#The amount of anxiety I have over accidentally misrepresenting the culture is A LOT to carry sometimes

[amethystina]

Really random question: do you thing Gaon and Yohan are the type to celebrate Christmas? Like, exchanging gifts and all that, or do they just have a big meal so the holiday don't go unnoticed

Interesting question!

I don't think Yo Han is very interested in Christmas before he meets Ga On. Like, maybe he made a small effort for Elijah during the years she grew up (i.e. clumsily gave her a gift or two) but, for the most part, I don't think he has very nice memories of Christmas. Given how religious his father was, I'm assuming Christmas in the Kang household was a little more, uh, strict than most people are accustomed to.

Though, considering Kang Ji Sang's track record, we can probably also assume that Yo Han wasn't actually allowed to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family. Any gifts he got were ones Isaac sneaked down into the basement.

So, overall, I don't think Yo Han has the best association with Christmas and couldn't care less (read: is too traumatised and pretends he doesn't care but, actually, it's just a defence mechanism to prevent him from showing weakness).

As for Ga On, I think he has a more normal relationship with Christmas. And, from what I understand, Christmas in South Korea is a little more relaxed and has fewer traditions than many countries in the West do. Though I assume there's a bit of trauma involved here, too, given that Ga On's parents died when he was still so young. But I think that Soo Hyun and Professor Min stepped in and did their best to make sure he didn't feel too lonely during Christmas.

And, I mean, now that Ga On has a wonderful new family to call his own? Of course he'd want to give it a try, simply because it gives him a reason to spend time with the people he loves. So he'd definitely suggest a nice dinner at the very least, which Yo Han would maybe be a bit sceptical about at first, until he remembers that gift-giving is also a major part of Christmas.

Time to pull out all the stops and spoil the sugar baby rotten, in other words.

And Ga On realises his mistake almost instantly but, even then, he doesn't backtrack. Possibly because he goes to ask Ms. Ji if there are any Kang Christmas traditions he should incorporate into their celebration and is horrified by the answer he gets.

Locking Yo Han in the basement does not qualify as a Christmas tradition.

Adding to that, Elijah has probably gotten pulled into it by then and, while she feigns disinterest and keeps telling Ga On he's sooo embarrassing, she's secretly into it. So Ga On decides that if letting Yo Han (and Elijah) buy him expensive gifts is the way to introduce them to a more normal concept of Christmas and slowly heal some of Yo Han's trauma, then so be it.

But he definitely also makes sure to give Yo Han and Elijah a limit to how many gifts they can give him and how much they can cost.

Naturally, they both pretend the maximum cost is for each individual present, not the total (as was Ga On's intention), and then proceed to buy him a shitload of expensive stuff while claiming innocence.

Ga On vows to leave them fewer loopholes next year.

But, all in all, it's a success. And would probably turn into a tradition, of sorts, yes. One that gives them a reason to eat a nice dinner, play some board games, and shower Ga On with gifts.

And, above all else, spend time together as a family.

Bonus: Ga On quickly learns never to ask Yo Han what he wants for Christmas because the answer is always the same and he really should know better than to give Yo Han such a perfect opening to be an outrageous, shameless flirt.

But, at the same time, Ga On can't deny that it also gives him a bit of a thrill when Yo Han, without missing a beat, always just says:

"You."

(and, naturally, that's exactly what Yo Han gets, too)