Christmas arrived before Yoongi realized. In his defense, his mind was a little preoccupied. And on Christmas morning, it was still preoccupied.

By? Not Jimin, naturally. But also absolutely Jimin, and what the boy might be doing this holiday, if he had plans with Taehyung, if the two had a tradition of dinner together or if they went out and did something lighthearted to celebrate, or if they stayed at their sad little home and did nothing at all.

It was normal to be concerned about the less fortunate, Yoongi assured himself. What if Jimin and Taehyung didn't even have enough to afford a nice meal for Christmas? Yoongi was never one for the hype of the holidays but he always enjoyed having an excuse to eat well and have off work.

And what about gifts? Was that just something that didn't cross their minds? Taehyung had seemed pretty excited about Christmas when the topic had come up, so Yoongi was convinced they had to have something they did as tradition. Or maybe Taehyung was simply the type to revel in the joyous spirit of Christmas.

Am I thinking about this too much?

No, Yoongi countered himself. I'm thinking about it a completely normal amount.

It was the morning of the 25th and Yoongi sat at his kitchen table in front of a bowl of cereal, wondering what to do with himself until the evening - the evening was when Jeongguk came over to have dinner with him after having visited his family earlier on in the day. Hoseok insisted he would have joined as well, but his extended family were all getting together for the first time in years, so he wanted to stick around. That being said, Yoongi wished his friend a Merry Christmas and safe travels over the phone and told Hoseok he'd give the boy his present next time he saw him.

Jeongguk also called Yoongi that morning to let his friend know he expected to get back by 6 or 7 p.m., so as of now Yoongi had plenty of time to prepare. Being there only two of them, he didn't go all out and cook a whole feast or anything, but quite near to one. To understate the matter, Jeongguk could eat a lot. Yoongi could occasionally, too, but even when he just cooked for himself there were always leftovers.

It was still early in the morning now. Yoongi had plenty of time.

Plenty of time. Maybe even a little time to go on a walk, wander around the city a bit, or, perhaps, pay a visit to a certain someone in the slight chance he might be home at this time.

The more Yoongi thought about it the more frustrated he became with himself - not so much frustrated at the thought itself, but how hesitant he was towards the idea. Why should he be? It wasn't such a big deal. He could just drop by to say Merry Christmas, if just that.

Or, he could invite Jimin and Taehyung over for dinner.

No, no, I shouldn't...

...why not?

He rolled his eyes at himself, glaring at his reflection in the glass panel of his kitchen cabinet. "It's not a terrible idea," he thought aloud. "Stop being such a wuss."

After much more consideration than was probably necessary, Yoongi decided to go through with it after all. Not only that, but before heading over to their house, he would pick out a small gift for them, and maybe, just maybe, his gesture of kindness would get through to Jimin and he would agree.

It was worth a try.

So, after getting dressed that morning, Yoongi said screw indecisiveness and walked confidently to the mall, picked out a warm winter coat for Jimin and one of those small assorted gift baskets with hot chocolate, a mug, and snacks inside for Taehyung. As he strolled out of the mall about half an hour later, Yoongi rehearsed in his head the conversation he hoped would happen at his unexpected appearance at Jimin's house.

I'll say Merry Christmas, give him the gifts, invite him over for dinner, give him the address on that piece of paper I have in my pocket, and boom, smooth-talking Min Yoongi is in business. Two can play at your little game, Jimin. Two.

Fortunately with his impressive memory Yoongi was able to easily retrace the steps in which he had followed Taehyung to the house a few days ago. The coat and gift basket were neatly stored in the large bag Yoongi carried around his shoulder. Carefully. He didn't want to risk dropping it and the mug shattering before he even made it to his destination.

He succeeded, much to his relief. And now, Yoongi found himself standing at Jimin's and Taehyung's doorstep with an unfamiliar sort of anxiety tickling his throat. Just knock, you coward.

So he did. Bracing himself for the encounter, Yoongi stood back and waited, curling his toes inside his boots as he double-checked his bag to make sure nothing had magically disappeared without his knowing.

The door opened just then and triggered Yoongi to face forward.

"U-uh, hey."

Jimin had answered. He stood at the doorway now in his loose-fitting pajamas, black hair unkempt, face painted over in a look of utter disbelief at the sight before him. Yoongi froze up long enough for the other to gather himself and speak. "What are you doing here?"

"No reason," the blond replied without thinking. "Well, no, that's not true, there is a reason. A couple reasons, actually, uhh..."

Nervously he set down the large bag on the ground, then pulled out the winter coat he had bought not long ago - maroon in color and made of a soft and warm material, the name of which Yoongi hadn't bothered to check. He had tried it on in the store, it felt cozy, and that was the important part. It was hooded, too, which was a plus, and the faux fur around the outer part of the hood was useful for catching snow or rain so they didn't hit your face.

"This is for you," Yoongi said quietly and held out his gift. Dumbfounded, Jimin stuck out his hand and the blond simply tossed the coat over the boy's forearm. "And I wasn't sure what your friend would like so I got him a small assortment of stuff." He took out the gift basket now. "There's hot chocolate and snacks in there, probably enough for him to share with you. If he wants."

It didn't help ease Yoongi's nerves that Jimin wasn't saying anything. The boy was just standing, silent and still, brow knitted, lips parted but no words even seemed to attempt to leave them. His stunned gaze fixed on the coat draped over his arm.

"I was...gonna ask if you and Taehyung would be interested in joining my friend and I for dinner?" Yoongi asked tentatively after a few moments. "It's just me and him, no big crowd or anything like that. We just get together at my apartment to eat and talk, that's all. But you guys are welcome to join us. Unless, uh, you have plans already. But either way I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask."

He waited again. For Jimin to speak, to display some sort of reaction other than what he was doing now, but it seemed as though the boy's expression had been frozen in place.

"It's okay if you need time to think about it," Yoongi said. He took this opportunity to reach into his jacket pocket for that folded piece of paper. "Here." He placed it inside Jimin's open palm. "My, uh...my address is on there, I live on the second floor of the apartment complex, you can stop by around six if you're interested, or earlier, I might be preparing dinner then but I don't mind if you guys are early."

Jimin's eyes were trained on him again. That stare, intense yet inscrutable, sent shivers down Yoongi's spine better than the winter winds had done so far.

"It's still up to you," Yoongi blurted. He threw a shy glance to the dead grass on the front lawn. "And like I said, Taehyung's welcome to join, too, if he's up to it. Uhh..."

At this point it seemed unlikely Jimin planned to give a verbal response, and the longer Yoongi stayed here, the greater risk he ran for embarrassing himself again, so he saw it fit he take his leave.

"M-merry Christmas, by the way."

With that, he offered a small wave and turned his back to Jimin, then began his walk the way he came.

Did I really just stutter 'Merry Christmas'?

He cursed himself internally. It wasn't his fault, he thought, that Jimin made him act like a fool. It was...well, Jimin's fault, of course. Even though this time Jimin hadn't even intended to make the other act this way.

It certainly hadn't helped that Jimin looked really cute in those pajamas. Just a simple blue, cotton shirt with a smiley-faced moon on the front and stars on his pants - not to mention his messy hair looking like the boy had just woken up.

Yoongi had to physically slap some sense into himself as he caught his mind playing images of the pajama-wearing boy on a slideshow for all his brain cells to see.

Who am I even kidding...?

—-

end of chapter eight.