For as long as they've known each other, Seokjin's friend group has had one tradition that has stood longer than all the rest: wearing some sort of Christmas sweater, whether it be something that actually looks good or an absolute abomination that couldn't possibly be worn unironically. That was why Seokjin had Namjoon dressed up in a loose bright red sweater with a smiling reindeer on the front surrounded by Christmas lights. Namjoon had protested at first, but it had only taken Seokjin promising to make more Christmas cookies for him to convince him to just go along with it. Seokjin had chosen for himself a green sweater with an excessively large Santa Claus along with some English words he didn't know the meaning of, and some snowflakes spread across the rest of it.
"Was this really necessary?" Namjoon asks, fidgeting with the sleeves of his sweater that are somehow too long for even his lengthy arms at the same time as trying to balance the tray of Christmas cakes Seokjin has tasked him with carrying. "When I agreed to this whole thing I hadn't realized I was signing up for the world's most itchy sweater."
"You've been faking dating me for a week and the sweater is the dealbreaker for you?" Seokjin chuckles. "Besides, it's not that bad. You can take it off soon anyways, it's just our little gimmick."
"Fine. But I'm only in it for the cookies," Namjoon grumbles, likely only stopping his rant because they had just arrived at the door, which has a wreath on it. The entire front of the house is decorated, actually, with multicolored lights and various festive hues of tinsel wrapped around it. If Seokjin was enthusiastic about the Christmas season, Taehyung was an entire fanatic, going all out every year. Seokjin knocks on the door, a bit of snow falling from the wreath onto his hand at the disturbance.
Almost immediately the door opens to Taehyung waving cheerily, as if he had been waiting nearby for people to arrive. Which, knowing Taehyung, was probably exactly what he had done. "You're finally here! You two are the last to arrive, come on in!"
"But we were five minutes early...?" Namjoon begins, but Taehyung has already spun on his heel, walking further into the jubilantly decked-out inside of the house. Seokjin shrugs at him, motioning for them to follow his friend in.
"That's just how Taehyung is, he's a bit... passionate about holiday parties,"
"Yeah, I couldn't tell from all the lights outside,"
Seokjin doesn't respond to Namjoon's remark, just grabbing his hand and lightly pulling him through the doorway and into the kitchen. Namjoon nearly drops the tray onto the ground, and the only thing which keeps him from doing that is steadying himself against Seokjin. He glares at Seokjin, who can't contain his laughter.
"Yeah, yeah, we both already knew I'm a klutz,"
"Doesn't mean it's not still funny,"
As they enter the kitchen, it's clear they're not the only ones already having a bit of fun; throughout the rest of the group the banter, singing, and jokes so terrible they wrap around to being funny again have already begun and are in full speed. There's a lull as they stop to greet Namjoon and Seokjin, who are, indeed, somehow the last ones there, but it quickly resumes, the only change being that Namjoon and Seokjin are now participating as well.
It takes mere minutes for Namjoon to make Seokjin's heart feel as if it's going to burst, sitting in the chair right next to him, arm snugly around his midriff and hand occasionally reaching up to entangle itself in his hair affectionately. It takes every bit of his willpower to not melt into a blubbering mess at the smallest of touches, to not reach over to the man ever so close to him and admit that he was enjoying all of this much more than he should, that he wanted so desperately for this to be real .
"Aren't you two a cute couple?" Taehyung practically coos at them from across the table, half-teasing. The two smile at each other, a knowing sort of smile that the others likely just perceive as sweetness. A few moments later, though, Namjoon asks a question that seems to come completely out of the blue.
"Could I talk to Jin alone for a moment? In another room, or something?"
"Sure. Just don't die or anything," Yoongi shrugs.
Namjoon guides him to the living room, hand in hand, and they settle a bit too far apart for Seokjin's taste, and by that he means roughly half a meter. He tries (and mostly fails) to not pay much mind to the mistletoe close above them, convincing himself that Namjoon must not have seen it.
"Something wrong, Joon?" he says, and Namjoon frantically shakes his head, eyes widening.
"No, I'm all good! I was just wondering..." Namjoon hushes his voice a bit. "Are you ever going to tell them the truth about all this?"
"Nope,"
Namjoon's eyebrows knit together, face morphing into one of confusion as he stares intently at Seokjin. "Are you sure? I mean, we're going to have to stop all this at some point, right?"
Seokjin doesn't miss a beat before responding. He can't, not now, not with Namjoon alone with him, not when he means every word he's saying.
"I don't plan on that,"
Namjoon frowns a bit, though he steps a bit closer, and Seokjin's gaze falls on his lips. His big, cushiony lips. With the chapstick Namjoon had applied before they left, they look almost dolled up.
He can only imagine how it would feel to kiss those lips. And suddenly, right now, he's filled with a feeling of want .
"Huh?"
"Can I kiss you?"
Hearing the way Namjoon's breath suddenly stops, seeing his eyes widen as he unconsciously leans the slightest bit closer to Seokjin's face, Seokjin can't even say he regrets his moment of impulse. Both because God did he want to kiss this man so badly, and because he's confident Namjoon feels the same way. Namjoon was clearly a good actor, and smart too, but there was no way all of it was fake. Not the things he said on their dates, not the way he wanted to hold Seokjin's hand, and definitely not the way he had literally cuddled with Seokjin in a bed they shared .
"I...what?"
Seokjin reaches out his hand, gently holding onto the skin of Namjoon's impossibly soft cheek, admiring his tan skin in the warm glow of the tree beside him. Seokjin had no idea how someone was even allowed to be so gorgeous, let alone so smart and funny and charming and everything . Even his little imperfections, the way he could never those long limbs of his and his tendency to go on and on about what he loved, were endearing.
"Can I...kiss you?"
Seokjin wants so, so badly to hear Namjoon say yes, to have confirmation that Namjoon likes him back just as much. He wants to know that Namjoon wants to be his just like he wants to be Namjoon's. It feels like an eternity of waiting in what's likely only a single moment of silence before Namjoon finally breathes again, quietly giving the answer he wanted.
"...Yes,"
Eagerly, Seokjin pushes himself up a bit, pressing his lips to Namjoon's, savoring the way the other man's breath hitches at just a peck. Their lips move against each other, an experimental rhythm, trying to see what works. It's Namjoon who gains enough confidence to take it further, biting gently on Seokjin's bottom lip, and he can't help but respond with a whine. Namjoon shivers, clutching Seokjin's sweater and pulling him closer, but with regret, Seokjin pulls away lightly.
The pure bliss in Namjoon's eyes as he stares down at him makes Seokjin want to do it again, again and again, but unfortunately he has a bit too much self control for that. His hand intertwines with the soft strands of Namjoon's black hair, and Namjoon smiles down at him, a giddy type of smile, before flushing a pretty crimson. His confidence is completely gone as he manages to stutter out a single sentence to Seokjin.
"Your lips are...nice, soft,"
Seokjin chuckles, but he's still stuck in his own little dreamy daze as well. He can hardly believe that he did it. For once he mustered up the courage to just ask someone out. Well, it wasn't quite that, but he did it . He gestures to the space above the two of them, a few leaves of mistletoe hung from the ceiling using light blue string. "Look, we're even in the holiday spirit,"
Namjoon shakes his head as he looks up. "You planned that, didn't you? Idiot,"
"Dork,"
Namjoon looks like he's about to respond again when Seokjin puts his mouth up against his ear, whispering quietly to make absolutely sure that none of the others could hear. "Want to be my boyfriend? For real this time?"
"Yes, definitely yes," Namjoon whispers back immediately, and Seokjin shudders a bit because Namjoon's pleasant deep voice sounded even better in such a hushed tone. "Just wish I got to ask you first."
"You know what will make up for that?"
With a smirk and a nod, Namjoon it's Namjoon who leans in this time, grasping Seokjin's cheeks and pressing their lips together with urgency. Namjoon takes one of Seokjin's lips between his, and he can feel Namjoon smile against the kiss when it draws a noise from him. And with no confession to stop them, they feel no need to stop. Not when Seokjin pulls on Namjoon's hair to deepen the kiss, not when Namjoon's hand slips through the bottom of his (admittedly much too itchy) sweater and rubs his waist, note even when Seokjin pulls away for a second, giggling that they need to calm down or Taehyung will hear them and tease them for it for the rest of the night.
It was hard to think that before the winter break had started, he had been almost dreading it first because of his lack of a plan, and then because of his absolutely terrible plan with Namjoon. It was hard to think that when Seokjin had started all of this, he had had no plans with Namjoon other than to use him to feel like he wasn't being left behind. Thinking about the man who was so close to him right now, he hasn't known Namjoon for long, at least not this intimately, but he had a feeling. A feeling that he was more than ready to spend a long, long time with him. As far as holidays went, Namjoon was undoubtedly the best gift he had ever gotten.