“Thank you, Baekhyun. In all honesty, this is the best gift! And I kept my promise, see?”

A picture of lavender and pink clouds scattered on the sky above the familiar view follows the text message that Chanyeol sent him, proving that he went there during the afternoon, just like he had promised. Baekhyun smiles at the message; you might think it’s ridiculous to smile at a mobile device, but he can’t help it.

He didn’t know if Chanyeol would like his gift or if he would find it boring –he even went as far as writing the story of his late aunt to make it inspiring. It’s a great relief that Chanyeol liked it. In fact, Baekhyun feels like cheering in glee and doing his silly victory dance to celebrate his successful idea! (But there are people around and there is no need to embarrass himself on this fine evening).

Baekhyun didn’t expect him to go there today though; he thought Chanyeol would be too busy with his family visiting, and he had given himself four days to wait for a reply, otherwise he would convince himself that Chanyeol maybe never went to that place, for some reason –and Baekhyun lectured himself that he wouldn’t try to guess the reason. But Chanyeol went there already, on the very same day he opened the envelope, in spite of Baekhyun’s various predictions. Maybe he skipped family dinner?

All the same, Chanyeol went there and he liked it, he honestly did! Baekhyun might be experiencing slight arrhythmia right now and he still cannot stop smiling like he owns all the chocolate in the world.

“Why are you smiling like that?” Chen asks, raising one eyebrow in suspicion. Baekhyun puts his phone aside gently and then he shrugs his shoulders innocently, opting to take a sip of his hot chocolate, trying to hide his smile behind the rim of the cup. But he doubts he can really hide it, because it is almost reaching his ears, and a cup can only do so little to serve him in this situation.

“It’s Chanyeol, isn’t it?” Kyungsoo guesses with a devilish stare from across the table. Baekhyun chokes on his drink and blushes slightly at the terrifyingly accurate deduction. He crooks an eyebrow at his friend while still coughing for air. How did Kyungsoo figure it out so soon? It could have been anyone, for all he knew…

“You still have contact with Park Chanyeol?!” Chen exclaims in surprise, his voice rising in pitch and volume. His body jolts and he almost falls off the chair in surprise, probably kicking Kyungsoo unintentionally under the table, because the wide-eyed male glares at him and growls faintly. With his eyes ready to pop out of his head, Chen is not very subtle in his reactions –was he ever?–, and a few people glance over curiously, but thankfully there are not many people in the café today.

“He just said thank you, that’s all” Baekhyun defends in a low voice, shrinking in his chair and fluttering his eyelashes frantically. He lets the other two assume that Chanyeol said thank you for the event, keeping his gift a secret. Both Kyungsoo and Chen give him a knowing look, which Baekhyun doesn’t necessarily appreciate; sometimes, his friends are too perceptive for his own good. But they don’t have any proof against him this time, so, if he acts innocent long enough, they will believe him and he will survive unscathed –like any other time they have good reason to suspect him and yet he gets away with it.

“Hyung!” Sehun comes to their table, holding a small white card “Thomeone left a card; they thaid it’th for a Chrithtmath party they want you to organize”

“Does he always speak like that?” Chen asks, pointing a finger at Sehun.

“Pretty much” Kyungsoo answers with animated disappointment in his voice.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes at the insensitive duo; Sehun will start speaking clearly when he feels ready enough, Baekhyun is sure of it. Sehun’s problem is psychological, not anatomical, as his exams showed, and they should be helping him overcome it, make him feel comfortable and believe in himself, rather than showing disappointment.

“Thank you, Sehun” he smiles, taking the card; at least someone is being nice to the kid, like he is supposed to…Sehun returns a small smile and prances off to serve another table. Baekhyun starts examining the card and making plans in his head for the party, as the other two across the table start babbling about Christmas.

Christmas parties are Baekhyun’s second favorite –after weddings, of course. There are so many ornaments and you can choose from so many themes, from traditional family Christmas to glamorous modern Christmas, all wrapped in the warmth of love and the sparkle of glamour which dominates the most wonderful time of the year! There are presents for everyone, happy smiles, good food, twinkling lights and magic stardust for wishes in the air…He just loves Christmas!

“So, is the party all you are going to do for Christmas?” Chen asks, sipping on his espresso.

“We only work on Christmas Eve” Kyungsoo interjects hastily, with a serious look in his eyes. Baekhyun is not sure if this was a piece of information to Chen or a reminder to workaholic Baekhyun that Kyungsoo might rebel against him, if he makes him work on Christmas day. Probably both.

“Yeah, just Christmas Eve” he agrees and Kyungsoo relaxes in his seat “I don’t know what I will be doing on the night of Christmas though” Baekhyun says, lowering his eyes thoughtfully on his hot chocolate. Everyone has something to do on Christmas, someone to meet or somewhere to be…Baekhyun doesn’t. He doesn’t mind it particularly though, even if he won’t find anything to do until then; living in the midst of glowing Christmas magic is enough for him, even if he spends it alone, with a cup of hot chocolate, a warm blanket and a good old movie.

“I’ll be visiting my family. Why don’t you do the same?” Kyungsoo suggests.

“There is not enough time to travel to my parents’ house on Christmas night; I’ll be working until seven” Baekhyun dismisses. It is a two-and-a-half-hour drive to his family’s home and he cannot risk driving so far away, so late at night and so tired.

“What work are you talking about?” Kyungsoo scrunches his eyebrows, bewildered.

“Oh, you mean the orphanage?” Chen offers his insight and Baekhyun nods.

“What orphanage?” Kyungsoo asks, curious this time.

“Baekhyun visits an orphanage every once in a while, spending time with the children there, especially when it’s Christmas time. He brings them presents and plays with them, reads them stories and so on. They do their childish thing together. I went with him once, and the children simply adore him! I don’t know how he can handle the noise, but it’s a good thing to do in your life, bringing joy to other people” Chen explains, shrugging his shoulders at the end.

“Yeah, I guess it’s a good thing to do in your life…” Kyungsoo admits reluctantly and then turns to Baekhyun, who is smiling at the thought of playing with the children again; they are just so cute~ “But Baekhyun! You’re still in your twenties! You should be out partying all night! Why are you burying yourself in your unselfishness?” he exclaims, jolting Baekhyun back to reality. Baekhyun’s proud smile falters; he thought they were praising him just a moment ago, what happened so suddenly? And why is being unselfish a bad thing?

“But the children are lonely, Kyungsoo! I make them happy and they make me happy! So what if I don’t go out as often? It’s just one night” he defends, making vague motions with his hands in the process.

“It’s the one night when everyone else is out!” Kyungsoo explodes, opening his big eyes wide “If you don’t grab as many socializing chances as you can get, then how will you ever find someone?”

‘Someone’, as in ‘a special someone’?

“How did this become about my love life all of a sudden? Chen, help me out here”

“I can’t say I disagree with Kyungsoo” Chen says seriously, leaving Baekhyun with a pouting expression, alone, to fend for himself.

“But-!”

“Baekhyun, look” Kyungsoo continues in a calm voice, trying to sound rational and civil “People meet special people every day; sometimes, they live happily ever after, some other times it isn’t so. They all know it might not work out in the end, but they all give it a try”

“I’m willing to give it a try too!” Baekhyun never said he doesn’t want a relationship; it just didn’t happen.

“But you don’t have anyone to try with! You need to meet them first and then start your effort in building a relationship. And if you want to meet someone, you need to get more social”

“I’m social as I am; I have many friends” Baekhyun defends with a frown. He really does have many friends; everyone he meets likes him and wants to be friends with him. Everyone smiles their real smiles at him and they think he’s cute, they wish him on his birthday, they call to catch up every so often and they are willing to do things like watch a movie or go to a game with him.

He’s a bit of a loner though, so he hardly ever takes those offers. But that’s not the issue here. Or is it?

“I think what Kyungsoo is trying to say, is that you need to put yourself on the market” Chen tries to mediate between the two stubborn men.

“You do know this sounded so wrong, right?” Baekhyun quirks his eyebrows and Chen rolls his eyes.

“No, it sounded as it is” Kyungsoo answers his question “You need to go out, shake your hips, smile and flirt. People will flock around you at a wave of your hand, Baekhyun! You’re smart and pretty, you have a good job, you are interesting, you are the kindest and cutest person I know! You just need to show them you are interested! And when you find someone special, then we can worry about whether he or she is right for you and if she or he is good enough for your soft, sweet heart” Kyungsoo explains with slight exasperation.

Baekhyun blinks guiltily. Wow, not even his parents have attempted this talk with Baekhyun. And maybe right now he feels grateful for his friends, for being so supportive and considerate, for worrying about him and his happiness, but he also feels uncomfortable with people pointing out things he already knows, things he doesn’t know how to fix about himself, so he just sits and listens quietly and obediently, as his friend continues.

“I know you want a fairytale love and I support you all the way in going after it, but you can’t just wait for your prince charming to walk inside a room one day, smile, and sweep you off your feet” Kyungsoo says with resolve, giving him a pointed glare which soon softens and becomes a pleading expression with slanted lips.

Baekhyun pouts and chews on his lower lip, blinking quietly and sadly. He doesn’t attempt at making a response, because he doesn’t know what he should say. He is a romantic but he has his fair share of realistic thinking within him, so he knows Kyungsoo is right. But still, he kind of wishes something like that could happen.

“Wait a minute!” Chen exclaims with a sudden flash of inspiration. “Aha!” Both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun turn to look at him curiously but Chen only holds up one finger, smiling at nothing, like a mad man.

Baekhyun knows this look; Chen is close to some great revelation. It’s the ‘connecting the dots’ look, in Chen’s insightful head. They stay frozen like that for a good minute. Kyungsoo looks like he is starting to worry about the strange gleam in Chen’s eyes but Baekhyun has seen it many times since he was young and he knows there is no reason to worry. It’s just his crazy friend being crazy.

“Okay” Chen chirps then, throwing both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo completely off focus.

“Okay?” Baekhyun asks bewildered.

“Yeah, I concluded my thought” Chen says with a proud smile and picks up his espresso.

“Ah…care to share the thought? Or was it just a crazy moment?” Kyungsoo asks, eyeing Chen peculiarly. If Baekhyun didn’t half agree with Kyungsoo on his question, he would have kicked him under the table for being so rudely straightforward this time.

“Oh I will share it with you, but not now; that would ruin everything. Let’s just put a semicolon on this conversation. You’re not completely off the hook, mister” he jabs a finger at Baekhyun seriously “But we will resume this in the future. Let’s just enjoy the coffee for now” Baekhyun and Kyungsoo exchange a look; Chen is definitely crazy.

But that’s okay.

--

Luhan picks up his pace as he walks by the street choir, shoving his hands deeper in his pockets. ‘Joy to the world~’…yeah, sure, joy to the world, it’s nearing Christmas, so the world might as well be joyous.

But there is so much joy in the world that Luhan keeps stumbling upon someone singing it every twelve freaking steps he makes on the street! It’s still a week to Christmas, how can people bear to sing the same carols on top of their lungs 24/7 for so long?!

Don’t get him wrong, Luhan is not one of those Scrooge people, he loves Christmas; he loves the atmosphere, the presents, the decorations, the kindness and happiness that everyone feels in their hearts, he loves the whole Christmas package. But he is just so bored of carols! It’s like a broken record player, playing the same thing over and over, following him everywhere on the street, and he can do nothing about it!

He makes the familiar turn and heads for the café quickly, passing by another smiling choir. Where are all these people hiding the rest of the year? He shifts his scarf around his cheeks; the weather is nice, it’s not raining or snowing, it’s only cloudy, but it’s very cold too. With the hope of his comforting hot coffee in the near future, he steps inside the café, closing all the annoying singing outside.

He slows down, however, once he is through the door, and he looks around full of uncertainty. The lights are on, but there is no one inside; not even Sehun behind the counter. Did something happen? Are they closed for today? It’s only seven…

“Oh, hey, Luhan!” Baekhyun greets cheerfully, appearing through a side door out of the blue. He is carrying a box too large for his size, full of things that leave a trail of glitter on the ground.

“Hey, Baekhyun” Luhan greets back with a wide smile, leaving the bags full of his Christmas shopping on a table. Kyungsoo appears through the door soon, carrying one end of a long box.

“Hello, Luhan! Haven’t seen you in a while” he greets and then he hisses under his breath, glaring at the door. “Can you be careful with this, please? You just hit me on the ribs”

“Sorry, hyung” Sehun’s voice responds and soon Sehun follows out the door, holding the other end of the box. “Welcome, Luhan!” he greets, once he’s in view. Luhan offers a small smile to both men.

“Hey” he says sheepishly.

“I haven’t seen you lately, you always come and go so quickly. Everything okay?” Sehun asks, putting down the box. Kyungsoo follows Baekhyun back to the door, probably to retrieve more boxes, but Sehun stays.

“Work has been hectic lately; everyone wants their holiday off and work needs to be done before that” he explains and Sehun nods with a small smile still on his lips. “I am fine, though. Chanyeol is taking most of the heat” The noticeable thud that a box makes as Baekhyun leaves it on the ground, brings Luhan’s attention back to present. “What are you doing here?”

“We are decorating for Christmas!” Baekhyun singsongs joyously. Luhan doesn’t know how else to describe his smile but like a child’s on Christmas day. Baekhyun must be a fan of the season; it suits him well, too, being such an innocent and kind sweetheart who shares love and happiness everywhere he goes. Luhan has grown very fond of Baekhyun; he secretly thinks of him like a little brother. Luhan smiles at the brunette softly.

“Yeah. We thought we locked the door; sorry, the café closed early today” Kyungsoo apologizes, ripping the tape from one of the boxes.

“Oh, okay. I’ll be going then. Have fun decorating!” Luhan says quickly and smiles politely, reaching for his bags and taking a few steps to leave.

“Wait! You don’t have to leave!” Baekhyun stops him and Luhan gives him a confused look. “You can stay and help out! If you want, of course” he explains with a small, cute smile; such a kind sweetheart…

“I’m not a trained decorator, though. Won’t I be in your way?” Luhan admits shyly.

“Sehun is not a trained decorator either” Baekhyun points out, shrugging his shoulders. Sehun flashes an innocent smile.

“Sehun is always in the way though” Kyungsoo retorts, placing his hands strictly on his waist.

“Soo, it’s time to share your time with other people and have fun, smiling and singing and cooking and doing all things Christmassy! Sehun is hardworking and very helpful! Luhan can be very helpful, too! It doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect, as long as it is made with love and it makes you happy!” Baekhyun says happily, bringing another box from the other room.

“Sure; my remark was not meant for Luhan either way. You are welcomed to stay and help, if you want to” Kyungsoo says earnestly and Sehun bites his lip behind his smile.

Luhan ends up staying. Fifteen minutes later, his things are forgotten in a corner and he is helping with the decorations.

He helps Baekhyun arrange the green garlands on the wall, smiling brightly as the small male keeps chattering about Christmas time, presents, an orphanage, movies and chocolate. He is like the spirit of the season, making everyone smile and making you believe in magic without noticing. Decorating with Baekhyun is easy and it’s fun; even after his long day at the office, Luhan finds the energy to do everything here and smile happily about it too.

He then helps Kyungsoo open the branches of the Christmas tree. Kyungsoo is not as loud as Baekhyun, but his silent smile is comfortable as well. His big eyes seem full of wonder as he arranges the artificial branches and Luhan can see that, even if he is supposed to be the realist in contrast to dreamy Baekhyun, Kyungsoo believes in magic too.

He hasn’t felt so warm in a long time. With everyone welcoming him to help and with Baekhyun’s kind soul shining the way to the true spirit of Christmas, Luhan feels like he is home. Christmas without family and without anyone else who is truly special for you doesn’t feel like real Christmas all that much; it’s just another vacation where you can have fun. He has a few decorations at home, a small tree and ornaments, to indicate the season of the year, but it doesn’t feel as enjoyable if he doesn’t share it with anyone.

Now he is sharing something though, with people who show him kindness and friendship, and this brings him more joy than any of the gifts he bought earlier.

He ends up humming a Christmas song –song, not carol –nodding in the rhythm of the jazz song that plays in the background. Jazz fits perfectly with Christmas and the music helps them all have fun, a bit more than they would without it. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun sing a couple of songs following the music and Luhan is surprised to hear that they both have such nice voices and excellent musical skills.

Eventually, Luhan finds himself struggling to place an ornament on a higher shelf. He lifts himself on his toes, trying to reach high enough to place it on the shelf but it doesn’t look like he can make it.

“Let me help you” Sehun’s voice sounds from behind him suddenly and, before he has time to say anything, Sehun takes the ornament and leans forward, pressing his chest flush against Luhan’s back, to reach the shelf.

Luhan feels like his heart stops in this moment.

He has managed to block out everything Sehun has been doing so far, because he has convinced himself that he really shouldn’t care. He kept his visits to the café short lately, making sure to maintain a friendly, yet strictly friendly, relationship with Sehun. Because after all these thoughts of Sehun’s body parts entered his head, Luhan started having dreams. Indecent dreams. And Sehun is just an innocent kid, and Luhan should not be having this sort of dreams, because they are just friends for crying out loud, not even close friends or anything! The dreams got worse for a while, but then they stopped and he rarely had them. Putting distance between them worked as a plan and Luhan is planning to keep his sleep intact, so he is trying not to notice Sehun too much.

But if Sehun presses his rock-hard chest behind him, Luhan feels like banging his head on the wall in front of him in frustration.

“Um, thanks” he mumbles belatedly, when Sehun has already left and moved on to the next ornament in the box. The kid smiles back kindly anyway.

“You look like you’ve lost weight recently. Are you sleeping well?” Sehun asks casually. Luhan picks up the next ornament and walks to the next shelf, keeping his eyes away from Sehun. It’s just a polite question, right?

“Sure” he lies indifferently. In truth, Luhan has been losing a lot of sleep lately, preparing a sunflowerload of presentations every night, thinking how it is unfair to spend his pre-Christmas cheer period like that and whimpering helplessly about the injustice in the universe, in his silent apartment for his goldfish to hear.

“Okay” Sehun chuckles but Luhan doesn’t even blink in his direction. Luhan doesn’t care if Sehun believes his lie; he is not willing to admit out loud that he has a lousy life one week before Christmas, so you may submit him to Chinese torturing methods for all he cares, he still won’t confess.

“Luhan.” Sehun’s voice sounds considerably closer this time and Luhan has no choice but to turn around. Indeed, Sehun gives him the surprise of his life, just like that day when they were preparing for the gala, by standing too close to him. What is it with this kid?! They called it ‘personal space’ back then, but it’s Luhan’s heart shooting through the roof in reality! Why does Sehun keep doing this? Luhan scrunches his eyebrows, slightly annoyed at the loss of his comfort zone.

“What?” he demands, looking up at Sehun. Sehun smiles and points a finger upwards.

“Mistletoe”

What?!

Luhan’s eyes follow Sehun’s finger and indeed they are standing under a very big and pretty patch of mistletoe. What the flowering flowers?! Are you kidding me?!

Why didn’t he see that earlier?!

“I’m not kissing you” he announces immediately in a final tone, seeing where Sehun is heading. There is absolutely no way he is kissing Sehun. Who knows what will happen to his dreams after that?!

“Why not? It’s tradition!” Sehun protests, pouting miserably –and adorably. No, it’s not adorable, focus, Luhan, focus.

“Yeah, a cute tradition made for young couples and teenagers. Not for us. Now go back, I’m not kissing you” Luhan rejects him again with irrefutable resolve, and picks up the next ornament coldly and indifferently.

“I’m not going anywhere” Sehun crosses his hands in front of his chest stubbornly.

“Oh, that’s okay, you can stay. I’ll leave. You can kiss Baekhyun –or wait, not Baekhyun. Kiss Kyungsoo, if you want to follow the tradition so badly” Kyungsoo would probably rip Sehun’s throat if the kid tried to kiss him, but Luhan’s conscience is fine with that, in contrast to sending Sehun to kiss Baekhyun, who is too innocent and Luhan cannot make him do the dirty work for him.

“Luhan, traditionally people under the mistletoe kiss each other” Sehun points out with a strict look.

“I don’t really care. It’s okay if we break tradition this once; it will be our little secret” Luhan whispers exaggeratedly. Sehun rolls his eyes.

“We can’t break tradition. Tradition is there for a reason”

“Yeah, the reason that our ancestors were superstitious idiots”

“No, don’t call them that! They made this tradition to bring people together; if we stop following it, one by one, the world will become such an awful place!” Sehun defends fervently. Luhan creases his eyebrows for a moment; does the kid really believe any of the words that are coming out of his mouth?

“Sehun, listen: I am not kissing you. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are right there, for crying out loud!” Luhan says, in hopes that the audience will prevent Sehun from insisting.

“Um, I don’t think they are paying attention” Sehun looks at the other two and Luhan follows his gaze.

“Trust me, I am the mastermind decorator here. This ball needs to move a few centimeters to the right” Baekhyun is saying, examining the Christmas tree they are decorating across the room.

“Well, Mr. mastermind decorator, you come here and move it yourself then!” Kyungsoo snaps from the ladder, where he is balancing dubiously. Luhan thinks that it’s pretty obvious that they are not paying attention; he lets out a defeated sigh.

“All the same, Sehun, I am not-”

Sehun stops him with his lips. Luhan freezes and his eyes open wide in shock. Sehun’s eyes are closed as he is leaning down, pressing his soft lips gently on Luhan’s. It’s just a chaste kiss. Is this…really happening? Sehun cups Luhan’s face with one hand and it becomes as obvious that this is real, as it is very difficult for Luhan not to respond. His eyes flutter close slowly, surrendering to the feeling of safety and warmth. His heart is beating frantically, drowning out any other sound, and his stomach tickles in excitement. It is as if they are closed in an invisible bubble for a few minutes, until Sehun pulls away slowly, dropping his hand from Luhan’s face. Luhan opens his eyes. He is supposed to be mad at Sehun but he feels so dizzy that he can’t think of anything besides his thumping heart.

“See?” Sehun says with a smile “It wasn’t all that bad. And the sky has not fallen on our heads! We kept the tradition alive and we saved the world, Luhan!” he says excitedly. Luhan, despite his deranged heartbeat, feels like collapsing on the ground in despair; seriously this kid…Is that the best he could think of saying after a surprise kiss that should not have happened in three lifetimes?! Sehun turns around to pick the next decoration and returns to whatever he was doing before, like nothing ever happened. Luhan blinks dumbly, lost in his thoughts, vaguely aware that he is making a fool of himself by staying petrified like this.

But Luhan knows it now; the dreams are going to be the worst until New Year’s…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a/n. Hello loves! Here is the first Christmas related chapter and ohmygod was that a hunhan KISS?! I hope it was a pleasant surprise for you! ;) I thought it was about time they started making baby steps out of the friendzone…(although friendzone is nice, so we’re not completely over it yet)

I hope you guys are having a nice time preparing for Christmas! I love this time of the year more than any other, so I am super hyped! More news from Christmas wonderland in the next chapter, so stay tuned!!! Until then, XOXO kitty~