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🎥🍿🥜
Movie of the day: Elf
Nothing beats the joyful feeling of excitement when the first day of a school break starts. Especially for Donghyuck, who always looks forward to the holidays because he gets to spend them with his grandparents and cousins. Also, he gets to be at their family-owned movie theatre, organizing and reorganizing the ticket booth that he finds fun and worthwhile to do.
Other than him, there’s another person that works there too; his childhood friend and distant best friend. They usually hang around the movie theatre eating popcorn, pocketing some candy bars, and placing bets on who gets to do the most tasks.
It’s always a great time in the movie theatre. But for this holiday, his best friend will be in Chicago to spend the holidays along with their other relatives. Now it’s a little quiet and, also, a bit boring.
People are visiting to watch the movie of the day, Elf. The first film for the first day of the annual Christmas Film Fest that his grandparents started five years ago. It is to put ‘ something new on the menu’, as Donghyuck’s granddad explained.
Families, groups of friends, and even couples go in and out of the theatre throughout the whole day. Donghyuck is acquainted with most of them as most of them are their neighbors or live in the same block as them.
Evening arrives, and the very last thing anyone would expect is for anyone to still stop by at this coldest of the night. Yet, here’s a dark grey (or silver?) car, not just any kind of car, but a Maserati .
When the driver’s door opens, Donghyuck is both shaken and enamored.
He knows he’s seen good-looking guys, cute ones, and hot ones too, but never this hot in the middle of the cold season. Well, Christmas is supposed to be the kind of season that gives warmth inside, contrasting the cold of the snow—anyways. So the guy is crossing the street and seems to be heading to the ticket booth.
Wait, he's heading here? Donghyuck internally panics.
"Good evening,"
Even his voice is ho—warm. It's warm because science and body thermal . . . thing, whatever that means.
The guy quietly, patiently stands and waits for a response inside the ticket booth. The inside of the ticket booth in question is—
"Yes! Hi, good evening!" Donghyuck greets in his usual greeting voice. He receives a kind smile from the other, and that for sure can melt anyone's heart. For example, Donghyuck's heart right now.
"Ah, ahm, are you here to watch?" He asks to pull himself back in the ticket booth duty mode.
"Yes, I am. Today's the first day of the Christmas Film Fest, am I right?"
"That’s right."
"One ticket, please.”
Donghyuck rips one of the festively designed tickets, specifically only to for the film fest. Then he works on the register as he receives a dollar bill.
"Here's your ticket.”
“Thank you. Do you still have popcorn?”
“Oh, we’re out of popcorn. I’m sorry.”
The guy smiles softly and says, “It’s okay. Thank you.” He leaves and heads towards the cinema doors after giving Donghyuck a small nod.
The movie ends a quarter before midnight. Donghyuck is just waiting for the guy so that he can close. And there he is, walking towards Donghyuck’s direction.
“Elf,” the guy says.
It took a second for Donghyuck to process what it’s supposed to mean.
“Yeah, Elf is the first feature film of the fest,” he cheerily replies.
“Are you closing now?”
“Yes. Just waiting for you heh,” Donghyuck lightly jokes. The guy seems to take it (a bit by the heart) as his face immediately shifts in a very apologetic expression. “No, no, I . . . I was just kidding. No one usually, or more often, watches movies this late, not unless it’s summer.”
“Oh,” the guy’s first reaction, followed by a curious one. “Do you work here in summer? This is the first time I've seen you.”
Donghyuck shifts his weight on his other leg then shakes his head. “I don’t. I only get to work here on Christmas because we’re staying in our grandparents' house. My grandparents are the owners of this place.”
“You’re their grandson?” The guy asks in a surprised face. Donghyuck nods. “That sounds really cool,” he said in an amused voice.
“Yeah . . . It is. I mean, free movie tickets and popcorn all day and all night benefits, right?”
They share a genuine moment of chuckles.
🎥🍿🥜
Movie of the day: A Muppet Christmas Carol
On the second day of the film fest, more families and youngsters visited. The reason: A Muppet Christmas Carol is the feature film of the day. Donghyuck can’t get enough of the bright, cheery voices of the kids, that are excited to see the film. Even if he just had a whole round of playing pillow fortress with his siblings this morning, he misses them. They’re probably playing around the house and perhaps also eating the cookies that are supposed to be reserved for Christmas day.
Time passes quickly, it’s night already, and he is resting, waiting for 10:05 to start closing the cash register and power walk home.
A minute more, he’s up and about to finish another shift. But what could be the odds for a person to come again the second time?
“You’re here again,” the first thing Donghyuck says with a smile.
The guy reciprocated it, partnered with crescents forming off of his eyes. “Hello again. Are you still open?”
“Yup. One ticket?”
“Um . . .” He suddenly trails, like processing a thought. He starts to get shifty and fumbly. Shy could be the word, as Donghyuck quietly says in his mind.
“Would you . . . Would you like to watch the movie with me?"
*snow-drop moment*
"We used to watch this every Christmas."
"Yeah? Why?"
"Because it is a fun, Christmas musical. It's an iconic holiday film too. It'll be like such a miss if you don't watch it every Christmas."
"Hm, you have a good point there," Donghyuck says. "Have you seen an actual choir singing a Christmas carol?"
"Once at a school's holiday event."
"Wanna see one right now?"
A soft chuckle reverberates from the person. "As if there's still in this dead cold of the night."
"Well, you're here right now in the dead cold of the night watching a movie in an empty cinema," Donghyuck sassily retorts. In which he earns a bashful, guilty laugh and grin.
"Touche, you got me there. But still, it's impossible, though."
"You don't believe me? The choir in question is right here in front of you, my good lad."
"You mean you?"
Donghyuck widely grins as he snaps his fingers and nods.
The guy (still hasn't got his name) is bewildered. As much as he would love to challenge (endearingly) Donghyuck to prove if he is really a choir , something made him glance at his watch. Disheartened, he offered Donghyuck an apologetic smile. Donghyuck smiled understandingly.
"Some other night."
"Some other night."
Unexpectedly, a random request became a promise.
🎥🍿🥜
Movie of the day: The Snowman
You know, perfect attendance is a thing in school, work, and even in a Christmas Film Fest. Three consecutive nights, every 10 pm, a dark grey (or silver? It is still a mystery) Maserati parks in front or across the street in front of the movie theatre. A young man will step out, wearing the most fashionable clothes for winter, and walk as if he's on a runway towards the ticket booth.
That is how Donghyuck describes his 10 pm nowadays to his best friend.
"Hey," the guy greets, puffing an exhale.
"Hey," Donghyucks greets back softly with a smile. "Ticket?"
The guy nods. "What's the film for today?"
"The Snowman, the animated film."
"Oh, that sort of sounds familiar. There's a book with the same title that my mom used to read me to sleep when I was a kid, and it got adapted into a short film."
Donghyuck stares at him as he slides the ticket across the surface. "I think that's exactly the film featuring for today."
The eyes of the guy sparkled. "That's great! Nostalgia on the way." He is about to head forward but halted back to the window. "Would you like to watch it with me?"
" . . . Um, sure, why not."
The second time watching a movie with someone that he doesn't really know but is acquainted with should probably make him wary to know the who, why, and what details of the person.
Even Though that's the case, Donghyuck seems to not put too much thought into it because the guy seems like a kind person that just happens to like to watch the last screenings. And he has grown fond of the guy, more like they've grown fond of each other.
“Wanna build a snowman, Jeno?” Donghyuck asks after turning the lights off and pulling down the metal doors, locking the place for the night.
Oh, yup, Donghyuck just found out the name of the guy. Jeno is from uptown. He drives downtown every Friday at 10 pm to watch the late-night Christmas Film Fest.
Jeno chortles. “That’s a different movie.”
“Still a nice proposal, though,” Donghyuck says as he stands up and faces Jeno. He didn’t wait for a response. Instead, he grins and shrugs. “Some other night?”
He was expecting to receive the same line of a promise, but he got . . .
“Tomorrow. I’ll stop by again tomorrow and bring my snowman building tools.”
That is actually better than the previous three words.
🎥🍿🥜
Movie of the day: Love, Actually
As promised, Jeno did come back with his snowman building tools; a small shovel and a bucket. Donghyuck is beyond speechless when Jeno shows him those proudly but shyly.
“These are your ‘snowman building tools’ ?” Donghyuck asks with quotation marks.
“Ehhh . . . Yup,”
“Ohhh my glob,” Donghyuck says as he covers his face with his hands and stifles a string of laughter.
They still build snowpeople at the end by the curb in front of the cinema using the piles of snow everywhere. It was a very comically funny scene of two teens using a bucket that is originally for sandcastles to make snow castles. There are small abstract figures that Jeno claims to be the ‘snow people’. As much as Donghyuck would want to laugh, he smiled fondly, watching Jeno work really hard in making those snow people.
In the end, they have made a mini snow Christmas village with two snowman guards by its entrance.
“When was the last time you played with snow?” Donghyuck asks as he hands Jeno a cup of instant hot chocolate. They have settled at the snack bar counter to rest and pass the time.
“Middle school, I guess. When I started high school, I just didn't get to find the time anymore to,” Jeno explains, blowing the stream off of the hot chocolate. “You?”
“Every day, every Christmas. My siblings love playing with snow. The snowball fights are insanely—“
“Epic?”
“Painful. It was always me against the three of them. I’m a lone soldier while they’re a three-children army.”
Jeno laughs softly at the domestic story. “Definitely epic,” he says in a humorously matter-of-fact, which he earns a playful shove from the other across the counter.
“Say, why do you go here late at night, just to watch some old movies? Like why drive miles down here if you—I mean, I’m pretty sure you also have movie theatres uptown.”
Donghyuck finally lets out what has been bothering his mind. He earned a chuckle.
“Would you believe me if my reason is that I prefer quiet places than crowded ones?”
“Hmm, that’s fair. But why here ? As in, this theatre specifically?”
The corner of Jeno’s lip tugs up as his eyebrow quirks up at the same time. A moment of silence passes on, as a dramatic pause so that one of the characters can have 5 seconds to stare at the other character.
He cleared his throat and let out a breathy chuckle, internally chuckling at himself.
“Let’s say, I saw someone here wearing an ugly sweater, and it made me think: how could he wear that and still look cute?
🎥🍿🥜
Movie of the day: Enchanted
“And here he is again,” Donghyuck announces to himself as soon as he sees the familiar car parked by the curb in front of the movie theatre. “Gonna watch a movie again, I presume.”
Jeno reacted with a big smile that made his eyes form into crescents, and that never fails to melt Donghyuck more and more.
“I do. Would you like to watch with me again?”
Donghyuck’s hand pauses from pressing on the register. He lifts his gaze and stares at Jeno’s eyes, squinting. “You know, I’m starting to think you’re lowkey asking me on a date.”
Jeno blinks his eyes. His previously happy expression turns into a serious but affectionate one. “What if I am? What if I have been lowkey trying to ask you out this whole time?”
When he got a surprised, speechless reaction from the person behind the glass, he let out a chortle then shakes his head as he just got someone flustered by his response. “You should see the look on your face.”
They did end up watching the movie together, a packet of M&M’s with nuts and cups of hot chocolate. Jeno’s response did definitely not leave Donghyuck’s mind. He’s familiar with the different ways of being asked out, but he was never this flustered and taken aback.
Enchanted plays on the widescreen. Donghyuck knows the songs of the movies and so does loves all of them, especially So Close and That’s How You Know. Most especially That’s How You Know . The iconic performance at the park is playing, which delights Donghyuck a few minutes to put his mind to something else.
“You know, just gonna say, that is definitely the scene that makes the movie iconic. The synchronization, the theatricality, the clothes, and everything! Ugh, I love that scene so much.”
“I agree,” Jeno says with an affirmative agreeing nod. “And that’s how I know I like you,” he attempts to sing.
He can’t believe he just dropped that in reference to the lyrics of the song. On the seat beside him, a confused and startled expression falls on the face of the person sitting on it.
Donghyuck takes it all in little by little, and then he turns to Jeno with a small grin.
“Because you still find me cute even though I wear ugly sweaters? That is both a flustering compliment and a shocking way to confess, Jeno.”
The latter only lets out an embarrassed laugh.
They let everything sink in slowly, just like how their fingers start slowly filling in the gaps.
Another night of watching the movies together has never been this Enchanted ~
🎥🍿🥜
Bonus Epilogue
Donghyuck invited Jeno to watch the Christmas Tree Lighting at park central and told him to bring his family too. Jeno happily said yes through the phone.
All of them are now standing by the circle of the crowd watching the choir singing 12 Days of Christmas . What became a huge surprise and breathtaking moment is when Donghyuck suddenly walks in the middle of the choir and gets handed a microphone. He sings Jeno’s favorite Christmas song, Christmas in Our Hearts . His voice is much more heavenly than any angel. And Jeno never imagined that he would ever experience standing close to heaven's gates.
“That’s very beautiful, Donghyuck!” Donghyuck’s mother exclaims as she claps proudly.
“Your voice is amazing ,” Jeno’s mom says next and gives him an affectionate squeeze on the arm.
After a couple more songs, it is finally the time. Everyone stood excitedly looking at the Christmas tree. There is a bit of a theatrical act before the lights from the bottom to the top light up, partnered with astounding orchestral background music and the voice of the choir.
Jeno glances at the person standing beside him, then at his hand. He reaches for it, ghosting a touch on the skin, and then waits for the reaction of its owner.
Donghyuck felt it, also felt the electricity and warmth radiant from it, so he reached for the touch too.
As slow as the fall of snow, their hands gracefully fill in the small spaces, fitting perfectly.
And that’s how they know that there is magic in Christmas movies and ugly sweaters . . .