XIUMIN & IRENE (XiuRene)

“Why were you out when it’s freezing cold in Seoul?” Minseok asked as he led her inside his apartment.

“This is better. I feel warmer now, thanks a lot.” a petite girl quickly lunged herself onto the couch, even without removing her dirty boots, and grabbed the remote to switch the channel from NBA to Cartoon Network.

“You’re full of snow, Irene. Do you mind feeling considerate to the owner of this place for a few seconds?” he told her, pushing her away from the couch with all his might and letting out a playful laugh after succeeding.

“That hurts,” she complained as she dusted off the remnants of snow outside after walking two blocks in knee-length snow. “And if you hadn’t figured anything yet, I’m here for a free tutoring session from you. As you know, I’m really bad in Trigonometry and you’re so good at it, so why not give your friend a small favor, eh?”

He wasn’t that good in academics either but Minseok was a better student than Irene. Unlike her, Minseok always had his nose buried on academics books. Irene, on the other hand, always had her head in the clouds, dreaming of becoming an actress which is an impossible thing as what Luhan, Minseok’s best friend which she eventually had gotten closer with after spending time together, had told her.

Minseok just let out a deep sigh and threw a meaningful look at her. As if he could say no.

“Give me one acceptable reason why I should teach you.” He said as he reached out for the remote in her hands. Irene, as if by instinct, quickly stretched her hand out towards the other direction so he wouldn’t reach it.

“You love me. That’s the reason why you are going to teach me.” Irene was smiling, innocently he noted,  as Minseok was looking at her, his eyes had showed that he was surprised at first, a very big one as he hadn’t seen that one coming.

“Ah, so you are taking advantage of it, then?” Minseok casually said a second late, scowling and making a face while poking Irene’s forehead which had caused her to fall a bit backward. Minseok took this chance, seeing her off balance and focused now on the hit she had got, and successfully grabbed the remote from her. “I’m going to watch the finals for now. Cook ramen or anything that suits you. It’s not like it’s your first time barging in here.”

“Fine.” Irene resigned with a sigh, still rubbing the red mark on her forehead. “I was just joking. You didn’t have to hit me that hard.”

He probably hadn’t heard her because the next moment Irene knew, he was already yelling at the television and even threw one of the pillows beside him towards the screen.

Thinking she would just be ignored, as usual, Irene went to the kitchen and made herself a bowl of patbingsu even in this kind of weather on the eve of Christmas.

SEHUN & JOY (HunJoy)

“Christmas present? For me?” her voice was a bit higher than normal and Sehun could tell she was excited.

“You mentioned last time that you were a big fan of that group.” Sehun said as he sat beside her, witnessing Joy as she opened the box revealing a concert ticket.

Joy held the ticket up in front of her, eyeing it with much happiness and delight. She remembered attending a concert of this group three years ago. She was so young back then but the impact of their music on her was really big. It made her want to be like them, to perform on stage just like them.

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