[CONTENTID1]OF WINTERS AND CONNECTIONS[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]a short and fast-paced jackbam one-shot[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]Winter is beautiful.

It was his favorite time of the year. Don’t get him wrong; summer’s a nice weather too but it gets him all sweaty and sticky and he has to turn the air conditioner up every night (and he frowns everytime the electric bill comes). Winter gives him long sleeps, endless dreams, and an excuse to use his favorite Spongebob blanket.

Winter is also the season when they first bumped into each other.

Bambam was pissed off that time. He was already two minutes late for his first class and the fact that the snow was thick didn’t help at all. He was muttering profanities under his breath as he repeatedly gives his silver wristwatch a weary glance and Jackson who steps out of a café accidentally gets in the boy’s way.

He could still remember how Bambam shouted at him with his eyebrows furrowed. He had a deep frown etched on his face and he looked like a grumpy six year old that just got his candy stolen. However, even though Jackson did find him kind of cute, he wasn’t really open for any sort of rude teenager that suddenly bumps into him. It wasn’t his fault, okay?

He just stares at the boy, undeterred. The blue-haired boy then huffs at him, shoving his hands into the pockets of his thick black sweater before stomping past him.

Winter was beautiful even then, and the snow kind of reminded him of the boy’s light blue hair at some point.

It was Christmas Eve when their paths cross again. Jackson didn’t want to admit it but he felt so damn lonely. His family was all the way back in Hong Kong so he had to celebrate Christmas alone in Korea. His friends had their own families and although they did invite the man, he didn’t want to get in the way since he wasn’t a family member.

He couldn’t help it; bitterness just landed on his tongue as he strolled around his village with his hands warmed up inside the comforts of his pockets. He saw a variety of families celebrating happily and, sure, some houses didn’t have extravagant Christmas decorations but with the satisfied smiles on their faces—that was more than enough.

The café was his only hope. He wanted to at least grab a cup of his favorite coffee but, unfortunately for him, it was closed. The staffs were probably spending time with their own families and that didn’t help to soother Jackson’s homesickness at all. It only made it worse as he felt a little bite of ager enter his system, irritated that everyone around him was happy while he was moping alone here and there in the middle of Christmas Eve.

However, his thoughts were cut when a small figure bumped into him. He shouted at the person, looking down to see a few strands of blonde hair sticking out from a bonnet. The boy looks up at him with wide, glassy eyes, a sad frown adding to his soft features.

Jackson suddenly has something up his throat plus the feeling of familiarity kicks in.

Within the span of seconds, his heart sunk in as tears pooled in the edge of the other boy’s eyes and he feels panic bubble up his throat. He didn’t really mean to shout at the boy, he was just kind of surprised.

“H-hey, I’m sorry!” He apologized quick, raising his hands up awkwardly since he didn’t know whether he should place it on the boy’s shoulder for comfort or not. He ended up shaking them instead, waving them around frantically. “Don’t cry!”

Despite what he said, the boy burst into tears. He kept on uselessly wiping the teardrops that continuously streamed down from his eyes using the back of his hands, sobbing from time to time with his back shaking slightly. Jackson isn’t sure if it was from the cold or if it was from crying.

Jackson was definitely dumbstruck. He literally stood there with his mouth slightly agape without any idea of what to do so he takes off his brown scarf, randomly wrapping it around the other boy’s neck. The boy, surprised, looks up at the man in front of him. His cheeks were painted with tear tracks and as he breathes out, smoke from the cold comes out. With his eyebrows creased, he let his fingertips linger on the fabric.

“What’s...this for?” The boy managed to squeak out.

Jackson shrugged, rubbing his nape as he ignored the small crack by the end of the boy’s question. “I don’t know.. I was thinking that maybe you were crying because of the weather? I mean, you had no scarf on and your jacket’s not too thick so I thought you were suffering from the cold so..uh, yeah.”

The blonde boy then blinked once at him, a smile slowly making its way up to his lips. The tears had finally stopped and Jackson was glad it did because by that time, the young lad was now fully smiling and Jackson felt like his heart just skipped a beat.

“Thank you.” The boy said, flashing a small sheepish grin.

“Well, it’s Christmas Eve anyway so you can have it!” Jackson beams but then suddenly, awkward silence surrounds them. Jackson thought he said something wrong because the boy quiets down and after a few seconds, there were tears gathering in the corner of his eyes once again.”—I’m sorry, do you dislike brown scarves? Or are you allergic to them?”

“No, it’s not that, silly..” The other said, blinking the tears away that were threatening to fall. “I just.. you’re a total stranger but…you.. I really appreciate it. This.” He stuttered out, prying the scarf away from his neck slightly.

“Oh, I thought I made you cry..” Jackson flashed a shy grin, scratching the back of his head while he did. “ What are you even doing here alone? I mean, it’s Christmas Eve. Shouldn’t you be at home? They might be exchanging gifts already.

The boy let his head hung low, fiddling with his fingers uncomfortably. “I..I don’t want to.”

“What? But why? There are others who badly want to celebrate Christmas Eve with their families so why don’t you want to?” Jackson frowned, considering himself as one of them.

“Well, why aren’t you with yours then?” The boy lifted his head up to look at him with a small air puff.

“Because they’re not here.” Jackson stated with a small shr