(A/N: The tradition lives on! My only responsible action for the past couple of weeks regarding this website...anyway~ this has like a pinch of Scrooge in it, but only like a pinch. ALSO I WAS SICK WHEN I WROTE THIS SO I'M SORRY IF IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! <3) WC: 2324

Jimin had long since grown numb to the seeping cold that radiated from the frosted panes of the window he leaned against, everything fading to a hollow backdrop and white noise. It was Christmas Eve, yet his little cottage held little to no life. No decorations adorned the wooden interior, no festive colors livened up the small, dusty space, not even the fireplace could be bothered to spark beyond a slight flicker of lifeless light.

Jimin remembered running around the bustling town when the holiday season rolled around, sprinting and throwing newspapers haphazardly to apartment doorsteps on his way to his main job at the bakery. The small shoppe was so lively with pink cheeked children and their jolly parents who couldn't seem to wipe their smiles off their faces, even when they were trying to keep the kids in check.

Seokjin would just give him a half-hearted glare, huffing out a 'you're late' before attempting to smack the younger upside the head. To which everyday the other would laugh and duck under the male's broad swing and book it to the cash register.

It was mundane and routine, but some things are better that way.

Constant.

And Jimin even got to share it with the most important person in his life, daily.

Until...

Until he was no more.

Jimin would cry, but his tears had long gone dry. The warmth the younger was so known for, festered and putrefied until it was washed away by a wave of glacial water. The water then solidified into dangerous barbs and thorns that threatened to spear any who dare go near their sharp points. Jimin's heart warming smile turned sour, until it was wiped away all together. His animated blonde locks were burnt and turned to ash, a dark black soot overtaking the once bight hair. Those signature chocolate eyes deadened and iced over in an almost onyx color.

The town was small, everyone knew everyone and their dogs. So, word travelled fast about Jimin's beloved's death, and soon, the alleged death of his own soul. A beautiful soul of cheerful yellows and baby blues, crackling and burning like thick wood logs in a bonfire set by none other than Park Jimin himself.

Anyone who ventured into town kept an eye out for the small male, for no one could vouch what the bitter male would do if one got in his way. Rumors spread, and people parted to make way for the man who seemed to have an ever-apparent storm cloud hovering over his head.

Jimin no longer threw newspapers on his way to the bakery, for he hadn't entered the bakery in almost a year. The townsmen let him stay in his shabby house at the edge of town, fearing that if they were to take away the dying home that the man would snap once and for all.

The only man more feared then Jimin himself, was the man in the cobblestone mansion on the other end of town. His castle like home casting shadows over houses like an ominous monster waiting to smash its victims underfoot.

Everyone feared the man with the most power, the one who controlled the bank, and therefore, the town. But Jimin was aloof to such things. Only caring about his void and empty routine in which he lived in his day to day life.

His long days consisted of going out to get the necessities, staring out of his crooked window, rereading the same book, maybe even the same page for hours on end, and tending to a homeless calico cat that had shown up on his doorstep. The creature refused to leave his home, so after a week, Jimin let the thing inside as a way of waving his white flag of surrender. Now he had two mouths to feed, but the break in routine was strangely welcome.

Jimin was so lonely, him and his cat against the world. He sat on the worn windowsill of his furthest back wall as he held his cat that he had so appropriately named, Cat. The young male took a small semblance of comfort in stroking the splotchy fur of Cat, watching in that oh so familiar daze as the window fogged up due to his breath ghosting over the surface. It was the only indication he was still alive, and that mesmerized Jimin.

He wore nothing but woolen pants and an oversized sweater, his only protection from the penetrating cold of the outside world. Although, nothing could protect him from the ever-persistent cold from within. That was something he couldn't escape.

Jimin watched as a flurry of snowflakes dotted the surface of the dirty glass, his head resting delicately on his knees as the last bits of dying light stretched over the horizon before disappearing behind the tree line, happily being enveloped into the midnight sky.

Now the only light that shone in Jimin's dark quarters was the pitiful fire that was barely holding on by a thread, shadows dancing along the walls in an eerie waltz in even the deepest of corners or the darkest of hallways.

Time passed by painfully slow, yet it all went by in a blur. Jimin felt like he could hear each and every second tick by, tick tock tick tock. Yet, more often than not, he found himself lost in his own black abyss of a world. Lost chasing after his own tail in an endless loop that was his darkened mind, everything silent and muted to his touch.

In saying that, he nearly fell off his windowsill when a soft knock sounded from his lopsided door. He stared shell-shocked at his seemingly innocent looking door, wondering if he was truly going insane from isolation.

Then, another knock echoed through his empty home. It resounded and rattled Jimin to the bone, causing a strong ringing in his ears. Jimin could even swear he saw the thick layer of dust coating his house quake slightly at the small knock.

Jimin wanted to curl in on himself, a blizzard of thoughts whirling around in his mind, but it all just ended up coming back blank. He hadn't even realized he was softly padding to his door until he stood right in front of it, a flurry of dust in his wake. Cat stood at his feet, rubbing her head into his ankle in wait, tilting her head up as if to ask, 'are you going to open it?'.

Honestly, Jimin didn't want to. Nobody ever visited his home, no one (not even Seokjin) bothered to seek him out. He was segregated from the world, and for someone to come knocking on his door on Christmas Eve out of the blue at this time of night...it was fishy to say the least.

In saying that, Jimin was baffled at how he so easily propelled forward and inched the door open to just a crack. The ravenette was tense and at the ready for whatever confrontation there was to be between him and another breathing human being, when he was met by nothing but a burst of frigid night air.

Jimin recoiled slightly at the gust of frosty wind that kicked through his home, racking his frame with a violent shiver. He peeped his head out of the door, looking at the scattered, darkened houses that lined the dirt and gravel street on which he lived on. It seemed like a ghost town, the streets completely vacant save for the fresh snow that drifted from the grey skies above.

Once the coast was clear, Jimin let the door drift open and Cat to wander out onto the quaint porch. The ravenette looked down and was shocked to see a green swathed box glinting mysteriously on his doorstep in the faint light of his distant fireplace, a meticulously tied red ribbon splitting the gift into four perfect squares with a beautiful red bow on top.

Jimin was yet again, shocked into further silence, although he hadn't talked in what's probably been months. He squat down and delicately picked up the 'present', noticing a letter tucked under the boisterous crimson bow. The ravenette untucked the envelope and placed the alleged present onto the porch's unsteady railing, giving his full attention to the crème colored envelope.

As gracefully as he could, Jimin tore open the letter, but not before noticing the seal of the Black Sea Bank pressed firmly into ebony wax. It took a moment of hesitance before he opened it though, not able to take his eyes away from the ink black seal. The Black Sea Bank only ever used standard issued red seals, black seals were issued for the Captain of the Black Sea himself, the man in the cobblestone mansion.

Jimin snapped back to the present as he slipped out the frail paper from its papery confines, unfolding the paper with bated breath and fear for what the man in the cobblestone mansion had to say to the likes of someone like him.

The ravenette held the paper up higher so he could see in the low light, his eyes following the beautifully written calligraphy with as much ease as the carefully spaced ink would allow him to.

My endless days are filled with gloom

But your presence and smile make my heart bloom

Yet, it seems the sun has stopped shining

And my mental state is declining

All due to your absence

So, please smile

I swear it will be worthwhile

At least for me

Sincerely,

The Captain of the Black Sea

It seems like the world didn't want Jimin to breath that day, an endless bludgeon of shocks being carried out on his unexpecting mind and body. The cold was no longer freezing his form, only serving as a stark contrast to the heat that flooded his face as he reread the poem in his grasp. Jimin was most definitely in shock, he knew the letter wasn't forged, the seal or wax couldn't be faked. Which made the letter all the more...shocking?

Of all the things he was expecting, a love letter wasn't one of them.

Had he ever met the man in the cobblestone mansion before? Because the last he checked, that man went out even less than Jimin himself did. Which made the chances of them meeting all the more scarce...unless-

Unless, Jimin met him before his beloved passed.

But then that wouldn't make sense, because why would the older fall for a whipped and taken individual like himself? And what took him so long to voice such thoughts? Was he giving Jimin mourning time before making his move? Or was he just painfully shy and self-doubting?

A whirlwind of thoughts and questions bombarded his mind, until a series of soft – yet persistent – meows broke through his conscious. Cat was on the rickety railing of the porch, nudging the wrapped gift with expectant eyes.

Jimin reached over to the box with shaky hands, whether it be from nerves or the cold, he didn't know.

The ravenette gently pulled one end of the crimson bow, letting the ribbon fall gracefully onto the snow laden porch boards. He gently pulled off the lid of the green wrapped present, taking his time to set down the lid and position the letter underneath it to keep it from flying away.

Jimin took a deep breath before risking a peep at what was inside the box, only to feel his muscles tense further at the presence of a smaller, velvety case that sat in the middle of the box. Jimin wanted to scream in frustration, because it just couldn't be that easy, could it.

With a sigh, and a silent prayer that that would be the last box, Jimin snapped the midnight blue box open. He was oddly surprised that he could still be further shocked that night, because in that small velvet box, tucked away safely, was a sterling silver skeleton key.

The bow of the key was shaped into the familiar crest of the Black Sea Bank, the same pattern could also be seen on the iron wrought gates that surrounded the cobblestone mansion on the opposite side of town. As Jimin pulled out the key, a small trail of silver chain followed, with a note with the same calligraphy as before saying 'if you're ready for a change' written out in black ink.

Jimin searched the street once more, eyes frantically calculated as he swept the street for any signs of life or a set of footprints in the snow. Yet, all he found was a fresh coat of snow on the ground and a small snowflake landing on his nose when he stepped past the safety of the border of his porch.

Cat purred insistently as she rubbed her head against his ankles, as if urging him to make his decision. The ravenette walked down his creaky steps, only to turn around and reflect on the past year as he stared at his home.

His home used to be as chipper and happy as he was back when he wasn't tainted by loss and death, and as Jimin went into a downward spiral, so did his home. If Jimin looked or acted anything like the rickety old shack he called home, he didn't want that anymore. For the past year he had let himself fall down a rabbit hole and get into a rut that seemed impossible to escape. But now, in a single night, everything seemed to be flipped onto its head.

Jimin no longer wanted to wallow in his own sorrow and self-pity, he no longer wanted to live in the past. Right in the palm of his hand, stood the door he had so desperately been searching for in the seemingly endless, dark abyss. It was the light at the end of the tunnel that he would be foolish not to take.

It was time for a change.

(A/N: I'm sorry, I'm not very good at poetry. XD But I hope y'all enjoyed! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!)