“We finally finished our finals!” I cheered.

            “Seoul-ah, do you have any plans for the break?” Ha Won questioned me. Ha Won is a friend that I met during my psychology class. I think we just had a nice bond talking about dogs and music. I’d like to say she’s my first real friend outside of the Ahn’s household besides Chanyeol. Ha Won’s also has introduced me to her other friends, but I haven’t had much time to interact with them too much.

            “I think I’m just going to stay at home. I would go back to Seoul, but my parents mentioned that I should celebrate with my new family here first before coming back to celebrate with them. Plus, with all the snow, it’d be hard to get back to the big city safely so I’m not too sure if I will be visiting home in the winter much,” I explained. “What about you?”

            “My family and I are going to France to visit my cousins.”

            “Ugh, I’m so jealous, Ha-Won! Make sure to bring me back souvenirs,” I wiggled my body towards her. 

            “You’re cuteness , but fine. I’ll get going first then, okay?” Ha-Won waved her hands good-bye. “Rest well on your break.”

            I hummed in response. “Have a nice break!”

            I sighed. “Man, why does the break have to start on Wednesday? I can’t tell him to have a nice break in person.” I took out my phone and quickly shot Chanyeol a text saying that I hope he has a nice break and that we could hang out sometime during the break. I haven’t been able to see Baekhyun as well since I was testing all day and I, sadly, don’t have Baekhyun’s number or KakaoTalk yet so I couldn’t text him. I’ll hopefully see him at home anyway. To everyone’s surprise, he’s been showing up at home more often either at the very start of dinner when everyone has already sat down with food or in the middle of it.

            I began my way out of the building into the cold, snowy world. The first snow fell in Korea happened about a week ago and since then it has been nonstop snowing. Being out of the big city, the snow is sticking! In Seoul, it would snow, stick, then melt and then stick and melt again! It’s been quite nice to just seen it all stick at once.

            I zipped up my parka all the way up and waddled my way back home. I do like snow a lot, but when it comes to me trying to get somewhere that’s where it gets troublesome. My favorite part of winter is those days before it starts to snow and the sky is just this weird bluish-gray and it’s so cold outside, but it’s not that time for snow yet. I’m sure everyone has experienced that kind of weather.

            Honestly, I tend to like things that surround my birthday month, which is October, like my favorite number is 17 (my birth date) and so on, but winter has to be my favorite season. The air is filled with so much Christmas spirit! With the freezing cold air filling up my lungs with hints of the apple cinnamon, hot chocolate, and anything else that is related to the warmth of winter.

            With the thought of warmth, I stopped by the cafe because it got way too cold for me to continue. Sure, I was halfway home, but I doubt I was going to make it home. Ten minutes is so much more different in the snow.

            “Welcome, Miss Park Seoul,” the owner greeted me. Mrs. Han is an amazingly kind woman. She’s usually the one working with the few student baristas since her husband works as the university’s librarian and her son works at the coffee stand where I get my lemonade. “What would like today?”

            “Can I have a regular size peppermint hot chocolate?”

            “Of course,” she said and started up making the drink. “Plans for the break?”

            “No, I plan to stay here with everyone at the Ahn’s. Winter here is a lot nicer than it is in Seoul, which says a lot because I love the winter season.”

            “Ah, is that right?”

            I nodded. “Yeah, I really like the feeling that everyone is getting ready for Christmas. It feels so magical and so heartwarming.”

            “I feel the same way! Except I think I really prefer spring because I love watching the flowers bloom and then I can make my cafe prettier!”

            “Mom, you’re not complaining to Seoul that I’m not watering your plants, are you?” Jisung had just walked into the cafe with a couple of his friends as they probably just returned from the university.

            “Of course not, I’m just telling her that I love the springtime,” she laughed. “Hi Felix and Changbin, it’s been a while.” The other boys bowed and greeted Jisung’s mom. “Okay, here you go, Seoul-ah.”

            She handed me my hot drink. “Thank you, Auntie. I’ll get going now.”

            Mrs. Han smiled at me and then hummed. “Please stay warm!”

            “Bye, Seoul,” Jisung also called out to me and I quickly waved before slipping out the door. I was surprised that Jisung and I are the same age since he looks high school student but then again, I still look a high school student too. Then again, we all just came out from high school.

            Anyway, I started my way home, but got distracted by the pretty Christmas lights dangling in the alleyway. I couldn’t help, but to take out my phone and snap a few aesthetic pictures that I’m probably going to delete later. Every time I take photos, I review them to see that they aren’t that good than when I initially took them.

I looked down the alleyway and realized that I haven’t been through there yet (I haven’t been through all of them anyway). I shrugged my shoulders and walked through it. I might as well take this opportunity to explore because who knows when we’ll be trapped inside because of the snow plus it wasn’t too snowy today.

            This area was mostly homes and a few studios. One place had caught my eye. The structure of this building was a lot different than the others. It was very sparkly, and the shape was rectangular, boxy like and covered in glass. The front of the building extended out a bit further than the back of it and had a short staircase winding on the side of the building for the entrance.

            I stepped closer and noticed that it was sparkling too because of the Christmas lights. Peeking inside through the windows, I realize that it’s a library or bookstore of some sort. I decided to take a walk inside.

            “Hello,” a man greeted me right when I walked in.

            “Hello,” I greeted back, shyly.  I wasn’t expecting to be greeted so early on upon entering the nearly deserted store.

            “I haven’t seen you before,” he tilted his head at me. This man was probably in his late 60s. His voice was deep with a somewhat of a rasp to it. He adjusted his glasses and peered at me with old eyes.

            “Ah yes, I’m Park Seoul. I moved here a couple months ago to go the university.”

            “I see. Well, welcome to my paradise of books!” He smiled. “Feel free to look around, sit and read for a few hours. I’m always here fixing up some of these old books so if you need a quiet place to relax, Mr. Oh’s Books is the place to be.”

            “Thank you,” I bowed as I walked further in. The store was filled with Christmas lights hanging from the ceilings down to the shelves. It felt like being in a Christmas store, but filled with sparkling books that just want to fly off the shelf and into my hands.

            I am quite the book lover, if I say so myself. I still very much enough a handful of Young Adult books. Sure, there are lots of Korean authors here in Korea, but my friends and I enjoy many of the American authors like Jenny Han, Marissa Meyers, and J.K. Rowling. It was hard to read any books though with all the homework and studying to do, but when we had time there was some reading to be done.

            I crept up some stairs that lead up to a second level that had tables and chairs, assuming as a study area and yet, there was no one here. I guess everyone just uses the school library. I like it here better though. Here, it feels like we must be quiet for the serene setting unlike the library, where it seems to be the hang out spot for snack parties.

            I sipped on my hot chocolate and scanned the shelves for any books that look interesting.

            “I see you found my secret hiding place.”

            I jumped a little at the sudden voice. I turned around to see Baekhyun leaning by the stairs with a thick wool coat on. He had his arms and legs crossed as he stood there smirking at me.

            “Hiding spot?” I questioned him and set down my hot drink on the table nearby.

            He lifted himself off the wall and walked toward me and took a seat and the same table I sat down my drink on. I slid down in the chair across from him as well. “I come here for some quiet time. Sometimes, well most of the times, my co-teachers would kick me out of my class and tell me to go home so I come here to finish off my work. It’s a lot quieter here than home since no one is here besides Mr. Oh and he’s always open. We don’t have a problem with crime so even when he’s not here, his store remains open.”

            “Ah, I see…”

            “What are you doing here anyway? It’s getting a little rough out there with all the snow so I assumed you would be heading home from school or already home.”

            “I was, but I stopped by Mrs. Han’s cafe and then I wanted to explore, and I really love holiday decorations and spotted this place,” I pouted my lips. Baekhyun was sounding like a parent given that slightly scolding tone.

            “Okay, fair enough,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t worry when the weather turns warmer, I promise to take you around the whole town.”

            “Oh really, thank you,” I blushed and sipped my hot chocolate.

            “Of course. And I’ll show you the rooftop later as well since it’s my second hiding spot,” he winked once again. “Ah, we should probably get back to the house before a blizzard hits us.”

            I looked outside and the snow did seem to be picking up speed. I nod my head and we both make our way to the front.

            “Thank you Mr. Oh for letting me enjoy your shop,” I bow as I make my way to the door.

            “Any time, Miss Seoul,” he waved his hand at me.

            “Do you have any plans for the break?” Baekhyun asked me just as left the shop.

            I shook my head. “It’s a lot work to go all the way back to Seoul, you know. I like to rest and take my breaks with leisure. Plus, that my parents want me to stay here and celebrate with everyone at home first. First Christmas with my new family.”

            “Oh okay. That’s sounds nice. Yeah, I usually stay here anyway since I always grade the tests and papers from my students. But what about your parents and your family? Aren’t they going to be missing you?”

            “My parents will, of course. My family… they…” I bit my lip.

            He stopped walking for a moment and turned to look at me. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Baekhyun mentioned as he felt that I was struggling to say what I wanted to say. He put a hand on the small of back.

            “Can we just get back to the house first? It’ll be better if I’m warmer,” I smiled at him.

            “Yeah,” he breathed and gently pushed me forward.

            “My own small sized family aren’t really too close with our other families,” I started off as we sat in my room. It was the first time that we had sat down together inside this home, besides dinner. It was a first to be together in a room overall. Baekhyun across from me on my swivel chair while I found comfort in my blankets. “I guess I was added into the family. My dad that I lived with is my stepdad and so my mom and I moved in with my stepdad. All my family members are quite the interesting people with all the drama and yet, they all seem close with each other. They don’t really invite my dad, mom, and I out to things sometimes like birthday parties, holiday dinners, and sometimes just normal dinners.

            My dad doesn’t seem very bothered by it. I’m not so sure about my mom. We’ve talked about it and she’d just shrug it off and say she doesn’t really care if that’s how they want to act.”

            “What about you? How do you feel about all that?” Baekhyun questioned me. I looked up at him and pursed my lips.

            “Well, I’m kind of upset about it. Sometimes, I don’t want to go to things and most of the time I do. I think my aunts and uncles favor my other cousins more than they do with me. Sure, I am older, and I don’t have a very dramatic childhood than my cousins, but it would be nice if I was invited to birthdays too and not last minute. It would be nice if I also got a lot of Christmas presents too like my cousins and if I got asked if I ate and if I wanted to go eat dinner, if I wanted to go to the arcade, to the movies, to anywhere… I wish we- I wish I wasn’t so left out on things.”

            There was silence that filled the room. I was looking down at my bedsheets the whole time as I babbled on the list of concerns I had. Why was I even saying this anyway? Baekhyun wouldn’t care. I’m being a big baby right now and need to grow up. I’m 19 and I’m crying over not getting Christmas presents.

            I felt a sudden warmth engulf me. I lift my head up to feel Baekhyun’s wool sweater rubbing against my face. He sat on his knees on the bed as he pulled my head into his chest and another arm wrapped around my back.

            “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I don’t experience much of what you go through besides me hearing what everyone here at the house did while I worked, but that was all my fault since I decided to work instead of come home. I’m sure your family doesn’t mean to be like that to you. I can’t really say why they wouldn’t be like that… uhm…”

            I pulled myself out from Baekhyun’s hold and looked up into his sparkling orbs. “It’s okay… I tell myself that too. Another reason why I moved so far away. There’s no reason of staying if I’m not going to go out.”

            “Then I suppose you made a good choice?” He gently pets my head. I nod my head, leaning into his touch. “If this was another reason to move, there must be a first reason to move?”

            “I can only talk about so many depressing things,” I laugh.

            A knock sounded through room and then the opening of my door. “Hey, dinner is… Oh, Byun, you’re here too?”

            Baekhyun nodded his head. “Uhm…” Baekhyun looked at our very close position and quickly stood up. He coughed a couple times. “Let’s head down?”

I LOVE YOU ALEXAJJANG! Honestly, I love and get so excited to see your comments on all my stories T~T YOU MAKE ME CRY AND I LOVE YOU FOR THAT.

alrighty, that's all.