.

You weren’t sure exactly when your heart began behaving strangely every time you saw him walking towards you, or when your palms began getting strangely sweaty every time his arm brushed yours. The way your face turned shades of red every time your eyes met his, when he said your name, when he laughed. 

Little things you’d see, hear, or smell, began reminding you of him. His favorite ice cream flavor, his favorite songs, the smell of a beach summer breeze. He smelled like the ocean. Everything made you think of him. It almost felt wrong.
In all honesty, it scared you. Falling for the boy you’d been best friends with since grade school seemed something taboo, and you were falling hard. 

You were thankful though for the busyness that came with college, as you would see him less and therefore have less time to like him. Have less time to think about him. But you couldn’t have been more wrong. Being away from him made you think about him more. Miss him more.

You began to notice that he’d started hanging out with other people once the two of you started meeting less, seeing that the two of you could never find the right time in your schedules to hang out. You would have a class when he had time to hang out, he would have practice for a dance performance when you were free… It was hard. And it was harder because of her. 

When he started texting you less, calling less, asking you to hang out less, you were certain that he was texting her more, calling her more, asking her to hang out more. The small pang in your heart that came from missing him became a dull ache, and when you saw her clinging to his arm after class one day it became a striking pain. It all felt so wrong.

You couldn’t sleep that night, and although you knew it was wrong you couldn’t help but pray misfortune on whatever girl was throwing herself on him earlier. It hurt. Desperate for some fresh air you slipped into a sweater and put on some slippers before running out the door. You didn’t expect it to be snowing so the cold air was icy on your face and neck. But you didn’t care much. The numbness from the cold began settling in and to be completely honest, feeling nothing was better than feeling what you were feeling before. You weren’t sure how much time passed. Watching the snow fall slowly to the ground was mesmerizing. The cold was comforting. So you weren’t expecting it when you heard his voice behind you.

“What are you doing out here?” You turned around in a flash, heart skipping a beat when your eyes landed on his familiar face. 

“Minhyuk? I—“ You stuttered. He looked angry.

“What are you doing out here? Wearing that? Are you crazy?” His eyes flashed and his brows furrowed in what seemed like frustration.

“I.. I know.. I look terrible right?” You laughed nervously, looking down at your pajamas. 

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” 

You stood in silence, staring at the ground, not sure what to say. Not sure of anything. But hearing footsteps coming closer, you looked up just in time to see him take off his jacket and put it around you. Expecting him to pull away you cleared your throat in embarrassment but when he wrapped his arms around you instead and pulled you into him, you stopped breathing. The warmth radiating from his body left you a speechless puddle. You could feel his chest rise and fall against your cheek as he breathed, and the beating of his heart was loud and clear against your ear. 

“What… What are you doing?” You mumbled. Your cheeks were stinging from the combination of cold air and hot blush, arms lying helpless at your sides.

“Why are you out here in the cold like this?” He said quietly. “Why do you make me worry like this?”

You didn’t know how to reply. But just then the image of what you’d seen earlier returned to your memory, and you instantly pushed him away from you. “You should worry about your girlfriend, not me.”

“What?” He answered, a look of confusion on his face. 

“Your girlfriend.” You said again, looking down. “The girl you started hanging out with after you stopped talking to me.”

“Y/N, I-“ 

You didn’t let him explain, and your anger started talking for you as a hot tear escaped the corner of your eye. “You stopped talking to me. We stopped hanging out. And I missed you but I didn’t want to interfere with your schedule or get in the way. The girl, I saw you with her earlier today. She’s pretty. She’s lucky to have you. When did you start dating? Are you guys in the same—“ 

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He interrupted, suddenly right in front of you again.
Your eyes opened wide in shock when you suddenly felt his lips on yours, his warm hands cupping your face. His lips were soft. He tasted like dark chocolate. He smelled like the ocean. You felt like you were melting. 
But doubt clouded your mind again. You couldn’t let your guard down like this.

You bit your lip when he pulled away, wondering what to say. But he spoke first. “She’s not my girlfriend.” He said more clearly this time, eyes staring straight into yours. “I’m sorry for not calling you, Y/N. I really wanted to, I wanted to talk to you so badly. I missed hearing your voice and seeing you smile, but I was scared of ruining our friendship. I like you a lot. Heck, I’m in love with you, but I didn’t know if you felt the same way. I was so afraid of losing my best friend that I was dumb enough to try and ignore how I felt. So I thought that I’d be able to like someone else if I didn’t see you but I’m telling you the truth, no one even comes close to making me feel the way you do.”

You burned with embarrassment at this sudden confession, unsure of how to react. “I hate you. I wanted to run away from my feelings. I was about to give up on you and then you come here and expect me to forgive you after a kiss and I..” You blurted out.

He took a deep breath before speaking. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry if I hurt you. But being with you makes me happier than you’ll ever know. Please forgive me.” 

Although your mind was filled with thousands of questions, you decided to stop trying to make the wrong choice. So it was you who leaned in to kiss him this time, reaching up on your tiptoes to press your lips to his. Surrendering to your feelings you poured everything into it, your loneliness and your anger and your surprise and your happiness too. It was cold and the wind was blowing stronger than before but he was warm and being in his arms, it just felt right. 

And it was right.

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