The small tree in the corner of the living room looked kind of lonely and boring to Soul so he decided he was going to make it better. He was out of the apartment before anyone else had woken up, completely forgetting the practice scheduled for that day and leaving his phone in the apartment so he wouldn't be distracted by anything.
He went to the market and bought a Christmas stocking for each member, iron on letters and stars, and lights and ornaments for the tree. H got home after everyone had left and ignored his phone as he got to work decorating the stockings and the tree.
In the practice room, Keeho was starting to get worried. When he saw that Soul hadn't been in the apartment, he thought he had gone to work early but when they arrived and he wasn't there, he realized he was wrong. As time passed and he still hadn't arrived, Intak tried to call him but he hadn't answered the phone. Everyone started calling him and texting him asking where he was but no one got an answer.
After three hours with no sign of life from Soul, they were ready to call the police and file a missing person report. Keeho was in tears and sat in the corner pulling at his hair. Theo and Intak were pacing the practice room, Jongseob just sat staring into space, only Jiung still had his head on straight. "Hey," he said, "he'll be okay." Everyone turned to look at him except Keeho who was lost in his head imagining the worst had happened to his precious alien, Soul.
Back at the apartment, Soul was finishing up with the stockings. When he was done, he hung them up and stepped back to view his handywork. The tree was covered in string lights and small silver ornaments. The stockings next to the tree all had the name of one of the members and small stars ironed on. Soul stretched and realized how quiet the apartment was. Suddenly he remembered the practice scheduled for the day. He looked at his watch and saw he was four hours late. He ran out of the apartment flagging down a taxi, leaving his phone behind again.
When he entered the practice room he was greeted with chaos. Everyone was surrounding a hyperventilating crying Keeho, trying to calm him down. No one noticed him enter. "What's going on?" He asked. Theo turned and saw him. "You're here!" he stated. Everyone else looked up at him then. Suddenly someone ran into Soul, enveloping him in a hug. It was Keeho. He was sobbing and would not let go of Soul who eventually hugged him back. Soul slowly sat them down and glanced questioningly at the rest of the members.
"When you didn't show up and you weren't at the apartment, we got worried. Keeho was the most worried and imagined the worst," Jongseob told him. Soul felt bad. "I completely forget about practice," he said.
"What about your phone?" Jiung asked. "We called and texted you."
"I haven't looked at my phone the whole day. I don't even have it with me."
"Where did you go?" Intak asked.
"I ran a few errands," Soul responded. He looked down at Keeho who was still hugging him but now only sniffling. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to worry you guys."
"It's okay," they told him. "Just don't do it again." Soul nodded his head.
A half hour later, practice was finally underway. They practiced for the rest of the day and went home together after. When everyone walked in the door they stopped. "Is this what you had been doing?" Keeho asked. Soul nodded. "I love it!" Intak yelled. Soul smiled and sat down to eat dinner with his members. He knew they would have a wonderful Christmas together and he knew his members loved him just as much as he loved them. He knew he was home.
A/N this is my last one for Christmas. Next week I'll start uploading the new year stories. Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates!!
