On my dad's birthday I called our house to greet him. I apologized that I couldn't be with them to celebrate it, but I assured them that I'll be coming home for Christmas this time. He told me it was fine, their excitement would not change no matter when I could go home and visit. I'm excited to go home, but beyond nervous about what would happen if they finally meet Wonho. Well, let's just hope for the best.

The trip back home was a 10-hour long train ride. Wonho did have a car, but we decided to take the train for a change. On Christmas eve, our boss allowed us to leave work early so we wouldn't miss our train. He didn't forget to hand us our Christmas bonus too. Boss was quite a generous old man.

Snow was all over the place by this time. I have low tolerance from the cold weather, so winter was not my favorite season. But Christmas was definitely my favorite holiday.
Especially now that I have someone that I love by my side.
This special day became more meaningful to me.

The station was packed with people like us, hoping to get home and spend this wonderful holiday with family. Our train won't arrive for the next hour, so we decided to relax and kill time at a café near the station.

"Ughh...It's so freaking cold." I whined, as I tugged my coat closer to my chest, and shoved my hands on the side pockets. I was in such a hurry to pack my stuff and buy gifts for my parents (and for Wonho, which I did secretly), I've forgotten to wear mittens.
"My poor baby~" Wonho chuckled, he was sitting beside me, sipping his coffee. He grabbed my hands from my pocket and started blowing into them. His hot breath reaching not only my hands but also crawling up my entire body. We stayed like this for a couple of minutes, not caring about our unintentional PDA.




"Are you guys gay?"


We both turned towards where the voice came from. A little girl in pigtails (who I thought was no more than 6 or 7 years old) was staring at us with hands on her waist.
Wonho and I looked at each other, our eyes asking, 'What should we do about this?'
And since I was feeling jolly, I decided to why not humor the kid. This would be fun.
I wrapped an arm around Wonho's shoulder and pulled him close to me. "Yes. This is my boyfriend. Isn't he handsome?"
"Hmmm," the kid placed a finger on her chin, contemplating about something. "You..." she pointed at me, "you're handsome. "And him..." she pointed at Wonho, "Hmm. Not so much."
Her face wasn't showing any emotion when she said it.
I clamped a hand in my mouth trying my hardest not to burst out laughing.
Wonho sat up gaping and placed a hand on his chest, then he nudged the side of my body. "It's not funny!"
The girl suddenly occupied the empty seat across us, without even asking our permission. She crossed her legs and continued staring with arms folded. "But my Mama said two boys can't get married?"
Wonho sighed, and answered her this time. "Well kiddo, in other countries, two men are allowed to get married."
"How can you have kids then?"
"Uhh..." Wonho trailed off, and he looked at me, asking for help.
"Well. Have you ever heard of adoption?" I asked the kid. She curtly nodded her head. "We can do that if we want."
The little girl merely shrugged. Then all of a sudden, we heard a cat purring. Meooow meooow meooow~ it went.
The girl reached for something on the pocket of her skirt. It was a smartphone.
"It's my Mama. She's looking for me. I better go." She stood up and was about to leave, but then she glanced back towards us, "If you do ever plan on getting married, I hope you'll have looots of kids. Bye bye!" Then she left.
Wonho and I stared at each other, then we both laughed out loud.
My hunch was right. It did turn out to be fun.
"That was interesting," I said to Wonho.
"Sooo," Wonho hauled me closer to him, a mischievous grin materialized on his face, "How many kids do you want?"


After our cute encounter at the café, we headed to the station, and boarded our train.
I could definitely say that it was the most enjoyable train ride I've ever been in. We mostly enjoyed the scenery, and the contents of the food cart. Since I'm quite a sweet tooth we bought a ton of desserts. When we were done snacking Wonho took a nap on my shoulder, while I listened to some music on my phone. Our hands linked together throughout the whole ride.

An hour before Christmas, we finally arrived at the station at the small town I'm greatly familiar with. My beloved hometown. We hailed a cab that would take us to my house. I decided to take a nap this time, since it's a twenty minute ride. The cab had GPS, so there was no need for me to direct the driver on where to go.


"....won. Hyungwon-ah~ Hey! Wake up."
I felt a hand gently shaking me, Wonho was waking me from my slumber. I blinked and squinted my eyes, letting my vision take on the surroundings.
"Where ar--" I cleared my throat for an instant. My voice was still raspy from sleep. "Where are we now?"
"We're outside your house."
I sat up, and looked out the window on my side.
And there it was, standing proudly, our home. Our beautiful and humble home that I've missed so much. Our little red gate welcoming us.
We paid the fare and got out of the cab. Then we grabbed our suitcases, and the paperbag with all the presents, then we stepped inside our modest yard. Snow gathered on my mom's little garden.

We deposited all our baggage on the floor, by the doorway. I was about to ring the doorbell when my watch beeped, indicating that it's now midnight. It's Christmas day.
Wonho couldn't stop fidgeting on my side, he was biting on his nails. Nervousness clearly visible on his face. I held his hand and turned him to face me.
Then I kissed him deep on the lips. "Merry Christmas babe." I beamed at him. "And could you please relax."
Wonho gradually eased up, he smiled widely at me. "Merry Christmas too." Then he let out a deep breath. "I'm sorry. But this is the first time I'm meeting your parents. I can't help it."
I lightly pinched his nose and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine."
Just then the door suddenly creaked open, and we parted in a flash.

"Hyungwonieee!" My mother cooed when she saw me, "I heard voices, why didn't you come in?" She gave me a quick once-over, and then pulled me in a tight embrace. "Ahhh...welcome home my dear son."
"Hi mom. It's good to be home." I hugged her back and enjoyed my mother's warmth, her familiar smell instantly putting me at ease. "Merry Christmas Mom."
"Merry Christmas too, Hyungwonie."
My mother let go of me, and her attention turned to Wonho.

"Good evening ma'am. Sorry to intrude. Merry Christmas. I'm Shin Wonho. Nice to finally meet you."
Wonho bowed politely, and he stretched a hand out for my mother to shake. But my mother suddenly pulled him to an embrace too.
"Merry Christmas! And it's great to finally meet you Wonho."
This took Wonho by surprise and he looked at me with his mouth hanging wide open. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing.

When we entered the house, my father was sitting by the sofa, drinking coffee and munching on cinnamon roll. He informed me that he couldn't sleep until we had arrived. Wonho greeted my father, his 90-degree bow made me chuckle a bit, it was too cute in my eyes. Dad curtly nodded, and asked him if he wanted some cinnamon roll. Wonho respectfully declined.

I told my parents that we were beyond exhausted. We just wanted to lie down and have a good sleep, opening of gifts could wait. We excused ourselves and went up to my room.
My room was still the same since the day I left the house. Mom didn't replaced anything, she just cleaned it and put everything back in its rightful place.
My high school books were still intact on my bookshelf. All the awards that I got from school was there. I felt a surge of nostalgia hitting me.

"Wow~ you were such a nerd back in high school." Wonho was looking at the pictures on my study table. He was talking about the picture of me and Minhyuk, smiling brightly to the camera. I was still wearing glasses back then, my dress shirt was neatly tucked inside my pants, and my hair parted in the middle.
"But a cute nerd," Wonho added.
I rolled my eyes at him. "Shut up."

We then took turns in taking a shower. Wonho suggested that we could just get in together. It was a tempting offer, but I rejected it. I couldn't let my parents hear us doing something other than take a shower. The walls here are too thin. Wonho sighed, and reluctantly walked to the bathroom with slumped shoulders.


"I'm glad I came here with you." Wonho said when we were settled in bed. I just silently nodded in agreement.
Wonho's arm wrapped around me like a pillow. My arm and leg tightly enfolded him. Of course, we made sure the door was locked. Even in this cold weather, Wonho still couldn't sleep with a shirt on. We can't have my parents walk in on us like this.
My eyes were closed, and I was taking on his sweet smell. And then I remembered about something.
I speedily got up and went over to my suitcase.
My action startled Wonho and he stared at me with a baffled look on his face. "What are you doing?"
After rummaging through my stuff, I've found what I was looking for. A red box. I hid it behind me, away from Wonho's view, and walked back to bed.
Wonho still had a puzzled look on his face. "What are you doing Hyungwon?"
With great pleasure, I handed him the box. "Merry Christmas."
He stared at it for a moment. Then he took it from me, and deftly opened it. "Hyungwon....you didn't have to."

Inside the box was two white shirts. It wasn't anything grand. The shirts had a small pocket on the right side, and neatly written on it, in bold black letters, was H+W.

"I know it's so simple and all. But I can't think of anything else to give you. I'm awful at this gift giving thing. And remember that time when you made us wear a couple shirt with a cat on it. Terrible! And---" I got cut off when Wonho jumped at me, and pulled me into a tight hug.
"Thank you Hyungwon! I really love it." He kissed me on the lips without a second thought. "I love you."
I felt my cheeks hurt a little from smiling too hard. "I love you too Wonho."
We hugged longer and enjoyed each other's warmth, but then Wonho sighed and looked up to me, his eyes were showing signs of sadness. "Uhm...I have a confession to make. Please don't be mad."

Wonho buried his face on my chest. I internally panicked. What's this about? Did he do something wrong? Did he cheat on me? This can't be good!
I took a deep breath and finally asked, "What is it?"
"Uhhm..." Wonho sighed again, "I left my gift for you at our apartment. I was so nervous in coming here. And it just slipped my mind. I'm so sorry! Forgive me Hyungwon-ah."
Wonho hugged me even tighter. And I could feel his heartbeat racing rapidly.

"What? That's it? I thought you cheated on me or something!" I laughed. Wonho's worried state in something so trivial was amusing to me.
Wonho raised his head up as fast as lightning. "What?! I would never ever do that to you!"
I held his face with both hands, and kissed him longer this time, when we parted Wonho gave me eskimo kisses.
Then I sat on his lap and nuzzled into his neck, "Don't worry. I don't need any of that in the first place. You are everything that I could ever ask for babe."

We slept that night feeling more content than ever.