Not "shake a lemon angrily at G-d" week, but rather;
Gather a citron, an ancient fruit predating the cultivation of lemon. Notice how it has a wonderful aroma, and consider how its flesh is edible. This represents the Jew who is both learned in Judaism and who exhibits kindness and good deeds.
Now gather the closed frond at the center of a palm tree. Consider how sweet the dates of the palm taste, but how the frond exhibits no strong smell like the citron. This represents the Jew who is learned in Judaism, but who does not practice the compassion in the many texts they studied.
Now gather at least three branches from a myrtle bush. Take in the refreshing scent oozing from the branches' thick leaves, but see how it does not bear fruit. This represents the Jew who is not learned in Judaism, but whose good character and actions are exceptional.
Finally, gather two branches from the somber willow. While mighty and enveloping, the willow exhibits no strong aroma, nor does it produce fruit. This represents the Jew who is neither learned in Judaism nor kind in character and deeds.
Appreciate the various textures and shapes of these four species. Feel the weight of them in your hand. Value how different in so many aspects each of them are.
Take them all in your hands, and bind them together like an embrace. Point them in all the corners of the earth- South, North, East, heavenward, downward, and West. Think of all your Jewish brethren scattered around the world, and bring your precious bundle back to your heart with every direction you send it to. Contemplate the place of every Jew in your community, the Etrog, the Lulav, the Hadas, and the Arava, for they all belong.
This is the meaning of Sukkot: coming back to our roots and our bare essence. Erect a temporary dwelling in reminiscence of your wandering ancestors. Come together under the stars, as exposed and unguarded as when we first walked the earth. Welcome guests into your makeshift home, be they family, friends, or the spirits of founding ancestors passed. Surround yourself in your community- and bring it all back to your heart.
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Better than the movies
Pairing: Sunwoo x reader
Genre: fluff
Word count: 2.4k
Warnings: alcohol, swearing
Everyone else is having fun at the holiday party except you. And even worse is that the resident fuckboy just won't leave you alone.
If your life was a movie, at this moment, you'd be that introvert at a party. All alone by the bar, slowly nursing your drink as the only person you know has left your side to be with a bigger, louder crowd.
You know it's not your friend's fault. It’d be easy to blame her for insisting on bringing you to the party and then leaving you alone, but you also willingly came despite expecting that to happen. Maybe it's not too big of a deal, though. Your drink goes down smoothly, and you can vibe to music from here. Spending the holidays alone is totally fine, right?
At least it is until you spot him.
Kim Sunwoo, the resident 'too hot for his own good and knows it' fuckboy, who happens to enjoy annoying you for his own entertainment. Why the hell is he here? You didn’t know he was close enough to Changmin or Chanhee to get invited, but then again you don’t know much about him outside of the moments when he shamelessly flirts with you.
Now, he's alone and scanning the room. You watch him as his search continues, mildly intrigued that he’d care enough about this person to weave his way through the crowds. Lowkey, you hope he doesn’t end up finding them so that he’d be just as alone as you are at this party. Maybe as karma for teasing you all throughout the semester.
And maybe then you’d feel a bit better about being alone.
But what you don’t expect is that in the next moment, he suddenly turns towards you and meets your eyes. Forget all the remotely nice thoughts you had about him; you take them back. Kim Sunwoo has the audacity to smirk as he makes his way towards you, and he’s all too quick for you to make an escape.
"Oh look who it is," your enemy greets, settling down on the stool beside you. "Fancy seeing you here, Y/N."
Great. If you'd known that Changmin and Chanhee invited him, you definitely wouldn't have come here tonight. Perhaps you should've written Sunwoo's name down on the 'do not invite' section of the form they sent out, although based on what you've heard, that section is actually used as a list of people they have to invite. For the chaos it'll cause or something like that.
"So? What's the most beautiful person doing here all alone?"
"Fuck off, Sunwoo," you mutter into your drink, not wanting to deal with him now of all times.
"Ah, I see," he nods to himself. "Yeah, the party is kind of lame, isn’t it? How about we get out of here and do something more fun?"
"Don't you, like," you gesture vaguely, "have anyone else to bother?"
"Wow, that’s so mean, Y/N. Come on, it's the holidays. Can't you make my wish come true and be a little nicer to me?" Sunwoo pouts just slightly and you can no longer tell if he’s still joking or not.
You sigh, feeling the annoyance dissipate into a pang of guilt instead. He's not wrong—you probably should be a little nicer when it's the holidays and all. But before you can mutter an apology, he’s moving his seat closer to you so he can lean in like he does every time he manages to sit beside you in class. It's nothing to react to, having grown all too used to it.
And yet… in class it’s one thing. Here, it doesn’t quite feel the same.
"What about you?" you ask, quickly changing the subject and looking away before the thoughts can continue. "Are you this nice to everyone?"
He’s silent for a moment and you think you’ve managed to catch him off guard. But soon enough he bounces back just as easily. "Do you want me to only be nice to you?"
You lift your drink to your lips and use that as an excuse not to answer him.
Surprisingly, he doesn't push it. Sunwoo stays silent for the next while and opts to sip on his drink quietly beside you, only turning to people-watch when you do. The rest of the party seems like an entirely different world from your corner: there's loud music blasting in the background and the room is filled with a sea of smiles and laughter. You can see your friend dancing on the table while Juyeon silently begs them to come down, and over by the tree, Younghoon and his friend are all whispers and shy glances.
Overall, the party looks like a success. You can’t spot the hosts anywhere, but it seems like they did a great job with it if everyone is having a great time. Well, almost everyone.
Sunwoo follows your gaze. "They look like they're having fun."
"Then why aren't you with them? That could be you too."
"Nah," he shakes his head. "I could think of much better things that you and I could be doing."
"Yeah? Like what?"
He leans in until his voice is a whisper in your ear, and you don’t need to see him to know that he’s wearing his signature cocky expression again. "You want to know? Come back to my place and I'll show you."
That has you nearly laughing out loud. Sunwoo has said that to you so many times that it's lost all meaning already, and you're not sure he even means it, really. At most he's simply trying to get a rise out of you, to annoy you just so he can say you're hot when you're angry. It's hilarious how little variation there is to his tricks; by now, you know all of them by heart like bad lines from a movie you've watched too many times.
Wait—movie lines. That's exactly what the things he says end up sounding like, as if they really are lines that he's sloppily copied from somewhere. There's always been something about them that sounded off and you know he says these things to be flirty, or at least attempt to be, but they make him come off as cringey instead.
On the other hand, why would he purposely be doing this? You shift a bit until you're facing him, trying to read him to maybe get a hint at his intentions. Tonight he looks less irritating with the filter of dim lighting and alcohol obscuring his face—those round eyes are warmer, less smug, and his smile isn't quite as cocky either. It's as if he looks sincere for once. As if his asshole persona is finally cracking and you're getting a glimpse of the person underneath it.
And maybe it's seeing him like this, or maybe it’s your judgment becoming more blurred by the minute, but you start to think. Would it be such a terrible idea to go with him and find out what awaits you? Surely it can’t be worse than being at this party and feeling like you're alone in a room full of people. It can't be too bad if there's the off chance it might actually be fun, and maybe you’ll be able to figure out what his deal is.
Besides, the fact that he's the one keeping you company here while your friends are nowhere to be seen has to count for something.
"You know what? Okay, sure." You down the rest of your drink and set it aside. "Let's get out of here."
"Wait what?" Sunwoo merely stares at you for a moment as his smile is gradually replaced with a confused frown. You're not sure what kind of reaction you were expecting, but admittedly, it wasn't this. “Are you serious right now?"
"Yeah," you respond with a nod. "You're the one who suggested it, right? So let's go." When he's still slow to move, you slip out of your seat first. "Come on. Let's go and you can show me this fun time you've been proposing forever."
Now is when he should agree, you think. At least that's what you imagined—the moment you give in, he'd be springing up with a grin, as enthusiastic as he always is. But now, Sunwoo doesn't budge. He doesn't react at all until the slight tilting of the ground beneath your feet ends up throwing you off balance.
"Be careful," he mutters, quickly reaching out to hold you steady, and then helps you sit back on your stool. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah." You shoot him a smile once you're properly seated, and he immediately lets go. And for some reason, you actually find yourself missing the warmth of his touch as it quickly disappears and is replaced by cold air. That's a thought for another time, though. "Why wouldn't it be?" you say instead, rolling your eyes at him. "We're going to have a great night, aren't we?"
"Y/N... hey, what's wrong? Talk to me."
The denial is at the tip of your tongue but dies instantly when you glance at him. Already, the Sunwoo in front of you doesn't look like the one you've interacted with on campus. This one seems completely different, like a real person instead of the one dimensional side he’s always shown you before.
So you give in and decide to confide in him for the first time. "Well, for starters, I don't even know why I'm here. I thought this would at least be better than spending tonight in my apartment alone, but maybe it isn't."
"You're not alone. I'm right here."
"No offense but… I'm not really sure that having a fuckboy as my only company makes it any better."
"Hey, no. What?" The frown on Sunwoo's face deepens to the point where you can barely remember what his signature smirk looked like. You barely remember what was so irritating about him in the first place when he looks so serious now, even genuine. "Is that really how you see me?"
"Then how do you want me to see you? All you've done is try to flirt with me since the minute we met, and we've never actually had a real interaction outside of that. Until now."
And for once, there's no flirty retort, no smirk, no mischievous twinkle in his eyes. For once, he has no comeback at all.
"Like, what do you want from me, Sunwoo?" you continue, still running on liquid courage. "Why are you here and not with all the other people you could be with? I'm sure you have plenty of people to spend the holidays with, so are you here out of pity because I'm alone? Or is it because I'm just someone you want to mess around with for fun?"
"No, what? Shit, Y/N, I—" He pauses and runs a hand through his hair. "I'm not here for anyone else. I only came to this party at all because I was hoping you'd be here."
"Why would you do that?"
As soon as the words leave your mouth, you can see the many emotions flashing across his face. It's strange. You'd only ever seen the happy exterior he shows the world and never thought too much about it, but seeing him like this is putting him in a different light. And when paired with his words, you're finally starting to see that things might not have been what they seemed.
That there's more to him and to the behaviour that you'd easily dismissed.
"Because..." Sunwoo slowly drags out. "I wanted to see you. And hang out with you. And get to know you better—oh come on. Y/N, you're really going to make me spell it out?"
"Spell what out? That you're in love with me?"
"That—" He stops, and you think he's going to deny your little joke, but he doesn't. Even under the dim lighting, you can see the tinge of red spreading across Sunwoo's cheeks to the tip of his ears.
How is that possible? You had no idea that was even possible, and frankly, you still don't. But putting all of it together makes too much sense for it to not be true. The way he acted around you, the way he intentionally tried to get your attention each time—perhaps this rare moment of sincerity tonight is showing that it's true. It’s real.
"Really?” Your heart speeds up a notch despite not knowing how to respond to this sudden confession. "That's quite a way of showing it. Why couldn't we just talk normally then?"
"I… I guess I wanted you to notice me."
"Notice you?" you repeat, thinking he’s kidding until his gaze drops in embarrassment. "Have you ever looked in the mirror? Anyone would've noticed you, Sunwoo. You didn't have to act like an asshole for that to happen."
"You're not like that." Then before you can say anything, he continues. "But hey, give me a little credit here. I thought it was a dumb idea too, okay? It's all Chanhee's fault, that bastard. Honestly, I don't know why I believed him for a second."
You study him again, searching his face for any sign that this might be a joke, but there isn’t any. Sunwoo meets your eyes and it’s like you can see through him for the first time. If anything, the part about everything being Chanhee's idea does sound legitimate, even though the only thing you know about the guy is that he has inadvertently ruined your holiday by inviting you to this party.
"Y/N, you're not alone, okay? And I'm not trying to mess with you. I know I've been an asshole and this party has been absolute trash, but give me a chance to turn things around? You deserve to have a nice holiday."
"I guess." The situation is so strange that you no longer know how to react when he's being so genuine now. "Then… let's get out of here and have a much better time than everyone here, yeah?"
"Alright!" He does spring up from his seat now, with the same enthusiasm that you'd always pictured. "You're the best, babe."
"Don't push your luck, boy."
Sunwoo's smile only grows wider at the sound of your teasing remark. You might not know what's in store for the rest of the night, but the way his whole face brightens may just be enough to say that coming to this party was worth it after all.
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