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Christmas in Seoul had two sides: the romantic one, with lights on the trees and couples holding hands, and the one Heejin knew all too well.
The chaotic one.
The one that basically consisted of Ahn Sooho screaming off-key Christmas carols into his best friend’s ear while they walked through Hongdae.
“All I want for Christmas is youuuuu!” Sooho sang, pointing dramatically at a spicy chicken skewer stall.
Heejin adjusted her scarf, rolling her eyes so hard it almost gave her a headache.
“Shut up, you idiot, or I’m going to throw you against that inflatable snowman, and no, it won’t be an accident this time.”
“So aggressive, young grasshopper. It’s the Christmas spirit. The spirit…” Sooho paused, looking around with feigned suspicion. “Where is the Little Prince? Did we lose him in the crowd? Did someone steal him for being too pretty?”
“I’m right here,” said a calm voice right behind them.
Yeon Sieun, or “The Little Prince,” as Sooho had nicknamed him after he had to dress up as a prince for a charity event at a children’s hospital—appeared with his hands tucked into the pockets of his long black coat.
He was wearing a perfectly knotted grey scarf, and his ears were slightly red from the cold. Unlike the whirlwind that was his friend and his girlfriend, Sieun looked like a winter catalog model: calm, ethereal, and slightly fed up with Sooho’s existence.
“Ah, there you are.” Sooho draped an arm around his shoulders, shaking him a little. “I thought you’d finally gotten tired of Hee and ran away.” Heejin smiled sarcastically at the comment. “What’s the plan, genius? Karaoke? Are we going to eat until we explode? Jiwoong said he’d be here in ten minutes.”
Sieun glanced sideways at Heejin. She was rubbing her hands together to warm them up, her nose red and a bemused smile on her face as she watched Sooho’s antics.
Sieun sighed, releasing a small cloud of vapor.
He had a plan. A plan meticulously calculated with a 2% margin of error.
“We’re going to eat first,” Sieun said. “I made a reservation at that barbecue place Heejin likes.”
The girl’s eyes lit up like the LED lights hanging above their heads.
“The Hanwoo place? Premium Korean beef?” Heejin jumped toward Sieun and clung to his arm. “Kitten, you’re the best boyfriend in the world! Move it, Sooho! Let me hug my Little Prince.”
“Excuse me? I come included in the ‘friends forever’ package,” Sooho retorted indignantly, following them. “Besides, I need protein. Physical therapy is exhausting; my muscles are crying out for cow meat.”
Sieun gave a half-smile, almost imperceptible.
“Yes, Sooho. You’re coming too.”
For now.
…
Dinner was chaos, as always.
Heejin was a meat-eating machine, Sooho was a machine for stealing meat from Heejin’s grill, and Sieun was the silent referee ensuring his girlfriend’s plate was always full, cutting the larger pieces with scissors and placing them in front of her without a word.
Jiwoong arrived halfway through dinner, cheeks flushed and a backpack full of law books.
“Hyung! Noona!” he greeted, dropping into the empty chair next to Sooho. “Sorry for the delay, the Civil Law professor is a sadist. He assigned us reading for December 26th. Who does that?”
“A soulless monster, just like Lawyer Jung,” Heejin said with her mouth full, pointing at him with her chopsticks. “Eat, Jiwoongie. Sieun is paying.”
“Thanks, Hyung,” Jiwoong said, looking at Sieun with adoration.
Sieun nodded, taking a sip of water. Then, under the table, he gave Jiwoong a gentle kick on the leg.
The younger boy blinked, looked at Sieun, and saw the slight movement of the older boy’s eyebrows. The signal.
Ah, right. The mission.
Jiwoong cleared his throat, setting his soda glass on the table with a thud that was a little too theatrical.
“Ah! By the way, Sooho hyung…” Jiwoong started, trying to sound casual, though he sounded like he was reading from a script. “I have… uh… I have two VIP tickets for the MMA exhibition tonight at the Olympic Stadium.”
Sooho, who was about to shove a piece of pork belly into his mouth, froze. The meat fell from his chopsticks.
“What? The Christmas exhibition? The one where that Brazilian fighter is going to be? Tickets sold out months ago!”
“Yeah, well… a classmate, his dad is a sponsor and… he had two left over…” Jiwoong lied, sweating a little. “And I thought: ‘Who is the person who would most appreciate seeing people beat each other up on Christmas?’ And I thought of you, Hyung.”
Sooho looked at Heejin and Sieun, then at the invisible tickets in Jiwoong’s hand, which were actually on his phone. He looked like he was in a deep moral dilemma.
“But… we said we’d spend Christmas Eve together. The Fantastic Four. The Suicide Squad.”
“Go,” Heejin said without looking at him, focused on wrapping a piece of meat in a lettuce leaf. “If you stay, you’re just going to be crying all night checking the results on your phone. You’ll look pathetic.”
“Sieun…” Sooho looked at his friend for moral support.
Sieun shrugged with that characteristic calmness of his.
“It’s an opportunity. Besides, Heejin and I have to study for an early midterm in January. We’ll probably go to sleep early.”
“Study? On Christmas?” Sooho looked at them like they were crazy. “You two are boring nerds. Alright, I’m going with Jiwoong. But you owe me a karaoke outing on New Year’s.”
“Deal,” Sieun said quickly. Too quickly.
Jiwoong winked discreetly at Sieun as he dragged an excited Sooho out of the restaurant half an hour later.
“Have fun studying, you pair of nerds!” Sooho shouted from the door before disappearing into the cold night.
The silence left at the table was wonderful.
Heejin let out a satisfied sigh, leaning back in her chair.
“I adore that idiot, but sometimes I need my eardrums to rest.”
Sieun set his chopsticks on the table and wiped his mouth with a napkin. Then, he looked at Heejin. His eyes, usually cold and distant with the rest of the world, held that soft, honey-colored gleam that only appeared when he looked at her.
“We aren’t going to study, Heejin.”
She looked at him, arching an eyebrow with a mischievous smile.
“Oh, really? So you lied to me, Yeon Sieun? How bold.”
“I lied to you…” he admitted, standing up and offering her his hand. “Let’s go to my apartment. I bought cake. And there’s no one shouting Christmas carols.”
Heejin took his hand, interlacing her fingers with his. Sieun’s hand was slightly larger, warm and firm.
“You convinced me with ‘cake’.”
Sieun’s apartment near the university was just like him: tidy, minimalist, with neutral colors and books stacked in perfect geometric order.
But since they started dating, small touches of clutter introduced by Heejin had appeared: a bright pink mug in the sink, one of her sweatshirts forgotten on the sofa, and now, fairy lights she had insisted on hanging in the window last week.
They entered, and the warmth of the heating welcomed them like a hug.
Sieun closed the door, and the noise of the city vanished. It was just the two of them.
“I’m chilled to the bone,” Heejin complained, taking off her coat and tossing it at the coat rack, missing, of course.
Sieun picked up the coat and hung it properly without saying a word. Then he walked over to her.
Heejin was wearing a white wool sweater that was a bit too big for her and a plaid skirt with thermal tights. She looked adorable and edible.
Sieun wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Heejin rested her hands on his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart through the fabric of his shirt.
“Merry Christmas, Heejin,” he murmured, lowering his head to brush his nose against hers.
“Merry Christmas, Kitten.” She smiled, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.
It was a sweet kiss at first, tasting of the mint candy Sieun had eaten leaving the restaurant.
But Sieun… Sieun had changed this year. He wasn’t so shy anymore.
His hands slid down from her waist to her hips, squeezing possessively. He deepened the kiss, his tongue tracing her lower lip before entering calmly but with authority.
Heejin sighed against his mouth, her fingers tangling in the soft brown hair at the nape of his neck.
“Mmhm… what about the cake?” she asked when they broke apart for air, though she made no attempt to pull away.
“Later,” Sieun said. His voice had dropped. It was husky, serious.
He lifted her without warning.
Heejin let out a squeak of surprise and wrapped her legs around his waist by instinct. Sieun was deceptively strong for how slender he looked; he held her as if she weighed nothing and walked straight toward his bedroom.
He entered the room, lit only by the streetlamp filtering through the blinds and a small lamp on the nightstand. He laid her on the bed with a care that contrasted with the urgency in his eyes.
Sieun didn’t move away. He positioned himself between her legs, standing at the edge of the bed, looking down at her.
That look. The same analytical gaze he used to solve quantum physics problems. Now he was using it to map her body.
“What are you looking at so intensely?” Heejin asked, feeling a blush rise up her neck.
“You,” he said. He began undoing the buttons of his shirt with exasperating calm. “I’ve been waiting all day for Sooho to shut up and for Jiwoong to take him away. I wanted to be alone with you.”
“Oh yeah? To study anatomy?” she teased, nervous and aroused at the same time.
Sieun took off his shirt, letting it drop to the floor. His skin glowed with that caramel tone under the dim light. He leaned over her, planting his hands on either side of her head, caging her in.
“Something like that.”
He kissed her again, but this time there was no sweetness. There was hunger.
Sieun kissed with precision, devouring her mouth while one of his hands slid up her thigh, caressing over the thermal tights.
“These tights…” he murmured against her neck, nibbling the sensitive skin under her ear. “They’re an obstacle.”
“It-it’s cold…” Heejin gasped, arching her back when she felt his teeth.
“You don’t need them when you’re with me.”
With efficient movements, Sieun got rid of her skirt and tights in record time. When she was left in just her red lace underwear, Sieun paused for a second to admire her.
His pupils were dilated.
“Beautiful,” he whispered. It wasn’t an empty compliment. He said it as if it were an irrefutable fact.
Sieun lowered his head, kissing the valley between her breasts, her stomach, going lower and lower. Heejin knew where he was going, and her hands gripped the sheets.
“Sieun…”
He didn’t answer. He parted her knees firmly and settled between them. He removed the last barrier of fabric and, without preamble, buried his face in her.
Heejin cried out, a muffled sound that got lost in the room.
Sieun’s tongue was expert. He wasn’t erratic or rushed. He tasted her with long, wet strokes, finding her clitoris and dedicating almost obsessive attention to it.
His hands gripped her thighs, keeping her open, exposed to his mouth.
“Sieun… ah!” Heejin threw her head back, moving her hips instinctively, seeking more pressure.
He seemed to understand, or maybe he already knew. He picked up the pace, using his tongue and lips to create a suction that made her see stars.
The wet sound of his mouth against her mixed with Heejin’s broken moans.
Sieun looked up for a second, chin wet and lips red and swollen. Seeing him like that, so undone and so focused on her pleasure, was what pushed her over the edge.
“Don’t stop… please, don’t stop,” she begged.
He went back down, this time sucking hard on the exact spot. Heejin tensed, her whole body vibrating like a violin string, and then she broke.
The orgasm hit her, making her tremble and squeeze her thighs against his ears.
Sieun rode out the spasms, licking softly until she calmed down a little.
Then, he moved up her body, covering her with his own.
“You taste good,” he murmured against her lips, kissing her deeply so she could taste herself in his mouth.
Heejin was dizzy, but she needed him inside. Her hands went to his pants, clumsy with urgency.
“I want you… now.”
Sieun got rid of the rest of his clothes and reached for a condom in the nightstand drawer. When he was ready, he positioned himself at her entrance.
Heejin was wet and ready, but he entered slowly.
Inch by inch, filling her completely, stretching her in that delicious way that made her feel full.
Sieun let out a low, husky groan, closing his eyes and throwing his head back when he was fully seated inside.
“Shit… Heejin…”
He began to move. Slow at first, setting a steady rhythm. His hips slapped against hers with a sound of skin on skin that was obscene and perfect.
Heejin wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper.
“Faster, Sieun…”
The quiet boy disappeared. Sieun clenched his jaw and obeyed.
His thrusts became hard, fast. He grabbed her hands and pinned them against the mattress, above her head, dominating her completely.
He looked her in the eyes while he did it. That eye contact was intense, almost unbearable. It was like he wanted to see every reaction, every gesture of pleasure he provoked.
“Who do you belong to?” he asked, his voice broken by the effort, thrusting deep at an angle that made her scream.
“You… I’m yours, Sieun,” she moaned.
That seemed to be the trigger. Sieun released one of her hands to caress her clitoris while he continued thrusting without mercy. The combination was too much.
Heejin came for the second time, screaming his name, clawing at his shoulders.
Sieun followed her seconds later with a growl, burying himself to the hilt and staying there, trembling as he emptied himself into the condom.
He collapsed on top of her, careful not to crush her with his full weight, hiding his face in the crook of her neck, breathing heavily.
They lay there for a long time, the sweat cooling on their skin, their heartbeats returning to normal.
Sieun kissed her shoulder, then her neck, softly.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice returning to that soft, concerned tone of always.
Heejin let out a tired giggle, stroking his damp hair.
“I’m excellent. Definitely better than watching wrestling with Sooho.”
Sieun lifted himself up a bit, resting on his elbows to look at her. His hair was messy, and he wore an expression of satisfaction.
“I love you, Heejin.”
The girl smiled, that bright smile that always melted his coldness.
“I love you too, Sieun-ah.”
“Do you want the cake now?”
Heejin stretched like a satisfied cat. “Mmh… maybe in a while. Just hold me for now. It’s cold.”
Sieun rolled over to his side and pulled the sheets up to cover them both, creating a warm cocoon. He pulled her against his chest, her favorite place in the world.
As Heejin fell asleep, Sieun looked at the ceiling, thinking that even though Sooho and Jiwoong would probably flood his phone with complaining messages tomorrow, this had been, without a doubt, the best Christmas of his life.
NOTE: Ah, it’s been almost three years since this fic. I thought it was only right to give a special chapter to one of my first babies (and because they reached over 200k reads, seriously, thank you so much for that).
Finally, Merry Christmas! I hope you have a lovely time and eat lots of food!
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