[Kang Daesung]

A boy with brown messy hair sighs, looking out the window. He mindlessly counts the snowflakes that touch the window.

“Another day, another lonely Christmas…” He mutters, wrapping a blanket around him. He’s always feeling cold, whether he’s sick or not.

“Kang Daesung, what are you doing here?” The boy’s mother asks, seeing her son alone in his room once again. The mother places her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow.

“What do you think, mom? I’m spending the night alone like I always do.” Daesung replies, a little annoyed to his mother. Every Christmas—more like every day—his mother pesters him about going out, “acting like a teenager for once”, she would say.

Daesung’s mother shakes her head; she’s had enough of her son acting all mature. She wants to see him misbehave for once, to see him laugh out loud, to see him make outbursts, to see him fall in love. Never once in his whole childhood, Daesung has never done any of that. He was well behaved, smart, polite, and quiet. Well, he too well behaved. He’s only 19, but he has the mind of a 37 year old and the personality of a 40 year old.

“I’ve had enough. Get dressed and get out.” His mother says, pushing her son towards his closet.

“W-what?” Daesung stutters, surprised by his mother’s actions.

“Dress nicely—No, dress like a teenager; jeans and this hoodie.” She throws the combination at him. Daesung stares at them. He didn’t even know that he had these. “You’re going out tonight. I heard that your classmates are throwing a party.”

Before Daesung could protest, his mother leaves his room with a mischievous smile on her face. Daesung shudders. Never again will he see his mother like this. It’s like she’s the teenager while Daesung is the adult. With a sigh, he takes off his sweats and slips on the clothes.

He reluctantly goes downstairs and faces his weird mother. As expected, Daesung finds his mother next to the open front door. Daesung stops at the doorframe and looks at her. She smiles and kisses his cheek.

“Have fun, sweetie. I already messaged you the address. Go check your phone if you seem lost.” His mother then pushes Daesung out the door and closes it in her son’s perplexed face. Daesung’s mother sighs and plops down on the couch and turns on the TV to her favorite drama. “Alone at last.” She giggles. “Daesung won’t be alone for long.”

Meanwhile, Daesung already arrived at the destination his mother wants him to be. He mutters a curse under his breath as he sees all the people dancing and drinking.

“Kang Daesung?”

He meets a pair of soft brown eyes. “Yes. May I help you?” He asks, raising an eyebrow. Of course he’s going to act mature.

The girl smiles at him. “Nothing. I never thought I’d see you here at shindigs like this.”

“It’s not my kind of ‘shindigs’ in the first place.” Daesung replies, scrunching up his nose by the weird slang. The girl suddenly links her arm with his, surprising Daesung. “Well, let’s go somewhere with less noise. This thing isn’t really my forte. I’m Kang Jiyoung, by the way.”

“Lovely. We have the same last name.” Daesung comments, trying to make small talk. They weave through the crowds.

Jiyoung rolls her eyes. “Yeah, sure.” Daesung stays quiet after that. The two go the corner, the farthest away from the crowds as possible. Jiyoung suddenly giggles and leans towards Daesung. At the same time, Daesung leans away from the girl. This girl must be drunk, Daesung thought. He felt a little disgusted. People shouldn’t even be drinking. He then gets a whiff of her scent. He can barely smell the alcohol, but it’s her scent that catches his attention. It was the smell of fresh oranges, his favorite scent.

Jiyoung secretly smiles as she watches Daesung look at her up and down. She isn’t tipsy at all; in fact, she doesn’t even drink. Once she saw Daesung lingering in the doorway, she wanted to have some fun. She doesn’t drink, but she’s one hell of a partier. Besides, Daesung is cute. She’s seen him around the school sometimes. It really is a surprise to her that he’s attending a party like this.

“You want something to drink?” Jiyoung asks, thinking that she can ease him up a bit.

“No, thanks. I don’t drink.” Daesung refuses.

“I don’t drink, either.” Jiyoung blurts out, but covers it up with a giggle, making her sound tipsy.

“Doesn’t sound like it.” Daesung mutters, trying to gently push the girl off of him. But the girl won’t stop clinging on to his arm. All Jiyoung is doing is trying to loosen him up. She has a little crush on Daesung; she really like his personality and his looks. But she really doesn’t like it when he’s so stiff. She is a wild party person, after all.

Daesung abruptly stands up. “I’m just going to go. This place really isn’t my kind of grounds. See you at school.” Daesung starts to walk off, but turns around and meets Jiyoung’s eyes. “Don’t drink too much, either. Hangovers aren’t really nice to deal with.”

Jiyoung smirks, turning playful. “So, you have drunk before. You know what hangovers are.”

Daesung chuckles softly and shakes his head. “No, I haven’t gotten drunk before. I’m just smart enough to expect the side effects of drinking.” Daesung turns and starts walking away, not looking back this time. Jiyoung sits there, watching his figure leave. She stands up. She won’t give up that easily.

She starts following Daesung, but he sure is a fast walker. Halfway to his home, Daesung feels someone’s hand rest on his shoulder. The person makes him turn around. “You again? Do you need anything?” Daesung asks Jiyoung, a little surprised. Suddenly, the snow kicks up a notch. The winds are starting to get strong while the snow comes raining down.

“Just wanted to talk to you more. Do you mind taking me home?” Jiyoung asks, giving him a look nobody can resist.

Daesung sighs, “Alright.”

They start walking in the opposite direction from Daesung’s house. Daesung mentally pouts; he really wanted to go back home quickly. He’s already had enough of all the hype. He glances at Jiyoung to see if she’s holding up against the strong winds. She was shivering. Daesung looks at her wardrobe. She’s only wearing a short tight fitting dress with black stockings covering her legs and black stilettos. Daesung mutters another curse and starts taking off his hoodie.

Jiyoung stares at him, startled by his actions. “You’re attractive and all, but you really shouldn’t be stripping in the middle of the street.” Jiyoung says, half-playing, half-shocked.

Daesung rolls his eyes and hands her his hoodie. “Wear this. You’ll catch a cold with your choice of clothing.”

Jiyoung puts on his hoodie, feeling the coldness of the jacket. She always thought Daesung was warm. Boy was she dead wrong. “What’s wrong with my clothes?” Jiyoung asks, looking down at herself.

“Who in their right mind would wear a dress during a snow storm?” Daesung says, exasperated. He shakes his head, making snow fall out of his hair.

“For your information, there were other girls who were dressed like this.” Jiyoung scoffs.

“And what? You just have to follow them? Girls like you shouldn’t be dressing like this.” Daesung blurts out, he and his stupid mouth. “It doesn’t do you justice at all.” He adds and starts walking ahead of the girl. Jiyoung trails behind him, a smile on her face.

A siren blares behind them. They both jump and turn around. A police car pulls over and a policeman comes out. The policeman walks toward them.

“Is there a problem, officer?” Daesung asks, being an adult again.

The officer shakes his head. “I’m just worried. Two teenagers like you shouldn’t be out on a blizzard like this. Maybe you two should pull over to a friend’s house or something. I know I shouldn’t be suggesting this, but maybe a hotel, too. I would take you two home, but the roads are already blocked from all the snow.”

“Blizzard?” Daesung asks, looking around. It was indeed a blizzard. They’ve been walking through 1 foot of snow and they didn’t even notice.

“Yep. I hate it when the weather changes unexpectedly. Anyway, there’s a hotel just around the corner. Check in there for a while. In fact, I’ll go with you guys, so I know you got there safely.” The officer says, smiling.

“That’s very kind of you, officer.” Jiyoung smiles back, shocking Daesung. He thought she was tipsy. How come he hasn’t heard her slur the whole time? After 30 minutes, Jiyoung and Daesung were in a warm hotel room. Daesung was looking out the window, watching the snow. Oh how he wished he were home instead of here with some stranger.

Jiyoung comes out of the bathroom, still wearing her dress, but drying her hair with a towel. She watches Daesung silently from behind. He had his hands folded behind his back, like a businessman. If only she could get him to loosen up…

“Thanks for lending me your jacket.” She says.

“No problem. You were freezing, anyway.” He replies back, not looking at her.

Jiyoung sits on the couch and turns on the TV, folding her arms across her chest. It’s too bad she couldn’t find a blanket anywhere in this room. It’s freezing her toes off right now. Daesung takes one look at her and sighs. He goes over and sits down next to her, hesitantly wrapping his arms around her. Jiyoung looks at him in surprise, feeling his cold arms.

“You still aren’t helping, you know. Your body is very cold.” She remarks.

Daesung flinches. He knows that already. He just can’t get his body to warm up, despite being layer up in clothing from time to time. He starts rubbing his hands up and down her arms, heating her up.

At exactly 12 a.m. the girl was sleeping in Daesung’s arms, bundled up in his arms. On the other hand, Daesung was wide-awake. He can’t seem to sleep. He absentmindedly moves his hand up and down her arm, feeling her heat flow into him. She… felt nice. Daesung rested his head on top of hers, feeling the strands of her hair caress his face.

For once, a big angelic smile comes across his face. It’s a smile he’s always had, but never showed. It was a smile to melt girl’s hearts. He really liked the feeling the girl was giving him. For the past few hours before the girl fell asleep, they talked. And the girl was just as intelligent as Daesung, but she knew how to have fun, unlike Daesung.

She actually was fun to talk to. She actually made him laugh, made him smile… Is this what love feels like? No, it’s too fast. But… He looks down at the girl, chuckling softly. She does seem to like going fast in a way. Maybe I can start a friendship with her… then turn it into something more warm? He thought.

Daesung smiles. Maybe turn it into something more than friends?

He hugs her tighter, his body taking in the warmth she’s giving him.

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A/N: So... I admit, I got a little carried away writing Daesung's part. I couldn't help it. Everything was playing in my mind XD

Either way, comment & maybe subscribe? :)