Christmas Day

Before Wu Fan could realize it, he was running out the door.

Why didn’t I realize it earlier!?
 

***

It was a cold December morning and Wu Fan, at age 9, was walking around in the neighborhood. It was Christmas Day and he wanted to find some sort of present for his mother. He had saved up money for an entire year, hoping that this year he would finally be able to get something special for his mother. After walking around for a while, he stopped in front of the store that he had kept in mind every single day. He knew what he was going to get her. He stared at the necklace from outside the window. It was on display for the past 3 months and since the first day, he knew it was perfect for his mother. He looked at the necklace for the last time, “ImAunicorn... you’re finally mine!” Wu Fan said out loud with a huge grin of satisfaction on his face. He went inside the store and quickly put his piggy bank up on the counter. “I’ll take the necklace near the window, please!” Wu Fan said to the old man at the counter, still grinning.
The old man recognized Wu Fan immediately, he had seen Wu Fan stop and stare at the necklace on display since it was first put there and the old man was kind enough to leave that necklace there even though it was outdated and was out of style. Chuckling to himself, the old man started counting the change that came out of the piggy bank. After making sure it was the right amount, he went to the window and grabbed the necklace. He put it in the cutest little red velvet box and handed it to Wu Fan.

“This must be for a special person, hmm?” The old man asked Wu Fan with a smile.

“Yep!” Wu Fan said back to him with a huge smile on his face.

The old man went over to the other side of the store and picked out a various assortment of flowers. “Here, this is on me,” the man said, handing Wu Fan the beautiful bouquet.

Wu Fan, surprised at how kind this man was, took the bouquet and bowed multiple times before leaving the store. “Thank you so much!” he repeated over and over again.

He was so excited to give this to his mother right away. He started running as fast as he could to get back home. He passed the familiar park near his house and was about to go on when something caught his eyes. He saw a little boy sitting on the sand near the swings, crying to himself. Stopping midway, Wu Fan turned back around and hesitantly walked up to the boy.

“Are you... crying?” Wu Fan asked the boy, who was slightly younger than him.

The younger boy sniffed and looked up at the person talking to him. He didn’t say anything and looked back down.

Wu Fan bent down and looked him in the eyes. “You are crying!” Wu Fan yelled out loud, then softening his tone, “What’s your name?”

The smaller boy looked up yet again, this time, he opened his mouth to manage a small world, “Yixing...”

“What? I can’t hear you!” Wu Fan said, irritated.

“It’s da Yixing right here!” The smaller boy said louder, this time with more energy. Startled, Wu Fan fell backwards, causing Yixing to laugh out loud.

Smiling along with him, Wu Fan started to console the kid. “Well Yixing, why were you crying in the park?”

At first, Yixing hesitated to answer because he knew he would get sad again, but he looked up at Wu Fan’s gentle eyes and started to talk, “...It’s Christmas day and when I saw all the kids leaving school with their parents and I got sad.. So I ran to the park and started crying. I didn’t want to go home! There is nobody there! My parents are always away and they never visit! I’m the only one in my class who never gets Christmas presents!” Yixing said starting to tear up once again.

Wu Fan, without thinking, took out the velvet box from his pocket. “HERE!” He pointed the box at Yixing, commanding him to take it.

“..what is that?” Yixing asked Wu Fan, confused. By then, his tears were gone again.

Getting irritated at the stupid kid, Wu Fan angrily opened the box and took the necklace out. “TURN” he commanded Yixing once again.

Still confused, Yixing turned around and waited for Wu Fan’s next action. He felt Wu Fan’s arm come over his head and then put something around his neck. After a few seconds of waiting, Yixing looked down to see a beautiful, silver necklace on him.

“ImAunicorn...? This is..??” Yixing started to ask Wu Fan.

“Christmas present. You said you wanted. So now you have it. Are you happy!?” Wu Fan asked without looking at Yixing; he was angry at himself for what he just did.

Showing all of his teeth, Yixing smiled so big that even Wu Fan had to return the smile. “I love it!! Thank you!” Yixing said as he went toward Wu Fan for a hug.

Wu Fan, now very surprised, was still and couldn’t move out of the way. He just let Yixing hug him. This was new to him; no one’s ever hugged him before other than his mother. Getting embarrassed, Wu Fan quickly got up and ran away. Before he left, he turned back to take one more look at the eccentric kid. Yixing was looking at his necklace, still holding his big smile, and was walking back to his own home. Wu Fan smiled to himself.

When he returned home, reality hits him. The present he saved up for so long was now gone. He only had a bouquet of flowers to give his mother. He couldn’t go inside his own home becuase he was ashamed of not having anything for his mother. He was about to go back to the park when his mother opened the door. “Wu Fan, where have you be-- Oh my!! Are those flowers for me?!” Wu Fan’s mother went over to hug his son when Wu Fan nodded slowly.
“It’s not much but.. this is all I have” Wu Fan said to her sadly.
“Oh no! This is the best gift I have ever received! My son is the best!” Wu Fan’s mother said to him with a big smile.
Happy that his mother enjoyed his gift, his face lightened up as well. It wasn’t a bad Christmas after all!
 

***

By the time Wu Fan snapped back to reality, he was in the area behind the dorms. He had heard some noises in the back and went over to check it out.

His eyes widened when he saw the situation. Two gangster-looking guys had Yixing surrounded and was teasing him. “Are you a girl?! Why is your hair so long? Want us to help you fix that?” one of the guys said to Yixing, yanking at Yixing’s curls.

Whelping out in pain, Yixing started to cry. Getting angry at the crying boy, the second guy raised his arms to hit Yixing’s face.

Wu Fan stared in horror as the guy's arm was about to come in contact with Yixing's soft skin.

--

A/N: Still sobbing.. Because I'm still lost LOL YOu guys should post iedas and stuff and if I like it, I'll add it into the story and credit you :3