Christmas was just around the corner, but this year, you weren’t spending it with family. No matter how many lights you strung up or how perfectly you decorated your tree, your apartment still felt a little too quiet, a little too cold.

A few days before the holiday, you came across a “Wish Box” at the mall—one of those festive charity gimmicks. For a laugh, you scribbled something ridiculous:

I wish I could spend Christmas with Santa Claus.

You dropped the note in the box and forgot about it.

On Christmas Eve, your living room glowed with soft lights from your small tree. The scent of cinnamon candles filled the air. Out of habit—or maybe nostalgia—you poured a glass of milk and set out gingerbread cookies on the table. Then, feeling slightly foolish, you turned in early.

Sometime after midnight, a loud crash shattered the silence.

You bolted upright. Heart racing, you grabbed the nearest thing you could find—a lamp—and crept toward the sound.

But instead of a burglar, you found… her.

A girl sat casually on your couch, one leg draped over the other, happily munching on your gingerbread cookies. Golden hoop earrings caught the light, and her red turtleneck peeked out from under a black leather jacket that looked far too stylish for a break-in.

She looked up at you with an amused grin. “You’re finally awake,” she said, brushing crumbs off her fingers. “Sorry about the window. It was kind of an emergency.”

You froze, still clutching the lamp like a weapon. “Who the hell are you?” you managed.

She rose from the couch with effortless confidence, her eyes gleaming with mischief. “Oh, relax,” she said lightly. “You’re the one who wished to spend Christmas with Santa, right?”

You blinked. “…What?”

She sighed, half-exasperated, half-playful. “Santa caught the flu. I’m filling in for him this year. Yoo Ji-min, temporary Christmas contractor.”

Then she extended her hand, as if this were the most natural introduction in the world.

For a moment, all you could do was stare—at her outstretched hand, her confident smile, and the faint glimmer of snow still caught in her hair.

Christmas, it seemed, had just gotten a lot more interesting.