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"It's the 1st day of December, Plum. You only have 24 days."
"Santa, you have to just trust me on this one. I can see a change in him. I really can." Plum explained as she got her thick plaid coat on to go meet with Jisung.
Santa sighed and rubbed the temples of his head, "Go to the freezer and open it."
Plum listened and did what the old man said. To her delight, there was an hourglass that had a small glass like tree that was decorated in Christmas decorations. There was a white powder in the compartment of the hourglass that would drip into the bottom. It resembled snow.
"Plumlight, the snow will only fall if you can change him. Use this hourglass to measure your progress. Stay cold, young elf."
And with that, Santa ended the call with her. She sighed, seeing that there was barely any snow that had fallen into the lower compartment of the hourglass. Marking his lack of change. Plum needed to change him, and she needed to do it quickly.
She quickly looked at herself in the mirror and ushered herself out of her small apartment before meeting up with him at the bakery.
Plum had contemplated for hours what to do with the boy to change his heart. She wanted to ease into it and save the larger moments for later. Plum began to think about what she liked to do with her elf friends back home. They ice skated, caroled, ran around in the woods, baked and ate their food.
After pondering on her favorite Christmas activities, Plum decided on what the pair would do that day: baking.
She quickly ran out of her apartment and onto the street. She patiently waited for the signal to walk and then entered into the small, homey bakery. Her owner, whom she called Grandma, was in the back, listening to Christmas music and making toffee.
They weren't opened on Sundays, but with the holiday season demanding seasonal favorites like cranberry bread, gingerbread and eggnog, the bakery was busy on off-days. Plum thought it'd be a good idea to invite Jisung to help. Plum loved baking with her friends back home and thought that Jisung would appreciate the gesture.
Plum hugged the old woman and put on her apron before washing her hands and proceeding to get the ingredients for gingerbread. As she laid the ingredients out on the large metal counter in the back kitchen, her phone rang a small bell. She looked at the message and smiled as she saw Jisung had texted her telling her he was there. She quickly ran to the front and opened the locked door.
He gave her a quick side hug and followed her to the back. Jisung introduced himself to Grandma and then washed his hands like Plum had instructed. He then placed his apron on himself and looked at Plum intently for instructions. She giggled, he rolled his eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing, Jisung."
Grandma laughed too and stepped away from the stove where she prepared the toffee, "I need to step outside for some fresh air. Make sure to stir the toffee."
Jisung and Plum both harmonized a 'yes'. The old women then left the kitchen and the two were left by themselves.
"So on today's episode of 'Plum Forcing Jisung to Like Christmas' I'm just doing your work for you." Jisung mumbled sarcastically.
Plum shook her head as she walked towards the toffee to stir it, "No, Jisung. Baking always puts me in a good mood! Especially the Christmas spirit! And by helping Grandma and I, you're committing a very kind act!"
Jisung grabbed a bowl, "Yeah, yeah. So what do I?"
Plum gave a small satisfied giggle, "First you have to put in the butter, brown sugar and molasses and use the hand mixture to beat it together to make a thick paste."
"Wait, a hand mixture- like a whisk?" Jisung asked.
"No, like a hand mixture." Plum giggle like a small bell and pointed to the hand mixture.
"Ohhhh~" He exclaimed after he understood the instructions.
He did as he was told and measured the ingredients out and beat them with the hand mixer. Just as he turned in the mixed, Grandma came back inside and smiled as the two worked on the baking. Plum quickly got her phone out and connected it to the store's speakers and put on some of classic Christmas songs. Plum rushed to wash her hands and then turned to Jisung and began cracking eggs into the paste he had mixed.
"What else?" Jisung asked.
"Vanilla extract- and I'll start on the dry ingredients."
The two continued to work and flew through the preparation of the dough. Plum rolled it once it was done and balled it up. She quickly wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to chill. Plum had lots of gingerbread dough pre-made, she just wanted Jisung to partake in the cookie fun.
She threw the dough ball at Jisung and told him to unwrap the dough and put flour all over the counter. He did as instructed and Plum began to make the three hot chocolate. When she came back into the kitchen and handed everyone their drinks, Jisung had begun rolling out the door. Plum went to the opposite side of the counter to encourage him.
In return he gave her a sweet but menacing smirk and blew flour all over her, "Looks like a white Christmas."
Plum rolled her eyes but sensed the action came from a place of innocence. She laughed at him and went to grab some more dough in the fridge. To her surprise, when she opened the fridge door, the Christmas hourglass was resting on one of the refrigerator's shelf, snow now resting in the bottom portion.
Plum turned and gave Jisung a smile. One that he returned.
He was changing.
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I had to do a medical procedure yesterday and it left my body in so much pain.
