A/N: This was originally going to be in a Christmas one-shot collection, but I ditched the idea cuz I'm used to all my one-shots being posted separately. Enjoy.

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On the first day of December, Minnie wakes Yuqi up at the crack of dawn to bring out the boxes of Christmas décor from their annex.

The Han girl doesn’t normally wake up before lunchtime at the least, but today is a special day for her girlfriend.

Ever since they moved in together, it’s become a tradition for them to start decorating this early into the month. And so, with droopy eyes and her giraffe-print onesie still on, Yuqi would lug the dozens of cardboard boxes inside their house for Minnie to unpack.

The Thai makes sure that Yuqi steers clear of touching any sharp ornaments or tinsels with pointed edges, since they didn’t want a repeat of last year when Yuqi had handled the decorations so haphazardly and pricked her finger on a head of a Christmas ball. Although she wasn’t fazed in the slightest, Minnie hadn’t fared well at the sight of blood and practically fainted right after.

After that fiasco, she only tasked Yuqi with hanging up the fairy lights or literally anything that doesn’t remotely constitute as a safety hazard. Too worried about her clumsy girlfriend hurting herself again, as Yuqi jokes about the lights possibly electrocuting her.

“You’re seriously convincing me to just ban you from decorating altogether.”

“No, wait. I was just kidding. Please don’t ban me, unnie.”

“Yeah, I figured. Now be a good girl and hand me that garland, will you?”

They always start with the tree first, since it’s Minnie’s favorite thing to decorate. She likes to consider herself a Christmas tree connoisseur, so she’s normally the one who’s doing all the work while Yuqi stands by as her trusty assistant. Handing over the decorations Minnie would ask for and keeping the ladder steady when she’s putting the star on top of their tree.

Of course, Minnie had insisted that they get an actual pine tree instead of the overpriced, plastic ones from the department stores. Just like they usually did for the past four years and counting.

Even though it’s an absolute chore to go out into the cold and tie a large tree in the back of Lucas’ pick-up truck (which she had borrowed, mind you), Yuqi thinks that the hassle is worth it. Especially when she comes home to the bright, excited eyes of her girlfriend, who’d always thank her with a sweet kiss and an endearingly cute smile once Yuqi got the stupid tree into their living room.

It’s Hell cleaning up all the pine needles right after. But for Minnie, Yuqi would make an exception.

So long as her beloved mouse is happy, she doesn’t mind having to do this every year.

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On the fourteenth day of December, ice has formed over the Han river as snow blanketed every part of Seoul in a sheet of white.

The temperature drops low enough for their breaths to turn into mist, and Yuqi would always wake up to a mug of hot chocolate prepared by Minnie—complete with toasted marshmallows and a generous drizzle of chocolate syrup on top—which serves as the highlight of her mornings.

In the afternoon, when they’re getting ready to head out into the snowy world, Minnie would help Yuqi put on her parka after getting dressed into her own coat and gloves.

She loves doing this a lot, because the younger girl looks so small and huggable in her oversized parka that went down mid-thigh. So much so that Minnie can’t help but steal a few kisses in-between buttoning her up and wrapping a long, handknit scarf around Yuqi’s flushed neck. A Christmas gift she had given to her three years ago that is designed to look like a giraffe’s long neck, with its head and body sticking out on either end.

Yuqi, on the other hand, would grin in the most adorable way possible and watch the older with literal heart-eyes all the while. Patiently waiting for her to finish before she pulls Minnie by the lapels of her coat to kiss the Thai once more, turning the color on Minnie’s already-rosy cheeks into an even darker shade as she smiles at her flustered girlfriend.

“Feeling warm enough, babe?”

“Shut it, or I’m going to choke you with this scarf.”

“Oho, now that’s .”

“Oh my God.”

The rest of their day goes by with them having fun in the winter landscape. Such as skating hand-in-hand across the giant ice rink at Seoul Plaza (they lost count of all the times they’ve fallen onto their butts, though the pain was worth laughing over as they laid together on the frozen ice in a heap of tangled limps and hair), before taking a nice stroll down the snow-covered pavements of the local park (which later evolved into a full-blown snowball fight after Yuqi—that conniving, little —snuck one behind her back and pelted Minnie with it as soon as she looked away.)

But the evening is Minnie’s favorite part of the day. Because that’s when she’s cuddled up to Yuqi under their thick, fluffy blanket, with the Beijing puppy sharing her body warmth as they lounged together in bed. Hands clasped around their mugs of hot chocolate while Love, Actually plays on their TV for the umpteenth time that week.

“It’s a staple in Christmas movies, Wooks.” Minnie would often say, despite Yuqi’s disinterest in most romantic comedies. But for her girlfriend, she’ll deal with having the entire script engraved into her mind by now.

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On the twentieth day of December, they’re locked in an epic battle against a hundred other people doing their last-minute Christmas shopping at the supermarket.

The two were pretty much trapped in there for the whole afternoon, but it’s unsurprising how ridiculously packed and chaotic the place was during the holiday season. When people are rushing to snag every good deal off the shelves like it’s the survival of the fittest and throwing whatever self-preservation they have left out the window.

But the real reason why it took them so damn long is because Minnie—this absolute child—got distracted by everything she saw and constantly ran off every time she found something interesting. From the ‘buy-one-take-one’ promo on instant coffee (forget the fact that Minnie doesn’t even like coffee), to the sale on blueberry muffins at the discount section.

Having to take the responsible role this time, Yuqi reminds her enthused girlfriend that their friends are coming over in a couple hours and have yet to prepare dinner before the girls arrive. Particularly Shuhua, who can eat them out of house and home.

(It’s best that they check out as soon as possible anyway, lest they suffer the wrath of a grumpy Miyeon for making them wait outside in the snow like last year.)

Minnie agrees, but only if Yuqi allows her to ride around on the cart.

And although the latter is slightly confused, considering that this was the normal arrangement every time they went grocery shopping, she obliges to it anyway and waits for her to get settled in. Minnie would then stand on the bottom rack, fingers grasping the handle tightly as Yuqi starts pushing the cart from behind.

She’d always stand close while doing so. Her front pressed flush against Minnie’s back while her hands rested atop the Thai’s in a secure hold, to keep Minnie from losing her grip and falling off.

Sometimes, Yuqi would even nuzzle her face into the pink wool of her girlfriend’s jacket. A gesture Minnie loves, besides the small caresses of Yuqi’s thumb across the back of her palm.

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On Christmas Eve, the couple are staying in Yuqi’s old home in Beijing after they’ve taken a flight the night before. Last year, they were in Bangkok to visit Minnie’s family at their place. So, for this year, it was Yuqi’s turn.

There’s no denying how much the Songs adore Minnie. Probably more than their own daughter, but Yuqi isn’t affected by it that much. If anything, she’s just relieved that her parents took an immediate liking to her girlfriend when they were first introduced all those years ago.

Victoria, unfortunately, has the habit of hogging Minnie away from Yuqi and holding her hostage in the kitchen, where she teaches Minnie how to prepare some of her homemade dishes so that the girl can replicate them back in Korea for Yuqi. All the while, Yixing and Yuqi would occasionally sneak in and swipe a few morsels of food when the two women aren’t looking.

“Zhang Yixing!”

“Yah! Song Yuqi!”

After they’re chased out of the kitchen with spatulas being waved threateningly at them, Yuqi comes back a few minutes later when Victoria excuses herself to use the bathroom. Strong arms encircling Minnie’s waist as she pulls her into a back hug, before trying to steal a kiss before her mom returns.

Minnie, with her cheeks aflame in a shy blush, mumbles about them getting caught by Yuqi’s parents, prompting the younger to laugh as she rubs her cheek against the skin of Minnie’s neck like a kitten.

Oh, how she loves seeing this cute, precious side of her bashful mouse.

“I’ll make it quick then.” Yuqi murmured before leaning in, taking the kiss slowly as Minnie tugs her closer by the neck.

“Wo ai ni...” Minnie would then whisper back after they’ve parted. A beautiful smile gracing her baby-pink lips, to which Yuqi mirrors with her own.

“Love you too, baobei.”

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On the morning of Christmas day, they just laid together in bed as Yuqi snoozed away to her heart’s content.

Naturally, Minnie had woken up first—but she didn’t dare move an inch upon seeing the Han girl all cozied up to her like a koala. And even though her arm feels a bit numb from where it’s cushioning most of Yuqi’s head, Minnie opts to ignore it as she listens to the quiet breaths that are brushing against her clavicle.

In spite of the heater being on, Yuqi is still shivering in her giraffe onesie that’s a little too thin for the cold. So, Minnie tugs the blanket over Yuqi’s form to keep her warm before running a cool hand through the head of jet-black hair that is nestled on her shoulder. Languid, and full of impeccable care.

Slim fingers continue to play with the long strands, even long after Yuqi has stopped shivering. Then her parted lips move to mumble a soft call of Minnie’s name, which has the older grinning like an idiot as she tries not to squeal at how cute her girlfriend sounded.

“Merry Christmas, Wooks…”

Minnie would say after planting a sweet, tender kiss on the top of Yuqi’s head. Content with just staying that way for the rest of their morning as she settles under the comforters with closed eyes and a happy smile.

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On New Year’s Eve, the group is gathered at Soyeon’s house like they do every year.

Everyone compliments the stylish red hoodie Yuqi is wearing that night, and Minnie feels satisfied with herself for choosing such a great gift. The Thai herself is sporting the expensive new watch Yuqi had given her for Christmas, which she proudly flaunts to whoever isn’t tired of hearing Minnie’s voice by now.

The night is filled with their loud voices and hearty laughter as Miyeon and Shuhua bicker over how much the Taiwanese has to pay for landing on Boardwalk (“Monopoly was a mistake!” She’d eventually complain after going bankrupt in less than fifteen minutes into the game), while Soyeon almost strangles Yuqi for their terrible tag-team coordination against Soojin and Minnie during an intense round of Sequence later on.

“Yuqi, why the would you put it there?!”

“Because I don’t have any spades, smartass!”

“Then you could’ve blocked them at least! Now there’s that random blue chip on the other side of the damn board!”

“It’s going to be a new year, and the two of you are still fighting?”

“YES!”

“Jesus Christ…”

In the end, it was a staggering defeat of 1-3. And both Soyeon and Yuqi begrudgingly agree that they’re terrible partners for puzzle games, while Minnie and Soojin just smile triumphantly at their easy win.

After a couple more drinks and funny stories being exchanged among them, the girls settle back in the living room as the countdown draws near.

By then, Shuhua—having one too many cups for someone with low alcohol tolerance—is already fast asleep with her face down on the table, and Soojin had to pull Yuqi and Soyeon by their ears when they attempted to draw on the maknae’s face with black sharpie. They’d done it to Miyeon last year, and the fuming girl had chased them around with a flip-flop clutched dangerously in her hand.

(The prankster duo tried to do the same thing to Minnie and Soojin a few times before. Except Yuqi would always cower back under the death stare of Minnie’s eyes boring deep into her soul, while Soojin had caught them at every chance they got and threatened to pour hot sauce all over their underwear if didn’t stop.)

Soon enough, everyone else starts counting down the remaining ten seconds.

At five seconds, Minnie feels herself being pulled into a familiar pair of arms enclosing around her waist. She hears a drunken giggle from a tipsy Yuqi in her ear and drinks up the low rumble in her deep, throaty voice that she knows well and loves.

At three seconds, Yuqi eases back to flash her girlfriend a dopey grin. And Minnie ends up chuckling at how utterly adorable she looks right now before reaching in to squish her flushed cheeks with both hands.

My silly, little puppy.

At the of midnight, fireworks go off into the dark sky. Blasting a myriad of colorful lights that reflect against the glass doors of Soyeon’s back porch, as Yuqi surges forward to press their lips together.

The other girl tastes like blueberry soju and the chocolate cake Soojin has brought over, and Minnie finds herself enjoying this strange combination the longer they kissed. Smiling against her soft lips as she tugs Yuqi closer by the front of her hoodie, before withdrawing just enough to whisper: “Happy New Year, Woogie-ah.”

The smile on Yuqi’s face is even brighter than the fireworks outside.

“Happy New Year, unnie.”