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Tae stepped out of his car, staring up at the house in front of him.  He really didn’t want to be here today.  His sister had insisted he come to her Christmas party, and being the good brother he was, he had actually showed up.  He hadn’t even stepped into the house yet, but he was already regretting it.  He looked down at his outfit.  Why did this have to be a fancy party?  He would’ve much preferred to show up in sweatpants and a hoodie.

A few moments later, he found himself knocking on the front door.  A moment later, a girl with dark, shoulder length hair opened the door.  She smiled at him.

“Hi!  Come on in!”

Tae stepped inside before looking the girl up and down.  She was wearing a dark green cocktail dress.  It seemed a bit cold outside to be wearing something so short, but he realized that was really none of his business.

“You’re a friend of Onyu’s?” He asked suddenly.

“Um…yeah.  One of her best friends.  How do you know her?”

“I’m her older brother,” he responded.

“Oh…so you’re him.”

“You say it like that’s a bad thing.”

“Oh- no!  That’s not what I meant.  I just-”

He chuckled. “Calm down, I’m teasing.  Where is she?”

“…in the kitchen…”

“Thanks.” He headed toward the kitchen, turning back momentarily to look at the girl.  Her face was now bright red.  He smiled before stepping into the kitchen.

“Remind me again why we couldn’t just show up in our pajamas,” Tae commented, announcing his presence.

“Tae!  You came!” Onyu exclaimed, dropping what she was doing to hug him.

“What?  Did you miss me?” he laughed as he hugged her back.

“Of course.  I haven’t seen you since Thanksgiving!”

“It’s only been a month since then.”

“A month is thirty days, which is a long time,” Onyu replied. “Did you meet Bom?”

“The girl wearing the dark green dress?”

“Yep!  That’s her!”

“She said you two were pretty close.  Why have I never met her before?”

“Ah.  She’s shy.  She doesn’t like going out, so I never bring her anywhere with me.  I had to force her to come tonight,” Onyu laughed.

“Right.  Where’s the punch?”

——————–

A while later, Tae found himself wandering around.  The living room had turned into a pool of drunk college students after one of them showed up with champagne, and Tae wasn’t about to join them.  Eventually, he ended up on the back porch, and he was surprised to find someone else out there.  A girl in a green dress.  Bom.  She was leaning on the railing, staring up at the sky.

“Hi there,” Tae murmured, stepping up next to her.

She glanced over at him before staring back up at the stars. “Hi.”

“Why aren’t you inside?”

“Big crowds aren’t my thing.”

“I see.”

“Why aren’t you inside?”

“There wasn’t anyone who wanted to have an actual conversation in there.”

Bom nodded, unsure what to say.  This was why she didn’t like talking to people.

Tae studied the roof above them.  Onyu really liked to decorate.  The entire roof was outlined in lights and garlands.  His eyes finally met the decorations above his head and was surprised to find mistletoe.  He quickly averted his gaze, but when he looked down he saw Bom staring up at him with wide eyes.  He knew right then that she’d seen it too.  He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I suppose we should honor tradition?”

Bom’s cheeks turned bright pink again. “O-ok…”

Before Tae could think, he leaned down towards her, brushing her lips gently with his own.  When he pulled away, she was staring up at him with wide eyes.

“Um…where’s Onyu?”