carols on air (multi-fandom christmas drabbles)
A Merry Little Christmas
Hyunseung x Jihyun
Jihyun moves into her new apartment on Christmas Eve, and instead of joining the rest of her family for dinner (her excuse is that she’ll see them on Christmas day anyway), she spends the whole day scattering the new empty spaces with bits and pieces of life post-Seoul. Seoul is the place of her childhood, so it really shouldn’t feel very foreign, to be finally settling down into her own niche in the city. But then again, Tokyo has been the dream she had been living since middle school. Of course, she would be pained by the mere thought of having to part with that. And this, she thinks as she stands back away from the walls of her study, this is reality. It’s more unfriendly than she would like, but she’s prepared for it.
It’s really kind of sad, she muses to herself as she sits cross-legged on the floor, full-length skirt spread out around her like a flower in full bloom - that she’d be spending Christmas Eve this way. She has friends in Seoul, but the majority of them have gone through the usual process of growing up and changed their phone numbers and email addresses, along with their hair and what not. And really, Jihyun thinks as she checks her phone (nothing, of course), would posting about her arrival on me2day spurn these individuals to speak to her and greet her? She rolls her eyes, of course not. Jihyun still has ten miscellaneous boxes to unpack, but she finds that she has absolutely no desire to do so. Instead, she turns on the stereo, already mounted with the Michael Buble Christmas album she is very fond of. Turns the volume up.
As it turns out, she has just enough energy to pour herself a glass of wine and waltz with an invisible somebody in her living room that doesn’t even have a TV (but it’s not like she’d need one anyway, so what does it matter?). As she sways to thoughts of her unfortunate situation (but it’s not actually that bad, honestly), there is a knock on the door and she almost spills wine on the floor - thank god it’s a floor and not carpet.
Jihyun pulls open the door, glass of wine still in hand, and finds Hyunseung, looking very much the same since he last waved goodbye at Incheon airport when Jihyun was twenty-one. “Merry Christmas,” he smiles at her.
Jihyun melts a little inside - she’s not sure if it’s actually her, or the wine, but it’s a very nice feeling - and tells him, “Merry Christmas to you too.”
If Only In My Dreams
Changmin x Sooyoung
Sooyoung finds that she’s not all that different from when she was seventeen and dating Changmin. Her hair is still cropped short around her chin, although that’s a recent development. She still has an obsession with ankle boots which will probably give her some horrible injury one winter day. And she’s dating Changmin. Again. In fact, it’s Christmas Eve, too late into the night to get a spot at any good restaurant in town without a reservation, and she’s waiting, shivering a little in leggings and sweater dress, wondering if it’s too late to run upstairs and grab a coat. She is just about to turn and head back up when she sees Changmin’s car make a turn into her street and glide up in front of her. He steps out and opens the door for her, and once again, a wave of nostalgia washes over Sooyoung. She ducks her head and sits herself down in the passenger side while he returns to the driver’s seat.
There is small talk as they drive off, winding through snow-covered streets before entering into the brightly lit inner city. Sooyoung half-anticipates Changmin to turn off and lead her into some restaurant, because he is Changmin, completely charming but also equally boring when it comes to traditional human things. Instead, she watches them glide out of the inner city again, slowing when they reach the river. Changmin parks, cuts the engine and smiles at her. Sooyoung swears he is gloating in the dim light.
“Did I surprise you?”
“The Han River is a big cliché, Changmin.”
They exit the car, and Sooyoung watches, fascinated as Changmin opens the boot and produces a picnic basket and blanket. He takes her hand and leads the way to a bench that is covered with snow. He busies himself with clearing it before draping the blanket over the wet wood. They sit, side by side in the cold, eating the various warm foods that Changmin had slaved over hours prior to the Christmas Eve date.
“Am I still disappointing?”
Sooyoung cannot bring herself to even tease. “No. You’re not disappointing at all.”
I Won’t Ask For Much This Christmas
Gongchan x Krystal
Soojung happens to discover a bonus that comes along with living in the dorms. Indeed, the college dorms have many drawbacks, the burden of housing over a hundred students has almost destroyed the hot water system, so hot showers in winter are not a guarantee. The wardrobe smells like something has died many years ago and the only effort to clean it up is some hastily sprayed deodorant. The communal kitchen has five fridges and as a result, there is never enough space to house her leftovers. Despite the drawbacks, Soojung is also acutely aware of Chanshik, the boy from the countryside with the prettiest eyes she has ever seen on a boy, as well as the warmest smile she has had the misfortune to encounter. Chanshik, who just happens to live across in the male dorms. Literally across, Soojung can see the entrance across the courtyard.
Soojung feels incredibly guilty as she thinks this on the evening of Christmas, hogging one of the beanbags in the common room. Chanshik has a rather obvious crush on Soojung, something that many of her friends have picked up on as well throughout the year. Worse still, Soojung has done an admirable job of ignoring his obvious attraction to her, which has most probably pained Chanshik to some degree. But overall, a lot of nothing has happened between them. Soojung cannot deny that quite a lot has been happening on her end of the spectrum, if all those thoughts about how good Chanshik looks in his black skinny jeans (they seem to be one of the grand total of three pairs he owns) and if maybe, just maybe, he’ll take a photograph of her one day instead of those models from the magazines he works for.
Her train of thought is broken when a great ripple of movement breaks through the room, coupled with various screams and yells. Alas, when Soojung turns, she sees a group of male students enter, clearly breaking the rules. After all, they were male. Didn’t that explain the situation well enough already? She sees some familiar faces, the pretty and popular boys who know they won’t get in trouble if they’re caught. Soojung is rather surprised though, when she sees Chanshik stroll in at the back of the group with Junghwan. She also becomes acutely aware of the fact that she is in her Totoro leggings and her hair is a mess. Not the best look for Christmas socialising. Soojung, faced with no other alternative, bundles herself up in her pullover and school scarf and makes for the communal kitchen, mug of hot chocolate in hand. She knows that Chanshik would have noticed her leaving, and a little part of her hopes that he didn’t notice.
A larger part hopes that he did and will do something about it.
The radio is on in the kitchen, somebody has carelessly left it on a Western music station. Soojung circles it and sits at the table, sipping to the sound of the unfamiliar carol playing. It is a male singer, and it is familiar, but has definitely been rearranged.
“Why’d you leave?”
Her heart skips a beat. She knows that it’s Chanshik, just from his voice. “It’s going to get rowdy. And I’m not really dressed for any occasion either.” She laughs a little.
Chanshik nods and invites himself to sit beside her. Soojung looks on curious, as he unlaces his boots and slips them off. “Oh, it seems I’m not dressed in a socially acceptable manner either.” He smiles at her in that cheeky way of his that doesn’t reveal itself often, “I guess I’ll stay here then.”
Soojung almost laughs into her drink.
“Merry Christmas,” he tells her.
She smiles back and listens to the radio make its transition to a crooning rendition of ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’.
A/N: I haven't been writing much recently, so I expect my writing presence has been missed? I apologise for my gaping chasm of an absence, but ah, reality comes first! Even so, belated merry christmas to those who read this, I hope you'll enjoy it! At long last, ChangSoo steps up on ichinori's stage!
Hyunseung x Jihyun
Jihyun moves into her new apartment on Christmas Eve, and instead of joining the rest of her family for dinner (her excuse is that she’ll see them on Christmas day anyway), she spends the whole day scattering the new empty spaces with bits and pieces of life post-Seoul. Seoul is the place of her childhood, so it really shouldn’t feel very foreign, to be finally settling down into her own niche in the city. But then again, Tokyo has been the dream she had been living since middle school. Of course, she would be pained by the mere thought of having to part with that. And this, she thinks as she stands back away from the walls of her study, this is reality. It’s more unfriendly than she would like, but she’s prepared for it.
It’s really kind of sad, she muses to herself as she sits cross-legged on the floor, full-length skirt spread out around her like a flower in full bloom - that she’d be spending Christmas Eve this way. She has friends in Seoul, but the majority of them have gone through the usual process of growing up and changed their phone numbers and email addresses, along with their hair and what not. And really, Jihyun thinks as she checks her phone (nothing, of course), would posting about her arrival on me2day spurn these individuals to speak to her and greet her? She rolls her eyes, of course not. Jihyun still has ten miscellaneous boxes to unpack, but she finds that she has absolutely no desire to do so. Instead, she turns on the stereo, already mounted with the Michael Buble Christmas album she is very fond of. Turns the volume up.
As it turns out, she has just enough energy to pour herself a glass of wine and waltz with an invisible somebody in her living room that doesn’t even have a TV (but it’s not like she’d need one anyway, so what does it matter?). As she sways to thoughts of her unfortunate situation (but it’s not actually that bad, honestly), there is a knock on the door and she almost spills wine on the floor - thank god it’s a floor and not carpet.
Jihyun pulls open the door, glass of wine still in hand, and finds Hyunseung, looking very much the same since he last waved goodbye at Incheon airport when Jihyun was twenty-one. “Merry Christmas,” he smiles at her.
Jihyun melts a little inside - she’s not sure if it’s actually her, or the wine, but it’s a very nice feeling - and tells him, “Merry Christmas to you too.”
If Only In My Dreams
Changmin x Sooyoung
Sooyoung finds that she’s not all that different from when she was seventeen and dating Changmin. Her hair is still cropped short around her chin, although that’s a recent development. She still has an obsession with ankle boots which will probably give her some horrible injury one winter day. And she’s dating Changmin. Again. In fact, it’s Christmas Eve, too late into the night to get a spot at any good restaurant in town without a reservation, and she’s waiting, shivering a little in leggings and sweater dress, wondering if it’s too late to run upstairs and grab a coat. She is just about to turn and head back up when she sees Changmin’s car make a turn into her street and glide up in front of her. He steps out and opens the door for her, and once again, a wave of nostalgia washes over Sooyoung. She ducks her head and sits herself down in the passenger side while he returns to the driver’s seat.
There is small talk as they drive off, winding through snow-covered streets before entering into the brightly lit inner city. Sooyoung half-anticipates Changmin to turn off and lead her into some restaurant, because he is Changmin, completely charming but also equally boring when it comes to traditional human things. Instead, she watches them glide out of the inner city again, slowing when they reach the river. Changmin parks, cuts the engine and smiles at her. Sooyoung swears he is gloating in the dim light.
“Did I surprise you?”
“The Han River is a big cliché, Changmin.”
They exit the car, and Sooyoung watches, fascinated as Changmin opens the boot and produces a picnic basket and blanket. He takes her hand and leads the way to a bench that is covered with snow. He busies himself with clearing it before draping the blanket over the wet wood. They sit, side by side in the cold, eating the various warm foods that Changmin had slaved over hours prior to the Christmas Eve date.
“Am I still disappointing?”
Sooyoung cannot bring herself to even tease. “No. You’re not disappointing at all.”
I Won’t Ask For Much This Christmas
Gongchan x Krystal
Soojung happens to discover a bonus that comes along with living in the dorms. Indeed, the college dorms have many drawbacks, the burden of housing over a hundred students has almost destroyed the hot water system, so hot showers in winter are not a guarantee. The wardrobe smells like something has died many years ago and the only effort to clean it up is some hastily sprayed deodorant. The communal kitchen has five fridges and as a result, there is never enough space to house her leftovers. Despite the drawbacks, Soojung is also acutely aware of Chanshik, the boy from the countryside with the prettiest eyes she has ever seen on a boy, as well as the warmest smile she has had the misfortune to encounter. Chanshik, who just happens to live across in the male dorms. Literally across, Soojung can see the entrance across the courtyard.
Soojung feels incredibly guilty as she thinks this on the evening of Christmas, hogging one of the beanbags in the common room. Chanshik has a rather obvious crush on Soojung, something that many of her friends have picked up on as well throughout the year. Worse still, Soojung has done an admirable job of ignoring his obvious attraction to her, which has most probably pained Chanshik to some degree. But overall, a lot of nothing has happened between them. Soojung cannot deny that quite a lot has been happening on her end of the spectrum, if all those thoughts about how good Chanshik looks in his black skinny jeans (they seem to be one of the grand total of three pairs he owns) and if maybe, just maybe, he’ll take a photograph of her one day instead of those models from the magazines he works for.
Her train of thought is broken when a great ripple of movement breaks through the room, coupled with various screams and yells. Alas, when Soojung turns, she sees a group of male students enter, clearly breaking the rules. After all, they were male. Didn’t that explain the situation well enough already? She sees some familiar faces, the pretty and popular boys who know they won’t get in trouble if they’re caught. Soojung is rather surprised though, when she sees Chanshik stroll in at the back of the group with Junghwan. She also becomes acutely aware of the fact that she is in her Totoro leggings and her hair is a mess. Not the best look for Christmas socialising. Soojung, faced with no other alternative, bundles herself up in her pullover and school scarf and makes for the communal kitchen, mug of hot chocolate in hand. She knows that Chanshik would have noticed her leaving, and a little part of her hopes that he didn’t notice.
A larger part hopes that he did and will do something about it.
The radio is on in the kitchen, somebody has carelessly left it on a Western music station. Soojung circles it and sits at the table, sipping to the sound of the unfamiliar carol playing. It is a male singer, and it is familiar, but has definitely been rearranged.
“Why’d you leave?”
Her heart skips a beat. She knows that it’s Chanshik, just from his voice. “It’s going to get rowdy. And I’m not really dressed for any occasion either.” She laughs a little.
Chanshik nods and invites himself to sit beside her. Soojung looks on curious, as he unlaces his boots and slips them off. “Oh, it seems I’m not dressed in a socially acceptable manner either.” He smiles at her in that cheeky way of his that doesn’t reveal itself often, “I guess I’ll stay here then.”
Soojung almost laughs into her drink.
“Merry Christmas,” he tells her.
She smiles back and listens to the radio make its transition to a crooning rendition of ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’.
A/N: I haven't been writing much recently, so I expect my writing presence has been missed? I apologise for my gaping chasm of an absence, but ah, reality comes first! Even so, belated merry christmas to those who read this, I hope you'll enjoy it! At long last, ChangSoo steps up on ichinori's stage!