Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Krystal swallowed the lump in and forced out a “What?”

Minhyuk threw his hands up in the air, a little frustrated. “I said I used to like Shinhye.”

A thousand questions were flying in Krystal’s mind, but the only one she asked was, “She was the only one you liked?”

“Well, no,” he admitted. “I used to like this girl named Lee Bona, but she rejected my confession because she liked this other guy named Yoon Chanyoung.”

Eyes bouncing from place to place to Minhyuk and back, Krystal dared to ask, “Oh. So, did you ever confess to Shinhye?”

Krystal wasn’t sure why she was relieved when he shook his head. “No, when I realized I liked her, she was dating Yonghwa hyung who was a great guy. And when they broke up, I didn’t have enough courage to confess. Soon afterwards, she was dating another guy named Yoon Shiyoon, and my affection faded away pretty quickly, so…” he trailed off, expecting Krystal to understand his unspoken words, and she did.

An awkward silence settled between them, and upon an unspoken agreement, they both began to busy themselves with their work, exchanging only quick glances. They didn’t speak again until Krystal felt tired and looked at her phone to find out it was nearly 8.

“Uh, Minhyuk,” she began awkwardly, “I- I need to go now since it’s 8.”

He looked up with owlishly eyes and checked his watch to see that it indeed was 8. “Oh, yeah, we should go now.” He stood up and stretched before rubbing his bottom. “My feels so sore,” he grumbled, causing Krystal to giggle.

“Mine does too,” she said lightly in order to ease the awkward atmosphere between them. It seemed to work because he smiled at her.

They left the library together and were battered by the chilly November wind. Shivering and teeth chattering, Krystal griped, “I hate winter.”

“Here.” Minhyuk handed her his jacket, which she stared at in surprise.

“Oh, no, I can’t-”

Before she could finish refusing, he stepped closer and began to put it onto her, so she reluctantly went along, a fierce blush heating up her cheeks and her heart feeling as if it’d jump out of her chest.

When he stepped back, he looked out into the school courtyard. “I actually really like winter.” Then he looked pensive. “Actually, no, I only like it because of the holidays, but I don’t like the weather,” he corrected himself.

“Oh, I like the holidays too. I actually love them. I just really, really, really hate the cold,” Krystal emphasized. She couldn’t stop herself from snuggling into the warmt