"That'll be one thousand three hundred won," said in a soft voice the tall, older woman behind the cash register.

He rummaged in his pocket, pulled out some bills, paid for three buns of sweet red beans, pulled a warm scarf over his face, and after saying good-bye to the clerk, leisurely walked out of the store. On the way out, a cold wind immediately struck, which smeared across his face and scratched the delicate skin of his flushed cheeks.

After skirting a small snowdrift, the guy moved toward the bus stop, pulling out a tightly wrapped bun on the way. He sank his teeth into the soft, flavorful dough and smiled contentedly. His phone vibrated in his pocket. Sliding his fingers across the screen, he opened the messages:

"Hyun-i, have you met him yet?"

Taking another bite, he licked the stuffing that dripped onto his fingertip, and quickly typed:

"No, Mom, I'm still going. I went to the store to get something for a snack."

Immediately the reply came:

"Ah, okay, okay... I'm just so worried~ As you meet, hurry home."

"Okay."

As he corresponded with his mother, he didn't notice that his foot once again got bogged down under a deep layer of snow. Pulling it out and shaking it off, Du Hyun swallowed a piece of bun, which immediately melted in his mouth, and shoved his hands into his pockets and walked to the bus stop.

He had waited four months for this day, so the anticipation of the meeting that Hyun felt inside was quickly replaced by impatience.

It was early morning. The snow-covered streets, snowed in with the January snow, looked deserted. Somewhere in the distance could be heard the sound of winter tires cutting across the road, and the quiet voices of people rushing to work.

After ten minutes, Du Hyun finally reached the empty bus stop. After scratching his cheek, he exhaled and sat down on the icy bench, first putting his backpack under him. Checking his messenger for new notifications, he bit his lip in frustration.

His last message was still unread.

He decided to occupy himself with something to occupy his time, so he turned on the game he had recently downloaded. Sparks crawled across the screen from different directions, and a quiet, wistful song played in the background. Boredly intertwining his fingers, Du Hyun slid them over the animated piano. All that was on his mind was the hope that the right bus would soon arrive. Remembering the table set with food that his mother had hastily prepared, he smelled the imaginary smell of cheesy snacks, and bit his fingernail.

Du Hyun's face looked peaceful, but inside he was exploding with excitement.

Today was the second shift, so, after lying around all last night, he planned to finish his literature project before the first class started. He went into the group chat room, texted a couple of messages to the headmaster, and asked about the amount of work to be done. He, probably gritting his teeth, replied a few minutes later, putting a frightening period at the end of the message.

The elder was always like that.

As he immersed himself in the game, he suddenly heard the creaking of an old bus pulling up. Lifting his head, Du Hyun pressed his lips together in frustration.

The wrong one.

As the humming vehicle came to a halt, Du Hyun's eyes were fixed on the phone screen, watching the piano keys disappear. The door creaked open, and two rough black boots walked across the crisp snow. Du Hyun clenched his teeth as his finger missed a key, and the screen abruptly displayed a warning of loss.

"Thought I'd be caught in a hug right away, but I certainly wasn't expecting such a cold greeting."

Startled by the familiar hoarse voice that sounded very close by, Du Hyun threw up his head and jumped to his feet, throwing himself forward and clutching the stranger's body with his hands. Burying his face into the icy jacket, Du Hyun uttered in a voice overflowing with happiness:

"I'm so happy to see you!"

A big warm hand landed on the back of my head.

"Reciprocally."

Fingers slid over the black hedgehog on my head.

"Did you get a haircut? In the last pictures you sent me, your hair was longer."

Du Hyun nodded, pulling away from the guy. He stared at him for a second, but then clung tightly to the thick sleeves of his winter down jacket again. Jensen really was a handsome man. His thick black hair, just below his shoulders, was in a sloppy low ponytail, and some of the strands were already covered with a thin layer of frost; his brown eyes, in the cool morning sun, had a dark red sheen to them.

Jensen, catching his cousin staring at his own face, grinned slightly, and two tiny dimples appeared near his chapped lips. He pushed the warm red scarf up higher, and patted Du Hyun's head.

"I hope you didn't freeze your ass off in the cold."

Du Hyun shook his head negatively, picking up his backpack from the bench.

"No, I just got here recently, so I'm fine. Why did you come on this bus? It's a different number."

Jensen threw a huge gym bag on his shoulder and followed him.

"I had to change buses. The diesel at one of the last stops froze up. They put us on another one. I couldn't text you-the phone died from the cold."

Hyun nodded understandingly. He went into his backpack and got agitated.

"Are you hungry?" Du Hyun took a bun out of his bag and handed it to his brother. His eyes immediately flashed.

"Ohhh," he mumbled, quickly grabbing the pastry and starting to unpack it. "What is it with?"

"Beans."

"My thanks," Jensen sighed loudly as he took a huge bite and almost completely nibbled on it, mumbling a couple more "thanks" with pleasure.

Du-Hyun was ready to jump for joy. He hopped up and immediately texted his mother that they were on their way back. Jensen glanced at his phone and grinned slightly.

"Auntie must be graying from excitement by now, ahah."

Du Hyun looked at him, and a quick glance escaped his lips:

"You can call her Mom now."

There was silence between them.

As if he realized what a foolish thing he had blurted out, Hyun felt his ears flare up, and at the same moment he pulled his scarf bashfully over his face in an effort to hide. Jensen's jaw moved slowly, and as he finished chewing, he nodded thoughtfully:

"Okay."

Hyun looked at him doubtfully, but, not noticing the anger on the stranger's face, smiled weakly.

Four months ago, his mother signed an adoption agreement. The process was long: at the time, Jensen was still in an orphanage and sometimes went away to a sanatorium for treatment, so his arrival was significantly delayed. During this time, Aunt Du was able to enroll him in the school that Hyun himself attended so that the brothers would spend most of their time together. Du Hyun was incredibly happy about this. The whole time they corresponded at a distance, he felt like a lonely boat sent out to a raging sea.

They were inseparable as children until he and his mother had to move to Busan.

"Mom decided to put us in the same room," he said. On the one hand he didn't like that decision much - he was a 16-year-old boy who needed his own space, but on the other hand he was glad.

Jensen looked at him, the corners of his mouth curving slightly.

"Really? Gloriously glorious. I have such a fucking chance to piss you off tonight!" he laughed, putting his arm around his brother's shoulder. Hyun rolled his eyes, pushing him in the side with his elbow.

He hadn't expected there to be ice under the layer of snow. Jensen's face suddenly changed from playful to frightened, and he slipped and flew down. Hyun, in an attempt to grab him, caught his fingers in the red scarf and pulled him toward him. Jensen, lying on the ground, groaned defiantly:

"Ouch, don't choke me, sadist!"

Hyun froze frightened, unmoving. Eyes the size of saucers stared at his brother warily. He, sprawled in the snow, smiled. Hyun let go of the scarf and, with a cluck of his tongue, stepped aside, holding out his hand. Jensen, after lying there for a while, got up with the grunt of an old grandfather and picked up his bag.

"And I could have cracked my head open," he complained.

"Yeah, only the Hulk is tougher than you," Hyun sneered.

Jensen laughed, flicking his bangs back from his forehead, and put his arm around his shoulder again.

"Okay," he nodded nonchalantly. "Let's go home soon. I think my toes are starting to get numb."

Hyun, hearing this, hurriedly grabbed his brother's shoulder and dragged him toward the main road.

A violin howled happily in his soul.