Thank you for still encouraging me after 14 years. I will do the same on finding your true love—just as I had found mine…

As expected, I’ve received a call from the headmaster of the university, telling me in such a scolding voice that I’m suspended from my class in a week’s time after the winter break to reflect on my actions. I silently mocked the male voice before quietly mumbling an apology.

I’ll apologize to him, but not to that . She doesn’t deserve one in the first place anyway.

I had a little argument with my Appa though, when he found out that I got suspended. He was upset with me and continued to rant off on how I shouldn’t do such a thing that would get my scholarship removed.

“But Su-Min was the one who insulted my mother – she was the one who started the stupid fight first! I warned her but she wouldn’t listen! How can I just be okay with it after hearing her talk so rudely of my dead Umma like that?” I argued back to him for the first time ever.

It was our first fight together.

He stood still; his body stiffens when I mentioned my mother. I could see his upset eyes and the vein popping out on his neck, the small cross tattoo bulging on his flesh. His currently dark brown hair went slick against his skin, wet from the cold sweat on his neck.

I could see my step-mother watching in amusement at this, sitting in the living room and smirking at me. I could only scowl at her.

He finally spoke up, turning his back onto me and facing the evil old hag. “Go to your room, Baek Mi-ja. You are staying up there to reflect upon your actions until Christmas.”

“But—”

“I said, go!”

I recoiled at his flamboyant, livid tone. My eyes almost overflowed with tears at the sight of his irate eyes. He never used his angry voice at me.

I stood still in the living room, shocked at his behavior. I hung my head slightly before glaring at him. “I hate you,” I spat out bitterly, truly meaning it. He looked at me offended. I could see it in his movements when he turned to me – he was clearly upset.

“Y-You know you don’t mean that”—I sighed at his pleading voice—“No… Mi-ja, you don’t hate me—”

“—I’m sorry, Father. But I do,” I ridiculed, using formalities on him. He looked even more damaged than before, his eyebrows creased on his forehead.

Kangdae was there when I had the quarrel with him. He tried to comfort me but I slapped his hand away and ran off upstairs to my room. I didn’t want to speak to anybody at that moment, even when Min-Ae worriedly knocked on my door.

I pretty much locked myself inside my room for four days, only coming out for dinner, when I want to eat or when I want to make a call using the telephone. But I never made any calls with SHINee. Just Min alone as I confessed to what happened that day about our quarrel and avoided giving her the chance to hand her phone over to them—instead, I hung up after saying a quick, panicking farewell. I did nothing other than that and avoided my father for the whole week.

Sure, I did reflect on my actions and what I did was wrong and I have to admit, that was a bit too much. But would you stand still if one talks bad about your family, especially about a person who has died from a tragic accident? Do you think I would be okay with that?

I don’t think so.

I was not okay.

Therefore, I believe that Su-Min shouldn’t earn any apology.

And I hope she doesn’t.

Not even after a lifetime.

I was one day away from Christmas and I haven’t gotten anything for SHINee yet. University had gone onto winter break. I was still expected to send in a letter reflecting my actions and such during that. After hearing upon his surname, I know now why Su-Min was in SAU (the top-class university in the entire world—literally) and how Su-Min got in.

The headmaster was her uncle.

Freaking hell, I must be relentlessly cursed then.

Planning to sneak out, I quickly took a quick shower before changing into new clothes. I was dressed in that same outfit I wore to Su-Min’s party, with an addition of my coat and black sunglasses.

The door was locked on purpose so nobody was able to enter my room. I grabbed the black bag underneath my bed and took out the short blonde wig and the pale blue eye contacts. I want to go out not as me, but as ‘Sora’ this time. Not only do I have to sneak out to do some shopping, I…also want to do something when I’m out there.

I fixed the fringe on my blonde wig and blinked my eyes a couple of times after putting on the contacts before I put on my sunglasses, adjusting them upon my nose bridge.

Man, I feel like a rebel.

I froze when my Appa’s voice was heard from the other side of the room, accompanied with some knocking. The window was opened widely and I had my knee on the windowsill, one hand on the wall.

“Mi-ja…?”

I eyed the closed bedroom door and watched as he tried to open it but to no avail since I’ve locked it. I heard him sigh from the door and a soft thud. I could imagine him leaning his head on my door. Though it’s faint, I could hear his soft breathing.

“If you’re still in there—I know you’re probably not listening to me anymore but I just wanted to say…I’m sorry. I suppose that was a valid reason for you to get worked up over such a topic. I know you loved your mother very much – I loved her as much as you do and I was just as devastated as you were when I heard the news of her death,” he told me, taking an intake of air before continuing, “I’m really sorry. I never meant to raise my voice at you and I never wanted you to hate me. It hurts me too much to see my little girl who had loved me all-year-round to suddenly hate me. I’m so, so sorry…”

I bit my bottom lip, my heart compressing at his heartfelt words as I swung my leg over the window, my hand reaching out for the branch. He wasn’t incorrect there – I’ve always loved him, but not as much as I do for my mother. I loved them both equally, dearly and tenderly to my heart.

To be honest, I was a bit stunned when I realized what I’ve said to him. In my first nineteen years, I’ve deliberately told him that I hate him. It was the rush of adrenaline and my anger that caused me to say and do the most reckless things.

Sometimes, I blame my anger for everything.

It got me into trouble with SHINee and I got into a fight with them; it got me into nearly killing Su-Min by my bloody punches and as a result, got suspended from university; and now, I say things to my adoring parent and hurt him without meaning to.

I must be mental—maybe I should really go to the doctor and live in an asylum for the rest of my life.

I held onto it and doing so, I decided to answer him as I picked up my bag and dropped it from the height. I thanked the Lord for soft grasses and the piled up snow to break its fall.

“I’m sorry too, Appa…”

I heard a loud gasp. “Mi-ja…? Are you…?”

“Ne, I forgive you. But…just…just give me more time. I need to sleep it off and maybe until tomorrow, that Christmas; I might be in a good mood then.”

I could hear a smile in his laugh. I smiled back as I secured myself onto the large log of a tree. “Gamsahabnida, Mi-ja…”

I didn’t answer him back as I climbed my way down. Luckily, I didn’t step onto any weak branches as I went downwards. I let out a soft grunt as I jumped down, crouching on the grass before standing up fully, brushing off the dirt off my shoulder and holding my bag in my hand. I’ll have to climb my way back up since I locked the door from inside.

I looked up from the ground and smiled.

“You're welcome, Appa,” I said to myself before I ran off, going away from the large mansion behind me.

I walked about town, going through the busy streets like it’s a piece of cake. I had my hands in my pockets then, glaring at those who stared at me behind my dark sunglasses. I breathed out heavily, the thin miasma looking large as I walked in the snowy sidewalk. I dug my hands into the pockets of my coat and avoided eye contact with anybody that looked at me, only glancing at them behind the black lens.

Geez, even the public stares at me – and all because I look different. Thank god for sunglasses or they would have been offended by my glares.

I stopped by a jewelry store, staring out at the display window. I looked at them, a small smile on my face when I saw all of the creative, beautiful jewelries that I could have bought but can’t. They all look so beautiful and it’s quite hard to not like it. I walked by, disregarding the thought.

I didn’t want to buy something so expensive that will cause burden to SHINee. I didn’t want them to be burdened of the fact that they have to buy me something so expensive if I do that.

Geez, I think I need to have my daily cup of hot milk tea and a slice of cake. Is there a nearest café around this area? I looked around, spinning on my heels as I turned, spotting a nearby nice-looking café.

—Sweet Baozi Café.

I snickered at the name. It’s just so cute, I couldn’t help myself. It’s really a cute name—I’ll applause the person who had the guts to name his or her own café like that.

I decided to pay it a visit – it wouldn’t hurt to give it a rating, would it?

As I neared, I peered through the window, staring at the cakes on display. They look really delicious and fun to eat. I giggled at the cute rabbit-shaped cake that had a red ribbon on its neck. The place was decorated for Christmas, obviously, as I saw a medium-sized Christmas tree placed near the counter. I decided to go in and order something from there.

As I pushed the door open, there was a small jingle. I looked up to see bells. I smiled a little and looked around the large space. It wasn’t too full, but it wasn’t too empty either. It felt…just right.

“Annyeonghaseyo,” a male voice called me out. I looked to see a cute, small figure of a man, grinning at me from behind the counter. He looked really cheeky, like a little squirrel, and his smile was adorably cute. He had the chubbiest cheeks and I felt inclined to reach out and touch them, but resisted the urge to. I smiled back and bowed slightly to him, taking off my sunglasses.

“Annyeonghaseyo…” I responded back, a smile on my face. He seemed like a really nice person and has a fun presence to be around with. “I don’t suppose you serve coffee here?”

He nodded and began punching in the codes on the cashier. “Of course we do! It’s not a café for a reason!” I giggled at his statement, agreeing with him silently. “What do you want, ma’am?”

“Uhm,” I hummed out as I looked up, staring at the menu. “Could I have café mocha?”

“Is that all?” He asked me, his eyebrows rising. If I could, I would have squished his chubby cheeks. I looked down and saw the display of cakes. I stared at one that caught my eye, the redness of the cake and the white icing.

“I would also like a slice of…” I peered to look at the label before smiling at the male. “Red velvet cake, please.”

He smiled and nodded as he went to do his job. I tapped my fingers on the counter, watching him do his work with the coffee. I stared in awe at his skills as he got my coffee in the correct order, swiftly but smoothly.

I couldn’t speak until he set the coffee cup onto the counter and bent down to get my piece of cake before packing them into a bag. I hardly noticed that he told me how much they were before I snapped out of my trance, blushing as I fumbled for my wallet in my bag. “Y-You’re really good,” I told him after paying him the cash and taking the coffee in one hand whilst having the bag in the other. “In making coffee, I mean.”

He shook his head. “Nah, I’m just mediocre at it—nothing special, really.” He smiled at me once again. “Have a nice day—and Merry Christmas!” I bowed to him, smiling and giving him the same greeting. But when I turned around, I wasn’t expecting to see her so soon.

“Sora…?”

I came face to face with Min-Ae, her eyes wide as she stared at me.

Not feeling surprised by her sudden appearances anymore, I smiled back.

“It has been a while, Park Min-Ae.”

“It has been so long, Sora!” Min-Ae smiled as she sat at the table across from me. We were still in the café, and I was just sipping on my coffee.

I hummed in agreement. “It sure has. I missed you, you know, but as usual, studying has become a lot harder than I thought. I had to do my essays – note the ‘s’.”

She giggled at this. “It must have been hard.”

“It has.”

She picked up her fork and took a piece out of my cake, which I’ve agreed to share with her. She ate it, chewing on it for the time being before speaking up again after swallowing, “What are you going to do for Christmas?”

I shrugged, pinching the blonde locks of the short wig I’m wearing. “I don’t know, actually. I wanted to find some things for some friends of mine, but it’s hard now. I don’t want to burden them by giving them something expensive or whatnots…”

She hummed, not saying anything to me for a while as she stared at me, examining my appearance for a while.

My eyes averted down, feeling a bit uneasy with her staring – which was not usual of her.

I felt scared. I wanted to tell her the truth, but I couldn’t.

It was just too hard to do so.

I feel like I couldn’t breathe, for some odd reason… so I looked away from her staring eyes.

“I think…I think it’s time to cut the ‘Sora’ crap, Mi-ja.”

I looked up at her, my eyes wide in surprise. “H-How…?”

She smiled at me. “I’m not senseless. I actually knew from the third meeting when ‘Sora’ looked really similar to you and even smells like you, but I didn’t want you to find out that I already knew,” she paused before continuing, “At first, it was irrational when I first met you, because ‘Sora’ looked so much like you. But the more I hung out with my ‘make-believe’ friend, the more similarities I come across that bear a resemblance to you.” Then she heaved out a sigh as she took something out of her pocket. “As a matter of fact, I assumed when I discovered this in your room.”

I took the object from her hand. I gasped when I saw that it was the Polaroid snapshot – the one with me as a ‘blonde’ and Key on the day of their concert.

“I’m sorry – I really didn’t mean to meddle around your room that day, but that black bag…it concerned so much that I driven myself to scan into it. I didn’t want to make you distraught realizing that I invaded your chamber and stole something from it.”

I bit my lower lip and hung my head low. “I’m sorry, Min-Ae…but it was all Kangdae’s idea, I swear! I never wanted to do this in the first place because I thought you wouldn’t approve.”

“I know—he told me after I found the photograph,” she informed me, causing my eyes widen even further. “And…I’m not mad at you – I’m nowhere near to being livid. I’m actually glad that ‘Sora’ was you instead. That means you know of my past then. I trust you more now since you’ve never spoke of it to anyone else.” She smiled and took another bite out of my cake. “Thanks for taking that risk – if you hadn’t encouraged me as ‘Sora’ to become myself, I wouldn’t be acting nice to you right now.”

I smiled at her. I’m glad that she wasn’t mad at me. I reached up, grasping onto the wig and tugging it off. My hair underneath had fell loose, bobbing upon my shoulders. “I’m pleased that I’m done with this masquerade. I felt like that I finally had enough of having a double identity.”

Min-Ae grinned as she watched me stuff the wig inside the bag and pulled out the two phones. “And I suppose I wouldn’t need this one anymore,” I shook the black Samsung phone in my hand as I began to transfer Min-Ae’s contact onto the white Samsung Galaxy smartphone before clearing out its memory and putting away the black smartphone into my bag.

“What are you going to do with the other phone? Surely you can’t be possibly thinking of tossing it away,” asked Min-Ae, her eyebrows rising in horror.

I shook my head, disliking the idea. “No way…! I’m not throwing away something expensive like that!” I paused for a moment, thinking for a while before shrugging. “I don’t know what I’ll do with it but I’ll hold onto it until then.”

She nodded as we ate the cake in silence, what with me taking sips out of my now lukewarm coffee. I saw Min-Ae take out her phone and looked at whatever message she got before glancing at me. I let out a sigh.

“Alright, quit the waiting and hit me,” I said, feeling a bit restless.

“It’s just an update on SHINee, that’s all. Min told me that they are now in their arena concert in Seoul. You know ‘SM The Wizard’ Concert?”

I nodded my head in awareness, recollecting Minho’s recapping voice that they will be away for some time somewhere this week.

“They are performing that today.”

I hummed, in spite of the fact that I despised the circumstance that they possibly will not be able to come for Christmas tomorrow.

“Have you purchased something for them?” Min-Ae asked me. I shook my head, pouting slightly at her.

“I’ve thought of some things that I could conceivably bargain for them, but I don’t know what to give to whom...” I mumbled out. Min-Ae only smiled at me.

“You’re fortunate you have a step-sister who is a committed Shawol,” she stated, giggling. “Would it make you feel better if I went with you and support you with the gift shopping?”

I bobbed my head, a contented grin on my face. The brunette chuckled at my reaction.

“Inane modest doe,” she shook her head in astonishment. “They were right—you are endearing indeed.”

We were out shopping for gifts at that time. We were in a jewelry shop (or, er, crafts shop as they were handmade one as well), which Min-Ae found to have caught her eye when we were walking in town. I didn’t want to buy anything overmuch luxurious but I’ve had considered on giving them such things like bracelets or maybe a necklace—something that will prompt them of me whenever they go out onto comebacks or when they go overseas.

Not—not that I want them to miss me or anything… ha-ha…

Ahem.

I walked around, my eyes glued onto the glass counters revealing the beautiful accessories inside them. Even pendants and gems were in there and there were many variations that could possibly match not only my characteristics, but match SHINee’s individuality as well, hence conjoining me and them as the ‘one and only’.

I just didn’t want the fanatics to be exceedingly skeptical when the newest additions finally came into light and they would be all over the news, seen with the unknown jewelries that they constantly wear (no matter what they wear or where they go) every day—which I know they would since…well…they adore me…extravagantly.

Yes. Yes, you heard me right. Extravagantly—I’m using ‘big words’, of course I am. I’m in university, what do you expect? If you don’t know what that means, here’s a definition:

ex∙trav∙a∙gant ^{/ik’stravǝgǝnt/}: adj. lacking restraint in spending money or using resources.

derivatives: ex∙trav∙a∙gant∙ly adv.

origin: late Middle English (in the sense ‘unusual, abnormal; unsuitable’): from Medieval Latin extravagant- ‘diverging greatly’, from the verb extravagari, from Latin extra-‘outside’ + vagari ‘wander’.

Or, in other words, if you’re a simpleminded individual and are just too much of a birdbrain to even comprehend the definition, here’s a much straightforward one:

Definition: It’s too much.

There, was that so problematical? Listen, all I'm saying is that I need to give them something that looks SHINee-esque and Mija-esque at the same time so their supporters wouldn't even become aware of the accessory as it blends in with them.

I shook my head out of my mental teaching and resumed viewing the jewelries. Min-Ae was off on the other side, also helping me as well. With her efficient knowledge of SHINee’s colors and my personality, she might just be able to come up with an accessory that matched us all as a united.

And if that doesn’t happen as expected…then…God knows what’ll forbid.

“Min-Ae, I don’t think SHINee would be contented if I bought something expensive – I feel like it’ll just burden them instead!” I cried out in uneasiness, not supporting the fact that they may have to repay me oodles—and all because of necklaces or bracelets or—whatever!

“Mi-ja, it's not expensive if you chose something from your heart! They would know how much this meant to you since you were the one who chose it,” she paused for a minute before ending her sentence, “however, you do realize that it doesn’t always have to be something they wear, right? It could be a charm for their bags or their phones—you know that, right?”

There was no answer, but I didn’t answer her, too absorbed on something else.

“Right, Mi-ja…?” She prompted me, then looking at me and she turned around with knitted eyebrows when she got no answer the second time. “Ah, answer me when I ask you something, geez! What are you—” she trailed off when she saw what I saw.

“O-oh,” she breathed out in amazement at the sight.

It was a beautiful star necklace that looked mesmerizing to the eye. Almost as if it’ll bewitches you at first glimpse, just as it did to us. There were gemstones and charms amongst them – it’s like somebody has personalized the design themselves. The custom-made looked much more stunning than the exclusive one – especially when it’s personalized by the person themselves.

“Do you like them, miss?”

A voice made me force my gaze away from the beauty and focused them upon the person. My eyes widen slightly when I recognized the female. Min-Ae was first to call out her name.

“Song Sungshin?”

She grinned at me, her eyes forming crescents as she looked at me with a hint of familiarity. “Ah, Park Min-Ae and…Baek Mi-ja-ssi, am I right?” She eyed me a little closely before gasping in awe. “Wah, I didn’t know you have blue eyes! That is so cool! Were you wearing brown eye contacts the entire time?”

Eh? I blinked in confusion before looking at Min-Ae. She stifled her laughter and took out her mirror, handing it to me. I peered into it before mentally smacking my forehead for being stupid.

I was still wearing the pale blue coloured contacts.

Well, I thought, that would explain the stares I got when we went out of the café. I was wondering why the world still looked so clear to me…

“Aniyo—these are eye contacts. I left my glasses and forgotten my normal eye contacts, so these were the only one I had left in my bag,” I cleared up the misconception.

Sungshin hummed in realization before nodding her head as she spoke to me, “My bad. I thought you actually have blue eyes, since, well, your fluent English proves to me that you’re Korean-American.”

Min-Ae shook her head. “Sadly, brown eyes overpower all—and it’ll be rare to have a Korean with blue or green eyes. And if there was one, I’d love to be friends with her or him.”

“Hahaha, I’d love to be friends with them too!”

I rolled my eyes at the duo. They’ll make the perfect couple, I joked.

“Did you make all of them yourself?” I asked, pointing at the star necklaces.

She glanced at them and shook her head. “Only one of them, of course, but they are customized by the customers who came here.” Then she hummed softly with a warm smile on her face. “If you’d like, I could let you make your own for Christmas tomorrow? It’s cheaper that way, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I thought about it for a minute or two, but staring at the star pendants, I smiled and nodded my head, agreeing with the decision. “Sure, I would like that.”

After I said that, we were taken into a small corner with a large table. It is still a craft shop nevertheless, so it’s not like I didn’t expect it to be there. Min-Ae and I sat down at it and Sungshin left us to give us some charms that were used in the necklaces that I saw in the display counter.

“I’m surprised to see her working in this shop – how was I to know that she owns this shop?”

I nodded in agreement. “I know—and all by herself too? I wonder how she found time to do ballet for the Talent Showdown. I’m impressed – I don’t think I could handle managing a shop by myself at once.”

“Ballet is my profession.”

We were equally alarmed to hear her voice that appeared out of nowhere. She giggled at our reaction and set down the boxes that contained many varieties of charms. “Mianhae, but I couldn’t help but intrude. Yes, it’s hard managing the shop alone but I wasn’t the one who started it. There was a lovely man who hired me to be his assistant. But soon enough, when I had more responsibility, it was automatically passed onto me.”

Min-Ae hummed in understanding. “Where is this ‘man’?”

“He died of cancer.”

“Oh.”

I bit my bottom lip. Death has never been an easy topic for me – especially when it’s about someone who’s close to them.

Sungshin shook her head as she arranged them onto the table. “He was my uncle.”

“O-Oh, I’m sorry to hear,” Min-Ae bit her bottom lip before eying me to the side. I smiled weakly but I still couldn’t let that stop bothering me.

Sungshin beamed at us beforehand giving us guidelines. “You need to have one large initial charm of your choice and choose two small initial charms. If you wish to add a third, you may do so or add a gemstone charm in whatever colour.” She directed at each charms in order as she instructed us.

“You are free to make it either a necklace, or a bracelet. Possibly a charm for your phone or your bag would work as well.” She paused transitorily before smiling. “Mian, for invading, but…are you…making it for a friend?”

I don’t know why, but my face burned red when I heard her emphasize the word ‘friend’. Min-Ae was about to answer, but I quickly slapped my palm upon , answering her question instead. “Yeah, you could say that.”

She hummed satisfyingly before leaving us alone. I didn’t want her to overthink too much if I told her who I was making them for.

I released my hand from Min-Ae’s mouth. She began to whine as soon as I did.

“Oh, I think you just smeared my makeup!” Min-Ae rubbed her lips together, abruptly pulling out her mirror and making sure that it wasn’t too badly damaged. I looked my hand.

Evidently, as I checked, there was a bright red lip stain planted upon the palm of my hand. I grimaced at this before wiping it off upon the wooden table, the stain faintly there on the inanimate furniture. “Oh, quit your whining—you ain’t dating anyone anyway.”

Min-Ae pouted playfully. “You’re such a babo meanie.”

“Thank you, I intend to stay that way,” I said sarcastically in a more teasing manner, rolling my eyes. “Now can we get to work on making these for them?”

“Ara, ara,” she mumbled to herself. “What should we use for the large one?”

“Hmm…” I trailed off temporarily before smiling. “Obviously it’s SHINee, so we would have to use the star.” I stared at the large outline stars that were piled into a small box. “Three silvers and two golden stars would work – just to be safe. I don’t know if any of the members are allergic to silver or gold.”

We took them out as ordered – three silvers and two golden.

“Now we have to think who would wear them as what,” Min-Ae told me. “Taemin and Minho doesn’t seem like the necklace type of person. Onew hardly wear any accessories and Key and Jonghyun wear like, 10 stone of them.”

I snorted at the comparison of Key and Jonghyun wearing accessories like they were 10 stone. I have to say, they wear increasingly a lot of bracelets and rings nowadays. I see Key all the time with necklaces and I see Jonghyun all the type with wrist bracelets and rings. I realized something and shook my head. “Aniya, Key doesn’t wear many necklaces anymore.”

“Jinjja…?”

“Yeah, remember those times he had onstage with them on?”

Min-Ae snorted. “Oh yeah, I remember—wardrobe malfunctioning. Those were not good times for him. Poor Kibum…was getting hit in the face by his own accessories his punishment for being fashionable?”

“Sometimes I wonder if the accessories were not real—the ones made by SM, I mean,” I said as I picked out the small initial charms. I gave the three silvers outline stars to Min-Ae and kept the two golden larger stars with me. “They should have made money on one that is already made than to make it look like it’s expensive when it’s actually cheap after malfunctioning on them. I mean, the amount of accessories lost after throwing them away or being broken by itself too easily.”

“Honestly, they should have, but I like his recent style now. He’s all cute ties and hats now,” she giggled. Deciding to change the topic, she asked me as she slid the star onto the small chain. “What are you making those two stars for?”

I stared at the current one I’m making in hand and answered, “I’m making one for—oh, and make sure there’s an ‘M’ in each one—this is for a bracelet for—yes, Min-Ae, the small initial charms – the stars kind—these will be for Taemin and Onew.”

She hummed as she put in a small star that had the initial ‘M’, watching it slide down next to the large star. I picked up a crystal clear large gemstone charm and looped the thin, golden chain through the hole, connecting them together.

“Mi-ja…” she stopped for a time before questioning boldly, “Who do you like out of SHINee?”

I stopped what I was doing and looked at her with wide eyes. “W-Why do you want to know?”

“Mollayo,” she shrugged her shoulders at my answer, not focused on me as she did her work. I assumed that she’s making a bracelet for Minho since there was two small initial ‘M’ in the shape of a star. And Minho’s color was red, so there was a large ruby gemstone charm next to the silver outlined star charm. “Just… there has to be someone you like, you know? Plus,” she stated as she glanced at me. “SHINee seems to really like you too. It’s so rare, having an idol to actually like you. It’s not every day when a fantasy you’ve dreamt comes true.”

I looked down at my work. One large golden outlined star, a small shaped star that has the initial ‘M’ and a clear crystal large gemstone charm. I bit my lower lip when I noted that I put in a heart shaped initial charm, the letter ‘T’ shining underneath the lights. I quietly linked the locks together of the chain and eyed the bracelet in such a heartfelt behaviour.

“…I don’t know.” I answered. “I would like to know myself too. It’s like I can’t remember myself on who I like, really.”

“Hm…well…can you tell me who you have gained interest so far?”

I put away the bracelet and began to work on Onew’s. “Minho,” I noted. “Key and…” I clamped my lips shut.

“And…?” Min-Ae prompted me. I shrugged her off and shook my head in refusal to say anymore.

“Ani, I’m not telling you the last person.”

Min-Ae put down the new silver chain on the table—possibly a necklace for Jonghyun since the chain look a bit longer than the rest—and pouted. “Ah, wae~ I want to know!”

I sealed my lips tight and thought of how I will do Onew’s since he hardly wear any accessories. I heard my step-sister huff besides me and mumbled to myself. I smirked and took the chance to ask the same question to her. “How about you, then—who do you like in SHINee?”

“—Minho.”

“O-Oh…”

That was unpredicted.

Then I whined and slapped her arm playfully when I heard her let out a snicker. “Yah!—what was that for?!”

“You could have seen your face—it was hilarious! You look dejected!” She giggled, sliding down a deep blue gemstone charm. She was nearly done. “But I’m a noona. So except for Onew and Jonghyun, I’m a noona. I’m not falling for Onew because he’s too gentle and he deserves a woman that is more…honest with him. Jonghyun—well, that dino got Min anyway.”

“Wait—how did you know that he likes Min?”

She rolled her eyes, dropping her hands to the table as she stopped her work for a second. “Haven’t you seen him? He’s too obvious! Only Min cannot see that because she’s too busy being jealous.”

Well, I thought with an acknowledging nod. That is true…

“So…you don’t like any of them at the moment?”

“You could say that.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, who continued to work onto Key’s next, Jonghyun’s being finished quickly. If she was that good at concealing her feelings for me when she used her façade, I wonder how skilled she is at hiding her feelings for somebody she likes…

I want to figure her out more.

And that goes the same to SHINee as well.

“I have them put them separately into five boxes so you would be able to tell which one is for whom before you wrap them up. But wah~ they were made beautifully!”

I stared at the open boxes, the lids sitting next to them as they sat on the counter. Three silvers and two golden—two silver necklaces for Key and Jonghyun, one silver bracelet for Minho and one golden one for Taemin. The last accessory was for Onew—it was a golden charm for his bag, so he would be able to hang it onto the one of the zippers or something like that since he’s not really known for having accessories on him.

Hey, there’s the difference between wearing accessories onstage and wearing them offstage, such as in airports and in your everyday wear.

I chose the Merry Christmas cards and began to write a simple Christmas greeting and how I’ve missed them. When I went onto writing a card for Taemin, Min-Ae slapped a card in front of me, grinning like a jester. I raised my eyebrow at this before let out a sigh as I wrote what she wanted me to write after suffering a lot of pleading.

When it came to the ending, Min-Ae suddenly butted in, interrupting my train of thoughts.

“Saranghae, Taemin-oppa…”

Saranghae, Taemin-oppa—I snapped out of my thoughts and I saw what I’ve just written for the last line before screeching at Min-Ae, throwing the ‘I Love You This Much’ card away at the laughing brunette. Sungshin giggled, enjoying the sight as well.

“Are you on crack!? I’m not giving that kind of card to him!”

“Oh, c’mon~ he wouldn’t mind it!”

“He would mind it!” Being that erted little maknae, what if he’ll do something to me if I hadn’t noticed that I wrote such…such a confession!?

I bit my lower lip, my cheeks blushing red. Although…is it true? I shook my head. No, there’s still Key to deal with. And until Minho stop being so sweet, I doubt my feelings will finally be clear to me.

I grabbed the new ‘Merry Christmas’ card and written down what I wanted to say, wishing him a Merry Christmas before tucking it into the box with his gift in it. I labelled each lid with their names on them and the ribbons matched exactly the color on the gemstones. Except for Taemin’s gemstone, the order went like this:

• Green Ribbon = Onew
• Blue Ribbon = Jonghyun
• Pink Ribbon = Key
• Red Ribbon = Minho
• Yellow Ribbon = Taemin

“Alright, I guess that’s that!”

“Unnie, I suggest that you give them a toy, alright? I think just giving them these gifts would be boring,” Sungshin suggested with a sincere smile on her face. She knew it was SHINee, but I was grateful when she didn’t push too much onto the topic. I snapped my fingers in astonishment.

“I knew I was forgetting something! I saw the perfect one for them. I’ll be right back!”

I ran off and searching for the corner I once found with the dolls. I looked around the area, examining for the toys, but as I did, I caught eyes with a male wearing sunglasses outside the display glass. He waved at me. I blinked twice in bewilderment before shyly waving back at him. He took off his sunglasses and smiled.

My eyes widened.

Kai…?

He looked like he was called as he looked to his left before looking back at me and smiled. He put back on his sunglasses and walked off, going his own way. I hastily walked up the glass and looked down the direction where he had once left, seeing his retreating figure, surrounded by men. I furrowed my eyebrows at this sudden encounter.

In fact, I found it rather strange. He hardly had ever called me since the last time we’ve met, so I didn’t know if he had gone back to America or is staying here.

Seeing him here now answered my question, but the reason for his long disappearance perplexed me.

Why was he gone for so long?

Shaking my head, I focused onto finding the large, cuddly brown teddy bear. I smiled when I found it there, sitting immobile with a cute red bow tie. I carried it into my arms and went back to the counter. I raised my eyebrow at the girls who were grinning at me like crazy, the gifts ready and wrapped.

“Okay, you guys are officially freaking me out,” I deadpanned when I saw their smiling faces.

Min-Ae shook her head. “Nah, we’re just happy for Christmas. By the way, I’ve paid for them already. You go ahead and pay for the bear.”

My eyes widened at the statement. “You what…? Min-Ae, why did you pay for them all alone? We could have paid for them together!”

“Well, did you sneak out of the house?”

“…”

“I thought so. I rather take the blame for losing so much money onto gifts than to have your father find out that you were out on the road instead of sleeping in your room for…” she checked her watch. “Two and a half hours.”

I let out a sigh and set the large teddy bear onto the counter before taking out my wallet. “How much is it?”

Sungshin smiled as she stood behind the cashier. “50,000 ₩, thank you very much,” she told me. I paid the amount, using my credit card before putting them away into my bag and carrying the teddy bear into my arm.

“Have a nice day,” Min-Ae chimed, carrying the bags in hand. I mumbled back the same response as we went out the shop. Our footsteps were a bit hurried as we rushed to get back home on time.

Min-Ae’s POV

“You really need to get yourself a car, Mi-ja,” I noted as I parked my car into the garage. She shook my head in disapproval.

“And what, have everyone in the university diss me more? I prefer to be a bad- with a motorcycle than a with a fancy-looking Mercedes.”

“Hey.”

“Oops, I mean—sorry,” she mumbled out, her cheeks red in embarrassment. I rolled my eyes in amusement. I took the teddy bear from her arms as we stopped out into the front. I motioned her to the tree that was in front of her window. She noticed and ran over, clutching tightly to her bag. Knowing her, she would have locked her bedroom door from inside, so she has to climb back up.

Slinging the bag onto my elbow, with my efforts, I took my keys and unlocked the door. I slightly kicked it open and yelled out, “I’m home!”

“Oh, nice to see you’re—whoa! That’s a lot of stuff! Please don’t tell me they’re clothes again,” Kangdae just came out from the living room and saw me peering out. “…What are you doing? Get out from the cold!”

I was a bit startled; my cheeks flushed red in embarrassment as I made small steps to getting inside. I secretly watched as Mi-ja climbed up the tree before fully entering the house. “Oh, nothing, just… I thought I saw a bird.”

I closed the door behind me and put down the bags and the toy near the coat rack. “Where’s Father?”

“He just left a while ago. Mom also left—some company called for modelling.”

I hummed softly. There was a loud crash and a harsh, feminine cry from upstairs. My eyes widened when Kangdae looked up in shock.

“Mi-ja…?”

He made his way upstairs but I was faster, standing in front of him. He stared at me. “Park Min-Ae, this isn’t funny.”

“I know it isn’t! She’s fine, you must have been mistaken it for her basketball.”

“Min-Ae—she cried. I have to go and see what’s up,” he told me sternly, swiftly going underneath my arm and running up the stairs.

I ran after him, my heart thudding in fear. “Aniyo, you can’t!”

I was practically chasing him. He was near her bedroom door before I grabbed his arm. Kangdae looked at me as if I had gone mad. “Min-Ae, let go! I have to see if Mi-ja’s okay!”

“And I’m telling you that she is!”

“How would you know?”

“I just do!”

“That doesn’t make any sense – do you have any proof?”

“Er…well…”

Kangdae smiled and shook his arm out of my grasp. “Then I’m going to kick down the door whether it’s locked or not.”

“Are you insane!?”

“If by insane you mean ‘checking to see if my step-sister is alright’ insane, then yes, I’m insane.”

“Aish, you two are annoying. Does arguing in front of my bedroom seems to be more comfortable for you?”

We looked to see Mi-ja wearing her usual indoor clothes – pajamas. Her reddish brown hair was in a mess and her face was just washed up too. She no longer had her contacts on and wore glasses. She was rubbing her forehead as I could see a bit of swelling on the skin.

Kangdae gazed at her for a moment before asking hesitantly, “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not. Thanks to you two arguing in front of my door, you guys woke me up and I fell onto my forehead!” Mi-ja screeched. Even though I was giving her time to change, I can’t help but feel responsible as I murmured an apology. However, I smiled a little when I caught her wink.

“Mianhae, I didn’t know…”

She waved him off. “Just go. I want to have my chocolate Swiss roll before I go back into my room.”

He nodded, smiling at her before leaving us alone, going downstairs. She switched out of her acting mode and let out a pained sigh, holding her forehead. I smacked my palm onto my face. “Wow, what did you fell on?”

“My computer…” she whined. Strangely enough, I could see the keyboard prints engraved onto her forehead. “Where did you put the bags?”

I nodded my head downstairs. “They’re near the coat rack, downstairs. You can’t miss it – really.”

She giggled at my response before hugging me tightly, whispering a thank you in my ear. Then she pulled away and went downstairs as well. I smiled and began to make a few steps to the stairs, when my phone rang in my pocket. I took it out and saw that it was Min. Confused, I answered the phone.

“Yeoboseyo…?”

“…”

“Mwo—”

“…”

“Yah, this is—!”

“…”

“—you can’t just—”

“…”

“No, not that I think it’s bad, but what I mean is—”

“…”

“But—”

“…”

“Min—”

“…”

“Aish!”

I let out a bothered sigh, pinching my nose bridge. Ah, jeongmal… God, please control this woman.

“At least it’s set on Christmas…”

“…”

“Afternoon…not too sure, but I think we’ll manage.”

“…”

“Seriously, Min, you need to ask permission! You can’t just randomly put them into situations like that!”

“…”

“…And did they approve?”

“…”

I sighed again.

“I swear Min; you will be the death of Mi-ja.”

“…”

“—Yes, I do mean it.”

“…”

“Jonghyun, what are you—put your lover back on call or I’ll cut your balls off. …And no, you guys are not doing such thing.”

I rolled my eyes at Min’s obnoxious reaction.

“You’re telling me.”

I let out a laugh, my heart feeling fluttery. Then my eyes widen at the sudden answer.

“Are you…?”

“…”

My cheeks flushed red. I smiled at the response.

“…Gomawo. I’m sorry for everything.”

“…”

“—No, really, I am.”

Then I sighed again.

“But are you sure you’re willing to do this? What if they get motion sickness or something?”

“…”

“…This is why I don’t trust you too easily. You always go to the extremes—always.”

“…”

“I know Taemin doesn’t mind. We know how he is.”

I chuckled at the background noises in the phone and Min yelling at them to ‘shut the up!’ before everything went quiet.

“Aish, just make sure nobody gets hurt in the end, arraseo?”

Min snorted in my ear.

“Arraseo, my bossy baby—your wish is my command.”

“Aish…this girl,” I glared at the phone screen before pressing it up into my ear. “Like I said, you are going to be the death of Mi-ja when she finds out.”

“Don’t worry. She’ll enjoy it for sure.”

“…You’re creepy and erted. What did I see in you?”

“You saw a friend in me.”

I smiled. I couldn’t say anything to that.

“Merry Christmas,” I bid adieu.

“Merry Christmas, Minnie~”

I ended the call first, eyeing my phone screen before sighing in exasperation.

Really, the things she does nowadays…

IT'S CHRISTMAS, IT'S CHRISTMAS, IT'S CHRISTMAS -- OK, i'll stop. It's not literally Christmas, but it's still Christmas! Now, if I could just rewind back to year 2013 and posted this on Christmas. Oh well, nothing I can do since I'm too slow.

Sneaky Min is up to something for Christmas and it seems like SHINee is involved too -- is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

And no, Mi-ja still doesn't know of EXO yet, hence the fact why she's so confused of Kai's (and Tao's) disappearance. She can't know EXO thru internet because she's just so damn busy all the time and she hardly visit SM so there's like no possible way of knowing. It's like they want to keep it a secret from her. Oooh, Mi-ja's going to be displeased.

Anyways, until next chapter, please give me your coments! It would make my day! c: