Work Text:
i
For close to a month, Bambam has watched the boy at the corner bus stop rub his hands together in the ice cold. He was clearly in his high school, the uniform's blazer a bright red. Even though they wore special winter uniforms during the colder months, gloves were something you had to provide for yourself. Every student understood this, even the first years, and gloves were readily available at corner stores everywhere. So, that was why the fact that he stood there, freezing, for no reason, aggravated Bambam so much.
He had money. You could tell by his shoes – they aren’t provided with the uniform. They weren’t particularly amazing shoes, but there were cheaper versions. He was sure that a few hundred won could be sacrificed for some gloves. Still, he stood there, rubbing his hands together and breathing hot air on them.
That was it, it was entirely too much for Bambam. He walked over to the boy with the black hair and mushroom haircut and took off a glove, shoving the boy's right hand into it and taking his bare left hand and holding it in his coat pocket. His skin was sticky, the sharp coldness hurting Bambam’s hand as well. He intertwined their fingers, staring straight ahead and waiting patiently for the bus. Mushroom Boy didn’t talk either, unsure what to say to a random peer grabbing his hands and warming them. The bus was on the horizon now, Bambam removing the other glove and giving it to Mushroom Boy, putting it on him and tucking his own hands back into his pockets.
“Bring gloves.”
ii
Maybe Mushroom Boy had a hearing problem, Bambam told himself. There was no way that after he told him expressly to bring gloves, he would be standing there, rubbing his red hands together, if he hadn’t been hard of hearing. He just sighed to himself, dutifully grabbing the boy’s hand and stuffing it in his pocket, handing the other glove over.
“I’m Yugyeom.”
“I didn’t ask.” Even though he had been so curt with him, the boy still had a little smile. Mushroom- Yugyeom was taller than him, he noticed. His hair bounced like a separate entity, almost. Was he older than him? It didn’t seem like it when he was far away, but now that he was next to him it made him curious. “Bambam.”
iii
Bambam wasn’t sure what he expected, his hands shoved in his pockets as he strolled down the sidewalk to the bus stop. Yugyeom was bouncing up and down to stay warm, now without gloves and a blazer. If he was without pants tomorrow, Bambam wasn’t sure if he would be surprised. It was barely two degrees outside, but he found himself removing the jacket he wore over his blazer and draping it on his shoulders.
The boy – Yugyeom, rather – looked over and smiled, burrowing further into the jacket and zipping it. The tips of his fingers, pink from the cold, peeked out of the ends of it. Bambam’s fingers wrapped around the jacket and shoved their hands into his blazer’s pocket. It was a smaller pocket, their fingers interlocking tightly to fit. Bambam wasn’t sure what made him feel so obligated to protect this boy, but he found himself mussing with his hair as well, brushing out the clear bed-head parts. He had soft hair, it reflected him well. Maybe if it was brown, though, the black was a harsh contrast against his skin – which was paler than Bambam’s. Not by a lot, really, but still some.
“Why aren’t you wearing them?” Bambam tucked his free hand back into his other pocket, frowning at Yugyeom. He was sure that it was the wind, but he thought he heard Mushroom Boy whisper ‘because I wanted to share’.
iv
Bambam was right, this boy seemed to wear less clothes each time he saw him. It was snowing today, feathery soft snowflakes falling through the air. It wasn’t warm, but it was cozy to see it fall so lightly. Yugyeom was wearing a tank top this time, jeans rather than his dress pants, and a sleeve of his uniform peeking out of his backpack. He sure was lucky that he had Bambam, or he would end up a mushroom popsicle. Speaking of mushrooms, his forehead was showing today – he moved his bangs out of his eyes (but so did Bambam, and he wanted to brush them back now that he saw how great Yugyeom looked).
“Do you expect me to strip to keep you warm?”
A breathy response. “Bambam!” Yugyeom shrugged his shoulders lightly, giving a smile and crescent eyes. “Your hair is different.”
“Yours too.” He wasn’t sure how to warm Yugyeom this time, so he just opened his jacket and gestured for him to huddle inside. He felt like a mother bird right now, and he decided that he wouldn’t do this tomorrow. “Why are you half-naked?”
“I have dance this morning.” He danced, huh? Then he should be dancing for warmth.
“Show me next time.” Yugyeom looked ecstatic at the request.
v
Yugyeom wasn’t there next time. Bambam felt his stomach sink when he saw no one huddling for warmth in this weather. There were a few other students, though, on their phones or talking to each other in hushed morning voices.
It was weird to think that this was a normal thing for him before – standing alone and waiting for the bus and putting off human interaction until he got to school. He found his morning lacking now that he wasn’t keeping a little duckling warm. They were a strange pair, surely, almost like a snake and an ant, but he felt like they still complimented each other nicely. Bambam found a lollipop in his pocket and took it out, trying to distract how annoyingly empty his morning felt because of some Mushroom Boy.
Whatever, Bambam decided. He would have to dance twice as much on Monday.
vi
This boy looked like a walking mannequin from a department store. He was bundled from head to toe, complete even with a pink scarf and earmuff set. Bambam was trying his best not to laugh at the boy, especially when he was bouncing on the heels of his feet and flushed a color close to the earmuffs. He came up from behind him, tapping his shoulder and watching him spin around. Bambam’s eyes moved to his hands first and saw that he was wearing gloves, and his eyebrows furrowed.
“Look!” He opened the palms of his hands, one reading ‘y’ and the other ‘b’. His voice quieted shyly. “Yugyeom and Bambam.”
Bambam felt his face match his blazer color. “Do I have a set too?” Yugyeom nodded and his ears tinted. “Put them on me,” he removed his hands from his pockets. “I forgot gloves.”