Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Her heart pounded wildly in her chest. There’d been a scene like this in a drama that had left a deep impression on her. A shadowy intruder sneaks in to kidnap a princess in her sleep, but the brave princess grabs a sword and fends him off. But all Angela had in her hands right now was the teddy bear she’d been cuddling before she fell asleep.
Wh-What do I do?
She was so terrified, she couldn’t think straight. Frozen stiff, the only thing she could move were her blinking eyes. When she saw the large shadow shift slightly, Angela squeezed her eyes shut. And just then, a brilliant idea struck her.
Pretend to be dead.
Half-risen from the bed, Angela quickly lay back down and buried her face in the teddy bear, her eyes clamped shut. If you run into a bear in the woods, you’re supposed to play dead, right?
But bears eat dead meat too, so it’s pointless.
Why that piece of useless trivia from TV popped into her head now, she had no idea. Maybe Daddy was right—watching too much television was bad. Angela took the wrong lesson from the situation.
She was trembling like a leaf when she suddenly heard an odd sound.
Huh?
Holding her breath, she listened closely. It sounded like something moving around—maybe the intruder was trying to take all of her toys.
I-It’s fine. Those are all things Mr. Campbell bought anyway. None of them are mine.
Trying to calm herself, Angela kept her eyes tightly shut. But no matter how long she waited, the intruder didn’t leave. He kept moving around the room, pacing back and forth.
…What’s he doing?
Rustling sounds, constant movement—Angela’s curiosity started to get the better of her. She couldn’t resist anymore. Very slowly, she cracked one eye open to sneak a peek—and just in time to see the intruder slipping out the door. In the soft light glowing from the hallway, she caught a faint glimpse of him.
Angela, holding her breath, blinked and frowned slightly. Red suit. Red hat. Bushy beard. Round belly.
Santa…?
The thought surfaced as she clutched the sheets up to her chin. But the moment passed in a flash. The man closed the door behind him and was gone, leaving the child all alone.
U-Uh…?
Angela blinked in the dark, dazed. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. Finally springing upright, she looked frantically around, then jumped off the bed and bolted across the room. She yanked the door open—but the hallway was empty. Eyes wide, she looked left and right before her shoulders drooped and she closed the door quietly.
Maybe it was just a dream.
She trudged back across the room and climbed into bed again. Hugging her teddy bear tightly, Angela thought to herself:
There’s no way Santa would come to see me.
As she repeated that thought—the one she’d told herself so many times before—Angela slowly drifted back to sleep.
***
“Angie, Angie.”
At the sound of her name, the child—deep in slumber—finally fluttered her sleepy eyes open. Yu-jin was smiling down at her.
“Time to get up now. Merry Christmas.”
Angela reached out with her arms and wrapped them around her Daddy’s neck, murmuring back a groggy, “Merry Christmas,” her voice still thick with sleep. Yu-jin hugged her gently and continued.
“Looks like Santa came by last night. There’s a present here.”
Of course, it was a gift Yu-jin had prepared himself. He’d wanted to go out and choose something in person, but Winston had snatched that rare opportunity away from him. When Yu-jin said he wanted to go out, Winston ignored the request and instead handed him a catalog, saying:
“If there’s anything you like, just pick it out from here. If you think of anything else, let me know.”
Naturally, that kind of situation was frustrating. What use did a four-year-old have for diamonds, and what was she supposed to do with sapphires? With a sour expression, Yu-jin had flipped through the catalog and eventually spotted a small tiara he thought Angela would like.
It was far too fancy for playing dress-up, but…
Back in the old days, he wouldn’t have dared. But now, things were different. Mustering his courage, Yu-jin made the bold choice. He got his hands on the gift the day before Christmas, then placed it in a visible spot among Angela’s toys while she was fast asleep. But when he checked in the next morning, his daughter was still completely knocked out.
Well, in that case, I’ll just have to give it to her myself.
With that thought, Yu-jin gently woke Angela and imagined how delighted she would look. He lifted the box and showed it to her. Angela tilted her head in confusion at first, then her eyes flew wide open. At the same moment, Yu-jin’s chest swelled with emotion.
This was a proper gift—not some meaningless snack like candy or chocolate. Handing over the box with the image of her joyful reaction in his mind, Yu-jin watched as Angela took the present—then suddenly her cheeks flushed pink and she cried out in an excited voice,
“Santa! Santa came last night!”
“What? Oh, uh… right. He sure did.”
The reaction was more intense than he’d expected, and Yu-jin blurted out a reply before quickly nodding along. He felt relieved she believed it, but her next words left him a little taken aback.
“Santa really came last night! I saw him! I saw Santa!”
No way—she must’ve dreamed it.
That’s what Yu-jin thought to himself.
Santa Claus didn’t exist. He’d believed once, too, back in the day—but that belief was short-lived. After spending one too many lonely Christmases, reality had a way of sinking in. Still, Yu-jin had desperately wished for his child to have a different experience than he had. And thankfully, he’d managed to preserve a bit more of her belief in magic.
Smiling softly, he said,
“Is that so? Then I guess he must’ve left this behind.”
“Really?”
Angela tilted her head again, then giggled and eagerly gestured to open the box.
“Huh?”
To his surprise, there was a card inside. Yu-jin blinked in confusion—he had never seen it before. But just as he reached for it, Angela let out a squeal at the sight of the gift, giving him no chance to check what the card said.
“Wow!”
The moment she laid eyes on the tiara, both of them gasped in unison, and Yu-jin couldn’t help but laugh. Setting the card down, he took the tiara out of the box and gently placed it on the child’s head.
“You can wear this when you play dress-up from now on. That way, you’ll really be a princess. What do you think?”
“I love it! I really love it!”
Angela jumped up and threw her arms around Yu-jin’s neck. Up until that moment, Yu-jin had been filled with pure satisfaction. That is, until he heard what came next.
“Thank you, Daddy!”
Yu-jin froze. Fortunately, with the child in his arms, she couldn’t see the expression on his face—but his heart was hammering in his chest.
What…? Does she know? Has she figured out I was pretending to be Santa?
Of course she knows. You suspected it too, didn’t you?
Every time Angela had wished for some modest little gift, Yu-jin had felt a quiet relief. He’d always figured she must have at least a vague idea—that Daddy and Santa were the same. She’d just been pretending not to know. And now, after finally giving her a gift worthy of Christmas… was it not enough?
His mind was spinning with all kinds of thoughts in the span of seconds. Then, just as Angela pulled away from his arms, she suddenly picked up the card. Her eyes went wide, and Yu-jin’s stomach dropped. But then she looked up, voice bubbling with excitement, and shouted,
“Santa left me a card!”
“What?”
Stunned, Yu-jin quickly took the card from her and checked the contents. He read it once, then again—several times—but the words never changed.
To a good child, Merry Christmas! —From Santa
He stared, dumbfounded, blinking in disbelief. Angela, however, was brimming with excitement and shouted gleefully,
“That’s it! Last night, Santa kept walking around over there! He was writing the card! It was for me!”
But that was just a dream…
Yu-jin almost said it out loud, but managed to swallow the words. It was impossible. Absolutely impossible. Yet the way she talked about it—the details she described with such vivid excitement—it was too specific. She was going on and on, recounting how she had woken up and seen Santa, and Yu-jin felt a wave of confusion wash over him.
What the hell happened last night…?
He couldn’t even form a proper response when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Yu-jin jumped in surprise and turned around—just in time to see the door swing open and Winston standing there.
“You’re awake. Good morning, Angie.”
That gentle tone, directed toward the child, still felt strange to Yu-jin. While he hesitated, Angela responded first.
“Good morning, Mr. Campbell.”
Her polite reply made Winston smile as he strode confidently into the room. Without hesitation, he reached out and took the girl from Yu-jin’s arms, lifting her effortlessly. Looking Angela in the eyes, he asked,
“Did you have good dreams? Shall we go see what kind of gift Santa left for you?”
“A gift?”
“A gift?”
Angela and Yu-jin exclaimed at the same time. Winston simply chuckled and continued walking—Angela held in one arm, and Yu-jin’s hand in the other, leading them both along.
Yu-jin was still completely bewildered. Together, they walked down the long hallway toward the elevator.
And then, finally—when the elevator doors slid open on the first floor and the grand scene of the hall unfolded before them—not just Angela, but even Yu-jin stood there, jaws hanging open in stunned silence.
