"Umma, why did you get a white pine this year?" SooMi asked her mother as she looked at the Christmas tree in the living room.

"I thought it would look nicer. That, and I've always wanted a white pine for a Christmas tree." Replied SooLi, looking up and smiling at her daughter.

"SooMi-ah! Where do I hide the presents I got for you guys?" JaeHwa called from somewhere upstairs.

"Well, if I told you where to hide my Christmas present, that would defeat the prupose of hiding it in the first place, wouldn't it?" SooMi yelled back, shaking her head at her friend's lack of common sense.

"Right.... Nevermind!" SooLi laughed, thankful that her daughterfound a friend as funloving and refreshing as JaeHwa. She was sure that it was only because of JaeHwa that SooMi hadn't become depressed following JunSu's death.

"So, how are you holding up?" SooMi asked her mother, looking up from closing all the ornament boxes.

:I'm doing alright. JunPyo has been trying to get me to get you to talk to him." Answered SooLi, watching her daughter carefully. She sighed when the martial artist refused to answer or look her in the eye. Telling her the news would be difficult... But she had to. It would be worse if she found out from some else.

"Look, SooMi, I know that you don't get along with your father, but you're going to have to learn to at least tolerate him."

"Why?" SooMi asked, narrowing her eyes.

"He's going to be spending Christmas with us."

*******

"I don't understand why I can't just leave." SooMi grumbled, sitting on her bed on Christmas morning, waiting for her father to arrive. 

"You're going to have to face him sooner or later, and sooner is the better option." JaeHwa replied, having a rare moment of wisdom/

"I know, but on Christmas? Really? Does she want me to be miserable?" The martial artist hadn't stopped grumbling since after breakfast. She knew she was being childish and whiny, but she couldn't help it. Her Christmas was ruined now.

"SooMi! JaeHwa! JunPyo is here! Come down to say hello!" SooLi shouted from the living room downstairs. SooMi groaned but did not resist as JaeHwa tooked her hand and dragged her down the stairs. This was going to be a long day. She just hoped she wouldn't end up yelling at her father. She wanted to behave for her mom.

*******

She did not behave. At least, not when he mentioned JunSu. She had dealt with all his other comments, politely ignored him when he tried talking to her, but when he said he wished JunSu could be here, she lost it. Hey, she had lasted until after supper. That had to count for something. Right?

"You have no right to say that!" SooMi yelled at him, glaring hard.

"I have every right! I am his father!" JunPyo shouted back, aslo glaring.

"No, you're not! You lost the right to call yourself his father the day you walked out on us!" Cried the martial artist, on the verge of tears.

"A mistake. That was a mistake! One I've regretted every minute of every day since then!" Exclaimed the older man. SooLi and JaeHwa didn't bother to try and interfere.

"You regretting your actions does not erase them, nor does it open the door for the forgiveness of those you've hurt." Said the orange-haired girl.

"Maybe not, but actions, the right ones, can do that. Let me prove to you that I am worthy of your forgiveness. PLease!" Pleaded JunPyo, his eyes sincere. SooMi hesitated only a second before answering him.

"No. I will never forgive you." She turned and ran up the stairs before the tears started falling.

*******

The rest if the holidays was uneventful. JunPyo did not bother them anymore, and no one talked about their fight, or how SooMi had cried herself to sleep that night. It was simply pushed to the back of their minds, all but forgotten.

SooMi coped with it being her first Christmas and New Year's without JunSu better than expected. A few tears were shed when mother and daughter visited the grave, but other than that, and the empty chair at the dinign room table, it was just like any other holiday. By the time SooMi and JaeHwa had to leave, the fight with JunPyo had been forgotten, and JunSu's absence was no longer weighing down their hearts. Both girls were well rested and ready to finsih the semester. Both hoped that there would be little to no drama in the last three months of school. Little did they know that there would be on last disaster before they finished.