Note to my giftee: Hello peachesandcream, I wish you a very merry Christmas and a nice holiday :3 I really hope that you enjoy rerading my gift for you :)

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Letters For Christmas

The wintery sky was dark, a light cool wind was blowing and snow was silently falling, covering everything with a thin white layer. The whole village looked like it was covered in powdery sugar and even smelled like it. From almost every house wafted the sweet smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies, filling the streets and awakening the appetites of the people walking by. With the soft glowing streetlights and the warm light coming from the houses and Christmas decorations the peaceful village looked like it came right out of a children’s book.

Within this peaceful atmosphere there was one person who wasn’t feeling peaceful at all. A little boy about seven years old was walking through the nearly deserted streets, kicking up piles of snow as he went, his face an angry frown and his little fists stuffed in the pockets of his coat. He puffed out white clouds of foggy breath as stomped on, seemingly without any clear destination. The boy wasn’t wearing gloves or even a hat, only a red fluffy scarf that covered half of his face and let the red tips of his ears show. The few passersby didn’t spare him a second glance and he was so small that he went quite unnoticed by everyone. Well, by almost everyone, because there was a person that did notice him. It was another boy who could be about two years older than the other and he was fascinated how much anger such a small body could harbour. And as he was convinced that no one should be that angry on Christmas Eve he decided to follow him and find out what the smaller boy was so angry about.

When he finally caught up with him they were standing on the playground just outside the village and the smaller boy sat sulkily on one of the snow-covered swings.  “How can someone so small be so angry?” , he wondered again, only realizing he had said it out loud when the other boy looked up at him. “What do you care, anyway? And who are you?” , he shot back, frowning up at the older. “I am Jaebum. Im Jaebum. And I think nobody should be angry on Christmas Eve. And who are you? I don’t think I have seen you before.” The younger boy still looked at him a bit suspiciously but still answered with a little huff. “I’m Choi Youngjae. I am from Seoul but my parents are gone for Christmas. And now I have to spend Christmas alone with my aunt. I don’t like her at all. She doesn’t give me cookies or sweets or anything. I don’t think i will get any presents at all this year.” , he whined and kicked the snow again. Jaebum nodded understandingly. “That really is not nice at all. But are you not cold? It’s freezing. Oh! And I have something for you!” With that he took a lollipop out of his pockets and gave it to the sulking boy, whose face lit up in a bright smile as he took the candy and thanked him excitedly. “Oh yes, It is cold...but...I don’t want to go home.” , Youngjae said sadly. “But I am sure your aunt worries about you. It is late and dark now. Come, I can walk you home?” , Jaebum offered and held out his hand. The other accepted slowly and they walked together hand in hand with Youngjae leading and walking as slowly as he could.

As soon as they got to Youngjae’s house a small woman came running out of the front door, taking Youngjae into her arms and scolding him for running away like that. She then thanked Jaebum for taking care of him and for bringing him back and even asked him to stay for a while.  “I would like to, but I do have to get back to my grandmother, she will worry about me if I come back later.” , Jaebum answered apologetically. “But you could come by tomorrow?”, asked Youngjae hopefully, looking from his aunt to Jaebum. “Of course, Dear. You are welcome whenever.” His aunt smiled and after Jaebum accepted and said goodbye they both got inside. And to his surprise he saw Christmas Presents laid out for him and a plate full of cookies and other sweet stuff. And after everything was unpacked and eaten, Youngjae went to bed with the excitement of seeing Jaebum again the next day.

Unsurprisingly Youngjae and Jaebum where unseparatable after that day. They were always seen together for the rest of the Christmas break, until Youngjae had to go back to Seoul. On the day his parents picked him up they both cried a bit, but promised to keep in touch and exchanged addresses. Of course Youngjae sent a letter as soon as he arrived back in Seoul and received an answer about a week later.

They wrote letters to each other like this as they grew up, neither one forgetting the other and even if the answer would take longer there would always be an apology for taking so long and being busy with school. And every Christmas Jaebum would include a lollipop to his letter to Youngjae, reminding both of them how they met for the first time.

As they grew older the letters would take longer to write, both boys being busy with school and friends, until one day Youngjae found that Jaebum had written down his phone number and told him to text him as soon as he got this letter, for it would make things far easier.  

So with shaking hands and a racing heart Youngjae got out his phone, saved the number and send his first message to his Hyung.

To: Jaebum-Hyung [3:30 pm]

Jaebum-hyung it’s me, Youngjae!  \@^@/

Merry Christmas  :3

From: Jaebum-Hyung [3:31 pm]

So you finally got the letter! \^-^/

Merry Christmas to you, too  :D

Now they texted every day even in school, sometimes even only barely avoiding being caught by the teacher. They talked about everything, about school, hobbies and new video games they both tried out , about music and how they both wanted to become singers in the future, sometimes even sharing lyrics they wrote.

When the next Christmas came, in the year when Youngjae turned sixteen, he got a message that made his heart race more than ever.

From: Jaebum-Hyung [5:47 pm]

Call me.

Youngjae almost dropped his phone as he read the message, his hands shaking and his thoughts going haywire, his brain seeming to give up on him, feeling the nervous energy surging through him. he was going to hear Jaebums voice again. While still wondering how it would have changed, a smooth and slightly deep voice answered the call. “Hello? Youngjae?”  At the sound of that voice Youngjae really did drop his phone, surprised and overwhelmed at how much his hyungs voice had changed and how good Youngjaes name suddenly sounded. “Ow, Youngjae, are you okay there?”, Jaebum asked through the phone in a mix of concern and amusement. “Uhm...yes, yes everything is okay. I just...my phone fell down.”, Youngjae stuttered embarrassed. “Why? Are you nervous?”, Jaebum asked half teasingly. “Uh...uhm...yeah a bit, actually.” A lot, actually, thought Youngjae. “It’s okay. I’m nervous too...it has been quite long since we last talked.”, he chuckled. “So...I am afraid you won’t get a lollipop this year but still...Merry Christmas, Youngjae.”  Youngjaes breath hitched a bit. “It’s...it’s okay. Merry Christmas to you too, Jaebum-hyung.”

Like this, phone calls became a regular thing as well. They would spend hours talking to each other, with Jaebum now almost always ranting about his cats he got recently and Youngjae going on about the dog of one of his friends. This soon turned into a minor argument, because Jaebum couldn’t understand how Youngjae could like dogs, whereas Youngjae didn’t understand how Jaebum couldn’t like dogs.

They also often talked about auditioning for different Entertainment companies and both of them agreed on the point that they wanted to get into JYP Entertainment the most.

Needless to say that both boys were thrilled when, one year later, Youngjae got the message that he was accepted as a trainee in JYP and his training period was to start next Monday. Jaebum screamed so loudly into the speaker that Youngjae nearly dropped the phone and had to hold it safe away from his ears, but he was still very happy that his best friend was as excited as him.

When Monday finally came, Youngjae was as excited and nervous as never before (except when talking with Jaebum) and he double checked everything before leaving the house. On his way he talked with Jaebum on the phone again, because the older boy had promised to help him through the nervousness. And talking with Jaebum really did help a bit, at least until he was standing in front of the JYP building and feeling really small and untalented all of a sudden. “Don’t worry too much. It won’t be that bad if you make mistakes on your first day. Nobody can be that perfect. And if anything really bad happens you can always tell me. I’ll be there for you, I promise.” “Thanks, Hyung. But I do hope that nothing bad will happen. Anyways, I’m going in now. I’ll tell you all about my first day later, okay?”, Youngjae answered, glad that he could count on Jaebum to comfort him. “Okay. But there is one thing I would like to tell you before you go in.” What exactly Jaebum wanted to tell him Youngjae didn’t get to hear, because the older boy had ended the call at that exact moment.

“IM JAEBUM! How dare you just hang up on me like that! You complete idiot! How am I supposed to concentrate on training now!?”, Youngjae yelled at his phone with an accusing glare, as if it was its fault that Jaebum had hung up. He was about to angrily stomp up to the entrance when he heard a very familiar voice behind him, laced with amusement and something else Youngjae couldn’t quite grasp. “How can someone so small be so angry?” He turned around so fast that he almost got dizzy, staring open mouthed at the figure now in front of him. Right there stood the boy he had met so many years ago on a snowy Christmas Eve, whom he exchanged letters and text messages with and whom he had till now had only seen on the occasional pictures he had send the younger boy. “Jae-Jaebum-hyung?” , he asked, still not quite believing that the older boy was standing there, right in front of him, so close that he could touch his face if he reached out. His heart was beating so fast and loud by now that he was sure Jaebum could hear it just as loudly. “Hello Youngjae.”, the older boy smiled at him so wide that it took Youngjaes breath away, “But...but how...why...you...”, was the only thing he could stutter out. “I got accepted too. That’s what I wanted to tell you. And I wanted to finally see you again and really talk to you. In person. Not just over the phone.” He paused and took a deep, shaking breath, his smile faltering a bit. “And...there’s something else as well.” Another pause, another deep breath. “I like you, Youngjae. I really like you. For a long while now I’ve...had those feelings whenever we talked or texted and now that I can see you in person it’s...you’re even more stunning than in pictures and I...I really” “Like you too.”, Youngjae interrupted before Jaebum could end his rant. “What?” “I really like you too, for a long while already.”, he repeated and watched with a happy satisfaction as a pretty blush began to spread across Jaebums cheeks, matching his own flushed face. And now that he finally could, the smaller boy reached out and softly Jaebums cheek, letting his fingers wander slowly across his face, down to his lips and then, after making sure Jaebum wouldn’t draw back, replacing his fingers with his lips, placing a light kiss on them. He didn’t give Jaebum the chance to kiss him back, turning around and entering the building. “I am still angry at you for not telling me that you got in as well. And for hanging up on me.”, he explained sternly to a whining Jaebum. But he couldn’t restrain himself from lacing their hands together as they both looked for their training studio, both with happy smiles on their faces and. And before they entered the room Jaebum leaned down a bit and whispered something into Youngjaes ear. “Even though it’s a bit late now, Merry Christmas, Youngjae.”