Eight months later…

Megève, France…

Eight months has passed since the day Park Shin Hye met Ok Taec Yeon at the coffee shop to have the final closure for the two of them. She doesn’t want to drag their problems any longer, hoping that he could understand and stop torturing himself because of her. And she was right about him. He is not a bad person. He was just confused with his own emotions and vengeance inside of him at that time, and forgot what kind of person he really was.

After the conversation they had that day, the fights between Min Ho and him finally has closure too. At least both of their companies were back to their normal, healthy competition and didn’t fight due to their personal matters anymore. As for the China project, neither the company get the deal. OK Corporation pulled out from the tender with the reason of not earning money from the project and Min Ho doesn’t want to have anything that related to Go Ara. So he gave up the project too.

These eight months has been the most peaceful and happiest moment for Min Ho, Shin Hye and their son, Hyun Jun. Everyday, Min Ho will tried to complete all his work within the working hours and spent as much time as possible with his family. He has dinner with them every night, accompanied Shin Hye to check Hyun Jun’s homework, chat with him, play with him, read bedtime story to him, and of course, worked hard together with his wife to make a baby brother for him. He has never felt so happy before. Having Shin Hye in his life completes him.

Shin Hye continued her job as a responsible part-time teacher and a competent full-time wife mother. Every morning, she will never miss helping Kang Chun Hwa to prepare breakfast and make sure Min Ho and Hyun Jun are well fed before she go to school with Hyun Jun. After the classes, she will go back to accompany her mother, shared the story of her happy life with her. If Hyun Jun doesn’t have any classes with Si Wan, she will bring him along and sometimes they even stay there for dinner with Min Ho joining them after work. Their maid will still bring out the incident of her barging in to her room and saw them . And although it still make both of them embarrassed but that incident have become a common joke in the family.

As for Hyun Jun, he is definitely the happiest one among all of them. All these years, he never knows how it feels to have a mother, to have a family. He grew up in a place with only his father, his grandfather and ahjuhma. He doesn’t know what is home and thought his father was his everything. He don’t need friends and he just need his father although he was lonely. But now, everything changed when Shin Hye came into their life. Since the first day she came to his school, became his teacher, became his friend, and later became his father’s wife and his mother, he finally understand the feeling of true happiness. He doesn’t need to go to school alone, study alone, eat alone, play alone or fall asleep alone. He no longer feels lonely. He enjoyed the feeling of having a mother who loves him like he was the most precious person in this world. He loves her too… his one and only… mother.

Just like that, Min Ho and Hyun Jun’s life has changed tremendously with Shin Hye’s presence. She has changed both of them to a better person, to a happier person.

Their marriage has marked the thirteen-month and they will soon be celebrating the second Christmas together. And since Hyun Jun’s school is having a month of winter break, Min Ho decided to take a week off from his busy schedule and bring his family for a vacation. At first, Min Ho and Shin Hye were planning to go somewhere that they could have some water activities under the hot warm sun. But after a long pleading from their annoying yet adorable son, they have no choice but to agree with his idea of going for a skiing holiday. And the place that they will be going is a small town in the south-eastern France, one of the most well-known ski resort… Megève.

~~~~~

“Lee Hyun Jun! Stop running. The ground is very slippery.”

Shin Hye shouted at Hyun Jun right after she climbed out of the car. She heaved a deep sigh, looking at the small figure running excitedly towards the beautiful chalet in front of them. She wonders how could a small body have so much energy even after a long flight. It took almost twelve hours from Seoul to land at Geneva Airport in Switzerland and another hour flight to reach Megève. Her body was totally drained by the whole journey without a proper sleep in the plane.

“Let him run. This trip is meant for him to enjoy.” Min Ho’s voice came from the back as his arm wrapped securely around her shoulder.

Shin Hye glanced around the place that was covered with beautiful white snow before looking back at her husband. “How do you find this place? I didn’t know there is such a beautiful skiing resort in France.”

Min Ho smirked. “You should thank my capable secretary. She was the one who chose this place for me and said you will definitely love it.”

“She was right. This place is so breathtakingly beautiful.” She smiled and looked at him with an expectant gaze. “Did you see the village when the car passed by just now? I saw a lot of antique shops along the street.”

“You like antique?” Min Ho raised his brows.

Shin Hye shook her head softly. “Not me. My eomma love collecting small little old things, especially those with a history behind. She always want to come to France but with her health condition like this, appa never bring her here before. So I was thinking to get her something that she likes.”

“I see.” Min Ho smiled. “Let’s settle down first, rest for a bit before we go to the village to grab something to eat. We have five days here and you can shop as long as you want.”

Shin Hye nodded with a smile on her face. “Thank you.”

“Anything for my beautiful wife.” Min Ho said as he leaned over and buried is nose in her hair, inhaled deeply into her sweet scent. It’s so good to feel her warmth against him in a cold weather like this.

“Appa! Eomma! Come in! The house is very big and nice. I want the room upstairs with the beautiful view.” Hyun Jun who was standing at the front door of the chalet, shouted at them excitedly. The happy wide smile never leave his chubby face since they landed.

Min Ho and Shin Hye laughed at the same time, looking at their adorable son. “Coming…” They said as they slowly walked towards him.

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The village…

After they had their lunch in a local French restaurant that located on the ski slopes, they then went to the village and walked around the crowded place. Megève’s charming old centre is car-free and comes with open-air ice rink, horse-drawn sleighs, cobbled streets and a fine church. There were a lot of shops along the streets and the most attractive ones for Shin Hye are those old antique gift shops.

“Appa, I want to go skating.” Hyun Jun said, pointing at the beautiful ice rink that was surrounded by snow. “I want to ski and I checked online that we can also drive a sleigh. We can go for a sleigh ride with dogs.”

“Okay, okay.” Min Ho grinned at his son’s impatient expression. “But we just had our lunch and I’m still very full. Let appa digest first before we go for those extreme activities, okay? I’ll go to get the skipass later.”

Shin Hye leaned down and gently pulled Hyun Jun’s winter jacket tightly together, worried that he will catch a cold in such a cold weather. “Sleigh? Is children allowed to drive that? It sounds very dangerous. Why not we just stay in the village, go for skating and watch some shows. I heard there is this animation show they have for the kids at night. There is also a Christmas village they specially open during the festive. We can have a lot of fun too.”

Hyun Jun pouted his lips and looked at Shin Hye with his pity gaze. “Animation show? Those are for babies. Eomma, Hyun Jun is not a small kid anymore. What is the point of coming here if we didn’t go for ski or sleigh riding?” He paused and held her hand, shaking it softly while he continued to plea her. “Eomma… let’s go to ski together, eo? Hyun Jun promise eomma I’ll be very careful and won’t get hurt.”

Min Ho let out a soft chuckle before he took Shin Hye’s hand and pulled her to him. “Relax.” He said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “There are small classes for children to learn skiiing at the beginner slope. And I’ll be there to keep him safe. Don’t worry too much and enjoy the holiday, okay?”

Shin Hye looked at him, letting out a soft sigh before nodding her head.

“Okay.” Min Ho smiled. “Since it’s still early now, we will walk around and see what we can buy for your mother.” He said, pointing at those antique gift shops along the street.

“Yes, Hyun Jun promised harabeoji to get him a smoking pipe.” Hyun Jun said as he ran into one of the shops without waiting for them.

Shin Hye let out another long breathy sigh before looking at Min Ho again. “Your son is very energetic.”

“I guess I passed down some really good genes to him.” Min Ho said with a smirk as he leaned forward to her ear and whispered softly. “You know I’m very energetic too… especially at night.”

Shin Hye’s face reddened instantly as she glared at him and hit his arm. “ert.” She scolded him.

A loud hearty laugh escaped his throat. “I didn’t say anything. You and your y mind.”

“Yah!” Shin Hye wanted to hit him again but before she could do so, her hand was now grabbed tightly in his.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go inside before your son buy all the smoking pipe for your father.” Min Ho said as he pulled his still grumpy wife into the shop.

After an hour shopping along the street, Hyun Jun finally bought a smoking pipe for Shin Hye’s father, as she also found a beautiful hand painted antique plate and a classic wooden music box for her mother. Before they decided to bring all the things back to the chalet and go to get the skipass later, Shin Hye suddenly stopped outside a shop and the things inside caught her attention.

Capteur de Rêves. It was a dream catcher shop.

“Can we go inside before we go back?” Shin Hye asked.

Min Ho followed her gaze to the direction where she was looking before he nodded. “Of course.” He said as he held Hyun Jun’s hand and followed her from behind.

“Welcome to Capteur de Rêves.” An old American woman walked towards them the moment they stepped into the shop and greeted them politely in English. “Are you guys from China?”

Shin Hye smiled and shook her head. “We came from Korea.”

“Oh, Korean. I see.” She nodded at Shin Hye as her gaze shifted to Min Ho and Hyun Jun. “You have a very adorable son. What a lovely young family you have.”

“Thank you.” Shin Hye smiled again as her eyes wandered around. “Your shop is very beautiful.”

“Yes.” The old woman nodded, looking at her. “Capteur de Rêves mean dream catcher in French. Do you know what is the history and legend of dream catcher?”

Shin Hye glanced at Min Ho before both of them shaking their heads.

The old woman smiled. “Then please allow me to tell you a little bit about this fascinating object.” She turned around and walked towards a cabinet, took a small tiny silver dream catcher charm in a box and walked back to them.

“Dream catcher is one of the traditions of Native Americans. They believe that the night air is filled with dreams both good and bad. They hung the dream catcher near their bed, swinging freely in the air, catches the dreams as they flow by. The good dream know how to pass through the dream catcher, slipping through the outer holes and slide down the soft feather gently that the sleeper does not know they are dreaming. The bad dreams not knowing the way will get tangled in the dream catcher and perish with the first light of a new day.” She explained as she put the dream catcher charm into Shin Hye’s hand.

Shin Hye took a closer look at the charm as her lips slowly curled into a smile. “This is so beautiful.” Her fingers gently caressed the tiny white stone that studded in between the tiny holes of the dream catcher.

“This is a moonstone dream catcher charm that can used as a pendant for a necklace. A moonstone is a kind of gemstone that believed it helps in wish fulfilment. It was said that holding a moonstone in your right hand and breathe upon the stone, your wish will be fulfilled. And it’s also a very important gemstone for a woman. It is known for helping in all phases of having children or getting pregnant.” The old woman paused and smiled at her. “I’m sure you will wish to give a brother or a sister for your lovely son. It’s lonely for having only a child. The combination of dream catcher and a moonstone is the best charm for a woman. It will catch the good dream for you and give you a new blessing for the family.”

Shin Hye’s face slightly reddened upon hearing what the woman said. Of course she hopes her dream will come true and keep her promise to give Hyun Jun a baby brother soon but it was that easy. It has been months since they were together without any protection but still there is no good news yet.

Min Ho noticed the slight troubled expression on her face and understood what was clouding her mind. He never believes on something like this but if it could make his wife happy and feel at ease, he doesn’t mind to buy a hope for her.

Tightening his grip around her hand, he looked at her. “Do you like it?”

Shin Hye held his gaze and bit her lip. “I…”

“Appa… it’s snowing outside. We have to quickly go back now before we get caught in the snow.” Hyun Jun’s sudden voice cut Shin Hye off.

She looked out through the window and let out a soft sigh. Hyun Jun was right. It was snowing outside and if they the snow get heavier, they might get caught in the village. She then turned back to look at the old woman and smiled at her. “I’m sorry. We have to rush back to our chalet before the snow gets heavier.” She said as she handed back the dream catcher charm to her. “Thank you so much for telling us about the story of the dream catcher. It’s very lovely.”

“No problem.” The woman smiled warmly at her. “If you are still around, dropped by to my shop again when your are free. I still have a lot of old stories to share with all of you.”

“We will. Thank you and nice meeting you.” Shin Hye said as they waved their goodbye and walked towards the door.

Before they stepped out of the shop, Min Ho turned around and took one last lingering look at the old woman who was putting back the charm into the box.

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Ice rink…

They were very lucky because Megève is in a lovely sunny weather on the following days. The place was crowded with tourists, mainly well-heeled French people, who come here for an all-round holiday.

Coming here was like a dream come true for Hyun Jun. All the activities that he searched online before he came here was all fulfilled. Early in the morning, after they had their breakfast, Min Ho brought him to the children ski kindergarden to learn some basic moves and practice at the beginner slope. After the instructor assured them that he was ready to ski with them, they started their family fun on the snow.

They enjoyed the quality family time together on half-day snowshoeing excursions, discovering the countryside and its wildlife in Megève. It was fun as they get to take the time to appreciate a moment that is both previous and convivial. 

The following days, they continued to have fun skiing, snowboarding and they even tried the sleigh riding with the dogs. They got a chance to discover the true recreation and the pack there. They let themselves be guided by the dogs under the musher’s orders and it was a great experience.

And on their last night in Megève, which is also the Christmas Eve night, they went back to the village, had their Christmas turkey dinner in one of the French restaurant before they go for skating outside, in the centre of Megève which was crowded with a lot of people. It was a great moment enjoying the beautiful view of the town that was covered with white snow and bright lightings around the trees.

Hyun Jun, who was skating in between of Min Ho and Shin Hye, tightened his grip around his parents’ hands as they glided around the rink in a circle. He looked up at his father and then at his mother before he let out a soft giggle.

“Hyun Jun is very happy.” He smiled sweetly at them. “This is the best Christmas I ever had.” But then, the smile on his face s