Work Text:
Today was not Jiwoo’s day.
Her head was buried in her hands, nails nearly digging into her skin as she tried to muster enough energy to put on the stupid Santa suit hanging in front of her.
About a few days ago, Jiwoo got a last-minute booking for a children’s birthday party. Usually, she would be trying to pump herself up before meeting a bunch of overly excited kids, but with this party happening just two days after Christmas, Jiwoo was starting to regret not just calling the whole week off.
A complaint slips through her lips. “Who. The hell. Calls Santa to a kid’s birthday party after Christmas.”
She was completely drained. She had just came back from her parents’ place and was still recovering from all the alcohol her family had encouraged her to drink. So much for finally being of age.
So here she was, still recovering (it’s been a day!) from the last of her hangover and also prepping herself to go into character as jolly, ‘ol Saint Nick.
“I told you,” Kyujin glances at her friend, who was still stuck in that same miserable position. She was in the middle of dressing into her own costume. “If only you listened… you could’ve been free.”
“Shut up, you were the one who got me into this in the first place,” Jiwoo groans into her hands, voice muffled. She didn’t want to deal with Kyujin right now, even if the girl was gonna be her saving grace for the next few hours.
(Yes, both her and Kyujin got booked for the same party. Yes, they’re both Christmas characters.)
“Oh my God, do not blame me for this, you were the only one who made yourself available,” Kyujin retorts. “And besides, being Santa isn’t that bad, you just say ‘Ho! Ho! Ho!’ and, I don’t know, have them sit on your lap or something.”
“And that doesn’t sound tiring to you?” she peeks an eye at her coworker before groaning again. “I don’t even know why I did this…”
“They hired me as Rudolph. I’m a reindeer. I’m gonna have to prance around like an idiot,” Kyujin responds, putting heavy emphasis. She crosses her arms. “And for your second point, the pay is good.”
That’s true. After hearing how much the client was willing to pay, Jiwoo was swayed into doing the job, despite everything wrong about it. Says a lot about society.
“Okay, fine. I’m getting dressed,” Jiwoo gets up, finally getting the push she needed. She stares at the shitty Santa costume she bought just days before. Since she was not in the mood to show her face to a bunch of strangers, she ended up going with a full-body Santa mascot. It had a headpiece and a body piece, which looked real lanky as is, but fit pretty okay when she wore it.
It was super ugly, though, and she’ll never forget the mocking laughs of Jang Kyujin ringing in her ears when the younger girl laid eyes on it for the first time. It felt like she was transmigrated into an early 2000’s American teen drama, and the school bully had poured spoiled milk all over her in the middle of the cafeteria.
(She swears the Santa suit isn't that bad!)
“That’s the spirit,” Kyujin pretends to cheer, putting her fist up in a “fighting!” pose. “Santa Claus is coming to town!”
Jiwoo’s hands stopped midway from grabbing the costume.
“Kyujin, please shut up.”
It was like a Christmas miracle inside Bae Jinsol’s apartment.
This year, her beloved friends decided to throw a more Christmas-themed party for her birthday. With the spare key Haewon fortunately had, they were able to sneak in and decorate her apartment. The walls were all covered with silly wall backdrop, Jinsol’s mini Christmas tree was decorated with all sorts of decorations, from ornaments, pictures with them, and their gifts to her underneath the tree.
Yoona mostly worked on the tree, given her height. Haewon was in charge of organizing the food, snacks, and getting the cake, while Lily worked on decorating the walls and setting the music for the mini-party.
Once they were all finished, they fixed up any minor mistakes and made sure everything was perfect for their beloved friend. They got lost in a conversation about surprises, and it was then that the couple decided to drop a bomb on their friend.
“You what?!”
Yoona stared at Haewon and Lily, who had just told her the most ridiculous piece of information she could’ve ever received in her life. Haewon took a breath and put a hand out, almost like she was trying to calm Yoona down before she freaked out even more.
“It’s Jinsol’s birthday, c’mon, we had to,” Haewon explains.
“I thought it was a cute idea!” Lily adds.
Yoona blinked once. Twice. And a third time before letting out a deep sigh.
“And you paid how much?”
“Okay, now I’m not too sure—”
“I paid eighty-dollars an hour.”
Yoona slowly turns to Haewon, eyes wide in shock.
“You’re paying someone… eighty-dollars an hour… to dress up as Santa Claus at our twenty-one year old friend’s birthday party.”
Haewon nods. “That I am.”
“Haewon.”
She raised her hands in defense. “It’s Jinsol’s birthday! And I have money, c’mon, I wanted to do something funny!”
Yoona couldn’t argue against that. Jinsol did deserve to have a fun and unforgettable birthday, it’s just…
She sighs. “…How long is the person gonna be at the party.”
“…Probably from five to nine.”
“Haewon!” This time, it was Lily who exclaimed, looking at her partner in betrayal. “You’re paying that much?!”
“I got a bonus the other day, don’t worry,” Haewon immediately tries calming her girlfriend.
Lily shoots her a skeptical look, but ultimately drops the subject—a blessing to Yoona, who didn’t want to witness yet another couple’s fight between the two.
“How did you convince them to do the party?” She ends up asking. It’s not like they could do anything about it now.
“I didn’t. I just called them,” Haewon shrugs.
Yoona furrowed her brows. “You—they were fine with it? Even if it was some random grown woman’s party?”
Haewon tilted her head. “Oh, no. I mean—I didn’t say that.”
“…What.”
“Haewon…” Lily looked displeased.
“I just told them I have a friend whose kid is having a birthday party and wanted to surprise them during cake.”
Yoona couldn’t believe her ears.
“You… lied to them?”
Haewon shrugs. “They’ll find out once they get here.”
“Haewon.”
“Haewonie, I don’t think that was very kind,” Lily frowns.
“C’mon, guys. They wouldn’t have come if I told them the truth! It’s harmless, it’s not like we’re gonna kill them or something,” Haewon responds, brushing off their concerns.
Yoona wanted to yell—she really could’ve. This was probably the most idiotic series of choices she had ever witnessed her friend commit, but it was Jinsol’s birthday, and there was no time to get mad and start losing her mind.
(And it wasn’t like Lily wasn’t going to scold her later.)
She just let out a really, really heavy sigh. “Yes, it’s a blessing we’re not a group of murderous fiends who prey on cosplayers.”
“Exactly,” Haewon nods, glad that someone understood her, despite missing the sarcastic tone in her friend’s voice.
This was gonna be a long night.
Their best form of transportation was taking a taxi.
Jiwoo doesn't even want to think about the countless stares they’d receive had they committed to taking any other form of public transportation. The elderly driver’s judgmental look was enough for them to deal with. Even after briefly explaining why they were dressed like this, the driver still didn’t seem to believe it, which, in turn, just made things even worse for them.
Also, it was insanely cramped in there—especially with the suits on. Jiwoo didn’t realize how big the Santa head was until she had to slouch in her seat to be able to fit. As for Kyujin, the younger woman somehow decided the best course of action was to tilt her body towards Jiwoo, who kept knocking into her antlers.
“Are you serious?” Jiwoo hissed at her friend.
Kyujin turns to Jiwoo, hitting her square in the face once again. The Santa-clad woman exaggerates the impact. The reindeer stared at her, its wide, black eyes staring straight into her soul.
“What?” her friend mumbles.
“You’re all up in my face,” Jiwoo tells her.
“Well, deal with it, I’m not getting scoliosis.” Kyujin turns away.
Jiwoo took a deep breath, the frustration of not being able to hit her friend back with a witty rebuttal slowly getting to her. No, she must be calm.
The taxi ride was mostly silent. All the words exchanged between them and the driver were just the address and the poor attempt at an explanation about their suits. Jiwoo could only look out the window in silence. She catches a few pedestrians staring at her, some of them whipping out their phones and snapping a picture. She does silly little poses to entertain them.
(But then there was one kid who instantly started crying when the taxi stopped at a red light, and both she and Santa met eyes. Jiwoo turned away from the window.)
Soon enough, Jiwoo sees that they were getting closer to their destination on the GPS. She takes a few breaths, trying to get her energy up and endure the rest of this night.
Jiwoo could feel Kyujin nudging her with an antler. “You ready, Santa?”
The Santa cosplayer lets out a deep sigh before mumbling. “Yeah. Sure.”
Their Uber stops in front of the apartment complex. With a bit of difficulty (and a near-decapitation of Santa’s head), the two party characters finally exit the car, profusely thanking the driver for the services despite the… inconveniences.
The place seemed pretty nice. It was one of those modern, minimalist apartment complexes that had a color palette of three colors throughout the entire building. Part of Jiwoo wondered just how rich this family was.
(Well, must be well-off enough to pay them a fortune per hour.)
“Alright, let’s go in,” Kyujin says, marching forth. Thankfully, she doesn’t see the intense eye roll her partner did under the Santa head.
They enter the building, and instantly, Jiwoo is aware of how fucking ridiculous they look right now. Even through the shitty eye holes, she doesn’t miss the confused and almost scared looks from the residents of this apartment.
She follows after Kyujin, who walked like she owned the place, before stopping in front of the elevator.
The elevator seemed to be the kind that only worked if you had a key or called into the apartment. Neither of them lived here, so using a key wasn’t gonna work…
Jiwoo glances at her coworker. “Okay, so…”
“We have to put in the code,” Kyujin says, walking over to the numpad on the side. She lifts her hand and tries punching in a button, only for it to instantly beep. They both pause.
Neither of them had hands.
Jiwoo took a breath. “Okay. Um. Yeah. No, this is totally fine, actually.”
Kyujin grumbles. “Relax, I’m gonna get it.” Her Rudolph hand pressed against the buttons, yet none of them registered. She slightly changes her approach, poking at one specific spot of the costume so that it made a little pointer. She presses again.
Beep.
“Okay, just a few more numbers to go.” Kyujin awkwardly turns towards Jiwoo, who barely even notices anything.
“Then hurry up,” the older girl urges.
“Jeez, what do you think I’m doing.” Kyujin turns back to the numpad, annoyed. Jiwoo watches as she continues tapping at the numpad, the beeps growing more and more mocking the longer this goes on.
After about five digits were punched in, Kyujin let out a relieved sigh.
“Okay, just one more—”
A loud ding startles the two friends, and an almost equally loud yelp came out of Jiwoo’s mouth as she clenched her fists. Then they noticed.
The elevator door opened.
But it wasn’t from Kyujin’s hard work of punching in the code, but from—
“AHHHHH!” A shocked scream echoes throughout the entire lobby floor as a woman recoiled back from the sight of Jiwoo.
“Sorry!” Kyujin quickly apologizes. The woman and the other residents in the elevator scurry out, some shooting little comments about their suits and how “cool” they were, unlike the woman, who just stared at them in horror until she was finally out of sight.
Jiwoo turns to Kyujin. “Let’s just get the hell out of here.”
“Yeah, let’s.” They both rush into the elevator, spamming the “close” button so that no one else could come in.
Their trip in the elevator thankfully wasn’t long. Jiwoo felt like if she been there longer, she would’ve just died on the spot. There were a few people who joined them along the way, though this time, there was no such screaming—only silent judgment and confusion.
Once the elevator let out a ding! and opened the doors to the fourth floor, the two friends stepped out.
“You do know which room it is, right?” Jiwoo asked, staring at Kyujin.
“Of course, I do,” Kyujin mutters. “Room 426.”
“Thank God,” Jiwoo mumbles.
The two of them start walking, keeping an eye out for signs and any other directions to navigate through this floor. They’ve passed by a few residents, who shot them even more weird looks, but at this point, Jiwoo was used to it; the shame of being dressed like this in public finally dwindling the longer she did it.
“Who throws a kid birthday party from five to nine?” Jiwoo complains, following Kyujin as she takes a left into another hall.
“You never know. Maybe the parents are crazy party people,” Kyujin shrugs.
“But for a four-year-old’s birthday? You think people would do that?” Jiwoo asked.
Another shrug. “I don’t know. I’m just here for a check.”
They take one more turn, and finally, they see a room indicating their closeness. 420.
“Hah, four-twenty blaze—”
“Stop,” Jiwoo interrupts, walking ahead.
Kyujin quickly catches up. “Hey! You need to be jolly, Santa.”
“Reindeers don’t talk, Rudolph.”
Jiwoo closed her eyes. As much as she hates to admit, Kyujin was right. They were one door away from what may kill her over the course of four hours, and as always, she needed to hype herself up.
You’re the shit, you’re the shit, you’re the shit, you’re the shit—no one plays a better Santa than you, you’re the ONLY Santa in the world, you will play the best Santa that all of South Korea has ever seen—oh my God, you might even actually BE Santa—
And that fat check that was waiting for her too… That sweet one-thousand and two-hundred dollars…
Okay, yeah. Yeah! Jiwoo could do this! There was nothing stopping her now.
“Okay, I’m ready.” The Santa-clad worker stands up a little straighter, the energy around instantly shifting. She was in Santa mode.
“Ready?” Kyujin asked.
A singular nod.
Kyujin knocks on the door, a muffled sound of surprise bled through the door before footsteps began approaching. She shoots her friend another look.
“God. Speed.”
Yoona didn’t realize how quickly things would fall into place once Jinsol made it home.
The birthday girl was pleasantly surprised by the loud crack of the confetti popper the moment she opened the door. And the singing that came after. Jinsol nearly burst into tears at the whole thing, and a bunch of laughs were shared between the group before finally letting her settle in.
So how exactly did it get to this?
“I want cAAAKEEEE!” Jinsol shouted, almost like a whining child.
“Shhh! Don’t be too loud!” Yoona pressed a finger to her lips in a “shush” motion.
Her friend frowns. “But cake…”
“No cake yet,” Haewon tells her firmly, but even then, a hint of tipsiness bled into her voice.
Yoona didn’t know how she managed to stay sober.
The alcohol was super sudden. One second, they were enjoying some of the snacks Haewon prepared, and the next, they were taking shots. Yoona felt like she was just going through the motions, not even processing anything that was happening.
The playlist Lily created was playing some classic Christmas jingles and some of Jinsol’s favorite tracks in the mix. The TV was also on, playing some random channel as white noise. The mood was pretty good.
Then, amidst all the sounds, a chorus of knocks came from the door.
Jinsol turns. “Who’s tha—”
“I’ll get it!” Haewon immediately volunteers, walking over to the entrance. Yoona’s eyes follow her friend, an inkling feeling as to who it was behind the door.
The door opens, and Yoona hears Haewon welcoming the newcomers before stepping to the side, inviting them in.
Yoona could only stare in disbelief as the two dressed-up individuals walked into the apartment.
“OHMYGOD! IS THAT—”
“Everyone,” Haewon’s voice cuts through, gesturing to the two characters. “Santa and Rudolph.”
Why was there two of them.
“OHMYGOD! YES!” Jinsol cheers, clapping excitedly like a child.
“Hi! Nice to meet you!” Lily cheerfully greets them, putting a hand out for them to shake. Rudolph eagerly takes her friend’s hand and shakes it, looking just as excited to meet everyone.
The Santa, on the other hand, also seemed kind and polite as they took Lily’s hand. From Yoona’s assumption, they were the kind of party characters that didn’t speak when in costume.
She knew that someone was coming, but she just didn’t expect there to be two. Yoona turns right to Haewon, who was smiling at the sight of the two workers interacting with their excited friends. Yoona gets up and grabs her wrist, quickly dragging her away while the others were distracted.
Haewon stumbled a bit until they stopped in the kitchen. “Damn! What?!”
“I thought you said it was only one person!” Yoona whisper-yelled.
Haewon looked genuinely confused. “When did I ever say that?”
“You never corrected me! I said they!”
Her friend’s puzzled expression doesn’t change. “I thought you were being inclusive.”
Yoona didn’t even know what to say to that. She could only stare at her friend in disbelief. She glances back at the two characters, who were now engaged in a conversation about their outfits.
Oh, deer.
There were no children.
Just… grown women.
“HAPPY MERRY BIRTHDAY CHRISTMAS TO ME!”
Inebriated, grown women.
It was a surprise that Jiwoo was absolutely not expecting. She immediately wished the floor had opened up and swallowed her whole, because why were there only grown adults…
Kyujin seemed completely fine with everything, despite being lied to. She was jumping around excitedly, cheering along with everyone. Jiwoo, on the other hand, was imagining countless scenarios of bringing this up to her superiors and suing the client for lying—if that was even a thing that could happen.
She stood stiffly as Haewon introduced them. Jiwoo was starting to feel the embarrassment kick in even more.
In front of her stood two blonde women who seemed very excited that both her and Kyujin were here, almost like they had just invited them over as friends and not as workers who were paid to be here.
(Though Jiwoo has to admit, it does feel kind of nice.)
The one who was most thrilled was the blonde with shorter hair, who Jiwoo could only assume was the birthday girl, Bae Jinsol. Judging by the flashy sunglasses that say “Happy Birthday!” and the headpiece that says “Birthday Gal” on her, she could only make the very obvious assumption.
Not to mention, she was definitely not four-years-old.
Kyujin was the one who was more involved in a conversation with the two blondes, even deciding to talk despite it being against the rules to break the immersion—but since these were grown adults, she guesses it doesn’t matter.
Jiwoo looks around, trying to spot where Haewon went, until she finally sees her.
“Cake time!” Haewon’s voice cuts through. She had a cake in hand as she carefully walked back to the dining table, with another woman standing next to her. Jiwoo couldn’t really make out the face well through the mask, so she opted to just focus on the cute birthday cake instead.
“OHMYGOD, IT’S TIME FOR CAKE!” Jinsol shouts childishly. She hears both Kyujin and one of the other guests (if she remembers correctly, her name was Lily) cheer alongside her.
“Mhm. It is,” a voice says. Jiwoo turns towards it, mentally cursing out the lack of vision through the headpiece, only to stop.
There was a gorgeous, gorgeous woman in front of her.
Jiwoo could feel her body freeze up and her mind instantly wake. This woman was taller, with long, dark, wavy cherry-red hair that ran all the way down her back. She was dressed a little more casually, with a greyish flannel—sleeves rolled up—over a plain white tee.
She looked like those women you would find on TikTok doing casual thirst trapping with #wlw in the caption. Jiwoo would totally drop a like and save the video (not in a weird way, an appreciative way), before commenting how much she yearns for a woman like this to enter her life.
She was just so beautiful.
“Uh, Santa, you okay?”
Haewon’s voice snaps her out of her daze, and serves as a very harsh reminder that she was stuck in this fucking Santa suit.
She manages a short nod before turning away, hoping that her head’s bright and scary blue eyes doesn’t scare anyone. Just as she turned, the gorgeous woman was holding out the cake, slowly bringing it in front of Jinsol as everyone else gathered around.
“IT’S SO CUTE!” Jinsol cried out.
“It’s finally time!” Lily cheers again, pulling out her phone to record.
The cake was really cute. It was a mostly yellow cake with a chick-like character on top, the words “Happy 21st Jinsollie!” were written in white icing just below. Jiwoo really wanted to whip out her phone and also snap a few photos of it, but that wouldn’t be so in-character for Santa now, would it?
“So, Jinsol, how old are you turning?” Kyujin asks. Jiwoo winces as she hears her coworker’s voice again. She wanted to nudge and remind her how they shouldn’t be talking at all, but whatever.
“Twenty…” she stops as if she had to think about it.
“One,” the pretty woman beside her whispers.
“Twenty-one!” Jinsol answers.
Kyujin laughs and pats the blonde girl’s shoulder, clearly entertained by all of this. Lily unopened the candles and neatly placed them on the cake. Haewon then scoots over, flickering on a lighter before hovering it over the candles. Once it was lit, it was time.
“Okay, let’s sing Happy Birthday!” Haewon cheers, getting into position.
“Yes!” Lily exclaims.
Jiwoo looks around and sees the pretty girl walk over to the lights, flickering them off. That was the cue for them to start.
“Okay, three… two… one!”
“Happy birthday to you…”
Jiwoo clapped along as everyone sang the “Happy Birthday” song. She could hear Kyujin singing along as well, sounding just as enthusiastic as their clients. Jiwoo tried her best to show off her excitement through body language.
“Happy birthday to Jinsol!”
The birthday girl cheered along as she heard her name.
“Happy birthday to you!”
Everyone cheered as Jinsol closed her eyes, putting her hands together in a praying pose before blowing out the candles.
“Yay! Happy birthday, Sollie!” Lily pulls the girl in for a hug from behind.
“Happy birthday!” Kyujin claps her hands.
Things after that began moving really fast—at least for Jiwoo. The second the candles were blown out, someone had grabbed a knife and some plates and began cutting the cake. Jiwoo wanted to frown as she watched the cute cake get cut up, but alas, it was one of the highlights of a party.
“Cake?” The pretty girl asked, holding out a plate. Jiwoo shook her head and gave a thumbs-up. I’m okay, thank you.
Taking a plate meant taking the mask off, and to be honest, Jiwoo was not willing to do that at the moment.
“Hey Santa, do you drink alcohol?” Jinsol asks, holding up a can of Chuu-Hi. Jiwoo freezes at the sight, already feeling her stomach churning from even thinking about alcohol.
(Yet there’s an itching temptation the longer she stares back at Chuu’s wide, inviting smile on the can.)
A loud ringtone blares out, and Jinsol nearly drops the can before quickly retrieving her phone. Her face brightens.
“AH! My mother texted me!” Jinsol suddenly shouts, raising her phone in the air before squinting at the screen. “Take… pictures… I want… to see…”
“Oh, yes! Let’s!” Lily exclaims. She looks at the two guests. “We should take it with Santa and Rudolph!”
“YES!” Jinsol loudly agrees.
Oh, this was going to be fun. Jiwoo thinks.
With the help of Haewon, they placed Jinsol’s phone on the tripod before shuffling around, going back and forth between different formations and poses, before ultimately settling on one that made it look like a family portrait.
“This doesn’t feel right,” Haewon breaks formation to look at their positions. “It feels too…”
“It’s not jolly enough!” Lily points out. She looks at Jiwoo. “Santa, you should be in the middle!”
Oh, that wasn’t—
The pretty girl seemed to have the same idea. “Wait, but it’s Jinsol’s birth—”
“I want to sit on Santa’s lap!” the birthday girl shouts, immediately moving spots before plopping right on Jiwoo’s lap. The worker let out a small “oof!” at the sudden weight on her, but she stayed strong. Her head slightly tilts towards her friend, the Rudolph suit shaking a bit from laughter.
She was gonna kill her.
Behind her, she could feel a hand on her shoulder. Jiwoo turns her head, trying to catch a glimpse of who it was, only for the person to speak.
“I am so sorry about her.”
Jiwoo instantly recognized that voice as the pretty girl. She smiled under the mask before shooting a small thumbs up. It’s okay.
“Rudolph, you should be sitting down here!” Jinsol says, almost commandingly. Her words were slurring together as she wobbled in Jiwoo’s grasp. Jiwoo nearly laughs as she watches Rudolph freeze like a deer in headlights. Hah! Take that!
Reluctantly, Kyujin lowers herself to her knees and takes a seat next to Jiwoo. Jinsol claps at that, clearly pleased.
Haewon glanced back at the phone, shooting a thumbs up as she tried holding back her laugh. “Oh, this is good!”
“Yes! Yes! Let’s take it!” Lily urges.
“Okay, timer’s set for three seconds,” she says before pressing it. She rushes back into the group and counts aloud. “3… 2… 1! Happy birthday, Jinsol!”
Everyone shouted at the same time. “Happy birthday, Jinsol!”
Jiwoo didn’t know why she didn’t anticipate that with the parties having primarily adults, they would actually want to take even more pictures.
After taking the picture for Jinsol’s mom—who loved them, by the way—the girls decided to have a fun little photoshoot with the props and the party characters.
Jiwoo was glad that it was entertaining, despite being a bit draining. The girls had her and Kyujin do some pretty funny poses, most of which were those ridiculous duo poses on TikTok, and they also asked to take pictures with them as well.
(Jiwoo felt herself particularly freeze from the pretty girl standing next to her, shooting a peace sign at the camera.)
After all the photos, everyone decided to change focus to the TV, figuring out something to do. Jiwoo only stood off to the side, looming over like a mysterious force, taking a bit of time for herself.
But then she saw a figure walking towards her. She instantly straightened up. So much for needing a breather.
That all went away when the person got closer, and she realized it was none other than the pretty girl.
“Hey,” she greets, murmuring.
Jiwoo brings a hand up in a wave.
She smiles.
Oh. Cute.
“So… how’s it feel having a grown, twenty-one-year-old woman sit on your lap?” the pretty girl asks, voice raised just a bit in humor. Jiwoo acts out a heavy sigh, while simultaneously letting one out for real.
She chuckles at that, “Yeah, I bet that wasn’t on your to-do list this Christmas.”
Jiwoo nearly laughs at that.
The others were lost in a game of Just Dance. Kyujin put it on after noticing the Nintendo Switch in one of the shelves. Both Jiwoo and this pretty girl watched as the other four drunkenly danced to “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction.
“EVERYONE ELSE IN THE ROOM CAN SEE IT…” Lily sang along.
“EVERYONE ELSE BUT YOU-OU!” Jinsol joins in.
“BABY YOU LIGHT UP MY WORLD—”
Their loud singing fades into the background once more. Jiwoo smiles under the mascot head, enjoying the sight.
“You… don’t have to stay in character,” she hears the pretty girl say from next to her. She could see the pretty girl pointing at Kyujin. “Rudolph’s… out of its reins.”
The beginnings of a snort practically forces its way out of Jiwoo’s throat, only for her to instantly cut it short, looking like she had weirdly glitched or something.
“Uh… are you okay?”
Jiwoo raises her stubby, mittened hand, giving a weak thumbs up.
She chuckles. “That’s good.”
They stared at each other for a moment, even though Jiwoo was pretty sure the sight in front of her was a way prettier sight than whatever the other girl was looking at right now.
“Oh, I’m Yoona, by the way,” she introduces herself, almost like she was snapping back into reality. Jiwoo stops and mouths the name to herself. Yoona.
Yoona makes a vague motion at her. “You…?”
Jiwoo stands very still. She only shakes her head.
Yoona hits her with a confused look before realizing. “Ah. Your name is Santa, right.”
Jiwoo grimaced at that. She really could just come out and break character, just like Kyujin did, but there was something inside that was stopping her.
Maybe she was just too awkward.
When Yoona realized that she wasn’t going to get another response back, she continued on. “Can I at least ask you some questions?”
Jiwoo smiles at the little tilt of her head. She gives a thumbs up.
They went back and forth, with Yoona asking Jiwoo—or Santa—random questions. Questions that ranged from about Jiwoo herself to just other random things in the world.
“You don’t like vegetables?!” Yoona asks in shock.
Jiwoo frantically shakes her head, continuously shooting her thumb down.
Yoona was shocked, and Jiwoo couldn’t help but feel bad for disappointing such a gorgeous woman.
“Wow, Santa… shouldn’t you be on the naughty list?” Yoona asked, her voice with a twinge of teasing, and almost something else that Jiwoo did not want to think further about.
Jiwoo had the urge to finally open her mouth and argue back against this girl (because seriously, is it a crime to dislike vegetables?), until a voice interrupts them, stopping their little Q&A.
“Hey, Santa, Yoona! Wanna play?”
It was Kyujin, who sounded out of breath, but still seemed just as energized as ever. Jiwoo glanced at the TV, noting how “KKYUDOLPH” had won this round.
“Oh, I’m good,” Yoona politely declines, shaking her head.
“That’s okay!” Kyujin—or rather, Rudolph gives a thumbs up. She looks at Jiwoo, and even with both of them completely masked up, she could tell there was a sinister smile underneath that uncanny reindeer head. “Santa, you’re joining me.”
Oh no.
Jiwoo shakes her head, but as she does that, the others begin agreeing with her.
“Yeah! That would be so fun!” Lily agrees.
“I WANT TO SEE SANTA DANCE!” Jinsol shouts.
“YESSS, JOIN US!” Haewon claps her hands.
Jiwoo couldn’t believe it; she could only frantically continue shaking her head, but when Kyujin walked over and grabbed her hand, she knew her fate had been sealed.
“Santa is an amazing dancer,” Kyujin tells the rest. “This time, it’ll be us doing it.”
“Great, I need a break anyway.” Haewon lets out a heavy breath before flopping down on the couch. She hands out her controller. “Here, take it.”
Jiwoo walks over and wordlessly grabs the controller.
Kyujin was on the move, quickly scrolling through the different songs until she finally stopped on one.
Jiwoo froze.
“This one.”
The screen played a preview of the dance. There was a singular person dressed like a reindeer, rolling their wrist as they turned their body before going down and twerking.
Make it jingle, make it jingle, make it jingle, make it jingle—
Oh. My. God.
Just Dance really was more entertaining than Yoona thought.
She was shocked at how well both Santa and Rudolph danced to the song. It was quite the track, in her opinion, and she found herself laughing at multiple parts, especially when the song repeated make it jingle over and over again.
Rudolph ended up winning again; her arms were up in victory as she looked at Santa, who was on the ground huffing for air. It was honestly a cute sight, and Yoona was tempted to walk over and help, but before she could do anything, they got up from the floor and walked out of the living room.
“Woah… Santa’s good!” Haewon praises, shooting a thumbs up.
“No, seriously! He kept up so well!” Lily joins.
“Yup,” Rudolph nods, heavy breaths following after. She grabs the bottom of the mask and pulls it off. The group gasps, shocked by the sudden reveal.
Underneath the Rudolph head was a girl with jet-black hair tied up into a bun. She beamed as she turned to everyone. And Yoona can’t deny, she was very cute.
“You’re so cute!” Lily coos.
“Oh my God! You’re so pretty!” Jinsol exclaims.
“Aw, thank you!” the girl takes the compliment, winking at Jinsol. The birthday girl clutches her chest and pretends to be shot by a love arrow. She turns to her friend. “Yoona, more alcohol!”
The more sober woman sighed, already kicking off the wall. “You could be a little more polite, you know?”
“Oh.” Jinsol put her hands together, almost in a pleading stance. “Please?”
Yoona sighed again, nodding. “Yes, yes. On the way.”
She gets up and leaves, the questions from the others fading in the distance.“Oh my God… what’s your name?” “Kyujin.” “Woah… that’s such a pretty name—”
Yoona turns the corner, walking into the kitchen, only to stop.
Standing in the middle of the kitchen, chugging a bottle of ice-cold water with her head tilted up and neck bobbing from each gulp, was Santa. Unmasked.
Yoona was entranced.
The girl looked… really cute.
She had light brown hair that was tied up into a bun—similar to the other girl—she had light makeup on, making her look practically bare-faced, and Yoona just couldn’t look away.
This girl was totally her type.
(The other girl was cute, but this girl? Yoona felt like she had already fallen.)
Yoona couldn’t help but run her eyes over the strands stuck to her skin, all frazzled and messy, to her glistening skin.
The other girl pulls the water bottle away before quickly glancing over, happening to catch Yoona staring at her. She freezes as they hold eye contact, both realizing.
“Oh.”
Yoona blinks. “Uh—”
Santa—she really shouldn’t keep calling her that—quickly moves out of the way. “Did you need to get—”
“Y-Yeah, u-um,” Yoona sticks a thumb out towards the living room. “They—uh, beer—”
“Oh, right, right,” the other girl nods.
Yoona rushes over and opens the fridge, grabbing as many cans and hoping that the cold air from the fridge was enough to cool down the heat on her face.
“Uh, do you want help?” the girl awkwardly asks from behind.
“Oh, yeah. That would be nice,” Yoona awkwardly accepts the help, handing over a few cans to the girl.
They walk back out to the living room, everyone turning to look at them from the couch. Yoona barely bats an eye at how Jinsol was leaned up against Kyujin and how the other girl doesn’t seem to mind the affection.
“Thank you, thank you!” Jinsol cheers, pulling herself off of Kyujin. The others grab a can, popping it open. “You’re the best.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Yoona mumbles, placing the rest of the cans on the table. The Santa girl follows after, placing the ones she had next to them.
“Ayeee! Santa reveals herself!” Kyujin cheers for her coworker, who rolled her eyes at the comment.
“Oh my God! You’re also so cute!” Lily coos, leaning forward.
"Thank you,” she mumbles bashfully, giving a small nod. Yoona felt a little taken aback by her friend’s comment, maybe even a little—
“Grab a drink!” Jinsol encourages. “Let’s all have fun!”
The Santa girl nods, taking up the offer. She grabs one of the drinks and pops it open. Yoona tries to not think about how attractive that looked.
“Alright! All of us are getting crazy tonight!” Lily exclaims excitedly.
“Yeah, yeah,” Haewon chuckles at her girlfriend. She lifts her drink up. “To Jinsol and Christmas!”
“To Jinsol and Christmas!” the others followed.
Jiwoo didn’t know what time it was anymore.
Hours have passed since she stepped foot into Bae-not-four-years-old-Jinsol’s apartment, and so much has happened. From walking in and immediately doing cake, to sitting close and watching Polar Express on the TV, Jiwoo would say it was not the typical party experience she had when on the clock.
She looked at her phone, instantly noticing how much later it was. She sighed and looked around. Everyone else was knocked out, even Kyujin, who was supposed to be responsible, just like her.
The only other person awake was Yoona.
Jiwoo couldn’t help but feel like this was like a cheesy romcom or something—two people being the last ones awake at a party, just how corny does that sound?
She slowly gets up, pulling Jinsol’s leg off her lap and straightening out her suit, which she was feeling hotter in by the second. Her eyes dart to the table, which was a complete mess from all their beer bottles and food. She begins picking up some of the trash and tossing it into a spare bag.
Yoona seemed to notice, and quickly got up too. “Let me help you with that.”
Jiwoo looks up and gives a small smile. “Thanks.”
They quietly clean up after the others, making sure not to wake them from their slumber. Jiwoo was glad that she didn’t end up drinking much, despite Lily claiming they were, “All getting crazy tonight,” because honestly, that would be way too unprofessional. She shoots a glare at her sleeping coworker.
Once they both filled up their bags with all the waste, they slowly made their way to the kitchen. Jiwoo flickered on the lower lights, not wanting to accidentally blind the others, before walking towards the trashcans. She looked to Yoona for help.
“Hold on, let me—”
The taller girl opens up the bins and gestures to them. “Trash and recycle. You can put the bottles in the recycling.”
“Mkay,” Jiwoo nods.
They slowly get to work, carefully tossing everything, especially some of the glass bottles. It was honestly really nice, almost domestic. Jiwoo finds her mind drifting, imagining this moment as something that’s real.
She shakes her head. Just how delusional is she?
“Thank you,” Yoona murmurs, not even looking up. Jiwoo stops a bit and stares. She stops as well. “For helping, and being here and stuff.”
“Oh,” Jiwoo blinks, continuing. “Yeah. I mean. Part of the job.”
“Ah, I mean, not only that… just. Yeah, thanks for helping with all this too,” Yoona gestures to the trashcans in front. “But uh, yeah. I’m sure Jinsol had a really fun time with you guys. Uh, thanks for coming by, even if Haewon lied.”
Jiwoo chuckles a little. “Yeah… it’s okay. Thank God you guys weren’t murderers or something,” she morbidly jokes.
Yoona laughs, joking a little. “I mean, the night’s still young, you never know.”
“Oh, dear, whatever shall I do?” Jiwoo decides to play along. Even if she wasn’t outright drunk, she could still feel whatever image she put up slowly chipping away the longer she’s with Yoona.
The taller girl throws her head back, really laughing at Jiwoo’s response. Then, she stops.
“Oh.” Her eyes seemed to land on something on the ceiling. “That’s a mistletoe.”
What.
Jiwoo follows her line of sight, instantly catching it.
And there it was, a singular mistletoe dangling above them.
Now, it wasn’t like they necessarily had to participate in the holiday tradition, but…
(A chance like this with someone as attractive as Yoona was an opportunity Jiwoo did not want to pass up.)
Yoona seemed fixed on the item. “I… didn’t know they put that up,” she mutters to herself.
Jiwoo didn’t say a thing.
Yoona finally looks back down and at Jiwoo. It was like she was trying to ask something… maybe…?
She slowly turns to Yoona, finally meeting face to face.
“I mean… Christmas spirit, right?” Yoona sounded nervous.
Yeah, Christmas spirit.
“Ah, I mean…” Jiwoo trails off.
Yoona quickly seemed to recover. “I mean—no one’s here, it’s fine, but like, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything—”
“Oh, I-I mean, it’s fine,” Jiwoo mutters.
“Oh,” Yoona seemed surprised. “Really?”
Jiwoo nervously looked away. “Yeah. It’s fine.”
There was silence between the two; neither of them moved.
Yoona made the first move.
The shorter girl watched as she stepped closer, almost like she was rushing. She gripped the back of Jiwoo’s neck and yanked her in, immediately pushing their lips together.
The first thing Jiwoo registered was how soft they felt. It wasn’t a single bit chapped, pressed hard against hers.
Yoona melted more and more into her, nearly pushing her back. Jiwoo put a hand down on the counter and another on Yoona’s shoulder.
Warm, everything was so warm. Yoona would pull back for a second before diving right back in, peppering kisses against Jiwoo’s lips over and over again.
Jiwoo had no idea what was happening. First, she was fighting for her life, not wanting to come to this party. Then the next thing she knows, she’s kissing this insanely attractive woman in some stranger’s kitchen.
“Woah, woah, woah! Damn! Holy!” A voice comes out of nowhere. The two women pull away, looking up to see who it was.
“Seriously? There was nowhere else?” Haewon berates them, putting her hand on her hip like a displeased mother.
“Uh…” Yoona blinked.
“Ugh, whatever,” Haewon sighed. “I was gonna get water, but no, Yoona is kissing Santa Claus.”
Yoona looked away, embarrassed. Jiwoo stared up at Haewon, a little scared.
“Well, you’re lucky you’re cute, Santa,” Haewon ends up saying before turning around and leaving the kitchen, water be damned.
They just stayed there, stunned by the interruption. Jiwoo cleared her throat, getting Yoona’s attention.
“Um. That was… good,” she quietly admits.
Yoona blinks. “Oh. Yeah. Um. I, uh, really liked that.”
Jiwoo nods. “Me too.”
Yoona then suddenly buried her face into her hands, squealing a little.
Jiwoo stared at her. “Huh?”
Yoona shook her head. “Nothing. You’re just really cute…"
Jiwoo turned red. “A-Ah… thank you.”
More silence. Yoona awkwardly coughs. “We should probably head back out.”
Jiwoo nods. “Agreed. I don’t think the kitchen is the best place to take refuge in.”
“Or make-out in, either,” Yoona adds teasingly.
The shorter girl shoots her an unamused look before playfully shoving her. “You’re funny.”
Everything felt a bit hazy.
When Jiwoo woke up, she found herself extremely warm—nearly sweating as she felt so many things around her. For one, she was on the floor, practically under the Christmas tree, with a very poorly-made mattress beneath her that consisted of a single layer of blanket. Not to mention, the carpet and rough flooring made her feel as stiff as a board. Next, she could feel a heavy weighted blanket draped over her body, pushing her even deeper into the ground.
And lastly, there was a whole other body clinging onto her.
Jiwoo couldn’t see who it was, but by process of elimination, it had to have been—
“Mm…”
There was a hum from behind her. The body shuffled around, still holding Jiwoo, before settling in again and pulling her closer. Jiwoo was growing hotter.
“Um…” she starts, checking to see if the girl was awake.
“Good morning,” she mumbles, voice deep and gravelly. Jiwoo gulped at the sound of it right against her ear, the woman’s lips just barely brushing her skin.
“M-Morning,” Jiwoo greets back, her own voice sounding just as rough. She clears her throat for a moment before shuffling around as well, moving closer to Yoona.
Right. Yoona.
Jiwoo is instantly reminded of their kiss in the kitchen. There was a tingling feeling in her chest as a smile spread across her face. Yoona was really good at kissing. Like really good. Jiwoo almost felt like she couldn’t keep up at times, but Yoona knew just how to set the pace.
When she and Yoona were alone, the taller girl would just sneak a kiss—unprompted. Jiwoo couldn’t help but feel flustered at the act, but she enjoyed it too much to stop.
It was after they left the kitchen and briefly woke everyone up, urging them to find a more comfortable place to sleep. Jinsol dragged Kyujin away to her room (that made Jiwoo and Yoona share a particular look), and Haewon moved Lily to a more comfortable position on the couch.
Yoona led Jiwoo to one of the spare rooms with blankets and quickly pecked her cheek before walking out with a pile of blankets in her arms. To say Jiwoo was flustered was an understatement.
“You sleep well?” Yoona’s voice was quiet, making sure not to wake anyone else around them. Haewon and Lily were sprawled out on the couch, while Kyujin and Jinsol were presumably still in the birthday girl’s room.
“Mhm,” Jiwoo hums.
“That’s good.” She can feel Yoona nodding from behind her.
Jiwoo realized that she was out of her big Santa outfit—which was a blessing, don’t get her wrong, it’s just that she doesn’t remember taking it off.
“The Santa suit was just too much. I am not cuddling that.” Yoona seemed to read her mind. Jiwoo let out a breathless chuckle. Thankfully, she was wearing pretty comfortable—and appropriate—clothes underneath that heavy costume.
“Hey,” Yoona calls out to her again. “Can you turn around?”
Jiwoo doesn’t move for a second, not really processing her words, until she could feel Yoona’s hands move, almost like she was trying to turn the girl over herself.
She flips herself until she sees Yoona, bare-faced (when did she have time to take off her makeup?) and looking just as pretty as ever, with a small smile on her face.
“Hi.” Her voice was quiet.
Jiwoo smiles back. “Hey.”
Yoona seemed to study her face a bit, eyes darting all over the place, before meeting gazes. Unexpectedly, she leans in, dropping a light kiss on Jiwoo’s forehead.
“Oh…” Jiwoo dumbly responds, blinking.
Yoona laughs at the cute display.
“So…” she starts, hands fiddling around until they grasp Jiwoo’s. “I like kissing you.”
What a way to be subtle.
“I like kissing you too,” she ends up returning.
“So…” Yoona trails off.
“So…” Jiwoo repeats.
“Want… to…” the taller girl starts.
Jiwoo nods. “Maybe…”
“I didn’t even finish what I was going to say,” Yoona smiles.
Jiwoo laughs. “Well, it’s pretty obvious.”
“Is it, now,” Yoona jokes.
Jiwoo felt so free in her chest, the smile on her face coming easy.
Then a hint of something crosses Yoona’s face. “Actually, I just realized something.”
“Hm?” Jiwoo hums, looking up at the other girl.
“I realized that I don’t actually know your name.”
Jiwoo blinked.
Oh. My. God.
“Oh. Oh my—” Jiwoo couldn’t believe it. She’s gone this entire time not introducing herself. “My name is Jiwoo.”
Yoona laughed at her realization. “Nice to meet you, Jiwoo.”
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot,” Jiwoo continues apologizing.
Yoona only seemed to laugh even more. “It’s okay, seriously. I just thought it was funny.”
Jiwoo sighed as she finally began calming down. Yoona nudges her a bit.
“Jiwoo’s a cute name.”
“T-Thanks…” Jiwoo smiles awkwardly.
“So…” Yoona trails off again. “Date?”
Jiwoo smiles again, this time, with no awkwardness. “I’d love to.”
They shared a look, and now Jiwoo could easily tell what she was asking for. Kiss.
Jiwoo leans in, eyes fixed on the lips right in front of her. She can see Yoona also move close, and their lips were just inches—centimeters away from each other—
“Wow, this feels really big on my head.”
The two of them jump back from the sudden voice, turning to it and seeing none other than Haewon, up and about, messing with the Santa head. She turns to look at them as well, the wide blue eyes of the Santa head staring back at them.
“Sorry, I got curious,” Haewon apologizes, though not really sounding the slightest bit apologetic. “I’m surprised you managed to stay in this for so long.”
Jiwoo turned until her body was more comfortable. “Yeah, well, part of the job.”
“Hm,” Haewon hums.
“Actually,” Jiwoo sits up just a little, despite the sounds of protest from the woman beside her. “Me and Kyujin stayed for longer than you were gonna pay us for.”
“…That is correct.”
Jiwoo narrows her gaze. “So…”
Haewon pretends not to know what she was talking about. “…Yes?”
“Well. I technically worked overtime…”
“I’m not your employer.”
“Well, I’m getting money from you.”
“Take that up to your boss.”
“I have to pay for this date somehow!”
Haewon looks at her, and even though her face was hidden, Jiwoo had a sixth sense that told her that the girl was shooting the most judgmental look under that mascot head.
Jiwoo feels herself impulsively shoot puppy eyes at her client, hoping that her pleading worked. She’s spent the majority of the night under that head; it was time for her to utilize her facial expressions to get something that she wants.
“Ugh, fine.” Haewon ends up giving in.
Jiwoo lets out a little celebration, which got a bit of laughter from the two other women.
Things couldn’t have been better. Jiwoo was up in the money world, things worked out better than she expected with the party (thank God there were no children to tire her out), and she had a very, very pretty girl waiting on her.
Maybe even Santa deserved to be gifted some Christmas miracles for the holidays as well.
(And honestly, for Jiwoo, being Santa isn’t actually all that bad.)