bright whites
— for @ywhaneul
something about yangwon’s winter is biting, even colder than the decembers he’s accustomed to back home.
(home—the word floats awkwardly in jaeha’s mind, almost like it doesn’t belong. it’s concerning, really. he should take more care to put some distance between himself and yangwon again. he’s starting to feel himself letting his guard down. again.)
he’s on his way home after stopping by the general store to buy some cold medicine (preemptive, really; he’s not sick yet, but he can feel the telltale ache in his bones and at this age, it’s like a premonition), jacket pulled especially tight over his torso. he’s regretful for the nth time that he left his thicker coats in seoul, but it’s stupid how stubborn he is about admitting it out loud. maybe if the snow gets especially bad, he’ll cave and try to buy a new one. maybe he can push someone in the city to ship him his winter gear if he offers to foot the bill. maybe, maybe, maybe.
jaeha sighs.
for a town as small as yangwon, there’s a large variety of very interesting characters. he’s bad enough with names and faces, but it’s especially hard to keep track of everyone when everyone seems to be filled with a sort of warmth—in some way, shape, or form—that jaeha isn’t quite familiar with. he supposes it’s kind of nice, in a way, how a small town like this is so tight-knit that a newcomer like jaeha just can’t float under the radar. he supposes it’s overwhelming too, with all of the people going out of his way to make sure he wants to stay (and he doesn’t).
there are some people he just can’t read though. some people who do strange things like snap photos of him when he’s completely off-guard. some people who are honestly friendly enough, that jaeha’s subconsciously started going out of his way to avoid—if only because he’s photo shy, which is probably the worst justification there is to hiding in his shell.
and those some people often times pop up out of nowhere when jaeha least expects them.
for example: right this second.
for example: han.
jaeha looks up from the path in front of him and freezes. “oh,” he says, a faint smile on his lips. “hey, long time no see?”
