the first snowfall of the winter season represented a number of things, ranging from death to the start of new beginnings. jun was determined to make this day represent the second part of that as he mushed his way through the growing blanket of white snow towards joshua's house. long ago as a kid his mother read him a story about a couple who confessed to each other during the first snowfall of their first winter together, and for them it symbolized the everlasting nature of their relationship. jun thought it was cheesy for him to think of him and joshua like that, but after his talk with jia he felt his confidence rise.

the purple haired male had hit rock bottom with his visit to the hospital. he felt ashamed of himself and hated how everyone around him second guessed him and his decisions because of the events leading up to that day. however, jun also saw that day as a new start for him. he didn't have to lie to anyone anymore and that in itself felt relieving. after his talk with jia he felt free, more free than he had ever been in a long time. he also had patched things up with his parents sometime between his talk with jia and now so things were really looking up for him. all there was left to do now was to figure out what he and joshua meant to each other. he had already known what joshua meant to him so it was on today, under the first snowfall of the season, that jun was going to find out what he meant to joshua.

the brunette was currently locked up in his room, shut away from the world so that he could focus on his studies. however, unlike before where he just melted away into them to conceal his emotions about everything else, joshua felt he couldn't concentrate properly on the books in front of him. all he could think about was the empty space on his bed behind him and how he wished jun was there to fill it. oh he was kidding himself, there was no way jun would want to fill it up voluntarily. what he and jun had was strictly friendly right? jun was clingy and cuddly with everyone, he wasn't special at all compared to the others. still joshua loved to dive into those thoughts and how it would feel if jun did like him back.

"someone seems a little burnt out." joshua looked up at the doorway to his room to see jun smiling at him. he hadn't known how long the latter had been there, but it couldn't have been too long seeing as jun was still dressed up in his winter boots and heavy coat. a small scarf was wrapped around jun's neck but joshua could still see the chinese male's ears which were pinkened from the cold temperatures outside. "studying that hard is going to give you a hemorrhage josh."

"how'd you even know-"

"your mom told me you were screaming at your textbooks. we figured it'd be best if I took you out on a stress relieving date!" jun wanted to retract his statement immediately. he didn't even think about using the word date to describe what he had planned until it had come out of his mouth. luckily the brunette didn't ponder on that part of the sentence at all, instead he was more curious on how jun had even made contact with his mother. joshua knew his mom had the day off and after dinner she had informed the brunette that she was going to spend the rest of the night residing in her room. "you talked to my mom?"

"we're facebook friends." jun answered simply before walking into joshua's room. he had been in the room so many times that it was practically his own and joshua was so used to jun being over at his house at this point that he didn't protest when jun started to go through his closet. that was when joshua stood up from his desk to watch as jun began to pull out his winter outerwear from the closet. clearly jun had plans that involved the two of them going out, what they were specifically was going to have to wait to be revealed until after they were outside. "by the way, those pictures of you on your mom's timeline? you looked so adorable as a baby! I wonder where all that cuteness went-"

"I'm blocking you from my mom's facebook page as soon as I get back home." joshua rolled his eyes as he began to get dressed in his outerwear. he threw a hoodie on his body before jun handed him his coat to wear. joshua also threw on a beanie over his head just before the two had left his house to dive into the cold outdoors. the brunette regretted not bringing a scarf with him because of how the chilly air froze his cheeks. his problem was partly solved when he zipped up his coat over his lips to conserve what little heat he had left in his face as the snow lightly graced his face.

jun smiled at him again, ignoring his cold ears and cheeks to speak to the brunette. "bold of you to assume you'll survive and make it home from what I have planned tonight."

it wasn't long before they reached a familiar setting, the field that jun had taken joshua to watch seungcheol's band before. it was now covered in a wide blanket of snow, making it a living winter wonderland. they weren't the only ones about to dive into the wonderland though; in the distance they could see their friends already starting to battle with each other in the snow. jun waved at them from afar and watched as chan and mingyu ran towards them from a distance while joshua observed how jun shivered softly.

"you're cold right? I can tell. here take this." joshua tore off his red beanie and placed it onto jun's head carefully before jun could object and insist that he was fine like he usually did. the chinese male smiled at the brunette before getting distracted by chan who had ran up to him and striked up a conversation with the purple haired male. behind them was mingyu who crouched down into the snow to grab some more snow to build up onto the small snowball he was creating in his hands.

"can you two be any more obvious or what? you might as well save us all the trouble and just tell us you two are dating already." wonwoo muttered from the right side of joshua, causing for the brunette to blush. he was about to respond to the comment made by the ravenette when a snowball flew in and smacked both him and wonwoo in the faces. joshua wiped off the remains of it off of his face while mingyu stood up, ready to defend wonwoo from the person who had thrown the snowball at them. "mingyu stand down."

"I'm not standing down until that ass gets a face full of snow in return." mingyu glared at seokmin who smiled cheekily at the pair. he hadn't joined them earlier and instead focused on gathering his own stockpile of snowballs which resulted in seokmin finding the perfect timing to ambush the seniors. luckily for him wonwoo and joshua didn't care too much to attack him back but unfortunately mingyu, who was pretty much wonwoo's self-proclaimed guard dog, felt a need to protect the ravenette hence why he began to chase seokmin. "oh come on really? what happened to bros before hoes mingyu??"

"you broke that pact when you attacked wonwoo. come chan we must defend our love."

wonwoo looked away, embarrassed by both mingyu and chan who had begun to retaliate against seokmin in his honor. he sighed at the way joshua winked at him before stomping off to stop the pair from destroying seokmin. this finally gave jun the opening he needed to start up a conversation with joshua yet again. he sidestepped towards the brunette and played with the beanie on his head before slyly speaking out loud. "so are you having fun? I really hope you are having fun since I always have fun when you hang out with me!"

"hm I don't know, this is kind of boring..." joshua's voice tone lowered with an unsure undertone that made jun doubt himself. maybe he shouldn't have brough the brunette along to something like this without asking him beforehand if he wanted to come along. jun frowned at joshua, disappointed that he hadn't known that the brunette wouldn't have liked going out for a snowball fight to being with. the purple haired male bit his bottom lip anxiously as joshua brought his hands behind his back and held back a small smirk.

"really? I'm sorry I didn't mean to bore you with-" jun felt his face freeze when the snowball that was being hidden behind joshua's back hit him right square in the face. the brunette's laughter could be heard as he slowly retreated from jun. when the purple haired male brushed the snow away from his face he mischievously grinned at joshua, leaning down to gather snow in his gloved hands before making eye contact with the older male. "oh it's on!"

the two began to chase each other, or well joshua began to run away from jun. somewhere along the way jun had exacted his revenge by covering jun's head of brown hair with so much snow it looked as if it had been white all along so now it was joshua who was chasing jun. the purple haired male laughed as he ran, not even thinking about anything else other than not wanting to be attacked by joshua again. he hadn't even been thinking about where he was going which is why he gasped abruptly when he tripped over his own foot and fell right into a untouched pile of cold snow.

"are you okay?" joshua's voice was laced with concern as he caught up to where jun tripped in the snow. it was guaranteed that at least one of them were going to fall, especially considering how slippery the snow was, but that didn't stop the brunette from worrying over jun. he knelt down into the snow, offering a hand down for the purple haired male to grab and pull himself up with. when jun panted lightly, tired from the sprinting they were participating in, the pair decided it would be best to just sit and rest in the snow.

jun nodded to answer the brunette's question which allowed for him to exhale in a relieved manner as he held jun's hand in his own. it was then that jun looked into his eyes and felt his heart start to act up once again, out of love this time. he remembered the advice his sister had given him right before he proceeded to try to find out the identity of her mysterious boyfriend, which was that he needed to reach out to joshua. he always tried to show the brunette the best of him, but what he really needed to show was that he cared deeply about him. continuing to hold joshua's hand was one way to show his love but jun decided to go down the more traditional route of just pulling joshua right towards him and kissing him directly on the lips.

the brunette was surprised as the warmth of jun's lips enveloped his own, but he didn't hesitate to reciprocate the favor by kissing right back. just as quickly as they were on him, jun pulled his lips away from the brunette to view joshua's reaction. he bit his bottom lip in an uncertain manner, which made joshua laugh before the older male nodded at jun. for someone who was so bold as to pull him into a kiss, jun sure was being shy about it.

joshua then lifted his dominant hand and held jun's left cheek in it, caressing its soft surface before scoffing softly. the unsure expression in jun's eyes wasn't going away anytime soon which was what prompted joshua to lean in and give jun a taste of his own medicine. jun gasped lightly as their lips joined as one for a second time that day. this wasn't some impulsive kiss, this was deep and intense as if joshua had put everything he had into this one kiss. the purple haired teenager on the receiving end let out a small hum of pleasure as he closed his eyes and wrapped his hands around joshua's neck so that he could pull him in closer. he did this all while tilting his head to the side, making it easier for the sparks to fly in between then as their lips collided with one another for a third time.

the two remained in their own world until the cheers and whistling from their friends, who had been watching the two carefully since jun's fall, tore them back to reality. they pulled away from each other respectively with wide grins plastered on both of their faces to gaze at their rambunctious friends. seokmin started hollering while throwing his winter hat into the air next to mingyu who pointed and shouted in an equally loud volume. the two juniors did a really good job in making wonwoo and chan, who stood beside them in silence, look very normal.

"hell yeah look at them getting it on! us next wonwoo!" mingyu could be heard yelling. the ravenette gave mingyu a sharp glance that told the younger to shut up, but the junior wasn't quitting anytime soon. mingyu continued teasing wonwoo for a kiss and when the ravenette turned to face the junior so that he could tell him off properly, mingyu stole a quick peck on the lips from him.

it wasn't the first time the pairing shared a kiss, but it definitely took wonwoo by surprise. if the shocked expression on his face wasn't convincing enough to prove that, the slap on mingyu's chest did plenty in supporting that claim. wonwoo was left speechless and when mingyu delivered an infuriatingly cheeky smirk to the ravenette, his silence turned to unrequited rage. chan shook his head softly and pretended not to know who either of the two boys were as wonwoo began to pursue mingyu in a anger-filled chase.

meanwhile on the ground, jun innocently tightened the grip on his hands that were laced behind joshua's head while slowly playing with the brunette's hair. a light layer of snow brushed off onto jun's face as joshua smiled and shook his head in the chinese male's direction. this caused for jun to scoff at joshua as he spat out a few specks of snow that happened to have fallen into his mouth. the two didn't have to speak to communicate to recognized that both were equally as content with just sitting and being next to each other in the snow, fooling around like they usually did. both males  laughed though when they turned to look at their friends, catching wonwoo running after mingyu with a large pile of snow prepared in his hands.

"mingyu! fuck are you okay?" it didn't take a genius to figure out what the ravenette was planning to do with the snow, although his plans were thwarted when mingyu tripped and fell face first into the snow. wonwoo dropped the pile of snow in his hands to rush to mingyu's aid when the tall junior remained still in the snow, right in the position he had fallen in. everyone got quiet when wonwoo rushed to sit next to mingyu, shaking the junior's body with fear instilled in his voice. mingyu's eyes were closed, but wonwoo could see the small smirk on the junior's lips start to form before mingyu abruptly sat up and pelted the ravenette with his nearby stockpile of snowballs. "you asshole, oh my god! I hate you!"

the ravenette screamed out loud, trying to run while mingyu pursued him instead of the other way around. it was when wonwoo had caught up to chan that he used the junior as a human shield. apparently that had been a signal for everyone to go ham on mingyu because seokmin decided to jump up from behind wonwoo, who screamed in terror since he hadn't seen the junior behind him to begin with, and start absolutely wrecking mingyu with his highly accurate snowball assault. seokmin was on their school's baseball team which explained why his aim was just impeccable. nearly ever snowball he threw hit directly onto mingyu's face which in return caused for mingyu to cry out in pain and for wonwoo, who was still back-hugging chan, to deeply chuckle in the younger's ears.

"come jun, I think it's about time we join those idiots." joshua stood up and brushed the snow off of his ass before lending a hand to jun to help him up. the purple haired male stood up with ease thanks to joshua pulling him up, but looked hesistant to join their laughing friends. the brunette looked backwards at jun, since he had gone ahead first, and returned to the purple haired male's side when he saw that jun was deep in thought. he admired the latter for a minute, proudly gleaming at how good jun looked in his winter hat while wondering what was going on in the chinese student's mind. he tapped on jun's shoulder which snapped him out of his trance and then raised his eyebrows when jun smiled at him.

"wait let me just-" jun mumbled under his breath before cupping joshua's cheeks once more and bringing the brunette in for one more kiss. he was thinking about the feeling of joshua's lips on his own, and much like their cuddling sessions jun found himself addicted to this as well. the brunette let jun take control, mainly because it had caught him by surprise yet again and because the kiss had ended way before he could react to it. when jun pulled away he smiled mischievously at the way joshua's lips pinkened not because of the cold temperatures, but because of the pressure jun left behind after kissing him. the chinese male laughed when looking towards joshua's scalp and brushed off some of the snow still trapped in his dark brown hair. "okay there now we can go."

"don't go thinking you'll get away with that by the way, I'll be plotting my revenge junnie." joshua rolled his eyes at the purple haired male as he giggled and dashed away to join their friends. it was when jun approached them that they all switched their targets onto him and immediately pelted him with snowballs. mingyu, who had curled up into a ball in the snow for maximum defense, peeked his head up and decided to make his escape by running off while the others were distracted. however, it wasn't long before wonwoo and chan were on his heels with the ravenette carrying the younger junior on his back as they pursued mingyu. the rest of the night was filled with happiness as the friend group grew to be closer with each other than they ever had been before.

thus proving that the first snowfall of the season truly was a magical time full of love, laughter, and new beginnings.

= = =
y'all 😭 junshua finally came home!! how are we feeling now???

this is definitely one of my favorite chapters to write! it just flowed naturally and before I knew it I had 3000+ words written down!! honorable mentions include chapters 41 and 28 (jun's interaction with his brother was so cute to write and 28 was like one of the first real junshua chapters ;-;). ofc there is more to come 👀

for least favorite I would say anything having to do with jun arguing with his family (chaps 45 and 40 for example) was really difficult to write/read for me. those took me a few days to complete while happy chapters like this one were done in the matter of hours.

I'm curious to know, what are your favorites and least favorites so far? and what are you hoping to see happen before the book ends? ew it's kinda weird seeing myself talk this much, but I would love to get some feedback! it could change how the book ends, I mean it already has before. all criticism and ideas are welcome!