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If someone told Jeno 24 hours ago that this was going to be how he was going to spend Christmas Eve —trapped with no other than his roommate in the art room of his campus— he would’ve made sure to at least have a drink on him first.
Or more like a couple.
It all had started a few hours ago. Jeno was already in a bit of a sour mood, thinking about how he was going to have to spend Christmas on campus. At least he wasn't going to be alone, as some of his friends, like him, weren't lucky enough to escape the last bits of finals seasons. Renjun was hosting a dinner for all his friends who were still at school, and Jeno was grateful to at least have company for the holidays.
Last night, though, while he was trying to finish a model for his urban design class, it had occurred to him that if he didn't finish by tonight, he was probably going to have to choose between doing that or going to Renjun's. He pulled an all-nighter, which was fine, Jeno was used to it by now.
But then, in the morning, he had accidentally cut his finger with the cutting tool he was using, and his hand, in a knee-jerk reaction, had hit the model, and made one of the central buildings of his model fall straight onto the floor.
He sighs, pressing a paper towel to his finger. He's on the verge of tears —tears of frustration, mostly— when he hears steps behind him. He doesn't need to turn around to know it's his roommate, who must have just woken up.
"Hey," Jeno says, but his voice trembles. He clears his throat before speaking again, eyes fixed on the model. "Umh, good morning."
"Good morning, sunshine," Jaemin says, stopping besides him to pick up the tiny building still lying on the floor. "What happened? I heard a yelp."
"Nothing," Jeno says, smiling as he puts his hands behind his back. "Sorry if I woke you up. I dropped that to the floor, but it's fine."
Jaemin raises an eyebrow, a clear sign that he doesn't believe him, and leaves the building on the table. He extends a hand to Jeno, making a gesture. "Show me."
Jeno sighs. He already knows Jaemin won't let this go. He’s used to Jeno’s accidents by now, given that scaled models are the vane of Jeno’s existence. He sighs again, holding the paper towel between his fingers so it doesn't fall from to the floor, finally showing Jaemin his hand.
"Jeno," he says. He sounds concerned, his eyes filled with worry. Jeno looks away, choosing to look at his hand instead. "How many hours did you sleep last night?"
"Well..." He trails off. He knows Jaemin won't like his answer. But he had wanted to finish this quickly, and he was so focused that he had lost track of time. He always worked the best at nighttime, anyway.
"Jen," Jaemin says, and the nickname makes his heart stutter for a second. "We've talked about this. You need to sleep."
"But I need to finish this," he replies, pouting as Jaemin takes his hand between his own to look at his wound. The cut is superficial, mostly, and the bleeding seems to have stopped already.
"I know," he says, taking Jeno and guiding him to the sofa. "Let me clean it."
Jaemin goes to the bathroom and comes back with a first-aid kit, the one he had insisted on buying. Jaemin kneels before him, leaving the kit on the sofa, and starts disinfecting the cut with povidone. Jeno holds back a hiss, because even though Jaemin is careful, it still stings the lightest bit.
"I can help you with the model, I have some free time today," Jaemin says as he finishes, putting the cotton he just used aside. He looks up, gesturing with his finger. "I won't put a band aid because the air helps with—"
"Cicatrization, I know," Jeno finishes.
Jaemin laughs, giving him a small bump on the leg. "Good boy," he says, closing the kit and standing up. Jeno’s stomach drops at the nickname. "We can put one later. Now, where do we start? What do you need help with?"
Jeno smiles, looking at him for a few more seconds before closing his eyes. "You really don't have to—"
"C'mon," Jaemin interrupts, nudging at him. "I will be the best assistant ever!" he says, his signature smile on his face. Almost unconsciously, Jeno mimics his smile. God, he’s so whipped for Jaemin .
"But first!" Jaemin says, holding out a hand to him. "Let's get you to bed.”
Jeno takes his hand without hesitation, and Jaemin lifts him from the couch softly. He puts an arm around his waist, and squeezes lightly. Jeno tries not to blush at his proximity.
"I'll wake you up for lunch."
Jeno wakes up exactly three hours later, feeling much better now that he at least rested for a few hours. The model's still unfinished, but Jaemin had given him lunch and promised to help him after he was done wrapping gifts.
They had worked on the model for a while then, Jeno working on the building he had lost in the morning, while Jaemin helped in some other details. All in all, it was looking much better, and he was confident they could finish it before nighttime, if everything went well.
“You know what this is missing?” Jaemin says, interrupting his train of thoughts. He hovers over the model, pointing at the main street. “Some fake trees.”
“Yeah,” Jeno says, smiling. Almost all of Jeno’s models feature a bunch of fake trees, when it fits the model, of course. He already had thought of that, but he didn’t have any trees left over from previous projects, and most stores were closed because of Christmas Eve. “I used them all last semester, though. Think we could make them or something? We could make some bushes with green spray paint, if everything else fails. The storage room should have some.”
“The storage room on the art building?” He asks, humming. Jeno nods. “I think Renjun has a copy of the key. We can go look, at least. It doesn’t hurt to try.”
“Yeah,” Jeno agrees. “You’re right.”
“As usual.”
Jeno shakes his head, smiling. He’d argue with that, but he knows it’s pointless by now.
Jisung drops a copy of the key a few hours later. The storage room's located by the east side of the campus — Jeno’s very familiar with it already. It’s very cold outside, so Jaemin decides to bring a mug of hot coffee with him.
They walk slowly, mostly because of Jaemin’s coffee, but when it suddenly starts snowing they are forced to quicken their pace.
“Snow?” Jaemin asks, bringing a hand to the sky. “I thought it wasn’t supposed to snow today.”
“I don’t know, to be honest.” Jeno doesn’t remember checking the weather forecast for the day, so he just shrugs, looking at a snowflake that falls right into Jaemin’s hand.
Jaemin laughs, hissing slightly at the cold. “It stings.”
“Let’s hurry up,” Jeno says, putting a hand on Jaemin’s shoulder and looking at the sky. It’s cloudy and overly white. The snowflakes falling are still small, but he doesn’t want to risk it.
They arrive to the room a few minutes later. It’s cold as hell, but it’s still warmer than outside. Jeno turns on the lights, letting Jaemin close the door.
“Renjun said the spray paint should be at the back, in one of those boxes,” Jeno says, pointing at cardboard boxes piled up.
“I’ll help you look,” Jaemin offers, leaving the cup of coffee on one of the tables and following Jeno. “This might take a while, though.”
“Yeah,” Jeno agrees. It doesn’t help that the boxes are disorganized, the full room untidy. Renjun had warned him about it. “Let’s just get started.”
Half an hour later, they still haven’t found the green spray paint they need. Jeno's about to give up —it’s just trees, anyway— when the power goes out. And honestly, fuck the stupid trees.
Wait, no, the trees are cute. It’s not the tree's fault this is happening to him on Christmas Eve. That he’s trying to find spray paint in a dark, powerless building for a stupid model.
“Jeno?” Jaemin asks, voice unsure.
Jeno pulls out his phone and turns on the flashlight.
“Here,” Jeno says, waving a hand to him. He turns to Jaemin, and accidentally directs the flashlights to his face, which makes Jaemin close his eyes. “Sorry!”
“Don’t worry,” Jaemin says, chuckling nervously. “What the hell?” He asks, turning to look at the other side of the room. There’s wind hitting the door, making it creak loudly, even though it’s closed.
“Let’s just go, Nana,” Jeno says, walking to the door. When he opens up, he’s met with cold, freezing wind, and snow, lots and lots of snow.
He’s met with a freaking winter storm.
He slams the door close and turns back to Jaemin. “Well, that’s not good.”
“Yeah.” Jaemin says, chuckling again. He breathes out slowly, and honest to god, says: “Well... Do you want some coffee in the meanwhile?”
Jeno looks at Jaemin, and then at the mug, and then back at Jaemin.
He sighs.
“Isn’t it cold by now, though?”
“Don’t underestimate the power of a good thermos mug,” Jaemin replies, smiling as he takes the mug from the table. “It’s sealed, see?”
Jeno takes the cup from Jaemin’s hand, and takes off the lid. Steam comes from it, and Jeno takes a second to smell the coffee. It smells good, like the expensive coffee Jaemin prepares for himself every morning.
“Try it,” Jaemin encourages.
Jeno smiles before taking a sip. It’s warm and comforting for a good second— just before the bitter taste washes over his mouth.
“I’m sorry, but this is awful,” he says, scrunching his nose. “Now I get why Renjun never wants to drink this.”
He hands the mug back to Jaemin, who only laughs before taking a sip from that hellish coffee. Jaemin sighs, his breath leaving a small trail of white. “It’s warm, though, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is,” Jeno replies, shaking his head. Jaemin licks his lips, and Jeno can’t help but stare. He clears his throat, suddenly feeling very self conscious about the situation they are in.
The light above them flickers, and Jeno looks up, startled.
Well, at least power's back.
“Hey,” Jaemin says. Jeno hums. “Are you okay?”
Jeno raises his eyebrows, lowering his gaze to look at Jaemin again. He looks completely serious, a soft frown on his face, and Jeno grins. Yeah, this is definitely not how he figured he would be spending Christmas Eve like, trapped here with Jaemin, but he can’t complain.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“With you,” Jeno starts, fully smiling now. “Yeah, I think I’m okay.”
“You’re so cute, Jeno,” Jaemin replies, and Jeno blushes. “Come here,” he nugdes, opening his arms. Jeno doesn’t need to be told twice. He takes a step towards him, and onto Jaemin’s open arms. Jaemin’s face is warm, and Jeno closes his eyes, gently rubbing his cheek against his skin.
“Hey,” Jaemin says, whispering against his ear. “Do you think this is a bad place to have our first kiss?”
“What?” Jeno says, abruptly opening his eyes, a blush creeping up his face again. “Wait, what?”
Jaemin laughs softly, and puts both of his hands on Jeno’s face. He comes closer, so close that Jeno could count his beautiful eyelashes if he wanted to.
Jeno’s breath stops when Jaemin leans forward—
—and kisses his nose.
“Jeno, look! Spray paints!” Jaemin suddenly exclaims, startling him. He points behind him, moving closer to one of the boxes, the one that has spray paint written on the back.
“C’mon, let’s look for the green one,” Jaemin says, jumping up and down, excited. “We better get to Renjun’s soon. He’s going to kill us for being late,” he adds with a groan, already searching the box. “The storm excuse might help, though."
Jeno sighs, heart still on his throat. He tries to not sound so disappointed when he says: “Are you really not going to kiss me?”
Jaemin stops going through the box altogether. He turns to him again, and even from across the room, Jeno can see his reddened cheeks, his beautiful smile. “If you ask so nicely,” he says, pausing so he can come closer again. “How could I ever say no to you, Lee Jeno?”
It’s then —in the middle of a storm, in an otherwise cold, cold room— that Jaemin finally closes the distance between them, and kisses him.
“What the hell happened to you two?” Renjun asks as he opens the door. He looks equally annoyed and concerned, which— fair.
Jeno doesn’t know how to reply to that, because a lot of things happened in the last six hours, but it seems he doesn’t even need to, because Renjun's gaze drops to their linked hands.
“Nevermind, I don’t want to know,” he says, and Jeno blushes. God, what are they going to say to everyone else? He didn’t think this through. “Come in. Donghyuck made hot chocolate. He thought you might want some.”
“Thank you,” Jaemin says, tugging at Jeno’s hand. Jeno takes a deep breath, and enters the room, still holding onto Jaemin.
Jaemin squeezes his hand, smiling at him brightly, sweetly, like he always does— and nothing really matters anymore.
He smiles back, and turns to greet his friends. Mark, Jisung and Chenle are sitting on Renjun's couch, Donghyuck's nowhere to be seen, problably still in the kitchen.
Jeno grins.
“Merry Christmas, everyone.”