You placed the last ornament from the brittle drying Christmas tree into a cardboard box. On the cover of one of the flaps you had written ‘Jun’ in large print. From your memory, those ornaments belonged to Jun. Adjacent to the ornament box was another box full of the string lights and the tree star. Who were you supposed to give that to?

The Christmas tree had left an evergreen scent in your place so fresh that you hadn’t wanted to throw the tree away. But now that the pines were falling, and the tree was growing old, you had to remove it.

A knock at your door signaled that the cleaners you called earlier arrived. After opening the door for them, they entered into your place and began to remove the tree. As you watched them carry the tree out, all you could remember was the way the guys had brought it in. You chuckled a little to yourself while replaying the memories in your head. Who knew you would be laughing about it now.

“Did you need us to sweep this up as well?” one of the workers asked referring to the dried pines that scattered over your living room floor.

“It’s ok, I’ll do it,” you replied and bade him farewell before closing the door. You turned around to recognize that your living room appeared empty. Truth is, you had gotten so used to their ginormous tree that now an empty living room left your heart insanely bare.

The chilly winter air was cold, so cold that you could feel it in your bones. On your way over to Pledis you dipped your chin and lips into Minghao’s thick scarf that wrung around your neck. When was this winter going to end?? You were tired of it already.

In the break room you folded Minghao’s scarf nicely and placed it into your cubby before pulling free the buttons to your thick jacket. You glanced at your name badge that you had stuck onto your left chest before leaving your apartment. Oddly, it didn’t seem to give you much grief anymore, thanks to your grey uniforms that camouflaged your existence.

The break room door opened and Mrs. Chohee walked in.

“Hi Mrs. Chohee,” you greeted to catch her attention.

“Hi there. Are you doing well?” she asked.

“I am, thanks. I hope you are,”

“I am but my son is a little sick from this weather,”

“Oh…that’s not good,”

“Yeah. I better get going to pick him up from school,”

“How old is he?” you questioned curious to know more about her baby.

“He is seven years old,”

“Aw…well…I hope he feels better soon,”

“Thank you. I’ll see you next week. Let me know if you need anything ok?”

“Ok,” you replied and scooted out of the way to allow Mrs. Chohee entry to the cubbies.

You walked over to the white board and stared at your name that was still assigned to the cafeteria. Today was Friday and you had decided you would mop the cafeteria around 6pm. By then you were sure there would be no students left eating or studying. But before then, you would wipe down the tables the way you had been doing on the previous days.

“See ya,” Mrs. Chohee stated before pulling open the break room door.

“Have a good weekend,” you replied and watched the door slowly close behind her.  

While wiping down the open tables, you glanced around to skim for a possible Mingyu. But from all the heads you were staring at…which one was him? As you wiped one table down after another, you peeked at the guys to make sure they weren’t Mingyu. When you finally caught yourself in your odd routine, you made a face. Why were you searching for Mingyu?

A few students stood up to leave their table and you watched them depart from the cafeteria before you headed over to clean after them. A group of girls sat by the empty table and you could hear them whispering as if they were on some secret mission. They giggled behind you and spoke quietly but not quite enough, because you could hear them planning something for Valentine’s Day in February.

Your phone dinged catching the girls’ attention as well as alarming you that you hadn’t turned the notifications on your phone off. You set your spray bottle and cloths down before reaching into your pocket to grab your phone.

I’m sorry but we won’t be able to see our snowdrops anymore…I hope you at least had the chance to see them

Dino’s heartbreaking message broke your straight shoulders into a slouch.

“What…” you asked yourself, “Why would Dino send me this? I just saw them…”

“You know Dino?” a girl asked from behind you and you twirled around to face the group of girls. “Do you know Dino?” she asked again, and you searched for her in the crowd of girls.

As if she knew you couldn’t find her she stood up and reached out her hand, “My name is Lyna, nice to meet you,”

“Oh…hi…nice to meet you,” you replied and reached over to shake her hand but stopped midway and stated, “Oh…actually my hands are dirty,”

“Oh, that’s ok. Sorry for bothering you…but we thought we heard you say something about Dino,” she detailed.

Was she upset? Or was she asking out of curiosity? You stared at her while searching the right words to voice; yet all your mind could come up with was: What did you just get yourself into?

“Um…” you replied and looked at your phone that was still in your hand. You quickly locked it and shoved it into your pocket to remove any potential evidence of knowing Dino.

“We don’t mean any harm…we actually just kind of need some help,” she clarified with a smile and the tense atmosphere shriveled into ease. Her smile was charming and convincing. Her straight white teeth made a deal with you, persuading you to answer her question.

“Oh…um…yeah…I know Dino…a little bit…”

“Dino from the Seventeen Carat Club right?”

“Yea…Dino…Chan…”

“Do you know any of the other members?” she asked happily and promptly.

Hesitant to tell the girls any more than what you were comfo