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He must be possessed.
That's the only logical explanation Mingyu can come up with because while he knows Jeonghan enjoys a weekend getaway to a ski resort or a (brief) stroll through falling snow flurries, spending the day out in the literal forest in below freezing temperatures isn't something he'd chalk up to the elder's interests.
So that must be it, Jeonghan must be possessed.
Not that Mingyu is really complaining, because there's something very amusing about watching the other trudge through the snow all huffing and puffing. Mingyu hasn't got a clue where they're going so despite Jeonghan's very obvious exhaustion, he has to keep walking in the lead.
"Do you wanna take a break?" Mingyu asks him, meaning it genuinely. But the small smile twitching at the corners of his lips don't go unseen by his partner.
"You're gonna get it," Jeonghan replies after a loud exhale. "Once we get back home and I wake up from my nap. That's when you're gonna get it."
Mingyu laughs, leaning down and nudging Jeonghan's shoulder with his own. It's a bit too hard, he realizes after the fact, because Jeonghan stumbles forward. He's been meaning to work on that, underestimating his own strength. His mom wasn't lying when she told him he resembled a bull in a china shop.
"Can you tell me now? Please?" Mingyu pouts, kicking at the fluffy snow beneath his boots.
He truly doesn't have the faintest idea what they are doing. They took the train out to the countryside, a local bus to some wooded area, and now they're trudging through the snow, some of the deepest Mingyu has ever experienced, through a forested area that is peacefully (and almost eerily) quiet.
"Nope," Jeonghan replies easily. He pulls out his phone and checks something, which Mingyu tries to sneak a glance at by leaning over his shoulder. He gets an elbow in the stomach for his boldness. "Just be patient."
"Easy for you to say, you're not in the dark!"
"Right. I'm also more patient than you are."
"That's not true!"
"I can also keep a secret--"
"I can keep a secret!"
Jeonghan snorts and Mingyu doesn't have anything else to argue back.
"Just be patient." Jeonghan pauses for a beat, turning to look at Mingyu with squinted eyes. "Or I swear, I will turn this car around!"
Despite how antsy he feels, Mingyu can't help but laugh at the joke. If he can't get any information out of his boyfriend, it must be worth the wait.
"We're here," Jeonghan tells him in a sing-songy voice.
Mingyu stops in his tracks and looks around; there's nothing but tons of trees and an old, nearly snowed in shed a few meters away.
If he wasn't extremely confident that Jeonghan enjoyed his company, his brain would be screaming for him to run because it reminds him of some traumatizing horror movie he's seen in the past.
Jeonghan makes his way over to the shed and, somehow, knows the code to open the heavy metal lock on the door.
"What... is happening?" Mingyu asks, more to himself than anyone else.
Jeonghan doesn't reply but instead disappears into the shack. Mingyu can hear the creaky floorboards and the distinct sound of metal scraping along metal. He feels like he should be more on edge when his boyfriend emerges with a large saw and some sort of ax looking tool in either hand.
"Um. Hyung?"
The grin on Jeonghan's face is wide and toothy; normally it has Mingyu's heart soaring and his resolve dissolving, but he's too confused to completely fall for it this time.
"Which one do you like?"
"Uh... the saw?"
Jeonghan laughs loudly and it almost seems to echo throughout the woods. "I meant which tree do you like?"
"Huh?"
"We're gonna cut down a Christmas tree."
Mingyu blinks at him, shuffling backwards when Jeonghan holds out the saw for him to take.
Truthfully, Mingyu knows he should be more excited. It's been a dream of his since he was a kid to go pick out a tree and cut it down for the holidays, ever since he saw it in some western movies. There was something magical about it, something extra special, more than just stacking together fake branches tucked inside a box for 11 months of the year.
"Hyung..." he starts. "We can't just cut down a random tree in the forest. That's like stealing or something."
Jeonghan heaves a heavy sigh and while his face is partially obscured from where Mingyu is standing, he just knows the other is rolling his eyes.
"Do you think I'm an idiot? I got permission from the owner, so we can take one home. Now take this darn thing and pick one out." Jeonghan shakes the saw in his outstretched hand.
Hesitantly, Mingyu reaches out and grips the saw. It's lighter than he expected it to be. He's never cut down a tree before. He's never even worked with a saw!
Jeonghan checks his phone again before shoving it back into his pocket.
"I've always wanted to cut down my own Christmas tree," Mingyu tells him.
Jeonghan's face softens at that, smiling. "I know. That's why we're here."
The clenching in Mingyu's chest is almost painful but he's too caught up in the realization that something he must have mentioned in passing who knows how long ago was remembered by Jeonghan. And not only remembered but made into a reality. Something as silly as cutting down a tree and carrying it home may seem kind of pointless to some (Mingyu imagines Jeonghan is one of them), but the fact that he knows it means something special to Mingyu says more than words ever could.
"I love you," he suddenly blurts out, unable to disconnect the line from his emotions to his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Me too," Jeonghan laughs, reaching up a wet gloved hand to pat Mingyu's cheek. He doesn't even flinch against the coldness but instead leans into it. "Now pick out a tree!"
They spend the next half hour surveying trees, Jeonghan humoring the meticulous manner in which Mingyu inspects them. He babbles on about fullness and shape and height, things he's sure that Jeonghan couldn't care less about. But his boyfriend stays beside him and listens to it all with open ears. He takes numerous pictures of Mingyu beside the chosen tree once they find "the one" and he's a massive help when they begin the awkward and clumsy job of cutting down the tree. Mingyu is sure he'll be finding pine needles in his boots and hair for days but he couldn’t be happier.
Once the perfect tree is down and Mingyu calls out an unnecessary (but impossible to resist) "Timber!!", he suddenly has a realization.
"Um, hyung... how are we supposed to get this back to the apartment?"
Jeonghan sighs loudly again, kicking away the tools that were tossed down on the ground.
"Hey. You really do think I'm dumb, don't you?"
And as if timed perfectly, a car horn rings out in the distance. Mingyu tries to locate the sound and through the trees, not too far off in the distance, he sees a familiar black truck. When the driver hops out and frantically waves over at them, Mingyu recognizes him immediately.
"You asked Seokmin to bring his dad's truck?"
"Yeah. I didn't think you'd be able to carry the tree and me all the way home," Jeonghan says before grabbing onto Mingyu's shoulders from behind and jumping onto his back.
The two tumble down into the snow in a bubble of laughter. Mingyu somehow manages to catch a kiss before he hears Seokmin approaching and whining about how gross the two of them are being with their PDA.
It only makes Mingyu steal another kiss.