Intae

Huh. She's not picking up her phone for once, thought Intae as he tried calling Hyeji for the third time. Snow fell in soft, tiny flakes as winter had already arrived. Something must be up. Should I go check on her...? He had been walking around the park for around half an hour already, enjoying the winter coldness, and he wanted to meet up with Hyeji. But, seeing that she apparently didn't want to be contacted, he decided to just leave the park and go see her himself.

As he was about to leave, though, he suddenly saw Hyeji sitting alone under a low-branched tree. Smiling in relief, he was about to call her until he saw her face. Her eyes were tinted a very light red, so was her nose. She was huddled up underneath the tree, obviously trying to hide herself from everyone. "Hyeji? What happened to you?" he asked in alarm, crouching down next to her. "You shouldn't be sitting around in the snow like this!"

When Hyeji looked up, she saw Intae and tried to smile. "Ah, it's nothing," she replied briefly, wiping away her non-existent tears out of habit. "Today's just not a very good day for me."

"Why? What happened?" Intae put his arm around her and patted her back. 

Shaking her head, Hyeji smiled at herself yet again. I don't want to tell him this now, she thought, sighing. "A few things just went wrong, that's all. Nothing big."

Intae raised an eyebrow at her doubtfully. ".. are you sure?"

"Yes. Most definitely."

"Okay.."

After that, all was silent for a while. They could hear the snowflakes falling, the children playing in the distance, the talking couples who passed by. That was until Hyeji's phone started ringing.

"Oh, sorry. It's my mom.."

"Sure, go ahead," replied Intae, smiling a little.

Hyeji smiled back, and proceeded to answer the call. "Yes?" she said into the receiver as she flipped open her phone.

"Hyeji!" her mother's voice came chiming in through the speaker. "You have to come home, we're gonna go dress shopping!"

"D-dr--" Hyeji cut herself off as she remembered that Intae was still here. "Oh, that. Yeah, I'll be there."

"Hurry! We don't have all day you kn--"

Hyeji couldn't hear the rest of her mother's words as she had already closed her phone shut. She turned to Intae and pouted. "My mom's making me do stuff for her at home, so I have to go~" she lied convincingly. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Intae nodded. "Okay then. Do you want me to call you, or.."

"No! I mean--" she took a deep breath. "No, that's fine." She got up and dusted off the snow from her clothes, and waved. "Bye."

"Bye," said Intae as she walked away. 

Something's up. I know there is.