sanghyuk checks his watch for what has to be the tenth time in a minute, fingers tapping nervously on the dial.
he lets out an impatient sigh, the cold december air turning it into a puff the moment it leaves his lips.
it's 7:34pm, exactly fourteen minutes after the time he and hakyeon had set for their date - he can feel his face flush at the thought of it, his first real date with his long-time crush. on christmas day. how could he ever get mad?
he doesn't. he just grins and checks his wristwatch one more time.

he'd never thought that something could come out of it, nor that the words would actually leave his mouth after his countless, half-thought attempts.
he was trembling, just a week before, trembling as he took hakyeon's hand into his own and left a kiss on his tired knuckles.
"you know i love you," he said, his head starting to get dizzy, "but i love you more than that."
he let go of hakyeon's hand, looking right into his eyes. "do you want to be my boyfriend?"

sanghyuk can't help but giggle nervously at the thought of what came next.
hakyeon's cheeks growing rosy, his own heart beating so fast he feared that hakyeon could hear it, hakyeon biting his lips before saying that yes, he wanted to.
his phone bleeps a couple times, and it's almost eight when he checks it, fingers so cold he can barely manage to unlock it.
he bites back a smile when he sees that it's a text from hakyeon.
[7:50pm] look behind u~
a pair of bundled up arms lock around his waist before he can even turn, hakyeon's cold face buried into his neck.
"i'm sorry i'm so late," he coos, mouth so close to his neck sanghyuk can feel the warm breath on his skin, "i wanted to be pretty for you."
sanghyuk's head feels like spinning.

this has to be the best christmas ever, he thinks as he watches the illuminations down the street, the reds and greens and goldens reflecting into hakyeon's pretty eyes.
they're walking hand in hand, their free hand covered in hakyeon's mittens.
("i'll give you one of mine so you're not too cold,” hakyeon said, taking his right one off and starting to put it on sanghyuk.
"what about your other hand?" sanghyuk asked, perplexed.
hakyeon blushed a little bit, eyes low. he took sanghyuk's cold hand into his own, giggling.
"we'll keep each other warm this way.")

it was all so different just a year before, sanghyuk’s christmas consisting in moping and hot chocolate and crying while watching love actually and other stupid romcoms.
“can you help me with the gift?” hakyeon asked him on the phone the day before, voice hesitant and hopeful, and sanghyuk couldn’t say no.
he cried thinking about how hakyeon would spend christmas day with his boyfriend, cried thinking about the smile on that tool’s face when hakyeon would give him the gift sanghyuk helped him choose.
cried thinking about the kisses they would share, about his hands on hakyeon’s body as he’d undress him, cried so much he gave himself a headache.
but this year - this year is different.

this year is all smiles and shy glances and hakyeon’s fingers intertwined with his, hot chocolate shared in a warm coffee shop on christmas day, their feet lightly brushing together every time they meet under the table.
hakyeon asks him for a sip of his drink and it feels like something out of his wildest, laziest dreams - his fingers lingering on sanghyuk’s skin longer than necessary, eyes fluttering every time their gazes meet.
“mmm,” hakyeon hums, content. “yours tastes much better!”
you can have it, is what sanghyuk wants to say, but the words are stuck in his throat, his tongue going dry just from the sight of hakyeon.
there’s a little chocolate stain on hakyeon’s mouth, and he quickly darts out his tongue to wipe it off.
his lips look so plush and inviting and wet and sanghyuk wonders how it would feel to kiss them - his heart nearly jumping out of his chest when he realizes that it’s no longer a wish, that he can kiss him for real.
“what are you thinking about?” hakyeon says, a kittenish smile on his lips. “your face is red.”
“i’m thinking about kissing you” might be a little too bold for a first date, and sanghyuk finds himself to be short of confidence whenever he’s with hakyeon.
so he plays it safe.
“i’d love to try something from the cake shop nearby,” he says, and hakyeon looks satisfied with that answer.

it’s already snowing when they come out of the coffee shop, hakyeon whining about how he should’ve brought an umbrella with him so that his hair wouldn’t get ruined.
“you’re so lame,” hyuk teases, and hakyeon laughs, a laugh so loud and pure sanghyuk feels like he could die.
they stand in front of the shop’s window, hakyeon carefully examining all of the sweet options.
he looks so cute, the little frown of his eyebrows like he’s deep in thought, his mouth curved into what resembles a smile.
sanghyuk rests his back against the window, tired but happy.
he lets his mind run through all the things that happened today - them holding hands, hakyeon’s christmas gift (“it’s a stuffed bird”, hakyeon said, “you should name it after me.”), the hot chocolate.
“i’m gonna get a strawberry tart i think,” hakyeon looks up at him distractedly, “what about you?”
“hmm… same as you, i guess.”
hakyeon keeps looking up and then to sanghyuk, fidgeting, and sanghyuk wonders what it is.
“hyung?”
hakyeon smiles again, chewing on his bottom lip.
“umm… looks like we’re standing under mistletoe.” he grins.
all sanghyuk is able to say is oh.
and then hakyeon’s on his tiptoes, arms slung around sanghyuk’s neck, the gloved hand feeling ticklish against his skin.
hakyeon’s lips taste like chocolate and when they touch his own it’s like breathing for the first time, like he’s never truly lived before.
he kisses like he needs him, teeth lightly grazing against sanghyuk’s bottom lip and fingers playing with the hair on his nape.
and by the time he pulls away, sanghyuk is breathless.
“people are watching,” hakyeon giggles, hand running through sanghyuk’s hair. “should we go inside and order our cakes?”
“yeah,” sanghyuk says, the taste of hakyeon’s lips still lingering on his own.
this really is the best christmas ever.