Work Text:
“What do you wish for for Christmas, Cheng Xiaoshi?” Qiao Ling asks the boy who was drawing.
Cheng Xiaoshi lifted up the pencil he was holding and thought for a while, “I want my family to come back home and spend it with us.”
Qiao Ling fell silent, she felt bad for the young boy whose parents went missing while they were on a business trip. Her family decided to take in Cheng Xiaoshi for the time being until he was at least old enough to take care of himself.
“Is there any other wish? Like a present?” Qiao Ling asks again.
Cheng Xiaoshi not looking back at Qiao Ling replies simply, “Not really…” He thinks again, “Oh, can we stay up on Christmas Eve to see Santa?”
Qiao Ling smiled at the younger boy. Though, Qiao Ling stopped believing in Santa Claus ever since she was six. Cheng Xiaoshi believes that he is real, and not wanting to spoil Christmas for him, she played along.
“Sure.” She promises Cheng Xiaoshi. She wanted to make his Christmas as memorable as possible.
Qiao Ling spent the next few days thinking of how to make that wish come true. She even went to her father and begged to dress up as Santa Claus that night to put the presents at the small Christmas tree they set up every Christmas.
And on the night of Christmas eve, Qiao Ling and Cheng Xiaoshi were in Qiao Ling’s room, waiting to sneak into the living room. A few moments later, they heard a creak coming from the living room.
“Cheng Xiaoshi, let’s go.” She whispers as they leave the room to hide behind a wall which is near the living room. Qiao Ling peaked out first, looking back at Cheng Xiaoshi and pointed for him to look out. Cheng Xiaoshi eagerly peaked out to see a white haired figure move towards the small Christmas tree that the family had set up, placing the presents down. He looked back to see Qiao Ling smiling back at the boy.
Many years has passed since then, they now had more people that comes over to celebrate Christmas with the two. But for this year, Qiao Ling wanted to do something other than exchanging gifts, she wanted to relive the memory she had experienced when she was a child. And what better way than to ask her friend.
“What?” Lu Guang looks up from the book he was reading to look at the girl who was standing before him. “You want me… To be Santa?”
Qiao Ling nodded her head eagerly, “I mean, you have white hair which already meets the criteria! We just need the costume and the beard.”
“And what makes you think I would agree to this…” Lu Guang folds the page he was reading and placed it down, paying full attention to Qiao Ling.
“Well… Cheng Xiaoshi believed in Santa when he was younger, and I wanna recreate memories he had on those days!”
Lu Guang sighed and shook his head, “My answer is still no.”
“Come on, it would be fun!” Qiao Ling pleaded.
“It won’t be fun for me.”
“But, you’ll get to see Cheng Xiaoshi all happy and-”
Lu Guang interrupts her, “Fine, I’ll do it…”
The day after that, Qiao Ling and Lu Guang went out to get the outfit prepared. Cheng Xiaoshi wanted to tag along, but Qiao Ling pushed him away.
“How about this?” Qiao Ling takes out a red dress to show Lu Guang.
“No. Just No.”
After they bought everything they needed, they both headed back to the studio to Cheng Xiaoshi who was complaining like a child for not allowing him to tag along.
“Lu Guangg.” Cheng Xiaoshi pokes the side of Lu Guang’s cheek. “What's with you and Qiao Ling being so secretive these days.”
It’s nothing.” Lu Guang turned a page of the book, not giving Cheng Xiaoshi much attention.
Christmas Eve- 19:30
“Dong yi, Xu Shanshan, you guys are early.” Qiao Ling opens the door for the two. “And also place your gifts on the table here.” She points to the counter table before bringing the two to the living room where Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang were setting up the movies to watch.
Once everything was in place, they gathered in the living room and spent the night watching Christmas themed movies until Lu Guang excused himself to use the restroom.
The moment he came back, everyone but Qiao Ling had a shocked look on their faces. Lu Guang was holding all the gifts that they all had prepared for each other while wearing a Santa outfit, his ears flushed a slight pinkish colour. Lu Guang looked in Qiao Ling’s direction to see her giving him a faint smile before mouthing the words, ‘Say it’.
Lu Guang looking defeated, muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, “Ho…Ho…Ho…Merry Christmas.” Lu Guang immediately looked away from the group, the whole room went silent, only the movie playing could be heard.
Until, the silence was broken by a click from a camera followed by a giggle. Lu Guang turned to the direction of the sound to see Cheng Xiaoshi holding in his laughter while having his phone held up taking pictures of him.
Lu Guang’s ears turned red instantly, immediately snatching the phone away from Cheng Xiaoshi. The room slowly became more lively as Xu Shanshan and Qiao Ling started to take pictures of Lu Guang and laughter could be heard in the room.
“Can we just open gifts?” Lu Guang sitting behind Cheng Xiaoshi as a form of shield to save himself from embarrassment.
“Ah, right! Let’s open gifts now!” Qiao Ling went ahead to take the first gift she got her hands on. “Dong yi, this is for you.”
The room soon filled with excitement and chattering, exchanging the gifts they had gotten for each other. Opening one after another’s gifts until there were two gifts unopened.
It was now Lu Guang’s turn and it turns out it was from Cheng Xiaoshi. He opened the gift, revealing a neatly wrapped box with a digital watch with a black strap inside. “A watch?” He commented, “Isn’t this expensive?”
“It’s fine, I’ve been saving up for it, and you have been staring at that watch everytime we pass by the shop, no?”
Lu Guang looked down as he wrapped the watch around his right wrist, a hint of sadness could be seen on his face. “Thank you, Cheng Xiaoshi.”
Cheng Xiaoshi gave Lu Guang a grin before taking the last gift which was his and opened it. “A… Joker box?!”
“Yeah, cause that's what you are. A Joke.” Xu Shanshan snickered.
Cheng Xiaoshi stood up from where he was sitting, his body facing towards Xu Shanshan, “Why you!”
“I’m kidding, here’s your actual gift.” Xu Shanshan took out a box from her bag and handed it to Cheng Xiaoshi.
Cheng Xiaoshi immediately sat back down to open the gift. “Ah!” Cheng Xiaoshi pulled out a small dog plush keychain from the box. “Thanks! But… what is this supposed to be for…” Cheng Xiaoshi pulled out a fidget spinner from the same box.
“Oh, I just added that for fun. Don’t mind that.”
Cheng Xiaoshi was speechless.
“I think it’s time to change back to my clothes and sleep.” Lu Guang interrupted.
It was almost 2 in the morning
While everyone was asleep, Qiao Ling noticed that Cheng Xiaoshi was still awake. “Can’t sleep?”
Cheng Xiaoshi shifted his body to look up at the ceiling, “Qiao Ling, remember all those years where I wished for my family to come back to spend Christmas with me.”
“Yeah why?” Qiao Ling turns to look at Cheng Xiaoshi.
“It may not replace my parents and all, but right now, I think I found them.”