Dear Santa,

Lately I have been thinking about a certain someone… 

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

“Sneaking around again Kay?” Yugyeom asked as he looked over her shoulder and she quickly hid the pieces of paper even though he had already seen them.

“I did not this time. It just fell out of the bag of letters,” she retorted and he chuckled.

“And you didn’t bother to give it back. Santa is not going to able to read this letter then,” he stated as he sat down next to her, his head resting in his hand.

“Well, we’re Santa’s in training and we’re here to help him. Better start earlier than later, right?” Kay said smugly and waved the paper in front of his face. “And I think we can fulfil this wish easily!”

Yugyeom couldn’t help it that his curiosity won over his sense of discipline and he took the paper from her to read the letter.

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

I don’t know why the thought of this certain someone popped into my mind. Actually, I think I’ve been thinking of him a lot, but he seemed to escape the back of my mind to the front. That’s why I wanted to ask you Santa Claus… if I could see him again. That’s the wish I have for this year. I wish to see Wonho again.

You see Santa, when I was younger I was very shy and introverted. I think I still am, but it has gotten better as time went by. There was this boy that I met during break time where I was alone in the sandbox. I actually wanted to play on the swings but they were occupied… the boy was playing alone in the sand just like me and somehow we became closer when we wanted to grab the same tree branch that we wanted to use as a bridge. Later the boy named himself Wonho, saying he was called like that because he declared to protect me. It’s cute right? He was actually the same as me, shy and introverted and maybe that’s why we got along. I think I was around four or five years old that time.

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

 “Tell me why we are sneaking into Santa Claus’ study?” Yugyeom asked nervously, but followed the girl inside nevertheless. Kay scoffed and looked at him judgingly. It made the tall guy silent with his complains and he stayed at the door to keep watch while she swiftly moved to the desk chair and plopped down on it.

“Because, we need information about this girl in distress since we are going to help her,” Kay stated proudly and Yugyeom grumbled under his breath wondering when it became ‘we’. Before he could say anything back any further, Kay  her detective skills and started explaining while she was typing away on Santa’s database. “So she send us that letter and her address is on there, right? We know where this Wonho lives as well then. If our luck is right and he still lives in the same town that is.”

“And how is our luck?” he asked back, still on edge and afraid someone would find them. He jumped up when Kay slammed the desk with her fist and cursed. Yugyeom was quick and shushed her. “Not so lucky then?”

“It says there is no Wonho in this town. There’s also no Wonho that had moved from this town to another. What could this mean?”

“… Ah! Remember how she wrote ‘he called himself Wonho’? Maybe it’s not his real name and his nickname is Wonho, but everyone started calling him that, brushing off his real name.”

Kay squinted her eyes at him, a bit annoyed he had a good theory. But it was better than the theory of him living somewhere else.

“Let’s go with that.”

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

We became inseparable after our little meeting and luck was on our side because when we aged and went to a class higher, we requested to get into the same class which happened! That time, my Christmas wish was that actually so thank you for granting my wish back then! I think everyone saw that we opened up more and slowly we got more friends as well, but we always stayed the closest.

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

Strolling through the hallways in the early morning, his heavy boots gave an echo each time he took a step forward although it was unheard for his own ears as he blasted music from his earphones. His blonde locks shined golden by the sunlight, the piercings in his ear illuminating with it. Looking down, he noticed how his pants were even more ripped at his knees and he made a mental note to buy some new pants. It was common for him to arrive early at the classroom, this way he could choose where to sit and not risk to sit somewhere at the front. He hated to sit at the front where the teachers could check on everything you did.

The guy stopped in his step as he spotted a girl already standing at the door as the classroom wasn’t open yet. Glancing at her appearance, he noticed how her fingers fidgeted around the paper she held unto, her  schedule he assumed. Her black hair in the sunlight shined with a tint of purple red, indicating she had dyed her hair. Her eyes were casted down just as her glasses were a bit low on her nose and his hand twitched, wanting to adjust her glasses. He frowned slightly at his unconscious reflexes and he got snapped out of his thoughts when the teacher came and opened the door. It was then that their eyes locked for just a moment and his eyes widened slightly as realisation and nostalgia hit him.


“Well hello,” Kay mumbled as she ogled the guy who just entered the classroom right after their target. “That's one hottie there!”

“Can you keep it quiet with your eye candy?” Yugyeom whined as they looked at the two students from a tree branch outside. The guy was waving his hand like a fan since it was a lot warmer than the North Pole.

“Oh come on, you would appreciate his looks as well even as a man.”

“Never mind that, we are here for the girl, right? So that's Heejin. What else?”

“Now that we made sure she's at school, we're going to her house obviously. We need to find some clues.”

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

It was when I was eleven or twelve years old that it happened. My parents told me I had to move and even with protests, of course, there was no choice than to move. I remember we tried holding in our tears but it was no use. I’m sure my glasses got so fogged that time. When we were apart, we wrote letters to each other. 

The little gesture had so much meaning to me and his words, his encouragements made me feel better and eventually I was able to make friends, enjoy the life I had. It didn’t mean that I would forget him, I still wrote to him every week or two whenever I got a letter back. Maybe it was silly, but with all the technology we still kept communicating this way. Until his letters stopped.

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

“Isn't this invasion of privacy?” Yugyeom stated bored. He already knew there was no stopping her, but that didn't mean he would stop stating the facts she would somehow go around instead of facing it. Maybe it was false hope that one day Kay would listen to him.

“She gave us the rights the moment she send us that letter,” Kay answered back as she went through every drawer in the room in concentration.

“We're not even in her house anymore!” Yugyeom whined and gave up, deciding to help her search for the valuable items, the letters.

“Well, her letter send us to her house and we found Wonho's address so it is only obvious that we’re here to see if it's still him that is currently a resident in this house. That would make this mission so much easier by the way,” Kay explained and closed yet another drawer. “Not in here either.”

Checking the clock, it was already afternoon. They had taken too much time exploring the city and its food since they rarely went anyway, not allowed to leave the campus at the North Pole. Throwing away the carton box where just a few minutes ago some French fries were, Yugyeom froze in his spot when he heard thumping from outside the bedroom while Kay’s eyes widened. Before they could even react, a guy stomped inside angrily without taking notice of the two. Banging the door closed he heard his mother faintly scolding him, but he ignored that and instead he knelt down besides his bed and took out a shoebox from underneath it.

“He doesn’t see us?” Kay whispered and Yugyeom sighed in relief before straightening himself up.

“Which means he doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. And that means he can’t see nor hear us,” he elaborated and sat down on the bed to glance up at him. The guy in front of him seemed to be upset as he clenched his teeth and unclenched again, his breath uneven.

“Ah! It’s the ‘hottie’ from this morning,” Yugyeom countered and when he looked down to see the shoebox opened, his eyes widened and ushered his fellow partner in mission over.

Rushing to his side to see the boy from up close, and for the content of the box, Kay eyed the items and slapped her forehead. “Of course it was under the bed. Why didn’t I come up with that?”

They both watched the guy who they assumed was Wonho carefully as he sat down on the bed with the letters sprawled out in front of him, the letters confirming the two Santa’s that he was indeed the boy that they were looking for.

Carefully, he took out one of the letters and read it before putting it back in the envelope, going to another one. He started sobbing quietly and wiped his eyes furiously before his tears could even fall.

“So what we know now...” Kay said softly as she felt his sadness tuck on her heartstrings. “The guy Heejin has been looking for, Wonho, is actually in her class without her even knowing,” she started and vaguely remembered that when there was a roll call they would call him Shin Hoseok and not Wonho.

“So her wish has been granted without her knowing. There’s nothing left to do for us anymore,” Yugyeom chimed in and wanted to stand up, but Kay pulled him back.

“So we have to find the reason why he didn’t answer her letters anymore. We have to help them close this chapter of their hearts and seeing him being so emotional means something happened. We can’t let this slide,” Kay said passionately, already standing with one foot on the bed while striking a heroic pose.

“It’s not our fault she didn’t recognise him,” Yugyeom whined and just as he said that, he noticed that Wonho, or Hoseok, had been looking at a childhood picture of the two of them. It was clearly visible that Heejin hadn’t changed much except that her hair was longer and looked older, but her features had not changed.

“Alright, I understand why she didn’t recognise him,” the tall lad corrected himself as he looked at the picture where he still had black hair and an awful haircut. His eyes were shining from happiness as were his teeth as he smiled. His head seemed to be a bit too big though as he was so skinny. Comparing the picture of the guy of the past and him now, his hair was so light, his eyes blue from coloured lenses most likely, and his body was all bulked up by muscles.

“So the conclusion is; we help!”

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

I had written a letter to him after a month of no response, worried something might have happened but there was still no reply. Still sending after a few months, I had started to give up, convinced he didn’t want to talk to me anymore. And so, the only time I send him a card was when Christmas came around. As you might guess, a Christmas card. This was maybe a few years ago. Oh how time flies.

This time, a few weeks ago, I moved back to the town I first lived in and started attending high school just a bit late. I could’ve gone to his place, but I’m actually scared… scared he wouldn’t want to see me. I guess that’s where my mind is split into two since I’m scared but I still want to see him… I hope you could help me Santa. I know I sent this early, but I figured it was better to send too early than too late.

Lots of love,

Song Heejin

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

They had observed the two humans for the time being and they could only sigh or yell in frustration as if they were watching a movie. Wonho knew it was Heejin, his actions gave it away or to them at least it did. The poor boy had been watching her since she joined their class, sometimes smiling, sometimes seeming upset again just like when the two had seen him in his room. It really did made them wonder why he didn’t just tell her he was Wonho.

And the other way around, they had noticed that she’d stare at him as well only to frown. He had a look that was so nostalgic but she couldn’t put her finger on it, because the next time he talked and was so obnoxious with his friends to the point it annoyed her, the feeling of familiarity was already gone.

The only thing was that they didn’t notice it from each other. Yugyeom and Kay sighed as it was yet another day that they sat on the tree branch and looked into the classroom. It was almost Christmas and time was running out. They had tried small things like manipulating the group assignments so they would be together, but that had backfired when it was a group assignment for four and not for two. In the end, one of the girls kept flirting with Wonho who was seemingly disinterested while leaving Heejin and the other girl, Dia, in a very awkward position. Luckily they had become friends after this little episode and hadn’t been separated since.

It was in the afternoon that they sat in the coffee shop where they sat in a corner to observe their surroundings easily. Heejin just ordered a coffee and she was already seated close to the window with a book in her hand. The two pair of eyes then shifted to the door where Wonho just had entered. Walking over to the counter, he greeted his friend Kihyun who was currently working his shift. Glancing at the two males, Kay glanced back at Yugyeom.

“Do you think he’s finally up to something?” she asked and watched Kihyun walk over to Heejin’s table with not only a coffee but also with a small plate of sweetness.

“Here’s a small gift since it’s almost Christmas,” Kihyun spoke up as he placed the coffee and the banana chocolate cake on her table.

The girl blinked and smiled widely to see the little cake on the plate. It was one of her favourite flavour combination and she thanked the waiter happily before he walked away. A small chuckle left his lips as he eyed his friend who was still standing at the counter.

“Happy now, Hoseok?” Kihyun asked softly as he watched his friend looking at the girl with adoration. “You should’ve given it yourself since you paid for it.”

“Shut up,” Wonho said with a laugh and tried to look away from her, only to glance her side again after a moment.

Watching the scene Kay tried to hold in her squeals while Yugyeom rolled her eyes with a soft smile. There seemed to be some kind of progress?

After an hour or so, Wonho said his goodbyes just when Heejin started packing. The Santa intern’s looked at each other and made their way with haste to see what they were up to. While the guy walked outside and made a phone call, Heejin passed by him when his back was facing her. Thinking quickly, Yugyeom pushed the other guy slightly so he would see the girl walking away. It made the taller lad happy although a bit sad. The human still didn’t seem to have the Christmas spirit to believe in Santa Claus.

“H- Heejin,” Wonho muttered softly and just when he said it, the girl froze on her spot. His eyes widened thinking she may have heard him, but sighed partly of relief and disappointment when he noticed she was standing still not because of him but because of some street performers who were dancing with fire.

“What do you think he is going to do?” Kay asked curiously and walked behind Wonho just to have a good view of the scene that was going to unfold. Yugyeom just shrugged his shoulders and held the girl by the collar when the traffic light just turned to red between Wonho and them. She whined softly as a tram drove by so slowly that she couldn’t see what happened between the two.


“I- it would be really cheesy if I said you light up the fire in me, huh?” Wonho said and punched himself mentally for stuttering. “I mean! With the fire dancers and all…?”

The girl blinked and eyed him before she realised what he said. Heejin bursted out in laughter and nodded.

"I- it would," she said with a giggle and tried to hide her smile, but he had already seen it. It made Wonho forget about his embarrassment and actually laugh along at his silly attempt. A successful one at that as the girl seemed to shine.

"Your glasses..." The boy started and pointed at his own face to indicate that her glasses were not there.

"Ah, you noticed? I thought contact lenses would be better since I get into an accident with a ball at P.E every time," she explained and looked down. "Does it look weird?"

"No, there's really no difference actually," he mumbled and smiled softly.

Heejin blushed slightly and looked down, not sure what to reply back to him. So with a quick goodbye and happy holidays, she started walking to the dancers to put some coins in their hat since she made a video of them.

By the time Kay and Yugyeom could cross the street, they just saw her toss some coins in the hat before walking away. The short girl grumbled loudly while the lad patted her shoulder, assuring her that it must have been not important and maybe they didn’t even interact with each other. One look at the smiling blond guy and she knew it wasn’t the case.

“I have an idea,” Kay declared all of a sudden and smiled as she eyed the two before holding Yugyeom’s arm happily.

**~*~ლ(ჿᴥჿ)ლ**~*~**

Christmas Day was colder than usual and it made the guy in bed stir awake from his sleep. Telling himself that it were holidays, he stayed there for as long as he could until his mother called him over to come downstairs and have family brunch. Freshening up and getting ready for the day, he walked downstairs and sat down at the dining table as he smiled happily to see the whole feast for today that his mother made. His father complimented his wife for the good cooking and their son would roll his eyes at how mushy they were although he had a smile on his face.

Enjoying their time together, they talked and laughed happily while the table became more and more empty with every bite they took. By the time they were full, they all had their tea and coffee.

“Ah, that’s right! There is a letter for you under the Christmas tree dear,” his mother said and eyed the tree in the living room.

“Must be from Santa,” he mocked, but stood up anyway to sit down beside the Christmas tree to retrieve the letter. Seeing the front already caused him to frown and look at his parents.

“It says ‘To: Wonho’,” he read out loud and looked a bit annoyed. “I told you I don’t want to be called like that again.”

“We didn’t write it son,” his father replied and shrugged his shoulders as to say he didn’t know how the letter even entered their house.

“You were so fond of that name,” his mother said with a look of nostalgia and chuckled. “You convinced everyone that was your name and managed to even let the teachers call you Wonho. You were such a handful.”

“Yeah, yeah. Please don’t,” their son whined and decided to open the letter anyway.


Dearest Wonho, or should I address you as Hoseok now?

My apologies for the late Christmas wish. 

Your Christmas gift will be ready for you at 6 PM at MyStar☆ Café.

From,

Santa ☃


Wonho read the words over and over again in disbelief before he clutched the letter in his hand and lowered it. Sighing, he eyed the letter again with doubt clear on his face. Maybe it would disappear when he blinked. Maybe he read wrong and the letters would shift again but it didn't.

Going over to his room, he reached under his bed for the familiar shoebox and tried to compare the handwriting. Even after all these years, it wouldn't change much right? But it was completely different. Then from who was this? Was this a prank?

The notification sound of his phone snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked over the messages of his friends deciding where to meet in a bit. Without another thought he concluded the letter as fake and got his jacket to get out.

It seemed to be a good distraction as they walked around going from restaurant to shops and such, but when it was almost the designated time to meet, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. What if the letter did grant his wish? And that tiny hint of possibility had him running back home to retrieve the shoebox and Christmas letter before running to the café.

Storming inside and almost breaking the door by the force he opened it, he panted and smiled apologetically to Kihyun who apparently had nothing to do but work on Christmas. Business was slow around this time and there were only a few customers seated to the decorated and cosy coffee shop.

He made his way inside and looked around to find a couple being too intimate in public sitting in the corner while some girls were at the other side probably for the handsome barista. Moving his eyes carefully around the room, he looked at the decorated and lit Christmas tree near the fire. But what caught his eyes more was the silhouette of the girl with a huge ribbon in her hair. His heart stopped when he realised who the familiar figure sitting near the tree was with letters in hand. Quickly, the guy took out the letters from the box and dropped the carton on the floor before making her way to her.

She turned around from the sound and with widened eyes did she stare back at him, her eyes shifting to the papers in his hand and then to him again.

"W- Wonho," the girl breathed out and stood up with her own letters in hand.

"Heejin," he mumbled back and his vision went blurry when they both finally faced each other with no doubt anymore.

Without another word they both launched forward to catch the other for a tight hug and cry. They probably made a scene, but they didn't take notice of that. Not that they cared now.

Only after their outburst did they finally calm down. They sat on the soft carpet near the fire with Wonho's back against the wall, one leg bend while the other straight. Heejin was seated between his legs, his bend leg for her to lean on with her back while she snuggled against his chest, her legs draped over his stretched out leg.

After a moment Heejin started to speak up even though they were content now with each other's presence. There were still questions without an answer.

"I- I thought you came for Kihyun when you entered... You're friends, right?" She asked confused, still unsure about this whole situation.

"I got this letter...” he started and nodded to his and her letter that had the same paper. “I seriously didn't want to go and had plans before... But the thought of maybe talking things out with you, I wanted to take the chance now…” Wonho said unsure. He didn’t know where to start talking, there was so much going on in his mind. Heejin nodded and stayed quiet so he could pour his heart out. She leaned her head against his shoulder and stared in his eyes as he continued to talk, one of her hands resting on his chest.

“I- I knew it was you the moment you came to our school. But at first I was upset… I guess I should talk about why I stopped replying to your letters? You must be curious,” he said and stopped for a moment, wanting to know how she felt.

The girl nodded at his assumption, agreeing. “I am. I wanted to find you again to see you. I missed you so much. But the fact that you stopped writing to me made me not want to meet you again. I didn’t know why you all of a sudden stopped and I was scared I did something wrong. Or that I would barge into your life again without you wanting to. So I asked Santa for help… For the last bit of courage… But when I moved here and saw you… first I was unsure if it was you. Your name was even different from what I know. I feel bad for that now, for not being able to recognise you. Your smile made me sure that it was you, but your whole appearance changed a  bit… and I always loved your eyes but they weren’t the same either so I brushed off my hunch not wanting to have false hope…”

Her hand twitched slightly as Wonho nodded at her explanation and looked away from embarrassment. Moving up, her fingers grazed his cheek and made him look back at her. “Why are you even hiding your eyes?” she asked with a pout and he smiled at her.

“Yah, you don’t know the latest trend? Most people wear coloured lenses nowadays,” he explained and she looked away.

“Then I’m old-fashioned,” she muttered but smiled when looking back at him. “Still like your dark brown eyes more.”

“I’ll remember that,” Wonho said with a chuckle and patted her head softly, letting silence take over. He took the time to recollect his thoughts and took a deep breath before he started talking again.

“So… we took it hard when you had to move,” he mumbled, going back to memory lane. “I loved the times I got your letters, it made me rush back to home just so I could read your letters. But I didn’t write to you only, like you did… I wrote letters to Santa to, but he never granted my wish and I just stopped after that.” A soft snort escaped his lips, thinking back at his old self and it made Heejin only giggle and nod, telling him she did the same. “We were so close and I believed that even if I didn’t have any other friends, I would be fine if I had you… but reading your letters. School was hard for you and I couldn’t find it in me to encourage you to make friends… and when I did, when you started to sound so happy in the letters you wrote me. Happy by other people… it made me upset. I stopped writing after because I was so upset and I was convinced you didn’t need me anymore even when you sent me more letters. I started to dislike the name Wonho, because it was you who called me the most… So I stuck with Hoseok ever since… I know I was childish back then and I still am... Then when I saw you again, I felt the same frustration but it changed into fear. I was scared you hated me for not replying anymore. For not telling you anything. For being like this…”

He averted his eyes left and right with every few sentences, as long as it didn’t lock with her eyes but her eyes always followed his. The girl let his words sink in and when it did, she slapped his chest lightly and playful, making him look at her again.

“I’m not mad at all. I’m just glad Santa brought us together today to let our hearts lay bare to each other,” Heejin commented and hugged him tightly. “I missed you, Wonho.”

His eyes started to prickle with tears and he held her back as he smiled at their reconciliation. “I missed you too.”

The sound of the fire crackling on their side, the faint singing and bells from outside and the smell of hot chocolate in the café eased their minds and their comfortable silence and staring made their lips curl up with no intention of leaving their bright expressions.

“Come to think of it, how did you get the letter under the Christmas tree?” Wonho asked curiously, making her shrug her shoulders.

“I didn’t. I also got this letter with a package. This headband was in it and it told me to wear it,” Heejin countered and pointed at the headband on her head with a huge red ribbon on it. He smiled and traced the red fabric with his fingers before he took hold of a paper attached to it.

“It says; ’From; Santa. To: Wonho’,” he said with a grin. “Does that mean you’re mine now?”

The remark made her eyes widen and take of the headband to see if the note was really there and to her surprise it was.

“That wasn’t there when I put it on!” Heejin whined softly and blushed slightly, flustered from his teasing which only made him laugh happily.

Their talk and laughter resonated in the small café as they chattered away happily as they were seemingly in their own world.


“We did such a great job,” Kay sighed happily and then frowned. “Then why don’t I feel satisfied?”

“Because we did too much?” Yugyeom asked curiously and fished some marshmallows out of his hot cocoa to eat.

“No!” the girl declared and stared back at him while he looked back at her with a disinterested expression. “It’s because they got together but not romantically. We need to do something. Something even greater than the wish they had wished for, some-” and before Kay could talk further, Yugyeom had already placed his lips on hers.

“Was that to shut me up?” She asked with a frown, trying hard not to show how flustered she was from his sudden action.

“Mistletoe,” Yugyeom replied back with a grin and pointed up before pecking her lips once more. “Merry Christmas.”