A Slew of Love Letters

> summary: steve looks back on the best christmas he has ever had, and wishes more than anything to relive it. > ship: stucky > words: 3257 > song: merry christmas, darling by lea michele

Christmas music fades quietly as he steps into a room far away from the party still bustling. He shuts the door with a click and lets out a sigh before he finds a small loveseat to sit on. He’s nursing a bottle of beer that Sam handed to him a couple hours ago. He took a swig of the now warm alcohol and set it down on the table beside him.

The room he found is an office, he thinks, and it must be Pepper’s. There isn’t enough technology to be Tony’s. He hopes Pepper doesn’t mind him seeking refuge from the activity. Beside the loveseat and table, is a medium sized Christmas tree with white lights. He can smell the hint of cedar and knows that he must be a real tree. He didn’t know people still used those.

Steve sighs and leaned his head back against the plush cushion of the couch. Just as he closes his eyes, the door opens and the music filters into the room. “What are you doing in here?”

“Sitting,” he says. “It was too loud out there.”

“You’re telling me,” the door shuts and then Steve feels the loveseat shift beside him. “Tony is wearing a Santa costume and he is pointing to people telling them they’re his reindeer.”

“Which one are you?” Steve cracks open an eye and looks at Natasha. She looks tired, just like him, but an amused smile is playing on her lips. “Comet or Cupid?”

“Blitzen, actually,” she smirks. “You’re lucky you aren’t out there. Tony would call you Rudolph.”

“Why?”

“Little scrawny guy that turns out to be everyone’s hero,” says Natasha and she rests her head on his shoulder. They fell into a comfortable silence. Steve reaches and put his arm around her shoulders. Her presence is a comfortable one. She shifts, “Why are you in here, Steve?”

He swallows heavily, “What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said. Why are you in here?” she lifts her head up and forces him to look at her. “I thought you loved Christmas.”

“I did. I do,” Steve wets his lips. “It’s a-a good holiday.”

“Steve,” Natasha sounds like a mother scolding her child. “What is going on? Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Liar,” Natasha punches his chest lightly but then she freezes and her eyes widen. “It’s because of him, isn’t it?”

He sighs, “Nat, it’s fine.”

“You’re missing him,” her words are dripping with pity. “It’s normal, Steve, to miss him. You thought he was dead. And now… He isn’t. I get it. But I think it would help if you distracted yourself. Distractions help.”

“I couldn’t be around everyone right now,” he tells her and it’s true. He couldn’t stand around while eggnog flowed throughout the crowd and the Christmas cheer was heady in the air. “I-I keep thinking about him and I had to get away. I didn’t want to be a downer on everyone’s happiness.”

“You could never be a downer,” Natasha tells him. “Everyone would understand. We all have our pasts and our ghosts.”

“Except my ghost is still alive,” Steve says and emotion builds up inside of him and he clears his throat.  

“We help each other get through the rough days, that’s what we do because we’re a family,” Natasha pets his hair. “Whether or not our ghosts are still alive.”

Steve looks over to the Christmas tree. The smell fills his nostrils and he pictures mud beneath his feet and cold imbedding itself into his bones. He can hear the crackling of a fire nearby and the taste of baked beans on his tongue. The memory of a gentle pressure on his lips startles him and he realises that Natasha has been talking to him.

“—Christmas?” her voice cuts in.

“What?”

She smirks, “How did you and Bucky spend Christmas?”

He shrugs, “We didn’t really do anything back then. Neither of us had that much money. Sometimes Bucky would find a bottle of cheap liquor and we’d share it. The Great Depression was not kind.”

“What about during the war?” Natasha asks and Steve realises what she’s doing. She’s trying to get him to talk about it—to think about the good times when Bucky was alive and when Bucky was Bucky.

“We, uh, we didn’t really celebrate, what with the threat of being shot by the Germans.” Steve grabs his beer and drinks from it. “Some of the guys would get letters from home and if they were lucky, they’d get a package with some home-made goods or a picture of their sweetheart. I never did. I had no one to write to me and I had no sweetheart.”

“You had Peggy, didn’t you?” Nat asks him.

He scoffs, “Peggy was sweet but she wasn’t my sweetheart. Far from it, really. I loved her though. She was amazing.” He drank again. “Bucky got a letter once, but there was no address on it so we never knew who it was from. He thought maybe it was Becca, his sister, but there wasn’t any proof. I don’t even think Becca knew that Bucky was in the war so…”

Loud cheers erupt outside the door and Steve flinches. He forgot there was a party going on. Natasha should be out there mingling, networking like she always does. Someone has no doubt been looking for her. Clint, probably, or Sam—Sam is probably looking for him too. They should go back out there.

“How did you and Bucky celebrate?” Natasha asks, somehow oblivious to the party growing rowdier by the second. “What did you do?”

“Like I said, we didn’t do anything special… There wasn’t anything to do but stay quiet and try to not get shot,” he is lying. God, he is lying to Natasha. He can’t tell her about it. He can’t even think about it.

His eyes drift to the cedar tree and he sucks in a breath. He can remember the crunch of snow beneath his back and the hot breath against his neck.

“God, Darlin’, look at you.”

“Steve?”

He sucks in a breath, “Yeah?”

“Where’d you go?” Natasha asks, “You looked like you were a world away.”

“Sorry, I was just… thinking,” he shakes his head and smiles at her.

“Tell me about it,” she keeps her voice low, “tell me about the Christmas with Bucky.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lies again. Natasha pinches his bicep and he yelps before smacking her hand away, “What are you doing?”

“I can’t promise you that I won’t do worse if you keep lying to my face. I had my nails done for this party,” she holds up her right hand and her long-painted nails shine in the dim light. “Are you going to take or do you want to find out how sharp I had them done?”

Steve laughs despite himself, “How Clint fell in love with you, I’ll never know.”

Natasha grins, “So?”

His jaw tightens and he looks to the tree one more time, “Bucky and I were all each other had. My Ma was dead, and Bucky hadn’t spoken to his family in years. It was just us. It was always just us a-and Christmas in the trenches was no different. Buck, he nabbed a mickey of whiskey and we drank it around the fire. We were in this forest of cedar trees, you-you could really smell it. It was a nice change from the dirt, and the mud, and the blood.” He remembers breathing in the sweet air of the forest and feeling tension drain from his body. “I remember it was so cold, you couldn’t take your hands out of your gloves for more than a few minutes because they would freeze otherwise. A-And the fire wasn’t helping either, to stop the cold I mean. It was that cold. Bucky,” Steve chuckles, “he kept saying, ‘Jesus Steve, I’m going to freeze my balls off here’ and he’d hold the whiskey bottle a bit tighter like it was going to warm him up.”

“Why were you up if it was so cold?” Natasha asks.

Steve purses his lips, “I don’t even know. I just… wanted to be awake.” He wanted to stay up and drink like they were dumb kids again. Only now, he was a few feet taller and wasn’t a bundle of shaking bones. He looks back to the twinkling tree beside him and sighs, “I wanted to be with Bucky.”

Sparks flew in the air as Bucky poked at the small fire with a stick, “Fuck, it’s cold. I’m going to freeze my—”

“Balls off, I know,” Steve laughs as he takes a swig from the cheap whiskey, “How many balls do you have left now? They must’ve fallen off about ten times now.”

Bucky shoots him a smirk, “Wouldn’t you like to know? Thinking about my balls, Stevie?”

“Fuck off,” Steve takes another swig of whiskey for good measure before he hands it back to the prick sitting next to him.

> summary: in recent memory, every christmas merlin has spent at arthur’s side as been festivities and joy. this year is different. in fact, it’s rather depressing. merlin volunteers himself to bring the happiness back into christmas--and arthur. (takes place prior to la douleur exquise in kairos ‘verse)  > ship: merthur > words: 4224 > song: have yourself a merry little christmas by frank sinatra

The snow fell softly against his shoulders as he sat on the steps of the citadel. The cobblestoned courtyard was covered in a fresh layer of snow and the city was eerily quiet. Most of the citizens were bundled up beside their fireplaces struggling to stay warm in the sudden bout of cold weather they’d been receiving. Though, in Merlin’s memory, every winter was like this in Camelot but with each passing year people complained no matter what.

He was the only one outside, he’d been sitting on the steps for so long that if he stood there would be no snow in his place. He’d escaped from the confines of the citadel about an hour ago, after Arthur went to have dinner with his father, and Gwaine tried to twist his arm into joining him at the tavern. He’d declined politely saying, “I’m not really in the mood tonight,” and Gwaine replied, “That’s the best time to go, my friend.”

He folded his arms across his chest, trying to salvage what heat he had left in his cloak. With no one around, he whispered out a quiet spell to warm the chill settling down in his bones. If someone were to ask him why he was outside if he was so cold, what would he even say? That he was trying to escape from the chaotic hell of the citadel? That he wanted to get away from his responsibilities, if only for an hour?

Christmas was a hectic time for him, especially this year. Uther was unable to host the Christmas festivities that generally went on, so Arthur was in charge – meaning Merlin was in charge. He had feasts to plan, speeches to write and robes to clean. He was so tired—he could be using this time to catch up on sleep, but instead he’s brooding on the steps of the castle.

“Merlin?” he heard from the doors behind him.

He sighed, his breath leaving a cloud in front of him, “Yes?”

“Arthur is looking for you,” Lancelot said as he joined Merlin on the steps. The snow crunched beneath his boots. “Why are you out here?”

“It’s quiet,” Merlin answered and Lancelot nodded slowly. “Why is Arthur looking for me? He’s supposed to be with Uther.”

“I don’t know,” Lancelot replied, “he wasn’t with the king when I saw him. He was in the kitchens.”

“What?” Merlin’s back straightened slightly, “What was he doing there?”

“Once again, I don’t know,” Lancelot held out his hand and helped Merlin stand up. The knight brushed off the snow piling on Merlin’s shoulders, “Come on,” and he started back up the stairs.

“Where are we going?” Merlin followed him despite himself.

“You have so many questions tonight, Merlin,” Lancelot chuckled and looked back at him. There was a strange glint in his eyes and it made Merlin even more confused. Lancelot knew something that Merlin did not. “We’re going inside and standing by a fire place, you are frozen and if Arthur hears that you were sitting out in the freezing cold he will have my head.”

That was true. Arthur was very adamant that Merlin was to never be outside in the cold – not after what happened in the summer. He made sure to give Merlin an extra blanket if they were outside for the night and that he wore extra clothes. And if Arthur wasn’t around to check, the other knights made sure they gave Merlin their cloaks if he even showed any signs of shivering. They were all very protective of him.

Lancelot led him up the stairs towards the royal chambers, which puzzled Merlin. Why were they here? If they were going to stand by a fire, he thought it would be in the knights’ quarters or in Lancelot’s chambers.

“Are you ready for Christmas?” Lancelot asked as they walked down the long corridor.

“I don’t even want to think about it,” Merlin mumbled, “there is still so much to do.”

“Well, maybe tonight you can relax a bit,” Lancelot said with the same glint in his eyes.

Merlin stopped, “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

The knight smirked, “What do you mean?”

“Where is Arthur?”

“I told you, I don’t know—” Lancelot was cut off by Merlin smacking his arm. Lancelot laughed, “I’m being honest, I don’t—”

“Do not lie to me, Lancelot,” Merlin glared. “Where is he?”

For a moment, there was a silent battle between them. Lancelot was not backing down but Merlin lit up his eyes for a moment – a minor spell that only flickered a torch near them – but Lancelot caught the movement. The knight groaned, “You can’t tell him I told you.”

“What is it?”

“When you go into his chambers, he’s… Uh,” Lancelot rubbed the back of his head, “he’s got a dinner ready for you.”

Merlin’s heart beat hard against his chest, “Excuse me?”

Lancelot smiled softly, “Go see for yourself. He really cares about you, Merlin. He went all out for you.”

Lancelot was the only one that knew about his and Arthur’s… situation. Merlin knew they could trust him, Arthur trusted no one – other than Merlin – more than Lancelot and Merlin had the same sentiments, after all Lancelot hadn’t told a soul about his magic.

Merlin’s eyes flickered to Arthur’s chamber doors only a few feet away, “Why?”

“Do you even have to ask that, Merlin?” Lancelot asked him, “Listen, just go in there. He may be an ass sometimes, but he can always see when you’re overworked – which you are. No one is going to come looking for you all night. I made sure of that.”

The sorcerer wet his lips, “You didn’t have to do this.”

“After the year we all had? You two deserve to relax with one another. Now stop talking to me, go see your prince.”

At Lancelot’s words, Merlin’s stomach flipped. His prince. Arthur was his prince. His future king. There was no one else on this earth he’d rather spend his evening with. He thanked Lancelot, who backed away slowly and nodded for Merlin to go in.

Slowly, he pushed on the two doors and he immediately felt a change. Rather than the chill that had found a home in the halls of the citadel, it was so warm that Merlin felt he could fall asleep by just standing there. Arthur was across the room by the fireplace, he looked the same as he did when Merlin last saw him when he was going to Uther’s room; except for the soft grin playing on his lips.

“Good evening,” Arthur said quietly. He was nervous, Merlin could tell. If it weren’t for his knowledge of the night to come, Merlin would have been concerned. He and Arthur had been together since the summer. They’d spent many a night together and Arthur had never been nervous.

“Hi,” Merlin smiled, he shut the doors behind him and latching them shut. Before he could turn back around, Arthur was behind him. Arthur slid his arms around Merlin’s waist and pulled him against him, “You’re friendly tonight.”

“I missed you,” Arthur whispered into his shoulder.

Unforfunately I cannot continue the 12 days of Shipmas as planned. I don’t feel comfortable writing fictionalized versions of SHINee’s lives with what has happened. It isn’t right. I’m sorry for disappointing anyone. There is are stories due to post today and tomorrow, but after that, they will stop.

> summary: victoria loves christmas. krystal... does not.  > ship: krytoria > words: 892 > song: the most wonderful time of the year by pentatonix

People watching was one of Hyeri’s favourite things to do. She loved coming up with life stories for complete strangers and trying to figure out their goals for the future. Some of her friends found it creepy she likes to go into shopping centres and just sit with no desire to buy anything. One of them even called her a pervert.

She didn’t care. It was her hobby and it was always an adventure.

Take now for example, she was sitting on a bench in the midst of the craziest Christmas shopping day she’d ever seen. There were at least two hundred people shuffling down the aisles of the mall, all window shopping, trying to find the perfect gift for their loved ones. She was feeling rather overwhelmed by how many people there were. It was proving hard to people watch when an entire sea of people was passing Hyeri by every moment she sat there on the bench.

The young woman was about to give up and head home, when a pair of girls sat next to her on the bench. Hyeri froze, if she got up now the pair might think she’s leaving because they sat down beside her. She did not want that to happen. So she remained seated, and found herself increasingly interested in the conversation these girls were having.

“Okay, so we’ve got Amber’s gift and Luna’s. Now we just need to buy Sulli’s, and we need to buy each of the boys’ one,” said the taller one. There was a festive light in her eyes that wasn’t shared in the eyes of the girl sitting next to her. “If we get it all done by 5pm, we still have time to go home and wrap them all for the party tomorrow.”

“Mhm,” replied the other girl. “Wait. 5pm? You think we’re going to be here for three more hours? Vic, you said this would be a short shopping trip.”

“Three hours is short, Soojung,” replied Vic. From what Hyeri could sense, this Vic had far more Christmas spirit than Soojung, By the looks of it, Soojung was somewhat of an ice princess. Vic pulled a list from her expensive purse, “So for Sulli we need to buy a Dior handbag, and for the boys I was thinking that we buy Kibum a new Gucci sweater?”

“Geez, it is really crowded,” Soojung said, “Are you sure we’ll be able to get it all done?”

Vic pouted, “Soojung, please? Christmas shopping is the best part of Christmas. After today, you don’t need to come to the shopping centre with me.”

Soojung sighed heavily and said under her breath, “The best part of Christmas is when its over.”

Vic pouted even more, “You can go home if you want. I’ll finish shopping on my own.”

Hyeri wanted to scream out, “No Soojung! Christmas shop with Vic! Put your hatred for the holiday aside to make Vic happy!”

Soojung stood up and Hyeri clenched her fists at her side to stop herself from saying anything, “Do you want a hot chocolate?”

“W-What?” Vic blinked.

“Hot chocolate, do you want one?” Soojung repeated, her expression even more emotionless than when she and Vic first sat down.

“I s-suppose—” before Vic could finish her sentence, Soojung had turned on her heel and pushed her way into the crowd. “Hey! Jung Soojung!” but Soojung had already made her way well into the hundreds of people wandering the mall and was lost in the sea of heads. Vic sighed loudly and Hyeri saw her grip loosen slightly on the list in her hands. Hyeri really wanted to say something to keep Vic’s spirits up but she saw no point. It would only bring on an awkward encounter that she did not want to look back on and cringe.

So she and Vic sat. She people watched, trying not to think about Vic and Soojung, while Vic sat solemnly waiting for Soojung to return with their hot chocolates.

After what felt like ten minutes had passed, Hyeri thought that perhaps Soojung had actually left, leaving Vic alone on the bench to finish Christmas shopping on her own. Vic seemed to think this too, as she was repeatedly checking the time on her phone and huffing periodically.

Then, like Moses parting the Red Sea, came Soojung carrying two hot chocolates with a white plastic bag around one of her arms. She sat down next to Vic and handed her the hot chocolate, “I bought something,” she said as she did.

“What is it?” Vic asked while peering over at the bag.

Soojung placed her hot chocolate on the spot beside her and reached into the bag before pulling out a small white box. Very slowly, Soojung opened the box and inside was a diamond encrusted silver bracelet. “Merry Christmas, Vic.”

Vic let out a watery sigh, “Soojung… You didn’t.”

“I did,” Soojung smiled – Hyeri was surprised, she wasn’t sure Soojung was capable of that.

Out of nowhere, Vic smacked Soojung’s shoulder, “You tricked me! I’m so mad at you!”

Soojung laughed, “But do you like it?”

“Yes, of course, but I’m still mad at you!”

Soojung leaned over and pecked Vic on the lips, “Love you.”

Hyeri was glad she didn’t go home, because now she knew that the Christmas spirit was alive and well.

> summary: the clock strikes twelve and the snow is coming down harder than ever. luna is stuck, but at least she’s with amber, her girlfriend--ahem, her friend. they’re friends. nothing more. that doesn’t stop luna from wishing though. > ship: lunber > words: 806 > song: let it snow by carly rae jepsen

“Wow, it’s coming down really hard out there,” Amber mused as she stood by the window sill. Luna was sat on the couch, her eyes fixed on Amber and her hand deep in a bag of pre-popped popcorn. Amber turned back to her, “I don’t think it’s safe for you to drive home. I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you drive on those streets.”

Luna craned her neck to look out the window behind Amber. The snow was almost blizzard like, she could barely see the other high-rises from where she sat. “I’ve never seen it this bad before,” she noted and Amber nodded in agreement.

Luna relaxed slightly, comforted by the view of the snow and Amber leaning against the window. She wasn’t too upset that she was stuck in Amber’s apartment. If anything, it was a blessing in disguise. For weeks now she’d wanted an excuse to spend more time with Amber. It was so hard to come by these days. Their schedules were so hard to get into sync and Amber was always off with one of her friend’s visiting from the States. Luna just wanted to spend some time with her favourite person.

It doesn’t help that she’s also hopelessly in love with Amber.

Amber looked at her and said, “I have an idea. Let’s go out into it.”

“Into the snow?” Luna looked back to the window, “Really?”

“Yeah! There are no cars on the road because of how bad it is. We can have ourselves a little party out there,” Amber came up to her and pulled the bag of popcorn from her hands. “Come on, it’ll be fun. How often do you get to run around on the streets of Seoul without having to worry about getting hit by a car?”

Ten minutes later, the pair were running out the front doors of Amber’s apartment building and into the thick snow. Luna watched as Amber stuck her tongue out to catch snowflakes and she couldn’t help but admire the twinkle of joy in Amber’s eyes. It was breathtaking.

Amber caught her eye, “Do I have something on my face?”

“Just snow,” Luna lied, well, it wasn’t a lie there was snow on her face.

The other woman laughed, “Come on, let’s make snow angels.” She took Luna’s hand in her own and said, “You ready?”

“For what—” Luna felt herself lose balance and both her and Amber went falling backwards. Out of instinct, her body prepared to fall onto cement but instead they both landed softly onto the plush snow. “Amber!” she shouted, “what was that?”

“That’s how you make snow angels!” Amber said through her laughter, “Come on, let’s do this.”

The entire time the pair made their snow angels, all Luna could think of was the fact that Amber was still holding her hand tight—as if there was nothing in the world that could possibly get her to let go. It made Luna’s heart hammer rapidly in her chest. She was so distracted by Amber holding her hand, she hadn’t realised she stopped making her snow angel and Amber rose her head up to look at her, “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” she said smiling up at her group mate of eight years.

An emotion suddenly filled Amber’s eyes and her hand reached up to touch Luna’s face. Luna held her breath, afraid to disturb whatever was going through Amber’s mind.

Amber’s finger tips brushed her cheek and whispered, “You had an eyelash.”  

Whatever emotion had taken over Amber didn’t go away. In fact, it intensified. Very slowly, Amber seemed to be coming closer towards her. Or, Luna was lifting her head up to reach Amber, she had no idea.

They met in the middle. In the sweetest kiss Luna had ever had. Amber’s glove covered hand cupped her cheek, rubbing along her jawline. They stayed like that for some time. Kissing in the streets of Seoul, with no one to take pictures or gawk at them. Just the two of them.

Amber was the first to pull away and it was with a quiet laugh, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Luna beamed up at her, “I probably do.”

They laid there together for a while before Amber spoke up, “Do you want to go inside? I can turn on the fireplace and we can sit on the couch. Maybe eat some more popcorn and watch the snow fall?”

“That sounds wonderful,” Luna grinned. When they stood up, Amber laughed once more, “What?”

“Our snow angels are so ugly,” Amber took Luna’s hand once more and led her back into the apartment building. Back to the warmth, and the comfort of being at Amber’s side. But this time, as something more than friends. 

Yeah, Luna wasn’t upset at all about the snow.

> summary: jiyong has never felt this lonely surrounded by his family. the holiday season just isn’t the same without him.  > ship: gtop > words:  > song: mittens by carly rae jepsen

When Jiyong was young, there was nothing he loved more than spending the holidays with his family. He loved decorating the tree with his parents and he loved joking around with Dami.

As he grew up, he started spending his holidays with the members. He and Youngbae would decorate the tree, Seungri would sing Christmas carols too loud and Daesung would laugh the entire time. At night, they’d go to the closest convenience store and buy as many snacks as they could all afford and bring it back to the dorm. They always spent the entire night eating and enjoying each other’s presence.

Seunghyun never joined them. Jiyong can remember staring at his closed bedroom door wondering what he was doing in there. They would always try to get him to come out and eat with them, but he never would.  

That is, until one year. It was late, the others had already gone to bed with their bellies full of junk food. Jiyong had stepped outside into the cold to have a cigarette. The air bit Jiyong’s cheeks and his fingers tingled. His own breath mingled with the smoke.

He heard the patio door open behind him and then his cigarette was snatched from his fingers, “What are you doing out here?” Seunghyun said while taking a drag from the stolen cigarette.

“Having a smoke?”

“It’s cold,” the older rapper said matter-of-factly, “you’re going to freeze.”

“So are you,” Jiyong retorted.

“Nah, I’m like a furnace. I don’t get cold.” Seunghyun said and Jiyong scoffed at him. He watched as Seunghyun finished off his cigarette and flick the bud into the snow collecting on the patio. Jiyong folded his arms across his chest, feeling the cold deep in his bones and Seunghyun noticed the movement. Without warning, Seunghyun pulled his arms apart and grabbed Jiyong’s hands. He held them in his grasp and blew softly on them, “You’re frozen,” Seunghyun’s voice was barely above a whisper, “come here,” Seunghyun engulfed Jiyong in a big hug. They were so close Jiyong could hear Seunghyun’s heart beating. “Merry Christmas, Jiyong.”

The next year, everything was about the same as it was the year before and the year before that. Except, when they returned from the convenience store there was a blue box sitting at Jiyong’s place setting. He opened the box slowly and found a pair of blue knit mittens with a note, “So you don’t freeze tonight.”

Now, here Jiyong was. Christmas 2017. He’s standing outside his parent’s house. They were all asleep waiting for the morning to come. The members were with their own families, miles away, there was nobody to raid the convenience store with. There was no one to sing Christmas Carols off-key. It made Jiyong feel rather lonely.

He took a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke out into the snowy air. This was his third cigarette and his fingers ached from chill. He sighed and flicked the ash from his smoke before throwing it to the ground.

“That’s such a waste,” he heard as he turned back to go into the house. “I could have finished that off.” He looked over his shoulder and his mouth fell open. How in the hell was he here? He couldn’t be here. He was going to get in trouble and it was going to be Jiyong’s fault. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Y-You can’t be here,” Jiyong’s teeth clattered as he spoke, he hadn’t even realised he was shivering.

“Why not?” Seunghyun came towards him, wearing that dopey grin of his. “It’s a tradition that I steal your cigarette, I couldn’t not show up.”

“H-Hyung, you’re going to get in trouble.”

Seunghyun shook his head, “I got a few hours off for Christmas. It’s fine.”

“You should be spending it with your family,” Jiyong took a step back as Seunghyun came towards him.

“Hey,” Seunghyun advanced on him and grabbed his arms before he could move away, “I am.”

“Hyung—”

“Where are your mittens?” Seunghyun asked suddenly, his eyes fixed on Jiyong’s bare hands. “One of these days you’re going to get hypothermia and frost bite, and you’re going to wish you were wearing those mittens.”

Jiyong took a deep breath, “Why do I need them?”

“Because you’ll freeze—”

“Warm them up for me,” Jiyong said.

Seunghyun hesitated for a moment, he obviously did not expect Jiyong to say that. A second passes and Jiyong swore he was going to pull away, but Seunghyun hugged him. His body warm and his heart beating just as Jiyong remembered. Jiyong slowly wrapped his arms around Seunghyun and held him close.

“Merry Christmas, Jiyong.”

Jiyong never wanted to let go.  

> summary: their lives are hectic, taehyung knows this, but christmas is supposed to be their time. he doesn’t want to share jungkook with the world. not on christmas.  > ship: taekook > words: 899 > song: baby, please come home by michael buble

Don’t get him wrong, Taehyung loves his job and his fans. There is nothing on this earth that he loves more—in moderation. Sometimes he would like to be able to go to the movie theatre without having to worry about fans swarming him to get a picture. Sometimes he’d like to be able to go grocery shopping without a sasaeng documenting every item that he’s buying. And sometimes he’d like to be able to go on a date without having a scandal break out and threaten to ruin his group’s reputation.

He just wants a break sometimes. These feelings only worsen during the holiday season.

He’s laying in bed right now, pouting at his phone screen as he watches the time go by. In an hour, Christmas will have ended. An entire holiday that only comes once a year passes by and Taehyung isn’t afraid to say that he didn’t enjoy himself.

Sure, he spent time with the members and he had dinner with his family—which he enjoyed thoroughly thank you very much—but there was something missing.

Someone.

In standard idol fashion, some of the members had to work during Christmas. Not all of them this year, which surprised Taehyung, but enough to make a gaping whole in Taehyung’s heart.

It was Jimin and Jungkook. None of them knew why it was those two who were chosen to be on a special live Christmas episode of Weekly Idol, but their absence was greatly felt between the remaining members. For Taehyung, it was hard. Jimin was his best friend in the whole world, it felt as if his other half was missing the whole day.

As for Jungkook, things were a bit different. Recently, things had changed between them. They were closer, gentler with one another. Touches were soft and glances were warm. Taehyung didn’t dare think of the one word that would describe what he felt for Jungkook, but deep down he knew that he cared a lot more for Jungkook than he would if they were just friends.

And this is why he is upset. Christmas has all but passed and he hasn’t spent it with the one person he actually wants to spend it with.

He sighs. He rolls over onto his stomach and types out a text to Jungkook, I miss you :(

The reply comes minutes later, I miss you too.

I wish you were here, Taehyung sends to the younger man. This time the reply takes longer, and as each second passes, Taehyung’s mood turns even more sour. Why the fuck do idols need to work on Christmas? It makes no sense. The industry takes every day from them from when they are trainees to when they’re fully fledged idols. They never have a moment to breathe. They deserve to spend Christmas, or any holiday for that matter, with their friends and family.

Jungkook replies, Me too, he attaches a picture of himself and Jimin wearing Santa hats. Taehyung can see the background of the Weekly Idol set. He sighs. He doesn’t reply, even though he knows he should, and puts his phone down.

The snow is coming down hard outside. By the time the shoot ends, it’s going to take Jungkook a long time to get back to the dorm. It’ll be way into Boxing Day by then.

Last year, he and Jungkook spent Christmas in the dorm alone. The other members were with their families, and they had all offered to take them both in, but they had both declined. Choosing instead to spend it quietly together.

That was the night things changed.

Maybe that is why Taehyung is so bitter about working on Christmas. It was kind of their anniversary, although they have never had any discussion about what they were to each other. Just that they weren’t friends anymore, instead something more.

His phone vibrates. He lifts it up and reads the text from Jungkook, How was your Christmas?

Taehyung tries not to frown while he types, It was okay.

Just okay?

He takes a deep breath and writes, It would have been better with you here.

Come into the living room ;)

Taehyung is sceptical to say the least but he gets out of bed anyway. He opens his door and finds the living room to be completely dark, aside from the small Christmas tree lit beside the TV. He finds a white card sitting on the coffee table and picks it up.

I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for Christmas with you :( I really wanted to but I couldn’t say no without raising questions. I don’t want your Christmas to be lonely without me, so I put this together so that you’re not sad. Hoseok-hyung helped me put it together. Don’t worry, he’s not going to ask you about it. Anyway, merry Christmas Taehyung. You’re the best –Jungkook.

Without warning, the TV turns on and there is Jungkook, “Hyung!” shouts the Jungkook on the screen, “Merry Christmas! Since we’re not spending the holiday together, I wanted to tell you something to make up for it. It’s not much but here it goes. Kim Taehyung, will you be my boyfriend?” Jungkook smiles that stupid goofy smile of his and Taehyung feels his heart beat out of his chest.

He reaches for his phone and types out a reply.

Yes, you idiot, then, merry Christmas <3

> summary: on the eve of christmas, jonghyun receives a decorative fairy from his uncle, little does he know that this ornament is no ordinary christmas decoration. > ship: jongtae  >words: 950 > song: dance of the sugarplum fairy by tchaikovsky

“…hyun.”

“Mmm?”

“Jonghyun!”

“W-What?” Jonghyun blinked his eyes open to find his older sister hovering over him. From how dark the room was, he knew it was far too late for her to be up wandering around the house. “What time is it?”

She ignored him, “I heard a noise.”

“A noise?” he sat up, “What do you mean?”

“It came from the living room,” she pointed towards Jonghyun’s open door, “Can you go see what it was?”

He sighed, “I’m sure it was nothing, just go back to sleep.”

“Jonghyun, what if someone broke in and is stealing all of our gifts?” she asked, there was anxiety clear as day in her voice. “Please go see.”

Jonghyun climbed out of bed and Sodam tiptoed carefully behind him as he made his way down the hallway. The living room was illuminated by the still lit white Christmas tree and the snow falling heavily on the street. As far as he could see, there was nothing out of place. He turned to face Sodam but found she was nowhere in sight, “Noona?” she didn’t answer. “Sodam—”

Clunk!

Jonghyun turned back around, his heart positively leaping out of his chest, to find a box sitting in the center of the room. He smirked, “Noona, if this is you trying to scare me it won’t work.” He walked over to the box, it looked as if it had been opened haphazardly. Jonghyun peered inside and found that it was the present his uncle had given to him. Inside were souvenirs from his uncle’s many travels around the world. To Sodam, he’d gifted a traditional nutcracker and to Jonghyun, a decorative fairy to hang on the tree.

Sodam’s nutcracker was laying beside the box, its arm now a few inches away from its body. Jonghyun carefully picked up the wooden decoration and reattached the arm, all while wondering how this even happened. Who could have done this? Before Sodam woke him, he swore everyone was tucked away in bed sleeping soundly waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.

Meanwhile, Jonghyun’s fairy was nowhere in sight.  

Thump!

Jonghyun jumped up into the air, the nutcracker still tight in his grasp. “Sodam,” his voice and his body trembled, “it’s Christmas, not Halloween, y-you don’t have to scare me.”

Suddenly, Jonghyun felt someone very gently tap him on the shoulder. He spun around, completely prepared to use Sodam’s nutcracker as a weapon to fight off any intruder—but instead, he felt every nerve inside of him freeze.

Standing before him was the most beautiful man he’d ever seen. He had skin as white as porcelain, soft pink hair that seemed to blow gently despite there being no wind, and he wore a bejewelled body suit. The man blinked at him, his hand still hovering where he had tapped Jonghyun on the shoulder.

“H-Hello,” Jonghyun said nervously. The man blinked once more before his eyes fixed on the nutcracker still clenched in Jonghyun’s hands. The man reached the nutcracker and Jonghyun immediately stepped back, “You can’t have this.” The man frowned and took a delicate step towards Jonghyun. So delicate, that it made Jonghyun’s look down to the man’s feet and instead of shoes or socks, the man wore pointe shoes. The man took advantage of Jonghyun’s moment of distraction and pulled the nutcracker from his hands. “Hey—” Jonghyun started but the man lifted his finger to his lips, effectively quieting Jonghyun.

As the man crossed the room with grace, Jonghyun saw a pair of sparkling pink wings on the man’s back, with each step the man took the wings left a trail of glittery air behind him.

It was then that Jonghyun realised why his fairy was missing from the giftbox.

The man—or rather, fairy—placed Sodam’s nutcracker gently onto the mantel of the fireplace. The fairy eyed the nutcracker for a few moments, as if to make sure it didn’t move from its place, before looking back at Jonghyun. The fairy held out his hand, and Jonghyun – though for the life of him had no idea why he did it – took it. The fairy led him towards the window, before stepping right through the glass and pulling Jonghyun along with him.

The pair stood out in the heavy snow, snowflakes catching in their hair and the cold reddening their cheeks. The fairy let go of his hand and walked back a few paces before spreading his wings and performing a dance.

Jonghyun was captivated.

He’d never seen such beauty in dance. The fairy’s pointed shoes hovered just above the snow, leaving it pristine and untouched. With each twirl the fairy made, the snow around them grew heavier, to the point that Jonghyun struggled to find the ornament come to life in the chaos.

But then, a soft pair of lips pressed against his. Lips as cold as porcelain. Jonghyun’s eyes fell shut and he pulled the fairy closer, he felt the desire to never end the kiss. Far too soon, the fairy pulled away and bowed his head in farewell. Jonghyun wanted to tell the fairy to wait, he had so many things to ask but the snow and the wind became far too strong it knocked Jonghyun to the ground. All while glitter fell over him, and the familiar tune of a dancing fairy filled his head.

When he woke, he was in his bedroom. The sun had barely risen and the world was still sound asleep. He reached for his phone and scrolled through his contacts before falling on Taemin, his boyfriend and bandmate.

I dreamt you were a fairy last night, he wrote.

The response was immediate, Of course you did.

Oh gosh hi. I didn’t think anyone liked The Glee Club when I wrote it lmao and I would have never thought anyone would remember it!!

I believe I still have it somewhere on my old laptop. It’s all in separate documents and shit because when I wrote it for some reason I saved chapters separately rather than altogether but I can look and see if I have them all. It was never finished unfortunately because I grew out of the ‘verse I created but if you want I can let you know how I planned to finish it? I still remember.

As for posting it and stuff, it would take me a while to get it all together and see if I have the earlier chapters (as I think the first 14 or so were written on ff.net rather than Word) but let me know how you’d want it. I wouldn’t mind reposting it on ff.net if it’s easier. It was just take me a bunch of time.

i just wanted to let you all know that there has been a little setback with prompt posting as you can probably tell. but the schedule will return in july, i promise. i need to get myself back on track and actually start writing before i lose my chance when school starts back up again in september.

> anonymous asked: shinee / onho / bottom lip > ship: onho (feat. taemin) > words: 774 > note: poor taemin. he always gets sucked into onho’s antics. since there wasn’t really a prompt other than bottom lip, i took the liberty of making it a bit funny and probably not what the person who sent this expected lmao.

The last thing Taemin expected when he walked into the dorm was to hear Minho swearing. That wasn’t to say he was surprised about the swearing – Minho swore like a sailor but what was surprising were the words that followed the curse words.

“Fuck, hyung, it hurts.”

Taemin’s cheeks immediately flushed with embarrassment. It sounded like it was coming from their shared bedroom. Taemin didn’t want to deal with walking in on his hyungs having sex. He’d never be able to look Jinki or Minho in the eyes again. God, Kibum would never let him live it down.

“Stop whining, it’ll feel better once I—” Jinki was cut off by Minho crying out loud.

Taemin wanted to leave but he had to get what he came for. It had been quite sometime since he moved out of the dorm but he still had some of things there laying around. To get to his and Jonghyun’s old room, he’d have to pass by Minho and Jinki’s room… He’d have to walk past whatever was going on in there.

The youngest member took a step further into the dorm and as his food pressed down against the hardwood, Minho cried out again: “Ah, Jinki.”

“You’re so vocal,” Jinki laughed, “if you stop moving your mouth it’ll feel better.”

Taemin gasped silently, what the fuck were they doing?

He very carefully kept walking towards the hallway, with each step he took he could hear Minho’s breathing grow heavier followed by Jinki’s whispers of comfort. Taemin prayed that their bedroom door was shut but he didn’t know whether or not that was a good. If it was, he could slink by without being seen and seeing anything but it meant that both Minho and Jinki were loud enough in bed that Taemin could hear them from the foyer of the dorm.

“I’m close to being done,” Jinki sounded tense, like an elastic band about to snap. Taemin was afraid of what that could mean.

As he grew close to the room, he could see the door was open. Taemin tried to sigh in exasperation but he worried that if he could hear them, then they could hear him. Very slowly, Taemin poked his head around the doorframe and saw… Nothing.

There was nothing there.

“And… I’m done,” Jinki still sounded close by. Taemin’s eyes widened, what if they were in his and Jonghyun’s old room? “Can you finish the rest yourself?”

“Yeah,” Minho replied, “it looks a bit red, doesn’t it?”

Taemin couldn’t help but let out a squeak. They were poisoning his not-so-virginal ears.

“It’s from all the squeezing,” Jinki said and Taemin heard movement coming from the bathroom.

“I really got it in there, didn’t I?” Minho said with a laugh.

Taemin saw the door knob turning and he dashed into his room. He left the door open a crack so that he knew when it was okay to sneak back out. Jinki came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and wiping his hands with a towel. His hyung looked back into the bathroom, “I don’t know how you get it in so deep. I didn’t think it was going to come out.”

Taemin was so confused… 

“God, there’s blood everywhere,” Minho exclaimed and that was the last straw.

Taemin threw open the door, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Jinki almost fell over in shock and Minho came running out of the bathroom—fully clothed with an ice pack pressed to his face, “Taemin?!”

“What were you doing? It sounded like… and then your mouth…” Taemin sounded dazed. “I go to the bathroom in there! It isn’t a place for something like—”

“Like what?” Jinki asked once he stood up.

“F-For that.”

Realization washed over Minho and he burst into laughter. Jinki remained just as confused as Taemin. “H-He thought—” Minho laughed harder, “Jinki he thought we were having sex.”

“What?!” Jinki was scandalized, “What gave you that idea?”

Taemin blushed, “Y-You were telling him to—it doesn’t matter! I know what I heard!”

Minho removed the ice pack revealing his swelling bottom lip, “I slipped in the kitchen and broke a mug. By my luck, a piece of glass went into my lip. Jinki was getting it out.”

Taemin faltered, “You fell?”

“Yeah.”

“And hurt your lip?”

“Yup.”

“Okay,” Taemin cleared his throat and passed them in the hallway. He headed straight to the front door and opened it.

“Where are you going?” asked Jinki.

“Far away from here,” Taemin said and left, trying to erase the events of the night out of his head.

Kibum was never going to let him live this down.