Tradition

Warning: major character death. I'm so sorry for this.

Every year since Sehun could remember, around Christmas time, there was one ornament that always came out of storage and was placed as the centerpiece for the mantel above the fireplace. He always thought it was the oddest thing to have out during this festive time of the year since it didn’t seem to match everything else, but without fail, every year at the first of December, his Appa put it in the exact location every time.

It was a decorative plate that was the brightest shade of green that he’d ever seen, the kind of green that did not match any of the other Christmas decorations, it was a bright jade color. And the two figures that decorated them in a soft silver color were a phoenix on one side and a dragon on the other. Which to the young Sehun, he thought was odd, Christmas wasn’t about a phoenix nor a dragon, so he wondered why his Appa placed it on the mantel.

The only reason he figured was because his Baba was Chinese, maybe that was the reason for the dragon part of it? Maybe it was part of a Chinese Christmas, he didn’t know. He was Korean, like his Appa, so obviously, he wouldn’t know about that kind of tradition… if it was even a tradition.

But every year without fail, on December the first, it made its way up on the mantel.

Several years later, after he’d grown up and was nearing his twenty-fourth, he had returned home for the month of December, to spend the whole month with his Baba on his Christmas break from college. It had been three years since that dreadful time where he’d lost his Appa to a car wreck, and he tried to spend as much time as he could with his Baba to keep his mind off the loss of the man.

And just like every other year, on the first day of December, they were starting to decorate the house for the holiday season, he was busy decorating the tree with all the new and old ornaments that they’d had in storage and just bought, while his father was going through the other boxes of Christmas decorations, setting things up here and there. A snow angel here, some star ornaments there, and then he got the box of decorations that went above the fireplace. In the background was one of the old Christmas carols coming from the radio.

Sehun watched his Baba every now and then put things in place, and then when he got the centerpiece that his Appa always put in the middle of the mantel, he noticed the way that his Baba paused once he’d lifted the bright green ornament up. Just staring at it, his hand brushing over the phoenix part of the decoration.

“Baba… I feel like my question is long overdue, but… what does that ornament mean?” Sehun asked, stepping away from the tree and stepping up beside his father, looking at the decoration, and noticing the way that his father’s hand stayed on the phoenix.

There was a bit of a pause before the older man answered, and Sehun saw the way the man’s neck bobbed and heard the sniffle before his gaze found that his Baba’s eyes were watering up. The man cleared his throat, casting Sehun a watery smile, “It did look a bit out of place all these years, didn’t it?”

Sehun hesitated but nodded, “It did… the green doesn’t match any of the other decorations… and I don’t think there’s any Christmas stories of a phoenix or a dragon. Did… Appa just like those two things as the reason why he always put it up for Christmas?”

Yifan laughed softly, shaking his head, “No, your Appa liked bunnies, which is the reason why most of the ornaments for the tree and the tree topper is bunnies.” He glanced at the multiple bunnies decorations on the tree… Sehun liked bunnies so he figured it was because of him when he was growing up, and he did know that his Appa liked bunnies too… he just didn’t think his father was crazy about them like that.

“Then why did he put this up?” Sehun asked, turning his gaze back to the green ornament.

“This was a gift from my mother for our wedding anniversary,” his Baba replied. “You know our wedding anniversary and your Appa decided the first year after we were married to put it up in celebration of it.”

Sehun knew his parents had picked Christmas day to get married, but after finding out that information, wouldn’t it have been better to leave it up all year long? But then again, he glanced back at the mantel above the fireplace and realized that the reason that it wasn’t there throughout the rest of the year was due to the bunny plushie that Appa told him that Baba had gotten him the first Christmas. It was the only time of the year that Appa would take down his bunny plushie and put up this bright green ornament.

“He told me the first year after we got married that we could celebrate our marriage the whole month of December, which is why he put it up during this time of the year. It just became tradition after that.”

Sehun hummed, “But why a dragon and a phoenix?”

His Baba took a shaky breath, “It means yin and yang. The dragon is the yang and the phoenix is the yin. It’s a symbol of everlasting love… which is what I feel for your Appa… despite him being gone now.”

Sehun stared at the way that his Baba’s hand caressed the phoenix, it was obvious who his Baba had considered the yin in the marriage to be. And to hear the way his Baba say that he still loved his Appa, he knew the man missed his husband greatly. Sehun missed having his Appa too, it was hard the first Christmas after the man had died. The two spent of it trying to bit back tears during any celebration they had, because no matter how much they tried to get through it, it was obvious that something was missing. Someone was missing.

Even now. There was still someone missing.

“I’m…” Sehun willed the wateriness of his eyes away, “I’m sure Appa sends his everlasting love to you still, Baba.” He smiled softly, placing his hand over his Baba’s on the phoenix.