Jongin keeps an arm wrapped around Jongdae’s waist, helping to support him through his shock. “D-did you know about this?” He questions, murmuring into his ear as people part for them to walk through, back to the castle.

  Jongdae shakes his head, watching the ground, studying the patterns the ice on it makes. The ice seems sad, and his heart aches. “I always wondered why he didn’t –refused to- talk to us.” He says through a sigh, looking up. “O-oh, Prince Yixing.” He pauses his walking to smile weakly at him.

  “Are you okay?” He asks, just as Zitao goes to Jongin’s side, wrapping an arm around his waist. Yixing holds out his arm, and Jongdae takes it. “What happened?”

  “We don’t know,” Jongdae whispers, shaking his head.

  Chanyeol appears in front of them then, pointing an accusing finger at them. “You!” He shouts, his finger pointing between the two of them. “What have you done! Are you a monster, too?”

  “Wh-what?” Jongin gasps, stepping forwards. “My brother is no monster. It’s our fault this happened.”

  “In any case, these two are perfectly ordinary,” Yixing reassures him, then flushes when Jongin and Jongdae both shoot him glances. “I-I mean, the-they’re not like their brother.”

  Jongdae turns to Jongin then, sighing heavily. “One of us has to go after him,” he tells him, like it isn’t obvious, like their big brother didn’t just freeze their entire kingdom, like all their trade-partners aren’t terrified of them. “I’ll go,” he decides.

  “No way,” Jongin shakes his head, grabbing onto his arm when he tries to turn away. “I’m going with you. We’ve never been in the woods without a guard, I’m not letting you go alone.” When Jongdae’s about to argue, he goes on, “You might freeze to death, or fall into a bear trap with your clumsy feet.”

  A quick glance around the village and Jongdae sighs, slumping his shoulders. “Okay. But I’m in charge, okay?”

  “We’ll come, too,” Zitao steps forward.

  Jongin places a hand on his arm, stopping him. “No, this is something we have to do.”

  “But-” Yixing tries to interject.

  “Other people might just scare him more,” Jongdae tells him, hugging him around the middle. “This is something me and Jongin have to do to save our brother. We need you two to stay here and look over our kingdom. Please, Yixing.”

  “I didn’t think it would be this cold!” Jongin whines, holding onto Jongdae from behind on the horse the guards could spare for them. They didn’t have individual horses like they wanted, their parents forbade them from riding alone, always making them go in pairs together. He tightens his grip. “We should have packed warmer clothes.”

  Jongdae kicks the horse a little harder, making him go faster. “Don’t complain, you were the one who wanted to come with me,” he tells him, ducking under a tree branch about to hit him in the face. It hits Jongin, and he snickers into his hand, briefly letting go of the reins. “Once we find him, we’ll be able to return back to the kingdom and get warmth, yeah?”

  There’s a pile of snow up ahead, and Jongdae easily dodges it, but their horse slips on ice, and suddenly their falling forwards, slipping off the horse and onto the cold ground. The horse almost steps on them until Jongin quickly pulls them under the safety of the tree, teeth chattering the entire. “Just great,” he deadpans, dropping his forehead to Jongdae’s shoulder. “This couldn’t get any worse.”

  “Don’t jinx-” A twig branch cracks, cutting Jongdae’s sentence short as the snow sifts away, until they’re sliding down a hill –head first- with nothing but rocks in the water. “Why did you have to come!” He shouts, reaching for Jongin to hold against his check, protecting him from the rocks they don’t hit.

  The rocks are just mere centimeters away from their faces, sharp and jagged, and they both let out a sigh of relief.

Jongin stands, brushing the snow off his , but the cloth is already soaked through, and all their blankets were on the horse in their satchel. He rubs his hands together, regretting everything he’s ever done in life.

  Maybe if he was more understanding, he wouldn’t have tried to force Minseok to talk to them. Maybe if he had just given him space like he always wanted, this wouldn’t have happened. All the problems in the kingdom could be easily placed onto him, and he would willingly take them onto his shoulders, because it’s his duty as heir to the throne.

  He bumps shoulders with Jongdae, “Sorry, Dae.”

  “For what?” Jongdae hums, bumping him back.

  “I messed up tonight.”

  “You- look!” Jongdae breaks off suddenly, pointing. Jongin follows his finger to a small cottage with smoke coming out from the fireplace. “There has to be warmth there. Maybe if we tell them we’re the princes they’ll let us in and let us dry off. Worth a shot?”

  “Definitely,” Jongin agrees, stepping over patches of ice he could easily slip on, trying to lead the way for Jongdae who would most definitely slip on. “A little closer.”

  Just the sight of the cottage made them warm, promises of blankets and fire and something comfy to sit on to rest their feet for even just a few seconds. Jongdae finds himself smiling despite of himself, trudging just a little bit faster to cover the distance in a shorter time period.

  They walk in and slump against the door in relief, the snow from outside following them in and flowing around them in a circle. “Oh, thank god,” Jongdae sighs, letting his shoulders relax. “Warmth.”

  “So warm,” Jongin mutters, walking towards the fireplace.

  “Woo hoo!” Both Jongin and Jongdae startle, feeling much like their horse only an hour ago. A man is sitting at a counter, small and smiley, his entire aura letting off warmth. “Welcome to Do’s Summer Shop,” he greets them, leaning over. “We have several sales going on right now, including flippy-flops, fishing rods, and tiny crickets! I’ll also include a special gift card for you two, to our sauna, the best in the whole kingdom!”

  Jongdae nods, a little confused. “Do you have anything, for, like, winter? Its kind of snowing outside, you know?”

  “Yah, that would be over there,” he points to a corner that could hardly be considered part of a shop, only seeming to have five items. “That’s also a sale. Buy all of it and get this jar of fish eggs for free. Sounds nice, yes?”

  Jongin finds it a little hard to nod, so he walks over to it, picks up boots and sweaters and heads back to Jongdae’s side. “Is there anyone else that might have stopped by?” He asks, placing the items on the counter and placing his hands on it. “We’re looking for something.”

  “True love?” The man asks, scanning the items slowly, as if in though. “Unfortunately for you, all there is tonight is you two. No one is risking love for this storm. You two must be crazy-”

  “O-oh,” Jongin stutters, “We-we have boy friends, sir. We’re just looking for-”

  The door opens, letting in another gust of bone-splitting cold air that has Jongin pressing himself as close to the fire as possible without catching flame. “Oh, I found you lads a boyfriend, yes I did!” The man smiles warmly at them before turning to the door. “Woo hoo! Welcome!”

  “I need carrots and a sledge,” is all he says, voice muffled by a thick scarf wrapping around his face. Joonmyun wishes he had one, too. “Move.”

  “Where did you come from?” Jongdae asks, shuffling out of his way in front of the counter. “Did you see anyone else?”

  “It’s just me and my reindeer,” is all he says, pulling out coins from his pocket and placing them on the counter.

  The man behind the counter hums lowly, “Ohh, you don’t have enough, sir. See, this is all thirty. You only have ten.” He pushes the sledge back to him. “Only ten will pay for carrots.”

  “Okay, but are you sure you didn’t see anyone else?” Jongdae continues questioning, slipping close to him.

  The man glares at him, “Yes. Now back off.” He turns back to the counter. “This is ridiculous,” he says, pushing the sledge back to him. “This isn’t even high quality, and you want me to pay thirty? That’s a rob. I’m not falling for it.”

  In all his short and stubby limbs, the man stands up, glaring daggers at him. “If you’re not going to pay full price, you need to leave, and stop insulting me. I will not stand for insults.” He’s around the counter in a few seconds, grabbing his arm and twisting it around his back. “Out you go. And never come back.”

  Jongin stands in shock as the man takes a seat back behind the counter. He flushes. “I apologize. I promise that never happens. So, what are you buying?”

  Jongdae shares a look with him, and slides the sledge back to the man. “All of this.”

  There’s a trail of footprints leading to an abandoned shed, one resembling the barns back in their kingdom that keep the horses. There’s muffled voices coming from in it, and after sharing a look with Jongin, Jongdae pushes the door open.

  On an old hay barrel is the man, strumming a beaten up guitar in his lap with a reindeer next to him, head in his lap. “Oh, lovely,” Jongdae comments, clapping his hands.

  The man jumps to his feet, guitar raised above his head, and Jongin laughs. “It’s just you two,” he sags in relief, slumping back to his hay. “What do you want now?”

  “What’s the coldest part of the mountains?” Jongin asks, walking in and leaning against the door.

  “The North mountain,” the guys answers without hesitation. “Now would you please leave?”

  “Take us there,” Jongdae presses, standing rigid next to Jongin. “We need to go there.”

  The man snorts, shaking his head. “And why would I do that?”

  With a toss, the sledge hits the man square in the crotch. Jongdae covers his mouth with his hands, eyes widening. “O-Oh, I’m so sorry-” Jongin elbows him, and Jongdae straightens up, clearing his throat. “I meant to do that,” he tells him, sticking his nose up in the air. “And that’s why you’ll take us.”

  The man rolls his eyes, slouching back down. “Because I’m so afraid of kid boys.” Jongin tosses the carrots, which hits him square in the side of the face. “Fine. I’ll take you up the mountain.” The reindeer next to him begins nibbling on the end of one until the man swats him away. “We’ll leave tomorrow.”

  “I don’t think you understand how important this is,” Jongin tells him, standing to his full height. He crosses his arms. “We’re leaving tonight.” With that, he tugs Jongdae out of the barn to wait by the sleigh.

  “Is this even a good idea?” Jongdae nearly screeches, “What if he doesn’t even take us there? What if we just spend money on a man that only wants to kill us!”

  Jongin laughs and slings an arm around his shoulders, “Do you really think he’d be able to get away with it? Look how short he is, and compare him to me.”