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Christmas was approaching and fast. Hyun-Ju and Geyong-seok knew they had to start organizing their day soon before they got too late to have any plan, as every place would either be fully booked or saturated with people.
In South Korea, Christmas day was a national holiday, even without the religious intent, which meant both members of the couple could ask for time off — although Hyun-ju was already free from her job as a teacher, this period being the winter break for anyone in school.
Thankfully Geyong-seok had already requested his time off from the park long since, and his role as a father had got him to be easily approved over others’, despite how busy the place may get. His poor colleagues would just have to do without him for a day. He had much more important things to spend his day staring at.
Like his beautiful girlfriend and his precious daughter, little Na-yeon.
Speaking of which, Na-yeon would be tonight's topic of discussion as the couple stood in the bathroom together, having just put the little girl to bed thirty minutes ago.
Peaking her head out in the hallway, Hyun-ju stared at the faint light from the night light that stepped through the closed door of Na-yeon's bedroom. She glared at it cautiously, checking to see if she could hear any sign that Na-yeon might still be awake. When she found none, she happily stepped back into the bathroom and gently closed the door behind her, locking it just in case.
Meanwhile Geyong-seok just stared at her intrigued, with his toothbrush still in his mouth.
Hyun-ju walked back to the sink, standing in front of him with an excited smile.
“I know we're on a budget, but I really thought about it, and I think we should get Na-yeon a gift this year. She deserves it more than us, and I already had the perfect idea.” She quietly told him, like letting him in on the most thrilling of secrets, her voice laced with contained giddiness, displaying genuine pride at whatever idea had bloomed in her mind.
And though it was true that the whole family was on a budget, held back by saving up in the hope of paying for Hyun-ju's surgery one day, his girlfriend's glow in the moment almost made Gyeong-seok forget all about this. He'd work himself off to offer either of his girls the moon and sun if they so asked.
So he nodded at her, softly telling her to go on the best he could through the toothpaste and toothbrush in his mouth.
Hyun-ju chuckled, before brushing back a strand of hair, getting ready to deliver her big secret.
“She looks up to her dad so much you know, so I've been thinking, maybe we could get her one of those art sets with the pencils, felt pens, acrylic paints and all those kind of things inside. The one that comes in those nice wooden cases. What do you think aein ?”
And Gyeong-seok thought about it. About back when he had no one to look after Na-yeon, and he had to take her to the park with him; How she used to focus on every one of her fathers' strokes on the canvas, that would later turn into accurate faces. Eventually, as she slightly grew and time passed, she had stopped doing that, and ran to the parade instead.
However it’s true that it wasn't the first time Hyun-ju pointed out how Na-yeon still looked up to him. She affirmed once, that while she had visited him at his work place, Na-yeon being right with her after a day spent babysitting her for him, she had noticed how the little girl had been so attentively watching her father's work as the two waited for him to finish with his client. — A nice lady with short hair, soft freckles, and eyes that though no one knew the story behind them, let the world know they were doing better now. He remembers her well, because she had left without her portrait even being finished, eager to leave with a smile when she noticed the two girls waiting for her portraitist.
Gyeong-seok briefly pondered the idea, and without needing too much convincing — the pet name had already sold him, truly, and Hyun-Ju that strategist knew it — agreed to it.
However he had one condition.
“That’s not a bad idea… but we're getting her a nice one. I'm not letting my daughter get a cheap set from some random store.”
Growing up as the artistic one, Geyong-seok had had his fair share of artist friendly gifts — brushes, cheap paint, sketchbooks, pencils, new canvas… you name it — and he knew perfectly well about those art case sets; how they worked and what they were worth.
And as her father, Gyeong-seok needed his daughter to have it better than this. Not to mention that his pride as an artist was also at stake. They'd worry about the money later. Plus it's not like they didn't have it either.
Hyun-ju only chuckled again at his reaction, before grabbing one of her cream, opening the cap and pouring some of her fingers, starting with her night routine as she answered him gently — though already moving on from the topic now that they both knew they agreed and settled on this.
“You're right you're the artist, I should let you handle this. I'm glad you liked my idea.”
And Gyeong-seok was a man of word, especially for them, the people he held dearest to him. And of course Hyun-ju, his girlfriend, would be included in that statement.
Because besides making Na-yeon happy, Geyong-seok knew this would also make Hyun-ju happy. The way her face would radiate with a large toothy smile, once she'd see Na-yeon’s enthusiastic reaction upon opening her gift.
Imagining them both happy made his current trip worthy in his opinion.
He had left work early, the day not so busy anyway, people choosing to be elsewhere then under the cold and snowy weather of early winter in Korea, out in the open in an amusement park. But Gyeong-seok had no choice, he still had to make an income, no matter the time, the day or the weather…
However, he would have really appreciated any other weather, he thought as his shoes got wet from stomping on snow, his nose red under his scarf, despite how much he had tried to rise it up above it, and arms cross, hands enclosed between his biceps and torso by his sides to keep them from frost bite due to the fingerless woolen gloves he wore. — he still had to be able to hold a pen, so no full gloves for him sadly.
Na-yeon back home was probably having the time of her life, fully covered and playing outside in the snow under Hyun-ju’s careful eyes, or at the table enjoying the hot cocoa only his girlfriend knew how to make to perfection. — But if he started thinking about it, he’d start to crave it.
“Remember Geyong-seok, it's for them” he muttered to himself to push through, head hung down to shield his eyes against the merciless icy wind.
And when he finally did look up, his own words of encouragement came to save him. Because just down the road, a couple feet down really, he saw it : The small art shop he always used to go to as an art school student and beyond. When he got his job and became a father though, he had less time and money to give into this. He had almost missed it however.
To him this was the best art shop in Seoul. Lay down, not too crowded, affordable, with good products and a really welcoming staff and owners — or so he heard, he had never met them yet.
He pushed what used to be the familiar weight of the door, and the same small bell jingling as before greeted him, announcing his arrival — or rather his return.
The shop was almost empty save for two young people slowly walking down different aisles, most likely two students who did just like him many years ago, sought out a good deal to finish the homeworks assigned to them during school break.
He smiled at them in reminiscence before turning his focus back to what he came here for.
Taking off his forest green beanie, Geyong-seok walked himself to the counter, and patiently waited for whoever was in the back to come and assist him. It only took a moment before a young woman in the shop’s apron stepped out and bowed to him apologetically when she noticed him waiting there.
Gyeong-seok simply dismissed it with a friendly wave of his hand, not minding the waiting too much — it had actually allowed to get warm again. Once he had the lady's attention, he asked for what we needed.
“Hi, I was wondering if you guys sold any art sets? You know the kind that are sold in those polished wooden cases, and are mostly used to basically sample stuff? Kind of the perfect ‘artistic’ gift.” He asked kindly, if not a little embarrassed. He sounded so much like a normie right now…
But the employee didn’t judge, she only nodded at him and did her job.
“Oh, yes we do sir! I could show you the range of the one which we sell here on the computer.” she offered, already turning the shop's computer screen toward him.
Geyong-seok peeked at it, the images of the store's inventories proudly on display, and nodded, smiling politely at her.
“Ah, yes please.”
The woman hummed in answer, sitting down on her stool behind the counter, and began typing away to provide further customer service — which so far was great, as it always had, in Geyong-seok's opinion.
She then pressed enter, and presented Gyeong-seok with pictures of the shop's many options, which was six total. He leaned over to look at it better, the icons and caption not being the biggest.
“Our best model is this one. Affordable as it's in the average price range, a good brand and the product inside are quite various, from the primary colors acrylic paint, to water paint and oil, or wooden bold colored pencils to oil pastels!”
The lady expertly explained as she clicked on one the picture of one of the many visuals used for the article, pointing at certain elements as she described them, scrolling down the description and content of it for her client. She was a sales person, and she was doing her job really well, he had to admit.
“Yeah, that one is very nice.” Gyeong-seok contemplated, “how much again?”
She told him the price. Even pointed at it, just so Gyeong-seok could see for himself this wasn't some scam.
Maybe it was a bit much for a girl of Na-yeon's age who would probably outlive her artistic “like my dad” phase in two weeks, but his little girl deserved the best. Plus the set could last until years later if she ever decided to use it again. If not, she could still easily keep it as a souvenir of her early Christmas with her dad, as well as kind hearted Hyun-ju.
So Gyeong-seok's mind was set.
“I'll take it please.”
“Excellent choice sir!” The lady praised with a voice dropping with practiced sweetness — her customer service voice —, as she started typing and clicking on her computer again.
Until she suddenly stopped, frowning and slowly staring up at him.
“Ah, unfortunately sir, we don't physically carry it at the moment, but I could order it for you right now, and it should be scheduled for delivery…” a few more clicks and squinting at her screen later, the employee looked at him with bright eyes again, “In eight days, right on Christmas day!”
That meant the delay would either be too tight or perfectly timed. Gyeong-seok silently hoped for the latter.
“Will you guys be open that day?” he asked a little worriedly.
The woman immediately nodded at him, discarding her computer screen.
“Exceptionnally we are open, yes! The owners are fervent buddhists, so they refuse to close for the sake of a holliday from another religion, even if it’s mostly just commercial anyway.” She began explaining, her voice trailing off like the one of a teenager a little tired with her older parents' antics, but silently endeared by it as well.
Gyeong-seok laughed lightly, nodding at her politely in understanding.
“So this means, I won't be here that day, they will. But don't worry, I'll just need to take your name, and write you down in the delivery notebook so they'll know to expect you on that day!” she concluded, alright grabbing a pen and searching for the notebook hidden under a mess of paper on her side of the counter. Then she held it up to Gyeong-seok eyes, to prove her eagerness to make a sale.
She was good at her job. Really, she was.
“Then that would be perfect thank you. Could you go ahead and order it? Under the name Park Gyeong-seok” He smiled.
“Of course sir, I'll just need a form of payment.”
Ah, right. It was less money that they could have put elsewhere for sure, but Gyeong-seok was already picturing Hyun-Ju's face when he'd tell her the great news, and how sure he was of himself on that one.
And as he thought of it, the image warmed his heart so much so, that not once during his trip back home did he feel the unruly cold against him, as it unsuccessfully tried to reach for him.
As anticipated, Hyun-ju was ecstatic, she had clasped her hands in front of her face, a large grin enclosed on it, as she contained her excitement the best she could due to Na-yeon being present in the room with them.
Sure they still had to think of a Christmas plan, but at least they already had this. And It's what mattered most right now.
Christmas came much earlier than anyone had anticipated. It's like all they had time to do was blink and it was already Christmas morning, with them being woken up by an alarm set much too early for a day off : Na-yeon.
The couple had forgotten to set their alarm, wanting to sleep in, enjoying the benefits of a free day off of work together. But perhaps they had slept for too long if even Na-yeon had woken up before them.
Sitting up to grab his daughter before throwing himself back in bed, Gyeong-seok groaned groggily, as Na-yeon laughed and fought back against her father's arm.
Meanwhile Hyun-ju stretched, wincing as she almost hurt her eyes, rubbing them with the itchy and irritating fabric of her wool sweater. And the confusion she felt from it woke her up.
She looked at her sleeve. She had fallen asleep in a sweater as pyjamas? Huh…
She looked at Geyong-seok as if he'd have the answer, only to notice the latter in the same situation as her. Draped in an uncomfortable looking sweater, that seemed to be much more horrible and far itchier than her's, definitely.
Frowning in pity for her boyfriend, that's when she remembered why the two of them were in this predicament of ugly Christmas sweaters.
The night before, to celebrate the holliday to come on Christmas eve, the small family had decided to host their own ugly Christmas sweaters competition. Hyun-ju’s one had come from a secret santa between the whole of her friend group; meaning Young-mi, Geum-ja, Yong-sik, Jun-hee, Dae-ho, Jung-bae, Gi-hun and In-ho.
Meanwhile Gyeong-seok’s one had been offered to him by Na-yeon’s grandma, a kind hand-me-down when she passed to him when she heard his work place hosted a special Christmas themed work day, where all the employees had to dress up jolly in some way, or at least according to the commercial Christmas theme for the day.
Not knowing when the opportunity to wear the sweaters would come this year, the couple decided to give them a first and last use for the year, involving Na-yeon in the process. As though she didn't wear one, she was the designated judge to choose between them.
In the end, the little girl had voted that her dad had the ugliest one, saying “Hyun-ju is too pretty to make things ugly”. And her word being absolute, her dad had no choice but accept his defeat, silently agreeing with his daughter’s statement. Indeed his girlfriend was too pretty to make anything ever look ugly.
Tired from the day and their family centered evening, they must have both crashed into bed last night before falling asleep without realizing it, hence why they wore their ugly sweaters instead of their nice pajamas. It’s a miracle neither had woken up from how uncomfortable it must have gotten during the night eventually.
Rubbing the last remnant of sleep from her eyes — minus the scratchy sweater paw this time — Hyun-ju softly grabbed Na-yeon from Gyeong-seok’s arms and stood up, heading to the bathroom to get her ready for the day.
At last, they had finally settled on a way to organize their Christmas day, and they decided to keep it traditional — or almost traditional. A simple family day spent outside.
First they would head to their lunch reservation in a restaurant they had been meaning to try for a long time but never found the occasion to — and right now felt like the perfect excuse at last — then, like many other families and couples, they would simply have a small shopping trip, not necessarily buying too many things, but at least going into store, or window shopping. That way that would also be the perfect excuse to build up the moment they’d be able to reach the small art shop and finally grab Na-yeon’s present for her.
Changed in a proper outfit, a light navy blue knitted sweater over a white long sleeve shirt, and jeans, Gyeong-seok was waiting on his girls by the door, his shoes and coat already put on for a long time now, passing the time by double checking he hadn’t forgotten anything such as his wallet — filled with extra won bills just in case — or his keys.
They didn’t usually take too long to get ready, but it seemed today Hyun-ju took extra time to make sure her eyeliner was flawless, more so than usual — if that was even possible. And when they finally stepped out, both about ready to walk out that door, Gyeong-seok looked up and understood why he waited.
As anticipated Hyun-ju had made sure to make her makeup defy perfection itself, but it wasn’t the only thing that she had carefully put on and had completed her. There was also the outfit she had chosen, the definition of elegance itself; a black turtleneck sweater with white pearls doting the chest it hugged, coupled with wide legs blank pants, held securely by a black leather belt with a silver designed buckle that matched her hoop earrings — a gift Gyeong-seok had gotten her for their one year anniversary.
As for Na-yeon, his little girl wore a long sleeved dress printed to look like what Mrs. Claus is imagined to wear. To top it off, she proudly had on a red christmas hat with a white fluffy pompom she seemed to adore playing with. Many other children would be dressed in cute Christmas outfits, plus she was just a kid, so it wouldn’t get her any judgmental stares, on the contrary.
Smiling at her, Gyeong-seok took her hand to get her to put on her shoes so Hyun-ju could put on her own. — The two girls wearing matching black ankle boots.
Grabbing their coats and winter accessories at last, the family walked out the door and out of their apartment complex, in the freezing Christmas streets of Seoul.
Na-yeon ran excitedly on the slippery sidewalk, happy to get to celebrate with her parents this year — as last year Gyeong-seok and Hyun-ju had celebrated it even more traditionally, only the two of them together, as a couple.
Getting her to sit idly at the table was a challenge, but once she had her food in front of her, she finally became a little less intense, focused more on getting her mouth stuffed with Japchae, than rambling about everything she saw or thought about.
And though Gyeong-seok and Hyun-ju loved listening to her every word, it felt nice to have a moment of calm, to eat and rest, and maybe, just maybe, stare at each other across the table like they were teenagers dumbly in love, messily stuck on a babysitting date rather than two adults happily committed together.
Once all of their bellies were full, Gyeong-seok paid for their meal and they all left the restaurant, their next goal being looking through shops for the next two hours before they’d get tired eventually and finally get to their last stop before heading home.
Entering shops had awakened Na-yeon eagerness again, the little girl merrily helping her two parents shop. For instance, if Hyun-ju was eyeing new jewelry, Na-yeon would “help her” by pointing to stuff she personally found pretty and wanted Hyun-ju to check out. And Hyun-ju smilingly obliged to the little girl’s demands each time, meanwhile Gyeong-seok stood back and watched, examining each of Hyun-ju’s reactions, making mental notes of possible future gifts he could get her for the next occasion. — Or , when they stepped into a clothes store, Na-yeon helped by running around and dropping in their arms pieces of clothing she wanted either of them to try on. And that fueled a new goal in Hyun-ju; find her boyfriend nice new clothes, as well as for herself. And thanks to Na-yeon fashion stylist spur, they had lost a good thirty minutes in dressing rooms alone.
In the end, Hyun-ju ended up only paying for a few of the items they had tried on, but to her the treasures they had found were satisfying enough, and it felt like a proper contribution to this day. She had paid to get the whole of them new clothes while the other man had paid for their food earlier, and later Na-yeon’s gift. It was almost fair.
The lower the sun set behind the heavy clouds of the Korean winter sky, and the more the family was growing closer to ending their day as well. When Na-yeon saw an art shop right down the road, she ran, the freezing wind pushing in her back helping her to it. She stopped in front of the storefront, slightly jumping up and down as she pointed to it for her dad.
“Appa, look!” she gasped enthusiastically with a big toothy smile.
“I’m coming Na-yeon-ah!” Gyeong-seok laughed, picking up his pace but not running — he had learned his lesson after almost falling on his butt earlier today after trying to run after his daughter, and giving Hyun-ju a small heart attack before she nervously laughed it off in relief when he totally didn't slip. Yeah, he was not very eager to reenact that scene again.
Once he had reached her, Na-yeon , he stopped to her right, and slightly leaned down to her level, looking inside the storefront display with a soft smile as if looking for what Na-yeon had specifically pointed to, but didn’t exist since she hadn’t really pointed at anything. When he looked at his daughter’s face with a teasing smile, Na-yeon smiled harder, laughing with her dad.
“It’s like you do at work!” she spoke out proudly.
“Oh, that’s true!” Hyun-ju, who had finally reached them, exclaimed from the left of them in pretend surprise, smiling to Na-yeon as well.
Over the little girl's head, Hyun-ju’s eyes found Gyeon-seok’s, and she winked at him. He chuckled once softly, nodding his head in understanding.
“Yeah, It is! Do you want to go inside?” Her dad offered smoothly.
“Yes please” Na-yeon nodded politely, still with that large smile on her face.
“Alright, let’s go.” He announced, as he held the door for them, Hyun-ju grabbing and rubbing Na-yeon little’s hand as they stepped in quietly, with contained excitement.
Inside the store, the two lovers’ eyes found each other again, and communicated a single sentence. This time it was Hyun-ju’s turn to nod her head in cooperation, as she took Na-yeon down a random aisle to “explore”.
Meanwhile, Gyeong-seok headed for the register counter. The young lady that had taken his order that day wasn’t in today, as she said she wouldn’t be. Instead, behind that counter there was a much older woman, who Gyeong-seok assumed to be one of the owners famously talked about.
The old woman turned out to be sweet, very patient, and despite all the small talk she wanted to have with him — especially on how she didn’t like this Christmas thing, but at least it was a good excuse to run the shop together with her husband like in the good old days — while he only awkwardly nodded; she was quite efficient. In only minutes Gyeong-seok had his package secured, thoroughly checked to make sure it wasn’t damaged or missing any piece, and signed off. And just as he got both of his hands on it, Hyun-ju came rounding the corner of the last aisle, Na-yeon hidden behind her meanwhile she checked with Gyeon-seok if it was safe to come out yet.
He nodded happily before he beckoned them over to the counter with his hand. The owner was still there, watching curiously. She gasped in awe when she saw little Na-yeon, even despite her heavily Christmas themed dress.
“Is this for this little sweetie?” The owner asked discreetly.
“Yeah” Gyeong-seok whispered back.
“Ah, you should have told me, we would have made you a price on that.” The old lady whined, embarrassed. “Tell you what, let her grab anything she wants from the store; on the house! Although, it’s probably best if she grabs a sketchbook, there’s none in this.” She said knocking on the small wooden case still sitting on the counter.
Then, all of a sudden, her face lit up.
“Wait you know what… Yeobo! Can you grab a Strathmore sketchbook please? You know, the one imported from the US?” She yelled, more than likely to her husband in the back.
When her voice raised, Gyeong-seok almost winced, fearing she was about to blow it up, but his fear turned to small shock at the words. Strathmore was a really good brand, the expensive kind. He couldn’t accept this. Na-yeon was but a kid. But when he tried to argue, the woman shut him down with just a glare. The kind of glare that belonged to a mother, one that could still spin down even a middle aged man with his own kid now.
“Oh, that’s a bit much, you don’t need to worry about it.”
“It’s okay, you can call that a, Christmas miracle , yeah?”
Admitting defeat, Gyeong-seok smiled awkwardly before bowing down politely.
“Alright, thank you so much.”
The old woman only smiled satisfiedly, as her husband passed them, going around the counter and heading purposely into the aisles of his shop.
By then Hyun-ju, along with Na-yeon, had made it to the counter as well. Hyun-ju looked at the old man passing by questioningly, but Gyeong-seok dismissed it gently. She thankfully decided to just brush it off, even if still confused. But when she looked up, she accidentally met the eyes of the owner lady, who smiled and waved at her, not even hesitating before falling back into her chatty self, complimenting her top. And that immediately made Hyun-ju feel at ease again.
Smiling at the warm interaction, seeing how Hyun-ju looked and flushed when she — rightfully — felt loved, Gyeong-seok had unconsciously started comfortingly rubbing Na-yeon's shoulder. He only realized this when he felt eyes on him, the confused little ones of his daughter. And that’s when Gyeong-seok’s attention returned to Na-yeon, her turn coming to be blessed with happiness.
Smiling at her, Gyeong-seok turned to grab the art case with both hands again, lifting it from the counter, and slowly crouching to Na-yeon’s eye level.
“Na-yeon-ah… Merry Christmas baby!”
And now Na-yeon’s little eyes went wide, real shimmers going through them when she saw the box. She gasped loudly with a large smile, her small hands hovering over the box in her father’s hands, hesitating to grab it.
Her dad nodded at her encouragingly. But still, unsure, she turned to look at the other adults in the room, specifically at Hyun-ju, who stood on the side, her phone in hand, already recording the whole thing. When Hyun-ju nodded as well, Na-yeon smiled again, and her small hands clasped around the box, before pulling out her father’s grasp.
She turned it around, inspecting it, before going to unlock the little latch at the font. Very carefully she opened the box to peak at its content, all while under the gawking eyes of everyone in the room.
“See? Now you can do just like appa!” Gyeong-seok softly told her, as she kept examining the content of it with sparkling eyes.
She looked at her dad smiling, before giggling to herself and throwing her tiny body into his arms. Of course Gyeong-seok eagerly caught her, hugging and holding her tight, moved by his daughter's joy. To his left, he heard Hyun-ju coo at them, and that made the moment even more special.
It was just like he imagined it. His two girls happy, his whole — though small — family content. It was all worth it. To have made them happy, made him happy.
So far, no Christmas could top this one. No feeling could beat this one. The whole word could collapse, he wouldn’t even care. Wouldn’t even feel it. Not when his baby was in his arms, and his love was right by his side watching it, nevertheless meaning she wasn’t being a part of it.
But then the euphoria stopped when Na-yeon let go of him, the little girl’s attention being stolen by the sound of footsteps right behind her. She turned her head to look at it, and saw the other owner returning; the husband.
“Ah sweetie, looks like it’s not the only thing you’re getting for Christmas this year! Look what…” The old lady started saying before trailing off, searching for her words.
“Santa Claus” Her husband whispered to her, joining her behind the counter again as he handed her the notebook she had asked for.
“... right, Santa Claus , brought for you as well!” She beamed handing Na-yeong the sketchbook with both hands, over the counter.
Na-yeong took it giddily, looking up at the two shop owners with smiling eyes. Those people were probably grand-parents and it showed with the way they melted at her.
“Woah!” Hyun-ju gasped for her, “What do we say Na-yeon-ah?” the teacher then encouraged as she gave a quick glance at the sketchbook before bowing her head to the owner in gratitude.
“Thank you.”
After awakening Christmas magic in the shop, the small, but happy family nearly rushed home, following in Na-yeon hurried steps, excited at the idea of testing her new gifts.
When they did get home, Na-yeon wasted no time discarding her coat and shoes, trading it for her bunny slippers instead — though keeping the Christmas hat on —, and ran to the living room with the art case and sketchbook in hand, Gyeong-seok and Hyun-ju trailing not far behind. While Hyun-ju went to drop their shopping bags on her and Gyeong-seok’s bed, her boyfriend was already sitting on the couch next to Na-yeon, guiding her through the content of the case.
She snatched one last picture of the sight of her loved ones hurled over the gift they had given each other — the art and the love —, before joining them on the couch.
“What are you gonna draw first Na-yeon?” She asked softly.
And Na-yeong answered without missing a bit.
“Hyun-ju saeomma !”
And at that, everyone in the room freezed. Gyeong-seok’s eyes went wide, Hyun-ju only blinked once as her face turned to hues of pink. She looked down once, brushing a strand of hair behind her ears — as she often did when embarrassed, flushed or nervous Gyeong-seok had noticed — before nodding timidly.
“Okay…”
Hyun-ju was asked to sit on the other side of the living room coffee table to be the model, while Na-yeon sprawled herself over the piece of furniture, in deep concentration over her work. Her father sat behind her, overlooking her drawing but saying nothing. Only observing in silent pride.
Another handful of pencil strokes later, Na-yeon proudly announced she was done by slamming her pen down and lifting up her ripped page of the notebook that had served as her canvas, with her final masterpiece on it.
It was what you’d expect of a children’s drawing. Shaky lines, messy proportions, simplified features and stick hair, but you could still guess fairly who the drawing was meant to portray. However it wasn’t the talent or the technique used in it that made it special. No, It was the love.
The love Hyun-ju could basically feel it on the tip of her fingers coursing right from the paper when she had grabbed it from little Na-yeon’s hands. The heart drawn around her should have been a dead giveaway, but the drawing just felt special. Full of the pure innocent love of a child. That was definitely going on the fridge.
“It’s beautiful Na-yeon-ah.” She softly whispered in awe “Ah, you’ll have to draw one of Appa soon before he gets jealous, no?” Hyun-ju said with the most genuine smile she ever had. Almost fighting back tears at the sweet gesture, but ones she hid behind her laughter from her own joke.
Na-yeon laughed with her, but nodded nevertheless. Gyeong-seok said nothing, just rubbed her back, and squeezed her side in a semi-hug like a proud father. — which he was.
Hyun-ju dealt with kids all day at her job. They praised her sometimes, but it didn’t feel the same to be loved by someone so special she considered herself to be Hyun-ju’s. To be loved by them could never feel the same than to be loved by Na-yeon.
And as she concluded that thought, Gyeong-seok stood up to sit himself right by Hyun-ju, staring at the drawing better over her shoulder. They exchanged a glance and smiled tenderly. The moment felt perfect, until;
“Woah wait, what’s that behind the paper?” Gyeong-seok gasped dramatically.
Hyun-ju just stared at her boyfriend. There was nothing behind that paper and she knew it. Ah, what was this boyfriend of her planning now?
Gyeong-seok didn’t mind her unimpressed face, and went to push back the top of the paper to be able to stare at its back. Hyun-ju, getting the memo, light heartedly rolled her eyes tiredly before looking down. As anticipated, there was nothing on the back of the drawing, and when she looked up to tell him so and scold him, that’s when she understood what was happening.
Because by now, Gyeong-seok's hands were full, like he had actually retrieved something hidden behind the back of the drawing : a single Envelope. Her eyes softened and she sighed half-amused, half exasperatedly, before her hands of painted nails slowly went up to take the envelope.
Gyeong-seok said nothing as she did, just grinned like the endearing idiot he was. Na-yeon was watching them curiously, saying nothing as well, but clearly very eager to see the content of the envelope as she craned her small neck and titled her head like it would help her peek into it better.
Giving her boyfriend one last look, Hyun-ju went to open the envelope. It didn’t feel like money, and it was a little too thick to be just a cheesy love letter.
She tore it open, and dug out the paper inside. One blank piece of paper neatly folded came first, she opened it and read through her content under Gyeong-seok approving gaze.
Her eyes skimmed through the words, and the more they covered, the wider they went, filled with shock and disbelief. By the end of the letter, she threw the paper down on the ground, and hurriedly grabbed the discarded envelope from the table again.
Wasting no time, she ripped the last two bits of thermal paper still inside. She held them in her hands, trembling by now. She brought them up to the light, and read the black bolded words printed on it once. Once. Then twice, making sure she had read it right, before she met Gyeong-seok’s eyes with wobbling lips, opening and closing her mouth like words were failing her — because they were.
He nodded sheepishly, losing almost all of his confidence all of a sudden.
“I know we are still saving up for the surgery… But I think in the meantime we can afford it, you deserve this Jagiya. You don’t need to worry about the money, we can afford this, I already got it covered, I promise! So truly, no need to worry about it, I just want you to enjoy your gift, okay?” He gulped down before nodding his head toward the two plane tickets to Thailand Hyun-ju still held in her hands.
And when Hyun-ju said nothing, but her face distorted to being one step closer to a crying session, Gyeong-seok quickly took her in her arms as she sobbed only once, her head resting by the crook of his neck, hiding the small vulnerability she rarely allowed herself at times. Or only around those she loved and trusted.
Those were happy tears. Gratefulness.
“Merry Christmas Hyun-ju.”
“Merry Christmas Gyeong-seok.”
…
“I love you.”