Chapter Text
Minho cursed himself for having the glorious and definitely very smart idea to track up the mountain in an incoming snowstorm. A mountain he had never been on, in a county he had never been in before. Of course, everything would work out perfectly, at least he had thought so before he had started his trek. But alas, he had been wrong, it went sideways pretty fast.
It had started with his phones GPS not working properly the worse the snowfall got and ended in his current predicament, his phone being dead, and his view pretty much completely obscured by snow. He really should have listened to the towns folk who had warned him about his plan to go up the mountains.
They had advised him to wait a few days until the storm had passed. But, as he had told them, he didn't have the luxury of time to wait it out. No, on that mountain was the most important thing to him and he had to get there before Christmas eve. Before he would lose the only good thing in his life, forever.
Although freezing to death before he could reach his destination wasn't what he wanted either. But he had already gotten so far, at least he thought he did, he had no way of knowing anymore and going back wasn't an available option.
So, he either died a frosty death or reached the lodge on the mountain. It can't be far anymore, he tried to reassure himself and breath some energy back into his tired and cold legs. He tried to look around, to maybe see something that could help him tell how far he had gotten but the snow obscuring his eyes didn't give him much to go on, except the fact that he was pretty much royally fucked.
And maybe he had already died and was seeing the gates of heaven before him, but he could swear he was seeing a light not too far away. Had the heavy snow made him mad or was there really a light just a few meters away?
He decided that there was no point in mulling it over in his head. He just had to go towards the light at this point in his trek it was either his saving grace or the end.
As he stepped forward again, he felt his shoe collide with something hard. A rock? He wasn't sure but what he did know was, that he would land face first in the snow if he didn't grab something, soon.
As he frantically flailed, his left hand grabbed something rather sturdy. A tree? And he managed to catch himself before being engulfed by the white bed around him. Relief washed over Minho but not for long as a loud crack above him drew his attention upwards just to see something fall towards him. And then after something collided with his head, his world turned from white to black.
❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄
Chris was working around the kitchen, preparing as much as he could for breakfast the next morning. Most of the lodge guest had already retired to their rooms to do whatever they did in there; Chris didn't care much as long as they paid for anything they broke.
Felix and Jisung were still in the common room watching a silly Christmas movie on the big screen. Changbin had already gone up to the room he and Felix shared, claiming he had some radio tunes in his head that he needed to get written down before he forgot them again. Felix hadn't been that happy to see his boyfriend work on their Christmas vacation, but he also knew better than to stop him when he was inspired.
Jisung on the other hand actually had work he needed to do but rather procrastinated than actually getting anything done for once. Although the deadline was getting closer, and he really needed to finish the blogpost before new year's. But that could come later, much later.
Two of the other guests at the lodge were Seungmin and Jeongin. Chris knew Jeongin pretty well as he vacationed there almost every year. And Seungmin was apparently his best friend who had decided to tag along this year.
Although Chris could have sworn that the original reservation for Seungmin's room had been for two people. But when the man had arrived 3 days ago, he was only accompanied by Jeongin and another man that had reserved a room on short notice.
No one to share the room with Seungmin although the other man was quite pretty but the chemistry between him and Seungmin was quite literally non-existent.
In fact, Chris had the sneaking suspicion that the man was working for Seungmin as he was treated like an assistant by him. But it was none of Chris' business and so he didn't ask.
Having finished his preparations, he walks by Jisung and Felix to take a look at the fire burning in the grand fireplace in the common room.
He adds a few logs to it and then decides he should get a few more, so he won't have to go out into the cold in the early morning. As he puts on his snow boots and thick jacket, Felix approaches him looking concerned.
"You aren't planning to go out in this weather, are you Chris?"
His eyes are full of worry as he doesn't know that his brother does this quite regularly. In fact, Chris could probably find his way to the wood hut blindfolded. Although, he doesn't really want to test that theory. He isn't too keen on falling down the mountain.
"Don't worry, Lix, I will be quick, and I have done this many times."
He tries to reassure his little brother whose concern doesn't waver. Chris, knowing that if he stands around here with Felix longer will probably be convinced to not go outside, ruffles Felix' hair and uses the distraction to slip out into the snowy landscape before he can be stopped.
A cold wind bashed into his face immediately. He shivers, pulling his collar up and rubbing his hands together. Briefly thinking about going back inside to grab a pair of gloves but decides against it, knowing Felix would be still there ready to stop him from going outside again.
So, he instead slowly makes his way towards the wood hut or at least the direction where the wood hut should be.
The snow fall was so bad that he could barely see two feet in front of him. He made his way slowly but steadily. As he had almost reached his destination, he suddenly heard a crack followed by a pained yelp to his left.
He knows that just next to the hut is a big tree that usually loses one or two branches in snow this heavy, so the cracking isn't really a surprise to him. But the pained yelp makes him stop in his tracks, his hand already on the handle to the hut.
Did Barry follow me outside?
He asked himself, worried that his dog had slipped outside when he had left the lodge. Distressed at the possibility that his dog might have been hit by a fallen branch, he changes his direction and walks to the left of the hut where he sees a dark lump laying in the snow.
His brain needs a second to process that this was definitely no dog but rather a human laying in front of him. He didn't wait long to react and lift up the unconscious human. He wondered which one of his guests had been stupid and reckless enough to go outside in the storm and decided to give the unconscious man, now on his back, a good scolding after he had woken up.
For not the first time in his life, he was happy that he created his own home gym and trained regularly, as the man wasn't the lightest to carry.
Unfortunately for him, Felix and Jisung must have already gone to their rooms as there was no one to be seen as he hauled the man into the common room. He took a short break to catch his breath and then dragged him in front of the fireplace to warm him up. He quickly shed his own coat and shoes to then turn his attention to the unconscious man. He stripped him down to his thermo underwear and took a peek at his face, only to see a face he had never gazed at before.
This man in front of his wasn't a guest at the lodge. How the hell did he get up the mountain in this weather?
Chris would love to ask the man this exact question but judging from the giant bump on his forehead, the guy wouldn't wake up too soon. Chris just hoped he didn't have any internal bleeding; he wouldn't be able to bring him down the mountain to a hospital till the storm had died down.
He sighed, quickly racking his brain for what he could do to keep the guy alive. His eyes fell on the wood beneath the stranger that looked quite wet. He should really get the man into some new, warm and dry clothing.
So, he did just that. Picking the guy up bridal style and carrying him to the only room where he had a free bed, his own.
There he stripped the guy of his remaining clothes, making sure not to catch a peek of any private parts, and quickly clothed him in the warmest pyjamas he could find in his closet. He tucked the stranger into his bed and pulled the old armchair closer to sit beside him.
As his tired eyes scanned the man's face, he thought to himself: Wow, this guy is pretty. With that he fell asleep, dreaming of the prettiest snow prince with the face of a stranger.