The early hours of night were passing over the city.

Little fairy lights twinkled over the counter, stockings hung on the back shelf and a jolly "Merry Christmas" sign was plastered onto the shop window. For the time, the flower shop was open, and customers could still come to purchase for the merry red and white holiday occasion.

Namjoo had taken charge in packaging some of the later night bouquets, mostly for the romance of the Christmas season. Eunji was singing requested Christmas songs at the bar each night, while Naeun and Hayoung had finished exams and taken winter break to their own hometowns for a while.

It left just the last two eldest housemates having dinner together some nights.

Of course, this was privacy they cherished by dancing in open spaces and watching movies on the couch. However, they didn't treat it too specially, feeling normalcy in their interactions whenever they were at home with the others.

It was during this, Bomi had soon come to realise: Chorong avoided the topic of her own family just as much as Bomi would.

This was much like how it had been with the other girls. She completely missed the detail of it at first. These girls. These women had other homes and families and didn't originally live here altogether.

The idea of Chorong having another family had been something to conveniently forget about while she ignored the memories of her own. Something that flew over her head as she stayed in this world, protected from whatever happened back at home.

She didn't think much of it, so she never asked Chorong about it either.

They had nice evenings, avoiding the traditional meaning of the holiday season, but Bomi wanted to lightly touch on the boundaries. She wanted to tell whether the walls were still there or if she could pass through just a little.

It was when they talked lightly about Chorong's exes, she could feel it; layers of masked pain on Chorong's shoulders. Bomi found it hard to see why it would come to Chorong being bad at relationships though. Surrounded by a fun family of women and a tight group of close school friends on speed-dial, there were people who could protect her and help her with anything at all.

Chorong seemed to believe Bomi would find this strange, taking it as judgement and shrinking under her questioning gaze.

Curious.

Tonight, they sat on the floor by the TV, left all to themselves. The crackle and glow of a fireplace played from the screen, like magic. Bomi was lying on her side, watching Chorong set up the edge pieces of a grand puzzle on the table.

It was Chorong's idea. Bomi had been curious about the workings of this puzzle game. However, it wasn't until they unloaded the pieces onto the table, she discovered that the box had the completed picture already on the cover. She didn't understand the challenge in that, but still, Bomi thought it was great.

"Hmm?" Chorong raised her head at her.

"I think you're great," Bomi said absentmindedly, casual and peaceful to shift their conversations to a little flirting when it fit her. "It's times like these when I look at you, I think that you're more beautiful than any I've ever met."

Chorong's composure lost to a goofily held smile. "Stop exaggerating."

"It's the truth."

"Bbom-ah. Knowing where you come from, don't you think a comment like that might be hard for me to believe?"

"It's still what I believe." Bomi slunk on the table, spreading her arms out as she willed herself closer to her lover. Chorong was blatantly ignoring her in favour of the puzzle pieces. "Maybe I can't make you believe anything, but it doesn't change the way I feel. You just are that person for me. Full of beauty, and love. Something special."

"Okay, enough. I get it," Chorong tutted. It made Bomi smile. "And you're pretty great yourself, Bbom-ah. Thank you for being with me these holidays. It can be a lonely time like this without everyone here," Chorong said, nodding to their living space.

Lonely? Bomi thought. "You've spent this time alone before?" 

"I-I-I mean… Well. Yes, I have. But I have you with me this time. That's all that matters," Chorong's words stumbled, ending with a shy grin.

It led Bomi to gleam in her own smile, mysterious. She hummed with a good mood and pieces passed through their hands for a while. "Anyway, right, how about you, unnie? Do you think meeting other nymphs would make you fall in love with them?"

Chorong quickly appeared baffled.

"Huh? I'm really monogamous in a relationship. I probably couldn't see them as anything but family to you."

"What does that mean? Mono- Mono-monomous?"

"It means I only have eyes for you, Bomi." Chorong said it straight, and then realised what she said and shied away. Chorong bowed her head onto the puzzle.