Surprise! This chapter is two days early.

Enjoy.

December 5th, 2019

White and orange lights beamed down onto the stage that Seraphine and I stood on, making it hard to see those seated in front of us. The projector screen was rolled down, our slideshow visible to the entire lecture hall. With my cards in hand, I glanced at Seraphine as she continued the presentation.

"For our concept, Wonder , Jae and I chose to tackle multiple aspects of the emotion. From looking toward the future, reflecting on the past, and thinking of the present, the eight tracks in our EP all take into consideration those feelings."

"And," I began. "We decided to put a personal twist on the concept as well. As you'll notice from the tracklist, there is not a single duet song within the entire EP."

I let out a small breath before continuing. Nervous as I was, I managed to find a comfortable rhythm.

"As Seraphine put it: 'Wonder is an emotion that people often experience alone. Because usually, the thing, the person, the time, or whatever you might be wondering about isn't anywhere near as beautiful as the reality.'"

"As sad as that it is, it also encapsulates life as a whole," Seraphine continued. "When Professor Laurent first assigned us this project, she made all of us attend a music festival, and then required us to choose a style of music we found there to incorporate into the EP. Jae and I found a booth where a cellist and a french horn player shared a duet. And from that, we wrote and produced: With Starry-Eyes , our EP's best and most thematic song."

Our presentation continued onward from there with no problems, as Seraphine and I described our writing process and other aspects of the EP's production. As it came to a close, we shared a glance and nodded.

"Without further ado and with starry eyes, we welcome you to our land of Wonder."

Sera and I bowed before the lights shut off, and the first song off of our EP began to play. We quickly made our way to Professor Laurent. She finished noting something down on a piece of paper and glanced up at the two of us.

"An excellent presentation," she said, smiling slightly. "A marked improvement from your last. Well done, you two. Please, return to your seats."

We silently thanked her and turned, making it five steps before Sera nudged my side, a wide grin on her face for the entire walk back to our seats. "You did great, Jae!" She said once we sat back down. "You barely stuttered, you spoke clearly, and you perfectly made it the whole way through . I'm so proud of you." Her arms wrapped around me in an instant, her hand patting my back, the side of her head pressing into my chest.

I returned the hug. "Thanks, Ser. You helped a lot."

She pulled away, her smile seemingly stuck on her face. "We did it. Together."

"Yeah," I said. "We did."

[;]

December 15th, 2019

It'd only been a few days since Seraphine started working at the Vastaya, but she seemed like she was already getting used to the flow. I placed a hand on her shoulder as she was leaving the kitchen, a platter of drinks balanced on her forearm. She kept her long, pink hair in a tight bun that fit through the hole in the back of her black hat. The words: The Grand Vastaya were stylishly sewn at the front of her hat. Her white dress-shirt was tucked into form-fitting black slacks and a black waist apron was fastened around her hips.

"Table nine just got filled," I informed her.

"How many?"

"Party of seven."

"Okay. Got it." And then she was on her way once again.

Despite having no prior waiting experience, she picked up the skills quickly, even after only one day of training. She was rather enthusiastic that I was the one training her however.

It was a good thing that Sera learned fast. Luxanna was down to only working one shift a week as she was deep into finals season and I knew that she spent nearly ten hours a day just cooped up in her room, doing homework and studying. It also helped that Xayah and Rakan were more than willing to hire her. She was hired almost immediately after the interview, actually. Even Sera was surprised.

"I guess my recommendation means a lot to them," I reasoned with a shrug.

"Yeah. Guess it does," Sera replied.

Sera got along with almost all of the others pretty well.

She and Jinx were amicable. Their hair color was closer to each other than their personalities. But they were friendly with one another, and that was more than I could ask for.

Sera and Orianna always seemed to have either incredibly interesting, or incredibly hilarious conversations. Something about the way Seraphine saw people and the way Orianna spoke made them quite an interesting duo.

Sera and Lux had only worked one shift together, but… but even I could sense some tension there. When they met in the break room, they didn't say a word to each other, and they avoided each other while on the floor— even if it meant a break in our communication.

At the end of that shift, I pulled Lux aside, asking her to follow me out the back of the restaurant.

"What's going on between you and Seraphine?" I asked, my hands stuffed into the pockets of my pants.

"Nothing," she replied immediately.

"Lux."

"It's… I don't know. I just need to get used to seeing her more often, I guess."

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Not inherently. Just…"

"Just what?"

Lux bit her tongue. "She hurt you, Jae. And she still hasn't apologized. That's the problem here. Everytime I see her, I just want… I want to yell at her, scold her, tell her that she messed up and that she needs to apologize."

I raised a brow. "I know that. But you don't see me getting angry at her."

"Well, that's—"

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lux. I appreciate you getting angry for me, being frustrated for me. But I believe that Sera will apologize sooner rather than later, I trust her. And I won't hold it against her forever if she doesn't." I smiled. "I'm happy being friends with her. I'm happy being friends with you. And it would make me even happier if you two got along."

Lux sighed. "Alright. I'll try."

"That's all I ask." I smiled. "Thanks, Lux."

"You're welcome." She crossed her arms and pouted. "You owe me," she grumbled.

"I'll buy you a Starbucks after we finish up here."

"You better."

[;]

In addition to Seraphine coming to work with me, she and I made it a habit to grab food after our shifts was sort of like a date. A friend date. If those existed. A small part of me liked to believe that they did.

"Does Lux have a problem with me?"

I nearly spat out my drink at the sudden question. I slowly set down the glass and looked at Seraphine. She sat on the other side of the table, her elbows on its surface as she mulled the question over. "Wh-what?"

"Does Lux have a problem with me?" She repeated.

"No, no, no. I heard you the first time. I just can't believe you're legitimately asking me that question."

She tilted her head. "Why not? You two are close. And every time I talk to you, she looks like she's trying to kill me with her eyes."

"I… I have a rough idea."

"What's your rough idea?"

I shook my head. "Not my place to say."

"She's jealous, isn't she?"

Okay, wow. Straight outta left field. "What?"

Seraphine shrugged. "She seems like the jealous type. Maybe she's convinced herself that I'm trying to steal you away from her or something."

"That's.. that's definitely not it," I said. "It's a little less immature than that, Ser. Lux isn't an idiot."

"Never said she was."

I scoffed, shaking my head. "I don't even know where this is coming from."

"She's been rude to me every time I've talked to her and—"

"Not unlike how you're being rude to her right now," I countered. I closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead. Sometimes, Sera's persistence really got on my nerves. "Look. It's not my place to say whether or not Lux has an issue with you. If you're so keen on solving it, then talk to her about it yourself. Like adults."

"But Jae—"

"Drop it, Seraphine."

She let out a breath. "Okay. I'm sorry. I ruined our dinner."

"It's okay." I sighed. "Not exactly a Michelin-star dinner we're having," I said, motioning to the bright red containers of In-n-Out burgers and fries between us.

"You know what I meant."

I'm not really sure what changed between us, or if anything changed at all actually, but whenever Seraphine smiled at me, and whenever she spoke directly to me, with her azure eyes trained on mine, my stomach and chest fluttered. Or my hands and arms tingled. It was a strange feeling. Like I was always nervous around her.

Of course, I did my best to hide it. And as far as I could tell, Seraphine hadn't noticed anything.

"This is super random," I began after swallowing a fry. "But do you want to celebrate Christmas with my sister and me?" I asked. "Don't feel obligated to say yes by the way."

"Okay, now you're making me feel obligated to say yes."

I smirked, raising a brow. "Oops?"

Seraphine rolled her eyes. "Sure. Why not."

"Wait, what?"

"I said, 'Sure. Why not.'"

"Really? You're sure?"

Sera crossed her arms, her serious facade breaking into a smirk of her own. "Why? Are you taking back your invite?"

I shook my head vehemently. "No, no. Not at all. I'm just… surprised that you accepted is all."

"My parents are both out of the country during that week," she explained. "And I didn't exactly want to spend Christmas alone. Nor did I want to ask if I could spend it with you because that'd be pretty rude of me. So your offer came at a good time."

"Oh. I see." A small part of me wilted at her reasoning— but then I realized how ridiculous it was of me to feel that and I pushed the feeling away. "So… I'll see you on the 25th?"

Sera nodded. "Mmhm." She popped a fry into her mouth. "What time should I be there?"

"Maybe between 3 or 4. Not too late, not too early."

"You guys don't need help with anything?"

I shook my head. "Actually, we've been steadily decorating over the last few days."

"Does it look good?"

I chuckled. "Never said that."

Sera giggled. "Well, I might be awful in the kitchen. But I can decorate."

"I'll believe you. You can't be bad at everything, right?"

Sera blew a raspberry. "Rude."

[;]

"Did you finally invite her?"

"How did you even—"

"Jae," Eunkyung interrupted, looking up from her book. "You should know by now that I can read you like one of these." She held up the book.

I sighed. "Yeah. I invited her."

"She said yes?"

"She did."

"Hm. Surprising."

"Yeah. It was for me too."

"Did she say why?"

I walked over to the table, setting it with plates for Eunkyung and myself. "Her parents aren't gonna be home for the holidays." I walked back to the kitchen to grab the food: a large pot of ramyeon with vegetables and slices of pork, accompanied by kimchi and some store-bought fried chicken. The meal was cheap, but it was something we'd had a million times before, and it never disappointed.

"Were you expecting another answer?"

I shook my head. I hadn't told Eunkyung of how I felt. And I didn't plan to for awhile. She would either find out herself, or I would announce it by telling her that Seraphine and I had begun dating. Way to skip, like, fifteen steps there, Jae , I mentally chided.

"You're excited, aren't you?"

"Should I not be?"

Eunkyung rolled her eyes. "It's just a question, Jae. I'm not going to grill you."

"Yeah. I am."

"Good." She smiled. "You should be."

Something about the way she said it confused me. But I chose to ignore it. If Eunkyung wanted me to realize something, she'd say it to my face, leaving everything bare.

Eunkyung motioned to the poor attempt at Christmas decorations that ruined our walls and floors. "Is she going to help decorate?"

"She said she was good."

"And how often does she say that she's good at things?"

"Pretty often."

"Is she as good as she says she is?"

"Like I told her: she can't be bad at everything, right?"

Eunkyung laughed at that.

[;]

December 25th, 2019

Promptly at 3 o'clock, the doorbell to my apartment rang. I quickly turned down the stove and closed the pot of boiling beef broth. I jogged over to the door, opening it and smiling widely at Seraphine as she stepped inside. She wore an orange-red blouse tucked into a pair of high-waisted black slacks. "As punctual as ever," I commented. I held out my hand to take her bags.

"Like I said, I'm good at some things. Being on time? One of them." Seraphine placed one of the bags she carried into my waiting hand. "Thanks."

"Not the other one?"

She shook her head. "It's got your present in it, so no."

I raised a brow. "You got me a present?"

"I…" She trailed off. "I did. Why? Did you not get me one?"

I didn't want to spoil the surprise, so I chose to simply chuckle and walk away from her. I figured a little bit of teasing would do her some good.

"Jae?" She stepped up behind me. "Hello? Did you even get me a present? Jae?"

I shot her a sly grin. "Maybe. Maybe not."

Sera rolled her eyes as she dropped her bags by the Christmas tree. She placed her hands on her hips, giving the living room and kitchen a once-over. "You guys really decorated this?"

"As well as we could."

"Let me guess, you also happen to have a career in interior design?"

"More like Eunkyung does. She was the one who picked out most of the decorations for the house," I explained. "It's one of the many things she practices as a hobby."

"Practices?"

"Yeah." I smiled slightly. "Ever since she stopped playing the piano for ten hours a day, it's been reading, drawing, architecture, writing, dancing, interior design, photography, gardening, graphic design… The list goes on and on."

Seraphine pursed her lips, taking a seat at the bar, her elbows resting on the black countertop. "I don't know whether I should be happy for her, or just sad."

"You can be both." I placed my hands on either side of the counter. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Do you guys have eggnog?"

I smiled, shaking my head. "Nothing like that. We have peppermint hot cocoa, though."

Seraphine grinned. "Even better."

Eunkyung stepped out of her room, dressed in the same ugly sweater she wore every Christmas— it had a cutely drawn dragon that laid atop of a pile of Christmas presents instead of a pile of gold— and caught up with Seraphine while I finished cooking. Soon enough, the food was done. With Seraphine's help, I set the table and Eunkyung prepared her camera.

Eunkyung set up the tripod in front of the Christmas tree. She had her phone in her hand to check if the angle lined up almost exactly the same as the previous years' photos. When she was done, she called Seraphine and I over. She placed a pair of matching Santa hats on our heads. "There. Now, do you two mind standing over there for me?" She asked, pointing to the space in front of the Christmas tree.

Sera and I stepped away from the table to do as she asked. We posed, but Eunkyung had a weird look on her face.

"You two look like you seriously hate each other." She chortled. "Scooch closer. Pretend like you like each other."

"Do you mind if I put my arm around you?" I asked Sera.

She shook her head.

I put my arm around her waist and pulled her close. She smelled like jasmine flowers, amber, and cedar— a scent that was entirely unexpected, yet addictive all the same.

Eunkyung celebrated. "There we go." She snapped a few photos. "Great. Sera, I'll fit in to your left."

"R-really?" Sera asked. "But I feel bad being in the center, especially when it's your guys' photos."

Eunkyung shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Not like these are getting sent out to anyone."

"You… you guys don't have cousins?"

"Both of our parents were only children."

"Grandparents?"

"Died before I turned five," Eunkyung answered. "Which means Jae never met them, and I can hardly remember them."

"I don't know what to say," Sera breathed.

"You're fine, Sera," I said, rubbing her side with my thumb. "Eunkyung and I are pretty used to celebrating Christmas alone, so having you here is more than enough company."

Sera smiled. "Thanks, Jae."

"No worries."

"Now that we've got that settled," Eunkyung began. "Let's get these photos done, eat, and get this party going!"

[;]

It didn't take very long for the celebration to start. Or for Seraphine to get comfortable around my sister. After finishing an early dinner, Eunkyung grabbed one of the many photobooks in the house and showed Seraphine my high-school and middle-school self. They sat beside each other on the couch, Eunkyung shared stories about me while pointing at one page in the photobook. Seraphine laughed and giggled the whole way through.

When they finished with one book, Eunkyung retrieved another. They spent the next hour or so on that couch, while I cleaned up the kitchen and dining table, and washed the dishes. But I was more than happy to do so. Seeing Seraphine simply talking with my sister was worth being stuck with clean-up duty.

I set down the final dish and came around to the back of the couch, looking over their heads. They were looking at my highschool yearbook. At a photo of me during a high-school performance. I sat atop a stool onstage, singing and playing guitar. The microphone that was held up by a stand covered part of my face.

And beside me stood no one other than Janna Oahnem. She was in the middle of singing, the light perfectly framing her pale, porcelain face.

"I haven't heard from her in… so long," I said, pointing at Janna. "What's she up to?"

"News reporter. Forecaster. Journalist." Eunkyung glanced at me.

"Jae, she wrote that article on you and Lux. Remember?" Seraphine added.

"Oh. Right." I rubbed the back of my neck. Guess some people never change.

Seraphine's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Guess you have a pretty clear type, huh?"

"What?"

Eunkyung burst out laughing.

Sera narrowed her eyes. "You have a type. Blonde. Blue eyes. Nice body. Unbelievably attractive," she listed it off, a bitter edge to her voice.

"We just sang together, Ser," I attempted to reason, raising my hands in surrender. "That's all."

Eunkyung scoffed. "Yeah, right. I refuse to believe, even for a second, that you weren't into her."

"I… Okay. I was—"

Seraphine shot to her feet. She pointed a finger at me. "See! That just proves my point. You totally do have a type."

"Just because I've been attached to a blonde in the past doesn't mean they're my type," I protested.

Sera crossed her arms, a brow raised. "And Luxanna?"

"Just a friend."

"That invites you to Disneyland. With just her." Seraphine sighed. "Whatever. I don't even know why I'm stressing about it."

"Neither do I," I replied.

"Alright, break it up," Eunkyung intervened. She looked between Seraphine and I. "You two really know how to bring a Christmas party down, huh?" She stood up. "I'm gonna go and grab some dessert. You two want anything?"

"Ice cream," I replied.

"Cheesecake," Sera said.

"Great. I'll be right back." Eunkyung grabbed her keys from her room before moving towards the front door. Before closing it, she gave us one last look. "Don't do anything irresponsible while I'm gone, alright?"

"We won't." I waved at her. "Drive safe. Love you."

"Love you." And she shut the door.

I took Eunkyung's seat on the couch. Seraphine continued to flip through the pages of my high-school yearbook. I placed my hands on my knees. "Are you still mad?"
"No. I'm not." She looked up at me. "I'm over it now."

"Good."

"Mmh." Sera crossed her arms and leaned against the back of the couch. "I'm sorry. I… I'm being rude. Again."

I shook my head. "It's alright—"

"It's not, Jae," she interjected. "Please. Stop saying that it is." Sera let out a breath. "But we can talk about that later." She stood up and closed the yearbook. She walked over to the bookshelf, quickly sliding the yearbook back into its place. Sera placed her hands on her hips as she thumbed through the bookshelf. "Got any other interesting things in here?"

"Pretty sure that Eunkyung's yearbooks are there too, if you're interested."

"Not right now." She bent down and cracked open a drawer. "Woah. That's a lot of sheet music."

"Also Eunkyung's." I made my way over to her. "And mine, I think. Back when I attended recitals."

"Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt, Herbie Hancock, and Bill Evans," Seraphine read, flicking through the files of sheet music. "It's good you guys haven't tossed these.

"My sister's a little attached, I guess."

Seraphine pushed aside the file and found another box buried beneath it. This one, much smaller and split into two clear sections. "Paganini, Ysaye, Vivaldi. These are all violin composers."

She moved to the other section. "Frideric Handel? Mendelssohn..? I've never heard of these people, but the sheet music is choral." Sera removed some of the sheets and held them up to me. They were completely marked up with blue pen ink, with notes specifically for Soprano 1 and the concertmaster.

An indescribable feeling bubbled within me.

Immediately, I sat beside Seraphine. We looked through the folders together. And the more pieces we found, the more my suspicions were confirmed.

I plucked one of the sheets from its folder. It was the sheet music for Caprice 24. All across the staff, across each measure and bar, individual notes were crossed out, added, or adjusted. There were words and more reminders of phrasings and voicings for each individual variation. Something about it was intimately familiar.

I swallowed. I held it up in front of Sera. "This… this is my dad's." I gave the sheet music to her and moved to grab one of Handel's pieces. "An— and this is Mom's."

Seraphine glanced between the sheets of music. "This is amazing, Jae." She chuckled. "Your parents worked really hard, huh?"

"Yeah. They did."

"Do you think you can play this?" Seraphine asked, holding up Caprice 24.

"I haven't played it fully before. But I've heard it a million times, and Dad's notes should make it easier."

"Give it a shot," Sera said, handing me the paper.

I scanned the music staves, read the notes, and began to make my way to my room. I grabbed my violin case along with a music stand. I set the sheet of music on the stand, raising it so it was eye-level with me.

Seraphine was already sitting on the couch. She was smiling widely. A stack of sheet music rested in her lap.

After unpacking my violin, I let out a deep breath. I held it up.

With an unbelievably uneasy heart, I began to play. As I began to play, as my fingers found their places on the fingerboard, as the music flowed out of me, as the voicing for each variation came to me like second nature, I felt like someone else besides me was playing.

I felt more connected to my parents than I had ever been.

And that thought nearly brought me to tears.

I finished the piece strongly. But I set my violin down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Seraphine brought her hands together in nearly silent applause. When I sat down beside her, her hand rested on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. I just need a second."

She rubbed my shoulder. "Take all the time you need. I'm here for you, Jae."

"R— really?"

With an impossible softness, Seraphine's azure eyes met mine. "Always."

I did my best to hold back my tears, but they pricked at the corners of my eyes, welling up to the point of overflowing.

"Let it out, Jae," Sera murmured. Her hand drifted from my shoulder down to my arm, and then she took my hand in hers. "You can cry. You should cry. You can stop holding yourself back."

And I broke. I collapsed into Seraphine's waiting arms. My hands slowly wrapped around her as tears fell freely down my cheeks. Nearly a decade of emotion came flooding out of me. I cried until I was dizzy, nauseous, until the room was spinning, and until I couldn't cry anymore.

Seraphine ran her hand through my hair, murmuring comforting words the entire way through. My tears stained the entire front of her blouse.

When I eventually pulled away, I wiped my cheeks and eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. "Sorry," I murmured. "I ruined your shirt."

Seraphine shook her head. "It's okay."

"I miss them so much, Sera," I whispered. "I miss them so, so much."

"I know, Jae. I know."

"I… I want them back."

"That's impossible, Jae," she murmured. "You know that."

"Why not?"

"Because they're still here." Seraphine cupped my cheeks with one hand. Then, with her other hand, she poked at my heart. "In your heart." Then she poked my temple. "In your head." Then she waved to the sheet music on the coffee table. "And in the music you make."

"You're gonna make me cry. Again."

Seraphine giggled, and she pulled me in for a tight hug. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm good." I pulled away. "I should probably go wash up… Don't want my sister to think you made me cry or anything."

"Fair enough."

"Thank you, Sera."

Seraphine smiled. "Any time, Jae."

I made my way to the bathroom to wash up. "Sera?" I asked when I stepped out. "Do I look fine?"

She gave me a thumbs-up. "Yeah. You look good."

We packed my parents' music back into the box and cleaned up the drawer. After, Seraphine and I kept ourselves busy watching music videos (or live performances) on YouTube.

After about fifteen minutes, Eunkyung returned to the apartment with much more than just dessert. She propped open the door with her foot and peeked her head in. "Help?" She asked, holding up several plastic bags.

I rushed over to her and relieved her of some of the bags. "What'd you even buy?"

"Groceries for the next three weeks. Figured I might as well get them since I was out anyways."

"Fair enough." I placed the bags on the kitchen counter and set to work sorting them and placing them into the fridge or pantry. "There's still more food. Should probably try and finish it before the night is done."

"After we open presents, Jae," Eunkyung said with a dismissive wave. She turned her attention back to the TV. "Why are you two watching this performance?" She asked.

It was K/DA's performance at last year's Worlds for League of Legends.

"Sera put it on."

Eunkyung glanced at the pinkette. "A fan of K/DA?"
Seraphine nodded. "They're all inspiring. Especially Ahri."

Eunkyung hummed. "Inspiring, huh?" She tested the word. "I guess they are." Then, Eunkyung grinned. "Wanna watch Jae's old performances?"

"Wait, that's not—" I tried.

"Yes! I totally do!" Seraphine exclaimed. And as Eunkyung went into her room to grab the DVDs, Sera stuck her tongue out at me.

"Rude."

[;]

Seraphine peeled the wrapping of her gift open. The paper fell away, revealing the signature crimson of a well-known keyboard. "No way." She tore more of the wrapping off. "No. Way." Sera looked at me. "Jae…"

I raised my hands in surrender. "Yes?"

She entirely removed the wrapping. It was Nord Electro 6 HP. One of the most renowned keyboards for pianists and music producers. And it was also a sizable investment. "Jae. This piano is like two thousand dollars. I can't accept this."

I dropped my hands. "Too bad. You are."

Sera looked to my sister for help. "Eunkyung? Please tell him to return it."

Eunkyung shook her head. "He's had his mind set on this as your present for a while now, Sera. I think he bought it some time last month? Maybe less, maybe more."

"Jae…" Sera trailed off. "Man, this makes my gift seem totally lame."

"It's okay," I replied. "I'm a hard person to find gifts for. I don't blame you."

Seraphine picked up her piano and set it down on the dining room table. Then, she grabbed one of the two presents that she brought here. It was a small box, maybe around the same size as a piece of paper. She handed the neatly wrapped gift to me. "Here. From yours truly." Sera walked away, her hands drawn together before her.

"Thank you." I undid the wrapping. Out of habit, I did my best to undo where she taped it together, and then folded up the paper. The box was white. And there was an Apple logo on it. "Sera." I looked at her.

Seraphine hid her face behind her hands.

I continued to unwrap the present.

It was a brand new iPhone.

"I… I thought that giving you a phone as a present would be a little risky, but I wanted to give it a try. Even if I thought it would be a longshot," she murmured. "I know that you hold onto your phone because it was from your parents, but that doesn't mean you can't have a new one too." She glanced at me. "If you don't want it, I can just return it. It's okay. You don't have to accept it, even if its a gift—"

"Seraphine," I interrupted. "It's perfect. Thank you."

She beamed. "You're welcome, Jae."

[;]

Seraphine and I sat on the living room couch together, neither of us really paying attention to the movie currently playing, Seraphine turned to look at me. The Christmas tree in the room kept her face alight with gold, light blue, and dazzling red. A Santa hat rested atop her head, and she was wrapped in a Christmas-tree-patterned blanket. It was around midnight now, the rest of the evening spent singing Christmas songs, dancing around the living room, enjoying our desserts, and even baking a small cake.

It was one of the best Christmas celebrations I could remember having.

"Thank you."

I tilted my head. "For..?"

"For letting me spend Christmas with you and your sister." She smiled. "It means a lot."

I nodded, smiling along with her. "Of course." As I turned back to the movie, Seraphine spoke up again.

"One more thing." She cleared her throat. "I… I want to apologize. Formally. Fully. For everything."

When I didn't respond, she continued.

"A lot has happened in the last two months. A lot . More than both of us expected, I think. While we had some good parts, we also had some really, really bad parts." Seraphine let out a sigh and pursed her lips. "And I… I still haven't apologized for what I did to you. Ever since our first argument, I've felt so guilty for not apologizing at all and…" She trailed off.

"Mmhm."

"So, I want to apologize now." She stood up, removing the blanket and hat she had on. Seraphine got on her knees and placed her hands before her. Then, she pressed her head to the floor of the apartment. "Son Jaemin. I am sorry for all of the pain, stress, and trouble I have caused you in the last two months. I am sorry for overstepping your boundaries and for not respecting your privacy. Please, forgive me."

I shot to my feet. "Wait, Sera. You don't need to go that far—"

She went further down, her face now pressing into the floor. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

"Okay, okay. I forgive you, I forgive you," I said, kneeling down beside her. I grabbed her by the shoulders and set her upright. "Please, stop."

Seraphine wiped her eyes and sniffled. While she wasn't full-on crying, I could see the tears building at the edge of her eyes.

"I'm sorry too," I murmured. "I haven't treated you as well as I should have. I kept dismissing your feelings. I was far too focused on myself."

"And I forgive you too." Seraphine smiled.

"So," I began, standing up along with Sera. "How about we treat each other right next year? Be good friends, respect boundaries, keep each other in check, the whole nine yards." I extended my hand. "Does that sound like a deal, Miss Seraphine?"

Seraphine laughed. She removed her Santa hat and plopped it onto my head, then she grabbed my extended hand. "That it does, Mister Jaemin."

I pulled her in for a tight hug, which she warmly returned.

Moments before we separated, the door to Eunkyung's room opened. "Ugh!" she exclaimed. "And here I thought you two were keeping it PG in here." Then, she smirked. "If you two get frisky, please use protection."

Seraphine immediately freed herself from the hug, her cheeks turning a brilliant shade of red. Hiding my embarrassment better than Seraphine, I simply rolled my eyes and sighed. "Whatever, Noona."

Eunkyung walked past us and into the kitchen. She popped open the refrigerator. Seraphine and I returned to our seats on the couch. We shared the blanket, and Seraphine leaned closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

I draped my arm over her, and she settled further into me. "Merry Christmas, Ser."

She smiled up at me, her azure eyes alight with an unexplainable emotion. "Merry Christmas, Jae."

There we have it. The end of Act 1 of Rising Stars. How is it so far? What are your thoughts? Let me know a review!

Depending on how I am feeling, the first chapter of Act 2 will be released on either:

January 1st, 2020, or January 8th 2020.

Love you guys. Thank you for supporting my story thus far. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.