my slow exhales of breath came out as small clouds of air, floating off in the night sky as i hear footsteps trudging towards the swings. i stand up as a light pink haired head emerges.
" haneul you came ". i pat the seat next to me. she sits on the swing across me instead, pushing herself forward, a small smile on her face. " i've missed the snow ".
an amused smile makes its way onto my face. " i thought it snowed in new york ". i kick the ground making the swing move. " it does but snow in canada is different you know? ", she looks at me, her swing moving at a faster pace. " spending christmas with family, playing in the snow with my sisters, meeting old friends ", she raises her head to look at the sky. " it's different ".
in some ways i agree with her, what is christmas when not spent with family? i look at her still swinging, pushing herself higher and faster. haneul was always like that. she aims for bigger achievements and makes sure she attains it while me on the other hand, liked to go slow. i liked taking in everything, my pace slow and steady, taking in everything one at a time. maybe this was why we fell out. opposite characters in love, we knew it wouldn't last.
" i dare you to jump off the swing head first ". i spoke, snapping her out of her thoughts. " on three ". she smirks a little. a glimpse of the haneul i knew, the daredevil. " 1, 2, 3 ! ".
her muffled oof could be heard as she landed on the snow. i got off the swing quickly, grabbing a handful of snow to throw as she got up. too late. she had one in her hand as well. shrieks filled the air as we had a snowball fight. i lunged towards her a big snowball in my hand, instead i ended up falling on my back. her face filled my view as she laughed down at me.
" hey mark ". we laid on the ground, making snow angels. " what if we went back to how we were ". i stopped, my breath caught in my throat. i turned to look at her. " high school sweethearts ", she threw a handful of snow towards the air. it rained down on us, landing on her hair like little white pearls. she looked beautiful. her nose and cheeks tinted red.
i looked away taking in a deep breath. " do you want to? ", it felt like i was asking myself as well. what if we fought again, making mistakes that we shouldn't, blinded by anger and frustration. i was afraid as much as i wanted to.
silence hung in the air as the lights overhead flickered in anticipation. " we could go slow ", it was her turn to look at me. i could feel my cheeks heating up. " one step at a time ".
i reached out to hold her hand. all we needed was time and a second chance.
JAY'S NOTES 💭
it's a mark christmas ff that probably isn't leaving the dungeon
and a playlist i made for the book thank you 😋