23 Days of NCT

Christmas Festivals - Jaehyun

"Babe, no," Jaehyun's voice chuckled while he tugged you away from the festival game.

"Babe, yes."

You and Jaehyun had decided to go to a Christmas festival to celebrate his first day on break from the company. You both arrived rather early to avoid the big crowds, for obvious reasons, and you enjoyed the festivities leisurely before the night crowd would come in and, you know, your boyfriend is Jaehyun. It wouldn't end well. The masks did enough to keep your identities hidden but only for so long. Regardless, you spent the day trying samples of cookies and jams, partaking in small games, etc. You both had a general good time despite the circumstances. But now, as your time at the festival came to a close, meaning someone nearly recognized Jae, you were both on your way out until a particular stuffed animal caught your eye.

"You suck at basketball," Jaehyun laughs.

"But you don't," you looked up at him with those eyes and Jaehyun sighs.

"I hate how you do that."

"No you don't."

"You're right, I don't. Which one do you want?" With a giddy smile you pulled him over to the basketball festival game and pointed at the stuffed reindeer at the top, the cute animal had sparked an old memory in your head. "Okay, alright, how do we get that one up there?" He asks the game manager.

"Four hoops in a row," the tired employee explains.

"Alright, I'll take five then" Jae places a $5 bill on the counter and the employee takes it, replacing it with five basketballs. He shoots his first one and misses, but not to be afraid, he still has the four.

While Jae got ready to shoot his next basket, you watched on the sidelines, remembering a much older memory of when you and Jae went to this very same festival years ago, before he even debuted. You were just close friends at the time and oh how things have changed. You were surprised the relationship occurred, actually, especially due to the nature of his job, but if anything it made the bond between the two of you stronger. While you were caught in your nostalgia, you failed to notice that Jaehyun had won the stuffed animal until he placed it in your hands.

"Your welcome, babe," he cuts into your thoughts, waving his hand in front of your face.

"Oh my god, you actually got it," you laughed.

"What do you mean? You said it yourself that I'm good at games like those."

"I know but to get four in a row?" You were a bit surprised, but you hugged the cute reindeer to your chest. "I don't think I've been more impressed in this relationship," you handed him his cap when you saw someone pointing at the both of you. He brushed his hair into it and placed it on before continuing.

"What can I say? I'm just the perfect boyfriend," he wraps a hand around your waist and pulls you closer as you both approached a crowd of people. A bit bold than usual, you noted, especially around people. Was he really that confident that he wouldn't get noticed?

The answer is no, not really. Jaehyun never really understood the taboo that was dating in his line of work, truth be told he kind of hoped that someone would recognize him, but at the same time he didn't want to open you up to that war zone that was the media, with how NCT's been doing that wouldn't be a good move on his part. He looked at the reindeer in your hands while you both made your way out of the festival, maybe it was a jump, and maybe it was his inner romantic, but when you asked him to get it for you he was reminded of when you were kids and he won you a small reindeer keychain at the ring toss game, it was so long ago he'd be surprised if you did remember, to be honest, but it was really the only reason why he said yes to try to win it for you. He opened the door for you and stood outside of his car for a moment longer before stepping into the driver's seat. He had finally convinced the company to let him take a break this month, something he desperately needed, and what better than to spend it with you, someone he had embarrassingly not prioritized in quite some time. He already knew it, but this Christmas was going to be a little more special.