Two months later, Jungsu and Taeyeon were still taking things slowly.

Jungsu cared too much for Taeyeon to try and rush her into a relationship. He wondered if she still hurt from her past with Kangin. No, she was probably over it by now. Taeyeon was the kind of girl who didn’t like dwelling in the past. She believed time could heal all wounds, and that the best thing to do was to keep moving forward.

He admired her so much.

Even so, after confessing to her, they stayed almost the same--best friends. But perhaps the glances they shared were longer, the hugs they gave each other were more loving, and their outings resembled dates rather than friendly hang-outs, as Tiffany often mentioned.

The two simply lived and went on with their lives--knowing they both harbored strong feelings for each other, but neither willing to break the beautiful thing they already had.

“You two still aren’t together?” Sungmin gaped one night when Jungsu came home from her dorm.

“No, why?”

“Well, why aren’t you?”

“What’s the rush?”

“Rush? Hyung, you’re getting old.”

Jungsu rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to smack his dongsaeng. “Sungmin--”

“Seriously, if you both love each other a lot, you won’t let something great like this go to waste.”

The leader retreated to his room, bidding Sungmin a good night.

However, the words of Lee Sungmin echoed inside his brain.

He couldn’t let him and Taeyeon go to waste. He just couldn’t.

When she had a free weekend, Jungsu cleared his day’s schedule to spend a day in a quiet village away from the hustle and bustle of Seoul. They had lunch, went window-shopping--because Taeyeon insisted she didn’t need anything--and towards the end of the day, took a walk through the town.

“I love winter,” she smiled widely, like an excited child.

“It’s too cold for me, personally.” Jungsu commented, slipping his hand into hers naturally.

“But the snow is so pretty! Look!” Taeyeon tilted her head up as snowflakes began cascading down to Earth.

This was the moment Jungsu needed to take advantage of, the one s advised him about.

“Hey, Taeyeon?”

“Hm?” she hummed idly, mesmerized with the snow.

“What would you think about being...?”

Taeyeon gazed at him. “Being what?”

Jungsu’s vocal chords failed to comply with him; this sort of thing never happened to him. “Being--”

“Your girlfriend?” she smiled cheekily.

Jungsu nodded furiously. “Yeah, that.”

“I think,” she stood on her tiptoes so she was eye-level with him, “That would be amazing.”

He kissed her sweetly and as gently as possible. Taeyeon could be so fragile sometimes, he knew. He had to protect her, always. But Jungsu was now more determined than ever to protect her, because she was officially his.

And he was hers.

She pulled away a few seconds later. “Oh, by the way, Jungsu--your members at keeping your secrets.”

Time Period: January 2012

Song: First Kiss (Cover) - Secret OST (Jay Chou)