“ this, I hate Christmas.” A lone figure muttered to himself, wrapping his scarf tightly around his neck and sticking his hands into his pockets. It was Christmas Eve, and the chilly Seoul air was beginning to get to Kim Kibum.

“What the hell am I doing out here anyway, on a cold winter night close to midnight?” He mumbled, shivering. Oh, right. His roommate at the university had been doing… ahem, things with his girlfriend in his room. It was too disgusting and suffocating to sleep on the couch, anyway, whilst unmentionable sounds were heard from the bedroom.

“Aigoo…cold...,” he found a bench in the park that he was currently wandering in, and plunked himself down on it. Kibum sighed, feeling rather lonely. His family were all still in Daegu, his hometown, for Christmas. It was him, the super unlucky one, who got to be stuck in Seoul during the Christmas season just because he had a project for his professor to finish. Cold, unfamiliar, lonely Seoul. Where his only (sort-of) friend was that strange boy who shared a dorm with him, Jong-woon or something.

“Aish, I hate this.”

Jonghyun strolled in the park, whistling ‘Jingle Bells’ gently. Christmas – her favourite holiday. Everything about the holiday reminded him of her. The mistletoe that he first kissed her under, the Christmas tree that he purchased with her, everything. He shivered as the cold air pierced his skin, regretting the fact that he had forgotten to bring his scarf. Spotting a bench ahead of him, he picked up his pace, wanting to sit down for a while and ponder… well, ponder a lot of things. A lot was always on his mind every Christmas.

Approaching the bench, he noticed a slumped figure already occupying half of the bench. “Hello! Mind if I sit here?” Jonghyun greeted like the friendly person he was. The figure looked up at him.

Jonghyun froze. Everything about this stranger was nearly identical to her. They looked almost exactly the same, like twins or something. They had the same feline eyes, the same high cheekbones, even the same soulful brown eyes. It was like he was the male version of his ex-girlfriend.

“Um, I guess so, of course!” Kibum replied uncertainly, staring at Jonghyun who looked like he had zoned out.  Jonghyun snapped out of his reverie, giving Kibum a bright smile and sitting down next to him.

“So, what’s your name?” He asked the lookalike cheerfully. “I’m Kim Jonghyun, but you can call me Jjong ~”

Kibum stared at Jonghyun. Might as well make friends, I’m alone anyways. He thought fleetingly, before smiling softly. “I’m Kim Kibum…You can call me Key.”

Jonghyun grinned. “Let’s be friends, Key!” He felt a strange attraction to this boy that he had just met, but then again, he looked almost exactly like his ex-girlfriend.

Kibum nodded awkwardly, before shivering. “Oh, you’re cold? I would give you my scarf, except that you already have one and I forgot to bring mine. I’m cold too!” Jonghyun joked. Kibum laughed aloud, beginning to feel less and less awkward by the minute.

“Well, why don’t we go walk around the shops nearby? It’s seven minutes to Christmas…” Kibum suggested shyly. Jonghyun agreed, and the two got up to stroll along the pavements of the nearby shopping district.

“Ah, Key? How old are you?” Jonghyun asked out of the blue. Kibum replied, cocking his head with a ‘nineteen, why?’

Jonghyun grinned. “I’m twenty, so you have to call me hyung! Ha-ha!” Kibum laughed at the older man’s childishness for being so happy over such trivial things.

“Hyu-ung!” He fake-whined, joking with Jonghyun lightly. In their light banter, he accidentally tripped over a stray rock on the pavement and landed face flat.

“,” Kibum mumbled, struggling to get up.  Jonghyun reached down and pulled the younger boy up easily, chuckling a little at his clumsiness.

“You fall so easily, Kibum-ah,” Jonghyun teased, walking towards a shop decorated with Christmas lights and mistletoe. Kibum pouted, running to catch up.

“Do not! Oh, hey, look! Mistletoe!” He pointed, distracted.

Jonghyun looked up. Indeed, hung up on the wall, was mistletoe.

“Kibum? You know the tradition, right?”

The rest, as they say, was history. Seven minutes to Christmas…

End.

▌Word Count: 710

▌Listening to: NU ABO - f(x)

▌Watching: 韓國印象 Korea Impression

▌Mood: Relaxed

▌Reading: The Giver - Lois Lowry