Kim Myungjun / MJ - ASTRO

“Oh, here you are,” you mentioned with a bright smile and Myungjun looked up to stare at you curiously. Holding out a gift bag, you shook it. “Merry Christmas!”

“Wait, what?”

“What you do you mean, what? It’s a gift for you, silly!”

“For me? Why?”

“Why not? It’s the season for giving!”

“Did you give one to everyone else?”

You frowned. “Well, only to Cece, but she’s my best friend.”

“Then why are you giving this to me?”

“You’ve helped me study all year and been a good friend to me, so I thought it would be nice to give you something to say thanks. Oh! Do you not celebrate Christmas?! I didn’t even stop to think that-”

Taking the gift bag from your hand, Myungjun stood up. “Thank you.”

It wasn’t that he was embarrassed to receive the gift, though, with his hasty departure, he was pretty sure you would think so. Myungjun hadn’t known how to feel at the time. He was overwhelmed, to say the least. He’d never received a gift from anyone outside of his family before, so it was a foreign concept. The whole concept was new to him.

Once home, he opened up the bag and peered inside. It was a crocheted scarf, and he could tell you had made it. That only made things feel simultaneously better and worse. What could he make for you that would match something like this? Wrapping it around his neck, he marvelled at your creation, grinning at his appearance in the mirror.

He liked it a lot.

So much so, that he wore it to lectures the next day. And every day after that. Two years went by, and as soon as the air turned chilly, Myungjun would reach for that scarf immediately.

You shook your head, poking a hole at the sagging corner of the scarf. From washing it, some of the loops had snagged, and it had seen better days. “You need to stop wearing this.”

“No way. You gave it to me.”

“So, I’ll give you another scarf to replace this,” you offered, but Myungjun shook his head, stepping away from you. “Why won’t you give it up?”

“It’s the first gift I’ve ever received from someone I like,” he admitted, and your eyes grew round. Chuckling with the change in atmosphere, Myungjun tightened the scarf around his neck. “It’s my most prized possession.”

“Really?”

“Mm.”

“No, I mean, you really like me?”

“Should I not?”

“Truth be told, I crocheted it to distract myself from my feelings for you. When it was done, I didn’t know what to do with it, so I gave it to you.”

“You crafted this whilst thinking about me?”

You smiled shyly. “Yeah.”

“Then you won’t ever get this off of me. Not until the last thread gives out.”