She takes a step back to admire her bare Christmas tree before casting a gaze right towards the boxes of decorations and momentarily thinks that she should have bought new decorations. When she had moved into this apartment, her mother had given her some family heirlooms that always deserved pride of place on the tree and Bomi treasures them but the rest she's bought herself, normally the cheaper the better.

Considering she always spends the actual holiday with her family, she has never really been too invested in her own tree, she doesn't put as much time and effort into it as she used to do growing up. Although considering she always have help when it comes to decorating the tree and somebody likes making the effort, she feels like the scraps of tinsel should probably be replaced.

Still, they do their job.

Namjoo had visited her yesterday to discuss her upcoming nuptials and within seconds of stepping inside her apartment, she had declared that it's not festive and had begun decorating her entire apartment.

There was tinsel scattered around Bomi's windows and fireplace, Christmas cards strewn across her apartment and a mistletoe hung above the front door. Namjoo hung it personally and told Bomi that she had to kiss everybody who stood underneath it.

It was unlucky not to.

Bomi had rolled her eyes at her friend, politely informing Namjoo that the only people who frequented her apartment were her, Hayoung, Eunji and Eunkwang. None of whom she'd be kissing anytime soon.

Regardless of Bomi's reluctance, Namjoo had insisted and if there's one thing Bomi has learnt after befriends the redhead… it's useless to argue with her. As a result, mistletoe rests above her door. Namjoo had even given her a kiss on the cheek once she passed it just to prove that kisses don't have to be on the lips.

Even though they're the best kind.

"JinJin, I'm going to decorate this tree all by myself if you don't come and help me soon," Bomi says, staring at her niece who is engrossed in some form of cartoon on the television.

Jinsol loves decorating the tree, she's as eager as Bomi was at that age but since this tree is a real one, she didn't find it interesting until it was up and ready to be decorated. Whilst Bomi and Eunkwang had sorted out the tree, sawing the stump to ensure it fit in the stand and vacuuming the fallen pine needles, Jinsol had switched the television on, waiting until she was needed.

Bomi grabs some Christmas lights from one of the boxes and purposely rustles all the decorations, signalling to her niece that she was deadly serious. She was starting the tree with or without her. The noise causes Jinsol to whip her head away from the television screen and towards her aunt, jumping up and rushing towards.

"No you can't, it's my job."

Bomi laughs and ruffles the girl's hair, something which Jinsol always scowls at her for.

"Why don't you find some ornaments whilst I put the lights on?"

Jinsol bobs her head and commences rummaging in the boxes, throwing tinsel and lights out carelessly causing even more mess and Bomi knows she'll have to perform the mundane action of vacuuming once more.

Domesticity has never really been her thing.

Her mind flashes back to the night of Eunji's dinner party and how Chorong advertised her domestic skills in the kitchen, tidying up but humming whilst doing it showing that she enjoyed it and maybe the reason why the sight warmed her heart was because that's the one thing she's not very good at. Being domestic.

They do say opposites attract after all.

Kneeling down at the base of the tree she tugs gently at the Christmas lights only to discover they're tangled in several places and she swears underneath her breath as she attempts to unravel them, silently praying that they'll still work.

She doesn't want to have to make an unscheduled trip to the shops just for some more lights.

A knock on her door stops her inner musings about whoever invented Christmas lights and why they made them so damn fiddly. She yells for whoever it is to come in, telling them the door is open.

Presuming it must be Eunkwang since he had told her he would probably drop by again before heading back home, she shouts the words over her shoulder. "I hope you're good at untangling Christmas lights because this looks like a long job."

"I don't think I've ever really attempted it but I'll give it a go."

Bomi spins around to see Chorong standing behind her, tugging at her hat to reveal messy brown locks. "Sorry Chorong, that wasn't aimed at you. I thought you were somebody else."

"It's okay, I am."

Bomi chuckles as she places the lights down on her coffee table and stands up. Ruffling her niece's hair once more as she passes her, she comes to rest in front of Chorong. "This is a surprise."

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Chorong questions as she glances between Bomi and the child. "I know I should call first rather than just showing up unannounced, but I don't have your number and I thought it might look rather peculiar if I asked Eunji for it."

"Is this your way of asking for my number?"

"No it wasn't, but I suppose it would be useful. In case situations like this arise again."

Bomi grabs a nearby piece of paper and a pen, grateful that her mom always instilled the importance of having a pen and paper in her house because you never know when you might need them, and writes her number down before handing it to Chorong.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Bomi tells her with a smile. "You're not interrupting anything by the way, what can I do for you?"

Chorong runs her fingers through her hair as she scans Bomi's apartment. It's the first time she's been here since she fled in the early hours of the morning after their night together and standing in her living room once again causes all the memories of that night to come rushing back.

How after Bomi had fallen asleep, she had laid beside her for several minutes just watching her sleep, entranced by the soft snores she was emitting. Chorong can't help but wonder whether the blonde knows she snores. Or how she had sneaked around the apartment collecting her clothes, terrified to make a noise in case Bomi woke up.

"Chorong?"

"Sorry, I was away with the fairies. You have…I left my scarf in your car after the recital."

"Yeah you did," Bomi tells her. "I was going to drop it off but it kind of slipped my mind, sorry about that." Chorong shakes her head with a smile. "Hold on, I'll just go get it."

Chorong nods as the blonde disappears into her bedroom before reappearing several seconds later holding the neatly folded scarf.

"There you go," Bomi says as she hands over the scarf. "It's really soft." She narrows her eyes and shakes her head in confusion as to why she has just complimented Chorong's scarf.

"I know," Chorong replies with a laugh.

Bomi feels like a besotted teenager, feeling nervous around the brunette and instead of forming coherent thoughts, she says things like 'it's really soft' in reference to an inanimate object.

Clearing she brings her attention to the younger brunette who is observing Chorong curiously. "Jinsol, are you going to say hello to my friend Chorong?"

Jinsol blushes and ducks her head, re-focusing her attention on the decorations and returning to the job her aunt had set her.

"Sorry, she's really shy around new people," Bomi explains. "Although you should enjoy the silence because once she feels comfortable around you, she'll never stop talking."

The lack of hello from the child doesn't deter Chorong and she kneels down so she's eye-level with Jinsol and beams at her. "Nice to meet you Jinsol, I'd just like to say I really love your sweater."

Jinsol looks down at her sweater. It's a special Christmas one with a snowman on that her mom had bought her as an early Christmas present.

"I love novelty sweaters, I have a few of them myself." Chorong explains, ing her coat to reveal a forest green sweater with two reindeers facing each other.

"Reindeer? Is one of them Rudolph?"

Chorong chuckles before shaking her head sadly. "Unfortunately not but I like the idea, maybe I'll have to invest in a Rudolph sweater."

Jinsol giggles as the brunette speaks to her before ducking her head. "I like your sweater too."

Bomi is observing the interactions between Chorong and her niece with a wide smile and her heart fills with adoration at the sight. Chorong's the first stranger that Jinsol has taken to this quickly. Usually Jinsol stays silent until she's been aware of the adult for several days but not today.

"I best leave you two to your decorating," Chorong says as she stands up, hearing one of her knees crack in the process. She swears sometimes she feels like an old lady rather than a 24 year old. "I only came for the scarf."

"If you're not opposed, you could always help us decorate the tree." Bomi allows the statement to linger in the air, silently hoping that Chorong will take her up on the offer. "I mean, if Jinsol will allow you to help, the tree is her job after all."

Chorong bends down so she's eye-level with the young child again, who incidentally is the brunette mirror image of Bomi. "Would it be okay if I helped? You can be the boss and I will follow your every command."

Jinsol stares at Chorong briefly before looking over her shoulder at her aunt who nods slowly and mouths the word yes. Jinsol smiles shyly before nodding. "Okay."

"Fantastic." Chorong beams back at Jinsol before shrugging her coat off and throwing it on the back of a chair along with her scarf. "Now Bomi, I do believe you said you needed help untangling lights."

"Can you reach?"

Bomi questions lightly as she lifts Jinsol higher, after the young brunette had said she wanted to put the star on top of the tree because it was the most important part. Bomi tightens her hold on Jinsol before stepping closer to the tree, pushing her stomach against the branches as she moves impossibly closer to the tree.

Jinsol reaches towards the top branch and Bomi lifts her as high as she can, just enough to enable Jinsol to place the star haphazardly on top of the tree. Bomi takes a step back and playfully drops the child onto the couch.

"I'm not sure whether you're going to keep this job next year JinJin, what do you think Chorong?" Bomi teases. "Has she done a good enough job?"

Jinsol bobs her head emphatically towards Chorong, silently telling her that she has done a good enough job.

"I don't think anybody could have decorated your tree better," Chorong comments and is rewarded with a quick hug from Bomi's niece.

She's not sure whether it's the newly decorated tree, the Christmassy feel her apartment now has, the fact that they're participating in family activities and it doesn't feel wrong or the sight of Jinsol hugging Chorong like she's known her for years but Bomi doesn't want anything to change.

She wants to freeze the moment exactly how is because it's perfect.

Everything about it is perfect.

Settling for a picture, she grabs her phone from the coffee table. "I need to take a picture of the tree," Bomi states, a slight white lie, she mainly wants a picture of Chorong. "Why don't you two pose for the camera in front of it? I mean you two did do all the hard work."

Eager to please, Jinsol drags Chorong towards the tree and stands in front of it with a wide smile, showing off her missing two front teeth. Chorong comes to rest beside her, sending a soft smile towards Bomi and in that moment, the blonde imagines doing this every year.

She never wants to stop seeing that smile.

Bomi quickly snaps the photo and Jinsol bounces towards her, tugging her trouser leg repeatedly.

"What's up little one?"

"Can I have a cookie?" She asks, looking up hopefully at Bomi.

"What do you say?"

"Please," Jinsol adds, batting her eyelashes at the older woman whilst administering a rather impressive pout that Bomi can never resist.

That trait has definitely come from her mother.

Bomi ponders for a moment before nodding. "Only one though, your mom will kill me if she knows I've been letting you have cookies just before dinner."

Jinsol giggles with delight and heads in the direction of the kitchen.

"She looks just like you."

Bomi rubs the back of her neck. "You should see her mom; they're the spitting image of each other. When we were growing up people thought Sunmi, that's my sister, and I were twins because we looked so alike. All the Yoon women seem to look alike; good-looks must run in our family."

"There's your infamous ego again, is it strange to say I've missed that." Chorong laughs loudly as she watches Jinsol take a cookie and eat it sneakily even though she's been given permission. "She's unbelievably adorable."

"Yeah, she'll be a heart-breaker when she's older."

"Like you?"

Bomi her head to the side in amusement. "I'm not a heart-breaker. I've never broken anybody's heart." She turns back to Jinsol who is devouring the cookie as if she's never going to have another one. "It's tradition for Jinsol to come here and help me decorate my Christmas tree. She decorates her own tree with her family and then insists on doing the same for me. One thing you'll learn about the Yoon family is we're very big on honouring traditions."

"Really?"

Bomi nods slowly before tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. Chorong's been in her apartment for over two hours and she had forgotten all about Eunji. She's too busy focusing all her attention on Chorong and hoping that she doesn't leave anytime soon.

"Is Eunji feeling better?"

"Much better, I'll tell her you've been asking after her."

Bomi chuckles briefly. "I should probably ask her myself rather than receive all my information about her from you."

"Why don't you then?"

"Honestly," Bomi states quietly. "I don't know."

The two women hover in the doorway as Bomi leans against the door frame. Jinsol's father had picked her up about an hour ago and much to Bomi's surprise and delight, Chorong had decided to stay for a little bit longer.

It gave them both a chance to talk but rather than address any serious questions, they just divulged small titbits about their life, enabling the other woman to learn more about them.

Bomi had learnt that Chorong's favourite artist was Rain and her favourite activity growing up was family dinners with her parents where they would often perform a spontaneous song. She learnt that Chorong's family tradition is to give a present for each day of Christmas and that she's a third degree black belt in Hapkido.

When Chorong talked about her parents, Bomi sensed a twinge of sadness in her voice but decided not to press the situation further. They weren't exactly firm friends yet and she didn't want to upset the woman.

If Chorong wanted her to know, she'd tell her.

Just like Bomi would tell Chorong about the girl who broke her heart eventually. When the time was right.

Chorong had been told by Jinsol that Bomi is an incredible baker and that her chocolate chip pancakes alongside her blueberry muffins are amazing but she didn't have the luxury of tasting them. But she trusts Jinsol's opinion. Chorong had also learnt that during High School, Bomi had been in a singing club. The brunette made sure to tell Bomi that she had also been in her school's singing club and they should sing a duet sometime.

"Mistletoe," Chorong questions as she stares upwards. "That's a neat trick. Putting it here means everybody has to stand underneath it at some point so you're guaranteed a few kisses. Sneaky move Bomi-ah."

"Namjoo put it there," Bomi whispers quickly. "She said it's unlucky to not kiss underneath it."

"Shame I don't believe in it," Chorong jests. "Sounds like a lovely belief."

"I guess it won't make a difference to you then."

Chorong nods with a slight smile before leaning forward. Bomi's breath hitches at the closeness and her eyes involuntarily close but disappointment soon flows through her as she feels Chorong's lips graze her cheek gently.

Only a whisper of a touch but enough to set all her senses alight.

"Merry Christmas Bbom-ah, I wouldn't want you to be unlucky."

The words are whispered against her ear and instinctively Bomi rests her hands against the brunette's waist, maybe to keep her knees from buckling. Chorong pulls back ever so slightly and brown eyes meet chocolate ones and Bomi desperately wants to close the gap and bring their lips together. Her right hand comes up and brushes a strand of hair out of dark brown eyes before cupping Chorong's cheek, rubbing soft circles with her thumb.

Her breathing is slowly becoming more and more ragged and she knows that all it would take is one slight movement forward and they'd be kissing.

One step forward, that's all.

Such a small step but the ramifications would be anything but small.

Clearing , she drops her hand and takes a step back. "I'll walk you down Rong."

"You don't need to."

"I want to," Bomi replies, grabbing her keys from the bowl beside her front door and ushering Chorong outside, shutting the door behind them. "Do you think we should talk about that?"

Chorong buttons up her coat. "Talk about what?"

Bomi stares at the brunette out of the corner of her eye and shakes her head with a sigh. Chorong must have felt what she just did, she must have known that Bomi was about to kiss her and Bomi might be wrong but she sensed that Chorong would have let her.

Chorong wouldn't have pushed her away, surely that means that Chorong wanted the kiss as much as she did?

Still, if she wants to act as if nothing happened, so will Bomi. "Nothing, forget I said anything."

As they step outside Bomi's building, both women smile as the snow falls around them. It must have been snowing for quite some time because the ground already has a thin coating of snow covering it. Not enough to do anything with but just enough to leave your footprints.

It's a picturesque scene that fills Bomi with the Christmas spirit. She's always loved the snow, ever since she was a child and she made snow angels in her back yard whilst Sunmi threw snowballs at her.

Chorong shivers at the sudden blast of cold wind and tightens her coat around her, glancing sideways at Bomi who is staring in awe at the sky, watching the snow fall delicately in delight.

"You know, you're really good with Jinsol," Chorong compliments as they both walk towards her car.

"So are you, she doesn't usually take too well to strangers but before she left, she'd rather play hide and seek with you than me," Bomi comments with a laugh.

"What can I say? It's a gift."

As they reach the brunette's car, Bomi opens the driver's door for her friend automatically, thinking about the implication of the action after she's done it. "Sorry."

"You don't need to apologise for being polite," Chorong tells her with a smile. "It's nice to be treated like that."

"Well I try," Bomi says playfully.

"You know, it's the little things like this that make me wonder why you're single," Chorong says softly. "You're chivalrous, sweet and beautiful; you could probably have anybody you wanted."

Bomi feels herself blush at the compliment, focusing specifically on how Chorong had called her beautiful. She's never really been called that before. She's had pretty, y, hot, attractive, good enough to eat by a creepy guy who tried to hit on her a couple of months ago, but never beautiful.

The sincerity in her voice makes Bomi blush even more.

"Somehow I don't think I could have anybody I wanted."

"Why not?"

"Because there's always somebody you want that doesn't want you back," Bomi replies under her breath, unsure as to whether Chorong hears her. "Besides, I'm single by choice."

"Are you going to take Namjoo up on her offer?"

Her eyebrows furrow as she looks at the brunette. "What offer?"

"Dating the woman she works with."

"You mean Naeun?"

Chorong nods meekly.

Bomi laughs at the reaction and shrugs her shoulder. "Who knows what the future holds."

It shouldn't bother her; Bomi is young, free and single. She's allowed to date somebody and Chorong has no say in the matter. She shouldn't even be prying because it's none of her business what Bomi does.

She has her own girlfriend so why does the idea of Bomi dating Naeun bother her?

Bomi her head to the side as she watches Chorong's face drop.

"I highly doubt it though," Bomi whispers, in an attempt to appease the other woman. "Like I told you, I'm not interested in relationships, too much hard work."

"When you find the one you want to be with though, relationships can be amazing," Chorong says, fiddling with her car keys. "When you have that person you can just stay at home with and lounge about in your pyjamas and eat junk food whilst watching rubbish movies but neither of you cares because you're just enjoying being together. When you can't wait to see their face in the morning and sometimes just before you go to sleep, you look at them one last time because you can't get enough of them. When just the thought of them causes you to smile and whilst you have them, you can't imagine not being with them. When you have the person you can share all the little things with, it's not hard work. It's easy."

"Do you have that with Eunji?"

Chorong gives the blonde a small smile and nods her head slowly but doesn't give a verbal answer. The thought of Eunji does make her smile and a couple of weeks ago, Chorong couldn't have imagined not being with her but now she feels like something is missing.

Hovering beside her car door, she continues to fiddle with her keys. Bomi tugs her bottom lip between her teeth. If it was anybody else hovering before her, fiddling with their keys rather than leaving, Bomi would kiss them.

She'd think they'd want her to.

She refrains from doing that though.

"Bbom-ah, can I hug you?"

"I don't think I've ever met anybody who asked before hugging somebody."

"Some people may not be comfortable with hugs, I didn't want to assume it was alright to hug you."

Bomi chuckles before wrapping her arms around the petite brunette's waist and engulfing her in a hug. The unmistakable scent of vanilla and strawberries fills her nostrils yet again and Bomi may just have found a new favourite smell.

The hug is over much too quickly for Bomi's liking but when she feels Chorong pulling away; she reluctantly releases her hold on the brunette, desperate for more contact with her.

"I'll see you soon Bomi."

"Yeah, see you soon, Rong."

When Chorong beams at her, she has to refrain from kissing her once more.