mr. socialite. | 희승 √

CHAPTER 15

"Hey."

He exhales softly, easing his shoulders as he pulls out a rose.

With his last sigh, he pushes the rose towards me.

"...Hey."

"Listen, I- I know we're going to leave soon because it's like... ten! Ten minutes to uh... Eleven! However-" 

"Jae Iseul."

"What? Why are you always interrupting me at a time like this?"

However, he doesn't respond—instead, he takes my hand and places the rose in my clasp. Closing my fingers and covering my hand with his, he eases into a soft smile that has my heart racing.

"Merry Christmas, Jae Iseul."

I grin softly, looking up at him as I ease in his touch. 

"Merry Christmas—" Taking a good glimpse at him, I sigh in a fit of happiness.

"—Lee Heeseung."

"There you guys are!" Jungwon yells from afar, all of us meeting by the closed Lotte World. I check the time— It's half past eleven already, took them long enough. Jungwon smirks, leaning forward. Next to my ear, I hear a soft sigh.

"It seems you chose the right one, hm?" He giggles, covering his mouth. "I've always been team Heeseung hyung anyways."

"Hey!" 

"Don't get into a fight with her Jungwon, it's Christmas," Heeseung warns, putting his arm around me. I try to hold back my smile, but after the cute little scene we decided to have in front of those poor little kids, I think it's best to just grin.

"You're only defending her because she chose you, huh?" Jungwon chuckles, shaking his head. "Don't forget you're getting kicked out of your own bedroom tonight."

"Gah, don't remind me..." Heeseung sighs, shaking his head. "Just know once you're done, you're getting kicked out. I like my pillow pet."

"Die," I hiss back, removing his hands off of me. "Now, let's go get drinks. There's a bar not too far from here—we might as well enjoy this year before it ends."

"It's not new Year, just Christmas!"

"Let's just go order room service—don't we all have presents to give each other?"

"No." We all synchronize as Sunoo rolls his eyes, crossing his arms.

 "Well... I had some for you," He scoffs, making us chuckle. We make our way back to our hotel on the last shuttle, Heeseung finally deciding to sit with me after his (horrible, but great) attempts to usher a tired Sunghoon away. Finally making it back to the hotel, I lost in a great game of rock, paper, scissors with Jay and we had to go get drinks.

At first, the lady believed I was of age—but when she looked at Jay, she thought I was giving beer to a minor.

As. If.

Anyways, we prove our "legal-ness" by showing her our IDs, getting back on the elevator, and heading into their shared room. Everyone celebrates as we have bottles and bottles of beer, talking to each other and reminiscing on how bad this year was.

"There was a time when..."

"Hey, did you know..."

"Oh gosh, shut up! That was in the past..."

All their sentences cause my heart to feel light—knowing well that this was a family that would never break.

"The clocks about to hit twelve!" I squeak, looking at my watch. We countdown, watching from the balcony as it hits midnight.