Christmas at Oakland Continued 

The plans to turn their school into a Christmas wonderland were elaborate, intricate and required a larger budget, which wasn’t an issue. The plans were spread out on Principal Rose’s conference table, it covered the whole surface. 

Kyungsoo stared at the girl as she presented. There was something different about her today. The way she spoke with energy, the way her very large, brown eyes danced with excitement as she told them about the lights she would design. The whole plan centred on the use of lights, and not the traditional décor they had relied on in the past. Lights would dominate and décor would work to complement the lights. “The idea is to activate Oakland by creating displays all over the school for people to discover and interact with."

Chen leaned over, “You’re drooling,” Kyungsoo straightened and tried not to stare too much. He concentrated on the plans instead.

“Well?” Sehun asked when the presentation was over.

“How much manpower will you require?”

“Just the Keepers, the Engineering Club, and I’d like to still involve the Art and Design Clubs.”

Kai smiled at Principal Rose. Very diplomatic. Principal Rose nodded, “You have a deal. From now on Haneul ssi, this is your priority,”

***

Every day brought something new to discover. Haneul and her team worked quietly and methodically through the plan, like Santa’s elves on a secret mission.

There was an air of excitement. Students looked forward to coming to school so they could discover the new displays that would be installed the previous night. The only rule was that no one could post on social media, they couldn’t risk their designs being leaked to the other schools.

Haneul glanced at her watch, 9 pm. They had just worked on hanging over a thousand red and gold light baubles on the oak in the quad. She was sitting on one of the large branches, admiring their handiwork. She looked down at the team below, “Alright guys, that’s it for today. Kamsa!” she waved goodnight.

“Night!” there was a bit of commotion as everyone drifted off and then silence. “Just you and me big guy.” She patted her pocket and pulled out a flask of hot chocolate. Then she dug into another pocket and pulled out a ginger cookie wrapped in tissue. Carefully, she unwrapped it and leaning her back against the trunk she drank the steaming chocolate and ate her cookie.

“You up there,” Kyungsoo called up to the girl, “come down here.”  

Haneul almost spilt the hot chocolate, “Do I have to?”

“Bwo?” Kyungsoo placed both hands on his hips and glared, “It wasn’t a request.” He held the ladder in place as she climbed down.

Haneul stood awkwardly in front of him. She didn’t know how to act in front of him after he’d saved her from an awful fall that would have resulted in something sprained. The dreams she’d been having of him filled her mind now. Her eyes were drawn to his lips. In her dreams, he kissed her in the snow. She was at a local university; he was home from studies abroad. He stands outside the window of the library, looking up, knowing exactly where she likes to sit…

Kyungsoo snatched the flask and sniffed, “It’s just hot chocolate…” He handed it back and stared quite openly at this strange girl, “the others have gone home. You should too.” he nodded in the direction of the main entrance. Haneul reluctantly gathered her bag. Kyungsoo reached