DECEMBER DAYS * * *

Chanyeol fixed his hair quickly with his reflection in the window. I look good, he thought approvingly. His hair was slicked back, his skin flawless, and his lips cherry red from the cold. He had dressed nicely to go to a holiday party later, but first he had a dinner he had promised to go to.

"Aish, where is this damn restaurant?" He cursed, looking at the address his mother had messaged over. "It doesn't freaking exist!"
"Yeol," a familiar female voice called. "It's over this way."
He turned around and smiled when he saw his neighbor waving him over. Their families had arranged to eat dinner together, so he knew he could follow her. 

"So, how have you been, Joohee? Have you finally gotten a boyfriend?" He asked with a big smirk plastered on his face. He knew how Joohee had been single for 22 years - her entire life - so he about it all the time.
She gave him a face and pushed him away gently. "Shut up," she snapped, blushing. "I'm waiting for the right person."
He nodded. "So am I," he said. "But I don't wait like a lonely hag - I make the most of my time," he boasted.

She rolled her eyes. "Going out with a new girl every other day isn't 'making the most of your time' - that's called being an ."
"Aw, Joo," he cooed. "You're going to hurt my feelings if you keep talking like that."
"Ugh, shut up and just get inside," she groaned, pushing him through the restaurant doors. 

"You're fifteen minutes late," his mother scolded.
"I got lost - your directions were stupid," Chanyeol retorted back simply. He gave Joohee's parents a sheepish grin, knowing that they would find his comments cute rather than rude.

"We ordered for you already - filet mignon cooked medium rare, with fries instead of vegetables," Joohee said. "That's what you want, right?"
He nodded. It wasn't the first time she knew what he liked, but it still surprised him every time. Well, we have known each other for more than 10 years...
But now that he thought about it, he didn't know what she liked to eat at all. He didn't know anything, not even what color she liked or her favorite flavor of ice cream... She had probably mentioned it to him before though considering he always ate ice cream with her at least like ten times during the summer.
... Eh, whatever, it's not a big deal.

After dinner, their parents decided to go for a cup of coffee at the cafe next door. They didn't want to stick around, so they left, taking a stroll around to kill some time. 
"It's so damn cold," Chanyeol cursed. 
"Then dress warmly next time so I don't have to listen to your complaints," Joohee replied jokingly. She handed him a cup of cocoa from the vending machine. "Hold this, it'll keep your hands warm."
He gave her a grateful nod as he took the warm drink against his palms. "What would I do without my little Joo?" He cooed.
"Stop it - that's gross," she groaned. He always liked to by treating her like a little child. She absolutely hated it. She knew he never did that to any of the girls he dated before - not a single one - and he had like twenty girls from this year alone.
He never called them girlfriends either - they were just "his girls". That was probably because the longest relationship lasted around two weeks and the average length was around two or three days. She wasn't even sure if you could call that a "relationship."
And yet, I like an like this, she thought with a heavy sigh. So she didn't want to be looked upon as a child. She was 22 years old - a young woman in her prime. If she wanted, she could go find a cute, nice boy any time she wanted.
But she was stuck on this cute, rude jerk instead.

Chanyeol checked his watch. "Ah, I have to go," he said, noticing it was getting close to time of the party. "Tell your parents I said bye. I'll see you soon probs!" He gave Joohee a smile and quickly mussed her hair around as his way of saying bye.

"Yeah, I'm seeing you in two hours, aren't I?" She asked, completely catching him off guard. He saw a frown appear on her face.
"W-Wait, what?" 
He noticed her crossing her arms which was never a good sign. Shim Joohee with her arms crossed always meant that he did something very, very wrong.

"The concert... tonight... that you promised you'd go to?" She asked, her voice rising with expectation. But she could already tell from his puzzled expression that he had forgotten. "Forget it. Go to whereever you were heading."

Chanyeol tried to rack his memory for when she had told him about this concert that he had supposedly said he would go to. It took him a few seconds, but he vaguely recalled her saying she was going to play at some kind of winter concert or something... She played in a lot of things so he found it hard to remember which ones had passed and which ones were coming up.
"Sorry, Joo," he apologized with a sad smile, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. 

She pulled away from his embrace, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. You should just go. You're going to be late to your thing."
"You're the best, Joo. You know that right?" He said and kissed the top of her head. "Forgive me for missing your concert tonight, okay? I'll come to the next one - I promise."

She stared at him dully, not wanting to tell him that he had said that when he had missed her last concert in the fall. "Goodnight, Yeol," she said tiredly, turning around to walk back to their parents. She heard him yell something out the window as he whizzed by in a cab. 
She sighed and sat on an outside bench. She wished she could just go home instead of having to play in that concert Chanyeol was not showing up to. It was the most important one of the year, and she was the main act, playing a solo piece she had wrote herself. She had wanted him there more than anyone. 
Forget him, she thought glumly. She had known him for twelve years and loved him for almost seven of those years. And that meant seven years of being consistently forgotten and put as a second priority. That was more than enough waiting now.
The end of the year was coming. And now, so was the end of her love. 

보이지 않는 널 찾으려고 애쓰다
들리지 않는 널 들으려 애쓰다
I'm trying to find the you I can't see.
I'm trying to hear the you I can't hear.

* * *

"Chanyeol, do you want to drop this off at Joohee's next door?" His mother asked, handing him a freshly baked pie.
He grumbled an 'okay,' and decided he'd be okay without a coat or anything since it was right next door. He put on his boots and quickly ran out the door, into the wintry cold.

To his pleasant surprise, he saw Joohee standing by the corner. "Hey!" He shouted as he started to jog over. "Joo-" His voice was cut off by the presence of  young man getting out of a car that had just parked itself.
He felt truly cold as he watched the man give her a gift bag and then a slight peck on her cheek. Since when had she found the "right person"? And more importantly, why had he not been told first? 

"Oh, Yeol," Joohee said as she spotted him, trying to hide the surprise in her voice. "Hey..."
"Yeah," he breathed, now feeling more numb than cold. "My mom... just wanted to give you this pie," he muttered. "So here."
She stared at him, seeing the bitterness woven into his words and expr