'The best relationships are the ones you never saw coming.'

Seungcheol stunned when he saw the girl. Oh God, he mentally cursed himself for being that careless. She had slightly ajar and her eyes was sticking on them. JaeMi raised an eyebrow and greeted her. "Hey, Chaeyoon. You're here!"

The younger looked at her unnie. "What did you guys just say? I heard my name." JaeMi shot Seungcheol a look before turning back to her. "Ah, we are talking about our friend, HaeYeon. You must have heard it wrongly. Haha, even sometimes I misheard it as well."

"Oh, ok then." Chaeyoon smiled slightly.

Seeing the atmosphere such tensed, Seungcheol clapped a few times. "Ok. we just bought the wine. Let's get the party started!" Junhui added. "Yeah, I'm waiting this for so long!"

Seokmin the radio which was playing Christmas songs, and the gang began to move around. SaeHyeon asked Wonwoo to take a photo of her in front of the white enormous Christmas tree adorned with glistening ornaments and glowing fairy lights draped around it. The latter squatted and held the phone like an experienced photographer. After a snap, she rushed to look at the result.

"As expected, Jeon Wonwoo is my perfect camera man." She praised, followed by a gentle punch on his chest.

Allured by the scent of freshly baked Christmas cake coming from the kitchen, Seungkwan went to his Mingyu hyung which was standing beside the oven. The house had varieties of delectable treats, jasmine scented fragrances, and skillfully hand-crafted greeting cards done by the female owner. Jihoon carefully tossed some freshly roasted, golden brown chestnuts into paper cones, while Jeonghan slowly poured creamy hot chocolate into mugs and added generous layers of whipped cream on top. Hansol and Chan were giggling at their creamy chocolate mustaches. Very soon loud, spirited laughter of adults could be heard over the continuous chatter surrounding the vivacious atmosphere.

After placing the present below the Christmas tree, she didn't say a single word at the table. Despite having a warm mug of chocolate that Jeonghan gave her in front, she didn't take any. All she had done was staring into the air while playing with her fingers. It was the most wonderful time of year, filled with cheer and joy on Christmas day, where you are surrounded by love and cared for by the most wonderful people around. But Chaeyoon had too much in her mind.

"Chaeyoon yah, take it while it is still hot." Soonyoung reminded. She looked towards him and slightly nodded. She then felt a hand patting her head, which made her to flinch a little. "Are you alright?" Mingyu sat down beside her, after placing the cake on the table. "Yes, I am." Chaeyoon uttered every word, clear enough for him to register.

Jisoo arranged the presents around the tree, since their Secret Santa project was going to end soon. All of them sat in a circle, waiting to reveal their secret santa. The first one to stand up was JaeMi. She went to pick up a light blue box tied with white ribbon, before taking in a breath. "Well, I'm the secret santa of..."

All eyes on her. "...Wonwoo." The mentioned boy let out a smile, before going to her and received his gift. "Thank you so much, noona." JaeMi then thought of something and laughed. "He was once a little fanboy of mine."

"Ah, you still remember that, noona!" Wonwoo scratched the back of his head shyly. He opened the box to see a book inside. Patting his shoulder, JaeMi then went to sit at her original position, while Wonwoo continued the session. "And now I'm the secret santa of..." He then looked towards a specific person. "Chaeyoon."

"Oh, me?" The girl finally broke into a light smile. She went and took the red box from her Wonwoo oppa, and was revealed to be a perfume. She took a navy blue box which was tied with pink ribbon. "I'm Mingyu's secret santa." She said it straightaway.

The guy went towards her and received the gift. He didn't expect it to be her at all. Trying the best to hide his laugh, he saw a beanie lying inside the box, and from the work he could recognize that it was knitted by her. "Thank you, Chaeyoon." He grinned excitedly, while the girl forced a smile.

After everything ended, some of them had left. There were still a few staying there, having a talk.

"Omo, unnie! Since when you're pregnant? Why don't you tell us before this?" SaeHyeon exclaimed in joy while touching the elder's tummy. "And Seungcheol oppa, you are going to be a father soon!"

"Well, we just get to know it last week. It surprised us too." Seungcheol let out a chuckle. "I haven't calm down fully yet."

Chaeyoon suddenly felt a slight pain in her head, and her sight began to turn blurry. JaeMi saw her and asked. "Are you ok?" She shook her head and her face turned pale. "No, I'm not ok. I feel like going home." She whispered, and she seemed to be getting weak. Mingyu stood up quickly and went to her side. "I will bring you back. Let's go."

Slowly Chaeyoon stood up with Mingyu holding her gently. She could sense fainting would be happening at anytime, but she struggled to stay alert. Both of them walked towards the main door, then with one step backwards she crumpled like a puppet suddenly released of their strings.

Her world went black.

• • •

The first thing she heard was the sound of someone stiring something in the glass. Everything was blurry. For a second, she almost never know who or where she was. She didn't know how she got in that bed, or to be specific, she didn't know how she got there. She was in a familiar room. The thing above her was the ceiling. The thing on top of her was the duvet. The thing underneath her was the pillow and mattress.

She blinked, closed her eyes, and blinked again. Slowly she could see everything clearly. Streaks of sunlight penetrated the window and blinded her. She sat up, dragged her feet off the bed, and rub her knuckles onto her eyes. Once she stood up, her muscles felt weak, just like her energy. She would have been greeting the floor with the back of her head if there wasn't someone holding onto her, tight enough.

"Chaeyoon, you're awake." She heard his voice before opened her eyes. "You fain