Discover Top Posts Tagged with #2025hmm

⇢ word count: 12.0k ⇢ genre & warnings: christmas and new year’s-themed, boarding school au, gym teacher!sungchan & history teacher!reader, fluff, some hurt/comfort, coworkers to lovers, almost everyone’s family is dead and/or sucks sorry ⇢ synopsis: in which you and sungchan are tasked with watching over the three students at moorehead prep who aren’t going home for the month-long winter break. while the two of you work together to try to make the best of it for the kids, you can’t help but get even closer than expected ⇢ extra info: this is part of my 2025 hallmark movie marathon, four short, unrelated fics starring sungchan all with cheesy hallmark christmas movie-esque premises. there’s no continuing plotline between fics in this series, they’re all standalone fics ⇢ author’s note: stole the title from the movie with the same premise ⇢ 2025 hallmark movie marathon

“Okay, I definitely feel a lot better knowing I’m not doing this with another rookie.”

“I’ll take you under my wing. Promise.” He grinned, and oddly enough, his confidence actually did calm your anxiety about the whole thing.

“Bye, Ms. Y/L/N!” Your student gave you a cheery wave and goodbye as he climbed into his parents’ car. You fondly waved back to him and his family, watching until the vehicle was out of sight far beyond the school's drive.

Moorehead Prep, the boarding school that you worked and lived at, had released their students for the winter holidays, and he was the last one to be picked up. Almost all of the other staff who lived on-campus had already left as well. Only those who would be staying for the duration of the break remained. You were staying with one other staff member to watch over the handful of students who were not going home.

The empty, silent halls were eerie; you were used to them being filled with the boisterous raucous of young boys. Even on the weekends during term when they were at extracurriculars, playing outside, or visiting nearby family, it was never this quiet. Large swaths of the building had been shut off completely to make it more manageable for you to keep an eye on the children. As you walked by the one common room left open, you spotted two of your three charges reading by the fireplace.

Leaning in the doorway, you watched them for a moment fondly. The eldest, thirteen-year-old Dogyun, was sprawled across an armchair with his favorite graphic novel in hand. He fidgeted with a bandage on his left earlobe from where he’d tried to pierce his own ears just a couple days ago with a sewing needle pocketed from home economics class. Sungmin appeared to be trying to get ahead on the assigned reading for your class for next term, his history textbook propped up against the bricks marking the outer edge of the fireplace and his feet kicked up behind him as he laid on his stomach on the plush rug. Sungmin was also new to the school like you, three grades below Dogyun but four years younger, a bit small for his age and with big eyes that only served to make him look even younger.

“Sungmin,” you announced your presence, walking over towards the boys. Their heads snapped up towards you, and Sungmin gave you a sheepish look as you kneeled down next to him to gesture to his book. “We are officially on break now. This can wait.”

“I tried to tell him,” Dogyun huffed, flipping a page.

“Sorry, Ms. Y/L/N,” Sungmin muttered.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” you assured him. “I just want you to be able to enjoy your time off school, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Also, I know the headmaster said that anytime you’re on school grounds, you have to be in uniform, even on break…” You eyed the tidy uniforms that they were still wearing—although Dogyun’s tie was a little askew as usual. “But I say don’t worry about it for now. It’ll be our little secret, hm?”

Huge grins broke out on both their faces.

“Thank you, Ms. Y/L/N!” “Thanks!”

You glanced around. “Either of you know where Junhyuk is?”

Junhyuk was your third and final student that you were responsible for over the break, a twelve-year-old honor roll student and Dogyun’s roommate and best friend. They were typically fused at the hip and causing trouble, so it was a bit unusual to see them apart unless something like class schedules mandated it. Sungmin’s dorm was in the portion of the school that was closed down for break, so he was temporarily moved into the older boys’ room, taking the vacant bed of one of their dormmates who went home.

“He’s helping Coach Jung put stuff away in the gym,” Sungmin answered.

“Yeah, he said he only needed one person to help,” Dogyun added.

“Thanks.” You got to your feet and brushed off your knees. “You two need anything else from me?”

“Nope!”

“Alright, I’m going to the gym for a minute if you do. Dinner’s at the normal time.”

“Wait!” Dogyun suddenly halted your departure. “Can you tell Junhyuk that we’re gonna play Switch in our room? So whenever’s he’s done helping.”

“I’ll pass the message.”

Each step of your boots clicked and echoed around you, and as you turned down the hallway that led to the gymnasium, you took the opportunity to stop and peer into the trophy cases that lined it. Dazzling trophies and plaques of all shapes and sizes glinted, reflecting your face back at you. The dates stretched back well over a century.

One of the doors to the gym was latched open, and when you couldn’t spot either Coach Jung nor Junhyuk, you ventured in further. Your ears finally picked up distant shuffling sounds, so you followed them down a hall behind the bleachers on the opposite side of the gymnasium where a storage room door was held ajar by a chair. You grabbed the edge of the door to pull it open all the way and step around the chair.

Junhyuk was dutifully restacking cones of various sizes in one corner while Coach Jung seemed to be doing an inspection on a shelf containing every kind of sports ball known to man. He was currently turning a soccer ball over in his hands, carefully eyeing the threads and wear of the material in some areas.

“Hi, Ms. Y/L/N!” Junhyuk greeted you cheerfully.

At the boy’s words, Coach Jung looked up at you attentively, a friendly smile coming to his features. “Oh, hey. What can we do for you?”

“Just wanted to let you know that everyone’s been picked up,” you smiled back hesitantly. Turning to the boy, you continued, “Also, Dogyun asked me to tell you that, once you’re done helping Coach Jung, the other two will be playing Switch in your room if you’d like to join.”

Junhyuk focused wide, hopeful eyes on Coach Jung. “I finished the cones! What else do you need help with, sir?”

“That was the last thing, Junhyuk,” Coach Jung chuckled. “You can go.”

“Thank you!”

You stepped back so he could dart around you out of the room. Leaving just you and Coach Jung. He dropped the soccer ball at his feet, nudged it over to a pile of them that seemed in a similar rough condition, then grabbed another off the shelf to continue his inspection, while you suffered awkwardly in the silence, watching him.

You didn’t know Coach Jung very well. This was your first year at the school, not to mention your classroom was on the opposite side of the school from the gymnasium, and while you both technically lived on the school grounds, only male teachers lived in the dormitories with the students. Female staff had a separate living quarters, so you never crossed paths with him outside typical school hours either. You had only met him in passing at the beginning of the year with the rest of the teachers, and last week in the brief meeting with the headmaster in preparation for your staying through Winter Break. But you’d heard plenty about him. He was beloved by the students both as their physical education teacher and as the coach of several school sports teams. And he was also a regular topic of gossip around the female staff dorms. While you were the youngest in the women’s quarters by at least two decades, the older ladies still enjoyed a good piece of eye candy when he’d lead the running club on a jog around the grounds before breakfast, or help one of them carry something heavy. The delighted tittering when they found out that it would just be you and Coach Jung here for Winter Break was ceaseless until the last of your housemates finally left.

“Did you need something else, Ms. Y/L/N?” Coach Jung asked.

“Oh, I got our keys from the secretary.” You held up the two sets of keys that you’d been given which would grant you access to all the necessary facilities for the next month. “Do you want me to leave your set in your office, or…?”

“I’ll take them now, thanks.” He stepped towards you, hand outstretched.

You dropped the keyring into his palm with a light clink, and he pocketed them. “Also, I uh, I already told the boys they didn’t have to worry about uniform code for the next month. Hope that’s okay with you.”

“Oh, pff, yeah.” He waved a dismissive hand, eyes focused once more on the equipment. “The least of my concerns on any given day is whether or not they’re wearing the right kind of sock, much less on Christmas.”

“That was my thinking!”

“Glad we’re on the same page.”

“And, uhm—” You coughed, looking around at anything but him. “You can just call me Y/N when we’re not around the kids.”

He let out an airy chuckle, “Will do. You can call me Sungchan.”

“Oh, right.” You bit your lip to stop from laughing but your nerves still made words pour out, “Please don’t be too offended but I kind of forgot your name. I’m pretty sure you introduced yourself at the beginning of the year all-staff meeting but since then, I’ve really only heard people call you Coach Jung…”

Sungchan laughed loudly, nodding in agreement. “As soon as you came in here, I realized I couldn’t remember your name. I was going to look it up in the staff directory after you left.”

“So we’re really on the same page,” you chuckled. “Is it your first year, too?”

“No, fifth.”

“Okay, I definitely feel a lot better knowing I’m not doing this with another rookie.”

“I’ll take you under my wing. Promise.” He grinned, and oddly enough, his confidence actually did calm your anxiety about the whole thing.

“Well how about, between us, no stupid questions?” You proposed hesitantly. “Instead of looking names up in the staff directory behind each other’s backs or whatever, we just ask? I think it’ll make the next month go much easier, right?”

“I think so too,” he agreed easily. “Just ask.”

“I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.” You gestured vaguely to the storage room. “I’m going to check on the boys and then probably be in the library until dinner.”

“One more thing before you go.” Sungchan brought out his cell phone from his pocket. “Probably be a good idea to have each other’s numbers.”

The kitchen staff were also gone for the holiday break, but had prepared refrigerated and frozen meals. A stipend was also left that could be spent on groceries or off-campus meals if you wanted. The dining hall felt far too large for just the five of you, so you took your reheated food to the common room to eat instead.

“So, what do you boys want to do on break?” You asked as you were all sat around one table together. “Within reason. Give us some ideas, and Coach Jung and I will see what we can do.”

“Right now, we’re looking at one or two off-campus activities a week,” Sungchan added from his seat beside you. “And bringing some fun here if we can.”

“You don’t have to answer now. Think about it.”

“Can we go skating on the pond?” Junhyuk requested.

“Ooh, what about sledding?” Dogyun said.

“We should build igloos on the soccer field!”

“And sleep in them!”

“I bet the Willow Hill is tall enough to ski from!”

“My uncle took me ice fishing one time! Coach Jung, do you think Mr. Suh would mind if we took some tools from woodshop to carve a hole into the pond?”

Both you and Sungchan chuckled, your coworker taking the lead in answering, “He’d probably be more upset that you cut a hole in the pond ice without him.”

“What about you, Sungmin?” You prompted the youngest, who hadn’t joined in the discussion yet.

He looked up from his food, big eyes getting a little bigger. “I thought you said we could think about it…”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” you apologized, patting his head fondly. “I didn’t mean to pressure you. Take your time.”

Upon returning to the female staff dorms, you immediately noticed that something was wrong. You weren’t embraced by warm air after the cold, arduous journey from the main building. The difference in temperature was barely noticeable. Investigating the thermostat, you found that it was set to what should’ve been a toasty temperature.

With a sigh, you dialed the after-hours maintenance line for the school. After three calls going to voicemail, you let out a huff of frustration, which came out as a white cloud in the chilly air. Begrudgingly, you threw a few necessities into a bag, then trudged back to the main building once more.

Spotting light streaming out from under a door at the end of the dorm hall you were in, you shuffled over and knocked. You’ve only been in the dorm halls twice, once on an informal tour during your interview, and the second on a brief tour during your orientation. From what you remembered, the teachers’ rooms were at the beginning and end of each hall.

“Hold on!” Sungchan’s voice called out from within, and after a few moments, he opened the door. He clearly hadn’t been expecting you, blinking down at you. “Y/N. Thought you were one of the boys. Is everything okay?”

“The heat’s out in my dorm,” you explained. “Nobody picked up when I called maintenance.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah, so I was just gonna—”

“Oh, yeah, come on in.” He stepped back and opened the door wider.

You slowly pointed over your shoulder. “—sleep in the common room… on the couch.”

“Right.” He coughed. “I mean, whatever you’re comfortable with. I’ve got an extra bed since Shotaro’s out. Or actually, you can stay in here and I’ll sleep in the common room.”

He was already reaching to grab a blanket off a bed, holding the door open with his foot.

“I didn’t come to take over your room,” you stopped him with a laugh. “You think Shotaro would mind?”

“Nah, I’ll take his bed.” Sungchan threw the blanket back and once again moved out of the doorway for you to go in.

You hesitated in the hallway, however. “Wait—Do you think this is okay? I’m not supposed to even be in your room.”

“Actually, I’m not supposed to be in your room,” he informed you with a grin. “There’s technically no rule against you being here.”

“What? Why wouldn’t they make it the same?”

He shrugged. “They forgot? Figured it’d be harder to have hookups with kids knocking down your door every night? I don’t know.”

“Thanks, Sungchan.” You smiled, ducking into the room. As he closed the door behind you, you took stock of the room. It was a little larger than the student rooms, with an attached bathroom and two beds in opposite corners. Each of them also had a nightstand, desk, chair, and dresser. Sungchan’s roommate was Shotaro, the dance teacher, and you spotted a couple pictures of him and his family on one of the desks.

He fetched a couple more blankets from his under-bed storage and handed them to you. “Just washed these yesterday.”

“I feel so special,” you joked, waiting for him to take the bedding off his bed and toss it onto Shotaro’s.

“Who do you room with?” He made conversation as you settled in, toeing off your winter boots and setting your bag down.

“Oh, nobody. We have individual rooms.”

“Lucky,” he huffed.

“Only two showers, though.”

“In the whole building?”

“Yeah, well, it’s just one of the old headmasters’ houses that they renovated.” You sat down on the edge of the mattress. Pulling out your phone and charging cable, you plugged it into an outlet next to the nightstand. “Ms. Hyesoo is very strict about the shower schedule so nobody uses up all the hot water. When you first start at the school, she times all your showers until she thinks you can be trusted.”

“Wait, seriously?!” Sungchan’s mouth was agape.

“Yup. And if you’re not new and she suspects you’re taking too long, she’ll start timing you again.”

“Who made her president of the shower?”

“I’m pretty sure she did,” you chuckled, scooting up towards the headboard and draping the blanket over your lap. “I mean, I think it is important that nobody hogs all the hot water so everyone can use it. And she’s technically like, in charge of the female staff dorms so I guess if she thinks this is necessary…”

“Okay, well for the next month, take as long as you want,” he scoffed.

You laid down on your side, pulling the blanket up over your shoulder. “I appreciate that.”

He reached up for the lightswitch by the door. “Lights out?”

“Ready.”

With a flick of his fingers, the room was plunged into darkness. You could hear Sungchan settling in on his side of the room. As your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you called out softly, “Sungchan?”

“Yeah?”

“Seriously, thanks for doing this with me. I already told you it’s my first year here, but it’s also my first year teaching at all. I took all these extra online certification courses, even after they told me I got the job. I just want to be the best for the kids, you know?”

“You know much about Mr. Shin? He used to teach your class.”

“Bits and pieces. He retired, right?”

“Yeah. And this is the first year I actually hear kids excited to go to their history classes. Telling me about the cool stuff they’re learning.”

You smiled to yourself, rubbing your socked feet together under the covers. “Aw, yay.”

“You’ll keep learning. The fact that you want to do all that for them already gives you a good start,” he added.

“Thanks, Sungchan.”

“Anytime.” He yawned, “Mm, goodnight.”

“Night,” you replied, shutting your eyes.

It wasn’t until Monday that you heard back from anybody regarding the heat in the women’s building. The head groundskeeper finally called you back, apologetically informing you that the heat in that building was scheduled to shut off for every winter break and he hadn’t been informed to keep it on this year. He offered to drive in to turn it back on for you, letting you know that it wouldn’t be until this afternoon since he lived several hours away, and you gratefully declined his offer. He was on break, too, and it seemed like far too big of an inconvenience at this point. You would just tough it out in the main building for the month.

The boys had asked to go sledding for their first winter activity, which was an easy enough request. Sungchan dug out a few old snow sleds from an equipment shed on the grounds while you inspected the boys’ gear and gave them a thorough safety lecture before even letting them step foot out of their dorm room. Now, you and Sungchan watched them take off from the top of the Willow Hill, sleds careening down through the snow before skidding to a stop nearby. Then they’d leap to their feet and run all the way back up, dragging the sleds behind them.

“Looks fun,” you commented as the three kids all piled onto one sled together, Sungmin sandwiched between the two older boys.

“You want to go?” Sungchan offered, gesturing to the other two sleds forgotten at the bottom of the hill.

“Last time I was in charge of my own sled, I knocked both my front teeth out,” you admitted sheepishly.

“Ouch,” he chuckled. “How about I drive, then? If you’re cool with that.”

“When’s the last time you drove a sled, exactly?”

“Last winter. Why do you think we have them on campus? We use them for Winter Field Day in January.”

You held up your hands in deference. “My apologies, I shouldn’t have doubted your skills.”

Despite your offer to help, Sungchan hauled the bright orange sled uphill by himself. Willow Hill was named for a willow tree that used to sit at the top of it. All that was left of the tree was a short stump that was now almost completely buried in snow.

“What happened to it?” You questioned, staring at the stump. “The willow?”

“Oh, uhm, it died. They had to cut it down,” he replied, lips pursing in a thoughtful frown. “Can’t remember why it died, though. It was way before I worked here.”

“Huh. I’ll ask Ms. Hyesoo after break. I bet she knows.”

“If anybody is going to know, it’s her or the headmaster,” he agreed with a chuckle. Switching trains of thought, he dropped the sled onto the ground and gestured to it, “So, you’ll be in front and hold onto the tie. Lean when I lean. I’ll tell you which way, okay?”

You nodded. “Seems easy enough.”

He held the sled in place while you got settled into the front, then climbed into the back himself. His long legs stretched forward on either side of you, his chest was nearly flush to your back, and he readjusted to be able to properly see over you.

“Good?” He checked in with you.

“Mhm.” You held on tightly to the rope anchored to the front of the sled.

“Y/N—Sorry—You’ve got to lean back on me. If you’re sitting forward like that and we hit a rock you’re going to go flying.”

“Shit, okay, when you put it like that,” you laughed and did as he instructed. Now fully reclined on him, you looked over your shoulder to ask, “That better?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Much uh, safer.”

“Can you see?”

“Yeah, more than—more than before.”

“Oh, good.”

“Good.”

“So, are we ready to go?”

“What?”

“Go down the hill? Sled?”

Sungchan smiled a little. “Yeah, of course. Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” you determined. “Do I get a countdown?”

“Are you holding onto the tie?”

“Well, yeah.”

“One—” And with a great shove, he launched your sled off the top of the hill. The cold air bit at your cheeks and nose as you sped downhill, white flurries of snow flew up on either side of the sled, and abundant, uncontrollable laughter tumbled from your mouth. When you felt one particularly large bump under the sled bottom, you let out a half-yelp half-giggle and clutched Sungchan’s leg, your other hand keeping a death grip on the rope. He let go of his handrail on that side of the sled to hold you down by your arm.

“Left!” He called out, and you could hear the giddiness in his own tone with the command. Both of you leaned left, and the sled successfully veered left away from a small log.

At the bottom of the hill, the sled eventually came to a stop, and you let out a sigh of relief.

“There. Made it in one piece,” Sungchan teased, patting the top of your head.

“That was a lot of fun,” you said through breathless sputters, starting to sit up to get ready to climb up out of the sled.

“Want to go again?”

Before you could answer, Dogyun and Junhyuk swarmed you, clambering trying to call dibs as to who would ride with Sungchan next.

“Hold on, let Ms. Y/L/N and me get up first, okay?” He shooed them back. The coach hauled himself out of the sled, and you suddenly were scrambling to stay upright without him behind you. He didn’t leave you floundering for long, offering two hands to help you up, making sure you were steady on your feet before turning to the boys. “Alright, now, one at a time—”

Having already noticed the distinct lack of Sungmin with the others, you turned around in place, scanning the snowy hills for him. Thankfully he wasn’t very far, at the top of Willow Hill, sitting on the stump and seemingly watching the rest of you at the foot. Dogyun was holding a red sled, and Junhyuk a purple one, so you knew Sungmin didn’t have one. You waved at him. He waved back.

Hiking your way back up, you approached the boy curiously. “Hey.”

“Hi, Ms. Y/L/N,” he peered up at you from under the brim of his beanie.

“You forgot your sled. Unless you were planning on rolling down like a log.” You tucked your arms into your chest and mimicked doing so.

He giggled at you before shaking his head. “No, I just wanted to sit up here.”

“You can see a lot up here,” you commented, appreciating the sports fields, pond, and school buildings all laid out around you. “Mind if I sit with you?”

“You can.” Sungmin scooted over on the wide stump to make room for you.

“Thank you.”

“I’ve been thinking about what I want to do on break. Can we go to a movie theater?”

There was a small town nearby that school personnel would sometimes make trips to, but you didn’t know off the top of your head whether or not it had a movie theater. If it didn’t, the next biggest town was much, much further. But you weren’t going to write off his request so hastily. “I’ll look into it, Sungmin. What kind of movie do you want to see?”

“Mmm… I don’t know. I like all kinds of movies.”

You chuckled a little. “Good point. Movies are cool. I’ll see what our options are. Any other ideas?”

“No. Did you know some fish hibernate?”

“I did not know that.”

He pointed to the pond. “I asked Mr. Lee what happens to the fish when the water freezes and he told me.”

“Very interesting. Thanks for telling me.”

“Did you know that some fish hibernate?”

Sungchan poked his head out of the bathroom to affix you with a confused look, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. “Huh?”

“When lakes and stuff freeze over, some fish will hibernate,” you reiterated seriously from where you were sitting cross-legged on your bed.

He finished brushing, spat out his toothpaste, and rinsed his toothbrush before shutting the lights off. Lumbering back into the bedroom, he stopped next to your bed, arms folded over his chest, head cocked, and face absolutely bewildered as he asked, “What?”

“Sungmin was telling me about it today.” You typed away on your laptop.

“Okay, that makes more sense now.”

“He wants to go to a movie theater, but the closest one is like five hours away,” you huffed.

“…To see a movie about fish hibernation?”

“What? No. I mean, he’d probably like that, but I doubt there’s actually a movie like that showing.”

“Of course, my bad.”

“He said he’d see any movie, but there’s no movie theater in town. Look.” You pushed your laptop to the side, off one leg.

He took the cue and sat down next to you on the mattress, taking your computer into his lap. Two of his long fingers swiped and tapped across the trackpad. He alternated pursing his lips and rolling the bottom one between his teeth as he also evaluated the lack of cinema options in your area. Finally, he clicked his tongue against the back of his front teeth.

“Damn, the Cineplex must have closed down since last year,” he sighed. “There used to be this tiny chain cinema like, an hour from here. Mrs. Kang organized field trips there every semester.”

The mention of Mrs. Kang, the film teacher, gave you an idea. You might not be able to bring the kids to the movies, but you could try your best to bring the experience of the movies to them.

“Hold on—There’s projectors in every classroom,” you started explaining your plan to Sungchan. “Take out the desks and chairs, bring in some pillows and blankets, get some popcorn… We’ve got our own movie theater right here.”

“Yes, that’s perfect!” He held a hand up for you to high-five.

“My classroom is in one of the wings that’s locked up right now, so we’ll need to borrow someone else’s…”

“We can use mine.”

“Wait, you have a classroom?”

“Physical education has a classroom, yes,” he chuckled. “We’ve got pencils and everything.”

You sheepishly tried to backpedal, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine, Y/N,” he reassured you, knocking his knee against yours. “It’s in a random hallway in the gym. Nobody knows it’s there. But it has a projector.”

“Okay, if I take the boys to the store to pick out snacks and stuff, would that be enough time for you to set up your classroom? Or do you need my help?”

“Nah. I’ve got set-up, you’re on snacks.”

The next night, you got back from your short trip into town with all three boys in tow and bags of snacks in hand. You took the snacks with you as you sent them to get changed out of their heavy winter clothes. As you headed off towards your own temporary quarters, you texted Sungchan.

[you: just got back. is everything ready?]

You set the bags of snacks down on your bed before pulling your parka off to hang up. The bathroom door opened then, and your friendly greeting got stuck in your throat. Humid air came out along with Sungchan, a towel tied around his waist and damp hair hanging over his forehead.

He skidded to a stop just past the threshold, alarmed. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t hear you come back.”

“No, it’s fine, I didn’t hear you either, sorry,” you apologized, trying to keep your eyes on anything except the beads of water tracing the contours of his bare chest as they rolled down, down, down, and disappeared into the towel.

“I uh, forgot pants,” he pointed to the dresser on his side of the room—the one you were currently occupying—shuffling his way over there.

Keeping one hand where the towel was tied, he flipped his wet hair out of his eyes with the other before opening a drawer and rifling through it. With him turned away from you, you took the opportunity to look a little more directly at him, at the way his back and shoulders subtly flexed and shifted with every movement. When he righted himself, clothing secured in his hand, you hastily looked away, back down at the bags of snacks as if you had been attending to something important with them the whole time.

Sungchan reemerged from the bathroom fully dressed, toweling off his hair, “Everything go okay when you were out?”

“Yeah, the boys were great,” you told him. “Your room all set up?”

“Yep. You ready?”

“Ready.”

He tilted his head. “…In your snow boots?”

You shook your head, embarrassed. “Right. Uhm, give me a minute to change.”

“I’ll grab the boys and meet you in the hall.”

Sungchan’s classroom was, in fact, in a random hallway in the gymnasium. The hallway outside contained the desks and chairs that used to be inside, and sleeping mats were now spread out on the floor of the small room, pillows and blankets piled up on top of them. You had all each brought your own blankets and other various items for comfort, but this looked plenty cozy on its own. While the kids immediately jumped on the mound of blankets and pillows, you went with Sungchan over to his laptop that was hooked up to the projector.

“You did good,” you complimented him, fondly watching the boys paying around and wrestling. “This is perfect.”

“It was your good idea.” He bumped your hip with his. “I just executed it.”

“This was better than I imagined. A-plus execution.”

“We’re a pretty good team, huh?” Sungchan grinned, pulling up the first movie.

With the first movie started, everyone started actually settling in. You were readjusting pillows and blankets while Sungchan took it upon himself to begin distributing the snacks. “Sungmin…” he held the chocolate covered pretzels out.

“Thanks, Coach Jung,” Sungmin accepted the bag.

“Who got the sour gummy worms?”

“Me!” Dogyun called out. Sungchan tossed them to him.

“Mini peanut butter cups?”

“Me!” Junhyuk answered.

“And these are mine, so this must be yours.” He passed out the final two snacks, his pick and yours.

You accepted it from him graciously. “Thank you.”

Your students all quieted down as the movie started, splitting their snacks between them in quiet agreement. As they readjusted and got comfortable during the course of the movie, you scooted around as well to give them more room. But when you accidentally knocked your hand against Sungchan’s under a blanket, you realized that you had slowly been scooting closer into his personal space in the process.

“Sorry,” you whispered, taking your hand back and preparing to move away.

“It’s fine,” he replied quietly. “You’re fine there, don’t worry.”

Trying to ignore the heat rising on your cheeks, you stared at the screen in front of you, staying put and letting your leg fall and relax against his.

“Hey, you boys almost ready?” You asked into the open door of the boys’ dorm room. Junhyuk and Dogyun were inside lacing up their snowboots.

Junhyuk handed you a pair of small gloves. “Minnie forgot these, can you go give them to him? Dogyun takes forever to get ready.”

“Yeah, because you were hogging—”

“I’ll give them to him,” you cut off the beginnings of their bickering. “Thanks, Junhyuk.”

Snow soccer was on the schedule today—what exactly that entailed, you still weren’t sure, but the boys would apparently explain everything once you started. So you began the trek out to the soccer fields. Fresh snow was beginning to fall, and you wondered if this would benefit or ruin the snow soccer plans. Two others were already there, Sungchan and Sungmin. You had just raised your hand, preparing to wave, when you realized that something was wrong. It sounded like Sungmin was yelling, upset. Your friendly greeting died in your throat as you dropped your hand and picked up your pace.

“I just want you to leave me alone!” He seemed to be yelling at Sungchan, little, bare hands balled into fists at his side. Sungchan, for his part, wasn’t engaging. He didn’t seem to be reacting at all, still as a statue and mouth dropped open. “I never want to talk to you ever again! You’re always doing this! You’re-You’re such a—such a asshole!”

“Jung Sungmin!” You finally stopped him, stepping in between the two. Keeping your voice level but stern, you told him, “That’s enough. Go to your dorm and take a breather. Don’t leave your room until you and I have talked, okay?”

The boy’s face was completely pink, tears welling up in his eyes. But more than anything, he was angry. You’d never seen him more than annoyed, never say anything harsher than ‘dumb,’ so this entire situation was leagues out of your comprehension.

Sungmin didn’t say anything more, turning on his heel and storming off towards the building. You watched him for another minute to make sure he made it inside before pivoting on the adult still with you.

“That’s your idea of deescalation and conflict resolution, Sungchan?” You questioned, eyes wide.

Sungchan was still frozen to the spot, eyes glued to where Sungmin had just been standing. “He…”

Utterly flabbergasted, you looked between Sungchan and the school building. “Sungmin’s the sweetest kid ever, I can’t imagine anything getting him that worked up.”

“It’s my fault.”

“What?”

“It’s his first Christmas without his mom.” He offered an explanation, his voice hollow. “He doesn’t want to be here.”

“He wants to be home with her,” you said softly. Your heart broke with the realization. While the reasons the three students were staying over break hadn’t been disclosed to you, you knew they weren’t going to be good. “No other family?”

Sungchan gestured to himself, the defeat apparent on his face. “You’re looking at it. He’s my nephew.”

That did catch you off-guard. While you were aware they shared a surname, it wasn’t a terribly uncommon one, and definitely not enough to suspect any sort of relation between them. Especially since neither had ever alluded to it. “Why did you stay here with him instead of going home?”

“I don’t have anywhere to take him. I live here during the school year, and I used to stay with my sister and Sungmin for the couple months during the summer in between.”

You nodded, noticing the redness around Sungchan’s eyes too. While there was more that you wanted to say, Dogyun and Junhyuk were coming out of the school building, and you still had to talk to Sungmin. Patting his shoulder, you said, “I’m going to check on Sungmin.”

“Thanks,” he sighed, sniffing and trying to quickly compose himself.

Passing by the older boys, you saw the solemn looks on their faces and figured they had encountered Sungmin. You shook the snow off you as you walked through the empty, quiet halls. The light poured out of the open door to the boys’ dorm room, and you stopped at the threshold. Sungmin was sitting on the bottom bunk of one of the two bunk beds, staring at his feet that were dangling over the edge.

“Hey, Sungmin,” you greeted him calmly. “Are you ready to talk? Or do you need a few more minutes?”

“You can come in,” he mumbled.

“Thank you.” You stepped into the room. “May I sit with you?”

He shrugged, and you took that as a yes, positioning yourself at the foot of his bed. The boy huffed, refusing to meet your eyes as he suddenly began rambling, “I shouldn’t have yelled at him, or said a bad word. He’s my teacher, I should be respectful, I know. I’ll apologize.”

“That’s all true,” you acquiesced. “Are you okay?”

“He told you, didn’t he?” He messed with a loose thread on his sweater. “About my mom… That she…”

“He did. I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

Sungmin’s shoulders jumped as he hiccupped, and you could see that tears had finally begun falling down his cheeks, wetting his lap. You stayed put, not wanting to crowd or overwhelm him.

“Where do you feel it? The sadness?” You asked him quietly.

He pointed to the middle of his chest. “H-Here.”

“Good job,” you praised him quietly. Breathing in, you asked, “Can I tell you something?”

He nodded.

“It’s my first Christmas without my mom, too,” you admitted. Sungmin finally looked up at you, his tear-stained face giving you a sinking feeling of déjà vu in the pit of your stomach. You continued, “I miss her all the time. It’s okay to miss her, and feel sad, and all sorts of stuff. It hurts, right?”

“A lot. Right here,” his voice trembled as he patted himself on the chest once more. Then, he curled both of his hands into fists in his lap. “I want it to stop.”

“I know, Sungmin, I know. When you hurt inside, you should talk about it, not try to make somebody else hurt more than you.” You felt for him, terribly. “It won’t make it stop immediately, but it makes it easier.”

“I-I’m also mad. A lot,” he confessed, eyes seeking your face. “A-At him.”

“At Coach Jung?” You were careful to only address Sungchan the way that you’ve heard Sungmin address him.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I mean, like, I was mad because he told me to go back inside and get my gloves but like, I wasn’t really mad because he told me to get my gloves. My hands were cold. I think… maybe I was mad he was telling me what to do. Like he really cares.”

You tilted your head thoughtfully. “You think he doesn’t care about you?”

“…No, I don’t think that,” Sungmin huffed, his shoulders deflating. He was no longer actively sobbing, the odd stray tear slipping down his cheek. “I’m just being mean again.”

“It takes practice.”

“What does? Not being mean?”

“Being a person. You’ll be practicing your whole life,” you informed him. “Everyone else is too. It’s everyone’s first time being a person.”

“He’s my uncle.” Sungmin got up, shuffling over to where a suitcase was sitting atop one of the dressers, opening one of the front pockets. He sat down right next to you to show them to you. They were custom Christmas cards that a family would mass-order every year to send out to their entire address book, each one featuring a big picture of Sungmin, Sungchan, and a woman—Sungmin’s mom. Sungmin pointed to Sungchan in the picture from last year. “Coach Jung. Well, he’s really my Uncle Sungchan. I-I didn’t want anybody to know at school, so I stopped calling him Uncle Sungchan. During the summer he always came and lived with us—me and my mom. He told me stories about the cool school where he worked, and I used to beg Mom to send me here…” His voice cracked, and he snapped his head up to you, eyes wide with panic. “You don’t think that’s why…?”

You couldn’t imagine what came next. “Why what?”

“Because I wanted to come here? And now I am? I didn’t mean it like that, I just—”

“Oh, Sungmin, no, no. Of course not,” you quickly reassured him, rubbing his back to soothe his breathing that had quickened again. “I know sometimes we want to find reasons to blame bad things on ourselves, because it makes it easier to understand, or because then we think maybe we could stop something like it in the future. But this isn’t your fault.”

He visibly relaxed again, but kept staring at the pictures on the cards pensively. As he flipped through them, you saw they went back to his first Christmas, an infant in a candy-cane printed onesie in his mom’s arms as Sungchan happily wrapped an arm around them both, beaming at the camera. It wasn’t professionally taken like the more recent ones, just a selfie taken on a couch.

With an idea forming in your mind, you said, “Every Christmas, I used to help my mom bake cookies to give out to our neighbors. Do you want to make some with me this year?”

Finally, something other than sorrow—interest—flashed across Sungmin’s face. He nodded.

“Perfect, thank you,” you smiled. “I need a taste tester, after all.”

He giggled a little at this.

“Since you’re helping me, is there something you and your mom used to do every Christmas that we can do?”

Sungmin sniffled and nodded. “We-We made Christmas cookies, and would put like, sprinkles and stuff on them.”

“I can totally make that happen,” you promised.

“Junhyuk and Dogyun will want to do it too.” After a beat, he added, “Uncle Sungchan, too.”

“Absolutely. All five of us.”

He rested his head on your shoulder, looking at his pictures again. “Yeah.”

“Yeah…” You echoed, squeezing his shoulder tight, to remind him you were there. Your other hand brought out his gloves that were still in your pocket, handing them over to him, “Your friends wanted to make sure you had these.”

“I’m not ready for snow soccer yet, Ms. Y/L/N.”

“Snow soccer can wait for whenever you’re ready. They’ll understand.”

When Sungmin finally felt ready, he tucked his pictures away again, and the two of you set back off outside. The snow hadn’t let up while you were inside, and way out on the soccer field, you saw Junhyuk and Dogyun throwing a soccer ball back and forth while Sungchan watched on from further away.

“Hey!” Sungmin waved a gloved hand at them, jumping up and down.

“Minnie!” Junhyuk waved back.

Sungmin ran ahead of you to his friends, and you made your way over to Sungchan. He watched the kids interacting, and you knew he was desperately looking for any hint as to Sungmin’s mental state.

“He’s okay,” you told him. “I’ll tell you about it after dinner?”

“Good idea.” He nodded. Moving his gaze to you, he added genuinely, “Thanks, Y/N.”

“Let’s play snow soccer!” Dogyun announced loudly, to the cheers of the other two. “We need you guys, too!”

Locking eyes with Sungchan, both of you smiled, before you agreed enthusiastically, “Alright, let’s play snow soccer!”

Snow soccer, it turns out, was soccer that you played in the snow. The biggest difference, perhaps, was that it was harder to kick the ball through the layer of freshly fallen snow, and that the lines on the field were rendered entirely useless by the fact that you couldn’t see them under said snow. But it was fun anyway, the five of you running around until the sun was going down and the lights over the field clicked on. Your nose was frozen off by the time hunger finally pulled the boys off the field and inside. They spent all dinner exchanging ideas about what other sports could be better played in the snow, then it was bedtime.

As soon as the door to your room was shut, the air grew heavy. Sungchan plopped down on his bed—his real one, the one that you had been using. You sat next to him.

“I’m sorry about your sister, Sungchan,” you broached the subject head-on. So far, all of the focus had been on Sungmin’s loss, you wondered if Sungchan had even stopped and let himself grieve too.

“Thanks,” he whispered, wringing his hands together. Clearing his throat, he asked, “You said Sungmin’s good?”

“We talked about how he’s feeling. He showed me pictures of his mom—your Christmas cards.”

“When our parents found out she was pregnant, they disowned her. She wasn’t married.”

“That’s horrible…”

“I was the only one in our whole family who kept talking to her. That’s how he ended up with me. I didn’t think bringing him around to family Christmas now would help any. They’re strangers to him.” His voice was tight, and he let out a shaky breath. Rubbing his face, he continued, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She wanted to do all this stuff—She was so smart.”

“Sungmin’s really bright,” you commented lightly.

“Yeah, he is.” He smiled faintly. “He called me ‘Uncle Sungchan’ again, just now when we were saying goodnight. Thank you for whatever you said to him. All those online certificates seem to have paid off.”

“Wasn’t exactly in the online trainings…” You confessed hesitantly. “I told him this was my first Christmas without my mom too.”

“Shit, Y/N…” Sungchan breathed out, the bittersweet smile immediately falling from his face. He hugged you. “I’m so sorry.”

“My dad passed when I was a baby. It was just me and my mom for my whole life. Now it’s just me,” you muttered against his shoulder, tears beginning to eke out the corners of your eyes. With a cynical chuckle, you said, “I haven’t told anybody else this, but the reason I volunteered to stay here over break is so I wouldn’t be alone on Christmas. It’s a bit pathetic, isn’t it?”

“No, not at all,” he reassured you, hand cradling the back of your head. “Honestly, I probably could’ve taken him somewhere—rented a place for the month, I don’t know—but I was afraid of it being just the two of us on Christmas. Thought the other boys would give him something else to do than be sad, you know?”

“They’ve kept us pretty busy,” you giggled.

“For sure,” he agreed humorously.

“Sungmin told me that every Christmas, they used to make and decorate cookies. I promised we would all do that.”

“It’s a good idea. Thanks, Y/N.”

You and Sungchan were still hugging each other, and with your tears subsiding, you began pulling away to dab at your eyes with the sleeves of your sweatshirt. “You’re doing really good, Sungchan,” you sniffled, and patted his forearm. “With Sungmin. You’ll keep learning.”

He turned his hand over, catching yours and holding it. “You’re good with them too. All of them.”

Your chest was suddenly too tight around your heart, and you couldn’t say anything, so you squeezed his hand back instead.

“I’m here if you need me, for whatever. Even after break,” he said as he began standing up, still holding onto your hand.

“Of course. You took me under your wing, remember?” You choked out a joke.

He smiled fondly. “Of course.”

Letting your hand slip from his, he crossed over to the other bed and pulled the covers back to get under them. You were oddly cold as you went to sleep that night, blankets tight around you, thinking again about how warm Sungchan’s arms were around you.

The five of you were in the dining hall for the first time that break. The long tables afforded plenty of space to spread out the many, many cookie decorating supplies you’d procured especially for today. Yesterday, you and Sungmin had baked batches and batches of cookies—five people was simply too many to have in the kitchen helping out at once, so you sent the other three to find something to do. Now that the cookies were all cool, it was time to decorate them.

“How’d you do that?” Sungmin gasped, staring at one of Junhyuk’s cookies, which had gel food colorings swirled through the white frosting.

“Here, I’ll show you, Minnie,” Junhyuk offered, putting the cookie he was currently working on down.

You smiled to yourself, continuing to carefully place snowflake sprinkles on your cookie. Sungchan peered over at your work. “What’s going on there?”

“It’s Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon.” You gestured to your surprisingly legible rocketship piped on with gel icing, then at the pearl sprinkle you’d put next to it. “That’s the moon.”

He laughed, pointing to the snowflake sprinkles that you were still dutifully adding. “I’m not the science teacher, but I don’t think it snows in space.”

“Neither am I.” You wrinkled your nose at him in jest. “I took creative liberties. It entered orbit around the moon on Christmas Eve.”

“Well when you’re done, I need those sprinkles.” He nudged his work over towards you for you to look. You could parse out a shaky stick figure, and another circle next to one of its feet. “My snow soccer is missing some snow.”

“That looks like a volleyball to me.”

“You’re right, hold on.” He picked the black icing back up, adding a few dots inside the empty white circle. “Better?”

“Much.” You pushed the container of sprinkles over to him. “All yours.”

“You guys made a lot of cookies,” he commented, eyeing the other containers of treats that you still hadn’t decorated. “There’s only five of us.”

“Got a bit carried away,” you admitted sheepishly. “But they’re really good!”

“Ooh, I haven’t tried one yet, hold on.” He grabbed an undecorated cookie and bit into it. His eyebrows shot up, and he nodded appreciatively as he wolfed down the rest of it. “Mm, I don’t think we’ll have any problem finishing these, actually.”

“You’ve got crumbs all over your face now.”

“Oops.” He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.

“You missed some.” You tsked, grabbing a clean napkin and brushing the rest off his cheek.

He beamed. “Thanks.”

With a flutter in your chest, you returned to decorating cookies.

The next day was Christmas Eve, and Dogyun was heading home. This had always been part of the plan, in your briefing from the headmaster. While he was staying at the school for Winter Break as a whole, he’d be with his family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They lived in the nearby town and were driving over to pick him up soon.

As you watched over the boy haphazardly throwing things into an overnight bag, you couldn’t help your curiosity, and cautiously asked, “Were they out of town? Your family?”

“Nah,” Dogyun answered bluntly. “We live right there.”

“Oh. Of course.”

“Junhyuk’s dad made him stay here, so I asked my parents to stay too,” he expounded as he dug around in his dresser, occasionally sniff-testing garments of clothing before shoving them in. “They said I could, but I had to come home for Christmas. I wanted him to just stay at our house, since my parents are on his emergency card, but then we heard that Minnie would be here too. Me ‘n Junhyuk.”

You smiled proudly at the boy. “That’s all very nice of you to do for your friends, Dogyun.”

“Why’re you here, Ms. Y/L/N? On Christmas?” Dogyun questioned. “What about your parents?”

“My parents have uhm—they’ve passed.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry, I didn’t know—”

“It’s okay,” you reassured him calmly. “I’m glad I’m spending Christmas—and this whole break—with you guys.”

Dogyun zipped up his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Hey, can you check on Junhyuk before lights-out? I know you always come say goodnight to us, but look after him a little extra right now? I’m not here, so however much you look after me, give it to him.”

“I’ll look after him double.”

“Thanks, Ms. Y/L/N.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

Dogyun’s family was already in the drive when you got outside. His parents immediately hugged him, to which he rolled his eyes, but hugged them back nevertheless. You gave all of them your holidays wishes, and waved one final time to your student as he climbed into the car.

That night, before lights-out, you checked on the boys as promised. Sungmin had climbed into Junhyuk’s bottom bunk, watching the older boy play a game on his Switch. You hovered in the doorway for a few moments, just observing them fondly. When it looked like he was between levels, you softly knocked on the open door to announce your presence.

Both of them looked up from the screen, Junhyuk setting the device down on his lap. “Hi, Ms. Y/L/N.”

“Hey, guys. How are you?”

“Junhyuk was showing me a really hard level in this game! He’s really good!” Sungmin told you enthusiastically.

“Is it lights-out?” Junhyuk asked.

“No, not yet. Just popping in to say goodnight.”

Sungmin threw the blankets off him to scurry over to you, throwing his arms around your waist. “Goodnight.”

You patted the top of his head. “Night, Sungmin.”

“Can I go see my uncle for a minute?”

“Of course.”

He zipped down the hall, leaving you with the older boy. Junhyuk turned his device off and set it down. After a moment of silence, he hesitantly asked, “Can I hug you too?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” You opened your arms for him, letting him approach you uncertainly, hugging you with much more caution than Sungmin had. You squeezed him tight, patting his back, and felt him relax in your arms. “You know me and Coach Jung are right there if you need anything, right?”

He nodded, retracting from the hug as slow as he’d initiated. You offered one more reassuring smile, already hearing the hurried footsteps of Sungmin returning. The nine-year-old squeezed into the room, launching himself back onto Junhyuk’s mattress.

“One more level, Jun?” He pleaded.

Junhyuk chuckled and started gently pushing him over. “Not if you’re hogging my whole bed, Minnie. Make some room.”

Back in your room, you slowly got ready for bed, Junhyuk’s situation still weighing heavy on your mind. Emerging from the bathroom, you stopped at the foot of Sungchan’s temporary bed, where he was propped up against the pillows reading something.

“Do you know why Junhyuk’s here?” You asked.

Sungchan sighed and nodded. “Yeah, his dad’s shitty. I know we’re not supposed to talk like that about them—”

“I won’t tell.”

“—Absolutely fucking evil son of a bitch,” he groaned, snapping his book shut and mimicking like he was strangling somebody. “He’s leaving Junhyuk here over break to teach him a lesson.”

Your jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Because he wore the wrong color tie to some event.”

“What?!”

“Junhyuk told me the first day, when he was helping me with the equipment. The really sad thing is, he believes that he deserves it.”

“No…”

“Yeah,” Sungchan confirmed. “Poor kid.”

You blood boiled over in record time. “That’s not a fitting punishment at all! Doesn’t even deserve a punishment! That guy’s a dick! He doesn’t even deserve a kid as good as Junhyuk. Oh my god, he shouldn’t even fucking be a parent!”

“I told him that. Well, the first part.” He watched you pace angrily. “Junhyuk say something to you?”

“Dogyun seemed worried about him while he was gone, asked me to take extra care of him. Didn’t say why.” You bit the inside of your cheek. “Dogyun’s a good kid. Despite the…”

“Stealing sewing needles to pierce his own ears?”

“I was going to say general disregard for rules and authority that he doesn’t deem worth his time, but that too,” you chuckled.

“Same thing.”

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were remarkably quiet. Junhyuk and Sungmin mainly kept busy with indoor activities—video games, reading, and playing in the gym. As you bit into a cookie Christmas night, you thought about your mom, letting a few bittersweet tears fall.

Dogyun’s return made the school feel full again, despite the distinct lack of all other students. There was more laughter, more smiles, and more energy. He brought with him extra presents for Junhyuk and Sungmin from his family, as well as an invite for them to stay over at his family’s house for New Year’s Eve. Dogyun’s parents were one of Junhyuk’s emergency contacts alongside his own, meaning that they had pre-approved permission to sign him out. Sungchan gave his permission for Sungmin to go as well. But in the week before New Year’s, they were still yours to entertain.

“Yeti! Mountain! Yeti! Mountain!” The three boys chanted in the backseat as you passed under the sign out front of the amusement park.

Today, the five of you had woken up rather early to make the long trek to Yeti Mountain, a seasonal theme park several towns over. With the cold, dreary weather outside, you were hoping that the lines wouldn’t be too long, despite the fact that it was now just a few days from Christmas, meaning that lots of families would also be looking for something to keep their own children entertained.

“Okay, buddy system,” you reminded everyone as Sungchan passed out tickets out front of the gate. “Nobody goes off by themselves. You’re either with Coach Jung, me, or each other.”

“Yes, Ms. Y/L/N!” They agreed in unison.

The crowd was about as bad as you had imagined, and you were grateful that you had insisted they all wore their school-issued coats today, as it was easier to spot the three little blobs in matching white and maroon striped puffers among the throng of blobs in black puffers.

“Ooh! Let’s do the Polar Plunge!” Dogyun pointed ahead to a ride, and you watched as it took the strapped-in riders straight up in the air, tilted them face-down, let them dangle, then dropped them back down, slowing down just in time to not actually impact.

“Polar Plunge!” Junhyuk cheered, grabbing his friend’s hand. He turned to the other boy. “You’re coming, right, Minnie?”

“Yeah!” He nodded excitedly. “Polar Plunge!”

Junhyuk grabbed his hand too, and they all ran off towards the ride.

“You want to go?” Sungchan asked you, the two of you slowly trailing after the kids.

You wrinkled your nose and shook your head. “Nah. I like rollercoasters. Not that shit.”

“Sensible,” he snickered. “Mind holding my phone?”

Taking your hand out of your pocket, you held it out palm-up expectantly, and he plopped his phone down.

“Thanks!”

You nodded ahead at where the boys had already raced to the back of the line. “I’ll wait in line with you guys.”

“Yes! You guys are riding it too!” Junhyuk pumped his fist in the air.

“Just Coach Jung,” you informed them. “I don’t like this kind of ride.”

“We’re splitting the rides,” Sungchan added. “So if you ever don’t want to go, you’ll have one of us down here. Don’t worry about saying no, okay?”

You squeezed his arm appreciatively at the idea, and he smiled back at you.

The line slowly shuffled forward until it was finally your group’s turn to board. Promising that you’d be watching, you had just started walking away when Sungchan called your name. Turning back around, you saw that Sungmin was being taken aside to have his height measured, and despite stretching his neck out as much as possible, it was clear he wasn’t going to make the height minimum. Sungchan said a couple more words to him, and the other boys patted his back before letting him walk over to you alone, shoulders slumped.

“I wasn’t tall enough,” Sungmin informed you glumly, watching as the other three got on.

“Aw, that’s a bummer,” you led him over to a portion of the fence that surrounded the ride. “There’s more rides, this is just the first one.”

Sungchan, Dogyun, and Junhyuk were seated on the side facing you, and all waved fervently at you and Sungmin as the ride went up and up. The two of you waved back, until they were tilted forwards and could no longer see you. Your boys’ screams were distinct among the chorus of yells when it dropped, and both you and Sungmin laughed at just how loud they were.

The next ride they wanted to go on was a teacup ride modified to look like icebergs. The carts only fit four people, so you sent the kids off in one while you and Sungchan took another. You easily spotted the car with your students in it, Junhyuk and Dogyun doing their best to make it spin as fast as possible while Sungmin was squashed in between them, face absolutely lit up.

“I’m getting sick just watching them,” you snorted, maintaining the lazy pace you had started with the wheel.

“Oh, so you don’t want to…” Sungchan gripped the wheel with two hands, mischievous glint in his eyes.

“No, wait!” You squealed as he whipped the controls around, speeding up your teacup as well. While you were pushed back in your seat, Sungchan apparently hadn’t braced himself for his own act, getting thrown to the side and stumbling into you.

You were laughing as you elbowed him, “Instant punishment.”

He dropped back into the seat where he was, giggling, letting his arm that he’d used to catch himself on the seat back naturally fall to your shoulders. “My bad,” he grinned.

After a few more rides, you stopped at a food stall to get everyone snacks to eat under covered picnic benches. As the boys were engaged in their own chatter about a video game, you happily took a bite of your fresh mini-donut, still warm. Sungchan chuckled and set down the cup of hot chocolate he’d been sipping on.

“Hold on, you’ve got—” He bit the finger of his glove and pulled it off. Gently, he brushed at the corners of your mouth and chin with his fingertips, finishing his sentence, “—powdered sugar all over your face.”

“Oops,” you mumbled, looking away from his eyes, a bit too afraid what you might do if you actually met his gaze right now.

By the end of the day, you were tuckered out, fully ready to utilize the car trip back home to sleep. As your group made your way to the exit, however, you were stopped by the park employee saying goodbye to everyone.

“Hey, you folks drive in from out of town?” He asked.

“Yes, why?” Sungchan responded.

“Avalanche blocked the only road out of here. Afraid it won’t be cleared until tomorrow,” he explained. “We’re offering complimentary accommodations at the resort hotel to ticketholders who can’t leave.”

Sungchan turned to the rest of you, clapping his hands together. “Well, looks like we’re staying, then.”

At the front desk, you kept an eye on the boys as they looked around at the themed hotel decorations in awe, checking out the Christmas tree with ornaments of the titular yeti character and his many wintery friends, pictures of them on many adventures hung around, and general icicle and snow motifs. You were only half-listening to the conversation that Sungchan was having with the desk attendant as he checked you all in.

Then Sungchan was tapping your elbow. “Is that alright, Y/N?”

“Hm?” you lifted your eyebrows questioningly, looking away from your kids for a moment.

“They have two rooms left, one with two queen beds, the other is just a king,” he filled you in. “The boys will need the two beds, are you okay with us in the other room?”

You blinked maybe a little too fast, throwing on a smile and nodding. “Yeah, yeah, of course.”

Emerging from your bathroom decked out head to toe in brand-new Yeti Mountain merch courtesy of the lobby gift shop, you immediately burst into laughter upon locking eyes with Sungchan, in a very similar outfit.

“We look like the biggest Yeti Mountain fans ever,” he snickered from his spot reclined on the bed, one leg crossed over the other and an arm behind his head.

“We look like that family with annual passes who take their kids here every day its open,” you snorted, walking over to the window to peer out at the theme park in the distance. Pulling the curtain aside fully, there was a small ledge with a cushion for sitting.

“We probably got married at Yeti Mountain.” Sungchan joined you at your spot, staring outside with you. His limbs were a bit long for both of you to be sharing the nook, but you didn’t complain, letting him squeeze on with you, shoulder-to-shoulder and knee-to-knee.

You laughed. “Do they even do weddings?”

“They should. A wedding reception in the Yeti Cave would be kind of sick.”

“With a disco ball and everything.”

“Now you’re talking.” He look over at you with a grin, and your breath caught in your throat.

Sure, you’d been rooming with Sungchan for almost a month now, but this was different, closer. No ocean of floor between your heads. His hair fell in his eyes, and you watched his adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. Even the silly Yeti Mountain branded t-shirt he was in seemed to fit him remarkably well, longsleeves pushed up to his elbows, revealing the prominent veins that criss-crossed his skin from his hands and up into the sleeves.

Pressure was building up in your head, it was hard to think past the white noise in your ears. You habitually wet your lips, and you didn’t miss how his eyes followed the movement. Then you were kissing him, and he was kissing you back, hand on your waist as yours was carding through his hair.

Sungchan smiled against your lips, breaking the kiss with a chuckle. He covered his face with one hand, then dropped his cheek into his palm, fixing you with a sheepish and tender smile. “Ah, I was trying to wait until spring semester started to ask you out.”

You tilted your head and arched an eyebrow, absolutely bemused at this revelation. “Wait, you were going to specifically wait until we weren’t sharing a room, and everybody in the school was back, to ask me out?”

“Yes, because I’m a gentleman like that.” He was pouting a little bit now.

You giggled, brushing his hair back from his face before cupping his cheek. “Yeah, you kind of are.”

Sungchan leaned forward, bumping your nose with his affectionately. You closed the gap, connecting your mouths once more.

“What are we going to do without them?” You sighed, getting back in the car after dropping the boys off at Dogyun’s family’s house. It was New Year’s Eve, so you would be without them for a whole twenty-four hours, and you honestly didn’t know how you’d fill your time now.

Sungchan started the car, a smirk on his face. “I’ve got an idea.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a surprise.”

You couldn’t help but smile as well. “I’ll just wait and see, then.”

“Why are we going to the gym right now?” You questioned as Sungchan led you down the hall of trophies by the hand.

“What? Late-night one-on-one basketball match wasn’t what you were hoping for?” He teased, bumping your shoulder with his.

“In our pajamas?”

“Just wait,” he hummed, continuing to pull you across the gymnasium, towards another set of double doors.

The two of you ended up outside his classroom, which you hadn’t been in since you set it up for movies with the kids a couple weeks ago. All of the classroom furniture that you swore he, Junhyuk, and Dogyun were supposed to be putting back in the classroom while you and Sungmin baked cookies, was still in the hallway. You gave him a skeptical look, but said nothing further, letting him open the door for you.

The sleeping mats, pillows, and blankets were set up on the floor, illuminated by the blank projector screen and strings of rainbow lights hung from the ceiling. You turned back to Sungchan, jaw dropped in delight.

“So sweet,” you gave your approval, throwing your arms around his neck.

“This time we don’t have to watch a bunch of kids movies,” he chuckled, strong arms holding you tight to him. “It’s just us.”

As you went to settle into the pillows and blanket, you gazed up at the lights thoughtfully. “Did you take these off the Christmas tree in the dining hall?”

“I technically didn’t,” he replied pointedly.

“Dogyun,” you immediately surmised.

“They’ve requested anonymity.”

“Wait, is this what you three were doing while we baked cookies?”

He held his hands up, even as he was smiling mischievously. “I can neither confirm nor deny when the alleged theft took place.”

You shook your head and laughed, pecking his cheek. “Thank you, Sungchan. And your little elves.”

Later on, you didn’t even realize that midnight had already come and gone until Sungchan was switching between movies, and you happened to glance at the time on his laptop, nearly one in the morning.

“Happy late New Year’s,” you snickered, pointing to the clock.

“Happy New Year’s.” He beamed, swooping in to capture your lips with his.

The staff and students began returning to the Moorehead Prep campus on Saturday, and the heat was turned back on in the female staff dorms, meaning that you finally got to go back to your own room. Several ladies were in your room, asking about your break while you folded your laundry that you had done ahead of everyone’s return this morning.

“It was great, the boys didn’t cause us any trouble,” you answered, well aware of what they actually wanted to know. “We went sledding, and baked cookies. We even took them to Yeti Mountain one day.”

“Oh, okay,” one of the ladies sighed, not hiding her disappointment. “Sounds nice, Y/N.”

There was a knock at the front door, and another one of your colleagues peeked out of your second-story window. She gasped and turned back to you with wide eyes. “Coach Jung is here!”

You continued folding your clothes, even as you heard Sungchan’s voice at the front door, then footsteps running up the stairs. Ms. Hyesoo didn’t even bother knocking on your wide-open door, suspicious gaze landing on you as she announced knowingly, “Coach Jung is looking for you.”

“Thanks, Ms. Hyesoo. I’ll be down in a second.”

Ignoring the clamoring around you, you tucked your final article of clothing in your drawer, and grabbed your gloves off your nightstand. You gave them all a goodbye as you hurried down the stairs. Sungchan was waiting for you on the porch, smiling down at you as you shut the door behind you.

He wordlessly took off the scarf that he was wearing, looping it around your own bare neck for you. “Ready for lunch?”

“Starving,” you answered with a grin.

⇢ 2025 hallmark movie marathon

TAGLIST

@annenakamura @bee-the-loser @dejundesign @flooftown @httpsxnox @kirrakira @lotties-readings @pandabunbuns @ppddpjdr @reiofsuns2001 @snowyseungs @tearinka @yoursyuno @yutasputa69 @winkeuu @woozidreams

@classicroyalty @fairvtale @giirlfriendd @jvngw0nlvr @shaqs-oatmeal @sofipolii01 @jjuelly

#2025hmm

Trending Tags

Recently Viewed Tags

#2025hmm