Snowflakes drifted down from the gray sky in sheets, blanketing the world beneath in a white powder. The day was cool, albeit the sun was trying to force its way through the clouds, as snowflakes crunched beneath their feet. The sound of suitcase wheels against concrete filled her ears, giving Hana something to focus on. It was easy enough to put one foot in front of another when the focus was not on where she was going, but what was going on around.

Alex behind her was silent, save for the shuffle of his sneakers on the increasingly icy sidewalk; he had chosen not to comment on her insistence they walk from the main drag to the house instead of continuing on in the taxi. The only indication Hana had been given that he was on to her plan was a raised eyebrow before he fell into line behind her, digging mittens out from his bag.

Her own hands were black mitten clad, grasping the suitcase handle tightly as snowflakes coated her dark eyelashes, the wind pushing her hair to and fro. The two braids she had secured the long mane in were beginning to fall out beneath the white toque from Mother Nature’s breath. Alex had declined the use of a ‘toque’, opting to let his ears freeze instead of donning the hat Hana had suggested he buy at the airport.

“Are you cold?” she shouted back.
“No.”
“Not even your ears?”
“No.”

She let the matter drop, smiling inwardly in the face of the circumstances; he was far too stubborn and proud to admit that her advice had been well placed. He could be far too much of a Korean man, sometimes.

“We’re almost there.”

The neighborhood looked similar to the images that were in her memory; tall oak trees running the length of the street, their branches empty and swaying in the winter chill. The lawns were piled with snow, and Christmas lights and decorations embellished each abode. The entire street still contained a quaint, warm, fuzzy feeling to it after all these years. Her thoughts were sidetracked by a family of snowmen whose black coal eyes watched her move past, their noses carrot orange.

“What are those?”
“What?”
“Those.”

She turned back to Alex, his finger pointing at the balls of snow piled atop each other, her chest stifling in a laugh.

“Snowmen.”
“Snowmen.” he repeated, sizing up the family.
“You can’t mean you’ve never seen a snowman before, Alex. There is snow in Korea.”
“I might’ve seen one in a picture or something. But I’ve never made one.”
“That’s completely ridiculous. You have to have made a snowman.”

His head shook, the fringe of his black hair shaking back and forth over his cobalt eyes. Hana laughed, stepping forward to brush the snow out off him. It was an action that she did without thought, her hands moving down from his hair to shoulders, looking up at him when his black coat once again looked black.

“We’ll make one then, okay?”
“Hana…”
“Alex,” she stepped back surveying her work, “I really do appreciate you coming with me. But I’m serious that my family isn’t exactly sunshine and roses.”
“They haven’t arranged you a marriage, Hana.”
“I never gave them the chance.”
“They still wouldn’t.”
“Oh ye of too much faith.”
“Hana!”

She had turned away from Alex, retrieving her suitcase to continue on their walk to her childhood home when his hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her around. She glowered up at him, lips pursed in what Hana hoped was her best annoyed look, shifting to lean on her other foot.

“Nay?”
“Don’t be too hard on them, okay? Time changes things.”
“But time doesn’t heal all wounds.”
“I know. But they’re still your family.”
“Barely.”
“But they are. Whether you like it or not, Hana, they’re your family.”

She hated to relinquish control of her emotions to nod, yet she did, Alex breaking out into a smile. The snow was beginning to fall harder around them, the wind picking up flakes to dance them around their heads with a graceful spin. Hana squinted against the breeze, looking away from Alex to across the street.

“I’ll try and keep my temper, okay?”
“Okay.”
“But that doesn’t mean we’re spending a lot of time in that house.”
“Where else are we going to spend time? It’s not summer, you know.”

Her eyes gazed over his face, taking in the pink nose, rosy cheeks and ears tinged with red. No, it wasn’t summer, but it wasn’t winter as she remembered it either. She let Alex’s question die in the wind, turning back to begin walking again, counting the houses until she reached the bungalow and took a breath.

“Hana?”
“Let’s just get this over with, okay?”
“Drama queen.”
“Shut up.”

She smirked and pushed past Alex up the driveway, blowing snow beginning to obscure her vision. Christmas lights glowed from the gables of the house, a tree in the front window partially hidden by drawn curtains. The front step was icy, Hana leaning forward to press the doorbell. Alex came up behind her, his hand barely brushing her waist as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Here goes nothing.”

His eyes rolled, as there was sound at the door, revealing the smell of cookies and pine and the figure of a black clad individual. Hana turned back, braids whipping along with her, to stare face to face with a wavy mass of brown hair and a pair of emerald eyes.

“Evelynne?”