~*Your/Hye Ri's POV*~

It was officially Christmas.

I hopped out of bed after another failed attempt at sleep but unlike every other day, there was a slight alteration to my usual reasoning. Today, my excitement for the coming day masked over my usually uneasiness. I mean, it was still 1:00 in the morning but the reason behind me staying up wasn't because of the fright of being alone. No. This time it was excitement. All my dreary thoughts were momentarily pushed back into the corner of my mind and no thoughts of L or my parents disturbed me.

All last night, I had laid awake, thinking about what was to come Christmas morning. Knowing beforehand that I would have overflowing amounts of free time since I wouldn't get much sleep -just like every other morning-, I purposely hadn't wrapped any of the Christmas gifts yet.

Anxious to get up and do something, I quickly gathered the presents and wrapping supplies, spread the materials all across the floor, my workspace, and began tediously wrapping to perfection, praying for the hours to fly by so I could spend the day with my loved ones.

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The clock struck 7:00 and I could no longer stall myself. I neatly piled up the wrapped gifts in the living room, removing Sumi's since I decided to visit her first. I wanted to give her a surprise Christmas visit and spend some time with her, giving her gift to her and catching up since I would be spending time with Oppas later in the day.

Who knows. Maybe Sumi and Infinite Oppas could meet and I could be with both at the same time!

Leaving her box on the coffee table, I fled upstairs to make myself presentable.

I decided to go with a casual look, simply throwing on whatever garment I could find. A simple pair of skinnies, an old pair of gloves I had found hanging around, a grey button down jacket, and white 'muffin' hat. I slipped on my pink cashmere scarf as a finishing touch and performed a 360° spin in front of the mirror. Though it didn't look like it, I layered on several layers, making sure that I was warm and cozy before I was satisfied.

After a moment of admiring my quick outfit, I hurried down the stairs, taking them two at a time, and sped to the door, making sure to grab Sumi's present as I passed by. I slipped on my short lace up boots before heading out into the cold and starting my trek to Sumi's.

Clutching the gift to my chest, I skipped along observing the scenery around me, blanketed in a layer of white due to the recent snowfall. As I walked, I began imagining how Sumi would react once she opened my gift.

Will she be happy? Surprised? Will she like it? Maybe she'll laugh or pretend not to like it. Maybe she won't like it at all...

I pondered the various possibilities as I traveled along. During my shopping spree for gifts, I had bought Sumi a double present since I wasn't able to pick between two pieces of jewelry. Both revolved around the idea of a lock and key resembling Sumi's love for a certain someone that she obsessed over.

No. It's not L.Joe Oppa... she's lucky that I don't tattle to him! He'd probably be upset to know of Sumi's love for that certain star who's the 'key to her heart.' A smile graced my lips as I thought of my Unnie's 'fangirl' moments when she would frantically wave her arms around, squealing incomprehensible high-pitched phrases. I remember experiencing those moments most when I sat beside her while she looks up videos and performances involving that particular singer. I laughed to myself, reminiscing.

Before I knew it, I had already reached the pathway leading up to Sumi's house. It came to a surprise to me how short it seemed for me to get here. Excited, I sped walk up to the door only to come to an abrupt halt, eyes widened in disbelief. The shades to the front window of her house was open.

Sure. No big deal. A window. No reason to stop right?

But that's not it. It obviously wasn't the window that had caught my attention. It was what I saw behind it.

I saw Sumi...

And don't forget L.

His back was to me, but I could recognize him anywhere. That build, that hair, that style, that everything screamed L.

My body started shaking and I almost lost grip of the package in my possession. It was as if the wind was blowing right through me, rattling my bones even though I had so many layers on. It was as if I couldn't breathe even though I was taking in lungfuls of air.

There he was. The person that I had been waiting for, aching for standing just a few strides from me, yet I couldn't take those few steps towards him. He was right there, yet it was as if he was a million miles away. The whole situation felt... so surreal. So fake.

But no. It was all real. All fact. L Oppa really was there.

L Oppa really was lip-locking with Sumi Unnie.

My breaths started coming out raggedly as the unwanted tears came, blurring my vision. I turned away, not able to even look in the direction of the two. My breathing hitched in my throat as the sobs threatened to break loose. Realizing that there was no reason for me to be here any longer, I numbly my heels and sped home in a trance-like state, not looking back.

They didn't see me. For all they know, I was never there. They were too enrapted by the atmosphere between them to even notice me, I guess. Too focused into the... the kiss.

I probably just wasn't important enough to notice.

Roughly wiping away the never-ending flow of tears, I didn't stop running until I reached home, collapsing to my knees the moment I entered and sobbing into the palm of my hands.

It hurts... my chest... it hurts...

I repeatedly thought as I removed a hand from my face, pounding my fist against my aching chest instead.

Why? Why L Oppa? Why Sumi Unnie? Why the two of you, out of all people? The two people that I love the most. The two people I cherish the most. Why would you hurt me like this?

I cried out loud, voicing out my pain. I wanted to call someone, anyone. Infinite Oppa, L.Joe Oppa, in desperate need of someone to comfort me. I attempted intaking shaky breaths in order to level out my breathing for a few minutes, just enough time to make a call and have the person on the line understand my speech.

I tried forcing back the sniffles. Being unsuccessful in my attempts, I gave up and reached for my phone, about to dial but before I could press a button, my phone started ringing, flashing an unknown number.

Hesitantly, I pressed the answer button with shaking fingers and brought the phone to my ear. "H-hello..?" I croaked, sniffling every so often.

"Hello? Is this Miss Lee? Daughter of Mr. Lee _____ and Mrs. Lee _____?" The voice inquired.

"Y-y-yes..." I answered slowly in an attempt to control my voice, failing miserably. "Wh-who is this?" I questioned fearfully, a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Instead of answering me, the voice simply ignored my question. "I'm so sorry. Your parents, they got into an accident." Hearing his words, it felt as if my heart stopped beating. "To my knowledge, the couple had just flown in and were in a rush to get home before Christmas. Due to the ice, their car skid and was thrown into the oncoming traffic..." I could no longer comprehend the words coming out of the speaker, nor did I want to. I let the cell slip through my fingers, staring blankly into space, not wanting to believe a word that he had uttered.

My parents.

Those people weren't my parents. My parents are fine. There's no way those people were my parents. No way at all.

Tears began freefalling once again as I blubbered over and over, convincing myself that my parents were fine and the people he mentioned were not my parents. "No. There's no way. Mommy and Daddy are fine. They're perfectly fine. Nothing's wrong at all." I chanted over and over, pulling my legs to my chest, rocking back and forth, sobbing.

The final words of the man on the phone kept haunting me, no matter how much I tried not to think about them. 'I know this must be hard for you but we would appreciate it if you came to confirm the bodies...'

'Confirm the bodies...'

'Confirm the bodies...'

'Confirm the bodies...'

The ringing continued in my ears as I clutched my head, screaming out as tears continued flowing down my tear streaked face.

It's Christmas. Christmas is supposed to be a fun, happy time with love and sharing and giving and family. Why is it that I'm cold, I'm betrayed, and I'm alone? What have I ever done wrong? It hurts. My chest hurts. My head hurts. Everything hurts. It hurts so much that I want to die. I just want to die.

It was supposed to be a good day today. How did it turn out to be so horribly wrong?