It's about an hour into his first ski class and Sungyeol is more than ready to call it quits. 

They're still stuck on the same bunny hill, getting drilled by Jongkook to do simple maneuvering, gliding and stopping. It had all sounded so easy in theory and demonstration, but once Sungyeol had been asked to try it out down the slope he found himself tripping over his skis and yelping more times than he would've liked. He's thankful that it's frigid cold, so at least he has something to blame the redness of his cheeks on. 

There's a tired groan next to him and Sungyeol looks over to see Suji flopping down next to him on the snow, hair splaying out on a canvas of white and gloved hand draping across her eyes. Jongkook was drilling another bunch of teenagers now, and those who were already done were allowed to sit at a corner on the top of the hill and wait for Jongkook to finish his teaching. Sungyeol had stepped out of his skis and tossed his poles somewhere behind him, Suji's things now joining his. 

"I need lunch," Suji complains. 

Sungyeol hums his agreement. "God did not intend for us to go careening down mountains at 25 miles per hour. If He had, He would've given us all wings."

Suji laughs- a bright sound- and flings a handful of snow at Sungyeol. Sungyeol's lips pull into a grin. Even though he might not be attracted to girls per se, he still liked to impress them and play around with them, especially if they were pretty and charming. Suji was all of those things, and Sungyeol could definitely understand the appeal Wooyoung found in her. 

Sungyeol's just about to retaliate when he feels someone flick his hood up and freezing cold snow drip down his face. He squawks indignantly and whips around to see Woohyun's laughing face and gloved hand filled with the remnants of snow. 

Sungyeol hisses, "I'm surprised you're back up so fast. Thought you might need more time practicing- you looked more than a little uncomfortable on those dwarf legs."

Suji laughs again before slipping her eyes closed, as if trying to take a catnap. Woohyun looks at her for a moment- as though contemplating whether to roll her away slightly- before settling down on Sungyeol's other side. 

"That's a little rich, coming from you," Woohyun tosses back as he flicks his brown bangs away from his eyes. 

Sungyeol watches as Woohyun's dark, almost cat-like eyes appear from under his curtain of hair before his bangs fall back down and cover them up again. He thinks Woohyun should keep his hair up and away from his eyes. They're pretty captivating.

Woohyun peers over at Suji again and grins wickedly when he sees Wooyoung boarding the pseudo-chair lift from the bottom of the hill. "Shall we make Wooyoung's life a little more interesting?" 

Sungyeol's eyebrow quirks up in interest. "I'm listening."

Chuckling, Woohyun leans in close and whispers into Sungyeol's ear, grinning when a wicked glint appears in Sungyeol's eyes until Wooyoung disembarks just a few feet away and they're both laughing to themselves, hitting each other in their mirth and shooting Wooyoung playful looks. 

"Stop doing that, the poor kid looks terrified," Howon winks as he approaches in his skis, and Woohyun knows he wants to be a part of whatever it is they're planning to do. 

Sungyeol finally gets his laughter under control but he's still chuckling, and his fingers are clutching Woohyun's as the latter leans his head against his chest, body still shaking. Honestly, nothing was even really that funny (except for Wooyoung's horrified expression when they kept giving him suggestive looks), but Woohyun laughs loud and uninhibited and his dark brown eyes seem to lighten a little, and he whacks and hits in mirth and Sungyeol couldn't have stopped laughing back even if he tried. It's a little frightening, how he can be so comfortable and easy with Woohyun when they're supposed to hate each other, but Sungyeol tries to tell himself not to think too much about it.

"Okay kids! It's time to get off your butts and head down the slope; the last one down's going to have to do more runs for me when we come back here after lunch!" 

Immediately, Suji's eyes pop open and Sungyeol stands up quickly, everyone who decided to take a break rushing to shove boots back into skis and wrap pole straps around wrists. Woohyun glides over to Suji and smiles charmingly, offering her his arm as she stamped her boot down into her ski. He makes small talk with her and helps her slip her poles back around her wrist, and Sungyeol sidles up to her other side as they make their way to the start of the downward slope. 

Howon sighs when he sees Sungyeol and Woohyun exchange a sloppy fist bump behind Suji's back and when his gaze flickers over to Wooyoung's unimpressed expression. He thinks it's best for him to watch his own back because he's getting the strange feeling that being around Sungyeol and Woohyun isn't going to be very pleasant for him and one and a half more weeks with them, he cries mentally with a groan. Such is the cruelty of life.

-

A/N: The cruelty of life is also my life, in essence. Thank you all for being so patient and lovely, school kind of now and everything is just busy. Do comment/drop me a message if you have anything you want to see in this fic in particular, I'm always happy to receive fresh input!