[A/N] It’s Christmas…night right now where I live, so here goes:

On a certain morning, during the time when the students were just arriving, a thunderous crash sounded all of a sudden in the third grade homeroom, along with an irritated growl “Leave me alone!”

The class monitor, Nichkhun, was actually responsible for collecting his classmates’ homework assignment that was due that day. He had gone up to Wooyoung for that purpose, which resulted in the said uproar. He had perfectly predicted that that would happen, since that was not the first time anymore. Still, he had to somehow get Wooyoung’s homework as it was his job.

“Wooyoung, please cooperate and hand in your assignment; you know very well that our teacher won’t stand any incomplete assignments,” Khun said firmly.

“Why should you care whether I hand in my work or not? You can very well hand the others’ in without mine,” Wooyoung retorted.

“You’re being unreasonable.”

“Let me be; leave me alone.”

“Fine, I’ve warned you.”

The homeroom teacher, who had given the class the said homework, came striding in a few minutes after the morning bell had sounded. When she was done with roll calling, she asked Nichkhun for the collected assignments and told the class to do some self-study.

“Mrs. Kang, Wooyoung did not hand in his homework again,” Khun reported as he placed the pile of documents on the teacher’s desk.

The teacher thanked Khun and adjusted her glasses, “Wooyoung-ssi, please come forward.”

Wooyoung glared sharply at Khun as he headed towards Mrs. Kang.

“This is the third time this semester, Jang Wooyoung. What do you think you’re doing? Don’t expect me to let you off like the first two times. Please go stand in the corridor until the second hour.”

Wooyoung did not even bother to give an excuse whatsoever and exited the classroom nonchalantly.

Khun found it rather peculiar as he observed Wooyoung’s behavior. He had, at times seen Wooyoung excel in his work before and was sure that it was no coincidence; although the teachers did not seem to think so due to Wooyoung’s attitude. Wooyoung was constantly not bothered with his work and usually just let his grades fall rock bottom. Khun noticed that he purposely did not try nor care and he wondered about the reason behind his behavior, since that boy had always been unapproachable.

***

One afternoon, Wooyoung was waiting for the bus home as usual. He did not have lunch since he wanted to get away from school as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, he felt a soothing warmness on his cheek, contrasting the cold breeze that was in the air, and flinched; a cheery voice greeted warmly, “Hey.”

He darted around to face the source of the voice, only to find a lightly smiling Khun standing behind, in his hand a can of strawberry milk.

“Tch, what do you want?” Wooyoung spat, clearly annoyed to see his class monitor.

“Nothing,” Khun stated. He held up the can of milk, “I just want to give you this; you haven’t had lunch, right?”

“I don’t need you to pity me.” Wooyoung retorted.

Khun merely bent over, held Wooyoung’s hands up, and placed the can of drink in them. As he did so, Wooyoung, having had temporarily lost any attempts to struggle, just stared blankly at their hands touching; his eyes wide, making a cute, dumbfounded expression unknowingly.

When he came to his senses, he saw Khun grinning.

“Geez, you can really be cute sometimes,” Khun commented.

His ears red, Wooyoung stuttered, “Wh-what the heck?! Don’t get so friendly with me.” With that, Wooyoung shoved the strawberry milk back to Khun, who did not accept and simply said, “You keep it” and walked away.

***

“Hey, Wooyoung, come to the park tonight. I want to talk to you,” Khun casually invited him, all of a sudden. It had been a week since their little chat at the school bus stop. Indeed, Wooyoung was taken aback by the sudden closeness that Khun was showing.

Khun had decided to ask Wooyoung out because he wanted to put a stop to Wooyoung’s attitude, in a sense that – for some reason – it hurt him every time he watched Wooyoung isolating himself; something unexplainably kept knocking at his mind, saying that Wooyoung was not supposed to be like that, that something must have caused it.

Wooyoung’s behavior was not that sort of a bully, but was the self-shut type that refused anyone’s approach. He was simply barricading himself from his classmates, teachers as well. Simply put, Wooyoung did not seem to trust anyone nor did he believe that the friendliness and care that his classmates had shown were real.

That night, Khun walked to the neighborhood park, hands shoved deep in his hoodie’s pockets, breathing into his muffler that slightly warmed him up. He walked over to the railing in front of the swing set and leaned against it.

Ah, I wonder if he’d actually come…, Khun suddenly thought, he didn’t give me an answer when I asked him.

Nevertheless, he waited.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Khun detected a moving silhouette under the park’s yellow lights. He looked. The silhouette made its way towards him, the only person there. Wooyoung!

When Wooyoung was visible under the lights, Khun saw that he was only wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and a blue hoodie, a simple pair of jeans and sneakers – no mufflers, no beanie, no gloves, nothing. Wooyoung’s hands were hidden in his jeans’ pockets.

“Seriously, I can’t believe you’re so jobless to come out here. Don’t you have work to do? Like, the best student in class should be doing his homework like a good kid,” Wooyoung started sarcastically as he walked up to Khun, kicking a stone at his foot.

“But you came in the end,” Khun said, smiling.

“I–” Wooyoung started protesting but was cut off abruptly when Khun suddenly grabbed Wooyoung’s arm and let him fall into his broad chest, enveloping him in a hug. Wooyoung, as expected by Khun, immediately tried to push away from Khun but struggled as Khun tightened his arms around him.

“What is it?” Khun whispered near Wooyoung’s ear, his face hidden from the park’s lights.

“Wha–” escaped from Wooyoung’s mouth, still struggling to break free from Khun.

“You’re hiding something,” Khun pressed on in the same whispering manner. “Whenever I see you acting like that in class, rejecting people, I’d always sensed that you’re actually doing it to hide something. So…can’t you tell me? I know I’m not exactly the right person to do this to you but I really want to help; I want to get to know you more. I don’t know how or why, but I feel that your real self is actually the opposite of your outside behavior.”

Wooyoung had been silent and completely still throughout Khun’s little speech, facing the ground all throughout. The way Khun had spoken, concerned and gentle, triggered something in Wooyoung and caused him to break down and cry. Khun caught the close-to-silent sniffles and pulled back. Seeing the tears streaming down Wooyoung’s cheeks, Khun felt a sudden overwhelming urge to reach out and dry his tears; yet, he held himself back because he felt that Wooyoung needed to cry it all out, whatever that is.

They stood there; Wooyoung was clutching Khun’s shirt under his ped hoodie, unable to stop crying at all. Khun reached out his hand towards Wooyoung’s cheeks but stopped midway. Instead, he moved to Wooyoung’s hair in an attempt to calm him down; Khun was surprised to find that Wooyoung had such lovely, soft hair and he immediately fell in love with it.

Contrasting Khun’s intention, his rather caring gesture had caused Wooyoung to cry even harder because of receiving such a sudden affection. Wooyoung’s sobs continued in the silent late autumn night, not going louder but not dying down either. Khun watched him, his heart shattering.

Deeper into the night, Wooyoung’s sobs eventually lessened to only sniffles; his eyes red from the intense crying and his cheeks puffier than normal. Wooyoung turned to the side – away from Khun, embarrassed. He rubbed his cheeks with the back of his hands, but stopped when Khun pulled his beanie over Wooyoung’s head, low enough that it almost covered his eyes.

Khun tilted Wooyoung’s chin upwards to face him. He dried his tears gently, causing Wooyoung to blush uncontrollably with his eyes squeezed shut. When Khun was done, he gave Wooyoung a light pat on his head. Wooyoung then walked timidly to Khun’s side and leaned against the same railing, hugging himself in the cold.

In between hiccups, Wooyoung gradually let Khun into his blockaded world.

“I don’t have my parents anymore,” he began, clearly traumatized as he reminisced his dark past. “I was seven when it happened.” Wooyoung took a deep breath to swallow another sob that was suffocating him,

“I still remember…those people were supposed to be my parents’ fellow coworkers and friends. I used to live in America where my parents used to work. I was with them at their company’s gathering that night and…somehow, the happy mood of the party was suddenly gone and the people there started ganging up on my parents and some others. I had no idea what was happening back then and I could only hide behind my mother…” Wooyoung clawed his own sleeves, slightly trembling, not of the coldness but the dark memory. “Those people looked as if in a trance; and before anyone could do anything, I saw guns pulled out and aimed at us.

“The next thing I know, I was down on the ground in my mother’s arms and my father right beside us. They were not moving. I could not do anything. They died right in front of my eyes. It was just…painful. I was completely shaken and… I don’t know how long I had stayed there, until the killers left – I don’t know if they didn’t notice me or that they simply spared me…

“I called the police after that; the one thing that my parents had made sure I learned. With my parents’…bodies, I was sent back here, my home country. My only relative, my uncle, whom I’d never met before that time, adopted me; but…even though I was taken into his care, he never really wanted anything to do with me.

“I was simply alone. Every day of my childhood was the same: I walked to school alone, came back home alone, ate alone, did everything by myself. He was never there when I needed him… I felt that… I could no longer trust anyone. Knowing that the people who were supposed to be their friends killed my parents, I was just…afraid to accept anyone. After all these years of emptiness, I didn’t think there’s any reason for me to try anymore so I just live like what you see everyday… At least,” Wooyoung gave a weak smile, a tear trickled down his cheek, “I was able to have some peace…”

That did it; Khun felt his entire being shattered like a piece of glass. Silent, he embraced Wooyoung who started crying again. “I want to escape from the world – from the people. I just…don’t want to get hurt anymore,” Wooyoung said into Khun’s chest.

“Wooyoung, come stay with me.” Khun whispered after a moment, as he Wooyoung’s back. “Please know that I truly care for you. I’m really thankful that you let me know your past. I want to protect you.”

Wooyoung looked up at Khun, surprised to be asked to stay with him. He clutched the hem of his own hoodie. “Wh-why…?” he asked. “Why go such extent for me?”

“Because I like you.” Khun responded.

Wooyoung’s eyes widened in disbelief at the sudden confession. Nichkhun? Like me? “I’ve been showing you such a bad attitude all along and you can still like me?”

“That’s because your real self is different from what you’ve been showing to everyone. The love and care that you have long lost, I can give you.”

Wooyoung did not know what to feel; he was confused, thankful yet the trauma still lingered in him.

“It’s okay,” Khun said, as though reading his mind. “You can give it a thought. I’m not forcing you to leave your uncle or anything, just, you know, I want you to make the right decision.”

Wooyoung nodded timidly. For the first time in many years, someone was actually truly caring for him; he did not know what to say. Khun’s strong affections had reached him; the numbness from the empty years was slowly being washed away and replaced by the warmth from Khun.

“Alright, it’s really late now. Let’s go home,” Khun cleared his throat, grinning. He started leaving the park but stopped when he felt a sudden tug at his hoodie. He spun around, “Hm?”

“Nichkhun, thank you…” Wooyoung voiced out, rather embarrassed.

Khun beamed at him, happy that Wooyoung had finally let out the past that he had bottled up for the past years. He grabbed his hand and started dragging him along into the street. “Let me walk you home,” Khun teased.

Upon hearing that, Wooyoung withdrew his hand and stuttered, “What? There’s no need to–”

“Aww, I thought you trust me already?”

“I do, but–”

“No buts,” Khun grinned, glad to hear what he was waiting for. He laughed, “I was just kidding! Of course I know you can go home by yourself.”

“You–” the everyday Wooyoung returning.

“Bye and goodnight~” Khun chuckled, turning towards the direction of his house.

“Wait, your beanie,” Wooyoung called as he pulled the hat off.

“You can keep it,” Khun replied, waving at him.

Wooyoung held the knitted hat against his chest, clutching it tightly, welcoming Khun’s warmth.