unknownballad | ❝ Snowflakes swirl down gently ❞

❝ Snowflakes swirl down gently ❞

{ in the deep blue haze beyond the window }
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November/December/January holiday post. Here are some ideas:

snow: first snow of the season/ever, making snowpeople, forts, or snow angels, snowball fights, snowed in
warm: hot drinks, warm blankets, crackling fires, busting out the winter coats and socks, baking in a cozy kitchen
holidays: decorating, picking out a tree, preparing the big holiday meal, exchanging gifts
activities: shopping, cooking, sledding, ice skating, cuddling with someone special
new year: par-tay!, toast, countdown, midnight kiss

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"Christmas and New Year," he corrects. The whole family. Him, Bae, Siwoo and his team, the team that looks out for Bae specifically, Baba, some other familiar faces from the household staff. A group in the double digits and the house is big enough to accommodate them all.

Just wait until Bae sees the interior. Yohan arranged to have the house completely prepared for his entourage: fully stocked with everything they'd need, but also decked out for the holiday. Once their cavalcade comes to a stop in front of the house, the bodyguards exist first, checking out the grounds and go inside to ensure the house is clear of danger before letting any of the household even get out of their vehicles. It's Siwoo who comes up to the car Yohan and Bae are in and taps on the driver's window to signal the all clear. He doesn't wait for the driver, but moves to open the back door to escort his boss and Bae to the house.

Once they're out, Yohan quickly drops an arm around Bae's shoulders and guides him inside. The staff can deal with their bags. That's what they're there for.

Inside, the foyer opens up to a double staircase, a huge Christmas tree decorated in silver and gold in the center. Garland with splashes or red, silver, and gold wind up the banisters. There isn't a place the eye can go that isn't decorated and shimmering. Though, Bae won't find a single nutcracker in sight. Yohan hates those creepy things so much!

Since it's snowing, Yohan toes out of his shoes and steps into the slippers already prepared for their arrival. "I'll show you around."

"And New Year..."

He breathed out that part as they drew closer and closer, knowing better than to try and get out until Siwoo opened the door. Bae had learned very early on that he was to stay where he was put until someone like Siwoo or Yohan came to get him. For safety more than anything else really. Since he was hardly a fighter and doubted he could really learn to be anyway? That suited him just fine.

Once they were out of the car, he couldn't stop turning his head this way and that, loving all the snowy imagery around him. It was just breathtaking. Like a castle in the mountains or something.

Following Yohan's lead, he switched his footwear to the slippers and nodded up at his boyfriend. "It's so big. It feels bigger than home."

And that was already enormous. He'd lived there for a good bit now and still knew he hadn't seen every room.

"It is," he informs. "I wanted plenty of space for everyone. A few of the staff have family that will be joining us tomorrow. I'll be sure everyone meets you." Yohan knows most of his staff's families already. For those that have family still living or that they're still in touch with, that is. He knows working for him is demanding, so he allows the staff to spend the holidays with their families, too.

"There are even two kitchens and dining rooms here. The wing we're heading toward is where most of the common areas are. There's a library, a billiard room, a music room, one of the kitchens has a keeping room, there's a gym, a sauna, a game room, a playroom for little ones... I think this house even as a psychomanteum."

This place had all that? It was like it was somehow a small city! And little ones... Would he get to see children here?

Trying to look at everything at once, he made sure to file away what all those things were. Where they were was another matter but that was fine. "Is our room in this wing? Or is it just common room stuff?"

Maybe the other wing was for bedrooms?

"Our room is at the very end of this wing, yes."

And yes, Bae would get so see some little ones. While many of the bodyguards don't have spouses or children, a larger portion of the household staff do. It makes sense to Yohan. Though he doesn't forbid it for his bodyguards, it's simply not a stable sort of career. Odd hours, the danger, neither are conducive to raising a family. The staff though? Their lives are much more 'normal'.

"A few of our bodyguards will be in this wing, too. So they're close by." Just in case. Always just in case.

"Is there anything you can to see first?"

"Can I see our room?"

It was the place he'd see every day because that was where they would be sleeping. He could ask for anywhere to go but that was all that he wanted to see with how much there was to pick from. The place that would be a cozy getaway if things became overwhelming honestly. Bae didn't get that way as often these days but when he did he always defaulted to being in one of his shared spaces with Yohan or with the dogs the most often.

"Or anywhere else you like a lot..."

"Of course, darling." It's easy to agree to such a simple request. It makes sense to begin the tour with where they're going to spend the most time and work from there. Later, after Bae feels more settled, he can show him how to get to some of the common areas.

The hall is long and Yohan points out a few things along the way. Some art pieces he's fond of, some of the rooms for the bodyguards Bae knows well, that sort of thing. "You're free to move through the house as you like, just like at home. If you go outside, just like home, a pair of bodyguards will go with you to keep watch." Even if Bae doesn't always realize they're there.

"Here it is," he finally declares, pulling the double doors open to expose a suite of rooms they could practically live in. It has it's own little sitting area with a fire place, a desk in case anyone has to work (Yohan hopes not to so he can simply enjoy the holiday with Bae). Through a door it opens up into a large bedroom, also boasting a small seating area so if they choose to loiter in there, they won't have to sit exclusively on the bed. The last two doors are the huge walking closet/dressing room and the en suite bathroom.

"What do you think? Will you be comfortable here?"

He shouldn't have been surprised by how big the room was and yet the surprise came all the same. Looking around, he found it to be breathtakingly beautiful and he wandered around after Yohan to try and take it all in at once. A huge task that likely no one could actually accomplish. But he definitely tried to all the same.

"Yes! Very comfortable!" He ran his fingers over the fabric of one of the couches before going over to his boyfriend with a big smile on his face.

"I love it in here. It feels like it does at home." Safe. Warm. Theirs.

"Good." Bae's comfort is surprisingly important to Yohan. His own, less so. A degree of expected selfishness comes with the life he leads. But making sure someone else is looked after? Making sure someone else is comfortable and not simply a comfort to him? That's what's unusual.

It's not that he doesn't get something out of all of this. Yohan enjoys Bae's wonder at the world. He feels some small warmth when the boy lights up at something he himself takes for granted — such as the fine fabric on a couch. Bae is a reminder that there's life out there, not just plots and schemes and rivals to best.

"I'm glad you think so. You'll have free reign here and in all the public areas of the house." Of course, he wouldn't expect Bae to just want to wander through someone else's room, but it's worth saying. "And you know you can be int he kitchen as long as Baba allows it." That's her domain, after all.

So far Baba had never kicked him out of the kitchen. She would tell others that they couldn't be in the kitchen she'd tell him to sit back down and give him more food. Bae wasn't sure why she did that but he knew better than to go against her will. He'd been warned after all! So he nodded at what Yohan said with another smile.

"I promise I'll only go where I'm allowed to and I won't upset Baba." Of course there was often talk over whether or not Bae was capable of upsetting her but that wasn't the point here. He surely didn't know that!

"Do you have a favorite place to be here?"

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❝ Snowflakes swirl down gently ❞

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