06

Feeling strangely light as he opened his eyes, it took Jongki a second or two to figure out what was going on before a bright grin crossed his face and he sat upright in bed. It was Christmas morning and already there was a bright festive buzz about the whole Onsen. Clambering out of his blankets, he smiled at the stocking on the end of the bed which was full of little carefully wrapped presents and made a grab for it. However he didn’t rush to open any of the presents held within, instead Jongki got up and headed to his parents’ bedroom. Both his Mum and Dad were snuggled carefully together to make it appear that they were in a deep sleep but he had learned long ago to not believe the pose in the slightest. Putting the stocking down, he took a couple of careful steps and then jumped, landing right in the middle of his parents.

“Jongki!” his mother half-squealed in surprised before snuggling closer to him, “You shouldn’t do that to your Mother. You’ll give her a heart attack one of these days.”

“Merry Christmas Mum,” Jongki said in response, snuggling into her and chuckling when he was tickled from behind, “Dad!”

“You’re getting too bloody big to be doing this,” his Dad replied with a grin, “One of these days you really will break the bed.” Chuckling, the father hugged up to his son and held him tightly, “Though Merry Christmas to you too.”

For a while they remained together on the bed, sharing in the warmth and joy that they got to share less and less throughout the year. Whilst his parents had always been supportive of his career choice – except at the point where he wanted to be an BMX star – they didn’t deny the fact that they missed his presence around the house or the fact that getting to talk to each other on the phone was a matter of careful scheduling that generally didn’t always come to plan. Eventually though the excitement got too much and the small family got out of bed to go and open their presents and share in their own little traditions for the time being as Christmas Dinner wouldn’t be until sometime much later than usual as virtually the whole Eun family were present and they had a really complicated set of traditions which they followed.

Jongki laughed at the scarf and the jumper set he got from his mother and simply adored the aftershave set from his father – as well as the funny story that it had nearly been a perfume set because he hadn’t been paying attention to what he had been buying – and he loved watching their reaction of their gifts. He had gotten them really expensive his and her watches, as well as a stunning necklace and earring set for his mother and a fancy electronic organiser for his father. It felt like forever since he had smiled this much and he loved it completely.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

“How on earth did you know I wanted this?” Jae asked his sister as he happily held aloft an electric razor set with several replaceable blades and a fancy carry pouch which also held a charger. He had been after one since his last one had mysteriously stopped functioning but they had been that caught up in a whirlwind of promotions and variety shows that he had barely had enough time to even think about shaving. He had to resort to the disposable razors which irritated the life out of him but it was better than nothing.

Jaemi smiled, “Oh you’re big sister is just way too good. Now come on, open another one Jae.”

Jaeshik blinked towards the girl, “But you haven’t opened anything of yours yet.”

His brother chuckled, “We’ll open ours in a minute, you get to opening yours.”

Pouting cutely, Jae was quickly distracted by the next set of presents. Their Christmas’s had always been liked this, the elder two making sure that their youngest brother got to open all of his presents first to see his reaction them and to grin and keep him smiling in return. He understood why they did it but sometimes he wished that they would be more like elder siblings rather than parents but there was little that he could do to dissuade them from that.

When he was finally finished, though he nearly playfully threw the last present at the pair which was a book on the best chat-up-lines with a not so subtle hint to use them towards his obvious crush in their eyes, the pair got to work on their own presents and he giggled when they got their joke gifts of ‘Hunky Man’ soap for Jaemi and ‘Sally Soapy’ for Jaehyun. Their real presents they adored however, of fine pieces of jewellery and a proper cooking set for his sister and a professional briefcase and series of expensive tie pins for his brother.

Once they were all finished, the three of them snuggled up together on the sofa to watch some TV and enjoy each other’s company. Jaeshik sighed contently, enjoying the presence of his elder siblings and realising that he may be missed them a whole lot more than he would ever let on. It seemed like forever since they had been together like this but he knew that things would slowly start to change as undoubtedly they both had partners of their own and they would be getting married soon and moving on with their lives.

Jaemi ran her fingers through his hair, “Don’t get depressed on me, Jaeshik, else I will tickle you until you cannot breath.”

“I’m not getting depressed,” Jae replied, glaring at his sister, “I’m just thinking is all.”

“Tickle attack?” Jaehyun asked, glancing to his younger sister.

Jaemi nodded and before Jaeshik could even react, he suddenly found himself being assaulted by two pairs of very tickly hands that had him laughing brightly.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

Minki and Mia had decided that it would be fun to wake up Sunwoo who had been in the middle of a real curious dream about a talking fish called Ernie who wanted to take him away to the candy land – that was seriously the last time he was ever letting his younger brother pick a movie for them to watch – by jumping onto him at five o’clock in the morning to then promptly drag him complaining out of bed in order to open presents and tumble about with them like they were six year olds. Naturally Sunwoo tried to remain calm and serious but it was next to impossible and under strict instructions from his elder brother, he was acting more like his actual age than ever before. Not that anyone would see other than his family of course, because regardless of the season, Sunwoo was known to be the serious maknae of R-Star for a reason.

Still despite the horrendously early hour, in fact he joked on that it was quite the record for the youngsters since they typically tried to get up for Christmas morning between anywhere between two to four am, Sunwoo was bright and bubbly and enjoyed opening his presents of plushis, a fact book on the solar system and some fancy sounding cologne that smelt really nice. There was also a new watch from his parents and a blank hard back diary so that he could try to keep his resolution of writing in one every single day.

In return, his younger siblings got new teddy bears and matching scarf, gloves and earmuff sets whilst his elder siblings got iPods and iPads and his mother and father got a new kindle, a very exclusive meal for a very fancy restaurant and a new laptop with a proper Skype phone to make getting in contact a whole lot easier. “Oh Sunny,” his mother cooed happily toward him as she engulfed him in a massive big hug, “You really are spoiling us way too much you know.”

“I’m allowed to,” Sunwoo stated back with a smile, “There’s no rules to say that I can’t.”

“I know but it’s Christmas, we’re supposed to spoil you,” he was kissed on the nose which had him grinning, “It’s so lovely that you do this though even though you really don’t need to Sunwoo.”

His father rolled his eyes, “She’s just getting all motherly, Sunny, ignore her. You should hear her go on when she catches a show with you on or something, its constant blabbering on for the next half hour.”

Sunwoo laughed when his mother rightfully clipped his father around the ear to tell him off but was off after Minki and his sisters when they stole off with one of his new presents. He yelled at them to give it back but ended up tussling back and forth on the floor. He missed this, he realised when he finally got free, probably more than he would ever admit.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

Jinseok had been highly worried that night about going back to the shack and having to have the talk because there was no way that he could discount the whole kissing affair with Kyung as just a drunken escapade but once he had sat down with just his parents, things went well. His parents were actually not that surprised in the slightest, saying that it did not bother them too much because at the end of the day he was still their son and nothing would ever change that fact. His father did say that he would have liked to find out in a slightly different way but he wasn’t going to hold it against Jin. Especially as Kyung had clearly waited a long time and never once been pushy. Jin had the impression that his father rather liked the dancer so he had gone to bed feeling good for a number of different reasons.

Jinri was the one to wake him up as per the usual traditions, though he really wished that he hadn’t drunk so much last night cause he had the tiniest bit of a hangover, but he managed to hide the fact for about five seconds before a fresh cup of strong coffee was thrown under his nose and his parents playfully picked on him. Not that he really minded of course, getting picked on for having a hangover was a whole lot easier than being picked on for being gay but it was nice to know that he had his family backing him all the way.

Though he had to chuckle at the fact that his little sister had, as usual, made her own Christmas presents which consisted of a brightly coloured shirt with a Christmas Theme – which he jokingly said had lopsided Christmas Tree’s on it – for himself and their Dad and a bright cardie coat for their mother. He also got a new selection of books, a couple of which he so decided he would torment Jaeshik with, and a few musical soundtracks with accompanying song sheet and music to keep him entertained.

Jinri got a brand new sewing basket and a sewing machine to help her continue with her designs which had the girl bounding around happily for an age and his parents got a new coffee maker, a charm bracelet that jangled with the amount of charms already upon it for his mother and a very fancy writing set for his father. He also got them a theatre pass for the next year because they loved going to the theatre.

Settling down to watch as Jinri tried unsuccessfully to use the wrapping paper to make some more designs; Jin nestled against his mother and sighed. “What’s wrong, Jin?” she asked gently, fingers combing through his hair.

“Are you sure you’re okay with...” he gently bit at his lip.

It was his father who responded though, “Jinseok. You’re still our son regardless. Stop fussing.”

Jin smiled happily and let himself enjoy their company.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

For once, Sang had been awake long before the Triplets and was able to counteract their planned mischief with his own little prank which meant a whole host of loud yells from the three girls which thankfully didn’t wake anyone else up. Excluding his mother and father of course who were that used to everything by now that they just let the three girls charge at their elder brother and attack him until they were officially allowed to go into the ‘living room’ to open presents. There was none of this early morning malarkey to be had with them, only when it was daylight were they allowed to go and get their presents from Father Christmas because otherwise they could still scare him away.

Sang and the girls had long ago realised that it was simply a case of making sure that the parents got a lie in after arranging everything but they still stuck to the traditions without too much of a complaint and Sang literally had Tzi and Sumi under his arm and Tsue on his back, in order to stop them running ahead to grab presents.

Eventually able to move and breathe again, the four kids set about their presents with wild gusto, though Sang took his time in opening his because he realised that some where heavier and he didn’t want to accidentally damage what was underneath. He was glad that he didn’t because he had been given a brand new semi-professional camera with additional flash, a couple of different lenses and a much smaller digital camera with a fun little attachment which allowed him to take photographs from a height so that they included him. Naturally his first targets were his sisters and his mother and father but he couldn’t be happier in the slightest.

Plus it was a really nice way to capture the girl’s reactions to the various ‘merchandise’ stuff that he had been able to get them to fulfil their obsession with their preferred bands which saw many loud yells and hugs and all sorts of other crazy things which had him laughing. His parents were a lot easier going but he had to love their reactions to getting VIP passes to the sports stadium for a year because if there was one thing that they both loved it was sports. For his mother he got a fancy bottle of perfume as well as a silver locket which contained self selected pictures of all of the family within it and for his father he got an very manly cologne and a magic set because he knew that he still wanted to learn their grandfathers tricks.

The best surprise of all however, was the girl’s getting their very own puppy to keep them entertained whilst Sang was away. The creature was cute and fluffy and Sang couldn’t help but smile warmly at the girls’ smiles as he snapped more pictures, realising that he missed them more than he would ever say.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

“Come on, Mummy,” Kyung said, pawing lightly at his mother, “Open it already.”

“Kyunnie,” Satako chuckled, petting her son’s hair, “You should open yours first.”

“But Mummy,” the hyper boy pouted irresistibly cutely which resulted in Satako giving in and opening her present first. She was overjoyed with the musical jewellery box which had real crystals inlaid and opening it up to find at least fifty pairs of ear rings to make up for the ones which he had inevitably caused to be lost or attempted to eat over the years.

She threw her arms around her son, “Oh my little Kyung! You are just the best.”

“Now it’s Daddy’s turn,” Kyung said, turning to half plonk himself on his father’s lap.

Eu-uk sighed and shook his head, “Kyung, will you please open something of yours already?”

“After Daddy opens his,” Kyung said in reply, smiling sweetly with his eyes crinkling happily.

Shaking his head again, Eu-uk ruffled Kyung’s hair before opening his present to reveal a brand new tablet computer with a new mobile phone and a couple of spare chargers. “You are just the biggest puppy going aren’t you, son?”

Kyung nodded, “At least I won’t be able to break those ones though with my constant fiddling.”

“True, now go and open yours,” Eu-uk said, playfully flipping Kyung’s knee so that he did a funny tumble backwards into his presents.

As per usual it took the puppy a good minute or two in order to select the present which he wanted to open first because he always loved the look of wrapping paper on presents and he was grinningly wildly. From his parents he got the new DDR and latest dance games as well as a new 2DS in order to keep him amused during the long nights that he would be awake – though as Eu-uk untactful joked he probably wouldn’t have to worry about that now since he had Jin to keep him distracted, which caused the puppy to blush bright red – as well as a selection of games to keep him entertained.

Merrily he hugged back into his parents, fussing over them completely and loving the fact that he was back in their arms for a short while. It was strange how easy it was to forget them in his new and hectic life but it was moments like this which he savoured for when times were hard.

“Kyung,” Satako said after a little while.

“Yes Mummy?” Kyung asked, rolling onto his back to look up at her.

Satako grimaced slightly, “You will be careful with Jin, won’t you?”

For a few seconds, Kyung had no idea what she meant before suddenly turning bright red, “Mummy! I only just started going out with him!”

Eu-uk chuckled lightly, “Satako, darling, Kyung may be our little hyperactive bunny but he does know how to behave and I’m sure he would always be careful.”

Kyung nodded and snuggled against his mother, foot hugging his father in return.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

“Are you getting out of your pit or do I have to drag you?” Bumu asked, none too gentle toeing Kyo’s side, “Honestly, you’re the laziest lump going. Come on, up before all the presents disappear!”

Kyo groaned painfully and snuggled closer into his blankets, trying to stop himself from giggling like a girl because this was always the way when he was home for Christmas. He liked to spend as long as possible snuggled up in his blankets and let someone else wake him up. It was just his way of ensuring that he really was with his real family and that he didn’t have to face the terror of another day in that horrible place even though he knew that would never ever happen again.

Bumu groaned, grabbed the quilt and pulled sharply; accidentally causing Kyo to roll out of bed and onto the floor but the youngest brother merely laughed and tackled the other. It was their mother who eventually separated them with playful reprimands and sent then down to the main living room to exchange gifts. As per their tradition they had one gift each and Kyo smiled contently to himself.

The presents were from their parents were all themed as per usual and it seemed that everyone had gotten a digital photo frame which came preloaded with thousands upon thousands of different images from when they were all tiny to the present day – a few had been swiped via Sang it appeared in Kyo’s case – and it had everyone talking about the past and the millions of memories that they had. Silently smiling, Kyo virtually hugged the picture frame to himself because it meant so much more to him as it proved that there was never a reason to go back to that dark place and that he had many memories of a realm home life.

Grinning towards his parents as he handed over their present, he couldn’t quite contain the bubble of laughter which escaped from his throat as he saw their expressions. Yes he had bought them an all inclusive cruise to the Bahamas and no they couldn’t exchange it for anything else because they had wanted to go there for a really long time. Though just in case something happened, he had playfully got them an anti-pirate kit which mainly consisted of a silly flag, a bottle of rum and a hat which would make them look like pirates so they wouldn’t be captured. Everyone thought that it was mixture of cute and silly but his parents hugged him tightly for the gift and promised him time and time again that they would come back and there would be nothing for him to worry about in the slightest.

Not that Kyo was actually worried of course; he just liked getting to pamper his family because they meant so much to him. He loved getting to spend any amount of time with them and Christmas was just extra special.

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

“Oi, you two,” Bradley mock whispered as he opened the door to his old room where Kibum and Kiyeol were slumbering together on the inflatable bed, “Look out.”

“Why?” Kiyeol muttered, gently rubbing his eyes only for the next second to find himself tackle hugged by the one and only troublesome yeondonseng that he knew.

“Saki’s about!” the girl cried, hugging tightly onto the boy, “Oppa Yelo! It’s Christmas, up up up!” she was virtually bouncing on the bed as was but then flopped ungracefully onto Kibum as well, “Oppa Bummie! That goes for you too! C’mon it’s Christmas!”

The boy looked disgruntled for about a second or two, clearly he shared the same trait as his brother in being able to completely sleep like the dead but then his eyes snapped open and sparkled with joy. Within seconds the pair were up and running and Bradley chuckled, just getting out of the way from the mad capped pair.

“Careful you two don’t go running off like a pair of crazy hyenas!” Bradley called after them, hands on hips but he wasn’t in too much of a rush to go chasing after them obviously. He offered a hand to Kiyeol and helped to pull him upright, almost immediately wrapping the youngster in a hug, “Merry Christmas, Ducky.”

“Merry Kissmass Mama Bear,” Kiyeol said back into the hug and they set off to join the throng. Since the two young brothers were staying in the main house, they got enrolled into the families antics and joined the circle curiously but thankfully Bradley and Saki were there to keep them right. The presents went around in a circle for the first one, usually a pair of socks or a funny hat or something of that ilk – Saki got a Hello Kitty scarf off Granny which was really way too big but looked so cute on her and Kiyeol found that he had a knitted duck hat whilst Kibum got a jumper with a chick on it – and then a very curious tradition of birthday presents were given out in a certain order according to the day and month that people were born. Both brothers were highly surprised to be included in this little tradition but neither were going to complain seeing as Kibum got a full art set complete with paints, chalks and paper and Kiyeol got a leather charm bracelet with a box filled with charms that he could pick and choose between.

For his proper Christmas present, Bradley got a whole host of soppy romantic novels, a limited CD of one of his favourite groups and a necklace which twisted to reveal a usb stick which had apparently been loaded up with a whole host of different pictures. Kiyeol was overjoyed to receive several sets of pyjamas, a bunch of jumpers and his very own Teddy Bear that was white, fluffy and had a bright red nose. Saki got more Hello Kitty stuff than anyone could care to count, as well as some new Power Rangers action figures and a new Monster High doll which she automatically loved. Kibum was gifted with some advanced study books, a jigsaw puzzle and the board game of Monopoly which was promptly set up so that he could play it with a mixture of others.

For his parents, Bradley gave his mother a very fine silver tea service along with a years subscription to two of her favourite magazines and a little plaque which held bronzed versions of a pair of Saki’s first shoes which she completely adored no end. Shaun was given a ‘New York Giants’ t-shirt, along with a bunch of new audio books and a pair of massive earphones so that he could listen to his stories and music in peace and quiet when he was tottering about doing the garden and running the Onsen.

Kiyeol completely lost track of the rest of the presents and only really re-found his focus about an hour or so later when he found himself snuggled up happily against his Mama Bear, watching Kibum playing his new game whilst Saki went running around with some of her cousins. It was chaotic and terrifying in some respects but he could not recall a time when he had been in a room that was filled with such love, joy and family. He felt Bradley press a kiss to the side of his head, “You’re definitely part of the family now, Kiyeol.”

Kiyeol snuggled closer to the elder, “I couldn’t think of a better Christmas present, Mama.”

For a few seconds the pair were silent, and then Bradley blinked, “Kiyeol, you just said Christmas!”

The boy blinked, confused for a second or two and then he grinned happily feeling tears silently trickling down his face, “Yay, it’s Christmas!”