You huffed, an irritated sound, and watched it fog up in the chilly night air. It was snowing, and the cold stung your face as you moved quickly along the streets. It was the holiday season, and you hated this time of year; it was always crowded because everyone was busy shopping.

You, for one, despised shopping with a passion. You could never understand why people enjoyed strolling through racks and racks of clothes, most of which were overpriced anyway. Unfortunately, it was about two weeks away from Christmas, and you still hadn't thought of what to give anyone yet--not that it would be too bad, because you were an only child, but still. You liked to be prepared.

Suddenly a burst of inspiration struck. Considering how your mother loved peppermints and the smell of peppermint, you could buy her something peppermint-scented. You turned around and headed for the body products shop, where you walked in and were immediately welcomed with good-smelling warmth.

"Do you have something peppermint-scented here?" you asked the saleslady.

"Sure, honey, over here." She led you to a corner of the store, where you saw a bunch of winter-themed smells and products: peppermint, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon. You thanked her and considered your options. Your mother loved peppermint, so you would definitely get the lotion for her. However, after smelling the vanilla, you decided that you liked it, and took a bottle of vanilla body spray. As for your father...he was obsessed with neckties. You could go shopping for a few nice ones later. Satisfied, you paid for your items and once again headed home.

"I'm home," you called as you stepped through the doors and took your shoes off.

"Oh, good, honey, wash up and we'll have dinner in an hour or so," your mother replied.

You went to your room and set your newly bought items down and turned around to get a set of pajamas when you saw a completely unexpected sight. A boy. In your room. Sitting on your bed. Grinning at you.

"What the--" Some very naughty words flew from your mouth that you would never normally use. "Who the hell are you?" you finally sputtered. "And what are you doing in my room?"

The boy simply grinned back at you. "Nice you meet you too. My name's Daehyun. And I don't know what you're freaking out about, considering I'm here every day. You just happened to never see me."

Your head hurt, and you were pretty sure that you were just hallucinating. "I should probably lay down," you said, heading toward your bed. "Move," you weakly moved your hand in Daehyun's general direction.

"Oh, I don't have to," he replied cheerily. "You'll pass right through me."

You were too tired to even process how odd what he was saying was, and flopped down on your bed. Unfortunately, none of you hadn't expected to crash into each other, and you ended up landing on Daehyun's hand. "Ow!" he cried, pulling his hand out from under you. "What the heck? How are you able to---what on earth..." Shaking his head, he disappeared into thin air.

After about five minutes, your head was feeling much better, and you were 100% sure that you had just imagined the whole thing. You got out a set of pajamas and headed into the shower. Afterwards, feeling refreshed and awake, you went back to your room.

He was there again, sitting on your bed. Again.

"What the heck?" You rubbed your eyes.

"I'm back," he greeted you. "It's odd that you can actually touch me. Because normally this happens." He stuck his arm down into--through--your mattress, and took it out again. "See? But then you actually made contact with me." Daehyun stood up and walked toward you. Then, stopping in front of you, he put his hand on your face. It was the weirdest sensation you'd ever felt: his hand felt warm and soft, but it was somewhat...staticky, like the fact that you were touching was absurd and unnatural.

His eyes softened for a split second, and you thought you imagined it. He removed his hand. "That shouldn't happen. I don't know..."

You sighed. "Look, I don't know you. What are you doing in my house?"

"I...uh...live here too."

You couldn't have heard right. "Excuse me?"

"I also live here."

"No, you don't!" you cried. "I've never seen you or met you before until today!"

"Exactly," he agreed. "You haven't seen me. Most of the time, I stay hidden and invisible. But you weren't coming home at the normal time today, so I thought you would be gone longer, so I...yeah. And you came back, but...you should have seen your face when you saw me!" He laughed. "You looked about ready to faint!"

"What, wouldn't you be concerned if a random stranger was in your room when you came home?"

"Oh, I probably would be. But then, that's never happened to me, so I can't imagine. Maybe I'd strike up a conversation with him instead."

Looking at the clock, you found your excuse. "Hey, look, it's dinner time! Maybe you should disappear before my parents see you and freak out!"

"Don't worry about that, I like to thinnk ahead. They can't see me; you're the only one who can."

Great. You parents would probably think you were going insane, talking to the air. You went downstairs to set the table for dinner, and Daehyun accompanied you. He watched as you placed the plates, napkins, and eating utensils, then studied you and your family some more as you ate. You sent some glares his way, but whenever you made eye contact, he would flash you a grin that unfortunately would make you blush. Every time.

After dinner, you went back to your room to do homework. Daehyun actually proved to be helpful as he helped you with math problems. "You know," you commented, "you're actually smart. How'd you know all this if you never went to school?"

Daehyun huffed indignantly. "What makes you think I never went to school?"

"Well, seeing as to how you pass through objects, I doubt you'd be able to go to school," you offered.

He elbowed you slightly and muttered, "Well, I didn't always used to be this way."

"What? You mean you just suddenly developed some disease that makes you massless?"

Daehyun pouted and faded away.

"Hey! Come back!" You were still tingling from the contact with him, and strangely, with him gone, you felt lonely.

But Daehyun didn't answer or reappear, so you sighed and finished you homework in silence. Once done, you turned off the light and got into bed. "Hey, I'm sorry if I offended you." You felt ridiculous speaking to no one, but you knew he was somewhere, listening.

Suddenly, he was next to you, on your bed, facing the ceiling. He sighed. "It's not your fault, I'm just a little sensitive about the topic."

"Hey, can I try something?"

Daehyun looked at you quizzically in response. You reached out and touched his hair. The static feeling went through you again, but his black hair felt normal and soft--like any other boy out there. "You have soft hair," you said, and immediately regretted it.

Daehyun laughed. "Thanks." He reached out and examined your hair as well. "You do too."

You grinned and said, "Good night, Daehyun."

He seemed shocked, like nobody had ever said that to him. Then, when you were half-asleep, you heard him say quietly, "Good night."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, you woke up to find yourself face to face with a smiling Daehyun. "Morning, sunshine," he greeted you.

"Ugh," you said, sitting up. "What are you doing, so cheerful in the morning?"

"I'm always cheerful. You should get ready before you're late for school, though."

You glanced at the clock and swore silently. As you rushed into the bathroom, you heard him call out, "Watch that language, missy! My innocent ears!"

To your annoyance, Daehyun insisted on following you to school. "I have several reasons," he'd said. "First, no one can see me, so it's not like it matters. Two, I'm bored staying at home. Three, I'm being a gentleman and walking you to school. Four--"

"Alright, alright. But I'm going to have to run!" You sprinted after locking the door behind you, and were huffing and puffing by the time you reached school and sat down in class, one minute before the bell rang. Daehyun, of course, didn't even look winded. He just sat in the empty seat next to you, grinning like always. "You're cute," he commented.

You had the urge to smack him, but it probably wouldn't look normal to your classmates if they suddenly saw you hitting the air angrily.

Daehyun followed you as your friends gossiped with each other, you silently listening but saying nothing. Eventually you headed to the library, one of your favorite places in the school. "Your friends are really something, huh."

"Why?"

"They talk about one person, then another, then another. Where are all these people coming from? How do they even know all that stuff?"

You sat down and put your backpack next to you. Daehyun followed suit and sat across from you. "I don't know. But they're good people overall, you know."

"I'm sure they are," Daehyun replied, then rested his arms on the table and put his head down, closing his eyes. You took the opportunity to study him. He had a handsome face. His arms seemed muscular and well-built, but not so much so that it was scary. He seemed kind and friendly. He was tall, but not too tall. Overall he seemed to be your type...

"Liking the view?" he asked, eyes still closed.

"Yeah," you admitted without shame. Then you blushed.

Daehyun cracked open his eyes and looked at you. "I like the view too," he commented, but you oddly felt violated, as his eyes swept over more than just your face.

You reached for a notebook in your backpack and smacked his head with it. "Ow!" he cried, and you felt a sense of satisfaction.

"Oh, I'm sorry," you said sweetly, "did that hurt? Oops!"

Daehyun narrows his eyes at you, then stuck his tongue out. It was so childish, you burst out laughing, but stopped. remembering that you were in a libary, and supposedly alone, too.

You checked your watch and headed to your next class. Daehyun, of course, followed, until it was time to go home. It was saddening to see the sky so dark so early because of wintertime, and normally you would be paranoid and hurry home. But with Daehyun walking with you, you felt more safe somehow, and decided to take the trip to the mall to by your father's Christmas present. It was Friday, after all, so you had to school the next day.

You headed into a clothing shop and went to the men's section. You found where the neckties were and browsed through them, finding many pretty, quirky, and downright odd designs. "Hey," you suddenly addressed Daehyun, who was looking through the dress suits.

"Uh?" he replied, distracted.

"Since you, you know, pass through things, can you still try on clothes?"

Daehyun looked over at you, offended. "Of course I can! Just because I can walk through objects doesn't mean I can't wear clothes. It that were true, I'd be right now, wouldn't I be?"

You blushed at the thought. Then you said, "Alright, just making sure. I think that suit is nice. You should try it on. And here," you said, handing him a tie decorated with cute bows, which you found fitting for him somehow.

He did as you said and came out looking quite fancy. You secretly loved it when guys wore suits, and Daehyun wore it nicely. The tie fit well, too. But then it was ruined when he commented, "I look nice."

You frowned. "Go change back into your old clothes. I'm going to buy these for my dad." You held up three ties that you liked.

Daehyun sighed. "One day, you'll learn to appreciate me."

Once home, Daehyun promptly disappeared, saying, "Maybe if you don't see me for a while, you'll learn to value my presence."

You found it cute that Daehyun was so sulky, but at the same time felt sorry for the guy. No one could see him or touch him, so it must have been so lonely, day by day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though Daehyun said he would be gone, he was there again the next day. A routine eventually established: Daehyun would spend the day with you, then fade away once you got home.

A couple of weeks later, on Christmas Eve night, you sat on your bed. "Daehyun! I'm heading out, do you want to come with me?"

Your heart pounded, hoping that he would say yes. Over the course of the past two weeks, you found yourself falling for him. His smile and cheerfulness was contagious. He was handsome, and always took care of you whenever you were together, like making sure you were on the inside of the road when you were walking outside (though since he was invisible to others, you weren't sure why it mattered. But it was sweet anyway).

Daehyun appeared. "Sure. Where?" he asked.

"To the park. They decorated the trees with lights, so they're really pretty."

"Psh," he made a face. "Why would I need pretty sights when you're here?" You blushed, and he poked your forehead playfully. "I'm just kidding. Let's go."

You liked to think that the two of were together, because you liked him and he seemed to like you, but neither of you had brought the issue up. You were unofficial. So tonight, you were going to tell him.

"Wow, they are nice," Daehyun said as you reached the park. He took your hand and led to you an empty bench. There seemed to be no one except you two at this late hour, so you were surrounded by quiet. You leaned your head on his shoulder, and he leaned his head on your head.

"You're warm," you said.

"You smell nice," he said at the same time, and both of you burst out laughing.

Eventually quiet settled in again, and Daehyun started, "I want to tell you something. Well, a lot of things, but..."

You put your head on his shoulder again. "Yeah?"

He took a breath. "I...shouldn't be here right now. The reason why no one can see me, why things pass through me...I'm dead."

It didn't shock you as much as it probably should have. You'd come to the same conclusion yourself, but hadn't thought much of it, because it seemed so absurd. But then again, everything about Daehyun was absurd.

"But I've done something so horrible. I met you."

You sat up. "Meeting me was a bad thing?"

Daehyun didn't look at you; he stared at the ground. "Yes. Because I fell in love with you. And I'm dead. There's no hope for us..."

"I love you too, Daehyun."

At this, he looked into your face, and tears started to form in his eyes. He took your face in his hands. "I should have told you earlier. But I couldn't, because I knew what would happen, and I didn't want to lose you..." He sounded frantic. "You see...I'm going to disappear soon."

As you looked at him, you could see that he was already starting to fade. Alarmed, you hugged him to reassure yourself that he was still there. "No," you sobbed. "We just got started. You can't--"

Daehyun pulled back and gave you a sad smile. "I'm sorry I put you through this. I shouldn't have appeared that night. I'm so sorry."

He started to drift upwards, fading all along the way. "My time's coming soon. Try to forget me. You deserve so much better--"

You lifted your arm and reached for his hand, crying. He took it and gave you one last smile before fading into nothing. "Merry Christmas," his whisper lingered.

Tears streamed down your face as you cried openly. The stars seemed to shine mockingly bright in the night.

You still hadn't had a first kiss.

"Merry Christmas," you said bitterly

A/N: So....the ending. I thought a happy one would be too cliche, so...yeah. :3

Also, I probably won't be able to update, because I have school, and then during winter break, I have relatives that will be coming, so I'll be busy...

Sorry! OTL

So since I won't be able to update, Merry early Christmas! (And Happy New Year too...probably)