With his eyebrows arched in confusion, Baekhyun watched silently as Chanyeol paced back and forth in the living room, his arms tucked behind his back, a scowl on his face. Every few minutes, Chanyeol would halt, sighing loudly before shaking his head and continue to pace; more frequently, however, he would shoot a quick glance at the hallway wall, tacked proudly to it was Baekhyun’s letter to Santa Clause.

Occasionally, Chanyeol would mutter something to himself as he paced; back and forth he went, back and forth. Tilting his head to the side, Baekhyun watched him curiously – he was certain that his Mister Giant had been possessed by something (oh, the horror stories Jongin told him!), but Baekhyun wasn’t sure what exactly. Whatever it was, however, Baekhyun knew he wanted his Mister Giant back.

Pushing himself up from the cushion in which he sat, Baekhyun carefully approached Chanyeol, his hands outstretched, ready to catch hold of Chanyeol’s arm as he paced. Shooting another glance towards the letter to Santa, Chanyeol’s eyes widened with shock when he turned back to find Baekhyun’s face inches from his.

“Stop right now,” Baekhyun scolded, his cheeks puffed in – what Chanyeol could only assume to be – anger. “I want my Mister Giant back!” Taking hold of Chanyeol’s cable knit jumper, Baekhyun held him still. “What did you do with him?”

Chanyeol’s brow knitted together in bewilderment. “What?”

“Give me my Mister Giant back!” Baekhyun repeated angrily. “Right now! Or else …” he trailed off, more focused on trying to make himself sound scary. Puffing out his chest, Baekhyun mustered up his best glower. “Or else, I will get cross!”

It took all of Chanyeol’s willpower to not laugh and ruffle Baekhyun’s hair.

“Cross?” he teased. “Is that it?”

Baekhyun’s face distorted as he stared up at Chanyeol. He hadn’t expected a response, only for whatever had possessed Chanyeol to leave.

“Yes!” Baekhyun puffed, letting go of Chanyeol’s jumper and folding his arms in front of his chest. “Cross! Go possess somebody else! Leave my Mister Giant alone!”

“Possessed?” Chanyeol asked, tilting his head to the side. “Bunny, what – “

Bunny? Whatever it was that had taken control of Chanyeol wouldn’t know to call him Bunny. A broad grin played across Baekhyun’s lips, his eyes lighting up at the familiar nickname immediately. “Mister Giant!” he cried, wrapping his arms tightly around Chanyeol’s waist, nuzzling his cheek against the soft wool of the cable knit jumper. “You’re free!”

Startled, Chanyeol returned the hug, patting Baekhyun on the head with his free hand. “Er,” he said, uncertainly. “Free?”

“Yes!” Baekhyun insisted, refusing to let Chanyeol go as though he might disappear into thin air at any moment, lost forever. “You were possessed! Pacing back and forth, talking to yourself. I told the monster that possessed you that I was cross – and he must have gotten scared!” Lifting his head, Baekhyun flashed Chanyeol a triumphant smile.  “And just in time, too! I don’t want to be late for class!”

Class. That was right – Baekhyun had his lessons again today; the very thing Chanyeol had been contemplating. He was more than fine with letting Baekhyun attend them if that meant that he would receive more letters from his Bunny; that way, he could decorate the entire hallway wall with them.

But on the other hand, allowing Baekhyun to go to class would mean that Chanyeol would have to endure more constant talk of Kris – and he wasn’t entirely sure that his heart could take that. Chanyeol liked knowing that the cause of Baekhyun’s smile – Baekhyun’s happiness – was him.

At last, Chanyeol allowed his shoulders to slump in defeat and he held Baekhyun protectively.

“Will you write me another letter?”

Baekhyun nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll write you the biggest letter ever!”

With his hands tucked into the pockets of his thick, winter coat, Chanyeol made his way through the icy streets alone. In Baekhyun’s absence, he had gotten a lot less than he would have liked done but Chanyeol knew it would take a good deal of time before he would become used to not having Baekhyun by his side.

A small smile crept onto Chanyeol’s lips as he came to a halt out the front of Baekhyun’s classroom, leaning heavily against the brick retaining wall. He had received a surprise visit from Yoora at lunch time, his sister instantly disappointed after she discovered Baekhyun was not at home.

Chuckling softly, Chanyeol shook his head. He was certain that Yoora had come not to visit him but to see Baekhyun instead. After staying for lunch, Yoora had to head back off to work once more, however, not before passing him a small present.

“For Baekhyun,” she had told him sternly. “Not for you.”

A happy laugh reached Chanyeol’s ears and he straightened himself up immediately. Baekhyun was hurrying down the frosty path, a large piece of paper clutched tightly in his hands.

“Mister Giant!” he beamed happily, brandishing the paper. “For you! For you!”

Extending his arms, Chanyeol wrapped them around Baekhyun, rescuing the piece of paper before it turned into a crumpled mess. It wasn’t a letter this time. Instead, Baekhyun had pained the two of them holding hands, underneath what looked strangely like – Chanyeol’s eyes widened.

“Baek?” Chanyeol cooed softly, letting go of Baekhyun so that the other could see the painting. “Bunny, what’s this?”

Baekhyun’s nose crinkled in thought before a knowing smile crossed his face. “That’s misty toes!” he said with a proud nod. “Kris said that when two people stand under misty toes, they have to kiss!”

Mistletoe. That was exactly what it looked like.

Baekhyun looked around expectantly before his face fell. “Oh,” he said sadly. “But there aren’t any misty toes here … Maybe I should have kept the painting of the chimmy knee instead, but Kris said that Mister Joonmyeon didn’t have one and, well, I wanted Santa Clause to find them, too!”

“You know,” Chanyeol said as he passed Baekhyun Yoora’s gift. “She wants to take you Christmas shopping this weekend. How does that sound?”

Baekhyun’s eyes lit up almost immediately as he took the gift from Chanyeol’s hands. “Shopping?” he asked. “Can I buy Mister Giant things?”

With a shake of his head, Chanyeol chuckled. “Of course,” he said. “But you don’t have to buy me anything for Christmas. I’m happy with just my Bunny.”

At that, Baekhyun’s mind buzzed with ideas. He had to find the perfect Christmas gift for Chanyeol to thank him for all he has done. Perhaps what Baekhyun was most proud about, however, was the fact that his pockets were more than big enough to keep all of his savings.

“Well?” asked Chanyeol kindly. “Are you going to open your present? I think Yoora made you another jumper.”

 Oh no! Not another bunny jumper! With the parcel tucked under his arm, Baekhyun backed away from Chanyeol. “I will open it in another room. A surprise! A surprise for you what it is!”

“If you say so,” Chanyeol chuckled.

Hurrying into the bedroom, Baekhyun exhaled. “Oh please,” he murmured. “Please let it not be another bunny – something manly! Please!”

Placing the package on the bed, Baekhyun unfurled the glossy red and green paper carefully. A quiet sigh of relief escaped his lips when he saw what Yoora had made him; it was a knitted sweater, but not a single rabbit in sight!

Instead, two cream stripes ran parallel across the navy sweater, a bright green, lopsided Christmas tree – with small knitted baubles - was embroided into the chest. Tugging the sweater over his head proudly, Baekhyun puffed out his chest – this was far manlier than a rabbit-eared jumper. Chanyeol was sure to agree!

Prancing out into the living room, Baekhyun modeled his new sweater. Chanyeol, however, crinkled his nose in disgust.

“That is the ugliest thing,” he said. “Yoora has lost her touch.”

“But- “ Baekhyun tried to reason. There wasn’t a rabbit in sight. Surely Chanyeol could see how much nicer this was than his fleecy hood.

“Take it off, Bunny.”

 Crossing the room, Chanyeol gave the Christmas sweater a gentle tug. “Off,” he repeated. “Now.”

Embarrassed, Baekhyun pulled the sweater back over his head before dropping the inside out garment onto the couch. With his eyes trained to the floor, his cheeks a deep shade of crimson, Baekhyun reached for the hem of his undershirt, lifting it up to expose his tummy.

Chanyeol’s eyes went wide and quickly, he reached out to take hold of Baekhyun’s wrists.

“What are you doing?” he asked, startled. Baekhyun chewed his bottom lip, refusing to meet Chanyeol’s gaze.

“Mister Giant said,” Baekhyun whispered, “to take it off. So I-“

“Not your clothes, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol interrupted. “Just the sweater.”

“Oh.”

Uncurling his fingers,  Baekhyun let his undershirt fall back around his waist; his cheeks so warm that Baekhyun was sure that Chanyeol was able to feel the heat radiating from them. With his gaze still fixed on the ground, Baekhyun knew that he couldn’t dare look at Chanyeol.

Watching Baekhyun closely, the corners of Chanyeol’s lips tugged upwards into a small smile. Baekhyun could be so cute at times. Extending his arm, Chanyeol pointed at something just behind Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“What’s that?” he breathed. When Baekhyun spun around to check, Chanyeol placed a gentle kiss on Baekhyun’s cheek. “Oh, it was just some misty toes.”

Second last update before Christmas.
And probably third last before New Years.

I've been researching so much for Stargazer's, so it's nice to take a break.

I wished C-Clown's T.K. a happy birthday on Barom's self-maintained facebook page.
*gross sobbing*
And now, the embarrassment sinks in. But, that aside...

Happy birthday,Minwoo!