For: summerdust

Partner: BTS' V

I hope you like it!

Apple snapped out of her daze when she felt a nudge from her friend, Yoojung, nudged her while snickering.

She turned to look at the back of the class where the class clown was doing his little pranks as usual. 

Taehyung shot spitballs at his best friend who was sitting in front of him and dancing on his chair whenever the professor wasn't looking. Typical Taehyung.

Apple giggled along with the rest of the class when the old professor turned around, making Taehyung flop back onto his seat with a straight face. When the professor started writing on the board, Taehyung made silly faces, making everyone, including himself, laugh.

Seeing his bright smile made her heart thump. He was the class clown, who skipped classes from time to time and went to the hottest parties but he was also the president of Yonsei's largest club who aced all of his classes and tutored students from time to time. All in all, he was the popular guy with a great personality, brain, and super good looks. Super good.

Every single girl on campus, even some freshmen, had a crush on the senior. Even Apple.

Apple blushed when she caught Taehyung's eye. Taehyung's goofy smile slipped as he stared at her, slightly intimidating her. Why is he staring at me like that? His smile came back when another one of his friend's pointed to something on his laptop.

"He looked mad!" Apple ranted to Yoojung as they grabbed some lunch. 

"He was not mad."

"Yes. He was." Apple grabbed a banana and huffed. "You should've seen his face. He was looking at me like I just spread a rumor that he can't sleep without his blankie he had since he was five!" 

Yoojung laughed. "You're overthinking again. There's no reason for him to do that. You barely know him."

"Sadly." Apple sat down with a sigh. "I've never seen him look so... so serious before."

"Well honey, you don't know his story." Yoojung took a bite of her donut. She lived off sugar-coated donuts. Apple was afraid she would die early of diabetes or something. But no matter how many times Apple warned her, Yoojung ate them saying she needed her daily dose of donut. 

"On a completely different note, I can't wait to go on our senior trip! Well, the first part anyway. That's the best part about Yonsei. The multiple number of senior trips throughout the year, the fact that they're all three nights and four days, and we don't have any of the professors with us! Just us seniors and a couple of counselors but what are the counselors going to do to stop us from partying all day and night?"

Apple laughed as Yoojung showed her enthusiasm by shaking her and dancing around the table. "Sit down! People are looking!" She hissed but couldn't hold in her laughter as Yoojung smacked her own .

"And hey, maybe you can talk to Taehyung. There will be times when he's not surrounded by his friends and there definitely won't be the swarm of junior bees that follow him everywhere. Gosh, they're annoying."

Yoojung sat back down. "I'll talk to Jimin and-"

"No! You're not going to do anything because I am not confronting him. He'll just glare at me and walk away before I can let out a peep."

Apple clenched her fists, cursing Yoojung in her head, as she and Taehyung awkwardly sat on the lift at the ski resort that was taking them to the highest slope. The ride would definitely take more than a minute.

Gosh, I should've known something was up when Yoojung pushed me to get on the lift. This specific one. How did she even get Jimin to convince Taehyung to too?

She internally groaned. All she could see in front of her was snow, snow, and more snow. The landing area was no where in sight. This is going to be a long ride.

Apple fidgeted in her seat, glancing at Taehyung who sat as still as a statue, facing forward. Ugh, why can't he just talk with me like he does with literally everyone else? You know, crack some jokes, make fun of some professors- whatever he jokes around about. 

She shut her eyes when a sudden gust of wind blew snow onto her already cold face. She looked down but couldn't see anyone riding down. Coincidentally, there was no one sitting in front of behind them. Just my luck.

Another big rush of wind made the lift swing back and forth, making her frown. There was no news about a storm all weekend. It was supposed to be a good day with clear skies, perfect for snowboarding. Apple frowned when the sky was gloomy.

There won't be a storm, right? It's probably because we're getting closer to the top.

They got off the lift. Apple almost fell onto her face when she tripped on a stump that was in the way. She got up to see Taehyung gliding away and scoffed. "Thanks for helping," she mumbled with a scowl before following him. 

Something was off. No one was up there. No one.

Apple squinted her eyes as the winds grew, trying to see what was in front of her. She tried to do her best to ride down without losing Taehyung. She wasn't the best snowboarder which was why she hoped Yoojung would come along but no. Her friend decided to abandon her, leaving her with someone she couldn't ask for help to. 

The snow started blocking her view of where she was going. She wished she brought her goggles. Apple started to panic when she didn't see the head of black hair anymore. "."

Should I call for him? Before she could, she felt herself falling forward, down a hill.

Taehyung skidded to a stop when he heard a scream. He looked back and cursed when he couldn't see her anywhere. The snow hitting his face wasn't helping. 

He had been riding down, glancing back to check if she was still following him, hoping she wouldn't fall but now he couldn't find her. "Apple! Apple!" He took unstrapped himself from the board and kept yelling her name.

I should've rode behind her.

Taehyung stopped when he heard her call his name. "Apple!" He followed her weak voice until he saw her down a hill on the side, lying next to a tree and a broken board.

He ran down and crouched down. "Oh my god. Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Apple didn't reply but Taehyung knew by the way she was clutching onto her leg. "Can't you see? Do you not have eyes? You should've just followed me down or started walking if you couldn't see! Why did you come up here when you're not that good anyway?"

Apple stared at him in shock. The pain shooting up her leg didn't bother her as much anymore. "T-Taehyu-"

"Now look at you, all cold and hurt." He unlocked his phone but there was no signal. "Damn it." He shoved his phone back into his pocket.

Apple's mouth hung open. This was the first time, in the four years she knew him, she saw him get angry. He was yelling. This was very unlike the childish, happy-go-lucky Taehyung she witnessed at school.

She gasped when Taehyung picked her up with his arms under her back and the back of her knees. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck when he started walking. "W-What about our boards-"

"That's not important right now."

The cold tone in his voice shut her up. The walk down was cold and quiet until he spoke up, softly. "Sorry for yelling at you."

Apple bit her lower lip. "It's okay."

"Just be careful next time. Or tell me you need help, okay?"

She looked up and gulped when she made eye contact with him. She had a thought that he looked like a god up close before replying with a soft "okay."

The seniors were all whispers when they witnessed Taehyung walking out from the snow with Apple in his arms.

Yoojung rushed up to them in worry. "Where were you guys? We were all worried sick. There was a warning of a storm right after you guys got on the lift."

Taehyung excused himself to take her to the infirmary. To Apple's surprise, Taehyung stayed there until the sun went down. 

The only sound in the infirmary was the beeping of the monitor placed next to her bed. 

"Thanks for helping me today, Taehyung. You can go back now. I can stay here by myself." Apple could tell he was tired but was kind of glad that Yoojung was busy with the other students. 

"If you're going to stay here, at least make some jokes to make me laugh?" Apple suggested with a soft laugh, making Taehyung look at her. 

His serious face scared her again. 

"But you don't like immature people."

"What?"

"You once told Yoojung that you hate immature people. You hate loud places and obnoxious people. That's why you don't go to parties."

Apple blinked at him. "How did you... Is that why you don't joke around when I'm around?"

Taehyung looked away. A smile crept up her face as her heart warmed up. "But you still prank the professors in classes we have together."

He shrugged. "I can't stop myself from being me all the time."

"Why do you stop? Who cares if I don't like it?" 

Taehyung didn't say anything for a minute. Then he mumbled, "Becauseiwantyoutolikeme."

Apple breathed out her nose, "What?" 

"I want you to like me."

Apple stopped breathing.

"Because I like you."

That did it. She felt like her heart was going to explode any second.

Taehyung finally faced her, looking unusually nervous. "If it's too burdensome, pretend you didn't hear anything. Forget everything I said-"

Apple sat up and hugged him so quickly, she didn't feel the pain in her leg until after she rested her head on his shoulder. "Ow..."

Taehyung pulled back and made her lie down again with a concerned face. "Be careful. The nurse said not to move so suddenly until-"

"You don't have to worry."

"But the nurse sa-"

"I like you too."

Taehyung's eyebrows finally uncreased and he smiled at her. "You do?"

Apple nodded. "And I may not like parties and loud people, but I like you for you. So you don't have to stop yourself."

As soon as she said that, Taehyung relaxed and went back to his normal self. Apple noticed the glint of playfulness return to his eyes and smiled. "You actually can't joke around me because you lose your breath whenever you see me, right?"

Taehyung scoffed, "As if." But the smile on his face told her that she was right.