Da-kyung and Eun-sang were overseeing the decoration of the venue they had booked for the Christmas party. Won had dug in his heels against a welcome party for Tan, so Da-kyung had decided to throw a Christmas party instead. She was using this chance to get to know Eun-sang and her friends better. Bo-na was a darling and Hye-won never failed to make her laugh with her wit. The party was going to be held that night and they had to get everything done, it was already 2 p.m.

“Noona, what am I supposed to do with this?” Chan-young asked, carrying a huge box of ribbons.

“Get the balloons Tan is blowing and wrap them around the columns with the ribbon. When all the balloons are finished, wrap the remaining ribbons around the vases.” She replied.

“Da-kyungssi, we got the tree.” Won approached. He and Young-do were carrying a six foot tall tree. They had wanted to get some of the men from the tree market to deliver the tree, but Da-kyung had insisted that they carry it themselves and they just had no choice but to obey her.

Da-kyung’s face lit up with a smile and Won felt his heart skip two beats.

“Let’s put it in the middle of the room, we can decorate it later. Oh Wonssi, the tree is so beautiful.” She clapped her hands in glee.

They finished decorating the hall and the tree at around 6 p.m. and everyone went back to the Kim household to get dressed. Eun-sang, Bo-na and Hye-won had been staying at the Kim household for a week to help Da-kyung get ready for the party, so Da-kyung had been sharing Won’s room. Won was used to sharing his room with her, he was almost reluctant to see her return to her room after the kids left. He had left the room to give her privacy when she wanted to shower and get dressed. He had showered and dressed before her but he came back now to get a tie. He saw her standing beside the bed in a black floor-length dress that had a sweetheart neckline. He was stunned; she looked even more beautiful than normal. Her hair was done up in a French braid.

“Aren’t you going to freeze in that dress?” Won said, those were not the words he wanted to say to her. He wanted to tell her she was beautiful but those words came out instead.

“Don’t worry, I have a very thick jacket and the venue has heating.” She indicated her jacket that was slung across the bed.

Won cleared his throat and turned to get his tie from the closet. Da-kyung watched his back and sighed. Won had been behaving different since she told him about Ji-hwan. Was he angry? He was nice as always, but he didn’t smile at her as much as he used to. She thought they were friends now, why was he turning into cold Won again? They had been sharing a room for about a week and he only said good morning and good evening to her. He didn’t talk to her about work anymore, he didn’t even seek her advice on what tie to wear. She had insisted on him getting the tree himself instead of having it delivered to try to bring him out of his funk but it wasn’t working. ‘No matter, I won’t let this put a damper on my evening.’ She thought to herself.

“Are you ready?” Won asked pulling on his jacket.

“Yes, let’s go.” She replied and they left for the venue.

All the guests had already arrived, some of them Jeguk employees, some of the Yang telecoms employees, some of them hoobaes from Jeguk high, some of them classmates of the girls and the rest were family members. Da-kyung’s parents, Ki-ae, Hee-nam, Young-do’s mom and even Hye-won’s mom and her siblings were invited but it was supposed to be a surprise for Hye-won.

Hye-won entered the hall with Eun-sang and Bo-na and immediately saw her family standing at one side of the room. “What are they doing here?” she asked,

“Da-kyung unni asked what we thought would mean the most to you, and we told her you’d want your family here.” Bo-na replied.

“Actually, it was kind of selfish of us. You said you were going back to the country for Christmas and we would miss you too much, so we decided to bring your family to you. My mom and Tan’s mom even agreed to allow them stay at our house.” Eun-sang said.

Hye-won had tears in her eyes, “You guys should have told me.”

“Then we would have never gotten to see that kind of look on your face.” Bo-na said.

“You guys.” Hye-won said and her voice broke. Tears were falling from her eyes.

“Don’t cry, you’ll ruin your make-up.” Bo-na said as they went in for a three way hug.

“Besides, Choi Young-do hasn’t seen you yet. You look hot.” Eun-sang said and that earned her a smack from Hye-won. “Ouch! What?!”

“Don’t you dare Cha Eun-sang.” Hye-won said and went to meet her family.

“Are you really going to give up on fixing them together?” Bo-na whispered to Eun-sang.

“Are you kidding? What until those two get to know each other, they’ll be terrorizing kids happily ever after.” Eun-sang whispered back.

“Omma.” Hye-won said as she reached her mother.

“Hye-wonah, you look so beautiful.” Her mother said and gave her a hug.

“You look beautiful too. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“Your friends said it was supposed to be a surprise. Hye-wonah, there are so many kkotminams here, it’s like a flower shop.” Her mother giggled.

“Unni, that handsome Oppa is coming over here.” Hye-sook pointed and Hye-won turned in the direction she was pointing at and gasped.

“Who is he? Friend of yours?” Jin-ah leaned in and whispered to her daughter.

‘Cha Eun-sang, I’m going to kill you.’ Hye-won thought to herself.

“Annyeonghaseyo omoni, I’m Choi Young-do.” Young-do approached Jin-ah and bowed.

Ever since Hye-won walked into the hall, Young-do hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her. He watched her as she stood with her friends and he watched her as she made her way to the young woman and two children standing to the side. ‘She is so pretty, it must run in the family.’ He thought to himself.

“She looks really beautiful.” Eun-sang said.

When did she get here, and how did she know what he was thinking? “Who are you talking about?” He tried to feign ignorance.

“I’m talking about Hye-won’s mom.”

“That’s her mother?” In his eyes, they could have passed for sisters.

“Why don’t you go over and say hi?” Eun-sang said again, almost like she was trying to persuade him.

“Why would I do that?” He sipped on his champagne.

“Because, she is Hye-won’s mom. Because she came a long way to see her daughter. Because it would make Hye-won happy.” Eun-sang said, taking the champagne out of his hands.

He felt himself sway in Hye-won’s direction but he tried to stand firm. “What does it matter to me what makes her happy?” Young-do shrugged.

“Isn’t it obvious? She’s totally into you.” Eun-sang laughed.

“What makes you think that?”

“Come on, she’s my friend and I can tell you like her too. Just go over and say hi to her mother, I’m not asking you to ask for her in marriage.” Eun-sang said and shoved him gently.

He was already on his way over before he even knew what he was doing. “Annyeonghaseyo omoni, I’m Choi Young-do.”

“I’m Kang Jin-ah.” She replied.

“I’m Yoon Hye-sook. Oppa, you’re really handsome.” Hye-sook piped in.

“Ah, thank you Hye-sookssi, you’re very pretty yourself. You must get it from your mother.” He smiled at her.

“I’m Yoon Ji-hoon.” Ji-hoon said and stuck his hand out to Young-do, every inch the man of the house.

“Nice to meet you Ji-hoon.” Young-do shook his hand. “Welcome to Seoul. I hope your journey over wasn’t too stressful.” He addressed Jin-ah.

“Ani, it was very pleasant. So, do you go to school with Hye-won?”

“Omma!” Hye-won said, finally snapping out of her shock. Choi Young-do was charming her mother and sister so much he’d probably have them begging him to be her boyfriend before the end of the night.

“Aniyo omoni, I go to a different school. Hye-wonssi and I met through a mutual friend. I don’t see Mr. Yoon anywhere, couldn’t he make the trip?” Young-do asked.

“We’re divorced.” Jin-ah replied offhandedly.

“Ah, Hye-wonssi never mentioned that.” He glanced in her direction.

“Omma, why don’t you come and meet my friends?” Hye-won grabbed her mother’s arm and beckoned her siblings to come along.

“Enjoy the party omoni.” Young-do said as Hye-won pulled her mother away.

Hye-won found Eun-sang, Bo-na, Tan, Da-kyung, Chan-young and Won standing together. “Omma, these are my roommates Cha Eun-sang and Lee Bo-na, this is Kim Tan Eun-sang’s boyfriend, Yoon Chan-young Lee Bo-na’s boyfriend, Kim Won Oppa Tan’s brother and Da-kyung unni Tan’s sister-in-law.”

They all bowed to Jin-ah and she nodded her head. “It’s nice to meet you all, thank you for taking good care of my Hye-won, she speaks highly of all of you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Omoni. I hope you enjoyed your journey over. We couldn’t stand to be apart from Hye-wonnie that’s why we had to bring you all over here. Jueysonghaeyo.” Bo-na bowed.

“It’s fine. However, we seem to be feeling a little tired since we came here directly without resting.” Jin-ah said.

“Ah of course, I’ll call a car to send you home. Where are you staying?” Won asked,

“We are staying over at Eun-sang’s house. Thank you Kim Wonssi. Come Hye-sookie, Ji-hoonah.” She left followed by her children. Just as she walked out, Rachel and Hyo-shin walked in together.

“Heol! Would you look at those two?” Bo-na tsked.

“They are cute. Who are they?” Hye-won asked.

“That’s Yoo Rachel and Lee Hyo-shin sunbae. You’re lucky you came into the picture now, you are meeting the new and improved version of people. Rachel and Young-do are practically siblings. You could say she is going to be your sister-in-law.” Bo-na teased.

“Yah! Won’t you quit it?!” Hye-won yelled, she blushed red.

“Why deny it when your face always tells the truth?” Eun-sang poked her and they all laughed.

“Ladies, don’t you have a performance to prepare for?” Da-kyung said.

“What performance? What kind of performance is it?” Tan asked,

“Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough. Let’s go girls.” Bo-na said and walked away.

“Ya Lee Bo-na, what are you going to do?” Chan-young yelled after her.

Won had seen Hye-won’s mother off and had come back in when he saw Da-kyung on stage. She held the microphone like she was born to be on stage and moved across the floor like a ballerina gliding on air.

“Ladies and gentlemen, a little something to put you all in the holiday mood. Here are Lee Bo-na, Yoon Hye-won and Cha Eun-sang performing ‘Jingle Bell Rock’.” She announced and walked off the stage.

The girls walked on the stage in their outfits and Eun-sang blew a kiss at Tan. Young-do stood in the audience and stared at Hye-won who looked smoking hot in the red santa costume that was made into a knee length skirt and a jacket with long sleeves. Bo-na started off first singing the first line, “Jingle bell jingle bell jingle bell rock…” she sang and they danced. Hye-won finished up the song and everyone applauded them. The crowd loved them.

“That was an amazing performance girls.” Da-kyung said.

“Unni, why don’t you sing a song too?” Eun-sang said.

“Aniyo, I’m not a very good singer.” Da-kyung blushed.

“Sing sing sing sing.” Bo-na began to chant which made everyone in the audience also chant along.

“Omo, I’m really not very good.” Da-kyung replied again, she was so embarrassed.

“Do it for Wonnie Oppa.” Hye-won whispered in her ear and Da-kyung glanced in Won’s direction. He seemed to be watching her intently.

“Okay okay. But let me warn you, I’m not very good.” She saw Tan give her a ‘fighting’ gesture and she smiled at him. “Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let the yuletide roll…” She began to sing. When she finished, everyone clapped. She looked at Won and saw him smile for the first in so long. She felt happy all of a sudden.

The party ended and a lot of the guests left except the hosts and a few of the young guests, they decided to stay to watch the fireworks display that would go off at midnight. Since they still had a few minutes before midnight, Hye-won suggested they play a game. “It’s called underneath the mistletoe. We spin the bottle and whoever it lands on either chooses between kissing somebody underneath the mistletoe and spilling a shocking truth about themselves that no one knows.”

“That seems easy enough.” Tan said.

“Not so fast, the person who the bottle points at has no choice about whom they get to kiss. We’ll write everyone’s name on pieces of paper and the person has to randomly select one name from the bowl.” Hye-won clarified and produce an empty candy bowl.

Soon, everybody gathered together and the game began. The first few times, the bottle landed on some of the other guests, some people kissed, others revealed truths about themselves. On the tenth spin, the bottle landed on Won. “Oppa, what would it be? Kiss or tell?” Hye-won asked.

Won didn’t feel like telling anyone anything about himself, so he chose to kiss somebody.

“Oh hyung, you’re going to make Da-kyung noona jealous.” Hyo-shin said.

Hye-won stuck her hand in the bowl, shook it around a couple of time and then pulled out a piece of paper. She opened it and gasped. “Omo, Oppa you are really lucky. You get to kiss Da-kyung unni.” Hye-won giggled.

“What?!” Da-kyung said almost choking on her saliva.

“Unni, why are you shy? Oppa is your husband. Some of us had to kiss absolute strangers.” Rachel glanced at the guy she had kissed and shuddered. Hyo-shin laughed at her and she smacked him.

“Da-kyungssi, shall we?” Won said getting up and extending a hand towards his wife.         

Da-kyung hesitated for a bit, then slowly took her husband’s hand. She looked up at his face and he mouthed “Trust me”. “Do we have to do it here? In front of everybody?” she asked Hye-won.

“Of course, how do we believe you did it otherwise? Everyone else complied with the rules Unni.” Hye-won replied.

“Fine.” She said and turned to her husband. Won put his arms around her and pulled her closer. He looked into her eyes and she grabbed his shoulders. He lowered his head and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Da-kyung felt a flame kindle in her stomach. She gripped his shoulders tighter as Won deepened the kiss. It felt so right to be with him like this.

Won kissed her passionately, he pulled her closer, trying to become one with her. He wanted to meld their bodies into one being. This wasn’t about the game anymore. This was about how he was feeling inside. He couldn’t let her go, not anymore. He didn’t want to let her go, not tonight not years from now. He pulled away from her and looked at her swollen lips. ‘I think I love her.’ He thought to himself and smiled.

Da-kyung’s eye fluttered open, she was unaware of how silent the room was, she didn’t care about anyone else she just wanted to be in his arms a little longer. She noticed he was smiling and suddenly the haze lifted. She glanced around and saw the look of shock on everyone’s face. She felt so embarrassed. “Excuse me.” She said, grabbed her jacket and hurried out of the room. What was wrong with her? How could she have responded with such abandon in a room full of kids? In the hall, she took a few deep breaths to steady her rapidly beating heart. “Calm down Yang Da-kyung, it was just a game. The kiss means nothing, it was just because of the game.” She tried to convince herself. Then why did she feel it was more? Why did she feel the urge to hold on to him and never let him go? She had known for a while that she was becoming more attracted to him as a man, he was kind to her, he treated her well and he was very handsome. But would it work between them? Could they love each other? She was still a little bit in love with Ji-hwan and it didn’t seem like Won was as attracted to her as she was to him. Maybe it would be better if she could just keep it under wraps until their divorce. At least, it wouldn’t be so awkward between them after they separated, they could part as friends and he didn’t even have to know she was attracted to him. “Da-kyungssi.” She turned around to see Won coming towards her.

“Are you alright?” he asked,

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” she smiled.

“Did I startle you with the kiss?”

“No, no it was nothing. I’ve been kissed before. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Besides, it was just a game.” She laughed offhandledly.

A game? That’s what she thought? All a game? Won was felt a little angry by her words. “What if it wasn’t just a game?” he asked suddenly.

Da-kyung blinked twice, “What?”

“What if it wasn’t just a game for me? What if it was more?” he asked as he inched closer to her. She moved backward until she came up against a wall. “What if I kissed you because I wanted to? Did you feel nothing?” he asked. She looked up at him with those big eyes, those eyes that made his heartbeat quicken. He felt the need to kiss her again. He lowered his head closer to hers until he heard her breathe his name.

“Wonssi, I think I want to go home.” Da-kyung said quietly. She needed a little time to process what she was feeling and she needed to get away from him to do so.

Back in the room, the game was winding down. “One more spin before we go watch the fireworks okay everybody?” Hye-won said. She spun the bottle and this time it pointed towards Hyo-shin. “Hyo-shinssi, kiss or tell?” Hyo-shin glanced at Rachel and chose to tell.

“Rachel, I love you. I’m sorry I’ve not been consistent with you and this may seem a little sudden,” he got on his knees in front of her and the room was filled with gasps, “will you marry me? I’m trying to find myself and I need you to give me direction because I know you are very wise and grounded. I need you to always be by my side and help me along. I want us to grow old together and have a loud family filled with love. So, what do you say, will you?” he presented a ring to her and watched her eyes fill with tears.

“Hyo-shin sunbae, you know I love you too, right? I’m glad I met you and I’m glad you think I’m wise. I want to grow old with you too and I want to share my laughter, tears, hopes and dreams with you. Yes, I will. I really want to.” She replied and everyone burst into applause. Hyo-shin slipped the ring on her finger and kissed the back of her hand. Behind them, sounds of fireworks exploded and everyone rushed outside to see the display.

Hye-won stood at one end of the balcony away from Tan and Eun-sang and Bo-na and Chan-young and watched the display. She glanced at her friends with their boyfriends and noticed how happy they looked. She felt lonely suddenly and wished she had someone to cuddle with. She sighed and turned her attention back to the fireworks when she felt someone stand beside her. She turned and looked at her companion.

“Why are you standing all alone here?” he asked,

“It’s nothing, I just wanted to be by myself.” She replied.

“Did your family leave already, I didn’t see them.”

“Yes, they were feeling a little tired from their trip over.”

“You were lucky tonight, the bottle never pointed to you.”

“It didn’t point to you either. Although, I suppose you don’t have a lot of secrets.”

“I do have one.” He sighed.

“What’s that?” she asked,

“I’ve never had a girlfriend.” He replied and Hye-won laughed.

“Really? But you’re so handsome.” She blurted out incredibly and quickly placed her hand over .

“You think so?” Young-do laughed. It felt nice that she thought he was handsome.

“Well of course you are. How can you not know that?”

“What about you? I bet you were a heartbreaker back at home.” He noticed a dark expression cross her face and wondered what she thought about.

“I did have a boyfriend back at home. We started dating back in junior high.”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” He said gently.

“Ani, it’s okay. I need to let it go already. He was really nice to me. He was even the reason I started Taekwondo. Just before we graduated high school, he kept pestering me to sleep with him. I refused for a while because I thought a relationship shouldn’t be defined by , you know. Anyway, I thought long and hard about it and decided ‘hey why not? I mean I love him and he loves me, right?’ So, one day I go to his house to tell him I agreed and what do I see? Him, all over another girl from my class. I was furious and kind of heartbroken. Oh but I kicked his so hard, he couldn’t walk for a week.” Hye-won laughed.

To Young-do’s ears, it sounded like a sad, bitter kind of laugh. Why would anyone cheat on a girl as special as Yoon Hye-won? “I can understand how you must have felt. For years, I watched my dad parade mistress after mistress through our front door without regard for my mother. In fact, till this day I’m not sure if my mother was even one of his mistresses.”

Hye-won turned to look at his face properly, he was staring into the distance trying to keep the hurt from showing. ‘So, this is what Eun-sang meant when she said we had something in common.’ She thought to herself. It must have been very lonely for him not having anyone to talk to about all these. “My dad cheated on my mother too. I was eleven when my mother finally left him. I guess that was why I was so angry when my ex-boyfriend cheated on me, after I told him about my father.”

“I used to wish I had left with my mom instead of staying behind with my father, but we made our peace recently.” He said with a smile. “Besides, I’m working on a relationship with my mother now. Life is good these days.”

“I’m really glad about that.” Hye-won said and she meant it. Her heart went out to him, they were kindred souls.

“Hey, would you like to meet my mother some time?” he said suddenly.

“Er, I…”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s too soon.” Young-do blushed.

“I’d love to. Some time, you could come and visit with my mom too, you know, before she leaves. I’m sure she’d love to have you over.” She smiled.

They both turned back to watch the fireworks, after a while Young-do spoke. “I never told you, but I think you looked really beautiful tonight.” And Hye-won blushed, she didn’t feel so lonely anymore.

Young-do stole glances at her as she watched the fireworks, he was glad he talked to her. He felt free, ‘ah, I’m not so lonely anymore.’ He thought to himself.

Author’s note: Hello everyone, it’s been a while right? Someone mentioned a lack of TanSang moments in my story and I just wanted to say, I’m aware of this. I feel like TanSang dominated the entire drama and this is the chance I can get to tell the story of the other characters. Kim Eun-sook must have had a difficult time writing around such a huge cast. I want to wrap up all the side characters’ story before I write a grand finale for TanSang. Please bear with me. Thank you. I’m trying to ease back into writing after taking some time off for my exams, please be gentle. Thank you, and enjoy.