Twelve Days (oneshot)
Title: Twelve Days
Rating: PG
Form: Oneshot
Words: 7 062
Pairings: YunJae
Genre: Floooff!!!
Summary: 12 days, 12 presents; 8 sisters, 2 boys. Christmas is a fun time of year.
A/N: For fallofdark, as this was meant to be a Christmas fic for LAST YEAR. -_- I fail, so badly. I only realised I hadn’t finished this when I was looking through my tags, and realised there was one fic missing. I’m so so sorry this is so so sooooo late. Erm... it's still a Christmas fic, I guess. XD I hope you enjoy it despite it's year delay. >_< It’s long but rather weird with not much direct Yunjae. While writing this and getting totally confused with all the names, I'm now convinced that Jae has way too many sisters!
The prompts for this one was 'candy, cheese & chocolate'.
Merry Christmas, Kristina!
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♪ 1 ♫
On the first day of Christmas, two of Jaejoong’s sisters came busting into his room, giggling like idiots.
“What?” he asked suspiciously, looking up from his laptop at the pair, wondering just what they had up their sleeves.
“This came for you,” HaNeul said, grinning madly. JooEun held out a small package, which looked entirely innocuous. Jaejoong was far from convinced however, and peered cautiously at it before reaching out and taking it. JooEun giggled, which didn’t help Jae’s confidence much as he slowly ripped open the sealed end of the padded envelope.
“What is it?” HaNeul pushed, eagerly. Jaejoong frowned, pulling a CD case from the package. Both girls blinked, and Jaejoong opened up the cover. He immediately blushed and the two cooed, attempting to grab it from him and see what had caused the pinkness in their brother’s cheeks. Yelling, he shoved them out of his room and slammed the door, pushing against it as they clamoured at him to let them see. (Sadly, Jaejoong’s parents did not believe in locks. This made for some incredibly embarrassing and mortifying moments for the lone boy amongst nine women.)
As he leant heavily against the wood, absorbing the bumps of two full grown and mightily determined girls, he grinned foolishly at the small piece of paper resting on top of a recordable CD. It was nothing spectacular, just five words.
‘Please listen to me!
~ Yunho’
Once his sisters finally left him alone, Jaejoong hurried to his computer and stuck the CD in, curling up in his bed and grinning even more foolishly as he listened to each new song that had been chosen for him.
They were all rock songs, with fabulous guitar riffs.
♪ 2 ♫
On the second day of Christmas, his mother came into the kitchen as everyone was eating breakfast, flipping through the mail. Coming over to the kitchen table, she put down the letters and flourished a rolled up piece of paper, tied with a bit of black ribbon.
“This,” she said, dramatically, “is for you.” She then waved it like a baton in his face. Flushing as his sisters giggled, he snatched it away.
“Oooh! Another one?!” JooEun exclaimed.
“So my little Joongie is getting love letters?” their mother asked NaYoung, currently the eldest daughter living in the house. NaYoung grinned, and JooEun began cackling, attempting to grab the scroll away. Jaejoong held it protectively against his chest, wondering if he’d be able to find a spot to open it in peace.
He should have known better however, and he was heckled into opening it there and then. One could never underestimate the powers of young females in the hot pursuit of romance, especially when there were a lot of them and you lived in the same house as them.
There was a brief moments of silence as he rolled out the long parchment, a creamy marbled colour, feeling weighted and solid in his hands. The paper was covered in a score, lines upon lines of music filling the page.
At the top, in crooked, undeniably male writing, was written simply: ‘Song for You’
♪ 3 ♫
On the third day of Christmas, BoBae came over to drop off some mince pies she’d made, and to catch up with her siblings. Upon arriving at her family home just after lunch however, she found a rather large bonbon sitting on the doorstep, made out of dark blue fabric and tied with an iridescent purple ribbon. Puzzled, she picked it up, turning it around until she came to the small tag that simply read ‘Jaejoong.’
The confusion fled, and a broad, mischievous grin replaced it.
Not bothering to knock, she waltzed into the house, box of mince pies in one hand and the bonbon in the other, and yelled at the top of her lungs.
“Delivery for Mr Kim Jaejoong! Special love package delivery!”
Predictably, this brought a heard of elephants thundering down the stairs, with 5 teenaged girls all trying to get to their older sister first. Even their mother hung over the second floor railing, trying to see what it was.
Jaejoong appeared just a few seconds late, finding a gaggle of girls all laughing over the pretty little bag held proudly in BoBae’s hand. Letting out a furious yelp, he made to swipe it, but sadly BoBae still had a couple of inches on him and held it up on high, refusing to hand it over.
“Who’s courting my little brother then, hm?” she asked teasingly, eyebrow raised. HwaSoo burst out laughing and HaNeul shot the flaming red Jaejoong a look before answering.
“He’s gotten presents the last two days too! He won’t say who they’re from though!”
“Hey! Give it to me!” Jaejoong said, making a jump for the blue wrapped present. BoBae swung around though, trying to protect it.
“Whose you’re admirer, little brother?” she asked, hugging the bonbon to herself.
“Yeah, spill the beans!” HwaSoo yelled, digging her fingers into his ribs. He yelped, skidadling out of reach. He grabbed hold of BoBae, spinning her about until he could steal the bonbon away. With a triumphant yell, he made a dash for the stairs and his room. His getaway was slightly spoiled however as he tripped in his haste and ended up sprawled halfway up the stairs, the bonbon bursting on impact. Hundreds of small, brightly coloured gummy candies exploded all over the stairs and floor, rolling between the feet of the gathered girls and under the hall table.
Jaejoong watched them spread with a gobsmacked look on his face, and then groaned dramatically, letting his head thud down on the stair below it.
MiSun lent over and picked up a yellow drop that had landed on the table, leaving a little trail of sugar over the dark surface. She looked at it contemplatively before popping it in her mouth.
“Hm, sour,” she remarked, chewing slowly.
A bonfight ensued, everyone trying to collect the most number of candies. Jaejoong just remained sprawled on the floor, wondering why him.
♪ 4 ♫
On the fourth day of Christmas, everyone was waiting for the arrival of the package they were sure would arrive at some point during the day. After all, twice is coincidence, three times is a pattern.
Jaejoong was despairing of ever being left alone again, for the rest of his life. It seemed like every five minutes, one of this sisters ‘dropped by’ his room to tease him or prod him for more info.
JooEun, of course, could be counted on to let everyone know when the gift had arrived. It was in the mail box once more, except the oddly-shaped envelope was not post marked, signifying another hand delivery.
The envelope seemed to be hand made, out of thick dark green paper. It was rather misshapen, like the maker had tried their best but had no real concept of how and envelope was meant to be put together. By the time Jaejoong skidded into the kitchen, JooEun and MiSun were giggling over the ‘adorkability’ of the made-badly-but-with-loooove container of his next present. They were also not so subtly trying to pry open a loose corner to peak inside.
“Hey, hey, HEY!” Jaejoong protested, snatching it away from his damnably inquisitive sisters. “It’s MINE. As in, NOT to be opened by you!” He exclaimed, scowling at them both. By then, HwaSoo and NaYoung had turned up, the missing fifth sister sadly not being home.
The combined force of their stares quelled Jaejoong’s burst of assertiveness, and he clutched the envelope to his chest. His eyes darted wildly, like a cornered animal. Spotting a small opportunity for escape, he darted through a gap between his youngest two sisters and made a mad dash for the stairs.
He made into his room, but only just; panting and with only a second to spare, which was used to slam the door closed and sink his weight into it. Again.
Knowing he probably wouldn’t have much time before they managed to get past him, he ripped into the envelope, trying not to feel bad about completely destroying the thing. He fumbled, nearly dropping the contents of it as a particularly large push from behind sent him momentarily pitching forward.
A few seconds of juggling, and Jaejoong found himself clutching a small, soft red thing. Opening his hand, he found a small elephant in his palm, attached to a key chain. He laughed out loud at the sight, holding the funny little critter up to better see it. It stared back at him with beady, doleful black eyes.
As soon as he got a moment to himself, he sat down to work his keys onto the new keyring, not even minding when the metal snapped down on his fingers and pinched the skin painfully. After he was done, he left his keys on the table before him and just stared at them a moment, grinning.
♪ 5 ♫
It was way too early in the morning on the fifth day of Christmas when MiCha began poking Jaejoong’s stomach.
Jaejoong let out a whimper and rolled over, protecting his belly and curling into a ball. His head disappeared under the covers, leaving just a lumpy duvet.
The poking persisted however, and suddenly the lump exploded, Jaejoong swatting madly at his grinning sister’s hands, which were now going for Jaejoong’s rather sensitive sides. A minor scuffle ensued, the victim of which was Jaejoong’s pillow, which got completely smushed as they fell to the floor and the slip ripped ever so slightly in the corner.
Jaejoong wailed and hit his sister with it.
“Go away goaway gway!” he exclaimed with every hit. MiCha however was well use to abuse at the hands of her adorable baby brother, and withstood the beating, giggling through it all. Eventually Jae’s burst of steam ran out and he flopped back onto the floor, pouting heartily at the girl and hugging his pillow mournfully.
“I thought the whole point of you moving out was that you wouldn’t be around to bother me anymore,” he said petulantly.
MiCha straightened herself out, sitting up cross legged before him. He looked as childish and deceptively cute as he did 10 years ago. The Hamataro-print PJs didn’t really add to his maturity level either, and MiCha had to resist lunging forward and snuggling him. She missed her siblings, living out in an apartment… though of course she’d never admit that.
“Hey! I’m being nice here bro,” she said with a grin. He scowled at her.
“Yeah right… ‘nice’,” he snorted incredulously. “Why don’t you go be ‘nice’ to JooEun.”
“Hm, should I? I’m sure she’d enjoy getting a look at this…” MiCha said, picking up a thick rectangular package, wrapped in silver-ish paper. Jaejoong blinked owlishly at it, his still-fuzzy brain trying to figure out what she was talking about.
Suddenly, as he saw the black, familiar chicken-scratch penmanship spelling out his own name scrawled in one corner, it all clicked, and he lunged forward to try and grab the package.
“Uh, uh uh!” MiCha scolded, her hand and the package shooting up in the air. “Who’s the best sister in the world, then?” She asked, wiggling the package around like a carrot. Jaejoong narrowed his eyes.
“MiCha is the best,” he snapped out, and then, as her arm began to descend, he snatched the parcel from her and stuck out his tongue. “But only in the parallel ‘verse where she’s also taller!” He continued triumphantly, smirk on his face.
MiCha let out a squawk of indignation, but Jaejoong was already ripping open the parcel, ignoring her. She gave up protesting further, instead leaning forward with wide eyes to see what Jaejoong had got.
It was a stack of One Piece mangas… Jaejoong’s favourite anime of the moment. Her eyes flickered up to see her brother’s reaction, and saw a stupid smile spreading on his face. She laughed out loud.
“AH! You’re little admirer knows his way to your geeky heart, brother dearest! You better hold onto him!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands.
Her laughing was soon muffled however, as a pillow was shoved over her face.
♪ 6 ♫
On the sixth day of Christmas, Jaejoong found HwaSoo standing in front of the hall mirror, her hand up to her ear and staring at herself. Jaejoong frowned, wondering what she was doing, and crept up beside her, staring over her shoulder and at the reflection.
“They’re nice,” Jaejoong commented, startling HwaSoo. She’d been holding a silver earring up to her ear, two little crosses hanging down from it on thin chains.
Odd, Jaejoong thought, they weren’t really something that he’d have picked as HwaSoo’s style. His sister liked huge gold hoop earrings or chunky fake diamond studs in different shapes for most the part. He’d even bought her a pair of the latter for her last birthday.
“Did you buy them today?” he asked her, as her wide eyes met his in the mirror. She coughed.
“Mmm,” she mumbled, noncommittally. “You like them?” She went on after a moment, raising an eyebrow at him. He nodded, and shrugged one shoulder.
“I do. They’re cool. Trying something new, are you?” The more he stared at them, the more he thought they really were cool… and just the sort of thing he liked to wear.
HwaSoo tittered slightly in a very suspicious manner. The sort of giggle that meant she’d done something bad but was determined to wiggle out of it with her cuteness. Jaejoong’s eyebrows furrowed and he stared at her reflection hard. It suddenly occurred to him that it was a little odd to be admiring new earings in the downstairs hall mirror at nine in the morning.
“Sooie,” Jaejoong said, rather flatly. He kept his eyes focused on her face, watching for any reaction.
“Hmm?”
“I don’t suppose, by any chance, you found a box with my name on it outside this morning?” he asked, sharp eyes catching the way his sister’s own eyes darted up guiltily to his own and then back down again a second later. “A box, that, just maybe, had a pair of cross earrings in it?”
There was silence for a moment, and then suddenly HwaSoo turned, threw the earring at Jaejoong and made a squealing, flailing dash for the stairs.
“Yunho! I know his name is Yunho~!” She yelled from half-way up in a sing-song tone, before laughing and running off again, undoubtedly to tell her sisters of her new discovery.
Fumbling to catch the earring in his shock at the sudden action (though really, it shouldn’t have been that shocking at all given that he’d lived with his sister for a very long time now), he was torn between the urge to run after her and mess her hair up into oblivion, smother her with a pillow and maybe tickle her to death or to stay and look at his present.
The latter won out. After all, he could always smother his sister later.
HwaSoo had left the box on the ledge, and he picked it up carefully, placing the earring back inside with its pair. Then he settled the lid back on, putting it back into the condition that it should have been in when HwaSoo stole it.
There was a tiny tiny card hanging from the bow stuck on the box, and he opened the fold to find the simple message of, ‘Hope you like them. Yunho.’
♪ 7 ♫
On the seventh day of Christmas, HaNeul stalked the postman. HwaSoo had told them all about the box with the earrings, including the little card and the name on it - Yunho. JooEun had squealed, and had told them it was a boy at school. They’d had a bit of a goss-fest then about Yunho and his compatibility with their brother, and just what the boy was doing with all these presents. After some hypothesizing, they’d figured out when the presents started, and realized that it perhaps related to Christmas.
It was likely then that the presents would keep on coming, and, being the good sisters they were, the three had decided that they would help, erm, ‘keep and eye out’ for their dear little brother. That of course meant not letting him secret away any of these presents until they were revealed.
So when the postman came down the street, HaNeul was ready. She was waiting at the gate, and the surprised man found her jiggling around impatiently as he finally made it to their house. Everything was taken from him post-haste, and then HaNeul went running back into the house.
At the kitchen table, JooEun and HwaSoo helped her go through the mail quickly. It was pretty easy to spot which one was for Jaejoong however, the mid-sized box the only parcel in the lot.
All they had to do then was wait for Jaejoong to come down.
“What are you guys doing?” Jaejoong asked, confused, when he found three of his sisters sitting at the kitchen table, eyeing him as he entered.
“We want you to open your present,” HaNeul said sweetly. Jaejoong’s eyes flew to the box, and around at the girls surrounding it.
“And don’t even think of running off to your room!” HwaSoo added quickly. Her fingers were wrapped securely around the base.
“Yeah. We promise we’ll let you go once you open it.” JooEun smiled winningly at her brother. “We only want to see what you’re getting from lover-boy Yunho.”
“He’s not my ‘lover boy’!” Jaejoong exclaimed angrily, trying to grab the package. “Stop being so meddlesome! Do I go round butting into your love lives?”
“Yeah, but you don’t care.” HwaSoo pointed out. HaNeul nodded.
“We care. C’mon Jae, please just let us see?” Jaejoong knew HaNeul was serious when she started with the puppy eyes.
Sighing, and not seeing what the real harm would be, Jaejoong sat down at the table and nodded.
“Fine, whatever. But don’t squee, and leave me alone afterwards, okay?” he prompted them. They all nodded solemnly. He gestured for the box, and they handed it over.
Using a pair of scissors, he sliced open the tape holding the box closed, and they all peered inside. There were lots of white fluffy padding pieces inside, which Jaejoong began to remove slowly, leaving them in a little pile on the table.
Finally, he found the real contents of the box, fingers closing around something cool and solid.
Pulling it out, the four of them were faced with a statuette… or rather, a figuring. Jaejoong recognized it immediately, pulling it close to examine it with a bright light in his eyes.
His sisters on the other hand let out a mou of disappointment.
“It’s an ugly monster statue. How boring.”
“And totally unromantic.”
“What kind of a present is that?”
“A great one.” Jaejoong breathed, eyes still fixed on the figurine. He held it up the light, feeling the heaviness that meant that it wasn’t a cheap plastic rip-off but a real resin cast one. He was immaculately painted, right down to the sharp pointy white teeth and the feathers around his collar. There was even a shiny red apple, covered in some sort of enamel. Jaejoong was enthralled.
“Brother, seriously, you’re weird.” HaNeul declared, watching with exasperation as her brother trailed out of the kitchen, holding the ugly statue with reverence.
“Shut up.” The reply was half-hearted at best, Jaejoong far too lost in his admiration to pay any mind to his sisters. Maybe this would stop them being so damn nosey.
Well. He could hope, right?
♪ 8 ♫
On the eighth day of Christmas, Jaejoong was ready. He raced outside to the post box and grabbed everything as soon as it was delivered, almost ripping it from the poor, startled postman’s hands. Unfortunately, his planning and quickness was all for naught, as he found no envelope or package addressed to himself as he flicked through the mail.
Very nearly pouting, he trudged into the house and put the mail on the kitchen table. His mother, who was making breakfast, took one look at him and smiled.
“No love letter today, my son?” she asked teasingly. Jaejoong just glared at her.
His mood did not improve throughout the day either, as hours continued to pass without the discovery of the now-expected delivery. Jaejoong’s sisters were intrigued, both by the lack of present, and also at their brother’s sulky countenance because of this fact. Most of them found it highly amusing.
“Maybe he’s waiting for a reply?” suggested MiSun.
“Maybe he’s given up on you?” HwaSoo giggled. She got a particularly unhappy glare for that comment, which just got her giggling more.
“Maybe you should be patient,” Na Young said. Jaejoong sighed and nodded and trudged off to his bedroom. By then, it was near dinner - far past the time that any of the other gifts had appeared. He went to sit on the bed, scooping up a couple of the OnePiece mangas beside his bed and flipping through them slowly.
“Do you actually like him?” The voice nearly caused him to jump, and he turned quickly to see NaYoung standing in the doorway, looking down at him with expectation on his face. He sat up a bit and bit his lip.
“I… I don’t know that much about him,” he confessed. NaYoung came over to sit beside him.
“He certainly seems to know a lot about you,” she said, and Jaejoong felt a bit of a flush coming on. It was true - all the gifts had been things he liked or would enjoy. “He must like you a lot. Maybe you should think about if you like him enough in return? He’s gone to a lot of trouble for you.”
Jaejoong sighed, leaning back and resting his head on the headboard.
“I know. And it makes me feel a bit guilty…”
“But you enjoy it, don’t you? You look so happy when you get the gifts.” NaYoung prodded him, with a smile. Jaejoong couldn’t help but return it.
“I guess I do. It’s… sweet. Silly, but sweet.”
“And it feels nice to be liked that much, right?”
“… yes. Yes it does.”
NaYoung laughed, hugging her brother unexpectedly. He yelped, but settled after a moment, letting her have her moment. He’d long learnt to suffer through these sorts of bouts from his mother and sisters… and besides, NaYoung had always been far more sensible then most of his siblings.
“Then don’t waste that feeling,? I think he’s a good one - don’t let him get away, okay?” she instructed, standing up. “And here. This arrived for you just before lunch.”
Jaejoong looked up in surprise as she handed him a brightly, though unevenly, wrapped rectangle. There was no ribbon or card on it, but, like the other rectangular package he received, the black marker across the Christmas-tree paper spelled out his name.
Eyes wide, Jaejoong took the gift from his sister, who laughed lightly at his expression before leaving him alone to unwrap it.
Sitting cross legged on the bed, Jaejoong pulled apart the paper. Inside, he found a large hard-cover book, a beautiful glossy picture of a round, gooey cheese on the front with crusty breads. It read across the top ‘French Cooking’, and as Jaejoong cracked the cover open, the wideness of his eyes did not abate, only growing larger with each beautiful picture of delicious food he found within.
♪ 9 ♫
On the ninth day of Christmas, MiSun found a flat, squishy packet on the doormat at eleven in the morning, just as she was about to head out. Making a small happy noise, she scooped it up and immediately turned on her heel, heading back into the house.
“LOVE LETTER DELIVERY!” She yelled out at the top of her lungs, standing in the entrance hall.
JooEun made it to her before Jaejoong did, taking the package and feeling it up. HaNeul soon joined them, poking the package as well.
“I wonder what it is this time?” HaNeul pondered, squashing the package thoughtfully between her fingers. The other two shrugged.
“It can’t be too big, and it feels soft. A shirt maybe?” MiSun suggested, reaching to take the packet back.
It never made it to her hands however, as Jaejoong, having planned his attack, swooped by and snatched it from HaNeul, already running full-tilt towards his room. The girls behind him let out a cry of surprise and annoyance, but he just grinned and kept leaping up the stairs. He had plenty of time to slam his door shut and jam his desk chair under the door knob before his sisters even got near his room.
Jaejoong ripped open the top edge of the packet with some difficulty, tugging roughly on the plastic to get it to open enough for him to shake out what was inside. Out fell a somewhat bulky piece of wooly stuff, and a small card with a fat snowman on the front.
Picking up the wooly thing, Jaejoong quickly realized it was a fuzzy black beanie with little skulls all the way around it. He grinned happily, and immediately jammed the hat onto his head, spending a few moments fixing his hair afterwards. Once he was satisfied, he picked up the card, flicking it open.
As with all the gifts, the message was short, but didn’t fail to make Jaejoong smile.
‘For your collection. - Yunho’
Jaejoong wondered how the hell Jung Yunho knew he collected beanies.
♪ 10 ♫
On the tenth day of Christmas, SangMi arrived with her husband to visit and stay for a few days. She arrived with a small suitcase in one hand, and a box of chocolates in the other.
After the traditional greeting-of-lost-daughters/sisters, which involved a hell of a lot of bone crushing hugs and squealing, SangMi made it into the kitchen. She had left the suitcase out in the hall to be unpacked later, but brought the chocolates with her.
“Are those for uuuuuus?” JooEun asked, none too slyly, while eying the shiny gold box. MiSun leant forward in anticipation, seeing the high quality, silver-embossed label on the box. SangMi's husband, who was universally known in her family as Jimmy even though his name was JungMin, laughed at them both. He’d always dealt with the intimidating force of 9 Kim women with remarkable aplomb.
“Nope,” he said, and smiled at the girl’s crestfallen looks.
“Phooey!” JooEun exclaimed with a pout. “Why do you always get presents for our parents but not for us? Huh?”
Jimmy shook his head however, and SangMi laughed lightly.
“Ah, but JooEun, who said they were for mum and dad?” She shared a secretive look with her husband. “Actually, I was stopped by the gate by a very handsome young man and was asked to deliver this for him,” she said, trying to make her story seem full of mystery. She however didn’t have the benefit of knowing what had been going on the last week and a half in the house, and so was not quite expecting the loud squeal and the pile of sisters who suddenly jumped on her brother with all matter of cooing and teasing. She blinked.
“You know it’s for Jaejoong?” she asked after the din had quieted a little. Jaejoong was cowering slightly, but edging towards the chocolates. Wanting to get the full scoop on what looked to be a very interesting story about her innocent little brother, SangMi placed a firm hand on the box, preventing it from going anywhere.
The sisters made a quick summary of the last few days and the gifts that had been showered on their youngest sibling, and the ‘adorable’ way Jaejoong blushed every time and how he seemed very taken with all the gifts.
SangMi’s smile grew with each word, and she gazed on her abashed looking only brother with fondness. Jimmy, on the other hand, just looked at him with pity.
“Awwwww!” SangMi couldn’t help but reach over and ruffle his hair, even though he, predictably, reared back and tried to slap her hand away. “Joongie, that’s so adorable! What a sweet guy!” She cooed.
It took some time, but it seemed like torture-Jaejoong hour was almost over for the day, and SangMi slid the box of chocolates over in his direction.
“Here. I think he knows you quite well,” she commented. And indeed, when Jaejoong pulled the box forward, he couldn’t help the smile of satisfaction that came to his lips.
‘85% Cocoa’ read the label. Bitter as all hell and just the way he liked it.
♪ 11 ♫
On the eleventh day of Christmas, the whole Kim family, including the husbands of the two eldest, sat down for breakfast around their dining room table. It was a bit of a squeeze, with plenty of elbow-bumping, but the jovial atmosphere more then made up for it.
The first ‘Christmas meal’ with all the family, talk inevitably turned to gentle needling as to when the new generation of the family would start to arrive. Never mind that only two of the nine children were actually married, the Kim matriarch was well ready to start doting on beloved grandchildren. BoBae rolled her eyes, and SangMi laughed, but no promises were made. NaYoung also kept rather close lipped on any future plans between herself and her long term boyfriend.
“Speaking of, however… how is the romance of our dear little brother going?” MiCha piped up, earning herself a heavy glare from the other side of the table. Jaejoong had been quite content to keep out of the entire discussion, letting his sisters fend for themselves against their mother. With MiCha’s question however, all eyes turned to him… including the baby-tinted, misty eyes of his mother. Jaejoong sunk in his chair slightly.
JooEun, beside him, of course grinned gleefully at his misfortune. Nevermind that she went through boyfriends like pairs of shoes - nobody bothered asking about her flavour of the month anymore.
“Yes, brother dear! We’re down to the last few days of Christmas here… he hasn’t got much more time!”
“Is he actually going to make an appearance?” HwaSoo asked curiously.
“How would I know? I don’t know what he’s doing!” Jaejoong retorted quickly, but his cheeks were pinking.
“I want to see who this boy is,” their mother said, and it was Jaejoong’s turn to roll his eyes.
“He hasn’t even asked me out yet mum… it’s not like he’s asking for marriage here.”
“Well, you never know... and I want to see who’s dating my son!” Mrs Kim had always been rather protective of her brood, even if there were often too many boyfriends to keep track of. Especially since she found out that even her only son was on the look out for a boy.
“He’s really cute.” JooEun put in helpfully, spooning herself an extra helping of rice. Jaejoong meanwhile was wondering if he might be able to spontaneously combust and seep through the floorboards. This was the reason he’d never brought up who he was dating at home - the scruitiny was unbearable. The gifts were all very sweet and such, and as he’d told NaYoung, it did give him a warm fuzzy feeling inside… but damn, he wished Yunho would have chosen a less conspicuous way to do it. Couldn’t he have stuck them in his desk during term or something?
“Oooh, really? Trust Jae to reel in a cute one,” BoBae said with a grin.
“Yep. Cute, handsome and popular. And bold too!” JooEun giggled out. She was the only one, other then Jaejoong, still at school, and so the only one - besides SangMi - who actually knew who Yunho was.
“Is he a good boy?” their mother asked, brows furrowed. JooEun giggled some more.
“Mum!” “Leave the poor boy alone!” The simultaneous exclamations came from Jaejoong and his father, the former shooting the latter a appreciative look.
“Oh don’t’ worry mum, Yunho’s like the poster boy of all that is good and righteous. He’s a class captain, isn’t he Jaejoong?” JooEun said, taking entirely too much pleasure in the conversation. Jaejoong could only sigh.
“Yes. He’s a nice guy, okay? Can we move on to something else now?” It came out far more like a plea then he would have liked, and it garnered a few laughs, but he could live with that if it got them off the subject.
It might well have done too, if the doorbell had not rung at that precise moment. Jimmy got up to answer the door, leaving the rest of the table munching away. Jimmy looked entirely too amused when he came back however.
“Who was it dear?” SangMi asked, looking up at her husband.
“It was a courier.” Jimmy said, a grin all over his face. Jaejoong frowned, getting a wiggly feeling in his stomach at the way the man was looking around the table, coming to rest on Jaejoong.
“A courier?” their father repeated, puzzled.
“Yes. I signed for it - but, Jaejoong, this is for you,” and, with a broad grin, Jimmy handed a rectangular box over the table. It was a plain brown postage box, with no real markings other then the postage slip.
All eyes once again turned to Jaejoong, who in turn was fixated on the box in his hands. He’d given up trying to make the gifts private, so he picked up his knife and used it to cut open the box. His mother opened her mouth to complain about the usage of the cutlery, but her husband stopped her with a hand to her arm.
Everyone watched as Jaejoong pulled an eyewear case from the box, also quite unremarkable. It was just black, but sleek looking. Eyes focused, Jaejoong slowly cracked it open. It flipped upwards, revealing a very stylish pair of sunglasses.
Jaejoong stared down at them for a long moment, completely lost for words. When it appeared he wasn’t reacting at all, JooEun swiped the case from him and pulled out the glasses. She let out a low whistle.
“Maaaan, Jae, these are expensive!” She was examining them from all angles, allowing everyone else to also see the glasses.
“Wow, he must really like you Jae,” MiSun said, leaning over to look at them as well. “They’re nice!”
“Why don’t any of my boyfriends give me stuff like this? Jae, if you don’t want Yunho, I’ll have him!” JooEun exclaimed, making to put the sunglasses on. They were snatched away before she got a chance.
“Don’t stretch them with your fat head,” Jaejoong snapped, taking back the case as well and folding the glasses carefully back into it. “And keep your grubby mitts away from the glasses and Yunho!” He put the case back into the box and put it protectively in his lap, glaring over at JooEun and MiSun.
Everyone else at the table exchanged knowing, amused looks.
♪ 12 ♫
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Jaejoong woke up with anticipation.
Surely today had to be the day. If Yunho kept this going any longer, he’d be broke for entire next year, Jae was sure. He couldn’t believe how much trouble the other boy had gone to in the first place, both in terms of thinking about the presents and spending the money and also in terms of the preparation it must have taken to get all the presents organized and delivered on time.
He was embarrassed and flattered at the same time. Yunho had never really made a secret of the fact that he was interested in Jaejoong, but nor had he made any proper move. Jaejoong wasn’t sure if he liked Yunho enough to make the first move either, and so nothing much had happened apart from some flirting.
The first gift had been a pleasant surprise, but each new one showed Jaejoong that Yunho knew more about him then he could ever have guessed… he was amazed that Yunho could like him so much as to do something like this. He found himself more and more appreciative of each gift that came.
And so, it was with eagerness that Jaejoong greeted what had to be the last day of this funny ritual Yunho had started. He had been wondering the last few days what the other boy would do for the finale, since all of his previous gifts had been so good. He hoped that it involved Yunho himself somehow, rather then just another gift however. Not that Jaejoong particularly knew what he’d do when he came face to face with Yunho again, either today or later back at school. He feared he’d go bright red and not know what to do - a rather embarrassing prospect, because Jaejoong just didn’t do do that sort of thing damnit.
But even though he wasn’t sure what he’d do, he was somehow looking forward to it. It seemed he wasn’t the only one either.
All of his sisters were awake when he got downstairs, and he looked around at them all somewhat questioningly.
MiCha shook her head, amused.
“Nothing yet Joongie.” Jaejoong even turned to look at NaYoung, but she just smiled and shook her head. He sighed and sat down with the rest of his family, their breakfast that morning uninterrupted.
The minutes and hours ticked by, the time filled with various Christmassy things and more family discussions/arguments.
It was soon late afternoon, and Jaejoong was beginning to wonder if the sunglasses had been it, an expensive, fabulous gift that signaled the end of the presents. Maybe Yunho was expecting something to come from Jaejoong’s end, like his sisters suggested. He was actually starting to fret a little, wondering if his silence in the whole affair had disheartened Yunho.
So, when the doorbell rang at nearly 5pm, Jaejoong leapt of the couch before anyone else could make a move, and practically ran to the door.
He flung it open somewhat too enthusiastically, almost making it bounce on its hinges. He didn’t really notice that however, staring through the door and blinking at what stood on the other side.
For before him, in all his winter glory, was Jung Yunho.
There were a few long moments of silence, with both of them just staring at each other.
Yunho was the first to recover, coughing self-consciously.
“Uhm. Hello,” he started with, uncertainly. The smile Jaejoong gave him was blinding however, except that only a moment later it was hidden by Jaejoong’s hand. It was enough however to boost Yunho’s confidence.
“Hi,” Jaejoong replied.
“Did you,” Yunho paused, and coughed again, “did you get my gifts?”
Jaejoong nodded vigorously.
“Oh yes. Thank you. I mean, yeah, thank you very much. They’re all great. I love them. The sunglasses, and the beanie and the cookbook and the earrings, ...” Oh my god Jaejoong, shut up! He told himself. Yunho bought them for you - he knows what they were! But Yunho didn’t seem to mind, grinning widely at the response.
“I’m glad.”
“Me too.” What? You’re an idiot, Jaejoong! He berated himself, kicking himself mentally. He tried to smile again, feeling half mortified at his stupidity. The guy had given him such nice, thoughtful presents and now he was babbling like a fool.
“So. I wanted to come and wish you a Merry Christmas,” Yunho said. Jaejoong nodded.
“Oh, and Merry Christmas to you too!”
“Thank you. I uhm. I also have one more present for you.” Yunho’s hands finally emerged from the deep pockets of his large overcoat. He held out two pieces of stiff paper to Jaejoong, smiling hopefully at him.
Jaejoong reached forward and took them, looking down at the print on them. They were two tickets, dated for a concert two days later.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, eyes darting up to stare at Yunho, wide eyed. “Seriously?!” he demanded, stunned at the name of his favourite band in the world emblazoned on the top of the ticket. Yunho seemed relieved by his reaction, and grinned, nodding.
“Go with me?”
Jaejoong stared at the tickets, then back up at Yunho, expression still that of stunned joy.
“Of course!” was all he could think to say, and then, without thinking about it, threw himself forward at Yunho, engulfing the other young man in a hug.
Yunho caught him solidly, seemingly surprised but very pleased by the action, arms immediately closing around Jaejoong’s waist to return the embrace.
“Does this mean you’ll go out with me?” Yunho asked, words said into Jaejoong’s hair as their hug continued.
Jaejoong’s tight embrace loosened slightly, pulling back enough so that he could see Yunho’s openly hopeful face. Jaejoong couldn’t help the large smile on his face. There wasn’t anything to think about.
“Yes,” he declared with certainty. “I’d love to.”
Yunho fairly beamed, his grip around Jaejoong’s waist tightening in his happiness. Jaejoong smiled back, unguarded and brilliant, the pair of them once more just staring at each other. This time however, both of them felt incredibly warm inside.
The bubble the pair had created between them was suddenly burst however by a loud wolf whistle and a smattering of applause.
They turned to find a gaggle of Kim’s all standing at the door of the house, watching them both with equally wide smiles. It was easy to tell that JooEun had been the one to whistle.
“About damn time!” she crowed.
Jaejoong buried his head into Yunho’s shoulder in mortification.
“Yunho, you’ve got no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into,” he mumbled. Yunho surveyed the crowd clapping for them, faces full of mischievous glee, and then looked down at the bundle of boy he had in his arms. A boy he’d liked for so long already.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s more then worth it,” he stated with conviction. He heard Jaejoong snort in amusement, before pulling back and giving him a wiry smile.
“Just remember you said that.”
In years to come, he did remember, and even if he hadn’t, Jaejoong delighted in reminding him… usually every time that Christmas rolled around, and he was expected to deal with the mass of Kim women who teased him just as mercilessly as they did their little brother.
But really, neither of them would have it any other way.
- end -
For sanity’s sake - a list of Jae’s sisters, in order of eldest to youngest (I got bloody confused while writing). The eldest 3 don’t live at home, JooEun is the only one still at school with Jaejoong. I have no idea how old his real sisters are, nor their names, so this is all just made up. :)
SangMi
BoBae
MiCha
NaYoung
HwaSoo
HaNeul
MiSun
JooEun
Rating: PG
Form: Oneshot
Words: 7 062
Pairings: YunJae
Genre: Floooff!!!
Summary: 12 days, 12 presents; 8 sisters, 2 boys. Christmas is a fun time of year.
A/N: For fallofdark, as this was meant to be a Christmas fic for LAST YEAR. -_- I fail, so badly. I only realised I hadn’t finished this when I was looking through my tags, and realised there was one fic missing. I’m so so sorry this is so so sooooo late. Erm... it's still a Christmas fic, I guess. XD I hope you enjoy it despite it's year delay. >_< It’s long but rather weird with not much direct Yunjae. While writing this and getting totally confused with all the names, I'm now convinced that Jae has way too many sisters!
The prompts for this one was 'candy, cheese & chocolate'.
Merry Christmas, Kristina!
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♪ 1 ♫
On the first day of Christmas, two of Jaejoong’s sisters came busting into his room, giggling like idiots.
“What?” he asked suspiciously, looking up from his laptop at the pair, wondering just what they had up their sleeves.
“This came for you,” HaNeul said, grinning madly. JooEun held out a small package, which looked entirely innocuous. Jaejoong was far from convinced however, and peered cautiously at it before reaching out and taking it. JooEun giggled, which didn’t help Jae’s confidence much as he slowly ripped open the sealed end of the padded envelope.
“What is it?” HaNeul pushed, eagerly. Jaejoong frowned, pulling a CD case from the package. Both girls blinked, and Jaejoong opened up the cover. He immediately blushed and the two cooed, attempting to grab it from him and see what had caused the pinkness in their brother’s cheeks. Yelling, he shoved them out of his room and slammed the door, pushing against it as they clamoured at him to let them see. (Sadly, Jaejoong’s parents did not believe in locks. This made for some incredibly embarrassing and mortifying moments for the lone boy amongst nine women.)
As he leant heavily against the wood, absorbing the bumps of two full grown and mightily determined girls, he grinned foolishly at the small piece of paper resting on top of a recordable CD. It was nothing spectacular, just five words.
‘Please listen to me!
~ Yunho’
Once his sisters finally left him alone, Jaejoong hurried to his computer and stuck the CD in, curling up in his bed and grinning even more foolishly as he listened to each new song that had been chosen for him.
They were all rock songs, with fabulous guitar riffs.
♪ 2 ♫
On the second day of Christmas, his mother came into the kitchen as everyone was eating breakfast, flipping through the mail. Coming over to the kitchen table, she put down the letters and flourished a rolled up piece of paper, tied with a bit of black ribbon.
“This,” she said, dramatically, “is for you.” She then waved it like a baton in his face. Flushing as his sisters giggled, he snatched it away.
“Oooh! Another one?!” JooEun exclaimed.
“So my little Joongie is getting love letters?” their mother asked NaYoung, currently the eldest daughter living in the house. NaYoung grinned, and JooEun began cackling, attempting to grab the scroll away. Jaejoong held it protectively against his chest, wondering if he’d be able to find a spot to open it in peace.
He should have known better however, and he was heckled into opening it there and then. One could never underestimate the powers of young females in the hot pursuit of romance, especially when there were a lot of them and you lived in the same house as them.
There was a brief moments of silence as he rolled out the long parchment, a creamy marbled colour, feeling weighted and solid in his hands. The paper was covered in a score, lines upon lines of music filling the page.
At the top, in crooked, undeniably male writing, was written simply: ‘Song for You’
♪ 3 ♫
On the third day of Christmas, BoBae came over to drop off some mince pies she’d made, and to catch up with her siblings. Upon arriving at her family home just after lunch however, she found a rather large bonbon sitting on the doorstep, made out of dark blue fabric and tied with an iridescent purple ribbon. Puzzled, she picked it up, turning it around until she came to the small tag that simply read ‘Jaejoong.’
The confusion fled, and a broad, mischievous grin replaced it.
Not bothering to knock, she waltzed into the house, box of mince pies in one hand and the bonbon in the other, and yelled at the top of her lungs.
“Delivery for Mr Kim Jaejoong! Special love package delivery!”
Predictably, this brought a heard of elephants thundering down the stairs, with 5 teenaged girls all trying to get to their older sister first. Even their mother hung over the second floor railing, trying to see what it was.
Jaejoong appeared just a few seconds late, finding a gaggle of girls all laughing over the pretty little bag held proudly in BoBae’s hand. Letting out a furious yelp, he made to swipe it, but sadly BoBae still had a couple of inches on him and held it up on high, refusing to hand it over.
“Who’s courting my little brother then, hm?” she asked teasingly, eyebrow raised. HwaSoo burst out laughing and HaNeul shot the flaming red Jaejoong a look before answering.
“He’s gotten presents the last two days too! He won’t say who they’re from though!”
“Hey! Give it to me!” Jaejoong said, making a jump for the blue wrapped present. BoBae swung around though, trying to protect it.
“Whose you’re admirer, little brother?” she asked, hugging the bonbon to herself.
“Yeah, spill the beans!” HwaSoo yelled, digging her fingers into his ribs. He yelped, skidadling out of reach. He grabbed hold of BoBae, spinning her about until he could steal the bonbon away. With a triumphant yell, he made a dash for the stairs and his room. His getaway was slightly spoiled however as he tripped in his haste and ended up sprawled halfway up the stairs, the bonbon bursting on impact. Hundreds of small, brightly coloured gummy candies exploded all over the stairs and floor, rolling between the feet of the gathered girls and under the hall table.
Jaejoong watched them spread with a gobsmacked look on his face, and then groaned dramatically, letting his head thud down on the stair below it.
MiSun lent over and picked up a yellow drop that had landed on the table, leaving a little trail of sugar over the dark surface. She looked at it contemplatively before popping it in her mouth.
“Hm, sour,” she remarked, chewing slowly.
A bonfight ensued, everyone trying to collect the most number of candies. Jaejoong just remained sprawled on the floor, wondering why him.
♪ 4 ♫
On the fourth day of Christmas, everyone was waiting for the arrival of the package they were sure would arrive at some point during the day. After all, twice is coincidence, three times is a pattern.
Jaejoong was despairing of ever being left alone again, for the rest of his life. It seemed like every five minutes, one of this sisters ‘dropped by’ his room to tease him or prod him for more info.
JooEun, of course, could be counted on to let everyone know when the gift had arrived. It was in the mail box once more, except the oddly-shaped envelope was not post marked, signifying another hand delivery.
The envelope seemed to be hand made, out of thick dark green paper. It was rather misshapen, like the maker had tried their best but had no real concept of how and envelope was meant to be put together. By the time Jaejoong skidded into the kitchen, JooEun and MiSun were giggling over the ‘adorkability’ of the made-badly-but-with-loooove container of his next present. They were also not so subtly trying to pry open a loose corner to peak inside.
“Hey, hey, HEY!” Jaejoong protested, snatching it away from his damnably inquisitive sisters. “It’s MINE. As in, NOT to be opened by you!” He exclaimed, scowling at them both. By then, HwaSoo and NaYoung had turned up, the missing fifth sister sadly not being home.
The combined force of their stares quelled Jaejoong’s burst of assertiveness, and he clutched the envelope to his chest. His eyes darted wildly, like a cornered animal. Spotting a small opportunity for escape, he darted through a gap between his youngest two sisters and made a mad dash for the stairs.
He made into his room, but only just; panting and with only a second to spare, which was used to slam the door closed and sink his weight into it. Again.
Knowing he probably wouldn’t have much time before they managed to get past him, he ripped into the envelope, trying not to feel bad about completely destroying the thing. He fumbled, nearly dropping the contents of it as a particularly large push from behind sent him momentarily pitching forward.
A few seconds of juggling, and Jaejoong found himself clutching a small, soft red thing. Opening his hand, he found a small elephant in his palm, attached to a key chain. He laughed out loud at the sight, holding the funny little critter up to better see it. It stared back at him with beady, doleful black eyes.
As soon as he got a moment to himself, he sat down to work his keys onto the new keyring, not even minding when the metal snapped down on his fingers and pinched the skin painfully. After he was done, he left his keys on the table before him and just stared at them a moment, grinning.
♪ 5 ♫
It was way too early in the morning on the fifth day of Christmas when MiCha began poking Jaejoong’s stomach.
Jaejoong let out a whimper and rolled over, protecting his belly and curling into a ball. His head disappeared under the covers, leaving just a lumpy duvet.
The poking persisted however, and suddenly the lump exploded, Jaejoong swatting madly at his grinning sister’s hands, which were now going for Jaejoong’s rather sensitive sides. A minor scuffle ensued, the victim of which was Jaejoong’s pillow, which got completely smushed as they fell to the floor and the slip ripped ever so slightly in the corner.
Jaejoong wailed and hit his sister with it.
“Go away goaway gway!” he exclaimed with every hit. MiCha however was well use to abuse at the hands of her adorable baby brother, and withstood the beating, giggling through it all. Eventually Jae’s burst of steam ran out and he flopped back onto the floor, pouting heartily at the girl and hugging his pillow mournfully.
“I thought the whole point of you moving out was that you wouldn’t be around to bother me anymore,” he said petulantly.
MiCha straightened herself out, sitting up cross legged before him. He looked as childish and deceptively cute as he did 10 years ago. The Hamataro-print PJs didn’t really add to his maturity level either, and MiCha had to resist lunging forward and snuggling him. She missed her siblings, living out in an apartment… though of course she’d never admit that.
“Hey! I’m being nice here bro,” she said with a grin. He scowled at her.
“Yeah right… ‘nice’,” he snorted incredulously. “Why don’t you go be ‘nice’ to JooEun.”
“Hm, should I? I’m sure she’d enjoy getting a look at this…” MiCha said, picking up a thick rectangular package, wrapped in silver-ish paper. Jaejoong blinked owlishly at it, his still-fuzzy brain trying to figure out what she was talking about.
Suddenly, as he saw the black, familiar chicken-scratch penmanship spelling out his own name scrawled in one corner, it all clicked, and he lunged forward to try and grab the package.
“Uh, uh uh!” MiCha scolded, her hand and the package shooting up in the air. “Who’s the best sister in the world, then?” She asked, wiggling the package around like a carrot. Jaejoong narrowed his eyes.
“MiCha is the best,” he snapped out, and then, as her arm began to descend, he snatched the parcel from her and stuck out his tongue. “But only in the parallel ‘verse where she’s also taller!” He continued triumphantly, smirk on his face.
MiCha let out a squawk of indignation, but Jaejoong was already ripping open the parcel, ignoring her. She gave up protesting further, instead leaning forward with wide eyes to see what Jaejoong had got.
It was a stack of One Piece mangas… Jaejoong’s favourite anime of the moment. Her eyes flickered up to see her brother’s reaction, and saw a stupid smile spreading on his face. She laughed out loud.
“AH! You’re little admirer knows his way to your geeky heart, brother dearest! You better hold onto him!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands.
Her laughing was soon muffled however, as a pillow was shoved over her face.
♪ 6 ♫
On the sixth day of Christmas, Jaejoong found HwaSoo standing in front of the hall mirror, her hand up to her ear and staring at herself. Jaejoong frowned, wondering what she was doing, and crept up beside her, staring over her shoulder and at the reflection.
“They’re nice,” Jaejoong commented, startling HwaSoo. She’d been holding a silver earring up to her ear, two little crosses hanging down from it on thin chains.
Odd, Jaejoong thought, they weren’t really something that he’d have picked as HwaSoo’s style. His sister liked huge gold hoop earrings or chunky fake diamond studs in different shapes for most the part. He’d even bought her a pair of the latter for her last birthday.
“Did you buy them today?” he asked her, as her wide eyes met his in the mirror. She coughed.
“Mmm,” she mumbled, noncommittally. “You like them?” She went on after a moment, raising an eyebrow at him. He nodded, and shrugged one shoulder.
“I do. They’re cool. Trying something new, are you?” The more he stared at them, the more he thought they really were cool… and just the sort of thing he liked to wear.
HwaSoo tittered slightly in a very suspicious manner. The sort of giggle that meant she’d done something bad but was determined to wiggle out of it with her cuteness. Jaejoong’s eyebrows furrowed and he stared at her reflection hard. It suddenly occurred to him that it was a little odd to be admiring new earings in the downstairs hall mirror at nine in the morning.
“Sooie,” Jaejoong said, rather flatly. He kept his eyes focused on her face, watching for any reaction.
“Hmm?”
“I don’t suppose, by any chance, you found a box with my name on it outside this morning?” he asked, sharp eyes catching the way his sister’s own eyes darted up guiltily to his own and then back down again a second later. “A box, that, just maybe, had a pair of cross earrings in it?”
There was silence for a moment, and then suddenly HwaSoo turned, threw the earring at Jaejoong and made a squealing, flailing dash for the stairs.
“Yunho! I know his name is Yunho~!” She yelled from half-way up in a sing-song tone, before laughing and running off again, undoubtedly to tell her sisters of her new discovery.
Fumbling to catch the earring in his shock at the sudden action (though really, it shouldn’t have been that shocking at all given that he’d lived with his sister for a very long time now), he was torn between the urge to run after her and mess her hair up into oblivion, smother her with a pillow and maybe tickle her to death or to stay and look at his present.
The latter won out. After all, he could always smother his sister later.
HwaSoo had left the box on the ledge, and he picked it up carefully, placing the earring back inside with its pair. Then he settled the lid back on, putting it back into the condition that it should have been in when HwaSoo stole it.
There was a tiny tiny card hanging from the bow stuck on the box, and he opened the fold to find the simple message of, ‘Hope you like them. Yunho.’
♪ 7 ♫
On the seventh day of Christmas, HaNeul stalked the postman. HwaSoo had told them all about the box with the earrings, including the little card and the name on it - Yunho. JooEun had squealed, and had told them it was a boy at school. They’d had a bit of a goss-fest then about Yunho and his compatibility with their brother, and just what the boy was doing with all these presents. After some hypothesizing, they’d figured out when the presents started, and realized that it perhaps related to Christmas.
It was likely then that the presents would keep on coming, and, being the good sisters they were, the three had decided that they would help, erm, ‘keep and eye out’ for their dear little brother. That of course meant not letting him secret away any of these presents until they were revealed.
So when the postman came down the street, HaNeul was ready. She was waiting at the gate, and the surprised man found her jiggling around impatiently as he finally made it to their house. Everything was taken from him post-haste, and then HaNeul went running back into the house.
At the kitchen table, JooEun and HwaSoo helped her go through the mail quickly. It was pretty easy to spot which one was for Jaejoong however, the mid-sized box the only parcel in the lot.
All they had to do then was wait for Jaejoong to come down.
“What are you guys doing?” Jaejoong asked, confused, when he found three of his sisters sitting at the kitchen table, eyeing him as he entered.
“We want you to open your present,” HaNeul said sweetly. Jaejoong’s eyes flew to the box, and around at the girls surrounding it.
“And don’t even think of running off to your room!” HwaSoo added quickly. Her fingers were wrapped securely around the base.
“Yeah. We promise we’ll let you go once you open it.” JooEun smiled winningly at her brother. “We only want to see what you’re getting from lover-boy Yunho.”
“He’s not my ‘lover boy’!” Jaejoong exclaimed angrily, trying to grab the package. “Stop being so meddlesome! Do I go round butting into your love lives?”
“Yeah, but you don’t care.” HwaSoo pointed out. HaNeul nodded.
“We care. C’mon Jae, please just let us see?” Jaejoong knew HaNeul was serious when she started with the puppy eyes.
Sighing, and not seeing what the real harm would be, Jaejoong sat down at the table and nodded.
“Fine, whatever. But don’t squee, and leave me alone afterwards, okay?” he prompted them. They all nodded solemnly. He gestured for the box, and they handed it over.
Using a pair of scissors, he sliced open the tape holding the box closed, and they all peered inside. There were lots of white fluffy padding pieces inside, which Jaejoong began to remove slowly, leaving them in a little pile on the table.
Finally, he found the real contents of the box, fingers closing around something cool and solid.
Pulling it out, the four of them were faced with a statuette… or rather, a figuring. Jaejoong recognized it immediately, pulling it close to examine it with a bright light in his eyes.
His sisters on the other hand let out a mou of disappointment.
“It’s an ugly monster statue. How boring.”
“And totally unromantic.”
“What kind of a present is that?”
“A great one.” Jaejoong breathed, eyes still fixed on the figurine. He held it up the light, feeling the heaviness that meant that it wasn’t a cheap plastic rip-off but a real resin cast one. He was immaculately painted, right down to the sharp pointy white teeth and the feathers around his collar. There was even a shiny red apple, covered in some sort of enamel. Jaejoong was enthralled.
“Brother, seriously, you’re weird.” HaNeul declared, watching with exasperation as her brother trailed out of the kitchen, holding the ugly statue with reverence.
“Shut up.” The reply was half-hearted at best, Jaejoong far too lost in his admiration to pay any mind to his sisters. Maybe this would stop them being so damn nosey.
Well. He could hope, right?
♪ 8 ♫
On the eighth day of Christmas, Jaejoong was ready. He raced outside to the post box and grabbed everything as soon as it was delivered, almost ripping it from the poor, startled postman’s hands. Unfortunately, his planning and quickness was all for naught, as he found no envelope or package addressed to himself as he flicked through the mail.
Very nearly pouting, he trudged into the house and put the mail on the kitchen table. His mother, who was making breakfast, took one look at him and smiled.
“No love letter today, my son?” she asked teasingly. Jaejoong just glared at her.
His mood did not improve throughout the day either, as hours continued to pass without the discovery of the now-expected delivery. Jaejoong’s sisters were intrigued, both by the lack of present, and also at their brother’s sulky countenance because of this fact. Most of them found it highly amusing.
“Maybe he’s waiting for a reply?” suggested MiSun.
“Maybe he’s given up on you?” HwaSoo giggled. She got a particularly unhappy glare for that comment, which just got her giggling more.
“Maybe you should be patient,” Na Young said. Jaejoong sighed and nodded and trudged off to his bedroom. By then, it was near dinner - far past the time that any of the other gifts had appeared. He went to sit on the bed, scooping up a couple of the OnePiece mangas beside his bed and flipping through them slowly.
“Do you actually like him?” The voice nearly caused him to jump, and he turned quickly to see NaYoung standing in the doorway, looking down at him with expectation on his face. He sat up a bit and bit his lip.
“I… I don’t know that much about him,” he confessed. NaYoung came over to sit beside him.
“He certainly seems to know a lot about you,” she said, and Jaejoong felt a bit of a flush coming on. It was true - all the gifts had been things he liked or would enjoy. “He must like you a lot. Maybe you should think about if you like him enough in return? He’s gone to a lot of trouble for you.”
Jaejoong sighed, leaning back and resting his head on the headboard.
“I know. And it makes me feel a bit guilty…”
“But you enjoy it, don’t you? You look so happy when you get the gifts.” NaYoung prodded him, with a smile. Jaejoong couldn’t help but return it.
“I guess I do. It’s… sweet. Silly, but sweet.”
“And it feels nice to be liked that much, right?”
“… yes. Yes it does.”
NaYoung laughed, hugging her brother unexpectedly. He yelped, but settled after a moment, letting her have her moment. He’d long learnt to suffer through these sorts of bouts from his mother and sisters… and besides, NaYoung had always been far more sensible then most of his siblings.
“Then don’t waste that feeling,? I think he’s a good one - don’t let him get away, okay?” she instructed, standing up. “And here. This arrived for you just before lunch.”
Jaejoong looked up in surprise as she handed him a brightly, though unevenly, wrapped rectangle. There was no ribbon or card on it, but, like the other rectangular package he received, the black marker across the Christmas-tree paper spelled out his name.
Eyes wide, Jaejoong took the gift from his sister, who laughed lightly at his expression before leaving him alone to unwrap it.
Sitting cross legged on the bed, Jaejoong pulled apart the paper. Inside, he found a large hard-cover book, a beautiful glossy picture of a round, gooey cheese on the front with crusty breads. It read across the top ‘French Cooking’, and as Jaejoong cracked the cover open, the wideness of his eyes did not abate, only growing larger with each beautiful picture of delicious food he found within.
♪ 9 ♫
On the ninth day of Christmas, MiSun found a flat, squishy packet on the doormat at eleven in the morning, just as she was about to head out. Making a small happy noise, she scooped it up and immediately turned on her heel, heading back into the house.
“LOVE LETTER DELIVERY!” She yelled out at the top of her lungs, standing in the entrance hall.
JooEun made it to her before Jaejoong did, taking the package and feeling it up. HaNeul soon joined them, poking the package as well.
“I wonder what it is this time?” HaNeul pondered, squashing the package thoughtfully between her fingers. The other two shrugged.
“It can’t be too big, and it feels soft. A shirt maybe?” MiSun suggested, reaching to take the packet back.
It never made it to her hands however, as Jaejoong, having planned his attack, swooped by and snatched it from HaNeul, already running full-tilt towards his room. The girls behind him let out a cry of surprise and annoyance, but he just grinned and kept leaping up the stairs. He had plenty of time to slam his door shut and jam his desk chair under the door knob before his sisters even got near his room.
Jaejoong ripped open the top edge of the packet with some difficulty, tugging roughly on the plastic to get it to open enough for him to shake out what was inside. Out fell a somewhat bulky piece of wooly stuff, and a small card with a fat snowman on the front.
Picking up the wooly thing, Jaejoong quickly realized it was a fuzzy black beanie with little skulls all the way around it. He grinned happily, and immediately jammed the hat onto his head, spending a few moments fixing his hair afterwards. Once he was satisfied, he picked up the card, flicking it open.
As with all the gifts, the message was short, but didn’t fail to make Jaejoong smile.
‘For your collection. - Yunho’
Jaejoong wondered how the hell Jung Yunho knew he collected beanies.
♪ 10 ♫
On the tenth day of Christmas, SangMi arrived with her husband to visit and stay for a few days. She arrived with a small suitcase in one hand, and a box of chocolates in the other.
After the traditional greeting-of-lost-daughters/sisters, which involved a hell of a lot of bone crushing hugs and squealing, SangMi made it into the kitchen. She had left the suitcase out in the hall to be unpacked later, but brought the chocolates with her.
“Are those for uuuuuus?” JooEun asked, none too slyly, while eying the shiny gold box. MiSun leant forward in anticipation, seeing the high quality, silver-embossed label on the box. SangMi's husband, who was universally known in her family as Jimmy even though his name was JungMin, laughed at them both. He’d always dealt with the intimidating force of 9 Kim women with remarkable aplomb.
“Nope,” he said, and smiled at the girl’s crestfallen looks.
“Phooey!” JooEun exclaimed with a pout. “Why do you always get presents for our parents but not for us? Huh?”
Jimmy shook his head however, and SangMi laughed lightly.
“Ah, but JooEun, who said they were for mum and dad?” She shared a secretive look with her husband. “Actually, I was stopped by the gate by a very handsome young man and was asked to deliver this for him,” she said, trying to make her story seem full of mystery. She however didn’t have the benefit of knowing what had been going on the last week and a half in the house, and so was not quite expecting the loud squeal and the pile of sisters who suddenly jumped on her brother with all matter of cooing and teasing. She blinked.
“You know it’s for Jaejoong?” she asked after the din had quieted a little. Jaejoong was cowering slightly, but edging towards the chocolates. Wanting to get the full scoop on what looked to be a very interesting story about her innocent little brother, SangMi placed a firm hand on the box, preventing it from going anywhere.
The sisters made a quick summary of the last few days and the gifts that had been showered on their youngest sibling, and the ‘adorable’ way Jaejoong blushed every time and how he seemed very taken with all the gifts.
SangMi’s smile grew with each word, and she gazed on her abashed looking only brother with fondness. Jimmy, on the other hand, just looked at him with pity.
“Awwwww!” SangMi couldn’t help but reach over and ruffle his hair, even though he, predictably, reared back and tried to slap her hand away. “Joongie, that’s so adorable! What a sweet guy!” She cooed.
It took some time, but it seemed like torture-Jaejoong hour was almost over for the day, and SangMi slid the box of chocolates over in his direction.
“Here. I think he knows you quite well,” she commented. And indeed, when Jaejoong pulled the box forward, he couldn’t help the smile of satisfaction that came to his lips.
‘85% Cocoa’ read the label. Bitter as all hell and just the way he liked it.
♪ 11 ♫
On the eleventh day of Christmas, the whole Kim family, including the husbands of the two eldest, sat down for breakfast around their dining room table. It was a bit of a squeeze, with plenty of elbow-bumping, but the jovial atmosphere more then made up for it.
The first ‘Christmas meal’ with all the family, talk inevitably turned to gentle needling as to when the new generation of the family would start to arrive. Never mind that only two of the nine children were actually married, the Kim matriarch was well ready to start doting on beloved grandchildren. BoBae rolled her eyes, and SangMi laughed, but no promises were made. NaYoung also kept rather close lipped on any future plans between herself and her long term boyfriend.
“Speaking of, however… how is the romance of our dear little brother going?” MiCha piped up, earning herself a heavy glare from the other side of the table. Jaejoong had been quite content to keep out of the entire discussion, letting his sisters fend for themselves against their mother. With MiCha’s question however, all eyes turned to him… including the baby-tinted, misty eyes of his mother. Jaejoong sunk in his chair slightly.
JooEun, beside him, of course grinned gleefully at his misfortune. Nevermind that she went through boyfriends like pairs of shoes - nobody bothered asking about her flavour of the month anymore.
“Yes, brother dear! We’re down to the last few days of Christmas here… he hasn’t got much more time!”
“Is he actually going to make an appearance?” HwaSoo asked curiously.
“How would I know? I don’t know what he’s doing!” Jaejoong retorted quickly, but his cheeks were pinking.
“I want to see who this boy is,” their mother said, and it was Jaejoong’s turn to roll his eyes.
“He hasn’t even asked me out yet mum… it’s not like he’s asking for marriage here.”
“Well, you never know... and I want to see who’s dating my son!” Mrs Kim had always been rather protective of her brood, even if there were often too many boyfriends to keep track of. Especially since she found out that even her only son was on the look out for a boy.
“He’s really cute.” JooEun put in helpfully, spooning herself an extra helping of rice. Jaejoong meanwhile was wondering if he might be able to spontaneously combust and seep through the floorboards. This was the reason he’d never brought up who he was dating at home - the scruitiny was unbearable. The gifts were all very sweet and such, and as he’d told NaYoung, it did give him a warm fuzzy feeling inside… but damn, he wished Yunho would have chosen a less conspicuous way to do it. Couldn’t he have stuck them in his desk during term or something?
“Oooh, really? Trust Jae to reel in a cute one,” BoBae said with a grin.
“Yep. Cute, handsome and popular. And bold too!” JooEun giggled out. She was the only one, other then Jaejoong, still at school, and so the only one - besides SangMi - who actually knew who Yunho was.
“Is he a good boy?” their mother asked, brows furrowed. JooEun giggled some more.
“Mum!” “Leave the poor boy alone!” The simultaneous exclamations came from Jaejoong and his father, the former shooting the latter a appreciative look.
“Oh don’t’ worry mum, Yunho’s like the poster boy of all that is good and righteous. He’s a class captain, isn’t he Jaejoong?” JooEun said, taking entirely too much pleasure in the conversation. Jaejoong could only sigh.
“Yes. He’s a nice guy, okay? Can we move on to something else now?” It came out far more like a plea then he would have liked, and it garnered a few laughs, but he could live with that if it got them off the subject.
It might well have done too, if the doorbell had not rung at that precise moment. Jimmy got up to answer the door, leaving the rest of the table munching away. Jimmy looked entirely too amused when he came back however.
“Who was it dear?” SangMi asked, looking up at her husband.
“It was a courier.” Jimmy said, a grin all over his face. Jaejoong frowned, getting a wiggly feeling in his stomach at the way the man was looking around the table, coming to rest on Jaejoong.
“A courier?” their father repeated, puzzled.
“Yes. I signed for it - but, Jaejoong, this is for you,” and, with a broad grin, Jimmy handed a rectangular box over the table. It was a plain brown postage box, with no real markings other then the postage slip.
All eyes once again turned to Jaejoong, who in turn was fixated on the box in his hands. He’d given up trying to make the gifts private, so he picked up his knife and used it to cut open the box. His mother opened her mouth to complain about the usage of the cutlery, but her husband stopped her with a hand to her arm.
Everyone watched as Jaejoong pulled an eyewear case from the box, also quite unremarkable. It was just black, but sleek looking. Eyes focused, Jaejoong slowly cracked it open. It flipped upwards, revealing a very stylish pair of sunglasses.
Jaejoong stared down at them for a long moment, completely lost for words. When it appeared he wasn’t reacting at all, JooEun swiped the case from him and pulled out the glasses. She let out a low whistle.
“Maaaan, Jae, these are expensive!” She was examining them from all angles, allowing everyone else to also see the glasses.
“Wow, he must really like you Jae,” MiSun said, leaning over to look at them as well. “They’re nice!”
“Why don’t any of my boyfriends give me stuff like this? Jae, if you don’t want Yunho, I’ll have him!” JooEun exclaimed, making to put the sunglasses on. They were snatched away before she got a chance.
“Don’t stretch them with your fat head,” Jaejoong snapped, taking back the case as well and folding the glasses carefully back into it. “And keep your grubby mitts away from the glasses and Yunho!” He put the case back into the box and put it protectively in his lap, glaring over at JooEun and MiSun.
Everyone else at the table exchanged knowing, amused looks.
♪ 12 ♫
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Jaejoong woke up with anticipation.
Surely today had to be the day. If Yunho kept this going any longer, he’d be broke for entire next year, Jae was sure. He couldn’t believe how much trouble the other boy had gone to in the first place, both in terms of thinking about the presents and spending the money and also in terms of the preparation it must have taken to get all the presents organized and delivered on time.
He was embarrassed and flattered at the same time. Yunho had never really made a secret of the fact that he was interested in Jaejoong, but nor had he made any proper move. Jaejoong wasn’t sure if he liked Yunho enough to make the first move either, and so nothing much had happened apart from some flirting.
The first gift had been a pleasant surprise, but each new one showed Jaejoong that Yunho knew more about him then he could ever have guessed… he was amazed that Yunho could like him so much as to do something like this. He found himself more and more appreciative of each gift that came.
And so, it was with eagerness that Jaejoong greeted what had to be the last day of this funny ritual Yunho had started. He had been wondering the last few days what the other boy would do for the finale, since all of his previous gifts had been so good. He hoped that it involved Yunho himself somehow, rather then just another gift however. Not that Jaejoong particularly knew what he’d do when he came face to face with Yunho again, either today or later back at school. He feared he’d go bright red and not know what to do - a rather embarrassing prospect, because Jaejoong just didn’t do do that sort of thing damnit.
But even though he wasn’t sure what he’d do, he was somehow looking forward to it. It seemed he wasn’t the only one either.
All of his sisters were awake when he got downstairs, and he looked around at them all somewhat questioningly.
MiCha shook her head, amused.
“Nothing yet Joongie.” Jaejoong even turned to look at NaYoung, but she just smiled and shook her head. He sighed and sat down with the rest of his family, their breakfast that morning uninterrupted.
The minutes and hours ticked by, the time filled with various Christmassy things and more family discussions/arguments.
It was soon late afternoon, and Jaejoong was beginning to wonder if the sunglasses had been it, an expensive, fabulous gift that signaled the end of the presents. Maybe Yunho was expecting something to come from Jaejoong’s end, like his sisters suggested. He was actually starting to fret a little, wondering if his silence in the whole affair had disheartened Yunho.
So, when the doorbell rang at nearly 5pm, Jaejoong leapt of the couch before anyone else could make a move, and practically ran to the door.
He flung it open somewhat too enthusiastically, almost making it bounce on its hinges. He didn’t really notice that however, staring through the door and blinking at what stood on the other side.
For before him, in all his winter glory, was Jung Yunho.
There were a few long moments of silence, with both of them just staring at each other.
Yunho was the first to recover, coughing self-consciously.
“Uhm. Hello,” he started with, uncertainly. The smile Jaejoong gave him was blinding however, except that only a moment later it was hidden by Jaejoong’s hand. It was enough however to boost Yunho’s confidence.
“Hi,” Jaejoong replied.
“Did you,” Yunho paused, and coughed again, “did you get my gifts?”
Jaejoong nodded vigorously.
“Oh yes. Thank you. I mean, yeah, thank you very much. They’re all great. I love them. The sunglasses, and the beanie and the cookbook and the earrings, ...” Oh my god Jaejoong, shut up! He told himself. Yunho bought them for you - he knows what they were! But Yunho didn’t seem to mind, grinning widely at the response.
“I’m glad.”
“Me too.” What? You’re an idiot, Jaejoong! He berated himself, kicking himself mentally. He tried to smile again, feeling half mortified at his stupidity. The guy had given him such nice, thoughtful presents and now he was babbling like a fool.
“So. I wanted to come and wish you a Merry Christmas,” Yunho said. Jaejoong nodded.
“Oh, and Merry Christmas to you too!”
“Thank you. I uhm. I also have one more present for you.” Yunho’s hands finally emerged from the deep pockets of his large overcoat. He held out two pieces of stiff paper to Jaejoong, smiling hopefully at him.
Jaejoong reached forward and took them, looking down at the print on them. They were two tickets, dated for a concert two days later.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, eyes darting up to stare at Yunho, wide eyed. “Seriously?!” he demanded, stunned at the name of his favourite band in the world emblazoned on the top of the ticket. Yunho seemed relieved by his reaction, and grinned, nodding.
“Go with me?”
Jaejoong stared at the tickets, then back up at Yunho, expression still that of stunned joy.
“Of course!” was all he could think to say, and then, without thinking about it, threw himself forward at Yunho, engulfing the other young man in a hug.
Yunho caught him solidly, seemingly surprised but very pleased by the action, arms immediately closing around Jaejoong’s waist to return the embrace.
“Does this mean you’ll go out with me?” Yunho asked, words said into Jaejoong’s hair as their hug continued.
Jaejoong’s tight embrace loosened slightly, pulling back enough so that he could see Yunho’s openly hopeful face. Jaejoong couldn’t help the large smile on his face. There wasn’t anything to think about.
“Yes,” he declared with certainty. “I’d love to.”
Yunho fairly beamed, his grip around Jaejoong’s waist tightening in his happiness. Jaejoong smiled back, unguarded and brilliant, the pair of them once more just staring at each other. This time however, both of them felt incredibly warm inside.
The bubble the pair had created between them was suddenly burst however by a loud wolf whistle and a smattering of applause.
They turned to find a gaggle of Kim’s all standing at the door of the house, watching them both with equally wide smiles. It was easy to tell that JooEun had been the one to whistle.
“About damn time!” she crowed.
Jaejoong buried his head into Yunho’s shoulder in mortification.
“Yunho, you’ve got no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into,” he mumbled. Yunho surveyed the crowd clapping for them, faces full of mischievous glee, and then looked down at the bundle of boy he had in his arms. A boy he’d liked for so long already.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s more then worth it,” he stated with conviction. He heard Jaejoong snort in amusement, before pulling back and giving him a wiry smile.
“Just remember you said that.”
In years to come, he did remember, and even if he hadn’t, Jaejoong delighted in reminding him… usually every time that Christmas rolled around, and he was expected to deal with the mass of Kim women who teased him just as mercilessly as they did their little brother.
But really, neither of them would have it any other way.
- end -
For sanity’s sake - a list of Jae’s sisters, in order of eldest to youngest (I got bloody confused while writing). The eldest 3 don’t live at home, JooEun is the only one still at school with Jaejoong. I have no idea how old his real sisters are, nor their names, so this is all just made up. :)
SangMi
BoBae
MiCha
NaYoung
HwaSoo
HaNeul
MiSun
JooEun