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It was Christmas Eve. She had until the morning to change him.
Plumlight stared at the hourglass in her refrigerator and smiled in proudness. Jisung was only a few drops away from being the changed boy she knew he could be. He was coming over, they were going to watch Christmas movies and go to Plum's surprise. She knew that the final step right before Christmas should be a big one, so she was excited to see him change.
There was a knock at the door and Plum opened it with a smile, Jisung came in and hugged her, then smiled at the quaintness of her small, tiny apartment. He was in awe of the decorations that seemed to creep up on every corner of the rooms. He thought the room fit her perfectly.
"How have you been?" Jisung asked as Plum invited him to sit at the small table that seated two.
"Good, I've been busy helping Grandma for orders of cookies for the holidays. And what about you Jisung? How have you been?" Plum smiled as she served him a cup of cocoa.
"I've just been busy helping my mom get Christmas presents and such." Plum smiled.
"I think today should be simple, just some Christmas movies before Christmas." Plum explained as she went to turn on the tv. The two sat and watched Christmas movies and laughed at the small jokes that were wrapped in holiday cheer.
After the movie was done, Plum got up and stretched. Jisung laughed as she looked and sounded like an awakening cat. Plum laughed like a jingling bell and clapped her hands together.
"I have a surprise!" She started as Jisung watched her intently, "We're gonna be doing a very good deed tonight. To lighten the world a bit more."
Jisung nodded his head and watched as Plum grabbed a whole tray of gingerbread cookies off her countertop and told Jisung to follow her, "Let's go."
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Jisung and Plum drove quietly while listening to soft Christmas music. Plum told Jisung where to turn to get them to their destination and Jisung drove them safely in the snow. Once they arrived, Plum prepped Jisung for the night in front of them. She smiled and clapped her hands.
"Growing up, I've learned that the best way to grow as a person is to give back. Most important, I think giving to those that need it most is life changing. Tonight, you'll be meeting people in the community that aren't as fortunate as you and I. You'll see little kids, kids our age and older people. You'll see every age in different scenarios but they all share one thing in common, they are less fortunate than us. We're gonna go inside and we're going to feed them and spread the Christmas cheer with them."
Jisung smiled at the gesture the two would be participating in. He got nervous, though, he wanted to make sure he treated each person tonight with respect and kindness. The two got out of Jisung's cae and made their way into the Soup Kitchen where they were met with instructions and told to wash their hands. They were amongst twenty volunteers that came to support the less fortunate. They all spread kind smiles and became comfortable with each other quite quickly. Plum brought gingerbread cookies to up the Christmas spirit.
When the doors open, hungry people came and smiled to the volunteers that gave them warm food for the holidays. They seemed so grateful and it touched Jisung's heart. He saw small kids that looked freezing and had the life sucked out of them.
He saw Seungmin and his mother. She looked ill and he was half dead inside. They walked slowly and stood in the line. Plum watched as Jisung's face began to sink. His heart was broken at the thought that he had been so mean to the boy. He continued to serve the people their food and gave them big smiles. When Seungmin reaches him, he held out both his tray and his mom's. Jisung gave a shy smile and served them their food.
"I'm sorry for what I have done." Jisung whispered as Seungmin's tired eyes looked to him.
"And I'm sorry that I could have been there for you when I wasn't." He continued as Seungmin gave him a small but delicate smile.
"Merry Christmas, Jisung."
"Merry Christmas, Seungmin."
Plumlight smiled brightly at Jisung and continued to serve food. When the line had grown smaller and there was barley any food left. The volunteers were dismissed and were allowed to roam around and socialize with the people at the Soup Kitchen.
Plum and Jisung were given Christmas coloring books and small arts and crafts that they were allowed to do with the children. They set up a small table and the kids fled over to make Christmas trees out of popsicle sticks and ornaments of paper and string. Jisung and Plum laughed with the children and listened in on their conversations. One child pulled at Plum's sleeve and asked her a serious question.
"Have you ever been to the North Pole?" The little boy asked as she nodded her head. The rest of the children focused on her words.
"I've been to the North Pole many, many times." She explained as the small children began to ask questions about the place haha seemed so magical to them.
"It's so beautiful there, there's not place like it. The streets are white with snow and the buildings are lined with lights all year long. Christmas music is played faintly every where and the workshop is busy year round. Elves are happy and there's peace throughout the land." Plum described as the kids sat in awe.
"What do the elves do for fun?" One girl asked as Plum reminisced on her times back home.
"They ice skate and sled and go to the movies. The beaver elves will try to creep into the magical forests that have the oldest pine trees in the world. They hold baking competitions and building competitions. They run wild and have rosy cheeks and gold sparkles dusted on their cheeks." Plumlight answered with such a nostalgia.
The kids giggled and made up their own versions of the North Pole, shortly after, Plum and Jisung said good bye and thanked the commune for allowing them to be part of their holiday experience. They exited the building and went to Jisung's car. Jisung raved about the experience and smiled was to ese thinking about all the people they had helped. Plum's phone lit up and a message from an unknown number popped up on her screen.
Hourglass is full. You may come home.
Plum's stomach grew nauseous at the idea of leaving Jisung. She had fallen in like with him. A deep level of like and wanted to be with him for as long as she could. She bit her tongue and racked her brain and thought of how she was going to leave him.
She couldn't leave him on Christmas Eve.
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Heyyyyyy!! Christmas is just around the corner and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
