A Tale

It wasn’t that his day had started awful. All in all he always felt miserable when he was in the city. Maybe it was because people hated him here. Whenever he was visiting the countryside he had the feeling that his presence was more appreciated there.

Seoul was different. There were many grumpy people and not many who enjoyed his skills.

‘I have the feeling that nobody likes me…’ Jiyoung thought while sitting on top of a lamppost. He watched people as they passed by below him. A few of them were cursing while walking carefully.

“Maybe I should go to one of the playgrounds?” He asked himself aloud. At least he was appreciated there by the children, well, by most of them.

Every year the creature pondered about the same: What was it that brought people to dislike him?

He was young and playful. He did what he was best in and he was always polite. It was not his fault that nobody could see or hear him. His appearance, that is. What he was able to do was for everyone to see and feel. Well, of course he could change into his human form, but for what? In order to get cursed face to face? No, thank you.

He was about to hop of the lamppost and search for the nearest playground as something caught his attention, or rather someone.

A petit young woman was, accompanied by another woman, walking down the sidewalk. Her long black hair was swaying in the cold breeze. Tiny white puffs of air left her lips as she was talking to her friend, her cheeks and nose glowing red thanks to the cold wind. She looked beautiful.

He instantly halted in his movements when the one with the long slick black hair started slipping.

Thanks to his sour mood the water had apparently started to turn into ice.

‘That’s why they’ve been falling one after the other while cursing…’ He mumbled, now understanding why the passers-by had been this pissed.

He flew down to the still slipping woman and instinctively extended his arm in order to catch her. However, it was already too late (it wouldn’t have worked anyway) and the petite woman landed on her bum.

He sighed deeply, ready to be cursed at. When there was no reaction coming, he opened his eyes and looked down, directly into the woman’s eyes. She was looking at him as if she could see him.

A could shudder ran down Jiyoung’s back, which hadn’t happened in the last 50 years or something.

Suddenly the woman started giggling, her friend trying to help her up.

“Are you okay, Sohee?” The other woman with the short hair asked.

The woman called Sohee just nodded and continued to giggle.

“That damn weather. It’s so cold and because of that the sidewalks are slippery and dangerous. I hate winter…” The woman’s friend cursed and Jiyoung couldn’t help but pout. There was the blame he had waited for. Sohee just smiled and shook her head.

“Actually, I like winter. Slipping on icy ground is not that bad, you know? Ice belongs to winter like rain to spring.” The long haired woman reasoned.

Jiyoung felt his face lighting up. He had gotten a compliment, or something similar to it. After days without praise he had finally gotten a few nice words, and that from a very pretty girl on top of that.

“Maybe you are right. Look, the cold wind suddenly stopped.” The short haired woman said, taking Sohee’s arm and both woman tried to balance themselves while continuing to walk down the sidewalk.

Jiyoung had no idea why, but he followed the now giggling women who tried their luck with sidewalk skating.

They had gone to a coffee shop, to the library and afterwards to the university. After following both women, mostly Sohee, the whole day, he was sure that being human was no easy task. It’s been years, many many years, since he had taken interest in a human. And Jiyoung had to admit that many things have changed. Of course he had already known about the obvious changes, like cars and planes and so on. However, society wise there were many new things he hadn’t known about.

“Seems like a lot of things have improved over the past 100 years or so…” He hummed while following Sohee in one of her lectures. “Now women are allowed to go to school and extend their knowledge.” He happily hummed while flying over a few seats, looking at the students, before settling down next to the charming girl.

He learnt that Sohee was studying to become a reporter. He wasn’t quite sure what a reporter did, but it certainly sounded like a hard and interesting job to him. Jiyoung was proud that the petit woman was following her dreams and that with such a positive attitude.

After attending classes, the woman met up with a few friends and went out to eat. Jiyoung had no idea why, but he followed them as well. It was calming to listen to them. They talked about everything; important stuff and not so important things. He learnt that Sohee was a really warm person, but he had already guessed so. A smile from her and he was instantly floating again, even thought he had just sat down.

He felt relaxed and comfortable next to her and after she had entered her dormitory, he decided to wait for her. Throughout the night he was wondering what would await them the next day.

~:×:~

At first he had been curious and then he had wanted to follow her because it made him happy. Now he was following her because he had to. Jiyoung felt drawn to her. It was as if she was holding an invisible leash that was pulling at his chest.

In all the years he had wandered over this planet, and damn he wasn’t even sure since when he even existed, he hadn’t felt like this before.

There was a day he had decided to not follow her around. It had been the worst day ever. The whole time he had wondered what she was doing at the moment. Things like: Is she smiling at someone? Maybe she is currently laughing? I’m sure she is in the library looking for a book she has to study. All those things circled around in his mind, making him nervous. Thanks to that he had created a little snowstorm, which hadn’t been really appreciated by car drivers.

After that day, he had decided that he would continue to follow her. However, he would try to tone it down. Jiyoung knew that what he was currently doing was no good. In the end he would be the one hurting.

~*:.-.:*~

After three weeks Jiyoung had developed a daily routin. The deity followed Sohee when she was leaving the house, walking next to her, until her classes started. While she was studying, he did what he was supposed to do. Later he would fetch her again and accompany her till she entered the dormitory again. He was pretty sure that, after following her around for those few weeks, she was one of the most interesting people he has met over the past few decades.

He still felt that funny urge to stay close to her. Her laugh and the way she was talking and interacting with her friends made him feel all fuzzy inside. It’s been so long since he had felt this way and he was enjoying this feeling very much.

~:×:~

His eyes followed her and the short haired women who was with her the day he had met her. Both were leaving the café they usually visited together. It seemed as if they were parting ways as both hugged and waved at each other.

Sohee smiled while tightly grabbing her cup of coffee. She was humming a tune to herself while she carefully walked down the sidewalk. Immediately Jiyoung swung off the lamppost and floated behind her. He stayed as close as he dared, slightly nervous when remembering how she had looked him in the eyes the day they had met.

“If you want we can walk side by side.” Her soft voice called out and it took Jiyoung a few seconds to realise that she hadn’t spoken to just anyone, but him.

“No way, humans aren’t able to see me when I’m in this form.” He tried to reason, but Sohee suddenly turned and poked his nose. All those weeks she hadn’t shown a sign of her realising he was there. It had only happened on the first day, when she had looked him in the eyes. Jiyoung had thought it had been a coincidence. He couldn’t help but gape at her as he slightly blushed. No one has ever been able to actually touch him while he was in his invisible form.

“I’m able to see and hear you, you know?” She smiled at him as his eyes widened in disbeliefe. So she had known about his presence the whole time?!

“Y-You can?”

She only nodded and turned around again. “I’m not going to talk to you while you are invisible because everyone will think I’m crazy.” She mumbled into her cup.

Immediately the floating man set foot on the ground, looked around and made himself visible as he noted that currently no one was around.

“No one has ever been able to see me while I was in my invisible state.” The man reasoned, leaning in closer to look at Sohee properly.

“Well, guess then I’m someone special, right?” She hummed once more, sipping on her steaming cup of coffee. She then continued on walking down the sidewalk.

For a split second Jiyoung stood there, still not fully able to grasp the situation. He then heard her calling out for him, asking for his name.

He immediately turned and hurried after her.

“Jiyoung, it’s Jiyoung.” He stated with a crooked smile, eager to talk to her.

“Aren’t you going to ask for mine?” She wanted to know, her eyebrows knitted.

Jiyoung was about to answer that he already knew, but then he figured that she was probably aware of that.

“What’s your name?” He obediently asked.

“I’m Sohee. I think you should stay in your current form more often. You seem like a nice guy and I’m sure that you would fit into the human world perfectly.”

Now it was Jiyoung who knitted his brows. He wanted to replay that he had already thought about that and had decided against it because this life wasn’t for him, but honestly, he hadn’t thought about blending in at all.

“You think so?” He asked instead, curious about her answer.

“Of course. You are quite handsome and even if you were similar to a stalker while you’ve been invisible and following me all those weeks, I know you have a friendly character.”

Telling her that he wasn’t so sure about that, wasn’t the right thing to do. Therefore he only smiled at her.

“If you don’t mind I’ll continue my routine?” He asked, hoping she would agree. Honestly, if she refused he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.

“If you want to. However, I would appreciate it if you could do so in your human form.” She stated, facing him. She smiled up at him and something in Jiyoung's chest swelled up.

“If you want me to, I’ll do as you please.” He answered, smiling back.

After walking for a while, breaking out of his train of thoughts he couldn’t help but ask.

“Sohee? Why do you want me to stay in my human form and try to lead a normal life even though I’m a deity?” He then realised that she had probably no idea who he was. “I mean. I’m Winter or Father Frost like many call me…”

“I know that dummy.” She answered, stunning Jiyoung even more. Who was she? How the hell did she know who he was? “However, I’ve learnt over the past years that it is enjoyable to life a normal life, make human friends and enjoy your stay on this planet.” She explained, halting in front of her dormitory. “Beside that, I would really appreciate it if you would stay in your human form and maybe…” Suddenly she seemed a little flustered as she combed a few loose strands of black hair behind her ear. “…ask me out or something like that?” She mumbled and a big smile appeared on Jiyoung's face.

He had never experienced something like dating; however, doing it with Sohee seemed like an amazing and thrilling idea. He had seen many people going on dates and he had always felt envious. They had seemed to be happy and content and after the loneliness he had felt the past decades, which had changed ever since Sohee had landed on her bum right before him, he was more than eager to fill his heart with the warmth the woman seemed to trigger inside of him.

“It would be my pleasure.” He stated with a soft smile on his face, leaning forward. Their noses almost touched and he felt her warmth floating into his body. “However, I’m still curious why you know how I am and how you were able to see me in my invisible form. Would you share your secret with me?”

The mischievous smile that appeared lit up the woman’s face.

“If you get invisible and follow me inside, I’ll make you a cup of tea and tell you everything you want to know.” She offered, grabbing his hand.

Once their hands touched, the first skin to skin contact they had, Jiyoung knew her secret. He wasn’t sure how he had been able to miss it, but now everything made sense. He now realised why he had been drawn to her and how she had been able to warm and fill his heart with happiness.

That’s the tale how winter fell in love with spring.

A/N:

Okay~ This was my secret santa story :)

I really hope you guys enjoyed it~

To tell the truth...I knew from the start whom I was writing this story for *hehe~
And I'm really really happy that it happened to be one of my longest and dearest friends here on AFF <3

Yuan, Merry Christmas! :3

I really hope you like the way this story turned out~ I really tried my best \°/ Even though I'm not good writing about characters and Idols I don't know that well I still hope it was okay to read :)

I wish all of you happy holidays and lots of joy~

Thanks for reading ^-^

Sorry for any grammar mistakes and errors >.<

Lots of Love, Mone♥