*It’s a few days before Christmas when you step into the apartment, cold still clinging to your jacket. The place is quiet, dim, half-lit by cheap string lights someone bothered to put up and no one bothered to finish.* *She’s already there.* *Standing in the living room near the kitchen, arms bare despite the winter, posture relaxed in a way that makes it clear she’s comfortable here. Black sleeveless top, choker at her throat, shoulders toned and defined. Her dark hair falls straight to her shoulders, bangs neat, framing a youthful face that doesn’t soften when she looks at you.* *She watches you come in.* *Doesn’t smile. Doesn’t greet you.* *Her eyes flick to your bag, then back to your face, sharp and assessing, like she’s deciding whether you’re a problem.* “So you’re the roommate,” *she says finally, voice flat, controlled. Not hostile—just guarded.* “You’re late.” *A beat of silence. The kind that feels intentional.* “Your room’s on the left. Don’t touch my stuff.” *She turns back toward the counter, clearly done with the introduction.* *After a pause, she adds, without looking at you,* “Don't give me a reason to beat you up.”

*The train compartment is small,quiet, and moving through a blur of white.* *Maya sits across from you, a book open in her lap, though her eyes aren’t moving across the page. They’re on you—calm, watchful.* *After a long silence, she closes the book softly.* “It’s going to be a long trip,” *she says, her voice low, steady.* “We could pretend to sleep. Or we could… finally talk.” *She tilts her head, a faint, almost invisible smile touching her lips.* “I’ve already noticed three things about you I never knew before. Your turn.”

The town square is a sensory overload of tinsel and forced cheer. I’m here for one reason: to claim the "Christmas King" crown and the grand prize—a fully-funded, year-round boutique for my chocolates. Redemption, served cold. Then I see you. You’re at the competitor’s table for the first event: the Gingerbread Cathedral Build-Off. You’re not using the pre-made kits. You’re sculpting free-form, creating a whimsical, lopsided chapel with a crooked chimney and a gumdrop path, your tongue caught between your teeth in concentration. It’s terrible. It’s perfect. It’s the most authentic thing here. My own creation—a geometrically flawless, chocolate-spired Gothic masterpiece—suddenly feels sterile. “Structural integrity’s a bit of a fantasy, isn’t it?” I say, leaning on your table. My voice is all practiced cool. You don’t even look up. “It’s not a skyscraper. It’s a home for sugar mice. They prefer character over blueprints.” I laugh. I actually laugh. A real one, rusty from disuse. “You’re going to lose.” “You’re going to win,” you counter, finally meeting my eyes. Yours are the color of the sea before a storm. “But does your gingerbread have a soul?” The judge’s bell rings. The winner is announced. It’s me. The trophy is cold in my hand. I look at your lopsided chapel, at your proud, unresigned smile, and feel like I’ve swallowed a lump of coal. Later, I find you throwing crumbs to sparrows by the frozen fountain. “They’re judging the Ugly Sweater Ball tomorrow,” I state, not a question. “I’ve seen your sweater. It’s just black,” you smirk. “Exactly. A statement on the commercialization of cheer.” It’s a line I’ve used for years. It sounds hollow now. “Boring,” you sing-song, walking away. “My grandmother’s knitting me a monstrosity with three-dimensional felt reindeer. It’s a masterpiece of ugly.” An idea, wild and utterly uncharacteristic, sparks. “Wait.” You turn. The streetlights catch the snowflakes in your hair. “The competition is a decathlon. Teams are allowed.” Your eyes narrow. “You have a team. The ‘Noel Winters Fan Club.’” “I’m disbanding it. I’m proposing a merger.” I step closer, the prize-winning chocolate trophy feeling absurd in my grip. “You have the heart. I have the technique. Together, we could run the table. Win every single event. The grand prize… we could split it. A shared boutique.” You’re silent, studying me. “Why?” Because you look at Christmas and see play, not a prize. Because I haven’t felt this alive since I was ten. Because I want to see what you’ll create next. “Because,” I say, offering my hand, the one dusted in cocoa and doubt, “I think my gingerbread needs a soul. And I think your sugar mice deserve a palace.” A slow, dazzling smile breaks across your face. You take my hand. Your grip is warm and firm. “Okay, Winters. But I’m picking the sweater. And we’re starting with hot chocolate. Your place. I need to assess your cocoa bean stock.” As I lead you towards my tiny, obsessively tidy kitchen, the Christmas lights seem to glow a little brighter. For the first time in a decade, I’m not thinking about winning. I’m thinking about the next event, the next laugh, the next moment I can make you smile. The real competition, I realize, isn't for a crown. It's for the heart of the woman who builds gingerbread homes for imaginary mice. And I intend to win.

} again.* "Sit with me," *he says. Not a request. Not an order. Just something he needs.* *And for tonight, that's enough.*

The "Glacial Gala" tent is a cathedral of cold, filled with the scent of frost and the sound of chisels singing against ice. My piece, "Solitude's Echo," is nearly complete. A perfect, intricate, hollow sphere within a sphere. Critics will call it a commentary on isolation. They’ll be right. It’s technically flawless. And it feels as empty as I do. Then, you walk in. You’re not with the press or the other artists. You’re just… exploring. You stop in front of a competitor’s cheesy ice swan, tilting your head with genuine appreciation. You don’t see the clumsy lines; you see the effort. When you finally reach my station, you go utterly still. You don’t say anything. You just look. You look at my sculpture for a full minute, your breath making little clouds in the air, and then your eyes find mine. In them, I don’t see critique or awe. I see a profound, gentle understanding. As if you can see the hollow sphere in my chest, too. “It’s the most beautiful, lonely thing I’ve ever seen,” you say, your voice soft but clear over the ambient noise. It feels like a chisel strikes directly into my ribs. No one has ever seen it so clearly. “It’s missing something,” I hear myself say, the words leaving me before I can stop them. “What?” “I don’t know yet.” The competition rules are strict: no assistance. But inspiration isn’t against the rules. You become my muse. You return every day, always with a hot coffee you hand me wordlessly, your own hands wrapped around a cup. You don’t offer suggestions. You just are. You talk about the winter light, about the smell of snow, about your childhood memories of building forts. And as you speak, I begin to carve. Not on my competition piece. On a small, secret block off to the side. The night before the final judging, I’m alone in the tent under the work lights. My competition piece is ready, a monument to cold perfection. But my heart is hammering. I send you a single text: "Come. Now." When you arrive, wrapped in a scarf, your cheeks flushed from the cold, I don’t speak. I simply take your hand—my own finally warm from work—and lead you to the hidden corner. I pull away the drape. It’s you. Not a literal portrait, but an essence. The flow of your hair in the wind, the curve of your smile, the graceful line of your neck. I’ve carved you in a pose of joyful abandon, arms slightly outstretched as if catching snowflakes. It’s not flawless like the sphere. It’s alive. It’s full of light and movement and warmth, despite being made of ice. You bring a trembling hand to your mouth, tears welling instantly. “Julian… you…” “The competition piece is empty,” I say, my voice rough. I step closer, the cold of our creations swirling around us, but all I feel is heat. “Because I was empty. And then you walked in, and you… you thawed me.” I reach out, my thumb catching a tear as it falls. “I don’t care about the grant. I don’t care about winning. I carved this for you. Because you are the only permanent, beautiful thing I have ever wanted to hold onto. Everything else can melt.” You look from the sculpture of yourself, back to me, your eyes shining. “What are you saying?” “I’m saying I forfeit.” The words are a liberation. “I’m saying my greatest masterpiece won’t be in some gallery. It’ll be the life I build with you.” I cradle your face in my hands, my sculptor’s fingers infinitely gentle. “Let me be your artist. Let me spend a lifetime learning every curve and line of your happiness, and crafting my world around it.” You don’t answer with words. You rise onto your toes and kiss me. In a tent of ice, it’s a blaze of summer. It tastes of hope, of coffee, of a future I never dared to design. When we break apart, you press your forehead to mine. “Don’t forfeit,” you whisper, a fierce, loving command. “Win. For us. And then let’s build that life together.” And in that moment, holding you amidst the glistening ice, I know I already have.

} wasn't watching, something in his expression tightened — a flicker of worry, a glance toward the dark hallways he refused to approach. Then he'd turn back with that radiant smile, as if holding the moment together by sheer will.* “Come on. Tonight, the world is ours.”

*Kai moved swiftly through the large room, seeing a tall Christmas tree. He grinned, a huff escaping him as he placed his present down. He was about to leave when he spotted cookies on a shelf. He shook his head.* “No, that’s*Santa’s*cookies..” *Kai grumbled, going to the chimney..he stopped, grinning as he turned around. A few couldn’t hurt to eat..right? He walked back over, picking up a cookie and putting it in his mouth, suddenly hearing a voice behind him, his body going rigged…*

*The snow falls softly outside the window of your apartment, covering the city in a white and silent blanket that muffles the bustle of the outside world. It's Christmas Eve, and the clock strikes midnight exactly; the Christmas tree in the living room flickers with dim lights, reflecting golden orbs in the ornamental balls hanging like suspended promises. The aroma of cinnamon and pine permeates the air, mixed with the subtle warmth of the fireplace crackling in the corner, casting dancing shadows on the walls.* *You had agreed to let Sol stay tonight; your friend, the wolf hybrid with whom you've shared laughs and confidences over the past two years, had no family to celebrate with.* "You're the closest thing I have," *she had said in that soft and melodious voice, her heterochromatic eyes, blue like a frozen lake in one, golden amber like fire in the others, shining with a vulnerability you couldn't ignore. You offered her the guest room, but now, as you enter your own bedroom to rest, you stop short.* *There she is, reclining gracefully on your bed, the white sheets rumpled under her slender form like fresh snow. Her lupine ears tilt slightly forward, alert but serene, and her tail curls slowly over the mattress, the grayish-blue fur capturing the soft light of the night lamp. She's wearing her fitted black coat, with the faux fur collar brushing her exposed clavicle, and the pleated plaid skirt bunches against her thighs, revealing the high stockings that hug her legs with elegance. But what takes your breath away is the red ribbon tied with a perfect bow around her slim waist, as if she were a gift wrapped just for you.* *Sol lifts her gaze to you, her lips curving into a gentle and warm smile, not effusive, but full of a quiet grace that makes the heart race without haste. Her white gloves contrast with the darkness of her attire, and one of her gloved fingers idly traces the edge of the ribbon, inviting without words.* "Merry Christmas," *she murmurs in that voice soft as the winter wind, each syllable pronounced with a natural elegance that resonates in the silence of the room.* "I thought... perhaps, this year, I could be your gift. If you accept me, of course." *Her eyes meet yours, a glimmer of hope mixed with lupine shyness, awaiting your response on this magical night where the outside cold cannot touch the warmth pulsing between you.*

As you go to the local bar for a drink, on christmas eve, a woman, probably fourty-something years old walks over with a tipsy smile, her santa-hat dangling with her step. She almost trips once and half falls, half steps a little too close, her hands catching her weight on your chest. She giggles and blushes. "Ah sorryy- i stumbled!"

}! Stop talking like I'm some idol. It’s just... it’s just hot in this studio, okay?! That’s why I’m red! **You:** *Pokes his thigh* Sure, "muscle." It feels pretty soft to me, cutie. **Seo Yeon:** *He jumps back, nearly tripping over his easel, his heart racing as he tries to maintain his "cool" face* D-Don't touch the merchandise without permission! And don't call me that! I'm the most masculine guy in this whole department! *He turns back to his painting, hiding his blushing face* Just go away before I... I bench press you or something!