Somewhere in the middle of the drive, Byul reached for my hand. I was looking outside through the windows when I felt her ice cold hand. I was surprised and Byul apologized for scaring me. She asked permission if she could hold my hand and I said yes. I held her hand and kept it warm. I blew kisses on it, rubbed my palms on it, and even placed it on my cheek.

She found me cute when I did all of those.

I was still holding her hand for the rest of the drive. An hour and thirty minutes on the snowy road, we finally reached a familiar driveway. And after holding Byul’s hand for an hour, I finally let go of it so she could park on the driveway. She backed her car near our main doors.

Our house looks like a traditional Korean house outside but a mix of modern and traditional furniture on the inside. We used to just sit and sleep on the floor before. There’s definitely a couch and a bed in our parents’ room now. Since my older sisters got jobs, our house slowly transformed but it eventually stopped once they both got married. Right now, our money is divided to pay for our daily expenses and for our slowly reducing debt. Still a lot of debt to pay but at least there’s progress already.

“Can you bring my suitcase with you? I’ll take care of the things in the trunk?” Byul said once she had parked her car.

“I can help you with that”

She turned to face me and undid my seatbelt for me. She fixed my coat and made sure that not a single skin from my neck down was showing. “Stay inside. It’s already colder now than when we left your apartment”

“Okay. Be careful.” I reached to fix her cap on her, my eyes narrowing at the silly smirk on her face.

“You’ll keep me warm, right? When we go to sleep later?” Byul said, an expectant smile on her face.

She really expected me to be all kissy-kissy and cuddly to her later at night? WIth my parents, sisters and nieces?! If she’s going to ask me to sleep beside her half- tonight, I’m really going to let her sleep outside with the chickens in our backyard. I can also let her sleep on the snow outside.

I slapped my hand on the brim of her cap, making her yelp.

“Babe…” she whined, pouting at me while I rolled my eyes at her.

I opened the passenger seat door without saying anything anymore. I was met with freezing cold temperatures and so I hugged myself and wrapped my coat tighter around me. My breath was already visible right in front of my eyes for every breath I took and released.

“I was just ki—”

I shut the rest of Byul’s words when I closed the passenger seat. I went to the backseat to grab our suitcases. Byul was already out of the car once I reached for the suitcase nearest to me. She opened the door across from me while I glared at her before I hauled the first suitcase out.

“I was just kidding” she mumbled, still pouting at me.

“It wasn’t a good joke”

“I’ll behave.” She raised her right hand up and crossed her heart with her left hand. “I promise!”

“You better or else I’ll let you sleep here. I don’t care if you die from the cold”

“That’s a little bit mean…” she whispered. The pout was immediately gone when I glared at her again. “Deal” she said, although obviously looking so reluctant.

“No kisses” I warned, already shivering from the cold. I pulled the second suitcase next and carried her camera with me. I gave her a pointed look while she nodded vigorously. “I meant it”

“I promise. I’ll behave”

“I don’t trust you.” I closed the door and rolled our suitcase. More like dragging them with me with the fine layer of snow covering our front lawn already.

Byul jogged to the back of her car to open her car’s trunk. When she saw me passing by, she said over the loud wind, “You just said last night that you trust me”

“Then don’t make me think otherwise” I retorted without sparing her a glance, which made her laugh.

“Jinnie so feisty” she said behind me, and this time, I was the one who laughed at her remark.

I lifted both suitcases before climbing up the three-step stairs. My hands were already cold and had gradually frozen by the time I reached our front door. My oldest sister, Hyunjoo, opened the door for me and grabbed Byul’s suitcase for me. I passed her my suitcase next before I pushed my shoes off. I hurriedly went inside and sheltered myself from the cold outside.

“Where are the girls?” I asked my sister.

I was still by the doorstep, hugging myself tightly as I waited for Byul.

“In the kitchen. Helping their grandma cook”

I giggled as I shook my head, my voice shaking with my shivering while my sister helped me warm up. She rubbed her hands on my arms and blew on my hands to stop them from shaking.

“More like stealing sweets from their grandma’s stash”

“They discovered where she hid the chocolates she made for tomorrow”

“Dad must’ve given them a clue. He spoil them so much”

“That’s true,” my sister said, laughing along with me.

Byul emerged from the door bringing boxes with her. My sister and I helped her while I quickly introduced them to each other. I introduced her as the friend who drove us here but I know Hyunjoo already knew her. Byul bowed at my sister and said that it was nice to meet her before she excused herself to get the rest of her things in the trunk. She rushed out back to the icy cold winds and slightly heavy-pouring snow to get the rest of the gifts she brought.

“I thought you hate each other” my sister murmured beside me as we waited for Byul.

“I’ll tell you later” I whispered beside her, conscious if Byul or my parents might hear us.

“So you don’t hate each other now?”

“It’s quite complicated”

She clicked her tongue and raised an eyebrow at me.

I glanced at her and saw her shaking her head, making me pout at her. “What?”

Byul came back with more boxes next. Jeonghoon, Hyunjoo’s husband, and Donghyun, Hajoon’s husband, my other sister, came to the doorstep and offered to help us. I introduced Byul to them as my friend who drove us here once again. Byul bowed and shook their hands and said that it was nice meeting them.

With more hands now, it only took one trip for all of Byul’s gifts to be transferred inside the house. Jeonghoon and Donghyun went back to the car with Byul to help her cover it from the snow.

All of Byul’s gifts were placed at the corner of the living room where the Christmas tree stood. The rest of my family’s gifts were also there. I still had mine in my suitcase but even if I added them to the pile, Byul’s gifts still overcrowded the tree. They’re all either in huge boxes or huge gift bags. And this time, she covered them in white wrapper unlike the ones she gave me on my birthday.

She really took the time to prepare and probably even planned to come here with me.

“Auntie Jinnie!”

Those are undoubtedly my three little piggies. My nieces.

They ran from the kitchen entrance to where I was standing in the living room. Jiho, my oldest niece, reached me first and hugged my legs. I crouched down to hug her and kissed her cheek. I opened my arm for Binna, my second oldest niece, who came into my arms second and almost toppled me over Byul’s gifts behind me. My youngest niece, Aecha, was still stomping her way towards me. I kissed her cheek before hugging all three of them together.

“Did you miss your Auntie Jinnie?” I asked them all, which they all ignored.

“Are you a white bear?” Binna asked.

“Bear…” Aecha whispered, following what her cousin said. “Jinnie bear,” she said, making me giggle.

“A polar bear!” Jiho screamed, hugging my left arm with her small arms.

Binna kept touching my fleece coat with her hands and even rubbed her cheek on it. Jiho and Aecha were playing hide and seek with my coat. High-pitched laughs and giggles surrounded me as my nieces crowded all around me.

From all the noises coming from my nieces, Mom and Dad, as well as my other sister, Hajoon, were summoned to the living room to see me. Seeing that I couldn’t move from my position on the floor, they all walked towards me and placed a kiss on my cheek. Dad left another kiss on top of my head before they stepped back so the three little piggies could gain control once again.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Byul coming in with Jeonghoon and Donghyun. Byul stood so awkwardly near the doorstep so to put her out of her misery, I started introducing her again. While I played with my nieces, I introduced her to Mom, Dad, and Hajoon.

Byul shook hands with Hajoon first before she went to greet Mom and Dad. Mom greeted her warmly, which just made Byul even more shy. Hajoon gave me a pointed look while Byul wasn’t looking at her. I sighed in response and nodded at her, knowing what that look meant.

I have a long story to tell to my sisters later.

“Okay…” I ruffled my nieces’ hair to grab their attention. Once they had all quieted down, I looked at Byul and motioned her to come closer. “I want you to meet Jinnie’s friend” I said to them, hearing Byul’s chuckle as she sat down on the floor beside me. I patted my oldest niece’s head and said, “This is Jiho.” I pinched my second niece’s cheek as I said, “This is Binna. Jiho and Binna are sisters from my oldest sister.” I lifted little Aecha’s hand, who’s now sitting on my lap and waved it at Byul. “And this is Aecha”

I glanced up at Byul and saw her smiling so wide at Aecha as she waved her hand back at her.

“Nice to meet you” she whispered, her deep voice in a gentle whisper.

I looked at my nieces again as I pointed at Byul. “And this is Auntie Jinnie’s friend, Mansaeng”

“Oh really?” Byul said, laughing softly beside me.

“You can all call her Sangie or Mansaengie”’

“Right…”

I sniggered at Byul first, briefly glancing at her before I turned to the three little piggies. “Go say hi to her”

“Hi…” little Aecha complied but stayed sitting on my lap.

“You have weird hair,” Jiho said, walking towards Byul now.

Hyunjoo cleared after hearing her daughter and even told her not to say that to the guest. Byul said it was okay and reassured my sister. My sister apologized and Byul said again that it was okay and that she has nothing to worry about.

Byul took off her cap to show her hair as the two sisters stood in front of her. “I have weird hair?” Byul asked my nieces while Jiho and Binna nodded.

“It’s gray,” Binna said.

“No, it’s white” Jiho argued. “Like old people’s hair”

I hugged Aecha close to me as I burst out laughing. Byul could only sigh before she turned her attention to my nieces.

They both touched Byul’s hair and Byul even bent her head down to let them see her hair closer. They fussed over Byul’s hair and I watched them with a soft smile on my lips. Aecha went to Byul and touched her hair too. Byul just let them, answering all of their questions patiently and even joked with them.

“Can I make my hair silver too?” Binna asked Byul, having learned the right color.

Byul pinched her cheek and said, “Only when you’re already tall like your Daddy”

“But I’m still so small!” Binna pouted, making Byul laugh.

“That’s right so you can’t do this yet”

“Does it hurt?” Jiho asked, genuinely curious.

Byul scrunched up her nose and pouted at them. She nodded at Jiho and said, “Really painful. It hurts a lot”

The two sisters immediately backed away. Byul giggled at them while pulling little Aecha to sit on her lap. They asked Byul several more questions and Byul answered all of them despite their voices overlapping against each other. She was very patient and playful towards them. And I stayed close to them, watching with a smile on my face.

When it was time for lunch, I stood up first while Jeonghoon and Donghyun helped Byul with their daughters. Once the babies were persuaded into having lunch, I reached to hold Byul’s hand and helped her stand up.

“They’re so cute” Byul whispered, eyes shining from the huge smile on her lips. “Hana is just about their age”

“Your youngest sister, right?”

She nodded at me and said, “They’d really get along”

Jiho suddenly called Byul as she raised her arms. “Can you carry me on your back?”

I leaned forward so I’d be able to look at Jiho closer. “Why do you need to be carried? The dining table is just over there”

“It’s okay”

Byul was already removing her jacket to grant Jiho’s wish. She passed her jacket and cap to me, giving me that cheeky smile. She crouched down once again and offered her back to Jiho. She positioned Jiho comfortably on her back before she stood up and carried Jiho with her.

“It’s okay. Like you said, the dining table is just over there”

“Still… you shouldn’t have” I sighed heavily but of course, Byul had her attention on Jiho to make sure she wouldn’t fall.

Aecha came forward next, watching Jiho on Byul’s back.

This one already has a plan in mind too.

She patted Byul’s leg to grab her attention.

Byul was surprised to see Aecha but eventually smiled at her. “Aecha?”

She raised her hands up, jumping on her heels as she said, “Up! Up!”

“Up?” Byul asked.

“Byul, no…” I warned and reached for Aecha’s hand but Byul beat me to it.

She bent down with Jiho still on her back. She held Jiho with her left arm while hooking her right arm around Aecha. With a grunt, she lifted Aecha while Jiho stayed clinging on her back.

I hurriedly moved closer to Byul, confused as to which niece I was going to hold steady. Byul never needed my help though. With two kids clinging to her, she was still standing steadily on her feet like the weight of both of my nieces was nothing to her. I know she exercises a lot, that’s how she had the idea of giving me a treadmill, but still. One kid feels already heavy to me.

“Binna! Binna!” Jiho called from Byul’s back.

“What? No” Byul complained and this time, I never intervened.

Binna saw Jiho and Aecha in Byul’s arms and immediately ran to Byul. She had her arms up and she was already jumping before she reached us.

“Me too! Me too, Saengie!”

I laughed because the nickname got stuck but even laughed louder when I saw Byul’s face. She looked so conflicted with Jiho and Aecha with her. And now, Binna wants to be carried too.

She looked over to me, pouting and silently asking for my help.

I raised an eyebrow and smirked teasingly. “Just like you said, the dining table is just over there”

“Jin…”

“Byul”

“Jinnie…”

“Mansaengie…” I whispered, teasing her even more. I snickered when she pouted harder, looking so helpless already.

“Help?”

I reached a hand to her and pinched her cheek so hard. I know she wanted to complain from the sting on her cheek but she also needed my help. She could only groan from the pain while still begging me to help her.

I ran my thumb on her cheek once and whispered, “I did tell you not to, right?”

She sighed heavily and nodded defeatedly.

I chuckled at her pouting face before I bent down to carry Binna. I kissed my niece’s cheek and said, “Auntie Jinnie will have to carry you, Binna. Saengie can’t carry all three of you, okay?”

“Thank you” Byul whispered beside me, still steady on her feet with the two kids moving so much in her arms.

Donghyun came over to help Byul with the kids. He grabbed Aecha but Aecha insisted on staying with Byul. Byul ended up telling Donghyun that she didn’t mind. Donghyun was hesitant but stopped insisting nonetheless. He told Aecha to behave before marching toward the dining table.

I nodded at Byul before motioning for her to walk. “Let’s go. I know you’re hungry and tired from driving already”

“I really am”

“I told you this, right? Mom’s the best cook” I boasted as we made our way towards the dining table.

“I’d still love to eat whatever you cook for me even if you don’t think you’re the best cook”

I clicked my tongue and looked away, hearing her laughing behind me. I bent down and snuggled my face on Binna’s hair, sniffing her baby scent. And also, covering my blush.

“Auntie Jinnie!” Jiho called as we reached the dining table.

I wasn’t able to ask Jiho what she wanted when my sisters helped Byul with my nieces who were clinging to her. They apologized for bothering Byul but once again, Byul didn’t mind. In fact, she enjoyed talking and playing with my nieces.

Once we all settled down by the dining table, we started eating and so did the chattering around the table. With three loud kids and all of my family gathered, there wouldn’t be a single second of silence with just the sounds of cutleries and utensils accompanying us. There will always be a conversation going around the table and sometimes, voices and topics would overlap against each other. There will never be a dull moment in the Ahn household.

Byul was keeping quiet beside me and would only speak if spoken to. She’d react, laugh, and interact, mostly with the three little piggies, while eating lunch. Her hand would sometimes land on my knee under the table. Other times it’s mine on her knee. And she behaved like she promised. Hadn’t slipped so far. Hadn’t leaned over for a kiss.

“Auntie Jinnie!” Jiho called me again.

“Yes, oldest piggy?” I responded, hearing Byul chuckling beside me.

She pointed towards the living room before she asked, “Are those your gifts to us?” There’s this excited smile on her face that made me match her smile.

I shook my head before I answered, “They’re all from Mansaeng.” I turned to Byul and grinned at the shy smile on her face. I squeezed her knee to grab her attention and said, “Go tell them they’re yours”

She nodded at me before she looked at Jiho across from us. “I… Ah… I brought Christmas gifts for everyone. You have yours there too, Jiho”

“You shouldn’t have bothered, Byul,” Mom said, joining in the conversation. “You’re always welcome to stay even if there’s no occasion”

She instantly sat up when she heard Mom’s voice and turned her body to Mom, giving her a small bow. She did this all in a hurry, which made me giggle. She subtly frowned at me before she turned to Mom with a big smile.

“It’s alright, Mrs. Ahn. Hyejin talks a lot about you so I thought of bringing you gifts when I came to visit”

That made me raise an eyebrow. Have I really? Looking back, Byul started opening up to me about her family. She’d ask me questions about mine but sometimes, I think I did naturally talk to her about my family.

“Are you Santa Claus?” little Aecha asked, erupting laughter from the whole table.

“Santa Claus? Do I look like Santa Claus, Aecha?” Byul asked, her eyes dancing from the wide smile on her lips. Her dimples showed up and I wished to poke them but just settled with holding onto her knee under the table.

Aecha gave Byul a firm nod, cheeks bouncing as she chewed on her food.

Byul laughed at the short response. Her hand landed on top of mine as she leaned her body closer to me. “Cute…” she whispered while I nodded in agreement. She turned to Aecha again and said, “I guess I’ll be Santa Claus then. Have you been a good girl to your Mommy and Daddy, Aecha?”

“Hm” Aecha said and gave Byul another firm nod.

“You’ll be Santa Saengie! We’ll call you Santa Sangie!” Binna shouted with still filled with the food she’s chewing.

That's actually a good name. Santa Saengie…

“Santa Saengie…” I turned to face Byul and our eyes locked right after. I shrugged my shoulders as I said, “Not bad… Mansaeng really suits you”

There was this pull between us that made Byul unconsciously lean towards me. It made me do the same. If my family wasn’t around, we might’ve kissed already. We realized right after we started leaning over and just settled with squeezing each other’s hand.

“Can we open your gifts later?” Jiho asked excitedly, already moving restlessly on her seat.

“Can we? Can we?” Binna added

“Open…” little Aecha shyly whispered, her head bobbing in a cute nod.

Byul looked at me, directing the question to me but I have no idea if it’s okay so I just shrugged my shoulders at her. Byul turned to my sisters next but both of them all turned to Mom, awaiting for her decision.

Instead of answering the question, Mom returned the question back to Byul. “Do you want them to open your gifts?”

Byul shyly scratched the back of her head while her knees bounced under the table, getting agitated and nervous. I caressed my hand on her knee, hoping that it would calm her down. Her hand squeezed my hand on her knee before she took a deep breath.

“If it’s okay, mam, I would love to see all of you opening the gifts I brought with me. I wanted to know if you’ll like them or not before I fly back home tomorrow. If… if it’s okay with all of you. If not, that’s still fine with me, mam”

I bit the inside of my cheek when her nervous rambles showed up.

“We can do that after dinner if that’s okay with you” Dad said and even made eye contact with Byul, surprising both me and Byul.

Byul was surprised because that’s the first time Dad spoke directly to her after the introductions. I was surprised because Dad seems to be comfortable around Byul even after meeting her for a short while. Dad doesn’t strike up a conversation with people he just met. He would usually just talk if he was asked or if there’s really a need to respond and react. He doesn’t initiate the conversation. It’s very unlike him.

“Ye—es, sir. That’s more than fine. Thank you” Byul stuttered, hearing her heavily sigh from relief.

I gave her slightly cold hand a squeeze, which she returned before letting go of each other’s hand to finish our lunch.

Byul pulled out her camera before dinner. She took lots of pictures of my nieces. She took lots of pictures of me. She also asked permission from my sisters, brother-in-laws and parents if she could also take pictures of them. They agreed and so she did. Instead of taking a nap after driving us to Jeonju, she preferred to take lots of pictures of us.

I sneakily took a picture of her with my family, mostly with my nieces using my phone. It’s not as good as the ones Byul took. It’s for my safekeeping. A memory I would like to treasure forever.

Byul gets along well with my sisters. They talk about kids mostly. My sisters with their daughters and Byul with her little munchkins, who are her younger sisters. Apparently, Byul watches over them to help her Mom, that’s why she’s so used to being around with kids.

When dinner was ready, Byul took pictures of everyone once again. My family was overzealous and even the kids enjoyed posing for Byul. We all gathered on the dining table filled with food. Mom and Dad were right in the middle. Hyunjoo and Jeonghoon with Jiho and Binna on each of their laps were on Dad’s side. Hajoon and Donghyun with Aecha on her Daddy’s lap were on Mom’s side. Being the only one without a family yet, I stood behind Mom and Dad, having the whole back space for myself.

It was very chaotic at first because we didn’t know where to sit or stand. We never had such a very formal family picture so it got everyone excited. Even Dad got excited too. They all even dressed up for the picture. Byul was the one who arranged us around the table.

“We’ve always been chaotic. The last time I witnessed us being this chaotic was during Hajoon and Donghyun’s wedding” I whispered to Byul when everyone was still busy preparing for the picture.

Byul laughed softly beside me while still setting up her camera stand. “Should I be worried about that?” she asked, standing up straight to look at me.

“Worried?” I scanned my eyes around the house, grinning at Hyunjoo chasing over Jiho who’s still half . “No…” I whispered with a slight shake of my head. “No, I don’t think so,” I said, grinning at Byul now.

Her eyes dropped down to my lips as a smirk appeared on her face. “If you say so…” she said in a tiny whisper as she dragged her eyes back to mine. Her jaw tensed as she bent her head and leaned closer to me.

I was surprised and the first thing I thought of doing was to step back, thinking that she’d kiss me. She held my arm, preventing me from doing that, but released it after a second.

“Let me just say one thing” she said so fast. “You look really beautiful tonight, babe. Beautiful…” She stepped back and turned her attention to her camera, her jaw hardening even more. “I’m really tempted to kiss you but I promised to behave so I’ll stay away to stop myself” she whispered, her voice barely coming out like it was really hard for her to say those words out.

“It’s good to know that the feeling is mutual” I whispered to Byul before I headed over to the dining table.

I helped Mom and Dad sit down and stood behind them as I waited for my sisters and their family. I glanced at Byul and silently laughed when I saw her touching the back of her hand to her cheeks, feeling the blush there. When our eyes met, I smiled wider and even gave her a wink. She glared at me before looking away to hide her blush.

The whole time she was taking pictures of us, I was just teasing her. She held her gaze on mine after I winked at her the first time. ‘Challenge accepted’ her gaze said to me. I decided to make her life easier and stopped teasing. Al