This is perhaps a little overdue (in my timezone), but still, hope you guys had a happy Christmas!! Here's my slightly late gift for all of you... ;) 

“Do we really have to, baby?”

“Of course we must!! I miss them a lot; I haven’t seen them for months already!!”

“Can I not go?”

“Hyukkie!!” Donghae exclaimed. “Why would you not want to go with me? You told me you didn’t have plans so don’t you dare try using that as your excuse.”

“I… I’m not exactly very… comfortable with them, baby…”

“Nonsense, Mom loves you a lot!! She keeps asking me about you and she even told me that she’ll be making some of your favourite snacks when we go visit her. Strawberry, I heard…”

Hyukjae his dry lips and gulped visibly. He stared back at his cutely pouting boyfriend and any other excuse he’d already come up with to resist and object flew out of the windows immediately when he saw the sparkling, watery eyes looking back doefully at him.

He still tried, with faltering resolve, to convince Donghae otherwise. It wasn’t that he hated Donghae’s mother or anything of the sort – her cooking skills were way beyond awesome, far suppressing Donghae’s own, and don’t even get him started on the strawberry treats she nearly always sends to them every holiday season – but she was one eccentric lady, if he was ever allowed to say so. He was pretty sure his boyfriend would not hesitate to punch him in the arm if he ever said that out loud, though.

Trying a different approach, he softened his voice and nuzzled his nose into the younger’s neck.

“If we stay home, we can spend Christmas all alone in our apartment… And you could have me all to yourself… Just spending time in each other’s arms… Wouldn’t that be a better idea?” Hyukjae asked, rubbing soothing circles on Donghae’s abdomen making the younger lean further back against him. He captured Donghae’s lips in a short peck. “You could have me for the whole night, however you want…”

Donghae sighed and shook his head, pulling the elder down for another kiss. “As tempting as that sounds, Hyukkie… I really miss my Mom and hyung; it’s been so long since the last time we saw each other. I would really love to see them again and I don’t see why we shouldn’t go and visit them when Mom has already invited us over for Christmas in two days. Please?”

“Alright,” Hyukjae exhaled through his nose. He never allowed himself to win over Donghae’s arguments anyway; sometime he wondered if he spoiled his boyfriend a little too much.

“Why are you so hesitant to go anyway? I thought you loved her cooking?” the younger asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

Vivid images of what happened to him during the last time he visited Donghae’s family invaded Hyukjae’s brain and it was all he could do to prevent himself from shuddering at the mere thought of it happening again. Trying his best not to offend his boyfriend, he put on his most convincing smile and tried to wave off the subject.

“Nothing, it’s just that it’s a going to be a really long drive to Mokpo.”

“We could go by commute,” suggested Donghae. “That would save on petrol, if that’s what you’re worrying about.”

“No, I’ll drive. I don’t want to squeeze in with a hundred other passengers on a stinky train for five hours,” answered the elder. “Plus, with the amount of luggage I’m guessing you’re bringing, they wouldn’t fit even if we booked a whole carriage to ourselves.”

Donghae playfully hit Hyukjae in the shoulder. “I don’t bring that much stuff with me…”

“Oh yeah?” challenged the latter, raising his right eyebrow. “The last time we went to Busan for that concert, you brought a family of trolley bags with you!! And we only spent a single night in the hotel!!”

“And your point is?” Donghae pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, giving Hyukjae the stink-eye.

“We’re taking the car. More space and everything.”

“Fine,” Donghae sat up. “But don’t you start complaining to me how much the gas is going to cost you because I’ll just kick you off the bed for a week.”

“Feisty in the morning, aren’t we?” smirked Hyukjae. He tackled Donghae back onto the bed and pinned his arms to his sides, his smirk growing wider when he heard the younger yelp in surprise. “I like feisty.” He dipped his head and pressed Donghae against the mattress for a lip-smashing kiss, letting his hands sneak under his boyfriend’s shirt and roam about freely on his bare torso.

“I hate you,” grumbled Donghae, when Hyukjae finally let go of his swollen lips.

“Love you too, baby.”

* * *

Three hours into the journey and Hyukjae was already feeling extremely tired and worn out. Perhaps going for about five rounds in bed just the night before they had set the alarm for six in the morning to start their bone-cracking journey to Mokpo wasn’t such a good idea after all.

He stole a glance towards his soundly sleeping boyfriend who seemed to look even worse for wear than him. There were dark circles around his eyes, his hair was sticking out in all the wrong places and his face was slightly paler than usual. Donghae was leaning his head against the car window, and every time the car bumped along the road, his head also knocked against the glass. How he managed to continue sleeping with his head getting hit every ten seconds still remained a mystery to Hyukjae.

He was right about the luggage, though. He had repeatedly stressed that they were only going to spend a night in his hometown, so he really couldn’t see the necessity of bringing five monstrous luggage bags along with them, and entirely for Donghae’s “stuff” only. He probably packed his whole wardrobe in there, plus perhaps the TV, the washing machine and the refrigerator, to say nothing less of the bathtub. Otherwise Hyukjae wondered how Donghae conjured up so many things to bring with him on their short trip home. Hyukjae on the other hand just brought a backpack with sufficient clothes with him. Luckily for them, Hyukjae owned a fairly large car so the bags could all somehow just fit in.

Donghae woke up with a start when the car accidentally ran into a pothole covered by snow, jerking his head against the window with a loud “thump!” Hyukjae apologized immediately for waking him up so rudely but he just brushed it off while rubbing on his head.

“How much longer, Hyukkie?”

“A little under two more hours, if the traffic isn’t too bad. You should probably catch up on some sleep because you sure look like you need it a lot.”

“Is it that bad?”

Hyukjae nodded. “Bad enough for your mother to suspect me of domestic abuse.”

“Seriously?” Donghae groaned. “Now’s not the time to joke around… Where is the mirror…” He mumbled the last sentence to no one in particular while searching for the mirror. He just took a look into it and shrieked, making Hyukjae nearly lose control on the car for a second.

“I LOOK LIKE A ZOMBIEEEEE!!!”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Hyukjae decided to keep quiet as he observed Donghae’s panicking state from the side of his eye.

* * *

“Ahh… THERE!!!” Donghae nearly screamed into Hyukjae’s ear. The elder halted and pulled back, making the car go in reverse. He’d accidentally overshot a turning because he kind of forgot the exact directions to his boyfriend’s house. Hey, the last time he went there was almost two years ago, and he’d been trying to avoid going there again ever since. With the exception of now.

It was already late in the afternoon by the time they reached that neighbourhood. Traffic was awful for the supposedly final hour of the drive – it dragged on to nearly three hours and Hyukjae would have cried if only Donghae wasn’t there to help.

He took a final turning and stopped his car right in front of the gates of a quaint cottage with smoke coming out from its chimney. He thought it was one of the prettiest cottages in the neighbourhood even though it was now partially covered in a white blanket of soft snow. Turning the ignition off, a smile graced his lips when he saw how happy Donghae was to be home. The younger stepped out of the car and took in a deep breath of the cold winter air, not forgetting to wrap a thick wooly scarf around his neck first. He couldn’t stop smiling like crazy, nostalgia washing over him as he was looking at his home for the first twenty years of his life.

The front door creaked open and a petite woman wrapped in shawls walked out, squealing in delight when she realized that her sons (Hyukjae calls her umma as well) had arrived. She rushed out to greet them and was met with an armful of Donghae before she was halfway to the open gates.

“HAE DARLING, I’VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!! I’m so glad you decided to spend Christmas with your mommy…” She showered her son with kisses in the tight embrace. Donghae was wrapping her in a bone-crushing hug. “Oh, and you brought your handsome hubby along with you too!!” she added, when she saw Hyukjae smiling politely at her from outside the gates.

“Umma, nice to see you again…”

Honestly, he was a little bit afraid of Donghae’s mother and thought of keeping his distance… and right now he could probably excuse himself by extracting Donghae’s mountain of luggage from the car; however that only lasted a little over two minutes and his mother was still standing out there in the snow, waiting for her welcome hug.

Hyukjae sighed inwardly and mustered up a charming smile towards his boyfriend’s mother, dragging the mountain with him. He opened his arms perhaps a little bit hesitantly at a weird and awkward angle but the woman literally jumped into his open arms, jumping excitedly and also peppering kisses all over him. She hugged the young man tightly and would also have swung him into the air in joy already if only Hyukjae was perhaps fifty pounds lighter. She was very much fond of him and overly so until he became a little scared of her due to her clinginess, which Hyukjae believed was inherited by her youngest son as well.

“Donghwaaaaaaa!!!” Mrs Lee hollered up the stairs, her voice echoing around the cottage and for a moment Hyukjae thought the Christmas tree in the corner swayed, just a little. “Help your dongsaeng and his hubby with their luggage up!!!”

“They’re here already?” A voice floated down the stairs and hurried footsteps were heard. Brown eyes peeked from the stairs and Donghae waved excitedly at their owner, a stupid grin stuck on his face. Hyukjae gave the newcomer a lopsided grin from his awkward position because Mrs Lee still hadn’t let go of him yet.

“Hyung!!”

“Hae!!!!!!!”

Hyukjae thought he’d never seen anyone run that fast down the stairs before colliding into Donghae, landing both brothers on the floor just like bowling pins. The younger sibling couldn’t stop giggling even when his elder brother nearly squeezed the life force out of him.

“You little brat, you never called for months and then suddenly mom announces you’re coming back for the holiday!!” Donghwa exclaimed, digging fingers into his dongsaeng making him squeal in laughter.

“Eeeek stop!! Stop!! Hahaha… I-I was busy, I’m s-sorry!!! Hahahaha!!!”

Mother and son-in-law (almost) watched in amusement as the two siblings rolled over and over the carpeted floor, cleverly avoiding bumping into furniture but still making a huge scene by themselves.

“Well, seems like they really missed playing with each other like that,” mused Mrs Lee, aloud, to Hyukjae who was turning purple. Literally, because he was still caught in her embrace and she wasn’t sho