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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3RD
Carrying boxes at six a.m. was the farthest thing away from Yuuri’s dream Sunday morning. His idea was in fact closer to sleeping in under the softest and warmest duvet he could imagine, and be gently woken up by the buttery smell of freshly made pancakes. Instead, he had been woken up at five by his roommate, who, seeing as the three alarms hadn’t managed to do their job, had started throwing shoes at him, screaming that they were late.
The weather in the early morning of the third of December was, also, not ideal. Yuuri buried his face in his scarf as much as he could, his glasses fogging up as he did so, and tried to cover his hands with the hems of his jacket, cursing himself for not bringing his gloves.
Yuuri had worked at the Christmas Market since he was a kid. His family owned a hand-made wool crafts business, and they were quite popular during Christmas shopping times. Their stall was a fixture and they were always able to earn quite a lot, helping out everyone who desperately needed Christmas gifts, especially last-minute ones. Yuuri was used to working there, but his mind always forgot how tiring the first day of setting up the stall was, either to preserve him from the bad memories or because he was so tired that his brain couldn’t actually process the event.
“Come on, Yuuri!” Phichit called cheerfully as Yuuri put down a box. “We’re almost done, there are only 10 boxes left!”
“Minako is coming with another full car, dear.” Hiroko said, patting Phichit’s arm. “It was very kind of you to come and help us.”
“Are you kidding me? I love being here! This is fun!”
Yuuri side-eyed him, worried for his friend. “Phichit, it’s six in the morning, it’s still dark, and my ears are frozen. How can this be your idea of fun?”
“Every moment I can spend with you is fun, Yuuri.” Phichit said seriously.
“I don’t believe you. We stayed up until two playing video games yesterday, and you need your eight hours of sleep to function.” Yuuri lifted up a box and handed it to his friend. “I know you, and I know there’s another reason, spit it out.”
Phichit sighed while they carried a box each towards the stall, where Yuuri’s father was tiding up. “My sister won a Mario Kart game, and I’m supposed to call home today. I don’t feel like calling her right now.”
“Phichit! That’s the dumbest reason ever, she’s fourteen! What could she even do?”
“Yuuri, my sweet angel, not everyone is a cinnamon roll like you. Fourteen-years-olds are mean, and my sister is extra mean with me!”
Yuuri huffed, finally setting down the box. “I’ll let you know, I’m not an angel. Mari was really scared of me when I was in middle school.”
The boys heard a snort coming from the stall, where Mari was helping Toshiya. “Sure, little brother, I was quacking in my boots.”
Suddenly, they heard a loud thud from the nearby cabin, followed by a scream. Yuuri ran towards the stall, Phichit on his heels behind him. Behind the cabin, they found a young man around their age, laying on the ground with a hammer in his hand and a wooden ladder next to him.
Yuuri ran towards him, crouching down next to him. “Hey! How are you? Are you okay? Did you hit your head?” The man beneath him had fair hair, a color similar to silver, and pale, porcelain like skin with a dusting of barely visible freckles on the bridge of his nose. Panicked by his unresponsiveness, Yuuri reached for his wrist, trying to feel his pulse. “Please don’t be dead! Please, I wouldn’t know what to do!”
Miraculously, the man made a small sound and Yuuri let go of his wrist, reaching for his face instead. “Oh my god, you’re alive! Can you hear me?”
The other man opened his eyes, his gaze still foggy and unfocused. He looked at Yuuri, and finally murmured his first words. “An angel…”
Yuuri felt his cheeks flushing red. “Oh my god, you really hit your head…”
He tried to sit up, but Yuuri stopped him. “What are you doing?! You can’t sit up, you might have a concussion!”
“I’ve never been better. I’ll never be ill again now that you’re with me!” the other protested, fighting a little against Yuuri, but ultimately choosing to lay back down.
“Victor!” a voice behind them screamed, and Yuuri turned to see his friend running back towards them, accompanied by a tall man.
“Victor, are you okay?” he squatted down on the men’s other side.
Phichit sat next to Yuuri. “I went to look for someone who knew him down the street and this guy said he worked in this stall, so I figured he would do.”
“Do you know what happened?” the newcomer asked, clearly worried. He seemed to be around their age too, and he sported a pair of glasses and a blond undercut.
“I think he fell down the ladder but we didn’t see the scene, we only came because we heard a scream.” Yuuri tried to calm himself, now that he wasn’t alone anymore.
“There was an askew tile, and I wanted to fix it. I think I fell, and this angel came to save me from sure death!” The injured man, Victor, was clearly still out of it, but nevertheless Yuuri blushed once more. When Victor tried to reach for Yuuri’s face dramatically, his friend and Phichit chuckled.
“Okay, Casanova,” his friend finally interrupted him, “you know I always support it, but this is no time to flirt.”
“I really think you should bring him to the hospital. He was out of it for a while, and he seems…” Yuuri paused, slightly panicked, as Victor caressed his hair. “He doesn’t seem fine to me.”
“You’re right, it seems safer. Would you mind helping me to carry him to my car?”
A few minutes after, and a lot of inappropriate touching from Victor later, they found themselves in front of the car with Victor sitting, still looking slightly dazed.
“Thank you for your help. By the way, I’m Chris, and that was Victor. I think we’re going to see each other again.” Chris said, an almost imperceptible chuckle in his voice.
“Take care! I hope it’s nothing serious. I’m Yuuri, and this is Phichit. Let us know how it went when you’re back, please.”
Phichit and Yuuri stood on the pavement as the car drove away, Victor waving at them with his face glued to the window.
“Well,” Phichit started as they went back to their stall. “That was quite something. I hope we get to see more of them.”
Yuuri nodded wordlessly, still worried about Victor.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6TH
Three days later, Yuuri was sitting behind the counter of their stall. Most people walked by him, a few stopping to check at what they sold, even fewer actually buying something. Christmas time had just started, after all, and people still weren’t panicking about finding Christmas gifts.
He was looking at his phone, the sun just setting in the cold afternoon, when he heard someone clearing their voice in front of him. He prepared his best business smile, ready to talk to a client, but he found Victor in front of him instead.
After that Sunday, Yuuri hadn’t met him anymore, he had only seen Chris working at the stall with a younger, apparently angry boy. He had found the courage to go and ask how he was doing the day following the accident and had learnt that he was fine, but he had still been slightly worried.
Now Victor was in front of him, apparently fine, standing with a timid smile and two paper cups.
“Hi,” he started, “I wanted to thank you for helping me on Sunday, it was very kind of you. I brought you this as a thank you gift.” He offered Yuuri one of the cups, and Yuuri saw that it was the hot chocolate that Victor and Chris sold at their stall.
“Also,” Victor went on, blushing, “I wanted to apologize for being… handsy, on Sunday. I was really out of it, I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”
“It’s fine!” Yuuri was quick to put him out of his misery. “Really, I get it. And I’m glad you’re better.” He took a sip of his chocolate, and gasped. “Wow, this is delicious! Thank you so much!”
Victor smiled and Yuuri noticed that his smile looked like a heart. “I’m glad you like it! I also wanted to introduce myself properly. I’m Victor.”
“I’m Yuuri.” Yuuri introduced himself cuddling his cup closer, basking in the warmth of the chocolate.
“Vitya!” the angry boy interrupted them, shouting from his stall. “There’s clients here, come and do something!”
Victor huffed, annoyed by the interruption. “I’m sorry, it looks like they need me. I hope we’ll talk again soon, Yuuri.” he said with a warm smile, walking away.
Yuuri kept sipping his chocolate behind the stall, smiling at the occasional customers and doing his best to be present, still thinking about the brief dialogue with Victor.
“Are you okay?” Mari asked him at the shift change, looking at him curiously as Yuuri gathered his things, bringing the now empty chocolate cup with him to throw it away.
Yuuri looked at her confused. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”
Mari shrugged. “Jeez, I’m just asking. You know, because I’m a nice sister.”
Yuuri sticked his tongue at her, and wrapped himself tightly in his scarf, burying his face in it. Walking away, he looked at the hot chocolate stall. Chris was currently covering his shift, and when he noticed Yuuri he waved at him, smiling. Yuuri waved back, and noticed how Chris smile turned into a knowing grin as he spotted the chocolate cup.
On the bus home, Yuuri kept thinking about ice blue eyes, hot chocolate and the tingle these things gave him.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9TH
“Like, can you imagine? Everyone keeps saying that it’s a publicity stunt, but she totally loves him! Have you seen…?”
“Hi!” someone interrupted a really animated Phichit, and both him and Yuuri turned to see who it was.
“Victor, hi! Can we help you?” Yuuri said, blushing slightly. It was Saturday, almost a week after the accident. He hadn’t talked to Victor anymore; their shifts didn’t match and Yuuri hadn’t been able to find a reason to go and talk to him yet.
The weekend had brought a bigger crowd than usual. There were couples, groups of friends, families and people walking their dogs, making the street look livelier than ever before. Yuuri could distinctly detect the sweet smells of cotton candy, chocolate and soft pretzels, and he knew that the fairy lights created a beautiful atmosphere in the late evening. He especially noticed how the lights created delicate plays of light and shadows on Victor’s face, making his features look softer, and giving new, sparkling light to his eyes.
Victor was standing in front of them, as he had done on Wednesday, with two paper cups in his hands, and offering them to Yuuri and Phichit. “I wanted to thank you both again for Sunday!”
Yuuri accepted the cup, but frowned slightly. “You already thanked me, Victor. There’s no need to keep thanking us. And you can’t keep giving us chocolate, please let me pay this time!”
“Oh no, I think it’s fine.” Phichit said, squinting his eyes at Victor. “I’m Phichit, by the way! So, you already came here to thank Yuuri?”
“I… yeah, it was very kind of him to help me…” Victor scratched his nose, and Yuuri thought that the lights dancing on his face made it look like he was blushing.
“How thoughtful of you! So, you work here with Chris?”
While Phichit and Victor made some small talk, Yuuri took a sip from his cup. The chocolate this time tasted differently, it had a delicious nutty aftertaste, and Yuuri couldn’t help but make a small, appreciating sound.
“That’s so good! What is this?” he exclaimed, savoring the taste in his mouth, letting it coat his tongue and warm him.
Victor let out a brief, happy laugh. “It’s gianduja! Do you like it?”
“It tastes amazing! You guys really sell the best chocolate. What else do you have?”
“Chris’ parents own a chocolate shop, this is their first year participating in the market. They have two stalls, this one for the hot chocolate and another at the end of the road for pralines. I’m helping Chris out, he’s my best friend.”
“And I need the help of my best friend, now!” Phichit called out, sounding slightly panicked.
While Yuuri and Victor had been talking, some clients had gathered around the stall, and Phichit was obviously having trouble attending all of them.
“I’m sorry Victor, I have to help Phichit now!” Yuuri set his cup temporarily aside, rushing to help his friend.
“Absolutely, don’t worry! I’ll see you around, then?” Victor asked. There was a slight shadow of an emotion Yuuri couldn’t quite detect in his voice, making him almost sound disappointed.
“Of course! Have a good evening!” Yuuri waved, and he couldn’t help but smile widely at him.
After the brief client rush ended and they could finally sit together, Yuuri found himself being stared at by a clearly interested Phichit.
“So, Victor.” Phichit started, eyes gleaming with mischief.
“What about him?”
“He seems nice, doesn’t he?”
Yuuri reached for his cup, that was still sitting on the counter. The chocolate inside had gone slightly colder, but it still felt warm enough for Yuuri. He took a sip, still marveling at the taste. “He really is, yeah.”
“And he’s very cute too, don’t you think?” Phichit said, smirking slightly.
“What, do you want to date him?” Yuuri asked, secretly hoping to hear a negative answer.
“Nah, he’s not my type. And I think he might have already set his eyes on someone else, you know?” He pointedly elbowed Yuuri’s stomach, waggling his eyebrows.
“Sure, Phichit, sure. He’s just kind, that’s all.” Yuuri took another sip, but his mind was already on the edge of leaving for a mental journey.
“Okay, we’ll see who’s right. But this chocolate is really stellar, I must say. Just so you know, I would be really happy if you did end up dating him.”
“You just want the hot chocolate!” Yuuri accused, earning a wink in response from Phichit.
They sat in silence for a while, letting the chocolate permeate their senses, then Phichit talked again. “So, where were we?”
“You were saying that you think she’s happy and in love now.”
Phichit’s eyes lit up again. “She totally is! Did I show you this video from the latest concert?” He took his phone and started looking through endless fan accounts, and Yuuri knew that he was safe from his friend’s scrutiny for now.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12TH
“Yuuri, good afternoon!” Victor ran to get to Yuuri, who had just gotten off the bus and was walking towards the market.
It was still early afternoon; a pale sun was shining hidden behind a thick blanket of white clouds. It wasn’t strong enough to warm the air, and Yuuri was happy to have brought his mittens. The luminosity was high enough that Yuuri had to squint at Victor, who had caught up and was now following his pace to stay next to him.
Victor didn’t look as bothered by the cold as Yuuri did, and he was simply wearing a jacket that he dared to leave open in his neck area and a scarf that, Yuuri thought, didn’t look soft enough, and Yuuri promised himself to fix that. Yuuri, on the other hand, was wearing his well-loved and worn beanie that did its best to cover his ears, and had wrapped the scarf around his neck so tightly that he wondered if breathing too deep could have made him choke. He knew that the cold had reddened his nose and cheeks, and he knew it wasn’t his best look.
“Good afternoon!” said Yuuri, backpack flung on a shoulder, hiding his hands deep in his pockets. “It’s cold today, don’t you think?”
Victor shrugged next to him, his hands comfortably sitting in his pockets. “I’m Russian, the cold never bothered me anyway.” He said, tossing a side eye at Yuuri, who snorted at the reference. “I think it’s going to snow later.” Victor continued smiling, “I can smell it in the air.”
Yuuri laughed at this, not believing him. “Sure, what are you, a dog?”
“No, but I would love to be one! Do you like dogs, Yuuri?”
“I love dogs! I have a poodle, he’s a bit old and he doesn’t love the cold, either.” Yuuri said, finally in front of his booth. He hoped that the heater inside might warm him up. He stopped in front of the booth, looking at Victor. There wasn’t no one around yet, most stalls had gone on lunch breaks and this was the first shift for Yuuri after the pause.
“I have a poodle too, Yuuri! We should introduce them, I fear that my Makka might feel very lonely, she would love to have a friend!” Victor’s eyes were shining, and Yuuri thought that his cheek were surely hurting him from how wide his smile was.
Seeing him so happy made Yuuri giggle like a smitten schoolgirl, but Victor was laughing too, delighted, so Yuuri didn’t even feel embarrassed. They looked at each other for a heartbeat, and Yuuri hoped that Victor thought that his blush was only deepening because of the cold.
Right when Victor opened his mouth to say something, Yuuri turned. “Well then, I’d better go. See you later!” he said, and entered the stall.
Victor scratched his nose, face slightly pink. “Sure! I have to go too, we’ll talk later!” he stuttered before disappearing, fast.
Yuuri took a big breath, and started rearranging the items in front of him, Victor’s laugh still echoing between his thoughts.
After an hour and a half, Yuuri noticed the first snowflakes softly falling to the ground, and laughed surprised.
After another half an hour, someone clearing his throat distracted him from his reading, and already knowing who it was Yuuri raised his head, smiling.
“See, I told you it would snow.” Said Victor, offering Yuuri a paper cup.
“You did, I should have listened to you. And you need to stop giving me chocolate, I’ll ruin your business!”
“Nah, no one will notice. So, I won the bet! What do I get?”
Yuuri looked in the cup and saw that the chocolate was covered in whipped cream, with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top, and took an experimental sip. He tasted it thoroughly before asking “Dark chocolate?”
“With whipped cream and cinnamon! Do you like it?” replied Victor visibly excited.
Yuuri couldn’t help but laugh. “I love it, thank you!”
“So, what do I win?”
“I don’t remember a bet, Victor. Congratulations, you were right. Is that enough?”
“But I was right, I should win something!” Victor protested. He leaned over the counter, bringing his face closer to Yuuri’s, and giving him his best attempt to puppy eyes. “Wasn’t I good, Yuuri?”
Yuuri chocked on hair, surprised by Victor’s sudden closeness. He was instantly very glad that Phichit wasn’t there with him and that he was doing the shift by himself. “I… Sure, okay then, you were very good. What would you like?” he stuttered, blushing furiously.
Victor put his index finger in front of his mouth, pensive. “Mhh, how about a date on Saturday, after your shift?”
“A date? With me?” Yuuri thought he must be living in a sitcom, this sort of thing never happened to him.
“Sure, I would like to go on a date with you very much. Would you like that, Yuuri?” Victor looked him straight in the eyes, gaze full of hope, and Yuuri knew he couldn’t deny him anything.
He nodded, too stunned to speak, and was rewarded by Victor heart-shaped smile.
“Great!” he exclaimed straightening his back, beaming.
Yuuri noticed that snow was covering his hair, wetting it. He grabbed the first hat his hands could reach, and handed it to Victor. “Here! For you, so that your hair won’t get wet!”
Victor grabbed the shock pink beanie he had just been gifted, regarding it with eyes full of surprise, as if it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and wore it without sparing a second thought.
“Yuuri, thank you! How do I look?” he said, smile even wider than before.
Yuuri swallowed and got up from his seat, heart thumping loudly in his ears. He raised his arm, fixing the crooked lapel of Victor’s hat, and looked him in the eyes. “Beautiful.”
Victor smiled again, his cheeks and the bridge of his nose reddening.
On the bus back home, Yuuri kept thinking about what had happened, smiling dazed in a dreamlike state.
When he opened his house’s door, singing mindlessly under his breath, Phichit took one look at him and grinned, preparing himself for the story that would surely follow.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16TH
In the days before their date, Victor had come by Yuuri’s stall multiple times. As opposite to the first week, they happened to share the same shifts most days than not, almost as if Victor had asked someone when Yuuri’s turns where.
He always came by with a different cup of hot chocolate every day, sometimes even more than once a day. And, he always wore the hideous pink beanie Yuuri had gifted him. After a couple of visits, Yuuri had offered to switch it out with something less noticeable, but Victor had clutched the hat in his hands, looking offended on the hat’s behalf, and had strongly refused the offer.
Yuuri was currently waiting anxiously until six pm, hoping Victor hadn’t forgotten. It didn’t seem likely to him, considering how the other talked about this date every time they saw each other, but Yuuri’s brain was still scared about the possibility. Or, even worse, he feared that Victor had finally come to his senses and that his weird interest for Yuuri had disappeared.
What spooked Yuuri the most was that he hadn’t seen Victor yet that day. Once he had noticed that he wasn’t coming by, he had found the courage to go himself to Victor’s stall, but the other wasn’t there. He had instead found himself in front of the small angry boy and Chris. The first one was frowning and muttering what felt like curses in a language Yuuri didn’t know, while the latter had smirked and asked him if he could help him, and not knowing what to do Yuuri had asked for two cups of hot chocolate. When he brought them back to his stall and offered one to Phichit, who was covering the same shift as him, the other had raised an eyebrow and had shaken his head.
Yuuri was busying himself with his phone when Phichit’s elbow almost cracked his ribs.
“Hey! What was that for?” he turned to protest, but he met Phichit’s wagging eyebrows and radiant smile instead.
On their right, in the distance, Yuuri could see Victor approaching, still at the start of the road, wearing the ugly pink hat and carrying a bouquet of flowers. His smile was so bright that they could both see it from the distance, and Yuuri hid himself at the back of the stall.
“Phichit!” he whispered excitedly, “He has flowers! Do you think they’re for me?”
“No, I think he has another date with another hot guy. Yuuri, of course they’re for you!”
Yuuri blushed intensely thinking about it, then took off his hat and tried to comb his hair with his hands. “Phichit, check my hair, is it a mess? Do I even look decent?”
Phichit run in his rescue trying to fix Yuuri’s hair too. “You’re making it worse! Let me do it. And don’t worry, with the sweater I told you to wear you look amazing. Maybe you’d better open your jacket though, Victor won’t see anything otherwise!”
“But I’ll freeze to death!” Yuuri’s whisper was close to becoming a hushed scream. “I…”
“Hello Yuuri!” interrupted Victor. Yuuri turned towards the street, Phichit quickly removing his hands from Yuuri’s hair, and saw Victor, who was standing in front of the stall, still smiling. “You look very beautiful today. These are for you!” he said, offering the bouquet to Yuuri.
Yuuri took the colorful bouquet and cradled it close to his chest, studying the flowers. There were beautiful red camelias that made Yuuri blush for their meaning, white amaryllis, holly, the sweetest pink lilacs… and orange lilium? Yuuri looked at them for a second, knowing that the meaning of the flower was ‘hatred’, and looked at Victor, searching for an explanation. But the other was smiling, his eyes looking almost heart-shaped, and Yuuri knew that it probably hadn’t been done on purpose, chances were that the other didn’t even know the meaning.
“Do you like them, Yuuri? I chose them for you!” Victor said, beaming, and Yuuri couldn’t help but nod and smile timidly.
Yuuri noticed that Victor’s eyes wandered to the counter and settled on the now empty familiar paper cup, filling up with sudden sadness. Victor raised his gaze and looked at Yuuri with his best puppy eyes, voice full of distress. “Yuuri, you already got your hot chocolate without me…”
“I’m sorry!” Yuuri exclaimed hurriedly, hoping to set Victor free from his misery as quickly as it had washed over him. “It’s just that I was waiting for you to come around and you wouldn’t come, so I went to your booth, but you weren’t there, and I ended up getting the chocolate because I didn’t know what to do…”
“Yuuri!” Victor’s excitement almost made him shout, looking delighted, “You went looking for me! Did you think I would stand you up?”
Yuuri could feel his cheeks becoming rosy. “I don’t know, I was worried…” he muttered, looking down.
When he looked up after a silent moment he met Victor’s eyes, looking at him as if he was enchanted. They stayed silent for a while, then Victor raised a hand to scratch at his nose. “Ready for our date then?”
Yuuri nodded and left the flowers in the back of the cabin, not wanting to risk ruining them by carrying them around, and said his goodbye to a winking Phichit, who was continuing his shift.
Exiting from the cabin, he found himself in front of Victor, who was looking at him with clear affection and excitement in his eyes. “So,” Yuuri asked finally, “where are you bringing me?”
Victor looked at him for a second, unmoving, then blinked. Yuuri observed him as his face got progressively redder and redder, biting his lip slightly worried. “I forgot that part…” muttered Victor at least, clearly mortified, looking down and shifting on his feet embarrassed.
Yuuri exploded in a liberatory laugh, not being able to contain himself. “Are you telling me that you gifted me all that hot chocolate, bought me flowers and put in so much effort but you didn’t actually manage to plan the date?” he was finally able to say mid-laughs.
Victor still looked guilty, but Yuuri could see something akin to hope in his face. “I’m sorry, I got all excited thinking about it, but I forgot to think about an activity. I was happy just thinking about hanging out with you.”
He seemed sincere, so Yuuri smiled at him and touched his arm to comfort him. “It’s fine, I’m not mad. It’s just funny, honestly. Why don’t we stroll around the market a bit and see if we can come up with something along the way?”
Victor looked down at his arm, where Yuuri was touching him, then looked back up at him. “Okay, let’s go!”
They walked past Victor’s stall, where Chris and the blond boy were working. The first one waved at them, while the blond scolded and tutted at them.
“Does that guy have a problem with me? He wasn’t very nice to me earlier either.” Yuuri asked unsure.
“Don’t worry about him, that’s my brother. He doesn’t like that you have the same name as him. And he says that I talk about you too often.”
“Is his name Yuuri too?” Yuuri asked, choosing to ignore the second part of what Victor had said.
“It sounds a bit different than yours, his name is Yuri, with a shorter ‘u’ sound. It’s a Russian name.”
“Did you move here from there?”
“Yes, I moved here to study, and I brought my brother with me. I’ve always wanted to move, see the world, and Yuri needed it too, I think.”
A child with her dog on a leash ran between them, forcing them to separate briefly. Yuuri hadn’t seen the entire market yet, only the side that was on the way to the bus stop. They walked through the market, passing in front of countless stalls that looked similar to theirs.
The crowd was dense enough to force them to walk very close to each other, making their arms and the back of their hands brush every once in a while. The brief contact felt like champagne bubbles fizzing up to Yuuri, and the sensation crept through his veins and warmed his heart, that did a little flip every time.
The street was mainly lit up by the fairy lights that casted their glow through the impalpable fog that permeated the cold evening air, and conferred a soft, yellowish aura to the entire scene. Yuuri thought that it was very pretty, and that Victor looked especially good enclosed in gold. His eyes were twinkling like stars, setting down fleetingly on people and places just to fly away the next moment, looking for something new every time.
“What do you study here?” Yuuri asked after a brief, comfortable silence.
“Foreign languages, currently French. There’s something very interesting in other people, and I want to understand as much as I can from what’s surrounding me.” Victor lowered his gaze to Yuuri, setting it on his face and making him blush slightly. He set him free when he noticed it, smiling apologetically. “What about you, Yuuri?”
“My family and I moved here from Japan when me and my sister were kids. We own a woolen goods business, so here we are. I live at the college with Phichit as my roommate, and I’m a business student. Really, there’s nothing that interesting about me.”
“I don’t think so, Yuuri. You seem very interesting to me. You saved me, after all.” Victor smiled again, and Yuuri huffed.
They kept walking until they found themselves in the main square, at the middle of the Christmas market, where a big, beautiful Christmas tree stood at the center, adorned with golden ribbons and crystal decorations that allowed the lights to reflect through them, scattering them. Near the tree there was an open-air ice-skating rink, with garlands and Christmas ornaments affixed on the boarders. The rink appeared less crowded than Yuuri would have expected, only three couples and a family were currently skating, and Yuuri looked at them with a smile charged with melancholia.
“You know, I sometimes skated when I was a child, in Japan. There was a small, family-owned rink in our village. I remember going there with my best friend. I was terrible at it, but we used to have so much fun trying and copy professional skaters’ routines.” He let out a quiet laugh as the memories rushed through him, and turned to look at Victor. The other was looking at him with his head slightly tilted, appearing pensive, finally letting out a soft sound after a moment.
“Would you like to go skating with me, Yuuri?”
“Victor, I’m terrible at it! I wasn’t good as a child, I’ll be even worse now. I haven’t skated in more than ten years!”
“That’s not a problem, I’ll hold your hand! Come on, it will be fun!” Victor was looking at him with his puppy eyes Yuuri was getting used to seeing more and more often.
He thought about skating with Victor, holding his hand like he could see the couples in the rink were doing, and burrowed his head in his scarf to hide the blush that was surely coming. “Okay.” He finally agreed, and if it came out slightly chocked by his feelings Victor would have better not pay attention to it.
Victor eyes radiated happiness, and he took Yuuri’s hand to tug him towards the rental stall, accidentally stopping briefly Yuuri’s heart.
“You can skate, right?” Yuuri asked once they had gotten their skates. They had been given each a pair of horrible blue plastic skates, with metal mechanisms to tighten them. Yuuri thought that they stank quite badly, and secretly hoped that they wouldn’t hurt him as much as he thought.
Victor tutted. “I’m Russian, Yuuri.” They sat down on a wooden bench, and Yuuri studied the mechanism on his skates, figuring out how it worked.
“That’s not an answer…” he murmured to himself as he wore his skates. When he turned, he found Victor already standing. “You’re impatient, aren’t you?” Victor nodded, so Yuuri stood too, checking if the boot was too tight or too loose. Finding it fitting, he moved towards the entrance to the rink, Victor following him closely.
He set his right foot on the ice, then his left, clutching the barrier with his other hand. He slowly started moving, trying to activate his muscle memory, and found that the movement still felt familiar. One he was sure he turned towards Victor, excitement bubbling up in his chest and showing in his eyes. Victor beamed at him, and stepped out on the ice.
Yuuri watched with horror as the other’s foot slipped, bringing Victor down with his butt on the ice. He rushed to his help as best as he could, still clutching the barrier, and carefully got down to his knees. “Are you alright?” he asked alarmed.
Victor was reclined on his hands, looking around confused. “Of course, I am, Yuuri! See, I’ll get up now.” He tried to raise to his feet, failing miserably and finding himself down on his hands and knees.
“Wait Victor, you’ll hurt yourself like this. Here, do it like I do.” Yuuri showed Victor the proper technique, one knee on the ice and pressing down on it to get up, and Victor was standing in front of him. “Victor, you don’t know how to skate. Am I right?”
Victor scratched his nose. “Well, I’ve never done it, but how hard can it be? I told you, I’m Russian, it runs in my veins, see?” he tried to take a step and stumbled, Yuuri catching him from the lapel of his jacket.
“Okay, this won’t work. Stop trying to show off and set your hand on the barrier, I’ll teach you.”
After a very exasperating long time, Yuuri had managed to teach Victor the basics, how to move forward and how to stop. They were going around the rink, firmly attached to the barrier, per Yuuri’s orders, and holding hands, per Victor’s request, but Yuuri had been very happy to comply. Yuuri had to stop Victor from trying to get to the center of the rink from time to time, but he was really having fun spending time with him.
“So Yuuri,” Victor asked after a few laps “how much skating did you do as a child? You seem good to me.”
“Not much. I used to dance, and I had no time to take on another sport. But my best friend had a coach, she was really good at it, and she would sometimes teach me some tricks. I never learnt jumps or hard spins, but it was fun. She turned competitive for a while, but she stopped at the juniors level. She works at the local rink, now.”
“Why didn’t you change sport to skating? It seems like you loved it.”
“I did, but I liked dancing more. I wasn’t stimulated enough to do it. I guess, I missed some kind of push, you know?”
Victor nodded, seemingly understanding what Yuuri meant. Yuuri thought he looked really beautiful when he was deep in thought, his eyes seemed to become darker and his expression became intense, stronger. That was also how he noticed his sudden change of expression to silliness, and he feared what was going to come.
“I think I became good enough, Yuuri, would you like to see a trick?” Victor asked, suddenly excited. He set his hand free from Yuuri’s grasp and moved towards the center of the rink. Yuuri had to admit that Victor had really gotten better quickly, he only looked slightly insecure, but this didn’t mean he trusted his self-assessment. Victor gained speed and turned on the ice, which Yuuri could appreciate, but he hadn’t taught to Victor how to skate backwards yet. Apparently, that was when Victor remembered that detail, because Yuuri saw him widen his eyes in terror before falling backwards. Yuuri ran to his rescue, one more time, forgetting to hold onto the barrier, but miraculously didn’t fall.
He kneeled next to Victor, again. “You really have to stop endangering yourself! Are you hurt?”
Victor shook his head, apologetic. “I’m sorry, my angel, you’re right.”
Yuuri got himself back on his feet, then helped Victor. “Come on, I think this was enough skating for today. Let’s go back.”
Victor accepted the help reluctantly. “But I like being with you…” he protested weakly.
“I like it too, but we can’t be together if you’re dead.”
They skated back towards the entrance, and Yuuri exited the ice. “Careful now, when you first set your back on land you might feel a bit like your legs are jelly.”
“Yuuri, you make me feel like my legs are…” he started before actually stepping on land. “Oh, you’re right, it feels weird.”
“Come on Casanova, let’s take those skates off, I don’t want you to fall again.”
“My Yuuri cares for me…” said Victor dreamingly, sitting on the bench.
“You got hurt multiple times around me, I don’t want to be arrested for attempted murder.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let that happen.” Victor bent down to unlace his skates, but let out a pained grunt before being able to reach his foot. “Ah, I must have hurt my back when I fell…”
Yuuri, now in his shoes, squatted down in front of Victor. “Come on, I’ll do it for you.”
He started unlacing Victor’s skates, paying attention to widen them enough before starting to take them off his feet, one by one.
“Thank you!” Victor stopped him with a very high-pitched squeal. Yuuri looked up and found the other man looking at him with deep crimson red painting his cheeks and his eyes widened. He backed up in horror of what he had just done, apologizing profusely.
“It’s fine, Yuuri, I just wasn’t expecting it.” Victor moved back a stray strand of hair that had rudely escaped from the hat. “I quite liked it, actually.” he said, winking.
Yuuri got up, offering his hand to Victor to help him get up. “Come on, let’s go back.”
Victor took his hand, and didn’t let go for a long time.
They walked together mixing chatter about sweet nothings with comfortable silence, across the entire market, hand in hand, until they got to the bus stop.
“Here I am.” Yuuri said, looking at Victor. “Thank you for the date, I really had fun.”
“Would you like to do this again another time?” Victor asked without being able to conceal the hope in his voice.
“I’d love to.”
In the silence that followed, the first thing that Yuuri noticed was Victor coming closer, looking at his mouth. Yuuri had no intention of backing off. But then, he noticed the bus approaching fast, so he turned mindlessly to signal at the driver to stop. When he turned again, he saw sadness pouring from Victor’s eyes.
“I’m sorry! I… the bus won’t pass again in at least one hour, I have to go…”
“Don’t worry, Yuuri.” Victor softly caressed Yuuri’s face, then winked. “Next time.”
From the bus, Yuuri saw Victor waving at him in the still lively street. The sun had long gone, only the lampposts brightening the scene with their warm yellow glow. The only color Yuuri could properly detect was the pink of Victor’s hat, then Victor, still waving, got slowly swallowed in the darkness as the bus started moving.
At home, Yuuri looked at the bouquet Victor had gifted him, and found a note inside. He opened it, finding a phone number and a red heart. Laughing, he quickly took his phone in hand, carefully writing the first text, beaming. He didn’t stop smiling even as Phichit commented something rude at him, flipping him off, but grinning nonetheless.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21ST
The past week had been, much like the previous one, filled with hot chocolate and sweet smiles from Victor. The other man had come to talk to him every day since their date, and Yuuri had gotten so used to seeing him every day that the thought of his absence seemed unfathomable. Yuuri had started visiting Victor stall in return, and had found out that Chris was a really nice person, even if he could be a bit flirty. He still hadn’t cracked the code to get Yuri to like him, but he was working on it.
Yuuri was just working on it, resting his weight on the counter, trying not to block the access to any potential client. The chocolate stall seemed to be very popular, more than Yuuri’s, but not so much during the week. The streets had actually started filling up more than before, Yuuri’s stall had received a lot more attention lately, mainly by people who hadn’t thought of Christmas gifts yet, and that who had run into his stall. Yuuri felt the increase of work acutely, and he didn’t like it one bit, but he loved finding shelter at Victor’s.
“I like your hoodie, Yuri.” He tried to catch the teen’s attention. “Tigers are very cool.”
“What?” the teen almost attacked him. “Are you making fun of me? Do you want to date me too?”
Yuuri stared at him speechless. “No, I genuinely like it, really. I wanted to let you know.”
The teen looked at him up and down, squinting slightly. “Everyone I know says it’s ugly.”
“Well, it isn’t. I think tigers fit you honestly.”
Yuri huffed and turned, mumbling something, and Yuuri looked at Victor confused, not knowing how to proceed.
“Don’t worry.” Victor said, coming closer to the side where Yuuri was. “I think he likes you deep down. He’s just wary of people in general.”
“Like a cat.” Yuuri nodded wisely, making Victor laugh.
“So,” Victor started “four days till Christmas. What will you do on Christmas day?”
“Christmas isn’t really big in Japan, honestly… it’s mostly a day where people stay with their partners, actually. The big family parties are on New Year’s Eve, we never really celebrated Christmas with my family.”
“We don’t celebrate on the 25th, we celebrate on the 7th. So, we don’t really do anything either. Plus, it’s my birthday on the 25th.”
“Victor, why didn’t you say this sooner? Now I only have three days to find a gift for you!”
“Don’t worry Yuuri, there’s really no need for a gift, I haven’t celebrated birthdays in some time.”
Yuuri nodded, looking down at his mug for a moment, thinking. When he raised his gaze again Victor was looking at him, knowing that he needed time to think about something.
“I was thinking, how would you like to see each other on the 25th?” Yuuri finally asked, nervous.
“Yuuri! Are you asking me on a date?” Victor looked excited and delighted, so Yuuri nodded decisive. “Then ask me out properly! You’re asking me out for my birthday, after all.”
“Fine! Would you like to go on a date with me on Christmas day?”
“Of course I will!” exclaimed Victor, launching himself as best as he could over the counter at Yuuri, enveloping him in his arms and making him laugh. “You’re a real gentleman, Yuuri.”
They remained enveloped for a moment, and Yuuri noticed that Victor was looking at his lips once more. He expected a kiss when Victor moved away. “Your lips are very chapped, Yuuri, you should take better care of them. Here, I have some lip balm!”
He moved to where his coat was hanging and pulled out from a pocket a lip balm container that looked very expensive even to Yuuri’s untrained eye, unscrewing the lid while he got closer again.
After touching the balm, he brought the finger to Yuuri’s mouth, applying it carefully. Yuuri remained like that, unblinking and unmoving, petrified. He finally started blinking again only when Victor moved the finger away, squirming away.
“I… I think I have to go now!” he stammered, blushing furiously.
“Text me the details of the date!” Victor waved, looking satisfied from the reaction he had coaxed out of Yuuri.
While he got back to his stall, Yuuri heard Yuri muttering to Victor, “He’s not so bad, I think. Don’t scare him away, geezer!” and Yuuri smiled to himself, proud.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 25TH
Yuuri was sitting in the first bench he had found at the park he and Victor had agreed upon. It had snowed during the night, and everything around him was covered by a glistening white blanket. No one had shoveled the narrow cobblestones walkway that led inside the park, and Yuuri could see the imprints left by his footsteps and by Vicchan’s little paws. The branches, left naked by the autumnal shedding of the leaves, were now dressed in pearly snow, as were the evergreen trees in the park. The park was quiet, only the scattered cooing and chirping of some birds and the far away barking of a dog broke the morning silence.
Yuuri had only seen one couple walking their dog, hand in hand, and had smiled reflexively. He imagined that most people were still at home, sleeping in, and thought about parents woken up by their excited kids, like in the movies, gathering together to exchange gifts under the tree. He found the idea rather sweet, and although it wasn’t a tradition for him, he could understand why people did that.
Vicchan, who was sniffing around the nearby trees, let out a whine, and Yuuri looked down to see the dog at his feet, too small to jump on the bench next to Yuuri. He laughed, and picked him up, not wanting his dog to get wet by the pile of snow that was sitting beside him, laying him on his lap and petting his head, cooing sweet nonsense.
“Yuuri!” he heard after a few minutes, finding Victor, wearing his pink beanie, at the fence at the entrance of the park. He had an unleashed poodle trotting beside him, and was carrying two paper cups in his hands, smiling as he walked towards him. Vicchan jumped down from Yuuri’s laps, running towards Victor’s dog, who was similar to Vicchan, only a lot bigger. Yuuri followed his lead and walked towards them too, returning Victor’s smile.
“Victor, happy birthday!” he greeted the other, thrilled to see him.
“Merry Christmas!” said Victor, offering one of the cups he was holding. “I brought you some coffee, I hope you like it.”
Yuuri grabbed the cup, letting the heat seep through his gloves. He wasn’t a big coffee drinker, he preferred tea, but coffee was good to warm him up. “Would you like to sit for a bit?” he asked, and moved with Victor towards the bench he was previously occupying. Half of it had already been freed of the snow by Yuuri, and Victor did the same to the other half.
Once they were seated, they looked together at the dogs, who were currently busy with sniffing at each other. “I must introduce you to my Makkachin!” Victor blurted out in excitement, calling his dog, who ran straight to him, but stopped in front of Yuuri to sniff at him. “She is Makkachin, and she’s the best girl.” He explained, as Yuuri petted her with enthusiasm.
Vicchan had come too, and was now sniffing at Victor’s shoes, so Yuuri stopped petting Makkachin for a moment to pick Vicchan up. “He’s Vicchan, and he’s actually the best boy. I’m sure they’ll get along.”
Victor took the small dog from Yuuri’s arms, cuddling him. They remained like that, snuggling each other’s dog for a while, until Vicchan got tired and jumped down from the bench, Makkachin following him.
“I have something for you! Happy birthday.” Yuuri said once his hands were free, handing Victor the small paper bag he had been carrying around.
“Yuuri! You got me a gift, thank you!” Victor said, but Yuuri could see excitement in his eyes. He opened the bag, pulling out a book, and inspected it.
Yuuri got a bit anxious instantaneously, and started explaining. “You said you like studying languages, to understand other people, so I thought… I’m sorry, it was probably stupid, I can return it if you want!”
Victor interrupted him, examining the book. “Yuuri, you got me a Japanese textbook! Thank you, now I can get to know you better!”
He hugged Yuuri, wrapping his arms tightly around him and leaving Yuuri to squirm, slightly embarrassed.
“I have something for you too.” Victor said once he set Yuuri free, and handed him a small package he was keeping in his coat pocket.
“Victor, you really didn’t have to…” Yuuri started, but got soon interrupted by Victor, who shushed him. Inside, he found a clear plastic bags with golden, pyramid-shaped chocolates.
“They’re called Gianduiotti! I got them imported from Italy through Chris. Since you liked in one of the hot chocolates I gave you, the one with gianduja, I thought you’d love these!”
Yuuri busied himself opening the package, and then unwrapping a chocolate candy, not before offering one to Victor. He bit into it, savoring a similar sweet taste to the hot chocolate he had been gifted. He snuck one hand behind Victor’s back, and leaned his head into his shoulder, finding the position very comfortable. “Thank you.” He murmured, finding himself moved by the fact that Victor had remembered what he liked.
“You know,” Yuuri added, “in Japan it’s mostly couples that exchange gifts on Christmas day.” He looked up at Victor, and he found him grinning.
Once the dogs came back, they walked through the park, hand in hand, the image they made making Yuuri blush softly. It seemed like in that time more people had decided to go to the park for a walk, but the atmosphere still felt quiet and soft, the weak December sun pale behind the morning haze. Yuuri observed the winter scenery, Makkachin and Vicchan playing in front of them, the clear clouds formed by Victor’s and his breath mingling together, and leaned his head once more on Victor’s shoulder, the other circling his arm around Yuuri’s waist.
They walked until they found each other at the entrance to the park once more, starting to put the leash back on their dogs. When Yuuri got up again, he found Victor looking at him.
“I wanted to thank you, Yuuri. I spent a wonderful birthday with you. And thank you for your gift. I can’t wait to show you my progress!” He was smiling all the way to his eyes, and Yuuri thought he had never looked more beautiful than with that light in his eyes.
“Maybe I gave to the wrong gift, though. I should have gotten you a better hat!” Yuuri reached with his hand towards Victor’s head trying to grab the hat, but Victor stopped him, lacing their fingers together.
“I love this hat! It’s the first thing you gave me, I’m going to wear it forever!” he stated, proud.
“I’m going to gift you so many more hats, just don’t wear this one please! I’ll gift you hats every winter, I swear!” Yuuri begged, and he noticed that the distance between the two had gotten considerably less, as he could almost count the freckles on Victor’s face.
“And I’ll give you hot chocolate forever, that’s my promise.” Victor murmured sweetly, and Yuuri noticed that he was looking at his lips again.
“Are my lips chapped again?” Yuuri asked, teasingly. Victor shook his head, smirking.
“That’s good, then.” Yuuri whispered getting as close as he could, and he finally pressed his lips to Victor’s.
Yuuri could taste the residuals of coffee and chocolate in the other, finally receiving some warmth since the winter had started. He could feel the start of a smile curling Victor’s lips, and he snuck a hand in Victor’s hair, managing to slip the hat off.
When they separated, Victor was beaming, his cheeks as flushed as Yuuri’s, and brought the hand that wasn’t holding Yuuri’s waist to the top of his head, feigning shock. “Yuuri! Was this just a way to steal my hat?”
“No, but I won.” Yuuri smirked triumphantly, holding up Victor’s beanie.
“But Yuuri, I love that hat!” he pouted, flashing Yuuri with his puppy eyes.
Yuuri sighed, and placed the beanie on Victor again, stealing another quick peck. “I’ll still give you another one as soon as I can, I won’t forget.” He said, earning Victor’s smile once more.
“Yuuri, do you have somewhere to be? I want to stay with you some more time, if you wanted.”
Yuuri grabbed Victor’s hand, smiling. “Lead the way, then.”
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1ST – A YEAR LATER
Yuuri felt a cold nose pressing to his cheek, and buried himself deeper under the duvet. He could smell the buttery aroma of freshly made pancakes, and smiled in anticipation of what was coming. He felt a weight on top of the cover, and he heard a light sniffing sound. The cold nose found its way under the covers, and he felt the first lick on his forehead, making him squeal.
Knowing he was awake, the small dog kept licking at his face, until Yuuri’s sleepy face emerged from under the duvet, laughing. A greater weight landed on top of him, and Yuuri caught Makkachin as she started licking at his face, too.
“You’re awake, then! I knew the kids would do the trick!” a gleeful voice said from the bedroom door, and Yuuri turned to see Victor coming towards him, wearing a red apron, a plate of pancakes in his hands. He sat next to Victor on the bed, and leaned him to kiss him softly. “Happy start of the Christmas season, my love!”
“It’s so early, Vitya! I was still dreaming.” Yuuri protested, practicing the pout he had learned from Victor.
“I know, love. But we have to go and set the stalls for the market, you know the drill. I would never want to disappoint your parents!””
“Honestly, I think they like you more than me, you could never disappoint them. Will you fall from a ladder again at the market?” Yuuri teased, trying to reach for a pancake.
Victor moved the plate further away. “Falling off that ladder was the best thing that happened to me, I’ll let you know. And, no eating in bed, I don’t want our babies to look for the crumbs while we’re away. Come on, get up sleepyhead.” He kissed Yuuri’s forehead and got up, going back the kitchen.
Yuuri fell back on the bed, smiling, for once excited to wake up in the early December morning.