"I want to hold you close, skin on skin, and let our heartbeats have a conversation."
— John Mark Green

As they walked side-by-side down the road that led back to their lodging, Kai dug into one of the plastic bags he was carrying. He pulled out a brown package and handed it over to Su Min without a word.

"What’s this?" she asked, glancing at him with arched brows up as she opened the package. Seconds later, she got her answer. The sweet scent of bungeoppang quickly hit her nose, making her face light up with excitement.

"It's a thank you for not making me sleep with the Ms. Jang," he explained, secretly admiring her childish yet genuine happiness.

Keeping her eyes on the fish shaped bread filled with red bean paste, Su Min made a silent "O" with . It had been a while since she's had this treat and she couldn’t be happier—in fact, she was even happy enough to one more time. "You’re safe for tonight," she replied, munching away on the delicious treat, "but I mean, there's always tomorrow night,"

Taken aback, Kai stopped on his tracks. "Ya! Give them back. Give the back now!" he yelled as he dashed toward her, attempting to snatch the bag away from her possession.

"No! It's mine!" Su Min screamed as she quickly pulled the goodies away from him. She held her precious bread closer to her and glared at him. "Ya Kim Jongin, don't make me make you really sleep with her!" she threatened, casually addressing him by his real name, making his heart flutter.

Without a fight, Kai raised his arms and let out a sigh of surrender. "Fine. Keep them," he countered, followed by a hidden smile. Seeing her carefree side and realizing she felt more at ease with him around, he couldn’t help, but feel relieved.

"Thank, you!" she replied, summoning a wide smile before hopping away in front of him.

Kai pressed his lips and turned away slightly to hide his blushing cheeks, before looking back ahead. "Ya! Park Su Min! Aren't you going to give me any?" he called after her.

"No! They're all mine!" she answered over her shoulder like a spoiled brat.

Knowing she wouldn’t be able to hear nor see him, he scoffed then bared his teeth. "Fatty," mumbled under his breath.

However, equally aware he was bound to make a silent comment, Su Min stopped and turned back around. She narrowed her brows and glared at him without knowing what he muttered. "What was that?" she called playfully.

Hiding his disbelief, Kai shook his head. "Nothing. I said nothing," he immediately replied.

Su Min made her way back over and stopped some feet away. She extended her arm and held out her bean bread. "You get one bite," she instructed.

As if stunned into silence, it took him a split second to reply. "Really?" he confirmed with rounded eyes.

She nodded in response, expecting him to take the bread from her—but this time, it was Kai, who took her by surprise.

Without any telling signal, he grabbed a light hold of her hand and together, they raised the pastry to his mouth, locking gazes as he took a bite.

*Du-geun* *Du-geun* *Du-geun*

|| …………… ||

By the time they made it back to the house, snow had started to fall, and was getting heavier by the hour. By late afternoon, just as the light faded, it had completely blanketed the ground by at least a foot.

"Su Min-ah! Jongin-ssi!" Ms. Jang called loudly as she knocked nonstop on the wooden beam.

"Coming!" Su Min answered, hurrying to the door. The moment she revealed herself, the old woman shoved a small thermos and a container of honey rice cakes in her arms.

"Here, take this!" she ordered and looked up at the dark sky, "Looking at the weather, I don't think we'll be able to have dinner in the courtyard tonight, so I decided to just deliver them to everyone. I hear it's going to be really cold. I'll try to keep the fire going throughout the night, but still, make sure the two