He loitered outside the store nervously and fidgeted. His friends were gathered around him and they were pointing not at the nutcracker he was staring at but into the store. “There she is,” they whispered. “Go in and talk to her! What are you waiting for?”

            Sungyeol kept his eyes trained on the nutcracker in the display. Finally, with a deep breath for courage, he whispered to the hand painted ornament. “Wish me luck!”

            Myungsoo cheered as his friend finally pushed open the heavy doors to the crafts shop and entered. The hot air hit Sungyeol in the face and the twinkling bells chimed as they announced his arrival. The store wasn’t packed and the cashier looked up. He froze. It was too soon.

            Sungyeol nodded in acknowledgment and walked down the aisles, pretending to browse. He picked up a reindeer card and an antler fell off. He panicked and dropped to his knees, trying to fix the card.

            “May I be of assistance?” He looked up and saw the pretty cashier staring at him. She smiled prettily when she realized what he was doing and knelt down next to him. From outside, Sunggyu raised his fist in encouragement.

            Her hands brushed his accidently and he pulled back. They both stood at the same time and he hit her forehead. Sungyeol blushed. Way to have a screw up now, he though furiously. Rather than rubbing her own forehead, she rubbed his shyly.    

            “Are you okay?” she asked.

            He nodded. “Y-yeah, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

            She laughed. “World’s number one klutz.”

            Sungyeol grinned. “My long legs tend to put me at a disadvantage sometimes. I’m always walking into things. I’m sorry about the card.”

            The cashier shook her head and Sungyeol breathed in the flowery scent that floated from her. “No, it was a defect anyway. The part time must have accidently shelved it when she saw it in my reject pile.”

            He the delicately drawn card and said, “Well, it’s certainly beautiful enough.”

            She blushed, her cheeks dusting a pale pink. “Do you need any help looking for presents?”

            This was it. Sungyeol scratched the back of his head and Dongwoo, looking in on his hesitation, sighed. His friend pushed open the door. “Miss, I need your assistance please?” The cashier turned from Sungyeol and nodded.

            “I’ll be back.”

            When Dongwoo kept her occupied, Woohyun snuck in. “Dude, you need to make a move! We’re going to freeze outside, waiting for you all day. She’s talking to you already! That’s a plus; now make that into something more.” His older friend patted his head and slipped back out. Dongwoo paid for a present and left, winking at Sungyeol as he pushed open the door.

            Sungyeol walked shakily back up to her. “Erm, I’m looking for a gift for a girl.” Outside, he could hear his friends’ groans.

            Her eyes dimmed a little. “Oh. Girlfriend?”
            He scratched his neck. “Not really. Just, this girl.”

            “Ahh, so a crush.” She smiled again. “That’s cute. What’s your personality like?”

            “Well, she’s sweet and kind and a hard worker. She’s artistic and I think she’s pretty quiet. In school, she’s a good student and she also has an outside job that I admire. I think she’s gorgeous especially when she smiles.” He was rambling.

            The cashier giggled. “Sounds like you’re in love. I have just the thing. There is a hand painted nutcracker ornament I made. But if you open the back, it’s actually a drawing kit. You can put your coloring tools inside. It was something I made and the boss liked it enough to ask if I wanted to sell it.”

            “Do you have one?”

            She looked wistful. “Unfortunately, I only made one and never found the time to duplicate. But it’s okay. It’s nice to know someone out there will have something one of a kind.”

            “You really must like it, don’t you?” he blurted out.

            She nodded. “I made it for a project in school and it was around the time my mother passed away so it was pretty meaningful.”

            Sungyeol nodded. “I’d feel horrible buying it then.”

            “Oh no! Don’t! I’d rather you bought it for that wonderful girl than to have some other stranger buy it.”

            He made up his mind and nodded. “I’ll take it.”

            When she reached over the display to reach for the nutcracker, all of Sungyeol’s friends save for Myungsoo scattered. He waved lazily at her and she jolted n surprise. There normally weren’t a lot of visitors her age in the shop.

            Sungyeol paid and bowed to her. “Merry Christmas.”

            She waved to him. “Merry Christmas!”

            Sungyeol and Myungsoo walked to his house and there, he had Sungjong help him wrap the present. Sungyeol sat at his desk, and tried to grind out the best possible confession letter. When Dongwoo and Sunggyu deemed the letter appropriate, he sealed it in an envelope and placed that and the present into a bag.

            This time Hoya had to physically push him into the shop. The cashier looked up in surprise. “Oh, you’re back,” she said pleasantly.

            “Yep. Ah, here. This is actually for you. You were the girl I was talking about,” he awkwardly shoved the bag towards her. Sungyeol shuffled back and forth and the girl grinned at him.

            “I wanted to know if when you’re done, we can go out to Christmas dinner or something, if you know, you want.”

            She reached up and took a delicately made reindeer chain and gave it to him. “Your answer’s inside.”

            He opened it. “White Confessions Always Make a Girl Say Yes.” 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 

If it's Christmas Eve, let's anticipate ^^

If it's Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS