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“This year, I want four dogs, three cats, and twelve parrots for Christmas!”
Hyunjin raises his eyebrows. Jia, the energetic and inquisitive 5 year old he’s had the pleasure of entertaining for the past half an hour, grins up at him gleefully.
“Is that so?” He places a finger on his chin, as if deep in thought. “Where are you gonna get that many pets?”
Jia mimics his expression, staring down at the floor. Then, as if struck with a great idea, she lights up. “You’ll get them for me!”
“Me?!” Hyunjin draws back in faux shock. “Why me?! Why not eomma and appa?”
The little girl giggles. “Just because. Oh!” She points at the doorway. “You and Seungminnie-oppa can pool money to buy them for me!”
Hyunjin turns to meet Seungmin’s eyes just as the latter drops down onto the floor next to him. Seungmin offers him a smile before reaching out to ruffle Jia’s hair. “Pool, huh? That’s a big word. Why are we gonna pool money for you?”
“Because, for Christmas, you’re going to buy me four dogs, three cats, and… um…” the girl trails off.
“Twelve parrots?” Hyunjin supplies with a wink.
“Twelve parrots!” Jia finishes triumphantly. “Four dogs, three cats, and twelve parrots for Christmas.”
Seungmin smirks in Hyunjin’s direction. “Ah… and why us?”
Jia groans. “Hyunjinnie-oppa asked me that too! Just because.” She crosses her arms.
“Well, okay, you’re the boss,” Hyunjin says, shrugging helplessly at Seungmin. In response, the latter laughs, the sound causing a kaleidoscope of butterflies to explode in a flurry right in the heart of his stomach.
He’s been getting better at talking to Kim Seungmin without wanting to kiss him right on the mouth, especially in front of eight kids, even though sometimes Seungmin’s dimples make him want to fling himself out of the window, but hey, progress?
Jia skips off to join the others, finally leaving Hyunjin alone. Not that Jia wasn’t the most adorable human to ever exist (and definitely not Hyunjin’s favourite kid, he doesn’t pick favourites), but someone should’ve really warned him that taking care of kids was mentally exhausting.
Every Thursday from three to six, Hyunjin volunteers three hours of his time to essentially babysit a class of kids in the kindergarten near his house. He won’t deny starting it mainly to add it to his portfolio, but over time, he’s started to love the kids like his own, and the trips to the kindergarten become less of a routine and more of a hobby.
(It definitely helps that every Thursday from three to six, Kim Seungmin also volunteers three hours of his time.)
Seungmin had been volunteering here way before Hyunjin, for about four to five months. He doesn’t know how on God’s green Earth Seungmin had managed them all even on the teachers’ lunch break, but Seungmin’s just amazing and perfect like that.
“Hey, so,” Seungmin says. “Mrs Lee asked me to discuss with you about the Christmas party plans.”
Hyunjin nods. “Um, we already ordered a cake. That small chocolate log cake. And the kids help set the Christmas tree up a week before the 24th, right? So that’s in three days. The decor goes up around the same time, and there’s the baking workshop on the 23rd. We also already ordered Mr Ji’s Santa costume.” He checks each item off on his fingers. “Anything I’m missing?”
Seungmin thinks. “I don’t think so. I’ll get back to her, then. So are you coming back for an extra session to put the Christmas tree up?”
“Yeah, definitely. You?” Mentally, Hyunjin crosses his fingers.
“Of course. I’ll come and help with all the Christmas party preparations.”
“Then I will too,” Hyunjin says a little too quickly, a wave of excitement passing through him. Seungmin raises his eyebrows just slightly.
Thankfully, Hyunjin’s saved from defending himself as Bora shuffles over. “For Christmas, I want a magic lamp like Aladdin,” she says flatly towards Seungmin.
Hyunjin has to prevent himself from snorting as Seungmin fumbles for a response.
—
Three days later, Jia, with her boundless energy, greets Hyunjin right as he opens the door. “Hyunjinnie-oppa!! Hyunjinnie-oppa!! Hurry! Seungminnie-oppa’s already waiting!”
“He is?!” Hyunjin asks, just a little too quickly. He clears his throat. “I mean, he is?”
“Yeah!” Jia nods urgently, grabbing Hyunjin’s hand. “Come on! We can’t decorate the tree without you!”
Hyunjin allows himself to be dragged into the classroom, perking up as he catches sight of Seungmin, almost as tall as the tree, towering over the seven kids.
“You see, this is called a bauble,” Seungmin’s saying as Hyunjin sets his tote down. In his left hand, he holds the box of ornaments, using his right hand to fish them out one by one. “This one is Santa. This one is a present. This is a nutcracker.”
Hyunjin grabs one from the box, grinning. “And this, kids, is a mistletoe! Do you know what a mistletoe is for? It’s—”
Quickly, Seungmin grabs the ornament from his hand. “It’s a plant! The mistletoe is a plant. Just like a rose, or a fern.”
Minwoo raises his hand. “I know what a mistletoe is for.” Hyunjin sees Seungmin tense up, but before either of them can stop the little boy, he declares, “when two people love each other, they do something under the mistletoe.”
Seungmin drags his palm down his face at the same time that Hyunjin tries to hold back a laugh as the kids burst into a flurry of chatter. “What do they do?” Jihyun asks, eyes wide.
Minwoo hesitates, then beckons them all closer. “They… kiss.”
All at once, the kids squeal, some of them giggling happily, others with looks of disgust plastered on their faces. Seungmin shoots Hyunjin a glance, eyes narrowed. “Look what you’ve done,” he mutters. Hyunjin shrugs sheepishly.
“Hey, okay, kids, yes, that’s enough,” Hyunjin says, though he’s smiling. “Yes, they kiss. But you can’t tell anyone we told you that, okay?” It’s useless, much like giving the kids a chocolate and expecting them not to eat it immediately, but Hyunjin sticks out a pinky finger. “Promise?”
“Promise,” they say, but the looks of mischief say otherwise. They’d deal with that later.
“Okay, who’s ready to decorate a tree?” Seungmin asks hastily, and all is forgotten as the kids run for the box.
Once they’re all clustered around the tree with armfuls of the ornaments, Seungmin’s lips quirk up as he offers the box to Hyunjin. “You wanna hang the mistletoe?”
Hyunjin laughs sarcastically, though his heart is going just a little too fast for his liking. “Very funny. Maybe we should hang real mistletoe.”
“For who? The kids?” Seungmin rolls his eyes.
Instead of saying “for us, obviously”, as Hyunjin would have very much liked to, he grabs a mistletoe from the box. “You know what, I will hang the mistletoe.”
Twisting the pipe cleaner around the tree branch, Hyunjin grins. “There.”
Seungmin sets the box down on the floor and takes a bauble, hooking it on the opposite end of Hyunjin’s mistletoe.
They take turns grabbing an ornament from the box and hanging it on the tree as if in a relaxed competition, each one nearing closer to the centre. Finally, there remains one last gap, and Hyunjin lunges for the box.
Seungmin blocks him, taking a Santa and hooking it on the branch, meeting Hyunjin’s eyes triumphantly.
“Cheat!” Hyunjin accuses. He takes the Santa off the branch, replacing it with his own ornament.
It’s altogether childish, but you know, they’re in a kindergarten! It’s justifiable.
“Who’s the cheat now?” Seungmin scoffs, taking Hyunjin’s bauble off and putting Santa back.
“Still you,” Hyunjin says stubbornly, about to repeat the process, but Seungmin places his hand atop Hyunjin’s on the branch. “Nope. You’re not taking Santa off.”
Amidst the short-circuiting going on in his brain that definitely should not be happening over that little bit of skin contact, Hyunjin tries to fish out a coherent response. “Well,” he looks up at Seungmin, and, oh shit that was a mistake. Now how’s he going to form a coherent response?
“Hey, Seungminnie-hyung,” Jihyun says, tugging on Seungmin’s shirt and causing the eye contact to break. “Stop staring at Hyunjinnie-hyung and come and help me.”
“I wasn’t…!” Seungmin’s cut off as Jihyun drags him to the other side of the tree. “Help me put this on the higher branch.”
Hyunjin shakes his head quickly, clearing the thoughts about dragging Seungmin out of the classroom and to a date right this second, and replacing them with thoughts of the Christmas party instead.
Jia grabs his hand, and he’s saved from thinking about kissing Seungmin right on the mouth for the fiftieth time this week.
—
The thing about Seungmin is, Hyunjin doesn’t have his number.
Their relationship strictly functions every Thursday from 3-6, and nothing outside of that. It’s not that Hyunjin doesn’t want his number— in fact, he wants it desperately and urgently— but you can’t just ask a work partner for their number for no apparent reason.
(Hyunjin’s done his fair share of Instagram stalking, of course, but to no avail.)
So, obviously, Hyunjin’s utterly confused to get a text written in Seungmin’s voice, with the diction of Seungmin, and signing off as Seungmin, in the wee hours of the morning.
(6.07am)
Unknown Hey Hyunjin, this is Seungmin. Do you happen to have a spare apron I can use today?
(Okay, it’s not a love confession, but it’ll do.)
(10.34am)
Hyunjin omg????????? how did you get my number
kim seungmin!! I will never understand the need for that many question marks.
kim seungmin!! I got it from Mrs Lee. Back a few months ago. But that’s besides the point. Do you have an apron?
Hyunjin okay, 1) life’s too short to not use twenty question marks at a time???? and 2) yes of course i do!!! do you want pictures
kim seungmin!! I’m still not seeing the appeal of question marks, but you do you.
kim seungmin!! No, I don’t need pictures. Thank you so much, by the way.
Hyunjin don’t thank me!!!! >_<
The three dots move for a couple of seconds, and Hyunjin’s sure Seungmin’s about to tell him off for the excessive use of question marks, but then the dots stop moving and Seungmin reacts to his last message with a thumbs up instead. Hyunjin would have very much liked to carry on the conversation, but then again, he wasn’t sure if his heart would be able to take it.
Hyunjin gets ready, all the while swooning over how Seungmin types like a Victorian man. Maybe that’s Hyunjin’s type.
And later, when he selects an apron from his extensive collection, he has to resist laughing imagining Seungmin in it.
“Um.” Seungmin blinks. “Is this for me?”
Hyunjin purses his lips in a muffled laugh. “Yeah.” He hands it over.
The apron has a huge grinning donut in the centre against a white background, with little red hearts everywhere on the pocket. The caption reads “Donut kill my vibe” in huge block letters.
It’s one of the cornier ones Hyunjin owns; he bought it for a laugh back in August, and who knew it would actually be useful?
“Um,” Seungmin repeats intelligently. “What about… yours?”
In contrast, Hyunjin’s is a solid white, like all the other aprons the kids are wearing.
“You really want me to wear that?” Seungmin asks incredulously.
“Hey, look,” Hyunjin retorts. “At least you’re not gonna get your shirt dirty. It’s a very nice shirt.”
“Yeah, but—”
“I was this close to taking those couple aprons I have. You know, the ones with ‘I’m his’ on them.” It’s a lie. He wasn’t really that bold, but…
Seungmin’s face reddens immediately— it should not be physically possible for a human’s skin to reach that shade of red— and grabs the apron. “On second thought, I’ll take it.”
Hyunjin grins. “You’ll look so cute in it.”
Seungmin glares, swiftly tossing it over his head and tying a double knot. Hyunjin has to resist cooing.
“Hey, help me tie it too.” Hyunjin turns. It’s not that he can’t put an apron on in the span of seven seconds, but more that he’s a mastermind.
“Right, like you can’t do it yourself,” Seungmin says, but he takes the strings in his hands anyway.
Hyunjin is hyper aware of all his senses at once, Seungmin’s fingers skimming past his lower back occasionally, sending waves of heat through his body. The knot is deftly secured, Seungmin’s hands lingering, Hyunjin still feeling the ghost of his touch.
He turns, locking eyes with Seungmin— breathe, what the hell— “Thanks.”
“Not so cocky now, huh?”
Well, there was no hope for Hyunjin now.
Jia materialises between the both of them. “Hyunjinnie-oppa, come on! I wanna bake!”
Hyunjin snaps out of it, breaking eye contact with Seungmin at last. “Okay, let’s go.”
Jia — thank god for the girl — takes him by the hand toward the kitchen. “Hyunjinnie-oppa, are you and Seungminnie-oppa…” she beckons him closer, and Hyunjin bends at his knees, “…in love?”
Hyunjin draws back in shock. “What?! Why would you think that?” Not that that’s not the most pleasing thing he’s heard in quite a while, but.
Jia shrugs. “Seungminnie-oppa likes you a lot.”
Eyebrows jumping, Hyunjin asks, “how would you know?”
“Seungminnie-oppa is like my appa and you are my eomma.”
Hyunjin’s not quite sure what to say.
“It’s just that we all know Seungminnie-oppa likes you!! Me and Aecha were talking about it yesterday.”
“Oh…”
“Anyway!” Jia pulls him along, as if she hadn’t just delivered the most earthshaking monumental piece of information. “We’re making cookies for Santa!”
Later, Seungmin meets them, bright apron around his waist and all. The kids can’t get enough of it, all clambering around him to read the caption.
See, told you, Hyunjin says with his eyes, even though his heart feels like it’s about to burst out of his chest.
Mrs Lee instructs the kids as they file into the pantry, grabbing the ingredients and laying them out on the table. Hyunjin takes a bag.
“You got the sugar?” Seungmin asks him.
Hyunjin passes it to him. “You’re already sweet enough,” he croons.
It must be the recent revelation, because this time Hyunjin picks up on the reddening of Seungmin’s cheeks. Again.
“Funny,” Seungmin murmurs.
They help the kids measure and toss ingredients into the mixing bowl. Hyunjin, occupied with Jia as always, catches glances at Seungmin every now and then, the latter measuring everything with scientific precision. Seriously, Hyunjin watches him pour water in and out from a measuring cup six times!
“Hyunjinnie-oppa,” Jia whines. “Help me.”
“Ah— oh, yes.” Hyunjin lowers the top of the stand mixer, flicking a switch to start it going. Jia squeals, and Hyunjin chuckles, ruffling her hair.
“So, Hyunjinnie-oppa, who is your girlfriend?”
Hyunjin nearly chokes. “I, er, I don’t have one.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Jia presses. “My oppa has a boyfriend. Minho-oppa. Eomma and appa like Chan-oppa a lot. I know that boys love boys sometimes. You can tell me! Promise!” The girl holds out a pinky in earnest.
Hyunjin smiles. “Your oppa has a boyfriend? That’s very nice. But no, I don’t have a boyfriend either.”
“Then why do you not tell Seungminnie-oppa you like him?”
“Oh, I don’t— I just—” Hyunjin scrambles for a response. “Hey— the batter’s done, I think!”
Jia, seemingly forgetting the topic at hand, claps excitedly as Hyunjin takes the mixing bowl out of the stand mixer, bringing it to the rows of trays lined with baking paper.
He drops a dollop of batter down onto the tray, then hands it to Jia. “You try.”
Jia grips the metal bowl in her tiny hands, using the scoop in her right hand. She laboriously sticks the scoop deep into the batter.
“Hey, I can help you if you—”
Splat.
The scoop goes flying, landing right on Seungmin’s apron— Seungmin who’d been walking in their direction, metal bowl in his hands. There’s absolute silence as the scoop slides off and lands on the floor at his feet.
Then, “Jia, you made his apron even prettier!” Hyunjin cackles.
Hyunjin walks towards Seungmin and reaches out to spread the splat of dough next to the donut’s head, much to the kids’ amusement. They burst out in laughter; even Seungmin looks like he has an urge to laugh.
“This is your apron,” Seungmin mutters.
“Yeah, you look cute in it. You can keep it.”
“Shut up,” Seungmin says, swiping some dough off his apron and onto Hyunjin’s nose.
Amidst Hyunjin’s yells, Seungmin sets the bowl on the table. “Okay, okay, let’s clean up before Mrs Lee sees this mess. Jia, pick the scoop up, please.”
Jia rushes to follow his instructions, and the rest of the session goes on somewhat without a hitch. By the end, they have a set of beautifully baked cookies that they let the kids decorate with icing.
Later — much later that night, Hyunjin’s doorbell rings, and he opens it to a package at the doorstep. Inside is his apron, spotless and dry (and smelling like Febreeze), along with a note that reads “I’m sure you look cute in it too.”
Hyunjin is not able to sleep that night.
—
“How the hell did you get my address?”
Seungmin shrugs, as if it is just completely normal to get the phone number and address of a coworker slash fellow volunteer slash friend slash [insert preferred term here] without their knowledge. “The phone book. In Mrs Lee’s office.”
“So you stalked me.”
Seungmin flushes. “No,” he defends, “I needed it for contact purposes. And it’s in the phone book. I didn’t, like, search you online or something.”
“So… you stalked me.”
Seungmin’s about to reply when the kids stream in, significantly more energetic than they’d been yesterday. The school bus was late— or they’d both decided to come earlier today. Either way.
“Hyunjinnie-oppa, Seungminnie-oppa! Merry Christmas!”
“Christmas is tomorrow, Donghyun,” Seungmin reminds the boy cheerfully. “Today’s the party.”
“But Santa’s visiting today!” Minwoo pipes up.
Hyunjin nods enthusiastically. “Yep, Santa’s gonna drop by here specially just to see you guys today!”
The Santa in question really was their centre manager, Mr Ji, but who was Hyunjin to dash their innocent little dreams like that? They even got the whole getup— red suit, hat, the beard, hell, even stuffing.
“Does Santa visit grownups like you guys too?” Jia asks thoughtfully.
“I don’t think he does, Jia,” Seungmin replies. “Only kids like you get presents.”
“Does that mean we stop getting presents when we’re old?” Jia pouts.
As the children mourn over their imminent loss of Santa and presents and Christmas joy, and Seungmin frets over what he’d done, Mrs Lee appears at the door, frazzled.
“Hey— can I see you boys for one second?”
She brings them to the staff room, closing the door behind her and sighing loudly.
“Okay, so.” She groans. “Mr Ji’s down with stomach flu. Explicit instructions from his doctor to stay home. So that means….”
“We don’t have a Santa,” Seungmin finishes.
“We don’t have a Santa,” Mrs Lee repeats.
Hyunjin bites his lip. “Can’t anyone else do it?”
Mrs Lee huffs a laugh. “I mean…” she gestures toward the bulletin board with all the staffs’ faces on them. All of which are, well, women. With the exception of Mr Ji. “None of us really have the ‘jolly fat man’ look going for us.”
Four classes, eight kids per class, which meant 32 kids with dashed dreams by the end of the day if they didn’t come up with a solution fast.
All of a sudden, the three of them look up, and it’s like the idea strikes all of them at the same time.
“One of you boys can do it!” Mrs Lee exclaims.
Hyunjin nods his head quickly. “Yeah, Seungmin can do it.”
“Me?! Why don’t you do it?”
Mrs Lee taps away at her phone. “Okay, I need to meet Ms Hong for a second. I’ll pop back in 5 minutes and you guys can discuss who’ll do it?” Without waiting for a reply, she ducks out and shuts the door.
“Okay, so obviously you’re the one who should do it,” Hyunjin says. “Look at you!”
“What about me?” Seungmin crosses his arms.
“I mean… you really do kind of have the jolly fat man look going for you.” He steps closer, brushing his hand down Seungmin’s arm, then using both hands to hold his shoulders in place. “See, your shoulders are so broad. And your- your…”
Hyunjin stutters to a stop as Seungmin looks right in his eyes. The boy cocks an eyebrow, one perfect, no-hair-out-of-place eyebrow.
“And… your…” Hyunjin continues feebly.
“Is this just an excuse to get close to me?”
Hyunjin casts his gaze away quickly, hands dropping to his sides. Was it just him or had the room gotten warmer?
“I never said I minded it,” Seungmin says quietly.
Hyunjin, heart beating at a million times a second, feels his breath stop. This is all too inappropriate, what with this being a staff room in a kindergarten of all places.
He looks back at Seungmin, whose lips are curled in a small smile, and steps just that little bit closer. “You…”
The click-clack of heels suddenly comes into earshot, and Hyunjin shoves Seungmin away and jumps back, the latter’s lower back colliding with the table just as Mrs Lee steps in.
“See, so you should be Santa!!!” Hyunjin almost yells, face heating up. Seungmin groans, hand reaching behind him to rub his back.
“Seungmin-ssi, are you okay?” Mrs Lee asks, eyes wide.
“I-I’m fine.” Seungmin glares at Hyunjin, the older boy replying with an apologetic glance.
“You sure? We can’t have another Santa down.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine— wait, what?”
Before Seungmin can protest, Mrs Lee throws the costume into his hands. “Later, when the kids are at the playground, you can get changed. Hyunjin-ssi can help you. Okay?”
“But—” Seungmin starts, then sighs. “Fine.”
Mrs Lee smiles gratefully. “Okay, that’s settled.” She sighs. “Thank heavens. You two should get back to the class. Jia’s asking for you.”
They scuttle out the door, Hyunjin ignoring the way his hair stood on end as his arm brushed with Seungmin’s on the way out.
—
“Single file, with your partners,” the respective class teachers instruct, the hordes of kids giggling gleefully as they run toward the playground. When the place has been effectively evacuated, Mrs Lee grabs a bag of presents and passes it to Hyunjin.
“Empty this under the tree before the kids come in. You guys have about twenty minutes to get ready and all. Is that okay?”
Seungmin nods, and Mrs Lee exits, leaving the two of them in the centre alone.
Hyunjin swallows, scanning Seungmin’s face for any indication of any memory of their shared moment earlier. Seungmin just smiles, unwrapping the plastic and taking the costume out.
“This hurts my eyes,” Seungmin admits. “The red is so bold.”
Hyunjin scoffs. “That’s not very jolly of you.”
“I’m not jolly.”
“Come on, I know you can be!” Hyunjin encourages. “Go on, ‘ho ho ho’? I believe in you!”
Seungmin narrows his eyes. “You wish.” He slings the costume over his shoulder. “Hold on a sec, I gotta change.”
He turns toward the staff bathrooms, grabbing the handle.
“Why not here?” Hyunjin blurts. “I mean, there’s like— there’s no one here.”
Seungmin raises both eyebrows, a smirk reaching the corners of his lips. He lets go of the doorknob. “As much as it would be my — and evidently your — pleasure…” he points at the cameras.
“Ah. Right.” Hyunjin flushes. Why the hell did he even suggest that?! Seungmin snorts, closing the door behind him, and once the embarrassment washes over, Hyunjin busies himself with emptying the bag of presents.
A good six minutes later— no, Hyunjin did not count, Seungmin emerges, the costume sagging against his body, hat askew, and beard pulled down to his chin.
“Do not laugh.”
“I wasn’t going to!”
Seungmin rolls his eyes. “Where’s that stuffing,” he mutters.
Hyunjin passes the bag to him, grabbing some of it himself and all but pulling Seungmin’s shirt open at the collar. He shoves the cotton down, averting his eyes from the inside of the shirt.
They laboriously empty the bag, and Hyunjin steps back to admire their handiwork. Altogether, not a bad job, though Seungmin’s deadpan expression is truly the cherry on top.
“Hmm, not fat enough.”
Seungmin groans as Hyunjin reaches into his shirt and rearranges the fluff. “It doesn’t matter. The kids won’t notice.”
“Kids know more than you think,” Hyunjin retorts.
“They do know more than you think,” Seungmin says quietly.
Hyunjin stills, gazing up into Seungmin’s eyes. “…Meaning?”
He watches Seungmin’s Adam’s apple bob once. “It means… kids notice way more than you think they do. They’re very observant.”
Hyunjin suddenly realises that his hand is still down Seungmin’s shirt, pulling it back quickly. He scratches his neck.
Seungmin steps closer. “Jia tells you a lot, doesn’t she?”
Hyunjin nods.
“She’s a smart kid.”
“I know,” Hyunjin says softly. “I was thinking…”
Seungmin’s hand finds a place on his waist, leaving a trail of shivers around Hyunjin’s body— the good kind. “We have about five more minutes.”
Hyunjin, hands shaking minutely, reaches over to pull the fake beard down, cringing at the texture. “I…”
“Jia’s right. I have liked you for a while, Hyunjinnie. And you know, if you aren’t so damn oblivious, you’d notice.”
Hyunjin shakes his head, huffing. “Shut up.”
Then both Seungmin’s arms are around his waist, pulling him in, lips on his own, and he falls onto Seungmin’s chest— or, well, the stuffing. It’s soft, tentative, yet Hyunjin feels that kaleidoscope of butterflies all over again.
He almost wants to laugh— his first kiss with Kim Seungmin, and the latter is in a Santa suit. Still, his arms wind loosely around Seungmin’s neck.
It’s amazing, perfect, everything he’d expected, and—
“HYUNJINNIE-OPPA IS KISSING SANTA CLAUS!”
Hyunjin jumps, rudely startled, and stumbles backwards, only to see Jia, hands clapped over her mouth, eyes wide as saucers.
And now his heart is beating a million times a second yet again, but for a different reason. “Jia! I—”
Before he can stop the girl, she runs out, turning the corner and yelling to all 31 kids and 4 teachers. “I SAW HYUNJINNIE-OPPA KISSING SANTA CLAUS!”
He hears the screams of the kids, squealing and yelling as they tumble over each other to get back to the centre despite the teachers’ feeble attempts at getting them in order.
They scramble through the doorway, erupting in cheers at the sight of Seungmin— well, Santa Claus— who’d luckily been able to fix his hat and beard just in time.
“Ho, ho, ho…?” Seungmin declares weakly, and the children groan. Mrs Lee nods at him urgently, and Hyunjin sees Seungmin wince before letting out the most Claus-esque bellow he’d ever heard uttered before.
The kids cheer, swarming around Seungmin and fighting to hug him, then diverting their attention to the presents under the tree.
Jia hangs back, jabbing Hyunjin in the thigh. “I saw you kissing Santa Claus,” she says again. “I am going to tell Seungminnie-oppa.”
Hyunjin shrugs helplessly. “What are you saying, Jia? I didn’t kiss Santa Claus.”
“You so did.” She skips away. “I saw you kissing Santa Claus, I saw you kissing Santa Claus,” she chants, singsong.
Minwoo marches up to him. “Hyunjinnie-hyung, are you in love with Santa Claus?”
Hyunjin shakes his head vehemently. “No! I didn’t kiss Santa!”
Minwoo pats his thigh sympathetically. “It’s okay. I support you.” Then he skips off.
Hyunjin drags his palm down his face. What the hell?
Mrs Lee appears at his side. “Good for you two, honestly. We’ve all been waiting for it to happen.” Then her expression gets serious. “But no more kissing in front of the kids,” she adds sternly.
Hyunjin smiles sheepishly. “Sorry, Mrs Lee. We’ll keep it in mind.”
The woman nods, smiles and pats him on the shoulder.
Jia materialises again, clapping her hands happily and shooting Hyunjin a look of mischief before skipping away, singing, “I saw you kiss Santa Claus, I saw you kiss Santa Claus!”
“Jia—”
Seungmin locks him with a helpless gaze, one that only says, you did this to yourself, what can I do?
—
“Did you know Hyunjinnie-hyung kissed Santa Claus?”
Hyunjin groans loudly as Seungmin tilts his head at Jihyun amusedly. “Is that so?”
They’d been away for almost a week, and yet all the kids could talk to Hyunjin about was him kissing Santa Claus. Even Jia (especially Jia) — precious, adorable Jia— wouldn’t let it go.
“I did not,” Hyunjin says through gritted teeth.
“He did,” Jia confirms from the other side of the room. She wags a finger at Hyunjin, then turns to Seungmin. “If I were Hyunjinnie-oppa, I would never choose Santa over you. Even if Santa could bring me presents every day. Santa’s old, and you’re young and handsome!”
Seungmin laughs. “You think I’m young and handsome, Jia?”
“Of course!” The girl nods happily, then a look of sadness passes through her face. “But are you sad? That Hyunjinnie-oppa kissed Santa and not you?”
Hyunjin nearly chokes, and Seungmin laughs. “No, I’m not sad.”
Hyunjin glares at him.
“I know Hyunjinnie loves me a lot more than he loves Santa.”
☆