The party; getaway, or whatever it was was an utter bore, in Moon Bin’s opinion. The company must have too much money at their disposal to think of throwing such a useless gathering between strangers. Apart from football—which Moon Bin personally liked best because he was into all things sports—the rest of the activities seemed like they were meant for young kids aged fourteen and below. He watched, disgruntled, as the female candidates danced along to the latest pop music while his group members directed the dance moves and took turns to play the songs. He loved dancing, don’t get him wrong, but not when it involved social dancing and socializing with people he did not know. The rest of s seemed to be getting along quite well, he observed, seeing how MJ was engaging in an energetic Zumba-style couple dance with a candidate. Rocky took the centre spot, where he was showing a girl with a small, hamster face how to do a triple pirouette, his signature dance move. The girl was clapping her hands together so fast that she resembled a seal. So why was it that everyone was enjoying the night except for him?

You know the answer, his voice sounded strong and persuasive in his own mind. No, his real voice pushed back, maybe I’m just not meant for social gatherings. He stared at the festival in front of him for a few more seconds, willing himself to drink in the party atmosphere, to try to feel a part of their happiness for the last time. When the exhilaration didn’t come, he exhaled a sigh and turned to leave the dance hall. Everyone else might be having a good time, but he had something else in mind.

It was chilly outside. Small flecks of snow were falling slowly, giving the place a sort of fairy-tale like appearance he didn’t see so often in Korea. A shiver through his body caused Moon Bin to pull his winter jacket over his torso tightly as he trudged down the stone path, a road that was leading him to nowhere. He had been walking for a few minutes absentmindedly when he paused next to the dinner table that he was sitting at an hour earlier. There was a dark shape, strangely misshapen on the table and a thin layer of snow had accumulated on top of it, similar to what icing would look like on cake. He took a hesitant step towards it and saw—no, but it couldn’t be. That shape strangely resembled a… a human?

In that moment the shape sat upright in a sudden motion, causing the snow covering it to be hurled backwards. Moon Bin jumped backwards like a frightened cat, his gaze fixated on the unidentified shape. Just then it began to speak, its voice pulled out into a long, screeching wail that reminded Moon Bin a lot like a siren.

“Euuuuuun Wooooooo!” it wailed. It was a female voice, one that sounded highly familiar to Moon Bin.

“Eun Woo?” he said to himself. What business did this girl have with Eun Woo?

“I’m sooooooorryyyyyyyyy Eun Woooooo,” she drawled again, and then something clicked in his mind. He looked at her incredulously. The voice was undoubtedly Winter’s—the girl that he was living with—but what on earth was she doing here in this cold weather instead of being in the dance hall?

An icy cold hand grabbed his and pulled him unceremoniously onto the bench opposite hers. “Ouch!” he exclaimed as his hip bone collided against the hard wood, but Winter seemed completely oblivious to his pain. She was holding onto his hand tightly with her fingers, the other hand smoothing her hair back, such that her pale face became clearly visible to him. “It’s c-cold,” she chattered, her eyes closed. “D-don’t go.”

Of course it’s cold! he wanted to bark at her, because you’re wearing a thin layer of clothing in this icy winter! Slightly annoyed, he removed his padded jacket and draped it over her, and said instead, “You’re drunk, Winter. We should go to a sheltered place to keep you warm.”

“No!” she shrieked obstinately, her grip on his hand went even tighter. Startled, he said, “Okay! Okay, we’re not leaving, we’re staying here,” in a hurry to prevent the blood circulation from ceasing at his wrists. When she released the pressure, he wriggled his numb fingers in relief.

A second later, Winter was producing short, rapid sniffs that grew louder and louder. What now? Moon Bin thought exasperatedly. At that moment, huge bead-like tears were rolling down her fair skin and within the blink of an eye it had become a mini waterfall. Completely taken aback, Moon Bin searched his pockets for a packet of tissue in a hurry; anything that could stop those tears from falling. He cursed when his pockets produced nothing.

“I-I really t-thought it would work out!” Winter was sobbing, choking on her words as she did so. “I really didn’t mean to give you a c-cold shoulder, but whene-ever I think about the first s-snow, I c-can’t stop my tears from falling.”

“First snow?” he said, not understanding a single word she had said. Did something happen between Winter and Eun Woo? And if so, what could it be to make Winter so miserable?

Winter continued as if Moon Bin hadn’t said a word, “You know, when you gave me those chocolates, I was so, so very happy! I thought you gave them to me because you l-liked me!” she hiccoughed. “I actually finished the entire box of Ferrero Rocher! But why do I get so upset when I realised those chocolates were actually given to you by someone else?”

All was becoming clearer to Moon Bin now. Eun Woo must have given her the gifts given to him by their fans because he simply received too many of it and passing it on was the easiest way to finish those chocolates. His actions were understandable since the members usually shared their fan gifts with each other when they accumulated. But it was regretful that he had given it to the wrong person at the wrong time. He looked at Winter empathetically. The waterfal