Friday afternoon, finally. I stretched my arms above my head and sighed as my muscles tightened and then relaxed on my back. I packed my stuff and bid goodbye to Kyuhyun, the only other colleague still left in the building. Don´t pity him, he shouldn´t have been playing games during his work hours. I walked to my car unlocked the door. Once inside I immediately started the engine and prayed for the heating to wake up quickly. To my chagrin the hot air began blowing only half way home. At least Donghae will get to sit in the warm car. I turned left and parked in front of the recording studio. I didn´t have to wait for long.

“Hey, Hyukjae,” Donghae greeted and threw himself on the seat next to me.

“Close the door,” I told him because he was inviting the cold inside a vehicle that takes too long to warm up.

“Sorry,” he chuckled and started fidgeting with the seatbelt. I didn´t have enough patience to watch his fight and stepped on the pedal.

When Donghae was finally settled on his seat, he began talking about his day. I didn´t even have the urge to turn on the radio, it was nice to listen to his blabbering. Passing by a small Christmas tree in front of one of the shops, the topic naturally went to the advent.

“Oh, and this Saturday is the market in our park,” Donghae said.

This thing again. But you know, I already thought about it. To be honest, I didn´t have the guts to call Eunji again. Well, I did call her later to apologise and explain the misunderstanding but I didn´t invite her to the market. I didn´t propose any date because I felt like she would get only hurt because of me. But that didn´t mean I would go with Lee Donghae, not even if he was the last person in this stupid neighbourhood.

“You are going with that girl, aren´t you?” He asked me.

“Y-Yeah,” I lied. If I told him I was alone, he would force me to go with him.

“Good, then we might meet there. I´m going with Henry and his friends,” he chirped and wanted to just let go of the steering wheel and strangle him.

“Y-Yeah,” I couldn´t but answer awkwardly again. Donghae then continued talking about Christmas carols so I was left in my own messed up world.

Later that evening after the diner we met in our pyjamas in front of the TV. A random show was playing but I was unable to laugh like my companion. What was there to laugh about? Tomorrow I´ll sit at home like a bum and stuff my mouth with sweets and popcorn. At least I can just relax in the empty flat, it´s not like I had much time for myself in these past weeks. I can simply lie down and do nothing. Who needs to go out in this freaking cold to watch some crappy market? Me not!

“I´m so looking forward to tomorrow,” Donghae sprawled on the carpet suddenly said. His eyes didn´t leave the screen so I guess he was just talking to himself. Still I snorted.

“You aren´t?” Donghae turned to me with a confused face. “There will be lots of crafts and food stalls and even some animals form the zoo.” I was starting to feel really bad but I couldn´t tell that to Donghae, I didn´t want to lie again either. To be safe, I just focused back on the TV and ignored him. We didn´t return to the topic anymore.

Around eleven o´clock in the morning the bell rung. I went to open the door only to find there a boy I recognized as Henry and two girls I didn´t know. They looked cute and I quickly understood that they were Chinese. Well, it´s natural for Henry to have many foreign friends. They came to pick up Donghae so they could visit the market together. Two girls and two guys, isn´t that a double date? Someone is going to have a nice day, heh.

“Bye, Hyukjae!” Donghae ran through the hallway, jumping into his shoes on the way. Before I could even answer, he was already gone.

And now what? The house felt suddenly so empty and I couldn´t believe how boring my Saturday suddenly seemed. It was as if I was just a guest in someone else´s home. It wasn´t the first time I felt like this in my new apartment and I didn´t like it a bit. I shuffled into the living room and sat down on the sofa, I didn´t even bother switching on the TV. I just sat there looking into the wall.

“Choco!” I called for my puppy. The little dog lazily appeared in the doorway and I had to call some more for him to actually come to me. “Why are you like that? I thought you loved me unconditionally,” I whined and picked up the dog to put him on my lap. Choco my fingers but then only sprawled itself on me thighs and fell asleep. Choco, you traitor.

The time went by and it was already lunchtime but I didn´t feel like eating. I didn´t feel like anything at all. I kept imagining how much fun it must be to have a date on the market. It became even worse when I glanced out of the window and spotted a bunch of white snowflakes falling down on the street. Could it get any more romantic? The snow clouds caused the sky to darken but instead of depressing, it looked even better because the lights were now shining brightly. I want to go out.

Around two o´clock I called Sungmin. But the latter was already there with his fiancé and although I was invited, I didn´t want to feel like a third wheel. Then I tried to call Leeteuk but the answer was very similar, he was having a family gathering. As my last option I even messaged Kyuhyun and even there I got rejected. The idiot was sleeping this Saturday through after the all-nighter yesterday.

It was nearing three and I still didn´t have anyone to go with. The park wasn´t too far away from our apartment complex and when I opened the window, I could even hear the music playing. Give up, Hyukjae. Go and asked Donghae´s friends to take you with them. My inner voice couldn´t take it anymore and, indeed, soon I was standing in my coat and scarf in the hallway. I felt like a douchebag.

I was strolling through the park, leaving footprints in the thin layer of fresh snow. I was walking slowly until I reached the centre of the park where, as told, were standing many food stalls and stands with homemade scarves and hats, Christmas decorations or even traditional Korean crafts. There were four rows of the stalls, each into a different direction following the park pavements. In the middle, where the paths were meeting, was standing a beautiful Christmas tree decorated with red ribbons and colourful lights. I´m glad I decided to come.

I wanted to look around the stands a little but there was a huge crowd of people and it hard to get through to take a look. Soon I felt tired and a little annoyed. I didn´t mind people but I was sick of seeing all those couples, feeding each other the sweets or clearing their clothes from the falling snow. If I see one more romantic scene, I´m going to throw up. So I decided to take a small breather and jogged a little out of the market. I was looking for a bench where I could sit but the one I had in mind was already full. But no cute couple was kissing there but a man was sitting on the bench with his face in his palms. I got a little worried, lot of things happen before Christmas. It´s as if the feast itself was cursed. I went to check on the guy.

“Are you alright?” I asked when I reached him. I got startled since the guy´s head snapped and he was looking directly at me. “Donghae?”

“Hyukjae,” he breathed. I brushed off the snow from his head and shoulders.

“If you sit here like that, you will turn into a snowman,” I joked and Donghae chuckled, “where´s Henry?” I asked him confused. Why was he sitting there all sad and alone? Did they have a fight?

“They went to play but I didn´t feel like going with them. It´s no fun without you, Hyukjae,” he looked up at me like a child.

“I´m no fun either, you idiot,” I brushed through his hair to get rid of the rest of the snow.

“Nonsense,” he shook his head but then got reminded of something and kept glancing around me. “Where´s Eunji?” I thought I would have to make up a lie or stress myself over what to answer but Donghae made it easy for me. “Do you want to take a look together?” He smiled at me with excitement written all over his face.

“Yeah, I would like to.”

Hello! So here you have the next chapter! It´s longer as promised. I hope there will be some photos from Sungmin´s wedding - I´m so looking forward to it :D I´m so tired T_T and I still need to do so many things, aigoo. Thank you for reading and be careful of the weather! - PandaHero