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The Christmas lights thankfully give Jaehyun a good view of his fiancé’s pretty face, illuminating the perfect curve of his nose and the gleam in his eyes even with the blanket of the darkened sky overhead. Yuta exhales visibly, his breath a cloud in the negative temperatures of the Seoul night. He tightens his grip around Jaehyun’s warm palm, his fingers cold, Jaehyun doesn’t mind at all.
“Are you cold, my love?” Jaehyun asks kindly, stopping in the middle of the path and ignoring the disgruntled irritation of those around him. He’d worry of being an inconvenience any other day, but with Yuta shivering ever so slightly, he can’t find enough of a damn to give about anyone else. He reaches forward to adjust Yuta’s scarf, tied messily and slipping off his shoulders prior to Jaehyun’s nimble fingers making their move. “Would you like to head indoors for a while?”
Yuta sniffles under his scarf, the lights just bright enough for Jaehyun to see the redness of his nose. In other situations, he would joke that Yuta looks like the reindeer to lead Santa’s sled, but right now, his concern takes the stage as he continues toying with Yuta’s fluffy scarf. “I’m alright,” Yuta says softly, the hustle of other shoppers around them disturbing Jaehyun, annoying him, even. Everyone has the right to visit the winter markets just an hour before midnight on Christmas Eve, but Jaehyun selfishly wishes everyone else would disappear and leave just him and Yuta alone in the chilly streets.
Jaehyun only smiles, guiding his fiancé away from the center of the street and instead moving towards a small clear area under a bright lamp. The Christmas lights shine beautifully around them, a soft blanket of snow covering the ground beneath their matching boots, the atmosphere absolutely perfect for the pair of lovers if not for the biting cold that clearly bothered Yuta. “Well, I’m a little cold. Maybe we should head in for a while and get some coffee?” He phrases it like a question, like he’s asking Yuta for permission, and maybe he really is. Jaehyun would never do anything without express approval from his beloved, that includes finding refuge from the cold, even if he’s nowhere nearly as cold as Yuta appears to be.
“It might be crowded,” Yuta replies, there’s a chill in his voice, like his teeth had spent the better part of the hour they spent out chattering in his mouth. Jaehyun instantly feels guilty for not noticing earlier, he had been the one to convince Yuta to go out anyways. Yuta’s desire had been rooted in staying home under a pile of blankets, but Jaehyun had wanted to see the lights and visit the market half an hour away from their apartment, and Yuta had given in too easily. “But we can try anyway. My poor baby, your face is red.”
“So is yours,” Jaehyun says, sticking out his tongue childishly and instantly regretting it as the wind blows back against it. He shudders in his coat, pulling it up to cover as much of his bare neck as possible. His heart wrapped tightly under layers of fabric beats wildly at the nickname Yuta used, the thrill of being loved by Yuta still sending fire coursing through his veins even years later. He grins, pulling Yuta closer to himself, his fiancé yelping softly but allowing himself to be pulled along by Jaehyun. “Come on, my treat.”
Surprisingly, the cafe inside isn’t packed to the brim with tired shoppers seeking refuge from the cold. Yuta finds them a table with ease as Jaehyun heads to the counter to order. When Jaehyun gets back to Yuta with two warm, chocolate-flavoured drinks, a holiday special menu, he notes that Yuta has untied his scarf. Yuta’s rosy cheeks stand out against the white of the wall behind him, and when he smiles at Jaehyun, Jaehyun almost drops the tray in awe. “Thank you, love,” Yuta says warmly. Jaehyun lowers the tray quickly onto the table, worried that any further verbal assaults of affection would make him drop the mugs for real. Love, love, he called me love, Jaehyun thinks giddily, happiness blossoming in his chest as he watches Yuta frown. “Just what are you smirking about?”
“Thinking about how adorable my fiancé is,” Jaehyun replies, his voice buttery as he leans in with a cheshire cat smile. The blush on Yuta’s cheeks take a darker shade, Jaehyun’s smile spreads. “How much I love you, how grateful I am to have you another year, how I can’t wait to marry you.”
Yuta picks up his mug in a futile attempt to hide the redness of his face, he averts his gaze from Jaehyun as he slowly sips on the warm drink. “You’re so corny,” he says, no bite in his tone and residue of chocolate on the corners of his mouth. Jaehyun chuckles, butterflies in his stomach, as he reaches over to wipe at Yuta’s lips with his thumb, swiping away the froth. “Jae,” he mumbles, embarrassed. “You’re perfect for me.”
Jaehyun’s heart explodes like a firework in the sky. Yuta isn’t always open with his emotions, he feels a lot but rarely does even Jaehyun get to hear of it. Instead, Jaehyun had become an excellent body reader over the course of their relationship. He enjoyed seeing Yuta squirm under sweet words, seeing Yuta drumming his fingers against tables and walls as he verbally expressed his adoration for Jaehyun, seeing Yuta with his megawatt smile when he looked Jaehyun’s way. Jaehyun is irreversibly enamoured by Yuta, every mannerism by the older feeling like glass shards in his chest, he would never grow tired of watching Yuta.
“As are you for me, my love,” Jaehyun responds, his grin changing into a softer smile. “Thank you for coming out with me tonight, I doubt I would’ve gone at all if you had refused.”
“It’s not like I didn’t want to see it myself,” Yuta says softly, a smile tugging on his lips. He quickly hides it behind his mug once more as Jaehyun swoons. “After we finish these, we should shop around a little more, maybe buy some last minute gifts for Taeyong’s Christmas party tomorrow.”
“He would like some chocolates, wouldn’t he?” Jaehyun muses, drinking from his own mug and scrunching up his nose. So sweet. He finds, though, that he doesn’t really hate the sugary melt that runs down his throat. “Maybe some wine, and cheese for a cheeseboard.”
“Some candy canes, I think Jungwoo’s in charge of the cheese board this year. We’ve already bought the gifts for the gift exchange, right?” Yuta asks, visibly racking his mind for memories of their purchases. The two of them had gone to town three weeks prior, buying up all sorts of gifts for their seven closest friends. They wracked up a hideous bill which had them glancing at each other at the cashier, but they are no longer the college students they were when the annual Christmas party tradition started, they can afford to splurge a little on the friends who had seen them through thick and thin.
The very fact that they have arrived at the point where their friends’ wish lists consisted of kitchen appliances and trivial things like bath towels was a sign that they had really grown up. Long gone are the days of asking each other for Nintendo games and Adidas sneakers, they are each working adults now.
That didn’t stop Yuta from sneaking a combat game for their Switch into Jaehyun’s shopping cart, and that didn’t stop Jaehyun from chuckling and brainstorming strategies on how to beat Yuta in the game on the spot. When he made his schemes known to Yuta as they arranged their belongings in their car, Yuta had leaned over to kiss him and effectively distract him from formulating more plots to destroy him.
“What are you thinking about?” Yuta asks, setting his mug down as he breaks Jaehyun out of his thoughts. More froth has gathered at the corners of his lips, and Jaehyun thinks that rather than wiping it away again, he should just kiss it off Yuta once they’re done in the cafe.
“Just thinking of our friends, of how much time has passed since college,” Jaehyun answers, nostalgia colouring his tone. It has really been a good many years with them. “It’s our first year celebrating Christmas with Haechan out of college, all of us are working now.”
Yuta grins. “That kid can’t whine his way out of the gift exchange this year,” he laughs mischievously, his eyes then mellow into something that mirrors Jaehyun’s nostalgia. “It’s been a long time with them, hasn’t it? Didn’t expect to find the love of my life in this group either.”
Jaehyun melts, his heart exploding in his chest as he casts a longing look Yuta’s way. He finds Yuta looking back at him with the same fondness, though he tries to hide it behind the sleeve of his jacket, coughing fakely into it. “God, I love you. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me.”
Yuta coughs again, sharper this time, as he turns his view away from Jaehyun. His ears are tinged red under the bright lighting of the cafe and the sight of it is all too cute to Jaehyun. If he could, he would keep Yuta forever. He wants to, he really does want to. “Maybe I was talking about Doyoung, what would you know?”
“Please,” Jaehyun laughs, rolling his eyes. He has no insecurities when it comes to Yuta, they’ve been together for so long that they’ve both forgotten a time before they were together at all. “As if you’d stand a chance fighting for Doyoung’s hand against Johnny. Besides, you’re mine. I’m never letting you go, much less to Doyoung of all people.”
“You know my charms, I could win,” Yuta remarks, grinning wildly. He leans over the table and Jaehyun follows his lead fondly, never mind that Yuta had been bullying him just a second earlier. The connecting of their lips is nothing short of magical to Jaehyun every time, he wishes he could kiss Yuta forever. He wishes he could freeze the moment in time, so that his lips would be locked on Yuta’s forever and ever. Yuta tastes of chocolate and feels of love, the perfect shape of love. When they disconnect, Jaehyun only feels disappointed for a second before he sees the bright smile he’s grown so fond of. “I only want you, anyways, so you don’t have to worry.”
When they return outside, it’s even colder, even brighter. The lights resemble the stars they can’t see in the city sky, as much as Jaehyun loves Seoul and the land he grew up in, he can’t help but wonder what it would be like to see the stars reflecting in his lover’s eyes every night, somewhere far from the city. He wraps an arm around Yuta’s waist, keeping him close, he walks on the side the wind blows against. He's always been better with the cold than Yuta, Kadoma half as cold as Seoul.
Yuta is easily distracted, enchanted by little figures of reindeer and specialty chocolate for sale at the winter market. They buy a box of chocolate for Taeyong and pick up Santa hat hair clips for the penalty games Johnny has planned for their Christmas party. Tomorrow, he and Yuta will make their way over to Taeil’s house in the afternoon, the eldest of them all selected as this year’s host. Yuta grins at colourful baubles for sale, and buys a particularly ugly one with hopes of quietly sticking it onto Taeil’s tree without him noticing. Jaehyun has never been more enamoured than he is watching Yuta cackle to himself.
As the night bleeds deeper, they run out of things to do. Jaehyun thinks of the Christmas dinner with his parents scheduled for tomorrow, how they had invited Yuta before even letting him know about said dinner. Some parents they were, replacing their son so easily with his own fiancé. Still, it warms his heart impossibly to know how fond his parents were of the love of his life. Jaehyun turns to Yuta and finds him already looking at him, lights reflecting prettily in his round eyes. Jaehyun’s heart stutters just slightly as he leans in to press his lips to Yuta’s once more.
Yuta’s bright eyes close as he leans deeper into Jaehyun’s kiss, his white teeth obstructed by the way Jaehyun’s own awkwardly bump into them as he sucks Yuta’s lower lip. Still, even with the brightest of Yuta covered, he sparkles brighter than the beautiful lights around them. Jaehyun falls in love all over again.
“I love you,” Jaehyun whispers when they break apart. He sees Yuta mouth it back in response, but he can’t hear anything over the loud ringing of a bell in the background, and the cheering of the crowd around them. He turns to the source of the ringing and finds the large bell tower they decorated in reds and greens in the middle of the market swinging in the wind, the clock on it reading midnight. He turns back to Yuta with a warm, delicate smile only ever for his fiancé’s eyes. “Merry Christmas, my love.”
“Merry Christmas, Jaehyun,” Yuta replies, burrowing into Jaehyun’s neck to hide from the gust of wind that passes in the second. From there, Yuta can definitely hear the rapid beating of Jaehyun’s heart, and it’s fine. It’s only ever for Yuta to hear anyway. “Let’s be together another year.”
“Let’s be together forever,” Jaehyun corrects with a smile. He brings Yuta’s hand up to his lips and kisses his ring finger, and the shiny band around it. The lights are bright enough to give Jaehyun a view of Yuta’s cheeks burning red. “I’m marrying you, don’t forget it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Yuta says airily, sticking out his tongue at Jaehyun. Jaehyun grins and leans in to chase his lips again, wondering privately if kissing Yuta would ever stop feeling like a hurricane in his stomach. “I remember you accidentally proposing and dropping the ring down 3 flights of stairs.”
“Alright, I get it,” Jaehyun laughs, then he kisses Yuta once on the cheek and once on the neck, it takes all the restraint in the world to stop himself from going any further in public. Yuta senses the change in Jaehyun’s temperament too, he pushes himself deeper against Jaehyun’s body. “Let’s go home, I want you.”
“If I have to limp into the party tomorrow, I’m dumping you,” Yuta threatens, an empty threat that Jaehyun doesn’t take seriously, with the gorgeous smile that accompanies Yuta’s words and the desire that fills Yuta’s voice. “Let’s go home, I want you too.”