Crisp air flooded through her lungs as Natalie took in a deep breath. "Welcome to New York," she said, spreading her arms out.

Their shopping excursion had brought them to a denser area of the city, where taxis blared and bustling crowds swarmed merchant vendors and shop front sales. Food stands stood open for business along street corners, with their busy grills and fryers sending plumes of hot steam up into the winter air.

"Ah, street meat and souvenir stands; it's the Empire State at its finest," Natalie laughed.

She had already pointed out some of the important landmarks of New York to Seunghyun – the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty far in the distance, and even Ground Zero where the World Trade Center used to stand. The area they were in now, closer to Times Square, was crowded with tourists and small shop stands set up to sell all kinds of little accessories, knickknacks, and trinkets.

"Wait, let's look here," Seunghyun said after having already picked up a few gifts for FT Island while they were out, "I should get something commemorative."

Natalie shrugged, "I don't know what would really be worth buying from these little souvenir stands."

"What about this?" Seunghyun pointed to a bracelet.

"What, this one? This is the kind of stuff tourists always get when they come to New York," Natalie laughed, "Are you sure?"

Seunghyun read the small letters on the bracelet, with its typical 'I❤NY' design. Of course, 'I love New York' was the famously known slogan that could be found on just about any type of merchandise.

"It's perfect," he said with a smile.

"Alright, if you say so," Natalie shrugged, wondering what was so special about the cheap little souvenir.

Seunghyun smirked as they paid the cashier, knowing that Natalie didn't understand what he was thinking. "Look," he said, pointing to the letters, "N-Y."

"Yeah," Natalie read it, as if she hadn't seen the design enough times already living in the city for as many years as she had, "New York."

"No," Seunghyun simply shook his head as he put the bracelet on his wrist, "Natalie Young."

He looked back up at Natalie just in time to catch the rosy blush on her cheeks, and Seunghyun grinned that cheeky grin of his that appeared on his face whenever he was pleased with something. "Come on," he grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

:.

After spending the rest of the afternoon with Seunghyun, nothing could have suppressed the warm fuzziness that Natalie felt inside; nothing could have brought down her spirits from their seemingly boundless high. But then again, perhaps 'nothing' was a strong word.

Natalie and Seunghyun were back by early evening, and the former had happily run inside when she saw that her dad's car was in the driveway. "Dad, you're home!" she called as soon as they had stepped in the door, "How was work?"

She walked down the hallway and found her dad in the study, putting away some official looking papers.

"Oh, hey Nat," her dad acknowledged her, "Work was busy, as usual."

She followed him as he walked out towards the kitchen, and she chatted on as they went. "We did a bit of shopping. Did you see the tree? We decorated it today. Isn't it nice?"

Her dad snapped out of his thoughts as he grabbed the mail off the counter, "Sorry, what?"

"The Christmas tree. What do you think?" she asked again.

"Oh," he glanced into the living room, noticing that the tree was in fact decorated, "Looks great."

"Mm, I put Mom's star on the top," Natalie smiled, and then laughed, "Luck