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Gingerbread Wish
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CHRISTMAS MAGIC

 

Why did everyone have to come at the same time to the mall a week before Christmas? It wasn’t as if they were going to find better prices. Nor better gifts. All the stores were in complete disarray, with all their items scattered everywhere; many of them already touched by more than a dozen hands. Those items were absolutely not gift material, and Zitao deserved something perfect.

He should’ve done this before, Sehun realized. Why hadn’t he? He didn’t know. He was currently looking for a Christmas gift for his boyfriend but he wasn’t having so much success, and, uh… Alright, Zitao wasn’t his boyfriend—yet—but that’s why he was here. He had to find him the best gift ever, so he would be confident enough to finally confess his feelings.

He had been in love with Huang Zitao for more than he could remember—alright! He did remember. He met the Chinese man during his second semester in university and from that moment on, he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him.

Zitao was handsome, funny, and smart; a little bit over reactive, but his extraordinary skills in martial arts compensated it. He was simply amazing. He had never known someone as interesting as Zitao before, so it was logical for him to fall in love. That had been almost four years ago, but Sehun was still deeply attracted to the guy. His problem was that, no matter how hard he tried, Zitao never looked at him that way. He considered Sehun to be like… a good classmate. It wasn’t as if they were close because, really, they weren’t. Sehun had tried several times to start a conversation, but he never knew what to talk about with him. And so their interactions were reduced to saying ‘hi’ only when they passed next to each other through the corridors.

That was why he was in his current predicament. He had to find something that could develop their relationship from being acquaintances—and not even that—to future best couple ever.

He was standing in the mall’s concourse, next to the entrance of the elevator. He turned his head to all directions, trying to find a store where he hadn’t stepped yet. He had been there for about two hours, wandering from store to store. Analyzing clothes, shoes, handbags, electronic devices, books… but nothing seemed good enough. Maybe he should try in the jewelry shops. Jewels were beautiful, and Zitao loved jewelry. His hands were always full of rings and he had some piercings as well. He loved anything that screamed bling-bling, so maybe buying him a jewel wouldn’t be so—

The elevator doors opened and Sehun was pulled by the collar of his sweater inwards. Immediately, the doors closed and the machine began to move up. A hand appeared behind him, pressing the stop button; causing the elevator to stop abruptly and making them wobble a bit. The hand that held him by the neck released him, and Sehun turned quickly to see who the madman who had pulled him in was.

A smiling guy was in front of him, looking at him as if nothing weird had just happened a moment ago. He was a few centimeters shorter and his skin was as pale as the snow falling outside the mall. One of his cheeks was framed by a dimple that seemed to have no bottom. His eyes were sparkly; more than what Sehun had ever seen in any other pair of eyes. His hair was black, like one of those coals Santa Claus gave to bad children.

At this, Sehun wanted to laugh.

This unknown guy, in fact, had the façade of having escaped from Santa’s toys factory. He wore a green shirt with long sleeves, buttoned up to the neck; decorated with a small crimson bowtie. His pants were folded at the bottom, showing his socks, which had patterns that made them look almost as ugly as a Christmas sweater. And not to mention his ears! They were somewhat pointy, making him look like an elf. An attractive, not shorty elf.

“Hello!” The elf-ish guy said, smiling wider.

“Uh…” Sehun stared at him, not knowing what to say. “Hi?”

It wasn’t meant to sound like a question, but he was taken aback. Not that he was socially awkward or something, but not every day he was choked inside an elevator by a stranger who looked like an elf.

“Yes, hi. My name’s Yixing and I come from the North Pole.”

Sehun blinked a few times, dumbfounded. Had he just said the North Pole?

“I’m not supposed to be doing this, and actually, I’m not supposed to be here,” this Yixing guy said, moving his hands dramatically. “But something happened a few hours ago and I really, really need your help.

“You’ll see, The Elf Villa and Santa’s toys factory are made of gingerbread cookie. My job—“he put his hands to his chest“—is to prepare the ginger dough and repair any imperfections that may be inside the constructions; like holes in walls or ceilings. For some reason that I won’t mention, I had to put non-edible ingredients in the dough and there’s a small possibility that Santa ate a piece of the wall and now he’s intoxicated, completely unavailable to work this Christmas.

“And there’s where I need your help! I’ve been walking around, trying to find someone who might be suitable for the job. Then I saw you and I knew you were the one! You’re perfect! Definitely the one that I’ve been looking for! So you’ll come with me to the North Pole; I’ll teach you how to be Santa; and you’ll be his replacement until he’s fine again!”

Sehun stared at him, waiting for him to laugh and tell him that it was a joke. But such thing never happened. The guy looked very proud of himself, as if what he had just said wasn’t a complete mess of an idea, taken from a very bad produced movie, with an even worse plot.

“What did you just say?” Sehun asked, still trying to process.

Yixing-elf guy widened his eyes and his mouth fell open. “Please don’t make me repeat all that!”

At that moment Sehun wanted to get out of the elevator. He glanced at the red button, wondering how fast he would have to be before the man reached it first.

“Don’t even think about it,” Yixing said. “I used my Christmas magic and the buttons can’t be pushed until I feel like it.”

Sehun gave him a weird look, almost judging him. This guy had a problem.

”Look, I know this is complicated,” Yixing continued, “but you just have to come with me and I’ll make the rest.”

“I won’t go anywhere with you,” Sehun finally managed to say.

Yixing frowned and his mouth fell open again. “Why not?!”

“Why not? You ask me why not? Maybe it’s because—”Sehun raised his eyebrows and began to put his fingers up with each sentence he said”—I don’t know who you are. You’re retaining me here against my will. And you’re talking as if you were and elf!”

“I am an elf!” Yixing looked offended. “And I already told you that I’m Yixing. You do know who I am.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Yixing crossed his arms. “Explain yourself.”

Sehun stared at him for a while, and then he simply said, “Let me out of here.”

“No before you accept.”

Sehun rolled his eyes and sighed, looking at the ground through the glass walls in the elevator. The people out there were still walking around, roaming through the stores. Would someone be waiting for the elevator? They had to get out of there.

“Do you accept?”

Sehun looked at Yixing again and found him chewing nervously his lip. How could he leave? Maybe if he said yes, Yixing would let him out. Then he would simply continue with his business, leaving the guy behind.

“If I agree,” Sehun began, not believing he was going to follow his game, “will you use your magic so I can push the button again?”

Yixing nodded quickly, disheveling his fringe. “Yes! I’ll get you out of here.”

Sehun watched him intently, trying to see whether Yixing was lying to him. The weird man looked quite calm, as if he believed that he really did have magic. Sehun didn’t find a hint of trickery in his expression.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll… I’ll help you.”

Yixing’s face lit up, making his dimple appear when he beamed at him. Yixing was a weird guy, but he had a pretty smile; Sehun had to grant him that.

“You can push the button, then.”

Not turning away from Yixing, Sehun slowly extended his hand until he touched the button. The elevator started again, causing them to wobble once more. The trip was short and when the doors opened, Sehun left immediately, not even turning to look at Yixing. He walked quickly, trying to get as far away from him as possible. He didn’t consider, however, that Yixing knew how to run and in a moment he had him in front of him again.

“Where are you going?” Yixing asked, extending his arms to stop him. “The sleigh’s not in this direction.”

Oh, and he also had a sleigh! Unbelievable.

“Listen, Yixing,” Sehun moved uncomfortably in his place. “It was fun to play the Santa elves with you and everything, but I have things to do, so…”

He surrounded Yixing, beginning to walk aimlessly. What was he doing before crossing paths with the guy? Ah, yes! The jewel for Zitao! Where was the jewelry store? He had seen it somewhere befo—

“We were not playing!” Yixing interrupted his thoughts, walking beside him and trying to keep his pace. “And you said you would help me if I let you out! That’s what I did. Now you have to come with me.”

“I didn’t mean it, you know? I just wanted you to let me out.”

A sharp gasp reached his ears and Sehun turned back, finding a very shocked Yixing.

“Did you lie?!”

“Uh…” Sehun looked around, feeling uncomfortable. People had begun to stare. “Yeah.”

Yixing gaped at him and Sehun had to suppress his laughter. He looked funny.

“How dare you?!” The man walked toward Sehun and pressed a finger to his chest. “Did you write Santa a letter? Because if you did, Kyungsoo will make sure to put your name on the Naughty List!”

Sehun gave two steps backward and frowned. “What? Who’s Kyungsoo? No, wait. I don’t want to know. Just leave me alone.”

He continued on his way to the jewelry store, leaving Yixing again. He could already see the place down the hallway. Yixing followed him, telling him that he really needed his help, but Sehun simply ignored him. Once in the store, he entered without waiting for Yixing to arrive. He let the door close, almost hitting the guy in the face.

The store wasn’t as crowded as the rest of the mall. There were about six or seven people, talking to the employees or watching the items on display. There was a glass wall that allowed people to see the parking lot and, in the distance, the buildings of Seoul. Sehun noticed that it was snowing again.

He began to walk around, looking intently at each jewel. Some were small and simple; others were huge and swanky. What would Zitao’s style be? Sehun pondered it for a moment and concluded that it was undeniably huge and swanky.

“What are you looking for?”

Yixing was staring at him, with a curious look.

“Nothing.” He moved to another counter, which had gold bracelets.

“Are you looking for a gift?”

“…Maybe.”

Sehun didn’t like those bracelets. They didn’t look like something Zitao would use.

“Is it for a boy or for a girl?” Yixing asked, following him to the next counter.

“Boy.”

“What’s his name?”

“Zitao.”

Sehun frowned. Why was he giving Yixing that information? He didn’t even know him. He could be someone who wanted to harm him. What if he was a kidnapper? Yixing looked like a cute, somewhat delusional but innocent guy, yet Sehun couldn’t afford to trust his appearance. He had seen enough movies that supported that idea.

“Oh… Is he your significant other?”

Sehun felt his face heat up. He avoided looking at the other when he said, “Yeah…”

Yixing nodded and stayed in silence for a while, letting him see the jewels in peace.

They arrived at a counter that had earrings of different sizes and colors. Sehun was looking at a shiny one, with a small diamond in it. It definitely looked like something Zitao would like. He smiled, thinking about Zitao’s face when he saw it inside the small box. He would be so happy that he—

“What do you think about that one?”

Sehun’s thoughts were interrupted—again—by Yixing when the latter spoke. He almost rolled his eyes, but restrained himself because, to be honest, he was open to any opinion. He still wasn’t sure what to buy. His eyes landed where Yixing’s finger was pointing. It was an earring that looked like a small and shiny snowflake. Sehun analyzed it with curiosity, finding it pretty.

“That’s the one I would choose,” Yixing said.

Sehun contorted his face, deep in thought. It was pretty, yes, but he couldn’t imagine Zitao using something like that. Would it be his style?

“I think it looks great,” Yixing said, leaning over the counter to see the jewel closely. “If it were for me, I would never use anything else.”

Sehun raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to get a piercing?”

“Oh, I already have one.” Yixing turned his head, pointing to his left ear. “You see?”

Sehun saw a small, sparkly earring in that elf-like ear. It was simple, but it somehow gave him an elegant and discreet look. He hadn’t even noticed it before.

“But it’s not about me, of course, so feel free to choose whatever you want.” Yixing smiled at him, and Sehun just nodded, not knowing what to say.

He contemplated the snowflake earring and then asked, “Why would you choose that one?”

Yixing pursed his lips, thinking. Then he looked at the window and a smile crept slowly up his face. Without giving Sehun time to react, he took him from his wrist and walked out of the store.

“Wait! Wait!” Sehun exclaimed, trying to free his arm. “Where are you taking me? Let me go!”

“Stop moving like that. You’re going to make us fall.” Yixing kept pulling him, heading to the escalators. “We’re just going to the parking lot.”

Sehun stopped his fight and let Yixing pull him. He didn’t want to fall. Now that he was on his way out, he didn’t want to go back inside, either. He wanted to go home. He had no idea what to buy, anyway.

When they finally got out, the snow began to accumulate on their heads. Yixing led them to an area where there weren’t many people and stopped behind the furthest car. He crouched behind it and pulled him to do the same. Sehun tugged on his arm and Yixing finally released him.

“What are we doing here?”

“You asked me why I would choose the snowflake earring, right?” Yixing didn’t even give Sehun time to reply. “If I give you the perfect gift for Zitao, would you finally come with me and give me a hand?”

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Elzagirl #1
Chapter 4: Can you please please update ? 🥺 it's really beautiful .. please 🥺