𝙼𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚢 | 𝙷𝚢𝚞𝚗𝙻𝚒𝚡𝙸𝚗

45

Christmas morning was already hectic and full of laughter. Sunni was currently being chased by Heeseung and I laughed at the scene from the comfort of the stairs that I was currently using as a seat.

Mom was sitting on the couch looking over the back of it, watching the two of them in their playful manner with a wide smile. She was already wearing her sweater she opened.

Sunni's laugh echoed throughout the ground floor of the house in such a bright way it could've made the sun jealous. I watched as Heeseung's arm wrapped around her waist, her back to his chest as he lifted her off the ground with ease. Sunni's legs kicked the air lightly.

The two of them were the embodiment of perfect love. Something I envied, but wasn't upset about.

"Okay, kiddos. I think it's time to calm down before you knock something over." Ms. Lee laughed as Heeseung put Sunni back on her feet.

I stood from the stairs and walked over to my brother, throwing an arm around his shoulder and ruffling his hair with the other hand. We all walked into the living room as Ms. Lee resumed the Christmas movie we were watching.

This Christmas morning was probably the best one I've had in my almost 18 years of living. My family always had a routine for the Christmas morning. Wake up, eat breakfast, open presents, then Mother would go to her office even though she wasn't supposed to be working, Dad would leave shortly after her and I would be left home. Mostly locking myself in my room, our housemaid would occasionally check on me.

I used to hate the idea of Christmas, my mother wouldn't allow me to go out and spend time with friends on the holiday because it's supposed to be for family. But she was never around.

My phone buzzed on the coffee table, pulling me from my thoughts. I reached for it and was instantly greeted with a text from Jeongin.

Innie <3
| Can we meet up later? I have a gift for you.

My heart swelled at the text. Reminding me that I did need to find time to give him his gift. I had made him mixtapes of songs that reminded me of him. So he could listen to them  on his cassette player and think of me when he was doing little things.

I buried myself into the corner of the couch, bring my knees up closer to me. A smile had made its way onto my lips as I replied to him, asking when he'd want to see me.

I didn't receive a reply right away, so I clicked my phone off and set it on the arm rest beside me. My attention on the movie that I hadn't been paying attention to so I was lost. I kept my eyes forward, keeping myself from checking my phone every five seconds. A tinge of sadness taking over me whenever a notification came in and it wasn't a returned text from him.

It's Christmas Day, he's with family. It'll probably take him a little bit to respond. I forced myself to ignore my phone and scooted closer to Heeseung and Sunni on the couch.