“Excuse me! Excuse me! Please excuse me! Whoops, I’m so sorry! Excuse me!”

Choi Sooyoung didn’t go all the way to New York from Seoul just to get lost in a sea – rather, ocean – of people.

                She had travelled for how many hours on her own just to tell him that she had been such a and she was so, so sorry for pushing him away only to arrive in the Jung sisters’ New York pad and find out that one of the sisters’ two guests had decided to go sightseeing on his own…in midtown Manhattan no less.

                Jessica, Heechul, and Krystal all tried to tell her how there was just too many people in the area on Christmas Day but their words fell on deaf ears as she hurriedly left their pad in search for him – for that one guy named Key. She should’ve listened to them, she realized. Hell, she should’ve asked for their help because there she was running though a crowd of nameless faces in search of the only one that had her heart.

                Evening was approaching and it was getting darker and darker by the minute. Sooyoung stopped by a post, catching her breath. It was going to be even harder to find her once it was night. in a sharp breath, she began to walk and look around once more, hoping that by the time the clock struck midnight, all was well.

o-o-o-o-o

“SHE’S WHAT?!”

“Sooyoung is here in New York and she’s going around Manhattan looking for you.” Jessica grabbed the phone from Heechul and repeated everything Heechul had said in Korean in English. “Where the hell are you?”

“Are you serious, noona?!”

“Kim Kibum, if my best friend gets lost in New York City on Christmas Day, I will have your , you got it?” She all but growled at the phone, smirking when he stuttered a reply. “Good. Now go look for her.”

o-o-o-o-o

                Tears welled up in her eyes as she barely had the energy to walk. It was evening and it was snowing hard and she still couldn’t find him. Maybe coming to New York was a mistake. Maybe things weren’t meant to be okay this Christmas. She sighed, absently staring at the large Christmas tree in the Rockefeller Center. She could see many people – families, couples, groups of friends – getting their pictures taken and she couldn’t help but envy them. They looked so happy.

                Sooyoung stood before the larger than life tree and did her best to marvel at its beauty. Christmas trees symbolized the brightness and the beauty of Christmas yet no matter how hard she tried, she didn’t feel it. She wasn’t happy. She was tired. She was lonely… and she was probably going to celebrate Christmas all alone in a plane headed for Seoul.

“There you are.”

                Her breath hitched in and she felt too scared to move. She didn’t have to, however, because soon after Key appeared in her glassy line of vision, looking all snug and warm yet out of breath at the same time. There was this unreadable expression on his face and Sooyoung didn’t know if she should be happy, worried or possibly neither of the two.

“You’ve always been attracted to Christmas trees.” He stared at that the Rockefeller tree. “I’m not surprised I found you here.”

“Key…”

“You’re probably the only person I know who had only been to New York once or twice and had the courage to run around Manhattan like you know the place.” Key told her bluntly.

“I-I…” She sighed for the nth time that day, not knowing what there is to say or do. “I’m sorry.”

The dark haired man shook his head; a smile slowly yet surely forming on his handsome face. “When I woke up today, I didn’t know I was going to find my Christmas gift under the Rockefeller tree out of all the trees in the world to be honest.”

The tears that were threatening to fall finally did as she ran into his arms. “Merry Christmas, Key.”

“Merry Christmas, Sooyoung.”

Prompt: United States of America

This Christmas, I want to give you, SooKey shippers, another gift
It's the shipper name you've voted for
Official announcement to follow
 

Happy Holidays to all the Sherrifs out there!