Pairing: San x Mai (requested)

Genre: fluff, Christmas theme, childhood friends to lovers.

Word count: 2.1k

 Mood sampler

   It was almost as if Mai had gotten used to life here.

   Almost.

    She grew used to the weather, and it was better than the rainy weather back home objectively. She did not have to rethink multiple times before wearing something that flowed beneath her ankles at the very least.

    She grew used to the busy roads and the crowds enough to navigate herself through them, and enough for her to enjoy her way back and forth from the institute where she was pursuing higher education.

    She grew used to her small apartment that had a great view of the nearby skyscrapers, and she loved how it looked at night.

    She grew used to the accent of the people here. Heck, she even imitates it perfectly now. No one could tell that she wasn't from around here unless she chose to reveal it.

    She grew used to her colleagues and even made a few friends outside of the constricting educational domain. People in Seoul were more used to diversity, so she fit in perfectly.

    While it might seem mundane and mediocre, everything here was a spitting image of how Mai envisioned her future to be. This is what she wanted, yet...

    Something was missing.

    In everything she experiences, it seemed like it was a little bit off or incomplete; so close to being absolutely satisfactory, but it isn't.

   Why?

    Mai always thought it must be the change of location or lack of contact with her family, but no, she knows for a fact it isn't that. When she attended university abroad before for her graduating semester, she never felt this way despite being in a completely foreign place with a different timezone, too.

    So what is it? And why is it beginning to pull at her heartstrings around this time of the year in particular?

    As she walked back home from the station, Mai had some earphones on in an attempt to distract herself, but it proved unsuccessful the moment she saw the first flake of snow drift down to lay on the tip of her nose leaving her cross-eyed.

    Unintentionally, Mai ended up sneezing, and the moment her eyes opened again, she was surprised to see the crazy amount of snowflakes coming down. It almost seemed like a whole blizzard broke out in less than a second.

    Logical thinking told Mai to hurry home before it got worse like everyone around her was doing, but something else kept her in place.

    It was really happening...

    Mai was given a holiday for the rest of December and even the first week of January for Christmas, but seeing as she was already behind on her research work, she decided that going back to her hometown at this time of the year would only distract her from her work, but only as the snow started covering her open palms did she realize that she would truly be alone this Christmas.

    Without her family, without her friends, without him...

    Oh, that was it. Him.

    The reason why living here was so hard was because of Choi San.

    Even when she studied abroad before, he was with her, which is why this time felt so different. Essentially, the two of them were joined at the hips since kindergarten, so obviously she would miss him when away, but this much wasn't normal, nor appropriate; they are friends. Childhood friends at that, too. Some would even jokingly call them twins because they truly were inseparable.

    Well, until now, at least.

    It must've been the distance that played a role in the way Mai's heart started beating differently whenever she as much as heard his name in a conversation since she always used to think of him as reckless and stupid, but suddenly the same memories that elicited this reaction now made her think of him as courageous and daring-hot even!

     Mai always knew San was handsome for a fact, hell, she used to use his face to get out of trouble, but she never even considered him a man before, let alone a person she would pursue romantically. She was baffled by how even the snow wasn't able to dull down the heat that rose up her cheeks at her thoughts, now.

    San was always supportive of her ideas regardless of how crazy they would be, and she missed that the most ever since she came here. They were well known in their neighborhood for always organizing all the activities for all ages in the same Taekwondo hall San's dad owned.

    Christmas was never a popular celebration back home since there was only a minority of christians, but regardless, everyone enjoyed the holidays given in different ways. San and Mai's way of celebration was the closest to traditional as they often gathered all their friends to swap gifts and eat a good dinner together, and the two were always the ones in charge of hosting it; however, this year, he would host it alone.

    Her little bubble of memories and warmth was burst when the numbing cold reminded her that this would be her first Christmas without San...

    Almost as if he knew he was on her mind, causing her a tumult, San called her that instant.

    With frozen fingers, Mai fished out her phone, her previously racing heart now palpitating at an alarming rate when she saw the contact, yet she did not hesitate to accept the call.

    Ever since she moved here, San had made a habit to call her after work everyday, but she was sure he wouldn't be done until late in the evening, so why is he calling her?

    Perhaps she was on his mind, too...

     "Hello?" seeing as she hasn't used her vocal cords all day, her voice came out broken until she cleared her throat to let out a more audible greeting.

    "Mai!" San hollered on the other side of the phone, "open the camera!"

    Mai immediately felt her phone buzz once he requested her to switch to a video call, and she moved it from her ear to comply.

    Once the screen lit up with a pixelated close-up of San's face, Mai could see the excitement that was already pretty audible through his voice before the quality even got better.

    "What do you think?" he asked her as he spun the camera around the hall in the taekwondo club they often used to host their Christmas party. It was all decorated already, reminding her of how close the celebration was.

    San went on describing how exactly he decorated the place; how he finally found ceiling decorations that don't require screws (something they have been looking for since ever), how Wooyoung helped him put up the banner (something they always did together), and how he sent invites to some of their old students who were back in town (they both used to teach Taekwondo before).

    Mai could almost feel her ears ring as she dissociated from reality, tears now lining her eyes.

   "And the most important thing," San announced like a reported, making the sound of drum rolls as he walked to the entrance to show her what he was hinting at, "tada!"

    There it was, a picture of her hung by the entrance. It was an ugly picture, and she knew San picked it on purpose. It was a picture he took of her on her 23rd birthday with cake smeared all over her face thanks to him as she struggled to fix her contact lenses in place.

   "Couldn't get someone to take your place, so this happened," San laughed at his own humor, but Mai was dead silent on the other side of the line.

    It all suddenly felt too much, and before she could even stop herself, her tears poured out of her eyes. What the hell was she doing here miles away from where she was supposed to be?

    To say San was taken aback was an understatement. Was she finally done with his jokes?

    "Do you not like it...?" San let out hesitantly.

   "-Yes!" Mai yelled back, "I hate it! And I hate you!"

    "Well, too bad, I love it, so I won't take it down unless you come here and take its place," San huffed back stubbornly with an eye-roll.

    Mai only replied with a displeased whimper as she cried more.

     "Why are you crying!" he asked in confusion, his voice heightening. "Wait, did you get kicked out from the institute or something?" San questioned, feeling a bit more worried. "Listen, you've been under a lot of pressure, and that institute doesn't even deserve someone like you—"

    "It's snowing," Mai let out with a frown weighing on her lips, completely ignoring his words.

     "I can see that," San replied, still as confused if not more.

    "It's snowing, and I'm alone here," Mai continued, "and I miss you."

    San halted for a second, wanting badly to just be selfish and tell her what he wanted, but he stopped himself. "We talked about it. You know if you come here, it will be so hard for you to actually focus and finish your work, and you're already behind."

     Mai took a second to breathe and nodded in a half-hearted agreement. "I'm doing the right thing, right?" she spoke through her hitching breath, her lips twisting into a frown.

     "Mhm," San nodded, "so don't cry. You make me want to ditch everything here and fly to you."

     Mai giggled, "that doesn't sound too bad."

    "You know I would, though," San sighed, putting jokes aside.

     "Yeah, I know," Mai smiled, "but you have a lot on your hands, too."

     "Hm," he let out, feeling disheartened a bit. "I miss you, too," San spoke, "a lot. I've always thought this place was home, but now that you're not around, it doesn't feel the same."

     Hearing this made something quench in Mai's chest. Fuck it. "Is it crazy if I come over for 3 days and come back?" she suddenly said.

    "What do you mean?" San frowned.

    "I mean, the train ride is 7 hours, so 14 hours minus 72, that is..." she calculated, "58 hours, which is a decent enough time to—"

     "Wait, what are you saying?" San chuckled, a bit too incredulous.

     "I won't leave my research work for too long, just 3 days, besides I really need a refreshment, it could help with my writing block, and I won't even pack any clothes with me so that I don't over-stay, I swe—"

    "Wait," San stopped her before his camera went off, leaving her in silence to contemplate whether he was finally done with her bullshit.

     A moment later he spoke again, "the next train headed here is in less than an hour, if you're planning to make it in time for Christmas eve, you need to get going like now!" he hollered, completely on board with the idea.

      Adrenaline rushed through Mai's veins immediately, not believing this was actually happening. Before she could even comprehend it, her frozen legs began jogging back towards the train station. "Are you serious?" she laughed.

    "Hell, yeah," he blurted out, "I'll even wait at the train station from now."

     "Don't get too ahead of yourself. That's like 8 hours," she giggled as she ran through the crisp snow.

     "It'll be worth it if I get to be the first person to tell you Merry Christmas," San chuckled.

    "If I didn't know any better I'd think you're making a move," Mai said with a light hearted tone that hid how her heart was thumbing, without realizing, she was skipping her way to the station.

    "Well, clearly, you don't know any better," San muttered dramatically.

     Mai froze in place where she just arrived at the escalator that would take her to the underground subway, but she quickly shook it off and kept going. He is just messing around.

    "Of course," she trailed off awkwardly.

    "It will be hard for me to let you go again after this, you know," San pressed on.

    "Then don't," Mai let out, surprisingly finding the confidence to do so, knowing that sooner or later, the signal will be lost as she got lower and lower underground.

    "Are you suggesting I kidnap you?" San laughed, feigning oblivion.

    "Similar enough, but I'm suggesting you go out with me."

   She could only hear his breath catching in his throat before the line got cut.

    Her hands wiped her already dried tears, but she didn't stop walking. She had a 7 hour train ride to overthink this entire conversation anyway, but she knew from now that regret wasn't on the list.

Request by July602

TBC