24 Days To Christmas (Hyunlix)

Chapter 1

Hyunjin groaned in annoyance as he stomped over the ankle-deep muddy snow. The familiar freezing wetness, enveloping his feet and crawling its way inside his boots, made him puff angrily in the middle of the empty streets of Santa's Village.

Around the entire world, there were many people and creatures who loved snow. They would wait impatiently for the late months of the year, for the sudden drop of temperatures and the soft white blanket to cover all tree branches and chimneys. In a way, it could be because the pristine snowy landscape signified the beginning of the oh-so-holy Christmas.

Christmas: everyone's most favourite holiday, filled with lights, laughter, cheery melodies and the delighting wrapping of presents. Christmas: when the lingering scent of freshly baked cookies surrounded millions of households and children excitedly wrote endless letters to their most favourite old man. When shared hugs between people lasted a tiny bit longer and the stars on top of Christmas trees shined almost as brightly as the ones in the sky.

Christmas: everyone's most favourite holiday.

And Hyunjin's biggest nightmare.

His hometown's entire personality was that damned holiday. It snowed most days of the year and was absolutely freezing to the point where no amount of gloves could save Hyunjin's trembling hands. Even so, the residents would still happily stroll down the streets, build snowmen and throw snowballs at each other while giggling like idiots.

For all of that, Hyunjin was fully accusing the guy that lived a couple yards down his house. No other than the one and only Santa fucking Claus. Or, the way Hyunjin liked to call him: Cloudy (don't blame him, blame the wrinkled bags under the geezer's eye which looked like big gray clouds-his mum told a 9 year old Hyunjin that it's rude to call them bags, so he stuck to clouds instead).

Anyways, Cloudy was a menace to the young boy's life. Always smiling, always cheerful and patting Hyunjin's back in endearment every time the kid scowled at him (which was painful, thank you very much, the dude probably had the heaviest hand in the world). The point is, it made no sense to Hyunjin. The old man was probably hundreds of years old and if you were to be a realist, no one should be as constantly happy as him after living for so long.

Which is why, Hyunjin had convinced himself that the man was faking it and was keeping up the pretend game for his 'Christmas image'. Or maybe, hating the grandpa was just an excuse and the young boy simply loathed living in that town and everything that shaped it.

And didn't care enough to hide it.

Hyunjin was famous for his resentment towards Christmas and the cheery atmospheres around the holiday. His ex-classmates would give him the side-eye every time the boy made a nasty comment or acted up during classes. His friends would end up giving him light punches on the arm at least five times per day and his mother's friends would always try to 'advise' her on how to raise her son better.

For a town that was supposedly inhabited by elves, they looked like clowns more than anything else. Hyunjin thought with a scoff, as he scratched his long pointed ears.

Unfortunately, his unapologetic behaviour got him in the worst possible situation of his entire life.

'What do you mean I will be working in Santa's Workshop?', Hyunjin had wailed to his mother.

'You heard me, young man.', the woman glared at him with her arms crossed and her foot angrily tapping the floor.

'After the 10th ruined snowman this year and yet another crying child, holding onto his mum on my front porch, it's time for me to take some drastic actions.', Hyunjin stared at the woman in shock and felt like he was going to be the one crying this time around.