“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.”

Baekhyun

I felt the rush of the cold winter air as I walked out of my apartment. The gray clouds and icy winds of the season never fail to dampen my spirits, and on a particular day when my best friend, Chanyeol decides to ditch me for video games, it is then that I feel grumpier than usual.

Flakes of snow continued to fall on the ground and as I trudged through them, I felt as if my heart was as heavy as the piles of snow gathering in the streets of Seoul.

I walked inside the coffee shop glumly as I scanned for the girl I was supposed to meet. Funny how people resort to drastic measures just to fill their loneliness. I never planned on saying ‘yes’ to Ahn Jiyoung’s sudden invitation, but since I had no one to accompany me on this rather gloomy day, I decided it wouldn’t be bad to spend it with her. Frankly speaking, I haven’t known the girl outside of my world lit class and I really have no interest whatsoever in her person. To me, she’s just the quiet girl whom I go to school with, that’s why I was quite surprised when I received a message on SNS saying she wants to have coffee with me.

I sat on an empty table near the window as I waited for the pale-skinned, doe-eyed girl to pass through the glass doors of the shop.

I waited, occasionally checking my phone from time to time. I watched as more snow fell from the sky, completely covering the pavements. No matter how pretty the snow looks, I still can't wait for the day winter is finally over. *sigh*

After 30 minutes of waiting, I decided to text Jiyoung and after a few more minutes with no response, I decided to order coffee to-go.

I scanned the entirety of the small café one last time for my supposed ‘date’ before I heaved a sigh, turned around completely and left. Looks like I got stood up.

As I walked through the glass doors, I noticed a familiar figure slumped in the snow as she blew out puffs of cold air.

I couldn’t help but furrow my eyebrows as I heard inaudible murmurs growing louder and clearer as I came closer.

“Jiyoung, you pabo! How could you possibly ask him out without so much as a proper introduction first?” She scolded herself as she bit on her fingernails. “…but he said yes! What if he actually came? He even texted me. Aiiish. Eottokhae? Now I really have no chance. He must think I’m a total for asking him out. Right? Maybe I should go check? But what do I tell him?”

I bit back a smile as I watched Jiyoung fret some more. It was rather refreshing to see her so comical, so different from usual face she puts on at school. In fact, I could say that it was a bit… cute.

As Jiyoung continued her rants, my feet seemed to have decided that they were going to approach her. I was a mere 3 feet away from where she was seated on the snow when I stopped in my tracks. She still didn’t seem to notice my presence since she continued her ramblings.

“It just that I can’t get to know him better. I mean, it’s not every day I get to meet a boy whose smiles can make my heart beat quicken in an instant. I just wish I hadn’t asked him so soon---UGH.” She pouted some more as she kicked at the snow beneath her.

That was when I let out my first chuckle in the past few weeks. Aigoo, I can’t believe I haven’t seen this side of her. Startled, Jiyoung turned to look at who laughed at her remark. Her eyes seemed like they were about to pop out of their sockets when she saw it was me. “B-Baekhyun-ssi… h-how long have you been standing there?” She stammered as her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.

“A couple of minutes…”

“D-did you hear everything?”

I stayed quiet for a moment, searching my mind for the right things to say.

She didn’t wait for my response, though. Instead, she bolted right up and bowed. “Mianhe! I won’t be bothering you again!” she uttered quickly before she walked away… and slipped.

I hovered over to her immediately, worried she might burst into tears. Sure enough, when I approached her, I heard sobbing noises.

I touched her shoulder to console her, “Jiyoung-ah… It’s al---” I wasn’t able to finish my sentence because right then, what I had thought was sobbing, was actually her, trying to suppress her laughter. And now, she was throwing in fits and fits of it.

My eyebrows started to crease out of confusion, but in the end, I gave up and joined her.

I didn’t exactly know why, but the sound of her laughter seems to have lifted all the bad vibes I was lugging around with me.

Even after our laughter has died down, I couldn’t help smiling.

“You know…” I was surprised when Jiyoung suddenly spoke. I looked at her, as if to urge her to continue. She heaved a sigh and told me, “You really shouldn’t smile like that anymore… or else, I just might fall for you even more. And I wouldn’t want that, especially if you’re only going to reject me in the end.”

I was taken aback at how straightforward she was, but now, I didn’t find it unattractive as I would have a few minutes ago. In fact, I now see it as her charm…

I stood up and started to brush the snow off my pants. “Well, I think we shouldn’t talk about this…”  I could see Jiyoung pouting from the corner of my eye. I bit back a smile and continued. “…now.”

She then looked at me with confusion written all over her face. I, in turn, offered my hand and asked, “How about we talk about it over a cup of coffee?”

She stared at me for a couple of seconds more before she smiled and took my hand willingly.

With no further questions asked, we walked back to the café with our hands intertwined. The smiles plastered on our faces radiated the warmth that made me feel as if it was no longer winter.

       Hiiiii guys! So did you like this first one? I hope you did. 

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