Chapter Text
“Sorry kid, everywhere is shut down until this storm blows over.”
“There’s literally no fucking storm!” Jisung yells into the receiver, arm out pointed to the sky even though the dumbass tow truck guy can’t see.
“Are you sure you have the right area code-?”
“Yes I have the right fucking area code, I’ve lived in that goddamn town my whole life. I’m barely eight kilometers out and there’s not a cloud in the fucking sky!”
True to Jisung’s word, when he looks up at the sky through the break in the trees all he can see is a wide expanse of blue, there’s not even a particularly harsh breeze. It’s growing darker by the second with the sun setting, but there isn’t a single cloud in the sky. Yet whenever he calls a towing company to come pick up his rust bucket of a car they’ve all said the same thing.
Shut down, a huge storm right on top of them going for miles that’s put nearly everything to a standstill.
Jisung’s tense conversation over the phone lasts for another five minutes or so before he eventually gives up. He thanks the man for his time, even though Jisung would much rather curse him for making him get back into his dead car with no hope of help.
Just a few hours before, Jisung had finished packing up his apartment and dreams. He had just enough money to fill up his tank before beginning the hours long drive back home. His dream to live in the city, finish school and be successful had gone down the drain. Bills piled up until Jisung could barely afford that shitty pre-packaged ramyeon they sold at the convenience store across the street from his one room apartment.
Jisung sold everything he owned in a desperate attempt to hold on for a few weeks longer, in hope of that big break, or at least a proper job. Nothing came. He had failed, which meant dragging him and his shattered dreams all the way back home to face the jeers of his family who always told him he was delusional. They told him he would inevitably fail, and that’s exactly what he did.
Nearing half starved and with no money in his bank account, Jisung made the call to his mother.
“Of course you failed. Honestly did you really think any of us thought you wouldn’t?”
Jisung would say that it stung to hear her say that, but he felt like such a shell of himself that he doubts anything could hurt him at this point. He thinks it’s because he knew months ago that nothing was going to get better, that he was doomed to fail.
This is just the cherry on top though, because barely a half hour out of town his car decided to break down, engine making an ugly stuttering sound that jogged Jisung out of his depressive mindless drive, and forced Jisung to pull over to the side of the road.
Now Jisung isn’t saying that his car is brand new, if he could’ve gotten any money for it he would have slapped a For Sale sticker on it long ago. It’s never given him trouble before though, despite the engine leak that always gave him a failed inspection sticker. He can't imagine why the thing would just randomly stop working.
Yet here he is, sitting in his dead car trying to soak up the little warmth left before it disappears with the sunlight. Because oh yes, the sun is beginning to set, the high trees that surround Jisung only making it darker faster.
Isn’t Jisung just so lucky?
At this point Jisung truly feels like breaking down, curled up in a sad tiny ball. He’s had his tears over the past few weeks, but right now Jisung truly feels like curling up in a ball and sobbing until he becomes even more dehydrated. His lower lip trembles where it’s caught between his teeth, and Jisung lets his head fall into his hands.
He wants someone to hold him, to tell him it’s okay. That this too shall pass. But in the end it’s just him on this empty road.
“Hey, you need a ride?”
Jisung’s head snaps up, and all the sudden the sound of a car engine fills his ears.
In front of him is an old white Volkswagen van stopped on the road. It looks old, with a loud engine and the color faded from years on the road. The passenger side window is rolled halfway down, and Jisung can see two heads peering out to watch him from where they sit.
The boy in the passenger seat closest to Jisung is pretty in an almost unearthly way. He has a gentle beauty to him, with dark hair falls in waves, framing his cheekbones and complimenting his pale skin nicely. Pink lips form a pretty and welcoming smile as he looks Jisung up and down curiously. The other boy, the driver, is less pretty, but still beautiful in an intimidating way. His features are sharp like his eyes, and from what Jisung can see the guy is pretty well muscled. Something about his gaze makes Jisung want to sit up straighter, embarrassed to be found crying like a baby in front of someone so beautiful.
Something about the pairing should strike Jisung as odd, he knows this, but at the same time he so does not want to spend another minute in these woods with only his dead car as company.
Neither of them look dangerous, and Jisung is a good judge of character by experience. Besides, the boys are watching him like they’re expecting an answer, so after another short moment of internal panic Jisung manages to nod.
“Uh huh,” Jisung says, tongue heavy in his mouth as he steps out of his car and shuts the door behind him.
The car door Jisung finds himself standing in front of makes a clicking sound as it unlocks, and he slides it open with a grunt. It’s an older vehicle, but the interior is a well cared for tanned leather, and it’s so much warmer inside than the air outside that Jisung can’t help but be grateful as he shuts the door behind him and settles in.
There’s a third boy in the car, but he’s curled up and fast asleep with his head against the window. He has a sweet looking face, and his breath has caused the window to fog up, but the two boys in the front don’t seem worried about it.
As soon as Jisung’s seat belt clicks into place the car begins to roll forward slowly, and the driver begins to speak.
“We didn’t mean to scare you, we just saw you sitting there and figured you might need some help. I’m Changbin, this is Hyunjin. The one back there is Seungmin, he probably won’t wake up anytime soon though.”
“It’s fine, I needed a ride.” Jisung shrugs, hands folded comfortably in his lap as he looks out the window at the trees passing by.
“Anywhere in particular you’re looking to go?”
Home. But no… Jisung doesn't want to go there just yet.
"I don't know, I don't want to bother you"
Hyunjin scoffs and turns in his seat to look at Jisung with a sweet smile, head propped up on his hand as he talks. Jisung notices that Hyunjin isn’t wearing his seat belt, favoring the ability to put his feet up on the dashboard and move around when he likes it seems.
“Don’t worry about being a bother. We offered to pick you up.”
“Yea… You did.”
Changbin pipes up suddenly, a twinge of distraction in his voice as he focuses on driving. “We’re going to a friends place to celebrate the solstice, it’s just a little while down the road if you want to join. There’s always room for someone new, and our friend loves to take in strays anyways.”
Solstice. The idea is a bit foreign to Jisung, but he’s met far more crazy people in his time living in the city. A few earthy crunchy guys picking him up off the side of the road is far from the strangest interaction Jisung has had with people.
So he says, “Why not,” and settles down in his seat to watch the trees pass by.
Changbin turns on the radio, and Jisung has never heard this style of music before but it’s low and comforting It makes Jisung feel like butter and sugar melting and turning into caramel as the sky turns to gold and the trees on his side of the car grow more sparse, revealing a drop off into thicker woods and a lake in the middle of it. White capped mountains in the distance.
He’s not sure how long they drive. It could be half an hour, could be two.
Eventually though, the car begins to slow and Jisung is jogged out of his thoughts to see that the car is nearing a small clearing. The trees are tall and dusted with snow, and with a start Jisung realizes that snow is falling from the sky, albeit just small flurries. They won’t last until morning.
The dirt road they’ve found themselves on curves into a circular driveway of sorts, a few paths branching off from it. One disappears off into the woods to the right, and Jisung can see the faint imprint of shoes in the light layer of snow. Someone must have passed through recently.
The other path leads further through the clearing, where at the edge Jisung can see a small white cottage tucked in the trees. Smoke curls up from the big stone chimney, and despite the cold, the flower boxes hanging at the windows are still flush with flowers, and the vines that line the pale stone walls are lush and vibrant. It looks like a fairy tale almost, with the multi paned windows and the warm light that comes from them.
Beside Jisung, Seungmin seems to rouse with the lack of movement from the car. The boy stretches before opening his eyes, and doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest that there’s one more person in the car than he started with.
“Are you gonna get out?” Seungmin asks in a sleepy voice, covering his mouth to shield his yawn.
“Oh, uh, yeah.” Jisung startles, quickly unbuckling himself and pushing the door open.
Changbin is already out of the car, but Hyunjin exits just as Jisung does. He barely gets to say anything before both Changbin and Hyunjin are sweeping him towards the cottage and through the door out of the cold.
The three boys look completely at ease as they shed their coats and boots at the door, but Jisung feels a bit awkward as he kneels to unlace his boots and shivers lightly. He wasn’t expecting such odd weather, or to be outside very much before he arrived at his family’s house, so all he has is a thin sweater and some age torn jeans. His cheeks burn from the cold, and embarrassment as he places his own worn out boots next to Changbin's pair of fine leather ones, his own horribly out of place in the nice mahogany shoe rack.
The house is warm though, with high ceilings and pale colored walls that make it all look far bigger than it did from the outside. It’s like entering a cocoon of safety as Jisung straightens up and breathes in, the smell of a home cooked meal hitting his nose. Down the hall he can hear someone moving around in what he assumes to be the kitchen by the way pans seem to clang together.
“Are you sure it’s okay I’m here?” Jisung asks, trying to keep his voice quiet as he looks around the house. He doesn’t feel uncomfortable or anxious like he thought he would, something about the house has a very homey feel to it. It’s nice.
“Course it is, c’mon we can let Chan know that you’re here now.” Hyunjin wraps an arm around Jisung and leads him down the hall in confidence. Changbin trailing not far behind.
Jisung doesn’t see where Seungmin goes.
The two boys leads him down the hall until they reach a big country style kitchen, the ceiling’s are still high, but across the room Jisung sees a pair of glass doors leading out to a porch, and more woods beyond. The windows that cover most of the back wall in let in an abundance of light, so even though it’s growing later in the day, the room is still bright enough that lights aren’t needed.
“Chan, we brought a stray.” Changbin announces their presence.
There are two young men in the kitchen when they arrive, one with an apron tied around his waist and dark curly hair that curls around his ears. The other Jisung recognizes as Seungmin, who is elbow deep into a sink full of suds. They both perk up at Changbin’s voice, but it’s the one in the apron that wipes his hands off and greets Jisung, the other pays them no mind.
“You should have called ahead, I’ll put some more soup on.” Chan smiles warmly, hands settled in the pocket of his apron comfortably.
“I don’t wanna be a bother-”
“Oh please, you look like you could use a warm meal.” Chan waves Jisung off, and all the sudden his big hands are enveloping Jisung’s much paler ones, the older male making a disapproving tutting sound with his tongue. “You’re practically made of ice, we can grab you some warmer clothes from upstairs.”
Jisung knows that his clothes are thin, but when Chan takes his hands it’s like putting his hands in front of a warm fire. Chan's skin acts like a furnace to Jisung’s cold skin as he realizes that he is in fact, shivering, if only a little bit.
“I've already put Seungmin to work,” Chan says as he unties the apron and folds it over one of the barstools, showing off a pair of dimples when he waves Jisung over. “C’mon, I promise I don’t bite.”
“O-okay.”
Jisung feels slightly lightheaded as he pulls a thick knit sweater over his head. Chan didn’t even hesitate before handing Jisung a pile of clothes that are far better made than Jisung’s old ones. The jeans fit him perfectly, and are devoid of any holes. The sweater is a bit big, and smells like something sweet and warm, but Jisung doesn’t mind. He likes it. Not to mention the knit socks that warm his feet up in mere minutes.
“How do they feel?” Chan asks when Jisung pokes his head out of the room he was told he could change in.
“Good. Thank you.”
“Of course. I was worried Minho’s sweater wouldn’t fit you, but it doesn’t seem too awful.”
Jisung gets a distinct older brother feel from Chan. He seems the type who would like to care for others. Everyone who Jisung has met so far (he heard a multitude of other people talking when he and Chan passed by an open door on the way upstairs to get the clothes) has been super warm and accepting of him showing up.
He doesn’t even know these people but he feels more comfortable and safe now than he has anywhere else in his life.
Chan leads him back downstairs, but instead of turning left to return to the kitchen Chan gently leads Jisung to the right, through a pair of glass doors and an archway that opens up into a room filled with people.
A roaring fire crackles in the back, and the conversation seems to quiet down a bit when Chan and Jisung enter, but not in an awkward way.
“Guys, this is Jisung. He’s gonna be joining us tonight.”
Chan announces this to the room with a pleasant smile, and Jisung tries to remember if he ever gave Chan his name. But before he can think too much on it Hyunjin is jumping up to take Jisung’s hand and drag him across the room and sit him down in front of the fire. Making it so Jisung is snug between Hyunjin and another boy with pale pinkish blonde hair and freckles covering his face.
“Here, Minho mentioned you were cold so you can sit by the fire.”
The two boys make room for Jisung, and someone Jisung can’t see settles a blanket across his shoulders.
“Th—Thanks.” Jisung manages, feeling just a bit out of breath by the turn of events.
Seungmin, Changbin and Hyunjin are already familiar to Jisung, but he bows his head when a younger boy with oddly sharp teeth but a cheerful smile introduces himself as Jeongin, and the pretty boy with freckles to Jisung’s right says Jisung can call him Felix. Both are as unfairly pretty as the rest, but Jisung assumes it’s just a requirement for the friend group; to be inhumanly beautiful.
“I’m Jisung.”
Even though Chan already introduced him, Jisung feels like it’s only polite to make sure he remembers telling them all his name.
After that, Jisung finds it easier to melt into the heat of the fire at his back and the quilt that was wrapped around his shoulders. Hyunjin and Felix sit close, and at some point Hyunjin moves over to the couch to fit himself between Seungmin and Changbin.
Jisung answers a few questions that come up about himself, like where he was traveling and why he was leaving the city (Jisung claims homesickness, not really wanting to get into his home problems when he’s feeling so warm and comfy). The questions trickle to a stop when it becomes apparent that Jisung is growing a bit lethargic though, and Felix just adjusts his head when Jisung leans his head on Felix’s shoulder.
It never grows awkward, and Jisung is surprised to find that he doesn’t feel uncomfortable surrounded by so many new people.
Maybe half an hour after his arrival, Jisung has reached a nice melty state of mind where he could probably fall asleep if he really wanted to, but he figures that would be rude so he doesn’t.
The front door slams open just then, and Jisung is the only one who jumps slightly at the noise, listening to the sound of someone kicking their shoes off and grumbling under their breath as they make their way through the house.
Jisung has come to the conclusion that everyone in this house is beautiful. Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Felix all hold a gentle kind of beauty that captures your attention, pure and soft. Jeongin has defined features, a sharp jawline and intense eyes that awe Jisung. Chan is beautiful in a strong way, like an ancient tree that has millions upon millions of carvings and stories in its centuries old bark.
The boy who walks through the door leaves Jisung speechless, unable to put him in any of those categories. His cheeks are stained red from the cold, and his eyes are sharp but expressive as they scan the room. His lips are soft and pink, even with the scowl that graces his strong features. He doesn’t say a word as he enters the room, just plops down right beside Jisung where Hyunjin used to be.
Jisung feels the boys presence even with the space between them, and he realizes that this must be Minho. His name has come up in conversation here and there, and it’s obvious that everyone is familiar with him.
“That’s my sweater.”
A voice by his ear makes Jisung’s breath catch in his throat, and he slowly looks over to see Minho staring at Jisung with those intense eyes, an unintelligible emotion on Minho’s face as he glances down at the sweater then back up at Jisung’s face.
“Oh, um, Chan gave it to me.”
“He did.” It’s a statement, not a question.
“I can change out of it if you want—”
“No. It’s a gift.” Minho says, and there’s a brief flash of a faint smile that makes Jisung’s heart skip a beat. But then the moment disappears as fast as it happened, and Jisung realizes that everyone is standing up around him.
Blanket still wrapped tight around his shoulders, Jisung looks around in confusion.
“Dinner’s ready,” Minho explains, and holds his hands out. “Here, lemme help you up.”
Jisung doesn’t remember there ever being an announcement that the food was ready, but he assumes he just missed it. He blushes horribly when he accepts Minho’s hands, a soft gasp passing Jisung’s lips when Minho lifts him to his feet with barely any effort.
“Jisung, you can sit here.” Chan leads Jisung over to a placement at the table, right between Seungmin and Hyunjin.
He can feel someone staring at him, but Jisung keeps his head turned to the right. The idea of making eye contact with Minho makes him dizzy, and he’s sure another interaction like the last one would just lead to Jisung doing something embarrassing for everyone involved and forced to witness it.
The food comes out swiftly though, and Jisung is careful not to take too much. He already feels guilty taking some of these people’s food, especially when they’ve been so welcoming and kind to him since he arrived.
Chan catches him though, as he’s sitting next to Minho across the table, and throughout the meal the older male encourages Jisung to take more food. He comments that Jisung looks far too pale and gaunt, but unlike when Jisung’s own mother used to do it he doesn’t feel uncomfortable. As dinner goes on Chan makes comments on how everyone isn’t eating enough of his “home cooked meal”. (Though Jisung definitely receives most of the attention).
It’s the first meal Jisung has had in a while, especially one shared with so many people.
There’s loud laughter filling up the room, and so many arms come in and out of Jisung’s vision as dishes are passed around and snatched up before someone else can get to them. And as quiet as Jisung is, everyone makes sure he’s included and comfortable throughout the whole dinner.
It’s like a big unfamiliar family, but it’s nice.
For the first time in weeks Jisung feels properly full and warmed from the inside out, and he doesn’t realize he’s falling asleep where he sits until his head slips off his arm where it was propped up and he’s startled awake.
The sky has grown dark by now, and there’s only a few people still at the table including Jisung. Minho isn’t one of them, and Jisung stares at the empty seat across from him for a moment, wondering why Minho seemed to be staring at him so intently throughout dinner.
“Jisungie, we have an extra room if you wanna go settle down.” Felix pipes up behind Jisung, who jumps a bit at the unexpected voice.
“Hmm, but my plate.” Jisung says, unable to hide the exhaustion in his voice.
“Don’t worry about that, silly.” Felix chuckles, and pulls Jisung’s chair out for him. “C’mon I’ll bring you upstairs.”
Jisung grumbles about it, but in the end he lets himself go limp in Felix’s arms. The boy looks sweet, but damn is he strong.
Jisung lets his eyes close on their own and lets Felix support him. Call him touch starved, but Jisung loves the amount of affection he’s been getting tonight. Whether it’s pats on the shoulder from Changbin, his hair being ruffled by Chan, or the vague cuddling between him Hyunjin and Felix in front of the fire earlier.
Felix makes him stand on his own for a moment talking softly with someone, and Jisung hums softly, swaying on his feet for a moment before Felix returns, though a bit harder and taller than before. Odd. There’s a moment where the world seems to turn on its axis, but then Jisung is tucked up against what he thinks is Felix’s chest, but he’s really too tired to care. He’s tired enough that he could sleep anywhere at this point.
There’s a slight swaying motion when he’s carried up the stairs, and Jisung is surrounded by a nice smell that fills up his nose and makes him want to cuddle into whoever is holding him and not let go.
The world tilts and Jisung feels himself being lowered into a big soft mattress, the sound of someone pulling back the covers as Jisung clings to the warm body that was carrying him.
“Let go Sungie, you need sleep.” A definitely not Felix voice says, but it’s gentle, like the hands that smooth Jisung’s hair down and push him down onto the mattress.
The blanket that covers Jisung is heavy, but in a good way. And when Jisung rubs his legs together he doesn’t feel the jeans he was wearing, but a pair of cotton pajama pants that he doesn’t remember changing into. He’s sleepy though, so who knows what else he missed.
“Mm, thank you Minho.” Jisung says, voice muffled from the way his cheek is squished up against the pillow.
“Don’t you know not to thank faeries Sungie?” Minho asks in a soft voice, but Jisung is already fast asleep. He doesn’t hear whatever Minho whispers to him while he strokes Jisung’s hair gently, each touch filling Jisung’s head with sweet dreams and a warm heart as his mind drifts through laughter and hugs and the faces of his new friends.
“Thank a faerie and you’ll owe him a favor, but if you’re happy, I’ll consider it paid.”