Before anyone knew it, Christmas Eve had arrived. The Lee residency had many delicous smells looming around the house.
Johnny rolled over on Taeyong's futon. He basically spent most of his time at Taeyong's house. The family of course didn't mind. He was basically their second son.
"Boys! Get down here before the girls come." Taeyong's dad called from below. Taeyong scooted out of his computer chair as Johnny sat up. As the door opened, their smell senses heightened when the already strong smells of the food became stronger.
They were downstairs in time as the doorbell rang. The flush of the brisk air flew in as Mrs. Lee opened the door.
"Dinner will be done soon!" Mr. Lee called out from the kitchen.
Everybody exchanged greetings.
"I need someone to set the table up," Mrs. Lee said.
"I'll do it," Jennie offered, raising her hand. She walked towards the dining room, ready to set the table.
"Taeyong, go help her," his mother ordered, slightly pushing him. He obeyed, though he was going to help her anyways.
Jennie was already placing the plate mats out around the table. She looked up at his sudden appearance and smiled smally. "Happy Christmas Eve."
"Happy Christmas Eve," he warmly responded, going towards the cabinet in which held their dining belongings.
He took out the finer, and more expensive china for tonight's dinner, and began placing them on the table.
Suddenly, he remembered his first time meeting Jennie, and how much she didn't want to keep studying past winter break. Now winter break was nearly over.
"Hey, Jennie?"
The sudden break of silence caught her off guard. "Yes?"
"Remember when you told me you wanted to stop with the tutoring sessions before winter break?"
Jennie waited for him to continue.
"What happened to that?"
"I forgot all about that... but to me it isn't all that bad. I guess I changed my mind." She shrugged. She began placing the utensils on the table.
"Jennie, when you're done with that, will you please help me make this dessert? I don't know much on how to make it." Mrs. Lee called from the kitchen.
"Of course! I'll be there in a minute." She answered back. Taeyong took the napkins from her hand.
"I got it," he offered. She smiled in thanks, and went into the noisy kitchen.
Taeyong quickly finished setting up the table and sauntered back into the living room, where Nayeon and Johnny were chatting with the television on.
"What are you guys not watching?" He asked himself, shaking his head. He plopped onto the spot next to Johnny.
"You didn't see her, but she was in the place where I bought my new watch," Johnny held up his wrist, flashing his newly acquired accesory.
Nayeon shook her head in disbelief. "You didn't even talk to her?"
Johnny shook head. Nayeon flicked him on his forehead. "Are you kidding me? You see a girl you like and talk to her. Now you'll never see her again."
Johnny sighed sadly, agreeing with her completely. Nayeon saw this and didn't know how to say she was slightly kidding.
"You know, you might find her on SNS. It is the age of technology." Taeyong reassured him.
"Yeah, I'm going to search 'pretty girl who was at the watch shop,' and find her that way, Tae." Johnny remarked sarcastically. He rubbed his face and sighed. "I'm sorry." Johnny apologized. Taeyong pat his back.
"That reminds me, Jennie's birthday is on the 30th." Nayeon remembered, propping on a couch pillow. "What do you guys plan to get her?"
The boys pondered for a moment. Johnny answered first. "I don't think I know what she'd like. What does she like?"
"She likes stuffed animals. I think I'm the only one who knows that of her." She giggled slightly.
"Then, I'll get her a Hello Kitty animal. With like a gift card, or something." Johnny scratched his neck. "What are you getting her?"
"It's this big book about vocal training and stuff. She talked about it one day." She crossed her legs. "It's coming soon."
Taeyong blocked out their conversation, wondering what to get Jennie. He still hardly knew her at this point, and felt bad he didn't really know. He supposed he could ask Nayeon if she had any books she wanted, but it wasn't enough. He wanted to know exactly what she wanted.
His parents came out from the kitchen, all giddy and smiley. The three noticed this and raised an eyebrow.
"Are you guys already drinking?" Nayeon asked, turning her body towards the two adults.
Mrs. Lee shook her head. The two took a seat on the other couch. "No, we were just having conversation with Jennie. She's such a pleasant girl."
"She kept asking about stories of you as a child." His dad remarked, pointing at his son. "She was really interested."
"Where is she now?"
"Finishing dessert. After she's done, we're going to show everybody our picture albums." Mrs Lee folded her hands in an excited matter.
"Oh, boy." Taeyong said to himself. "Time for the cringe-fest."
Jennie trailed in the living room soon after, drying off her clean hands. Mrs. Lee already had the picture album in her hands, ready to start. Jennie took a seat next to Nayeon and Mrs. Lee.
"So, this page is when Taeyong's sister was born." Mrs. Lee pointed out. "I miss my baby." She sighed to herself. Mr. Lee rubbed her shoulder in comfort.
The doorbell rang, interupting picture time. Taeyong himself got up and went to answer the door. In front of him was his older sister, standing out in the cold.
"Oh my god," he said in excitement. He let his sister in before giving her a huge hug. "I thought you weren't coming for Christmas?"
"Well, surprise!" She held her hands up and glee. She took off her boots and coat. The rest of the household came to see what Taeyong was taking so long. Her parents saw their daughter and rushed down.
They exchanged loving hugs and greetings, accompanied with questions of her sudden appearance. Johnny took a familiar greeting with her as well, giving her a nice warm hug.
"My, you're so much different, Johnny."
"There may have been a lot of workouts involved throughout the last time I saw you." Johnny bragged, popping his collar. Johnny was known to have a bit of a crush on Yuna when he was younger. It disappeared when he got older and when she had gotten into a serious relationship with her now husband.
Yuna playfully rolled her eyes. She glanced up the stairs and saw two young ladies who she had never seen.
"Oh, hello. Who might you two be?"
"My name is Im Nayeon." Nayeon greeted.
"I'm Kim Jennie." Jennie greeted.
"Are these two your girlfriends?" Yuna asked with surprise.
"Oh, no. They're just classmates."
Yuna headed up the stairs. "I'm Gong Yuna. Taeyong's older sister."
They all then went back into the living room. Yuna took a spot next to Taeyong on the couch. "Wow, you managed to befriend really pretty girls." She whispered, with a teasing smile.
"Yeah, they are beautiful." He admitted, glancing at the pair of bestfriends.
"So... which one?"
"Which one what?"
"Which one do you have a thing for?"
Taeyong looked at his older sister.
"C'mon, you can't befriend two beautiful girls and not have a thing for one of them."
"I don't have a thing for any of them."
"You're lying."
"I am not."
"If you don't have a thing for them... then, it must be the other way around."
Taeyong sighed. "Jennie has a crush on me."
Yuna's mouth opened at the confession. "You're telling me you don't have a thing for her? Is something wrong with you?"
"No, Yuna. God." He scoffed.
Yuna got up, and walked over to Jennie, who was looking at the photo album.
"Hey, Jennie, right?"
Jennie nodded.
"Don't ask me how I know, but I know about your thing for my brother."
Jennie blushed a few shades of pink, and glanced at Taeyong, who was now chatting with Johnny.
"Don't worry, Jennie. He'll open up soon enough. I can tell you're a real... catch."
Jennie was occupied with her words, but not for long.
"C'mon, Jennie, I'll show you more pictures in the basement."
"Oh, I will after I add the finishing touches to the dessert." Jennie stood up.
"Okay. Johnny, Nayeon? Want to look?"
The two nodded and stood up, following the two parents and the daughter.
Taeyong was left upstairs, with Jennie in the kitchen. He got up slowly and approached the kitchen.
Jennie was adding small stuff to decorate the dessert, trying her hardest to be delicate. "Jennie?"
Jennie whirled around, holding her hand to her chest. "Oh my gosh,"
"Sorry! Sorry."
"Can I talk to you, in the living room?"
"Oh uh, sure, sure."
They sat down on the couch, before Taeyong started talking. "Nayeon tells me your birthday is coming up soon. I wanted to know, what you would like."
"Oh no, Taeyong. You don't need to get me anything. I don't want you to spend a dime."
"I really want to give you something." He insisted. "What is one of your deepest wishes?"
Jennie pondered for a moment. "I-uh..." she trailed off.
"What is it?"
Jennie looked down, avoiding eye contact.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, no." She looked back up, fixing her hair.
"What is your wish?"
"I want a kiss, from you." She finally formed out.
Taeyong had not seen that coming, in loss of words.
"You don't have to do it. You really wanted to know..." she awkwardly said, looking at his lost expression.
He gained his composure, and took her hands into his. He leaned in closer, and rested his forehead against hers. Taeyong slowly closed his eyes and brought his lips onto hers, lightly pecking it before full on kissing her.
Taeyong unconsiously rubbed his thumbs on her hands, causing her to jump into the kiss. He broke it off, after a good amount of time.
That was his first kiss ever. And he quite enjoyed it. Jennie was pink in embarassment, smiling a bit to herself. He glanced towards the stairwell, where everybody had watched the whole kiss. He turned away, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.
"Happy Birthday, Jennie."