Dash & Lily - Sometimes, words aren't enough

Christmas has always been known as a happy season for couples, but what Christmas means for the single people? Lily, a hopeless romantic, wants to set up a game in hope of finding herself a boyfriend. She places a red notebook in a bookstore and dares the one who picks the notebook to do challenges before getting any clues. Dash, a lonely boy, picks up Lily's red notebook and gets intrigued by the challenges. As a book lover, he completes the challenge single-handedly. Does that means they are similar types of people? Absolutely not. They might be two lonely souls, but they see things from different perspectives. Dash hates Christmas, because he isn't into any Christmas activity at all. On the other hand, Lily likes Christmas and does all kinds of festive activities, like singing carols. Though she hasn't been in any relationship before, she likes romanticize things – the notebook game is one of them. Though they seem to have nothing in common, they get connected by the red notebook. They exchange messages by writing something in the notebook and let the other one to pick up the notebook in a specific location. Sometimes, one may include a challenge to dare the other one to complete and give a piece of personal information in return, like their own name. Dash loves being challenged, so he gets hooked in this notebook game. He enjoys writing to Lily and eventually he feels like he wants to take care of or even protect her. He isn't not sure if the feeling is mutual, because he hasn't met her in real life yet. Lily enjoys exchanging letters with Dash, but she is unsure if it's the thing she wants. She once being challenged to go to a party, but she doesn't enjoy much. She feels like she can't measure up to him, but she decides to give it a try after being persuaded by her brother. She doesn't feel ready for meeting this guy, so they haven't met once even after exchanging several letters.

Being bullied by the classmates, Lily doesn't feel confident about herself. She likes crafting, because she wants her things to be in the exact style she wants. However, this is the reason why she has been called as a weird girl.

Christmas was the time when Dash's parents got divorced, so he hates this season a lot. He had a relationship with a girl before until she moved to another country. However, his ex always spoke for him, so he was like living in the shadow of her. Completing challenges set by Lily, Dash begins to hate this season less and can finally truly become who he is. In other words, Lily brings out the best of Dash that hasn't been discovered before.

Later, it turns out that Dash and Lily are somehow related as they have common friends. They are invited to a party, but they still don't know the other one is the notebook writer. The moment when they meet one another is a typical meet cute as they don't know one another's identity before. Yet when they start small talking, they find out both of them love reading books. Lily knows her date is not for her, so she dumped him. Dash has his ex to accompany him to the party but he doesn't dump his ex right after the party. Instead, they leave early and make out in a museum.

On the Christmas day, Lily expects to get the notebook under the Christmas but she doesn't. She is so upset, because that's what Dash promised to her. Lily visits her aunt to see if Dash had sent the notebook to her. Her aunt doesn't have the notebook but she gives out the clue of the name of the notebook boy. She realizes the notebook boy is the one she met yesterday and confirms it with Boomer, a friend of Dash's. She knows he had a night with his ex yesterday, and she is mad about him for not even telling he has recently met his ex again. Therefore, she heads to a bar and start drinking with her friends. She is distressed for being single in the holiday season, so she texts Edgar to come over and kiss her for the first time. While they are kissing, Dash walks in on them. They always wanted to see one another but they didn't expect their first meetup would be this awkward. Dash knows she is so drunk, so he brings her home. In the car, they complaint about how the other one went behind their back. Dash knows the fantasy doesn't always live up to the reality, so he thinks it's time to put an end to the game and move on.

Fast forward to the new year's eve, Dash receives a reply from Lily through the red notebook saying she agrees it's not working and she is going to Fiji today. Dash knows that they might not be exactly what they had imagined, but they really had shared something and he wants to meet her the very last time and gives her surprise. Dash can't do everything on his own in just a few hours, so he seeks his friends' help to decorate the bookstore, because he wants to go back to where everything started with Lily. On her way to airport, Lily receives a message from her brother, which is the photo of Dash's reply in the red notebook. Lily immediately hops out of the cab and meet Dash in the bookstore. Dash has decorated the bookstore with New York-themed props to make her remember the city she has been living in. Lily's grandpa finally compromises and allows her to stay with him in New York, so Lily doesn't have to move. They are locked in the bookstore, so they have a deep conversation and end up sharing a kiss during the countdown.

Is it ridiculous to love someone without even meeting that someone? Though they haven't met in real life, they have shared their deepest secrets in the notebook. The text chain between them has helped them know each other better in a non-verbal way. As they haven't talked in real life, they might have get their hopes too high. It turns out they aren't perfect, but none of us is perfect. Everyone has flaws, but they aren't necessarily deal breakers. Spark can't last long, so what really matters is whether they can bring out the best of you.

Dear Lily, we set ourselves up for this disappointment. I was never gonna be the guy in your head, and you were never gonna be the girl in mine. The fantasy was never gonna live up to the reality. There's no such thing as a Christmas miracle. And it's not your fault. It's mine for believing. Thanks for playing the game with me. It was fun for a while. But the thing about playing a game is someone has to lose. And I guess we both lost this time. Love is like a staple. Once it's in you, it's hard to remove. Be bold. So I'm writing to say, "Game over." I don't think we should see each other again. I don't want us to. It's better if we both move on. Cheese! Goodbye, Lily.