Epilogue

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i know it's not Christmas but let's just pretend it is for the sake of the closure

"Merry Christmas! Presents for everyone! Jokes, I don't have money but Merry Christmas anyway!" Tae yelled as he tore through the living room with ribbons in his hair, fairy lights twisted around his chest and Christmas stockings hanging off his shoulders. He stopped in front of the tree and peered under to scan the boxes of gifts wrapped in colourful paper. "Any for me?"

Jin grabbed his collar from the back and dragged him down onto the floor. "Move aside if you're not going to help." He said coolly as he picked up two boxes and put them into a basket near the front door.

Tae leapt back up to his feet. "Hold up! Where are you going with my presents?" Tae asked, clutching his heart and forcing out a dramatic tear.

"First of all Tae, these are not for you-"

"What do you mean by those are not for me? Then where are mine?" He pouted his lips and crossed his arms huffily. "I wrote a wish-list to Santa. I've been a good boy. I'm definitely on the Nice List."

Jin blinked, callus to his brother's lame jokes. It has been over a decade, he had grown used to it. But he responded anyway, "And where did you leave that, genius?"

"There! The chimney where Santa Claus comes from!"

Tae confidently pointed to the wall next to the shelf in the living room.  Jin looked over only to see that Tae had spelled out CHIMNEY, one letter per post-it note and pasted it on the wall. "See, the letter's gone. Santa must've taken it. Now, where's my gift? It's not even something big. I just asked for a new sweater for winter."

Namjoon appeared next to Jin right before the oldest hyung could pounce on Taehyung for his Christmas gimmick. Namjoon leaned over to Jin and whispered, "Hyung, who's going to tell him that Dad found the letter, read it, laughed and threw it away?"

Jin just chortled. He grabbed Tae and shoved the gifts to his chest. "Make yourself useful and help out with the packing. We are living in ten minutes. And for the last time-"

"Santa is real!" Tae yelled, frowning insistently. 

"The last time I checked, you're 17." 

"So? I'll believe in what I want to."

Jin blinked. "Okay then. But believing in Santa doesn't give you a free pass not to help out with the packing. Get moving."

Tae finally caved in and started moving wrapped presents to the front door where the other boys formed a factory line to load them into the car.

They were preparing to visit the orphanage for its annual Christmas party. The last time they'd gone, Jungkook was only seven years old. It was that very Christmas that they were told they were not biological brothers. It was a rough journey through childhood for them, but the boys agreed that it was time for them to give back. If it wasn't for the social workers and the children's home, they wouldn't have been rescued in one piece, safe and sound. Who knows where they would've been?

Every Christmas, the children welfare organisations opened donation drives, accepting gifts from the public to the little children living in homes or shelters. Chaesung had brought some gifts home to aid in gift-wrapping. She put the wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree in their house for the time being, also for the sake of making the house look festive. Time and time again, she warned her boys that the gifts were not for them and no one was supposed to touch any of the boxes.

Finally, the last box was loaded into the car. The family took their seats and left on their way.

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