As he usually did, Jongin went to the cafe this beautiful Sunday morning - or more like late morning, but whatever. He didn’t really have any plans for the day; all he wanted to do was to just sit at the cafe, doing whatever he felt like, whenever he felt like doing it. He felt relaxed as he entered the cafe - no one was there to nag about this or that; no one judged him for what he believed in.

Walking over to his usual table, Jongin decided that he should probably get some writing done today - the London article had to be finished within next week, and considering he didn’t actually like English (and they speak English in London, mind you), it would take him longer to finish it than it usually would. Besides, he needed something to do while he waited for his friend, Baekhyun, to finish his shift at the cafe.

He appreciated the time he had alone to think; it was something he rarely got these days. Today, he had a lot of things to think about - the guy from the park yesterday, the upcoming test in biology (, I haven’t practiced for that yet) and the volleyball gathering tomorrow, just to mention a few things.

The thing that bothered him the most, though, was the boy that he had met the day before in the park. It wasn’t that he hated the stranger or anything, but he was in a bad mood to begin with; he was stressed, tired and angry, and the angelic look of the boy bothered him a lot.

How could someone look so innocent? Jongin thought while taking a sip of his now lukewarm coffee. He was about to take a bite of his donut, but realised it wasn’t laying on his plate anymore.

While Jongin had been long gone into his own world, Baekhyun had finished his shift and was now sitting at Jongin’s table, munching on a donut with a grin on his face. Jongin’s freaking donut!

“Excuse me, but did I give you permission to eat that?” Jongin said, about to snatch the food back, but he was too late. Baekhyun ate the last of it in one bite, smiling like he hadn’t done anything and feigning innocence.

“Noo, but it looked abandoned and lonely where it was laying on your plate, so I thought that it was better that I ate it,” Baekhyun answered with his mouth still filled up with food. Jongin sighed and calmed down. It wasn’t his friend’s fault that the donut lay untouched.

“How long have you been sitting here anyway?” he asked. Baekhyun had never been one to interrupt people in deep thought or scare them, and therefore usually waited until the person noticed his presence himself.

“About ten minutes,” Baekhyun answered after checking his watch, smiling cutely.

Jongin blinked at him and then laughed. “Ten? Really? You are not just saying that to make a point are you?”

Baekhyun shook his head, and Jongin sighed heavily. He really should start paying attention to what’s happening around him.

“So what’s up?” Jongin asked. Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders before replying, “Not much, same old, same old,” not exactly giving them much to talk about.

Jongin nodded and took a sip of the coffee. Hmm, what to talk about?

“Jongin? You go to that writing course in the library, right?” Baekhyun suddenly asked out of the blue. Jongin nodded while he took another sip of his coffee. Oh, how I love coffee.

“You know that newspaper Soul of Seoul?”

Jongin nodded again. Well d’uh.

“Have you read that column of Kai?”

Jongin nearly choked on his coffee as Baekhyun said that, and looked at his friend in disbelief. Really? He really just asked that?

Not wanting to discuss his own work, pretending it was someone else (he was not one to brag!), he shook his head and feigned innocence, as he had no idea who he was talking about.

Baekhyun did not seem to think more of why Jongin almost spit the content he had his mouth in his face, and carried on instead.

“Oh, then you should. He could give you so much inspiration, I promise you!”

You don’t say!

“I think he is really good, and in case you haven’t heard, Yixing says he is the new thing. A trend or something,” Baekhyun blabbered, relived they had something to talk about.

Jongin tried his best to hold back a smile (more like a hysteric laughter), nodded and said “ahh”, “mhm” and “really?” in the right places. It was really fun hearing about himself from another point of view.

(Especially when the one talking didn’t know it was him they talked about. Hahaha!)

★

When Jongin arrived at the gym he saw the tall, familiar figure of his friend standing by the door, about to walk in. He and Chanyeol had for once managed to arrive at the same time, which usually never happened. The only reason was probably because Baekhyun had dragged him home so he could get his stuff, only to push him out the door again and to the gym.

“See you later Jongin,” Baekhyun chirped, giving Chanyeol a quick wave, before walking off in another direction. Jongin just waved to the other boy and walked up to Chanyeol, who was patiently waiting by the door.

“You weren’t even five minutes late today. I’m surprised,” Chanyeol said in awe as the two boys made their way to the changing room.

Jongin merely shrugged at that. “Baekhyun dragged me here on time. Guess he was getting tired of my talking and complaining.”

After talking about ‘Kai’ for what seemed like hours, Jongin had started to complain about the upcoming biology test, and his family. Baekhyun had gotten a detailed description of Jongin’s nephews and nieces, and how tired he was after visiting his grandma the other day. No wonder Baekhyun dragged him out of his water of self-pity.

★

The workout affected him the same way as volleyball practice did. He cleared his mind; only focusing on his breath and how he would get the most out of the exercise.

Not to mention, having Chanyeol there to push him was even better. Chanyeol had a few centimeters in advantage, so Jongin had to put a lot more in his training in order to compete with his friend. Not that he minded - he knew that it was some of the most important reasons as to why he was the one the couch could use anywhere he wanted on the field, since he was even in all the things he did. He was not the best jumper, but he was not the worst either. He had quick reactions, but not as quick as Joonmyun. He was aggressive in his playing, but a child compared to Kris. He had a nice serve, but didn’t stand a chance compared to Jongdae. He was basically not the worst, and not the best. He was somewhere in the middle. So all in all, you could say he had the full package.

(But since Jongin hated to brag, he never used that word. (Just kidding! Just ask Sehun, Jongin haven’t shut up about him being the best all in all. It was really annoying to listen to, day in and day out!))

★

After a refreshing hour (or was it two?) at the gym, Jongin felt like walking to the park. As he arrived there, memories of the day before came to his mind. That boy that accidentally had lost his bag and hit him in the head. It must have hit him hard too, because he couldn’t get the thought out of his head.

The boy had looked so innocent and carefree, like he wasn’t bothered with all the Christmas stress, and actually truly enjoyed the holiday. Was that even possible? Jongin asked himself, but came to the conclusion that; no, it doesn’t. At least not in his world.

He found a bench not too far in the park and sat down. His mind was still on that blond boy from yesterday, but he was getting tired of thinking about him so he tried to think of something else. Like how cool his Grandma Joy was. She was the kindest and coolest Grandma you could get. No one better, no one beside. Absolutely the best ever!

Just when he was getting comfortable on the bench, something hit his head.

Seriously? Today too?! he thought, not believing that he could be hit in the head two days in a row, not to mention - in the same damn park.

He reached his hand up to where he had been hit and felt something cold in his hand. When he looked at it, he saw snow laying in his hand and he realised that he had been hit with a snowball. He turned to the direction he supposed it had come from and saw a kiddo running away, laughing as if he had just seen the funniest thing in the world.

Oh, funny my .

Jongin was one of those people that didn’t like kids. Like, at all. His sister was the only exception, and that was only because she was his sister. Other little people could just stay away from him. They were just a pain in the . Running around like they didn’t know where they wanted to go and screaming and crying when they didn’t get it their way. He almost got sick just by the thought of it.

When he saw the kid hide away in the slide on the playground not far from where he sat, he stood up and ran after him. That little shortie wouldn’t get away with this. Over Jongin’s dead mothering body. He had never shown mercy, even if they were younger and smaller than him, and this time was no exception.

(Besides, the kid started! It’s only fair that Jongin gets his revenge.)

The little boy was still laughing when Jongin got over to him.

That’s right kiddo; laugh while you still can!

He made a snowball out of the little snow on the ground and threw it on the boy. The hard snowball hit him straight in the face, and if it hadn’t been for Jongin’s common sense, he would have laughed his off. The kid’s expression was priceless. He probably didn’t think that anyone would get back at him, but that was before he picked on Jongin.

When it dawned on the kid that the snowball had actually hit him in the face, he started crying. Probably because he didn’t like to lose, and maybe because it hurt. (Of course it hurt. The snowball was hard as ice, since, Jongin was quite good at making them that way. He had to if he should stand a chance against Jongdae’s pranks.) But that didn’t really bother Jongin right then, when he noticed the kid’s mother coming over.

! he thought and turned around, before he walked away in a fast pace, trying to look like he used to walk so fast so that no one spotted him. If the mother had gotten her claws in him, he would probably have been a dead man by now. Mothers are protective over their children. They get like monsters if anybody dares to hurt their little boo-boo! Ugh.

He walked down a path that lead away from the playground, hoping the mother didn’t notice him, or that they lost their track on him. When he had reached the other side of the park he burst out laughing. It wasn’t everyday you could get away with throwing a snowball straight in the face of a kid. This day was so much better than yesterday!

 

★

A/N: Choi Minho's birthday today! 
Maybe not in Korean time anymore,
but here it's still December 9, so:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINHO! ♥