winter flower ; zhong chenle

fifteen

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"why did i meet you? here, now, in this winter day when i close my eyes, spring seems so dar away."

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areum spent christmas eve in her room, crying. she knew it wasn't a big deal since he'll be back in a few months but to areum, it was a big deal. jaemin was her first boyfriend and her first kiss. her first love. she was sad.

as areum was sulking, she didn't hear her door open. "reum." a voice called our quietly but areum didn't move. she just sat there with her knees to her chest, which made jisung sigh.

he walked over to the girl who was only a few months older than him and sat beside her. he rubbed circles around her back, in attempt to calm her down. jisung indeed calmed her down. she turned to him, and hugged his torso, resting her head on his chest.

if it were anyone else, jisung would push them away. but it was his best friend. his best friend who was sad, who was crying, who was heartbroken. and at that moment, he dismissed his hatred of skinship, and wrapped his arms around the girl, in attempt to console her.

they stayed that way for hours; jisung hugging areum, letting her cry until she couldn't cry anymore. jisung was all she had at the moment. her parents were away for a business trip in london since school started, donghyuck had a last minute basketball practice, chenle was in china as well as renjun. yangyang was in germany, visiting his family. jeno and sungchan were at their grandparents' house and shotaro was in japan. so jisung, truly was all she had.

jisung didn't mind, though. he hated seeing her so sad, it wasn't her. he just wanted to do his best to cheer her up. and he did. "let's go."
areum looked up at him confused, "where are we going?" "to go see christmas lights, duh. you're driving."

this made areum laugh as she pushed jisung out of her so she can change clothes. upon hearing her laughter, jisung felt proud. he felt as if he successfully cheered up his friend and he did. it was important to him because he was never a very sympathetic person. he never knew how to cheer anyone up. but he succeeded in cheering areum up. and he felt good about it.

the two got in areum's car and drove to another neighborhood. the neighborhood was where the light show was being held that year, and it was packed. once they got out of the car, they instantly drifted towards the hot chocolate stand, getting themselves a warm drink before going to look at the lights.

areum was getting lost in crowds as they went on, which worried jisung, so he just grabbed her arm and pulled her back, "ya. stop running. i keep losing you." areum nodded and just grabbed his hand, "now you won't lose me. come on."

to most people, it looked like the two were dating. they were holding hands and smiling. but that wasn't the case. they were holding hands in attempt to not lose each other, and they were smiling because of the christmas spirit.

after they saw the lights, they went to jisung's house, which was right across the street from areum's. they hung out in his room, watching a movie until chenle called.

"chenle!" areum yelled, making both of the boys laugh.

"hey guys! whatcha doing?"

"we just got back from the lights and we're watching a movie. what about you?" jisung said and chenle smiled, "i'm standing outside of my grandma's house. look, it's snowing!"

they talked for hours until areum decided she should go home because donghyuck kept texting her. "thanks for today, ji. it really cheered me up, you're the best." jisung nodded with a smile, "i know. ive always been the best." areum rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder playfully, "see you tomorrow to exchange gifts?"

"yeah. i'll actually be over in the morning."

"oh, i see, ji's waking up early for christmas. such a kid."

"shut up."

she laughed and hugged jisung one last time before getting in her car and parking across the street, in her driveway. she was about to open her door until she turned around and waved to jisung, who waved back.