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Minseok dashes from his house towards the end of the alley. To Jongdae’s house, to be precise. He should have been there half an hour ago but his costume ripped when he tried to get out of the house so he had to do some quick adjustment with a scotch tape.

They had planned to go trick-or-treating together. Jongdae, who just turned 8 last month, still isn’t allowed to go alone. So Minseok is supposed to be there to pick Jongdae up and accompany him go door-to-door (since Minseok is 10 years old and that basically means he’s a big boy now).

He takes a look at his Minion watch again. It’s almost 6.30, and he promised Jongdae that he’ll be in front of Jongdae’s front door before 6. Jongdae must be fuming right now. Minseok needs to pick up his pace.

Fortunately for Minseok’s little feet, their house is not that far apart. They live and grew up in the same neighborhood in a small town called Exoville. No, actually, their dad grew up together, in the very same neighborhood, and their children continue the tradition. 

There are eight different dads, which should make eight kids in Minseok’s small group of friends, until Junmyeon’s cousin from China, Yixing moved to the neighborhood a few years ago so he’s been part of the group ever since.

Oh wait, this is not the time for nostalgia. He should focus on making his feet run the fastest he has ever been to Jongdae’s house. Thanks to Minseok’s morning run routine, he arrives in just under four minutes. Not waiting to catch his breath, he raises his hand and knocks on the green door.

Exactly on the second knock, the door is already wide open, revealing a puffy-eyed Jongdae wrapped in an oversized T. Rex costume.

Immediately, worry fills Minseok’s entire body. “Jongdae? Are you okay?”

“Hyung!” Jongdae shouts, and suddenly Minseok’s arm is full of a big fluffy dinosaur.

“Hey… What happened?” Minseok asks while rubbing his hand on Jongdae’s back.

That’s when Jongdae’s mom’s voice comes in, all the way from inside the house. “He cried rivers thinking you forgot to come and go trick-or-treating without him!” 

“Mooom!” Jongdae whines loudly.

Minseok tries to hide his chuckle because it’s rude to laugh when someone is crying, but Jongdae looks really, really cute right now. 

“I’m sorry, Dae. My wings got caught in my front door and it ripped when I was about to leave the house, so I have to fix them first.” Minseok lifts his left arm to show Jongdae the ripped parts on his left wing that are now covered with a bunch of tapes.

Jongdae releases Minseok from his hold and takes a step back to see Minseok's wing better. “Oh my god, Hyung! It’s a big tear!”

“I know right.”

“But you worked so hard on your wings!”

“I know, I stayed up late many nights to make them pretty.”

“Which door was it?”

“Huh?”

“Which door was the culprit? Was it your front door? Your bedroom door?”

“No, it was our kitchen door. You know, the one that’s near my room.”

“I knew it! I never liked that door!”

“Yeah, so do I.” 

“No worries, Hyung. I’ll put that door on my Santa’s naughty kid’s list this year so he gets his lesson!”

“Well, that would teach him!” Minseok chuckles and rubs his little hand on Jongdae's cheeks to get rid of some tear stains. “Now let’s wipe those tears and get some candies, okay?”

Jongdae replies, “Okay, Hyung! Let me get my basket first!” and the little T.Rex is off to his house.

After an awkward couple of seconds of Minseok waiting and looking around at the trees and the roads in front of Jongdae’s house (that he’s absolutely sure he can draw blindfolded), Jongdae’s mother comes out of the house with an Ursula costume from The Little Mermaid. She also brings a big basket full of candies in her hand. “Hi, Minseok. Want some candies?”

“Sure! Thank you, Mrs. Kim!” Minseok lifts up his basket for Mrs. Kim to drop a few candies in.

After dropping a big scoop of candies, Mrs. Kim speaks again with a smile. “Thank you for picking him up, Minseok.”

“No problem, Mrs. Kim! I live very close anyway.”

“Yeah, but Jongdae appreciates it a lot. Junmyeon and Yixing came here half an hour ago, you know, but he wouldn’t come with them. He insisted on going with you.”

Minseok looks down. “Ah, it’s because I had promised him to come and pick him up, Mrs. Kim. He should have gone with them... I’m so sorry for being late. ”

Jongdae’s mom laughs at that. “It’s okay, Minseok. What I meant was that even if you hadn't promised to come here, he would want to go trick-or-treating with you anyway. He’s rather fond of you.”

That caught Minseok off guard because Jongdae’s rather what? Of him? This thought makes his head dizzy. “Wha– What–” He chokes. "No way, Mrs. Kim!”

At that moment, Jongdae becomes his accidental life savior because he comes out of the house at the perfect time. “Hyung, I’m ready! Let’s– Oh! Why is your face so red? You can’t get sunburned at 7 pm…” 

Mrs. Kim chuckles. “Bye, Minseok. Bye, Daedae. Enjoy your night and bring back a lot of candies, okay?”

“Okay, mom! Bye!” Jongdae shouts while pulling a still embarrassed Minseok to the street. “Let’s go, Hyung! What is up with your face suddenly? You look like a red angry bird.”

😭 🦖 😭

“So, what candy are you hunting this year, Dae?” Minseok asks the younger one on their way to their first house.

“Oh, I got the list right here!” Jongdae answers excitedly while pulling a long sheet of paper from the pocket in the stomach of his dino costume. “Here! I want some Twix,”

“Why is there a pocket in your T. Rex costume?” Minseok cuts Jongdae off.

“Some Kit Kat,”

“Is this a kangaroo costume?”

“Some butterfingers,”

“Or are there some specific dinosaurs with a pocket in their stomach to carry their babies?”

“Hyung!” Jongdae shouts and stomps his feet to the ground.

Minseok laughs widely at that. Jongdae is the cutest to tease! “I’m just kidding, Dae. I heard what you said. You wanted some Twix, some Kit Kat, some butterfingers, and?”

Jongdae pouts at Minseok for a while before continuing to read his list. “I want some Twix, Kit Kat, Butterfingers, Mars, Snickers, M&Ms the milk chocolate one because the one with a peanut inside is disgusting, Hershey's Kisses, and some Jolly Ranchers.”

“Ah, no more Starburst?”

“Nope. Starbursts are sooo last year, Hyung. The trend has changed.” Jongdae answers intensely, showing his passion for this candy trend. “What about you, Minseok Hyung? What candies are you hunting this year?”

“Anything. I would be very happy with any candy.” It’s true. Minseok is a big fan of food and sweets in general so he’ll enjoy eating any kind of candies and choco bars he’s given. He even likes those dark chocolate bars that no kid seems to like because they’re ‘bitter’. He eats anything, and that’s how he gained the nickname ‘Fatty from class 2’ in school.

“Nooo, choose one, Hyung.” Jongdae whines.

“Why?”

“So, I can get them for you!”

“Dae, there’s no need–”

“Hyung!” Jongdae pouts for the second time that night and that makes Minseok feel really bad.

“Okay,” He thinks about it for a few seconds before blurting out any candy that comes to his mind. “Hmm, how about Reese's?”

“Oh, right! You love them! How could I forget?” Jongdae mumbles while taking his note again and writes little ‘Reese’s’ in there. “Oh! I need to add Sour Patch Kids too here because Chanyeol told me to get some for him because he likes it so much. I don’t get why he wants to eat that sour thing but not everyone can have a very good taste bud.”

That makes Minseok guffawing in the middle of the road at night. “True, but let’s not tell Chanyeol that or he’ll be sad. Now, let’s hurry up to our first house so we can catch up with the rest of the boys. You want to show off your T. Rex costume, don’t you?”

“Yes! Let’s go, Hyung!”

🍬 🍫 🍭

“Trick or treat!” Minseok and Jongdae shouted at the top of their lungs in front of Mrs. Do, Kyungsoo’s mom after they knocked on her door a few times.

“Oh, good evening, Minseok, Jongdae! Happy Halloween! How many candies have you gotten so far?” Mrs. Do (who seems to be wearing some bread costume) greets them kindly while scooping some candies from the big basket she carries.

“Zero, Mrs. Do. We just started…” Minseok answers sadly.

“Oh really? Then I'll give you guys extra so you can add some weight in those baskets, how about that?” Mrs. Do replies with a wink.

“Yeay! Thank you, Mrs. Do!” Minseok and Jongdae scream in unison. Jongdae even jumps a little bit because he’s excited.

After Mrs. Do scoops up two big scoops of candies into each of their baskets, they shout again in unison. “Thank you, Mrs. Do!” 

“No worries, kids. But don’t tell the others that I give you both twice as many candies as them, okay? It’s our little secret.” 

“Of course, Mrs. Do! My lips are tight!” Jongdae shouts again while gesturing to zip up his lips.

“Good job, Jongdae.” Mrs. Do smiles and ruffles Jongdae’s hair. “Okay, off you go before it’s getting too late.”

“Yes, we’ll be going, Mrs. Do. Thank you!” Minseok and Jongdae shout to Mrs. Do while making their leave. The sight of Mrs. Do waving her hand to both of them is the last thing they see before they run to their next house.

🏠 👩 🍞

In the middle of walking to their eighth house, which is located a block away from where they were, Jongdae takes out his long sheet of paper and a pencil and starts scratching off some words.

“What are you doing?” Minseok asks while peeks at what Jongdae is doing.

“Crossing out the candies that I’ve gotten so far.” Jongdae answers without looking up to Minseok. He’s rummaging through his basket to inspect every candy he gets. “Kit Kat, check. Mars, check. Jolly Ranchers, check. Butterfingers, check. Some candies that I don’t care about, check. M&Ms, che– Oh, what is this? This is a different M&Ms than what I used to eat! I’ve never seen M&Ms with blue packaging before! What does it say here? Ca..r...mel. Camarel! Camarel? Ew, Hyung, isn’t Camarel a fish? Why would they make fish-flavored M&Ms? For a seafood lover like Junmyeon Hyung?”

Minseok chuckles. “The fish is called Mackerel, Dae. And this one said caramel on the packaging. The C started first, and then the R and the M. Look. It’s caramel-flavored! Just what you like!”

“Ah, I see... I’m sorry, Hyung. Mr. Lee always said I’m late in reading. Everybody in the class can read already, like Channie and Baekkie, and everyone but not me. I am dumb.” Jongdae answers with a gradually lowering voice. The last sentence comes out barely above a whisper.

“No, no! You’re not dumb, Dae!” Minseok quickly argues. “Okay, maybe you’re a little late in reading, but you talk way faster and you know much more vocabulary than anybody in your class! Also, you have the most beautiful singing voice I’ve ever heard!”

“What does my voice have to do with this?”

“Well, when they read, you can go sing!”

Jongdae seems to be thinking about it for a second, and then he giggles. “That doesn’t make any sense, Hyung.”

“It doesn’t?”

“Yeah. Why would I sing in a reading class? Maybe you’re dumb too, Hyung.”

“Maybe I am.” Minseok answers with a smile. “What’s Mr. Lee’s full name? Do you know?”

“Mr. Lee Soo Man. Why?” Jongdae tilts his head in confusion.

“He’s going to accompany the kitchen door on my naughty kid’s list this year.”

Jongdae’s giggles get louder. “That would be so funny, Hyung!”

“I know!” Minseok answers with giggles too. “So, would you eat the caramel M&Ms?”

Jongdae makes his index finger and thumb into a v and places it on his chin. “Hmm… I never really tried this one before. I like M&Ms and I like caramel. But both mixed in one? I don’t know, Hyung. I’m not sure.”

“But you’ll never know how they taste? What if they’re good and you’re missing out?”

“Hmm… You’re right. I can’t be missing out on trying a new candy flavor. I have a reputation to hold as the chairman of Exoville’s candy lovers organization.”

“There’s an organization for that?”

“Yeah.”

“Who are the members?”

“I am the chairman and Hunnie is the vice-chairman.”

“5 years old Sehunnie? What do you guys do?”

“We have a weekly meeting every Wednesday afternoon to research and discuss candies.”

“Ah, that explains why you always jump around to our houses on Wednesday night. It was the sugar rush.”

“What can I say, Hyung? That’s part of the job!”

Lost in their silly banter, they didn’t realize they had already reached the first house in the block until they saw a house full of lamps and decorations. Not to mention, the more than one mummy lying on the lawn. They immediately run towards the front door of the house because they know exactly whose household would be so over the top about Halloween decorations. After knocking on the red door excitedly a few times, it is finally opened to reveal a middle-aged man behind it. Minseok and Jongdae then shouted in unison for the eighth time this night. “Trick or treat!”

“Oh, hey boys!” The man answers eagerly. “Fistbump!”

After two overly excited fistbumps are exchanged, Minseok starts talking. “Good evening, Mr. Park! The house looks lovely!”

Mr. Park (and Chanyeol for that matter) is always so passionate about Halloweens. They always wear the best costume and have the most extravagant house in the neighborhood. That’s why it’s always so fun to visit the Park’s household. This year, Mr. Park is wearing a complete demon costume and had his entire head painted green, with two horns coming from the top of his head.

Mr. Park suddenly pouts after hearing Minseok’s compliment. “Okay, Minseok, it’s bad. I get it. Don’t mock me like that.”

“No! I didn’t mock you. I said your house was lovely!”

“It’s Halloween, Minseok. The goal is to look ugly and scary, not lovely. If it looks lovely to you, then I am failing.” Mr. Park faked a pout.

“Oh. Then, it’s horrible! And hideous! And horrifying!”

Mr. Park guffaws at that. “Yes! Thank you, Minseok. I really appreciate that.”

Then he continues, “Now Jongdae, I know you always keep your little candy list with you, so tell me what you haven’t got yet and I’ll give it to you.”

“Oh, you’re the best, Mr. Park! Thank you!” Jongdae all but leaps into Mr. Park's legs. He was meant to hug Mr. Park, but Mr. Park is tall even when he’s sitting, and he is standing right now so all Jongdae can hug is his knee. Then he releases himself and takes out his sheet of paper (out of his weird dinosaur-stomach pocket) and starts reading it. “First, Twix!”

“I have that. Here’s a couple for you, and a couple for Minseok.” Mr. Park takes out a scoopful of Twix and drops half in Jongdae’s basket and half in Minseok’s.

“Snickers.”

“You got it.” A bunch of snickers enters their baskets.

“M&Ms. the milk chocolate ones, because Mrs. Do gave me a caramel one and I don’t know if I’ll like it. I tried the peanut ones and they’re ugly tasting.”

Mr. Park laughs. “I’m sorry, Jongdae. I don’t have the milk chocolate one.”

“Oh, it’s okay, Mr. Park. Sour Patch Kids?”

“That one I do have a lot!” Mr. Park answers keenly while grabbing a lot of Sour Patch Kids. “Our Chanyeollie loves it so much. Do you like sour candies too, Jongdae?”

“No, sir. But Chanyeol asked me to ask some while trick-or-treating so I can give it to him.”

Mr. Park chortles at that.

“But Jongdae, this is his house. Chanyeol can ask for it later after trick-or-treating, can’t he?” Minseok tries to intervene.

But Jongdae turns his head and looks at Minseok like he just grew another head. “Where’s the fun in that? Trick-or-treat candies taste different, Hyung.”

“Yes, Minseok. Where’s the fun in that?” Mr. Park laughs. “Here are some Sour Patch Kids for you, Jongdae, and some for you too, Minseok. You can give it to Channie if you want, or just keep them to yourself, okay?”

Jongdae looks at the candy with an unamused expression. “It’s sour, Mr. Park. I won’t keep it to myself.”

Mr. Park chuckles and turns his head to look at the older kid. “Minseok?”

“I’ll probably try one and give the rest to Chanyeol.”

“Smart boys. Anything else, Jongdae?”

Jongdae’s eyes go bright again. “Do you have some Reese’s?”

“Wait, I think I’ve got them but–” Mr. Park digs into his big basket of candies. “Yeah, negative, Jongdae. I’m so sorry. I think I gave them to the other kids before you.”

Immediately, Jongdae changes from a very happy dinosaur to a very dejected dinosaur. “Oh noooo, that is bad.”

“Why? It’s on the top of your candy list? Is it your favorite?”

“No, but…” Jongdae hesitates. Then he flaps his little T. Rex hand signaling for Mr. Park to bend down. “Come down Mr. Park, I need to whisper it in your ear.”

After squatting down with a lot of effort (it’s not easy to do at his age, okay), Mr. Park whispers to Jongdae, “Okay, what’s the big secret with Reese’s?”

Jongdae then uses both of his hands to cover Mr. Park’s ear to make sure no one but Mr. Park can hear what he’s about to whisper. “It’s Minseok Hyung’s favorite. I want to get it for him so he’ll like me.”

Mr. Park laughs and whispers something back in Jongdae’s ear. “I don’t think you need to worry about it, buddy. He’ll like you with or without Reese's.”

“Yeah, but I need to be sure. Now, you can get back to standing position, or he’ll get suspicious.” 

In an instance, both of them stand straight like nothing just happened between them. 

“What’s with the secret, Dae? You never kept a secret from me before.” Minseok asks, pouting.

“Uh, no? It’s not a secret.” Jongdae rebuts. 

“What did you guys talk about?” Minseok presses further.

Jongdae blinks. “Um, about the… weather? Yeah, the weather! This house always has the best weather in our town. I was just telling Mr. Park that.” 

Minseok furrows his eyebrows together. “What does that have anything to do with Reese’s?” 

“I would love to explain it to you right now, Hyung. But it’s very long and it’s already late. We need to get going or we would never catch up with the other boys.” Jongdae speaks as fast as he can before pushing Minseok out of the porch of the house. “Bye, Mr. Park! Thank you for the candies!”

Mr. Park giggles uncontrollably while waving his hand. “Bye, kids! Take care!”

🏚️ 👨 😈

After walking to around 20 houses (It could be more if Minseok wasn’t goofing around the streets and Jongdae didn’t chat for so long to everyone in the houses they’ve gone to), both of the kids feels like their baskets are quite heavy already and their little hands can’t hold it for much longer, so they walk straight towards the park that both of them and the other seven guys always gathered together. 

“Have you got all the candies in your list, Dae? Because I don’t think I can lift heavier than this.” Minseok mumbles with his shoulder stooped down.

Jongdae goes through the list again one more time. “We’ve got almost all of the candies covered, Hyung. The only ones left are Reese’s and Hershey's Kisses. I can give up Hershey’s kisses for this year, it’s okay. I’ll just put them on my candy priority list next Halloween. But the Reese's are important!”

“Really? Can’t you put them on next year’s list too? I felt like we’ve knocked on all of the front doors in our neighborhood..”

“No, Hyung.” Jongdae starts whining.

“Why not?”

“Because I want to give it to someone special this year!” 

There are some silence that washes over them for a few seconds before Minseok finally talks again. “Oh… Okay, then, umm… Let's meet the other boys at the park first. We can ask them whose house gives out Reese’s or Hershey’s kisses, what about that?”

“Yeay! Thanks, Hyung.” Jongdae answers with a big smile. “Would all of them already be at the park, Hyung?”

“I don’t know. But they should be because we start half an hour later than everyone.”

“Yeah, but I think Yeollie and Sehunnie would go all the way to the next neighborhood because a basket of candy is not enough for them.”

Minseok chuckles. “Yeah, probably. So the ones who arrived at the park would be Junmyeonnie, Yixing, Baekhyun–”

Suddenly, a voice from a hundred meters away can be heard. “Minseok Hyung! Jongdae!”

“Speak of the devil.” Minseok mumbles.

“Instead of the devil, I think it’s more like ‘speak of the gnome’, Hyung.”

“You think so? He looks more like a leprechaun to me than a gnome.”

“Want to bet?!” Jongdae jumps excitedly.

“10 candies!”

“That’s too low. What about 20?!”

“Deal!”

“Hey! Who are you?” Jongdae shouts to the person calling them while walking closer to him.

The small boy lifts his green hat and screams again, “It’s Baekhyun!”

“No, I know that. I mean, who are you supposed to be?” Jongdae asks Baekhyun after they’re facing each other.

“Oh, I’m an elf!”

After that, a stream of “What?!” “How could that be?” “You don't look like it!” “Just change to being a gnome!” “This is a green hat, you’re definitely a leprechaun!” comes out from both of Minseok and Jongdae’s lips.

“Ugh, stop it! I’m an elf! Look at my elf uniform!” Baekhyun protests as he pushes both of the kids fussing in front of him. “What are you supposed to be anyway, Dae?”

“A dinosaur? Isn’t it quite clear? I wear a T. Rex onesie. It's really hard to confuse it with anything else.” Jongdae furrows his eyebrows.

“But our theme this year is mythical creatures. Dinosaurs aren't mythical creatures.”

“It is!”

“Mythical creatures are an imaginary being of myth, Dae. They're fake creatures from fiction. Dinosaurs are real, they used to exist.”

“Have you ever seen them?”

“Well, no, but–”

“Then they’re a mythical creature.”

“There are bones of them, Dae. Fossils. I’ve seen it in the museum.”

“It’s a lie. They became extinct before humans existed. So, who could have seen them? It’s just a big fiction that a bored scientist came up with.”

“But– But Mr. Lee said they are real!”

“Nah, Mr. Lee is going to be on this year’s Santa’s naughty list. I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.” Jongdae shakes his head.

“Really?! No one told me about it! Okay, I believe you now. Dinosaurs are mythical creatures.”

Minseok can only hear this argument and laugh quietly. After the dinosaur and the elf come to an agreement that dinosaurs are mythical creatures, Minseok enters himself into the conversation. “By the way, where are the others?”

Baekhyun points at a bench a few steps from them. “Myeon, Xing, Nini, and Soo are there, by the bench. Yeollie and Hunnie are still on the hunt with their second basket.”

“I knew it. Both of them are too obsessed about candies, it’s crazy.” Jongdae chirped in.

Minseok turns his head to look at Jongdae, bewildered. “Did you hear yourself or are you a different person from the chairman of Exoville’s candy lovers organization I talked to two hours ago?”

“Stop it, Hyung.” Jongdae pouts. But, the pouting doesn’t last too long because suddenly, the rest of the boys show their presence. Jongdae immediately runs and hugs them one by one. “Oh! Myeon Hyung! Xing Hyung! Soo! Nini!”

The four of them are looking so festive with their respective costumes. Junmyeon is wearing a blue merman costume with a dark blue tail hanging from the back of his feet, Yixing is wearing a white and pink unicorn onesie with a long unicorn horn on the top of his head, Kyungsoo is wearing a simple werewolf mask and a plaid shirt and jeans (typical Kyungsoo), and Jongin is wearing a big fluffy fury costume that looks like James P. Sullivan from Monsters, Inc. except his fur is white.

“Ahh! You guys look so good!” Jongdae jumps cheerfully at the sight of his friends with cute costumes. “Your mask looks so scary, Soo!”

When Kyungsoo stays expressionless and only nods after his compliment, Jongdae continues, “Very chatty as usual Soo, I see.” 

Then, Jongdae leans to Minseok to whisper in his ear. “How do you think he asked for candies tonight? Did he mime ‘trick-or-treat’?”

Minseok shouldn’t laugh. He really shouldn’t because it’s not appropriate, but he can’t help it. A giggle passed his mouth out of his will. But when Kyungsoo looks at him weirdly, he immediately clears his throat and changes the topic. “Oh, by the way, Soo, when we were knocking on your house earlier, your mom came out with something like a bread costume. What was it?”

“It was a slice of bread with a jam on it. She and my dad are PB&J sandwiches tonight. They wore matching costumes of sliced bread, one with strawberry jam and one with peanut butter on it. Please don’t look at me like I’m the crazy one. It was them.”

Minseok and Jongdae gape for a second and then break into uncontrollable laughter for a good few minutes.

“That is a good idea! Our theme next year could be food!” Jongdae talks with laughter. “What do you think about it, Soo?”

Kyungsoo just stands there and shrugs as an answer.

“I knew you wouldn’t talk again after that long sentence!” Jongdae shouts while pointing his index finger to Soo, who is now just smiling slightly, having fun playing with Jongdae.

Jongdae pouts and tries his conversation luck with another person. Little Jongin is a perfect choice. “What about you, Nini? What are you supposed to be?”

But suddenly, Baekhyun runs to Jongin to try to close his mouth from answering.“No, Nini! Don’t answer!”

But, it was too late. Jongin already opens his mouth to answer happily. “I’m a yeti!”

Baekhyun stops in his tracks and looks Jongdae in the eyes. “I knew you would regret asking. I told him to wear another costume but he chose this one anyway.” Baekhyun shrugs.

“But It’s cute!” Jongin yells, pouting.

“It is, Jonginie. You look fluffy like white cotton candy.” Minseok bends down a little bit to rub little Jongin’s hair. After that he continues, “What are Yeollie and Hunnie dressed as?”

“Hunnie wears a dragon onesie, similar to what Dae is wearing and Yeol went above and beyond to find the craziest ‘mythical creature’ costume, so he had his aunt, who’s a tailor, to make him a centaur costume. It is so crazy looking, he actually looks like he’s a half horse.” Jumnyeon explains to both of the newcomers.

“Awh, that’s too bad! I want to see both of their costumes!” Jongdae whines.

“Yeah, me too, but would Yeollie and Hunnie be here soon? Because Jongdae hasn’t got all of the candy in his list this year, so we must head on to find the rest of it.” Minseok turns his head to ask the boys.

“I don’t think so, Ge. They were determined to go through all the houses in nearby neighborhoods.” Yixing answers first.

“Then I’m afraid we can’t meet them tonight, Dae.. It’s getting late and we have to keep knocking for the rest of the candies...” Minseok muses and gets lost in his thinking about how and where to find the candies Jongdae’s still looking for.

That’s why he didn’t hear when Baekhyun asked Jongdae, “What candies are missing, Dae? I can give some to you if I have a lot of them.”

“Reese’s and Hershey's kisses…” Jongdae answers dejectedly. 

Baekhyun digs at his basket for a while and then looks up. “Oh, I can give you some kisses!”

Hearing that while his mind is going somewhere, makes Minseok’s ears feel like they just got electrocuted. Immediately, Minseok gets out of his stupor. “What?! No!” Minseok abruptly shouts.

As a consequence, Baekhyun, Jongdae, and the rest of the group jump from shock. But Baekhyun is the one that gets out of it first. “What, Hyung? You scared us.”

Minseok, still in shock, can’t get a proper sentence out. “Why– Why would you want to give Jongdae some– some kiss…”

“Because he said he wants them but he hasn't got them?” 

“He wants them?” Minseok asks while he blushes furiously. “Dae, I– I can give it to you…”

Jongdae looks at him with an unamused look. “Hyung, we went trick-or-treating together, and I groped inside your basket earlier too. You don’t have Hershey’s kisses, otherwise, I would have snatched them from you.”

“O– Oh, you meant the candy? Baekhyun was about to give you his Hershey’s kisses?”

Jongdae’s eyebrows furrow deeper. “Yeah, what else?”

“Nothing! Yeah, you’re right. I don’t have Hershey’s kisses. Go ahead, Baek. Give it to him.” Minseok smiles happily.

Jongdae shakes his head in bewilderedness. “You are really weird, Hyung.”

Then he runs to Baekhyun to receive a few of the promised Hershey’s Kisses and he hugs the generous donor. “Thank you so much Baekkie!”

“Now, are there any Charity Reese’s, you guys? Anyone?” Minseok asks the crowd, which got replied with a stream of several ‘no’s from everyone. So he continues, “Then we gotta search for more. But where…“

“Well, you could go after Yeollie and Hunnie to the next neighborhood,” Junmyeon suggested.

Minseok immediately rejects the idea. “Umm, no. We’re not going all the way there at this hour.”

“Said who? Let’s go, Hyung! Come on! Come on! Please!” Jongdae begs while clasping both of his hands in a praying position.

Funnily, it doesn’t take long for Minseok to decide. “Okay… Let’s go.”

“Yeaay!! Reese’s here I come!” Jongdae shouts while running towards the Park’s exit gate.

The scene made most of the kids there giggle loudly, especially Baekhyun. “I thought you wouldn’t gave in, Hyung! You? Wanted to go to the neighborhood houses at this time? You like him a lot, don’t you?” He teased Minseok while giggling.

“What! No, I don’t! He– He was just so excited to go to the next neighborhood, how can I say no?” Minseok rambles in panic.

“Yeah, you can’t say no because you like him, Hyung. You’re down deep!” Baekhyun giggles again. “Myeon Hyung, how deep is the Atlantic Ocean?”

“Just a tad less than 8.500 m.” Junmyeon answers quickly.

“Yeah, Minseok Ge definitely fell in love deeper than that.” Yixing replies.

“No, I don’t! Don’t make stories up, you guys!” Minseok refutes.

Minseok’s face becomes very red very quickly and he’s already prepared to just run after Jongdae when Junmyeon talks again, “Then you’re The Pacific Ocean.”

“Huh?” Minseok asks confusedly.

Junmyeon clears his throat like he’s prepared to do an important speech. “Well, Yixing said that you fell deeper than The Atlantic Ocean, then you’re around The Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean is deeper than The Atlantic Ocean. It is 11.000 m deep. And not just the deepest, it is also the largest out of five oceanic divisions. It covers about 46% of Earth’s wate–“

“Myeon.” Minseok interrupts Junmyeon in the middle of his narration. “I get it.”

“Yeah.” Junmyeon grins.

Minseok chuckles for a while and then he mumbles, “He said he wanted to give the Reese’s to someone special.”

“Who?” Junmyeon asks.

“Jongdae. He wants to find the Reese’s so bad because he wants to give it to someone special.” Minseok smiles, one that didn’t reach his ear.

It goes silent for a while before Kyungsoo chimes in, “Eh, he probably meant his parents.” 

“Yeah. Or you. You must be that someone special he’s talking about, Hyung.” Baekhyun vocalizes.

“Yeah. We’ve all seen the way he acts around you, Min.” Junmyeon utters.

Lastly, Yixing also joins the conversation. “I can bet all the candies in my basket that the Reese’s is for you, Ge.”

“Count my basket too!” Nini shouts and giggles.

“Noo! I can’t talk with you guys!” Minseok rolls his eyes playfully and then waves his hand to the boys. “Anyway, bye, guys! I’m going!”

“Yeah! Bye Minseok Hyung!” Shouts all five kids that are in there while waving their hands to their Hyung.

“Good luck with the love journey, Ge! Eh, I mean the candy quest journey!” Yixing shouted before Minseok finally ran out of there with full speed out of embarrassment.

🦄 🧝 🧜 👻 🐺

“Hyung, come on! What’s taking you so long?” Jongdae shouts at him when Minseok runs out of the park. “Come on! We have to hurry! Mom would be angry if I came home too late.”

“Yixing was making a joke. Sorry. Let’s go now.” Minseok stops beside Jongdae to catch his breath for a few moments. But before long, he sees Jongdae already running again. “Dae, wait up. Don’t run again!”

But Jongdae wouldn’t listen and keeps running so Minseok gathers the most oxygen he can breathe in and puts his lung on the maximum capacity to run after the younger guy. To his luck, Jongdae has shorter legs than Minseok so it wasn’t for long until Minseok catches up and runs beside him. “Dae, slow down! We can go there by walking, it’s not too far. It’s dangerous to run!”

“No, Hyung. We gotta run fast. It’s dark already and mom will be angry if I come home late, and then mom will be angry at you, and I won’t be allowed to go with you again next Halloween, and then we will never spend Halloween together ever again, and you will forget about me! Oh no, that can’t happen! I’m speeding up!”

“No, wait, Dae! You’re wearing a big costume! You could trip and fall o–”

Suddenly Minseok’s voice gets cut off by a big puff sound and Jongdae disappears from Minseok’s side. Minseok stops his run and looks to his back, and there’s already a big dinosaur lying prone on the paved road, face down, with a pumpkin basket and dozens of candies scattered all over the floor.

There’s only silence for a few seconds there as Minseok processes what just happened until a shrill sound of a child’s crying can be heard. Minseok immediately runs to the crying dinosaur.

“Dae! Oh my God, are you okay?” Minseok asks with panic while crouching down, helping Jongdae to sit down. Unfortunately, Jongdae’s cries just grow louder. “Uh.. Jongdae? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Why is your crying getting louder? Do you want me to put you back down to the road or…” Minseok fidgets around.

“My fore–” Jongdae hiccups. “Forehead hurt, Hyung…”

“Okay, let me see? Look this way?” Minseok helps Jongdae to properly sit down. “Oh no, there’s a big bruise on the side of your forehead, Dae. Just above the eyebrows. That must hurt a lot… Let’s just go home and treat your bruises, yeah?”

Jongdae’s sobs got even louder. “No, Hyung. I need to get the Reese’s. We have to keep going.”

“Dae, the bruise in your forehead is bad and there might be other bruises in your arms or legs that we can’t see because of this big T. Rex costume. And even if we go to the next neighborhood, there’s no guarantee they’ll have some Reese’s too. So, let’s just go home, okay?”

Minseok doesn’t know that Jongdae’s sobs can get louder than before but it does. He’s pretty sure some houses next to them can hear Jongdae’s cry right now. Their situation right now might look pretty funny actually, if seen from an outsider's perspective. A little puffy dinosaur sitting on the side of the road, crying heavily with a purple bruise in his forehead with another kid that’s around the same size as him panicking trying to calm the smaller boy. But for Minseok, it is far from funny. He racks his brain, trying to come up with a solution to make Jongdae stop crying.

“Um, how about this, Dae? I’ll open my piggy bank tonight to buy you a lot of Reese’s tomorrow. First thing in the morning. Yeah?”

“No, I don’t want you to buy it!” Jongdae whines.

“Okay then! Let’s make Reese’s our top priority candy next year, how about that? We’ll put it on top of the list and I’ll pick you up very early next year so we can get all the Reese’s before other kids get them. We can also join Yeollie and Hunnie hunt in the next neighborhood!”

Suddenly, Jongdae stops crying and he looks up to see Minseok. “You’ll pick me up again next year?”

“Yeah, of course!”

“You– You promise?”

“I promise.”

“You’ll pick me up early next year and we’ll put Reese’s on the priority list… Okay…”

“That’s a good T. Rex!” Minseok rubs the little dinosaur’s head softly. “Come on, now let’s pick up all of these candies and go home!”

Jongdae smiles. “Okay, Hyung.” He then stretches his arm as far as he can to collect all the candies that he’s dropped on the floor and put it back in its basket.

When all the candies have been picked up, Minseok asks, “Why are you not moving your leg? Is it hurting?”

“Um… No–”

“If it’s hurting, we can just go to my house since it’s much closer, I’ll ask my mom to call your mom if you want to stay the night.”

Now, Minseok might be wrong, but for some reason, he’s pretty sure he sees Jongdae’s eyes sparkle for a moment there. His face beams for two seconds before it suddenly turns into a grimace. “Ouch! Yeah, It hurts so much, Hyung!”

Minseok only nods before suddenly squatting on the floor facing Jongdae and hugging him strongly.

“Huh, Hyung? What are you doing?” Jongdae asks confusedly.

“Trying to help you to stand up. Now, come on. I’ll lift your arms so all you need to do is try to stand up on your feet.”

“Okay…”

“Okay, one, two–” Minseok signals.

“Wait, Hyung! But I’m heavy. I have big bones because I drink a lot of milk every morning.”

“Well, at least let me try. Come on. One… Two… Three. Up!”

With a lot of effort, Minseok lifts Jongdae’s arms so Jongdae’s hanging in the air for one second before Jongdae plants both of his feet on the ground. But as soon as Jongdae stands up, both of the kids grunt at the same time.

“Oh my God, you weren’t lying about the morning milk.” Minseok tries to catch his breath. “What about you? Anything hurting?”

“My arms,” Jongdae also whines. “You hold it too tightly.”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry! What about your legs? Is it okay?”

“Huh?” Jongdae tilts his head due to confusion before he realizes something and tilts his head straight back up again. “Oh! Umm, yeah! Ouch it hurts a lot!”

“Oh no, I’m sorry, Dae. Let’s just get home as soon as we can to get your bruises treated, okay?”

“Okay, Hyung!” Jongdae beams while putting his left arm around Minseok’s shoulder to help him walk.

🏃 🦖 🏃

It doesn’t take long for them to finally arrive in a familiar blue house with a smiling skeleton beside the big front door. Minseok lets go of his hold around Jongdae and knocks on the door. Immediately, the door is opened and reveals a grown man with two sharp bloody teeth and an oversize black and red outfit, complete with its cape. “Good evening kids! Witch-ing you both a Happy Halloween! Have a fang-tastic one! Do you guys want some cand– Oh wait, I recognize this little kid with a broken wing and his little dinosaur friend.”

Minseok whines. “Dad… it’s not the time to joke. Jongdae’s hurt.”

“Oh no, sorry, I didn’t realize. Okay, come on in.” Minseok’s dad’s expression turns into a serious one while he takes the two big candy baskets from both of the kid’s hands and opens the way to get into the house. “Put him slowly on the sofa, Minnie.”

“Okay.” Minseok answers while walking to the living room, where the sofa is. Then, very slowly he sits Jongdae on the sofa. “Can you get out of the costume, Dae? So my dad can see where the bruises are. Do you need help getting out of them?”

Jongdae nods. “Yeah, Hyung… I can’t really move…”

“Okay, where’s the zipper?”

“Here, in the back of my neck.” Jongdae answers while pointing at the back of his neck.

“Okay. Turn around?” 

After Jongdae turns around facing the other side, Minseok unzips Jongdae’s big and puffy T. Rex costume and releases Jongdae’s body parts from it one by one. First, he slowly gets Jongdae’s head out of it, then his arms, and lastly, Minseok crouches on the floor to get Jongdae’s legs out of the costume. After that, Minseok immediately folds the costume and puts it on a table in front of the sofa.

Seeing that, Jongdae giggles. “You can’t forget to fold and clean things even for one second, Hyung.”

That’s when Minseok’s dad enters the room with a big box of emergency aid, chiming into the conversation. “Yeah, that’s how he always is. Can’t leave a scattered dinosaur costume for even a while.”

“Dad! You’re not supposed to talk bad about your own son!” Minseok whines. 

“I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Right, Jongdae?” Minseok’s dad smiles at Jongdae which Jongdae answers with a nod and giggle. He continues, “Now, can any of you boys tell me what happened while I observe any possible wounds on Jongdae?”

Minseok unveils the whole night to his dad, starting from Jongdae’s list of candies, all the houses they visited, the moments they met their friends in the park, how they left early to search for the missing Reese’s and lastly how Jongdae falls down forwards while running in a hurry to get his Reese’s treasure.

“I see… So this is all because of some Reese’s…” Mr. Kim talks softly while applying a band-aid on Jongdae’s forehead. “Reese’s tastes very delicious, so I understand where you’re coming from, Jongdae. But it’s not worth risking your safety. Halloween is supposed to be a fun holiday where you cherish the candies and chocolates that you get and most importantly, the time you get to spend with your friends and family. Do you understand, Jongdae?”

“Yes, Mr. Kim.” Jongdae answers solemnly. 

“Now, you’re lucky that your choice of big and puffy costume saved you tonight. There are no visible bruises on your arms or legs. I tried to push down and move around some parts, but you didn’t show any sign of pain so I don’t think you’re sprained too. Can you point in detail where you felt the pain earlier when you fell?”

Jongdae thinks for a second before answering. “Umm, it’s in the legs… Like um, in the feet! Yeah, it’s in the feet.”

“Okay, let me check your feet again then.”

“But I think it’s cured now, Mr. Kim! It didn’t really hurt so maybe that’s why it goes away so easily.” Jongdae rebuts quickly.

“Hey, but you cried and whined all the way here and said that it hurts a lot and we need to get home fast!” Minseok protests.

“It– It’s because!–” 

Jongdae tries to protest but gets cut off by the voice of someone entering the living room. “It must have hurt at the time, Minnie. He was in shock, it’s natural. But now, that he’s calm and safe, the hurt disappears. Right, Jongdae?”

“Right, Mrs. Kim! 100%! That’s exactly what I was about to say.” Jongdae declares passionately. 

It was Mrs. Kim, Minseok’s mom, still dressed as a mummy, fully wrapped with what looks like a hundred layers of toilet paper. She comes into the room while holding a basket. “I’ve called your mom, Jongdae. I told her that you’ll be spending the night here. But I didn’t tell her that you fell. It’s your job to tell her that by yourself, okay?”

“Okay, Mrs. Kim! I will! Thank you!” Jongdae smiles widely.

“Mom, can we go to my bedroom now? I want to unload all of the treasure we got.” Minseok pleads.

“Sure, but before that, I just realized that Mr. Vampire and Mrs. Mummy right here haven’t given Jongdae candies this year.” Minseok’s mom sticks out his hand to give Jongdae the basket she has been carrying. “ So, because you’re the last kid, you get all the leftover candies. All candies and chocolates in these buckets are yours. Happy Halloween, Jongdae.”

Jongdae gasps and runs towards Mrs. Kim with teary eyes before hugging her tightly. “Aaa thank you so much, Mrs. Kim!” 

“Anytime, darling. But you better visit our house next year, okay? Just because you went trick-or-treating with Minnie, you skipped our house.” Mrs. Kim says while faking a pout.

Jongdae immediately releases his hug and quickly rebuts the adult mummy. “No, Mrs. Kim! It was Min Hyung’s idea!”

“Yeah, it was. I mean, why would I knock and visit my own house?” Minseok answers with a deadpan expression. 

Mr. Kim chuckles before ruffling both Minseok's and Jongdae’s hair. “Sure, Minnie. Now you can go. Shush! Go unload your precious treasure.”

“Yeay! Night, mom! Night, dad! Come on, Dae!” Minseok immediately holds Jongdae’s hand and pulls him to run.

“Night, boys. Don’t forget to brush your teeth before you sleep!” Minseok’s mom shouts into thin air because both of the boys have already left the living room.

“Let them be just for this one night.” Minseok’s dad rubs his wife’s back softly. “Instead, do you want to hear a joke? I have a few vampire puns, but they suck.”

Mrs. Kim just shakes her head and walks away from her husband.

Mr. Kim continues, “Honey, where are you going? Are you sure you don’t want to hear my Halloween puns? They’re eerie-sistible.”

When Mrs. Kim just keeps walking further away, Mr. Kim starts running after her wife. “Honey, don’t go! You look very boo-tiful today!”

Meanwhile on the other side of the house, while on the way to Minseok’s room, Jongdae suddenly halts his step. Minseok, who’s pulling Jongdae’s hand, gets taken aback before he realizes where Jongdae is stopping. It’s the house kitchen. Jongdae stops right in front of the kitchen’s door and without a halt, he leans towards the kitchen’s door and whispers, “If you’re wondering why you’re on Santa’s naughty kid’s list this year, it’s because you ripped Minseok Hyung’s wing earlier this evening. You peap what you sow.”

Hearing that, Minseok chuckles. “It’s ‘You reap what you sow’, Dae.”

“It’s the same.”

Minseok chuckles again at Jongdae’s stubbornness. “Okay, then. Let’s go.”

As soon as they enter Minseok’s bedroom, Jongdae immediately jumps excitedly and asks, “Hyung, I’ll pour all of the candies in your bed, okay?”

Minseok hums as an answer while he takes off his wing and flower crown. “Hmm. But don’t get chocolate or sticky candy on my bed.”

“I won’t, Hyung. It’s all wrapped.” Jongdae answers, and without more warning, he dumps all of the contents in both of his baskets, the one he carries the whole night and also the new one from Minseok’s mom. He jumps excitedly when he sees the number of candies he has. “Don’t you want to unload your treasure too, Hyung?”

“Later. I’ll change my costume first.”

“Yeah, that’s what you get from wearing a lacey costume instead of a puffy one!”

“Then for next year, I need to wear a puffy one too!” Minseok determines as he goes to hide behind his cupboard. “I’ll be behind the cupboard okay, Dae?”

“Okay!”

It should be a normal and peaceful few minutes, where Minseok changes his clothes and Jongdae rummages around his treasure. But again, it’s Jongdae. Minseok should have expected the unexpected when he’s around Jongdae, but he didn’t. So it took him off guard when he heard Jongdae’s shrill scream of “AAAAAAAA!!”

Minseok, still half-dressed, immediately jumps out from behind the cupboard and hops to Jongdae (He can’t really run because he only has put one leg onto his pajamas) and asks with a lot of concern, “Dae! Are you okay? What happened?”

“Hyung…” Jongdae looks at him with teary eyes.

“Yeah?”

“Reese’s…”

“Oh no, Dae. I thought you agreed that we could hunt them next year?”

“No, Hyung. There’s Reese’s. In your mom’s basket.” Jongdae whispers as if he can’t believe his eyes.

“Huh?” Minseok turns his head to look at his bed, and there they are, two bars of Reese’s peanut butter cups laying around in a pool of chocolates and candies. “Oh, right! So, we could’ve gotten them if we knocked on my house earlier.”

“Yeah!”

“Well, I’ll continue changing into my pajamas then. You screamed so loud, I thought something big or horrible had happened.” Minseok replies as he puts on his pajama pants properly this time.

“It is big, Hyung! I don't have to wait until next year to give the Reese’s to you! I can just give it to you now!” Jongdae speaks excitedly.

“Huh? Why would you give it to me? Didn’t you say you want to give the Reese’s to a special person?” Minseok asks perplexedly. 

Ignoring Minseok’s confusion, Jongdae grabs Minseok’s hand and puts two packages of Reese’s in it. Then he looks at Minseok and smiles, “You’re the special person, Hyung. You said you wanted Reese’s, so here’s some Reese’s.”

Minseok is speechless. He– He’s Jongdae’s special person?

While Minseok is still standing there frozen looking at two bars of Reese’s in his hand, Jongdae speaks again, “Oh! I also have another candy to give you, Hyung! Wait one second,” He lets go of Minseok’s hand and turns around to dig into his pile of candies for a few seconds before he swiftly turns around again and kisses Minseok on the cheek.

Then after what feels like a long couple of seconds, Jongdae takes a step back and says with a smile, “A Hershey's kisses for you.”

Minseok gets stunned in his place.

Minseok knows, has been for a long time, that out of everyone in the group, he likes Jongdae the most. It’s just easy to talk to Jongdae. But now, standing in his room alone, with his heart beating so fast and how ecstatic he feels like he just ate two baskets of candies, he thinks, maybe he LIKES like Jongdae. Maybe love.

Minseok is never really familiar with love things. His mind is always on his friends, soccer, and studying. But his mom always talks about love to him and his sister. She always says that as a sibling, Minseok and his sister need to love each other. But Minseok never gets excited and feels his heart race around his sister. Maybe this is what his mom always calls ‘romantic love’. The one that she and dad have for each other and the reason why they got married and have kids. 

Does this mean he has romantic love for Jongdae? Does he want to get married and have kids with Jongdae when he grows up? 

Then he remembers that his dad once said that love means wanting the other person to be happy. Minseok doesn’t pay attention to it at first, but looking back at today’s events, how Jongdae keeps complimenting him when they walk, and how Jongdae sacrifices of falling down just to get some Reese’s that Minseok wants (when he actually just blurted Reese’s without even thinking about it), and how he said that Minseok is a special person to him, it strikes Minseok. Does this mean Jongdae has romantic love for Minseok?!

If Minseok’s cheeks weren't red before, they are definitely burning now. 

Seeing how frozen Minseok gets, Jongdae opens his mouth, asking, “Minseok Hyung?”

“Huh?”

“Do you like it?” Jongdae asks with his big eyes and a tinge of hopefulness in his voice.

“Ah– Of– Of course. I like kisses. I– I mean,” Minseok stutters. “The candies, you know, I like Reese’s and Hershey's Kisses!”

Hearing that, Jongdae giggles and jumps excitedly, “Then I’m glad!”

After he calms down, Jongdae speaks again, “Then why are you just standing there solemnly like my dad after he gets home from work, Hyung? Let’s go make our Halloween night milk!”

Minseok smiles at that. Jongdae’s right. Yeah, the idea of marrying Jongdae in the future might be fun, but it’s too complicated for the little him to think about now. In the meantime, he should just keep loving Jongdae just like he is now and focus on the present, like making their yearly tradition Halloween night milk, for example. So he answers the younger one with a smile, “Yeah, let’s go.”

Without a spare second, Jongdae immediately runs to the door to get out of the room. But when he has his hand in the door handle, he turns around again facing Minseok, and speaks excitedly, “Oh, by the way, Hyung!”

“Yeah?”

“You looked very good in the fairy costume earlier, ” Jongdae says with a smile before opening the door and running to the kitchen.

Minseok can only sigh because he doesn’t know what other excuse he must tell Jongdae now if he asks why Minseok’s cheeks are red again for the umpteenth time tonight.

🧚 💚 🦖