“I love Christmas, don’t you?!” Junghan chimed, arms outstretched as he caught the snowflakes which slowly fluttered from above. He was telling the absolute truth and talking a lot more than usual due to the mere fact that he was with Dongjin, who was much, much quieter than he was and he had to find some way to not make it awkward. Plus, it was probably good to let his feelings out while the others weren’t around to . Since he had 5 years on Dongjin, he could say whatever he wanted and knew Dongjin probably didn’t even listen to half of it.

Junghan really did have a love for Christmas. It reminded him of the warm winter nights he had spent in front of the fireplace with his family when he was younger, playing mainstream board games and making up his own after they’d finished eating the special dinner their father had cooked for them as he did every day of December, a special treat for surviving the rough times of the year. Junghan then used to snuggle up into a homemade fleece blanket to be told stories about his childhood and his grandparents and his future plans and their past plans and anything they could think of until he fell asleep. Sometimes he had trouble sleeping, so his mother would bring him a warm glass of milk and a chocolate chip cookie (not the cheap ones, Junghan always whined, but the special ones which melted on the inside) and waited until he eventually became bored of the fantasies which involved such things as fairies and the like. Junghan was a strong believer in all things fantasy, mystery, reality—you name it. Ask him anything and he would give you his honest answer. Is Santa real? Yes. Are fairies real? Yes. Are centaurs real? Yes. Are nice older brothers real? Probably not.

Dongjin was quite the opposite. He couldn’t be reminded of the warm winter nights he had spent with his family in December by anything, because they didn’t exist. He didn’t believe in fantasy or mystery and he knew Santa wasn’t real because he never received a single present when he saw everyone else bragging about their expensive fifty. His family never had money to spend on anything extra, the government wouldn’t allow that. The rent, groceries, and medical bills of the week took away all the money they had. He couldn’t even receive a flimsy little dollar for losing his tooth. He had always wanted to, at least, have a cool phone he could show to his friends. He was grateful enough to be alive, though, and that was enough to get him by life. But he still didn’t like Christmas, and he didn’t understand anyone who did, but he never complained.

“I guess it’s alright,” Dongjin replied, “I like the snow better.”

“Come on, you don’t have to lie. I know you don’t like it, sorry if I triggered anything.”

Junghan and Dongjin’s friendship was a strange one—nobody expected such an age difference to allow such a close friendship. Out of their group of friends, they were two of the closest people, but they didn’t know what brought them together. They were complete opposites. Junghan liked the city, Dongjin liked the country. Junghan liked coffee, Dongjin: tea. Junghan liked to eat kimchi jjigae while Dongjin would rather spend a night out at KBBQ and indulge his senses in some nice, spicy bacon. Junghan had always liked Dongjin’s cute, wiggly ears which turned red whenever he mentioned it, because Dongjin hated them. Dongjin was always amazed at the way that no matter what time of the day it was, whether he was sleeping or awake, Junghan’s hair looked perfect – Junghan hated his hair.

“Okay, let’s just get in and out of there before they catch us,” Junghan suggested. He had caught a quick glimpse of Soonyoung and Seokmin just before they had disappeared somewhere, and he guessed they were there to do the same as them. Junghan had a fair idea of what he was going to buy them and the others for Christmas – something clean. Maybe something that smelt nice. They were always so dirty and lazy and never bothered washing or cleaning, so Junghan had basically become the mother figure in all of their lives, although they didn’t live in the same house. He frequented all of their residencies because he knew that if he didn’t, they would probably not be able to get out the front door. He had no ability in comprehending how they managed to survive their chaos and untidiness, but he guessed that’s what he was there for. Everyone exists for a reason, and that was his.

The doors of the store they were heading to opened automatically when their weight was felt by the sensory mat in front of them, and the warmth from inside the centre was so radiating that the boys instinctively ran inside, although there was no need to. The store was one of those we-have-whatever-you-can-think-of types of stores, so it was one hundred times bigger than humongous compared to the usual café that Dongjin and Junghan visited every morning. The staff seemed to be acting a lot friendlier than usual, Dongjin thought, smiles being thrown here and there and never a word without a cheerful tone being spoken – probably because it was Christmas and that was when sales were the highest (or so he had heard on the news).

Although they were growing up, they were still kids and so it was obligatory to check out what was in the kids’ toy aisle.

“Look how fluffy it is!” Dongjin commented, maybe too excitedly, as he held a stuffed monkey toy next to his face. Junghan agreed, it was fluffy, but he couldn’t help noticing how similar the monkey and Dongjin looked. It was cute.

“Do you want that for Christmas? I’ll get it for you. It looks just like you.”

“I—really?! You… want to buy me a present? Christmas? For Christmas? A present?”

“Yeah, why not?” Junghan shrugged. Dongjin was astonished at the fact that Junghan would be the one to buy him his first Christmas present ever, but he was too in shock to think about it in detail. He didn’t even take notice of the comment that he looked like the toy he was hugging so tightly.

“Masternim, I love you!” Dongjin squealed, running away.

“Get back here, kid! We have shopping to do!” Junghan reminded Dongjin by an attempt to yell through the crowded aisle, which only ended in failure. Sure enough he discovered Dongjin in the next aisle still hugging the monkey close to his chest, though his huge smile had shifted into a gaze of amazement as he analysed the products in front of him. Junghan became curious at what was just so amazing, and realised they were in the exact aisle they needed to be in.

What was placed in organised rows, colours and alphabet sorted, were a wide variety of body washes. It was perfect. It was just what they needed – practical, useful, and he was sure that the guys would think of it as a thoughtful present! He was just hopeful they didn’t take it offensively. Dongjin was still young, so Junghan guessed he was shocked by the amount of colours that could be in one aisle. He picked up a red basket from the end of the aisle and chose one body wash for each member of their friendship group. He sure wouldn’t mind if he received body wash for Christmas. Plus, he had to bring Dongjin home quickly so he could finish what he had prepared earlier for him.

Junghan quickly paid for the stuffed toy Dongjin and the body washes with an exchange of money and strange looks from the cashier, and eventually they were off to Junghan’s apartment once more.

As Dongjin was a little brother figure to Junghan, he wanted to make this Christmas a special one for him. He had the knowledge that he hadn’t had the best of Christmases in his life, so this was going to be the best one yet and he would make sure it was. Although it wasn’t Christmas yet, this could be a feigned clone of the day. He allowed Dongjin to relax on a recliner in a fleece blanket watching some television show about animals while he finished the cooking his mother had taught him. What he ended up wasn’t as good as his mother’s cooking, but it looked somewhat similar so he concluded it was decently edible.

Junghan served up what he perceived as a traditional rice cake soup with some of the boy’s favourite spicy bacon on the side and what Dongjin perceived as the most love he had ever received. Dongjin was grateful enough for this gesture alone and finished the dinner with no sign of hesitation, but Junghan still had a few surprises in store.

“This is for all the teeth you’ve lost so far,” Junghan said, pulling out fifteen dollars from behind his back, “and this is for you.” Dongjin slowly reached out to the wrapped box Junghan held out, thoughts rushing through his mind as to what it could possibly be. “I know you’ve always wanted one of these, so I got you one for yourself.”

As the pretty wrapping paper was taken off without tears, thanks to the perfectionist that Dongjin was, a box was unveiled. Not just any box, though, it was a box to the Samsung Galaxy SV. He didn’t even know that the fifth version of the phone had been released yet, and after doing some research later, he discovered it hadn’t—Junghan just had the best of connections. Dongjin jumped up onto Junghan and latched his arms around him, expressing his gratefulness in a way that words could never, although he did manage to say thank you over one hundred times.

The night ended with Dongjin lying in front of Junghan’s fireplace, snuggled up warm in his homemade fleece blanket. They’d just finished a game of Cranium and it was one of the funnest times either of them had ever had. Junghan told Dongjin stories—of his own past, of his parents, of his future plans. He then noticed that Dongjin was probably bored of hearing about the dull things, and began telling a story his mother used to speak to him which involved such things as fairies and the like.

As Dongjin’s eyes began to close slowly, he realised that the best present he had received that December was not the stuffed toy monkey he had wanted so badly, or the phone that must have been so expensive (although he was still overly grateful for that). He realised the best present he had received that December was the day, the experience, the time he got to spend with his best friend.

And he realised that the best present he had received in his whole life was the one that he loved the most—it was Junghan.