Bucket List ― Byun Baekhyun

t h i r t y t h r e e

Experiencing Harbin's ice festival

I never knew where you get these crazy ideas but at some point, I think I'm drawn into your craziness as well, in the good way that is.

I quickly grabbed my phone and looked it up the moment you told me how it would be exciting to experience the ice festival. Among the search results, I could see the reason to why you would even have gotten the idea. It was because one of your favourite variety show went to Harbin and they had seen some ice sculptures there as they were filming.

"Do you get ideas from every episode?" I asked and you quickly countered by searching up on your phone with a soft glare, obviously unimpressed with my teasing.

You ended up showing me a documentary video of the infamous international ice and snow sculpture festival. I did continue to tease you about your craziness to face negative temperatures just for a few probably nice shots but it was out of the pleasure to see how much you'll show your eagerness and excitement to imagine yourself being there.

Indeed, it's just big frozen blocks of ice and there's not much beauty on that. But you've proven to see it in your own view once more.

"You know how people feel at ease just by looking at the sea? It's water and the ice are—big frozen blocks of ice, like you said, are just another form of water. It still carries the essence of calmness, probably just for me. But you get the point."

You continued to explain how despite those big blocks might seem to be out of place, once placed together and sculpted, it's is still art. The art of bringing to life details and depths from blocks of ice that's transparent.

"It's hard to generate heat in the cold compared to how it's easy to cool down during a hot day, but that's how the world is, that is how life is. Nothing is constant, like water, it could change into vapour on a hot day or how ice melts on a hot day. We could experience the different states of water so what's wrong with experiencing the frozen beauty?"

We ended up laughing because your clarification became something you just blurted out and mixed up with all the different thoughts you had. However, there is a right in what you said, there is beauty in everything, even if it's in the cold freezing weather of Harbin.

I'd love to take you to the ice festival with a warm heart.