She could not believe it.

She could not believe any of it.

All Hyun Hee could think of as she went home, was that it was an amazing night.  She was so overwhelmed that it was a little difficult to comprehend how she could deserve it all.

“Flowers for you, Ms. Park.”

Hyun Hee hugged the bouquet of flowers close to her chest, inhaling its soothing scent over and over again. As she did, the blushing pink petal of a rose lightly grazed the pink peach of her lips. She walked out of the parking lot, towards the elevator and across the lobby, not letting go.

Her gaze lingered at the card by the ribbon and she realized that each time she caught sight of the name written on it, a smile would find itself blooming in her lips.

As she unlocked her door and walked inside her apartment, she laughed at herself.

So many things could change in just one night.

It was clear how surreal everything was. But she had to admit that one particular thing placed that extra edge in ‘surreal’.

Was it the stage that felt like home to her?

Was it the spotlight that blared brighter than it ever did?

Was it the longer than usual applause?

It was all so incredible and yet, Hyun Hee knew for a fact that it was none of that.

It was the kiss that ended the night on an amazing note.

The kiss.

No, it was not the kiss that they had shared on stage, so orchestrated and pre-planned.

It was the startling and yet soft peck of the lips that fell on hers once the curtains had closed and the lights had dimmed. It was the ‘goodbye’ and ’good night’ that had not quite turned out the way it normally did. Caught off guard, both of them did not have enough time to make any sense of it.

But it did not matter.

A fraction of a second was lost in that tiny, sentimental moment. And once it was over, the pair of moving shadows parted ways, unsure and satisfied at the same time.

So many things could change in one night and Hyun Hee was embracing it.

All of this unkempt emotion followed her through the next morning and kept her smiling all the way to work. As she walked those halls, her mind could not help but be surrounded by the constant replay of that tiny, spontaneous point in time.

“Ms. Park Hyun Hee, please make your way to Mrs. Park’s office now.”

She heard the intercom announce this just as she was about to go towards the practice rooms. With a slight change in course, she steered herself to the hallway that led to her grandmother’s office.

Within the span of three knocks, the door to Sang Hee’s opened.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Sang Hee greeted, putting an arm around Hyun Hee and leading her inside.

“Good morning, grandma.” she answered, beaming.

“Let me just say, how wonderful you were last night,” Sang Hee said as they both sat down on the sofa at the center of the room. “You definitely got that from me.”

She faced her grandmother, “I did, didn’t I?”

“Oh yes. I could never imagine your grandfather performing. And your dad was never meant for the stage,”

Sang Hee finished her sentence with a whole-hearted laugh.

“Now, I called you here to give you this.” she said, getting up and extracting something from the table drawer.

Hyun Hee took it and turned it over in her hands, “An invitation?”

“Go on and read it.”

The Fall of Snow: A Winter Ball

On the 22rd of December, 7 pm

At the Élevé Espérance Hotel, Function Rm. A

The fall of snow

By any chance

Grows a little warmer

With a dance

On the carefully crafted piece of fancy paper was the invitation for the annual gathering set up by the company for the company. Hyun Hee had overheard many of her colleagues anticipating the even