Eunbi was scared out of her wits as she stepped inside school the next day. It was the first of december and as if to celebrate, the weather gods decided to paint the city in snow overnight. The streets were all covered with the white mass and Eunbi had sighed as she stared out the window that morning. She felt absolutely no joy for the upcoming Christmas and the break that would follow, as it meant more alone time with Luhan. The older male hadn’t returned back home the previous night, something she was rather relieved by. Though, the relief was gone and instead replaced by fear as she stepped onto school grounds, for Eunbi believed he’d told all students to torture and humiliate her in every possible way. She was further uneasy as the bruises she’d received the previous week and the week before that were yet to dissapear. An ordeal that’d caused great nuisance for Eunbi, who still suffered from the pain. Therefore did it arrive as a huge surprise when none of them made any advances. Neither through actions or words. It seemed more like they were trying to ignore her, which in a way, was better even though she guessed Luhan had some part in the sudden change. It was impossible though, that he’d done it just to be nice. At least after the disaster that was yesterday.

Ahbin was already seated at her desk when Eunbi entered their homeroom. A few other students were also present, and though none of them glanced up to look as she walked to her desk, she knew they took notice of her presence. “Finally. I didn’t think you’d show.” Ahbin pouted, looked down at her cell phone, and then back at Eunbi, “have you gotten a new phone yet?” the latter shook her head, “I’m not sure I’ll get one anytime soon.” the tv was yet to be paid off through her allowance, something she guessed would take several months. And without money, Eunbi couldn’t even buy one herself. “Your phone gets stolen and your parents can’t even get you a new one.” Ahbin looked more frustrated than Eunbi did, “that’s really unfair.” a cell phone wasn’t exactly that important, not to Eunbi, whose contact list had been far from impressive with its eight contacts. “Oh, I almost forgot. How did it go yesterday?” just the thought of yesterday’s fiasco was enough for Eunbi to frown. It’d been nothing but a disaster and the two adults hadn’t exactly proven themselves to be of much help. And the one to suffer from their lack of parenting was none other than Eunbi, who were certain Luhan was planning some kind of revenge, “not so well.” whatever would happen from that point and on was a huge mystery, one she most certainly wasn’t looking forward to. Sehun’s proposition had she heard nothing more about either, and she’d come to wonder if he’d only been playing around. “So nothing’s changed?” Ahbin questioned, and to which Eunbi simply shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea if anything was different than before. She hadn’t seen Luhan since the family meeting and did therefore not know what was going through his head. “Your parents? Di -.” not wanting to talk about it, Eunbi interrupted and changed subject, “are you going somewhere on Christmas break?” Ahbin blinked, like she was confused, before regaining her composure, “yeah. I thought I’d told you my family was flying to Hokkaido over Christmas and New Year.” Eunbi had vague memories of Ahbin having told her about the trip. But she couldn’t remember when exactly. And she was given no time to ask either for the bell rang, and thereby caused a rush of students to hurry inside right before the teacher arrived to start the class.

The first three periods passed uneventful. But by every passing minute, Eunbi grew more and more anxious because she knew something was up. It was a feeling that only increased and as lunch rolled around, she was on high alert. Every little sound and motion had her heart skip a beat. Being so wary of the surroundings caused troubles though, since Eunbi didn’t dare go inside the cafeteria. She was terrified Luhan would ambush her. “I’m not hungry.” she inched back, slowly moving away from the cafeteria. Ahbin deadpanned at the way her friend acted, “but… You didn’t eat anything yesterday either.” what could she say. Her appetite was nonexistent at the moment. “I ate a huge breakfast.” a little white lie, but nonetheless one Eunbi needed to tell in order to get out of there, “I’ll see you later.” she smiled, spun around, and with hasty steps hurried down the hallway in the other direction, completely disregarding the fact that Ahbin could run after her. Something Eunbi realised, as she stood on the schoolyard a few moments later, that her friend hadn’t done. “I can’t believe this.” she was not only irritated and angry at Luhan. But also at herself for letting him get to her in such a way. She’d already come to understand he was plotting some kind of revenge, and yet, she was still cowering away.

Standing out there in the cold became harder and harder as the minutes ticked on. Her blazer was far from enough to ward off the coldness of the December day. To make matters worse, the wind decided to increase and thereby caused Eunbi to shiver. But to head inside wasn’t an option though, not when the possibilities of Luhan striking back was so high. That she had no clue of his capabilities and how far he would be able to go heightened the worries. The half an hour until next class started was sure going to be nail-bitingly difficult in several aspects, and Eunbi was not looking forward to any of them. The cold was only a small part of the problem even though she, at the moment, felt like it was the worst one. “Why couldn’t it be summer?” Eunbi frowned as another gust of wind swept over the schoolyard for the situation was truly one that put her persistence and determination to test.

“Eunbi?” she spun around at the sound of her name, too fast for she slipped on the snow and landed on her . Eunbi felt her cheeks flush as she glanced up at the source of the voice. “Sorry.” Yixing apologized and extended his hand for Eunbi to grab a hold of, something she also did after having told him it wasn’t his fault. In difference to her own, his hand was warm and soft and she couldn’t help but to smile as he helped her up. “Thanks.” she found the ordeal embarrassing, more so since she’d made a fool out of herself in front of Yixing. Something that seemed to be an ever occurring thing every time she was around him. “You okay? You didn’t hurt yourself?” his concern was heartwarming and quite different from the one her mother displayed, the latter had barely shown any of that the past couple of months. There’d only been work, work, and more work. “Yeah. I’m fine.” she gave him a reassuring smile. The slight pain she felt would dissapear soon enough and was therefore nothing to complain about. “That’s a relief.” indeed, for Eunbi was pretty sure her body couldn’t take much more than it’d already done the last weeks. Showering had become a task she dreaded too, because it meant she had to see her bruised body. Luckily, it was beginning to fade away, though it was taking time.

And it was sometime around then, when the conversation sort of died out and she was about to dust the snow off of her skirt, that Eunbi noticed she was still holding onto his hand. Suddenly flustered, she looked down, unable to meet Yixing’s gaze. The male however, didn’t realise the reaction was due to that, and instead thought she was looking at the snow covered ground with interest. He couldn’t spot neither the object or place that’d caught Eunbi’s attention though, something that made him slightly confused. But whatever it was, he decided to take the opportunity to speak, “I -Ehm… Could I ask you something?” Eunbi wasn’t the only one feeling nervous. Yixing did as well, which was a rather new experience for the male, who felt a bit self conscious when Eunbi glanced up to look at him. The somewhat romantic moment went down the drain pretty fast though, as soon as Kai and Tao’s voices filled the air, both of them obviously unaware of what was going on. “Yah. Weren’t you supposed to hurry so you could sit together with Eunbi.” she felt her cheeks burn all over again at Tao’s words, and though she understood they couldn’t see her from where they were approaching, it was still embarrassing hearing them talk like that. Maybe because she wasn’t used to it. That Yixing’s cheeks, too, sported a light pink colour made it somewhat bearable though, and Eunbi felt her heart flutter when he gave her a shy smile.

Kai and Tao came into view within a few seconds, the two of them exchanging glances after they’d spotted Yixing and Eunbi holding hands. And Tao was of course the first one to speak, “you’re working fast.” Eunbi let her hand slip from Yixing’s, her heart racing so fast she was sure it would break through her chest. “I fell and he helped me up.” Eunbi wasn’t sure why she suddenly felt the need to explain herself, especially in front of Tao and Kai. But she did and Yixing catched on soon enough, “yeah, she fell and I… yeah.” the two males laughed, exchanged yet another glance, and then laughed some more. For them, the whole charade was hilariously funny and a bit sad, as practically everyone, if they paid a little attention, could see that Yixing and Eunbi had something going. Everyone but themselves. “Yeah, yeah.” Tao had never been one to hold back and keep things to himself, a side they were all experiencing there and then. “Just admit that you like each other so we can all move on.” Eunbi fell silent, and so did Yixing. None of them knew what to say because they both knew, deep within, that Tao was right. She liked Yixing. Yixing liked Eunbi. But they themselves had no idea what the other one felt.

~~~~

Author’s Rant
I know this has nothing to do with kpop.
But god I’m so frustrated and angry and disappointed and sad right now…
I can’t believe Real Madrid sold my favorite player Özil to Arsenal D=
Really, I’d rather not have Bale, whom I have a hard time imagining playing next to C.Ronaldo.