Eunbi sealed the box with tape before standing up to stretch. She had stayed up almost all-night writing and preparing little envelopes for Yerin and now that she was finally done, she felt ready to knock out in bed. Today was Sunday and Sundays, being their lazy days, meant that they would sleep past noon, and that was what Eunbi planned to do.

She looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 6 am. Yerin was probably still sound asleep and if she were to join the girl now, she could get at least 7 hours of sleep which wasn’t so bad but then again, she was Eunbi; the kind of person who needed at least 10 hours of sleep to function normally. But given the situation, she didn’t have much of a choice. 7 hours was still better than nothing after all. She picked the box up and placed it on her desk before switching the lights of the study off, treading quietly to their bedroom.

Yerin stirred when Eunbi opened the bedroom door and the latter quickly slipped in, closing the door slowly and silently behind her. She slowly lifted the blanket to avoid waking the sleeping girl, but it seemed like Yerin was already awake.

“B? Where did you go?” Yerin muttered, weakly lifting the blanket for Eunbi to join her under the warm and cozy material.

“I was just sorting out some stuff. Let’s sleep.” Eunbi whispered as she pulled the blanket up to cover their shoulders. She shifted closer to Yerin who snuggled against her front, resting a hand on her waist and tangled their legs together.

“Night.” Yerin said under her breath before falling asleep. Eunbi hummed, hugging the older girl as she let the fatigue overcome her.

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

When Eunbi woke, she found a duck plush in her arms instead of Yerin. Turning over, she realized that Yerin’s side of the bed was empty. Groggily sitting up, her head throbbed from weariness and she felt around under her pillow for her phone. She pressed the home button and the screen lit up, displaying the time.

1:27 pm.

Damn, she thought. Eunbi placed the duck plush down and got out of bed in a sluggish manner before making the bed and straightening the sheets and blankets. She opened the bedroom door but did not hear any sound, in fact, the entire house was quiet except for her footsteps as she walked towards the living room.

“Yerin?” Eunbi called out as she looked around the house. She saw that the car keys and Yerin’s coat were missing from their spot and figured that the girl went out to run an errand. She proceeded to wash up before going to the study room. The box of letters was still on Eunbi’s desk, untouched. It was a term that they had came up with when they first divided their workspaces; every other part of the house can be cleaned by either of them when doing the chores except the study. They had to clean only their side of the room so that neither of them would mess up or misplace anything, which also reduces the pushing of blame if something important ever goes missing.

Eunbi shrugged and sat down in her swivel chair. She looked at the purple flowers on her desk and smiled, reaching out to rub the glass. A self-sustaining terrarium was perfect for Eunbi who wasn’t keen on watering plants on a daily basis. Gardening wasn’t her forte. She looked at the cardboard box for a moment before grabbing a marker from the holder and added a heart shape on the top, just below the seal. She capped the marker and placed it back before moving the box to Yerin’s desk.

The sound of the front door opening could be heard and Eunbi walked out to see her girlfriend on the balcony with a few bags of groceries in hand whilst trying to take her shoes off.

“I’ll get those for you.” Eunbi said as she walked over to take the plastic bags out of Yerin’s hands.

“Thanks. And afternoon.” The girl smiled. She took her coat off and hung it back on the hanger before going to the kitchen. “You slept late so I didn’t’ want to wake you. What were you up to anyway? If I’m not mistaken, your schedule for the rest of this month is clear.”

“I was working on a little surprise.” Eunbi said as she unpacked the bags. “I didn’t expect it to take such a long time, but it was harder than I thought it would be.”

“Oh, you…” Yerin shook her head with a light smile as she placed the vegetables in the fridge. “I’m guessing you’ll give it to me after we finish this?”

Eunbi hummed with a nod, folding the plastic bags into little triangles and tossing them into a bucket.

“It’s on your desk actually. You can go have a look.” She said and Yerin nodded.

“I’ll get changed first.” She informed the younger girl and pressed a quick kiss on Eunbi’s temple before darting out of the kitchen, making the latter smile as she tidied up. She tossed the rest of the plastic bags she folded into the bucket before walking back to the study. Yerin wasn’t there yet so she sat down in her chair with a soft sigh. She reached up to touch Yerin’s name that now hung proudly on her neck, rubbing the smooth metal between her thumb and index finger.

“What did I do in my past life to deserve you, Jung Yerin?” she whispered to herself as she stared at the box on the girl’s desk, fingers still caressing the necklace.

“Maybe I should be the one asking myself that.” Yerin said from the doorway as she walked in. Eunbi didn’t have to turn around to know that the girl had a gentle smile on her face. “I assume this is for me?” she rested a hand on the box as she took a seat. Eunbi hummed, leaning into her seat as she watched Yerin lift the box from the table and placed it on her lap.

“What’s with the tape?” Yerin chuckled as she grabbed a penknife from the table and cut the tape open, careful not to slice the box by accident. She could feel Eunbi’s gaze on her, watching as she looked inside the box. There were a bunch of white envelopes arranged neatly in two rows that spanned the width of the box. She flipped through them without messing up the order and with each letter that passed, her smile grew wider.

Each letter had a different purpose to them. Open when you’re sad, open when you’re hungry, open when you’re frustrated, open when you’re lonely and the list goes on. Each letter seemed to be catered to a certain emotion and the butterflies in Yerin’s stomach fluttered ecstatically at the pleasant surprise.

“There’s not much to say, I believe the letters have said it all.” Eunbi said smoothly. Yerin looked up at the girl to see her resting her head in her hand and looking at her lazily.

“It did. Thank you, B. This is really thoughtful of you.” Yerin smiled, eyes sparkling as she looked back at the letters. “It’s sweet when others do it but to receive it for myself, it feels like I’m about to combust from pure delight.”

“I’m glad you liked it, but I hope you don’t combust. We’ve yet to marry.” Eunbi winked impishly.

“Oh, you… By the way, I know it's our lazy day but since the weather agreed to my plans, we’re going out today.” Yerin smiled as she stood up, setting the box down on her desk.

“Where to?” Eunbi asked, puzzled.

“Just downstairs. Hold on, I’ll grab the coats.” Yerin grinned as she dashed out of the door. Eunbi got up from her chair, puzzled at what the girl had in mind. She walked out of the door and saw Yerin retrieving the coats from the rack.

“Here we go.” Yerin said as she draped her own coat over her shoulder. She draped Eunbi’s coat over the girl’s shoulders and held it up for Eunbi to slip her arms into the sleeves before putting on her own. She held Eunbi’s hand and tugged her along to the door.

“I look so sloppy.” Eunbi said, looking down at her black tee and leopard print pants.

“Don’t I look worst?” Yerin snorted and Eunbi looked down to see that the girl was in pink bunny pants and a red Mickey Mouse tee. She covered to hold back a laugh and slapped Yerin’s upper arm.

“Why are we going out anyway? It’s snowing!” Eunbi said as they got out of the lift. They turned in the opposite direction from the main entrance and walked out from the back door where a small garden was located.

“That’s the point! We’re out to see snow!” Yerin grinned as she pushed the door open. They were instantly greeted by the cold winter breeze as they stepped out. The grass and trees were covered in thin patches of snow, making it look like the beginning of a winter landscape.

“I know this isn’t the first snow of the year but just pretend it is.” Yerin said, turning to face Eunbi. The latter could see the condensation of Yerin’s breath as she spoke. Yerin looked stunning for some reason. The image of her looking up at the sky with her eyes closed as the snow fell lightly seemed so surreal. Even though the girl was in her pajamas and bare-faced, she still looked perfect to Eunbi.

I really love her, she thought. It wasn’t that she didn’t realize it. It was just in times like this, where even the simplest and most insignificant things made the biggest impact. Just being out here in the snow, watching Yerin look so innocent and carefree made Eunbi realized how long it has been. 3 years. It wasn’t easy. Friends had left them after finding out they were a couple, having insults tossed their way just for loving someone of the same gender, fighting and arguing over things that seem silly now but was a huge issue back then.

So many thoughts were whizzing through Eunbi’s head, all the memories they made together over the course of 3 years suddenly came rushing back and she almost choked up.

“B? What’s wrong?” Yerin asked tenderly after noticing that the younger girl had been staring at her for the past 5 minutes.

There it is, that ever so gentle voice that made her feel all warm and tingly inside.

“Nothing. My brain decided to take a trip down memory lane on its own after seeing you looking up at the snow in such a child-like manner.” Eunbi smiled, leaning into Yerin’s hand that was rubbing her arm.

“Your brain sure has a mind of its own. Pun not intended.” Yerin laughed. “C’mon, let’s go home. You’re starting to shiver a bit. Wouldn’t want you to catch a cold now, would we?” she said as she led Eunbi back towards the door.

Home. Their home. Sounds absolutely perfect to Eunbi.