Pepero Day! – The Giant Pepero present from Taemin (left)

Only Seo-Yun can make his hair sway in the breeze at her will ;)

The autumn wind blew right at my face, sending my long black hair whipping back. I stood against the rooftop ledge, propping my arms on top of it and I rest my chin on my hands. I gazed at the school grounds. Unlike any other typical day, the school grounds were still buzzing with students even after the school bell had ringed, signaling the end of school for today.

It wasn’t surprising, I thought as I observed the crowd below exchanging boxes of Pepero. Today was Korean’s Pepero Day, a day where friends, admirers and lovers gave out Pepero to the people they like. I munched off a stick of cheese flavored Pepero given to me by a guy in my class and raised my eyebrow at the queer taste spreading in my mouth.

My eyes fall upon the big bag leaning against my leg and stared at the many more unopened boxes of Pepero in it. Thank god, one of my female classmates was kind enough to give me a bag to contain all of them in. Well…at least the amount of these Pepero will be enough to keep me going for days at it and beside…I grinned at the thought and took another bite at the Cheese Pepero stick, it’s free.

Oh I love Pepero Day….

A set of heavy footsteps were approaching me from the back and I turned around to see a an exhausted Taemin who raised his finger at me as he attempted to get back the required amount of oxygen first.

“Well….? Are you okay?” I said after a while.

“Yeah….” Taemin breathed and stood up straight. “They wouldn’t stop chasing after me.” He pointed to two large bags of Pepero beside the rooftop door. I opened my eyes wide at the sheer size of those bags, even the Pepero boxes were threatening to spill out from them.

“Wow…” I gasped. “That’s a lot.”

“That’s not all…” he laughed weakly. “These are only the Peperos I got while making my way here…there’s more at my classroom.”

“Do you need a car to carry all these back?” I jokingly asked.

“Yeah…” Taemin obviously didn’t catch on to the joke. “Manager Hyung is coming over later to help me get all these stuffs back to the house.” He answered seriously.

“Oh….” I trailed off. I knew he was popular in school, but seriously, until just now, I have no idea how madly popular he was. 

“Guess you wouldn’t want to share a box of Pepero with me.” I raised the opened Pepero box in my hand.

His eyes lit up at my offer. “Oooo? Cheese flavored? I never try that before!”

I passed a stick over to him and watched as he excitedly took a bite at it like a child before giving a frown on his small face.

“It tastes weird….” He stuck out his tongue.

I laughed at his expression. “Guess I’m not the only one then!”

His eyes focused on something else instead and I traced the trail to my bag of Pepero at my side.

“Guess you’re quite popular huh?” He said in a quiet tone and flicker his gaze towards me.

“No…!” I blurted out, embarrassed by his comments. “What popular? What nonsense….it’s just gifts from my classmates that’s all. It’s kind of them to remember me even if I’m usually the type to mind my own business instead. Beside…compared to yours, mine’s nothing.” I chuckled.

“Well…” he trailed off and looked away. I stared at him queerly and for the first time, I noticed something odd about him.

“Why are your hands positioned behind your back? You’re hiding something?”

He shifted his foot around. “It’s nothing…”

This, only serve to pique my curiosity.

“Let me see!” I jumped behind him and he quickly turned the other way around. “No!”

“Come on…don’t be a spoilt sport!” I reached out my hand, grabbed his arm and saw a giant Pepero box in his grasp. I gave him a quizzical look.

“Well..,” he stuttered, his face turning light pink. “Since its Pepero Day, I thought as a friend…I should give you something, you know…” he trailed off, looking at loss for words.

I smiled at his actions; happiness was overwhelming me that I couldn’t form a solid thought in my head.

“Thanks…” I said softly and gently took the Giant Pepero Box from him. “But what’s this…?” I stared at the words written at the back of the box.

Immediately, the words were covered by his outstretched hand. “Don’t look at it yet!” He said a bit too loudly. “I mean…” He adjusted his tone. “Not when I’m around.” He gave a cough to hide his embarrassment.

I laughed again. “Thanks! I will read it carefully then…when you’re gone.” I winked at him and slot my new present into the bag.

I turned around and faced him again. “Now it’s my turn to give you yours.”

He looked up in surprise. “What? You prepare one for me too?”

I smiled at his expression. “Not exactly a present” I admitted. “Since I figure you would receive countless Pepero, I decided to gift you an experience instead.”

“Experience?” His big brown eyes went wider. I chuckled. “Yes!” I reached out my hands to him.

“Hold both of my hands and close your eyes.” I instructed and he raised an eyebrow at me.

“It’s not what you think it is.” I and watched his cheeks turn to a light blush again. “Come on…listen to my words.”

He did as he was told, gently wrapping his fingers around my hands. I noticed, as my heartbeat quicken at his gentle warm hold, how big his hands were around mine. I gave a slight cough to hide my shyness and looked at the closed-eyes Taemin before me.

“Now just listen to my words and do not open your eyes.” I said softly. He nodded.

“Now imagine you are on an island where you can see lush green trees and a beautiful ocean that stretches into the distance. You walked around this island and you feel at peace being here, you can relax on this island…” I paused to let the words sink in.

I could see the gradual changes on Taemin’s face – from holding a smiling expression to a calming expression. He was getting into the effects of my words.

“You walked on the beach…enjoying the feel of the sand under your feet. The wind is blowing in your face. You feel good feeling the wind sweeping all around you.”

 I let a gentle breeze swept around us.

“The wind is getting stronger and you feel so relaxed that you feel lighter….”

I make the breeze stronger.

“So strong is the wind that you felt your whole body being lifted from the ground….you’re floating in the air, totally relaxed and free….just continue to close your eyes and feel it.”

I looked around me as I hold on to Taemin’s hands.

As of right now, we’re actually floating about 50 feet above the rooftop’s ground. I steadied myself and focused on controlling the breeze supporting around us.

“Do you feel like you’re in the sky?” I asked gently.

“Strangely…yes.” A smile appeared from his lips. “It’s very relaxing up here.”

I smiled upon his smile. This was worth it, although doing it does carry a risk of him discovering my powers. Yet I wanted to give him something no one else can give – something that will be irreplaceable and special in his heart.

“Okay now…you’re gently floating down and down, back to the island. You feel the sand beneath your feet again. You feel at total ease with what you had experienced and then, you opened your eyes.” I finished the final instructions.

He opened his eyes in amazement and looked at me in awe. “How do you do that? I really felt like I was floating in the air!”

I smiled at him mysteriously. “It’s a secret.”

#Author's note - I suddenly craved for Pepero so I decided to write a chapter about it on a whim! Heeheee! I'm also reminded by this psychological technique my teacher likes to do on my class when we are facing a stress period...so I put it in as well! The words Seo-Yun said were roughly what my teacher had said that time as well :D 

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