a/n: i've decided to make this a two shot and yeah i know i have no excuse as to why this is being updated more than half a year later just leave me alone i'm having second thoughts about this huge mess of a plotline but uh i hope youre happy lynne ( it's not proofread either, sue me )

 

 

the first time minseok sees him, the sky is raining.

his parents are arguing back and forth in the kitchen with raised voices and piercing glares. being the little clueless six-year-old he is, minseok hides in his room to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

pit-a-pat. pit-a-pat. he sits in the corner of his bedroom and stares out the window. the sky is gray and rain is being poured down by the bucketful, drenching trees and creating mud-puddles blanketing the whole road. along with the sound of the rain hitting the roof and flowing down the drainage pipe, he hears his mother's voice angrily shouting words.

he doesn't like it. he doesn't like it whenever mother starts to yell at father about 'meeting some other woman every other day'. he doesn't know what that means, but he doesn't like mother's tone whenever she says it because it sounds like it's something gross, something disgusting, something revolting. it most definitely isn't a good thing.

minseok hugs his knees to his chest and rests his chin on top of his knees. water droplets splatter everywhere on his bedroom window and he looks outside, immediately becoming entranced by the falling rain.

father is rarely at home. he is always out, working late or meeting friends. mother is always quiet when he's gone and never talks to minseok. the little boy begins to think mother is lonely, and that's why she's mad at father. that's why mother likes to drink by herself late in the evening, he tells himself. he knows this because he hears her muffled weeping as he lies in bed every single night.

minseok sees something move out of the corner of his eye and he immediately peers out the window. a dark figure is walking- no, it seems more like gliding across the ground- under the gray sky. the rain stops and minseok presses his forehead to the glass to get a clearer look at the stranger. his warm breath fogs up the glass and he wipes it with the sleeve of his sweater before looking out again.

the person out on the streets is a boy. he can't really tell, but judging from the boy's height, minseok guesses he's around his age, if not younger. he's wearing what must be a dull blue cardigan, three sizes too big for him (the sleeves are obviously too long and the hem of the shirt almost reaches his knees) and dark brown jeans. the color of the boy's apparel are of dull colors, but they seem bright, for some reason. the clothes practically give off a soft glow around him. and yet, the soft glow doesn't even match half the brightness of the wings on his back.

minseok's eyes widens. the wings weren't anything like an angels, pure white and fluffy-looking. the wings that the boy adorns instead are rather small, barely peeking out from behind his back. the feathers look ragged and were a dull gray color.

as if he knows someone's watching him, the boy outside looks up and at the window, straight at minseok. not knowing what to do, he decides to stay still and stares back at the mysterious boy. minseok blinks innocently at him for a while and keeps doing so because the boy's gaze is rather mysterious and intriguing. he has no desire to look away.

"minseok-ah?" a knock sounds at his bedroom door and minseok's head turns away from the window. "minseok-ah, it's mother. can I come in?" the young child slides off the windowsill and hurriedly opens the door. his mother is indeed standing there, cheeks hollow and dark bags under her eyes.

"what are you doing in here, minseok-ah? it's cold and you're not even wearing any socks!" she notices, and immediately tells him to put a pair on.

he obediently obliges and pulls a sock onto each foot. pausing before setting both feet onto the floor, he asks, "mom, are you and dad fighting again?"

"fighting?" the small smile on her face vanishes and a worrisome look enters her eyes. "that's not it... we're just discussing some things, minseok-ah. adult things."

minseok knows 'adult things' are very important, so he decides to question no more. his mom yelps as she looks at the time on her watch and pulls the covers to his bed down.

"it's already fifteen minutes past your curfew! here, get in so i can tuck you in." he nods and does as he's told, earning a kiss on the forehead and a 'good night, sweetie' when the lights are turned off and the door is closed.

minseok lays down in his bed with his eyes closed, ready to go to sleep like a good boy, because that's what his mother wants him to be. but when he starts to hear his parent's voices downstairs again, his eyes shoot open.

the boy.

minseok throws off the covers of his blanket and stumbles over to the window, where the rain starts to fall again, and this time, harder. even more surprised that the rain had come back, he squints to search the surroundings since the lights in his room were now off. outside is dark, but he can tell there is no one. the boy is gone.

sighing, minseok gets back into bed with a heavy heart and the rumble of his parent's yells are soon muffled by the sound of the rain.

 

 

 

 

the second time minseok sees him, the sky stops raining.

minseok is fourteen now. his parents had grown even more apart over the years and the current relationship he had with his parents wasn't very close either. it was true that his father had met other women. this caused his mother to get jealous, and then they fought. his father left the house, then came back, and they'd fight all over again.

he's endured eight years of the same old thing and he's had enough, minseok thinks. he decides be can't handle it anymore, he doesn't want to handle it anymore. when he was younger he could, but people change. how come his parents didn't?

if he thinks about it... maybe the reason they couldn't leave each other, the reason why they couldn't just divorce, was because if him. what would become of their only child if they divorce and go their different ways?

frustrated, minseok walks out the front door during one of their quarrels. the sight of him walking out the door as fast as he could surprises both of his parents, as he was always a quiet and reserved child who never interfered anything. they grow quiet at his appearance and bite back any retorts they had, ready to roll off the tip of their tongues.

"minseok! minseok-ah!"

he hears his mother calling for him as he breaks into a run and continues down the streets of the neighborhood. he doesn't turn around, though, not even once. he's just going out for a run, to clear his head and to get away from everything. it's not as though he was actually running away from home... although that would probably do everyone some good, wouldn't it?

minseok doesn't know how long he has been running or how far he has gone, but he doesn't care. his breathing is heavy and his feet feel like blocks of lead once he finally decides to drag himself to a bench in a nearby park. plopping himself down, minseok leans back and uses the palms of his hands to cover his eyes. he waits until his breath steadies before taking a deep sigh and looking at where he was.

it was a part of the neighborhood that he wasn't familiar with. feeling quite strange to be here, he glances at the playground structure and swing set built for the kids, the large amount of tall green trees present, and the field of grass that was perfect for a game of tag.

he takes a deep breath, breathing in the fresh air, and notices a smell he was familiar with; wet grass and pinetrees and barkchips. it had just rained, he thinks to himself, how timely. minseok sits on the bench for a few minutes, trying to clear his head and relax, before hearing some faint melodic singing. his head shoots up and he looks around for the source of the sound.

not finding anything, he stands up and follows the sound, the voice getting louder now that he was getting closer. he picks up his feet and tiptoes over to a bundle of bushes and trees nearby. the first thing he sees is a bird.

it's a baby blue bird, lying sprawled on its back with its feet in the air. the small bird is still, twitching here and there, and its wing looked as though it's bent the wrong way. the rain and wind must have knocked the bird out of its nest when the mother bird was out finding food, minseok thinks.

the second thing he sees is a winged boy.

a black-haired boy wearing a dull blue shirt and dark brown jeans with powder gray wings on his back is before him. the winged boy's eyes are closed and he sits in a crouching position with the baby bird cradled in his hands. the hands are gentle and careful not to hurt the injured wing of the small animal. minseok closes his eyes to listen to the singing and thinks maybe the reason why the bird isn't chirping is because it wants to listen, too. he's singing a soft lullaby to the bird, something calm and soothing that makes minseok think of spring rain.

( he likes to listen to the soft rain. he also thinks flowers decorated in tiny rain droplets are really pretty. they make him feel good, just like how the boy's singing was making him feel all happy and fuzzy inside. )

the singing abruptly comes to a halt and minseok opens his eyes to see what was the problem. his gaze immediately locks with the winged boy's, which are filled with wonder and curiosity. he stares at the other and the other stares back. the baby bird begins to chirp, but very softly, and the winged boy stands up. he folds his wings behind his back so they're out of view and takes an unsteady step closer to minseok, whose eyes do not leave him for even a second, fearing the winged boy might just fly away with those wings of his and disappear.

"you... you can see me?" the boy asks with a surprised yet soft tone. his normal talking voice is just as melodic as his singing voice, minseok thinks.

the young boy nods as an answer, puzzled at the question. he scans the area behind him and on the streets to see if anyone's around, but there is no one.

minseok looks back at the stranger takes note that boy's eyelashes are really long and pretty and his cheekbones were prominent and his skin is a milky white that looks so very soft and supple and he wants to touch it but can't because that would be strange, wouldn't it?

( but then again, the boy has wings behind his back. what else could be more strange? )

when the winged boy doesn't reply, minseok stares him and unintentionally blurts out, "why are you singing to a bird?"

he doesn't know why he asks, but the winged boy holds the baby bird up and simply says, "because it was hurt."

taking another look at the bird, minseok realizes that the bird is now sitting up on it's own in his hand. the bent wing is no longer bent and is folded neatly behind its back as if nothing had happened. "whoa, what did you do?"

he shrugs before raising his hand up for the bird to hop off and fly away gracefully, which it does. "i healed it, of course."

"what do you mean?" minseok asks again, curious about how the bird's wings became unbroken so quickly.

"i sang to the bird," he looks at him, as if expecting him for knowing such an obvious answer, "and it healed. simple as that."

minseok makes a puzzled face, awed by the 'magical healing voice' he possessed. "does that mean you're an angel?"

"an angel?" the winged boy repeats, tilting his head to the side. "i.... n-no, of course not. i'm not an angel. i'm something else."

"what do you mean by 'something else'?"

"...you ask too many questions."

a somewhat calming silence fills the air as the boy with wings takes a stand. there's just something about him that minseok really likes, and he can't seem to put a finger on it.

( actually, he's really happy that the boy with wings isn't weirded out by his continuous staring and actually talks to him. )

"my name's jongdae. what's your name?" this time it's not minseok asking, but the other. he feels rather delighted that the strange boy wants to know his name.

"my name's minseok," he replies curtly. "why are you so surprised that i can see you, jongdae?" minseok likes the way the unfamiliar name rolls off his tongue. it's a nice, unfamiliar name.

said boy eyes him up and down with his own curious gaze and takes an unexpected step back. "because humans aren't supposed to see creatures like me."

minseok doesn't like the use of 'creatures' in his sentence; 'creatures' sounded something you'd call an animal, or something ugly like a monster. and jongdae isn't an animal, or a monster; he is something beautiful. he's about to tell him this when jongdae's wings abruptly unfold, causing a small gust of wind to blow into his face. he squints and looks up at him in surprise. "what are you doing...?"

"i have to go." jongdae slowly rises up into the air and minseok can't really see his expression anymore. "it's about to rain again and i can't stay down here any longer."

"wait, wha-?"

another cold gust of wind in his face tells him his question is ignored and the next thing he knows, jongdae sees the small figure retreating high up into the sky. he shouts something back for the other to hear before he soon disappears and all that's left to see are clouds, drifting by ever-so-slowly and blocking the location of where the sun would be. minseok looks around to make sure he's alone again, because what if people walking by saw him talking to nobody? they would surely think there was something wrong with him.

but what if something really was wrong with him? how could people have wings on there back, fly around, and heal birds by singing? minseok was sure he was hallucinating because there is no way someone like that existed. but the words jongdae shouted at him before disappearing kept replaying through his mind; "meet me here tomorrow, okay? i'll be waiting!"

minseok walks home with a smile tugging at his lips and he feels as though nothing can change his mood, not even his parents, whom he walks past when he reaches his home and goes straight to his room. he stands at the edge of his bed and slowly falls forward, face-first onto his bed. he takes a deep breath and let's it out into his somewhat fluffy comforter.

it reminds him of the fluffy feathers of his winged-friend.

 

 

 

 

the third time minseok sees him, it's almost about to rain.

the following day, minseok leaves the house in search of the meeting place with his new friend. he has know idea which way to go and wonders how he managed to get home from the park in the first place. it takes him a while and he circles around an entire block three times before finding the park from yesterday. he walks over to the circle of bushes and trees, but he sees no one, not even a shadow.

minseok worries. what if jongdae was messing with him and blew him off? or worse, what if he really was imagining things and jongdae didn't exist at all? at the depressing thought, the boy seats himself down at the trunk of the nearest tree and sighs. he didn't even think about such a thing until now, so he begins to sulk, all to himself.

that is, until he hears a faint "psssst!" coming from above him. minseok lifts his head up and there he is; sitting on one of the tree branches, feet dangling and hair tangling with the leaves, is jongdae. the winged boy is grinning wildly as he waves a hand, gesturing for the other to come up and join him. minseok gets up onto his feet and hugs the tree, trying to climb his way up there, but to no avail. he slides down like water in a pipe and lands on the ground with his .

he hears a chuckle coming from above and immediately turns red with embarrassment. minseok thinks his chuckle sounds pretty, just like the rest of him, and is determined to try again. however, the second outcome is exactly like the first and jongdae ends up jumping to the ground while minseok is sprawled in a heap of exhaustion.

"hi, minseok!" he says brightly, making eye contact with the sweating boy. "i'm so glad you came today!"

minseok shoots up from his position and brushes his bangs out of his face with the back of his hand. "i am too, jongdae." the boy shoots him a smile and on a whim, he smiles back. "why did you have to leave so suddenly yesterday?"

"early?" jongdae asks innocently. "it was because it was about to rain."

"why does that matter?" he shrugs, shoulders rising up and down rigidly. "where do you come live, anyway?"

"where i live? on the clouds, duh." jongdae points up at the sky with his finger and says it like it's the most normal thing on the planet.

minseok eyes him suspiciously. "really? do you actually live on the clouds? how?"

he nods and smiles, as if thinking the question was rather silly. "of course! the clouds are nothing like what you humans have here," he points to the dirt and the grass underneath them, "and it feels really soft and light, as if you were walking on a bunch of cotton fluff. only the birds that can fly high enough to get above the clouds can see us; people on those weird flying machines- what are they called? airplanes?- well, they can never see us."

"that's so cool! is it possible for people like me to go up there though?" minseok asks excitedly without thinking.

he gets a disapproved head-shake from jongdae in return. "i don't think so, it's never been done before."

minseok's face falls and he's disappointed, but then immediately brightens up once jongdae asks him a question.

"what's that on your shirt?" he asks, pointing to the red shirt minseok was wearing. it was a long-sleeved shirt with the white in symbols on the front.

he puffs out his chest and pulls his shirt away from his body to take out the wrinkles, making it readable. "here, can you read it now?"

jongdae stares at it for a moment with furrowed eyebrows before shaking his head, "i don't know how to read."

this earns a gasp from the other, "you don't? did your parents teach you?"

he shakes his head solemnly, "i don't have any parents."

"oh," minseok grows silent upon hearing this and looks down at his fingers. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to say that..."

"it's okay," jongdae replies just as quiet. he abruptly taps minseok's arm several times and points to his shirt again. "can you teach me how to read and write then?"

he blankly blinks at him and says a blunt, "sure!", before looking around for some sort of stick or small tree branch. once he found a twig that looked usable, he drew some symbols in the dirt.

"my shirt says 'dong bang shin ki' on it. it's the name of a band i like." minseok explains. "but instead of that, i'm going to teach you the alphabet and how to write your name."

jongdae stops him before he can continue. "wait, what's a 'band'?"

the newly-appointed teacher is patient and answers his question. "it's a group of people who are make music and sing together. now, look here. the first set of symbols in your name is 'jong'."

he points at the symbols, one by one, and shows the eager learner what 'j' looks like, what 'o' looks like, and what 'ng' looks like put together. jongdae looks at it in awe, liking the way his name looks, and attempts to write it himself. minseok smiles at his efforts and gives him a pat on the back. "you'll get there soon"

he pouts and puffs out his cheeks. "teach me how to write your name, minseok."

complying, he begins to write his own name underneath jongdae's. "hangul is based on sound. since my name has two syllables as well, then there will be two different sets of symbols."

jongdae sounds them out, using his own finger to imitate minseok's. "i'm going to learn how to write our names! it'll be so cool."

"you're going to have to practice, you know." minseok wants to laugh at his enthusiasm, which he finds adorable. "i'll bring you some pencils and papers tomorrow."

"you will?" his eyes sparkle even brighter and he smiles. "thanks a lot!"

minseok's stomach flips and flops and his cheeks feel hot all of a sudden. all he can think of is how cute jongdae's smile is. the next thing he knows, the boy is flying away on his pretty little wings and waving a hasty goodbye at him. he stares off at the figure that disappears into the gray sky and a faint "see you tomorrow!" barely reaches his ears as something wet hits his cheek and he blinks.

it begins to rain.

 

 

 

 

the fourth time minseok sees him, it's already raining.

and it's not just rainingー it's raining cats and dogs, as they always say, even if it makes no sense. minseok's mother scolds him, asking him why he was heading out when it was raining, but he just chooses to bring along his umbrella and leaves without another word.

jongdae is already at the tree when he gets there, sitting at the trunk of the tree and soaked to the bone. the boy's teeth is chattering, his lips look a bit blue, and his arms are wrapped around himself in an attempt to warm himself up. "m-minseok, you're h-here!" he manages to say between shivers. "isn't i-it cold-d today?"

he rushes over to the other's side and holds the umbrella above his head. he was sitting under the branches of the tree, where the leaves already protected him from the rain, but the trip to get here must've gotten him wet. "jongdae, you're drenched!" he touches his hair, which was also wet and pasted to his forehead with rainwater, and gasps. "and you're freezing too!"

minseok realizes why jongdae always tried to avoid the upcoming rain whenever he could and feels bad for almost mocking him. the shivering boy's wings aren't folded behind him and they gleam with raindrops, just as soaked as he was. "i'm f-fine, don't w-worry about-t me. i'm just w-waiting for my w-wings to d-dry though. i'll b-be okay."

not listening to a word coming from his mouth, minseok takes off his own sweater and towels jongdae's hair. "you'll catch a cold like this, you know. you shouldn't have come." as soon as the words leave his mouth, jongdae shakes his head, causing his sweatshirt to fall from his head and onto his shoulders.

"no! what would h-happen to you? you'd h-have to w-wait all by y-yourself in the rain then!"

"...okay, fine," the boy has a point and he can only shake his head at his stubbornness, hiding the smile that's threatening to break through onto his face. "here, i brought these along for you. take a look at them."

from behind his back, minseok takes a notebook, along with a pencil and an eraser top, and places it in front of the cold boy. it's already flipped to the notebook pages, where two names are written at the top of the page and blue lines decorate the blank space.

"this i-is...?" jongdae's eyes widen and he looks at his friend, curious as to what this was.

"it's my notebook, silly. it's brand new paper," he answers, tapping at the notebook that was still surprisingly dry. "and that's a pencil. that's what you use to write with, like the stick yesterday."

he nods and points at the two names. "these are our names, right? do i just copy it over and over?"

"until you remember how to write it from heart." minseok is rather amused at how fascinated he is towards such simple, normal everyday things. "i'll give you sometime else to write tomorrow."

"thanks alot, minseok!" jongdae turns to hug him but then catches himself once he realizes he's still dripping wet. minseok smiles and wraps his own chubby little arms around the other, pulling him into a hug and not minding it when the wet fabric meets his skin and makes him wet too.

"n-no problem," he blushes before pulling back and wonders why he stutteredー he wasn't the cold one out of the two. "...uh, i brought this along for you to listen to. here, put it in your ear like this."

jongdae takes the weird looking object and mirrors the other's movements and sticks it into his left ear. "what is it, minseok? what are we going to listen to?"

said boy holds up a strange looking device, where the object is plugged into, and grins. "this, my friend, is a an ipod. if you plug the earphones in, you can listen to music. here, i'll play something for you."

jongdae stares with curiosity, for he has seen no such thing before, and he hears something play in his left ear. the feeling at first is weird because it's as though he can feel the sounds of what he was hearing instead of just hearing. he finds it pleasant and very enjoyable after awhile and to his surprise, he's nodding his head and memorizing words here and there.

minseok smiles at the definitely good reaction, "this is one of my favorite songs. isn't it nice?"

"huh?" jongdae turns to him, their faces just inches away, and he can see the raindrops still decorating the other's long eyelashes. oblivious to the blushing boy, jongdae breaks into a grin. "yeah, it is! what is it called?"

"it's c-called..." turning away, minseok finds himself stuttering again as he answers. "it's c-called 'like the b-birds', by ft island. they're another really good band i listen to."

"i like them," jongdae says brightly and hums along with the song softly, showing that he had already memorized the tune even though it was his first time hearing it, "they're cool. but how does that work, that square thing you're holding?"

"oh, my ipod?" he holds it up again and unlocks it, showing him the 'now playing' screen. "it's really complicated inside of this 'square thing', there are wires that make it work and all that. you can also listen to different songs from this list i have,"ー he wipes his thumb across the screen to demonstrate scrolling the long list of titles that jongdae can't read, ー"in other words, i guess it's like magic."

"like magic, yeah?" jongdae takes the magical ipod from his hand and begins playing around with it. he goes from song to song, listening to the melody and singing along, and minseok thinks he's taken a liking to it.

"you can borrow it, if you want," he tells the boy and points to the device. "just give it back to me tomorrow."

"really?" jongdae exclaims, voice full of excitement. "thanks so much, minseok! i'll take good care of it!"

"no problem," he replies, happy that he made him smile again. "you like singing, right? or is it only because you can heal animals...?"

jongdae takes out the earphone and tries to stop the music, but struggles and minseok has to show him how. once he presses the right button, he says, "i really, really, really like to sing. i can only heal birds though, not humans or other animals, but that's a bonus, right? i get to do what I love while doing something good too."

"yeah, it is," minseok thinks of asking him why other humans can't see him, but changes his mind and asks a different question instead, "do you sing the same song to every bird? i've only heard you sing to one once, but..."

"you're right, i only know one song," jongdae admits and seems rather embarrassed. "i don't know what it's called but i've been singing it ever since i can remember. maybe it's the song that heals the birds and not my voice, i don't know, but i've never sang anything else."

"then why don't you learn some songs from my ipod? there are a lot you might like."

"sure, i'll guess i'll do that," jongdae agrees, and he fumbles with his fingers as he says his next request. "can i sing it for you? the song i always sing?"

"go right ahead," minseok says, and he is delighted to be able to hear the boy's wondrous singing again.

the winged boy closes his eyes and leans back onto the tree, relaxing and exhaling before softly singing. it's calm and soothing, just like the first time he had heard it, and minseok leans back and closes his eyes too.

he doesn't really hear the rest of the words and just focuses on the melody and the voice producing it. before he knows it, he's being swept away by jongdae's singing and falls asleep with a faint smile on his visage. once he wakes up, the falling rain is gone.

so is his notebook, his ipod, and his gray-winged friend.

 

 

 

 

minseok does not see him the next day, nor the day after that, nor the day after that, and certainly not the day after that, either.

it rains the entire following week and winds blow violently, practically ripping the fragile leaves off the frail-looking trees. despite the weather, goes to the tree in the park and stays for several hours each day, waiting in hopes that his friend will come, but no one shows up. he is disappointed and devastated.

minseok does not feel the least bit robbed. jongdae had taken his ipod, the only thing where he could use to drown himself in music all day at school and at home and everywhere else, but he doesn't really care. for some reason, he feels as though jongdae's actions are sincere. for some reason, he feels as though jongdae needed the device more than he needed it.

he does not know why jongdae doesn't come anymore, and he's rather confused. he had been nice to the boy, and he had gotten kindness in return, so why? he feels lonelier than ever, now that his only friend and companion is gone... which was weird, since he only knew the other for a couple of days and yet he felt so close to him, as if they've been friends for forever.

two weeks pass by and minseok still waits under the tree, with the song of the winged boy echoing in his ears. he finds himself humming the song more often and discovers jongdae's voice has never really left him in the first place.

the rain does not stop.

 

 

 

 

the fifth time minseok sees him again, it's pouring, just like the weeks before.

a long time gap has passed since their last meeing and he's almost an adult now, nearing the responsible age of eighteen, living on his own in a small apartment near the park he used to go to all the time. he has no roommate, he has no friends, and he has not even bothered trying to contact his parents. he feels lonely, but he also knows he doesn't mine to be.

that is, until today.

minseok is laying in his bed with a pair of headphones plugged into a new ipod he had gotten two years ago and an open book resting in his hand. he stares at the boring white ceiling of the room and blinks once, twice, three, times.

that's when he hears it. 'it' as in a knock on his bedroom window.

he wouldn't have heard the knocks if his ipod hadn't been in the middle of playing the next song. slowly sitting up, he took the earphones out of his ears and lazily glanced out the window, yawned, turned away, and then abruptly turned around to looked again.

outside of his raindrop-covered window was a familiar-looking figure. he was peering into minseok's bedroom and tapping on the glass impatiently. although the gray sky makes outside look dark and the window makes everything look blurry, he drops his book onto the floor and rushes over once he realizes who it was.

minseok frantically unlocks the window and pushes the glass up, allowing for the unannounced guest to pass through and get inside. once he does, he shuts the window and draws the curtains.

"minseok, did you know that it's really cold outside?"

standing in front of him was no other than the boy who complained about the same cold weather years ago. the wet, gray wings glistening with raindrops are still there, only bigger. older and taller, his sweater snugly fits him and the sleeves were no longer too long. his hair is a bit longer and a lot messier, but the sleek shine is still there. his cheek bones are more prominent, but that's not what minseok's paying attention to; his most striking feature, in his opinion, are his eyes. they're still as innocent-looking and curious, with a hint of mysteriousness that intrigued him.

the thin lips of purple color move again. "hello? aren't you going to say anything?"

minseok blinks and notices the pink nose the cold gave the other boy. "...jongdae, what are you doing here?"

"to see you, duh," is his only reply before he sits down on the floor, feathers ruffling against the wood. his body appears small as he folds his wing behind his back, away from view, and sitting so that his knees touched his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. "shouldn't you be happy to see me after such a long time- oh!"

jongdae is abruptly stopped by the wide smile on the other's face and smiles back just as wide.

"i guess you are."