Gahyeon stood outside of the university building, waiting for her friend Yubin to come. The freezing air made it hard to keep warm so she distracted herself by exhaling widely, watching the foggy cloud form around . 

“Miss smoking?” 

The sudden voice made her stop and look up to see Yubin by her side. She watched her bring the cigarette to and quickly light it. 

“Thanks, but I stopped,” she said, raising her hand when her friend offered her one. 

“You know, new year’s resolutions start in January.”

“So? I’m getting a head start.” 

The two giggled and began walking over to a coffee shop. 

It was two weeks before Christmas, but the atmosphere could already be felt everywhere as they walked around the busy city streets. Adults were rushing holding perfectly wrapped presents, children were eating warm delicious food and playing in the park, while elders were discussing city decorations and comparing them to previous years. 

Gahyeon absolutely loved everything about Christmas time. It would bring people together like no other holiday so it had that special place in her heart and it made her feel all fuzzy inside whenever December would approach.

The coffee shop was busy, but they managed to find a table in the corner, just when a couple was leaving. 

“What will you get?” Yubin asked.

“Hm,” she hummed, staring at the menu, “probably just hot cocoa.”

“Same. Too cold to think about anything else.” 

Yubin looked around gesturing to the pretty waitress to come over. Gahyeon smirked watching Yubin easily charm the girl.

When the short flirting session was over, they waited for their orders and began chatting about the last exam they took. Both were finishing their last year of college with only a couple of exams left. Gahyeon studied a lot so she was excited for the winter break to recharge. 

And speaking of recharge, the waitress brought them their drinks, and Yubin made sure to provoke another blush on her face.

“You’re such a flirt,” Gahyeon chuckled, wrapping her hands around her cup. The first sip hit her right in the soul. It was just what she needed on this cold winter day. 

“I’m just being polite.”

“Mhm,” Gahyeon hummed sarcastically. 

“What about you, any luck with love?”

“Not really,” Gahyeon took her time to drink some more of the hot drink. “I do want a girlfriend though,” she pouted but quickly smiled.

“Will you be visiting your parents for the winter break?” 

“I was thinking about it, but I will actually stay and work here.”

“Oh? Where?”

“I applied at this place that organizes events for orphanages.”

“That’s really nice, Gahyeon.” Yubin smiled proudly at her friend.

Gahyeon nodded and looked outside the window, taking a long breath in. 

Christmas time always gave her a lot of joy, and now it was time for her to make someone else’s days a bit better, a bit warmer.

--

Carefully avoiding traffic, Gahyeon walked into the building. It wasn’t the biggest, but it definitely gave her the same good feeling like the last time she was there. 

“Hello, I’m Lee Gahyeon,” she said to the woman working at the counter trying to ignore the Santa hat resting on her head. “I was here last week. I have a meeting with Kim Minji.” 

The woman with long nails typed her name into her laptop and smiled. She pushed herself off the floor, letting the chair roll smoothly further down the desk. She picked up the telephone and quickly dialed up a number. 

“Miss Lee Gahyeon is here to see you… Yes, the little cutie from last week.” 

Gahyeon smiled and looked at the hand from the woman playing with the telephone wire. The long nails were distracting but pretty. She wondered where she got them done. She would definitely ask later on.

“Mhm, I’ll bring her up.” 

Hanging up the telephone, she suggested the student to follow her. From a conversation with someone in the hallway, she got to know the name was Siyeon. 

She seems fun.

They walked further down the hallway when Siyeon knocked on a door and peeked her head in.

“Hey, coffee later?” 

“You know it.” 

“Where’s your hat?”

Gahyeon heard a groan from the inside and Siyeon giggling.

“There you go, much better!”

To Gahyeon, the company looked very open-minded and like a good place to work at. Of course, a part-time job wasn’t full-time, but it still made her happy to be able to work somewhere where the work environment seemed fun.

And before she knew it, Siyeon led her to Minji’s door.

“Hello there, Miss CEO.” 

Gahyeon picked up on the tone change. It was almost... flirty?

“I told you not to call me that.” Her voice was very soft, she didn’t sound angry.

“Mhm, or else?”

“Siyeon,” Minji sighed trying not to smile while fixing her glasses, “Don’t you have someone for me?”

“Right…” 

She moved to the side, and Minji smiled warmly at Gahyeon who took it as a cue to walk in.

“Gahyeon, Minji is nice, she doesn’t bite. Only sometimes.” Siyeon stuck her tongue out at Minji and quickly disappeared when she got ‘the look’ and so the silence fell upon the room the second she closed the door. 

“Sorry about her. Please, sit.”

The student sat down and slowly looked around the office. 

A Mac computer occupied most of the space on her white desk. On the back of it were a few post-it notes. She assumed the ones with playful drawings were from Siyeon. 

The CEO had a few plants scattered around, which had enough natural lighting coming from the big windows that gave the view of the busy streets below.

Gahyeon gave Minji her full attention again when the woman fiddled with some papers.

She hummed while holding up Gahyeon’s CV, resting back on the chair.

“You applied for the part-time job for the orphanage helpout.”

“Yes.”

Minji nodded, her eyes were scanning more of the paper.

“I really liked your motivational letter. It seemed very genuine.”

“I just want to help out and make people, in this case, children happy. I think it would make me happy as well.”

Minji smiled and took off her glasses. 

“We as a company we have grown a lot over the years, we do a lot of work and generate profit, and we’re proud of that, but of course, helping children is really something special, so I think you would do just fine with us.”

The CEO wanted to speak more, but the door opened wide, disrupting her train of thought.

“Minji, I arranged everything, they- Oh, sorry.”

Gahyeon turned her head and saw a woman fixing her bangs underneath the Santa hat. Her wavy brown hair was falling around her face making her look angel-like. 

“Ah, Bora, perfect timing. Meet your new co-worker!” Minji happily exclaimed, pointing to Gahyeon.

Gahyeon politely stood up and shook Bora’s hand. The woman’s hand felt so soft and small which caught Gahyeon off-guard.

“Kim Bora, nice to meet you.” 

Her smile was so beautiful, Gahyeon thought she would get blinded by it.

“Lee Gahyeon, likewise.” 

“Bora, you’ll take Gahyeon under your wing, okay? Show her around and all.”

“Can you start right away?” Bora got straight to the point.

“Uh, well yes.” Gahyeon nodded looking at Bora then at Minji who wheezed at Bora’s eagerness.

“Great!” Bora clapped her hands, ready for work.

--

“So what’s your position?” 

Bora asked as they made their way through the building. Gahyeon figured she would do a lot of walking on this job.

“I’m just doing part-time during my winter break,” she answered, trying to keep up with Bora’s pace while also looking around, smiling whenever they bumped into someone.

“Oh, a student? Should have figured it out, you look very young.”

“I’m 24…” Gahyeon made a face.

“So?” Bora turned around to copy her expression. “Do you want to be 29 like me?”

“I guess not,” Gahyeon couldn’t help but giggle.

“That’s what I thought, kid.”

Gahyeon wheezed at the nickname and kept following the older woman until they got to what seemed a storage room.

The room was so cramped, it seemed bigger than it actually was. BIg storage shelves that almost reached the ceiling were filled with tons of folders, boxes, books, and other random stuff that got thrown here. 

“It’s messy here, I know, don’t tell Minji,” Bora groaned as she made her way over the boxes on the floor.

The student carefully walked in, trying not to step on anything. She thought she almost lost Bora until she found her at the end of the labyrinth, crouching down, searching for something.

“So we’re wearing these outfits,” Bora informed her as she turned around.  “We’re like Santa’s little helpers. The kids love it.”

“Oh, they ask about Santa?”

“Yes, they do.” 

Gahyeon smiled but the smile quickly dropped once Bora handed her the outfit. “Try it on.”

“What? Right now?” Gahyeon instinctively looked in the direction of the door then back at Bora.

“Oh, please,” Bora snorted. “I didn’t take you here to strip. Just over your clothes, silly.”

--

“You know back then I didn’t say anything, but you really look like a Christmas gnome.” Bora laughed looking at Gahyeon in her Santa outfit all ready for her first day.

Her outfit was a red short sleeve dress that barely covered her shoulders. Three white puff dots, with a belt just like Santa’s one.

“Really?” Gahyeon pouted and tried to get a better look at herself in the cabinet glass doors. 

It was at that time, Bora realized just how beautiful the younger girl was.

“Well, okay, a cute one.”

Gahyeon showed off her gummy smile filling Bora’s heart with joy. 

What a cutie.

And so their partnership began.

Even though Bora seemed strict and very professional, she told Gahyeon to just enjoy herself these few days, and to have fun. 

And she did. The children at first were a bit shy, but soon fell in love with her. 

Her days were passing by so quickly as she was enjoying the work, and teasing Bora with Siyeon about whatever they could find.

Today she brought the children some gifts from the company that they opened together, played sports with them, danced around, while Bora was drawing with the others and helped with decorating everything.

“She’s doing well,” one of the workers commented. 

Bora stopped spraying the windows with fake snow and lifted her head to follow the worker’s eyes. She saw Gahyeon hold hands with a girl as they danced and laughed to Christmas songs.

Bora simply smiled and got back to work, ignoring the sudden warmth she felt and thoughts occupying her mind.

--

“Ugh, this storage room will never look decent,” Bora sighed looking around the mess they began cleaning and sorting since two hours ago.

The cogs in Gahyeon’s brain began turning and she came up with a solution.

“Just put these things here, so you can have more space.”

She switched the direction of the folders on the shelf, therefore making more room for others.

Bora blankly stared at Gahyeon, who was speedily organizing everything to look neat. She turned around all proud and Bora had to give her a pat on the head.

“Well, you’re smarter than you look, kid.”

“Thanks, mom.” 

“Mom?!” Bora exclaimed loudly, widening her eyes in shock.

Gahyeon began smirking, seeing Bora lose it.

“No, no, no, we’re not having that.”

“Siyeon said you like the whole... mommy stuff?” Gahyeon teased even further and Bora shook her head, fixing her ponytail.

“God, I’ll kill her…”

Bora thought they were done as she continued sorting the files, but Gahyeon soon got bored and thought she would go a step further, be a little more bold with the older girl.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“No.”

“How about a girlfriend?”

“You’re asking too many questions.”

“So you do have a girlfriend.”

“No, I don’t.”

Gahyeon squinted and moved closer to Bora’s face, inspecting it for potential lies. Bora rolled her eyes and gently pushed her away.

“I’ve been single for a while. I'm busy, it's hard to find someone. I also have a rule of not dating anyone younger than me. So that’s that.”

“You’re missing out then.”

“On what?”

“Not on what, on who.” Gahyeon winked at Bora who found herself getting red in the face.

--

Christmas Eve, or for Gahyeon, her last day at work.

Getting dressed for today’s activities, Gahyeon looked over at Bora.

“Hey Bora, I have to tell you something...”

Bora looked up seeing Gahyeon frowning. She quickly finished tying her shoelaces, and stood up, concerned for the younger girl. She never saw her like that.

“Tell me.”

Gahyeon looked to the side and gulped before her lips revealed her Hollywood act.

“You also look like a gnome!”  

Bora’s eyes widened at the sudden remark.

“You’re even shorter than me! Ha-ha!”

“Me?” Bora’s jaw dropped. “No way!”

She moved closer to Gahyeon to measure them. As she was positioning herself to make it fair, she stared into Gahyeon’s eyes and the room was starting to feel too small and the air quickly got thicker once they were face to face. 

Maybe it was the outfits, or the rush to get ready. Or maybe it was each other’s lips that were now just a kiss away.

“See,” Gahyeon swallowed, “I’m taller.” Her voice was almost a whisper that brushed against Bora’s lips.

Bora’s brain was going into panic mode seeing the girl get so close. Gahyeon’s heart skipped a beat when Bora’s eyes fell on her pretty lips. But then Bora awkwardly punched her shoulder and forcefully laughed and backed away. 

“Kid, did you think I would kiss you?” she laughed more, picking up her clothes, trying to distract herself from the moment.

“N-No?! You’re so full of yourself, ugh,” Gahyeon groaned and rolled her eyes as she walked out of the room.

Bora waited until the coast was clear to hit the back of her head against the wall, closing her eyes. 

“Bora, you ...”

--

While the student was having a blast, she noticed her coworker missing. She looked around and found her alone staring at the Christmas tree.

“Hey, everything okay?”

She noticed Bora’s eyes were glistening with tears. She tried her best to blink them away and nodded.

“Yeah, just you know, happy for the kids.” 

Gahyeon stayed quiet watching Bora not meet her eyes. There was obviously something more that those eyes wanted to tell.

“Do you want to get away for a bit?”

“We can’t just leave work…”

“Of course we can, come on.” 

Gahyeon didn’t hesitate to take Bora’s hand and pull her away into the hallway. Bora quietly followed the younger girl without complaining, knowing deep down she needed this.

She took her to the floor upstairs, where they could sit by the window. 

“Better?”

“Yeah.” 

Bora smiled weakly and looked through the big window. 

Gahyeon looked at her now illuminated face from the moonlight. Even with a silly Christmas outfit on, and half-smeared make-up, she looked gorgeous.

“The snow…” 

Gahyeon saw Bora’s lips moving. 

“Huh?” How long was I staring for?

“The snow. Where is it?”

Gahyeon followed Bora’s eyes outside to the dark empty streets. Bora was right, the snow was late this year. 

“Do you like snow?” Gahyeon asked.

Bora slowly nodded, lost in her thoughts.

They stayed in silence for a while, it was comforting but Gahyeon felt as if something was bothering Bora. So she would look at her every now and then until she was ready to talk.

“I don’t tell this to a lot of people, and I really hate being vulnerable, but,” Bora hesitated as she bit her lip, still debating,  “I feel like I can trust you.”

“Of course.”

Gahyeon reached out her hand to hold Bora’s, showing her that she was safe with her.

Bora took a deep breath in and exhaled.

“I was orphaned.”

It was the last sentence Gahyeon expected to hear and it hit her like a truck. She remembered all the times she joked with Siyeon about Bora being a mother and now she wanted to disappear off the face of the Earth. She wanted to say something, say anything but the shock was just too big.

“I was just like all these children we visit. My parents died when I was about 3 years old. I was moved from one orphanage to another, at one point I stopped counting. It was bad.”

“I rebelled so much, I’m sure they all hated me,” Bora chuckled, but Gahyeon could hear the pain in it.

“Bora, I am so sorry about-”

“No, it’s okay,” Bora said, reading her mind. “You didn’t know. Not even Siyeon knows, I don’t have the heart to tell her.”

Gahyeon carefully observed Bora’s face, not knowing what to do, what to say, how to help. This was all so shocking to her because the older girl looked like someone who was incredibly bubbly and happy. She couldn’t imagine someone like her holding pain like that inside.

“Because of it,” Bora continued, “I have never properly celebrated Christmas. The orphanages I have been to were all horrible places.”

Bora stopped talking as she was replaying all the scenes from her childhood; if one could call it a childhood.

“And that’s why you got sad, seeing everyone enjoying the Christmas time?” Gahyeon softly asked and Bora didn’t meet her eyes.

“I find joy in making other children happy, because I didn’t have that happiness. I don’t want them to go through what I did. But I can’t help but feel upset every time.”

Gahyeon’s heart was breaking watching new tears run down Bora’s pretty face. So she just hugged her tightly, thinking maybe a hug was all she needed now.

“Just cry it out.”

Bora's muffled words got caught into Gahyeon’s shoulder, as she ran her hand up and down her back.

“It’s okay, I’m here for you.”

Soon they were back in the big hall, going back to their duties in having fun with the children or simply sharing a word or two with the caregivers. Here and there Gahyeon would look over at Bora who seemed to be in a better mood. It felt good to let all of that out, to pour out her soul to someone.

When their eyes would meet, Gahyeon didn’t look away. She gave her a small smile and Bora smiled back nodding once. 

The rest of the night passed and it was time to get going.

The two of them silently changed into their regular clothes in the familiar, messy storage room, unsure who would break the ice first.

“So...This is it, right?” Bora asked. “Your last day.”

Gahyeon ran her hand through her hair, watching Bora’s eyes follow it, deep in thought.

“Bora, I…”

“And I know I’ll probably never see you again after today, and you’ll go celebrate Christmas with your family, and I guess I’m emotional-”

“Bora…”

“...and maybe I’ll miss you and-”

“Bora, shut up for a second!” 

The sudden outburst caught the older girl off guard, making her swallow her words.

“I want to spend Christmas with you.”

Bora parted her lips. “What?”

“I said I want to spend Christmas with you.“

“Why me? Wait, if you feel sorry for me, please don’t, it’s okay-”

“No, it’s not that,” Gahyeon reassured her. “I don’t have plans either, so here I am hoping you’re free and um, we could spend it together…”

“As in…”

“Yes, a date.” 

By now Gahyeon’s cheeks were burning, she didn’t think she would manage to say it out loud. Hell, she didn’t think she would get this far.

“I know you said you don’t date younger and-”

Gahyeon stopped talking as soon as she felt her cheek getting touched by Bora’s lips as she softly kissed it.

“I’d love to.”

“Oh thank God,” Gahyeon exhaled, putting her hand over her chest and the other over her cheek. The small room quickly filled with loud laughter.

Later that night, Gahyeon checked her phone before bed. She had some notifications but ignored them because there was only one she cared for. The one she would open in a heartbeat.

[Bora]

I can’t wait to see you tomorrow :)

The swelling feeling in her chest was so intense, she didn’t know how to handle it. But she was smiling from ear to ear, staring at the message, almost forgetting to reply.

[Gahyeon]

Same :)

She was rolling around her bed, kicking the bed sheets from happiness that she almost dropped her phone off the bed when she got another notification.

[Bora]

Btw, thank you again for today.

[Gahyeon]

Anytime!

[Bora <3] 

Sleep well <3

[Gahyeon <3]

You too <3

She threw the phone away, and screamed into her pillow not ready for tomorrow.

--

The coldness made her shiver and the butterflies made it even worse. They decided to meet at 6 p.m., yet she was twenty minutes early. She hated to admit to herself just how nervous she was. This wasn’t her first date, but it almost felt like one. She felt as if she would throw up from all the feelings and excitement.

Her body relaxed and instantly felt better the second she saw her date across the street, carefully jogging in an oversized winter jacket and a hat that was just way too cute.

Bora had to wait for the traffic lights to turn green, which gave her time to have a stare-off with Gahyeon, who didn’t seem to mind the intense looks they shared that hid deeper meanings.

“You’re one of those people that come too early, right?” 

Bora said as she finally crossed over, hugging Gahyeon tightly.

“Yes, I hate it,” Gahyeon chuckled.

“Should we just walk and see where it takes us?” Bora suggested.

Even though it was Christmas day and a lot of people spent it inside their homes, the city was still packed. Everyone wanted to feel that special atmosphere in the air, experience everything the city had to offer during this time. 

The two girls took lots of selfies by the big Christmas tree, laughing at the bad ones where their eyes were half-shut because of the flash.

Gahyeon pulled Bora to check out the huge Christmas market which offered lots of food and drinks. The younger girl saw Bora’s eyes sparkling as she admired all the lights and decorations, commenting on everything she saw. 

Gahyeon was happy; happy to make Bora’s wish come true, happy to spend it with her.

And so she zoned out for a while, just thinking of Bora and how they met and the couple of days they had spent together when she felt Bora’s thumb touch the corner of her lips.

“Messy eater, aren’t you?” Bora smiled and the ketchup off of her thumb, making Gahyeon’s brain short-circuit. 

“Where to next?” Bora asked, finishing her drink and hopping off of the stool.

“Do you want to get away for a bit?”

Bora stood in place before the deja vu hit her.

“Is that what you and I do?” she smiled. “We get away for a bit?”

Gahyeon chuckled remembering yesterday and all the times they would hang out and talk in that now familiar storage room.

“Let’s go,” she said, grabbing her hand. 

They walked around in silence, letting the Christmas carols and the atmosphere take over instead. Occasionally, they would spare each other a look, giggling like those children they entertained as ‘gnomes’. 

They ended up in the nearby park which was less crowded. 

“I just realized it’s Christmas and I didn’t bring you any gift.” Gahyeon pouted, stopping in her tracks. She was way too excited for the date that she completely forgot about it.

Bora took her hands, looking directly into her eyes.

“You spending time with me is the best gift I could wish for.”

Gahyeon looked down, biting her lip, trying not to smile. Bora instinctively wetted her lips with her tongue, not messing this up again.

“I’m really enjoying myself tonight, and it’s all because of you.” 

Gahyeon slowly looked up, nodding and looking back and forth between Bora’s lips and eyes.

“May I give you your gift?” Bora asked.

Gahyeon felt all the emotions at once, knowing what was coming and it still couldn’t prepare her.

It was overwhelming, it was sloppy, it was fun, and she wouldn’t change this for anything.

Suddenly, something began tickling their noses and eyelashes, making them pull away and look around and up.

“Snow!” they both exclaimed at the same time, they laughed holding hands, staring up at the snowflakes getting more intense.

“Usually, I’m a better kisser,” Gahyeon said defending her previous mess.

“Then show me.”

This time Gahyeon leaned in, cupping Bora’s face as they kissed in the snow.

To Bora, nothing else mattered. It was her, Gahyeon, and the best Christmas she ever had.

--

Gahyeon walked out of Minji’s office down the hall when a hand grabbed her and pulled her into a room, shutting the door behind them.

Bora’s lips met hers and she melted into the kiss. She could kiss her forever if she could. There was something about Bora’s lips that just made her want more.

“I’ll miss you,” Bora broke it off with an exaggerated pout. 

She knew Gahyeon would go on to enjoy the rest of her holidays and prepare for the rest of her studies. Deep down she was still afraid she would lose her forever and that all of this was just a one-time thing. She fell for her a bit too deep to just let her go like this. The younger girl made her feel secure, something she never truly experienced. She didn’t want to lose that feeling. She just didn’t want to lose her.

Gahyeon was smiling and twirled Bora’s hair around her finger. “What happened to cocky Bora?” 

She managed to provoke Bora’s smile, in return getting another kiss. 

“I’ll miss you too,” Gahyeon sighed and Bora’s face got serious again. 

“I mean, we can still see each other right?” Bora tried to sound hopeful.

“Yes, because I will be working here as an intern.”

Bora looked at her dumbfounded as she stepped back. 

“Then Minji said, once I’m done with college, she would gladly employ me full-time!” 

The screech that came out of Bora was enough to make the whole building go deaf. She jumped, hugging Gahyeon around her neck and covered her in kisses, making the younger girl laugh.

“My cute little gnome.”