paradise.

johnny.

edited

-

saying that johnny hated his life was an understatement. he went from riches to rags in a matter of seconds, only from the stock market crashing. johnny sighed and put his coat on, getting ready for work. he kissed his mom goodbye and waved to his siblings.

he started to set up his stand, and get the crates of fresh warm potatoes out. the tall male sighed in discomfort as the cold febuary breeze hit his skin. johnny hated the fact that he was the only one who was stable and of age in his family. his dad left his mom not too long ago without a word, leaving the poor woman pregnant, schizophrenic and having four-five-mouths to feed. johnny also never said a word about his sexuality-due to the fact that it was frowned upon.

the young man had a few friends, but he never heard from them from the past few months. for all he knew they could've died from starvation, dehydration, neglect or even robbery. he missed mark's laugh, taeyong's motherly antics, ten bugging the hell out of him, taeil's small height and jaehyun's sweet honey-like voice. 

three words endlessly rang in his head like a broken vinyl record.

the great depression.

johnny bit his lip when a young woman handed him a few coins, begging him to have mercy in her and her son and give her a few potatoes.

he reluctantly gave her three baked potatoes-from the goodness from his heart. the cold caused his fingers to go red and pink. johnny forgot to buy gloves this morning, though, he was saving up to pay for his mother's medical bills.

a few hours later, it was around 20:30. only one more customer and he should probably start putting stuff away and heading back home.

"next!"

the next customer was a young man was dressed in a thick scarf that was covering the lower half of his face. he wore a gray suit that seemed too expensive for this heartbreaking era. johnny noticed how piercing the man's eyes were; they seemed quite...mischievous-maybe even a bit exciting.

"how many?"

the young (foreign-johnny assumed) man answered, "one, please."

"on your way!"

the next few seconds went smoothly. johnny handed the food over to the unnamed male as he passed over a few coins. through the whole process, johnny couldn't help but stare at the man's face. his eyes were very...beautiful, the older male wondered what the stranger looked like under the scarf, so johnny decided to start a conversation.

"ain't that too thick?"

"hm? what? the scarf?"

"yeah, it must be stuffy."

the other chuckled, "no, i'm fine. it's this or the freezing cold. speaking of which, aren't your fingers freezing?"

johnny couldn't even feel his fingers. laughing awkwardly, he shoved them in his pockets. "i'm fine now."

johnny could feel the young man smirk under his scarf as he handed johnny his own fancy, leather gloves.

"here, take these. i pass by this place quite often and i see you working here. you might need these."

johnny couldn't believe what was happening, it was kind, but he couldn't accept it.

"no way! i can get my own gloves."

"just take it; us poor folks gotta stick together, right?"

the mystery man? poor? no way in hell, he looks like one of those rich boys he'd see when he was walking to school with mark when he was younger.

quietly, johnny gently took the gloves and placed them on his hands. so warm...

johnny glanced over at the young man, he seemed too wealthy to be in this part of town-hell, even in the united states.

"you seem to well off to be here, where ya' from?"

"i'm from (country (besides the u.s)) but i'm visiting here because of my pa' s business."

"oh? what business?"

"oil," the young man reached over to shake his hand, "it was a pleasure to meet ya. the name's (name) (last name)."

"johnny-jonnhy seo."