"Annyeong, oppa." You greet Heechul as he joins you in the gazebo in the school garden. 

Since the two of you were practically the only ones left on campus, you had been spending a lot of time together, even though you had said you were going to read. After the first day of break, he insisted that you were not to be as formal with him anymore, and that you should call him 'oppa'. That took you a little while to get used to, but now you could say it with almost no difficulty. 

"Annyeong. What are you reading this time? Another cookbook?" He looked at your book, slightly amused by the fact that you were reading something when you should be studying.

"It's not another cookbook. I can't cook. Anyways, I was actually thinking about giving this book to Prince. I think he might enjoy it."

Heechul's face fell slightly. "Oh. When will you see him so that you can give it to him?"

You stare wistfully out at the garden that's covered in snow. "I don't think I'll be able to give it to him until after the New Year. He's still in China."

"He won't be coming to visit you?"

"Aniyo. He can't." You sigh heavily, catching his attention. "I feel kind of lonely without him here."

Heechul was silent for a moment, so you glanced over at him. You were about to speak when he made a sudden declaration. "Then I suppose we'll have to do something so that you don't feel lonely anymore."

One second, you were sitting, the next, he had pulled you up with him. You grabbed your bag hurriedly as the two of you began to race across campus. 

Near the dorms, he slowed down. "Put your books back, and grab your purse. We're going to have some fun." You quickly agreed, then separated so that each of you could get ready.

Ten minutes later, you met him where you had parted. "What are we doing?"

He seemed to think about that for a moment. "That's going to be a surprise. Follow me."

You did as he asked, only to find yourself in front of a mall some time later. Inside, you went into various stores. You looked at clothing, toys, shoes, bags, and even some things you couldn't quite identify. You picked out a few gift items for your family, and one for Prince as you browsed the shops with Heechul. 

"Hey, why don't you look for something to wear to the party while we're here?" He suggested as you gazed at a dress in a window.

"That sounds like a good idea. Shall we start here?" You gestured toward the store.

He nodded, pulling you toward the dress racks along the left wall. Together, you begin to pick out dresses that you could possibly wear to the semi-formal party. 

You tried on dress after dress, none of them getting approval from both of you. You had moved on to the next store, and halfway through, Heechul decided that he would help you decide by putting dresses on as well. The two of you spent the next hour laughing at not only some of the dress options, but some of the comments each of you would make about them. 

Three shops later, you had worn out most of your options in the mall. As you were about to leave, Heechul asked you to try on one more dress. The dress had a beige undertone, and royal blue lace covering it from top to bottom. It was beautiful, so you agreed to his request. 

"Come out, already!" He sounded a little irritated that you hadn't come out yet.

Taking a steadying breath, you stepped out of the changing room and into view. After a moment of complete silence, you looked up to see Heechul staring. 

"What do you think?"

That seemed to snap him out of the trance he was in. He flushed slightly as he realized he was staring. "Oh. It... it's amazing. You're stunning. I think we found your dress for the party."

You turned toward the mirrors, finally seeing yourself in the dress. It hugged your body in all the right places, and made you feel beautiful. There weren't many dresses that could make you feel like that, so you had to agree with him. This was your dress for the holiday party. 

You bought the dress, and left the store.

"Would you like to get lunch now?" Heechul caught your arm as he steered you to a table. "Wait here. I'll get something for us."

"Alright. Thank you." You replied quickly before he moved away from you.

Your phone dinged with a new message.

Are you having fun?

Oppa seemed to always know you now. 

Neh. I found my dress for the holiday party. It's pretty. You should see it.

I'm sure I will. I bet you'll look beautiful.

Thank you, Oppa. Will I see you there?

I'm always around. Sometimes you just can't see what's in front of you.

That message confused you. 

What do you mean?

Don't worry about it. Have fun, and I'll talk to you soon.

"Are you alright?" You realized that you had zoned out for a while.

"Ah. It's nothing." Smiling up at him, you accepted the food he offered.

After lunch, the two of you left the mall to head back to the campus. It was still early, and you didn't quite want to go back to the dorms, but Heechul seemed to have more ideas for the day. He walked back toward the gazebo again, talking about your lessons that had been pushed off. After a few minutes, your mind wandered, and you found that you suddenly had the urge to throw a snowball at him. You slowed down, carefully reached down to pick up some snow, and packed it into a ball.

Bracing yourself, you threw it at him, slightly satisfied when you heard the thud against his back. The satisfaction was only momentary though, as Heechul turned around to look at you. You were unsure of the look on his face, but decided it would be better to run when he reached down to make a snowball of his own.

Within minutes, you were deeply engaged in the snowball fight. He would chase you around so that he could throw them at you, but you managed to duck behind some bushes or a tree most of the time. You would make another snowball while you hid behind cover, then had to run as the projectile missed, and he was chasing you again. 

After three hours of the intense snowball fight, Heechul finally caught you. He snuck around the opposite side of the tree you had been hiding behind, and when you started running, he had resorted to tackling you into the soft snow.

You both sat up, laughing at the sight of each other. Your hair was covered in snow and water, with snow covering your clothing from top to bottom. Heechul didn't look any better, his hair stuck out on one side from the last snowball that you had thrown, and he was covered in snow and water, as well.

Instinctively, you reached out to pat his hair back into place as he did the same for you. Your eyes met for a split second, and the world seemed to stand still. You realized that you didn't want that day to end. You didn't want to have to stop having fun with him, you didn't want to go back to being the student he mentored. You wished that, maybe, if the world would stand still for just a moment longer, maybe it would be alright to like Heechul even if it was for just a few seconds.