002. Christmas
Title: Christmas (for the 100 suju fanfic challenge)
Pairing: Ryeowook/Heechul
Ratings: G
Summary: Ryeowook remembers the times when he has to spend Christmas all alone, lonely and sad. It isn't the Christmas he wants it to be, and the past is haunting him, till now.
Ryeowook blinked blearily, peeping through his half-closed eyes to look up at the ceiling. He turned on his side, and fidgeted with the alarm clock. "Wow, it's already 10 in the morning and no one woke me up yet." He thought sleepily to himself. Yawning, he crept out of his blanket and sat on the bed, gazing at the calender.
"25th of December" The calender stared back at him. He sighed, wondering what the other members were doing at this time of the day. He stared at the desk, drawing endless circles with his index finger, before flopping back onto the bed again and resumed his stare at the ceiling. He wondered what his parents were doing at this time, recalling the memories he had as an only child during Christmas.
---------
He bunched up his eyes expectantly, and crept quietly to the living room, before his parents could catch him red-handed. Slowly but surely, he balanced his favourite toy on his head, stretching his hands right in front of him to prevent himself from walking into a wall. He walked with his eyes closed to the spot where he knew the Christmas tree would be waiting for him, with plentiful and bountiful of presents laid underneath it.
He accidentally knocked into a table, causing him to give a small yelp of pain and hurriedly bent down to massage his toes. Blowing quickly on it to disperse the pain, he glanced up, noticing a card on the table. Curious, he picked it up and opened it.
Dear Ryeowook!
Happy Christmas from Dad and Mum! We hope you like the presents we bought for you this year! Sorry that we had to leave rather early today for a trip to Tokyo, some company matters to settle! Do continue to enjoy your wonderful Christmas, and lots of love from us! Grow up tall and strong!
Love,
Dad and Mum
Ryeowook stared at the card, re-reading it countless times. He lowered the card and stared at the Christmas tree, which looked like it was trying to hard to cheer up the atmosphere which had suddenly turned cold. The card fluttered and fell to the carpet, forgotten. Ryeowook carefully picked up one of the prettily wrapped presents, caressing it softly. He already knew it contained one of his favourite toys that he had begged his parents to buy a few weeks earlier, and bent down to place it beside the other presents. A film of tears appeared in his eyes, and he wiped them away, ashamed of them. He picked up the toy he had brought out on his adventure, and slowly walked back to the room. Halfway to the room, the doorbell rang, and Ryeowook hurriedly fixed his pajamas, before running to open the door, wishing with all his heart that it would spell the most wonderful Christmas present he had ever received.
It turned out to be the neighbour next door, a girl 10 years older than him, who had always taken good care of him whenever his parents are abroad. She glanced shyly at him, noticing the tears tracks that Ryeowook now hurriedly tried to rub away. She patted him on the head, taking out from her pocket a small present.
"Happy Christmas Ryeowook. I hope you can grow strong, both physically and emotionally. I will be moving away in a few days, and I really enjoyed my times with you. Smile always, and be happy." She said, as she brought herself down to the same eye level as Ryeowook. She stood up, awkwardly, and walked back into her house.
Ryeowook slumped against the door, utterly dejected. It was Christmas, wasn't it? But why were there so many bad news, and none of all the sharing and celebrations books had told him about before?
-------
Ryeowook hurriedly blinked away the tears that were pooling in his eyes, which would mysteriously form and appear whenever he recalled the past. Christmas was always him, alone, in the house. Or perhaps with some luck, there would be a babysitter around. But who would want to babysit on a Christmas day, where families are supposed to gather around the table and enjoy each other's presence? He turned to his side, facing the wall, unwilling to show any signs of weaknesses to any one at all. He closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep, back into dreamland, where perhaps the best gift of all will be there, waiting for him.
-------
Heechul scratched his head, bewildered. It was Christmas today, yet no one was in the living room, creating a boisterous atmosphere while he, the princess, woke up. He broke into Eunhyuk's room, eyes glazing across the room. Nothing. Heechul skipped over to the covers and pulled them right up. Yet, nothing. His mouth turned into a pout, and he skipped from room to room to find out that all the members had left, except for Ryeowook, who seemed to be soundly asleep in his bed. Heechul pouted even harder, confused that the other members had left without a reason at all. He ran into Ryeowook's room, and tugged at Ryeowook's shoulder.
"Wookie! Wake up! The other members seemed to have abandoned us for the day!" The princess exclaimed dramatically. "Even my roommate has left without notice! Wake up Wookie wake up!" Heechul pouted childishly, pushing Ryeowook back and forth until Ryeowook was dizzy with all the action.
"Alright hyung! Let me regain my sense of balance first" He glared at Heechul, who pretended to look at his nails to prevent eye contact.
------
Heechul had unceremoniously dragged Ryeowook out of the house, once Ryeowook had cleaned himself up. He had flagged a cab, and made the driver drive to one of the biggest shopping centers in the district. Ryeowook glanced nervously at Heechul, as his antics were always out of blue and rarely, even seldom seemed to be in the right mind. Heechul was practically bouncing up and down on the seat, pulling Ryeowook out of the cab immediately after he had paid the driver. Both of them stood at the pavement, staring at the humongous building that was right in front of them. Heechul grinned devilishly, tugging Ryeowook's arm to get him into the shopping center.
------
"Look Ryeowook! Doesn't this look great on me? Or maybe this would be the perfect gift for Donghae! He would love this pair of shoes to dance in, wouldn't him" exclaimed Heechul loudly. Ryeowook silently cursed himself for not bringing a cap along with him when he was being dragged out of the house. It seemed like million of eyes had settled on both him and his hyung, watching their every move, and proclaiming their observations and love for them whenever Heechul made any random movement. He nodded randomly at his hyung, who proceeded to drop huge amount of gifts into his arms to carry. "Well, at least I got something to cover my face" mused Ryeowook.
-------
At the cashier, Ryeowook looked at the way Heechul-hyung was happily taking out the money from his purse to pay. Did his parents put in as much effort as Heechul-hyung is doing right now, planning and sieving out the exact gifts each member would have been wishing for? Or did they just ask someone else to buy it for them, gift-wrapped and prettily done, which only needed their handwriting of 'Ryeowook' on the top? Did they even think about buying a present for him in the first place, or were those presents bought by someone else, without their notice at all, just like how that year had been? Just like how he noticed that the same wrapping material was used for both presents his parents and that sister had bought, just like how he noticed that they had the same tags which that sister, who was always forgetful, had forgotten to take it away?
-------
In the car, Ryeowook stared out of the window, noticing all the Christmas decorations that were hanging from the street lamps and shopping buildings. They were meant to cheer people up and bring about the festive mood, but somehow, for Ryeowook, it further emphasized the meaning of loneliness, the pain and craving of a sole child, waiting, waiting for his parents to come back to celebrate Christmas with him. Ryeowook closed his eyes, ignoring the streamers and banners.
Heechul concernedly placed a hand on Ryeowook's forehead, while comparing the temperature with his own. He frowned, Ryeowook wasn't having a fever, but why did he look so sad, so melancholic? He patted Ryeowook's head, and allowed him to get some rest before they reached the dorm.
After a few minutes, Heechul's handphone vibrated, and he flipped it open, to notice that he had received a sms from Sungmin. He read through it several times, a wicked grin spreading across his face. He looked the peacefully sleeping Ryeowook, who had slight tears teasing out of his eyes a little. Heechul carefully wiped them away, taking note not to wake him up. He looked out of the window, grinning madly to himself.
-------
"Ryeowook arh, we have reached. Come on, let's go up now. You could probably take a nap in your room!" Heechul practically pulled Ryeowook up the whole flight of stairs, before settling down in front of the door. Ryeowook followed his hyung clumsily, watching his hyung tapping several times on the door. "That's weird, I thought I saw hyung take a pair of keys before he fled from his room..." Ryeowook thought sleepily. He dismissed it and leaned against the door to wait for someone to open the door.
Ryeowook stumbled backwards and fell towards the ground, only to be caught by Yesung. "Wha.." He couldn't even form a proper word as he stared at the living room, his mouth agape. All the other members were piled in the room, grinning foolishly like Eunhyuk and Donghae, or smiling widely at him like Sungmin and Kyuhyun. What surprised him the most was the streamers that hung from the ceiling, and a banner that happily proclaimed the existence of Christmas. He stared across the room, his sight resting on a magnificent Christmas tree, with presents overflowing under the tree. He raised his eyebrows at the others, who burst out right into laughter.
"Happy Christmas, eternal magnae!" and the room erupted into cheers. "You should have totally seen your face just now" Heechul smirked at Ryeowook, who was still completely stunned, and absorbing the surroundings. He looked at the other members, who were busily celebrating and pulling him out of Yesung's grip, whispering cheers and wishes, creating the atmosphere Ryeowook only dreamt of, but never felt before.
"I feel as if I'm in a dream.." Ryeowook thought to himself. "All this, for me?" he motioned to Eeteuk, who was standing beside him. Heechul nodded, jubilant at the preparations and the way they had managed to surprise Ryeowook. He playfully ruffled his dongsaeng's hair, happy to see the other members' euphoria.
"Ryeowook, we are your family. Always. Happy Christmas" Eeteuk said as he pulled the eternal magnae into a brotherly hug, which was soon followed by the rest of the members.
Ryeowook was soon enveloped by all the other members, and his eyes stung, from tears of joy, that he had finally managed to find another memory, to substitute one that had tormented him for years, one that had brought sadness, instead of happiness to him.
"Christmas." It felt wonderful.
"I have a family?" Ryewook looked at the faces of the others around him.
"I have a family."
------
A/N: Took me super long to complete this >.< Now I have to get attack my pile of homework before it grows larger and eats me up. *gobbles* Somehow I realised I'm following the order of the fanfic challenge hahaha. Anyway, comments are <3s! So please do comment! ^^
Pairing: Ryeowook/Heechul
Ratings: G
Summary: Ryeowook remembers the times when he has to spend Christmas all alone, lonely and sad. It isn't the Christmas he wants it to be, and the past is haunting him, till now.
Ryeowook blinked blearily, peeping through his half-closed eyes to look up at the ceiling. He turned on his side, and fidgeted with the alarm clock. "Wow, it's already 10 in the morning and no one woke me up yet." He thought sleepily to himself. Yawning, he crept out of his blanket and sat on the bed, gazing at the calender.
"25th of December" The calender stared back at him. He sighed, wondering what the other members were doing at this time of the day. He stared at the desk, drawing endless circles with his index finger, before flopping back onto the bed again and resumed his stare at the ceiling. He wondered what his parents were doing at this time, recalling the memories he had as an only child during Christmas.
---------
He bunched up his eyes expectantly, and crept quietly to the living room, before his parents could catch him red-handed. Slowly but surely, he balanced his favourite toy on his head, stretching his hands right in front of him to prevent himself from walking into a wall. He walked with his eyes closed to the spot where he knew the Christmas tree would be waiting for him, with plentiful and bountiful of presents laid underneath it.
He accidentally knocked into a table, causing him to give a small yelp of pain and hurriedly bent down to massage his toes. Blowing quickly on it to disperse the pain, he glanced up, noticing a card on the table. Curious, he picked it up and opened it.
Dear Ryeowook!
Happy Christmas from Dad and Mum! We hope you like the presents we bought for you this year! Sorry that we had to leave rather early today for a trip to Tokyo, some company matters to settle! Do continue to enjoy your wonderful Christmas, and lots of love from us! Grow up tall and strong!
Love,
Dad and Mum
Ryeowook stared at the card, re-reading it countless times. He lowered the card and stared at the Christmas tree, which looked like it was trying to hard to cheer up the atmosphere which had suddenly turned cold. The card fluttered and fell to the carpet, forgotten. Ryeowook carefully picked up one of the prettily wrapped presents, caressing it softly. He already knew it contained one of his favourite toys that he had begged his parents to buy a few weeks earlier, and bent down to place it beside the other presents. A film of tears appeared in his eyes, and he wiped them away, ashamed of them. He picked up the toy he had brought out on his adventure, and slowly walked back to the room. Halfway to the room, the doorbell rang, and Ryeowook hurriedly fixed his pajamas, before running to open the door, wishing with all his heart that it would spell the most wonderful Christmas present he had ever received.
It turned out to be the neighbour next door, a girl 10 years older than him, who had always taken good care of him whenever his parents are abroad. She glanced shyly at him, noticing the tears tracks that Ryeowook now hurriedly tried to rub away. She patted him on the head, taking out from her pocket a small present.
"Happy Christmas Ryeowook. I hope you can grow strong, both physically and emotionally. I will be moving away in a few days, and I really enjoyed my times with you. Smile always, and be happy." She said, as she brought herself down to the same eye level as Ryeowook. She stood up, awkwardly, and walked back into her house.
Ryeowook slumped against the door, utterly dejected. It was Christmas, wasn't it? But why were there so many bad news, and none of all the sharing and celebrations books had told him about before?
-------
Ryeowook hurriedly blinked away the tears that were pooling in his eyes, which would mysteriously form and appear whenever he recalled the past. Christmas was always him, alone, in the house. Or perhaps with some luck, there would be a babysitter around. But who would want to babysit on a Christmas day, where families are supposed to gather around the table and enjoy each other's presence? He turned to his side, facing the wall, unwilling to show any signs of weaknesses to any one at all. He closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep, back into dreamland, where perhaps the best gift of all will be there, waiting for him.
-------
Heechul scratched his head, bewildered. It was Christmas today, yet no one was in the living room, creating a boisterous atmosphere while he, the princess, woke up. He broke into Eunhyuk's room, eyes glazing across the room. Nothing. Heechul skipped over to the covers and pulled them right up. Yet, nothing. His mouth turned into a pout, and he skipped from room to room to find out that all the members had left, except for Ryeowook, who seemed to be soundly asleep in his bed. Heechul pouted even harder, confused that the other members had left without a reason at all. He ran into Ryeowook's room, and tugged at Ryeowook's shoulder.
"Wookie! Wake up! The other members seemed to have abandoned us for the day!" The princess exclaimed dramatically. "Even my roommate has left without notice! Wake up Wookie wake up!" Heechul pouted childishly, pushing Ryeowook back and forth until Ryeowook was dizzy with all the action.
"Alright hyung! Let me regain my sense of balance first" He glared at Heechul, who pretended to look at his nails to prevent eye contact.
------
Heechul had unceremoniously dragged Ryeowook out of the house, once Ryeowook had cleaned himself up. He had flagged a cab, and made the driver drive to one of the biggest shopping centers in the district. Ryeowook glanced nervously at Heechul, as his antics were always out of blue and rarely, even seldom seemed to be in the right mind. Heechul was practically bouncing up and down on the seat, pulling Ryeowook out of the cab immediately after he had paid the driver. Both of them stood at the pavement, staring at the humongous building that was right in front of them. Heechul grinned devilishly, tugging Ryeowook's arm to get him into the shopping center.
------
"Look Ryeowook! Doesn't this look great on me? Or maybe this would be the perfect gift for Donghae! He would love this pair of shoes to dance in, wouldn't him" exclaimed Heechul loudly. Ryeowook silently cursed himself for not bringing a cap along with him when he was being dragged out of the house. It seemed like million of eyes had settled on both him and his hyung, watching their every move, and proclaiming their observations and love for them whenever Heechul made any random movement. He nodded randomly at his hyung, who proceeded to drop huge amount of gifts into his arms to carry. "Well, at least I got something to cover my face" mused Ryeowook.
-------
At the cashier, Ryeowook looked at the way Heechul-hyung was happily taking out the money from his purse to pay. Did his parents put in as much effort as Heechul-hyung is doing right now, planning and sieving out the exact gifts each member would have been wishing for? Or did they just ask someone else to buy it for them, gift-wrapped and prettily done, which only needed their handwriting of 'Ryeowook' on the top? Did they even think about buying a present for him in the first place, or were those presents bought by someone else, without their notice at all, just like how that year had been? Just like how he noticed that the same wrapping material was used for both presents his parents and that sister had bought, just like how he noticed that they had the same tags which that sister, who was always forgetful, had forgotten to take it away?
-------
In the car, Ryeowook stared out of the window, noticing all the Christmas decorations that were hanging from the street lamps and shopping buildings. They were meant to cheer people up and bring about the festive mood, but somehow, for Ryeowook, it further emphasized the meaning of loneliness, the pain and craving of a sole child, waiting, waiting for his parents to come back to celebrate Christmas with him. Ryeowook closed his eyes, ignoring the streamers and banners.
Heechul concernedly placed a hand on Ryeowook's forehead, while comparing the temperature with his own. He frowned, Ryeowook wasn't having a fever, but why did he look so sad, so melancholic? He patted Ryeowook's head, and allowed him to get some rest before they reached the dorm.
After a few minutes, Heechul's handphone vibrated, and he flipped it open, to notice that he had received a sms from Sungmin. He read through it several times, a wicked grin spreading across his face. He looked the peacefully sleeping Ryeowook, who had slight tears teasing out of his eyes a little. Heechul carefully wiped them away, taking note not to wake him up. He looked out of the window, grinning madly to himself.
-------
"Ryeowook arh, we have reached. Come on, let's go up now. You could probably take a nap in your room!" Heechul practically pulled Ryeowook up the whole flight of stairs, before settling down in front of the door. Ryeowook followed his hyung clumsily, watching his hyung tapping several times on the door. "That's weird, I thought I saw hyung take a pair of keys before he fled from his room..." Ryeowook thought sleepily. He dismissed it and leaned against the door to wait for someone to open the door.
Ryeowook stumbled backwards and fell towards the ground, only to be caught by Yesung. "Wha.." He couldn't even form a proper word as he stared at the living room, his mouth agape. All the other members were piled in the room, grinning foolishly like Eunhyuk and Donghae, or smiling widely at him like Sungmin and Kyuhyun. What surprised him the most was the streamers that hung from the ceiling, and a banner that happily proclaimed the existence of Christmas. He stared across the room, his sight resting on a magnificent Christmas tree, with presents overflowing under the tree. He raised his eyebrows at the others, who burst out right into laughter.
"Happy Christmas, eternal magnae!" and the room erupted into cheers. "You should have totally seen your face just now" Heechul smirked at Ryeowook, who was still completely stunned, and absorbing the surroundings. He looked at the other members, who were busily celebrating and pulling him out of Yesung's grip, whispering cheers and wishes, creating the atmosphere Ryeowook only dreamt of, but never felt before.
"I feel as if I'm in a dream.." Ryeowook thought to himself. "All this, for me?" he motioned to Eeteuk, who was standing beside him. Heechul nodded, jubilant at the preparations and the way they had managed to surprise Ryeowook. He playfully ruffled his dongsaeng's hair, happy to see the other members' euphoria.
"Ryeowook, we are your family. Always. Happy Christmas" Eeteuk said as he pulled the eternal magnae into a brotherly hug, which was soon followed by the rest of the members.
Ryeowook was soon enveloped by all the other members, and his eyes stung, from tears of joy, that he had finally managed to find another memory, to substitute one that had tormented him for years, one that had brought sadness, instead of happiness to him.
"Christmas." It felt wonderful.
"I have a family?" Ryewook looked at the faces of the others around him.
"I have a family."
------
A/N: Took me super long to complete this >.< Now I have to get attack my pile of homework before it grows larger and eats me up. *gobbles* Somehow I realised I'm following the order of the fanfic challenge hahaha. Anyway, comments are <3s! So please do comment! ^^