Everywhere she looked, everywhere she went, it felt like Christmas.

                Sure, she wasn’t home for the special holidays but the place was so beautiful with all their lights and decorations that she almost didn’t mind. Her parents were in another continent on vacation and her older sister had a family of her own now. That led one Choi Sooyoung to celebrate the yuletide season with her best friend, her husband and beautiful daughter. Jessica and Heechul had been the one who insisted that she stayed with them. The more, the merrier, they said.

                Now, she left to go for a short walk around the neighbourhood. The air was cold and frosty yet she didn’t mind as she wrapped her coat tighter around her body. The area the small family lived in was peaceful and quiet and very… well, very homey to say the least. It was the perfect place for Heechul and Jessica to raise Sam and their other future children.

                Sooyoung had gone a couple of blocks away from the house and was ready to head back when the faint strains of music and singing reached her ears. Following the feeble sound, she realized she was heading towards the park. She didn’t recall seeing any set up for any party earlier yet her curiosity got the best of her and she kept walking.

                As she neared the place, she could see people – a lot of them. They were all heading towards something and the crowd was growing bigger and bigger. As she got closer, the music and singing got louder and she was able to pick up on the Christmas songs being played and sung.

“They’re carolling.” She whispered to herself as she realized what was happening.

                Sooyoung entered the park, watching as a sizable crowd formed around a group of performers. Some of those who were performing were singing while some played instruments ranging from guitars to tambourines. The group was currently playing All I Want for Christmas is You and as Sooyoung stood behind a couple of locals, she saw many singing and dancing along to the lively tune.

                Christmas came once in a year and it became her reason as she began enjoying herself, singing and dancing along to the tune. She didn’t know who the performers were yet she was thankful that they thought of the doing a big-scale outdoor carolling. The box they had in front of them was nearly overflowing with money yet you can tell that they were performing because they enjoyed it and not just because of the money.

“For our next song, we’re going to need some help.” The guitarist told the crowd with dark haired said with a smile. “Who wants to perform Santa Baby with us?”

                Sooyoung giggled as a chorus of ‘me!’ was heard all around and the guitarist got up from his seat to pick. The performance could go two ways, she conceded. It could be unbelievably breathtaking or it could be hilariously funny depending on the singing capabilities of who was picked. Sooyoung was content to watch people, mostly females, try to get picked, completely oblivious to the fact that the guitarist had his eyes on her and was soon standing in front of her.

                She snapped out of her thoughts just as the microphone was held out to her and her face turned red. She didn’t even raise her hand like all those other people. Sooyoung smiled meekly and shook her head, trying to tell him with words to pick someone else. But there was a patient smile on his face as he still held out the microphone for her to take; his eyes twinkling in the moonlight. There was something about him and the way he smiled and the way he silently encouraged her that made her take the wireless microphone and join him and the other performers.

It was Christmas anyway and ‘tis the season to be jolly.

If that meant that she had to belt around her best rendition of Santa Baby, then so be it.

She should probably add a little dancing too, right?

That guitarist wouldn’t know what hit him.

o-o-o-o-o

“You did great out there.”

She snorted. “I probably looked like an idiot.”

“No, I swear.” He insisted. “You did great.”

They were in a local pub, just her and the guitarist.

His name was Sungmin and he was just such a nice, sweet guy who was so good at playing the guitar.

It was a good while later when she found out he was a good kisser as well.

Prompt: New Zealand

"The Australian tradition of Carols by Candelight is popular in New Zealand, especially in Auckland and Christchurch, where there is usually a large outdoor carol-singing gathering known as Christmas in the park." - from Wikipedia

Happy Holidays to all MinYoung shippers out there!