What a bright time, It's the right time
What a bright time, It’s the right time
3.4k words | Jaebum/Jackson | pg-13 | christmas fluff
a/n: i have slipped every single christmas cliche in here possible.
kind of belongs in the same au as the gingerbread latte fic i guess?
tis the season ho ho ho
“i’m not letting you put that on my cat.”
Jaebum is pointing very vindictively at the screen of Jackson’s laptop, currently displaying a set of gaudy looking Christmas themed sweaters especially designed for cats. The one that’s especially caught Jackson’s attention is adorned with tiny bells and is covered in tiny, dancing reindeer and polar bears and is basically everything Jackson has dreamed of in a cat sweater. But Jackson has no sense of pride, nor fashion sense. Unlike his precious Nora.
“Oh she’s your cat, is she?” Jackson leers at Jaebum. Jaebum thinks he would have been intimidated by it if he hadn’t thought that it was kinda hot that Jackson has his game face on, eyebrow arched and his gaze burning with charisma. Down. Bad boner. “How come she’s my cat when I have to go clean her litter box?”
Boner is down.
The tinkling of Nora’s collar interrupts their staring contest and she completely ignores Jaebum by jumping up the sofa and curling herself up into the tiny crevice Jackson’s folded up legs have created. She rumbles in delight as Jackson scratches at the corner of her ear. Jaebum feels betrayed. He was trying to defend her honour and this is how he is rewarded!?
“Look, our Laura obviously loves me more.” Jackson is absolutely preening. He definitely is. Jaebum bets that if he attached cat ears and a tail to Jackson right now he’d be a spitting image of Nora after she’s licked her bowl of warm milk spotless. Jaebum tries not to imagine Jackson in a set of cat ears because Mission Boner has been aborted god damn it. He stores the image for later. They’ve argued over the name a few times and it’s obviously still a work in progress but it doesn’t matter any more and Jaebum doesn’t bother to comment on how “It’s Nora not Laura” but she responds to both names anyway.
Poor Nora doesn’t know any better. She’s just a clueless cat whom has been charmed by Jackson and much like the rest of the world (including himself).
Jaebum has nothing else to say but an adamant “No.”
“Pink or red?”
“No.”
“I think red. It’s more festive.”
“No.”
Click.
“Adding to cart.”
“No.”
Click.
“Confirm payment.”
At this, Jaebum tries to wrestle the laptop out of Jackson’s lap but the younger’s agile, fencing reflexes come in handy and he easily sees Jaebum’s attack, dislodging the kitten out of his lap and evading Jaebum’s grabby hands directed at the laptop. He slides onto the front of his stomach and settles the laptop onto the furthest point he can on the sofa, out of Jaebum’s reach.
Click.
Jaebum could smack that smug face right off of Jackson, whom has turned around with both hands behind his head. What Jaebum does instead is tackle Jackson with wriggling fingers directed at his ribs and lower stomach, where Jackson is most vulnerable and it has the younger begging for mercy.
His boner makes an appropriate appearance.
“What do you think Jaebum’s getting you this year?”
They’re sitting at Jackson’s favourite coffee shop that makes the best banana pudding this side of the city and Jinyoung is complaining about how Mark is so naturally quiet and he can’t get a peep out of the other as a clue to what he’s buying Jinyoung.
“I was thinking of buying Mark a new frying pan.” Jinyoung furrows his eyebrows. “The ones we have right now aren’t non-stick and the eggs are a pain to wash off.”
“Isn’t that that technically a present for you then?”
Because Mark is the one who doesn’t manage to scorch the bottom of their food every time and Jinyoung somehow has a talent for burning water, the cooking responsibilities fall on Mark and Jinyoung is left to do the dishes to even out their chores.
“I’d like to think of it to be mutually beneficial,” drawls Jinyoung, nonchalantly taking a sip of his short black. “Anyway, the more important question would be what are you getting Jaebum.”
Jackson looks out the window, “I don’t know yet.”
Jackson’s Christmas playlist consists of three songs; Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas is You”, Wham’s “Last Christmas” and “Jingle Bell Rock”. Jaebum doesn’t understand why Jackson is undulating his hips and slapping his spread thighs to what was supposed to be a merry song and he tells him so after the fifth repeat of the song.
All movement halts as Jackson gasps, hands still raised in the air preparing for another hip swivel.
“You haven’t experienced the cinematic masterpiece that is Mean Girls,” And promptly downloads the movie for them to watch that night. As a movie enthusiast, Jaebum is less than impressed (what did fetch even mean? Who was Glen Coco?) but he’s somewhat grateful for the existence of the movie because he quite enjoys the sight of Jackson in his bright red, Christmas socks and loose basketball shorts booty clapping to the upbeat tempo.
“Jackson, what the fuck,” Jaebum is staring at Jackson sitting cross legged on the floor next to what appears to be the cardboard packaging of their Christmas tree strewn in a chaotic tangle of fairy lights. This wasn’t what Jaebum was expecting to come back to after a delayed train ride home from work.
“You told me to decorate the tree.” Jackson blinks his eyes, feigning the image of an innocent child. The angle that Jackson is sitting at makes it so Jaebum has to crane his head down at him and it works perfectly in Jackson's favour . He totally planned this ahead of time.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.” The tone of Jackson’s voice is so blasé, as if his behaviour was normal. “But I just got bored waiting for you so that’s what I did to pass the time.”
Jaebum sets his messenger bag on the sofa and squats down to sit next to Jackson, “that’s why I told you to go ahead first.”
Jackson almost looks horrified. “But we have to do it together! It’s tradition!”
The disarray of wire and tinsel ended up coming off and they take out the small, pine tree out of its box. As nice as it would be to have a real tree in the house with its aromatic smell of pine filling their hallways it was simply too inconvenient to sweep up the debris it left behind after rotting in their apartment for a few weeks. Jackson just ends up spraying copious amounts of pine scented Febreeze in the house as substitute. It works out in the end.
They take their time, gingerly taking out their handcrafted ornaments like the reindeer made from Jackson’s handprint that he made in the first grade (“Dude, that looks freaky as fuck”, “Shut up we’re putting it on the tree”) and the golden, macaroni photo frame that put Jaebum’s pudgy, six year old face in display. No matter how many times Jaebum tries to stow away the ornament and shove it towards the lowest point at the back of the tree, Jackson always manages to find it and hang it in the front, where all their guests can come and admire Jaebum’s chubby cheeks and bowl cut hair.
“Look at how cute you were,” Jackson takes a hold of Jaebum’s face in one hand, closing his palms so Jaebum’s cheeks squish together and his lips protrude unattractively like a teenaged girl on Instagram. “Where did all those cheeks go?”
Jaebum slaps off Jackson’s hand when the other starts to close and open his hands so that his face would contort with the movements. “My anaconda don’t want none.”
“Jaebum, tell me I’m pretty.”
Turning around, Jackson currently has bright, pink tinsel wrapped around his neck like a scarf and a limp hand fanning himself like a diva from broadway.
“No.”
Jackson uses the same tinsel to whip Jaebum’s butt. “What an asshole.”
An hour later the tree, while small, is decked out with small trinkets and family heirlooms and what is probably too much tinsel. There’s only one thing left to do.
Jackson hollers across the room, “Ready?”
“Ready.” Jaebum flips the switch and their apartment glows with the luminescent hue from the fairy lights and the apartment feels so warm despite the snow raining down upon their city outside.
It had been 45 minutes since Jackson had sent Jaebum out into the cold to buy some eggnog from the mart across their apartment and he still wasn’t home yet. Initially, Jackson had wanted to make his own eggnog from scratch but Jaebum objected immediately.
“I’m not going to let you poison yourself with raw eggs. I’ll just walk down to buy it for you.” And with the sweep of his coat Jaebum was off.
The level of distrust Jaebum had for him was unbelievable. Although Jaebum was probably right and the store bought eggnog would almost definitely taste better than anything he would manage to concoct in their meagre kitchen. God wonders how they feed themselves.
“I’m back!” The door finally slams open and Jackson walks into the corridor while Jaebum is unwinding his scarf and hanging his coat on the rack, he keeps the beanie on though and Jackson feels Things from the pits of his stomach when Jaebum wears a beanie. Thanksgiving has already passed but boy, Jackson is feeling very thankful right now.
“You didn’t get kidnapped by a yeti or anything, did you? Jesus, what took you so long?” Jackson approaches the other, ready to take the grocery bag off him but he sees Jaebum pull out something from the pocket of his jeans.
“This.”
Above their heads, Jaebum has a sprig of greenery clasped delicately in-between his fingers, dangling it just above their faces.
“Baby, you know that’s holly, right?” Jackson laughs at the embarrassment that flushes on Jaebum’s cheeks. It was so obviously not mistletoe because it even had the glossy, imitation berries glued to it.
“I’ve never actually seen real mistletoe, so I just went to the dollar store and anything up.” Ah. So that’s why it had taken him so long. It’s absolutely adorable how his, usually confident partner is reduced to a soft, mumbling, lovesick idiot. “I thought it’d be romantic.”
Jackson wants to melt. Whether it be from the cheesiness or sentiment he doesn’t quite know.
“Im Jaebum you sneaky little shit. I bet everyone else thinks you’re some kind of thug when you’re really just this soft marshmallow inside. My marshmallow.” Jackson punctuates his sentence by digging his teeth into Jaebum’s collarbone, exposed by the wool sweater slouching off a pale shoulder.
“Ow!” Jaebum shrieks. “I wanted you to kiss me, not bite me!”
Jackson appeases the other, tilting his face up and places a small peck on the corner of the other’s lips and it instantly shuts the other up from any further complaints.
“You’re not going to say something cheesy like “I’m giving myself to you for Christmas” right because you did that last year and nearly died from an aneurysm”
Jackson would very much like to forget that memory, thank you very much. They’ve just returned from the quaint Christmas gathering with the boys at Mark and Jinyoung’s apartment. It had been a while since Jackson had seen Jinyoung’s cousin, Yugyeom and he seemed to have grown taller every time the older saw him.
“No.” Jackson hopes the scowl he’s shooting at Jaebum manages to guilt trip the other. Though the scowl doesn’t stay for long, his face smoothing out into a nervous twitch instead and he shoves the laptop he hid behind the tree at Jaebum. It’s five minutes past midnight and it’s officially Christmas. They’re sitting on the floor, next to their Christmas tree so the lights are casting a yellow warmth against Jaebum’s face and Jackson suddenly feels skittish. “No, I wrote you a song.”
The nerves disappear at Jaebum’s exclamation.
“So that’s what you were doing every time I walked into your study! I thought you were watching porn!”
Every time that Jaebum had walked into the room whilst Jackson was working on the track, he would scramble to Act Natural and slam down the lid of his laptop in attempt to keep it a surprise. He thought he was being discreet. Obviously he was not.
“What?! No! Why would I need to when I have you!?”
Jaebum is taken aback at first but then smirks at him with that god damn mouth of his.
“Ugh no. Shut up and just listen to it,” Jackson grumbles, slipping the headphones around Jaebum’s head rather aggressively so they snap into place against his head and then presses the play button on the music recording program.
He watches Jaebum’s face as the other listens to it, noticing every twitch of an eyebrow and quirk of his lips. Jaebum doesn’t know when he had closed his eyes but he opens them when the melody fades out and all that’s left to do is stare at Jackson in awe. Jaebum slides off the headphones so they’re resting idly on his neck.
“Youngjae helped me with the harmony.” Jackson has to peer down at his fingers, playing with the digits in his lap because Jaebum’s gaze was just too much for him to handle at times like his and he needed to distract himself.
“But you wrote the lyrics?”
“Yeah. I wrote them.”
Like everything else he does, Jaebum could feel the passion behind Jackson’s lyrics, as he was spitting out lyrical prose in each verse and he could pin point exactly how Jackson felt about him, about them. There wouldn’t be enough words to accurately describe how grateful Jaebum felt, especially knowing that the other had abandoned his dream of becoming a musician to seek out a more viable future with the advice of his parents. Knowing that Jackson had resurfaced with his devotion to music with a track dedicated to him, the emotion was indescribable.
“It’s good,” Jaebum grabs the fidgeting hands with his own, squeezing them gently with reassurance. “Jackson, it’s so good.”
“Please stop, you’re going to make me cry.” Jackson sniffles once, dabbing at a wet eye with his free hand. “Okay enough with the cheesiness. What did you get me?”
Jaebum retracts his hands and retrieves a small, nicely wrapped box with a red ribbon tied neatly on top from under their tree. He definitely did not wrap this and he definitely went to the concierge desk and paid a ridiculous amount of money for the girls there to do it for him. Jaebum’s face looks sheepish as he passes the gift to Jackson.
“It’s not as meaningful as yours but I think you’ll like it anyway.”
Unlike others who like to laboriously peel of the sticky tape and peel back the gift paper slowly, Jackson is the type to tear the ribbon off and rip at the paper like an excited seven year old, which is essentially what he is at the best of times.
The paper unveils a sleek box, with an elegant dress watch inside it. The watch isn’t heavy like a sport watch, it’s sleek and thin and it’s not too heavy so it doesn’t feel like Jackson is lifting a dumbbell every time he raises a hand.
“Jae! I thought we agreed not to buy anything expensive!” But none the less, Jackson takes the watch out of the box and slides it onto his wrist.
“Yeah I know,” the other smiles at him guiltily. “But you’re worth it.”
“Oh my god, I’m going to have another aneurysm.”
They continuing opening presents under the tree, Jaebum having bought Jackson yet another snapback, like the other didn’t already have 50 others resting neatly against their dresser and Jackson gifted Jaebum a few new pairs of boxers. All in Jaebum's own best interest of course. And the rest of the four boxes are for Nora, they’ve spoiled their cat rotten with a few new toys,a bed and a scratching for her tiny kitten paws to claw at instead of their shoes at the entrance of the apartment. Nora meows happily in the background, wearing the hideous sweater that Jackson had dressed her in.
“I’m still so bloated from Mark’s dinner last night.” An inhumane sound strangles itself out of Jackson's throat as he stretches out his limbs on the bed, bundled up with Jaebum under the covers of their comforter, toasty warm and oblivious to the biting weather just beyond their window pane. “Remind me why we moved out again?”
Jaebum rubs Jackson’s stomach idly, palm waxing soothing circles above Jackson’s navel. “Because Jinyoung moved in and we couldn’t stand them sucking face every minute of the day.”
Jackson makes a face of distaste. “Oh yeah.”
extra:
Humankind was not born to walk on a ice.
Jaebum’s holding onto the railing of the ice rink for his dear life as he watches a toddler skate gracefully past him. Jackson is of no help. Rather, the younger has abandoned him in favour of skirting around the rink like the majestic athlete he truly is. Jaebum, in comparison, resembles Bambi but still finds a way to be half as elegant and three times less cute than the cartoon deer.
Two hands grip his waist from behind. “You look like you could use some help.”
Jaebum merely shoots a scowl back at Jackson.
“Come on, let go. It’s not that hard.”
Not five minutes later do they find their pants soaked through with icy debris.
“This didn’t turn out like I thought it would have,” Jackson pouts up Jaebum who has slipped and fallen on top of the other when Jackson thought of playing the hero and held the older’s hand in efforts to stabilise and reassure Jaebum. “Man, you’re cramping on my swag so hard.”
“Shut up and help me glide like a swan.”
extra 2:
They've finished unravelling all their presents (as well as all of Nora's) and are in the processing of stowing the monstrosity of wrapping paper away into the recycle bin, a mountain of colourful bows and ribbons scattering their floors when Jackson jumps up onto his feet and runs into their bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
"You keep cleaning up, I'll be right back." Jackson calls out behind his back.
Jaebum shoots him a dubious look, eyebrows raised and eyes slanted in suspicion. "Are you trying to get out of cleaning?"
Jackson's voice echoes from their room through the wood of the door. "Just sit on the couch when you're done!"
Alongside the crumpling of gift wrapping being scrunched up, Jaebum grumbles softly at Nora but loudly enough for Jackson to hear (hopefully). "This is what your dad treats me like. He's got me wrapped around his finger."
"You know it!"
The mess they've made isn't really that much but Jaebum just likes to complain whenever he can so it really doesn't take him that long to clean up. Jaebum reclines into the sofa as he was told and waits patiently for whatever Jackson has planned. Jaebum doesn't have to wait that long before a doo-wop beat rings throughout their apartment and Jackson appears at the frame of the door, clothed in nothing but a santa hat with fluffy trim and the bright red boxers Jaebum likes.
Santa baby, just slip a Sable under the tree for me,Been an awful good girl,
Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight
Jackson's eyes are round and dilated while his pouty lips mouth the words to the lyrics. Jaebum sits stock still at the couch, not moving a limb and he's not even sure if he's blinking because he doesn't want to miss a beat of this.
Think of all the fun I've missed;
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed
Hips swinging, Jackson takes slow, sultry steps closer to Jaebum, blowing a kiss to him and winking to match with the lyrics until he's finally standing at the older's knees. Jaebum swallows his saliva. Jackson is doing what he does best which is being an absolute tease.
Been an angel all year; Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight
Jackson settles onto his lap, knees on either side, Jaebum naturally resting his hands on the younger's hips and Jackson leans his face into Jaebum's but avoids his lips, instead choosing to whisper the words into Jaebum's ear, voice sotte voce tickling against the side of his face. The younger grinds his hips down into the other's and it finally triggers Jaebum and he's hoisting up Jackson off the couch and back into their bedroom, Jackson squealing and wrapping his limbs around Jaebum's body as the older thunders through the apartment.
Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry, tonight!
if u look really closely, u realise there is no plot. in fact, none of my fics have plots. wotever
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3.4k words | Jaebum/Jackson | pg-13 | christmas fluff
a/n: i have slipped every single christmas cliche in here possible.
kind of belongs in the same au as the gingerbread latte fic i guess?
tis the season ho ho ho
“i’m not letting you put that on my cat.”
Jaebum is pointing very vindictively at the screen of Jackson’s laptop, currently displaying a set of gaudy looking Christmas themed sweaters especially designed for cats. The one that’s especially caught Jackson’s attention is adorned with tiny bells and is covered in tiny, dancing reindeer and polar bears and is basically everything Jackson has dreamed of in a cat sweater. But Jackson has no sense of pride, nor fashion sense. Unlike his precious Nora.
“Oh she’s your cat, is she?” Jackson leers at Jaebum. Jaebum thinks he would have been intimidated by it if he hadn’t thought that it was kinda hot that Jackson has his game face on, eyebrow arched and his gaze burning with charisma. Down. Bad boner. “How come she’s my cat when I have to go clean her litter box?”
Boner is down.
The tinkling of Nora’s collar interrupts their staring contest and she completely ignores Jaebum by jumping up the sofa and curling herself up into the tiny crevice Jackson’s folded up legs have created. She rumbles in delight as Jackson scratches at the corner of her ear. Jaebum feels betrayed. He was trying to defend her honour and this is how he is rewarded!?
“Look, our Laura obviously loves me more.” Jackson is absolutely preening. He definitely is. Jaebum bets that if he attached cat ears and a tail to Jackson right now he’d be a spitting image of Nora after she’s licked her bowl of warm milk spotless. Jaebum tries not to imagine Jackson in a set of cat ears because Mission Boner has been aborted god damn it. He stores the image for later. They’ve argued over the name a few times and it’s obviously still a work in progress but it doesn’t matter any more and Jaebum doesn’t bother to comment on how “It’s Nora not Laura” but she responds to both names anyway.
Poor Nora doesn’t know any better. She’s just a clueless cat whom has been charmed by Jackson and much like the rest of the world (including himself).
Jaebum has nothing else to say but an adamant “No.”
“Pink or red?”
“No.”
“I think red. It’s more festive.”
“No.”
Click.
“Adding to cart.”
“No.”
Click.
“Confirm payment.”
At this, Jaebum tries to wrestle the laptop out of Jackson’s lap but the younger’s agile, fencing reflexes come in handy and he easily sees Jaebum’s attack, dislodging the kitten out of his lap and evading Jaebum’s grabby hands directed at the laptop. He slides onto the front of his stomach and settles the laptop onto the furthest point he can on the sofa, out of Jaebum’s reach.
Click.
Jaebum could smack that smug face right off of Jackson, whom has turned around with both hands behind his head. What Jaebum does instead is tackle Jackson with wriggling fingers directed at his ribs and lower stomach, where Jackson is most vulnerable and it has the younger begging for mercy.
His boner makes an appropriate appearance.
“What do you think Jaebum’s getting you this year?”
They’re sitting at Jackson’s favourite coffee shop that makes the best banana pudding this side of the city and Jinyoung is complaining about how Mark is so naturally quiet and he can’t get a peep out of the other as a clue to what he’s buying Jinyoung.
“I was thinking of buying Mark a new frying pan.” Jinyoung furrows his eyebrows. “The ones we have right now aren’t non-stick and the eggs are a pain to wash off.”
“Isn’t that that technically a present for you then?”
Because Mark is the one who doesn’t manage to scorch the bottom of their food every time and Jinyoung somehow has a talent for burning water, the cooking responsibilities fall on Mark and Jinyoung is left to do the dishes to even out their chores.
“I’d like to think of it to be mutually beneficial,” drawls Jinyoung, nonchalantly taking a sip of his short black. “Anyway, the more important question would be what are you getting Jaebum.”
Jackson looks out the window, “I don’t know yet.”
Jackson’s Christmas playlist consists of three songs; Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas is You”, Wham’s “Last Christmas” and “Jingle Bell Rock”. Jaebum doesn’t understand why Jackson is undulating his hips and slapping his spread thighs to what was supposed to be a merry song and he tells him so after the fifth repeat of the song.
All movement halts as Jackson gasps, hands still raised in the air preparing for another hip swivel.
“You haven’t experienced the cinematic masterpiece that is Mean Girls,” And promptly downloads the movie for them to watch that night. As a movie enthusiast, Jaebum is less than impressed (what did fetch even mean? Who was Glen Coco?) but he’s somewhat grateful for the existence of the movie because he quite enjoys the sight of Jackson in his bright red, Christmas socks and loose basketball shorts booty clapping to the upbeat tempo.
“Jackson, what the fuck,” Jaebum is staring at Jackson sitting cross legged on the floor next to what appears to be the cardboard packaging of their Christmas tree strewn in a chaotic tangle of fairy lights. This wasn’t what Jaebum was expecting to come back to after a delayed train ride home from work.
“You told me to decorate the tree.” Jackson blinks his eyes, feigning the image of an innocent child. The angle that Jackson is sitting at makes it so Jaebum has to crane his head down at him and it works perfectly in Jackson's favour . He totally planned this ahead of time.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.” The tone of Jackson’s voice is so blasé, as if his behaviour was normal. “But I just got bored waiting for you so that’s what I did to pass the time.”
Jaebum sets his messenger bag on the sofa and squats down to sit next to Jackson, “that’s why I told you to go ahead first.”
Jackson almost looks horrified. “But we have to do it together! It’s tradition!”
The disarray of wire and tinsel ended up coming off and they take out the small, pine tree out of its box. As nice as it would be to have a real tree in the house with its aromatic smell of pine filling their hallways it was simply too inconvenient to sweep up the debris it left behind after rotting in their apartment for a few weeks. Jackson just ends up spraying copious amounts of pine scented Febreeze in the house as substitute. It works out in the end.
They take their time, gingerly taking out their handcrafted ornaments like the reindeer made from Jackson’s handprint that he made in the first grade (“Dude, that looks freaky as fuck”, “Shut up we’re putting it on the tree”) and the golden, macaroni photo frame that put Jaebum’s pudgy, six year old face in display. No matter how many times Jaebum tries to stow away the ornament and shove it towards the lowest point at the back of the tree, Jackson always manages to find it and hang it in the front, where all their guests can come and admire Jaebum’s chubby cheeks and bowl cut hair.
“Look at how cute you were,” Jackson takes a hold of Jaebum’s face in one hand, closing his palms so Jaebum’s cheeks squish together and his lips protrude unattractively like a teenaged girl on Instagram. “Where did all those cheeks go?”
Jaebum slaps off Jackson’s hand when the other starts to close and open his hands so that his face would contort with the movements. “My anaconda don’t want none.”
“Jaebum, tell me I’m pretty.”
Turning around, Jackson currently has bright, pink tinsel wrapped around his neck like a scarf and a limp hand fanning himself like a diva from broadway.
“No.”
Jackson uses the same tinsel to whip Jaebum’s butt. “What an asshole.”
An hour later the tree, while small, is decked out with small trinkets and family heirlooms and what is probably too much tinsel. There’s only one thing left to do.
Jackson hollers across the room, “Ready?”
“Ready.” Jaebum flips the switch and their apartment glows with the luminescent hue from the fairy lights and the apartment feels so warm despite the snow raining down upon their city outside.
It had been 45 minutes since Jackson had sent Jaebum out into the cold to buy some eggnog from the mart across their apartment and he still wasn’t home yet. Initially, Jackson had wanted to make his own eggnog from scratch but Jaebum objected immediately.
“I’m not going to let you poison yourself with raw eggs. I’ll just walk down to buy it for you.” And with the sweep of his coat Jaebum was off.
The level of distrust Jaebum had for him was unbelievable. Although Jaebum was probably right and the store bought eggnog would almost definitely taste better than anything he would manage to concoct in their meagre kitchen. God wonders how they feed themselves.
“I’m back!” The door finally slams open and Jackson walks into the corridor while Jaebum is unwinding his scarf and hanging his coat on the rack, he keeps the beanie on though and Jackson feels Things from the pits of his stomach when Jaebum wears a beanie. Thanksgiving has already passed but boy, Jackson is feeling very thankful right now.
“You didn’t get kidnapped by a yeti or anything, did you? Jesus, what took you so long?” Jackson approaches the other, ready to take the grocery bag off him but he sees Jaebum pull out something from the pocket of his jeans.
“This.”
Above their heads, Jaebum has a sprig of greenery clasped delicately in-between his fingers, dangling it just above their faces.
“Baby, you know that’s holly, right?” Jackson laughs at the embarrassment that flushes on Jaebum’s cheeks. It was so obviously not mistletoe because it even had the glossy, imitation berries glued to it.
“I’ve never actually seen real mistletoe, so I just went to the dollar store and anything up.” Ah. So that’s why it had taken him so long. It’s absolutely adorable how his, usually confident partner is reduced to a soft, mumbling, lovesick idiot. “I thought it’d be romantic.”
Jackson wants to melt. Whether it be from the cheesiness or sentiment he doesn’t quite know.
“Im Jaebum you sneaky little shit. I bet everyone else thinks you’re some kind of thug when you’re really just this soft marshmallow inside. My marshmallow.” Jackson punctuates his sentence by digging his teeth into Jaebum’s collarbone, exposed by the wool sweater slouching off a pale shoulder.
“Ow!” Jaebum shrieks. “I wanted you to kiss me, not bite me!”
Jackson appeases the other, tilting his face up and places a small peck on the corner of the other’s lips and it instantly shuts the other up from any further complaints.
“You’re not going to say something cheesy like “I’m giving myself to you for Christmas” right because you did that last year and nearly died from an aneurysm”
Jackson would very much like to forget that memory, thank you very much. They’ve just returned from the quaint Christmas gathering with the boys at Mark and Jinyoung’s apartment. It had been a while since Jackson had seen Jinyoung’s cousin, Yugyeom and he seemed to have grown taller every time the older saw him.
“No.” Jackson hopes the scowl he’s shooting at Jaebum manages to guilt trip the other. Though the scowl doesn’t stay for long, his face smoothing out into a nervous twitch instead and he shoves the laptop he hid behind the tree at Jaebum. It’s five minutes past midnight and it’s officially Christmas. They’re sitting on the floor, next to their Christmas tree so the lights are casting a yellow warmth against Jaebum’s face and Jackson suddenly feels skittish. “No, I wrote you a song.”
The nerves disappear at Jaebum’s exclamation.
“So that’s what you were doing every time I walked into your study! I thought you were watching porn!”
Every time that Jaebum had walked into the room whilst Jackson was working on the track, he would scramble to Act Natural and slam down the lid of his laptop in attempt to keep it a surprise. He thought he was being discreet. Obviously he was not.
“What?! No! Why would I need to when I have you!?”
Jaebum is taken aback at first but then smirks at him with that god damn mouth of his.
“Ugh no. Shut up and just listen to it,” Jackson grumbles, slipping the headphones around Jaebum’s head rather aggressively so they snap into place against his head and then presses the play button on the music recording program.
He watches Jaebum’s face as the other listens to it, noticing every twitch of an eyebrow and quirk of his lips. Jaebum doesn’t know when he had closed his eyes but he opens them when the melody fades out and all that’s left to do is stare at Jackson in awe. Jaebum slides off the headphones so they’re resting idly on his neck.
“Youngjae helped me with the harmony.” Jackson has to peer down at his fingers, playing with the digits in his lap because Jaebum’s gaze was just too much for him to handle at times like his and he needed to distract himself.
“But you wrote the lyrics?”
“Yeah. I wrote them.”
Like everything else he does, Jaebum could feel the passion behind Jackson’s lyrics, as he was spitting out lyrical prose in each verse and he could pin point exactly how Jackson felt about him, about them. There wouldn’t be enough words to accurately describe how grateful Jaebum felt, especially knowing that the other had abandoned his dream of becoming a musician to seek out a more viable future with the advice of his parents. Knowing that Jackson had resurfaced with his devotion to music with a track dedicated to him, the emotion was indescribable.
“It’s good,” Jaebum grabs the fidgeting hands with his own, squeezing them gently with reassurance. “Jackson, it’s so good.”
“Please stop, you’re going to make me cry.” Jackson sniffles once, dabbing at a wet eye with his free hand. “Okay enough with the cheesiness. What did you get me?”
Jaebum retracts his hands and retrieves a small, nicely wrapped box with a red ribbon tied neatly on top from under their tree. He definitely did not wrap this and he definitely went to the concierge desk and paid a ridiculous amount of money for the girls there to do it for him. Jaebum’s face looks sheepish as he passes the gift to Jackson.
“It’s not as meaningful as yours but I think you’ll like it anyway.”
Unlike others who like to laboriously peel of the sticky tape and peel back the gift paper slowly, Jackson is the type to tear the ribbon off and rip at the paper like an excited seven year old, which is essentially what he is at the best of times.
The paper unveils a sleek box, with an elegant dress watch inside it. The watch isn’t heavy like a sport watch, it’s sleek and thin and it’s not too heavy so it doesn’t feel like Jackson is lifting a dumbbell every time he raises a hand.
“Jae! I thought we agreed not to buy anything expensive!” But none the less, Jackson takes the watch out of the box and slides it onto his wrist.
“Yeah I know,” the other smiles at him guiltily. “But you’re worth it.”
“Oh my god, I’m going to have another aneurysm.”
They continuing opening presents under the tree, Jaebum having bought Jackson yet another snapback, like the other didn’t already have 50 others resting neatly against their dresser and Jackson gifted Jaebum a few new pairs of boxers. All in Jaebum's own best interest of course. And the rest of the four boxes are for Nora, they’ve spoiled their cat rotten with a few new toys,a bed and a scratching for her tiny kitten paws to claw at instead of their shoes at the entrance of the apartment. Nora meows happily in the background, wearing the hideous sweater that Jackson had dressed her in.
“I’m still so bloated from Mark’s dinner last night.” An inhumane sound strangles itself out of Jackson's throat as he stretches out his limbs on the bed, bundled up with Jaebum under the covers of their comforter, toasty warm and oblivious to the biting weather just beyond their window pane. “Remind me why we moved out again?”
Jaebum rubs Jackson’s stomach idly, palm waxing soothing circles above Jackson’s navel. “Because Jinyoung moved in and we couldn’t stand them sucking face every minute of the day.”
Jackson makes a face of distaste. “Oh yeah.”
extra:
Humankind was not born to walk on a ice.
Jaebum’s holding onto the railing of the ice rink for his dear life as he watches a toddler skate gracefully past him. Jackson is of no help. Rather, the younger has abandoned him in favour of skirting around the rink like the majestic athlete he truly is. Jaebum, in comparison, resembles Bambi but still finds a way to be half as elegant and three times less cute than the cartoon deer.
Two hands grip his waist from behind. “You look like you could use some help.”
Jaebum merely shoots a scowl back at Jackson.
“Come on, let go. It’s not that hard.”
Not five minutes later do they find their pants soaked through with icy debris.
“This didn’t turn out like I thought it would have,” Jackson pouts up Jaebum who has slipped and fallen on top of the other when Jackson thought of playing the hero and held the older’s hand in efforts to stabilise and reassure Jaebum. “Man, you’re cramping on my swag so hard.”
“Shut up and help me glide like a swan.”
extra 2:
They've finished unravelling all their presents (as well as all of Nora's) and are in the processing of stowing the monstrosity of wrapping paper away into the recycle bin, a mountain of colourful bows and ribbons scattering their floors when Jackson jumps up onto his feet and runs into their bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
"You keep cleaning up, I'll be right back." Jackson calls out behind his back.
Jaebum shoots him a dubious look, eyebrows raised and eyes slanted in suspicion. "Are you trying to get out of cleaning?"
Jackson's voice echoes from their room through the wood of the door. "Just sit on the couch when you're done!"
Alongside the crumpling of gift wrapping being scrunched up, Jaebum grumbles softly at Nora but loudly enough for Jackson to hear (hopefully). "This is what your dad treats me like. He's got me wrapped around his finger."
"You know it!"
The mess they've made isn't really that much but Jaebum just likes to complain whenever he can so it really doesn't take him that long to clean up. Jaebum reclines into the sofa as he was told and waits patiently for whatever Jackson has planned. Jaebum doesn't have to wait that long before a doo-wop beat rings throughout their apartment and Jackson appears at the frame of the door, clothed in nothing but a santa hat with fluffy trim and the bright red boxers Jaebum likes.
Santa baby, just slip a Sable under the tree for me,Been an awful good girl,
Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight
Jackson's eyes are round and dilated while his pouty lips mouth the words to the lyrics. Jaebum sits stock still at the couch, not moving a limb and he's not even sure if he's blinking because he doesn't want to miss a beat of this.
Think of all the fun I've missed;
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed
Hips swinging, Jackson takes slow, sultry steps closer to Jaebum, blowing a kiss to him and winking to match with the lyrics until he's finally standing at the older's knees. Jaebum swallows his saliva. Jackson is doing what he does best which is being an absolute tease.
Been an angel all year; Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight
Jackson settles onto his lap, knees on either side, Jaebum naturally resting his hands on the younger's hips and Jackson leans his face into Jaebum's but avoids his lips, instead choosing to whisper the words into Jaebum's ear, voice sotte voce tickling against the side of his face. The younger grinds his hips down into the other's and it finally triggers Jaebum and he's hoisting up Jackson off the couch and back into their bedroom, Jackson squealing and wrapping his limbs around Jaebum's body as the older thunders through the apartment.
Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry, tonight!
if u look really closely, u realise there is no plot. in fact, none of my fics have plots. wotever
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