❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

2 weeks had passed and Seokmin and Joshua had settled into their daily lovebirds routine.

Seokmin had been living with Joshua for about a week, although he still had his own apartment and the two had acclimatised to each other and their habits.

Today was a special day however, because it was finally Christmas day. They had already planned not to celebrate but Joshua had gone out to buy a tree yesterday and they had decided to just decorate it today as their own special Christmas activity.

However, that plan fell through quickly with Seokmin also deciding to bake cookies and Joshua randomly buying wreaths and other Christmas decorations for the house.

He loathed Christmas. He really did.

But there was that one saying; love made you do crazy things. In this case, love had made him appreciate Christmas and find the joy in the holiday that he had never seen before.

Same with Seokmin who also hated Christmas but if Joshua was willing to celebrate, then he was willing too.

"Babe, come downstairs! Let's decorate!" Seokmin called for Joshua who rushed out of their bedroom and down the stairs in his Christmas PJs that Seokmin had bought for him.

As Joshua reached Dokyeom, his eyebrows furrowed once he realized Dokyeom wasn't in his own Christmas PJs. "Aren't we supposed to be matching?" He questioned, crossing his arms.

"Hmm, are we? Didn't think about that." Seokmin teased, picking up an ornament. Joshua shook his head, feigning disappointment at being tricked by Dokyeom once again.

"I'm never listening to you again." Joshua announced, walking away but not getting far as Seokmin pulled him right back to where he was before, gesturing to the box of decorations.

"We're supposed to be decorating, love."

Joshua's resolve became unresolved as Seokmin's sweet words passed through his ears. He loved that nickname, love. But most importantly, he loved the person who had given him the nickname the most.

"Help me, please?" Seokmin's puppy dog eyes were hard to say no to and Joshua quickly yielded in, "Yes, Mon Coeur." He picked up an ornament, making Seokmin smile.

About an hour passed before they finished adorning the tree and when they did, Seokmin switched on the socket, illuminating the tree and the dozens of ornaments attached to it.

The two celebrated their success with a high five and Seokmin moved to the kitchen to check on the cookies while Joshua started decorating the rest of the house.

The festive vibes flooded the house with the decorations, clothing and even the music that suffocated the house through the CD player.

When the cookies finished baking, Seokmin took them out of the oven and started to decorate them with icing and tiny candies. "Josh! Do you want to decorate the cookies?!" Seokmin yelled over the music, hoping he was loud enough to reach Joshua.

"Yeah, I do!" Joshua replied, coming to the kitchen from the living room. "What do I do?" He asked, full of excitement and intrigue. Over the past few weeks, Joshua had shown Seokmin sides to him that Seokmin had never imagined Joshua would have.

"Just pipe around the cookie like this." Seokmin directed Joshua's hands as the icing lined up on the corners of the cookies. "Ooh~" Joshua hummed as he watched the icing go around the edges of the treat.

Seokmin smiled at his innocence before helping Joshua drop the piping bag. "Then you just sprinkle the candies, like this." Seokmin pinched the candies in the bowl, taking the ones that managed to stick to his finger and sprinkled them all over the cookie, like salt.

"Wow, the love of my life is so talented." Joshua uttered in complete awe despite Seokmin not doing anything extraordinary. Joshua's words flustered Seokmin whose face gave his feelings away.

"Should we watch a movie?" Joshua asked once they'd finished decorating all the cookies. Seokmin shrugged, carrying the plate of cookies off the counter. "Only if it's a Grinch movie."

Joshua smirked, then nodded in response to Dokyeom's request. "I see you have taste Mon Coeur." Joshua slid his arm around Dokyeom's shoulder, the simple touch exciting Dokyeom.

"Always."

............

"Love, I have an idea." Seokmin finished the last cookie, the plate empty and filled with tiny crumbs, reminders of what the cookies once were... alive.

"What idea?" Joshua asked just as the end credits of the movie started to roll up on the screen. He was new to this, to spending Christmas happily and yet he already wanted to do it again, and again, and again.

As long as Dokyeom was by his side.

"Let's go out and buy ourselves presents, like be our own Secret Santas, then we present them to each other once we get back... what do you think?" Seokmin proposed the idea and Joshua could never say no to Dokyeom, regardless of if the idea was trash or not.

Fortunately, it was a pretty good idea which made Joshua nod fervently.

"You want to do it?" Seokmin's eyes glimmered with enthusiasm, his body ready to get up from the couch with Joshua's next word. "Yeah, of course I want to do it." Joshua assured Dokyeom, getting up from the couch.

"Okay! The time limit is an hour! Time start!" Seokmin announced before rushing to the coat rack and wearing his coat then sliding his leg into his boots.

Seokmin's happiness shocked himself the most. Never in his life had he experienced this much elation and it was all because of Joshua. Joshua had shown him what it meant to be happy; something Seokmin had given up on chasing years ago.

Something unachievable, was now at his doorstep, at every corner, in the form of an enchanting human being, named Joshua Hong.

.............

Seokmin had been the one to propose the idea but here he was, with no idea what to buy. He knew everything about Joshua and yet the perfect gift just failed to come to mind.

Seokmin walked past various stores, none of them having what he was looking for until he stumbled upon a bracelet displayed in the window of a jewellery shop.

He walked into the shop, headed straight for the cashier. "I need that bracelet, please." Seokmin pointed at the bracelet, his legs shivering from the amount of time he spent walking around in the cold.

The cashier nodded and disappeared to another room before returning with the bracelet in it's assigned box. Seokmin looked at the bracelet in awe as it sparkled under the lights of the shop, the golden light reflecting against Seokmin's face.

What made the gift even more perfect was the initial inscribed in the little heart charm attached to it. J. It was perfect.

"We have other initials, if you want to see-"

"No, this... this is perfect." Seokmin interrupted, a smile gradually settling on his face. The cashier didn't waste time in ringing Seokmin up, telling him the price.

It wasn't a famous jewellery store so the price wasn't too high. It was actually just the right amount for Seokmin to pay with his card. As he handed his card over and put in his pin, the receipt rolled out and Seokmin cut it himself and took out his card, receiving a bag with the bracelet's box inside.

Seokmin beamed joyfully as he walked back to Joshua's apartment, heavily pleased with his gift. He had seen a ring with a 'J + S' initial earlier on and it saddened him because giving Joshua that ring would only bemuse him.

Since he didn't know who Seokmin was.

.............

"Okay, you go first." Joshua instructed and Seokmin nodded before opening his bag. "Eyes closed." He reminded Joshua whose eyes shut instantly as Seokmin brought out the silver box.

He opened it, unhooking the bracelet before taking Joshua's left hand and putting the bracelet around his wrist, hooking it.

It was the perfect size. Joshua slowly opened his eyes as the bracelet came into his line of vision. "Wow." He uttered, completely starstruck by how beautiful the bracelet was.

His eyes moved to the initial in the heart. A 'J' written in cursive. It was perfect. It was really perfect.

"Do you like it?" Seokmin's hands were clasped together and placed under his chin as he watched Joshua's reaction, desperately hoping he would like it.

"You don't even need to ask, I love it, it's perfect Mon Coeur, just like you." Joshua pulled Dokyeom closer with a subtle force, their lips instantly crashing into one another in an intense kiss while their hands located each other's bodies like a map.

Seokmin kept his hands around Joshua's neck while Joshua stabilised his hands on Dokyeom's waist, closing up the gap between their bodies.

Joshua used his other hand to navigate Dokyeom's PJs, unbuttoning his shirt in an instant. As Seokmin felt his shirt hang off his body, he broke off the kiss, getting off Joshua.

"You haven't given me my gift." He gasped for air, his lips swollen just as much as Joshua's. Joshua playfully scoffed, running his hand through his hair.

"Right, I forgot." Joshua picked up his own bag and brought out a sleek black box with the Cartier logo on it. Oh my gosh. Had he really just spent that much money on Seokmin?

On a Christmas gift?

"Close your eyes." Joshua hummed and Seokmin closed his eyes for a second, feeling the touch of Joshua's fingers against his skin and then the cold metal resting on his chest.

"Open." Joshua instructed and Seokmin's eyes fluttered open, flickering to the necklace that was now adorning his neck. It was silver and under the light from the chandelier, it glistened.

Attached to the necklace, at the bottom, was a heart, also with an initial. "Great minds think alike." Joshua pointed out as Seokmin realized they had essentially gotten themselves the same gift, just in different forms.

Seokmin turned the heart upside down to read the initial but as he did, the genuine smile on his face completely wiped off.

It was a 'D'. D for Dokyeom.

The only problem was, he wasn't Dokyeom.

He put on a fake smile, not wanting Joshua to sense that his heart was slowly ripping apart and the secrets he'd been hiding were viciously gnawing away at his conscience.

He wanted to tell Joshua the truth so much.

The initial didn't really phase him as much as it really hurt his feelings. It was just the universe pulling him back to reality.

A reality he would soon have to face.

❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

𝐀/𝐍 - to speed up the book, i'll be updating two times a day from now on, both chapters will be released at the same time, starting with this chapter and chapter 22 ! xoxo, iris ! 🖤

Ⓒ︎𝐎𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐎𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐎𝐇
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 - 06/10/2024
𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 - N/A