Waking up with a stinging pain jabbing at him from the left side of his head, he instinctively attempted to raise his hand only to feel his movements entirely restricted. Opening his eyes slowly, what first came into view were his hands and legs being tied, or rather duct-taped, to the chair he was sitting on. Looking up, he found his face barely inches away from two big dark brown eyes peering at him with a look of mixed curiousity and wariness.

“AHH! Ouch!” He let out a short scream, out of shock derived from the unexpected violation of social distance, only to elicit another scream on the other side and at the same time yet another jabbing pain in his head. She had instinctively hit him on the injured part of his head with the umbrella she was holding for self-defense.

“Who are you?” The jumpy girl beat him to the question and continued, “And where did you come from?” An uncomfortable silence lingered in the air as the petite figure continued to monitor the suspicious stranger’s every movement. For some reason, he appeared to be in deep thoughts.

“Who are you?” She repeated, this time round in a more demanding and slightly impatient tone. It took only a brief moment before she got her answer but it was nothing like what she expected.

“I am Santa Claus,” said the golden-haired stranger as he broke into a big toothy grin.

[Geun Young’s POV]

There must be something wrong with my hearing because I am almost certain that I heard him call himself Santa Claus. A weak “Huh?” was all I could muster.

“I am Santa Claus,” the mysterious boy repeated a tad too cheerfully for someone who just suffered both a terrible fall, and another slightly less-than-fatal attack on the head. Scrutinizing his Santa Claus’ costume, I spoke in a gentle tone very much similar to how I would speak to a toddler, “Yes yes. How could I have missed that? I know you’re dressed up as Santa Claus… But who exactly are you? And where did you even fall from?”

With that I plopped down on the sofa opposite him, letting my aching muscles take a rest. It had not been easy dragging that guy into the house. He appears to be around my age but he was certainly of much bigger build than me. I would never have let this mysterious stranger into my house should he not be injured or should it not be freezing cold out there. Duct-tape was the best measure I could think of and not to mention the only useful item I could find.

“I mean, I really am Santa Claus,” He reiterated defensively with a firm nod of the head before he continued, “I even have a tum- EH! Where is my tummy?” He exclaimed in shock.

“You mean that thing over there?” I said coldly while pointing to the lump of “God-knows-what” on the table.

“Oh yeah… Well, all right, since you know I am not the real Santa Claus,” He started in a sheepish manner, avoiding my eyes, like a child caught stealing cookie bites before dinner, before looking up at me with an expression I could not fathom. “Can you keep a secret?” He asked softly with widened, childlike eyes.

“Uh… ye- yeah I guess?” Being caught off-guard, I half-stuttered my reply.

“Well,” He hesitated for a moment before half-whispering, “I am Santa’s helper.” Letting out a relieved sigh, he continued, “There you go. Now you must keep the secret for me all right? They all thought I would fail. I can’t-“

“Wait a minute,” I had to stop his blabbering. This time I know it was not my hearing playing tricks on me. “What you’re saying is…” I stood up, approached him and bent down slightly so that we are now face-to-face before uttering the words, “you’re an elf?”

“Gosh no!"

"Then what? You're a reindeer?" I uttered, refraining from rolling my eyes.

That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard!” He exclaimed while looking at me as if I was intellectually challenged.

“You’re saying I’m silly? Do you even hear yourself?” I reeled back in horror and exasperation. I was losing it. This guy is either just downright irritating or really in need of help up there.

“Seriously, stereotypes, stereotypes. Do you know you can’t just be an elf? Even when you are short…” I was almost certain that he scrutinized me when he said the word “short”.

Words cannot describe the anger generating in me.

“That’s it! I’ll give you one last chance. Who are you?” I was refraining from screaming into his face. "I am civilized, I am civilized,” repeating that in my mind was all I could do to prevent anything tragic from happening in this home.

“I am Santa’s helper! I help him deliver presents. You know with the flying reindeers and sleigh and- Hey! Where are you going?”

Slamming the bedroom door behind me, I decided to put an end to all this nonsense.

“Are you going to just leave me tied up here?” I could vaguely hear him shout from the living room before I pulled the covers over my head. This must be a dream; a really bad nightmare. Such crazy things do not happen in real life. Not my life. It would all be fine when I wake up tomorrow. He would disappear. He has to. I repeated the words in my mind for the umpteenth time before lethargy took over and I finally fell asleep.