The first of December started as dark and early as the first advent the day before, but since it was a Monday not even Seojun liked the idea of getting up. Any other Monday in winter, Hakyeon would have struggled to get the kids out of bed, but on this particular morning he had a trick up his sleeve.

“Fine then. I won’t stop Seojun from exploring if you have any sweets in your advent calendar.” He threw over his shoulder as he walked back out of Hyejin’s room. He didn’t look back when he heard the duvet being thrown off.

“Alright. You sleep in, but don’t complain when you won’t have time to play with whatever is in your advent calendar before school!”

The thud behind him told him Seojun would be wide awake by now.

“You know, Chewy and Sora aren’t as lazy when it comes to checking your advent calendar in the morning.”

Heejoon jumped up with a wail, revealing he’d been awake all along, and darted past Hakyeon to save his calendar from the dogs. Hakyeon caught him at the last second before he could run towards the stairs.

“Hold on, young man! No running in the morning! And never on the stairs! Where are your slippers?”

“Appaaaaa! My calendar!!” Heejoon struggled in Hakyeon’s hold, but Hakyeon insisted on the slippers before he let Heejoon climb down the stairs at a normal pace.

His older siblings were already there, opening the first of the small gifts of each of their calendars, which Hakyeon and Taekwoon had finished filling and setting up in the living room with Hongbin and Wonshik’s help the night before, after the children had gone to bed.

“Cuuuuute!!” Hyejin exclaimed as she pulled a bear shaped hot pack out of the tiny green stocking that made up the number 1 of her calendar, hanging between twenty-three other little stockings on the wall next to the fireplace.

Seojun’s calendar stood on a small coffee table Taekwoon had unearthed from the basement, twenty-four little houses making up a little Christmas village, each of them filled with a different gift or treat.

“Fizzy Berries, my favourite!” Seojun sighed dreamily as he clutched the small candy wrapper to his chest.

“Not before breakfast, Seojunie.” Hakyeon warned, but Seojun gave him the most pleading puppy eyes.

“Appa, please!” He pleaded, and Hakyeon sighed.

“Just one. Because it’s the first day. But then you go back upstairs and wash up and get dressed, alright?”

Seojun nodded, rolling his eyes in theatrical bliss as he popped one of the small candies into his mouth.

“Appa, which one is first?” Heejoon tugged on his pyjama’s leg, biting at his thumb’s nail as he looked at his calendar with uncertainty. It was a box full of balls to twist open which would have something hidden inside. There weren’t any numbers, since Heejoon didn’t know how to count yet.

“Whichever you want, love.” He crouched down to watch Heejoon choose a blue and yellow ball, ready to assist if the little boy needed help opening it. He didn’t.

Hakyeon paled slightly when he saw what fell out of the ball, though. It was a whistle.

“What… what is this?” Heejoon asked, holding it up.

Hakyeon scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Ah… It’s a whistle, baby. You… you blow into this part, and it makes a whistling noi- aaah!”

Hakyeon swore he lost part of his hearing when Heejoon blew into the whistle with all his might, right next to his ear.

“Not so hard, love. And maybe not in here, either, ok? This is a toy for outside.”

Heejoon tried blowing with less force, and the whistling wasn’t as loud anymore. Still, loud enough.

“Heejoonie, Jieun is still sleeping. Don’t wake her up, please.”

Heejoon nodded, clutching his whistle and running to the kitchen instead to show Taekwoon the wonderful gift.

He didn’t stay in the kitchen for long, though, darting back out just as Hakyeon was entering it.

Taekwoon looked around Hakyeon carefully to make sure none of the children were within hearing range before he let his expression darken.

“I’m going to kill whoever put that thing in his calendar.”

Hakyeon nodded, agreeing, as he patted Taekwoon’s shoulder.

“I’ll have a hiding spot for the body ready.”

Taekwoon chuckled, kissing his lips quickly before turning back to the food he was making.

“That’s my man.”

Hakyeon smiled contently as he set the table, but a thud from upstairs interrupted him and had him sprint to find out the source. Of course, it wasn’t far from Seojun, who stood by the bathroom window, next to a fallen potted plant.

“Seojun, what happened?” Hakyeon tried to be patient as the boy bit his lip and rubbed at his neck awkwardly.

“It fell…”

Hakyeon sighed, taking out a dustpan and broom they kept in the cabinet under the sink.

“I can see that. Why did it fall, though?”

Seojun bit his lip again.

“I don’t-…” He broke off when Hakyeon raised an eyebrow, and cleared his throat quietly.

“I made it fall.”

Hakyeon nodded.

“How?”

“I pushed it…”

Hakyeon hummed as he righted the plant and gathered the spilled soil to return it to the pot. It hadn’t been damaged in the fall; they’d long since given up on having ceramic pots for their plants. They’d almost completely given up on having plants around the house, too.

“Why did you push it?”

If Seojun had looked uncomfortable before, he looked even more so now.

“I… I tried to climb onto the window sill… I wanted to see if it was snowing…”

Hakyeon sighed, setting the broom and dustpan down and crossing his arms.

“Seojun… What did we tell you about climbing things?”

The boy avoided his father’s gaze, fixing it on the rests of spilled soil on the bathroom tiles.

“To not do it if they aren’t meant for climbing.”

Hakyeon nodded.

“Are window sills meant for climbing?”

Seojun shook his head.

“No. Because I can hurt myself badly if I fall…” He anticipated Hakyeon’s next question, and Hakyeon nodded.

“Why do you keep doing it, then, if you know why you shouldn’t?”

Seojun blushed, hiding his face behind his hands.

“I forgot… And I didn’t think I would fall…”

Hakyeon sighed, crouching down in front of his son and putting his hands on his shoulders.

“Seojunie… But you fall all the time. How could you forget that?”

Still, the boy wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“But I got better…”

Hakyeon couldn’t help but shake his head.

“That’s no reason to do something we told you not to. Go get dressed now.”

The boy lowered his hands from his face slowly, taking a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, appa…”

Hakyeon’s sigh was merely internal, not audible for his son.

“You’re forgiven. Also, it’s not snowing yet, by the way.”

Seojun scrunched his face, his shoulders slumping.

“Will it ever snow again…? It feels like a whole life ago since it last snowed…”

Hakyeon chuckled quietly as he watched his son trudge out of the room, focusing on finishing cleaning up the mess the child had made once he was out of sight.

Once he was finished, he didn’t make it all the way back into the kitchen before the next emergency called for his attention.

“Heejoon! Stop!” He gasped as soon as he set foot off the bottom of the stairs, seeing his son pulling on one of the lower hanging stockings on Hyejin’s calendar.

Heejoon immediately let go, but it was too late; the stocking tore off and fell to the ground.

Heejoon’s eyes widened and he turned around to look at his father.

“I didn’t mean to break it…”

Hakyeon sighed, picking up the stocking from the floor.

“What were you pulling on it for, then?”

Heejoon bit his lip.

“I just wanted to see what was in it…”

Hakyeon shook his head.

“It’s not your calendar, Heejoon, so you have no business peeking into it. You’ll see when Hyejin opens it.”

Heejoon huffed lightly and trudged off. Hakyeon shook his head at the child, who was soon busy with something else, and went to get some new string to put the stocking back on the calendar before his daughter noticed it had fallen off.

He barely managed to finish putting it back before angry voices from upstairs caught his attention. The voices got louder by the second, and Hakyeon closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he prayed for patience.

“Hakyeon? What’s going on up there?”

Taekwoon peeked out of the kitchen, and Hakyeon sighed.

“I don’t know. I’ll go check. Please keep an eye on Heejoon, he’s out to discover what the others have in their advent calendars.”

Taekwoon sighed quietly but nodded, finding the little boy to take him into the kitchen with him as Hakyeon climbed the stairs yet again to find out what the hell his two oldest were up to now. By then, the angry voices had escalated to angry cries, coming from the second bathroom.

Hakyeon didn’t bother knocking before pushing the ajar door fully open, silencing both kids for a moment.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Taking in the situation, he found the whole bathroom floor wet, much the same as his daughter’s pyjama -which she was still wearing instead of her school uniform, which was what she should be wearing by now. Seojun stood in front of her, face tear streaked as he held an empty candy wrapper in his balled fist.

“Hyejin took my candy!”

“I didn’t take your stupid candy! I don’t even like that candy!”

“Liar!”

“You’re a liar!”

“Hey!” Hakyeon interrupted the escalating shouting match once again, silencing his children.

“Why do you think Hyejin took your candy?”

Seojun sniffled.

“Heejoon doesn’t eat candy, Hyejin is the only one who’d do it!”

“Did you see her take it?”

Seojun averted his gaze.”

“No, but-…”

“Hyejin, did you take his candy?”

“No! I haven’t been near it, I’ve been in here this whole time!”

Hakyeon didn’t find that hard to believe, given the state of her clothes and the floor.

“Right. Why exactly have you been in here this whole time, and what in the world have you been doing? You aren’t even dressed yet!”

Hyejin reached for the sink, which was also filled with water, taking out the hot pack that was swimming in it.

“It says it goes soft again in hot water once it’s gone cold, and then you can bend the thingy inside it again and it goes hot and hard again. I wanted to see if it’s true, but first I had to cool it down, and then warm it again, so I didn’t have the time to get dressed yet.”

Hakyeon sighed.

“Please go get your clothes and take a shower and get dressed in the other bathroom while I clean up here. And do me a favour and hurry up!”

“Appa! What about my candy?” Seojun interrupted him as Hyejin stepped past them and out of the bathroom.

“I believe Hyejin when she says she didn’t take it, and neither me nor Taekwoon took it, either. And you know Heejoon doesn’t eat candy, so I really don’t know what happened to it. Where did you keep it before it was gone?”

“I… I put it on the bottom step of the stairs, but when I came to get it only the wrapper was left.”

Hakyeon had a sinking feeling in his stomach at that information.

“Maybe… Maybe it just fell out when someone walked past it and didn’t see it… Let’s go check again, ok?”

Seojun nodded, following Hakyeon downstairs. They hadn’t found anything yet when Taekwoon emerged from the hallway going to the back of the house, looking unamused.

“Seojun, did you leave your candy on the floor?”

Seojun gulped.

“On the stairs…”

Taekwoon frowned.

“How many times have I told you not to leave your candy within the pet’s reach? Sora just puked all over the laundry room because of your candy!”

Hakyeon paled.

“Oh no… Is he ok?”

Taekwoon nodded, though his expression didn’t soften.

“He’s playing again and he got it all out so he should be fine. This time. But damn it, Seojun! One day one of the pets is going to get seriously sick from some stupid candy laying around unattended! Do you want that?”

Seojun shook his head forcefully, looking pale as well.

“No. I’m sorry…”

“I’m sure you are, but then you go and do it again the very next day, until one day something that can’t be undone happens. And then? Sorry won’t fix it. Just don’t leave your damn candy where the dogs can eat it, or you won’t get any candy anymore! Understood?”

Seojun stood rigid, his hands clasped behind his back to keep them from shaking as he nodded.

“Understood.”

Taekwoon sighed, shaking his head.

“I hope so. I really hope so…” He didn’t sound like he believed it, though, before he walked past them and up the stairs to change into some clean clothes.

Hakyeon turned to his son once Taekwoon had walked out of sight.

“This is no joke, Seojun. You have to keep your candy where the dogs won’t reach it. Always. What’s candy for you can be poison for them.”

Seojun swallowed.

“Yes, appa…”

Hakyeon sighed, rubbing over his face just to be reminded that he, too, hadn’t had time to get ready yet as his stubble scratched against his hand.

“And don’t accuse your siblings of doing something when you don’t have proof that they are the culprits. You can really hurt their feelings when you accuse them falsely and show them you have so little trust in them.”

“Ok…”

Why was scolding Seojun so hard on him? Hakyeon thought, placing a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder to ease the tension around them.

“Alright, then. Did you pack your school bag yet?”

Seojun shook his head.

“Then go do that and then come down for breakfast. It’s getting late!”

Seojun climbed the stairs as well, and Hakyeon went to find the dogs, making sure for himself that the little Spitz was fine before sitting down on the couch to enjoy the momentary calm. At least he didn’t have to fit a run to the vet into this hectic morning, too, he thought as he petted the energetic pet that had jumped up on his lap for some quick cuddles.

Slowly, too slowly to not be worrisome, the other family members descended the stairs as well to finally start on breakfast, which Taekwoon had already finished preparing, including a bottle for Jieun.

Hakyeon was beyond glad today was the turn of Hyejin’s best friend’s mother to take the two oldest to school when she dropped off her own daughter. He was in no mood to shave in a hurry, and getting dressed quickly always ended in a disaster for him.

Despite that morning’s quarrels, breakfast still passed normally, and Hakyeon left it to Taekwoon for once to make sure most of the food on the table was actually consumed by the kids, rather than played with, dropped under the table, splattered over the rest of the kitchen or simply ignored until it lost all of its appeal.

It bordered a miracle the kids got ready to leave without having to make Mrs Choi wait for them, Hakyeon found, and even Heejoon was ready not too long after so Taekwoon could take him to the kindergarten.

He should have known not to get too excited about those small successes, though. The moment he thought he could finally go take a shower and get ready himself, he spotted the disaster that had become Seojun’s advent calendar and winced.

A toy car sat between the houses, much too big for the size of the village, and half the houses were squished from when the car had tried to take the much too tight corners of the roads between the houses. The other half of the houses was open, though the candy inside them was left untouched.

“Heejoon…” Hakyeon sighed, though he counted the small blessings, and was glad at least the candy hadn’t been taken out of the houses. Also, Seojun hadn’t seen the state of his calendar yet.

Hakyeon shook his head, knowing his plans for that morning had just become overthrown again, since he’d most likely spend all of it trying to fix the damage on the calendar. First, though, he’d finally take that shower.

His assumption would prove to be true, though, since Heejoon wasn’t the most dexterous four-year-old when it came to opening small cardboard houses without damaging them, and Hakyeon didn’t manage to finish fixing Seojun’s calendar before lunch. He could only hope his son wouldn’t notice the invasion.

---

He wouldn’t, Hakyeon would know by the eighth day of the month.

That day was also the day the last of the snacks disappeared out of the calendar, leaving Seojun looking at it longingly for the following sixteen days while Hyejin pulled snacks and little gifts out of her own calendar in the morning (by then, Heejoon had long lost interest in his calendar, having to be reminded to check it at all every other day). To his credit, Seojun didn’t complain, acknowledging it was his own fault the calendar was empty ahead of time.

Next year he would really only open one gift a day, he promised himself. Just like he had promised the year before.