Jessica was spending more time falling over than standing up, and Yoona's patience was starting to wear thin. She hid it well though, giving encouragement to Jessica whenever she could. "I don't think I'm ever gonna get this" Jess sighed frustratedly. "Maybe I'm not a very good teacher" Yoona reasoned, brushing the snow off Jessica's . "Honey, the fact that I'm falling over without even doing anything has nothing to do with my teacher" Jessica laughed, at least she could see a funny side to it. "It's like learning to walk all over again" Yoona told her "except now it’s on a really slippery surface with big planks on the bottom of your feet".

Jessica smiled, sliding her arm around Yoona's waist and pulling her in close "how about we organise a lesson for me today, and while I'm doing that, you can go crazy on the slopes with Tiff and Tae" Jessica suggested. Yoona smiled and closed the gap between them, rubbing noses playfully eskimo style. Jessica cuddled Yoona close and began slowly kissing her with a smouldering hunger. Suddenly she lost her footing and started to fall, in her haste she clutched to Yoona who screamed and started to fall with her. They landed in the snow with a thump, bodies and limbs all over each other as they laughed together. "I always wanted a woman who would fall for me" Yoona joked, "well ... you got her" Jessica whispered, resuming that kiss she wanted so much.

Tiffany and Taeyeon heard someone whistle in front of them as they were kissing. They broke and saw a young chairlift safety dude smiling (understandably) at the display. "Raise the lap bar ladies, and watch your step" he instructed, Tiff and Tae quickly slipping their gloves back on and preparing to disembark. As they got to their feet and headed down the off ramp, safety dude still had a grin from ear to ear. "I think we raised HIS lap bar" Taeyeon joked, causing Tiffany to laugh out loud. They headed down an intermediate ski run chatting and joking on the way. Everytime they got on the chairlift to ride back up to the top, they removed a glove and held hands, whether they were alone together or not. It was an unspoken connection that they silently agreed to do, not just to feel the warmth of each other’s hands, but to physically connect with the person they thought, for very different reasons, they had lost for good.

Sooyoung slowly sipped her coffee at "Blizzard", watching the passing parade of people out the window. She kept checking the clock on the wall, her stomach tingling with butterflies again as 10.30am drew near. "Why on earth am I feeling like this?" Sooyoung thought to herself. "We've barely had a conversation, she may not even remember me ... hell she might not even be GAY". The thoughts in Sooyoung's head slowly snowballed into the ridiculous with each passing painstaking minute. "What if she thought I was a guy? What if she's taken? What if she thinks I'm a joke for taking a kids class? Damnit Sooyoung, what the hell are you doing?". She was woken from her self destructive thoughts as she saw Soonkyu slowly ski past with a group of kids in tow. "!" she uttered, downing the remainder of her coffee and racing out of the cafe.

Having finally caught up with the rest of the class, Sooyoung sat on the bench beside the kids and caught her breathe. Soonkyu had gone into the ski hire place to get the attendance list. A smart-allecky little boy sitting beside Sooyoung decided to play spanish inquisition with her. "What's your name?", "Sooyoung" came the reply, "Isn't that a boy’s name?" he asked. "Well I'm not a boy, so no, it’s a girl’s name, MY name" Sooyoung answered, trying not to cop an attitude. "Are you teaching our class today?" the little girl next to the boy asked. "Nope, I'm gonna be learning like all of you" Sooyoung smiled, noticing how easily she adapted to talking to kids, something she wasn't used to. "You DO know this is a kid’s class, right?" smart boy sarcastically asked.

"Yes I know that ... what's your name?" Sooyoung enquired. "Jake" he said, "I'm Sally" the little girl answered, smiling shyly at Sooyoung.

Sooyoung offered her hand to both Jake and Sally, shaking hands with them "nice to meet you Jake, Sally ... so have you been skiing before?". "Mom and Greg bring me every year, they think it's better than buying heaps of Christmas presents" Jake answered with maturity. Ahh the youth of today, so well adjusted. "This is my third lesson ever, and I'm still having trouble" Sally chimed in. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it after a couple more lessons" Sooyoung reassured her. "I guess ... I can do the skiing part okay, it’s just the stopping I can't do" Sally smiled as Sooyoung giggled at her answer, so cute.

"OKAY ... welcome junior ski-bunnies" Soonkyu exclaimed as she was reading her clipboard. She looked up at her group and scanned the lineup. Her eyes grew wide in surprise as she saw Sooyoung. "Hi there" she enthusiastically spoke, looking into Sooyoung's eyes. "Hi ... I'm Sooyoung, Janet booked me in this morning, I hope that's ... okay" Sooyoung asked slightly embarrassed as the kids were all watching their interaction. "Not a problem at all Sooyoung, welcome to the group", Sooyoung smiled as Soonkyu put her clipboard down when she was done checking the roll. "Well kids, it looks like we have a new person with us today, please say hello to Sooyoung" Soonkyu announced, smiling at Sooyoung and giving her a wink. "Hiiiiiii Sooooyoouuuung" the kids said in unison.

"Have you ever been skiing before, Sooyoung?" Soonkyu asked, "never ... but I'm a fast learner". "Well, if you have any questions or you're having a problem, just let me know okay?" Soonkyu stated, giving Sooyoung yet another smile. Sooyoung nodded, internally she thought "I could get used to seeing that smile more often". "Okay kids, I want you to pair up with the ski-buddy you had yesterday, and we'll do some snow plows" Soonkyu instructed, turning to Sooyoung she continued, "Sooyoung? You can buddy up with me ... ya know, since you're taller than the kids". "Of course, no problem" Sooyoung responded, thanking the fate gods for the helping hand.

Tiffany and Taeyeon slalomed down to the base of the slope, passing Yoona and Jessica who were attempting to side-step up a not so steep part. They boarded the chairlift again, looking out to the side to watch Jessica's progress. At that very moment, Jessica began to carefully snow plow down the slope putting her weight on one side and successfully turning. She screamed excitedly as Yoona cheered her on. Tiffany and Taeyeon both shouted from the chairlift "Go Jessica wooohoooo!". Jessica looked up to see who knew her name, it was then that she forgot how to stop and crashed into the embankment of snow. Tiffany and Taeyeon shouted their apologies down to Jess who was whacking the snow with her poles. "You did sooo good honey" Yoona shouted as she skied down to Jess.

Tiffany yelled out "that's a seven Sica, you go girl!". Jessica laughed as she got herself back up, side stepping up the slope again for another try.

Sooyoung was learning how to snow plow, Soonkyu instructing her on how to control her speed and turns. "Ok Sooyoung, when you want to slow down or stop, you need to slide the back of your skis out, weight on your heels. That's called snow plowing." Soonkyu bent down and touched Sooyoung's calves as she tried to slide her heels outwards. Even though there were socks and boots and ski pants over Sooyoung's legs, she still felt the electricity of Soonkyu's innocent touch. "Are you ready to try it in motion?" Soonkyu asked, "Ready as I'll ever be I guess ... but you gotta catch me if I fall" Sooyoung playfully replied. "I'll do my best" she answered, taking Sooyoung's gloved hands.

"Okay everyone, let's try a snow plow" Soonkyu instructed "one, two, three GO!". Sooyoung tentatively started down the small slope, watching the tips of her skis as Soonkyu slid down backwards with ease, holding Sooyoung's hands out and talking her through the movement. "Good Sooyoung, now just slide your heels out a little more, they're your brakes okay". Sooyoung couldn't respond, she was too busy concentrating, trying not to fall, and feeling the butterflies circling as Soonkyu was holding her hands. She did as asked, sliding her heels out and feeling the control she had, finally getting the hang of it. Sooyoung slowly looked up into Soonkyu's eyes as her confidence grew, "awesome job Sooyoung, I knew you'd get it".

They reached the bottom safely along with the other kids. "Great job everyone!" Soonkyu was applauding, the kids and Sooyoung joining in, the muffled glove-like thuds making Sooyoung smile at the cute display. Little Sally tugged at Sooyoung's ski pants leg to get her attention. Sooyoung looked down at the smiling face gazing at her in admiration. "I made it Sooyoung, I didn't fall down" she grinned excitedly. Sooyoung felt her heart radiate with pride, as if it had been her own daughter. "Allright, way to go Sally, I knew you could do it, high five!" Sooyoung beamed as they slapped gloves. Soonkyu noticed Sooyoung's smile, watching her interactions with the kids. She got a twinkle in her eye, entranced by this woman who, for reasons she didn't know, wanted to learn with the kids.

It was almost the end of the lesson, the kids and Sooyoung had been practicing their snow plows, turns and stops. There were a few falls, but those that did regained their footing and battled on. Sooyoung fell only once when she forgot which way to lean to turn. Sally came to her rescue, inadvertantly, when she snow plowed in her direction and kinda landed on Sooyoung. They both giggled, helping each other up. "Okay that one wasn't my fault Sooyoung, you fell in front of me" she cheekily said. "I know, my bad, forgive me?" Sooyoung pouted. Sally patted Sooyoung's dishevelled hair with her little gloved hand, "Of course, silly" she giggled, snow plowing off down the hill with confidence. "Alright gang, let’s do our last run from the top, everyone pair up with your ski-buddy". Sooyoung gazed at Soonkyu as she rounded up the kids and helped them get onto the chair lift, a couple of other instructors accompanying the kids up.

Soonkyu came back to where Sooyoung was standing and smiled at her, grabbing Sooyoung's hand "come on ski-buddy, let’s go". Sooyoung laughed softly, holding her hand and stepping out ready to sit on the upcoming chairlift. They shared a lift with Sally and her ski-buddy Hannah. With the lap bar securely down, the girls were watching the other skiers go down the ski runs. Soonkyu and Sooyoung sat either side of them, smiling at each other occasionally as the kids’ cute conversation made them giggle. Sally turned to Sooyoung and smiled, asking her "Sooyoung ... are you married?". "Umm no, no i'm not" Sooyoung responded, hoping Sally would ask Soonkyu the same question. "Are YOU married?" Sooyoung asked Sally who broke out in giggles. "Noooo, I'm not old enough Sooyoungy" she responded. "Sally wants to marry Frodo" Hannah teased. "I do not!" Sally retorted, "at least I don't want to marry Smiegol" she shot back. "I don't want to marry him, I want to marry Spongebob". Sooyoung and Soonkyu laughed, "Ya know, I think I'd marry Patrick" Sooyoung joked. "I'm a fan of the PowerPuff Girls myself" Soonkyu confessed, giving Sooyoung a wink.

**********

~tbc~