"Hyung!" A voice exclaimed from behind the pair. They had taken a seat at one of the round tables, Naileah and Namjoon had joined them as they discussed their favourite books. Hoseok's, of course, was his own father's.

"Hmm?" Both Hoseok and Namjoon turned to the familiar voice.

"I forgot to give you this," Jungkook slid into the seat right next to Hoseok, putting a small box in his hand, "I made it for you two, so you better use it."

Without a further word, he hopped out of the chair and was gone.

Raising an eyebrow at the younger boy's back as he walked away, Hoseok opened the box and looked inside.

"What is it?" Chris inquired, attempting to look over his shoulder.

"I don't... know..." his voice trailed off as he took in the items inside the box. Because that was a lie, he definitely knew what they were.

Blinking down at them, he slowly looked up at Chris.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she observed him. And if she had looked away for even a second, she would have missed the way his cheeks suddenly dusted like pink chrysanthemum.

"Hoseok?"

"Uhm," he cleared his throat, spinning around to face her, "I think this is for us."

Confused, she looked inside, and a grin immediately found itself on her face.

Inside the box was a beautifully crafted marigold corsage, coupled with a boutonniere of the same arrangement.

Heaving a small breath, Hoseok held his hand out for her, "May I?"

Chris bit her bottom lip, willing her heart to calm down as she took his hand. 

With his free hand, Hoseok pulled the corsage out and slowly slipped it onto her wrist. Without missing a breath, Chris took the boutonniere as well, shifting closer to him as she clipped it onto his blazer.

Once again, the hall went silent as she lifted her gaze to find him watching her. Neither one of them seemed to be fazed by the fact that their breaths mingled together because of the little distance between them, their eyes finding home in each other.

In those moments, Chris had forgotten all that happened; she had forgotten how much she loathed herself and how much she wished she could change the past for her actions. 

In those moments, Chris wanted to tell him so badly that she loved him. She wanted to let him know that he was all she needed.

But she held her tongue.

Hoseok finally moved, settling back in his seat properly before a thump on the other end of the table made them snap their eyes away.

"Uh-" Namjoon let out awkwardly, "I'm going to see if the boys need help."

"I'll join you," Leah hopped up too, and they disappeared into the crowd then. Leaving Chris and Hoseok alone to fiddle with their fingers.

"Do you," Chris had tried to speak, but all that came out was a small croak, "Do you want to dance?"

He breathed out a tiny laugh, "Ah, thank God; I've been meaning to ask all evening."

A wave of shyness washed over her as she got out of her seat, sliding over to the dance floor, watching as he did the same. However, the poise and attitude he exuded as he did so made her weak. It was in the way he walked over to her, eyes glinting with joy and confidence radiating from him as if he'd done this many times.

"Hoseok!" a young woman interrupted as they were nearing each other, "Hoseok, you look amazing!"

"Kat?" his eyes smiled too, and she saw how excited he was to see his friend, "Kat, how are you?"

"Great!" his friend returned his smile, turning to face Chris, "Hi! I don't believe I've met you before, I'm Kat, Hoseok's friend from dance."

"Dance?" Chris turned to Hoseok who couldn't hide the regret painted over his face even if he tried. He resorted to biting his lip, instead, trying to suppress his nervous smile.

"Oh yeah, you didn't know?" Kat asked her, and she shook her head, squinting at Hoseok.

"No, no, I did not."

"This man; easily the best dancer I have ever seen."

Hoseok waved his hand at her, shaking his head, "Anyway, Kat, Chris and I were about to do some of that so I'll see you later? We should definitely catch up soon, together with Jimin."

"Alright, Hoseok," she gave him a teasing smile as she raised her eyebrows toward Chris, "Talk soon!"

As she walked away, Chris faced him with her arms crossed over her chest, foot tapping against the dance floor.

"You never told me you could dance."

"It never came up!" he defended himself, "Besides, it's not something I go around telling people."

"I'm going to try not to be offended."

"Please," he scoffed, "You could never stay mad at me."

And just then, as if it were the most natural thing to do, Hoseok's hands rested around Chris's waist, after he had held both hers to place them on his shoulders. Their positions forced her to look up and grasp his eyes in hers immediately. The warmth of chocolate found her, and suddenly she felt seen.

He looked at her as if she was worth being looked at. As if she mattered.

Despite all she had done to him.

When he started to sway her side to side, Chris pulled herself back to reality, back to the town hall. That was when she noticed the song had changed to a much slower tune, and she couldn't think back to the last time she had danced with anyone to music such as this.

"Hoseok?" she asked, and he hummed, dropping his gaze from something over her shoulder to look in her eyes.

When his eyes, droplets of gold, pierced through her own, she felt her heart collapse. Every time he looked at her like that, she just wanted to give him her everything.

"Hmm?"

"Hoseok, I'm so sorry," she sighed, feeling tears threaten to form, thinking of how amazing this man was, she didn't know where to begin to apologise.

"Hey, Chris, I said—"

"No, I know you said not to apologise, but we both know that's not fair to you," biting her lip, she continued. Chris wasn't used to saying sorry; her pride had successfully allowed for her to walk away from any confrontation without admitting that she had ever been wrong.

But this was different. She had hurt the one person she had grown to adore more than herself.

A boxing match between her mouth and her mind, she struggled to get the right words out.

"The truth is that everyone around me was pushing me to get you to sell me your land. And before I knew it, I thought that was a good idea as well.

"I was petty, I wanted to show up my ex, and that's why I ended up printing out those documents that you found. I was never going to go through with it, but there were moments where I thought that maybe if I did so, my father would love me more.

"None of this changes the fact that I betrayed your trust. And for that, Hoseok, I couldn't be more sorry."

He was silent for a while; Chris's heart rose to her throat as she waited for him to reply. 

But he didn't say a word, silently absorbing all she had said, simultaneously rocking them both side to side.

"Thank you," he cleared his throat quietly, "Thank you for being honest with me, Chris."

"I wish I had been honest with you about it from the start; I'm so sorry. You don't have to forgive me, but you need to know I am very sorry."

"Hey Chris," he said softly, "It's okay."

"It's really not-"

"Yeah," letting out a sigh, he continued, "You hurt me, Chris, that's for sure. But one thing I've learnt from all that's been going on in my life is to live without regret. You should know by now that I'm not the type of person to hold onto something like this, so I forgive you.

"Besides, in my eyes, planning this huge thing for my father kinda makes up for it, just a little bit."

"I will never be able to understand how beautiful your heart is, Hoseok."

He smiled at her then, eyes travelling down to the ground between them.

"By the way, Chris," he spoke again, almost shyly this time, "I've been wanting to tell you the entire evening, you look amazing."

how was your christmas loves?

can you believe my next update will be in 2021? i am so not ready to face a whole new year omg

how are you guys though?

also there's another cameo in this one :') one of my other dear friends uwu