The song that inspired this one-shot would be My Grown-up Christmas List by Kelly Clarkson. To those who subscribed for Yongseo, I'm really sorry to keep you waiting. I hope you enjoy reading.

 

 

He examined the white square envelope he picked up from the pile of letters and documents that his father’s secretary stacked on his desk. It didn’t look like a business letter to him. More like…a greeting card. He frowned. Maybe it’s a Christmas card, given the time of the year. He sighed and opened the envelope. It wasn’t a greeting card. It was an invitation to a party in the orphanage where his father had been the largest benefactor of for years.

Jung Yonghwa smiled bitterly. “Does he ever go to this Christmas party?” he muttered to himself. Probably not. His father wouldn’t waste time in such trivial things. For as long as he could remember he doesn’t even have the time to attend in Yonghwa’s recitals. His parents never did, even just to show their support for him. They were hardly home. And on those rare occasions they barely talked to him.

He sighed and looked out through the glass doors, not really seeing the beautiful November scene outside. His thoughts ran along the fact that he was alone; had always been and will always be. His parents doesn’t give a d**n about him at all. When he was in middle and high school he rebelled. He’d get into trouble for a couple of times just to get his parents’ attention. But all his father did was to send his lawyer to bail him out. His parents never yelled at him, never called him a disgrace, never preached him about the consequences of his actions. They thought it was a normal stage that their son had to pass through, but they weren’t even there to personally deal with it. In the long run, as Yonghwa grew and matured, he figured out messing his life wouldn’t do him any good. He knew he couldn’t run away from who he is and what await him. He will be inheriting the multi-corporation his parents had spent so much time with someday. Despite being a budding successful entrepreneur now, though, he grew up cold, bitter and cynical. People just never cared about anything than money and love is an illusion for the clingy, dependent and weak. And he is never that. He had accepted a long time ago that he would never catch his parents’ attention no matter what. Maybe if he dies they would place him in a millions worth casket, dress him in fancy clothes, have an extravagant funeral and burial for him, and then go on making money. That was all they knew- make money and more money. They showered their only son all the material things, but never their attention or their love. Yonghwa grew up believing that was all people cared about. All those people around him- his nanny and all the servants in their household, care for him and protect him because they are paid to do so. They do what they do for money, and not because they cared for him or love him.

Even the girls he had intimate relationships with- they want him because of his money and not because they love him for him.

He sighed and tossed the invitation into the trash bin. He made a mental note to tell his father’s secretary later to send a check with a huge amount to the orphanage. He knew it was all they needed; they wouldn’t care whether someone from the Jung family shows up or not.

…………………………………..

Seo Hyun stared at the check their largest benefactor, Mr. Jung had sent. It was a big amount, and it was more than enough for their upcoming Christmas party on the 24^th of December. A huge smile lit her face. They could now buy all the things the children had put in their Christmas list. She couldn’t wait to see the happiness on their little faces once they receive their gifts. She grew excited with the thought. But first things first. She had to go and personally thank Mr. Jung for the money he had yet again spared for the orphanage. It had been a routine for her ever since she became a big sister to the orphanage. She would go to Mr. Jung’s office and personally thank him, bringing along a small gift for him. This time it would be no different. The elder had always been kind to all of them. He and his wife never missed a Christmas party the orphanage had ever held.

“Unnie, where are you going?” five-year old Jiyeon tugged at Seohyun’s long skirt as the older girl hurried out of the old building that housed eighty five kids excluding her and the other big brothers and sisters that take care of the children.

“I am going to Mr. Jung’s office to bring him a gift,” Seo Hyun answered, patting Jiyeon’s head.

“Can I come, too?”

Seo Hyun shook her head and smiled fondly at the girl. “You’re newly recovered from your fever and it’s really cold outside. I’ll take you with me next time, okay?”

Jiyeon nodded. “Okay. And then we’ll go around the park and you’ll buy me hotdogs and a balloon.”

Seo Hyun chuckled, ruffling the little girl’s hair. “Okay. Now go back to the playroom.”

She watched as the little girl ran down the hallway, her short hair bobbing up and down as she ran. Then she turned and continued on her way, thinking there’s so much to do that day and she should hurry. She made her way to the train station, her pace quick. She got to one of the tallest buildings in Seoul which is the J Corporation’s main office but not after she had helped an old lady down the stairs of the subway and standing on the train because she had to offer her seat to a pregnant woman.

“Good morning!” she said cheerfully to the receptionist while clutching the paper bag that contained her gift.

“Oh, it’s you, Seo Hyun-ssi, good morning to you too!” the receptionist bowed. “I know. You’re here to see President Jung, but he’s not here now.”

“Oh,” Seo Hyun’s face fell a little. She had been looking forward to seeing the kind man who had been like a father to them all. But she smiled again and placed the paper bag on the desk. “Then maybe you can just give this to him when he gets back? And tell him I came by to say thank you.”

“His son is the one running this company for the meantime, but he’s new, so Mr. Park is training him.  I am not sure if it’s Mr. Park or him who sent the check because President Jung was a bit unwell to take care of his affairs right now.”

Seo Hyun’s eyes widened. “Oh, my, what happened?”

The other woman shrugged. “He had a heart attack just last month,” she saw the alarm and worry in Seo Hyun’s face so she hastily added, “Don’t worry, Seo Hyun-ssi, they said he was already out of danger.”

“Which hospital is he in? Can I see him?”

The receptionist nodded. “I think so. He and Mrs. Jung would be delighted to see you, I think.”

Seo Hyun smiled and thanked the receptionist after she had been given the address to the hospital. She reached it in no time, and as soon as she had been informed which room the elder man was confined, she went directly to it, clutching her gift with her right hand.

She was about to knock when the door opened, revealing a young man. Seo Hyun realized right away his resemblance to Mrs. Jung, only he was male. He was handsome, but she didn’t go there to admire a man’s looks.

“Good morning,” she bowed to the man, whom she had already thought of as the younger Jung. “I’m Seo Hyun from the Little Star Orphanage and I’m here to see Mr. Jung.”

The man looked at her up and down, his gaze intense, but rather cold, and Seo Hyun grew uncomfortable. The smile on her face faltered as the man finally stopped his gaze on her face.

“What do you want?” he asked his voice hard. “Didn’t we already send you a huge amount of money? Isn’t that enough?”

Seo Hyun gasped. The man was rude! “I-I’m not here to ask for money…I’m here to visit him and…” she stuttered.

He smirked at her. “You shouldn’t have bothered…unless there’s something you still want. More money?” he shook his head. “My, you leeches don’t get satisfied, do you?”

She took a deep breath and even if she was hurt by his accusation, it didn’t show in her pretty face. “I didn’t come here to ask for money. I just want to know if Mr. Jung is well.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Why do you care?”

Her eyes widened. “Of course, I care. He had been nothing but kind to us and-”

“Oh, yeah, I understand. Of course, you’re afraid that something might happen to him and he won’t be able to send his donations anymore.”

Seo Hyun bowed her head and closed her eyes for a minute. She knew that whatever it is she would say she couldn’t change this man’s opinion of her. “Whatever you say. I still want to see him. May I?” she asked politely.

“He’s sleeping. He can’t be bothered.”

She bit her lip, then handed the man the paper bag she was holding. “Then, can you please give this to him? It’s a Christmas present from all of us at the orphanage.”

He took one look at the paper bag but didn’t accept it. “What is that?”

She smiled, completely forgetting the man’s arrogance. “Come on, don’t look at it like it’s poisonous or something. It’s just a harmless scarf.”

He raised an eyebrow again. “What would my father do with a scarf?”

She laughed. “He puts it around his neck so that he’ll be warm, silly!”

He didn’t laugh with her. “I know that Miss…”

“Seo Hyun.”

“Whatever,” he waved his hand in front of his face. Then he looked at the paper bag she had been holding out to him. “Really, you shouldn’t have bothered. He already has lots of scarves…and expensive ones, too. You just wasted the money that’s been given to you with this nonsense.”

Seo Hyun’s nose flared as soon as she heard his words, but she still managed to speak calmly. “The money I used for buying the yarn that I knitted this scarf with came from my own earnings. And I know that he already have lots of material things money can buy but this is a gift. This is invaluable because this comes from our hearts.”

He laughed mockingly at her. “Don’t make me laugh, Miss. Go back to where you came from and take your gift with you. My father has no need for it.”

She bit her lower lip as it trembled and tears began to form at the corners of her eyes. Her body shook with anger. This man is too much! He was rude, arrogant and he insulted her little gift. She knew it was inexpensive and it would be nothing compared to others, but she just wanted to give the kind old Jung something to remember them by.

“Fine, give it to me and I’ll give it to him,” he grabbed the bag. “Such a cry- baby.”

Seo Hyun gulped some air and took deep breaths to calm herself. She would never, ever stoop down to this guy’s level. “Thank you,” she said sincerely before turning and walking away.

………………………………………

 Yonghwa stood by the door of his father’s hospital room, gaping at the woman who just turned her heels and walked away from him. He knew he had been rude to her, but she was still polite and courteous. Well, she probably knew who he is and she was afraid that his father’s donations to the orphanage would stop altogether if she displeases the son. She was right not to cross him. At least she knew her place. Still, he couldn’t shake off the guilty feeling that rose in his heart as he remembered how the girl tried to calm herself and how she tried her best not to cry in front of him. Another feeling rose from his chest as he remembered how her cheeks reddened, how she smiled brightly, how her eyes sparkled as her tinkling laughter filled his ears. He shook his head. What is he thinking? She’s not even his type. His women are beautiful, sophisticated and y…model types. He doesn’t go for…but that girl could be really pretty once she is properly groomed and clothed. He shook his head again, trying to erase the thought from his mind.

He went inside his father’s room and put the paper bag the girl had handed him on the bed side table. His mother had gone out to have breakfast and despite her insistence that Yonghwa come with her, he declined.

He looked at his father’s sleeping form before heading out of the room and down the hallway. If he had a choice he would never want to visit his father, but Mr. Park insisted that they go to the hospital first before going about their appointments for the day. But minutes after they arrived, Mr. Park had left. Yonghwa would have left with him, but his mother begged him not to.  

Yonghwa’s heart constricted as he remembered how happy his father looked upon seeing him there. And his mother, too. Why? Is it because he was finally realizing that he has a son now that he is weak and incapable of handling his business at the moment?

His train of thoughts was interrupted as he saw a familiar figure near the parking lot. It was the girl from the orphanage, and it looked like she just came from the cafeteria near the hospital. She was holding a paper bag again, only this time it was smaller than the one which contained the gift she brought his father. She skipped toward one corner of the parking lot. Curious, Yonghwa slowly followed her. 

“Here you go,” she handed the paper bag to a beggar and the old man happily took it. He opened the paper bag and fished out a roll. As the man ate, the girl Seo Hyun talked to the man, her voice cheerful. She laughed one time at something the old man said and she looked so carefree and happy. How could she be happy, and how could she give to others when she barely had anything? Judging from the clothes she was wearing, he knew she’s not rich, but who knows? But then, what was puzzling Yonghwa was the fact that after she gave the man something to eat, she had stayed and talked to him, and she looked happy doing it. He had never seen anything like it before. All the girls he knew who are around her age care nothing but how they looked, the clothes and shoes they wear and how they could look even better. And Yonghwa had always thought women, especially her age are just like that. He never knew anyone like her.

He turned away from the scene, bothered.

………………………….

It was another thing that bothered Yonghwa. Mr. Park again insisted that he see the older Jung before he goes home. Mr. Park told him that his father isn’t feeling well and was looking for him.

He stared dumbfounded as his father looked at him, beaming, and he wore a scarf around his neck, which Yonghwa is sure was the gift Seo Hyun from the orphanage had brought.

“Isn’t the scarf lovely, son?” his mother said, the ordinary scarf. It was green, with tiny red poinsettias on both ends.

“I’m sure Seo Hyun knitted this one with her own hands,” his father said. “I wish she would visit again soon, and that I’d be awake that next time.”

Yonghwa felt a sudden flare of jealousy at the fondness he could hint on his parents’ voice as they talked about this Seo Hyun girl. They never cared about him, their own son, and yet they seemed too fond of this girl who is not their own. What is it in her that made her special?

“Son,” he heard his father say. Yonghwa turned to him, his expression cold.

“What?”

“Did the invitation to the Christmas party of the orphanage arrive yet?”

 He sighed and nodded. “Don’t tell me you will go there and attend.”

“I would if I can but you know that in my condition that I can’t. The party would still be on the 24^th, right? I was hoping you could go on our behalf,” his father answered.

Yonghwa’s eyes widened. “What? Uh, no, appa. I won’t.”

“But Yonghwa-yah, someone from our family should come. I couldn’t and your mother has to take care of me so she couldn’t…and it leaves us with no choice but to let you go.”

“And I said I won’t go,” he replied, his voice harsh.

…………………………………

Yonghwa got out of the car as soon as the driver opened the door to the backseat for him. He stared at the old, almost dilapidated building before him and sighed. In the end his parents had won out the argument with him.

“I don’t want to go and you can’t make me!” he almost yelled. He resented the fact that he had recently learned. He had recently found out that his parents never missed a Christmas party held by that orphanage. How sweet. While they never ever took time to attend a school meeting when he was still studying.

His father looked at him wearily. “Please, son. For me?”

He glared at his father. “Why? What makes that orphanage special? Their party could go on without you there, or umma, or most of all me! Why should one of us be there? It’s ridiculous, appa!”

“That orphanage means a lot to me because I was raised there, Yonghwa-yah,” his father said calmly.

His eyes widened. He never knew that. His father was adopted by his grandfather when he was six years old and treated him as his own. He had no son, and he made him his heir.

Maybe it was the look on his father’s face, or maybe it was because of what he discovered about his past, but Yonghwa finally agreed to go.

“Mr. Jung Yonghwa, welcome to Little Star Orphanage. We are so glad that you could come,” a small woman with short hair greeted him. “I’m Son Ga In, one of the social workers here. This way, please.”

He followed the woman into a hallway and finally into a huge room that looked like a function hall. A decorated tree was standing at the center and gifts are piled beneath it. The room was filled with children, both male and female, of different shapes and sizes and six adults mingled with them…one of them Seo Hyun.

All eyes turned to him and a hush fell over the children.

“Children, this is Jung Yonghwa, Yong Sik ahjussi’s son,” the woman named Ga In introduced. “He’s our guest of honor, so you better behave around him.”

The children continued to stare at him.

Until one of them spoke.

“Omo, unnie, Yonghwa oppa is handsome,” a small voice pricked the silence.

“Yikes, Bora likes him,” a little boy remarked.

“He’s too old for you, Bora,” another boy shouted and the children erupted with laughter as Yonghwa stood there with his cheeks going red.

“Children, what did I tell you?” Ga In said. “I’m sorry if the children made you uncomfortable, Sir. You know how kids are.”

But Yonghwa doesn’t know how kids are. He had never been around one before, and when he was a little boy he had no friends.

He saw Seo Hyun walking toward him, a smile on her face. She seemed to have forgotten how Yonghwa insulted her at the hospital. Her smile looked sincere, and he grew uncomfortable as she came near.

“I’m happy that you came, Sir,” she said to him.

Yonghwa nodded curtly, wondering if she meant what she said. He was rude to her after all.

“The children have been wanting to meet you…and well, so are we. Your parents constantly talks about you every time they come here,” she continued.

His eyes widened at what she said. “Huh,” he grunted as he tried to hide his surprise. “Whatever would they say about me?”

Seo Hyun’s smile widened. “That they were proud of you and your achievements. They keep telling us how smart you are, how talented, and how…” her cheeks slightly reddened. “…how handsome.”

He cleared his throat. “Really?”

“Yes,” she answered, her voice soft. “They told us that you are such an obedient and understanding son to them.”

Yonghwa’s throat constricted as he felt certain emotions squeeze his heart at Seo Hyun’s revelation.

“Didn’t they tell you that?” she asked, studying the expression on his face.

He shook his head.

“I guess they’re too proud to tell you that mushy stuff, huh?” Seo Hyun chuckled.

“Excuse me, but do you have a wife?” came a small voice in front of them.

Yonghwa’s gaze turned southward and he saw a pretty little girl of about four or five, looking up expectantly at him.

He grinned, amused by her question. Maybe he is not so bitter after all…at the moment, at least.

“Well?” the girl asked, putting her arms across her chest and Yonghwa almost burst out laughing at the sight.

He shook his head. “No, I don’t have a wife.”

“Girlfriend?” the girl persisted.

“Jiyeon, stop that,” Seo Hyun said to the girl, her voice gentle.

Yonghwa chuckled, and he couldn’t believe he was actually chuckling. “It’s okay,” he said, glancing at Seo Hyun. “I don’t have a girlfriend. Why? Do you want to be my girlfriend?” he joked.

Jiyeon’s face puckered and she rolled her eyes upward as she appeared to be thinking. “Nah. You’re too old for me. But not too old for my unnie.”

This time Yonghwa laughed. “Where is your unnie?”

“Right here,” Jiyeon pointed at Seo Hyun and Seo Hyun blushed furiously. “My unnie doesn’t have a boyfriend. Will you be her boyfriend?”

“Jiyeon-ah,” Seo Hyun squatted in front of Jiyeon and put her hands on the little girl’s shoulders. “You couldn’t just ask boys to be my boyfriend.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” Seo Hyun sighed. “Well, because Mr. Jung couldn’t be unnie’s boyfriend because she just met him. Besides, the guy has to like unnie enough to ask me to be his girlfriend and unnie has to like the guy back to say yes.”

Jiyeon frowned. “Don’t you like each other?”

Yonghwa laughed again.  Children can be really cute and silly.

“Not that way,” Seo Hyun sighed. “When you grow up, you will understand. Now, the games must be starting. You want to join, right? Tell Jokwon oppa.”

Jiyeon nodded. “Okay, unnie.”

“I’m so sorry about that, Mr. Jung,” Seo Hyun turned to him and bowed.

“Never mind that,” he answered.

“Oppa, come play the games with us!” a girl about ten years old came running toward them and pulled Yonghwa by the arm.

Seo Hyun looked alarmed. “Jinri!”

“No, thanks,” Yonghwa said.

The girl looked disappointed. “Yong Sik ahjussi always joins the games.”

“Hyung, come on, it will be fun,” a boy around ten or eleven said as he tugged at the sleeve of Yonghwa’s blazer.

“Taemin…” Seo Hyun began.

Yonghwa sighed. It seemed that the children would stop at nothing. Better to join and get it over and done with once and for all. He let himself be pulled toward the center and the children cheered.

He couldn’t believe he would have so much fun playing games with the children. The other adults joined as well and when Yonghwa’s team won he couldn’t help shouting and whooping as he high fived Taemin, Jinri, and the other children who were in his team.

After the games, they gathered round the Christmas tree. It was time to open the gifts. Yonghwa didn’t know how he felt as he looked at the happy faces of the children when they opened their gifts and found cheap, inexpensive items inside.

“Thank you very much for the money you gave the orphanage early this month,” Seo Hyun, who was sitting beside him said. “It was huge enough to buy the children what they each wanted and some new clothes for them to wear to this party.”

Yonghwa’s throat constricted again. The money isn’t really that much to him.

“You know what, I envy you,” Seo Hyun said.

He turned to her. He knew what she meant. His classmates envied him because his parents have lots of money and he could buy anything he wants.

“You have parents that love you and take care of you,” she continued.

He was wrong in his assumptions. “Why? Where are your parents?”

“They died in an accident when I was four. I’m an orphan like these kids. I grew up in this orphanage,” she narrated.

Before Yonghwa could ask Seo Hyun another question, a young girl from across them spoke.

“Yonghwa oppa, Yong Sik ahjussi told us you’re good with the guitar and you sing well. Can you sing for us?”

Yonghwa looked embarrassed. “Ahm…”

“Oh, Nana, don’t demand things from Mr. Jung. He had given us so much already,” Seo Hyun said.

“Only if you have a guitar,” he grinned.

“Oh, I have one!” a girl named Luna squealed. “Let me just get it,” she got up and ran toward the open door. Minutes later she was back with her guitar, panting. She handed it to Yonghwa.

Yonghwa began to test the guitar and the children, including the adults, clapped and cheered. He started to strum a few chords. And then he strummed the chords of the intro of his favorite song.

He lost himself in the song and when he was finished, everyone clapped and cheered.

“Oppa, do you know that our Seo Hyun unnie have a beautiful voice, too? Will you sing with her?” Jinri asked.

Yonghwa looked at Seo Hyun, whose face turned red. He smiled. “Only if she wants to,” he said.

“Please, unnie?”

The children began to beg and when Seo Hyun nodded, they cheered.

For a while she and Yonghwa talked about what song they would sing and they decided on I’ll be Home for Christmas. Seohyun doesn’t only have a beautiful voice, she sang the song with so much depth and emotion that the female adults started to wipe their eyes dry. And Yonghwa kept on strumming the guitar, but he didn’t feel like singing with Seo Hyun and ruining the moment. He looked at her with awe as she finished. Everyone was silent, and then Yonghwa started to clap. The others followed until the whole room erupted into cheers.

They spent the next hours singing Christmas carols. In the middle of one song, Seo Hyun got up and walked out of the room and Yonghwa followed her with his gaze.

“She’s an amazing girl, isn’t she?” a woman whose name he forgot and was seated at his other side whispered to him.

He couldn’t help nodding. In the few hours that he had known Seo Hyun, he had been amazed by her patience. And she had been orphaned when she was very young, he wondered how she had coped, just like the other children around him, just like…his father. But then, his father had been lucky enough to be adopted by a good and rich man. Yonghwa wondered about that.

“Has any family or couple ever tried to adopt Seo Hyun before?” he asked the woman beside him. surely there had to be. She is a pretty and nice girl and parents would want that in their adoptive child.

The woman sighed. “She has been, when she was eight. But a few months after, she ran away and came back here. The family who took her in physically and verbally abused her. They made her work for hours, they starve her and worse, hit her and insult her.”

Yonghwa’s eyes widened at the new information. How had she took it? She looked so carefree and happy, and she looks like she cared a lot about others, even those she barely knew, when fate had been nothing but cruel to her. And he…he had been bitter and cynical just because his parents barely had time for him. They may not be always there for him and they may not be perfect but they were there. He had parents, and they never abandoned him. They had made sure he received everything he needs…and wants. Maybe, it’s the only way they knew how to show their love for him.

Until the party ended, those thoughts and emotions were still bothering Yonghwa. He felt guilty, inadequate, bad…humbled.

“I hope you had a good time, Mr. Jung,” Seo Hyun said as she walked him toward his car, Jiyeon trailing behind her.

He grinned.  “I never thought I’d have a great time, but I did. And please call me Yonghwa,” it was out of his mouth before he could even think about it.

Seo Hyun blushed, but she smiled. “Maybe I can call you oppa. You’re older than me.”

He nodded. “As you wish.”

“Are you going to come back?” little Jiyeon asked.

He smiled and patted the girl’s head. “Sure.”

“When?”

“Ah, Jiyeon-ah, Yonghwa oppa is a busy man so we’ll just wait for him to have time to come here, okay?” Seo Hyun said.

Jiyeon pouted.

“I’ll come by tomorrow,” Yonghwa said before he could think…again.

Jiyeon cheered.

As Yonghwa climbed in the back seat of his car and waved to Seo Hyun, her fellow workers at the orphanage, and the children, he began to think about his realizations again. And there was another thing that he realized, but he somewhat refused to acknowledge…yet. He decided to come by the orphanage tomorrow because he wants to see Seo Hyun again.

………………………………….

“Oh, unnie, Yonghwa oppa is here!” Jiyeon squealed as she ran out of the building, seeing Yonghwa climb out of his car.

Seo Hyun, who had been busy sweeping the floors near the entrance, looked up and smiled when she saw him climb the few steps that led to the entrance.

She bowed. “Oppa, I never expected you to really come.”

“I did say I would, didn’t I?” he answered as the children poured out from the upstairs and from the playroom toward him. Almost every day after that Christmas Eve he had spent there, he would take time to go to the orphanage. He had grown fond of the children and Seo Hyun. He didn’t know why. Maybe in this place he had seen what love really is…it’s in the way Seo Hyun and the others cared for the children, and in the way the children had stuck together.

Now it was New Year’s Eve, and everyone was busy preparing for the holiday. Yonghwa had told his parents that he wanted to spend the New Year in the orphanage and his parents were happy because Yonghwa had always spent the holidays drinking with the so-called friends he had found when he was in college and his current girlfriend if ever he has one.

He helped with the preparations while occasionally playing with the children, once singing a crying toddler to sleep and all the while he didn’t know that Seo Hyun had been watching him, amazed by this sudden change in him.

It was almost midnight, and they were all outside the orphanage except for the babies and toddlers who had already been tucked to bed. All of them raised their voices as the clock was nearing to twelve.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five…” Yonghwa watched Seo Hyun’s glowing face as she counted along with the others. She looked so beautiful with the lights illuminating her face. If he tells her…would it be too much and too fast? Would she get scared?

Seo Hyun looked at him and smiled as she kept counting. “Four, three, two, one!”

“Happy New Year!” the whole yard erupted with shouts and cheers as fireworks lit up the dark sky. They all clapped at the sight.

Suddenly Yonghwa held Seo Hyun’s hand and she looked back at him, a bit startled.

“Thank you for everything, Seo Hyun-ah,” he said.

“I should be the one to thank you, oppa,” she smiled. “You made all of us happy. I know despite your coldness the first day we met that deep inside you have a good heart.”

“How would you know? All my life I was never nice to people, especially strangers.”

Seo Hyun shook her head. “There is always goodness in everyone.”

Yonghwa smiled. It was amazing how this one girl changed him and his outlook in life in a matter of days. Or maybe it’s who he really is, he was just never given a chance to be aware of it. And this girl, this angel beside him, had awoken him.

He squeezed her hand, and then held her shoulders and tried to make her face him.

“Hyun…I know this is impossibly fast, but…I think…,” he took a deep breath. “I’m falling for you.”

 

Gosh, sorry guys, please excuse the inconsistencies and errors you found. I honestly had a hard time writing this. I think I'm not really good with one-shots and I'm still learning. I would love to see your comments below on how was it.

Okay, so you can click next to see what happens to all of our characters. :)