The Bangtan Baby

first snow

The world was dark and quiet when the first flakes came.

Grace woke to the soft crackle of the baby monitor and the low, uncertain whimper that meant Bora was somewhere between asleep and awake, but not entirely pleased. For a second, she lay still, eyes closed, brain foggy. Then the sound came again, a tiny hiccup of a cry.

"I've got her," she mumbled, already pushing back the duvet.

Beside her, Seokjin made a faint noise that might've been agreement or might've been a snore. Grace smiled in the dark and slipped out of bed, feet finding her slippers by muscle memory.

The house in Seoul was calm in that particular way, only in the middle of the night could it be. No traffic hum, no neighbours' doors, just the heater clicking faintly and the distant buzz of the fridge downstairs. The digital clock on the bedside table had blinked 2:41 as she'd passed it.

Bora's room was down the hallway, the door left slightly ajar. Grace nudged it open with her shoulder and stepped into the soft glow of the nightlight shaped like a little moon. The baby was rolling restlessly in her crib, fists balled up, face scrunched as if she wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or argue with someone in her dreams.

"Hey, hey," Grace whispered, leaning over to scoop her up. "What's all this about? It's the middle of the night, you menace."

As soon as Bora's cheek landed on her mother's shoulder, she quieted, thumb finding her mouth. Grace swayed gently, patting her back, breathing in the familiar warm-milk-and-baby-lotion smell.

"See? Nothing to be mad about," she murmured. She turned toward the window, more out of habit than anything, and then stopped.

The small square of glass was glowing.

Not brightly. Just a soft, strange light that didn't belong to the streetlamps. Grace frowned, stepping closer, adjusting Bora's weight on her hip.

The garden outside was white.

For a second, her sleepy brain didn't process it. The last she remembered, the grass had been a dull brown-green, the deck bare, the trees skeletal against the December sky. Now everything was softened. The little patch of lawn, the hedges along the fence, the wooden steps leading down from the back door, everything lay under a smooth, pale layer.

Snow.

Grace blinked, properly awake now. Flakes were still drifting down, a steady, gentle fall that caught the light from the motion-sensor lamp and made the air look full of tiny sparkles.

"Oh," she breathed, more to Bora than anyone. "Look at that."

Bora made a sleepy grumble, then lifted her head just enough to blink at the window, eyes unfocused but curious.

"It's snowing, honey," Grace whispered. "Your first snow."

The words settled over her with a little jolt. It hadn't really clicked until she said it out loud.

First snow.

She'd known it would come eventually, of course. It was December in Seoul; winter was properly here. But she hadn't expected it at 2:41 in the morning, with her hair a mess and Bora half-asleep in her arms and her slippers on crooked.

Maybe that made it better.

She kissed the top of Bora's head and gently settled her back into the crib. "Stay there. Don't move. Don't grow up without me," she murmured, tucking the blanket around her. Bora wriggled once, thumb still firmly in her mouth, but her eyelids were already drooping again.

Grace padded back down the hallway and into the bedroom. Min-ji was curled into a tight ginger spiral at the foot of the bed, tail over his nose. Seokjin was on his back, mouth slightly open, breathing deep.