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It’s that time of the year again.
In the rarity of such an event, after everything that happened, it’s a miracle how his small town still bleeds red and green. And he isn’t just referring to the color of the traffic lights.
For almost two years that smiles were half-given, he sees all of it now reflecting brightly from strangers who pass by. Too bright, almost mirroring that of someone’s eyes.
In a time where everything felt dystopian and close contacts were strictly prohibited, he has never been this excited to give genuine hugs in exchange for warmer ones.
It’s been two long agonizing years. He missed him. The word doesn’t even come close to the extent of the feeling.
He misses him even more, despite knowing he gets to see him in a few hours. If anything, the thought of finally hugging him only intensified his longing.
He nervously fidgets his fingers and aggressively taps the car window. As if it would create a friction between reality and the world of witchcraft and with the aid of magic, he would be transported to Minnesota in an instant.
But he waited for two years and the restraint taught him how to handle the feeling. A few hours of delay shouldn’t have hurt his longing soul.
Shouldn’t, but actually did. Thankfully so, it did in a good way.
“I’m sorry, Sir. Looks like we’ll be stuck in here for a little longer.” The cab driver apologizes for the inconvenience he didn’t even cause.
Bright nods in acceptance of his fate. His little flicker of hope dies down the way the white crystals fall onto the ground.
The heavy outpour of snow resulted in road blockage going to the airport, planting doubts if Bright will ever make it to his flight.
He’s pretty sure by now a worried bunny is sulking in the corner of their favorite cafe, waiting for a message if he should still stand by. He failed to send his last message as his phone’s battery already died.
The odds, despite praying over and over again, seem to be not in his favor. If only he could pull strings just so he could be on that plane in that very moment, he would’ve pulled all of them already.
In contrast to the sublime effort of the city folks to create a joyous atmosphere, the permanence of what transpired fusioned with today’s normalcy.
It showed drastically with the shortage of flights available, with the limited places that are being offered to go.
It’s a complete opposite of the situation from the last day before Earth fell to ground zero.
The cab driver notices Bright’s unsettling aura. He knows his passenger is anxious over something. Maybe someone important is waiting for him, he thinks.
And given the situation, he’s sure someone is. After all, it’s the only time they are allowed to see important people again.
Every flight means a family is getting reunited or a loved one is getting visited.
He’s usually a little chatty with his passengers, but from the look of it, this one is not in the mood for small talk. It’s a silent ride, mostly because his passenger doesn’t say a word except from the occasional sighs he hears from him.
“Sir, what time does your plane leave?”, he asks in an emphatic voice.
“10:15 pm”, Bright answers in a polite manner, his tone evident with worry.
“Okay, I think we can still make it if I help them.” And without hesitation, the driver sprints to the two men who tirelessly removes the towering snow in the road.
Some of the stationed guards at the nearby park, in complete disregard of the shivers they might get from still working the night, joins the collective effort of the young lad.
All determined to remove the cause of delay and inconvenience to the people wanting a celebration to happen.
Bright also wants to help but his cab driver signals him to stay still and just wait inside the car.
After a few minutes or so, with their combined effort, they are able to narrow the space occupied by the snow.
Bright’s worried face lights up as glowy as the ones he saw from earlier.
You know a joyous occasion is around the corner when even traffic enforcers wave as you pass by, wishing you a safe flight.
The people who are there cheer the cab as it leaves, knowing deep down it wasn’t just the blockage they had triumphed over, but a greater conquest of sending another longing passenger to reunite with probably a significant other.
The cab driver happily exhales as he makes it in the airport just in time for Bright’s flight.
“Thank you, Sir! Thank you so much for helping me out.” Bright repeatedly bows his head to his driver as he puts his fare in the small box intended for payments.
It’s there for a reason. Though the situation has kind of settled, there’s no harm in continuously taking precautionary measures. The least he could do to sustain the world’s healing, he reasons out.
“No worries, Sir. Have a safe flight! And oh, Merry Christmas.” The driver smiles as Bright readies to get out of the cab, checking last minute if his things are all still intact.
He answers with the same greeting, peeking over the hanging identity card of his driver displayed near the passenger’s seat.
The driver fixes the placement of his big round eyeglasses along his nose bridge. The heavy lifting might have caused it to twitch a little.
In a way, Bright feels a certain assurance that his driver is an innocently looking kind-hearted guy. He makes a mental note of his name, just in case he gets to see him again driving around the city.
“Thank you again. And drive safely, Mr. Kimhan.” He gave the driver a warm smile and waved him goodbye.
9:49 pm.
He is never fond of running because he finds no sense in tiring his body out. But at the moment, he resorts to it as if it’s the only lifeline available.
“ Ugh! I should’ve gone to all the work out dates he has planned.” There’s some sense of regret as he remembers all the times Win asked him to go to the gym together.
Had he known the world would be put on hold, he should’ve asked Win for more dates than the ones he laid out for him.
He has no time to charge at the airport as he planned to because the plane will leave any minute now.
Bright, with all the energy left in him, swiftly makes his way to his boarding gate, unable to speak as he tries to catch his own breath.
The attendant is kind enough to assist him without much interrogation. Her smile indicates she understands the situation at hand.
“Happy holidays, Sir.” , she greets him while he makes his way to the almost empty hallway.
“Likewise, Miss.” Bright tries to answer with the same enthusiastic smile— the only thing allowed to be contagious nowadays.
He’s thankful the woman waivered being strict considering his evident rush.
As he gets on the plane, the flight attendants do all the protocols necessary. Bright sits down in his designated chair, flips the pages of the kit placed neatly in his seat.
As he settles, he observes how everything is never the same. There are transparent plastics covering the aisle. Passengers are requested to sit apart from each other.
If there's one thing that stays the same, it’s definitely the accommodating aura of the flight attendants, ready to offer anything for a passenger’s convenience.
Their cheerful faces don’t show any hint of discomfort from standing on board.
Just as when he is about to close his eyes, he hears a kid shouting from a few seats away.
“But mommy, Kavin is afraid of flying!” The little kid objects as his mom tries to calm him down. The boy in a leopard print shirt affixes his gaze to the little kid seated across from him, separated by the narrow aisle in the center.
Bright looks at the kid from the other chair. His little feet hanging from his seat, his small hands grips very little of the armrest.
“Thyme, sit next to Kavy pwease. Kavy hates up up!” His voice is much calmer, but there are little sniffs in between his sentences. Though Bright can’t see the little kid’s face, he’s sure he’s already teary-eyed.
Their moms, who are also seated one seat apart from them, try to pull out toys that will hopefully calm the two.
They just keep on whining, insisting they must be seated next to their bestfriend.
A little later, a tall and charming flight attendant comes in for rescue. He levels his face with the two, trying to impose authority but also in a much gentle way.
“What’s the problem, little one?” He softly asks the boy in the leopard-print shirt. He looks really sweet so the boy immediately establishes comfort in talking to him.
“Kavy needs me.” The little boy doesn’t shout anymore. His tone descended to a more pleading one. “May I know who’s Kavy?”, the flight attendant asks, his smile reaching his eyes enough to put the little boy at ease.
“ Me, me! I’m Kavy!” The flight attendant turns to the other kid who’s proudly raising his little hand. “Pwease mister airpwane, can Thyme sit next to Kavy pweaaasee..” The flight attendant almost melted at the cuteness of the kids.
Their moms are repeatedly asking for an apology for the noise their young ones make. They explained the kids are best friends, that's why they’re inseparable.
Honestly, Bright’s doesn’t mind hearing the two. He finds it too adorable; it makes him look forward to his future with the one waiting for him, and how their little ones would also find kids their age that’ll hold their tiny hands during flights.
“Here’s the thing, little Kavy has to sit separately from you to make sure you are both safe.” The flight attendant tries his best to explain it the best way he can. The boys ask innocent questions as he explains along. A kid’s curiosity is definitely unmatched. Their chit chat goes on for a good five minutes.
“Ohh.. I get it now, mister airpwane.”
“Sorry for shouting, mister airplane.”
The kids seem to understand it in their own way, probably much lighter than what the flight attendant intends to convey. But kids have their own way of coping to what they couldn’t fully comprehend yet, so he gives in.
The flight attendant gives one last round of mini lectures before finally letting the two settle.
“And also, I’m not ‘Mister Airplane’. My name is Namcha.” He points at the nameplate pinned in his uniform. The kids don’t read yet but continuously nod to pretend they understand.
Everyone chuckles at their innocence. Finally, it’s a silent and peaceful flight again.
Meanwhile in the coffee shop, Win’s worry piles up each minute that passes by. He misses him so much. He prepared a long list of things he wished he said to him before they separated and only communicated virtually.
The list keeps going on the more he waits for him to come home. And as each minute goes by, he puts an addendum on each item.
He promises to allot more days just spending dates together. He promises to never nag him again about cuddling because after everything that happened, it’s what he misses most from him.
In the event that Bright overly sings in again, he vows to never shush him anymore because for the last two years, he only craves hearing his voice around their household.
The coffee shop keeps on playing Christmas songs that made Win emotional. Just the thought of seeing him again already pierces his soul altogether.
“Just come home already, Bright. Just come home to me.” He says to himself as he waits for the other man’s reply.
He embraces himself as another blow of cold win swoosh from outside.
Silent Night’s instrumental version plays in the background when Win hears a little commotion between the customer and the waiter who serves him earlier.
“Seriously, I already said I’m not done yet but you still picked up my cup?” The woman in his 50s raises a tone that doesn’t sit right with Win.
He’s seated at the farthest corner of the coffee shop, and the whole room is divided by a thick wall full of Christmas ornaments and decorations. There’s only a few customers as it’s almost Christmas eve. Some people there probably just dropped by from a last minute shopping in the mall nearby.
The little commotion wouldn’t be noticeable since it’s the other side of the divided room. Win just happened to be there so he stands up to hopefully help in assessing the problem.
But before he could, the woman already stood up and left the waiter bowing his head in apology.
Win gently taps the waiter’s shoulder. “She’s gone now.” He says to the other as he fervently searches for the woman scolding him. From what Win heard and understood, there’s a miscommunication between the two that resulted in a deescalated commotion.
When the waiter looks at him, Win offers him a warm smile to calm him down. That’s when he noticed the lanyard with his name on it. Pinned beside his lanyard indicates something more.
It’s only then that Win fully understood.
The waiter gives him service water in exchange for his attempt to rescue him.
From then on, as the waiter roams around from table to table cleaning each of them, Win can’t help but admire his perseverance from a distance.
It’s almost Christmas eve but he’s still here, working. Win likes to think of him as a company for the cold silent night he has to overcome in exchange of finally seeing the love of his life.
Win gets easily sleepy in mellow music, so the instrumental version of the Christmas songs playing in the cafe doesn’t help in keeping him up.
From across the table of the most recent customer who just left, he observes the guy who tapped his shoulder earlier.
He can’t wait to share about the man’s kindness to his partner when he gets home after his shift.
With their world thriving to catch up with the norm, he appreciates people like Win who give them enough understanding.
It’s difficult enough to have an impaired hearing, it gets more challenging as he doesn’t also have the ability to speak properly.
Win is almost in dreamland when is awakened by gentle taps in his shoulder, exactly the way he did for the waiter earlier.
The waiter smiles and bows at him. He immediately apologized as he thought the cafe was already closing.
He then writes something in the piece of paper from his pocket.
“Thank you for earlier. It’s already the end of my shift. Good luck in waiting.”
Win reads it silently. He smiles at the appreciation. It was really just a small act of looking out, but he didn’t expect it would earn him a note from the waiter.
He raises his hand and reiterates what he wrote.
Win, with his eyesight blurry from the transparent plastic cover in the middle of the coffee table, stands up to see the name in the badge of the waiter clearly.
“No worries. And thank you for serving me earlier, Wat.” He writes in the paper in response to the waiter’s appreciation.
Before leaving, he took out a gingerbread man-shaped cookie and placed it on the table in front of Win.
He left a note before finally heading over to the main door.
“My partner, Tine, made this. He loves baking. He made me carry a handful of these to give out to kind strangers I will meet. You’re the first recipient. Don’t worry, it’s safe! Merry Christmas from us.”
His heart melts from the perfect example of the spirit of Christmas.
It’s probably the sweetest note Win received from a stranger. Well, except the one Bright slid on to his notes back when they were just in College and they’re both a regular in that cafe.
He didn't know back then that while he’s busy studying for his future, his future is already seated in the corner table next to him, drinking the same coffee he always ordered.
Win glances at the huge clock pierced to the wall. He wonders where Bright could be.
He calms himself by tasting the cookie given by the waiter from earlier. Surprisingly, it tastes better than he expected. He can’t stop taking a bite and before he knows it, gone are the cookies he’s just staring at a while ago.
Win frowns because now, aside from Bright’s presence, he also craves for the cookie he’s unsure when he’ll taste again.
The sadness painted in his face gets easily replaced when the main door of the cafe opens. He looks up if it’s already the man he’s been waiting for.
And in sync with the tune of the bells ringing from the cafe’s audio system, Bright enters the room in anticipation of seeing Win.
He knows exactly where his partner is seated so without a flinch, he proceeds to the farthest corner of the room.
And there he is.
After two long years, there he is. In the flesh, wrapped in the matchy sweater he always wanted them to wear on Christmas eve.
And there he is.
Covered in a layer of jackets to protect him from the cold. A luggage next to his. A body bag probably containing his essentials. And what seems to be a plastic bag Win has no idea of.
Finally, after two long years, after everything that happened, they get to see and hold each other again.
Tears start to fall one by one as Bright starts walking towards Win. The intensity of the longing toned down to a complete overturn.
All the stories they said they couldn’t wait to share to each other in person are nowhere to be retrieved.
At that moment, there’s only them and the second cup of coffee Win ordered. There’s only them and the background music at the cafe. There’s only them and their sweaters and gloves and scarves.
There’s only them and the spirit of Christmas in the fairy lights surrounding the Christmas tree, in the gifts below it, and the star on top of it.
Bright sits down as Win also did. He reaches out for his hand and kisses it for warmth.
He struggles as he avoids the plastic covering in the middle of the table, a partition that wouldn't make them forget that a pandemic happened and how this reunion is so much more special than the ones from two years ago.
Win feels the same amount of longing and excitement. He couldn’t wait to snuggle next to his man.
“Let’s go home, love?” He asks in the sweetest way possible. Bright closes his eyes upon hearing Win speak in person. Oh the lengths he would go through just to never be apart from him again.
“Okay, my love. Let’s go home.” Bright answers in total surrender of what could happen next. The only thing he wants is to hug him all night and kiss him more in the morning.
As they leave the coffee shop, Bright starts telling Win about the mishap he encountered before going to the airport.
How he almost missed a flight if it weren’t for the cab driver who helped him out and how the flight attendant in the plane managed to keep a peaceful flight.
He made sure to highlight the efforts of the guards who helped the driver and the woman in the airport who allowed him to still board the gate.
Win also talked about the waiter who kept him company while he waited for Bright. He told him about how he woke him up when he almost fell asleep from waiting for him.
Unknown to all those people, they already made a collaborative effort for a couple's long awaited reunion. Them, working on a Christmas eve to serve people like Bright and Win to continue whatever it is that they intend to do.
They both smile at each other as they take the scenario in. It’s been years and just standing beside each other still feels surreal.
As they are only a block away from their home, out of curiosity, Win asks what’s inside the plastic bag Bright carries.
“Oh this? I bought this from a pastry shop at the airport. I tried charging for a few minutes before I went here. But I still wasn’t able to send a message because of network problems.” Bright explains while the younger listens to him, eyes roaming around the symbols of Christmas all over their place.
“I bought all the remaining boxes since the owner seemed to worry about getting home. He told me that it was almost the end of his partner’s shift so he also needed to get home by that time.” Bright opens a box and picks out a cookie to show it to Win. Only then that Win gives him a closer glance.
“No way…” He gasps. What a coincidence. It sure is a merry Christmas for Win as both his cravings are sure to be satisfied come midnight.
“Why babe? Have you tasted these cookies before?” Bright asks in confusion. Win doubled checked the tag in the box to confirm if the cookies are really made by the same man who made the cookies Wat gave.
He nods repeatedly in excitement. He doesn’t even think he’ll taste the cookies again.
“Tine’s Pastries”.
“Funny story…” Win answers, and with full enthusiasm, he tells him more about the waiter from the cafe.
Their voices were heard around their street and it faded into echoes as they reached their home.
Bright remembers resorting to wishing for magic if only possible just so he could be in the plane on time earlier. The way he didn’t pull any string but in some ways, somehow, all strings fell exactly in their rightful place.
As they closed the door and disinfected properly, the mistletoe in the front witnessed a kiss that’s two years worth of wait.
It is indeed that time of the year again. The town is painted in red and green.
And in the rarity of such an event happening again, Bright and Win settle comfortably in each other’s company, making up for the lost time and breaking two years of silent nights into an evening full of laughter and smiles.
***end***