Mind blowing holidays (Dark clouds before sunny weather - Side story)

Chapter 1

Mo Xuanyu hated Christmas. He hated any holiday, but Christmas time was truly the worst of the year. If anyone asked him, he would of course not say this right to their faces. But deep in his heart, nothing could be clearer.

Not that he did not like the festive atmosphere. How suddenly all people started smiling just a little bit more. Decorative lights overtook the streets and homes and there was smell of hot chocolate coming from every restaurant one could find. Even trees outside of the school were equipped with colourful sparkling lights and looked like something out of a fairy tale. Everything was bright and cheery, Christmas carols were being played or sang everywhere and everyone's spirits were high.

He actually loved it. Secretly of course, so his family would not find out.

No, what Mo Xuanyu hated about Christmas time was that it seemed to be fun and lovely for everyone except for him. Rationally, he knew he was a bad boy and bad boys did not deserve any holiday hot chocolate, Christmas cakes or presents. He however could not stop himself from longing for what he could never get. That probably made him even more of a bad boy and if his aunt, uncle or cousin ever found out, they would beat him black and blue as punishment.

Every single year, he was telling himself not to hope for anything. And every single year, inevitably and painfully, he could not keep that little light in his heart from coming to light until it was cruelly crushed by reality.

Usually, everything would start with celebrating holiday season at school. All students were required to bring a present for their small party during the last day of classes so they could play a lottery and give theirs to another classmate while they got a gift of their own. It seemed to be so much fun.

All the other pupils' presents were always so elaborate and well chosen. Some would bring toys, others cute school supplies, like a nicely decorated pen or a brand-new sketchbook with colouring pencils, or even home baked cookies in forms of Christmas trees or snowmen. As the exchange was based on lottery – everyone put their presents wrapped in colourful paper on a table and teacher would take them one by one while picking a person's name from a box full of name tags – no one could ever know whose gift they would get and whom they were giving theirs to. The surprise and joy were endless.

It had always been a struggle for Mo Xuanyu to prepare a gift of his own. It was a given that he could not go and ask his aunt or uncle to prepare anything for him. Neither could he beg them for money so he could buy something. He would never dare to do so. Needless to say, he did not own anything to his name so the possibility of picking something from his possessions and wrapping it in gift packaging was out of the question too.

If he wanted his present to be something at least normal, he had to get creative. He would always look out for something his aunt, uncle or cousin had thrown into the trash when he was taking it out. He would secretly scan the streets for any discarded items which either looked like new and could be used or for any that he could potentially fix and could still be given as present.

He was too scared of rummaging through his family's belongings or even steal; he would never hear the end of it and who knew if he would even be able to get up during the whole holiday period. When he could not find any item that could conveniently disappear without his family noticing, he could only steal a few broken cookies while he was preparing them for Christmas Day and use those as the present at school. A pitiful excuse of a present really.

He wanted his gift to be a good one, more than anything. He always felt like crying when people who got his present came to him after the exchange and requested to swap whatever he had given with all his might and heart for the present he had gotten. He obliged every time and returned home with whatever he had painstakingly prepared. Not that he was allowed to keep whatever it was anyway, his cousin would always take it away and punish him if he was not satisfied. Which, to Mo Xuanyu's never ending chagrin, he never was.