⚠︎︎ ༄ THE girls stared outside the windows, snickering every time a snowball flew into someone's face, because it looked funny as hell.

Frypan had the audacity to throw an abnormal big snowball onto Gally, who threw a smaller one back, but ten times harder.

Thomas's head got smashed into the snow by Minho as Newt made Alby trip, and Jeff actually slipped by himself.

"Woah!" Brenda raised her eyebrows when three seconds later, both Gally and Alby stood without shirts.

"They're gonna dive!" Harriet whistled. "Gosh, that's cold."

Indeed, they dived straight into the snow. Sam snorted at Gally's face once he realized it was colder than he expected, then watched Jeff and Fry join too.

Minho walked over to Newt before the blonde even finished getting his own shirt off. They spoke to each other, Minho's body movements showing some clear frustration.

Sam frowned. Looked as Newt lay a hand on Minho's shoulder when he started sinking down to the ground, his face buried in his hands as he crouched. Newt said more things. Things that weren't understandable for Sam and made Minho motioned at the girls, or rather, Sam, but she didn't notice that herself.

Newt pulled Minho on his feet. More words were exchanged, and they even hugged, which caused her frown to deepen.

"Oh!" Minho did eventually pull his shirt off.

Goddamn.

Not saying that the other boys weren't fit... but sheesh.

Compared to Newt, Minho was very tanned. Sam's face turned bright red at watching his muscles flex before he dived too, his back soon covered in snow and skin red from the coldness.

Minho pushed himself up, veins tensing. Sam practically only had eye for him, and felt shame grow at that. Well, on the other hand, which girlfriend would stare at other boys while her own boyfriend was half naked?

Eventually, Minho walked back to Newt. Readjusted his bracelets and told the blonde something, who nodded. Lying a hand on Minho's shoulder, Newt made a movement with his head. Minho nodded too.

Her stomach itched to know what was going on, so she jumped up from the couch and waited for Newt and Minho to arrive inside.

They froze for a second. Newt smiled awkwardly, and Minho stuck his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, Sammy? We're kind of freezing here."

"Is there anything I need to know?" She blurted out, but then actually relaxed her body. It wasn't wrong to ask what was going on.

Newt stared at Minho, who turned his head just as slow as his mouth opened. "Uhhh— I am not sure."

Newt pulled a face. Whisper-yelled, "Either tell her or continue walking. I'm about to cry, man."

Sam frowned.
Minho nodded. "Alright. Sorry, Sammy, but we're busy."

"Hey—" But they already disappeared out of sight.

She was left standing by herself, swallowing some hurt away. She wanted to help. Yes, she understood that it could be annoying if someone kept bugging to help, but it wasn't like she was constantly forcing Minho to say things either.

No one ever helped her, and from her experience, it was nice to have someone that would.

Eventually, she did decide to not annoy the boys even more and sat down on a chair in the kitchen. Took her phone and scrolled through Instagram.

Pictures of the basketball matches stood on the school site. When she looked in the comment section, she saw most of the teams they played against, and mostly won from, too.

Swindon was the first team they had played against. The quite rich, green school. Sam decided to stalk their account... well, yes, maybe that was because the curiosity was eating her insides.

A guy with the username Stan.Hart was who she recognized as the one Minho had pushed. His page existed of casual pictures. With his friends, some basketball things, and— wait. She zoomed in. That was Alby. Alby with his arm wrapped around this dark blonde Stan.

"Hey, Alby?" She walked into the living room, where Alby was warming himself up by the fire. Even with how much she hated to look like the one who couldn't mind their own business, she had to ask. "You know... Stan Hart?"

"Hm?" He looked up. Stopped rubbing his hands together. "Oh, yeah. Old friend from primary school. Why?"

Sam shrugged. What was she supposed to do now? Be the crime solver? "No reason. Thanks, though."

She walked up the stairs, her face steadier. At least she knew a little more, and that made her calmer, somehow. "Minho? Would you open up?" She knocked on the door.

"Just a second," sounded on the inside.

Leaning against the door, she sighed. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. You?"

"Fine. And are you in pain again?"

A longer silence. "No. Why would you think I'm in pain?"

"Because you're often in pain."

"No, I'm not."

"You visibly are, Minho. During practices, during games, and on the most random moments," she spoke. "Do you— I don't know, have a sickness or something?"

"A sickness?" The door opened, which nearly caused her to stumble through it. "No. I don't have a sickness, Sam."

An oversized hoodie covered half of his body, along with sweatpants and a fuzzy pair of socks. Sam looked up and down at him. Smiled at his now messy hair, and not gel-loaded mess... no offense.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Take my advice, it'll be better," she mimicked. "But honestly, your hair looks greater without the gel. Not saying it's ugly with gel—," she added fast, "but it's just a tip!"

"I appreciate your advice, but I think I'm able to do my hair pretty well myself." He tilted his head. "But, if you're ever bored, I wouldn't mind getting a scalp massage."

She rolled her eyes. "Be happy. Gel or not, it's better than having curls."

"Hm." His eyebrows raised as he watched her for a while. "I think curls are nice."

"...nice?"

"Beautiful, pretty, glamorous, flawless, whatever." He let go of a breath. "Though my hair will always be the best, I like yours too."

"Oh." She felt the heat in her cheeks rise. "Thanks, I guess."

A smirk formed on his lips. "If you're too overwhelmed by the heat, I'd say it's kinda cold outside."

"I am aware," she said, finally having more power over her own words. "If your ego is too high up your ass, I'd say it's kinda nice to sometimes look in the mirror less."

He leaned closer. "And I'd say that it's not very original to copy my comebacks every time, except you do it in your own words."

Slight point. "Would you just go out of the way?"

Once he did, she stepped inside the room. Started looking through her suitcase to find some clothes for the rest of the night.

"Are you going to keep watching or will you leave while I change?"

Minho hummed. "What would you do if I decide to keep watching?"

With her back pointed at him, she removed her pants and shirt. "As I said, I'm going to change."

Well, he was silent now.

Casually, Sam slipped into her Christmas sweater and sweatpants. Tied her hair into a bun and then walked back to the door, where Minho still stood frozen in his place.

"Watch out, you might drool," she warned. Really, his mouth was half open.

And then, she disappeared.

❤︎︎

"Yo." Teresa joined Sam on the couch, handing her a mug of hot chocolate. "What're you doing?"

She looked up from her book. "Building a snowman."

A chuckle left Teresa's mouth, and she sat down. "What's that you're reading?"

"Things I shouldn't be," she murmured. "Well, this one isn't that extreme though."

"It's got violence?"

"Hm." Sam bit her lip. "Violence in bed, yes."

"That's..."

"Bloody disgusting."

"Oh, hey Newt." The two girls scooted aside so he could sit down too.

He groaned. "Imagine being so desperate that you read this klunk. Doesn't exactly show that Minho's a great partner."

"If he says any of the things that are written in this book to me, I'd run away naked," she stated. "Seriously, it's got me blushing and kicking my feet, but real life? Nah-ah. Anyway, what's everyone else doing?"

"Chess or watchin' a movie. I'm about to wrap my presents in. Did ya put yours under the tree already?"

"Yup."

"Sami Claus, wow." Newt clapped in his hands.

Teresa got up. Before she completely vanished: "I'll go wrap my presents in too."

"Ah." With the now freer space, Newt lay back. Propped his leg on the table, grunting. "Never gonna bloody tense it that much again."

Though she planned to not ask about it, he still saw her curious look. It was legit dripping off her face. But once she thought about it, she realized she barely knew anything about these guys. Wouldn't be too bad to know more.

"I broke it when I was thirteen," he explained without her consent, lowering his voice. "Back then, my parents didn't have the money to pay for surgery so I'm forever left with this limp. Exact reason why I ain't playin' basketball. Can't do it."

"Oh." She felt her stomach twist. "I'm so sorry. Must've been awful to hear as a thirteen-year-old."

"Pretty much, yeah." He ran a hand through his messy hair. "And you? Ever broke somethin'?"

She shrugged. "Fell off a swing once. Just a little bone in my arm that snapped. Not very interesting. How'd you... break your leg, if I can ask?"

Immediately, he tensed up. Straightened his back as his Adam's apple moved, and he chewed on his bottom lip. "I've learned that it's okay to talk about it but uh... I don't wanna make ya upset or somethin'. Please don't go screamin' around the place."

She held up her pink. "Promised."

Chuckling, he hooked his pink with hers. "Well, alright. Just gonna tell ya— I'm fine now. Just respond as normal as possible," he breathed. "Okay, so—"

"Don't feel forced to tell me," she added quickly.

He nodded. "As I said, my parents were pretty poor back then. Tommy was on vacation and Minho had his own problems already. I got a lil' lonely when Sonya went to this gymnastics event on the other side of the country, and though dad paid plenty of attention to me, I couldn't be happy. I don't know what it was, but I just couldn't. Some rude words of classmates and I got enough." A long pause. "Went up an apartment building... and jumped straight off."

It took a while to let that information sink in.

Once she realized, her eyes widened with a gasp. Again, her stomach knotted together, just like her throat. "I— Newt." Then, she remembered his warning beforehand. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Glad you've recovered now, though."

"I got my boys to help me." He crooked a smile. "And now it's my time to help them."

The corners of her mouth only moved up a slight bit. She blinked. Ignored the goosebumps on her arms. "I'm worried about him," she said.

Newt turned his head toward her, lifting his eyebrows.

"About Minho, I mean." Soon, she was almost whispering. "And I know it's bad to ask this but... but you seem to know more about it. At least tell me if I should be worried."

Newt sighed. "Gosh," he murmured. Rubbed his forehead. "I've sworn not to tell anyone. All I can say is that you should... keep an eye on him. Not unnecessarily much, but cheer that boy up a bit."

"I don't understand. First, he's sad and ignoring me, then he's happy and outgoing. And I can't tell if I'm annoying him or not, Newt. He's so hard to read."

The blonde squeezed her hand gently. "As long as you're there for him when it's needed, then that's already good enough."

She stared straight forward. "Have you known something was wrong for longer or not? That hug today.."

"I only found out at the snowball fight. He told me. I reassured him, but this is really all I'm going to share. Sorry, Sams."

"No, don't worry. I understand," she said, nodding. "You promised not to tell anyone."

He smiled. "I did. Thanks."