Everything was white from the ground up to the skies.

 

The sun’s not shining so brightly, but it shines enough for the two girls to enjoy their stay outside, not minding the negative degree Celsius temperature and the double padding jacket they wear, not to mention the very think gloves they have on their hands and the colorful bonnet and scarf they have on their bodies.

 

It was definitely freezing cold outside yet Chaeyoung dragged Mina outside just to build a freaking snowman, the older mimics, but still keeps on putting some snow at the bottom part of the thing they are building.

 

“What are you up to, really?”

 

Chaeyoung breathes through the air and can clearly see it through the fog it produces due to the temperature before she giggles and keeps on putting some snow.

 

“Chaeyoung, if you won’t make some hot chocolate for me later, I’ll go with my Mom next week in Texas and won’t spend Christmas with you”

 

“Mina, I told you, I want to build a snowman with you, with no particular reason and even if we’re not, I’ll still make your favorite hot chocolate with marshmallows, you know?”

 

“That’s my girl”

 

A chuckle was blurted out by Chaeyoung yet her cheeks suddenly felt warm, she doesn’t know if it’s because of the sudden change of temperature, which is absolutely just her excuse, or she’s really blushing with these simple yet affecting words of Mina.

 

After eventually building the body of the snowman, after a few tries of building it, so it won’t fall and stand firm, they get some thin woods as the snowman’s hands, and get the buttons and the carrots they brought as the eyes and the nose of the snowman.

 

Mina was about to remove her scarf when Chaeyoung immediately stopped her and removed hers instead.

 

“It’s too cold, you might get sick. We’ll just get my scarf again after our stay here, watching the sunset”

 

They sat on the bench near their snowman and just stared at their masterpiece, calculating a lot of questions in mind, yet no one is brave enough to bring up those.

 

The skies, from white, are now forming into orange and yellow as the sun starts his way going down and waving goodbye to give way to the moon. Mina then grabbed Chaeyoung’s arm and linked it with hers as she put her head on the younger’s shoulder.

 

It has been such a long time, after a lot of stressful workload for the whole year, since they get to be that relaxed and think about nothing else, literally nothing else. Chaeyoung then sighed, but smiled afterwards.

 

“Sunsets are really special, when I’m with you”

 

“And snowman”

 

“Why do you like building a snowman that much, Chaeyoung?”

 

“I don’t have any exact reason, but like any other kids, seeing, and even making a snowman makes me extremely happy”

 

“How happy are you? Let me see”

 

“Like this”

 

The girl, like a little girl that she is, flashed a big, bright smile to Mina that made the latter laugh and thinks Chaeyoung is just too adorable to be a 24-year old grown woman, trapped in a 16-year old body and personality.

 

A comfortable silence as they keep watching the sunset and the snowman in front of them when Mina just brought something up that she knows that can lighten their mood even more that day.

 

“Chae, you know, last night, as far as I remember, I was dreaming of living happily together, probably in North Pole and just build a lot of snowman like we did”

 

She pointed at their own snowman who has an invisible smile flashing at them.

 

“And we’ll just do the things we want there—cook, paint, laugh, sing, dance, anything, away from people and just surround ourselves with snowmen”

 

“Silly. I thought you hate the idea of building a snowman yet here you are planning to build a bunch of them?”

 

“It was a joke. Why don’t you just laugh?”

 

Chaeyoung forced a laugh as Mina said so and the latter just glared at her that made the former hold tighter to her arms.

 

“I’m kidding, Mina. Jokes aside, it would be really nice to just live happily together, move forward together, and just be together, nothing else matters”

 

The sincerity in Chaeyoung’s voice makes Mina’s heart melt. It’s just one of those moments again where she suddenly asks herself to why did she end up being with the girl beside her, despite having a lot of suitors that can give her a lot more material things, but Chaeyoung’s gaze is warm and her hands are comforting and her words are just reassuring to the point that she doesn’t need anything else, but a certain Son Chaeyoung only.

 

She realized that while they keep on getting each other more over time, that’s when she keeps on having reasons why she ended up with her and why she indeed have a right choice of always choosing Chaeyoung, over anything else.

 

It was a great experience to be in different seasons, but still with the same person and so when another winter came, instead of just staying in their respective houses, Chaeyoung asked for Mina’s hand so they can have their vacation, away from everyone and everything else, except for the snowman.

 

When Chaeyoung was driving to their destination, in a vacation village where every house has quite a lot of distance from each other so they feel like they really don’t have any neighbor, Mina was laughing at her because the girl already aged again, yet her love for snowman keeps on growing, somehow hoping that the same goes with her height that made her received a light hit from the driver.

 

“I know my love for snowman just keeps on growing, but the height part… That’s offensive!!!”

 

Mina still keeps on laughing at her and told the girl to just focus on driving so they won’t get into any accident when they don’t even arrive at their destination yet.

 

“Ah. We’re finally here.”

 

Chaeyoung parked their car and immediately opened the door for Mina as they get their things to put in their temporary home for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

 

They set up the firewood to instantly warm the place up and Chaeyoung was fast to give Mina her favorite hot chocolate with marshmallows as they stare at the fire in front of them, not minding their things still unpacked and not even checking their bedroom yet and all the other parts of their rented rest house.

“So warm here”

 

“But you’re warmer”

 

Mina said and scooted over Chaeyoung, like a penguin needing a warm embrace, which Chaeyoung took seriously because she put her arms over Mina’s shoulder and moved really close to her.

 

“World cold, Chaeyoung warm”

 

Chaeyoung pouted on how the girl can be so cute and sweet and why does she have to be built so perfectly from outer to inner aspects, literally everything about Myoui Mina is just so perfect to her, that sometimes she just want to ask if she’s still a person or an angel, which the older will just laugh about because according to her, her jokes are corny, but it does give a pink blush on her cheeks.

 

Evening comes and Mina just finished preparing everything for their Christmas Eve celebration. There’s already a romantic song with its sweet melody surrounding the whole house and they are both already wearing their pajamas and not formal dresses to celebrate.

 

It was hilarious to think that their outfit doesn’t match with their whole table and music setup yet there they were, already sharing a glass of wine and some fruits to celebrate and exchanged their gifts for each other afterwards.

 

Based on how fluffy the thing inside the gift of Chaeyoung is, she can already guess what it is because the giver is too busy in the past few days and rejecting all her date offers because she’s doing something.

 

“Whatever you’re thinking, you’re right, so please open it already and stop staring at me”

 

“I’m appreciating the pretty giver of this Christmas gift and thanking the Gods for giving me an opportunity to be with her on this special occasion”

 

“Shut up and start opening your gift”

 

Mina chuckles as she watches Chaeyoung carefully opening the gift and she was right, it is indeed what keeps Mina busy”

 

“World cold, Mina warm”

 

A pleading face was flashed in Chaeyoung’s as she wraps the knitted scarf around her neck and hugged Mina instantly to say her genuine thank you to the girl.

 

“You’re very much welcome. Can I open mine?”

 

“Of course. Though, please don’t be disappointed because it’s not as great as you think it is”

 

“I always appreciate whatever you give me Chaeyoung, I don’t care what it is, as long as it’s from you”

 

She was welcomed with a personalized tote bag and a scented candle with the scent that she really likes and her face couldn’t be brighter that made her hug Chaeyoung as well because she just thinks it’s most wonderful Christmas present she has ever received in her entire life.

 

“You don’t know how special this is to me. Thank you Chaeyoung, really.”

 

“Merry Christmas, Mina”

 

“Merry Christmas, Chaeyoung”

The tension in the atmosphere is not suffocating nor awkward yet they can both feel how hot it can be despite the actual temperature and they are sure that it’s not because of the fire in front of them.

 

As their bodies keep moving closer and closer and their hands immediately find its way to each other, there’s something that’s telling Chaeyoung to use her free hand to cup Mina’s right cheek as her eyes demand for acceptance to what she is about to do. There’s sparkles in Mina’s eyes as if the whole galaxy is stored in there that Chaeyoung immediately got the message, the desire it gives as the tension keeps getting powerful.

 

Their emotions are now building up as their faces are only a few inches away from each other and they can definitely hear each other’s heartbeat, even feeling their hands become sweaty without any particular reason.

 

It took them almost 23 seconds with just staring into each other’s eyes before Chaeyoung slowly, but surely puts her lips on Mina’s own, tilting her head as their nose touches and closing their eyes to feel that delicate moment, as if it’s the only right thing to do at that moment.

 

It was long and sweet and magnificent and all the words connected to that. Chaeyoung’s kiss tastes like strawberry for Mina that it gets so addicting to the point that they just broke the kiss to gasp for air and giggle at each other afterwards.

 

“Chaeyoung, you are my home, my home for all seasons”

 

Mina then kissed Chaeyoung, not satisfied with their first one yet and felt the lingering feeling she felt just a while ago that made her smile because it’s indeed real—Chaeyoung’s indeed the reason why her heart keeps on beating.

 

After calming down from that full of tense yet wonderful moment, they went to the Christmas tree already provided by the village in each house and took a photo as they promised to take lots of it to store their memories, as Chaeyoung has mentioned that it is the best choice to preserve every precious moment they spent and they will spend together.

 

Or it is just her major excuse because she keeps on mentioning to Mina that she is her favorite and only muse in her photographs that made the latter glad and assured because she should really be the only one or else the girl will receive a hard hit from her (well, she’s exaggerating, but Chaeyoung already knows what she means).

 

Their relationship was like any other relationships out there—supporting each other, in everything they do, listening to each other—may it be rants, worries, or appreciation, whatever it is, cuddling and comforting each other, whatever the situation may be, and freely, yet carefully addressing their thoughts and uncertainties about the world and themselves.

 

Chaeyoung will always be there to assure her that the world may be cruel to her, but she will always be there to protect her. Her emotions and thoughts may be eating her up at night, and makes her think at some point that she doesn’t deserve good things, but she will always be there to remind her that she’s enough. There might be some things that make her think that she’s not worth it, but she will always be there to remind her that she just gets to be here and she belongs here.

 

And Mina is always there to prove that Chaeyoung deserves everything—to live, to be loved, to be supported, to be appreciated. She is always there to prove that she deserves those warm embraces and sweet kisses, those ‘I’m proud of you’ and ‘Thank you for existence’, and such. She is always there to prove that they are meant for each other, that they complement each other, and that the love they have will keep on growing, like a promise that will be kept by the both of them.

 

Whenever they have their ‘what ifs’ late at night or early in the morning or at a busy afternoon, they have each other’s back to answer those with ‘then we’ll figure it out, together’ to ease the doubts and uncertainties they have because of the world and their insecurities.

 

Chaeyoung may feel a lot of literal heart aches that she knows exactly the reason about and she may feel a lot of physical sickness but doesn’t want Mina to find out because she doesn’t want the girl to worry about her nor whatever she is feeling, she always make sure to take care of her even more.

 

She gives her something delicious to eat whenever she’s stressed and working hard with her projects, making surprise visits even if she keeps on mentioning to her that she will visit her despite her busy schedule, and actually showing up still with a surprised yet excited Mina that will run to her and give her a hug because it’s like a medicine that surely takes all the tiredness away from her system.

 

Another Christmas and session of building a snowman have come yet again, but Mina and Chaeyoung are still blissful as they are because they spend another Christmas with each other, stronger than ever, and Chaeyoung is going to build a snowman again, as if it’s already a grown tradition between the two of them, still not letting Mina to remove her scarf so they knit together to give the snowman its own.

 

“You know, there’s a song called Snowman and it has been my favorite for 9 months already. The song’s so comforting and warm, just right for the Christmas season, and there’s some part of the lyrics where it says ‘Cause I’m Mrs. Snow, ‘till death we’ll be freezing’”

 

She said the line while singing and it never failed to make Chaeyoung’s heart flutter.

 

“That’s very interesting. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Snow”

 

“That’s right. You’re Mrs. Snow, too. We’re both Mrs. Snow, and this is our Snowman”

 

She put her arm on the snowman and that’s when a disaster came with Chaeyoung almost crying because they have been building their snowman for an hour because they made it look taller, yet it was destroyed in just less than 10 seconds.

 

“Our poor snowman”

 

Mina’s sad expression made Chaeyoung giggle instead of regretting about their destroyed snowman because her girlfriend looks so adorable and who dares to get mad at her when she even empathizes with the snowman.

 

“So, your name now is sad Mrs. Snow?”

 

“Shut up, we need to re-build this”

 

Instead of helping the girl, who is now gathering some snow to build a snowman again, she just lay down in the snow and spread her arms and legs and moves it to form an angel, even let Mina lay down beside her to do the same while staring at the clear skies above them—a totally relaxing Christmas activity.

 

“Chaeyoung, in all honesty, I keep on living and moving forward because of you. I have so many reasons to live because you’re existing. It is as if I always have something to look forward to go because you’re there and I’m forever grateful for that. You’re already a part of my future and I don’t want you to leave. You’re the reason why my heart keeps on beating and I don’t see my future without you. It seems like my world is eventually revolving around you and it totally is boring and nonsense without you. I’m grateful that you’re there as my light, as my happiness, as my love, and as my home. Thank you for existing, Chaeyoung. I love you very much, darling”

 

Mina said that all while her eyes are closed and still spreading her arms and legs, almost being covered by snow, feeling all of that in her body because that certain moment hit her again—Chaeyoung ended up with her and vice versa.

 

“Mina”

 

That gentle tap and sweet voice made Mina back to reality and realized that she was somehow thinking out loud with totally doing something crazy, but Chaeyoung’s already sitting in the snow and not laughing at her so she stood up, fixed herself, and they decided to sit on the bench and watch the magnificent sunset like they always do whenever they build a snowman outside.

 

“Mina, I promise that you’ll be the only person I will love for the rest of my life. I’ll love you forever, sweetheart”

 

----

 

It was another Christmas and Mina was staring blankly at the grand Christmas tree in front of her with all the lights, Christmas balls and bells decorated around it, the gifts at the bottom, and the shining star at the top.

 

It was a merry Christmas, yet she feels empty. She thinks that there’s something missing when she should be building a snowman outside by that time and enjoying the bickering with a certain someone who will drag her outside with the freezing cold temperature.

 

Nevertheless, even without that person dragging her outside, she still grabbed some buttons, a carrot, and the knitted red scarf to eventually build a snowman.

 

When she immediately finished building her Mr. Snowman and went to sit in a bench to watch the sunset, that’s just when it hits her—that it’s the first time that she built a snowman alone, not even with the person who loves doing it so much, and also the first Christmas she spends alone.

 

How empty that can be, already not having Chaeyoung by her side, still feeling betrayed because the girl seems so strong, not even looking like a sick person, when she’s literally dying inside and fighting for her life. Mina keeps blaming herself for being stupid, yet always being reminded that it might be Chaeyoung’s personal decision and she just needs to respect and accept that, no matter how it freaking hurts to spend a Christmas, a happy (should be) occasion, alone and without anyone to hug her in the freezing cold.

 

Despite the pain she is feeling and how she keeps on getting reminded by all the tiny things around her of Chaeyoung, she knows that she will be her only home for all seasons. So, even if she’s not there with her anymore, she will still build a snowman for her and continue their Christmas tradition.

 

“I want you to know that I'm never leaving because I'm Mrs. Snow, 'till death we'll be freezing. You’re my home for all seasons, Chaeyoung. I love you, darling.”