Sungjin pouts in front of the mirror. He tries to smile cutely, too. He cringes and scratches his head.

“What are you doing?” Jae queries with knitted eyebrows and giving him a look like he's judging him. “You trying to look cute in front of the mirror, Bro?” He scoffs and Sungjin just shoots him a glare.

“Pil! Someone needs a lesson from you!”

“Shut up!” Sungjin hisses and gets out of the bathroom. He curses to himself about forgetting to lock the room earlier.

Seeing how you look at Jaebeom adoringly yesterday makes him think he might be able to make you smile when he acts cute they way he did. But he must be going in sane, he thinks. Him, acting cute? No way, right?

Jae just chuckles and proceeds to do whatever his business is in that room. Wonpil, on the other hand, appears in front of Sungjin before he can go to the dining room.

“What was it?”

“Teach Sungjin how to be cute,” the tallest shouts from the bathroom.

The pink haired narrows his eyes on the buzz-cut before his lips curve into a smile.

“I'm not doing it.”

“Come on, just try,” Wonpil urges and soon Younghyun joins him.

After a couple of times of insisting, Sungjin sighs in surrender before he folds his lips together and stretch them to form a smile.

Wonpil stares at him blankly. Younghyun furrows his eyebrows and Jae does the same.

“You look…” the pink hair bites his lower lip for a second as he tilts his head a bit, “scary.”

They all laugh, except from Sungjin, of course. He shoves his friends away, telling them to get out of his sight.

You cleaned your house the whole morning and Jaebeom also went during noon time. Now, with nothing else to do, you get the box containing some yarns from your room and bring it outside.

You go to the backyard and make yourself comfortable. You start twisting and lacing the yarns on each other and few moments later, a figure sits beside you.

You glance at the black haired and see him chewing and holding a banana.

“Why are you here?”

“Food.” He takes a bite again

“Is Sungjin not feeding you?”

He shakes his head. “That guy's being grumpy the whole morning.”

“Shall I cook?”

“Nahh, Wonpil's on it.”

You crease your head and look back over your shoulder. Wonpil is in the kitchen with Dowoon. Your eyes wander and they found Jae sitting on the couch, focused on his phone.

When you look back at Younghyun, his face are inched closer to your hands, like he's studying what you're doing.

“That pattern looks familiar.”

You raise a brow and glance at the bracelet you're making. “It's just a basic pattern. Want me to teach you?”

Instead of answering your query, he leans back and narrows his eyes on you. He tilts his head as he tries to think of something.

“Now, I get it.”

“Get what?”

“Why Sungjin doesn't want to lose the bracelet he's wearing,” he nods and winks at you. You raise a brow at the gesture. “You made it for him.”

He smiles widely and shakes his body before letting out a squeal. You look at him as if he's a weird guy.

“What are you talking about?”

“One summer night,” he intunes and you glare at him. He chortles and looks up at the sky as he leans his back on the backrest of the chair. “We played basketball with some of our friends. When we went back to our room, he panicked when he noticed that the bracelet was no longer on his wrist. Told him we could buy a new one but he stormed out of the room, followed him, and we went to find that bracelet for almost three hours.”

He glances at you and shrugs.

“He wouldn't bother if it's not something special, right?” his mouth stretches into a smile again. “And although it's loose now, he still wears it. He would tighten it using his one hand and teeth,” he chuckles, “every time he feels it's loosening.”

“Well, maybe it's just because his wish hasn't come true yet.”

You explain to him what the wish bracelet is--that a person would only take it off when one's wish came true.

“And you think Sungjin would bother finding it, late at night, for hours, just for that?” He shakes his head. “It's because your special for him.”

You avert your gaze and you remember your conversation with the Sungjin yesterday.

“Can't a guy take care of a girl?”

“If the girl is special for him.”

“So let me.”

You squeeze your eyes tightly and mentally shake your head. You almost groan in frustration. Ever since Sungjin came back, he's been giving you mix signals but you didn't want to think beyond the line. You don't want to look dumb chasing after a person who's not looking your way, do you?

“It's because Dowoon and I are like his little siblings.”

Both of you hear Sungjin's voice after your remark. He probably just got inside your house.

“That's not how I see it. And speaking of the devil,” he winks again and stands up. “Ramen my love!” He exclaims in a sing-song voice and walk inside the kitchen.

“What are you doing outside?” the buzz cut takes a peek before finally going outside to sit beside you. “You're making a new one?” He nods at the yarns in front of you.

“Yeah, I got nothing to do.”

“Can I have that when you're done?”

“Why?”

“Please?” you just stare as he pleads. Not getting any response from you, he shows a pout and you knit your brows. “Please?” he repeats as he put his palms against each other and blinks at you cutely. Your eyebrows raise. “Please?” he spreads his palms and put it under his chin, striking a ‘flower’ pose.

You shove your hand on his face as your eyebrows furrow again. “Were you trying to be cute?”

“Was it effective?”

You just roll your eyes, chuckle and shake your head in response. He smiles. Even though he's not the kind of person to act cute, and even if it's humiliating for him, at least he made you smile--laugh even.

The next hours are a blur. You don't want to remember how you emotionally and mentally exhaust yourself from thinking about everything that has happened in the past few days.

Another surprise greets you in the evening. An unpleasant one. A very unpleasant one.

You stare at the door. You see a man standing and a woman taking her shoes off before fully entering the house.

Your throat suddenly becomes dry. “Dad,” you manage to utter.

“Princess,” he spreads his arms and flash a wide smile.

You remain unmoved as he stride towards you and give you a hug. Your jaw and fists clench.

“Why are you here?” you shoot him a glare before shifting your eyes to the lady standing by the door frame.

“I just want to visit my baby.”

You take a gulp to prevent yourself from vomiting when you heard him calling you with that endearment.

“Go, greet your auntie a good evening.”

Putting your hands inside the front pocket of your hoodie, you pace towards the woman in her mid-30s.

You stop right in front of her and stare. “Good evening. Enjoy your stay,” you grip the door knob and walk out of the house instantly.

The moment you step outside, you immediately regret it. The freezing air embraces you and you did not even grab your insulated jacket with you. Although you're wearing a hoodie, the wind still manages to bite your skin and make you feel cold. You need another layer.

You shake your head. There's no turning back. You pace fast, not knowing where to go, but it seems like your feet knows exactly where you need to be.

You find yourself at the secret place half an hour later. You gaze at the reflection of the moon on the sea. You sniff and rub your nose before rubbing your palm against each other to cause heat from friction.

You bite your lip. It's freaking cold. I'm literally freezing out here. I should've at least brought another layer of clothing with me.

As if on cue, a winter coat wraps you. You look up and see Sungjin trying to make sure you're wrapped enough. You suddenly have the urge to cry when you didn't even shed a single tear before. You blink rapidly to keep your teasing tears from falling.

Sungjin rubs his hands together before cupping yours in them. He heaves a sigh because of how cold your hands are. He fishes something out of his back pocket . Hand gloves. He shove them on your hands and as he put the last one on your left, you look at him.

“How about you?”

“I'm fine. I don't usually wear gloves when it's not snowing. But you've been out for so long and you're freezing. So keep them on.”

“But still…”

He stares at you and sighs again. He takes the glove off of your left hand and put it on his. His right hand grabs your left one and intertwines your fingers before he puts them inside the pocket of his jacket.

“There, it's fair now,” he utters and you just nod.

You suddenly feel a weight on your head but you remain still. He puts his cap on you and he lowers the brim. He slowly makes your head lean on his chest as he drapes his arm around your back. His right hand still holding yours.

“I can't see you now so you can let it all out.”

As if it's the only cue your tears are waiting for, they instantly stream down your face after his remark.

Again, after a long time, you feel safe. And again , you are found in his arms.