sugar coated

slowly, she dragged her feet through flora lane but she soon found herself snapping out of her daze at a sudden hug. "what are you—?! yujin??" as the other quickly explained the situation, dasom peered behind him with cautious eyes, growing stiff at the sight of the aforementioned shadowy figures. it took all her might not to break down and cry in fear of the moment, but she trusted yujin and intended to do her best to play along (for both of their sakes). "wow! you're so considerate!" dasom did her best to laugh a long, but even she could hear the quiver in her voice.

"yujin what do we do? i think they're getting closer." she whispered.

the resemblance of the woman in the painting to that of im hyejin was just uncanny; his mother's face was one that he hadn't been able to see in seventeen years. he normally misses her presence the most at this time of year. people are encouraged to spend time with their families during the holidays, yet daewon is left feeling so alone, even in the presence of his adoptive siblings. as he was thinking about all of this, something in daewon suddenly broke, causing the flood gates to collapse and the waterworks to begin.

upon hearing his name called, daewon began furiously wiping at his tear-stained face with the sleeves of his suit jacket before turning to look towards the owner of the voice. through hazy vision, both effected by his intoxication and the tears streaming down his face, he could still see her, or rather, he could make out her bright red hair. of course, dasom would find him in this state.

“noo..” despite himself, the denial itself comes out as a whine. “i just got somethin' in my eye.”

tonight, however, she was aided by liquid courage. against her better judgement, dasom decided that she would not walk away! she couldn't remember the last time they'd been together in the same room outside of officially arranged meetings. perhaps she would finally give him a piece of her mind!

"jus' what're you doing aaaaall the way over here all on your own by yourself?" in her mind, dasom's words were assertive and intelligent (a far cry from the reality of her slurred words). "did you want to leave my side that badly?" she'd turned a blind eye to the irony of her words— but that discussion would be for another day.

( ... ) as she perused through the different stalls, she found a familiar face in the foreground of her vision. making her way over with haste, dasom quickly adjusted her hair as she moved, stopping only a few steps behind the other. the younger figured that she'd wait patiently until he'd disengaged from his conversation with the vendor before surprising the gladiolus heir with a bright greeting.

something about the old woman’s voice is calming. at least- it catches yeonsu’s attention out of all the buzz surrounding the market as citizens go on about their errands and shopping. she’s tucked into a small corner between two larger stalls, making her look much smaller than she seems (in yeonsu’s mind something about the look in her eyes reminds him of his mother) and maybe that’s why he stops.

she says a few things as he stares at her before staring into the flower in her hands- completely unaware that he’s already tuned her out. he does catch something about ‘good luck’ however before he nods figuring that she’s going about her sale’s pitch to convince customers to buy what she has to sell. 

it’s a quick exchange as yeonsu pulls out a generous amount of coins and hands them to her with a quiet, “keep the change.” he’s already turned and started walking away as she thanks him for his kindness and in doing so, missing the way she also chimes about good luck (because if yeonsu had been truly listening- he’d have heard that the story behind that flower was very much significant to beonhwa’s culture of love).

"i hadn't realized that the gladiolus heir had already found a suitor so soon after his return to society."

“I’m actually glad that’s the case or else I’d have to chase down that tall and handsome young man to teach him proper manners.” He joked. But Yujin would’ve been mad at the person for leaving her behind all the same. “Well, if you truly wish to be on your own…” He let go of Dasom for a moment, turning to skate away and went ahead a few steps in response to her comment saying she wanted to hide. But Yujin came back soon after, holding her hands to guide them, while chuckling. “Always.” Was his simple answer, sending his friend a playful wink. But he honestly meant every sense of the word. Yujin would be there for her whenever she needed. He was glad to notice how she was slowly improving as they went. "Ready to try to go faster now?" He asked after a while.

all at once, dasom felt a flurry of different emotions. she felt thankful that he was more than ready to step up for her had she been left alone. she also felt her heart race— even if only for a moment— at the reassurance that he would be there to catch her. but why? was it because she was still afraid of losing her balance on the ice, yet again? yes...that must be it. dasom convinced herself that it was simply the other looking out for her as a childhood friend and best friend of her brother. "i think remaining at this pace is fine for now." her voice was strained as she squeezed on his hand a little tighter.

at the other's question, dasom felt the color in her cheeks rise once more (though she was more than ready to blame it on the weather were anyone to ask). she'd simply been making a passing joke, given her reputation, but never truly gave the idea of being caught under the mistletoe any honest thoughts. had yujin always been this cheeky? perhaps she just never thought much of his words as it was rare for the two to be alone. "i'm sure the answer to that question is obvious, isn't it?" the younger stammered, evading an actual answer as it, in fact, was not obvious, even to herself. "i think that you're starting to sound as if you're his older brother." she giggled, but could sense the the other was genuinely concerned about the situation. having his older brother return home after so many years must've been quite the shock, yet yujin hardly let it show.