Hello ~~~:3 How are you all? I hope everything's going well ^^

I'm updating once again with ChenChen, because my feels for him are becoming out of control! ^^; But anyways, I hope you enjoy this~ it started out as a brainfart but then...it turned into so much more.

So ~ tell me what you think x3

-

January 3th, 2014.

“The weather forecast doesn’t look that good for tomorrow, what the scientists call “a mini ice age” will be rearing up on the east coast…” the cheery voice of the reporter announced the scarily low temperatures for the next three months and you cursed loudly, trying your best to control the horrible need to throw popcorn at the TV.

No. No mini ice-ages. Not for three months. Please.

You hated winter with a burning passion. Not only did every single part of your body ache with the horrible cold, you also felt blue most of the time. It was as if someone deliberately created this season, where you would basically feel crappy 100% of the time for a longer period and decided to call it Winter. Not even the holidays could bring your spirits up, because everywhere you went, there they were- couples.

You groaned at the thought, sipping on your hot tea as the weather reporter continued to babble about various temperatures under zero.

You would anticipate that the couples would be crawled up somewhere, cuddling for warmth, but no. There they were, walking outside, holding hands and warming each other up with sickening giggles and kisses while you slowly contracted hypothermia as you stood alone at the bus stop.

Deciding that you couldn’t listen to the apocalyptic weather forecast that you’ll have to deal with tomorrow, you changed channels.

Yet even with Troy playing on screen and Brad Pitt swaggering around shirtless, you couldn’t concentrate. Your eyes were set on the TV, but the frown on your face indicated that you were somewhere else.

You weren’t a generally cold and gloomy person. Quite the contrary, you loved physical contact and you were mostly described as bubbly.

You didn’t hate couples; you just were remorseful that you weren’t in one. It’s not like you didn’t try. You did, several times, but it just never worked out. Sometimes it was his fault, sometimes it was yours, but the thing that mattered was that it ended with you being alone during the worst winter of the century.

Terrible snowstorms, icy winds and hail, all for you to endure alone.

“If you want to be, Winter, at least give me cuddle material!” you called out angrily into your vacant apartment before picking yourself up and deciding it’s time for movies and popcorn.

You can battle the cold better with that.

-

Icy lips stretched into a slight smile. It was all they could do, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel emotions. It just suited her not to show them as much.

“Cuddle material, huh?” she asked thoughtfully, fingers tapping the snow globe as she watched you move around your apartment to gather things for a movie night. Her mind swirled with ideas, both good and bad. She couldn’t decide which she should choose, but when she saw you sit up on your counter as you waited for your popcorn to be ready; her mind bloomed with another idea.

And the ice that covered her cheek cracked with her smile.

Yes…he will be perfect for this.

-

When you woke up, something was definitely different. The fact that when you fell asleep you were trembling from cold and now you were bundled up in warmth. The fact how you usually woke up almost immediately, getting on with your day but now, you just wanted to snuggle back to that source of warmth and stay there forever.

The fact that when you were falling asleep, you were the one being the big spoon to your teddy bear and now, you were engulfed in someone else’s arms.

And that made your eyes shoot open, shock chasing the sleep away, because there was a man’s face inches away from yours. It had a sort of boyish, youthful charm, as he slept in your bed, with you in his arms like he belonged there all along. His mouth was curved naturally into a kittenish smile and the overall tranquil expression on his face almost had you calming down.

Keyword being almost.

You fell from your bed with a squeak, trying to escape the stranger who woke up to your noise. His eyes blinked open adorably, as if he wasn’t quite sure where he was, before his eyes zoomed in on you. And to your shock, he smiled, falling back onto the pillows.

“Yah. Come back to bed. It’s cold.” you stared at him, mouth agape. What is that man doing?

“Who are you?” was the first question that left your mouth once you found it in yourself to speak. The man smiled at you from the bed, as he inched closer to the edge so he could see you better.

“I’m ChenChen.” you would’ve laughed at such a stupid name, but you couldn’t let out that kind of sound at the moment.

“What are you doing here, Chen?” ChenChen sounded stupid. Chen was a bit more reasonable, although he didn’t quite agree with you, judging by the small pout he was giving you.

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, what are you doing in my apartment.” you slowly, surely reached for your phone. Maybe if you entertain him enough, you’ll be able to call the cops and they could come and save you in time.

Chen smiled radiantly at you and your hand almost faltered in reaching your phone.

“I’m your cuddle material, of course. Weren’t you asking for one?”

Oh my god, so he has been stalking you for a longer time now. How could he have heard that? You couldn’t have yelled it out that loud!

“A-ah…that’s…that’s good.” you were only able to choke out and Chen nodded, opening his arms as he flopped back in bed.

“So could you come here now? That floor must be awfully cold.” he commented with a scowl and only then you realized you were shaking.

“Y-yeah…” you rubbed your arms for some warmth as you gathered yourself up on your feet.

“J-just a second…I need to use the bathroom.” although he looked a little unsatisfied, he let you go, not even noticing the phone you held tightly in your hand, already calling the cops.

ChenChen, whoever he was, could be dangerous.

Once you were safely locked in the bathroom, you lifted the phone to your ear where a policewoman was already looking for a reply.

“Yes, hello. This is ___...and I have an intruder in my house.” you tried to control your voice so it wouldn’t shake, but it was hard to do so when you thought of what that man could do to you.

“Are you sure? “

“Yes, I’ve talked to him.” your voice gradually pitched higher.

“Alright miss ___, calm down. Tell me your address and we’ll send some units right away.” you quickly squeaked your location to the police woman and hung up because the man was calling your name, looking for you.

“___?  You haven’t frozen or anything, have you?”

“N-no.” your reply was weak and shaky, something you didn’t want, but oh well.

You heard him slip down the fall, sitting in front of the door, but he didn’t do anything else. No banging. No breaking down the door.

He just…sat there. As if he was no threat at all.

“You called the cops, right?” your blood ran cold at the pouty question. Oh god. He was going to kill you because of it.

You really hoped the officers would come soon.

“I…I have. So if you want to stay free…y-you should run.” Chen laughed, and it was such a bright and carefree thing it would’ve made your heart at ease in a different situation.

“It doesn’t matter. Only you can see me.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m only yours, of course.”

Loud banging interrupted your would be shocked reaction, and you almost cried in relief.

“Miss ___?” more banging came up.

“Y-yes! I’m here!” and you decided to make a mad dash for it, unlocking your bathroom door and opening for the three cops with already drawn guns.

Chen sighed, standing up from the floor and dusting his pants off. You wanted to keep your face from grinning maliciously, because finally, they would close that weirdo up and you could move on with your life, trying to forget this strange morning, when…your jaw fell open.

The cops passed the smiling Chen, not even glancing at him as they invaded your apartment, searching for the intruder.

What are you doing? You wanted to scream. He’s right there! Why won’t you arrest him?!

But your mouth was shocked into silence and you couldn’t understand what was happening.

“I told you, ___.”Chen spoke up with a small pout, disappointed that you didn’t believe him.

“They can’t see me.”

“Miss ___, we couldn’t find the intruder, but your balcony door was opened.” one of the officers spoke up and you almost wanted to scream at him because the intruder was currently standing right behind him and was making stupid faces at him.

“A-ah…really?”

“Yes. We advise you to close your door when you go to sleep. That’s how he must have gotten inside.” The two of his colleagues were exchanging glances, probably thinking how stupid you were.

“Oh…okay…I’m sorry about the nuisance.” the policeman shook his head.

“It was no nuisance at all, miss. We will monitor your house for a few days, just to be sure. If anything happenes, don’t hesitate to call us.” You nodded numbly, watching as the three grumbling policemen walked out of your apartment, leaving you behind with the mischievous and apparently invisible ChenChen.

“So…” his voice came up from behind you.

“Cuddling now?”

-

24^th of January, 2014

A few days passed since the introduction of ChenChen to your home. At first it was hard to get used to the constant arms that were wrapped around you when you stayed still for more than five seconds. Chen was your stress regulator, as well. It wasn’t weird for him to sit behind you while you were studying, curiously peering at your notes and when he’d think you sighed too many times for his liking, he’d be pulling you back to his chest with a ringing laugh that overpowered your groan, ordering a five minute stress break.

For such a small looking guy, Chen was surprisingly sturdy and when he trapped you in his arms, there was no escape.

After a few days, though, you stopped wanting to escape. It was far too comfortable in his arms and so every time you found Chen cradling you to his chest, you started to cuddle right back.

Chen really liked that. He enjoyed a lot of things, scrambled eggs with ham, singing in the shower obnoxiously loud but in a perfectly beautiful voice, watching scary movies during which you’d hide in his arms.

Yes. Out of everything, Chen liked cuddling the most.

And you found that you liked it right back.

You enjoyed the small laugh that Chan apparently couldn’t keep in when he hugged you, you liked the way he always trailed his fingertips over your back in a soothing manner when you couldn’t sleep, singing you a lullaby (Chen seriously enjoyed singing to you in Chinese and you were addicted to his voice), the way he yelled out your name in glee when you came home, saying something absurd like “Thank god you didn’t freeze out there, what would I do without you?” in a crazily pouty voice that made you roll your eyes but also laugh, because seriously…

This felt like a very odd dream.

And you were starting to grow anxious, because you seriously started to like this odd dream. More than you should.

And you didn’t know when you’ll wake up.

-

17^th of February, 2014.

This day . It seriously major balls, and you still felt that it wasn’t enough to describe how much this day .

The weather forecast, saying freezing rain and cold temperatures would rule most of the time told you that it was a horrible day waiting for you and you just should’ve taken Chen’s advice and stay home with him, but no.

You had a job interview that day, and so you put on your prettiest clothes in which you couldn’t freeze, as the thermometer was showing a scary -5 degrees outside, did you make up in a natural, yet pretty way and with Chen’s good luck kiss on your cheek, you went out to battle the cold, the blush on your face from a different reason than the frost biting at them. You left your home happy, optimistic.

Seriously confident that today would be a very good way. But oh, how wrong you were.

Not only you’ve been rejected at your work (it made it worse that they decided to hire your worst enemy, who took the chance to shove it in your face the whole two hours you were stuck in that building), but also the weather became worse throughout the day, as nature decided it was completely okay to start raining. And when the rain fell, it froze.

And of course, it wouldn’t be you, if you wouldn’t have fallen because of the ice sheet that now covered every single pavement.

You limped through the snow carefully- you didn’t dare to walk on the pavement after your fall that had your shopping bags flying all across the street and your ankle twisting in the most uncomfortable way. You whimpered at almost every pressure you have it and you just hoped it wasn’t broken.

Oh god, what more could go wrong today? You thought to yourself as you dragged yourself home. It was just a bit lucky that you fell relatively close to your home and the walk back wasn’t so long, but even so, your eyes filled with tears.

Oh man, it hurt so much…why was this day like this? Wasn’t it enough that you have been so horribly rejected at your job; did you have to get injured as well? You thought glumly as you climbed up the stairs.

Chen was right. You should’ve just stayed at home. With him.

Chen was waiting for you, as always, ready for you, waiting in the living room to hear your door open and when he did, he shot up from the couch, bouncing to the hallway to greet you.

“___!” he cried out your name happily, his trademark grin on his face, but when he finally realized in what condition you came back to him, his smile faltered.

It wasn’t that it disappeared completely- his lips were still stretched in that calming smile as he took the ripped up bags from your hands and set them down on the ground before cupping your cheeks and wiping at your tears with his thumbs.

“I told you, you should’ve stayed home today.” he told you softly and you sobbed out a laugh your hands coming up to rest at his waist.

“You were right.” you told him, trying to make your voice as stable as possible. Chen scoffed, taking off your hat and scarf.

“Of course. I’m always right.” he grinned at you as he helped you to take off your heavy coat and putting it on the rack. When he turned back to you, you were trying to take off your shoes and he noticed the way you hissed when you touched your right ankle.

“What happened?” he asked, both eyebrows risen. You were glad he didn’t panic. He didn’t get angry at you for falling clumsily.

“I…I slipped.” you sighed, finally being able to pull the shoe off your hurting leg. You noticed your ankle was pretty swollen, but you were expecting something even worse.

Chen sighed, shaking his head.

“Alright, that’s it. You’re not allowed to leave the house until this gets better.” he told you with a determined pout as he led you over to the bench and helped you with taking off the other shoe.

“The groceries-“

“No. I’ll take care of them later.” Chen stopped you before you were able to say anything else, as he guided you to the living room, to your couch. He sat you down there and he ruffled the pillows, making a makeshift bed for you to lie on. After that, he spread out a blanket, covering you with it.

“I’ll bring you pajamas, okay?” he ruffled your hair with a small smile before practically skipping to your room and receiving the penguin shirt and shorts as you undressed the overly warm articles under the blanket. Chen came back to gently place the things on the couch next to you before he disappeared in the hallway again. You heard him moving stuff around before rustling of the plastic shopping bags and as Chen passed you to get to the kitchen he stopped, backtracked a few steps and grinned at you cutely.

“I’ll just put these things away and bring you some ice, and then you can tell me everything, okay?” his smile was so brilliant at your nod, it was as if someone have him the greatest compliment ever.

Funny, how just being with him slowly made it all better, you mused as you pulled the shirt over your head and deposited all your worn clothing by the couch, all in a heap. It didn’t matter, they would all go in the washing machine anyways.

Chen was back within a few minutes, carefully balancing a tray with ice and hot chocolate, which he immediately offered to you.

Once you took it with a smile, Chen plopped himself on the couch as well, close enough to have your legs in his lap, so he could inspect your ankle. He shook his head with a slight sound of disapproval, pressing the icepack gently against your skin, watching you for a reaction.

When all you did was hiss slightly, he kept it there and the cautious look he sported was gone, replaced by something much nicer, something you saw on his face and it made you happy.

“How did the job thingy go?” your smile faltered and your expression fell. Chen immediately caught on and he scowled in a manner that couldn’t be described in any other way than adorable.

“Well, they’re stupid anyways.” he told you with still pouty lips and you laughed, shaking your head.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“No guessing. Anyone to reject you is a stupid head, ___.”he told you, his warm brown eyes looking at you sincerely. It made the breath hitch in your throat and you felt the blush rise onto your face.

Normally, Chen said these things on a daily basis and it didn’t affect you, but this time, it made your whole being giddy.

And Chen somehow knew, because he smiled at you, a smile unlike the others because you felt somehow special, privileged to see his smile.

It was a smile that promised you safety. It promised you that no matter in what condition you come back home, Chen will be there to nurse you back to health. To hold you throughout the night. To laugh at stupid jokes and cry during movies.

And after all, isn’t it what we’re searching for all our lives?

-

The next day you wake up in your bed, head buried in Chen’s chest, hands balled in his shirt. His hands were wound around you, one absentmindedly your back and the other running through your hair. You looked up and saw his serene, sleeping face, with his lips stretched in a slight smile.

Yes. You could expect it from Chen to smile even while sleeping. Your hand reached up to gently cup his cheek and Chen sighed, nuzzling into your palm, as if he was making himself comfortable.

How strange that a month ago, you were terrified to find this man holding you while you slept but then, you got used to it so much, you’re not sure if you could ever imagine sleeping alone ever again.

You always fell into his embrace like you belonged there, like he was born, made to hold you. You smiled when you saw his eyes flutter open, the initial confusion in his eyes making his features even more adorable than they were normally.

“Good morning.” you whispered to him softly and he only mewled in reply, snuggling into you and the bed some more.

“Good morning to you, too…how’s your ankle?” his eyes slipped closed, but you knew he was listening. You couldn’t stop yourself; your hand was reaching out to glide your thumb under the skin of his eye in a comforting manner. With this Chen looked down at you with a slightly surprised look, but within a second, his expression shifted and his face split into a beautiful grin as he cupped your face as well.

“It’s much better.” you told him gently, chuckling a bit nervously. This…felt different.

It was no longer adorable ChenChen.

From here, he looked like the adorably handsome Chen and it made your heart tingle all over.

“That’s good, then.” he replied, with a voice much huskier than it usually is (due to sleeping, probably), and it made the blush rise on your face. His thumb lovingly caressed your cheek and you were surprised to look at him and find that a frown came onto his face.

“What is it?” you asked him, looking up at him in curiosity.

“The bags under your eyes.” he told you and only now you realized how awfully quiet it always grew when you two spoke. It was as if somebody didn’t want you to get interrupted at all.

“You should sleep more.” he chastised you softly, flicking your forehead and making you squeak.

“Yeah, well I’m sure that after your flick, I’ll be able to fall asleep in no time.” you retorted sarcastically, rolling your eyes. It was hard to keep on your stern expression when you caught sight of Chen’s shocked look when you tried to move away from him.

“Get back here!” he ordered you with a twinkling laugh as his arms wrapped around you and pulled you back under the covers, ignoring your squealing of no’s and all other.

Little did you know, she was watching the two of you fight, a soft, motherly smile on her face.

Her form flickered like a weak hologram and Winter frowned.

Spring is coming.

-

25^th of March

The snow had completely melted. You can’t actually remember the last time the temperature went below zero. The birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming.

And yet you couldn’t force yourself to enjoy, because of the fear that caused your body to become frozen in your apartment.

Chen couldn’t get out of bed since last week.

He tried, very hard as well, but the moment he attempted to stand on his legs, they gave out under him and he crumbled into a heap on the ground. His carefree smile was still there, even throughout his high fevers.

ChenChen grew very sick, and you didn’t know what to do. It was out of question to call a doctor- you’re the only one who can see him.

And so you kept brewing him warm tea, making sure he had a warm cup by his bed at all time. You also gave him pills to stop the sickness from spreading, but it didn’t help.

Nothing was helping, not even cuddles, which Chen always called ‘magic’ and ‘the ultimate cure to everything’.

You were so scared for him. It was impossibly weird to see him, of all people, bedridden with a high fever.

It was as if…he was melting, or something, but he ignored it completely.

That puppy look every time you left the room was present, with the stare of pure joy he gave you every time you came back.

It was as if nothing was hurting him, he just couldn’t walk and had fevers. At least that’s how he described it to you. You knew that even if he would be in pain, he wouldn’t tell you- but Chen didn’t even show any signs of discomfort.

He just suddenly…stopped walking.

You sighed what could be the hundredth time. Sundown was coming soon. It was already warm, yes, but the sun was still shortly up, and so it wasn’t even six and the sky played with all the colors. You smiled. The teakettle started sizzling.

And you turned to brew Chen some more tea, when you found him standing near the door.

“Chen! You’re feeling okay!” the smile on your face brightened before it faltered. Chen wore a frown, one that looked as if he was guilty of doing something. Guilty of doing something bad.

“___...I have to go now.” you looked at him in confusion, ignoring the screeching of the kettle.

“E-eh?...Go? Go where?” you asked, your frozen form taking a few stuttering steps to him. Chen did the same, coming in close enough to rest his hands on your shoulders.

“It’s warm now. You don’t need cuddle material anymore.” he said it in a very sad way, as if he didn’t want to go, but he had to.

And his words made the fantasy you’ve been living in for three months shatter and you found yourself shaking.

“W-what are you talking about?” your voice was weak, it was wet, before you could feel the tears coming into your eyes.

Oh, no. This wasn’t happening.

“I…I’ll always need you.” Chen whined, pulling you into his arms. As you rested your chin on his shoulder, you realized with a start that Chen was becoming transparent. It was as if he was disappearing.

“Chen!” you yelped, tearing away from him to look at his face. His carefree smile was still there, but it didn’t look so carefree anymore, along with the tear-filled eyes and disappearing form.

“I wish we had more time together…” his rich voice was shaky as well, and he laughed sadly when he felt you gripping him as tightly as you could.

Oh god, it was as if you were grasping some cloud.

Barely there.

“Please don’t leave me, ChenChen.” your tears broke through, running down your cheeks. Chen only shook his head, cupping your cheeks and making you look up at him.

“Thank you, ___, for everything…I loved being your cuddle material.”

“Don’t do this to me, please don’t, don’t …”

“Take care of yourself, ___...don’t fall on ice anymore, and don’t study more than you should.” he kept talking, and he kept making it worse. Chen was almost invisible at this point, his touch just  a bare whisper on your skin.

He was almost gone at this point. Time to say all the things you should’ve said when you had the time.

“I won’t forget you, ChenChen.” you choked out. Chen smiled, the back of his hand brushing against your cheek.

“I know…” he said softly. Oh god, even his voice was disappearing. You couldn’t hold back the loud sob.

“I…I love you, Chen.” you finally let it out, that sentence that was in you, eating you alive every night you couldn’t sleep.

You finally said it, but it didn’t matter anymore, because spring was here and Chen was disappearing and you didn’t know how to stop it.

“I love you, too.” Chen told you, the last word almost silent. You watched him with tearful eyes, as him, or at least the ghost of him, leaned down, closer to you, the slight outline of his lips puckered out.

Oh.

Your eyes slipped closed and you leaned forward to him…

And nothing.

You looked, and there you were, in your room.

All alone, with the teakettle still screeching.

Your knees buckled at the thought. He’s gone.

Just like he came, he was gone, and you didn’t know what to do.

-

1^st of May

“Come on, ___.” your friend sighed, plopping on your couch with a concerned motherly look.

“It’s been months since you’ve gone out with us. It’s all school, work and home with you.” you couldn’t say she was wrong, and so you just stayed silent, your thumb running over the porcelain of your cup thoughtfully.

“Yuna’s right, ___.” Sunmi, your other friend told you with a gentler tone, rubbing a hand over your back.

 “You can’t hide away from everything like this. You’ll never be able to move on like this.”

Sunmi was right as well. But still, you couldn’t find it in yourself to go out.

“I know, I just…” you murmured softly, deciding to take a sip of your tea.

“It’s just a little hard for me to do so…”

Everything was much harder since ChenChen left.

Your apartment felt awfully lonely without him, without his constant singing or excited babbles of different stories he told you. It became so difficult to live alone, you asked your friends to move in with you, just to take the loneliness away.

“I know it’s hard,  ___. But that’s why we’re here. We’ll help you with this.” Yuna told you, stretching on your couch.

“It’s just a cup of coffee. When’s the last time you’ve been at Starbucks?”

“I don’t know…maybe during Christmas holidays?”

“And that’s a SIN! There’s this totally hot barista working there right now, and he is so…just so…” Both you and Sunmi chuckled at the dreamy exclamations of your best friend.

“Also!” she sat up so suddenly, she made you jump away from her with a squeak.

“He has hot friends. You know what that means, right?” she nudged you in the side with a completely dirty look, so sly it had you laughing.

“Oh god, Yuna. Life isn’t just about hot boys.” Sunmi shook her head and Yuna agreed.

“Right. It’s also about UNNATURALY HOT BOYS. Hot boys who could be getting off work in no time. So why are we hesitating?”

“Please, ___. Please come and save me from going with her alone.” Sunmi turned to look at you with a pleading look, at which you couldn’t help but laugh.

You quite missed this. Going out with your friends. For the past two months, you’ve been swarmed with school and work, and you didn’t have time for anything else. You missed going out with them and so you sighed, shaking your head.

“YES! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!” you squealed when you found yourself in a tight hug from Yuna.

“You won’t regret it, I promise! Jongin looks so…so~”…”

“We lost her again.” Sunmi groaned with a roll of her eyes as she stood from the couch, reaching for her bag.

“Come on, maybe if we move fast enough, we’ll be able to run away before she comes back to herself.”

“Yah! Are you thinking of leaving me behind?!”  You watched your two best friends bicker and chase around the apartment, and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Of course I am! Who wouldn’t think of leaving you behind, idiot!”

“What?! You take that back, or I’m flushing your head down the toilet three times!”

“Oh god, ___, she’s insane!!! Save me!” You just laughed again as Sunmi decided to use you as a shield, putting you between her and Yuna, who tried her best to get around you and grab Sunmi.

“Yah, Yuna.”

“What is it?”

“Didn’t you want to see Jongin?” at the mentioning of his name, Yuna grinned at you and patted your head.

“You’re right, ___. I have to keep my priorities straight. Jongin first, shoving Sunmi unnie’s head down the toilet later.”

“Couldn’t we just leave out the part where you shove my head down the toilet?”

“No. Let’s go.”

-

It felt nice, to be out with friends after such a long time. On top of that, to be out with such friends as Sunmi and Yuna. You completely missed their dorky personalities, the way they constantly bickered and made you laugh with their pointless arguments. They made the journey pass that more quickly, and you didn’t even realize that you were standing in line, looking up and deciding which drink you should get.

“___, ___, look!” Yuna whispered into your ear urgently as she tried her best to point as sneakily as she could at the sleepy looking guy making people’s coffee.

“Who’s that?” you asked with interest, eyeing the boy who looked as if he’ll fall asleep any second against the coffee machine and Yuna groaned dramatically.

“It’s Jongin! God, don’t you ever listen to me?” she whined, jumping up and down with a small pout.

“Never.” Sunmi agreed, pulling out her wallet and making you laugh at the stinky look Yuna gave her. The line was slowly clearing up, and you were soon going to order your coffee, when the pack of giggling girls moved away and you positively felt as if you were going to faint.

Behind the counter, smiling brightly at the leaving flock of girls…was ChenChen.

It must’ve been him. There’s no mistake in that. The beautiful smile, the warm, twinkling eyes, sharp jawline and handsome cheekbones.

It was as if ChenChen had a twin who worked at Starbucks and who then turned to look at you, giving you that beautiful smile you’ve yearned for months.

“I can take your order now.” he called out and that kick started your organism again, as you shuffled your way to him. Oh god, up close, the similarities went on and on. The way his lips were curved upwards, the way his lower lip pouted out almost unconsciously.

The only difference was that his nametag was shining with the name “Jongdae” instead of ChenChen.

“Hello there.” his voice was cheery and you couldn’t help but to smile at him in return.

“H-hello…”

“What can I get you?” Jongdae asked, leaning against the counter, his eyes trained at you. You chuckle couldn’t have been described in any other way than nervous.

“A-ah…well, I haven’t been here in such a long time…I don’t know what to get…” you muttered under your breath and Ch-…Jongdae grinned.

“Oh, really? Well, if I can recommend, today there’s a great offer going on…” you saw from the corner of your eye the look of surprise Jongdae’s colleague before he went back to taking Sunmi’s order.

“A tall caramel latte, which is my favorite, and if you buy that, you get in my number for free.” Jongdae’s grin was playful and your eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he winked at you from behind the counter.

“God, Jongdae. Really?” his colleague groaned and Jongdae silenced him with his hand.

“Shut up, Joon-hyung. So?” he turned back to you, his eyes full of expectations.

“What do you say? This is a one-in-a-lifetime offer! Don’t let it pass you that easily!” you laughed at his great advertising skills, to which you couldn’t do anything else than shake your head and sigh.

“Well, if it’s a one-time offer…what else can I do?” Jongdae laughed victoriously, pumping his fist in the air while his colleague stared at him with wide eyes.

“Wait, did that really work?”

“Of course, idiot. The girl knows what’s good.” Jongdae scoffed, quickly punching in your order and winking at you.

“And under what name should I put it?” he asked you after telling you the price and taking the money.

“___.” you told him and Jongdae smiled.

“Ahh, ___...that’s a nice name. Nice to meet you, ___. I’m Jongdae.” He outstretched his hand and you didn’t hesitate to shake it.

“Nice to meet you, too…” you muttered and Jongdae chuckled, giving you your receipt.

“Your coffee will be done in just a second.” he promised you and you nodded, putting your wallet away and stepping back, letting an annoyed customer order his beverage with a stingy “finally” leaving his lips. From the table which Yuna managed to hog, as she was the first to get her order done, Sunmi was staring at you with a shocked expression.

“What the hell…” she started out once you sat down, and Yuna agreed with her with the same dumbstruck look.

“I have no idea, but you live only once, no?” you winked at them. You couldn’t quite tell him that Jongdae was exactly the same as your winter cuddle material. Even now, you weren’t quite sure if that wasn’t just ChenChen in a different form. His smile, the twinkle in his eyes…they were quite too knowing.

It was as if Jongdae knew you before you walked into this Starbucks, and to be honest, it wasn’t as if it was your first time seeing him either.

Even though Sunmi still looked surprised, a look of motherly pride came onto Yuna’s features.

“My ___...so grown up, flirting with Starbucks employees…you go, ___.” she patted your back with far too much force, making you cough.

 “I’ve said this quite a few times, and now I’m sure of it. Yuna, you’re a bad influence.” Sunmi decided with a determined nod, which forced a shocked “yah!” out of Yuna and it made you laugh.

It didn’t take long for the loud-mouthed girl to return to her sleepy-eyed barista, happily showing the crooked smiley-face that was drawn over her cup, along with her name and you just listened on to her mindless babbles with a smile, your thoughts being somewhere else.

Could it be? Could it really be him?

But you saw him disappear…so why was he serving coffee like nothing’s wrong?

Maybe…it wasn’t ChenChen at all, just a guy who looked like him? There were a lot of people in the world, there could be a big chance that someone could look like your winter cuddle material…

You hummed thoughtlessly in agreement when you heard Yuna ask you some questions, until you heard your name being called out.

“Caramel latte for ___.” the sleepy-eyed boy called out, holding up your coffee.

“Caramel la-“

“Wait, Jongin-ah!” the coffee was slapped out of Jongin’s hand before he could even turn around who was talking to him, and you couldn’t help but to laugh when you saw Jongdae scribbling something over your cup, the marker cap in his mouth. Jongin looked at him with eyebrows risen, but he decided not to ask as he just waited for the cashier to finish his scribbles.

“Okay, now.” once he deemed it was good enough, Jongdae returned the coffee back to the boy and rushed back to his place, where the still very displeased customer was trying to order his coffee, but was always getting interrupted.

Jongin cleared his throat and called out your name again.

“___, that’s for you!” Yuna urged you to hurry, pushing you out of your seat and you snapped at her with a short “I know” before thanking Jongin for your coffee. The second you sat down, you noticed your cup was encircled with a string of digits and you laughed.

Jongdae wasn’t joking, then.

“Wow, I didn’t think he’d give you his number…” Sunmi told you with a shocked look and you agreed with her with a small hum.

“Me neither…” you looked over to the cash register to find Jongdae looking at you, and when he saw the way a blush ran across your cheeks, he grinned, waving at you.

“This is so unfair!” Yuna whined, banging her head against the table.

“I’ve been going her for ages, ages, and this is just the first time he added a smiley face on my cup. You come here the first time, and you get a number?” she scoffed, crossing her arms on her chest and pouting.

“I’m jealous.”

“Yah.” Sunmi whapped her over the head, ignoring the yelp that slipped from Yuna’s lips.

“Be happy for your friend. And also, start acting normal. Jongin is looking over here.”

“He is?!”

“Oh my god, be smooth, Yuna!”

You muted out your friends bickers, pulling out your phone. Your hands shook as you punched in the right digits and you stared at the blank text message for a while.

Should you text him? What should you text him? Your mind swirled with ideas, your thumbs tapping thoughtlessly against your screen. You looked up for a while, watching your two friends communicate, Yuna flustered and with an unnatural blush over her face, Sunmi with a grin over her face as she kept picking on her best friend. You smiled at the scene, before looking back down on your screen, and writing out your message.

Will you inform me if there’s another special coming up soon?~ ^_^

You waited for a second, staring at the message and counting in your head to three, before hitting the ‘send’ button. You received a confirmation that your message was received, and your head whipped over to the counter, where Jongdae jumped in surprise before reaching into his pocket.

The smile that bloomed on his face as he read your message made your heart clench, because you’ve seen the smile so many times, and you missed it so much. You glumly realized that your wallet might become vacant, because starting today, you’ll be visiting Starbucks on a daily basis.

You shook your head with a sigh, opening the new text message you received when the phone vibrated in your hand.

There actually is! It’s a Friday offer and it includes me picking you up at seven and going to the movies at eight. If the feedback is positive, this offer might turn into a weekly thing~! d(^_^)b  Are you interested?

You giggled, catching Jongdae’s stare and sending your reply.

I am. Sign me up~!

And with the adorable nod Jongdae gave you after he read your reply, you knew that your winter dream might not have ended just yet.