#*xmas2k17;

it takes him hours after practice the previous day to cook everything that goes into the special bento boxes he bought, but he thinks it’s worth it to spread a little joy around the company to people he works with and sees on a daily basis (many of whom, he realizes belatedly, he has yet to reach out to and get to know really well). inside the top tier is a fried egg served over an ample serving of kimchi fried rice, alongside a generous helping of bulgogi—his grandmother’s recipe. on the bottom tier sits two rolls of fishcake kimbap, homemade and wrapped with love. cooking has always been a pasttime he truly enjoys, so staying up until three in the morning to make everything seems like hardly a sacrifice.

the delivery of the goods are done discreetly after they all return to the training facility once their evaluations at the christmas party for the children. he places each box inside lockers, bags, hiding in plain sight—however he can get them to his fellow trainees without coaches seeing—and only barely manages to finish before they’re let out early for christmas day.

accompanying each box is a handwritten note, almost illegible:

hello, trainess of trc!

your resident chef, gordon chansay has prepared a feast for you all this holiday season! remember to dress warmly and let your loved ones know you care. let’s all continue working hard, and i’m sure the fruits of our labor will bloom beautifully and we’ll all show the world what royalty means. merry christmas, and a happy new year!

your friend, park chanyeol

at the sight of a bento-- in cute yellow packaging with a note on top, sic feels like she’s going to scream. another little gift, and while of course she’s thankful for it, the guilt at the fact she didn’t do anything for the trainees continues to eat at her. a panicked, exasperated look crosses her face as she stares down at the bento, and when she sighs, squats down by her bag to tug it out a long with the note, the smell of food hits her nose. humming happily, she pops open the top lid and peers inside, an excited noise leaving her as she can feel her mouth salivate at the thought of food. 

Merry Christmas, fellow trainee! I hope that we may become closer to each other in the new year! I love you! Work hard and we shall stand on the stage in the future! - <3 <3 Jongsuk 

sic finds that she has so many gifts this year she’s going to explode. guilt plagues her for not doing the same for her fellow trainees when she finds another present, another little gift set on her bag. an expression of frustration mixed with awe crosses her features as she ducks down to gently peer at the cookies inside the small box. she pouts, juts her lips out as she trails a fingertip on the edge of the box, seeing the gift cards for coffee that she makes a small whine at. 

dear jessica,

merry christmas! aside from my holiday greetings, i want to personally thank you for all of your help with the vocal tips! i’ve been practicing and i’m slowly starting to feel as if i am a better singer. of course i cannot be as amazing as you are, but i hope to improve over time as i continue to train under trc. :) also if i ever need help with singing, i’ll definitely ask you since you are one of trc’s most talented vocalists!

on another note, please take care of yourself! we all know how hectic our schedules are and with additional practice for this month’s evaluation, it is easy to forget to take care of our health. anyways, i hope you have a wonderful holiday season and stay warm!

❤, minah

p.s. as for the gift, the spoons are hot chocolate spoons so you just put the spoon inside the mug and pour hot water to it. it’s quite a clever idea if i may say so!

the one thing she’ll never be used to during christmas time is the amount of presents that keep popping up on her things when she isn’t looking. her eyes narrow at the box set on her bag, a light huff leaving her as she moves over to it. squatting, she picks up the box carefully-- opening the top of it and peering inside. humming, her tongue prods against the inside of her cheek, a small ooh leaving her mouth at the cup. the pretty script with her name makes her mouth move into an ‘o’ shape; a happy smile crosses her face at the hot chocolate spoons. tongue swiping across her lower lip as she opens up the card.

trailing her eyes across the words, she moves so she’s sitting on her rear, cross legged as she plays with the box with one hand. her smile twitches into a wide grin at minah’s kind words and letter; she clicks her tongue, shaking her head as she taps a finger on the note.

Hyuna knows that with the holiday season, there’s temptations everywhere. The things she’s thought of doing is likely to get her in trouble, and also means a lot of money that might go to waste if the coaches catch her. 

That’s why she goes to the extensive effort of adding little tags of information so that the trainees won’t get in trouble. She takes note of which trainees she’s passed and slipped a red pouch in their bags or in their hands, walking away before they can get a good look at her face. The bags are labeled with ‘Merry Christmas!’ in neat cursive on a white tag.

Inside each pouch are three red sheer pouches, with a label to indicate what they are, and an information tidbit written below the snack name. Each one had been made by hand by the female. The first pouch is a package of peppermint hot chocolate cookies, the tag reading:

The flavonoids in hot cocoa help your body process nitric oxide, which is why it can improve blood flow, help lower your blood pressure and improve heart health. 

The second pouch contains peppermint meringue cookies and on the tag reads:

This meringue cookie was freshly made with egg yolks, which are low in fat and are cholesterol free, with some protein! Peppermint extract used in the recipe can also help calm your digestive system.

In the third and final bag, are a stack of Christmas tree-shaped gingerbread cookies that she has written:

Gingerbread cookies contain folate, which are good for red blood cell production and healthy cell growth. It also has iron, which tissue health by helping red blood cells carry oxygen to your tissues. 

It doesn’t hurt to have a guilt-free Christmas, does it?

sic’s half asleep when hyuna approaches her, dumps a small bag in her hands as she blinks tiredly at it, then follows the girl with wide eyes and a tired gaze, a soft noise of protest leaving her before the other is off and about. she catches sight of her doing the same to other trainees alike, and sic shakes her head after a long moment; shuffling away, she has half her attention on the space in front of her, and the other on the pouch. 

when she opens it, she scowls at the sight of three more small pouches. grunting, she opens the first one without reading it-- letting out a pleased, happy noise at the cookie inside; she does the same with the other two pouches, and once she’s all happy and hyped at the idea of sugar, does she then read the notes.

sic-ssi,

sica sica sica sica merry christmas! i hope that we have many more years together under trc and to a speedy debut! please take this accept this present as a reminder for how much you mean to me. i honestly feel as though everyone in this my family, and hey, look at that; that means you too! i hope you have a warm holiday. 

sincerely, im jaebum

christmas is always a weird time for her. it’s either a good time, or it’s a bad time-- last year wasn’t too...bad. she thinks; the entirety of the year was garbage so sic hopes that at least this year it won’t be too bad. so when she sees the small box on her things, she’s a little confused. sic’s not a gift giving type-- and she doesn’t really like receiving gifts (only because she hates the feeling of obligation to get something else in return; sic loves receiving, she just hates giving-- as stingy as she can be). regardless, she crouches down by her things and pops open the box-- plucks the note off the top and peers at the bracelet staring back at her. she lets out a soft coo, smile twitching in place as she observes it. 

 ‘TRC trainees! Merry Christmas!

This is Yuta’s noona, I want to thank you all for taking care of my baby brother and making sure he does not get up into any trouble. He’s not the easiest person to work with, but he is a precious brother to me and he will never say it, but he talks about you all and brags about what you can do, it’s almost like I know you already! One day, I hope we can meet and I will cook you all a dinner.

Please continue to take care of Yuta and yourselves. Thank you~ P.S. Fighting! You can do it!’

sic waits until practice is over to open the box; in truth, she forgets about it until she stares at it next to her bag-- and when she’s in the safety of her home, only then does she open it. lazily, she takes a knife to the wrapping to cut the bow-- cutting it away until she can pop the top of the box off. she blinks at the paper inside of it, gently takes the note out-- and in true jessica jung fashion, sets the card to the side to read after the gifts have been taken out.

peeling back the tissue, she lets out an excited yelp at the sight of a plush-- shoving the handle of the knife into her mouth to hold as she takes out he sylveon, letting out muffled noises of happiness as she holds the plush in her hands. she hums, patting it’s head in a cute manner before setting it to the side, and peering back inside. when she tugs out the note and small set of cuffs inside. a quick glance to the note makes her snort, a smile stretching around the knife as she shakes her head. next is the container of cookies-- to which she makes a muffled scream that causes her to drop the knife. she jerks her leg as it bounces off, hissing at the sting of pain. a quick look makes her pleased that she hasn’t cut herself open-- and she eagerly pops open the container. 

reading the note left by yuta’s sister, she grins-- chuckling. she fumbles for her phone, and writes out a message to the male;