5 Days ‘Till Christmas

joohyun.

seulgi plays with the tiny slip of paper seungwan gave to her with joohyun’s name on it for their secret santa game. in all the years that their group has been doing this, this is the first time she ever got joohyun’s name. so now, there she is thinking about what to get her girlfriend as a secret santa present and hoping she makes the right choice. the sound from the studio christmas party was flooding into the practice room should have been distracting her, but all she can think about is joohyun. 

“kang, either come back to the party or get out of here.” sehun says, breaking her out of her thought. “you got the next week off. go enjoy it with the girlfriend. we’ll call you if you need anything.”

“alright, alright.” she laughs, putting her hands up in surrender, as she approaches him. sehun walks her to the door and she smiles, pulling on her coat and scarf off the back of the rack before putting it on. “i’m gone. as you said, i got a girl waiting for me anyway.” 

“merry christmas, sehun.” she says, swiping some mistletoe before leaving.

“merry christmas, seulgi.” he laughs, shaking his head and waving her off.

 

christmas in seoul has always been busy. lucky for seulgi, work always kept her occupied. she loved the holiday as a kid, but as she got older and had to be away from her family, it became more about work. unfortunately this year, work couldn’t be a distraction. her boss gave her the next week and half off to rest, which she thought she didn’t need, but had to take anyway. so, back home she went, but as she nears her apartment she begins to think about how she would be spending all of this free time. work has become so busy lately that it’s weird for seulgi to not have to gow. 

sitting on the train, she begins to think about joohyun and all of the christmases they’ve spent together. they'd been best friends for years and living together for the last three and not a day has gone by that seulgi hasn't loved her. they never realized when the line between friend and lover was crossed, but it was bound to happen. every girlfriend either of them had always knew there was something lying under the surface of their relationship. so, now she can’t help but think about how she wants to spend every christmas for the rest of her life with joohyun. 

this is the year that kang seulgi tells bae joohyun that she wants to spend the rest of her life with her. the year she gets to kiss her at midnight on new years' eve as her fiancée. she really didn't know what was taking her so long to ask, but after the year they just had, now is more than perfect time to pop the question. 

she finds herself at their apartment door, knowing joohyun is on the other side, waiting up. she knocks, quickly before holding the mistletoe above her head, waiting for her to answer. after a bit of muttering, she can hear joohyun laugh as she opens the door. 

“you’re adorable.” she says, leaning against the door. 

“true, but i think you’re forgetting something.” she says, tilting her head. joohyun smiles, pulling seulgi’s scarf, bringing her in to kiss her on the cheek. "oh come on, not even a real kiss?" joohyun leans in, kissing her softly.

“can i just have you as my present?" joohyun smiles, arms around seulgi’s waist. seulgi can’t help but smile, looking at the beautiful woman holding her. 

“well, let’s say i’m one of your many gifts.” she kisses her, slowly pushing them back into the apartment and closing the door behind her.

4 Days ‘Till Christmas

the morning sun peeks through the dark curtains of their room. seulgi reaches over hoping to take joohyun in her arms before sleeping a little longer, but she finds the space next to her empty. she opens her eyes just enough to see the clock read 7:06 a.m. she groans, hating that joohyun is already up, even for her this is too early, but she figures it’s the holiday season and all.

“joohyun?” she calls out. 

the blonde’s head pops in the room. “yeah, babe?” the smile on her face, instant, like she was expecting it. “sorry, i wasn’t there when you woke up, but we’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”

“we?” seulgi asks, surprised by the new plans.

“we’re going shopping.” joohyun says, smiling big. 

 

seulgi can just see the excitement on joohyun’s face and she would hate to ruin it. she’s noticed that being with joohyun has left her feeling more open. open to sharing and just open to letting someone in and for the first time, it doesn’t feel suffocating. she smiles at the other woman and at the thought of knowing that bae joohyun is all hers. 

 

“fine, but I need coffee and a shower first.” she says, getting up. she stops at the door, kissing joohyun before heading to the bathroom. the older woman’s hand falls on her bare lower back, splayed fingers ghosting the top of her bare , as she deepens the kiss. 

“i’ll start a fresh pot.” joohyun says, pulling away with a groan.

 

“...or you can join me?” seulgi offers, softly pulling her towards the bathroom.

she can see that it is taking all joohyun has to not say yes. The other woman’s eyes take in her body as she tries to decide. 

 

“oh, i want to, but the coffee and the…” joohyun trails off, as seulgi pulls her closer. she raises an eyebrow, slowly untying and pushing off the blonde’s robe, letting it fall to the ground. “fine.” she sighs. “but, we need to be leaving at…” seulgi kisses her, before she can continue.

 

“we have plenty of time.” she says, kissing joohyun again, finally pulling her into the bathroom.

 

much to the older girl's dismay, they left far later than she wanted, but seulgi knows she definitely made it worth it. joohyun’s face says otherwise, when she kisses her on the cheek as they leave.

 

//

 

going to the mall four days before christmas seemed like a good idea before they left, but now she is greatly regretting it. 

 

store after store they pass, joohyun’s picking up things here and there. they pass a jewelry store that catches seulgi’s eye. she doesn’t go in, but in the window, she sees the perfect present for joohyun, but with the other woman pulling her in the opposite direction, she can’t stop.

 

seulgi watches as joohyun runs around. picking out wrapping paper and her secret santa gift, revealing that she had yeri. she can’t help but admire how excited joohyun is. she’s seen her get excited about things, but never like this, but then again, even she has never felt like this. happy and watching the one thing she’s always asked for making another christmas together perfect. joohyun’s always been excited for christmas and up until a couple of days ago, seulgi couldn’t really care less about the holiday, but seeing how happy it makes joohyun makes her happy too. 

 

“joohyun, do we really need all of this?” she asks, looking at the piles of things in the older's arms. 

“babe, I would rather get it all now, then have to run out later.” joohyun says, organized and calculated. 

“you’ve really thought this out, haven’t you?” the other woman just flashes her a smile before turning back to the selection of plushies in front of her. god, seulgi really loves this woman.

 

//

 

the mall had been busy all day, and is just starting to wind down. stores that were once filled with people were gradually emptying out as they all returned home to complete their christmas preparations. 

 

starting back the way they came, bags hanging from both arms, the pair pass by the jewelry shop once again. seulgi’s mind hadn’t drifted from the necklace, especially as her panic about not having gotten joohyun’s gift yet grows. seeing it still in the window after a long day only makes buying it seem like the only logical solution.

 

“babe, let me get one more thing. i’ll be right out.” she hears joohyun say. a part of her wants to groan and beg her girlfriend to leave, since they’ve been there for hours. but, she sees the opportunity to get joohyun's present before she comes back.

 

“okay.” she responds quickly, but the blonde is long gone. she quickly walks into the jewelry store, making her way to the counter. “hi, may i please see the necklace you have in the front window?” 

 

the man smiles, walking to the display case. “this is a lovely choice, ms. it’s definitely a piece that won’t be here long.” he says, laying it out for seulgi to see. the smile that grows on her face, almost instantly, tells her it’s perfect. 

“would you like me to gift wrap it for you?” he says, as if he knows she’s gonna buy it.

 

“just a simple box would be fine.” she says, lightly tapping her fingers on the display case. her eyes shift to the door, watching for joohyun as she grows impatient. it’s feels like she is racing against the clock hoping her girlfriend doesn’t see her. 

 

“here you go, miss.” he says, giving her a bag. “merry christmas and have a happy holidays.” 

 

seulgi smiles, “same to you.” taking the bag and stuffing it in one of the many she’s already holding as she watches joohyun aimlessly look around for her. she rushes out, surprising her from behind. the tiny yelp joohyun lets out brings a smile to seulgi’s face before the blonde hits her on the shoulder. 

 

“there you are. where did you go?” joohyun asks, hand to her chest. “and don’t scare me like that.”

“i was just looking around.” she says, heart pounding out of her chest, while she rubs her shoulder.

“okay, well let’s go home.” joohyun smiles, kissing her on the cheek and just like that all of the pain she was feeling is gone. 

 

Three Days ‘Till Christmas

the bright morning sun wakes seulgi, but much to her surprise, joohyun's arm is still around her. the other woman softly breathing into her neck. she smiles, drifting back to sleep, enjoying having her love next to her to wake up to. 

 

a few hours later, she’s up again and joohyun is gone. she pulls on one of her sleep shirts and walks into the living room. 

 

“good morning.” joohyun says, behind a coffee mug. 

 

“morning.” seulgi says, voice raspy and laden with sleep. “so, what’s on the schedule today?” 

 

“seungwan wants to go ice skating, if you’re up for it?” joohyun answers, taking a sip of her coffee. seulgi smiles to herself, knowing that joohyun doesn’t want to go because she’s can’t ice skate and falls more times than she stays up. 

 

“yeah, I’d love to.” she says, pouring a cup of her own. “as long as you skate with me for a little. i promise i’ll buy you a hot chocolate.”

 

“definitely. well, i’m gonna go shower and we’ll head out in a bit.” her girlfriend says, kissing on her the cheek before disappearing into the bedroom. seulgi just rolls her eyes, smiling, setting her mug on the counter. 

 

“care to join me?” she hears from behind her. she turns to find joohyun in the doorway, in next to nothing. with a grin and a nod, she quickly makes her way to the bedroom.

 

//

 

“you two look happy.” sooyoung says, watching them arrive. 

''well..." seulgi smiles, looking at the woman in her arms. her mind drifts back to the shower they shared and how they were almost late meeting the group. the blush rising in her cheeks. 

“i’m gonna get us some skates.” joohyun says, trying to hide her smile. she kisses seulgi in the cheek before walking over to seungwan and yeri. 

“wait, did you ask her?” the younger girl asks, taking seulgi’s blush as a sign that she popped a very important question. 

“not yet. we just had a really good morning, is all.” seulgi smiles. she knows that she’ll find the right time when it comes, then she’ll be prepared. 

“well, it’s only a matter of time.” sooyoung adds, linking her arm with seulgi’s to walk over to the rest of their group. 

 

seulgi watches as joohyun and seungwan try their hardest not to fall, failing anyway. seulgi tries to hold back her laughter, watching yeri and joy skate around them, stopping to laugh. the pair soon leave the ice as seulgi, joy, and yeri skate a bit more. 

 

“to all you lovers out there, now’s the time for couples’ skate.” seulgi hears over the speakers. her eyes lock on joohyun laughing with seungwan on the sidelines. she finds herself gravitating to her future wife, only thinking about is skating with her like all the other couples. 

 

“baby, come on. they’re practically begging us to go out there.” seulgi begs, snapping out of her trance. she has both of joohyun’s hands in her as she tries to pull the reluctant blonde from the seat. “i’ll be behind you the whole time.” joohyun softens at the promise, clutching on to seulgi once they got on the ice. 

 

they aren’t even on the ice for thirty seconds before joohyun falls. seulgi picks her up and finds a speed that is comfortable for them both, holding joohyun close to her, keeping her up. “i love you.” seulgi whispers.

 

“i love you too.” joohyun smiles, softly squeezing seulgi’s hand. they softly sway to the song playing through the speakers, just enjoying each other’s presence and not caring about anyone else. they skate for another song, until sooyoung and seungwan ruin their moment. the other couple zoom by them, obnoxiously. both joohyun and seulgi roll their eyes at the pair. 

 

“you ready for that hot chocolate?” seulgi asks, as they finish one last lap. joohyun nods, excitedly at the mention of getting off the ice. 

 

this christmas seulgi is finally getting something she’s always wanted. someone she could call hers. someone who made the holidays worth it. joohyun is that for her. for the first time, she’s with someone who understands her and she couldn’t be happier, especially looking at joohyun pouting at her with whipped cream on her nose.

 

Two Days ‘till Christmas

seulgi wakes up the next day feeling the complete opposite of how she felt yesterday. waking up in a cold sweat, her body feel like it weighed 1000 pounds. colds always found their way to sneak up on her and this one was just like all the others. much to her annoyance, her sore throat and piercing headache told her she would be staying in bed all day. she rolls over, finding the space next to her empty again. “joohyun...” she strains to call out.

 

“baby?” joohyun says, walking into the room with a cup of tea, placing it down for her before checking her fever. “well, it looks like we’re staying home today. you’re burning up.”

 

“no, you go and do what you need to do.” seulgi says, voice hoarse. seulgi knows how to take care of herself when she gets sick. she hates being the reason that joohyun can’t get things done, but looking up at soft doe eyes, she knows that her #1 priority today is taking care of a sick bear.

 

“no, i’m staying her with you. luckily for my preparedness, pretty much everything is done, so i can have a lazy day with my love.”

 

seulgi smiles, “i love you.”

 

“i love you too.” joohyun says, kissing her very warm forehead. joohyun quickly gets up to get a cold cloth to bring down her body temperature, before helping her drink some of the tea she made. 

 

the day is spent watching the snowfall from their living room. joohyun’s arms wrapped around seulgi as they watch movies and the older nursing her back to health. 

 

One Day ‘till Christmas

seulgi’s bug is gone by morning, but of course, joohyun is making sure she’s 100% in the clear.

“baby, it was a 24 hour bug. i’m feel so much better thanks to you.” seulgi pouts, in bed while joohyun takes her temperature for the fourth time.

“i know but you can never be to sure. i would hate for anything to happen to you.” the worried look on joohyun’s face has seulgi throwing her arms around her, bringing her close. seulgi know she doesn’t need to say anything for joohyun to understand, so she doesn’t. she holds her until she feels joohyun fall asleep in her arms. she smiles down at her, falling more in love with her. 

“i love you so much, bae joohyun.” seulgi kisses her hair.

 

//

 

after another lazy day of naps and movies, seulgi watches as joohyun prepares the wrapping paper for a night of gift wrapping. but for some reason, all seulgi can think about is wanting joohyun. “seungwan has always been particular about…” seulgi slowly crawls over to the blonde kissing her, cutting her off.  

“babe, you don’t need to explain.” seulgi breathes, slightly pulling away. 

 

“yeah,” joohyun agrees, eyes closed and nodding. cupping the back of seulgi’s neck, she swallows hard bringing the younger girl’s lips back to hers. the two slowly begin to lie down, until joohyun stops them. eyes wide, she pulls back, seulgi groaning at the loss of her contact. “babe,” she whines, trying to pull the older woman back. 

 

“no, we need to finish these.” joohyun demands, eyes determined. seulgi knows not to play around when she is determined to finish something.  

 

“just five more minutes, please.” seulgi pleads, missing joohyun’s body underneath hers.

 

“the faster you finish, the faster we get to bed.” joohyun reasons. 

 

“fine.” seulgi finally agrees, going back to taping the box she left undone. 

 

twelve presents later, seulgi’s got the hang of joohyun’s wrapping style. “do you want me to finish these last few?” she asks, watching the blonde begin to clean up their living room. 

 

“uh, yeah, if you don’t mind. i’ve taught you well.” joohyun says, throwing away unused wrapping paper. seulgi laughs off the comment, turning back to her project. the clock rings out, welcoming in the new day. 

 

"hyun, are you gonna come back and help me or can I take all the credit? joohyun..." she says turning around. she finds joohyun standing there, leaning against her doorframe, in nothing but, an open silk robe already falling off of her, showing red lace lingerie underneath, and a bow tied around her, barely holding it together. "merry christmas." joohyun says, a hint of nervousness to her voice. 

 

seulgi gets up, not taking her eyes off her girlfriend, just taking her in, speechless. the red lace against her pale skin, showing off every curve and mark seulgi left in the days before. seulgi’s fingers burn with a want to feel joohyun’s skin under her touch. "so, you're my gift. huh?" she says, walking forward to take her beautifully wrapped present in her arms. joohyun nods, finally relaxing in seulgi’s arms. seulgi pushes a piece of hair out of joohyun’s face, “you didn’t need to do this.”

 

“i wanted to. i wanted your first gift to be something i could never give to anyone else.” joohyun reveals. seulgi can’t help but smile. joohyun wants seulgi to know that she is hers. seulgi knows that she isn’t the most open, but right now, just like joohyun, she wanted to give everything to beautiful woman standing in front of her. 

 

"merry christmas." she says before kissing her. untying the bow, she lets the robe drop to the floor. joohyun’s hands find their way her hair. the pair for a bit, before stumbling back into the bedroom, so seulgi could fully enjoy her gift. 

 

“seulgi...” falls from joohyun’s lips just like the soft snowfall beginning out their bedroom window. that night was a promise of all the winters to come and how they would be together for each of them. joohyun and seulgi both know they would never want to be with anyone else.

 

"i've gotten some pretty great gifts, but that would have to be my favorite." seulgi says, kissing her as she climbs back into bed, arms wrapping around joohyun. 

 

"well, this is only the first part." the older woman reveals.

 

"you don't need to do anything else. this is perfect. you, right here, is all I could've asked for." joohyun is kissing her because no words can fully articulate what she wants to say. "merry christmas, hyun."

"merry christmas, seul."

 

 

Christmas Day

they fall asleep wrapped in each other’s arms and seulgi couldn't have asked for a better christmas morning. that is until, the sound of sooyoung and yeri ringing their doorbell as if they don’t know the passcode wakes them. 

 

“i wanna open presents, let’s go.” yeri yells as they make their way into the house. “so, put some clothes on.”

 

the couple smile before putting on the matching pajamas seungwan got them.

 

//

 

“okay, hyun, your turn.” seungwan says, hopping back into her seat after revealing herself as seulgi’s secret santa.

 

joohyun goes up, picking up a big box, tag reading to: yeri in big letters before handing it to her half sister. “merry christmas, squirtle.” she sings, before handing the box to a very excited yeri. she makes her way back to seulgi’s side, cuddling into her arms. 

 

“okay, seul, you’re up.” seungwan says, reading the last slip of paper. 

 

seulgi gets up, grabbing a small box from under the tree. “okay, so this gift is going to someone that i care about deeply and am very happy to have in my life. “merry christmas, joohyun.” she reveals, kneeling and placing the box in joohyun’s hands. 

 

the blonde opens it to find the necklace, tears welling. “seul, it’s beautiful. i love it.” she starts, all of her attention on the gift in front of her. but before she could say anything else, as her eyes move to look at seulgi again, she’s presented with another surprise. seulgi still kneeling with a velvet ring box in her hand. the tears that began to form are falling now at the sight of the love of her life with the a look of love she’s never seen before. 

 

there are a million things running through seulgi’s head right now, but all she can think about is the way joohyun is looking at her. she uses all the courage she has before speaking again. “bae joohyun, there is no one in this world i would rather spend the rest of my life with. i want to spend every christmas with you, just like this. you are my best friend and i love you more than i could ever say and i know that i want you to be my wife. so, joohyun, will you marry me?” she smiles, tears beginning to form in her eyes as well. 

 

before she got a verbal answer, joohyun is pulling seulgi into her arms, kissing her fervently. “i love you so much and yes, i will marry you. yes.” she smiles before kissing her again. the others in the room didn’t expect a different result, but still were emotional nonetheless. sooyoung held seungwan as she cried into her shoulder. they never knew they would see seulgi and joohyun happier than they already were until this moment. yeri got up hugging the now engaged couple, giving them words of congratulations. 

 

as seulgi pulls away, looking at her soon to be wife, she can’t help but think that as far as christmases go this one is probably the most amazing.

 

                     “When I’m with you, when I’m with you

                             Every moment feels like a gift I’ve been waiting for” -with you