Chapter Text
“Last Christmas I gave you my heart but the very next day you gave it away-”
“Thiiis year to save me from tears- I’ll give it to someone speciaaaal.”
Yeonjun gingerly taps his index fingers on the steering wheel. He continues to sing along softly to Taylor Swift playing over the car radio as he drives down the street towards his grandparents home.
Choi Yeonjun loved this time of year. Two and a half weeks of holiday fun and relaxation at his grandparents home overseas. Days upon days of eating and drinking the most incredible, mouthwatering dishes his family concocted. Getting to spend some time with family who he otherwise didn’t get to see as often as he’d like.
And the greatest part of it all? No snow!
Don’t get him wrong, Yeonjun could certainly appreciate how beautiful snow could be. The way it glistened as it slowly fell from the sky. The fresh, clean scent that loomed in the chilly air. The way it covered the city like a plush, white blanket. It was magical, enchanting even… or at least it would be if it weren’t so damn cold!
Yeonjun’s mother and her sister had spent some time in the states after university due to their fathers work. They’d enjoyed it so much that it resulted in Yeonjun and his cousins having partially grown up there, his family on the west coast and his cousin Yunjin’s family on the east coast respectively. When it came time for his mothers parents to retire they had decided to go to live in the states. They now resided in a beautiful two story home in sunny Nevada. Of course Yeonjun missed how he’d get to see his grandparents on a more regular basis when they lived back in Seoul, but having an excuse to travel to Sin City from time to time to see them felt like a win to him.
Yeonjun pulls into his grandparents driveway. He takes a moment to take in the marvelous sight in front of him. Their home was a beautiful, modern two story home. White with dark grey accents. Yeonjun rolled his window down to take a big whiff. The sweet scent of his grandmother's garden wafted towards him, carried by the fresh winter breeze. Despite the slight chill in the air, Yeonjun was pleasantly surprised that he could already feel just how warm the sun's rays were.
He rolls his window up and haphazardly tosses his phone and other car essentials into his bag. He stalls when the queen herself comes up on his playlist. Unfortunately, Mariah Carey’s high note is cut off by the incessant ringing of his best friends ringtone.
Yeonjun smirks as he accepts the call. “Go for daddy.”
“Oh- ewwwwwww!” Yeonjun stifles a laugh when he hears Beomgyu gag in disgust. “I was calling to make sure you got to your grandparents okay, but now I’m not so sure I care.”
Yeonjun chuckles to himself and purposefully ignores that last bit. “Yeah, I actually just pulled up. I’m about to go in.”
“I’ll let you go then.” He can hear Beomgyu struggling on the other end. “I’m about to head out for Taehyun’s place. I promised I’d make him breakfast and I wanna get there early.”
Yeonjun checks the time- over half past four in the afternoon- and scoffs. “… but- isn’t it almost ten in the morning?”
It’s Beomgyu’s turn to scoff. “So? That’s early to me.”
Beomgyu sends his well wishes to Yeonjun’s grandparents and they exchange goodbyes, promising to talk again soon. Once Mariah has finished her high note, Yeonjun makes quick work of grabbing his two ginormous suitcases and duffel bag out from the back of his rental car. He debates internally if he should attempt to sleep off some of the jet lag before dinner with everyone. He smiles to himself as he makes his way up the walkway. He knows that no matter how tired he may feel that he will ultimately choose to power through it and bask in his family's presence.
He rings the door bell and not even fifteen seconds later the front door swings open and he is being greeted by his grandmother's sweet face looking up at him. “Oh! There’s my handsome grandson!”
“Halmeoni!” He lets go of his luggage and promptly envelopes his grandmother in a warm, tight hug. He hears a deep sound come up behind her and instantly recognizes his grandfather's laugh. “Halabeoji!” His grandfather laughs heartily as he joins in on their hug.
“Yeonjun-ah.” His grandfather looks him up and down. “I forget how tall you are, son. And you’ve filled out more.” He says as he pats Yeonjun’s arm.
“Nonsense!” His grandmother admonishes him. “My grandson is far too thin. Thankfully we can remedy that. Come in, come in!”
Yeonjun chuckles as his grandmother grabs his hand, ushering him into their home as he drags his suitcase behind him. His grandfather grabs his other suitcase while his grandmother prattles on about the other family members. He learns that his aunt and uncle were in the kitchen starting on some preparations for dinner. His own mother and father were at the market grabbing a few other items his mother felt they needed. His cousin Yunjin would be arriving soon, her plane having been delayed meant Yeonjun finally beat her home for the holidays. His grandmother stops and smiles knowingly at him, whispering that Yunjin had said something about bringing a surprise home with her. His other cousin, Yunjin’s younger sister Yejin, would be arriving in a few days' time, having already made holiday plans with some friends from college.
Yeonjun smiles fondly as he follows his grandmother through the foyer, nodding and humming along as she continues to speak. He also takes a moment to take a quick peek around the house. He feels a burst of warmth course through him as he takes it all in with awe. It never ceases to amaze him how his grandparents had truly cultivated such a beautiful, lovely home, the perfect combination of sleek and cozy. The living area off to his right had a giant flat screen television mounted on the wall right above a beautiful fireplace. They had the comfiest sofas in the universe piled high with festive, decorative pillows and blankets for them to put to good use.
They drop his luggage off at the base of the winding staircase and head towards the left where the kitchen is, where he knows he’ll find his aunt and her husband hard at work in a stunning all white kitchen, filled with state of the art appliances and the promise of incredible meals to come.
Yeonjun sits languidly atop one of the kitchen stools, picking at the bowl of fruit his aunt had set out for him. He’s busy laughing at something his uncle has said when the doorbell rings.
“Oh, that must be my lovely granddaughter!” His grandmother exclaims from where she’s sitting at the dining table, busy perfectly chopping vegetables.
Yeonjun rushes to stand before she does. “It's alright, halmeoni, don’t get up! I’ll get the door.”
She smiles over at him. He can hear her calling him her sweet boy as he trots out of the kitchen and towards the front door. The doorbell rings and rings and rings and if it weren’t so annoying Yeonjun would slow his pace just to make his cousin suffer.
He reaches the door. He doesn’t open it just yet. Instead he calls out in a sing-song tone; “Who is iiiiiit?”
He hears someone snort, letting out a loud yah! before the voice goes sweeter. “It’s your favorite cousin!”
Yeonjun opens the door chuckling. He stares at the girl standing before him. She has big brown eyes, cherry red hair, and a smile he knows all too well splitting her face open.
Yeonjun holds up a hand to stop her from getting closer and gives her a confused look, which in turn she reciprocates. “Huh,” Yeonjun starts thoughtfully. “I thought you said ‘favorite cousin’… you’re not Rachel.”
She rolls her eyes in annoyance, but her smile returns nonetheless. “Ha-ha. Keep it up and maybe one day you’ll actually be funny.”
Yeonjun holds a hand to his heart in mock pain before pulling the girl in for a big bear hug.
“I missed you.” “I missed you too.” “It’s been too long.” “Did you get taller?” “Actually, I think you got shorter.”
Yeonjun’s chin is sitting atop Yunjin’s head. He’s actively trying to annoy her by messing up her hair when he spots him; a tall, lithe young man standing a few feet away. The young man is smiling fondly as he watches the cousins hug. He looks away and blushes slightly when he realizes Yeonjun has caught him staring.
“So,” Yeonjun starts. “Halmeoni wasn’t kidding when she said you were bringing a surprise, huh?”
It takes a few moments for Yunjin to catch on. “Oh! I’m sorry!” She detaches herself from Yeonjun and scrambles back to grab the young man’s hand, tugging him forward abruptly. “This is Soobin! My boyfriend! Go on, say hi, babe.”
Yeonjun can feel his eyes widen slightly. Yunjin brought a boyfriend home. Huh. This was a first. Not that Yunjin hadn’t dated before, but this was the first time any of them had brought someone home for the holidays. The competitive part of Yeonjun felt kinda hurt that he hadn’t been the first to do so.
The young man is now a few feet away from Yeonjun (Yunjin’s doing). He bows slightly and holds his hand out for a handshake as he introduces himself. “Um, h-hi. I’m Choi Soobin. Y-you’re Yeonjun, right? Yunjin has told me so much about you.”
Yeonjun accepts the handshake, smiling kindly. “All good things I hope.”
“Mm, you wish.” Yunjin giggles. “Come on, let’s go introduce you to everyone! Yeonjun will get the other bags, won’t you oppa?” She says as she’s already hauling Soobin inside.
Yeonjun rolls his eyes but complies. Thankfully Soobin had already taken the two bigger suitcases out of their car. All that was left was another smaller suitcase and a couple of shopping bags.
When Yeonjun finally makes it inside it feels like he’s caught in a storm. Soobin is a blushing messc standing between Yeonjun’s mother and grandmother. They’re too busy cooing over Soobin, gushing over how handsome and tall he is, to notice just how embarrassed the boy is. Yeonjun’s father is chuckling over his uncle's hardened expression towards said surprise guest. His grandfather, ever the kind and unproblematic soul, was offering Soobin some cut up fruit. Meanwhile Yunjin is off to the side arguing with her mother over- you guessed it- Soobin!
“But eomma! He didn’t have anywhere else to go!”
Yunjin’s mother tsks. “My dear, I’m simply saying you should tell us first the next time you decide to bring a stranger to your grandparents home for the holidays.”
Yunjin pleads with wide eyes. “I’m sorry eomma, but I really didn’t think it’d be such a big deal. We’ve been dating for five months and you always say the holidays are about being with the people you love and care about!” Yunjin’s eyes somehow widened even more. The pout on her lips was so jutted out it was almost impressive. “Well I care about Soobin deeply and I couldn’t stand to see him stay in his dorm all by himself during the holidays. I just couldn’t bear it!”
It took everything Yeonjun had to hold back his laughter. Boy, she was really laying it on thick.
For a moment Yeonjun doesn’t think his aunt will buy it, but all is forgiven once Yunjin bats her eyelashes and puts on a sickeningly sweet tone; “You wouldn’t want a young college student to spend Christmas alone… would you?”
Damn she’s good.
Yeonjun’s aunt caves. “Alright. I suppose it’ll be fun having a new face around for the holidays.”
“Ah! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Yunjin jumps gleefully and hugs her mother tight. “You won’t regret it, eomma! You’ll see that Soobin is the perfect gentlemen.”
“He better be because he won’t be sleeping in my daughters room, that’s for sure.”
That last comment was from Yunjin’s father.
“Wha- dad but-“ she starts but he doesn’t even allow her a chance to convince him.”
“I’m sorry, Yunjin, but you have to understand how inappropriate this would be.” He states matter of factly.
“Your father has a point dear,” her mother agrees. “It’d be one thing if you were together for years or if you were married. But just starting out dating…” she trails off. “
Yunjin looks between her parents. “But there are only two bedrooms upstairs… Where is he supposed to sleep? The library?”
“Don’t be silly, dear,” her mother admonishes. “You and your sister can take the master and your cousin and Soobin can share the room with two queen beds.”
Yeonjun feels his eyebrows raise in surprise. One of his favorite perks about going to his grandparents home for the holidays was that as the only grandson he got the single room while the girls had to share. You were telling him that Yunjin brought a boy home and now he was expected to share??
“Well- why can’t Rachel and Yeonjun share the two queens and Soobin and I share the master?” She turns to Yeonjun. “Oppa doesn’t mind. Right, oppa?”
It takes Yeonjun a moment to realize she’s addressing him. He shakes his head. “Uh- Of course not. It’s not like Rachel and I haven’t shared a room before.”
“See?” Yunjin perks up. “All set!”
“Huh Yunjin.” Yeonjun’s aunt looks at her daughter sternly. “I will not discuss this further. You’ve only been dating a few months. If you’re still together next year, you can share a bedroom then. But until that happens, he can share a room with your cousin.” She places her hand on Yunjin’s arm and squeezes lightly. “End of discussion.”
“So… you go to college in Albany with Yunjin?”
Soobin nods from the other side of the room as he unpacks his suitcase. “Yeah, she’s been a real life saver. I don’t know how I would’ve survived without her.”
Yeonjun hums. It made sense. Yunjin was definitely the type to pick up strays and make them feel right at home. He remembers when they were children she’d cry on the walk home when she’d see a stray animal and realize she wouldn’t be allowed to take them home with her.
“So what’s your guys’ story? How'd you two end up dating?” Yeonjun asks.
Soobin runs a hand through his hair and laughs nervously. “Um- it’s kinda stupid.”
Yeonjun snorts. “That’s the best kind of meet cute.”
Soobin smiles bashfully. “Um… well, I was running for class. I haven’t been to America much, so I was pretty lost when classes first started. I was running around trying to make it to class when I bumped into this girl. I tripped, dropped my juice all over myself. All I wanted to do was go back to my dorm and cry.” Soobin laughs at himself. “God, I felt like the biggest loser in the universe… but when I looked up at Yunjin’s face, suddenly it was all okay.” He smiles as though he were recalling a fond memory in his mind. “She started rambling on in English about how sorry she was and that she’d pay for my dry cleaning, even offered me her bright red fuzzy coat- which would’ve looked ridiculously small on me. After a few minutes she realized I was Korean and started speaking in Korean. We became friends and somewhere along the way we just started dating.”
Yeonjun smiles as Soobin finishes his story. “That’s not stupid at all. It’s quite sweet.”
Soobin flashes him a smile and Yeonjun can’t help but notice the devastatingly adorable dimples the other has. And as they continue to make small talk while they unpack their belongings, it begins to dawn on Yeonjun… Choi Soobin was pretty damn attractive.
Yeonjun had never really stopped to wonder if he and his cousin had the same type when it came to dating. Granted, neither of them had dated very seriously. Yeonjun was more of a one night stand kind of guy, while Yunjin liked dating casually for a few months before ultimately breaking it off. She was fiery, outgoing, while Yeonjun was more reserved and standoffish in the dating department, never quite finding someone that piqued his interest enough to warrant dating them.
He had to at least admit that his cousin had taste. Out of all the people he’d seen her go out with, Choi Soobin was definitely the most handsome. He watches as Soobin hangs up some clothing in the shared closet. He’s tall, taller than Yeonjun. With a slim but strong build. Tiny waist, good shoulders- and when he turned around, an even better backside. Yeonjun had to force his gaze away.
Mm. Good taste indeed.
He feels his heart begin to pick up its pace when Soobin flashes him another sweet smile. He shakes himself out of his stupor and quickly reprimands himself for ogling his cousin's boyfriend.
I’m just seeing if he’s good enough for her, he tells himself. She can’t have an unattractive boyfriend. She’s a fashion major for God’s sake!
So as he continues to prod into Choi Soobin’s personal life Yeonjun simply tells himself that he’s being a good cousin. He’s simply looking out for Yunjin’s wellbeing and making sure that this guy she’s brought home is as gentlemanly as she claims he is.
He learns that he’s a year younger than Yeonjun. That he’s studying to become a kindergarten teacher. That he loves anime and reading comics. That he’s a pretty good baker and is excited to bake for them during this trip. He has one older sister and one older brother and he loves his nieces and nephews.
He learns that Choi Soobin sounds like… well, like the perfect man.
Pretty good information to have… for Yunjin’s wellbeing of course.
Yeah. He’ll keep telling himself that.
Dinner was incredible as ever. They had all the best meats, marinated beef bulgogi, succulent pork belly, deliciously grilled galbi, you name it- it was on the table! Dozens of side dishes and several different types of kimchi, Yeonjun felt as though he were in heaven. In fact he was probably even higher than heaven if such a thing was possible.
The conversation was bright and lighthearted. Talk about how great it was to be together once again for another holiday and hoping that they had many more to come. Their parents and Yeonjun spoke about how blessed they were in their work. His grandfather praised Yeonjun on his work ethic while his grandmother told him to not overwork himself and to have fun while he was still young. Yunjin talked about classes and how well her winter showcase went. And of course the main event was their special guest; one Choi Soobin.
Yeonjun didn’t think the grilling was all that bad. Soobin definitely held his own against Yunjin’s father. He was pretty sure he even made him catch half a smile at one point. Kudos, Yeonjun thought to himself. Everyone knew how protective Yeonjun’s uncle was about his two daughters.
When dinner was over they all made quick work of washing and drying dishes and putting away anything that was left over. They were just about done when Yunjin startled them.
“Oh I almost forgot!”
Everyone turns towards Yunjin at her outburst. “Do we have any extra jjajangmyeon? I’d like to take some over to Mrs. Sinclair down the road, she always loves it!”
Yeonjun’s grandmother shuffles over to her eldest granddaughter with a container of the black bean noodles. “Of course, sweetheart. So kind of you to think of others.”
Mrs. Sinclair was an elderly neighbor that Yeonjun and his cousins, Yunjin in particular, had become quite fond of ever since their grandparents moved many years ago. They always made it a point to see her whenever they came home to visit their grandparents. Yunjin especially had a soft spot for the woman because of their shared love of fashion. Mrs. Sinclair had an impressive collection of old fashion magazines and memorabilia that Yunjin had fallen in love with.
“It’s dark out, let me come with you.”
Yeonjun stops in his tracks. They’re in the foyer. He’d already been putting on his coat, anticipating Yunjin asking him to accompany her as he always did, when Soobin had spoken up.
“Oh,” Soobin starts, noticing what Yeonjun was doing. “I’m sorry, I don’t wanna impose! You two go on ahead.”
“Nonsense.” Yunjin says as she walks towards the front door. “We can all go. Oppa you don’t mind, right?”
Yeonjun looks over at Soobin. He sees a glimmer in his eyes, something almost hopeful, as though he’s waiting for Yeonjun’s approval.
“Of course not. The more the merrier, right?”
Maybe Yeonjun should’ve stayed home.
Yunjin and Soobin are walking in front of him. He can hear them giggle and speak softly as Yunjin points to all the houses and tells Soobin gossip about the neighbors.
“That house with the inflatable Santa in front belongs to Mr. Cruz. He has eight cats, but everyone pretends he doesn’t because that’s more than the legal amount allowed.”
“The house with the pretty snowflake strobe lights belongs to Mrs. Lee. She drove into a ditch once.”
“Oh! I forgot about Mr. McRachelson. He collects everything from rocks to Labubu’s. It drives his wife crazy. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.”
Yeonjun watches on in silence as they knock their shoulders together and giggle over Yunjin’s stories. He’s just about fed up with third wheeling when they finally reach their destination.
Yunjin turns around on her heels. “It’s pretty late, I’ll drop this off real quick and then we can get going. ‘Kay? ‘Kay!”
Yeonjun and Soobin don’t even get a chance to nod in agreement before Yunjin is skipping up the path towards Mrs. Sinclair’s front door.
“She really is a ball of energy, isn’t she?” Soobin jokes.
Yeonjun scoffs. “Five months of dating and you’re just figuring that out?”
Soobin’s eyes widen, if Yeonjun didn’t know any better he’d say he looks nervous. “Oh… oh, I mean- I knew that. Of course I knew that- I just meant… wow that’s a really beautiful light display!”
Yeonjun raises an eyebrow. Pft. Weird.
He looks over to where Soobin is attempting to refocus his attention and suddenly Yeonjun is speechless.
It was the Green household. They had an enormous oak tree in their front yard. It was already a beauty on its own, but now, in the midst of the holidays it was decked out with lights. From the bottom of its trunk up to every branch the tree was delicately wrapped in dainty white string lights. There were softly glowing orbs hanging from some of the branches. Other branches had an extra bit of string lights off the end. The lights were programmed to dim in a cascading pattern in order to create the illusion of snow falling.
It was… breathtaking.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it Yeonjun-ssi?”
Yeonjun is startled out of his stupor by Soobin’s shoulder knocking into him.
He turns towards the other. Soobin is smiling up at the tree and Yeonjun is struck by how pretty the boy looks. The lights illuminate his features perfectly. Makes the divots in his cheeks appear even deeper. Makes the glimmer in his eyes even sparklier. Makes his flushed cheeks look almost edible.
Makes Yeonjun’s heart beat a little faster.
“Yeah,” Yeonjun starts, unable to look away from the other. “It’s definitely something.”
He coughs and turns away from Soobin, praying that he didn’t notice just how intently he was staring at him. Yeonjun clears his throat before speaking. “You can call me hyung… if you want.”
Soobin turns towards him, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Really?”
Yeonjun shrugs, unwilling to make eye contact. “Yeah. Why not? You’re dating my cousin, we might as well get along.” It’s at that exact moment that a chilly breeze whips past them, causing Yeonjun to shiver like crazy. “Fuck. I forgot how cold it gets at night.”
“Oh? Hyungs cold?”
Before he knows what’s happening, Soobin is wrapping himself around Yeonjun from behind.
“Wha- what’re you doing?” Yeonjun exclaims. He can feel the apples of his cheeks begin to flush, and it certainly wasn’t because of the weather.
Soobin has the audacity to give off a low rumble of a laugh and he squeezes Yeonjun tighter. “I just got authorization to call you hyung, you can’t freeze to death now!”
Yeonjun doesn’t know how to respond. Usually being hugged by an attractive man like Soobin would be welcomed but not when said attractive man is his cousin's boyfriend!
This is fine, right? Nothing wrong with hugging your cousin's boyfriend, right? This was a good thing. Yeah. This proved that Soobin was a gentleman. He hadn’t wanted Yunjin to go off on her own at night and now he didn’t want someone to freeze to death. If he weren’t so damn cold, Yeonjun suspected he’d be sweating nervously right about now.
“What’s going on over here?” Yunjin’s voice rings clear in the silent night.
Soobin beats him to a response. “Nothing, babe. Yeonjun hyung said he’s cold and asked me to hug him!” Yeonjun can’t see it, but he can hear the smile in Soobin’s voice.
“Excuse me?” Yeonjun’s head whips around, or at least it tries to. Soobin is holding on rather tightly. “Sorry, but I never asked you to hug me!”
Soobin chuckles. “As you can see the cold has gotten to his brain. I have no choice but to hug him!”
He hears Yunjin scoff. “Oh, I believe it. Nobody whines about the cold better than Yeonjun oppa.”
“Hey!” Yeonjun can’t even defend himself. He can hear Yunjin skipping away, her voice growing softer the farther she gets. “Come on! We gotta watch at least two Christmas movies before bed, it’s tradition!”
Yeonjun waits for Soobin to let him go… but it doesn’t happen.
“Um… Soobin?”
“Yes, hyung?”
“Are you going to let go of me any time soon?”
A few beats of silence.
“…Are you warm?”
Yeonjun sighs. He can’t feel his fingers and he can see his breath in front of him when he speaks, but despite the chill running through him; “Yeah. Yeah, I’m warm.”
“Then no.”
Yunjin laughs as they waddle behind her, Soobin still hugging Yeonjun from behind as to keep him warm as they make their way back to his grandparents house.
It was tradition.
Yeonjun and his cousins always tried to watch three Christmas movies before bed on their first night at their grandparents home. They usually failed, which is why official tradition was to watch two Christmas movies before bed. Since Soobin was their special guest this season, they had decided to allow Soobin to choose the first movie.
Yeonjun and Yunjin are in the kitchen, doing their respective holiday movie duties; Yeonjun makes hot chocolate while Yunjin pops the popcorn.
“So,” Yeonjun starts.
“So,” Yunjin responds.
They can faintly hear Soobin in the living room speaking to himself as he scrolls through the dozens upon dozens of Christmas movies they have saved, probably reading the descriptions aloud.
They stay silent for a while, both enraptured in their tasks. When the kernels start popping in the skillet and the hot chocolate begins to slowly start bubbling, that’s when Yeonjun chooses to speak. “You didn’t tell me you were dating someone seriously, let alone bringing them to meet the family.”
Yunjin doesn’t look over at him. She gently shakes the pan, watching the kernels fly and pop and transform into delicious fluffy popcorn. “I’m sorry. I know we usually tell each other these kinds of things. It just sorta… happened.
Yeonjun hums. He stirs the pot of hot chocolate gingerly, making sure to get all the clumps out by using his special method; stabbing any chocolate at the bottom of the pan and continuing to move the spoon in funny patterns. “A text would’ve been fine, you know.”
“I know.” Yunjin says softly. “I wasn’t thinking. I just- I didn’t want him to have to be alone.” The popping noise is dying down, signaling that the end of Yunjin’s task is nigh. “His parents' business hasn’t had the best year so they couldn’t afford to help him buy a plane ticket back home for the holidays.”
Yeonjun’s heart lurches. He hadn’t thought of that. He and his family had lived very blessed and privileged lives. They’d gotten to grow up traveling, going to some of the best schools. Never having to worry much. He couldn’t imagine what it’d feel like to not be able to see his parents on Christmas.
Yeonjun turns off the heat on his hot chocolate. He pours them into three mismatched mugs and tops them off with mini marshmallows and chocolate shavings. And so what if he happens to put extra mini marshmallows and chocolate shavings in the biggest mug with the intention of giving it to Soobin. “He’s lucky he’s got a girlfriend like you to take care of him.” He means it as a compliment. It sounds like a compliment… So why does it leave a bitter aftertaste in his mouth?
Yunjin finishes pouring the popcorn into a large bowl with copious amounts of melted butter. “I am pretty extraordinary, aren’t I?”
Yeonjun rolls his eyes playfully. “Okay let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Choi Soobin has chosen a movie, and not just any movie. He has chosen what Yeonjun would argue is the best Christmas movie to ever exist; Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas.
“NO.” Yunjin screeches from the other end of the couch. “Yeonjun oppa picks this movie every time and I’m sick of it!”
“How could you be sick of it?! It’s a classic! It’s got it all!” Yeonjun defends.
“W-we can pick a different movie if y-you want-”
“YES!” “NO!”
“We’ll have to settle this diplomatically,” Yeonjun says.
“Agreed,” Yunjin nods. “Best two outta three?”
Soobin watches on, silently sipping from his giant mug of hot chocolate as the cousins duke it out in a passionate game of rock, paper, scissors. After playing the same hand over a dozen times, Yunjin finally prevails.
“You cheated!” Yeonjun accuses.
Yunjin chortles as she grabs the remote and sinks into the couch next to her boyfriend. “Do better.”
Yeonjun grumbles into the popcorn bowl as he watches her scroll through the movies. Just like when they were on their walk earlier, Yunjin supplies commentary on the movie selection as well.
“Die Hard is absolutely one hundred percent a Christmas movie and I will die on that hill.”
“I don’t care what anyone says, I would absolutely down Buddy the Elf’s candy spaghetti. I would eat it up!”
“Did you know Yeonjun oppa was almost named Kevin because his mother was obsessed with Kevin McCallister from Home Alone?”
Soobin practically cackles at that last bit. “What’s your actual English name hyung? I know Yunjin is Jennifer and her sister Yejin is Rachel, but I don’t think I’ve heard yours.”
Yeonjun tosses a piece of popcorn and catches it in his mouth. “It’s Daniel.”
“Hm. Daniel.” Soobin says it slowly, as though he were testing how it feels in his mouth. “I like it. Such a handsome name for a handsome man.”
Yeonjun had tossed another piece of popcorn in the air, but this one hits his forehead instead of its desired target. He feels himself gulp, a blush beginning to bloom over his cheeks. It’s not like he had never heard a cute guy say his English name before. And it’s not like no one has ever called him handsome before. But somehow it ignited something different within him when it was Choi Soobin saying it, when it was Choi Soobin calling him handsome.
He shifts uncomfortably in his seat, suddenly very conscious of himself. He’s not sure what prompted this uneasiness within him. Usually he only felt this way when he-
Oh.
Oh no.
Yeonjun looks over to where Soobin and Yunjin are sitting at the end of the couch. As he stares at Soobin, at the way his pretty brown eyes turn into crescents, at the way his head falls back and his dimples deepen oh so sweetly when he laughs at something stupid Yunjin has said- at something his cousin, something his girlfriend has said- he feels his stomach plummet. Or maybe that was his heart.
This could not be happening.
But it was.
Choi Yeonjun was beginning to crush on his cousin's boyfriend.
This was going to be a long Christmas.