Until Next New Year // Lisrene

12: December

"I swear to... whoever is listening, that if I have to hear All I Want for Christmas one single time more before the end of the day I will throw this bottle of scotch through the nearest window," Chaeyoung said, gritting her teeth and brandishing the bottle dangerously.

"Please don't throw that bottle through my windows," Irene protested from where she was sitting curled up against Lisa on the sofa, under a blanket. "I can replace the windows, but that's a very expensive bottle of whisky and I think I'd miss it."

"Stop being such a grinch, Chaeyoung," Lisa laughed, scooting down the sofa and pulling Irene closer against her. "I mean, it suits you, but you're really sucking the fun out of the whole Christmas experience."

"You two weirdos have already done all of your shopping and don't have to go out into the stores with everyone playing the same damn playlists," Chaeyoung grumbled.

"Should've done it earlier," sang Lisa, squealing and ducking behind Irene, who in turn ducked behind Leo the giant bear when Chaeyoung mimed throwing the whisky at her instead of the window.

These days, Leo spent his time sitting in the living room of Irene's apartment, a daily reminder for Irene of their first date, and something for her to lie back on while she relaxed. Lisa had laughed when Irene had admitted that he was more comfortable than most of her expensive cushions and that she often fell asleep on him.

It was Christmas Eve, and Lisa and Irene had spent every weekend at Irene's house, Lisa packing a bag and inevitably leaving stuff at Irene's place so that she didn't have to keep carting things back and forth. They spent their days in sweats and hoodies, Irene often baking new batches of donuts with different ingredients for Lisa to try out. They had a large score chart stuck to the fridge with the different flavors and variations that Irene had invented. It had taken a few hours of coaxing Irene away from work the first Saturday, but now it seemed that nothing made Irene much happier than baking on a Saturday afternoon. Lisa counted it as a win that Irene hadn't brought any work home for the past two weekends, her laptop abandoned and remaining in its case, leaning against the desk.

Once, they'd played board games on the rug in front of the fire, the flames chasing away the chill of the air in the old house. Irene didn't like stuffy air, so left half of the windows open regardless of how cold it was outside. It took Lisa a little while to get used to it, but she found she slept better. Also, it made cuddling up with her beautiful brunette in bed much cozier.

Their enthusiasm for each other was as strong as ever, and the mornings where they woke up aching and covered in marks they'd left on their skin were more common than not. They made love to each other late into the night, usually passing out only to wake up and begin touching each other all over again. The truth was that Lisa was almost never happier than when she was making Irene come utterly undone beneath her. Lisa found that the usually put-together businesswoman was disturbingly easy to fluster. On the days when Lisa came to B-Corp to travel home with Irene for weekends or random evenings, she would tease Irene while she was trying to work until the brunette was crossing her legs beneath her desk. They were both glad that Irene's town car had a divider between them and the driver; they often arrived at Irene's apartment or home with their hair and clothes disheveled and trying to make themselves presentable before the driver opened the door.

Irene's driver had often caught them clutching at each other's clothes and laughing helplessly, and Irene had decided that he was getting a very large Christmas bonus for having had to deal with them for the last two months.

Nayeon was also getting a Christmas bonus; she had been invaluable to Irene this year. The fact that she and Chip had finally got together was something both Lisa and Irene were thrilled about. The size difference between the two was comical, and Nayeon still blushed whenever Lisa brought him up with her; her desk was always covered in fresh flowers whenever Lisa visited B-Corp.