The snow was coming in faster and the entire planet was a whirl of holiday cheer. Holiday songs rang from every corner and lights shone brightly even in the misty air. The entire place smelled like peppermint and gingerbread and everything home. People were chattering as they rushed from place to place. Bells tinkled and heavy bags were dragged.

In the factories, toys were being churned out; lists were organized and agonized over. Matokis accompanied their owners and children laughed as they decorated their homes. The reindeer were being prepared and the most important house of all was alit with Christmas cheer. Everyone on the planet Mato was preparing for Santa Guk’s flight to Earth. Everyone that was, but Daehyun.

            Daehyun used to love Christmas. As a child, he would bring go out with his brothers and they would roll down the snowy hills and help their mom bake cookies and decorate. His favorite part of the whole holiday was on Christmas Eve, when he would help saddle his father into the gigantic red sleigh and watch him drive towards Earth, the distant planet that everyone had always wanted to see.

            But now, Daehyun was older and he was sick and tired of Christmas. The holiday was no longer about the spirit, no longer about cheers. Now, it was preparing expensive gifts for bratty children who, only through special circumstances and loopholes in the rule book, escaped the wrath of the Naughty List Punishment.

            It was so unfair that while he and his brothers worked hard, the children on Earth could be ungrateful and ask for ridiculous presents they probably don’t even deserve. Youngjae understood and could see his point, but nevertheless, still was willing to help during the holiday.

            “Daehyun! Tell Zelo to stop rolling the snow. He can catch a cold,” his mother ordered.

            Daehyun sighed and screamed from across the lawn. “Jongup, tell Zelo to stop!” The little boy looked up and waved at his older brother before happily wrestling his younger brother into the snow again.

            Their mother was busy baking her cakes and cookies and Youngjae was with their dad, inspecting the toys. Suddenly, there was a loud siren and everyone froze. It was the day before Christmas and nobody wanted to ever hear the Call of Alarm.

            Himchan tore out of the house and gripped a frightened Zelo and Jongup in his arms. He beckoned for Daehyun to join them in the house. “Something must have gone wrong with the process! Daehyun, go contact Youngjae.”

            The teen scowled but ran towards the factory anyway. He met his brother halfway. “Daehyun! Appa suffered an accident. He fell off the sleigh during the practice run! He’s hurt and I don’t think he can shimmy his way down the chimneys tonight!”

            Daehyun followed his brother to where their father lay, groaning with pain. “Argh, I’m too old to have to deal with this,” Yongguk grumbled.

            The matokis were scrambling everywhere, trying to survey the damage. In their native language, Yongguk asked them to continue with the process and to further inspect the sleigh. “After all, the children still need their gifts! Without Christmas, the end of the year would be dismal.”

            At home, Himchan fussed over Yongguk and scolded him. “You’re always hurting yourself. I told you not to go ice skating. That must have been it. That must be precisely why you got hurt. Your back was probably still hurting and you knocked your head pretty badly when you went to calm Rudolph. I bet you must have suffered some sort of concussion,” he was spewing theory after theory.

            Yongguk grimaced. “Boys, this is why you never marry,” he joked. Himchan sniffled and burst into tears.

            “You’re so ungrateful, Bang Yongguk!” he wailed dramatically.

            The injured patriarch watched his beloved wife go with a huge grin. Turning serious, he looked at Daehyun. “Daehyun, it’s your duty to take over my job now. You need to be Santa for this year.”

            At first, he wanted to decline. His gut twisted with anger but then a light bulb went off in his head. Daehyun nodded. “Of course, appa. You’ve been training us for this day since we were young. I will be more than honored to take over.”

            Yongguk smiled and pressed his son’s hands. “Good. Remember, the happiness of Earth and Mato rests on you now.”

            Youngjae stared at his older brother suspiciously. “You better not have something up your sleeves.”

            That night, everyone gathered to watch Daehyun leave. He waved goodbye and shot off into the galaxy. It was an hour trip and while time passed, Daehyun thought about the plans he would do to wreak havoc. He examined his revamped list, complete with naughty deeds, and chuckled.

            “This will be the perfect time to teach them all a lesson! Never mess with Santa,” he laughed.

            Daehyun went down chimneys and planted coal in stockings that deserved them. As a practical joke, he would switch up presents, depending on his mood. Houses where they forgot to serve cookies, he would purposely drop a lump of coal here and there. Houses with cookies, he would sprinkle Mato dust and then grade them on the baking skills.

            He had fun the entire night and it was only when he was at his last house that he realized, this house had no chimney. He shrugged and prepared to leave. Which kid needed a college acceptance letter anyway?

            “Rudolph, prepare yourself!” he shouted.

            But somewhere in the midst, he heard a small voice scream, “Wait! Santa, please!”

            Daehyun turned and saw a girl standing behind him. Her face changed when she realized that it wasn’t the legendary Santa she was staring at but someone much younger, much more attractive. “Who are you?”
            Daehyun got out of the sled and raised an eyebrow. “Who else? You just called me Santa.”

            “I know what I called you, but who are you really? Isn’t Santa really large and jolly?”

            Daehyun scoffed. “You Earthlings and your imaginations. My father is nowhere near large. I’m here because he was injured.”

            The girl nodded. “I see. Tell Santa I hope you gets better.” She took a step closer. “Sorry our chimney was blocked. Do you happen to have something for us?” She looked hopeful.

            Daehyun reached into the bag and casually flicked out the envelope. “Just this lame thing.”

            But she was no longer paying attention as she tore the letter open and read its contents. She let out a happy yelp and threw her arms around Daehyun. He was shocked and patted her back awkwardly.

            Impulsively, she kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Santa! This is the best present you can ever give me!” She brought out a large bag of cookies and gave it to Daehyun. “Enjoy and I’ll see you next year!”

            Dumbstruck, Daehyun waved to her and got into the sled. When he was far away enough, he took out a mint chocolate chip cookie and bit in. He let out a moan of satisfaction. “That was a great Christmas,” he thought.

            Realizing what he had just said, Daehyun jolted his eyes open and grinned. He thought of the girl, probably asleep with her acceptance letter curled in her fist and smiled. Maybe he should visit Earth more often.

            And he turned back, and went to all the homes he had created chaos in and quickly changed the presents, and swept up the coal. He made it back to Mato in time to see the sun rise and to hear his father praise him for a night’s job well done. Somewhere on Earth, a family was celebrating and Daehyun was back to loving Christmas. 

just something I've been wanting to write for a while LOL pure crack

I will not be taking requests for Banghim or whatever. Today was an exception. XD

*edit credit to jongups-warrior

I HAVE NO SUCH SKILLS. 

M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S ~