“I fixed you breakfast. I know it’s just a bowl of cereal but it’s the only thing I can’t burn.”

This was written as a Christmas present to my dear friend Kian. I hope everyone enjoys!

Sehun wakes up early and rolls over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling as he tries to blink the sleep out of his eyes. Even without looking at the clock, he knows it’s way too early for him to be awake. The sun is just barely peeking in through the drapes and the sky is just beginning to turn a sunrise pink. For whatever reason, though, his limbs no longer feel tired, and he sits up slightly on his elbow, pushing his bangs out of his face as he squints to get a better look at the sky through the sliver of space between the two drapes. The body beside him stirs at his movement, and he stalls, looking down at the man whose legs are tangled around the sheets at the end of the bed. For a moment, Sehun afraid he’s woken Baekhyun up, but then the older male lets out a soft snore and snuggles deeper into the covers, not in the least bit disturbed by the slight presence of the sun or his boyfriend’s moving body.

Sehun can’t help but smile at the peaceful look on Baekhyun’s face. His mouth is open, just slightly, his hair tousled and sticking up at the back of his head, lips a bit chapped and face so relaxed that there isn’t a trace of the smile crinkles he usually has on his cheeks and forehead. Quietly, as to not wake up the older, Sehun shifts all of his weight onto his elbow and rests his chin in his hand, watching the rise and fall of Baekhyun’s chest and just reveling in the moment. This type of opportunity to watch Baekhyun in this peaceful of a state doesn’t come often for Sehun, and he’s not about to let it slip from his hands. Usually Baekhyun is the first one awake, the one slipping around to make sure he doesn’t wake up Sehun because Sehun had just worked a night shift and needed hours of sleep to even act alive once woken up. Sehun wonders absentmindedly if Baekhyun ever does this to him before shaking his head. Knowing how much of a hopeless romantic Baekhyun is, Sehun doesn’t even doubt it.

Sehun isn’t as much of a hopeless romantic as his boyfriend, though, and after a moment, the staring gets boring, despite the beauty in Baekhyun’s resting face. Sehun sits all the way up and looks over his shoulder at his boyfriend as he carefully slides out from under the covers, toes wiggling and dancing across the floor until he finds the slippers hiding under his side of the bed. He stands as he shoves his feet into them, turning around to pull the covers back up over Baekhyun before walking to the blinds and shutting them farther. Baekhyun sleeps through it all, but Sehun still walks on tiptoes to until he’s out of the room, door shut firmly behind him. Only then does he allow himself to let out the breath he had been holding as he pads towards the bathroom. His mind is still a bit fuzzy from the sleep, and he splashes his face with water to wake himself up. It’s when he looks up at his reflection, towel coming up to catch the droplets of water running down his nose and cheeks, that it he gets an idea. A brilliant, amazing idea: he’ll make breakfast for Baekhyun.

It’s a great idea, at first, and it makes him quickly dry his face and tumble his way into the kitchen (tumble, because Baekhyun had left his clothes in the hallway last night and Sehun was not the most observant person). But five minutes later, he’s slumped at the kitchen table, spirit drained because he has no idea how to cook. He doesn’t even know if he could make pancakes without catching the kitchen on fire. This is why Baekhyun is always the one cooking, while Sehun picks up takeout on his days to decide what they eat. Sighing, he stares at the fridge, then lets his eyes wander to the cabinet. There are plenty of things he could cook, if he could cook. They have pancake batter and eggs and bacon, and he’s pretty sure Baekhyun bought a waffle maker a few months ago. But remembering the last accident, and how annoying it was to explain how he’d set off the smoke alarms trying to make ramen, he decides to not even chance it.

Sighing, he runs a hand through his hair and gets up from his chair, pacing over to the pantry to look through it again, just in case he was somehow missing something the he wouldn’t be able to up. Just as he was about to give up and find something else sweet to do, his eyes land on the cereal box. He’d just bought Baekhyun’s favorite cereal yesterday while Baekhyun was at work, and by the looks of it, the older man hadn’t even noticed it was there. After a moment of deliberation, he grabs the box of cereal and closes the cabinet. Sure, it was just cereal, but it counted for something, right? He places the box on the table, then glances at the clock. Baekhyun wouldn’t be up for another 30 minutes at least, so he had time to make up for his lack of cooking skill through pure appearance. Rolling up the sleeves on his slightly oversized sweater, he gets to work, rummaging through the cabinets and closets as he hums to himself.

He’s in the middle of setting Baekhyun’s favorite bowl on the table when he hears it: the sound of someone dragging their slippers on the hardwood floor in the hall. He spins around in time to see Baekhyun trudge into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he blinks at the scene in front of him. Sehun internally congratulates himself on not breaking anything as he sets it all down on the table and walks over to his boyfriend, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sehun? What are you doing awake, you never wake up this early,” Baekhyun’s voice is still raspy from sleep, and if Sehun wasn’t so wound up about what Baekhyun would think of the surprise, he’d have found it y.

“Um, well,” he begins, clearing his voice and trying his best to put on a face of nonchalance. “I woke up early this morning on accident and I couldn’t go back to sleep. So I decided to do something for you, as a surprise.” Baekhyun raises his eyebrows, obviously still confused, so Sehun continues to explain. “You work so much, and somehow you always manage to get up early and fix breakfast for both of us. I wanted to do something for you too, so… I cooked you breakfast. I know it’s just a bowl of cereal but it’s the only thing I can’t burn, so…” Sehun can feel his face getting hot as he trails off and looks away, wondering how silly Baekhyun must think this all is. Dammit, he should have tried making eggs or something.

“Oh my god,” Baekhyun’s voice cracks, but he doesn’t seem to care, hand coming up to grip at Sehun’s sleeve.

“I know, it’s stupid, you don’t have to eat it-” Baekhyun interrupts him, sliding his hand down to rest inside Sehun’s.

“I love it, Sehun. You even decorated and made it look nice,” Baekhyun takes a step closer to the table, looking it over with a grin spreading across his face. “My favorite book, coffee in my favorite mug, you even have my favorite blanket out here.” Baekhyun reaches out to touch it and laughs. “You even warmed it up in the dryer. I cannot believe you, Oh Sehun.” By now, Sehun’s face is completely red, and he lets the sleeves of his sweaters fall down as he brings a hand up to hide his embarrassment.

“Hyung, you’re making it sound like more than it is, it’s just cereal and coffee,” Sehun risks a glance at Baekhyun and feels his heart jump when he sees the way Baekhyun is smiling at him. “I- I got the bread out and the toaster ready, so you can make toast if you want. I just… wanted you to feel nice, since it’s Christmas Eve and you finally have a day off.” He’s taken by surprise when Baekhyun untangles their hands and wraps his arms around the taller man instead. He freezes for a second before hugging his boyfriend back, reveling in the warmth pouring through him from Baekhyun’s touch.

“Sehun, this means so much to me, you don’t even know,” Baekhyun mumbles against his neck, tightening his arms as he speaks. “I don’t care if it’s just cereal. You put so much of your heart into this.” He laughs and shakes his head against Sehun’s shoulder. “I was so stressed yesterday when I came home, but I feel as light as a feather right now. I love you, Oh Sehun.” Sehun doesn’t even try to smother the small smile making its way onto his lips.

“I love you too, hyung. But you should eat now. Or your cereal will get soggy and your coffee will get cold and then we’ll have less time to cuddle on the couch and make out while watching our favorite movies.” Baekhyun pulls away reluctantly, but then quickly wraps his fingers in Sehun’s sweater and pulls him down to connect their lips. It lasts much too short, in Sehun’s opinion, but Baekhyun makes up for it by peppering kisses across the younger man’s face before he turns around to sit in his seat at to table and wrap himself up in the blanket so that only his face is showing. Sehun doesn’t let his eyes leave his boyfriend as he pulls out his own chair at the table, fondness playing across his face as Baekhyun takes a sip of the coffee and makes an exaggerated sound of pleasure. Somewhere deep inside, he makes a mental note to do this more often, and subconsciously decides that he could never have Christmas Eve another way again.