“Hyung!”

The ice is achingly cold against Hakyeon’s bare feet. Rapid, trembling breathes leave his lips in little puffs of white. He’s panicking, heart beating so fast it feels as though it’ll jump from his chest, but he can’t let Sanghyuk feel his panic. He needs to be calm, he needs to think.

Sanghyuk is staring at him with wide, frightened eyes, arms held out slightly to keep his balance as he wobbles a little on the ice skates he’s wearing. Hakyeon had carefully slipped his own off only moments before, and now he stands 10 feet away from Sanghyuk with his feet planted firmly on the ice of the lake.

“It’s okay, Hyukkie,” he says in a steady voice, trying to keep his hysteria from slipping through the cracks and making itself known to Sanghyuk. He eyes the cracked ice that spiderwebs across the shining surface under Sanghyuk’s feet, and tries to swallow down the panic that is building.

“N- No, it’s not,” Sanghyuk whimpers.

Hakyeon glances around them, looking for something, anything, that could help them. His eyes fall on his staff that lies on the ice a few feet from him, and a plan comes rushing into his mind.

“Let’s play a game.”

“What?” Sanghyuk yells incredulously.

“A game,” Hakyeon repeats. “Like we always do. Like hopscotch. You remember that, don’t you?”

At 8 years old, Sanghyuk is fairly easy to entertain. Teaching him hopscotch had kept him busy for days, and it had become one of his favorite games.

“But- But-” Sanghyuk glances down at the cracked ice below him. His foot slips just a little, and Hakyeon feels his stomach lurch. Sanghyuk’s whimpers in fear, but quickly regains his balance.

“It’s okay,” Hakyeon says slowly, lifting one of his feet and taking a careful step toward his staff. The ice creaks under his foot, but doesn’t break. “Just follow what I do. It’ll be okay.”

“You promise?” Sanghyuk’s gaze is painfully vulnerable, and Hakyeon feels the urge to protect him building even more. He has always had the over protective instinct of an older brother, but now it burns strongly inside of him.

“I promise,” he gives what he hopes is a reassuring smile. “Just-” he lifts another foot. “follow what I do.”

His foot lands on the ice - he’s so painfully close to the staff, but not close enough - and Sanghyuk moves his feet forward despite the fearful, hesitant look in his eyes. The ice splinters even more, and Sanghyuk whimpers again “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Hakyeon repeats. “Look at me. Don’t look down.”

Sanghyuk looks up at him, brown eyes shining with tears, his jaw clenched to keep his bottom lip from trembling.

Hakyeon knows he has to do this quickly, he has to have just the right timing. “That’s it, there you go. Now-” he moves another step closer, and the ice cracks again. “Come on.”

He takes one more step and then dashes forward, arm reaching for his staff. Sanghyuk rushes toward him, the ice cracking, deep rivets spreading and expanding. He doesn’t have much time, just a few seconds, so he s the staff toward Sanghyuk and wraps the curved end around his waist. He pulls and spins them around. Sanghyuk is thrown to the other end, safe, away from the cracks, and Hakyeon slides and lands opposite him.

They lock gazes and they both smile, relieved laughter slipping past their lips. Hakyeon feels like he’s able to breathe again. Sanghyuk is safe, away from the cracked ice and lying on the thick, frozen side of the lake.

But Hakyeon is not.

It happens too quickly for either of them to react. The sound that the ice makes as it cracks under Hakyeon echoes in the air around them, and the smiles fall from their lips. It splinters and falls away, and Hakyeon feels it breaking under him.

“No! Hakyeon! Hyung!”

His heart is beating loudly in his ears, but he hears Sanghyuk’s screams as the ice breaks into chunks beneath him.

The last thing he sees is Sanghyuk crawling toward him, his eyes blown wide with panic and his arm reaching out for him. He doesn’t even have time to scream before the icy waters take him.

He falls in and all he is aware of is cold - biting, unbearable, horrible cold seeping into his skin. He panics, opens his mouth to scream, and swallows a mouthful of the freezing water. It flows into him, chilling him to the core. He can hear the muffled sound of Sanghyuk’s screams as he sinks and sinks and sinks to the bottom.

‘I can hear his voice. He’s okay. He isn’t hurt. Good…’

The water is so bitingly cold, it feels like it’s burning him. It’s as though the frost is flowing through his veins, taking him, consuming him, killing him.

'I’m sorry, Hyukkie. Be safe.’

He’s not breathing, he can’t even hear his heart beating anymore. His chest feels hollow, he feels empty of everything but the cold - the icy cold at his very core. But somehow he can still see. The moon shines brightly down on him from the opening in the ice that he had fallen through.

He lets his eyes fall shut, still feeling frightened, unsure, but somehow the light of the moon gives him some comfort.

“You are alright,” he hears a voice, soft and airy, but he doesn’t know where it comes from.

When he opens his eyes again, he still feels the cold of the water on his skin, but he is no longer there. He is surrounded by white - white snow under his bare feet, heavy white clouds above him. The frost covers everything. He’s standing there alone, his staff, now covered in frost, held firmly in his right hand.

He blinks and suddenly he is no longer alone.

A man stands in front of him; tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in all white. His long, black hair is a stark contrast to all the white, and his plump lips are a soft pink against pale skin. His eyes are striking, sharp and such a dark brown that they appear to be black. His piercing gaze is directed right at Hakyeon, and Hakyeon feels frozen to the spot. There is nothing else around them, no one but the two of them as far as Hakyeon can see.

“Who are you?” He asks when he finds his voice. For some reason, the snow under his feet does not hurt like the ice had when he was standing on the lake. He feels the cold, the frost, but it does not hurt.

“I am the moon,” it’s the soft voice he had heard in the lake.

“The moon?” He tilts his head, confused.

“Yes,” the man answers simply. “But-” He studies Hakyeon for a moment, his expression never changing. “I did have a name once. Taekwoon. You may use it if you wish to.”

“What’s happening?” Hakyeon feels like he should be panicking, but the air around them is calm, stagnant, and so is he.

“You are dead,” Taekwoon says without hesitation.

“Dead?” The word hangs in the air, heavy and dreadful. Hakyeon knew, as soon as his skin touched the icy water, that he was going to die. But knowing now that his life is truly over leaves a deep ache in his heart.

“I have chosen you to become the next Frost,” to his surprise, Taekwoon lifts a hand and brushes soft fingers along his cheek. “A Guardian too, someday.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You are not meant to understand,” is all Taekwoon says, his face impassive.

“But Sanghyuk-”

“You saved him. He will be alright. Your family will be alright.”

Despite already knowing he had saved Sanghyuk, Hakyeon feels immense relief. He saw Sanghyuk alive, safe on the other end of the lake, but he was relieved to know for sure.

“You will not remember them, but they will be safe. Know that.”

“I won’t…remember them?”

“No, I’m sorry,” Despite Taekwoon’s unchanging expression, he does sound remorseful. “After you become the Frost, you will have no memories.”

“But- But- What will I do if I can’t-”

“It is alright,” Taekwoon assures him, as calm as ever. “You won’t be alone. I will be with you, always.” He thinks he sees a hint of a smile on Taekwoon’s lips, but he could be mistaken.

Taekwoon’s hand falls from his face, and he feels Taekwoon’s fingers travel down his neck and too his chest, where he places a hand over his heart. “I will be watching over you, guiding you. If you should ever need me, simply speak to the moon. We are one in the same.”

Taekwoon’s lips, curved into a sad smile, are what he sees before there is a flash of white. The frost flows into him, into his heart, and it is all he can feel, all he can see. His hair fades into a silvery white, his brown eyes glow a bright blue, and he becomes as cold as the icy waters that killed him. He becomes the Frost.

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A/N: I am in desperate need of jack frost!hakyeon fanart (⊙ω⊙)