Saeyeon marked off the calendar the days til Christmas… Not even two weeks left.
It was mid-December now, about two weeks after she had had that strange movie date with L.Joe and fallen asleep at his house.

She still remembered being carried all the way to Nana’s house.
She felt a smile tug at her lips.

Nothing too special had happened after that. 
Nana and Chunji still weren’t “official” and she spent most of her time with L.Joe.
It was the same typical routine.

She had learned a bit more about L.Joe and she didn’t feel so awkward around him.
He didn’t like coffee and loved roller coasters that went upside down. It had been his birthday the day before she met him.

She never mentioned the Lizzy thing, afraid it’d ruin their relationship. 
It seemed like L.Joe had just begun to think of Saeyeon as a friend.

She was getting ready for the annual winter school trip before the break started next week.
It was kind of pricy but it was within her budget for the most part. She wasn’t a millionaire like CAP’s family, but she wasn’t dirt poor.
It was going to be a 3 day, 2 night trip at Muju Ski Resort. Muju was one of the most popular tourist sites and Saeyeon was super excited.
They were taking a coach bus – not as classy as a plane, but at least it wasn’t a school bus.
Although every high school grade in school was allowed to go, the price limited quite a few kids.
Unfortunately, it also meant CAP wasn’t allowed to go.

‘Text Msg : L.Joe
Ready? I’m outside’

Saeyeon smiled and looked out the window. Sure enough, he was standing out in front, his motorcycle nowhere to be seen, but rather a sleek dark grey car.

She couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit special because she knew that a lot of girls would kill to have L.Joe pick them up.
She knew if she kept him waiting any longer, he’d complain. So she wrapped around a thick scarf, wore her suede grey gloves and quickly pulled her luggage bag outside.

“It’s about time.” L.Joe muttered. Even though it had nearly been a month, he still had nothing nice to say.
“That was five minutes. I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Princess.” Saeyeon teased, knowing L.Joe’s personality by now.
“If I’m a princess, then why am I picking you up? It should be the other way around.” He retorted. 
“Fine, I’m the princess. You should open the car door for me and take my bags then.” She quipped.

L.Joe had nothing to say – he had lost the argument. He knew better than to start another argument so he placed her bag inside the Mitsubishi Eclipse and opened the passenger seat car door for her.
“Happy?” He mumbled. 
“Yes, quite.” She said giving him a big smile.

He rolled his eyes and got in the car. He knew that she always smiled like that when she knew she had won against him.
She had a nice smile, he had to admit.

They got to school fairly quickly and sure enough, three coach buses were lined up inside the school parking lot.

“Nana, are we sitting together?” Saeyeon asked, pretty sure that the answer was going to be “no”. 
They had always sat next to each other in any and every trip, but she had a feeling that Nana was going to be sitting next to Chunji.
“Hm… I guess so; We always sit next to each other.” Nana’s reply surprised Saeyeon.
It surprised Chunji more.

“Yah, L.Joe. Work your magic here. Nana needs to sit with me.” Chunji muttered, nudging his best friend in the ribs.
“… It’s a three hour ride. Can’t you live without her being right next to you?” L.Joe snapped.
It wasn’t like he minded being with Saeyeon all the time or anything, but he felt kind of like Chunji’s personal bellboy. Whenever Chunji called, he’d have to answer.
He was sure if Chunji just asked Nana out, she would say yes. And then he could finally get that motorcycle.
But Chunji was still somehow unsure of the outcome that he wouldn’t ask.

“Sorry, Nana , but Saeyeon’s riding with me.” L.Joe said reluctantly, pulling Saeyeon towards him.
“Nana, just ride with me, then.” Chunji said, right on cue. Nana shrugged and nodded.

“I was going to ride with Nana.” Saeyeon mumbled, her cheeks red as all the other girls around them began gossipping.
“Sorry, I um…” L.Joe wracked his mind for an excuse. “I don’t like riding with Chunji. He gets clingy when he’s bored.”

Saeyeon took a step back as she felt that she was standing much too close to L.Joe. She could even feel his body heat radiating and making her cheeks grow hot.
As she put her left foot down, Hyerim let out a loud yell.

“That’s my foot you just stepped on, you . Just because you have L.Joe sunbae talking to you, you think that you can go around stepping all over people?!” She screamed.
Saeyeon apologized but of course, Hyerim wouldn’t stop.

She had been working hard since her fifth year of elementary school for L.Joe to notice her and eventually, fall in love with her.
And then Saeyeon came walking into his life as easily as 1, 2, 3.
It just wasn’t fair.

“Your shoes aren’t even that expensive. So it’s not worth screaming so damn noisily over.” L.Joe said blatantly, quickly defending Saeyeon.
He knew Hyerim liked him – like a hundred other girls on campus, so he took the liberty of putting his arm around Saeyeon and making her extra angry.

Saeyeon felt the butterflies dance in her stomach. She knew L.Joe’s intentions weren’t to flirt, so she couldn’t be happy about this romantic gesture.
She sighed; Since when had she started feeling giddy around L.Joe?