Fidel introduced Tristan to his relatives. It made him realized just how truly large his extended family was, in contrast to being the only son of his parents.

Most of them greeted Tristan, and some initiated some small talks. Tristan felt a bit out-of-place being surrounded by strangers. But thankfully, Fidel was able to ease his tension.

After introducing his relatives, Fidel showed Tristan around his house. It marveled Tristan how pristine everything looked. Not only from the living room but also the kitchen, where Mr. Garcia was cooking a large feast, assisted by others. The backyard with a small pool, the mini theater room, and even the basement, which surprised Tristan the most.

A basement? In a Philippine house? That's pretty rare.

The basement looked like a glorified storage room based on the piles of boxes and items in a corner. There were also some rooms inside the basement, but one stuck out the most as it was painted gray compared to others that were painted cream.

Fidel must have noticed Tristan was looking at the gray door as he let out a bright smile and scooted next to him. "Oh! That's my gym! Do you want to check it out?"

Tristan smiled and nod, excited to see his gym. But his expression dropped when he realized what Fidel had said.

"Wait… you have a personal gym?"

Fidel smirked. He opened the door and gestured his hand to enter.

It was a small room with a treadmill, exercise bike, dumbbell and barbell sets, and other types of gym equipment that Tristan wasn't familiar with.

But it was the multiple large mirrors that spans almost on the entire length of the wall that stuck out the most.

"What do you think? Pretty cool, right?" he teased, tone oozing with pride.

“Yeah…” he whispered, still mesmerized by the gym.

Despite all the various gym equipments, his sight focused on the treadmill.

Wow… I've always wanted to try one of these.

Fidel noticed Tristan was admiring the treadmill, and a smirk formed on his face. "Oh! Do you want to try it out?"

Tristan looked at him, a little surprised, trying to contain his excitement when he heard the offer. "C-can I really?"

"Yeah!"

Fidel reached down on the treadmill, grabbed the plug, then plugged it in the wall socket.

"Place your feet on each side of the treadmill, then hold the handrails. Once I turned on the treadmill, slowly put your feet on the belt each, then start walking.”

Tristan followed Fidel's instructions. Feet on each side, hands on the handrails, smile beaming with excitement. “It’s your choice whether you want to keep holding on the handrail or not, but I personally recommend letting it go."

“Alright, here we go!” Fidel pressed a button on the treadmill, and the belt started moving. Tristan placed his left foot at the belt first, followed by his right foot, and began to walk.

Tristan’s eyes bulged at the feeling of walking on the treadmill. "Woah! this feels… weird. It's like my legs and eyes aren't agreeing with each other.”

Fidel laughed. "Don’t worry, you'll get used to it!"

Tristan let go of the handrail, and immediately, he found it much more comfortable to use without holding at it. After a minute of walking, Fidel scooted next on the treadmill controls. "Can you hold the handrails for a sec?" 

Tristan was confused, but obeyed anyway.

Suddenly, Fidel began pressing rapidly at the speed button, making the belt run faster, and made Tristan run faster. "Fidel! What the heck!"

Fidel let out a booming laugh at the sight of Tristan panicking while running fast. He clutched his stomach at how much he laughed.

"FiDeL!" Tristan’s voice cracked.

He continued to run, legs started to get sore. Realizing the slight panic in his voice, Fidel decreased the speed until it reached zero. Tristan sat down at the floor, arms to support himself, trying to catch his breath.

"I can’t… I can’t feel my legs…"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Fidel scratched the back of his head. "But that was funny, not gonna lie!"

"Funny… for you… you jerk!" Tristan aggressively pointed his finger at Fidel's face, which only made Fidel laugh harder again.

"You know I'm not… exactly the most athletic man… right? Gosh… I think you're trying to tell me something…" Tristan let out a huge exhale, still trying to catch his breath.

Fidel leaned in and wiggled his eyebrows. "You could always start at my gym, free of charge!" 

Tristan jerked backwards, face flustered slightly at Fidel's proximity.

Suddenly, they heard three knocks on the door, and a man around their age opened the door and peeked in. "Uh, Fidel, aunt says the feast is about to start." He said before peeking out and closed the door.

Tristan looked at Fidel with slight annoyance and let out a tired huff. "Just let me… rest my legs!" he waved his hand.

Fidel gazed away and scratched the back of his ear. "Sorry… I shouldn't have done that…" then he dramatically looked back at Tristan with a slow forming smirk. "… too fast."

"Jerk!"

Once Tristan rested enough, they left the gym and headed back to the kitchen. Most of the guests were already eating and talking to one another.

Tristan had never seen so much food at a single table before. He felt his mouth salivating from how appetizing the food looked.

Fidel took a seat first, followed by Tristan, who sat next to him. He felt some relief sitting down as his legs still ached. 

"Take as much as you want! You’re my guest, so feel free to be full 'cause this is a cheat day for me!" He said before grabbing a plate then began picking up a huge amount of food.

Despite what Fidel said, Tristan decided to get a relatively normal portion of rice and dishes. He took a bite out of a piece of roasted chicken, and his eyes bulged out as the flavor exploded in his tongue. "Wow! This is so good!"

Mr. Garcia heard his comment and barked out a laughter. "Glad to hear that, kiddo! That chicken is a specialty of mine!"

Fidel noticed the amount of food on Tristan's plate. "That's it? Are you sure you don't want more?"

Tristan shook his head. "I'll get more if I'm still hungry."

Fidel huffed playfully, then pat Tristan on the back. "There. there, you're still eighteen, so you still have a chance to grow taller!" He chuckled at his own joke.

Tristan squinted his eyes and playfully pointed his fork in Fidel's face. "I'm not short. You're just freakishly tall. Just ask anyone else at this table."

Some of Fidel’s relatives chuckled at his comment.

"It's time to open presents, everyone!" Mrs. Garcia exclaimed around the living room.

The children ran to the Christmas tree to pick up their gift first, faces full of smiles. They let out glees of joy and excitement as they tore the wrapping and opened their gifts.

Some kids screamed with joy after seeing what their gift was, and some even hugged their gifts with bright smiles on their faces.

After the children were done, the teenagers and adults picked up their gifts and give it to others. Some of Fidel's relatives handed him boxes of gifts, big or small. It piled up on his arms comically until he had to tilt his head just to see.

He looked at Tristan, playfully pleading with his eyes. "Uh, a little help here?"

Tristan chuckled faintly and shook his head as he picked up three boxes on the very top. He looked around to find an area to place them, and they ended up going into the kitchen. Tristan placed the gifts on the counter, followed by Fidel doing the same.

Looking at the pile of gifts, Tristan realized he hadn't given his gift yet. "Oh! Just wait right there!" He dashed below the Christmas tree, grabbed his gift bag, then dashed back to the kitchen and handed it to Fidel with.

"Merry Christmas Fidel."

"And Merry Christmas to you too, Tristan."

Both men stared at each other, sweet smiles on their faces.

Then Fidel peeked inside the gift bag. He let out a gasp when he saw one of its contents.

He grabbed the mini santa hats and gawked at it close to his eyes like a child. "Oh my god these look so cute! And there's two of them!"

Tristan chuckled. “Saw them while I was buying your gift, and I couldn’t resist but to buy it for both of us.”

He continued to gawk at the mini santa hats. Seeing his reaction awoken something inside Tristan, feeling a sudden rush of boldness. He grabbed one of the hats, inched closer to Fidel, and tiptoed as he clipped the hat on his hair.

Fidel looked surprised by Tristan's action, but he quickly recovered and let out an ear reaching smile. "How do I look?"

Tristan felt a small blush form in his cheeks. "It looks cute on you."

Fidel was about to say something, but stopped himself. Instead, he leaned down and clipped the other mini santa hat on Tristan’s hair.

Because of their height difference, Fidel didn't notice Tristan blushing furiously. The sweet touches of Fidel’s hands in his scalps were sending him jitters straight to the heart. "There! It also looks good at you!" Fidel beamed with pride.

Then Fidel snapped his fingers as if he realized something. "Oh! Why don't we wear this tomorrow at work?"

That got Tristan out of his flustered thoughts. "Sure, that's a pretty neat idea.”

Fidel grabbed the other item in the gift bag. He opened the white box, and his expression dropped a little, replaced by confusion. "A mug?"

He removed the mug from the box, and his face morphed into recognition when he realized what it was. "Oh! A magic mug! What's on it?"

Before Tristan could say, Fidel raised his hand to interrupt him. "Wait! Let me see instead!"

He dashed towards the water dispenser and poured hot water in the mug. As the mug for warmer from the hot water, the black rectangular bar slowly shifted into a image of Mr. Loveboy.

"Wow…" Fidel stared at the mug with amazement. Tristan fidgeted with his fingers in shyness. "I-I thought you might fancy a Mister Loveboy mug, so I got you one."

Fidel stayed silent, mesmerizing the image on the mug for a solid minute. Afterwards, he looked up and let out a gentle, kind smile.

"Thank you." He whispered.

Tristan’s heart skipped a beat. His cheeks blushed at the way of Fidel looking at him with such warmth.

This is why I love this man so much…

After a few moments, Fidel gently placed the mug on the counter. "Just wait here for a sec!". He dashed out of the kitchen and disappeared from the crowd. Not even a minute had passed, Fidel came back holding a small wrapped box with a white ribbon, then handed it to Tristan. “Here! A special gift for you!”

Tristan felt a little excited as he wasted no time and gently pulled the ribbons off, then carefully unwrapped the package to avoid tearing the wrapper. Confusion replaced his excitement when he saw what Fidel’s gift was.

"A… Robot model building kit?”

Fidel scratched the back of his ear. "I've recently got into building robot figurines. It helps me occupy time whenever I get bored. Plus, they look cool on my shelf, so I thought you would like them too?" He said in an awkward but playful tone.

“I… Thank you…” Tristan whispered. “I'll send you a pic when I finished assembling the robot.”

Suddenly, something crossed his mind. "Wait… Cocoa recently got into building robot figurines… Did you got inspired by her?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny!" Fidel twirled a fake mustache.

Both of them shared a laughter.

Afterwards, they both enjoyed the rest of the party. Tristan got to talk, albeit briefly, with Fidel’s relatives. Some of which, especially the girls, gave an all knowing look between them that Tristan couldn’t decipher, but he let it go in favor of making his time worth it.

He even got to play video games competitively with Fidel’s relatives. He felt a weird sense of ego boost being able to show off his gaming skills, especially with Fidel cheering him up just behind him.

Then, they got to enjoy a light appetizer break in a form of a fruit salad bowl. Tristan was so close to grabbing a gigantic bowl of their fruit salad as he found it really delicious.

Later on, Tristan took out his phone in his pocket to update his vtuber friends about the party. But he noticed the time in the corner, and his mood dropped a little.

"Fidel?"

"Yes?"

"I… have to go home now. I might get stuck in traffic if I don't leave early."

Fidel pouted in such a cute way that it made Tristan coo internally. "Aw man, that sucks! But I understand." He scratched the back of his ear. "I would drive you back home, but I can't drive, so…"

Tristan shook his head. "It's not a problem. We still have work tomorrow, so I'll have to sleep immediately once I got home."

Fidel barked out a laughter. "I should do that as well. We're going to be three time busier tomorrow, but at least we're three times paid as well, courtesy of my Ma."

Tristan bid farewell to Mr. And Mrs. Garcia first, then to some of Fidel’s relatives he got to hang out with before both men went outside the house and onto the gate.

Tristan was about to step outside the gate when he turned around and flashed Fidel a smile. "I forgot to say. Thank you for inviting me."

Fidel smiled back. "No problem! Glad you had fun here with us!"

Tristan hummed, then left the residence.