When you stormed out of the winter lodge after a fight with your boyfriend, you were expecting him to run after you. Instead, he stayed inside to flirt with one of the waiters. Of course, when you called him out on it, he “wasn’t flirting” and just “being friendly”. However, you knew him well. You had been dating for nearly two years now, not to mention you half expected the man to propose to you on this trip.
Anger boiled up inside you and came out as hot tears that threatened to freeze on your cheeks, so you wiped them away with bare hands. Wait, why was skin brushing against skin? Where were your gloves? Panicked looking around your body to make sure you were wearing your padded coat which he had bought matching versions of for this very winter vacation. However, nothing was there. No gloves, no scarf, no vest. Nothing to protect you from the cold.
“I’d better go back to our room.” You said, sniffling and folding your arms against your chest.
As you looked towards your building, you couldn’t help but sigh and try to decide whether or not you should break up with him. He had been an affectionate guy from the start, but...shouldn’t he prioritize you instead of complete strangers especially on vacation? Your footsteps were disappearing in the snow as the wind got more and more intense, making you have to lean against it in order to make any leeway. With every step forward, you began to forget about your boyfriend and your feelings since all you could feel was the cold threatening to leave your body bitten by frost and forcing you to become part of the landscape.
You were 100% lost by the time the snow storm finally subsided.
How stupid could you be? Couldn’t you have just put on your jacket and gloves or even just your scarf before marching out into the cold? Why didn’t you just go straight to your hotel room, anyways? Your breath was white and heavy as it left your body. At some point, you had fallen to your knees. Your jeans were basically frozen now along with your nose. No amount of blowing hot breath into your cupped hands could bring any sensation to your fingertips.
A scream of frustration tore through your vocal chords emitting a sound that would put any winged harpy to shame. Your thoughts were a conflicting mess of needing to survive not only your previous heartbrokenness but also this snowy landscape that could quite easily become your grave. You needed to breathe before moving again, though.
It’d be getting dark soon, probably. You had no sense of time out here. No landmarks. Hopelessness began to blanket you as if it were snow on a naked tree.
“Why?” a voice that was not your own, asked.
You looked around, shocked to hear someone else. A woman that was barely a wisp of existence began to walk towards you. It seems as if she were gliding, but you saw no footprints.
Part of you thought you were hallucinating a Yuki-onna, the Japanese spirit who would make you hug a child or shove you into a dark snowy valley. However, the woman was not a black haired ghost with blue lips, but a blonde haired woman with red lips. Her cheeks glittered as if there were her own frozen tears permanently on there.
“Why are you here, stranger?” The pale woman asked. “You are not supposed to be in this location.”
“I got lost.” You said, sniffling your blocked nose.
She giggled, “Let me fix that for you.” a crystalline fingernail reached out and tapped the top of your nose.
A rush of air went through it and you could breathe out of it once more. Bewildered, you looked up at the woman and thanked her. She put her cloak about your shoulders and helped you into a standing position.
“I saw you get farther and farther from the place where humans usually reside after I felt your sorrow from miles away.” She kept your hand in yours. “Do not speak. Just relax for now.”
You looked at her with terror as she helped you into her sleigh. She only giggled and assured you that she was not here to take your life, but to save it. You rested your head against her side as the fur of the coat warmed your body. She said that the ride was long, and you needed your rest.
When you awoke, you began to realize you weren’t at the lodge nor at your regular bed. Where…
“Glad you’re awake.” The blonde transparent woman from before said as she entered your room with tea and treats, setting it at your bedside table.
The room was too dark to be made out of ice and yet it had an odd sense of coldness hovering in the air, as if you just opened your freezer and there was a condensed haze of fog around. However, it was easy to see through.
“Hello.” You said, sitting up. “T-thank you for saving me. I should get going.”
“No, please stay. Just for a few days.” She said, sitting by your legs underneath a transparent but heavy comforter. “You’ve surely caught a cold being out in my weather in such light clothing.”
You shook your head, trying to deny it, but that shake must’ve loosened up all the sneezes your body contained as a barrage of sternutations lept from your chest. The lady did nothing except hand you a box of tissues. You nodded your head in thanks before blowing your nose.
“Oh, I do not believe I ever introduced myself to you. I am ChungHa, the goddess of the snow mountain.” She said, bowing in a sheer and glittering robe which touched the ground, fur lining every edge.
She gave a simply breathtaking smile while promising you that it’d be ok if you stayed for a while.
However, you stuttered out, “M-my, my boyfriend. He’ll be wondering where I am.”
She furrowed her brows and touched your cheek, “The boyfriend who didn’t chase after you?” ChungHa pulled her hand back and into her lap. “I heard you talking to yourself during the storm.”
“Oh…” So she knew.
“Humans really like communicating even to the wind. I find it endearing.” She giggled. “Though you insist on destroying my mountain for mere entertainment, you have a few redeeming qualities. Especially faces like yours.”
ChungHa suddenly stood, “Oh, um. My apologies. I brought you tea and some cookies. Both have herbs which help to heal the body. Take as much time as you need. When you feel like you can, feel free to roam inside.”
With a sharp and serious face, she looked at you from the doorway, “Do not go outside without me. Understand?”
You nodded and she gave you a smile before leaving. The door was at the foot of your bed, and there didn’t seem to be any windows. Natural light seemed like it came through the walls. A lamp next to your bed was shaped like an icy chandelier and added extra illumination to the room.
Maybe he wouldn’t worry about you. If so, it served him right. He shouldn’t have ignored you in the first place.
ChungHa was a sweet goddess. A kind heart that had been frozen by years of solitude and yet it still beat strongly in her chest. Her lips were the only part of her which emitted true heat in their fiery redness. The glittering stones on her cheek were her ever flowing tears which froze on her face, so they did not appear to grow or move to mortal eyes.
She healed you up in what seemed like two days at most. The food which was served for every meal was delicious and natural, fresh and rich with every bite being as satisfying as the first. However...there was something lonely about her.
You didn’t want to go.
Part of you had thought to have fallen in love with her, but you were sure it was just because the blonde goddess had saved you from your certain death.
“It’s almost dawn, my dear Y/N. I believe it is best if I take you back to your lover.” She said, her hair now in a ponytail. “There’s no reason for you to stay since you are completely healthy thanks to my care.”
ChungHa dressed you in an iridescent cloak of your own. You had worn it outside when she let you see her garden. It was a magical place where flowers seemed even more beautiful and bright dusted in snow and encased in frost. You had particular fondness for the plum blossoms. They were so small and yet had a charming purple-magenta color that caught your eye.
The goddess and her fuzzy footmen made sure you were secured safely in the silver sleigh before taking off back towards the main area where you’d be put to walk back to your hotel room alone. She couldn’t go all the way with you and if you stayed with her for too long, you’d become trapped on the mountain with her. Magic rules and all that stuff.
The ride was mostly quiet until she spoke up, “Um, did you...were you comfortable there at my home?”
You nodded swiftly, holding the bouquet of plum blossoms she had gotten for you as a goodbye gift and turned into a flower crown to place upon your head. Part of you wanted to tell her that you wanted to stay, but you wanted to see your boyfriend. What had he been up to while you were recovering?
“Not many people know about you, huh?” You asked.
“No. I’m too minor to have my specific name known by humanity as a whole. They group me with dokkebi. I am more than a simple goblin.” She scoffed.
You smiled, “Well, I’ll write about you. Everything that you’ve told me, I’ll create a page for you. I don’t care if anyone believes me. I’ll let them know about ChungHa. The kind goddess of the snowy mountain that saves lost travellers and guests that wandered too far out. Platinum blonde hair and lips like roses. Eternal tears that sparkle like the first frost upon her cheeks. Like rhinestones. Like stars. Whose touch is like fresh mint, burning but comforting since her heart has been frozen.”
She kissed your forehead before hugging you tightly.
“Thank you, my dear. You are too kind for a spirit like me to know.” She giggled softly.
The sleigh stopped to halt.
“It is time for you to go.”
When you entered the lobby, you saw your boyfriend yelling at police officers. He looked over at you mid sentence and then did a double take, stopping in the middle of his words. He was saying how badly the mountain men were doing, that they should’ve found you already. The two of you just stared at each other.
“Y/N?” He squeaked, tears already falling from his face and choking him.
“It’s me.”
Your lover ran towards you and he gave you kisses and hugs that were deeper and tighter than any he had given you before. He promised he’d be a better boyfriend. That he’d take care of you and would give you the attention you deserved. And you believed him.
And he kept his promise, proposing to you during dinner that night. You soon went home to spread word of your engagement but also writing your article on ChungHa. There were a few details you had to fudge here and there, saying it was word of mouth instead of first hand experience.
Your friends were so happy to hear of the marriage to be, how he’d become your husband. Yet you couldn’t stop thinking about her. Your goddess. ChungHa.
Months passed, and you thought of her every day. Your article had barely picked up any traffic, but you still checked to see who looked. People asked who you talked to. Told you it could be a new thing. A new goddess to praise. In your heart of hearts, you knew what you had to do.
There was no doubt in your mind.
The wedding was tomorrow. You had decided to hold one at the lodge resort where you had been proposed to in the first place. He was in the bed next to you, your fiancé. Still, you didn’t want the ring on your finger to have come from him. On top of the letter you prepared weeks ago, you set the ring on top.
It was an apology and a warning to not look for you. Also assurance that you were ok, but you’d be happier without him as your husband, the one you’d be promised to for the rest of your life. There was someone you loved more. Someone who wouldn’t leave your head nor your heart.
ChungHa.
You threw on your cloak and walked up the mountain, ignoring the coldness of your feet as they were in boots. You were warm. Scared. But you didn’t look back. There was nothing for you at that resort. Your heart was in the mountain. Your head came across a branch of plum blossoms.
“You came back?” The unmistakably crisp and sweet voice questioned.
You looked to see her standing behind you and couldn’t help but smile.
“Of course I did, ChungHa. I love you.” The words came out before you could say the speech you had rehearsed a thousand times. “I love you and I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I don’t care if I get stuck on this mountain as long as I’m with my goddess.”
Her tears seemed to fall past her cheeks as she hugged you tightly, “I love you too, Y/N. I’m never going to let you go again.”
“You don’t have to ring the bell.” I got scolded when the door opened and chuckled as I looked down into the smiling face of my greeter.
If anyone ever asked Trev how he managed to convince one of the smartest, most beautiful women to date and then agree to marry him, he’d say, “Hell if I know.” But somehow he had, and I was more than a little relieved.
Pamela had surprisingly been one of his biggest supporters during his recovery. It was surprising because up until a year before, they’d had a passionate dislike for each other. That changed when Trev tried to repair relationships that had been damaged or gone to the wayside from his drinking.
I didn’t know all the details about what happened between them; only catching bits and pieces from Trev. But somewhere along the way they finally admitted what everyone already knew: their dislike was really attraction, and almost a year after him being discharged from rehab they had bought a house together, gotten engaged and were two of the most ridiculously happy people I knew.
I approached a security guard and flashed him my credentials. He nodded and I continued down the hallway until I reached the connecting one I was looking for, the one that led to the team locker room. I smiled when I heard Trev's muffled voice but stopped when I heard another and I stared in disbelief at the door as I was bombarded with a flurry of thoughts and emotions.
That's Tiff! What the hell is she doing in there? He said he wasn't interested in her, was more concerned with his recovery and career than having a relationship? Have the two of them been lying to me the whole time?
My heart raced and I inched closer to the door as my curiosity got the better of me.
"I came into the city to see Pamela and told her I was staying for the game and then leaving, but then I realized that I might as well try to see you while I was here."
So this isn’t a planned meeting.
"Listen. . .Tiff. . ." I heard some scuffling and then Tiff giggle.
"What's wrong, Trev? I don't bite. . .hard." My eyes got huge and I started to back away from the door. I didn’t want to listen to my sister fling herself at him and I didn’t want to listen to Trev prove me wrong. I wanted to believe what he said that summer at ASU was true, that he was completely focused on his recovery and career and had no interest in having a string of meaningless relationships with women.
Next / Previous / Beginning of Chapter / Part One / Beginning
