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“Oh… dear.” Jisu tilts her head back, a bit dismayed. “Seven feet seemed a lot shorter on the graphic I looked at when we were picking this. It shouldn’t be that much taller than me! Isn’t this at least eight? Did they pack the wrong one in our box?”
Chaeryeong smothers a laugh in the palm of her hand. She very kindly does not ask Jisu just how tall she thinks she is compared to the human silhouette her graphic had used for reference. “I don’t know.” She lifts an arm and pushes up to her tip toes to compare against the fake tree they’ve just finished assembling. “It seems about right to me.”
“So cold. Aren’t you supposed to take my side?” Jisu pouts, trying valiantly to look like she’s actually very upset about this mixup and not even a little bit amused.
A laugh does slip out of Chaeryeong at this. Ah! Her girlfriend is so cute! She wraps her arms around Jisu in apology, folding her hands over Jisu’s stomach in her cheesiest drama back-hug reenactment. “Oh, of course. My mistake. This tree is definitely much bigger than advertised! Maybe the size of the branches makes it seem like it takes up more space than we expected?” She shakes her head. “What should we do?”
Jisu pats Chaeryeong’s hands. “Well, we’ve already put it all together. It’d be too much hassle to take it down and try to buy another and then put that one together. We’ll just have to get some extra ornaments to fill it up!”
“And a step stool so you can put the star on?”
Jisu’s pats turn to light slaps. “There are some things you don’t need to say,” she says sweetly.
Chaeryeong muffles her laughter with a kiss to Jisu’s cheek. She can feel the smile on Jisu’s face under her lips. After a moment of thoroughly enjoying her teasing, she disentangles herself from Jisu. “Should we put on the lights first?”
“Mm.” Jisu starts unwinding the first bundle, handing the end to Chaeryeong as the cord grows longer and longer between them. “That enough to get us started?”
“Think so,” Chaeryeong nods, walking to the outlet closest to the tree and plugging in the strand.
All the bulbs blink to life at once, multicolored glow trailing from the wall to the rest of the tangle shining brightly in Jisu’s hands. They maneuver together, one on each side of the tree, and pass the lights back and forth, circling around the lower branches and working their way up. Jisu strings the lights in tight coils for maximum effect, and soon their strand runs out. They plug a second into the end of the first and continue up the tree. At some point, Jisu starts humming along to the holiday music they’d put on to set the mood while decorating, and it only takes a moment for Chaeryeong to join her. Humming turns to singing, the sound of smiles clear in both their voices as they karaoke the classics.
“I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know~” Jisu serenades Chaeryeong, winking when their hands brush as they continue passing the lights to each other.
“I’ll make your wish come true.” Chaeryeong giggles as she sings, folding her fingers in a cheesy heart for Jisu because cringe is dead and Jisu loves things like this and Chaeryeong loves her girlfriend, thanks!
They reach the end of the second strand at the top of tree and Jisu takes one of Chaeryeong’s hands in her own when she moves closer—planning on getting started on the ornaments—and tugs it to her mouth like a microphone as she declares, “Oh, baby, all I want for Christmas is you!” Her grand finish is topped off by a kiss to Chaeryeong’s knuckles and a toss of her hair, throwing her off balance. She stumbles into Chaeryeong, dissolving into a fit of laughter as she unbalances her as well and they teeter around together for a moment until they get their feet back under them.
“I thought you didn’t want to take the tree down,” Chaeryeong laughs with her. “If we’d gone the other way, we’d all be on the floor.” The teasing is thoroughly undercut by the arm she has around Jisu’s waist. It’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make, though! Some things take priority.
There’s sunshine in Jisu’s responding smile. The Christmas lights reflect in her eyes like multicolored stars. Chaeryeong forgets altogether what she was making jokes about in the first place.
“C’mon, let’s start the ornaments,” Jisu says. “I’ll save the rest of my stunts for when we’re done.”
“I’ll spot you.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Together they drag their box of ornaments over to the tree, some store-bought sets and some hand made, and start placing them with all the serious contemplation of contestants decorating a cake for The Great British Bake-Off. Mostly, really, Jisu contemplates and Chaeryeong watches her in amusement while she assists. It’s cute to see her girlfriend get so invested in the decor, and Chaeryeong has fun watching her bring the fake tree to life with each added ornament. The overall look is less about aesthetics and more about emotional attachment: ornaments Jisu and Chaeryeong have made, separately and together, are front and center, stars of the show, while the fun store bought ones frame them and the plainer sets fill in the remaining empty spaces.
When they’re done hanging ornaments, the tree doesn’t look like soulless Instagram bait, but like it’s full of love and care. Like it’s part of a home. Like it couldn’t have been decorated by anyone but Jisu and Chaeryeong working together.
Chaeryeong wonders if it’s possible to fall for Jisu all over again. “It’s perfect,” she declares. “I love it. You’re a genius.”
Jisu smiles. It’s soft. Private, pleased, proud. It lights her up so she glows like moonlight. This is the very look that melted through Chaeryeong’s tsundere exterior and turned her into a sap. But then, who wouldn't melt in the face of Jisu’s radiance? Chaeryeong could wax poetic about her in her head for hours. She decides it’s definitely possible to fall again and again and again. Then and there, it feels like she’ll be falling in love with Jisu forever. Maybe the holidays and Jisu’s overflowing love for them have wormed into Chaeryeong’s brain to make her overly sentimental. She can’t find it in herself to be too upset about it. Damn if she doesn’t understand why the Grinch’s heart grew three times in size on Christmas.
“I believe you promised me a stool for adding the finishing touch?”
Chaeryeong breaks from her reverie. Right. Tender feelings temporarily take a backseat to the opening for a bit more light teasing. She hasn’t totally lost her roots. “I thought we were pretending you didn’t need that?”
One of Jisu’s brows lifts as she rises to Chaeryeong’s playful bait. “Who’s pretending?”
“There are some things you don’t need to say,” Chaeryeong recounts with as innocent a look as she can muster when laughter is already tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“It’s called class, darling. Not pretending, but having a little tact.”
Chaeryeong presses a hand to her chest. “Are you Pretty Woman -ing me? Teaching me how to be a proper lady in society?” She gasps just for the drama of it. “Are you going to change everything about me and only fall in love with me after you’ve molded me into a perfect fake version of myself?”
To her delight, Jisu lets out a very unladylike noise as laughter bursts out of her. She slaps a hand over her mouth to stifle the bout of giggles. “Have you even seen Pretty Woman?” Jisu still hasn’t quite caught her breath when she asks.
Chaeryeong hasn’t. That’s not important if the joke works, though. Her face must answer for her, as another wave of giggles washes over Jisu. “Should we add it to our holiday watch list? Can’t be worse than some of the Netflix Hallmark movies on there already.” She shakes her head and exhales loudly, wrangling her laughter under control. Probably storing it up and saving it for later. Not that Chaeryeong will say so aloud, but it’s quite cute, how Jisu’s cheeks stay rosy and a smile still tugs persistently at the edges of her lips, how her eyes sparkle with the promise of more mirth to come. Jisu has the incredible ability to make almost anything painfully endearing. “Now, what were we doing?”
“Star,” Chaeryeong reminds her, seizing the opportunity to duck away in search of their footstool so Jisu will be able to reach high enough to put it up herself. It is her favorite part, after all. The sound of Jisu unpacking the star from its storage follows Chaeryeong as she leaves the room, heading for the kitchen—she’s pretty sure that's where she’d last seen Jisu leave it.
Lo and behold, there it is, tucked up by the left counter. Jisu must have used it to reach the cereal in the cupboard above. Chaeryeong can’t help the fond tug at her lips at the thought. She scoops the stool up and brings it to Jisu like a peace offering.
Jisu is quick to thank her, quicker to put the stool in place and step up onto it, star in hand. “Help me balance?” she asks, free hand reaching out for a brace.
Chaeryeong moves to Jisu’s side and offers up her shoulder for Jisu to grip while she bounces on her toes in glee and secures the star at the very top of the tree. Once she’s satisfied it won't budge or fall, she squeezes Chaeryeong’s shoulder and hops down. From the floor, she beams up at the fully decked out tree. Chaeryeong looks too, and Jisu’s joy feels large enough to consume her as well.
It’s their tree, bits and bobbles of both of them wrapped up in its fake pine branches. It’s the first one that’s just theirs, perfect for the first holiday season they’ve shared since moving into their own place, leaving behind the lovely but overcrowded five person apartment that had been home before. It feels more special than Chaeryeong had thought it would.
The surprise she’d prepared for Jisu, still sitting safely tucked away in a hidden corner of a closet across the apartment, almost feels unnecessary. Redundant. Jisu already looks so pleased with their tree, with the decorations and the glittering star sitting proud at the top. But it would be a shame to let it go to waste. And who but the Grinch has ever heard of too much holiday decor, too many things to decorate and celebrate? Jisu is about as far from Grinch-y as you can get! She’s practically a certified Whoville resident!
Besides, even if it is overkill, Chaeryeong just… wants to give it to Jisu. Wants to see her smile bright as the sun and laugh like the sweetest song in the world. God, maybe she needs to give it to her just to stop thinking like some lovesick poet.
“Hey,” she says to draw Jisu’s attention back from the tree.
Jisu shoots her a curious look. “Hey?”
Chaeryeong realizes she doesn’t quite know what to say. I have a surprise? No, too much pressure. I got you something? …Doesn’t convey everything she put into it. Not wanting to leave Jisu hanging, she settles for a simple shrug. “Just need to go grab something. Didn’t want to walk off without saying anything and come back to you karaoking Last Christmas.”
Jisu shoves her shoulder, equally incredulous and amused. She smiles with her eyes, soft and crinkled and warm like summer, and then she huffs a sigh and tosses her hair over her shoulder while she turns back to the tree. “I won’t even notice you’re gone.”
Chaeryeong feels a goofy smile tug at her lips as she leaves Jisu to her stargazing and makes a beeline for the gift she’d stashed away like a squirrel. Now that winter is here, it’s time to dig the treasure out of storage. The analogy isn’t perfect, since she’d actually left it with Ryujin after buying it to ensure Jisu wouldn’t find out, only bringing it home and hiding it here the night before, but it’s the thought that counts.
She’s careful not to jostle the box as she extracts it from the closet, setting it on the ground and opening it with just as much care. She peers down into the box and lets out a sigh of relief that a night on the closet floor doesn’t seem to have done any damage. Satisfied with its condition, Chaeryeong settles on her knees, both hands on opposite sides of the cardboard walls, and starts pushing it towards the living room like a child learning to ice skate for the first time with a rink-provided support.
It’s an inelegant affair, but she's determined to be as careful as possible with this, and, as she is not immune to having butter fingers, won’t risk lifting her gift from where it is safe on the floor until absolutely necessary. Still, she’s glad no one is around to see her look so silly.
Once she’s close enough to where Jisu waits with the Christmas tree, Chaeryeong scoops the box into her arms and carries it the rest of the way, watching her steps until she has deposited the box safely on their coffee table. No way will she fumble the bag so close to the finish line, thank you very much!
Jisu sidles closer, trying (and failing) not to look overly curious. It makes Chaeryeong smile. It also makes her want to tease her girlfriend…. just a bit. So instead of pulling her over to see the gift with a flourish as planned, Chaeryeong opts to stand in silence as Jisu’s curiosity grows and grows until it becomes impossible to even attempt to hide, or ignore.
“Okay!” Jisu stomps the rest of the way over in a way befitting of Chaeryeong’s childish tease. “I’ll bite! What’s in the box?”
Now it’s time for the flourish. Chaeryeong turns so her back is to Jisu, blocking her view as she lifts the gift out of the box and sets it on the table. Only then does she finally step aside so Jisu can see.
A noise of surprise. The start of a smile worms its way onto Chaeryeong’s lips.
“Is that a bonsai tree?” The curiosity hasn’t left Jisu’s voice. “It’s cute! Is it… for me? Isn’t it a bit early for presents? And why the cloak and daggers?”
Chaeryeong reaches into the box once more, beckoning Jisu closer. Her left arm brushes Chaeryeong’s right as she unfurls a hand to reveal the second part of the present. In her palm, sits a small tangle of silver and gold tinsel, and a clearly handmade, slightly lopsided origami star.
“I thought you might like a tree you didn’t need a stool to decorate.” She places the star delicately in Jisu’s hand. It’s arguably the most important part, the cherry on top, as Jisu’s favorite part. “I know it’s nothing really and it’s kind of silly, but when I saw your order for our tree was way too tall for you, I thought it might be fun. Plus we can raise it together! Since we can’t have pets here it can be our substitute baby or something.”
Jisu brushes a careful finger against the origami star nestled in her palm for a moment of silent consideration. The world feels still now that Chaeryeong has finished speaking. It lasts one heartbeat, then two, then—All at once it bursts back to life.
“Chaeryeong!” Jisu throws her arms around Chaeryeong and shakes like an excited puppy with a treasured toy. “You! This is so cute! Why are you so cute! I don’t even care if you’re teasing me!”
“I’m not teasing you,” Chaeryeong laughs, letting herself be swung around. The tinsel slips soundlessly from her hand and sprinkles itself over the bonsai tree. “I really just thought you might like it.”
“We have to name it!” Jisu exclaims. “Oh, I’m going to talk to her every day; that’s supposed to help plants grow!”
Chaeryeong can’t help laughing again. This is going over better than she expected! Definitely worth bribing Ryujin to take care of the tree while she was hiding it from Jisu. Chaeryeong pats Jisu’s back as she calms down and relinquishes her hold to admire the paper star again.
“Did you make this?” she asks, rolling it over in her palm for another inspection.
Chaeryeong hums in affirmation.
“When did you learn origami?”
“Recently.”
Jisu looks up. Chaeryeong recognized the inquisitive quirk of her brow. “What else can you make?”
“...Swans.”
The lightbulb goes off over Jisu’s head. “You started learning just to make this for me?”
As soon as Chaeryeong nods, Jisu’s arms are around her again for another round of cooing and shaking and demanding why are you so cute! Chaeryeong endures it with a helpless smile, heart swelling in her chest even as her girlfriend makes a ragdoll out of her in a fit of happiness. What’s a little loss of dignity in the face of so much unfiltered joy?
“Are you going to actually use it or what?” Chaeryeong finally asks after a distinct pop comes from somewhere down her spine and she suspects she might have gained half a centimeter of height from the stretch.
“Right!” Jisu pulls herself free and looks at the paper star once more. “How should I get it to stay?”
They look down at the tree together, already sprinkled with tinsel, fallen over it like snow. Once the star is on, it'll be as perfectly Christmassy as its plastic sister. Chaeryeong recalls the brief time she’d wondered this herself, how the answer had been laughably simple in the end. “Don’t have to do anything; it’ll balance on its own. Just pick a spot.”
Jisu does just that, placing the star smack dab in the middle of the umbrella of green branches. It shifts when she lifts her hand away, but doesn’t tumble. It’s almost anticlimactic, how easy it is. How quickly the tree is complete.
“I love it,” Jisu declares. Really, it doesn’t matter how climactic the moment was or wasn’t when Jisu smiles like that. “Our little tree baby.” She pretends to wipe a tear from her eye. “A Sagittarius of all things. It’s okay, nothing can be perfect.”
“I can always take it back,” Chaeryeong jokes.
Jisu swats her arm. “Don’t you dare!”
Chaeryeong raises her hands up in surrender as if there was ever any danger of her really trying to return the tree.
“Good.” Jisu gives a satisfied nod. “We need to show her her first Christmas movie! What do you think? Grinch or Frosty the Snowman?”
And that’s all there is to it. They flip a coin to decide which movie to start with, and curl up on the couch together.
Later, they’ll bake cookies in between movies, decorate them with messy piped frosting, and bite the wings off of sugary angels. They’ll mix hot chocolate with candy canes and pile whipped cream in each other's mouths like children. They’ll string lights and hang mistletoe and wreaths around the apartment, hiding tiny dollar bin decorations in odd places to stumble upon later, and karaoke even holiday songs they don’t know all the lyrics to.
The apartment will be warm and homey and the stress of the season will feel far off as they bask in the colorful lights and the comfortable, familiar companionship on which they’ve built their relationship. It will be as it always is when they're together: home.