A Merry Christmas. (1/1)

December 25/Taemin’s perspective 1.20 AM She jumped off the vehicle like someone off for a sky-dive, and her landing on the concrete ground re-vibrated across the earth after the thump of her shoes. Noona turns back to us, the smile not leaving her face. “Bye-bye, HyunMi-ssi~”“HyunMi-ssi, annyeong,”“Bye, noona!” we waved from inside the van. We dropped her by the house she was staying in. Before we slid back the door she said to us, “Thanks for the time, guys! Thank you very much!”“Thank you, too. Is the taste of the carrot juice still there?” Onew-hyung asked, with a mischievous grin. You see, noona and Key-hyung contended on a carrot juice drinking contest and, of course, noona won. Hyung hates carrots.Noona grimaced. “I think I won’t be eating carrots for the rest of my life,”We laughed.“Ya, Kibum-ah, don’t be such a hard loser!” Minho-hyung told Key-hyung who was at the back—the latter was folding his arms with a dark frown. Maybe because noona beat him. Or maybe because of the carrot juice. Or both.Key-hyung rolled down the window on his side, and told noona, “You. Don’t forget to come later. 8pm sharp,”Noona grinned and mock-saluted him. “Aye, aye, sir!” she averted her sight back to the four of us. “You guys go now; rehearsals later, yes? Merry Christmas!” the van’s engine roared to life.“Merry Christmas! See you later!” we greeted back, and drove off.  “WHAT.” Key-hyung snorted as we all looked at him with happy faces.We laughed. “Nothing, really. Never mind.” Jjong-hyung dismissed. For me? Hyung and noona look good together.   HyunMi.7.51 PM I went to the sitting-area of the studio as I was told to. The area was already swarming with people, and soon enough, I found myself in the middle of their fans. I wanted to sit at the back, but then— “Hey, I know you! You’re Key-oppa’s partner in the painting project!” a girl holding a blue balloon pointed me.“E-eh…” I pointed my face slowly, my right eye twitching. “Me? Oh, no-no-no! you’ve just mistaken me for someone else!” I denied.“What? No! oppa posted a picture of you!”Kim goshdarn Kibum why did you have to reveal my identity to the whole world?! “Okay…you got me,” I raised my arms in surrender. “But don’t tell, okay?” I hushed my voice to a lower one, but just as I said that whispering loomed all over me—“Hey, it’s her!”“Really? That’s her?”“Let me see! Oh!” Never underestimate fangirls, they’re as analytical as spies can be.I smiled, but it came out as a lame smirk. “Uhh…hi?” I sank back in my seat, bowing my head the lowest degree possible. The show was about to start. Many groups performed, and I was amazed at how organized their fans were. Their fandoms were grouped by color, and they all looked beautiful as they waved their glowsticks and balloons.  “Need a glowstick, unnie?” a girl younger than I approached and handed me a stick. “They’re the next to perform,”I was astonished by the kindness of this girl, and I gracefully accepted the offer. “Ka…Kamsahamnida,”“That’s yours, unni. A gift from all Shawols,” she smiled happily, like she was the receiver of the gift.I made a slight gasp. “Eh? Are you sure?”She nodded. “Win the contest for us, okay? Merry Christmas!” and before I could thank her she went trotting away. And so they performed. Impressive, actually. Especially that my partner’s attitude changed 180 degrees on stage. Not the annoying, naggy diva who’s my partner in a painting project. He sang and danced well, he was seductive, and…okay. He was handsome. I knew the chances were very slim, but I hoped that he wouldn’t see me among the audience because if he did, I’d have to laugh and that would screw up his mood.He was singing his heart out and I thought, good job, Kibum-ah. Be like that always. Wow, I was untimingly sentimental during that. After the show, I went to the backstage immediately (I had passes). My partner told me so. “HYUNMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~” Gikwang-oppa was the first one I saw. He stopped in front of me and to my surprise, he hugged me. It made me think that he’d miss me when I’m gone. No, really. Oppa and I shared moments more than you think. “I didn’t know you were here!”He let go, and as his hands were still on my arms I replied, “Cool perf back there, oppa,”“Really? How’d I look?”“You’re…cool,” I shrugged.“And…?” he asked with and expectant face.“You dance really goooood,” I mused, knowing what he wanted. “Hey, hyung have you seen—“ my heart jumped at the sound of that voice, and as oppa and I both turned, I turned red, and so did the one who called oppa. We gawked at each other across the hallway, and after forever—“Never mind,” he looked away, and walked out. “That was awkward,” GK-oppa faced me back and shrugged his shoulders.“Yeah…” I sighed. Just then, from behind, a pair of hands pulled my cheeks, stretching them to the extent that the corners of my lips hurt. “HEYYY, hyung! Can I borrow HyunMi for a while?”Oppa gave me a teasing look and nodded at the guy behind me. “Sure. I’m needed there, too. Bye!” and he strutted out. After a moment of silence that we watched oppa walk, Kibum talked. “I thought you wouldn’t come,”I removed his hands off my cheeks and swiveled my body to face him. “You’d kill me if I didn’t.”“Stop being so grumpy! It’s Christmas!” he said. Look who’s talking. For some reason he was playing nice to me. Because of the season, maybe? “Come on. I want you to meet some people,” So he did. He introduced me to various people. There were a lot. Bow there, bow here. Kibum was obviously proud of me. I did good at being polite the whole time. Out of nowhere, Kibum had this idea of wanting to know where I sat. I said among your fans, duh. But he wanted to know which seat exactly. As we were going to the area we passed by a pair of girls moving out of the studio, and one of them muttered something we both heard, and didn’t like. “Surely he’s only got talent in arts. He can quit singing. Besides, he’s not really that good at it.” with a smile on her face, which was just additional blow to the insult. We froze in our tracks. I didn’t dare look at Kibum’s face; nor did I want to ask for a reaction. “That was mean,” I mumbled. And, before Kibum could grasp my arm I walked ahead, following the girl.“Hello!” I said cheerily, even waving at her. “How do you do?”Her face turned pale despite of the make-up she was wearing. Both of them were stricken at my greeting.I laughed, making the sarcasm in it very obvious. “Key’s really good at art! I agree with you on that! And, oh, by the way—sorry you had to hear his singing; you had no choice to hear such ear-sore because certainly, you can do better, right? Sorry if you’ve got heaps of talent and sing way better than him. And, oh, if you have time, come to our exhibit so you can see Key’s paintings! Because, apparently, that’s the only thing he’s good at, right?” I paused a bit, tilting my head to one side with a smile to see her horrified face. “We’ll go now; it was good hearing your remarks about my partner! It’s highly appreciated. I hope to see you on the exhibit!” I said in one breath, and walked with such huge steps away from her, yanked Kibum’s arm, and dragged him to the dressing room. I retired on a chair and covered my ears. My legs were turning jelly and I wouldn’t stop shaking. Kibum was just looking at me, his mouth forming a little O.“Nothinghappenednothinghappenednothinghappenednothinghappenednothinghappenednothinghappenednothinghappenednothinghappened” I kept on repeating, closing my eyes shut. Suddenly something groped my arm, and I looked up, and I was staring back at Kibum’s blank face. I made a sound that was between the groan of a human and the neigh of a horse, and covered my face with both hands. Laughter made me look up.“I’m used to it, HyunMi. We’re all used to it.”My lower lip was starting to quiver. You see, I didn’t know what I was saying back there. Moreover, what will they think after that?“Hey-hey-hey are you going to cry again?!” he demanded, smacking my arm.“I…”He held my elbows and made me stand up. We were standing very close to each other. Good thing no else was around though. “Moon HyunMi,”“Kim Kibum,”“You know…” he was smiling heartily his eyes were disappearing.“Yes…?”“I’d really like to thank you for that,”“Uh…”“Thanks,” he embraced me tightly; he was nearly squeezing the breath out of me.“You’re welcome…?” I said, still fazed, with my head on his shoulders. He drew out. “There’s an after-party later. Do you wanna come?”I thought about this for a while. “I can’t. I need to clean the house. The painters will be returning, you know.”

“Tch. If I know, you’re just being lazy again,” he walked to the mirror and started fixing his bangs.I laughed at his mastery of me. “Half of the reason is that. But, really. I need to clean-house.” I stood beside him in front of the mirror.  “Go and enjoy yourself,” I said, looking at his reflection.He glanced at me. “Are you leaving now?”I checked my watch. “Yep.” I ruffled his hair which made him hiss. “Good job on your performance by the way.”“Bye,”Before I disappeared out of his sight I waved back.  ***** I brought out the brushes he gave me yesterday. I could still remember the way he said it, when it was his turn to give a gift.“Remember the time when you asked me to bring you something from Singapore?”I nodded, remembering. “And you told me if you’ll just see if you could bring the Merlion home.”We all laughed.“Yeah; well, here it is,” he handed me a wrapped cylinder. “Open it when you get home,”“This is not the Merlion, is it?” I asked, innocently.“No, silly!” Such a good time I had with those boys for our Christmas party! I opened the cylinder and examined the brushes. They were prettier than mine. At the sight of the excellence of it, I knew they were pricey. Besides, mine were dilapidated of too much use—I’ve forgotten how new brushes looked like. “Eh…?” I saw lines on the stems of the brushes. What is he up to?I arranged them in a pattern like how I used to with my paintbrushes to see my name. As I was done settling them properly, I could feel my face being ignited at the sight of the text: HyunMi x Kibum