25 more days till Christmas and he still doesn’t know what to surprise Victoria with... he literally can’t think of anything more frustrating than this right now. He’s usually so good at thinking of events, but with all the last minute schedules before returning back to Korea, it was hard to devote his attention considering he spent every waking minute on some show. The boys tried to help but so far, the best idea was Junho’s winking idea… that’s how bad the other suggestions were.

            -

            19 days till Christmas… still nothing. The only thing that he could pass for as a “Christmas gift” was a pair of sneakers he got from Fred Perry. They came in a pair, his being navy with white polka dots and hers being red with white polka dots. That wasn’t even much of a thoughtful gift, considering she had mentioned wanting new sneakers after she lost her favorite pair at KBS after filming. He looked at the pile of stuff he had bought her whenever they had a spare moment to venture around Japan. He had gotten her a new matte black Polaroid camera since hers was so old, but that was even further away from thoughtful than the sneakers. He looked at the two Tiffany & Co. charms he bought – both limited edition from Japan – a rose gold sakura flower to symbolize motivation and silver origami crane for good luck. They’d look perfect on her heart bracelet, he thought, but those aren’t festive at all. Back to the thinking bench, he sighed.

            -

            10 days till Christmas. Still nothing. He had began to write a card, but ran out of cute things to say after “Dear Victoria… Merry Christmas!” His busy schedule definitely took a toll on his romanticism.

            -

            Christmas eve. For the past month, they’ve only been able to talk through text, sending pictures of snowfall or where they were, but never had the chance to sit down and enjoy a long conversation. Victoria had texted him on multiple occasions that “It’s okay that you’re busy! You don’t have to reply me all the time!” She knew Nichkhun would go nuts trying to find a way to surprise her, but the greatest gift to her would be his return for Christmas, and she knew that there was no way that was happening. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed by the fact that they couldn’t spend Christmas together, but she was glad that she at least had a boyfriend to say Merry Christmas to. She really didn’t expect anything from him, considering how busy they were. She’d be lucky to get a text on Christmas day! She sighed, checking her phone for one last time. Girls, she thought, are so complicated. She was the one who texted him “It’s okay not to reply!” but here she is now, 46 hours from the last time she heard from him, checking her phone frantically. She went back to practicing in hopes that by midnight Santa Claus might deliver a Christmas miracle.

            -

            Midnight, Christmas eve.

            Buzz buzz. Victoria’s phone vibrated on the floor. She lit up, seeing who the text was from.

            “Merry Christmas everyone!” she announced happily to f(x) and Super Junior who were practicing for tomorrow’s show.

            “Someone’s happy!” Eunhyuk pointed out. “Must be the hubby, huh? Aiiish I’m so jealous. But I’d just like to say; I played a wonderful role of cupid during We Got Married! I totally called the love spark between you guys!”

            “Hyung, the only thing you did was make things awkward!” Kyuhyun pointed out.

            “Yah, do you want to die! Since when did you start talking to your hyungs like that?!” Eunhyuk  joked, putting Kyuhyun in a head lock.

            “Merry Christmas from Tokyo, love! I miss you lots and I only wish I could spend Christmas with you or at least see your face. I’m sorry I couldn’t think of any surprises for you this year, I know I’ve failed as a boyfriend. Please forgive me! I promise I’ll make it up to you! But, I wanted to show you something, just incase you haven’t seen it, in hopes that it’ll make you a little happy on this Christmas eve. I know you’re probably practicing and working hard! Hwaiting! I’m at a show so I couldn’t call you, but a text filled with love will do for now! <3”

A picture of a pouting Nichkhun and a picture of a winking Nichkhun appeared on Victoria’s phone. Below that a second message showed a link to a video. She had been monitoring 2PM shows in Japan, but it was hard to watch all of them considering the frequency they were on TV.

            -

Video of a talk show in Japan. (in Japanese; Korean subtitles (hooray for Hottest Translators!))

Host: “Nichkhun-ssi, I’m sure you know that your virtual message was the talk of the year this year! Now that it’s over, how do you feel?”

            Nichkhun: Well, it didn’t really feel virtual, to be honest. It’s weird, how two people can connect so quickly. Sometimes I’d think I was actually be married! I mean I’ve mentioned this in other shows before.

            Host: Yeah, there are lots of Khuntoria fans in the crowd right now too!

            (screams and cheers from studio audience)

            Host: Was Victoria-ssi the kind of wife you were hoping for? I mean, you did lots of surprises for her to capture her heart! It seemed like you worked really hard to impress her!

            Junho: Hyung really tried hard! He even asked us for help even though it made us all sad and jealous to be single!

            Nichkhun: I don’t think it was hard work trying to impress someone you love. It’s really rewarding to see her smile, even though I was hoping for her to be so touched that she’d cry.

            (laughs from studio audience)

            Host: Are you and Victoria-ssi still a couple now that the show is over?

            Nichkhun: She’ll always play an important role in my life. Sometimes I find myself driving back to our newly wed home after practice! It’s really weird haha. But for now, I’m going to focus on work. (Typical and safe idol thing to say.)

            Minjae let out the breath he was holding. Thank goodness Nichkhun was still sane enough to play by the rules. Who knows what would happen if he exposed the real Khuntoria business.

            Host: Ah, the typical idol response! I thought I’d get some information from you for sure this time Nichkhun-ssi! It’s a known fact that you’re romantic, so if you had a girlfriend, what would your surprise be for her this Christmas?

            Nichkhun: Well, this is the first Christmas I’ve spent away from Korea since our debut, so my only dates are my members and my managers and you guys as he points to the audience, causing a wave of screams from fan girls. But if I had a special someone winks at camera, causing more screams from fainting fans… I think the sweetest thing would be snuggling around a fire with a vanilla late, her favorite, and spending the night listening to Christmas music. We’d probably eat lots of samgyupsal too, with fresh lettuce, like the ones they had planted for their “hobbies” mission on We Got Married, mmmm! People often think of elaborate ways to celebrate holidays, but I mean, when you’re with the person you love, everyday should be a celebration. Why not deviate from other couples and just spend time together surrounded by each other’s love? We’re always so busy anyway, I’d be nice to have some quiet time away from the tabloids.”

            Host: Aigoo, I’m going to get my blankets set up now and we can cuddle by the fire after the show! You truly are a romantic man. If I were 10 years younger I’d kidnap you after the show for sure!” Laughter from the audience.

            Pan to self-recording by Nichkhun

“Hi babe! Did you see the video? I was thinking about you the entire time she asked about my love one. I know this isn’t some romantic gesture like you expected and it’s definitely nowhere close to something that’ll make you cry, but I really want to sit at home with you by the fire, and who knows what that’ll lead to, hehe. He wriggles his eyebrows. I know it being so far away, but only 11 more days till I get to see you! I just want you to know that I love you a lot, and even though you’re probably tired of just hearing it, I’m going to say it anyway. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to be so far, and if we could, I’d run away with you this instant. Merry Christmas, honey. Kisses the camera.

-

Victoria put down her phone and wiped the tear from her eyes. Was it being tired? Or was it simply because she missed seeing his face? For whatever reason it was, she couldn’t stop herself from crying. It wasn’t like she was sad, it was more like she was touched by how even though he was so busy, he prioritized her. He obviously tried so hard to think of something romantic, but even though he thought he “failed”, it was the most touch she’d been. It was nice to see him putting little details of their lives in his work, she loved how they had their own little secrets. It was then she realized that the little things had so much more weight than the big surprises. I mean, she wasn’t complaining abut dreamy Nichkhun serenading her on the piano, but it was nicer to know that she didn’t have to share him with anyone. She sent him a text back before going back to practice.

“Merry Christmas too, honey! Distance makes the heart grow fonder, remember? My heart is here, waiting for you to come home!” Since when did she become so cheesy? She thought to herself and smiled in embarrassment as she continued on. “Just wanted to know that you’ve successfully made me cry. I’m sitting on the floor of the studio crying like a pabo. I don’t know if it’s because I miss you extra lots since it’s Christmas or because I’m touched, but either way, you’ve succeeded! You haven’t failed as a boyfriend, in fact, this was way cuter than the piano playing! I still love how dreamy you are when you play piano though, so don’t think you can get away from serenading me when you’re back, hehe. I love you lots too and I hope the rest of your Christmas is good. I’ll try to not miss you too much. 11 more days! Can’t wait to sit with you by the fire and be cuddly!” She attached a picture of her kissing back before hitting send, unable to hide the fact that she had been crying. At least he can see proof that he succeeded, she thought, even though she though crying makes her eyes puffy and ugly.

-

Nichkhun looked at his phone and whispered “Asa! Success!” to himself. He loved how down to earth she was. If he had known it’d be this easy to impress her, he would have done it on the show just to make her cry!

Nichkhun sighed as he thought about her all the way back in Korea. 718 miles was so much further than he thought.

-

After New Years promotions finished, 2PM finally returned back to Korea. The boys have never been happier to be squished by Korean fans at the airport, and all they wanted to do was head home and catch up on sleep. Now that their schedules are all done till they have their comeback concept set, they’re pretty much free aside from variety shows here and there. It was nice to take a break, but more importantly, it was nice that their work schedules matched f(x)’s, who had just finished their comeback.

-

“Nichkhun, a PD wants to talk to you.” Minjae said, handing Nichkhun who was unpacking his cellphone.

“Yobseo PD-nim.” Nichkhun said politely, bowing out of habit even though the PD couldn’t see him.

“I was calling to see if you’d be interested in being a regular on...”