Chanyeol has a plan, a very elaborate and beautiful plan. He has been encouraging himself for days up until today, today when it all is set in motion – and still he doesn’t fully trust himself to not mess up.

There’s a soft layer of snow on the streets outside and small flakes falling from the sky. The streetlights are casting a soft orange glow onto the streets and Christmas music flows from the apartment next door. Inside Chanyeol is watching his boyfriend of 5 years, Jongdae, putting the last pieces of decoration on their Christmas tree. His heart skips a beat every now and then when Jongdae leans too close to the tree or turns around to send him a large smile that scrunches up his eyes. Chanyeol is so in love.

Their apartment is decorated with red hearts and golden stars in the windows, fake Christmas trees and a million tiny lights on the windowsills and a large Christmas tree in the middle of the living room.

It was Jongdae’s idea to get the tree, but it elevates the look and the pure joy on his face as he’s decorating is enough to justify carrying it to the 3rd floor.

Chanyeol puts his glasses down and gets up from the couch to join his boyfriend in front of the tree. Jongdae only reacts when the taller of them puts his arm around his shoulders. He smiles and buries into Chanyeol’s chest. The scent of cologne is familiar and sweet and the strong muscles underneath his large hoodie has Jongdae closing his eyes and enjoying the moment.

The large wall clock ticks seconds away in the background and the music stops. Chanyeol squeezes Jongdae closer again and looks down at him, smile ever present on his face.

“I have a surprise for you,” he whispers into Jongdae’s black hair and Jongdae opens his eyes to look at his boyfriend.

“Hm?” he whispers back but Chanyeol doesn’t answer him. Instead he leans down to capture his lips and close his eyes. Jongdae’s hands thread gently through Chanyeol’s hair as they kiss. It’s just a press of lips, neither of them deepening it further, neither of them wanting to deepen it. There is so much unsaid in the kiss, so much gratitude and love that neither of them knows how to word.

It has never been a problem, it has always felt like they knew what the other was thinking without saying it out loud. When they let go Chanyeol smiles and Jongdae bites his lower lip to prevent a giggle.

“Get dressed for going outside,” Chanyeol whispers, afraid of breaking the magic and Jongdae raises an eyebrow but doesn’t question him out loud. He isn’t going to get an answer either way. Jongdae is standing in the hallway, checkered trenchcoat on and black leather gloves on his hands. Chanyeol enters wearing his red padded jacket and a black ear band in hand.

“Wear this over your eyes so you can’t see,” he says and hands the ear band to Jongdae. Jongdae just stares at his boyfriend.

“That doesn’t seem very safe.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes but urges Jongdae to put it on regardless. Jongdae shifts it in his hands and stares at Chanyeol again.

“Can’t it wait until we get down to ground level. I don’t want to fall and break an ankle now; you know how important the upcoming winter Olympics is. I barely convinced coach Choi to give me time off during Christmas,” he says and takes a deep breath. Chanyeol eventually agrees, only because he doesn’t want Jongdae to fracture his ankle either and he doesn’t want coach Choi to scold him for not taking care of his boyfriend during the time off. Coach Choi is scary enough as is whenever he visits Jongdae during his training.

They get down to ground level safely and continues towards their car. Once inside the car, Chanyeol asks Jongdae to wear the ear band again and blindfold himself. Jongdae shakes his head with a small chuckle, but he does what he’s told to do and Chanyeol feels his heart skip a couple of frantic beats as he realizes this is it, this is now.

The drive feels miles long. He has planned a route different to the usual one, a few extra turns here and there to confuse Jongdae and make sure he has no idea where they’re going. It’s snowing more heavily when they arrive and Jongdae shivers as he’s led from the outside to an inside that isn’t much warmer.

“Watch your steps,” Chanyeol says and guides him further into the building. The temperature is the same as outside but there is no more snow in their faces and Jongdae scrunches up his forehead in thought, doesn’t really dare voice his thoughts. He can’t imagine what they’d be doing there either way and he trusts Chanyeol. Chanyeol guides him to a cold plastic seat and asks him to sit down.

Jongdae can feel Chanyeol’s warmth beside him but when that too disappears, his fingers are itching to remove the ear band and see if his hunch is right. He can hear the sharp blade of skates on ice and it’s a sound so familiar that Jongdae stops doubting himself and instead decides to just ask Chanyeol what on earth he’s doing.

“What are we doing at the ice rink? Can I remove the ear band?” he shouts, not knowing how close Chanyeol is. Chanyeol chuckles and shouts a yes back. When Jongdae removes the ear band, he’s momentarily blinded by the sharp lights at the ice rink, but as his eyes adjust, he begins to recognize the place he spends so many hours.

Chanyeol is grabbing onto the railing with one hand, standing unsteady on his skates. For an Olympic gymnast, he’s terrible on a pair of ice skates. Jongdae laughs a little and when he goes to place the ear band on the chair next to him he grabs hold of a pair of skates. It’s not until he looks down that he realizes they are his black skates, brought here from home. Chanyeol is smiling widely from his secure place near the railing and Jongdae shakes his head fondly as he changes into his skates.

Gliding onto the ice is like coming home. Chanyeol watches his boyfriend skate around the rink with an ease he only knew possible because he has seen Jongdae skate before. Jongdae looks full of peace, like nothing can get to him, but Chanyeol is still going to try. He twirls a couple of times before he skates towards Chanyeol. He stops right in front of him and reaches over to intertwine their fingers.

“Really, though? What are we doing here?” he asks and gently pulls Chanyeol away from the railing. Chanyeol stares at the ice beneath him, tries to find his balance but ice is not as easy as the pummel. Jongdae laughs at him and lets go slightly, only for Chanyeol to look up in mild panic.

“What is it with you?” Jongdae sounds a little concerned and grabs hold of both of Chanyeol’s hands, dragging him across the ice in a slow tempo. Chanyeol takes a deep breath.

“I wanted to impress you,” he says and Jongdae melts into a soft smile.

“You always impress me.”

“No, I … I wanted to do this for you,” Chanyeol insists and Jongdae nods a little.

“Why?” he asks.

“Because I have something to show you,” he says and lets go of Jongdae’s hands. It’s not at all graceful when Chanyeol half-walks half-skates towards the middle of the ice rink. Jongdae still stands where Chanyeol left him and watches with mild curiosity. When Chanyeol reaches the middle, he turns back around so he’s facing his boyfriend.

“Stay where you are!” he shouts and Jongdae laughs out loud but nods regardless. He’ll stay where he is. Chanyeol turns back around and fumbles with something in his pocket, almost losing his balance a couple of times. Jongdae tries hard not to laugh at his boyfriend. He knows ice isn’t Chanyeol’s strong suit and he isn’t really laughing to make a fool of the other.

He wraps his arms around himself to stay warm while Chanyeol moves towards the other side of the ice rink. He taps his foot on the ice once, twice, can’t stay still so he does a small twist and doesn’t notice Chanyeol climbing over the railing and looking for something on the benches.

When the light turns off, Jongdae stops in his tracks, turns around to look for Chanyeol but the ice rink is dark. Then Danse Macabre sounds and a spotlight turns on in the middle of the rink. Jongdae stares at the spotlight, listening to the music and remembers the routine that got him his first Olympic medal. It didn’t make him Olympic champion, but it was also that year he met Chanyeol.

“Chanyeol?” he calls out in the darkness, towards the spotlight but he doesn’t get a response. Jongdae skates a little closer to the spotlight out of curiosity when he watches his boyfriend in the corner, holding something in his hands. At first Jongdae wonders if it’s a large penguin, one of those to help kids find their balance on the ice, but as Chanyeol slowly moves closer to the spotlight, he recognizes it as a large bouquet of flowers.

Chanyeol is struggling with the large flowers but he has been practicing this, he can do it. He doesn’t want to mess up. This is important to him and he wants to make it perfect, wants it to be a story they can tell their children and grandchildren in the future. He wants it to be the picture-perfect story the media will latch onto and report as the real-life fairytale of the century. He reaches the spotlight and only then notices that Jongdae is closer than first anticipated.

The bouquet is full of light blue, white and greens. Chanyeol is about to say something when Jongdae skates closer to him. It wasn’t part of the plan, but he quite likes it as he’s standing face to face with the love of his life, spotlight painting both of them in the harsh lighting in the middle of an ice rink. He can see the questions bubbling inside the other, can read them in his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything.

Instead he focuses all his energy into going down onto one knee, wobbling dangerously at times when the skates slip on the ice. He makes it down without any injuries but has to hold a hand on the ice to prevent tumbling over. Jongdae stares at him when he hands over the bouquet.

“Kim Jongdae,” Chanyeol starts out and Jongdae fumbles with a leaf in the bouquet, curious as to what he has to say yet also feeling slightly embarrassed. “When we met 8 years ago, you stood on the podium, receiving your first Olympic medal, skating to this same song. The grace with which you flew over the ice is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It still is. You look so peaceful and beautiful when you dance on ice. Lucky was I that you are just as beautiful off the ice as you are on it. I can’t fathom how these 8 years would’ve gone without your company, without being by your side and I can’t imagine a future where you don’t stand beside me.”

Chanyeol fumbles with his pocket and pulls out a red velvet box, the silver brand on the top lip. Jongdae brings the flowers closer to his face, to hide a little but still make sure he can see exactly what it is Chanyeol is about to do. He doesn’t want to miss even a second of it.

“Kim Jongdae, will you marry me?”

Time stands still between them, the background music the only sound and Chanyeol almost loses his balance and has to put a hand down quickly. A single tear streams down Jongdae’s cheek as he lowers the flowers again and reveals a soft smile, one of those that are reserved for Chanyeol. Chanyeol’s heart beats fast, blood rushing through his veins. His knee is getting cold from where it rests on the ice, but he doesn’t dare change his position.

“Yes,” Jongdae whispers. Chanyeol isn’t positive he hears the answer over the background music, but when Jongdae drops the flowers to the floor and hugs him, tumbling them both onto the ice, there is no doubt. Chanyeol is splayed out on the ice, Jongdae on top of him, flowers forgotten and the box with the engagement ring somewhere to their left.

“Yes, oh yes, you big fool, I will marry you,” Jongdae whispers against Chanyeol’s lips before he kisses him. It’s sweet and full of love. Salty tears mix into their kiss and Chanyeol breaks it to look at his crying boyfriend.

“Happy tears,” he chuckles and Chanyeol laughs, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

“I love you.”

Jongdae reciprocates with another kiss.

They stay on the ice for a few minutes until Chanyeol starts freezing for real and Jongdae starts looking around for the ring that slid from Chanyeol’s hold as he hugged him. It still dark on the ice rink safe for the spotlight. Jongdae gets up and skates towards the ring, grabs the box and opens it to lay eyes on the beautiful silver once again. Chanyeol sits up, feeling stupid and helpless when he can’t get up on his own.

“Help your fiancé,” he says and Jongdae laughs. He pockets the ring box and reaches out to pull Chanyeol up. They skate towards the railings, fingers intertwined and Jongdae grabbing the flowers as they pass.

When they reach the railing, Chanyeol grabs onto it and awkwardly makes his way to the benches so he can change his skates back to shoes. Jongdae stays on the ice for a few seconds, observes his fiancé and smiles. He simply can’t stop his smiles. Everything about tonight has been perfect.

“If you want, you can take a few rounds,” Chanyeol offers but Jongdae shakes his head in refusal and gets onto the floor so he can take off his skates as well.

“I want to be with you.”

Jongdae admires his ring all the way home and Chanyeol tries really hard to focus on the road and not his fiancé. When they’re sitting on their couch, staring at their decorated tree and the small fairy lights all around, Chanyeol feels the Christmas magic around him. Jongdae is snuggling into him, head on his shoulder.

“Why the ice rink?” he asks after a few seconds of comfortable silence. Chanyeol tries not to shrug and disturb him.

“I wanted to make it perfect,” Chanyeol answers and Jongdae snorts a little. He lifts his head from Chanyeol’s shoulder and smiles, a mischievous smirk on his lips but nothing but sincerity in his eyes.

“No matter what you had done it would’ve been perfect. Why did you choose my workplace?”

His voice teases and Chanyeol pokes his forehead and pushes him a little further away. Jongdae pouts and Chanyeol’s heart swells with love. Instead of answering he cages Jongdae against the couch and kisses him again. Lips press against lips, silently conveying words of love.

There is just the two of them on this perfect Christmas Eve and Chanyeol couldn’t have wished for more.