Chapter Text
christmas day
Christmas Eve passed by in a flurry and before he knew it, Renjun was waking up on Christmas morning. Well, he wasn’t voluntarily waking up, more like he was being shaken awake. Renjun let out a rough groan from the back of his throat, hoping his “shaker” would get the message and leave him alone. When it didn’t stop, he spoke up.
“Fuck off Do,” he croaked, rolling over onto his side, concluding that only Doyoung would be merciless enough in the morning to rouse him. Just as he was about to angrily pull the blanket over his head, a sweet laugh broke out. A sweet, sweet laugh. Far too sweet to be Doyoung’s. Fuck .
Renjun’s eyes sprung open, any tiredness on his face dissipated instantaneously. He found himself face to face with, of course, Jeno Lee.
A teasing smile was plastered on Jeno’s face as he leaned over Renjun, his dark hair falling over his face. Jeno was unbearably close, if he leaned down only an inch, his hair would tickle Renjn’s cheek. He suddenly became very aware of Jeno’s body weight on top of him.
“Morning,” Jeno whispered through a smirk.
“Oh, uh— you too.” Renjun was definitely awake now. He was about to raise his arms to Jeno’s chest in an attempt to push him off when the boy abruptly pulled back, raising a finger to his lips in a shushing motion.
He motioned towards Doyoung who was still sleeping soundly beside him. Renjun envied him for a moment before remembering that he wasn’t the one Jeno had been leaning over. Renjun internally smacked himself for that one.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Renjun quirked a brow at him as if to say, Why the fuck have you woken me up? He hoped the message reached him, but Jeno said nothing more as he pulled Renjun to his feet and dragged him out of the room. He wanted to complain that this was an invasion of his privacy and he deserved to sleep another hour, but it was, after all, Jeno’s house and he had been sleeping in Jeno’s bed (in Jeno’s pajamas too), so he kept his mouth shut.
Jeno pointed him to the bathroom and said, “Wash up, I’ll get everything ready.”
“Ready? What for?” Renjun was beyond puzzled. Jeno’s wicked grin certainly did not help.
“Baking, of course.” With that, he slipped away, leaving Renjun alone at the bathroom doorway. Great.
Baking was exactly what they did. Jeno had insisted on it, saying that it was Christmas morning tradition. Renjun tried arguing that the title belonged more to opening presents, but it had been to no avail. He had learned the hard way that arguing with Jeno was like yelling at a brick wall.
Renjun was near elbow deep in red velvet cake mix when the oven timer went off, signaling the sugar cookies were ready to be pulled out. He quickly wiped his hands across the chest of his apron and reached for one of the oven mitts.
“Move over Heffalump, I need to get the cookies.” He was referring to the Hufflepuff of the room, who was unceremoniously blocking the oven as he leaned over the stove mixing some god-awful concoction that was supposedly meant to be ‘frosting’.
Jeno shot him a hurt look. “Rude. All you Ravenclaws are the same,” he grumbled but he still moved to the side, allowing Renjun access to the steaming cookies. As he placed the tray over a towel to cool down, Renjun smiled delightfully at his hard work.
Despite Jeno being the one who insisted on baking, Renjun had ended up doing nearly all of the work. Jeno had proven himself quite possibly the worst baker Renjun had the pleasure of encountering, which was why he had been assigned to frosting duty. Renjun figured that was something he couldn’t mess up as badly as he had done to the first batch of cookies they had attempted which had come out far too salty and gooey to be deemed edible, so Renjun had thrown them out and started anew. The last two batches were perfect in Renjun’s humble opinion, but he believed that was only because he hadn’t allowed Jeno to touch a single thing, only stirring or whisking when told to. However, Jeno had a knack for proving Renjun wrong. He realized that as he peered into the bowl of frosting Jeno had been whisking away at, only to cringe at the sight of it. It was far too clumpy and thick and Renjun was truly amazed at how he had managed to ruin it but refrained from commenting on it.
“Perfect. Once we finish this cake, we’ll be all set. The frosting looks… I’ll take it from here.” He grabbed the bowl from Jeno’s grip and nodded back at the stove. “Can you cook us some eggs? The others will be up soon and we haven’t eaten breakfast ourselves.”
Jeno nodded eagerly. “Yes, sir.” He dropped the spoon he was using before moving over to the cupboards. When Renjun’s job was finally complete, he heaved a sigh and leaned against the counter with his arms loosely crossed over his apron. Jeno was hunched over the stove again, his eyes on the sizzling eggs as a comfortable quietness consumed them. It was the first one all morning. While they had been baking, Jeno had made sure to keep Renjun talking. He asked all sorts of questions, and when one conversation ended, he was quick to start up another one with a new inquiry.
Jeno mainly asked about the muggle world. Jeno had played it off saying that he just needed ‘practice’ for his muggle studies class that he was supposedly failing. Renjun was doubtless that Jeno was indeed failing the class, but he also knew that the Hufflepuff had no intention of truly improving his grades. In muggle studies , nonetheless.
But Renjun, being Renjun, loved to talk on topics he was knowledgeable of and talk is what he did. He told Jeno as much as he could of the muggle world, and how they made up for their lack of magic with all sorts of technologies. He enjoyed the way the boy’s eyes lit up at new things.
At one point, once Renjun had finished his tangent on fax machines, Jeno huffed out, “Why do we wizards even bother with magic anymore? Muggles have practically caught up with their science magic.”
Renjun laughed agreeably. “If it makes you feel better, they still have to do their dishes by hand despite their silly dishwashing machines.”
Jeno had perked at that. He grinned and said, “Oh, I feel better already.”
The other two woke up much later than expected. Renjun and Jeno and long finished their breakfast by the time the others were seated at the dining table but they all sat together regardless. The only thing that kept Renjun entertained were the glances he’d give Jeno only to catch the boy longingly staring out into the living room like a sad puppy. Each time Rejun would follow his gaze only to land on the heap of unopened, poorly wrapped presents under their tree.
His eagerness was soon relinquished though as the four boys found themselves filing into the living room, their dishes long forgotten and magically scrubbing away at themselves. Renjun took a seat on the rug beside Doyoung’s legs as the Lees hacked away at the gifts. There weren’t very many, only six or so. Jeno, Taeyong, and Doyoung all exchanged gifts with each other, laughing amongst each other.
Only one present was from Renjun. He had purchased it last minute from one of the shops and did well to hide it from Jeno until it was slyly slipped beside the tree. It was, unsurprisingly, the most neatly wrapped box amongst the others, but on the side, he had hastily scribbled in slanted handwriting ‘DoTae’ . Having not been expecting to spend his Christmas in Hogsmeade, his real gifts for the two remained at Hogwarts for the time being. He’d just give it to them once they returned.
His gift was one of the last to be opened but when Taeyong grabbed it he gasped. “Oh, babe, I think it's for both of us!” Doyoung stood up to walk over to him but not before sending both Jeno and Renjun a suspicious look.
“Which one of you…” he trailed off as Taeyong began to rip at the wrapping. When the present came to view, Renjun watched as the smile fell clear off Taeyong’s face.
“Is- Is this a-”
“Frog puzzle?” Doyoung finished his question incredulously.
Renjun let out a snort. He had gotten it as a joke, so he wasn’t prepared when Taeyong flung across the room and pulled him into a tight hug. “I love it.”
Doyoung pinched his cheek as Taeyong scrambled away to grab his gift for Renjun. Renjun was very surprised to find the very book he had been dying to buy for months. He knew Doyoung had most likely been the one to pick it out so he gave them each a small hug (of course, Doyoung pinched his waist when he did but Renjun still deemed it worth it). That was the only gift Renjun received and he was quite content with it. Doyoung had already given him his gift a month prior and Jeno didn’t seem to have anything for him. Not that Renjun was expecting a gift from him. He definitely wasn’t. Renjun was quite grateful Jeno didn’t get him anything because he hadn’t gotten the Hufflepuff anything and it would’ve been unbearably awkward if he had.
When they were all done, two gifts remained at the bottom of the pine tree to which Jeno had sheepishly explained they were his gifts to his parents and he had forgotten to give to them before they left. From there the four fell into a soothing lull. Renjun hadn’t even noticed the light music playing until Jeno moved to turn it up.
“Sinatra? Again?” Renjun laughed as Jeno wiggled his hips in reply. He was terrible at dancing and it showed.
“Gotta make use of the record,” Jeno defended with a pout but he danced on. The song ended and another track from the album began to play, but it was much slower. Taeyong had pulled Doyoung into a smooth sway making Renjun cringe at the sight. He cringed even harder when Jeno stopped in front of him.
Jeno gave a dramatic bow before extending his hand elegantly to Renjun. “May I have this dance, your excellency?”
“W-what?” Renjun faltered, feeling the air stop dead in his chest. Jeno lifted his head from his bow, showcasing a playful grin.
“This song, will you dance with me?”
“Oh, I- er…” Just the thought of dancing with Jeno leaves him blushing furiously. Jeno stands from his bow and shoots Renjun a small frown.
“Have you never slow danced before?” His outstretched hand remained persistent.
“Oh well, no.” Renjun wanted to punch himself. He was immensely thankful Doyoung was occupied at the moment or else the seventh year would have fallen off the couch from laughter. “Not with a boy at least,” he added grumbling.
Jeno’s frown deepened for the slightest second before it shot back into a bright smile. “Oh well, no worries! There’s a first time for everything.” Renjun noticed his hand twitch momentarily like he was considering retracting his offer but instead he only outstretched it further. “Would you still like to give it a go? I could teach you if you’d like.”
Say no, say no, say no, say-
“Uh, sure.” Renjun truly hated himself. Why did he even agree? Nonetheless, he timidly slipped his hand into Jeno’s, solely because he felt bad for how long it had been hanging in the air. Jeno pulled him up and led them away from the couch, stopping a few feet away from where they lacked any chance of bumping into any furniture.
Renjun stood awkwardly for a few moments before clearing his throat. “So, am I the guy or girl in this?” he mumbled, sending Jeno into a near fit of hysterical laughter.
“We’re both guys, dummy.”
Renjun became a stuttering mess. “I, well- I know that, of course!” His face was burning with heat so he dropped his gaze to the space of wood floors between them. “I just meant-”
“I know what you meant,” Jeno cut him off with a warm smile. At that moment, Renjun wished he fit the Ravenclaw stereotype. He was smart, he knew that, but maybe if he had been more elaborate and thought before he spoke, he wouldn’t find himself in such terrible situations.
The feeling of two hands sliding onto his waist jolted Renjun from his thoughts. Shocked, he looked back into Jeno’s smiling eyes. Jeno’s fingertips ghosted his lower back, his large palms rested diligently at the curve of his waist, ready to pull him into a gentle dance. Renjun hated how unnecessarily aware of the taller’s touch he had suddenly become.
“I’ll guide us.” Jeno said it with such a twinkle in his eyes that Renjun truly wanted the earth to swallow him whole.
Dancing with Jeno had been fairly easy. If not for the embarrassment that filled him each time their eyes met, Renjun might have even dared to call it relaxing. Jeno’s hold was gentle and almost sweet if a hold could even be considered such a thing. And although Jeno had proved to be quite a bad dancer, swaying seemed right up his alley. Long after, Renjun could still feel the light pressure of Jeno’s hands where they had rested on his waist. He hated the way his face heated up just from the thought. He was once again lost in the image of Jeno’s warm smile tilted down at him, at such proximity when a nudge came from his left side.
“It’s your turn,” Jeno whispered from behind a hand.
“Huh,” Renjun hummed dumbly. “Oh.” Embarrassed, he nimbly scooped up the dice and shook them briefly before releasing them back onto the gameboard Taeyong had set up on the floor.
Snake eyes. “Drat!” Renjun moved his pieces accordingly and probably would’ve continued into a string of curses if Jeno hadn’t broken into a smooth chuckle.
“You make winning so easy,” the Hufflepuff smirked when he rolled two sixes, winning him the game. Doyoung and Renjun let out simultaneous groans.
“That’s it, I give up!” Renjun grunted as Doyoung knocked over all the remaining pieces. It had been their sixth round, neither Ravenclaw winning a single game that night. Taeyong and Jeno, however, were on a winning streak.
Taeyong clapped his cousin on the back heavily. “It’s the Lee blood,” he cackled sinisterly in a manner that matched Jeno’s smug look.
“I’d say you guys charmed the dice but lord knows you wouldn’t be able to,” Doyoung grumbled, eliciting a chuckle from Renjun despite his sour mood.
“Don’t be so cynical, Doie.”
Moments later, Taeyong had abandoned Jeno’s side to pull his boyfriend into a headlock. Jeno took it as an opportunity to slide closer to Renjun and the boy jumps when he turns back to find him leaning in.
“Follow me?”
It takes Renjun a moment to comprehend what Jeno was asking. It took him even longer to respond. He was too lost in the boy’s hopeful eyes, watching as they reflected the flames of the fireplace. Even the shadows danced over his face, accentuating each curve and dip of Jeno’s smiling face. His hand twitched with the sudden urge to trace over his cheekbones.
Renjun gulped. “Sure,” he responded, but it came out dry and hoarse. Jeno must have noticed for he was already up onto his feet, tugging on Renjun’s hand to pull him up as well. As soon as he was stable on his feet, Jeno released his hand and turned back awkwardly. They both stumble a bit, having to dodge both the arguing couple on the floor and stray pieces from board games and puzzles, but they eventually make it into the hallway where Jeno pulled him into one of the bedrooms. Renjun eyed the narrow bed and recognized it as the parent bedroom. He knew it was the only other bedroom in their home aside from Jeno’s. Still, he asks, “Where are we?”
Jeno flashes a shy smile and wordlessly leads Renjun to a large window across the room. With a light tug, the glass panels separate. Renjun hears Jeno let out a soft sigh as he pressed his body against the wall, his face pointing up to the night sky. Jeno nods at him to do the same but Renjun can’t get himself to tear his gaze from the boy yet.
Jeno lets out a hum. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Renjun replied breathlessly, but he had not once glanced out the window. He was sure the stars looked breathtaking, but he knew Jeno could rival them. Renjun wanted to curse himself for thinking so, but he couldn’t help it. Jeno’s eyes slit close, his face upturned heavenward as a small smile danced across his moonlit expression. Wisps of his dark, shining hair, cascaded across his temples, curling around his ears. Renjun began noticing things he had never noticed before.
As Jeno let out another content hum, Renjun reveled in a newfound discovery. A discovery that made his heart lurch. Jeno Lee wasn’t just a handsome face. Jeno Lee wasn’t just smiley Hufflepuff. No, he was much more than that. Renjun couldn’t quite place it yet though, what Jeno truly was, but he wanted to learn. He wanted to learn everything there was to Jeno so badly his hands clenched at his sides and he could feel his knees begin to tremble. For the moment though Renjun was satisfied with the one thing he did know about the boys. Jeno was beautiful. Inside and out. And if that were to be the last thing he’d ever learn in his lifetime, Renjun believed he’d be more than content. Even if he was never given the opportunity to learn more about the boy, to know him better, to be with him more, Renjun’s satisfied with what the time he’s had.
Jeno’s eyes abruptly slit open, startling Renjun. He’s quick to shift his stare out the window but Jeno’s already side-eyeing him. When the boy begins to chuckle, Renjun knows he’d been caught staring. Flushing red, he leans further over the windowpane, letting the cold night air slap his burning face. How embarrassing , he thinks to himself.
“Renjun,” Jeno’s low voice echoed through the silence.
Renjun hummed in acknowledgment but kept his gaze to the heavens in an attempt to appear as if he was appreciating the night sky. He found it considerably hard to do when a certain boy occupied every current thought of his.
“Look at me.” His voice was surprisingly assertive, but in the gentle style Jeno always upheld. Hesitantly, Renjun turned back to face the boy and cocked an eyebrow questioningly. He watched as the corners of Jeno’s lips slowly curled into a smug grin. Jeno’s gaze had bored into his eyes for long moments before he turned away completely, but not before Renjun’s stomach dropped at his action. It had been so sudden and brief, that he was convinced he had imagined it. But he hadn’t, he was sure. Jeno’s gaze had dropped to lips. That he had not imagined, but with the way his blood began to pound in his ears, he began to wish he had.
“Oh! I almost forgot,” Jeno was quick to move on. His back was now to the window as he pushed himself away from the windowsill.
“What?” Renjun could still feel the heat burn across his face. He watched as Jeno tugged open a drawer, pulling something out. Renjun squinted to identify the item but it was out of his line of sight as Jeno’s broad stature loomed over the dresser. With a swift, sudden movement, Jeno had spun around to face Renjun, the item now smoothly hidden behind his back. “What do you have there?” Renjun had attempted to sound bold, but his voice came out weak and hoarse utterly failing him and nearly cracking in the process.
Luckily, Jeno didn’t notice or at least didn’t show any indication that he cared. Rather he gave Renjun a small smirk as he took slow, tantalizing strides towards him, only stopping until only a mere foot of space remained between them. Renjun figured he’d need an extra foot just in case his knees actually did buckle.
“I, uh-” Jeno’s temerity crumbled almost instantaneously as his smirk faded into a shy curve. “I got you a present.” He revealed a wrapped gift from behind his back. Renjun wouldn’t have called it a box, though it did take a similar shape, it was more of a knobby chunk. When Renjun simply stared at it in bewilderment, Jeno rushed to add, “It’s not much of course! Just a small something.”
Renjun tentatively brought the wrapped lump into his hands. It was flimsy and terribly wrapped, but he still had to bite his inner cheeks to stop the grin from growing on his face. He tore apart the wrapping paper as neatly as his shaky fingers could do so. Two woven pockets came into view and Renjun stared at them even more confused.
“Look,” Jeno grabbed one of the pockets from Renjun’s palm and flipped it upside down. Out slid a plastic container filled with a gel substance. He waved at Renjun, laughing as he watched the boy’s expression go from confusion to shock and then back to confusion.
“Are those-”
“Mhm,” Jeno hummed. “They’re hand warmers.”
Renjun was overwhelmed. “I know, they’re muggle ones. Where’d you even get those?” Jeno shrugged cheekily. “No place here sells them.” He arched a brow at the boy who remained smugly silent before sighing. “My grandfather used to put these in my coat pockets every winter when I was younger.”
Jeno’s gaze went soft but he still gave a soft laugh. “Then I take it this has always been a problem of yours?”
“What problem?” Renjun questioned but quickly came to regret it as Jeno’s rough hand slid to lift his free hand.
“Your hands. They’re always so cold.” Renjun prayed his fingers weren’t still trembling. “I figured these hand warmers would be of good use to you since my mittens apparently weren’t,” Jeno joked. “I hoped they’d warm your hands.” Oddly enough, Renjun felt his chest warm instead. “They’re probably much safer than anything I could charm anyway.”
Renjun snorted. “Hm, probably,” he agreed and gave Jeno a pleased glance. “I love them by the way. Thank you,” Renjun declared, hoping the Hufflepuff could sense his sincerity. He nearly forgot Jeno was still holding his hand.
“Of course,” Jeno whispered with a beaming smile. “I’m glad you like it. It took quite some asking around to get.”
“Wait a minute.” Renjun squinted making Jeno become alarmed. “You mean to tell me, I spent all that time waiting out in the cold while you were in search of hand warmers for me?” Jeno let out a sound suspiciously close to a squeak.
“Well, um…” He trailed off abashedly.
“Sounds a bit counterproductive to me.”
“Tch, whatever,” the Hufflepuff scoffed. Renjun saw the tips of his ears go red and laughed as Jeno mumbled to himself. “In my defense, I did give you mittens. You just didn’t wear them.” Renjun chortled once more before he pulled Jeno into an embrace. His arms draped over the taller’s shoulders as he pulled him in close.
“Thank you,” he muttered one last time. Jeno gave him a light squeeze before pulling away and showcasing his warm smile. The room was still dark, only barely lit by moonlight, but Renjun could still make out the warm tint dusting Jeno’s cheeks and figured he probably looked the same.
“Wow, I feel terrible now knowing that I didn’t give you anything.”
“Oh no, no! Don’t,” Jeno sputtered. “Please don’t at all. I don’t mind. It was kinda inappropriate for me to have gotten you a gift anyway considering we’ve only known each other a few days.”
“Fair,” Renjun chuckled. “I’ll most definitely have to buy your mother at least a rose bouquet in appreciation. We did sort of invade your home after all.”
Jeno didn’t laugh but instead gave Renjun a meaningful look. “You’re welcome here anytime.” He meant a lot with those words, Renjun could tell. Feeling his chest flutter, he gave Jeno a wordless smile not knowing what to say anymore.
They fell back into a comfortable silence, unknowingly having drifted back to the open window. Renjun gave the moon a final glance.
“Well, it’s gotten pretty late. I should probably retire for the night,” Renjun muttered. He shifted to face Jeno and watched as the boy slowly turned around.
“I’ll walk you,” Jeno nodded calmly. Renjun suppressed a laugh and gave a dramatic gasp, one of his hands pressed over his heart.
“And they say chivalry is dead!”
“Oh, move along Huang,” Jeno exasperated through a chuckle.
They reached Jeno’s room far too quickly and Renjun found himself dreading to say goodnight. “Thank you, for today,” he said. “Really.”
Jeno nodded blithely. “Merry Christmas.”
“You too,” Renjun grinned. He allowed himself a final glance into Jeno’s warm gaze before turning to enter the bedroom. A sudden grip on his wrist halted him from any further movements.
“Renjun, wait.” Renjun softly spun around as Jeno took a step closer to him, eliminating almost all of the space between them. The hold on his wrist dropped and was replaced with Jeno’s large hand gently sliding up the side of Renjun’s neck, resting just over his ear and covering most of his cheek. Jeno halted momentarily, but slowly, very slowly, he began to lean forward. His eyes fluttered close and he couldn’t tell if Jeno’s hand was guiding his face closer or if he was leaning in on his own. Jeno paused, his warm breath fanned over Renjun’s face, Renjun’s mouth .
“Can I?” He didn’t have to elaborate anymore. Renjun must have nodded without any thought because not a moment later, their lips collided. It was soft and gentle, the way Jeno always was with him, but it was just as short as it was sweet.
Jeno had already pulled away by the time Renjun had fully comprehended the situation. His only reminder was the sweet tingle from his lips and Jeno’s curled fingers in his hair. Oh and the burning blush on his cheeks.
“Goodnight,” Jeno murmured, blushing just as hard as he was. His hand dropped from Renjun’s hair as he took a step back. Renjun was shocked to find himself pleased at the sight of Jeno being just as breathless as he was.
Everything from there felt like a blur. He couldn’t even remember stepping into Jeno’s bedroom alone or shutting the door behind him. All he could hear was the thumping of his heart and the echo of Jeno’s retreating footstep. But through the flurry of his heart and churning of his gut, Renjun concluded that he wouldn’t mind if his Christmases looked like this for the rest of his life. As his back slid down the door and his hand clenched over his heart, he decided he’d relive it over and over just to feel the flutter of Jeno’s soft lips on his again.