Author's notes: It's a crime that I didn't write a Saeran fic until now, because he was literally the first MM character I fell in love with.
This takes place in an AU where Saeran had a route and was redeemed at the end of it. Why? Because I want him to be happy, dammit. V's also alive, because I said so.
Also, sorry if Saeran is OOC. I tried my best with my interpretation, but I admit that I wanted to write fluff so he might be a little too happy here. Rest assured that he's still a total tsundere when it's not Christmas, though!
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It was a beautiful Christmas Eve party. You had arranged for the other RFA members to gather at Jumin's mansion to celebrate the upcoming holiday, and you were proud to say that you had planned it to near perfection. The only members that fought were Jumin and Zen (which was expected, really), the food was delicious (especially Jaehee's Christmas cookies), the Christmas sweaters were appropriately hideous, the liquor was tasty…all in all, everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Still, perhaps some of the members had too good of a time. Halfway through the party, Jumin and V alerted you that Yoosung mistook the wine for grape juice and drank quite a bit. Knowing how Yoosung got when he was drunk, you had agreed to escort him to one of Jumin's guest rooms.
When you found Yoosung, he was sprawled out on the couch, drunkenly singing and clinging onto your boyfriend like he was a teddy bear. Saeran, for his part, had his fingers in his ears, obviously trying to tune out Yoosung's...er, interesting renditions of Christmas carols.
"Feliz yaoi-dad! Feliz yaoi-dad!" Yoosung sang, and even you could tell that he was horribly out-of-tune. Saeran caught your eye and silently mouthed "help me," his expression suggesting that Yoosung's singing could be weaponized as a method of torture. You giggled, but you took pity on your poor boyfriend.
"Alright, tiger, time for you to wrap it up." You placed your hand on Yoosung's shoulder, intending to pull him off of Saeran. Yoosung had other plans, seeing how he whined and buried his face into Saeran's (ugly) Christmas sweater.
"Noooooo!" Yoosung sniffled. "'I don't wanna...e's my bestest friennnnnd…." He hiccuped. "He's so cuddly, 'nd he's like a giant plushie...I love himmmm…"
Saeran's face turned almost as red as his hair, clearly flustered over the attention. "...Thanks?"
You couldn't help but giggle again. "I know, isn't he adorable?" It was Saeran's turn to whine. "But seriously Yoosung, you need to let go. You're absolutely plastered, so Jumin's gonna let you crash on one of his beds until tomorrow."
"No!" Oh great, now Yoosung was crying again. "Why're you so meaaaaaaan?!"
You sighed in frustration. Oh my god…
"Hey, Yoosung!" Saeyoung appeared behind you, and you couldn't help but smile. Speak of the devil… "Zen dared me to see how many marshmallows I can fit in my mouth! Wanna watch?"
Yoosung's head shot up. "Do I?!" He said, grinning in a way that reminded you of a puppy. He released Saeran as he jumped (or more accurately, stumbled) up. "Show me, show me!"
"Ha, no problem, bud!" Saeyoung draped an arm around Yoosung's shoulder, winking at you as he led the other man away. "C'om, let's see if Jaehee has some marshmallows left over…"
As his voice trailed off, you turned towards Saeran. He was still sitting on the couch, though he was hunched over a bit.
"...Thanks for trying." He said. "I tried pushing him off, but he's freakishly strong when he's drunk."
You laughed as you sat in the newly-vacated spot next to him. "I know, he's like a koala. You gotta admit that he probably could get a career in singing with those pipes of his, though."
Saeran wrinkled his nose. "Ew. I'd rather have Saeyoung be a singer instead of him."
"Awww, you didn't like 'Feliz Yaoi-dad?'"
He bit his lip, which signaled that he was trying not to laugh at what you said. "You weren't there when he was singing 'Sandy Claws is Coming to Town.' I thought my ears were gonna bleed."
You laughed again, taking the time to admire how content your boyfriend looked. Being away from Mint Eye really worked wonders; the man sitting next to you was almost unrecognizable from the man he was a year and a half ago, and you couldn't help but be thankful for that. Sure, the road of recovery wasn't an easy one, and even now, he still had a lot of issues he had to work on, like his lack of social skills and his fear of abandonment. Still, you didn't expect for him to be "cured" –all you wanted was for him to be happy, or as close to happy as he was able to get. Moments like these, where he was relaxed and content, were precious to you.
"What are you looking at?" His voice snapped you out of your thoughts. He brushed a lock of bright red hair out of his face, and you were struck with a memory that occurred when his hair was white.
"Oh, just thinking." You grinned mischievously and leaned in closer. "Would you prefer it if I sang you a Christmas carol?"
You delighted in Saeran's squeak of surprise as you pressed your mouth to his ear. You cleared your throat and started to sing, trying to make your voice as low and raspy as possible.
"I wish you a merry Christmas, I wish you a merry Christmas, I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new—"
"Stoooop!" Saeran squealed, cringing. He buried his face in his hands, obviously trying to hide how red his face was getting. "Knock it off! It's embarrassing!"
You laughed. "Aww, it wasn't that bad. You gotta admit, it was pretty funny how you thought that would scare me."
"Ugh, I was such a tool back then…" Apparently, Saeran's hands weren't doing a good job at hiding his face, so he grabbed a throw pillow and shoved his face into it.
"Hey, if it makes you feel better, I thought you sounded sexy. Okay, you did sound kind of goofy, but...you know, in a sexy way." You said.
Judging by Saeran's groan, that didn't seem to cheer him up. You started to feel a bit bad about teasing him about it, so you scooted closer to give him a hug.
"...I called myself Santa." Saeran's voice was muffled, but you were able to make out what he said.
"You know me, babe. Santa really gets my motor running."
Saeran shrugged you off, but he did start laughing. "You're ridiculous. Why do I love you again?"
You couldn't stop the fluttery feeling in your stomach. The Saeran from a year ago wouldn't have laughed at your antics, and he definitely wouldn't have said that he loved you. I guess Christmas miracles do happen…
You didn't say that out loud, though.
"Because of my charm and wits?" You said. Saeran snorted. "What, it's not that?"
"Please. Sometimes, I think you and Saeyoung compete over who can exasperate me the most."
"Ouch!" You said, placing your hand over your heart. "You wound me, Saeran! And I thought I was special!"
Saeran shook his head, looking like he was trying not to laugh again. "You are special. A special pain in the ass."
"Oh, that's it!" You declared dramatically. "Now you've done it! You're a mean one, Saeran Choi…"
"What the—don't sing that one! I'm not the villain of some old cartoon!"
The two of you were still bickering when the mistletoe was dangled in your face.
"Look who's under the mistletoe~!" A voice sang. You'd recognize that voice from anywhere, and judging by the look on his face, so did Saeran.
"Saeyoung!" He snapped. He glared at his brother, which would've been more intimidating if he wasn't blushing a bright red. "What the hell are you doing?!"
Saeyoung grinned. "Why, teaching you the importance of Christmas traditions, dearest brother!" He said cheerfully.
"The hell you are! You just want to embarrass me, don't you?"
"Hey!" Saeyoung held up his free hand in a placating gesture. "In my defense, nobody else is in the room right now."
You looked around the room to see that Saeyoung was correct.
"What did you do to them?" You eyed Saeyoung warily, because while he was a good friend, you wouldn't put it past him to bribe everyone to leave the room.
"Nothing, actually." He said, shrugging. "I tucked Yoosung into bed—by the way, I had to stuff four huge marshmallows in my mouth to get him to settle down, so you guys owe me one. Jaehee's decorating some of the cookies that came out of the oven, so we can snag some for a midnight snack later. I might've tried to sneak off to play with Elly, and Jumin might've caught me, so he's guarding her now, and I'm pretty sure V's with him. Zen ran off because he saw Jumin carrying Elly around, but he'll probably come back any minute now." He grinned. "Sooo, it's just me and you lovebirds!"
You rolled your eyes, but you couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, so that's how it is? I'll have you know that my boyfriend doesn't kiss me in front of just any—"
You were silenced by a quick kiss on your cheek. Shocked, you turned towards Saeran, who stared down at his lap, somehow blushing an even brighter red.
"I'm okay with kissing you like this," He mumbled, and wow, his demeanor was definitely different from the one he had from a year and a half ago. "I'm more annoyed that my idiot brother's the one holding the stupid plant."
You felt your heart completely melt. He's just the cutest thing...!
"Well, what are we waiting for?" You said, grinning like a loon. "Gimme some sugar, baby."
"Say that again and I'm not kissing you for a week."
"Oh, hush. You love it." You drew closer and gave him a peck on his lips.
It was nothing special—you two had exchanged longer, more passionate kisses in the past—but for some reason, it made the fluttery feeling in your stomach return. You attributed it to the holiday cheer, but you had a feeling that it was much more than that; you had kissed the man that you loved, a man who had been to hell and back, and it just felt so right. Yeah, you both drove each other crazy at times, but it didn't seem to matter at that moment. What mattered was that Saeran had that happy, grateful smile on his face, that beautiful smile that always made you want to hold him and never let go.
You moved to do just that, but a cheerful voice broke you out of your trance.
"Ho, ho, ho!" Saeyoung laughed. He lowered his voice to a comically deep tone. "And they say that Saeran Choi's heart grew three sizes that day!"
This time, you did nothing when Saeran attacked Saeyoung with the throw pillow.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. You did laugh your ass off.