Jongin jolted awake as he buzzing alarm went off, signaling that he was just dreaming and reality was waiting for its turn to play with his mind. Groaning in defeat, he turned it off and rolled over to sneak in a few more minutes before someone came in to wake him up. Monday's weren't his thing.

 

"Good morning, sunshine," Taemin greeted as he walked into the younger's bedroom and the light. So much for another minute.

 

"Too ing early," Jongin complained. Taemin was such a morning person that it physically, mentally, and spiritually pained Jongin. "Turn the light off, I'm going to melt."

 

"Do you know what today is?" Taemin asked as he hopped on top of his brother. Jongin turned to give his brother a puzzling look.

 

"It's too early to think, let alone speak."

 

"It's has to do with Key and Sehun," he responded happily. Jongin thought back to their most recents conversations and nothing rang a bell. "It's something we do the last week of school before winter break."

 

"Oh," was all he said as he slowly began to realize what day it was. "Our yearly skip day."

 

"Don't get too excited now," Taemin teased as he pinched Jongin. The younger yelped as he scrambled out of bed and his hip hard on the hardwood floor. "And don't forget to cover that thing on your neck."

 

"I'm gonna kill you."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Hey, hey, Jongin," Sehun bothered as he poked his best friend sitting next to him in the backseat of Taemin's car. "Guess what!?"

 

"Hyeri agreed to go on a date with you?" Sehun smiled widely and nodded. He was truly infatuated with her it made Jongin feel happy for him.

 

"We talked the whole time at the party until the lights went out and Seolhyun told her to go home," Sehun explained. Jongin's memory sparked to the dream he had and his stomach began to churn at the images that flashed across his mind.

 

"Why did Seolhyun tell her to go home? Did she take a separate car?" Jongin nonchalantly asked, but he wasn't completely sure he wanted to know the answer given how his dream played out.

 

"Oh, apparently Hyunsik offered her a ride so she left with him," he replied just as nonchalantly. The lump in Jongin's throat disappeared when he realized that she wasn't going home with Kyungsoo. "Yah, are we almost there?"

 

"We're here," Key replied from the passenger seat as he unbuckled.

 

"Finally, food," Sehun responded as they all hopped out of the car and made way for the café. It was slightly busy, but it was their tradition to skip one day before school was out and get breakfast somewhere further out from where they live then go out to a park to let the winter games begin.

 

Key led them towards the back where an empty booth was waiting for them while Taemin went to order their food at the register. The place brought back memories for Jongin, literally. He could finally remember all the way back to their first time initiating the Winter Skip Day to the one where Sehun was sick and had to stay home and texted them all the whole time to complain about being "abandoned".

 

"Ah, it's good to see our names have stayed here," Key said while the boys stripped of their winter coats and looked over their scribbled names on the wall. "People had the decency to not write over ours."

 

"You say that each year we come here," Sehun pointed out. Key rolled his eyes and looked at his brother.

 

"Maybe it's because a lot can happen over a year and some could come and decide to write over ours even though we were the ones to start this trend. The wall is pretty full now, too," he sassed Sehun. Jongin just ignored the two as usual and looked over the names on the wall to see which ones were new. Then he found one. One he had seen before but now knew. One that made his heart beat funny. Zhang Yixing written in Chinese and Korean.

 

"Jongin?" Taemin asked from out of nowhere. "Is everything okay? Did you remember something?" Jongin had zoned out as he stared at Yixing's name and not even realized it until Taemin said something.

 

"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded indifferently as he reached for his cup of hot chocolate and took a sip.

 

"Jongin?" A voice called. The younger looked around until he found the source and his heart began to ache in a painful way, something close to a longing. "I thought you were sick," Yixing said in a hurt tone that sent a stabbing pain in Jongin's heart.

 

"It's okay, the rest of the world thinks we are all sick besides our parents. It's something we do every year," Taemin explained before taking a sip of his coffee.

 

"Oh," was all he said as he stood their kind of awkwardly. Jongin wanted to apologize for lying but he didn't feel like he needed to explain himself since Taemin already did.

 

"Would you like to join us?" Key offered, receiving a dirty look from Jongin.

 

"Yeah, you should if you're not busy," Sehun piped in with a nod from Taemin. Jongin just sat there and stared at the elder who was waiting for a response from him as to weather or not he could. Jongin nodded slightly, feeling unsure of what he was doing, but the bright smile on his face made his clouded mind clear again.

 

"Okay, sure," Yixing agreed then began to look for a spot to sit. The booth was rather large, but he looked at Sehun and Taemin sitting on the outer sides and couldn't figure out which one he'd be more comfortable sitting next to.

 

"I'll move," Sehun quickly offered then moved to sit next to Taemin and Key, leaving a wide open space next to a nervous Jongin. Yixing smiled gently and slid into the booth close to Jongin. Key, Sehun, and Taemin all smiles widely at the couple across from them, making Jongin blush a bright shade of red.

 

"Food's ready!" Taemin said as the buzzer went crazy and flashed. "Sehun and Key, come with me," he demanded as he rushed out of the booth to leave the two alone.

 

"Do you live out here? This is quite a drive from my house," the younger asked quickly to cover the silence.

 

"Actually, yes, I do. I live about five minutes away from here. I come here on my off days to get coffee," he explained as he turned to face the nervous wreck.

 

"Oh... But why do you insist on getting hot chocolate with me at the end of the day instead of just dropping me off and driving straight home? Aren't you tired?"

 

"I don't mind, I just want to help you get back close to how you were before the accident and I find that when we reflect on the day, you unwind a bit easier and open up more. I like it when it's just us," he answered gingerly. The last part made Jongin feel giddy but that quickly turned when he thought back to his dream and then back to Friday night. Nothing would ever be like how it was before the accident, Jongin just couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

 

"I'm sorry," Jongin whispered as he leaned his head down on the elder's shoulder. The reality of Friday night smacked him in the face, making him feel guilty for seeing Kyungsoo and everything that happened.

 

"For what?" he asked softly as he rubbed circles on the back of Jongin's hand.

 

"I went to the party Friday night and I saw Kyungsoo... I'm sorry I didn't stay away," he answered lowly, regretfully. Yixing tensed but never stopped rubbing soothing circles. Jongin felt sick to his stomach as images of the dream and his Friday night replayed over and over.

 

"I just want you safe."

 

"I feel safest with you," Jongin whispered. That feeling in his dream came back and soothed his nerves. Yixing was so sincere, so genuine, and for whatever reason Jongin had to go and test the waters with Kyungsoo.

 

"Food is here!" Sehun boomed as he slid into the booth first. Jongin sat up quickly, reaching for his plate of food and pretending like the others didn't notice his and Yixing's closeness.

 

"Did you want something? I can go back and order something for you if you'd like," Taemin offered, still standing up just in case Yixing did want food.

 

"Oh, no thank you. I ate at home, I just come here for coffee," he replied with a grateful smile. Taemin nodded then sat down and began to chow down with the others.

 

"What did you eat?" Jongin wondered out loud.

 

"A piece of toast," he responded indifferently as he sipped his iced coffee. Jongin moved his big plate of food to sit between them and handed him another fork.

 

"You're gonna need a lot more than that of you want to hang with us today. Trust me," he warned as he egged the elder on to share his food.

 

"I wasn't going to intrude on you guys the whole day. I'll be fine."

 

"Well, too bad. I'm dragging you with us," Jongin retorted as he stabbed a piece of chicken and held it to the elder's mouth.

 

"Believe me, we never invite anyone. It's kind of a big deal," Sehun added in. Yixing took the bite and looked at Sehun warily.

 

"What are you guys even doing?" Yixing asked with a quirked eyebrow and a look around the table. The others just smiled widely and began to stuff their faces.

 

"You'll see," was all Jongin said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Are you guys going to kill me?" Yixing asked whenever Taemin parked in a vacant lot of a run down building towards the outer end of town.

 

"Maybe," Key said with a shrug before opening the car door. Sehun and Jongin both chuckled then filed out as well. Cautiously, Yixing got out of the car and stood next to Jongin.

 

Taemin and Key led the way across the street to the snowy forest of trees. A wired fence blocked off the land along with a "No Trespassing" sign that the boys so easily ignored. Yixing looked unsure about them breaking the rules, but Jongin gripped his hand and dragged him along.

 

"Trust me, if we wanted to kill you, we would've done so back in the car," he chirpily said as he trekked behind Sehun. The trees looked welcoming with the sparkling snow covering the leaves and the trackless ground smoothed to perfection with white snow. "Relax," Jongin whispered once Yixing had finally crossed the fence and made it into the forbidden land.

 

Once again, Jongin grabbed his hand and held it as they walked together behind all the others that were happily chatting about all the crazy times from the past.

 

"You do know this is against my contract, right? I'm not supposed to hold hands with you," he whispered but kept their hands clasped together.

 

"You do know you're not working so I'm not your client today," Jongin whispered back with a hand squeeze. "Today we are hanging out as friends."

 

"Friends. Heh, I've never had any friends that I did this stuff with," Yixing responded before a small load of snow fell into his face, beanie, and scarf. The top of his beanie, his nose and chin, and the area right below his face on his scarf were all dusted white. Jongin chuckled as he looked at the surprised man next to him. Looking him over, he was quite intrigued with the way his cheeks were rosy from the weather, his eyebrows a dark contrast from his pale skin, and lips almost as pink as his cheeks, and his face now covered by the sparkling snow.

 

"Just my luck," he said complained before brushing off himself.

 

"You're adorable," Jongin whispered softly as he watched Yixing fix himself back to normal. Luckily, the elder didn't hear because he was side tracked, but Jongin felt good just saying it even so.

 

"Ah, here we go! That's what's up," Sehun exclaimed when they reached the empty park and field of snow. It was the perfect battle ground. "Alright, everybody ready for this? Taemin, you give the signal this first round."

 

"Ready for what?" Yixing asked as Jongin let go of his hand and began making a dash to somewhere far off behind a short brick wall.

 

"Snowball fight!" Key explained as he ran off in another direction. "Everyone plays or we all gang up on you!"

 

"Object of the game is to be the o my one that didn't get hit. You get hit and you're out for the round," Taemin said before running away.

 

"Oh lord, I'm not prepared!" he whined before taking off in another direction away from the others.

 

The places were set, everyone began making their ammunition behind their hiding posts and waited for the signal Taemin was to give.  Yixing felt his heart beat quicken in anticipation. He hadn't had a snowball fight in over a decade, this fight was going to be fun.

 

When the signal was given everyone peeked out and began tossing at one another. Yixing quickly picked up that Key had a good pitching arm while Jongin's ducking reflexes were on point.

 

Taemin was the first one out given he happened to be the closest to Key, then it was Sehun who was taken out by Yixing. Jongin was out by Key, leaving only Key and Yixing left behind.

 

Key got out from his post and moved close to Yixing, waiting for him to peek out but the elder was smart and crawled to another area without being detected. Yixing popped up quickly and hit Key right in the chest.

 

"Wow. First time and you won," Sehun commented. "I'll get you next time." But he never did any of the next eleven rounds.

 

The next Winter Game was seeing who could go the longest without their jacket. It was a rather stupid game, but they loved being stupid while they were still young. Then, tree climbing was next. Given that the trees were a bit slippery, it was always a challenge and many times the boys got aggravated that they couldn't make it up high, but it was rather funny to watch the struggle from down below which added more fuel to the fire of annoyance to the climber.

 

Hours had passed and the sun was showing signs of setting so the boys began to make their way back to the abandoned building. Yixing smiled and bounced the whole way back while holding Jongin's hand comfortably.

 

"Did you have fun today?" Jongin questioned as he watched the elder beam from ear to ear.

 

"Haha yeah. Sehun is so accident prone it's hilarious," he said with a chuckle. Jongin's abs hurt from laughing so much, he wondered if Yixing felt the same way, but he didn't want to ask considering Jongin caught a glimpse of the elder's lower abs when he took off his sweatshirt during the second game. "So this is why you guys skipped? To play around?"

 

"It's our last time to relax before all hell breaks loose from exams and holiday festivities. That's why our parents are willing to let us go, because they know that if we get all our play time out now, we won't want to call it quits during the winter rush."

 

"Seems reasonable," Yixing thoughtfully responded. "Where are we going now?"

 

Taemin went to the trunk of his car and pulled out a two grocery bags before slamming it shut then walking towards the building.

 

"To the rooftop to watch the sunset and build a small fire," Key explained as he walked next to the two, giving Jongin a small nudge to indicate that he saw the hand holding before he ed.

 

"You build a fire on the roof?" Yixing wondered in amazement.

 

"It's a grill that we keep up there. Something cheap but durable just in case somebody decides to rebuild this place," Sehun explained.

 

Once they made it through the dark and slightly creepy building, the boys rejoiced as they finally reached the rooftop that was high enough to look out over the city. The sun had begun to set and lights in the city buzzed to life.

 

"Bulgogi, anyone?" Taemin asked as he fired up the grill and began to cook right away. Sehun's nodded like crazy considering they only eat bulgogi four times a year. "And samkyupsal?" Jongin nearly jumped up and down when he said that. It was his personal favorite.

 

"So you guys just eat dinner and talk up here?" Yixing asked as he helped clear up the snow to make a spot they could all sit down on.

 

"Yeah, pretty much. We talk about our plans for the future and crazy that happened all throughout the past year so far," Jongin explained. "May not be fancy, but we just like to keep away from crowds and enjoy what's left of our time together."

 

They all nodded in agreement and began talking about old times and stupid stuff they did. Yixing didn't say much, but he didn't have many experiences like them, other than the few he made in Seoul when he was in college. He enjoyed just watching the way the teased each other and hearing the laugh wholeheartedly, it made him feel alive.

 

Jongin felt at ease with everyone, remembering all the good times and worst. That time when Key first went on a date with Jonghyun and ended up having to clean dishes because neither of them brought their wallets to the time Taemin got beat up by Hyoyeon when he was nine for saying she couldn't dance. It felt amazing to finally remember, but then when Taemin brought up Seolhyun his stomach involuntarily churned. He needed to tell someone this dream, but the only person he could trust was the one it would hurt the most because he'd have to explain why he was so hurt the way he was.

 

Jongin watched as Yixing went to help Taemin cook and the two boys began to bond. It was refreshing to see Taemin finally accept someone that Jongin likes, even if he didn't know his baby brother liked Yixing.

 

Sehun scooted closer to Jongin and watched him up close watch the two with a dreamy look in his eye. "You know, as much as you and I both approved of Kyungsoo, Yixing has proved to be more of a caring man than him."

 

"But why did I have to give in to Kyungsoo?" Jongin whined a little as he turned to face the younger.

 

"Because we all have to make a mistake before realizing the price of what we have is worth so much more than a passing fancy."

 

"I don't know who I want more," Jongin defeatedly admitted.

 

"It's not about want, it's about who you can be yourself with and trust more. Who can you be best friends with? Who can you trust to only have eyes for you?" Key explained as he scooted closer to the other side of Jongin. "In the end, the priceless things in life never leave unless we send them away."