Jongin stuffs his gloved hands into his pockets as the cold air currents rush around him in flurries and spirals, displacing his dark hair and tossing it into his eyes. He fingers the glossy card in his pocket as he nears the train station’s entrance and, too lazy to pull it out, he presses his jacket pocket against the machine and walks through after hearing the beep. 

The train station is a mass of churning and circulating people all hurrying to catch the train in hordes. The automated voice on the speaker system alerts the riders of the leaving train and there’s a human blizzard around him as people run and scatter. But he’s here walking calmly as the snowflakes drift and float in this winter wonderland.

And he thinks that it’s okay to take things at this pace because his heart is cold and hasn’t reacted to very much in the last nineteen years of his life. So he strolls casually towards the platform, his shoes crunching on the salt-covered cement and darkened floors from the melted liquids and pollution. He’s always been afraid to reach out and touch anything because he might freeze their heart too, the frostbite swirling around in deadly circles.

But in that train station, on that frigid day, he spots someone who’s brushing off the dirtied snow from his pant legs, having obviously tripped and fallen in that mad surge of people. And he’s interested for just a moment at the man whose cheeks are tinted pinks and red from the thin air. As the man notices him looking at him, he unleashes a beautiful smile that just might’ve landed a crack in the ice covering his heart. This guy... even though he missed the train, why is he so happy?

Jongin hides his nose and mouth underneath his oversized scarf as he watches the man reach into his pocket and pull out a piece of candy, the red-and-white stripes covering its circular form, and he pops it into his mouth. Another refreshing smile graces his youthful face and Jongin thinks that it’s stupid how he’s smiling so brightly because of a measly piece of sugar and chemical bonds.

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Jongin’s at the library today to do research for his Neurological Disease class when he sees the same man again; the man who smiled so happily even though he tripped and fell--even though he was just on a piece of hard candy. And he notices that the man works here as he’s reshelving books.

And maybe Jongin’s interested in this person who shows so much care for the world when he obviously doesn’t. This person who seems to have a bounce in his step and a smile on his face as he’s pushing his metal cart around the library. What’s so fun about that? He thinks it’s stupid for someone to be so happy over such trivial things but he’s slowly captivated by him.

So he comes back the next day and feels sad when he doesn’t see him there.

On the way home, he stops by the convenience store for his usual dose of caffeine and, as he’s paying, he sees the little jar of peppermints. Somehow the red-and-white swirls are appealing and he wants to also feel that joy that the mysterious man felt that day at the train station. So he buys the entire jar and outside in the icy cold, with the snowflakes making dots in his hair, he pops one into his mouth. And a lovely smile graces his once-frozen face, and his heart feels like it’s warming up again as he thinks of the man who smiles so happily at such trivial things.

And he thinks that maybe he’s addicted.

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A/N: Thank you for reading! This chapter is about how Jongin fell in love with Kyungsoo in the first place. It takes place before Imprint starts.