As soon as lunch was finished, Shinji swept Hyun-ki off into her room and changed her into warmer clothes; stockings and a cute dress and a cardigan and then her coat and mittens and a scarf. He made sure she was wrapped in enough layers and then put her in gumboots, just in case there [...]

Christmas passed in a blur of lunches, dinners, friends and family. Shinji felt caught up in a rollercoaster of eating and drinking, swimming and playing, until at last he lay out on the grass in the sun with his eyes closed, the last of his hangover finally abating, and he realised everything was quiet. No [...]

Akira had booked their weekend at the hot springs for right after Christmas itself, the first weekend since it was a weekend deal, two whole days damn cheap for a couple having a small holiday, and it made him shiver in an entirely good way when he thought about that – he was part of [...]

The next morning Kippei had ample cause to regret not having bothered putting on clothes the night before. It was Christmas morning, which Hyun-ki had been excitedly waiting for ever since it had been explained to her that all the shiny tempting presents under the tree were to be opened then, and the night before [...]

The ride home made Shinji nervous as he tried to imagine Hyun-ki at home. He just hoped she hadn’t spent the whole night bawling her eyes out and every time he thought about it he sighed and slumped in his seat, wishing Kippei could fit in the back with him, but Kippei had taken the [...]