S O U N D T R A C K 

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“We will arrive Heongseong station shortly. Please don’t forget your valuables and give way to upcoming passengers.” 

Mark placed his earphones back to his ears after he listened to the KTX in-car announcement. He noted that he’s two stations away to Pyeongchang, a city in Gangwon, where he’ll spend Christmas with his friends. 

He would’ve loved to ride with Youngjae yesterday or with Jaebum or Yugyeom in the morning but he had a few photoshoots back in China that caused him the delay in his schedule so he was forced to take the KTX on his own. 

It’s not much of a hassle for him but Mark still prefers convenience and comfort, especially he’s officially on break. It’s been awhile since the boys didn’t have a Gayo Daejun schedule on Christmas so he was really looking forward to this trip. 

As soon as the train approached the station, a new batch of passengers streamed inside. He noted down some people holding some ski boards and snowboard equipments in hand. 

They’re probably heading to where he was headed. The popular ski resort was nearby Seohyun’s cabin. 

He watched their reflection on the window as they piled the ski boards in front of them, leaning behind a wall. 

A girl, looking extra small under her thick padded coat and large snowboard in her hands was the last to enter the train before it closed shut. She looked around for an available seat and found Mark’s side open. 

Mark observed her as she noisily shuffled her way in to the train cabin having a hard time holding her large snowboard in her small hands. 

She politely smiled at him before she took the seat beside him. Leaning the board towards a barrier wall in front of them while they await for the train to move. 

When the train ascended north, everyone was drowned to their preferred past times. Some were by their phones, some were reading, and some took a nap. 

Mark was about to take a nap since his stop is still 20 minutes away when he saw his reflection by the transparent mirror in front of him. He could see the girl dozing off.

He doesn’t know why he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was just sleeping but she looked cute. She had long lashes and was forming into a pout. 

He scoffed at the sight before he closed his eyes and took a quick nap. 

“We will arrive Pyeongchang station shortly. Please don’t forget your valuables and give way to upcoming passengers.”

Mark woke up to the announcement, 20 minutes later. He found himself disoriented from sleep. He was clearly too tired already. He just came from a 2 hour flight from China then this 1 hour ride to Gangwon. His body was almost giving up on him, not to add this unfortunate extra cold weather. 

When the train finally arrived, the girl shifted in her seat accidentally kicking her snowboard to fall back on her. 

Mark was quick to his senses when he grabbed it in his hands in order for it to not fall flat on her face. 

The girl uttered a short squeal at the sight.

“Are you okay??” Mark queried while he fixed the board back to the wall. 

The girl still had her eyes shut close before she peeked it open to find the handsome man staring down on her with a worried expression. 

“Y-yeah..” She stammered in response holding her blush in. 

“Thanks..” She added. 

He nodded before he got his own things and left for the door. 

As soon as Mark stepped out, he was enveloped with a strong blizzard and a complete white out of the scenery as snow piled up thick almost to his knees. 

Apart from the heavy snow, what surprised him was almost hundreds of people were by the station causing a commotion alarming the newly arrived passengers, including him. 

What the heck.. He thought to himself at the sight of the increasingly large amount of passengers scurrying around the station. 

“What will we do now?? We might not reach home in time for Christmas at this rate??” One girl said to a guy beside him. 

“Excuse me..” Mark spoke seeing an officer in a red padded jacket and thick white beard passing by him. 

“What’s happening?” 

“There’s a blizzard. Many roads are blocked and no transportations can make it through.” The officer responded. 

“Oh.. How about the road to Merry Lane?” He quickly queried. 

“You’ll have no luck son. That road’s blocked as well. The snow has reached knee level in that area. You’ll have to walk by foot.” The officer replied. 

“Ah..” He mouthed. He quickly nodded to the officer as thank you before he thought of ways he could do now. 

He searched for his phone in his pocket only to find out that the signal of his cell was down as well. 

“Signal’s jammed. Great.” He uttered to himself.

He opened up his wifi hoping if the station had a free wifi usage but to no avail their wifi was down as well. 

“Ugh. .” 

He paused in his thoughts when he felt a hand was tapping on his shoulder. 

“E-excuse me?” A small voice spoke. 

Mark spun around to find the girl beside him on the train. 

She blinked. 

“D-deh?” Mark answered. 

“I don’t want to sound creepy but I have a place nearby if you want to stay in a while.” She offered.

“Oh.. I’m good, thank you.” Mark was quick to reject since he doesn’t want to trust a stranger so easily. Even if the stranger is pretty with long dark hair. 

“Are you sure?” She queried looking around the station. “It’s pretty cold out.” She pointed. 

“My halmeoni makes the best hotcakes, warm cookies and milk.” She added on persuading him to come. 

Mark thought if this was some Hansel and Gretel thing where he might get lured by sweets and delicious food only to be eaten by an old witch. 

He thought again, now observing the girl’s pretty features, as she too was getting cold while waiting for his reply. He might be thinking too much about it so he gave in. 

What better option does he have, right? 

“Sure.. hotcakes sounds good right now.” He replied. 

He was still wary as he followed her out the station. He zipped his coat tight while he shoved his hands back in his pockets shuddering hoping the girl’s place is near. 

“I’m Ara, by the way.” The girl said walking beside him leading the way. 

“Mark..” Mark replied simply before he pulled his scarf higher to hide his nose. 

Ara was lucky to wear proper winter clothing. She was ready for this weather. Mark on the other hand, was a coat too thin than what she was wearing. Sure, his was padded too, but he envied the thick one she was donning.

Now he thought that maybe, hotcakes and warm milk sure sounds really good right now underneath all this snow. 

“You need help with that?” Mark inquired seeing Ara fixing the board in her hands. 

“Oh no, it’s fine. Thanks.” She replied politely. 

She was clearly having a hard time with the board. Plus the weather wasn’t helping at all. The least he could do was to help. 

Mark was silent as he paused in his steps to allow Ara to walk just a  bit further than him. 

She was surprised to feel her board’s weight was lighter than usual. She spun her head around to see Mark’s eyes smiling at her. 

“Might be faster for us.” He insisted. 

“And I have something to hold on to incase you’re luring me into a cannibalistic witch.” He added a joke. 

Ara snorted aloud clearly understanding his reference. 

“Don’t worry Hansel, this good witch is vegetarian and will feed us up good.” She replied riding on to his humor. Mark smirked under his coat noting her sense.

The walk was fortunately nearby. Just a good 20 minutes away from the Station. Mark noted some establishments open around the vicinity thinking he should have a plan b incase he really was getting lured into a trap by a witch. 

The smell of freshly bake cookies was not far from where they were. Ara sniffed the air beaming at the familiar scent they engulfed. 

“We’re here!” She chirped. 

Much to her excitement, she didn’t see a branch by her feet causing her to stumble. 

“Ack!” She uttered. 

Another round of de ja vu happened when Mark quickly got to his feet to grab her by the waists and pulled her closer. 

Albeit almost getting a frostbite from the cold, Mark found in himself to chuckle.

“Are you always this clumsy?” 

Ara was stunned at their proximity. She couldn’t reply without blushing hard. 

“No.. actually. I-I don’t know what’s with me.” She mumbled before he composed herself and got out from Mark’s hold hiding her tomato red cheeks from him. 

They soon arrived at her home watching as she keyed the door open. 

As expected they were enveloped with freshly baked cookies and delicacies combined. 

“Halmeoni?? I’m home~??” Ara announced as soon as she entered while Mark trailed behind. 

She placed her board leaning onto an open red brick wall before she took off her coat revealing her white long sleeved turtleneck inside. 

Mark was stunned at the Christmas spirited sight of the warm household. The cabin house had a high ceiling and wooden walls, it wasn’t big but it was comfortable as per Mark’s tastes. He spotted the beautiful Christmas tree voluptuous and grand, filled with different sized red colored balls and many other ornaments hanging around while the lights blinked lively around it. Below were some wrapped gifts and to Mark’s excitemen