The group of friends had fallen asleep in the living room the previous night. Haneul cuddled up with Yeonjun and the other four all over the carpeted floor not even knowing when the power outage was restored.

As soon as the sun had risen, Kai's mother made sure to wake them up to have breakfast together. They ate pancakes and soon got ready for another adventurous day.

"Come on guys, isn't it too early for us to be hurrying this much?" Haneul complained in a whine. Kai rolled his eyes, his hand wrapped around her wrist as he kept walking and dragging him with them.

"Of course not! We need to take advantage of the day. We better start early so we can do a lot of stuff" He muttered, still looking ahead. The way the road was steep along with the cold wind against them, made his breathing become ragged.

The rest of the boys walked ahead and behind them, with their airpods on, or just joking around with each other.

Yeonjun nodded at Soobin's words, who talked to him as they walked side by side. However, his attention wasn't totally focused on him, but part of it was all over Haneul's small frame. He smiled at her cuteness, whining repeatedly as his younger friend dragged her with him. He tucked his hands in his pockets, not breaking the stare on her and licking his lips that were feeling dry due to the cold.

"Hyung, are you listening?" He heard Soobin asking, but it was the small push he sent to his ribs with his elbows what made him snap back to reality.

"Ah, yes. I'm listening" He responded, turning his head and giving a small smile to his friend, who just frowned in response.

"Sure you were..." Soobin mumbled, rolling his eyes and grasping the hem of his coat, trying to warm up a bit more.

It took the group at least thirty minutes until they reached their destination. It was a huge field that was completely empty, except for the people who was in line waiting for their turns. Haneul's brows furrowed in confusion and disbelief as soon as she saw the hot air balloon's. They were colorful and bigger than she had seen in movies. She looked at her friends who were staring at the balloons with huge grins all over their faces.

"No way..." Haneul muttered. Yeonjun stepped forward and stood right beside her. She turned her head to look up at him. "Is this a joke?"

He looked back to her and let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head.

"Do you think we would've walked all the way here just to prank you?" He asked, lifting a brow.

Haneul looked down at her feet in realization. He was right, so she just shrugged.

"It's just that I've never rode a balloon"

"And that's why we brought you here" Kai spoke, still with his hand wrapped around Haneul's wrist. He turned his head and smirked at her. "We've done this a few times, and we want to share this with you. You know... Make it more memorable"

"Unless you're afraid of heights... In that case, we fucked up big time" Taehyun said from ahead. Kai's eyes widened and looked at Yeonjun with concern. He hadn't thought about that possibility.

"I... May or may not thought about that" He confessed, ganing a groan from the rest of the boys.

"Great job, genius" Beomgyu said, rolling his eyes with his arms crossed over his chest.

Haneul let out a nervous giggle. Kai released her hand and stared at her in expectation.

"Are you?" Yeonjun asked, leaning forward just a bit so their eyes could lock, placing the palm of his hand on the top of her head.

She kept quiet for a second, then shrugged.

"I-I really don't know"

"How come?" Soobin asked, confused.

"I've never been up in the air" She admitted in a low voice.

Kai tsked, then sighed.

"Well... We're already here so you don't have much option. Maybe you're not afraid at all" He said, grinning optimistically.

"Uh--" She muttered, but then got dragged again with him.

A while after, it was finally their turn. They jumped into the basket one by one as the staff explained the rules to them. Haneul stood on her tiptoes, but she was still too short to jump inside by herself. That made Yeonjun, who stood behind her, chuckle. He didn't even think twice before he placed both of his hands on her waist and lifted her up, not even giving her time to think. Her heart jumped at the sudden touch, but it was too quick to even make up her mind. She was inside the basket and then Yeonjun jumped inside.

"You're so tiny" Yeonjun teased, ruffling her head gently. She glared at him, lifting her hand and smacking him on the chest, making him laugh.

"You won't get away with this" She threatened, pointing her finger at him. "Dumb blue haired jiraffe"

Yeonjun chuckled.

"Come on, I was just giving you a pair of hands?" He joked, his tone sweet. "Plus, we're all tall here... You're the smurf"

Haneul looked at him in desbelief and an offended expression. She pretended she was going to jump off, but he was faster and wrapped his arms around her waist once again, this time from behind, stopping her.

"You're not going anywhere!"

"Stop being a mess, hyung" Beomgyu said, chuckling.

"Can we go now?" Taehyun asked.

"We're ready to leave. Please don't lean against the basket and don't take out your arms" The man from the staff said. Yeonjun released Haneul as soon as the old man lit up the fire that will make them lift in the air.

They were raising slowly. All the boys watched the landscape completely mesmerized. The wind was way more cold up in the air, but they were too distracted to even care.

Haneul started feeling nervous. The view was so incredible and beautiful, but she still felt anxiety when he noticed how high they were. She felt wobbly, scared that they would fall as horrible scenarios played through her mind.

Her hands started shaking. She swallowed hard and pressed her eyes shut. Her head was pumping hardly, so hard she could feel it on her throat.

When her panic was starting to build and stopping her from admiring the ride, that's when Yeonjun wrapped his arms around her waist. She flinched slightly, but when he pressed his warm chest against her back, she started to relax.

"It's okay. Look at how beautiful it is" He cooed behind her ear. "Nothing's gonna happen. Enjoy it"

She took a deep breath and exhaled. His grip tightened, giving her warmth and making her feel protected. Instinctively, she placed her own hands over his arms as he held her tightly. She smiled, although he wasn't able to see her. His heartbeats were so relaxing, and the way he rested his chin on her head made her stomach flip.

They admired the whole city and thought about the beauty of life. The nature, the blue skies and green trees. How could someone not love life when it has so much to offer? That's what she thought to herself. She was so wrong when considered ending her life before. She was thankful because Yeonjun was able to stop her and save her. Now she was realizing everything she would've missed. Good friends, beautiful landscapes, getting out of her comfort zone.

And it was all thanks to him.

Yeonjun, on the other hand, was trying his best to stop his mind from spinning around. Just having her so close made him feel like he would lose his minds to his impulses anytime. Why was she so fragile and beautiful? He genuinely wanted her to feel safe and that's why he took every chance he got to show her that she could lean on him.

But the touch was making him react in ways he couldn't control. He couldn't stop himself from wondering how could it be.

How would it be if he was free to hold her whenever he wanted? How would it be if he didn't have to pick up excuses to get near her? It was already becoming difficult to stop himself. Somehow, he was needing her more and more each day. Sure, they usually hugged each other all the time, but this was different. Now he wasn't only feeling the need to hold her, but to be the only one to do it as well. He was feeling weak whenever she smiled, and was feeling jealous whenever the other boys were too close or touchy with her. What was going on? He knew, but he was too scared to admit it, even to himself.

The ride ended up being way better than she could've imagined. Her friends reacted so cutely at every little thing they spotted. They would remark how tiny the cars looked, how everything seemed to be little toys from up above. Hair blowing in the wind, cold breeze and many memories.

It was beautiful, and all of them were loving it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was finally setting when they got back home. They've spent the day not only riding the hot air balloon, but also went to the fair, played some games and had lots of fun.

Haneul took a seat on the big swing placed on Kai's porch. She ate the cotton candy as she watched her friends entering the place in a hurry.

All of them, except Yeonjun. He decided to sit next to her.

"Did you have fun?" He asked, turning his body so he could stare straight at her.

She kept savouring the sugar, nodding her head.

"A lot" She confessed "I will never forget this day"

Yeonjun smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that" He sighed "Can you believe tomorrow's the last day of the year?"

Haneul turned to look at him, cleaning her sticky hands in the cloth of her jeans.

"Not really" She admitted with a shrug "This year went by so fast"

He nodded in agreement.

"At least we've had each other"

Haneul smiled.

"You know... My parents asked me to go back to Daegu with them"

Yeonjun's eyes widened and his heart stopped.

"What?"

"Well they say that they want me to be close to them... I guess they're really scared after everything that has happened" She explained "They gave me until the end of the year to make my decision. But I can tell they are expecting me to leave with them"

"But what about school?"

"They say I could just start in a new one"

Yeonjun couldn't believe his ears. He shook his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Do you want to go?" He asked, internally praying that she would just say no.

His pleading eyes didn't go unnoticed by Haneul, who felt her heart clench.

"I don't... My friends are here, Rocky's grave is here..." She muttered, looking down at her hands as she fidgeted her fingers "But I think that maybe... It could be the right thing?"

Yeonjun felt the instant fear of losing her. How could he just ask her to stay without a good reason when she was already considering to leave? He couldn't just let her go.

"I don't want you to leave" He whispered, but she heard. She looked up at him, with her heartbeats speeding.

"Why not?"

He looked back at her.

"Because we would miss you"

She smiled, slightly dissappointed by the fact that he spoke in plural.

"I haven't made my decision. Maybe I can find a good reason to stay" She said, patting his shoulder before she stood up. "It's getting too cold, let's go inside" She added, already making her way to the house.

Yeonjun quickly stood up and rushed behind her. He extended his hand and grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

She turned around and frowned in confusion just in the moment he pushed her against the wall next to the entrance. He placed one of his hands on the wall next to her head, caging her as he held her hand with his free one.

Haneul instantly froze when she looked into his eyes. His face was mere inches apart, and his hot breath fanned her face subtly. Her heart became louder than ever, her knees wobbled and her breathing was completely erratic.

"W-What are you doing?" She asked in a whisper even when she knew perfectly what was about to happen, however, she thought that maybe he just wanted to tease her to make fun of her reaction. But it wasn't the case, Yeonjun's expression was strong and stern. The way he furrowed his brows together, the way the christmas lights reflected their colors on his face. God, he was so beautiful.

"Do you need a good reason to stay?" He asked, looking into her eyes as he pressed his body against her frame, not giving her even a slim chance to escape this time.

"I--" She muttered, but he interrupted her.

"We have a story, right?" He asked. His eyes moved from her eyes to her lips for a couple of seconds before he looked into her eyes again. "And I'm about to change the ending"

That was the last thing he said before he finally crashed his lips with hers.

He kissed her slowly. The new sensation was fascinating. But as soon as she started to kiss him back, she panicked and pulled back. A lot of questions ran through her mind. Was she crazy? What was he doing? She was Rocky's girlfriend. Although he wasn't there anymore, this wasn't right. She felt that way, like she was probably betraying her beloved Rocky's memory. But why did it feel so right? Yeonjun frowned, staring at her covering her mouth behind the palm of her hand with widened eyes. He didn't say anything, he just moved her hand away and kissed her again.

This time, she knew there was no use. She just let it happen. She kissed him back, lips molding perfectly against each other's. The taste of his chapstick invaded her mouth as soon as she opened it for him when he gently ran his tongue on her bottom lip, asking for entrance.

He moved his hands from the previous position and grabbed her arms, placing them around his neck before he placed his hands on her waist. Their hearts were beating as one.

Yeonjun tilted his head to the side and changed position, deepening the kiss. He loved the taste of candy that lingered on her tongue as it fought with his for dominance.

Her mind was out of that place. His lips were so soft and sweet, my god, how could someone feel that way? How could someone kiss so deliciously?

She tangled her fingers in his blue locks, nibbling gently on his lower lip. He grunted lowly, sucking on her tongue just a little bit.

The kiss lasted long enough for them to run out of oxygen, and that was the only reason why they had to stop. With their foreheads still pressed against each other's, and noses brushing gently, they panted trying to catch their breaths.

No one dared to say a word. But it wasn't needed anyways.

They knew from that moment that there was no turning back. They had finally faced the truth.

They were in love with each other.