When the Autumn Comes | BoyxBoy

17 - Winter in Your Heart (Part I)

Above is a video of the song, Passing By, which will be referenced later in this chapter. If you're interested, do listen to it!

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When the winter comes, I hope our hearts will be as warm as always.

Excuse me!" Jorden said, pulling Xu Yihan along with him as he gave an apologetic smile to the people around him when he squeezed past them. It was a no wonder that there would be a lot of people since there are stalls and game booths down the corridors. Colourful and loud posters screamed their extremely-worth-it deals like free ice creams, 80% discount for buying merchandise and etcetera and he somehow expected Yihan to be drawn to them. To his surprise, Yihan didn't look like he was fazed by any of the offers at all.

After bringing Yihan to so many places, Jorden decided that he had to bring him to the final destination before their closing ceremony. Since he knew that Yihan was homeschooled, he thought that the latter would be curious about how his school looked like. Especially after all the stories he had shared with him when they met in the forest months back.

Thus, he had to be the tour guide and show him many different places he loved to go in school. Peering behind him, his eyes met Yihan, who gave him a smile in return. Grinning back, his eyes travelled to his hand and that was when he realised -- he was still grabbing Yihan's hand. Sheepishly, he loosened his grip instantly and flashed him an embarrassed smile.

He didn't know why, but a crash of disappointment swept over him when Yihan didn't grab his hand in return.

What the hell am I thinking? Jorden chided himself. Quivering to himself, he tried to rub his hands to generate heat to warm himself up. It was already 3 days into winter, and Jorden still couldn't get used to wearing more layers. Most of the traces that gave an indication of autumn's beauty would have faded by then, leaving only the bitter cold behind. I should have worn another layer and took my gloves with me, damn it. Why did I even think that it's a good idea to just wear two layers?! Just then, a girl's voice rang behind him. He stopped walking, turned back, only to find a petite girl tugging on... Yihan's sleeve?

"Hey... I saw you in Pizza and Musical Chairs earlier and I thought that you're really cute..." The girl murmured as her eyes stayed on the ground as if looking at Yihan was a sin itself. The girl was short -- her head just reached Yihan's chin. Yet, her height seemed to make her cuter and appealing at the same time. Perplexion was then painted all over Yihan's face as he looked at the girl warily.

Wait, is he actually getting hit on? Jorden's eyes bulged, then blinked numerously to convince himself that that was the truth. As if that wasn't enough of a shock, the girl inched herself closer to Yihan, until their chests were estimated 5 centimetres apart. Squeals and cheerings could be heard in the surrounding, and at this moment, Jorden wished that they were part of a recording so he could immediately turn them off.

Just shut up already, Jorden rolled his eyes at the back of his mind. Bile rose in his throat and he could feel his hands perspiring despite the extremely cold weather. He then watched her biting her lips to make herself sweeter than ever and that caused him to roll his eyes again. She's cute, Jorden admitted in his mind. However, he couldn't seem to appreciate her cuteness now and all he knew was that he didn't want her near him.

"Who are you?" Yihan raised his eyebrow as he distanced himself away from her.

"I-I'm Yingying..." The girl answered coyly, her eyes finally meeting Yihan's after she fake coughed to make herself less embarrassed. "Erm... c-can I ask for your number so we can chat...?"