41.
"Jeonghan!" a middle-aged lady exclaimed as she opened the door. She embraced Jeonghan tightly. "I've missed you so much! How have you been?"
"Hi, Aunty. I've been fine, thanks." Jeonghan smiled at the lady kindly. "How about you? Dongho hasn't been troubling you, right?"
"Thankfully he's been too busy with some girl he likes to bother me," she responded playfully.
"I don't like her like that!" a voice from another part of the house, presumably Dongho's, called.
"Ah, I get it. He's in denial." Jeonghan grinned knowingly. "Anyways, this is my friend that I told you about. His name is Seungcheol, and these are his little siblings, Seungpo and Ji-na. Their mother is coming with my parents in a few minutes, they're just parking the car and grabbing the food."
"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you!" the lady beamed warmly. "I'm Mrs. Lee, but you can just call me Ha-ra Aunty. I've heard a lot about you from Jeonghan."
"Good things, I hope," Seungcheol chuckled nervously.
"Of course! He really seems to like you." Ha-ra Aunty winked suggestively, causing Seungcheol to blush and clear his throat.
"Aunty!" Jeonghan yelped.
"What? It's true." She shrugged and turned toward Seungpo with a bright smile. "Hey, kiddo. What's your name?"
"Choi Seungpo!" Seungpo answered proudly.
"Aw, how adorable!" Ha-ra Aunty cooed. "Do you like chocolate, Seungpo?" Seungpo nodded enthusiastically. "We have some chocolate strawberries in the kitchen. Do you want to try them? You can meet some of the other kids too."
"Yes, please!" Seungpo grinned toothily.
"Your older brother and I are going to go to the basement to play games, okay? You can join us if you ever get bored," Jeonghan told Seungpo.
"Okay!" Seungpo agreed. "Bye-bye!"
"Bye-bye!" Jeonghan smiled cutely and waved at Seungpo as he walked towards the kitchen. Seungcheol sighed with relief when he noticed a few other younger kids swarm around his little brother as he walked down the hallway. He was glad that his brother wouldn't be alone.
"Come on, let's go to the basement. I guess some of the college kids are here. Well, Dongho is, at least," Jeonghan said. "Ji-na, do you wanna join us? There are a few kids about your age that'll be with us too."
"Um...is there good Wi-Fi connection down there?" Ji-na asked. Seungcheol rolled his eyes.
"She and Hangyeol always video-chat when it becomes midnight," Seungcheol explained.
"Aw, that's so cute!" Jeonghan smirked.
"Shut up," Ji-na replied, her cheeks reddening.
"Anyways, yeah, there's connection down there. We just have to ask Dongho to give you the password, and then you'll be all set," Jeonghan told her. Ji-na beamed.
"Great! Thanks, Jeonghan-oppa! You're the best!" Ji-na responded happily. Jeonghan grinned back at her and winked.
"You still have to socialize for some time though, alright? You can't be on your phone forever. Let Hangyeol enjoy her night too," Seungcheol commanded. Ji-na pouted.
"Alright." Ji-na exhaled dramatically. "I'll do my best to keep myself from messaging her, even if it kills me–"
"It's even better if it kills you," Seungcheol said. Ji-na let out an offended gasp.
"Oppa!"
☼
"Hangyeol, can you hear me?" Ji-na asked loudly. "Hangyeol-ah? Hangyeollie?"
"And so it begins," Seungcheol sighed.
"What begins?" Jeonghan questioned, sliding into the spot next to Seungcheol as he handed one of the kids his controller.
"The noisy conversation that Ji-na and her girlfriend always have before, and a little bit after, midnight," Seungcheol answered.
"That sounds so adorable though," Jeonghan replied.
"It's adorable when Ji-na's loud voice isn't piercing your ear drums," Seungcheol grumbled. Jeonghan grinned.
"Come on, be honest. You're just jealous that your little sister has someone for New Year's, but you don't," Jeonghan said. Seungcheol huffed.
"They aren't dating yet. I refuse to believe that my sister has more game than I," Seungcheol denied.
"Truth hurts, doesn't it?" Jeonghan responded solemnly. Seungcheol scowled.
"Hey!"
"There's less than two more minutes left! All of the kids, come upstairs, quickly!" Ha-ra Aunty shouted down the stairs.
Seungcheol sighed and pushed himself off of the ground. He offered a hand to Jeonghan, pulling Jeonghan up strongly after the younger boy accepted his hand. Seungcheol tapped Ji-na on the shoulder and pointed towards the ceiling. Ji-na huffed and stood up. She followed the other two boys up the stairs and into the living room, where most of the adults were waiting with glasses of champagne. Seungcheol grabbed two cups of the bubbly drink and handed one of the cups to Jeonghan, who smiled gratefully.
"Ten seconds!" a voice announced.
"How many dads do you think are waiting for the clock to strike so they can make the 'I haven't whatever since last year' jokes?" Seungcheol asked, speaking loudly into one of Jeonghan's ears.
"Seven! Six!"
"What, are you saying that you don't make those jokes?" Jeonghan responded.
"Five! Four!"
"Of course I do. I'm practically a dad myself," Seungcheol replied. "Oh, watch, watch. I bet that a bunch of these people are going to do the cliché New Year's midnight kiss thing–" Jeonghan cut him off by grabbing him by the back of his head and smashing their lips together.
"Happy New Year!" People cheered in the background, but their voices sounded blurry and distant to Seungcheol. He shut his eyes and cupped a hand around Jeonghan's neck. After a few seconds, though it felt like eternity, Jeonghan finally pulled away, grinning softly at Seungcheol.
"Well, I don't know if you were right about a lot of people doing it, but we certainly did it," Jeonghan said, laughing nervously. "The cliché kiss that is."
"You idiot," Seungcheol muttered before pulling Jeonghan back towards him for another kiss.
A/N: !!! they finally kissed!!! and this chapter was kinda long(ish)!!! and on time!!! lit!!! anyways please tell me what you thought of this chapter!!! did you like it or not? let me know in the comments!!! alright well linked song is "plz don't be sad (얼굴 찌푸리지 말아요)" by highlight bc it's a really catchy song and i love it so much!!! show them support!!!
that's it for this chapter then. as always thank you guys sm for the continuous support!!! y'all are the best!!! i will maybe see you next week (if i write a chapter in advance then definitely if not idk bc it's spring break next week and i'm going somewhere so yeah) but idk yet. we'll see. thanks again y'all!!! have an amazing rest of your day!!! bye!!! <3
p.s. here's a live performance of the song bc it's so cute!!! i love!!!
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p.p.s. here's an mr removed version!!! best mr removed performance i've ever seen tbh. kings only.
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