christmas spirit
Haechan x GenderNeutral!Reader
Word count: 2.1k
Haechan cost you your best friend with his playboy ways and you’ve been bickering ever since, but a wise man once said: Christmas is the spirit of forgiveness
Warnings/Tags: Enemies to lovers-ish, fluff, suggestive themes, bickering, swearing
Prompt 11 from this list
-
You had met up with your friends at the local library to see each other once more before the Christmas break. Jisung and Chenle were discussing which games they were going to play, while Krystal pretended to listen, with a fond smile. Jaemin was excitedly bouncing in his chair, insisting, “This year I’ll learn to ice skate!”
“Right, and Haechan will find the love of his life and settle down,” Jeno commented, to which Haechan laughed and Jaemin pouted.
Haechan was seated across from you, slouched in his chair, arms nonchalantly swung over the armrests. He’d always been the flirty type, but about a year ago, he’d started sleeping around, the ‘no feelings involved’ kind of thing, which was fine, he could do whatever he wanted, but he crossed a line when he played your best friend.
She had stormed at you, furious and with tears running down her cheeks, yelling about how Haechan broke her heart and how she couldn’t bear to look at you.
She stopped talking to you after that. Every time you approached her, you were met with cold eyes and the same words: “We’re not friends. Leave me alone”.
You’d been positively furious with Haechan, and what had previously been a friendship between you two, had turned into bickering and curses. Your friend group had quickly grown accustomed to your bickering and even had a bet going on about who’d retort to murder first.
“Okay, but what are you actually doing this break Haechan?” Jaemin asked. “Who am I doing,” he corrected, “and it depends, I’ve got a couple in mind,” he smirked.
“Tasteless, Haechan,” you tell him, and he raises a challenging brow at you.
“You’re no fun, Y/n, such a bore,”
“Well at least I still have my dignity,” you retort to which he snorts and opens his mouth to respond, but he doesn’t get far, as he’s interrupted by your phone ringing.
You look at the screen and see that it’s your mom calling. “Hey, everything okay?” you speak.
“Hi, Sweetheart. Look, I’m sorry to be a bother, but we could really use your help at the shelter, it’s incredibly busy here today,” she tells you and you can instantly picture your mother rushing around the shelter, even with her fragile back.
“You’re never a bother, I’ll be there soon. Should I pick anything up on the way?”
“No, I think we’re good, love you!”
“Love you too, I’ll get going now!”
You quickly picked up your things, stuffing them in your bag. “Oooh,” Jeno hooted, “Is our Y/n finally seeing someone?”
“Sounds like it,” Krystal quips, and at this point, you’re packed and ready to go. You merely smile at their antics, and wave goodbye, “Gotta go, Merry Christmas you guys!” you yell as you’re running out the library, earning you a pointed look from the librarian.
-
As you left the library, Haechan couldn’t help but be disappointed. Right from the moment you’d picked up your phone, he’d had a sour taste in his mouth. Who was the person taking you from him? A frown adorned his face as you spoke into the phone, “Love you too”. And when Jeno and Krystal started teasing you, he didn’t participate, instead, he pondered, are they really seeing someone?
He decided right then and there, that this Christmas, he’d tell you how he felt, at the very least apologize for the past… before it was too late.
-
“I’ve handed out some extra blankets, do you need anything else at the moment?” You asked. You mom turned to you, still stirring the soup, she pointed to a door, “Get the boxes out there, will you? The ones with bread and cups,”
“Got it”.
You’d quickly located the box with bread but had been in a 10-minute search for the cups. Sighing, you decided to deliver the bread to the kitchen, before you search any longer. You carefully made your way to the kitchen, the box in your arms, obscuring your vision, and causing you to almost trip a couple of times. With a huff you put down the box, “Sorry it took so long mom, I couldn’t find the cups,” you said with a pout.
As you turn to face your mom, you’re shocked to find an equally shocked looking Haechan. Without thinking, you raise a pointed finger at him, “Who let him in?” At that, he huffs out a breath, and regains his usual nonchalant posture, “Very classy, Y/n”.
“You two know each other?” Your mom inquires from her spot at the stove. “Acquaintances,” you tell her, as Haechan lowers your arm that’s still pointing at him.
“We’re friends,” he corrects you, “I’ll go get the heaters,” and with that, he leaves the room.
You look to see your mom smiling at you. She raises a brow, “He’s cute,”
“Right, I’ll go look for that box!” You excuse yourself and rush to the storage room.
-
The meal had been served, and you’d seated yourself next to a nice elderly man who seemed to be alone. Throughout your chat, you’d been sneaking glances at Haechan. What was he doing at the homeless shelter? He couldn’t possibly have expected to meet you, he’d been just as surprised as you to see each other here. I guess he really is just here to help, you thought.
It was just so out of the ordinary to see him like that. His smirk had long ago been replaced with a genuine smile as he spoke to an elderly woman. He was wearing a ridiculously tacky Christmas sweater that you were sure he would never let your friends see him in.
The man beside you gently nudges your shoulder, “Preoccupied are we?” he smiles, and you look down embarrassed, “I’m sorry, just a lot on my mind,” you explained. He nodded thoughtfully, “You should talk to him, the guy you’ve been staring at,”
“I-I wasn’t staring!” You exclaim, flustered, “Besides, we have a history… he hasn’t exactly been a great guy,”
“I see… Still, my advice is the same. Christmas is the spirit of forgiveness, and who knows, maybe he had his reasons,” he finished with a smile.
You looked at Haechan again, a confused pout on your face, and saw him laughing with a little boy. He has a nice smile, you guess.
-
You pick up the trash bags silently and Haechan does the same. You silently curse out your mom for assigning you AND Haechan to carry the trash bags outside. He holds the door for you, and you step outside in the cold, instantly freezing as you weren’t wearing a jacket. No one breaks the silence until you’ve reached the waste container. He throws the bags in the container with a huff, and you finally get a closeup of his ridiculous sweater. You fail to hold in a chuckle, and without thinking, you mumbled: “You look strangely cute in that sweater”.
You instantly shut your eyes, and pray that he didn’t hear, but then he speaks up, “You’ve finally succumbed to my charms, huh?” And you look up to see an annoying smirk on his face, but what catches you off guard is the glint in his eyes and his tomato red cheeks. Must be the cold, you think.
“In your dreams,” you manage to speak, as you throw your bags in the container as well. He lets out a low chuckle, “You know it,” he says with a cheeky smile, and you’re reminded that he’s the biggest flirt in the entire town. Despite that, you can’t seem to look away, as snowflakes gently fall onto his head, one landing on his nose, making him look, dare you say, adorable.
“Right…” you sigh and turn to go inside again, but he grabs your arm, gently, much to your surprise.
“Listen, I never really apologized for you know, costing you your best friend and all, and I-”
“No need. It’s not like it’s bothered you the past year anyway, so-”
“No, I wanna explain. Please?” He looks at you pleadingly, and you find yourself turning to face him again. He sighs and you notice that he’s trembling slightly, and you start to doubt that it’s the cold. You consider placing a steadying hand on his shoulder, but let your hands fall to your sides instead.
“I made it very clear that it was a ‘no feelings involved’ thing, I made sure of that, but then she told me that she liked me, and I-I told her I didn’t feel the same, but I really wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, I promise. But when I told her that I didn’t like her, she got really mad and got all hysteric cause she-...”
He visibly gulped, and his cheeks reddened impossibly more and though you were curious to hear the rest, you waited patiently for him to continue. “She somehow knew that I-I kind of definitely had a crush on you, and before I knew it, she was cursing you out and blaming me being an idiot on you, so I just kind of… told her to piss off, and I know that wasn’t the best way to handle things, and I’m sorry that I hurt you, but I am not sorry that she left, cause quite frankly she was a bit of a bitch, and you deserved better,” he finished, out of breath.
You blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice, before Haechan nervously spoke again, “Y-Y/n?” You finally looked at him and realized just how vulnerable he looked, and all you could think about was how much you wanted to hug him.
That wasn’t what you did at all, however, instead you spoke: “The old man was right,”
“Excuse you?” He questioned, a nervous smile adorning his face, and you allowed yourself to finally admit that he was definitely adorable.
“Sorry I never even gave you a chance to explain,” you uttered, still baffled by his explanation. He nervously rubbed his neck, “It’s okay, I probably shouldn’t have slept with your best friend in the first place”. You looked at him incredulously, “Probably?” you asked with a laugh, and he joined in too.
“Come on, we should head inside, it’s freezing cold out here,” you spoke, and he smirked, “You’re right, we can’t have your mom thinking we’re up to no good,” he teased, and for the first time ever you were relieved to see he was back to his usual, smirking, nonchalant self.
You’d only just entered the warm building again, when your mom stopped you, “Freeze!” she yelled. “What. Why? Are you okay mom?” you asked from the doorframe, where you’d frozen in your spot.
She let out a girlish giggle and you shot her a confused look. “I think I’ll let Haechan explain, Sweetheart,” she mused as she speed-walked to the kitchen.
You turned to the boy, “What did she mean?” you asked with a confused pout, and he only let out a nervous laugh. When you tilted your head in question, he let out an awkward chuckle and pointed above your heads, to a subtly placed mistletoe.
Your cheeks were on fire at once, and you thought you might just pass out when you made eye contact with Haechan, whose nonchalant demeanour had quickly vanished again. Your eyes flickered to his lips for a second, and it didn’t go unnoticed by him. Your mind was running wild, searching for words to say, but stopped dead in its tracks, when his warm lips pressed against yours.
He pulled back as soon as his lips had touched yours, seemingly shocked by his own actions, as he started apologizing profusely.
You broke out of your trance and grabbed his cheeks, his face squished in your hands, and pressed a confident kiss to his lips. He felt so warm against you, his hands hesitantly went to gently hold your hips, and you found yourself thinking that this was home… he was home. Despite what you expected from him, the kiss was innocent, wholesome, and everything you could’ve asked for from a first kiss.
When you pulled away, both your faces were burning red, and as your eyes met, you couldn’t help the smile on your face, soon turning into a giggle, and Haechan quickly followed.
“Be mine?” He asked, beaming, and you thought you’d never seen anything more breathtaking. “Already am,” you told him, and placed a small peck onto his lips.
“Merry Christmas Haechan,”
“Merry Christmas, Love”.
