Sehun stared at the snow globe he had purchased. It was resting atop the table in his hotel room, and he was sitting on the bed just a metre away from it.

‘Why did I get it again?’ he asked himself.

Sehun didn’t particularly like snow globes, or anything made of glass for that matter. Glass was easy to break, and he knew that if he brought it home his mother wouldn’t stop lecturing him about it because “how could he have gotten her a snow globe because snow globes aren’t her style”.

For some reason, Sehun had a feeling his mother and Kris would get along nicely.

Jongin emerged from the shower and dried his hair with a towel. When he noticed Sehun staring at the snow globe, he smiled and said, “Hey I didn’t know you got that!”

Sehun was startled by Jongin’s sudden comment, and quickly rushed over to the small glass object. He threw his arms over it and pretended like it wasn’t there.

“Eunji was looking at the same one,” Jongin said.

“Oh really,” he hummed, even though he knew perfectly well she had been looking at it.

“How about that? Don’t tell Eunji though, because I think she really wanted it but couldn’t afford it. If she knows you have it, she’d probably whine for days for you to give it to her,” he laughed.

“The world is a small place,” Sehun shrugged and gingerly placed the snow globe into his suitcase. He wrapped the glass object with some clothes, so it wouldn’t shatter on the way back home. “I can’t believe our trip is done.”

“These past 3 days have been a roller coaster alright,” Jongin breathed. “I liked it though.”

Sehun jumped into his bed and his side to face his best friend. “Why?”

“What do you mean why?” Jongin scoffed and mirrored Sehun’s actions. “It was a fun 3 days. Didn’t you find it fun?”

“Oh it was absolutely terrific when I thought my two closest friends were trapped in a cabin with snow and it was all my fault,” Sehun said sarcastically.

Jongin stared at Sehun with an amused face. “Two closest friends? I thought it was just me.”

Realizing what he had just said, Sehun turned his entire body around so he wouldn’t have to face Jongin. “Yeah well you know I’m not that close with many people.”

“Sure, sure whatever you say,” Jongin snorted and his back to face the ceiling. He then continued, “Two closest friends, hm?”

“Why? Are you jealous?” scoffed Sehun.

“No,” Jongin smirked. “But maybe you are.”

Sehun rose from his bed and stared at Jongin. “Huh?” he exasperated. “Why would I be jealous? And of who?”

Jongin shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes. “Who knows?”

“Yah, tell me what you meant by that,” exclaimed a rather impatient Sehun.

“I’m sleeping,” Jongin sang. Sehun grabbed his pillow and threw it at him. Jongin removed the pillow from his face and cuddled with it.

“I need that pillow back,” Sehun whined. “I only have one on this bed.”

“You shouldn’t have thrown it in the first place,” his friend muttered with closed eyes. Sehun stood up and walked over to Jongin’s bed. He pulled the pillow away from his grasp (with much more force than needed) and shuffled back to his own bed. Sehun threw the pillow on the mattress and hopped into bed.

“Good night, you bastard,” Sehun mused.

“Good night, you mommy’s boy,” Jongin said through a yawn. Sehun chucked his pillow at Jongin again, and the other caught it with open arms like he had prepared for it. He wore the largest grin on his face and fell into his bed while hugging Sehun’s pillow.

Sehun walked over and tugged Jongin’s pillow from underneath his head. As he was in the midst of returning to his own bed, Jongin threw the pillow in his arms at Sehun’s back. Needless to say, it was the start of an all-out pillow fight.

.::.           .::.           .::.

The After School Club woke up early the next morning to head back home. Sehun and Jongin appeared with dark circles under their eyes, and earned looks from everyone in the club.

“What happened to you two?” Jongdae laughed.

“He started it,” they both grumbled at the same time. Sehun glared at Jongin, who returned an equally malicious glare. Then, in unison they both shouted, “It wasn’t me! It was him!”

Yixing yawned and stretched his arms next to Jongdae. “Wow you two must have had a lot of fun last night!”

“What kind of fun are we talking about?” Luhan chimed in.

“Not the kind you’re thinking of,” Jongdae rolled his eyes at the older member.

“Boo, that’s no fun then,” Luhan pouted.

“I don’t get it. What fun are we talking about?” Yixing asked.

Jongdae chuckled nervously and patted Yixing’s shoulder. “Like, playing cards and stuff.”

Yixing’s eyes lit up and he smiled at the two maknaes. His smile reached his ears and revealed his dimples. “Cards are really fun!” he exclaimed happily. Then his expression changed and Yixing furrowed his eyebrows together as if he had remembered something of great importance. “By the way, do you guys know what a royal flush is? Or why poker is called poker?”

Luhan grabbed his phone from his pocket and opened the search engine, Moogle. “Yixing, there’s this grand thing called Moogle, I’m not sure if you know about it.”

“I know about Moogle,” Yixing replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Everyone knows what Moogle is.”

Luhan had finished entering the phrase “why is poker called poker” and dangled his phone from side to side in front of Yixing’s eyes. “Then maybe you should ask Moogle that question.”

“Oh, I already did,” Yixing beamed at Luhan with pride.

“Then why did you ask me that question?” the other gawked.

“Because I wanted to see if you knew what it meant,” Yixing replied with innocent eyes. Luhan heaved a sigh and slipped his phone back into his pocket. Yes, that was just how Zhang Yixing operated.

“I thought this was about us,” Sehun groaned.

“Not everything is about you,” Jongin scoffed.

“I didn’t say me, I said we,” Sehun said smugly.

“You actually said ‘us’,” Yixing corrected him.

“I need a coffee,” Sehun exclaimed with raised arms. “Pronto.”

Sehun left the scene, and Jongin followed suit because he too needed some caffeine in his system. After they left, Yixing turned to Luhan and asked, “What does ‘pronto’ mean?”

“Moogle, Yixing,” Luhan replied immediately.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun entered the chalet and made their way to the cafeteria, which had just opened. Since they had all gathered early in the morning, the chalet was practically empty. It gave Chanyeol the feeling like their club owned the space.

It also allowed Chanyeol to spot a dejected looking Ahri sitting by herself at a table.

Ahri was more than upset with herself. She had worked so hard the past few days to pass all the necessary tests so she could go on the intermediate ski slopes, but all her hard work was for naught. Not only had she failed the last test, but in addition she had found out that Baekhyun, Tao and Kyungsoo had moved onto the senior slopes.

The gap between them had increased, and there was no way she could have possibly caught up with him. Looking back, it was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Still, she enjoyed the experience. At least she now knew how to balance on her skis and ski down the junior slopes. She just didn’t know when (or if) she’d ever visit a ski resort again. She sighed and hung her head low. She slowly lowered her head until her forehead hit the table. She turned her head so her cheek was pressed against the table’s surface, and she sighed again.

Chanyeol watched the scene from afar and had a feeling he knew why she seemed so down. Chanyeol walked up to the coffee machine and poured two cups of coffee. He added two creams and two sugars to each coffee, and proceeded to the cashier. On the way to the register, he picked up a few cookies and a bottle of iced tea.

When Chanyeol finished paying for all the food, Baekhyun looked at him with wide eyes. “You’re going to eat all that?” he gawked at his best friend.

Chanyeol shook his head and placed the items on a nearby table. He separated some of the snacks and iced tea from the two cups of coffee and rest of the snacks. He pushed the coffee and biscuits in Baekhyun’s direction.

“Are these for me?” Baekhyun asked. Chanyeol nodded his head, which caused Baekhyun to respond with, “I can’t drink two coffees though. You know that, Chan. I only drink one coffee per day.”

“I know,” he smiled.

“And these are a lot of snacks. I understand buying more snacks, I mean, I can bring them on the trip back, but it’s not like I can bring a second coffee onto the bus,” Baekhyun said.

Chanyeol shook his head and then cocked his chin towards Ahri’s direction. “Give one of them to Ahri. I don’t think she’s had breakfast yet either, so go and share some of the snacks with her.”

“What? Why?” Baekhyun asked. “What’s gotten into you, Chan? If you changed your mind about drinking coffee, you could have just returned it. You didn’t have to buy both the coffee and an iced tea.”

“I’m just doing what you told me I should do,” Chanyeol started with an excited grin. “I’m just using my eyes.”

Chanyeol used his fingers to widen his eyes and looked at Baekhyun. He was imitating what Baekhyun had done the day they went shopping for their Secret Santa gifts. Baekhyun laughed and questioned what Chanyeol was doing. “You’re so random, Chan,” Baekhyun said.

“Ah, enough about me. Bring the coffee to Ahri before it gets cold,” Chanyeol said impatiently. He grabbed a tray and placed all the necessary items onto it, then he shoved it in Baekhyun’s arms. “Go.”

“Fine, fine,” Baekhyun grumbled and walked away from Chanyeol. He had no idea what his best friend was planning, but he wasn’t completely against the idea. He hadn’t seen Ahri much over the past 3 days, and he was eager to learn what she thought of skiing, and their trip as a whole.

He walked up to Ahri and cleared his throat. She rolled her head slightly and glanced up at him. When she saw that it was Baekhyun who was looking down at her, she immediately straightened her back and greeted him. “Good morning!”

He chuckled and set the items down on the table. Then, he took a seat in front of her. “Chanyeol bought too many items and didn’t know what to do with them, so he suggested I share some of them with you. Have you had breakfast yet?”

She shook her head quickly and grabbed a cup of coffee. She took a sip of its contents, but yelped when she burned her tongue with the hot drink. She fanned her tongue and took a bite of one of the cookies he brought her.

Baekhyun laughed and asked her, “How did you enjoy skiing? Chanyeol told me this was your first time skiing, and he told me you almost got to Black Diamond yesterday!”

“Yeah, but I failed the test in the end,” she sighed and cupped her hands around the coffee. “I was so close too.”

“It’s a shame. I would have liked to ski with you,” he said sheepishly.

“Really?” she asked as her entire face lit up with joy. Her change in expression was blatantly obvious, and Baekhyun couldn’t help but find it amusing.

“Really,” he assured her. He took a sip of his coffee, and watched the ends of her lips curl into a coy smile. He wasn’t sure if it was the coffee or something else, but he felt extremely warm.

.::.           .::.           .::.

On the ride back, many of the club members had fallen asleep. Since Ahri was one of them, Eunji sat in her seat and was bored out of her mind. She turned around, where Sehun and Jongin were, and saw the both of them fast asleep as well.

She looked in front of her and saw Minah dozing off against Minseok’s shoulder, and Minseok had his head placed atop her’s. The two had also fallen asleep.

Eunji slumped into her seat and decided she would also try and fall asleep. However, she had had coffee that morning, and Eunji was extremely sensitive to caffeine. Try as she may, she couldn’t fall asleep. So, she turned behind her once again, and looked at Jongin and Sehun.

“Psst,” she whispered. When neither of them woke up, she said in a slightly louder voice, “Sehun!”

Sehun jolted awake and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “What? Are we home already? Mom?”

“No, it’s just me,” she giggled. ‘Sehun really is a mama’s boy.’

“Oh,” he yawned. “What’s up?”

“I’m bored,” Eunji whispered to him. “And everyone’s asleep.”

“Exactly,” Sehun replied in a hushed voice. “That’s the point. Everyone’s tired.”

“Do you wanna play cards or something? I spy? 007?” she suggested.

Sehun shook his head in response and shifted his body to the side. He curled up into his seat and closed his eyes. “Why did you have to wake me up? Why couldn’t you bother Kai instead?” he said through a yawn.

Why had she decided to call out to Sehun, and not Jongin? That was a very interesting question, indeed. One she didn’t know the answer to. She was about to tell Sehun that it was pure coincidence, but he had already fallen asleep. Well, it saved her from telling a lie.

A/N: This concludes the Ski Slopes mini-arc! I hope you guys enjoyed reading it :) Also, I hope you guys are liking the development between the characters, but lemme know what you think! Comments are greatly appreciated, and I reply to every single one! :D Also, I can't believe TASC has gotten to 2k views! That's honestly amazing >///////< Love you guys and see ya'll in the next chapter!

\\ xoxo