Chapter Text
Joshua rolled over in bed, wrapping his covers tight around him. Then his door flew open. Jeonghan barreled into the room and roughly shook Joshua awake. "Joshua! Joshua, oh my god! Look outside!"
Bolting upright, Joshua looked out the window to see pure white snow blanketing the world outside. "It snowed!"
"It snowed!" Jeonghan cheered, bouncing up and down in excitement as Carat bounded in jubilant circles around him. "Snow angels, here I come!"
"Aren't you worried about getting cold?" Joshua asked, eyeing the shorts and oversized shirt his brother was currently wearing.
Jeonghan rolled his eyes. "Obviously I'm going to change before going outside. I'm not an idiot." Instead of leaving to go do exactly that, Jeonghan flopped onto Joshua's bed with him. "So what's the deal with you and Seokmin right now?"
"We're doing great." Joshua smiled. "We've been flirting over text all break."
"But you haven't officially called him your boyfriend yet." Jeonghan pointed out.
Joshua looked down at his lap, playing with his fingers as he began to ramble. "We haven't exactly had that conversation. But we're definitely more than friends. We both like each other and we've kissed, like, four times so far. Not that I'm counting or anything…but that's a lot, right?"
Jeonghan raised his eyebrows. "You're sure taking things slow compared to me last fall."
"I'd like to think that's a good thing." Joshua said.
"Maybe." Jeonghan shrugged, sitting up. "I'm gonna go change now." He almost tripped as he zoomed back to his room to chance, Carat happily following at his heels. Joshua heard a thump followed by a faint 'ow' as Jeonghan no doubt ran into a corner in the hallway.
After getting dressed and scarfing down breakfast, Joshua and Jeonghan leaped into the thick white snow carpeting the lawn. Snow went flying as the two of them flailed around on the ground. "Bet I can make my snow angel faster than you!" Jeonghan challenged.
"I'll make you eat those words!" Joshua retorted.
Suddenly he heard the crunch of footsteps on slush. Joshua's heart rate accelerated as he looked up and saw Seokmin smiling down at him. "Joshua, what are you doing?" Seokmin asked in amusement.
Joshua smiled sheepishly. "Appreciating the snow. Don't act like you didn't roll around in it too."
"I don't even have to act because I didn't." Seokmin said. "I think it's a Hong brothers exclusive thing. You're like two excited puppies or something."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Joshua said.
Seokmin chuckled. "I meant it as one. Never change, Joshua." He offered Joshua his hand and deftly hoisted him up to his feet. With a mischievous smile, Seokmin moved to ruffle Joshua's hair but paused. "Wait a minute…I can do this now." He took Joshua's hand and kissed him on the cheek.
Joshua's face heated up in spite of the January cold. "You sure can. A little's changed since we were kids."
Seokmin looked Joshua up and down with a smile as Joshua dusted snow from his shoulders. "You look so cute and cozy all bundled up like that."
Jeonghan sat up in the snow. "Joshua was hoping you'd think so!"
"Shut up!" Joshua glared at Jeonghan.
Seokmin laughed as he pressed another kiss to Joshua's cheek. "It worked. You look adorable. Ready to ride to school?"
"Yep!" Jeonghan climbed to his feet. "I'm stoked we're finally carpooling."
Joshua smiled. "Thanks for offering to do this."
"No problem." Seokmin said. "It always felt so cruel watching you two wait for the bus as I drove right by in my car."
Joshua clambered into the passenger side seat next to Seokmin as Jeonghan settled in the backseat. "It's been a while since you've taken me for a spin in Carly."
Jeonghan furrowed his eyebrows. "Carly? What?"
"Joshua and I named it last time we had coffee together." Seokmin explained before starting the car and pulling out of the driveway. "Feel free to DJ since you're riding shotgun, Joshua."
"Sure." Joshua connected his phone to the Bluetooth and began playing Christmas music.
Seokmin perked up while Jeonghan covered his ears in the backseat. "I love Christmas music!"
"No! The holidays are over already! Stop!" Jeonghan looked at his brother with betrayal. "How could you?"
Joshua shrugged. "I like Christmas music. Sue me."
"Call your lawyer." Jeonghan said. "This is a crime against humanity." He tried to steal Joshua's phone to change the music only to have his hand smacked away by both Joshua and Seokmin. "No fair! Two against one!"
Seokmin smiled innocently. "That's what happens when you take the wrong side." He made an unexpected turn at an intersection.
Joshua and Jeonghan exchanged a perplexed look. "Uh, Seokmin, you're driving the wrong way." Jeonghan informed him.
"No this is the right way." Seokmin said. "I'm picking Jun up too."
"Oh, right, he lives close to us." Joshua mused. "He's the next bus stop down from us."
"We're all carpooling together?" Jeonghan smiled. "Cool."
The car pulled up to a mansion where Jun was waiting at the curb. "Hey Jun!" Joshua greeted him, taking in his all-black ensemble. "Mourning the end of winter break?"
Jun snorted. "No way, I'm glad it's over. I thought I'd go nuts from being cooped up with my family all vacation." He climbed into the backseat, wrinkling his nose when he heard the Christmas music playing. "Who put this on?"
"Not me." Joshua denied.
Once the car left the cul de sac, Jun grinned and tapped Joshua on the shoulder. "Wait, let me tell you about the highlight of my break. At a New Year's party, Rhys kept trying to convince some girl to kiss him at midnight. Then he handed her his phone thinking he'd get her number. But instead, she texted "Rescue' to a charity number and donated a hundred bucks. It showed up on our phone bill."
Joshua laughed. "Oh my god, what a hero!"
"Speaking of romance…" Seokmin glanced at the backseat in the rearview mirror. "What's the latest with you and Seungcheol, Jeonghan?"
Jeonghan smiled. "Things are going really well with us. He's coming over after school to binge watch Going Green with Emerald. Joshua's joining us too."
"I'm watching it too?" Joshua asked in confusion. "Is that the eco-friendly show you keep trying to get me into?"
"It's really addictive." Seokmin said. " You should give it a chance."
Jeonghan gasped. "You too, Seokmin?"
"I guess that's one thing we can agree on." Seokmin mused.
Soon, Seokmin pulled into the school parking lot. Once he climbed out, he hefted his backpack over his shoulder with a grunt. "My backpack's, like, a thousand pounds today."
"Why?" Joshua asked. "What's in it?"
"Secret." Seokmin smiled. "You'll find out soon enough."
As they all climbed out, a car took the spot next to them. The driver's side door opened and out stepped Seungkwan. "Not you again!" Joshua wailed playfully.
Seungkwan smirked. "What, you thought I'd just vanish over winter break or something? Surprise, chump, you're never getting rid of me."
Seokmin threw an arm around Seungkwan's shoulders. "The boys are back in town!"
"You better not start singing that." Seungkwan glared at him.
Jeonghan clapped his hands together. "Let's get to class, shall we?"
Joshua started to follow Jeonghan, Jun, and Seungkwan indoors but Seokmin tugged him back by the wrist. "Before you go…" He looked at Joshua expectantly.
Smiling, Joshua drew his face closer to Seokmin's but accidentally bumped their noses. "Sorry!" Joshua exclaimed sheepishly, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "It's been a while! I half forgot how to kiss you over winter vacation."
Seokmin chuckled. "Then I guess it's time for a reminder." Seokmin smoothly pulled Joshua in for a soft, gentle kiss. Joshua's heart fluttered as Seokmin held him close.
All too soon, the bell rang. "We're gonna be late." Joshua said as he pulled back.
"I'll let you go then." Seokmin said. "To be continued." The two of them reluctantly parted ways to head to class.
The morning flew by and before Joshua knew it, lunchtime had arrived. As he put his books into his locker, he noticed the hallway was covered with new posters. "Where did all these posters come from?" He saw Seokmin unzipping his backpack down the hall.
Eyebrows furrowed, Seokjin peered at the contents of Seokmin's backpack. "How do you expect to be trusted with decorations when you can't even get Bangtan's school colors right?"
Seokmin blinked. "They're purple and silver, right?"
Seokjin gasped. "You call that ash grey 'silver'? Clearly you haven't even consulted the school website for the official CMYK color codes! Attention to detail is an essential trait for-"
"Okay, I think we should take a deep breath and calm down." Seokmin said.
As Joshua approached, Seokmin pulled a roll of posters from his backpack. They were printed with his beaming face. "That's a cute picture of you." Joshua mused.
Seokmin smiled. "What can I say? I wanted to look my best for my campaign poster."
"Campaign poster?" Joshua asked before realization dawned on him. "Wait, it's election season?"
"You didn't know?" Seokjin gaped at him. "We've got to find a suitable class president to replace me once I graduate! If you want any chance of winning, you'd better sign up in the office immediately and-"
Joshua's eyes widened. "I wasn't going to run! Please forgive me!"
"I'm throwing my hat into the ring." Seokmin said. "I'm running for class president."
"What brought this on all of a sudden?" Joshua asked.
Seokmin shrugged. "After the school raised enough money for my mom's treatment, I've been inspired to give back. Art literally saves lives, so I'll be advocating for strengthening the school's arts programs like theatre. Imagine if we had a bigger budget for our next play. We could have special effects like fog! We could get more art classes like ceramics or film production too!"
Joshua smiled. "You'll win by a landslide. You're going to charm the hell out of the student body. I'd say good luck, but you don't even need it."
"I sure hope you're right." Seokmin murmured.
Seokjin looked at Seokmin with intrigue. "Bangtan High's never had a president so focused on the arts programs. It'll be interesting to see how your campaign does."
Once Seokmin had pasted a few posters in the hallway, the two of them entered the cafeteria. Seungkwan waved at them from the usual table. "You two! Over here!"
Seokmin draped an arm around Joshua's shoulder once they were settled at the table. Joshua snuggled up against him. "Did you hear? Seokmin's running for student body president!"
"Oh, I know." Seungkwan said. "In fact, I'm his campaign manager."
"Seungkwan's organized and good at directing stuff so I figured he'd be a good person to direct my campaign too." Seokmin shrugged. "Even if we do butt heads sometimes."
Joshua snorted. "That's putting it mildly. But if you're sure about this, I trust your judgment."
Soon, Jun, Seungcheol, and the other theatre kids joined them at the table. "Long time no see." Seungcheol smiled. "How was everyone's break?"
Seungkwan sighed. "My parents took us skiing but they argued so much that it ended up being stressful instead of fun."
"Relatable." Jun mumbled.
"What about you, Joshua?" Seokmin asked, squeezing him.
"I went ice skating." Joshua said. "I fell down a lot."
Seungkwan nodded. "That sounds like you."
Joshua frowned. "You've only seen me fall down that one time at rehearsal and that was Codie's fault."
"Even so, it does sound like a very Joshua core thing." Seokmin said.
"I don't know what that means but I object to it." Joshua pouted.
Once they'd all finished eating, Seungkwan pointed at Seokmin. "Let's go see if you can put up posters in the courtyard."
Seokmin raised his eyebrows. "Since it's cold, the foot traffic there probably won't be as high as through the hallway."
"But it's still worth investigating." Seungkwan insisted. "We should be thorough."
Vernon sat up straight. "Seokmin, can I help?"
"Me too!" Chan grinned. "Even if Seokmin's romantically taken, we're still Seokmin fans through and through."
"Uh, sure." Seokmin said. "I'll take all the help I can get."
"I'll tag along too." Seungcheol offered.
Jun sighed in exasperation. "Fine. If everyone's going, so will I. But don't count on getting any help from me. I don't care about this election stuff."
"You can just stand there and scowl at his opponents." Joshua suggested.
"I'll stand there and make a neutral expression at his opponents." Jun countered.