***Please read A/N at the end ^-^***

You're grateful for the two weeks in between your science exams and your architecture ones. Even though you end your exams later than Sehun, you at least have more time to study for the subjects you're weak in. Sehun and his family have already left for their holiday to America. Your best friend will be back two days before you have to leave for Paris. He promised that he will pack your luggage with you, though you're sure he's only going to either mess up or do nothing.

You haven't been going out much except to study and to sit for your exams. The weather has gotten much, much colder than you would like and with all the studying you've been doing, you haven't been eating well either. You stay strong enough until the end of your exams though, which is good. But now that your final paper is over, your cold has caught up to you. You've been in bed for the past two days, the weather outside being too cold for you to leave your comfy nest. It's only five more days until the Paris trip and you hope you'll be fine by then.

This is why you hate winter.

You are so prone to the cold weather and getting sick is so easy for you. If there is one winter where you don't fall sick, that would be because you're already dead. So far, you have already packed the materials you are asked to bring for the trip. Only the last minute stuff are not yet included. Your parents have also changed a good amount of money for you to use in Paris and you also have your credit card if you need more.

Apart from writing up a shopping list on what to buy when you get there, you have also done your readings and some research on the possible monuments you're going to be discussing about as an architecture student. You're pretty proud of yourself that you're doing so much preparation. Especially after your papers, you have more knowledge about what you're expected to know and what you're going to learn.

Your mother has already packed medications and everything else mothers like to pack into suitcases to make the luggage a heavier. You haven't packed your clothes yet either, but since you'll only be there for a week, there won't be much to pack anyway.

The moment Sehun arrived on Saturday morning, he invites himself into your house and stomps into your room. He is carrying a paper bag full of souvenirs. But when he sees you sleeping so soundly on your bed, he decides you need to wake up to celebrate his return. So Sehun, being the bestest friend anyone can ask for, drops the paper bag on the floor and proceeds to tear the blanket off your body.

Your eyes shoot open because even though the heater is on, it's still cold. You see the culprit holding onto your blanket with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Missed me?"

"Give me back my blanket, idiot."

"Is that all you have to say to your best friend who came—"

"Seriously, Sehun," you growl tiredly. "I'm sick."

"Huh?" Sehun drops his playful side and immediately turns into a mother. "Are you down with flu? And a fever? Like always? How will you go to Paris like this? I'm not letting you go." More than a mother, actually.

You roll your eyes and groan, "My blanket." He immediately drapes it over you and you sigh in content. He sits next to you on the bed, feeling your forehead with the back of his hand. "I think I'll be fine in 2 days' time."

"How long have you been sick?" He frowns.

"Just a few days," you murmur as Sehun plays with your hair. He knows how much you like having your hair played with. You snuggle deeper into your blanket as you close your eyes. "I didn't know you'd come back so early."

"I told you I was gonna arrive at 11," Sehun rolls his eyes. "Are you going back to sleep again?" You hum in reply. "Should I leave?"

"We both know you miss me," you mutter. Then you lift your blanket, "You can continue to play with my hair while I sleep."

Sehun laughs but crawls under the sheets anyway. He gets the remote for your television and sits up against the headboard. With his left hand tuning the TV channels with the remote controller, his right hand is combing through your hair soothingly. It doesn't take you long to fall asleep.

When you wake up again, Sehun isn't on your bed anymore. He is going through your clothes, pulling out every one of them to take a better look. Hearing you move, your best friend glances in your direction and grins when he sees that you're awake.

"I bought you stuff from America," Sehun points to the paper bag next to your bed. "I'll pack your clothes for you. Go see what I got you!"

You're surprised that Sehun is actually helping out. Maybe it's because of the fact that you're sick, so he's being nice to you. Anyway, you stretch to get the bag at the side of your bed as you sit up. You place the bag on your lap and pull out the first thing your hand touches. You grab a handful of fluffy material and pull it out. It's a black scarf with little rainbow specks all over them. It's cute.

"You like it?" Sehun hopes. You nod, smiling at him. "I thought you could use it in Paris, so I got it for you." You wrap the scarf around your neck and he nods, "Suits you, too."

"Thanks, Sehun," you murmur, already feeling warm.

"There's more," he tips his head in the direction of the bag.

You're puzzled as you reach into the bag again. He'd only gone to one country, why did he have to buy so much for you? You take out two bags of gummy sweets and chocolate. You look into the paper bag, in case you miss anything else. Then you see a small black box sitting inside.

"Got you a pair of earrings too. Actually, my mom did. She said you'd look nice in it," he shrugs. "So I got it."

"You're amazing," you laugh, shaking your head. "So much from a trip just for one girl."

"I expect the same thing when you get back from Paris." Then Sehun turns to you, holding up a black turtleneck and a maroon pullover. "Which one would you prefer to wear?"

"Turtleneck."

And so the rest of day is spent by Sehun giving you a helping hand in your packing to Paris as he recounts his entire trip to the U.S. The next day, he comes over again, just to spend time with you before you fly off the next day. Your condition still hasn't improved. Sehun wants you to forego the trip, but it's already tomorrow and it's too late. Besides, you have medicine you're going to bring there, you're well-equipped to fight your sickness.

Sehun visits you just before you go to the airport on the day of departure. Your father is working, so Sehun helps with the transportation of your luggage to your mother's car. Standing outside your house as you wait for your mother to come out, Sehun keeps you company.

"Remember to rest when you can and take your medicine if your condition gets any worse," he reminds you. You nod and he wraps the black scarf tighter around your neck. "Keep warm and text me every time you have wifi. Follow your group and never stray, okay? I don't want a missing best friend."

You laugh, "I'm not a child, Sehun."

"Sure, you're not. But you behave like one." When he receives a smack on the arm, he chuckles and hugs you. He's still laughing as he says, "I'm just kidding." But he turns serious and quiet when he murmurs into your ear, "I'm gonna miss you again. Remember to text me, okay?"

"Yes, mom," you roll your eyes but nonetheless hug him back too.

"Let's go, we're gonna be late!" Your mother rushes out of the house as she locks the door.

"See you in seven days," you give Sehun a squeeze and let him go.

He opens the door to the car for you as he wishes, "Have a safe flight."

Your mother drives you to the airport, all the while complaining about how she is going to miss you. As the only child, your parents dote on you a lot. They have given their love to just you, since you have no other siblings to share it with. So it's common for your parents to worry about you every time you're off to somewhere without them for a few days. Just like the other time when you had an MT in high school, your mother acted like you were going to go somewhere far for a month with no wifi.

But still, past all the dramatic worrying and embarrassment, you love them. Your mother a tad bit more just because she doesn't force you to go to the workshop unlike a certain someone.

When you get to the airport with you pushing the luggage and your mother carrying your handcarry bag, you're busy looking out for a group of people who look like they're on a school trip. You spot them near the check-in counter of the airline you're taking. Your mother knows that you've grown up and probably wouldn't like being embarrassed with her hugging and missing you like you're a 5-year-old. So you stop a few counter rows before and bid goodbyes. Your mother hugs you for a long time and it makes you feel sad and melancholic that you're leaving though it's just for seven days.

About 10 minutes later, you're leaving your mother with a heavy heart as she watches you leave. You turn back and wave one last time before heading straight to the cluster of people. Mr. Kim is there too and he recognises you at once. He smiles and meets you halfway, bringing you to the group. Another teacher checks off your name on the name list. You count the number of people present and see that there are three people missing.

"We're just waiting for two students and a teacher," Mr. Kim informs you. "Then we'll check in and do brief introductions while waiting to board the plane." You nod and he encourages you. "You should make some friends while waiting."

"I don't think they'll like me very much," you honestly tell him. "My classmates didn't like me."

"Why do you think so?"

"I'm a science student, I don't know about architecture," you shrug.

"Oh!" Mr. Kim lights up. Then he mutters quietly to himself, "So you're the double major student Baekhyun was talking about..."

You don't hear it because you see someone else joining the group of teachers. Your eyebrows knit when you realise that it's Mr. Byun. What's more, with a luggage. Didn't he say that he isn't coming? What happened to that? How are you going to tell Sehun about this? Mr. Kim follows your gaze and he grins at the sight of his friend. After checking his attendance with the teacher holding onto the name list, Mr. Byun glances around the group until he spots the teacher next to you. He makes his way over.

"Traffic was so bad!" He complains, shaking his head at his friend. Then he turns to you, smiling, "Hey."

"Hi," you murmur.

"Why do you look so pale?" Mr. Byun frowns, staring at your face. Mr. Kim turns to you to survey your skin colour.

"I'm sick..."

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Mr. Kim is worried. "Do you have a fever?"

You lie and shake your head, "No. Just down with a flu."

"Did you bring meds?" Mr. Byun enquires.

You nod, "Yeah, I'll be fine." Just to get attention off of you, you ask him, "I thought you said you won't be coming?"

"The other teacher's son was admitted to the hospital and he has to be here for his family. I'm substituting his place," he explains.

"Yeah, I visited his son," Mr. Kim pouts in a frown. "Poor kid has lung infection."

"Oh no... Will he be okay?" You catch Mr. Byun glancing at you when you express concern for someone's child you have never met, but ignore it.

"Yeah, he just needs to be under medical surveillance," Mr. Kim replies to your question.

You nod, feeling relieved because you know how bad lung infection can be for young children. While the teachers were filling you in, the last two students had arrived. So the head teacher gathers everyone and starts with the plan for now.

"We'll all check in our luggages and when we're in the waiting area in the boarding gate, we'll go into introductions."

The whole lot of you move to the counter for group check-in after one of the teachers have collected all your passports and luggages. You stand with the two teachers, since  they're the only people you know here. You're not the type of person to approach people to talk to them either. While you're all waiting for the teacher to come back with your boarding passes, Mr. Kim and Mr. Byun engages you in a conversation.

"So how were your exams?" Mr. Kim wonders.

You shrug, "Tiring."

"I bet," he puckers his lips and nods. "You have twice the amount of exams to take than a normal student."

"Is that how you got sick?" Mr. Byun asks you, frowning.

"The weather's really cold too... I think that was another factor," you guess. "When we come back from Paris, Korea might already have had her first snow of the year."

"Yeah, this time of the year is where the weather just gets colder and colder... You just have to take care of yourself," Mr. Byun reminds you. "Rest more, dress more..."

"I know. I even brought heat packs with me."

Mr. Byun chuckles, "Good, because I don't think I have enough to share."

You roll your eyes playfully and the two teachers laugh even more. The head teacher comes back with your boarding passes and returns everyone their passports with the plane ticket wedged in the small booklet. All of you set off to enter the departure hall. There is a short queue at the immigration counter because it is in the afternoon and there are many people flying off at this time of the day. 20 of you are split into four lanes. Mr. Kim who was standing behind, had to be cut off to join the other lane because there are already five of you in your current queue. 

"What's your seat number?" Mr. Byun makes conversation, leaning forward a little so that he is closer and you can hear him.

You check your ticket and lean back to tell him. "56A."

"You know, I'm starting to think we're fated or something. I'm sitting right next to you," he laughs and you immediately feel like melting at how rough and husky his laughter sounds. Except, you don't just feel, you actually do melt against the warmth behind you. "Whoa, you okay?" Mr. Byun steadies you with a hand on your waist. You know he is being careful with his touches as a teacher, but his hold is still firm on you. 

You nod and tell another white lie, "I out a little." The line moves forward, so Mr. Byun pushes you gently. You remember to stand properly. You keep up with the line while you ask your teacher, "You're sitting at 56B?"

"Yeah," he confirms. "Looks like you're stuck with me for 12 hours, huh." 

"You're gonna have to deal with my sneezing, then," you tap your nose. "This thing has been blocked and leaking like no one's business for days."

"Aw..." He sounds like he's cooing, but you can hear the teasing in his tone. "Poor baby." Yes, definitely teasing you.

You don't have to react to it because one of the girls in front of you asks the teacher, "Mr. Byun, will we have time to shop when we get to Paris?" 

You tilt your body so that the two of them can see each other better. Mr. Byun steps closer to you so he doesn't have to raise his voice. "Yeah, you'll have an allocated time everyday to rest or do whatever you want and we're definitely doing something on the last day." He glances at you as he shrugs, "I actually don't know much about the itinerary."

"Cool," the group of girls in front of you all nod and go back to talking amongst themselves. 

You're soon close to the start of the line, waiting to go through the customs. When all of you have gathered on the other side, you make your way to the boarding gate. You have three-quarters of an hour before the doors of the airplane opens, but all of you enter the waiting area anyway. You're all seated closely at the corner of the waiting space as you listen to the head teacher introduce himself. He is Mr. Yoo, the subject head for the Design subject. The other teachers introduce themselves as well; there are Mr. Kang, Miss Park, Mr. Kim and Mr. Byun. Then, all the students start doing introductions as well, since there are only 15 of you and you have time anyway.

"Now that we know each other's names," Mr. Yoo starts again when the last student has finished with his introduction. "I'll go through our itinerary. The first six days—Monday to Saturday—we'll be going to see famous buildings and museums. The last day is our only rest day and we'll spend it at Champs-Élysées."

There are excited murmurs. Champs-Élysées is one of the hottest tourist attractions in Paris and with the winter season already here, the lights hung along the streets there are going to be a lot prettier. There stalls set up along the streets, just like how you've seen them on the Internet! 

"I'll give out your materials and timetable on the bus to our hotel when we arrive in Paris. Be well rested on the flight, since you have 12 hours anyway," Mr. Yoo finishes. "Are there any questions?" Some people shake their heads but all are otherwise silent. The teachers nods, "Great, so now we'll just wait to board the plane." 

When he walks towards the other teachers, the students break out in chatters. You, on the other hand, call your mother. She picks up the phone after a few rings, as if she was doing something before she answered your call. "Hey mom. Just calling to tell you that we're now waiting to board the plane."

"Have fun, sweetie," she sounds excited for you. "Text me when you touch down in Paris, okay? I don't care if I have to pay a bomb for your phone bills, but I just need to know if you're fine. And don't forget to take care of yourself while I'm not there to do it for you." 

"I know, I know."

She laughs, "You find me naggy, don't you? Fine, fine, I'll stop. Just remember what I say and I love you."

"Love you too," you reply. "Also, should I call dad?"

"He should be busy though..." your mother mumbles. "I'll tell him everything for you. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks mom." When you hang up the call with her, you dial Sehun's number. He answers within two rings as if he had been on his phone right before you called. "Hey. I'm waiting for my plane and guess what?"

"What?"

"Don't be mad okay?" You don't wait for him to say anything when you drop it. "Mr. Byun's coming with us too." You know he's going to react negatively, so you quickly follow up, "But I swear you're just overreacting. Mr. Byun's really nice to me, Sehun!" 

"Do you remember what he said to you at the basketball court?" Sehun growls. 

"It was for my own good! Maybe next time if you witness how Mr. Byun talks to me now, you'd wanna try the red chopsticks on him and not me." 

"I won't be there if you ever get bullied, you know. I can't protect you."

"I won't be bullied," you murmur. "Mr. Byun won't bully me anymore." 

Someone sits on the vacant seat next to you and holds out his palm in your direction. You stare at the owner of the hand and you see Mr. Byun looking at you. "Let me talk to your boyfriend." 

"Hold on, Sehun..." You trail off uncertainly, passing the teacher your cell. 

He takes it in his hand and speaks into the receiver, "Hello, student Sehun. This is Mr. Byun. I know you're being protective over your girlfriend but I promise I won't be saying mean things to her anymore. I said those things back then only because I wanted to make an impact on her. And she has dramatically improved!  Also, she's sick, too. And as her teacher, I'll take care of her, so don't worry about her health. That's all I have to say, so I'll pass the phone back to her."

He gives you the phone and you take it, looking at him in a different light. The announcement to board the plane sounds through the PA system and all of you stand up. In the mean time, Sehun grumbles to you, "I still don't like him." You laugh, clamping your phone between your shoulder and your ear so you can get your handcarry. However, Mr. Byun has already taken it for you. He shakes his head, telling you to leave it. Then he gestures for you to follow the rest of the group to line up to enter the aircraft.

"You always hold grudges, it's not a very good trait, you know. Remember that time when you didn't speak to me for a whole month just because we—"

"Whatever," Sehun hurriedly cuts you off. "Shut up, don't even go there. It's awkward." You laugh again. He finally relents, "Fine, just make sure you're healthy and that you Skype me whenever you're free." 

"Of course," you promise. "I'm going to board the plane now, actually."

"Yeah? Well, then have a safe flight. Miss you and love you." 

"I'll only be gone for a week, Sehun," you tease. "And love you too."

You say your goodbyes and you finally hang up the call. Mr. Byun turns back with a look on his face. "You guys are mushy." 

You laugh, reaching to take your bag from him, "What do you know?"

"It's fine, I'll take it. We're sitting in the same row anyway." He continues to mock you, "He's all protective over you and stuff." 

"Well, a best friend— boyfriend gets protective sometimes," you cover up your mistake and just hope he didn't catch your slip-up. 

Thankfully, he doesn't as he bobs his shoulder, "I guess you're right."

The air steward at the door of the plane directs you to your seats and you're happy when you realise you have a window seat. But then you realise that the window seats in this aircraft are just two seats, which means that you'll only have Mr. Byun with you for the entire flight. You're not sure if that's a good thing, or not.

Mr. Byun asks you, "By the way, do you have anything you need from your handcarry? Otherwise I'll keep it in the overhead compartment." 

You shake your head. But then you remember you do, so you reply, "Yes, I do, actually." 

You reach your seats and Mr. Byun stops. He puts a hand on your back and guides you gently to your seat, "Go in first." You quickly do so because you don't want to hold up the line. He passes your bag to you, "Here, get what you need then I can keep it."

You go through your things while he puts his own bag in the compartment. You find the big pack of tissues you brought along with you. You whip it out of the bag and Mr. Byun immediately bursts out in laughter. "What?" You look at him. "I have a flu."

"I'm not saying anything," he purses his lips though he is still laughing. He even holds up his hands to prove his innocence.

You make a face at him and zip the handcarry before passing it back to him. He gets it and stretches to keep the luggage into the compartment. Once he is done, he quickly slips into his seat next to you. While you arrange your bag under the seat in front of you, Mr. Byun takes off his coat. You keep your scarf on, but take off your coat to drape it over the front of your body. 

The two of you don't say anything as you prepare yourselves for the flight. You have taken off your shoes to let your feet breathe and you see that your teacher has done the same. When the two of you are buckled up, you sit in silence. You have never thought Mr. Byun is the kind of person to be talkative, someone who fills in gaps of silence. But now you know. 

"Are you gonna sleep or are you gonna watch some movies?" He makes conversation. 

"Probably sleep most of the time," you shrug. "I'll be taking my medicine after our first meal and I'm gonna be drowsy." 

"Oh," he nods, glancing at your appearance. You're sitting with a blanket and your coat draped over your body. His eyebrows scrunch up in worry, "Are you that cold? Do you want my coat too?"

You look at him and think about it. Airplanes are always cold and now that it's winter, you don't doubt that you might freeze. But nonetheless, you reply him, "Aren't you gonna use it? You'll be cold too."

He shakes his head, quickly unbuckling himself and getting his coat from above. "No, no. Use it. I don't want you to freeze to death." He sits down again with his coat and you're about to take your arms out to get it from him, but he stops you. "It's okay, I'll do it for you." 

You sit still and watch Mr. Byun cover you with his thick grey coat. You immediately feel a lot warmer. But you're not sure if it's from the three layers covering your body, or how close Mr. Byun's face is to yours as he tucks the sides of his coat tightly around you.

Author's note:

So i changed some details in the previous chapter so I can make more scenes out of this Paris trip because heyyyy~~~ alone time for Mr. Byun and her~~~~ I'll probably dedicate like at least 3 chapters to this trip!! More if I have ideas ;-) I'm excited for what's gonna happen, aren't you guys!?!!!!??

Anyway. I know I took a bit of time in updating this chapter and it also isn't much.. However, i'm already going to start week 3 of Year 2, 1st sem. I have a lot of my plate and I really appreciate it if you'd just wait patiently for my updates. I've been getting comments like "I've been checking this fic every hour for an update", "Maybe you can update this fic like everyday" or "I'm done reading [to the latest chapter], so please update"

As an author, I want to please my readers and update too. but i have a life too. I don't just write all day and do nothing. Maybe if you pay me to update, I'd do it. But no, I'm doing this as a hobby and something I really enjoy. Honestly, when I receive comments like those, I just feel really annoyed and put off and I just wanna make you guys wait longer (because I'm a sadist like that). 

So from now on, I'm just going give you guys a notice that I will update this fic (or any other) once every two weeks. If I update any earlier than that, I guess it'll just be a bonus. 

Also, if you guys have any questions on the story (e.g. what is Sehun's course/major, etc), don't be afraid to ask! I'll answer questions like these, just not those asks about things that are gonna eventually be unravelled as the storyline proceeds.

Till next time
xoxo