“It doesn’t mean that you’re less important to me or that I love you any less than him,” Yuri carefully explains to Kris. She offers him a small smile. She could understand of what he’s trying to say. He’s trying to say that he’s her second. He’s trying to say that she only thought of him after Kai. Of course Kris isn’t her second. He’s the one who always there for her besides her best friend. She’s thankful enough to have him in her life.

Love? Does she love me? Or did I put my expectation too high? On the other hand, Kris’s mind is battling with a lot of thoughts.

However, Yuri feels a little bit guilty at Kris. It’s not that she only thought of him when Kai isn’t there. It’s just that she needs to ask her best friend about something on that time. Moreover, she’s used to call Kai first. They have been friends for so long. She used to lean on him a lot whenever she’s in trouble. Besides, she knew Kai a lot longer than the boys. Thus, she hopes that Kris will understand and not feel bad about it.

She then slowly slips her hand into his and lightly squeezes his hand. “I love all of you equally. You guys mean a lot to me. I cannot even imagine if you guys are not here with me,” she softly whispers to him.

That’s when Kris finally snapped back into reality after his long thought. Yeah, right. It means that she loves me as much as she loves the boy. Kris secretly sighs, he hopes for nothing. Yuri doesn’t love him in that way. She loves him as a friend. However, he’s good at hiding his expression. No matter how disappointed he is to know that Yuri loves him as only a friend, he’s still thankful that he met this beautiful girl. He’s thankful enough that his family moved to South Korea a few years ago because he got the chance to know about this amazing girl beside him. That’s what matters him the most. He secretly smiles.

“Thank you for always being there for me, Kris. I couldn’t ask for more,” Yuri shows him with another smile before she leans her head on his chest.

Kris’s heart suddenly skips a beat by the time he feels her head rested against his chest. When he stares down at her, his heart suddenly softened. I don’t care if I’m your second or I’m your third or even if I’m your last option. I just love you so much that I really want to be in your life. I really love you, Yuri…. But he couldn’t utter the words. He’s afraid of being rejected this time.

He then caresses her cheek, “I will always be there for you.” He then wraps his long arms around her.

“Thanks, Kris.” They remain with the position for a moment. She loves his scent. It’s one of her favourites after Kai’s.

“Hey, why are we being so cheesy?” Kris jokes, releasing her from his embrace.

“Kris, look!” Yuri suddenly points her finger out. The guy beside her slowly follows her finger. They suddenly see the hill of the snow that they can see from the lobby turns into a beautiful scenery. There are bright colours flashed everywhere. Both of them enjoy the moment before they decide to go back to their respective hotel room. Tomorrow will be the day where they will return home. They’re going to miss everything. Each moment feels special. She has a lot of remarkable memories during their trip there. She has so much fun with the boys. They both sigh at the thought of going back to school. Plus, there is a school festival coming soon which means that they’re going to be busy.

That day, Yuri is not able to go to school since she has caught a cold. It’s probably because of the extremely cold temperature during their school trip two days ago. The first day where she caught a cold was like a nightmare to her. She kept throwing up and spent most of her time in bed. Her mother was so worried and with that she had taken two days off from work to take care of her daughter. Yuri’s temperature seemed not to cool down. They went to the nearby clinic but there’s no sign for her to get better.

However, by the third day, Yuri is no longer nauseous. But her body still feels so tired and her head hurt like crazy which causes her to not be able to go to school that day. It feels like someone had hit her head with a hammer. It hurts so much. But she’s thankful enough that it gets a little better than the last two days. The last two days was very awful. She barely can eat because she kept throwing up.

“I feel so bad that I have to leave you alone when you’re sick like this. I’m a horrible mom,” Mrs Kwon gets teary. Tears suddenly drop down to her cheeks after seeing her sick daughter lying in bed. She has no more days off and unfortunately, there is an urgent matter for her to settle on that day. She couldn’t help but to feel so bad for leaving Yuri on a time like this. She really wants to stay.

Yuri slowly shakes her head in disapproval. “Omma, don’t say that. I’m okay. You had taken care of me for two days straight. That’s more than enough,” Yuri assures her mother with a low voice.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay? Should I call the boys?” Her mother asks worriedly. She’s about to take her phone but her daughter stops her.

“They must be in school. I don’t want to burden them,” she takes a quick glance at the clock that hanging on the wall. They must be in class right now. “Just leave the medicines there. I will make sure to eat them on time,” she tells her mother, slowly pointing out her finger at the nightstand table near her bed. She then offers her a reassuring smile. She perfectly knows how worried her mother is.

“I’m a horrible mom,” Mrs Kwon sighs. When she places the back of her hand on her daughter’s forehead, she still has a fever.

“Omma, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll get better once I get my sleep,” Yuri reassures the middle aged woman.

After a long thought, Mrs Kwon then plants a kiss on Yuri’s forehead before she leaves the house. “Call me if you need anything, okay? I’ll be back as soon as possible,” she then pats Yuri’s head. After making sure that she puts all of the medicines on the table, she reminds her daughter once again to eat them on time. Just then she leaves the house with a worried feeling.

Two hours later, Yuri’s phone suddenly vibrated. That’s when she realizes that she has been sleeping for two hours now. She still feels weak but still manages to grab her phone and picks it up.

“Hey, are you alright? I heard from Mrs Kwon that you’re sick,” she could hear her best friend’s voice from the other line and a smile has crept on her face. “Do you want us to come over? We are so worried about you,” Kai sighs. Yuri’s mother had just called him a while ago. She had asked him if he can look over to her sick daughter after school.

“I