***

"In the New Year, I'm going to talk more!" 

Chanyeol's grin widened tentatively at hearing the eldest hyung's resolution, with Lay cheering him on in approval. Their voices echoed throughout the forest as they stood upon a plateau of rocks, shouting their resolutions at the moon. 

"Yah, that's your resolution every year!" Luhan then complained.  

"Yeah, well, this time I mean it," Xiumin shrugged off casually. 

"Xiumin-hyung is improving, though. He said three more words this year, compared to last year," Baekhyun joked, quickly pulling back with a nervous set of giggles when Xiumin started following him around, ready to smack him. "H-hyung, yah, hyung," Baekhyun begged, holding out his arms as Xiumin advanced on him. Knowing that there was no escape, he just ran towards his hyung to embrace him. "Yah, Minnie-hyung! Saranghae~!" he said cutely to avoid punishment. His brothers laughed even louder when Xiumin remained unfazed and cuffed the back of his head anyways for good measure. 

Chanyeol clapped his hands in amusement, bending over as a fit of laughter bubbled from his chest. He liked Baekhyun when he first met the boy. It was nice to see someone with the same humor as him, and it made him feel less awkward in this group of new people. When he saw that eleven pairs of eyes were on him, smiling at him, Chanyeol immediately recovered, standing straight and trying his best not to stand out too much. 

"Who's next?" Suho asked, looking around. 

"Me," Luhan stepped forward, but he didn't stand at the edge of the plateau as everyone else had. 

"Move forward, more," Kris teased, gently pushing the shorter teen towards the edge. Luhan immediately wriggled out of the grasp and punched his dongsaeng on the arm. 

"Cut it out, this is close enough, you crazy dragon," he scolded, stepping away from the ledge. 

Chanyeol looked on, a bit confused, but he said nothing. 

"Lulu-hyung has a fear of heights," Chen then whispered to him, and the information surprised Chanyeol. He didn't think that Luhan would be afraid of anything. The thought of any of them being afraid was strange to him to begin with. 

"For the New Year, I'm going to work even harder so I can become captain of the soccer team!" Luhan shouted in the air, under approval of his brothers. Chanyeol clapped as well, though he wondered how realistic that was going to be. Would they let middle schoolers become captain? 

"Was that everyone?" Suho then asked, looking around. Chanyeol curled his toes, pursing his lips together as he pushed his thick framed glasses on his nose. He hadn't shouted his resolution yet, but he didn't want to be impolite and shyly kept quiet. He was tall, probably one of the tallest boys in the group, but apparently, he didn't stand out.

"Giant Yoda hasn't gone yet," D.O. then commented, making Chanyeol wince a little. He purposely didn't touch his ears, knowing that would only draw more attention to them. He could feel that they were becoming red and when he felt the heat rise to his cheeks, Chanyeol shut his eyes and tried to stay calm. He knew what happened when the heat came and he didn't want to scare off his new friends. They said that they understood, but Chanyeol knew they were just being polite. What could they possibly know of the ferociousness and savagery that was fire?

"His name is Chanyeol, D.O.," Baekhyun corrected, placing a supporting hand on Chanyeol's shoulder. "You're just jealous because he's much taller than you," he said and smiled brightly at the taller teen beside him. Chanyeol noted how Baekhyun's mouth was shaped as a square when he grinned like that. 

"Go on, Chanyeol, what's your resolution?" he asked, pushing him to where Luhan had been standing a few moments before. 

Feeling a little shy and nervous, Chanyeol swallowed and looked up at the moon. He looked back at the boys, feeling slightly more encouraged by their smiles and thumbs flashing up towards him. 

"Um, for New Year, I'd like to be more outgoing, and hopefully, maybe, allow fire to show me good things, too," he mumbled, looking behind him for confirmation from the others. He sighed in relief and smiled widely at them when they cheered him on. 

"Nice. Maybe you can start speaking louder, too, huh?" Kris noted with a smirk. 

"I'll try, hyung," Chanyeol immediately piped up, since he had a profound admiration for Kris, who was only a few inches taller than him. It was funny to say that he looked up to him, both in the figurative and literal sense. 

"Yeah, no need holding back when you're with us, hyung," Kai added quietly. 

"I know, it's just that-," Chanyeol trailed off, the words falling dead on his tongue. 

"Just what?" Sehun asked curiously. 

"The thing about fire," Chanyeol started, a dejected sigh escaping his lips, "is that when it catches, it's difficult to douse. Fire is ugly, and I don't want to show it..." 

***

Why did none of his brothers ever listened to him? 

Chanyeol looked around, one hand in his hair as his brothers scurried around to 'catch' the orbs of flame that bounced about due to them having forced Chanyeol to create some fireworks to ring in the new year. 

"I told you this would happen," he said tiredly, watching Suho run after one of the bouncing flames, splashing water everywhere but his actual target. Xiumin shot rays of ice to douse the jumping fireballs, while Lay frantically followed behind to heal any plant or tree, or occassional random critter that was hit by Xiumin's ice. Tao would limit his power to each bouncing ball of fire that caught his sight, freezing it in time, but this took a lot out of him. Sehun quickly blew his winds to deprive the oxygen from the fire to douse them, though on occasion, the wind would only strengthened the flames, causing Suho to yell out when a tree caught fire. 

Chanyeol would do his best to flick out any flames he deemed were too rampant for his brothers to handle, but he mostly looked around with a rather dejected look on his face, knowing that he was responsible for the entire mess and wondering why he wasn't able to do a simple thing like create fireworks. He looked up when Kris was hovering past the plateau to point out to D.O. which fireballs were about to jump off so he could douse them with chunks of clay and earth. Luhan kept close watch, so he could telepathically move any fiery orbs away from the plateau, in case D.O. missed one.

Chen and Baekhyun just sat on a formation of boulders, laughing at the whole situation. Chanyeol sent them a glare. "Yah, I don't think it's very funny," he remarked.

"Oh, lighten up, Chanyeol- wait, you kind of already did, didn't you?" Baekhyun laughed, Chen clapping his hands beside him.

"Ah, we're just playing. You've honestly gotten better, you just have to try to keep the fire in the air and make it dissipate. We'll try again next year!"  Chen stated optimistically, but Chanyeol was skeptical. It was easy for them to say, he had to do most of the work. The idea was for him to create the firepower necessary for spectacular fireworks. He'd shoot a form, pattern, or just a ball of searing hot fire into the sky, Chen would jolt it with lightning to create a more solid form and Baekhyun could make it as flashy as he wanted to, even adding different colors for effect. But Chanyeol was the source to make this happen, and without him being even capable of shooting some fire into the sky without everything turning out into a mess, he doubted he'd ever accomplish his new year resolution to see fire do something beautiful.

***

It was the year before Jae had moved to the island that Chanyeol thought he could finally create an awe-inspiring firework show that would have his brothers gawking at the sky in utter admiration. 

He'd never been more wrong in his entire life. 

A bright smile with rows of pearly white teeth beamed apologetically from a face covered in smoke and soot. "Well, at least there's no one around to see us," he tried, chuckling nervously while clinging on his burned shirt and soot-smeared jeans. Chanyeol had thought that it would be awesome if he could make the fireworks in such a manner that it would rain fire from the sky. In retrospect, the idea actually didn't sound any better in his head either, but at the time, he thought it would make for the prettiest sight, especially if Baekhyun would add a rainbow of colors for effect. Of course he had planned that the rain of fire would dissipate, long before it would hit anything, but that didn't quite work out the way he had planned. 

The droplets of fire burned through thin clothing, resulting in a young pack of wolves to be half and drenched in the water which Suho was forced to throw over them. It came to no surprise to Chanyeol that the sight wasn't pretty to look at. Such was the consequence of fire, after all...

***

This year was different. 

This year, he knew that he could do it. 

He had his eyes closed to concentrate, but he just couldn't prevent himself from smiling all the time. He was excited and happy, because he finally found the trick to his skill, its true beauty. 

"You don't think he's fallen asleep, right?" he heard Baekhyun whisper to Chen behind him. 

"Shh, I think he's trying to focus," Chen shushed him. 

"Yah, what's taking so long?" Kris asked even further behind, where Chanyeol knew he sat with the rest of his brothers, and most importantly Jae-noona. The sheer thought of her being there to watch him, awakened the fire inside of him. 

"Should we worry? Remember what happened last year?" Luhan whispered, ignoring Kris' question.

"What happened last year?" asked Jae-noona, her voice soft and pleasant amongst the ruckus of male voices. 

"Chanyeol, by accident, kind of burned our clothes off," Suho explained, the embarrassment obvious in his tone of speech. 

"Hey! We were supposed to never mention that again, remember?" Baekhyun piped up loudly, making Chanyeol flinch, breaking his concentration. 

"Oh, like Jae-noona cares, she's seen us, and she's met Bacon Jr. already, so what's the big deal?" he shot out. "Now will you be quiet and let me do this? I've nearly got it," Chanyeol said, closing his eyes again. There was a flutter in his stomach when he heard Jae-noona giggle. That's it. That's what I need, he thought as he regained his concentration. 

Chanyeol figured out why he couldn't create the fireworks he wanted because he missed the proper feeling to get it to do what he wanted and to make it beautiful. He's always noticed how his brothers perform their skills best when they were in their element, when they were comfortable, and when they felt strengthened by a certain emotion they felt most familiar with. He had always wielded the fire by using his sense and logic. He never allowed it to be guided by his emotions, out of fear what might happen, but now he's found out that if he used just a bit of the feelings he felt when thinking of, - per coincidental, completely random example,- Jae-noona, while using the fire, it became stronger and easier to mold. He could do it this time. He could feel it in his bones.

"Okay, get ready!" Chanyeol prepared. 

"We were ready since last year," D.O., quipped dryly. "Show us what you got, already." 

Chanyeol nodded and took a deep breath. He could feel the heat rising from the pit of his stomach, up to his chest and radiating to every inch of his body from there. He was content when he heard his audience gasp and coo in awe and when he opened his eyes, he was engulfed by radiating fire, dancing and flickering to his whims. He laughed triumphantly. He didn't want to let this feeling go, so he immediately thought of the things that made him happy. Jae-noona smiling. Jae-noona laughing at his jokes, even if they were lame. Jae-noona looking at the fire he summoned as though it was a masterpiece by Michaelangelo. Jae-noona, who wasn't afraid of fire. Who never even flinched when the flames too closely. She had made fire beautiful. 

"Hi-yah!" Chanyeol exclaimed, his flames shooting up into the air to form the shape of a majestic phoenix taking flight. "Ha! See? Told you I could do it this year!" Chanyeol clapped his hands in glee, proud that he was finally able to produce something that didn't end up in a disaster. He bowed perhaps a little too smugly when he received his applause from the adoring crowd. "Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week," he jested. "Okay, now Chen-hyung, if you could do your thing then Baekhyun can follow suit," he had barely finished uttering the sentence when he noticed that the amazed expressions on the faces of the people before had dropped. 

"What is it?" he asked in concern. It was quiet for a while, the pack tilting their heads at the same time, their eyes following the same movements to something that Chanyeol had his back turned towards to. 

They all startled when Lay suddenly clapped his hands in realization. "Wow, Chanyeol is really amazing. It's in 3D!" he remarked, as though impressed, but Chanyeol didn't follow. 

"Lay-hyung, what are you talking about?" he asked. 

Lay blinked and pointed behind Chanyeol. "It's supposed to move, right?" 

At this, Chanyeol's eyes widened and he swiftly turned around to see that the phoenix - which was inanimate image he had summoned from his mind - was moving in the sky, flying and squawking like an angry, oversized chicken that escaped the barbeque but not its flames. It lit the sky, which was bad enough, but it was also heading straight towards him. 

Chanyeol shook his head in disbelief and groaned. "Oh man, not again," he nearly stomped his foot, but then he tried flicking the blazing phoenix out. He tried to make it disappear, but the fire wouldn't listen. It only accelerated as it dove down, as though it was ready to devour whomever it came across. 

"Um, yeah, I think we all should try to hug the ground," Chanyeol suggested seeing the phoenix approaching. "Like, right now!" he jumped forward to a dazed Chen and Baekhyun and pushed them against the earth right as the phoenix soared over them. Realizing that it had missed, the literal fire bird charted a course to the remaining members of the pack. 

"Whoa, Jae-noona get down!" Sehun pulled the girl down while covering his own head as well. The phoenix squawked angrily before it crashed against the trees and combusted.

"Omo! Xiumin, help me out!" Suho called upon seeing the trees lighting up where the phoenix had crashed into. When the fires were doused, the pack regained their senses, and Chanyeol looked on in disappointment and regret at the mess the fire had made. The barks of the trees were scorched black, their roots probably all shriveled up and dried, turned to ash. 

Chanyeol watched in awe as he witnessed the burned trees slowly regain their natural colors, washing away the black scorchmarks, replaced by brown and green. Lay made the woods look like new again, and Chanyeol was about ready to sink into a hole to be forever miserable.

He didn't get it. What went wrong? 

"Chanyeol..." Suho started and the tall teen immediately got to his feet, only to bow again, rubbing his hands together apologetically. 

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't know what happened, I thought for sure that I..." he shook his head and continued his bowing. "I'm sorry," he said, feeling disappointed in himself, and angry as well. He was so certain that he figured it out. Why didn't it work?

"Don't worry about it, Chanyeol. At least we all still have our clothes on," Luhan stated kindly, but Chanyeol's eyes widened when looking at his hyung and pointed frantically at his arm. Luhan frowned and looked where Chanyeol was pointing at. He yelled in alarm when he saw that his sleeve was caught on fire. 

"Whoa! Hot, hot, hot!" Luhan shouted.

Xiumin quickly responded and doused his burning sleeve by covering it with a sheen of ice.

"Ah! Cold, cold, cold!" Luhan then complained.

"I'm sorry," Chanyeol muttered again, prodding his index fingers with one another. He couldn't bear to even look at Jae-noona.

"It wasn't that bad," she then said. "At least it was explosive," she managed to joke, and Chanyeol found his lips tugging up slightly.

"Yeah, you were close this time, hyung," Tao added in encouragement, fixing his hair. "Just next time, try not to kill us, that's all."

"What went wrong, Chanyeol?" Kris asked, after sending a warnful glare at Tao. "You had it."

"I don't know, hyung," he said in exasperation. "I had everything under control! I felt like I could move a mountain, or burn one up! I just-," he stole a glance at Jae-noona and bit his lip. Why hadn't it worked? He shuffled his feet. Thinking about Jae-noona had helped him connect with fire like he hadn't before, but it still wasn't enough. 

"Hey, don't pull that long face. It's not the end of the world," Baekhyun patted him on the back. 

"Yeah, there's always next year," D.O. added, his brothers chiming in assent, trying to comfort him. Chanyeol smiled modestly, but he still felt a little down. He watched as his brothers started the celebration, with Baekhyun using the light of the moon and stars to create a disco-atmosphere. They would usually play games and party before shouting their New Year resolutions to close off the celebrations. Chanyeol stood in the background as he watched his brothers have fun. He obliged when they asked him to start a fire and once the fire was burning strong, they started dancing. Sehun tried to dance with Jae-noona, but she shook her head whilst chuckling, opting to sit by the fire instead. She clapped her hands when Sehun, Kai, Lay and Xiumin started a dance battle and laughed loudly when Suho and Chen attempted to join. With everyone so busy, Chanyeol slowly moved further into the woods, slipping away so he could be alone with his thoughts for a moment. He would join them in the celebration later, but it bothered him immensely that he still couldn't create fireworks the way he wanted. 

"How difficult can this be?" he mused in frustration, summoning a ball of fire to appear in his hands. "Jae-noona," he muttered. "Think of Jae-noona," he murmured to himself, crunching up his face as he did his best to focus. He popped them open when he saw that the fireball started to spark like a Roman candle and he started to chuckle. "Yes! Okay, stay that way, I have to show the- oh-uh..." the fire started to grow and shot off like a rocket before Chanyeol could stop it. It soared and bounced off a few trees before changing its trajectory, heading straight towards him. Chanyeol quickly ducked down and startled when he heard another squeal. 

"Whoa!" Jae covered her head as the fire vanished, sparking faintly over her head before it was gone. 

"Jae-noona!" Chanyeol scurried over in a hurry, helping her up and muttering a string of apologies. She only chuckled as though she was utterly amused. 

"It's okay, really! Don't worry about it," she told him with a bright smile. "That one definitely looked more like fireworks, though. You're improving," she said kindly, but Chanyeol cleared his throat nervously, rubbing the back of his head. 

"Not really, I was- hey, wait a minute," Chanyeol suddenly realized, looking behind Jae. "W-what are you doing here, noona? Where are the others?" 

"Oh, it's just me. I, uh, well, I kinda saw you sneak away back there, and I guess I just wanted to see if you were okay. You seemed really disappointed just now," she said quietly, with flushes on her cheeks. "I hope you don't feel too bad about it. I mean, that phoenix really was beautiful before it attacked," she told him with another light chuckle. 

Chanyeol blushed. She thought it was beautiful? He was quiet for too long, since Jae started to shuffle feet and looked around. 

"So, should I leave? Do you want to be alone for a while?" she then asked a little awkwardly, and Chanyeol immediately snapped to action. 

"No! I mean, no, that's okay. If noona would like to stay, that's okay," he said, grinning happily at her while bouncing on the balls of his feet. "S-so, noona, you really thought it was beautiful? The fire, I mean?" he asked shyly. 

Jae blinked at him before nodding sincerely. "I still can't wrap my mind over how you guys do it, this whole power thing. I couldn't conjure something like what you showed us in my wildest dreams," she spoke and Chanyeol felt himself being entranced by the light in her eyes when she talked about something that fascinated her, and he couldn't help himself when he asked,

"Why do you think that fire is beautiful, noona?" 

Jae seemed to be surprised by the question and pondered it over. "How do you mean?" she inquired, as though she was stunned that a wielder of fire didn't know the answer himself. He felt a little embarrassed by that. 

"What do you see in fire that you find so fascinating?" he tried again, wanting an actual explanation. He realized then that he was rather envious of Jae. How could she see the beauty in so much careless destructive power? 

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not a pyromanic or anything," she quickly quipped. "I don't really know. Fire is fire, you know. It gives us warmth and light-,"

"But it burns if you come too close and leaves destruction in its wake," Chanyeol interrupted. Jae nodded. 

"True, but when controlled, it's mesmerizing. Fire dances and sparks," she gestured her hands when she tried to find the right words to say. Chanyeol felt his ears burning when Jae smiled at him. "You know what, fire kind of reminds me of you. It's playful, like you. I guess that's why it doesn't always listen when you try to control it. It's not your fault, or anything, I mean you lack nothing in skill, Chanyeol, but it kind of takes on your personality, don't you think? You don't always do what people tell you to, in fact, you love to tease them. Maybe your fire is the same way," she thought out loud, grinning sheepishly when she looked up at him. 

"I don't make a lot of sense, do I?" she stated embarrassedly. "Here, let me ask you a question," Jae then prompted. "Why would you think fire is anything but beautiful?" 

"Oh wow, noona, where to begin?" Chanyeol breathed dramatically. "Please understand, noona, I love being able to do what I do, but, man... How many times did I burn these trees by accident? Nearly incinerated the school- four times, by the way -, or well, five, I suppose, I sneezed and the flower caught on fire and- oh, not important," he rambled. "Yes, fire can be pretty, I guess, but once it's burned out, all there's left is ash. It has the ability to turn something into nothing but dust. How can that be beautiful?" 

"Fair enough, but there are plenty of times that fire has done good, hasn't it? There is a reason why you love it," Jae replied, watching him with a warm expression on her pretty face. 

Chanyeol was inclined to disagree, since he mostly loved his power purely because it intimidated others and, come on, who wouldn't freaking love the idea that he can control fire? But as he seriously took it into consideration, he started to chuckle, thinking back to fond memories where his fire played an important part. He laughed to himself, clapping his hands, trying his best to suppress it before Jae-noona would think he was an idiot. 

"There was this time where we celebrated Sehun's birthday and of course they asked me to light the candles," he started to explain, still trying to suppress his laughter. "He'd blow them out, but then I flicked them right back on. He got so confused and frustrated that he blew too hard, the wind picked up and took the entire cake with it," he laughed. 

"Aw," Jae-noona said, smiling but looking sympathetic towards Sehun. 

"Ah, don't misunderstand, noona!" Chanyeol quickly explained. "All of us went into town to bake another, better cake for him. I was in charge to make sure it was baked to perfection. Sehun said it was the best birthday cake he ever ate," he said proudly, reminiscing. "Oh, and there was that time we split into two teams to play fire-snowball war," he jumped up in excitement. "Xiumin-hyung was captain of the ice team and I was the captain of the fire team. He'd throw snowballs at us which I melted and throw fireballs back, which he froze again. Our teams would have to try to get the other team's flag while we battle it out. Did you know that Xiumin-hyung has a really good aim, noona? But it's okay, though, he'd always freeze the fireballs I throw at him, but then sometimes he's too late to avoid them, and-," he burst out in laughter, making Jae laugh as well. "Bam! His own snowball hits him in the face," he clapped, trying to catch his breath. 

"Wah, and noona, when the night is quiet and the stars are shining brightly, we'd sit by the fire. I'd make it extra warm to create the proper mood while the whole pack just sit and talk. Lay-hyung and I would jam together, playing the guitar, while D.O. sings and Baekhyun and Chen join in. We'd laugh and just enjoy each other's company," Chanyeol could see his brothers' smiling, happy faces in his mind. How they were lit by the warm glow of the fire, making their eyes sparkle, causing their smiles to beam even brighter. It was- "beautiful," Chanyeol murmured, feeling the warmth radiate throughout his body when amongst those faces, a new face joined in as well, completing the circle. A pretty face that was looking at him right now. 

He happily beamed at her. "You know what, noona? I think I want to try this again," he said, laughing when Jae bowed playfully before him. 

"I believe that is a great idea, Chanyeol," she winked and he played along when he bowed before her, just like he had seen princes in movies do before their princesses and tried to contain his glee when Jae accepted his arm and they walked back to their brothers. 

"Yah! Where did you disappear to all of a sudden?" Chen accused, pointing at Chanyeol. 

"We nearly started without you," Kai piped up, gesturing at the plateau. 

"Jae-noona, blink twice if you were kidnapped by Chanyeol-hyung," Sehun said, his eyes fixed on her arm draped over the widely grinning teen. She laughed and squeezed his arm tighter. 

"Nope, I just came to look for him. Tada! One firebender, at your service," she announced and she gently moved away from him, but Chanyeol could still feel her warmth. 

"You can do it," she whispered, nudging him forward. 

Chanyeol nodded confidently, seeing the campfire he created, seeing the warm glow cast over his brothers and he clasped his hands together as he directed himself towards them. "Can I request something?" he started. "Is it alright if I go first, this year? I have a really good resolution," he promised, seeing the curious looks around him. 

"Go ahead, Yeollie," Kris nodded, followed by Baekhyun cheering him on, the others quickly joining in. 

Chanyeol happily walked towards the plateau until he stood at the edge and could oversee the green forest. The sky was clear, and he wanted to do something about that. Casting one glance back he focused again. But this time, he didn't just think of Jae-noona, he thought of his brothers, too. Their smiling faces around the campfire, their laughter ringing in the air when they went barbequeing, and the sound of their cheerful clapping with their soot-stained faces. 

"Eh, Chanyeol, what are you-,"

"Let him, Chen," Jae said, the brothers watching curiously as sparks flew from Chanyeol's fingertips. Subtle and light at first, but growing stronger, more bright, more glorious to look upon. The flames his fingers and palms, colors of orange, red and blue, jolting out of his fingertips into the night sky, where it burst with a loud bang, glittering like fiery flowers in bloom. 

No one spoke a word at the spectacular sight, their mouths agape as Chanyeol's flowers of fire bloomed and burst in the sky. The teen himself laughed in triumph, shooting more flames into the sky before turning to his stunned pack. 

"Yah, Chen, Baekhyun! Are you going to stand there and stare, or are you going to help?" he called out to his two brothers who then came into action as they joined in the laughter and soon the sky was alive with glorious fireworks unlike any of them had seen before. Baekhyun made Chanyeol's fire even more beautiful by adding color, while Chen used his lightning to create more shapes and patterns. Amongst the cheering and the blasts of amazing fireworks, Chanyeol spoke out his resolution. 

"Here's to a new year where I can share the warmth and beauty of fire with others more, so we can enjoy the flowers of fire together," he said, looking at his pack. "I hope to always be thankful for my skills and for my pack who make me stronger. We are one," he decided happily, cooing out of amazement himself when Chen helped his phoenix take a more sophisticated shape before Baekhyun added the colors of the rainbow to its tail, just before it scattered into a million stars. 

"Whoo! Amazing!" Jae-noona yelled over the ruckus. "Happy New Year!" 

Chanyeol made sure to remember how the colorful fire lit up Jae's face, how full of wonder her eyes were. 

And maybe, if it were possible, I'd like to see fireworks with closed eyes this new year as well, he thought shyly to himself, imagining what it would be like to have a certain person's lips attached to his. The thought alone made him beet red and he shot out another powerful flame into sky, his brothers teasing him when they saw that it was in the shape of a heart. 

"Aww, we love you too, Chanyeollie!" Chen immediately teased. 

"Saranghae, you gorgeous elf-prince, you!" Baekhyun added. 

"Yah, enough already!" Chanyeol whined, though he didn't protest when he was suddenly stuck in the middle of a group hug. He made use of his long arms to hug as many people back. 

"Happy New Year, everyone. Let's make it a good one!"