Leeteuk asked for very few things from the members. When he did ask, he was rarely turned down. There were only a few instances in life where they had rejected a direct request. That was why, despite the lunacy, they had agreed to spend the worst Christmas ever together.

North Pole – December 12th – 2:35 p.m.

The camera crew watched their host warily. Although the snow had lessened up significantly, the temperature was still frigid and the landscape barren. There had been very little progress in the past two days of filming and quite frankly, most of them were exhausted with this trip already. Not only were the housing arrangements mediocre at best, they were barely heated above freezing. That left every staff member bundled up and huddled together throughout the nights. Even with several space heaters, the chill refused to leave their bones.

And yet, no one could convince Leeteuk to give up the hunt. It would be incredible if they found what they wanted to find, but by the looks of it, whatever defunct map Leeteuk had been following wasn’t leading them anywhere good.

“Don’t you think it’s about time to…head back to Korea?” one crew member asked uneasily as they climbed off the snowmobiles and headed on foot to god knew where.

“We’re so close!” Leeteuk dismissed, holding up a hand-drawn map and reading it over. “Just a little further and we’ll be there.”

“Where did you even get that?” another staff member muttered, lugging a heavy bag of recording equipment.

Ignoring them, the host trudged onward, eyes flickering between the seemingly poorly made map and the blankets of snow all around. Clambering over a small hill, Leeteuk gazed ahead and suddenly he disappeared.

After a beat of confused silence, the rest of the crew were shouting for him, climbing up over the hill and straining their eyes to see what had happened. At the bottom of a surprisingly steep valley was Leeteuk in his bright blue coat, the map still clutched in one hand. He didn’t look hurt, but rather star-struck.

“What…,” the cameraman trailed off, eyes finally falling on what was half buried in the valley. Peeking out through the blinding white snow was a large, pristine, and brightly lit wooden workshop. Dangling on a signpost resembling a candy cane was a wooden welcome board that read: Santa’s Workshop

“You have got to be kidding me.”

A shout of glee came from the bright blue speck at the bottom of the valley. The staff exchanged glances before carefully make their way over the hill and down to where Leeteuk was practically jumping with joy.

“Get the camera rolling,” Leeteuk ordered, dusting off his jacket and fixing his hair.

Dumbfounded, the cameraman obeyed, fumbling with the equipment and turning it on. “Okay, go.”

Leeteuk checked the microphone and then spoke up, smiling widely. “After two days of following this map created by online forum users at DiscovertheOccult.com, we have finally arrived at the Santa’s Workshop in the North Pole.”

“Is that really what we’ve been following?” the makeup artist hissed.

“I’d like to thank SantaIsReal and 4ever_ELF for their guidance during these two days. I had a lot of doubts and questions, but they helped me through it all.” Leeteuk bowed once to the camera and then gestured to the workshop below. “Now then, let’s proceed.”

With that, the crew followed Leeteuk down to the front door. The path was well trodden and little bulbs of warm light bounced off the snow. Soft twinkling music hummed low through the thick wooden walls of the workshop. Gold gilded pillars lined the entrance. A brass reindeer knocker was bolted into the center of the door. Leeteuk flashed a smile at the camera before reaching up and swinging the knocker loudly three times.

Nothing.

He knocked again. Louder.

Not a peep.

“Looks like Santa isn’t home,” Leeteuk announced, offering a sad little shrug to the camera. “However, we can be happy to know that the workshop of our childhood dreams is real—”

The cameraman shoved past Leeteuk, pushing on the door handle. It opened.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Leeteuk snapped, reaching for the door to pull it shut again. “You can’t just enter without permission. This is private property—”

“—who cares?” the man interrupted sharply. “We’ve been following your lead for days in this forsaken ice land. We finally found what we’ve been looking for and you’re going to just turn around and walk away because he’s not home?”

“You can’t just break into Santa’s workshop!” Leeteuk argued. As he tried to reason further, the rest of the crew shoved past him and the small entourage shuffled into the warm and bright building. Alarmed, he chased after them, still whisper-shouting about breaking and entering and morals and the sanctity of Santa.

They ignored him.

Leeteuk fell momentarily silent as he peered around the bustling area. Conveyor belts and automated machines carefully and quickly assembled toys of all different shapes and sizes. The belts moved around one another in intricate loops and turns, extending further and further toward an impossibly high roof. Did it look that tall from outside? Santa’s magic?

Shaking himself, he looked over to where the camera crew was getting up close and personal with the toy making process and tinkering with the completed toys. “Hey!” Leeteuk strode toward them, grabbing one man’s wrist. “I already said this is illegal. We can’t be filming things without the owner’s permission. We’re not broadcasting any of this.”

“You’re just the MC,” the man shoved him back, watching him stumble with some satisfaction. “We’ve just uncovered the find of the century. Not broadcasting this my . We’re gonna be on international television.

Leeteuk made a grab for his camera, still shouting about how this was wrong. The man growled, pushing him back hard. Leeteuk flew backward, crashing into one of the ground level assembly lines. Several wooden toys tumbled and crashed to the wooden floor. He slid along the belt, groaning slightly from the pain pulsating through his back. All at once, the room filled with flashing red lights and the air was pierced with sirens.

Scrambling to right himself, Leeteuk scooted off the belt and examined the damage.

His heart dropped.

Several broken toys laid on the ground. Many more were jammed into the broken conveyor belt port. What was really troubling though was the condition of the machine itself. Leeteuk knew it couldn’t have been a very sturdy piece of technology given that only lightweight toys were assembled on it, but now it was clear just how delicate it was. Leeteuk winced at the broken belt and clearly unusable automated arm that had been crushed under his weight. A box of bolts and screws had also been knocked over in the chaos and he had a feeling they would never find all of those parts again given the scatter circumference.

“.”

“…What is going on?”

Leeteuk swallowed hard, eyes lifting up to see a not-so-jolly, red-clad man bumbling toward them. His long white beard and round blue eyes would’ve been a childhood fantasy come true in any other situation. Smiling very, very meekly, Leeteuk waved. “Good afternoon, Santa. I can explain.”

South Korea – December 13th – 12:03 a.m.

Heechul didn’t even bother to pause his drama as he answered the phone. A fuzzy pink blanket was wrapped around him on the couch as he laid on his side, cozy and comfortable after a full day of schedules. “What’s up?” he grunted.

“I need your help.”

“Sorry. I’m out of service tonight,” Heechul yawned, “whatever you need can wait until tomorrow, leader.”

“No, seriously, Heechul. I need you to pack a bag of necessities and come meet me on the rooftop.”

He paused the drama. “Okay…are we eloping? Because I kind of promised my heart to a man in China. You might know him. Really handsome. Been loving him since pre-2005. Makes great fried rice. Ring a bell?”

Leeteuk let out a frustrated sigh. “Will you stop joking around? I’m serious and we’re in a time crunch! Just hurry up and I’ll explain once you get here.”

Rolling his eyes, Heechul reluctantly threw back his blanket and immediately shivered. Hanging up the phone, he grumbled all the way to his room and through changing his clothes and packing a backpack. Although he had been following Leeteuk for over a decade, there were many times that he questioned why he should listen. In the end, though, he always went along with it. After all, who else would take care of him?

Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he trudged out and took the elevator up to the rooftop. The cold air was already cutting through the metal door. Heechul took a deep, calming breath before shouldering the door open. He opened his mouth to yell at Leeteuk but stopped in his tracks.

In the center of the bland rooftop was an honest-to-heavens sleigh. A red-nosed reindeer scuffed his little hooves against the concrete whilst the other eight reindeers looked around and made little noises as they waited. Sitting atop the ornately styled sleigh on red velvet cushions was his leader—Super Junior’s leader.

The reins were resting in his hands as he waved Heechul closer. “Let’s go!”

Heechul just stared. What did I get myself into?

South Korea – December 13th – 12:07 a.m.

Leeteuk hung up the phone, leaning back in the sleigh and puffing hot air into his mitten covered hands. Sighing, he glanced over at Heechul who was still sitting dumbstruck beside him. “Hey…you okay?”

“Am I okay? Did you just ask that?” He shot Leeteuk a look.

“I mean…we’ve had weirder things happen.”

“Have we?” Heechul demanded sharply. He crossed his arms, heaving a heavy breath. “Because in recent memory, I don’t think anything quite tops trying to save Christmas.”

“I don’t know,” Leeteuk hedged, “What about that time Ryeowook turned into a werewolf?”

“One werewolf doesn’t equal discovering Santa is real.”

“We also discovered vampires!”

Heechul snorted. “Never saw it, so it didn’t happen.”

Leeteuk huffed.

The rooftop door rattled open and a very pissed Kyuhyun strode out followed by a somewhat exhausted Ryeowook. Unlike Heechul, Kyuhyun didn’t look even slightly fazed by Santa’s sleigh. Tossing his backpack over the lip of the sleigh, he climbed into the available seat behind Leeteuk and Heechul. Kyuhyun pulled his scarf higher up around his face, eyes shutting and arms crossing.

Ryeowook nodded at the older men a little more politely and climbed up to sit next to Kyuhyun. “So…how’d you get the sleigh, hyung?” He studied it curiously, wonder in his eyes.

“Why are neither of you shocked?” Heechul demanded.

“Romania.” Kyuhyun deadpanned.

Ryeowook shrugged. “Leeteuk-hyung mentioned a variety show about Santa a few weeks ago. I figured things would take a turn for the weird. So? Is this really Santa’s sleigh?”

Leeteuk snapped the reins, and they slowly lifted into the air. “Yeah,” he nodded. “Uh…so we found Santa’s workshop, but some things happened and I accidentally broke part of his toy factory. I promised to help make up for lost production so…here we are. I also sent home the camera crew after deleting their video footage. It’s been a very long day and we just need to get moving and starting fixing things.”

“You mean,” Heechul corrected, “that you enlisted us to make up for your mistake.”

He sighed.

South Korea – December 13th – 12:10 a.m.

 Heechul didn’t think he had ever seen Siwon smile so wide or so brightly.

The younger man clambered up and into the sleigh excitedly, squeezing right in next to Ryeowook. “What’s going on?” Siwon asked, looking everywhere and practically buzzing with positive energy.

“Our leader ruined Christmas and now we’re on a mission to save it,” Heechul replied flatly.

“Alright!” Siwon clapped his hands. “Let’s do it!”

“That’s the spirit,” Leeteuk cheered, snapping the reins with enthusiasm.

Siwon glanced at Kyuhyun who was still silently fuming. Frowning, he nudged Ryeowook, whispering, “What’s wrong with Kyu?”

The smaller man sighed under his breath. “He just doesn’t think this will end well.”

“Because it won’t.” Kyuhyun snapped.

Ryeowook shrugged. “He’s probably not wrong.”

South Korea – December 13th – 12:13 a.m.

Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Henry came bumbling out onto the rooftop and immediately started shouting and howling. They dropped their bags without thinking and went around, petting the reindeers and examining the exterior of the sleigh. Getting caught up in their energy, Siwon climbed down as well, exploring and chattering with them about how cool it was.

“Is this really his sleigh?” Donghae asked, wide-eyed.

“It’s Rudolph!” Henry exclaimed, taking out his phone and snapping a photo of the red-nosed reindeer.

Siwon and Eunhyuk were down on their knees, checking out the bottom of the carriage where the sleek blades were. “How sharp is this? Could it hurt someone? How does he land without cutting rooftops?” Eunhyuk questioned.

“Can we get going already? This thing isn’t magically heated and I’m freezing,” Heechul complained.

Leeteuk reached under his seat, pulling out a thick wool blanket. “We have more if anyone else is cold!”

Grudgingly, Heechul took the blanket and pulled it up to his chin. It was surprisingly warm.

South Korea – December 13th – 12:25 a.m.

“Should we really be bothering him?” Eunhyuk remarked as they waited on the rooftop of yet another apartment building in Seoul. Everyone had pulled wool blankets over themselves, huddling close together in the large carriage. 

“We wouldn’t have gotten here so late if it wasn’t for some people buzzing around and getting distracted,” Heechul muttered.

Donghae huffed. “Hey! It’s Santa’s sleigh! I’ve always wanted to see it. You can’t blame me for being a little excited.”

“Exactly,” Henry added, “it’s not every day you get to ride around in something so legendary.”

Ryeowook sighed. “I don’t think he’ll be upset. He’d be more upset if he was excluded.”

“We can’t spare anyone,” Leeteuk pointed out, “so whether or not we’re bothering him isn’t important.”

“You don’t think he’d want to spend Christmas with his wife though?” Eunhyuk cocked a brow. “I mean, the man’s kind of got responsibilities.”

“If everything goes according to plan, all of us will be spending Christmas with our loved ones,” Leeteuk corrected, “so let’s just do a good job and everyone can be happy.” As he finished speaking the rooftop door opened and Sungmin shuffled out, pink muffler covering most of his face.

Those round dark eyes widened, and he dropped his bag.

“Finally,” Heechul sighed, “someone reacted normally.”

South Korea – December 13th – 12:28 a.m.

Sungmin squished in beside Eunhyuk, eyes moving back and forth warily as he listened to the patchwork story. “Okay…,” he trailed off, looking more tired the longer he sat huddled under the blanket, “so, we broke Santa’s workshop and now we have to fix it? How many toys do we have to repair?”

“Not only repair,” Leeteuk winced, “uh…we’re about 5,000 toys behind production. But!” He added hastily as the atmosphere chilled in a way completely unrelated to the temperature. “I did the math. If there are 15 of us working every day for the next twelve days, then each of us only has to build about 30 toys a day to meet the requirement.”

“I’ve never built a toy in my life,” Henry remarked.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Leeteuk smiled.

The rooftop door clanked open and Kangin stepped out. He froze for a second, eyes trailing all over the sleigh and reindeer before settling on Leeteuk. With a sigh, he shrugged his bag higher up and circled the sleigh to sit down on Leeteuk’s other side.

“No fuss, Kangin?” Heechul mused, scooting down a bit.

Kangin tucked his bag at his feet and pulling the shared blanket over his lap. “I promised that I would follow Teuk-hyung anywhere. Even if that means…this.” He waved his hand around at…everything.

Leeteuk grinned widely.

South Korea – December 13th – 12:33 a.m.

“This is a weird match up.”

The rest nodded in agreement. They also sat in somewhat tense silence as they waited for the next members to come up. Not only were they not at a private apartment building, they were waiting atop SM Entertainment’s company facility.

“You realize that they won’t have like…anything they need for this trip,” Kyuhyun spoke up, head tucked against Ryeowook’s shoulder.

“We can share,” Siwon offered.

“You can share,” Heechul scoffed.

The door opened and three very confused members strolled out. They were dressed in sweats and face masks. Personal bags and dance bags were slung over their respective shoulders. “See? They have some stuff,” Leeteuk nodded.

“Yeah alright, when they start stinking up the place with their twelve-day-old socks and underwear, you tell me it’s fine,” Heechul muttered.

“There’s a washer and dryer, right? I don’t have that much stuff with me,” Henry piped up, panicked.

“Just take someone else’s underwear. You’ve done it before,” Kyuhyun snorted.

Before Henry could protest, Yesung, Shindong, and Zhoumi were coming up to the sleigh. None of them spoke a word at first, just staring in awe.

“What is going on?” Zhoumi breathed.

“We’ll explain on the way, let’s get going.” Leeteuk waved them onto the sleigh. “There’s more room to sit in the back.”

“There isn’t that much room,” Kyuhyun corrected, eyeing the tight squeeze of his own row.

“Well, how many more are coming?” Shindong questioned as they piled into the last empty row in the far back.

Leeteuk snapped the reins. “Just one more stop. I already got rejected by Hangeng.”

“What?” Heechul sat up straighter. “You saw him? Without me?”

“Beijing is closer than Seoul if you’re coming from the North Pole,” he rolled his eyes, “of course I stopped there first. He said something about astronaut training? I think he’s required to stay and complete the program.”

“Oh! I did read about that!” Siwon nodded. “Hangeng is part of the civilian space travel program, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Leeteuk nodded, “so he can’t come this time.”

“Really?” Kyuhyun raised a brow. “The only reason good enough to skip out on another ludicrous adventure is because he’s going to space?”

“If you’re being kept in Seoul under government orders, then, by all means, I’ll let you out of this sleigh right now,” Leeteuk shot him a look.

The maknae grumbled under his breath and burrowed closer to Ryeowook.

South Korea – December 13th – 12:37 a.m.

“Long time no see!” Donghae waved excitedly, pointing at the last available seat next to Yesung.

Across the short distance, Kibum looked around at almost all of the members gathered together. “What…is going on?” He slowly approached them, passing Donghae his bag.

“How did you manage to track down Kibum?” Kangin asked, surprised. “He’s a ghost.”

Leeteuk chuckled. “I always keep track of all the members of Super Junior.”

“Of course you do,” Heechul sighed. He glanced at Kibum who was still hesitantly climbing into the sleigh, looking like he was marching toward Doom’s Day. “Kibummie, I promise you that you were called here for absolutely nothing worthwhile.”

“Saving Christmas is totally worthwhile!” Siwon argued.

“We’re doing what?” Kibum choked.

Leeteuk wound the reins tight around his wrists and whipped. “It’s fine!”

“Where are we going?” Kibum shouted over the wind.

“To the North Pole!”