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Hobi awoke to snow on Valentine’s Day.  Perfect.  Just perfect.  It was exactly what he had hoped for.  He put on his boots and coat and wandered out to his yard.  A few minutes later, he returned to his house.

After he’d warmed himself up with a cup of tea, he picked up the valentine heart he’d cut out of red paper for Gayun.  He had pasted a white heart in its center and written a poem of sorts to her.  It included the track list of the CD he had burned for them to share today.  Now he read what he had written with a red pen.

“I’m just a Boy with Luv.

You are my Heartbeat,

My living Fire, my one desire.

When I met you, I encountered 

A Brand New Day, an Epiphany.

You were my First Love.

You are the cause of my Euphoria.

I think you’re in my DNA.

I want Just One Day alone with you;

I would stay up All Night with you

Talking till sunrise and sipping Coffee.

I’m Fine as long as you’re mine.

You Save Me from loneliness.

Step out into the Crystal Snow with me.

You, my beautiful Butterfly, and I 

Will find ourselves in a Spring Day

Since we are each other’s Lights

Living in our own Mikrocosmos.

You are my Magic Shop.

You always Make It Right

No matter how much 

Blood, Sweat, and Tears I shed

Or how Lost I feel.

Baby, I NEED U.”

He hoped she liked it.  He’d worked for over an hour on this little project, but both the valentine and the CD were ready to go.  And so was he.  He headed out the door.  He had just one more thing to pick up.

—

A few hours earlier…

Gayun was frustrated.  She’d spent half the night trying to perfect Hobi’s gift.  What was she doing wrong?  She had decided to bake him some double chocolate cookies.  But the first batch hadn’t tasted right.  She’d finally realized she forgot the chocolate chips, the vanilla, and the salt.  How had she forgotten THREE ingredients?  Her sister had called her in the middle of making that batch.  She must have been distracted…

On to batch two.  A total disaster of a different order.  She had undercooked every single cookie!  It was so hard to tell when chocolate cookies were done baking!  For her part, she didn’t like ooey-gooey cookies.  So they had met their fate in the trashcan.  At three o’clock in the morning, she finally put the last batch in the oven and crossed her fingers.  

Please, God, please let these be cooked perfectly with the right balance of chocolate, butter, sugar, and vanilla.  And salt.  

That first batch had been so bland!  A fate worse than no cookies.

Ten minutes later, she pulled the hot tray from the oven.  She pressed her finger into a cookie.  It seemed done.  It was set.  And she’d cooked them two minutes longer than the second batch.  She let them cool on the tray.  A few minutes later, she bit into one.  Heavenly!  They were just perfect.  She heaved a sigh of relief.  And went to bed.

—

A few hours later, a knock on the front door awoke her. She stumbled from her bed and glanced at the clock.  Ten o’clock!  Oh, no!  That must be Hobi.  She glanced down at her tired sweatshirt.  Another knock sounded.  She walked out to the living room and opened the door.  Hobi grinned at her as she ran a hand through her hair.  

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Gayun!”  He held a single red rose out to her.

She smiled at him weakly.  “Come in, Hobi.  I need to get changed quick.”

His eyes perused her worn sweatpants and gray sweatshirt.  Her long hair was flowing down, obscuring half her shirt.

“You look fine.”

She laughed.  “Hobi, you’re a darling!  I just climbed out of bed!”

“Really?”  He glanced at the time on his phone.

“I was up late. Oh!  Come here.  I have a present for you.”  She led him to the kitchen.  His cookies were still on the cookie sheet.  She grabbed a spatula and removed a cookie from the tray.  She handed it to Hobi.  “Happy Valentine’s Day!  I meant to have them organized in a pretty tin for you.  But I fell asleep.”

“Wait a minute.  You were up half the night making cookies for ME?”  Wide-eyed, Hobi stared at her.

She nodded.  Then she yawned.  “The first two batches were awful.”

Hobi eyeballed the cookie.  It looked okay.  Gingerly, he took a bite.  The taste of sweet chocolate exploded on his tongue.  “Mmm.  Well, this batch turned out perfect.”  He reached out and pulled her into his arms.  He bent to kiss her lips.  “Thank you for staying up all night to make me these delicious cookies.”

She turned her head away.  “Hobi!  My breath must be atrocious!  I just got up.”

He laughed.  “Eat a cookie.”  He held his half-eaten cookie up to her lips.  She bent her head and took a bite.  Then she handed him another cookie.

“Enjoy your cookies.  I’m gonna get changed.”

Hobi happily munched on his cookies while Gayun got dressed.  She came out wearing a lovely, red sweater over a pair of white leggings.  She pulled on her winter coat.  Then as they went out the door, her boots completed her ensemble.

“Oh, no!  I forgot to pack your cookies in their tin!”

“This tin?” Hobi held up a pink tin with a huge red heart on the front. 

She nodded.

“I did it.  Thank you so much for the cookies.  They were worth all your effort!”  He bent his head and kissed her.  This time she surrendered to his embrace for a few moments.

“Come on!  Time for your surprise!” Hobi exclaimed, grabbing her hand.

A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of his house.  Snagging another cookie from his tin, he escorted her inside.  He crossed the living room to enter the kitchen.  He put his tin on the counter and picked up the wrapped CD.  He handed it to her.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Gayun!”

She smiled as she tore the pink paper off her present.  She glanced up at Hobi.  “A CD?”  

“Not just any CD.  It’s a special mix of songs that I put together just for you!  Here.  This explains it.”

He handed her the valentine he’d written his poem on.  He watched Gayun as she read it.  By the end, she was smiling broadly.  “Hobi, it’s so cute!  All these songs are on here?”

He nodded.  Then he popped the CD into his player.  He turned on track 14.  Then he began to turn up the volume.

“I have one more surprise for you.  Read line 14.”

“Step out into the Crystal Snow with me.”  She glanced up at him.

He smiled.  “Let’s go!”  

He reached for her hand and led her out to his yard, leaving the door open behind them.  The strains of Crystal Snow floated out the door, following them into the chill air.

“Hobi, it’s beautiful!” Gayun stared at the lovely snow heart Hobi had created in his front yard.

“A crystal snow heart for you, my love!” He grinned.  “I love you, Gayun.”  Then he pulled her into his arms, and they danced through the snow to the music playing in his kitchen.