I kicked off my shoes in the foyer of my family’s apartment and looked around.

                “Mom?  Dad?”

                My parents emerged from their room wearing their nicer clothes, clearly in a rush.

                My mother greeted me as she poked an earring through her lobe.  “Welcome home, dear.  Your father and I are going ahead to the Parks’ Christmas party.  I laid out a dress for you, so freshen up a little and get ready.  Mingyu’s swinging by to pick you up.”

                “What?  Party?  Mom, I’m kind of tired from the trip.  Weren’t we going to have dinner at home together?”

                She frowned.  “I’m sorry, honey.  It was kind of last minute.  Plus, I thought you would have fun!  You haven’t seen the Parks in such a long time and Mingyu is going to be there, too.”

                I sighed.  My father ushered her out, and the door shut with my mother practically pleading for me to get dressed.  I trudged into my room and dumped my duffel bag on the floor.  I had left five days ago for a class trip to Busan and was looking forward to a quiet Christmas, but instead I was going to spend hours at the Parks’ overly lavish house and pretending to be friendly with the obnoxious, stuck-up daughter.  I huffed disdainfully at the black dress my mother had draped on the footboard of my bed and went to take a shower. 

                I sat in front of my mirror, my hair slightly damp, wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt, a towel draped around my shoulders.  I shook my bottle of foundation and squeezed some onto my fingers.  I began to work it onto my skin, hating the sticky feeling on my just-washed face when I stopped. 

                “No, forget it,” I said aloud, grabbing makeup remover.  “I’m not going.”  Just the mere thought of having to listen to the little princess of the Park family ramble on about all the new handbags she bought during her millionth trip to Paris was enough to make me want to pluck out my eyelashes one by one. 

                A few minutes later, I was curled up on my couch, flipping through the channels, my black dress left forgotten.

                As I settled on a Christmas music broadcast, I heard the passcode being entered on the apartment lock and the door clicked open.  I turned to see Mingyu hurrying in, stumbling as he rushed to kick off his shoes.  He was wearing a white button up and black slacks, his blazer in his arms and tie hanging loose around his neck. 

                “Yah, hurry up!  We’re going to be late,” he yelled. He stopped when he caught sight of me. 

                “What are you doing?” he asked.

                “I decided to skip the party.”

                “Why?”

                I slipped off the couch and walked back into my room.  He followed me. 

                “I didn’t feel like spending Christmas with a bunch of people I don’t know,” I said, picking up the dress.

                “So you would rather spend it alone?  Come on, the Parks’ parties are always fun.  We can stuff ourselves with catering and laugh at their new chandelier.”  He put his hands on my shoulders and started giving me a light massage as I put my dress back on a hanger and stowed it in my closer.  “Plus,” he said, leaning close to my ear.  “I want to see you in that dress.”

                I squirmed under his touch and escaped from his grasp, going to sit on the bed.

                “What I’m wearing now is way more comfortable.  And now that you’re here, I won’t be alone.”  I took the blazer from his arms, tossed it to the side, and then linked my fingers with his.  “Please?  We can order takeout and watch movies.”

                A corner of his mouth lifted.  “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the party?”  With each word, he took a step closer to me until I was lying with my back against the mattress and him above me, our fingers still interlocked.

                I smirked back and nodded.  “All I want for Christmas is you.”  I lifted my back off the bed and gave my boyfriend a brief peck on the lips. 

                He released his grip on my hands.  “You asked for it.”  Without warning, he attacked me, ticking either side of my torso.  I went into a fit of laughter and fought against him, wriggling out from under him and grabbing a pillow, arming myself.  We held a stand-off right then and there in my bedroom, grinning manically.

                Our fight ended in a ceasefire and we both collapsed onto the bed, facing each other.  Mingyu s his arms around my waist and pulled me closer.  He looked unbearably adorable with his hair now disheveled and the top two buttons of his shirt undone and sleeves rolled up. 

                “You’re right, this is a lot more fun than watching the Park daughter flip her hair and show off her overpriced manicure,” he murmured with a smile.

                We both did imitations of the spoiled brat, snickering softly to ourselves.  In the background, an idol group was performing one of their new Christmas-themed singles on the TV I forgot to turn off.  Mingyu kissed me on the forehead. 

                “Merry Christmas.”