Sanghyuk shook the last coin out from his piggy bank. He had exactly 5670 won worth of coins strewn across his bed, and he quickly stuffed them into his pocket. He has to split them between his parents and his sister and that little kid from school. He smiled, thinking of the warm smile on the Hongbin hyung’s face when they shook their mitten covered hands on the playground yesterday.

“Sanghyuk? Are you coming?” his mom called out from downstairs. He ran out of his room immediately, the coins shaking in his pocket as he ran. He grinned at his mom as she ticked at him for not grabbing his scarf.

On the car ride to the store he was very excited, very excited indeed. The snow was still falling heavily out the window. When they got there he would have jumped out and bounced his way into the store if his mother didn’t pull him by the scarf to her side.

The toy store was filled with a lot of sounds, the various toys making the store feel like it was Santa’s very workshop to his ears. His eyes wandered around the shelves of trains and drums and stuffed bunnies. As he walked along the aisles, his eyes landed on an item to his left. It was a little toy robot with a large V on its body. His thoughts immediately went to Hongbin, and he reached out to it, his little hands grabbing onto the plastic—or so he thought. His fingers closed on air and he blinked, a whine forming in his throat, when he turned and saw where it went.

“Hyuk! Hi!” Hongbin’s face was all he could see. “Oh… did you want this?” He lifted up the toy in his hand.

Sanghyuk stared blankly, and Hongbin tilted his head.

“Wait here, okay?” he said, before he grabbed the toy from Hongbin and ran off to his mom.

“Mom,” he started, tugging on his mom’s coat. “Mom, is it okay if I don’t buy you a gift?”

She chuckled a bit, setting the stuffed animal she was holding back on the shelf. She patted Sanghyuk’s hair. “Your savings not enough?” she smiled.

Sanghyuk didn’t get what was funny; his savings were not enough for the toy Hongbin hyung wanted and for his mom and dad and sister. The toy was already more than half of what he saved up and he really wanted to give everyone a gift. He pouted at his mom.

“Honey, of course it’s okay, but—are you getting that for yourself?” she took the toy from Sanghyuk’s hand, who tried desperately to grab it back.

“Moooom! Give it back!” he whined, and his mom laughed before giving it back to him. He ran back to Hongbin.

“Hyung!” he grinned. “I’m going to get this for you, as your present!” he says, panting from his all the running. “So make sure you come by our house on Christmas!”

Hongbin grinned back at him, eyes shining like someone lit a Christmas tree inside them, and kissed Sanghyuk on the cheek. “Thank you!”

Sanghyuk blushed. “Merry Christmas,hyung!”