#8:  “i still have your sister’s scarf and i know it’s stupid but i’ve been hoping maybe one day you’ll come by and pick it up so we’ll be forced to talk again because i haven’t seen you in months and i’m maybe kinda sorta still in love with you” AU

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It’s weird how a simple piece of clothes can determine your mood, your thinking… your everything. Or so that’s what Hyesung thought staring at that red scarf, being carefully folded on the top of his other clothes, every single day.
 

That scarf was not his, despite it being in his possession for quite a while now. He did not even wear it, it was only in his wardrobe, making sure no damage harmed it.

Even though it was not his, still, it was terribly important to him. It held memories and hope.
 

It was given to him on an evening when out of the blue, snow had fallen down and buried the streets under a thick white blanket.

It was surprising, there was no word about a snow downfall in the news or weather forecast and Hyesung definitely did not prepare for such things in sense of clothing. Actually, it was a pretty warm of an evening despite being in the middle of winter season and so, he did not wrap up his neck with a scarf and he only had his gloves because he left them in his pocket.

Suddenly, it was freezing coming out of the warm house and immediately, he started to sneeze, feeling his throat being uncomfortable.
 

He was coming out of his now ex-boyfriend’s house, Eric. They had their Saturday date that day, spending it at Eric’s family home, watching movies, eating, while his family was away.

When Hyesung thought about it now, it was weird nothing ‘that’ kind had happened between them despite being alone, just the two of them. Thinking about it now, Hyesung regretted it deeply because afterwards, it was too late for that.

When he stepped out the door he got a shock and let out a muffled curse. Eric only stared outside surprised, then his eyes wandered off to Hyesung, his bare neck and said:
 

“You are going to catch a cold this way.”
 

Hyesung thought he should have let him stay over the night instead of saying the following lines:
 

“Wait a bit, I’ll bring you a scarf.”
 

He disappeared behind a door then a few moments later appeared again, holding onto a red scarf and smiling, “My sister has tons of scarves, so here you go. I only have one, that’s why I’m giving you this.”
 

Hyesung lifed his eyebrows, “Won’t she get mad? It’s okay… I’ll just lift the collar…”
 

“No way.” Eric grumbled, he hanged it into Hyesung’s neck and carefully wrapped it around him, “I would take it to heart if you caught a cold… She won’t mind it.”
 

He then just forgot his hands on the scarf while smiling at Hyesung before he leant to him and gently kissed his lips, wishing him goodnight.
 

Afterwards he never got to give back the scarf. They had both forgotten about it and a month later they broke up over a mere misunderstanding, involving Eric and a girl whom later turned out to be Eric’s distant cousin being on a visit from the US. And despite it being a misunderstanding, somehow they never made up only because everything got cleared up way after their separation.

The scarf stayed at Hyesung’s space. Eric forgot it there when he went over to get his things and say his final goodbye. They did not talk much that time, Eric collected everything that belonged to him while Hyesung sat in the living room, focusing on the TV. More like acting as if he was focusing on that very trivial show, he had no idea what was going on though. He was actually just working hard not to cry on the spot.

He only noticed later the scarf, which Eric gave him that night, was in his coat’s pocket as well and so, it was not taken away.

He could have phoned Eric to tell him about it but he choose not to. Deep in his heart he hoped he would notice and would come for it by himself and then they could have a talk. He hoped this way they could reconcile.
 

But months had passed and Eric never came to retrieve it.

And like this, the scarf rested in Hyesung’s wardrobe ever since that day…

Only until Hyesung got fed up with staring at that very scarf every single day. He had enough of that aching pain in his heart, that foul hope and waiting for something that probably will never happen.

Hyesung had enough of waiting for Eric and he knew he had to take things into his hands if he wanted to change his ‘daily routine’.

He took his phone and looked at the number which he wished to appear on his screen every day. For the very first time, after long months, he saw the digits and his heart trembled. He suddenly felt scared and ‘what ifs’ had appeared in his head.

What if he doesn’t use this number anymore?

What if he will send me to hell?

Hyesung tuned coward but he took a deep breath and overcame his fears. He had to do it, now or never.
 

He called the number and after a few moments he heard that very familiar voice from the other side of the line, “Hello?”
 

“Hi… uhm… it’s Hyesung.” He could not help his voice trembling.
 

“Hyesungie?!”
 

Hyesung’s heart skipped a beat to hear Eric calling him this way, he smiled to himself, “Yeah, it’s me.”
 

“It’s been a while.” Eric said and his soft tone warmed up Hyesung’s chest. He wanted to cry, it was so nice to hear Eric’s voice.
 

“Yeah, it certainly been…”
 

They both fell silent and Hyesung felt stupid for not being able to muster up the courage to say the words he practised his head…
 

“So, why did you call?” Asked Eric suddenly.
 

“Ah, it’s…” Hyesung cleared his throat, “You see I was… cleaning my room and well… I’ve found your sister’s scarf.”
 

Eric sounded confused, “Scarf?”
 

“Yeah, you know… the one you gave me when there was a sudden snow downfall.”
 

Hyesung felt even more stupid… if he doesn’t remember then Hyesung would certainly…
 

“I know, I just thought you gave it back.”
 

Hyesung stood up and boxed the air happily, “Nah, I guess I forgot about it.”
 

Eric chuckled, “Looks like that.”
 

Hearing Eric’s laughter… Hyesung’s face turned red and his heart beat faster, “So I’ve thought of giving it back somehow, can we meet up?”
 

For a while Eric was quiet and Hyesung thought he did something terrible. Eric probably did not want to see his face and…
 

“Sure, when are you free?”
 

Hyesung thought his heart would stop hearing those words. So Eric would meet him? He wanted to jump out of his skin from happiness.
 

“I’m…” He took a deep breath so he would not stutter from excitement, “I’m free now.”
 

“Me, too. I’m free at the moment.” His voice sounded as sweet as honey, “Shall we meet up at that coffee shop we usually went to?”
 

“Sure…”
 

“Then see you in an hour.”
 

He hang up without Hyesung being able to say anything. Not like he could. He felt like there was a knot on his tongue while his face was on fire.

Hyesung was restless, sitting in the coffee shop. Memories ran down his head the moment he stepped in, he was overwhelmed by them.

Still, he was more overwhelmed by the fact he could see Eric after such a long time and so, he accidentally arrived half an hour earlier then he should have had. He sighed to himself thinking how hopeless he was, then his heart almost stopped seeing Eric appearing in the entrance – also pretty early.
 

“Oh, hi…” Eric greeted him kind of puzzled, “I’ve thought the traffic will be terrible so I’ve left home earlier…”
 

He sat down rubbing his nape embarrassed, ordered a coffee then looked at Hyesung with curious eyes.
 

“Same for me.” Hyesung smiled, “You look good.”
 

“And you are stunning…” Eric sipped into his coffee once it arrived, his cheeks turned pinkish, “Like you used to be…”
 

Was Eric flirting with him? Was he praising him? What was going on?

Hyesung was confused, he thought his chest was going to burst open right on the spot because it could not contain all his feelings.

He turned shaky, excited, embarrassed, he had no idea, he had too many feelings that moment. Instead he reached to his bag, took the scarf and put it onto the table.
 

“The scarf.” He mumbled, “Sorry for not giving it back sooner.”
 

“It certainly is a pity.” Eric took the scarf then looked into Hyesung’s eyes, “You should have contacted me sooner.”
 

Hyesung had no idea what to say, his face was on fire. What was Eric trying to say? He did not dare to listen to his heart…

He had plans for this meeting. He wanted to tell how stupid he was for not believing him and getting angry on his own and breaking off things with him. He wanted to tell how regretful he felt and how he kept the scarf not because he forgot about it but because he was waiting for Eric to come pick it up because he was still madly in love with him.
 

Things turned out differently however. Instead, he grew so flustered he stood up trembling and stuttered, “Then… now we are done… I’m going to… I’m leaving…”
 

He turned around and hurried to the entrance door but as he opened it he stopped shocked.

It was snowing.

Hyesung could not believe his eyes and at the same time he wanted to laugh at the oh-so familiar scenario: snowing, ‘date’ with Eric. Even though it was not a heavy downfall, still, Hyesung again was not dressed properly – he only wore his winter jacket, he did not even have his gloves this time. He was in a hurry to arrive here…
 

He could not help but let out a laughter over how ridiculous this situation was.
 

“The weather forecast did not even say it’s going to snow today.” Hyesung heard a voice from behind and as he turned around Eric was standing there, smiling, “And again, you are under-dressed.”
 

Hyesung’s heart skipped a beat as Eric lifted the scarf he just gave him, put it on him and carefully wrapped it around his neck, mumbling the familiar lines, “I would take it to heart if you caught a cold.”
 

Hyesung was overwhelmed by his emotions, by Eric’s loving gaze and as his fingers gently brushed his face…

He could not control his feelings anymore and he did not want to, either.

He reached out for Eric’s collar, grabbed it and pulled him close to himself, right to his lips so he could kiss him and pour his months of frustration and maddening love into him.
 

When he pulled back, he could see Eric’s cheeks turning red as he mumbled, “You better take care of this scarf… and don’t forget to give it back to my sister. She was nagging me so much for giving her favourite one to you.”
 

Hyesung chuckled, “I’ve thought she did not mind?”
 

Eric sighed, “She did.” Then his lips curved into a smile, “You can give it back the next time you come over...”
 

He then cupped his face and kissed him once more before leaving the coffee shop… together.

A/N:

Because it snowed here as well, I've thought I'll just go with the 'feel' and write something like this. it's winter anyway lol.
Another one that makes me feel like 'meh', dunno, these days I at writing big time.
I hope you liked it though~
There is about 4-5 chapters left btw. It's a lot lol I'm gonna die by the time I finish it.
At least I can finish up a mini series for it to take over the place of this xD

As always, thank you for reading and commenting!

See you next time
 

P.S.: I don't know, these days my head is plastered with H&G, I really want to update it OTL maybe that's why I can't work on anything else properly OTL