Author’s Note:

I became inspired after I finished watching the kdrama Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter. The story is so fluffy and adorable. Everyone should try watching it too. It’s the perfect cure for Second Lead Syndrome if you know what I mean…

YunBin/YunChan on this chapter.

Nothing else to say. Hihi.

Here you go!

Chapter 9 Scarf

The sky was like a dreary cemented ceiling and cold whispers of air brushed everyone’s ear. It was December.

Readjusting the scarf around his neck, Hanbin rubbed his gloved hands for warmth and blew a crisp sigh. He was running late. The morning was unusually little colder than normal and he had to return to their apartment just to bundle himself up to keep himself from shivering.

On a normal day, he was usually with Yunhyeong since their schedule were almost identical and Jinhwan had an early morning class. Today, however, he was alone. He woke up by himself with only a toast and hot chocolate in the kitchen. Hanbin rarely felt bothered by solitude but being under this kind of weather made him a little more susceptible to the feeling. It did not help the fact that this kind of day was getting more frequent. He used to walk with Yunhyeong when going to school but lately his hyung’s presence had been scarce.

For some time, it felt like they somehow things were slowly mellowing down after their talk that day. The awkwardness and tension gradually thinned out and they can finally share simple conversation and even small laughter. It made Hanbin relieved and happy. But that does not mean that nothing really changed. Small things changed and those small things made the difference.

It started with the frequency of Yunhyeong’s absence. Absence to Hanbin at least. They were going in the same school and living in the same apartment but Hanbin noted that day by day that it was getting harder and harder to get a hold of his hyung. When they were in their apartment, it was either Yunhyeong was already locked up in his room when Hanbin arrived or he’ll come home vey late. There was a time that Hanbin stayed up to wait for him only to greeted by a small talk and a tired smile before his hyung clammed up again to his room.

In school, the longest time Hanbin could see Yunhyeong or be in same vicinity as him was during their lunch. It was also the only time the he can talk to him the longest. They won’t have any basketball practice until early next year and that meant that there will be no mandatory reason can force them together at the end of their class. Hanbin still tried though. He often would look for his hyung and asked him to hang out with their friends after school but the number of polite refusal he received outnumbered the times his offers were actually accepted.

Even during the weekend, Hanbin could hardly feel his hyung’s presence in their apartment. Yunhyeong had started attending a cooking workshop that he could barely see him every Saturday. On Sundays, Yunhyeong had always some thing to do that Hanbin was neither aware of nor part of.

You said you don’t want anything to change…

Hanbin would be lying he said that those little things did not bother him. It even hurt him somehow. From his perspective, Yunhyeong seems to put subtle tiny spaces in between them that keeps Hanbin at a distance. He always berated himself for thinking negatively about it. Maybe he was just overthinking and stressing about nothing that was not actually there.

Why would Yunhyeong do it?

Is it intentional?

They already talked about, right?

Or is it just me?

He felt helpless for not knowing what to do because they looked that they already worked it out. They talked and acted like everything have been dealt with even though his gut was screaming otherwise. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, it seemed that there was now a gap that Hanbin could not close and that, slowly and quietly, they were drifting apart.

When Hanbin faded his thoughts, he was already in the school yard. He breathed out cool puff of air as he composed himself. He put his hands on his coats pocket and made his way to his first class but stopped when he saw two familiar figure nearby. He stood there, watching over Yunhyeong and Chanwoo until something happened that brought him back to one of the times he treasured.

“Hyung, I’m cold,” twelve year old Hanbin looked at Yunhyeong as he shivered and hugged himself.

A fourteen year old Yunhyeong paused and turned to his dongsaeng, “Ya! I kept reminding you not to forget your scarf?” He eyed Hanbin in frustration before he sighed, “Come here, pabo.”

Hanbin could only stare as Yunhyeong untangled his cerulean scarf and gingerly wrapped it around Hanbin’s neck.

Hanbin could never forget that day. He could still remember the scent of Yunhyeong on him throughout that day and the warmth it exudes. It is one of the memory that never failed to bring a smile on his lips not until this time. Hanbin could not explain the foreign feeling he had when he saw Yunhyeong ruffled Chanwoo’s hair and gave Chanwoo the scarf he was wearing. An unknown prickling sensation spread on his chest that made him unconsciously step towards the two that when he realized what he was doing he was already halfway there.

Blinking himself back in control, Hanbin paused, his ey