Chan loved his friends.

He loved their stupid faces, their stupid jokes, their stupid traditions—everything about them was stupid, and Chan… well.

Let’s just say Chan was stupidly in love with them. 

It doesn’t take a fool to realise that the journey of gathering and confessing to and becoming a committed boyfriend to twelve other people he isn’t even remotely close to dating is a bit of a shooting-the-self-in-the-foot kind of situation. Chan would agree, his feet are riddled with bullets.

He wasn't normal about his crush(es) on the relationship he witnessed. However.

It would be idiotic to think of Chan’s friends as normal either—no, they were anything but. Being there for the wild journey where they all slowly mingled together to become a polyamory group of twelve was truly something. The journey was crazy and chaotic and Chan was glad he was just a spectator.

Watching the first couple in their close knit group get together after almost a decade of knowing each other was also something . It shook everyone and their dynamics. Everything about the comfort of the familiar nature of their relationships with each other took a haywire turn.

When Seungcheol had announced that he’d been ‘smooching lips and smooshing bits’—words Chan wished he could completely erase from his head—with Jeonghan, everyone had to take their sweet time to adjust. That was nine years of friendship being chewed on and spat out with no warning, of course they'd feel a bit dizzy from the rebrand.

Then it was the fact that the couple was, well, a couple. They were kissing, they were flirting, they were stranger than normal and it was a shit-show. It completely knocked them out of equilibrium, and though that seemed to make everyone feel a bit more unhinged, it was never admitted by anyone, silently relenting to the face of chaos.

Seeing Seungcheol and Jeonghan becoming more involved in each other's lives in the gross, sappy ways was just the beginning.

They all tried to adjust, rushed to try and bring it all to balance. Not cringe and shout 'this is incest, you nut-job!' when Seungcheol leaned over to kiss Jeonghan on the forehead. Not gasp when their flirtations turned dirty. Not frown when the two acted possessive. They tried to make it stay the same. But it couldn't work that way.

Because next, it was seeing them move in together and adopt a stupid little fluffy dog, after which, it became clear that everything was pretty different now. Even the little things. Seokmin didn’t greet the two oldest ones with a cheek-kiss anymore, Soonyoung clearly avoided smacking the two on the ass (he'd smack the president on the ass provided they were close enough), and Seungkwan decided that living together with Jeonghan was too much of a price to pay in exchange for his mental sanity.

Jeonghan and Seungcheol had very clearly noted the change, but they didn't say anything either, wanting the younger ones to take their time and mold back into a new version of their normalcy.

(Which they never did.)

It took a whole couple of months till their yearly Christmas party where Jisoo and Seungcheol found themselves under the mistletoe to bring a new dynamic to emerge in their group. Jisoo was looped into the room by the couple after Seungcheol had kissed him with his consent and Jeonghan's blessing. It took a couple of hours, all the while the rest of the group made a ton of 'conspiracy theories' in the living room to pass the time (and try not to be confused by everything going on), but the less uncomfortable dynamic was established after.

Jeonghan and Seungcheol exposed, after much deliberation, that they had been wanting to open their relationship very specifically for them for a while, confessing to wanting a romantic bond with every member of their not-so-little, little friend group. It was flattering, for sure, but it was also a lot to take in.

Calling it a ‘less uncomfortable’ dynamic could be a bit of a stretch. It was huge, it was strange, no one knew how to not judge, and everyone was a little more crazed by the fact that they’re not going to be following the societal norms around romance even more, but it soon became home to them. Their strange, secret home, where every stranger from the outside thought they're just a close group of friends, but if they ever did a little bit of stalking around (hopefully not, but one can't be too careful), they'd find out that it's a truly insane structure.

They didn’t pressure anyone, of course, and they certainly didn’t say how they had come to the conclusion that this was their next step, but things continued to be pretty much the same before the couple caught their first bait — Jisoo, (duh!).

It had only taken a month to get their first man, and the rest followed like slow, yet steady dominos.

When Jisoo fell in, soon, Seungkwan was the next victim. Then came Mingyu, then Seokmin, followed closely by Soonyoung, Jihoon and Minghao had fell into step on the same damn day, Junhui swooped in next, then Wonwoo took his sweet time, but not as much as Hansol, who took three-and-a-half years to finally sort his feelings out and give it a shot.

Which left Mr. Too Scared To Say Anything. Lee Chan. Single and acting like a ten-year-old when it came to dealing with his emotions. Moping around knowing he's the only one left to join, but too scared to change it at all. A tug of war he was playing with himself, except the rope at the other end was looped around the trigger of a loaded gun.

It used to be nice to hang around Hansol, being the twelve and thirteen-wheelers (who knew the numbers could go that far) of the group. Drink their beers, witness how chaotic the others were, giggle and wish each other safety from that fate, until Hansol fell into that fate, after which Chan found himself alone, the thirteen-wheel of the group.

The day Hansol had announced that he joined the relationship (what a time it was years before, when there were more people to announce to than announce with), and when he got home that day, he had to face his thoughts and conclude that yep. He’s also madly in love. It wasn't a snappy realisation either, but an obvious one. So, why is it taking him so long? 

Unfortunately, even if he's crazy in love, he is also terrified. Which sparks up the modern dilemma of: does he or does he not tell his twelve best friends who are all together that he would like to join their little mess (said with love), or does he just act like a totally immature bastard that incessantly whines about being the only single one despite having an offer RIGHT in front of him? He knows, as he prayed every night to get his answer written on his forehead, his ancestors were having a second death witnessing him yearn hopelessly for multiple men.

(Also, he didn't need divine intervention to know that the answer to that is obviously the second option, doy.)

He complains, and then he promptly ignores the puppy eyes Wonwoo and Hansol give him, missing the looks of longing cast by Seungkwan and Jeonghan, dancing around the contact when Soonyoung, Minghao or Junhui get too close, and closing his eyes when all twelve of them kiss in a new pair system each New Year, (which they had a chart for), trying to get rid of any sense of longing inside him.

He questioned his fear a lot. Jeonghan and Seungcheol had said he was welcome in the relationship when it was first announced. Unless, they were lying to make him feel better, of course. Compelling theory, but Chan had to make a couple of theories so he could entertain the fact that maybe insecurity wasn't the answer. Though, there was still a twinge of his own fears ridden in these theories, ultimately flawing them.

Maybe it’s because he knows that Hansol fixed their odd eleven-ple by joining and creating a whole amount of pairs, which would mean that his presence would only make them more chaotic than it already was for them.

Because it was no secret that their lives were stupidly messy. Chan had heard more than enough horror stories of them trying to live together as a giant polyamory couple. Spending time together, celebrating birthdays, kissing everyone so nobody felt neglected, yep, Chan was good, he said to them, knowing he’ll go to his pissy lonely apartment and eat ice-cream straight from the tub while sobbing his eyes off. 

Then came the scary fact that twelve people’s feelings are hard to keep track of. How do they even work? Isn’t humanity doomed with their constant need to pick a favourite? Isn’t it hard to manage the same level of time spent with everyone, and isn’t it hard to stay in love with so many people? More chance of heartbreak, more chance of fighting, more chance of uncomfortable feelings and ruining lives, yeah, maybe Chan’s doing himself a favour by staying out of it, he thinks as he sits next to the toilet, throwing up from the excessive amount of ice cream he had the day before.

Of course, no matter how ugly it looks, and how scared he gets, he can't help but always feel the emotion of yearning tugging at his heartstrings.

Chan thinks of joining their polyamory group, then considers the pros and cons and decides that it’s too much work to put your heart on your sleeve and change the dynamics of the entire couple-times-six.

It’s a constant push and pull in his mind, which is why he sometimes considers getting high to see where it’d get him, either with twelve boyfriends, or a one-way ticket to some remote island with a new identity decided. 

However, since he can’t imagine being apart from his stupid friends, he has to stick with not smoking weed, provided with the off-chance he actually ends up going through with either plans. He needs to be near them, even if he gets rejected. Or he never confesses. He can't really decide which one is worse on some days.

But other days, he’s fine being stuck in monotonous misery. Sure, he can never commit to a partner since he either feels guilty for cheating on his imaginary boyfriends, and he can never commit to joining the giant relationship literally waiting for him since he feels guilty for being the one breaking up his imaginary boyfriends... God, there's no silver lining here. There’s no winning for Lee Chan.

Every day, every hangout, he's reminded of the misery he's putting himself through, pretending it's all a-okay. But nothing hits him more than the end of the year, making him realise that everything fucking sucks.

Christmas rolls around, and Chan knows what the others are up to. Since its the time for the wretched mistletoe tradition.

No one told him found family could hurt. But it did. It hurt not being able to participate in the event, as much the guys tried to involve him in it.

By the point Wonwoo, Hansol and Chan were the only ones in their group not in the relationship, this tradition had budded out of the depths of Seokmin’s scheming mind, naming his great plan: The Holy Kissmas. For sure, it was not a good name, but also for sure, the plan stuck.

Each year, the group would each individually keep a mistletoe, and through the day, they would give their little plant to someone they really want to kiss, instead of hanging it up, and, they’d be able to kiss, with no questions asked. The condition remained that they could only kiss this special person once , and it’d have to be a surprise.

Ignorance is bliss, for sure. But it's unfortunate since Chan isn't ignorant at all.

Chan would hate to say that he always knew whose mistletoe was going where, and he hates to say that it’s exactly what was happening. But he has to say it, since it's the truth. Being the perfect pick as a ‘non-suspicious helper’ that gets to coordinate every surprise was a daunting task, but Chan took it like a champ.

(Every Christmas, he went back home with ice cream AND those annoyingly sweet candies that’d make his throat hurt, tears wasted as he stared at a blank white wall and wallowed in endless mystery for hours upon hours until he lost awareness of the time. That’s the best he could do, since the next level would be to book a trip to Nauru and never look back.)

No, if Soonyoung ever cocked his eyebrow and asked if Chan was jealous as he watched him lay out his absolutely chaotic plans to kiss Seungcheol in a face of horror, the youngest only snapped his fingers, stared in offense, and said: “if you think I’m gonna be following every single one of you into falling for this clear pyramid scheme, you got it all wrong. You're being basic”.

(Then he went home and replaced his usually scheduled crying session with a crying-&-screaming-into-his-pillow session because YES. Yes. He is basic. Sue him. He wants to be in the pyramid scheme so bad. Please, scam him out of his organs, he will gladly submit.)

Every time he thought he wasn’t in love with every damn person in his circle, he’d be reminded how false that statement is. Ugh, if only they weren't so sweet and nice to him. Why were his friends so friendly?

Every time he was riddled with strong, ugly emotions and the need to confess, he’d be reminded of his insecurities. 'Insecurities', more like the flaws the universe liked to sign out to him, reminding him that he is not to confess or bad things will happen. That's the way he coped.

He'd be a disaster with all of them. He'd clash with their energy. How'd he live with them? Right, he can't. How would he ever look them in the eyes and tell them he loves them, not seeing the same sincerity in them? How would he ever contribute something to them? How would he ever confess, knowing that they'd probably only accept him since they accepted everyone before him, and it'd be too awkward to say no to him?

Like, psht, him contributing something special to the group? Yeah, fat chance. Not only was he the youngest with little to no wisdom to offer, he was also the most romantically inexperienced out of all of them. He was the antichrist upon them.

As he laid his woes to his same-aged friends on what seemed like a normal day, he couldn’t tell if it was, he had been drinking all night long, they couldn’t help but be a bit taken aback by his negative manner. Usually, Chan is more of a 'everything is peachy cuz fuck the system' kind of person, so this was pretty out of character for him.

“Woah, you? The antichrist? A bit harsh for you to say,” Yeonjun huffed as he sipped on a glass of whatever alcoholic beverage he was fancying—Chan was too shit-faced to note or care.

Yuqi, Yerim and Gahyeon all shrug and agree in unison, hiding behind their glasses to avoid the rant Chan was about to break into.

“Are you kidding? Those guys are way better off without me. They should just break up with me and leave me sad and alone forever. My heart will be safe then,” he rambles on and on, causing everyone to frown in confusion.

“What are you saying? Break what up with you? Am I missing something?”

Chan sighs, making puppy eyes towards Yeonjun, the face that gets him nothing but a disgusted look in response. He sighs. Maybe getting friends the same age as himself was a bad idea. He can't bait sympathy out of these guys as easily.

“I don’t know, man. They need to end whatever they have with me. All I know is that every time I hang out with them, I end up spending the night staring at a blank wall and creating fan-fiction where they all suddenly love me, way inside my head. Ew. I wouldn’t even be admitting this if I wasn’t so wasted, so you better appreciate it,” Chan explains, stumbling over his words, swirling his full glass dangerously.

“Yeah, don’t stop, dude,” Yuqi mumbles, drunk, but smart enough to frantically pull the video app on her phone up to record the shit-show in front of her.

He feels himself drown in the dumps as he places his head carefully in the crook of Yerim's neck, enjoying the comfort of the company of his same-aged, equally unhinged, not romantically affiliated friends, despite their little drunken personalities.

He wonders why he's here, or how he got here. He remembers last night, feeling particularly depressed about something after he ended another episode of yearning depression, deciding to drink his sorrows away when Hansol texted him his plan for Christmas Day. That's what tipped him over during the holiday season, his upsettingly sloppy romantic life being the subject of his drinking spree.

Then, he woke up after he emptied his house of alcohol and passed out, deciding he needed to rant and drink some more. Inviting everyone wasn't too hard, but finding an open bar during a cold, snowy afternoon was a nightmare. Chan didn't know why, but he didn't question it as he was set on his mission.

Where he finds himself now. Sitting here, knowing that somewhere, right at this moment, the men he loved so much didn't know it.

He blinks tears away.

"I just wish sometimes, I didn’t have to be the one to confess that I like them. It would be easier to say yes and commit knowing they trust my ability to be there for them, y’know. I can’t trust myself, but I trust them,” he lets out a shaky breath after his tangent, wincing when Yerim lands a harsh slap on his shoulder because  of the ticklish feeling.

“Aw, I was trying to get an embarrassing moment of yours, but now I’m sad,” Yuqi whined, putting her phone down and leaning forward, trying to hold Chan’s hand that was still laying on the edge of the table, but giving up when she missed more than once.

"So, how are the holidays going for you, then? I know that you have a particularly hard time around them, which is why we were all so easily available for you," Yeonjun explained, but Chan couldn't completely focus over his long string of words, hearing nothing beyond the first line.

“Well, it’s gonna be my fifth Christmas since Hansol got together with them. Which tells me. I’m gonna rot alone. Because, this means they’ve spent enough time together to figure out that they don’t need me...” he whispers, not minding the smack Yerim gives him for the same reason as the previous one, since he's already fading in and out of consciousness.

“It’ll be okay, man,” said someone. Whoever it was, they better be right, Chan thought, closing his eyes for a little rest.

He had a long day of drinking. His sorrows didn't wash away, instead getting amplified, and he's sure he's going to be even more grumpy after he gets his hangover delivered to him. But he still invites himself into the darkness, much aware of the consequences of not sobering up before hand getting to him.

“And since you’re passing out, we’ll cupid it out for you,” were the last words Chan heard before he saw black. Maybe hours and hours of drinking was a bad idea.

——————

When he comes to, Chan finds himself staring at the ceiling of a familiar-looking place. In the haze of his brain, he can’t really tell where he is, but one thing is for sure; he’s either kidnapped, or in the afterlife, judging by the streaks of white in his vision. The light in his eyes does sting him, so he deduces that he's in heaven.

It takes him a few moments to gather up the energy to lean up in a sitting position, but the shift in his position causes his headache to spike up, making his vision even whiter, and the nausea hit. He figures then that this can not be heaven. Drinking all night and all morning means that if he actually did die, he’d be seeing the gates of hell. But no, the perils of a hungover are way too earth-like for him to suspect anything else.

He rubs his head, wanting to overturn science by creating a time machine, only to go back and smack the shit out of his past self for the destruction he’s caused in his present version. The feeling of an upset tummy is horrible. He doesn't know if he can make it to the Christmas party, which he can't completely figure the timings of. Was it tomorrow? Day after tomorrow? In a week? He could not put a finger on it, but he knew it was close. He doesn't want to show up on Christmas Eve to sleep over, as Soonyoung's outlandish plan required of him, so maybe a hungover would be good for him to escape. 

He keeps his eyes shut since the swimming vision wasn't doing anything but worsen his nausea, dragging his feet off the side of the bed. He leans against the headboard, enjoying the smoosh of his cheeks against the wood, the darkness behind his eyes a comfort. He’s never drinking again. 

He intends to get up to wash himself and thank whoever this stranger whose house he was sleeping in for the accommodation, but he can't find himself moving from his spot.

The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupts his self-care session. Okay, scary that there's someone in the room, staring at him sleeping. He finds himself visiting the kidnapped theory again. Why would they kidnap him. Ask for ransom? He's broke. Maybe ask the others. Though he doesn't believe they'd be much help either. Despite his heavy thoughts, he still can’t find himself to open his eyes, the heavy feeling over them way too comfortable.

“Chan.”

Oh. The voice is recognisable.

So no kidnapper. 

Unless Jisoo kidnapped him, for some reason.

Either way, where did Jisoo come in during his same-aged friend hangout? 

His eyes open, and then he closes them again.

Holy shit. What was going on?

Whatever he just witnessed, he doesn’t know for sure either. But it's too unrealistic too be real life, and too painful to be a dream.

The view he saw in a glimpse was as follows: too many men, sitting on the floor next to his bed, as if waiting for him to wake up, each holding a small plant with a red bow on it.

Not a dream, not real life, but instead, a secret third thing. A simulation. A hallucination. A prank show. All equally viable options. His same-aged friends really thought they could prank him like this, huh? Well, they’re wrong.

He’ll simply get up, not make eye contact with whoever these guys who are extremely similar looking to the loves of his life—sorry, best friends , and then run out of the room, and probably consider his plan to fly away to fake his identity. Every day, that option seemed the best way to escape his miserable love life. And prevent further hallucinations.

Standing up with his eyes still closed, he fails to account for object presence as his bare foot immediately makes contact with a wooden nightstand next to the bed, in a horrible sounding crack. Youch.

“Oh, fuck my life,” Chan groans, eyes falling open as he lets himself fall back into the bed, unbalanced since he's cradling his foot. 

The potential monsters-slash-shapeshifters on the floor all get up, all talking over the haze of Chan's mind. They mumble words of jumbled comfort and worry as they try to approach and nurse Chan, but the younger one raises his hand up to stop them in their tracks. They all stare at him with a tilt in their heads and confusion written over their faces, holding their plants haphazardly in their hands.

“I've had enough post-drunken states to know what kind of ruse I'm in right now,” Chan states in a matter-of-fact tone, using his free hand to point at the men surrounding him accusingly. 

He feels nervous as everyone around him change their expression. They all seem to stare at him in both an amused yet adoring manner, making him feel all red and giddy.

Damn it. He needs his ice cream time soon. He's doing his yearn thing again. He can't let a hallucination trick him into feeling all the sappy emotions! That's embarrassing as fuck.

“Oh yeah? And what kind of ruse are you in now?”

Fake-Seungkwan’s voice is both convincing and challenging, his face as readable as the real guy. But no, Chan doesn't fall for it, just smirking at him. 

“Why would you guys be here with mistletoes watching me in a coma? That's boring, and strange, and creepy. Pack it up, fake-friends,” he says, snapping his fingers towards no one in particular as he pretends to be a detective unfolding a difficult case.

The rest of the guys just look at each other, confused.

“Chan, no. It's... Today's Christmas Day. You weren't here yet despite being invited over since yesterday, so we called you out of concern. Some Gahyeon picked up from your phone, and we had to retrieve you,” Soonyoung explains.

Oh. Oh damn. Either he fucked up big time, or he needs to figure out a way that this is some elaborate ploy set up by the others.

Okay. First step, he looks around the corners of the room, and despite his rigour while he looked for a set of cameras, he found nothing. The others didn't seem to be wearing any mics either, so that ruled out the prank show option.

He slightly kicks his non-pained foot, meeting the holiday-themed sweatpants Jihoon was wearing. Okay, so they're real.  That means they're not hallucinations. Jihoon raises his eyebrow, but says nothing as he, and the rest of the group, really, stand there, watching Chan's contemplation process. 

He doesn't know how to prove his simulation theory, so he remembers. He remembers the best he can.

Alright, December 23, Soonyoung laid out his plans to him. Chan cried his eyes out that night, and put the blinds out all over the house so he could bask in the darkness. It felt like a couple of hours of zoning out inside his head, even passing out in between for a while, after which he checked his texts, saw Hansol's plan, and then decided to begin drinking without checking the time in his haze. Maybe...

"H-ho-holy shit!" Chan whispers, as it dawns upon him.

Maybe he lost his own sense of time, away from any devices, just laying down in pitch blackness. How could he be so stupid? How did he have so much in his mind?

He was drinking with his suspiciously free friends on Christmas Day instead of the day of Christmas Eve. He got wasted, ruined every single kiss plan and ruined Christmas for the polycule. He had twelve plans to execute, starting yesterday. He messed up, big time.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” Chan chanted, rushing up to stand, holding his head with both hands. The sudden movement makes him dizzily stumble into Minghao’s arms, crushing the mistletoe in his hands. 

"Lord, I'm so sorry," Chan whines, bending down to try and figure out how he can rectify it. Minghao wanted to give his to Mingyu, and both the men strive for perfection. Chan's ruining it all.

He tries to fix it—pathetically—by blowing air on it, of all things, looking up to find Minghao giving him an intense stare that could only mean he's mad. 

“I'm so sorry,” Chan mumbles, feeling emotional all of a sudden as the realisation of the level of fucking up he's achieved dawned upon him. He just ruined Christmas. The most lovely, cherished holiday by his group of friends.

Well, this is the moment he's going to be banished from a relationship he isn't in. He's done it. He's proven himself to be incompetent at best, unredeemable at worst. They may either let him go with a slap on the wrist, or they may tell him they aren't looking for any more people now. Fuck.

Slowly sinking down on the bed, he lets out a sob, the soft sound creating a ruckus of voices around him that overwhelms and strangely comforts him at the same time.

Seeing the older ones’ concerned faces, he feels guilty. Fuck, he keeps messing shit up. He's ruined everything.

Everyone seems to be bickering with each other, trying to be the ones to comfort Chan, but it's not until Seungcheol turns around, with an authoritative look in his eyes as he stands in front of the crying man that they know who's going to take it from here.

Seungcheol's silent gaze gets the noise in order, the oldest one turning back with the softest look ever before kneeling right in front of Chan, ditching the mistletoe on the floor so he could cup his cheeks and make the younger one look at him. 

His eyes are soft from worry and some other emotion he can't decipher. It's warm, even though the panic had made him run cold. He can't help but lean into Seungcheol’s touch, indulge in his gaze, despite the guilt that doesn't seem to die down, tears continuing to fall at an overwhelming rate. 

“I'm s-sorry,” he mumbles, sniffling. 

Seungcheol shakes his head, as if denying this apology. It makes Chan let out another sob.

“No, no, honey, what's wrong?”, Seungcheol asks with the most soft, candy-like voice. It's comforting, and it makes him cry even more. He doesn't deserve this. He really deserves all their anger, the anger they're for sure feeling towards him. 

“I just ruined Christmas. I ruined everyone's mistletoe exchange. I made you guys run around the city to find me. It sucks, I suck. And I'm so fucking sorry,” he sobs, producing tears more than Seungcheol could wipe away using his thumbs. 

“Baby, baby, baby,” Seungcheol mumbled, trying to let Chan get it all out. But the tears don't stop, the pet-name being shoved in the back of his head as he deemed it unworthy for himself. He cried, as every single pent up emotion reserved for his own apartment gets showcased in front of his one dozen set of crushes.

Embarrassing. But maybe not, since he's considering the Maldives as his next home.

He squeezes his eyes shut, hiccuping over them. The others attempt to get him to calm down, but it's not until Seungcheol places a soft kiss on Chan's knee that he stops crying, mostly from the shock. His eyes snap open, and his mouth is agape. He forces himself to hold his tears back, trying to see what this soft gesture meant. 

“I don't know if this kiss counts, but I hope it doesn't interfere with my final request,” he whispers, voice deep and velvety smooth, sending shivers down his spine.

Chan raises his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side as much as he can in the older one's hold, wondering what he meant. 

Seungcheol sighs in anticipation, letting go of Chan's face to grab his mistletoe. Chan frowns so hard he thinks his eyebrows might fuse together. He can't tell what's happening, and it deeply disturbs him.

“Lee Chan. Please, do me the honours of being my one and only kiss for this Christmas. Please."

Huh. Huh??

Chan just sits there. He's thinking about laughing, but that'd be crazy of him since Seungcheol seems so sincere, but he doesn't know as he computes a response. The only noise he could make was babbling uselessly to himself. So, he just sits there, silent and mind blown.

That said… he tried, okay? He tried to be immediate with his response, explode and say yes, he just physically couldn't. And the next event didn't help him, either. 

Since everyone else also raised their mistletoe to ask the same question, bending to kneel on one knee as well, the image being as if they were proposing to him. Which, in a way, they were. Their voices are not in tandem, of course, as they all seemed to say the same thing in a different manner, making this part seem poorly rehearsed, but it worked to get their message across.

They all want to kiss Chan. Chan.

They wanted to kiss him??!?

“...Chan?”, he could only uselessly chatter out.

Jeonghan smiled fondly up at him despite how stupid he was being, the mistletoe in front of his face. The mistletoe that wasn't for Wonwoo, but for him, holy shit. 

“That’d be you. We all want to kiss you, right guys? Everyone who wants to kiss Chan, say I.”

The response is immediate and pretty effective. 

Holy fuck. Not a simulation. Not a hallucination. Not a prank show. He has to chant it in his head. He has to confirm he's not going crazy insane. 

Which means he has to confirm his doubts, too.

Removing his hands from his mouth, he asked, "b-but... what about your other plans? The plans you told me for the Kissmas?"

The group smiles, not as much as Soonyoung, though.

"I can't believe my insane plan got through you. Mine was a way to get you here yesterday. We wanted to wake you up with a proposal. So, it worked out perfectly for us. We want to kiss you, Chan. 100%."

Chan frowned, staring at everyone's face to confirm the fact that none of the other plans they'd requested was real. Everyone's nodding.

Which confirms it.

They want him to be here. It took them five years, but they're all going to be one now.

Not a simulation. Not a hallucination. Not a prank show.

"So, what do you say, Chan, do you— hmph!"

He takes his risk, too, jumping to cut Seungcheol off with a kiss. Doesn't think about how he'll ruin them in the billion ways he always considers. He takes the risk, because he knows that they like him, and they trust him. They trust him, and it makes a big difference.

He’s so quick that everyone gasps out of confusion and/or shock, and Seungcheol, who was on the receiving end of this kiss, can only make a noise of surprise, his eyes wide open as Chan feels his eyelashes moving on his skin.

Chan begins to part away, only wanting the kiss to get his answer across, but Seungcheol grabs his chin before he can do so, the mistletoe in his hands falling on his lap, slowly moving from his kneel to a crouched standing position. Chan loses the control of the kiss, handing it to Seungcheol, who's giving him everything. The sound of cheers and whistles and hoots permeates the room, but Chan can only think, oh damn, oh damn, oh damn .

He’s in it now.

Ice-cream nights will be more happy from this day forward.

(Turns out, involving himself in every mistletoe exchange was their attempt to make Chan jealous, but they soon realised they miscalculated the fact that Chan was an immovable force, so they decided that the next best thing was to collectively ask him (Seungcheol's grand idea), making his joining of the relationship the most unique event in their history. Well, looks like Chan did have the ability to bring something new to the relationship. They also named this specific event Ho-ho-holy Shitmas, after Chan's initial reaction.)

(And, for the record, Chan is very much in love with twelve, stupid, sappy boyfriends. He got the best dozen-package-deal he could ever ask for. And also, he wasn't too subtle with his yearning as it seemed like. Embarrassing, indeed, but at least it worked out for him.)