mall elves | yoonmin

december 13th. [ ii ]

Jimin stands in front of the doors alone, his body hunched over and limbs tucked as close to his body as possible to keep warm. No matter how far he shoves his hands in his pockets, they're still cold, and he gives himself about thirty more seconds before his teeth start to chatter.

The temperature aside, he's happy it's Christmas season.

He's always loved the atmosphere in December - lights strung up around the city, all of the people shopping for their friends and family, prayers for snow drifting through the frigid air.

Seeing it all makes him smile. This is probably his favorite time of year.

"Hey, you!"

Jimin has to come down from his childish fantasy quickly when he glances over to find himself face to face with Hoseok, who is alight with his usual cheer.

There's a big red scarf around his neck, and he's got that contagious smile on his face, which Jimin (obviously) returns. But he's also a little confused at the absence of another person.

So there isn't a cute guy then?...

Not that Jimin cares about that, at all. Fuck flirting. Fuck guys. (Maybe one day he will, but today is not that day.)

"Hi," he returns with a conflicted smile, shuffling himself towards Hoseok inch by inch. All the while, he remains huddled in his little jacket cave in an attempt to salvage what little body heat he has left.

It makes him look like a penguin somehow, and Hoseok chuckles at him. "How's it going, then?" he asks, skipping forward to put his hands on Jimin's arms and rub them to create warmth. "You look so cold. Why didn't you bring a coat, silly?"

Jimin rubs his gloveless hands together, his teeth finally starting to chatter. There it is. I knew it.

"My coat's d-dirty," he stammers out.

Hoseok sticks out his bottom lip to show his sympathy. "C'mon, let's go inside," he suggests. "We can't have someone as cute as you getting hypothermia, can we?"

Jimin nods instead of choking out another weak sentence, and so Hoseok leads him to the glass doors, pushing them open for him. Jimin manages to stutter out a small, "Thank you," as they enter the much warmer, cozier space.

There's a dim and relaxed atmosphere that Jimin quickly notices. Something about the dark wooden walls and tiny pots of pink flowers on the tables feels like home.

Even so, there are quite a few people - enough to call tonight a busy night. Jimin is just glad it isn't very loud. He's still trying to get out of lonely-planning-of-Yoongi's-demise mode and into fun, chatting with friends mode, which is a pretty hard thing to do because he did just freeze his ass off without his damn coat. Which is in the washer, being cleansed of eggnog that Yoongi put there.

A hostess approaches him and Hoseok, smiling - which showcases her unbelievably white teeth - and she welcomes them both. Politely, she informs them that the wait should be around fifteen minutes, and Hoseok and Jimin thank her as they're handed one of those buzzers that go off when there's an open table.

"What exactly do you call these things?" he questions Hoseok as they sit down next to an older couple on one of the benches.