Having inexplicably committed himself to a picnic in December, Jin-kyu decided that they might as well do it properly and go to Central Park. There was a spot there by Belvedere Castle that Sun-hee always had picnics at in the summertime, like every other sane person.
Sammy helped Jin-kyu pack up a selection of Tupperware filled with food they had bought from the store. Luckily, Jin-kyu didn't have to prepare much as it was one of those health food places where you could get pre-made organic pasta salads and sandwiches from the deli.
Jin-kyu attempted not to remember how ridiculously overpriced the sandwiches were when he noticed Sammy feeding one to Darain.
"Come on," he growled, grabbing the end of Sammy's stupidly long scarf and using it as a makeshift leash, dragging the younger man towards the door. "Time to go on the subway."
He couldn’t hide his smirk as he heard Sammy make an enthusiastic noise behind him.
The park was nothing short of picturesque as they walked through an avenue of bare brown trees, their branches laden with sleeves of shining snow. The sun was out and Jin-kyu wondered if the melting ice would seep through the blanket he had brought?
He hadn't been able to find one at first but eventually he had fished one out from the bottom of an antique wooden trunk that Sun-hee had made him take from their old house.
With a clench of his chest, Jin-kyu had realised that it was the same blanket his mother had used when they had picnicked back in New Jersey. His hand had wavered a moment, tempted to place it back safely in the bottom of the trunk.
"Ooh you found a blanket!" Sammy's voice had come from behind him, "what are all those white things on it?"
"Cobwebs," Jin-kyu had sighed, before passing the blanket to Sammy, "go shake it out and we can take it to the park - it deserves some use."
Ten minutes later and Jin-kyu had found himself pulling the cobwebs out of Sammy's hair in great sticky clumps, his fingers running through the soft brunet tufts as they lightly grazed the younger man's scalp.
A moment afterwards, his eyes had caught with Sammy's wide questioning ones. Jin-kyu had abruptly cleared his throat, "Go put your hat on Sammy, and you should wear at least three sweaters under your coat - the forecast predicted more snowfall."
Walking through the park - the snow was indeed lightly falling down, peppering them with a dusting of flakes that glinted in the bright sunlight.
There were quite a few people out and enjoying snowball fights in the on the Great Lawn, also the usual groups of middle-aged women power-walking in their brightly coloured outfits and spotless sneakers.
They passed several of these groups on their way to the picnic spot and Jin-kyu couldn't help but smirk at the number of eyes on him. He had never had trouble getting people's attention, when he had been younger he'd revelled in it.
However, over recent years Jin-kyu had grown to hate the way people's gazes tracked up and down his body. The way nobody seemed to care about the weariness he felt on the inside.
"Why are they all staring?" Sammy snapped next to him, making Jin-kyu jerk his head to the younger man in surprise. It was the first time that he had heard Sammy sound annoyed. Sure enough, Sammy was wearing an uncharacteristically irritated looking frown.
Jin-kyu didn't have long to ponder the reasons why though, as a moment later Sammy suddenly looped one of the loose ends of his red scarf around Jin-kyu's neck, binding them together. They were close enough in height that it simply served to pull Jin-kyu slightly closer to Sammy, their shoulders brushing together as they walked.
"You looked cold," Sammy blushed in explanation as Jin-kyu frowned curiously down at the woollen garment.
Jin-kyu couldn't help but feel though that with every new group of power-walkers they passed - the scarf grew inexplicably shorter, until the point where Sammy was firmly plastered against his side. Jin-kyu smiled softly to himself, biting his lip to hide it from Sammy.
Sammy eventually released him when they arrived at the chosen picnic spot.
"Good view of the city from here," Jin-kyu noted quietly as Sammy rolled out the blanket beside him, his weight crunching down the carpet of snow.
They predictably received a few odd looks, but there were also the knowing smiles of older couples that passed them by. Probably misinterpreting the picnic as a romantic gesture rather than the placation of a newly animated mannequin.
Curses kind of sucked the romance out of things.
Not that there would be any romance anyway, because it was Sammy. Sammy and Jin-kyu.
Jin-kyu huffed at himself, shaking his head as he reached for one of the fresh deli sandwiches. It was not long however, before the cold started to creep underneath their many knitted layers and Jin-kyu was rolling his eyes at Sammy's chattering teeth.
"I did try to tell you that this is generally thought of as a summer pastime." Jin-kyu stated, passing Sammy the Thermos flask of hot chocolate that he had whipped up back at the apartment.
"B-but what if I'm n-not here in the s-summer?" Sammy stammered, wrapping his scarf in a further loop around his chin, serving to only leave the top half of his face exposed. His wide eyes were staring at Jin-kyu questioningly.
Jin-kyu froze, the last bite of his sandwich mid-way to his mouth. Somehow, amongst the snow-clad trees and soaking wet blanket, he had forgotten that Sammy's foray into the land of the living probably came with an expiration date.
"Look!" Sammy called out suddenly, pointing to something across the lawn, "what are they doing?"
Jin-kyu glanced up to see people lying down in the snow, brushing their arms in sweeping movements.
He grinned, "They're making snow angels."
Sammy went to copy the movement, letting out a yelp a moment later.
"Sammy?" Jin-kyu asked, hurriedly getting up off the blanket and rushing over to where Sammy was sprawled on the ground, spasming strangely.
"I got snow down my back!" Sammy squeaked, allowing Jin-kyu to haul him up as he continued his odd wiggling dance.
Jin-kyu huffed and rolled his eyes, "Come on - let's clear up the picnic before we both turn into snowmen."
"Is all the hot chocolate gone?" Sammy frowned at the empty flask.
Jin-kyu sighed but found himself smiling fondly at the younger man, "There's bound to be a Starbucks on the way home. Plus we need to go to the store again to get some ingredients."
"What for?" Sammy looked up at him from where he was kneeling on the blanket, damp patches seeping up his jeans.
"Eggnog to take ice-skating tomorrow," Jin-kyu shrugged, "it's another Kim family tradition. Sun-hee doesn't have time to make it this year."
"Can I help make it?" Sammy asked hopefully.
"Sure," Jin-kyu replied drily, "what could possibly go wrong?"
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