Snowfall had stopped for the first time since it started heavily three nights ago. It made quick work of turning the country into a daydreamer’s perfect mirage of a winter wonderland, as a thick curtain of pure white snowflakes blanketed the whole of South Korea.

A sigh of satisfaction slipped past Soeun’s winter chapped lips. The mug of hot chocolate topped with fluffy white marshmallows spread thick warmth through her cold body at every sip of its rich cocoa goodness. She had just stepped out of the shower a few moments ago, and had immediately set to work on brewing a cup of hot drink for herself due to the freezing draft that was blowing through the villa.

A warm, glowing fire cackled in the living room’s brick fireplace, providing her with the added heat that the hot chocolate and her thick sweater couldn’t give. For a moment, Soeun couldn’t help but feel incredibly blessed and contented as she leaned back into the comfort of the suede couch. Even though she was going to spend this winter alone for the first time in five years, she was happy and sated for now.

Soeun took another sip and placed the mug onto the coffee table gingerly before looking up at the lone mannequin in the middle of the vast living room. Her almond shaped brown eyes scanned the elegant white gown carefully, making sure to not miss any minor flaw that the apparel could have. She was going to be meeting with the future owner of the dress for the first time later that afternoon, and she wanted to make sure everything goes well enough for her.

It was a design that looked simple enough to an outsider’s eyes. But to Soeun, this dress took her nearly three months to complete. She poured everything she had learnt into this one creation and had come up with a floor length white satin gown that had a short train attached to the back of the dress seamlessly. White lace was used for the skirt of the dress, giving the entire outfit a twist on traditional wedding gowns that were almost, if not always, covered in layers of cake-like tulle material.

Another sigh made its way out of her lips, although this time, the breath was one filled with regret, reluctant parting and jealousy.

Her first bridal gown design sold just like that.

Yes, perhaps Soeun ought to feel happy and accomplished that her first ever design was bought only three days after she had it up for sale on her online store. But she just couldn’t help but feel the slightest ache prick at her chest as she thought about how this dress will be on someone else as they walked down the aisle towards marital bliss.

It was a bittersweet moment really. Soeun has always thought that the first gown she designed would be the one she would wear as she walked down the aisle. She thought that perhaps no one would buy it and she would have to take it down and keep it for her own use in the future. To be honest, she had hoped for it to happen. It was her first gown, after all. And being able to get married to the man she loved while wearing it only added onto the sentimental value of the dress.

Soeun was a young woman who thought of many things in sentimental, romantic and sometimes strange ways. Life to her meant spending it with the one you love; your soulmate. Like many foolish young girls who have yet to feel the pain of heartbreak, Soeun had an ideal in her head that love was one of the best things in the world, apart from hot chocolate.

Perhaps it was. But many others would disagree, having gone through the pain and suffering of what was supposedly the best thing in the entire world could bring.

Soeun sighed once more as she took the dress off of the mannequin and put it into the black dress jacket to protect it from the harsh weather outside. She then draped the dress over the back of the couch before draining the rest of her drink and moving over to the iron wrought coat stand to prepare herself for the meeting.

She reached for the trusty woolen peacoat and her beanie and pulled both on quickly, before wrapping the worn multi-coloured yarn scarf around her neck snuggly. The scarf was a Christmas present sewn by her grandmother two years ago and it was the last holiday gift she had given her before she passed away.

“Ready to go, Miss?”

Soeun murmured a yes in reply and smiled up at the older man. Lou was already dressed in warm clothes suited to keep him well protected from the weather, though he had opted out of giving his graying hair some coverage. He held a large paper bag full of wedding favours, invitation cards and wall decorations that were also for Jimin and an umbrella in the other.

“Don’t you think you’ll need a hat, Lou?” Soeun asked. She grabbed the gown from the couch and draped it over her arm, while her right hand grabbed her Balenciaga bag from the armchair. “Your hair might drop off from the cold, haven’t you heard?”

“Less is more these days, Miss.” came the fluent Korean reply from the American man as he snuck the young woman a look. “Haven’t you heard?”

Soeun laughed at his sarcasm but shivered when she stepped out of the front door and into the ice-covered yard outside. Snow coated every surface in thick, white, icy layers.

“It’s so cold,” She murmured, tugging her scarf tighter around her neck. Her breath came out in white foggy smoke before they disappeared into the air. “It’s so much colder here than in New York during winter.”

She slid into the backseat, taking care to not let the gown brush against the floor of the car lest it got dirtied. Lou got into the driver’s seat and started the engine as they pulled out of the property’s yard and into the streets of Samseong-dong.

“Oh, Lou. Did you manage to find any Christmas decorations in the house?” Soeun asked after sending a quick text to Jimin informing her that she was on the way to the restaurant. “I tried searching the attic, but there isn’t anything there except for an old chest full of dad’s old works.”

“I’m sorry, Miss. But it seems Mr. Yoon had made it a point to empty out the basement and storerooms of the entire house before your family’s migration to America.” Lou replied, never taking his eyes off of the road. The streets were a blinding white now due to the heavy snowfall and driving was taken to a much slower speed for a skilled, fast driver like him. “I did find an inflatable child pool and a few garden gnomes in the shed though.”

“What use are those things? It’s nearing December and we don’t even have the tree up yet.” Soeun grumbled. She pursed her lips and brushed her hand down the front of the covered gown to smooth it out. “I’ll go look for some decorations later. You don’t have to come fetch me, Lou, I’ll just take a cab back home.”

The driver nodded his head curtly, signaling that he had understood her perfectly without words. Soeun adjusted the gloves protecting her hands before turning to look out the window as she lost herself to the thoughts that were always swirling in her mind.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Soeun let out a weary sigh as she exited the fancy western food restaurant after bidding the bouncing bride-to-be, Jimin, an eager goodbye.

She seemed to be doing a lot of sighing recently, even though the mere action only served to make her feel even more tired. It was a kind of exhaustion that reached bone deep, a place where she couldn’t provide relief. Soeun felt as if she was just existing day by day, and not living as fully as she wanted to. Sure, she has got things such as the opening of her first bridal boutique to look forward to, but for some reason unknown to her, she just felt so lifeless and empty.

Her boots clad feet carried her down the icy streets of Cheongdam-dong’s shopping district as her mind mentally went over the changes Jimin wanted made to the dress. The meeting with her went, well, as smooth as a meeting could when someone booked an entire VIP room just to view a wedding dress. That action only made Soeun feel more obliged to change just about everything of the dress’ design to suit Jimin’s fancy.

She had asked Soeun very kindly to alter the length of the dress, which meant getting rid of the seamless lace train that the young designer was very proud of, to suit the ‘theme’ of her wedding. Additionally, Jimin had also wanted her to add some tulle layers (a material that Soeun rather disliked using) to the shortened skirt to give what the bride said ‘a cheery adorable factor’ to her spring wedding. Despite providing her with other alternatives that Soeun was confident would suit her better, Jimin was firm on what she wanted her dress to look like, and that was a shortened tea length dress with a puffy tulle layered skirt. She was stubbornly adamant that her idea was going to turn out perfectly, which could be due to the fact that because she held a career as a professional stylist for a Korean pop (K-pop) idol group, her ideas were always going to turn out impeccable.

‘What’s the point of getting my dress if you’re only going to change, well, everything about it?’ she grumbled silently while strolling along the various brightly lit window displays.  “Could have jolly well gone to another designer and get your dress custom made.”

The dress was draped over her left arm as she window shopped, and it was proving to be a rather irritating burden to tot around while she went about getting her Christmas decorations. Thankfully though, Jimin was extremely satisfied with the wedding invitations and favours Soeun had come up with, and was therefore rid of having to carry along another bag whilst she shopped.

Soeun shifted the dress carefully before looking up to see a much-needed Starbucks café just down the street. Her entire being craved the comfort of a cup of hot chocolate with some of the famous coffee branch’s sweet whipped cream while she sunk bonelessly into the warm, soft couch. She was about to head towards the coffee place when a display caught her attention, causing her to move at a much slower pace as she perused the items being advertised.

A brightly coloured signboard with the iron-wrought word Bliss twisted into an elegant script hung over the shop face. It was a children furniture store selling one of the world’s best furniture for young mums and mums-to-be as advertised on its window surface. Soeun stopped in front of the display and peered in at the object that had caught her eye.

It was the prettiest and most exquisite baby-rocking cradle she had ever seen in her life. The furniture was made of a dark mahogany wood, smoothed and polished to its brightest finish, paired with a white wood cradle that was shaped in the form of a sailboat’s hull. There was even a wooden mast and mainsail attached to the side of the cradle, completing the nautical theme of the furniture. Along the side of the hull, the phrase ‘Ahoy, mate! All aboard the dreamboat!’ was etched into it with a bold, old school typewriter font in a rich navy blue colour.

A smile crept onto her flushed face. It was the perfect gift for her sister, Sona. She was currently 18-weeks pregnant with her first child right now and he is going to be the third grandchild for the Yoon family, after Soeun’s brother Seungchun’s two children, Alex and Rosie.

Soeun pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the cradle before uploading it on her Twitter account in a message for her sister. She was about to tap on the ‘send’ button when there was a sudden tug on her left arm.

Where the wedding dress was.

Before she could even begin to comprehend anything at all, there was a sudden loud rip of tearing fabric and a bright, clear bark of a dog and all Soeun could do was watch as the little white puppy destroyed what was going to be Jimin’s wedding dress.

1st official chapter, folks! With a new banner too! coughamateurphotoshopskillscough

To the wonderful 7 (have I told you 7's my favourite number) who subscribed and also to abirdssong and xxSaewAxx for commenting, I LOVE YOU (throws hearts/kisses/hugs/everything nice)

This story will be a little slow to most of you who are used to how fast stories go on AFF, but what's life if there isn't special moments in between, right?
2nd chapter will be up soon! Perhaps tomorrow. But until then, sub and comment, lovely readers <3