Soundtrack: All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

 

 

A hand on his right cheek.

 

Another hand on his left cheek.

 

Sparkly eyes and continuous sighs.

 

Quick heartbeats and a wide smile.

 

"Yah, Kungfu Panda Tao! Staring at golden girl again?" The husky voice of Kris snapped him out of his dedicated look at the girl of his dreams and wishes, Song Shirin.

 

"Yah, Kris-ge! Quiet down." He hissed under his breath while tugging at the collar of his best friend, and fellow kingka in XiaoHeng University, motioning him to sit down and be conspicuous. A few feet from them, the female that both boys were staring at continued to flip through her notes and answer her math problems, oblivious to the ongoing conversation about her.

 

"You know, I really don't get it. You like her, so why not confess to her?" Kris asked again, this time in a softer tone. As if the mentioned male had said something extremely offensive, Tao narrowed his eyes at him.

 

"You think it's that easy, Gege?! I don't think she even knows I exist!" He retorted harshly, still in a whisper, while he once more turned to look at Shirin, who had smiled as she finally solved another math problem. At the sight of the female's curled lips, he found himself smiling once more.

 

"Well, I'm sure as hell that she knows you exist. You're the multi-gold medalist Huang ZiTao in martial arts, not to mention that you're an adored aegyo-king in this place. There's no way she won't be able to notice you." Kris suddenly said while letting his own chin be held by his hand as he leaned on the table himself.

 

"Says the rising male model who's been chosen personally by China's most respected designer to strut down the runway with his works in Paris for the upcoming fashion week. What do you think of yourself, huh, Wu Yifan?"

 

Kris couldn't help but chuckle when Tao snapped at him in a low tone, grimacing in irritation even. The few students that were inside the classroom with them, mostly girls, began squealing as they saw the comfortable banter of the kingkas. Of course, being snapped to reality that other people besides Kris was staring at him, he quickly straightened up and sighed.

 

With the motion he did, Tao almost didn't notice that Shirin had stood up and fixed her things. She had already passed the door when he realized that his crush was gone. In frustration, his palm made contact with the surface of the table in front of him with a smack. Some people were surprised by this, but didn't mind it afterwards. Bit by bit, the students in the room descreased until only the two kingkas remained.

 

"It's frustrating, Kris gege. Christmas season is approaching, and every single day girls kept lining up and asking me what Christmas gift I want. But that one thing I want for Christmas isn't any physical object. I just want Shirin to like me, but I don't even know if she notices me. Heck! I had even suspected she likes you better than me!" Tao had finally let out his feelings in the silence of the classroom, the last statement making Kris widen his eyes.

 

"What?! Are you crazy, Didi? There's no way that could be true." He made a shocked face before dismissing his best friend's comment. In return, Tao pouted.

 

"How could you be so sure, huh?! In the very least, she already talked to you once when you were assigned to be partners in a lab event. She never even had a single conversation with me!"

 

The tall blonde sighed at the younger man's rant, thinking how lucky the martial artist was that nobody except them was around. If there was at least one girl with them, it would have turned into chaos, especially with the way that the other kingka acted at that moment. In a sense, he felt the dark haired young man's pain. It was truly a huge frustration for one to like a person who doesn't even notice him. Seeing his best friend's sad expression proves it all.

 

That's why a hand of Kris found its way to Tao's shoulder, patting it gently while the latter just sighed in helplessness.

 

"Well, this I'm sure of, Tao. This coming week, girls will be giving gifts to us guys as custom goes. And the one that Shirin will give a gift to... isn't me."

 

= = =

 

"Ni hao, Tao Gege! Happy holidays!" 

 

Girls giggled as they passed by Tao come next class day, to which the male nodded at politely or grinned at in certain times. Squeals erupted around the hallways where the martial artist strode on, and at that moment Tao knew that he would receive so many gifts today.

 

This was the day every girl had been waiting for... the gift-giving custom that XiaoHeng University has every Chrsitmas season. Girls are to give presents to the male student they choose, and they could give the presents in the most interesting way they could think of. But not a lot of females did it secretly, especially when it comes to giving to the kingkas, because they keep using the opportunity given by the custom to confess.

 

But then again, not all girls are like the norm. That is what Tao was going to find out.

 

As the day progressed, gifts for him continued pouring in. By the end of class, Tao looked like Santa Claus with the immense amount of presents that he received... and the huge red sack that Kris gave him jokingly wasn't helping one bit. Effortlessly, though, Tao carried the thing as if he was just holding one of his school bags. Something that would seem so funny looked absolutely cool on him.

 

Dragging the red sack to his locker after classes, Tao huffed a sigh when he finally had a hold of the handle. Students were beginning to flood towards the doors of the building, and it somehow gave him license to huff a sigh of relief.

 

"I'm really thankful that these girls have a soft spot for me, but damn. I didn't know that they could be this dedicated." He murmured while he unlocked it and opened the door...

 

...only for his eyes to widen as a black box was placed in the metal compartment, just in front of all his neatly piled books and notebooks.

 

A note was placed on top of the black box, containing words in handwriting that he felt was slightly familiar. He couldn't place where he'd seen it before, but he was sure he had a look at the kind of writing style at least once. Taking the words into detail, he read it out in a whisper, his eyebrows furrowing once the meaning of it all sunk in.

 

"First of the three gifts that my love will have: a Tangible reminder of my feelings and existence."

 

With hesitation, Tao's fingers carefully took the box and let his skin run along the velvety cover. Checking around him for one time before opening the object, he gasped upon seeing what was inside: a silver necklace with his name engraved on a dog-tag pendant. In surprise, he almost dropped the box. But after realizing that it was meant for him to wear, he excitedly clipped it in place.

 

He didn't have an idea of who could give him that precious gift, though he was sure that it was a girl. In his mind, he wished for only one person to give him this kind of present, but he dismissed it with a shaking of the head.

 

"She doesn't even know I like her. How could she give this to me?"

 

Turning back to the note, he inspected the paper and tried to see if the giver of the gift had left something for him to identify her, but saw none. He was about to close the box again when, from the corner of his eye, he noticed that a little piece of paper was tucked inside. He began to read it aloud once again, his heartbeats quickening at the words that met his eyes.

 

"Touch the cold pendant and try to think of who I am. I will reveal myself at the right time, and at the right circumstance. Just remember, every touch to the metal means you remember that I exist... and that I love you."

 

Unconsciously, the following days, the kingka had been touching it every single time he possibly could.