The brunette wakes up the next morning to noises in the kitchen and the smell of something cooking.
She stretches, notices the empty bed and huffs, taking a moment to fully wake up.
It's Christmas, she realizes and rolls out of bed sluggishly.
After dragging herself to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, she goes to the kitchen to find Zoa preparing breakfast and Hyobi already eating hers.
She pats the cat's head, gives Zoa a good morning kiss and yawns again, rubbing her eyes cutely.
"Merry Christmas, sleepy head," Zoa says with a chuckle.
"Merry Christmas. What are you making?"
"Ramyun."
"Oh okay."
"I'm almost done. You can wait in the living room."
Jihan does as she's told, turning on Christmas music while she waits, and Zoa soon comes with the pot of boiling noodles.
"Do you want your present now?" asks Jihan after they've finished eating.
"Sure."
The brunette gets up, disappears inside her room for a moment and comes out holding a small neatly wrapped box, complete with a gold bow on top. She sits next to Zoa and grins as she gives it to the expectant red-haired. "I hope you like it."
Zoa opens the box and instantaneously breaks into a huge smile when she sees what's inside. It's a similar bracelet to the one Jihan gave her for her sixteenth birthday only this one looks to be of much better quality.
"It's white gold," Jihan tells the red-haired. "So it should last longer than the last one."
"Thank you. I love it," Zoa says as she takes the bracelet and carefully drapes it around her wrist, letting Jihan fix the clasp. "I will make sure I never lose this one."
"There's a card too but don't read it here. It's embarrassing," adds Jihan, showing Zoa the red envelope that she then places on the coffee table.
The red-haired gives Jihan a thank you kiss then stands up to get her eleventh and last present for the brunette.
Unlike her previous gifts, this one is surprisingly small and thin, only encased in a green envelope.
"A Christmas card?" asks Jihan as she holds the envelope.
Zoa shakes her head. "Open it but read the letter first."
Slowly, Jihan opens the envelope and takes out the folded paper, noticing what looks like a plastic magnetic card inside the fold. She raises her eyebrows but decides to read the letter first before asking questions.
"My dearest Jihanie,
Merry Christmas! It feels so surreal to be here with you, celebrating Christmas together as a couple. You don't know how many times I've imagined us together and how much I regretted not telling you how I felt. But I'm glad that we got a second chance and that you feel the same way. You're finally mine. Han Jihyo has made her sixteen-year-old self's dream come true.
Speaking of dreams, you asked whether I ever imagined our future, whether I've dreamt of us. I have, as a matter of fact, and like you, I imagined us going to university together, though I didn't think about sharing an apartment together because I thought you'd still be living with your parents. Anyway, that didn't happen but I have new dreams now and part of them is making your dreams and wishes come true for as much as I can, to make up for my cowardice and the time we lost.
