↷{Luhan's POV}

I exhaled a deep breath that I held in for ten seconds. Ah, the cold air of the first day of winter in Seoul stuck itself onto my face, my neck, and my dried hands. So much for the thin scarf Kris had bought me on my birthday, it didn't warm me up one bit, attracting unwanted attention from women. 

Speaking of Kris... where was he? He was suppose to meet me on the sidewalk just down one from my house. He's probably hanging around with that skinny guy with the dreamy jawline, Kim Jongdae.

I don't want Jongdae to be a player or anything (not that I want him myself), but I have to admit that he's handsome. High and sharp cheek bones settled after each cheeky smile, and each cheeky smile made his eyes so dreamy (and this is a point of view of a guy, but sorry, he's taken). But my favorite feature on his face that I have to admit is his toned and defined jawline. If you compare my jawline and his, I'm one-hundred percent sure you'll choose his over mine.

And hey, I'm not a bragger or anything but my jawline is pretty decent compared to the other men.

But I want to admit that when Kris started befriending him, I was jealous. I mean he's beautiful. It's like he's a heaven sent from God. And when Kris announced that he really liked him, unintentionally hurting my feelings, I got really mad and gave the Kris the cold shoulder. But that was like a week ago and he hasn't made a move.

A successful move that is. That is one thing about most of the Kim's I know. They're super duper, extremely, and annoyingly oblivious.

And from then on, I decided to support him and become livelier.

Well I continued walking, not caring about the looks I'm getting and mumbling soft apologies when I bumped into people (which is the effect to the cause of not hanging my head low). But in a sense, after overhearing yelling and arguing, I thought that today was not going to be a very bright day.

The sun wasn't out, but the snow was. The snow bothered a lot of citizens here in Seoul because they're (extremely) busy (not) and have to drive cars for transportation. Which irked me because it hadn't been like this for the last twenty-one years. Usually at the start of winter, it would be calm and everyone would be smiling and it was rare to see people drive their cars. They would be walking and talking and laughing.

But this winter was different. A whole lot different.

I exhaled another deep breath and stopped by tracks with my head hung at the famous and cheerful bakery called "The Café of the Blues" which had nothing to do with what happens inside. Almost everyday I would come here just to brighten up my morning before going to work because I knew Jongdae and Minseok, the Kim brothers who ran the bakery, would help kick off my day with some cheer.

But today was different. It turned upside down, just like my stomach did.

When I entered through the doors, the atmosphere was down and the title of the bakery started kicking some sense in because today was blue. But the funny thing was that the Kim's parents, Mr and Mrs Kim, were running it and the daily and everyday customers that I recognize weren't smiling or even cracking a grin.

And here I spotted Kris, sitting alone and staring out the window with his eyes filled with worry. I'm surprised and at the same time, not surprised. 

Of couse Kris was here. He wanted to spend time with his crush and soon-to-be boyfriend, and obviously not with me. Well I don't blame him.

But he seemed so small and had the eyes of sympathy. But for what?

I told Mr Kim that I'll join Kris and he nodded slowly. Was everyone slow and sad today? Why was this winter different?

"Kris..." I called out. I sat down on the seat across from him and he was startled.

"J-Jongda - I mean hey, Lu Han. What brings you here?" Kris asked, not taking his attention away from the window.

"I come here everyday with you, Kris. What's the matter?" I asked. Did he confess to Jongdae and did Jongdae decide to give him a silent treatment or something? "Why is everyone so sad today? It's weird."

"Minseok," he plainly replied.

"I-I'm worried, Lu Han. Don't you notice that Minseok and Jongdae are missing?"

Duh. "Yeah. Why is that?"

"Mr and Mrs Kim saw, in the past weeks, that Minseok was getting weaker and sicker. He started coughing out blood and he was vomiting a lot and Jongdae had to arrange multiple appointments with the doctors."

What? Minseok... not him. It can't possibly be cancer, right? No, no, no. Don't think negatively, Lu Han. Always look positively. You have to maintain lively and bubbly.

"And today is when his test results are out. Everyone knows that by now because frankly, he and Jongdae..." He never seems to ever leave out Jongdae for a change, "are friends with everybody. So that's why the bakery is kind of quiet and low."

That's true though. Minseok and Jongdae were outgoing brothers. They were nice and had a good soul and God can't possibly just diagnose Minseok with cancer. Polite and handsome, that's what people called it. 

"Where's Yixing and Zitao?" I asked.

"The two are with the Kim brothers. Yixing is driving since Zitao's driving is speedy."

"Makes sense."

I gazed outside the window, hoping to find Minseok coming any time soon because I miss his appearance in this bakery even though I came her two days ago. He makes it lively and hearty in this place that everyone laughs and connects. He himself is quite attractive with his milky skin and his soft-hearted feature.

Then I saw a car that was speeding carelessly, making a sharp turn to park. The owner of the car came out with three other people: Yixing, Minseok, Jongdae, and Zitao.

"Yixing! Zitao! Jongdae! Minseok! What're the results?" Mrs Kim eagerly asked (yelled).

Then all the heads in the bakery snapped to their direction and began whispering. But with Jongdae's expression, it was clear that the number twenty-one was Minseok's unlucky number.

It struck me. And my heart pounded when Zitao opened his mouth.

With a shaky voice, Zitao announced the results. "Abeoji... Omonim, the clock is ticking on today, the twenty-first of December."

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