26 days until Christmas

 "Aw, look who didn't get the y Santa job!" Nichan shouted from the end of his bar station the moment he saw Nichkhun come through the door, late again. Khun simply rolled his eyes as he threw his jacket at his older brother. "You're just jealous you don't have an amazing body like mine," he teased, putting his jacket behind the counter.

 "Shut up Nichan." Nichkhun retorted, it was funny, he had been saying that sentence a lot more often to his brother nowadays.

 Nichan simply chuckled then brought out a rag to wipe down the table. "Dad wants to see you by the way," Nichkhun nodded as he walked away but not before he can hear Nichan screaming again. ("Don't worry there's always next year bro!")

 "Hey Dad," Nichkhun greeted as he took a seat in front of his father, preparing a bowl of a seafood curry.

 "So you didn't get the job huh?" His father had assumed. "You're just like your mother, always taking chances on things that are impossible to reach."

 "But Dad-"

 "Why don't you just use your time wisely? Instead of practicing for that stupid little burlusque show, you should've been studying to become a doctor. The first doctor in our family."

 Nichkhun tried to intervene again, "Wait -"

 "There's no need to help the restaurant. It's too late." His father continued, his voice slowing down and his tone becoming sadder. "I still have enough money for retirement, but what I want is for you is to something for yourself."

 Khun gave up, he obviously wasn't going to listen to whatsoever. He just nodded in understanding and walked away.

 It didn't matter what anyone said, he was going to continue the Horvejkul dream, and nobody was going to stop him.

 "Today I'Park's y Santa was crowned today," Kahi's voice announced on the television newscast. The television switched the recording at I'Park Mall itself, with Jessica, Nichkhun, Siwon, and Kikwang all on stage.

 Jessica is seen, about to reveal the winner. "And I'Park's new y Santa is ..."

 She forces her best fake smile as she lifts up his arm, "Nichkhun Horvejkul!" Nichkhun smiles, shaking Siwon's hands, then Kikwang's as he looks up to the ceiling and blows a kiss. The hundreds of fangirls began screaming in joy as well and for the first time in a while, he realized the odds were on his side.

 Nichkhun arrived at the I'Park Mall the next day, ready for his special Santa Claus training. Jessica mentioned that it was a few days, and he was forced to learn a dance routine.

 "This will possibly be the worst three days of your life," Jessica had lectured to him. Nichkhun simply shrugged at her supposed 'challenge', he already lost his mom, the restaurant he wanted to keep going is still at the brink of closing, and he's in a dysfunctional family. His worst days have become every day for him.

 While learning the dance routine, Khun spent his breaks shoving his face in front of medical textbooks and not to mention that he had to go back to the restaurant to help work.

 He made a few friends while working, like the lovely intern Kim Hyuna who he had danced with during his audition. Believe it or not she eventually became his main reindeer dancer for the dance routine, which had brought them closer together.

 "I'm so nervous!" Hyuna whined as she paced around the room. Time had pass to the first day of December, the first day of the y Santa performance, and Hyuna was freaking out.

 Khun, however, came to the rescue.

 "Chill Hyuna," he said, holding her shoulders and looking into her eyes for her to focus. "You know what my mom used to tell me when I got nervous?"

 The young girl shook her head, she was only nineteen, she wasn't used to performing in front of a crowd so she never had to deal with the nerves.

 "She said to always look at your partner." He continued. "So, just keep looking at me, I'll be there anyways." Hyuna simply nodded, now dazed with the fact that Khun had been keeping eye contact and physical contact with her for more than a minute. Maybe she didn't really understand what he was saying, but she was going to keep her eyes on him the whole time anyways.

  "Ten minutes to showtime, ten minutes to showtime," Jessica repeated over her microphone. She had just entered backstage, looking at the last-minute preparations, and saw Nichkhun being pinned by Key and Jonghyun.

 "Ouch!" He winced in pain as a needle had been jabbed in his calf.

 Key simply rolled his eyes as he continued to fix his Santa Claus outfit. "Be a man," he scowled.

 "You guys are still fitting his outfit?" Jessica asked in shock. It was only a few minutes before Nichkhun had to go out there and perform and only now they were making alternations to his clothes?

 Jonghyun observed another loose part of Khun's pants and pinned at it. "He's lost weight, like a lot of weight."

 "Somebody hasn't been feeding you properly," Key teased, raising his voice an octave higher for emphasis. Khun laughed, it was true, he had lost a lot of weight. It wasn't entirely his fault though.

 "I'd love to eat if only I had enough breaks," he retorted, shooting his eyes towards Jessica. Jessica scoffed, she had been blamed for many things and this was adding on to her increasing list. It didn't matter, it was life and she needed to get the best out of him if he was going to get fifty million won. She checked her watch and noticed it was in the last five minutes.

 "Hurry up you two, Santa Claus has a sleigh show to attend to,"

 "Now is the moment you've all been waiting for," some announcer said over the mall. The lights turned black and a spotlight was spinning around, many girls could be heard screaming and Nichkhun couldn't help but anticipate the moment he popped through the curtains.

 All these people were screaming for him, Santa Claus.

 "Let us welcome, y Santa and his reindeer!"

 Nichkhun came out, his arms locked with the other reindeer, as the crowds scream had escalated. A hip hop beat came out as they began to dance along with the music. Khun was dancing with a reindeer, who he lifted up into the air, causing the crowd to awe. He put her down and began to break dance, performing a windmill that made the girls go wild.

 Hyuna came by and it was her turn with Nichkhun. He grabbed her by the waist, their eyes only fixated on each other, and performed a ballroom-like scene. It was like the first time they danced together, at his audition, she felt like she was falling in love all over again.

 "You ready?" he asked, snapping the young girl out of her fantasy thoughts. She nodded, her eyes still never leaving his. He let her go, as she walked across the stage. Hyuna took a deep breath, look backed at Khun and ran towards him. He caught her just in time as he lifted her up, the rest of the reindeer prancing around the two. He put her down and the two went back to their ballroom scene.

 In the final pose they were centimeters from each other, their breaths lightly going against the other. Khun gave a light smile as the lights turned off, and let her go.

 Hyuna couldn't help but hug him right after, it was her first time performing in front of such a big audience, and his advice definitely cooled her down.

 "You're the best Khun oppa!" she complimented, as they made their way backstage. The rest of the crew was giving hugs, kisses, high fives, and all sorts of congratulations. It was going to be like this for the next weeks so they might as well start off with a blast.

 Jessica made her way through the workers, giving congratulations and words of encouragement as they got back to their dressing room. She found Khun and grinned.

 "Great job out there Horvejkul."

 Nichkhun smiled back as they both went into a hug. After a while it felt a little awkward, and they let go just a few seconds later. Jessica cleared , it was only the first performance not the last, she shouldn't be so nice just yet.

 "I guess it's safe to say that we're doing well especiallly with such a big fanbase of you." she observed, suddenly going back to her business mode.

 Khun shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever earns you money,"

 Jessica slapped arm playfully then loosened up, feeling more comfortable around him. "You're off for tonight, but tomorrow you're working full time. Not just a show, but greeting all your customers to sit on your lap."

 "Ooh," Nichkhun said with excitement. "Sounds fun."

 Jessica rolled her eyes. "You are such a ert."