The journey to Crescent Peak was a fifteen-minute bus ride from the resort.

Since taking four classes altogether would be a hassle, classes 4-1 and 4-2 (Naeun and Taemin's class) went first and the remaining two would go the next day. Afterward, anyone who'd like to go again could take the bus on their own.

The closer Naeun was to reaching their destination, the faster her heartbeat raced. It'd been almost two years since she last snowboarded. Of course, she'd have to keep in mind the promise she made to Krystal and Eunji to teach them the basics of snowboarding. As much as she longed for the feeling of the wind in her face and the exhilarating rush to course through her body, she didn't want to leave the girls behind. When else was she going to have fun in the snow with them? Graduation would commence at the end of spring. She barely had a year left with the girls she’d grown to love and cherish dearly. Krystal was trying her best not to talk about the 'history of Crescent Peak' and Eunji kept glancing at Krystal every once in a while to make sure she stayed that way. Yeap, Naeun was going to miss them.

~~~

Crescent Peak was pretty vacant despite it being the holidays.

Must be too expensive for most people, Naeun thought. It was after a new resort. Naeun and Eunji quickly found a snowboard to their liking and collected the rest of the gears. The rent's bill was out of the world!

Yup, definitely the price, Naeun confirmed. Once the girls were outside, Naeun quickly instructed the two girls on how to secure their snowboards and led them down the ‘green’ slope. Eunji learned pretty quickly but Naeun couldn't say the same for poor Krystal. She kept falling every ten seconds.

"Ahh, my hurts!" she whined, rubbing it.

"Practice makes perfect," Eunji said as she snowboarded past her.

"Easy for you to say," Krystal grumbled. Naeun climbed back up to her and gave her a hand. "You guys make it look so easy," Krystal pouted. Naeun gave her a sympathized look before cheering her friend to continue.

The girls weren’t the only beginners in the slope. Nearly half the students gathered near the beginners' area. She looked at the sun gleaming down the mountains. Two hours had at least passed and judging by the rough schedule Jessica gave the classes, lunchtime would be soon. That only meant a few hours for Naeun to snowboard on her own before they leave. Theoretically, she had the whole afternoon for that but she disliked the idea of snowboarding alone in the dark. She considered herself a pro but she’d rather remain prudent.

"Are you just gonna stand there all day, or slide down?" someone behind her spoke. She turned to see the infamous face of Kim Myungsoo. Naeun was surprised at first, but quickly masked her expression with a glare. She was still mad at him. Daniel's bruises were faint now, but they still ached, and his left eye was swollen red. He was forced to sit out today's trip. Jihyo, of course, stayed with him.

"What, you need help going down or something," he smirked.

"I can slide down myself just fine, thank you," she retorted but before she could, he grabbed her arm.

Geez, what's with boys grabbing my arm these days?

"Let go," Naeun growled, shaking his grip off of her.

"Feisty, aren't you?" his smirk still present. How she wished she could wipe that smug off of his clear face.

"I'm not interested in playing any of your games, L.”

"Who said anything about playing games? I only wanted to talk.”

Naeun wasn't sure what to do. Krystal's warning and the Santa Clause memory clashed each other like a gruesome duel in her head. Should she give him the benefit of doubt just this once? Maybe he just wanted to apologize like she previously thought the night before? Naeun sighed and folded her arms, "Two minutes.”

"Feisty and cute,” he purred, “I like it.” The way his eyes scanned Naeun made her shiver down her spine.

"Go find someone else to hit on.” As Naeun started sliding down, L grabbed her by the arm again which caused her to lose her balance. She fell bringing L down with her.

"Naeun!" she saw Eunji and Krystal rushing towards her and quickly turned to L.

"Get out of here," she hissed. L gave her a confused look. He was about to question her when she beat him to it, "Unless you want to get mauled by two very cranky girls, I suggest you leave now.” He rolled his eyes but did as was told. Seconds later, Eunji and Krystal reached Naeun.

"Was that L?" Eunji looked afar as she and Krystal helped Naeun up. "I don't know," Naeun replied, avoiding the direction where Eunji was looking. Her attempted lie failed as Krystal smacked her arm, "Yah! You promised you wouldn't hang out with that prick!"

"I promised that I would be careful around him, not avoid him like some plague," Naeun corrected her. "Same difference,” Krystal grumbled.

"What did he want?" Eunji asked. Naeun shrugged at her. She didn’t truly know since L wasn’t given the chance to explain why he wanted to talk to her. The tower bell suddenly rang, signaling that it was noon. The girls secured their gear at one of the gear holders and went inside the tavern for lunch.

“By the way,” Eunji spoke as she swallowed her bulgogi, "If you want to go to the higher slopes after this, go on ahead.”Naeun blinked in surprise, "I don't want to leave you guys behind.” They smiled at her. Naeun was always so kind and selfless.

"Don't worry about us," Krystal assured her, "My sister found a couple of seniors who can help improve our snowboarding. We feel bad that you keep staying in the kiddie areas when we know you’re dying to try the big boys.”

"Are you saying I'm a bad teacher?" Naeun pouted. The two girls laughed at her attempt to do an aegyo - she was terrible at it. "We just want you to get a taste of Starlight's famous..." Krystal stopped her sentence, remembering that Eunji was sitting next to her, "I mean, we just want you to explore the rest of the slopes while you still can. Sure we have five more days here, but there's a lot on our to-do list besides snowboarding.”

"But-"

"No buts, Son Naeun. You go out there and feel the thrill you've longed for!"

Naeun sighed in defeat, but she was secretly glad the two of them convinced her to go. Her legs had warmed up during the multiple sleds down the beginners' area. They were ready for the big boys. Plus, there wouldn't be too many people in the much steeper slopes. After chatting a while more, the three girls cleaned their table and headed out. The so-called "new mentors" would meet up with Eunji and Krystal outside the rental store so Naeun bid them farewell and headed for the gondola.

Krystal's POV

She heard someone call her name and, along with Eunji, turned their heads around.

Her eyes widened, "You!" she shouted. 

Eunji merely raised an eyebrow, "This oughtta be interesting.”

~~~

Naeun had lost count the number of times she snowboarded down the mountains. She snowboarded down each one of them with ease, allowing gravity to pull her down. She didn’t falter, she didn’t fall. She was in her element now.

"Woohoo!" she squealed as she leaped into the air. As Naeun was about to make a turn, a figure skied past her, barely inches away from her.

"Hey!" she yelled, but he didn't stop. She raced after him, nearly reached him as she yelled at him to get his attention, but he ignored her still and went faster, almost like he was racing her. Naeun's frown grew into a smirk.

Game on.

They were neck and neck but the slope grew flat down the endpoint. The skier had the advantage, using his poles to increase his speed, and alas, won the race. Naeun stopped a few feet behind him, taking off her goggles and bringing her scarf mask down.

"I gotta admit, you're pretty good at skiing," she complimented, walking towards him as he unfastened his helmet.

"But was the slight intervention really necessary? If you'd been an inch closer, we could've..." She froze when he turned around.

(Cue I Love You, I Remember You - I.O.I)

Black eyes met brown, the chilly wind tousling his raven hair.

"Well, if it ain't little kitty," he teased, a smile forming on his glowing face, "We meet again.”

Naeun sighed, "I told you not to call me that.”

He chuckled, "Then it's a good thing fate brought me to you," and shortened the gap between them, leaving just enough space for Taemin to gaze at her beautiful face. Naeun could feel her face burning hot like the sun above her.

"I never did catch your name.”