Yunho and Jaehyun walked throughout the tree farm, in search for the perfect Christmas tree. “Appa! This one!” Jaehyun jumped, pointing to an extra-large pine tree. Yunho looked up at the tree. “You want to get this tree?” Jaehyun nodded vigorously.

“It’s taller than you Appa.” Jaehyun laughed. “It is~. Do you think it’ll fit in the house?” Yunho asked, observing the sturdy tree. “Yeah. It’ll fit.” Jaehyun answered confidently. “Okay! This tree it is. Let’s go pay for it.” Yunho said. “Yay!” Jaehyun cheered, running to one of the employees.

After Yunho paid for the tree, they trimmed the trunk and wrapped it in a plastic net. “I’ll help you guys carry it.” Jaehyun said, grabbing onto the tree when he saw his father and the employee prepare to carry it to the car. “Great. The more help the merrier.” Yunho encouraged. On his count he and the employee lifted the tree into the air. He was about to move forward when he heard a loud squeal.

Yunho turned around and laughed at the sight of Jaehyun dangling in the air from the tree. “Look at me Appa.” Jaehyun giggled. “Hold on tight.” Yunho laughed one more time before heading to the car. “Weeee~…” Jaehyun sang.

“Why do I have to go to the store?” Daehyun pouted from inside the shopping cart. “Why are you pouting? I thought you liked going to the store?” Jaejoong questioned. “I do, but I wanted to go get the Christmas tree with appa and Jaehyun.” Daehyun said. “I know. But I need your help.” Jaejoong whispered.

Daehyun tilted his head to the side, interested in what his father had to say. “I need your help picking out a Christmas gift for your father and brother.” Jaejoong whispered. Daehyun’s eyes lit up. “I can do that!” He chirped. Jaejoong chuckled, “Good. Now let’s look for some presents.”

Jaejoong was surprised by how easy it was for Daehyun to pick out gifts for his family members. He put a lot of thought into it and he knew what they liked and wanted. Daehyun climbed out of the cart to look at each and every gift in detail before choosing it.

“You’re really good at this Dae.” Jaejoong complimented, once they finished picking out a handful of gifts for Yunho and Jaehyun. “Thank you. Can I get a present for Youngjae?” Daehyun asked. Jaejoong smiled at this. “Sure.” “Yay! I know exactly what to get him.” Daehyun ran ahead. Jaejoong followed after him.

“This is it!” Daehyun gleamed, holding up a large art kit. It came with a sketch book, colored pencils, crayons, markers, a pencil sharpener, a ruler, scissors, glue, oil pastels, and erasers. “He wants that?” Jaejoong questioned. Daehyun nodded, “Youngjae is really good at drawing. He always talks about how he wants an art kit.”

“What if his parents get him one for Christmas?” Jaejoong asked curiously. “That’s okay. That means he’ll have two and then he can draw even more!” Daehyun beamed. “go ahead and put it in the cart then.” Jaejoong said. Daehyun did as he said and put the kit in the cart with much care. “I want to get him more colored pencils and regular pencils, because he likes to draw with them.” He said, grabbing two more packs of pencils and colored pencils. “He likes to draw a lot.”

“Does he want to be an artist when he gets older?” Jaejoong asked. “Yeah, but he said he can’t, because his parents said artists don’t make money. But he really likes to draw.” Daehyun answered. Jaejoong raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised. “Really?” he said more out of curiosity.

“Mm hm.” Daehyun nodded. “But I told him that we can both become Mangakas! I can write manga stories and he can draw them. And then that way we can make money.”

“But you don’t like to write.”

“But I like telling stories. So~ I can tell Youngjae the story and he can write it down.”

Jaejoong couldn’t help but chuckle at his son’s logic, but he thought the idea was sweet.

Jaehyun’s eyebrows knitted together when he looked out the window to see that they pulled into the parking lot to the mall. “Why are we hat the mall?! I don’t want to go shopping~.” He whined. After picking up the tree they dropped it home and went back out. “We have to go Christmas shopping for appa and Dae.” Yunho said, parking the car. “But I don’t want to shop.” Jaehyun pouted. He hated shopping.

Yunho stepped out the car and opened the door to the back seat. “Don’t you want to get Daehyun and Appa Christmas Presents?” He asked. “I do.” Jaehyun nodded. “Then we have to go and shop.” Yunho told him. Jaehyun was reluctant but unbuckled his seatbelt anyway. “Okay~…” He gave in, hopping out the car.

“If you’re good, we can get food from the food court.” Yunho promised holding out his hand. “Okay!” Jaehyun said, putting on a smile. He took his father’s hand and walked together in the street. “But we can’t let Daehyun see us buy gifts.” Jaehyun told his father. “Why not?” Because, I think he still believes in Santa.” Jaehyun said, giggling to himself at how silly his brother is.

“He does?”

Jaehyun nodded, “He’s a baby.” He said, shaking his head. Yunho chuckled a little. “Is that so?” Jaehyun nodded again, then sighed, “I don’t know when he’s going to grow up.”

Yunho fought the urge to laugh, knowing that Jaehyun was serious and concerned for his older sibling.

“What are you thinking about?” Jaejoong asked, Daehyun when he noticed him staring silently out the window on their drive home. “Appa, why do we lay presents for Christmas?” Daehyun asked the question that was on his mind.

Jaejoong hadn’t expected the question but thought about it before answering. “Well…” he began. “there are a lot of other holidays that occur during this time of year that also have to do with giving, gratefulness, and gamily. This is the time of year where people are giving and, in some cases, selfless. And they show their selflessness and love by giving what they can to both strangers and their loved ones.” Jaejoong answered the best he could. He didn’t know the answer himself.

“So, we give presents to show our love?” Daehyun questioned. “People give what they can to show their love. Not everyone can give a present, so they show their love in different ways like spending their time with them and so on.” Jaejoong explained.

“Oooooh~…” Daehyun said processing his father’s words. “So, since I am giving Youngjae a gift, that means I love him?” He finally asked. Jaejoong paused. “Yes, in a way I guess.” He said.

“What?! So that means we have to get married?!” Daehyun exclaimed throwing his father off guard.

“No, no, no. You have different kinds of love. Like your love for your family is different from your love for your friends and that love is different from a romantic love with a partner.” Jaejoong quickly cleared up.

Daehyun scratched his head in confusion. “Ah, that’s complicated.” He frowned. “It’s okay. You’ll understand when you’re older.” Jaejoong promised.

“Appa.”

“Hm?”

“When did you know that you loved Appa in a romantic way?” Daehyun asked.

Once more Jaejoong was taken aback by his question but thought deeply about it. “Well, I’m not really sure, but there was a moment when I realized that it wasn’t infatuation.”

~Flashback~

“Jaejoong sweetie, it’s Yunho again.” Jaejoong’s mother came into the living room where he was on the couch flipping angrily through the TV channels. “I don’t want to talk to him.” he said. “Do you want me to tell him that you’re not home?” His mother asked.

“No. Tell him I’m home, so he knows that I’m purposely ignoring him.” Jaejoong continued to press the remote buttons hard. Ms. Kim shook her head and put the house phone back to her ear. “Yunho? Are you still there? Mm hm...” She spoke on the phone, walking away. “And tell him to stop calling! Or else I’ll block his number!” Jaejoong called.

“It’s that bad, huh?” Heechul flopped on the couch next to him. Jaejoong and Yunho had been fighting for the past two weeks. One thing led to another and it only continued to get worse. It was winter break and Jaejoong was hon calling for them to meet up, but Jaejoong refused to see him. “He’s an idiot.” Jaejoong muttered to himself.

“Are you sure he’s the idiot?” Heechul remarked. Jaejoong glared at him. “Are you taking his side? You don’t even know what it’s about.”

Heechul held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not taking any sides here. I’m just saying that you tend to overreact over things.” He defended. Jaejoong rolled his eyes turning back to the television.

“Are you ready Heechul?” Ms. Kim asked as she walked up to the door. “Yep.” Heechul hopped off the couch. Jaejoong looked back to see that his mother and brother were dressed to go out. “You guys are going out?” He asked in surprise. “We’re spending quality mother and son time.” Heechul beamed, hugging his mother.

“What about me?”

“What about you?” His brother shrugged.

Jaejoong frowned.

Ms. Kim looked at her sons in confusion. “Heechul I thought you asked Jaejoong if he wanted to go out tonight? You said that he said no.” She accused. “Heechul didn’t ask me anything.” Jaejoong glared at his brother.

“What?! You told me not to invite him because he’s in one of his pissy moods again.” Heechul defended.

Jaejoong frowned at his mother.

She smiled innocently. “Oh! Look at the time. We’re gonna be late.” She said scurrying out the apartment first. “Have fun being angry and alone.” Heechul waved tauntingly. Jaejoong pulled off his slipper and threw it at the elder. But Heechul quickly escaped the apartment before it could hit him.

Jaejoong groaned, sinking deeper into the sofa. Giving up, he decided to watch the hallmark channel that was playing Christmas movies.

After a half hour of barely watching a cheesy holiday movie, there was a knock on the door. Jaejoong reluctantly stood up and walked to the door. He looked through the peephole only to see that it was the last person he wanted to see. “Go away.” He said, not bothering to open the door.

“Please Jaejoong.” Yunho pleaded. “We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you.” Jaejoong rejected his pleas.

Yunho released a sigh. “Jaejoong, I want to apologize, but in person. Not through a door. So, pretty please open the door. You don’t have to forgive me. But I do owe you a proper apology.”

Jaejoong was reluctant but opened the door to receive the apology that he believed he deserved.

Yunho was stood in front of the door, layered in jackets and a bag of groceries tucked under his arm. “Jaejoong, I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you or your feelings.” He sincerely apologized. Jaejoong only looked at him, unimpressed.

“Can we please stop fighting?” Yunho pleaded. “I don’t like fighting with you. It feels like we’ve been fighting forever. I don’t even remember how this started.”

However, that was the wrong thing to say.

“You don’t remember? So, what was that apology for?”

Yunho’s eyes w