"do you believe in miracles, ji?" jeno asks, arms wrapped around his girlfriend. jisoo hums, pondering the question as she rocks side to side, the ring on her right hand glinting in the moonlight. behind them, jisung has nearly set the kitchen on fire for the third time tonight trying to make pizza bagels before james finally puts him on sofa arrest, saying he's not allowed anywhere near the mini oven anymore. chenle's laughing at jisung's pouty face, haechan's pinching his cheeks, and renjun has his arms wrapped tightly around him. jaemin and sooyoung are sat on opposite sides of jisung, explaining the dangers of mini ovens, barely able to keep themselves from laughing.

"i think so. i mean it's a miracle that my life isn't kang youngmi and cigarettes anymore. it's a miracle that i met you. it's a miracle that we started dating. it's a miracle that sooyoung became one of my closest friends. so yeah, i believe in miracles," jisoo says, her words growing more and more decisive as she finishes her thought. 

"hmm," jeno says. the night is quiet, even though the inside of the house is a ruckus, and for now, this was enough. the girl he promised to love forever, a sense of peaceful acceptance, and hopes for the future. 

"do you believe in miracles, sung-ie?" chenle asks, slumped onto his best friend's shoulder. jisung shrugs, immediately apologizing when chenle glares at him, getting comfortable on his shoulder once more. 

"maybe. i mean i see jeno and jisoo and i think yeah, they do exist. but then i see jaemin and sooyoung and think maybe not," he says slowly, each syllable deliberate and purposeful. haechan frowns, looking at jisung curiously.

"how do you figure?" he asks, allowing renjun to absentmindedly run his fingers through his light brown hair as he thinks about chenle's question.

"i mean, jeno and jisoo, they were like a fairytale of miracles. damsel in distress meets rugged savior who changes him from depressed and angry to soft and kind while she turns from street-smart to heart-smart - emotional quotient, whatever. they've got soft, sweet love that you really don't find these days. they're made of miracles. sooyoung and jaemin? they're real. they break up, they get messy, they fall in love too quickly, they question their love, they lose each other, and they find each other. they're made of reality and life. so yeah, maybe i believe in miracles. and maybe i don't."

they're silent, the clock on the oven reading 11:52, when haechan gets up, a sparkle in his eyes. he extends his hands to renjun and jisung, who look at him in confusion.

"maybe we don't believe in miracles. maybe we do. either way, we're gonna live tonight. c'mon - the fireworks are gonna start soon."

renjun and jisung exchange a look, grinning as they take his hand. 

"do you believe in miracles, shaunnie?" james asks, watching haechan pull renjun and jisung up from the couch. in the backyard, jeno presses a kiss to jisoo's forehead, gesturing over the dreamies, who walk out into the backyard. shaun follows his line of vision, before looking down at his baseball watch.

11:53. 

"not really," shaun says finally, looking at his dad with all the profoundness of a man who had lived thousands of lives. james's eyebrows furrow, turning shaun's wrist over to look at the baseball watch. 

11:55.

"why not?" shaun shrugs, his eyes much too sad for an eleven year old. 

"i guess because mommy's gone. she was our miracle, so i feel like i don't believe in miracles anymore. sooyoung's not serena anymore. she doesn't like chicago anymore. she likes seoul and all those people. jeno only just started liking me. jaemin really takes care of me. i've got you and bruno. maybe miracles don't exist. maybe...maybe it's just growing up, you know?"

james doesn't say anything, taking his son's hand in his and pressing a kiss to the back of it. 

11:59.

"c'mon. let's go watch the fireworks, my boy."

"do you believe in miracles, soo?" jaemin asks. they're sitting on the roof, much to jisoo's horror, watching the stars as they wait for the clock to turn midnight and propel into the next year. 

"yeah. i do." 

"do you now honey?" it's much too dark for jaemin to actually see the expression on sooyoung's face, but the hearty laugh he lets out is enough to tell her that he knows she's blushing. 

"i really do, jae. i mean everything about us is a miracle. meeting you, falling in love with you, everything. i don't know, maybe it's just my naïvety, maybe it's just stupidity, but i really do think miracles exist," sooyoung says earnestly, laying back onto the roof. 

"i do too," jaemin says, turning to her with a pretty smile dancing on his lips. "you're my miracle." 

sooyoung's about to beat him up, about to say something about the ho-ho-ho santa posters and bonfires, when she starts hearing people call out numbers from downstairs.

"11!" 

sooyoung and jaemin look at each other in panic, scrambling to duck into her bedroom window, nearly falling off the roof in the process.

"10!" 

sooyoung finally unceremoniously tumbles into her bedroom, landing on her ass in a not so appealing manner. 

"9!" 

jaemin helps her up, only to trip over his own feet and fall down as well.

"8!" 

both of them army crawl to the door, finally finding purchase to stand up before someone else collided into something else.

"7!" 

they can hear jisoo calling for them from the backyard, wondering why they still hadn't come down. 

"6!"

sooyoung and jaemin dart down the stairs, sooyoung's winter jacket getting stuck on the door handle. 

"5!" 

jisoo's voice is growing urgent, insisting that they come down before they miss the new year.

"4!"

the jacket untangles and finally sooyoung can make a mad dash to the kitchen, where the entrance to the backyard was.

"3!" 

jaemin nearly stubs his toe on the door, jumping away at the last second before sooyoung shaves off the tips of his foot.

"2!"

they finally burst through the door, rushing over to the rest of the family.

"1!"

jaemin holds sooyoung's face gently in his hands, cold from the relentless chicago weather, pressing the sweetest kiss to her lips.

"happy new year!"

the entire sky is filled with hues of blues and reds and greens and even a couple of beautiful pinks, but sooyoung sees none of them. she only sees jaemin, her brother and the love of his life, and her family. her loving, beautiful family. only when she feels as if her heart cannot possibly contain any more love does she look at the sky. the reds look especially vibrant today, she realizes.

"look at that, jaemin. we beat the shot clock."

a/n: it's finished! ahhh i can't believe it's over :( thank you so much to every single person who has ever picked up this book. i am eternally thankful for giving this story a chance and i cannot emphasize how much i love you guys.

thank you thank you thank you. i love you!