When I opened my eyes in the morning,something was different.

It was the light.It was still grey-green light of cloudy day in the forest but it was clearer somehow.I realized there was no fog veiling my window.

I jumped up to look inside and then groaned in horror. a fine layer of snow covered the yard,dusted the top of my car and whitened the road.But that wasn't the worst part.All the rain from yesterday had frozen,coating the leaves on the tree in fantastic,gorgeous patterns and making the driveway a deadly ice slick.

My fatajer had left work before I got downstairs.In a lot of ways,living with my father was like having my own place and I found myself reveling in the aloneness instead of being lonely.

I only ate a bowl of cereal and drank some pomegranate juice from the carton.I felt excited to go to school and that scared me.I knew it wasn't the stimulating learning environment.I was anticipating of seeing my friends.If I want to be honest,I was eager to get to school because I would see Jang Hyunseung and that was really stupid.

I should be avoiding him entirely after my brainless and embarrassing babbling yesterday.And I was suspicious of him,why would he lie about his eyes?I was still frightened of the hostility.I felt something emanating from him and I was still tongue-tied whenever I saw his flawless,perfect face or his gorgeous smile.

Driving to school,I distracted myself from thinking about Jang Hyunseung by thing thinking about Jason and Chunji and the obvious difference in how teenage boys responded to me here.I was sure I looked exactly the same as I had in Tokyo.Maybe it was just that the boys back home had watched me pass slowly through all the awkward phases of adolescense and still thought about me that way.Whatever the reason, Jason puppy like behavior and Chunji apparent rivalry with him were disconcerting.If I was to choose whose the most handsome guy in school,obviously it will be Jang Hyunseung.

My car seemed to have no problem with the ice that covered the roads.I drove very slowly though not wanting to carve a path of destruction through the main street.

When I got out of my car,I saw why I'd had so little trouble.Something silver caught my eye and I walked to the back of the car-carefully holding the side for support-to examine my tires.There were thin chains criss crossed in diamond shapes around them.My fatager had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on my car.My throat suddenly felt tight.I wasn't used to being taken care of and my father's unspoken concern caught me by surprise.

I was standing in the back corner of my sar,struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on when I heard an odd sound.

It was a high pitched screech and it was fast becoming painfully loud.I looked up,startled.

I saw several things silmutaneously.Nothing was moving in slow motion,the way it does in the movies.Instead the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much faster than usual and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once.

Jang Hyunseung was standing three cars down from me,staring at me in horror.His face stood out from a sea of faces,all frozen in the same mask of shock.But of more immediate importance was the silver Hilux that w as skidding,tires locked and squealing against the brakes,spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lots.It was going to hit the back corner of my car and I was standing between them.I didn't have time to close my eyes.I'm gonna crash.That was my last thought.

Just before I heard the shattering sound of the Hilux around my car,something hit me but not from he direction I was expecting.My head crack against the icy road and I felt something solid and cold pinning me to the ground.I was lying on the pavement behind the yellow car I'd parked next too.But I didn't have chance to notice anything else because the Hilux was still coming.It was still spinning and sliding and was about to collide with me again.

A low swear made me aware that someone was with me and the voice was not impossible to recognize.Two long white hands shot out protectively in front of me and the Hilux shuddered to stop a foot from my face,the large hands fitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the car body.

Then his hands moved so fast that they blurred.One was suddenly gripping under the body of the Hilux and something was dragging me,swinging my legs around like a ragdolls till they hire the tire of the yellow car.A groaning metallic thuf my ears and the Hilux settled,glass popping onto the asphalt-exactlt where a second ago NY legs had been.

It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began.In the abrupt bedlam, I could hear more than one person shouting my name.But more clearly than all the yelling,I could hear Jang Hyunseung's velvet but frantic voice in my ear.

"Hyuna?Are you alright?Can you hear me?"

"I'm fine."My voice sounded almost strange.I tried to sit up and realized that he was holding me against the side of his body in an iron grip.

"Be careful."he warned as I struggle."I think you hit your head pretty hard."

I became aware of a throbbing ache centered above my left ear.

"Ow!"I said,surprised.

"That's what I thought."His voice,amazingly sounded like he was suppressing laughter.

"How in the....."I trailed off,trying to clelar my head."How did you get here so fast?"

"I was standing right next to you,Hyuna."he said,his voice serious again.

I turned to sit up and this time he let me,releasing his hold around my waist and sliding as far as he could in the limited space.I looked at his concerned,innocent expression and was disoriented by the force of his golden colored eyes.What was I asking him?

And then they found us,a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces shouting at us.

"Don't move."someone instructed.

"Get Key out of the Hilux."someone else shouted.

There was a flurry of activity around us.I tried to get up but Hyunseung's cold hand pushed my shoulder down.

"Jus stay put from now."

"But it's cold."I complained.It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath.There was an edge to the sound.

"You were over there."I suddenly remembered and his chuckle stopped short."You were by your car."

His expression turned hard."No,I wasn't."

"I saw you."All around us was chaos.I could hear the gruffer voice of adults arriving in the scene.But I obstinately held onto our argument;I was right and he was going to admit it.

"Hyuna,I was standing near you and I pulled you out of the way."He unleashed the full devastating power of his eyes on me,as if trying to communicate something crucial.

"No."I set my jaw.

The golden in his eyes blazed."Please Hyuna."

"Why?"I demanded.

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