She hummed intently as she listened to the girl on the other side of the line. Her eyes blinked lazily at the darkness of her room. 11:47 pm, tucked under the warmth of her blanket, "You sound like you had fun today, Mina," the cub softly replied – face illuminated by the light of her lamp. "I did," the penguin happily answered from her line. Every day since the elegant girl left Korea, the two would text or call each other. Every day they will make it sure and possible to share their stories from one another. Today, Myoui Mina had gone with her mother to have some girls' bonding. "Then we restack groceries for tomorrow," the penguin added quietly. Chaeyoung hummed again. Tomorrow will be Christmas day and she sounded so happy and excited for it. "What about you? What's your plan for tomorrow," Mina asked with voice sounding raspy, probably due to cold or her earlier activities. The cub could instinctively tell that the girl was spent.

"I'm going to the Yoo's tomorrow morning with Dahyun," the little cub answered when she noticed that her reply was lagging, "It's kind of traditional between the three of us." She could hear her smile through the speaker of the phone and then hummed, "You three live close by, right? Especially you since your place is just literally across Jeongyeon's."

"Yeah," Chaeyoung absent-mindedly answered. She misses the girl. She misses her so much for the past days. She had told her about it before she left Korea, yet for the past days, she restrained herself and refused to say it again to Mina. The penguin on the other line kept on talking – not wanting to end their conversation yet. The cub's self was frozen under her thick and cozy blanket with the sound of her heart in the background of her soft voice. She heard her interrupted herself with an unwelcomed yawn. "You sound tired," she commented. Mina let out a soft chuckle, "It's fine. This is my first yawn for tonight," she said. Either the girl was lying to keep talking to her or not, the cub will still urge for her to sleep. It was late and she went out with her mom earlier, so Chaeyoung preferred for her to rest rather than to stay up for their unstructured conversation. She wanted to tell her how much she misses her but she still stubbornly stopped herself every time the idea popped up in her head. Every night they will call each other and every night they will end their conversation with simple good night. It burned how much she wanted to express her longing to Myoui Mina and it uncomfortably tingled her insides how much she wanted to see her – even through a simple video call. Digitally seeing each other like how she had said it the morning Mina left was nothing like a promise and more just a reassurance since later on she decided not to do it.

"It's okay, we can talk again tomorrow," the cub half-heartedly reassured herself and her penguin. She wouldn't say it and wouldn't see her because she wanted Mina to maximise her stay in Japan, in her home with her family. Chaeyoung might've sounded a real selfish tiger back when the penguin slept over her room but she understood her. Because even without telling, Mina longed for their own home, so the cub let her. She limited their long distance interactions with calls and texts. She didn't tell her that she misses or she wants to see her – badly – because she didn't want to distract the girl and stray her away from the Myoui household. For the past days, Son Chaeyoung was selflessly lying low from Myoui Mina, so she could pay her full attention to her family. She was being needy and she had to suppress it until the penguin returned to her. Chaeyoung just didn't want to divide and be a hindrance to Mina's family time during her stay in Japan. I had to care for her, too, she told her needy heart. 

"Okay," the penguin sighed, "Good night," she quietly muttered with disappointment laced in her voice.  She also misses the cub to no end and she badly needed to see her even through their phones, but knowing Mina – in fear of rushing the shorter girl with her feelings – she let Chaeyoung with her own way. That was how the cub was left with a heart eating feeling every time she heard the penguin bid her a simple good night. The call hadn't ended yet even if it had gone silent for a few seconds after the last uttered word. Mina would never ended their call unless Chaeyoung had signalled for her to end it.

Soft breaths and unspoken words lingered in the quietness of each of their darkened room. With cold winter air kissing her toes, "Chaeyoung?" the cub heard her spoke again. She blinked at the darkness, feeling her full being weaker to the unusually colder nights under the roof of the Son's household. "Good night, Mina,"  she begrudgingly whispered. "Mhm," the penguin sounded satisfied, "I'll see you in my dreams," she added before ending the call. At that moment, the cub wished for the earth to finish its revolution as fast as it could because the stars knew how much the penguin was affecting her blue heart. She reached for the switch of her lamp and turned its light off.

While rubbing her feet against her bedsheets, attempting to warm it, Chaeyoung pouted with furrowed brows, "I'll do anything to see you," she confessed to the quiet of the night. She looked at the moonlit sky before sighing to slumber field. 

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Christmas day, Mina woke up early because of an alien sound. She looked at her surrounding. The snow was gently falling and winter air quietly seeped through the tiniest gap of space to her room. She regulated her breathing as she wanted to go back to dreamland for a few more hours of sleep. The sound vibrated again in the air. It rattled against the glass door and she heard a faint meowing? With knitted brows, she got up and looked for every window around her room. Just outside the slightly snow covered balcony, there was a shadow of a cat rattling the glass door. Mina wondered how did the said feline managed to get in the second floor of their house, and on top of it, during snowy days.

She bundled herself up with her warm and thick blanket before she slipped in her feet to her fluffy slippers. She slowly waddled to the balcony door and moved the curtain away to inspect the cat. Mina didn't know much about the family of felines. All she could make of it was that the cat has short legs, floppy ears, rounded brown eyes, and a brownish almost orange coat. As soon as she turned the knob and created an opening path, the cat quickly made its way inside. It was surreal how it never seemed wary of her human presence. It shook its head sideways and tiptoed its tiny paws on the carpeted floor. The penguin found the little actions of the little one adorable. "What took you so long to open up, Mina?" she heard the question from below. The cat looked up to her like it was waiting for her answers. Her eyes widened, because not only that it could talked, it also knew her. Was she dreaming?

The elegant girl cautiously backed away from the four-legged creature because she didn't know what kind of devil she was dealing right now. The cat followed her with swinging tail. "It's Chaeyoung, don't back away from me," the cat once again stated as she marvelled closer to the human girl. She halted her feet and the creature mirrored her. If the cat was a sure spawn from hell and just using a certain act of deceit to get to her, then it was working. "How would I know if you are Chaeyoung?" she asked from a decent distance. The cat sat and moved its tail from left to right, "I am the Chaeyoung you-had-to-fake-an-allergy-to-pancakes-just-to-excuse-your-flustered-self-away-from-me." Okay, this cat was definitely the cunning tiger cub with all her playful acts and teasing. Mina fell down to her knees and rested her hands to her thighs, "Chaeyoung? What happened to you?"

The cat walked closer to her, "I wished last night to see you and when I relaxed," it began to explain, "I thought that I fell asleep, but when I opened my eyes, I was in the place that I don't know." It nuzzled to the penguin's hands, making her to put the creature on her lap. The cat rubbed its tiny head to her clothed stomach, "All I could smell was you from the gap of your balcony door," she purred and nuzzled even closer as if to justify her words. "You really are Chaeyoung," Mina replied as she lifted the cat to her chest while balancing her blanket on her shoulders. She went back to her bed and laid there with the cat Chaeyoung cradled on her chest. The cat snuggled comfortably on her as she continued to watch her expectantly. It was weird how for some magic or wish turned Chaeyoung into a cat just to see her. Somehow her heart smiled as she caressed her mane and covered herself back with her thick blanket. They really missed each other too dearly for something so illogical and impossible to happen. "Maybe if I kiss you, you'll turn back to your human form like in some fairytale," the penguin stated as she stared back to her cat eyes. A true love's kiss to break the curse, Mina thought with tinted red cheeks.

Chaeyoung scrunched her nose cutely and leaned ever so lightly, "Maybe," she purred to her. The cat tipped her head upwards and gazed at the human girl. The penguin did the same and leaned forward to  her. She misses Chaeyoung and kissing her magical form is enough for now. She closed her eyes and was about to indulge herself to the sensation of reconnecting to the tiger cub but right before their lips connected, a blaring and disturbing sound screamed directly to her ears. 

With scrunched and annoyed brows, she opened her eyes again — for real this time. Mina hit her Christmas alarm off before she peeked her eyes around her surrounding. The Myoui household had great plans for their Christmas that she had to alarm her clock, and yes, she was indeed dreaming. Everything was just a fragment from her dream. A surreal fantasy of the penguin. Her window views were still mostly white because of the falling snow and there was still the rattling sound from her balcony door caused by the cold wind, but no shadow of a cat to be found. She still misses Chaeyoung very much to the point that she had manifested the girl in her dream. The penguin grabbed her phone and browsed for her name in her contact list. Instead of sending her a message or an essay-long message about how she was longing for her, she settled with greeting the cub a good morning following by a smiling cat emoji.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered while staring at their conversation, waiting for her reply. Her reply bubble popped up – also greeting and hoping the penguin to have a good morning. "I miss you," she confessed to her quiet room as she clutched her phone near to her softly crying heart.

-------

"Jeongyeon!" the eldest Yoo daughter of the family called out, "The house cat is here," she added. Chaeyoung let herself in before pouting, "Seungyeon unnie, you're still calling me like that? I'm all grown up now," she smiled to her. Jeongyeon emerged from upstairs and waved her hand to her best friend. "No, you're not," the eldest sister replied with a giggle, "You're still very much the five-year old house cat who visits our home daily," she said before leaving the two to their own business. Chaeyoung followed Jeongyeon to her room and then flopped down to her bed comfortably. "The eagle is late," the silver haired girl stated as she browsed through her phone. The cub just hummed at her statement while revelling herself to the relaxing softness on her back.

Every Christmas day, Jeongyeon, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung will always take the morning to hang out in the Yoo's. They will usually play, eat, and talk about stuffs that mattered and didn't matter. The year when the cub and the eagle became close with another, the dragon once invited her for a Christmas morning celebration in their house and then again for the next year and then the next, until it became an unsaid tradition of the three. Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung were already used to Dahyun being late with their meet up time. Unlike the cub who just lives across the Yoo's residence, the eagle had to travel a short distance to arrive at the place. Their attention were called when they heard a ruckus just outside of the place.

Chaeyoung peeked her head out of the window and saw Dahyun on the pavement near Jeongyeon's house. The eagle had lost control and fell down along with her bicycle. The best of friends quickly rushed downstairs and helped their unlucky friend. The cub parked her bicycle properly while the dragon supported the girl back to her room. She sat her carefully on the foot of the bed. The eagle ripped the right knee part on her jeans. There was a bleeding wound under her chin and her right knee, and light reddish scrapes on her hands. "Haven't we told you not to ride your bike during winter?" Jeongyeon nagged after she directed the cub to take their family's medical kit. "I know, right? The road's slippery," Chaeyoung added as she handed her best friend the kit. The silver haired girl told the eagle to borrow one of her sweatpants, so she wouldn't have to use her accidentally ripped jeans. 

Once Dahyun had changed the requested sweatpants, Jeongyeon began to clean her wounds – starting from her knee, to her chin, and to her scrapes. The cub watched how the dragon attended the wincing eagle. "So," Jeongyeon began to coo, "What will our Christmas meal be?" Every Christmas morning tradition the silver haired girl's father would cook them something they wanted – even how ridiculous the dish was. The only male in the Yoo family would try his best every single Christmas morning to make the dish bearable to eat since they do not tolerate even the idea of wasting food. "Rabokki?" Chaeyoung told the eldest. When Jeongyeon whipped her head to her side, she scrunched her face in disbelief, "Dad could literally cook us anything for this special day and you two want a simple and common dish?" The eagle reached for her torn jeans besides her and slipped her hand inside its pocket. 

She pulled out a paper and handed it to the silver haired girl. Jeongyeon unfold the paper and was met by a long written ingredients of the said dish. "We actually thought about it yesterday," the cub interrupted and then flopping down beside the eagle. Dahyun nodded to her friends, "We talked about yesterday how we'll make this rabokki extra special." With furrowed brows, "Yogurt in rabokki?" the dragon questioned. Chaeyoung chuckled to her, "That's actually from one of Mina's stories. She said there are people on the Internet who adds yogurt in their rabokki," she informed, "Maybe we could try it." Jeongyeon sighed and ran her hand to her silver hair, "Can we even finish this special rabokki by ourselves?" she asked and then proceeding to cover Dahyun's wounds. "It feels like nine people decided and come up with this recipe," she added, securing if she attended the younger girl's wounds.

"Screw it," Jeongyeon groaned and then excused herself to deliver their decided dish to her father in the kitchen downstairs. When she returned, she found the two whining