Unconditionally (BOOK 3)

Christmas Fever

It was Christmas Eve which meant Felix and I had a very important mission to fulfill: make dessert for my family.

"I wish you would've told me sooner." I followed Felix through the aisles of the grocery store like a little kid. "There's so much I have to buy."

Our shopping cart was already overflowing, filled with things I wasn't entirely sure we needed. But I wasn't about to question why Felix threw carrots and stout beer in.

"We'll be fine." I said dismissively, not seeing the big deal.

"We? Oh, absolutely not." He shook his head. "You're not helping."

"What, why?" I whined, met with immense disappointment.

"Do you remember the last time we tried to bake something together? We almost burnt down San and Wooyoung's kitchen."

"It wasn't that bad."

"There was a fire."

"And we put it out," I shrugged, "problem solved." I wrapped my arms around him from behind and started to wobble back and forth as I walked, making it hard for him to push the shopping cart. "Now let me help."

"You're helping right now, that's why I brought you with me."

"Keeping you company is helping?"

"No, reaching the high shelves is." He mumbled, slightly embarrassed about his short height.

"My baby is so little." I smiled, pressing a kiss to his blushing cheek. "And my baby is so, so cute."

We were in the grocery store for nearly two hours and spent a generous ₩400 thousand. I'd say half of that didn't need to be bought, but he kept telling me it's better to be safe than sorry in case there's a storm. It started snowing this morning so unsurprisingly, Seonghwa texted the group chat to tell us we need to be careful on the roads and turn the heat up. He's been stepping up his parental role lately and I have a theory: him and Hongjoong are going to start looking into adoption next year. Felix doesn't agree and thinks it's just stress from the holidays.

This time of year is usually tough for Hongjoong. It's been that way ever since we've been friends. I know what it's like to spend Christmas without family, but that was ultimately my choice. The way Wooyoung and Hongjoong have dealt with the loss of their brother's are very different. One is very vocal about the emotional effects it's had and what it's done to his family, while the other doesn't talk about it at all. Talking about Sunghoon is off limits. I thought maybe it would be a way for Wooyoung to become closer with the other married couple since one lost their dad and the other lost their brother, but because they've coped so differently, it was no use.

"Jinnie, can you put the bags in the back?" Felix was shivering and could barely move his arms.

"Of course, baby." I quickly led him to the passenger seat and turned the car on so he could turn up the heat. "I'll be quick." I gave him a quick kiss and closed the door.

By the time I had all the bags in the trunk, I felt like I had hypothermia. When I rushed in the car, I cupped my hands together and tried to blow warm air into them.

"Your nose is red." Felix gently pinched it, then leaned over to wrap his arms around me. "Now you're shivering." He pouted, finding my chattering teeth and shaking body to be adorable. But make no mistake, this is anything but that. I feel like I'm fighting for my life. But I'll always make a sacrifice in order to make Felix happy; that would include my body temperature.

"Felix!" I screamed, hard braking my car at a red light.

"What, what! What's going on?" He panicked.

"It's Christmas Eve, how did we forget to get a tree?"