Sehun walked amongst the festive crowds, maneuvered through the stream of people, past food stands and carollers. It was exceptionally crowded, but he wouldn't give up. He thanked his lucky stars for the growthspurt he had last summer, making him about a head taller than most people on the island. He was nowehere near the height of Kris-hyung though, another thing he was thankful for. Because those who were tall—

"Always stand out in the crowd." He smiled to himself when he caught the shimmer of honey blonde hair in front of a carnival game. When Sehun stood on the tip of his toes, his heart skipped a beat. 

Jae stood next to Kris, a happy smile on her face as she watched him shoot hoops and applauded him when he received the highscore of the day. Sehun nearly rolled his eyes at the cliché when Kris won an oversized wolf-plushie and gave it to Jae. They shared a laugh together, but Sehun wasn't laughing at all. He was scheming. 

How was he going to get Jae away from his dorky hyung? 

He stealthily followed them when they started walking and he nearly tripped over his own feet when he caught sight of a golden mistletoe hanging from a low branch, dangling above an abandoned bench. No one would have noticed it—unless you happened to look up, which Kris did. 

Sehun gulped when Kris' eyes widened a little, shifting to an unsuspecting Jae and back to the mistletoe.

"Don't you dare, hyung, I thought of this first!" Sehun whispered, not caring whether that was true or not. Sehun zoned in to eavesdrop on the conversation they were having, while continuing to follow from a reasonable distance. 

"You were right, you guys go all out on Christmas," Jae-noona chuckled, a sweet, cute, warm little chuckle that made something flutter in Sehun's stomach. 

"Well, I warned you, didn't I? Hurr hurr hurr," Okay, Kris-hyung didn't laugh that way, but it wasn't Sehun's fault that this hyung suddenly sounded like a boorish peasant!

"Hey, you want to sit down a moment? There's a—uh— a b-bench, over, um, over there." Of course Kris-hyung pointed at a bench that happened to be underneath the branch with a golden mistletoe, which Jae-noona probably hadn't noticed yet.

Oh no, you don't! 

He rushed towards them while he sneakily blew at the branch, the wind mysteriously picking up around him, causing the mistletoe to fall. Kris and Jae were unaware of this, until they arrived at the bench. The gummy smile on Kris' face dropped, but Jae was none the wiser.

"Aren't you going to sit down?" she asked him, while Sehun ran to 'accidentally' meet them. 

"O-oh y-yeah, um...h-hey! What's this?" Kris suddenly asked and Sehun actually cringed at how fake it sounded. Oh hyung, please, never become an actor...

Sehun hurried up when Kris bent down to grab the fallen mistletoe and just as he picked it up, Sehun appeared and toppled Kris over, an innocent smile on his face as he greeted a surprised Jae. 

"Whoa!" Kris fell over in surprise, but Jae had no time to even ask whether he was okay, since Sehun made sure that all her attention was focused on him. 

"Sehun," she called in surprise, though there was a smile on her face.

"Hi, noona!" he greeted, not at all ashamed of using just a little bit of aegyo on her.

"Sehun..." Kris grumbled, getting to his feet.

"Oh, hyung! Sorry, I didn't see you!" he feigned, though he could tell Kris-hyung didn't buy it. He chuckled nervously. "So, I didn't know you were here, noona," he said again, well aware of Kris-hyung shooting fire at him through his eyes. He happily chose to ignore it. This was Operation HiJaecking after all. Had to keep the eyes on the prize. 

"Ah, yeah, Kris is showing me around. You guys really know how to celebrate the holidays." She beamed. "Are you here alone? Are the others here, too?"

"They're around, but I'm alone right now," he said, purposely sounding a bit sad. 

"Aw, that's too bed," Kris interjected. "Well. Okay, then. Bye-bye," he greeted and Sehun nearly growled.

"Hey, Kris, don't be like that." Jae-noona slapped him on the arm and a smile crept up on Sehun's lips. Going smoothly so far.

"How come you're alone?" she asked, and at this, Sehun was at a loss for words. 

Oops. What should I say? 

With Kris around, he could immediately tell if he was lying and call him out on it. He knew he usually hung out with Kai and Tao and if he told them the truth, Kris-hyung would know something was up...

"Oh—ah, eh... No particular reason." He shrugged, looking around innocently. "Hey, is that a golden mistletoe? Aw, it's broken." He quickly changed the topic and looked at the plant in Kris' hand.

"Yeah, but it's no use now," Kris stated almost accusingly at him, but Sehun remained unfazed. He directed himself to Jae instead.

"Did Kris-hyung tell you about the golden mistletoe, Jae-noona?"

"He explained it. Apparently, when you meet under a golden mistletoe, you get to be part of each other's lives. It's a cute tradition. Though, I think there was something about endless bad luck if you didn't show affection while standing under it? It was a little vague." She smiled sheepishly. 

"That's the one. And unfortunately it's considered to be extremely unlucky if you kiss under a golden mistletoe that's broken," Sehun added while Kris hummed in annoyed assent, flinging the plant away. 

Jae chuckled and Sehun wondered for a moment whether she was aware of the situation. If she did, she didn't let anything on. Then again, he had noticed she was somewhat of a scatterbrain and walked around quite obliviously for most of the time. The threat of an awkward silence was looming over them, when Jae suddenly rose to her feet and felt around her pockets. 

"Oh crap, I think I left my cellphone at the basketball stand," she muttered, a little panicked. 

"Oh! I'll go get it," Kris immediately offered. 

"No, that's okay, I'll go," Jae piped up, while Sehun glanced at the empty branch above the bench and an idea struck.

"Why don't you both go together and meet me back here? I'm bored being by myself and I've no idea where the others are. You don't mind, do you, noona?" he asked, pouting a little. He was sure Jae would have cooed at him, if Kris hadn't been there. Immediately, he worked his magic on his hyung as well. "Do you, hyungie?" 

"Ahh, enough already, just wait here and tuck in your bottom lip. We'll be right back." Kris breathed out while Sehun smiled triumphantly. 

"Okay, don't be long!" 

As soon as they left, Sehun took out the golden mistletoe the old man gave him and hung it on the branch instead. He sneezed when the glimmering dust fell and landed on his face. "Let's see you work your magic," he told the plant. "If you're really fail proof, then it means that Jae-noona will see me sitting underneath you and she'll come to kiss me," he muttered to himself, nodding from time to time. 

He made himsefl comfortable on the bench and suddenly was overwhelmed by nervousness. Omo! I am going to kiss Jae-noona! Feeling a little panicked, he quickly checked whether his breath wasn't smelling and if his hair looked good. His hands were a bit clammy, so he wiped the sweat off his jeans. He quickly used a chapstick when he felt his lips were dry. Did he smell nice? He hadn't been sweating much and he wore a bit of cologne before leaving the house, so he should be good. 

"Alright. Don't fail me, magic mistletoe," he muttered. He wanted to be part of Jae's life and he wanted her to be a part of his. That wasn't a bad wish, was it? Plus, the golden mistletoe brings people together. Binds them. They're good luck. This couldn't go wrong. Superstition or not, it meant something to the people on the island, meant something to him. Everyone he knew who shared a kiss underneat the mistletoe were still in each other's lives. 

Coincidence? Maybe, but it was a happy one. In conclusion, there was no way that this could go—

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

Wrong. Wrong! No, it's oh so wrong!

"Kris-hyung?!" Sehun nearly squealed. "W-where's Jae-noona? Why are you the first one to show up?!"

"H-hey! Don't blame me, what are you thinking? I thought that mistletoe was broken?" Kris defended.

"Oh man, you're not supposed to see me underneath the mistletoe!" Sehun groaned, feeling embarrassed already and planting his face in his hands.

"Yeah, well—uh, I mean, w-what mistletoe? I don't see anything!" Kris quickly muttered, feeling shy and embarrassed himself.

"You know it doesn't work that way! If you see someone under the golden mistletoe you have to do something, or risk bad luck for yourself for the rest of your life!" Sehun felt the need to scold him, but not just Kris, himself too! How could he think this mistletoe was anything special, or that it would work? That old man was an actor, just like Santa Claus! What are you thinking, Sehun?!

Kris visibly paled before the red blushes took over. "B-b-but, yah! Argh, Sehun!" he grunted. He looked around, and behind him, probably because Jae would be coming soon. "C'mere," he groused, approaching him. Sehun's eyes widened like saucers and he rose from the bench as if his butt had been on fire. 

"Uh-uh, no way, hyung! You did this to yourself!" he protested, attempting to move away. But, he had forgotten he was talking to the dragon, and next to Kai, there was no one in their pack who was faster than Kris. 

"Forget it, I'm not risking bad luck because you sneakily put up that mistletoe there! Now, hurry up, you brat, while no one's watching!" He walked briskly towards Sehun and before the younger teen could even protest, Kris had him in a headlock underneath the branch and firmly kissed the top of his head.

"Ack! Hyung!" Sehun wriggled in Kris' grip, ready to die out of humiliation. 

Kris finally let go, the both of them sitting dejectedly on the bench, with sparkling dust falling over them. 

"What's this?" Kris held out his hand and inspected the golden glitters. "Is it coming from the mistletoe?"

Sehun gawked at him. "You just kissed me! How could you be so casual about that, hyung?!" 

"Ah, you liked it, stop complaining. Besides, it was like kissing my little brother," he ruffled Sehun's hair and the teen moved away, grumbling. 

"Well, I hope you're happy. No bad luck for you then," Sehun groused, taking the mistletoe off the branch. Kris watched him as Sehun held the mistletoe, but he said nothing. He inspected the golden glitter before he patted it from his clothing and hands.

"So, does this mean we're stuck with each other for a whole lifetime?" Kris suddenly questioned and Sehun cringed.

"Please stop talking, hyung," he told him. 

"What? I'm just saying those are the rules, aren't—"

"Okay, I'm set! Let's go—eh, is everything alright?" Jae appeared on the scene, glancing around at the sparkling dust. "What's that?"

"Oh, it's from Sehun's mistle—"

"Decorations probably, noona. The stuff floats around everywhere," Sehun interjected, placing a hand over his hyung's mouth. 

"Ah, I see. Okay then. You guys ready?" Jae smiled and the boys nodded. "Let's go."