To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 167: It’s a talking puppy

The days passed like a gentle breeze in the cold winter after that meeting. And before long, it was Christmas day.

Of course, they had to have their own little family gathering in the morning and exchange their gifts before the big event in the evening.

"Look Hwa, see what I got you."

And everyone was definitely excited about it.

"What is it, daddy?" Hwa asked as he walked towards Woo-bin who was wearing a big knitted green sweater with a snowman in the middle.

He let his hair down so recklessly, so he didn’t look as refined as he did on a regular day. He was always so dressed and poised like a model, even when he was at home,, so seeing him let loose was actually pretty refreshing.

"So, I couldn’t think of what to get you since you already have everything you could wish for, so I got you these." He handed the box to Hwa who opened it and found a pair of booths. "They’re super comfy and warm your feet. This way, you won’t get cold feet till the winter is over."

Though Hwa did not expect this, he was grateful and smiled.

"Thanks, Daddy."

"Hwa," Baek-Hyun called approaching with his own little gift in his hand. He was wearing a red knitted sweater with a red Christmas hat on, having a white ball sticking at the end of it.

Hae-won was wearing a pink sweater and each of the kids were wearing similar colors to their parents. Chin-hwa wore pink, Deok-ryu wore red and Si-woo wore green.

Baek-Hyun was recently fond of giving things small because he was told that he did things in excess - back then when they were still kids and he, along with his grandfather would fill the entire living room with presents - but even then, the small gifts he brought were always so valuable that their price compared to that of a house.

"What is it, dad?"

Baek-Hyun handed the box to him and Chin-hwa gulped before opening it. Inside was a regular silver watch.

Only, it wasn’t a regular silver watch. It was a watch with an artificial intelligence.

"You just need to register yourself as the owner and..." They did a little setting with the watch. "There,"

Then, a hologram of a cute little puppy displayed above the watch.

"Hi, I am your virtual assistant." The puppy spoke which surprised Chin-hwa.

"It’s a talking puppy," he said, his eyes beaming at the cute little thing.

"Yes, that’s right. I made sure it was programmed into a puppy, do you like it?" Chin-hwa frantically nodded, causing Baek-Hyun to smile proudly. "This little thing can tell you the weather, count your steps, and tell you how long you’ve been outside, as well as read your body condition to quickly detect if you’re falling sick or have any abnormalities."

"Ah, like my own personal doctor." Chin-hwa said, feeling excited and Baek-Hyun nodded.

"Yes, your personal doctor. And of course," he swiped the dog away. "It can also tell you the time."

"Wow, dad. This is amazing." Si-woo said, watching from behind. "Get me one for my birthday, please."

"Sure," Baek-Hyun answered and Deok-ryu chipped in.

"Me too, me too."

Baek-Hyun laughed.

"Alright, I understand."

"You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Baek." Woo-bin said, grinning. "I’ll admit, you win... Again."

Baek-Hyun laughed and turned around to leave there, allowing the kids to exchange their gifts with Chin-hwa.

During Christmas when they were mostly exchanging gifts, it was more of giving gifts of Chin-hwa since they very much wanted to pamper him.

*Ding-dong!* The doorbell rang.

"I’ll get it." Baek-Hyun said and headed for the door.

They were expecting visitors. Lots of visitors.

He opened the door and saw Lee Ga-ram and his family, Tae-won, He-Nari, and Kang-woo.

"Merry Christmas," they cheered and he responded with a warm welcome,

"Merry Christmas."

He gave way and let them walk in with their hands filled with their gift boxes, and after they had all entered, he planned to close the door when he spotted their next visitors.

"Annyeong and merry Christmas, sir." It was Yun-tae and behind him was Myung-woo.

"Merry Christmas, Yun-tae." He said but did not see the others he was expecting. "Where are you friends?"

"Oh, they chose to spend the morning with their family but said they’ll be at the party in the evening. They couldn’t miss that," Yun-tae said, finding his words funny and laughing. "I hope the holidays are treating you well." He said and Baek-Hyun nodded.

"Yes, Yun-tae. Now," he stepped aside. "...do come in."

Myung-woo nodded at Baek-Hyun before walking in and Baek-Hyun closed the door.

That morning was filled with laughter and cheers as everyone exchanged their gifts.

Though Chin-hwa never actually gave gifts to anyone in his family because they would use it to set up a shrine and worship it all year long, ahem, but he did always remember the people who were coming after. They were not as obsessed as his family, so he didn’t have to worry about his gift being idolized or something.

He prepared gifts for Lee Ga-ram, Tae-won, He-Nari, Yun-tae, Myung-woo, and, of course, Kang-woo.

His family gritted their teeth when they saw him giving out the gifts he had prepared but it couldn’t be helped. Their obsession with him got them in that mess so if they tried anything funny, he just might never accept their gifts... Ever, Which would definitely break them.

"Look here, Yun-tae," Hae-won called, flagging two tickets in the air. "Can you guess what I have here?"

"Hm," Yun-tae tried to think. What tickets could they be?

But then his mind immediately flashed to the news he had seen a few days ago about the premium of the next season of AAB. His eyes sparkled as he answered,

"Don’t tell me it’s tickets to see the premium release." He said and Hae-won tittered.

"You have quite the eye," he said. "And you’re right." He stretched them towards Yun-tae. "Merry Christmas,"

Yun-tae couldn’t hold his excitement and screamed out while jumping up. He even went as far as wrapping his arms around Hae-won and thanking him.

"Thank you so much," he said, to the point that he had tears in his eyes.

He didn’t know why he was getting teary-eyed all of a sudden, but he was feeling really emotional.

This Christmas... It was the first one he had ever received a present and had such a warm atmosphere. It was the first time someone had given him a Christmas present and it made him so happy.

They were doing so much for him.

The past few years after he left his father’s house, he spent his Christmas alone. His roommate, as well as his friends,, all went home to spend it with their families, and he didn’t want to intrude or make it known that he didn’t have a family to spend it with, so he stayed out of their way.

"What’s wrong, Yun?" Hae-won asked, noticing how he held him tight and didn’t want to let go.

"It’s nothing. I just... Got a little emotional, that’s all." He said and released his arms, wiping the tears in his eyes with his sleeve.

"Jeez, Yun-tae. If you get so emotional just for the tickets then I wonder how you’ll act once I give you my gift?" Chin-hwa said and Yun-tae turned around, his eyes glittering as he anticipated Chin-hwa’s gift.

"Gimme," he said and Chin-hwa laughed.

"Okay, so I had a lot of thoughts and things to choose from, but I felt neither of them would make up for it, so..." He walked towards the backyard. "I decided to give you all of it."

He walked out into the backyard and showed Yun-tae the scooters he had gotten him. Four different colors.

Yun-tae’s mouth fell. Wasn’t this... Overboard?

"So, what do you think? You can ride one when the color fits what you’re wearing." Chin-hwa said, raising his nose in the air as he felt proud of his effort.

"H-hwa, where did you get the money to get them?" Yun-tae asked. He couldn’t even ask how he got them because he was sure he had his ways but for the money... Did he ask his parents for money just to get him four different colored scooters?

"Oh, that?" Chin-hwa shook his head. "I just used my allowance."

This caused Yun-tae to wonder just how much his allowance was. He gulped.

"Here," Chin-hwa dropped all the keys in his hands and smiled. "Merry Christmas."

Chin-hwa was simply trying to make up for his oblivion. Though, it was not his fault, it was true that Yun-tae had always been alone and had no one to share warmth with. So, to make up for that, he decided to give him three scooters to make up for the two years he had known him but never showed interest and this year included.

But then he saw the black scooter and knew he just had to get it as well. It would go well with any color.

Thus, making it four scooters.

"If I had a little more allowance money, I would’ve gotten you more." Chin-hwa said but Yun-tae shook his head.

"No, this is fine." He said, his heart thumping. "Thank you."

"Hehe, don’t sweat it. I hope you enjoy it." Chin-hwa said and skipped his way into the house.

Yun-Tae looked at the keys in his hands and the scooters, his heart racing in warmth and immense satisfaction.

Was it too late to return the keys? He wondered but deep down, he had no intentions of returning it.

These were the gifts Chin-hwa had used his allowance to get so he would treasure them and make the most out of them.