North Pole December 24^rd, unclassified time zone:

Our story begins in the North Pole on the afternoon of December 24^th, where Santa’s elves were busy finishing up their preparations for the big night. Well, all but one.

In the busy kitchen, little Changkyun eyed his prey from across the counter. He had to wait until a certain pink haired elf wasn’t looking before made a dash for the cookie tray.

Kihyun, who apparently had eyes on the back of his head, slapped away Changkyun’s hand.

“Those are for Santa!” the older elf scolded a pouting Changkyun.

“But Minhyuk got cookies!” Changkyun complained as he pointed at the two empty spots on the tray.

“He what?!” Kihyun snapped ready to hunt down the blonde elf, but he controlled his rage. If Kihyun took his eyes off those cookies for even a second, Changkyun would eat them. “That doesn’t matter right now! You have to finish loading up the toys you made onto the sleigh. I’ll give you your cookies when you’re done.”

The younger elf pouted. “Okay, mom.”

Changkyun pretended to be disappointed all the way down the hall but he grinned at the gooey warm cookies that now rested in his work pocket.

As he turned down the hall to find a quiet place to eat, he found Head Elf Bora blocking his path.

“I’ve been looking for you, Changkyun.” Her icy voice made Changkyun tremble in his stockings. “Why haven’t you dropped off your last batch of presents yet? Do you want to die? That too on Christmas?”

“I’ll get right on it, Head Elf!” Changkyun yelled back at her as he ran to the workroom faster than he’d ever run.

When he found his lone desk at the back of the room, two lone presents sat atop it. They’d been perfectly wrapped, complete with bows and tags. It made Changkyun jealous. Not of the kids, but of Santa. He wanted to show those kids he’d been the one to wrap their presents. But kids don’t thank elves – just Santa.

Despite his greedy, foolish tendencies, Changkyun did want those kids to wake up to the presents he’d worked so hard one- even if they didn’t thank him for it.

The elf picked up his presents and headed to the loading room.

The loading room was like a garage of sorts. Santa’s bag stood open looking completely overfilled. Above it was a platform that oddly resembled an Olympic driving board which took a good five minutes to climb up to. Waiting for Changkyun on the platform was a stern looking Drop- off Inspector.

“Are you here to drop off your last load?” the Drop-off Inspector greeted Changkyun with his face half covered by a clipboard.

“Duh,” Changkyun sneered as he held up and shook the gifts he was holding.

“Get on with it then. Head Elf said to make sure you did it before I left the room.”

The inspector’s dismissive tone made Changkyun’s eye twitch. Chankgyun swore he’d make this guy unable to complete his promise.

“Say, has anyone ever fallen into the bag before?”

“No one ever touched anything beyond the surface,” the Inspector drawled, eyeing his watch and then Changkyun.

His impatience didn’t go unnoticed.

“So, you’re saying no one’s been inside the bag before?”

The Inspector grit his teeth and slammed his pen on his clipboard. “It’s physically impossible for you to go inside the bag. Only presents go inside that bag.”

Changkyun maintained an innocent expression as he cheekily asked, “So, if someone asked for me for Christmas, I’d get delivered?”

“Just put the toys in,” the Inspector snapped. He stepped past Changkyun and practically flew down the stairs to the door.

Changkyun smirked at the Inspector’s retreating form before he checked his boxes one last time. As he held them out, the young elf wondered if clung to them as he jumped, would the bag consider him a present? Remembering that no elf had ever been there made him sigh and drop the the presents down into the endless bag of gifts. Even if he held onto them he doubted the bag would let him enter

As he was about to exit the room, Changkyun finally noticed the loose bow stuck on his arm.

“Must have fallen off its box,” he muttered as he was about to throw it away.

Only presents go inside the bag…

A light went off inside Changkyun’s head. He carefully stuck the bow onto his torso and ran back up to the bag. Winds rose around him, calling him into the infinite unknown that was the magical toy sack. Changkyun grinned with delight as he dived into the bag.

Landing on presents wasn’t exactly the softest thing in the world, but thankfully neither he nor the presents seemed damaged by the fall. As he looked around, Changkyun was in awe. He knew they made a lot of presents, but no one had ever seen them all in one place at once.

“You could build cities with the amount of boxes down here. Wait til I tell the others! This is so awesome!” Changkyun cheered excitedly hopping around and searching for a way to tell his friends when he realized he was the only one here.

No one had ever been inside this bag before.

In his panic, Changkyun tried to claw his way to the top of the bag but more when he reached the surface it was like tapping thick glass. He attempted to bang against it, he even yelled for help- hoping someone would hear in him time.

Once felt the jolt of the moving sleigh and the sound of bells, Changkyun knew his fate was sealed. He was stuck inside the bag until he was delivered.

“Finally…,” Hyungwon let out a breathe of relief as he, along with the rest of the elves of the North Pole, waved goodbye to Santa. “I’m so happy we’re on break.”

Wonho didn't make an acknowledging cheer like the rest of the elf when they heard Hyungwon. It seemed as if the silver and blue haired elf hadn't heard Hyungwon at all. Wonho didn’t even look up to wave bye to Santa. His dark eyes kept combing the crowd, searching for something- or someone.

Shownu eventually noticed Wonho’s worry and spoke up, “Is everything alright?”

“Changkyun isn’t here.”

It wasn’t as if the others hadn’t noticed his absence. They all knew he was mischievous. But even then, he didn’t usually miss saying bye to Santa.

“He’s probably in the kitchen eating more of my cookies,” Kihyun tried to brush it off and quell everyone’s nerves. On the inside, he knew he was trying to convince himself not to worry.

Changkyun was down the last bite of the second cookie he’d saved. He looked down at the last of his rations and wondered how long it would be before he ate again. He wished he’d stolen more cookies if he was going to end up like this.

Before he could drown himself in sorrow he felt a tug towards the surface.

Unsure of what else to do, Changkyun tested reaching up his hand once more. As soon as it passed through the surface he found himself being pulled out of the bag.

He crawled on his hands and knees finding nothing but a small, neatly decorated Christmas tree next to him.

A plate with one half bitten cookie and a glass which had been empties of half its milk rested next to him.

His hunger overtook any sense of scoping out the rest of his surroundings. The remaining milk and cookies were gone in a flash and Changkyun finally got past his hunger enough to realize his predicament.

He was in some strangers house. Who knew what they would do to a strange elf who randomly showed up in their house?

Changkyun didn’t have time to think of a way out of it.

A girl dressed in thick pajamas and red robe stepped out of one bedroom.

“Who are you and doing in my apartment?!” the girl screamed at him as she held out a metal bat.

Changkyun blinked. He didn’t know what else to say besides the truth, “I’m an elf from Santa’s workshop. I’m you Christmas present. Surprise.”

The girl looked at him incredulously. “Oh, yeah and I’m the tooth fairy! Who the hell are you?” She walked a little closer to him, stilling holding out the metal bat.

Changkyun took a few steps back to place some distance between him and the bat. “I just told you who I was.”

“I’m calling the cops! I can’t believe I have to deal with this on Christmas,” the girl hastily dug around her pocket for her phone.

The elf didn’t want to deal with this as much as she did. “Look, what do I have to do to prove it to you? Let you tug on my ears? Show off my mad wrapping skills?”

The girl continued to ignore him, typing numbers onto the screen. Changkyun had to think of something-and fast. He did a quick scan of the house and found her name printed on mail envelopes.

He thanked his lucky stars he remembered her name. “You asked for a CD in 2004.”

“What?” the girl asked a little shaken, but the phone was still pressed to her ear.

“And the following year you asked for an mp3 player. In 2006, you stopped sending letters. But you sent one this year.” Changkyun ended his statement with a guess.

Her phone fell from her hands. “Oh my god… you’re real, aren’t you…?” She lowered the bat as she sunk to the ground.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along. You must have asked Santa for me. That’s the only reason I’m here.” Changkyun did his best to try and sound more empathetic than annoyed.

The girl let out a small laugh. “I sent that letter as a joke.”

“What exactly did you ask for?” Changkyun wondered what in world she could have written for him to end up there.

“I wanted someone to spend Christmas with…,” she whispered softly looking down at her empty hands.

Changkyun drew closer to her and got down to eye level. “Looks like you got your wish.”

“This is my first holiday away from my parents. All my friends went back to their homes, and I’m all alone.”

“No one should spend Christmas alone.” He offered her a hand. “Why don’t we just have some fun?”

“Like what?” She asked as he pulled her up.

It took Changkyun no time to think up an idea. “Do you think you could gather up some blankets, lights, pillows, and gift wrap?”

She raised a brow. “Why do you need all that?”

He tilted his head. “Have you never built a Christmas fort before?”

“No…” The girl looked away sheepishly.

“We’re about to change that.” Changkyun smiled.

When the girl had gathered up the items, he began to show her how to build the fort. Though they were doing a good enough job on their own, Changkyun used a bit of elf magic to convert the living room into a Christmas themed tent with gift wrap walls and floating lights.

The girl seemed absolutely enchanted by the décor. Her troubles and worries seemed to be replaced by sheer happiness.“We should bake cookies next! And watch Christmas re-runs!”

Changkyun just smiled as he watched the girl’s face light up. She kept going on and on about this and that.

This was everything he’d ever wanted. To see the joy on someone’s face as they finally received their gift.

Jooheon sat by the fireplace of the room he shared with Shownu, Kihyun, Wonho, Hyungwon, Minhyuk, and Changkyun. Normally no one would think much on it, but Changkyun wasn't anywhere to be found during Santa's send off. Over a day had passed and Santa had returned to the North Pole. Almost everyone was out and about celebrating Christmas. So his roommates were worried but not that concerned about Changkyun’s absence until his seat at the dinner table was empty.

That kid would NEVER miss Christmas dinner. At least not willingly.

The red-haired elf returned to his room early, hoping to find the missing elf. But the cot by the wall was as empty as the last time he’d seen it.

If he was alright, Changkyun would have returned from where he was by now. Part of the North Pole would be on fire and the Head Elf would be on his case, but he'd be back.

Jooheon tensed when the heard the door open. He held his breath and hoped that perhaps by some miracle his worries would be quelled and Changkyun would stumble into their dorm after having completed some horrendous prank. Jooheon wasn’t able to hide the disappointment when he saw that it was only Wonho walking back to his bed.

The elder elf plopped down unceremoniously. After a few beats of silence, he finally spoke. “Something is up, isn’t it?”

Jooheon shifted in his seat, tilting himself to face Wonho better. “Changkyun would never be gone this long.”

Wonho suddenly sat up and stared at Jooheon with panicked eyes. “You don’t think he ran off, do you?”

“No. This is Changkyun. He wouldn’t run off without dragging at least one of us along.” Jooheon anxiously bit his lip as the thought. “If Changkyun was in trouble with the Head Elf, we would have been notified. The only explanation could be that he got himself stuck somewhere while trying to pull off a dumb prank.”

“Maybe I should try and look for him,” Wonho suggested as he moved to get up.

Jooheon got up and blocked Wonho. “I don’t think you’ll be able to search the whole North Pole on your own. It’s better to think this through. You and Shownu are on the security team, so you’ll have access to the cameras, right?”

Wonho’s brows relaxed as he nodded. He was at the door before he spoke again. “I’m going to go pull up the last seen footage of Changkyun.”

Two hours later all of the roommates aside from Changkyun had gathered in their room. They replayed the footage that Wonho had brought them.

Minhyuk stared up in awe wondering how the young elf had even managed. “I tried to jump in once and just skipped over the surface. He just stuck a bow on himself and sunk in. How is that even possible?

“That kid always manages to get himself into a ton of trouble.” Though Hyungwon sounded annoyed he couldn’t hide his worry.

Shownu who’d stayed quiet most of the time finally said, “We have to go get him.”

“I’m sure we can ask Santa to bring him back when Santa is recovered.” Kihyun offered.

“That won’t be for another two weeks! Who knows what could happen to him in that time?!” Jooheon let out a frustrated cry. After taking a few deep breaths, he declared, “We’re going to have to rescue him.”

“Rescue him?” Wonho seemed taken aback. “How exactly are we going to do that?”

Jooheon faced him, looking as if he’d had everything figured out. “Simple. We figure out where he went, borrow some reindeer, and fly to pick him up.”

“So we’re gonna steal Santa’s sleigh and his reindeer, look up archive records we don’t have the authorization to look up, and fly when we aren’t supposed to fly.” Wonho rephrased Jooheon’s oversimplified scheme.

“When you put it that way it does sound rather bad,” Minhyuk noted, pursing his lip toughfully.

Wonho raised his hands up in disbelief. “Because we’re going to have to go against everyone in the North Pole to pull off what he’s suggesting.”

“I think I agree with Jooheon,” Kihyun mumbled in a low voice.

“The idea is crazy!” Wonho enunciated.

“It just needs a bit more detailing. It’s hard but not impossible,” Kihyun elaborated. “As much as he annoys me, I’m not okay with leaving Changkyun fending for himself wherever he is. And if you can’t think of him, think of the poor people he’d probably annoying right now.”

Wonho sighed. “Alright, alright. Don’t guilt trip me. But how do you suggest we go about this?”

“It’ll be a lot of trespassing and maybe some fighting,” Minhyuk casually put out.

Hyungwon let out a yawn and stretched. “I hate doing things in a rush.”

“We’ve got to be all in if we want to save him.” Shownu interjected.

In no time, Kihyun was listing out everyone’s assignments. “I’m going to bake some cookies which have sleeping daft in them. Wonho, you deliver these cookies to everyone on the security team as a Christmas gift. Make sure to give some to the Head Elf. Minhyuk and Hyungwon, you guys find reindeer and prepare the sleigh. Jooheon, you’re in charge of figuring out where Changkyun is. Shownu, you stand guard outside while Jooheon searches.”

Before they all broke off Minhyuk ran up to Kihyun looking worried. “Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen are going to be out commission.”

Kihyun waved him off and started heading to the kitchen. “We’ll take whoever’s available.”

Minhyuk bit his lip, knowing this would be a problem later. “If you say so,” he muttered under his breath and headed to the stables.

Everything seemed to be going well for the most part. Kihyun had finished his cookies extra quickly. Minhyuk and Hyungwon had found the sleigh. But roadbumps started to occur when Wonho couldn’t find the Head Elf. He’d managed to put most of the security team to sleep but with the Head Elf still out there, things weren’t going as planned. Shownu and Jooheon had managed to break into to the archives but Jooheon was having a bit of trouble digging up the records. Luckily Kihyun had come up to give Jooheon a hand and they’d managed just barely managed to secure the records when they heard fighting outside.

Shownu was wrestling three smaller security elves at once but there was no way he could hold them off forever. Jooheon tossed the address to Kihyun and wrestled one guy off Shownu, allowing Shownu tie up the other two.

Kihyun stood by in the hall, hiding behind a plant, not really knowing how to help. He stiffened at the foreboding sound of heels clacking on the floor.

The familiar terrifying sound seemed to be getting closer and closer. “What are you doing here? You know you’re not allowed here,” Bora’s authoritative tone pricked their ears.

“Head Elf! We were just leaving,” Jooheon huffed out as he caught his breath, still holding on to the elf he'd just knocked out.

Bora looked livid. “You’re not going anywhere.” Her manicured hand reached for the whistle around her neck and blew it, signalling the elf equivalent of the SWAT team. 

With the heavy security on the way, they would definitely not be able to pass.

“We don’t have time for this,” Kihyun grit his teeth and reached for the reindeer tranquilizer on Shownu’s belt. He fired the dart so quickly no one had time to comprehend what happened until Kihyun grabbed Jooheon and Shownu and ran towards the stables.

“You shot the Head Elf,” Jooheon marveled, taking his seat next to Wonho at the reigns.

“Someone would have eventually,” Kihyun quipped, as he got in behind him.

Jooheon plugged in the GPS coordinates while they waited for Minhyuk and Hyungwon to finish up.

“We’re all set!” Minhyuk shouted from up front as he harnessed the last reindeer.

As Hyungwon hopped into his seat at the very back, he warned the others, “You might want to be careful with these guys, they aren’t exactly used to this.”

“They’re reindeer they have to be used to this.” Wonho rolled his eyes as Minhyuk handed him the reigns,

“They’re still learning how to fly,” Minhyuk explained.

“You mean to tell me we’re flying with reindeer that don’t know how to fly?!” Wonho screamed.

“We don’t have time to discuss that! The guards are on their way!” Kihyun grit his teeth as he heard guards approaching.  

Their voices and footsteps could be heard even a few meters away. “You six! Get back here!”

“Go! Go! Go!” Jooheon grabbed Wonho’s hands and forced him to slap the reigns.

Kihyun and Hyungwon peered into the apartment through the fire escape. Their jaws fell at the site of Changkyun. He was wearing sweatpants and an oversized black hoodie. Seeing him like this made him look almost human. But that wasn’t what was most surprising. The look of genuine joy that spread across Changkyun’s face as he laughed and joked with the girl standing next to him shocked his roommates.

Was this the same snarky brat that pulled pranks and cracked dumb puns?

The Changkyun they were seeing through the window hardly seemed the elf they’d known.

“Do you think maybe he’s happier here?” Hyungwon pondered as he sat with his back against the brick of the wall.

“Certainly looks happier to me,” Kihyun huffed as he joined the tall elf in his moping.

“Come on. Let’s go back and tell the others we should just head home.” Hyungwon couldn’t hide the bitterness in his voice as he climbed back up the slippery, cold ladder to the roof.

Jooheon ran up to them as soon as he saw Hyungwon’s head pop up from the ledge. He looked down with worry when he noticed what was missing. “Where’s Changkyun?”

“Not coming.” Hyungwon said as he walked past Jooheon.

Before anyone could ask, Kihyun answered, “He seems to like it here.”

“Did he say that he’d rather stay here? I’m not leaving until I hear him say it,”Jooheon protested.

The roommates' bickering startled the reindeer causing their bells to ring. The sound would go unheard to most, but Changkyun’s ears were trained to pick up their sound.

As he heard them ring, he dropped the wooden spoon in his hands.

“What’s the matter?” the girl gave him a concerned look.

Changkyun swallowed as he darted to the fire escape. “I need to get to the roof.”

The girl followed him as he climbed out into the cold and onto the roof. She was stunned when she found six other boys dressed in the same kinds of clothes she’d first met Changkyun in.

“Guys?” Changkyun squinted making out their form “Guys!” the elf cheered with joy, running towards his friends and proceeding to hug as many of them as he could at once. “I thought I’d never see you again! I missed you so much!”

“Didn’t look like it to me,” Hyungwon muttered.

“He missed you all very much. Trust me,” the girl cut in, breaking up the reunion.

“Who are you?” Wonho questioned.

“I’m apparently the person who asked for Changkyun for Christmas.” She mentioned with a shrug.

Jooheon’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“She’s my new friend! But wait, who sent you guys?”

Kihyun crossed his arms and stood directly in front of Changkyun. “Don’t ask who sent us. We’re here to take you home, but do you even want to go home, Changkyun?”

“Yes?” he answered timidly as he looked over his shoulder to the girl.

She shook her head. “I have classes starting up in a few weeks and my friends come back soon.”

“Then I guess, I’m going home.” Changkyun affirmed with a nod.

In a flash, all his friends were prepped and ready to leave. Hyungwon jumped into the back seat and fells asleep in .2 seconds, Minhyuk who sat next to him was busy munching on a set of cookies he packed, Jooheon was still arguing with Kihyun, and Shownu held open the door to the sleigh while Wonho waited with the reigns.

Changkyun’s eyes moved between the sleigh and the girl, waiting to see if she might suddenly take back her words.

Instead, she walked up Changkyun and gave him a tight hug. “Thank you for spending Christmas with me.” She stepped back, shoving him lightly towards his ride home. “Even if you were going to stay, I don’t think I could explain an elf roommate to my landlord.”

Changkyun laughed as he boarded the sleigh. “Try not to spend Christmases alone! More elves might show up at your house!” He shouted down to her as the sleigh began to rise.

“I’ll try to avoid it!” the girl answered back, waving to him until he disappeared above the clouds.

The others had been quietly eyeing Changkyun for five minutes until Jooheon finally spoke up. “So,” the red headed elf looked at Changkyun, “How exactly did this happen?”

“It’s a long story,” Changkyun sighed, sinking into his seat.

“Then it’s a good thing we’re taking the scenic route,” Jooheon shot back.

Changkyun sat up in his seat, sticking his head to the front row. “Why are we taking the long way around?”

“When we return we’re probably going to be banned from leaving the North Pole until we die. Might as well enjoy our freedom out here while we still can.” Wonho didn’t take his eyes off the sky in front of him as he answered.

“You stole this sleigh?” Changkyun’s eyes went wide as he patted the slay.

“Temporarily borrowed,” Shownu corrected.

The youngest elf placed a hand over his heart. “Oh my noel! You guys actually stole this sleigh!”

“Actually, we did worse than that,” Minhyuk cheekily grinned.

Changkyun was bouncing in his seat. “You can’t say that and expect me not to ask what you did.”

“Kihyun shot the Head Elf with reindeer tranquilizer.” Jooheon was unable to conceal his amusement at that fact.

Changkyun’s jaw dropped as he turned to the pink haired elf seated next to Shownu.

“Stop staring at me like at me like that!” Kihyun covered his reddening ears with his hands.

“Holy …,” Changkyun exhaled, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “What else did you do?”

The seven of them rode back up to the North Pole sharing their tales and laughing. Of course, the angry Head Elf was there waiting for them when they returned, but so was Santa. The old man stood smiling up at them as they landed. His eyes held a merry twinkle as he greeted them back home.

They were escorted to Santa’s office where they stood in a line awaiting whatever punishment they were likely to be given.

 “Tell me why I shouldn’t just have you all tossed out into the human world? Give me one reason,” the Head Elf lectured as she paced in front of them.

It was a rhetorical question, but Minhyuk answered anways, “Kihyun makes amazing cookies.”

Everyone looked to Minhyuk like he’d grown a third head.

“I think that’s enough to get them officially pardoned, Bora,” Santa cut in with a laugh.

“B-but-.” The Head Elf tried to argue.

Santa held up a hand. “Forgiveness is a virtue.” He wagged a finger at Bora. “You boys head back to your dorms. I need to have a word with Changkyun.”

The others eyed the youngest with worry as they were ushered out of the room by Bora.

The sounds of the crackling fire were all the filled the room as Changkyun stood frozen in his spot, waiting for Santa to say something.

“Did you enjoy delivering your present?” The old man finally spoke smiling at Changkyun like he’d just told a funny joke.

Changkyun nodded silently, afraid of making eye contact with Santa.

“Good. Now, head back to your dorm. The others are waiting.”

The finality in Santa’s tone shocked Changkyun. He locked eyes with Santa, asking why he wasn’t being punished through his glance.

Santa’s smile stretched, “Merry Christmas, Changkyun.”

The End

I know I rushed the middle part but I really, really wanted to finish. I promise I'll give you guys and Monsta X a proper fic they deserve but I wanted to write something Christmassy :3 Hope you enjoyed despite how lack luster this is <3