A/N: OK I AM SO SORRY I NEVER UPDATED, LIKE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW SORRY I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D: T.T I've been writing this since November, but of course, school's been insane so I only had time to update today, Christmas Eve. Well, this chap was originally created FOR Christmas, so I guess it could be taken as a Christmas gift......I was just worried this wouldn't be out till AFTER Christmas! Hope this makes up for it! DON'T KILL AUTHOR-NIM! 

The flight back was uneventful. Yesung didn’t almost lose Ddangkoma and Leeteuk wasn’t running off (he was mainly moping and crying that he had to leave). It was nice to be able to read signs once we landed back in Seoul. Not only that, but also be able to speak to other people. Only knowing one language is sort of a disadvantage, really.

When we arrived home, we were surprised with the news about Zhou Mi and Siwon. Not only was Zhou Mi now a model, they both came out to his parents, and had dinner with them! That’s pretty amazing. Unfortunately, that means we would be seeing less of both of them because of their modeling jobs.

Even though we missed two days of school, there was so much waiting for us when we came back. Those who were in their third year had four tests to make up, and us 2nd years had similar work, but also three pages worth of history notes to copy. That’s the last time I’ll ever miss school.

The next couple weeks passed by quickly. Snow had landed on Seoul in a thick blanket one night, covering the entire city. Sungmin, Ryeowook, and Henry loved the snow, but Kangin, Shindong, and Heechul absolutely despised it. So, of course, there had to be snow balls thrown back and forth. Heechul went into a snow-stuffing-pants rage before Han Geng intervened.

In a blink of an eye it was December 23rd. We had gone Christmas shopping a week before to beat the suffocating crowds. My presents were lying back in my bedroom, and I hoped everyone would like them. Correction, everyone better like them. Buying gifts for 14 people was expensive!

 Yesung and Sungmin were leaving tonight to go home for Christmas. The others were staying back at the house. Just like every year, I received another note from my parents about coming home for Christmas. I always go, but there was a certain someone making me second guess my decision.

“I’m going back home for Christmas,” I told Donghae.

“Back home?” He reached into the popcorn bowl to snag some of the puffs.

“Back to the country side, where I grew up,” I rested my feet up on the coffee table. We were sitting in the living room watching TV, and I don’t know, but it seemed like a good time to bring up the subject.

“So you won’t be back till the 26th?”

“No. I’ll be back on the 25th, but late at night. That’s when I give out the presents for everyone back at the house.”

“Oh, I see.” Donghae chewed the inside of his lip. Hmm, it wasn’t the reaction I wasn’t expecting, but then again, I wasn’t expecting him to beg me to stay or anything. He just acted…indifferent.

I rested my head on his shoulder. It didn’t matter, I’d be back for a part of Christmas Day anyways.

“Ahoy there!” A bundled up figure in snow pants, snow shoes, puffy jacket, gloves, and a woolen hat waved enthusiastically. It stumbled over pumpkins in its path as it made its way through the snow covered patch. I laughed and waited for it on the gravel path that lined the pumpkin patch.

“Hi Mom,” I dropped my pack on the ground and embraced her when she reached. We rocked back and worth for a moment, her arms were barely reaching around me because of the insulated jacket arms.

She pulled back and I saw her face for the first time since the early summer. My eyes were like hers, and hadn’t lost any of its sparkle. I could see lines of grey from the crown of her hair that peeked from underneath the cap. Her thin lips were bright red from the cold, and so was the tip of her nose. There were faint age spots on her cheeks and crows feet lines on the skin between her temples and eyes.

“Hi, how was the ride down?” She kept an arm around my shoulders and we walked up the path that lead to the house.

“Good, there weren’t many people.” I slung my pack over my right arm.

She laughed and I smiled. Mom has the most beautiful laugh, “When do people ever come down to this little town?”

“True. How’s Dad doing? Saving lives?” I asked.

“He’s doing well. Not too many lives are needing to be saved, thank god. There were only a few mild cases of pneumonia and some broken bones since the summer.”

“So all in all, very boring.”

Mom laughed, “Sometimes boring is good. Less stressful at least.”

At the end of the long gravel path, we reached home. My house was part of a little neighborhood that was tucked away in the trees. The path we had followed began along a main road, the center of town. Down there were convenience stores, inns, and other buildings like the hospital my Dad worked at. The shuttle station was also down there. It was a 4 hour ride out here from Seoul.

I sighed upon seeing my house. Nothing had changed. It’s a small, two story white abode with dark shingles. There was a garage and a rarely used car inside of it. I think the last time my dad drove it was when my mom was in labor with me. There wasn’t grass in the front, like many picturesque American homes, but only gravel from the path that fanned out into a wide, rocky road.

The rest of the houses were so close to mine that you could pass an object between the side windows. All of the houses were like that, and it created a chain-like image. As one can assume, we were all really close in the neighborhood.

“Dear! Guess who’s home?” Mom called when she opened the door.

“The cat that ran away a month ago?” Dad yelled back. I laughed, knowing that he was kidding. Following the sound of his voice, I ended up in his office.

Dad had his back to the door, bending over the table to get a better look at some documents he had on his desk. In front of him was a dated computer that I knew he only used for e-mails. The rest of the office was littered with medical books that hadn’t found their places on the shelves and pictures of our family of three. Dad spun around in the chair, in his white lab coat and all.

He looked a lot like me. His hair was my same color, and so were his nose and lips. To a certain extent, I guess he could be considered handsome, but I could never think of my dad that way. Ew.

“Hey there stranger,” Dad held his arms out to me.

“Hi,” I smiled and sat in his lap while hugging him tightly.

“Oof,” He let out a gust of air, “Have you gained weight? You’re so heavy!”

I smacked his arm, “You know I haven’t!” Dad chuckled and rubbed the arm I hit tenderly.

“Well you hit harder, that’s for sure.”

“Kangin must be training you,” Mom interjected from the doorway of the office. Dad agreed and ushered me off his lap so he could get back to work.

We set my bag down in my room, which hadn’t changed since junior high. It was still very flowery and decorated in pastel colors, and none of the stuffed animals I had collected over the years had moved from their spots. I always wondered if my parents ever went in this room at all through the year.

Mom then took me on a tour of the house. She wanted to show me the decorating she’s done, new paint put on the walls, etc. Dad mainly let her have her way with it so he didn’t have to make any contributions to it. After the tour ended, it was time for dinner.

Mom’s cooking hadn’t lost its touch. It was so delicious that I went back for seconds. Dad shared some stories of his “adventures” at the hospital. He didn’t forget to mention that he was nominated Employee of the Month for the umpteenth time. Even though he’s received the award so many times, it never fails to make him proud. Mom leaked to me the gossip of the neighborhood, as well as other good stories, like new babies and college acceptances.

It was only till after dinner was it time to talk about my life in Seoul. They saved it for dessert because it was obvious they were going to ask many questions.

“So,” Mom began. She handed me a cup of hot cocoa and Dad his, “how’s school?”

“Good. It’s hard and I don’t particularly like my teachers, but it’s good.” I took a sip.

“Maintaining good grades?” Dad asked. Well, it was more like an assumption. There was no way my parents would allow me to stay in Seoul if I didn’t keep up my grades.

“Yeah. Only one B.”

“How are the boys?”

“They’re doing great. Kangin made judo captain again this year, Sungmin is still chasing skirts, Yesung continues to harbor an obsession for turtles, Henry’s getting better with his violin, and Leeteuk…..”

“Still not doing anything special?” Mom finished.

“Yeah,” I shrugged. Leeteuk, like me, didn’t join clubs or happen to have a special skill, interest, or talent. It was hard to think of what he might do after high school. He’s a third year after all, time is ticking.

“But,” I continued, “the rest are doing fine. Ryeowook and Kibum are doing great in the play. In fact, Kibum’s now an actual up and coming drama actor! They scouted him at one of their performances.”

“Good for him,” Dad nodded.

“Shindong continues to be the reigning court jester. Han Geng and Heechul are still adjoined at the hip.”

“Are you sure those two don’t have a thing for each other?” Mom raised an eyebrow. She had visited last summer and saw them together.

“They don’t, but I swear it’s under the surface.”

Dad’s pager suddenly began beeping and buzzing. He checked his hip and sighed.

“Sorry,” He rose from the table, “I have to go. There’s an elderly woman we’ve been watching over for the past couple weeks, and it’s my shift now. Poor thing probably won’t make it much longer.”

“Go,” Mom waved, “We know it’s important.”

“Sorry. I’ll  be back by 11,” Dad kissed both of the tops of our heads and headed to the tiny foyer. Not long after we heard the front door open and close.

“Now that he’s gone,” Mom’s tone switched to one that often resembled Zhou Mi’s. She leaned in forward and tilted her head down, “tell me all of the good stuff.”

“Well,” I mimicked, “Zhou Mi came out.”

“He’s gay? I knew it!” She snapped her fingers. I chuckled.

“Yeah. And he also has a boyfriend.”

“Oooh, is he good looking?!”

                I pulled out my phone and opened up a picture of Siwon for her to see. Her jaw dropped and she handed my phone back, still amazed.

                “He’s so cute!” Mom was impressed.

                “Right?! His name is Choi Siwon. He was a starter on the basketball team and is currently part of the theater club. He had to give up basketball for his modeling career.”

                “And he’s a model? Wow, Zhou Mi sure knows how to pick em. But tell me,” Mom started with a nonchalant air, “how’s your part of the love department?”

                “Umm,” I bit my lower lip and looked down at my mug that was held in my hands.

                “What’s with the ‘Umm’? Spit it out!”

                “There’s someone…..” I grudgingly smiled.

                Mom squealed which made me look at her strangely. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that sound come from .

                “Boyfriend?!” She was on the edge of her seat.

                “…….Yeah……” I said, a squeal escaping as well.

                “Kya! What’s his name? When did you meet him? How old is he? What does he look like?”

                “Whoa whoa,” I backtracked. Mom was spitting out questions so fast I barely had time to register one before the other was thrown at me.

                “His name is Lee Donghae. He’s in my grade, we sit next to each other in class. He just moved here. We met in September.”

                Mom’s hands slammed down on the table, “You’ve been dating for that long and didn’t tell me?!”

                “No, sorry?”

                “You should be sorry! Now I want to talk to him!”

                “He’s probably with his family now, but here,” I showed her my favorite picture of Donghae. He was sporting a white beanie and thick sweater.

                “Oh my god he is……” It was really comical how much she was acting like a teenager, “I’m at a loss for words. He’s just so…..”

                “I know,” I sighed and admired the picture with her.

                “What did you get him for Christmas?”

                “It seems corny but……” I fiddled with the ends of my zip up jacket.

                “When a man’s in love, nothing is corny!” Mom encouraged. I blushed, thinking back to the times where Donghae said that he was falling for me.

                “I got a promise ring for him. You know, like one of those things that promise I’ll be true to him? I know that it’s usually the boys that give them to the girls, but I couldn’t think of anything else so….”

                “You’re right, it’s usually the boys that buy those. But, it’s a good change to see a girl buying one for her boyfriend. Girls can cheat on boys, it happens all the time!”

                “I just hope he likes it.”

                “He will. If for some bizarre reason he doesn’t like it and he breaks up with you, you’ll find someone else!”

                I frowned at her, “Way to keep it positive.”

                “Oh yeah, that wasn’t good parenting advice, was it?”

                “It’s ok,” I laughed, “You have somewhat of a point.”

                “Don’t I always? Merry Christmas Ae-Young.” Mom placed an arm around my shoulders.

                “Merry Christmas,” I copied her and we retired to the living room to place more presents under the Christmas tree.

                I awoke the next morning with a blanket of fresh snow on the ground. I peered out the window to see some of the neighbors out, wishing each other ‘Merry Christmases’ and their children playing with their new presents they had opened early the same morning. The alarm clock read 11. Even though I was excited to see what was waiting for me under the tree, I slept in because Mom and I were up till late waiting for Dad to come home.

                There was a line of foot prints leading up to our house from the hill to the town below. Hmm, maybe Dad went down earlier to get something? I was considering on climbing back into bed when I heard heavy footsteps running spastically up the stairs. Must be Mom.

                My door flew open and there stood Mom, with her eyes wide and mouth open wide. She was jumping up and down from foot to foot….it resembled the I-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom dance. She was unable to talk since she was out of breath from running up the stairs. With a deep breath, she hurried out:

                “You’ll never believe who’s downstairs!”

                “Who?” I approached the door but Mom stopped me with her hands waving back and forth.

                “What?”

                “You can’t go down there looking like that!” She pointed out my extremely short shorts, messy hair, and the shirt I wore that went down to my thighs.

                “Ok…..” I nodded suspiciously and put on a robe and pulled up my hair. Who could it be?

                We descended the stairs with my mom yanking at my hand to walk faster. She lead me to the living room, where a manly figure was waiting with his back facing us. He turned around and-

                “Good morning,” Donghae greeted with a smile.

                “Hae!” I jumped forward and smothered him in a hug, “What’re you doing here?!”

                “I’m here to see you, of course,” Donghae hugged me back.

                “But it’s Christmas Day, shouldn’t you be home with your family?” We broke apart.

                “My parents said I could leave, after some begging last night. Oh!” Hae pulled from his jacket pocket, three little boxes, “Taemin, Kai, and Key all wanted to give you presents.”

                “Aww, how sweet! But, wait, I didn’t get them anything!”

                Hae waved it off casually, “They know. Mom told them not to expect anything in return. Key is expecting one thing though,” He rolled his eyes.

                “What would that be?” I knew this was going to take a turn for the mischievous.

                “Your hand in marriage,” Hae snorted. Mom laughed behind us. Oh, I had forgotten she was even there.

                “Mom this is-”

                “Oh I know who he is!” Mom wiggled her eyebrows, “who is this Key person by the way….?”

“One of my little brothers. I have three.” Donghae explained.

“Well if they’re even half as good looking as you, then your mother and father are really blessed.” Mom blushed.

“Mom!” I hoped she wasn’t going to say embarrassing stuff, like that, but parents will be parents. It’s their jobs to make situations awkward….

“Thank you Mrs. Kim,” Donghae just smiled back good naturedly.

Just then, Dad stomped heavily down the stairs, in his robe and slippers. He paused and turned his head in our direction. With an expression that resembled boredom and extreme tiredness, he grunted at us and then stalked into the kitchen.

“Don’t mind him,” Mom explained to Donghae, “He’s never the same without his cup of coffee first.”

“He doesn’t look like he likes me,” Donghae aside to me.

“No, he does. He just has to get used to the extra addition of testosterone,” I watched Dad stare intently and Donghae and I as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Are you cold?! It was a long trip down!” Mom suddenly exclaimed, “Can we get you anything to eat, drink?”

“…Hot tea would actually be great.” Donghae admitted politely.

“Then come with me!” Mom grabbed his hand and they raced into the kitchen. So far, he was fitting in very nicely.

“Ha!” My snowball hit the back of Hae’s head perfectly. Donghae jumped and whipped around in surprise.

“Hey,” He pouted, “That wasn’t very nice!”

“It wasn’t meant to be nice,” I toyed with another snowball, and threw it at him all of a sudden. Too abd it only hit him on the shoulder.

“This means war!” Donghae swore and bent down to make his own snowball.

“What is that?” I pointed at the lumpy square in his hands when he had finished.

“It’s a snowball!” He sniffed indigently.

“…Are you sure you passed geometry?”

“Why you-!” Donghae launched it at me. Because he was at an incline, throwing up the hill my house was resting on, it fell completely short. I laughed and pointed at him before bending down to mold another snowball for myself.

By the time I straightened up, my victim was standing inches from me. I screamed and jumped back while Hae laughed evilly. He crushed a pile of snow onto my head mercilessly. My teeth chattered and skin stung at the coldness. Using the snow in my hand, I spotted the bare patch of snow on his neck and squished it there.

Hae then released a sound I don’t think I’ve heard to come from a man. It resembled a strangled parrot mixed with a mouse. His neck disappeared into his jacket and scarf like a turtle’s and he shivered uncontrollably. His eye twitched and hair stood on end. While he suffered, I couldn’t help but howl and cackle like a hyena on helium.

“HAHAHHAHAHAHA!” I bent over, clutching my sides. Hae must have had it then because he grabbed me and threw me into the snow. When I tried to get up, he latched onto me and rolled us back and forth in the snow.

“No, no!” I begged, “Stop!”

The spinning white world became still once again. Hae and I breathed in the heavy air loudly, looking at the cloudy sky on our backs. We were quiet for quite some time, just being one with nature.

“You know,” I began, “I have your Christmas gift.”

“I have yours too,” Hae replied.

“But, I mean, it’s pretty stupid, so you don’t have to keep it if you don’t want to.” I said insecurely.

“No! I’ll love it!” Hae insisted, “But, same goes for my gift. I honestly didn’t know what I was thinking when I bought it.”

“Then…….why don’t we open them together?”

I went to sit up in the snow, but Hae’s present, which had been in my jacket pocket, fell out. It’s white box and red ribbon laid right between us.

“I forgot it was even in there!” I laughed and went to go pick it up.

“Wait,” Hae picked it up instead. He sat up and reached into his left pocket to pull out a box, similar in size, but with a green bow.

“Well isn’t this ironic?” I accepted Hae’s gift from him.

We both stared at the boxes in each other’s hands, waiting for the other to go first. When we couldn’t gather up the courage to volunteer, I suggested:

“Let’s count to three, then we’ll open.”

“Ok. Ready?” I nodded, “1….2……3!”

Without looking at the other, we unlaced the bow and opened up the boxes. Pushing the thin cotton out of the way, I saw what it was, and my jaw dropped in disbelief.

“Is this really….?” I gasped and looked at Donghae. He was just as surprised as me.

“Well,” Hae smirked, “I guess great minds think alike,” He pulled out my promise ring and compared it to the same one in my box.

“Thank god you got this!” I sighed in relief, “I thought I made a horrible decision!”

“Me too!” Donghae chuckled, “Put yours on!”

I smiled and did as he encouraged. The plain, silver band with light, swirled engravings fit perfectly on my index finger. Hae slipped his on as well, on the same finger. We held our hands next to one another’s to admire the rings.

“You know what’s the other meaning to a promise ring?” The tone of Hae’s voice made me roll my eyes.

“Yah, don’t be getting all erted like Yesung! He’s too much of an influence on you!”

“Do you even know what he gave me for Christmas?”

“What?”

“Boxers with turtles on them!”

“Oh dear. That’s not even the worst of them. Just wait till you get Heechul’s!” 

A/N: So, am I on the nice list again?! Again, so sorry! But as an extra, here are some cute/smexy kpop pics ;P 

Lol, Sunjong looks so adorbs~!

SECRET! UNNIES I LOVE U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG TEUKIE MY BABY I MISS YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH! ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU!

YES MY WHOLE LIFETIME PLAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!