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Yeonjun kicked off his heavy boots and cursed when he immediately stepped into snow that had fallen from the underside of his boots, a wet spot already forming on his sock.

“I told you to brush off the snow outside”, he heard his fiancé call from somewhere inside the apartment and only rolled his eyes, feeling brave because he knew Soobin couldn't see him.

“I'm pretty sure the snow's from your boots”, he yelled back, despite having seen the snow fall from his own.

“Yeah, right”, he could almost see the way Soobin was nodding in mocking agreement.

Yeonjun huffed and shrugged off his coat. When he had put away his winter attire he peeled the wet sock off his foot. Soobin stuck his head out of the kitchen door when he was hopping around the hallway on one foot to get to their bedroom and get himself a new sock. Out of pure curiosity if Yeonjun could actually manage the way on one foot without falling on his ass, Soobin leaned against the doorframe and watched him with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a thoroughly amused expression. He was surprised by how far Yeonjun managed to make it before he ultimately did fall on his ass right when he reached the bedroom door. He flailed his arms and Soobin quickly rushed forward to catch him before he could hit the ground and hurt himself.

“Are you okay?”, he asked worriedly, holding Yeonjun tightly to his chest.

“You always manage to sweep me off my feet”, Yeonjun tried to wink but only ended up blinking instead.

Soobin stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before he started to laugh and leaned his forehead against Yeonjun's: “That is no appropriated reply to my question, you idiot.”

“I'm fine”, Yeonjun laughed and briefly brushed his hand against Soobin's cheek. “Thanks for catching me.”

Soobin laughed and helped Yeonjun back up, making sure he was steady on his feet before letting go. Yeonjun kissed his cheek and then went into their bedroom to get a new sock, but without risking another accident. Soobin shook his head at his fiancé's antics and returned to the kitchen to unpack the last of their groceries. He had one bag left when Yeonjun came into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Soobin's middle so he could squish his cheek against his fiancé's back.

“You know, technically speaking it's your fault that this happened”, Yeonjun mumbled against his back.

Soobin raised his eyebrows and put his hands on top of Yeonjun's where they were resting against his stomach: “Oh? Why is that?”

“You insisted on going grocery shopping in this weather.”

Soobin took one of Yeonjun's hands and pressed his lips against the back of it in a gentle kiss before dropping another kiss on the ring on Yeonjun's finger: “You do know that we were basically out of any kind of food right? We didn't even have stuff left that we buy and then never eat.”

“We could have probably leeched off Taehyun for a while.”

“You know very well that Beomgyu told him not to give you any more food because you raid their fridge that often when I'm not home.”

“Minor detail”, and Soobin could feel him shrug against his back.

“Come on, we have one more bag to unpack and then we can lay on the couch and do nothing.”

He felt Yeonjun nod against his back but since he refused to let go of him Soobin was forced to waddle through the kitchen and put the groceries away with Yeonjun firmly attached to his back. He was a little embarrassed by how out of breath he felt by the end of it and wondered if he maybe should give in to Yeonjun's whining and go to the gym with him every once in a while. His fiancé had wanted them to have a 'couple-thing' ever since they'd started dating and apparently living together did not count like Soobin had hoped.

“Okay, come on. Couch-time. Although you don't actually deserve it because you let me do all the work”, Yeonjun only stuck his tongue out at him and bounced over to the couch. Soobin followed him with a fond smile and comfortably settled down on the couch before opening his arms so Yeonjun could cuddle against him. Yeonjun happily snuggled against him and manoeuvred his head under Soobin's chin. Soobin turned on the TV and for a while they sat in comfortable silence.

Soobin was nodding off when Yeonjun's voice pulled him back into reality.

“Guess what I'm thinking about”, Yeonjun cocked his head to the side and expectantly looked at his fiancé.

Soobin pretended to think, both to humour Yeonjun and cover up that he had almost fallen asleep: “Hm... me?”

“Solid guess but no, I was actually thinking about something else.”

“I'd be offended if I wasn't so curious.”

Yeonjun laughed and kissed him: “You know I usually think about you 24/7. But right now, I was thinking that I want to get out of the city. It's impossible to enjoy winter the way it should be enjoyed when we're stuck in the city.”

“You really just adore every season, don't you?”

“With you? Of course.”

“You're cheesy.”

“That's why you love me.”

“Among other reasons.”

Yeonjun laughed and kissed him again: “So, what do you say? It'll be so nice! Just the two of us. It's been ages since we last went away together.”

“Yes, because Taehyun pouts every time we go away without him because he feels like he's missing out on something.”

“Well, Taehyun doesn't have to know. We'll only tell him that we were away when we already got back. Or even better, we let Beomgyu tell him. He always becomes a blubbering mess when Beomgyu does so much as smile at him, he'll never even think about what he actually told him.”

“You are devious”, Soobin teased and laughed when Yeonjun hit his chest.

“Come on, we'll have fun! I already have the perfect place in mind.”

Soobin kissed his cheek: “You know I'll go anywhere with you.”

Yeonjun blushed and hid his face against Soobin's chest.

“You know I'm actually the one who should constantly turn you into a blushing mess, right?”, Yeonjun whined and Soobin laughed.

“You've done that long enough. I think you deserve a taste of your own medicine. We're not the same people we were when we started dating. Besides, I think blushing looks very good on you.”

Yeonjun let out another whine and pushed his face even further against Soobin's chest.

“So, are you for once going to tell me where we're going?”

Yeonjun raised his head, a mischievous smile pulling at his lips: “Absolutely not. It's basically a tradition by now that you don't know where we're going.”

The following weekend saw them sitting in Yeonjun's Mustang – that he relentlessly kept fixing up and improving to keep up with the demands of time – driving along a road, the destination of which was only known to Yeonjun. Soobin looked out the window and admired the way the freshly fallen snow made the surrounding fields look pristine and soft like they were covered with a fluffy blanket. Yeonjun had turned up the radio and was singing along at the top of his lungs, occasionally glancing at Soobin and trying to animate him to sing with him. Soobin waved him off every time, preferring to look at the landscape that was quickly passing by instead, until he risked a quick look at Yeonjun's face and saw him pout. Soobin rolled his eyes fondly, took a deep breath and belted out the highest note he could reach in time with the song. Yeonjun startled and then started laughing happily, joining in on Soobin's screeching.

Somewhere along the road snowflakes began falling from the sky again, gently at first and then continuously getting heavier. Soobin rolled down the window and reached out, trying to catch a few snowflakes in the palm of his hand. It proved difficult with how fast they were driving along the road but eventually he managed to catch one. It immediately melted away in his hand and Soobin stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, a little upset that he couldn't show Yeonjun the pretty snowflake he had managed to catch.

“Would you please close the window? It's freezing and you're letting the snow come in.”

Soobin closed the window and sighed: “I managed to catch a snowflake but it melted and now I can't show you. And my hand's cold.”

Yeonjun smiled: “There's not a single snowflake that could compete with you anyway. As long as I can look at you, I'm not missing out.”

Soobin covered his face with his hand but quickly withdrew them because they were so cold: “Stop it, I thought it was my turn to make you blush now.”

“Did you really think I'd go down without a fight? You should know me better than that”, Yeonjun teased.

Soobin groaned: “I guess I should.”

He rubbed his hands together and whined: “My hands are so cold. Stop laughing at my misery.”

Yeonjun bit his lip and tried to suppress his laughter: “Don't worry we're almost at our hotel for the night, I'll warm your hands when we get there.”

Soobin nodded, satisfied with the reply and settled back into his seat, excited to see the hotel Yeonjun had picked for them to spend the night at, before they would reach their final destination the day after. After a while, he was starting to feel a little drowsy. They had been on the road for several hours already and it was starting to get dark outside. Soobin tried to make out the faint outlines of the landscape through the window but he was barely able to see anything anymore and his eyes started to close slowly.

He jolted awake when Yeonjun shook him slightly and then patted down the hair at the back of his head that had gotten a little messed up.

“Did we reach the hotel? How long was I asleep?”

“We did. And for about two minutes.”

“Oh”, Soobin could have sworn he'd slept for hours.

Yeonjun kissed his cheek and then got out of the car to grab their bags and check them in, while Soobin's brain and body needed a minute to kick back into action. He rubbed his eyes and got out of the car. The cold evening air cleared his head and woke him up a little. The snow was still falling in heavy flakes and a few of them attached themselves to his lashes. He blinked a few times but couldn't shake them off. Huffing he waded through the snow and stomped it off his boots when he reached the hotel's front door. When he was sure that he wasn't going to carry snow everywhere anymore, he opened the door. An involuntary sigh escapes him when he was enveloped by the warmth inside the hotel. The lobby was adorably small and cosy. It was tastefully furnished but in a way that made Soobin feel right at home. He walked over to the reception desk where Yeonjun was standing, chatting away with an elderly lady. Soobin cringed a little at the rustling of his jacket as he walked, disrupting the hum of Yeonjun's and the woman's voices as both turned to look at him. Soobin felt himself blush but then Yeonjun smiled at him with the single most adoring smile and Soobin found himself swooning instead. Yeonjun picked up their bags off the floor, wished the receptionist and the lady he had been talking to a good night and then led Soobin up a flight of stairs and to their room for the night.

Soobin was delighted with their room. It was warm and cosy, the bed was huge and carried an abundance of pillows, and it felt welcoming and homely. Yeonjun dropped their bags to the floor, closed the door behind them and went to put his arms around Soobin.

“What do you think?”

Soobin turned and kissed him: “I love it. How do you always find these places?”

Yeonjun smiled but didn't reply, keeping the secret of his hotel finding skills to himself. Soobin would only worry anyway if he knew that Yeonjun had spent days researching hotels and other places to stay in the area that had everything Soobin loved in a home, so he kept it to himself. They shrugged off their jackets and boots. There wasn't exactly a point in unpacking their things, as they were yet to reach their final destination, so they let themselves fall on the bed instead. Yeonjun grabbed the remote and turned on the small TV for a bit of background noise while they tried to motivate themselves to make an effort and get ready for bed. With how sleepy Soobin had been in the car, it was now even harder to convince himself to move. Yeonjun eventually managed to lure him into the bathroom by promising him cuddles when they went to bed. Never one to say no to cuddles, Soobin rolled off the bed in an instant, almost tripping over his own feet in his hurry to get ready as fast as humanly possible.

Yeonjun felt his heart swell in his chest and for a moment he got genuinely scared it might jump out of his chest. He had never thought it was possible to love someone as much as he loved Soobin; even less so that someone like Soobin would return his feelings equally as strongly. There were 7 billion people living on earth and out of all of them he was the one Soobin had chosen to love. He didn't know what he had done to deserve him but he was willing to do whatever it took to be worthy of him. Yeonjun smiled and dug around his suitcase for his toiletry bag before joining Soobin in the bathroom, who was currently trying to brush his teeth and his hair at the same time. Yeonjun shook his head and grabbed the hairbrush from him, volunteering to do it for him instead so he could focus on brushing his teeth. Soobin smiled, mouth full of toothpaste, and Yeonjun kissed his cheek. He was never going to find someone as adorable as his Soobin, he was sure of that. He was tempted to kiss him on his toothpaste-covered lips but chose to wait instead so he could kiss him silly later when they were cuddled up in bed. Soobin rinsed his mouth and then made space for Yeonjun so he could brush his teeth as well.

By the time Yeonjun was finished in the bathroom and went to put on his pyjamas, Soobin was already snuggled into bed. He was looking at the TV but immediately perked up and made grabby hands when he saw Yeonjun exit the bathroom. Yeonjun laughed and hurriedly got dressed before jumping on the bed and crawling under the covers. He hadn't fully snuggled in when Soobin's hands were already grabbing him and pulling him against his chest. Yeonjun smiled and cuddled against him, cheek squished against his chest. Soobin rested his chin on the crown of Yeonjun's head after pressing a gentle kiss to his hair. They continued to watch the film that was playing on TV for a while before both of them felt their eyelids get heavy and they turned it off.

Before Yeonjun would let him sleep however, he grabbed Soobin's face with both hands, squished his cheeks once and then pulled him down to kiss him lovingly. He felt Soobin's smile against his mouth and giggled into the kiss. They continued to kiss for a while, slow and languid, just enjoying the other's presence. It made Yeonjun feel giddy and bubbly, even after all the years that they had been together by now. Eventually, he pressed one last kiss to Soobin's lips and then snuggled against his chest again, feeling Soobin's arms tighten around him. He smiled when he grew aware of the steady beat of Soobin's heart right beneath his ear and pressed himself even tighter against him, he didn't want there to be any room left between them. Being in Soobin's arms once again reaffirmed what he already knew, as long as he was with him, he was home.

Soobin woke up to slivers of light peeking through the small opening between the curtains. He looked down and saw Yeonjun still soundly asleep with his cheek squished against his chest. The light coming from behind the curtains illuminated his face in a way that made him look absolutely ethereal and for a moment Soobin felt like all air had been stolen from his lungs. He gently traced a finger over the side of Yeonjun's face, all the way from the crown of his head, down to his temples, further down over his cheekbones until he could traced the sharp line of his jaw; then he moved back to run his finger down the gentle slope of his nose, before brushing over his plump lips with the pad of his thumb and then moving his finger further down over the small bump of his chin. He was absolutely mesmerized by his beautiful face, so much so that he startled when he moved his eyes up and found Yeonjun looking back at him.

“Hi”, Yeonjun smiled up at him, his voice was rough and laced with sleep.

“Hi”, Soobin returned the smile. Yeonjun leaned in but Soobin pulled his head back.

“Not until you brushed your teeth.”

Yeonjun let his head fall against Soobin's chest: “That is pure evil. You can't look at me like I hung the stars in the sky and then not let me kiss you senseless.”

Soobin could practically hear the pout in his voice and kissed the top of his head. Yeonjun whined into his chest: “Now you're just making it worse.”

“You could just get up and brush your teeth.”

“But warm... and cosy...”, Soobin struggled to make out the words that Yeonjun mumbled into his chest but smiled when he did.

“Then you're just going to have to accept cuddles and get kisses later when we got up.”

He heard Yeonjun grumble something that sounded close enough to 'fine' and tightened his arms around him again. They spent another half hour in bed before Yeonjun finally managed to roll out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom. Soobin sat up and swung his legs out of bed. For a moment he just sat there, feeling the soft carpet under his feet, before he got up and walked over to the window to pull the curtains aside. The light of the morning sun bounced off the freshly fallen snow making the outside world appear blindingly bright and he quickly shielded his eyes. He drew the curtains again and instead went over to his suitcase to pick his clothes for the day.

After both of them were showered and dressed they had a delicious, homemade breakfast that almost had Soobin wanting to stay before they gathered their things to get back on the road.

Slowly, Soobin was starting to get an idea of where exactly they were headed. The longer they were on the road the more mountains and small holiday cabins he seemed to spot. He also remembered Yeonjun saying that he wanted to enjoy winter the way it was meant to be enjoyed which led him to believe that they were probably going to spend a lot of time in the snow.

He was interrupted in his thinking when Yeonjun brought the car to a stop and turned to him with a bright smile on his face, gesturing out the window: “Well, what do you think?”

Clearly Soobin had been so preoccupied with his own thoughts, and his attempt to try and figure out where Yeonjun was taking him, that he had completely missed Yeonjun driving through the gates of a ski resort and up to a small log cabin. Thick snow was covering the roof and the windows were frosted over from the cold. It looked absolutely dreamy.

Yeonjun watched as Soobin's face gradually lit up while he took in the sight in front of him.

“I love it! That is such a cute place!”

Yeonjun breathed a sigh of relief: “Thank god, I was hoping you'd like it. We're going to have so much fun! We can go skiing all day and build snowmen and have snowballs fights, and in the evening we can go and cuddled up inside in front of the fire with hot chocolate.”

“There's a fireplace?”, Soobin's eyes sparkled. He had never lived in a home with a fireplace but he had always loved the aesthetic and the cosy feeling they seemed to promise.

Yeonjun laughed and nodded, glad that Soobin appreciated his little surprise. He had been specifically looking for a resort where the cabins had fireplaces to surprise Soobin. He laughed as he watched Soobin dart outside the car, jumping up and down excitedly in the snow and calling for him to come get their stuff.

Soobin was still jumping excitedly when Yeonjun got their suitcases from the trunk and got the key he had gotten when they had entered the resort to unlock the front door to their cabin. He could barely stop Soobin from running inside immediately with his snow covered boots, but he insisted that Soobin took off his boots before he went any further into the cabin. Soobin whined but did Yeonjun's bidding before dashing off further into the cabin. Yeonjun smiled and got to properly putting away their winter clothes, which was something Soobin would usually do; it only reaffirmed him that he had managed to properly surprise Soobin. When he was done he walked further inside and up a small staircase to where their bedroom was in a cosy, lofted space to drop off their suitcases. From their bedroom he could look down into the living space where Soobin had found the fireplace and was now examining it. Yeonjun watched him with a fond smile for a moment before he walked back down and into the small kitchen. The cabin was warm and when he checked the fridge he found it fully stocked with everything he had requested upon booking and a few extras from someone who had apparently thought they were on their honeymoon. Yeonjun smiled, they hopefully soon would be.

He found Soobin in the living space still sitting in front of the fireplace.

“Look, there's even firewood already here!”, he said excitedly and waved him over. Yeonjun felt his cheeks starting to hurt from how much he was smiling but he just couldn't stop himself. He walked over to where Soobin was crouched down in front of the fireplace, looking absolutely tiny despite his height, and put his arms around his neck, resting his chin on the top of his head. He heard Soobin giggle below him and a hand came up to rest on top of his own where they were crossed in front of Soobin's chest. One of his fingers briefly traced the simple silver band on Yeonjun ring finger.

“I'm glad this is making you so happy.”

“I love it. And I love you even more. Thank you for taking me here.”

“Thank you for coming with me.”

Soobin stood up and turned around so he could hug Yeonjun properly, pulling him against his chest and kissing him lovingly. Yeonjun smiled and pressed himself closer against Soobin, getting on his tip-toes to make himself a little taller so he could fit his head in the crook of Soobin's neck once they parted. Soobin pressed a gentle kiss to his temple and then they just stood there for a while.

“I can't believe out of 7 billion people I get to marry you”, Soobin eventually whispered.

“And I can't believe that out of 7 billion people I get to marry you”, Yeonjun replied and pressed a kiss against his neck. Then he pulled back so he could lean their foreheads against each other. Soobin kissed him once again and then pulled back a little: “So, what do we do first?”

“I don't know about you but I've been dying for a proper snowball fight.”

“Done.”

Soobin shrieked when Yeonjun's snowball hit his back and he quickly jumped through the snow to put more distance between them. He used a group of trees for cover and gathered as much as snow as possible between his hands, fingers working fast to shape it into something that vaguely resembled a snowball. When he was satisfied with his work, he peeked through the trees to try and find Yeonjun. He was hoping to surprise him from behind when he suddenly felt something ice-cold press against the back of his neck. He yelped and spun around just in time to see Yeonjun dash away through the snow.

“That's cheating it!”, he yelled after him, trying to shake the snow out of the back of his jacket and hood, shivering as some of it slid down and inside his jacket, “you are so getting that back!”

Yeonjun only laughed and disappeared behind their cabin. Soobin huffed and looked to his feet where he had dropped his snowball. A pout formed on his lips and he decided that Yeonjun was going to regret that. Knowing that he was fully expecting Soobin to immediately go after him, he decided that he would instead use the moment to make as many snowballs as he possibly could and fire them at Yeonjun the second he dared to come out of his hiding place again. With a determined look on his face he set about gathering all the snow he needed.

Yeonjun had crouched down behind the cabin, using the shelter for the firewood as visual cover so Soobin wouldn't be able to spot him when he came after him. He giggled to himself, proud of having surprised him like that and then peeked over the shelter to try and see if Soobin was already coming after him. Since he couldn't see him, he settled back down behind the shelter and waited, the next snowball already safely secured in his hand. The minutes ticked by and Yeonjun was starting to get worried because Soobin still hadn't shown up. Maybe he had gone a little too far? Was Soobin upset with him and didn't want to play anymore? Or even worse did he accidentally hurt him? A picture started to form in Yeonjun's mind of Soobin sitting in the snow and crying his eyes out. The mental image had him dart out of his hiding place in an instant, the snowball fell to the ground and was immediately forgotten.

“Soobin?”, he called as he rounded the corner of the cabin, “Honey, are you okay? Where are you?”

Nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.

He heard Soobin call his name and turned around to the group of trees where he had last seen him but before he could say or do anything he found himself caught in an onslaught of snowballs. He yelped and tried to duck but there was no way of escaping. By the time the fire ceased the entire back of his jacket was covered in white. He heard Soobin whoop in triumph from behind the trees before he saw him walk out from between them, arms raised as if he had just won a marathon.

Yeonjun huffed and put his hands on his hips: “You ass, I was worried about you!”

Soobin laughed and wrapped his arms around him once he was close enough: “And I appreciate the sentiment, honey, but you deserved that for attacking me from behind like that.”

Yeonjun jutted out his bottom lip in a pout and Soobin kissed it away.

“Fine”, Yeonjun sighed, “I know when I'm beaten.”

Then he quickly slipped out of Soobin's arms, grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it in Soobin's face: “But that doesn't mean I'll let you get away just like that.”

Soobin slapped his shoulder and quickly brushed the snow off his face: “You are so lucky that my face was already numb from the cold.”

Yeonjun just laughed and pressed his hands against Soobin's chest until he fell backwards and landed – ass first – in the snow. He looked up at Yeonjun in confusion, brain needing a second to register what had just happened. Then he grabbed Yeonjun's hand and dragged him down as well. Yeonjun yelped as he landed on top of Soobin. Soobin laughed and tightly secured his arms around his waist. Yeonjun dropped his head on his chest and quickly regretted it because the outside of Soobin's jacket was freezing cold. They stayed like that for a moment before Yeonjun rolled off Soobin and into the snow, splaying out his limbs so he could make a snow angel. Soobin watched him with an adoring smile and then copied him. When they were sure that their snow angels should be in perfect shape they got up to look at them.

“Look! They look like they're holding hands”, Yeonjun said happily and pointed at the angels' joint hands.

“Yours looks prettier than mine”, Soobin pouted.

“They both look great. And nothing can beat the original anyway”, Yeonjun kissed his cheek, instantly making Soobin smile again. They'd had so much fun playing in the snow that they hadn't even realised that the sun had started to set, making the snow glow and sparkle in the evening sun. Soobin looked around, admiring how pretty everything looked in the soft glow of the sunset. The snow weighing down the tree branches looked like it was covered in a thousand tiny stars and the last rays of the sun were dancing across the mountain tops in the distance, making them look like they had a golden hue to them. He was shaken from his thoughts when he felt Yeonjun take his hand.

“Come on, we should get inside and warm up. It's getting really cold now and I'm getting hungry.”

Soobin nodded and followed Yeonjun inside. It was a true hassle to get out of their snow covered jackets and boots, and they ended up having to put the scarfs, gloves and hats over the heater for them to dry. When they had finally managed to undress themselves without covering the entire floor in snow, Soobin went into the kitchen to get to work on their dinner while Yeonjun went around to shut the curtains and gather blankets and pillows in the living room. Once he had their dinner in the oven Soobin walked into the living room to see what Yeonjun was doing. He squealed excitedly when he saw the soft glow of the fire illuminate Yeonjun's face and heard the tell-tale crackling of the wood.

“It's beautiful!”, he exclaimed, quickly coming closer so he could see the flames dance inside the fireplace, “how do you know how to light a fire?”

Yeonjun held up his phone: “When in doubt, ask Google.”

Soobin giggled and turned his attention back to the fire. Yeonjun didn't want to ruin his fun so he let him stay in front of the fireplace and instead went into the kitchen himself to finish up dinner preparations. The delicious smell of their dinner wafted through the cabin when Yeonjun opened the oven, making it feel exactly like home. He got two plates and tried to set up the food nicely. His efforts were more or less successful but he was sure Soobin would appreciate it either way.

When he brought their plates out to the living room he saw that Soobin had taken to the pillows and blankets Yeonjun had gathered early and had made a comfortable, little nest for the two of them in front of the fireplace. Yeonjun handed Soobin his plate and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. He put his own plate down on the coffee table Soobin had moved to the side to make space for their nest and turned back to the kitchen.

“I'll get us something to drink and then we can eat.”

Soobin nodded and turned on the TV while Yeonjun got two glasses from a cabinet and a bottle of wine he had found in another. Walking back to the living space he set both glasses down on the table and snuggled up beside Soobin. He grabbed his plate and then both of them ate in relative silence while watching TV.

Neither of them felt like getting up after they'd finished their food so Yeonjun just leaned over and put their plates down on the coffee table before grabbing the two wine glasses, handing one of them to Soobin. They snuggled against each other and Yeonjun dropped his head on Soobin's shoulder, trying to balance his glass so the wine wouldn't accidentally pour out.

“I'm glad you're always making me do these things. My life wouldn't nearly be as much fun without you”, Soobin murmured and rubbed his cheek against Yeonjun's head in an affectionate gesture.

“I'm glad you're doing these things with me. I've always wanted to be with someone I can just go anywhere with, without too much thinking or meticulously planning out every single little detail. I like that you let me be spontaneous although you prefer planning ahead.”

“You taught me that it's worth it. Sometimes it's nice to just get away without really knowing what to expect. You always keep me on my toes and make sure that I step out of my comfort zone without overwhelming me. You've always been that person to me, even before we started dating. You always seemed to be able to read me like an open book and knew what I needed before I even really realised it myself. You bring out the best in me.”

Yeonjun was silent for a while. He spoke again after emptying his glass: “You changed a lot for me, too. More than you sometimes realise, I think. You know I can easily get stuck in my head and overthink everything. I'm often floating away somewhere and you ground me. It's easy to just sit and be quiet with you. I always feel the need to talk because when I talk I can't hear my head but you're so good at silencing it. Believe me, no one can bring out the best in me the way you can.”

Soobin moved a hand under Yeonjun's chin so he could lift his head and kiss him. Then he took their empty glasses and put them on the coffee table. He settled back into their nest and pulled Yeonjun into his arms so he could put his head on his shoulder again.

“I think we've both gotten really lucky.”

Yeonjun nodded: “Yeah, not everyone gets lucky enough to find their soulmate at the first try.”

“Just think about all the disasters Taehyun dated before he finally met Beomgyu and he still can't bring himself to ask him out.”

Yeonjun laughed and pressed himself closer against Soobin: “True. I always wondered how he never saw from the get-go that none of those people were right for him. But you know, you have to allow your kids to make their own mistakes.”

“You are so lucky he can't hear you right now.”

“Yeah, I know.”

After their laughter subsided they fell silent again, now getting sleepier by the minute. Soobin was going to say that they should probably move upstairs now and get to bed but his head fell to the side and started to snore softly before he had the chance to.

Soobin was surprised to wake up in an exceptionally fluffy bed the next morning. He blinked a few times against the light that filtered into the room and felt around the bed for Yeonjun. He came up empty handed which helped wake him up a little. Looking around he realised that he was in their bedroom. From where he was now sitting up in bed he could see that the living room had been cleaned up. All the blankets and pillows were gone, the coffee table was back in place without any dirty dishes and the fire had been extinguished. His sleepy brain was still trying to make sense of everything when a delicious smell wafted up the stairs and he was almost magically compelled out of bed without even really noticing that his legs were moving.

In the kitchen he found Yeonjun who had apparently just finished setting the table and preparing their breakfast. Soobin's mouth watered at the sight and smell.

“Good morning, sleepyhead. I figured you'd be hungry”, Yeonjun smiled brightly.

“I love you”, Soobin walked over to kiss him but Yeonjun stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“Uh-uh, not until you brushed your teeth.”

“You are the worst.”

Then he kissed Yeonjun on the cheek and sat down at the table.

“Did you clean everything up?”

“Uh-huh”, Yeonjun nodded and smiled, “I also carried you to bed. I didn't want you to get a crick in your neck from sleeping downstairs.”

“I adore you.”

“I know.”

They ate in silence, both too preoccupied with the food to really do any talking and if Soobin was perfectly honest, he still wasn't fully awake. After breakfast Soobin disappeared into the bathroom to get ready while Yeonjun took care of the dishes. Soobin had tried to convince him that he should just leave the dishes for him to do since Yeonjun had done the cooking, but he had insisted on doing them. Yeonjun wanted to use the day to go skiing and they would never be able to get out of the house at all if he waited for Soobin to finish.

Two hours later they hit the slopes – Yeonjun fairly steady on his feet, Soobin a little more insecure since he had never been skiing before. It really wasn't fair that Yeonjun's parents had often taken him skiing during the holidays when he was a kid and he had never told Soobin. At least he now had an excuse to pester Yeonjun for help in getting down the slopes. He was pretty sure he was going to end up making a fool of himself anyway and probably run over more than one fellow skier but one could hope. Waddling like a baby penguin that was walking on its own two feet for the first time, he slowly approached the slope he was meant to go down. It was difficult to move with the skis on his feet – it being an entirely new sensation and all – and he had taken to using the ski poles to drag himself forward although he was fairly certain they were not meant to be used that way.

Soobin cautiously risked a tiny peek at the slope Yeonjun was expecting him to go down in a few seconds and swallowed thickly. It looked a lot higher from up where he was than it had when they were just getting into the ski lift. Snow splashed up beside him and he saw Yeonjun expertly coming to a halt beside him.

“You okay, baby?”

Soobin nodded and tried to put on a brave face but Yeonjun had always been able to see right through him.

“Hey”, he reached out and took Soobin's trembling hand, “you don't have to go down if you don't want to. It's totally okay if you just want to watch me. Skiing isn't easy and the height can be scary when you've never done it before.”

“I don't want to ruin the fun for you.”

Yeonjun squeezed his hand: “Don't be silly. You're not ruining the fun for me. This isn't just about me, I want both of us to have fun and just because skiing is fun for me doesn't mean that it has to be fun for you, too. It's okay if we don't do this together. I'd be thrilled if you wanted to try but I completely understand if you don't and that's just as good.”

Soobin sighed heavily and Yeonjun nudged his shoulder: “I mean we could of course also register you for a beginner's class.”

That earned him an indignant look from his fiancé and he quickly laughed it off: “Just a joke. Hey, if you really want to try skiing with me but don't want to go down this slope, I think I have a compromise in mind.”

“What compromise?”, Soobin perked up, the lump that had formed in his throat at the thought of possibly disappointing Yeonjun slowly dissolving.

“There's a beginner's slope. It's a lot less scary and not nearly as steep as this one but you could try skiing.”

“But won't that be too boring for you?”

“Nothing's boring when I'm with you. Come on, I'll help you get out of your skis and then we'll head to the beginner's slope”, Yeonjun said, already taking off his own set of rental skies. “Besides, we can also go sledding there.”

Soobin smiled brightly and waited for Yeonjun to help him out of the skis. Each of them shouldered their pair and then they went to the slope hand-in-hand.

Yeonjun turned out to be right and the beginner's slope was much more up Soobin's alley. Sure, he landed on his ass more times than he could count, but Yeonjun was always right beside him to check on him and help him back up. By the time they got tired of skiing Soobin had even managed a full run down the slope without falling once. He did mess up the landing and ended up in the snow again nonetheless but he was proud of himself and so was Yeonjun, who came down right after him and let himself fall on top of Soobin to congratulate him.

After Soobin's successful run they returned the rental skis and got a sled instead. Soobin was excited to go down the slopes in a way that he felt was a lot safer than skis. Yeonjun settled down at the front of the sled so Soobin could sit behind him and put his arms around him, and then they already went flying down the little hill. The snow was splashing up left and right and some of it hit Soobin's face but the bumpy ride turned out to be the most fun he had that day simply because he got to hold on to Yeonjun the entire way; and because they both ended up face first in the snow this time. Yeonjun laughed and rolled around in the snow for a moment before he sat up and smiled brightly at Soobin who felt his heart grow ten sizes at the pure, childlike delight on Yeonjun's face.

“Come on”, Yeonjun got to his feet and grabbed the sled, “I want to go again.”

Soobin nodded quickly and helped him carry the sled back up. They continued to go up and down in the snow until they were exhausted, hungry and could barely feel their faces anymore. There was a cosy restaurant right by the slopes that they turned to for a very late lunch. The warmth made their faces tingle after the biting cold but by the time their food was served, they had warmed up a little and were glad to have escaped the cold for a while. They talked about everything and nothing as they ate and wondered what Taehyun, Beomgyu and Huening-Kai might be doing, and if Taehyun had figured out by now that they had quietly left for a while without telling him. Neither of them had bothered to check their phones since they had arrived the day before and they weren't particularly willing to either.

After lunch they decided on a relaxed walk around the resort. They hadn't really gotten to enjoy and appreciate the scenery, and after the motion-heavy first half of the day they were happy to spend the rest of it a little calmer. Soobin delighted in the scrunching noises the snow made under his boots and how pretty and pristine the snow looked where no one had walked on it. They came by a lake that was completely frozen over and settled down on a bench for a while, just enjoying the scenery, the silence and each other's company.

Yeonjun watched a few birds, that apparently hadn't flown South, fly by: “We should put a bird feeder on the balcony when we get home. We should take care of the birdies that didn't fly South.”

“And as a thank you they'll wake us every morning with their chirping. All my Cinderella fantasies will come true.”

“Yeah, like that”, Yeonjun leaned over and kissed his cheek. Soobin turned his head to briefly rub his nose against Yeonjun's and then stood up.

“Come on, I'm getting cold again and it's starting to get dark. We should head back to the cabin and get all warm and cosy.” Yeonjun nodded and stood up as well.

This time they cuddled up on the couch for the evening. Yeonjun had lit the fire again and Soobin had made hot cocoa since neither of them was particularly hungry yet after their very late lunch. They had the TV running and were cuddled up against each other under a fluffy blanket.

“I hate that we have to go home again tomorrow. I could stay here forever”, Soobin sighed and took a sip from his hot cocoa.

“I know, I'd love to stay longer as well but you know how difficult it was to get a couple of days off and we still have to make the way home”, Yeonjun rested his head against Soobin's shoulder, “but it's gonna be equally as nice when we get back home.”

Soobin nodded and rested his cheek against Yeonjun's head.

“And”, Yeonjun continued, “the next time we get away we'll hopefully be married and it'll be our honeymoon.”

Soobin involuntarily smiled at the thought: “I can't believe we're getting married soon.”

“Right? It'll be so nice to introduce you to everybody as my husband. That has such a nice ring to it. My husband”, Soobin's smile got even brighter as Yeonjun tried out the word a few times. He pressed his nose against Yeonjun's temple and kissed his cheek before he emptied the last of his hot cocoa.

“Dinner?”

“Sounds good.”

Both of them untangled themselves from each other and the blanket, and then got up and walked into the kitchen, opting for cooking together on their last night at the resort. Except Yeonjun didn't end up doing all that much because he was too busy hanging off Soobin and attaching himself to him every chance he got. Lucky for him Soobin thought it was absolutely endearing and didn't mind Yeonjun taking a break from cutting up the vegetables after the first carrot in favour of putting his arms around Soobin from behind and hooking his chin over his shoulder to see what he was doing. Soobin indulged him and let him pepper a few kisses all over his cheek before gently redirecting him back to the abandoned cutting board. All things considered they managed to get dinner on the table fairly fast and by the time they settled back down on the couch with their food they at least didn't feel like they were starving yet.

They spent the rest of the evening in front of the fire, trying to enjoy having a fireplace to keep them warm as much as they could before they had to return home the next day.

Soobin ended up being the early riser the next morning. He wanted to surprise Yeonjun with a delicious breakfast the same way he had done for him the day before so he had tried to wake up extra early. It was a struggle to actually get out of bed once he was awake and he almost threw his plan out the window in favour of staying in bed with Yeonjun until they had to leave; but he had set his mind to surprising him with breakfast so he gathered all his strength and rolled out of bed.

By the time Yeonjun woke up Soobin was walking up the stairs again, carrying a tray with their breakfast. His heart swelled with pride when he saw the bright smile Yeonjun directed at him upon seeing him. He carefully put the tray down on the bed after Yeonjun had properly sat up and was comfortably leaning back against the headboard.

“I made breakfast”, he said with the slightest hint of pride and felt the heat rise into his cheeks at Yeonjun's smile.

“You're the best. This looks amazing. Come here”, he patted the bed and folded back the blanket so Soobin could crawl back in. For once Soobin didn't complain about him not having brushed his teeth yet when he dropped a quick kiss on his lips.

Yeonjun grabbed his phone from the bedside table and turned on some music for them to listen to while they ate. He was thoroughly impressed with all the effort Soobin had put into their breakfast. Somehow he always managed to make him feel incredibly loved and appreciated without saying a word. If it had been for him they would have stayed like this forever, but unfortunately it wasn't up to him so he tried to enjoy those last precious moments to the fullest.

They spent some more time cuddling in bed after they had finished eating before they finally managed to convince themselves to actually get up and get ready to go home. Yeonjun left the packing to Soobin, since he was never happy with the way he packed their things anyway. Instead he chose to make sure that they didn't forget anything that belonged to them, which Soobin was especially prone to.

Yeonjun carried their suitcases outside and Soobin made sure that the door was properly locked behind them. Yeonjun was about to get into the car when Soobin caught his arm. He looked at him wide-eyed and for a moment Yeonjun was scared that something terrible had happened.

“We forgot to build a snowman.”

Yeonjun exhaled sharply and tried to calm his heartbeat: “Don't do that. You scared me.”

Soobin smiled sheepishly: “Sorry. But it's really important that we build a snowman before we go home. We won't be able to when we're back in the city.”

With the way Soobin smiled at him, Yeonjun had no other choice but to admit defeat. So they got to work and started to gather snow to create the body and the head.

“Where do you want to put it?”, Yeonjun asked, holding an already fairly sizeable ball between his hands.

“We should put it next to the door. Then it can greet the next people that come to stay here.”

Yeonjun smiled at the excitement in Soobin's voice and made the snowball he was holding a little bigger still before setting it down beside the front door of the cabin to form the base for their snowman. A few minutes later Soobin heaved the middle section over, groaning under the weight. Yeonjun took it from him and rewarded him with a kiss after he had placed the snowball on the base. They made the head together, both of them gathering enough snow to form one part of the head and then putting it together. It took a little tweaking and fiddling – and a lot of cursing on Yeonjun's part – but eventually both halves stuck together as if they had always been one and Soobin thought how ironic it was that that sounded exactly like his and Yeonjun's relationship. Feeling confident that the head wasn't too heavy for him, Soobin carried it over to the snowman's body and – with a little effort – managed to perfectly balance it on the body. He quickly secured the head with some more snow where the head and the middle section met and then stepped back. He nodded, satisfied with their work so far and then set about finding little rocks for eyes, mouth and buttons. Yeonjun went to find some sticks they could use as arms and formed a tiny hat out of snow since they didn't have an actual one they could put on the snowman. When the details had finally been added and both of them were satisfied, they stepped back to admire their handiwork.

“I like it”, Soobin said and clapped happily.

Yeonjun nodded, wrapped his arms around Soobin's neck and kissed him lovingly: “And I like you.”

“I should hope so”, Soobin whispered against his mouth and gave him another kiss.

“Ready to go home?”

“As long as I'm with you, I'm already there.”

“We still have to go back home either way”, Yeonjun said and poked his cheek.

Soobin sighed: “I know. Fine. Let's go.”