BTS Christmas drabbles 2020 [BxB]

14- Two neighbours, one Christmas - junghope/koobi

Prompt: Hoseok can't travel to see his family on Christmas, so he invites his grumpy loner neighbour Jungkook.

(I bet y'all expected grumpy loner neighbour cliché Yoongi, uh? Also, I apologise for the most likely inaccurate depiction of a Korean Christmas meal.)

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"Are you certain you don't want us to pay for your plane tickets, Hoseok-ah?" his mother insisted from the other side of the phone call. Hoseok repressed a sigh. It wasn't the first time they had that conversation this week.

"Yes, Mom, I'm sure", he firmly replied. "You guys have fun in Italy, I'll just see you when you come back in January. I can earn more money by staying here. Everyone's wanting to go home, anyway, so there's a bonus for people who work during Christmas."

"Again, we are very happy to see you working hard on your own", his mother's voice shifting with that tone Hoseok knew all too well, "but you know that you don't have to, if you want. Your father earns enough money with the company to provide stable financial support for both your sister and you."

"I know, Mom."

"I'm not saying you don't have to work, working is good for your mental health and for networking. But you know, there's no shame in accepting a 'bonus' from us, from time to time. Look at your sister! She needed some funds to launch her brand, and now she's doing very well on her own, and we're really proud of her accomplishments."

That was true. Hoseok's older sister Jiwoo was a fashion designer. She had always been interested in clothes, make-up and fashion, the tantamount of old pictures starring Hoseok and herself in costumes she'd made herself a significant proof of her interest. Jiwoo had even managed to get into Central Saint Martins, to their parents' utmost satisfaction. She'd come out with polished skills, a sharper sense of observation and a trained eye for spotting upcoming trends, ways to canalise her unbridled creativity, and a solid network.

She'd wanted to establish her brand in Seoul, to create a place for both herself and South Korea in the fashion industry, but she'd needed money. There had been investors, of course, but the major part of the funds had been provided by their father. Contrary to Hoseok, Jiwoo hadn't been ashamed to accept financial help from their influential parents. It was a means to an end, she'd told Hoseok multiple times. They had had the chance to start their life with a consequent choice of weapons, there was no shame in using them when needed. And his sister was right, in a way. She hadn't abused their father's power and money. As soon as her brand had started to do well, she'd asked their father to sell most of his shares and to stop coming to the meetings with the board of investors. The man had complied, since Jiwoo didn't need his help anymore, at least money-wise; the man would still and always happily morally support his children in their paths, whatever it was. That meant, in Jiwoo's case, attending her showcases or the inauguration of her new stores abroad when they could. This year, Jiwoo's first store in Milan, Italy, would be inaugurated on Christmas day. Their parents had immediately bought plane tickets to attend the event.

Hoseok, however, had chosen to stay in Seoul. Contrary to Jiwoo, Hoseok had refused any financial support from their father to establish himself in life, wanting to build everything for himself from the ground up. He'd found his first internship at a local TV station himself and had climbed all the way to the top to end up where he was now, an assistant TV producer for KBS. And that wasn't the end of his career, of course. Hoseok had a lot of potential, and he was constructing his own network, and his parents were proud of him nonetheless.

Christmas, money-wise, was a hard time for everyone, and Hoseok, even though he was living comfortably, was a bit tight on budget and time to indulge himself in a three-day trip to Italy. He loved his sister and he loved his parents, but he could always see them on New Year's Eve, and they'd never been big on celebrating Christmas anyway.