Christmas went just as fast as it came, and Taekwoon really wondered why they bothered with it at all. Yixing kept the answer to himself like a secret he had to guard for the rest of his life, and it probably wasn't worth trying to pull out of him.

Since Christmas passed though, he couldn't stop thinking about the New Year's Party, and how it would be when he gave his gifts to Ravi and his family. He hoped they liked them because he didn't spend all that time struggling over what to get them for nothing—no, strike that, they would like them . . . Whether they liked it or not.

He sighed to himself. He just hoped no one from school found out he'd be going to this party. It would undoubtedly cause more of a rift between him and Hakyeon, and the others too.

Jongdae hadn't come over, called, or texted him once, and he was a little afraid about it. How could anything with Ravi possibly be that bad? He remembered what Hyeri said . . . How Ravi was a liar and couldn't keep his promises. What did that even mean? He wished he could ask him himself, but he was too embarrassed to even look at him since the napping incident.

Having to explain the party to Seungho was . . . a little difficult. Naturally, Seungho wanted to know where they lived, who their parents were, and from what time to what time would said party be happening. Taekwoon clammed up then and there with panic—he hadn't known any of those answers. Yixing had to calm him down before he called Hongbin in a frenzy to demand all those things. A nervous text message ended up being sent instead.

He was just glad Seungho didn't exactly have the time to meet this Auntie he talked to over the phone. That lady was probably put up to this, probably paid off or something.

"Nervous?" Yixing asked when he found Taekwoon recounting the presents, yet again. Taekwoon glared at him in response. "Woonie, that's the fifth time you've checked those things. They're all there. What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter." he snapped. Instead of being offended, Yixing snickered. He began to hum a popular girl group song under his breath about being a liar, only adding to Taekwoon's ire.

Yixing let it go, only to move onto an even more annoying (jittery?) topic, "So, tell me about that guy, what's his name? . . . Ravi?"

Taekwoon froze. Ravi? He hadn't even talked about him in front of Yixing—not that much anyway. Why would he have something to say about Ravi? They weren't even close; not even friends. Not . . . anything. Sure, there was always a bit of edge when they were together, and Ravi always did act a little . . . weird, but Taekwoon couldn't say anything about that. He was weird too.

". . . What about him?" he asked, struggling not to sound nervous. He moved away from the presents and into the kitchen, not looking at Yixing.

"He's the worst of them, right? I remember that's what you told me." He sounded innocent, but Taekwoon knew better; he was onto something, and it was only something that could prickle his embarrassed nerves. He bit his lip.

"He . . . He's not the worst . . ." he replied, struggling. "We're not even friends . . . I don't even know him."

"That's great then!" He Yixing with surprise. "That means you can get to know him better at the party."

Taekwoon stared at him. It was useless to argue with a plotting, enthusiastic Yixing.

But I don't . . . I don't want to know him.

"No funny business you two." Seungho said, setting the last of the presents into a bag. "If you're going to stay there past eleven, you need to message me. If you want me to pick you up, call me. If anything happens—" Taekwoon looked at him with exasperation. "Hey, it's not that I don't trust you," But he didn't finish. Taekwoon didn't need to be told the rest though. He really didn't want to hear it from his sisters.

Seungho continued to lay out rules for the both of them (mainly Taekwoon) and repeatedly mentioned to stay safe. It was a little overbearing for Taekwoon but . . . it was better than what any other adult in his life gave him. He sent them off with a warning to behave, but didn't give an, Or else.

As soon as they were actually walking to Ravi's house, Taekwoon felt the weight of where he was going and what for really sit on him. He'd been there before, why was he getting so nervous? There would just be Ravi and them, and a few other people he might not know. It was no big deal. He could do it.

Yixing sensed his nervousness and chatted all the way through, bouncing from one subject to another and pointedly avoiding Hakyeon and his other friends, and Ravi and the party too. The bag of gifts weighed heavier every step they took.

"What a strange neighborhood," Yixing commented when they were getting closer. He was right; a lot of the houses were old and empty, though none of them felt like they came close to the decrepitude of Ravi's house—then again, Taekwoon learned looks were seriously deceiving. Any one of these houses could have an actual paradise inside of them.

A thousand different subjects and several hundred mental recounts later, the two of them finally came up to the iron gates of the house. Yixing thrummed with a low level of excitement that Taekwoon wished would help him relax, but his hands only tightened on the bag straps. He pulled open the gate and it wailed louder than ever before—or maybe that was just his nerves.

"Watch your step," he told Yixing distractedly. The made their steady way through the broken path and up the stairs.

"You sure this is the right house?" Yixing asked, and Taekwoon turned to him to glare, but realized he was serious. He took a deep breath.

"I know, me too." he responded, and then raised his hand to knock. It didn't come.

Yixing waited a moment for him before asking, "Are you—"

"I'm not nervous." Taekwoon snapped, curling his knocking fist.

Yixing snorted, obviously not buying it, and Taekwoon was really beginning to hate how he could read him so well. "I'll just wait for you here, wouldn't it be kind of weird if only I showed up? No one even knows me here." he laughed.

He hated to admit it, but Yixing was right. He couldn't go in by himself and needed Taekwoon to get it together. He didn't even know why he was so nervous. Maybe it was just the sheer amount of strangers that would be there (though there weren't supposed to be many), or that he tried to make himself look good for . . . Well.

He took a deep breath and nodded to himself, subsequently ignoring Yixing's amused chuckle. He raised his fist again to knock at the door, but before he could, it opened.

A light flashed and Taekwoon blinked several times, nearly bumping into Yixing before he set himself straight. Ken and Hongbin were on the other side of the door, and Hongbin was holding a camera—both were laughing, practically curling on each other.

Before he can think of what he's doing, Taekwoon lunges at Ken (because Hongbin's camera looks expensive, and how would he explain that to his sisters?) He hears Yixing call after him, and Ken is cackling in front of him, saying something like, You should've seen your face!

"I'll cut your face off and keep it for mine then!" Taekwoon snarls after him, and chases him down the hall and straight into the living room.

Ken turns the corner and disappears into another room, but Taekwoon promptly freezes. He's surrounded by strangers. All of their eyes are on him.

. . . This wasn't a small get together.

Oh god, I—He stumbles back, bile quickly rising in his throat, and when he sees Ken again, he's going to murder him, but first he has to make sure he doesn't vomit—

"Taekwoon?"

Taekwoon whips around and comes face to face with Ravi. His face is burning and his heart sprints a hundred miles a minute, and now he's almost sure tears are burning his eyes.

Ravi smiles sympathetically at him. "You alright? You look like you're 'bout to cry."

Taekwoon chomps down on his bottom lip, looks over his shoulder at the people staring, and then hurries back to look at Ravi. "I—I— . . ." he struggles, and he wishes he could sink into the floor. Ken is so dead.

"Taekwoon?" And then he turns again to see Yixing walking into the living room with Hongbin and his -eating smile of a thousand supernovae. Taekwoon, defeated, moves around Ravi and plops his head onto Yixing's chest, already exhausted and ready to die.

"I want to go home . . ." he mumbles, and the music is luckily loud enough that no one else hears him.

Yixing laughs, and even though it's at him, he suddenly feels a little better. He puts his hands on Taekwoon's shoulders and straightens him out. "Don't be like that. These are your friends too, right? You can't just bail on them when you're here for them."

Taekwoon takes another long, deep breath and stands upright. Yixing's smile is comforting, and at least he's not alone; who would've saved him then? He looks over his shoulder, and Hongbin is by Ravi now, who has a funny, not-smiling look on his face. Hongbin nudges him in the side and Ravi seems to snap out of it before he grins.

"Leo," he hums, "And Leo-hyung's . . . friend, I guess."

Yixing doesn't react badly to that, and waves at the both of them.

"Are you thirsty?" Ravi asks, beginning to turn.

Taekwoon slowly nods and almost wonders if Ravi thinks he looks . . . okay. He shakes his head and motions Yixing along, who has taken to chatting with Hongbin and laughing over something he can't hear. Other guests aren't staring anymore, but he catches their glances. He fixes his own hair fringe.

This . . . was going to be a long night.

They get into the kitchen where more people are, sitting around and talking, and Taekwoon clutches the bag closer to himself just to feel protected. Ken appears at his side, grinning mischievously.

"What's in the bag?" he drawls, obnoxiously tugging at it. Taekwoon snatches it back.

"It's—It's . . ." His face is heating up faster than he can process his thoughts. He doesn't know how to say it. By god though, Yixing comes through to save him.

"They're gifts." he smiles, patting Taekwoon on the shoulder. Ravi pulls out of the refrigerator with soda bottles, a surprised look on his face.

"Presents?" he blurts, and Taekwoon wants to bury his face into the bag and never look out again.

"Presents." Yixing nods seriously, "For Christmas, for you and your family."

The three of them, Ken, Ravi, and Hongbin are quiet, and Taekwoon fears they might be offended somehow—but why would they be, he bought them for—

Ken throws his arms around Taekwoon, shoving him up against the wall next to the fridge and nuzzles his face too hard into his neck. "Leo-Leo!" he faux cries, "You do love us!"

Taekwoon's whole body his about to overheat at that point. It's a whole entire eternity before someone pulls him off.

"Hey, watch it," Ravi scolds with a glare, but Ken ignores it.

"Leo loves us, you guys!" he chants, wiping fake tears. His face lights up with renewed realization, "I gotta go tell everyone!" And then he runs off.

Taekwoon stands there in bafflement before Ravi snaps him out of it by holding a plastic cup to him. "It's cream soda," he clarifies, "I think you said you liked it one time."

He stares at it a moment like it's a bomb, but relaxes into grabbing it. He feels Ravi watch him take small sips of it and then he mutters a small thank you. It's weird that Ravi remembers him liking cream soda when he wasn't even around when he told Hyuk he did.

"Want me to take your bag? I can put it in my room until later." he offers, and Taekwoon unconsciously holds onto it tighter.

He's almost forgotten Yixing was still there with him, though he was mainly preoccupied with talking to Hongbin (who was, by extension, introducing him to some of the other people at the party), until he patted him on the shoulder and nodded his support.

Taekwoon pulls off the bag and gingerly hands it to Ravi.

"Why don't you come with me? Just so you can know where I put it." he says, though to Taekwoon it sounds like a little bit of a lame excuse (which gets his heart beating just a bit faster).

Still chatting with Hongbin and greeting other guests, Yixing none too covertly pushes him towards Ravi. At this point, he has no choice.

Shouldering the back, Ravi grins as he grabs onto his wrist and then guides him through the guests to the upstairs. Taekwoon can feel eyes on them, like all these people who knew Ravi were judging him for some reason. Just before they went up the stairs, he spotted a familiar baby face and dread soaked through him as he quickly tried to place it with anyone at school.

Oh, it's that girl. Hyeri. He thought, relief exchanging places with the awful feeling. She was with another girl who had full cheeks and pretty eyeliner. They both watched him and Ravi disappear up the stairs.

More people were in the lounge on the second floor, a few calling out to Ravi, but he only briefly greeted them before he guided Taekwoon around the wall and to the familiar slim staircase that lead to the attic.

He finally got his own hand back when they ascended the steps, and he waited at the top while Ravi move things around. The bag was finally settled next to an old desk.

"So, uh . . ." Ravi began, and Taekwoon twitched with surprise, "Your friend . . . ?"

"Yixing," Taekwoon provided, brow quirked.

"Yixing," Ravi nodded, "I've never seen him before, is he new?"

Though he was still embarrassed about all of this, he wanted to laugh at how funny Ravi sounded. "Yixing's from China. He's visiting for the break."

"Ah," Ravi let out, rubbing his arm. They stared at each other a long, awkward moment before he cleared his throat again, "Let's get back to the others."

They made their way back downstairs, but not before several people Ravi knew stopped them and asked about Taekwoon. He couldn't help dodging behind Ravi to hide and sort of wished he could've just stayed in Ravi's room for the remainder of the party. Sure, he'd have to sacrifice Yixing to Hongbin's Cunning Evil Ways, but it was a small price to pay for his comfort.

Ravi did introduce him to a few people with names he didn't recognize; Taemin, Moonkyu, Jihoon, Bomi, Hyuna, and et cetera, but he didn't keep the conversation long and smoothly steered it away from him before taking off back downstairs. Taekwoon was surprised that he only had to say hello and the rest was in Ravi's hands.

"Is Yongguk here?" he asked when they were in the living room, spectating two guests racing on the game console. It'd be weird if he wasn't here, this was his party after all.

Ravi smiled at him. "He's here, just in his room now. His date's here so they must be spending, uh, like private time together or whatever."

A date? Taekwoon thought. Yongguk having romantic feelings for someone was a weird thought.

They watched one of the drivers crash before Ravi talked again, "Are you staying for the countdown?"

Taekwoon stared at him, confused. The what?

Ravi blinked in surprise. "It's New Year's Eve," he supplied, and Taekwoon's eyes widened in remembrance. "Ah, sorry, I didn't—"

"Of course he's staying!" Hongbin appeared with Yixing, throwing his arm around Taekwoon's shoulder. "It wouldn't be a party without Taekwoon." he teased.

Taekwoon looked to Yixing for help, but something told him Hongbin already talked him into it. He inwardly groaned. What about Seungho though? Shouldn't they get home before midnight? He really didn't want to get in trouble.

As if Yixing already foresaw his thoughts, he pulled out his phone and waggled it at him, "I already told Seungho-hyung." he smiled cheekily, and Taekwoon groaned inside some more.

It wasn't that he didn't want to stay . . . Well. It would be nice to spend New Year's surrounded by people (his age) and actual friends, he guessed. He looked to Yixing one more time for reassurance and he smiled back, so maybe it wasn't a bad idea after all.

"I guess so . . ." Taekwoon muttered, and he quickly looked away, blushing about the grin Ravi sported in reply.

Not long after that, Hongbin wrangled Taekwoon and Yixing into the gamer's seats, and soon they were playing a duo fighting game against some other strangers. It didn't take long for Taekwoon to swing into competition mode, and he was quickly absorbing the atmosphere and Yixing's energy next to him.

From behind them were Hongbin and Ravi, where they leaned against the staircase wall. Hongbin sneaked a glance at his brother, a coy smile playing about his lips. Ravi wasn't even watching them play, he was watching them—or more specifically, one of them.

Hongbin nudged him in the side, "They look pretty good together, huh?" he said slyly, though he knew Ravi wasn't paying attention to his intonation. "Taekwoon told me the other day, I ran into him at the cafe, he said he Yixing is his closest friend." Of course that was a lie, but if it could get under Ravi's skin, a little white lie wouldn't hurt.

He got the desired reaction; Ravi tensed slightly. "They're dating?" he jumped to conclusion on his own.

Hongbin laughed, though to guests, it sounded like Ravi told him a hilarious joke. "Beats me!" he replied, "But they look like it, huh?" he encouraged.

Ravi didn't respond that time.

Taekwoon and Yixing finally swapped out with another duo. Taekwoon hid his face in Yixing's shoulder, laughing about the game and their stupid messups, but only because Yixing told him not to be a sore winner. Yixing looked up from patting Taekwoon's back to Ravi, who he caught watching them. He smiled knowingly.

The party went on, and when he wasn't glued to Yixing's side, being tortured by Hongbin and Ken, or trying to make himself as small as possible, Taekwoon found himself standing next to Ravi, who made conversation with the people around him so easily. It was a tiny bit awing how laid back he was around everyone, but when he imagined him with the people he went to school with . . . Reputation had a lot of gravity.

"Leo!" a high-pitched voice sang, and suddenly he was bombarded by a hug of thin arms.

Eyes wide, he nearly stumbled into the couch, but his own arm was caught by Ravi, who he gaped at with surprise. He quickly pulled back from whoever hugged him and, "It's you," he let out.

It was Hyeri, bobbed hair bouncing around her doll face. "It's me!" she sang happily, like they were best friends. He nearly curled in on himself from how tightly she hugged. "Imagine my surprise when I saw the Big Scary Leo was here," she laughed, "Wooow, you must be really good friends with Ravi-oppa then, huh?" She nudged him, waggling her eyebrows provocatively.

Taekwoon blushed at the implications, wishing she would get off him. I'm not scary . . . He scowled.

"Ohh, fierce!" she giggled more, and then waved her hand like none of that was important. "Anyway, I'd like to introduce you to my friend here," she said, and then grabbed another girl's arm and tugged her over. It was the other girl with round cheeks and impeccable eyeliner; her hair was long and dark brown, and Taekwoon vaguely thought she was cute because of how she blushed. She probably didn't want to be here either. "This is Minah!"

He accidentally caught Ravi tensing and looking over at them. Minah, too; she was clearly avoiding Ravi's gaze. He felt embarrassed just looking between them.

"Hi," she greeted when she met his gaze, and she stuck her hand out.

Taekwoon looked at it a long, awkward moment, and she almost drew it back, but he took it then. "Hi . . ." he said, a bit more shyly than wanted. "Sorry," he apologized needlessly.

She waved a gentle hand, a complete contrast to Hyeri (who was already chatting up another party guest). "I should apologize too, she's always like this." she smiled sympathetically. ". . . Are you friends with the hosts?"

Taekwoon bit his lip and looked off to the side. Ravi was trying to be covert, but he was throwing glances their way every few seconds. "Uh, not really? I guess . . . Yes, I guess . . . I know them, and I'm over here sometimes . . ." He really wished he had a good answer for that one.

She nodded agreeably. "It's okay, I think I get it." Her eyes curved cutely. She gave him a short goodbye and pulled Hyeri away with a frown.

Ravi quickly appeared in his line of view to say something, but Ken's voice could be heard loud throughout the living room.

"There he is!" he announced, flourishing his arms dramatically, "Man of the night!"

There were whoops and cheers, and Taekwoon had to lean over to see Yongguk coming out of the kitchen, another person by his side. People parted and Taekwoon blinked in surprise—Daehyun was hand-in-hand with Yongguk. What was he doing here?

People were greeting the guest of honor and Daehyun was saying hello to a few people too, smiling, until his eyes found Taekwoon's. They gaped at each other. Daehyun pointed at him wordlessly, Yongguk still distracted with greetings, and Taekwoon opened his mouth to say something back until Daehyun simpered and shook his head. Taekwoon glanced one more time at his hand held by Yongguk's, and when he looked back up, Daehyun mouthed, Later.

It wasn't like he demanded an explanation. Daehyun seemed like he was in the same boat as Taekwoon—it was just bewildering to see him here.

"Something wrong?" Ravi asked, leaning in a little too close. Taekwoon shifted back and shook his head.

Finally let through by the throngs of congratulations (there were more people here than Taekwoon thought), Yongguk came up to them, all smiles and crinkled eyes. His face lit up even more at the sight of Taekwoon.

"You made it," he beamed, unusually bright, and Taekwoon wondered if it had anything to do with Daehyun being so close to him. Yongguk lifted his hand to ruffle at Taekwoon's hair, leaving him surprised (yet again) and embarrassed. "Has it been good?" he asked.

Taekwoon knew he was asking if he was comfortable here, and he couldn't do anything but nod. Everything was fine, he supposed. "Thanks for inviting me," he added, trying not to look at Daehyun so much.

Yongguk slid a meaningful look at Ravi, but shook his head, "It wouldn't have been the same without you." he smiled.

Taekwoon glanced at Ravi, who ran a hand through his hair and was trying to hide a faint red tint to his cheeks.

After Taekwoon gave his congratulations, he watched Yongguk go off to talk to more people with Daehyun in tow. Were they together? How long had they been a thing? Did Daehyun get harassed too? Maybe he was better about keeping it secret—or just didn't have as bothersome friends as Taekwoon did. (If he even had any friends left, he grimaced.)

While the party went on, midnight drawing closer, Taekwoon wondered when would be a good time to give his belated Christmas presents to Ravi and them. His face warmed at the fact that he even bothered, but that must mean something, didn't it? Yixing thought it did, not that Taekwoon really wanted to know what he thought in the first place.

"Did you know there're gonna be fireworks tonight?" Ravi blurted to catch his attention.

"For New Year's?" Taekwoon asked.

Ravi nodded, grinning, "They're kinda far, but Yongguk-hyung said we can pop a few in the backyard too when it's time. We got sparklers and everything." His face was bright at the prospect.

Taekwoon eased a little too. He couldn't remember the last time he played with sparklers; maybe when he was a kid and his family actually spent time together.

Despite his fears, the longer the party went on, the more relaxed he felt. Though there were several social mishaps (that were not all his fault), he found that either Yixing or Ravi were automatically there to sweep away the emotional repercussions; they made it easy to get into the swing of things. People tried to talk to him a lot, curious about who he was and how he was friends with Ravi & Company, but they were mostly polite and friendly. He wondered if he would've been like them too if he hadn't moved around so much.

"Midnight's soon," Ken announced. They were at a small table, playing cards and betting small, plastic teeth that had mysteriously appeared from Hongbin, "Everyone get the hell out of my house!"

Hongbin whacked him on the back of the head. "He means move into the backyard." he corrected, and people started doing just that.

The guests had thinned out a little over the last hour since there were people who wanted to spend it with someone else, maybe other friends or their families. Taekwoon wondered what Seungho was up to; he couldn't remember if he worked tonight. Maybe he was out drinking with friends too.

When most of them were outside, Taekwoon looked around, "Where's Hyuk?" he asked, realizing he hadn't seen the boy all night.

Ken scowled, but dodged Hongbin's hand coming for him this time. "Hyogie bailed on us last minute and went to spend the night at his girlfriend's house." he sighed, like it was the worst crime anyone in the world ever committed. Hearing the word "girlfriend" surprised Taekwoon.

Hongbin rolled his eyes. "Shut up and go get all the sparklers. Yongguk-hyung probably already has the fire extinguisher, so don't bother looking for that."

Yixing couldn't help the alarm he glanced at Taekwoon with, but Taekwoon only shrugged. To hear that sort of thing in this house of weirdos was normal now. He just couldn't believe Hyuk had a girlfriend.

Hongbin cleaned and put away the small folding table and Ken came back with wads of sparklers. The five of them sorted through them together, double checking that there was enough for everyone at the party to have at least one. With a cheeky grin, Ken held out more than a few to Ravi. Taekwoon looked at Ravi who was rubbing his face and shaking his head a lot. He looked at Hongbin whispering something in Yixing's ear, and Yixing subsequently broke into a smile. That couldn't mean anything good.

"I'll be back," Ravi said, holding his sparklers, and then he disappeared up the stairs.

The rest of them began walking through the kitchen to the backyard, but Hongbin wheeled on him, "No, no," he smiled, a little too bright to be innocent, "I think Ravi will need your help. He went to his room."

Help with what? Taekwoon looked at Yixing for help, but one second of seeing his glittering eyes told him no one was on his side tonight. He wanted to groan.

"We'll be outside," Hongbin singsonged, linking arms with the other two. Yixing took a last look over their shoulders and waved playfully.

They left Taekwoon in the middle of the kitchen, dumbfounded. He rubbed his face hard. He didn't know what game Hongbin was playing, but he couldn't believe he dragged his best friend into it and turned him on him. Why was everyone so bent on seeing him suffer? A verbal groan resonated in the empty kitchen.

He could follow them outside, but they said Ravi needed help. With what? Did they even know what he left for?

Heaving a sigh, he inevitably his heel and stalked up all the way to Ravi's room. The house's new quiet was weird and his stomach twisted.

When he got to the right room, it was dim and empty. He looked around for Ravi, but all he found was a dim lamp on the desk. A window parallel to the bed was open. Taekwoon walked over to it and looked out; the backyard was below and little lamps lit up the area. He spied Ken playing rock, paper, scissors with a guest, and there was Yongguk and Daehyun, holding hands and sitting on a stone bench (he was still getting used to that idea too). He couldn't spot Hongbin or Yixing.

"Oh," he heard a deep voice say.

He leaned out a little, wary of the ground below, and turned his neck. Ravi stared from his seat on the rooftop, white curls gleaming by the moonlight in an unreal way. He quickly pulled back in, heart beating a little heavier—what were Hongbin and Yixing trying to do?

"Leo-hyung?" Ravi called, and his head appeared from the outside. Taekwoon took a step back, not sure what to do now because this was . . . really stressful (for some stupid reason he didn't want to think about).

Before he could think twice about leaving, Ravi offered his hand. Though he eyed it warily, he didn't want to see rejection on Ravi's face if he turned it down. In the end, he struggled to stifle his own trembling hand as he took the other's.

Despite the cold, Ravi's firm grip was warm. A shoddy platform was attached to the windowsill for Taekwoon to step onto, but the height frazzled his nerves and jellied up his legs. Ravi secured him though, pulling him all the way through and up to the flat part of the roof. Taekwoon trembled; they were so high up, and how were they going to get down?

"Don't worry," Ravi grinned, sensing his worry, "I do this all the time."

"Yeah, you do . . ." he grumbled under his breath. Ravi heard it and chuckled.

Chatter from the party below was softer here. The wind was light but brisk and encompassing. Taekwoon pulled his jacket tighter. Was coming up here even a good idea? He got sick pretty easily—if he did, he was adding Yixing and Hongbin to his hit list.

A glow off to the side caught his eye.

"Here," Ravi carefully held out a lit sparkler to him. The sparkler glittered bluish and Taekwoon's mouth became an "o" from the new sight.

He gingerly picked it from cool fingers and held it out in front of him, pulling his knees up to his chest. Sparks tumbled down the roof and died before falling off. He held it higher to match the moon that dipped in and out of the thin clouds. It's pretty . . . he thought.

He peered at Ravi to see him grinning at his own green one. The jacket he wore, a deep green bomber jacket, looked a little familiar, but Taekwoon couldn't tell in the light. He tucked his chin into the top of his knees and made small outwards movements, watching the afterimages form different shapes. His lips pulled up into the fabric of his jeans. It soon died and so did his smile.

When he looked at Ravi again for a new one, Ravi had already been watching him—but he scrambled to light another thin stick. Taekwoon's heart hopped. His new sparkler was colored red and he matched it up to one of the lights below in the backyard.

Minutes passed of him and Ravi lighting and waving technicolor sparklers, conversation sparse between. Taekwoon was sure his fingers were going numb, but he felt serene. Being up here was something new for him, something nice and free—and sure, he was nervous because of Ravi, but it felt . . . good.

Sudden, loud booms startled him and he grasped onto the roof. Wide-eyed, he looked up into the sky to see an explosion of color and it registered that they were launching fireworks and it was almost midnight now. Taekwoon decided he liked fireworks far better from a distance and when they weren't . . . so loud. It was pretty though, following the sparkling trail --up into the sky and then watching it bloom into a flower of colorful fire.

"Do they scare you?" He could barely hear Ravi's voice over the loud booms.

He looked at him, into his eyes, and saw the flowering light reflected in them. It was a pretty sight and he stared dumbly for a long moment before Ravi waved his hand a little to catch his attention.

He blinked and quickly looked away, hoping it was dark enough to hide his blush. "I don't like loud noises." he muttered. It proved true every time one exploded; he flinched. Ravi chuckled next to him, before he could scowl at him, a hand petted his head. It pulled back and when he looked over, Ravi held out another lit sparkler to him.

He was swinging a purple one like a pendulum when someone's loud voice below jolted his attention. It took a long moment to process that the crowd was beginning to count down. It was almost time.

"Seven, six . . ."

He watched the flickers of his sparkler. A whole half-year had already passed since he moved here—that was unbelievable. Somehow, it felt like he lived here so much longer than that.

"Four, three . . ."

The sparkler began to fade. He vaguely wondered what his parents and sisters were doing now. Probably working. Were they thinking about him?

"One . . . HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Taekwoon's thoughts stopped short when a hand—a hand, Ravi's hand—wrapped around the back of his neck and pulled him in. The dead sparkler fell from his hand. The loud cheering below fuzzed out. His eyes were wide open. Ravi's lips were chapped and cold. The tips of their chilly noses brushed.

Ravi was kissing him.