the chill against his face drove the last of doyoung's drowsiness away as they strolled up the path to the lodge. "strolled up" — but it was really more of a slow climb. he glanced down at hyeon-ah, leaning against him, a shade of worry in his eyes at the thought of her heeled boots.
maybe it was a bad decision on her part, but doyoung decided it was really sungwoon's fault for having a house so high up a snowy mountain.
"do you think the good rooms are still free?"
an ordinary question; it made his heart flutter. he smiled.
"most of them won't end up sleeping in their own rooms anyway."
he adjusted the strap of her bag against his shoulder.
"we'll just steal a good one."
as they finally got close enough to hear the low buzz of voices and bursts of laughter, doyoung took in the sight of the lodge, yellow lights glowing pleasantly amidst the white. maybe they could have a good time after all. maybe this weekend will prove he'd been paranoid in avoiding this crowd like the plague since the halloween disaster.
he doubted it, but it didn't really matter. he'd resolved to think of this as a cozy getaway with hyeon-ah rather than a gathering with the rest of them, and he was going to stick to it.
doyoung reached out to open the door with that thought in mind, letting hyeon-ah enter first before he followed her into the warmth of the lodge. as the door shut behind them, a figure approached, overly prompt in spotting their entrance — if he had to say something good about sungwoon, he definitely didn't slack in his duties as a host.
"hey, hyeon-ah, you're here?"
the man called out first, a little too happily. doyoung slipped his arm out of hers as he stepped forward, letting sungwoon pull him into a shoulder bump in greeting.
"you guys are so late, i was starting to think of calling for search and rescue, man."
the jab earned a scoff rather than a laugh.
"deadlines,"
he offered as an excuse, accompanied by a light shrug. sungwoon nodded as if he understood, though doyoung knew for a fact the guy didn't give a damn about deadlines.
"yeah, well, there's still a couple rooms free upstairs."
a pause, sungwoon's lips lifted in a half-smirk. his gaze ran over hyeon-ah in a way that threatened to ruin doyoung's mood.
"you're sharing, right?"
he adjusted the bag's strap again, eyes flickering toward her. her smile put a small one back on his face, and he gave yet another calm, single-worded reply.
"yeah."
sungwoon laughed.
"go put your bags away then."
he gestured towards the stairs, just past the open kitchen. a pat on doyoung's shoulder.
"lovebirds."
walking away from sungwoon was a relief, and doyoung reached again for hyeon-ah's hand. he'd made a bad habit of it lately — his hands were becoming unused to being empty.
"you choose the room,"
he dropped his voice as they passed the kitchen, barely looking in the direction of the food spread. his tone was much lighter than in the previous conversation, as he joked,
"then we can hide in there for the rest of the night."
“i am lucky i arrived just in time, i am starving! i bought marshmallows so we can roast them later, and even one of those duck molds!”
a hint of rouge dusted across yuna's soft cheeks when she beamed back up at him with pure fondness in her glimmering eyes, and haru briefly entertained the idea of ramming his head into the cabin wall for being the sole reason behind such a lovely person's distress all this time. she always looked at him like he'd personally hung the stars in the sky, affection unmistakeable in her paralyzing gaze, yet he no longer held the universe in his palm like he once did, no longer had anything worthwhile to offer other than a loaded promise to become the catalyst for change their strained relationship desperately needed all along.
"no ducking way!"
haru exclaimed with mirthful enthusiasm, irises twinkling as he eyed the coveted goods despite the disapproving smack on his shoulder from one of the other students lounging on the couch nearby. cringe be damned— he'd do whatever was necessary to keep yuna's spirits high in spite of his ever-present, sneaking self-loathing.
"we can make a whole snow duck family tree with this thing, maybe even build a snow duck mansion in the snow duck hills and stir up a snow duck battle of succession—"
he paused mid-dramatics as the setting sun caught his attention from his peripheral vision and interrupted his train of thought, bringing a slight furrow to his brow as he set the bags down on the coffee table and mentally reworked the logistics of their grand snow duck colony plans. that momentary consternation evaporated from his optimistic expression in an instant, however, when he draped an arm around yuna's shoulders to pull her into his embrace in the hopes of sharing his warmth with her snow-kissed body.
"it's getting dark already, though..."
he pondered, voice lowering to a calm murmur privy to yuna's ears only in an effort to keep the others from listening in any further as he playfully rested his chin on her head and traced a contemplative finger up-and-down along her spine.
"what if we stick to smores tonight and save that for tomorrow, after the best french toast of your life, hm? oh, i did see that there's a hot tub out back— maybe we can sneak out there before the others get their grubby hands on it and turn the water to soju. how about it?"
despite every cell in his body yearning to keep yuna wrapped cozily in his arms, shielded from the elements until her icy skin burned to the touch, haru reluctantly pulled away and tucked a disheveled lock of her hair behind her ear, a relieved smile tugging at his lips once more now that her comforting presence had returned to his side.
'be a lover, not a fighter.' his father's words echoed soundlessly in his brain, yet he was through decorating her absence with intoxicating vices and vixens. this time, he'd sacrifice whatever it took to keep his bleeding heart from becoming his fatal weakness once again.
"thanks for picking all this up, yuna,"
haru added softly with a gentle squeeze of her hand, resisting the urge to just cling to her warmth for the rest of the night like a stubborn leech latching onto her cuddly, petite form.
"i'll go save our spot after putting these away, so take your time and eat without rushing, yeah? trust me— fainting in the hot tub is not as relaxing as it sounds."
the scowl that had slipped on her face when sungwoon appeared remained even as he turned away, bidding them farewell with one last jab, "lovebirds."
ridiculous, really, for her heart to react to the comment — but it fluttered in her chest against her better logic, and she fought the urge to smile when his hand found hers again slotted comfortably into hers again. love, indeed, and she was so very thankful for it. when was the last time she had felt so immune to sungwoon's words?
her gaze drifted to the kitchen as they passed, pulled back by doyoung's voice before she could get a good look. "you choose the room, then we can hide in there for the rest of the night."
a bemused smile slipped onto her lips as they headed up the stairs.
"hide?"
she repeated, teasingly,
"i didn't know we came all the way here to stay in."
as they reached the top of the stairwell, hyeon-ah moved to take the lead, tugging him through the corridor. her eyes flitted from door to door, peering into cracks of a room in search of an empty one. if she remembered right, the ones right at the end had the best view—
"aha!"
her smile widened as she pushed the door open to a thankfully unclaimed room, immediately moving toward the floor-to-ceiling windows to check if her memory had served her well. she was welcomed by the snow-covered mountaintop shining silver in the night, sprawled beneath them like a painting. snowflakes catching the moonlight looked like flecks of glitter flying by, like stardust itself was raining from the heavens. hyeon-ah felt a quiet sigh slip from her lips; how she had missed the snow.
she was glad she had come.
she turned back to doyoung, her expression hopeful.
"is this one fine? it's a little smaller than the others, though, so—"
"i like it." it was all she needed to hear. hyeon-ah gave him a soft smile and fell quickly into her usual routine of settling into a new room as he set their bags down — boots were finally exchanged for a pair of slippers, and she inspected its heels before she put them away. she'd remembered to bring her other pair, right?
"i was thinking, also, that we could go on a walk later. but only if you're up for it."
she paused, gaze returning to her boyfriend as she hung up her coat. her lips curled into a small frown when she found him already starting up his laptop.
" i know you're tired..."
she closed the distance between them, looking down at him with concern disguised as mock disapproval.
"at least take your jacket off before you start working,"
she nagged, her tone gentle but stern. her hands moved to slide his coat off of his shoulders, folding it over her elbow, and she stole a glance at his screen from over the edge of the laptop's lid.
"if we're staying in tonight, i want you resting. do you still have something to turn in?"
Yuna’s cheeks flushed slightly at Haru’s playful demeanor, her heart warming at his antics despite the cold in the air. She couldn’t help but chuckle at his elaborate plan regarding the snow ducks as her gaze softened and she leaned into his embrace.
“Sounds like a plan,”
she replied in a cheerful tone.
“French toast and a snow duck mansion tomorrow it is! And sneaking into the hot tub sounds like the perfect way to end the day.”
As Haru reluctantly pulled away, Yuna’s hand remained in his for a moment longer, feeling the warmth of his touch against the cold of her hands. She smiled at him, knowing perfectly that her eyes were shining due to the affection she had for the boy.
"Don’t worry about I am glad I was able to help,”
she said a bit embarrassed.
“And don’t worry, I’ll make sure to take it easy with the marshmallows. Fainting in the hot tub definitely isn’t on my to-do list tonight.”
She added with a small laugh.
“I’ll go and grab a plate I don’t want to miss on your cooking before everyone else finishes it.”
She said before giving him a quick kiss on his cheek.
