"All right! Drop your skis and let's put them on." 

The teens in the group let their skis fall to the snow and proceed to follow Jongkook's instructions on how to shove their ski boots into the skis. A few of them do it effortlessly, like Woohyun, Boohyun, Howon and Wooyoung, but then there are the rest of them who seem to lack any notion of centre of gravity and basically, balance. 

Of course, Daeyeol and Sungyeol are a part of this group. Daeyeol attempts to shove a boot into the ski and stumbles, and Sungyeol shoots out an arm to grip onto his jacket sleeve before he goes careening down the mountain (he's not very sure why Jongkook wanted them to put their gear on right at the point where the slope started, but looking around, Sungyeol realises this is practically the only little plot of flat ground, and everything else- above and below- is slope). Sungyeol furrows his brows and slips the toe of his foot into the ski before slamming down hard, and breathes a sigh of relief when his boot fits in nicely and he realises that he's still upright and standing.

Jongkook busies around and helps the struggling teens (most of whom are the girls, except for Suji because Wooyoung had immediately offered his arms as support, and Sungyeol thinks the two of them are really quite adorable) and before long they're all ready to go. 

"Listen up!" Jongkook hollers as he slips his ski goggles onto his eyes and gestures down the slope below. "We're going to head down this short slope then take the bus that circles the mountains to a gentler slope nearby so we can start you all off. This slope here is short but steep, so watch me now because I'm going to teach you the basics of maneuvering and stopping so you can make it down here alive all right!" 

Everyone snickers because Jongkook is kind of hilarious but then he's off, and for his muscular frame he's so natural and easy on the snow that it sets a tingle of doubt in the pit of Sungyeol's stomach. Daeyeol kind of looks like he's going to hurl, but then Howon is grinning and exuding reckless excitement that Daeyeol can't help but look as though he's itching to try it out, too. 

Sungyeol worries.

"Okay!" Sungyeol snaps back to attention and it's only then that he realises he missed Jongkook's demonstration and feels the dread step in. "We're going to head down nice and slow now. Just follow my lead in a line and remember to turn your skis inward to slow down and stop! No parallel skis, please, or you're going to go down so fast even I can't save you." 

Holy is all that comes to Sungyeol's mind because suddenly everyone is moving and following after Jongkook, and Sungyeol doesn't even know how to push off and move. 

But then there's a nudge to his back and for a moment Sungyeol thinks Jongkook has somehow managed to trudge back up to where he is to push him off, but when Sungyeol turns it's not small black eyes that greet him but rather dark brown ones, radiating eagerness and shaped like crescents. The stray thought of Nam Woohyun has a really attractive face gets tamped down on faster than it conjured inside Sungyeol's brain. 

"You look like you need a hand," Woohyun says laughingly.

Normally, Sungyeol would take offense and shrug him off and tell him to off, but the laughter weaving through Woohyun's words is not the loud, teasing and horrible one Sungyeol usually hears in the school corridors or when it's being directed at him, but it's the softer, sincere and uninhibited one that Sungyeol has only just recently come to hear (and really, really like). 

Sungyeol barks out a laugh, "This is not really my forte." 

Woohyun chuckles back, "No , Sherlock. Now come on. If you don't make it down the slope who am I going to make fun of for the rest of this class?"

Sungyeol jabs his ski pole onto Woohyun's boot as he takes off, trying to flip the middle finger but failing because his hands are too busy fumbling with his poles, anyway. Woohyun rolls his eyes and easily sets off behind him (Sungyeol tries to ignore the jealousy that's clawing up his insides because of course, Woohyun is yet again gifted at another thing and Sungyeol is just... Sungyeol), telling Sungyeol to hurry your up because Jongkook is reaching the end of the slope and Sungyeol skis slower than his grandmother. 

Sungyeol gets distracted by Woohyun's yelling and of course, the inevitable happens. 

All it takes is one slight misstep and one tangle of a pole for Sungyeol to go crashing downwards and rolling towards the foot of the hill. When he finally reaches the base, he coughs and feels his face burn when he hears the first wave of snickers from the rest of the teens in the group. Just as he's struggling to get up, a new wave of snow hits him in the face and he sputters, brushing it off with one gloved hand. 

It's Woohyun's face he sees when he looks up, hint of a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips as he watches Sungyeol try to push himself up. Sungyeol waits for the outstretched hand or courtesy are you okay?, but he really should stop expecting so much from Woohyun. 

"That was really embarrassing." 

Sungyeol's face flames and he flips Woohyun off just as Jongkook comes over to check up on him, raising a brow at Woohyun's loud laughter but deciding not to question. 

Daeyeol awkwardly catches up to Sungyeol as the group kicks off their skis and heads over to the small bus shelter. "You okay, hyung?" 

"I hate Nam Woohyun."

Daeyeol chuckles, "Yeah, you're all right."

A couple of minutes later the bus pulls up and Jongkook ushers them all in quickly, Sungyeol almost tripping over his own feet twice as he winds up standing next to Woohyun. Woohyun takes one look at him and chuckles. Sungyeol rolls his eyes. He is so sick of this. 

Woohyun stretches up a little to poke Sungyeol's nose. Sungyeol recoils immediately because what the , really?

Woohyun just laughs and stands on his tiptoes a little to brush off some snow from Sungyeol's long brown hair, subtly enjoying the feeling of the soft tendrils slipping through his fingers and the incredulous expression on Sungyeol's face. "Your nose is red and your hair has snow, you idiot. I'm just being a friend and helping."

Sungyeol can't help but snort. "Says the same friend who very kindly helped me up when I fell just now, I see." 

Woohyun cracks a lopsided grin and continues carding his fingers through Sungyeol's hair while maintaining balance on the jerky bus. Sungyeol frowns and shakes his head a little. "Damn. Is there really that much snow in my hair?" 

Woohyun starts and quickly retracts his hand, shoving it clumsily back into his glove before stuffing it into the pocket of his winter jacket. Sungyeol's just about to open his mouth and say something along the lines of I was only going to thank you for helping? but then Suji's tapping him on the shoulder and Sungyeol's attention shifts. 

Woohyun lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding just as the bus comes to a halt and Jongkook leads the way out. He really needs to work on his self-control because damn, Sungyeol has really nice hair. 

-

A/N: Hey yall, I'm so sorry for the long absence! I was having crazy midterms and really couldn't find the time to update the story, but thanks so much for your patience and continued support. I really hope to be able to update more the coming few weeks as a small sign of my apology and thanks, so I'll do my best! Thanks again ♥