Looking at the time on the cracked screen of her phone, Minju blew into her cold hands and rubbed them together before stuffing them into the pockets of her coat. The weather had suddenly gotten cold in a matter of days. Cold enough for her to see her breath but not enough to see snow. From the corner of the coffee shop, she observed the young part-timers excitedly fix ornaments on a small Christmas tree. Her lips turned into a small smile as she saw the girl carefully place a shiny star on the top and break into a happy dance.

The jingle of the doorbell snapped her out of her trance and she turned to check if it was the person she was waiting for. There he was. Baekhyun looked around until he spotted her bundled figure and gave her a shy bow. Minju's breath got caught in . Damn. Boyfriend. I-Is what Sua would've said, o-of course! Not.

Dressed in dark jeans and padding with his signature hood on, Baekhyun looked ethereal with his hair up and makeup on.

"Hi." He said waving to Minju. 

"..."

Pulling the chair across her, he sat down. "Did I make you wait long?"

"No? No!" Minju replied, flustered. Scratching her head to hide her shyness, she added, "You have makeup on."

"Ah! You're right!", he said in surprise. "Why? Does it look weird?"

Weird? I'd jump you if I could. Minju immediately denied it. "It looks great! It suits you."

"Really? I'm glad. I thought they were overdoing it with the eyeshadow and lipstick."

"Idol makeup is like that these days. It looks good on you." She answered.

Baekhyun's eyebrows shot up to his now visible forehead. "You know that I'm playing an idol for my drama?"

Minju nearly slapped a hand on in surprise. "O-of course! Your drama is popular, I watch the re-runs sometimes during work. Haha." Crap. She'd almost outed her fangirl status.

The baby boy grown man in front of her had the nerve to pout! "Only sometimes?" He asked her with his round eyes blinking innocently.

What was she supposed to answer to that? Her eyes skittered around as she fumbled for a reply. "I— uh, I try to watch it whenever I get the chance?"

Baekhyun stared at her for a couple more seconds and burst into a chuckle. "I'm messing with you!" He stood up, patted down his jacket and gave her a bow. "Thank you for watching my drama!"

Bewildered and extremely embarrassed, Minju moved her hands in front of herself awkwardly. Before she could reply, he asked, "Right, aren't you cold? Should we get something to drink?" She nodded gratefully. He asked her what she wanted and went to the counter to place the order. 

She looked at him as he stood in line a couple of spaces from the counter. He hadn't taken off the hood, his light hair would gather too much attention. His hands were in his pockets and he swayed to the beat of the soft Christmas song playing from the speakers. He looked cute. So cute that Minju wanted to wrap him in a blanket and take him home. 

Just as she was wondering which coloured blanket would suit him best, he his heels and gave her a polite smile. Minju was glad he looked away soon, otherwise, she would've needed to call the paramedics. He almost killed her.

After a few minutes, he came back to his seat. He searched for something inside the endless pockets of his jacket and produced a folded piece of paper. Understanding what he was doing, Minju took her own paper out from her bag placed on the ground next to her.

Without a word, Baekhyun handed her his after checking it once and Minju did the same. "Shall we start?"

He read out loud. "Name: Namgoong Minju."

Minju nodded and replied, "Byun Baekhyun." 

"Age: 24"

"27"

"Birthday: 12th May 1995"

"6th May 1992"

Baekhyun looked at her with a surprised laugh. "Our birthdays are so close!"

"Yeah," Minju said. It wasn't a surprise to her because she already knew when his birthday was. That was the most basic thing she could do as a fan.

With an excited shrug, Baekhun resumed reading. "Favourite colour: Yellow. Yellow?"

"Why?" asked Minju. "Nothing. It's just the first time I'm seeing someone who likes the colour yellow. Usually, they like red, blue or pink."

"I like pink too, but yellow is better. It's bright and warm." Baekhyun nodded with a hmmm. "You like... blue."

"I don't really have a favourite colour, I just have a lot of blue stuff. He continued reading. "Korea or western food: Korean."

"Korean." Minju found herself mirroring his high-five before she realised it. 

"Favourite food: Pizza." He stared at her with mock accusation. "You said you like Korean food!"

She pointed to the paper in front of her defensively, "You're no better! Your favourite food is Takoyaki!"

"At least it's not western!" retorted Baekhyun. 

"Excuse me. Here's your coffee." The waitress placed a plate with a slice of cake on their table. "The cake is on the house. It's a Christmas offer for couples."

Minju and Baekhyun looked at each other, neither of them saying anything. They both knew what they were thinking. Anything for the cake! 

Besides, we are in a relationship, technically, Minju thought.

They resumed their conversation and talked for another hour. They had decided to keep the truth that they'd met while she was out on a delivery and that they'd been dating for four months. 

Minju's heart skipped a beat every time Baekhyun said anything like 'us', 'we' and 'dating' but she tried not to let it show. 

They finished their talk and Baekhyun took to footing the bill, reminding her of the promise she made on their last encounter.

She opted to wait outside as Baekhyun let her know that he wanted to get something from the cafe. She guessed he had a sweet tooth since everything being sold inside was some sort of cake or coffee. Or maybe he just needed more caffeine. 

She looked around and saw families and couples walking hand in hand. Must be nice, Minju thought. She wanted someone to hold her hands too. The pockets of her coat weren't doing a great job at keeping them warm. She sighed, and a huge puff of her breath formed below her nose. It made her giggle. She remembered the times when she used to play with her friends in elementary school, in her little town. They would go around huffing loudly to see whose breath was mistiest and drawing on every window they could find.

Minju turned around towards the cafe, searching for a window without any customers on the other side. Child-like emotions were bubbling inside of her and she just couldn't resist breathing a ha~ when she found one. She quickly drew a star with her finger before the fog disappeared. This was fun. She did it again. A smiley face. A flower. A heart.

Knock knock! 

The girl looked up startled by the sudden interruption in her happy moment. Baekhyun looked at her from the other side with a soft smile on his face. "What are you doing?", he asked through the window. Minju's cheeks flushed red as she stared at him with skittling eyes, too embarrassed to answer. His eyes crinkled as he chuckled and made his way outside.

"I see you're having fun all by yourself!", he said in a mock accusatory tone. "Let me try too!". Minju stared at him, bewildered by the hyper guy in front of her. She moved away as he bounced next to her. "Byun. Baek. Hyun." He turned to her with the most dazzling smile and Minju swore her brain stopped working for a moment. She tried not to focus on his reddening nose and his soft pink cheeks. 

She was still looking at when he handed her the paper bag he just bought. "Here, it's for you." He added, "And your friend. Please, accept it as my thanks."

"You didn't have to!", Minju exclaimed. Stop being so nice. The delusion will get to me.

Before she could say anything else, Baekhyun said in surprise, "Look, it's snowing!"

Her eyes widened as she looked towards the sky. It was snowing indeed. She could hear the excited voices of the people around them as they stopped in their tracks to celebrate the snowfall. "Isn't this the first snow?" Baekhyun asked. "Wow, I thought we wouldn't get to see snow during Christmas this year either." 

Wait. It's the first snow. Does that mean I'll be with Baekhyun for a long time? 

"Well, it looks like I'll be in your care for a long time." Baekhyun interrupted her thoughts with a slight smirk. "Please take good care of me."

Minju's heart sped as she decided she needed to leave before she combusted right then and there. 

Three days later on Christmas eve, Minju walked around town with Sua, Ahyoung and a couple of other single friends. Shopping, drinking and taking pictures with pretty Christmas trees was all they could do. The others were either with their boyfriends or had gone home for the holidays. Minju had wanted to go too, but her mother insisted that she spend it with her friends and skip the tiring express train rides for once. Sua's parents had invited her for dinner the next day, and that was enough for Mom to know that she'd be spending Christmas well.

They were in the middle of a karaoke session when Minju's phone vibrated. She unlocked it to see a message from Baekhyun. It was an attached photo of him and Manager Kim, both wearing matching Santa Hats and smiling at the camera! A text below read 'Merry Christmas!' 

Minju let out a chuckle and Sua peeked into the phone from over her shoulder. "Wow. That's funny.", was all she said before Ahyoung called them to join her in impersonating Mariah Carey with All I Want For Christmas Is You in their broken English. 

The night passed and so did Christmas. The new year started too soon and instead of visiting every club in Hongdae as Sua wanted, the girls were buried in their books. There was less than a month left for the exams and Minju was panicking.

The days passed in a flurry and soon it was just a few days left. Minju had just finished talking to her mother who fussed over whether she was having all her meals and sleeping on time. The seniors had told her batch that they were overreacting and that the exams wouldn't be very tough, but the lecturers said the opposite and told them not to listen to anyone but them if they didn't want to get failing grades.  

She didn't want to be a teacher's pet but she also wasn't keen on taking risks. She had tried that during her bachelor's and found out that it wasn't for her. Besides, she was used to studying so hard ever since high school. College entrance exams were war. She did wish she could loosen up a little as everyone told her to, though.

She was in the middle of a break when someone knocked on her door. Minju opened it to see Sua holding a cardboard box in her hand with a teasing grin. "Look what I picked up from the mailbox~," she said in a sing-song voice.

Minju closed the door behind her as she hopped onto her bed. "Looks like your boyfriend sent you something."

"Baekhyun did?" Minju asked in surprise. "Oh. so you do think he's your boyfriend now?" She gave Sua a look, try not to make her smile obvious.

Sua grabbed a pen and slit open the tape and the box. Minju peeked over her shoulder to see plastic bottles inside. Vitamins. He'd sent her vitamins that were specifically for students. "There's a note!", Sua exclaimed and snatched said note out before Minju could. 

She watched Sua open the note looking a little too excited for someone who didn't like Baekhyun a lot. Minju held her breath as her best friend read out, 'I remember you told me your exams were starting this month. Have some vitamins and don't get sick. Best of luck with your exams!'

"That... is sweet, I admit.", said Sua immediately. "Lucky you. I want a boyfriend too.", she added.  Minju wasn't listening, though. She could feel a tickle in her stomach and her cheekbones were threatening to rise. Oh, it.

"OH MY GOD!", Minju shrieked. She jumped onto the bed where Sua was standing on grabbed onto her shoulders, staring into her identically wide eyes.

"DID YOU SEE THAT? WHY IS HE BEING SO SWEET TO ME?", she shook the other girl as Sua looked back at her with a poker face. "HOW CAN I NOT FALL FOR HIM?!"

Minju was struck with a sudden epiphany. "DO YOU THINK HE LIKES ME?" She fisted her hair in alarm and fell to her knees dramatically. "NO. HE CAN'T! I DO NOT DESERVE!"

She sat like that in disbelief until she noticed that it had gone eerily quiet. She raised her head to see Sua sitting on the opposite bed, cleaning her nails.

"Are you done?" Sua glanced at her. "First of all, calm your . Second, no. As lovable as you are, I highly doubt he likes you already. I mean, the poor guy got dumped only a few weeks ago." Minju felt a bitter taste in . "Third, yes. He is indeed a sweet guy. I am quite surprised, to be honest. I approve of him."

Minju felt her shoulders raise in pride. She huffed and almost said I told you so! but controlled herself. "I TOLD YOU SO!". Oops. 

"Alright, alright!" Sua said as she clapped her hands and stood up. "Go wash up now, it's late. Be a good girl and don't forget to thank him before you sleep."

"Okay!" Minju hummed in delight and snuck Sua an excited hug before grabbing random pajamas and hopping to the bathroom.

She emerged half an hour later from a foggy bathroom and dried her hair as Sua went to wash up. She clumsily squeezed her hair in a towel and slipped into the warmth of her comforter.

Turning to the side table, she grabbed the large bottle of vitamins. After turning on the bedlamp and positioning it to get the best lighting, she sent Baekhyun a photo along with a text. It read 'I can't believe you remembered! Thank you so much! I'll use them well and won't get sick! Baekhyun too, dress warmly and stay healthy!'

Minju had taken a deep breath before finally pressing send. It was the first time she had referred to Baekhyun as just Baekhyun, without any formalities. Would he dislike it? Would he find it uncomfortable? Would he ignore it? A thousand thoughts ran through her head.

Her heart had already been beating fast and almost jumped out when her phone buzzed with a reply just seconds later.

She raised the phone from her chest nervously. 'I'm glad you liked it.' Another message popped up and Minju's breath got caught in . 'I'll dress warmly. You stay warm too, Minju.'

If it was a phone call instead of just texts, Minju swore Baekhyun would've heard the hammering of her heart. She didn't know how she would go to sleep that night.

The next couple of weeks went by in a blur of notes, late-night study sessions and lots of junk food. The exams started and the students braced themselves for the worst. Surprisingly, they were much better than Minju thought they would be. "They're always easy for people who actually study.", Sua had always said. And Minju knew it was the truth. She always expected to get the fruit of her hard work, but she got surprised every time nonetheless.

They ended way faster than they had started and all Minju wanted was to flop onto her bed and go into hibernation. But her friends had other things in mind.

"Let's go to the club!" Yuna hollered. Jongin, Sehun, Sua, Ahyoung and some others shouted in agreement. "B-but it's still daytime," Minju said in a small voice.

"So what? We can still go." Sehun replied while putting a hand around her shoulders. Minju squirmed uncomfortably. "Why? You don't want to?"

Sua slapped the back of his head and pushed his hand away. She slipped in her fingers through Minju's and said softly, "We can go have some food first. Let's see if you wanna go after that, okay? You don't have work today either. Come on, it'll be fun. I promise."

"Yeah!", the other girls chimed in. They all knew that Minju was uncomfortable around crowds and always looked out for her. Minju smiled at them gratefully and squeezed Sua's hand. "Okay, let's go." Her friends roared up in cheers and Minju felt herself already loosening up.

An hour later, the group was wandering around the streets of Hongdae looking for the famous restaurant Kai had looked up online. They gave up after twenty more minutes and decided to get into the first hamburger place they would come across. 

"Hey! What's that?", Ahyoung pointed to their right as they halted at a four-way junction. Across the road was a small crowd around men holding weird equipment and cameras. Wait, was that a small crane?

"Oh my god! I think they're shooting something! Wait... is that Ahn Garam?!"

"OH MY GOD!" Yuna squealed! "IT IS HIM! AND LOOK! LEE HYEMI! SHE'S THERE TOO!"

"LEE HYEMI?!" Jongin asked in surprise. "WHERE?!"

Minju looked at her friends' bizarre behavior. She didn't know who these actors were. She looked around for Sua only to see her mouthing 'oh my god Ahn Garam' at her.

"Let's go closer!", "I want an autograph!", "OH MY GOD AHN GARAM!", were some of the things her friends said as they pushed her along with them towards the direction of the crowd.p

The shooting seemed to be on hold judging by the chattering of various staff running around with clothes, makeup, water bottles, and cameras.

Minju looked around, fascinated and a little uncomfortable, as her friends busied themselves trying to catch the attention of the stars.

Then all of a sudden, she felt the air around her go still. Sitting on the footpath, wearing the padding he wore the last time she saw him, was Baekhyun. He was so fixated on the script in his hands that he probably hadn't noticed how red his nose and cheeks had gotten. His skin so pale, she couldn't tell where his bangs ended.  .

Minju knew she had to leave. Another minute around him and she would combust. Also, if she talked to him in front of her friends, it wouldn't end well. She didn't want to be questioned endlessly and if someone recognised Baekhyun from the scandal, she would be done for. 

She pulled on her friends' arms, trying to get them to leave with her,  but they paid her no mind. 

She grabbed onto Sua and pulled her away from the crowd. Chest thumping, she stared into Sua's curious yet worried eyes. "He's here. Baekhyun."

Sua took one long look at her and held her hand wordlessly. She tapped on Yuna's shoulder and told her something Minju didn't listen to.

Just as they turned to leave a voice stopped called out to her. "Hey!"

She winced.

"Minju!"

Well, .