Christmas music filters through the room, the music soft compared to the voices around me.
I'm curled up on Namjoon and Jin's couch, my legs pulled up beside me, a steaming mug of coffee in my hand as I watch Jimin and Hoseok bustle around the room, the santa hats on their heads bouncing with each movement.
"I wanna put the star on top!" Jimin cries, dodging Hoseok's hands.
"You're not even tall enough to reach the top of the tree," Hoseok fires back, lunging again for the decoration. Jimin steps out of the way, Hoseok barely missing his target.
"Doesn't matter," Jimin whines. "I can use a chair or something!"
"That's cheating!" Hoseok turns to me, narrowing his eyes at me. "Are you gonna let him cheat like this, Yoongi?"
I close my eyes, making a show of squinting them shut and shaking my head. "I don't see anything."
I can hear Jimin giggling, a small smile pulling on my lips at the sound. I crack my eyes open, catching sight of his rosey cheeks and his mouth open as he smiles at me.
"Damn couples," Hoseok mutters, shaking his head.
I laugh, careful not to spill my coffee. Jimin blows me a kiss, my cheeks warming. He was just too cute.
Hoseok stops pouting over his loss, instead helping Jimin look for something he could stand on. As I watch them argue about the cons of using a wheeled-chair to stand on, I wonder how I got so lucky.
Jimin and I have been dating for a little over a year now, and it's like our lives have never been separate. He's blended in perfectly with my friends and, despite how it seems, he may be even closer to Hoseok than I am.
I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, to have to pay for this much happiness, for Jimin to find something about me that he can't stand or realize that he can do so much better. But it's been a year and we've been living together for a few months now, and so far nothing.
Since we moved in together, my friends warned me that there may be a transition period where we got irritated at having the other person around all the time. I had been wary, but apparently my worries were for nothing. When Jimin moved in, it was like he had always been there. We molded around one another easily, falling into an easy pattern.
My bedroom is now filled with bookshelves of Jimin's manga, my closet stocked with his work out clothes. I even had the basement turned into a makeshift dance studio for him. It wasn't perfect, but he had been happy with it.
It would be so easy for us to have a life together, a happy one.
Jin enters, breaking off my train of thought as he holds up a silver tray. "Christmas Jell-O shots bitches!"
Jimin and Hoseok, who still hadn't managed to place the finishing touch on the tree, squealed in delight. I set my coffee on the end table, stretching out my arms as I rise from my spot on the couch. I make my way over to them, stepping into Jimin's side. I wrap my arm around his waist, not missing the small smile he gives me when he notices.
"Can't we ever get together without getting absolutely wasted?" I groan, looking over the tray. About a dozen little cups around arranged around it, the shots looking like harmless santa hats. But I knew better. Underneath all that whipped cream and strawberry was a whole lotta danger.
"Oh hush," Jin scoffs. "As if you could say no to alcohol. You're like the master of all things alcohol related."
I shrug, not even denying it. Jimin just laughs, bumping his hip into mine. Namjoon comes rushing in from the kitchen, his hair tousled and cheeks flushed. "Sorry," he mutters.
Hoseok and Jimin exchange a glance, one that, from the gleam in their eyes, I know can only mean trouble. "Sorry for what?" Hoseok giggles.
"For not getting to finish whatever you and Jin started in the kitchen?" Jimin finishes, both of the erupting into a fit of laughter.
Namjoon turns bright red, his mouth dropping open as he tries to come up with a good comeback. I feel bad for him, I really do. When Jimin and Hoseok get something to tease you about, they could be relentless.
"Maybe you would know that feeling, Hoseok, if you had someone to start something with," Jin quips, immediately shutting Hoseok up. Jin turns toward Jimin, who's still giggling, staring him down. "And Jimin, can you really giggle when we all know that you and Yoongi haven't done anything?"
And KO'ed.
"Well what are we waiting for?" Hoseok says quickly. "Let's get this party started!"
We each down a shot, Hoseok and Namjoon complaining about the taste the whole time. Jimin, Jin, and I make no complaints, only taking the shot and going for a second one. Hoseok and Jimin go back to decorating the tree, or fighting about how they were going to get the star on the top. Jin sets the tray on the coffee table, coming over and grabbing my hands.
I don't even get to ask him what he's doing before he's tugging me towards them shouting: "I have an idea!" He plops me next to Jimin, giving me a smile. "You lift him up, Yoongi."
"Excuse me?"
"Lift Jimin so he can reach the top of the tree."
"No way," I deny, shaking my head.
"Why not?" Jimin whines, giving me the puppy dog eyes. "Please, Yoonie?"
"I'm probably not even able to do it," I mutter.
"As fucking if," Jimin scoffs. "I know you work out. And I've seen those muscles." He gives me a wink, leaving me blushing. "Come on, babe! Let's be couple goals!"
I sigh, but relent anyway. If it made Jimin this excited, how could I say no? I step up, noting the way Jimin almost bounced with anticipation, a smile spread wide across his face. He turns around and I wrap my arms around his waist. "You ready?"
"Always!"
I lift, surprised at how easy it is. Jimin squeals with happiness and soon the room is filled with changing colors as Jimin places the star. I lower him slowly, careful not to drop him. When his feet are soundly on the floor again, Jimin whips around, throwing his arms around me. "I knew you could do it!" He cheers, hugging me.
"Yeah, yeah. That's all fine and great," Hoseok cuts in. "But now that the tree is finished, guess what time it is?"
"Presents!" Jin yells, pulling in a big red bag. He always went a little overboard for this holiday. We all sit down in front of the tree, Jin at the head of the circle with me to his left and namjoon to his right, and the bag plopped right in the center. Most of us knew how Christmas worked in the Kim household, but since Jimin was new we all agreed that we should go over the rules. "Now, as we do every year, we put everyone's gifts in this bag. We'll hand them out as we get them, okay? When you get a gift, you open it. Then we'll continue on to the next one." We all nod, eager to get started. Jin smiles, clapping his hands together. "Great! Then let's get going!"
Jin pulls present after present, giving the next one once the previous one has been opened and looked over. Hoseok got a new bag from Namjoon and Jin - a clear one that seemed pointless to me but whatever, and a super expensive Kermit from me and Jimin.
Namjoon received books from Hoseok, sunglasses from Jimin, a notebook to write down his thoughts from me, and a blush-inducing whisper from Jin. Pretty sure none of us want to know what Jin got him.
Jin got a Mario collectable from Hoseok, one that was a first edition. Honestly, I wasn't sure where Hoseok got his super expensive presents or how he knew exactly what to get each of us. It's like a secret talent. Namjoon got him a necklace, their names engraved on the back of it. Jimin and I got him a reservation at the city's busiest restaurant for him and Namjoon.
Jimin went next, everyone's eyes on him as he opened their presents. From Namjoon and Jin he got the whole series of one of his favorite mangas. From Hoseok, new dancing shoes.
Then it came time for him to open my gift. I shifted in my seat, nervous. I wasn't really any good at holidays or getting gifts. I struggled to find what people wanted. I had spent weeks searching for the perfect gift for Jimin always coming up empty, until I came across this.
Jimin picks up the small envelope, shaking it to see what's inside. "That's cheating," I chastise, shaking my finger at him. He smiles at me sheepishly, clearly not sorry at all. He opens it slowly, dumping the contents out onto his hand: a single key.
"What's this?" he asks me, confused.
"It's um-" I blush, coughing to hide my awkwardness. "It's the key to our new studio."
"Studio?"
"Yeah. One half of it is for my photography, and the other half - well actually more like 75% of it - is an actual dance studio for you. I know you said you were happy with the basement but it was cramped and I didn't want-"
I'm cut off as a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders, squeezing so tight my words fade out to nothing. Jimin presses kisses to the side of my face, "Thank you! You're literally the sweetest!"
"You're welcome," I mumble as he pulls away, huge smiles on both of our faces.
"Weel,, if you guys are done with your moment," Namjoon says. "Yoongi it's your turn."
Jin hands me the first present, "This one is from Hoseok."
I give my friend a suspicious look, to which he does nothing but shoot finger guns at me. A little suspicious, but okay. I open it quickly, finding a box inside. I open the box, to find another box. Hoseok laughs as I open box after box, each one getting smaller until I'm left with nothing but a thin, rectangular box. I take the top off, my mouth dropping.
"Court-side tickets to next week's basketball game? I thought these were all sold out?"
Hoseok shrugs, "I know a guy."
"Wow, thanks." I say quietly, speechless.
Jin hands me another present, "This one's from us."
I take the small box, undoing the red ribbon on the top before opening it. Inside sits a small watch, the silver gleaming in the light from the tree.
"It's not as expensive as someone's-" Namjoon gives Hoseok a pointed look, "- gift but we know you like watches so-"
"I love it," I say quickly, hurrying to fasten it around my wrist. I shake my wrist around, showing it off. "Thank you guys."
"You're welcome," Jin says, smiling as he hands me another gift. "And last but not least, this one is from Jimin."
I take the larger box, eyeing it skeptically. "When did you have time to buy this?"
"Probably when you had time to buy yours," Jimin laughs. "Just open it."
"Okay, Okay." I rip off the wrapping paper, a sleek black box, which looks a lot like a shoe box, peeking out from underneath the paper. I take it out the rest of the way, holding it in my hands for a second. It was heavy, definitely heavier than shoes. I pull the top off, my breath catching in my throat.
In the box is a camera, but not just any camera, one of the best cameras out right now. And the exact same camera that I had been looking to order a few weeks ago.
I raise an eyebrow at him, "Snooping on my computer, huh?"
He shrugs, "Can you really get mad at a face like this?"
I sigh, shaking my head. "No, I really can't."
He beams at me, blowing me a kiss. "I know."
"Thank you, Jiminie. I love it." I pick it up, studying it closely. It was sturdy, had more zoom than my previous camera, and just better quality overall. I turned it on, turning the viewfinder onto Jimin.
"I hope you can use it to make something amazing," he says, smiling at me.
And sitting there, the love of my life in the sights of my camera, I knew I could do exactly that.
A smile pulls at the corners of my mouth.
"I think I can, actually."