“Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse".

 

Well, that’s not entirely true. It was the night before Christmas, but in Key and Taemin’s apartment there was a creature stirring, and his name was Kim Kibum. He was racing through the cozy little apartment, which his boyfriend and he had recently come to call home.

 

He was desperately searching for his winter coat, because he was getting ready to make a trip to the mall to do some last minute christmas shopping. Yes, it was Christmas eve and he still hadn’t bought his boyfriend of one year a christmas gift. But, he was a very busy man, he had a new job at a fashion magazine, and was a full time student at a performing arts college. He had a lot on his plate. However, he wasn’t going to let that stop him from buying his boyfriend the perfect gift.   

 

Key knew that what Taemin needed, and had been subtly implying he wanted, was a new pair of dance sneakers. Being a dance student, Taemin would get a lot of use out of them.

 

Key had mapped out the perfect plan to secretly buy the younger the pricey sneakers. He needed the perfect excuse to get out of the apartment, without it being obvious where he was going or what he was doing.  

 

So, what was his diabolical plan? Well, he was going to tell Taemin he had a very important meeting at the fashion magazine, where he worked. Key figured it would give him just the right amount of time to get out, drive to the mall, deal with the hectic crowds that were bound to be there, and buy the perfect gift. He just couldn’t wait to see the look of joy  on the younger's face when he opened up the box on Christmas morning.

 

Taemin on the other hand, had to do some intense spy work in order to find out precisely what his boyfriend wanted for Christmas. Maybe it was because he wasn’t too great at picking up hints, but he just never seemed to understand what it was the elder wanted for a gift.

 

He could tell Key was trying to tell him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on exactly what it was. He needed this gift to be perfect because it was their first Christmas together since they made the choice to move in. But thankfully, after digging through some magazines that the elder had so kindly set on the kitchen table, he found it! A designer coat that Key had circled in a very subtle red sharpie pen. Now all Taemin had to do was make an excuse for why he was leaving the apartment, and make a run for the mall.

 

With Christmas just one day away, the boys had to hurry if they wanted to find and buy their gifts. With their busy schedules they just hadn’t found the time to go shopping, and now they were definitely paying the price, literally.

 

"Babe! Have you seen my coat?", Key yelled through their  apartment, knowing Taemin was probably still laying in their bed, it was ten o'clock on Saturday morning after all.

 

In hearing his boyfriend's loud voice, Taemin nearly jumped out of his skin. He was huddled over his boyfriend’s coat, which he had laying on their bed. He had carefully snuck it out of the coat closet when Key was getting ready in the bathroom. He knew what key’s size was in general of course, but he wanted this new coat to fit his lover perfectly.

 

“Taemin!”, key yelled his name again.

 

Taemin could hear footsteps coming down the hallway, quickly approaching their bedroom. He looked around, unsure of what to do to. He needed to make it look like he wasn’t checking the size of the coat. Finally, he made the decision to throw it on himself and quickly sit on the bed.

 

Key walked into their bedroom, and observed the scene in front of him. Taemin was still dressed in his sweats and nightshirt, but had on Key’s large coat, with faux fur on the collar.  It was quite a sight.

 

“Taemin, why are you wearing my coat?”, he asked, clearly suspicious.

 

Taemin just smiled cutely, “I was cold, and it’s fuzzy”,

 

Key laughed at his boyfriend’s silliness, and slowly made his way towards the bed with a cocky grin on his face. He knew Taemin was up to something, because the heat in their apartment was turned up to 80, but he decided to play along anyway.

 

“Aww poor baby. Why didn’t you tell me you were cold?” He said while straddling Taemin’s lap. He began nuzzling his nose into the crook of his neck, and put his hands inside the warm coat, wrapping his arms around the other's slim waist “I could have kept you warm”.

 

Taemin hummed in approval when key began leaving open mouthed kisses along his neck and jaw, and fell back so that they were both laying on the bed, “Well, why don’t you keep me warm right now?”,  He said seductively, pushing his hips upwards to brush against the elder’s in a very suggestive manner.

 

“Hmm that sounds good, but I’m afraid I can’t, I have a meeting in ten minutes”, Key said, making to get up off of Taemin, but Taemin pulled him back by his collar.

 

“Ten minutes is enough time”, Taemin said, leaning forward to bring their lips together in a heated kiss.

 

Key laughed at the younger's eagerness, “I’m sorry babe, but I have to go", he said, attempting to pull away.

 

He wanted to give in, but he had to leave if he wanted to beat the big crowd of last minute Christmas shoppers, he didn’t want to ruin their first Christmas together by not getting Taemin the perfect gift.

 

Taemin pouted at this, but gave in anyway, letting go of Key’s collar so he could stand up, “Fine”.

 

Key laughed at his boyfriends disappointed expression, and took his coat which the younger had handed back to him.

 

"Don’t worry, we have tonight remember? I’m cooking roast beef and banana cream pie, your favorite”, Key had planned a romantic evening with the some classic Christmas dishes.

 

Taemin’s eyes light up right away at the sound of his favorite dessert.

 

“Mmm I can’t wait. Oh!  I forgot to tell you, I might actually not be here when you get back I...I’m going to...to lunch with Jinki hyung!”, Taemin said, instantly regretting that he hadn’t come up with an excuse for why he was going to be gone earlier.

 

Again, Key knew the younger was up to something,  but he didn’t want to say it outloud. Let him think he’s sneaky. He thought to himself.

 

“Alright, well say ‘Hi’ to Jinki”, Key said before giving Taemin a kiss on the cheek.

 

“See you tonight”, Taemin yelled after him.

 

“Alright”, Taemin said to himself as soon as Key had left. After a quick change into his street clothes, he walked into the kitchen to grab his jacket, his car keys, and most importantly, his wallet.

 

“It’s game time".

 

***

 

“Ok.  It's game time”, Key said as he walked into the front entrance of the most popular mall in the city of seoul. It was huge,and boy was it crowded. Apparently a whole load of people had also waited until last minute to do their Christmas shopping, just as he had.

 

Key instantly set into his “shopping mode”, and made a beeline for the store he was looking for. He maneuvered his way through the crowd of old people: young people, babies in strollers, and tacky couples taking selfies by the gigantic christmas tree. He made it safely into the shoe store he knew from his previous research, carried the shoes Taemin had asked for.

 

They’re they are..

 

Key located the red sneakers as soon as he walked into the brightly light store. They were resting on what resembled a pedestal, which was  surrounded by other athletic shoes and dance sneakers. They were clearly on display, not only because of the prestigious brand, but also because they were worth at least one grand.

 

Key smiled triumphantly to himself, and quickly shuffled his way to the back of the store. He approached the pedestal and reached out his arm, but just when his thin fingers grabbed onto the red sneakers, he felt another hand…

 

He looked up to meet the aging face of an elderly woman, who he hadn’t noticed make to grab the sneakers at the same time he had.

 

Oh no you don’t, lady.  These are mine.

 

He decided to play the nice card at first, he looked the old lady straight in the eye, but spoke politely as possible.

 

“Sorry Ajumma, but I saw these first”, to his surprise however, the old lady just glared back at him before tugging back with alarming strength.

 

“Well, I’m sorry son, but I believe I grabbed them first. Anyway, have some respect for your elders”. The old lady said, giving Key a proud smirk after seeing his shocked expression.

 

Key scoffed shaking his head. “I don’t think you understand, I need to purchase these shoes, tonight”. Key said tugging the shoes back towards him once again.

 

The old lady just tugged back against him, her other hand on her cane. “Me too son.”

 

Key laughed loudly at this, “Who would you possibly be buying these for, yourself? I doubt it” . He said sarcastically, before pulling the shoes towards himself, “Why don’t you just do yourself a favor, and hand these to someone who can actually find some use for them?”.

 

The old lady looked at key's face, and suddenly seemed to relax, she smiled sweetly, “Who are you planning on buying these for sweety, someone special?”, She asked, still holding onto the shoes, but not as tightly as before.

 

Key was taken by surprise, he hadn’t expected the sudden shift in conversation, he had been prepared to fight to the death. He couldn’t find his voice, so he just nodded his head in answer to her question.

 

The old lady smiled in return, “Well, that’s sweet. Young love is a beautiful thing.” The old lady patted Key’s hand before putting the shoes in his hands, making to walk away.

 

“Wait!”, Key said, stopping the lady before she got too far.  “Who were you buying them for?”. He asked, genuinely curious.

 

“My husband. He wanted a nice pair of sneakers that would make him feel young again, and those looked perfect, and they were his favorite color”. She said, somewhat sadly, “But don’t you worry son, you give those to your sweetheart, I’m sure they’ll get more use out of them”.

 

She made to walk away again, and Key wanted to scream in frustration. He didn’t know what to do. Finally he won the internal battle going on inside his mind.

 

“Mrs. wait!”, He yelled after the old lady, before running up and handing the shoes back to her, “You have them. I’ll get something else, it’s fine”. He said a hint of reluctance in his voice, but he smiled down at her warmly.

 

At first she looked surprised, “Oh no dear, really, it’s fine, you can have them”, She said pushing the shoes back to him gently.

 

Key laughed lightly at the clear juxtaposition between this tug of war and their previous one. “No, take them. It’s my gift to you, please”. He said, looking her straight in her the eye.

 

The old lady, looked up at him as if she might tear up, but then reached up to gently pat his cheek,

 

Key giggled in response, handing her the shoes, and this time she took them.

 

“Have a merry christmas”, Key said, before making to walk out of the store, but the old lady stopped him before he could walk out.

 

“Wait son! May I atleast know the name of my Christmas angel?” She asked.

 

Key laughed at this, “Kibum”. .

 

“Kibum...You know you remind me of my husband, a younger version of course. Well, have a merry Christmas, Kibum”. She said, before making her way to the check out counter.

 

Key waved her goodbye, and sighed to himself. He could feel a warmth in his heart that he figured must be the joy of Christmas spirit. But then he became sad once more.

 

Well that didn’t go as planned..Well at least she’s happy. But now what am I going to get Taemin?

 

He slumped his shoulders and began to slowly walk through the mall, in hopes of finding something else for his boyfriend.

 

He stopped in his tracks when he noticed a small little jewelry shop...

 

***

 

Why are there so many people? Taemin thought, as he made his way through the extremely crowded mall in Seoul.

 

He struggled with finding the store in which they sold the coat Key wanted. It took some looking at the mall map, and asking a random group of teenage girls before he finally located the pricey store.

 

When he entered the dimly light place, his nostrils were immediately assaulted by the extremely potent smell of floral perfume.

 

He wiped at the small tears that began to build up from the intense fumes, and slowly made his way to the back of the store, passing many young men and women, who were obviously more fashionable than the average person, including himself.

 

He pulled up the picture of the bag on his phone, and scanned the walls for the particular black coat his lover wanted.

 

He looked for several minutes, not having any luck, before he finally spotted it. The only problem being that it was in the hands of someone else. A young woman, who was wearing it around her shoulders. She had on other expensive looking clothing and bright red lipstick. She was checking herself out in one of the many mirrors located within the store.

 

Taemin sighed, before straightening his collar, and preparing himself for battle,by the looks of it that coat the girl had on was the only one left in the entire store,  he needed to get this coat for Key.  

 

“Excuse me, Miss”, Taemin said politely, smiling apologetically towards the woman who watched him through the mirror, before turning around.

 

“Yes?”, She asked happily, giving Taemin a flirtatious smile.

 

Taemin smiled back, he figured he might be able to use her flirting to his advantage. He knew it wasn’t the nicest thing to play with innocent people’s emotions, but this was urgent.

 

“Hi. That's a  beautiful coat you have on , and it looks amazing on you”, Taemin said, pointing to the coat on her shoulders .

 

The girl blushed, and turned around to the mirror once more.

 

"Really? You really think so? I thought maybe it wasn’t the right fit for me, that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off very well.”, she said,  a flattered smile on her face.

 

It warmed Taemin’s heart to see her so happy with herself, because of his simple compliment, but he pushed that feeling aside, he had business to get to.

 

“Yeah, it looks great on you...but you know what? I think you might be right, maybe it’s not quite your style”, Taemin said, while grabbing a different coat, “ I think this one might fit you better”.

 

The girl’s face fell, she seemed to be hurt by Taemin’s words, but she grabbed the coat from him, trying it on and facing the mirror to see what it looked like on her.

 

Taemin took the other coat from her and quickly checked the tag, and sure enough, it was Key’s size.

 

He smiled at her through the mirror, “Yeah, that one looks so much better”.

 

The girl did not look like she agreed. she had a frown on her face, “You really think so?’, she said, sounding unsure of herself.

 

Taemin nodded his head, “Yes, you look beautiful”, he told her, before starting to walk away, “Have a merry Christmas”, He said over his shoulder.

 

“Yeah thanks, you too”. She said, sadly. Then she turned around to study herself in the mirror.

 

Taemin watched her for a second, deciding on what to do. He couldn’t just walk away, she was obviously upset. He felt terrible for tricking her like that, he had to make this right.

 

He sighed and made his way back over to the woman in the mirror.

 

“Okay, I lied. I don’t really know anything about fashion.”, he held up the coat in his hand, “I just wanted to buy this for my boyfriend. But, it looks great on you so...you should have it”, He handed the girl the coat, and made to walk away.

 

“Wait!”, The girl said catching him before he could walk away, “You’re getting this for your boyfriend?” She asked, clearly surprised.

 

Taemin nodded smiling sadly, “Yeah, this is one of his favorite stores, he comes in here all the time”.

 

The girl smiled at this, “Well then, I can’t take this from you,” She said, handing Taemin the bag. “I mean I was gonna buy it for myself, but I honestly don’t have the money for this kind of bag. I have to shop at cheaper places in order to keep up with the styles”. She said, gesturing down to her outfit,

 

Taemin was rather shocked, he would have never guessed she had trouble with money, her clothes didn’t give off that impression at all.

 

"Well, I never would have guessed. Honestly, you look great”, He said genuinely.

 

She smiled at his compliment, glancing down at her clothes, “Really?”.

 

Taemin nodded. “Yeah, really”, he gave her bright smile,

 

She blushed slightly again,”Thanks. Well you better hurry and buy that coat, Christmas is in about four hours”, She joked, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

 

Taemin laughed and nodded his head, “Yeah, I should. Well have a great Christmas”. He said giving her a small wave.

 

She waved back, and turned around to look back in the mirror, tugging on her clothes.

 

Taemin sighed and headed over to the check out counter. There were at least ten other people in line, so he settled in, expecting to be there for a while.

 

While he was waiting in line he couldn’t help but think of the girl from earlier. The more he thought about it, the more awful he felt about taking the coat from her. Even though she wouldn’t have been able to buy it herself, and she probably didn’t have a boyfriend or anyone who would buy it for her....

 

Taemin finally got to the front of the line. “You know what, can you gift wrap that, please?”.

 

Taemin paid for the bag and quickly pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, he wrote on it, “To the pretty girl by the mirror, Merry Christmas, you deserve it.  -Taemin”.

 

Then he nearly ran over to the mirror, hoping she would still be there. However, when he got there, she was gone. He cursed himself, and made to walk out of the store.

 

He had barely walked five feet from the store, when he saw her, sitting on a bench.

 

He smiled, and walked up to her. She didn’t look up from her lap until he was right in front of her.

 

“Hi, again”, He said with a smile.

 

“Hi”, She said, obviously confused.

 

Taemin lifted up the fancily wrapped gift. “Here, this is for you”.

 

She looked up at him, completely shocked, but he just smiled at her one last time before walking off into the crowded mall.

 

Well that felt good, but what am I going to get Key now? He’s going to be so annoyed that I didn’t get the coat.

 

Taemin wandered the mall a little while, thinking of the perfect thing, but nothing came to mind. That is, until he came across a small little jewelry shop called, “It’s the little things that count”.

 

Hmm...

 

He squinted up at the name, and then shrugged his shoulders, It’s worth a shot.

 

When he was inside his nostrils were filled with the sweet smell of cinnamon. Well at least it smells good.

 

He slowly walked around the tiny little shop, looking at all the little trinkets. Nothing really caught his eye, but then he came up upon a little display box, and inside it had a snow globe. Inside the globe were two elephants holding each other's trunks. It was so cute, and he remembered Key saying that the creatures were his favourite animal. So, on impulse he bought it. Maybe it wasn’t the perfect gift, but it was something.

 

***

 

Taemin arrived home a couple hours after Key, completely exhausted.  He shook off the little droplets snow that were in his hair before entering the warm apartment. He was surprised to hear christmas music playing, and smell the light smell of peppermint cocoa, his favorite.

 

He made his way into the living room, in which he heard the music coming from, and there was Kibum, sitting by the fireplace.

 

“Hey, there”, Key said gesturing for Taemin to sit beside him on the couch.

 

Taemin quickly kicked off his shoes, and practically ran to the couch, snuggling up to his boyfriend, and gladly taking the steaming hot mug of cocoa that was presented to him.  

 

“Hey. You’ve been busy”, Taemin said, noticing all the christmas lights and other decorations that Key had put up in his absence.

 

“I wanted it to feel as much like Christmas as possible”, Key said wrapping an arm around his boyfriend.

 

Taemin looked up at Key with a warm smile, “Well you did it, it’s perfect”.

 

Key smiled back down at him, but his smile quickly faded once he sniffed the air.

 

“OH ”, he yelled leaping up, and practically sprinting into the kitchen.

 

Taemin was caught completely off guard, and nearly spilled his hot cocoa on himself,

 

“What? What’s wrong?”

 

“I forgot about the roast beef!”, Key said while grabbing some oven mitts, and opening the oven which released an abundance of black smoke.

 

A coughing key appeared through the cloud of smoke, holding a completely torched roast beef.

 

Taemin walked into the kitchen, coughing slightly, and waving a hand through the air to ward off the offending smoke.

 

"Dammit!", key cursed himself, nearly throwing the roast beef onto the counter. "Now I've ruined dinner too".

 

Taemin shook his head, and made his way over to Key, gently massaging his shoulders, "it's fine babe. I don't mind, really".

 

Key shook his head, "No, you don't understand, I've ruined Christmas".

 

Taemin laughed at this, wrapping his arms around Key's middle and resting his head on his shoulder.

 

"Don't be silly. You didn't ruin Christmas. We can get take out or something. Really, it's fine". Taemin said sincerely, trying his best to reassure his boyfriend.

 

"No. You don't get it. I've ruined everything", Key said, breaking free of Taemin's back hug, and walking back into the living room.

 

Taemin followed him, opening a window or two along the way to help blow out some of the smoke. He figured the last thing key needed right now was for a fire alarm to go off.

 

"I've ruined our first Christmas Eve dinner". Key said, after plopping himself down on their couch, his head in his hands, "And I waited until the last minute to get your gift. You're probably going to hate it".

 

Taemin smiled, and walked over to Key, sitting down on the couch next to him. He gently took Key’s hands in his own, forcing the other to look him in the eye.

 

"Kibum, stop trying to make everything perfect. It's boring that way."

 

"But, this is our first Christmas together, it has to be perfect!"

 

Taemin sighed and got up to go retrieve something from his bag. "You wanna know something?"

 

"What?"   

 

"I waited until the last minute to get your gift too" .

 

Key laughed slightly, remembering their conversation from earlier that morning, “Yeah, I knew you were up to something, ‘it’s fuzzy’”, Key mocked Taemin’s earlier excuse for why he was wearing his coat.

 

Taemin just rolled his eyes at the elder’s teasing, “Come on, let’s open our gifts together, right now”.

 

Key looked sceptical, but got up to go retrieve his own gift, and sat back down, “Are you sure? it’s not even Christmas morning”. Key knew that Taemin grew up in a very traditional household, and didn’t want to ruin any Christmas traditions the other might have.

 

Taemin thought about this for a second, but then shook his head, “No, this can be our tradition. Opening gifts on Christmas eve”.

 

Key smiled appreciatively, and then took a deep breath, handing the younger his expertly wrapped present, “Here you go, Merry Christmas, Taemin”.

 

Taemin took the gift,  and handed Key his gift, “Merry Christmas”.

 

“Wait!”, Key said excitedly, before Taemin could rip the wrapping on his gift. Then he got up and ran into the coat closet, digging through a Christmas box.

 

He soon reappeared wearing a red santa hat, and carrying some reindeer antlers, “Another tradition”, Key said, placing the antlers on top of Taemin’s black hair. “Cute”.  

 

Taemin readjusted his antlers, “I like it”.

“Ok”, Key said. Who first?

 

The two thought about it for a while before finally deciding on a very mature game of rock paper scissors.

 

“Yes!”, Taemin said when he won.

 

Key rolled his eyes in mock annoyance.

 

Taemin hurriedly unwrapped his gift, his eyes widening when he looked down upon the little snow globe in his lap.

 

“Wow..” He said, holding it up to get a closer look, and seeing the tag that clearly stated where it had been bought from. “I can’t believe you got me this”.

 

Key grimaced at Taemin’s words, “Yeah, I know it’s not very special, but I saw it, and it reminded me of you. I was going to get you something else, but..it didn’t work out”.

 

Taemin shook his head, “No. Kibum, this is perfect. This is literally the perfect gift.”, Taemin said, looking his boyfriend straight in the eye.

 

Key thought Taemin was probably just being nice as usual, but returned the smile none the less. “You’re welcome”.

 

“OK”, Taemin said, nodding towards Key’s present, “Your turn”.

 

Key quickly unwrapped his own gift, his jaw almost dropping to the floor when he laid eyes upon the snow globe with the two elephants holding trunks.

 

They had gotten each other the same thing. It really was the perfect gift.

 

“Wow”. Key said in amazement.

 

“It’s funny because I was going to get you that coat you wanted, but this girl was trying it on, and she was low on cash, I just had to get it for her”, Taemin admitted.

 

Key smiled at his generous boyfriend, “I was going to get you those sneakers you’ve been talking about, but this old lady wanted them for her husband”, Key said, laughing at the memory.

 

Taemin laughed along, then a comfortable silence fell between them. It was Taemin who finally spoke up, “I guess this is what Christmas is all about, the little things”.

 

Key nodded in agreement, shifting over to rest his back against Taemin's chest, “Yeah, I think you’re right”.

The rest of their night consisted of take out jajangmyeon, watching old Christmas movies, and finding different ways of “keeping each other warm”. Maybe to anyone else it didn't seem like anything special, but to them it was truly, the perfect night.

 

 

 

Hey, lovelies! Thanks so much for reading, and Merry Christmas <3