It was finally Christmas. The twins woke up early, excited for Christmas. Gary and Jihyo were already up. Jihyo was preparing breakfast- French toast and sausages, while Gary helped the kids to wash up. When he was done with the children, he carried them into the kitchen for them to kiss Jihyo good-morning. Then he put them on their high chair.

Jihyo came out with their breakfast.

“Whoa! Sausage!” Jiyoung exclaimed cheerily.

Gary helped him cut it into smaller pieces while Jihyo helped Ji-ohn.

As they ate their breakfast, Jihyo asked Gary, “Oppa, should we let them sit on the normal chairs starting next year?”

“Eo… we should. They are big enough already, right?” he said nodded at Jihyo before turning to the twins. They giggled and nodded as well.

“Appa, are we getting presents today?” Ji-ohn asked excitedly.

“Eo… but we’ll give you when we go to your grandparent’s house,” he said. 

“Oh, we aren’t going today,” Jihyo said. She planned to go to the orphanage today, so she asked her family to celebrate Christmas the next day. They agreed readily.

“Ah… really?” Gary asked, surprised. They went every year ever since they got married. For every major occasions they would celebrate it there, on the actual day.

“Eung… my siblings had plans with their friends,” she lied. “So we’re going tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Gary shrugged. It didn’t matter to him anyway; he had both days free. “But the presents?”

“We can give them now. I don’t think they want to wait until tomorrow,” she said, chuckling at the two excited children. He nodded, and went into their room to get their present.

They bought Jiyoung a remote control toy-car, and he was fascinated by it. He watched in amazement as Gary taught him how to play with it using the remote and he couldn’t sit still already. Ji-ohn was given a toy dog that moved and barked. It even had a voice recorder so it could repeat what she said. Even Daeyang had a present. He had a new collar and a new toy ball.

“Jiyoung-ah, Ji-ohn ah, should we show appa our present for him?” Jihyo asked. But the kids were too occupied with their new toys to pay attention.

“Yahh….” She whined. Gary laughed. “You can just show it to me yourself,” he offered.

“Shireo, they helped too,” she said. She then pulled Jiyoung towards her. “Youngie, let’s show appa his present, okay?” The boy nodded, but his eyes unable to leave the car. She pulled Ji-ohn towards her too. “Ji-ohnie, let’s show appa his present,” she repeated. Like her brother she nodded, but wasn’t paying attention either.

“Kwenchana,” Gary said. “You’re the only one excited,” he chuckled.

“We spent a lot of time on it,” she pouted. Gary kissed her lips.

“Yah!” she jokingly pushed him away. He grinned cheekily. She poked his cheeks. “Your son has the exact same cheeky smile as you,” she said.

“And they both have the same pretty eyes as you,” he said. “What did you get for my present?” he asked.

“Secret. What did you get for me?” she asked him.

“Secret too,” he said. “But I used their help too,” he laughed, gesturing to the kids.

“They grown up a lot…” Jihyo said suddenly feeling nostalgic. “Last year, they couldn’t even play with their own presents and now, they’re helping us already,” she said. Gary put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Do you remember, we first found out you were pregnant just before Christmas?” he said.

She nodded, smiling. “Best Christmas present,” she said.

“This year… my present… is it…?” Gary joked, as he placed his other hand on her tummy.

“Don’t be silly,” she laughed, pushing his hands away. “Two is enough!” Gary laughed and pulled away, but not before kissing her cheeks.”

“Jiyoung ah, Ji-ohn ah,” he said, pulling them towards him. “Do you know four years ago on Christmas, you were in eomma’s tummy?” he asked.

The topic seemed to interest them, so they looked at him.

“Jjinja?” Jiyoung asked, surprised. “Why?”

Gary and Jihyo laughed at his absurd question. “What do you mean why!” Gary laughed. “You weren’t born yet,” he said. “You were growing inside. With Ji-ohnie. Both of you grew until you were big enough to be survive on your own.”

“Why were we inside?” Ji-ohn asked again.

Jihyo smiled, hugging her close. “Because we wished for you, baby. We wished for you and Jiyoungie, so Santa Claus put us inside.”

Gary laughed. You are really the goddess of bull, he thought to her.

She rolled her eyes. Would you rather explain?

Gary laughed out and shook his head.

Ji-ohn nodded, but Jiyoung asked. “But why did he put both of us in you? Why not one for appa and one for eomma?”

Jihyo was stunned at the question for a moment. Oppa!! Why did you even start on this topic?!

“Why didn’t appa help you?” Jiyoung asked again.

“Eo… because… because… I don’t know,” Jihyo confessed. And Gary was just laughing and not helping her.

“Why don’t you write to Santa Claus ahjussi and ask him,” Gary suggested.

“I can’t write yet, appa,” he protested.

“Then you shall wait until you learn how to write before asking him!” Gary said. Smiling at Jihyo, he thought, problem solved.

She laughed and gave him a thumbs up.

“Eomma, gomawo…” Ji-ohn suddenly said.

“Huh?” Jihyo asked, confused.

“For carrying us inside here…” she said, putting her hand over Jihyo’s stomach.

“Eo…” Jihyo mumbled at a loss of what to say.

“We were heavy, right? When we were inside,” she said.  

“Ani…” Jihyo said, not wanting to make her feel bad. But as she spoke, she couldn’t help but think back about when she constantly had dizzy spells, and when she almost aborted one of them. Gary read her thoughts and put an arm on her shoulder. Some tears trickled down her cheeks.

“Eomma…” the twins said when they realised she was crying.

“Eomma, I love you,” they said one after another, each child kissing one cheek.

They finally got around to showing Gary his present. Jihyo blindfolded Gary and the three of them led him to the car.

She unlocked the boot to reveal a boot-full of goodie bags. Then, she helped Gary take off the blindfold.

“Yeobo…” Gary mumbled. He didn’t need her to explain further. Just one look and he knows it’s for the orphanage. And he guessed that it was the reason why they weren’t going to her parent’s house that day.

“I figured you missed the kids,” she said.

“Gomawo…” he said softly, before kissing her cheeks. She gave his hand a squeeze.

“My present pales in comparison to yours,” Gary confessed, when they were in the escalator.

Jihyo just laughed. Gary was always the one spending so much thought on gifts. And sometimes, on random days, he would just surprise her with little presents. She could never do it for him; she just didn’t know how to create surprises.

Gary took Jiyoung and Ji-ohn into their room and changed them into the clothes he prepared. They were little angel clothes, complete with the halo and wings. He himself wore a suit.

“Do you remember the lyrics?” he asked. They nodded, but Gary wasn’t confident that they did. He just laughed. He exited the room, holding a guitar in one hand, and Ji-ohn in another hand. Jiyoung was on the other side.

“Omo, so cute,” Jihyo squealed at the children’s outfit. Gary smiled. Then she saw a guitar. “Mwoya… you going to sing?” she laughed.

He chuckled. “I know you hate serenades, but I couldn’t think of anything else the kids could do with me.”

She nodded, and took out her phone to record. Serenades were one thing, but her little angels singing for her, of course she had to record this precious moment.

“Yah! Don’t record me, I’m so nervous right now,” Gary complained. “I’m not even this nervous during my concerts!”

“Arrasso, arrasso, I’ll just film the kids then,” she laughed.

 Gary played the background music on his phone as he strummed the guitar.

(It’s the song 1,2,3,4 by plain white tees, if you are wondering.)

The kids started, “1, 2, 1-2-3-4,”

Then Gary started to sing:

“Give me more love than I’ve ever had,

Make me feel better when I’m feeling sad,

Tell me I’m special even when I know I’m not.

Make me feel good when I hurt so bad

Barely get mad,

I’m so glad I found you,

I love being around you,

You make it easy, as easy as 1, 2, 1-2-3-4”

Then the kids joined it from this part.

“There’s only one thing, to do, three words, for you,”

And the kids screamed, “I love you!”

Then Gary sang on his own again, with the kids joining in whatever parts they knew. They were out of tune sometimes, and occasionally stumbled a little, but it was still nice to watch.

“Whoa, jalhaesseo,” Jihyo clapped. She hugged the two kids, “you guys can join appa for a performance next time already,” she laughed. Gary laughed too.

“They didn’t have time to learn everything,” Gary laughed.

“When did you even teach them!” she asked, laughing.

“It’s so hard to find time, you know,” he complained. “You are always together with them.  I have to teach when I bath them or after I wake them up or when I put them to sleep,” he said.

“Poor thing, both of you,” Jihyo said, rubbing the kids cheeks. They just giggled.

After lunch, they made their way to the orphanage.

After having the twins, Gary only came back once or twice a year, usually during Seollal or Mdm Park’s birthday, but he never lingered for long. The twins never came before either.

Because they couldn’t carry so many things by themselves, Gary had a staff to help them carry all the goodie bags. When they reached the entrance, the children cheered. The twins were shocked at the sight of so many children, so they hid behind their parents.

Gary recognized most of the children, although there were some new faces. There were some new staffs too.

“Hyung!” Yong Hui called out. Gary looked up, almost not recognizing him. “Yong Hui?” he asked. The boy nodded. “Whoa! You grew so tall!” he exclaimed. The last time he saw him was five years ago, when he was eight. Now he was thirteen. He smiled. Gary ruffled his hair. He greeted other children too.

The twins shied behind Jihyo, who attracted a crowd on her own. She came a few times with Gary when they dated, so many were familiar with her as well. Hye Jin, the little girl she once looked after, was already eleven. She came over to greet Jihyo as well.

“Greet your nunas/eonnies and hyungs/oppas,” she told them.

They obeyed but did so softly. Then Ji-ohn started to cry. There were too many voices she couldn’t recognise and she was confused and shocked. The children seemed startled when she cried, not knowing what they did wrong. Jihyo shook her head and explained that because she couldn’t see, their voices confused her a little. Gary looked over worriedly, but Jihyo smiled, signalling that it’s okay. He still came over.

“Bring her aside,” he told Jihyo. “I’ll look after Jiyoung.” Jihyo nodded.

Gary and Jiyoung gave out the goodie packs and some of the new children introduced themselves. There was a new pair of identical twins.

“Jiyoung ah, look! These two hyungs are twins too, like Ji-ohnie and you!”

“Jjinja?” Jiyoung seemed interested. The only twins he knew in the world was himself and Ji-ohn. “They look the same,” he finally commented. The twins laughed and introduced themselves. The elder twin was Jae Myung, the younger twin was Ha Myung, and they were seven years old.

“Whoa it’s really hard to tell the both of you apart,” Gary said. The other children nodded, saying the twins used to play pranks on them because no one could differentiate them, but now they could tell the difference.

“I don’t look the same as Ji-ohn,” Jiyoung said, confused. Gary laughed, explaining that it’s a different kind of twins.

The children soon warmed up to the company and started playing together. The elder pair of twins looked after the Jiyoung and Ji-oh well, maybe because they felt a connection with them, since they were twins. Mdm Park came out of the office, and Gary and Jihyo went to greet her. They chatted for a little, with Gary apologizing again for coming by so little, but the elderly brushed him off, saying that he had done more than enough to repay the home. He smiled and shook his head.

It was time for dinner. Jihyo catered food for the Christmas party. Everyone sat at the canteen for dinner. The two pairs of twin still stuck together, sitting at the same table.

Jihyo pointed it out to Gary, “Oppa, look. Jiyoung and Ji-ohn are getting more independent now. They used to always look for us whenever it’s meal time,” she said, a little sadness in her voice.

“Kids grow up eventually,” he said, nodding.

Gary and Jihyo ate with the other staffs as they chatted. After dinner, it was time for them to go home. They walked over to the twin’s table, wanting to ask them to go. They were still eating their cake, so Gary and Jihyo waited for them at the side.

“Jae Myungie oppa, feed me,” Ji-ohn said, tapping to the elder twin who was sitting beside her.

He chuckled, wanting to trick her. So he said, “I’m Ha Myung oppa yah.” The kids around them chuckled, clearly knowing that the twins are doing it again.

“Ani, you are Jae Myung oppa yah,” she protested, her voice whiny.

“No, you are wrong,” he laughed, poking her sides. She giggled and said, “no, you are wrong. You are Jae Myungie oppa, the elder one.”

The boy turned to Jiyoung now. “Jiyoungie, am I Jae Myung or Ha Myung?”

He giggled. “Jae Myung hyung.”

The younger twin who was beside Jae Myung pretended to pout. “Yah, I looked after you the whole day, and you didn’t know I was Jae Myung?”

Jiyoung was slightly confused now. “Ah? You are Ha Myung hyung right?”

The children burst out laughing, leaving the poor babies confused, until someone finally told them not to joke around anymore.

Gary and Jihyo finally came to ask them to hurry up.

“Hurry, it’s way past oppas’ and eonnies’ bedtime now. And yours too,” Gary laughed.

“Ani, hyung we are not tired yet,” a boy spoke up.

Jiyoung repeated, “Appa we are not tired yet,” and giggled.

“Yah! You didn’t even have your nap today,” Jihyo said.

“Jjinja? But eomma and appa are tired,” Gary said. “Should we go first?”

The kids laughed, knowing that they were joking. Gary tugged Jihyo, “let’s pretend to walk away,” he whispered.

“IF they cry they’re yours,” she whispered back playfully.

“Are you coming?” Gary asked again.

The twins giggled again, so Gary tugged Jihyo away. “Then we’ll leave you here,” he chuckled.

“No!” Jiyoung cried, when he saw them walked away. “Eomma….” He whined and cried. Then Ji-ohn started to cry too.

“I told you they’d cry!” Jihyo scolded, hitting him on the arm. They hurried back. The children around their table came over to tell the babies that it was just a joke.

When the two adults reached their table, Jiyoung and Ji-ohn lept into their arms immediately.

“Eomma, don’t don’t want me,” Jiyoung mumbled. “Don’t leave me here.”

Jihyo rubbed his back. “Okay, okay, I was just joking,” she said, feeling guilty immediately.

With the two little ones crying, they couldn’t stay any longer, so they bade goodbye to the children there.

In the car, the twins finally stopped crying, so Gary asked, “Did you have fun today?”

They nodded weakly.

“Then next time do you want to come back with appa and play with the eonnies and oppas?”

They hesitated, but shook their heads.

“No, no, I don’t want to stay there,” Ji-ohn cried. “It’s for children with no parents, but I have you,” she said. “I don’t want to go there.”

Suddenly, it hit Gary and Jihyo that that place was an orphanage after all. They kids must have really thought that they didn’t want them anymore.

“Oppa! What have you done!” Jihyo complained, hitting him. He looked guilty, and Jihyo felt it too, so she stopped.

“Mianhae…” Gary said, looking at the children through his rear view mirror.

“Appa and eomma loves you so so much, we won’t ever not want you, okay?” he said.

The children looked at him.

“I love you, too,” they said, one after another. 

if i have any gramma errors i'm sorry... im tooooo tired to proofread.