"Ah! Jihyo-ya!" A voice echoed in the hallway along with hurried steps and Jihyo halted her movement. She turned to look at the person calling her name, surprised that it was no other than Haechan. She waited for him to reach her and catch his breath before asking him what happened. "So, umm.. uh I have a question- wait no-" he blabbered. He shook his head and averted his gaze nervously. The sight alone made Jihyo felt nervous too.

 "What question, sunbae?"

 "I told you just call me Haechan." The auburn haired boy corrected with a huff.

 "Yes, sure, Haechan sunbaenim. What's it?" Jihyo pressed. It wasn't actually what Haechan asked for but he sighed and let it slip. He looked around again, trying to find words to say as he avoided Jihyo's questioning stare.

 "Uh- is my new hair okay?" He asked with an uncertain smile. Jihyo looked at him weirdly. Surely that wasn't what she expected to hear from him. Especially after watching him practically run after her. Haechan seemed to notice that the other wasn't buying his words so he sighed with a pout. "Okay sorry that's not it."

 Jihyo gave him a confused look as she fixed the strap of her backpack on her shoulders. Jaehyun might already be waiting for her now but she wanted to hear what Haechan had to say first.

 "So," Haechan took a deep breath and looked at Jihyo. Jihyo mentally prepared herself to hear him out. "I know it's only been a few months since we met and we haven't really gotten the chance to know each other better. And I know that I'm not the coolest person you've ever met, but-" he paused, taking another deep breath before he continued. "I really like you, Jihyo-ya." He finally bowed his head because he was scared of the other's reaction.

 Jihyo was silent at the sudden confession. She was obviously surprised and she didn't even try to hide it this time. She was at loss of words. And she waited for the other to continue or just say anything because she didn't know what to say. Her heart was beating too fast and too loud she could feel and hear it in her ears. She clenched her hands to fist the long sleves of her coat and cleared after the silent was drawn for too long.

 "I like.." Jihyo trailed off, watching as Haechan's head shoot up to look at her again. His cheeks and ears were tinted with pink and Jihyo found it adorable. Not that she wasn't in a similar state anyway.

 Haechan gave her such an expectant look and Jihyo fisted the sleeves of her coat even tighter.

"I like your new hair." Jihyo said instead, answering the questtion that the boy used to distract her before. Haechan's confused face made Jihyo break a grin and she bowed 90 degrees before waving at him. That was what he asked in the first place anyway. "I'll be going now. See you later,.." She paused for a second. "..Haechan-ah." She finished then quickly turned away, waddling off before her confidence could break down. She thought that she might have been too brave for saying the last line. But what had been said couldn't be taken back so she tried not to regret anything. He asked to drop the formality first anyway.

As she predicted, Jaehyun was already waiting for her inside his car when she finally went out. He had questioned her about her lateness and her flushing face but she told it off with the excuse of the winter's cold weather. The older didn't look so convinced but he let it slip in the end, knowing sooner or later the truth would be revealed. Jihyo was always like that with him. Or mayby not always.

While on the other side, Haechan stood there in the middle of the hallway, dumbfounded. He was still trying to process what actually just happened to him.

And Yoojung was clutching over her stomach as she laughed at Haechan's misery, banging her palm to the wall because maybe, just maybe, she just witnessed the sassiest dongsaeng of her got hung up on.

 The snow was falling steadily outside the window, making thin layers of white on the street and trees. Jihyo could only watch in silence from the comfort of her room. Sure she was content with being indoor 24/7, shielding her from the cold and anything dangerous. But sometimes she was curious too of how it would feel like being outside in the snow. It wasn't like she had never experienced it before but that was a long time ago before she got sick. It had been years since then.

Jihyo slipped off her bed, feet immediately touching the coldness of the floor. She flinched slightly but decided to ignore the coldness under her feet. The thick blanket on her bed was pulled and it fell off the bed when she walked further while dragging the blanket with her. She positioned a chair near the window and sat on it before she wrapped the blanket around her. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, away from the cold floor.

The sight of white rain made Jihyo sigh in content. It was one of those days when she oddly yearned to go outside and play. Only if it wasn't that cold. Only if she wasn't cold intolerant.

Jihyo huffed and curiously reached for her window. Her fingers hesitantly hovered over the lock before she turned the cold metal lock ever so slowly. She pressed her palm on the cold glass of her window and softly pushed it open. Cold wind seeped through the small gap she just made and it made her hair fly slightly. She could feel her face numbing already and her bones literally screamed in protest as she pushed the glass further open. She closed her eyes and drank in the cold wind that washed over her face and neck. But that was it, because suddenly the window was held firmly, restraining the curious girl from opening it further.

A heavy sigh escape the intruder's lips and Jihyo slowly looked up to see her brother glowering down at her. Jaehyun silently pulled the glass window closed again and the younger had the guts to whine in protest yet her nose and cheeks were already turning red from being revealed to the cold.

The cold wind stopped immediately and the pain in her bones lessened. She flashed the older a betrayed look and withdrew her hand from the cold glass, slipping it under the blanket in seek of warmness.

"What were you thinking?" Jaehyun's tone sounded calm and soft even with the visible frown on his handsome feature. He locked the window again and crossed his arms over his chest, the printed character on his T-shirt crumpled as he did so. Jihyo sometimes wondered if he ever felt cold because his short sleeved T-shirt and sweatpants obviously weren't the right outfit to wear in this weather.

Jihyo pouted and hid her face under the blanket. "I just want to feel the snow again." She mumbled slowly. The other's expression softened at that.

Jaehyun reached over to ruffle his sister's hair and chuckled when he got a weak protest in return. "Come down to eat." He said instead, not responding to his sister's sentence. He patted her head before he turned away and go out of her room.

Jihyo watched his back as he walked away, not bothering to close the door behind him. Sometimes she wondered if Jaehyun ever got bored of staying home just to babysit her. He obviously had friends to enjoy his time with rather than sit around the house making sure she was safe and sound. It made her feel bad somehow.

The thought was shrugged aside soon and the girl made her way downstairs to the kitchen. She made sure to express her gratitude better this time. And when Jaehyun noticed the sudden change, Jihyo used the "only because it's near Christmas" excuse to let it slip. She pretended not to notice her brother's knowing smile.

Their parents came home a few days before Christmas. It was a cozy morning when the arrived and they personally woke their children up and surprised them with their arrival. They brought the two a bunch of things from clothes to foods. Not that they asked for it, but Mrs. Jung had this tendency of buying things when it reminded her of their children. And they would give those things to the kids when they got back from Japan. Jihyo was forced into a fluffy sweater from their mom and Jaehyun got his feet stuffed into a pair of fluffy socks from their mom too.

Later that day Mrs. Jung made them breakfast and they talked about so many things. Mr. Jung wasn't that much of a talker unlike his wife, but sometimes he commented on the subject once in a while. Maybe Jihyo got that trait from her dad.

"Eomma, I think Jihyo is seeing someone lately." Jaehyun suddenly said and Jihyo's eyes widened. Her head snapped to look at her brother in an accused way.

"Oh? Is that true, darling? Who's this boy you're seeing?" Jihyo's mom grinned mischievously and Jihyo immediately got embarrassed. She shook her head and waved her hands in denial.

"No no no, Jaehyun oppa is just kidding." Jihyo sent her brother a quick glare. "Right?"

But Jaehyun was nothing near affected by her glare. "I'm not kidding, it's true!" He nodded to confirm his words. Their parents watched as their two children bicker as if they weren't here.

"Do you guys bicker a lot like this when we're not around?" Mr. Jung chortled in amusement between the never ending argument.

"No, appa. I'm actually really nice to her and you know that." Jaehyun pouted for a second before he added, "but, really! I think she's seeing her sunbae. She always avoids to talk about him with me!" He faked a hurt expression and if he wasn't older than Jihyo, then Jihyo would have smacked his head and strangle him or something to shut him up. Well, preferably not in front of their parents, but still.

"Aww, that's cute!" Their mom exclaimed happily, clasping her hands together. "I never expected our youngest daughter to grow so fast. Last time I checked, you had no interest in dating at all, Jihyo-ya." She said, a flashback of the time when she almost suspected that her daughter might not be into guys or even girls.

"Yeah, but whoever he is he has to face me first before he can date you." Jaehyun crossed his arms. At this point the breakfast was probably forgotten.

"Don't be so hard on her boyfriend, Jaehyunnie. This is why all the boys around her run away before they even get close to our baby Jihyo."

Jihyo groaned and brushed her hair back in frustration. "I don't have a boyfriend, eomma." She stressed. "And I'm not thinking of dating anyone."

"Yeah sure." Jaehyun.

Their dad who had been witnessing the whole scene only gave another chortle and changed the subject so they could continue eating in peace. They eventually let the subject slip even though the two siblings still sulked.

For once in a while their house was filled with laughter and long story-telling, catching up with the things they missed while being away from each other. Usually their parents would only stay for 2-3 days when they came back from Japan every month to check on them -sometimes only once every few months according to their schedule. This time they would stay for the whole week and the two siblings were more than happy with that.

A cute pastel pink paper bag was put on Jihyo's lap that noon on Christmas day. The girl looked up at her brother questioningly from her spot on the bed. She took the bag in her hand and inspected the inside of the bag.

"From Hyejin." Jihyo let out a knowing 'Ahh' with a nod at the information. She had completely forgotten that Hyejin promised to give her a gift for Christmas. She took out the box and open it slightly to peek at the content then closed it back.

"So, you finally met her properly?" Jihyo asked, putting aside the box and reaching for her phone.

"Hmmn yeah, she's cute." Jaehyun blurted out and Jihyo instantly paused typing on her phone. She looked up at her brother who was seemingly in his own thought and she rose an eyebrow.

"I didn't ask if she was cute but sure."

Jaehyun blinked and looked at his sister dumbly. "Did I say that she's cute aloud?"

There was a long silence as they looked at each other, both frozen on their spots. A few seconds passed and Jihyo's mind finally clicked. She dropped her phone on her bed and grabbed the closest pillow she could reach.

Jaehyun stood up in alarm when his sister swung the pillow his way, hitting him with each words she screamed. "Ya don't!" Hit. "Try!" Hit. "To!" Hit. "Hit on my best friend!" Jaehyun backed away to the door and grinned sheepishly at her. "What?!"

"Well it's.. out of my control, isn't it?" With the last sly smile, Jaehyun closed the door of Jihyo's room before he could get attacked again.

"You gross piece of romantic trash-!" Jihyo stared at her door in disbelief then shifted her gaze to the paper bag sitting on her bed. She sighed in defeat. She just hoped that her idiotic brother didn't scare Hyejin too much.

The girl flopped back on her bed and took her phone, about to continue typing her message to Hyejin when a notification popped up at the top of her screen.

Haechan

The name made her froze for the second time that day. The scene of their last encounter in the hallway on the last day of school replayed back in her mind and suddenly her heart was beating faster. Talking about a gross piece of romantic trash, Jihyo hated that she spent too much time with Jaehyun that she became one just a few minutes after she spat out the words to her brother.

With messy mind, Jihyo finished her message to Hyejin and immediately went to check her KakaTalk to see the new message. She tried to be calm as she clicked on the chat box with her senior.

Haechan : Merry Christmas, Jihyo-ya! Stay warm and have a good day. ♡

Jihyo fell back to her bed and muffled her scream with her pillow. It took her the whole 3 minutes of fighting over what she should reply with before she finally sent her reply.

JihyoJung : Merry Christmas, Haechan-ah! Thankyou, and you too.

She skipped the heart emoji and quickly exited the app as soon as it was sent.

For the first time ever that winter, Jihyo finally went out of her house. She had insisted to go send their parents off to the airport and after a long argument, she won and that was how she got herself here. She was dressed under so many layers of clothes and she was forbidden to take her hands out of her pockets that were filled with hot packs. She eventually broke the rule to hug her parents.

"Be nice to each other, okay?" Their mom said as she hugged both Jaehyun and Jihyo