You were part of the overall organising team for the day, making sure everything was in place and on time. Additionally you had a small event planned. The night before today you had checked everything as well as the schedule. 

In the morning a few christmas themed games were planned for everyone, who was willing to play. Some volunteers had organised some sculptures and decorated the whole area into a winter wonderland, adding a lot to the festive feeling. 

At noon the huge buffet would be opened, displaying various foods from different cultures. You secretly loved to try all those different christmas dishes from all around the world.

Afterwards more games were available, a small ice arena outside of the building, a few other events and in the main hall a little Christmas concert. Most of the years a local band came to perform in front of the kids.

This year though the music team decided to spice it a little up. They had contacted a few bands from really popular to other local garage bands and four guys, who called themselves ‘The Rose’ had answered and were willing to perform.

Since the last years had shown you people would gather during concerts, the visit of Santa always followed afterwards. Santa would call children's names, telling them he had received their wishlist, which the organisation team had gathered weeks before. Thanks to funds it was possible to get the gifts they wished for and Santa would give these to the children personally. A highlight for a lot of kids.

This year though one child wished for snow during christmas and nothing else. A tricky wish you had to acknowledge but the technic-team built day and night to make a fake snow machine. Santa announcing snowfall was planned to be the last gift and a perfect closure for this program point.

The last event was a huge winter themed frosting cake from the local bakery. A sweet highlight of the day with an open end. Younger children would head to bed shortly after that, others would stay around and enjoy the atmosphere a little more.

You had everything checked and marked all the events as ready. According to the music team the band had arrived as well the night before. The only thing you had to finish was your own little event.

“Are you ready for the big day?” You asked your dog excitedly.

Despite not understanding a word you said, it wagged its tail, showing you the happiness with its full body.

Grinning, you stuffed the last needed things in your bag. You had various Christmas and winter themed things from reindeer headbands and red stocking caps over candy canes and fake gingerbread men to little stuffed snowmen and winter animals. Those were all objects you would offer during your photo session event.

Whoever wanted to take part of it could either choose to get photos taken alone with some of those objects or get pictures together with your dog, who was dressed as Rudolph the rednosed reindeer.

Kids loved your dog and the additional attention was something your dog definitely loved as well. Additionally you had the job to take pictures during the special day for years now, running around with several cameras. Therefore you came up with that idea, combining both things.

Excited for the day you left your home and headed to the childrens’ hospice, where other volunteers were already gathered. Nervous banter wafted over to you, which normally indicated some trouble.

“What's the matter?” You asked once you reached the group.

“The music team may have overdone themselves?” One of them answered and gestured warily towards the foyer.

With a frown you followed their gaze. There were at least twenty strangers running around and setting up music equipment on the stage. 

“Are they all part of that band?” You wondered with wide eyes. Before you received an answer you walked inside, your dog following you silently. You swallowed audibly, seeing all those people being so busy.

This definitely wasn’t just a local garage band with only their own instruments. Next to the instruments the people had set up speakers and microphones. You even noticed screens and little cameras in front of the stage. Cocking your head to the side, you wondered if you were allowed to use them during Santas performance as well.

The set up looked incredible and it almost felt like a real concert, which would be exciting for a lot of kids. Still you wondered, how the hell the music team were able to get someone so high class without paying them. The hospice sure as hell had no money to spare and everything the team organised was through material donations and their own savings.

“Excuse me, do you have a head of the team? Someone I could talk to?” You approached one of the workers, who only looked at you with a quizzical expression. “Manager?” You tried again with a little more hope.

Realisation washed over the workers’ face and he nodded, mumbling something in a language you didn't understand as well as showing you where to go with his hands.

You thanked him and followed his instructions. As good as you could, since you could only understand the general direction he was showing you. Cautiously you walked around the stage until a broad shouldered guy stopped you. Was he the manager, you wondered as you looked up to him. “Manager?” You just asked him the same way you asked the worker before.

The guy looked once over you and then motioned to follow him, which you did. Finally you met someone from the music team, who already talked with a man in a suit. Relief washed over you, seeing a familiar face.

“Hey Y/N,” they greeted you and pulled you next to them introducing the manager of the band to you, who greeted you politely. 

“I didn't expect someone so big,” you smiled jokingly with a playful glare at your team member. “Are you alright on your own or do you need more hands to help?”

The manager shook his head no. “Thank you, but we are alright. The members should arrive shortly and try out the equipment, if that's not a problem. They're really excited for today. Almost begged on their knees to do something like this.”

“Really? Wow! I didn't expect that either.”

“It's for a good cause and it's Christmas. That is reason enough to do it,” a voice behind you explained.

“Even though the entertainment needed more reasons like positive publicity and free advertisement,” another voice added.

Startled, you turned around, meeting the gazes of four guys. All of them grinned at you in various sizes before they simultaneously introduced themselves. “Hello! We are The Rose!” They concluded their greeting with a deep bow.

You watched them with wide eyes, realising you had to introduce yourself as well, after they looked at you expectantly. “Hi, I’m Y/N, one of the organisers around here. It's nice to meet you all!” You bowed slightly as well.

“It's really amazing how you built up such an event like this. We're really honoured to perform here today. I’m Leo by the way. I play the keyboard and acoustic guitar.”

As if on cue the others chimed in as well.

“I’m Hajoon. I play drums.”

“My name is Jaehyeong but you can call me Jeff. I play the bass.”

Both of them smiled shyly, nervous because of their evident accent.

You smiled brightly and nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, and I’m Sam. I’ll play the guitar and am someone you could call the front singer. Thanks for having us.” He grinned before he turned to his band members and talked with them in another language.

“Soo.” You started and looked around once more. “You’re delivering the whole package, huh?”

Sam and Leo laughed while Hajoon and Jeff looked a little confused until Leo translated it to them and they grinned as well.

“We never do something half assed.”

“This is a concert for us like every other performance as well,” Sam stated.

“Do you have a set list? Since I wasn't in charge of the music, this information went kind of past me.”

“Sure, you want to go over it?” Leo asked.

“Briefly? I need to check the other stations as well.”

They nodded and listed a few Christmas songs, some covers as well as a few originals. “Sounds good. I'm looking forward to your performance. See you around!” You smiled and waved at them before rushing off to the other events.

Everything went smoothly and you were able to take a lot of photographs, as well as exclusive pictures of children and guests together with your ‘reindeer-dog’.

By the time everyone gathered around the buffet you were already buzzing with excitement. Throughout the whole morning you bumped frequently into one of the guys. Not quite literally every time but they just had the aura surrounding them that you had to notice them despite being in a huge crowd. Your gaze was drawn to them like they were a magnet.

The Rose had left a huge impression on you. Even though they were so professional they still seemed so human, normal, like really nice and attractive neighbours or friends of a friend. As long as they hadn't to perform or rehearse they wandered around the area and tried some stations as well.

You took the chance during lunch to sit down with your dog at the side of the hall and look through your camera roll. You got a few nice shots of them while they played with several children throwing ‘snowballs’ at tin cans. Reviewing the pictures you took, you couldn't stop smiling brightly at them.

“Maybe we should hire you as our tour photographer,” a voice stated suddenly right behind you.

Startled, you jumped a little from your seat before turning around. “Gosh, Sam! You scared me here.”

Grinning mischievously he sat next to you, leaning slightly towards you to get a better look on the camera screen. He cutely shrugged with his shoulders then pointed to the current picture. “You really captured the feeling of the situation in this. I mean just looking at this photo I can feel the emotions in it.”

You followed his outstretched arm with your eyes, noticing his close proximity. Ignoring the whirlwind inside of you, you focused on the picture as well. It showed Leo right after throwing a ball at the tin cans, his face full of excitement and anticipation how many he could knock off.

“That was the first thing I learned with photography. You need to put emotion into it before pressing the shutter.” You smiled and skipped through a few pictures, showing various scenes as well as portrait shots with your dog.

“Oh yeah!” Sam interrupted your showing, leaning forward and half over you to see your dog, which sat on your other side. “This is a really cute idea! Can I get a picture with Rudolph too?” He grinned brightly, stretched his arm out and petted your dog on the head. “I really love dogs!”

“Sure! You wanna get some accessories for yourself too?” Your mouth stretched from one ear to the other after hearing his request. You immediately got out your small bag and showed him what you got.

Excitedly he dug through it, contemplating what he should try until finally deciding to wear a classic stocking hat. Sam put it on and asked you silently with an expectant look on his face, if he looked alright.

You smiled and nodded slightly, which resulted in an even more excited grin from Sam and him jumping up, rushing to the side of your dog and squatting down next to him.

Before you were able to warn him, your dog launched itself basically on top of Sam, wagging its tail miles a minute and trying to smoulder him with sloppy kisses. With the weight of the dog Sam fell backwards straight on his butt and tried to keep it away from his face, while laughing loudly.

Raising your hand in front of your mouth, you tried to hide your laugh. His antics were just too cute to not react at all. “Sorry I should have warned you! It's just like you are making an invitation for a kiss and cuddle session. It's really hard to stop little Rudolph here once he is in motion and determined to get what he wants.” Still giggling you positioned yourself in front of him, looked through the viewer and pressed the shutter several times.

Everytime he heard the sound of the shutter, Sam changed his expression or position, giving you cute, serious and funny motives.

“You sure, you’re not working as a model?”

“Well, it's kind of a part of my job,” Sam answered, “we have shoots for music videos, which are exhausting but honestly easier than photoshoots, because you can deliver your feelings easier with motion. But for our albums or magazines we have to model and get a few nice shots too. Even on tour we have a photographer with us to take pictures of us, which we upload on our official social media accounts.”

Your eyes widened in shock not expecting this. You slowly lowered your camera. “Don’t you get tired of being constantly observed with a camera?”

Sam shrugged with his shoulders, his gaze wandering towards his band members, who were sitting at another table and eating, while laughing loudly. “It's not really constant, we still have our free time and sometimes we even forget about it entirely. Sure, there are days where we get annoyed but we chose this path and we are just really grateful for it.”

You nodded understandingly, observing the other boys as well. A small smile graced your lips. Seeing them laugh and joke around you immediately raised your camera and took a picture, capturing their joy for eternity.

Right after you took the picture you pulled the camera down again to review the photo, grinning happily when it came out nice. You didn't notice that Sam stood up and walked behind you again to see the result as well. You jumped a little when he called for his band members, who gathered around you a few seconds later.

Almost instantly you were showered with compliments and ‘woah’s and ‘ah’s, resulting in heat creeping up your neck and cheeks. “Thanks guys,” you mumbled shyly.

Before they could say anything else, their manager appeared and called for them since they had to perform in a few minutes. “Make sure to watch us!” Leo joked and patted your shoulder, the others nodding in agreement before they followed their manager.

“Definitely not gonna miss that!” You called after them and waved your hand with a brought smile on your face, getting four in return.

Even though you still had to help with the organisation of the following event you were able to spare a few minutes to actually just enjoy their music. Closing your eyes and swaying your body along with the melody you were completely engulfed in their song. For a moment you were surprised by Sam's singing voice since it sounded so differently but it fitted so well with the whole atmosphere. The same aspects you noticed with the other members: Leo’s ability to harmonise with Sam so easily, the rare but wonderful additions of Hajoon’s and Jeff's voices. Your whole body was covered in goosebumps and you decided right there you had to see an actual concert of them.

Lost in their voices and the music you forgot about your surroundings and didn't even notice they started to play the cover version of Frank Sinatra's ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, which was their last song and the signal for the actual Santa to come on stage.

The kids jumped up and down screaming and laughing in excitement pointing at Santa, who waved friendly with his in white covered hands while walking to the middle of the stage right next to Sam. Immediately the kids streamed forward, crowding the middle and making grabby hands at them. With his classic Santa laugh he crouched down shaking a few hands and Sam squatted down as well, smiling brightly as he continued singing.

With the attention solely on them no one noticed the huge cake that was brought inside as well. Four people carried this monstrous sugar bomb on a wooden platform. You only saw them out of the corner of your eye as well.

The exact same moment you actually registered them, your brain sent you alarming signals too. With wide eyes and a terror-struck face you looked back to the stage before turning around to see if your dog had noticed already. The minute you turned you saw the ball of fur rushing past you. “No!” You screamed in panic and hurried after it.

But the dice were already cast. You weren't fast enough and your dog already ran through the legs of the bakers, not even shying away and just kept on running towards the stage. With a huge jump it made it on the stage, leaping itself on to Santa and Sammy.

With horror visible on your features, you just froze on the spot. As if the time had slowed down you could just watch the disaster happening. The bakers lost their balance and dropped the cake. In a comic it would have been sent flying right into the air and would have a fun touch to it but right now, in your eyes, it was terrible.

Right after witnessing this disaster your attention was drawn to the next one. ‘Rudolph’ basically wrestled Santa to the ground, who fell down on his back with a pained ‘oof’, the children were screaming his name in panic and Sam, who was tackled to the ground at first too, jumped up again to help Santa. Even the other members rushed forward to help.

You were still frozen on the spot but the guys reacted quickly like professionals. While Jeff and Hajoon helped Santa into a sitting position and made sure he was alright, Sam occupied your dog drawing its attention to him and Leo grabbed a microphone to calm down the kids.

“Oh deer.” He said and sighed exaggeratingly. “That was very rude-olf of you!” With a playful glare and a wagging pointer finger he scolded your dog and made the children laugh again. “Snow on and snow forth, let's get a round of Santa-pplause for an eager Rudolph and the man of the hour: Santa Claus.”

Without knowing he actually said the code word for the special stage Leo turned to the crowd and cheered them on to applaud. The next second three loud explosions went off and the fake snow was slowly falling down to the ground.

Finally breaking out of your shock you rushed to the bakers, trying to solve this problem as long as no one else's attention was drawn to them. The cake was basically ruined but it was still edible. Waving for a few volunteers, you briefly told them to help the bakers making cake portions on plates that could be handed out quickly to the children.

Pulling out the stocking hat and fixing it on your head you hurried on to the stage. When you reached the steps you stopped. Leo had everything under control, the kids were literally glued to his lips and Santa was now sitting on a chair ready to do his job. “That was a stormy entrance.” He smiled. “Next time I should hold on to something for deer life.” Another round of laughs erupted from the kids.

Sam used the chance and navigated your dog back to you and from the stage.

“I'm so sorry!” You whispered, worry laced in your voice.

“It's no biggie. Do you have a few more of those hats?”

Confused, you nodded and pulled the other stocking hats out of your bag, showing them to Sam. 

“Great.” With a grin he took the hats and went back on the stage, putting one of the hats on his head and handing the others to the members, who followed him suit. Soon after they stood smiling brightly next to Santa and helped him handing out the presents to the kids.

You were overwhelmed. Minutes ago you were sure the whole event was ruined and irreparable but those four guys managed to do something unbelievable. Tears welled up in your eyes when you noticed the bright smiles and laughs, the happy atmosphere and the excited buzzing from the children.

After all the children got their presents and even the little child, who wished for snow was more than happy, Sam announced everyone could get some sweet cake in the back of the foyer, where the bakers and volunteers were able to pull through with the plan.

The Christmas event wasn't ruined, everyone was still smiling and with that realisation the stress washed off of you, making you emotional and teary eyed. You pressed your hand against your mouth to suppress your little sobs.

“Hey, no reason to cry there, Y/N,” Leo said and pulled you in a bone-crushing hug. 

“It wasn't your fault,” Jeff added and hugged you as well.

Hajoon nodded and joined the hug. “They still had fun.”

“It's almost Christmas. You can't get sad now,” Sam mumbled and embraced you too.

Inside of this group hug you wiped your tears away and answered them all with a little hick-up: “I’m not sad! I am so, so happy right now. You guys basically saved Christmas and I am so thankful for that!”

“You are just too cute!” They all cooed and hugged you even tighter until they heard you giggling. 

“Thank you, guys. Merry Christmas!”