♣ ♣ ♣

That I even managed to open my eyes this unwelcomed morning was a miracle in its own, since my lids were practically glued together. With a throaty groan in misery, I turn off the alarm that resonated from my phone and buried myself under the duvet again.

A moan is heard from beside me as Taehyung also slowly wakes up, but I could hear that he wasn't too eager to get up either.

"What time is it?" he mumbles, snuggling closer to me.

"Eight," I reply with an equally tired voice.

"Do we have to get up?" he complains.

"I'd rather die. The breakfast buffé is open to nine though, so if the others go then I'm sure they won't let us sleep."

"I'm pretty sure Yoongi, Hobi and Kai are immune to alarms this early. I think we're good."

"Thank god.." I sigh, a sparkle of excitement igniting in me at the thought of sleeping for two more hours. "Goodnight again then."

Then we proceed to drowse through an hour and a half. The last twenty minutes we probably spent trying to fall back into a deeper sleep, but not really succeeding.

"Blue?" Taehyung whispers when he'd had enough of doing nothing. "Are you sleeping?"

"Yes," I answer dryly without opening my eyes.

Unexpectedly, he grabs onto my sides to turn me around, then pulling me up to settle my head on his chest.

"Yay you're awake! Goodmorning babe," he beams in joy before placing a lingering kiss on my forehead.

"Goodmorning," I mumble tiredly, but snuggling my face into his face comfortably.

"You know.. I realized something."

"What?"

"You said you'd massage my butt yesterday."

I tense slightly. "I was joking?"

"Well, I wasn't. So you owe my butt attention."

He always amazes me with the amount of times he levels up in adorableness.

I sigh heavily, but eventually sitting up on the bed. "Turn around," I command, and he complies happily. Now lying on his stomach I move to sit on his thighs just below his hips.

And just like any other normal, good girlfriend would logically do in this position; I slap his butt.

"OW! Bluueeee that hurt!" he screams into the pillow, making me laugh sadistically.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," I coo sweetly, now gently stroking over the place I hit him before commencing the real massage session.

How the hell is his butt this soft and jiggly but still firm? The ass of Korea I tell you.

"Is this better?" I ask after a minute of kneading.

"Very better," he sighs comfortably.

"Are you aware of that you have the finest ass? Like damn.. how did you make it so jiggly? I mean, are you feeling this?" I question in awe as I grab two handfuls of his cheeks and move my hands side to side quickly to enhance the jigglyness. He laughs loudly at my fondness of his behind.

"I've been doing extra squats ever since you told me that you like a guy with a plump ass," he says. "But it doesn't even come close to.."

He suddenly flips on his back to face me, bending his knees which resulted in me almost crashing heads first into his chest, but his hands are quick to catch my hips to steady my balance. They then settle on my butt, playful fire igniting in his eyes as he grabs me firmly.

".. this perfection," he ends the sentence. "The best thing in the world on my favorite person in the world. What a coincidence."

I chuckle at his statement, but my smile couldn't have been bigger. It's at times like this I wonder how he's even real.

"Wow, my favorite person in the world thinks I'm their favorite person, too. Lucky me," I say, leaning closer to him. His lips stretch out into a wide smile when I do so, hands moving up to circle my waist instead. By tightening his grip around me our lips eventually crash onto each other, the contact eager at first, but transitioning slowly into a gentle, affectionate kiss. My hands cup his cheeks, allowing my thumbs to tenderly move over his smooth skin. I feel his hands move up and down my sides slowly, the sensation slightly ticklish but more soothing, as our lips keeps moving against one another.

There's no better way to start a day than like this.

When we eventually let out lips part ways, we remain in this position just looking into each other's eyes. After a moment of comfortable silence, Taehyung's hand moves up to tuck some hair behind my ear, then letting the back of his fingers gently caress my cheek.

"I'm really glad that you're mine," he says, voice gentle and silky. A warm feeling drapes over me, heart buzzing with joy. I'll never get tired of hearing him expressing his emotions like this. He does it more often that I thought he would, which only makes me love him even more.

"And I'm really glad that you let me in," I reply, mimicking him by also caressing his cheek. "I didn't think you would, but I'm thankful that you trusted me enough to let me stay."

"I'm more amazed that you didn't run."

I chuckle at that. "I tried to, but you didn't let me."

"How could I? I honestly wouldn't know what I'd do without you."

Not sure of how to respond to his heart-melting words, I snake my arms around his neck, shifting my weight so that we lay on our sides facing each other, and hug him tightly.

"I wish we could stay like this all day," I sigh dreamily. "Buying snacks and hot cocoa and just play card games or whatever."

"That's an extremely tempting idea," Tae says. "How about a card game night with snacks, hm?"

"You don't think the others will invite themselves into our room?"

Taehyung smirks. "Don't worry, I'll personally threaten them."

"How about tomorrow?" I ask.

He seems to instantly get what I was trying to hint at. "You wanna skip the party tomorrow?"

I nod slowly. "I don't know why, but I really don't feel like going."

"Then we don't have to go. I mean, I'd much rather be alone with you anyway, so."

A heavy weight lifts from my shoulders when he says that, relief flooding my system over the fact that he'd rather stay in than going. My paranoid self hasn't been letting me breathe these last couple of days, maybe I can finally relax now.

I kiss his lips gratefully, only he isn't aware of my worries, and then smile happily. "It's a plan then. Now, time to get up?"

After sending a text to Areum to inform them about our awakened state, we plan to meet up for a quick breakfast in one of the cafés close to the slopes before heading out on a second round of an all-day skiing session.

♣

Two hours of cruising down the same three slopes over and over, Jungkook and I both exhale with great boredom as we both glide down for the nth time back to the lifts with the others.

"Geez guys!" Jin yells at us. "You two radiate the most depressing aura and I don't like it."

"Yeah, what's up with you two?" Jimin adds, squinting his eyes suspiciously at us.

Jungkook and I share a glance, shrugging. "I'm just bored, that's all," Jungkook admits eventually.

"Yeah, same. I want to try the black labeled slopes, but I know you guys aren't comfortable with it so.." I sigh.

"Then you two go? I sure as hell ain't gonna risk breaking both my legs but I won't keep y'all from doing it," Yoongi urges, making Taehyung instantly glare at me. This doesn't go unnoticed by Jin who approaches Taehyung and puts his arm over his shoulders.

"We'll babysit Taehyung for you," he says with a smirk. "You wildkidz go have fun playing in the death slopes."

I was a tiny bit unsure if it's a good idea to leave Taehyung with them, but I didn't have time to think before Jungkook already started pushing me towards the sit-ski lifts.

"We'll meet you guys up for dinner later!" Jungkook shouts as we glide away.

"Taehyung's gonna kill me," I say with a chuckle when we reach the queue.

"Well he has to let you breathe sometimes, and now is that time."

I laugh unexpectedly at that. "You think he's too clingy?"

"He is too clingy. But we all know it's because he likes you that much and all that stuff. I mean, we've all seen how he is when he's jealous. But at some point he's got to learn to be away from you for an hour or two."

"He won't appreciate the thought, you know," I comment, chuckling while softly shaking my head. We've moved to the front of the line by now, positioning ourselves to get swooped up by the moving seat. When we're safely gliding up in the air towards the top, Jungkook continues our conversation.

"He's a spoiled brat, he doesn't appreciate anything that doesn't go his way. But you just gotta beat it into his head and hope that he gets it eventually."

"We can always hope. Let's just pray that he won't be salty when we get back," I sigh. "Is this the first time you ride a lift like this, by the way?"

"It is, and I like it! The view is awesome," he beams with a wide smile. I've always thought that he has the most adorable smile ever, reminding me of a bunny almost. Well, he's as horny as one so I guess it makes sense.

"Right? I tried to get Taehyung to come with me on this one, but he was totally convinced that we'd fall off and die."

"Pfft, him taking this lift? He's scared shitless of heights, Blue. Your boyfriend is an actual chicken if you haven't noticed," he says with a teasing smirk.

I smirk back at him. "Just a little. Don't tell him I said that though."

"Your secret's safe with me. By the way, how do you get off this thing?"

I laugh at his slightly scared expression. "You obviously choose when to jump off and fall twenty meters onto a slope of your choice."

His mouth falls open in shock. "What? Nooo you're joking right?"

"Not if you want to break your legs," I laugh. "You'll see when we get there. You just push yourself off, it's not that difficult at all."

We eventually reach the top where we slide off the lift with ease, halting to fix our ski goggles before moving towards the death-slopes. When reaching the edge of one of the higher-level slopes, I give Jungkook one last glance before asking.

"You ready for this?"

A confident smirk instantly tugs on his lips, not a trace of uncertainty in his voice when he says, "Last one down pays dinner."

I grin in amusement, gripping tightly onto the ski-poles in my hands. "Watch out for the ice patches."

"Ice patches?" he questions, but I've already dived down the steep hill.

The wind hits hard on my cheeks, it almost feels like icy punches being thrown at me in rapid succession, though the sensation is kinda good. Most of my concentration goes to maintaining my balance while quickly slaloming between the edges of the slope without losing too much of my speed.

I have to win over Jungkook. I can't let a beginner's luck newbie beat me. I can't let my country down. Sweden, I going to make you proud-

My inner thoughts didn't get further than that before I heard a voice shouting, or rather screaming in panic behind me.

"AHHHH LOOK OUT!!"

Not even half a second later, something crashes into me with full force, knocking out my breath as well as throwing my balance off completely. Our nestled bodies then causes our skis to overlap each other, and the momentum from the crash finally results in us crashing down on the packed, rock-hard snow. My vision spins rapidly and the constant motion blur makes me lose orientation of everything surrounding me. Because of the steepness and icy surface, we proceed to glide down the rest of the slope, bodies still entangled. My heart is slightly pounding in my chest from the shock and adrenaline rushing through me in that moment, but as we eventually come to a halt I manage to regain control in my motions.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!! Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" a guy's voice speaks to me in panic, hauling his body off of me. My first thought wasn't that I was angry or hurting somewhere, but what struck me was that his voice sounded kind of familiar.

"Minhyuk you dumbass!! Watch where you're going!" another voice shouts this time, along with the sound of skis swooping towards us.

Minhyuk? Could it be..?

"The frickin' ice patch threw me off! I panicked okay?! You think I don't feel bad already?!" Minhyuk shouts back to his friend whose voice I don't recognize, sounding extremely distressed. "I think I killed her!"

I giggle to myself as I hear them bicker at each other, proceeding to heave myself up to a sitting position when a helping hand suddenly stretches out towards me.

"Let me help you up," the unfamiliar guy says gently, giving me a glowing smile. "And I apologize about my friend, he's just blind."

"Hey!! I told you it was the stupid ice's fault!"

"And I told you your weakass stick-legs aren't strong enough to control your turns! You're lucky that you didn't break both yours and her legs," he scolds his friend. Then he takes off his goggles and settle them on his forehead, puts his hand on my shoulder and look into my eyes. "Are you okay? I apologize on the behalf of my brainless friend."

I laugh and shake my head, taking my goggles off as well. "Are you talking shit about my angel?" I ask him with narrowed eyes. Unknown-guy's eyebrows crinkles in confusion, meanwhile Minhyuk's mouth drops open before he cracks the biggest smile I've ever seen.

"BLUE!"

"MINHYUK!"

We engulf each other in a big hug, the smile on my lips not fading for even a second.

"Blue!" Jungkook suddenly exclaims from somewhere, approaching us with high speed before halting abruptly next to us. "Are you alright? That crash looked dangerous, I thought you'd break something!"

"I'm so sorry for crashing into you! I didn't know the slope would be this icy I swear I would've steered away from you if I could-"

"Minhyuk! Please calm down, I don't blame you," I assure him. I look at Jungkook whose worried expression still hasn't left his face. "I'm fine, Jungkook. Really. But what were the odds that Minhyuk would run into us here? No pun intended."

We all end up laughing at my comment. "Yeah look at that! And Wonho! I haven't seen you in months!" Jungkook beams at the unknown guy, who now has a name.

So that's Wonho-the-heartthrob Minhyuk and the others talked about at that party? Wow, now that I've actually seen him I can understand all those girls falling headfirst for him; he's an extremely handsome and bulky boi.

The reunited friends greet each other bro-hug style.

"Jeon Jungkook, I've missed you man," Wonho says before turning to me. "We haven't met before! Lee Hoseok, but as you heard just call me Wonho."

"I'm Blue. It's nice to finally meet you! Minhyuk and Jungkook told me about you," I reply happily, earning even a bigger smile from him.

"Are the others here too?" Minhyuk asks.

"Yep, but on the baby slopes," Jungkook snorts.

"Where Minhyuk should've stayed," Wonho deadpans, giving Minhyuk a glare who frowns back at him.

"What about your squad? Did they all come?" Jungkook asks.

"Shownu and Jooheon couldn't make it. I don't know why Hyungwon even bothered to come since he stays in his room all day sleeping. Changkyun and Kihyun refused to try this slope with us, so they're probably cruising on the baby slopes too."

So many names, so many question marks.

"Aw too bad everyone couldn't be here. How about we all eat dinner tonight? It's been ages since the last time we all hung out, we need to catch up!" Jungkook suggests, earning nothing but enthusiastic smiles and nods from the other two.

"It's a plan! I'll tell Kihyun to bring the others so we all meet up at the restaurant," Wonho says, fishing up his phone to quickly text his friend.

While Wonho and Jungkook kicks off a conversation, Minhyuk and I glide a couple of meters away from them to also catch up.

"I'm so glad to see you again! You seem much better than last time we saw each other," Minhyuk says with a grin, making me groan in embarrassment.

"Ah, I was a wholeass mess! You seriously must've gotten the worst first impression of me," I complain, genuinely feeling sorry for him for being forced to take care of me.

"No, no! I actually meant to contact you to ask you how you were doing, but then I realized that I forgot to ask for your number." He chuckles, shaking his head in disappointment.

"You're as kind as ever," I say with a pout. "But things worked out and now I'm good. I'm touched that you cared about me."

"Well I'm your friend, right? And friends give each other their phone numbers just in case."

I laugh at his subtle way of saying that we should exchange numbers, so I tap in my number when he hands me his phone and send a text to myself.

"There you go, we're officially friends now," I say with a snicker, earning a wide, satisfied smile from Minhyuk.

"Hey guys! How about we go cruising about some slopes around here?" Jungkook suggests, everyone agreeing instantly.

And so the four of us end up spending the next two or three hours conquering every slope in sight, laughing whenever someone faceplanted on the snow, and laughing even harder when one fell while helping the other up. All this while not being aware of that my phone was bombarding with messages from a certain someone.

♣

With exaggerated heavy groans, we not so gracefully clamp into the restaurant with exhausted legs to finally rest our sore muscles.

"The guys should be here any minute, I guess your peeps should get here soon too?" Wonho says after we settle down by a table with enough room for both our squads.

Jungkook looks at me. "You talked to them, right?" he asks, making me furrow my eyebrows.

"But I thought you told them?" I say slowly, my stomach sinking gradually as I realize how long we've been gone without letting them know about where we are.

As in them, I mean Taehyung.

I notice something change in Jungkook's eyes too, knowing that he knows that Taehyung is probably pissed. Very, very pissed. He suddenly looks uneasy. And uneasy he should feel.

Not really wanting to, but forced to at this point, I reluctantly fish up my phone from my pocket and unlock it.

Thirty messages. Twenty-three missed calls. All from Taehyung.

I gulp in fear, looking at Jungkook whose eyes widen just slightly when we make eye-contact. "I'll call Jin right now," I squeak out. Jungkook sucks on his lips anxiously.

We're both dead meat.

"Blue! We thought you and Kook died or something," Jin exclaims in my ear when he picks up.