One fateful day in December, his flatmates had dragged him along on a trip to the mountains. Chansung loved being surrounded by nature, he really did. But it was cold as balls outside and the prospect of being stuck with these two idiots in the tiny hut for the entire week, unless he wanted to turn into a Chansicle of course, wasn’t exactly the loveliest.

He loved them like brothers, honestly, but these two together were a recipe for disaster and it was usually him who pulled the shortest straw and was at the receiving end of their jokes.

But it was Taecyeon’s early birthday gift, so he had given in to their pestering eventually and accepted his fate with a justified amount of grumpiness.

Somehow he ended up on the backseat of their car, trying to tune out the escapades of the two in the front with his headphones on, but that didn’t mean that he was free to watch the landscape pass by, oh no.

Minjun was far too passionate about singing along to whatever was blaring from the special road trip mix he had put together and Taec only made it worse by providing randomly screeched adlibs.

That in itself was nothing Chan wasn’t already used to, though. It was Taec’s inobservance of the road that worried him. “Hyung~” Chan tried, but he was ignored until he repeated it much louder. “Taecyeonnie hyung! Why don’t you let me drive, eh? That way you can sing in peace…”

“I’m good, Channie. Not tired at all.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, hyung. Just… Please keep your eyes on the road and mind the traffic, okay?” he grumbled over the music and earned himself a concerned look from the shotgun seat. “What’s wrong, Chansungie? No fun in the back?”

“That’s not it. I’m just worried about our safety. One of us has to be since both of you are busy with karaoke…”

“What? The music's too loud, please speak up!”

“NOTHING!” he shouted back and closed his eyes, praying they’d make it there in one piece.

An hour or so later, the car took a sharp turn and went still, shaking Chan enough to wake him up. He was greeted by two equally bright smiles from the frontseats which he only rolled his eyes at and sighed.

“Oh, come on, Channie. Why are you so grumpy all the time?” Taec asked, clearly more concerned than before. He sent him a very thorough gaze through the rearview mirror, but Chan didn’t really feel like talking about it. Their behaviour wouldn’t change anyway, so why bother pointing it out?

“Nothing, really. Just a bit too cold for my taste…”

Let’s just say that the two in the front knew him well enough not to believe a word, but they were also aware that it was pointless to pester him if he really didn’t want to talk. So they exchanged a look and got out of the car soon after.

Chansung took a moment longer to prepare for the cold that would greet him ere he did the same. And while it was indeed cold as heck, he couldn’t help but admire the view of the snow covered trees that were surrounding them. His curiosity sparked by a narrow path between some of them, he made his way there, wondering how far up in the mountains they really were.

“Ey, don’t get lost in there, Chansungie!”

“I’m just taking a peek, Minjunnie hyung, be right back!” he shouted in response before he disappeared from their view. He wasn’t able to see the end of the path, mostly because it wasn’t straight, but five minutes in he reached a clearing.

Looking around, he noticed another path leading away from it, but the strangely circular formation of the trees around this clearing was more interesting somehow. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt the urge to walk around the circle and touch every tree as he did so.

And much to his surprise, he spotted something red in a knothole that was slightly out of reach as soon as he had rounded the circle once. There was a change in the air when he reached for it and pulled it out. Usually, he was a lot more cautious, but he was unable to resist the temptation this time and when he took a closer look at it, he realised that it was a tiny book he was holding.

It was bound in bright red leather and had a golden imprint of a holly wreath on it. Other than that, there was no title or author or anything to be seen, so he opened it carefully, hoping the leather wouldn’t break.

The book was warm to the touch, even if it had been lying in the cold for god knows how long. That alone was strange enough, but Chansung kept on flipping through the pages, trying to discover its secret.

And yet, there was absolutely nothing. No letters, no pictures, just blank somewhat yellowed pages. He wasn’t entirely sure what he had been expecting, letters appearing all of a sudden perhaps, but it had definitely not been a strange warmth coming right from the thick paper.

Because, as impossible as he would think it was, the book was definitely heating up as he flipped through it, eventually reaching his own body temperature when he flipped the last page. “What the-?”

“CHANSUNGIE, WHERE ARE YOU?!” That was Taecyeon’s booming voice, probably still a good distance away, but the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow gave Chan an idea of how quickly he’d reach the clearing. And even if this book didn’t appear very strange at the first glance, Chan had absolutely no idea how to explain how he had gained ownership of it. So he slipped it into his pocket and crossed the distance towards the path he had come.

Taec almost ran into him, but Chan jumped back to avoid it at the last second. He flashed Taec a sheepish smile in hopes of distracting him from whatever idea he might have gotten, but the slightly taller still sent him a judgemental look. “Are you going to be like that all weekend, Chansung?”

“Like what?” the youngest asked, puzzled since his mind was still occupied by the strange book.

“All cranky and trying to avoid us? Seriously, running off into the woods the second we arrive? Not cool, man.”

“Oh, I- Sorry, I just wanted to check if there was a spot in here from which I could check how high up we are. I was going to come back in a couple of minutes…”

Taec’s look had only grown more disbelieving, but he heaved a sigh and relaxed a moment later, his entire face lighting up as he put his arm around Chan’s shoulder. “Alright, I believe you. But you know you can talk to us if anything is bothering you, don’t you? This trip is supposed to be fun for all of us, Channie.”

“Yeah, I know, hyung. Let’s go back and help Minjunnie with the luggage.”

A couple of hours later, they had unloaded the car and prepared a nice lunch which they enjoyed in front of the crackling fireplace. Good food and some warm tea were just what Chansung had needed to feel more enthusiastic about this week, so he had forgotten about the book that was still concealed in the pocket of his jacket for the moment.

They spent a couple of hours talking about the events of the past year, realising how many things had actually changed for them. The older two had graduated in summer and were currently trying to find jobs in their respective fields of interest. And then there was Chansung, still stuck in university but taking a tiny break from his studies until the remaining semester would start.

The topic changed from serious to more delightful ones rather soon, though. Or well, delightful for the older two.

“So, Chansungie, spill the beans. Have you been seeing someone lately?”

The youngest had just decided to take a sip of his tea when Minjun asked him, so Chan choked on it in surprise and had to recover from a rather harsh cough for the next couple of minutes. Make use of the opportunity if you can. That had become one of his maxims, and it had saved him from situations like this one more often than not.  They figured it out at some point, however, and cleared their throats unamusedly, judging him with looks until he gave in with a sigh.

“My love life is none of your concern, to be very honest. And yes, I know you’re just worried for me, Taecyeon, please hold the horses.” he stated, stopping Taecyeon in his tracks before he had a chance to cut him off. “It’s not like I’m actively deciding not to date, okay? It’s just- Man, I’m so caught up with my studies? I want to graduate with great marks and that’s kind of hard to do that when there’s someone demanding your attention all the time. Besides, I don’t see you two going out a lot either. And you’re never bringing someone home…”

That’s when Minjun cleared his throat and pointedly avoided Chan’s suspicious gaze. The youngest focused on Taecyeon then and it didn’t take long for him to give in to the burning stare. “Yes okay, fine. We’ll get off your back about this.”

But Chansung felt there was more to it. The way they didn’t look at each other and their stiff postures told an entirely different story. Chan knew random guesses would be his safest bet, so he narrowed his eyes some more and suggested what came to his mind first: “There’s something else you’re not telling me… Is one of you getting engaged? Oh my god, you’re not becoming dads, are you?”

They stared at him with wide eyes, baffled into speechlessness by his extreme ideas for a moment until Minjun actually decided to let the cat out of its bag: “We’re dating, Chansung.”

Remember the slow on the uptake part we were talking about earlier? Yeah, here’s exhibit B.
 

“Of course, you are. But who? Don’t be so secretive.” he agreed hurriedly, completely oblivious to the implication of Minjun’s words.

“Chansung. We’re dating each other. Taec and I are together.” the oldest pointed out more clearly and was met with deafening silence.

Chan stared at them with eyes like saucers, not sure he had heard right. Or maybe it was the fact that he had never ever considered them dating each other an actual option. His hyungs being gay? But they had been dating girls before…

“You’re gay?”

“I’m pan, actually. And Taec is bi. You’re not going to freak out now, are you Channie?” Minjun’s voice was full of worry and Chansung knew he would probably switch to mother hen mode in the next couple of seconds if Chan didn’t do anything to prevent it.

“No, I’m cool with it... It’s just unexpected. I wouldn’t have guessed it, that’s all. And honestly, you guys never really acted like a couple in front of me. Since when?”

“A year? Give or take a couple of weeks, but it clicked sometime around my birthday.” Taec offered with a small voice and guilt-ridden face since he knew how much these words would sting. They usually talked about everything, but for some reason, he and Minjun had felt that a revelation of this scale could have been too much for Chansung at that point in time.

And, as expected, this breach of trust didn’t bode very well with Chansung: “You’ve been doing it for a year?! And you’re only telling me now?! Awesome, so much for trusting me with everything…”

His face had fallen, voice now full of bitterness and disappointment. It’s not like he was angry at them, really. Chansung was just very, very sobered by their behaviour.

It felt like a slap in his face, and yet, he wasn’t someone who’d take that out on them. Instead, he preferred to have a moment to himself to figure his feelings about all of this out. Because, even if this lack of trust had hurt him, he didn’t want to say anything he would probably regret later on. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll take a walk outside to clear my head so we can continue this talk. I’d rather be happy for you instead of being gutted about how little faith you have in our friendship apparently…”

His words still stung a lot, but the older two realised that he had a right to be pissed and that he would do what worked best for him to cope with the situation. They owed him as much, so Taec only nodded, uttering a request that he knew would keep his boyfriend and himself a little less worried while Chansung was out there: “Please take your phone with you, Channie. Just in case. You don’t know what might happen. And we’re worried…”

Chansung’s cold gaze shut him up, though. “Just don’t, Taecyeon. It’s a lot harder to believe these words in the face of your lack of trust. It’s in my pocket, but don’t try to call me."

And with these words, he was throwing on the additional layer of clothes to protect him from the icy wind outside before he stepped through the door and back into the snowy wonderland that calmed him down immediately.

Now, where to go? he wondered, stuffing his hands into his pockets only to find the book again. It was still warm enough to freak him out and tempt him to look for more clues about its origin and purpose where he had found it.

Might as well make good use of the last hours of daylight. So off he went, straight into the forest, mind set on one thing only. He had to find out what the heck was up with this book.