Pick Up the Rejected Pure Love

After exchanging gifts, we spent the time playing games at home.

Han-gyeol tried his hardest, mashing the controller, but he still couldn’t snatch a victory from me.

His slightly sullen face was just too adorable.

“I definitely practiced at home...”

“It’s okay. Han-gyeol, you’re good enough to brag about it elsewhere.”

“How much do I need to train to beat Eun-ha... I just want to win once.”

“Take it easy~ I’m always up for a challenge. Hey, Han-gyeol! Come here.”

I grabbed Han-gyeol’s hand without a second thought and dragged him to the balcony.

“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”

Snow was pouring down outside the window. Spending our first Christmas together as a White Christmas... it feels like a dream.

“It’s snowing a lot. Looks like it’s going to pile up.”

“Han-gyeol, let’s go out and play!”

“Outside? Wouldn’t it be cold?”

“I want to have a snowball fight!”

“Snowball fight?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

I nodded vigorously.

It might seem a bit childish, but we’re still young after all.

When I looked at Han-gyeol with hopeful eyes, he eventually agreed.

“Alright. The battle I lost in the game, I’ll win in a snowball fight in reality.”

“Good. I won’t go easy on you. If it piles up a lot, let’s make a snowman too.”

“Sure. But we need to change our clothes before going out. Can’t go out in Santa outfits.”

“Yeah, yeah. Did you bring clothes, Han-gyeol?”

“I have outerwear, but I was planning to change my Santa outfits into a tracksuit.”

“Then let’s quickly change and go out! I’ll change and come out too~”

I quickly changed my clothes in the room and came out.

“Do you need gloves, Han-gyeol? Use these.”

“Wow, you’re all geared up. Am I going to lose?”

“I haven’t had a snowball fight in a long time. I might lose, you know?”

“Same here, but let’s go.”

“Yeah, yeah! I’m so excited!”

Arm in arm with Han-gyeol, I stepped outside the house.

Huge snowflakes were pouring down from the sky.

It was snowing much more than what we saw from inside the house.

“Isn’t this a blizzard?”

“Who cares. Let’s go to the park and play.”

“Eun-ha, look here.”

“Huh? What— Ahh!”

Suddenly, Han-gyeol scooped up some snow and dumped it on my head.

With my hair covered in white snow, I looked at Han-gyeol.

Seeing his beaming smile, I couldn’t help but smile brightly too.

“You’re dead, Han-gyeol.”

“What-?”

I tried to scoop up snow to throw back at Han-gyeol, but he had already dashed off into the distance.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re running off to? You’re dead if I catch you.”

I threw the snow I had scooped up and sprinted after Han-gyeol with all my might.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the park and were smiling at each other.

“Han-gyeol, you didn’t seem to be enjoying yourself earlier, why the sudden joy now?”

“Throwing snow at Eun-ha turned out to be more fun than I thought. But why so fierce, Eun-ha? Why turn into a wild beast all of a sudden?”

“It’s because Han-gyeol started the snow fight by dumping snow on my head before it even began. Come on, Han-gyeol, come here. Let’s start after you get hit by snow once.”

“No way~”

Han-gyeol can be so innocently joyful at times. Though it’s always when he’s teasing me.

“You’re really dead now...!”

I scooped up snow from a bench, packing it tightly. Then, with all my might, I hurled it at Han-gyeol.

Thump-

The snowball hit Han-gyeol squarely in the torso.

“Yesss- direct hit. Now you, Han-gy-ack!”

Thump-

A snowball hit my leg.

“Alright...! Han-gyeol, you’re asking for it now, aren’t you?”

“Bring it on, anytime.”

From then on, we threw snowballs at each other with all our might, not caring about the hits we took to our torsos, legs, and shoulders.

It was strangely fun, and we kept at it.

I hadn’t had a snowball fight since I was really young, and I didn’t expect it to be this enjoyable.

Even as our hair got covered with white snow and our clothes were completely drenched, it was still fun.

We weren’t at a fancy restaurant or a café with a beautiful view.

Sure, having a warm, heartfelt conversation indoors is great, but playing with Han-gyeol like this was truly delightful.

Why was throwing snow at each other and getting hit by it so amusing in this moment-

“Ouch-!”

A small snowball thrown by Han-gyeol hit me right on the chin.

It didn’t hurt, but sensing an opportunity, I dramatically collapsed to the ground.

As expected, a concerned Han-gyeol rushed over to me... just a bit closer.

With the heart of a predator eyeing a small animal, I waited for Han-gyeol to come closer.

“Eun-ha, are you okay?”

“...”

As soon as Han-gyeol sat down in front of me, I quickly grabbed some snow with my right hand. Then, I shoved it right inside his clothes.

“Here-!”

“Ah-! Eun-ha, you-!”

Taking advantage of Han-gyeol falling backwards, I immediately sprang up and bolted.

Playing with Han-gyeol seems like the most fun thing in the world.

I wonder how close he’s gotten? I sneaked a glance back.

“Whoa-! Ha, Han-gyeol-?!”

“Eun-ha. Come here-!”

Han-gyeol was charging at me with a snowball clenched in his right hand.

If Han-gyeol made a full sprint, there was no escaping his grasp.

I quickly stopped and extended both arms towards him.

“Wait-! Han-gyeol. Let’s talk this out! Words, let’s use words-! Right? We’re a couple. We should be caring and embracing each other.”

“There’s no such thing in a fight. Come here-!”

“Yikes-!”

Han-gyeol suddenly embraced me from the front. Thankfully, he didn’t shove snow down my clothes like I did to him.

“Got you at last.”

“What? If you wanted a hug, you could’ve just said so. I would’ve hugged you right away.”

“Huh? I never thought about wanting a hug.”

“Then, what’s this now?”

The corners of Han-gyeol’s mouth subtly rose.

“Don’t tell me...”

“Yeah. That ‘don’t tell me’.”

While holding me tight, Han-gyeol stuffed snow down the back of my shirt.

“Yikes-! Han-gyeol! I was wrong!”

“Nope~ I’m going to make a snowman out of Eun-ha.”

“It’s cold-!”

***

After a while of snowball fighting in the park, we came to a truce.

“Ha, Han-gyeol-! Let’s stop fighting now!”

“Really? No backstabbing? If you backstab me, I’m really going to roll Eun-ha into a snowman.”

“Really, really, let’s stop the snowball fight now. We’re going to end up with hypothermia at this rate.”

“Shall we head in now?”

“Yeah! It was super fun! And now it’s getting a bit cold!”

Feeling a slight shiver, we entered the house covered in snow.

We shook off the snow outside, but our clothes were still laden with it.

“Han-gyeol. We’re going to catch a cold. Let’s take a shower.”

“Yeah. We should. You go first, Eun-ha.”

“No, it’s okay~ I can shower in the master bathroom.”

“Alright. I’ll call Eunwoo Hyung and sort out some clothes to change into.”

“Okay~ Let me know if you need anything~ Go wash up!”

“You too, Eun-ha. Don’t catch a cold.”

“See you in a bit~”

I immediately went into the master bathroom and stripped off my clothes.

The warm water washed away the cold that lingered on my body.

“It was really fun.”

Even as I showered, my mind kept drifting back to the snowball fight with Han-gyeol.

His innocent laughter kept replaying in my head.

I wanted to play and have snowball fights with Han-gyeol again.

Every year when it snowed, I wanted to be with him.

Though it might be too soon to think about this, it would be fun to have snowball fights as a family if we ever had children.

“That would be...enjoyable too.”

After changing into fresh clothes and draping a towel around my neck, I stepped into the living room.

“Are you done showering?”

Han-gyeol had already showered and was boiling something in the kitchen.

I quickly hugged him from behind and asked.

“What are you doing, Han-gyeol?”

“Making some hot cocoa for Eun-ha.”

“Why are you so thoughtful? You’re making me fall for you all over again.”

“Then keep falling. I fall for Eun-ha every day too. Hold on- stand back, it’s dangerous.”

“Okay~”

As I stepped back, Han-gyeol poured the cocoa into two mugs.

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

“Okay. You be careful too, Han-gyeol.”

We turned on a movie and sat side by side on the sofa.

“Eun-ha, should I dry your hair?”

“Huh? Really~ You’d do that?”

“I want to. You might catch a cold, so let’s dry your hair first.”

Following his suggestion, I placed my cocoa on the table. Then, I turned around and sat on Han-gyeol’s lap.

“Han-gyeol, stop being so nice to me.”

“Stop being nice? But I want to be nicer, why?”

“Just because~ I keep liking Han-gyeol more and more. I don’t want to be apart; I just want to stay close.”

As I nestled into his embrace, Han-gyeol wrapped his arms around my waist to prevent me from falling backwards.

“Do you like it that much? To the point where you don’t want to be apart for even a moment?”

“Yes! I want to be like this every day. I want to live every day like this.”

“Ah! Right! I haven’t mentioned it yet, have I?”

“What are you talking about?”

Han-gyeol looked at me with surprise, his eyes meeting mine.

“My parents are heading down to Busan.”

“Oh? What about Han-gyeol then?”

“I’ll probably have to find a place near the university to stay.”

“Then...!”

A swell of anticipation rose within me.

They say be careful what you wish for...! Could it really be happening?!

“Eun-ha, you could come over to my place often-”

“Does that mean we could live together?”

--- The End OF The Chapter ---

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