#thespitfirewriter

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A/N: cough/ preview/ cough/ at the end/ cough cough.

Three nights later, when Chanyeol showed up at her doorstep decked in a pair of sweats and a pullover sweater, holding a family-sized pack of Lays crisps to his chest along with DVDS of the whole Batman trilogy and the world’s biggest shit-eating grin plastered on his face, she let him in.

She woke up in his arms again the next morning and she told herself that she wouldn’t do what she did, that she could just get up and go about her day while waiting for him to wake up. But one look at his tousled hair and the dimple that appeared on his cheek as he pursed his lips, she did exactly what she told herself not to.

She asked herself, best friends do cuddle, right?

Right?

It was becoming a routine; a routine that they both seemingly found nothing wrong with, and therefore stuck to it.

As Haneul cleaned her bathroom later that day, she stared at the toothbrush with a red silicone-grip next to her green one for a few seconds before looking away, still feeling the tightness in her chest.

Chanyeol stayed over the following night. And as she was quickly losing herself to unconsciousness with his arms holding her body close against his, the only thing she remembered was feeling a pair of familiar soft lips pressing themselves to her forehead.

When they woke up, Chanyeol decided to take Haneul out for breakfast. After breakfast, he dragged her to go grocery shopping with him and then went back and forth choosing which brand of salad dressing he should buy about seven times before finally grabbing the mayonnaise and putting it into the trolley instead.

February 2014

The night when Chanyeol didn’t stay over, Haneul was surprised hear someone ringing her doorbell repeatedly. She had just finished taking a shower and drying her hair since she would be going to work andshe wanted to drop by Tom Lee’s to buy a new set of guitar strings. She had found herself wanting to resume playing her almost forgotten guitar multiple times already but she had to replace the strings since because the lack of use plus the moving of apartments caused a few spots of rust to gather.

“Wait, hold on.” She mumbled to herself while putting on a pair of jeans and a large pullover hoodie over the white button-up shirt for work.

And of course, standing at her doorstep was none other than Park Chanyeol. He was dressed and she spotted his guitar case beside him.

“Chanyeol?”

“Good morning, Haneul-ah.” He greeted as he stepped inside her apartment, he set down the guitar by the foot of her couch before turning around. “I am here for my breakfast.”

“What?” She wasn’t sure if she had heard him correctly.

“I have to meet Yixing for practice later and Jongin went to the dance studio.” Chanyeol said.

“And?” She eyed him, hands perched on her hips.

“I’m hungry?”

Haneul gave him a look. “You can cook.”

“I’m lazy.”

“Then get something on your way to practice then.” Her eyes narrowed at him. “I'm not your personal chef, Yeol.”

“But –” He made his way over to her in two long strides and stood in front of her, bending a bit so that he was staring at her at eye-level. “–I was craving pancakes, your pancakes. Please? Haneul, please?”

Before she could say anything, he smacked on that huge childish grin of his – dimple in tact, of course – and she sighed. “Sit down.” She waved him away and turned around to walk towards the fridge.

His arms went around her shoulders despite her orders, and he draped himself over her side awkwardly but he didn't care. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don't know what I'll do without you, you're the best.”

She felt her cheeks warm up.

And the fact that he smelled like fresh spearmint and lemon scented aftershave didn't help the riot occurring in the pits of her stomach, not at all.

Well, hell.

“Shit.”

Haneul looked up from her phone and gave the boy a questioning look.

“Late…” He was already shoving what was left of his pancakes and then he was standing up and wiping his lips with the napkin. Hastily grabbing his guitar and slipping on his shoes, he opened the door while Haneul stood behind him with a small smile on her lips. Chanyeol never really did learn the right way to manage his time.

“I have to go now.”

He paused and turned around once he stepped out the door and before she could even blink or come up with a response, he was already slipping a palm against her cheek and leaning forward. He burned the wings of the butterflies inside her stomach with the chaste but gentle kiss he pressed onto her lips.

“Thank you for breakfast, Haneul-ah.” He chirped light-heartedly, breath hovered over her lips as his thumb grazed along her temple.

And then he was gone in an instant, having darted out to catch the elevator, leaving her standing at the door with a stunned expression on her face, her heart slamming against her ribcage and the faint trace of syrup on her lips.

Inside the elevator, Chanyeol was just standing there, dumbfounded once it dawned on him what he'd done. He absentmindedly licked his bottom lip, and then reached up to touch it with his fingers. It'd happen so quickly that he wasn't even sure if it had actually happened, but he knew for a fact, that it had because he was the one that initiated it in the first place.

Why, though?

He didn't know.

He sighed, resting his forehead against the cool metal door.

This was getting out of hand, he was getting out of hand. He's got to stop acting on his impulses, before it became too late.

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A/N: (COUGH. LET'S THROW IN A PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER 19 SHALL WE?! for those lovelies that really reads my a/n here's your treat ;v;)

“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner, with me, some time?” He drawled the question slowly, dark eyes searching her face with the same small smile on his lips.

“Me?” She pointed to herself, staring back at him with a startled look.

“Yes you.” The man laughed, the soft laughter sounded really pleasant in her ears and she couldn’t find it in herself to turn him down. After all he didn’t really seem like the type to be interested in girls like her, so it’d just be a dinner between new friends.

“Sure.” Haneul smiled. “Why not?”

The grin he returned her with was charming and almost dazzling. “Okay, cool. I’ll text you soon.”

“Wait, you don’t have–” She trailed off, because he has already turned and disappeared through the doors of the café. “–my number.”

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(and some moreeeee because I'm in a good mood today :D)

“Still?” He breathed, his face itching incredibly close.

----------------------------so yeeeeeeeeeah, I'll leave it to you guys to guess what's gonna happen hohohoho-------------------------------------

A/N: Please read Chapter 00 before this one :)

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Location: The Axis

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Sure enough, she has heard rumors about this contract killer concerning his close supernatural affinity with the four legged creature but none has actually lived long enough to prove the claims. The intake of dragon blood was not uncommon, as it was one of the few things that could offer the upper hand during combat just because of the beast’s properties.

The last thing she did was stare into a pair of glowing red eyes before he sprang up. She managed to jump to her feet just in time to miss a blow to the plexus in the pit of her stomach. Taking a few steps backwards, accessing the man before her, with the blade still buried in his flesh. He bent down and with a quick moment, snapped his knee back into place and within seconds he was able to stand as if nothing had happened.

“I must say,” He began, reaching up and grimacing as he pulled out the blade. “I’m impressed.”

In one flick of his wrist, he propelled the blade at her and she fought the whimper when it slashed open the skin on her forearm.

“Just in time.” The man uttered under his breath, lips forming a smile as red eyes gazed out the window behind her.

The bells announced the arrival of the seventh hour and she didn’t have to look out the window to see the eclipse. The occultation completely stripping her supernatural abilities, and for the following brief period of time, she was unfortunately and undeniably…human.

“Let’s get this over with then, shall we?”

He was once again in front of her in an instant, driving his thumb and forefinger into her throat and getting a strong grip on the horns of her thyroid cartilage.

With quick reflexes, she managed to jab the heel of her palm to his chin but before she could deliver a forcible enough blow to break his neck, his firm grip tightened. The almost inaudible cracks only fueled the man as he recovered from her attack. His smile widened when choked breaths escaped her mouth.

“Don’t worry, darling.” With the other hand, he lifted it to his lips and bit into it, drawing blood. “It’ll be quick.”

And with that he drove his hand at her chest, claws manifesting and inflicting the most excruciating pain as he dived in for her heart. The scream that tore itself from her was bone-chilling and almost unbearable.

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It only took Jongin eighteen minutes to track down Minho and another three seconds to get him unconscious. He had already gleaned six souls that were scattered on the East side of the Axis and Minho was just hiding in a motel towards the North-east wing of the town central.

He gathered his belongings and once he’s made sure nothing was left behind, he hauled the unconscious man over his shoulder and teleported out of the room.

Jaehyo was already there when they made it to the warehouse only five miles away on the other side of the Gates. He stood up from his chair when he appeared with what he needed.

“On time as usual.” It was a pleased greeting as he eyed the man.

“I will come and collect.” Jongin dumped the body onto the cement ground and the duffel bag containing his belongings on top of him.

Their heads snapped up at the sound of the seventh hour ring from a far distance.

And then Jongin felt it, the seventh death.

So did Jaehyo, because his eyes flashed red for a second. His power allowed him access to visions of death, just right before the last few breaths and heartbeats of the victims but not the exact location. He had sight while the others didn’t. Jongin, on the other hand, had speed. Reapers travel through portals while Jongin could travel anywhere with his ability teleport.

Jongin saw the downward twitch of the corners of his lips, and his eyes – still slightly clouded with a maroon glow – met his.

“Bring me with you.” Jaehyo ordered.

“Why?”

Two Rippers emerged from the shadows and bowed to him in greeting before lifting Minho. They retreated back into the shadows and soon they were out of sight.

“Because Draco is there.” He offered his hand.

The sense of death was getting stronger and whoever it was going to be close to dying. Without another word, Jongin grasped his hand and teleported away.

It took him some trouble to pinpoint the location at first since he was outside the realms of the Axis but once they crossed the barrier, he found it and travelled according to his will.

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When he appeared, he was stunned to the spot at the sight before him.

Somewhere inside his chest, his heart skipped at beat upon seeing the familiar face that has been wandering in his thoughts and dreams. But it was over the second he realized that she was the seventh death.

“Ah, he’s here.” The killer spoke upon seeing him, and his eyes widened when he spotted Jaehyo behind him. “Two of you?”

“What are you doing?” Jongin choked. The smell of blood was everywhere, overwhelming his senses.

“I’m following orders.” Draco replied dully.

She moved, slowly lifting her head and meeting his eyes for the first time in forever. The killer still had his hand buried deep in her chest and she winced a bit before drawing a breath.

“Jongin.” His name came out in the form of a soft whisper and it shook him. He could feel Jaehyo’s questioning gaze on him but he shook it off.

“You’ll have no more than three minutes to get her pass the Acheron River and across Styx, Charon will not interfere. My blood will grant her access up till the gates, but anything that further damages to her will prove immediate death.”

Another toe-curling scream was heard as the assassin pulled out his hand, now covered in blood and something inside Jongin shattered when he saw what he took out. Because in the middle of the man’s palm was half of her heart.

He teleported right to her side as she fell limp, landing in his arms as tears prickled his eyes.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood when the all-too-familiar feeling washed over him. The seventh death. She wasn’t dying, that much he could be sure for the night. Draco had to bring her to the brink of death in order for Jongin and Jaehyo to sense her. It was perfectly calculated and planned, and instead of harvesting her soul he could have to bring her physical body over to the realm. He’s heard of this technique before but the legend was dated centuries back.

“Bring her. I’ll take care of the last one.” He looked at Jaehyo for confirmation, and he only sighed while blinking the red away from his eyes. “We’re even.”

“Three minutes.” Draco reminded him as opened the glass slide door before jumping off the balcony and morphing to his true form.

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Location: The Underworld

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Jongin appeared right outside the gates because he was not able to teleport through with another living being. Upon seeing him, the two guardsmen bowed and opened the gates. Beyond the Acheron River, Jongin could see Charon from a distance, along with the line of dead souls awaiting their journey across Styx.

Charon lifted his head and acknowledged his presence.

She stirred in his arms, and Jongin looked down at her. He frowned at the open wound on her chest and the blood that soaked her shirt. By the time Draco left, she had fallen unconscious and was slowly losing life. They were already getting closer to the Underworld, that alone was able to fuel her energy, along with the dragon blood in her system.

“Just rest. It’ll be fine.” Jongin whispered before vanishing.

It was a long and gruesome journey to get to the Underworld because the Styx River circles the Underworld nine times. The energy barriers created resistance while going through and only Jongin and other portal creators could go through them instead of having to circle around the realm nine times.

Once he was beyond the gates of the Underworld, he breathed out a sigh of relief. He’d made it with twenty-three seconds to spare and without second thought, he teleported into the kingdom where he would be able to find the one holding the answers he was desperately looking for.

Soon he was greeted by Jaehyo who looked at the girl in his arms. If Jongin didn’t know better, he would have thought that he cared, but the scarce attention and concern reflected in his eyes was the most he could offer. “Take care of her until she wakes up, I’ll look for my brother.”

Jongin gave him a nod before disappearing.

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The Underworld: First Day

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She felt a dull ache in the left side of her chest as she opened her eyes.

Her surroundings were unfamiliar, and the rush of panic washed over her when she realized that she was dressed in a dress that did not belong to her, sleeping in a bed that wasn’t her own inside a room that she has never been in before.

But her senses were back, she could feel the presence of a few…a lot of beings around her, some being human while for the others, not quite.

When she was about to sit up, a sudden spatial disturbance was picked up using her senses and a figure appeared by her bed. Her eyes adjusted to the motion and widened.

She could recognize the man from anywhere, even when the last time she saw him he had shaggy dark hair. There were so many questions swimming in her head but she couldn’t bring herself to ask them.

“Are you okay?” He spoke, sitting down on the chair beside the bed.

She nodded. “Where are we?”

“The Underworld.”

“Why did –”

Her question was cut off when the door opened and in stepped two people, both dressed entirely in black just like Jongin. The older man spoke first, his hair was platinum blonde, almost silver. She knew in a split second who the man was, judging by the aura of superiority and power he emitted and the firm way he carried himself with.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Tracker.”

She slowly sat up, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in her chest. “You’re Hades.”

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“The one and only.”

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A/N: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand hellooooo :D Here's Chapter 1 for you guys, and I will try to put together a list of characters with photos asap. I have not decided on a specific update schedule for this story, but the updates will be longer in length when compared to Petrichor (the chanyeol story that I'm updating weekly, I just posted Chapter 14 :D). Chapter 00 of Sehun's story in this series (titled: Whispers of The Wind) will be up soon, and there ARE connections with all the stories in the entire Chronicles series. So you may see sneak peeks of other members' unreleased stories in this one or the other ;) huhuhuhuhurrrr.

Please look forward to more, and for more information regarding The Chronicles Series, you may click here and be directed to the masterlist page.

Also, Kris will finally appear in the next chapter~~~~~~~~~~~

-Spitfire

Things went back to normal after that, with Haneul finally settled into her new apartment and practically being neighbors with her best friend and his dancer roommate. They have been having dinner together at either one of their apartments for the past four days, and tonight it was her turn because the guys decided that it’d be nice to throw a small house-warming party for her while celebrating New Years’ Eve at the same time, hitting two birds with one stone on this very last day of the eventful year.

Baekhyun was the first to arrive, along with Jongdae, Yixing, Soohyun and Joonmyeon. Kyungsoo and the others said that they will be a bit late because they’re preparing the food while she offered to take care of the drinks and dessert.

She hasn’t seen Chanyeol since last night and when she called to ask if he’d like to come down to help her bake since he’s always asked her to invite him over whenever she did, but Sehun answered his phone and told her that they’ll be busy and that they’ll see her later tonight.

“I like the blue.” The puppy-like boy commented, eyeing the soft blue bean bag beside the couch.

Soohyun was in the kitchen helping her with the drinks while the guys made themselves comfortable on the other side of the area that was the living room.

“What…is that?”

“What?” Haneul looked up at her.

“That.” She pointed a well-manicured finger at her neck, more specially the thing that hung from it.

Her hand went up to touch the necklace unconsciously, looking down at it before answering. “It’s my necklace.”

“I can see that. I can also see that it’s something new, considering that I know every single item in your jewelry collection and this, my friend, was definitely not there before.” She placed down the bottle of Sprite and rested her hip against the counter.

From the look on her face Haneul could tell that she already knew but was not going to let her get away with not telling her by herself.

“It’s a Christmas present.”

“Uh-uh, very interesting, please continue.”

“That I got from Chanyeol.”

She kept on looking at her, waiting.

“That’s it.”

Soohyun made a gesture with her hands for her to keep on going. “And then?”

“What do you mean ‘and then’?”

“What I mean is that no one would get someone a Tiffany and Co.’s necklace for a bloody Christmas gift, not even if that someone is a best friend.” She leaned in close to her, her almond shaped eyes piercing right through hers. “And you cannot be that dense, can you? Did something happen?”

Haneul was not dense.

She refused to acknowledge that.

“You’re exaggerating things, Soohyun.” Haneul hesitated for a fraction of a second, debating whether or not to tell her the events that took place on Christmas night and the two days that followed it. “Nothing happened.”

Much to her misfortune, Soohyun picked up on her vacillation and the nervous tone that stubbornly hung onto her syllables but didn’t say anything about it. The grin she gave her in return along with the gentle pat of her forearm told Haneul that despite Soohyun’s knowledge and the indirect confirmation, she was not going to press her into telling her.

She placed her fingers under the running tap water, mind drifting for a second.

The ringing of her doorbell served as a much needed distraction from Haneul’s incoming thoughts, along with the group of boys that entered her apartment with bags of containers that were filled with food for the night.

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“Haneul-ah, my dear Haneul.” Sehun’s voice called for her from the doorway, tone just a little to honey-coated sweet than acceptable. “Come here.”

There were fidgeting and rustling sounds as she quickly dried her hands with a nearby towel and walked around the counter to see what the ruckus was all about.

Standing there straight as a rod in the middle of the doorway was Park Chanyeol.

Gone was the warm chocolate brown of his hair and black roots that she has gotten used to liking, now before her, gelled and styled perfectly without a single strand out of place was a head of shining, rich red color.

The beautiful color danced under the lights of her living room in the most perfect combination mix of auburn and scarlet.

Haneul felt her stomach twist in knots as he finally looked up to meet her eyes, cheeks dusted an attractive shade of rose pink and lips slightly agape.

And it didn’t help that the color made his skin look even paler, milkier in contrast.

“Well, my job is done.” Tao dragged Sehun away; he gave Haneul a smile and a gentle pat around her shoulders in greeting.

She noticed that the Chinese man’s blonde hair has gotten a shade lighter, and the fact that they had their roots done. The more she looked at them, the more she thought they were trying to be twins.

“We’ll uh…” Kyungsoo pushed the door shut with his hip, holding up two bags of food while looking between the two then finally to Bokyung who was standing beside him waiting with another two bags in her hands. “…put these in the kitchen first.”

When the silence became just a tad bit too awkward, Haneul spoke. “What hap–”

“You hate it, don’t you?” Chanyeol’s previously stoic face fell apart in the blink of an eye, he sighed. “Sehun asked me to accompany him and Tao to the salon since they said that they could use my company, plus I didn’t really have much to do anyway so I went with them. And somehow, this happened.” He pointed to his hair.

“You don’t like it?” Haneul asked.

“It’s…new, I don’t know.” The man murmured honestly, following her into the kitchen. Kyungsoo, Bokyung and Soohyun had finished setting things up and were back in the living room with the rest of the group. He had his brows drawn together and his shoulders hunched while leaning a hip against the wooden table.

She wanted to say something to him, to tell him that it looked great on him – great was an understatement, he looked beautiful – but when she looked up from the batch of cookies in frnt of her, the words she had meant to say were stuck in her throat because the guy was leaning over the table with an apple in his hand that he got from the fruit basket, holding it close to his nose and sniffing it. And she cursed herself for even paying attention to how the red skin of the apple matched flawlessly with his new hair color.

So turning away, she focused on transferring the cooled cookies from the tray to the glass jar and trying very hard not to think about the red haired boy standing a few feet behind her too much. The uneasy feeling in her stomach continued because the cookies in front reminded her of Chanyeol, because he liked them, especially the milk and dark chocolate chip cookie she was currently holding.

A small sigh made its way past her lips as she dumped the cookie into the jar.

This was going to be a long night.

------------- A/N: Hohoho I've been waiting for this chapter so that I could change the header photo ^^ I hope everyone's enjoying your weekend. And along with this update I shall post Chapter 01 of Kris''s story, The Other Half, which is one of the stories in The Chronicles series. Please go ahead and check it out (Chapter 00 is already up, if you haven't read it yet, please read Chapter 00 before Chapter 01.) and look forward to more ^^

Again, thank you for reading, following and messaging me :D please let me know your thoughts on the stories, I would love to hear them.

-Spitfire

Chanyeol found Haneul waiting by the Christmas tree.

He slowed his pace just a little to admire the sight in front of him, the breath-taking side profile of the girl standing just a few feet away from him with her head tilted back as eyes trained over makeshift stars that weaved above them. And despite the cold air that surrounded them on this Christmas night, he felt the tingling feeling that crept up his chest as a swirl of butterflies convoluted in the pits of his stomach.

She turned upon hearing his footsteps. It was slow at first but then eventually her pink lips spread into a smile, her face, her eyes lighting up and he couldn’t help but gasp a little. There were rare occasions when he was granted witness to moments like this, seconds and heartbeats of preciousness that had his chest tightening and him losing his breath.

  “You did well, Chanyeol.” Haneul stepped into the man’s extended arms, letting her arms encircle around his waist.

“I did?” He asked, a little breathless but nonetheless happy.

Chanyeol felt her nod.

The man was biting his bottom lip to hide the massive grin that threatened to stretch across his face. “Thanks.”

  “Yeol?”

He hummed, resting his chin atop her head.

“I talked to my parents today.”

“Ah, how are they doing?”

She sighed. “Good, they’re doing good.”

It was a few heartbeats later when he spoke. “This is our first Christmas together.”

And he knew that it was her first Christmas spent without her family.

“It is.”

Another long silence stretched over them, and Haneul was just thankful that the dull feeling inside her chest didn’t feel as prominent when she was capsulated in the warmth of Chanyeol’s embrace. She inhaled and buried her face into the soft material of his scarf, letting the familiar and comforting scent fill her lungs.

“I know you miss your family, and I miss mine too.” Chanyeol was having a hard time controlling his words and body ever since Christmas Eve and he was starting to get tired of questioning everything. “But this is one of the greatest Christmases I’ve ever spent.”

Because you’re here.

He settled for closing his eyes as the unspoken words hung in the cold December air.

The tall boy was beginning to think that he wouldn’t get a response but then she finally spoke into the crook of his neck. “Me too.”

Chanyeol could hear it, the thin layer of bitter sadness that tinted her sincere words and invisible strings tugged at his heart. He was lucky enough to be able to meet his family before Christmas while he remembered Haneul calling him one night after studying for her test. And despite the obvious strain and tiredness in her voice, he could hear her excitement as she told him that she would be able to see her parents since they managed to sort out a few days’ off to come and visit.

He also remembered having lunch with Haneul two days later when she received a call from her mother telling her that all the flights were booked and even being on the waiting list would mean a small chance of making it.

He couldn’t bring himself to ignore the forced laugh that left her lips. ‘It’s alright. There’s nothing we can do about it anyway. Yes, yes there’s always a next time.’ were her exact words before she ended the call with a half-hearted ‘bye’ and Chanyeol witnessed for the first time since they’ve met Haneul being upset to the point that her eyes were glassy and glistening with unshed tears of disappointment. She didn’t finish the rest of her lunch that day, and Chanyeol didn’t force her to like he normally would have.

  Not knowing what else to say, he opted for holding her even closer and enveloping her into his embrace in hopes that somehow, to some ridiculous extent that it would be enough to dispel the feeling inside her for now.

Because it was Christmas, and no one deserved to be sad on Christmas, especially not Haneul.

  “I’m glad that you’re here.” The words were just above a whisper and for a split second Chanyeol asked himself if they were nothing more than just a trickery of his mind.

But they weren’t, and his heart swelled.

Chanyeol pulled back just a little so that he could see her face. “Me too.”

Her smile sweetened the very air inside Chanyeol’s lungs and for a second he stopped breathing just to hold the oxygen in a little longer, to preserve it.

“Haneul.” He breathed, finding the familiar weird feeling in the pits of his stomach as he stared down at her.

Her eyebrows quirked in question, waiting for his next words.

“When am I going to be able to hear you play?” He asked, brushing a stray curl away from her face.

There was a spark in her eyes. “Never.”

“But why? I thought I was special.” His voice was nothing above a hushed murmur.

She found the words slipping from her lips a second after. “You are special.”

“So…”

“I’ll think about it.”

Chanyeol didn’t hold back the stupidly large smile that slapped across his face, his eyes swimming with warmth and affection while sparking something aside from the Christmas lights that surrounded them.

Her eyes flickered to his dimple and slowly, she lifted her hand and dipped a finger in the small natural hollow in his left cheek.

If it was possible, Chanyeol swore that his heart stopped beating.

With bated breath, he held her even closer. It was starting to get clearer to him now as he stared at her up close, drinking in every single detail of the sight before him while feeling as if the rest of his insides were slowly disappearing. He was so close to her that he could see his own face reflected in the depths of her eyes, eyes that swam with oceans of emotions and sparkled like the stars in the midnight sky.

“Merry Christmas, Yeol.” The words fell from her lips in the puffs of white smoke.

It took him a few unsteady heartbeats to begin leaning forward until their noses touched and then suddenly he was having trouble breathing all over again.

His heart was slamming against his ribcage with so much violence that he was pretty sure his chest was going to bruise from the inside-out.

But it didn’t matter.

He didn’t care.

“Merry Christmas, Haneul.” He whispered, feeling her warm breath graze across his skin.

And then he pressed his lips against hers.

  The numbers on his wrist-watch changed and showed a ’00:00’ as midnight rolled along, singling the end of 25th December and welcoming the first seconds of the following day.

“That’s it?” Jongin gawked at him from his place at the counter while Kyungsoo just continued to wash the tomatoes under the running water.

Chanyeol nodded slightly. “Well…yeah.”

“Really?” The blonde boy’s voice was a pitch higher now. “That was it?”

“What should I have done? I mean, I didn’t even know why I –” He was interrupted mid-sentence when he heard the door open and then Baekhyun’s cheerful greeting that followed.

He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. Jongin gave him a look that was almost sympathetic and glanced at his watch. “You should really go now, you’ve been doing nothing but mope all morning.”

“I have not.” Chanyeol argued, but was already grabbing his phone from the table along with his keys. “I’m just…worried.”

Jongin shrugged.

Chanyeol hesitated, picking up the small rectangular box from the coffee table.

“I’ll be going now.”

“I’ll bring down some spaghetti later.” Kyungsoo offered with a gentle smile.

  Haneul stifled a yawn and kicked away another empty cardboard box before opening another one. Today was officially the first day of her life living in the new apartment – her apartment – despite her already sleeping here the night before since she’s finished emptying her old apartment. She has been unpacking and sorting her belongings almost non-stop since yesterday and the only time that she took a rest was when Chanyeol showed up at the doorstep with two cups of warm caramel latte after practice to help.

Her hands clutched at the sides of the box at the thought.

Chanyeol.

It was just a simple kiss, a fleeting but firm touch of lips and it was over too soon. Because Yixing and Kyungsoo finished packing up their equipment and were approaching them.

She could still vividly remember the feeling of his lips against hers, and how his scent and touch lingered on her, seeping into her skin and burning all the way to her bones.

She remembered opening her eyes and then feeling like she was swimming in the depths of his chocolate brown eyes. And for those brief seconds, his eyes seemed to hold the world’s emotions in them, emotions that she wasn’t able to read clearly in the midst of the fluttering of her heart and refilling her lungs with oxygen.

Even the air particles carried faint traces of the man in front of her.

    Sighing, she reached for a pile of clothes inside the box before setting them onto her bed, she was able to finish setting up and decorating the kitchen, bathroom and living room. All that remained was her bedroom and she could feel the soreness kicking in from all the moving and carrying. Having lost track of time, she didn’t know what time it was when she ran out of the room to answer the door after hearing the doorbell ring.

  She found Chanyeol standing in front of her, decked a hoodie, a pair of jeans and sneakers.

“Hey.” She said.

The lopsided smile he answered her had her sucking in an extra sharp breath before stepping aside to let him in and closed the door behind him.

“How’s the unpacking going?” He took off his shoes and observed the living room and the open kitchen, noticing the extra decorations that she pulled out after he had left last night.

“I’ve been at it since eight in the morning and I don’t think I’m even halfway through with my room.” Haneul walked past him and made her way to the kitchen, grabbing two cups and then filling them with water. “I need a break.”

When she turned around, Chanyeol was shrugging off his hoodie and underneath it was the caramel beige colored sweater she gifted him for Christmas. When she bought it, she specifically chose the soft warm color to compliment his pale skin tone but she never expected it to look so good on him. Not only did it go well with his skin, but also his hair even though it’s getting long and his roots were growing out. It fitted him and clung to his upper body in all the right ways and she just had to take a deep breath and grip the cups a little tighter.

He looked up, catching her staring at him.

“Come here.” It was a soft request, but one that her legs didn’t fulfill.

Chanyeol soon realized that and slowly made his way over to her as if he was approaching a small kitten in the streets. He took one of the cups – the one he always used whenever he’s at her place – and placed it on the island counter next to him. Haneul could only look at him, feeling the words caught in her throat as his fingers came in contact with her hand when he plucked the other cup she was holding and set it down.

He dug into the pocket of his hoodie, pulled out a small box and then draped the piece of clothing on the stool.

“I know we already exchanged Christmas presents, but I wanted to give this to you personally and watch you unwrap it so here it is.” Chanyeol balanced the box on his palm and held it between them. “Merry Christmas, Haneul.”

The way he let the words come out in a soft voice sent her heart clenching with a feeling that was still foreign to her. And as if on cue, the memory of their kiss flashed before her eyes.

Haneul averted her gaze from his and looked down at the box. Her breath hitched as her fingers reached for the familiar signature turquoise colored box with a white ribbon wrapped around it. She released the ribbon from its knot, revealing the words ‘Tiffany and  Co.’ on the cover of the box in black print.

“Chanyeol.”

“Common, open it.”

She hesitated before lifting the cover and Chanyeol took the small turquoise pouch and then replaced the box in her hand with it. With she gingerly reached inside the pouch and took out its content.

  as walking around one day and I saw this on display by the window.” He was standing behind her and clasping the silver necklace around her neck. Haneul held her breath as the back of her exposed neck tingled with the touch of his fingers. “I don’t know why I even noticed it in the first place because I’ve never been one to pay attention to it but it happened, I was walking by, it was just there and you were the first thought that appeared in my head when I saw the necklace.”

“And I thought, it would be the perfect Christmas present because it’s so pretty and delicate and I knew without a doubt that it’d look beautiful on you.” There was a pause, then his hands were on her shoulders and he was turning her around to face him as he continued. “I was right.”

The gentleness that poured from the boy’s deep voice sent a fury of butterflies to swirl around in her stomach and they threatened to tear her open from the inside when his hands trailed down her arms from their initial position at her shoulders, only to stop at her hands before holding them in his.

Something in the way that he looked at her made her stop herself from shying from against his touch. His traced his left thumb over the back of her hand, the simple touch enough to cause the stutter in her breathing as he murmured, voice soft and uncharacteristically bare.

“I hope you like it as much as I do, because I really, really like it on you.” -----------------------

A/N: Also, besides me turning 18 and graduating, the third reason that I decided to make this (early) update a lot longer is because I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who've stumbled upon my blog and read my writing, and of course following me and the story. Thank you for being so sweet and being the best encouragement and motivation for me to keep improving and presenting my best. Please continue to support me and look forward to more because (trust me) there's much more to come.

And also don't hesitate to talk to me c: I really love talking to people.

Let me know your thoughts on the story so far, and have a lovely weekend~^^