“Where are we now?”, CL asked, cleaning her face, still facing the ground, her voice sounding as sad as ever.

“Where are we…”, she asked again, lifting her head and noticing she was alone.

Chaerin looked around looking for the said Ghost of Christmas Past.

She found herself in a small, clean room, with a TV and a couch that seemed to be very comfortable.

CL sat on the sofa and looked around again. She was lost.

“Boo!”

“AHH!!”, she screamed when a face appeared right in front of her as she turned her head to the left.

“THE HELL YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”, she yelled, getting up from the couch, massaging her chest. Her heart was beating in .

“D-Dara?”, Chaerin asked when she was able to speak again.

“I’m the Ghost of Christmas Present.”, said the female figure on the couch.

“Come on.”, CL sighed. “What’s going on?”, she asked, sitting in the couch again, the spot next to the Ghost, that resembled  Thunder’s older sister.

“I’m here to show you… well, the present.”, said the Ghost.

Chaerin noticed the figure beside her was wearing pink pajamas and slippers.

Hugging a pillow, the Ghost of Christmas Present took the remote control over the table in front of them and turned the TV on.

“What’s this?”, CL asked, hugging another pillow too.

“Shhh! That’s your show.”, the Ghost said, helping itself with a bowl of popcorn.

Looking at the TV Chaerin saw nothing but colored stripes, as if the channel was out of service. It blinked once and then twice, some image was forming on screen.

“2012, December 24th.”, said a male voice from the television, while a video was on.

“There she is, Lee Chaerin…”, it said again, while the video showed CL sitting at the bakery, a different perspective from the one she herself had while living that same moment.

It felt like CL was watching a soup opera or some kind of TV show about herself.

“You know Santa doesn’t exist, right?”, she watched herself saying to that little girl.

The camera then focused on Thunder’s expression from behind the balcony and how he rushed to save that poor kid from CL’s poison.

“Wow! That was rude! Poor kid!”, the Ghost frowned, stuffing some popcorn in its mouth.

“That girl is really something.”, they watched one of Thunder’s co-workers saying in the kitchen when he entered there.

“She is so mean!”, said another one. CL thoughtfully watching.

“She’s the Grinch!”, laughed another one. Chaerin starting to feel uncomfortable with what they were saying about her.

“Hey, she’s nice.”, Thunder stopped them. “She’s just… a bit tough.”, he defended.

“Aww! That’s cute!”, moaned the Ghost next Chaerin, taking the remote control and putting the volume a bit louder.

“Dude, she is pretty and all but… she’s heartless.”, Thunder’s friend said, tapping his shoulder.

“No! She does have a heart!”, Thunder insisted. “I’ll find it! Even if I have to dig a thousand meters of snow!”, he smiled.

CL felt her heart warming up. It felt nice to see Sanghyun defending her.

“This one is nice too.”, said the Ghost of Christmas Present, pressing a button on the control, switching to another channel.

“Hey!”, CL exclaimed.

“I want to show you something.”, the Ghost said, taking more popcorn.

Chaerin looked at the TV. The camera went from the sky to Thunder’s front door.

“I think she is not coming, honey.”, Mrs. Park touched her son’s hair.

“She promised, mom. CL always keeps her promises.”, he said, sounding a little dissapointed.

“But I would go.”, Chaerin defended herself, looking at the Ghost.

“Would you?!” it asked.

 “Weren’t you lying, saying you would do something you didn’t have even the intention of really doing because you’re just so selfish that you can’t put your stupidity aside for some hours to celebrate a holiday with your family and friends?”, the Ghost asked, Dara’s cynical look couldn’t be better in her own.

 Chaerin was speechless. She opened to say something more but she swallowed her words. The Ghost of Christmas Present was right.

“BEEEE!!”, they heard a car’s horn.

“Oh, finally!”, the Ghost with Dara’s face got up from the couch, leaving Chaerin behind to open the door that wasn’t there before.

“Future has finally come!”, said a female voice, making CL turn around to see who else was there.

“Bom!”, she exclaimed when she got to take a glance at the just arrived figure.

“Hey! I’m the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come!”, was her reply.

“Take her already! You don’t want to be late, yeah?”, the Ghost of Christmas Present said, tapping the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come on the shoulder.

“Yeah, let’s go!”, it said to CL, who just ran to where it was.

“When you say ‘future’, the end of the name is already in the past.”, The Ghost said.

“Unh?”, CL was dumbfounded.

“That’s why present doesn’t last long.”, Bom’s comforting smile was in the Ghost face, making Chaerin feel warmer.