The Perfect Float:

By Snapplelinz

Taeyeon was pumped for this meeting. It had been years since she’d gotten properly excited about pitching an idea for such a big project. Back in the day, it had been the shining pinnacle of her career before tons of budget cuts and bureaucratic red tape had made the job less fun.

But after a new mayor had been elected in recent months and he was receptive to new ideas for local government, Taeyeon felt it was finally time to unleash some of her creativity within the department of Arts and Culture.

Taeyeon was interrupted mid-thought by a sprightly woman with short blonde hair and a pixie-like face bumping shoulders with her affectionately as they walked down the narrow hall together.

“Tae-Tae, share your latest creations with me! I need some pointers for my presentation.”

“Sunny, you were supposed to prepare a presentation that illustrates your own ideas for this year’s Christmas parade, not steal mine.”

“Aww c’mon, Tae, you obviously don’t have to give me your main idea for the float. Just a couple of non-important ideas that are still cool enough that I can take credit for.”

Taeyeon shook her head and swatted Sunny’s head with the rolled-up poster she’d been carrying under her arm as they walked into the conference room.

Seungri was already there firing up his MacBook Pro. He glanced up at his two underlings and smiled genially.

“Good, you’re both here. We’re just waiting for Ravi and Dae Hyun,” he told Sunny and Taeyeon.

“Great. Maybe they’ll be keen to share their ideas with me,” Sunny mocked while filling a stirofoam cup with water from the fountain in the corner of the room.

Taeyeon shook her head and laughed. She took her seat and ran her finger over her poster, feeling completely confident that her pitch would be the best one.

She wasn’t disappointed either when Ravi began his presentation first.

“So…you want us to invite ordinary citizens to a parade where we set Christmas trees on fire?” Seungri asked incredulously.

Ravi, who’d always been a bit of a wild card in the team, rested his feet on top of the table and grinned. “It’s all about symbolism, bro.”

“What exactly does burning trees symbolize?” Sunny demanded.

“Out with the old and in with the new. It’s easy to feel disillusioned and dissatisfied with how the year turned out. But by burning a Christmas tree, you’re saying goodbye to all that negative energy and releasing it into the air.” Ravi proclaimed, waving his hands so hard that he knocked Dae Hyun’s water bottle over.

“Yes, and you’re also releasing a lot of carbon dioxide into the air too,” Dae Hyun quipped, picking his water bottle up from the floor where it had rolled down.

“Ravi, I love the positive energy you’re bringing to the table. But burning Christmas trees is not only infeasible, but might be considered sacrilegious to a lot of religious people.” 

Ravi folded his arms and scowled. “This is so unfair. The KKK just had to go around burning wood and ruining it for everyone…”

“Moving on,” Seungri interjected with a tight smile. “Dae Hyun, what do you have?”

Dae Hyun cleared his throat with self-importance before beginning. “I’m thinking of doing a float called ‘Christmas on Ice’! We can build a mini ice-rink onto the platform itself and get some local figure skaters and a few international ones to do free advertisement.”

Taeyeon pursed her lips in approval along with everyone else in the room. “That’s a great idea, Dae Hyun.”

“I like it a lot, Dae Hyun.” Seungri agreed, pursing his fingers together in pensive contemplation. “Sunny, you’re up.”

Sunny blushed furiously and went for broke. “Well, off the top of my head, I think we should do a float that has…acrobats!”

Taeyeon turned to face her friend with a quizzical look on her face.

“Acrobats?” Dae Hyun asked in confusion.

“Ooh, do they have flaming batons?” Ravi questioned with eagerness.

“Stay away from the fire, Ravi,” Seungri quipped with an appeasing hand. “Care to elaborate, Sunny?”

Taeyeon met Sunny’s eye and smirked, knowing her friend had didley-squat for her presentation. Sunny made a face right back at Taeyeon and continued, “No flaming batons, but maybe we could get an acrobatic troupe and dress them up in Santa costumes doing some tricks on a platform full of…trampolines!” she concluded triumphantly.

Even though she was secretly impressed with Sunny’s ingenuity, she couldn’t believe that her friend had the nerve to come up with her idea impromptu instead of preparing beforehand. What would Seungri think of it?

“That’s great, Sunny. Maybe we can get the Mini Men’s Acrobatic League to do it, the crowd will eat it up!” Seungri said with obvious eagerness.

“Nice one, Sunny,” Taeyeon said in an aside to her friend while the guys chatted more about her idea. “Did you pull that one right out of your ?”

“Nope, it was probably somewhere in the deep crevices of your ,” Sunny retorted, which made Taeyeon laugh appreciatively.

“Ok, now it’s time to hear from Taeyeon. What magical float idea do you have for us this year?” Seungri asked, giving Taeyeon his full attention.

Taeyeon in her breath and began. “It’s still a rough idea, but I think I’ve found a way to improve on my Christmas tree float.”

From there, Taeyeon opened up the big poster she’d made her sketch on and placed it on the white board so the rest of the team could look at it. By the end of it, there was even more eager chatting amongst the group that made Taeyeon smile wider. There were really going to give her free rein with the parade this year. It was what she had been looking forward to all year.

“Taeyeon, I love your idea! Even in a rough form, it’s absolutely feasible from an engineering and budgetary perspective. But the mayor does have one concern though. We were badly understaffed last year because of that crazy outbreak of gastric enteritis throughout the city during Christmas. As a result, you shouldered a lot of the burden last year and were severely stressed out, Taeyeon. So both the mayor and I feel that it’s only right that we also hire a professional parade coordinator as a private consultant to oversee the project this year. To help you out of course.” Seungri added in a hasty tone on the last part.  

While Dae Hyun and Ravi murmured their approval of the idea, Sunny stared worriedly at Taeyeon, who looked like she was catatonic.

It was true, Taeyeon had gone into an almost comatose state of incredulous shock at Seungri’s words. The Christmas parade, her baby, was going to be handed over to a complete stranger.

This had to be a joke.

---

“Tae, where were you?”

Taeyeon looked up from her work and smiled guiltily at Sunny, who didn’t smile back. “Oh, I um…just had lunch up here.” Taeyeon pointed to the remnants of a roast beef sandwich in the bin in her office. “I had a lot of work to do on my other projects.”

“Hmm, that’s funny how your other projects suddenly became so much more important than meeting with Kim Hyoyeon and getting to know her better.” Sunny remarked in a droll voice, not believing a word of Taeyeon’s thin excuses.

In fact, Kim Hyoyeon, or Hyo as she preferred to be called, had arrived in town a few days ago. While Taeyeon had been present the night she and the rest of the team had met Hyo at the airport, she’d barely spoken a full sentence to the professional parade coordinator since that night. And every time that Hyo had set foot in City Hall since then, Taeyeon had found convenient excuses to avoid her and hide out in her office instead.

The idea that someone was coming in and turning the local Christmas parade into a farce was too much for Taeyeon to handle.

Taeyeon had finally had enough and dropped the act completely, launching into a full-blown tirade. “This is bull, Sunny! Seungri just wants to hire a parade coordinator just because she designed and organized a Mardis Gras in France one time! We don’t need Kim Hyoyeon’s flashy, over-the-top ideas for our Christmas parade. Seungri said he liked my presentation, so why can’t we just stick with my original ideas without involving outside people we don’t need? What does this woman even know or understand about local government anyway?” she huffed furiously.

“Taeyeon-“ Sunny stopped short and her eyes opened wide like saucers. “Tae, don’t…”

“No, it needs to be said, Sunny! I bet you anything that Kim Hyoyeon knows about as much city politics as a fruit fly knows about performing laser eye surgery.”

Someone cleared their throat in close proximity. Taeyeon, who’d had her back to her open office door the entire time, whipped around sharply. Standing just behind her was a woman with blonde hair and alluring brown eyes, wearing an impressive navy blue pants suit. If it weren’t for the fact that she was glaring with open hostility, Taeyeon would’ve found her immensely attractive.

Sunny, who looked about ready to hide behind Taeyeon’s desk, cleared awkwardly and said, “Taeyeon, you remember Kim Hyoyeon, our new Christmas parade consultant. Hyo, I’d like you to officially meet Kim Taeyeon, the coordinator of this year’s Christmas parade.”

All Taeyeon could do was stare like an idiot at one very irate Kim Hyoyeon, who had folded her arms and now fixed her with a tight smile. She giggled sheepishly and tugged with a certain amount of anxiety at a necklace she was wearing around .

“A fruit fly performing laser eye surgery really would be something, huh?”

---

Taeyeon sat throughout the following project meeting with a deep sense of trepidation. Ever since that unfortunate faux pas where she’d insulted Kim Hyoyeon to her face (or said bad things about Kim Hyoyeon while she wasn’t even looking at her), the new consultant hadn’t said word, either good or bad to her. While Taeyeon felt foolish and guilty for insulting someone she’d never met before, another part of her had been too proud to admit she was wrong. She still blamed Seungri for under-valuing her work in their department by bringing in a stranger to babysit her most important project. How was she supposed to work with this woman to create a memorable Christmas parade after the way she’d behaved?

Hyo had been the second person to arrive at the start of the meeting. Taeyeon’s heart thumped in her chest when she’d swept coolly past her and found a seat at the farthest side of the table. Sunny sat down next to Taeyeon like always, but with somewhat of a frosty demeanour. Dae Hyun and Ravi were sitting closer to Hyo and shooting sly looks between the newcomer and Taeyeon, secretly wondering when the cat fight would begin.

Taeyeon caught Seungri’s eye during the meeting while Hyo was addressing the group. The look he was giving her was enough to make her gulp nervously. That look ranged from anything between ‘Say you’re sorry and make things right with Kim Hyoyeon’ or ‘If you embarrass this department ever again, you’ll be lucky if you can get a job planning a menu at KFC’.

For Taeyeon’s part, she inwardly marveled at Hyo’s professionalism which bordered on austerity. Her presentation was succinct from beginning to end with a bright array of different mediums utilized such as poster boards, Microsoft PowerPoint and even a short video on a previous Christmas parade which she had organized several years ago in a town not far from there.

In short, Hyo was impressive both on paper and in person. And everyone around Taeyeon was lapping it up, especially Seungri, who got up from his feet after the presentation and clapped like a school boy seeing Selena Gomez sing for the first time.

“That was magnificent, Hyo! Absolutely fantastic!”

Even though she silently agreed, Taeyeon still couldn’t resist making faces behind Seungri’s back for being such a nauseating kiss-.

“My colleagues, do you have any constructive feedback for Hyo?” Seungri asked of the group at large.

“Sorry, Seungri, but I don’t have anything bad to say about it. I loved your presentation, Hyo.” Sunny said in earnest.

Traitor, though Taeyeon.

“I agree with Sunny. Your Singing Christmas Tree float was genius,” Dae Hyun agreed wholeheartedly.

Ravi frowned pensively before answering. “Your presentation was very good, but your previous Christmas parades lacked any kind of sacramental burnings.”

Taeyeon slapped her forehead in mortification while Hyo just looked politely confused.

“Tae, what did you think?” Seungri pressed suddenly.

All eyes turned towards Taeyeon and she wished she could shrink to the size of a Smurf and hide in her stirofoam cup of coffee. Even Hyo looked her way too, but maintained an aura of cool fascination.

“Um…I thought it was great.” Taeyeon said truthfully, even if it irked her to admit it out loud. “Your ideas for a float with a high school cheerleading troupe throwing flaming batons up in the air is bold, but totally doable.”

She watched Hyo to see the effect her words had on her, but Hyo simply nodded and shot her an enigmatic smile which frustrated her to no end. Ravi on the other hand was completely enthralled by the idea of having at least one thing burning in the parade.

“Excellent,” Seungri concluded, which thankfully gave Taeyeon the chance to plausibly turn her attention to her papers in front of her. “I think we’re off to a fantastic start. Hyo and Taeyeon, since I’m just overseeing in a minor capacity, I want the two of you to get started right away with the initial planning and testing phases. As for the rest of you, fall in with your designated expertise and assist with both phases. We’ll hold another meeting at the end of the week and check in with each other. This meeting is adjourned.”

Just as Taeyeon was about to follow Sunny, Hyo stopped her in her tracks. “Taeyeon, could I have a word with you in private please?”

That last remark was overheard by everyone in the room and all eyes were fastened on Taeyeon. Taeyeon was flabbergasted at first, but recovered relatively quickly. “Of course, let’s talk in my office.”

She walked steadily out of the conference room without looking back, expecting Hyo to follow behind her. Ravi was about to follow them too when Dae Hyun put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “What are you doing, you idiot? It’s a private meeting.”

Ravi seemed to come out of a trance and grinned sheepishly. “Whoa, that was crazy. I totally had a ‘FOMO’ moment right there.”

Sunny rolled her eyes at Ravi’s facetiousness and bit her bottom lip, hoping that Taeyeon wouldn’t do anything to make things worse between her and Hyo.

For Taeyeon’s part, she remained calm on the surface as she led Hyo into her cramped office and shut the door quietly between them. She felt very uncomfortable with having the esteemed parade coordinator in her space, but she had no choice after her major faux pas yesterday. Whatever Hyo had to say to her, she would just have to listen and take it in.

Hyo pursed her hands together in front of her and got straight to the point. “We got off to a rocky start and I think we should address it before we go any further with the planning and testing phases.”

“You’re right,” Taeyeon agreed. “Look, about what you overheard me saying to Sunny yesterday, it was just office politics between Seungri and I. But it was petty and unprofessional and I’m sorry.”

“I accept your apology, but I know that the only reason you’re saying it is because Seungri forced you to.” Taeyeon was about to argue, but Hyo cut her short. “I honestly don’t care at this point whether you like me or not, Taeyeon. But I’m a professional at the end of the day and like you, I have a job to do. So if we’re going to work closely together for the next few weeks, I suggest we just plough on and not let any petty egotistical clashes or office politics get in the way. Sound good?” Hyo asked, her words razor-sharp and infused with as much indifference as she could muster.

Taeyeon’s cheeks flushed hot red at the mention of ‘petty egotistical clashes’, but she reigned in her anger by breathing in slowly and deeply. Even though she didn’t care for Hyo’s words or attitude, she knew she’d been in the wrong before. It was time to own up to her mistakes and move forward.

“Absolutely. I look forward to working with you on the Christmas parade.” Taeyeon offered, flashing her most insincere smile as she extended her hand to Hyo.

Hyo flashed a similar smile at her and took her hand, crushing her fingers with a strong grip which made Taeyeon wince inwardly.

“Perfect. This is going to be great.” Hyo concluded.

---

“This is ridiculous.” Hyo huffed.

Taeyeon, who was examining her clipboard, growled under her breath. This was the 20^th time in 10 minutes that Hyo had found fault with the first stage of the Christmas parade. They had rented out a small pace in the centre of town with a sizeable stretch of road to begin their first round of testing. And the first float they wanted to test out was one containing the athletes from the ‘Mini Men’s Acrobatic League’. These pint-sized men of varying ages had recently competed in a national acrobat competition and won, making them a firm favourite in the local Christmas parade. They were to be dressed in cute Santa outfits originally meant for children sizes 6 years old and up, doing impressive jumps and somersaults around a Christmas tree in the centre of their float. But every time they got into the rhythm of their performance, Hyo cut them short by yelling though the megaphone.

“What is it now?” Taeyeon hissed impatiently.

“The Christmas tree is wobbling.”

“What?”

“It’s shaking while Terence is standing in it.”

“Or course it’s shaking a little. He’s getting ready to jump onto a seesaw below it!” Taeyeon pointed out.

“It’s not supposed to shake at all! Dae Hyun, what did you say the dimensions were for the tree?”

Being the mathematical wizard of the group, Dae Hyun checked through the rough calculations he’d made on his own clipboard and told Hyo.

Hyo made several comical faces while she furrowed her eyebrows and did some mental calculations of her own. To Taeyeon, it looked like the parade coordinator was doing a stellar impression of Russel Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. At the end of it, Hyo shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“This isn’t going to work. The tree dimensions won’t work for the weight distribution.”

Taeyeon rolled her eyes at this. “Are you saying that Dae Hyun’s measurements are off?”

“They’re way off! There are too many acrobats balancing on the tree. And extra weight is going to make the tree fall over. Dae Hyun, how much does that platform at the bottom of the tree weigh?”

Again, Dae Hyun recited the measurements to Hyo, which only served to irritate her more.

“You see? The platform is lighter than the tree!”

“Are you seriously saying that Dae Hyun is incompetent? He majored in Advanced Mathematics and Statistics!” Taeyeon said heatedly.

“Taeyeon, it’s ok –” Dae Hyun tried, but Hyo interrupted him.

“I never said that! But Dae Hyun was clearly thinking about the dimensions for a bigger tree when we first designed this. And since then, we’ve reduced the tree size without reducing the number of acrobats balancing on it. We need to take some of the acrobats off the tree, otherwise Terence is going to dive right on top of Harold. No offence, Dae Hyun,” Hyo added as an afterthought. Even though she was a perfectionist when it came to her work, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt anyone’s feelings, especially when she knew that Dae Hyun was working really hard on the project.

“None taken, Hyo,” Dae Hyun answered in a gracious tone.

“Speak for yourself,” Taeyeon snapped. “I’m getting really sick of your diva tantrums, Hyo.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I stand behind Dae Hyun’s work and everything else we’ve been doing so far with the float. Now I know it’s not some fancy Christmas parade in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude-”

“Oh, would you grow up, Taeyeon? I don’t know why you are so threatened by my previous experience. I really am just trying to make your original idea better.” Hyo countered, getting angry. 

“I’m not threatened by your previous experience, because I have a ton of my own that I’m proud of. And my original idea doesn’t need to be re-worked. It was perfect before Seungri decided to get the Martha Stewart of Christmas parades to screw up everything up!”

“Guys…” Dae Hyun tried, but failed to get the two arguing women’s attention.

Something strange was happening to the botched Christmas tree. Below it was a see-saw on which Harold, the troupe leader of the MMAL stood, poised to launch into a graceful landing in a pool filled with soft, spongy foam. But now the tree was actually moving and bending downwards with Terence and a few other dwarfish acrobats still in it.

“Guys, the tree!” Sunny cried out in alarm.

Hyo and Taeyeon stopped arguing and watched as the cords and grapple hooks holding the platform under the tree in place snapped violently.

“Whoa, !” Ravi shouted, taking off his sunglasses to stare in horror at the scene straight ahead.

The acrobats stuck in the tree started screaming when the tree gave way underneath them and pitched forward towards the see-saw. While a few of them had the good sense to jump and combat-roll to safety onto a big sleigh filled with bouncy hay on the edge of the float, Terence howled with terror and clung to a tree branch like a monkey and went down with the tree. When the heavier branches hit one end of the seesaw, Terence went flying through the air and landed on the back of an irate donkey standing on the street.

But his fate wasn’t nearly as bad as Harold, who was still standing on the other end of the seesaw raised above ground when the tree came crashing down. He was hoisted several feet into the air before soaring at breakneck speed into a kiddy pool filled with shallow water and swans sporting reindeer antler headbands. And because the man driving the entire float got such a fright from all the commotion happening above him, he accidentally put his foot down hard onto the accelerator instead of the brake and crashed through a store window, leaving a million shards of glass littered all over the side walk.

Hyo covered with her hand in absolute horror while Taeyeon put her clipboard in front of her face, wishing she could go back in time and undo the day she was born.

---

“Let’s assess the damage, shall we?” Seungri began ominously. “Jeff Flanagan, the owner of ‘Jerky for Jerks’, is suing us for damage to his store; a donkey meant to carry the Mary on its back is missing, along with Terence the acrobat who was last seen riding it; Dr. Kang and the local vet are sending us consultation bills for treating three swans for injuries and anxiety; and the cherry on top of the cake: Harold the acrobat has sent his hospital bills for us to pay.”

Taeyeon and Hyo winced when Seungri slammed a folder in his hand down hard onto the desk in front of them.

“This Christmas parade is already an unmitigated disaster before it’s even happened!”

Seungri gave a convulsive shudder and successfully calmed down, even though his face was still purple with rage.

“Fix this or I swear by every god in the universe, both of you will feature in my idea for a Christmas parade float: two idiots trapped in a snow globe.”

“Yes, Seungri.” Taeyeon and Hyo said in a monotone before mercifully escaping Seungri’s office.

Of course, things naturally got worse when Seungri’s snow globe float idea actually came to fruition and Sunny couldn’t get the machine making artificial snow out of baking soda and mashed potato to work.

“Hyo, I’m telling you, the machine’s getting clogged up because there’s too much fake snow in it!” Taeyeon said for the umpteenth time.

“And I’m telling you that Sunny just isn’t pressing the button properly,” Hyo argued, thoroughly sick and tired of Taeyeon’s negative attitude to everything she did.

“Guys, stop fighting,” Dae Hyun begged, feeling completely worn out from working on the Christmas parade with the two divas. “Let’s just try unplugging the machine and plugging it back in.”

Ravi, who was standing the closest to the power outlet, quickly figured out what was wrong with the machine. “Holy , who forgot to check the machine before Sunny switched it on? It’s been unplugged this entire time!”

Hyo turned to face Taeyeon with a triumphant smirk. “See? I knew that was the problem.”

“No you didn’t! You said Sunny wasn’t pushing the button! How is the damn machine supposed to work without a power source?!” Taeyeon shrieked, on the verge of losing her marbles.

“It was an honest mistake,” Hyo countered, looking livid. “Ok, Ravi, just plug the machine back in.”

“Hold on,” Dae Hyun began. “If Sunny pushed the ‘start button’ at the source and it gets plugged in, won’t the machine get switched on before we can control it?”

Of course, no one paid any attention to him when Ravi plugged in the machine. As a result, the machine roared to life and spewed out gallon after gallon of mushy baking soda and mashed potato into the air and all over everyone in the near vicinity. By the end of it, Sunny, Dae Hyun, Ravi, Taeyeon and Hyo all looked like The Ghosts of Marshmallows Present.

While everyone else looked mutinous, Ravi calmly dipped his pinky finger through a glob of mash potato and tasted it. “With a little bit of paprika, this could be really good.”

“Dude, just shut up already,” Dae Hyun snapped, sporting a massive glob of mashed potato on his head which resembled a mullet.

Ten minutes later, Taeyeon had managed to escape the suffocating atmosphere of the street and returned to her office in the hopes of finding a spare change of clothes. She walked past the conference room and saw Hyo throwing some clothes of her own around as she tried to clean up the mess on her body. Up close, Hyo looked like a spinning tornado of anger and frustration as she attempted to spray some clear liquid from a bottle onto her expensive blouse.

“What’s that?” Taeyeon asked quizzically in reference to the liquid.

“Club soda,” Hyo answered in a terse voice. “It gets rid of everything, except stupid ideas for a Christmas parade that’s never going to see the light of day!”

Taeyeon sighed and stepped tentatively closer to the irate parade coordinator. After saying a prayer that she wouldn’t get maimed, she calmly put her hands on top of Hyo’s and stilled her movements.

“What are you-”

“You’re rubbing the fabric too hard, you’re gonna ruin your blouse.” Taeyeon held out the shirt she was planning on wearing towards Hyo. “Here, take it off and wear mine instead.”

Hyo hesitated for the briefest moment before she began ing her blouse. Taeyeon had the good sense to turn away, but not before catching a glimpse of Hyo’s shoulders and the hard, toned muscle of her stomach as she put on the T-shirt given to her. Even with the way that it hung loosely over her torso, Taeyeon couldn’t help thinking that her clothes looked better on Hyo somehow.

Hyo the hem of the T-shirt self-consciously, her cheeks flushed with rouge as she regarded Taeyeon. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

Taeyeon shrugged, her heart thumping erratically in her chest. “Because…I’ve been a complete jackass to you ever since you started working here and I’ve somehow managed to ruin the one thing which I’m actually good at, which is the annual Christmas parade.”

Hyo sighed and came to stand next to Taeyeon at the edge of the table in the conference room. “You didn’t ruin anything, Taeyeon. Both our ideas and contributions have been good, but we’ve also been too pigheaded to actually collaborate and make our ideas work together. I’m sorry for not making your job easier.” She apologised in earnest.

“I appreciate that, but it’s not your fault. You were brought in to help me and make the parade a success. But now we’ve got didley-squat and Seungri’s probably going to fire my before New Year’s Eve…” Taeyeon trailed off in a glum voice.

Something about Taeyeon’s words struck a chord with Hyo somehow. And soon, she was standing at her full height and grasping Taeyeon’s hand in a firm grip.

“No one’s getting fired, Taeyeon. We might’ve botched the initial planning phases, but we haven’t screwed up completely. The minor parade floats are practically done, it’s just your big Christmas tree float that we need to still iron out. Once we know exactly what we’ll do with that, it’ll be a piece of cake. We’ve both planned successful Christmas parades individually – can you imagine how amazing this year’s parade could actually be if we put both our beautiful heads together and come up with something fantastic? I don’t know about you, but I’m not a quitter. Now…are you going to help me plan our first and best Christmas parade?”

Taeyeon wasn’t sure that she felt Hyo’s fervor for the whole business. Nevertheless, she shook Hyo’s hand, a toothy grin forming on her cute chipmunk cheeks.

“I’m in.”

---

After that moment, there was a dramatic change within the little planning committee working on the annual Christmas parade. And it had begun with Hyo and Taeyeon calling a legitimate truce and actually working as a team. The more time they spent together, the more that Taeyeon noticed and praised Hyo’s natural flair for getting a lot of things done in a short amount of time. Somehow, the preliminary planning for all the other floats and actors participating was going swimmingly well. Even Harold the acrobat had made a remarkable recovery after a short stint in hospital. And now he was right back to leading the MMAL’s troupe in flawless fashion.

But despite all this wonderful progress, Taeyeon was still dejected about her massive Christmas tree float. She had lots of great ideas for how they could decorate the tree, but the planning committee was nowhere near bringing all those ideas together to create a memorable float for the Christmas parade.

Hyo finally had enough and took matters into her own hands.

“Everyone, stop what you’re doing!” she barked, her voice booming through the megaphone.  

Sunny stopped fiddling with her remote which controlled the music and Dae Hyun walked towards Hyo with Ravi on his shoulders, who was holding a banner in his hands which read ‘Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays!”

“Sorry, Hyo, the music is stuck on Elvis Presley’s version of ‘Silent Night’, I think the CD is skipping again,” Sunny apologized.

“Don’t worry about it, we can always get another CD,” Hyo chided in a soothing tone. “You all did great work, let’s call it a day and meet back here at 06:00 sharp. If Taeyeon and I need you before then, we’ll call you.” She told the group.

“Yes! I’m gonna call Ryohei and tell him that ‘Date Night’ is back on!” Sunny exclaimed happily. It had been a good 3 weeks since she and her live-in Japanese boyfriend had spent a whole night together and she couldn’t wait to see him when he got off from his shift at the hospital.

“Sweet! Thanks, Hyo! I feel like hitting a club and dancing with a shorty or two. You wanna come, Ravi?” Dae Hyun asked of his colleague.

Ravi, who was frowning as he read the banner he’s been trying to hang up earlier, said, “Somehow I feel like this banner should rather say ‘Happy Ho-Ho’s’.”

“Don’t worry, he’s definitely in, Dae Hyun,” Taeyeon piped up with a teasing grin on her face.

As the two men broke away from the group and headed towards their cars, Hyo walked towards Taeyeon with a determined look in her eye.

“Hey,” Taeyeon greeted, feeling her heart do a back-flip in her stomach. “How are you going to celebrate our night off?”

“With you,” Hyo answered with simplicity, which threw Taeyeon. “And it’s not a night-off for us. We’re gonna do some more brainstorming on your Christmas tree float.”

Taeyeon groaned comically, which Hyo secretly thought was adorable. “I’m so tired, Hyo. I don’t have any more creative cells left in my brain.” She whined.

“Well then you’re in luck, because what I have in mind doesn’t require any work. All you have to do is watch.”

“Watch what?”

“You’ll see. Let’s take a ride in my car.”

If it had been anyone else, Taeyeon would’ve come up with some crazy excuse involving her older brother Jiwoong needing assistance with a asive raccoon problem at his house. But the decidedly stubborn look in Hyo’s eye let her know that she wasn’t going to give up that easily. In addition, the famous parade coordinator was looking especially beautiful in a pair of black skinny jeans and a turquoise blouse which complemented her blonde hair.

“Ok, let’s go. But if you’re planning on kidnapping me, my family has GPS access to my cellphone,” Taeyeon teased, which made Hyo laugh as they walked to her car.

To Taeyeon’s surprise, Hyo drove them right outside the city limits until they arrived in the adjacent town which was a good 40 minutes away from the local government rep’s own home. But Hyo kept driving right through that town, past the stores decorated with fetching Christmas baubles and to Taeyeon’s intense surprise, far away from a decent Christmas parade which was happening right then and there in that town. While planning her own town’s local Christmas parade, Taeyeon had clean forgotten about all the other parades happening in the district. It would’ve been nice to check this one out, but Hyo clearly had other plans for the night.

Taeyeon grew worried when Hyo to a dirt road and drove precariously over lots of gravel as they climbed higher and higher up a hill with no barriers on either side of the road.

“I knew it. You definitely are trying to get back at me for being a raging to you the past month,” Taeyeon muttered when Hyo finally stopped the car.

Hyo snickered and turned off the engine. “Have you always been this paranoid, Kim Taeyeon?”

“Yes, and it’s never failed me before.”

“Till now. Look where we are.”

Hyo swept her hand in front of her and Taeyeon stared in awe at the idyllic countryside landscape. But that wasn’t the only impressive thing about their surroundings. From their vantage point above the town, they had a stellar view of the Christmas parade happening down below minus the annoyance of minimal parking and other pedestrians impeding their view.

From up there, Taeyeon could see all the participants in the parade dressed in amazing Christmas costumes singing and dancing up a storm. The entire town was lit up like a winter wonderland and there were scores of Christmas trees positioned on every street corner and decorated with what looked like massive silver baubles and crystallised snow-in-a-can. There was even a special float just for Sergeant Keroro who was playing Santa and handing out presents to little children standing on the platform with him. 

“Hyo, this is incredible!” Taeyeon proclaimed, her eyes drawn to every colour that emanated from the various Christmas floats.  

Hyo smiled serenely, staring fondly at the look of awe on Taeyeon’s face. Despite first appearances, she’d discovered in the past month just how kind and caring Kim Taeyeon could be. Plus, she’d also seen Taeyeon’s fun side too, especially when she played pranks on her other colleagues. She found it strange that someone as strikingly beautiful as Taeyeon would dress in such drab, unimaginatively masculine clothing on a regular basis.

“How do you even know about this place?” Taeyeon asked curiously of Hyo. Until now, she didn’t even know where the celebrated parade coordinator was from.

“I grew up around here.” Hyo told Taeyeon with simplicity. “When I was a kid, my parents used to bring me and my siblings up here so we could watch the Christmas parade every year. It was honestly one of the best times of my life; it’s what made me become a parade coordinator. I just love this time of the year.”

“Me too,” Taeyeon agreed. “It’s just such a magical time of the year. It’s the one time when I stop worrying about bills, salaries and other drama and just focus on what’s really important: being with my loved ones and celebrating goodwill.”

Hyo looked at Taeyeon’s side-profile and found herself wondering about when the city official had last been alone in an intimate setting like this with a significant other. The thought made her pulse points thrum with sudden pleasure, hugging herself as the wind picked up and made goosebumps erupt on her arms.

“Maybe it’s a silly sentiment, but sitting up here watching the Christmas lights down there makes me think of Outer Space. It’s all so bright and mysterious, you just get lost in it. This time of the year makes me realise that I’m a part of something bigger than myself. Something really special.”

Like the twinkling Christmas lights all the way down below, Hyo’s face burned with colours and vivacity. Taeyeon couldn’t take her eyes off of her. When Hyo finally looked at Taeyeon, she was astounded to see that intense stare fixed on her. It made something warm and feral erupt deep within her very bones.

And when Taeyeon took the leap and cupped the back of her head so gently it felt like a whisper, Hyo didn’t hesitate at all when their lips finally met. It was wild and sweet and every other adjective that Taeyeon could think up in that surreal moment when Hyo tilted her head and adjusted the angle of their kisses. All those long hours of petty fighting and simultaneously gazing at each other’s mouths with contradicting wistfulness had finally come to fruition as their lips drew elegant lines of rapture against each other.

Taeyeon’s skin sparked with electricity everywhere that Hyo touched her, particularly when the latter drew faint lines of euphoria over the curves of her cheeks. She growled in ecstasy and wrapped her arms tightly around Hyo’s back as their kisses grew deeper and more heated. Everything about Hyo felt right in this moment and she didn’t want the night to end.

They finished watching the parade down below and stopped kissing long enough for Hyo to get behind the wheel again and drive them back to her hotel room where she’d been staying for the past month. Then they were falling through a solid oak door which was thrown open by Hyo’s insistent hands and falling onto a comfortable queen-sized bed with a silky comforter on top. Hyo’s hands threaded through Taeyeon’s dark brown hair, curling the tips around her fingers till Taeyeon whimpered in pleasure. Taeyeon’s eyes darkened under the dim glare of the bedside lamp as she started on kissing Hyo’s neck and leaving large hickeys across her skin.

It was just when Taeyeon’s fingers moved nimbly to unfasten the buttons on Hyo’s blouse when the latter stopped her.

“Wait, Tae…” Hyo trailed off, struggling to catch her breath. “I’m super into this right now, but…”

“Yeah, you’re right, we should stop.” Taeyeon agreed readily. She too had liked where this was about to lead, but she and Hyo barely knew each other. And it didn’t seem like the right time to cross any more lines.

Even as she thought it, she still moved forward and caressed Hyo’s cheek while kissing her gently. Pleasure gurgled through Hyo’s veins as she sat in Taeyeon’s lap and hugged her.

“Do you want to stay the night? We’re both pretty tired and it’s late.” Hyo hadn’t asked someone to just sleep with her in the same bed in a long time and she was nervous about how Taeyeon would react.

Taeyeon gazed at Hyo for a long time, admiring how bruised her lips looked after kissing. She her lips subtly and smiled. “I’d love to stay.”

It became a bit of a ceremony when they took separate showers and stripped down to their undergarments as they climbed into bed. But when Hyo her side and Taeyeon wrapped her arms around her in a back-hug, it felt like the most natural thing in the world as they fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

Taeyeon woke up close to 2am with Hyo still in her arms. She stayed like that for a few minutes and admired the way the moonlight turned Hyo’s shoulders into sharp blades of silver while she slept. Taeyeon couldn’t remember a time before this when she’d felt so happy and relaxed. The night that she and Hyo shared had sparked something deep within her that made her want to paint whole cathedrals and drape lights around tall trees –

Taeyeon stopped short, her entire body numb with muted exhilaration. She carefully extricated herself from Hyo and moved quietly in search of pen and paper and a place to sit in the small hotel room. She finally located all three and spent close to an hour sketching a picture feverishly onto a hotel notepad that she found next to the telephone. When she was done, she could barely contain herself and sought to wake Hyo up.

“Mommy, it’s too early to shovel snow out of the driveway…” Hyo mumbled in exhaustion as Taeyeon shook her shoulder.

“Hyo, you need to wake up. I’ve thought of the perfect Christmas tree float.”

Those five magic words at the end of Taeyeon’s sentence woke Hyo up like nothing ever could. She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and stared at Taeyeon’s happy features. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, and we need to get back to city hall right away. Let’s call Seungri, Sunny, Dae Hyun and Ravi to join us. We have a lot of work to do.” Taeyeon told Hyo.

Even though it was 3am and Hyo was dog-tired, she jumped out of bed and practically raced to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Even though she and Taeyeon had only known each other a short time, she had a gut feeling that the city council rep was finally onto something big. And if there was one thing that Hyo was good at besides organizing parades, it was knowing how to get someone’s creative juices flowing.

Both women threw on their clothes and drove back to City Hall where Taeyeon began copying her Christmas tree sketch onto the white board in the conference room where the Parade Planning Committee had their meetings. By the time the rest of their team arrived with bleary eyes and stirofoam cups of coffee, Taeyeon and Hyo were sitting and waiting for them.

“This had better be good, guys. I was in the middle of catching up on Game of Thrones on my DVR,” Seungri mumbled while rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

“Tell me something, Seungri: were you watching Game of Thrones alone in your bed at 3am?” Sunny asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Sweet Baby Jesus, that’s sad…”

“I’m glad you guys called us when you did. Ravi nearly got into it with one of Santa’s Elves from the mall at the bar where we were having drinks.” Dae Hyun said with remarkable positivity considering the lateness of the hour.

“ was mouthing off about 1 dollar bills being too expensive to stuff into a stripper’s thong!” Ravi proclaimed indignantly.

“Um, moving on,” Hyo interjected, blushing just a little at Ravi’s scandalous statement. “Taeyeon finally has a killer idea for the Christmas tree float. I think you’re all gonna love it.” She said with pride.

Taeyeon caught Hyo’s eye and they shared a warm, intimate smile when went unmissed by everyone else in the room for the meantime.

“Whoa, really? Let’s see it!” Sunny begged.

The other men in the room shared her eagerness and moved quickly to the white board which Taeyeon had covered with a piece of poster paper to hide the drawing. But when she finally revealed it, it rendered the rest of the team speechless, including Hyo who had already seen the drawing.

Taeyeon’s sketch of a Christmas tree float was still rough, but ingenious in the way she had utilized empty space to create a unique sketch and plan. The details were so intricate and effortless that they had to have emerged from the mind of a true artist.

“Taeyeon, it’s beautiful…” Sunny trailed off, happy tears springing to her eyes.

“Agreed. This was worth skipping Game of Thrones over…” Seungri agreed, staring in awe at Taeyeon’s drawing.

“Tae, if we can pull this off, it’ll definitely be the best Christmas float this year.” Dae Hyun said with evident praise for his colleague’s work.

“Ravi, you’re awfully quiet over there, are you ok?” Taeyeon asked, feeling extremely self-conscious about all the positive feedback she was receiving from her teammates.

Ravi shook his head several times and put a hand over his mouth as if he wanted to stop himself from crying too. “All I can say is that I would never want to burn a tree as beautiful as this, Taeyeon.” He concluded with fervor, which made Taeyeon laugh.

Seungri laughed too and started rubbing his hands together like a mad scientist on the brink of creating a devilish invention for world domination. “Guys, this is gonna be seriously epic. Let’s do this thing!”

---

Even though the final part of the Christmas parade required extra work and longer hours on the job, the Planning Committee was energized like never before. They worked seamlessly and expediently together. And best of all, Taeyeon and Hyo were getting along like a house on fire, bouncing ideas off of each other and goofing off like they’d known each other all their lives. While Sunny talked to one of the engineers who was building one of the floats, she caught Hyo trying to flick a giggling Taeyeon (who had probably never giggled a day in her life before this) with luminous paint out of the corner of her eye and smiled secretly to herself.

The two parade coordinators were finally hitting it off.

The six of them slaved long and hard over the parade until Christmas Day finally arrived when their hard work would be put to the test. Taeyeon had a nice and quiet Christmas breakfast with her parents, her brother and a few members of her extended family. Then she said a hasty goodbye to all of them before rushing off to City Hall to meet Hyo and the rest of the team to oversee the final preparations for the parade.

The appointed hour arrived at 12:00 and almost the entire town had showed up outside city hall to watch the Christmas procession. In the midst of the loud cheers which rose up when the mayor cut the red ribbon on the first float, Taeyeon found herself reaching for Hyo’s hand and squeezing it tightly.

“I’m so nervous,” she admitted in a hushed whisper.

Even though Hyo’s eyes were on the mayor as he officiated the parade, her words were directed at Taeyeon.

“Tae, your Christmas float is beautiful. Everyone’s going to love it just as much as I do.”

Hyo turned to face Taeyeon and they shared a radiant smile just as the festivities began.

Despite the fact that Taeyeon had done all of the planning and preparation, the Christmas parade still exceeded her expectations somehow. The ‘Christmas on Ice’ float with Olympic figure skaters doing magnificent spins and jumps on real ice installed onto the platform got the crowd roaring with jubilation. The short Nativity play done in a pantomime version with Don The Donkey (who turned up on his own without Terence the Acrobat just two days before) with a teenage actress playing the Mary riding on top and carrying an actual newborn baby who played Jesus sent the religious folk of the town into transports of delight. 

The Planning Team began whooping loudly when it was the MMAL’s turn to stun and dazzle the crowd. Even though Terence the Acrobat was missing from the troupe (the rumour was that he had ditched Don The Donkey and joined a travelling circus en route to Russia), Harold was back in fine form and giving the onlookers something to cheer about. The Mini Men’s Acrobatic League nailed all of their stunts, including a stunning array of well-timed somersaults on trampolines installed on top of the float. And they topped off their performance by standing in the branches of a Christmas tree (which Dae Hyun and Ravi had thankfully scaled down to the appropriate size) with several of the MMAL members standing on each other’s shoulders simultaneously.

Then came the one thing which Taeyeon had both been anticipating and dreading for the longest time: her Christmas tree float come to life. After obsessing over it and planning out every last detail for the longest time, the moment of truth had finally arrived. Unlike the tree used by the MMAL, this tree was gigantic and took up most of the space on the platform. After the first swell of music which played overhead in the local radio station’s both, the first tier of the tree lit up with a thick streams of gold Christmas lights. Then the second tier lit up in similar fashion, followed by the third and all the way up to the twelfth tier spaced out in 3-second intervals. The sound of a train whistle rang through the air and the crowd stared in awe at the train tracks surrounding the base of the tree, which sparkled with Christmas lights and now had an animatronic Santa riding around in a sleigh pulled round and round by animatronic reindeers.

Dae Hyun, Sunny and Ravi were in charge of cuing the various lighting and special effects to do with the tree and they all had walkie-talkies they were speaking into to give out instructions.

“Light up the mistletoe,” Sunny commanded.

The crowd gasped when clusters of real mistletoe with cherry coloured blossoms were suddenly illuminated with a red, luminous glow.

“Bring in the birds,” Dae Hyun instructed in a low voice, signalling to the bird-handler in close proximity.

The crowd ooh-ed and aah-ed when a group of 12 turtle doves flocked towards the Christmas tree and began eating strategic pieces of the mistletoe right off the cluster. The trained bird-handler whistled sharply, sending the turtle doves scurrying away to safety, just in time for Ravi’s special cue.

“Set the mistletoe on fire.” He said with a manic grin on his face

Both Taeyeon and Hyo winced and squinted their eyes slightly as the sparkles attached to the remaining mistletoe ignited and shot straight upwards, illuminating the sky with rainbows of fireworks which encircled the Christmas tree. When the smoke cleared, the crowd whooped and hollered at the fact that a huge neon sign had appeared in the middle of the tree which read ‘Merry Christmas’.

Hyo turned to Tae with astonishment written all over her face. “Ravi didn’t set your Christmas tree on fire!”

“Of course he didn’t,” Taeyeon said with simplicity. “Ravi may talk a crazy game when it comes to all things related to fire, but he actually has a degree in mechanical engineering. That’s why we keep Ravi around. Plus he’s excellent at managing our financial books too,” she told Hyo, who looked even more shocked by these new revelations about Ravi.

Dae Hyun called for the turtle doves to return to the tree, but to dress it up with scores of shiny tinsel hanging from their beaks. The crowd cheered like crazy for the highly trained turtle doves who seemed to dance in an alluring circle around the tree as they hung up the tinsel in curtains of splendour. When that was complete, Sunny gave the order for the rest of the small Christmas baubles to light up on the tree as the float neared City Hall. And when the float came to a stop outside the offices of local government, Ravi gave the final order, which was for the miniature golden candles contained in fireproof glass baubles hanging on the tree to be lit by a complicated electronic mechanism unsuitable for children to try at home.

The crowd of onlookers yelled their praise at the marvellous Christmas tree float which would now stand outside City Hall till after New Year’s Day. After the pyro techniques were complete, the mayor climbed onto the platform and began handing out the Christmas presents underneath the tree to underprivileged children in the community.

Amidst the cheering of the crowd and the rest of the fireworks which had been set off, Taeyeon only had eyes for one person. And that was Hyo as she stared back, her eyes shining with happiness.

“You did it, Tae. You really did it,” Hyo murmured before launching herself into Taeyeon’s arms.

It was all Taeyeon could do to keep her balance and hold onto Hyo as she reveled in what would soon be known as the best day of her life.

---

Everything around Taeyeon was far too loud as people, known and unknown came and congratulated her at every turn.

“I heard you were in charge of this year’s Christmas parade. That was incredible!”

“How did you get those birds to decorate the tree?!”

“The fireworks were amazing!”

“But seriously – how did you get those birds to do that?!”

Taeyeon nearly sprained her hand from the number of times Seungri shook it in the space of 5 minutes.

“Taeyeon, you beauty! You really pulled off something spectacular this year!”

“I appreciate that, Seungri, but it was a group effort. And I couldn’t have pulled this off without Hyo.” Taeyeon tried to tell him.

But Seungri was already going off on his own tangent as he began planning out next year’s Christmas parade a good 300 days in advance.

“It’s true, you all worked well together. This is just the beginning, Tae, I see big things happening in our department next year. I’m talking promotions, big year-end bonuses and naturally, a Christmas parade which is 10 times better than this one. I want you to start working on ideas right away!”

It was a relief for Taeyeon when she finally extricated herself from Seungri and hugged Sunny, her familiar hands feeling like a slice of tranquil heaven after the busy month she’d endured.

“Tae, you did it! I’m so proud of you!” Sunny gushed, bouncing around on the spot with Taeyeon as they reveled in a job well done.

“I’m proud of you too, Sunny-bear. I just can’t believe that Hyo helped bring my vision to life, it was more than I ever could’ve hoped for. She really is something –”

Taeyeon stopped short and gazed around her. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen Hyo in a while. She lost track of her when Hyo stopped hugging her just as the mayor came to congratulate them both on their hard work and effort.

Taeyeon’s heart dropped like lead into her stomach as she wondered about where Hyo had gone. Sunny saw the look in her friend’s eye and smiled.

“You really gave Hyo a hard time when she first came to work with us.”

Taeyeon looked at Sunny with a look of guilt. “I did.”

“But you got to see how great she is the past month and now you like her a lot.”

Again, it wasn’t a question, but a poignant statement. And Taeyeon wasn’t slow in responding with ‘I do’.

“Then why the hell are you still standing here talking to me? Go tell her how you feel before her contract’s officially done!” Sunny urged.

It was a long shot, but Taeyeon had a good idea of where Hyo might be.

“Thanks, Sunny!” she called out, pushing her way through the crowd of pedestrians as she ran towards the back entrance of City Hall.

Sunny watched her friend go and smiled some more. “That pabo,” she muttered to herself while shaking her head.

The elevators inside the building weren’t running for the night, so Taeyeon was forced to sprint up 5 flights of stairs to get to her department’s floor. When she finally entered the conference room and found Hyo, she was a pile of sweat and exhaustion.

Hyo turned away from staring outside the window at the Christmas fireworks being set off in the city to stare at Taeyeon in surprise.

“Hi,” Taeyeon greeted, waving her hand lamely.

“Hi,” Hyo said back, smiling in confusion at Taeyeon’s sudden awkwardness, given that they’d been standing together not more than an hour before.

“I was wondering where you went to.” Taeyeon continued, willing the sweat to stop pouring down from her forehead.

“I just wanted a quiet place where I could savour this moment a little longer.” Hyo told Taeyeon with a small smile on her face.

“That’s weird…” Taeyeon stepped closer till Hyo became more aware of her presence and the look in her eyes. It made her pulse sprint over treadmills of pure adrenaline. “You pretty much planned this entire parade successfully. I figured you’d be front and centre in the middle of the crowd outside at a moment like this.”

“Well that’s just another thing you got wrong about me.”

Even though Hyo’s words hadn’t been malicious, Taeyeon still blushed in mortification as she took Hyo’s hand on a sudden impulse.

“You were right about everything. I was jealous of you and threatened that you were taking away the one thing I actually love about my job. But these past few weeks…and the parade…you brought my vision to life like no one else ever could have. You inspired me and it made me realise that…I like you. Kim Hyoyeon, I like you so much. I just needed you to know before you head off to plan your next big holiday parade in some glamorous city far away from here. I was hoping that maybe I could take you out on one date before you leave.”

Hyo was absolutely floored by Taeyeon’s words. She’d been feeling all of the same things and more, but had never expected the woman she’d struggled to get along with to voice them with such effortless honesty.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she told Taeyeon with a fathomless look on her face. And just when the city planner was about to delve into a pit of depression, Hyo qualified her initial statement by adding, “The mayor offered me a contract to work in your department for the next year. And if I take it, I was hoping that you would take me out on more than one date. Because I like you a lot too, Kim Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon grinned widely and Hyo giggled, her eyes shining with happiness and something stronger.

“Do you really mean that?” Taeyeon asked in wonder of this phenomenal woman who had stolen her heart right out of her chest.

“That depends: are you ok with sharing the spotlight with me?” Hyo asked tentatively, hardly daring to believe that everything could work out magically like this.

Taeyeon used her free hand to caress Hyo’s cheek. “If we both get to shine, I don’t see any problem with that. Besides, I’m definitely going to get stuck on my next big idea for the Christmas parade, so I’ll need you to swoop in and save the day.”

“Oh you will, huh?”

“Absolutely. But I probably shouldn’t let you operate any more snow-making machinery from now on. It took a dry cleaner 2 weeks to get the stains out of my clothes.”

“Kim Taeyeon, you are unbelievable-”

Hyo’s indignant rant was cut short when Taeyeon threw caution to the wind and kissed her passionately. In the end, Hyo didn’t care that much about winning the argument as she wrapped her arms tightly around Taeyeon and kissed her back with just as much fervor. With the two new lovers declaring their feelings for each other and the Christmas fireworks outside illuminating their entwined bodies, it made for quite the romantic setting.

When they pulled apart and took to staring at the Christmas celebration happening down below, Hyo rested her head on Taeyeon’s shoulder.

“I have a confession to make,” she began tentatively.

Taeyeon looked down at her with a quizzical expression.

“I was actually supposed to organize a Christmas parade in a different country this year. But when Seungri offered me a job here, I knew I had to take it.”

“Why?”

“Because I would finally get the opportunity to work with Kim Taeyeon.” Hyo said with a wide smile.

Now Taeyeon was even more confused. “Why did you want to work with me? You didn’t even know me.”

“True, but I’d heard of you. I was in town a few years back when you organized the local Christmas parade. I was just getting into the business myself and totally stuck on what to do for the parade I was organizing in another city. But when I saw your giant reindeer float, I fell in love with your work. That one float inspired me so much over the years, I hoped that one day I could finally meet you and tell you how much you’ve inspired me every Christmas since then.”

“I can’t believe it! You wanted to meet me and I was so horrible to you when we first met,” Taeyeon said in a small voice, taking a subtle step back. She couldn’t believe how she could’ve been that mean to someone as amazing as Hyo in the first place.

Luckily, Hyo had more than enough grace and forgiveness to put her hands around Taeyeon’s waist and pull her closer again.

“Yes, you weren’t very welcoming,” Hyo agreed, which made Taeyeon grimace in an adorable manner. “But I’m glad I didn’t let that get me down. I’m glad that I stuck around and got to know you better because I now see just how sweet and wonderful you really are. Working on this Christmas parade with you was one of the best experiences of my life.” She said in earnest, staring deep into Taeyeon’s soft brown eyes.

Taeyeon smiled and ran a finger over Hyo’s jawline, causing the latter to tremble and brim over with unkempt desire. “I feel the same way,” she whispered, a smile tugging at her sensual lips which made Hyo’s heart beat faster.

Hyo made her feelings clearer when she pulled Taeyeon closer and kissed her with the force of her feelings that had been slowly building up in the past month.

After that night, Hyo and Taeyeon were inseparable and only seemed to grow in their mutual respect and love for each other.

As for their Christmas tree float, it was moved inside City Hall after New Year’s Day on the ground floor so that visitors from all over could come and take pictures of it. And if you were really lucky, you could even see it lit up in the weeks preceding Christmas years later with a few turtle doves making a permanent home inside its silvery branches.

 

The End

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*FOMO is short for 'Fear of Missing Out' :-P*