December came and with it, came the harsh cold weather and the freedom from school and the never-ending amount of exams and assignments brought at the end of November. In the five months that had passed, things had changed drastically between them – the lingering awkwardness that was left around them after their first date disappeared when Jongwoon had to feed once again, and the intimacy in it had brought them closer. While their trust on each other was still shaky – mostly because there are things they haven't talked about, questions they weren't aware that was needed to be brought up but that they would soon realize their importance – there was still something , if the fact Hyukjae had stopped being afraid of calling Jongwoon over when he was alone at his house meant anything. Their public interactions were still awkward and nearly annoying for those who looked at it from the outside, but whenever it was the two of them, things were peaceful and almost every moment was precious.

So moments like the ones they were in now – with Hyukjae sitting in Jongwoon's lap, arms wrapped around him while they were kissing gently, with it being the complete opposite of the way their hands were roaming around and touching skin – weren't awkward anymore. The small moans they would let out once in a while didn't make the mood go from hot to weird – it just stimulated them more, though both were still hesitant to take things further. Because of that, any change between them was enough to have them stopping, lips parting and bodies shifting far from each other even though there was still that pull that had their bodies wanting more. Hyukjae never allowed Jongwoon to do anything else, though. All they did was cuddle after – it would always end with Jongwoon having his arms wrapped tightly around Hyukjae's waist and Hyukjae resting his head on his chest.

And so when their lips parted and they decided to finally breathe , they naturally slipped into that familiar position – Jongwoon lying down with Hyukjae half lying on top of him, taking deep, greedy breaths. Their swollen lips bruised and red, hair all over the place, a sight that was turning so common it didn't affect them as much as it would before. The silence didn't bother them anymore, and the occasional touches weren't uncomfortable – it was too much sometimes, but not really bothersome.

Though, of course, the silence never lasted for too long.

“What will you be getting me for Christmas?” Hyukjae asked after long minutes of silence, moving just slightly in Jongwoon's hold to get more comfortable. “Have you bought the present already? I already bought yours.”

“What do you mean? I need to get you something?” Jongwoon frowned, caressing Hyukjae's back and arms. “Why?”

“Yeah. You didn't know? Christmas is all about giving and receiving presents. I thought you already knew about it, so I didn't tell you before. God, buying gifts in December is a pain. I feel bad for you now.”

“Oh.. I don't celebrate Christmas, so I wasn't aware.” Jongwoon murmured. “I didn't celebrate it last year and I wasn't planning to do it this year either.”

“What? Everyone celebrates Christmas, Jongwoon.” Hyukjae leaned back to look at him, his expression changing into something similar to a frown. “Why? You don't like the Christmas season or..?”

“It's something only humans and very few other supernatural races do. Vampires aren't included, mainly because we can't eat anything served, but also because it is more for people who are living .” Jongwoon explained, leaning to press a kiss on Hyukjae's cheek. “I also have no reason to do so and my Sire doesn't like to mingle with human stuff.”

“So.. you don't celebrate anything ?”

“There are things we celebrate, things from our own culture. Christmas or anything like that aren't really included. Maybe a few do celebrate it but I have no contact with other vampires aside from the ones Yoochun is related to, so I can't give you a certain answer.” His hands stilled in Hyukjae's back. “Is it that bad?”

“No, but.. That sounds so sad..” Hyukjae pouted, resting his head on his shoulder again. “What do you do, then?”

“I'm not sure what they're called.. It is something like Bloody blah blah blah, I believe. Honestly, I went there like.. once, and it was only because Yoochun only wanted to meet the new vampires. It was very boring and the vampires there were so annoying, I left without Yoochun and went home.” He huffed at the memories. Those showoffs really pissed him off that day.

“Not really a family event, then.” Hyukjae mused.

“No. There's no concept of family between us. It is more like the boss and his minions. Very few of the sires are like family members for some.” Jongwoon explained, his hand leaving Hyukjae's back to hold his waist.

“Is Yoochun your family?” Hyukjae asked quietly, and his tone sounded so cute it made Jongwoon chuckle. He didn't need to look to see that Hyukjae had a pout in his lips. 

“Not really. He's a nice person, but never treated me like his son. He's more of a.. drunk uncle that you only see once every 5 years because he gets in trouble with the police too often.” Was that a good comparison? Maybe it was, Jongwoon sighed internally. Yoochun was often drinking poisonous blood, anyways. Maybe the thrill of knowing he could get sick because of it is fun, who knows. “Anyways, enough about him. I'll have to get you a gift, then?”

“If you want to, then yeah. It's not something you celebrate so you don't have to do it if you don't want to. Since I already bought it, I'll still give you one.”

“Alright. I'll start hunting for something tomorrow.”

“Oh well, good luck. You'll need it, really.”

–

     Finding a gift was, indeed, impossible, much to Jongwoon's dismay. Many, many hours had passed and he had walked the whole morning and afternoon yet he still didn't find anything that he could give to Hyukjae. It also didn't help that he wasn't even sure what he was going to buy, even though Ryeowook and Donghee had given him a list of things they would buy in a very stupid attempt to help. Jongwoon gave up on reading it after seeing more than half of it were related to witchcraft and toys. I can't trust them with anything, he huffed, sitting down on a nearby bench. His legs hurt from how much he had walked and