could sit.

 

With his right hand, he wiped away the shaving cream on her cheek.

 

“You’re too tall” Eun Mi pouted.

 

Kris laughed at her expression.

 

Even though he was sitting, he was slightly shorter than her.

 

“You’re just too short,” he replied.

 

“No fair” she complained as she set down the razor and reached for a towel.

 

Eun Mi put the towel under lukewarm water, then began to pat Kris’s clean face with it.

 

Kris smiled into her gentle touch.

 

He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her closer.

 

“But I still love you,” he kissed her.

 

She vanished.

 

Kris reopened his eyes, which were colored a deep blue.

 

He looked around but nobody was there.

 

Kris looked into the mirror, only to find that his shaving cream was still intact.

 

He looked down into his right hand that had a dab of shaving cream.

 

Confused, Kris quickly shaved it all off and splashed his face with cold water.

 

He stared back at his reflection with still blue eyes.

 

The tips of his bangs were still wet, water dripping down his face.

 

Eun Mi...

 

---

 

Chen ran his fingers across the piano.

 

Sighing, he closed the piano and gazed out the window.

 

Moonlight was barely shining through the curtains.

 

Uninterested, Chen harshly drew the curtains back into place and jumped onto his bed.

 

Oof!

 

Chen faceplanted into his pillow.

 

Then he heard a soft voice go oof! as well.

 

He lifted up his head to the right and saw her.

 

“Oppa~” she called out.

 

Chen gulped.

 

Eun Mi was dressed a white dress with a red sash and red heels.

 

“Oppa, do you think I can go to the party this year?  Joonmyeon Oppa said I might be able to,” Eun Mi smiled at him.

 

Chen’s small smile began to falter.

 

For as long as he could remember, Exo had always left Eun Mi alone for their family and company events.

 

Every year she begged them to let her go, and every year they replied with a heartbreaking no.

 

There was never a time where she was able to meet their entire family.

 

This year was going to be the same.

 

“Oppa?” Eun Mi’s voice snapped his attention back to her.

 

“Oh? Um, not this year baby.  I’m sorry,” he apologized to her, pulling her in gently for a hug.

 

Eun Mi’s smile dropped, but she brought it back up again.

 

“It’s okay,” she reassured him in a small voice.

 

Chen’s heart broke.

 

Every year, he watched as his sisters, brothers, and cousins brought their other halves.

 

They flaunted their love in front of him.

 

Oh how he wished he could show off Eun Mi.

 

To witness a jealous fire burn in his older brothers’ eyes as they saw his arm around her waist.

 

To be able to introduce her to his sisters.

 

To be able to brag about her to his mother as she stood beside him.

 

But he couldn’t.

 

“Oppa, it’s okay,” Eun Mi gently squeezed his hand and smiled.

 

Chen flashed back a small smile.

 

It’ll never be okay.

 

“I’m going to go change into more comfortable clothing,” Eun Mi told him, releasing his hand, but he wouldn’t let go.

 

He knew what was going to happen, and he was going to do everything in his power to stop it.

 

But the harder he held on, the looser her grip became.

 

He stared at her hard, so that she couldn’t disappear when he turned around.

 

Instead, he watched her carefully.

 

Until she began to fade.

 

Her body became transparent.

 

Her face was fading.

 

Everything about her had faded, just like that of their beautiful memories.

 

---

 

Sehun tried to retie his tie for the last time, but the white piece of fabric simply did not heed him.

 

Or at least, that’s what he said.

 

Frustrated, he threw the tie down on the ground and stomped away to his closet.

 

A small, pale hand reached down and delicately picked up the white tie.

 

Her lips curled up into a small smile.

 

I never got to teach you how to tie a tie.

 

With light feet, Eun Mi walked into Sehun’s closet.

 

His back was towards her.

 

He searched through his variety of watches and bracelets.

 

“I like this one” Eun Mi peered around him and pointed at the silver watch.

 

Sehun froze.

 

He slowly turned his head towards the source of the sound.

 

Eun Mi giggled in reply.

 

She grabbed his bicep and turned him so that he would be facing her.

 

“Oppa, you really need to learn to tie a tie,” she told him, popping his collars up.

 

Then she began to tie his tie.

 

Sehun stared at her in shock.

 

“W-what” he began to mutter.

 

Eun Mi hummed as she popped his collars back down.

 

She reached for one of the watches, and looked at him.

 

“Hand!” she grinned, putting her hand out.

 

Sehun blinked for a while, then slowly slid his hand into hers.

 

Eun Mi tightly grabbed onto his hand and clasped the watch onto his slim wrist.

 

“There!  All done!” she beamed back up at Sehun.

 

Sehun’s eyes watered.

 

Eun Mi had done this for him for the past five years.

 

Every day she fixed his tie for school.

 

Every month she fixed his tie for family meetings.

 

Every year she fixed his tie for parties.

 

Every single time, except for now.

 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered to her.

 

A tiny tear slid down his face.

 

“What do you mean?  You don’t need to be sorry for anything,” Eun Mi gently wiped the tear away with her thumb.

 

Sehun drew her in for a hug.

 

The hug he was never able to give her before she died.

 

The hug that expressed how much he loved her.

 

The hug that he never had the courage to do.

 

Eun Mi was gone.

 

She had left him.

 

Not because she didn’t love Oh Sehun, but because she loved Oh Sehun the human, not the vampire.

 

---

 

Exo arrived a large building in a shiny, black limo.

 

One by one, the 12 boys stepped out in their tuxedos and walked in.

 

Maids, butlers, cleaners, and everyone else stopped what they were doing and bowed a direct 90 degrees to them.

 

Sehun fixed his tie and cracked a small smile.

 

Another year, another party.

 

He and Exo sighed.

 

They wanted to go home, crawl into their bed and bawl their eyes out even more.

 

Tao and Sehun wanted to pig out on ice cream.

 

DO and Kai were craving chicken.

 

Kris and Luhan wanted some homemade cookies.

 

Lay was craving cheese balls.

 

Xiumin and Baekhyun wanted to eat hot pot.

 

Chanyeol and Suho wanted some spaghetti.

 

All their cravings, despite how much they wanted, the one thing they craved the most, was unreachable.

 

It was Eun Mi.

 

They were going to miss how she would fall asleep on the couch waiting for them.

 

They were going to miss how she would send them small texts about how much she missed them.

 

But most of all, they missed her.

 

They wanted to finish the party and get it done with.

 

They wanted to go home.

But this time, there would be no one home.

---

Sorry I've been out for a while guys!

I meant to update on New Year's but I got distracted and sick....

So yeah.....

And also, in chapter 11 when YG has their family meeting, I changed it to December 22, because..well, Christmas in this story is just beginning...so...uh, yeah.

Kinda late.... but yeah....

And also, I apologize for any grammar mistakes!

Hurray for new subscribers!  ;)))

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