07

The night time air was crisp and fresh after the heat of the main building complex but no one really felt like complaining too much. Especially when for the first time in several days it was purely just the nine of them heading up the hill to finish off Christmas in their own little tradition which no one else got to partake in. Flopping onto the cold grass, Kyo chuckle wildly, “So how did this all start again?”

“Couldn’t bloody tell you,” Jaeshik said, sitting down next to the singer and automatically threw some snow in the others face, “It’s one of those odd things that we just started to do.”

“Didn’t you come up with it or something?” Sunwoo said, also flopping down, “Something about doing this sort of thing would-”

“Move over,” Sang complained immediately, shivering despite himself, “God its freezing. Let’s hurry up and get back indoors.”

Bradley chuckled, “Says the man who once went running out stark into this sort of stuff.”

“Well that was to earn money, this is just bloody freezing,” the youngster countered back but it was easy to tell that he was just playing up as per usual.

“Why is he so cranky?” Kiyeol asked, snuggling up next to Bradley to keep warm and tugging Jongki to the opposite side of him to do the same thing. The Maknae didn’t fail to notice that Jaeshik was bundled up like an Eskimo already and Bradley was fussing on with the boys scarf playfully because the last thing that he really needed was a cold to affect him now.

“Probably lost at that game he was playing with your brother, Mouse,” Jongki said, shifting to run his fingers through the odd strands of the youngster’s hair which were escaping from his duck hat. The youngster batted lightly at his hands to get him to stop but was smiling happily regardless.

There came a gentle chuckle from Kyung who had been walking slowly up the hill with Jin, “Oh he lost all right. Got beaten three times in a row fair and square and he’s not a happy about it.”

Bradley shook his head, and asked playfully, “Ah, you two finished necking now?

“Yah! Mama Bear!” Jin replied flopping down onto the grass and tickling the other’s knee, “Don’t be so crude.”

“Get used to it you two,” Jongki smirked, “We’re going to take every opportunity to annoy the pair of you about this.”

Kyo rolled over onto his stomach, “Yup, you can’t escape,” the grin was evident even in his tone of voice, “But how you going to survive this, twinny? It’s not exactly going to be easy you know.”

“I know,” Jinseok replied, leaning against Kyung who immediately began running his fingers though the other’s hair, “But me and Kyung talked about it and we’re not going to make any announcements to the fans or anything.”

“Yeah, we’re just going to keep it a secret for now,” Kyung said smiling, “On screen and stage we’ll carry on as we always have done and nothing will change in regards to that. Obviously you guys and Kuso know as well as our families but no one else...well maybe Ahri noona so she doesn’t freak out.”

Jongki grinned, “She’ll freak out regardless. Are you sure you want to keep it a secret like that though? I mean it could make things hard.”

“King,” Jin smiled, “We have enough trouble looking after our happy hyperactive puppy as is, and we don’t need any anti-fans trying to cause extra hassle because of us two having a relationship. We’ve got enough to deal with as is and I would rather just keep Kyu to myself thank you ever so much.”

“Plus you kept Jial secret for a long while,” Kyung said gently, “For slightly different reasons but I bet you would still be keeping him away from the limelight.”

For a second or two there was a pause before Jongki let out a small chuckle, “Am I really that predictable?”

“Afraid so, Appa Bear,” Kiyeol said cutely, referring to Sang’s unusual gift of getting everyone a teddy bear that represented their nicknames.

“Also called we know you a little too well [hubby],” Bradley said, taking hold of Jongki’s hand as finally everyone began to settle down in a circle on their backs with their fingers intertwining gently.

Gently they fell into a comfortable silence, just staring up at the stars twinkling in the clear night sky above them. It was amazing that out here there was next to no light pollution so the stars were so bright and clear that it was perfect. “Oh look,” Kiyeol shot his hand up, “A shooting star!”

“Quick, make a wish!” Sunwoo said in response like a total child which earned him a couple of funny looks from those lying next to him but silently everyone closed their eyes to make a wish.

Jongki couldn’t quite work out how to word his wish, so kept his eyes closed a little longer and was startled awake when something landed on his chest. Opening his eyes, he quickly sat up and caught the object which turned out to be another gift wrapped in glistening green paper, with silver ribbons and a matching bow. He blinked at it in question before turning to look at the others.

“It’s a gift for Jial,” Bradley said, “We all chipped in a little for it but it’s up to you what you want to do with it right now.”

“You got him a present?” Jongki wasn’t quite able to process the idea.

Jaeshik nodded, “We got him something for his birthday too but since you went and got mortal drunk we thought it best not to bring it up.”

Kyo gently wrapped his hands around Jongki’s neck from behind, “Plus we’ve been gathering extra bits and pieces for him whenever we can.”

“When he gets back, we’re going to throw him the biggest party going,” Kyung said with a smile which prompted Jin to say, “And we’ve even worked out how we’re going to swap rooms and stuff so that you can look after him.”

“I’m so not looking forward to having to share with someone else,” Sang moaned but grinned, “But I doubt that Jial will want too many people crowding him to begin with.”

“Me and Kiyeol even started having a look for a house that was big enough for everyone but we haven’t found anywhere good as of yet,” Sunwoo said.

Kiyeol smiled, “Plus hopefully we’ll find Taemasu soon too. Then we really will need the bigger house to fit everyone in.”

“What we’re trying to say Jongki,” Bradley said, pulling the younger leader close, “Is that we’re here for you and we’re here for Jial too. So don’t get sad and dwell on everything, when you get down just come and talk to us. We’re here for you because we love and because this lot are a bunch of soppy gits.”

There was a general chorus of yells about that last statement but Jongki couldn’t help laughing despite the fact that he had tears welling in his eyes. God he loved these crazy boys, they were his friends and a family that he never ever wanted to have to let go for any reason. Looking down at the gift, he smiled gently and wiped away a few stray tears, “I’ll hold onto this for him. I’m sure that he’ll like it, whatever it is.”

After a few minutes, mainly to allow Jongki some time to stop looking like Rudolph had made a mistake and crashed into a walk because his eyes were so red; the group got up and prepared to head back down the hill to rejoin the fun.

“Do we really have to go back to work tomorrow?” Jaeshik muttered, “It’s fun here.”

Bradley chuckled, “Trust me; you don’t want to be around on Boxing Day with my Mum.”

“Why?”

“It’s cleaning day,” Bradley replied with a knowing grin, “And she’s worse than me about doing a proper clean.”

Nodding silently, Jaeshik followed along without another complaint about going back to the job that he completely adored no end.

However the youngsters came up with a novel new game which generally revolved around the idea of everyone chasing each other around and around in circles back and forth whilst Brad and Jongki just continued down the slope like the responsible adults they were. “Hey, guys, look!” Sunwoo called, “A full moon!”

“You know what to do!” Sang called and suddenly the hill was filled with the sounds of seven boys howling their heads off.

Jongki groaned and Bradley shook his head, “Oi, you lot! We’re not bleeding Exo!”

It didn’t stop the boys howling and by the time they reached the bottom of the hill, Bradley and Jongki had reluctantly joined in purely because there was no other way that they could manage to keep sane. They got together for one final group hug before heading off to their respective bedrooms and to start saying their goodbyes to their families.

Tomorrow they would be leaving early to get back to Seoul to start preparing for the album recording and promotions which would entail lots of hard work. Jongki paused briefly to look at the present one more time and was tempted to pull the bow on the top just to take a little peek but shook his head and placed it into his bag next to the other unopened present which he had brought just in case, by some miracle, Jial would have turned up. He smiled and silently shook his head, “Merry Christmas...Jial. Wherever you are.”