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“Hold my hand,” Haechan tells you as you both stand in the front door of his family’s house. Haechan’s mother invited the both of you over for a vacation this weekend. Haechan could not decline since she said his grandmother will be looking for him. Also, she is thrilled to meet you after knowing that you and Haechan got back together again.
“I don’t want to hold your hand!” you whispered, lowkey yelling at him as he is already annoying for you.
“Suck it up. You have to,” Haechan insists as he offers his hand waiting for yours to intertwine them.
“Ugh, I hate you so much,” giving him an annoyed look, you could not handle the stress this situation brings you.
“Shut up and hold it already,” It has been a couple of minutes that the two of you are out there, arguing over a simple thing when the door swings open. Haehcan’s mother squeals with excitement as she sees both of you.
“Donghyuckie! Finally, you guys are here,” she hugs Haechan first then you. Hands still holding as you both enter the house. “I told you I was hearing something behind the door, sweetie,” his mother tells her husband who is sitting in the living room. “I’m sorry about that, your dad thought there were squirrels on the porch again making little noises, so I had to check. But why aren’t you guys knocking? We could have welcomed you sooner,”
“We were just talking about something. Not of a big deal mom,” Haechan replies. His mom comes her way to you and takes you away from the boy. She drags you into the kitchen and introduces you to the rest of the relatives that you have not met before.
“Y/n, it’s been a while. How are you darling?” Haechan’s grandmother asks as she greets you with a hug. She has had a special place in your heart already, knowing how kind she is to you and Haehcan. Knowing how fragile she is, especially with a weak heart, you and Haechan could not let her know about your breakup. The grandmother has had some fair share of emotional attachment to you and Haehcan’s relationship throughout the years. You cannot imagine how sad she could feel if she knew about it. Hence the reason why Haechan asked you to come with him and pretend to be still together – at least for the sake of his grandma. You thought a weekend with your ex would not hurt since there’ll be his family as well.
“Guys, come here! While waiting for the food to be ready, let’s give out presents first!” Haehcan’s mom takes out all the gifts everyone has prepared. She planned a little kris kringle, and of course, you picked Haechan. Doubtful that his mother intentionally let you pick him, did not bother you after realizing it was better than to give a gift to a relative you have not met yet. Everyone gathers in the living room as each relative reveals their gifts and gives them to the person they picked. And when it was Haechan’s turn, he takes out a flash drive and plugs it into the television.
“This is my present to the person I’ve picked, and will always pick,” he says, making everyone grin and look in your direction as they wait for your reaction. How the hell could he have picked you out of those names, now you are certain his mother again is behind all these. You fake a smile just so they could stop staring at you already. You see Haechan looking so serious at that moment, making you feel nervous about what the present could be.
A video starts playing on the screen, the scenes were familiar. It was a compilation of clips from when you both were still in college. Haechan used to take videos of his daily life in college and by that time, you were already a couple. So, most of his clips have you in it. It was a montage of you and Haechan’s moments when you used to go to every amusement park in every city you could think of. It is one of his bucket lists to play in every amusement park that there could be in the country. The clip is purely fun and colorful, like how your relationship with him was. There was not a moment of hatred and sadness in those clips and you suddenly missed the feeling of being happy. You wished every day it could be like that again, but you know it will never be any more.
“Merry Christmas y/n! I know my gift is kind of lame, I should have bought you your favorite scented candles. But I just want you to know that I am sorry for all the things I have done to make you feel upset. I hope I could still make it up to you,” suddenly Haehcan’s voice is heard from the background of the video. Everyone looks confused as to his last words, of what they could possibly mean. There was a moment of silence that is successfully cut off by his father, who says that the dinner is ready.
“You never showed those clips to me ever, I didn’t know you still have them until now,” you reply to him as Haechan approaches you.
“It was supposed to be one of my anniversary gifts for you, but... you know what happened then,” he explains. “So, what’s your response?” he asks as he stares at you seriously. You thought he was just fooling with you in the clip and is still part of the pretending. “Look, y/n. I know I still haven’t said my sincere apology, but I hope you give me another chance. I never wanted us to end, I just agreed because I don’t want to hold you back and upset you more. I’d understand if you don’t accept me again,” Haechan explains.
“I-I don’t know, Hyuck. Could we not talk about this now?” you say as you excuse yourself, handing him the present you bought for him. It is one of the limited-edition games he has been eyeing on for months now. He could not care more about it. All he wants is for your relationship to be better again, a wish he has this Christmas.