Festive Christmas
A Christmas Collection 2020It is early in Christmas Eve morning. Darken clouds covers the sky with a dripping blue gradient empty space. The horizon glows with colors of autumn. It is 7 in the morning and she is fighting to keep her eyes open in the car with her boyfriend. He came to her apartment at 6 A.M. wide awake, a strong shot of excitement injected in him. When she forced herself out of bed at the constant doorbell ringing, she was greeted with a wide mischievous smirk on his face. His hair neatly gelled in an updo. The long coat kept his built body warm. He was dashing and she was the opposite, yet he looked at her with no difference. But how she wanted to throw a fist at his handsome face, she was not up for an interruption.
“Get ready,” he said with much enthusiasm, but her puffy eyes fought to comprehend.
“Minji, wake up.” Her boyfriend laughed as he messed her bed hair.
“Stop it,” she growled. He pushed her inside and supervised her to get ready.
Her head presses against the small pillow he handed her when she entered the car. She never knew he keeps pillow in his car. His smooth driving and the light Christmas song he played make her want to keep sleeping, but she forces her eyes open to be greeted with trees and roads cover with snow out the window. They were out of the city; she can tell based on the emptiness of the surrounding.
“Mingyu, where are we going?”
“Random trip.”
Random trip? She jumps and stares at his side profile. Mingyu looks at her when he felt her glare piecing through him.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have work to finish.”
“Work can wait. Fun comes first. It’s Christmas Eve.” Mingyu waits for her response, but she remains lost in thoughts. “I’ll stay up with you until you finish, deal?”
Minji smiles as her eyes became a moon crescent, what an awesome suggestion. “Deal!”
“Good. Just trust me, cruise along, and have fun.”
The sun now hangs above her head. The warm rays of sunlight reflect off the crystal snow on the ground. A little too bright for her eyes. People walks in group toward the large building ahead.
“Hey,” Mingyu calls. When Minji looks, he throws a pair of sunglasses over. She examines the sunglasses she caught.
“It looks like mine?”
“It’s yours. I took it from your drawer when you were getting ready.”
Mingyu closes the trunk and walks in front of her. Minji squints her eyes when she attempts to look at his face but is greeted with the bright sun. Mingyu laughs then snatches the sunglasses off her hands and puts it on her.
“You’ll need these too,” he says and slips a black beanie onto her head. Her eyes send thousands of questions his way. Mingyu suppresses his laughter. He knows he is the best boyfriend she could ever asked for. Minji takes a step back when he hands her a pair of gloves. He drapes the coat he was holding over her shoulders.
“Wear it over your sweater.” After she did, Mingyu wraps a scarf around her neck. “You’re ready to go.”
“Where?”
“Fun!” He scrunches his face at her. She’ll find the excitement soon.
Minji watches as he led her over the hill with their hands link. She finally sees people riding sled down the different sizes of hill.
“Are we snow sledding?” Excitement takes control of her body. It was what she had been wanting to do. She mentioned it to him since they started dating last year, and he remembered. Minji watches as he as each sled started from the top and slowed down at the end.
“Come on, people are starting to show up.” Mingyu pulls her along.
Minji wants to sled in the steep hill, but Mingyu refuses. He isn’t sure if she can sled properly, so he’s putting safety first.
“But you’re sledding with me. And…you won’t let anything happen to me…right?” Minji stares at him, urging for a response. She knows, he knows he can protect her. He is a confident man.
“I can….” Mingyu raises an eyebrow and flashes a smile at her. “But…you’re still starting at the small hill. We can try the steep one depending on how you perform.”
Mingyu turns Minji around and pushes her toward the smaller hill. She sends a defeated look to him before excitedly took the sled from him.
“Are you not letting me sled with you?” Mingyu frowns when she situates herself on the sled without inviting him.
“You’re pushing me,” Minji says. He gives her a long hard stare; but she pays his disappointment no attention.
“Come, push me down.” Minji puzzlingly looks at him for a second until his frown turns into a smile. A smile of danger.
“I’ll push you,” he says. She looks forward and waits for him to send her down the hill. “Are you ready?”
“Hurry.”
“Scoot a little forward, you’re too close to the back of the board.” He watches as she follows his instruction. Mingyu jumps onto the board right behind her and sends them down the slope. Mingyu wraps one arm around Minji to secure her in place as he screams into the breezes slapping their faces.
“Yah…Kim Mingyu,” Minji screams turning to look at him who is enjoying himself.
Mingyu looks down to see her furrowed eyebrows amid their adventure. He smiles before leaning down to press a hard kiss on her cheek before screaming again. “Wah….!!!”
When the sled comes to a stop, Minji turns around and starts to beat Mingyu. He puts his arms up for defense.
“How dare you scare me?” Mingyu can only laugh, but his laughter triggers her more. He feels her punches suddenly came with a heavier force. He takes hold of her wrists and crinkles his nose at her before he wraps his arms around her and threw themselves out of the sled onto the snow. He purposely rolls them a few times before crashing his body on top of hers with his hand securing her head behind.
Mingyu sticks his tongue out at her. “Is it so wrong to want to ride with you?”
Minji smiles. She loves it most when he keeps it straight forward with her. “No. So let’s go ride again.” Mingyu scrunches his face, quickly kissed her cheek before helping her up for more rounds.
Minji awkwardly picks at the food in front of her. The stare of her boyfriend sitting across from her, she can’t tell if they’re tenderness or madness, but they made food hard to swallow.
“Why did you buy so much food? Are you going to eat it all?” Minji can’t tell what half the dishes were. There were about five different kind of dishes: fried seafood, saucy ribs, cleared soup, seasoned chicken, and braised beef.
Mingyu crosses his arms on the table and leans closer to her. “For you. You always wanted to try different kinds of food.”
Minji is lost at words. Shall she be happy? Touch? She certainly feels both. Mingyu puckers his lips seeing how her eyes soften. A gentle smile appears on him as he thinks about the girl he is dating. She’s someone that certainly makes him feel it was the right choice to have loved. Sometimes, she gets entangle into doing too much for others than herself, but he knows that’s exactly why he was drawn into her. Someone, he unknowingly came to protect, wanting to shield.
“Are you not going to eat with me?”
“I am.” Mingyu sends a grin her way before picking up his chopstick.
As nighttime approaches, Mingyu holds Minji close to him for warmth. The wind is getting crisp as it brushes the face, it stings. The sledding, ice skating, and varieties of sweets and foods made the day memorable, fun, and tiring. It has been a while since they enjoy some time together outside the city.
“What are we doing next?” She leans her head onto his shoulder.
“I hope you still have more energy.” Mingyu nudges his chin forward and her gaze follows.
As they walk, the blurriness of the golden lights becomes clear. She sees the Ferris wheel, the smoke in the air, the lines of people forming to purchase tickets. There is a Christmas festival taking place next to the resort. The loud beats drummed against their veins.
Minji looks at Mingyu and admires her thoughtful boyfriend. He must have plan this. He remembered when she said she wanted to visit an amusement park too.
“Now. Now. You better be touched.” Mingyu straightens his shoulders. He was a proud boyfriend.
Minji punches his stomach. “I am.”
“Good. Now let the prince keeps on pleasing you.” Mingyu turns a shade of red at what he said before he did a royal bow and takes her into the festival. His exaggeration earns a hard punch from her.
“These rides are not fast enough.” Minji complains after her fifth ride. She scans the rest of the rides and they are no different from the ones she rode. They look dangerous, but they’re for kids. She didn’t think she wanted to wait in line for the remaining ones.
Mingyu pulled her into his chest, squeezes her closer, and whispers, “It’s not romantic if it’s fast.”
Minji nudges his stomach with her elbow. “Oh really, Mr. Want-to-be romantic?”
“I am romantic. Am I not?” Mingyu looked utterly confused for a second.
“Shall we wait in the long lines for the remaining rides?” She asked dismissing his question. He indeed is romantic but admitting that to him sounded awkward. Maybe, one day she’ll admit it.
“Oh…I know. Let’s go play some games. Me versus you,” Minji grabs his hand and pulls him to the arcade they passed earlier.
Time passes too fast as they let out their inner competitiveness. Rounds of balloon popping, fishing, soda pop toss, water gun, mini golf, and much more. Mingyu’s favorite was the hopper, where they chose an animal bouncer and hopped to the finish line within a time limit. He loves to bounce his against hers and see her goes off track. She laughed, she shrieked, she complained, and she had fun.
Mingyu pulled Minji to his side. “Food time. I’m hungry. Those games took too much energy.”
“Me too.” She agrees.
Mingyu takes her to different vendors. He purchases small portion of festival foods. They eat the curly fries as they wait for the fried pickles. Mingyu feeds them the fried pickles and Minji feeds them the fries as they wait for the lemonade. After bulgogi nacho, Mingyu makes Minji tries some banana funnel cake and soft pretzel. Minji is about to give up on the oily food, but she can’t resist the happiness beaming from Mingyu. At last, they settle with a refill of the lemonade and a churro each. They exit the festival leaving the jingle of the bells behind.
They return to the car, the deserted parking lot. Minji is ready to head into the passenger seat and rests her legs, which had work hard. But before she even approaches the door, Mingyu pulls her back by the coat hood. She sends a deadly look his way.
“We are not going home yet?” Minji did not know what else this man has in his agenda. She watches him set his drink and churro on top of the car and opens the trunk. After pulling out a fuzzy blanket, he closes the trunk and climbs to sit on top. He pats the spot next to him for her to follow. When she nears the trunk, he smiles and reaches for her drink and churro. She climbs next to him and watches as he wraps them both under the blanket. Mingyu pulls the blanket tighter forcing her to come closer.
“What are we doing?” Minji asks. She looks out into the open field of parking lot then up into the chill spaces, where she can see her breath.
“We’re finishing our food and watching firecrackers.” Mingyu reaches for his food and settles back under the blanket. Minji leans into his chest listening to the soft beating of his heart as she drinks and finishes her churro. She will trade anything for this moment with him. The warmth of just lying by his side provides her with more comfort than she thought she’ll ever need. He knows how to make her forget about what bothers her. She wishes to give him the same strength.
The loud fireworks bursting in the air interrupts her thoughts. Her eyes glow with the different Christmas colors in the dark sky. She looks up to Mingyu and sees his sharp jawline. She can tell he was smiling. She can picture his attractive smile. Mingyu looks down and catches Minji staring. To hide her blushing, she reaches upward and plants a kiss on his cheeks. Mingyu grins at her and leans down to kiss her lips.
“Merry Christmas,” he whispers and kisses her lips again.
Midnight is here. So is Christmas. Mingyu pulls Minji closer as they enjoy the fireworks dripping beautifully above them.
“Why this trip?” Minji asks.
“For you.”
“For me?” She steals a look from his face, and he nods. “Why?”
“Then who else?” Mingyu chuckles in his low tone that she loves to hear.
Mingyu senses her glare. He knows she hates it when he bluffs or beats around the bushes. So, he presses her head against his chest and tells her as the fireworks continue to unwrap its beauty, “We all need to take a break.”
She snuggles closer as he sets his chin on top of her head and tells her, “Next time, we’ll go further away. I’ll come steal you from your apartment and we’ll journey through the world.”
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Everyone!!! I hope you enjoy your time with these 4 couples.
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