Since there was no obvious way she was going to be able to sleep in her date clothes (a dress, coat, leggings and high sneakers), she decided to get into one of the bathrobes for the night. 

She then hopped into the shower, glad that the water was steaming hot and was washing away the cold chills she was feeling. Coming out, she slipped into a pale blue bathrobe and a pair of fuzzy bathroom slippers which were provided. As she combed her fingers through her wet hair, it then struck her that Junmyeon might want to take a shower as well.

She came out into the living room to see Junmyeon on the couch surfing channels. "Junmyeon-shi, the bathroom's free if you want to take a shower," she said.

He turned to her, shaking his head. "I'm fine, Eunji-shi. You just relax."

He then took a quick gander at her. The bathrobe wasn't short, falling just a little above her knees, and the dip in the chest wasn't too big either. And yet, seeing her like this, with a face free of makeup and wet hair, made him feel something weird.

This was way too vulnerable for their arrangement.

But now that he thought about it, he didn't remember their arrangement anymore. What were the original terms again? 

He didn't remember. Or was it that he didn't care anymore?

He shook the thoughts out of his head. "I'm seriously okay," he told her. "Shouldn't you be getting to bed? It's way too late."

"I should," she agreed. "But I'm not really sleepy right now."

He shifted, patting the space beside him. "Want to watch some TV with me, then?" he offered.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'll do that."

She sat on the couch next to him while he shifted to make more space for her. She put her legs up just as he switched through a couple of channels. He cast a look outside.

"It's snowing," he commented slightly.

She turned to see the white flecks mixed with rain hitting the window. She straightened up a little to get a closer took, eventually leaning back with a satisfied smile on her face. 

"It's that time of year, huh?" she asked. "I honestly didn't realize it was December yet."

He chuckled. "I get what you're saying," he said. "But it's started snowing much earlier this year, hasn't it?"

She hummed in agreement. "At least we'll have a full snow before Christmas then," she said. 

He breathed a little. "I guess we will."

She then surprised him by leaning on him. As he stared down at her, she softly closed her eyes. 

"When did you become such a big part of my life?" she mumbled.

He didn't know the answer to that, either.

***

She found herself awake just before dawn. 

Checking the digital clock on the side table, she saw that it was just 4.55 AM. 

Huh, barely slept for an hour and a half, she thought. 

Finding that it was impossible to go back to sleep right there and then, she got out of the bed and went over to the slightly ajar door of the bedroom. 

She slowly crept into the living room and paused.

Junmyeon was asleep on the length of the couch, arm over his head and breathing softly. Smiling, she brought over a blanket and carefully put it over him, so as to not wake him up. 

She pulled the blanket up to his chin and then stepped back.

Here, fast asleep and covered with a blanket, he looked peaceful...

***

"Hey, wake up!"

She felt hands shaking her awake and forced her eyes open to see Junmyeon. "Huh? What time is it?" she groggily asked.

"Nine," he informed.

She bolted up at once. "N-nine?" she shakily asked. "It's that late?"

"I let you sleep in because you slept pretty late last night," Junmyeon informed her. Now that she looked at him, he was dressed in the only pair of clothes he had that were last night's clothes, and his hair was damp and falling over his eyes.

"Chorong-shi called me and told me that the saseangs backed down, so I can drop you back at your dorm. Breakfast's being served till 10 and the water's still hot, so you can have a shower. You may need to wear last night's clothes again, but it's only till we get you back. So wake up and get in the bathroom."

"Yes, Appa," she sleepily said, rubbing her eyes and sleepwalking into the bathroom.

The door closed and he heard the shower running. He chuckled a bit. "Appa, huh?" he muttered before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. 

***

By the time they got down to breakfast, most of the guests had already come down to have their meals, leaving only a few people left in the dining hall. And even then, all they did was cast one glance at the idol couple before turning away and minding their own business.

She figured they were really used to seeing idols in this place. She wondered what sort of life these people might be leading.

The breakfast was a Western style, with bacon, pancakes, toast and different styles of eggs with all sorts of condiments. She grabbed a couple of slices of toast, omelettes and a glass of apple juice (this place was apparently the only place in Korea that imported pristine apple juice from the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, at least that was what Junmyeon told her). 

The two sat down with their breakfasts at a table for two placed near the corner of the hall. She took a bite out of her toast and sighed.

"This is really good food," she said.

"It is, isn't it?" he asked. "I've always loved the food here."

"Do you come here frequently?"

He shook his head. "Not as frequently as I would like to. Seriously, what Uncle saved on decoration, he spent it on the best food possible."

"I would like to meet him someday..." she dreamily said as she took a sip of the miracle liquid of apples from the mountains.

"I'll introduce you one day," he said. "One day, I'll let you meet my entire family."

She beamed. "I'd love that," she happily said. "And I want to introduce you to my parents as well."

"I look forward to meeting them, Eunji-shi."

She peeked at him over the rim of her cup. "Can we drop the honorifics?" she suddenly asked.

"Huh?" His eyes were the size of dinner plates.

"Well," she said, dragging it out and playing with her fingers nervously, "we've known each other for a while now, and I'd like to think we've gotten close over the past few months." She looked up at him. "Am I wrong to think that?"

He frantically shook his head. "N-no, not at all, I do feel like I'm a lot closer to you than when we first met."

"And we also spent a night together," she pointed out.

His face reddened and he turned away. "Hey, if you put it like that someone might get the wrong idea..."

"So maybe we should just drop the honorifics altogether, don't you think?" she shyly suggested.

He thought about the idea for a short while, finally nodding. "Al-alright."

***

A/N: Hope you guys had a happy holiday season! (I know there's still new year's left, but for me the novelty of the festive season is wearing off since I have exams from 2nd)

How did you guys spend your Christmas? At home? Decided to go on a trip? Hope you had fun nonetheless :)

Happy holidays once more!