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The winter days were getting colder in the big city. Renjun had recently moved out of his parents suburban house into a small apartment nestled among the tall skyscrapers. As the temperature dropped, Renjun realized that he had forgotten to bring a scarf to his new home. While he was reluctant to go out and buy one, he knew that he would give in when the frigid air blowing on his neck became too much to bare.
On a particularly bitter Saturday, Renjun finally broke and headed to the nearest department store. As he entered the store, a slash of bright colors filled his vision and he quickly got lost in the large store. Renjun earnestly searched the plethora of isles to find the place where the scarfs could be. When he finally found them, there was a tall man with dark brown hair looking at the display. The man was holding a dusty yellow scarf that caught Renjun’s eye. As he peered at the man, he realized that his face looked as if it was sculpted by the gods.
The man’s sea blue eyes locked with Renjun’s as if he’d known that Renjun was watching him. At the man’s quick movements, Renjun jumped a bit, worried that the man would yell at him for staring. To his surprise though, the man smiled brightly at Renjun.
As the man continued to smile at Renjun, he stared in panic. In the awkward silence, Renjun blurted out the first thing that had come to mind, “Do you like the color yellow?”
The man stood there for a second rubbing the material that was between his fingers before saying anything, pondering the very simple question. The words eventually formed on his lips although it felt like it had taken ages, “Yeah,” a gorgeous smile displayed itself across the mans blush pink lips.
At the strangers pretty smile, Renjun couldn’t help but smile back as well as he replied, “Me too.”
“Really?” The brown haired man asked excitedly, “What’s your name?"
Renjun chuckled at his excitement and nodded, “My name’s Renjun. What’s yours?”
“I’m Jaemin,” The man with the gorgeous smile replied, “Are you here to look for a scarf too?”
A sarcastic laugh escaped Renjun’s lips, “Yeah, no shit Sherlock, why else would I still be standing here?”
There was a confident smirk that appeared on the other’s lips and Renjun knew he was fucked, “Maybe it’s because you were very enticed with my utter beauty.”
“What are you talking about,” Renjun stuttered, he had been caught and called out.
“Oh you know,” Jaemin cocked his eyebrow as he peered at Renjun. After a moment of staring at Renjun, Jaemin clears his throat and goes back to looking at the scarf.
“You know,” Jaemin started, still looking at the cloth in front of him, “I think this scarf would look good on you.”
Before Renjun could thank Jaemin for the compliment, Jaemin takes the scarf and wraps it around Renjun’s neck meticulously. All Renjun could think about in that moment was the fact that there was a stunning man standing right in front of him, practically holding him.
As Jaemin drew away from the shocked Renjun, he saw the dusting of rose across the cheeks of the shorter man. After a moment of inspecting the scarf around Renjun’s neck, Jaemin finally utters something, “Perfect.”
At the simple word, Renjun’s face became even more flushed. All the man can do is quietly whisper the words, “Thank you,” as he had no confidence to do anything more.
Jaemin suddenly looked at his watch and a look of panic flashed across his face, “I’m so sorry but I need to get going,” A frown crossed his face as he looked back up at Renjun, “I’ll see you around.”
With those last few words, Jaemin rushed out of the department store in a hurry and left Renjun there, absolutely stunned at the events that had just taken place.
Snow flurries had started to fall across the city as Renjun made his way to his favorite coffee shop. It had been weeks since his encounter with Jaemin, yet he still wore the scarf that the man had wrapped around his neck that day. Renjun would constantly wonder how the events that day could have played out differently if he had been more confident and had asked the beautiful man for his phone number.
With sad eyes, Renjun entered the coffee shop and ordered a hot cup of coffee in hopes that it would cheer him up and help him stop dwelling on the past. Renjun found a seat and fidgeted with the end of the scarf while he waited patiently for his coffee.
In Renjun’s peripheral vision, he saw someone make their way towards his table. Renjun looked up to thank, who he would have expected to be the barista, but instead there was the familiar blush pink lips and dark hair of Jaemin.
A wave of shock was sent through Renjun’s body as he had expected to never see the beauty again. He gripped on to the yellow scarf and blinked a few times just to make sure that his mind wasn’t making Jaemin up. When the gorgeous man didn’t disappear, Renjun shook his head and looked back up at Jaemin.
“Are you alright there?” Jaemin asked, eyebrows knit with concern, “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”
A dusting of pink appeared on Renjun’s face as he nodded quickly, “Yep,” he squeaked, “I’m alright.”
Jaemin’s ocean eyes peered at Renjun unconvinced, “You sure? If you need a minute I can always step out,” he offered.
Panic now rushed through Renjun at the thought of Jaemin disappearing again, “No, no, there’s no need. Why don’t you sit down?” he asked as he attempted to calm himself down.
Once Jaemin had sat down, he looked up at Renjun with a slight frown plastered across his blush pink lips, “How come you’re so jumpy?”
A deep blush rushed onto Renjun’s face, “I just didn’t expect to see you again,” he admitted honestly as he played with the scarf’s braided ends.
The blue eyes of Jaemin grew soft at Renjun’s honestly, “I said I’d see you around, but I guess I really didn’t give you anything to guarantee that,” a more prominent frown was carved on his face, “I’m really sorry about that.”
“It’s alright Jaemin,” Renjun gave him a light smile as he put his hand on Jaemin’s forearm, “All that matters is that fate has brought us back together.”
Jaemin looked back up at Renjun with a twinkle in his crystal blue eyes, “You’re right,” he paused for a moment, “Why don’t I get your number right now so we don’t end up forgetting later?”
A bright smile made its way onto Renjun’s face, “That’s a great idea,” he slid his phone over to Jaemin.
When the phone was passed back to Renjun, he looked at the contact name in curiosity. Jaemin had put his contact name as “Scarf Boy”. Renjun glanced up at Jaemin to see a childish smile set upon his lips.
“Scarf Boy?” Renjun asked, confusion laced in his voice, “Is this pertaining to the scarf?” he pointed at the knitted yellow scarf wrapped around his neck.
“Yep!” Jaemin announced, “I think it’s a cute way to remind you of our first meeting,” his smile grew just a bit as he revisited the events in his head.
Renjun chuckled, “I mean I still have it but I guess you can go by Scarf Boy in my contacts.”
Just then, the barista walked up to the table and set down Renjun’s drink, and Renjun thanked her with a gracious smile. The barista then asked Jaemin if he had gotten his drink yet and he shook his head. She told him that she would be right back with it.
“You are quite cute,” Jaemin commented once the barista had walked away from their table to go find Jaemin’s drink.
Usually Renjun would have become really flustered because of the compliment, but there was something in the air that day that gave Renjun just a bit more confidence than usual. Maybe it was because of the snow that floated through the sky or the yellow scarf around his neck but today he had suddenly become more confident. "Oh really?" Renjun asked as he leaned his head on his arm, "Well I think you're gorgeous," he smirked.
Jaemin was taken aback by the usually flustered Renjun being so straightforward with him. This caused him to flush a bright red. Renjun laughed at the shock that was being displayed on Jaemin's face.
Before a word could be spoken again between the two of them, the barista was back with Jaemin's drink. Jaemin thanked her politely and as she walked away she said, "You two enjoy your date."
Both Renjun and Jaemin blushed at her comment and stared at each other with wide eyes. Renjun was the first to break the silence, "Does it really look like we are on a date?"
"I'm not sure," Jaemin shook his head and looked back at Renjun, "I guess so if she assumed that."
Renjun was quiet for a second as he indulged his mind in his thoughts, "Maybe that just means we look really good together," he suggested shyly as he looked down at his half empty cup of coffee.
There was a hum that came from Jaemin. Renjun glanced up at him to see Jaemin sipping his coffee. He could not decipher if the hum was in agreement of his statement or the ocean eyed man just indulging in his coffee.
"Coffee's good?" Renjun inquired, trying to come to a conclusion to his confusion, "What did you get?"
Jaemin nodded brightly, "I got a cappuccino and it's great!" He smiled brightly with a bit of foam on his blush pink lips.
"Hey Jaemin," Renjun said as he noticed the foam. Jaemin hummed, "You have some foam on your lip," he motioned to where the foam was on his own face, hoping that Jaemin would be able to clean it up himself.
Jaemin's tongue peeked out from his lips as he licked the spot that Renjun was motioning to, "Did I get it?" he asked as he turned his attention back to Renjun. There was a nod from Renjun and Jaemin smiled slightly embarrassed, "So what did you get?"
"I just got a latte," Renjun answered as he tried to think of another topic to spare Jaemin from his obvious embarrassment. Suddenly, the perfect question came to Renjun's mind, "What do you do?"
With that simple question, Jaemin's ocean eyes lit up, and he spoke excitedly, "I'm a baker! The bakery I work at is only a little ways away from here, but I always come here to get my coffee."
Renjun could tell that Jaemin was clearly passionate about baking and it warmed his heart, "Really? I definitely didn't expect you to be a baker."
"Really! I love baking so much, it has been something I've been doing since I was really young and it was always my dream to be able to bake as a living," Jaemin's pretty blue eyes grew wistful as he remembered his childhood and his dreams, "I hope to one day open my own bakery and make it as beautiful as I’ve always dreamed of."
As Renjun listened to Jaemin's dreams, he couldn't help but smile. There were very few people he met nowadays that had as much passion as Jaemin did for their craft, "I hope that one day you'll be able to open your own bakery, Jaemin."
"Thanks," Jaemin smiled brightly, "What do you do, Renjun?"
"I work at a book store right now, but my true passion is art," Renjun told Jaemin as he scratched the back of his neck, "My work isn't the best but I have fun doing it."
"I'm sure it’s absolutely beautiful Renjun," Jaemin smiled brightly, "If you're willing to share any of your work with me, I'd love to see it."
"I'll have to think about it," Renjun sent a small smile to Jaemin, "Do you live around here seeing as your bakery is near here?"
Jaemin nodded, "I do. I live a few blocks that way," he motioned to his right.
Renjun's eyes widened as he saw the direction that Jaemin was pointing, "You're kidding," he stated shocked, "My apartment is that way too."
"Woah," Jaemin's ocean eyes widened as well, "I guess fate really is looking out for us."
A slight laugh escaped from Renjun's lips, "It looks like it is," his shock had slightly faded. He looked down at his mug to see it was empty, "Why don't we walk together since we live close to each other?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Jaemin smiled and drank the last bit of his coffee, "After all, I would like to make sure that you and your scarf get home safely in this weather," he smirked smugly and stood up.
With a chuckle at Jaemin's comment, Renjun stood up as well and the two walked out of the cozy coffee shop. As the two made their way towards Renjun's apartment, Renjun had learned that Jaemin had been living in the city for several years now and was able to tell Renjun about little memories of places that they passed by as the walked. At one point, while Jaemin was going on about a memory, Renjun hooked his arm in Jaemin's and the story stopped being told abruptly and Jaemin stared at the short Renjun who sent him eyes of innocence. Jaemin had blushed slightly at the action but quickly went back to telling stories to Renjun.
When the two had arrived at Renjun's apartment, they separated. Renjun smiled, "I'm really glad that we were able to run into each other again, Jaemin."
"Me too, Renjun," Jaemin smiled radiantly, "We definitely should run into each other again soon."
"Actually," Renjun started to play with the ends of the yellow scarf again, adrenaline coursed through his veins, "I was wondering if we could go out sometime?" he shut his eyes quickly, trying to avoid the possible rejection.
Renjun felt a soft touch on his shoulder and he opened one eye. Jaemin was standing there with a brilliant smile adorning his blush pink lips, an absolutely gorgeous sight to behold, "I'd love to go out on a date with you Renjun."
"Really?" Renjun opened both of his eyes and stared into Jaemin's ocean eyes.
"Really."