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“Alright, bokyo, last dish.”
Taehyung passes Sunghoon the green plastic child’s plate. Sunghoon dutifully wipes it with his dish rag, then places it on the drying rack with the rest of the evening’s dishes. His father gives him a proud, supportive pat on the head. “Thank you for your help, Sunghoonie, you did very good work.”
Taehyung dries his hands as Sunghoon carefully steps down from his stool, looking up at his father with patient eyes. He looks adorable in the pajamas Jimin bought for him — red and white striped pants and a green shirt made to look like an elf’s workshop uniform. He really does look like one of Santa’s helpers with the youthful, happy glint in his eye. “Is it time for Rudolph now?” He politely asks. Taehyung nods.
“Yes, it’s time for Rudolph. Go sit down and I’ll bring a snack.”
Taehyung prepares a generous platter of carrots, pretzels and grapes for the film. When he walks into the living room, Sunghoon is already curled up in the corner with the remote poised in his hand to press play. Taehyung sits next to him and the child readjusts to cuddle with him instead of the couch cushions. The father wraps an arm around his son, feeling strangely protective and possessive considering they’re at home.
Sunghoon hits play. They enjoy the movie in contented silence, with only a few laughs and the sounds of chewing permeating the quiet. When Rudolph returns home as a stag, Sunghoon glances up at Taehyung. “Daddy,” he starts, a little nervous, “Is appa going to make it home for Christmas?”
Taehyung’s heart sinks. He’s been avoiding bringing up Seokjin’s absence, not wanting to ruin Sunghoon’s Christmas spirit, but it’s obvious now that the child also feels the void left by Seokjin’s absence. Taehyung had selfishly cried when Seokjin told him three days ago that one of his clients, a young man, had suddenly died without naming a beneficiary. He would have to fly down to Atlanta to sort it all out the next day, and he wasn’t exactly sure when he’d be back.
“By Christmas,” was all Seokjin could promise as he kissed a forlorn Taehyung goodbye. “Whatever it takes, I will be here on Christmas morning, I promise.”
It was now nearing 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve. His last text from Seokjin, which came in at three, read, “At the airport, trying to find a flight. Phone is dying and I left my charger at the hotel. If you don’t hear from me, don’t panic. I love you and I’ll see you both soon.”
That soon didn’t feel like soon enough. At four, Taehyung checked his Find My Friends. It showed Seokjin’s phone at the airport but the last update was timestamped at quarter-of, meaning his phone had officially died.
Taehyung does not want to feel hopeless on Christmas Eve. More importantly, he doesn’t want to disappoint Sunghoon. And he trusts Seokjin — a man who always keeps his word. “He’ll be here, Hoonie,” he assures the child, stroking his hair affectionately. “He wouldn’t miss it.”
Sunghoon nods slowly, returning his attention to the screen. “I miss him,” he adds quietly. Taehyung leans down and kisses the boy’s head, squeezing him. His heart aches for the five-year-old, who has never had a Christmas Eve without his appa.
“I miss him, too, sweetheart.”
Sunghoon yawns through the rest of the movie. Taehyung carries him to bed, heavy-limbed and a little whiny. Sunghoon can barely keep his eyes open as Taehyung sits him on the bathroom counter and helps him brush his teeth. He tucks the child into bed with his favorite plushie and kisses his forehead. “Goodnight, little prince,” Taehyung whispers.
He starts to leave but then Sunghoon murmurs a tiny, very tired, “Daddy?”
Taehyung kneels back at his side. “Yes, baby?”
“Will you tell Santa that I want to add something to my list?”
Taehyung chuckles. “It might be too late, sweetie, but I can try. What is it?”
“Tell Santa I just want Appa to get home safely.”
Tears well at the corners of Taehyung’s eyes. It feels wrong, so wrong, to have the tree lit up, Sunghoon’s presents hidden in their closet, and cookies left out for Santa, without Seokjin here.
Taehyung kisses his son’s head one more time and whispers, “That’s on my list, too. I’ll make sure he knows.”
Sunghoon nods then rolls away from Taehyung, quickly drifting off to sleep.
Taehyung waits twenty minutes before getting to work on Sunghoon’s presents, just to be sure he’s really asleep. He wraps diligently, not too fussy about the imperfections, and sorts them into two piles: gifts from Santa, and gifts from dads. He makes sure Sunghoon’s biggest item, a LEGO passenger train, is from his dads.
He’s in the middle of wrapping his fifth gift when the lock in the front door clicks.
Taehyung sits up and turns to the door just in time to see his husband, in his comically long and puffy black down coat, step through the door. His cheeks are blazing red from the cold and he’s undeniably tired but his face lights up into a brilliant smile the second he spots Taehyung beaming at him from the living room floor.
Wordlessly, Seokjin drops his bags and toes off his shoes while Taehyung gets to his feet. They meet in the middle in a silent embrace, hyperaware of the danger of waking up Sunghoon when their living room looks like this. Seokjin buries his cold face into Taehyung’s neck, sending a shiver down the younger’s spine, but he’s too relieved to care.
“Yeobo,” Taehyung sighs happily. “I missed you.”
“I told you I’d make it by Christmas,” Seokjin states. He untangles their limbs and gestures to the clock on the wall. Sure enough, it reads 11:45pm.
“You cut it very close,” Taehyung quips, pushing Seokjin’s wind-swept hair behind his ears. “Had Sunghoonie and I worried sick.”
“I’m sorry,” Seokjin murmurs before pecking Taehyung with his ice-cold, chapped lips. “I had to take a connecting flight to Philadelphia first. Do you know how much a phone charger costs at the airport? Like $40. It’s criminal, yeobo.”
Taehyung laughs, relief and calm washing over him now that Seokjin is back. “Completely,” he agrees.
Seokjin unzips his jacket and throws it over the couch. Then, he rubs his hands together like a conspiratorial movie villain. “Alright, I’m ready to go. Let’s do this. Do you want me to wrap or tag?”
“Are you sure you’re not too tired?” Taehyung asks, but Seokjin just shakes his head.
“I can sleep when Sunghoon is a teenager,” Seokjin assures him, already arming himself with wrapping paper and tape. “Right now, he needs magic and Santa Claus, and I’m going to give it to him.”
Taehyung thinks back to Sunghoon’s wish. As a child who believes in magic, he could have asked for anything in the world from the all-mighty Santa, but all he wanted was his dad home safely. Maybe one day he’ll tell Seokjin that Santa or not, he has always been the magical one.
Sunghoon sneaks into their room the next morning with quiet footsteps. The door creaks as he pushes it open. “Daddy?” He whispers first, adding a tentative and hopeful, “Appa?”
Like a signaled hound dog, Seokjin sits up in bed and grunts out a “hm?”
Sunghoon’s face breaks out into an explosive smile at the sight of his elder father. “APPA!” He shrieks, rushing at the bed. Seokjin and Taehyung have two seconds to brace themselves for impact before the child is crawling on top of them, elbows and knees digging into their stomachs as he scrambles to get into Seokjin’s arms.
“Hi, bokyo, hi, my baby,” Seokjin coos, hugging Sunghoon tightly. “I missed you so much, buddy.”
“I missed you,” Sunghoon mumbles into Seokjin’s pajamas.
“Looks like Santa listened to our wish,” Taehyung says with a smile. Seokjin shoots him an inquisitive look but doesn’t question him any further.
“That’s right, Sungsung, we need to check if Santa came last night!” Seokjin exclaims. Sunghoon cheers, bouncing with excitement as he starts to climb off the bed. He grabs Taehyung’s wrist on the way.
“Daddy, daddy, let’s go!” He begs.
“Okay, okay, little prince, I’m coming,” Taehyung assures him with a fond laugh. Seokjin grabs his phone from the nightstand and starts to follow their son out of the room. Quickly, Taehyung sits up on his knees and reaches out after the elder. “Jin-ah, wait,” he calls. Seokjin, just at the end of the bed, looks back at him.
Taehyung scoots to the edge of the bed and cups Seokjin’s face in his hands. He pauses for a moment just to gaze lovingly at his partner, the best gift he could’ve ever received.
“Merry Christmas. I’m so glad you’re home, yeobo,” Taehyung breathes before Seokjin connects their lips in a chaste but deeply tender kiss.
“I love you, yeobo,” Seokjin says once the kiss is broken. “Let’s go spoil our son, yeah?”
Taehyung giggles, nodding enthusiastically. He cannot think of a better way to spend Christmas Day.