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Jungkook is a gift wrapper. Yeah, he’s not too sure what to call his job either.
“It’ll be ten thousand won, ma’am,” Jungkook says with a gentle smile to the lady standing on the other side of the counter. “Are you paying by card? We also accept cash.”
She doesn’t reply immediately. Instead, her eyes rake over his figure from head to toe with disdain, and Jungkook’s smile morphs into a tight line.
He’s well aware of how he must look to her eyes — dressed in old-fashioned, earth-toned clothes, with small paper cuts littering his hands and worn out sneakers that are far from being enough to protect his aching feet from the harsh winter days. He simply doesn’t match her fancy fur coat (and it looks like real fur too, he notes with loathing), her spotless makeup and shiny jewelry. Or rather, she doesn’t match the atmosphere of the small town they’re in — Jeonju, the place where Jungkook has lived his whole life, sheltered from the busy rush hours, polluted air and crowded avenues of the bigger cities.
The customer clicks her tongue. “Ten thousand won? For just a few scraps of paper? You must be kidding.”
Jungkook thinks he should really consider putting out a sign to forbid grumpy, old hags from entering his gift wrapping shop. Cheeks straining to maintain the tight-lipped smile that doesn’t reach his eyes for the sake of his small yet highly professional business, he manages to grit out the next words in a cordial tone.
“Well, to be exact, what you’re paying for doesn’t include just a few scraps of paper. Our gift wrapping services include not only a wide array of choices in terms of patterns and colors, but also ribbons, lace, masking tape, bows, gift tags, stickers, dried flowers, glitter, and a handwritten note made with care from yours truly—”
“I don’t have time for your rambling, boy,” she scoffs indignantly, voice icy and eyes shooting daggers. “Whatever, just swipe the card so I can get out of this hellhole. The sooner, the better.”
Jungkook grits his teeth together. Inhales through his nose, exhales out.
“Of course, ma’am, it would be my absolute pleasure.” And isn't that an understatement.
He reaches out to accept the credit card with both hands — his mother raised a polite boy, thank you very much. Although he almost snorts when he sees the hand holding out the card — gloved in leather, pinky finger raised towards the sky.
As he makes quick work of processing the payment, he adds out of habit. “As I was saying, you have the possibility to leave a short message for the person receiving your gift. I’ll handwrite it onto a card, and you can choose the calligraphy font.” He gestures towards the notepad on the counter. “Just write your message on here and I’ll make sure to include it in your order.”
The lady’s entire face brightens up. Jungkook blinks, momentarily stopping whatever he’s doing with his hands. It’s scary.
“Of course,” she exclaims, hands clasped together. “I’ll make sure to leave something extra sweet for him. It’s Christmas, after all.”
Jungkook nods slowly, eyes never leaving her as she grabs a pink pen from her bag enthusiastically. This behavior somewhat reminds him of his best friend Jimin whenever he’s planning to pull a prank on someone, although not quite.
“Right,” he mutters. It is Christmas tomorrow, so it shouldn’t be anything too bad. Even for a prank.
Right?
❧
It’s worse than a prank.
Jungkook bites on his fingernails as he reads the note the old hag left a few minutes ago, over and over and over. Because — what in the world is wrong with that woman?
Dearest T.,
I hope you’re spending yet another lonely Christmas.
Father is well. Actually, we are doing very well without you here.
Santa says lying is bad, so I can’t say I miss you much. Or at all, really.
Miss me or whatever.
Kim Heejin.
He heaves out an umpteenth sigh. What is he supposed to do? He can’t possibly write this, and much less send it to this mysterious T. and make the poor person spend their worst Christmas ever. Calligraphy might look pretty, but it can’t embellish the meaning words hold, nor lessen the pain they can cause.
It only takes him a few seconds to make up his mind. Fuck that old hag, fuck her passive agressiveness, fuck her fur coat and leather gloves — he’s doing things his way. A small voice in his head tells him to stop acting like you never did things your way when you’ve always been stubborn as hell and free-spirited to a fault, a voice that oddly resembles Jimin's, but he shuts it up.
Stretching his fingers until the sound of his knuckles cracking echoes in the low-lit boutique, he settles down on the wooden stool, craft materials laid out on the table in front of him, much like the tools of a surgeon next to an operating table. He’s ready to craft another masterpiece and hopefully brighten the day of a fellow human being, and preserve them if only for a night from the evil clutches of the old hag — of Kim Heejin.
Lips jutted out between his dried lips as he gathers his concentration and creative juices, Jungkook gets to work.
❧
“Did your sister remember to send you a gift, son?”
Taehyung hums with a knowing smile, before he remembers that his father can’t see him. He twists his neck to prevent his phone from falling from where it's squashed against his shoulder.
“That she did. The delivery man dropped it off just a few minutes ago. She sent me this lovely skull-shaped ashtray.” He chuckles. “I’m sure she meant it for me to use as a jewelry holder or something, wishing me a long life and all that. She knows I don’t smoke, I’ve always hated the smell of cigarettes.”
His father sighs on the other end of the phone. “Anything else? No fruits you’re allergic to? No boxes with creepy, jumping clowns?”
“No, none of that,” he assures him. Taehyung stares absent-mindedly at the ashtray laying on his dining table, and the card placed next to it. “She did send a card, though. A pretty… odd one.”
Cherished T.,
I truly hope you are having a marvelous Christmas Eve, along with your many, dearest friends.
Your father is well, but it is not the same without you here.
Santa says lying is bad, so I must confess that I miss you immensely.
I’m looking forward to seeing you soon. As I always say with such genuine fondness: the sooner, the better.
Kim Heejin
He snickers as he reads over the card for at least the seventh time. It’s so painstakingly obvious that these words are nowhere near the ones his sister meant to send him. The person who wrote the card with glittery pens and endearing doodles probably took pity on him and decided to make some… minor alterations. It makes Taehyung snort, but he can’t help the warmth spreading through his chest anyway, making his heart quicken its pace. Stupid heart.
“Well, what did you expect from your loving, big sister?”
He laughs at the dismay in his father’s voice. “Don’t worry, dad. I’m sure she’ll get over you choosing me to become the CEO instead of her soon enough. She doesn’t mean any harm anyway, she’s just being a petty child.”
“I hope you’re right. Well, don’t let your old man keep you for too long,” he exclaims. “It’s Christmas Eve, any plans for the night?”
Taehyung hums evasively. He might be a CEO, but he’s not really one for mingling like a social butterfly. Aside from strategic business meetings and fickle business relationships, he doesn’t even have much of a friend circle. That tends to be the case when fake people try to use you for money, networking and success from a young age. You build fences around yourself and have a hard time trusting others or even yourself.
“I'm not sure. Might go around on a stroll in the park nearby. Breathe in some fresh air, see if anything has changed since the last time I was here.”
“That was at least twenty years ago, I’m sure lots of things have changed. Maybe you could contact a few of your old classmates and rekindle some friendships?”
He scoffs. “Please, I’m sure they’ve all forgotten about me, dad. I was, like, twelve when I left this town for Seoul with you. I’m thirty-four, now. And they probably already have better things to do on Christmas Eve than to entertain a stranger.”
“Taehyung,” his dad scolds. “What did we say about good opportunities?”
With a sigh, Taehyung grumbles in a monotone voice. “Seize all opportunities, and if there aren’t any, create them.” He can't remember how many times his dad made him say it, repeatedly, like a mantra.
“Exactly. Now, promise me you’ll at least try. You’ve worked really hard on our company and are doing really well, you deserve a nice break. Get some rest, go meet nice people.”
He rolls his eyes. Resting and meeting people are two fundamentally incompatible activities for Taehyung.
Although he agrees with his dad’s motto when it comes to business and career development opportunities, things are different when it comes to people and socializing. A lot of nasty intentions can hide behind friendly-looking people — greed, manipulation, betrayal, theft. To him, befriending people isn't an opportunity. It’s taking a calculated risk. And economic risk assessments don't work on human beings, so why bother being hurt?
“Fine, dad. I will try.” He pauses. “Maybe.”
“That’s all I’m asking for, son.” Taehyung can hear the sad smile in his voice, and he grimaces. He knows his dad feels responsible for how closed off he is to the non-business world. “Sometimes, trying is enough. Sometimes, it’s all that it takes for good things to happen. And trying is never, ever a failure — whatever the outcome may be.”
❧
For some reason, Taehyung ends up googling where the nearest gift wrapper is. He’ll blame it on boredom, and absolutely not on curiosity for who the kind soul that, very subtly, tried to make him spend a nice Christmas Eve might be.
Turns out, there’s only one gift wrapper in town. Jeon Jungkook.
Taehyung freezes in shock, a flood of memories coming back to him.
He remembers Jeon Jungkook from middle school. They weren’t friends per se — but sometimes, Taehyung would hang Jungkook’s coat on top of his own when the other hangers were already taken. Sometimes, Jungkook would hurriedly run off to be the one to toss the ball back to Taehyung from the sidelines when someone inadvertently kicked it out of the tiny football court. Sometimes, Taehyung, as class representative, would accompany Jungkook to the nurse when he fell and scraped his knees. Sometimes, when the nurse was too busy, Taehyung would treat Jungkook’s wounds himself. And then, always, Taehyung would carry with him a few band-aids with blue dinosaurs printed on them (definitely not because blue was Jungkook’s favorite color, or because dinosaurs were his favorite animal, but just in case).
Not friends. Just — acquaintances.
❧
The last thing Jungkook expects on a Christmas Eve he’s supposed to spend on his own, is a text from an unknown number.
[ UNKNOWN ] 6:21 PM
Hello, is this Jeon Jungkook, owner of Wrapped With Love?
[ ME ] 6:25 PM
…
And what if I am?
[ UNKNOWN ] 6:26 PM
Uh
Well, hi
[ ME ] 6:28 PM
Hi yourself
How did you get my number creepy stranger
[ CREEPY STRANGER ] 6:30 PM
I’m not sure if you remember me at all but we went to the same middle school
I'm Kim Taehyung
[ ME ] 6:32 PM
… I do remember you
That doesn’t answer my question though
[ KIM TAEHYUNG ] 6:34 PM
I’m also Cherished T.
[ ME ] 6:35 PM
Whomst
OH
I wrote you a card today!
I mean the lady wrote it
Kind of
She really cared about you and, um, wanted you to have a happy Christmas!
[ CHERISHED T. ] 6:37 PM
Pfffft
You’re still terrible at lying
It’s okay Jungkook, I know my own sister
Thank you though, for trying to preserve me from her friendly self
[ ME ] 6:39 PM
Oh, deer
Sorry I altered her message
Please don’t leave a bad review of my shop
I can give you free masking tapes
[ THREAT ] 6:40 PM
Well…
[ ME ] 6:41 PM
And ribbons of 50 different colors! And glitter pens!!
[ THREAT ] 6:42 PM
I’m kidding, Jungkook, relax
(Bribery is a punishable crime though)
I won’t leave any bad reviews I promise
Why would I even
Excellent customer service
I’ll give your shop 5 stars
Doing it as we speak
[ ME ] 6:44 PM
Oh
Thank you
:]
[ CHERISHED T. ] 6:50 PM
By the way
Are you perhaps doing anything tonight?
[ ME ] 6:52 PM
And what if I am
[ CHERISHED T. ] 6:55 PM
I was wondering if you’d like to grab coffee or tea or hot chocolate or something
[ ME ] 6:57 PM
I’m going to a party
Sorry
Jungkook feels a little bad for not inviting him, until he remembers that he actually doesn’t have a party to go to.
[ CHERISHED T. ] 6:59 PM
Ah
Too bad then
It’s fine, we can catch up some other time
Enjoy yourself :)
[ ME ] 7:01 PM
Thank you
Um
There’s a sale on chocolate gift boxes today at the convenience store
… idk why i said that, do with that information what you will
[ CHERISHED T. ] 7:03 PM
Huh
Well,,, thanks for letting me know
[ ME ] 7:04 PM
Happy Christmas Tae :>
[ CHERISHED T. ] 7:05 PM
Happy Christmas Jungkook <3
Jungkook throws his phone at the other end of his bed, before burying his face into his pillows, letting out a frustrated groan. That was so not cool. Gay panicking because of his childhood crush may be one thing, but refusing to meet up by lying about attending a very much non-existent party is a whole other thing.
Truth is, his only plans for the night involve going grocery shopping at his local convenience store. Which has no correlation to a party whatsoever.
And Taehyung sent him a heart. A heart. Jungkook buries his head deeper into his bed, legs flailing around, as a barely-repressed screech that would put any and all pterodactyls to shame escapes his lips.
Of course, his overthinking had to ruin his one chance at seeing his crush again after all these years. He’s absolutely hopeless. He’s even starting to doubt whether he’ll ever be able to get into a serious romantic relationship at all. Thirty-two years of existence and yet he's still stuck on chapter one when it comes to romance and dating and all that gooey stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with it — to each their own pace, he knows that. Technically.
But it's not like he can force his brain to teach his heart how to stop feeling lonely. He wishes it could, though.
Not letting himself mop around any longer, he decides to act like what just happened was only a fever dream — if only for the sake of his sanity. What's done is done. He gets up from his bed, grabbing his coat and combat boots on his way to the door.
He has grocery errands to run, after all.
❧
Taehyung’s at the local convenience store.
He only arrived in town this morning and didn’t have time to do his grocery shopping — and chocolate on sale is always a good reason to go on a grocery shopping spree. A call to his heart. And to his stomach. Especially when he feels like he’s been rejected by his childhood crush.
He’s about to head over to the check out point, taking turns and wandering in the snacks' aisle, when his shopping cart collides loudly with someone else’s cart.
“I’m so sorry—”
“Are you okay—”
Taehyung rights himself, pushing the cart away to give more space to the person he collided with. He lifts his gaze, worried and about to apologize some more, when he locks eyes with the man in front of him.
He blinks, eyes widening.
There, just a few meters away from him, stands a man with familiar doe eyes. His hands resting on the cart are covered with blue dinosaur band-aids.
“... Jungkook?”
The stranger (who’s probably not a stranger) stares at him owlishly, mouth gaping a little and body unmoving for several seconds. He eventually clears his throat.
“Hi, Taehyung. Fancy seeing you here,” he trails out with an awkward smile. Taehyung notices Jungkook’s fingers playing with the hem of one of his band-aids. It makes him smile, knowing that he always uses this exact model of band-aids Taehyung used to carry around, even after all these years.
“It’s really nice to see you again, Jungkook.” He frowns, remembering a small detail. “What happened to your party?”
Jungkook’s awkward smile intensifies, voice turning quieter, drowned out under the noise of the frantic people doing their last minute Christmas Eve dinner grocery shopping around them.
“My party happened to be, um, non-existent.”
“Non-existent? Did you get scammed?”
“What? No,” Jungkook chuckles embarrased. “I meant I invented a non-existent party as an excuse to avoid you because I was full-on gay panicking.” He cringes, avoiding Taehyung’s gaze. “Embarrassing, I know. I swear I didn’t mean to avoid you—”
“That’s fine, we can just gay panic together.”
When Jungkook finally faces him, confusion and hope painted on his face, Taehyung offers him a grin. A real one, the kind that makes his eyes crinkle at the corners and shine with glee. He hopes his blush isn't too obvious, but even he can feel his cheeks burn.
When Jungkook returns his smile, Taehyung's mind kind of empties itself for a second. He has never seen anything more dazzling. If Earth was the sky, Jungkook would be a star — hell, he’d be an entire constellation to himself.
“What do you say, Tae, still up for that drink?”
❧
Once they detangle their shopping carts from each other and check out from the store, the two reunited friends (acquaintances, Taehyung self-consciously insists) make their way to the somehow still open coffee shop next to the convenience store.
They talk about nothing and everything all at once. Taehyung finds himself sharing bits and pieces of his life after he moved to Seoul, and intently listening to Jungkook’s story in return. It’s always been easy with Jungkook — ever since they were kids, and somehow even up to this day. Whenever Taehyung’s with him, being himself and comfortable doesn’t feel like opening up at all. It feels as if there’s a special, secret door, just for the doe-eyed boy.
They only leave the coffee shop when a shy employee comes up to them for the third time to let them know that the shop is going to close. Neither of them remembers being asked to leave, much less several times at that. Maybe it’s the selective hearing. But they promptly apologize, pay for each other’s yuja tea and hot chocolate (both drinks cost the same amount, but it’s the thought that counts), leave generous tips, and head out in the cold once more.
The streets are empty now. Streetlights are casting a soft glow onto the virgin snow, blanketing the streets of Jeonju in a warm hug. The two men walk side by side, slowly and in silence, as if none of them want to put an end to their moment together. Taehyung certainly doesn’t. The snow crunches beneath their feet, their grocery bags rustle along the wind, and the air feels serene. Taehyung smiles. This feels nice.
When they arrive in front of Jungkook’s house (Taehyung absolutely didn’t take the long way home just to walk Jungkook home), they finally stop walking, facing each other.
“So…” Jungkook trails out. His fingers are once again fiddling with the hem of the blue dinosaur band-aid on the back of his hand.
Taehyung can’t stop smiling. He’s just so freaking adorable, he wants to keep him in his pocket and protect him at all costs.
“It was nice seeing you again, Jungkook. I’m here for the next two weeks, so if you want to hang out again, just give me a call anytime and—”
Taehyung’s interrupted by Jungkook’s gasp. Almost losing his grocery bags, he scoots away from the parts of the sidewalk cleared from snow, almost hiding behind Taehyung. He frowns in confusion. “Jungkook? What—”
That’s when Taehyung sees it.
It’s a cat.
It pads over to them lazily, tail swaying in the air with curiosity. Taehyung crouches to pet the cat on the head, cooing a little.
When he spots Jungkook still cowering a few steps away, he rolls his eyes fondly. “I promise it won’t bite you.” With a pensive look, he adds, “Well, I might, but this little guy here won’t — so get over here, you big baby.”
“You what—”
After some coaxing and only once the red on Jungkook’s cheeks fades into a residual coral blush from the cold, he reluctantly comes to crouch next to Taehyung, pouting petulantly.
With a frown, Taehyung notices how dangerously red Jungkook’s hands are — no doubt from the cold. They’re balled into tight fists, turning white at the knuckles. Taehyung stares at Jungkook’s pocketless coat, and his frown deepens. Who makes coats with no pockets in the twenty-first century?
He stands up, dusting off the snowflakes from himself. “Here, give me those.” He extends his hands out, palms up.
Jungkook follows suit, glancing at his hands in confusion. They’re clutching tight onto the handles of two tote bags filled with food and the chocolate gift boxes that were on sale.
“What, my grocery bags?” He laughs. “They're not that heavy, I’m fine, I can carry them, I’m a strong man—”
“Drop those damn shopping bags, Jungkook, and give me your hands.”
Taehyung grabs the other’s hands — oh no, they’re freezing — and promptly brings them with his own into his own coat’s pockets.
The unexpected tug makes Jungkook stumble over with a yelp, bringing their bodies very, very close to each other. Taehyung stares at the spark shining in Jungkook’s eyes, and could easily lose himself in them.
But Jungkook suddenly shivers, shoulders going up uncontrollably. Taehyung scowls. This simply won’t do.
Wordlessly, he (reluctantly) untangles his hands from Jungkook’s and removes them from his pocket. He goes for his scarf, taking it off of himself. Jungkook’s about to protest, but a stern look from Taehyung silences him.
He can only assume that scarves aren’t meant to be shared, but his is definitely long enough. Taehyung wraps the soft knitted fabric around both of their necks, making sure to cover every surface of Jungkook’s nape in the process.
Once the scarf is tied tightly around the both of them and Jungkook is bundled tight in front of him, he grins, satisfied.
“There. You could even say that you were wrapped with love,” he adds with a wiggle of his eyebrows, hinting at the name of Jungkook’s gift wrapping business.
Jungkook huffs out a laugh, puffs of smoke coming out of his mouth from the cold. “Do I look like a gift to you?”
“The best present. From head to mistletoe.”
The returning blush isn’t entirely from the cold, and Taehyung can only smile, utterly endeared.
“Well,” Jungkook stammers out in an attempt to change the subject and hide his shyness. “In movies, the person offering their clothes for warmth usually gives them up entirely.” He stares pointedly at the scarves encircling both of their necks, an amused smile threatening to break across his face. “They don’t greedily keep half of it.”
“Well, in movies, the person receiving said clothes makes a whole scene to refuse such a kind act, so I’m saving time — and warmth — for the both of us.” Taehyung sniffs. “And I’d be cold without my scarf. Freezing to death.”
Jungkook giggles. He shakes his head as he nuzzles into the scarf. Taehyung distractedly notes that if Jungkook was a cat, he’d probably be purring by now.
With a grin, he leans forward with his eyes closed, letting his forehead rest against Jungkook’s. Their skin might be cold, but the touch only brings warmth and butterflies. At some point, one of them starts swaying them gently together from left to right, and it feels like they’re dancing to the rhythm of their joyful heartbeats.
Taehyung's sudden realization is abrupt, out of the blue, but not unwelcome.
If he doesn’t take risks, he can’t experience a whole bunch of things that come with being human. Things that come with having a heart, having feelings, and being alive.
And Jungkook makes him feel alive — so, so alive. Twenty years ago, and even now.
He’s been pine-ing for long enough.
“Jungkook?”
The other tilts his head to meet his eyes questioningly. “Yeah?”
“Would it be alright for me to kiss you?”
“Thought you’d never ask.”
If taking a risk is what it takes to be able to taste this sweet happiness, then so be it, consequences be damned. Because it’s worth it. Jungkook, he’s worth it all.
When their lips touch, Taehyung finds that Jungkook’s lips are softer than fuzzy blankets, taste sweeter than candy cane, and feel warmer than a cup of hot chocolate. And Jungkook, as a person, is possibly the best christmas gift he’s ever received from the universe.
A bird holding a branch of mistletoe in its beak passes in the sky, hovering above their heads for a few seconds, before disappearing.
And when Jungkook wraps both of his arms around his waist, Taehyung smiles, eyes closed in bliss.
This, too, feels like being wrapped with love.