please read author note at the end of the chapteSehun woke up to a gloomy morning. It was already eight, but the sky was coated in layers and layers of dark clouds. Sehun didn’t know if it was a coincidence or not, but the weather has always been like this since that day.

Since that day she left.

Sehun got ready and left the house on his bike. The roads were empty, the stores were closed, and the streetlamps were only dimly flickering by the street, giving subtle lighting. It was a dismal Christmas morning, and everybody was either at home celebrating, or was at Church.

Sehun abhorred Christmas. He had stopped buying gifts for his younger cousins, and he had stopped celebrating Christmas too. He never even bothered to go to Church with his family, or participate the Christmas dinner. He stopped contributing to the Christmas concert at the school he works at, too.

Since that day she left.

A bell tinkled as Sehun opened the door wide. Inside was an old lady who stood behind the counter. She was huddled up in thick layers of coats and blankets. She had a bright twinkle in her eye, and the floral scent she has to her just adds up to the aura of kindness that billowed around her.

“Sehun-ah, I’ve been waiting. Merry Christmas,”

Sehun stood frozen in front of the counter. He looked at the old lady just smiling at him. Deep inside Sehun’s heart, he wanted to smile, but he couldn’t – he just couldn’t bring himself to. He just gazed deeply into the old lady’s eyes, and she understood what he meant.

“I prepared the bouquet for you, as usual,” the old lady said, pulling a bouquet of fresh flowers from under the counter. Sehun took it in his hand, and gripped it tightly. The old lady placed her warm hands over his and slowly rubbed it.

Sehun looked up at her, and saw her still smiling – a sad smile. “You need closure, Sehun. You need to stop coming here every Christmas. I might not be around any longer you know, and I want to see you happy before I leave,” the old lady lightly said, as if her words were as weightless as a feather.

Sehun’s eyes were now brimmed with tears. “I see you every Christmas morn ever since 6 years ago. Sehun, this needs to end, don’t you think?” the old lady calmly advised, but Sehun lightly shook his head. “She would’ve wanted you to,” the old lady lightly said – yet those words had hit Sehun’s heart so hard that it felt like it was shattering.

The old lady let Sehun’s cold hand go after giving it one last pat. “Here is my Christmas gift for you. Aerin loved roses, especially those peach-colored ones,” the old lady said. Sehun just nodded in gratitude and dash out of the small florist.

Sehun leaned at the door and looked up at the sky – his tears already streaming down. He looked down at the bouquet in his hand. The beautiful flowers were nicely arranged, and it was wrapped in pink wrapping paper – Aerin’s favorite colour. It even had a small pink card attached to the bouquet.

‘Each snowdrop is one teardrop that belongs to you’            

Those were the last words she had ever said to Sehun, and he had always had it written down on the card ever since – well, technically it was the old florist writing it down.

Sehun went on his bike, the bouquet of peach-colored roses in one hand. He inhaled the sweet scent of the bouquet in his hand. It had been the scent he was so used to smelling when Aerin was around, that when she wasn’t here anymore his lungs felt so empty and deprived.

He held the bouquet tight and maneuvered through the small, empty streets of Seoul, heading for a place that he recognized so well he might even call it his second home. Sehun knew the way to this place so well that he can even find his way there with his eyes closed.

Because the place he was heading for is the place Aerin is resting at.

Sehun chained his bike to the bench in front and head into the big, metal gates. He nodded at the old guard who sat in his post. “Good morning, Sehun,” the guard greeted. Sehun frequents this place so much that all the guards pretty much knew who he was.

Sehun briskly walked to a corner of the cemetery he just entered, and he immediately stopped when the statue of a white angel comes into sight. In front of the small angel statue was a petite figure sitting comfortably down.

Sehun walked a little closer towards the lady sitting down in front of the statue. Her lips were moving – she was singing to the statue. If Sehun didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought there was something wrong with her. In the young lady’s arms she cradled a wrapped gift and a bouquet.

A bouquet of peach-colored roses.

“Sehun, come sit with me,”

Sehun was surprised that the young lady noted her presence. He couldn’t back away now that she had called for him. He bravely took a step forward and approached her. Sehun bowed down before the angel and sat comfortably on the ground – in between the statue and the young lady.

“You brought Aerin roses, too,” the young lady retorted, her voice as clear and smooth as a small, flowing river. Sehun nodded and gently placed it on the foot of the statue, just above where a square stone stood.

Oh Aerin
A loving friend, granddaughter, and daughter
25 December 1997 – 25 December 2007
‘Each snowdrop is one teardrop that belongs to you’

The young lady followed suit and placed the gift and bouquet of roses next to Sehun’s. Sehun eyed the lady as she did so. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, and he sallow skin was haggard and rough. She was no longer the woman Sehun used to know – just like how Sehun was no longer the man she used to know. They both changed.

Since that day she left.

“Aerin-ah, this Christmas, we’re both here,” the young lady whispered. She hugged the white statue of an angel – cradling it in her arms like it was something made of diamonds and gold. “Did you miss us? Did you miss seeing us sit together, next to each other like this?”

“Did you miss seeing mom and dad together?”

The young lady seemed startled to hear Sehun speak. Nobody had ever heard him speak since that day Aerin left, and she was startled to be the first to hear him say something once more. Tears were streaming down both their faces by now.

“Aerin, daddy is sorry. If it wasn’t for our fighting, you wouldn’t have left. No, you wouldn’t have gone to cross that road. And you wouldn’t have to be in so much pain.” Sehun sobbed.

“If it wasn’t for me, you would still be here with us,”

Although their bodies were both numb from the cold – their heart weren’t numb from all the pain and suffering. They both keep feeling it again and again – repeatedly without an end.

They both sat in silence for a few moments – not looking at each other, not talking to each other, and most definitely not touching each other. As the silence grew louder, they both started feeling the cold grow much more overwhelming.

Sehun sat looking at the two bouquets on the floor. He was crying, even though he told himself not to. He was sobbing, even though he tried being brave. There were two warm traces on Sehun’s face, made by the tears.

Suddenly, Sehun felt a tinge of coldness on his face – just one one spot on the tip of his nose. It then came again on his cheek, and another one on the back of his hand. Sehun turned to the young lady and saw her touching her face.

They both looked up in the sky to see pure, white snow fluttering down – ever so gently and ever so lightly. It fluttered down weightlessly and came down on them – slowly but surely coating the whole place in a coat of pure whiteness.

Both of them have never heard silence quite this loud.

“Aera,” Sehun spoked, getting the attention of the young lady, “the snow.” The young lady, Aera, nodded and scooted closer to Sehun. Sehun, who would have pushed her away, had welcomingly pulled her into an embrace – his arms put casually around her shoulders.

“Aerin-ah, you do miss seeing mom and dad together. You do miss seeing us be with each other like this without fighting,” Aera said as she snuggled closer into her ex-lover’s side. Sehun brushed Aera’s hair gently, as an act of consolation for the both of them.

Sehun looked into Aera’s eyes, and both knew that they needed to fix whatever relationship they had – not for themselves, but for their daughter.

Their daughter who was now in a deep sleep, in the hopes of her parent’s reunion.

Sehun and Aera walked out of the cemetery somewhere around late noon. They had come separately, but went home together. It was once a marriage gone wrong between the both of them – but they hope to somehow fix it.

They both tried before, but it never worked. But now somehow, her daughter up in heaven had told them to reconcile – and they will. Say it was a miraculous sign for the both of them, and they know what their daughter wants.

As they head out of the cemetery gates, the guard was outside of his post, leaning against the wall with a cup of hot coffee in his hand. Both Sehun and Aera nodded at him, and Aera thanked the guard, and wished him a merry Christmas. “Merry Christmas!” the guard had greeted back. But the guard wasn’t done with his words.

“It’s been 6 years since there was any sign of snow around here. It’s a miracle that this year it’s a White Christmas.”

Sehun and Aera smiled at the guards. They then turn to each other and smiled at each other. Sehun looked up at the sky above him, and watched the fragile, white snow graciously flicker and flutter down from heavens above to the Earth below.

“Aerin-ah, I hope you’re happy,” he whispered.

‘Every snowdrop is a teardrop that belongs to you’

author's note:
i would like to dedicate this story for all the kids out there who has to face their parent's divorce, and had
tried to fix their family back into one.
also, for those who might not understand. in here the snow is like a sort of sign for sehun and aera.
a 'yes' that says aerin does miss seeing them together lovingly like that.

it's every child's dreams for their parents to be together forever.

r