Kyungsoo stretched with a yawn as he got up from the couch and straightened his clothes. They had spent the day watching movies and even though that was all Seungwan had done yesterday it had been a lot more fun watching them with Kyungsoo. They got to know more about what cracked the other up and hearing Kyungsoo's snarky remarks about every other scene Seungwan had laughed so much she was afraid her stitches were going to come out before she visited the hospital to actually get them removed.

“Do you want to go out? It’s New Year’s”, he asked looking back at her sitting on the couch.

Seungwan thought for a moment. “I would rather just stay at home” With you...

“Good enough. It’s not like you need the extra exercise anyway”, He remarked. “Guess I should leave then, It’s pretty late”, he started towards the coat stand, Seungwan following behind.

"You can always stay", Seungwan offered, not wanting him to go and be alone on. "It's 11 already and the weather doesn't look so good" she looked at the sky through the window, the filled clouds on the night sky telling her snow was on its way.

"That is precisely why I need to leave", They moved towards the door as Kyungsoo picked up his overcoat. "I'll be back tom - "

The electricity cut-off all of a sudden, leaving them in utter darkness. A flash of lightening followed by a loud clap of thunder had Kyungsoo yelping and clutching onto Seungwan blindly in front of him.

"I'm sorry!", he apologized with his eyes shut tightly, his arms around her torso.

Seungwan's heart jumped to , and she thanked the heavens it was dark or she might have had a heart attack with his face so close to her’s.

“Uhh, I-I should....look for some candles”, she said in a small voice after a minute or so. She really needed to stop hyperventilating conjuring up less than innocent scenarios in her head every time he came near her. They were dating now, for God’s sake!

Kyungsoo seemed to have broken out of his daze as he opened his eyes and saw how close she was. He held his breath for a second, the faint light coming through the glass window the only source of the slight visibility in the dark. He broke away, realizing how….unmanly-ly he had just reacted.

He tried to steer his way towards the couch in the darkness as Seungwan went away to find candles in the kitchen, with almost as much efficacy as she had in light. Was she seriously not scared at all? He wondered.

His thoughts were cut short by the appearance of two orange glows in the darkness, as Seungwan set them down on the table in front of them.

She sat down a respectable distance away from him on the couch, and after a while Kyungsoo wished she hadn’t. He flinched at every thunderclap and was almost glad when it finally started to snow, the slight swoosh being the only sound in the background apart from their breathing.

“I think you should stay”, Seungwan said after a while, diverting his attention towards herself.

“I think I will”, he replied, taking in her features beautifully illuminated in the candle light. He could go on staring at her all day and still not get tired.

With the air conditioning gone, it started to get cold after a while and Seungwan got up again, to bring some blankets.

“This smells like baby lotion and powdered milk”, Kyungsoo commented as he wrapped one end of the opened blanket around him, Seungwan taking the other end, a little distance away. “It’s Sehun’s”, they both chuckled.

With both of them in comparatively warm cocoons, Seungwan started to feel a little sleepy as she had taken her meds a little while ago with dinner. Only she sniffed herself awake every few seconds, because she was feeling cold. A part of her mind told her to go sleep in her room, but she didn’t want to. It felt nice sharing the silence and partly the blanket with Kyungsoo, and if she could she would spend all the New Year's like this.

Kyungsoo on the other hand, was wide awake, with everything so quiet as he kept noticing even the littlest of things. Like how Seungwan’s head was wobbling as she struggled to stay awake or how she was sniffing despite the blanket. Instinctively, he moved along the space towards her and leaned into her. Her head fell on his shoulder immediately and he smiled, now wrapping his arms securely around her, her scent mixed with baby lotion’s filling all his senses and dulling them.

“I love you”, he whispered, through half-lidded eyes as the clock struck 12, knowing she was already asleep. A part of his mind told him to take her to her room to bed, and sleep in Sehun’s himself, but everything was so warm and nice, staying there with her in his arms, that he was out like a light before he knew it.

_

I love you.

Seungwan woke up to the most beautiful feeling in the world: being in Kyungsoo’s arms. Morning light shone in from behind the drawn apart curtains and filled the silence in the room. Her head rested on Kyungsoo’s chest, and she tilted it upwards to take in his sleeping form.

She frowned upon finding his bushy eyebrows scrunched, his heart-shaped lips slightly parted as if he was trying to say something. Before she could go ahead and wake him up herself, from whatever bad dream he was having, his eyes shot open and he sat up, driving Seungwan to sit up as well. He put his head in his hands for a minute, breathing deeply and let himself get re-oriented.

“You okay?”, Seungwan asked in concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine”, He looked up with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Happy New Year”

Seungwan’s eyebrows shot up in remembrance. “Happy New Year to you too!”

She untangled herself from the blanket, the temperature was much warmer now with the conditioning back up and the sun in the sky. “I’ll make breakfast”

Kyungsoo’s phone rang just as she headed upstairs to freshen up, but she didn’t stay back to listen.

It was from the office, telling him they’d found an accounts file he’d been looking for all day on Saturday. A sense of urgency filled him, and he couldn’t wait to go through it. Maybe it would contain something beneficial, because even with all the work he’d done in the office a day ago, he’d hadn’t been able to find anything that could help them get out of the mess they were in. The financial situation was meagre, with all the contracts they’d signed over the past year, making just enough profit to keep the company floating, and clearly not enough to return the loan that had been taken.

By the time Seungwan returned downstairs, Kyungsoo was in hurry to leave. “I’m sorry, I gotta go. Something turned up at the office. I’ll call you once I’m free then we can go out, okay?”

“Is everything okay?”, Seungwan asked in concern. She knew something was wrong with the way he’d been lost in worry for the past few days and clearly it was business related with the amount of time he was spending at the office.

“Yeah, it’s fine”, Kyungsoo barely heard her, looking around for his car keys.

“You can tell me, you know. We can work it out together”, She offered in the most casual tone she could manage, trying not to feel too low-spirited at the prospect of him leaving.

“Sure, I will. Later”, He looked breathlessly at her for a second as he came to stand in front of her, and then placed a quick peck on her cheek before rushing out the door. “Bye!”

Seungwan’s spirits lifted a little and she moved to see him out the door. “Bye!”

Had she known better, she would never have let him go out that door.

_

Taeyeon woke up with puffy eyes and a piercing headache, feeling as miserable as she had cried herself to sleep last night. Soon as the events came back to her mind, her eyes started to tear up again, but she pushed them back. So much for never crying for him, again.

“You okay?”, Soojung’s asked in a concerned voice as Taeyeon sat up on the bed, looking like a mess no doubt.

The word ‘fine’ lingered on the tip of her tongue, but she chose not to lie. “No”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Taeyeon looked up at her friend, but she couldn’t, just couldn’t, bring herself to recount what had happened yesterday. Not right then, anyway. “Maybe later”

Thankful that Soojung chose not to push the topic, she went to shower.

The energized buzz she was used to seeing at breakfast every morning for the past few days was lacking as she descended into the hall, everyone seemingly tired and sad about leaving, having enjoyed so much.

But Taeyeon wasn’t. In fact, she couldn’t wait to get back, away from everything to her normal life, where she won’t have to see Baekhyun.

“I don’t know, hyung”, her ears caught Chanyeol’s voice talking to Yixing and Junmyeon, as she went to the buffet area to get herself something to eat. “He isn’t really in a position to tell me right now, with a fever that high. He was so groggy and disoriented when I woke him last night, and he hasn’t stopped coughing since. God knows what the hell that idiot was doing staying out in the snow till so late”

Something constricted inside Taeyeon thinking of who they might be talking about.

“Could be pneumonia, let’s take him to the hospital”, The concern in Yixing’s voice was evident, and Taeyeon’s heart sank further.

“There's no need for that, hyung. I’ve already asked for a doctor, he’ll be here any minute. I just wanted to inform you, Jongdae and I would be staying with Baekhyun, we’ll come back once he’s back on his feet,”, Chanyeol responded and patted Yixing’s Shoulder in reassurance, though it didn’t seem to lessen the lines of worry on the older’s faces. “Don’t worry too much”

Taeyeon didn’t know why she was feeling guilty. She didn’t need to. It wasn’t her fault the guy had chosen to stay out in the freezing weather. But she couldn’t shake off the anxious feeling that kept bubbling up in her stomach, the flash of hurt on his face when she’d told him he was too shallow and the misery thinking of him out alone in the cold at night.

Suddenly feeling like she couldn’t breathe, Taeyeon turned to leave, her plate empty and appetite gone, when Yixing’s voice called from behind.

“Oh, hey Taeyeon!”

Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face the three people walking towards her.

“What happened yesterday? You and Baekhyun never showed up to see the New Year’s fireworks? And now he has pneumonia?”, Yixing questioned in concern.

Taeyeon didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t tell them what had really happened, couldn’t bring all that up, but neither could she think of a good excuse. “I - “

“She doesn’t know, Yixing. Taeyeon and Baekhyun never went out yesterday because she wasn’t feeling well. She’s been resting since herself”, Soojung, who’d apparently also heard what was going on, showed up beside her with a plate of fruit. Taeyeon sighed in relief, silently thanking her friend for saving her.

“Y-Yeah, I’ve been feeling a little under the weather”, Taeyeon croaked out and then glanced at Soojung who’s expression told Taeyeon she owed her a big explanation later.

“Oh, well I guess it doesn’t really matter now. He’s sick”, Yixing said, and then turned to Junmyeon as the later went out, probably to get him up to date and make arrangements accordingly..

“Time to leave”, Yixing sighed and turned towards Chanyeol. “Take care of him. And keep us all informed, okay? We’ll be worried”

“I will, hyung. Go on”

Chanyeol turned to Taeyeon as she started to hurry after Yixing and Soojung, not wanting to be alone in the taller’s presence because she wouldn’t know what to say if he asked a question, and he would see right through any lie she fed him.

“Have a safe journey, noona”, he wished, and gave her a small smile as she turned to look at him. A smile that told her he knew she was hiding something, but that he understood.

“It’s going to be okay”, he added in a small voice, tapping her elbow lightly.

And Taeyeon almost teared up. She might have broken down under her lanky friend’s stare, had she not been called by Miyoung to get her luggage sorted.

After one last look towards the stairs, that led to a certain person, she walked out, telling herself that she wasn’t supposed to care, but fearing that she did all the same.

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A/N: Things are about to get interesting for our WenSoo couple as well. Hope you all will anticipate it! Do let me know how you guys are finding the story. The last arcs are here.

Thankyou for reading!