Jjangu Bells
Title: Jjangu Bells
Pairing: kaisoo
Rating: PG
Genre: christmas!au, humor, fluff, angst
Length: 2000 words
Summary: Jongin doesn't believe in Christmas and miracles and wishes and magic. But maybe Kyungsoo can change his mind.
Jongin wouldn’t have known it was Christmas if it weren’t for the convenience store clerk wishing him a “Merry Christmas!” while he stuffed the receipt in his pocket. He nodded politely to the clerk, who had on a headband that gave him reindeer antlers. Jongin wasn’t sure if he looked cute or stupid.
Both, he decided. But more cute than stupid.
“Thanks,” Jongin mustered up a smile-more like grimace-and then squinted to read the clerk’s nametag, “Kyungsoo?”
The clerk beamed at him. “You’ve waited a long time for this day, Jongin. Your Christmas wish will finally come true.”
Jongin snorted, not sure how to respond. There was once a time when he decked the halls with boughs of holly and would fa la la like everybody else. But then a few Christmases ago, the decor suddenly looked more garish than jolly, and candy canes started tasting like toothpaste. To Jongin, the entire ritual seemed so superficial, where evergreens only grew in CEO’s bank accounts. He didn’t believe in Christmas miracles, or at least not anymore.
However, before Jongin could come up with a suitable reply, Kyungsoo was already smiling and greeting the next customer in line.
Huh, maybe he was some weird pervert.
Plastic bag slung around his arm and hands jammed into his coat pockets, Jongin walked outside of the convenience store, bracing himself for the wall of icy wind slamming into his face. He should’ve worn a scarf. Or a hat. Or both.
But it was too late, so he braved the icy weather, fat snowflakes falling onto his eyelashes. Annoyed, he blinked them away. Maybe it would feel more like Christmas if the sidewalks weren’t covered in gray-brown slush, if breathing the icy air didn’t burn all the way to his lungs, if he didn’t feel so, so cold.
Jongin shivered as the cold seeped through his coat and chilled his entire body.
Standing there on the sidewalk, facing the busy road ahead of him, Jongin saw a red car zoom past him, and that’s when the realization hit him.
"How did that store clerk know my name?" he mumbled.
He recalled their conversation from a few minutes ago, and he distinctly remembered Kyungsoo addressing him by name. He called him Jongin.
Maybe he really was some weird pervert.
"Jongin!"
Somewhat reluctantly, he turned around to see the store clerk. Kyungsoo still had on those stupidly cute antlers, and his nose had turned red from the cold. He smiled at Jongin, and Jongin felt inexplicably warm.
“Not that it’s any of my business, but shouldn’t you be at the store right now?” Jongin said.
Kyungsoo shook his head. “I don’t work there.”
And this was why Jongin didn’t believe in Christmas and miracles and wishes and magic. The reality was that perverts roamed these areas and would follow unsuspecting idiots like Jongin home.
Jongin said, “But you were behind the counter-”
“The reason why I’m here,” Kyungsoo interrupted, “is because I’m going to grant your Christmas wish, Jongin.”
“How do you know my name?” Jongin asked, narrowing his eyes.
If this Kyungsoo pervert attacked him, at least Jongin had a plastic bag filled with random supplies from the convenience store. Jongin didn’t really want to part with his new shampoo bottle (because he just ran out of shampoo the other day and really, really needed more), but he would use it as a weapon if he had to. And even if a shampoo bottle couldn’t do any real damage, Jongin was confident he could squeeze the shampoo into his attacker’s eyes and run away.
“Maybe this will clear things up,” Kyungsoo said and dug around his coat pockets for something.
What if it was a knife? What if Kyungsoo just stabbed him right there and left him to die in the snow? Jongin really didn’t want to die with wet pants or socks. He shuddered. Wet socks were the worst, especially when he wore boots because then the water would slosh around inside of his boots and it was such an unpleasant feeling and-
“Here,” Kyungsoo said.
He handed Jongin a piece of scrunched up notebook paper. When Jongin unfolded it, his eyes widened. It was his handwriting. Well, it was his handwriting from 15 years ago.
Dear Santa,
Please bring Jjangu back. I will give you milk and cookies as a reward.
-Jongin
Scenes flashed in front of Jongin’s eyes: scenes of his mother carrying a toy poodle down the stairs on Christmas morning, scenes of Jongin embracing the puppy and squealing “Jjangu, Jjangu,” scenes of Jongin sneaking treats to his new toy poodle (and cookies for himself), scenes of Jongin farting and putting the blame on Jjangu, scenes of Jjangu getting revenge by eating his homework the next day, scenes of Jongin dragging Jjangu on a walk because he really, really needed to lose weight after eating all of those treats, and scenes of Jongin indulging Jjangu afterward with more treats because Jongin didn’t know how to say no to those eyes.
Wiping tears-no, they weren’t tears, he convinced himself; they were just snowflakes-from his eyes, Jongin looked up from the paper. Kyungsoo gave him an encouraging smile.
“How did you get this?” Jongin asked.
“I told you already. I’m here to grant your Christmas wish,” Kyungsoo said.
“But Jjangu died years ago,” Jongin said. “He was hit by a car.”
It hurt to think of that September day when Jjangu had run away. Jongin had looked everywhere for him, neglecting his homework and chores because none of that mattered if Jjangu wasn’t by his side. He had run through the streets, begging for his toy poodle to come back, to come home to Jongin. If Jjangu just came home, then Jongin would feed him all the treats he wanted.
It was Jongin’s father who found Jjangu’s lifeless body on a road that was about four blocks away from their house.
Kyungsoo’s eyes softened, “C’mon, let’s go home, Jongin.”
Despite the cold weather, Jongin’s hand felt warm in Kyungsoo’s. He let Kyungsoo lead him through the streets. Jongin didn’t know how Kyungsoo knew where he lived, but he decided to just accept it for what it was.
When they arrived at Jongin’s apartment, Jongin unlocked the door. He stepped inside and heard familiar barking. Incredulous, Jongin immediately turned to Kyungsoo, who gave him an encouraging smile.
“How?”
“Just because you stopped believing in miracles, Jongin, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist,” Kyungsoo said.
Maybe just this once, Jongin thought as he scooped up Jjangu and hugged him tightly to make up for 15 lost years, he could believe in Christmas and miracles and wishes and magic. Jjangu eagerly licked Jongin’s face, and Jongin couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re still fat as always,” Jongin said to Jjangu. “I feel like I’m carrying a sack of rice.”
He put Jjangu back on the ground, and Jjangu jumped and scratched at Jongin’s pants, wanting Jongin to pick him up again.
“I feel like you’re only excited to see me because I feed you too many treats,” Jongin laughed.
Kyungsoo handed the plastic bag that Jongin had dropped before embracing Jjangu. “I snuck you some dog treats before you left the convenience store. Free of charge.”
He gave a cheesy wink.
“Thank you, thank you for everything, Kyungsoo,” Jongin smiled. “I’m sorry I thought you were just some pervert.”
Kyungsoo laughed but then quickly sobered up. “He’s only back for Christmas day. The magic runs out at midnight.”
At this, Jongin’s heart fell a little.
“Oh,” Jongin said.
He looked at Jjangu, his sweet, lazy Jjangu who was excited just to see him again. Did he have to leave so soon?
Kyungsoo said, “I’m sorry this is all I could do, but I hope you’ll cherish these few hours you have with Jjangu.”
Kyungsoo quietly left the apartment so Jongin could have time alone with his dog.
He ended up curled up on the couch, wrapped in a warm blanket with Jjangu lying by his side. Jongin absentmindedly scratched Jjangu’s tummy, his favorite place to be scratched. They watched a marathon of cheesy Christmas movies that Jongin would forget about the next day.
Except he didn’t want to think about the next day.
During a commercial break, Jongin stopped scratching Jjangu’s tummy-which made Jjangu whine-when a thought belatedly came to him. As they had walked to Jongin’s apartment, Kyungsoo hadn’t made footprints in the snow.
He shrugged to himself, dismissing it as Christmas magic or something like that. His allegedly dead dog had come back home to him; he wasn’t going to question it.
Jongin fed Jjangu a treat.
“Since I’m giving you all of these treats, I should be making you do tricks for me,” Jongin said.
Jjangu barked in response.
“It’s not my fault I never taught you how to roll over,” Jongin huffed.
Midnight came too quickly, and Jongin watched helplessly as the hours flew by, masquerading as mere seconds. Finally, there was a knock on his door, and Jongin left Jjangu on the couch to go answer it.
“Hey, Kyungsoo,” Jongin said, trying to ignore the lump in his throat. “I guess you’re here to take Jjangu back?”
“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, looking apologetic.
He walked into Jongin’s apartment and headed for the couch. Before he could scoop Jjangu up and whisk him away in a swirl of Christmas magic, Jongin grabbed Kyungsoo’s wrist.
“Is there any way he can come back one day?” Jongin pleaded.
“No, I don’t think so,” Kyungsoo shook his head. “Even though the barrier between this life and the afterlife is thinnest around the end of the year, it still took a lot of energy to break through the clouds. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to regenerate enough energy to do it again during your lifetime.”
“Back from where?” Jongin asked, though he had a feeling what Kyungsoo was talking about.
At first Kyungsoo looked like he was reluctant to answer, but he said softly, “Heaven.”
It was why Kyungsoo’s footprints didn’t appear in the snow.
“What’s heaven like?” Jongin asked, though by the way Kyungsoo mentioned it, it didn’t sound as pleasant as people thought it was.
Kyungsoo was quiet for a moment, searching for a suitable answer.
“It’s lonely. You’re forced to wander through the clouds for eternity, and you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for, but you wander anyway,” Kyungsoo said. “Jjangu and I died on the same day, so we found each other easily. He’s been keeping me company for 15 years, and if not for him, I would have probably turned into a corrupted spirit from the endless wandering. So I wanted to thank his owner somehow, which turned out to be you, Jongin.”
Kyungsoo smiled sadly.
He scooped up Jjangu, who whined, in his arms. He turned to Jongin one last time. “I’m glad out of all the people on this earth, it was you.”
Jongin watched Kyungsoo walk outside, nose red form the cold and still wearing the reindeer antlers. He watched as Kyungsoo closed his eyes and smiled to himself, muttering something that was lost in the icy wind. Jjangu barked one last time before he and Kyungsoo slowly dissolved into snowflakes that the unforgiving wind carried away.
Before long, Jjangu had completely dissolved, and Kyungsoo was quickly on his way to join him.
Jongin shouted desperately, “Take good care of Jjangu until we meet up again!”
Kyungsoo’s eyes sparkled, promising that and more.
And just like that, he was gone.
Jongin closed the door, shuffling his way back to the couch, and sank down in front of the television that continued to play cheesy Christmas movies. His cheeks were wet, but he was sure they were from snowflakes, not tears.
A/N: Secret Santa gift for Maria. Hope you like it ^^;;;
Pairing: kaisoo
Rating: PG
Genre: christmas!au, humor, fluff, angst
Length: 2000 words
Summary: Jongin doesn't believe in Christmas and miracles and wishes and magic. But maybe Kyungsoo can change his mind.
Jongin wouldn’t have known it was Christmas if it weren’t for the convenience store clerk wishing him a “Merry Christmas!” while he stuffed the receipt in his pocket. He nodded politely to the clerk, who had on a headband that gave him reindeer antlers. Jongin wasn’t sure if he looked cute or stupid.
Both, he decided. But more cute than stupid.
“Thanks,” Jongin mustered up a smile-more like grimace-and then squinted to read the clerk’s nametag, “Kyungsoo?”
The clerk beamed at him. “You’ve waited a long time for this day, Jongin. Your Christmas wish will finally come true.”
Jongin snorted, not sure how to respond. There was once a time when he decked the halls with boughs of holly and would fa la la like everybody else. But then a few Christmases ago, the decor suddenly looked more garish than jolly, and candy canes started tasting like toothpaste. To Jongin, the entire ritual seemed so superficial, where evergreens only grew in CEO’s bank accounts. He didn’t believe in Christmas miracles, or at least not anymore.
However, before Jongin could come up with a suitable reply, Kyungsoo was already smiling and greeting the next customer in line.
Huh, maybe he was some weird pervert.
Plastic bag slung around his arm and hands jammed into his coat pockets, Jongin walked outside of the convenience store, bracing himself for the wall of icy wind slamming into his face. He should’ve worn a scarf. Or a hat. Or both.
But it was too late, so he braved the icy weather, fat snowflakes falling onto his eyelashes. Annoyed, he blinked them away. Maybe it would feel more like Christmas if the sidewalks weren’t covered in gray-brown slush, if breathing the icy air didn’t burn all the way to his lungs, if he didn’t feel so, so cold.
Jongin shivered as the cold seeped through his coat and chilled his entire body.
Standing there on the sidewalk, facing the busy road ahead of him, Jongin saw a red car zoom past him, and that’s when the realization hit him.
"How did that store clerk know my name?" he mumbled.
He recalled their conversation from a few minutes ago, and he distinctly remembered Kyungsoo addressing him by name. He called him Jongin.
Maybe he really was some weird pervert.
"Jongin!"
Somewhat reluctantly, he turned around to see the store clerk. Kyungsoo still had on those stupidly cute antlers, and his nose had turned red from the cold. He smiled at Jongin, and Jongin felt inexplicably warm.
“Not that it’s any of my business, but shouldn’t you be at the store right now?” Jongin said.
Kyungsoo shook his head. “I don’t work there.”
And this was why Jongin didn’t believe in Christmas and miracles and wishes and magic. The reality was that perverts roamed these areas and would follow unsuspecting idiots like Jongin home.
Jongin said, “But you were behind the counter-”
“The reason why I’m here,” Kyungsoo interrupted, “is because I’m going to grant your Christmas wish, Jongin.”
“How do you know my name?” Jongin asked, narrowing his eyes.
If this Kyungsoo pervert attacked him, at least Jongin had a plastic bag filled with random supplies from the convenience store. Jongin didn’t really want to part with his new shampoo bottle (because he just ran out of shampoo the other day and really, really needed more), but he would use it as a weapon if he had to. And even if a shampoo bottle couldn’t do any real damage, Jongin was confident he could squeeze the shampoo into his attacker’s eyes and run away.
“Maybe this will clear things up,” Kyungsoo said and dug around his coat pockets for something.
What if it was a knife? What if Kyungsoo just stabbed him right there and left him to die in the snow? Jongin really didn’t want to die with wet pants or socks. He shuddered. Wet socks were the worst, especially when he wore boots because then the water would slosh around inside of his boots and it was such an unpleasant feeling and-
“Here,” Kyungsoo said.
He handed Jongin a piece of scrunched up notebook paper. When Jongin unfolded it, his eyes widened. It was his handwriting. Well, it was his handwriting from 15 years ago.
Dear Santa,
Please bring Jjangu back. I will give you milk and cookies as a reward.
-Jongin
Scenes flashed in front of Jongin’s eyes: scenes of his mother carrying a toy poodle down the stairs on Christmas morning, scenes of Jongin embracing the puppy and squealing “Jjangu, Jjangu,” scenes of Jongin sneaking treats to his new toy poodle (and cookies for himself), scenes of Jongin farting and putting the blame on Jjangu, scenes of Jjangu getting revenge by eating his homework the next day, scenes of Jongin dragging Jjangu on a walk because he really, really needed to lose weight after eating all of those treats, and scenes of Jongin indulging Jjangu afterward with more treats because Jongin didn’t know how to say no to those eyes.
Wiping tears-no, they weren’t tears, he convinced himself; they were just snowflakes-from his eyes, Jongin looked up from the paper. Kyungsoo gave him an encouraging smile.
“How did you get this?” Jongin asked.
“I told you already. I’m here to grant your Christmas wish,” Kyungsoo said.
“But Jjangu died years ago,” Jongin said. “He was hit by a car.”
It hurt to think of that September day when Jjangu had run away. Jongin had looked everywhere for him, neglecting his homework and chores because none of that mattered if Jjangu wasn’t by his side. He had run through the streets, begging for his toy poodle to come back, to come home to Jongin. If Jjangu just came home, then Jongin would feed him all the treats he wanted.
It was Jongin’s father who found Jjangu’s lifeless body on a road that was about four blocks away from their house.
Kyungsoo’s eyes softened, “C’mon, let’s go home, Jongin.”
Despite the cold weather, Jongin’s hand felt warm in Kyungsoo’s. He let Kyungsoo lead him through the streets. Jongin didn’t know how Kyungsoo knew where he lived, but he decided to just accept it for what it was.
When they arrived at Jongin’s apartment, Jongin unlocked the door. He stepped inside and heard familiar barking. Incredulous, Jongin immediately turned to Kyungsoo, who gave him an encouraging smile.
“How?”
“Just because you stopped believing in miracles, Jongin, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist,” Kyungsoo said.
Maybe just this once, Jongin thought as he scooped up Jjangu and hugged him tightly to make up for 15 lost years, he could believe in Christmas and miracles and wishes and magic. Jjangu eagerly licked Jongin’s face, and Jongin couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re still fat as always,” Jongin said to Jjangu. “I feel like I’m carrying a sack of rice.”
He put Jjangu back on the ground, and Jjangu jumped and scratched at Jongin’s pants, wanting Jongin to pick him up again.
“I feel like you’re only excited to see me because I feed you too many treats,” Jongin laughed.
Kyungsoo handed the plastic bag that Jongin had dropped before embracing Jjangu. “I snuck you some dog treats before you left the convenience store. Free of charge.”
He gave a cheesy wink.
“Thank you, thank you for everything, Kyungsoo,” Jongin smiled. “I’m sorry I thought you were just some pervert.”
Kyungsoo laughed but then quickly sobered up. “He’s only back for Christmas day. The magic runs out at midnight.”
At this, Jongin’s heart fell a little.
“Oh,” Jongin said.
He looked at Jjangu, his sweet, lazy Jjangu who was excited just to see him again. Did he have to leave so soon?
Kyungsoo said, “I’m sorry this is all I could do, but I hope you’ll cherish these few hours you have with Jjangu.”
Kyungsoo quietly left the apartment so Jongin could have time alone with his dog.
He ended up curled up on the couch, wrapped in a warm blanket with Jjangu lying by his side. Jongin absentmindedly scratched Jjangu’s tummy, his favorite place to be scratched. They watched a marathon of cheesy Christmas movies that Jongin would forget about the next day.
Except he didn’t want to think about the next day.
During a commercial break, Jongin stopped scratching Jjangu’s tummy-which made Jjangu whine-when a thought belatedly came to him. As they had walked to Jongin’s apartment, Kyungsoo hadn’t made footprints in the snow.
He shrugged to himself, dismissing it as Christmas magic or something like that. His allegedly dead dog had come back home to him; he wasn’t going to question it.
Jongin fed Jjangu a treat.
“Since I’m giving you all of these treats, I should be making you do tricks for me,” Jongin said.
Jjangu barked in response.
“It’s not my fault I never taught you how to roll over,” Jongin huffed.
Midnight came too quickly, and Jongin watched helplessly as the hours flew by, masquerading as mere seconds. Finally, there was a knock on his door, and Jongin left Jjangu on the couch to go answer it.
“Hey, Kyungsoo,” Jongin said, trying to ignore the lump in his throat. “I guess you’re here to take Jjangu back?”
“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, looking apologetic.
He walked into Jongin’s apartment and headed for the couch. Before he could scoop Jjangu up and whisk him away in a swirl of Christmas magic, Jongin grabbed Kyungsoo’s wrist.
“Is there any way he can come back one day?” Jongin pleaded.
“No, I don’t think so,” Kyungsoo shook his head. “Even though the barrier between this life and the afterlife is thinnest around the end of the year, it still took a lot of energy to break through the clouds. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to regenerate enough energy to do it again during your lifetime.”
“Back from where?” Jongin asked, though he had a feeling what Kyungsoo was talking about.
At first Kyungsoo looked like he was reluctant to answer, but he said softly, “Heaven.”
It was why Kyungsoo’s footprints didn’t appear in the snow.
“What’s heaven like?” Jongin asked, though by the way Kyungsoo mentioned it, it didn’t sound as pleasant as people thought it was.
Kyungsoo was quiet for a moment, searching for a suitable answer.
“It’s lonely. You’re forced to wander through the clouds for eternity, and you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for, but you wander anyway,” Kyungsoo said. “Jjangu and I died on the same day, so we found each other easily. He’s been keeping me company for 15 years, and if not for him, I would have probably turned into a corrupted spirit from the endless wandering. So I wanted to thank his owner somehow, which turned out to be you, Jongin.”
Kyungsoo smiled sadly.
He scooped up Jjangu, who whined, in his arms. He turned to Jongin one last time. “I’m glad out of all the people on this earth, it was you.”
Jongin watched Kyungsoo walk outside, nose red form the cold and still wearing the reindeer antlers. He watched as Kyungsoo closed his eyes and smiled to himself, muttering something that was lost in the icy wind. Jjangu barked one last time before he and Kyungsoo slowly dissolved into snowflakes that the unforgiving wind carried away.
Before long, Jjangu had completely dissolved, and Kyungsoo was quickly on his way to join him.
Jongin shouted desperately, “Take good care of Jjangu until we meet up again!”
Kyungsoo’s eyes sparkled, promising that and more.
And just like that, he was gone.
Jongin closed the door, shuffling his way back to the couch, and sank down in front of the television that continued to play cheesy Christmas movies. His cheeks were wet, but he was sure they were from snowflakes, not tears.
A/N: Secret Santa gift for Maria. Hope you like it ^^;;;