An accidental Christmas wish
Dec. 25th, 2023 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
learashiTitle: An accidental Christmas wish
Pairing: Fujiwara Joichiro / Ohashi Kazuya
Genre: Christmas Fluff
Rating: G
Summary: Jo doesn't believe in magic until he meets Hassun
Notes: Merry Christmas Nanifam
"WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAAAAARRRRRR"
Jo groaned and flipped over onto his back. It was done with enough force to make his bed creak in protest. A quick squint at his phone showed that it was almost two in the morning. He yanked the pillow out from beneath his head and pressed it to his face. Unfortunately, his attempt to smother himself into unconsciousness failed, and he could still hear the music through the ceiling.
Christmas was still three weeks away, and if his upstairs neighbour was planning on playing Christmas tunes every night until then, one of them wasn't going to live to see it.
++
"Woah! Those aren't just bags under your eyes; they're suitcases." Ryusei leaned closer and frowned.
Jo pushed his co-worker away and surreptitiously tried to check his reflection in the glass front of one of the display cabinets. "I don't look that bad."
"You really do," Kyohei's hyena laugh wafted back at Jo as he carried a carton of fresh stock over to Ryusei's makeup counter.
Sometimes Jo felt like a father to his younger colleagues, but after a week of very little sleep, he felt more like their grandfather. Straight out of high school, his job at the small department store had started out as a way to support himself while waiting for his comedy career to take off. But as the months and then years passed, he felt his dream slipping away. He was nearing thirty and still no closer to his goal.
"Here, let me fix you." Ryusei dabbed some concealer beneath Jo's eyes.
Kyohei tilted his head and contemplated Jo's face. "That stuff is magic. He almost looks handsome. I don’t recognise the logo. What brand is it?"
Ryusei blushed and hid the tube behind his back. "It's a sample of something that I came up with. I want to sell my own line of cosmetics one day."
"Nice." Kyohei pulled a box cutter out of his pocket and sliced through the tape sealing the carton.
Ryusei helped Kyohei to unpack the lipsticks. "It will probably never happen, but it doesn't hurt to dream. What about you?"
"There's this YouTube gaming channel I am addicted to. I'd love to do something like that." Kyohei turned to Jo and asked, "Did you have a dream when you were our age?"
"I'm not that much older than you!" Jo protested.
++
On the way home from work Jo stopped at the supermarket and bought himself beer and snacks. Normally he would cook a proper meal, but with the lack of sleep and being made to feel as old as dirt, he decided to skip vegetables in favour of junk food and alcohol.
Jo had a stockpile of recorded games featuring his favourite baseball team, which he liked to watch while drinking. He hoped that he would finally be able to relax and get some sleep, but unfortunately, it wasn't to be.
Even before he reached his front door, Jo could hear the sound of sleigh bells jingling with a musical accompaniment drifting down from the floor above. He growled and dumped his shopping in his apartment.
There was a local community police station not far away. Hopefully, they would tell him how to put a stop to this seasonal torture.
++
When Jo entered the police station, he almost turned around and walked right back out again.
Of all places, here he'd thought himself safe from the relentless Christmas torture, but apparently, he was mistaken.
One of the officers appeared to be around the same age as Jo. He was a small dark-haired man with wide-set eyes and a toothy smile. He was probably very handsome, but the Santa hat perched on his head blinded Jo to his charms.
As he caught Jo's eye, the officer snatched the hat off and stuffed it into his pocket. "Um, good evening. My name is Nishihata. How can we help?"
As Jo explained his issues with his overly spirited upstairs neighbour, the younger of the two officers on duty made copious notes. He was tall and thin, with the aura of a baby giraffe as he perched on a chair that was too low for his long legs. His pretty face creased into a worried frown. "There is a common expectation of noise no louder than 60 decibels during the day and 50 decibels at night. You have cause for action. We can shut him down so that there will be no more Christmas tunes creating a disturbance."
Nishihata plucked the pen from his subordinate's fingers and replaced it with a candy cane. "Stand down Michieda. Cancelling Christmas isn't in our job description." He turned his megawatt smile back towards Jo. "In these cases, it is usually better to leave a polite note for your neighbour. If that doesn't work, then we suggest contacting your building management. We will only step in as a last resort."
It wasn't what Jo wanted to hear, but he decided to give it a try. He absently accepted the candy cane from Michieda on the way out.
++
After writing several different versions of the note to his neighbour, Jo finally settled on the original.
His palms were sweating as he headed up the stairs to the floor above. It wasn't the polite thing to address these kinds of issues directly with your neighbour, but the need for sleep outweighed his reputation in the apartment block.
For once, it was quiet and Jo found himself holding his breath and tiptoeing until he reached the offending apartment. The door was painted bright green. Not a dull green either. To Jo, who was operating on even less sleep after agonising over his letter writing, it appeared obnoxiously bright.
He wasn't quiet enough, because as he bent down to slide the letter under the door, the door opened abruptly and he was confronted by a pair of confused brown eyes.
Jo was tempted to curl up and roll away like a turbocharged snail, but he tried to act like a grown-up. He straightened up and held the envelope out. A mass of words spewed out of his mouth. "Um, excuse me. I live downstairs, and I didn't mean to disturb you. I just came to drop this off. I know this is kind of weird, but please accept this."
"Technically this isn't my apartment." The young man standing in the doorway shook his head.
A husky voice called out from the depths of the apartment. "Who are you talking to Kenken? I didn't hear the doorbell."
"A guy from downstairs dropping off a letter for you."
"My name is Fujiwara," Jo said.
"Hi! I'm Kento," the young fellow replied with a cheeky grin.
"Don't leave him dangling in the doorway, Kenken. Show him in," the distant voice called. "I'm just taking another batch out of the oven."
Jo certainly didn't want to be around when his neighbour read the letter. He took a step back. "I didn't mean to intrude. I'll come back another day."
Kento gave Jo no chance to escape. He grabbed Jo's hand, dragged him inside with a surprising amount of strength, and slammed the door shut, blocking the exit.
With his escape route cut off, Jo meekly removed his shoes and slid his feet into a soft pair of blue guest slippers. He hid the envelope in his pocket and hoped that Kenken would forget about it.
"Grab a seat while I see if Uncle Kazuya needs any help." Kento waved vaguely with his hand before disappearing into the kitchen.
Left alone, Jo examined his surroundings. It was obvious that this apartment was huge in comparison to his own space. The furnishings were far from new, but they gave off an expensive aura. There was a pleasant scent of cinnamon in the air, and when Jo sat on the squishy sofa it felt like a warm hug.
A man around the same age as Jo bounced into the room. He was more alive than anyone Jo had ever met. "Hello! I'm Ohashi, but my friends call me Hassun! It's great to finally meet one of my neighbours. I'm just about to cook. You must stay for dinner."
The excuse that Jo had prepared in his mind as an escape route evaporated. Hassun was an irresistible force of nature. "Okay."
"Would you like some music to entertain you while I cook?"
"NO!" Jo blurted as he imagined listening to the horrible Christmas tunes up close.
Hassun’s megawatt smile dimmed and it was like a sudden eclipse of the sun.
An unexpected pang of regret stabbed Jo in the chest as Hassun’s twinkling brown eyes lost their spark. He immediately backtracked and was surprised to find that he meant every word when he said, "Sorry. It's just that I would rather talk and get to know you."
"That’s my cue to leave." Kento wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and grabbed his coat.
Jo immediately felt guilty. He half rose from his chair. "Don't leave on my account."
"Don't worry. Kenken was on his way out when you arrived." Hassun handed Kento some money and pushed him toward the door.
Kento saluted Ohashi and headed out, leaving Jo alone with the person who had been making his life a misery. Oddly enough, the prospect filled Jo with interest rather than dismay.
++
The meal was a simple one, but each dish was expertly prepared. The highlight was a plate of cured ham which was sliced thin enough to see through. At times Jo forgot to eat as he watched Hassun stuffing food into his mouth like a machine. He was tempted to poke Hassun on the cheek and tell him to slow down but managed to not embarrass himself.
Jo took a sip of ginger ale (his absolute favourite drink), and asked the question which had been playing in his mind since Kento left. "There's something which is puzzling me. Kento called you Uncle Kazuya, but it looks like you are almost the same age. You can't be older than me, and I'm twenty-seven."
“I’m not actually his uncle, and it’s a relief to hear that you don’t think that I look old, because some days he makes me feel like I am,” Ohashi laughed. "Kento is my cousin and a good kid. You were close with our ages. Kento turned twenty-one in August. I celebrated my twenty-sixth in August too. When Kento was in junior high his parents died in an accident and he came to live with my family. He’s kind of loud and disruptive so when I moved out of home he came with me. It was really a tough time for him, but he’s a good kid at heart.”
The front door slammed and Kento clattered in as Ohashi finished speaking. He dropped three tubs of ice cream and a handful of bamboo spoons onto the table. He wrapped his arms around Ohashi's neck and squeezed him affectionately. "Uncle Kazuya has been a great substitute mother, but for some reason, he gets embarrassed when I call him that.”
They all laughed, but Jo caught the glimmer of tears in Kento’s eyes which were quickly swept away.
++
The crumpled envelope seemed to glare accusingly at Jo from the corner of his small table.
On the night he met Hassun it would've been rude to hand it to him after eating the delicious dinner. In the two weeks since then, Jo had tried his hardest to ignore the bursts of overly loud chirpy music seeping down through his ceiling. His attempts to sleep through the noise were obviously unsuccessful, as this morning Ryusei had handed him a tube of concealer with a disappointed scowl.
With Christmas rapidly approaching, things at work were getting crazier and Jo was exhausted every evening when he finally made it home. He'd even had to turn down a couple of nights performing at a local comedy club. It was imperative to say something to Hassun soon.
But since their first meeting they had seen each other several times for coffee or dinner, and last night they had gone to view the Christmas lights. Kento had seen them off with a wave and wished them a good date. Neither of them denied that it was a date, but they hadn't admitted it to each other either.
When the music began, Jo tried his hardest to ignore it. He really liked Hassun and didn't want anything to ruin their budding relationship. But one could only listen to Mariah Carey singing about all she wanted for Christmas a limited number of times before losing the will to live.
This time Jo decided to simply talk to Hassun about the issue rather than writing a letter. He wanted there to be a reason for the music, although as hard as he tried he couldn’t think of one.
++
It took several rounds of knocking before Kento opened the door. He pulled an earplug out of his right ear and gestured for Jo to enter. "I didn't mean to leave you hanging. I couldn't hear you knocking because of the music."
"That’s what I'm here about. This needs to stop." The words came out more forcefully than Jo intended, but Bing Crosby crooning White Christmas loud enough to make his teeth vibrate made him a little cranky.
Kento nodded and walked over to the record player and turned down the volume to a more manageable level. He poked his head into the kitchen. "Uncle Kazuya, Jo-san is here. I think the music is annoying him, so you should explain things to him," he said calmly.
"I'm in the middle of a batch and can't stop. Send him in," Hassun replied loudly.
Kento stood back and gestured to Jo to enter the kitchen ahead of him.
Jo had never been further in the apartment than the living room so he looked around curiously. The kitchen seemed larger on the inside than the space should be. The countertops were made of white well-used marble and covered with cooling racks laden with an array of assorted cookies. The smell of spices and sugar gave him a warm feeling.
Hassun was stirring something in a large mixing bowl while wiggling his hips and singing along with the music. His voice was strong and pure, and in Jo's opinion much better than the singer on the record.
Hassun bestowed one of his glorious smiles on Jo before returning to his work. He added chocolate chips and pecans to the mixture and gave it another stir while muttering something under his breath. When he looked at Jo again his expression was serious. "Sorry about the music being loud. I don't mean to cause a disturbance but it has to be this way. Since the beginning of December, I've been baking Christmas cookies and it helps me to make them magic."
"Are the cookies really that good?" Jo asked Kento. Surely Hassun was making a joke. He couldn’t really be so unrepentant about keeping him awake. "Magic seems like a pretty big claim."
"He's not bragging. He means it literally," Kento replied.
"What? You can't be serious!" Jo wondered if his lack of sleep was causing hallucinations.
"If you make a wish while eating the cookie, it will come true. The music is an important part of the spell." Ohashi stopped stirring his dough for a moment and added, "But it only works once, so you need to be sure that you ask for precisely what you want."
Kento nodded vigorously and set about packing cooled cookies into cute Christmas-themed boxes. "Sometimes magic is loud, but Uncle Kazuya only does magic in December so it won't be noisy for too much longer. I can give you some earplugs if you like."
It was all too much for Jo. All the sleepless nights spent listening to an endless loop of Christmas tunes caught up with him and his temper snapped. "Are you kidding me? Earplugs? Have you two lost your minds? And don't give me some rubbish about magic cookies. I need this racket to stop right now."
"It's not rubbish!" Kento exclaimed. "Uncle Kazuya really can do magic." He balled his hands into fists and stepped towards Jo.
Hassun put himself between Kento and Jo. "Kenken, go to your room."
Kento scowled. "I'm not a child. You can't make me."
"You're right. I apologise. I'm asking instead of telling," Hassun said gently.
"Fine," Kento huffed. He gave Jo one last glare but left the kitchen anyway.
Hassun picked up a green and blue striped box of cookies and held them out to Jo. "Last Christmas we lived in a single-family home, but the owner died and we had to leave. I guess I forgot that I have neighbours. I'm sorry about the noise. I will wear headphones from now on when I bake."
Jo felt like a bully as he took the cookies. The sad expression on Ohashi's face was his fault. "Sorry for yelling. I should've said something about the noise before now." But even though he didn't want to hurt Hassun, he couldn’t believe in the supposed magic. "The magic part is a joke though, right?"
"No joke. It's something that has been passed down in my family for generations. Make a wish while eating one of the cookies and it will come true. But you can't use the wish to harm anyone, and it only works once, and you can't change the past. I'd give anything for Kento to be able to bring his parents back, but what's done can't be undone."
"But why cookies?"
Hassun’s smile returned, with a hint of sadness. "Because cookies make people happy, and I love to make people happy. But it appears that this time I've failed." He escorted Jo to the door. "Sorry to have bothered you," he said softly. "I'll make sure that it doesn’t happen again."
Before he knew it Jo was in the hallway staring at the other side of the closed door. It was probably for the best to end things here before he fell too deep. He liked Hassun, but he couldn’t cope with the fact that he was delusional enough to believe that magic was real. He clasped the box of cookies to his chest and tried to convince himself that he was right.
++
The next day at work, Jo had lunch with Kyohei and Ryusei and took the box of "magic" cookies with him. He couldn’t bring himself to eat them, even though they smelled like Christmas and reminded him of Hassun’s sweet cologne.
His co-workers gazed reverently at the cookies as he told them about Hassun and their allegedly magic properties.
Ryusei tilted his head and looked at Jo with wide eyes. "Just imagine the possibilities!"
"I could be king of the world!" Kyohei exclaimed.
"Absolutely ludicrous," Jo said.
"It won't hurt to try," Ryusei said. "What if the magic is real and our wishes do come true?"
"I'm in." Kyohei snatched a cookie out of the box. He closed his eyes, took a huge bite and chewed. When the cookie was finished, he opened his eyes and grinned. "Right. Done."
Ryusei picked up a cookie and nibbled the edges. He also closed his eyes and smiled sweetly as he made his wish. He held the box of cookies out towards Jo. "Your turn."
Jo took the box and slammed the lid shut. "No chance."
++
"Jo Jo Jo Jo!" Kyohei bounced up and down excitedly and lunged towards Jo. "It happened!"
Kyohei was never this animated when he arrived at work. His late-night gaming activities usually meant that he squinted and grumbled his way through the first hour or two until he was properly awake. Jo evaded Kyohei's attempt to grab him in a bear hug and held him at arm's length. It had been a week since Kyohei's wish and Jo was sad to think that Hassun might have been making fun of him, but now it seemed as if his judgement might be clouded. "What’s made you so excited?"
"Last night I was asked to join my favourite gamer's YouTube channel! My wish came true!" Kyohei picked up a mirror from Ryusei's counter and examined his reflection. "Perhaps I should change my hair colour. What do you think about red?"
"I think that it would go perfectly with my new lip gloss line." Ryusei pulled a shiny tube of red gloss out of his pocket and carefully dabbed it onto Kyohei's lips.
Kyohei admired himself and said, "I love it! What brand is it?"
"Mine!!" Ryusei posed with the tube. "It's the prototype of the first product in my cosmetic line. It's going to be manufactured by one of the biggest cosmetic firms in Japan. They called me a few days ago and offered me a deal, but I wanted to wait until they sent me the prototype before I told you!"
"Magic is real!" Kyohei cackled and hugged Ryusei who clung to him while the pair of them jumped up and down in an erratic circle.
They separated and grabbed Jo's arms and dragged him into their celebration, but although he was happy for them, the memory of Hassun’s sad face played in his mind.
++
When Jo removed the lid of the box containing the remaining cookies, the waft of spice that was released tickled his nose. It reminded him of Hassun and the times they'd spent together before the whole magic issue had interfered with their budding relationship.
Surely it was simply coincidence which had produced Kyohei and Ryusei's good fortune. For as long as Jo had known them they'd both worked hard to reach their goals. It was Christmas Eve and only this morning he'd received yet another rejection text from a New Year's Eve comedy festival where he'd hoped to perform. Perhaps his dream hadn't come true simply because he wasn't good enough.
A tiny but insistent voice whispered in the dark recesses of Jo's mind. What if it was true? What if magic was real? He could be famous. And rich. And famous.
A cookie was in Jo’s hand before he knew that he had picked it up. If he made a wish now and it didn’t come true, nobody had to know. His reputation as a sceptic would remain intact. But Jo wanted to believe that Hassun had been telling the truth.
Jo took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure that it was necessary but it seemed to have worked for Kyohei and Ryusei. He wanted to laugh at himself, but something compelled him to take this moment seriously. There was only one chance to get this right. He needed to focus wholeheartedly on the most important thing he could wish for.
His future depended on this moment.
Jo’s hand trembled as he raised the cookie and took a bite.
The cookie was soft and sweet, just like Hassun. Kind, soft, generous, funny Hassun. Jo wished that he could spend more time with him, getting to know him better.
Jo clapped his hands over his mouth in horror. That's not what he'd meant to think of at all. If this wish thing was true, a moment's inattention had just cost him his one chance of success. Since his tenth birthday, his dream had been to become a comedian. He wanted to make people happy and bring light into their lives.
But without Hassun there would be no light.
Where did that idea come from? Jo shook his head in an attempt to dislodge the thought from his mind. But he couldn’t.
When he was with Hassun, Jo felt like the most important and valued person in the world. They’d gone to an all you can eat restaurant and Hassun had eaten so quickly Jo feared that he would choke, but with his cheeks stuffed full of food, Hassun looked completely adorable.
What use were dreams if you didn't have anyone to share them with? Perhaps the key to success was to be happy with his own life before attempting to bring happiness to others.
As they viewed the Christmas illuminations their fingers had brushed and Hassun’s smile was brighter than any of the lights. It was then that Hassun said that he wanted to spread happiness to the entire universe. Now Jo finally understood what that meant, and he wanted to be a part of it.
He dropped the cookies and dashed upstairs.
Hassun opened the door before Jo knocked.
Jo's heart thudded as their eyes met.
Hassun’s eyes sparkled as he stood back to allow Jo to enter. "I've been expecting you. Come in."
Warmth flooded through Jo as he entered the spice-scented, cosy space.
It felt like coming home.
Pairing: Fujiwara Joichiro / Ohashi Kazuya
Genre: Christmas Fluff
Rating: G
Summary: Jo doesn't believe in magic until he meets Hassun
Notes: Merry Christmas Nanifam
"WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAAAAARRRRRR"
Jo groaned and flipped over onto his back. It was done with enough force to make his bed creak in protest. A quick squint at his phone showed that it was almost two in the morning. He yanked the pillow out from beneath his head and pressed it to his face. Unfortunately, his attempt to smother himself into unconsciousness failed, and he could still hear the music through the ceiling.
Christmas was still three weeks away, and if his upstairs neighbour was planning on playing Christmas tunes every night until then, one of them wasn't going to live to see it.
++
"Woah! Those aren't just bags under your eyes; they're suitcases." Ryusei leaned closer and frowned.
Jo pushed his co-worker away and surreptitiously tried to check his reflection in the glass front of one of the display cabinets. "I don't look that bad."
"You really do," Kyohei's hyena laugh wafted back at Jo as he carried a carton of fresh stock over to Ryusei's makeup counter.
Sometimes Jo felt like a father to his younger colleagues, but after a week of very little sleep, he felt more like their grandfather. Straight out of high school, his job at the small department store had started out as a way to support himself while waiting for his comedy career to take off. But as the months and then years passed, he felt his dream slipping away. He was nearing thirty and still no closer to his goal.
"Here, let me fix you." Ryusei dabbed some concealer beneath Jo's eyes.
Kyohei tilted his head and contemplated Jo's face. "That stuff is magic. He almost looks handsome. I don’t recognise the logo. What brand is it?"
Ryusei blushed and hid the tube behind his back. "It's a sample of something that I came up with. I want to sell my own line of cosmetics one day."
"Nice." Kyohei pulled a box cutter out of his pocket and sliced through the tape sealing the carton.
Ryusei helped Kyohei to unpack the lipsticks. "It will probably never happen, but it doesn't hurt to dream. What about you?"
"There's this YouTube gaming channel I am addicted to. I'd love to do something like that." Kyohei turned to Jo and asked, "Did you have a dream when you were our age?"
"I'm not that much older than you!" Jo protested.
++
On the way home from work Jo stopped at the supermarket and bought himself beer and snacks. Normally he would cook a proper meal, but with the lack of sleep and being made to feel as old as dirt, he decided to skip vegetables in favour of junk food and alcohol.
Jo had a stockpile of recorded games featuring his favourite baseball team, which he liked to watch while drinking. He hoped that he would finally be able to relax and get some sleep, but unfortunately, it wasn't to be.
Even before he reached his front door, Jo could hear the sound of sleigh bells jingling with a musical accompaniment drifting down from the floor above. He growled and dumped his shopping in his apartment.
There was a local community police station not far away. Hopefully, they would tell him how to put a stop to this seasonal torture.
++
When Jo entered the police station, he almost turned around and walked right back out again.
Of all places, here he'd thought himself safe from the relentless Christmas torture, but apparently, he was mistaken.
One of the officers appeared to be around the same age as Jo. He was a small dark-haired man with wide-set eyes and a toothy smile. He was probably very handsome, but the Santa hat perched on his head blinded Jo to his charms.
As he caught Jo's eye, the officer snatched the hat off and stuffed it into his pocket. "Um, good evening. My name is Nishihata. How can we help?"
As Jo explained his issues with his overly spirited upstairs neighbour, the younger of the two officers on duty made copious notes. He was tall and thin, with the aura of a baby giraffe as he perched on a chair that was too low for his long legs. His pretty face creased into a worried frown. "There is a common expectation of noise no louder than 60 decibels during the day and 50 decibels at night. You have cause for action. We can shut him down so that there will be no more Christmas tunes creating a disturbance."
Nishihata plucked the pen from his subordinate's fingers and replaced it with a candy cane. "Stand down Michieda. Cancelling Christmas isn't in our job description." He turned his megawatt smile back towards Jo. "In these cases, it is usually better to leave a polite note for your neighbour. If that doesn't work, then we suggest contacting your building management. We will only step in as a last resort."
It wasn't what Jo wanted to hear, but he decided to give it a try. He absently accepted the candy cane from Michieda on the way out.
++
After writing several different versions of the note to his neighbour, Jo finally settled on the original.
His palms were sweating as he headed up the stairs to the floor above. It wasn't the polite thing to address these kinds of issues directly with your neighbour, but the need for sleep outweighed his reputation in the apartment block.
For once, it was quiet and Jo found himself holding his breath and tiptoeing until he reached the offending apartment. The door was painted bright green. Not a dull green either. To Jo, who was operating on even less sleep after agonising over his letter writing, it appeared obnoxiously bright.
He wasn't quiet enough, because as he bent down to slide the letter under the door, the door opened abruptly and he was confronted by a pair of confused brown eyes.
Jo was tempted to curl up and roll away like a turbocharged snail, but he tried to act like a grown-up. He straightened up and held the envelope out. A mass of words spewed out of his mouth. "Um, excuse me. I live downstairs, and I didn't mean to disturb you. I just came to drop this off. I know this is kind of weird, but please accept this."
"Technically this isn't my apartment." The young man standing in the doorway shook his head.
A husky voice called out from the depths of the apartment. "Who are you talking to Kenken? I didn't hear the doorbell."
"A guy from downstairs dropping off a letter for you."
"My name is Fujiwara," Jo said.
"Hi! I'm Kento," the young fellow replied with a cheeky grin.
"Don't leave him dangling in the doorway, Kenken. Show him in," the distant voice called. "I'm just taking another batch out of the oven."
Jo certainly didn't want to be around when his neighbour read the letter. He took a step back. "I didn't mean to intrude. I'll come back another day."
Kento gave Jo no chance to escape. He grabbed Jo's hand, dragged him inside with a surprising amount of strength, and slammed the door shut, blocking the exit.
With his escape route cut off, Jo meekly removed his shoes and slid his feet into a soft pair of blue guest slippers. He hid the envelope in his pocket and hoped that Kenken would forget about it.
"Grab a seat while I see if Uncle Kazuya needs any help." Kento waved vaguely with his hand before disappearing into the kitchen.
Left alone, Jo examined his surroundings. It was obvious that this apartment was huge in comparison to his own space. The furnishings were far from new, but they gave off an expensive aura. There was a pleasant scent of cinnamon in the air, and when Jo sat on the squishy sofa it felt like a warm hug.
A man around the same age as Jo bounced into the room. He was more alive than anyone Jo had ever met. "Hello! I'm Ohashi, but my friends call me Hassun! It's great to finally meet one of my neighbours. I'm just about to cook. You must stay for dinner."
The excuse that Jo had prepared in his mind as an escape route evaporated. Hassun was an irresistible force of nature. "Okay."
"Would you like some music to entertain you while I cook?"
"NO!" Jo blurted as he imagined listening to the horrible Christmas tunes up close.
Hassun’s megawatt smile dimmed and it was like a sudden eclipse of the sun.
An unexpected pang of regret stabbed Jo in the chest as Hassun’s twinkling brown eyes lost their spark. He immediately backtracked and was surprised to find that he meant every word when he said, "Sorry. It's just that I would rather talk and get to know you."
"That’s my cue to leave." Kento wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and grabbed his coat.
Jo immediately felt guilty. He half rose from his chair. "Don't leave on my account."
"Don't worry. Kenken was on his way out when you arrived." Hassun handed Kento some money and pushed him toward the door.
Kento saluted Ohashi and headed out, leaving Jo alone with the person who had been making his life a misery. Oddly enough, the prospect filled Jo with interest rather than dismay.
++
The meal was a simple one, but each dish was expertly prepared. The highlight was a plate of cured ham which was sliced thin enough to see through. At times Jo forgot to eat as he watched Hassun stuffing food into his mouth like a machine. He was tempted to poke Hassun on the cheek and tell him to slow down but managed to not embarrass himself.
Jo took a sip of ginger ale (his absolute favourite drink), and asked the question which had been playing in his mind since Kento left. "There's something which is puzzling me. Kento called you Uncle Kazuya, but it looks like you are almost the same age. You can't be older than me, and I'm twenty-seven."
“I’m not actually his uncle, and it’s a relief to hear that you don’t think that I look old, because some days he makes me feel like I am,” Ohashi laughed. "Kento is my cousin and a good kid. You were close with our ages. Kento turned twenty-one in August. I celebrated my twenty-sixth in August too. When Kento was in junior high his parents died in an accident and he came to live with my family. He’s kind of loud and disruptive so when I moved out of home he came with me. It was really a tough time for him, but he’s a good kid at heart.”
The front door slammed and Kento clattered in as Ohashi finished speaking. He dropped three tubs of ice cream and a handful of bamboo spoons onto the table. He wrapped his arms around Ohashi's neck and squeezed him affectionately. "Uncle Kazuya has been a great substitute mother, but for some reason, he gets embarrassed when I call him that.”
They all laughed, but Jo caught the glimmer of tears in Kento’s eyes which were quickly swept away.
++
The crumpled envelope seemed to glare accusingly at Jo from the corner of his small table.
On the night he met Hassun it would've been rude to hand it to him after eating the delicious dinner. In the two weeks since then, Jo had tried his hardest to ignore the bursts of overly loud chirpy music seeping down through his ceiling. His attempts to sleep through the noise were obviously unsuccessful, as this morning Ryusei had handed him a tube of concealer with a disappointed scowl.
With Christmas rapidly approaching, things at work were getting crazier and Jo was exhausted every evening when he finally made it home. He'd even had to turn down a couple of nights performing at a local comedy club. It was imperative to say something to Hassun soon.
But since their first meeting they had seen each other several times for coffee or dinner, and last night they had gone to view the Christmas lights. Kento had seen them off with a wave and wished them a good date. Neither of them denied that it was a date, but they hadn't admitted it to each other either.
When the music began, Jo tried his hardest to ignore it. He really liked Hassun and didn't want anything to ruin their budding relationship. But one could only listen to Mariah Carey singing about all she wanted for Christmas a limited number of times before losing the will to live.
This time Jo decided to simply talk to Hassun about the issue rather than writing a letter. He wanted there to be a reason for the music, although as hard as he tried he couldn’t think of one.
++
It took several rounds of knocking before Kento opened the door. He pulled an earplug out of his right ear and gestured for Jo to enter. "I didn't mean to leave you hanging. I couldn't hear you knocking because of the music."
"That’s what I'm here about. This needs to stop." The words came out more forcefully than Jo intended, but Bing Crosby crooning White Christmas loud enough to make his teeth vibrate made him a little cranky.
Kento nodded and walked over to the record player and turned down the volume to a more manageable level. He poked his head into the kitchen. "Uncle Kazuya, Jo-san is here. I think the music is annoying him, so you should explain things to him," he said calmly.
"I'm in the middle of a batch and can't stop. Send him in," Hassun replied loudly.
Kento stood back and gestured to Jo to enter the kitchen ahead of him.
Jo had never been further in the apartment than the living room so he looked around curiously. The kitchen seemed larger on the inside than the space should be. The countertops were made of white well-used marble and covered with cooling racks laden with an array of assorted cookies. The smell of spices and sugar gave him a warm feeling.
Hassun was stirring something in a large mixing bowl while wiggling his hips and singing along with the music. His voice was strong and pure, and in Jo's opinion much better than the singer on the record.
Hassun bestowed one of his glorious smiles on Jo before returning to his work. He added chocolate chips and pecans to the mixture and gave it another stir while muttering something under his breath. When he looked at Jo again his expression was serious. "Sorry about the music being loud. I don't mean to cause a disturbance but it has to be this way. Since the beginning of December, I've been baking Christmas cookies and it helps me to make them magic."
"Are the cookies really that good?" Jo asked Kento. Surely Hassun was making a joke. He couldn’t really be so unrepentant about keeping him awake. "Magic seems like a pretty big claim."
"He's not bragging. He means it literally," Kento replied.
"What? You can't be serious!" Jo wondered if his lack of sleep was causing hallucinations.
"If you make a wish while eating the cookie, it will come true. The music is an important part of the spell." Ohashi stopped stirring his dough for a moment and added, "But it only works once, so you need to be sure that you ask for precisely what you want."
Kento nodded vigorously and set about packing cooled cookies into cute Christmas-themed boxes. "Sometimes magic is loud, but Uncle Kazuya only does magic in December so it won't be noisy for too much longer. I can give you some earplugs if you like."
It was all too much for Jo. All the sleepless nights spent listening to an endless loop of Christmas tunes caught up with him and his temper snapped. "Are you kidding me? Earplugs? Have you two lost your minds? And don't give me some rubbish about magic cookies. I need this racket to stop right now."
"It's not rubbish!" Kento exclaimed. "Uncle Kazuya really can do magic." He balled his hands into fists and stepped towards Jo.
Hassun put himself between Kento and Jo. "Kenken, go to your room."
Kento scowled. "I'm not a child. You can't make me."
"You're right. I apologise. I'm asking instead of telling," Hassun said gently.
"Fine," Kento huffed. He gave Jo one last glare but left the kitchen anyway.
Hassun picked up a green and blue striped box of cookies and held them out to Jo. "Last Christmas we lived in a single-family home, but the owner died and we had to leave. I guess I forgot that I have neighbours. I'm sorry about the noise. I will wear headphones from now on when I bake."
Jo felt like a bully as he took the cookies. The sad expression on Ohashi's face was his fault. "Sorry for yelling. I should've said something about the noise before now." But even though he didn't want to hurt Hassun, he couldn’t believe in the supposed magic. "The magic part is a joke though, right?"
"No joke. It's something that has been passed down in my family for generations. Make a wish while eating one of the cookies and it will come true. But you can't use the wish to harm anyone, and it only works once, and you can't change the past. I'd give anything for Kento to be able to bring his parents back, but what's done can't be undone."
"But why cookies?"
Hassun’s smile returned, with a hint of sadness. "Because cookies make people happy, and I love to make people happy. But it appears that this time I've failed." He escorted Jo to the door. "Sorry to have bothered you," he said softly. "I'll make sure that it doesn’t happen again."
Before he knew it Jo was in the hallway staring at the other side of the closed door. It was probably for the best to end things here before he fell too deep. He liked Hassun, but he couldn’t cope with the fact that he was delusional enough to believe that magic was real. He clasped the box of cookies to his chest and tried to convince himself that he was right.
++
The next day at work, Jo had lunch with Kyohei and Ryusei and took the box of "magic" cookies with him. He couldn’t bring himself to eat them, even though they smelled like Christmas and reminded him of Hassun’s sweet cologne.
His co-workers gazed reverently at the cookies as he told them about Hassun and their allegedly magic properties.
Ryusei tilted his head and looked at Jo with wide eyes. "Just imagine the possibilities!"
"I could be king of the world!" Kyohei exclaimed.
"Absolutely ludicrous," Jo said.
"It won't hurt to try," Ryusei said. "What if the magic is real and our wishes do come true?"
"I'm in." Kyohei snatched a cookie out of the box. He closed his eyes, took a huge bite and chewed. When the cookie was finished, he opened his eyes and grinned. "Right. Done."
Ryusei picked up a cookie and nibbled the edges. He also closed his eyes and smiled sweetly as he made his wish. He held the box of cookies out towards Jo. "Your turn."
Jo took the box and slammed the lid shut. "No chance."
++
"Jo Jo Jo Jo!" Kyohei bounced up and down excitedly and lunged towards Jo. "It happened!"
Kyohei was never this animated when he arrived at work. His late-night gaming activities usually meant that he squinted and grumbled his way through the first hour or two until he was properly awake. Jo evaded Kyohei's attempt to grab him in a bear hug and held him at arm's length. It had been a week since Kyohei's wish and Jo was sad to think that Hassun might have been making fun of him, but now it seemed as if his judgement might be clouded. "What’s made you so excited?"
"Last night I was asked to join my favourite gamer's YouTube channel! My wish came true!" Kyohei picked up a mirror from Ryusei's counter and examined his reflection. "Perhaps I should change my hair colour. What do you think about red?"
"I think that it would go perfectly with my new lip gloss line." Ryusei pulled a shiny tube of red gloss out of his pocket and carefully dabbed it onto Kyohei's lips.
Kyohei admired himself and said, "I love it! What brand is it?"
"Mine!!" Ryusei posed with the tube. "It's the prototype of the first product in my cosmetic line. It's going to be manufactured by one of the biggest cosmetic firms in Japan. They called me a few days ago and offered me a deal, but I wanted to wait until they sent me the prototype before I told you!"
"Magic is real!" Kyohei cackled and hugged Ryusei who clung to him while the pair of them jumped up and down in an erratic circle.
They separated and grabbed Jo's arms and dragged him into their celebration, but although he was happy for them, the memory of Hassun’s sad face played in his mind.
++
When Jo removed the lid of the box containing the remaining cookies, the waft of spice that was released tickled his nose. It reminded him of Hassun and the times they'd spent together before the whole magic issue had interfered with their budding relationship.
Surely it was simply coincidence which had produced Kyohei and Ryusei's good fortune. For as long as Jo had known them they'd both worked hard to reach their goals. It was Christmas Eve and only this morning he'd received yet another rejection text from a New Year's Eve comedy festival where he'd hoped to perform. Perhaps his dream hadn't come true simply because he wasn't good enough.
A tiny but insistent voice whispered in the dark recesses of Jo's mind. What if it was true? What if magic was real? He could be famous. And rich. And famous.
A cookie was in Jo’s hand before he knew that he had picked it up. If he made a wish now and it didn’t come true, nobody had to know. His reputation as a sceptic would remain intact. But Jo wanted to believe that Hassun had been telling the truth.
Jo took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure that it was necessary but it seemed to have worked for Kyohei and Ryusei. He wanted to laugh at himself, but something compelled him to take this moment seriously. There was only one chance to get this right. He needed to focus wholeheartedly on the most important thing he could wish for.
His future depended on this moment.
Jo’s hand trembled as he raised the cookie and took a bite.
The cookie was soft and sweet, just like Hassun. Kind, soft, generous, funny Hassun. Jo wished that he could spend more time with him, getting to know him better.
Jo clapped his hands over his mouth in horror. That's not what he'd meant to think of at all. If this wish thing was true, a moment's inattention had just cost him his one chance of success. Since his tenth birthday, his dream had been to become a comedian. He wanted to make people happy and bring light into their lives.
But without Hassun there would be no light.
Where did that idea come from? Jo shook his head in an attempt to dislodge the thought from his mind. But he couldn’t.
When he was with Hassun, Jo felt like the most important and valued person in the world. They’d gone to an all you can eat restaurant and Hassun had eaten so quickly Jo feared that he would choke, but with his cheeks stuffed full of food, Hassun looked completely adorable.
What use were dreams if you didn't have anyone to share them with? Perhaps the key to success was to be happy with his own life before attempting to bring happiness to others.
As they viewed the Christmas illuminations their fingers had brushed and Hassun’s smile was brighter than any of the lights. It was then that Hassun said that he wanted to spread happiness to the entire universe. Now Jo finally understood what that meant, and he wanted to be a part of it.
He dropped the cookies and dashed upstairs.
Hassun opened the door before Jo knocked.
Jo's heart thudded as their eyes met.
Hassun’s eyes sparkled as he stood back to allow Jo to enter. "I've been expecting you. Come in."
Warmth flooded through Jo as he entered the spice-scented, cosy space.
It felt like coming home.
