Finally winter break arrived, giving all the students a week to relax and enjoy Christmas. The snow was heavier now, reaching just below our ankles. Eonjin ran past me, squeaking as her older brother chased her with the ball of snow in his little hands. I watched them chase each other around the park, laughing and yelling
"Jeonggyu!" She yelled when a large snowball hit her directly in the back. The older boy burst into laughter at her little angry face as she ran towards him. I gasped when a cold sensation hit me directly in the thigh, causing me to stand up in shock. My eyes looked over to the tall, grinning culprit as he laughed at me.
"Taehyung!" I yelled, wiping the snow off my leg. I balled up snow into my hand, making a perfect ball. I aimed at Taehyung and hit him accurately in the chest making him erupt into giggles.
The snowball fight seemed to turn into a boys vs girls match, me and Eonjin working together against Taehyung and Jeonggyu. Taehyung swiftly ran over and scooped Eonji into his arms, spinning her around before plopping her down into the snow. He then searched for his next victim, his eyes falling on Jeonggyu who was running away with laughter. Once he caught up he lifted him into the air and placed him into the snow on his back. Finally he looked over at me, a mischievous smirk on his face as he walked over to me.
"Hell no Taehyung I'm serious right now don't-" my sentence was caught off as he lifted me into the air, making me yelp. An idea popped into my head, securing an inevitable ending for not just me but Taehyung too. I pushed all of my weight so that he fell backwards into the snow, me still in his arms. We both landed side by side, lying on our backs in the cold snow. He turned his face to look at me, both of us sharing a glance until we erupted into giggles. The kids came and sat by us, burying Taehyung in snow.
After we had all gotten too cold we headed back and dropped the kids at Taehyung's house. After they were occupied we left and walked over to my house, both of us exhausted from all the playing around. I walked over to the bed and lied down, closing my eyes as I stretched my small arms out.
"That bed is too big for you" he commented, noticing how little I looked against the large mattress.
"Maybe, but that's how I like it" I said, rolling over to my side to see what he was doing. His fingers traced all the little lights hanging over the walls, touching them carefully so they wouldn't break. I lent over and flicked a switch to turn them on, the gold hue filling the room. His eyes lit up and a big smile appeared on his face.
"You really like them don't you?" I asked, chuckling at how amazed he was by them.
"They're cool" he said, sinking down onto the bed beside me.
"Oh I forgot, my mom wanted me to ask if you guys wanted to come over for Christmas" he said, shifting his face to the side so he could look at me.
"I'll ask her when she gets back" I replied, my lips curving upward slightly.
"You smell nice" he said, making me start laughing.
"That sounded so creepy Taehyung" I said, chuckling slightly at the random compliment.
"What it's true" he said, smiling innocently.
"Thank you" I said, smiling as I tilted my head over to him.
"Areum?" he whispered, his eyes looking away.
"Yeah?" I whispered back, my eyes watching him as he bit his lip. He hesitated slightly.
"Oh never mind I forgot" he said, looking up at the ceiling.
"Okay" I said, frowning slightly at his weird behaviour. We sat in silence for a while, both staring at the ceiling as we daydreamed.
"I was seven," I began, taking a deep breath. His head turned over to mine, studying my face.
"He died in a car crash one night and we got a call that morning. I didn't get to say goodbye" I said, my eyes still glued on the ceiling.
"I'm sorry" he said, his hand reaching out to grab mine. He took my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine and gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled sadly at him and lent my head to the side so I faced him.
"I might not be able to fix your problems or change them but I promise you Areum that you won't be alone" he said lifting my hand up to his face and linking our pinkies. He sat upright and I did the same, our fingers still kicked together.
"I promise" he said, kissing the back of my hand to seal his promise.
"Thank you Taehyung" I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my head into the crook of his neck. His hands wrapped around my waist, rubbing my back to soothe me. I hadn't noticed I was crying until there was a wet patch on his shoulder.
"Sorry" I said, laughing through my tears as I pulled away.
"Don't worry about it" he said, laughing with me. He lifted a thumb to my cheek and wiped away the tears. He smiled at me and his hand moved away from my face and back to his lap.
"I should probably go" he said, looking at the time on his phone.
"Okay" I said, watching him stand up and smile at me. I waved and he left the room, his footsteps becoming quieter as he jogged down the stairs. I heard the door close and turned my head to face the window, waiting to see him door open. A few minutes passed when I saw him walk in and move out of view. Seconds passed when he moved back in front of the view of the window, but this time shirtless. I quickly moved my head away and smacked myself on the forehead for staring. I laughed to myself and closed the curtains.
