Naeun arrived at the lobby before Taemin. Wearing an oversized hoodie and a brown puffer jacket, he wondered if she'd get cold once they head out. He quickly undid his scarf and wrapped it around her neck.

"I'm alright, I've got a thermal inside," she stated, but did nothing to stop Taemin.

"Your neck is exposed," he said. 

"What about you?" Naeun asked back. "I'm wearing a turtleneck so I'll be fine," he replied. She nodded at him When he turned his back, Naeun snuggled her face into his scarf. It was soft and smelled of pine wood. Noticing the quality of its fabric and design, Naeun could tell the scarf was branded. 

Their stroll started off in silence, both ransacking their brain to think of a topic to talk about before things got too awkward between them.

Should I talk about snowboarding? Ugh, but we've talked about that all night yesterday.

Skating? Naeun thought back to the teases and whispers, No...that'd really make things awkward.

The snowball fights? Pfft, that conversation would end within minutes for sure...Think Naeun, think!

"You seemed to be in a better mood than you were this morning," Taemin said, breaking the uncomfortable silence at last. Naeun laughed at herself embarrassingly, "Was it that obvious?" and Taemin nodded.

"Did something happen?" he asked. Naeun wasn't yet comfortable to tell Taemin what had happened, so she told him that she'd been having a lot of things on her mind. He nodded at her again.

"I guess I should thank you," she said. He looked at her, confused. "You thought of the idea of a snowball fight, right?" she smirked, causing Taemin to scratch the back of his head looking all  flustered."I just thought doing something fun would help cheer you up," he said shyly.

"It did, a lot in fact." He smiled warmly at her, "I'm glad."

"So, what was it you wanted to show me?" Naeun asked, and Taemin gestured his arms to their surroundings.

"We're always looking at the town when it's bustling with visitors and tourists, we forget just how serene this famous town can be too." Naeun couldn't help but agree with him. The stars above ornamented the night sky similarly to how the street lamped glowed the path they were strolling.

Something silvery caught Taemin's attention.

"Hey, isn't that a rosary ring?" he asked, pointing at Naeun's finger.

"Oh, yes. I'm a Catholic." A big smile formed on Taemin's face. he pulled his sleevs  to show her a silver bracelet.

I guess we do have more than one thing in common, she thought.

"What's your Christian name?" he asked.

"Marcella. What's yours?"

"Francesco." She giggled - Francesco was a pretty unique name to Naeun. The two started sharing about themselves to each other - their likes and dislikes, favorite sport, favorite food, etc.

"What's your favorite season?" Naeun asked, "Let's say it together on the count of 3."

One, two, three!

"Winter," they said, and laughed. Naeun then asked his reason for loving winter. 

"It's the season where I get to do one of my favorite things - skiing - and it was the only season where my family would gather together to go on holidays." He explained how his parents were extremely busy people, so he barely saw them at home. He was also an only child. However, once the winter holidays hit, they would travel all around the world. His mother would make a scrapbook for every trip they had.

"Must be nice," Naeun said, "traveling with your family every year."

"Don't you?" he asked. Naeun shook her head slowly.

"My mother raised us as a single mother. Our parents divorced when my sister and I were still so young. I barely remember my father's face." She told him about the restaurant her mom built which became quite successful and was their main source of income. Their lives got better it gained recognition, but they remained frugal with their spendings. Naeun and her family would go on short trips to the many islands of Korea, but never out of the country. When Taemin politely asked how she got enrolled in their expensive high school, she simply answered, "Scholarship," which earned her an impressive whistle from Taemin. It wasn't easy to get a scholarship at Gangnam High, much less a full scholarship.

"I love winter because, like you, I get to do one of my favorite things, snowboarding, and it's also a time when my mother's restaurant would close early. We get to spend more time together." Naeun thought of her mother and sister; she missed them so much. "She'd always make a big pot of army stew with a bunch of side dishes, and on Christmas Day, we'd do Secret Santa."

Taemin raised an eyebrow. "Aren't those for kids?"

"Not when you know the right gifts to buy," she winked.

Silence was in the air once again but there was no awkwardness between them. They relished each other's company as they walked back to the hotel. It was then that Naeun spotted another donation box for the Starlight Orphanage. She must've missed it while conversing with Taemin. She caught him approaching the middle-aged woman sitting beside the donation box and dropped a few notes into it. Her heart warmed for the said boy before donating a few cash as well.

"God bless you two," the warm lady said as she smiled at the two teenagers. They gladly returned it before continuing their walk. The memory of L, to Naeun's dismay, resurfaced and she wondered if she should ask Taemin about him. He could know a thing or two about L that no one else might.

"Hey Taemin."

He looked at her, "Yeah?"

"How well do you know L?" he stopped dead on his track.

"Why?" Naeun bit her lips, "It's just, what kind of person is he? I mean, aside from being the troublemaker that we all know he is, I just want to know if there's more to him than midst the eye."

"He's..a complicated person," he answered.

"What do you mean?"

"I knew him since freshmen year, but we never got along well. He was always so grumpy and loved giving our teacher a hard time. Ironically, our dads were best buddies when they were in university." 

Naeun frowned at Taemin's answer. "That doesn't explain why he's a complicated person." He sighed as she urged him to go deeper. 

Why is she so interested in him anyway?

"L's adopted. He was orphaned for most of his childhood. Even after getting adopted by a well-off family, he barely received any attention. I heard he was only adopted by them because he was the youngest orphan they had at the orphanage at the time, but it's only a rumour." Naeun gave a silent oh and mumbled, "No wonder." She then told Taemin about her witnessing L donating money to the same orphanage they just did and had believed that underneath all that violence and playboy attitude,  there was compassion in L's heart. Naeun realized that perhaps it was just empathy he felt.

"I still wouldn't judge him too quickly," Taemin confessed, to Naeun surprise. "Don't get me wrong, I still think he's a douche but I guess, until we know his whole story, you can never assume why he acts the way he does." Naeun nodded in agreement, but her mood dropped. Taemin frowned at the sight of her smile fading as her eyes stared at the ground.

"Hey, come on, this walk was supposed to make you feel relaxed, not bummed out." Naeun chuckled. Once they reached the hotel, it was empty. The clock on the wall read 22 45.

"Geez, shouldn't they have someone guard the lobby this late at night?" Taemin questioned.

"Maybe the person in charge is on potty break?" Naeun assumed,  "Besides, there are plenty of security cameras around."  As they made their way to the lift, Taemin came up with an idea.

"Ever been to the ballroom?" 

Naeun widened her eyes, "This hotel has a ballroom?!"

Taemin looked at her, puzzled, "Don't all hotels have them?"

"I've never really been to a five-star hotel before," she quietly confessed. 

"Well then, let me take you on a tour to Starlight's extravagant ballroom," he joked. 

The ballroom was on the fourth floor of the hotel (They had thirty floors in total). Despite the room being dark, the moon gave them enough light to be aware of their surroundings. A grand piano stood at the edge of a wide stage. They climbed onto the stage as Taemin sat on the piano bench.

"What are you doing?"

"You a fan of T.O.Y.?" Taemin asked, ignoring her question.

"Yes, but Taemin, are you sure it's alright for you to play the piano?"

"Why not? No one's around and if we're not allowed to, someone would come barging in and all we gotta do is just apologize and make a run for it." She sighed at his reasoning.

He could be too carefree sometimes.

(A/N: CUE TAEUN MUSIC T^T) As soon as Taemin started playing, Naeun immediately recognized it. She loved this song and leaned on the piano, its tune so mellow and rich, it sounded like a lullaby, lulling its way into her soul, rejuvinating it. But what startled her the most, was the divine voice coming out of Taemin's mouth. She never knew the said boy could sing! She didn't think anybody knew. 

To say that his voice was beautiful would be an understatement. Naeun was charmed by it. Her eyes never left Taemin as he swayed himself with the melody, playing every note flawlessly. It was hard to believe that Taemin wanted to become an engineer! It was almost time for the main chorus when Taemin suddenly stopped playing. 

"Join me," he said. 

"O-oh no, I can't sing," she replied abruptly. "Kwenchana," he chuckled,  and patted the empty space next to him for Naeun to sit. Not wanting to ruin their moment, she complied. He played from the beginning again. Throughout the first chorus, Naeun remained silent, fidling with her fingers as Taemin continued singing, but as she welcomed the melody in, she felt moving on its own. Taemin didn't expect an angel to come out of . His brief distraction made him press the wrong note, but quickly recovered on the next one. Naeun giggled at that. They continued singing, her voice and his as one in harmony. When the last note was played, they looked at each other:

"You have a beautiful voice," she praised.

"So are you."

Naeun's breath hitched. She could barely see Taemin's face, but it was close enough for her to catch his scent - pinewood, just like his scarf that now lay loose around her neck. His eyes sparkled under the moonlight, its color like the Earth below their feet, pulling her in with tremendous force and gravity. 

Was he always this charming?

Was she always this beautiful?

An alarm on her phone went off, breaking the enchantment the two were under. She cursed and quickly turned her alarm off.

Taemin coughed, "We should probably get going."

"E-eung..." and got up from the bench, Taemin following behind. 

They refused to look at each other. They had said nothing to each other since they left the ballroom.

When the elevator had reached Naeun's floor, she mumbled him goodbye before walking out. Just before she was out of sight, Taemin called out to her, "Naeun-ah." She turned around.

"Do you uh, wanna go skiing with me? I mean, you'd be snowboarding obviously, but do you wanna ride with me? I mean, down the slopes with me?"

He scolded himself, since when did Lee Taemin get tongue tied?

Naeun giggled at his attempt to ask her out, but accepted with a firm nod. "I'll see you tomorrow then, pretty boy," she beamed. He smiled at the nickname she gave him; he was very much one indeed.

"Goodnight, Kitty," he said, and reached for the "close" button when Naeun stopped him.

"Your scarf," she said as she began unwrapping it. 

He stopped her, "Keep it. I want to see you wear it tomorrow."

Naeun's cheeks burned like mad and she was extremely grateful for the darkness to hide her crimson face. He bid her good night one last time and before the lift doors closed. When she got back to her room, she carefully hung the scarf with her snowboard jacket before putting on her comfy PJs and crawling under the covers of her bed.

For the first time since she's arrived at Starlight, she slept like a baby.

No nightmares haunted her that night.

~~~

She waited at the bus station for Taemin.

Naeun had to wear an extra layer of thermal as the temperature had drastically dropped. So drastic that the snow around them got taller - it was at least a knee-deep. While that was a good thing for skiers and snowboarders - it meant that all the slopes would be available to them and there'd barely be any hard ice to bruise them should they fall - Naeun hoped that it wasn't a sign of a snowstorm brewing. Taemin's scarf was wrapped neatly around her neck and it was close enough for her to smell its scent. His words still echoed in her mind:

"Keep it. I want to see you wear it tomorrow." That was all she could think about all morning. Her cheeks started burning again.

Ten minutes had passed and still no sign of Taemin.

Maybe he's running a little late, she thought. She refused to believe that Taemin would bail on her like that. 

He isn't that kind of guy, right?

"Waiting for someone?"

Her body tensed. She knew whose voice that belonged to - the very last person she wanted see stood in front of her, his snowboard tucked tightly at his side.

He's snowboarding today too? Can this day get any worse?

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Stood up on your first date? How sad."

"He's just running a bit late and no, it's not a date," she replied monotonously, but the truth was that he was late. Very late, to be exact. The bus was leaving in five minutes and Taemin was still nowhere to be found.

"Ride with me," L abruptly announced. 

"I'd rather walk to the mountains, thanks." 

L's face turned sour and grabbed her wrist, "I wasn't asking."

Was this guy serious? Naeun couldn't tell. What was he going to do? Drag her into the bus with him like a prisoner? Like that wouldn't catch any attention.  Only, that was exactly what he did.

He's crazy!

"Yah! Let go of me!" Naeun tried shaking his arm off her wrist but his grip was too strong. The pain she felt suddenly reminded her of her nightmare. Panic rose up to her body.

Just then, a pair of hands broke L's grip from Naeun and she was pulled behind her rescuer, his hand gently holding hers still.

"Taemin!" (CUE STRONG WOMAN OST - SUPER POWER GIRL !!!)

They looked daggers at each other as Taemin let out an icy cold warning at L.

"Back off."