Yixing likes waking up on Christmas morning because he knows he’s going to wake up to the smell of coffee and an amazing breakfast by his boyfriend. It’s their tradition; Yifan is usually never at home this early because of his work so he makes sure to make breakfast on every possible vacation. 
This year, it’s different though. The smell of coffee is there but instead of a good morning kiss and a “Merry Christmas” in that voice Yixing loves way too much, there’s dull sounds and a muffled conversation waking him up. 

“Be more careful, are you really incapable of carrying a box?” 
“You could have picked a smaller one!” 
“Oh my god, I told you to be quiet you’re going to wake up Yixing.” 
“He’s probably already awake because we bumped into every possible thing in this apartment while carrying this big box over here.”
“You’re such a great friend, Luhan.” 
“I know. Now excuse me, I have to get home before Minseok wakes up, make sure to text me how it goes. Oh and you owe me one. The next time we get lunch during our break, it’s on you.” 

Yixing stirs and sits up once he hears the sound of the front door falling closed, still confused as to what just happened at the other side of the bedroom door. He hears a loud sigh and then approaching footsteps before Yifan carefully peeks into the bedroom, his lips curled into a small smile when he sees Yixing. 
“What was that…?” Yixing murmurs and rubs at his eyes with the ball of his hand. “I heard Luhan, what was he doing here?” 
Yifan quickly shuffles over and sits down at the edge of the bed, immediately wrapping his arms around Yixing, the smaller male responding to that by leaning against his shoulder. He smiles sleepily and nuzzles against the fabric of the elder’s shirt, humming in content. 
“He helped me with something.” Yifan gently tilts up Yixing’s chin and kisses him. “I’m sorry we woke you up.” 
Yixing shakes his head and playfully juts out his lower lip when the other pulls away again. 
“I’ll forgive you, if I get another one of those…” The smile on his lips turns into a bold one. Yifan chuckles while leaning in again, this time letting the kiss linger a little longer. 
“Merry Christmas, love.” 

They stay like that, sometimes pressing small pecks to the other’s lips until Yixing suddenly yawns and lets out somewhat of a high pitched sound. He blinks rapidly and then hides his face against the other’s neck in embarrassment with a quiet whine. 
“I’m sorry— “
“Oh don’t be, that was actually really cute.” Yifan is obviously teasing him, so Yixing reaches around him to weakly pinch his sides, which makes the elder jump in surprise. 
“Yifaaaaaann…don’t do this right after I just woke up…” The younger complains and then leans back to showcase his pout, something he knows Yifan can’t resist. It has its perks, knowing his boyfriend’s weaknesses and said boyfriend being too lazy to build up a resistance against those. 

( Yixing is sure they’re actually not weaknesses, Yifan has admitted it more than once that he adores the smaller male’s cute habits. ) 

“Alright, I won’t. But come on now, it’s time to get up. There’s something waiting for you in the living room.” 
Yifan reaches for Yixing’s hand and slowly tugs on it and the younger follows, sliding off the bed. It takes him a few moments to properly wake up and he occasionally stumbles over his own feet while walking but Yifan is there to catch him whenever he does. 
They walk into the living room and Yixing turns his head, looking for the “huge box” Luhan had mentioned earlier and stills the moment he spots it. He gapes at the fancily wrapped box next to the Christmas tree and waddles over, all the while throwing back glances at Yifan. Luhan really didn’t lie about the size of it.
“What…is…” He blurts out and inspects the box in front of him. “Yifan, I thought we agreed on small presents. This isn’t a small present.” 
“You don’t know that yet. You’ll see if it’s a small present or not once you opened it. But first, breakfast.”
“No I want to know what’s inside, now.“ Yixing is suddenly wide awake and his curiousness is at its peak.
“You really want to skip our Christmas breakfast?” 
“But—“ 
“Nope, you’re coming with me.” Yifan slides an arm around the smaller male and gently pulls him into the kitchen. 

Yixing feels like he can’t even fully appreciate the breakfast Yifan has made, because his mind is occupied with all the different possible gifts he might find inside the box that is waiting for him in the living room. He feels bad for it, because he knows how much time it took but he’s just too much of a curious nature. Yifan should’ve known that. Showing Yixing something almost always leads to the younger being horribly nervous and fidgety until he gets what he’s promised. But it’s Christmas; so he tries his best to not show it. The last thing he wants is to seem ungrateful, so he smiles even wider every time Yifan feeds him a piece of fruit and eventually, he really does forget about it. Yifan has a talent of making Yixing forget about anything that’s going on inside his head and replace it with thoughts about him and only him. 
They’re feeding each other and Yixing snuggles up to his side, sometimes using the opportunity to steal a kiss or two when Yifan leans in to take the bite the younger is offering him. It’s nice, he thinks. 
This is how they’ve been spending every Christmas morning for the last three years and Yixing doesn’t think he’ll get tired of it anytime soon. Some might get bored after going through the same routine year after year but it’s the fact that they don’t get the chance to do this very often that makes it even more precious. 
Eventually they don’t even focus on the food anymore, it’s just them nuzzling their noses against each other, sharing kisses and sometimes whines when Yifan refuses to react to them. The younger gently bumps his fist against Yifan’s chest whenever he does until he finally gives up and closes the distance between them.
“I love you.” Yifan whispers against Yixing’s lips.
“I love you too. Now give me my present, I ate up.” 
Yixing breaks out in a quiet laughter at his own words and at the way Yifan looks at him in pure disbelief. 
“I’m kidding! I’m kidding. Well…kind of. I do want to have my gift but I can wait.” 

After doing the dishes – and Yifan’s countless attempts of teasing Yixing about how impatient he is, which leaded to a hilarious soap bubble fight – Yixing has finally managed to pull Yifan out of the kitchen and towards the Christmas tree. The younger one drums his hands on the surface of his present and his brows furrow a little while he tries to think of anything he might have mentioned to Yifan that could fit inside. He can’t think of even one thing and it frustrates him. 
“Give me a hint.”
“Hm?” 
“What’s inside?” 
“…if I give you a hint then I’ll destroy the whole purpose of you opening it. I’m not saying one word!” Yixing makes a sound of complaint and starts picking at the wrapping paper to start opening the box. He doesn’t listen to Yifan’s rambling, because he is way too curious. As soon as the wrapping paper is gone, he opens the box with a loud ‘Hah!’ but he doesn’t find what he expected. Instead of a small gift, there’s another box inside. 
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” 
He doesn’t hesitate to open the second box, only to be greeted by a third one. And a fourth one after that, followed by a fifth. 
“Yifan…” 
Out of the corner of his eyes he can see his boyfriend grinning slyly because Yixing’s reaction is probably exactly what he wanted to achieve. 
“How many boxes are in there?” 
“I lost count…” 
“Really now?!” 
Yixing throws his arms up in defeat and plops down on the floor in front of the box. He glares at it before he carefully tips it over and begins to pull out box after box. He can see Yifan cover his grin with his hand and on one hand, he doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of getting the reaction he wanted. But on the other hand; he has no other choice because he does want to see what’s waiting for him and he’s always been bad at fake reactions. 
So he continues, quietly mumbling nonsense to himself. 

Just like Yifan, Yixing loses count of how many boxes he had pulled out after what feels like an eternity but when they get significantly smaller he starts to feel accomplished and when they’re small enough to put them on his lap, he feels even better. He sways from side to side a little and claps his hands together. 
“Almost there.” He murmurs to himself and his technique gets a little messier from now on because that seems like the more efficient – and quickest – way to reach what’s inside the last box. 
Yixing doesn’t even realize that Yifan is calling out to him until he’s holding a small, blue box in his hands and suddenly, Yifan’s hands are on his. 
“You really made so much effort for this? I can’t believe you.” He shakes his head with a chuckle but when he sees the serious expression on Yifan’s face; he narrows his eyes a little. “Why are you looking at me like that…?” 
“Open it, before you tell me I made too much effort.” Yifan’s voice is calm and then there’s a smile on his lips when he sits down in front of Yixing and pulls back his hand. Yixing is still confused and glances back and forth between the box in his hands and Yifan. 
“Why are you so serious out of a sudden, what did you— “The younger starts talking and opens the small box without looking at it but after he sees what he’s holding, he immediately falls silent. 

Inside the box, there’s a silver ring. Yixing fishes for words but he fails because he still has to process what he just found. The ring seems simple at first but after a second glance, he can see fine lines on the inside of it that form the pinyin for both his and Yifan’s names. This can’t be what he thinks it is, it’s impossible. The voice inside his head is telling him to not read anything into it and he parts his lips to say something but he’s unable to form a coherent sentence. When Yifan reaches out and puts Yixing’s hands into his, the younger lets out high pitched gasp. 
Yifan’s hands are shaking, it’s subtle but Yixing can feel it when the other tightens his hold. 
“Yifan…is this….” Yixing stutters but Yifan interrupts him. 
“Yes. Yes, it is.” The elder clears his throat and then takes a breath before he continues talking. 

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long while now already, but lately, we haven’t been able to see each other as much and this is a pretty big thing that shouldn’t be done just like that. I thought Christmas is the perfect opportunity, so here we are now. You probably hating me because you had to go through all those boxes and me trying to remember the speech that I prepared and repeated way too many times.” He chuckles lightheartedly and the sound of it makes Yixing’s heart skip a beat. He feels way too nervous for his own liking and he doesn’t know what to focus on; Yifan’s thumbs over his hand or the way he looks at him with so much affection it’s almost too much for him to handle. 
“Years ago, I constantly told myself that I would never marry, because I don’t need a ring or a piece of paper that tells me that I’m going to spend the rest of my life with another person. I never understood the point of it, until I met you. You’re the one for me, I’ve known that since the first time you genuinely smiled at me back on our first date. Call me cheesy, but I like to believe that it was love at first sight. You know how horrible I am at these kind of speeches, I still remember when I asked you to be my boyfriend and—“ 
Yixing doesn’t give Yifan a chance to continue because it gets too much for him and he feels like is heart is about to burst if he stays still for another moment. He wraps an arm around Yifan’s neck and pulls him close, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss. At first, Yifan is hesitant to respond and Yixing pulls away only the slightest bit because he’s afraid he might have made a mistake, but when Yifan slides his arms around his frame and kisses him back, he knows that it was the exact opposite of a mistake. 

“Marry me, Zhang Yixing.” Yifan whispers and the younger emits a happy sob. 

“Yes. A thousand time yes, to everything you said.” He blurts out and nods frantically. “Yes to us not needing rings or a piece of paper but it’s something I want to share with you. Yes, to you being cheesy but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Yes, to you being horrible at speeches but it’s adorable and I love you for every single trait of yours. And yes, I’ll marry you.” 
Yixing is the one that’s shaking now and he almost feels embarrassed when Yifan slides the ring on his finger. It feels way to surreal, Yixing is sure that he’s never smiled that wide before. He stares at his hand, unable to tear his gaze away from it. He inspects it, from all angles and it really isn’t that much of a fancy ring but it’s everything he ever wanted. Yixing never liked it when things were too extravagant and the carvings on the inside of the ring are enough for it to be the most precious to him. 
“I still hate you for making me do this.” Yixing mumbles and rubs at his eyes when he feels tears build up in the corners of them. “See, you’re making me cry! What kind of boyfriend are you?!”
“I’m a fiancé now though…” 
Yifan’s grin is sheepish when Yixing looks at him with wide eyes and the younger immediately starts crying. Hearing it makes him realize what just happened. Yifan proposed to him. In the near future, he’s going to marry the man he loves more than anything else. He doesn’t know when, but the fact that it will happen at some point, turns him into a blubbering and crying mess. It’s not that he hasn’t been happy before, but he has never been this happy and he doesn’t know how to manage all of his emotions. 
“I l—love you.” He hiccups when Yifan cups his cheeks and peppers his face in kisses to calm him down. 
“I’m so h—happy I don’t know what to say.” 
“You already said the right thing, so don’t worry about anything else now.” Yifan assures him and nuzzles their noses together. “I just hope you know that from now on, there’s no way you’ll ever be able to get rid of me.”
They both start laughing and share fond glances. Yixing bring up his hand and wraps his fingers around Yifan’s wrist to soothe his thumb over his skin. 
“I’d never want to get rid of you.” Yixing’s voice is still shaking when he speaks up and he sighs out happily after he stopped crying eventually. 
“How am I supposed to beat you now? It’s impossible to give you a gift that is better than this.”
“Oh you can…but we’re going to take care of that later.” The elder snickers and wiggles his brows suggestively, obviously trying his best to maintain a serious expression. He fails though, because as soon as he’s done talking, he has to bite back the grin on his lips. 
“Gross, I can’t believe I’m going to marry you.” 
“Oh you better believe it, because it is going to happen.” 

Yixing kisses him again and then turns to his side to reach for the present he got for Yifan. The size difference between that and the box makes him laugh and he awkwardly scoots around in his seat when he holds it out to his boyfriend – fiancé, he corrects himself in his mind. 
“It’s not big and it’s probably nothing special but I did put a lot of thought into it.” The boy’s voice is quiet because despite being as happy as never before, he’s worried that his present might not be good enough. But he shakes his head at himself. It’s Yifan he’s talking about. Yifan never cared about the size of a present. 
He fiddles with his fingers while watching Yifan unwrap his present and in a sharp breath once he’s done and pulls out a black collage frame that’s decorated with little, silver stars. 
“These are…the pictures we took on all our anniversary dates. And the one from Jongdae’s and Liyin jie’s wedding when we sneaked outside.” Yifan is grinning when he looks at the different pictures that Yixing put inside and brushes his fingers over them. “You even included some from before we started dating…Yixing this is perfect. More than perfect. I love it!” 
Yifan nods eagerly and carefully puts the collage frame aside to pull Yixing against his chest. The younger comfortably rests his head on his shoulder and tilts it a little so he could look up and then laces their fingers. “We will get to that upgrade of my present tonight though, right?” 
Yixing groans and gently nudges his elbow against Yifan’s chest. 
“Can you stop ruining our moments with those thoughts of yours?” Yifan snorts and uses his free hand to tilt up Yixing’s chin and brushes his lips over the latter’s cheek. 
“Nope. And you can prepare yourself for a lifetime of those thoughts.” 

When their lips meet and Yifan tightens his arms around Yixing, he doesn’t think he actually minds those at all because a lifetime together with Yifan is definitely worth it.