I was standing outside in the cold, the bitter wind tearing at the folds in my coat. I was also holding a cup of mango ice cream, and had to switch it between hands every couple seconds or so. Burying my face into my scarf, I wondered exactly how I’d gotten stuck in this situation with him. After pushing me out of the store, we wandered around downtown, until he found a gelato store and dove into it. I was surprised that he had such a strong liking for ice cream in this weather, but if the Canadians made a tradition out of it, I guess Jaejoong was free to like it too.

After another moment, I saw Jaejoong walking up to me, while smiling. I frowned at him.

“Here.”

“Did you poison it?”

“Of course not. Why would I do that?”

“Well, because you’re insanely evil and it seems like a Jaejoong thing.”

“A Jaejoong thing? Is that your new word of the day?”

“No, it’s the new thing that I hate.”

He laughed, and shoved a scoop of his gelato in my mouth. Surprised, the coldness stung my mouth, and I coughed as I realized what flavour it was.

“IS THIS KIMCHI ICE CREAM?”

“Well, I like spicy food. I was going to order pizza-flavoured, but I decided against it. And besides, I wanted to see if Vancouver could pull off Korean food.” He then stuck the spoon in his mouth and closed his eyes blissfully, while I pretended to gag. 

“You have disgusting taste buds, you know that?”

“Yeah, well, your taste isn’t so great, either. I mean, mango? Gross.”

“Mango is a perfectly good flavour. It doesn’t make you want to puke, unlike yours. And it’s creamy and delicious and-”

“Can I try it?” He looked at me with puppy-dog eyes, and I weakened. “All right.” I held out my spoon to him, and he leaned forward-but at my face. I stared into his eyes, wondering what was going to happen next, until he took his finger and ran it over my lips. He then stuck that finger into his mouth.

“I think it tastes delicious.”

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

“WHAT IS UP WITH YOU AND YOUR ERTED ACTS?”

“Aw, come on, don’t be mad at me. We’ve already kissed once, it’s not like it’s new to you.”

“WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?”

I shot a withering look at him, while he in his cheeks and tried to look sweet.

“Forgive me?”

“ YOU.” I snarled at him, but he just laughed.

He put an arm around my shoulder, and grinned. “You’ve gotten weaker with your insults, _________.” The weight of his arm was heavy, but I didn’t shrug it off-it made me feel secure, and it was a source of warmth during this cold night. And, for some reason, I didn’t want it off of my shoulder, just like how I didn’t feel as angry about it as I had been with the first kiss. 

“Yeah, because you poisoned me with your ice cream.”

“No. It’s just my masculine charm. That happens when you fall in love with me.”

“In love with you? Never.”

His eyes flickered when I rejected, and I felt slightly regretful. “Watch your words, ______, because there really are a ton of women who would go after me. Seriously.” His comeback was quick, and I rolled my eyes, my guilty mood instantly dissolving. “Yeah right.” I huffed, my breath turning into a puff of chilly air, but he only grinned, and pointed at the crowd around him. “Well, then, can you explain why everyone seems to be staring at me?”

“At your ugliness, yeah.”

I’d said the words before I’d thought about them, even though I knew they were untrue. While we’d been walking, there were many looks pointed at our direction, and I knew that it wasn’t me-if there were any for me, they were probably about my scar. Instead, I knew they were all looking at Jaejoong, because while we were walking, he was shining. His alabaster skin was luminescent in the darkness, his almond eyes sparkling and wide-open. It wasn’t just his looks, though, even though that was already extremely attractive-it was also the fact that he was radiating positive energy right now, and so much of it.

As if to add to my point, I bristled as I noticed some beautiful girls give Jaejoong side-glances. To me, those looks seemed to always last for just one second too long. Glaring at them, I blushed and hid my face in my coat once I realized that Jaejoong had caught me frowning at them. But he didn’t tease me-he only smiled at me and pulled me in front of him.

“You’re wrong about people staring at me because of my ugliness.” 

“Huh?” I hadn’t expected a reply like that at all. I looked at him, wide-eyed, while he just looked at me seriously, and though we were in the midst of a strong crowd of shoppers milling about, he didn’t care. We just stood there, and time seemed to stand still for us as Jaejoong said his words.

“The reason they’re staring at me is much more simple.

It’s because they’re jealous that the most beautiful girl in the world is right in front of me.”

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

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