*The following is a Christmas special. It is not meant to be a continuation of the previous chapter. Both sections of this special aren't in the current time in the story. One is the past; other is in the future*
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The hospital was busier than usual. The halls were made to be as festive as possible without threatening the sanitation of the facility, and the nurses were bustling through the maze of white tile and walls that the hospital was.
The ones working tonight were considered unlucky. It was Christmas Eve, and they were wiping kids' bottoms and checking vitals instead of watching holiday movies with their families.
Especially those working in hospice, it was a lot of work to deal with visitors but even harder to see so many patients go without seeing anyone. Even during the holidays.
But one nurse in particular didn't consider herself unlucky at all.
Jangmi made it through the hallways, sending a nod and a quick smile to any of her coworkers she passed, until she reached a certain door.
With her lipstick-painted pink lips, she smiled as she opened the door.
"Good evening, Yunho! Happy Christmas Eve. Anything bothering you?" The nurse said. She looked over the room.
There, in the hospital bed, was a pale youth. He seemed to have made a quick motion as he saw Jangmi walk in, like he stuffed something under the pillow.
"Happy Christmas Eve to you too, Ms. Nurse." Yunho replied.
Jangmi gave the pillow a sidelong glance before tidying up the room.
She eventually reached the bed and put her hands on her hips.
"You do know I'm going to have to see what's under that pillow anyway?" She said with a lighthearted tone.
Yunho grumbled but didn't resist as she lifted the pillow up a little.
There, under the pillow, was a book with a smooth white cover.
At once, Jangmi recognized it, and she let out a chuckle. However, the chuckle wasn't mean-spirited. Her eyes were warm.
The book was "The Mistreated High Priestess Is Now a Princess."
The nurse set the pillow back down.
"I'm glad you're enjoying it. Kids your age should be reading. It's a workout for the brain, you know?" Jangmi said.
Yunho's face turned red, giving more life to his expression.
"I'm just bored. If I had better stuff to do, I wouldn't be reading it." The youth said.
Jangmi threw up her arms in surrender.
"Hey, reading is reading, okay?" She said.
Yunho shrugged.
Jangmi chuckled again.
"I have a brother your age. You remind me of him in a lot of ways, you know." She said. Her face grew a little sad.
No one had come to visit Yunho today. His room stayed quiet for most of the day. He would likely not see a day of his twenties.
Jangmi's eyes grew hot.
"You're both really good kids. Amazing kids. I think you guys would be friends if you met." She said.
Yunho could feel the shift in mood and just nodded before muttering something not quite audible.
Jangmi looked at him with a raise in her eyebrow.
"Hm, what did you say?"
Yunho looked up at her.
"I'm not a kid."
Jangmi blinked once.
Then twice.
Then, a raucous burst of laughter erupted from her mouth. The tears in her eyes dripped down, but not because of sadness.
Yunho stared at her but couldn't help but crack a subtle grin.
She eventually calmed down and gulped down all the air she could catch.
"Yeah, you're not a kid, are you? But I was already in high school by the time you were born. There's not much else you can be besides a kid. Perhaps I could say 'young man,' but that sounds too old-fashioned."
Yunho thought it over for a moment and nodded.
"Yeah, 'young man' doesn't sound right either."
Jangmi got up and grabbed something from her bag that was sitting by the door.
"Well, how about Jolly Ol' Saint Nick?" She said. In her hands was a green Santa hat.
The nurse placed it on Yunho's head.
"Why is it green?" Yunho said. He may not be a genius, but he knew Santa didn't wear green.
"The nurses all pitched in to make handmade festive hats for all the kids since it was cheaper than buying them from the store. But, apparently, one of us is colorblind and mixed up the fabric for the elf hats with the fabric for the Santa hats. He had already made a hat before someone caught the mistake. But I like it!" Jangmi explained.
Yunho touched the hat on his head. He felt stupid, but there was no harm in a little Christmas spirit.
"It's unique..." He said, taking it off to look at it closer.
Jangmi looked at her watch and jumped up.
"Oh, look at the time!"
She quickly recorded Yunho's vitals again in her chart before turning to leave.
But right before she left, the nurse turned and said, "By the way, check the tree tomorrow. I have a feeling Santa will visit this year."
And with that, the door closed, and the hospital room was silent once more.
But it wasn't lonely at all, and sleep came easy over him like a gentle wave.
The next morning, he was escorted down towards the main area for the patients. There was a lot of noise from squeals and the crinkle of wrapping paper.
Every year, presents were donated to the patients by charities and volunteer groups. He told a volunteer his name, and they looked through the mound for his present.
However, the volunteer pulled out two presents. Every patient only got one, unless someone personally donated another to them. That was typically done by family or friends, which Yunho was certain wouldn't have done that.
"Oh, there must be a mistake. I think you took out an extra one." Yunho said.
The volunteer looked over the gifts.
"You're Y-U-N-H-O, right? Yeah, these are both yours." They replied.
Yunho was still surprised but took both presents.
One was in a larger box with the standard red and green wrapping paper, while the other was small and in dog wrapping paper.
He opened the larger present first. Inside were some fuzzy socks. He was sure this was the present from the charities. They would always send universal gifts like this. He already had three other pairs of socks from them.
But that left the other mysterious gift. It was very small and flat. Yunho carefully opened it, but the contents fluttered to the ground.
He quickly picked them up, so no one would accidentally step on them
Inside the small present, there were three bookmarks.
Two of the bookmarks were the regular kind you'd find in every store, but one looked to be hand-drawn.
On one side was an "abstract" drawing of a fox, and on the other was clearly someone's best try at calligraphy.
Written out was "Merry Christmas" in Korean, "메리 크리스마스." He only knew of one person besides himself that could speak Korean in the ward. Yunho shook his head in amusement and checked to see if that was all the packaging held.
However, a small note still remained inside the wrapping paper. Yunho picked it up, and in sloppy pen writing, a sentence was scribbled out: "Have a wonderful Christmas! -from a Secret Santa in Green."
Yunho let out a small chuckle, but it turned to a full-blown laugh.
This Green Santa wasn't so secret at all...
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Yunho's eyes fluttered open from his dream.
He hadn't dreamt about his original life in a while. He mulled over the sweet memory for a moment. Letting it sit and roll over in his mind like a lazy puppy.
There was no Christmas in this world. No technology as he knew it. None of the people he once called family or friend.
But he wasn't scared by that anymore.
This world wasn't unfamiliar anymore, and neither was this body. Nor the warm, firm chest he was currently lying upon.
Yunho took a deep breath in.
Now every day was a gift that he couldn't wait to open.
He knew Ms. Nurse would be happy for him.
But most importantly, he was happy with himself.
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End of Chapter 26.5 [The Christmas Special]
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Author's Note:
Sorry for the humongous break; I'll most likely still will be mostly inactive. But, I am alive. Life is just really hard and uneasy for everyone right now. And, I'm rethinking the pacing of this story. It may start speeding up soon.
Thank you for supporting me. I mean it.
And, happy holidays!