#mmjaehee

“Didn’t Zen said he was going to help us? He did write a lot on the chatroom about how ‘It’s very sad that two ladies are all alone while decorating’”

“He is going to help me pick up the tree” the brunette woman put her shoulder length hair behind her ear picking up a box from the floor as MC moved the stair to continue decorating without the risk of falling.

“But he has a motorcycle”

“He has a friend who will lend him a van, we will go later today”

“If you weren’t so cute I would feel upset you won’t take me to pick the tree” MC muttered giving Jaehee a quick kiss on the cheek before climbing up the stairs once again leaving the poor woman with a blush on her face.

“Sorry, we’ll go together next year I promise”

MC just smiled at the promise asking Jaehee to hand her spheres to put on the tinsel. They talked for a few minutes about how they were going to decorate the rest of the shop, because so far they only had the counter and they one of their busy hours was approaching.

The people came in, a few of them workers, others, students who had just left school and were looking for a good place to study for their finals. Sometimes when most of the costumers had left, Jaehee and MC enjoyed leaving a small treat like a cupcake or a few cookies to those students they saw remained focused for hours. They now had a few regulars who congratulated them for the decorations, to which MC smiled with pride knowing their hard work was worth it.

If there was something Jaehee enjoyed about working at the coffee shop were the constant swirls of people coming and going from their busy hours to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, or the students who found solace on the natural quietness of their shop compared to the well-known chains. It was what inspired Jaehee to come up with new drinks or to help MC come up with new recipes for cookies and cupcakes, they sometimes released seasonal-specials that only were available for a limited time.

It was amazing when one of their regulars came in asking what was the next special.

As the majority of the costumers left, except for a couple and a few more people MC left a small cupcake on the table of a teenager who seemed to be on the verge of tears as he stared at a textbook in front of him.

Jaehee felt her phone vibrate. MC stared at her with curiosity.

“It’s from Zen, he’s outside I think I have to leave, goodbye. I’ll see you in a few minutes” Jaehee commented, taking her purse and giving MC a quick kiss before walking through the door and hoping into the van Zen was in.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“I assure you, MC would love a huge pine” Zen and Jaehee stood face to face, as the man who sold the trees waited for them to make a decision with an amused grin.

“Fine” Jaehee surrendered taking the tree Zen suggested, the young man smiled with pride as Jaehee payed and the father of a family who had just arrived helped the actor to put the tree inside the van.

The ride back home was a mostly silent one, until Zen asked in curiosity if Jaehee had already thought about what to give MC figuring she had picked the present from months in advance.

“I… don’t know what to give MC” Jaehee admitted, her eyes fixated on the road ahead of them.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes” Jaehee´s response was almost robotic, “Yes” she affirmed as she shook her head “I haven’t figured the perfect gift yet. It’s less than a month until Christmas and I still haven’t figured what to give her”

“In my opinion” Zen said “There is no such thing as a perfect gift, there are gift that people like and gifts that not. For example, I used to date this girl and for Christmas I got her a watch and matching couple sweaters because I had asked my co-workers and this is what they said they would like to get from their boyfriends. Long story short, they hated it.”

“How is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“I thought my beauty combined with my tale of woe would do the trick” Zen sighed earning a teasing smile from Jaehee “Look, on getting a present for someone focus on something they would like, not something someone else tells you what they would like”

“But I must give her a great gift, I have achieved so much thanks to her. Without her I would probably still be working for Jumin and taking care of Elizabeth the Third” Zen sneezed at the mention of the cat’s name and Jaehee apologized.

“If it makes you feel better, I have this Sunday free. I was planning to stay at home and drink a few beers, so how about you and I go together to do some Christmas shopping?”

“Are you sure that’s okay? I wouldn’t want to take you free day away” Jaehee mumbled.

“Of course it’s okay! Everything for my number one fan, plus I must also do some Christmas shopping myself so it’ll be a two for one deal, what do you think?” Zen looked at Jaehee for a second before turning his eyes on the road again.

“It would honestly be a live saver, thank you so much Zen” Jaehee said with a sincere smile.

“Anytime” The white-haired man said as he parked the car right in front of the coffee shop.

They both walked inside the shop, as MC cleaned a table, agreeing to see each other at the mall at 9 AM. The younger woman greeted both of them with a smile hugging Zen and complimenting his beauty, compliments he accepted with enthusiasm before MC quickly changed the subject and began to ask about the tree. Jaehee smiled amused at MC’s excitement, and how she seemed to bounce up and down.

Both girls helped Zen to take the pine down form the van, putting it in one corner of the store as MC commented on the fact that the store would probably begin to smell like pine until all the tree dried. Zen stayed long enough to help them close the shop, offering to drive them home; MC and Jaehee took the offer without hesitation and the three of them parted as they heard Zen stories about the new part he had gotten as the spirit of the Christmas of the present.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Jaehee stood on her apartment building’s doorway waiting for Zen, she had already apologized with MC about having to leave the store for her to tend on her own, MC shrugged it off assuring her girlfriend it was perfectly fine that she deserved a break every once in a while.

When Zen arrived, the young woman was surprised to see he still had the van.

“Turns out, my friend thought I would need it for a while” he shrugged when Jaehee questioned about it as she adjusted her purse. “So, since I’m playing the gas I figured I might as well take advantage of it while I can. I saw V the other day, he mentioned that he wasn’t so worried since it wasn’t a motorcycle” He spoke as he drove on his way to the mall.

They spent the way talking about present ideas for the members of the RFA, trying to figure something each member would be happy with.

The mall they had chosen to go to was one of the biggest malls in Seoul, which even if it might take a while it was the perfect place to search for any kind of present they might think of, the only problem was that avoiding people handing out pamphlets or women who insisted on wanting to take a selfie with Zen was a difficult task.

The first store they got into was a videogame store, Zen identified it as Yoosung thing; Jaehee told him she had sometimes seen MC play videogames too and she had even heard her say Yoosung’s name into the mic. Even after they wandered around the entirety of the store they couldn’t find anything in there that made Jaehee think MC would be particularly thrilled about.

The second store was one on beauty products, the young woman saw in amusement how Zen seemed to have the time of his life as he walked alongside the store’s aisles picking as many beauty products he could fit into his hands. Despite not finding a great present for MC Jaehee managed to sneak one without Zen noticing and he got out holding the entirety of the presents for the RFA.

As the day went on, Jaehee grew more and more hopeless. She ate with Zen in a vegetarian place inside of the mall and he spent the meal with a list of all the stores in his hands crossing those they had already visited and coming up with suggestions for the young woman.

“Come one” Zen insisted “Look, just one more store, alright? This one has old technological stuff, maybe you’ll find something for MC in there?” he suggested hopefully.

“Alright, but if we don’t find anything in there we go home, it’s getting late and we close the shop earlier on Sundays we must arrive before MC does”

The store that Zen suggested was filled with things Jaehee remembered seeing in commercials when she was child advertised as latest technology, it was odd how these products were labeled as old now. The store on itself was rather small compared to the ones they had visited before and the man at the front desk smiled warmly at them allowing the pair to wander around with freedom.

After a few minutes inside, Jaehee stood still in front of a particular product and Zen stared next to it noticing how she stared at the instant camera with a small smile on her lips.

“MC used to have one of these as a child” Jaehee commented “She said how she loved it so much she took it everywhere, and that she broke it when she got it underwater thinking it would hold. The day she told me the story she also mentioned how she would kill for…” Her eyes opened as she took the box from the shelf and carefully placed it on the counter for the man to charge her for it.

“I guess you found your present right on time” Zen said as the man said the product’s price to Jaehee. The woman nodded before paying the man and taking the gift resolving she would wrap it later as she had previously convinced herself that there was no way she would find a gift for MC.

On the way back home, Zen tried to convince Jaehee to tell him any clues on what his Christmas present would be, but he found himself unable to sneak a word out of her even after the promise of free tickets.

“I’m sure MC will love the present” Zen assured, noticing how the woman was slightly tense.

“I know she will” Jaehee admitted with a sigh holding the wrapped package between her fingers “But I still feel like if I’m missing something”

“Maybe something that comes from the heart?” the young man suggested, Jaehee looked at him in curiosity, “Like, something that reminds you of her. Something handmade perhaps”.

“That’s it!” Jaehee exclaimed, and Zen smiled in reassurance parking the car in front of the woman’s house. “Thank you so much”

“Hey, anytime” Zen smiled watching the woman enter the apartment building safely before driving back home.

When she opened the door, Jaehee realized MC was probably on her way back home from the coffee shop and decided she had to hide the present from her.

If Jaehee had thought that keeping the fact that she was going to buy MC’s Christmas present a secret was though, hiding the present from her girlfriend and wrapping it in secret was proving itself to be a unprecedently difficult task, and the young woman was running out of places to hide the gift moving it to a different place almost every day in fear that MC would find out her hideout.

Even if the days went by slowly for Jaehee, for MC they felt like a breeze, as she constantly spent her time wishing people the best for the holidays or just excitement for spending those days with Jaehee since MC parents had decided they would those days outside of the country.

--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The decision of making the RFA party in Jaehee’s coffee shop was heavily backed by Zen who said that wouldn’t even show up if it happened to be in Jumin’s place, and with 707 unwillingness to give his address and Yoosung’s apartment being just big enough for himself their options were limited so they agreed that Jaehee and MC would close the coffee shop earlier on the twenty third and that would be the day the RFA would celebrate their Christmas party.

With the decorations already put, there was little work for MC and Jaehee to put into the place, making sure the machines had enough warm coffee and chocolate and with the awareness that if not Jumin perhaps Zen or V would be the ones to bring liquor to the party. They cleaned the tables and tried to accommodate them so they could sit together and each RFA member promised to bring a different thing to eat to avoid having more pizza than what they could eat.

The first one to arrive was Seven who decided the best thing he could bring to the party were cans of PhD. Pepper and Fish shaped bread, greeting MC and Jaehee with enthusiasm claiming God 707 had blessed them with his presence, something MC laughed at while Jaehee just sighed in exasperation.

Zen was the one to arrive after him, arriving with a gigantic salad bowl and beer.

“The festivities are never an excuse to not take care of your figure” he assured before being the first one to open the can of beer and sitting ignoring Luciel’s teasing that claimed no one would eat said salad.

Jumin and V arrived at the same time, Jumin with a bottle of champagne and chicken fettuccine while V simply smiled as he showed he had brought enough kimchi for everyone.

“I know it’s not very typical of the holidays, but I thought you might like it” the blue haired man smiled.

MC and Jaehee welcomed both of them inviting them to take a seat, it was then when the doors opened and Yoosung came out looking like if all the air was escaping from his lungs.

“Sorry… late… chicken… myself… burnt…do…sorry” He said between breaths, Jaehee brought him a glass of water and MC held the boy’s box guiding him into a seat.

Despite Luciel’s constant teasing of Yoosung and Zen trying to coerce everyone into eating his salad claiming they would be grateful when they were nearly as beautiful as he was it was a great party for the most part. Jumin congratulated MC and Jaehee on the shop’s success and V commented on how beautiful the decorations were, the two young women took the compliment happy to see the man had overcome his bitterness over Jaehee’s departure.

“I want to be the first one to give the presents!” Luciel stood up excited stopping the conversations around him, after a few seconds of silence the redhead began to throw the presents at everyone, the gift bounced on Yoosung’s hands before he was able to catch it and hold it steadily cursing at his friends for the impromptu surprise, Jaehee caught hers with a scowl and Jumin got a second gift with tag that said ‘for Elly’ gift that he carefully put in the table claiming he would have to check the safety of the present to see if it was good for the white cat.

Zen was happy with the heart shaped mirror Luciel had given him, Jumin stared baffled at his #1 Boss of My Heart cup, while MC laughed at the Grinch beanie putting it on with a scowl as she claimed Christmas was now cancelled.

The gift exchange continued, Yoosung apologized for the simplicity of his gifts to which the rest of the RFA assured the young boy it was okay. Most of Zen’s gifts were different kinds of skincare products and while most of them smiled and thanked in pure politeness Yoosung questioned how such a product could be useful for him.

“For you” MC smiled handing a rather large box to Jaehee when her turn arrived “I’d suggest you’d be careful, it’s quite fragile” the brunette carefully placed the gift on one of the tables and began unwrapping it as the RFA thanked MC for their presents and Luciel complained about his present being smaller than Jaehee’s.

Once it was opened Jaehee felt unable to close her mouth holding the black and golden teacup between her hands, and staring at the similarly decorated cups and plates.

“Do you like it?” MC questioned, “It reminded me of you because of the RFA colors, you know?”

“Oh! I love it MC!” Jaehee placed the teapot carefully on the table before giving a hug to her girlfriend.

“I’m glad”.

The only one left was Jaehee who gave her presents, Zen got his giving the woman a knowing and reassuring wink as Luciel’s teased MC saying she could learn a lesson on ‘present size equality’ from Jaehee observing the woman hand MC her present alongside a cup of warm coffee.

“What is this for?” MC questioned holding the cup between her hands and placing the box on the table.

“I tried to make a recipe while thinking of you” Jaehee admitted with a blush on her face placing her hair behind her ear, MC gave a careful sip from the drink.

“This tastes wonderfully Jaehee!” MC gave another drink from the cup, “You need to tell me the recipe” she left the cup carefully on the table picking up the carefully wrapped present, she was rather rough with the paper surrounding the box, but once she saw its content her eyes opened out and she let out a squeal of joy.

“Where did you get this?! Jaehee how…?” She took the instant camera between her hands fidgeting with it trying to find a way to remember how to take a picture like she used to.

“It’s nothing” The woman shrugged before she felt a pair of arms surround her

“Jaehee I love this so much” MC mumbled breaking the hug. “This means I must take the first picture with you”

MC gave Jaehee a quick peck on the cheek as Jaehee felt the flash in front of her eyes putting her off for a few seconds. It took a few seconds until the picture showed and MC waited no time pasting it on the wall behind the counter. Afterwards he took a picture of the RFA talking and placed it next to the one of her and Jaehee.