The road to being understood is long and hard. But with Himchan, it isn't like that. It's the afternoon and Bomi is sitting on the stairs, drawing in her sketchbook. Himchan sits beside her, munching on his cookies and drinking his milk like a child. She doesn't feel self-conscious around him. Their moment of peace is interrupted by Hyosung barging through the front door, bringing in quickly-melting snow. Daehyun rushed off to get his voluptuous girlfriend a towel, and Hana is laughing at something Youngjae is saying.

"Right. Everybody! Gather in the living room," says Yongguk merrily. "It's present time!"

Youngjae and Jieun whoop. 

Bomi sighs, and as she pockets her sketchbook, a half-finished cookie gets shoved in her face.

"What the hell?" she squawks.

"Eat it," says Himchan.

"It has your spit on it. And it's all soggy from milk!" says Bomi, swatting his hand away.

"But I'm full," he protests.

"Get away from me." Bomi struggles to stand up with Himchan hanging onto her shoulder.

Suddenly Himchan leans in and whispers in her ear, "Daehyun is watching. No, don't turn around. Just eat the damn thing."

Bomi makes a face as Himchan pulls away and prods the cookie at her. Bomi reluctantly opens . Himchan grins and shoves it down . He starts to cackle as she chokes on it, but quickly stops laughing when Bomi hits him on the head.

"That's low," says Bomi around her mouthful, stalking away from him.

"Aw, come on," says Himchan, hobbling behind her. "It was funny."

"Hi, Daehyun," says Bomi. "Did you win?"

"Er, hi. No, Yongguk did," says Daehyun awkwardly. "Er…"

Daehyun's back is plastered to the doorframe as Himchan pushes his way into the living room, knocking against Bomi's old crush.

"All right, everyone. Settle down!" says Hyosung bossily. "Gifts go clockwise! I hope you are ready."

Bomi sits down in her usual seat, back to the fireplace, beside Jongup. Before Daehyun can sit down on her other side, Himchan beats him to it and Daehyun is left shuffling away to find the guest armchair next to Jieun. 

Bomi zones out for most of it, only pretending to be interested when she unwraps her presents. They include a new set of paintbrushes from Jongup, a deluxe box of paint tubes from Jieun, a phonebook from Hana, a limited edition of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace from Yongguk, a telescope from Youngjae and lastly —

The room is filled with awkward silence as Bomi opens the gift from Hyosung and Daehyun. It's an expensive business bag with Bomi's name engraved on it. 

Hyosung sniffs the air. "That was supposed to be a congratulation present for getting a real job at the museum administration."

Bomi stares at the bag and she feels her eyes sting with tears of shame. The silence around the room is filled with tension and Bomi doesn't dare to look up.

"Look, I don't know what happened the other day at that job interview," says Hyosung stiffly, "but I think this is about time to get your head out of the clouds."

"What do you mean?" Bomi hears herself ask.

"You can't keep working odd jobs forever, Bomi. As your cousin, I feel that I have a duty to make sure you find yourself a future. You need to grow up and start to think about getting a legitimate career. You are unsettled, you are unfocused. You need to something you do really well."

"But I have, I do! It's painting," says Bomi lifting her head up to meet Hyosung's stern eyes. Everybody is watching them and half of the room are staring at Bomi in disapproval. "I mean, it's…it's the only thing I care about. It's the only thing that matters! It's the only thing that makes me feel like me."

Hyosung sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "That has nothing to do with what I'm talking about right now. You can draw, paint and colour in your spare time. I'm talking about your life here."

"So am I!"

"Don't you want to do something great with your life?"

"Yes, but —"

"Honey, we are just trying to help. We are worried about you —"

Someone in the room clears his throat loudly.

All heads turn to him.

It's Himchan. 

Himchan looks around, scratching his neck. "Er, sorry. It's just that…I understand that you are worried for Bomi, but well, I can't really stand by and watch you insult my girlfriend's work."

Bomi swallows. Tears that were earlier threatening to spill are now trailing down her cheeks. She feels Himchan untangle her hands from the business bag. He squeezes her hand, before looking up to address the situation. 

"Look, from what I understand, Hyosung. Aren't you a dancer? You of all people should understand how Bomi feels. Why are you belittling Bomi for her dreams, pushing her to get a legitimate career when you are a performer? What Bomi is doing is just a different kind of art. And I have seen her paintings. They are raw and expressive and complex…and, er,  a little strange," says Himchan. "But they are really beautiful. And I have one more present for her."

Bomi stares through her tears, as Himchan stands up. The room watches him, enraptured, as he pulls out a velvet box from his pocket before kneeling down before her. 

Bomi feels her jaw drop open as Himchan opens the box to reveal the content inside. 

A glittering diamond ring.

Himchan clears his throat and flushes. 

"Bomi," he says, "I know you are young, and you haven't even finished college, but from the short time we have been together, I have come to understand that you are the most wonderful girl I have met in the 26 years of my life. You are kind, funny, passionate and just plain ridiculous. Will you do the honour of marrying me?"

Everybody gasps.

Bomi's mouth has gone dry. This joke has definitely gone too far.

"Yes," she says.

The living room erupts in a deafening cheer.

Himchan grins, takes Bomi's hand in his and slips the ring onto her finger. He stands up, pulls Bomi onto her feet, leans down and kisses her.

Somewhere in the background, Bomi can hear Hyosung squealing, "Oh! I can't wait to start planning the wedding!"

:::::::

The rest of the day passes by in merriment. Everybody is happy, happier than Bomi has ever seen them. She can't believe that one good news about her life can bring this much joy to those she loves. Too bad it's all a joke and Bomi is just a fraud. Neither Bomi nor Himchan are able to find time for themselves, and Bomi is getting extremely impatient, wanting to talk all of it over with Himchan.

So, it doesn't come as a surprise when evening arrives and Bomi barges into the occupied bathroom.

Himchan yelps and spins around from the sink. He is shirtless and is brushing his teeth.

"What the hell?" he grumbles and spits the toothpaste into the sink before quickly washing his mouth.

"I didn't think you would go that far," says Bomi numbly. "They will be crushed once they find out the truth."

"Yes, well. I thought I'd give them a couple more bells and whistles, at least for a couple more hours. It'll all end tomorrow night, then we can finally go back to our normal lives."

"Thank you for lying about the paintings."

"I wasn't lying." He crosses his arms over his bare chest and sighs. "I was watching you draw all day. And I saw your album. It was on the bedside cabinet."

"You looked through my stuff? Well, the keys aren't there."

"Relax. It was an accident."

Bomi stares at the diamond ring on her finger. She feels a tug in her heart.

"You were going to propose to your girlfriend. At the diner," she says.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry I kidnapped you," says Bomi.

"No need for that," Himchan says, reaching out and ruffling her hair like she is a child. "You're not all bad."

Bomi fidgets. "Well, just hang in there through Christmass dinner. I promise I will take you wherever you want to go tomorrow."

Without looking at him, Bomi exits the bathroom and closes the door. 

She walks right into Jongup.

Jongup stares down at her with something unreadable in his eyes.

"I knew it was too good to be true," he says. "Come with me. We need to talk."