Christmas in Seoul

V. A Random Minho Appears (ft. SHINee's Minho)

"Guys shh, I can't hear what's going on in there!"

Maejun put her ear to the door again, not wanting to miss what Nichkhun was saying. As leader of Alium, she had pushed to the front of the group, ignoring the muttered complaints of the others, and gotten the best vantage point to eavesdrop on the newly reunited pair.

"...while I was away. I didn’t want to stand in the way of you being happy.”

Maejun frowned, having missed the start of the sentence. Turning around to glare at her dongsaengs who had started whispering again, she froze as she spotted the front door, which was ajar once more.

"Um, I just dropped by to wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year but if you're busy I can..."

As he turned around to leave, Maejun let out a cry, hurriedly standing and pushing the others out of the way. "No! Minho, wait!"

She caught up to him and brushed down her dress, regaining her composure under his bemused gaze.

"You're welcome to stay. We, um, have plenty of food and it's not like the apartment's packed or anything..."

"You're sure you're not busy?" He raised an eyebrow as he nodded towards the section of hallway outside Chloe’s bedroom, where the members of Alium and Alice were fighting over the spot Maejun had just vacated. She followed his glance and grimaced internally. Why oh why did he have to arrive at this moment?

"Hyung! Annyeong!" The boys from EXO were lounging in the living room and their perfectly timed greeting saved her from having to come up with an explanation.

"Baekhyun! Luhan, Kai, Chen," their sunbae waved in greeting. "What are you doing here?"

"We're celebrating MAO's debut," Chen replied.

"MAO? Who-" Minho started, but then noticed Mas smiling unsurely at him from the corner of a sofa. "Ah, of course! Jellyfish’s new girl group, right?"

"Ne, sunbaenim. We are honoured that you know of us." Mas stood up, bowing. She felt that she should do the group’s official introduction, but decided it would be a bit strange considering she was the only one greeting him. “I’m MAO’s Mas, please take care of us.”

“Annyeong.” He nodded in return. “I’m Minho.”

Mas, who was generally a little quiet around people she didn’t know, could only nod back, not knowing what else to say. The members of EXO just sat watching amusedly, but Maejun prevented the situation from turning awkward by diverting Minho’s attention back to her and asking, “Did you come alone?”

“Oh, yeah, I did. The others are all back at the dorm, just taking some time to relax for once.” His lips turned up in that smile he reserved just for her. “I wanted to see you.”

Maejun thanked the heavens that he could not see her blush. “I thought you were busy for the next few days.”

“We are, but since it’s Christmas, our manager decided to give us a little time off.” He cast a look around the room. “By the looks of it, all our managers thought the same thing.”

“I’m glad they did,” Maejun said. Minho turned to find her eyes on him, a shy smile tugging at her lips.

There was a pause.

“I’ll just, um, go check on the, um, food in the kitchen.” Mas got up in a hurry, shooting meaningful glances at the boys who were dotted around the living room.

“Oh! Yeah, I’ll just, y’know, go find Alice.” Kai got the hint and dragged Baekhyun to where the girls were still trying to eavesdrop on Chloe.