Shadow’s POV 

            Milk. It’s the emergency word I picked out the day Kyungsoo made the snow surprise for me. It’s also the name of one of my favourite songs. I always wondered how that song could have such a happy tune yet incredibly sad lyrics, and now I finally understand. 

            The song was trying to express how a person could be sad on the inside, therefore the sad lyrics, but because they acted normal, no one would ever know, which explained the upbeat tune.

            And that is what I’m going to do now. Act normal with Kyungsoo, bury the pain. Treat him like he’s just my best friend, like he has never been anything more. Because that’s the only way to not lose him, to keep him by my side.

            Just then, I hear soft footsteps ascend the stairs and I let my head fall back onto the couch, pretending to be asleep.

            “Krystal?” I hear Kyungsoo whisper. The footsteps pause somewhere near the couch and I open my eyes slightly to catch a glimpse of him. I see him walking to the other side of the room to get something and then he comes back towards the couch again. I shut my eyes, just in case he can tell I’m awake or something. I feel the softness of a blanket envelop me as Kyungsoo covers me with the blanket, pulling it down from my face slightly so I can breathe comfortably. I want to smile, but at the same time I want to cry, so I just bottle up all of my feelings, keeping an emotionless facade.

            “Sweet dreams,” he says softly and then I hear his footsteps retreat from the room. I open my eyes as soon as he leaves the room and I glance down at the floor, catching sight of a shimmering white box. I’m not sure if he left it there by accident or on purpose, but curiosity gets the better of me as I lift the lid up, peeking in to see the contents of the fancy box.

            I discover that the box is filled with coloured paper, covering an object of some sort. I try to unwrap the paper as quietly as possible, but it still makes rather loud rustling sounds. I keep on glancing at the door, hoping that Kyungsoo won’t hear the rustling and come in. I finally manage to uncover the object, which happens to be a beautiful, detailed snow globe with an angel in the center. I hold it gently because it looks so fragile and delicate, I’m afraid that it’s going to shatter in my hands at any second.

            There is a post-it note on the glass top with Kyungsoo’s writing. It reads: Twist the top :)

            I look at the snow globe curiously before complying with the instructions and twisting it. As I do, notes begin to play from the snow globe and I stare at it wonder. It’s a musical box too. An instant smile appears on my face when I recognize the tune. Goodbye Summer.

            At first glance, this present looks like it’s for me, but it couldn’t possibly be. Kyungsoo already has Luna. This must be for her. The smile disappears from my face as fast as it had come. I’m about to wrap it and put it back into the box when I notice a little button at the side of the snow globe. I press it and I wait to find out what it does.

            “What does this do?” I hear Kyungsoo’s voice and I jump, my head instantly turning to the door. But he’s not there. I frown and turn back to the snow globe and then I almost slap my forehead in realization. The button plays a voice recording.

            My suspicions are only confirmed when I hear a woman say, “It’s a voice recording. You only have one chance to do it. There’s no erase or redo button.”

            “Wh-what?” I hear Kyungsoo ask. I can hear the bewilderment in his voice and I almost laugh. Almost.

            “Uh…uh…” Kyungsoo stammers and I hear another voice. Luna’s. “Hurry up, Kyungsoo,” she says. “If you don’t say it quick, she’ll lose interest and she won’t even want to listen to this anymore.”

            “Okay, okay! Don’t pressurize me!” he says loudly. And then there’s a pause in which I assume is when he realizes that his voice is still on recording. I almost laugh again.

            “Uh, hi Krystal,” he says, his voice a lot softer this time. There is a pause, like he’s waiting for me to say hi back. “Hi, Kyungsoo,” I say, a smile on my lips even if he’s not really here.

            And just like we have telepathy, he continues his sentence. “Uh…this is kind of…a new experience for me, because I’ve never done this before, so you’ll understand if I’m awkward, right, best friend?”

            I furrow my eyebrows. What does he have to be awkward about? And right on cue, he says, “You’re probably wondering what I’m talking about. Well, here goes…um…,” I hear him let out a sigh and I can picture him ruffling his hair in frustration. “You sure I can’t redo this?” I hear him ask in the background. I hear a faint “no” and his voice returns onto the recording in stutters. I smile unknowingly at his awkwardness before I catch myself and stop. I’m supposed to be pressing my feelings down.

            “Just spit it out!” I hear Luna say from the other line and I patiently wait for Kyungsoo to finish what he was going to say. “I-I like you, Soojung-ah.”

            The realization doesn’t hit me at first. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t heard my Korean name in so long and I wasn’t used to responding to it anymore. Maybe it’s because I thought that those words were so impossible for him to say to me. But when it all finally registers in my mind, it comes all at once, knocking me out of breath.

            “Wh-what? I couldn’t have heard right,” I mumble, my eyes as wide as the full moon.

            “I like you, Krystal, more than a best friend,” he repeats, and then he hurriedly says his next sentence. “But if you don’t feel the same, let’s just forget this entire thing ever happened and go back to the way we were.” There is a pause and then he says, “I don’t think I can afford to lose you again.”

            “Uh, so think about it and let me know what your answer is. Don’t worry, take your time,” he says. “Well, not too long, not like one year or something, but you know… Okay, I’ll just stop talking now.” He lets out a nervous laugh. “Goodbye, Soojung-ah, see you soon.” And then the recording ends.

            I stare at the snow globe for the longest time, my head spinning, trying to grasp the situation. All the emotions I had tried so hard to supress came bubbling up to the surface again. And although I know the answer to his confession, it still feels so hard to express it aloud. So I write it out instead. 

            I grab a pen and take the post-it note off of the snow globe. I flip it to the other side and write a word. It is one simple word, yet it means so much. I walk softly out of the room, making my way to stick the note on Kyungsoo’s door, while trying to be as quiet as possible just in case Kyungsoo is already asleep. But I don’t need to go far as I catch a glimpse of a figure trying to ascend the stairs swiftly.

            “Kyungsoo?” I say, and the figure stops and turns around, smiling sheepishly.  “I thought you were in bed. What are you doing here?”

            “Uh…. I thought you were still asleep, so I brought this pillow,” he holds out a pillow in his hands. “Because it can’t be all that comfortable sleeping on the armrest.” He waves his hands animatedly as he talks but stops when he catches sight of the note in my hand.

            I give it to him and he stares at the “yes” written on it for a long second, then looks back up to me with wide eyes.

            “Really?” he asks and I nod. “Even when I sounded like an idiot on the recording?” he says and I laugh.

            “Especially because you sounded like an idiot on the recording,” I say. On a normal day, he would’ve scowled at me and said “You’re supposed to say that I’m not an idiot.”

            But today, it seems like nothing can wipe the smile off his face.

            As he envelops me in one of his warm, tight hugs, I feel all the pain and jealousy I used to feel instantly disappear. And I know that I no longer have to pretend to be alright.  

Hiiii, I am so sorry that I took more than a week to update. :P I will try to update more frequently from now on, and I hope you're enjoying this story so far. :) If you liked it, please subscribe, comment and upvote! And thank you so much for reading! God bless and have a good day ~