You wrapped your arms around your own petite self tightly, shivering furiously in the night’s wicked cold air. Your teeth chattered noisily as you tried to bear the chilly weather which had only gotten worst as the time went deeper into the night.

Any other nights, you would be thankful for this kind of condition, snuggling cosily into your comforter and resting your head against the soft feathery pillow but that night, your best friend, Jun Hyung, decided that he needed your company all of a sudden and you were left with no choice but to drag yourself out of bed at exactly 12am.

If it was any other person, you wouldn’t bother yourself with such hassle but it was Jun Hyung, and you have known him since both of you were still in diapers. Burdensome or not, you would never abandon him, especially during his rough times.

And you know for the fact that breaking up is always one of the hardest times in a person’s life.

“Yah, are you okay?” he peeked at you from underneath your hoodie. “Your body is shaking like crazy.”

“I-i’m fine,” you replied but you hugged your body closer. “I’ll b-be fine a-after awhile.”

Lowering your hoodie, you could see that Jun Hyung was staring at you guiltily, probably blaming himself for putting you through the freezing air. He scratched his head uncomfortably and placed a hand on your right shoulder.

“I’ll send you home now okay? I shouldn’t have asked you out.”

You pulled away from him and waved your hand dismissively.

“I’ll be fine Jun Hyung,” you said, a little bit more firmly. “Let’s talk. I need some sort of distraction. Are you okay?”

His shoulders started to sag as he fell back into step beside you. He looked down on his worn-out sneakers dejectedly; not knowing what else there is left to say about the situation.

“It was all out of the blue you know?” he spoke up finally. “I didn’t even see it coming. Hell, I don’t even know what I did wrong.”

“Did you try to talk things out with her?” you asked as you stuffed your hands into both of your jeans pockets. “Tell her to reason things out together.”

“I tried,” he threw up his hands frustratedly. “But she wouldn’t even give me the benefit of doubt. She just said ‘We’re done’. What was that all about?”

You kept silent for a moment, trying to find a way through the sticky situation. But no matter how hard you try, you still think Jun Hyung was better off without her.

Aside from her arrogant conceited self, she was disrespectful to almost everyone around her. Not sparing a thought about others feelings, this break-up doesn’t come off as a surprise to you. You knew it was possible for her to cheat behind Jun Hyung but you kept your mouth shut, not wanting to meddle in their relationship seeing how devoted he was to her.

But then, you couldn’t exactly tell Jun Hyung that you are actually feeling glad about the whole situation.

A sudden gust of cold wind breezed past you again, making you shiver all over again.

Taking you by surprise, you suddenly felt his arm wrapping around your shoulders and enveloping you into a warm protective hug.

“Don’t pull away from me,” he muttered while both of you continued walking at a slower pace. “It’s the least I can do so as not to feel guilty.”

You flushed slightly at his concerned remark. It wasn’t like you weren’t used to being close to Jun Hyung but the tension in the air was a little different than any other times. You could feel the awkwardness in it.

You titled your head slightly to your right side and studied his profile carefully, trying not to get noticed at the same time.

You’ve always admire pretty-looking boys, with a hint of softness on their faces – thinking that was by far the best attraction feature a guy could have.

But instead, your best friend has this tough and rugged kind of looks. There was no sense of tenderness on his face, but you knew, what a softie he is inside.

He cries randomly at sappy movies, he’ll get upset just by watching two strangers fighting on the street and he completely adores old-couple walking hand in hand together.

The harshness which is portrayed on his face definitely covers up his gentle heart, but you could see. You knew him better than everyone else.

And his personality made you attracted to him.

It made you feel this kind of love for him, something deeper than what a pair of best friends share.

“If you keep staring at me like that, your head is going to fall off sooner or later,” he suddenly said, breaking your silent thoughts.

You snapped back to reality and realised that you were still in his embrace. Uneasy about the whole situation suddenly, you tried to move away from him but that only made him tighten his grip on you.

“I told you, don’t try to pull away from me,” he said tiredly but you could see him giving you one of his many crooked grins.

“This is making me uncomfortable Jun Hyung,” you mumbled, tearing your eyes away from him.

“Wae?” he asked innocently. “Should I...hug you tighter?” he was practically squishing you underneath his weight.

“Jun Hyung!” you gasped as you pushed him away. “That’s trying to kill me!”

He chuckled amusingly.

“Well, I was only trying to make you comfortable and warm. Are you still feeling cold now?” he asked as he pulled you back again into his arms.

“Why are you behaving like this? I’m not your rebound girl,” you said unintentionally and almost immediately, you wished you could take your words back.

He dropped both of his hands to his side and started to walk away from you.

“Jun Hyung!” you called out and quickened your pace. “Wait, I’m sorry...” But he carried out walking like he hadn’t heard a thing.

“Jun Hyung...” you managed to grab his wrist and left with no other choice, he stopped in his tracks.

“Look...I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it that way...”

There was a moment of deafening silence, with only both of your heavy breathings filling in the silent night. Finally, he took a deep breath before looking back at you.

“I’m not mad at you...” he said slowly and startlingly, he took both of your hands in his and gave them a gentle squeeze. “I’m angrier with myself. For not realising...what has been in front of me all these while.”

Your mouth hung open slightly at his sudden confession, not quite believing if what you were hearing was right. You gave yourself a mental slap, trying to make sense what was happening and that your hands had suddenly went numb in Jun Hyung’s grasp.

“What are you...?”

“You, coming out here at 12 in the morning, walking with me through the park in this kind of weather – shows me just what kind of a person you are,” he continued with a smile on his face. Yong Jun Hyung rarely smiles at anyone.

“Jun Hyung...I...you...” you scrambled to say something, anything, but you were just out of words.

“Shh,” he whispered as he pulled you in closer to his body and impulsively, you rested your head against his chest. It felt so right, so perfectly fitted. And you know, there’s really nothing else to say.

“You make me realise something tonight...”

“Hmm? What is it?” you asked, without looking up at him.

You could hear the smile in his voice as he said his next few words.

“When one door closes, another one opens.”