Title: (Untitled)

Author: [redacted]

AN: For ramendates! I hope you enjoy it ^.^ Happy Holidays!

You could tell it was December by the atmosphere of the house more than anything. There was that warm, comfortable feeling that only comes about at Christmas time.

It’s different than in autumn when everything’s a bitter cold and leaves of red and gold hit the floor and litter the streets. It’s a time to walk hand in hand, kept apart only by a layer of gloves.

In spring there is a feeling of new life as the trees begin to bloom again, and paint the skies with their colours. It’s warmer. Everything seems to come back to life in spring, as if some divine force was granting life again. Everything got brighter.

Then summer came along and everything glowed. In the summer everything was hot. A sticky heat that coats you. They usually spent long summer days in bed, just talking and laughing together. Well, as often as they could- when schedules called one of them away the other waited at home, watching the sun finally setting over Seoul.

December was Hyukjaes’ favourite time. The air was at its coldest and the streets glistened with ice and snow, but he had some of his happiest memories during winter. It was December 21st that they’d had their first kiss and almost a year later that Donghae had said ‘I love you’ for the first time. He remembered walking through the streets of Seoul with Donghae, snowflakes falling on his head and laughing as Donghae flicked them off. He liked how Donghae looked in the winter time. His dark hair contrasted nicely against the white snow and his eyes always looked bright and sparkling. He liked to think of the little puffs of breath that escaped from his mouth into the cold air as he filmed videos for his Instagram.

Hyukjae was standing inside the kitchen of the apartment, watching the snow fall onto the roofs of the buildings below. One of the things Donghae had liked best about the apartment was the view of the city that you got. Hyukjae hadn’t really been bothered with it, arguing that it was the same as every other view in the neighbourhood but as usual Donghae had gotten what he wanted. Though as Hyukjae watched the little flakes delicately fall he had to admit it was pretty. The window was a little frosted from the cold air outside which made the inside of the apartment seem even cosier. The kettle steamed signalling that their tea was ready and forcing Hyukjae to look away from the ever dimming sun. He poured it into their two favourite mugs, along with just the right amount of milk and sugar and put them on the tray when he’d already cut two slices of strawberry cake. He took them into the sitting room where Donghae was wrestling with some tangled up Christmas lights. The little tree in the corner of the room already had a few silver balls hanging from its branches.

 “You know the lights are meant to go on first, right?” Hyukjae laughed as he set the tea down on the table beside the sofa. He tucked his feet up underneath himself and lifted his cake. Donghae smiled brightly at him. “Yeah, but I just thought the tree looked nice without them so maybe we should leave them off this year.”

“Get fed up untangling them?”

“No!”

“Did you forget about them?”

“… Maybe.” Donghae grinned cutely at Hyukjae. “You should untangle the lights for me.”

Hyukjae shook his head. “Nope. I’m eating cake. You were the one wanted to make the tree look pretty. Donghae rolled his eyes but continued his battle with the lights. Hyukjae watched him. He liked to see the look of concentration on Donghae’s face. His eyebrows slanted downwards, biting his lip ever so slightly. Then again, Hyukjae liked every expression Donghae made because each one was always slightly different. His favourite was the bright smile Donghae gave when he was happy, a loud laugh that echoed off the walls and reverberated straight into Hyukjae’s smitten heart. It was this laugh that Donghae gave as he happily revealed his untangled lights.

“There we go!” He said proudly. He gently began winding the lights around the trees branches, careful to avoid the baubles he’d already arranged, and making the little star sit proudly at the top. 

Hyukjae only watched as Donghae decorated the tree, giving advice occasionally when it was asked for, but he trusted Donghae to make it beautiful. He had an eye for these things. In fact the apartment walls were covered in photographs of beautiful things from their lives together. Pictures of Switzerland, of Paris, of Thailand, pictures with the members, pictures with their families- anything Donghae could document with photographs, he did. And even when he pretended to be annoyed by Donghae’s scenery photographs he loved every single one of them. He let him decorate the Christmas tree because Donghae used that same perfectionism to get the perfect tree as he used to capture the perfect picture.

Donghae giggled suddenly, holding up one of the oldest Christmas tree ornaments they had. It was an old Santa figure but the paint on his face had chipped off and left him looking a little worse for wear. “Look Hyukkie- It’s you!”

“Ya!” Hyukjae yelled, grabbing a pillow off the sofa and aiming it at Donghae’s’ head. He just laughed, his teeth glinting as he easily ducked out of the way of the flying object.

“You’re such a jerk, you know that?” Hyukjae scowled and moodily shoved the last piece of his cake into his mouth. Donghae pouted, turning his head to the side like a small puppy. “You still love me though.”

“Ah, this man. He’s giving me a headache.” Hyukjae muttered but he couldn’t help himself looking up at Donghae’s’ eyes. “Of course I do, you idiot.

Donghae turned back to the tree, putting the last ornaments on, making sure each one had a proper place before standing back and admiring his work. “What do you think? It looks good right?” Hyukjae didn’t even look at the tree. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from how lovely Donghae looked in the light of the Christmas tree, his smile lighting up his eyes. Hyukjae couldn’t help but smile with him.

“Beautiful.” Donghae turned his smile towards him. “I’m glad you like it.” He sat down on the sofa next to him and patted his leg. “It feels much more like Christmas now. It’s nice and warm.”

“Mmmm.” Hyukjae agreed. He shuffled in his seat so that he could lean his head against Donghae’s chest. “This is perfect.”

When Donghae woke hours later, the room was dark except for the dim glow of the Christmas tree lights. Hyukjae was sleeping heavily on his chest, strands of blonde hair glinting. Slowly Donghae lifted his hand to brush some of the locks from his sleeping face. He watched him contently for a few seconds, thinking about how lucky he was to have him there by his side. Hyukjae moved a little, huffing gently but not waking up. Donghae’s smile only grew wider as he laughed quietly. “Sleep well Hyukkie. Happy Christmas.” He lay his head contentedly against his Hyukjae and wrapped in the warm, happy glow of the Christmas tree lights he slipped back to sleep.