Picked Up In Winter

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I walked quickly, peering into the empty classrooms looking for his class. At the end of the hallway was the only class filled with students. But there was still no Junhyung. Slowly, I moved towards the second floor.

".....?"

As I made my way upstairs, an unexpected sound made me pause for a moment. I could hear people talking, running, and moving desks. It sounded like a large group, too... Weird. It was the middle of vacation though?

[t/n: In most Korean high schools, floors are divided by grade level. First grade in level 1 and so on. Junhyung's classroom would be on Level 1 and Hagil's class would be on level 2. I'm assuming the sound makes him nervous because a) its vacation so he didn't expect anyone to be there and b) the sounds could be students from his grade.]

This sound didn't sound too different from the sound of the break period during school and I felt uneasy. I began to go back down the stairs, but someone came out into the corridor and as I turned, we made eye contact.

"You... Kang Hagil?!!"

'I haven't heard it in a long time...'

I stared blankly at him, the boy who had called me by name, a name that wasn't Happy.

Who was he again?

That was my first thought. A neat haristyle, a well-ironed uniform. His lips were set in a stubborn, hard line as he stared at me.

"....."

"....."

I stared at him stiffly and suddenly, I remembered who he was.

Ahh...yeah, if I remember correctly, this guy...he was in my class.

But why was he in school during vacation? He was even wearing his school uniform.

—Supplementary classes...!

Of course! Why hadn't I remembered? Starting from winter vacation of second grade, our school had a policy of giving supplementary classes.

Flustered, I began to back away. Realizing that I was trying to run away, he began to approach me angrily. I turned and hurried down the stairs.

"Kang Hagil!!! Wait a minute!!!!"

His voice resonated throughought the hallway, following behind my back.

"Just why aren't you coming to school?!!!! Just wait a second!!! Hey, listen to me!!!"

His voice continued as I took the next set of stairs.

"Kang Hagil!!! I said to wait a minute. I have to tell you something!!!!"

I ran like crazy.

"Hagil, wait!!! You—y-your mother, she's—..."

.....

.................

.........Mom?

Ha, ha, ha.

[t/n: this is the sound of breathing, not laughter.]

Breathing wildly, I ran like a madman. I couldn't help but wonder whether the students who were cleaning saw the crazily running me. I ran and ran. My mind was racing, my knees were burning, and I was short of breath.

Running like crazy, I reached a dead end and ran outside. When I came out, the steady, slow rain mercilessly landed on my face. I didn't bother to open my umbrella.

.........!

While running that frantically, my eyes widened as something came bursting into my view.

It was Junhyung!

That face I missed to tears!

I ran towards him. He was gathered in front of a snack stall with his friends; maybe while working, he had been hungry and had gone out to get a snack. I ran towards him, calling him anxiously.

Junhyung!

Jun...hyung!

Standing next to his friend, that expressionless face turned to me.

When he noticed me running towards him, his eyes widened.

I ran with all my might. My legs wouldn't stop. I watched him anxiously as he stared at me, astonishedly. I ran like a madman, like I was going to die.... I threw myself into his arms.

—Kung!!!

[t/n: This is the sound of a collision? It's a loud sound effect. Can be used for more than a collision, though.]

"..!!"

"Ugh..."

His low moan blended into the sound of my body striking his.

Our bodies were both reeling from the impact and we almost fell over.

Luckily, at the moment I had hit him, Junhyung spread his legs to keep his balance and grabbed my arm so I wouldn't fall.

"Ha, ha..."

"......"

In the silence, my breathing was unusually loud.

I was bewildered.

I was so confused that my head felt like it would burst.

The words I heard from the classmate seemed to echo in my head.

My mother...

Mother.......

Mom..........

Just what the hell was wrong with my mother?

I gasped violently, burying my head in his chest.

He seemed to be momentarily perplexed by actions but came to his senses and tried to pull my head from his chest. I resisted. I didn't want to show him my messy face. I didn't have the confidence to face him.

"Happy......?", he called me, curiously. I didn't answer.

"What...? Junhyung, who is that?"

"I'm seriously shocked. Someone just jumped out of nowhere and hugged him?"

"Really violently too."

His friends spoke in bewildered tones. I was even more reluctant to show my face.

"What? What's wrong, Happy?" He ignored his friends to ask me in a worried tone.

His voice was infinitely warm. I bit my lips, tears pooling in my eyes. The hand that had caught me was placed on my back.

"Did you say 'Happy?' The boy you picked up then?"

"I couldn't see his face so I didn't realize. That must be him."

"But...did you really take him back to your house? Every day, you were saying "Happy this, Happy that, But I still couldn't believe it."

[t/n: He's talking about when during the break, the friends kept asking to hang out and Junhyung said no because he was with Happy]

His friends continued to talk but I closed my eyes and attempted to not care. I tried to forgot the voice that was still stuck in my head.

In his arms, it smelled good.

It wasn't perfume but a nice, somehow reassuring scent.

I just wanted to concentrate only on that scent.

I closed my eyes, staying silently in his arms.

He remained motionless, hugging my shoulders, until I moved away.

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Whew. It's finished. Hopefully the next chapter goes much quicker. Updates are weekly. The schedule for the next three chapters isupdated. If I decided to post ahead or the schedule changes, information will be in the bottom of the chapter so please don't ask when I'm updating next unless I've gone MIA for weeks.