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6:51 pm. Nine minutes until closing. Three to five minutes until Jungkook can get his hands on Purple Princess Astronaut, depending on how fast he can find the toy department in this overrun mall.
Purple Princess Astronaut is the talk of the town. The hot shit amongst kids aged 5-11. A limited edition special exhibition kind of doll, complete with a spacesuit that freaking transforms into a sparkly princess dress with the press of a button.
Taehee has been shoving the magazine ad cut-out under Jungkook’s nose any chance she gets, every time he visits his niece. She had raved about the doll’s cool purple hair and the space helmet that lets you slide open its visor – she’d seen it on TV, it really works!, she would say. And Jungkook is really in no position to resist Taehee’s shiny, excited eyes.
This is why he is on a mission.
6:52 pm. Jungkook weasels his way through the holiday crowd, the distant escalators with the mall map in front of them looking like a gold-glimmering reward spot in a video game right about now.
He pushes past the other last-minute shoppers and catches his knee on at least two carelessly swung shopping baskets. Decidedly too many people had the same idea as him. Why get all your shopping organized well in advance of the holidays when you could do it literally one day before Christmas? Avoiding a busted knee could be one reason.
He peeks over the shoulder of a mother trying to wrangle her three rowdy kids to read the mall map and finds - the toy department: floor three. Let’s get it.
Except – the crowded escalator creeps up at a snail’s pace, and his phone teases him by changing its display to 6:53 in his very hands. Jungkook throws his head back and sighs out his frustration. He feels too warm now in his winter clothes amidst the body heat of stressed strangers and the department store’s AC pumping out toasty, dry air. He peels off his scratchy scarf and tugs it into his backpack.
One floor up, another set of escalators.
At least from this vantage point, the view is pretty nice. If he looks up, he can see how each stair’s banister is lined with fake fir garlands, rich and deep green as if the entire mall was a Christmas tree. Shimmers of yellow and red lights sparkle across the entire building, peppered into the garlands, hanging from ceilings, and stuck to banners warning customers about last-minute discounts. There’s a smell in the air too, like cinnamon. Maybe he’s passing the kitchen department.
He loves the cinnamon scent of Christmas. He loves sticking his nose into the branches of a Christmas tree to soak up the pine smell and have his cheeks tickled by their soft needles. He likes the décor too, how everything sparkles and lights up and makes the city look so new and warm despite the biting air. He will run his hand along any crunchy garland in his way or slide his fingers through gold and silver tinsels. He’s a fan of the holidays, even despite the stress. The tedious present shopping has nothing on the big cheesy smile on Taehee’s face come Christmas morning.
On the other hand, Jungkook isn’t the best when it comes to time management. Which is why he’s cutting it kinda short today.
Now, the last escalator. He’s almost there.
One foreign Christmas song blends into another as he moves up to the next floor. This one sounds old-school and extra tinny, something about rocking a Christmas tree?
But he doesn’t have time to focus on the lyrics because it’s 6:54 now and he finally steps out onto the third floor, where…the toy department is an onslaught to his senses.
There are colorful lights flickering everywhere, from the Christmas décor and all the new shiny toys begging to be tried out. They make noises too, mechanical voices counting numbers, loud ding-ding-dings, and high-pitched jingles coming from every direction. And above all of them: the children. Jungkook watches tiny critters bundled up in winter jackets scurrying between the aisles, running to get their last chance at trying out the latest remote-controlled car or the new action hero with its aggressive beep-beep-beeps.
Jungkook squints, trying to find the doll display. There, vaguely, half-covered behind loaded shelves of plastic toys, he spots a standee. It’s a space suit. And he’s pretty sure he can make out purple hair under the space helmet.
Time to get his sprint on.
This is his Super Toy Run moment. This is what he practiced for as a kid glued to the television on a Saturday morning. First, map out the clearest route: pass the book section, cross the dinosaur aisle and go left at the dollhouse display. Second, check the obstacles: a mechanical Santa gathering a group of toddlers around him, a boy pulling at his mother’s hand and blocking an aisle.
Easy. Jungkook’s an athletic guy. He can turn a corner like no other kid in this joint.
By the time he winds around a shelf stocked with plastic amphibians, he’s finally close enough to see her. And… it really is just her. Exactly one Purple Princess Astronaut smiling gleefully at Jungkook from inside the exactly one purple space box left on the shelf.
He takes a quick breath and speeds up his steps. It must be nearly closing time now and there is only a singular doll left: one carton box that stands between his Taehee’s happiness or heartache. And he has gotta get his hands on her, come hell or high water.
One foot in front of the other. How fast can he go without looking suspicious in a crowded mall?
But then. An obstacle greater than he could have ever anticipated:
a man.
A man walking briskly and with staunch determination right towards his Purple Princess Astronaut from the other end of the aisle.
No.
No way is he going to let someone else get their grimy hands on Purple Princess Astronaut.
Jungkook has his target locked, his eyes anxiously bouncing between the gift and the man that is threatening it. This guy doesn’t seem to have noticed Jungkook yet. That’s a good sign. A sign Jungkook is aware of his surroundings when the other man isn’t. He can use it to his adva-
“Ouch!” A tiny whine from a tiny person stops him in his tracks – just for a moment, but it’s enough to lose his head start.
The little kid in front of him pats a chubby hand against their temple, the one Jungkook’s thigh just made unfortunate contact with. The mini-shopper frowns up at Jungkook with an angry pout, but he really really has no time to make good. There is a Purple Princess Astronaut on the line and a stranger who is speeding towards her.
“Sorry, buddy,” he mumbles, grabs a teddy bear from the nearest shelf and pushes it into the kid’s arms.
He jumps back into motion.
He’s practically gliding across the floor now, as fast as his worn-out sneakers can carry him. It’s only this aisle left, just past the set of half-empty displays and he’s there.
It’s then that the man notices him. And Jungkook notices him noticing him. He’s close enough to see the realisation in the stranger’s eye, can tell the exact moment that Jungkook becomes the enemy to be defeated in the middle of the toy section of an inner-city department store.
Jungkook sees it in the man’s eyes that widen just a smidge, in his lips that part, and in – oh no - his gait that becomes faster and even more determined with every step.
Everything changes then.
The shelves around him blur into each other, the voices of screaming, crying and laughing children sound dull suddenly, and time itself seems to stumble.
This must be the same kind of magic Santa uses to carry out his deliveries in one night, making time all sticky and important.
The stranger seems to be sensing it too. His gaze is glued to Jungkook, fierce eyes and locked jaw. The stakes couldn’t be higher.
Both of them are floating through the aisle as if they were astronaut princes themselves, one quick slide after another, and the distance shrinks between them, they’re nearing each other, fifteen more seconds, fourteen more seconds, they might crash into each other. Their goal is coming ever closer, closer, twelve more seconds and one of them will snatch the box.
Jungkook hears the blood rushing in his ears. Now all that is left in the world is only himself and this… kind of handsome but also menacing looking man. And Purple Princess Astronaut of course.
This guy is definitely shorter than him, and Jungkook can make bigger strides. He can make it. He will win.
A baby buggy almost catches the other man, just almost because he’s able to dodge it without even looking, as if his body is fluid and he’s got some sort of spidey senses. And then he speeds up.
So far, Jungkook hasn’t tried running; mostly because he doesn’t want to get tackled by a security guard, but it’s now or never. If this dude will play dirty, so can Jungkook.
This is it: the showdown. He takes a deep breath and sprints.
Three seconds, two seconds, as fast as his legs can carry him. But Jungkook knows it before it even happens: they’re going to reach Purple Princess Astronaut at the same time.
The battle is not won.
Had he only gotten up one minute earlier, had he taken the stairs and not waited for the lift in his building, he could be feeling the sweet relief of victory right now.
Instead, he feels another body slam into him and hands grappling to get underneath the tenuous hold he managed to secure on the rectangular cardboard box that contains their holy grail.
“Hey!” A high-pitched voice squeaks next to him. The shorter man is trying to wrestle his shoulder under Jungkook’s chest to gain the upper hand, but Jungkook is sturdy, he’s strong, he won’t let go this easily.
“Hey yourself,” he grits out, trying to jerk the box out of the enemy’s grasp. He manages to hook his foot around the other man’s ankle, tries to pull a little to make him topple. Yeah, he’s playing dirty dirty.
“Oh, don’t you- this is mine,” the man growls back, really growls, and pokes his shoulder bone into Jungkook’s pecs in revenge.
“Think again,” Jungkook hisses. “I saw her first.”
The box is hardly budging between both of their iron grips. They’re probably denting the cardboard, but the shiny purple exterior clad with all the planets of the solar system doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is what’s inside. And what matters is that what’s inside is his.
“How would you even know that! And I don’t care because I got to her first.” The man practically spits the last few words back into Jungkook’s face. (Jungkook’s face that is currently smushed against the man’s head as they wrestle for the doll.)
The gift-stealer yanks at the box with full force. He’s stronger than he looks, Jungkook has to admit, but his own grip is solid, so he only follows the big jerk – in multiple senses of the word – until both men bump into a neatly arranged dollhouse display and make it topple right off its demonstration table with a nasty crunch.
They halt, and Jungkook twists his head to catch the stranger’s eye.
“That was your fault,” he whispers.
“No you, you big neanderthal.”
“Hey!”
“Hey!,” a new, inappropriately cheerful voice responds. Someone else has materialized in front of them out of thin air, interrupting their fight to the death. It’s a man in a red vest and a green elf hat, perfectly on theme with the pointy plastic ears attached to his face. He’s smiling at them, big and bright and maybe a little heart-shaped. “Hello, sirs. Hi there. Can I assist you in finishing up your shopping today?”
“Uh, yes, thank you,” the enemy says. “If you could help me with the check out, I’m just getting this doll.” He yanks at the box again, just as Jungkook yanks it back against his own chest.
The salesperson glances between them with unsure eyes. He opens his mouth to respond, but Jungkook is faster this time.
“No, I will be getting this doll, thank you very much…” he glances at the nametag on the sales assistant’s festive vest, “Hoseok-ssi. You see, my niece is a huge fan of Purple Princess Astronaut, so I am buying.it.for.her.” With each word, he pulls at the box again, trying desperately to loosen the other man’s grasp on it.
“Actually,” the attempted princess-napper counters in a voice dripping with equal measures of evil and sweetness, “my nephew asked for this doll. It’s really important, and I will be walking out of here with it.”
“Come on, can’t you just get him something else? Like, I don’t know, those new race cars?”
“Oh wow,” the man deadpans. “Everybody line up, Sergeant Gender is speaking,” he says to no one in particular. By now, it’s past closing and most customers have managed to free themselves from the last-minute Christmas shopping terror, and those left on the floor have brought a safe distance between themselves and the bickering men, eyeing them suspiciously.
Jungkook falters. The heat in his cheeks is almost enough to make him surrender the doll.
“That’s- that’s not what I meant. I just… they have the Motorcycle Mandy doll too, your-, your nephew could like that one,” he tries. At least that one was the one that Jungkook found the coolest when he had looked through Taehee’s catalogue...
The man in front of him rolls his eyes. “He already has that one. That’s why he’s getting Purple Princess Astronaut this year.”
“Ooookay, sirs,” the sales assistant chimes back in. “Look, I’d rather not have a physical fight on my floor while I’m still clocked in-”
“Please, I could so take him,” the shorter man rolls his eyes again.
“Uh, I’m sorry but I would definitely win. Your hands are tiny.”
“Bambi,” the gift-wrangler snaps, “you have no idea who you’re talking to, and you don’t want to find out.”
Pff, who does this guy think he is? Jungkook is not scared at all. Maybe a little intrigued at most.
They stare at each other for another moment, one pair of fiercely squinted eyes versus another, until Hoseok resumes his de-escalation. “Alright, alright. Why don’t I-” his hands tentatively join the two sets already glued to the box, careful as if to not reignite the men’s territorialism. “Why don’t I take this to the checkout counter, and you can… take a breath and sort this out on the way.”
Both of them still have their hands securely on the box, fingertips almost touching where they wrap around, both of them reluctant to let go. He chances a glance at Hoseok’s face, still cheerful though with some mild concern mixed into his expression, and then looks back at his opponent, calculating.
A scenario pops into Jungkook’s head. One in which he rips the box out of the stranger’s tiny hands, jumps across turned-over displays and scattered toys, and speeds off to find another checkout on a floor below them. But he suspects that the other sales assistants have already started locking up their tills, and he also knows he would go straight on the naughty list with a stunt like that.
He watches his enemy’s brown eyes flicker between his own and then, in a silent agreement, they both let go.
“Thanks!” Hoseok grins and turns on his heels towards the counter.
Jungkook is ready to launch into his arguments, plead with this personified grinch if he has to in order to make sure Purple Princess Astronaut comes home to him and Taehee.
But then – he just needs another second to catch up on his breath. It’s lodged somewhere in his throat as he watches the other man (the opponent! the enemy!) run his hand through his blonde hair. He’s fixing it with a sigh, neatly parting it to expose his forehead.
“What?” he balks when Jungkook only keeps looking, without saying anything.
The pretty ones are always jerks, Jungkook thinks. This one has the kind of magnetic face that Jungkook would keep sneaking glances at on the subway, hoping the other person would meet his eyes by chance and rose petals would start falling around them or whatever. The kind of face, with its soft cheeks and full, pink lips that Jungkook would pass on the street once and daydream about the rest of the day, making up scenarios of how he might run into that mystery person again, just to prove that it was fate.
Right now though, he sees a mean gift-stealer. A grinch with a little arrow nose.
“Listen,” Jungkook tries, “my niece has been begging me for this doll. She would be devastated if she opens her presents tomorrow and it’s not there. And you don’t want to see her devastated. She makes her eyes all big and shiny and there are like a million stars sparkling in them.”
“Yeah? Like you’re doing with yours right now?” the man huffs and waves a hand in front of Jungkook’s face. Jungkook thinks he can spot the beginning of a smirk on the enemy’s lips. “Does she pout like you, too?”
Jungkook is pouting, he realizes. It’s basically instinctual. He has no control over his pout. But before the gift-invader can succumb to it, the man has spun around and is making his way to the checkout.
“If you wanted it so bad, you should have just come sooner,” he tells Jungkook, who hurries after him.
“I was busy.”
Jungkook had been on the brink of a crucial breakthrough in Fatal Collapse IV for days now and finally managed to chip away at the boss after painstakingly levelling up his entire team today. And sometimes being the top gamer in your local league just meant going to bed when the sun rises and waking back up when the stores are about to close.
“You could have just come earlier too,” he shoots back.
The stranger tuts at him as they reach the till, where Hoseok has placed Purple Princess Astronaut on a sheet of wrapping paper.
“I hate to play this card, but I’m a nurse and I just got out of a 12-hour shift, my third one this week by the way, so no, I couldn’t have just come in earlier.” He swipes at his hair again as he finishes. It looks soft, the way it glides through his fingers.
“You so don’t hate to play this card,” Jungkook mumbles under his breath, but it gnaws at him that this grinch is technically right. Between them, Jungkook is probably the one who could have made the trip before crunchtime.
“Okey-dokey,” Hoseok says with a bright smile, “who’s gonna be the lucky new friend of Purple Princess Astronaut then?”
“Me,” they answer in unison.
The grinch sighs. And then Jungkook suddenly has a front-row seat to a major show, a suave-fication, if you will. The man leans one elbow on the counter, crosses his ankles to shift his weight and angles himself towards Hoseok across the counter. He smiles and…yeah if Jungkook was on the receiving end of that kind of smile, he would probably sell him anything he wanted. There are definitely dimples. And soft lips. Jungkook swears this guy can turn on the glint in his eyes.
“Listen, Hoseok-ssi. I’m a frequent customer, you can look it up in your system. Park Jimin. Here, I have my loyalty card too.” He fishes for his wallet at his back pocket. “I should get it based on good customer relations, don’t you think?”
Even when he speaks, he sounds different now, all deep and gravelly and quieter. It’s all put on, Jungkook knows, but still, he feels Purple Princess Astronaut slipping through his fingers.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, the name Park Jimin bounces through his consciousness. Jimin. Park Jimin. It rolled off the man’s tongue so elegantly, and it matches him. He does look elegant in his brown coat and black turtleneck, even with the cheesy way he’s hanging off the counter.
“I’ll pay double!” Jungkook shouts, despite definitely scraping the bottom of his bank account. He looks around them and adds in a whisper, “under the table. It’d be like a tip for you.”
“Guys. Sirs,” Hoseok says. He’s got his arms around the height of Purple Princess Astronaut’s box now and holds it to his chest. “I really have no loyalty to this company,” he tells Jimin, and adds with a nod to Jungkook, “but I still don’t wanna get fired for taking a bribe.”
His grin grows bigger then, and he wiggles his shoulders in excitement. “Sooo, I have an idea. My boyfriend organizes this community Christmas get-together for families with young children, you know for single-parents, working-parents and whatever. Anyway, why don’t you both come along tomorrow with your niece and nephew, and they can play there together and learn the joys of sharing?! You know, in the spirit of Christmas! Doesn’t that sound amazing?”
The two men stay silent as Hoseok stares at them with twinkling eyes. Jimin’s flirtatious posture deflated as soon as he heard ‘boyfriend’.
Finally, Jungkook says, “that…sounds sweet, but I kind of want Taehee to actually own the doll, so she can play with her whenever she wants.”
Hoseok cocks his head at him. “You know, my boyfriend says private property is the source of all evils.”
“You-,” Jimin blinks at him, “you work in retail.”
That draws a sigh from Hoseok. “Yeah, I’m part of the exploited proletariat in the cogs of capitalism, he says.”
“Jeez, he sounds like he’s fun on Christmas.”
“He is actually!” Hoseok lights up, “last year as my present, he whittled a sp-”
“Wait, wait, how would this work though?” Jungkook interrupts. “Like shared custody of a doll? And we’d pay half each?”
“Sure.” Hoseok shrugs. “You can take it on a trial run tomorrow. And if it doesn’t work out, you’ll have the receipt and can return it. Or maybe you can work out a new deal at the get-together. Come onnn, do it for Christmas! For the children!”
Hoseok lifts the doll box up to his face and squishes his cheek against the cardboard, curling his lips into a pout to add salt in Jungkook’s wound.
Jungkook’s shoulders sag. Part of him really wants to steal Purple Princess Astronaut out of Hoseok’s hold and make a run for it. The bigger, better part of him however knows that the sales assistant is not going to let either of them walk off with the doll without agreeing to his terms.
“I guess we can give it a shot,” he grumbles in defeat. “But you have to agree to it.” He eyes Jimin with suspicion once again.
The other man sighs with the same defeat. “Fine. We can try. For Christmas, I suppose.”
“Yayyyy,” Hoseok shouts, drops Purple Princess Astronaut and claps his hands together in lightning speed. “Here, I’ll even give you my employee discount to reward you for finding the Christmas spirit in your heart.”
He swipes his badge and rings up the doll. In no time, he has covered Purple Princess Astronaut in the festive wrapping and neatly glued a sparkly bow on top of the box.
He pushes the gift to the edge of the counter when - Jungkook and Jimin both reach for their wallet.
“I’ll get it,” Jimin says. “You can pay me back tomorrow.”
Jungkook bristles. “Hell no, how do I know you’re not just gonna disappear with her?”
“God, you’re so petulant, did you know that? Fine.” He flicks through a collection of cards in his wallet and plucks one out to give to Jungkook. “Take my driver’s license. Hold on to it until tomorrow and if I don’t show, you have my permission to hunt me down.”
Jungkook turns the plastic card in his hand.
There he is, Park Jimin. Born 1995. He has different hair in the picture. It’s his natural black and longer. He can pull off both looks, Jungkook has to acknowledge.
“Okay, well, we could just let Hoseok-ssi bring it tomorrow if he’s joining too,” Jungkook says, maybe just to be petulant.
“No, I – ugh – I have this thing.” He lowers his voice, “I do this thing where I dress up as Santa for Junhyun, my nephew, so I want Santa to deliver the doll for him, alright? And I’ll make up a story about the event or whatever, so he knows he has to share it. Can you just agree so we can get out of here?”
Jungkook is pouting again. “’Kay.” He takes his phone out of his pocket and hands it to Jimin. “Give me your number, though. For the hunting down case.” Jungkook earns the tiniest uptick of Jimin’s mouth when he says it.
Still, there’s a sour feeling in Jungkook’s tummy as he watches Jimin put his arms around the wrapped-up Purple Princess Astronaut, say his goodbyes, and walk off with the doll, back through the deserted mall, down the now-empty escalators and into the night.
…he can’t believe he just let some handsome stranger get away with his girl.
🎄🎁🎄🎁🎄
One sleep later, Jungkook stands in front of the unassuming community center, a small multi-purpose building that’s been given a festive touch with a few holiday lights twinkling in the windows.
His gloved hand clutches Taehee’s, who’s excitedly swinging their connected arms, looking around for her Christmas adventure.
She had been incredibly eager when Jungkook told her that they would be going on a special holiday trip with an even more special gift awaiting them, her eyes going wide and sparkly as they do.
Now Jungkook is just hoping that he didn’t put his faith in the wrong guy, or he might have to make up a Christmas lesson about how there are evil grinches in this world who don’t keep their promises.
Either way, Jimin’s driver’s license is sitting securely in Jungkook’s wallet. It has his address on it, and Jungkook would not hesitate to –
Just then, another car pulls into the parking lot. If it is Jimin, he is exactly three minutes late. Jungkook had made sure to text him the exact time and address accompanied by a barely disguised threat, to which Jimin had only replied with an eyeroll emoji.
It’s not Jimin. It’s a young woman that steps out of the car, and Jungkook feels his chest deflate.
He’s about to whip out his phone and send a more explicit threat, detailing all the jump kicks and body slams he picked up in Mortal Kombat when – the passenger door opens, and out climbs a blond man in an elegant brown coat with a doll box shaped gift tucked under his arm.
Christmas might be saved after all.
Across the parking lot, Jimin nods at him. He opens the car door to the backseat and leans into it. A short minute later, he emerges with a young kid, swaddled into a big scarf and fluffy hat that only let a tiny nose and plump cheeks peak out. The same kind of plump cheeks that Jimin has.
Jungkook gives Taehee’s arm a little shake to grab her attention. Currently, she’s preoccupied with stomping on the ground because it makes her new light-up sneakers glow blue and pink.
“Hey Taehee-yah, the Christmas friends I wanted you to meet are here, look!”
His niece’s eyes shoot up in excitement. “Our addentshore?”
“Our adventure, yeah,” Jungkook smiles. “We’re having a Christmas playdate, okay? And you’ll get another gift to unwrap! Cool, huh?”
“Wowieeee,” Taehee squeals, her little hops lighting up her shoes in rainbow colors.
Jimin’s nephew is the first one to reach them. He scuttles over in his puffy winterwear and stops just short of Jungkook and Taehee, eyes flittering between the two of them shyly. His big cheeks have a hint of color now that he’s been out in the cold for a minute. They match Taehee’s Rudolph-red nose that she sniffles intermittently.
“Hi!” Taehee waves her hand at the newcomer and sends him a smile. The boy smiles back but buries his nose into his scarf.
“Hello!” another voice greets back. “Nice to meet you! I’m Jimin.”
His nemesis seems different today. Warmer. This is the first time he’s seen him smile like this, Jungkook realizes. It’s not the same suave expressions he tried on Hoseok, and it’s definitely not the half-cut smirks he had thrown toward Jungkook.
It’s… bright. Kind of lovely. It makes his eyes shrink and cheeks bunch up.
Taehee, ever the angel, waves politely at Jimin too and sniffles her nose again. “My name is Taehee. And this is my uncle Jungkookie.”
As soon as she says her name, they hear a tiny gasp. Jimin’s nephew has his mouth wide open, and promptly slaps a mitten in front of it. With round eyes, he grabs at the sleeve of Jimin’s coat and pulls him towards himself.
“Uncle Jimin,” he says, brimming with sudden excitement, “those are the names Santa told me!! For my special mission!!”
Jimin lays it on thick in response, gasping theatrically and looking at Jungkook in surprise, as if he didn’t hatch a desperate appeasement plan in the middle of a shopping mall with him just the day before.
“Is that right?”
“Yes, Santa said I will get my last present when I find a friend named Taehee! I think it’s her, Uncle Jimin!!”
“Wait,” Taehee herself jumps in. She has instinctively lowered her voice to match the conspirational tone between Jimin and his nephew. “You met Santa?!”
“Oh. Yeah,” the boy nods proudly. “He gave me my presents this morning.”
“That’s so cool! I’ve never met him… But look what he gave me!” She extracts herself from Jungkook’s hold and starts stomping around again, narrowly missing a grimy brown puddle.
Jimin’s nephew squats down to inspect the blinking colors at the bottom of her sneakers. “Woah,” he says, enraptured.
When Jungkook looks away from the pair, he finds Jimin winking at him. “D’you like my magical Christmas tale?”
This time, it’s Jungkook who rolls his eyes. Yeah, maybe it’s cute to see his favorite tiny person light up at the wonders of Santa’s powers or whatever.
Before he has a chance to answer, someone clears their throat, and Jungkook’s eyes bounce to the woman who had trailed after Jimin and his nephew to meet them. She’s standing beside Jimin now, hands at the hips of her thick winter jacket.
“Hey there. I’m Jeongyeon. The sister. And Junhyun’s mom.”
Jungkook nods his head in a greeting. He can definitely see the family resemblance. Cute cheeks seem to run in their genes.
“And you must be the pretty boy my brother told me threatened to fight him over a doll last night?”
Oh.
…Pretty?
Jungkook doesn’t even have time to process the fact that… Jimin might have complimented him behind his back, because the man in question is already back to his grinch ways, shooting a growl at his sister.
“I did not say pretty.”
“Oh, you said it,” she laughs. “You said it angrily, but you did say it.” There’s a big, self-satisfied smirk on her lips – definitely more than one kind of cheeky that runs in those genes.
“Ugh, don’t believe a word she says. Trust me, we have a long-standing rivalry. She only ever wants to undermine me.”
“So dramatic,” he hears Jeongyeon mutter in response.
“I would have won, right? The fight?” Jungkook asks, partly to derail their bickering, partly because he kind of still wants to know. He’s standing pretty strong on the fact that he could take Jimin.
But Jeongyeon laughs, directly into his face. “No, honey, you wouldn’t have. Kitty’s got claws. And a black belt.” She tries to pet at Jimin’s head, but he scrunches up his face and escapes out of her reach.
Jimin passes Jungkook and says, “okay well, she’s right on that one. But anything else, don’t believe her.” He makes his way to collect his nephew, and Taehee skips excitedly after them.
Jimin looks over his shoulder and jerks his head at Jungkook to tell him to follow. “Let’s go, Bambi.”
🎄🎁🎄🎁🎄
To no one’s surprise, the kids go completely haywire over Purple Princess Astronaut. They scream and squeak, fall into each other’s arms and hop in a little circle, all entangled in their joy. Taehee’s eyes turn wide when she hits the button that transforms the doll’s spacesuit into a dress, and Junhyun provides the perfect soundtrack of chwooshes, beeps and clicks to bring Purple Princess Astronaut to life.
It makes it all worth it: the bickering, the dramatic standoff, the potential threat of being arrested by mall security for starting a full-on fist fight in the toy department. All worth it.
Celebrating Christmas with three strangers was really not something Jungkook had imagined for this day. But like this, in a warm room with a sparkling plastic tree in one corner and excited kids unpacking gifts in the other, it isn’t half bad.
Jungkook watches Jimin watch the children. He’s giggling almost as much as Junhyun is, bright and floaty like chimes in the air. Jimin is wearing a Christmas sweater, something that Jungkook apparently didn’t get the memo for. Jeongyeon, who excused herself to find the eggnog as soon as they were through the door, is wearing a similar one: green with a reindeer plushie sticking out at the front. Jimin’s is red with tiny dancing Santas all over his torso.
Jungkook only has his black longsleeve on. He feels a tad underdressed.
“You’re doing your pout again. What’s wrong?”
Jungkook startles and catches Jimin’s eyes on him. “Oh. Nothing. Just thinking.”
“Based on my nursing expertise, I’m diagnosing you resting pout face. Might want to get that checked out.” He leans in closer towards Jungkook and lowers his voice. “The kiddies are loving it. I think it’s going well.”
A few feet away, Taehee is lifting Purple Princess Astronaut through the air, flying her across the galaxies, while Junhyun stomps behind her, apparently pretending to be an evil space monster. Taehee squeaks every time Junhyun catches her, sending her into an adorable giggle fit.
Jungkook inevitably smiles along. “Yeah. It looks like they’re really going for that Christmas magic of sharing.” Jimin grins back at him. “So, what did you tell your nephew to get him come here, actually? Did you ho-ho? Make your voice really deep and laugh with your whole belly?”
“Shut up,” Jimin laughs. “No, I just… I just said that Santa saw he’s having a hard time making friends in pre-school, so Santa wanted to try a new kind of gift, you know, only for special children and all that. And that Santa would give him the mission to share his new toy because he was trying to gift him a new friend.” Jimin quickly looks at Jungkook again. “Don’t worry, I said it was all experimental and tricky magic and whatever, so there’s no pressure. I told him he should try sharing with other kids too.”
“That’s…” Jungkook doesn’t quite know what to say. “I – no problem. I’m sure… I mean, I bet Taehee would like to hang out with him again. Sorry he’s having a hard time.”
“Yeah, the past few months were… rough. His dad’s job was relocated to Australia so he’s missing him a lot and… I just wanted him to have a fun Christmas that would take his mind off things, you know.”
“Man, you should have just led with that yesterday. I would have surrendered Purple Princess Astronaut to you.”
A laugh shoots out of Jimin, one that’s a little incredulous and a little mocking. “First of all, no you wouldn’t have. You were ready to judo-wrestle me to the ground, remember? Besides, that would have been a cheap way to win. I wanted to earn it fair and square.”
Now it’s Jungkook who has to laugh. “Fair? You full on tried to seduce Hoseok-ssi. You went all,” he gestures vaguely to Jimin’s face and watches his grin grow wider, “smoldery and flirty.”
“What can I say.” Jimin shrugs. “It’s my specialty. It would have worked too, if not for that pesky boyfriend of his.”
“Well, it wouldn’t work on me. So it would have been really embarrassing for you if you’d tried taking Purple Princess Astronaut from me that way.”
“Ah, you’re one of those types that gets all weird and defensive when gay guys hit on him?”
Jungkook chokes on air.
“What?” he squeaks. He scrambles for the right words, “no, no, I’m not- I like guys hitting on me! I welcome it even!”
It’s been far too long since someone tried, to be fair. Maybe aside from the beefy guy at the gym with the pretty dimples who was way out of his league and probably just being nice when he offered to spot Jungkook. Either way, he really doesn’t mind flirting. Sort of misses it, frankly. And not the clubby, lets-get-each-other-naked-kind of flirting either. He wants the butterflies-in-his-stomach-kind, the type that feels like a drizzle down your spine and makes your heart beat faster at odd times of the day when you remember it.
As Jungkook protests, Jimin’s eyes begin glinting.
“Is that so?” he asks and shuffles closer to Jungkook on the mats they’ve been occupying, right into his personal space. Suddenly, Jungkook isn’t so sure of his earlier conviction anymore because the way Jimin is looking at him now, smolder turned back to a hundred – it might just melt his brain.
Jimin has his eyes fixed on Jungkook’s face, gaze flittering around as if taking every inch of it under scrutiny. He’s probably finding Jungkook’s wide stare and bitten lips, maybe spotting the mole above his chin or catching how his tongue fiddles his lip piercing into his mouth.
“So…” Jimin is looking up at him from underneath his lashes, eyes shining with a teasing smile. He cocks his head and brings his face just another tiny bit closer to Jungkook’s.
He has very nice skin, Jungkook’s brain supplies. And lips… yeah, those look nice too. Full and soft. They’re shaping into a grin now, having caught Jungkook in their honey trap.
“You come here often?” Jimin’s voice is a deep whisper, laden with something suggestive in the way he delivers his cheesy pick-up line.
Something stumbles in Jungkook’s chest.
It’s so stupid – he knows Jimin is playing. But why does his throat feel so dry?
“Didn’t think so. I’d remember a face like yours.”
By now it’s a whole cheese-fondue and Jungkook’s flirt-starved brain wants to dip straight into it. He watches Jimin’s sharp eyes give him the tiniest once-over again and he swears, he swears, he sees them hang onto his lips for a moment too long too.
The air between them crackles as if someone has lit a sparkler right under their noses. If he leant in, he’d singe.
“Hey!”
Jungkook surprises himself with his own squeak and tumbles away from Jimin at the sound of another person greeting them. He quickly looks up to find a man standing in front of them, one hand on his hip, the other holding a tray with little glasses.
“Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. Hi. I’m Yoongi, I organized this whole thing. And, well, I just wanted to come over to say… we don’t get a lot of gay couples here, so it’s really nice to have you. You’re more than welcome to join our other community events too, there’s a schedule pinned to the board at the door if you’re interested. Eggnog?” He holds the tray out to Jungkook and Jimin.
The two stare for a moment at this man who has pounced on them like a silent cat. Jungkook’s mouth is open, brain trying to formulate a thought after being made woozy by Jimin’s flirtatious clouds.
Jimin, likewise, stutters out, “oh… we’re not…”
“You don’t drink? Ah, no worries. Hoseokie will come around with some chocolate milk in a minute.” The man looks between them for a second and his lips shape into a bracket of a smile. “Well. It was nice making the acquaintance! Hope to see you around.” With that, he gives the pair a little nod and waddles off to pounce on the next family.
Beside a still stunned Jungkook, Jimin clears his throat. “I guess that was the boyfriend Hoseok-ssi mentioned.” He shoots him a small smile, but Jungkook occupies himself with retying the laces of his winter boots. His face is overheating. “Yeah,” he responds.
“Um… So.” Jungkook desperately scours his brain for something new to say, just to stop it from screaming HEY this man thought we were a couple!! “Uh… you said you were a nurse, right? D’you work with children too? That’s pediatrics, isn’t it?”
He wouldn’t be surprised if that was Jimin’s field. He’s good with kids, Jungkook can tell even from just spending a tiny portion of the afternoon together. He has anything Junhyun might need just an armlength away, from water to snacks to the plushie Santa gifted him this morning. And he seems genuinely excited about any fancy of their imagination Junhyun and Taehee come up with whenever they hurry back to their uncles to recount Purple Princess Astronaut’s adventures. Jungkook could picture him entertain little kids in the hospital the same way, how he’d sent them that gentle smile that crinkles at his eyes.
“Ah, no.” Jimin says. “I mean, yes, that’s pediatrics. But I’m a palliative nurse.” He must see Jungkook’s empty stare because he adds, “it’s kinda like hospice. The grandmas there love me. They call me a polite young man.”
Jungkook huffs. “Wow, hope to meet him someday,” he teases.
Jimin is wearing a smirk on his lips once again. “Maybe you will,” he says.
Jimin’s face looks like it’s sparkling all over, from the glint in his eyes to the blush in his cheeks to his mouth shaped into a grin. As a child, Jungkook would spent forever zoning out in front of their Christmas tree, watching the glimmering candle lights blur his vision until everything else lost focus. He wonders if Jimin’s face could do the same. He finds it hard to look away from.
Before it gets too weird, he does tear his gaze away though. And just in time, because he spots Hoseok approach them then.
When their elfish conspirator finds Jungkook’s eyes, he hurries over to bridge the distance, carefully balancing an unsafe amount of plastic cups on a tray. He’s already smiling his heart smile when he reaches them. It looks like he kept the elf ears on for the occasion too.
“Well, well, if it isn’t my rivals to frenemies to Christmas companions that my holiday magic has brought together! I’m so happy to see you! Here, here you go.” He pushes out his collection of cups for Jimin and Jungkook to take some. They must be the chocolate milk Yoongi promised earlier. Jimin takes two additional ones and sets them aside for the kids.
Hoseok gasps when he looks at Jimin. “Oh, I met your sister! She’s a hoot! Don’t worry, I made sure she switched to water. Soo, how are you enjoying the festivities? Are the kiddies happy with the compromise?”
Jimin brings his plastic cup to his lips and nods in the direction of Taehee and Junhyun. Taehee is currently balancing on her hands and toes to form a bridge while Junhyun is pretending to be a boat going underneath it, with Purple Princess Astronaut sitting comfortably on his tummy.
“They’re loving it.”
“Yayyy, see! I knew it would work. My centuries of experiences as a Christmas elf.” He winks at them, and moves to set his tray down in front of their mats. “By the power vested in me by Santa himself, I now pronounce you,” he reaches into his trouser pockets and pulls out something with his closed hand, “elf apprentices!”
As he announces it, Jungkook and Jimin are met with a shower of silver tinsel pieces, raining down on them like glittering snow. Jungkook splutters when one gets caught in his mouth.
Before either of them can respond, Hoseok is already picking his tray back up again. “Let me know if I should come back with the mistletoe,” he giggles brightly and is out of their sight in a matter of seconds.
Jimin and Jungkook are left picking out tiny bits of tinsel from their hair. There’s two little pieces swimming in Jungkook’s chocolate milk now. They’re flimsy enough to withstand Jungkook’s weak attempts to fish them out of his cup. You can probably drink around those, right?
“They’re kind of a weird couple,” he says.
Jimin laughs, and Jungkook looks up just in time to catch the crinkly eye smile. “Yeah. I sort of want to be their best friend.”
There’s something else sparkling on Jimin’s face now, beside the pretty eyes and cheeks and lips. It’s a square bit of tinsel, tucked right into the strand above Jimin’s forehead. Jimin seems to have already found the rest, but this one proved stubborn.
Instinctively, Jungkook reaches out for it.
With his breath held, the moment trickles. Maybe the two of them have a thing for time. They seem to make it lag behind their movements.
Just like that, Jungkook becomes hyper-aware of each strand of Jimin’s blond hair as it brushes past his fingers on their way to grab the metallic confetti. They feel so soft.
Something zaps through him as he takes it out – the tiniest little spark in the tip of his finger. He could blame it on Jimin’s woolen jumper creating some sort of electric charge. Or…
Jungkook clears his throat as he discards the little piece. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
Jimin cocks his head at him. He’s eyeing him again, with that look that always seems to be one step ahead of him. “You know, I was kind of trying to be mean earlier when I said it, but you really do look like Bambi. It’s cute.”
“Oh. Thanks. Um… cheers.” He clinks his plastic cup of chocolate milk against Jimin’s and looks back down, back at his shoelaces. Unfortunately, he already re-tied them.
Next to him, Jimin smacks his lips.
“So, you know my job, my family stuff, my villainous sister, but I feel like I don’t know anything about you. What do you do?”
“Um, I’m a graphic designer. Or, well, working on becoming one, I guess.”
“Oh! That’s cool.” Jimin looks earnest when he says it, his eyes going a little rounder and making him look much more innocent.
“It’s okay, I’m just starting out. And it’s all corporate, so you know… But I still get to make stuff that people actually use, so that’s kinda cool.”
Jimin hums. “So, I’m guessing the reason you were late to the mall and almost bodyslammed me is because you had a super important project to finish and were in a really bad rush?”
Jungkook matches his grin now. “Sure. Let’s say that.” It makes Jimin giggle, the same high chimes as when he was watching his nephew earlier.
In the distance, across the hall, Jungkook spots Taehee and Junhyun now. They had made their way over to the snack table earlier and are now being ushered to stand in front of the sparkling Christmas tree by Yoongi to take a polaroid.
He looks kind of like an old man as he takes the picture, half-squatting in a wide stance to get on the children’s eye level. The two kids, on the other hand, look like the most precious Christmas angels come to earth as they pose, squishing their cheeks against Purple Princess Astronaut between them and smiling widely into the camera. When they’re done, Yoongi pins their polaroid to a bulletin board and rewards them with a plate of cookies.
Jungkook can feel the pair’s giddiness all the way to where him and Jimin are sitting. He’s pretty sure his niece has never had a Christmas like this – in a little building that might as well be hidden somewhere on the North Pole itself, with soft holiday tunes humming in the background, clad with a lovely tree and colorful decorations, and filled with new friends who want to give her a day to remember.
Twenty-four hours ago, he would never have even imagined this to be possible.
“Hey.” He pokes his winter shoe against Jimin’s chelsea boot. “I’m kinda sorry for almost bodyslamming you yesterday. But I’m also kinda glad I did. This turned out pretty nice, didn’t it?”
He pulls his knees close and leans his temple on top of them, watching Jimin watch him. The grinch-turned-charmer smiles at him.
“Yeah. Really nice,” he says, voice soft and warm. “I’m glad Hoseok-ssi is a better man than either of us and refused my flirtations and your bribe.”
That reminds Jungkook of something. “Oh, by the way I’ll send you my half of the payment for Purple Princess Astronaut as soon as I can. Just give me your bank details or whatever.”
Jimin purses his lips and looks away for a moment. Maybe to where Taehee and Junhyun are sneaking sweets from the snack table, maybe to where a couple moms have started a conga line.
“Since we’re trying out new ideas this Christmas,” he says, and then his eyes are back on Jungkook, sharp and sparkling once more, “how about you just pay me back by buying me a drink? Next Friday maybe?”
Jungkook’s mouth opens – without a sound. That seems like… a date. A drizzle simmers down his spine, making his skin prickle all over. He looks at Jimin’s face, the features he has witnessed shifting from mean to snarky to flirty to kind to cute. The eyes that Jungkook has made go narrow with spite and wide with surprise and that disappear when he makes him laugh.
A date.
Jungkook huffs, half-stunned, half-excited.
“Deal,” he says.
He almost expects Hoseok to ambush them again, to jump right into their middle holding the mistletoe he threatened them with before.
But it’s just the two of them, in one corner of a festive hall, sharing a smile between them, and a little bit of holiday magic, too.
🎄🎁🎄🎁🎄🎁🎄🎁🎄🎁🎄