#px101

Everyone got assigned to someone from the other school, and you were supposed to get them a gift according to the list of likes and dislikes they sent in. Luckily for you, you had gotten a good friend of yours, Kang Minhee, and you already had something in mind for what you were getting him. 

But now you were curious, someone who clearly knew you had gotten you. Or at least, they knew someone close enough to you to know where your locker was and could have someone deliver their letters.

You couldn’t help but doubt that they just knew a friend of yours though as you walked to your first class. Through their wording, it just seemed like they knew you personally and had been waiting for an opportunity to talk to you again. 

No one immediately popped into your mind, so you let it go and continued walking to class.

~~

As you threw your backpack onto your bed, rummaging through your binders to pull out your homework, the letter fell out again, landing right at your feet. You picked it up, scanning over the words again.

You couldn’t recognize the handwriting either... but the temptation to write them a letter back was pretty strong. After scanning over your homework and deciding that you really didn’t have that much to do, you slid into your desk after grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil...

Dear Secret Santa,

Have we met before? Your words make it sound like we have. Did we go to the same school at some point? Or did we meet somewhere else? You were right about me being confused, that’s for sure, I am quite curious to know who you are. I’ll keep this short since I don’t have any more questions than those. Looking forward to your next cryptic letter!

                                                                                                           Sincerely,

                                                                                                                     y/n

You folded up your letter neatly, sticking it next to your stack of binders. As you picked up your french class binder, you remembered that you needed to pay $5 dues to french club.

You jumped up from your chair, sliding open your small closet door, aiming for your wallet that was inside of your hang bag. As the clasp of the hand bag opened, a singular paper burst out, fluttering to the floor.

Raising your eyebrow in confusion, you leaned down to pick it up. It had been a while since you had used the bag, so you really had no idea to what this could be. 

But just as you turned the paper around, you were struck with the memory of what exactly this was.

It was a picture of you... and your old best friend Cho Seungyoun.

The picture was faded slightly, but it was a shot of you and him snuggled up together on your bed on your 11th birthday. The date of your birthday was neatly printed in the corner, and you completely froze as all of the memories of you and him came flooding back to you.

To you, he wasn’t just a best friend. You had liked him for years... and even now, weren’t over him. Clearly. Seungyoun was the only person who understood you, he was right by your side in every decision you made. 

But just before high school had started, Seungyoun had moved back to his home country, Korea, to pursue his dreams of becoming a music star. And due to a contract he signed with his agency, you had to cut all contact with him.

He couldn’t send letters, he couldn’t text you, etc, etc. You remember crying for days straight after sending him off at the airport. In your final moments, Seungyoun brought you close for a hug and whispered in your ear, “Don’t worry y/n. I’ll come back one day and give you the biggest hug ever. You can wait, right?”

At the time you had simply nodded, your heart beating a million miles per hour, before tears started streaming out of your eyes as Seungyoun boarded the plane. 

But now you wanted nothing more to reverse time and just stay there forever, never letting Seungyoun go. In the months that followed his departure, you lost your soul completely. Your eyes were dead because you never got any sleep and you words were tart and unpleasant to anyone who tried to talk to you.

And after a year, you blocked it out completely, forgetting Seungyoun to try and save yourself. But now, standing here holding one of your most treasured photos, you were frozen again, remembering the endless heartbreak and longing for your best friend to come back home.

Especially now that it was the Holiday season. Seungyoun would always surprise you with the best gifts or outings to see the lights hung around your neighborhoods. He always knew how to brighten the mood in any season, but winter was always the happiest. 

As your eyes started to tear up again, the photo fluttered out of your hand, landing face-down on the floor. You turned away from your closet rapidly, taking the $5 bill you had grabbed with you.

The waterworks had started.

~~

Over the next two weeks, you pondered intensely over who your Secret Santa could be. But you were also focused on Seungyoun, since your memories of him kept bubbling up as more days went by.

But by now, you knew that this person knew you very well. They knew pretty much everything about you. It was slightly scary, to be honest. But you didn’t mind. You were quite excited to figure out who exactly at your rival school, of all places, knew so much about you. 

Today was the gift exchange, and the rival school was coming onto your home turf. You were currently wrapping Minhee’s present neatly, tying an elegant bow across the top of it.

Getting to school was no problem, but you were surprised to see so many people crowding around your school. This event appeared to have worked though, since students from your school and your rival school were chatting easily, almost no hatred running between them.

As you entered the cafeteria, Minhee’s gift wrapped in your arm as you scanned the room for him, you continued to see people from different schools socializing. But you spotted Minhee across the cafeteria, talking to a few kids you recognized faintly.

“Hey Minhee!,” you call as you walk over to him, “Happy Holidays!” You extend the present to him, and Minhee smiles at you happily. “Thanks y/n!,” he cheers back, taking the present from you.

He reaches into his back pocket saying, “I have something for you too, y/n.” You blink at him in confusion and he says, “From your Secret Santa, cause I’m not your Secret Santa.”

Minhee hands you another letter, and you instantly open it, scanning the page...

Dear y/n,

Today’s the day! The person who’s been helping me out has been revealed. I’ll be sure to give Minhee a big thanks once I can. Listen, I actually don’t go to your rival school. Seungwoo went out of his way for some reason, to tell me that there was going to be a Secret Santa Exchange between your schools. We talked to the principal, and arranged it so I could send you these letters. It’s been forever, I know, but I couldn’t go any longer without seeing you again. Turn around, why don’t you?

The letter ended without a signature, and you slowly turned around. The sea of people standing in the middle of the cafeteria had suddenly parted, and there standing at the other edge of the cafeteria was...

Seungyoun.

The two of you burst forward towards each other, extending your arms for the biggest hug you’ve ever gotten in your life. But to your surprise, Seungyoun used his arms to pick you up, spinning you around, before pulling you real close to him, whispering, “Can I kiss you, y/n?”

“Of course,” you whisper back, your face flushing. He brings you down even closer, placing a sweet kiss on your lips.

“You’re finally home,” you whispered after you parted, “I’ve been waiting for you.”