“Hey Taetae” she heard him whisper. They were out, both looking at the falling white flakes from the sky

“Hm?” she said, still looking up at the sky in awe

“It’s the first snow this year” he tore his eyes off the falling snow and turned to look at the girl beside him who also did the same when she felt his eyes on her

“So?” she asked

“Have you ever heard of what the first snow means?” he asked and looked away. His cheeks was tinted with the shade of pink but the innocent girl thought that it was probably because of the cold temperature of winter

“Hm… No” she shook her head “Why? What does it mean?” she searched for his eyes but he kept looking away “Hey Taetae” she nudged him “What is it? What does it mean?”

He sighed and turned to look at her, their faces close to each other “It means” he stared straight to her eyes “that if you're out in the first snow of the year with someone you like, true love will blossom between you” he said with a small voice

She stared at him, trying to process the information she just heard but her mind stopped working when she felt soft lips lightly touching hers. She watched with wide eyes as he leaned back with a shy smile

“I like you Taetae”

“Eonni”

Taeyeon groaned as she felt someone shaking her “Wake up”

“Ugh” She slowly opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing her eyes  and saw Seohyun looking down at her

“Good Morning Eonni” Seohyun smiled “Come on, weekend’s over” she said before leaving Taeyeon alone to wake up her snoring roommates

Taeyeon leaned on her headrest, her eyes closed and brows furrowed. She’s been dreaming of her childhood friend for almost 2 weeks, every night and it was bothering her. She didn’t expect the last one though. A memory she just wanted to forget and throw away along with the broken promises made that day

“Sooyoung eonni” Taeyeon opened her eyes and looked at the youngest struggling to wake Sooyoung up “Wake up”

“Good morning eonni” She turned to her side and saw Yoona seated on her bed, yawning

“Morning” Taeyeon smiled

“Mind your own business” A muffled voice snapped. Taeyeon met Yoona’s eyes and as if on cue, they laughed

“Syoung eonni!” Yoona called out in her cutesy voice and shuffled lazily towards Sooyoung’s bed, patting Seohyun’s back as she walked past her and threw herself on Sooyoung’s bed, smashing the girl under her weight

“Ugh! Im Yoona! Get off me!” Sooyoung yelled as she wrestled Yoona off her

“Nuh-uh!”

Taeyeon chuckled and stood up before tugging on Seohyun’s arm “Come on. They can handle themselves”

==

Taeyeon crossed her arms across her chest as she continued to blatantly stare at the man seated beside her, diligently copying notes and attentively listening to the teacher. She squinted her eyes and furrowed her brows “They do look similar…”

Ever since she started dreaming about the other Taetae, she can’t help but compare him to this guy beside her. They look the same. Too similar. However, their personalities are different. Baekhyun was far from the other Taetae.

“The kid who’s called Taetae is kind and caring. Meanwhile, this fabulous being called Baekhyun—“

Her thoughts came to a halt as she remembered when Baekhyun tried to rescue her in that alley, when he cooked for her and stayed a little bit longer when she asked him to, the way he fixed her hair and not too long ago, when he helped her with her stained skirt instead of just passing by, even letting her borrow his blazer

“Ookay. Maybe he is kind and caring sometimes. Sometimes! Right. Sometimes. Just sometimes”

“Hey shorty” Sunny’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts “You coming or nah?”

She turned around and noticed that it was already time for their lunch

“I’m going with you shorty” Taeyeon answered, standing up from her seat and hurrying towards Sunny

“Don’t call me shorty” Sunny frowned as Taeyeon placed her arm over her shoulders

“You started it”

“But you are short”

“And so are you” Taeyeon retorted “You're even 2 cm shorter than I am” she mumbled

“I heard you Kim Taeyeon” Sunny flicked Taeyeon’s forehead

“Ow” Taeyeon gently rubbed the area “What’s with people flicking my forehead nowadays”

“Someone else flicked your forehead? And here I thought the action of flicking your forehead was only exclusive for me” Sunny pouted “Who is it?”

“Byun Baekhyun”

“Oh” Sunny clicked her tongue “Speaking of Baekhyun, he looks like him don’t you think?”

“Him? Him who?” Taeyeon tensed

“Stop playing dumb Taeng. You always play dumb that’s why you literally became dumb” Sunny rolled her eyes “Him as in monkey boy. Your childhood friend that made you abandon me when he asks for your company. Your childhood friend that took your first kiss! Your childhood friend that left—“

“Okay okay stop I get it” Taeyeon cut her off

“Seriously though. Which girl lets someone whose complete real name she doesn’t know of take her first kiss?”

“Hey I was just a little girl back then”

“Gosh you were such an easy girl” Sunny shook her head “Anyway, you noticed didn’t you? That’s why you were staring at Baekhyun the whole hour. You did right?” Taeyeon heaved a long sigh and Sunny took this as a sign “You did”

“I don’t know. He does resemble him so much” Taeyeon silently said, removing her arm around Sunny’s shoulder “It seems right that Taetae and Baekhyun are one but at the same time it’s so wrong”

“If it is him, what are you going to do then?” Sunny asked

“I…” Taeyeon thought hard. What is she going to do? Is she going to yell at him and beat him up for suddenly disappearing like a bubble that popped despite promising her that he will always be there, by her side? Or is she going to hug him tight and accept the fact that despite everything she still missed him so much? “don’t know… I don’t know Soonkyu. I don’t know.”

“What are you going to do if they’re two completely different persons then?” Sunny carefully asked

“Nothing, I guess” Taeyeon sighed “I’ll just be what I am to him. I’ll just continue being his...” Taeyeon trailed off and furrowed her brows. Friend? Are they even considered friends? Continue being his what?

They already reached the cafeteria when Sunny stopped in her tracks and wrapped her arms over Taeyeon’s shoulder and pulled her into a side hug in attempts of comforting the blonde girl. Taeyeon understood and was grateful for the gesture and she responded by placing her hand on her waist as she leaned her head on Sunny’s shoulder “Thanks” she whispered

“No problem shorty” Sunny pulled away “Now come, they’re looking at us weirdly right now” she chuckled and pulled Taeyeon along towards the group of girls looking at them with a what-was-that-look

“What was that all about?” Hyoyeon asked as soon as the short duo took their seat

“Nothing. Shorty here is just so hungry. Right, shorty?” Sunny stood up “I’ll buy us food but you’ll have to pay me later” she said and Taeyeon quietly nodded before she left

Taeyeon silently sat there, spacing out to the point that she couldn’t hear her friends’ loud voices and laughter anymore but only the voice of her own thoughts “No, he couldn’t be him but… ugh! Why is this so confusing?” Taeyeon racked her brain “I need to confirm it. I need to do something to confirm”

Taeyeon finally thought of an idea. An idea she never wanted to do but she has to anyway