Kyungsoo’s POV 

            Krystal and I stare up at the ceiling, watching the Northern Lights as a comfortable silence envelops us. We don’t need words, because each other’s company is enough. I don’t know how long we just lie there in the snow, but Krystal’s clear voice is the first to cut through the silence.

            “D.O., remember that time I sang for you?” she asks.

            My eyes soften at the nickname and I reply softly, “Yea.”

            “Well, could you sing for me this time?”

            I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel nervous at the thought of having to sing in front of her, so I try to turn the tables. “You have to sing for me once more first,” I say, a cheeky grin on my face.

            “Wha- why?” she asks.

            “Because you’ve been hearing me sing my whole life, while I’ve only heard you sing once.”

            “Well, but I sang to you. I’ve never heard you sing to me,” she retorts.

            I raise my eyebrow. “So you want me to sing to you? And let me guess, you want me to sing a love song?” I tease.

            “Wait, what? N-no, I never said that!” I can just imagine her getting flustered right now and I chuckle.

            “I can read between the lines,” I say. “It’s my special talent.”

            “Psh, it’s not your talent at all because that’s not what I meant!”

            I laugh. “I was just joking. All right, what do you want me to sing?”

            “Miracles in December,” she answers.

            I smirk. “Isn’t that a love song?”

            “Aish! It’s not the type of love song someone would use to confess with for the first time, so just sing it!”

            I look at her again and raise my eyebrow mischievously. “Who said anything about confessing?”

            “I can read between the lines!” she says, copying me.

            “Well, it’s not your talent at all because that’s not what I meant!” I say, imitating her. I wish I could see her blush right now. That would be so funny and cute. Although I’m not sure if she would be blushing from embarrassment or anger. Hopefully not the latter.

            “Do Kyungsoo, sing,” she says in a commanding tone and I raise my hands up in surrender. “All right, all right, I’ll sing,” I say, giving in. “Why do you want me to sing this song anyway?” I ask, still trying to buy time.

            “Because the snow reminds me of it,” she says. And then she realizes what I’m trying to do and she exclaims, “Kyungsoo, stop stalling!”

            Smart girl. I sigh and take a deep breath before I start singing. My voice wavers a bit at the beginning and I wince. But as I progress, my voice starts getting more confident and I almost sigh in relief when I am able to hit the high notes.

            After I finish, I look towards Krystal, but she makes no comment. I tap her shoulder lightly and say, “Krystal,” but she doesn’t budge. My eyebrows furrow and I shake her harder, “Krystal.” Still no response. I start panicking and shake her even harder when I hear a yelp.

            “Yah! What are you doing?” I hear a voice say. Krystal’s voice. I sigh in relief.

            “What were you trying to do? Scaring me like that!” I say, sounding a bit harsher than I intended to.

            “Aish, I was sleeping! Next time before you assume someone is dead, check for a pulse before you actually give someone a heart attack by waking them up like that,” she says.

            Something rubs me the wrong way when she mentions death. Even while I was trying to wake her, I didn’t let myself think about that possibility.

            “Don’t say things like that,” I almost growl.

            “Like what?” she asks.

            “Don’t say things like ‘someone is dead’.”

            “But isn’t that why you were panicking? Because you thought I was-”

            “DON’T!” I yell. “Just don’t.” I say. I look at my shaking hands and clasp them to calm myself down. After I register what I have just done, I look at the ground, feeling a little guilty. I shouldn’t have yelled at her.

            There is a pause and I worry that I may have just made matters worse when today’s surprise was supposed to cheer Krystal up but I hear a soft “I’m sorry.”

            I look up in surprise at her. “I should’ve thought about the effect my words could have before I said them,” she proceeds to explain. “I-”

            I cut her off. “No, don’t apologize. I’m the one who should be sorry. I was just-”

            This time it’s Krystal who interrupts me. “You were just worried, I know. And thank you for worrying about me. I don’t have anyone else who does that for me.”

            “Well, my worry for you would equal about 10 people’s worry, don’t you think?” I ask.

             I hear her laugh and I unconsciously smile. “Probably more than 10 people,” she says.

            I nod in agreement and then I hesitate. My next request might come off as a tad bit weird, but I decide to say it anyways. “Do that again,” I tell her.

            “Probably more than 10 people?” she repeats, confused.

            “Not that,” I say, grinning. “I mean laugh again.”

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The next day…         

I rush into my house and bolt the door after me. I hear banging from outside and a familiar voice.

            “DO KYUNGSOO! YOU BETTER OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!” Sehun hollers.

            “Sorry, dongsaeng. No can do.” I reply, pressing my body weight onto the door to block him from coming in.

            “I already texted Luna to come here! You have to let us in!”

            “Aish, why can’t we just work on the project at lunch like we always do?” I say.

            “Because the project is due tomorrow, you pabo!” I hear Sehun yell through the door.

            “Oh….” I say. I had totally forgotten about that. I smack my forehead and turn to look at my shadow. It is still shaped as my silhouette. Just hang on a little longer, Krystal, I think, hoping that somehow we will have a telepathic connection and she will be able to hear my thoughts.

            “Yea, oh,” Sehun says, imitating me. “NOW LET ME IN!” I hear him shout once again from the other side of the door.

            "Eotteokhae,” I mutter to myself. My shadow is going to change back into Krystal’s form any second now. There is no way I can let Sehun or Luna into the house. There has to be another way…

            Then an idea forms in my mind. This better work, I think to myself, because the moment I open that door, I know that a very angry maknae is going to come storming in. 

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