#winterhearts

Just the image of you sleeping behind his closed eyelids was enough for his heart to beat faster, thrumming loudly within his ribcage. The thought of you practically gave him wings and a push of energy to start his day. Every step he made was as simple and soft as walking on clouds. Even though he never experienced walking on clouds; something Hoseok might want to change whenever he got time to spare some of his magical power.

He wondered if your steps felt as soft as his own or if this was only something his own mind came up with. Maybe Hoseok should put a spell on your shoes that would give your every step the feeling of floating but at the same time he didn’t want to upset you so maybe he should ask for your permission before he made some alterations on your stuff.

During breakfast, while he read some news articles, his mind wandered once again to you. Hoseok desperately wanted to ask for your opinion on an article he just read, wanted to read the daily joke to you on the last page, wanted to see your expression while reading that little comic strip that ridiculed men and women in power.

Hoseok remembered that your nose would always crinkle slightly when you pursed your lips in amusement. He also loved to see your eyes shine in excitement and anticipation whenever someone told you a joke or a funny story.

He sighed and stared absentmindedly out of the window. The sun shone brightly down on the ground and got reflected by the snow, making everything seem brighter than usual. There was still snow outside even though the weather had begun to get warmer again and the first snowdrops had fought their way through the cold layer.

You would probably like to see them as well, Hoseok mused and a tiny smile spread over your lips. You would probably love to see them more clearly.

With that in mind Hoseok got up from the table, putting everything he used during breakfast back to its original place with a swift flick of his wrist, before he put on his coat and walked outside.

Excitement bubbled inside of him at the thought of surprising you, tingling throughout his whole body. Even his magic was affected by the thought of you, sending electrical waves from his heart to his fingertips where they erupted in little sparks.

Hoseok took a deep breath and glanced around once more. He still had some time before he would meet you and before you would see his surprise but he couldn’t wait and wanted, no, needed to start early.

He raised both his hands as if he pulled on some invisible strings before he turned his palms up. With the movements of his hands and arms the snow around him started to move as well. Slowly layer after layer of snow was lifted into the air. Hoseok turned his upper body and the snow turned in the same direction. It almost looked like Hoseok was a conductor, directing the snow to follow his every command with a single twist of his wrist.

With all the snow floating in the air, Hoseok had a chance to see where no snowdrops were blooming, before he moved his hands together, compressing the snow, and turned his palms back down to let the snow drop at one place.

A satisfied grin in the form of a heart spread over his lips, now that the snowdrops were clearly visible. He really hoped you would like this as much as he did.

His gaze wandered back over to the large pile of snow, frowning slightly. That view wasn’t very pleasant, he thought, tapping his chin in search for a better solution. His face immediately brightened again with an idea.

Once again Hoseok lifted his hands while he focused his gaze on the pile of snow, moving his fingers and hands around as if he was forming something right between his palms. Instead of forming everything by hand, Hoseok formed the snow using his magic. With that he had the possibility to do everything at once, not wasting hours on one task.

Even though he had his magic, it still took some time to use up all the snow he had compressed there. And the longer he used the magic, the more he noticed the strain within his body. For a moment Hoseok even feared he could pass out from using too much magic, but he immediately pictured your surprised features and pulled through, forming dozens of heart-shaped snowballs.

Whenever a snowheart, that’s what he was going to call them, was ready it would float automatically to an aesthetically pleasing place. Some of them lined both sides of the pathway to the front door, others settled on the fence along the porch and some even hung themselves inside of trees and bushes.

Hoseok exhaled deeply once he was done, looking around the area with a satisfied grin. Now all he had to do was wait for your arrival. Something that was even harder than overusing his magic.

He paced around the porch, refusing to get back inside and risk the chance to miss your surprised look. He gnawed at his lower lip while his mind played all kinds of reactions you could have, some good, some bad, some great and some horrible. Hoseok questioned himself for a second, asking if he might have gone overboard with this.

He considered redoing everything when you arrived at the garden’s entrance. His heart stopped beating all together as he saw your wide smile. A smile that was only for him. He bit on the inside of his cheek and held his breath, watching your every move.

You walked along the path, your gaze wandering from Hoseok down to your feet, where you saw all the heart shaped snowballs lining the way. You looked around and saw that there were even more hearts around you; between the trees and bushes, on the grass and porch and next to the first snowdrops of the year.

Hoseok saw your nose crinkle while your eyes wandered over the scene, he saw you biting down on your lower lip, trying to prevent your lips from forming a huge grin. He saw the light in your eyes shining brightly from excitement. 

Relief washed over his senses and he could feel his heart beat again within his ribs. Hoseok exhaled again, finally able to breathe properly. A wide smile spread over his features as well and he welcomed you with open arms.

As soon as you saw the movement you dropped everything and rushed over to him, nearly knocking him off of his feet from your impact. You hugged him tightly around his middle, breathing in his comforting scent.

“Welcome home.”

You smiled up at him, scrunching your nose slightly. “I’m back.” You had been away for only a few days, visiting a friend, but it felt like ages and despite the regular messages you had missed Hoseok. 

As if he read your mind, Hoseok spoke up again. “I missed you. Glad, you’re home again.” He hesitated for a second and looked back up to the snow hearts, a glimmer of worry crossing his face. “Do you like it?”

“Are you really asking me if I like seeing dozens of hearts made out of snow in our garden? I love it! And I love you but please don’t tell me how much you invested in these because I will feel bad. I only bought a gift that reminded me of you, which seems puny and little compared to this!”

Hoseok laughed loudly, nearly doubling over from the force. It never mattered to him how big your gifts were, he loved all of them, especially when they reminded you of him. 

He leaned down and kissed the tip of your nose once he had calmed down again. “How about we get some hot chocolate and appreciate the scenery as long as it’s cold enough to keep it like that?”

You nodded and rubbed your cold nose against his, before you slipped out of his embrace and into the warmth of your home. “I love that idea.”

A mere coincidence that you happened to run into him. You were on your way home after buying some snacks for the weekend, when you used a shortcut through a back alley and stumbled upon him feeding the stray cats. 

When he saw you and both of you locked eyes, he immediately jumped up and almost ran away from you. He didn’t even give you a chance to say something.

And now whenever you saw him, he would give you one look before he would move on, doing his own thing. Maybe you even gained the most attention from him than anyone else on campus.

You thought to yourself that this might be a sign to actually confront him. Not exactly with the situation you had witnessed but more like befriending him. 

It still took a lot more courage than you thought to approach him. Days passed without you contacting him, and days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months.

You almost religiously visited that back alley, hoping to meet him again, because you just couldn’t muster your courage and talk to him in class. But you never met him there again and you wondered who was feeding the stray cats now. You felt bad for them and after a while you started to continue his mission. So whenever you passed the alley, you would always leave some cat food before you would be on your way again.

As the weather got colder and it started to freeze during the nights, you started to grow more worried with each passing day.

That was the reason why you made a whim decision one Saturday evening and got back out of your apartment. You couldn’t let the cats stay in the freezing cold, leaving them there to possible death. Therefore you wandered around the back alleys, quietly calling for the cats with some snacks in your hand.

Despite walking around for some time now and calling for the cats, none of them came. You grew restless, not able to tone the worry down. Where could they be? Were you already too late? Questions like these flooded your mind and made you careless about your surroundings.

Hyunjin had heard you calling for the cats, which irritated him. All the cats were safe at his place, sleeping on the couch or in the bed peacefully. He had noticed that you had started to feed the cats as well and even though you seemed harmless, he always stayed in the dark and just watched you.

Something he did once again. He had gone out of his apartment and followed you around silently. He hoped you would give up on the cats and go back home but it didn’t seem like it at all. 

Whenever you stopped shortly, Hyunjin got his hopes up, only to see you would continue regardless of the cold. He considered telling you the cats were alright but he didn’t want to be bombarded with questions from you. All he wanted to do was to relax on his couch and watch some movies, but instead he followed a stranger around the back alleys.

He shook his head, questioning his own sanity for doing this, when he noticed how you crouched down and started to look underneath piles of trash. A deep sigh left his lips and he looked up in exhaustion.

That was the moment he noticed the large icicles dangling above you. They moved dangerously from side to side through the harsh wind, threatening to fall any second.

Hyunjin hesitated, biting on the inside of his cheek. Calling for you could be the tipping point for the icicles to fall and going up to you would reveal that he followed you around. He groaned and stuffed his hands deeper into the pocket of his coat.

A loud squeak escaped your lips when you were ripped to your feet and pulled away from where you were.

“Are you stupid or something?” 

You heard someone say, directly followed by a loud crash behind you. Confused, you turned around and saw something shattered on the ground. At first you thought it was glass but as your gaze wandered up you saw more icicles dangling there and realised what those shards on the ground were.

“Thank you”, you breathed and turned back to the person that had apparently saved you from being impaled.

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow questioningly but didn’t respond otherwise. His eyes looked you up and down, as if he wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt.

“I asked you a question”, he suddenly said after the both of you just stared at each other, being silent for more than a few seconds.

“Huh?” Your eyes widened, while you tried to remember his question. “Oh, right. Apparently?” You shrugged with your shoulders and gave him a lopsided grin. “I guess I got careless there. But it’s fine, I’m going to be careful now!”

“You are going home.”

“What?”

Hyunjin clicked with his tongue in annoyance before he avoided looking at your face. “The cats are fine. You can go home now.”

“Oh.”

When Hyunjin glanced back at you, he saw a genuine smile spreading over your features. A smile where the corner of your eyes crinkled slightly and a smile that showed your teeth.

“That’s good. I’m glad.” You nodded slowly and then looked down to your hands, which still held the bag full of snacks. “Right! Here!” You thrusted the bag into his hands, ignoring the confused look in his eyes. “I think you have a better use for them than me now.”

You smiled again before you backed away and waved him goodbye, already turning around on your way home. You knew when you had to retreat and even though you wanted to know more, you didn’t want to force yourself on him.

Hyunjin sighed once again, looking down on the bag of cat treats and then back up to your form that moved further and further away. Another sigh escaped his lips and he pressed his eyes shut before he groaned and loudly called for you.

Surprised, you turned around and silently waited for him to say anything else. 

He groaned again when he realised you wouldn’t come closer again and quickly jogged over to you. “Would you”, he swallowed loudly and once again avoided looking into your eyes, “would you like to give these to the cats?”

You tilted your head, trying to understand his question. “You mean the both of us together?” 

“Yeah, would you like that?”

The same genuine smile appeared on your face again as you nodded enthusiastically. “I would love that.”

Maybe you weren’t so bad to keep around, Hyunjin thought to himself as he led the way. Maybe he could ignore his awkwardness for once and get close to you.

You didn’t even know how you got into this situation in the first place. Eight men and you were all shoved into a van and currently driving towards that inn, Wooyoung told you about. He initially planned to go with the guys and have a boys week but apparently his aunt wanted to have at least one female being with her. And that’s how Wooyoung came to the conclusion to drag you with him.

At first you didn’t mind it until he told you about the hot springs. You had immediately refused to come since you knew you would get in trouble near water and the boys. But Wooyoung insisted and only after he told you there were separate hot springs for men and women, you agreed to tag along.

It was a cosy small inn, you thought when Seonghwa parked the van in front of the entrance. A small porch surrounded seemingly the whole building, benches and chairs standing in each corner to offer a place to sit.

“Auntie!” Wooyoung screamed loudly as he stepped out of the car and walked a few steps up to the porch.

“You’re as loud as ever”, she chided as she opened the door and immediately pulled him into a hug. “It’s so good to see you again. Look how tall you got!” She pinched his cheek and mustered him from head to toe. “Should definitely come over more often!”

Wooyoung laughed and stepped aside, introducing everyone to his aunt, who greeted them the same way she greeted Wooyoung; with a big hug and some sweet words.

You could see how Yunho and San wrapped themselves happily around the smaller woman's body, loving hugs and cuddles more than anything else.

“How about you kids start to settle in while I make some tea for all of us? After that you can explore the inn and try everything before dinner. Does that sound good to you?” The woman said and smiled gently, showing teeth once the guys answered her enthusiastically.

The afternoon rolled around quickly with unpacking your luggage, the delicious tea and cookies from Wooyoung’s aunt as well as exploring the inn. As soon as you had found the ping pong table all of you had surrounded it and played against each other until dinner was ready.

You dreaded the moment one of them would bring up the hot spring, hoping they might be too tired to think about it. But luck wasn’t on your side.

“If you want you can go to the hot springs now”, the older woman said while cleaning the table, “it’s about to snow soon, which makes it almost magical.”

A pained smile appeared on your lips when she looked up at you. Yeah, magical, you thought. “I feel tired, so I think I’ll head to bed”, you mumbled and faked a yawn. “Have fun at the hot springs.”

“Forget that, this instant!”

“What?” You turned around with wide eyes at Wooyoung’s outburst. 

“You’re coming with us! The hot spring is exactly what we need after the long ride!” He grabbed your hand and dragged you once again along, the others following the both of you with silent snickers.

Wooyoung opened the door to the changing room for females and pushed you inside, leaning his head in and whispering “see you in a bit”, before he closed the door again.

You heard them get into the changing room for men right beside you, hearing their loud banters and excited laughs. 

“What do you mean with ‘in a bit’?” You worried, gnawing on your lower lip. Hopefully he meant seeing you after the dip into the hot springs. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, trying to ease your nerves. Still, you walked with tense shoulders outside, clutching the towel tightly around your body.

A tall wooden wall separated your side from the boys, making you calm down slightly. There was no way one of them could sneak a glance at you with that wall. 

You turned your gaze towards the hot spring itself. Large rocks were draped around the hot water and steam spiralled into the cold air. 

A smile graced your lips and you placed the towel near the spot where you walked into the water. You sunk down until only your head would have been seen. As soon as you settled down you felt the familiar tingle through your body, small bubbles rippling through the water from the change.

When you lifted your lower body slightly a fin and long tail appeared at the surface instead of your legs and feet.

As long as Wooyoung’s aunt wouldn’t join you, you thought you were safe to relax a little.

That was until you heard the harsh whispers from the other side of the wall. “Wooyoung!” “You can’t do that!” “Are you crazy?!” “What if your aunt finds out?”

“Oh, just be quiet and relax!” Wooyoung quipped, climbing up the wooden wall. He swung his leg over the top and breathed out in relief. For a moment he just sat on top of the wall, glancing down to both sides. 

While he saw his friends all standing in or out of the hot spring, staring up at him, he couldn’t see you anywhere. He frowned slightly since he was sure he heard you walk out. “Y/N?” He whispered loudly, trying to find you within the steam.

“What are you doing?” You whispered harshly back, staring in fear up at his form. You had pushed yourself into the furthest corner, hoping to stay completely hidden from his eyes.

“Joining you!”

“Are you crazy?”

“Don’t be a puss! I have my swimming shorts on and I don’t want you to be alone!” He told you, when a shiver ran over his body. The air was colder than he expected, so instead of waiting for your answer he climbed down on your side.

You panicked. “But I don’t have any clothes on!”

“Relax, I’ll stay at the other side of the hot spring! And there is enough steam so I won’t see anything.”

This didn’t calm you at all. After all, the hot spring wasn’t that large and you knew your tail took up a lot of space in it. “I swear to god, Wooyoung, please!”

It was too late. Wooyoung landed on your side and quickly rushed into the water, trying to warm his quivering body again. “See? It’s totally fine.” He still looked around, trying to find your form within all the steam.

“Please”, you begged on the verge of tears. He was too damn close and you didn’t want him to find out, too afraid you would lose your friendship with him and the others.

Hearing your distress, Wooyoung tensed. Something was wrong, he could tell, but he couldn’t fathom what exactly. He already saw you once nearly naked when you had forgotten to take new clothes with you into the bathroom at his place. This couldn’t be it.

He slowly walked over to where he mused you were hidden. “What’s wrong?” He whispered, this time silent enough so only you would be able to hear him.

“Please, don’t.”

“Y/N? What’s wrong?” 

That was the moment he collided with your tail and fell face first into the steaming hot water. Wooyoung pushed himself back up, gasping loudly for air. 

“Did something happen?” The concerned voice of Seonghwa shouted over to your side.

“I just slipped!” Wooyoung answered. “Everything is fine!”

But in reality nothing was fine. He had used your tail to push himself back up, his hands still resting on it. He slowly let his hands wander, amazed by the feeling it gave him. This wasn’t just a simple stone. Before Wooyoung was able to touch more it was forcefully pulled out of his hands. 

“Y/N?” 

“I’m sorry”, you whimpered quietly, trying to keep your tail as far away from him as possible.

Wooyoung quickly followed your whimpers until he found you pressed against the rocks with your back facing him.

The steam cleared slightly and he caught sight of the scales that were sparsely spread over your back and got more and more the lower his gaze wandered. Wooyoung gulped visibly when his eyes landed on your large tail, half hidden underneath the water.

“Woah”, he exclaimed loudly before he could think, alarming the others again.

You flinched visibly when they called again, asking what happened.

Wooyoung saw you trembling violently, hiding your face away from him in your hands. He quickly looked around, trying to find some sort of excuse why he sounded so stunned. In his search he looked up, seeing snowflakes falling to earth. They melted from the hot steam before they could reach the water surface.

“It’s snowing!” Wooyoung called, pointing into the air, even though his friends couldn’t see it. “Auntie was right about the snow! Just look! That’s amazing!”

As soon as he heard the stunned awes and uhs, he crouched down next to you in the water, letting himself sink into it until his whole body was covered up to his chin. “I’m sorry”, he whispered and watched your reaction carefully.

You tensed shortly and sank deeper into the water as well before you turned around and looked at Wooyoung with wide eyes.

“Is that the reason why you never joined any pool party or only went to the ocean swimming when everyone else was sleeping?” He asked and nodded towards your tail without breaking eye contact with you.

You nodded, still stunned to silence.

Wooyoung looked at you, sadness clouding his entire face. “You must have felt so lonely.”

Once again you hadn’t expected to hear him say something like that. You couldn’t help yourself but to nod again.

“You could have told me. Told all of us. You’re like family and we would have been with you!”

“I was afraid”, you whispered, blinking away some stray tears, “I still am.”

“There is no need to be afraid but I understand.” Wooyoung nodded and opened his arms, indicating you were safe with him. “We can keep it a secret for now. We should reveal it though, maybe during our next beach holiday.”

You chuckled lightly, making Wooyoung grin triumphantly. “Thank you”, you whispered and pushed yourself into his arms, hugging him tightly.

“No need to thank me for that. Let’s relax for now and enjoy the first snowfall.”

You nodded and turned just a little, leaning your head against his shoulder to look up into the sky. Slowly all your fear and nervousness dissipated, just like the snowflakes above you. Within Wooyoung’s arms you felt somewhat secure as if nothing could harm you. A small smile spread over your lips and you snuggled closer against Wooyoung.

“I will bombard you with questions later though.”

You snickered and nodded shortly. “That’s okay.” For now both of you just enjoyed the spectacle above your heads. It was truly magical, just like his aunt had said.

You had carelessly walked past him while being on the phone, telling someone how much you hated this cold and wet weather outside and how much you wanted to be somewhere else.

Mark had clicked his tongue in annoyance. It wasn’t like he could let the sun always shine. There were rules he had to follow, seasons he had to acknowledge and with the winter season he had to let the weather be mostly cold. In the past years he had gotten quite careless about it so some regions didn’t even get much snow anymore. 

It was hard being a weather god and it was harder to know the weather all around the world but he tried! He tried his best even though he failed sometimes, so hearing your complaining when his intentions were pretty mild for this winter day made him beyond angry.

“You bet”, he whispered and as soon as he said those words the weather turned worse. Thick and dark clouds gathered in the sky, the wind picked up to dangerous speeds and the first ice and snow hit the huge glass front of the airport.

Nobody had seen this storm coming and from one second to the other everything was in chaos. Several announcements called throughout the airport, flights got cancelled one after another and the safety team was on stand-by for every plane that had to land within this weather.

Whoever was able to, got directed to another airport trying to avoid the catastrophic winds around the area.

You had rushed to the huge glass front and nearly dropped your phone. You had never seen a more drastic weather change before and it somewhat scared you.

Your flight was in two hours and it hadn’t been cancelled yet but with every passing minute the storm seemed to increase its power. There was no way for your plane to leave in this weather.

Mark had silently watched you, his lips drawn into a thin line and his arms crossed over his chest. He felt almost satisfied with your devastation. Seeing how your shoulders drop and how your soul basically left your body, was indeed satisfying. 

That was until you turned around and he had the chance to see your face. Mark gulped audibly, feeling a pang within his heart. Maybe it wasn’t as satisfying as he thought it would be.

He watched you sit down on a bench opposite to him, slouching down and hiding your face behind your hands. You seemed tired, he thought to himself. It dawned upon him that you might have had an important meeting that was now impossible to reach with the upcoming blizzard.

Even though Mark was a god he could only start something. Once the weather phenomenon had started he had no power to end it again until its strength lessened. And depending on the storm it could be hours or days before he was able to stop it again. After all that rule was inflicted so the gods wouldn’t play carelessly around with nature.

Mark could understand now why that rule was made in the first place. The regret gnawed at his inside for making your day worse just because he felt angry and wanted to show you a colder weather out of spite.

He watched you silently as you tried to compose yourself, taking deep breaths and wiping with the sleeves of your sweater over your face. He watched you as you got your phone again and called someone, seeing the hurt and devastation in your eyes glistening.

Despite the chaos and uproar Mark was able to hear some of your words. “No, mom I can’t. No, it’s not cancelled yet. No, it came out of nowhere.” With each answer your voice got smaller and smaller and Mark saw how you rubbed tiredly over your eyes. “Well, mom, I’m not a god! I can’t change the weather just like that!”

Mark blinked at your sudden outburst, feeling somewhat called out since he did exactly that just a few minutes ago.

You hung up your phone call, having said enough. Even though your flight wasn’t cancelled yet you thought it would be better to inform your family that you wouldn’t make it on time. You didn’t want to mention that there might be a small possibility you wouldn’t make it at all. But should that storm be longer than two days you wouldn’t have the time to fly back home. There was only so much vacation you could take from your work.

You glanced up to the announcement board, seeing more flights being cancelled or delayed. You noticed families with children sitting down again and groaning in annoyance, you noticed business men making angry phone calls and trampers that just took their backpacks and settled down somewhere, waiting silently while they relaxed.

It was somewhat fascinating how different some people reacted to a sudden change in their plans. You wondered how you might appear to others at the moment but quickly forgot about it when the announcement came that all upcoming flights were cancelled until further notice.

“Great”, you mumbled and slumped down even further in your seat. There was no need for you to go to the information, seeing that enough other people did it. The person behind the counter wouldn’t be able to change the weather anyway so why should you even bother. 

Maybe some weather intel could give you a vague answer when the storm might be over. Feeling a sliver of hope again, you picked your phone once more, quickly searching for your weather app.

Mark saw how you piped up again with new found energy only to see it crushed as quickly as it came. He bit on the inside of his cheek, feeling somewhat responsible for the rollercoaster of emotions you were going through.

Deciding on a whim decision that he had to make it up to you somehow, he stood up and went to a nearby coffee stand, buying some muffins and hot chocolate. He exhaled heavily when he turned back around and walked towards you. How should he possibly start this conversation? “Hey, I feel responsible for your troubles, so here, have this muffin and hot chocolate, please?” There was no way he could say that.

You looked up when somebody sat down next to you. Confused, you turned to your side and stared at the profile of a handsome man. You blinked a few times, not sure if you should say something or just let him sit there.

“Crazy weather, huh?” Mark could have facepalmed himself for that question but after the initial confusion wafting from you, he heard your light giggle.

“Yeah, didn’t see that blizzard coming.”

“I think nobody did.” The man smiled and you almost dropped from your chair and onto the floor. How could one smile be so gorgeous? “You want one?” As he asked you, your eyes wandered down to his hands holding a steaming disposable cup and a small paper bag in them.

“Huh?” You looked back up to his face, seeing once again that smile and before you could even think straight you held your hands with your palms upwards, letting him place the things now into your hands. “Thank you..?” You whispered while your gaze switched between the things and the stranger.

“Mark.” He grinned and took a sip from his own cup, nodding shortly towards you as if he just toasted to you with a hot drink.

You introduced yourself as well, smiling somewhat shyly before you took a sip of your own drink. You felt the hot liquid running down your throat and warming you up from the inside, letting you sigh in delight. “There is nothing better than a hot chocolate during a cold winter day.”

Mark tilted his head slightly, looking at you with curiosity swirling in his eyes. “So you like winter?”

You shrugged with your shoulder and took another sip. “I would like it more when there is actual snow but cold combined with wet just feels uncomfortable, you know?”

“But with snow the flights are getting delayed”, he pointed out.

“A blizzard does that. Snow is fine. Most airports have machines to keep the runways clear and use specific sprays to keep the planes free from ice,” you said and laughed lightly, looking over your shoulder and out through the glass front. You couldn’t even see anything else than a grey wall in front of it. “This will go on for a while, I think.”

Mark nodded and took another sip, desperately trying to find something to say to you.

You smiled gently and turned fully to your new acquaintance. “Since it will take some time, tell me: to what do I owe this pleasure of getting free food?”

Mark stilled and gulped audibly, dread pooling in his stomach. What was he supposed to say after all? That he felt guilty and wanted to sooth your devastation? 

You laughed again, seeing his widened eyes and the worry written all over his face. “It’s fine, no need to tell me yet. We will have a lot of time after all. Just know the next snack break is on me.”

You could see him relax visibly before his smile returned to his lips. “I’m fine with that.”

Maybe Mark had a chance to make you like him before he would tell you the blizzard was his fault. Or he would keep that fact just to himself and enjoy the additional time he now got with you.

You turned back around on your seat, now staring at San, who drove the jeep across the snowy street. 

A tense smile played over his lips, the only reaction he showed to your excited manner. Instead his whole focus was on the streets in front of him. He didn’t think of himself as a bad driver but he never drove with so much snow around; and that fact made him kind of nervous.

You watched him silently, never getting enough of him. You saw his tense jaw and how the tendons in his hands twitched whenever he felt an especially slippery part on the road and even though you couldn’t see his eyes due to the sunglasses you knew they flickered around, trying to see dangerous spots on the road in advance.

“It’s actually quite funny to see us in sunglasses in the middle of winter and snow.” You laughed and turned your head to look back out.

The sky above you was clear for miles, no clouds or other things tainting the light blue colour. Only the sun shone down on you, even though the light had only half the power during winter than during the warm summer days. Still, you liked how the sun rays hit the snow and made it twinkle like a thousand little crystals.

Sadly enough though you had to witness the sun slowly setting. The further up north the both of you drove, the limited sunlight during winter days appeared even more of a contrast than at home. “Aww, the sun is already setting”, you whined and leaned against the cold glass of the window.

“It’s fine! I see our destination ahead.”

You nearly jumped up if it weren’t for the safety belt and stared ahead of you, seeing some sort of oversized igloo. Besides the large round form covered in snow you couldn’t see anything else. You squealed in excitement.

As soon as San parked the car, you opened the car door ready to jump out, only to quickly shut it close again. With wide eyes and shoulders drawn up to your ears you turned around to San. “It’s freaking cold outside!”

He laughed and leaned to the backseats, grabbing your jacket and his own. “Of course it is, dummy. It’s below freezing point.”

You grinned and put on your jacket, scrunching your nose slightly at his playful insult. Once the jacket was wrapped tightly around your body, you tried stepping out of the car again. It was still extremely cold and you were sure your cheeks already turned numb from the few seconds you stood outside.

“Uuuuugggghhh, so cold”, you shivered and waddled over to the trunk, waiting for San to pull out all your luggage. You quickly grabbed as much as you could and made your way to the front door.

Now that you were closer, you could see the entrance. A simple black door led you into a short hallway and later into the round cupola. Where a cosy living room and an open kitchen greeted you.

“Wow”, you whispered, overwhelmed by how nice everything looked. You wanted to explore even the smallest edge within this house and take everything in. You had never been in a hotel like this before.

“Do you like it?” San asked, placing the luggage next to the couch. He walked over to a small fireplace, quickly starting a fire to make the room warmer.

“Like it? Are you kidding? I love it!” You exclaimed, shrugging off your outdoor clothes now that it got warmer.

You quickly settled in, using the last sun rays of the day to unpack your luggage. Once you finished that it was already time for dinner. Together with San you prepared something simple, both of you too tired after a long time travelling to do anything more.

Time always seemed to pass quickly with San. You snuggled up to him on the couch, full after the meal and with an interesting book in your hand. The fire quietly crackled within the fireplace, keeping you warm and cosy.

Too immersed in the story of your book, you didn’t notice how San glanced at his watch several times throughout the evening. Only when he started to get restless, his leg shaking slightly and making it impossible for you to read as your head had been resting in his lap, you noticed.

“What’s wrong?” You closed the book and placed it on the small coffee table in front of you, looking up to San.

“Nothing.”

You raised an eyebrow, not believing him at all.

“It’s just pretty late already, isn’t it?” He once again glanced at his watch, holding it perfectly for you to see the time as well.

Confused, you turned your gaze back to San. Normally he stayed awake until the early hours of the next morning. Almost midnight couldn’t be late in his eyes. “Do you want to go to bed?” You asked, musing that was his underlying message after all.

“Yes!” He jumped up, letting you fall with an oof onto the couch. “Let’s go to bed!”

“Both of us?” Now you were completely confused. You had basically adapted to his sleeping pattern and even though the day had been tiring you didn’t feel like you could sleep anytime soon.

“Yes, both of us.”

With that San lifted you and carried you across the living room to another simple door. Once again you passed a small hallway until you reached another cupola, a smaller one this time.

The bedroom was simple. A few low dressers standing at the sides and one large bed in the middle of the room.

San dropped you on the mattress, making you laugh. “I’ve never seen you so eager to get to bed. What’s up? What am I missing?” You leaned up on your elbows and watched him flit around the room, seemingly preparing something.

“It’s another surprise.”

You raised your eyebrows in surprise, not having expected such an answer. “Any hint?” You teased, wanting to know more about this surprise.

“Put on your pyjamas and get cosy as fast as possible.”

That answer was once again not what you had expected but you followed his instructions nonetheless. You quickly made yourself ready for bed, snuggling into the sheets and waiting for San to come as well.

It didn’t take him long to join you, smiling gently at your expectant eyes. “Are you ready?” He breathed and pulled you close against himself.

You nodded eagerly, dying from curiosity.

San pressed a button and the room was suddenly filled with a steady hum. A few seconds later the roof suddenly started to move. What you had thought to be a solid roof started to split in half and folded itself together on either side. 

You stared up to a roof made out of glass and nothing else. Amazed, your eyes flitted over the sky. Without any light pollution you saw so many stars. You quickly sat up again, too excited to lie down. “I’ve never seen so many stars in my life! This is so beautiful!”

“It really is.”

When you turned to San he was looking at you lovingly. You smiled and snuggled back against his side, trying to contain your excitement enough to lie down at least.

“I never knew the night could be so bright”, you whispered, afraid to break the magic when you spoke too loud.

“At least not like this”, San agreed and pressed his lips against your temple.

You gasped and pointed back to the sky. Within a few minutes a green band of light had appeared in the sky, dancing like living flames over the night sky. The thin band started to spread, covering nearly everything in sight, and made it seem as if the sky were caught in flames.

Just like a small spark would light a puddle of fuel, the flames spreading from one point over the whole surface, the lights did the same in the sky.

The different intensity of the colours made it seem three dimensional and closer than it really was. Your mind told you, you just had to stretch your hand out to be able to touch it.

“The aurora is more beautiful in nature than any video I ever saw.”

San hummed in agreement and pressed you close into his side. “I’m glad we can see it. I was afraid I couldn’t show you this.”

You turned to San and cupped his cheek. “Being here with you underneath the night sky, aurora or not, is more than enough for me. But thank you for trying so much to make this happen.” You leaned forward and quickly kissed his lips, smiling gently.

With the aurora shining brightly above you and the warmth of San’s arms engulfing you, you forgot about the time and everything around you. Right now, this moment was the only thing that mattered. 

San, you and the most beautiful natural phenomenon. That was more than you could have ever wished for to be happy.

Additionally to this misery Dowoon had forgotten his gloves and his fingers slowly but surely turned numb. At first it felt like a slight burn, then as if a dozen needles pricked his skin and now they just felt numb.

Dowoon looked down on his hands, seeing them shake heavily. Even concentrating on his fingers didn't prevent the shaking. He sighed deeply and tried to clench his fingers into a fist.

A hiss escaped his lips when the movement sent a shot of pain through his body. This couldn’t be a good sign. Dowoon lifted his hands to his mouth and tried to breathe some warmth onto them, carefully rubbing his hands against each other. Since even this method didn’t help to warm up his hands, Dowoon stuffed his fingers underneath his armpits, the second warmest place of the body.

Another five minutes passed and you still haven’t arrived or messaged him. Dowoon considered to message you but the condition of his fingers prevented him from using them properly.

“I’m so sorry!” You shouted and ran towards Dowoon, who stood hunched, trying to make himself as small as possible and contain his warmth, next to a street lamp. “My phone died due to the cold and the tram got delayed due to the icy rails,” you apologised, feeling deeply sorry to keep Dowoon waiting for so long.

“You are here now”, he stuttered, his teeth chattering from the cold. “That’s all that matters.”

You sighed in relief and hugged him tightly before your hands wandered down his arms and grabbed his fingers. You gasped in shock, feeling the coldness of them. “Oh my god! How long have you been outside?”

Dowoon shrugged with his shoulders, giving you a half looped smile.

You clicked your tongue and stuffed his hands together with yours into the pockets of your jacket, stepping closer to him in the process. You gently rubbed over his hands and hoped to warm them up a little. “Does it help?”

He shrugged once more and tilted his head to the side. “I had them in my pockets before. They still turned cold.”

A low grumble escaped your throat and you nervously looked around. Your gaze stopped at the clock in the middle of the park. There was still some time before you wanted to drag him to the movies. Maybe you two could go to a café first and get something hot into his hands. Though you remembered your mom had taught you to use lukewarm water to warm frozen fingers. So wrapping his fingers around a hot cup could hurt instead of help.

You sighed. Maybe the both of you should go to the theatre already. Even though the movie wouldn’t start, you had the warmth of a building surrounding you. “Come with me.” You didn’t even wait for a response and pulled his hands out of your pockets. You still held one of his hands and stuffed it back into one pocket while you hurried to a café nearby.

Once you arrived at it you felt yourself shivering as well. You didn’t want to imagine how cold Dowoon must have felt waiting for you all this time while standing still.

You pulled him into one corner of the entrance hall, to avoid standing in the way of others. It was slightly warmer inside of the theatre but the cold from the outside had clung onto your bodies. You stepped close to Dowoon. “I can’t believe they didn’t call this the coldest day of the year.”

Dowoon chuckled lowly and silently agreed with you. He held his shaking hands in front of his body and stared at them blankly. His fingers felt numb but at the same time they burnt.

You stared at his hands as well, seeing how red they were from the cold. Actually, they almost seemed to be turning slightly blue. You bit on your lower lip nervously and thought about your options to help him.

Coming to a conclusion you opened your jacket, grabbed his hands and lifted your sweater slightly to stuff them underneath it. Against your warm stomach.

You hissed when his icy fingers touched your bare skin, involuntarily sucking in your stomach. Still, you pressed his hands against your skin, not letting go.

Only a few inches separated Dowoon from you. Your little hiss made him painfully aware of that fact. He looked up from his hands, which were covered by your sweater, to your face. He could count your eyelashes and even noticed a few ice crystals in them.

“Does it help?”

Dowoon literally froze again when your eyes met. Your question just made him realise where his hands were placed. Heat crept up his neck and cheeks, making them sting slightly from thawing.

He blinked a few times and tried to move his fingers hesitantly. It wasn’t as painful as before, instead they started to sting just like his cheeks. Dowoon nodded slowly, pressing his fingers harder against your skin, as if he was holding you at your waist.

“That’s good”, you smiled and rubbed over his hands, “I’m really sorry you had to endure the cold for so long.”

Dowoon shook his head, smiling shyly as well. “It wasn’t your fault. I simply could have brought my gloves.”

You wanted to argue with him but decided to let it drop. “As long as your fingers are coming back to life again. That’s the only thing that matters right now.”

“They are. Thanks to you.”

Humans created names for the disappearance of memories. They called it oblivion, dementia or trauma. What humans didn’t know though, were the creatures responsible for the disappearance.

Creatures like you. 

Despite the human resemblance you were nothing like them. Instead of food and water you had to “eat” memories to survive. 

Some of your kind lived near retirement homes, visiting the elderly whenever the hunger or need for new memories got too big. Others worked at kindergartens or nurseries, taking a few memories of children and babies. There were even some of your kind that got greedy and would take all memories of a person, leaving them behind helplessly.

You despised them with all your might, trying to be nothing like them. Actually, you were one of the few of your kind that tried to consider the memory before taking it.

Whenever a creature like you touched a human and made eye contact with them, it was as if you were strolling through a library of memories. You could see how often a person remembered it or what kind of memory it was. You could even tell if it was a memory the person wants to be forgotten or not. But humans couldn’t choose which memory they would lose.

When you were younger and still struggled with your powers, you often scared people away. Even though they couldn’t explain what exactly had happened they knew it was your fault and it made them fear you.

Except for one. Taehyung.

The day he found you, crying silently at a playground after some kids called you names and threw sand at you, Taehyung had forgotten he should have been home at six.

He had told you the next day and when you apologised to him, he only laughed and plopped down next to you. Taehyung was the only kid willing to play with you and be near you.

Taehyung was also the only human to know of your kind.

You had told him about it when he had found you curled up on the floor in pain from hunger. Since that day he regularly forced you to look into his eyes, letting you feed on his memory. The only reason why he got labelled as a forgetful kid soon after.

Over the years you learned how to control your powers, mostly because Taehyung had helped you. He was very open minded and supportive. You still felt bad taking his memories, but Taehyung seemed fine with it, telling you that the memories weren’t forgotten. He liked the idea that memories were only transferred and stored at a different place, almost happy to know that nothing ever gets truly forgotten.

You had learned to store the memories you collected properly and you learned how to display them, something very rare for your kind. But you loved to see Taehyung’s boxy grin whenever you pulled out one of his old memories and showed them to him.

The biggest discovery for you though had been the fact that you learned how to give a memory back. This has never been heard off amongst your kind and you were sure nobody ever tried it before or is willing to try it even.

Except for you.

You discovered it when Jimin, one of Taehyung’s friends, had come over and they looked at old albums together, laughing over looks and memories they shared.

“Woah! Look at that photo! Do you remember that day? We had so much fun!” Jimin exclaimed and pointed at a picture.

Both you and Taehyung leaned closer over the album, looking at the picture. Taehyung laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck, telling Jimin he had no recollection of that day.

As soon as you heard that, you had closed your eyes rummaging through the stored memories of Taehyung. You easily found it, holding it in your hands figuratively.

“How could you not remember?” Jimin asked incredulously, starting to retell the whole day.

You felt bad for Taehyung, who sat oblivious in front of his friend. He just smiled and nodded, still not knowing what happened on that day.

“You told me about it”, you said and touched his wrist, gaining Taehyung’s attention, “remember?” Both of you locked eyes as you said that word and you felt the memory slip out of your hands, travelling through the connection back to Taehyung.

His eyes widened, his mouth opening slightly, as the memories flooded his mind again. “Ah”, he gasped in surprise.

You quickly let go of his wrist, just as surprised as himself, but you covered it with an expectant smile and glanced towards Jimin, who impatiently waited for Taehyung to say something.

“So?”

Taehyung laughed loudly and showed his signature boxy grin. “Of course I remember”, he said, “how could I ever forget.”

After Jimin had left, both of you talked about it for a long time. The excitement of a new discovery bubbled within both of you.

You never felt as bad about collecting a new memory as you had before since then, knowing you were able to give it back whenever Taehyung might need it.

It was nice to know that his methods to keep memories wouldn’t turn into hollow physical things without any emotion attached to it. You loved the idea to keep his albums alive.