First Snow

Warmth

Author notes: an earlier than usual update for an amazing reader. Happy birthday @FaizaKhan2088  ❤️❤️❤️ thank you for your constant support 🥰

Thank you again for your support on last chapter, I always feel overwhelmed by your kind words, you're truly the best readers ever ❤️

I don't know if I'll be able to update on time next week, I'll do my best but I won't be home this week. Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

I'm wishing each of you a merry Christmas. Enjoy time with your loved ones, even if it has to be online, stay safe and healthy ❤️

With love.

***

Seri looked at the steaming cup of chocolate he had put in front of her, and then looked up at him.

"Don't you have something stronger? I might need soju..."

He gazed at her patiently, from the other side of the kitchen counter.

"You need something warm..."

Her hands and feet had been freezing and he had had to wrap his coat around her shoulders as she had began to shiver in his arms, despite his radiating warmth. Chasing after him in the snow in nothing but a sweater and slippers wasn't her smartest move.

"Coffee?" she tried hopefully.

"It's late and you need to sleep..."

With an exasperated huff, she took a sip of the beverage. Of course it was soothing, but at that very moment, she just wanted to forget the giant mess her life had turned into. She wished she could just erase the last few hours, except for the part where he took her in his arms.

Surrounded by his familiar scent, she had felt at peace for the first time in hours, basking in the feeling of safety he only could provide. She had wanted to stay like that forever. And right now, she wanted to erase that kitchen counter that stood like an unbreakable border between them.

When she had run after him, she hadn't expected anything, she just knew she couldn't let him go like that, without knowing what exactly what she was going to say or what she wanted or what exactly she would do after. Her soul, her heart, had been unable to fathom the idea of him leaving her world, as absurd as it sounded.

"What with you and chocolate anyway..." she mumbled, feeling suddenly self conscious. She didn't know what to do with all those feelings, she had never felt that way before and it was scary. New and scary.

They were back at his apartment, and she still wasn't sure of what she was doing there.

She had wanted to leave, to hide and think about a way out of this nightmare, keeping him far away from her to protect him. Shaken, she had taken Alberto's call like a sign and had packed her things to rush to his place as fast as she could, joining him in the underground garage so that she could leave without anyone noticing.

Thinking about never seing Ri Jeong Hyeok again had been harder than what she had anticipated. Images of his dimples, of his gentle smile, of his gorgeous face, kept popping in her mind, a slow torture she couldn't seem to escape from. In a short amount of time, he had done more for her than anyone, and had become more important to her than what she could have imagined. Even more that what she was ready to admit, given the void she felt as she let his calls go to voicemail, bitting her lip to hold back a sob. Cho Cheol Gang clear threats kept swirling in her mind, even there and now, while she was sitting accross Ri Jeong Hyeok.

When she had seen him, fighting in the snow, like some kind of revengeful knight, she had felt her heart stop, every blow he received eliciting a pained whimper from her. And watching his defeated retreating form, the warmth of his fingers still lingering on her skin, had been the last straw.