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december 24 ahn mina
the streets tonight are filled with happiness and laughter. the familiar christmas songs play and the carollers sing along to them. children ran around holding gifts, lovers kissed and hugged, and families spent time together.
mina jumped in excitement. she's been waiting far too long for today. christmas truly was the most joyful time of the year.
the ahn family's faces are all beautifully painted with smiles and laughter. there were so many issues, mina knew and worried for them all, but today was not the day for any of that.
joyful hana, mina's younger sister, hops cheerfully as they walk along the nearly always busy street. mina and her mother are dragged closer to the enormous christmas tree by an overly excited hana.
as they inch closer, the music and the chatter seem to grow louder. should colors emit from the scene, this would be the place it all materialized in. the tree was tall, and covered in so many blinking red and green lights. they were quite blinding, but it didn't faze mina at all.
she smiled at the children running about. it warmed her heart to see such pure, raw happiness. it wasn't something she saw very often, obtained either. for that reason, it always made her heart melt.
she turns to her sister. hana grins at her, and joins the dancing. she grabs mina's hand, inviting her to dance with her. they spin in circles, leaving marks on the snow and laughter in the busy christmas ambience.
she smiled brightly at her sister before urging to stop. she places her hands on her knees before catching a glimpse of a familiar, mitten-clad boy in the crowd.
he smiles, whispering to a younger boy beside him. her breathing slows as she watches them. her eyes seemed to filter out the world. the vague chatter of the crowd seemed to mute, and the joyful laughs quieted. mina saw them, heard them, amidst the crowd of hundreds.
laughter came out of the both of them, so much that their eyes formed crescents. she inched a smile.
the taller, familiar boy looked up at her just a few moments before his laughter died away. her breath hitched, and again the world seemed to slow. eye to eye, seconds felt like years until-
"mina!" yelled her mother.
all the world's sounds seemed to collapse into her hearing. the laughter and the chatter pooled in, and the christmas songs could again be heard.
she looks at her mother for a second, but turns back to see the two brother again. however, much to her dismay, they were, curiously, not in sight anymore.
