Weeks and days passed in a blur, quickly moving past into the colder months. Snow was beginning to fall more frequently, coating Daegu in a light blanket of white. My eyes drifted from the window back to my desk, my ears not focused on the information being fed to me by the teacher. I drew the number '201' onto my wrist in black ink, the letters bold and curved.
"They always go down" Taehyung whispered to me, his eyes looking into my own.
"What does?" I asked, looking back at him.
"The numbers" He said, his gaze pointing at my wrist where the ink was.
"Yeah they do" I said, breaking my state and looking down at my arm too.
"Why?" He asked, frowning slightly.
"Mr Kim" the teacher called, both mine and Taehyung's gaze snapping up in the direction of the teacher staring back at us.
"Yes?" He asked, locking gazes with male at the front of the class.
"Are you done?" He challenged.
"Yes, sorry sir" Taehyung apologised, bowing slightly.
"Good" he nodded, continuing on with the lesson. I let the breath go I hadn't realised I was even holding, nervously picking up my pencil and bringing it to the paper.
-
"Taehyungiee~" I hummed, my eyes staring at the ice cream parlour as we walked past it. He turned to face me and then looked at the building, his face a mixture of disgust and amusement.
"How can you want ice cream in the snow?" He question, wrinkling his nose at me.
"Pleaseee" I pouted, trying my best to look cute. A smirk creeped onto his lips, trying not to laugh at my unusual and childish behaviour.
"You're a completely different person when you want food" he commented, chuckling to himself.
"I'll pay, please can we get some" I pleaded, dragging onto his arm.
"Fine, only because you're buying" he agreed, walking closer to the parlour.
"Yes!" I yelled, performing a quick celebratory dance before running to the door earning a laugh from Taehyung.
We both ordered two cones, mine being mint and his chocolate. After ordering we walked to a park nearby and sat on the swings, both eating our ice creams. I caught Taehyung glancing at mine more than once, his eyes occasionally wandering over.
"You want some?" I asked, holding my come out to him. He smiled and nodded eagerly, licking the ice cream. He offered his to me and I did the same. He quickly moved the cone so it hit me delicately on the nose, smearing the brown ice team onto it. I squealed and moved away, shocked by the cold sensation. He laughed at my reaction, a boxy smile appearing on his face. I smirked and dipped my finger into the ice cream, picking up some on the tip. I ran over to him and wiped it on his cheek, smearing it across his face. His mouth turned into a wide 'o' shape, processing what I had just done.
"Oh my god" he said, lifting his hands to his cheek. He grinned and wiped it away, a playful hint in his eyes. He coated his fingers in ice cream and walked over to me, reading to smear then against me. I could sense what was happening and quickly got up from the swing, running away from him. I hid under a yellow slide, coated in slow. His footsteps soon became silent around me, masking where he was. I peeked my head out to the right of the slide, looking around only to see the park empty. When I turned to my left he was sitting directly in front of me, his face full of mischief. He wiped his fingers across my jaw, covering it in ice cream. I took my cone and did the same, both of us erupting into laughter. I fell onto my butt under the slide and into the snow, trying to hold in laughter.
Once we regained our breath we both sat, facing each other. He took his hand slowly to the side of his face and wiped away the ice cream chunk that rested on my jaw line. He traced his fingers slowly across it, making my breath hitch slightly in my throat. He moved his hand quickly away and wiped away the sweet substance off of his own face, grinning. He stood up and offered his hands out to me.
"We should get going now" he said as I took his hands, pulling myself up.
"Yep" I said, popping the 'p' as we began to walk. I waited until he was slightly ahead of me until I ran up and jumped onto his back. He stumbled forward slightly, shocked from the impact. His hands automatically went under my thighs and hoisted me up, laughing at me.
"I think my childishness has started to rub off on you" he said, chuckling at me. I draped my hands around his neck and rested my chin on his shoulder as he carried me back.
"Maybe" I said, laughing too.
When we got back to our street, I slid off his back and on to the ground. We walked to our own separate houses and bid each other goodbye, entering at the same time. I unlocked the door and stepped inside, throwing myself on the couch. I clicked on the tv and lifted the blanket over myself, snuggling underneath it. A while later on the door clicked and my mother walked in, holding a cardboard box in her free hand. The smell of warm bread and cheese filled the air, making my unknown hunger appear.
"Mom did you get pizza?" I asked, sitting upright.
"Yeah, I didn't feel like cooking anything today" she said lazily, plopping herself down on the couch beside me. We opened the box and shared the large pizza between us, talking about our days and making small talk as we sat. Something about her seemed brighter, like how she way before he died. I could see a glimpse of happiness somewhere in her eyes that had been missing for so long, whatever it was, I hoped she wouldn't lose it.
