The Winter Wonderland 

*.☽.*




 

I didn’t realize how much I missed his house until I stepped foot inside.

The spacious living room welcomed me with the kind of scent that I had always remembered. This very place held bittersweet memories. A lot of conflicts were brought up here and it was somehow relieving how we’re still here. My eyes darted on the couch and all I could think were the beautiful moments Baekhyun and I shared on it. The hugs, the little kisses...the time when he was sick, or that one time he was too lazy to go back to his bed and persuaded me to just sleep here wanting to appreciate the minimal distance it offered.

Despite, the overwhelming things that happened today, I felt myself giving way to a subtle smile. I guess, the good stuff just outweighed the bad stuff somehow. I looked outside through the huge tempered glass wall and found out that it had started to snow once more and I was about to be drawn to it deeper if I hadn’t noticed Baekhyun come in. 

Turning around, I saw him with my luggage. His head was covered by snow and the tip of his nose kinda looked red. I suddenly felt so soft looking at him like a typical boyfriend helping his girlfriend with her things. I watched him bend to remove the snow on my luggage.

Before I could even think of another thing, I walked towards him and stopped in front of him. He must have noticed me right away causing him to slowly lookup. I met his wondering eyes for a brief second before I raised a hand to remove the snow on his hair. I saw a hint of his eye smile the moment he realized what I was doing.

Honestly, I wanted to hug him so badly but I was scared I might cry, so I tried my best to ignore the gentle expression on his face as he stared at me.

“My bucket hat looks good on you.”  His low voice distracted me right away.

I met his gaze, not breaking it as I watched him sit on my luggage. He tilted his head down for a moment before I felt him reaching out of my right hand.

“I wanna ask you if you’re okay…so bad…” He said in a sad tone, his eyes on our hands. “But I know you’re gonna lie and tell you are.”

Oh, Baekhyun. He never ran out of ways to make my heart flutter. I knew he was sad and emotional too given the stuff that happened today but he just does this to my heart no matter what.

Bending my legs so I could talk to him, I squeezed his hand to make him look at me. We held our gazes for a few seconds of silence before I lifted my free hand on his head to touch his cheek, my thumb caressing his soft skin. My hand probably felt warm against his cold skin, he closed his eyes at the contact.

He looked peaceful and I indulged myself staring at him, wanting to save this part in my memory.

“Baby?” I muttered, wanting and determined to put a smile on his handsome face.

His eyes flew open, meeting mine right away. There was an obvious curiosity in the way he looked at me.

“Why are you calling me baby all of a sudden?” He asked in a wondering tone. 

“Well…” I trailed off. “Aren’t you my baby?” I reasoned out, in a gentle matter-of-fact tone as I removed my hands from his face to my knee.

One…Two...by the time I counted to three, his full, breath-taking eye smile, accompanied by a pleasant-sounding soft laugh brought butterflies in my stomach.

His lovely laughing voice caused the corners of my lips to turn upwards.

“Damn…” He uttered, shaking his head sideways, his lips still curved into a beautiful smile. “When did you get so good at this?”

It was my turn to laugh. And right at that very moment, I felt genuinely happy. I was aware that I got chased by a crazy woman today and read a small percentage of the mean comments about me on the internet but the smile on Baekhyun’s face right now seemed to have reduced their impact.

“Well, if you have an ultimate flirt as a boyfriend, you can’t resist but take down notes.” I reasoned out, smiling.

He chuckled, his beautiful orbs forming into crescents before he stood on his feet, tugging my hand to help me stand as well. He gently brought my hands on his shoulders while he made their way around my waist, pulling me closer into a heart-warming hug. We were too close, he leaned his forehead on my shoulder.

“Will you please call me Baby more often?”

His remark sent me smiling once more.

“Why?” I replied, prying.

“What do you mean why?” I could imagine a brow rising as he answered and I was proven right when he leaned away so he could look at me.

“Why do you want me to call you Baby more often?” I teased but tried to sound as innocent as I could be.

“Well, I AM YOUR BABY.” He stated, emphasizing his every word.  “JUST LIKE HOW YOU’RE MINE.”

I laughed so hard at the way he said it in a matter-of-fact manner and the way he looked at me like I just asked the most unbelievable question.

Then he did the most Baekhyun thing, he pouted. His slightly puckered lips instantly tempted me to cling to him, so before I could even say a word, I leaned in closer to hug him tighter.

“Okay…” I trailed off, unable to stop myself from smiling more. “Baby.”

He chuckled once more, his beautiful laugh resonating inside the room. His comforting arms tightened around my waist, his warm lips grazing against my neck as he buried his face on it.

“Flirt.” He muttered and his childish accusation sent me laughing once again.

“It’s your fault.” I rebutted right away.

“Ugh, what am I gonna do without you?” I heard him ask in a muffled voice.

It may turn to lean away this time, automatically bringing my hands to his face. I stared into his eyes intently, watching his every blink for the next moments before I spoke.

“You’re not gonna lose me…” My lips curved upwards, reassuring him. “So, don’t think about stuff like that anymore okay…Baby?”

A coy smile painted his lips and I swore, his face felt warmer on my skin.

Is he actually…blushing?

He cleared his throat, momentarily looking away, and brought a hand to scratch his head for a brief second before meeting my eyes once more.

“Can we just cut to the chase and kiss now?” I told him, with a lingering smile on my lips.

He was surprised by what I just said, I could tell by the way his eyes grew wide.

“Who are you?” He asked, forehead creasing. “And what did you do to my girlfriend?” The corner of his lips went up and I knew that he was trying to hide his amusement.

“Good question,” I answered, already overwhelmed by the butterflies that never left my stomach for a second.

My hands slowly made their way up to his face, landing loosely on his chin before leaning closer, tiptoeing in the process. I couldn’t explain the magnetic pull I felt towards him and there was something about how he looked at my lips as they near his. Closing my eyes, my mouth landed straight on the right spot, his warm lips. Initiating the kiss this time, I recalled how he exactly did it. I grazed my lips against him gently but for some reason, I kinda noticed that he was teasing me instead. His lips remained steady, not kissing me back. I even felt him smile.

No, I won’t let him do this to me. I thought.

Determined to get him to give in, I draped my arms tightly around his neck as I intensified the kiss a bit, even tugging on his lower lip. I also made an effort to push my body closer to his until I felt his hands landing at the curve of my waist. And in a split second, I got him wrapped around my finger. His previously stubborn lips started moving along with his own rhythm. He also started to pull me closer as if there was even a slight amount of distance left between our bodies. Tilting his head to get better access to my mouth, a hand gently landed on my nape, holding my head steady.

He was so into it now, I could feel it by the very sensations this was giving me. Parting my mouth open, his pace became more needy and aggressive. My legs had turned jelly, my mind gradually being brought to a trance but then before I could even fully succumb to it, I immediately detached my lips from his which got him startled right away.

Breaking his momentum, he looked at me wondering. Surely, he was waiting for an explanation.

I wanted to laugh at him and make him know how huge of a mistake it was to tease me in the beginning by refusing to kiss me back. My silence and probably the subtle smirk on my face caused him to look at me unbelievably this time.

I stared back at him, still not saying a single word as I stepped away from him, increasing the distance between us. Given the expression on his face right now, he looked like he was about to ask what was wrong with me but he must have been too speechless.

This was the very first time I did this to him and I understood the reaction I was getting from him. Locking eyes for a couple of seconds more, I watched him shake his head quickly before stepping towards me, his arms ready to pull me closer once more but I avoided him.

Now, he looked more confused.

“This is what you get when I initiate the kiss and you refuse to kiss me back,” I told him briefly, stifling the smile I was so eager to make. “Baby.”

His mouth fell open.

And it was my signal, I turned around and started to walk towards the stairs.

“My god Park Hae Won, you’re gonna be the death of me.” I heard him grumble behind.


*.☽.*

12:04 AM

I just finished washing and was so desperate to sleep and forget everything that happened today. Stepping out of the bathroom, my eyes instantly darted to him, lying horizontally on the bed. As I walked towards him, I realized that his eyes were already closed, his hands meeting over his stomach, his bare feet touching the floor. I stopped right in front of him, staring at him silently.

What could he be thinking right now? Was he thinking about the attack outside his company or about me being chased by a sasaeng? I sighed because the truth was, I didn’t want to know. It also breaks my heart to recall how he told me that he was scared to ask me if I was okay because I felt the same way. I was scared he’d say he’s fine just to keep me from worrying. Taking a deep breath, I momentarily looked away so I could distract myself for a bit but as soon as I tilted my head to the other side I heard his, low, slightly raspy voice.

“I’m still mad at you.”

Turning to look at him immediately, I saw his eyes open for a brief moment before he shut them close once more.

He looked so cute, that lingering pout his pretty mouth made instantly making me feel softer. I wanna dive right next to him and cuddle with him.

“Should I go to the guest room…” I trailed off seeing his eyes opened suddenly. “Instead?” I added, attempting to leave but he was fast to stop me.

He brought his upper body to sit, reached for my hand before pulling me down onto the bed with him. Of course, I landed on top of him, crashing against his broad chest.

“Did I say you have to leave?” He asked, sounding hurt.

Instead of reasoning out, I gave in to his antics and smiled at him. Adjusting my position on top of him, I leaned my head on his chest.

“Baby?” I muttered and I should I heard him smile. “Can we sleep like this?” I added, closing my eyes.

“Sure Baby.” He replied with an obvious smile audible in his voice.
 
The corner of my lips turned up as I listened to his heartbeat. I concentrated on it and noticed how it beats at the same time as mine. Then I felt his hand gently rubbing the back of my head as if sending me to sleep.

My heart wanted to explode realizing how much this man loves me.

However, as soon as I allowed myself to go down this emotional lane, I was reminded of the events that took place earlier. It all seemed like a movie, watching all those unfortunate events unfold before my eyes. Until now, my legs felt sore from the running I had to do to get away from that woman. Yet, the most painful thing was watching Baekhyun getting attacked by his fans. The look of shock and hurt on his face that very moment was haunting.

It breaks my heart every time, and it breaks my heart now.

“Baek…” I called, not knowing if he’d answer right away.

“Hmmm?” He replied.

“I’m sorry.”  I apologized, feeling so guilty all of a sudden.

He didn’t answer for a couple of seconds and it made me nervous. Then I felt him embrace me tightly before I heard him speak.

“Make sure that the only thing you’re sorry for is leaving me hanging in the living room a while ago.”

I almost laughed.

“Do that one more time and I’ll make you regret it next time.” He warned though his tone was already soft and sleepy.

I smiled, with my eyes still closed. 

“Goodnight Baby,” I said in an already slightly muffled voice.

“This baby thing shouldn’t be an overnight thing or I’ll throw a fit.”

He sounded like he was pouting so hard, so a soft laugh automatically escaped my mouth before I could even stop myself.

“Love you.”

This was the last thing I heard from him before I finally gave in to exhaustion. Though I muttered an I love you too, I was pretty sure it sounded weird already.

I love you Baekhyun.
I repeated in my head.


*.☽.*

6:17 AM

With my eyes still closed, I pulled the blanket up to cover my body because it had somehow become really cold. I also moved to Baekhyun’s side of the bed so I could snuggle with him but to my dismay, he wasn’t there anymore. Slightly squinting due to the brightness, I opened my eyes to look for him right away but he wasn’t in his room.

Getting off the bed, I walked towards the bathroom to grab the robe I used last night because, despite the heater, it was still really freezing. I caught a glance of myself in the mirror, so I decided to wash my face and brush my teeth before I proceeded to fix my hair using my fingers. I wore the bathrobe on top of my matching beige pajamas.

As soon as I reached the stairs, my still slightly sleepy eyes located him standing right before the huge tempered glass wall of his living room. He wasn’t doing anything, he was just on his feet, gazing outside.

Following his focus, I realized the thick white blanket covered almost everything outside. My god, it’s so beautiful! It must have been snowing all night.

I slowly took my way down the stairs not wanting to distract him from his thoughts. I walked towards him and adored his back profile. He was wearing a grey hoodie, blue plaid bottoms, and indoor slippers. His broad shoulders seemed so inviting and the fact that he looked so huggable from this angle caused me to slowly slip my arms between his arms, draping them around his waist before tiptoeing so I could bring my mouth to his ear to whisper something.

“Morning Baby.”

His body jerked in surprise as I hugged him even tighter, his warmth making this a thousand times better. I couldn’t resist resting my head on his shoulder but I wasn’t even that satisfied yet when he held my hand and pulled me away from hugging him so he could face him instead.

“You don’t want me to throw a fit, do you Baby?” He asked with a teasing smile on his lip before cupping my face with his hands and making me lean closer so he could plant a quick kiss on my lips.

Ugh, even his lips felt so warm.

I bobbed my head as a response to his question but my thoughts were filled by how warm his lips on mine were. He let out a soft laugh and my attention was automatically drawn to his mouth. So beautiful, so warm. I knew I’d start leaning in closer for another kiss, so before I could even give him a chance to tease me about wanting to kiss him again, I distracted my thoughts by hugging him instead.

“Why did you get up so early?” I asked, closing my eyes to savor the feeling. “The bed was so cold without you,” I added, sulking.

I heard him chuckled as he leaned away a bit only to unexpectedly claim my mouth for a couple of seconds. His warm, satin-soft lips gently grazed over mine and it was just fascinating. My heartbeat started to race like it always did whenever we kiss.

With my eyes closed, I realized one thing.
Nothing beats the warmth that is Byun Baekhyun.

He slowly detached his lips from mine only to repeatedly plant smaller kisses next until we both smiled and ended up laughing. His eyes forming into my favorite pair of crescents took my breath away. He looked so soft right now with his beautiful black hair slightly parted to one side, giving me a glimpse of his forehead which I happen to love just as much.

As soon as I was satisfied staring at him, I looked outside and thought that the view was equally beautiful. Everything seemed freezing altogether. The ground was covered by white, I could barely see any green at all. I could imagine how the snow would feel on my skin or the shiver it’d bring me as soon as the wintery breeze blew.

“You like it?” He asked out of nowhere.

I nodded.

“You wanna see something more beautiful than this?”

I looked at him, wondering at first but then realizing that there must be a place he wanted me to see. I felt a bit excited, bobbing my head.

“Get ready.” He told me. “Make sure to wear something to keep you warm…I’m just gonna make a phone call then I’ll get ready myself so we could leave right away.” He instructed, stepping away and walking towards the couch where his phone was.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He replied quickly with his signature Baekhyun smile plastered on his handsome face.

I didn’t pry anymore recalling how he never actually share information about the places he showed me before.  Just like how I got the same “You’ll see” when he took me stargazing or that one memorable cabin trip we had a couple of months ago.

I wasn’t complaining though. In fact, I was so excited that I turned around right away and started to make my back to his room to get ready and wear something to keep me warm.

Though, I think he should know that he’s the one who keeps me warm the most.


*.☽.*

I changed into what I thought was suitable for the winter trip but Baekhyun ended up disapproving. He said that my simple thick black coat over my rust, knitted, turtle neck sweater, navy blue jeans, and dark brown winter boots wouldn’t be able to protect me from the cold. He told me to change into something more appropriate for this weather but I whined about not having a lot of clothes with me.

“Baek, this is all I got.” I reasoned out.

He just stared at me dressed in his dark grey hoodie with his white undershirt sticking out at the bottom, perfect hugging jeans, brown winter shoes, and an extremely good-looking long, black, buried alive padded jacket.

He looked like the type of Byun Baekhyun you’d see at the airport on a winter day.

“You’re gonna get cold.” He insisted.

I shrugged and it sent him wondering right away.

“Well, just hug me when I get cold?” I replied quickly with a playful smile.

I was a bit surprised with myself being this carefree with him right now.

He smiled right away shaking his head sideways.

“You have a point and yes I’d do that of course but I don’t want to you turn into a statue in the middle of the trip. I want you to enjoy what I’m about to show you.” He replied, pausing for a while as if contemplating on something before he walked towards me, took my hand, and walked us out of the living room.


*.☽.*

The moment we were exposed outside, I shivered. Gosh, it was so cold, for real.

“I guess we can drop by a shop and buy clothes for you.” He told me as soon as we got to his car.

“Are you planning to take me to Antarctica?” I joked trying to hide how cold I was already feeling.

I heard him chuckle as he opened the door of the passenger’s seat for me. I turned around to face him, opened my mouth to say something but I forgot about it when he immediately leaned closer to my face to give the corner of my lips an unexpected kiss, startling me.

“Just get in Baby.” He said afterward, a crazy handsome smile taking over his mouth.

“Okay BABY,” I replied emphasizing my last word and it sent him laughing.

His literal HA HA HA laughs filled my ears before I got inside his car.

*.☽.*

Just as he had planned, we dropped by a famous winter shop to get me proper clothes for this trip. With his bucket hat on, he got out of his car and hurriedly went inside the shop. I waited in the car, wary of my surroundings. I could see him through the glass wall of the shop checking on the coats assisted by a saleslady. I could tell the staff already recognized him as he was looking intently at him while he check the items.

Taking my eyes off him for a moment, I thought of the place we were going to visit. Knowing Baekhyun, and recalling how breathtaking the previous places he showed me in the past, I was confident that this trip was going to be awesome.

There were pending issues, I knew. I couldn’t just dismiss my curiosity about his company’s verdict about the whole thing and it made me nervous. I wasn’t fully aware that I was getting a bit tense by the thought of it until I felt myself fidgeting with my hands, which stopped right away when I saw him come in with a huge paper bag.

“You okay?” He asked as soon as he sat beside me.

“Y-yeah.” I lied, stuttering. “I’m just cold,” I added, faking a smile.

I watched him stretch his arm on the backseat to place the bag there before he shifted his position to lean closer so he could reach for my hands. He rubbed his palms over mine and it gave me that comforting warmth.

“I bought a scarf and gloves for you.” He announced before he adjusted the temperature inside the car.

“Did you buy one for yourself too?”

He shook his head and I shot him a how come look.

“I need to find an excuse to hold your hand when mine gets cold.” He reasoned out with a wink and a cocky smile.

I opened my mouth to argue but he signaled me to stop, his lips forming into a thin line. Left speechless, I closed my mouth, accepting the fact that I’d never win this conversation over.

The next stop we made was a restaurant where he ordered a take-out meal for both of us. I felt bad that he had to do all the work, this time with his bucket hat and mask on.

I should have gotten used to his celebrity life by now but…


*.☽.*

1:07 PM

Even though we left Seoul pretty early, we still spent a lot of time on the road. We had been driving for more than three hours now. I didn’t bother asking him where he was taking me anymore, knowing he’d just smile at me and keep me wondering.

Though the drive had been long, being bored was never an issue. Aside from driving Baekhyun showering my attention with an ultimate boyfriend vibe, the view outside was equally breathtaking. We’re heading to the countryside, this I knew for sure now. The trees were pretty in the absence of their foliage and all dressed in seemingly white, glistening snow.

This is our first winter together.
This idea alone kinda melts my heart.

Of course, due to the long ride I couldn’t help but get flashes of the stuff that happened to both of us yesterday but every time my brain gets ransacked by these thoughts, I would just stare at Baekhyun, watch him while his eyes were on the road.

This man, right here. God, he’s worth it.


*.☽.*

After about another forty-five minutes of driving, he turned right from the main road and gradually started to make the way up.

I looked around and all I could see were the leafless trees on either side of the way. The place was so wide. The snow was way thicker here than it was in Seoul. Honestly, I had never seen a place getting this much snow in Korea. My attention was glued to the window, my eyes busy admiring the scenic view before me. The surrounding was bleak but breathtaking. Then, the car hal