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Christmas.
It wasn’t at the top of Jeongguk’s list, but it definitely wasn’t at the bottom. The worst holiday was (obviously) Valentine’s day, where he had to watch as Jimin received dozens of presents from his secret admirers from across campus. That was by far the worst.
Christmas, however, was much better. The break made it easier for him to spend time with his friends, laughing and baking and hanging starry lights wherever there was an empty spot on the wall. There was also the aspect of presents, which Jeongguk definitely did not mind.
It was Jimin’s favorite holiday, which meant that Jeongguk would always have a giant tree sitting smack in the middle of the tiny living room in their shared apartment. It blocked the TV so they couldn’t really play video games, but Jeongguk didn’t mind. The smile on Jimin’s face when he saw the tree, branches all lit up and prettily decorated, made it worth it.
Every year, Taehyung threw a Christmas party. It was usually just their closely knit friend group with the occasional boyfriend or girlfriend brought along. It was extremely chaotic, since Namjoon always insisted on baking something even though only two of them knew how to bake, but Jeongguk found himself viewing it as the best part of the year. This year, however, Taehyung had something planned.
He hadn’t said anything, of course, but he hadn’t needed to. His grin as he opened the door for Jimin and Jeongguk was enough. Jimin had greeted him with a smile, crescent eyes peering over the tower of presents he held in his arms. After they’d both put their presents under the tree, Taehyung had pulled Jeongguk aside, gesturing for Jimin to go join the others.
“Do you still have a crush on him?” he whispered, glancing meaningfully towards the blonde. Jimin had the most beautiful grin on his face as he laughed at whatever bad move Seokjin had just made at the game they were playing, and Jeongguk just couldn’t look away.
“I… um, well, I don’t, um…” Jeongguk stuttered, trying to tear his eyes away from the group.
Taehyung snorted. “You don’t need to pretend you don’t. All of us have known for a while. You’re not the most subtle.”
Jeongguk sighed, casting a careful look at Jimin before lowering his voice. “Okay, yeah. Why does it matter?”
A grin overtook Taehyung’s face, and Jeongguk started mentally berating himself for ever saying anything. “It’s nothing. Just wanted to… make sure.”
Jeongguk fixed him with a threatening stare. “Hyung, I swear–”
“It’s nothing!” Taehyung insisted, giving Jeongguk a push in the direction of the group. “Go play UNO with the children.” Jeongguk scowled, trudging over as he watched Taehyung skip into the kitchen.
Jimin grabbed his wrist when he got close enough, pulling him into a back hug with a cheeky grin. “Jeonggukkie…” he whispered in his ear. Jeongguk relaxed into his hold, a small smile playing across his lips. “...will you be on my team for UNO? You know I’m a bad strategist.”
That was a blatant lie and they both knew it, but Jeongguk decided to play along. “Fine, fine. I’ll help you out.” Jimin released him, giggling as he pulled him to the ground where the game was being played.
Hoseok was sitting in Yoongi’s lap, the latter struggling to hold his cards and hug the former at the same time. Seokjin was laughing at him, slapping a draw four down onto the pile. “Green! LET THE GREEN CONDEMN YOU!” he called out, trying to hold back his smile.
Hoseok peered at Yoongi’s cards, then looked back at him with a sympathetic look. “Babe, you don’t have any greens.”
“I’m aware, baby,” Yoongi said with a sigh, reaching around Hoseok to start picking from the deck. Namjoon was sitting quietly, two cards in hand. He smiled up at Jimin and Jungkook as they edged their way into the circle.
“Hey, guys. I’ve realized that hyung is so focused on beating Yoongi that he’s completely disregarded the fact that I’m about to win, so I’m using it to my advantage.”
Jimin snorted. “Smart.”
Namjoon just smiled in response, placing a red two on top of Yoongi’s green two that he’d finally pulled from the deck. “UNO.”
Seokjin looked at his hand, then back at Yoongi, who was holding around 15 cards. “Red…” He slapped down another red, wincing. “Oh, god. Did I fuck up? I think I fucked up.”
Yoongi shrugged, muttering something in Hoseok’s ear. The red-haired boy pulled a card out of his boyfriend’s hand, placing it on top of the pile exaggeratedly. Blue 6.
Namjoon pumped his fist, tossing his last card onto the pile. “As Obama would say: then perish.”
“A wild card?!” Seokjin cried in disbelief. “Dude!”
“Absolute legend,” Jimin whispered in Jeongguk’s ear, and Jeongguk practically jumped. He’d been so engrossed in the game that he’d forgotten where he was (and more importantly, who he was with).
He tried to reply, but Seokjin interrupted him, jerking his head in their direction. “Deal them cards. I’ll beat you this round.”
Namjoon smiled. “We’ll see.” He grabbed the deck, dealing out cards.
Jeongguk exchanged a look with Yoongi, who leaned over with a blank expression on his face. “Joon’s won the last 3 rounds. At this point we’re just humoring him.” Hoseok smirked at that, wrapping an arm around Yoongi’s neck.
“We all know you’re only still playing because I won’t get off your lap, hyungie.”
Yoongi shrugged, the fondness in his eyes betraying his apparent nonchalance. “Yeah, whatever.”
Jimin made eye contact with Jeongguk, a mischievous look in his eye. “Hey, Jeongguk-ah! If you sat in my lap, do you think we’d win?”
“I’m too heavy, hyung,” Jeongguk protested, trying to will away the blush he felt rising to his cheeks. “I don’t wanna crush you.”
Jimin huffed in mock displeasure, pulling on Jeongguk’s shoulder. “Fine, I’ll just sit in yours.” He nudged the younger boy’s legs apart with his foot, climbing between them and snuggling himself into the taller’s chest. Jeongguk could faintly smell his vanilla shampoo, and he had to actively try not to bury his face in the elder’s blonde hair.
He noticed Seokjin staring at them, and he broke out of his trance, reaching around Jimin and grabbing at the cards to no avail. “Can you hold them?” he murmured, and Jimin shifted slightly to meet his eyes. “My arms aren’t long enough.” Jimin said nothing, smiling and grabbing the seven cards from the ground.
“I get to go first because Namjoon dealt,” Seokjin announced, grinning as he flipped the first card over. His smile dropped from his face, and Hoseok burst into a fit of laughter. “This is rigged! I swear!”
“Draw two and stop complaining,” Yoongi said, his voice muffled by the hood of Hoseok’s sweatshirt. Jimin wiggled around so that his left shoulder was touching Jeongguk’s at a right angle, holding the cards close to their faces.
“Should we save the wild?” he whispered, tapping on the rainbow card with his thumb. Jeongguk glanced over at the draw pile, which was currently green, and back down at their deck (which was greenless).
“Let’s wait until we get farther into the game,” he whispered back. “We might need it.” Namjoon played a green 6, and then it was their turn. Jimin breathed out a sigh of relief, pulling out a red 6. He leaned back on Jeongguk, his back warm against the younger’s chest, and all Jeongguk could do was hope that his heartbeat wasn’t too noticeable.
The game continued on with little difficulty, and somewhere along the way they decided that the ultimate loser would have to make hot chocolate for all of the winners. It was Taehyung’s idea, and he’d explained in a rather confusing matter that the “ultimate loser” was the one who lost after every other person got rid of all of their cards.
The final two (or three) were Seokjin, Jimin, and Jeongguk, to no one’s surprise. Their wild card was long gone, used in a futile attempt to keep Namjoon from winning again. Currently, they were at a stalemate, because Seokjin had UNO; they could put a yellow 2 to change the color, or they could keep it red.
“What do we do?” Jeongguk whispered, trying not to panic. “I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to move.”
“Go with your gut,” Jimin whispered back. “It’s a fifty-fifty chance.”
Jeongguk sighed, closing his eyes and picking a random card from Jimin’s hand. “That.” He opened his eyes, watching as Jimin put the red down on the pile.
“UNO!” he said, bouncing excitedly. Jeongguk met Seokjin’s eyes, and the elder held his gaze as he put his final card down on the pile. Red 2.
“Nooooooo!!” Jeongguk wailed, burying his face in Jimin’s shoulder. “We would’ve lost anyways!”
Jimin snickered, running his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair as Seokjin started doing his victory dance. “Don’t be a baby, Kook-ah. Let’s go make some hot chocolate.” He climbed out of Jeongguk’s lap and shared a look with Namjoon, who was trying in vain to get Seokjin to stop dancing.
“Why do we let him play UNO? He always gets competitive when we play UNO,” Namjoon muttered, wrapping his arms around the elder in a futile attempt to stop him from doing the Fortnite default dance. Jimin stared at them for a couple of seconds, then shook his head, extending his hand out to Jeongguk. The younger took it, smiling gratefully as the blonde hoisted him off of the ground.
“Give me extra marshmallows!” Taehyung yelled as they headed towards the kitchen, hands still intertwined. Jimin hadn’t dropped his hand after he pulled him up, so Jeongguk didn’t see any reason to drop it. Besides, it was platonic. Right? It totally was. Ha. Hahaha.
Jimin swung their arms back and forth as he pulled Jeongguk through the narrow entryway between Taehyung’s living room and his kitchen. In Jeongguk’s opinion, it was a horrid design choice, since it was the only entrance and exit into the rather small room. But hey, it wasn’t his apartment. Who was he to judge? Either way, he had to drop Jimin’s hand as they went through. That was the point he was getting at.
Jimin immediately got to work, opening Taehyung’s fridge and rummaging through it. “You get all the mugs out and I’ll start heating up the milk, ‘kay?” He pulled out the carton, setting it on the counter and opening the cabinets in search of the hot cocoa mix. Jeongguk was in the process of pulling out the 7th mug when he heard Jimin curse under his breath. “Fuck. I hate tall people. Taehyung and his fucking...”
He glanced over his shoulder at the shorter, who was standing on his tiptoes, arms outstretched towards the top shelf. “Need help?”
Jimin huffed, jumping slightly to try to snatch the container off of the shelf. “It’s fine, I’m fine, just a little bit more…”
Jeongguk smiled, shaking his head. “You’re always too stubborn, hyung.” He made his way across the room, leaning over Jimin as he reached up and grabbed the container. He felt Jimin’s back press against his stomach, and the elder visibly tensed. Jeongguk chose to ignore it, handing him the container.
Jimin rubbed at his cheeks, which were slightly red from what Jeongguk assumed to be the heat of the stove. “Thanks, Gguk-ah.” He turned swiftly away, starting to warm the milk and leaving Jeongguk to wonder whether he did anything wrong.
Just then, a cough sounded from the kitchen door, and Jeongguk turned to see Taehyung standing in what seemed to be an uncomfortable position. Both of his hands were extended upwards (enough that he was touching the wall above the door), and his knee was lifted like he was trying to rest his foot on a chair. Their eyes met and Taehyung quickly snapped out of his position, leaning nonchalantly on the doorframe. “Yo, what’s poppin, homie?”
Jeongguk raised an eyebrow. “Why are you here? You gonna help us?”
Taehyung’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “Oh, um. No. Just wanted to say... remember to give me extra marshmallows. Yes. Goodbye!” He glanced nervously above the door before darting back off to the group, voice rising in an anguished wail moments later.
Jeongguk and Jimin shared a confused look, then Jimin shrugged. “Well, the milk’s heated.”
They made the drinks together, shoulders touching. Jeongguk had to resist the urge to pinch Jimin’s cheeks whenever the blonde shoved a mini marshmallow in his mouth. He was just so cute, damn it!
Finishing despite Jeongguk’s… erm, distraction, Jimin grabbed the taller’s hand and dragged him towards the doorway. “C’mon. If they want their hot chocolate, they’re gonna get it themselves.” He moved to exit the kitchen, but was blocked by Taehyung.
“Uh oh!” he said with a cheeky grin, and Jeongguk felt dread settle in the pit of his stomach. “You two… y’know, it’s that time of the season, and...”
“Tae,” Jimin interrupted with a frown. “Can you move?”
Taehyung looked at him, then up at the top of the doorframe. Jimin and Jeongguk followed his gaze, only to see–
“Mistletoe, Taehyung?” Jeongguk said with a groan, feeling the burn of embarrassment fill his body. “Who even does that?”
He frowned. “Me. Anyways, you two are under it, soooo… tradition! I’ll even give you privacy.” He bounced away, sitting airily down next to Seokjin, whose face was bright red with laughter. He even covered his eyes, burying his face in the older boy’s shoulder. Jeongguk was sure he was the color of a tomato at this point, though if it was from anger or embarrassment, he wasn’t sure. He should’ve known Taehyung had something planned!
“We don’t have to do it, you know,” a voice said softly from beside him, and Jeongguk flinched, eyes darting from Taehyung to Jimin’s face. Jimin looked nervous, but he had a gorgeous flush on his cheeks and his eyes were curled into that gorgeous eye smile and by god he was irresistible.
“Oh, um, I…” Jeongguk stuttered, suddenly flustered. His eyes darted nervously to his feet and back up to Jimin’s lips. “...I mean, if you don’t want to, it’s okay. But I’m, y’know, cool. With it. Kissing you, that is. That sounds weird, did I just make it weird? Is this–”
He was cut off by the feeling of Jimin’s finger pressing to his lips, effectively shutting him up. “You’re rambling, Jeongguk-ah.”
Jeongguk blinked. “Ah,” he mumbled. “Yes. Sorry.”
Jimin smiled encouragingly, removing his finger from the taller’s lips. “It’s fine.”
Yoongi’s voice rang from the other room. “Can you guys stop stalling? You’ve both waited long enough for this.” Jimin ignored him, placing a hand on each side of Jeongguk’s face.
“This okay?” he asked, and Jeongguk nodded meekly. With that, Jimin was leaning in and his eyes were closing and their noses were bumping and their lips were touching and Jeongguk felt like there were fireworks exploding in every inch of his body.
His hands instinctively went to Jimin’s waist as he reciprocated the kiss, their lips meeting in a slightly bashful harmony. Something in the back of his mind told him that he should be worried about the repercussions, but the softness of Jimin’s lips pressed against his own muffled his ability to think properly.
After what simultaneously felt like half of a second and an eternity, Jimin pulled away, eyes sparkling. “There, that wasn’t so bad.” His hands dropped to his sides, where Jeongguk’s still laid dormant on his hips.
“Mhm…” Jeongguk hummed, eyes wide. He found himself unable to look away from Jimin’s eyes, which were curled up into little crescents from his smile. Their friends were dead silent, but that was the last thing on Jeongguk’s mind. “That was… yes. Um. Wow.”
“I think he’s broken,” Namjoon said solemnly from the other room. Seokjin shushed him, clapping a hand over his mouth.
Jungkook nodded in agreement. “Yes. Can I kiss you again?”
Jimin mimicked him, nodding his head up and down. “Sure.” He moved a hand behind Jeongguk’s head, fingers tangling themselves in his hair as the taller brought their lips together again. This time, they kissed more passionately, confidently. It was everything Jeongguk could’ve hoped for and more, the way they just fit together like two pieces of a puzzle.
They lost track of time, only breaking apart when Hoseok coughed meaningfully from the couch. “Uh… guys? Should we deal you some cards, or…?” Thankfully, their friends had all averted their eyes, but they couldn’t help glancing over at the pair every once in a while (especially since they’d been kissing for close to five minutes).
Jeongguk pulled away first, exhaling heavily. He licked at his lips, which were undoubtedly as red as Jimin’s were. “Um. Yeah, sure, just a second.” His gaze never left Jimin’s, losing himself in the sparkling mocha of his irises. He lowered his voice, hand coming up to cup Jimin’s cheek. “Okay. This might be a bit forward, hyung, but I really like you. So I just want to make sure I’m not… you know, misinterpreting anything.”
Jimin smirked, his plump lips still glistening with saliva. “I just made out with you in front of our friends, baby. That’s pretty hard to misinterpret.” He pulled Jeongguk’s forehead to his, arms circling his neck. “I really, really like you, Jeongguk. And even though this isn’t really how I imagined our first kiss–” he shot a pointed look at Taehyung, who looked shell-shocked. “–it was by far the best kiss I’ve ever had because it was with you.”
Jeongguk just stood there, caught in a state of shock. They stood in silence for ten long seconds, unblinking, until Jeongguk shattered it.
“Be my boyfriend.”
Jimin’s eyes widened. “Wow. Okay.”
“Are you guys done?” Seokjin whined, standing up abruptly. “You’re blocking the doorway and I want hot chocolate!”
Jimin broke apart their embrace in order to step out of the doorway. He took Jeongguk by the hand, pulling him out and locking their fingers together. “Yes. He’s my boyfriend now.”
Yoongi looked up, his expression completely unsurprised. “About time, whipped bastards. You guys gonna play, or what?”
Jeongguk nodded, still in a daze. “Jimin’s my boyfriend.”
“Congrats,” Yoongi replied dryly. “It’s your turn. Blue six.” He handed Jimin their cards as Jeongguk sat down, his lips tugging upwards despite himself as the smaller immediately situated himself back in Jeongguk’s lap.
“I feel like you should be more happy for us,” Jimin said with a mischievous grin, pressing a kiss to Jeongguk’s cheek. “But since you aren’t…” He played a blue draw-two, garnering a groan from Hoseok and Yoongi.
Christmas had never been Jeongguk’s favorite holiday, but Jeongguk found that having Jimin (his boyfriend!!!) in his lap as they laughed with their friends just might have been the highlight of his year. And besides, what’s a better present than a kiss from the boy you’re in love with?