This Christmas, Yoon Bomi had a goal. It wasn't to make the freaking crazy nine-foot tall tree her dad bought stand perfectly straight, because that was just impossible and would likely result in injury; and it definitely wasn't to stop stuffing her face with sugar cookies, because that was just a ridiculous concept that she couldn't wrap her mind around.

She wasn't going to shoot her weekly Youtube video yet ─because procrastination is always the best way to go, of course─, and she wasn't going to convince her mom that the sweater she had been knitting for her looked like a fuzzy, shapeless sock. With a polar bear on the front. Or a marshmallow.

No, Bomi's goal this wonderful Christmas morning was to get her neighbour, the one and only Park Chorong, to go on a date with her. One date, and then Bomi's charm would take care of the rest. Hopefully. Probably. Maybe.

She just needed a foot in the door.

That was the plan, so something was bound to go wrong. Really, it wasn't even a plan. It was a goal she'd set after opening presents and drinking cocoa with mountains of foam and thousands of marshmallows that her mother managed to cram into the mugs, so obviously, Bomi had been out of her mind.

Except her desire to accomplish this goal only increased throughout the morning, as she watched Bom, Chorong's niece, giggle with her new colouring books and dolls and piles of stuff that Chorong had bought for the child months ago, making Chorong smile in return.

Bomi wanted a fluffy, giggly and caring Park Chorong for herself, so she would start with a date. Her plan was simple. She just needed to wing it at their very own Yoon's Holiday Celebration, where the Parks were invited to.

This is how Bomi found herself standing outside in the cold on Christmas afternoon, with Chorong's niece attached to her hip ─the little girl seemed to adore her─, trying to remember how best to build a snowman so that she could participate in her family's Christmas contest. Chorong's snowman would probably be a masterpiece and Bomi wanted to keep her own embarrassment to a minimum.

But she'd risk it. The pay-off would be worth it.

"Sunmi!" she whispered loudly to her sister standing a few feet away. Well, not standing. Sunmi was actually crawling through the snow on her hands and knees picking up the Skittles their younger brother Jongjin had knocked over. Apparently they were going to be a snowman's mouth.

Except they were all disappearing into Jongjin's mouth.

Sunmi looked up at her, and then at Bom, who was making a snow monster at Bomi's feet, gibbering unintelligibly in her puffy blue jacket.

"Bomi, you know Jeongsook's kid eating the snow." Sunmi remarked.

Well, duh. It was like a never-ending free snowcone. Bomi would be funnelling it into too if she wasn't preparing to throw together a snowman when she had no idea what she was doing.

"Do you know how ridiculous you look?" Bomi asked. Sunmi finally stood up and handed the rescued Skittles to Jongjin. They hadn't even been allowed to start building yet and half of their decorations had vanished. Right into somebody's stomach.

Apparently Sunmi chose to ignore Bomi's question.

"Tell me how to make a snowman." Bomi demanded quietly, watching her tiny teammate wander around in the snowy field. Or yard. Scrubby front yard.

Oh, no. . Bom was going up to Chorong. The child was gleefully toddling up to Chorong. Bomi was not prepared for this right now, she needed the child on her side for emotional strength and not wandering into her actual source of distress. Her eyes widened and she fixed her gaze onto Sunmi, still waiting to learn how to build a damn snowman.

Bomi was sure her hysterical emotions were painted clearly in her face, if Sunmi looking at her like she was crazy was any indication, but Bomi got distracted again watching Chorong kneeling in the snow to carry on what looked like a very engaging conversation with the toddler. Bom giggled, and Chorong hugged her and kissed her forehead, before physically turning her back around and pushing her in Bomi's direction.

Chorong winked at Bomi from across the yard. She winked at her. Bomi was panicking.

"Uh, make some balls. And then stack them up." Sunmi stated.

Wait, what? What the hell was she talking about?

"Okay everybody, you have one hour to build your snowmen. Begin now!" Papa Yoon proclaimed from his homemade mini stage that Bomi was sure would collapse by the end of the day. It did every year.

Bomi saw Chorong snap into action and decided to just do the same. Just copy Chorong. You can't go wrong.

"Bomi-ah, you look like a . Pull yourself together." Sunmi grunted lightly, helping Jongjin roll together a massive ball of snow. Bomi threw a carrot at them. A perfectly peeled and washed carrot. Apparently her mom believed snowmen needed properly prepared noses.

Bomi knelt down and grabbed Bom's hands, looking into excited eyes.

"Okay, baby, do you wanna help Aunty Bomi with this?" she asked her brightly.

Bom nodded excitedly and Bomi smiled.

"Alright, sweetie, you can make the head. You just get some snow, like this," Bomi made a snowball in her mittens and Bom frowned in concentration. "And then you put it on the floor and roll it around until it gets bigger. Okay?"

Bom nodded determinedly and plopped down on her to work on the head. Bomi brushed the hair out of her face fondly, and straightened up and looked around.

Well, Sunmi and Jongjin's snowman body was the size of a planet. On the other side, Chorong's older sister, Jeongsook, and her husband Sunryeog seemed to be digging a hole. God knows why.

Chorong was working nonstop, and her little snowman body sphere looked perfect.

Focus, Bomi. Focus.

Bomi set to work and made two lumpy spheres, stacking them on top of each other. No, her snowman wasn't a failure. It just had character.

The head Bom made was twice the size of the middle sphere, but Bomi added it anyway. Chorong's niece was just too talented, the most talented child ever. She was so proud of her. Just look at that sphere.

Bom clapped at the sight of the lumpy, disproportionate snowman and then added the Oreos Bomi had brought to use as buttons. Throw in a carrot nose, Twizzler mouth, rocky eyes, a Superman cape, and voilà…a limbless, lumpy mass that might be interpreted as a snowman.

"Wow. That looks like ." Jongjin said from behind Bomi. Bomi glanced over at his and Sunmi's snowman. It had no facial features. Or buttons. They had obviously all been eaten.

And it was ing gigantic.

"Yours is right out of a horror movie." Bomi stated, pulling Bom to her feet so she'd stop eating the snow.

Jongjin smirked at them. "That was the plan."

Pssht. Yeah, right. Horror movie snowmen weren't planned, that's just how most turned out anyway. Jeongsook and Sunryeog had put theirs in a hole, so it looked like it was being into the centre of the Earth.

Bomi looked over at Chorong's, and holy mother of─ that was a masterpiece. A true masterpiece. A perfectly rounded, top hat-sporting snowman decked out in black fuzzy scarf, mittens, and hat straight from Chorong's closet. It was wonderful, and bound to win.

Except for Seo Eunkwang's Star Wars work of art. It was like one of those tedious, detail-oriented snowmen Bomi saw on TV and…no. No way.

She loved it. But it could not win. She was all Chorong, all the way.

"Bom, honey." Bomi said quietly, squatting down to the child's level.

"Aunty Bomi!" Bom exclaimed, throwing her little arms around Bomi in a spontaneous hug. Bomi chuckled.

"Hey baby, will you do me a favour?"

Bom nodded vigorously. Bomi looked straight into her innocent little eyes. This was serious business.

"Okay, you see Uncle Eunkwang over there?" Bomi pointed to Eunkwang, who was taking pictures of his Yoda freakishly awesome snowman. Bom nodded again, concentrating hard.

"Okay, good girl. I want you to run over there and roll the snowman over, okay? Just push the bottom ball, and then give Uncle Eunkwang a hug and tell him you love him. Can you do that?"

Oh God, she was a horrible person.

Bom bit her lip and processed it for a good minute. Bomi figured she'd get halfway to Eunkwang, get distracted, and end up playing tag with a dog or something, but whatever. This was worth a try. Eunkwang could always rebuild. And Chorong deserved a victory.

Bom finally nodded and Bomi smiled and kissed her on the cheek, before patting her on her as the child took off at a toddler-stilted run towards Eunkwang. Bomi didn't even watch the destruction, just bit her lip and helped Jongjin dig Seunghee, Chorong's little sister, out of the snow cave she'd made that had collapsed on her.

When she returned to her blobby Superman, she saw Chorong coming towards her, carrying a grinning and flushed Bom. Bom looked like she was singing. Bomi couldn't really tell if she was because it was just a loud, unintelligible toddler language with a faint melody. Chorong, on the other hand, seemed to be singing along.

She knew all the words.

"Bomi." Chorong greeted brightly when she reached the Superman blob.

"Aunty Bomi!" Bom greeted Bomi at the same time. Then Bom turned and watched Chorong's face, as if she wanted to know what they were going to say next.

Bomi smiled at them, if only to conceal her inner panic. No, her favourite kid wasn't a tattle-tale. Right? What would she say, 'Aunty Bomi made me knock over his snowman'? God, why did Bomi not think this damn plan through?

"You have quite the troublemaker as your partner." Chorong remarked, bouncing Bom up and down with a smile.

Bomi just nodded. But, she had to laugh when Bom grabbed Chorong's nose and held it.

"I wonder where she learns it." Chorong said with a knowing little smile that had Bomi's insides curling up into a little ball.

. . . . Damn. . Man. She ing knows. She has to know. Look at that smile.

Bomi swallowed, trying to surreptitiously unravel her internal organs. "Sunryeog, definitely."

Chorong laughed and nodded, and then looked up at the stage when Papa Yoon tapped on the microphone. The Yoons were nothing but committed to their roles.

"Okay, everybody, let's quiet down." He said.

"Shhhhh." Bom said, covering Chorong's mouth with her tiny hand and then glaring at Bomi. Bomi could read the child's expression. Shut the hell up, Aunty Bomi, I wanna watch Aunty Rong win. Bomi couldn't blame her.

"In third place, we have Kim Wonsik's miniature snowman family."

ing cheater. First he makes them tiny, like Bom's height, then he makes multiple just in case one isn't enough. Better watch out, Bomi might sic Chorong's niece on him.

"In second place, Jeongsook and Sunryeog."

What the hell? The terrifying "I'm being into the middle of the earth" snowman won second place. This was crazy.

Chorong was smiling, not clapping because her hands were occupied by a grumpy-looking Bom. Chorong grinned at Bomi excitedly.

This actually was exhilarating. Bomi was surprised. Maybe it was the element of crime that she had introduced. Perfect way to spice up life.

"And in first place, our very own…Park Chorong!"

Chorong almost dropped Jeongsook's baby. Bom was clapping and cheering her little heart out though, so she didn't seem to mind. Bomi grinned at Chorong's shock and leaned in to take Bom. Chorong, in her victory-altered state of mind, obviously thought Bomi was going for…something else, and gave Bomi a hug instead, beaming brightly.

She rushed up to the stage to accept the tiny trophy that had Olaf on it.

"Oh my God," Chorong said into the microphone, "I want to thank my parents for getting me the ingredients for Rain's face."

The ingredients for Rain's face. Okay, she named the snowman. Bomi had named hers too. It was Mr. RhythmTa.

"And sweet little Bom for giving me the idea to use chocolate kisses for the mouth."

Bomi wasn't really surprised. The child was a creative genius.

"And to Bomi too. Thank you all!"

Wait, what was that last one? Was Yoon Bomi just mentioned in Park Chorong's acceptance speech? Yes. Yes, she was. But she tried to contain her excitement because Chorong was now walking back towards her.

It couldn't possibly be safe sledding down a hill that had a slope of like forty-five degrees. Or sixty. Hell it could be ninety for all the good that was going to come out of this.

With a toddler on her lap.

And an undetermined "sledding partner" sitting right behind her.

Bomi was trying to figure out how to rig the hill, or the sleds, so that Chorong would win. Or just so everybody else but Chorong would crash.

Yeah, Bomi would alter geography for Chorong. It would be hilarious. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to do this so she was looking for weak points on one of the plastic sleds when Bom came bouncing over to her.

Following Bom, a tiny blue hand dragging a very willing Chorong along.

"Aunty Bomi!" Bom greeted, coming to a stop in front of Bomi. Chorong stood there with a smile on her face. Bomi tried to look like she hadn't been about to cheat in a sled race filled with both of their families. And a child.

"Aunty Rong's our partner." Bom stated. She looked completely serious. No room for argument.

Bomi glanced at Chorong with raised eyebrows. She had to make it seem like she wasn't too eager.

"Bom asked me." Chorong explained, flushing slightly. "And I couldn't say no to that face."

Could anybody? God, it'd be like setting a puppy on fire.

"It'll be fun." Bomi said lightly. She watched Chorong's expression morph from hesitant to determined. Uh-oh. Chorong with a goal.

Bom watched Chorong in awe as well, ready to listen to or do anything that might come out of Chorong's mouth. Bomi would be right beside her.

"Okay," Chorong started, moving closer and scooping up Bom so they were in a sort of huddle. "I think we should go by size. Have Bom in the front, then me, then you. When we first start out, we'll need to lean forward, but when we get about halfway down, lean back, and try to distribute your weight evenly."

Oh dear, what had Bomi signed herself up for? No, what had Bom signed Bomi up for?

Bomi just went along with this. She wasn't going to be thinking about evenly distributing body weight when she was hurtling down this ing cliff on a flimsy piece of plastic with a baby and the girl she liked.

Her goal right now had temporarily switched to survival without injury.

At the top of the hill, Bomi set the sled down in the line of her bundled up friends, plus their ridiculous siblings, and Chorong's even more ridiculous parents. Chorong got on in the middle of the sled with her legs stretched out forward and Bom settled between them. Bomi crouched down at the back, vibrating with anticipation.

Or fear for her life.

"Go!" Papa Yoon yelled from behind her.

Bomi pushed the sled forward so it gained some momentum, then hopped on behind Chorong as they tipped over the edge down the hill. She wrapped her arms around Chorong and Bom, and found dark brown hair in as Chorong's skull nearly knocked her teeth out.

God, lean-the--back. She told you, Bomi.

Bomi glanced around as they picked up speed. Holy , this hill was massive. Was it growing?

She watched Chorong's parents' sled hit the only tree in a ten-mile radius, sending them toppling and laughing hysterically into the snow.

Sunmi seemed to be trying to steer her and Jongjin's sled so that they could ram Seunghee. They ended up tipping it over and rolling another twenty feet down the hill as Seunghee shot by them, laughing her off.

She was the competition.

The sled reached what must be about a hundred miles per hour and Chorong started screaming like she was on fire. Bomi figured Chorong had lost all control and forgotten about the plans she'd made, only leaning back into Bomi because of sheer momentum now.

Bomi clutched tighter. She hoped Chorong had a good grip on Bom but Chorong didn't seem to have a good grip on anything at the moment.

"CHORONG, LEAN FORWARD!" Bomi yelled into her ear. "WE NEED MORE SPEED! SEUNGHEE'S GAINING ON US!"

Chorong stopped her screaming and leaned her body forward a little, and Bomi pressed into her back. They were so close. They would either propel themselves headfirst into the snow, or win.

Bomi was thinking of how you're supposed to loosen your muscles when you're in a car wreck so that you don't break anything. Basically, what drunk people do. Bomi sort of wished she was drunk right now. Did the "go limp and roll" philosophy apply to out-of-control sled races?

The sled shot past the finish line at the bottom of the hill, in first place of course, and up a bump that jolted its occupants violently. Bomi's mind was on the clouds when she realised Chorong's hair smelled like honey. And when she realised she'd need to see a dentist or something because holy Chorong's skull was hard and she was pretty sure she could taste blood.

Chorong was screaming her ing head off. You'd think they were being chased by murderers. Or, well, barrelling along at a hundred miles an hour on a sled built for people eight and under.

They finally made contact with the ground again, and then went skidding along the ice in the street. What was her father thinking when he planned this race? How were they supposed to deal with this?

Then again, nobody else seemed to be having these problems. They were just lacking a winning attitude, a go-getter mentality. Pssht, ers. Coming to a halt slowly and happily at the bottom of the hill. Not risking their lives for this.

Bomi's sled was going sideways on the ice now. That was dedication.

Bomi used all her strength to keep Chorong upright and not spinning out into the middle of the street. The same Chorong who was nearly becoming one with Bom, she was holding her so tightly. They were melding into one fluffy body.

And then a curb. Bomi braced herself, which basically involved squeezing Chorong and Bom, screaming her off, and shutting her eyes. Yeah, they were prepared for impact.

The sled hit the curb and halted abruptly.

Its occupants did not.

Bomi found herself about twenty feet away after she stopped rolling. Chorong was next to her, with Bom still wrapped safely in her arms.

Bomi sat up hurriedly when she realised someone was making a noise like crying. It was Chorong. She crawled over to Chorong, realising that she had split her own lip against Chorong's head sometime during that death-defying stunt, and sighed in relief when she saw that Chorong was actually laughing.

Bom seemed to be in shock. She had a smile frozen on her face, and was just staring at Chorong with wide eyes.

"Chorong." Bomi said with a smile, grabbing Chorong's shoulder and helping her sit up. "Are you okay?"

Chorong slowed her laughing and looked at Bomi with bright eyes. "We won!" she exclaimed. Then she reached out and brushed the crazy hair out of Bom's eyes. "We won, baby!"

Bom kept grinning, but didn't say anything. She was probably unable to process things right now. Bomi knew she was having issues with it. Chorong's eyes suddenly zeroed in on Bomi's lip, and the excited smile was replaced with a worried frown.

"Oh my God, Bbomi-ah! You're bleeding! How did you do that?"

My face slammed into your head. Barrelling down Everest with no control whatsoever.

"I think I bit it." Bomi replied, carefully running her tongue over her lip. Chorong watched transfixed.

Little Bom seemed to regain her senses all at once. "Aunty Rong," she tugged on Chorong's jacket sleeve, but kept her eyes fixed on Bomi, "help Aunty Bomi." She implored.

Well aww, little Bom cared. Bomi smiled at her reassuringly, but stopped when Bom looked horrified. She realised her teeth were probably coated in blood.

Aunty Bomi was a zombie.

Chorong started to stand up. "Don't worry baby, I'll help her." She said to Bom, holding her hand, and extending the other one for Bomi.

Their families were heading towards them, probably to give them a trophy and to see if they were alright. Bomi could see Chorong's older sister and her husband at the back, glancing over to see if their child was alive, before pointing at them and laughing. She rolled her eyes and gestured back at her house, where Chorong had started dragging her. They gave her thumbs up.

Yeah. You got this. Go fix that busted lip.

Once they were in the Yoon's bathroom─after an exhausting walk back─, Chorong filled up a plastic cup with water from the sink and handed it to Bomi.

"Swish and spit." She said seriously.

"Swish and spit." Bom repeated, kicking her legs which dangled off the counter.

Bomi did as they said, because God, what would happen if she refused? She watched Chorong approach with a wet paper towel, and reach up for her lips. Park Chorong was about to touch . Bomi turned herself into a statue.

"Hold still." Chorong said, even though Bomi wasn't planning on moving an inch anytime soon.

"Hold still, Aunty Bomi." Bom demanded.

Bomi blinked when Chorong touched the cut in her lip, but held her head totally still. God, look at those eyes. So big and brown and caring and…lovable. They just go on forever. Like huge pools of sunshine and smiles and─oh God they're looking.

Bomi flushed when Chorong smiled at her, letting her knuckles brush against Bomi's cheek. Yeah, Bomi was pretty sure Chorong had cleaned all the blood off her lip. Now Chorong was just torturing her or something. That, or Bomi was very close to fulfilling and exceeding a specific goal.

"Aunty Rong," Bom started, massive grin on her chubby toddler face, "Aunty Bomi needs you to kiss it better."

Wait. What? Wait, oh God. Oh my God.

Chorong's hand dropped at that and she took a step back, turning crimson.

"You should kiss it better for Aunty Bomi, baby." Chorong said shakily, picking Bom up so she was at Bomi's level, but not meeting Bomi's eyes. Bomi watched the child, and absently stuck out her split lip for Bom to peck. This was sort of disappointing.

"Thank you, baby girl." Bomi said to the toddler with a warm smile. She glanced at Chorong. Yep. Why did she look like she was about to catch fire? Not even catch fire, just burst into flames.

Chorong didn't say anything as they left the bathroom, but she grabbed Bomi's arm as soon as they stepped outside the house and spun her around.

Right into the ing graveyard of snowmen. Bomi tore her focus off the five-sphere snowman Chorong's parents had built, and looked into Chorong's nervous eyes.

Uh. What's this? What's happening? Where the hell had her damn plan gone?

Chorong took a step closer and played with a button on Bomi's coat. Bomi tried not to fall over like one of these disastrous snowmen.

"Maybe I should kiss it better." Chorong said, staring at Bomi's lip. Bomi didn't say anything. She seemed to have lost her vocal abilities, so she just let drop open slightly.

Little Bom sat on the ground eating the snow and watching them with a happy grin. She looked satisfied. Mission accomplished, man. Baby's work is done.

Chorong took a step closer and kept her eyes on Bomi's lip, until she leaned up and kissed her. Slowly. So slowly. And carefully, so she didn't cause any pain.

Bomi was about to pass out. She focused on breathing deeply, and wrapping one arm around Chorong's waist, and threading the other hand through her hair. She pulled back when Chorong's tongue hit the split in her lip, making it sting.

They both winced, but really, Bomi did not care at all. She could not care about anything else but the girl in her arms. Chorong just kissed her.

Plans be damned. Chorong just kissed her.

"Are you─ are you doing anything tomorrow night?" Chorong asked softly, staring up into Bomi's eyes. Oh my God, what was happening? Bomi tried to make her face look less foolish and psychotic.

She probably wasn't successful, and Chorong just kept staring. God, she couldn't control her face.

Did she have plans tomorrow night? She really couldn't think straight. But whatever, you know, if she did… that . Park Chorong might be asking her out right now.

Bomi forced her body to shake her head haltingly. Chorong bit her lip and took one of Bomi's mittens in her hands, playing with the flaps shyly.

"Do you─ do you want to come over? I was planning on having an end-of-2019 movie marathon…I mean most of them might , but…"

Bomi couldn't nod fast enough. Geez, don't snap your neck, woman. Really, Chorong in a warm living room, with stupid movies, warm drinks, blankets and cuddles. No question. Little Bom was nodding vigorously at them as she funnelled snow into her little mouth.

"I─ yeah, sure, I would love to." Bomi said, biting her lip before releasing it because it caused unbearable pain. Chorong's delighted smile turned into a wince, and she ran her fingers lightly just under Bomi's bottom lip.

Bomi stood stock still and realised their families were once again approaching with that ing trophy. Wow, they really wanted to get rid of it didn't they.

But Bomi already had her trophy. Totally in the bag. Signed, sealed, delivered. No, she had not fulfilled her goal for the day. Chorong had usurped it, made it her own, and emerged victorious as always. With a sweet smile and shining brown eyes that were staring into Bomi's soul.

"I know you got Bom to knock over Eunkwang's snowman for me." Chorong whispered with a smirk. "And thank you for that." She leaned down and scooped Bom up into her arms, hugging her tightly. Bomi flushed. She had known Chorong knew. She knew it!

Somebody was speaking to her, but Bomi's mind was blocking them out, unable to process anything except Chorong, and, by extension, the little girl in Chorong's arms. She bit her lips again. God, , stop doing that.

"Chorong, um, I think─ I think I need you to kiss it better again." Jesus, seriously. That's the best you have?

Chorong grinned like she was about to start laughing, but leaned up anyway and kissed Bomi softly on the lips. It really did make the pain go away. It was probably all psychological. Bomi's brain just couldn't process pain when she was kissing Chorong.

Bomi also didn't process the whooping coming from Jeongsook and Sunryeog, or the happy slew of swears spewing from Eunkwang and Wonsik's mouths, or Jongjin and Sunmi's hollering, or Seunghee's screaming like an excited girl, or Chorong's parents' silent appreciation or her own parents setting the trophy at her feet and backing slowly away with the proudest smile they had in them.

Don't interrupt the mating animals.

Bomi would call this a successful day. Definitely. Sometimes you just have to toss out your goals and let Park Chorong take you by storm. There's no stopping it. No stopping what your body or your mind decides to do in response. Bomi had been lost for a while now.

Chorong's tongue swiped across the split in her lip again.

This was a wonderful Christmas.