Fate and Destiny

TWENTY SIX

Joy sighed in frustration as she continued to browse for gifts online.  Only a couple of days left before their scheduled Christmas gifts shopping and she still has no idea what to buy for Sungjae.  "What's wrong?" Wendy asked her.  They were in the teacher's lounge, having just finished their lunch.  Putting down her phone with a thud, Joy leaned back on the chair and closed her eyes.  "Joy?" Wendy nudged her.  Sitting up straight, she turned to her friends.  "What do you give someone who can afford to buy anything for himself?" Joy asked them.  "Are we talking about Sungjae?" Wendy clarified.  Joy nodded.  "Buy him something that will remind him of you whenever he uses it," Yeri suggested.  "Huh?! Why?" Joy asked in confusion.  Yeri shrugged her shoulders.  "No reason," Yeri replied, feigning innocence.  "Don't listen to her," Irene said, rolling her eyes at Yeri.  "Don't stress yourself about it. Keep it simple. As long as Sungjae knows that it's a sincere gift, he'll appreciate it," Irene added.  "True. In fact, Hyunsik oppa's gift to him is so simple. Trivial, actually, that I laughed when he showed it to me. But he said, Sungjae really appreciates those kinds of gifts. Inexpensive but personal," Seulgi said.  "Peniel oppa's gift, too. Maybe because he already has so much, he appreciates simple things more," Yeri pondered.  Listening to her friends' input, Joy thought of the perfect gift for Sungjae.

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"What do you usually do on Christmas?" Joy asked Sungjae.  It's Saturday afternoon and they were now at the mall to do their gift shopping.  Sungjae went straight there after his golf game with his hyung-deul, while Joy and Youngjae were dropped off by Jongkook.  "Well, I sleepover at my parents' house on the eve of Christmas then in the morning, we exchange gifts. In the afternoon, my hyung-deul and I meet at Eunkwang hyung's house. Hyolyn noona always prepares food. But this year, we would probably meet at Changsub hyung's place since Chorong noona is only a couple of months away from her due date," he said.  "What about you?" Sungjae asked them.  "We open gifts on Christmas morning, and then we do a movie marathon the whole day," Joy said.  "We always watch Frozen. It's my favorite. And eomma watches the Harry Potter series," Youngjae added.  "Jaejae, would it be okay to do the movie marathon a day after Christmas?" Sungjae asked him.  "Oh! Why?" Youngjae said.  "Well, before, we have our own activities for the holidays. But since we would be celebrating together this year, we need to make some adjustments on our schedule so we can do it all," he explained.  "So, we'll sleep over at harabeoji's on Christmas eve? Can we also open gifts there in the morning?" he asked.  "Of course! I'm sure they bought a lot of gifts for you," Sungjae said.  "Then in the afternoon, we'll meet with your samchon-deul and imo-deul," he added.  Joy frowned at this but decided to talk to Sungjae when Youngjae is out of earshot.  "And if you're not tired yet when we get home, we can do the movie marathon. If not, we'll do it the next day," he continued.  "Okay," Youngjae agreed after thinking it over.  "It's settled, then. Now, let's have lunch first before we go shopping. What do you want to eat?" Sungjae asked.  "I want pizza!" Youngjae said excitedly.  "I know just where to get the best pizza. Let's go!" Sungjae replied just as excited, taking the lead.  "Come on, eomma," Youngjae called back to Joy who was slowly following them, thinking about how different this Christmas is going to be.

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Since they were buying for the same people, Sungjae and Joy decided to combine their gifts.  Joy protested when Sungjae bought the expensive variety of the gifts she planned to buy for her unnie-deul and Yeri, but Sungjae argued that it's only right because the gift is from the three of them.  Joy gave up trying to convince him when Sungjae refused to budge on the matter.  They finished buying gifts for Narae, Eunwoo, Jongkook, Yeri, their unnie-deul and hyung-deul, as well as for the people on Youngjae's list.  But they decided to come back the next day to look at gift ideas for his parents, Miran ahjumma and Yoona, because as Youngjae said, "It has to be really special."  Joy actually already has a gift for the older Yooks and Miran, but it was something she made herself.  They were on their way to the exit when they passed by a pet shop.  Recalling their discussion about getting Youngjae a pet, Sungjae and Joy ushered him inside.  Seeing Youngjae's delighted reaction upon entering, they knew they made the right decision.  Two animals in particular caught Youngjae's interest.  One was a white, Maltese puppy named Haetnim.  The other one was a Snow Bengal kitten, Sami.  Looking at Joy who nodded her agreement, Sungjae went to the counter to talk to the manager about the two pets.  After making arrangements, Sungjae came back to Joy's side.  "Well?" Joy asked.  "I'll tell you later," he said.  "Jaejae, let's go," Sungjae called out.  "Okay, appa," Youngjae replied.  "Bye, Haetnim. Bye, Sami," Youngjae said before running up to them.  "I wish I could take them home," he sighed, making Joy and Sungjae exchange looks over his head.