----- At the Kim Residence: Night of Dec. 28 -----

"What if this all goes very badly?" Heejin clasps her more-sweaty-than-necessary hands as she and Hyunjin stand in front of the other girl's house.

After hearing about Hyunjin's life pre-Hogwarts, Heejin is without a doubt freaking out. She feels like she can't seem to catch a break because there was always something she had to worry about one after the other.

"Everything will work out," Hyunjin tries to reassure as she wraps an arm around her shoulder and leans in to kiss the side of her temple.

"But your dad-"

"Don't care about what my dad thinks," Hyunjin now makes them face each other and meets her eyes. "At first, I wanted to do this whole thing because I wanted to make a point and maybe piss my dad off. Like, 'Screw you! I have a girlfriend so deal with it!' But now, all I care about is letting him know that I'm with someone that makes me so happy and if he doesn't care to get to know this person, then that's his loss."

"And honestly, the only person you should actually be scared of is Haseul. I mean, I've told her about you, but only that you were just a crush," Hyunjin rubs the back of her neck with her hand. "She doesn't know that that crush ended up becoming my girlfriend yet, so yeah...she's probably going to be overly excited."

"So, to recap, your parents know you're in a relationship, but not that it's with a girl. Then, Haseul knows about me, but doesn't know that we pretended to date at first and are now actually dating."

"Pretty much."

"I'm screwed!" Heejin wails and her panic grows. "What if Haseul hates me? What if.. what if your dad hates us so much that he kicks us out?! Where are we going to stay?!"

"Heejin, baby, calm down," Hyunjin tries to shush her before either of her parents realize they are outside. "Haseul won't hate you. I don't even think she has a hateful bone in her body. And if he doesn't want us there, Haseul will definitely have our back. She moved out after she graduated and she's got an apartment not too far from here. So, if worse comes to worse, I've got a back-up plan. I've thought this all through. Now, breathe."

Heejin takes a deep breath.

"Okay, are you ready?"

After a moment, Heejin nods before intertwining her hand with Hyunjin's. Her grip tightens once the Slytherin rings the doorbell. She braces herself while wondering which parent she'll see first. Then, the door opens and before she even has the chance to react, she's engulfed in a hug.

What the-

"Haseul?!? What are you doing here?!" Hyunjin exclaims and Heejin can't tell if she should relax or remain tense in the girl's embrace.

"Oh! I'm so so sorry," Haseul releases her and looks to her sister. "It's just.. I got so excited when I looked through the peephole and saw you two cuties holding hands. Now, is this who I think it is, little one?"

"Haseul!" Hyunjin whines at the nickname. Cute, Heejin thinks. "And yes, she is."

Heejin takes that as a cue to introduce herself, "Hi! I'm Jeon Heejin, Hyunjin's girlfriend."

Hyunjin's girlfriend... doesn't sound that bad. 

Haseul squeals so loud as soon as the words leave . "Hello, Heejin! My name is Kim Haseul, as you may already know, and I'm the better sibling. Now, come in, come in! Hyunjin get your and your girlfriend's luggage," then, Haseul moves to the side to lead Heejin into the house, leaving her sister behind. "Well, hello to you too, my lovely sister," she hears Hyunjin mutter sarcastically to herself as she follows them inside and Heejin has to keep herself from laughing.

Hyunjin moves fast to bring their luggage to her room upstairs as Heejin and Haseul settle in the living room. Before the two could have a proper conversation between themselves, Hyunjin was heard making her way down the stairs swiftly and even needed a moment to take a few breaths as she hunches over with her hands on her knees in front of them both.

"What's the rush, sis? Scared I'm going to tell her something embarrassing?" Haseul smirks. 

"Yes," Hyunjin pants out as she gathers herself. She straightens up and moves to sit next to Heejin, her voice still a bit frantic. "But also, what the hell are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming until New Year's Eve. And more importantly, where's mom and dad?"

"Oh shoot! When you called me on Christmas night, I was supposed to tell you that mom and dad decided to take a last-minute trip to see some relatives and asked me to house sit until they come back for New Year's. So, I've just been staying here and subleasing the apartment since it'll save me some money," Haseul answers.

"Crap," Heejin hears Hyunjin say under her breath. "You were our back-up plan."

"Back-up plan?"

"We needed a place to stay just in case dad and maybe mom didn't want Heejin and I-"

"OH MY GOODNESS!" Haseul stands up hastily from her seat, realization evident on her face. "Does mom and dad know about Heejin?!?"

The Ravenclaw just sits frozen as she watches the sisters go back and forth as they try to figure out what to do now that Hyunjin's plan b has gone out the window.

"Mom and dad knew you were in a relationship before me?!" Haseul puts her hand to her chest in offense.

"That is not the point right now, Haseul! Your apartment was the place we were supposed to go to in case dad didn't want us here."

"Fine, we'll discuss that later. As for the matter at hand, I don't think he'd ever go that far," Haseul admits. "But in case dad tries something, mom and I will have your back. That way, it'll be three-on-one."

And just like that, the atmosphere changes as Hyunjin's mood shifts from panic to resent. It shocks Heejin for a moment since she's never seen the girl act this way, but she understands it at the same time as Hyunjin's tone turns bitter, "That hasn't really worked out in the past though, has it?"

Haseul pouts at the comment and so does Heejin as they both knew exactly what Hyunjin was referring to.

"It's not going to be like that-" Haseul tries.

"And how exactly do you know he'll act differently than how he's been ever since I was 11?" Hyunjin sarcastically laughs.

"Well umm... how do I say this," the older sister rubs her hands awkwardly. "Mom and I... we've been working on him."

"What?" 

"Mom had actually accepted the fact that you like girls for a while now and we've been easing dad into accepting it as well these past couple of months since the start of your school year. And I think with the help of mom, it might actually be working," Haseul explains.

The room becomes quiet as Hyunjin processes what was just said. 

"I... I guess I'll have to talk to mom later, but there's no way dad would have changed his mind so quickly," the Slytherin refuses to believe in her sister's hopeful words as she starts to pace back and forth in the living room. "He knows I'm bringing someone home," Hyunjin gestures towards Heejin. "And I'm pretty sure he thinks it's a dude."

"Well, did he ever mention anything about the gender of your person?" Haseul questions.

Hyunjin stops moving and looks to her sister, "He hasn't... and now that I think about it, mom had never used male pronouns when referring to my person either. They would always just call them my 'special person.'"

Heejin can't help but feel tingles across her body as she hears both sisters refer to her as 'Hyunjin's person.' It makes her feel giddy and pressured all at once considering the situation that they were in.

"See?" Haseul perks up. "Now, even though I'm sure he may still be a bit tense about you and Heejin dating, I don't think he'll shoot you both down once he finds out."

Hyunjin sits back down next to Heejin and let's out a deep breath.

"Look, I'm sure it's been a long day for you two," Haseul now stands. "How about we get some rest and talk more about this tomorrow, okay? Mom and dad aren't coming home until the 30th, so you have time to think things through," Haseul makes her way over to the couch, causing both Heejin and Hyunjin to stand as well.

"It was lovely to finally meet the girl that has my sister all flustered," Haseul hugs her, which she gladly returns. "Hopefully we can get to know each other a bit better these next couple of days."

"Me too," Heejin says back.

The older girl gives her a warm smile before turning to Hyunjin, "I'm happy you're here too, little one," and the siblings hug as well. They exchange good nights and all who remained in the living room was the couple. The pair sit on the couch and Hyunjin lets out a sigh, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Heejin's eyebrows knit together as she looks at the Slytherin.

"For bringing you into this whole mess. My big, huge family mess. I... I don't know what I was thinking by springing this all on to you so late. I feel like I should've just told you all of this in the beginning so you knew what you were signing up for. Now, I feel like this must already be so overwhelming even though you haven't even met my parents yet. So, I'm sorry."

After watching the exchange between both sisters, Heejin had never felt so helpless. It was one thing to hear about Hyunjin's family, but now it was an entirely other thing as she starts to see the girl's words come into action. It made it all feel more real. This type of situation was new to her and it was clearly a family matter, so even if she wanted to say something about it, it didn't feel like it was her place just yet. Not to mention the fact that her and Hyunjin's experience with coming out to their families were complete opposites of each other, so she felt like she wouldn't even be able to give any useful advice to her girlfriend too.

So, she feels powerless, but she still does what she thinks is the next best thing she can do.

"Hyunjin," she reaches out to take hold of one of her girlfriend's hands. "Don't get me wrong, I am a bit scared, but!" She stresses the last word once she sees Hyunjin's worried expression, "I'm still here, aren't I? Whatever happens these next couple of days we'll get through together."

Hyunjin finally meets her eyes and Heejin can't help but notice how vulnerable the girl looks, "Like you said, it's his loss if he doesn't give me, give us a chance."

"You're right," Hyunjin rubs her thumb across Heejin's hand. "It's just...," she takes a long pause as she breaks eye contact and Heejin felt like she could hear the cogs turning in the girl's head. Suddenly, Hyunjin sits up a bit straighter and her tone brightens slightly as if to get rid of the darkened mood. "You know what, like Haseul said, I'm sure you're tired, right baby? Let's just go to bed, yeah?"

Before any words could come out of Heejin's mouth, Hyunjin guides her up and away from the couch and towards the stairs. The pair eventually find themselves cuddled up in bed and as they try to sleep, Heejin thinks about how it was obvious that there was more on Hyunjin's mind, but she didn't want to push the girl. If anything, she knew that when Hyunjin was ready to tell her more, she'll be there to listen.

----- Dec. 29th -----

Heejin was the first to wake up this time around. As her eyes slowly opened, she was confused as to where she was for a moment. It wasn't until she tried to get up when felt the arms wrapped around her waist give her a light squeeze as if not wanting her to leave.

She turns and sees that Hyunjin was still fast asleep and even though Heejin wanted to wake her up, she decides against it due to how peaceful the girl looks. She slowly and carefully removes Hyunjin's arms and makes her way off of the bed. As soon as she stands, her stomach growls and so she heads downstairs in hopes to find something to make.

Once downstairs, she immediately hears the sound of something sizzling on a pan and smells something delicious. She enters the kitchen and sees Haseul standing in front of the stovetop making eggs and bacon. Just before Heejin could say anything, Haseul turns arounds and perks up at the sight of the Ravenclaw.

"Good morning, Heejin!" the older girl says cheerfully. "I'm just about done making some breakfast, so go ahead, take a seat and help yourself," she gestures to the center island in the kitchen where some eggs, bacon and toast had already been placed. "Hyunjin awake yet?"

"She's still knocked out," Heejin replies as she takes a seat. "It really was a long day yesterday. We had a train delay that was supposed to be an hour or so, but turned into many hours hence the reason why we got here so late... and I don't think the little shock last night had really helped, ya know? Of course, not that I'm blaming you!" Heejin adds the last sentence quickly, she didn't want Haseul to feel bad as it was truly just a miscommunication error. At that moment, the older girl puts the last of the food on the table before taking a seat next to Heejin.

"No, no, it's okay. It's really both Hyunjin's and I's fault anyways as we had held crucial information from the other," Haseul points out sorrowly at Heejin's implication of the previous night. Haseul appears to be in thought before speaking again. "This might be odd to say, but I'm glad you're well aware of the whole family fiasco. Although, I'm sure she probably wouldn't have brought you here if you weren't," she lightly jokes. "Anyways, I'm saying this because I want you to know how reassuring it is knowing that even after learning about my family's history, Hyunjin has at least one person over there at Hogwarts that she can still lean on and is in her corner besides Soobin and I," Haseul gives her a gracious smile.

"But hey!" Haseul tries to turn the somber mood around with high spirits. "Let's not start the morning off so sadly sappy! Don't you want to know any embarrassing stories about Hyunjin? I'm sure she tries to act all cool around you, but secretly she's an idiot," she jokes.

Heejin nods enthusiastically at the suggestion, ready to follow through with Haseul and lighten the morning atmosphere. She's about to tell Haseul to just tell her anything, but then a thought flashes through her mind, "Oh my goodness! I'm not sure if this was really embarrassing to you, but it kinda seemed like it might've been for Hyunjin. Can you tell me more about H₂0?"

"She told you about that?!?" Haseul squeals in delightment. "Are you curious about why our band was called H₂O?"

Heejin nods excitedly, "Hyun explained it and I think it's brilliant if you ask me! I don't know why she didn't like it."

"Thank you! Between you and me, I think she's just jealous that I came up with it and not her," Haseul nudges her playfully before finally putting food on her own plate.

"I'm jealous of what now?" a voice comes, causing the two seated girls to turn their heads. Hyunjin enters the kitchen and kisses Heejin on the forehead, mumbling good morning before sitting down. A smile creeps onto Heejin's face and Haseul coos.

"You two are seriously the cutest! And I was just telling Heejin a bit about H₂O," Haseul takes a bite into her eggs.

"Oh, wonderful," Hyunjin deadpans as she too starts to grab food. "Let's move on, shall we?" 

The trio go back and forth on whether or not to change topics, but after Heejin sends Hyunjin some puppy dog eyes, the Slytherin caves and even tells Heejin some H₂O memories herself. The Ravenclaw had to keep herself from laughing when she hears Haseul fake a cough and raggedly say 'whipped' within it, making Hyunjin scowl and telling her sister to shut up.

For the next couple of hours, the sisters and Heejin spend the time catching up. As Heejin got to know Haseul more, she started to understand why Hyunjin had warned her about the girl. It wasn't that she was scary, but rather she was indeed very excited about their relationship and couldn't keep herself from asking so many questions. In a way, it was almost like her aunt Tiffany, but it didn't seem as intense or judgemental. Now that Heejin thinks about it, she was also Hyunjin's first, real relationship as well, so of course there was no doubt that Haseul would be giddy about it.

"You really thought Hyunjin had been in relationships before? I mean, not counting Soobin obviously," Haseul says as they talk about Heejin and Hyunjin's assumptions of one another before and while they were dating.

"Her confidence really made it seem so and even though she was cringey at times, her flirting was actually quite cute," Heejin blushes in an embarrassed state as Hyunjin puffs her chest proudly at the comment. It was almost weird for Heejin to think back on their relationship these days considering that they were really dating now. As she looks at Hyunjin, it started to hit her that everytime Hyunjin flirted with her, it wasn't just for the act, but that her words may have been genuine the entire time. 

"I'm sure she got tips from the guys at Durm because I doubt Hyunjin had any experience in the past," Haseul laughs.

"Hey! I've had my fair share of interactions with other girls! Remember when Soobin and I went to his step brother's Christmas party during my fifth year? There was one girl who-"

"Hyun-" Haseul tries as Hyunjin fails to notice Heejin's expression. Her eyebrow was perked and had leaned her head on her fisted hand.

"-was all over me! So, I totally got game with...other... girls...," Hyunjin speaks slower as she finally looks at Heejin after Haseul would constantly motion at her with her eyes. "I-uh.. nothing happened of course! I-I don't even remember her name or what she looked like and even if I did, no one compares to you my love!" Hyunjin says frantically.

After a couple of seconds, both Heejin and Haseul share a look and burst into laughter after seeing Hyunjin's panic, "I'm just teasing you, but you're damn right no one does!" Heejin gives Hyunjin a quick peck to turn the girl's frown around which easily worked. Then, the Slytherin pulls out her phone to check the time and her eyes widen.

"Oh shoot, we've got to get ready now before it's too late," Hyunjin looks to Heejin quickly.

"Late for what?" Heejin asks.

"There's this place I've been wanting to take you ever since we arrived in the city. It'll be our first proper date!" Her girlfriend says excitedly and Heejin can't help but react the same way.

"Hold on, you two have been together for months and you're only now having your first date?" Haseul says in disbelief and it breaks their trance, her words alarming them both. They both realized that Hyunjin had slipped up considering that they hadn't told Haseul about the truth of how their relationship had started. It was clear to her that Hyunjin had meant that it would be their first date as an official couple, but obviously Haseul didn't know that. Heejin was at a loss for words on how to respond, but thankfully Hyunjin recovered quickly.

"I meant like our first date outside of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I feel like there was only so much we could do there, you know?"

The answer made sense to Heejin and she could only hope that it made sense to the older sibling as well. And to their relief, it did.

"Ohh, I get it," she nods understandably. "Where are y'all going to go?"

"That's a secret for us to know, loser," Hyunjin pokes her tongue out then heads towards the stairs.

"You're the loser!" Haseul yells back as they watch Hyunjin disappear upstairs. Before Heejin follows, she looks back to her and whispers, "I'll tell you when we get back."

Haseul breaks out into a huge smile, let's out a small, victorious 'yes' and then whispers back, "I knew I had a good feeling about you for a reason!" The two high five then Heejin goes up to get ready.

--

"Hyun, are we there yet? I feel like you've been driving for hours and it doesn't even look like we're in the city anymore," Heejin says as she takes in the scenery of snow-covered trees. Despite Hyunjin telling her sister that where they we're going was a secret between them, it was still currently just Hyunjin's secret because she had yet to tell her anything about where she was taking her.

"Baby, it hasn't even been a whole hour yet," Hyunjin chuckles. "We're almost there, I promise. It should only be a few more minutes."

Hyunjin ended up being true with her words because before she knows it, the Slytherin shifts the car into park. As they get out, Heejin's eyebrows knit together when she realizes that Hyunjin seemed to have literally led them to the middle of nowhere. Besides the road, the two were surrounded by trees.

"Uhh... Hyun?" she asks skeptically.

Hyunjin intertwines their hands together once next to her and starts to lead her inside the woods, "Don't worry. There's a path, but the snow is covering it up. I know where to go by heart. Trust me when I say that it'll be worth it. You do trust me, don't you?"

"I do," Heejin says. The answer was so simple, yet it held so much weight.

They walk in comfortable silence as they stroll in the snow. It was so peaceful, it made Heejin forget about all of her worries for a while. After a few minutes, they arrive at a clearing and Heejin's jaw drops as they are met with a small, picturesque, frozen lake. It was near sunset so the scene was lit beautifully with the sky colors being a mix of blue, purple and orange reflecting on the lake.

"The open field where I used to practice for quidditch when I was younger is just a bit further on the other side," Hyunjin points across the lake. "My dad and I had found this place one day when we were flying around on our brooms for training. The snitch we were chasing had led us here during the winter time so the lake was frozen solid. My dad ended up showing me this cool spell where we could turn our boots into ice skates and we ended up skating the whole day with both of us falling on our asses and laughing to our hearts content."

In the corner of her eye, she sees a small smile form on Hyunjin's face at the memory, but it didn't last long. To be honest, it surprised Heejin that Hyunjin had even brought her dad up so soon. She thought Hyunjin wouldn't have wanted to talk or even mention him until the day her parents arrived back, but she's happy to know that Hyunjin still feels comfortable enough around her to talk more about him.

"We-uh never found the time to come back together again after that day and of course, our falling out didn't really help that either, but still, I always came here whenever I needed time for myself. I like coming here during the winter the most though. I never expected how relaxing it was to hear the blade glide against the ice and feel the cool breeze against my face. It's just, every time I came here, it felt like I was in my own little world where nothing could reach me. So, this place is kind of a sacred spot for me now. I like to think that besides my dad, I am the only person who knows about it and I loved that. But, I think I'm going to love it even more if you were to join me this time around."

When Hyunjin meets her eyes, Heejin's taken back at the way she was looking at her. She knows the girl had looked at her that way in the past, but it still feels like a new experience every time. Her gaze was soft and endearing, making Heejin wonder if she even deserved to be looked at like that. To add to that, Hyunjin words never fail to make her feel so many emotions all at once. How was she going to make her so nervous about where they were going only to make it have one huge sentimental outcome. This girl was truly something else.

Of course, one could say that everything Hyunjin does will always feel surreal for Heejin because she is her first girlfriend, but Heejin knows it isn't that simple. People had done and said so much for and to her in the past, but the fact that it was coming from not just her girlfriend, but Hyunjin had made it all much more meaningful for her. It's knowing that they've mutually reached a point where they want to share things like this with one another, whether it be big or small, significant or light. It makes her heart swell.

Before giving a verbal answer, Heejin caresses Hyunjin's face and pulls her into a gentle kiss which the other girl gratefully returns, her hands landing delicately on Heejin's hips. When the kiss breaks, their foreheads lean against one another and their small pants for air can be seen in the cold weather. "I don't think I want to join you here just this time around though," Heejin says suggestively and Hyunjin immediately cracks a grin.

"I like the way you think, Jeon," the Slytherin agrees contentedly, then they pull apart. "Now, I didn't just bring you here to stand around, let's skate!"

With a quick incantation said by the taller girl, their winter boots instantly turn into ice skates and the shift of balancing on flat feet to two thin blades catches Heejin off guard. Just before she's about to lean too far and fall, Hyunjin's there to catch her. "Sorry babe, probably should've given you a heads-up, huh?" Hyunjin laughs and she just joins in as she stands upright, regaining her balance.

They waddle their way to the ice and Heejin hesitates before stepping onto it. She had to take a moment to hype herself up because, as it turns out, Heejin can't ice skate for her life. She's talented in many things, but she learned the hard way that this just isn't one of them. She looks out onto the ice and sees Hyunjin already a few feet away from her and was facing her, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah!" she tries to sound convincing. "Just gimme a second!" After hearing about how important this place and skating had been to Hyunjin, she didn't want to let the girl down by not joining her on the ice. It looks like she was just going to have to it up. So, she starts to countdown in her head, telling herself to just go for it once she hits zero.

At last, she cautiously places one foot after the other and soon enough she's officially on the ice as both are planted onto it solidly. But that's all she did. She stood there, having yet to move.

"Uh, babe? You're looking like a sim right now," Hyunjin stifles a laugh. "Do you need-"

"No, no, I got it," she says proudly, then she starts to move. However, instead of gliding on the frozen water, her eyes are glued to her feet as she takes tiny baby steps towards the other girl, "Here I-whoa-here I come!"

When she looks up, she was surprised to see how close she was to Hyunjin already, "Omo! See? I didn't need any help! I got to you so quickly!"

"I'm sorry to tell you baby girl, but you were too focused on your steps, you failed to see me come over to you," Hyunjin couldn't hold her laughter any longer when she saw how red Heejin's face turned. "Don't worry, I know you can skate, but how about we just stay jointed as we go around?"

"That's right! I can skate," Heejin lies confidently through her lips. Even though the two were dating, Heejin still didn't want to admit that Hyunjin just so happened to be better than her with certain things. She holds too much pride. "And just because you asked, we can hold onto each other."

Hyunjin offers her hand, but instead, Heejin latches herself onto her arm. I hope that didn't look desperate, Heejin thinks and the taller girl starts to lead them around the lake slowly to Heejin's relief. Despite being a bit terrified of falling, she does find it comforting having Hyunjin next to her. She nearly loses her footing at times causing her to tighten her grip around Hyunjin's arm and thankfully, the other girl doesn't say anything about it.

"You know," Hyunjin starts after skating around for a while. "I was kind of hoping that you wouldn't know how to skate so we could do that cliché teaching moment where I get to hold your hands and guide you throughout the lake. Then, maybe you'd trip, but I'd be there to break your fall."

"You are a lot cheesier than I thought. But I mean, if you really want to, you could pretend to teach me," Heejin suggests, although the 'pretend' bit wouldn't really be pretending since she could really use the help.

"Oh, so only if I want to?" Hyunjin smirks. "Because, of course, you're already so good?"

"That's right!"

"Okay, okay," Hyunjin concedes with a smile, then moves in front of her to join their hands. "Let's start slow, shall we?"

As they begin to go in circles, Hyunjin tells her stories about the previous times she had come to lake whether it be spotting animals or nearly falling into the lake due to thin ice while Heejin would tell her about how her mom and dad would take her to a local skating rink when she was younger, but had lost interest in it as she got older (which was partially true. It was also because she at it, but Hyunjin didn't need to know that.) And as they talk, their conversations feel so natural and easy to Heejin. It was times like this when it was just the two of them where Heejin starts to appreciate the little things in their relationship. Even when there are no words to say, their silence is comfortable. She just finds joy being in the girl's presence.

They're on their fourth lap when the daylight starts to fade. Hyunjin suggests letting each other go and skate freely for a bit before heading back to the car. At first, Heejin refuses, saying that she liked holding hands with the girl and didn't want to let go. She did love holding her hands, but she also knew that if Hyunjin were to break free, Heejin would become, as Hyunjin had called her, a sim yet again. But then, Hyunjin just had to suggest they race.

"Why not? Scared you're going to lose, Jeon?" Hyunjin teases.

"I am not! Where are we racing to?" Heejin's demeanor changes from hesitant to competitive in an instant.

"One lap around and then to the place where we entered," the Slytherin answers. Heejin just nods and Hyunjin moves to her side, one hand still connected to Heejin's.

"Ready," Hyunjin begins and they let go of each other. As soon as they break contact, Heejin wobbles but catches herself as she gets into a starting position.

"Set," Heejin feels her heart rate picking up as she anticipates Hyunjin's next word. Her nervousness starts eating at her, making her more and more scared to move no matter how badly she wants to. You're Jeon Heejin. You can ing do it! You should be use to the ice by now!

"Go!"

Heejin's legs start to move for her and to her surprise, she glides smoothly on the ice. She doesn't get to go that far though as she stops when she hears a sudden thud behind her.

"Aw ," Hyunjin mutters. Heejin turns and there, lying on the frozen ice, was her girlfriend who had clearly slipped. She knows she should go and help her, but Heejin starts laughing so hard that she had to bend over and hold her knees to keep herself steady.

"Are you okay, baby?" Heejin giggles, finally making her way towards the now seated girl.

"I'm alright, Heej. To think I would be the one to fall and not you," Hyunjin giggles as well as she brushes herself off. As Heejin helps her up, Hyunjin beams her eye-crinkling smile at her. "But I'm so proud of you!"

"What?" Heejin says confused.

"You were full on skating all by yourself!"

"I-I w-what do you mean?" Heejin tries to play off awkwardly.

"I hate to break it to you, but I knew as soon as you stepped on the ice that you couldn't skate. It looks like my pretend teaching paid off, huh?" Hyunjin grins.

"Oh shut it," Heejin playfully smacks the other girl's arm, but wraps her arms around it right after. "Let's get back to the car before it gets too dark."

"Your wish is my command, m'lady!" Hyunjin responds dramatically, making Heejin laugh lightly.

With their regular winter boots back to normal and the heat on high in Hyunjin's car, Heejin let's out a content sigh. The date was better than what she had imagined. She thought it was going to be a complete disaster as soon as Hyunjin suggested ice skating, but now here she is with a shy smile forming as she thinks about their time there. The car radio plays music softly as Hyunjin drives, making the scene all the more soothing.

"So, did you think it was worth the trip, now?" Hyunjin asks as she drives back towards the city.

"I should've never doubted you," Heejin looks at her. "Next time, though, we will have a proper race now that I'm much more experienced in the art of ice skating." Hyunjin bursts into laughter in response.

"Oh, there will definitely be a next time." As they reach an intersection that they had been to on the way to the woods, Hyunjin takes an unexpected turn heading away from the Kim residence.

"Um... Baby, you missed the turn," Heejin points out, a bit worried.

"There's actually one more place we've got to go to. Our night isn't over yet, Jeon," Hyunjin steals a glance at her and Heejin instantly becomes excited for what's next. After a few more minutes, they eventually arrive at what looks like a small café. They get out of the now parked car and once they're both inside, Heejin is hit with the smell of baked goods and coffee and Hyunjin leads them to a table near the storefront window with Heejin taking the seat facing the entrance.

"I'll be right back and order something real quick," Hyunjin tells her and Heejin nods. As she waits, she shoots some texts to her group chat with Yves and Gowon to give them her daily life updates and also read theirs, then next thing she knows, Hyunjin places a styrofoam cup in front of her.

"What's this?" Heejin asks as she notices that Hyunjin had the same cup as well.

"Our tradition or at least, I'm officially declaring this as our tradition now," Hyunjin beams excitedly. "I've noticed that hot chocolate has been our go to drink whenever we go on dates. We had it on our actual first date in the Room of Requirement and it just so happened that we kept getting it each time afterwards. Hell, even on the date that you planned, we got hot chocolate. So yeah, this is definitely our tradition now. Although maybe during the spring and summer we can substitute it with something else," she laughs.

"Our tradition," Heejin repeats as she takes the girl's words in. "I love it," she smiles back.

As they wait for their hot chocolate to cool down, Heejin can't help but feel like she doesn't deserve Hyunjin. It was obvious now that Hyunjin had always paid attention to the small details since the moment they had met whereas Heejin never even noticed their habit of getting hot chocolate all the time. Hyunjin constantly reminds her of how much she cares for her through her words and actions, but Heejin can't say she's been doing the same for Hyunjin despite knowing that she cares just as much. She also feels like she knows so much more about Hyunjin's life whereas Heejin hasn't really shared much about any big events in her past either. Hyunjin gives so much and Heejin knows that she deserves to feel just as loved as Hyunjin does for her. If Hyunjin doesn't know it now, Heejin decides to tell her right then and there. To her, there was really one word in particular that seemed to have summed up her feelings perfectly.

"Thank you, by the way," Heejin starts as she fiddles with her cup. "Not just for today, but for everything you've done for me. For trusting and caring for me and making sure I know it too. I know our history has been kind of crazy and the journey to where we are now wasn't easy. For a long time, I was a mess trying to figure out my feelings for you. I wanted to hate you so badly for absolutely no logical reason. But you made it so hard, Hyun. Before you came along, I almost lost hope that I'd ever find someone for me. Like yeah, we're still young, but I at least thought I'd meet at least one person to keep my interest. I started to think that it'd be quite some time for it to happen. But then suddenly you came waltzing in with your stupidly charming grin and your annoyingly perfect words."

"Are you insulting me or complimenting me?" Hyunjin teases with a smirk.

"You know what I mean," Heejin laughs and she reaches out to intertwine their hands. Once linked, Hyunjin begins to rub her thumb along Heejin's hand. Another thing that just so happens to be on the list of why she likes the Slytherin.

"I'm saying all of this because I want you to know that-no, I need you to know that...," Heejin pauses as she thinks carefully about her next words. She can feel Hyunjin's eyes watching her patiently and after one more run-over in her head, Heejin says what has been on her mind for the past of couple of weeks, "I think I'm falling in l-"

"Hyunjin? Is that you?"

Heejin's eyes whip towards the entrance of the café at the mention of her girlfriend's name and sees a girl and boy standing there. Right after, the Slytherin turns around away from Heejin and towards the unrecognizable voice too. And although Heejin couldn't see her face anymore, she could hear Hyunjin's panic in the first few words she said and she could only question why Hyunjin would speak that way for milliseconds, before Hyunjin's last word made it clear.

"Oh my god," Hyunjin says as soon as she sees the person who had called her name. "Lia?"

A/N: Y'all saw this coming didn't you? 

Looks like their first two days at the Kim residence was not at all what our favorite couple expected, but hey! We've finally met Hyunjin's sister :)

And after their very cute date, can you blame Heejin for wanting to say... oh wait! We don't know what Heejin was going to say because look who made it! Let's see how the two will handle this unexpected visitor in the next chapter.

Just a reminder, I'm not sure how often updates will be due to the fact that I'm starting my final year at college so please be patient with me. This may also mean that the chapters may be a bit shorter in comparison to recent chapters, but I hope that you all will still continue to enjoy the story as much as I've had while writing it.

As always, comments are welcome here and on twitter (you can either tag me in posts are just reply on my fic update tweets!) Stay healthy everyone!

- S (@rv_twice5 on twitter)