Part I of the Christmas Specials

      It was today that Mai realized she had a neighbor.

      She didn't see him—or her—but she noticed a pair of eye-catching sandals left by the doorstep of the apartment right across from hers when she came home at 6 a.m that day.

       What a peculiar sense of fashion...

      While it is true that she has been living in this building for well over 6 months, believe it or not, being a nurse working the night shift, Mai never had the time to talk to any of her neighbors.

      That was about to change soon.
      
      A knock on her door woke Mai up from her evening sleep, and she opened it on auto-pilot, not registering anything until she was face to face with her landlord.

      Was her rent due?

       Surely not, she had only paid it last week.

      Before she could even vocalize her questions, the woman smiled at her warmly before inviting her to the Christmas eve party she would be hosting later this week.

       It's December already?

       It took Mai some time until she fully absorbed what was going on, and without even checking her schedule for that day, she agreed.

       Free food and an opportunity to meet her neighbors at last. It really didn't require much thinking.

      After promising she'd be there on time, she shut the door and let reality rain on her.

      Mai hasn't been to any social event ever since she moved to Seoul to work as a nurse.

      It isn't like she doesn't have friends, but all of them exist within her work domain which is quite limited due to it's timing.

        In a breath, she was preparing what she would wear and what she would bake to take along with her. It's as if she was waiting for this her whole life, and she couldn't wait for the day to come around.

       Perhaps she could finally know who owned those preacher sandals...

      When the day finally did come around, Mai wasn't surprised to know she was the first to come; she really was excited after all.

       She helped her landlord in setting most of the stuff, and while doing so, she got to know the old woman more.

       Apparently, her children who were around Mai's age all live abroad which made her grow lonely around this time of the year, and since most of her tenants are students and young people living away from their families, she wanted to soothe their homsickness alongside hers. Mai was beyond amazed by such compassion to say the least.

       When people finally started to pile in, Mai found herself too busy acting like a co-host to actually socialize, but really she didn't mind.

       In the midst of her bringing out more beer from the cabinet, she heard a person walk in.

       "Oh, gosh, let me help you," the (evidently) young man spoke before he easily maneuvered over her to grab the case from her hands and bring it down.

       Mai was not in need of the help, after all she grew up carrying stacks of hay around her family's farm on a daily basis, but it sure was refreshing to have someone treat her like a gentle lady.

      "Thank you," Mai breathed out as a fond smile decorated her lips before she turned around to see the man.

      "Where should I put it?" he asked, but Mai was too astound for a moment when she saw him.

        So this is what they mean by pretty boy...

       When she realized she was looking, Mai immediately cleared her throat and pointed to the table. "Over there." She was back to smiling again.

       "So you are..." the man hesitantly asked as his eyes darted to the landlord at the corner of the living room.

       "Oh, no, no," Mai immediately rushed to deny. "I just came early, so I ended up helping out," she explained as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I live in 403."

       The man was nodding along before the number rang a bell in his head. "403?" he asked in surprise, "I live straight across from you then."

       Mai blinked a couple of times as she registered this.

       "I'm Yunho," he introduced himself and extended his hand.

       "Mai," she replied and took his hand and for a moment they shared a smile in silence before it flashed right before Mai's eyes.

       "The sandals!" she let out before a laugh erupted from her throat. "The brown pastor sandals are yours?"

      Yunho was clearly confused at first before he realized what she was saying, and it wasn't long until he laughed along.

       "No, please, no, they aren't mine," he tried to explain between laughter. "M-Mingi, my friend, h-he—" Yunho couldn't even continue because of how hard he was laughing.

       It really wasn't that funny, but thankfully they were both equally tipsy.

      It took them a moment to calm down, and that's when Mai finally started speaking.

       "So your friend is a priest?" she spoke, trying so hard not to fall back into the fit of laughter just incase he was a priest.

        "Fuck, no, he is the farthest from a saint, please," Yunho laughed it off with a shake of his hand.

       "So it is a fashion choice, huh," she commented.

       "I fear so," Yunho sighed. "How long have you lived here, I've never seen you around," he asked as Mai offered him a bottle of beer, and he took it with a nod of gratitude.

      "Uh, not long, just about six months," she mentioned nonchalantly as she took a sip.

       "Six months?!" Yunho choked on his drink in surprise.

       "I guess I'm kind of new around here," she chuckled.

       "No, not at all, I was just surprised because I've been here for a year, but I never saw you," Yunho explained as he scratched the nape of his neck.

       "You've been here for a year?" It was Mai's turn to be surprised now.

      "Around that much," Yunho nodded along.

      "Well, actually my work is all during night time, so maybe that's why..." Mai mentioned as she looked down at the beer in her hand. She looked up later when she was faced with silence, and her words finally registered in her head. "Oh my gosh, no—"

      "No, no, it's completely fine, I wouldn't shame yo—"

      "No, please, I'm a nurse," Mai rushed to say with her hands waving around nervously.

       "Oh..." Yunho awkwardly let out as he looked down at his drink.

      "I, uh, work the night shift, so I—"

       "Yeah, yeah, I get it, I'm so sorry if I offended yo—" he tried to say.

      "Not at all, there's nothing wrong with that field of work, but it's definitely not made for a country girl like me," Mai laughed.

      "You're from the country?" Yunho asked, a mix of curiosity and amusement in his voice.

      "Yeah, and trust me, I don't know what I'm doing here either," Mai quipped.

       "Please, I doubt anybody does, myself included," Yunho comforted with a smile that made Mai's heart skip a beat.

       "So you aren't from around here?" she confirmed with a question.

      "No, I'm not but I am a student here, preparing my masters, so..." Yunho tried to explain without it coming off as too cocky.

       "Masters? Damn, boy, you don't look the part," Mai muttered, "in the best way possible, of course."

       "How so?" he asked her.

       "I'm a pretty basic person, I see no glasses, I see no higher education," she shrugged comically making him laugh.

      "Well, then I think you'd be happy to know I do wear glasses, but a friend of mine broke them 'accidentally'," he informed with a dramatized sigh.

      "Is it that Mingi?" Mai giggled, and the drink in her system had already painted her cheeks a light pink shade. Or perhaps it was the man...

       "No, he might be a clutz, but it wasn't him," Yunho licked his lips before ruffling his hair.

      "Mai!" A voice rang across the room through the noise of the chatter, and soon enough she was called to help out with something else, only this time she had company.

      She didn't ask Yunho to tag along and help her, but she was grateful he did anyway. Something in that made him more attractive, frankly.

      They spent the whole night getting to know each other between a hundred and one lame jokes they found hilarious.

      Soon enough, people started leaving due to how late it was, and then it was just Yunho, Mai, and their landlord.

       "I'm so sorry for troubling you, kids," the old woman sighed as she bent down to grab a discarded can only for both of them to stop her.

       "Nonsense, it's only right for us to help after you've went out of your way to do this for us," Yunho waved off as he helped the old woman get up. 

       "You should go sit down," Mai insisted after throwing the can away in the trashbag, "we can finish this off."

       "I can't thank you two enough," she sighed before letting Yunho guide her to the nearby couch.

       The two worked in perfect harmony, and in no time the place was looking way better than the mess it was a few hours ago.

       "Aw, it's 12 am, merry Christmas you two," the old lady cooed, clearly struggling to stay awake.

       "Merry Christmas to you too, Leena," Mai chuckled.

       "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?" Leena asked as she fought against a yawn and lost.

       "Not really," Yunho chuckled.

       "Does sleeping all day count?" Mai quipped as she wiped the table.

        "No," Leena whined, "you can't do that on Christmas, you should go have fun. There's going to be a festival downtown, too. Come on, where's your holiday spirit?"

       "Leena, who would I go with?" Mai chuckled oblivious to the old lady's set-up. "I'd rather be pathetic and lonely at home," she called behind her back as she followed Yunho into the kitchen.

       "I mean, I'm free tomorrow," Yunho shrugged nonchalantly as he put down the fruit punch bowls in the sink.

        "Oh, really," Mai replied before fully registering what he was implying. "Oh," she paused once she realized, thankful Yunho was facing the sink and not her, "really?" she asked, her voice heightening as she tried to not anticipate too much unsuccessfully.

       "Yeah, but I guess I'll follow your footsteps and just be pathetic and lonely at home," Yunho sang with a smile on his lips as he turned around to face the girl.

       "Oh, no, no, I don't recommend doing that at all," she waved off dramatically.

        "Any suggestions on what else to do, then?" he presses further as he walks closer to her.

       "I don't know about you, but if I had a pretty, single neighbor, I'd take her with me to the festival downtown," Mai shrugged as she playfully twirled a strand of her hair.

        "A pretty and single neighbor, or a pretty single neighbor?" Yunho quipped catching Mai off guard with his joke. She completely dropped her act and started giggling.

        "You're in luck, she happens to fit both cases," she laughed. "If you are pretty single, too, you should take up the offer."

       "I fear I am," he giggled.

       "I can confirm the first part," Mai nodded along very seriously concealing a sly smile.

    Yunho was caught off guard momentarily before he laughed it off with red ears,  "it looks like I have no choice but to take her out," he said as he licks his lips, his nerves getting to him at last. "If, she wants to of course..."

      Mai couldn't help the lovesick grin that was plastered on her face when Yunho looked at her after asking his question.

      "She would love to," Mai let out as her cheeks turned rosy—for the right reason. Her fingers found their way to his and grazed them gentle as he smiled back at her.

       "No kissing in my kitchen!" Leena yelled from the living room making them both jolt away before bursting into laughter.

      "Not yet, Leena," Yunho reassured her, but his eyes didn't leave Mai.

       "Not yet," Mai reiterated in a giggle as she looked into the man's eyes.

This was a request by July602 (the world's kindest human) I hope you enjoy it!