(n.) a symbol or standard that inspires

Word Count : 1543 | NOT YET EDITED

!!!!!!This is only the first half of the chapter. Please read author's note for more information!!!!!

A rush of serenity and excitement cascades through Baekhyun’s veins as the other pulls him into a loving embrace. A soft, yet prominent, giggle escapes his lips as the other chooses to further the exhilaration by pulling him towards him; causing them to both fall onto the couch and into a picture perfect position. Their resulting laughs resonate throughout the living room.

As the resonation soon starts to fade, Baekhyun feels the silence becoming rather prominent. Don’t get him wrong, moments like these don’t come as often as they used to and just being with the other is enough to satisfy his heart; but silence with him isn’t what it used to be. He can’t figure out the reason as to why that is, he continuously convinces himself that he should dwell too much on such a trivial matter.  

“Babe,” He looks up from his current position on the other’s chest, “do you mind turning up some music?”

“Why?” Almost harsh, the other speaks up. Baekhyun notices the shift but immediately shakes it off right there, “do you not like being alone with me?”

“No silly,” There it is again, but all Baekhyun does is scrunch his eyebrows together in confusion and, “just wanted something to get us in the holiday mood!”

The other stares at him vacantly for a few seconds, although it feels like a century’s worth of time, and then replies, “Um, yeah, let’s just stay here for a few.”

It makes Baekhyun ponder though. He finds it quite weird how the other is blatantly belittling one of the innumerable traditions of something he holds quite dear, as it reminds him of his parents, especially since it’s so out of the ordinary.

He quickly opts out of overthinking, something he ever so rarely participates in. Instead he nods softly, snuggles closer to the other, and begins to look around the very spacious and luxurious living room.

There is one thing that he can’t help but compelled to,

He looks towards the patio, or rather where he should be seeing the patio as the other decided to close the curtains. Although, there is a crack in the separation between the two curtains, where he can see the flurries of snow falling from the sky and onto the patio. Even at the slightest sight of snow, his heart warms up. He just wishes, selfishly, that the other could open it for a few minutes but considering how that went before, he knows better.

But he wants to see the snow.

Another thing that catches his attention is the sound of slurps, cutting roughly through the silence every so often, and he looks up to find that it’s from the other drinking his favorite drink; one that he can’t pronounce himself.

“We should’ve gotten hot chocolate..” Baekhyun says.

“Why would we get hot chocolate?” The other blatantly asks.  

“What do you mean?” Baekhyun laughs lightly, “It’s my favorite to drink around Christmas!”

“Oh...yeah.” The other laughs, but not wholeheartedly, “Of course!”

To this, Baekhyun says nothing.

A few minutes pass by and Baekhyun soons feels a shift below his current position, signaling for him to get up, presuming the other wants to get up. So he does, and the reaction he gets is quite unsettling.

“Where are you going? Are you that impatient?” The other gets up and stands in front of Baekhyun.

“Wh-”

“We have all the time in the world!” He emphasizes his words with unnecessary hand gestures.

A bad habit.

“Yeah, I just thought-”

“Or,” The other scoffs, “we don’t have enough time because you’re finally tired of me and want to leave me.”

“Stop, no that is not what I want, what’s the matter with you today?” Baekhyun tries his hardest to calm the down by grabbing the other’s hands.

This was of little or no avail because although the other’s expression quickly changes, he snatches his hands away.

“I’m okay. Sorry. Let’s just put up the tree, yeah?” He leans into Baekhyun and places a quick peck on his lips, then proceeds to walk towar