Work Text:
Living alone had its pros and cons. Sure, no one yelling at you and telling you to clean up your room was great, as well as being able to do whatever you want and whenever you want.
Living all alone, far away from close friends and family, meant being lonely. However, that feeling always hits differently around this time of the year: Christmas.
Hoseok -being the extroverted, outgoing sunshine he is- had a hard time being all by himself. There were times when loneliness felt nearly suffocating.
Everywhere around him, every single time he went out, he saw people spending time /together/. Walking hand in hand, smiling beautifully at each other and enjoying each other’s presence.
Oh, how Hoseok wished he had someone like that.
Luckily for him, he always had his /best friend/, right?
Said best friend,Taehyung, a year younger literature and art student, was Hobi's closest and only friend. The two clicked together pretty quick, both moving far away from their hometowns, leaving their whole life behind to pursue their dreams.
They bumped into each other while moving in their apartments.
Being the only students who joined in the middle of the school year, when everyone already had their friend group, and being neighbours - Taehyung and Hoseok were stuck with one another.
Not that any of them had something against it.
“Taehyungie~ do you have time this week? I need help with the Christmas tree and decorations!” Older beamed happily on the phone. Christmas time was his favourite time of the year!
“Of course, I always have time for you Hoseokie,” Taehyung answered with a chuckle. Even if he wasn’t there, he knew Hoseok was smiling brightly as he went on about his, now their, plans.
What Tae forgot to mention was that, sure, he had time to help his favourite person (with putting up Christmas decorations all over his apartment) but only after the late class and his shift at the local bakery.
And here they were at 11pm on a dark, freezing cold night, looking for the perfect Christmas tree.
“Oh, heck no! We’re not taking that huge tree! It won’t even fit through the door!” the younger of the two argued, pointing at the big tree Hoseok was excitedly pointing at.
“But Tae!~” the older man whined with a triangle-shaped pout on his face. “It’s a tradition! To take the biggest one! I can’t just not do it.” he frowned and came up to Tae, hugging his arm and smiling sweetly.
“Don’t smile at me like that. No is a no.” Taehyung said, looking away because god, he was a weak, weak man for Hoseok. “As I said, I’m sure it won’t fit through the door. How do you want to take it there, huh?”
“I have a balcony!” Hobi answered with a proud smile on his face. It was a great idea!
“You live on the third floor. We’re not getting that one.”
They ended up getting the biggest one they could find (and afford).
It didn’t matter that the whole staircase was covered in tiny, green needles, or the fact they maybe, just maybe, lost a few branches.
When they secured the tree in the stand it took more than half of Hope's living room, covering the whole one window and making it hard to move at times.
Hobi couldn’t be any happier.
“I told you we can do it!” Hoseok giggled and hugged his /friend/ happily.
“Yeah yeah, good luck throwing it out after Christmas. I’m not helping you with that.” Tae chuckled and sat down on the couch, sprawling himself all over the free space there, occasionally kicking the branches laying near.
“Here,” Hobi passed younger a cup of warm caramel tea and sat on the couch right next to Tae’s side, pushing him back a little to make more space for himself.
“Thank you for helping me, Taehyungie~” the older lied down on his friend while still sitting, and hugged him tightly. “We can do the rest later, you must be so, so tired now.'' Hoseokie started playing with his best friend’s hair, making small braids here and there.
Tae couldn’t stop himself from smiling widely-thank god for the pillow hiding it well. Hoseok was too good to be true: so sweet; so caring; those pretty dimples; the way he gives the warmest hugs that feel like home, or the fact the older’s eyes tend to shine a little brighter when talking about even the smallest things that he loves and make him happy (the younger secretly hoped he was on that list).
Taehyung was whipped. You can’t blame him for falling for his friend when he was like that!
“Give me a minute, a few more hugs and we’re back to work.” Tae grinned as he raised his arm up, hoping that Hoseok would lie down next to him and give him the hugs he loved so much.
“Nuh-uh mister, I’m not falling for that.” the older ruffled Taehyung’s hair one last time before he stood up. “The faster we finish all the decorating, the more hugs you will get,” he giggled quietly at how easy it was to convince Tae with hugs. It always worked.
Never in his life had Taehyung gotten up so fast.
After over an hour of constant tiptoeing (for Hoseok that is), messing with tape, untangling Christmas lights and pushing through the tree branches because they took way too much space all over the small room- they were /finally/ done.
“It’s so pretty!” Hoseok moved back with a proud smile, admiring his small room filled with all kinds of Christmas decorations, lights and candles. Of course, a cherry on the cake was the obnoxiously large fir in the centre. There wasn’t a single spot in the room without even the tiniest Christmas touch to it.
“Yeah yeah,” Tae muttered as he flopped on the couch with a dramatic sigh. Now, all he wanted to do was get those warm hugs from Hoseok. If not them, he wouldn’t even get up in the first place.
“Ah, you must be so tired, Taehyungie~” Hobi played along with a small smile on his face. “Lie down and rest, I will take care of the boxes.” he sent the younger a bright smile as he started gathering said boxes to put them in one place.
That’s when Taehyung remembered about /it/.
That little piece of mistletoe he had in his pocket!
How did it end up there? You see, Hoseok took his sweet time making that extremely hard decision of choosing the perfect tree. Tae, being bored out of his mind, followed his friend like a lost puppy, picking at the trees and branches mindlessly, until… he noticed a small blush of mistletoe.
It couldn’t be a coincidence. Work of fate, possibly.
Younger of the two, making sure he won’t get caught red-handed, plucked a small twig from the mistletoe bush and put it in his coat's pocket, making sure it’s all safe there. He will put it to a /great/ use.
Suddenly, all the tiredness left Taehyung's body. He shot up from the couch and ran to his coat, hoping the little plant inside his pocket was still alive.
Hoseok was busy with doing the dishes as he hummed a random song that got stuck in his head.
He was so into washing the mugs, he didn’t notice his /best friend/ moving a chair, struggling with the scotch tape and slamming something, rather loudly, on the wall.
~~
“Ah, you’re going already?” Hobi asked with a pout, throwing himself at Tae, engulfing him in a tight hug. “Can’t you stay a little longer?” he looked up with a small, hopeful smile on his face. He wanted Taehyung to stay with him.
“Hmm,” the younger of the two faked a thinking pose while taking small steps back, with his arms wrapped around Hoseok. “I don’t know,” he smiled widely and looked up, checking if they were standing in the right place.
“Hey, come here,” Tae said as he put his hand on Hoseok’s waist.
He took a deep breath. It was now or never.
“Why should I-” That’s when Hoseok felt it; Tae’s lips on his.
Taehyung /kissed/ him.
His /crush/ kissed him!
And Hoseok kissed him back.
Taehyung, feeling that Hoseok kissed back instead of pushing him away, slid his hands on the older's waist and brought him close, leaving no space between them.
He was on cloud nine.
All the years of crushing on his best friend and now, here they are, doing something Tae only ever dreamed of.
Crushing on your closest friend wasn’t as sweet and easy as it seems. Taehyung was always open about his feelings toward Hoseok.
He could go on and on, saying that he loves hoseok too much, how much he cares for him, how much he admires him and remind older about that every single day (if not more often), just for hoseok to brush it off with that huge, warm smile of his.
Hobi, being the extremely oblivious person he is, always saw it in a friendly way because “Why would Taehyungie like someone like me?”
With time passing by, Tae noticed he was looking at Hoseok a little longer than usual. He started feeling afraid that his little, subtle stares won’t be that subtle anymore. Now, all his rational thoughts were completely gone leaving his mind blank; the only thing he could think about was Hoseok.
His arms wrapped tightly around smaller. A nice, warm and fuzzy feeling spreading throughout his chest with his head tilted to the side a little.
Is this what heaven feels like?
Hobi let his heart and instincts take over.
Speaking of heart, his was racing like crazy. He hooked his hands around the younger's neck, tiptoeing a little to meet Tae’s lips.
The butterflies in his stomach were going absolutely crazy.
Hoseok often found himself daydreaming about him and Taehyung in various situations. it happened so many times, to the point it became a small habit of his.
He found himself zoning off everywhere he was, way too many times for his liking. It happened so easily, so naturally. Heck, Taehyung even once caught him daydreaming about them in the cafeteria. Older nearly died of embarrassment.
Hoseok melted into the kiss, not aware of how much he needed that kiss until it happened, of course. It was like a dream come true. A dream that made his knees weak.
The kiss was sweet. Full of emotions the two had deep inside them, bottled up and kept in secret from each other.
It was full of /love/.
Once they parted, their foreheads joined together, both breathing heavily. Taehyung with his boxy grin plastered on his face on full display. Hoseok blushing madly while looking down yet not being able to fight back his smile.
Tae still held older so close. Letting go of him was not an option.
Taehyung loved holding him like that, and Hoseok loved being held that way.
“Merry christmas, Hoseokie,” the younger of the two chuckled. His wide smile grew bigger and bigger as he tucked a strand of the older’s hair behind his ear.
Hope’s beetroot red blush didn’t go unnoticed.
To be honest, he was a little lost. Why would Taehyung say something like that, right after they kissed? It wasn’t even Christmas Eve today! He didn't understand it one bit.
It took awhile for Hoseok to look up at Taehyung, simply too embarrassed to maintain any form of eye contact with the younger.
When he /finally/ looked up, he saw that handsome grin he loved and noticed it’s owner pointing up. Older immediately followed up where tae was pointing just to see… /oh/. A piece of mistletoe taped to the ceiling, right above them.
Now, it made sense.
“I l-love you,” Hoseok blurted out, not looking anywhere near taehyung.
After a few minutes of silence, it finally hit him - he really said it.
At first, Tae thought his mind was playing tricks on him. Hobi couldn’t possibly say it, right?
“Say it again,” Taehyung started. He needed to make sure it really happened.
“Say w-what again?” Older laughed nervously, looking down at the floor again as if it was the most interesting thing to ever exist.
“Look at me, and repeat what you just said,” Tae said, already looking down at him. He wanted to hear Hoseok say it over and over again.
“But I didn't say a-anything!”
“Oh, so you don’t love me?” He asked, with a small pout on his face, and obvious, fake sadness in his voice.
“No! I mean.. I do love you!” Hope said with his eyes squeezed shut. His whole face was red. How embarrassing!
“There you go,” the younger said, pressing a small kiss on the older's soft cheek. He looked at Hoseok. Seeing his blush now reaching his ears and neck made him even more adorable, if that was even possible.
“I love you too,” he added, barely above a whisper, as if it was a secret of his.
The two looked at each other with love and adoration in their eyes, exchanging soft and loving smiles.
Both enjoyed holding their loved one close, not intending on letting the latter go.
Taehyung ended up staying the night.