I blew out the candle sticking out of the cupcake Minhyuk bought for me. "Happy Birthday!" he hollered. I smiled before taking a bite.
"Fifteen, finally!" Changkyun laughed, joking with me being the last of the group to have their fifteenth birthday. I chuckled while looking down. Jooheon reached over to smear a little bit of frosting on my nose.
"You guys are the best." I took another bite of my cupcake. The weather was freezing, and I was curled up by a fireplace with Jooheon, Kihyun, Changkyun, Shownu, and Hyungwon around me. Minhyuk sat at my side, holding a blanket around the both of us.
We talked around the fire and told stories. My eyes watched the dancing flames as something kept poking me in the back of my mind. The group around me laughed, and I joined in, but I had completely missed all of the last conversation.
What am I forgetting? I asked myself. It felt like there was something I should be doing. I shook my head, lowering my gaze from the fire.
"Miyoung?" Minhyuk whispered to me. I whipped my head in his direction. The rest weren't paying attention, but Minhyuk seemed to have noticed how distracted I was. The others began laughing again. Minhyuk only continued his worried stare into my eyes.
I swallowed hard. "I'm fine." My eyes traveled back to the orange glow in the fireplace. "I just feel like I'm forgetting something."
Minhyuk rubbed my back caringly. "I understand, we all get that feeling from time to time."
But this seems different.
Snow fell all throughout the night. I had trouble falling asleep because whenever I would start to fall into a deep unconsciousness, my eyelids would fly open, as if I momentarily remembered. It would then slip from my head.
It was exactly four in the morning. I was able to get just barely an hour of sleep before waking back up. I couldn't handle this sleepless night, and my room was starting to burn up. A nauseous feeling erupted in my stomach. I need to get some fresh air.
I slipped on a couple warm layers and my winter boots. The wind hit my face and nipped my uncovered face. I made sure to close the door slowly and with extra precaution so my parents didn't wake up. Even if the wind was clawing at me, it felt somewhat soothing on my burning cheeks. Snowflakes were falling fast around me, and heavily.
Without any control, my legs carried me towards the barns. My head hung low to keep the sharp flakes from pelting my face.
The toe of my boot bumped into a surface. I slowly rose my head to face the old silo. I was staring directly into the gap. My whole body began to shiver.
Wonho.
"Miyoung?" I heard his voice echo off the metal walls.
"Y-yeah?" My voice quivered, and I began to realize just how cold it really was. My teeth chattered and I was losing feeling in hands.
Wonho stepped into the moonlight that leaked over the darkness inside. He narrowed his eyes at me. "Why are you out here when it's so cold?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I wasn't feeling that great."
"If you're sick, you shouldn't risk getting worse by being in the cold."
"Are you worried?" I tried giving a small smile, but my shaking jaw just made me seem pitiful. Not to mention, my lips had grown numb. "Can... Can I come in for just a little bit? To get away from the cold?"
Wonho hesitated. A small sigh escaped his lips. "Fine. I'm just warning you."
"You know, you say that," I started as I stretched my leg into the silo. "But you don't seem more than your words."
My feet landed on the ground of the silo, and I already felt better without the wind. I let out a slow breath, meeting Wonho's stare. This was the closest I've ever been to him. The moonlight casted shadows on his pale face from his features.
"What?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Nothing. I'm just getting warm." A cold chill ran through my spine, shuttering my whole body. "Jeez, don't you have a furnace or something in here?" I joked.
Wonho only cocked his head to the side. "How come you just randomly showed up at this time after not for three years?"
I bit the inside of my cheek. "I was... scared?" I admitted. "Last time I came, you were pretty harsh towards me."
"I just didn't want an innocent person to get hurt."
I took a step closer to Wonho, but he only cowered back into the shadows. I reached for his arm, expecting my hands to slip through since he was a shadow person. However, my hand wrapped around his wrist. He turned towards me with widened eyes. His skin was so cold; almost as cold as the winter wind.
"I can feel you?" I asked, my voice coming out breathy.
"When I'm in my human form, yes." Wonho pulled his arm away. "But that doesn't mean you should."
