And before knowing it, the winter holiday swept us off our feet, a snow storm making me and Byul enter the first shop we saw on our way back from her kindergarten.

“Welcome,” the shop assistant smiled pleasantly at us. “Do you want to look around or maybe take a sit at one of our tables?”

“S-Sure,” I tried to stop my shivers while taking off my gloves. “We’ve got a real storm out there!”

“Yes! Most of our customers found shelter here against this terrible weather. Feel free to look around the shop. Do you want some hot cocoa?”

“Yes, please!”

And the lady went away, allowing me to help Byul with her winter jacket and beanie before taking over the small table the lady got for us. It was a café combined with a book store, so that most of the people were looking around the books on the shelves while their mugs were getting cold on the tables.

“What would you like for Christmas, Byul?” I looked at the kid across the table only to find her looking around with big, shining eyes. “Do you perhaps like books?”

She shook her head.

“Then? Maybe a new doll?”

Again, she shook her head.

“Then what? You know that Santa needs some help to know what kind of gift to bring you, right?” I , hoping to get under her skin.

But instead of answering, she searched through her backpack and soon pulled out an envelope, which I recognized to be the one containing  Jongin’s letter of acceptance into university. “Is daddy going to go to school?”

“Yes, he will. Why are you asking?”

“What is he going to learn there?”

“Medicine. He’ll learn how to become a doctor, Byul,” I watched her serious eyes and for a second, I felt like I was talking to a grown-up and not to a five years old kid.

“That’s hard, right? He won’t have time to pick me up from school anymore, right?”

From her quivering lips I could see how troubled she was, how she was fighting her own selfish desires for Jongin’s sake. But I decided to be sincere. “He won’t have that much free time as he has not, indeed. But that doesn’t mean he’ll stop loving you or caring about you. You’re his daughter and he’ll always love you!”

But when she turned her eyes to me, I saw something more there. “Do you know who this lady is, Seon Yul?” Byul handed me a picture.

The woman was incredibly beautiful. Not in a glamorous, plastic way. She was refined and had pureness glowing around her like a hot sphere. Her hair was long and black, reaching her waist in a straight curtain and her lips and eyes were smiling lovingly to the person behind the camera.

For some reason, I swallowed hard and had to take