The forest was smothered in beautiful white snow that crunched gently with every step taken by the group. It took rest on the canopies of trees and didn't hesitate to pirouette down to the ground when provoked by birds or other of nature's creations.

Pure white snow, very uncommon in the cities of America but not surprising in the least here, up in the mountains of the east coast. Kyungsoo was absolutely mesmerized by the sight and moved his owl-like eyes around, trying to take it all in. He only stopped when Jongin's soft chuckle resounded next to his ear.

‘You sure like it here don't you.' He said, ever so close to the smaller's face and Kyungsoo just couldn't help but blush when the hot breath hit his neck.

Looking up at Jongin, he was met with a very sincere smile and a gentle finger on his nose. He giggled at the action.

‘A snowflake got stuck on the tip.' Jongin told him, still smiling.

‘Go and get a room!' Sehun yelled at them. He was walking at the very back of the group, visibly unhappy about being stuck in cold snow for a week. He wasn't as immune to the cold as the others.

‘Dude, if anyone needs a room it's those two.' Jongin replied while pointing to the very front. Chanyeol and Yifan were walking a few feet ahead, talking to each other, apparently cracking jokes as both of them were laughing. Kyungsoo still couldn't quite understand how they were not dating by now; they knew everything about each other and wouldn't be seen separate. Well, they would, but rarely.

‘All of you need a ing room.' Sehun growled underneath his breath and sped up, wanting to be in a tent or by a fire as soon as possible. He passed  Jongsoo, as he labelled them in his head, and snatched the map from Yiyeol (‘this one needs working on' he noted to himself). Now he didn't have to stare at the backs of his ually frustrated friends and can be the first one to set camp. Perfect.

Jongsoo were simply looking at Sehun bouncing ahead until Chanyeol and Yifan were walking beside them.

‘Hey,' Chanyeol started, eyebrows furrowed in thought ‘Did Sehun…just make a dirty, I dunno, pun I guess?'

Jongin looked at him as if he was thick “Get a room’ is a dirty pun.’

‘No no.' the other shook his head, expression unchanging ‘He said to get a ing room. A room where you . Get it?'

The other three simultaneously turned to stare at Sehun's back, mentally applauding him for the new development in ‘think ' department.

‘He might get a date someday.' Yifan stated in wonder.

Chanyeol decided to run (if faster waddling could be considered running) up to the youngest of the group, slinging an arm over his shoulder and ruffling the platinum blond hair.

They kept walking in the direction of the clearing, where they were meant to set camp.

They didn't walk long.

Within 10 minutes the five friends were marvelling at how perfect the place looked, even Sehun showed some signs of being impressed. Everything seemed so…undisturbed that it felt almost wrong to step onto it. But they had to, so they got to work setting camp. Kyungsoo and Jongin got the tents up and ready while Chanyeol and Yifan went to get wood for the fire. Sehun made sure to check how deep the snow was, considering they nearly fell into a few covered up ditches on the way there. As one can imagine, he wasn't too fond of the possibility that he might fall -or-more deep into the cold. But hey, what could he do.

-----------------------------

Not far from the camp, Yifan managed to find a fallen tree. The poor thing got raided, having close to no branches left by the time the two men were done snapping them off. With arms literally full, they started walking back with great caution, as to not get lost in the trees. The sun was almost down.

‘Hey Krease,' Chanyeol said, using the others childhood nickname ‘It's been 3 years huh? Since we met the others, I mean.'

‘You’re right. It doesn’t feel like it, I would have thought they were with us since the beginning.' The blond replied.

Yifan has known Chanyeol since they were little kids, maybe around 3 or 4, and he couldn't have been more grateful for this. In his eyes, and many other peoples, Chanyeol was a treasure given to the world from heaven. He was smart, kind hearted and never failed to cheer up his surroundings. A true gift.

However, Yifan has always seen him as something more. The red head was his best friend, his lifeline, a person he would do anything for even if it cost him his life. It was right to say that he couldn't live without the other.

‘Hey Chan,' He said, keeping his eyes forward knowing that if he looked at Chanyeol the other would be able to immediately tell something was wrong.

‘Yeah?' Chanyeol answered, automatically closing any distance between them.

‘I…are we…’ Yifan muttered quietly, looking more at the twigs in his arms than where he was walking ‘are we going to have to go our separate ways, and forget the close friendship we have right now?' He heard Chanyeol sigh gently. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw how the other looked up at the stars that were slowly becoming visible and turned to him, a bright smile on his face. Those smiles always made Yifan's heart beat faster.

‘No, Kris, we don't.' He started, making real eye contact through the darkness. Then again, his eyes were shining so brightly that Yifan would be able to see them from the other side of the forest. ‘I want you to stay in my life forever, when both of us get married, when we get on with our grown up adult lives, when we are old farts playing golf. I want you always by my side, and I won't let you get out of it.'

Yifan mirrored the smile, letting Chanyeol know he wanted and agreed with everything that was said.

‘Then I promise you, Chan, we'll be in this together for a ing long time.'

Chanyeol laughed and slapped Yifan on the back. ‘And that's what I like to hear from my best friend. We should really hurry up now, unless you feel like dying by the hands of Oh Sehun today, which I don’t find appealing.’

--------------------------

‘Finally!' They heard Sehun yell as soon as they were within his eyesight. He was visibly pissed.

‘God, it's absolutely freezing and you take your goddamn time in getting back!' He snatched the branches from both of their hands and somehow managed to run to where the fire was going to be set up. The others found it hilarious, Sehun couldn't see where he was going so he pulled his knees up as high as he could and the wood jumped up and down along with his moves.

‘Who would have thought he's got that much strength? His arms are basically twigs, if it was any darker I would have thrown them in for the fire too.' Yifan said, moving to sit on one of the three tree trunks laid out around the fire space, the second being occupied by Kyungsoo and Jongin, third by Sehun.

With the fire going, they took no time at all to satisfy their rumbling stomachs but regretted it the moment they realised what comes after a meal.

Chanyeol turned to Kyungsoo with a wide, mischievous grin on his face.

‘So Soo, what ‘cha got for us this time.' He said, leaning forward a bit, head resting on his right fist. Kyungsoo quickly mirrored the look and took his hands out of Jongin's pockets, where they were being warmed up.

‘Hehe,’ He cackled, rubbing his hands together ‘ this one's going to be good.' Kyungsoo positioned himself in a way that shadow puppets could be made on the tent walls, for effect as he liked to say.

‘If you say that, then it must be.' The red head replied, now bouncing one knee up and down in visible excitement. Nobody else was looking forward to the story; Yifan, Jongin and Sehun were weak when it came to horror. And let's be honest, the vast majority of myths were based around that.

‘Okay, let's begin.' Kyungsoo said and laughed when Jongin scurried to sit next to Sehun for mutual comfort which Kyungsoo won’t provide. Yifan was already hip to hip with a smiling Yeol, looking uncomfortable. Satansoo, as his name was when in a ‘horror’ mood, was not their favourite version of Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo cleared his throat and everything around them became silent, almost as if the whole forest was listening.

‘A long, long time ago, a village occupied the biggest plains of these mountains. It was a village filled to the brim with rustling of people, warm welcoming huts and not a single grain of hatred.

The village was an incredibly peaceful place, never having too much or too little, managing to get by just right with what they had. However, in the early months of 1584 it was noted that their luck has turned its back on them - no matter how many hunting parties would be sent out, none of them managed to bring back anything at all to feed the people. The problem could not be hidden from the commoners of the village and soon enough, a tall, well-built man, stepped up and declared his service. This lone man held the title of the most talented hunter to set foot on this land, he was respected and admired by many, although already quite well into retirement.

Knowing they were in no position to decline the offer, the villagers carefully packed his bag and handed over their most treasured weapons, wishing the old man the best of luck on his expedition into the depths of the surrounding forest.

Just like that, on one cold evening, Hersemos  set out with the strongest resolution of bringing game back; it was not a possibility for him to return empty-handed. He walked and he walked and he walked for hours on end, with no such luck as to even find a small bird or squirrel hiding in the snow-topped trees.

As if mocking his fruitless journey, nature set up a strong blizzard that tore at the vegetation in the forest and his clothes, making the man stumble more and more with each step.

Just as the hunter was considering taking camp till the sun rose, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. A tall figure loomed amidst the trees further to the left, letting out audible whimpers as if in pain.

Thinking it was his victory, Hersemos traced its long humanoid like steps engraved in the snow.

And oh, has luck betrayed him.

As the wind whipped at his face, hands, head and any other body part visible, the hunter came upon another clearing, similar to the one he lived in. It was peaceful, dimly lit by the shining moon with shadows dancing merrily along the ground. Yet, unlike his village this empty plain of land was undisturbed by human hands. Hersemos took small steps into the perfectly lined snow, trying to find any last traces of the feet which he followed without ruining the gentle atmosphere. There was nothing.

With a quiet sigh, he straightened his back and was preparing to move on, but wanted to take another look around this calm space. The first thing he noted was a low whistle coming through the tree branches.

And then his vision shifted.

Someone, or rather something, threw itself at his back, tearing the bag he had on right off of his muscular shoulder, leaving hot burns in its way. A long claw pierced through his tender flesh, then the muscle, then the bone. Breaking his spine into two parts with brutal slowness, the monstrosity let out a sound recognized as a mix between a whistle and growl, then whimper.

Now, with the world facing sideways and a creature on his back, these empty plains seemed a lot more dangerous than at first glance. The shadows that were perfectly common were beasts creeping at him, barely illuminated by the moon embedded in a pitch black background. ‘Humanoid steps' he thought ‘how stupid am I to not have turned back?!'

He could feel it in his cracked spine, the feeling of impending doom that would hang upon anyone close to death.

As if realizing the hunters dejection, the beast flipped him around with ease. And his last memories of this world were those of overwhelming pain as his lungs tore open, as the fang the size of his palm gauged out his intestine, as the blood drained itself out of his body dementing the previously pure white snow.

Hersemos got what he wanted, he didn't come back of his own will with no game; he didn't come back at all.

The only mystery left surrounding this story, is whether the villagers caught wind of the terrors hiding in the trees and ran, or if they also got eaten alive.'

As Kyungsoo finished his story the only sound was the laboured breathing of his companions. Yifan, Jongin and Sehun were completely on edge. It got to the point that when the wind whistled through the leaves, they jumped, hugging whoever was next to them and letting out shrill screams, too shrill for 20-year-old men.

They each refused to move no matter what, until they heard Kyungsoo’s and Chanyeol’s laugher. With embarrassment darkly flushing their faces, the three sat up and didn’t dare to look at anything besides the snow surrounding their ankles.

‘Oh, my god Soo, did you catch that on camera?’ Chanyeol cackled while clapping his hands, finding it hysterical how a simple story could have that sort of effect on people. He himself never really cared for them.

‘Nah man, sorry.’ The story teller replied from behind his gloved palm, eyes shining with mirth. ‘I swear I’ll get it next time.’ He added, deciding to let his hand fall and let everyone else see his gigantic smile.

‘Ha,’ The red head wheezed out, bending over as a response to the lack of breath ‘you better.’ Still bent over at the torso, Chanyeol stood and swayed in the direction of the tent, disappearing inside after a few of his large steps.

As his form moved out of view, Sehun visibly deflated from the adrenaline rush. Leaning his upper body over the back of the trunk he was on, he let out a long breath and looked at the millions of stars above their heads.

‘You sure get us every time; are you that good or are we just ?’ He mused, feeling the blood rush past his ears and into his head.

‘Let’s say it’s the first one; for the sake of our manly-hood and feeding Satansoo’s ego.’ Jongin replied, getting up with the intention of following Chanyeol’s steps.

He shivered. The wind was getting colder by the minute.

‘’Cmon, I don’t feel like freezing to death.’ The tanned man looked back over his shoulder, and ended up retracing to stand behind Kyungsoo. Grumpily, he hugged the smaller who was looking at Yifan, and in turn, Yifan was staring into the inside of his thoughts, if the empty look was anything to go by.

‘You think the story got to his head or something.’ He mutter, nuzzling into Kyungsoo’s neck affectionately.

‘No,  I think it’s something else.’ The others voice buzzed around his body and Jongin felt a pair of palms touch his arms.

‘I,’ they heard Yifan say and watched as his eyebrows moved closer to each other  ‘Chanyeol…I’

And as couple tried to figure out what Yifan meant, it clicked in Sehun’s head. He bolted up and with a wolfish grin skipped towards the other, sitting down with a thump, crossing his legs and slinging an arm around Yifan’s shoulder.

‘You finally realized your everlasting love for the tall happy virus known as Park Chanyeol?’ Sehun said, not taking his eyes off of his taller friend.

Kyungsoo exchanged looks with Jongin. How the hell does a horror story make you think about love?

Yifan looked up at him as if he has just seen Jesus ‘You knew?’

Sehun flicked his hair and scoffed at the question ‘Only someone who has lost all of their 5 senses would not have noticed. Now, tell me oh lost one, did you only realize it now or…?’

The other shook his head and looked back at the tent. ‘I knew for a while now, just didn’t say anything. It’s…hard.’ He said, voice soft.

‘Dude, we all know your hard.’ everyone present chocked on air, looking with disbelief at the youngest, who seemed to have made another ual reference in one day. Damn them all, was he growing fast. ‘All you have to do to get rid of the is ask him out. I bet you, you’ll have no long-lasting problems for the rest of your life.’ He said, moving his arm from left to right in the air to emphasize the point.

After a moment of impressed silence Yifan spoke, barely audible over the gushing wind.

‘What…what if he doesn’t like me?’

Kyungsoo smiled, completely losing the Satansoo aura ‘If he doesn’t like you then me and Jongin haven’t been dating for 2 years.’

‘That sure huh.’ Yifan answered, looking at the Jongsoo couple with some form of admiration. ‘Then, I guess I’ll tell him tomorrow.’

Sehun whooped in victory, one fist in the air, legs out and the other arm by his side. To his annoyance, the unbalanced position made him fall and with a very un-manly squeal he landed back first in the snow. He lay there, splayed out for a few moments, glaring at nothing, and then clapped his hands and sprinted of into the tent, muttering something along the lines of ‘ I got it! Krisyeol! Sounds way better than Yiyeol.’

Ignoring the unusual behaviour, Jongin turned to Yifan and felt his happiness. ‘Let’s go, we don’t want you freezing to death before the confession.’ He said while lifting Soo up by his armpits, turning his now giggling boyfriend around and ushering him gently towards the tent once he stood on his own feet.

Yifan on the other hand, stayed outside for a few more minutes, thinking about how his life might turn 180 degrees for the better.

-------------------------------------

Chanyeol woke up because of a steady pressure pushing on his bladder. Recognizing the feeling, he tried to more or less stand up but was stopped by an arm slung across his waist. With a fond sigh, he shifted Yifan’s hand, doing his best not to wake him up. This was a common thing, Yifan cuddling him in his sleep. It was definitely a habit Chanyeol loved about the other. Then again, there wasn’t anything he didn’t love about the blond Chinese-Canadian; he was handsome, loyal, kind hearted and goofy enough to mess around with but serious to the point he never got into stupid situations. Unless the other dragged him into them.

Chanyeol smiled, watching as Yifan groaned at the loss of heat. However, the growing pressure of needing to go to the toilet didn’t let him sit and stare for long, so the red head put off praising and fangirling over his crush, no, best friend, and started crawling towards the flap. He didn’t have to worry about stepping on Jongin and Kyungsoo, seeing as they literally became one when sleeping, but the human sized ball in the middle was a bit harder to avoid. Chanyeol never quite managed to understand just how  the tall, lanky Sehun manages to fold into himself like that.

Safely passing the younger, he started reaching for the exit but stopped short when a soft, warm hand landed on his shoulder. Slightly startled, Chanyeol turned around to be met with Yifan’s sleepy eyes.

‘Whe’r ya goin’’ The other drawled out.

‘Outside, ya know, for a piss.’ He answered, slightly amused by his cru- best friends, he meant to think best friends, dishevelled appearance. ‘Geeze mind get it right!’ he thought to himself.

Yifan yawned and nodded, showing that he understood what was being said to him, but didn’t let go.

‘Don’ go in too deep m’kay?’ He said, rubbing at his eyes lazily ‘’S dangerous.’

‘Yifan the monster doesn’t exist you know?’

The blond nodded again, but a bit slower this time, as if he wasn’t so sure. ‘Yea, but there are wild animals and a blizzard’s comin’, so don’ go far in.’

‘Don’t worry Kris, I’ll be fine.’ Using the others English name was something only he could do. It made their relationship special, in a way.

‘I know you can take care of yourself, but I can still be worried yea. So be careful.’ Yifan said and, as if on impulse, leaned forward without warning, pressing his lips against Chanyeol’s.

Chanyeol sat there paralyzed for about two full seconds but his instincts had a better idea. He kissed Yifan back, with as much care and love as he could manage.

It wasn’t his first kiss, but it was definitely the most meaningful one. They broke apart soon and Yifan simply laid back down, asleep within a matter of seconds.

On the other hand, with heart beating dangerously loud and bladder near bursting, Chanyeol ran outside and into the woods, keeping in mind Sehun’s possible reaction to finding out he was sitting on the others piss if he used any of the nearest trees.

Having common sense, he didn’t run far in and took the first tree he saw that would fit the bill.

He shivered, a night in winter high up in the mountains sure was cold. He took a glance around, the trees leaned over him as if trying to shield his body and the snow wasn’t the nice white it was during the day, the colour instead a very, very dark grey. The wind crept down his back and a soft ‘crunch’ was heard from the trees to his left.

Chanyeol dismissed it, convincing himself into believing it was just his imagination. But that soon had no effect, seeing as more and more versions of that sound kept reaching his ears.

Crunch, crunch, crunch

He swallowed nervously, not turning in the direction knowing well that if he did, his mind would make something up. He finished off and started pulling his pants back up.

Huff

He stopped in the middle of his task and didn’t move, the feeling a twisting sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Haaaah…….….Haa Aaah hh…………………….hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh

It was the sound of breathing, and it wasn’t his own.

Chanyeol’s mind raced, an adrenaline rush he never knew he could get boiling in his veins. His hands started shaking with just the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was a monster in these woods and it was standing there, right now, watching him.

Snap

A branch seems to have broken. He fumbled with the zipper on his trousers, really wanting to be back inside the tent.

And then……….. a cold thing scraped against the back of his neck.

With a soundless scream, he turned his full body around and saw absolutely nothing. No trees, no snow, no thing behind him,  just pitch blackness.

But he could hear it. The unnaturally fast swooshing of the leaves, the snapping and creaking of branches, the crunching as something was walking on the snow and oh god he couldn’t move anymore.

He was so petrified, the thought of running was impossible in his mind.

He could only stand there, feeling his death surrounding him, circling around his form and he knew there was nothing he could do about it. Somewhere deep down he knew that if he ran, if he tried to get back to the camp, it could kill Yifan.

Yifan………..his Kris. The one man that mattered more than anything could be in danger.

And then he snapped and ran, ran in the opposite direction of the camp, as far away as he could just to lead the beast away.

He didn’t get far.

A paw, no, hand landed on his shoulder, making him stiffen mid run. It had a weird sense of déjà vu, but it was cold, had long sharp nails that dug into the flesh of his shoulder and it was so bloody big.

Whatever it was, it had the strength to flip Chanyeol around and drag him across the snow at an unimaginable pace.

He could only feel pain. The pain of his legs dragging across the ground, shoes long rubbed off and his flesh being burned away from the sole of his heel, the pain of his waist being torn from the rest of his body, not being able to keep up, and the gravity pushing down on him. The pain of knowing he was going to die.

Chanyeol was thwacked against something and whatever it was, it was hard…or maybe it was soft? It didn’t matter to him, he couldn’t tell either way; his nerves were long gone and his sight was filled with black, red and white dots.

A stray tear fell from his eyes.

It wasn’t that pain that hurt the most, it was the knowledge that he never told Yifan just how much he loved him.

------------------

Sehun was dismissing a soft tingling sensation for the past 3 minutes but it just wouldn’t stop. Enraged, Sehun violently wiggled himself out from the vast majority of his blankets and sat up, glaring down at his shirt. Pulling the collar away from his body, Sehun watched as a head followed by 4 legs popped out. He shrieked and jumped, making the spider fall onto the floor of the tent and start to speedily walk away. It seemed as if it was running away from the insane boy who was now  whacking the first bag he saw around in a terrified frenzy, waking up everyone else in the process.

And within a few seconds, Sehun was sat in front of a grumpy Jongin, who got a swing to the head, a pissed off Kyungsoo because how dare anyone hurt his boyfriend, and a confused Yifan who, in his just awoken state, still had no idea what was going on.

‘Sehun…’ Kyungsoo hissed through his teeth ‘I swear if you don’t have a good explanation for this, you will say goodbye to Mr. Sprinkles.’ He held up a pink, glittery blanked with sprinkle patterns on it. It was Sehun’s favourite.

‘S-Soo…you know I didn’t mean any harm…’He started, trying to back away unnoticed, but decided that he couldn’t leave Mr. Sprinkles in the hands of the other.

‘Right…so, last messages.’ Kyungsoo said, taking up a pair of scissors that were in the supply bag and holding them menacingly to one of the blankets hems.

‘Satansoo no!’ The other yelled, lunging forward but not being the most agile, he fell flat on his face right at Soo’s feet. Or it could have been the blankets that were still a big lump on the floor.

Not bothering to get up (he thought best when he was lying down either way) he tried to come up with something – anything – to save the beloved pink cloth.

‘Guys!’ He bolted up, startling the other three. They still haven’t figured out how Sehun managed to sit up without using hands or feet to support himself. What a mystery. ‘Guys…where’s Chanyeol?’

They haven’t noticed it before due to the commotion, but Chanyeol  wasn’t in the tent. In fact, he hasn’t been since they woke up.

‘He ‘as goin’ out for a piss. Dunno how long ‘s been.’ Yifan mumbled while getting up. He sloppily slung the biggest coat onto himself and tried putting on the snow boots. After a few unsuccessful tries but final success, he reached out to grab the zip and go out into the cold. To find his one true love and have him back in bed, according to Sehun’s mind, but no-one needs to know that.

To his surprise, three other bodies followed him out, Kyungsoo closing the tent behind them. Jongin walked past Yifan and led the way.

The weather wasn’t very nice, a blizzard is never something to want to be stuck in, especially in the middle of the night but they couldn’t do anything about it.

It was good luck that the footprints were still fresh, all the fewer worries for Jongin. Horror stories weren’t his forte and he got a lovely one every single night from Satansoo, he didn’t need all the ones set in mountains to be swirling in his head at the moment. The footprints also meant that Chanyeol was there not too long ago, giving off a strong belief he was alright.

It seemed like Sehun took it upon himself to distract Yifan, and was doing a damn good job of it. Yifan was actually smiling and talking back, maybe even forgetting that they were out here looking for Chanyeol.

On the other hand, Kyungsoo, who was walking beside Jongin, kept a very sharp look out for the red head, his owl-like eyes scanning every inch of the forest. He was the one to stop the group from moving ahead, the first one to see the disturbing sight in the snow.

A few steps ahead, there was not one pair of feet engraved but two, one significantly longer and bare, toes bent in weird angles. They very large, about a size 10, and overlapped with Chanyeol’s implying that it chased the man. It was not a good sign and it arose an unsettling feeling in Jongin’s stomach, but he quickly resumed walking, doing his best to wipe the steps away before Yifan got to see them. Kyungsoo stepped back, to let Sehun and Yifan know that they had to be careful, as some animal footprints were around. He spared them the rest of the details.

Thinking that was the worst he could see, Jongin stopped paying too much attention, leaving it to Kyungsoo. The wind was picking up, removing snow from its position and getting all over them, making Sehun complain that ‘It’s bloody cold!’ every ten or so seconds.

And around the 60th second, Jongin regretted not paying attention, as he walked right into another disturbing thing. Literally.

After a distinguishable ‘splosh’ sound, he stopped and slowly lifted his right foot. On the sole of his shoe was a black, red, white and beige (red being the dominant colour) mass, dripping down agonizingly slow.

Drip, drip, drip.

Jongin started at the sticky goo, to then slowly place his foot back down and with wide eyes look back at the snow. There were two trails of the mass overlapping the demented footsteps. Jongin didn’t process it, but he knew it was suddenly hard to breathe.

He whipped his head around to the right, expecting Kyungsoo, but was met with blond strands of hair and shaky breathing. This time, Jongin was sure he stopped breathing. Yifan was right there, looking at what was now so very obviously human blood mixed with hell knows what and crying. In fact, he was trembling so much it almost looked like he was in the middle of an earthquake.

‘Y-Yifan I I I’m sure this isn’t-‘

‘They’re not from one of ours.’ Yifan said in the deepest and most unemotional voice he had. ‘He must not even realize  he’s crying’ Jongin thought. Before anyone could respond, Sehun sprinted past them and up ahead, following the trial. It might come as a surprise to some, but he was actually the bravest after Chanyeol, so it was the most normal thing for him to do. The other three followed, although slower, they took great caution to not step on the blood.

Sehun was always a good 2-3 meters ahead.

After a few minutes of switching between running and walking, the group at the rear heard Sehun screech a ‘Stop right there you guys! I’ll be back.’ The youngest rarely used an authoritative tone, and when he did, it was only for very serious things and that’s why the others stopped and waited without question.

They didn’t have to wait a long time, Sehun was back within 3 minutes, pale, drawn, hollow-eyed but trying to walk normally. He looked at Kyungsoo, then Jongin and finally Yifan before closing his eyes an taking a deep breath.

‘I have news. Bad news. I’ve found Chanyeol.’

 ‘How’s that a bad thing?’ Kyungsoo said with a relieved voice ‘Sehun le-‘

‘But I haven’t found him in one piece.’

Kyungsoo was immediately silenced. He watched as Sehun walked up to Yifan and took his face into both of his palms.

‘Yifan, you stay right here, we’ll be back in less than 5. Trust me, trust me, that it’s for your own safety. Please wait for us, Yifan.’ He whispered the last bit and pressed his lips against the taller’s, leaving as soon as they separated. Kyungsoo and Jongin ran behind him.

‘You really are a mystery Oh Sehun.’ Kyungsoo muttered ‘Who would have thought you had a crush on Wu Yifan.’

Sehun snorted ‘I kissed him to give him something else to think about. If there was a more personal motive behind it, you’ll never know. Now, prepare yourselves.’

Jongin and Kyungsoo nodded, feeling the atmosphere quickly deter back down.

Once they stepped out onto the edge of the mountain, they saw the red trail lead to an old oak tree, the red liquid splayed out across the vast majority of the trunk that was within immediate sight.

‘I didn’t know people had that much blood.’ Jongin weakly whispered.

‘Sehun, you said you found Chanyeol but I don’t…’ Kyungsoo was saying, walking steadily closer to the platinum blond that stood very close to the edge.

Sehun didn’t turn.

Following his line of sight, Kyungsoo lost all of his words and stared. The younger let out a dry, emotionless chuckle.

‘You know, one of the biggest mistakes that humans do when looking for someone is not looking up. So I always look up, at the stars, at the sky, at the birds and animals and at the people that somehow got placed so high up we would just walk right past them. I’ve never regretted that habit until now.’

Jongin followed his gaze and at that moment, he knew that he could have spent a whole eternity trying to prepare for this and still not be ready. He couldn’t stand to look at it for more than 5 seconds in which shock took over. He fell to his knees and clutched where his heart should be, feeling uncontrollable pain spread through it. Kyungsoo ran to him, bringing him close to his body But unlike his boyfriend, Kyungsoo bravely looked at Chanyeol’s remains.

‘Whatever got him up there must have been hella strong.’ He whispered into the wind.

The cable cart wire was peeking through the trees lining some of the lower areas of the mountain. Chanyeol’s limp body was tied to it by his right leg, facing the mountain. Well, it was more of what was left of his leg, seeing as just a little bit over the middle of his calf was completely missing, dried blood a dark brown. His left leg most likely looked the same but it wasn’t very visible from this position, it was bent the other way. The rest of his body……there wasn’t much of it. From the waist all the way up to his chin was ripped open. The intestines were hanging out, lungs, heart, muscle in shreds, backbone visible clearly. There were claw marks, there were teeth marks, there was close to nothing left of the man.

And while his body was the most gruesome, his face was the saddest. His mouth was open, as if still trying to breathe, eyes were rolling back and forward as the body swayed dangerously in the wind. There were tiny trails of still flowing blood from his nose, eyes, ears and mouth.

But he wasn’t the only thing that was shaking in the wind, Sehun was as well. Kyungsoo felt horrible, he and Jongin were here keeping each other sane while Sehun stood there all by himself. He gently let go of Jongin who, although a bit confused, let him pull him up and they walked over to the younger, turning him gently around and away from the sight. Sehun was crying.

‘Oh baby,’ Kyungsoo cooed the nickname the group had for the youngest ‘I’m sorry.’ He brought Sehun down and held him close, feeling Jongin do the same. They stood there mourning their friend’s death until Sehun looked up and gasped. Thinking it was danger, the other two turned around.

It was Yifan, standing and gaping right at the spot where Chanyeol’s body hung. The next thing they know he is turning and running deep into the forest.

------------------------------

Yifan was confused.

When Kyungsoo and Jongin followed Chanyeol through to forest, Yifan stood there trying to comprehend his words.

‘I found Chanyeol.’

He was Chanyeol, how could he find himself? They were just walking together, laughing with each other, talking, so what did he mean that he’s found himself.

They just shared their second kiss. Yifan brought a finger to his lips, smiling at the memory of the warm sensation. Chanyeol said to trust him, to wait here for his own good, and he did just that. He trusted Chanyeol fully, so even if his words didn’t exactly make sense he still did as he asked. Chanyeol has always been the smarter one, so it must have made sense to him and the others.

He looked up, in the direction of the blood and sighed, feeling his mood drop. Whatever got murdered here was a poor thing, hopefully it died quickly, the pain must have been unbearable.

A voice called out to him from that direction.

‘Kris! Kris, you should come here now!’ Chanyeol called and Yifan walked without a second thought. It felt almost as if he was hypnotized, his body did its own thing without asking the mind.

He saw Chanyeol leaning against a tree, snuggling into his scarf with a grumpy expression which quickly disappeared as soon as he spotted Yifan.

‘Finally! C’mon, I don’t want to freeze.’ He said, turning and walking through a crowd of trees. Without argument, Yifan quickly followed, not wanting to fall behind his best friend. It never quite occurred to him how he could only see above the others nose.

Yifan was confused.

The moment he stepped onto the mountain edge, he nearly hit Chanyeol. But he didn’t, he walked right through him. ‘That shouldn’t happen.’ he thought, eyebrows furrowing.

He focused ahead, and nothing became any clearer. There was another Chanyeol being embraced by Jongin and Kyungsoo, presumably crying. But why would Chanyeol be crying?

Yifan looked up and saw a third Chanyeol, a dead Chanyeol, leftovers swinging in the wind that was picking up strength.

He looked back at the Chanyeol that was embraced and saw him looking back at him with fear in his eyes. Suddenly, the hair turned platinum blond and then red again, the face morphing into Sehun’s but only for a few seconds.

Yifan didn’t understand.

The face and hair continued morphing in and out of the two men and it was disturbing. He could feel his eyes vibrating, smudging his vision. His heart beat was unnaturally fast and a pounding sensation appeared in his head. With a low growl, he kept looking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until he finally realised that Sehun was Chanyeol and that Chanyeol was Sehun and that the other Chanyeol dispersed into thin air and that that Chanyeol was-

Yifan didn’t want to understand.

He turned and ran.

------------------------

When Sehun watched Yifan run, he wanted to follow; he really did. But there was this sense, this feeling of knowing that he wouldn’t be able to catch up to him. So instead, he stood up and turned to Jongin, wiping the tears that stained the tanned man’s cheeks and tried to put on a brave face of his own.

‘We’ve gotta go.’ He said, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

‘You’re right.’ Jongin nodded and turned in the direction of where they came from, the intention of walking back to the camp and getting the out of here visible in his stance. Yet before he could move, Kyungsoo latched onto his sleeve making him stop in his tracks.

‘Soo-‘

‘Shhhh,’ The other hissed ‘There’s something there.’ He said through gritted teeth, eyes trained to the forest.

Jongin looked into the darkness and for a split second, he saw a shadow move. His breath hitched but he didn’t dare to move, not wanting to be seen. He felt Kyungsoo tugging him in the opposite direction and Jongin let himself be pulled into the trees to the right, not forward, not of the edge. Sehun seemed to get the idea and was the first one out of sight.

‘What are we doing now?’ Jongin asked, looking at the other two with glints of panic flashing in his eyes.

‘We move slowly into the forest.’ Kyungsoo demanded and started walking, the other two not being able to argue with him followed close behind. They walked with eyes wide open and ears peeled for anything that could signify danger. They were even hyperaware of each other, their breathing, movement, and the distance between their bodies; everything was noted.

Snap

Jongin turned, startled. When he looked behind him there was nothing that seemed like a potentially unwanted follower. What there was however, was a broken branch in a place he definitely did not step.

He swallowed hard and continued walking.

Huff

That wasn’t their breathing. Kyungsoo seemed to have heard it as well as he made sure to make eye contact with both Sehun and Jongin. It was a sign to ignore their fast beating hearts and keep walking.

For the first time right then, Jongin noticed something off about Kyungsoo- he showed absolutely no signs of fear or disturbance. In all honesty, he was calmer than when he was sleeping which is saying something. Jongin wasn’t sure why or how he was this calm, but he knew one thing for sure; it was bloody admirable in this situation.

‘Hey Soo, do you have any idea where we are going?’ Sehun asked, moving closer to not raise his voice. And for a split second, Jongin thought Kyungsoo smiled.

‘Not particularly, but if I read the map right then there should be a plain around here somewhere. Hopefully there’ll be a safe point or something like that.’

‘A safe point would be perfect now, I’m freezing.’ Sehun mumbled. He had one of the fluffiest and warmest coats available and yet he was shivering like there’s no tomorrow. Maybe there isn’t, but Jongin would so much rather not think about that possibility.

So with the utmost trust in Kyungsoo, they kept walking in the direction of the plain. It was all well and good, they nearly forgot about the sounds they heard before and believed it was just a squirrel or small animal until a loud crash echoed from behind.

All three jumped and whipped their heads around, hearts in mouths. They were standing face to face with…with whatever that beast was. Its eyes were like the ones of a dead fish, glazed over pupils, eyelids not visible. It’s mouth was large and wide open, showing how the skin was torn in places and how the fangs within didn’t fit into the mouth completely. On them and around the mouth were remains of blood and flesh. The rest of the skin was a ghostly pale colour, looking a cold blue in the dark of the night. There were no muscles, only skin and bone but the creature looked as if it possessed strength far beyond anyone’s imagination, if the size was anything to go by. The body was so humanoid, that it could have been a living person in the past. Its claws however, were not something any person would manage to grow nor could they stand in the demented position this thing was.

It seemed to be decaying.

It was petrifying.

The monster opened its mouth wider and leaned forward, as if trying to make eye contact. The sound that came out of its mouth was:

‘Kris! Kris, you should come here now!’

And just like that, they started running. It was disgusting, the voice, that voice was exactly like Chanyeol’s and they just couldn’t fathom why the thing sounded like their friend.

The blizzard picked up, the cold wind slamming against their eyes and faces, blurring their vision entirely. They could barely make out what was three steps ahead, let alone if the thing was behind them. Jongin seemed to understand that in his panicked state, he managed to overtake the other two and was the furthers away from the beast. He hated himself for loving every minute of being the one safest. He loved the part of himself that reached out to Kyungsoo and Sehun, that wanted to make sure they were fine.

Kyungsoo himself wasn’t far behind. He kept his eyes focused on the flooring immediately in front of him, that way he wouldn’t trip and the hail wouldn’t hit him square in the face.

Sehun was falling short.

He couldn’t focus properly, there was something incredibly disorientating about the surroundings and blizzard wasn’t helping. In fact, why was he running again? He didn’t really know but the adrenaline in his veins pushed him forward.

Too bad he was too out of it to see what was going on, he tripped and fell face first into the snow, rolling a few steps.

He was cold, so very cold.

So cold that he was boiling hot.

He climbed to his feet, stumbling when a claw slashed at his calf. The blood trickled down but it wasn’t deep enough to cause major harm. Sehun felt his senses explode all at once and didn’t know what he was doing anymore. He couldn’t tell if he was alone, where he was or why he was there. All he knew is that he was running.

In their panicked stated, none of the three noticed how the trees were becoming sparser and sparser by the second until they were running on a plain of undisturbed snow.

They made it to the plain, but there was no safe point to help them. Instead, they were met with the remains of a very old, run down village. However, they couldn’t make out how big it was nor everything that was in there so they just ran through it, still feeling, hearing, the beast on their heels.

‘Kris! Kris, you should come here now!’

Jongin, being the first one in, quickly slid into one of the better off houses and pulled Kyungsoo along with him, who in turn dragged Sehun. They sat there, huddled in silence listening to Chanyeol’s voice calling for Yifan. At some point, the thing reared its ugly head inside their house but went back out within a few seconds.

Just as they were all about to let out a relieved breath, they heard a screech as if someone was being murdered and heard it rush off.

Jongin stood up quickly and rushed to the further corner of the house, throwing up anything that remained in his stomach mixed with bile. To his surprise, his heart didn’t come out along with it. Trembling and now recognizing that he was crying, Jongin wiped his mouth and stood up. He felt sick, he felt depressed, he was tired and he wanted to go home.

In between the wind he could make out Sehun’s complaints about it being hot and noticed how Kyungsoo, still unfazed by what was going on, did his best to talk Sehun out of stripping.

Not feeling that he could help, Jongin walked into another corner and laid down, hoping to wake up and find out that it was all just a terrible nightmare. Oh, even if it was just a nightmare, he swore to never ever step foot into the mountains.

He fell asleep nearly immediately after lying down, missing how Sehun also quickly toppled over to the side, coat half undone and Kyungsoo smirking while looking at the raging storm.

---------------

Jongin woke up to the thumping sound of hail and rain. He opened his eyes slowly, mildly confused at the low temperature and uncomfortable position, but soon realized where he was. Letting out a deep breath, he thought how grateful he was for still being alive. He looked to the right and spotted a slender hand. Sehun’s.

Smiling gently, Jongin reached out and pressed his fingers into the other's palm, glad that he wasn’t alone in this. He gently tugged at the arm but when he received no response, Jongin pulled harder. He pulled until his hand whisked to his other side at the loss of resisting force.

Confused, Jongin lifted his arm up. There, still clutching his palm, was the whole of Sehun’s right hand, the blood from where it tore off dripping with freezing cold blood.

Drip drip drip

Jongin screeched and got to his feet, violently wiping at his cheek in an attempt to get the blood off. He looked at the body next to him and sure enough, there were no signs of life left in the platinum blond boy.

In a frenzy, Jongin whipped his head around the house looking for the one other person that was with him; Kyungsoo.

The owl-eyed boy was leaning over the corps, shoulders shaking and breath laboured. ‘He’s crying.’ Jongin immediately thought and stepped over to his boyfriend, ready to provide any form of comfort he could manage. However, even before he could have taken three steps, Kyungsoo’s head snapped up.  Now, Jongin couldn’t see his face but he could definitely see the blood pouring out of where Sehun’s stomach was.

Swallowing hard, he outstretched his hand and placed it on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, secretly hoping that it was, in fact, him having a nose bleed and not the other possibility.

His breath became stuck in his lungs, pure fear taking over when his boyfriend turned to face him.

Kyungsoo wasn’t having a nose bleed, he wasn’t dying as well, no, he seemed to feel good, great even. Smiling, face smothered in blood, muscle hanging from between his teeth. In the end, Sehun’s stomach was bitten open.

Jongin felt light headed; his eyes prickling with tears and mouth open, he didn’t even realise he was hyperventilating until black dot’s begun to cloud his vision. He didn’t even notice when Kyungsoo stood up, bending his back and arms dangerously to the sides.

With the maniac smile plastered to his usually soft features, he walked closer, closer, closer until his breath was on Jongin’s face and the other was flat against the flooring. He never even realised Kyungsoo threw him to the ground.

'Murder' was written in his eyes.

Jongin couldn’t think, he just screamed and screamed as images of Chanyeol’s lifeless body, Yifan’s mental break down and Sehun’s broken state appeared before his eyes. None of them were as horrible as watching the love of his life turn insane.

Jongin was going to die; he knew it, it was facts. He braced himself as well as he could for the pain of teeth tearing out his throat.

But the pain never came.

Instead, a burning hot sensation spread above him and the next thing he knew, was that Kyungsoo was writhing on the floor with molten flesh dripping onto the palms clutched around his face.

There were strong arms around him then, yanking him up and out of the area, into the blizzard. At that point, Jongin’s voice was completely gone but his brain was still screaming, tears mixing with the rain. He couldn’t understand why he was hurting so much when he wasn’t injured.

A person ran inside the house he was just in, and that was the last thing he saw before blacking out.

---------------------------------

Mind stimulated by the smell of hot chocolate and warm blankets, Jongin awoke once again. He sat up and, to his surprise, noted that he was in a helicopter stationary in mid-air. He couldn’t remember how or why exactly he was on board, but decided it was better than down on the ground in a village occupied by monsters and hell knows what.

If he stretched his neck enough, he could see two pilots sitting on standby however, his attention was caught by the man sitting next to him.

O-oh,’ the other started, fumbling to but his book away ‘sorry, I didn’t realise you were awake. Books can really draw you in…’ The man had raven black hair and dimples that showed every time his mouth formed a smile, which seemed to be a lot. He didn’t have an authoritative vibe around him, in fact, he seemed to be Jongin’s age.

He passed a cup of hot chocolate to Jongin who drank it quickly and quietly, the burning at the back of his throat a reminder he was alive.

To Jongin’s own surprise, he felt perfectly calm. There were no tears, no shaking and the only thing to show he was hysteric not long ago was the soreness in his mouth and chest.

The man next to him cleared his throat, taking Jongin’s attention once again.

‘So, I’m Zhang Yixing, just Yixing is fine, and I’m part of the PEU in the mountains. We found you and, um, your friends due to the rise in paranormal activity within the forest. Sorry that we couldn’t get there earlier.’ He looked down at his hands, not wanting to make eye contact with Jongin.

‘Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault. I’m Kim Jongin, a university student who took a trip here with his friends. It didn’t really end well.’ A bitter smile appeared on his face although his voice was perfectly levelled.

Yixing looked up, smile returning.

‘Well then, it’s a pleasure to meet you Jongin. Would you mind telling me who you came here with?’

‘Sure. Park Chanyeol, murdered by the beast and hanging on a cable cart wire the last time I checked. Wu Yifan, went insane and ran into the forest when we found Chanyeol. Oh Sehun, the baby of the group, frozen to death and corpse eaten by the one and only, Do Kyungsoo, my boyfriend, who you have met and burned.’

‘I-I see. Sorry about your love. You know I, well…. I’ll tell you some other time. Why were you in these parts of the mountain?’ The furrow in Yixing’s brow didn’t go unnoticed.

‘Well, we went on a group camp together, like we did for the past two years, and Kyungsoo decided to come to this place. Not one of his best choices.’

‘You’re right. You see,’ Yixing said calmly, looking right into Jongin’s eyes ‘Kyungsoo has contacted us asking for permission to set camp here, and we did not agree. This area is closed off to the public for a reason.’

Jongin just stared. Why would Kyungsoo want to come here so badly that he disobeyed the rules and put their lives in danger?

‘He-he was acting a bit off. First, the map that he gave us was not the one you sell but a hand made one. It didn’t follow the common path but took us around the shadows.’

‘Was there nothing to stop you from crossing? Like, I don’t know, a sign? Tape? Fence.’

Jongin shook his head. ‘Nothing.’

Yixing tsked ‘Someone must have left a loophole.’ He muttered. ‘Well, as you didn’t know anything about this, let me tell you the most important parts. First of all, PEU is the Paranormal Extermination Unit and, as you can probably tell, we deal with paranormal activity on the whole. Me, and the other guys you’ll meet soon, have been assigned to these mountains, where the Wendigo’s live.’

Jongin narrowed his eyes in disbelief but quickly decided that after what he’s seen, this was the most rational explanation.

‘The Wendigo is a cannibal spirit, it possesses people who have eaten another human and turns the person into the thing that you saw. It could also-‘ Yixing was cut off by the flap opening, revealing the deep dark night. He ran over to it and shouted down, to come and sit back next to Jongin.

The tanned male swallowed hard.

‘What happened to Kyungsoo?’ He whispered.

Yixing looked at him with a grim expression. ‘He either got Wendigo Psychosis or got possessed by eating Sehun. What will happen to him is not up to me to decide, but him.’

On cue, a person started pulling themselves up into the helicopter. Jongin’s heart pounded with anticipation, the previous calm revealing the storm. He was already wailing even before the final fate of this journey was decided, Yixing holding him tight to his chest.

The figure now stood opposite the two, smiling a blank smile.