It was Christmas night and perhaps, he was not a very good boy this year for Santa forgot to send him his gift. He stretched his limbs and looked around, strangely assured that he was not the only one being miserable in this holiday as people around him, waiting for the last bus to Seoul, were looking as somber as him. It , huh, to be going back to Seoul for work instead of coming home to the sound of a crackling fireplace and the smell of the roasted chicken, surrounded by the people who reminded him that he was not truly alone.

A blazing light suddenly rendered him temporarily sightless before he finally grasped the situation as people began to rush to get on the bus. The small misty cloud right in front of his face when he sighed quickly dissolved as he got up and eventually trailed behind the line of people. Once he was inside, it was jammed packed and he was worried that he failed to find the number of seats printed on his ticket.

"TC83... TC83— Excuse me—"

For a few seconds, he was rooted in his place, looking at his supposed seatmate on this trip. A cherry-red-haired guy, originally spacing out, staring outside of the window, suddenly turned to him upon his unfinished remark. He gulped and stole another glance at the man before he settled himself on his seat. The man lingered his stare on him for a mere second before he sighed and shifted his gaze back to the twinkling road lamp outside. He wanted to at least greet him and initiate a small talk because he was going to be stuck with the latter for almost eight hours. However, he quickly dismissed his thoughts noticing the teal mask covering half of his face, and the earphone tangled among his burgundy scarf that screamed nothing but leave me alone. Perhaps, tonight, this person was just like him, wondering whether Christmas was that magical.

"Attention, the bus is to depart in two minutes. All passengers are asked to remain seated and please put the belongings below your seat to keep the aisle clear."

This was gonna be a long trip, he sighed in defeat. He checked his watch and it showed that it was supposed to be the time he would have been enjoying the Christmas dinner with his family. But instead, he was on his way back to his work because his company was built off of tyranny. He fished out his phone and sent a message to his mother telling her that the bus was about to leave. And not even a second after he pressed send did the bus indeed start to drive off the main road.

After putting his phone back in his bag, he was about to close his eyes and try to doze off when he heard rustles from beside him. He intended to give no damn, continuing drifting to dreamland, but he was taken aback when the said man who was being all quiet a while ago suddenly shoved a small paper bag in front of him. He snapped his head at him and frowned, not understanding what the prettily-decorated bag had to do with him.

"Sorry but—"

However before he even managed to express his bewilderment, the man took off his mask and cracked a smile. — who knew behind that mask was a dazzling smile that almost sent his heart go pit-a-pat.

"For you," the man simply stated before his stare wandered back to the moving city. What the heck?

His jaws were still hung low even after a few beats of silence passed with him only looking back and forth between the bag and the man. He was about to tap the latter's shoulder to once again question what this was all about when the man suddenly turned to him again, causing his hand to accidentally brush over some strands of the silky red mop. 

"Err, this... I don't understand what this means," he asked, eyeing the bag on his lap. But instead of giving him any new, actually useful, information about what the hell was happening right now, the man just repeated his words.

"For you."

Now it started to be irritating. He was about to snap again, questioning the logic behind all this when the man suddenly added, "It's Christmas."

With that, the man suddenly shifted on his seat and now gave his sole attention to him. He peeked through the corner of his eyes and let out a quiet sigh. Aside from having to go back to work on Christmas, he also had to be stuck with this weird man for hours ahead. What a Christmas indeed. 

"It's not dangerous right?" 

He muttered more to himself but unfortunately the gift giver, who was just beside him, heard him. 

"Depend on how you use it. See, a knife isn't dangerous when we use it for cooking but when it's used to hurt people, then it is dangerous—" 

Jesus Christ—he unconsciously stared at the man as he was rambling about random things and the way this guy stopped upon noticing he was being observed, suddenly all red with his big eyes returning the gaze was beautiful, to say the least. He swallowed his chuckle before he managed to make this man more embarrassed and finally tore open the paper bag.

Soft and warm; it was a scarf. The moment his fingers came in contact with the materials, he could not help but feel more of the closely-knitted yarns. He pulled out the scarf from the bag and a small paper fell off. 

Wishing you a warm Christmas.

-Heechul

Now, he lost himself, openly beaming at the pretty handwriting on the paper. He glanced back at the scarf and whispered, "Heechul."

He looked at the red-haired guy and stretched his lips wider, "Your name is Heechul?" 

Heechul was mildly stunned by the warm smile of the stranger beside him before he got a grip and nodded, "It is. Also the scarf... I knitted it myself."

He failed to will down the urge to linger his gaze on the way the man beside him looking dazedly at his unexpected gift. And his shy smile naturally sat on his face when the latter simpered, uttering, "It's such a thoughtful gift. Are you sure it's for me?" 

And when the man, whose dimple always appeared every now and then even when the latter just casually talked, suddenly looked at him, he quickly dropped his gaze as he nodded. 

"My Christmas . I have to go back to Seoul because work starts tomorrow. So I thought," he paused, his eyes immediately drawn to the way this man played with his small note with his fingers. 

"So I thought I want to give a present to the person seated next to me tonight."

It was another peaceful silence with the sound of the bus engine and the faint Christmas carol from his earphone being the only soundtrack for his life. Most people on the bus were already asleep, and he was about to do the same when the man suddenly spoke again. 

"Leeteuk."

He was caught off guard when the man suddenly introduced himself as he wrapped the scarf around his neck. 

"My name is Leeteuk. And... Thank you for the present."

Leeteuk—he smiled to himself, "You're welcome."

And without letting any seconds pass by to entertain their awkward silence, he squirmed on his seat and pressed his head against the window, carefully adjusting his own scarf and closing his eyes to sleep. 

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