You clutched your scarf and readjusted it around your neck. The temperature was starting to get colder and colder. It would probably start snowing soon. You sat on a bench by the park to rest for a while. There were a lot of people dressed as Santa walking around the park, but only one particularly caught your eye. Not only because he wasn’t fat—he must be uncomfortable wearing massive cushions and stuff—but also because most of the kids liked him more than the others. In fact, they were chasing him around like little devils hungry for presents. He didn’t seem to be carrying any sack of gifts, though.

“SAAAANTAAA!!!!” The screeching tiny voices got clearer as they got closer to where you were. What an unlucky Santa.

“I have no more gifts! Please staaaaahp!!” He screeched as they ran past you. You had a glimpse of his face. He was probably in his 20’s, that is if your eyes weren’t deceiving you, and by the look on his face, he was obviously horrified by the crowd running after him. Somehow, you felt this urge to do something good in Christmas, so you headed towards the nearest candy cane stand.

“May I buy some?” You asked the old man, and his eyes lit up to give you a heart-warming smile.

“How many, miss?” You glanced back at the Santa-chasing children to estimate how many they were.

“About 20, mister.” He calmly nodded and started picking differently colored candies to put in a small brown cloth sack. Like a mini Santa bag or something.

“How much would that be?”

“Oh don’t mind it,” he laughed and waved it off with his hand and grabbed your hand to place the sack in it. “Making those kids happy is enough.”

Your brows furrowed for a while, but then realized that he actually knew that you wanted to help the poor Santa.

“Oh, gosh, thank you so much mister.”

He waved it off with his hand again and put a hand near his mouth to whisper. “It’s not from me. It’s from you. Go on then, female Santa. Make those kids happy.”

Though still in the midst of confusion, you managed to bow and slowly back away. The screaming of the kids brought you back to consciousness, and your heart started to pump loudly in your chest. You didn’t even know why you were nervous. You slowly walked towards the bench, never taking your eyes off the kids. You waited for the right moment to call them, to make sure that they’ll hear you and not leave you dying in embarrassment for being ignored. Once the Santa ran past you, you took a deep breath and yelled.

“Hey kids, I’ve got something for you!”

The screams halted as they turned to look at you. The Santa turned to look as well. In fact, you could feel everyone’s eyes on you.

“I... I have candies.”

“Candies?”

“Did she say candies?”

“CANDIEEES!!!!”

As soon as they understood what you meant, their eyes lit up in excitement again as they ran towards you. You smiled and opened the sack, but then hands were shoved in your face before you could even take any candy out.

“WAIT!” You lifted a finger, silencing them. Oh, wait, your tone was kind of harsh. You cleared your throat to soften your voice, but still in a stern tone. “Only the behaved kids get presents, right?”

The children slowly nodded, and put their hands back to behind their backs. You didn’t even have to say anything more as they automatically lined up. Wow, these kids could be so behaved after all! It suddenly reminded you of your younger self. You had to be nagged for 10 minutes before you could behave like this.

“What color do you like?”

“Um... Blue.” The boy shyly said.

“Okay, let’s see if we have that.” You smiled and searched the sack. You faked a shock expression as you held up one blue candy cane. “Oh look! There’s a blue one for you!”

The boy giggled and ran off to his parents. You continued giving candies to the rest of the kids, each according to their specified color. Magically, the candy canes’ colors were just right for every kid, and as you reached the last one, there were still 3 candies left. The last girl approached you with a thumb in her mouth.

“May I have pink, please?”

“Of course honey. Pink fits you perfectly.” You handed the last pink candy to her and patted her hair. But she didn't run off immediately like the others.

“May I ask you a question?”

“A question?” Your eyebrows rose. “Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Are you Santa’s girlfriend?”

“Wha—“ You almost yelled in shock, but immediately regained composure and forced a smile. “Oh, honey, what made you think that?”

“You’re really nice. And Santa’s been staring at you all along. He seems to like you.” She glanced to her right and then ran off, leaving you dumbstruck. You looked at what she glanced at earlier, and realized that indeed, the Santa was standing there, staring at you with a smile. When he realized that you were looking, he blinked and quickly averted his eyes. He whistled and pretended to walk around, but you kept your eyes narrowed. He just sighed and decided to sit on the bench beside you.

“Thank you,” he said awkwardly, not meeting your eyes. The corner of your lips twitched in amusement. He’s the most awkward Santa you’ve ever seen.

“It’s nothing. I was just concerned that all your Santa fats burned out because of those kids chasing after you.” That made him laugh, and only then did you see how his cheeks puff cutely when he smiles. Wow, he’s really cute. Maybe that’s why the children loved him more than the other Santas here.

“You seem to be really good with children. I had no idea how to make them stop running.”

“To be honest...,” you bit your lip and looked down at the two remaining candy canes in the sack. “I’m not really fond of children.”

“Really? But you were so good back there!” His eyes widened. “I actually think you’ll be a better Santa than me. Srsly, what kind of Santa runs out of gifts?”

He sighed, making you chuckle. You picked up the red candy canes and handed one to him. “You didn’t bring your elves with you, that’s why.”

He laughed once again, and his eyes started to sparkle. “I’m Kim Xiumin by the way. Thanks a lot for earlier.”

“Yoo _____,” you accepted the handshake and continued eating the candy.

“Where did you get these candies anyway?”

“Oh, I just bought them. The mister actually gave it to me for—“ You froze as you pointed at the supposedly stall of the old man earlier. He was already gone. “—free.”

Xiumin craned his neck, “Where?”

“He’s gone,” You mumbled. That’s strange. His stall couldn’t have possibly got towed by a truck, right? It’s pretty difficult to move all those stuff in just a few minutes. The two of you exchanged confused looks.

“Wooow,” he suddenly stated in pure awe, reminding you of a kid opening a beautiful Christmas gift. You couldn’t help but laugh at his cuteness. You returned your gaze to the empty spot across the park with a small smile on your face.

It seems like Santa is real, after all.

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[A/N]: There was a sprinkle of magic here. Heehee~ Spazz, comment, and vote! :D