Getting punched in the face was not how he’d wanted to start the day.

Luhan winced as Im Yoona treated the cut on his face. She was carefully dabbing medicine on his wound, slightly agape and her eyes wide and focused. Up-close, he could see the shadows beneath her eyes. He wondered what kind of nightmares she had at night, and if they were like his.

 “Sorry,” she murmured, putting down the damp cotton ball. She picked up a bandage – one with patterns of yellow ducks and pink hearts. He raised a brow.

She noticed the look he gave her. “It’s all I could find,” she said, and he had to suppress a smile. Yoona finished up and cleaned up the first aid kit, and then put it back in the storage room of her house. When she returned, she gave him a questioning look, brows furrowed and lips pursed.

“What?” he asked; Luhan suddenly felt self-conscious. She kept eyeing him.

After a while, she asked, “Why did you help me back there?”

It was his turn to fall silent now. The brunet honestly did not know. He’d seen some bastard harassing her on the street, and he couldn’t just let it be. Luhan cleared his throat and said, “You’re my friend. Friends help each other.”

It wasn’t entirely false. They were friends – years ago, in kindergarten. That had to count for something.

She wore an amused grin, a brow raised. “Well then, pal, glad to know you have my back.” Playfully she punched him on the arm. For a moment he was stunned – he didn’t expect her to react thay way. But, slowly, a smile bloomed on his face.

***

The next day, he awoke to someone sitting in his room at his desk.

Luhan jumped when his eyes fell upon Im Yoona, who was flipping through one of his sketchbooks. He was so surprised he almost fell off his bed. The brunet looked at her with wide eyes. “Yoona?”

Said girl looked up at him with a huge grin, closing the book and giving him a small wave. “Hey,” she said. She was sitting cross-legged on his chair, wearing pyjamas with her brown hair tied in a loose bun. Luhan blinked; she looked so casual and comfortable, he wondered if he was dreaming.

“What are you doing in my room?” he asked, frantically pulling at the covers to hide his bare upper body. She scoffed.

“Oh please,” she said. “I already saw everything while you were sleeping.”

It took him a moment to process her words. “Wait- How long have you been in here?”

“15 minutes,” she said. “Your mom’s cooking breakfast, by the way. I can’t tell what it is, but it smells great.”

“My mom knows you’re here? And she let you in my room when she knew I was still sleeping?”

“God, no! Do you think I’m an idiot? Of course she doesn’t know.” Yoona looked at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “She hates me. I’m not suicidal, you know.”

He recalled their childhood days when his mother would refuse to let Yoona in the house because of a, ah, incident. Luhan brushed the memory away and opened his mouth to repeat his previous question, but she beat him to it. “I snuck in through your window. Which reminds me – you should really lock it. Who knows what kind of person would break in. You’re lucky it’s just me this time.”

Luhan was too stunned for words. His mouth was open, but no words came. She grinned.

“Now you might be wondering why I broke into your room,” she said, and he managed to nod. “Well,” Yoona began, “since you helped me, I wanted to return the favour. I’ve been thinking about it all night, and, because the holidays are coming, I’ve decided to give you the best Christmas present ever!” Her smile faded then, replaced by a frown and furrowed brows. “But then I thought that maybe your idea of the best present ever would be different from mine, so that’s why I came over.”

His head ached and he could barely process what she was saying. It’s too early for this, he thought. Luhan was still wearing a confused look, which earned a sigh from the girl. “I want to know what you want for Christmas!” she said, her arms spread out wide and a look on her face that said: duh!

His head still throbbed, but he laughed. “You broke into my house to ask me what I want for Christmas?” he said, scoffing. “You know you could’ve just called me. Or meet me like any normal person.”

“Oh,” she said, “but I’m not normal.”

He knew that very well.

Luhan sighed. “Don’t bother,” he said, bringing their conversation back to the reason she’d came. “I don’t like Christmas.”

“YOU DON’T LIKE CHRISTMAS?” She lunged forward so their faces were only inches apart. Luhan backed up, eyes wide.

Realizing she’d said it too loud, Yoona covered and glanced at the door. When she was sure that his mother had not heard her, the brunette turned to him again. “You don’t like Christmas?” she repeated, this time in a whisper.

He shook his head. “Nope,” he answered. “Sorry.”

She slumped back into her seat, looking utterly shocked. “But why?” she asked, still whispering. He had to suppress a smile. She looked cute.

“I just don’t,” he said, shrugging. “And you don’t have to worry about repaying me. I don’t care.”

She opened to protest, but was interrupted by his mother’s shrill voice coming from downstairs. “Luhan!” she called. “Breakfast is ready.”

Yoona, eyes wide, put a finger to as she hurried to the window, silently ordering him not to mention her visit to his mother. He nodded, approaching the door. Just as he was about to open it and leave, Yoona called,

“Hey, Luhan.”

He turned around.

“You may not like it now, but I assure you,” she grinned, one leg already out of the window, “I’m going to make you like Christmas, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

And with that she left.

***

She was a hurricane of sorts, a thousand-piece puzzle he couldn’t solve.

Yoona’s little quest to make him like Christmas started with abducting him. She’d snuck into his room and slid a note into the pocket of his hoodie. Meet me at the park at midnight, it had said. She hadn’t given him a specific name, but he knew where to go. It was the park they used to play at back when they were kids. He was sure of it.

So he went, and he saw her. She was sitting on a bench, looking up at the sky. In her hands was something small – he was too far to determine what it was. When she saw him, Yoona waved enthusiastically and called him over. Her usual grin was plastered on her face when he approached her.

“Why’d you bring me here?” he’d asked.

“Excellent question, young grasshopper,” she said, giving him the object that was previously in her hands. “Ta-da! A Christmas tree made especially for you by none other than me.”

She was beaming with such pride and satisfaction with herself that he almost didn’t have the heart to tell her. Almost. “It’s a cactus,” he stated. Yoona nodded.

“A very prettily decorated cactus.”

“You wrapped some paper on it and taped a paper star at the top.”

“Hey, that was hard to do,” she said. “Do you know how many times I hurt myself trying to do this?”

"It's fake."

"Yeah, but still." She shrugged. "It's hard to do."

He smiled then, shaking his head. They spent the night arguing about the fake cactus-Christmas tree.

Her next idea was to sneak into his house – she had a thing for breaking and entering, it seemed – with an ugly green sweater and DVD in one hand and a tumbler in the other. Yoona herself was wearing an ugly red sweater with reindeer patterns. She’d told him to wear the other sweater and together they sat in his living room, sipping hot chocolate, and watched some Christmas movie he didn’t care to remember.

What he did remember, however, was her warmth and the way she snuggled closer to him and how she was smiling the entire time and how delicious the hot chocolate was. Luhan couldn’t help but smile whenever he thought of it.

Their fun was interrupted, however, when his mother returned from work. They both rushed to his room and she escaped via his bedroom window. Luhan just managed to take off the sweater and stuff it in his closet when his mother entered his room to ask what he wanted for dinner.

The next part of her plan, apparently, was to freeze him. His mother was at work and she’d called him, asking him to go to the same park as the few nights before. She didn’t say why, but he followed her orders anyway. Luhan was greeted by a snowball to the face.

Somehow Yoona had gathered the neighbourhood kids and started a snowball fight. And somehow she’d managed to manipulate the kids into attacking him on sight; he’d barely recovered from the shock of the first snowball when another hit him in the gut, on the arm, in the shin.

Another hit him in the face again, and when he turned to the source of the snowball he saw Im Yoona, laughing her alligator laugh. He’d declared war then, and half of the kids converted to his side. They fought like there was no tomorrow.

That afternoon, when all the kids were exhausted and had returned to their respective homes, they were left alone, facing each other. He’d smiled, and she’d grinned. “You know,” she had said, “you should smile more. It looks good on you.” Then she threw another snowball at him – it hit his chest – and ran for home. He followed in pursuit.

That night he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and about her words. And the next morning, even though he only got a few hours of sleep, he was smiling from ear-to-ear like a fool.

Days passed and he hadn’t heard from Yoona since. Luhan wanted to visit her, but his mother was on holiday because she’d sprained her ankle and was at home 24/7. He knew she hated Yoona. He didn’t want to risk it.

Christmas came then. He’d expected her to sneak into his room on Christmas Eve, or maybe call him or leave a note. But none of those happened. It was as if she’d disappeared from the planet.

His house was just the same – no decorations or the smell of cookies or presents. He hadn’t expected much from his mother anyway. She hated Christmas more than he did.

The only thing different was the cactus-Christmas tree on his desk – the one Yoona had given to him.

Luhan wandered the streets absent-mindedly until it was dark. When he reached home, he found his mother passed out in the living room and reeking of alcohol. Luhan draped a blanket over her and went up to bed.

He couldn’t sleep. Yoona kept haunting his mind. He was worried about her. She left without a single note. But then he started to think that maybe she was tired of him. Maybe she didn’t want to hang out with him anymore. He couldn’t blame her. He wasn't exactly a fun guy.

Wherever she was and whatever she was doing, Luhan did not get any rest.

Two days had passed since Christmas and he was still suffering from insomnia. Luhan had given up. She was gone for a week. She’d completely disappeared. But he still couldn’t get her out of his head.

There was a knock on his window.

He sat up, feeling hopeful, but then his hope deflated when he remembered that she’d never knocked before. He’d been keeping his window unlocked, just for her.

Still, Luhan approached the window and opened it. A cold gust of wind blew into his room, and he shivered. No one was outside. Just as he was about to close it again, he noticed a note taped to his window sill. Hastily he grabbed it and opened the note.

Come see me, it said. You know where I am.

He suddenly felt angry. She’d been gone for a week with no notice, and now she wanted him to go and see her? He closed the door shut. Who did she think she was? Barging into his life and then leaving just like that!

He glanced at the cactus, and then at the ugly sweater draped onto the back of his chair, where Yoona had first sat when she found out he disliked Christmas. His eyes wandered to the tumbler she’d left behind, and then at the first note she’d given him, taped to the tumbler. Luhan sighed.

He was absolutely crazy.

The brunet bolted down the stairs and out of the house.

***

As he suspected, she was at the park. It was freezing cold, and as he approached her he could see how red her nose was. She was jumping from foot to foot, trying to stay warm.

A million questions swam in his mind, but instead, all he said was, “Hey.” She jumped a little. Yoona turned to him and wore her usual grin – the grin he’d missed seeing the past week.

“Hey,” she said. They were silent for a while, both just staring at the other. Luhan, since the very first moment, still wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not.

Yoona in a breath.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed, her smile faltering, and the words kept tumbling out of . Luhan didn’t even need to ask any of his questions. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was leaving. My dad wanted me to meet my stepmother and she insisted we came early so it was kind of on short notice and I didn’t even have the time to write you a note or tell you-”

Suddenly it didn’t matter to him. “You know,” he interrupted, “you could’ve just called like normal people do.”

She smiled, seemingly relieved. “Oh,” she said, just like when it all began, “but I’m not normal.”

A smile blossomed on his face and, without thinking, he cupped her face and leaned in. His lips just barely grazed hers when she pulled away.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, a little disappointed. He was sure that it was the right time.

She grinned, holding a hand up as a sign to tell him to wait. With the other hand she searched for something in the pocket her jacket, her tongue sticking out a little. She was really cute.

Yoona pulled something out – something white and green. Wait, is that-?

“Mistletoe,” she said, grinning. Luhan burst out laughing. Yoona blushed. “W-What?”

He managed to stop laughing, wiping a tear from his eyes. “You stopped me from kissing you because you wanted to add mistletoe?”

She glared at him. “I wanted it to be perfect.”

Luhan smiled, wrapping his arm around her waist. “You’re perfect,” he muttered, and then they kissed.

Yoona raised the mistletoe.

***

On their way back home, with their arms around each other, Yoona asked, “Why didn’t you like Christmas?”

Luhan had been trying to avoid the question, but he supposed he had nothing to hide.

“My dad,” he said, “died on Christmas Eve when we were 8 years old. He was trying to get back home in time for Christmas, but there was a blizzard. The old man was really stubborn. He went out anyway. And then he got into an accident.” Luhan shrugged. “Christmas brought a lot of bad memories. My mom would drink a lot during Christmas too. So I started to hate it.”

Yoona fell silent, resting her head on his shoulder. “Huh,” she finally said. “No wonder you changed.”

He looked at her questioningly, eyebrow raised. “What do you mean?”

“You changed a lot after Christmas break that year. You pushed everyone away. You didn't smile quite as often.”

It was his turn to fall silent.

Luhan stopped walking. The snow was drifting lazily to the ground. A cool breeze was blowing. Yoona turned around, her wide eyes questioning, and in the pale moonlight he couldn’t help but note how beautiful she was. He in a deep breath, the cold invading his lungs. Luhan smiled. “Not anymore,” he said. “You’re right. You did make me love Christmas. But you know what else you made me love?”

“Ugly sweaters.”

He laughed, earning a smile from the brunette. “You.”

They kissed again, and this time Yoona didn’t bring out the mistletoe.

“By the way, aren’t you supposed to give presents on Christmas?”

“Christmas has passed.” She smiled. “Besides, I’m the greatest Christmas gift you are ever going to get.”

He didn’t argue.