You make this familiar world special

The girl in the white dress is nowhere to be found. As the male's eyes scan the ballroom, not even a glimpse of her can be seen. 

The emcee is engaging, the food is definitely nice, and the stage game looks rather fun too. But all that Jin has been doing is shake his legs and stare off into space despite all the festivities. All because of that one fact, the girl is out of his sight. 

The guy then decides to take a breather. It is of no use staying around if only the suffocating buzz around him is the only thing that he can notice. A walk in the hotel's garden seems to be a good choice at this moment, away from the unappreciated hustle and bustle of the ball. A little bit of tranquility might just be the thing that he needs. 

The garden is simply breathtaking, as expected from an elite hotel. It is seemingly empty too, a predicted sight since it is quite late at night but the fact does not reduce its beauty. The branches are entwined with flickering fairy lights, flowers blooming at the right places. But all those mean nothing when he finally spots something, or rather someone, sitting at one of the benches in the garden. There she is basking in the serenity of the night. Jin finds himself stopping to relish her beauty. Grace simply radiates off of her, sparkling brown eyes looking at the blinking lights, rosy cheeks probably from being bitten by the night breeze. 

 "Wow, I was totally being a creep just now".  He quietly slaps his own cheeks repeatedly. 

After a short moment of trying to regain his composure, he slowly makes his way to her. Being a nervous wreck, all the prep time seems to be redundant, Jin still trips over his own left foot after all. 

"What charity had I done in my previous life to literally stumble across a pretty lady here?" the male says as he steps closer to the girl, keeping his cool after the obvious slip. Her eyes light up at the sight of her desk mate. 

"Nothing. The ball is just not my thing. There are too many people for a too long time. Here… is nicer. And by the way, you don't look bad yourself!" she suddenly flails her arm as she answers, her voice a pitch higher. 

Not long after, both broke into fits of giggles and chuckles probably realizing how silly they acted just before. 

"Since this is a ball and all that. May I have the honor to have a dance with you?" Jin bows to Hyerim in the manner that princes would do in fairytales. 

"I would love to" she curtsies. 

Once reaching the ballroom, the dance floor is already filled with many pairs and some small groups of boys or girls enjoying themselves. "Let's dance?" he says as the two walks to one end of the dance floor. She just nods quietly, palms start sweating, belatedly thinking that this is a mistake. She never dances for heaven's sake! 

Her hand on his shoulder, his on her waist. But rather than dancing, the class president and the new girl are just swaying robotically together with a safe distance between them, trying not to trip over each other. Even so, the girl sometimes still trip over her dress and the guy is ready to intercept her fall anytime. One is clearly as clueless as the other about dances. Despite this being Jin's third year going to the ball, he hasn't developed a knack for dancing. All he did the previous years were goofing around with his squad of dorky boys. The two is definitely not a good mix on the dance floor. 

"Let's save ourselves from further embarrassment, shall we?" Hyerim suddenly takes her hand off his shoulder. 

"Home?" Jin enquires, anticipating to end the torment called the ball. 

"Yes, home would be nice."

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

Having their homes in the same neighborhood comes in handy. Being two broke high school students, they decide to take the bus home instead of the pocket leeching taxi. Numerous stares are directed to the classmates. They are both dressed up yet sit in a plain old bus without a care, certainly a rare phenomenon to see. At least when they are together, the embarrassment is shared. They recon that, no matter what, the silent and rather awkward bus ride is still better than standing on the dance floor under the watching eyes of many jealous fangirls. 

As soon as they step out of the bus, the night breeze attacks once again. Autumn is approaching and the night has become colder. The girl unconsciously shivers. Jin immediately takes off his suit and puts it on Hyerim's shoulder to comfort her with a little bit of warmth.  

"Hey, you should take back your suit. Aren't you cold too?" Hyerim says as she peels the jacket like garment from her shoulder. 

"No, you keep it for now. I still have long-sleeved shirt, so it's okay" He quickly fix the garment back to her shoulder, allowing her to snuggle into the oversized coat. 

"Thanks, then?" Jin only replies her with a smile. 

Hyerim always deems this kind of clichéd scene in the movies is totally redundant.  But now that she experiences it by herself, it is different. The masculine scent of the suit is utterly pleasing and she can't help but inhale it deeply every time she breathes. The warmth also gives her a sense of comfort and security, just like the guy striding beside her. He's been taking care of her very well since day one. 

As she loses herself in thoughts, she stumbles over nothing. Wearing heels is definitely a pain in the , especially when you still have to walk quite a distance from the bus stop. She decides to remove her shoes. Jin stops immediately at the sight. 

"Is walking in those heels really difficult?" he asks in concern, secretly flinching because of the hardships that most girls have to go through. 

"I'm just not used to this, I guess. Other girls look pretty comfortable in their heels. Anyways, walking with my feet flat on the ground is much better than losing balance every few steps. I want to get home unscathed yo" she answers lightheartedly with chuckles accompanying her statement. 

Jin unexpectedly squats in front of Hyerim. 

"What are you doing?!" Hyerim mutters in a hushed manner. 

"Get on my back!" 

"Yah, what are you talking about?" Hyerim's pitch rises as she says each syllable, at the same trying to get Jin stand up. 

"What kind of gentleman am I to let a beautiful girl walk barefooted? Your house is not too far anyway" he turns his head to face her. "Come, get on, Hyerim-ah" he coax her with his infamous puppy eyes. "And I won't go home until you allow me to piggyback you home~" 

Hesitation is clearly reflected of the girl's eyes but she still gets on anyway. She doesn't want her class president waiting out in the cold all night. 

The decision proves to be a good solution. The heat emanating from their body happen to be the best solace they can find in the biting chills of the night. The comfort sends them to musing over their rash, in the spur of the moment, consensus to dance when in fact both of them are hopeless at it. 

"Sorry!" they half-whisper half-shout simultaneously. 

"Sorry for asking you to dance when I can't dance for nuts" Jin chuckles as he delivers his apology. 

"I'm sorry too for accepting when I don't have any idea about it too!" her apology sends a smile to the male's face. 

The rest of the journey back to her house is spent in a comfortable silence, it is so comfortable that Hyerim almost falls asleep on Jin's warm and sturdy back. 

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

The following Monday, the class is gathered at an animal shelter around the area of their school. This certainly dampens the mood of many. After all the glamour that they got to experience just a few days before, now they have to toil in the name of upholding the school's name. 

Grumbles and complaints can be heard from all corners but one girl seems to be excited despite the impending labor that she has to do. Hair tied in a high ponytail, sleeves folded to minimize wetness, Hyerim is ready to conquer the challenges head on for the love of puppies. 

The girls are tasked to bathe the puppies in the shelter, fairly easy job as compared to the boys who have to clean the bulky cages and scrub the floor of the shelter. Both chores sound simple, but trust me it is harder in reality considering the mindset of most students. 

JIn takes it upon himself to set an example to his classmates. He scrubs the floor hard despite the fatigue that is ready to strike anytime. 

As he passes the open back door, he unknowingly stops any motion that he's making. Suddenly, the world becomes a brighter place, all his exhaustion forgotten.  From where he is, he can see Hyerim laughing freely holding a brown puppy in her hands. With a sheen of sweat on her forehead, some strands of hair matted to her cheek, she simply looks stunning. 

"I must be crazy"

Author's notes:

My updates are getting longer each time! I don't know whether this is a good thing or is it boring you all? Let me know in the comment section down below :) 

On a side note, this chapter is rather full of fluff, isn't it? This will probably be the fluffiest chapter in this whole fic~ I wanted more impact for the last part, but I just can't put in something that will give it the punch. Honestly, this doesn't turn out how I wanted it to be. But there is such thing called editing and I will probably do it when the inspirations befall upon me heheh. 

Plus!!! I want to give special thanks to Narnialunchbox for giving me a review and feedbacks :) I'll try to slowly drop my bad habits and pick up, perhaps, a better writing style~

Lastly, comments are always welcome and feedbacks are deeply appreciated~

Have a great day ahead :)