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The icy cold of the lake was like nothing any cold shower could have prepared him for. Minseok sucked in a breath, took another step into the water. It would be the last time for the next few months. In a few weeks, the lake would start freezing over, until the ice was thick enough to carry to the other side.
As he followed the narrow path of moonlight before him, ever-escaping his touch as his movements disturbed the surface, the lake drank up his body heat. He could barely feel his legs as he waded deeper, the only sounds the upset water, the night breeze pulling at his body, his teeth chattering. Minseok looked up at the outline of the small island in the middle of the lake, lying still, a black creature in hiding against the rising hills around them, cupping the lake like a treasure in warm hands grey and misty with the night.
When the water reached the tops of his thighs, he wrapped his arms around himself, bit down on his bottom lip and crouched, into the cold blade of the lake. The water felt so freezing it shocked a laugh out of him, and he heard something stirring in the reeds nearby; a bird maybe.
He stretched forward, pushed off to swim a few arm lengths, paddled back until he found footing on the ground again. The breeze had picked up, piercing the cold into his skin. He sunk neck-deep into the water.
Minseok took another breath, let it go against the water, tilted his head down for his lips to meet the surface. The lake stilled. Then it melted against his kiss, the water around him gathering him in an embrace, and his hands found Junmyeon's face as their mouths found each other.
"Hello," Junmyeon said, his voice slow and wavering in the air, before his arms came up around Minseok's neck and pulled him under, into a deeper kiss. He was sun-warmed sand against Minseok, bubbles of laughter against his face, a swirl of thoughts pressing into him.
Not so fast, Minseok managed to think, his hands seeking Junmyeon's, his heart content when Junmyeon rolled them around on the ground, turning the water murky and wrapping him into a bubble of more laughter and thoughts. Junmyeon paused above him to press a kiss to Minseok's throat, then rolled them over, eyes expectant, wanting the gesture returned. Minseok ran fingertips over his face, over the apples of his cheeks down to his neck, smiled at Junmyeon's eyes trying to follow their path—and pushed himself off the ground, darting past Junmyeon.
Minseok couldn't outswim a water spirit, didn't want to outswim Junmyeon. He headed in the direction of the reeds, only looking back when he half-rounded them. He could make out the top of Junmyeon's head sinking back into the water, and he swam back, slowing when he came close. Junmyeon flitted past him, a large shadow framed by bubbles, most of them peals of laughter.
They played like this, Minseok leading Junmyeon to his favourite hiding places, Junmyeon brushing past Minseok and evading his grasp like he hadn't chased after him, until Junmyeon's magic took hold and the water Minseok breathed in warmed his lungs like his straining muscles warmed his skin.
They rested on the sandy shore of the small island, looking up at the shimmer of the moon from under, faces close to the surface. The quiet, the feeling of being held by the lake, the low murmur of Junmyeon's thoughts—they stilled a long-burning desire for peace inside Minseok, filled him with unanticipated tenderness so wholly he grew new desires, longed to become a shell, tumbled around by the lake until he scattered, turned into fine grains of sand.
He swallowed some water when something pulled at his ankle suddenly, dragging him further into the lake, and he reached to pinch Junmyeon in protest when he found himself in his firm embrace, again.
Wish you didn't have to go, Junmyeon told him. His kiss spelled worry against Minseok's lips, and more longing. Minseok usually left at the break of dawn, still hours away, so he knew Junmyeon meant the winter that would separate them for months.
Before Minseok could reply, Junmyeon reached somewhere near his ear, showed Minseok the tiny creature that must have gotten tangled in his hair. A crayfish, a tiny brown thing, sat on his finger calmly, and Minseok wished, longed to be one of the lake creatures under Junmyeon's care—even if Junmyeon insisted it was the lake taking care of everything in it. He thought of his things, stored away in a few boxes, his room clean and emptied, of the ad Kyungsoo would post looking for a temporary roommate, of the letter Kyungsoo would send to his workplace should he not return by tomorrow night. Junmyeon had hinted, but not invited, merely talked at length about the hows, so Minseok knew he hibernated, along with the lake, knew he'd had visitors before. And as he thought about it, he could recognise a sluggishness that was far from exhaustion settling into Junmyeon's movements, his thoughts even. He blew bubbles into Junmyeon's face, watched it scrunching up, turned his head to the side when Junmyeon tried to get back at him.
I could stay, Minseok thought. Junmyeon who’d recalled the crayfish on his hand, who'd reached over to a stone to let it crawl onto, Junmyeon who warmed Minseok's heart through and through—Junmyeon looked back at him, eyes round. Not just tonight. Until the ice melts.
You'd want to? he asked, the disbelief rushing his thoughts to nudge against Minseok's in insistent anticipation. Winters are long under the ice. Long and slow. We find warm spots, sleep a lot. Sleep in mud, he added after a moment.
Boring sounded perfect to Minseok, even if he'd have to clean mud from his ears, and not for the first time he hoped that Junmyeon would never leave the lake to find himself in the unyielding clutch of capitalism. I came prepared, Minseok admitted, and he saw Junmyeon pulling back, gaze sweeping over his body, appreciative of his efforts.
I wouldn’t let you starve, Junmyeon told him, then promised, you'll like the taste of winter deer.
He wrapped his arms around Junmyeon's waist to pull him close, one hand finding the spot near his spine he liked having scratched. Junmyeon’s tailfin made of night water and moonlight twitched when he pressed a short fingernail into it gently, disturbing a small school of fish grazing nearby, scattering them in all directions.
To have you here for an entire winter, thought Junmyeon, and it felt light, brushed against Minseok’s heart like a warm breath.
Junmyeon guided them into a field of yellowing plants that yielded into a bed around their bodies, pulled him into a kiss that wouldn’t have to end anytime soon, and Minseok couldn’t think of any better place to be.