"Taeminnie," I hear Minho's voice, faint, so distant, and I turn around, feeling the snow get crushed beneath my feet. Nothing. I couldn't find him, even though I was searching, wanting to find him, and even though I knew he was looking for me, too. It was like he was hiding from me, and it frightened me, shook me to the core and I was feeling weak. 

"Minho!" I scream, frustration flying out of my lips. I hated it. I hated being on Earth without him. 

But then I feel a cold hand grasp me on the arm, the pain that came with the touch overwhelming me, and even though I shivered, I turn around and hugged him, more relieved than I ever have been. Even though I hated the cold feeling, despised it and tried to run from it, I don't now. It felt weird for me to realize that I no longer hated the feeling that his touch gave, but loved it instead. Because recieving that painfully cold feeling meant that Minho was with me, and even if I would have to feel it all the time, I wouldn't mind, as long as he's with me. 

"Taeminnie, what's wrong?" he whispers, kissing my forehead in that way he usually does, hugging me tightly, worry so evident in his voice that it made me shiver. "Why are you crying?" 

I wipe the tears that I hadn't noticed were streaming down my face, and I look up to see his face: his dark blue eyes, his pale complexion, his plump, soft lips. And I smile at him, simply happy that he was there, happy that he wasn't leaving me.. or at least, not yet. "Nothing. I just thought I wasn't seeing you this year." 

He's silent for a very long moment, and I hear him gulp. But then he just says, "I won't leave you. I'll never leave you." 

I bury my face in his chest and listen to the thumping of his heartbeat, and I smile when I remember what his voice had echoed when he disappeared last year. I love you, Taeminnie. I shiver again, and he chuckles before he squeezes me in his arms. We stay like that for a very long moment, appreciating each other's presence, sharing warmth and inhaling scents. Before he gently pushes me away but holds my hand. 

"I've missed you," he says, his voice cracking with sadness, his eyes suddenly filling with tears. I realize that I was wrong, I realize that the fear I had when I couldn't find him was not the worst thing I had ever experienced. I realize that seeing Minho's tears was. 

"I've missed you, too..," I mumble, surprised. I didn't want him to cry. If he cries, I would cry, too. And I don't want to cry. "Minho, don't cry," I say, feeling my eyes tear up, too. I try to blink the tears away, and after a few moments of struggling, I finally manage to remove them. 

He chuckles. "Sorry, Taeminnie. I just thought of something horrible.. and terrifying." 

I force a smile as I nod. He squeezes my hand as he shows the blue flower that he held gently in his hand, smiling. I grin at him as I tap the icy crown he created on my head as a gift with my finger, and he chuckles. 

"The painting you left for me.. I have it hidden somewhere," I say, a sort of mishievous, secretive tingle in my voice. 

He laughs softly. "I know." 

I frown at him. "How would you know? You're never here when it's Springtime," I mumble. 

"You hide it with your flowers the same way I hide this with my snow," he says, gently shaking the blue flower, as we begin to walk, slowly, peacefully, like we had all the time in the world. 

I hum in agreement. "I don't know how I do it." 

He laughs softly. "Me neither." 

He squeezes my hand again, and the nerves in my body tickle, my cheeks burning again. I hear him chuckle, before I feel those lips plant a kiss on my burning cheek, and I look at him, eyes widened, a soft gasp escaping my lips. I hear him gulp and laugh awkwardly. 

"Sorry. You were just so cute," he says, shrugging as if nothing happened, as if he didn't just cause my whole body feeling like it was burning. 

There was silence as we walked hand in hand, and all I could think about was Minho, Minho, Minho. His presence, his touch, how he was never pale and cold anymore whenever we meet, how his aura was so bright and comforting, the way he looks at me with those deep red eyes. He was just so charming, so amazing, so beautiful, so talented, so smoldering, so perfect. I bite my lip at the thought. Perfect. 

Minho is so perfect and I am so, helplessly in love with him. 

Despite what we were, despite the fact that he was so cold, so painful, so lonely. Despite the fact that we could only see each other once a year, for such a short time. 

I was so in love with him. 

And the thing is, he might just feel the same way I do. 

I shiver, loving the thought so much. He looks at me, and I laugh upon seeing the blue flower on his ear. He looked pretty, though. "What?" he says, giggling along with me. 

"You look beautiful," I hum, grinning at him. I feel his hand burn, but I try to pretend I didn't notice. 

He chuckles. "So, did you meet Jonghyun last year?" I didn't have to answer before he says, "I didn't meet Kibum last year." 

I frown. "Why not? Don't you always meet him? Did you look for him?" 

He hesitates, looking into my eyes as if he was searching for something, as if doing so would give him an answer for a question, and he presses his lips together before he says, "Honestly, I wasn't thinking too much about him." When I stay silent, he continues, "There was something that was bothering me. And frankly, it has something to do with you." 

I gulp, suddenly anxious. I don't say anything because I had nothing to say, I just anticipated for him to continue, to tell me what he was thinking about, but I told myself that if he doesn't say anything because he thinks he's not ready to, I should just accept it and wait. The right time will come.. But still. 

After a long moment of silence and walking, Minho finally heaves a deep breath. "Taeminnie, last year, when I disappeared, did you happen to hear anything? Or feel anything?" 

It was my turn to press my lips together, unsure if I should answer. And when I take too long, Minho, with an anxious voice, quickly says, "Anything? Anything at all?" 

Well, I heard your voice, telling me you feel the same way I do. "Y-Yeah," I stutter. 

He looks surprised. And then he coughs a little. "What did you hear?" 

I figured I was just going to tell him. I mean, there's no harm in it unless I lie, right? I just tell him that I heard his voice saying he loves me, too. I press my lips together again, and I feel him squeeze my hand, anxiety dripping out of the small gesture. 

"Your voice." 

"I really do love you, Taeminnie. I'll tell you now. I don't even understand why I need to hide it from you." I gaze at him, surprised because that might've been the longest thing he'd ever said to me, and because, just like that, he says that yes, he does love me, too. And my heart flutters and jumps and flips and beats so rapidly until breathing became such a difficult thing to do. He stares at me, biting his lip, his eyes begging me to say something. But I couldn't, because my brain broke down. 

"Say something," he finally demands. And I look away from him, his breathtaking beauty suddenly too much for my eyes to see. But he holds my face and forces me to look at him, eyes now filled with fear. "I thought I've told you that it scares me when you look away," he says, almost whining. 

 I giggle suddenly, because of the tingly feeling that came off when he sounded like he needed me. Something inside my head switched, telling me that I needed to protect this person, to love him and to bathe in his love, telling me that yes, he loves me, too, and we could both run into the sunset, holding hands and be together forever. 

But the thought shatters into a million pieces when I remember that I only get to see him in such a short period of time, once every year, for as long as we live. 

"Please say something," he says, holding me by the shoulders very tightly. I giggle again. 

"Sorry, I was just dazing off," I say, smiling up at him even though I could feel tears fill up my eyes again. 

He groans. "Such a perfect time to daze off!" he retorts sarcastically, and I laugh. 

"Sorry," I mumble. He only sighs softly before he smiles at me. And what I say next came so quickly that I wasn't even able to prepare for it, my mind wasn't able to register yet when I say, "Oh, and Minho, I love you, too." 

I had barely realized that I had confessed to him when I feel his lips against mine, so soft, so sweet, and I freeze like ice. There was a sensation I had once, only barely felt, the warmth, the love, so comforting and peaceful that I could fall asleep if only his kiss wasn't making my whole body tingle. And I watch in pure fascination as his entire existence brightens up and beautifies, like Spring.

When he pulls away, he has a goofy grin on his face, his eyes now such a peaceful brown, which confuses me but I had no chance to think about it because he kisses me again, except this time I don't freeze. I close my eyes and feel myself cooperate as he deepens the kiss. But he pulls away again, smiling. 

"I want to stay with you forever, Taeminnie. Don't leave me," he whisperes, pulling me against his own body, sending too much sparks in my body for me to handle. 

I was about to say something loving, but I feel him freeze suddenly, stiffen, his hold of me tightening until I was hurt. I whimper as I look up at him, surprised and frightened when I see his frozen expression: staring blankly at nothing, as if he was shocked, as if something was happening inside of him that I couldn't see. Tears begin dripping from his eyes and I begin to cry, too, as I shake him, trying to pull him back from his daze. 

"Minho!" It was the fear again. The fear of losing him. 

And then his body softens and he buries his face in my neck, sobbing, pushing me back against a tree. I hug him tightly as he continues to let out painful sobs, wondering what in the world just happened. One second, we're confessing to each other, so utterly happy, and in the next, he's frozen and sobbing. But I don't ask him what just happened, afraid that it wouldn't help him calm down. 

He hugs me so tightly until breathing became so difficult. I feel his aura darkening, and it pains me so much. Minho, what happened? His skin became cold, and even the tears that soaked my clothes were cold. I shiver. 

Finally, he looks up, his complexion paler than I'd ever seen, breaking my heart into more than a million pieces. His eyes so blue, his cheeks stained with tears like melted ice. He kisses me, tenderly, lovingly, slowly, as if making sure that our tastes would linger on our tongues forever. I cry, frightened by his actions. 

"I love you," he kept saying, repeating, whispering into my ear. "I will always love you, no matter what. Thank you, Taeminnie." He looks down at me, kissing my cheeks and my nose and my lips again. 

I look up at him, hiccuping. "Minho, what's.. what's going on?" I felt like he was leaving me, like he was going to say he needed to leave. I could feel it coming, those dreaded words would escape his perfect lips. 

"I.. I need to leave, Taeminnie.." And he begins to fade as he hugs me tightly, and I break. I cry and sob and scream and squirm and beg, but he just fades, and despite him being translucent, I could see his tears. 

"We'll see each other again!" I scream in attempt to comfort myself, but he doesn't reply. He just leaves another sparkling snowflake on my palm.