by Con Template
“Just confident,” Tae Hyun answered smoothly, charm emanating from his smirk. “Come on, if I’m wrong and you don’t like it, I’ll be your assistant for another week.”
He turned around and waited for her. She knew then he was ready to give her a piggyback ride while taking her to the “surprise.”
“And if you’re right?” she asked, placing her alcohol bottle down and wrapping her arms around his neck with an excited beam.
His smirk grew slowly.
He placed his hands under her legs and made sure she was up and safe around him for the piggyback ride. Rising slowly to his feet, he begun toward the enveloping darkness with the cold wind whipping past them.
“Then it’d be a great night for us, babe.”
“You’re merely living on borrowed time. . .”
17: Winter Wonderland
The trip into the inner depths of the park was much longer than Yoori had anticipated. The first time she came to this particular park with Tae Hyun, she had only noticed the playground and the wide-open recreational grass area. She hadn't realized that there was a more extensive part to the park, which led into scenic gardens that were lined with countless trees (green and balding ones alike), bushes, and remnants of rose gardens that had since withered away under the veil of winter.
Apart from the soft radiance of the stone lamps that littered along the pathway, the inner vicinity of the park area they were walking in was secluded with darkness. Normally, such a scene would send chills up Yoori's spine but the only thing running through her was excitement. It was hard to be afraid of anything when you were with someone like Tae Hyun. The last thing on Yoori's mind was fear. She was too busy thinking about all the possible things Tae Hyun could have planned for her.
Perhaps there was another gazebo in this secluded area?
Or maybe there was a really pretty rose garden he wanted to show her?
The possibilities were endless.
Her sets of possibilities were thrown into a murky swamp when Tae Hyun pulled away from the dirt pathway they were on. Yoori held her breath when she realized he was taking her down a grassy hill. She instinctively tightened her hold around his neck.
Where on earth was he taking her?
"Ah!" she yelped once they reached the flat grassland.
They cut across several bushes, swerved around various trees and stone lamps that stood around the park. They were still in the park vicinity but she suddenly felt like she was in a forest of sorts. This path was definitely not the regular pathway that other park-goers were accustomed to.
"Tae Hyun, this better be good." She ducked her head when she was near a tree branch. "Where are we going?"
"Choi Yoori, can you exercise a little patience?” Tae Hyun whispered before picking up speed. There was no doubt he was excited. “What fun would it be to tell you now?"
A disturbing paranoia invaded her mind when he jumped over a log. "Oh my God, you're not going to kill me for punishing you this week, are you? Is that what you meant by taking my breath away?"
Tae Hyun snorted at her unreasonable question. "Yes. I spent the entire week being obedient, nearly breaking my back to give you your stupid piggyback rides to throw it all away by killing you at the end of the week."
She frowned. "Your sarcasm is not appreciated."
"Nor is your stubborn heart," he whispered, stepping onto broken tree branches.
"And what do you mean nearly breaking your back?" she asked, not hearing what he just whispered. "Are you insinuating that I'm fat?" Before even giving him a chance to answer, Yoori already said, "For your information, I'm not fat. I'm deliciously plump."
"I swear, I'm going to spank some sense into that deliciously plump little butt of yours if you don't stop assuming that I think you're fat."
He held onto her more tightly just when he jumped over a pair of twin bushes.
She gaped. "You wouldn't dare spank me!"
"Dare me to do it. I dare you."
"How dare you dare me to dare you? What kinda assistant are you?"
A smug embellished his face. "One who, at the stroke of midnight, will turn back into your boss."
Yoori laughed at his clever response. She played along. "Oooh, you're just a modern day fairytale pumpkin, aren't you?"
"A deliciously plump pumpkin," Tae Hyun corrected lightheartedly. "You got that, my deliciously plump Cinderella?"
"I prefer Princess," Yoori mischievously corrected before casually turning to her side once she spotted a little black blob on her jacket.
"Eek!" Yoori screeched when she saw a big fat spider on the shoulder of her white faux fur jacket. She immediately flicked the spider off and shuddered in disgust. She wanted to be graceful and just smile while waltzing through this maze of plants and trees but she couldn't help but—
Ah! Another spider!
She whipped it off her hand in disgust and finally let out her frustration. "How much longer is this going to take—"
"We're here," Tae Hyun announced just as they emerged out from the trees.
He slowed his once speed-of-light pace and eventually came to a smooth stop. Very gently and carefully, he set Yoori down onto the ground. While standing with her arms still encircled around Tae Hyun’s neck, Yoori found herself completely floored. Her widened eyes took in the scenery before her.
Concealed within the midst of darkness was a secret garden that sparkled like a picturesque painting. The garden had a variety of neatly trimmed bushes, flowers that continued to withstand the test of winter, a modestly huge pond and a white wooden bridge that lingered over it. Encasing this little garden and keeping it hidden from the world were trees – countless trees that surrounded the garden in the shape of a big oval.
Though veiled in darkness, the beautiful features of the garden were more than highlighted with the light from the moon and the various stone lamps that lingered across the region.
Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.
How was it possible that Tae Hyun seemed to be the only one who knew where all the prettiest places on earth were?
Dazed with wonder, Yoori released her hold from around Tae Hyun's neck. Smiling uncontrollably, she made her way toward the center of the garden where the border between the pond and ground laid. Just as she was a step away from drawing closer to the border, the lights to the stone lamps started to flicker, scaring her out of her wits. The lights died off, leaving only the limited light from the moon to stroke over the darkness.
Albeit she was disappointed with this, Yoori managed to suppress her pout. She turned back to Tae Hyun with the intention of telling him that she really liked his surprise. Though his facial features were slightly covered, she could still see him standing in the darkness.
"It's really pretty here. I really like it," Yoori commented, wondering why Tae Hyun was still standing where he was with his hands buried deep in his pockets.
He looked totally at ease with the fact that they were surrounded by darkness. It was like he expected this to happen.
"Really?" he asked hazily. His silhouette surveyed the garden. "But you can't even see anything. It's so dark."
"I can see enough with the moonlight," she argued, meaning what she said. Lack of light or not, she still thought the garden was gorgeous.
She could feel a smile quirk across his lips. He nodded at her answer. He then sighed dramatically. A bit too dramatically.
"I think we need to turn on a couple of lights."
A burst of blue lights illumed from behind her and kissed over his perfect features. Widening her eyes at the sudden presence of light, she whipped her head around. She casted her eyes to the source of light.
In the further outskirts of the trees that encased the garden, there were five trees that twinkled with the embellishment of blue Christmas lights. From the tip of the heads to the roots of the trunks, the dim blue lighting danced across every free space of the trees and even streamed into the bushes and plants that laid below. Right when Yoori was about to turn
around to cast her awestruck gaze over to Tae Hyun, another set of lights illuminated over the four sets of trees that stood beside it.
Seconds later, another set of lights appeared…
Then another…
And then another…
Like a domino effect, the world around her ignited with vibrant colors. Yoori's stupefied eyes reflected the blue lights that twirled itself on every tree and marked itself on every plant. To top off the magnificent view, the finale came from the white wooden bridge that hovered over the pond.
Embraced under the veil of the night, blue and white lights emanated from the bridge itself – the final clincher that gave enough light to reveal to Yoori that she was actually standing on an assortment of blue and white rose petals. Nearly keeling over from shock, Yoori was astounded to see that the rose petals not only hid beneath her feet, but they were also present across all the regions of the garden. The petals lay on the plants around her, slept on the soil beneath her, waltzed on the bridge before her and danced on the moonlit pond beside her. The beauty of the rose petals were present everywhere.
And if all of this wasn't enough…
"Oh my God," Yoori whispered, covering her mouth once she felt something white flutter before her mesmerized eyes. Instinctively, she lifted her focus to the dark canvas above. White puff tickled her nose.
It was snowing.
A wide smile appeared on her lips and she sighed in elatedness.
It was official.
She had just stepped out of reality and into a Winter Wonderland.
"Tae Hyun," she called breathlessly, lowering her hands from her lips. She returned her gaze back to him for the first time since the light show took place. Unbeknownst to herself the effect the beautiful scenery took onto her body, she was caught off guard with what occurred next. Her legs, already weakened from the shock of this beautiful surprise, bent like jelly when she turned to him, nearly causing her to fall forward into the inviting pond.
Tae Hyun effortlessly wrapped his arms around her waist and caught her just before she fell into the pond. Helping her to steady herself, he only turned her to face him once the strength returned to her legs. He held her close and gazed down at her with a tender smile. When their eyes met, she could see the satisfaction exude from him. He was unquestionably pleased with her reaction.
"I never told you that finding it would be easy," he whispered, tucking her bangs behind her ears. His eyes lit up, the prelude of his charm already coming underway. "I hope you thought it was worth it though."
"I can't believe you did all this," she managed to utter. Snow cascaded unto them like raindrops. She was so overwhelmed with everything that she couldn't even detect that Tae Hyun had already begun to throw his charms at her again. It may have been cold like the North Pole but she was suddenly warm like the sun. "Did you seriously do all of this?"
She regretted it as soon as it came out of her mouth. The answer was quite obvious. She wished she didn't just blurt out something so stupid. It wasn't like she was dealing with a considerably nice audience.
Tae Hyun didn't disappoint expectations. He feigned an air of nonchalance. His eyes lazily ran over the beautiful man-made Wonderland before them.
"No, some other Underworld King had a bunch of Serpents climb up on the trees to put up the lights and had Jae Won and Kang Min rip petals from roses and throw it all around this garden. From what my instincts tell me, I think they both tripped over a string of lights and slipped into the pond while dispersing the rose petals…” He shrugged. “But yeah, it wasn't me."
A bout of giggling poured from Yoori's lips. She found entertainment in visualizing the brothers falling into the pond and a bunch of Serpents climbing up on trees and fearing for their lives.
Oh what a sight that would've been…
"Was this why you left so many times during the movie?" She raised a brow at him, knowing now that he was only being problematic in the theater because he wanted to throw her off as to what he was really up to. "And here I thought you were whining about it so much because you hated it."
"I was with you so I suppose the movie wasn't that bad," he admitted with a bemused look. "I was just impatient and wanted to bring you here instead. Why fawn over someone else's story when I can give you your own, right?"
She shook her head at him, not able to think of a proper retort before his smile grew wider.
Releasing his hold from around her waist, he reached out, lifted the hood of her faux fur jacket and placed it just above her head to block it from the downpour of snow, which was now dancing freely around them.
"I hope you like it…Princess," he whispered.
Once he fully lifted the hood over her head, he gave her one of his breathtaking smiles, tucked his hands into his pockets and began to approach the bridge.
The whole time as he did this, Yoori couldn't keep her tipsy eyes off of him.
The scene she found herself in was a dangerous one. She knew, as her heart began to race frantically, that all of this was a dangerous sequel to the last romantic encounter she had with Tae Hyun, which mirrored the magic of this night. She didn't want to think about it, but it was hard not to when she was already weak in the knees.
Was it because she had too much to drink or was it because she was getting drunk on Tae Hyun's charms again?
Probably the first one, she thought hopefully. It was still dangerous though, she reminded herself, especially now since it seemed that Tae Hyun might have unleashed the “charming” side as opposed to the “teasing” side. This was bad news only because Yoori was a weakling when it came to Tae Hyun’s charming side.
Taking a second to regain her normal state of breathing and reminding herself that there was nothing going on between her and Tae Hyun, Yoori smiled appreciatively.
"Why on earth did you go all out?" she asked as she followed him. "All of this…this is too amazing…"
Turning slightly, he just shrugged. "We can't take pictures together…so I just wanted to give you memories you'd never forget."
The blue and white rose petals on the foundation of the bridge were now collecting snow as Tae Hyun and Yoori stepped onto the wooden structure. The bridge creaked in response.
"Well…you were right, buddy." She sighed, admiring the beautiful decorations. "You really did steal my breath away."
He smiled slyly, whipping around to face her just after they reached the center of the bridge. Yoori stopped when he did this, nearly bumping into his chest.
"Your breath wasn't what I was trying to steal, you stubborn little minx."
"What'd you just call me?" she shouted, completely disregarding the first part of the statement.
"Nothing, Princess," he voiced almost teasingly. "Now can we sit down? All my sole efforts of walking here took a strain on me. I'd really like to relax now.”
Yoori didn’t get to register what he said when he took her hand and pulled her down to sit on the bridge with him.
Still dazed and happy with everything, a distracted Yoori was still smiling when they both sat down between a big gap in the railing. Scooting closer to one another, they made sure each fit into that one particular big gap before they hung their legs off the magnificently lit bridge. They rested their chins on the wooden portion of the railing and happily watched the snow cascade around them.
It fell on the petals on land and water alike. It frosted the trees, coated the plants, and sprinkled onto both Yoori and Tae Hyun's hairs as they kept their eyes on the pond that reflected the moon and the Christmas lights above. The entire view was so mesmerizing and relaxing that Yoori couldn't help but breathe in excitement. She kept her happy gaze on the snow falling around them. Everything was delicious candy to her eyes. She was so content that she didn't even feel cold.
"If you keep doing stuff like this,” she commented casually, her eyes firmly casted over the pond. “Then my future soul mate will never match up to you."
"Then I guess he wouldn't be your soul mate if he can't matc
h up to me," Tae Hyun said confidently. His eyes proudly scanned the stunning scene around them. He was more than satisfied with the splendor of his creation.
"All of this was a lot of work," Yoori absently observed, not even wanting to surmise how long it took for all his men to set this entire thing up. She faced him. "Why did you do all this?"
"So I can melt your heart," Tae Hyun answered, reclining backward and laying himself across the petal covered bridge. Once the back of his head touched the wooden foundation, he rubbed his temple in a circular motion. It was as if he was now feeling the effects of the alcohol he induced up until that point.
"No, seriously," she insisted, smiling at what she took as a joke.
Always inclined to copy Tae Hyun with whatever he did, she laid herself beside him. Once she was fully situated beside him, she turned her eyes to meet his awaiting ones. She tried not to blush so much when she realized how close they were and how irresistible he looked laying there, his gaze on hers as the snow kissed his skin. It was definitely a sight for the eyes. He looked just like a fallen angel.
There was a haze of emotions in his eyes after hearing her response to his answer. Yoori couldn't decipher what it was he was feeling, but his next actions took her out of that curiosity.
He merely closed his eyes and basked under the cascading snow above them. Heeding his need to enjoy the weather, and excited to close her eyes to do the same, Yoori accepted his silence as a sufficient answer and closed her eyes too.
She wasn't sure how long they laid there, their eyes closed, heads beside one another amongst the myriads of rose petals, Christmas lights, and snow frosting their faces. She wasn't sure how long they laid there as the snow tickled them, as the cold murmured across their skins and as their breathing mingled in relaxation. She wasn't sure how long it was…all that she knew was that she had never felt more at peace. It was like she was living in a frozen dream.
"How is it possible that you've never had a boyfriend as Choi Yoori?" Tae Hyun asked, bringing her out of her reverie. He was careful to distinguish between her and An Soo Jin. Surely they both knew the relationship status of Soo Jin's resumé.