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Jimin doesn’t notice anything is wrong, not at first. The change starts out subtly, the color fading starting at the tips of his usually pink fingers. He doesn’t really even notice until his hands have fully lost their color. At first, he attributes it to the change in season, momentarily forgetting that he is physically incapable of having a tan - being a spirit of Christmas and all with his skin almost resembling glittering snow. When the color fades up to his elbows, he takes note and gets concerned. Then all at once, the rest of the color fades from his body over the course of a week.
Now, Jimin isn’t a particularly vain spirit and he normally wouldn’t be too concerned about his appearance, but what startles him is that his need to prepare for the Christmas season seems to have left him, too. It’s the beginning of November and typically he’d be mapping out his routes for the coming season, planning where around the world he needs to go first, making sure his stash of Christmas spirit dust is full, and finding all the little places that need a little extra cheer and joy this year. But now, nothing. He can’t find the will in him to do any of it, all the joy has been taken and there’s just a sense of duty left behind.
And maybe it’s okay that the joy of the job has left, maybe he can get over that part. He thinks he could have still done the job because he knows what it means to people, but the problem is that he physically cannot make himself do anything that he normally would. He spent the better part of a week staring at the half filled bag of Christmas spirit fairy dust in the corner of his living room. No matter what he did, he couldn’t find a way to pick any of it up.
He tries lifting it with his hands at first, but his arms simply go right through the bag. When he realizes he can still lift cups and other physical objects, he thinks he’s found the work around. But when he sinks a cup into the bag and fills it with dust, the cup empties itself upon being brought out. That ends with Jimin nearly breaking all his cups out of frustration.
At some point, the rest of the world also starts to lose color, hues fading into various shades of grey. Jimin’s once bright and merry house starts to look more drab and dreary, words no one would have ever used to describe his cheerful house, if humans could see it that is. In a last ditch effort, Jimin decides that maybe it’s best to take a literal spin around the earth and see if anything brings his Christmas joy back to him.
Somehow one trip turns into several and on his seventh lap around, he sees what looks like a flash of Christmas lights and hears what almost sounds like a festive melody coming from the ground. Diving to get a closer look, Jimin pulls up short when the lights and sound suddenly disappear. He waits a little more before he sees them again and flies as fast as he can toward the source.
Nearing the ground, he sees an inconspicuous house in the middle of a snow covered neighborhood. There’s nothing decorating the place but he is sure that the source of lights and tinkling music is coming from inside the house. When he gets close to the window, his eyes widen in shock because the source of all the festive lights is a man, and even more surprising, the entirety of the room he is viewing can be seen in vivid color.
Without thinking, Jimin bursts through the door and clearly startles the human inside. They stare at each other for a moment before the human leaps behind the nearest piece of furniture, yelling “Who are you? How did you get in here? What do you want?” while also throwing pillows and other nearby objects at Jimin.
Jimin tries to explain himself, stating that he thought he saw lights and heard music coming from the house. He doesn’t know much about humans, but knows that he likely sounds crazy from the way the human seems to be looking at him. But then the human turns on a light and sees that Jimin is practically transparent while also slightly glowing.
“Hold on, I need a drink,” the human says, walking over to the fridge and pulling something out before sitting at the table. A few minutes later, the human gestures at one of the other chairs and it appears he’s calmed down enough to listen to Jimin’s story.
He learns that the human’s name is Jungkook and that apparently he needs something called ‘space’ to digest what happened. So Jimin sits and watches as Jungkook paces around in the kitchen. After an hour, Jungkook says that he is willing to try and help Jimin find his Christmas cheer again.
So Jungkook makes a list of things he considers to be Christmas staples, offering simple explanations of everything he adds to the list. He tells Jimin that he’s sure that something will bring the love of Christmas back to him.
1.Get a Christmas tree
2.Build a snowman
3.Watch Hallmark Christmas movies
4.Go Caroling
5.Visit a mall Santa
6.Bake cookies and make hot chocolate
Even with Jungkook’s explanations, Jimin’s not sure that these things will help, but he’s more than willing to give it a try. They decide to go in the order that Jungkook thought of things and choose to head to Jungkook’s favorite Christmas tree farm the next day.
🎄🎄🎄
Getting out of the car, the pair begin their walk toward the lot, Jungkook singing a song softly under his breath.
Jimin stops abruptly, turning to face Jungkook. “Jungkook, I do not think this is a good idea.”
Bewildered, Jungkook turns toward him, “What? Why? Getting a Christmas tree is a staple in raising Christmas spirits! Decorating it is half the fun of having one!”
Jimin takes Jungkook’s face between his small hands and very seriously says, “I don’t think the pursuit of my spirit should come at the risk of bodily harm to you. I do not wish to be inside you.”
That brings an instant blush to Jungkook’s face, sputtering as he asks, “What on earth are you talking about? Jimin, you’re not making any sense.”
Sighing, Jimin says, “Jungkook, you just sang ‘In my heart is a Christmas tree farm.’ When I agreed to go to the tree farm with you, I didn’t realize this meant taking a trip inside of your heart. I don’t know much about humans, but this doesn’t sound safe for you. Or me. How would I even get that small? Or would you have to get really big to accommodate me exploring the inside of your heart? Is that something you can do? Do you have powers too???? And if you do, why haven’t you shown me this before?”
It takes about five seconds before Jungkook actually comprehends what Jimin is saying and starts laughing, doubled over as Jimin stands there staring at him. It takes a few minutes, but eventually Jungkook calms down and gently explains that the lyrics are from a song and not meant to be taken literally. Jimin still has his doubts but agrees to go on with their planned adventure after Jungkook pinky swears (and explains what that means) that no harm will come to him.After that, the pair venture into the tree farm, Jimin marveling at all the snow covered trees.
Needless to say, despite it starting well, it doesn’t go quite as Jungkook plans. They circle the trees, carefully reviewing each of their options and Jungkook uses this time to start describing all of his own tree decorating traditions to Jimin, telling him about the special ornaments that he has that have been handed down over the generations. Jimin, of course, is familiar with the concept of a Christmas tree, he sees them every year when he sets off on his adventures, but he’s never really understood what it all means. Seeing the way that Jungkook lights up when talking about the traditions his family has around tree decorating along with some of the newer ones that he has incorporated makes something flicker in Jimin and he finds himself longing to hear more and more.
Eventually, they stop in front of a tree that they both agree upon. Everything seems to be going well before Jimin sees a man approaching with an axe toward their selected tree.
“Jungkook, what’s he doing? Is that an axe?” Jimin asks, gesturing toward the lumberjack.
“Yeah, he’s coming to cut down and then bag up the tree we picked. I mean if you’d prefer, you could do it yourself but usually it’s easier to ask one of the folks who works here to do it for you. But if you think that would help with getting in the Christmas spirit, we could do the whole process ourselves!”
After that, it all goes downhill quickly ending with Jimin flinging himself forward and clinging to the particularly tall tree. He’s in the midst of telling Jungkook about all the dreams that a tree could have and how cruel it was that people chose to, quite literally, cut any chances at achieving those dreams away when Jungkook decides it’s best to quickly tell the lumberjack his services won’t be needed and that it’s time to tell Jimin about the magic of plastic trees.
They end up leaving soon after and going to a store near Jungkook’s house where they find a modest plastic tree that Jimin happily carries back to Jungkook’s home. When they arrive, Jimin asks if having a plastic tree ruins the traditions that Jungkook was telling him about and Jungkook quickly assures him that it doesn’t. They spend the rest of the evening decorating the tree happily with Jungkook taking the time to tell Jimin the stories behind some of his ornaments and how they came to be in his possession. They even get a jump start on playing some classic Christmas movies in the background.
🎄🎄🎄
As it turns out, perhaps Jungkook should have put a little more thought into the movies that he was showing in the background while they were tree decorating. The next morning, Jungkook and Jimin are determined to make one of the remaining activities work, but the next four activities go just about well as tree picking. Snowman building goes wrong due to the fact that they had watched Jack Frost the night before and Jimin is convinced they’ll build a sentient snowman and he can’t stand the thought of being responsible for the snowman’s eventual melting demise.
Even as Jungkook is in the midst of building the first part of the snowman’s body, Jimin is flopping over to make snow angels and is an unwilling participant in the rest of the day’s snowman related festivities. He does stop long enough to add a carrot nose to each of the snowmen that Jungkook makes before then moving on to catching snowflakes, completely unaware of the fond looks Jungkook throws his way.
Hallmark movies are absolutely not a hit with Jimin either. Jimin is skeptical of just about everything that happens on screen. Jungkook patiently answers all of his questions and once Jimin has seen a selection of Hallmark’s best, he goes on to critique the general formula of these movies, saying how unlikely it is that the CEO would suddenly get stranded in a small town and fall in love with the local baker. When Jungkook says that they aren’t meant to reflect reality, Jimin gets somehow even more agitated, pouting as he watches another unlikely pair fall in love.
There is almost luck when they go caroling, the makeshift audience being comprised of the army of snowmen that Jungkook made the day before. Jungkook wishes that he had been able to take Jimin to the Christmas market that usually takes place in the center of town but with Jimin out of commission, the Christmas market is too. The pair walk back out to where they had built the snowmen the day before, snow beginning to fall as they make their way over.
Jungkook plays a couple of carols for Jimin as they walk, saying that caroling is a great way to spread Christmas cheer. Once they reach their destination, Jungkook sets about creating a makeshift stage for them in front of the gathered snowmen and they begin to sing. That afternoon Jimin feels something akin to the flicker that he felt when Jungkook talked about Christmas tree traditions. A few songs in, Jungkook slowly reaches over and excitedly raises Jimin’s hand, noticing that color has returned to his pinky and that fuels them on for quite some time.
After a while, Jimin realizes he’s the only one still singing, glancing over to see Jungkook with an expression much like those of the Hallmark movie heroes. He’s not sure what it means, but he knows that he wants to find out. By the time they leave the clearing, the tips of JImin’s fingers are pink again and his hair is once again streaked with his signature silver, the color shifting and glittering much like freshly fallen snow.
The next activity on the list is to visit a mall Santa, but every mall’s Santa village is currently shut down. So Jungkook does the next best thing, he finds a costume and dresses as Santa himself. His appearance as Santa nearly causes the color in Jimin’s fingers to go out, flickering as Jimin laughs. Jimin promises it’s not because Jungkook looks ridiculous, even though he slightly does, but because Jimin actually created the concept of Santa years and years ago to help him spread Christmas cheer and this is certainly nothing like the image that Jimin had in mind. The night ends with Jungkook’s spirits soothed as Jimin promises that if he could make Santa all over again, he would do so with Jungkook’s image in mind.
🎄🎄🎄
When the designated cookie baking day arrives, Jimin is still hopeful, even though it’s the last activity on the list. Jungkook digs around in the kitchen for an old tin, pulling almost a dozen family recipes out of it and showing each option to Jimin. They settle on five kinds of cookies and gather the various ingredients. Before they start on the cookies, Jungkook also shows Jimin a hot chocolate bar that he set up, filled with various toppings and hot chocolate options. They each go through and make a drink to their liking, Jungkook’s more traditional with marshmallows and candy cane bits and Jimin’s a little more fun with added cookie butter, sprinkles, and a healthy topping of whipped cream. Though the drink warms his body, it still hasn’t quite lifted his spirits yet, though smearing the whipped cream all over Jungkook’s face certainly helped quite a bit.
They’re onto creating the third batch when a small flour fight breaks out. It had happened innocently, Jimin accidentally pouring too much flour into the batter, eyes going wide and lips forming an O as the flour clouds up around him. When it settles, he notices quite a bit on Jungkook and the latter decides to repay the favor by spreading it all over Jimin’s face. Soon, bits of batter are being launched from opposite sides of the kitchen where they’ve barricaded themselves, continuing on until Jungkook slips and falls over, sending another cloud of flour up into the air. It’s not long before Jimin joins him on the floor, laughing until both of their sides hurt.
Once the cookies are all cooled, they each gather a plate and settle onto the couch with another hot chocolate. Jimin asks Jungkook why he thought cookies would help. Jungkook gets a faraway look in his eye as he tells Jimin about the traditions he had growing up. It starts with his grandmother requiring Jungkook’s ‘assistance’ when he was a toddler, chubby hands wrapping around the various cups his grandmother would set in front of him and pouring things into the batter.
He fondly recalls the year that he ate almost all the chocolate chips, sneaking them handful by handful until almost none were left for the cookies. He had a horrible stomachache that year, but more than anything he remembers the way his grandmother had called that batch Jungkook’s special chocochip cookies. She continued to set aside a special cookie for him every year with a single chocolate chip on it, even well into his teenage years. Once his grandmother had passed, Jungkook kept the cookie making tradition up, passing the role of chef’s assistant onto his nieces and nephews.
The more that Jungkook speaks about his traditions, the more Jimin sees how much Christmas isn’t really about the things that people do, but the love and joy that comes with the season. He knows it’s a trick of the light, or maybe due to all the sugar he has consumed (if a spirit could even be affected by such things), but he swears he sees a glow coming from Jungkook. The glow spreads and grows brighter until it’s enveloping the entire room and when it dissipates, Jungkook’s looking on in shock. Jimin doesn’t even need to look down to know why, he can feel it—his spirit is back.
Jimin excitedly gets up and instinctively grabs Jungkook’s hands, the pair jumping up and down before Jimin throws his arms around Jungkook. He’s so glad to have regained his cheer, but he also knows he doesn’t have much time to waste. Jimin gently pulls away from the hug and looks at Jungkook and sees his own joy reflected in the other’s eyes. Then almost like a pair of magnets, the two lean in toward each other, lips meeting in a soft kiss. Jimin’s more than hesitant to pull away, but knows that he has to, he has work to do.
After a lot of trying to convince Jimin to stay, Jungkook reluctantly follows him to the door and Jimin promises over and over that he will be back, definitely by Christmas, but hopefully before as well. He counts himself lucky, that he found Jungkook and that he has something so special to come back to before flying out the door and back to his own home to gather all his cheer spreading tools. He doesn't make it that far, diving back to Jungkook's house to share another sweet kiss amongst promises that he will return and continued thanks for helping Jimin get his spirit back before he finally takes off and begins his work.
The following weeks are busy, more than usual even with all of the catch up that he has to do, but of course Jimin finds time to visit Jungkook as often as he can before ultimately returning to him on Christmas day to bake cookies together, just like they do every year after as well.