SONGS OF WINTER | pjm

05 | CAROL

JUNG HOSEOK ADJUSTED the wool hat over jimin's head again, making sure the warm soft fabric went over his ears. jimin smiled at the focus on his older friend's face while he wrapped a wool scarf around his neck. eyes widening when he seemed to pull another out of nowhere, jimin stopped him before he could wrap it around him. "hyung, if you keep that up, i'm going to turn into a walking burrito."

"it's cold outside!" hoseok glanced out the door to catch a glimpse of the falling snow. "and you've been in that studio all week, exposing yourself to all that chilly air." his bottom lip jutted out, brows drawing together.

"hyung, i assure you that i'm all bundled up, warm and toasty. and if you put any more winter clothes on me, i might not be able to move." jimin placed a reassuring hand on his. "now let's go. everyone's waiting for us." he added, pushing the door open.

when they stepped out, hoseok's excited gaze was on their waiting friends, but jimin's was somewhere else. almost like a homing device, his eyes zoned in on winter approaching them. francine and a tall boy he could only assume was winter's brother – whom francine wouldn't stop talking about with a warning look in her eyes every chance she got for whatever reason – flanked her on either side.

but jimin could only focus all his attention on winter wrapped in a white faux fur coat, gloved hands brushing her hair over her ears. he could hear the crunch of snow underneath her white boots as she got closer.

francine waved, calling his attention to her as she broke away from her friends to get to him first. "jimin!" she near well crashed into him. "i got her to come with. thank me later." she whispered and winked, a small wry smile on her lips. "thanks." he chuckled, his eyes finding winter again.

"by the way, you didn't tell me you were such a big deal with sold out art shows and paintings worth hundreds of thousands." she smacked his shoulder. "anyone ever told you you have a strong arm?" he grabbed his shoulder. "wait, did you google me?" his brows furrowed in question.

"oh, darling, it wasn't me." francine smiled, eyes moving to winter. "good luck." she patted his shoulder and moved ahead. "hey guys!" she called to jimin's friends who all sounded happy to see her. but jimin's attention was back on winter.

she and the boy stopped in front of him. "hello, jimin." she started formally. jimin smiled, he was getting used to it. "hi, winter." he answered. "this is my younger brother, august. august, this is jimin. he's been graciously helping me watch nala whenever i'm busy at sweethearts." she introduced, gloved fingers playing with her hair. jimin's lips curled up, realising it was a habit they both shared.

"nice to meet you, august. i've heard a lot about you." he held out a hand to the boy. "nice to meet you too." august wrapped his hand around jimin's in a firm handshake. "august, come here! come meet everyone!" francine beckoned. she winked at jimin again when the boy reached her. he shook his head and turned back to winter.

"i didn't know you were coming." he started as they began to walk behind the large group of friends. "i didn't know i was, either. fran just has a way of getting what she wants." winter responded, folding her arms over her chest. "i don't doubt that." he chuckled.

"do you and your friends always go caroling?" she asked after a moment of silence. "yeah, ever since seokjin decided it was going to be a tradition five years ago." he answered, hand subconsciously going to his hair only to remember that hoseok had made sure it was all tucked into his hat.

the snow flurried down steadily but it didn't obscure the beauty of the town at night. though it was cold, the scenery was ablaze with a bright spectrum of sparkling lights that twinkled at every building and on every street, compensating for the darkness of the sky. jimin thought it was magic.

"and none of you objected?" she asked, one brow arched in incredulity. "you try to say no to seokjin." he chuckled lightly. "sounds like fran." she remarked softly. "speaking of... you googled me?" he glanced at her, eyebrows raised.

he laughed softly when her expression morphed from that pokerface she always had into a flustered and embarrassed one. "why would fran tell you that?" she almost seemed like she was contemplating jumping her friend from behind. "why did you do that?" he redirected, his voice incredibly soft.

"i was a little curious." she admitted tersely, seeming to get her bearings back. "you know, if you wanted to know more about me, you could've just asked. all it takes is a conversation like this one or even many little conversations and we'll know each other better." he told her sweetly.

"in case you haven't noticed, i'm inept at things like that." she replied, threading her fingers through her braided hair. "there's a reason fran is the only friend i have outside of my brother and grandmother."

jimin smiled into his scarf, realising she was opening up to him. "because she's persistent?" he chimed playfully. "yes, actually. she was very insistent on getting to know me." she answered seriously. his lips pressed together in a closed lip smile. "if you don't mind, can you tell me why it's difficult to let people in?"

a heavy breath left winter's lips, frosting into a small cloud of mist in front of her. "letting people in means making yourself vulnerable. you're giving them a chance to walk all over your emotions. and i've seen people take that chance one too many times. if that happened to me..." she cut herself off with a shiver.

"you're afraid of forming relationships because you might get hurt." he said thoughtfully. "you probably don't have any of those." she mumbled softly. "what? fears?" he tilted his head, eyes on her.

"of course, i do. i have my own fears and insecurities, winter. everybody does. the trick is not letting your fears define you or your insecurities hold you back." he stepped in front of her, expression serious as he stopped her in her steps. "instead, you could let them spur you on. it's not going to be easy but if you learn to push past them, it'll probably be one of the most exhilarating feelings ever."

a wide grin split his face and crinkled his eyes into half moons. "soon enough, it won't be that you're scared to let people in but rather that you have too much self-respect to just accept anyone's substandard version of love." he fell into step next to her again. "but for now, you can try opening up a bit more to people. you can start with me." he placed a hand on his chest.

"jimin!" kim namjoon yelled, his voice cracking towards the end. "hurry up!" he waved them over. cupping his mouth with both hands, he replied with an enthusiastic, "coming!"

"i miss taehyung. if he were here, we wouldn't have to worry about losing jimin in the crowd." jeon jeongguk sighed heavily only to be shoved by his girlfriend. "jeongguk!" summer isaac hissed, glancing pointedly in autumn's direction. eyes going wide, the young man's hand came up to cover his mouth as he realised his mistake.

"stupid." min yoongi remarked, voice muffled by his scarf. he subtly took autumn's hand in his, giving it a pat. "i'll say." raheem ashford added, shaking his head. "guys, i'm okay." autumn let out a small laugh.

jimin chuckled softly. he let his gaze wander back to winter. the hint of a smile pulled at her lips and he grinned. he could only hope that one day soon, she would let herself feel freely and without restraint. and he wanted to be there to see it.