“Byeol! You came!” Yun came running toward her best friend and hugged her, “I missed you.”

“It's been only a week since we last saw each other,” Byeol chuckled.

“I know, but it's been a long week. I can't believe you're here, it's your first party, right? Well, no, don't answer because I know it's your first party.”

Byeol nodded and tried to smile but it turned more into a weird grimace. She didn't really know why she had agreed to come to Wonshik's Christmas party. After all, she hated to see people from school when they were at school, so she obviously hated to see them while being at a party or anywhere away from school. And yet, after Hongbin begged her to come with him and Ryeowook pushing her to go, she had said yes and there she were! Wearing a cute black dress and even a bit of make-up. Yet, it wasn't nothing too crazy.

Wonshik also seemed surprised to see her at his party. Even though he was only in his second year of high school, he had won fame since he was often organizing parties at his house (since his parents were often away because of their works, it was easy for him to turn the house into a big mess). And until now, he had never seen Byeol at one of them.

“So it wasn't just a rumor,” he told her and offered her a glass full of beer, “you really came. Unbelievable.”

“Well, I came because... H-Hongbin wanted me to come with him and it's a Christmas party so... well... never mind,” she shook her head which made Wonshik laughed.

“Just have fun tonight, Byeol,” Wonshik patted her shoulder, “just do whatever you want. And if there's someone bothering you come and find me, after all, it's my house.”

“Thank you, Wonshik,” she smiled and blushed.

He winked at her and left because someone was calling for him. Yun laughed and playfully elbowed her best friend.

“He is really nice, isn't he?”

“He has always been,” Byeol hid her smile by drinking a bit of her beer.

“Oh my! Hakyeon sunbae is here!” Yun suddenly clutched her hand on Byeol's shoulder which made the poor girl hissed in pain, “Hakyeon sunbae! Here!”

The crazy girl just had enough time to go the table where all the drinks were and to come back with two glasses of a weird blue liquid that he stopped just in front of them. He smiled and gladly accepted Yun's glass.

“I didn't know you would come!” Yun grinned, “it's good to see you there.”

“Well, it's my last year, so my last Christmas party, then why not?” he shrugged and emptied his glass in one big swallow which made both Byeol and Yun looked at him with surprised and astonishment, “wait... you didn't put some weird drugs inside, right?”

“No,” Yun laughed a bit too loud according to Byeol, “don't worry.”

“Well, that's a relief. I want to stay sober tonight.”

“Really?” Yun raised a brow and Byeol also -finally- looked at him too, a bit curious, “Why?”

“I want to confess to a girl tonight, I need to be in the right state of mind.”

“A girl? For real?! Who?!” Yun's eyes widened.

He locked eyes with her, smirked and then patted her shoulder before leaving the girl completely dumbfounded. Byeol, from her side, rolled her eyes at Hakyeon's foolish behavior and Yun's stupid reaction.

“Oh my God Byeol,” Yun sighed and seized her arm, once again her hands clutching around it to the point that it quickly became painful, “he is so hot! Have you seen him? Hakyeon sunbae is per-fect! I really wish I was the girl he is going to confess to. And, talking about this, did Im Yoora asked him out?”

“What?” Byeol frowned.

“Rumors bad been saying she was going to ask him out during the trip, people even made bets about it. You must probably know since-” she suddenly stopped and frowned, “you probably don't know, do you? You don't care about those things...”

Yun sighed, like really desperate and somehow, it hurt Byeol's pride.

“I know, actually,” she said, annoyed, “I know she asked him and I also know he rejected her.”

“What?! Really?! Because they would have been a really nice couple! What else do you know?”

“When she asked him if he wanted to date her or not, he said no and said he already loved someone else who had everything Yoora didn't have.”

“No?” she looked shocked, “he did say that? I wouldn't have thought he was like this! And so, the girl he likes, who is she?”

“I don't know, I ran away before he said it.”

“Yah!” Yun gently punched her shoulder, “you should have stayed wherever you were! I want to know!”

“Well, he is here tonight because the girl he wants to confess to is here too, just check on him to see if he is creepily lurking around a girl,” Byeol suggested but she didn't know Yun would actually let her alone to run after Hakyeon, “oh my god this girl is so stupid.”

Byeol smiled a bit and walked toward the spot where Hongbin was talking with the junior he was tutoring, Han Sanghyuk if she was remembering well. They both smiled at her as she stopped by her brother's sides, finding comfort just by having him next to her.

“So,” Hongbin smiled, “how is it? Not bad, right?”

“I... I don't really know what to think about it. I mean... the music is loud and it's not really the kind of music I usually listen to and... well, most of the people seem to be drunk already.”

“It's a party, Byeol,” her brother chuckled along with Sanghyuk, “you're supposed to have fun.”

“It's fun,” she tried to convince herself, “I like it.”

“Then go and try to talk to people.”

“I'm talking to you right now.”

“But I'm busy with Hyuk, so go now.”

He laughed and forced her to go away. She sent him a desperate gaze but people pushed her around and he soon disappeared from her view. So she walked back toward the table where all the drinks were and took a glass of water instead of alcohol. Even though she had never gotten drunk, she knew she didn't need alcohol to have fun.

“Byeol! Kim Byeol!” she turned around and saw Jaehwan smiling at her, “hi!”

“Hum... hi?”

“How are you? How was the trip to the mountains?”

“It was... alright, I guess.”

“Was Hakyeon nice to you? Did he bother you a lot? He is kinda annoying sometimes, no?”

“He was nice,” she admitted.

“Well, I was expecting it.”

“Why?” she dared to ask.

“Did you talk about personal matters, you know, like love for example... no?” she frowned and shook her head, “really?”

“Hum,” she nodded.

“Aish... I swear this guy is really annoying! Well, never mind. Do you know where he is?”

“Somewhere in the house. If you see Yun, he shouldn't be too far.”

“Alright, see you later, Byeol!”

He waved and left. It was really weird to be left alone in a house full of drunk and loud people, but somehow, it wasn't this bad. While she was looking at them dancing, laughing, singing out loud and kissing, she found herself smiling. She even found herself wanting to have fun just like them, but she was too shy to do it and she knew that if she was doing this, it would be wrong. All her life, she had felt like she wasn't good enough to be like the others, and tonight, this feeling was more than present.

Once her glass was empty, she moved to the garden. Because of the cold, she shivered but it didn't prevent her from staying outside. The music was booming but it wasn't too bothering and they weren't a lot of people: just a couple kissing while leaning against a tree. She sat on the patio where her dress wouldn't get dirty and looked at the stars sparkling in the sky. Even though it was a cold and sad winter, there were no clouds in the sky this special night.

She sent a few text messages to her older brother which was staying at his best friend Kyuhyun's house since he was mad at his mother and didn't want to see her. Ryeowook was happy about her going out to a party, yet he told her he wasn't going to sleep until she was back home since he was worried about something bad happening to her. Ryeowook was the perfect brother and Byeol felt more than thankful to have him in her life.

She was about to call him when something fell on her shoulders. She jumped and was about to stand up but Hakyeon sat by her sides, preventing her from doing so. She stayed still and mute and simply blinked.

“Why are you staying here?” he asked her, “it's cold. You're going to get sick, Little Star.”

She looked at him and realized he wasn't wearing his jacket anymore since he had put it on her shoulder. Indeed, she wasn't as cold as she used to be, but she felt bad for him.

“Don't worry,” he chuckled, “I don't need it. I'm a tough guy.”

She frowned but didn't say a single word.

“Why aren't staying with the others?” she shrugged and sighed loudly, “aren't you going to speak?”

“Sorry,” she mumbled, looking at the white fog coming out of as if she was smoking and Byeol still being a child, she blew even more, looking at the fog disappearing into the air. Hakyeon, next to her, watched her doing it and smiled fondly.

“So, the others?”

“Hongbin's busy with Han Sanghyuk, and Yun well... I don't know.”

“And Wonshik? You're friend with him too, no?”

“He is Hongbin's friend.”

“Oh... right, Hongbin's friend,” he nodded and looked at the sky himself, “Byeol... are you perhaps interested in a boy lately?”

She suddenly shivered. He saw her whole body shaking and put his arms around her waist, coming closer to her and contrary to what he was expecting, she didn't run away.

“W-what?” she stuttered.

“Do you have a boy in your mind? Are you in love?”

He obviously blushed but happily for him, she didn't look at him so she couldn't see his embarrassing state. She also blushed and chuckled a bit.

“There's someone,” she admitted.

“O-oh? Really?”

“Hum,” she nodded and smiled.

“Well that's... I mean... the guy is a lucky guy... he is lucky to be loved by you.”

“No, not really,” she simply shrugged.

“How so?”

“Well... who would like to be loved by someone like me?”

“Well I... I would like... you know,” he cleared his throat and blushed like crazy, “I'd like to be love by you.”

He waited for her reaction, but she didn't even blink. She kept looking at the sky with a cute smile on her face.

“Come on! Taekwoon! Let's go to my place!” someone, a girl more precisely, laughed hysterically and disturbed the pregnant silence which had settled between Byeol and Hakyeon.

Yet, Hakyeon saw how Byeol's attention suddenly turned to the couple who was kissing a few seconds ago. He followed her gaze and saw Jung Taekwoon lazily leaning against the tree, one hand on Im Yoora's waist. The girl was whining and laughing at the same time, probably drunk. Byeol's smile disappeared and she frowned.

”Come with me,” Yoora purred into the boy's ear loud enough for them to hear.

Byeol's hands curled into fists and she stood up, Hakyeon closely following her. She was about to go inside the house, but the head boy called for her, which caught drunk Yoora's attention.

“Yah! Kim Byeol!” she called for the girl who stopped and turned around.

Yoora walked toward them, dragging Taekwoon by the hand behind her. They stopped at only a few centimeters from the girl and they were both smelling alcohol. Hakyeon stayed behind Byeol, just to make sure.

“I hope you don't mind me stealing your love interest, right?” she giggled, “after all, you've stolen mine, so we're all square, right?” she patted the girl's shoulder and as a reflex, Byeol stepped back, collapsing against Hakyeon's chest. “I swear, you're such a pitiful girl. You're so worthless! Right, Taekwoon?” she elbowed the boy who finally reacted, “is Byeol worth of your attention?”

He looked at Byeol and her heart missed a beat. Drunk Taekwoon stared at her and then snorted and shook his head.

“No, she's not.”

Her heart broke. Something inside her really broke when he said that, but also when Yoora and him passed by them to go inside the house, Taekwoon bumped into Byeol without even looking at her. Byeol's eyes started to water and she started crying silently, suddenly forgetting what was going on, where she was and who was surrounding her.

“Byeol,” Hakyeon took her hand to catch her attention, “come on, let's go inside.”

“Let me go,” she started hyperventilating, “let me go...”

“No, Byeol, look at me! It's fine! It's nothing, alright? Everything's fine.”

She tried to push him away but he was too strong against her weak self.

“Come on, follow me.”

“Please... let me alone. I want to go home,” she sobbed.

“No, not yet. I can't let you go right now.”

He dragged her inside the house. She looked down, not able to actually look at the other people having fun while the boy she was interested in had clearly rejected her, and she let Hakyeon doing whatever he wanted to do with her: she didn't have enough courage to fight him anyway. They stopped by the front door, Hakyeon, who was in front of her, lifted her chin for her to look at him and cupped her face with his hands. With his thumbs, he gently swept away the tears and smiled.

“Look up.”

She did so.

“Do you know what this is?” he asked her.

“Mistletoe,” she said with a weak voice.

“And do you know what people do under the mistletoe?”

“They kiss?”

“Exactly.”

He didn't wait for her to answer and leaned forward to eagerly pressed his lips against hers.

It happened! Thirteen chapters later Byeol and Hakyeon kissed!

Well, this chapter is the turning point of this story and I really hope you liked it (I really liked writting it).

If you could give me your opinion about it it would be really great :) so please leave a comment !

Thank you very much to all of you who follow this story 

Thx :)

xx

Mae