Suho kept glancing at his watch and he tilted his head left and right anxiously. 4.30 PM. It wasn’t too late in the evening but waiting alone in such cold weather made him feel like time passed by too slow, uncomfortably and displeasingly. Gently, he rubbed his palms together as he tried to chase away the coldness that had bitten his well built body, attempting gain some strength and spirit to keep waiting for her arrival. He leaned against his car while he tried to relax his body. He hummed a cheerful Christmas song to himself before he suddenly stopped when his eyes caught a silhouette of a young girl that he had been waiting for since half an hour ago, walking calmly towards him. He smiled, and couldn’t hide his blooming feelings.

Waiting no more, Suho took a few steps ahead towards her as his eyes met hers. As he expected, she instantly avoided his gaze after a few seconds.

“Hi!” Suho greeted as he grinned and showed the cheerful side of himself.

“I’m in a rush. Sorry.” She said as she frantically made a swift move, and left Suho who stood in front of the main gate of the university stiffly.

"Yoonmi, wait!" Suho shouted and hoped that she would stop and give him some time to talk. She was always in a rush when they meet, Suho know it but he really wanted to meet Yoonmi again after their first meeting which didn't go exactly as planned. He could still clearly remember what he had promised her before; to change her mind from whatever had turned her into such a cold person. Having no other choice or a better plan, Yoonmi stopped and tried to give Suho some time to explain what had brought him here on that chilly evening. She wasn't in a rush, but she tried to find any possible excuse so that she could have avoided meeing him.

In her thoughts, even though Suho looked like a nice and well mannered guy, he was to dangerous to be clsoe to. He seemed like the kind of guy who tried to judge people without knowing about one's past and acted like he knew everything when in fact, he really knew nothing. She disliked nosy people like that, who always tried to interfere with other people's life - especially her life, when all she ever wanted was to be left alone. She wanted to be left alone so that she could always be reminded of the incident, so that she could redeem her faults. She didn't need sympathy nor emptathy nor healing. That guy's strong will and determination to find out about her past somehow made her scared the most. She was too scared that he was going to find out about her past, about what had changed her into who she is now. He wasn't someone that should know about her past and what she had been through before. He wasn't even close to someone who she would let in.

“I thought there was no more excuse or reason for us to meet again?”

“Uh? Oh… Yes, I do think so too, but unfortunately there’s still a reason for me to keep meeting you. That’s what brought me here today.”

Yoonmi was dumbfounded with what Suho saying as she examined his suspicious yet innocent expression. There was another reason that lead to their second meeting? Just what on earth it could be, she wondered. Yoonmi raised her eyebrows and hunted at Suho to elaborate his excuse further so that she could prepare herself with whatever he had to say. However,  Suho seemed a bit hesistant to explain. He was embarrassed with his soon to be told excuse.

“But, before that, come with me first!” Suho said as he frantically grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward his car even though Yoonmi was obviously shocked and displeased with his actions.

“What are you trying to do?! You better let my hand go now while I'm asking nicely!”

“I’m sorry, but I need to do this since I knew that you wouldn't listen to me even if I asked nicely.” Suho replied, as he carefully pushed her into his car and started to drive away from the area. As the car was moving to some kind of direction that she wasn't familiar with, Yoonmi took out her cell phone. She tried to call Eunmi but Suho's voice stopped her.

“I don’t have any bad intention towards you, so stop worrying over nothing. You don’t need to report me to the police or whoever you have in your mind if you think I'm ‘kidnapping’ you because I’m going to send you home right after this.” When Yoonmi heard that, her hand automatically stopped dialing and she slowly tilted her head towards him, totally clueless about what he was trying to do.

“Why are you doing this? Please, I need to go home…” Yoonmi began to plead whole-heartedly, and hoped that Suho would listen to her and send her home.

“I’ll send you back after this... Please believe me. There’s something that we need to talk about.”

“You should’ve talked to me earlier, or you could have asked me nicely but you chose to force me.”

“Tell me, would you have come with me even if I asked you nicely five minutes ago? Answer me honestly. I’m hundred percent sure, you won’t because you’re too busy with your life and always in a hurry to get home. I’m curious, are you married or something? Is that what makes you want to get home as fast as you can, so that you could spend more time with your beloved husband?” Yoonmi was speechless and was sealed shut with Suho’s guess, even though not all of his guesses were right; Suho knew exactly what her answer could be. She really would have said no to him even if he asked her nicely before.

Because why must she go out with him when he was just a stranger to her, he wasn't even someone that she was close to. Yoonmi didn’t speak after that. What she could do was pray and hope that Suho really had no bad intention towards her. The journey continued without any heartwarming over friendly conversations bewteen them. Only awkwardness. It was half an hour later when their unplanned journey came to an end at a place that looked like an orphanage in Yoonmi's eyes. She still refused to talk and waited for Suho to explain their whereabouts in silence.

Suho sneaked a glace at Yoonmi, who was stiff when he moved out of the car. He opened the door for her and hinted at her to step out with his facial expression. Not too far away from the orphanage, there was a big scaled playground with a few children who were joyously playing with the snow that blanketed the ground. Suho led Yoonmi to a wooden chair located near the playground and they sat on it.

“Oppa!” A nine year old girl wearing a bright yellow beanie and cute earmuffs suddenly ran towards them before she happily hugged Suho, who didn’t seem to be surprised with the kid’s behavior at all.  They seemed to be very close and knew each other very well.

“Oh, Jihye-ah! Oppa is here to meet you. How are you doing? Are you listening to Madam Wonhee well?” Suho asked as he broke the hug. He faced the little girl and smiled widely. His hands were busy caressing the girl's cheeks before his eyes fixed onto Yoonmi who stared at them with a vacant look on her face.

“Yes, I listen to her well because Madam Wonhee said you’ll come to see me more often if I behave. But, oppa… Why didn’t you come and see me lately? It’s almost Christmas… Can I get a present from you?”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy with my studies lately. Of course you can get a present from me, tell me what do you want and I’ll give it only for our Jihye…”

“Really?! Yay! But oppa…” Her cheerful voice changed into a sorrowful one all of a sudden which made Suho anxious.

“Huh, why?”

“Do I have enough time to celebrate Christmas this year? I’m afraid that I’ll-”

“No, don’t say that! Believe my words; we’ll celebrate Christmas together this year. You promised me that you’ll grow up well and stay strong no matter what happened, right?” Suho replied. Jihye nodded determinedly, a wide smile formed on her innocent face and Yoonmi was secretly amazed with her optimistic attitude.

“Yes! I’d promised oppa that I’ll be strong; I want to grow up well and faster so that I can marry oppa. You’re so nice to me and you care about me. That’s why I love you, oppa!” Jihye said, planting a sudden kiss on Suho’s face before she ran back toward the playground and continued to play in the snow with the other kids. Suho chuckled at her cute action, sending her off with his relieved gaze as he felt energized by her wittiness.

“Her name is Shin Jihye. She's one of the kids that living in this orphanage, I met her for the first time almost a year ago when my juniors and I were doing charity work here. That time, I saw her sitting on this chair alone, staring at her parents’ picture while the other kids were playing happily. She was abandoned by her parents since she was seven years old because her parents couldn’t accept the fact that their youngest child was actually a sufferer of brain cancer.. Life is cruel, so were her parents. Just because they found curing a sickly child like Jihye too troublesome, they made the decision to leave her here. She’s too young to understand what a real life is, but look at her, being optimistic. She tries to live her life happily when she still has time to do so. She wants to bring happiness to other people with her innocent nature… She's such a lovely and strong little girl…” Suho said as his eyes were still on Jihye.

Yoonmi tilted her head toward Suho and realised that he was talking to her. She was curious about the little girl, but she was more curious as to why Suho bought her here. It couldn’t be because he wanted to introduce her to Jihye.

“Why are we here?” Yoonmi asked and ignored what Suho was saying. He raised his eyebrows before he pulled out something from his pocket and handed tit to her

“So that I can give you the only reason that left for us to meet again.” It was the picture that he took secretly from Yoonmi before. He bit his lower lip, feeling slightly ashamed because he used the photo as an excuse to meet her again for. Yoonmi snatched the photo away before she got up, ready to leave but Suho didn't think the same way, it seemed like he still had something to tell her. He was motionless and his eyes were still fixed onto the playground where Jihye and the other children played joyously.

“In reality, little ones, there are two winters. One made for kids; the other for adults. The one made for adults is always too cold and always too long. The one made for kids is always perfect. A kid winter is an endless and wild snow carnival where all the rides are free. Jung Yoonmi, what do you think about winter?” Suho stared at Yonnmi and gently patted the empty spot next to him and hinted for her to sit down. She stiffened, refusing to do so.

“Winter is much like unrequited love; cold and merciless!” Suho chuckled sarcastically and shook his head after he heard Yoonmi’s answer; he already expected such a cold answer would come out from her lips.

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. winter must be cold for those with no warm memories, isn’t it?” She whipped around to glare at him, and somehow Suho was paralyzed by her stare. Her eyes seemed to freeze him in his tracks. They were framed by long lashes and they are a bright, hazel brown that seemed to brighten the world. It was as if they stared into his sould and read his mind. Her hair was a rich shade of raven black. It flowed in waves to adorn her glowing, porcelain-like skin.  A straight nose, full lips; she seemed the picture of perfection. Had she smiled, the world would sigh with contentment. Had she laughed, the world would laugh with her. And had she wept, the whole world would want to comfort her.

After a few seconds, she turned around again and stared back toward the kids. With Suho's short reply, all of the questions about the writer who wrotre the meaningful quote in her notebook were all answered at one. The first time she met him, she avoided his gaze and stared into the snow. Suho could see far into her eyes and see all the untold stories and so much that she wasn't telling him.

“You know nothing about me…”

“I know you; you’re Jung Yoonmi… The coldest girl that I've ever met.”

“You only know my name, not my story. You might've heard what I've done, but not what I've been through. If you were in my shoes, you'd fall the first step. In short - you know nothing about me so stop judging me as if you know every single thing that happened in my life.”

“Tell me then, tell me everything about you! So that I'd know what turned you into who you are now! Tell me, so that I can help you move on and maybe to change for the better! Do you enjoy living in misery that much?!” Suho almost lost his temper, he stood up and faced her while he inhaled deeply. “I don’t know who in the world Jung Eunmi could be, and I admitted that I’ve read every single word written in that notebook of yours. You swore that you’d make her happy, but don’t you realize is that  is it even possible for you to bring happiness for her when you can’t even enjoy your own life and move on from the thing that changed you into such a cold person! Can’t you be optimistic like Jihye? Remember, when you think you’re suffering and had been through enough in your life, there are people somewhere in this world who suffered more than you…” Suho continued in much lower tone, almost  a whisper and he hoped that his advice would he absorbed and remain in her heart.

“Why are you doing this? Why would you work so hard to change me when we barely know each other? Why can’t you just let me live in my own world? Why did you even come into my life and mess up all my thoughts? Why? Just why?” Yoonmi's hardened stare softened before she looked onto the snowy ground and tried to hide the tears that threatened to flow.

This time, Suho was mute. Speechless at Yoonmi's questions. Deep inside his heart, he began to question himself. Why is he doing this? He even skipped his club meeting with his juniors just to meet her and attempt to changer her mind and that he wanted to know her more. Isn't he too driven to want to change her? Isn't he being to abrupt? Even if she continued to be a cold person, why should he care? He ruffled his hair as silence began to sneak between them. He reduced the distance between them and took a few steps toward her. He moved his hand up to her shoulder and clasped it tenderly while his mind repeated the words that Jongin had said to him a few days ago. The words that made him question himself even more.

‘There’s a reason why it's called love at the first sight. We don’t need to wait for the second or third meeting to start realizing that we had  already started to fall in love with someone whom we barely know, because once is enough… Once is enough to make us lose our mind and become a fool for only one person… Once is enough for us to open up our heart and let someone get inside it and mess our hearts up. That’s why it was called love at the first sight, right?’