Chapter Text
“ It’s so pretty, ” Jun breathes out at the sight of the tall and big Christmas tree that was in the middle of the shopping area.
For a small moment, Jun almost forget what he was doing here. Clutching tightly to the bread he stole from the shop-owner a couple of blocks away from where Jun was. He felt oddly out of place, the sound of children laughing and trying their best to pry out any sort of hint to what kind of gift they’ll receive for Christmas―Must be nice to have a home to celebrate Christmas in, Jun quietly thought.
“ Ah, there he is! ” An angry voice shouted. Jun doesn’t have to turn to see who it was. It was that shop-owner, he really doesn’t want to give up, huh? He’s pretty resilient for an old man, Jun can’t help but want to say. He had no time for useless snarky comments, he has to run quickly before he gets caught.
It took an hour or two for Jun to lose that old man. He lost his shoe in the midst of that terrible goose-chase.
It’s cold.
Jun wants to look for his shoe. Maybe he’ll feel less cold when he finds it.
Jun walks around but doesn’t find it. Where did it go?
It’s cold.
Jun shivers when the wind blows strongly in his direction, he clutches tightly to the bread he stole. He doesn’t want to lose it too. He continues to stride through the empty shopping area in hopes he’ll find his missing shoe. He wobbles a little as he walks, he’s scared that his legs are starting to numb out.
Jun suddenly remembered a conversation between two adults, they were talking about the cold and body parts.
“ I heard that your arms and legs begin to rot when they freeze, so you have to cut them off. ”
A old-looking man said, tapping his gloved index finger against his face. He was telling this to a younger man who shivered, not because of the cold weather but because of the scary fact that the old-looking man bestowed on him. It was a little comical watching the younger man’s reaction, Jun thought.
“ Eh? Really? That’s scary! ”
The younger man continued how he can’t imagine how scary it would be to be out here in the cold with nowhere to go . The old-looking man told him that that is why he should appreciate what he has now. Though, honestly, would they even bother to help people like Jun? Jun wondered bitterly as he watched the two polished men walk into the station .
“I don’t want to cut my arms and legs off,” Jun huffed as he wander about. He can’t find his shoe. It’s useless. He won’t be able to find his shoe.
Some lousy adult must have thrown his broken shoes away. Some lousy adult must have kicked it on his way to rest somewhere warm and easy.
Jun wants to cry but he can’t. He shouldn’t. If he does, his entire body will freeze. He doesn’t want to freeze. He doesn’t want to die. It’s scary. It’s scary to die. Jun doesn’t want that.
“ It’s cold, ” Jun breathed out as he huddled himself into a ball.
“ Oh, are you alright? ” A voice asked. His voice is warm, like the sun.
Jun looks up to find a man dressed very warmly. He’s holding a boy’s hand, he’s frowning at Jun. The boy is all dressed warmly too. They don’t belong here, they belong somewhere else. They look like they’re from the expensive neighbourhood a couple stations away from this town. What are they doing here?
“What are you doing out here all alone, my dear? You’ll die, you know?”
The warmly dressed man is so strange. He can say such things so casually, Jun wondered why. More importantly, should Jun answer the man? It seems like he won’t go away until Jun answers his question. He’s going to lose his voice and energy thanks to this man, Jun bitterly thought.
“There’s nowhere else.”
The warmly dressed man tilts his head, almost as if he had to take a minute to understand Jun’s short answer.
“Nowhere else? You don’t have a home?”
Jun shakes his head. Please leave already, Jun wanted to say. It seems the The warmly dressed man had other plans for Jun, he continued the conversation despite the discomfort both of the younger boys were in. Maybe he’s dense?
“Why don’t you come home with us? I can introduce you to Eden , an organization we work for.”
Jun ponders at the offer. Maybe. Is it warm? Jun wondered. Right before Jun could ask such a question, the other boy chimed in.
“Don’t bother, he looks too weak―I doubt he’ll be in any use.”
Jun reconsiders his choice. He shakes his head immediately. That other boy, he’s mean. He looks bitter. He looks vile. Jun doesn’t like him. He decides to not go, he rather die than be with someone like him.
“See? Let’s go―I’m cold.”
Jun watches the warmly dressed man sighed in exasperation. He hears the other boy talk about how Jun doesn’t want to go. There’s no use in forcing Jun to go, the other boy says as he tries to drag the warmly dressed man away from Jun. He’s pretty impatient, Jun thought. Must be because he’s freezing too despite how warm he’s dressed.
“Fine then, have this at least.”
The warmly dressed man removes his scarf, wrapping it tightly around Jun. He tells Jun to keep it so he at least something to keep himself warm for the night. He even mentions that Jun is not dressed appropriately for winter, it’s such a shame.
“If you change your mind, you can find us at the station, okay?” The warmly dressed man bids Jun goodbye.
Jun closes his eyes, listening to the two walk away. He can hear their whispers. They’re talking about Jun. The warmly dressed man sounds worried while the other boy wasn’t. If anything, he blatantly notes how weak and useless kids like Jun will freeze to death in this kind of weather. He’s not wrong, Jun thought.
Jun, too, thought he was going to die but he didn’t.
Jun actually lost the number of times he thought that he was going to die. Terrified, he would whisper to himself in tears that he was going to die alone like this but then, the very next day, he’ll wake up. It was how he lived, to be frank. It’s amazing how far he’s managed to stay alive. Jun wondered why he hasn’t died yet, though.
That warm man and that bitter boy, they kept visiting Jun. To be honest, Jun never really found the fondness the warm man in having conversations with him. Everyday, the warm man would make an attempt to bring Jun back to that organization of his.
“I don’t mean to brag or anything but, Eden treasures my intelligence a whole lot. They could never live without me!”
That’s an obvious brag, though?
Is it rude to point it out? Jun wondered. He glances at the bitter boy who sighs and shakes his head. ‘ Just go along with him, ’ the bitter boy’s face says when he makes eye-contact with Jun. Guess, this is rather typical of the older. Jun wonders if that intelligence of his is actually worth as much as he says.
Jun doesn’t really want to doubt it but he can’t help it.
“ Oh, you’ve got wonderful physical abilities and you can survive harsh weather too―I’m amazed you’ve lasted so long with just your tattered clothes and my scarf!”
Jun wonders about his survival skills too. He watches the warm man inspect him as the bitter boy asks if he just portions out his food so he can survive during the day. Jun doesn’t actually know if he has a survival tactic―he just prays that he’ll make it to tomorrow. That’s all he does, really.
The warm man laughs in astonishment. He praises Jun for having such faith in God.
“There’s no use in asking, he’ll struck you down every time you ask―Now, can we go?” The bitter boy scolds the warm man who pouts. Childish, Jun can’t help but label the warm man. A rather childish adult that needs to be guided by a bitter violet-hair boy. What an odd combination.
“Alright, alright―I’ll come again tomorrow, okay? Since it’s Christmas, why don’t you have some gingerbread?” The warm man handed some sort of brittle, brown biscuit that was in a vague shape of a man. Strange. Is he supposed to eat this?
“ Gingerbread? What’s that? ”
Jun took a bite as he hears the bitter boy exclaim how weird it is that Jun didn’t know what a gingerbread is. Jun shrugs in response, he might have seen it before but he didn’t know what they were called. It’s not that big of a deal, really.
“It’s sweet,” Jun notes. The warm man mentions how all gingerbread cookies are sweet, that’s normal.
Jun nods at the explanation. He likes the gingerbread cookie. He likes the warm man. He doesn’t mind the bitter boy, he’s funny sometimes. Pouting and whining whenever he has to visit Jun but he’ll end up telling Jun weird things that make him giggle. He watches the two bid goodbye and walk away.
It beats better than waiting in the cold right?
Jun tugs on the warm man’s coat.
“I’ll go,” Jun says quietly. The warm man stares at the bitter boy for a moment before asking Jun to repeat what he said once more. It seems the two didn’t get the picture.
“I’ll go with you,” Jun says properly. He tightens his grip on the warm man’s coat who smiles brightly.
The bitter boy asks why, Jun shrugs in response. The gingerbread was nice, he ended up answering. The bitter boy quirks an eyebrow before exclaiming how strange Jun is. The warm man laughs, mentioning how he didn’t expect Jun to be a sweet-tooth. He should’ve lured Jun out with sweets from the very beginning, the warm man continues laughing.
“Well then, from now on, we’re a family , okay?” The warm man says as he holds Jun’s hand in one hand and the bitter boy’s hand in the other.
Jun and the bitter boy tilt their heads in confusion. They didn’t quite understand what the warm man was saying.
“ On Christmas, you spend it with your family. ”
Ah, is that so? Jun didn’t know. From now on, this warm laughing man and this pouting bitter boy, they are his family. Tightening his grip, Jun relishes in that strange warmth for a minute. He’ll get used to this warmth, somehow.