Min Jun was in a mood when he arrived home early from school. He had gotten in a fight and had to miss out on the Christmas party that afternoon. He hopped out of the car and saw Ji Yeon sitting next to a small snowman. He thought this was a perfect target to take his anger out on and kicked the snowman over as he walked inside. The sad expression on his little sister's face didn't go unnoticed as he walked by, but in that moment he didn't care.
"What's with him?" Jin asked throwing a tangled mess of lights into a box at the bottom of a ladder.
"He got into a fight and has to miss the Christmas party." Mi Sun explained."I thought you were putting up lights."
"They're to tangled and Christmas is only a few days away. It's not worth it." Jin commented kicking the box under the ladder.
"Min Jun broked my snowman." Ji Yeon announced coming up to her parents.
"We can make a new one." Jin told her picking her up."For now lets go inside and get warm."
After getting changed into some warm fuzzy pajamas Ji Yeon sat on the couch huddled under a blanket with Cleo as she watched some cartoons. She was just nodding off as it was close to nap time when she noticed Min Jun standing by the tree.
"Don't take my blue candy cane." Ji Yeon warned her brother as she sat up.
"It's not yours." Min Jun snapped snatching the blueberry flavored candy cane off the tree and popping it in his mouth.
"Eomma said that one was mine cuz you took all the other ones to your class." Ji Yeon whined.
"You shoulda ate it already." Min Jun told her as he walked back to his room.
"Are you still letting him go with his friends to Christmas land tonight?" Jin asked as he put away the last of the dishes.
"Yes." Mi Sun answered."Even though he's being a brat. Maybe seeing Santa will make him behave."
"How come Min Jun gets to see Santa and I don't?" Ji Yeon asked coming into the kitchen.
"Because you are scared of Santa and I'm not." MIn Jun stated remebering last year when Ji Yeon wouldn't take a picture with Santa without Mi Sun nearby.
"I gotta get to the store." Jin announced leaving his wife to deal with the kids.
"Do you want some ice cream cake?" Mi Sun asked hoping to keep Ji Yeon from crying a second time that day.
Ji Yeon nodded eagerly and went to the chair that was sitting by the counter where she had had breakfast while Mi Sun cut her a peice.
"I want some too." Min Jun whined.
"You already had a candy cane which you weren't supposed to have and you'll get more sweats tonight when you see your friends." Mi Sun told him.
Min Jun waited until Mi Sun took Ji Yeon to the bathroom to get her cleaned up after she ate the cake slice. He called Cleo to the kitchen as quietly as he could and when she came he patted the chari and told her to come. Cleo climbed into the chair and began eating the cake just as Min Jun had hoped. If he couldn't have any cake before Christmas then nobody else could either.
"Cleo no." Min Jun shouted making the dog bolt out of the chair and run into the living room.
"What happened?" Mi Sun asked coming to see what Min Jun was yelling about.
"Cleo was eating the cake." Min Jun told her.
Hearing her name Cleo reappeared in the kitchen doorway with blue icing all over her mouth and nose. Cleo was cleaned up and put outside while the cake was thrown away.
"Cleo didn't eat that cake herself." Ji Yeon insisted when the two kids were alone in the living room.
"Yes she did. She climbed in the chair and ate the cake." Min Jun argued.
"She doesn't climb in those chairs." Ji Yeon argued back as she looked out the window to see Cleo sitting in the snow.
"Well she did this time." Min Jun insisted ending the arguement as he walked to his room to get ready for Christmas land.
Not long after Min Jun left to change a car horn was heard. Mi Sun lead Min Jun to the mini van that had been rented and he left with his freinds.
"Can Cleo come back inside now?" Ji Yeon asked as she watched Min Jun leave.
"Yeah. She's probably cold." Mi Sun remarked as Ji Yeon jumped from the couch and opened the door for the dog to come inside. She lead her to the couch and wrapped her in the blanket she had been useing earlier.
"Why don't you try and take a nap so I can finish cleaning before halmoni and hal-abeoji get here." Mi Sun said laying Ji Yeon on the couch and putting a blanket over her. Just as she finished doing this her phone rang.
She stepped away from the couch before answereing."Hello? How did you get this number?"
"Who is it?" Ji Yeon asked sitting up. Mi Sun showed her the phone to reveal that it was santa calling. Ji Yeon couldn't believe Santa would call her mom.
"Since you don't like seeing Santa in person he decided to call and wants to know what you want for Christmas." Mi Sun told her.
"A baby shark that sings." Ji Yeon cried excitedly with a big smile on her face.
Mi Sun repeated what her daughter had said.
"I was afraid of that." Jin said on the other end."I've been to five different stores and they're all sold out.
"Well i'm sure Ji Yeon will be happy with whatever she gets." Mi Sun said looking at her daughter who nodded.
"But I really really want a singing baby shark."
"Santa will try but alot of kids wanted those and he deosn't know if he made enough." Mi Sun said trying not to get Ji Yeon's hopes up.
"Well if he can't bring me my baby shark then I want a blueberry candy cane cuz Min Jun ate mine." Ji Yeon compromised.
Mi Sun relayed the new item to Santa. She then went into the kitchen."We also need another ice cream cake."
Meanwhile the Rugrats and their parents and Min Jun had arrived at Christmas land. They rode a train through the park with the last stop being Santa before heading back to the cabin where they had gotten snowed in four years earlier for an early Christmas dinner.
Min Jun fidgeted in line next to Phil as he heard Santa ask the kids if they had been good.
"Do you have to go potty or are you making up a new dance?' Phil asked as Min Jun bumped his arm for the third time.
"No and no." Min Jun answered."I don't think I should see Santa cuz I haven't been good today and I don't think he'll bring me presents if I make it worse and lie and tell him I'm good."
"So just don't see Santa til you be good again." Phil advised.
"Yeah just fix whatever you did and be nice." Kimi added as she made her way over to the parents after seeing Santa.
Min Jun let Phil go ahead of him and joined the other kids and their parents for some hot cocoa.
"See. You're starting to be nice already." Kimi told him.
They made their way back to the cabin and had a nice dinner until they heard the wind howl loudly outside.
Drew went to the window to investigate."Don't tell me your stupid snow machine is malfunctioning again Stu."
"It's not stupid." Stu argued getting up from the table and joining his brother at the window."This looks like a real snow storm."
Meanwhile Ji Yeon was waking up from her nap. She found her mother cleaning her room.
"Is it time for them to be here?" Ji Yeon asked eagerly awaiting the arrival of her grandparents.
"Almost." Mi Sun answered putting some books on the shelf."And putting everything under your bed is not cleaning."
Ji Yeon blushed."I had to clean fast so I could make a snowman."
"Next time do it right." Mi Sun told her with a smile. Ji Yeon nodded just as an alarm was heard."It's time to go pick them up." They put on their coats and hats and went to pick up Mi Sun's parents from the airport.
"The snow is getting higher." Min Jun groaned."How am spossed to be fix all the bad I did if we're stuck in this place?"
"If only my grandpa was here." Tommy said."He could dig us out."
"Yeah." Dil agreed."To bad him and grandma Lulu are in New Mexico. I wanted to go with them so matbe I coulda saw a aliem."
Everyone gave Dil a look.
"What? Everybody knows thats where the aliems come from." Dil shrugged.
Everyone waited out the storm doing whatever they could to keep from gtting to bored. Howard and Chaz played checkers. Stu and Drew played cards. Charlotte was gaving a geated discussion with Jonathan on her cell phone. Thankfully for everyone that ended abruptly when her cell phone died. The rest of the women sat around talking while the kids ran around.
Everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard shouting.
"You're cheating." Stu shouted throwing his cards down.
"I am not." Drew argued."It's go fish. You can't cheat at that."
"I gotta get out of here." Howard yelled."I can't handle these conditions." Howard began running for the door and pulled hard on the handle throwing the door open with ease.
"Why didn't we try that before?" Betty asked."Howie you're a genious."
"I guess the storm stopped when all the yelling started." Chaz said.
"Let's not waste time standing here staring outside. Let's leave before the storm picks up again." Drew urged.
They made their way out of Christmas land and dropped everybody off at their homes before another round of snow blanketed the erea.
Before Min Jun got out of the car Dil pressed something small into his hand."Give it to Ji Yeon. I know that's her favorite kind. It can be from you if you want so you can have a good Christmas too."
As Min Jun got out of the car he looked down and saw what Dil had given him. A small blue striped candy cane. He ran up the front steps and through the front door to find his family sitting at the table making a gingerbread house.
"Here. It's from Dil." Min Jun said handing Ji Yeon the small candy cane. He thought about saying it was from him but he knew that wasn't true. He also knew that Santa knew who the candy cane was from so decided to tell the truth despite what Dil had told him.
"Thanks." Ji Yeon said excepting the gift and popping it into her mouth.
"I'm glad your in a better mood but you got snow all in the house." Mi Sun said getting up and grabbing a kitchen towel.
Min Jun looked down and in his hurry to make nice he had forgotten to take off his boots. He grabbed the towel from his mother."I'll clean it up."
The next day the snow moved on so Min Jun got to work on his next task, replacing the snowman he had ruined.
"What are you doing?" Ji Yeon asked coming out into the backyard with Cleo and Phil, who had come over for the afternoon.
"I'm fixing a mistake." Min Jun explained packing the snow into a ball.
"You don't have to." Ji Yeon said bending down and picking up some snow.
"Yes I do." Min Jun insisted."I need to be good so I can get a present from Santa."
The kids built the biggest snowman they could and when they were done they all went inside for some hot chocolate and a Christmas movie. Min Jun was surprised when Ji Yeon picked one that they both liked called Snowtime.
While the kids were occupied with the movie Mi Sun and her parents sat in her room wrapping the last of the Christmas presents.
"I can't believe you found one." Mi Sun commented pulling out the yellow plush shark.
"It was the last one." Yougja told her."It can be from Santa if you want."
"So we can be the boring grandparents who give their grandchildren clothes for Christmas." Duk Soo grumbled making his wife hit him.
"It can be from you. I already told her Santa would try but alot of kids wanted these so she asked for something else." Mi Sun told them.
They finished wrapping the presents and joined the kids for the rest of the movie.
The next day Min Jun was at the store with his dad getting some last minute groceries when he noticed something.
"What is that?" Min Jun asked pointing to a row of blue and pink stockings with dog and cat faces on them filled with dog or cat toys and treats.
"It looks like those are pet stockings." Jin observed.
Min Jun went to get a closer look. He still hadn't made it up to Cleo for getting her in trouble.
"Are you buying a stocking for Cleo?" Kimi asked grabbing two pink god stockings.
"I think so. I got her in trouble so I need to make it up to her." Min Jun explined as he grabbed the same one that Kimi had taken off the shelf and ran to his dad."Can I buy this for Cleo?"
Jin nodded and Min Jun put it in the cart and they finished shopping. Thinking of Cleo reminded Min Jun of the other thing he had to replace. They walked by all of the cakes but Min Jun didn;t see any ice cream cakes. He hoped he had done enough good to make up for all his bad. As they were checking out Min Jun noticed something in the checkout lane near the candy. He pulled it out to reveal a pink square shark. He pressed it and to his annoyance it began singing the baby shark song.
"Where did you find that?" Jin asked.
"In there." Min Jun pointed to the randomness on the shelf."Can I give it to Ji Yeon for Christmas?"
Jin nodded and Min Jun threw the offending item into the basket. He knew he would regret finding that toy but if it made his sister happy then it was worth it.
"Ji Yeon is going to be disappointed tomorrow." Jin told Mi Sun as they relaxed on the couch.
"I don't think so." Mi Sun said."She might just love my parents more then Santa."
"They got one?" Jin asked shocked and greatful at the same time."All I could find was a little one and it can't be from Santa because Min Jun was with me."
"She'll still love it." Mi Sun answered."Let's set the presents out and get to bed."
"Can we get up now?" Ji Yeon asked her mother as she sat up in between her parents. She was in their bed since her grandparents were using her bedroom.
Mi Sun looked at the clock. It read 2; 30."Not yet. Go back to sleep."
Ji Yeon did as she was told despite really anting to get up.
"You can get up now." Mi Sun whispered gently shaking Ji Yeon awake. Ji Yeon was no longer interested in Christmas and just wanted to sleep under the warm blanket. Mi Sun lifted her up and carried her to the living room. Ji Yeon was wide awake when she saw all the presents.
"Here Cleo." Min Jun said ripping open the stocking and taking out everything that was in it. Cleo grabbed a squeaky snowman with a pink scarf and retreated to a corner.
"I got my blue candy cane." Ji Yeon cried pulling out a big blue candy cane from her stocking.
"I got coal." Min Jun sighed fearing that all his good deeds didn't work.
"It's chocolate coal." Jin told him taking the cheap chocolate and opening it for him."Santa is warning you for next year."
Min Jun opened one of the black foil wrapped chocolates and popped it into his mouth."It's not very good chocolate. I'll be better next year Santa."
"I got my baby shark." Ji Yeon squealed squeezing the fin."It sings in Korean." She hugged the baby shark tight and then walked over to her grandparents to give them a hug. She slipped on some wrapping paper but Youngja caught her before she fell and pulled her into a hug.
"This one is from me." Min Jun sad handing Ji Yeon a small clumsily wrapped package.
"I got a mommy shark." Ji Yeon cried happily from her grandmother's lap. she pressed the fin and it sang the song in English.
"There's one more present and it's for Min Jun." Jin said wheeling out a blue bike with a bow on it."I guess Santa forgave you for those mean things you did."
"Can I ride it now?" Min Jun asked eagerly.
"How about we eat breakfast first." Mi Sun commented.
"Ok." Min Jun said a few seconds later as his stomach growled loudly.
"Come here my baby shark." Mi Sun said as Youngja handed Ji Yeon to her and went to the kitchen.
"I want to help make breakfast." Ji Yeon told her as she pressed the yellow shark's fin.
"That song is going to get stuck in our heads for weeks." Jin laughed watching his wife go into the kitchen.
After breakfast they all went to the park so Min Jun could learn how to ride a bike. Thankfully most of the snow melted so Min Jun could learn.
"You got a new bike too?" Phil called as he was pedaling down the sidewalk with Betty walking behind him.
"yep only mine is blue." Min Jun remarked noting Phil's green bike.
They rode their bikes for awhile until it was nearing lunch time.
"Would you like to come to our house for lunch?" Mi Sun asked Betty.
"Sure." Betty said."Howie made a mess of our kitchen and we're not due at Stu and Didi's until five."
"Ice cream cake?" Min Jun asked once everyone had finished lunch and Mi Sun placed the cake on the counter.
"You can think Santa for that." Mi Sun told him winking at her husband.
"Thank you Santa." Min Jun called up to the ceiling as he dug into his slice of cake.
Winter break was soon over and the kids returned to school.
"Here is a piece offering." Min Jun told the boy he had gotten into a fight with handing him a chocolate coal. He didn't even remeber what the fight was about but he knew he still didn't like the brown haired freckled boy.
"I'm not takign anything from you." The boy hollared and stomped on the coal and stomped away.
"Well I tried Santa." Min Jun shrugged wondering if the boy got any presents that Christmas and that was why he was still mean.
The End.
A/N Halmoni and hal-abeoji mean grandma and grandpa in Korean. The part with santa calling was inspired by a show called a million little things. The snowman scene was inspired by Lost. The chocolate coal is real and its gross. It tastes like cheap Easter candy. Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to you all.