"Rachel, I'm going out!" I yelled from the living room.

"Okay!" There was a pause. "Wait, WHAT?" I heard her run down the stairs quickly to meet me. I smiled brightly, holding my keys and bag in one hand.

"Why? You're not going to do something stupid, are you?" She squeezed my shoulder worriedly. 

"No!" I laughed a bubbly laugh and hugged her quickly from the side. "I'm just going to have a sleepover with some classmates. I might make some friends, who knows?"

She squinted at me, as if trying to make up her mind about whether to scold me or let me go. Rachel ended up smiling too after seeing my confident expression. "It's about time. Now be careful, alright?" I nodded and retreated to the door, getting ready to open it until-

"Felix oppa, where are you going?" Olivia had heard us laughing downstairs and had come to join us. She hesitantly walked up to me, looking down at the ground anxiously.

"He's just gonna meet up with some people from his school." Rachel wrapped her arm around her. "He'll be fine." She added, kindly smiling at her two younger siblings. 

I thought about it for a second before putting down my things and enveloping them both in a hug. Whispering in her ear, I said, "I'm sorry, Liv. I won't do it again." 

She nodded and hugged me closer. "Love you."

"I love you too." I stood up and waved a good bye before making my way out the door. 

The address Chan had texted me was actually really close by, only a few blocks away from my house. I had trudged all the way there in the soft snow that had began to fall. As I approached the door of the grey two story building, I considered going back to my warm bed and covering myself up in sheets of thick cotton that would protect me from the harsh winter. But I decided against it.

Might as well make the best of this, I thought. I didn't really have anything better to do on Fridays except stay in my room, curled up with a blanket and hot cocoa. That doesn't sound bad at all, not until you do it for 8 weeks straight. 

My fingers were numb from the weather, but I managed to somehow push the small button on the wall. I shifted my weight back and forth between my feet, and patiently waited for the bell hung on the wood to start clanging as someone opened it. 

After a few moments of quiet, the bell, as I had expected, started to jingle. My first instinct was to run; far, far away from this house. But I knew better than to chicken out now.

"Felix! Welcome! Come in mate, it's freezing out there." Chan motioned for me to come in quickly with a huge grin on his face. I obeyed silently and walked into the warmth of the beautiful house. My ears and cheeks were a cherry red from the cold, but it didn't bother me. As soon as I came indoors, the smell of sweets and cinnamon and Christmasy things erupted around me.

"Thanks for inviting me, hyung." I bowed politely, and Chan returned it, although he was chuckling.

 "Who the heck bows in Australia?" I heard a voice come up behind me. 

 "Felix, this is my friend Seungmin. Seungmin, Felix." Chan clasped his hands together when he introduced us. 

Okay, now don't panic. Do just as you rehearsed, I thought to myself.

Seungmin reached out his hand to shake mine, but I faltered and blushed, looking down. I saw Chan madly waving his hands around, trying to spread some sort of message to the poor boy who just stood there looking very confused. 

"It's fine, Chan." I assured him. I slid down my right sleeve to where my entire hand was covered by fabric, and shook his hand. On day, I had been practicing with my relatives that had come over because I knew I would need to sometime. It really isn't that bad, as long as it's just a quick shake and not a hug or anything. I smirked a little when Chan's eyes widened.

"You didn't tell me you could do that." He hissed in my ear. I shrugged and went off to meet the others as they jumped over his large velvet couch to see me.

"Where did all this confidence suddenly come from..."Chan muttered under his breath.