Frigid

-

Jongin stands rigidly, arms crossed. Kyungsoo is positioned a little behind Jongin. He hates that it makes him look weak, but it’s true that he’s scared; Jongin does everything with Kyungsoo in mind. Across from them, Baekhyun and Chanyeol stand next to each other. Baekhyun has an annoying little smirk on his face that makes Kyungsoo want to slap it off, while Chanyeol just looks cool, collected. They make a good pair, Kyungsoo thinks.

For a while, the only sound is the wind whistling through the sand. Jongin glares at the other two, jaw set, and Kyungsoo tries to look as if he doesn’t give a about this meeting. Finally, Chanyeol breaks the silence.

“So, the deal is still on?”

Jongin doesn’t move. “Yeah. Should be go over the terms again? In case anybody has... conveniently forgotten?”

Stay calm, Kyungsoo tell himself. Don’t you dare screw this up. Just keep your mouth shut, Jongin will do the talking.

A shadow passes over Chanyeol’s face, and Kyungsoo resists the urge to flinch.

“What can you possibly be implying, Jongin?” His voice is smooth as honey. Jongin remains silent.

“That we would go back on the deal, hmm? I’ll ignore that just this once. Baekhyun, if you will...?”

Baekhyun takes over, smirk still on his face. “Alright, losers. Here’s the deal. We leave you alone, you leave us alone. Until the pool gets too small, that is. Did you get that, or should I repeat it?”

Kyungsoo really wants to slap Baekhyun now, but fear holds him in place. A muscle in Jongin’s jaw twitches, but there’s nothing Jongin can do but concede to the other two. They have the upper hand, and both teams know it.

“You don’t need to repeat it. We heard you,” Jongin replies curtly.

“Good,” Baekhyun says, smiling amiably. Chanyeol takes over now, and Kyungsoo can’t help but notice how in sync they are, almost as if they can read each other’s minds. They can’t, of course. Kyungsoo and Jongin know their powers are light and fire. But still.

“Now that we’ve got that all cleared up, let’s make something else clear to prevent any misunderstanding,” Chanyeol begins. He pauses, eyes hard. “Baek and I are getting a bit bored with the Games. Nothing much has happened for a while now. And I’m sure we can all agree that we want the Games to end fast. So we’ve decided to shake things up a little.” He smiles, teeth glinting in the light.

“Tomorrow, we’re going after Minseok and Yixing.”

Kyungsoo feels like he’s been punched in the stomach, and he ceases to hear anything else for a panicked moment before his head clears up and he catches the last of Chanyeol’s statement.

“...they must be working together, in order to have survived this long. They’re the weakest, the most vulnerable. And we know they’re hiding in the snowlands somewhere.”

“Okay,” is Jongin’s reply. “And you felt the need to tell us this because?”

“Because,” Chanyeol is quick to answer, “we don’t want you interfering. And, we’re technically allies.” He adds on the last part as an afterthought, and Kyungsoo shivers, knowing Chanyeol has purposefully left out the most important thing: if Chanyeol and Baekhyun are successful tomorrow, the only tributes left standing in their way will be himself and Jongin. Though if Chanyeol and Baekhyun do manage to make it to the final two, there can only be one winner in the end.

Kyungsoo wonders if they’ve discussed that possibility yet. He and Jongin certainly haven’t.

“Okay,” Jongin says again.

“Okay,” Chanyeol says mockingly, and Kyungsoo hates him for it.

Jongin ignores Chanyeol. “We’ll be leaving now, if that’s it.”

“You’re excused.” This from Baekhyun, who is trying to hold in a grin. Kyungsoo wonders how Baekhyun can be so loud, so obnoxious. How does Chanyeol stand him?

Chanyeol laughs. “See you two around, then.” He slings an arm casually around Baekhyun’s shoulder and they turn, heading off deeper into the desert. Kyungsoo can hardly believe that they don’t even watch their backs. They must be really powerful, to be so confident about their safety.

Jongin and Kyungsoo watch, unmoving, until they’re far away. Only then does Kyungsoo dare take his place next to Jongin. Jongin sighs and takes Kyungsoo’s hand.

“I’m sorry, Soo. I wish we didn’t have to ally with them. But it’s the only way to even have a chance of winning.”

Kyungsoo squeezes Jongin’s hand. “Don’t apologize, Jongin. It’s me who should be saying sorry. I’m holding you back.”

Jongin squeezes back and smiles at Kyungsoo. “We’ll get through this together, somehow. The question is, what do we do now?”

“Definitely not the grasslands,” Kyungsoo says. “I’m pretty sure Tao died because of something there. We can’t stay here, though. It’s so hard to find water...”

Jongin nods. “The jungle’s out too, though. Remember that poisonous flower that almost got us both? Although-”

He stops suddenly, deep in thought.

“How about this,” he begins after a moment. “Why don’t we see if there’s anything good left over at the Cornucopia, and then if we find any decent weapons, we can tip them with that poison. After that, we’ll spend the night in the snowlands. I don’t trust Baekhyun and Chanyeol at all, and I want to keep an eye on them. This way, we’ll be armed and we can also watch secretly to see what happens tomorrow with Minseok and Yixing.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kyungsoo shrugs, though there’s something bothering him. “There isn’t anything else we can do.” He keeps silent about his own thoughts; better not to tell them to Jongin.

Everything after that goes according to plan. Jongin teleports them to the Cornucopia without any trouble, and they’re able to find a sharp spear buried under some debris. They teleport to the jungle after that and find the right flower, and Jongin tips it carefully in the poison. Finally, they teleport to the snowlands where they were earlier and set up camp. It’s at that time when Kyungsoo thinks about what’s bothering him: are they really just going to let Baekhyun and Chanyeol kill Minseok and Yixing in front of their eyes? Jongin doesn’t seem to care, and Kyungsoo knows he shouldn’t either, but it won’t leave him alone.

Jongin’s arms are too comfortable that night, and after the familiar Capitol Seal is projected (once again, there are no deaths), Kyungsoo stops thinking so much and lets himself fall asleep.

-

They find us the next morning.

Our cave, our little home - it will be ours no longer. This, ridiculously, is what runs through my mind first as I shoot up from sleep the next morning, awakened by the acrid smell of smoke creeping in through the cave. It only takes a split second to locate the source: in the block of ice covering up the entrance to the cave, one whole section of the ice is becoming a whole lot thinner. Somebody on the other side is burning a hole into our sanctuary.

There’s no time to think, only to move. Yixing is up at the touch of my hand. His eyes open in shock as he takes in the smoke, but he has enough sense to remain silent. I gesture towards the escape tunnel we dug the night before, and he nods; we can’t risk a direct confrontation.

I move into the tunnel first, and Yixing follows, doing his best to cover up the entrance with dirt once he’s in, although at best it will hardly slow our unknown opponents down. There’s nothing left to do but crawl as fast as we can as the sound of voices becomes louder and louder.

My heart pounds in my chest. My thoughts fly through my head, frantic and disorganized. Thank god we dug the tunnel yesterday. This could be our last day to live. Who are these people? Who has the power of fire?

I answer the last question myself, because suddenly, amidst the chaos of my mind, a clear image pops up: the twelve of us at the opening ceremony, standing in line to get on our carriages. Before all this chaos and killing began, there was Chanyeol, dressed in a maroon sweater, with the hood pulled up. Chanyeol, with a flame tattoo on his cheek.

I had suspected earlier that Chanyeol had ended up with fire, but I’m absolutely certain now.

Still I am moving forward as fast as I can, dirt and rocks pressing into my palms. I look back to check on Yixing, and see him staring determinedly ahead, face white.

I’m about to open my mouth, deliver some words of reassurance, when the voices suddenly become much louder, much closer. They must have finally burned through the ice.

. , , ! These are my only coherent thoughts, and I start to panic. We only have a matter of seconds before they figure out our hasty escape and see the pile of dirt at the back of the cage. Why haven’t we reached the end of the tunnel yet?

A yell of triumph echoes distantly from the direction of the cave, and my skin goes cold with fear. It’s the first time I’ve felt cold since getting my powers. I know something’s going to happen any second now, I can feel it- oh my god. I can’t think. Keep moving. We’re going to die. Keep moving. We’re going to die. We’re-

Yixing screams. I turn, can’t take in what I’m seeing-

His legs are in flames, and the fire is spreading to the rest of his body. The light makes his face look hollow, demonic. Yixing, oh no, oh god-

In a split second, the tunnel turns into an oven. Heat roars with the fire and presses in on us. The fire must have reached me, too, because suddenly it feels like my chest is burning away and something that must be me is making inhuman noises in the background. It hurts so badly I almost black out, I don’t think I’ve ever felt real pain before this, and Yixing is still screaming and I know he’s hurt badly too and we need to get out as fast as we can but the tunnel just isn’t ending and-

I burst into the cool light of the snowlands and collapse into the snow. I’m done. I can’t move another inch.

No!

Something inside me keeps me going, and I drag myself up, take Yixing’s arms and pull him onto the snow too. The sizzle his body makes when it meets the ice makes me want to throw up, and I barely keep myself from doing so as it is.

We lay there for only a second, it seems, before shouting reaches my ears and I look up to see Baekhyun pointing at us from the cave, and Chanyeol next to him. I almost start to cry. We almost died to crawl through the tunnel to escape, and here we are, still so close to the cave and our impending death. We thought that the tunnel, short as it was, would have been enough to escape from nearly anything. But we didn’t take into account that our enemies might have the power of fire.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol start to come towards us. They take their time, not even hurrying. Knowing we cannot do anything to fight back, that we are done for. We only have precious seconds left to live. What can we do in those precious seconds?

Yixing! He can still use his power to heal himself!

I shake him, and he moans. Doesn’t move.

“Yixing,” I say, and the calmness of my voice surprises me. “I know you don’t want to move. But you have to. Heal yourself and run. I’ll distract Baekhyun and Chanyeol.” He doesn’t respond, and all pretense of the calmness I had leaves me.

“Yixing!” I scream into his ear, shaking him harder with my arm. “Please!”

“Minseok,” he finally murmurs, and puts his hand on my chest, where my burn is.

“No...” I whisper, as the healing warmth starts to flow my burn. “No!” Desperately, I try to move his hand to his own body, but he still has enough strength and determination left to hold his hand in place. As his remaining energy flows into me, I start sobbing: huge, wracking sobs that leave me in bursts and shake my entire body.

“P-please,” I beg him. “Please...”

He ignores me.

“Save yourself, Yixing. I don’t deserve this!”

Finally, the warmth ceases, my pleas unheard. My burn is gone, yet all of Yixing’s remain.

“Go,” he manages, and then falls silent.

His breath rises and falls gently. He’s still alive, but Baekhyun and Chanyeol are almost upon us. I have options now: I can escape myself. I’ll probably make it.

Or I can stay with Yixing. Let his sacrifice go to waste. Die together with him.

It’s not even a choice. There’s no way I’m leaving him behind. Sorry, I think to him. You wasted your powers on me. But I’m going to make up for that now. It’s my turn to play hero.

I see Chanyeol, as if in slow motion, raise his arm to finish us off. I forget everything: my training, my powers. Instead, I brace myself, throw myself over Yixing.

I’ll protect him with my own body.

The last thing I see is Chanyeol’s boot before it kicks me in the head. Then it’s all just black, black, and more black.

-

Yixing lies below him, features peaceful and undisturbed.

The knife glints silver in the sunlight, and despite himself, Baekhyun hesitates. This will be his first real kill in the Games, and he suddenly he’s struck with a terrible doubt. Can he really do this? His hand trembles, and remorse floods through him as he realizes he has no choice, not if he wants to survive with Chanyeol. He looks over his shoulder. Chanyeol is standing farther away next to Minseok’s body, on the lookout for threats.

His hand steadies, and he shuts his eyes. He can’t bear to look at Yixing. He raises the knife, begins the fatal plunge down-

A yell from the trees snaps his eyes open again, and he sees, unbelievably, Kyungsoo racing out from the forest, eyes scared but fierce at the same time. His mouth is open, screaming something incomprehensible in the snowstorm that is starting to build up. Baekhyun strains to listen, wondering why Kyungsoo is here. Does that mean Jongin is, too? And why does it seem like they are trying to remain hidden?

As Kyungsoo nears, his words finally become audible.

“I won’t let you! I won’t ing let you kill him!”

“Kyungsoo, what in the world?” Baekhyun begins. “We had a deal. You just stay out of the way and let me and Chanyeol take care of this.”

“And then what?” Kyungsoo screams, face red. “You just leave us alone? Fat chance! You two won’t stop until you’ve killed all of us, every single last tribute. And even after that, you think you’ve won? You’re delusional if you think Katniss will let the two of you both win. Somebody’s going to have to die, don’t you see?”

Baekhyun backs away, heart beating fast. His secret fears are being laid bare in front of him, and it scares him, the way he doesn’t know what to say back to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo continues, voice accusing. “It was wrong for me and Jongin to make that deal with you. We endangered Minseok and Yixing with our selfishness, just because we wanted to survive. This is what the Games do to you.”

He finishes in a whisper, tears streaming down his face, before lifting his face up and raising his voice.

“This,” he shrieks to the sky, “is what the Games do to you. Do you hear me, Katniss?”

Baekhyun trembles, backs away more, and suddenly Chanyeol’s hand is on his shoulder, steadying and warming him. Baekhyun looks into Chanyeol’s eyes and sees nothing but resolve.

“Don’t listen to him,” Chanyeol whispers. “We can make it out together. We can. Okay?”

“Okay,” Baekhyun says weakly back, and wipes away the tears falling from his eyes, though he doesn’t quite know why he’s crying.

“But first,” Chanyeol continues in a low voice, “we need to finish Yixing off. I’ll do it, if you don’t want to. But it needs to happen right now, while Kyungsoo’s still distracted.”

“No, I can do it,” Baekhyun says, gathering resolve. Chanyeol nods, and Baekhyun creeps forward, raises his knife again.

“Hurry,” Chanyeol urges. “Jongin might be here soon.”

Baekhyun nods, plunges the knife down for the second time. But this time, it’s not his hand that betrays him but the ground.

The ground is shaking, roiling, doing things it should not be able to. Baekhyun falls back with a cry of surprise, and the knife falls into the snow, lost. Kyungsoo is shouting again. Baekhyun reads the words on his mouth.

I won’t let you kill him!

Then Chanyeol is there, lifting him up, and suddenly Jongin has appeared out of nowhere too, panic evident on his face as he tries to reach Kyungsoo, who is standing in the midst of an earthquake.

“Kyungsoo,” Jongin shouts as he inches closer. “It’s me, Jongin!” But Kyungsoo, eyes screwed shut in terror, seems not to have heard. It’s clear to Baekhyun that he can’t control his powers at all.

“What did you do to him?” Jongin rages at the pair, and the anger in his voice makes Baekhyun want to hide.

“Noth-”

“Bull!” Jongin attempts to move in closer to Kyungsoo, but the ground opens up beneath his feet, and he grasps at the earth as he falls, barely managing to hold on. Another sharp piece of rock skims just past his head, and he cries out as a cut opens on his face, bleeding bright red.

“Kyungsoo!” he tries again. At last, Kyungsoo opens his eyes, though the earthquake doesn’t stop. When he sees Jongin bleeding, he panics.

“I can’t make it stop,” he sobs. “I can’t make it stop! Help me! Help me, Jongin!”

“Kyungsoo!” Jongin yells desperately as the earth rises and rumbles around him. “Just hold on. Try to calm down. Think about... about home! The way it used to be. The pretty flowers. The stars at night-”

Kyungsoo shakes his head and screams, fists clenched, chest rising and falling rapidly, and the earthquake increases in intensity.

It continues like this, and Baekhyun looks away, unable to continue watching. It’s pitiful, he thinks, and hates himself for thinking it.

A movement from Chanyeol catches his eye, and he glances over to see Chanyeol nocking an arrow slowly, careful not to arouse Jongin’s attention. Chanyeol sees Baekhyun looking at him, sees the conflicted expression on his face.

“Do you want to win, Baekhyun?” he breathes, and Baekhyun thinks his eyes have never looked so cold.

He swallows.

“Yes.”

He whispers it and thinks there is no way Chanyeol can hear it over the wind, but Chanyeol’s hands tighten on the bow and in seconds he’s raised it, aimed, and released.

It’s quick. The arrow strikes Kyungsoo in the heart, and he stills instantly and falls. Jongin scrambles forward, checks for Kyungsoo’s pulse frantically, but he knows it’s over for Kyungsoo. The cannon sounds in confirmation, and Baekhyun forces back the wetness in his eyes.

“Kyungsoo...”

Jongin turns, a look in his eyes Baekhyun can’t identify. He only knows it is a terrible thing, Jongin in his fury and heartbreak, and he turns to run, forgetting where he is and what power Jongin has.

Chanyeol yells as Jongin suddenly disappears and reappears next to Baekhyun, grabbing his arm and twisting brutally. The only thing Baekhyun knows next is pain, blinding pain. Pain is the only thing in this world, he thinks between gasps. Pain is the world. The world is pain. There is no difference. He screams out loud, tears leaking from his eyes, as he feels his bone beginning to crack, and still Jongin twists, and does not relent. Out of the corner of his eye, Baekhyun sees Minseok stir, sit up, and take in his surroundings. He could tell Chanyeol, despite this consuming pain, that Minseok is getting away - he is hauling Yixing over his body and escaping deeper into the snowland - he could, he should say something, but he finds that he doesn’t really care anymore. There is only pain and the incessant snow, building up to a blizzard. The snow will cover Minseok’s tracks, Baekhyun realizes groggily. Good. Let him get away. Let him and Yixing survive. Baekhyun won’t be a part of these Games anymore, he won’t kill, he won’t do anything, not if it means pain like this.

Another shriek issues violently from his mouth and stops just as suddenly because now Chanyeol is here, wrenching Jongin’s hand off his arm and bringing sweet, unimaginable relief to his arm. Unable to do anything else, Baekhyun falls to the snow, black spots flickering across his vision.

What happens next, to Baekhyun, seems to span an eternity. Jongin, grappling with Chanyeol, produces a previously hidden spear, raises it high. There’s something wrong with the tip of the spear; it looks like it’s been coated in something. Baekhyun opens his mouth to warn Chanyeol, but the words leave his mouth far too slowly. The spear flashes white, reflecting the swirling snow. The moment seems to freeze.

And then Jongin plunges the spear into Chanyeol’s gut, and Baekhyun knows nothing will ever be the same again.

For an instant it’s like Tao is still alive, because time speeds back up to normal and Baekhyun hears murderous words coming from Jongin’s mouth.

“This is for Kyungsoo,” Jongin hisses, twisting the spear around. Chanyeol cries out.

“Curse you, and curse Minseok, too. Kyungsoo died to save that useless partner of his,” Jongin continues. His eyes are red.

“I swear I will avenge him.”

Jongin teleports away, then, and everything becomes quiet.

It’s only Baekhyun and Chanyeol left as the blizzard rages on. Baekhyun stumbles over, falls to his knees. One look at Chanyeol’s wound, bleeding black liquid, and he knows that just like Kyungsoo, Chanyeol is done for.

Chanyeol groans at Baekhyun’s touch. “Poison,” he murmurs weakly. “They must have tipped the spear with poison. Jongin always was... a sneaky little bastard.”

For the nth time that day, Baekhyun starts to cry.

“Chanyeol,” he weeps, “please don’t die.”

“Oh, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol sighs. “I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t leave me here alone,” Baekhyun sobs.

Chanyeol coughs up blood and bleeds, endlessly. He won’t stop bleeding. Why, Baekhyun thinks, suddenly angry, won’t he stop bleeding?

Their hands touch, and Baekhyun holds on as tightly as he can, believing against all reason that if he can just keep holding on, then Chanyeol won’t die.

“Listen,” Chanyeol manages weakly. “You have to listen.”

“I’m listening,” Baekhyun whispers softly.

Chanyeol begins, but is cut off by another round of coughing.

“The kiss,” Chanyeol rasps afterwards, and Baekhyun leans in closer. “It... it wasn’t just...”

Baekhyun squeezes his hand.

“...it wasn’t just for the sponsors,” Chanyeol finishes, and Baekhyun weeps.

Chanyeol’s eyes grow clear and resolute. His lips open once more, form a fragile gem in the air.

“Be strong, Baekhyun.”

Last words, uttered in cold snow, illuminated by pale light.

Baekhyun cries on, shattered by broken promises.

-

“Baek, remember that I said I don’t break promises. And now, I’m promising that I’ll stay with you forever. A promise is a promise.”

-

I have never been more tired in my life. Yixing is heavy on my back, and there are more than just a couple times when I have thought about stopping. Laying down in the soft, cool snow. Giving up.

But I can’t really do it, not when the image of Yixing’s burned legs comes to my mind. I can’t let that go unavenged. Right now, though, I’m trying to get us as far away from our old cave as I can. We both need to rest, badly, before we attempt any kind of confrontation.

To keep myself going, I talk to myself. I’m not entirely sure if I’m speaking out loud or in my mind, but it’s too much work to figure it out, so I stop trying to and just talk.

You can do it, Minseok. Just keep going.

I wonder why Chanyeol knocked me out, instead of killing me.

I wonder why both Yixing and I are alive. Did Baekhyun and Chanyeol forget about us, decide to wait until later to finish us off?

How much longer will these Games last?

Hey, that looks like a good place to rest. Sheltered, undisturbed...

I blink several times to make sure I’m not imagining things. In the near distance stands a small copse of trees, and two of the trees in the front bend inwards to form a kind of arching bow. It looks so peaceful.

As I keep moving closer, it becomes clear that I’m not imagining things. The copse of trees is very real. When I finally get there, I touch one of the bent branches. The whole tree seems to shiver, and snow powders down like fairy dust. I decide this place is good enough; I’m too tired to move another inch anyways.

I remove Yixing carefully from my back, place him gently down underneath the arch of branches, and then kneel down next to him. All my bones creak, and I wince as I settle down. The snowstorm is still going strong, and I brush some of the stuff off Yixing’s face.

It feels good, just resting and looking at Yixing’s face, but time is of the essence, and I reluctantly wake him up after a short respite.

“Yixing,” I say softly. “It’s time to wake up.”

There’s no response, and as the silence looms longer and heavier, I shake him as gently as I can. He still doesn’t stir, and panic overtakes me quickly. Just as I’m reaching in with dread to check his pulse, he gasps and his eyes shoot open. They register relief as they see me, though there’s something else I can’t quite pinpoint. Fear? Acceptance? But of what?

“Yixing, thank god!” I exclaim. “You scared me, I thought-”

I stop right there, because Yixing starts to cough, hard, and a secret little bit of apprehension I didn’t know was in me starts to grow bigger and bigger. Something isn’t right.

It only becomes clear what exactly is wrong when Yixing gestures weakly to his chest. I reach out, lift up his shirt slowly.

My hand falls back and drops to the snow.

Yixing’s chest is covered with horrific burns.

I didn’t know, didn’t even think to check, because I thought he had only sustained burns on his legs. But these burns are far worse. They are life-threatening.

I’m too late to save him. This flashes through my mind like lightning, and I realize Yixing already knows this himself. That look in his eyes...

I reach out again, for his hand this time, and he holds on tightly.

“Yixing,” I whisper, and though I know his burns are beyond hope, I have to ask. “Do you have any strength left, any at all, to heal yourself?”

He shakes his head, but squeezes my hand urgently.

“Minseok,” he gasps, and I hang on to his every word. “I never told you, I just wanted to say...”

Our eyes meet for the last time.

“Thank you,” he finishes, and I know those are his final words.

He takes one more stuttered breath, then sighs gently and stills.

A bird sings nearby. The cannon goes off.

My fingers, trembling, close his eyelids. My mind is empty, and I welcome it and the numbness it brings. There are things to do, I know that, but for now I do nothing.

All of a sudden, grief overtakes me, crashes over me the way only death can.

“I should have told you,” my voice sounds out loud and trembles, “how much you meant to me.”

Speaking seems to break something in me, and a great rush of words follows and pours out. They are words I didn’t know existed before today.

“I should have let you enter the tunnel first. That way you would have survived, instead of me. You got through the Games without killing anybody. That’s... that’s courage. Only somebody truly brave would refuse to kill anyone, rather than kill without remorse, like Luhan or even Chanyeol at times...”

I ramble on and on, as if Yixing is right next to me listening. With a wave of my hand, his body is encased in a clear block of ice. I won’t let anything disfigure his body. Sadly, I remember how I couldn’t even freeze a stone before without collapsing in exhaustion. Now I use my powers so casually that they have become an extension of me. Whether they are worth the pain they have brought, though, is a vastly different story.

I stand and look at sky, speak clearly and loudly for the first time since Yixing’s death. “You see this body here? You better not try to take it, not until I’m dead, at least, or the Games are over. You owe him, us, that much.” There’s no acknowledgement, but I’m sure they hear me.

I kneel back down, my brief moment of fight gone.

“Yixing,” I begin again, “I’m a coward.” I take a deep breath, continue.

“Because I’m going to kill Baekhyun, and I know you wouldn’t like that. But I need to end this. You understand, right?”

Of course, there’s no answer. I realize there’s something I’ve forgotten to say, though it’s not to Yixing.

“Thank you, Kyungsoo, for your sacrifice.”

The words cease to come. I’ve said enough.

The blizzard covers up the block of ice quickly, and I stand by silently. It occurs to me that I don’t know Baekhyun’s power. It doesn’t matter.

I remain standing even as the Capitol seal materializes and Yixing, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol’s faces are projected in turn onto the black sky. I wipe the wetness off my face.

Tonight, three pairs of eyes watch: one dead to the world, one angry and vengeful, and one bright with tears.

The snow whispers in my ear: the end is near.

My heart aches for it to be true.

-

The end is indeed near. This story, I just realized the other day, is now over a year old. That's amazing to me. I'd like everybody to know that the next update will be the last. Two chapters will be going up at the same time, and then it'll be a wrap! So, thank you all once again for reading and sticking with this story - it means the world to me.