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Gingerbread Wish
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| T W O |

CARTOONS AIN'T TRUSTWORTHY

 

 

Going on the sleigh at first had been as if he had gone on a plane. Sehun had thought that he would feel something different, but if he were to be honest, there wasn’t something amusing about it. The only interesting thing was the speed at which they were moving.

The speedometer in the screen in front of him had indicated that they were at 8,000 km/h. Moving like that, he would be able to go from Seoul to Sydney in just one hour or so. That was unbelievable! But it was even more that Sehun didn’t perceive it from his seat. The only evidence of it was the way everything looked out the window, as if they were inside a tunnel that blurred everything out.

To kill the time, he spent the trip answering Yixing’s questions about trivial things. Like what his favorite color or cookies were. Whether he liked cold, warm, or hot milk. If he was in favor of eating pizza with pineapple on top or not. If he preferred sweet or salty food; books or movies; coke or water; coffee or tea…

But by the time the blurry lights of the cities began to fade, the sleigh slowed to 80 km/h, giving way to a bright white surface. Yixing then remained silent, as if giving him a moment to appreciate his surroundings.

The North Pole, as he had seen in documentaries, was a huge white layer floating above the great Arctic Ocean. Winter was in its peak, leaving the area with a 24-hours night. Miles and miles of glaciers greeted him from below, and a beautiful emerald-green Northern Light made it from above. Sehun was amazed at the show. He had seen pictures of it before, but it couldn’t even compare to experiencing it.

He had hoped to see a small city or something similar once reaching the North Pole. He vaguely remembered Yixing saying in the elevator something about an Elf Villa. However, they had spent about 10 minutes completely engulfed in the dark. Not a single light that didn’t belong to the Northern Light could be seen.

Sehun finally got out of his stupor and turned to look at Yixing.

The elf was leaning back in his seat, looking over Sehun's shoulder, probably at the huge emerald-green spectacle next to them. He looked back at Sehun and smiled softly.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Sehun nodded, thinking that ‘beautiful’ wasn’t adequate enough to describe what he was witnessing.

“It looks even better when there’s more than one,” Yixing said, pointing outward with his head. “The sky then is completely painted in colors, and the lights are so bright that it doesn’t even look like it’s nighttime.”

Sehun contemplated the Northern Light again, and then his eyes fell to the white ground. There wasn’t a single trace of life. Where were all those creatures that were supposed to be living there?

“Do penguins hibernate or why haven’t I seen any yet?” Sehun absentmindedly asked.

The guffaw Yixing let out startled him, and the calm and quiet moment they were having vanished at the same speed of the sleigh. Sehun watched him laugh, with a pout and a frown on his face. What was so funny?

"I have no idea whether penguins hibernate," Yixing said once his laughter had died down, wiping the corner of his eyes. "But I do know that the only penguin in the North Pole is Kyungsoo when he wears his penguin onesie."

What?

“Penguins live in the South Pole, Sehun.” He sent him a huge smile and Sehun felt his face warm with embarrassment. “We have polar bears, though, and they are definitely hibernating.”

Sehun cleared his throat and looked out the window again, ignoring how Yixing’s smile was growing wider.

“I already knew that.”

Yixing chuckled, but decided to leave the teasing for another occasion—and Sehun silently thanked him for that.

He then let himself be hypnotized by the gentle dance the Northern Light was performing. He was lost in it until Yixing tapped him on the shoulder.

“Maybe you want to see this.” He smiled, pointing at the front.

As soon as Sehun’s eyes followed Yixing’s finger, he straightened in his seat and his jaw dropped.

Shiny dots appeared in front of them, and as the sleigh kept on moving, they transformed into the lights of a city in the middle of nowhere.

“Welcome officially to the North Pole, Sehun.”

Rows and rows of houses and buildings that looked like gingerbread cookies began to appear in his field of vision. They were adorned by the edges with what looked like white, green, and red icing, and they had Christmas decorations everywhere.

The streets were made of gray paving stones, with snow covering the corners here and there. A system of rails was neatly installed, crossing the village from one end to the other. Sehun couldn’t make out the train that was driving around, but in the distance he could hear the characteristic sound of its whistle.

Still staring down, he saw people—elves—strolling along them. He then realized that he had been lied to. Elves were nothing like those cartoons he had always seen as the representation of an elf. He should’ve assumed that ever since he had laid his eyes on Yixing for the first time. To begin with, they weren’t short. They all had different heights and builds. Their clothes were similar to those of Yixing, so they weren’t using ugly stockings or pointy hats and shoes. Their ears were a little bit pointy, but over all they looked like any other person. Cartoons were all a lie.

He noticed that the streets were all connected to a central point, in what looked like a huge plaza. In the middle of it, a white Christmas tree, bigger than what he had ever seen before, shone in all its splendor. It was full of lights, garland strands and ornaments, and a gigantic star was perfectly placed at the tip.

Beyond the tree, a huge gingerbread building was waiting for them in the distance. It could be seen that it was alive, with the chimneys on its roof continuously sprouting steam, and the light coming out through the huge glass windows at the front.

“That’s Santa’s toy factory,” Yixing said.

They flew next to the Christmas tree and Sehun was sure that his jaw would detach from his face any time soon. Close up, it was even more impressive. The garlands looked like a thin golden mesh, with glittery decorations along it. The ornaments had all different designs; some were shiny, others matt or with glitter. Then he noticed that the tree wasn’t white, but green; its branches had accumulated snow among them.

“How long does it take to decorate it?” Sehun suddenly asked.

It surely took them forever to do it.

He, however, didn’t receive an answer, so he looked back at Yixing. The always happy expression on him had changed to a serious, almost worried one, and that made Sehun frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uhm…” The elf scratched the back of his neck and sent him what was probably meant to be a smile. “Not that I want to scare you, but… I think you should settle back in your seat and hold on to something. My attempts to land a sleigh aren’t always successful.”

Sehun’s frown disappeared and his eyebrows rose to his hairline. His brain began to figure out the probability for them to come out alive from this. He just had to know the amount of times the elf had tried to do it and how many of those had ended in a disaster. If, in average, 3 out of 5 had been successful, then there was nothing to worry about.

“How many times have you tried?”

“In addition to this one?” Yixing asked, staring at the steering wheel in front of him. “Just once.”

Sehun’s eyes widened, and he immediately stared at the front, putting his hands under the seat and holding as tight as he could.

So 1 out of 1 attempts had gone wrong. Yixing basically was inexperienced in driving sleighs.

Why the hell was he driving one, then?!

On a brighter note, at least Sehun could boast in his next life that he had died knowing the existence of the Elf Villa. How many people were lucky enough to do it? As far as he knew, he would be the first one.

He hadn’t noticed, but the sleigh had slowed down considerably. Taking a look at the speedometer, it indicated that they were now moving at 20 km/h. His eyes darted to the screen in the middle of the board. There was no longer a map, but a chronometer and a distance indicator—‘Remaining distance: 547m.’; ‘Estimated time of arrival: 1min 38sec.’, and decreasing.

“Can’t the autopilot make us land?”

Yixing shook his head. “It’s only manual, but that’s an excellent idea.” He got his hand close to the steering wheel, but withdrew it before he could even touch it. Glancing at the board in front of Sehun, he took a deep breath, and said, “Sit up straight and then please press that green button there.”

‘Remaining distance: 451m.’; ‘Estimated time of arrival: 1min 21sec.’

The sleigh kept on moving forward. They still had enough time to direct it to a safe zone, but if Yixing kept staring at the screen, they would end up crashing in one of the factory’s windows.

That would definitely be a triumphal entry.

Sehun simply obeyed and as soon as he had his back to the seat, he pressed the green button. A click reached his ears and three gray and thick strips surrounded his body. One of them adjusted him by the waist, while the other two went from between his legs to his shoulders—that was the most sophisticated seatbelt ever.

Yixing was also secured and had finally decided to press his hand to the screen.

‘Remaining distance: 364m.’; ‘Estimated time of arrival: 1min 05sec.’

The autopilot came to a stop once Yixing touched the steering wheel, causing the sleigh to destabilize its direction. It turned to the right, but Yixing quickly directed them to the left. The maneuver, however, didn’t make them return to their original path. Yixing began to move his hand, turning left and right incessantly, meandering in the air.

The movement made Sehun dizzy. Yixing’s driving skills were awful. Could that even be considered driving? Because they were in the air and people didn’t drive, but fly aerial vehicles. He could say that this sleigh was aerial, right? Either way, Yixing did it horribly. If he had time left after Christmas, once back in Seoul he would definitely teach the elf how to drive. That would help him at least to control the steering wheel.

‘Remaining distance: 213m.’; ‘Estimated time of arrival: 38sec.’

The building grew closer.

Yixing was really going to crash them there.

Sehun had the intention to start praying when suddenly, Yixing pressed a button and the sleigh began to fly up. It was as if instead of wanting to land, Yixing wanted to make them take off.

‘Remaining distance: 107m.’; ‘Estimated time of arrival: 19sec.’

His body was completely attached to the seat, and in that moment, it was as if he were back in high school, listening to his physics teacher.

"The Law of Conservation of Energy says that energy isn’t created or destroyed; it just transforms,” had the old Choi Siwon said. “Let’s use roller coasters as an example. They work by transforming the gravitational energy into kinetic energy when they go up.”

Sehun wanted to close his eyes, but he didn’t. If he was going to die, at least he had to enjoy the North Pole—or its sky—until the last second.

‘Remaining distance: 62m.’; ‘Estimated time of arrival: 11sec.’

Without a warning, Yixing pressed another button and they changed direction.

The scenery in front of them was no longer the sky, but the ground. The sleigh was now plummeting, accelerating so fast that Sehun was sure he could feel his stomach going straight to his throat.

"Now, have you felt that sensation in the belly caused by the fall of the roller coasters?" Mr. Choi’s voice continued. “Well, acceleration is to blame. That’s the constant speed increase suffered by the trolley in the fall thanks to the transf—”

Mr. Choi, Sehun thought, please shut up.

‘Remaining distance: 33m.’; ‘Estimated time of arrival: 06sec.’

His stomach churned and his eyes closed on their own. He gritted his teeth and then could only ask for it not to be so painful.

Next to him, he could hear Yixing whimpering, as if he were making a great effort.

That was definitely their end.

All of a sudden, it felt as if they had driven over a street hump without reducing the speed. They shook violently and when it stopped, the only thing he heard was Yixing’s heavy breathing and his own heart beating in his ears.

“Did I kill you?”

Releasing the air he hadn’t noticed he had retained, Sehun opened his eyes. Everything was, apparently, in order. It didn’t look like the scene of a traffic accident. They had survived—and Sehun had just decided he didn’t like roller coasters anymore.

Facing Yixing, he found him with his palms pressed on the board and his eyes clenched.

Wait…

“Please tell me you kept your eyes open all the time…”

Yixing slowly opened one eye, glancing at Sehun. Once he had confirmed that he was complete, he opened the other one.

“Maybe I closed them a little when we were going down,” he said, tracing a line with his finger on the board.

“What?!” Sehun gaped at him, with his eyes wide open. “Yixing, what the ?!”

“Don’t swear!” the elf exclaimed, frowning.

“Do not come at me with that!” Sehun pointed a finger at him. “We could’ve died!”

The elf’s mouth dropped and his eyebrows furrowed even more. “I panicked, alright?! Now press the green button again!”

Sehun did as he was told and the seatbelts disappeared.

“Besides,” Yixing added after pressing another button that turned off the sleigh, “We’re still here, so we’re good.”

The elf got out, leaving Sehun alone inside the flying machine. The latter followed him, and after walking a few steps away, he realized that the sleigh wasn’t invisible anymore. It was like a small round helicopter, without rotors and tail, in a very bright red color with golden decorations along its sides. It looked like a sphere with blades underneath, similar to those of ice skates.

“Hadn’t you said we were going on a sleigh?” Sehun asked, staring at the machine.

“We were,” Yixing absentmindedly said, carefully hidden behind the… helicopter? And peeping at the back. “The only sleigh that looks like the one you’re imagining is Santa’s.”

Sehun then paid attention to his surroundings, finding out that they were standing in an open area that looked like a runway. They had landed behind the buildings where they were going to crash a few moments ago. There, a huge entrance was welcoming them to a warehouse that screamed ‘mechanical workshop’. Inside, as far as his eyes could reach, rows and rows of sleighs similar to the one they had used were safely stored.

“What’s this place?”

Yixing turned to look at him and put a finger to his mouth, asking him to be quiet. He then motioned for him to come closer, and once Sehun stood behind him, he said, “It’s the Sleigh Innovation and Maintenance Workshop. Or SIM Workshop for short.”

From his position, Sehun could take a better glance. Beyond the rows of sleighs, he saw huge machines that were surely used to check the errors in any of the vehicles. He had never been a fan of mechanical issues, but never had he seen anything like that. It was as if they had much more advanced technology than that of the ‘real word’, and that was amazing.

He was so focused on admiring the workshop that he didn’t notice when Yixing turned around to face him. He startled slightly when the elf’s breath hit his neck.

“Listen, we can’t afford to walk freely through the factory. Nobody knows that you’re here, so nobody can see you. Don’t get away from me and don’t get distracted. I promise that tomorrow you’ll begin to visit every single area, but now we must get you in without getting caught.

“We just need to get to the entrance of the workshop and run to the elevator. I don’t think that’s difficult, unless…” The elf frowned, deep in thought. “Do you know what time it is? I was in a rush when I left, so I forgot my phone.”

Yixing intently watched him, waiting for his answer.

Sehun, on the other hand, didn’t have time to be surprised by the fact that the guy had a phone. He had barely registered what he had said, to begin with. The elf’s closeness had baffled him. He just wasn’t used to having close contact with someone he barely knew. What impressed him even more, was that Yixing didn’t even seem bothered; as if he were used to invade people’s personal space.

“Could you please…” Sehun vaguely said, taking Yixing by the shoulders and pushing him gently away from him.

“Oh!” The elf immediately stepped back, giving Sehun more space. “Yeah! Uh… Yes. Sorry.”

The runway was illuminated enough for him to see that Yixing’s cheeks had blushed slightly. The corners of Sehun’s mouth quirked up but he didn’t say anything else.

Taking his phone out, he saw that the clock indicated that it was 11:27 a.m.

“Wait, but that’s Seoul time, isn’t it?” Yixing mumbled, staring at the screen. “I had forgotten it… Could you please look up what time it is according to the Greenwich Mean Time? You can connect your phone to the factory’s Wi-Fi network.”

Sehun’s eyebrows rose and then it finally clicked in his head that Yixing was talking about phones and internet, and were they really in the North Pole? He didn’t muttered his questions out loud, though. He simply connected his phone to the open network that bore the name of ‘Santa’s Internet Connection’—so original!—and looked for what Yixing had requested.

“It’s 2:27 a.m.” Sehun showed the screen to him.

“We arrived later than I had planned.”

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