#rkscn

[hakyeonrk]

stuffed elephant toys make everything better||solo

As fun as the evening had been playing out, something had to go amiss. They were short staffed, and people were trying to rush their way through the lines, but otherwise everything had gone rather quickly in Hakyeon's eyes. Once he'd taken over one of the piles to hand out, his day had been filled with happy faces and quite a few hugs. No, he never saw what became of his packages, but there was always a possibility those were in other piles. Oh well, he was having fun watching the kids faces as their mom or dad huddled over them, helping them poke inside the box. 

That was until one face wasn't so happy. He almost wanted to leave the small platform he stood on when he noticed the kid was obviously sick. Bright red cheeks and snot shining on the skin between his nose and mouth, he looked to be about 4, maybe 5. Hakyeon repressed the need to run (and not carry another cold to set) and instead picked up a present that was labeled for the appropriate age. 

The kid seemed unimpressed when Hakyeon handed him the present, not returning the bright smiley, or wish of "Merry Christmas!". In fact when the kid opened up the box and his mom pointed at some of the things inside, the kid burst out in very loud tears. Hakyeon had been warned of this. One kid starts crying which gets all the younger ones going. Feeling the need to contain the situation, he immediately moved from his crouched position to sitting crossed legged. On his platform that made him roughly the kid's height. 

"Hey buddy, you okay?" he asked, careful to not lean in to much. He was forcefully reminded of his own panic attakcs as a child, unable to communicate to adults he not only didn't want to be touched, but could not handle it. The kid didn't respond and the mom moved to take the gift out of his hands but the kid held on tightly to the sides "He's overwhelmed and tired I think." She said. The girl looked young. Maybe two of three years older than himself. The jackets they wore weren't very worn, modern blend outerwear fabrics don't give out like cotton or wool, but they looked dirty. The kind of dirty that gets caked into the seems, no matter how many times you was it.  "Has he eaten?" He asked, gaze flickering up to her, then back to the boy, who seemed to be less crying, and more hysterical, mouth agape but soundless except for lurching breaths.  "We had breakfast this morning, but no- not since then." Out of the corner of his eye he saw her blush. He hadn't meant to make her feel bad. He knew the line was long. There were strict waiting rules and mothers weren't just going to leave their children with strangers to find a food truck. And at this point, he didn't have a clue if she could even afford lunch. 

"Here-" Hakyeon scooted away and stood up smoothly.  "How about Mom takes you." He indicated for her to pick him up, which she did "And I get this guy out for you" Hakyeon carefully pulled the large pillow shaped elephant toy from the bottom of the box the child still clutched "And if you trade me, I'll let you carry him."  The kid didn't show he understood Hakyeon's words, but he obviously wanted the plushie because moments later he would have let the box hit the ground with a clatter, had it not been for his quick reflexes.  "Great, now lets go mom! We have some bagels in the break room that have his name written all over them." Without giving her time to polity refuse he marched off. Eventually the kid forgot about the crying nonsense.

[kibumrk]

window shopping

Key walks between the stalls on the street, occasionally picking things up from the stalls or asking the vendors questions. He's still not sure what to get for the boxes for the SCN charity, though he does have a few ideas, and he's shopping with Taemin and the rest of Luminosity, so they can work together to figure out what to get. 

He looks over to Taemin, holding up a little notebook from one of the stalls. "What do you think of this? It's gender-neutral, right?" 

Taemin shrugs, now poking through the other things on the table himself. "Well, the cover's just plain, right? It should be fine," he says, nodding. "You might wanna grab a pack of pencils or pens or something too. They said school supplies would be a good thing to get." 

Key nods, quickly spotting a bundle of colorful pens nearby and picking them up before handing both items to the vendor. "I'll take both of these," he says, pulling out his wallet while the vendor puts the supplies into a plastic bag. 

A few minutes later, the plastic bag swings from his hand, his wallet a few bucks lighter. Hyoyeon bounces off toward another stand as the rest of them walk, and within seconds she's calling Taemin and Key over as well. Probably because they have nowhere else to go, Fei and Henry follow as they come to look. 

"Look, oppa," Hyoyeon says, holding up a matching kid-sized set of gloves, a hat, and a scarf, all patterned with snowflakes. "Would something like this work?" 

Key smiles at the cute accessories, taking the set from his sister so he can look at the price tag. He buys it from the vendor, adding the new plastic bag to the other one as they continue on. 

By the time they finish shopping, Key ends up with a cup with a picture of the girls from Frozen on the side and a stuffed animal of Lady, from Lady in the Tramp, in addition to the school supplies and winter clothes. He's decided to write a note to whoever gets his presents when he gets home, since he's most likely feeling much more strongly about this whole charity thing than he should and probably needs some way to vent those feelings. 

[ex-rkluhan]

he's been there for about an hour now, helping to hand out the shoeboxes to the kids. it makes him miss going to the youth center, teaching his students to dance. of all the things he's had to give up in order to start training, it's being there with those familiar faces that he misses hte most. so he's more than ecstatic to be able to see the joy spread on the childrens' faces at receiving their gifts; it brings a sense of warmth to his soul that he rarely ever experiences. it's fulfilling.

as he pats a small girl's head and sends her on her way, he reaches back and grabs another shoebox as a small boy comes up next in line, around nine years old. he brings the box into his lap as he waves at the shy boy, a smile tugging at his lips, laughter tumbling from his lips at the boy's shy wave back. he holds the box in front of him for the boy to take, and it's not until small hands grab onto it that luhan notices the familiar wrapping paper.

it's the box he'd prepared.

suddenly, his heart is beating fast, the drumming loud in his ears. luhan doesn't even notice how much his demeanor has changed until the little boy tilts his head to the side, eyes wide and unblinking. luhan flashes a smile, reaches out to pat the little boy's head.

"thanks," the kid says with a smile.

"sure," luhan replies before leaning forward, beckoning the kid closer. "let me tell you a secret..." he taps the top of the shoebox and grins. "this is the best one."

the kid's eyes light up. "really?"

luhan grins. "really."

unexpectedly, the kid jumps forward and wraps his tiny little arms around luhan's neck, pulling him into a hug. luhan laughs, hugs the kid back, and tries to keep from getting emotional, but its useless. he hugs the kid tighter. "you take care, kid," he says, finally pulling back and pats his head again. "merry christmas."

[rkhyeri]

                     Seoul Children's Network, community center                                       → delivering the presents

Time is always of the essence, but there exists moments, too, when so is holiday generosity. Hyeri knows she really doesn’t have the extra hours to spare outside of her extra training, however her heart doesn’t allow an opportunity for cheering up others—specifically children who love Christmas— to slide by without getting herself directly involved in an instant. Already, Hyeri spends every day working towards making her own dreams come true so sparing two hours of her day off to volunteer doesn’t seem like such a high price to pay in exchange for making an innocent child’s own wishes come true on the eve of Christmas. Her intentions aren’t completely selfless (for as this is Hyeri’s first Christmas without her family, the urge to help also eases her own sense of loneliness) but if at least one child smiles at her today while she’s delivering boxes to their center, well… then all this self-sacrifice will be worth it. There’s a single mother at this community center whose three angels start a cheerful riot as soon as the shoeboxes are revealed. One smile, two smiles, three smiles. Hyeri’s right that there’s nothing that fills her up with more joy than seeing a child accept the present that’s been given to them by Santa. When Hyeri sees the way the smallest daughter’s brown eyes light up upon receiving the shoebox, Hyeri wishes she could give the girl one hundred more. This knot in her chest, tightening with gladness and bittersweet happiness both—is this how her parents felt every Christmas morning when she and Joohee ran downstairs to see their gifts? The exciting vision of watching the little girl tear open the shoebox to see the stuffed penguin inside is a picture no camera could ever fully capture with a lens. The eyes see more, the heart feels more when it’s just there, right in front of her. The little girl squeals in utter delight and hugs the penguin to her chest and Hyeri makes a mental note to relay the reaction to the person who generously attributed the sweet gift to a child whom they didn’t even know.

[hakyeonrk]

photo op||Hakyeon&Mina

The day had been absolutely nuts. From the morning of the 23rd he'd been running. To and from set, to and from the community center. People asking him questions like he knew something, it was crazy, but Hakyeon couldn't say he didn't enjoy it. He didn't like being lonely, but there was no room to be casual friends in entertainment. Either you were best friends, and wore socks with each other's faces on them, or you didn't know each other. He wasn't exactly one for being close, so most people he knew ran in the side of near strangers. 

There was one person however that he didn't mind spending time with. Granted they didn't have a chance to really talk much, but the short interactions were the type he liked. She never pressed him for information, so when he saw her, positioned at one of the piles, sorting through presents, he smiled. She appeared to be looking for a specific one and if the day had shown him anything, she wanted to hand out her own gift. The piles of boxes were stacked so you couldn't see all of them, and he'd spotted her's on the opposite side of the room a bit ago. Watching her face fall a bit, before recovering and handing a box to a little girl with a genuine smile. The photographer was snapping a way, watching the interaction and Hakyeon paused long enough for the camera guy to walk to the next cast member. 

Hakyeon speed walked to the other side of the room, returning with a familiar package in hand. The little girl was thanking Mina and he waited, arms behind his back. She didn't seem to notice him standing there though permanently, because when she turned back to the pile she didn't smile or wave. Hakyeon took a step forward and asked her "Looking for something?"

[ex-rkluhan]

[ past meets present ] *yixing & luhan

(/he's meticulously selected the gift for a child from age five to nine, making sure he'll be able to both use and enjoy them. the moment he heard about the project, he's been excited, the thought of being able to give to someone who was simply dealt a bad hand means the world to luhan. if someone had been so kind as to do the same for him when he was a child, he'd have loved and appreciated the effort given. at least then he'd have known there was someone who cared. and maybe that's what he likes the most about this whole thing, that even with the smallest, easiest gestures, a child can experience a little joy and love in his life) — (/throughout the entire process of putting together the shoebox, luhan had been filled with joy. choosing toys he thinks a child would enjoy, knowing it'd put a smile on some kid's face, taking a polaroid photo to include, drawing all over it with permanent marker, and it's made all the more joyful because yixing is there by his side throughout. but as luhan sits in a mess of crumpled up pieces of paper, pen poised over a fresh sheet, he feels himself get overwhelmed. what is he to say to a child whose parents, or lack thereof, cannot afford to get him these things on their own? he heaves a sigh and taps his pen on the shoebox on which he's perched the paper, trying to think of what he'd say to his nine-year-old self) things will get better. (/he writes as he speaks, pen gliding smoothly across paper. in chinese, he writes the very words tattooed across his hip bone—all things are difficult before they are easy) even if you feel alone in this world... (/he pauses again, glances sideways at yixing, feels a warmth spread throughout his body as he smiles to himself before continuing) there will always be someone who cares. i hope you enjoy your christmas this year, and for every year that comes after. (/suddenly, he's hit with another bout of emotion, remembering himself more than ten years ago, without his parents, everyone telling him he was worthless. he doesn't even know this kid's story, doesn't know his background, but its not the details luhan identifies with, but the feeling. that feeling of helplessness, loneliness, wanting to run away but having nowhere else to go. if he can help this one child feel even just a fraction of love and joy and hope...he knew all his efforts would have been worth it) — (/his eyes well up, stinging with a warning of tears and he swallows hard, lifting his head to stare up at the ceiling, catching yixing's gaze from the corner of his eye. he purses his lips together, but there was only so much he could do before tears fell, and they did, in the form of a small teardrop, falling from the corner of his eye to draw a small rivulet of moisture away from his face, which he hastily wiped away) I'm not crying; you're crying.

[rkchanyeol]

SCN gift box || 5-9 M/F

[kibumrk]

She finds Key in the kitchen area, making coffee for the staff. “Ah, you always work so hard~” she says, in lieu of a greeting as she walks up next to him. She holds out a candy cane tied to a flyer with a big ribbon. “I’m here to tell you all about our charity collection!” she announces with a smile. “We’re collecting shoeboxes filed with gifts for orphans and underprivileged kids to give out on Christmas Eve. It’d be really great if you could make one! We’ll be taking them to the community center on Tuesday and handing them out on Wednesday, so you could even meet some of the kids who are getting your gifts!”

Key looks around at the sound of a familiar voice, raising an eyebrow and smiling when he recognizes Piper. He glances down as she hands something out to him, though, his smile fading as his lips part, his focus moving to the words on the page. "Ah, really?" He asks as she explains, and he merely scans the flyer before looking back up at her, the grin quickly returning to his face. "That sounds awesome. I'll make sure to help out," he says, pulling the candy cane off of the flyer so that he can fold it and put it in his hoodie pocket. Then he pockets the candy cane too, smiling at Piper once more before returning to the coffee mugs in front of him. "Thanks for letting me know."