I'm so frigging late for Christmas, sorry ;w; I got sick on Monday. Like VERY sick. Like "almost landing in the hospital on tuesday" kind of sick. I won't get into details because it wasn't pretty. Today is the first day I feel better, so I took the chance to finish it.

It's pretty boring and personally my Christmas was pretty ty, but I hope everyone will like it and maybe leave me a present too (in form of a lovely comment - don't worry about your English skills or the length or being a creep/boring/too short). Thank you for subscribing ;w; <3

Bai bai <3

ramen

PS: I have no idea why I named it Blind Christmas, I with titles and the description probably only fits half-way. But yeah...that's me ^^

❅ ☃ ❅

 

Christmas – for most people that’s probably the best time of the year. There are a lot of reasons to look forward to it, like getting presents, spending time with your family, not having to work and the slight possibility of snow. It’s a time for friends and family to hang out together, to form new bonds and maybe reach out to your secret crush. Christmas attracts probably more lovers than Valentines Day does. It’s the time of the year when everyone is happy and the whole world is becoming one to celebrate the coming of a fat man in a red coat (most of them don’t even know that Jesus was born that day, not like Sunggyu cares).

Everyone is having fun?

Not a certain Korean man who is living in a rather run-down apartment in the outskirts of Seoul. There are no Christmas decorations anywhere to be seen. He does not have a tree – it could dirty his floor and they are way too heavy and what are you even supposed to do with them at the end of this horror? Throw it out of the window like in the advertisements? No, no tree will ever enter his house. Because it is a house and not a forest, that’s what he would say if someone asked him why he has no Christmas tree, but no one really visits him so the question has never been asked, BUT in case of an emergency he has an answer ready.

He also does not have any reindeers or little elves or fairies or stars or socks hanging, standing or lying in any of the rooms. Wearing red and green clothes does not even come to his mind for a minute – though he does have a red coat, but after being called Santa by one of the children in the neighborhood, he has been avoiding wearing his favorite red coat in winter. Because how in the world does he look like Santa Claus? That man is fat! And he has a beard and white hair. He does NOT look like Santa.

So, red clothes are out of question and green in general is a color he only wants to see on trees.

During Christmas he does not spend time with his family or his friends. Latter, because he doesn’t have any and his family is just something he avoids during this holiday. Not because he doesn’t like them. He loves his mother and his father, though he had a little clash with his dad a few months ago (just because he shouted ‘IF YOU WANT GRAND-CHILDREN, MAKE SOME YOURSELF’ after getting drunk with his father’s most-prized position Olli, a very old Scotch his dad named with more love in his eyes than during his sons first moments in this world – as if THAT would not be a reason to be mad at his dad – but the little clash, which resulted in a broken table and a burnt birthday cake, was about his parents pressuring him to marry a girl already, which he refuses to do since he doesn’t even like girls), but that’s not the reason why he doesn’t go there during Christmas. It’s not Santa’s fault that he doesn’t like girls.

The reason is simple: His mother adores Christmas. You could say she is in love with it and takes pride in being the most christmasish (if the adjective were to exist, it would fit her the best) person around. She has chains of bright lights in red, white and green everywhere around the house. On the roof, on every window, the door, the trees in the yard (even the bamboo), on the fence and if she could, she would probably put little light balls on every fish in the pond. The inside of the house isn’t any better with colorful decorations everywhere, ranging from pictures on the wall to couple aprons. He doesn’t remember her ever throwing ANYTHING away. She keeps every decoration she ever bought and every year it gets worse for him to enter the house because it feels like the home of a bunch of Christmas elves and not his parents.

Revoking the statement from before, he does have one friend, though he would choose to call him an acquaintance. Said person doesn’t give much about his opinion though, so from the other’s point of view they are friends all the way. But, he never lets Dongwoo inside his apartment. There’s no particular reason for it, maybe because he is a little ashamed of his run-down apartment or because it’s his safe haven where it is always quiet and peaceful (two adjectives which do not turn up in the same sentence as Jang Dongwoo). Dongwoo works in the same company as him. Their desks are right next to each other, so fate somehow destined them to get into a conversation one day, which resulted in Dongwoo pestering him for the following 4 years and counting. His friend is a year younger than him, very open-minded and a so-called free spirit. He is seemingly afraid of nothing, not even the rage of their boss Kim Woobin (a very scary man), who Dongwoo has provoked several times already (by coming late, singing to songs loudly in the office or even getting mayonnaise all over his keyboard during a meeting even). Dongwoo often asks him to go eat lunch together or watch a movie or just get a drink, but the only thing he ever agrees to is getting drunk together. He doesn’t reject Dongwoo because he doesn’t like him, he just likes to spend his time at home, casually reading a book or just sleeping (besides, going out is expensive).

He’s a man of habit and his habits die hard.

So in conclusion he doesn’t like Christmas for a lot of apparent reasons. There are other reasons of course, but it would take very long to list them all and it would be very exhausting to read them. He doesn’t necessarily hate Christmas, he just likes to avoid everything connected to it and everyone who celebrates it. Some people may call him a grumpy old man or cheap, but he doesn’t give much for their opinions.

Kim Sunggyu is not Ebenezer Scrooge, but he is close to it.

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It’s Sunggyu’s last week of work before the holidays start. The only reason he would be thankful for Christmas are the days off work it grants him. No more customers calling his phone for stupid requests or questions even a baby could answer, no Kim Woobin staring him down for sleeping at work (just to avoid misunderstandings - Sunggyu did NOT sleep at work, he was just squinting his eyes to read something on his screen) and certainly no Jang Dongwoo talking a river to him starting from 8 a.m. in the morning to 5 p.m. in the evening. Speaking of who, said person wouldn’t shut up next to him for the past 10 minutes, though Sunggyu has not even spared him a glance or a ‘good morning’ yet. His eyes are glued to the screen in utmost concentration.

“Hyung! Did you hear what I said!”

Just ignore him, maybe he will look for another victim then. Sunggyu focuses on the work on his screen instead. He reads the lines carefully, taking in every letter and number to maybe make some sense out of them later.

“Sunggyu-hyung!”

“Ssi.” Is the only thing that makes it past his lips and it sounds like a dangerous remark by a snake.

He kind of regrets saying anything at all when he hears Dongwoo rolling over with his chair. “Aw, come on, hyung! We are friends, aren’t we?”

“We are at work.” He replies in a hushed manner because he doesn’t want to get caught by their boss for slacking off at work.

Dongwoo doesn’t get the hint of course. “I just want to know if you’re coming or not!”

Coming to what? “No.”

Better safe than sorry. Sunggyu has no idea where his co-worker wants him to go, but it is safe to go with a ‘no’ as the answer. He probably wants him to go to some kind of Christmas party and no, thank you, Kim Sunggyu does not go to Christmas parties. Though Dongwoo still tried getting him to join every year (just like he always gave Sunggyu a chocolate heart on Valentines Day with ridiculous writings on top like ‘BFFs forever <3’).

Dongwoo rolls his eyes next to him (he can see it in the reflection of his screen; Sunggyu definitely does not intend to move his eyes away from the work he has to do) and comes a little closer again. Suddenly, his head is between the computer screen and Sunggyu’s face. The older man almost gets a heart attack and pushes Dongwoo back to his original place on his own chair.

“Were you even listening to me?” Dongwoo pouts.

“No.” He glares at him.

His cheerful co-worker gives him a bright smile in return. “But now you are listening! So there’s this party on Christmas Eve that I want to go to and you are coming with me old man!”

We’re only one year apart… “I’m not going to any Christmas parties! You know that I hate them and that I avoid the streets on Christmas.”

“See, you weren’t listening! It’s not a Christmas party, at least not directly. It’s a blind date party for Singles on Christmas!” Dongwoo smiles like he just proposed a way to stop all conflict between humans and save the planet from Global Warming.

Sunggyu only rolls his eyes and brings his attention back to his screen. “I certainly do not need to go to blind date parties! I’m single out of choice! What is that thing even supposed to be?”

Dongwoo snorts. “Out of choice, yeah right! When did you have your last relationship? You don’t even go out much, how are you going to meet your soul mate this way!”

He does not believe in romantic things like soul mates or love. There was once a time when he did, just like every naïve child in the world, but he overcame that phase after getting cheated on by his boyfriend in high school (Sunggyu still couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed anything wrong in 2 years). Since then he has more or less neglected love, though it would be a lie when he says that he is not lonely. Truthfully, Sunggyu misses having someone by his side but he is still a little broken and distrustful inside, so he has problems letting someone in again. And of course it doesn’t help much that he spends a lot of time at home just like Dongwoo said.

“So the party is basically just a bunch of singles, who don’t want to be alone on Christmas and are looking for a friend or maybe something more. It’s like a big meet-up without any obligations. Maybe you can imagine it more like Speed Dating instead of a Blind Date, but it’s kind of the same since you won’t know any of the people there. Just see it as a way to meet new people instead of spending Christmas Eve alone to watch Monk.”

Sunggyu scoffs. “I don’t want to spend Christmas with a bunch of strangers. Who knows want kind of whack jobs will gather there.”

His co-worker lets out a desperate whine, another obvious try to get him to agree, but Sunggyu only turns around again and brings his attention back to his screen. He doesn’t intend to go to a party on Christmas, even if it’s not a Christmas themed one. Technically, it’s impossible to have a party at this time of the year without bringing Christmas into it and who knows want kind of people will go there. Sunggyu does not want to talk to sad, old people talking about the mistakes they did in their lives or the details of their last operation or drunken, young guys talking rude to everyone and men possibly making out with ty girls in the middle of the room. He is not looking for a one-night-stand or anything like that and people definitely won’t meet their so-called soul mate at such a party.

Maybe he’s a little stuck-up and a tiny little bit afraid of meeting new people.

Old habits really die hard.

“There will be totally normal people like you and me and the place is really-“

“Jang Dongwoo!” That is the sound of a raging god and it makes even Dongwoo flinch in the reflection of Sunggyu’s screen. Now the older man is more than ever determined not to let his attention sway, because one does not simply look for a fight with their superior before Christmas.

“If you don’t move your chair back to your freaking desk in the next 5 seconds, you will work on the 25^th and 26^th as well! I will personally lock you in this office and not let you out until everyone comes back on Friday!” Woobin threatens the younger and Dongwoo manages to teleport back to his desk immediately.

He flashes a bright smile towards their boss. “I was just telling Sunggyu-ssi about a spelling mistake he has in line 45!”

Sunggyu gives the other a glare as Woobin’s angry gaze turns on him. “Then maybe Sunggyu-ssi should work on the 25^th and 26^th, since he is keeping other workers busy with his sloppy work. Right, Dongwoo-ssi?”

He gasps in shock. “W-What? I don’t have any-“

His eyes shoot to line 45 and he pales.
 

In conclusion, our politicains have once again wasted our money for a useless tradition

A quick finger movement corrects the mistake quickly without being noticed. Sunggyu gives his boss a rather desperate smile and glances at Dongwoo. You’re so dead when we have our lunch break!
 

❅ ❅ ❅ ☃ ❅ ❅ ❅

Dongwoo does not die that day – sadly, because that way he can continue bothering Sunggyu about the party. He sticks post-its everywhere on his desk when the older man isn’t, suddenly appears in the stall next to him when Sunggyu is trying to pee, just to whisper ‘join me!’ from the other side. He calls Sunggyu’s work phone, steals his favorite stapler, tries to get a drunken ‘yes’ out of him when they go out to a bar one night and even goes as far as calling Sunggyu’s parents about it. When his mother calls Sunggyu and says he has to join the party or she will send a whole choir of Christmas carols singing children to his door, Sunggyu finally agrees to go.

Christmas Eve comes faster than he expects and Sunggyu is close to just forgetting about the whole dating party thing, but it turns out to be impossible since Dongwoo keeps sending him messages to remind him of it. So he finds himself in the bus on his way into the city on this fateful day full of snow and rushing people and Christmas music busting from speakers everywhere, though he would rather sit on his cozy couch in his little run-down apartment to watch all episodes of Monk again. He would probably even rather work than make his way through this craziness called Christmas. Sunggyu can only hope that this so-called ‘blind date party’ doesn’t include any Christmas celebrations. If it does, he sure as hell is going to leave immediately. He just has to hit Dongwoo unconscious or make him drunk, so that the younger won’t be able to stop him from leaving.

Sunggyu stops in front of his destination. The café looks warm and quiet from the outside. He can see people through the window; they are sitting or standing, some are talking, others just quietly moping in a corner. He spots Dongwoo, who has already spotted him and is waving at him expectantly. Sunggyu quickly averts his gaze to scan the rest of the inside. There are some candles and of course a Christmas tree and the smell of sweets reaches his nose, but no one is wearing any Santa or reindeer hats and the music doesn’t sound like ‘Last Christmas’, so for now he deems the vicinity safe.

The door snaps open as Dongwoo sticks his head out of it. “Hyung, what are you doing standing around in the cold? Come inside!”

It’s okay for Sunggyu when Dongwoo drops the formalities outside of work. As long as he still treats him like his hyung.

“Are you sure we should do this? I mean…I’m not exactly the most social person.” Sunggyu sighs and watches his breath turn into little white clouds as he breathes out. He’s a bit afraid of talking to new people, because he is often misunderstood and Sunggyu doesn’t want to be the weird one out. He is not exactly afraid of meeting a whackjob – he doesn’t want to be the whackjob.

Dongwoo is the only person he knows that seems to look past his grumpy façade (so maybe he really is a friend). Sometimes it annoys Sunggyu and he often pushes Dongwoo away, but the other knows that he is thankful deep inside. A friend is just what he needs to avoid utter loneliness and Dongwoo is kind enough to be his connection to the rest of the world.

“Are you getting cold feet, hyung? Come on inside! They are all nice people and the hot chocolate tastes like heaven!” The younger grabs him by the hand and drags him into the café.

The air inside is wonderfully warm and Sunggyu lets out a blissful sigh. Dongwoo finally lets go of his hands and he rubs them together to get some warmth into his fingers. He follows his friend to the wardrobe and hangs up his coat, the scarf and the beanie. He then lets his gaze glide through the room to observe the other people. There are people of all ages, but seeing them up close only makes him more nervous.

“If everyone would gather please, I think we can start already.” A lady talks to them from the middle of the room and everyone gets a little closer to her. “I’m happy to see so many people attending this year. Since we seem to have a lot of first-timers, I will explain the rules for them.”

Dongwoo fidgets in excitement next to him. It’s kind of distracting, but Sunggyu tries to concentrate on the words the lady speaks as she tells them how it works. Half of them will be assigned a table and the other people take turns to stop by each table to talk to that person for a limited time. After a while, they will switch so that you can meet people from your old group as well. Sunggyu’s stomach drops when Dongwoo is in the same group as him, but sitting at the other end of the line of tables. They are so far away from each other that Sunggyu gets immensely worried if he is going to mess up without his friend.

“Okay, people in the group number two line up. If you see someone of your interest, don’t worry, everyone will get the chance to meet every person in this café. And if you want to, you can talk with anyone you want again later. You can talk about whatever you want, but the time is a maximum of 5 minutes. You can order from the menu of the café whenever you want, but of course you have to pay for it yourself. That should be it. Any questions?”

Some girl with pinkish hair raised her hand. “What if we don’t like our talk partner?”

“If it’s totally not working out, we have something called yellow cards and if anyone gets two, that person has to leave. But you can’t just use the card without a reason or you will get the penalty. Anyone else?”

No one else has a question apparently since everyone keeps their hands down. Instead everyone seems eager to start a conversation, everyone except Sunggyu. His first partner turns out to be a black-haired girl with a very short mini dress and he kind of hopes she won’t pull the card on him because that would be pretty embarrassing. She seems younger than him and like the kind of girl you wouldn’t want to introduce to your mother. Sunggyu feels a bit lost because he has honestly no idea how to even start a conversation that’s not about work or Monk. He can’t even remember the last time he started a conversation with a stranger.

“Hey.”

Sunggyu blinks and turns his attention to the girl opposite of him. “N-Ne?”

“I asked what’s your name! Are you drunk already?” She crosses her legs with a sour expression. “Ahjussis these days…”

He blinks again, this time in slight irritation. A-Ahjussi?! “I’m not that old! I’m only 23 years old!”

“So?”

His eyebrow twitches. Be nice, Sunggyu, people are already glancing over to your table. He tries a smile. “I’m Kim Sunggyu. What’s your name?”

“I already told you like one minute ago. Are you sure you’re not a grandpa?” She giggles and leans over the table, exposing her cleavage clearly. Too bad for her, Sunggyu is not the least bit interested in women. “So, what is your job?”

“I…uhm…just a normal office job.”

She flips her hair back. “Oh, really? That’s so boring.”

Okay, maybe he is not always proud of his normal job, but at least it’s not something he has to be ashamed of. It’s definitely better than being jobless and the payment is pretty good compared to other jobs. His work place is close to his home and although his boss is a scary man, he even gives them holiday pay. And there are worse jobs to have he thinks. Maybe it is boring sometimes, but he doesn’t need to hear it from a ty dressed girl.

Damn you, Jang Dongwoo, for making me come here. “My job is just fine, thank you. So I guess your job is more exciting then?”

“Are you stupid? I’m too young to work.”

Sunggyu clicks his tongue. He is about to choose the yellow card when an alarm suddenly rings and marks the end of their time. He sighs in relief when she stands up and goes away.

“Girls these days…why do they look way older than they are? And she’s so rude…” Sunggyu mumbles to himself as he honestly regrets agreeing to come here. The only thing missing now is a-

“Merry Christmas!”

Ah, can I just shoot myself?
 

❅ ❅ ❅ ☃ ❅ ❅ ❅

The next rounds turn out to be a mixture of torture and amusement for Sunggyu. After the Happy-Christmas-troll he finally gets more normal people, but after 30 minutes he already has one yellow card less. He pulls it for a pretty fair reason, though he has to whisper it into the ear of the lady - the one who is in charge of the event – because just admitting it to her is slightly embarrassing. After all, a man does not easily confess to a group of strangers that an old lady just ually molested him.

Sunggyu wants to drown in embarrassment when the old woman gets (nicely) kicked out of the café, but not without a last “but his looked so fine!” that makes the rest of the room laugh. A blush covers his cheeks and he tries to hide his face behind his hands.

They decide to do a little break for food and drinks now before they switch the groups. Sunggyu is only thinking about the next exit truthfully, but of course Dongwoo is quick enough to stop him at the door when he is about to escape. “Hyung! Where are you going?”

“This is a disaster, Jang Dongwoo! Don’t touch me or I might punch you in the face!” Sunggyu narrows his eyes at the other.

Dongwoo retreats his hand that was on his arm before. He knows that the older man means the threat. Sunggyu doesn’t want to punch his friend, but he really wants to punch someone for his ridiculous luck today. “Just…let me go home. I’m not fit for this and thanks to this old lady everybody is laughing at me now…”

His friend gives him a pitiful look. “Hyung, I’m sorry. I-I will go with you! You shouldn’t be alone on Christmas! Let me take responsibility!”

Sunggyu almost laughs at his choice of words. His mood lightens up a bit. “Just stay here. It’s fine, Dongwoo. And I know that you’ve found someone in there. I had quite some time to look around, you know. Go home with him. I’m fine on my own.”

He pats Dongwoo’s head like he’s a loyal dog and gives him a small smile to proof that he’s not mad at him. It’s not really his fault after all. The younger one seems relieved now. “Are you sure? Maybe you can try again-“

“No.”

“Okay…but send me a message when you get home! I won’t be able to sleep if I have to worry that someone might have kidnapped you!” Dongwoo tells him with serious expression and he rolls his eyes.

“I’m not a frigging high school girl roaming the streets at night. Besides, I can protect myself! I’m a grown man! Who would even want to kidnap me?”

The other grabs his shoulders and shakes him slightly. “Hyung! Your arms are too thin! You can’t even hurt a fly! And with your innocent, cute face, who knows what kind of creeps will approach you! Just think of that ahjumma from before!!”

“I’m not innocent or cute, damn it!” Sunggyu gives him a proof of his strength with a mean right hand to Dongwoo’s shoulder, but the other merely laughs it off.

“See? It doesn’t hurt! I’m just worried about you. A message, promise?”

“Yeah, fine! Now get back inside before they think we are dating or something.” Sunggyu shoes him away and starts walking away with his hands buried deep in his coat’s pockets.

It’s freezing outside and the snow has begun falling again, but the streets are empty now and he figures that most people are at home right now, preparing a nice Christmas dinner. He does feel kind of lonely now, but not because everyone is having a blast on Christmas-

“Hey!”

Sunggyu turns his head automatically (there are really no other person around that this call could be meant for). There’s a guy running in his direction and weirdly enough he has a smile on his face. He looks kind of familiar but Sunggyu can’t put his finger on it.

The stranger stops in front of him with slightly red cheeks. He gives him a shy smile. “You forgot your beanie in the café.”

The older man touches his head with wide eyes, but his fingers only find hair and cold snow. Sunggyu wonders why he hadn’t noticed it yet. Even his ears are already frozen. The stranger suddenly laughs and Sunggyu wipes the snow from his head in embarrassment. He grabs the beanie quickly and puts it on. So he was at the party too…now I know why he looks familiar.

“T-Thanks. I will go now…” He turns away again.

“Hey! I thought…maybe we could drink a cup of coffee together?”

Sunggyu blinks and looks back at the other. “What?”

“Or a hot chocolate?” The stranger asks in a hopeful tone. Sunggyu wonders why a good-looking guy like that wants to drink something with him. He can’t understand why he isn’t acting like usual, why a stranger makes him all soft and timid or why his mouth spouts an ‘okay’ without his permission.
 

 ❅ ❅ ☃ ❅ ❅

He finds himself in another café with Woohyun a few minutes later. Woohyun, that’s the name of the stranger who saved his beanie from a lonely death (and probably Sunggyu from getting a cold). The other man is younger than him and has a very charming smile that sometimes shows his small dimples. Sunggyu doesn’t know what his intentions are but he doesn’t look the kind of person who would kidnap him and then kill him somewhere in a dark alley.

“So you left the party just to give me the beanie back? We don’t even know each other.” Sunggyu warms his hands on the warm surface of the cup with a hesitant smile on his lips.

Woohyun shrugs in return. “It wasn’t that good anyways. A lot of strange people actually. Like that girl in the mini dress or the groping ahjumma.”

The younger chuckles and Sunggyu tries to hide his red face. “Please don’t remind me of that.”

“Why? She only spoke the truth you know.”

“W-What?” He raises his cup to calm his nerves with a sip of hot chocolate.

Woohyun laughs. “Well, your does look fine.”

Sunggyu chokes on his chocolate and almost spits it out. Is he making fun of me now? “Pardon?”

The other smiles softly. “What I meant was: I’m interested in you, that’s why I took the chance to follow you when you forgot the beanie. Sorry, if that makes me sound like a creep.”

He tries to laugh it off as a joke, though the words make his heart flutter. Could he mean that or is he still joking around? I mean we didn’t even exchange one word at the party. “Only a bit.”

Woohyun laughs. “I guess we’re still fine then. So, can I ask why you were at the party instead of celebrating Christmas at home with your family or partner?”

Sunggyu frowns. “I just don’t want to celebrate it with anyone at all. My colleague dragged me there.”

“So you’re just colleagues.” The other mumbles loud enough for him to hear and Sunggyu sees his boyish smile again that makes him look much younger. It almost makes his cheeks heat up again. “Why don’t you celebrate it? Are you one of those guys who hate Christmas?”

“I don’t really hate it. It’s just useless in my eyes and everyone is so frigging happy for…nothing. It’s supposed to be a meaningful day, but isn’t it just about presents nowadays? I see no sense in celebrating it and this entire fake demeanor. It’s just about money and a fat guy that doesn’t even exist.”

His answer makes Woohyun laugh again and Sunggyu pouts. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing. I suppose you’re right, most people would probably think it’s only about presents.”

“And you don’t think so?”

Woohyun smiles. “No.”

“Then what?” Sunggyu raises an eyebrow questioningly. Please not some mushy answer like ‘it’s about family’ or a stupid answer like ‘because the church said so’.

“It’s about love.” Woohyun says simply and smiles. “Like spending time with the people you love or giving something to them just to make them happy. I agree with you that we don’t need the whole commercial nonsense with decorations and buying presents, but for some people it adds the right mood and a Christmas tree does look nice.”

Sunggyu snorts. “Then why are you at a party instead of spending time with your loved ones? Shouldn’t you be with your family?”

The other man looks kind of sad suddenly. “My parents died last month…makes it kind of hard for me to be home right now. You know, with the memories and all.”

He feels like an idiot for his thoughtless remark. Woohyun’s sad expression is like a knife in his heart. “I-Im sorry. I shouldn’t have- maybe I should just leave-“

Sunggyu stands up with his coat in his hands but the younger grabs his wrist. “Wait, let’s go together.”

Woohyun calls for the waitress and pays for their drinks while the older man just stands next to the table, unsure what to do. When Woohyun is done, he joins their hands together without a word and pulls him outside with him.

“Uhm…”

“I’m not mad, don’t worry.” The other says without looking at him.

Sunggyu thinks his voice is shaking a bit, but it could only be his imagination. He wants to ask if Woohyun is okay, but the words are stuck in his throat. He’s not sure if it is because of guilt or the cold air around them. The slowly falling snow has turned into a slight snowstorm and the wind bites his skin without mercy. He whimpers quietly at the stings on his skin.

“Where are we going, Woohyun?” Sunggyu breathes out. He’s getting scared because Woohyun is not talking to him and just dragging him further and further away from the city center.

“There’s a place I want to show you. Trust me, please.”

They reach a bus stop and Woohyun buys two tickets for them. Sunggyu is kind of glad to take a seat in the bus because it is heated and definitely better than the outside. His right hand is almost stiff from the cold, while his left feels too hot from Woohyun’s touch during their walk here. The younger man takes a seat next to him and gives him an apologetic smile.

Woohyun takes his right hand between his and moves his lips closer to breathe against it. The warm air tickles against Sunggyu’s skin and the gesture makes him shrink into his seat. They barely know each other yet Woohyun acts like his boyfriend. He should protest against it and demand Woohyun to bring him home, but it feels nice and much more like home than his run-down apartment.

“Sorry. You are cold because of me.” Woohyun whispers against the back of his hand.

“I-It’s okay. I always have cold hands.” What am I saying? I should scold him for dragging me away or even report him to the police!

The younger man laughs. “I really wonder how I managed to find my angel on Christmas.”

He blushes against his will and tries to wiggle his hand out of Woohyun’s grip. “Are you an idiot! Angels don’t exist!”

A bus stop is announced and instead of answering, the other grabs his hand stronger and pulls him up again. “That’s our stop. Come on.”

The snow almost swallows Sunggyu when he steps outside, but Woohyun catches him by the waist with his other arm. The cold white snow seems to be everywhere and it’s so high that Sunggyu thinks they might have made it to the North Pole (maybe he is dramatizing the whole situation a bit, because it only reaches up to his knees). He starts to tremble from the cold almost immediately, though Woohyun’s body is close and warm.

“Where are we?” Maybe Woohyun wants to hide his corpse in the snow.

“Right outside of Seoul. I guess no one clears the snow here. Don’t worry, it’s not far.”

“What is not far?”

“Christmas.” Woohyun laughs and they continue their way with Sunggyu still somehow caught in his embrace, because he doesn’t want to lose the warmth.

They leave the street and make their way through the snow up a little hill. Sunggyu is not really dressed for a walk through deep snow. It gets into his shoes and sneaks under his jeans – it’s frigging cold. It bites, it stings, but Woohyun keeps him walking with sweet words and warm touches. When they are close enough, he can recognize a pair of lonely trees on top of the hill.

“My family and I used to come here. Our house was close and no one really came to this hill, so this was kind of our secret place. We even build a tree house here and no one ever found it.” Woohyun suddenly tells him as they reach the trees.

The warmth around him disappears as Woohyun starts to walk over to one of the trees and leaves him alone. Sunggyu hugs himself and tries to get some feeling back into his frozen feet. “Didn’t you say you’re sorry for making me cold? It’s freezing!”

No answer comes and he looks around for Woohyun, who seems to have disappeared. “Woohyun?”

He bites his lower lip nervously and walks over to the tree where the other disappeared. Still no sign of him. “This is not funny! You better show yourself before I-“

Something falls down from the tree and almost hits him. Sunggyu stumbles to the side in shock and a second later a shadow jumps from the tree as well. “Oh god, sorry, I didn’t see you. Did I hit you? I thought you were still standing over there.”

Woohyun hurries to his side and checks him for any possible injuries. Sunggyu pushes him away in slight anger. He feels tears in the corners of his eyes, but he tells himself that it’s because of their current situation and definitely not because he was worried about being left behind by Woohyun. “No, but you almost did and I’m freezing and I have no idea where I am! I thought you were just going to let me die out here!”

The younger man pulls him to his chest and Sunggyu notices that the snow is almost gone from his jacket. He wonders how he pulled that off in this storm and why was he on a tree in the first place. “I’m sorry. I know I’m doing everything wrong for the first date but forgive me just once more, okay?”

Sunggyu is about to protest that this isn’t a date when Woohyun gives him a soft kiss against the cold tip of his nose, which makes him shut up completely. “We have to climb up the ladder. I hope you’re not afraid of heights.”

Woohyun shows him the corded ladder, the object that almost hit him before. He is not afraid of heights, but he’s not sure if he can trust that ladder (or Woohyun). “I had to climb up there to throw it down. We didn’t want someone else to get into our tree house.”

The other man climbs up first to show him how safe it is and Sunggyu follows him hesitantly. How can he stay below when his source of warmth is up there?

The tree house is surprisingly big, but the snow hides it well and during spring and summer the leaves probably camouflage it well. Woohyun helps him into the little house with a smile. Sunggyu’s cheeks suddenly feel all warm again. The younger one closes to door to cut off the cold stream of air while Sunggyu looks around the tree house in awe. It even has a few cushions, blankets and a big window.

“Your family must be rich to build something like this.”

“We were, before my father lost his company.” Woohyun answers with a sad smile and Sunggyu noticed that he stepped into another landmine.

“Sorry…”

The other only takes off his coat. “Don’t be. Not like it’s your fault. Come on, I wanted to show you something.”

Sunggyu takes off his coat and the beanie and follow Woohyun to the window. The other gives him a blanket and moves the cushions around so that they can sit in front of the window. He takes a seat curiously and looks out of the window. Surprisingly, you can see all of Seoul from up here – at least the lights of Seoul since it’s night already. It looks breathtakingly beautiful, especially since the Christmas lightings add even more glow to the picture.

“Amazing, right?” Woohyun chuckles next to him.

He nods. “So that’s what you wanted to show me?”

The younger looks strangely vulnerable as he lets his gaze glide over the city. “I used to come here with my family every Christmas. It’s not very comfortable but the view is the best and my parents always taught me that money isn’t everything. All you need is the people you love.”

Sunggyu hums slowly. He doesn’t know what to say, if he should console him or cheer him up. “I didn’t want to be alone that’s why I went to the party. I had this tiny hope that maybe I could find someone there.”

He sighs. “Me too, though the party turned out to be a big failure.”

Woohyun laughs and moves closer. He joins him under the blanket against Sunggyu’s protest. “I think it was a success because I found my angel.”

The older man averts his gaze shyly and looks back to the city. “Showing me a nice night view of Seoul is not enough to get me into your bed tonight, if that’s what you’re aiming for. I’m not that easy even if we’re both lonely.”

“But I don’t want you in my bed tonight, though I wouldn’t mind it another time.” Woohyun’s hand moves up his back and Sunggyu shudders under the touch. “Tonight I just want to spend time with you and after that, maybe the rest of my life.”

Sunggyu squeezes his eyes shut. His heart is beating hard against his ribcage and the heat in his cheeks is almost agonizing. “D-Don’t joke around. We barely know each other.”

The other man’s hand comes to rest on his chin and tilts his head to the side. Sunggyu opens his eyes shyly and finds Woohyun’s face too close to his. “But I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”

Their lips meet in a soft kiss and Sunggyu doesn’t know why he closes his eyes again (or even allows this to happen), but Woohyun’s lips are warm and their lips fit together perfectly. It feels like forever before they separate and when they do, Woohyun leans Sunggyu’s head against his chest and puts an arm around him.

“So, was the party still a failure?” The younger asks and in the reflection of the window Sunggyu can see him smile.

“Maybe Dongwoo was right to drag me there after all.” Sunggyu laughs quietly.

He sees Woohyun frown. “Is that your colleague? You can’t pat his head from now on!”

Not like I’m doing it frequently. I mostly hit him at work. But out of fun he asks nevertheless. “Why? What if I want to do it badly?”

“You can just pat mine! We’re together from now on! You can’t go around patting other man’s heads!” Woohyun mumbles.

“Are we together? I don’t think I agreed to anything.” He hides his smile against the other man’s chest.

Woohyun puts a second arm around him and Sunggyu can feel his breath on his neck. “I won’t let you go anymore. It’s too late to say no.”

“So you are a creep.” Sunggyu chuckles and the younger man only hums against his skin in return.

He closes his eyes tiredly. Maybe Christmas is not so bad after all.

 ❅ ☃ ❅