Winter is much like unrequited love; cold, harsh, merciless. Winter was the exact opposite of Baekhyun because he was warm like the sun. His smile, his laugh, his personality, was the offspring of summer.

The snow piled around her feet burying her ankles in white flakes. It was the dead of the night, the temperatures were below freezing and the streets were deserted.

Jinah found herself walking down the familiar block, her eyes set on the snow underneath her, her mind cloaked with thoughts of her mother.

Her mother was at it again. Jinah should be used to it by now, but she wasn’t and she hated herself for this.

Her soft steps along with the heavy wind were the only sounds audible as she wrapped herself tightly in her jacket. She was dressed thickly so the cold wasn’t bothering her, yet.

“It’s midnight.” The casual tone of Baekhyun’s voice broke her out of her trance. She turned around to find her best friend stepping towards her. His red nose contrasted with the paleness of his skin. A knitted hat covered his head and he had on a thick jacket and she could see the knitted sweater underneath his jacket. A pair of groves and a warm scarf kept him from freezing.

“How’d you find me?” She asked slowing her footsteps so he could keep up. She continued to look down on the ground, refusing to look at him. He should be sleeping; he had a date with Soojin, his girlfriend, tomorrow and he needed to be well rested. He should be sleeping in bed instead of being here with her.

“Your mother brought her date home again didn't she.” He stated dryly, his intentions became clear to her then. He was there to comfort her.  

“Thanks Baek.” She mumbled softly not sure if he even heard her or not. The small curve of his lips confirmed that he did hear.

“Anytime Jinah, you know I’m always going to be here for you.” He told her. He wasn’t lying because he was always there for her. It was like Baekhyun had this magical radar that always told him if something was wrong with her.

“Come on, let’s get hot chocolate.” He insisted wrapping his arms around her and bringing them to their favorite café that stayed opened especially for those chilly nights when sad souls dwell.

“Sometimes I wonder how you do that.” She asked as they walked through the winter wonderland around them.

“Do what?”

“Make things better.” She answered softly. Baekhyun stopped in his tracks, turned towards her and brought his fingers up to flick them against her forehead.

“Ah. What was that for Baek?”

“You don’t need me to make things better.” He commented but if only he knew how much he made her day shine.

“Thanks Baek, for always being there.” She said sincerely.

“Oh, don’t get all sentimental on me now Jinah.” He insisted, pouting like a little boy, which caused her to smile brightly. 

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Jinah wasn’t a fan of coffee at all, and even so, this was the worst possible time to coffee. It was midnight after all. So a warm cup of tea and a piece of chocolate cake were sitting before her. Not to mention a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Jinah had a certain sweet tooth. It didn’t matter if it was midnight, she ate sweets still. It didn’t matter if it was below zero, she was the type of girl who ate ice cream all year round regardless of the weather.

“You’re going to get fat eating chocolate cake and ice cream at this hour.” Baekhyun commented. She pouted and rolled her eyes playfully. Both knew she could care less about her weight right now.

Jinah took a plentiful clunk from the piece of cake, letting the frosting melt in . As a little girl she heard that chocolate and ice cream were healing remedies for tired hearts. Maybe that was why she fell for the sweet treats when she was broken.

Silence consumed them as they sat there in that small café. The owner was a nice grandmother who lived in the floor above the café. They grew close to her over the years and eventually both of them got a pair of keys to the café. They often came here in the middle of the night when they couldn’t sleep.

They both had that habit, staying up until the blink of dawn because they had too many thoughts suffocating them.

They were sitting by the table closest to the kitchen where the only light that was on, though the open door separating the kitchen from the café the light dimly lit over them.

“Hey Baek,” Jinah was the first to speak after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah.”

“What do you plan to do after we graduate?” She asked. That was one of the things bothering her. It was their final year of high school; they would be graduating in a few months.

 “You tell me Jinah. I already got accepted to SM University, and may I remind you that you did also. College is the next step for us.” He answered. Jinah bit her lower lip, she was reminded of that small issue she hasn’t yet mentioned to Baekhyun.

“I meant what you do plan in life Baek, aside from college.” She clarified and she saw how his brows narrowed, pondering on her question. Jinah herself had been going over this question, again and again.

“I don’t know. All I know is that at the end of the day I want you to be there,” He began and her heart skipped a beat when she heard his words. His words touched her but she managed to keep herself from blushing. Jinah had learned how to keep her emotions intact so Baekhyun couldn’t see how every time he smiled her insides swam with butterflies and every time he said something nice she felt like dancing in the rain.

“As well as Soojin. I know I want her in my life.” He finished, oblivious to Jinah’s dropping heart. Of course he would want Soojin there, she was his girlfriend after all.

“What about you?” He asked her.

“I want to live everyday as an adventure, I want to chase after dreams and dash towards beauty. I want to touch freedom.” She replied.

“And fall in love; you want to fall in love.” He added lightly. Oh if only he realized how she was already so in love. If only.

“Are you in love?” She asked softly, almost scared of his answer because she knew that was going to get hurt. She knew that his answer was going to stab her insides bit by bit until she was nothing but a broken mess of a being.

“Yes. I’m really much in love.” He answered with twinkling eyes, his eyes looked like they were miles away, thinking about a certain girl, and Jinah knew that girl wasn’t her.

Sometimes she wished he knew. Sometimes she wished she had enough courage to just spill it all out. Sometimes she wished she didn’t have to hold everything in. Sometimes she wished she could tell him how she felt when she saw him with someone else, how she silently bit down her pain and pretended like nothing was wrong.

She did say anything though, because she was scared of destroying their friendship. She needed Baekhyun too much to risk losing him. Even if it killed her she said and did nothing. She was in love with him, even if it was killing her.

“I’m happy for you Baek. You found something most people spent years searching for.” She commented bitterly, luckily for her he didn’t catch onto that bitterness.

“And what’s that?” He asked curiously.

She smiled softly, “Someone once told me that the one you love and the one who loves you are never, ever the same person. You found it though, someone you love, and that person loves you back. If only you knew how lucky you are. You are so lucky.”

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This chapter opens up some of the issues in Jinah's life such as her life after high school and her mother, her relationship with her mother will be explored throughout the story, and let's just say this will be one of the determining factors in her life.

I also wanted to point out certain details that could go unmissed if you didn't read carefully. For example, when Baekhyun mentions that they both got accepted in SM University (yeah, I know, real creative right) she remembers that she forgot to mention something to Baekhyun (pay attention to this). Or even the simliarity in their characters, like they have trouble sleeping at night, or how Baekhyun has this "magical radar" that tells him when something is wrong with Jinah, which I find pretty ironic. Anyways, enough babbling, hope everyone enjoys the chapter