He couldn’t understand why you were acting so out of character this year.

It was December and Jinki knew very well what this month meant to you. It was your favourite time of the year because you loved Christmas. When you had found out he was born in December you had grinned from ear to ear at him.

“Of course you were, that makes you even more special to me,” you had told him and he had smiled back at you so much that he felt the ache of his face.

What Jinki wasn’t prepared for was how much you were a Christmas fanatic. Once Halloween was over you were writing lists of how to decorate your apartment for the festive season, and before December even arrived your home looked like you had visited the North Pole and brought half of it back with you.

Although Jinki was used to Christmas, he always felt the season to be bittersweet. His parents had made him feel special each year, but there was never a time in his life where his birthday outshined the celebrations around him. Even at home, his party themes would always include the Christmas decorations and he could tell his presents he received at times were due to everyone having tight finances around this time of year.

He tried not to be petty but when he was forgotten on his birthday and given the dreaded combined Christmas and birthday present on Christmas Day, he had slowly started to dislike the fairy lights and the Christmas songs.

As an adult, Jinki chose not to decorate his home at Christmas. This had surprised you greatly the first year you had seen his home free from tinsel and baubles, especially since he had never said anything to you about his different tastes at this time of the year.

“Do you need help with decorating?” you had asked at the time and he shook his head, smiling around at probably the only place in Seoul that didn’t have a single touch of Christmas embedded within it.

“Nope, I like it this way.”

From that day onwards you did your crazy over the top Christmas and he continued his own life void from the festivities. When your friendship developed into love, Jinki had considered what Christmas would look like with you now at his side as his partner. Especially since you had recently moved in, he was preparing to come home one day and find the entire apartment decked out in Santa’s finest. But as the first day of December came and went, the apartment was still undecorated.

It made him wonder where all your usual enthusiasm had gone to.

The first five days of December were done with before he finally asked you about it, pulling you aside before you left for work. “Are you okay?”

“Of course, I have you to look at and that makes everything okay,” you told him with a smile, Jinki chuckling at your genuine optimism.

“The apartment looks pretty clean,” he pointed out matter-of-factly and you nodded again. “I think it’s missing something though.”

“What?” you asked, blinking up at him.

He was confused, were you the same Y/N who last year had an inflatable Santa at your front door that greeted him before you could? He frowned at you as he rubbed your upper arms gently. “Where’s the decorations?”

“Oh! I’m really busy with work, I’ll get to them,” you told him, stretching up to kiss his cheek as you called out in farewell and left for the day.

Work hadn’t stopped you before, but he figured you wouldn’t lie to him about this and shrugged, making plans to help you over the weekend to set them up then.

The weekend arrived and you suddenly had to go home and help your Mum with something and in the lead up to his birthday Jinki barely saw you. He had fallen in love with your vibrant enjoyable nature so easily that when you shut off like this from him, he wondered what he had done to make you forget that you were once friends before lovers and he knew you far too well because of this.

He was starting to dread this month even more than usual. It was odd to think he was upset because his usually Christmas free environment was still festive free.

Jinki’s birthday arrived and he went to work early, letting you know he’d be home later that evening. You had mentioned you had the day off which surprised him, but he wondered if you had planned working extra hard last week so you could have his birthday off with him.

It made him disappointed he had a full schedule for the day.

He was tired when he returned home but you had promised him a cooked dinner, a good soak in the bath and whatever else he wanted to do afterwards, and Jinki managed to find some energy to anticipate walking through the door of your shared home.

What he wasn’t ready for was the overwhelming decorations.

As he walked into his home slowly, he gazed around himself at how different the apartment looked only ten hours apart. He found you waiting for him in the middle of the living room, a wide smile upon your face.

“Happy birthday!” you cried as he moved towards you, his eyes soaking everything in.

“What’s this?” he asked slowly, still taking in all of the balloons and streamers. “Why does our house look like party central? Are we expecting people to join us tonight?”

“Well, I remember you telling me about your Christmas experiences last year when you chided me for putting up a Christmas tree in my bathroom,” you started and he nodded softly, pulling on a string of one of the balloons floating along the ceiling. “I didn’t realise the pain of being born in the month of Christmas could make someone so unhappy. And you said you never once got a birthday as a child free from Christmas decorations, so I decided to make your wish come true. I uh, might have gone a little overboard with decorating for tonight though.”

He chuckled at your small admission. Taking you in his arms, he hugged you tightly, feeling his emotions rise at your efforts. He pulled back to gaze at you, shaking his head softly. “You held off from decorating for Christmas for me?”

You nodded happily. “Of course, your birthday comes before Christmas day so it makes sense.”

“It must have pained you to refrain from draping tinsel everywhere.”

“Well,” you said softly, biting at your lip and nodding again. “It’s been the hardest Christmas season but it’s been worth it to see your face. Besides, it’s not Christmas yet and I can just clean this all up tomorrow and pull out the tree then!”

He laughed heartily, kissing you before laughing some more. “Of course, and I’ll help you too.”

“Really?!” you exclaimed, your eyes growing wide. “You’ll actually decorate for Christmas with me?!”

“You did so well to hold out all this time,” he told you, mussing your hair affectionately as you beamed at him.

“Maybe we can start our own tradition? No Christmas until after your birthday. Then it’s Christmas-town from that day out. Deal?”

Jinki grinned at you, kissing you again and nodded. “I think that’s the best way for us to celebrate December together.”

“Me too. Now come on, forget about Christmas, today is all about you! Let’s eat!”

He had never realised just how lucky he had gotten having you in his life until that evening, and Jinki knew that he would start to love Christmas again all thanks to you.