Chapter 28 The First Fall Of Snow
The First Fall Of Snow
Wynter Andy Kwon and I had kissed.
And he did so first and willingly. I had my first kiss. I pressed my fingers to my lips and the image of him there before lingered in my mind. The way his mouth moved with such urgency, such need. It was slow and tentative almost as if he were afraid to break me.
Maybe a part of me wanted him to, just a little bit.
My body was aflame ever since, to the extent that I thought that if I touched anything it’d crumble to ash.
I sat cross-legged on the plush rug in our room, clutching a mug of tea so tightly I was half-worried it might crack.
The warm scent of chamomile drifted up, but it did little to calm the chaos in my chest. Our room was cozy as always—fairy lights draped lazily across the walls, polaroids pinned to the corkboard over my desk, and the faint hum of music playing from the speaker.
Sydney was sprawled across the bed, her legs hanging off the edge, scrolling aimlessly on her phone like she didn’t have a care in the world. Meanwhile, I was vibrating with nervous energy, and Remi had clearly noticed.
“You’ve been acting weird all night,” she said, plopping onto the rug in front of me and narrowing her eyes. “What’s going on, Yesoh? Spill it.”
“Yesoh acting weird? Groundbreaking,” Sydney said without even looking up, but I could hear the smirk in her voice.
“I’m not acting weird,” I said quickly, the lie so obvious I might as well have been wearing a neon sign.
“You’re literally holding that mug like it’s a life raft,” Remi pointed out, leaning forward on her elbows. “Come on, what happened? Did something happen with Wynter?”
I choked on a sip of tea, coughing violently as both of them snapped their attention to me.
“Wait a second,” Sydney said, sitting up now, her phone forgotten. “What did happen with Wyn? You’ve been glowing all night. Like, suspiciously glowing.”
“I am not glowing!” I protested, my voice a pitch higher than normal.
“Oh my God,” Remi said, her eyes widening. “Did you—” She gasped dramatically, clutching her chest like she was in a drama. “Did you kiss him?”
“WHAT?” Sydney yelled, practically falling off the bed.
“I—what? No! I mean—” I stammered, heat rushing to my face.
“You totally tongued him!” Remi shrieked, grabbing my arm and shaking me. “Yesoh! You had your first kiss!”
“Stop yelling!” I hissed, trying to pull away. “My God, you’re so loud.”
“That’s because this is HUGE!” Remi said, her voice anything but quiet. “Tell us everything. When did it happen? How did it happen? Did he—oh my god, was he good?”
“Remi!” I groaned, burying my face in my hands.
“Don’t you dare hide now,” Sydney said, sliding off the bed to join us on the rug. “You can’t drop a bomb like that and then try to disappear. Start talking.”
They were both staring at me now, eyes wide with anticipation. I sighed, lowering my hands, knowing there was no escaping this.
“Fine,” I mumbled. “It was yesterday when you guys were still at Jax’s after the club.”
“Oh my God, that’s so opportunistic of you, slutty Soh,” Remi whispered, clutching her heart.
“Do not call me that.” I laughed,
“Are you not?” Remi questioned.
“If you’re only a slut for one person, are you still a slut?” I contemplated.
“See we always ask the real questions here maybe we really are women in STEM after all!” Sydney laughed.
“He kissed me here in this very room guys,” I said, feeling my cheeks burn as I remembered the way Wynter had leaned in, his face so close to mine, his voice soft as his wet shirt soaked us.
“We were just… I don’t know. talking and then I spilled water on him and one thing led to another and then he had me in his arms asking for my first kiss … it just happened.”
Remi and Sydney both screamed, and I jumped, nearly spilling my tea.
“Are you serious right now?” Sydney demanded. “That’s like a movie-level kiss. Like Lara Jean from To All the boys I’ve loved before level. Who is this guy, and what has he done with Wynter?”
“He’s still Wynter,” I said, laughing a little despite my embarrassment. “He was just… actually into me for once.”
“If I’m being entirely honest, I thought that you were being a tad bit delusional on this pursuit but seeing it actually fall into place is quite impressive. I raised you well Yesoh Yeo.” Sydney applauded. “is the diary actually helping?”
“Honestly, it’s helped a lot with knowing what to say knowing what he likes and doesn’t like,” I explained.
“He can never find out you read that shit Soh. I’m serious it wouldn’t end well. It’s just going to have to be one of those things you keep to yourself until the end of time.” Sydney spoke.
“You are going to have to take it to the grave, I fear.” Remi contemplated. “Although I am curious as to how he would react, is Wynter the type to flip out and get angry?”
“Wynter rarely shows any intense emotion.” Sydney reflected. “he’s kind of like Baymax from Big Hero Six. I can’t even imagine him angry.”
“Clearly you don’t remember Summer 16 very well,” I recalled.
“Daily reminder that not everyone keeps a 700 page detailed file of every interaction we had with him.” Sydney scolded. “What happened then anyway?”
“When he found the letters, the ones between Hannah and um… Jiwon.” I reminded her clearing my throat.
“Wait who’s—” Remi spoke but I knew to interrupt her before she asked questions that we weren’t ready to answer at four in the afternoon. Let alone ever.
“Hannah! Hannah is, my cousin, she was Wyn’s first girlfriend.” Sydney diverted the question.
“They never dated don’t say that,” I grumbled looking down.
“My bad, she’s the girl who popped his cherry and Yesoh refuses to get over it or acknowledge that fact since.” Sydney cleared her throat and I rolled my eyes.
“Whatever.” I looked away.
“Imagine getting to say that you fucked Olympic gold medal champion, Wynter Kwon first.” Remi marvelled, “That’s the type of shit to have on your résumé and get the job immediately!”
“What’s Hannah doing lately anyways?” I wondered, “Has she become a stripper yet?”
“Not with the kind of money in our family she’s not, she’s a social media manager for some luxury brand. She got married last summer to a Lord.” Sydney explained.
“I hate when I don’t get to say that my enemies are living terrible lives.” I huffed folding my arms.
“That's because most of the time bad things don’t happen to bad people. It’s just the cold, hard truth of life.” Remi reminded us all. “Anyways back to your first kiss story time!”
“It was short and sweet.” I nodded in acknowledgement.
“Oh, sweet and hot,” Remi said with a wink. “You’re living the dream, Yesoh. Living. The. Dream.”
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop smiling. “You two are ridiculous.”
“So… was he good?” Sydney asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Do I really have to answer that?” I asked, groaning again.
“Uh, yes?” they both said in unison.
I hesitated for a moment, then finally gave in, the memory of the kiss making my face heat up all over again. “Yeah. He was really good.”
They screamed again, and I buried my face in my hands, knowing I wouldn’t hear the end of this anytime soon.
The next day
When I awoke in the early mornings the ground was covered in snow. I hadn’t felt this giddy about the winter season’s arrival since I was a child. I put on a red sweater and black leggings and Uggs and slipped out of my dorm faster than you could say that the weather outside was frightful.
I made my way downtown to Wynter’s apartment, I knocked on the door incessantly. Fist to wood.
“Wynter!” I called out, but when the fork opened it was not Wynter no, but Bae who opened the door. Rubbing the sleep for her eyes looking slightly irritated. “Oh.”
“Oh is correct. What are you doing here at the crack of dawn?” Bae interrogated and I suddenly felt out of place, but that wouldn’t stop me from spending the day doing exactly what I’d intended.
“It’s snowing.” I excused,
“Doesn’t explain anything at all—” I whipped past her into the apartment and darted straight for Wyn’s room. “Hey!”
I opened the door to find him fast sleep in bed, I glanced at the clock: it was 7:10AM.
“Rise and shine….” I shook him awake, watching the sleep leave his face, he was curled up in a fluffy blanket.
“Yesoh? What on earth—” he spoke groggily,
“It’s snowing!” I leapt onto his bed. “You know what that means.”
“Certainly not.” He corrected me and I rolled my eyes.
“Come on please, let’s spend the day outside.” I insisted.
“It’s barely seven in the morning.” He huffed, God he was so beautiful even half awake.
“That’s exactly why we have to be the first ones at the part before all the annoying kids think it’s their turf.” I insisted. “It’s the first snow, please.”
“Fine.” His voice softened, so did his eyes. “But if I freeze to death it’s your fault.”
“The people would be disappointed if they knew their ice prince could freeze to death so easily it’s false advertising,” I informed him and he laughed, God he had a beautiful laugh, far better than any sonnet.
“Is that so?” He hummed leaning on his elbow.
“Definitely.” I concluded gesturing towards his closet, “You need to wear something warm.”
“is this just your grand master plan to get me to take off my clothes again? Because if that’s the case, we’re gonna have to talk about this at some point you’re always finding some excuses to strip me when you could just you know.” He spoke rolling his eyes, “Ask nicely.”
“I’m not asking you to strip oh my God the water thing was a complete accident. I swear on my life!” I exasperated but he didn’t seem convinced.
“Sure Yesoh, but I can dress myself you know.” He grumbled, watching as I rummaged through his closet.
“Clearly that isn’t the case, if my memory serves me right you went outside in a storm wearing nothing but a hoodie.” I reminded him.
“In my defense that hoodie was surprisingly warm.”
“it doesn’t matter how warm it was it was irresponsible and that’s the reason why I am in charge now.” I corrected, “You’ll thank me later.”