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Promotions are over, it’s Christmas, the girls finally have some time off. Five weeks to be exact. The city had been a bit too loud and pretty boring, Minji decided she and her girlfriend, Haerin, could stay at a cabin in a more rural part of Korea.
“Vacation at a cabin? It has a fireplace.” Minji laid her head in Haerin’s lap while they were watching a movie on the couch.
“Sure,” Haerin replied as she ran her fingers through Minji’s hair.
The cabin was quite cozy. A welcoming single-storey wooden house that somehow made a 72” flatscreen television look like it belonged in a house your great-grand-uncle lived in.
There was indeed a fireplace.
It was still crackling when they got there, radiating a warmth the cabin needed in late December.
In the evening while they were talking about everything and nothing, Haerin went into the kitchen. She was causing a racket from what Minji could hear in the living room.
Her eyes drifted to the fireplace, she noticed the fire dying down a little and remembered the host saying there was a firewood shed just down the road. Free of charge to use, he had said.
“Haerinie, I’m going to the firewood shed outside. You don’t need to worry, it’s just a five-minute walk to and back,” Minji called out from the living room as she tightened the scarf around her neck.
“Be careful,” Haerin replied from where she was in the kitchen, making some hot chocolate to battle the cold winter evening.
Haerin always opted for hot chocolate packets because it doesn’t take long. But ever since knowing Minji preferred it homemade, she always finds herself stirring a pot of milk and chocolate the minute the temperature drops when it snows. For example, right now.
A warm pair of arms snakes around her waist and a head leans on her shoulder. Minji gives a peck to her cheek, then her jaw, then her neck, then her shoulder before turning her in her arms give Haerin a proper kiss on the lips.
“Don’t miss me too much,” Minji mumbled in the crook of Haerin’s neck, from there she could feel her smile against her crown.
“You sound like you’re being sent to war.”
“Might as well be.”
Haerin let out a giggle and nudged Minji off her. “Get the wood, or else you’ll come back to a frozen me holding two frozen mugs of potentially burnt hot chocolate.” She gestured for Minji to hurry out the door before it gets too dark.
Minji kissed her forehead and turned on her heel towards the door. She grabbed her coat off the sofa and her phone from the coffee table. Before leaving, she blew a kiss and gave Haerin a wave.
Haerin looked at the stove, it was turned off. Minji had turned it off earlier when she peppered her with kisses. The hot chocolate was almost done so she stirred it a while longer.
By the time it was done, a couple of minutes have passed, Minji should be back soon. Haerin topped her drink with mini marshmallows and normal-sized ones in Minji’s. She could wait a minute, so she turned on the TV and watched some cartoon on the screen.
Soon a minute became three, three became seven and seven became ten. Haerin was getting worried. The marshmallows had already melted into a cloud over their hot chocolate long ago. She rang Minji’s number, but it went to voicemail. Four times.
She paced the door, maybe she should go look for her. Haerin put on her winter coat and gloves, ready to head out the door. Before she could, a breathless Minji opened it. Her nose and ears were tinged red from the cold, but she had the wood under her arm. “My phone died, it was really dark outside. I also have a splinter,” Minji held up a finger.
Haerin stared at her wordlessly for a few seconds before tackling Minji in a hug, nearly throwing her off the front steps of the door. “Thank god you’re safe.” Haerin let out a sigh of relief.
That night, they sat curled under a blanket on the couch, drinking the lukewarm cocoa they reheated, and laughed about nothing while the fireplace engulfed the living room in a warmth their little bubble shared.