[CONTENTID1]Shards[/CONTENTID1]

 [CONTENTID2]Chapter IV [/CONTENTID2]

 [CONTENTID3]

         That day, Irene took every courage in her to return to the practice room. She apologized to Sujeong, Seulgi, and everyone for disrupting the mood, and in the name of a peaceful practice, they all agreed to make up. However, as soon as the trainer arrived and practice had indeed started, the atmosphere was still – icy.

         Especially with the girls. Even if they say they are okay, Irene has become terribly self-conscious. To her member that she snapped on to, to the other group that saw her ugliness, and to the men who had seen her storm out. So here she is again, alone, on the rooftop, on the same bench right after their trainer tells them to have half an hour break.

         It wasn’t for long when Song Mino appeared again. She isn’t even surprised anymore. “Are you sent here by them to become some kind of divine intervention for me?” Irene asks with a raised eyebrow while carefully watching the male take the space beside her once more.

         “Nah, I’m just here because I want to make friends with you.”

         “Friends?” Irene repeated skeptically.

         He his head to the side and does his usual playful grin. “Would you like me to skip that part?”

         Her hand automatically slaps his arm; her cheeks warming up the slightest while he ends up laughing quietly to his own remark. “I actually came to give you this,” he shoves his hand to his sweater’s pocket and hands her one of his sandwiches. “You weren’t planning to skip lunch just for the sake of avoiding people, right?”

         “You’d be surprised,” she shrugs and takes it with a hushed ‘thank you’, and together, they fill their stomachs while listening to songs once more by sharing Irene’s earphones. The female takes a glimpse just in time to see him opening his mouth and taking a very small bite out of it while closing his eyes. Adorable, she thought while chuckling to herself.

        Time felt like a standstill once more as they merely hum along to the tune. It was definitely one of those rare moments when Irene finds herself enjoying the lingering silence without having to worry about what to say next.

          Mino rests his head on the back of the bench, closing his eyes and letting snowfall on him and it took all of her not to take each white speck off of his face. “Does listening to these songs bore you?” She asks as she studies his long lashes, his full cheeks, and his sharp jawline.

         “No, I quite enjoy the songs. Most especially your company. No bull niceties or pretense. Just you at your rawest. I’m attracted to people like that.” His eyes flutter open and she jerks away, only realizing how she has been leaning a tad closer to the male alr