By Zephyria Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Her heart was pounding like crazy. There was a scene like this in a drama she had watched. A villain sneaking in to kidnap a sleeping princess, the princess bravely wielding a sword at the villain and escaping the crisis, but all Angela had in her hands was the teddy bear she had been holding before she fell asleep.
Wh-what should I do?
She was too scared to think. Frozen in place, she could only blink as she saw the large shadow slowly move. Then, a brilliant idea came to her.
Play dead.
Angela quickly lay back down, burying her face in the doll with her eyes tightly closed. If you meet a bear in the mountains, you have to play dead.
Bears eat dead meat too, so it’s no use.
Why did that useless piece of knowledge from TV have to pop into her head now? Maybe Daddy was right, watching too much TV is bad. Angela learned an unexpected lesson.
She was trembling with fear when she suddenly heard a strange sound.
Huh?
Listening carefully, she could hear something moving. Maybe the villain was trying to take all of Angela’s toys.
I-it’s okay. Mr. Campbell bought them all. None of them are mine.
Angela tried to calm herself, squeezing her eyes shut. But no matter how long she waited, the villain didn’t leave and continued to wander around the room.
……What are they doing?
Angela became more and more curious as she felt them bustling about. Finally, unable to resist, she peeked through her eyelids and saw the villain opening the door and leaving. And in the soft light of the hallway, his figure was faintly revealed. Angela frowned and blinked, holding her breath. Red clothes, a red hat, a bushy beard, a big belly.
Santa……?
Angela pulled the sheets up to her chin as she thought, but the moment was too short. The man quickly closed the door and left, leaving the child all alone.
Uh……?
Angela blinked blankly in the darkness. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. Belatedly, she jumped up and looked around, then got out of bed and ran across the room. She hurriedly threw open the door, but there was no one in the hallway. Angela looked around with wide eyes, then drooped her shoulders and closed the door.
I must have been dreaming.
The child trudged back to bed. Closing her eyes and hugging her doll, Angela thought,
Santa wouldn’t come to me.
Repeating the words she had repeated countless times, the child fell back asleep.
52
“Angie, Angie.”
At the sound of his voice, the deeply sleeping child barely managed to blink her sleepy eyes. Yu-jin was looking down at her, smiling.
“It’s time to get up, Merry Christmas.”
The child reached out and hugged the daddy who had kissed her cheek, mumbling “Merry Christmas” in a still-sleepy voice. Yu-jin hugged the child back and continued,
“It looks like Santa came last night. There’s a present here.”
Of course, Yu-jin had prepared it. He had wanted to go shopping for the gift himself, but Winston had stolen the opportunity. Ignoring his desire to go out, he had given him a catalog instead, saying,
“Have them bring you anything you like. And tell me if you think of anything else.”
Naturally, he wasn’t happy with the situation. What use would a four-year-old have for diamonds, and what would she do with sapphires? Yu-jin flipped through the catalog with a dissatisfied expression and found a small tiara that Angela would like.
It’s too fancy to use for playing house…….
He wouldn’t have dared to do it in the past, but things were different now. Boldly taking the plunge, Yu-jin chose the item and got his hands on the gift the day before Christmas. And while Angela was asleep, he placed it in a visible spot among her toys, but when he came in the morning, his daughter was still fast asleep.
I guess I have no choice but to give it to her myself.
With that thought, Yu-jin woke Angela up, imagining the look of joy on his daughter’s face as he held up the box. Angela tilted her head when she saw it, then her eyes widened. At the same time, Yu-jin’s heart swelled with emotion. This time, it was a real gift. Not some meaningless snack like candy or chocolate. Imagining the look of joy on his child’s face, he handed her the gift, but Angela, who had taken the box, suddenly flushed and shouted in an excited voice,
“Santa, Santa came!”
“What? Oh, yeah. That’s right.”
Caught off guard by the more intense reaction than he had expected, Yu-jin inadvertently asked back before quickly nodding. He was glad that the child believed him, but the words that followed made him inwardly embarrassed.
“Santa really did come last night, I saw him, I saw Santa!”
That can’t be, she must have been dreaming.
Yu-jin thought to himself. There’s no such thing as Santa in the world. Yu-jin had once believed in his existence, but that was only for a while. After going through several lonely Christmases alone, you naturally come to realize the reality. He desperately wanted his child to have a different experience than he had. Fortunately, he thought he could protect his daughter’s belief a little longer, and he smiled.
“I see, he must have left it then.”
“Really?”
The child tilted her head, but then smiled and eagerly opened the box.
Huh?
Unexpectedly, there was a card inside. Yu-jin was flustered by the unfamiliar card, but he didn’t have time to check the contents because Angela screamed at the sight of the gift that was revealed when he picked it up.
“Wow!”Laughter burst out simultaneously with the sight of the tiara, bringing a smile to Yu-jin’s face. He put down the card, took the tiara out of the box, and placed it on Angie’s head, saying,
“Let’s use this when we play house. Then you’ll really be a princess, how about that?”
“Yay! I love it!”
Angie jumped up and hugged Yu-jin tightly around the neck. Up until that moment, Yu-jin’s satisfaction was at its peak. That is, until he heard the next words.
“Thank you, Daddy!”
Yu-jin froze for a moment. Fortunately, he was holding Angie, so his expression wasn’t visible, but his heart pounded fiercely. What was that? Did she know? That he had been pretending to be Santa?
Of course, she knows, you’ve been expecting it.
Yu-jin had secretly felt relieved whenever Angie asked for insignificant gifts. He had vaguely thought that Angela knew that Daddy was Santa. But he had pretended not to know until now, and he thought he had finally given her a Christmas-like gift, but was that not the case?
All sorts of thoughts raced through his mind in a short moment. Soon after, Angie pulled away and suddenly picked up the card. Her eyes widened in an instant, making his heart sink, and then Angela looked up and shouted in a very excited voice.
“Santa left a card!”
“What?”
Confused, Yu-jin hurriedly took the card from Angie and checked the contents. He read it over and over, but the message didn’t change.
To a good child, Merry Christmas! From Santa.
Dumbfounded, he blinked, and then Angela shouted loudly in a delighted voice.
“I knew it, Santa was going back and forth over there yesterday. He was writing a card. To give to me!”
That was a dream. Yu-jin barely swallowed the words that almost came out. He thought it was impossible, but Angie’s words that followed were so specific. Watching her excitedly talk about waking up and seeing Santa, Yu-jin became confused. What on earth had happened?
Before he could say anything, there was a sudden knock. Yu-jin was startled and turned around, and then the door opened to reveal Winston standing there.
“You’re awake. Good morning, Angie.”
Yu-jin still wasn’t used to the gentle tone directed at Angie. While Yu-jin hesitated, Angela replied.
“Good morning, Mr. Campbell.”
Winston smiled at the polite greeting and strode into the room. He naturally took Angie from Yu-jin and made eye contact with her, asking.
“Did you have a good dream? Shall we go see what presents Santa brought?”
“Presents?”
“Presents?”
Angela and Yu-jin shouted at the same time. Winston simply smiled and started walking. Yu-jin followed him, still bewildered, as he walked with Angela in one arm and Yu-jin’s hand in the other. They walked down the long hallway towards the elevator.
And finally, when they reached the first floor, the elevator doors opened, and the magnificent sight of the hall unfolded before them, leaving not only Angela but even Yu-jin speechless with their mouths wide open.