After walking around for a bit, we all decided to rest by sitting at one of the side stages of the festival. These stages held smaller performances organised by students to showcase their work and talent. There were a few comedy skits, musical performances and then finally a fashion show. One by one, the models,  who were most likely students themselves, strutted down the catwalk, showcasing the elaborately stylish garments of clothing. Coming after one of the girls was a very tall guy with a stern gaze, who strutted out with his hands in his pockets. He had a long turtleneck that covered half his face but as he came closer, I could without a doubt recognise him in an instant. We made eye contact and I crossed my arms and leaned back with a smirk on my face. His eyes widened and moved around nervously, awkwardly stopping at the 5/6th point of the full catwalk and turned around. Hah! Caught you! The same models were used on rotation so I keenly waited for him to come out gain. Not long after, he came out  with a ridiculous all denim outfit and a pair of shades on. He got to the end of the catwalk and I whistled really loudly, enough to embarrass anybody. He grinned wildly and jokingly strutted back down the catwalk with his hands on his waist and exaggeratedly swayed his hips in a diva-like fashion, stirring laughter in the audience. Towards the end of the show, I received a message on Kakaotalk.

mamayx: btw we’re all here...
mamayx: SURPRISE
You: you don’t say…
mamayx: we wanted to make it a surprise
mamayx: :C
You: well you guys should do a better job of staying under the radar
You: why were you in the fashion show anyway?
You: arent you here to perform?
mamayx: some girls begged me because they didn’t have enough people…
I chuckled to myself. For some reason, being randomly scouted to help out a fashion show sounded exactly like a situation Yixuan would find himself in considering his handsome features and height.
mamayx: and yes we are
mamayx: make sure you whistle for only me
You: yes sir

‘Chorim, are you coming?’ I heard Minny call out. I looked up to see everyone already standing, waiting for me.
‘You guys go ahead, I need to go to the bathroom first.’ Minny pouted and shouted, ‘Okay but don’t get lost!’

~

I exited one of the buildings after going to the bathroom and diligently went on my way to meet the others at the main concert stage.
Incoming call - SUNGJOO -
‘What do you want?’
     ‘Wow, hello to you too.’ Sungjoo tried to sound offended.
‘I’m not nice to people who lie to me.’ I tried to sound annoyed but was actually smiling quite widely.
     ‘Everyone wanted to keep it a surprise.’ I assumed he must have heard from the others already.
‘I didn’t need you guys to join me, I’ve got my own friends you know.’
     ‘Oh really? Then why are you standing alone in the cold  like an idiot?’ Huh?
Instinctively, I quickly turned around to see Sungjoo on his phone, waving at me. He walked towards me with his hand above his eyes and on his brows as if he was searching for something.
‘So where are these friends of yours? I can't see them.’
‘They’re waiting for me.’ I stubbornly replied.
‘I know.’ He smiled and ruffled my hair. ‘Let’s walk you to them.’
As we walked side by side, Sungjoo started explaining to me in detail when they found out they were performing at this college festival and how certain they were of hiding it from me. I felt happy inside, knowing I had people who thought of me so much. When I had left the US, I had to leave my friends behind and thought I wouldn’t be able to find good company in Seoul. I guess I was wrong.
‘Don’t you have a performance to go to soon?’ I asked him.
‘Yeah, we’re heading there right now aren’t we?’ Sungjoo smiled at me. Contrary to his words, he seemed to be in no rush and we were just casually strolling beside one another. I only just realised it was the two of us on the quiet path and started to feel slightly nervous.
‘Ah it’s a lot colder than I thought it was going to be.’ I said. I unintentionally rubbed the sides of arms and wondered why I didn’t bring a thicker coat.
‘I’m not going to give you my jacket, you know?’ Sungjoo crossed his arms like a stubborn child, ‘I’m cold too.’
‘I didn’t want your jacket in the first place.’ I said, slightly irritated.
His laugh sounded crisp in the cold air that froze up our breath. Suddenly, he leaned over until he was just a breath away from my ear and whispered, ‘Should I warm you up by hugging you instead?’ His broad hands, which were holding onto my shoulders, began to slide inwards towards my collarbones as if he was going to give me a hug. I started blushing the moment I could feel his warmth on my back.
‘Chi!’ Joowon cried out as he appeared out of no where from the other side and started steadily jogging towards us. Sungjoo immediately withdrew himself from behind me and hid by pulling his face mask up.
‘Joowon!’ I yelled back with my heart beating at a million miles per second. I immediately cupped my warm cheeks with my ice cold hands in an attempt to stop my cheeks from blushing.
‘We were looking for you!’ Joowon smiled at me, ‘You weren’t picking up your phone.’ I clumsily grabbed my phone out of my pocket and looked at the calls I had missed. The vibration was too weak...right? I gulped at the possibility that I was so caught up in the moment that I couldn’t even feel vibrations in my pocket. Joowon quickly glanced over at Sungjoo who was hiding behind me.
‘And this is…?’
‘Oh, this is my friend, Sung...wOo.’ My voice shook from the awkwardness of the name. Sungjoo burst out in laughter and tried to restrain himself.  
‘Nice to meet you...I’m Joowon.’ Joowon extended his arm out for a handshake. Sungjoo unexpectedly stepped forward and shook his hand firmly.
‘Same to you.’ Sungjoo said despite his voice being muffled by the mask. He then placed a hand on my shoulder and leaned in, ‘I’ll see you later.’ He patted my shoulder before leaving me behind with Joowon.
‘Are you ready? The concert is going to start soon.’ Joowon beamed at me. In that moment, all I could manage was a quick nod and Joowon reached out for my hand and held onto it as he lead me to the concert venue. As strange and sudden as it may have felt to me, I wasn’t able to pull my hand from him.

Or maybe, I didn’t have the energy left.

~

We arrived at the venue just  before admission and luckily, Minny and Hyojin were towards the front of the line. Joowon was still holding onto my hand tightly whilst we started waiting around with them.
‘Ehhh, why are you holding onto Chi like that? She’s not going to run away, you know?’ Minny exclaimed with a cheeky smile on her face. Joowon looked down at our hands and immediately let go. I wasn’t sure if it was just me but he seemed to be slightly flushed as he awkwardly tried to avoid my curious gaze. Minny told us that Sungho was feeling sick and couldn’t join us but I knew the real reason he wasn’t with us. That idiot hid it from me too! The large line started moving slowly and as I was looking around, I saw Chorim waving from across the grounds and waved back to her. She was standing with Namjoon and Jin, the wealthy elite guys Minny had warned me about at the very beginning of the semester. Namjoon, the silver-haired one, was staring right at us as if he hypnotised and I looked around me. Is he staring at Hyojin? I was about to go over to Chorim to say hello but then Minny grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. “Quickly! We need to get good seats!”
 

Author's note: Hello everyone! I hope you are having a good start to the new year! If you're not, don't worry, it can only get better! ╰( ･ ᗜ ･ )╯Remember, UNIQ wishes us a Happy New Year! Let's look forward to the new year with UNIQ ~ [I hope they have a proper Korean comeback soon!] (｡•́︿•̀｡) Hope you you guys enjoyed this chapter! *raises fist* Godammit Joowon! Hahahaha, let me know what you think! (´｡✪ω✪｡｀)  Also if you're curious about the last paragraph, be sure to read this. Thanks for reading as always!