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“Hyung, my phone just died.” Jeongguk said as he threw his phone down into the empty cup holder beside him, sighing dramatically as he did. “Now what am I meant to do?”
“Hold a conversation like a regular human being?” The blonde chuckled, but didn’t look away from the road as he turned the music playing down a little via a button on the steering wheel, his own phone connected to the sound system via aux cord. Jeongguk appreciated it, it was definitely easier to hear Yoongi when the music wasn’t quite as loud.
“Now that’s mean, you know I’m deaf.”
“Ah, yet you’re wearing your aids and answering me without me having to look at you, I’m sure you can hold a conversation.”
“Huh?”
“Nice try.”
Jeongguk grinned and giggled a little, thankful that even after some time they were able to laugh at the little things together. Thankful that he could make annoying jokes without the tickle of anxiety that Yoongi secretly hated him.
He hadn’t felt anxiety around Yoongi in a very long time after all.
“So?”
“Huh?”
“Come on I’m not falling for that.”
Jeongguk just laughed a little. “No, hyung, really. Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”
“You were ignoring me? I’m hurt.”
“Not ignoring, just…distracted.”
“By what?”
“The snow.”
It wasn’t exactly a complete lie, after all, the snow around them was fascinating to watch and Jeongguk knew he’d be able to kill a lot of time just by watching the flakes fall and settle as they flew through the abandoned roads, the delicate bunches landing thick and fast all around them. Much too fast, to where it was making Jeongguk a little uncomfortable at just how quickly the depth was building. But he couldn’t feel any of that anxiety while sat next to Yoongi, the older just being there was enough to keep his stomach as settled as the freshly fallen snow around them.
“Jeongguk.”
Jumping to attention again at the sound of his name, Jeongguk turned to look at the other with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, zoned out again.”
“I got that. Are you having fun at least?”
“Trapped in a car with you for several hours with a dead phone in the middle of the worst blizzard I’ve ever seen while my best friends are snug in their beds? Loads of fun.”
“Now who’s the mean one?” Yoongi smiled through his words though, and Jeongguk couldn’t help but smile back.
“I’m having fun, hyung, I’m with you after all.”
“You’ll see Tae and Jimin again soon enough, right now though we need to get back to your parents before they kill me for keeping you away on Christmas.”
“It isn’t Christmas for another…” Jeongguk grabbed Yoongi’s phone, watching it light up with a bright ‘21:23’ and a flashing low battery symbol, although it hadn’t died quite yet. “Two and a half hours.”
“It’s Christmas Eve though, it counts. I’m lucky they let me take you away at all.”
“You’ll get away with it, they love you just as much as me. If not more.”
“They don’t love me more.”
“They didn’t have to deal with you as a grumpy pre-teen, so I’m sure they do.”
Yoongi just laughed, and no matter how many times Jeongguk heard it, it was much better music than what was currently playing. “Your phone is about to die too by the way, so we’ll be stuck in silence soon.”
“God I hate silence.”
“Yeah,” Jeongguk said with an eye roll, dramatically tapping at his hearing aids so Yoongi would be able to see it in his peripheral. “Must be horrible.”
With those words, the music in the car suddenly shut off, leaving only the rumble of the engine below them. Yoongi made an annoyed groan, turning the windshield wipers up in their intensity to try and keep it clear from the snow. “My phone just died, didn’t it?”
“Yup.”
“Well fuck.”
“That’s karma.”
“For what?”
“Being mean about my deafness.”
“I’m literally never mean about your deafness.”
“Lies.” Jeongguk looked over at the other, grinning brightly so he knew he was just joking around, and his heart fluttered in his chest as Yoongi grinned out the window ahead of them.
God, Jeongguk loved him so much. The way his nose curved so perfectly, the way his laugh rumbled from deep in his chest, the way more gum than teeth showed when he smiled. Properly smiled, uncontrollable whenever Jeongguk made a joke or a sassy comment.
“Are you admiring me?” Jeongguk could hear the smile in the other’s words, glancing up without even a lick of shame.
“I am.”
Yoongi went a little pink at the confirmation, slowing the car down a fraction as he turned a tight bend, and Jeongguk felt the first stab of anxiety of the night as he felt the traction on the tires give a little against the road. They didn’t spin out, Yoongi didn’t even flinch, but Jeongguk knew the road conditions were starting to get dangerous. He could barely see out of the window for how thick the snow was coming down now, and the internal thermometer read conditions below freezing outside of the heated car.
“Hey, hyung?” Jeongguk questioned, and although his voice was smaller than it had been previously, Yoongi still didn’t miss a beat in paying him as much attention as he could.
“Yeah, Gguk?”
“How much longer until we’re home?”
Yoongi let out a huff of air as if irritated, but Jeongguk was thankful that he knew the irritation wasn’t aimed at him. “At least another few hours, if we’re lucky and the weather plays fair, we should get back to your parents’ place around midnight.”
“Midnight? Really?”
“Minimum.”
Jeongguk whined as he leaned back in his chair, moving his gaze back out of the window to watch the snow fall, thicker and faster than before but still settling just as peacefully, no other cars around to disrupt it but them, no other humans around to press footsteps into the mounds and compact it into the thick, sludgy ice that Jeongguk hated so much.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’re safe, we’re warm, and we have each other’s company. If we need to stop for a bit, we can. There’s no rush to get back, the only threat is your parents killing me for making you miss Christmas.”
“Okay its been years you really need to get over the fear of my parents.”
There was a small chuckle from the older, but Yoongi didn’t really sound convinced.
Another slight turn, and another time Jeongguk felt the traction slip below them.
But this time, the friction didn’t return. He both heard and felt Yoongi take a sharp gasp of air as he tried to stablise the car, the soft white snow now looking threatening as the car span out and Jeongguk could no longer focus on the individual flakes. A sharp pain spiked in his forehead, then the snow took over and all he could see was white.
—————
Yoongi gave a slight groan as he gained his bearings, slowly lifting his head from the airbag and wincing off the dull, bruising pain in his neck as he did. The world came into focus slowly, his hearing returning first as Yoongi noticed the sound of the wind howling around him, louder than it had been previously, and the light clatter of shattered glass hitting the ground. Next was the sensation of freezing air against the skin of his face, which didn’t make much sense as they hadn’t had the windows open moments ago. Finally, came Yoongi’s sight, slowly focusing on the airbag deflating from the steering wheel. Ahead of him out of the windscreen, Yoongi could see the snow carried by the gale force winds, dancing around like a ballet through the air as the few trees around them bent to will of the force. Pushing himself a little more upright, Yoongi slowly glanced around.
They were no longer on the road, and as the blonde slowly moved to look to his right at his younger companion, he realised why he was feeling so cold.
The right side of the car was pressed flush against a tree, the passenger window shattered, only jagged shards left behind in the frame. But the shattered window didn’t matter, the slight bend of the metal didn’t matter.
What mattered was Jeongguk, who was slumped in his chair with a bruise already beginning to form on his forehead and a thin line of blood slowly dripping down his jawline.
“Jeongguk, Jeongguk wake up.” Yoongi had never moved faster than when he saw his boyfriend, undoing his seatbelt with only the slightest wince from the bruises he knew the life-saving device had left, and climbed over to see the younger better, reaching over and cupping his cheeks as gently as he could.
The blood didn’t seem to be coming from his head, thankfully, but instead from cuts on the raven’s face that had been left from the shattering window. “Jeongguk, come on. Can you hear me?”
Yoongi had no phone, Jeongguk didn’t have a phone right now either, and he began to feel the anxiety climbing in his chest and clutching at his throat, attempting to steal his breath away.
But then Jeongguk gave a light groan, dark eyes slowly peeling open despite being unfocused, and Yoongi felt that grip on his throat loosen a little. “Hey, hey you’re okay. It’s okay, Jeongguk.”
It took the younger a second, but Jeongguk slowly moved his gaze over to the other.
“…huh?”
Yoongi tried to smile reassuringly, putting a little pressure to the cut on Jeongguk’s face to attempt and stop the blood. But as reassuring as he was trying to be, he couldn’t quite hide the fear on his face. “You alright?”
“Where are we?”
“I think we crashed. What hurts?”
Jeongguk hesitated for a second, as if processing the question he’d been asked and surveying his injuries, before giving a small smile. “I think I’m okay. My head hurts a little and I feel like I’ve been punched in the chest, but nothing too bad. Are you okay?”
Yoongi gave a disbelieving laugh. “Am I okay? You have a bruise on your head and you’re bleeding and you’re asking if I’m okay?”
Jeongguk just stared at him blankly, waiting for the reply.
“Yes, Jeongguk. I’m okay. But we need to get somewhere safe, we can’t just stay here and we can’t call anyone to come help us right now. Do you think you’ll be able to walk?”
At Jeongguk’s nod, Yoongi got to work, carefully climbing into the back seat and reaching into the boot to grab Jeongguk’s backpack, quickly pulling out two jumpers and a jacket, then grabbing two hats, two pairs of gloves and a mini first aid kit from his own backpack before climbing back into the front. “Here, look at me a second.”
Jeongguk slowly moved his face over to Yoongi, and the older wasted no time in opening the small kit and pulling out an alcohol wipe. “This is going to sting, okay? Try to not flinch away, and I’m sorry in advance.” Jeongguk did immediately flinch as the wipe was pressed against the wound, but didn’t pull away, instead allowing Yoongi to clean it as much as possible and wipe up the blood that had fallen down his neck, strapping a dressing to it with a few pieces of medical tape before much time had passed. The snow was still bad outside, and building fast, and Yoongi knew they would have to find somewhere to hide the storm out as soon as possible. As warm as the car had been, the shattered window had destroyed any heat the car had held. And there was no way that Yoongi was willing to drive the car in that state.
Once Jeongguk’s wound was cleaned and covered as best he could, Yoongi carefully pulled a jumper over the younger. It came up a little too big on him, and Yoongi was convinced it was actually Junghyun’s that the younger had stolen since the sleeves trailed way past his fingers and made him look much smaller than he was, but at least it was warm. Next was a hat pulled over his head, covering the tips of his ears from any impending frostbite. Finally, Yoongi slipped the gloves over Jeongguk’s trembling fingers and made sure that they were comfortable enough to not slip off. “Put this jacket on, Gguk.” Yoongi said as he handed him the thick winter coat. “We need to stay warm while we find somewhere to stay.” Jeongguk accepted the jacket without complaint, pulling it on a little stiffly as his wounds pulled.
Once he was satisfied that he couldn’t do anything else to help the younger, Yoongi started the task of bundling himself up, following a similar routine to Jeongguk with the layers and covering his ears and fingers as best he could. The fabric fit him better than it had the other, but Yoongi knew these were actually his clothes and not stolen from an older sibling.
“How do you feel now?”
“Stiff.”
“From pain? Cold?”
“Yoongi,” Jeongguk gave a small smile, but it was so tired it made his heart ache. “I’m okay, I promise. I just want to go to sleep.”
“We’ll be able to sleep soon, come on, let’s go find some cover.”
Getting himself back into the driver’s seat, Yoongi opened his door and climbed out, thankful that it wasn’t much colder out of the confines of the car than it was inside. Granted, it was absolutely freezing, but it wasn’t much better in the broken car either. Leaning over, Yoongi helped Jeongguk climb out as well, since it was obvious that the passenger door wouldn’t be opening any time soon.
“How do you feel? Are you sure you’re okay to walk?”
“I don’t have much choice, hyung,” Jeongguk smiled. “You’re not going to be able to carry me for long, and we need to get somewhere safe.”
Yoongi wanted to argue, but he knew there was nothing he could argue about. Jeongguk wasn’t wrong, they didn’t really have a choice, and Yoongi wouldn’t have been able to carry him through the storm for any significant amount of time.
“This is an interesting Christmas Eve, huh?” Yoongi tried to make conversation as they began to walk, but the wind took his voice away and the cold bit at his lips.
Jeongguk gave a small frown, reaching up a gloved hand to fiddle with his hearing aid before shaking his head a little. “I can’t hear you hyung. I…I think my hearing aids died.”
“They died?” Yoongi moved a little ahead of Jeongguk, still close enough to feel comfortable, but enough to where Jeongguk would be able to see his hands as he signed with a slight tremor. ‘They died? Did they get broken in the crash?”
Jeongguk shook his head. “I don’t think so, I just haven’t charged them since before we went to visit Tae and Jimin, so they’re probably out of battery.”
Yoongi gave a small sigh, it wasn’t exactly ideal having another device drained of battery, but unlike years previous, they could at least still communicate despite the inconvenience.
‘That’s okay. We’ll sort something out.’
They walked in silence for a while, choosing to conserve energy instead of talking, but Yoongi couldn’t help but feel so guilty. He was the one driving, so he should have prevented Jeongguk getting hurt. But he hadn’t, he’d lost control of the car and now the distinct limp was back in Jeongguk’s gait. The younger was suffering with his leg again. Yoongi knew it played up quite a lot in the cold, but knowing there was nothing he could do to ease that pain was… upsetting.
“Yoongi,” The blonde looked up at the soft sound of Jeongguk’s voice. “I can hear your thoughts from here, and I can’t hear anything right now. This isn’t your fault, the weather conditions were horrible and you did your best. We’re okay.”
Yoongi just gave a small nod, but didn’t reply. What could he say?
But the silver lining lay on the horizon, a building coming into sight. There were no lights on, and it wasn’t exactly a big house. In fact, from what Yoongi could see, it was more of a shack than a house. But it was shelter.
Nudging Jeongguk a little to get his attention, Yoongi pointed at the building and helped the younger with hurrying towards it, and the older of the two wasted no time in getting them both over there, knocking at the door. Waiting for a minute or two with no response, Yoongi tried the door. It was locked.
Another few ferocious knocks later, another few minutes passed.
Still nothing.
‘I’m going to break in, okay? I’ll leave them our contact details to pay for the damages, but we need to get out of the cold.’
Despite what Yoongi expected, Jeongguk didn’t argue, simply giving a small nod of approval. Under the hat and the thick jacket, Yoongi could see that the colour had drained from the other, and any doubt about breaking in to the shack was gone from his mind. Jeongguk needed to get out of the blizzard and get warm, and there was no guarantee another opportunity would come up like this again.
Wasting no more time, Yoongi steeled himself and threw his bodyweight against the door. When nothing budged, he quickly did it again, almost falling on to the floor when the thin bolt of metal keeping the door locked snapped under the pressure, the door swinging open faster than the older had expected.
Quickly heading in and surveying, Yoongi found that there was definitely no-one in there, and motioned for Jeongguk to join him.
‘Sit down there by the fireplace, I’ll get it lit and see if there’s anything I can get to help us out, okay?’
Still with no complaints, Jeongguk did as he was told while Yoongi joined him over there, working on getting the fire lit which took little work. Soon, there was a roaring fire in front of them, bathing the shack in a warm light. It didn’t appear to have been used in a while, cobwebs lining the corners of the walls and a thick layer of dust covering the surfaces. Peeling off his gloves, Jeongguk held his hands out towards the fire, and Yoongi hoped it would help pink him up a little soon. He hated Jeongguk being so pale, and in so much pain.
Heading to the small kitchen, Yoongi rooted around a little before finding a tub of hot chocolate powder. It wasn’t in the best state, and they had no milk, in date at least, in order to make it creamy. But it would still make a decent enough hot drink to warm them both.
Finding a dusty pot that he quickly rinsed off, Yoongi made short work of boiling some water and mixing the powder into it, despite how hard and clumpy it was. It definitely wasn’t the best hot chocolate he’d ever made, but it would do.
Heading back to the younger, Yoongi passed one of the mugs to him, setting his own down by the fire. ‘Drink that,’ Yoongi signed with a small smile. ‘Think about how you feel and tell me truthfully in a second, okay? I’m just going to see if there’s a phone for us to get some help.’
Jeongguk did as he was told while Yoongi left again, soon finding a landline phone left abandoned on a table, connected to the wall. At first, Yoongi was worried it wouldn’t work or the phoneline was shut off, but when he picked up the receiver and heard a dial tone, he let himself relax just a little. Typing in the emergency number, Yoongi quickly started talking to the person on the other end of the line, explaining the situation they’d found themselves in and the round about area they were. When the operator told him that they’d do their best but it was unlikely that anyone would get to them until the morning because of the blizzard, Yoongi accepted the explanation with a heavy heart.
They just had to stay where they were until morning. That was doable.
Hanging up and heading back over to Jeongguk, Yoongi placed himself down next to the younger by the fire, grabbing hold of his hot chocolate and taking a sip.
‘So?’ Yoongi started once his mug was placed back down. ‘How do you feel?’
“Not great, hyung.” Jeongguk replied honestly, but he still smiled. “Everything aches, but it’s okay. We could be in a lot worse of a situation, right?”
Yoongi gave a small nod. ‘Right.’
They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, nursing their hot chocolates and warming by the fire until feeling returned to their toes. Yoongi checked over the bruise on Jeongguk’s head and the cuts on his face, and after a quick confirmation that apart from the aches and pains, neither seemed particularly worse for wear, Yoongi allowed himself to relax a little. Jeongguk didn’t appear to be concussed at least.
“Hey, hyung?”
“Hm?” Yoongi looked up, showing the other that he had his attention.
“It’s midnight.”
‘Ah, so it is.’ Yoongi gave a smile before reaching his arm around, pulling Jeongguk into a hug. It meant he was no longer able to sign to the other, but that was okay. The hug was more important.
“Merry Christmas, hyung.”
Moving so the younger could see his lips, Yoongi replied. “Merry Christmas, Jeongguk.”
“…My mom is gonna kill us.”
“Oh yeah.”
“Maybe I’m scared of her too now.”