"Hyung."

Shindong woke up with someone poking him hesitantly on the arm. He grumbled, and swat the arm away, but the small voice calling for him wouldn't go away. "Shindongie-hyung, please wake up."

He sighed, and opened his eyes, frowning as he blinked. He was completely sure it was either Donghae or Hyukjae. The two often came up with pranks in the middle of the night and would wake him up all excited and bouncy and tell him about it. So he was very surprised to find that the one waking him up wasn't either of the duo.

"Sungmin-ah? What's wrong?" Shindong sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking at the brown-haired male bite his lower lip hesitantly. Sungmin was standing next to his bed, holding his pillow and blanket in his arms.

"I... Hyung, I'm scared" Sungmin confessed. Shindong knew what his best friend was scared of, of course he did. It wasn't like the aegyo king was the only one afraid.

"What are you scared of, Sungminnie-ah?" He gestured for the younger to sit beside him on the bed, and Sungmin did, staring at his lap.

"It's not stopping" Sungmin whispered, trying to hold his hands still, but they wouldn't stop shaking. He was scared, so scared. It had been snowing for days, blizzards raging through the city of Seoul one after another. First they had been happy, they idea of getting a white Christmas making almost all of them bursting with joy, but when the snowing wouldn't stop they had started getting a little nervous.

And three days ago Ryeowook had left for the grocery shop. They had been running out of proper food, and the eternal maknae had offered to go get something to eat. After one hour of waiting for Ryeowook, Jungsu had gotten anxious and left after him. He had returned with a sobbing, cold Ryeowook clutching the bag to his chest. During the brunet's stay in the shop the blizzard had gotten worse, and suddenly it was too much for him. Not considering giving up and going back an option, Ryeowook had continued walking through the storm, getting lost on the way because of not being able to see anything.

Jungsu had found him after searching for almost half an hour, and as they returned they were both freezing and scared to death. Ryeowook had managed to get them bread, milk, juice, and some basic ingredients for food, but now, after three days they were slowly being forced to seek refugee from the back of their closets, instant noodles beginning to be the only food they had besides some bread.

Shindong sighed, setting a comforting hand on Sungmin's shoulder and rubbing it. "Sungminnie, it's okay. Don't worry." Sungmin stayed silent, like he was thinking about something, before glancing up at his friend. "Can I sleep with you tonight, hyung? Please? I don't want to sleep alone."

Shindong arched an eyebrow, confused. "Why don't you sleep with Kyuhyun-ah? You're room mates, after all."

Sungmin shook his head and frowned. "I don't think Kyuhyun-ah wants to sleep with me. And I'm his hyung, I'm not supposed to seem scared. He's the maknae after all. He's supposed to be able to rely on me."

Shindong sighed, and pulled Sungmin down with him. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, sleeping together in a bed meant for one person, especially when neither of them was a bony stick like Jongwoon or Hyukjae. But if this was what would make Sungmin feel better, Shindong was more than glad to sacrifice a little bit of sleep for him.

As Sungmin adjusted his pillow and pulled the covers on top of himself, snuggling against Shindong's side with his head resting on the older male's arm that was draped securely around his shoulders, neither of them noticed the auburn-haired figure standing in the door way. Sighing sadly, the figure turned around, his shoulders slumped, and returned to the room that was now missing one of the people supposed to sleep in there.


The next morning Sungmin woke up to an empty bed, tucked under two blankets. He smiled slightly, snuggling deeper under the covers. He sighed. Since there was so much snow their schedules had been cleared till the weather would calm down.

He didn't want to get up. If he did, he would only be disappointed because the sky would still be covered in heavy grey clouds and he couldn't see five feet in front of himself from the window because of the snow. He really loved the snow, but now it scared him. He wondered when they'd be able to get out the next time.

It was also making some of the members frustrated – Henry was trying to concentrate on anything but the fact that he couldn't get out of the house, which meant that he had dug out all sheet music he could find from the dorm and was playing the violin almost twenty-four seven. Jungsu had started slamming doors and kicking objects the day before because of being so stressed. They were falling behind with their schedules, and he had the We Got Married program with everything else, too. The leader was anxious the separation would ruin his and Kang Sora's relationship and the ratings would drop. He didn't want their manager to be angry with him. Zhou Mi's frustration came out as Chinese – he wouldn't speak with anyone but Henry, and Siwon when he could reach the man by phone since he didn't live in the dorms, and Kyuhyun when he wasn't playing StarCraft, since they were the only ones capable of speaking in Chinese with him.

And the one inside the dorm weren't the only ones anxious. Heechul's manager had called them the day before, telling them the amount of snow had gotten so bad during the day that they couldn't get the diva through it all. He had sounded desperate – none of them questioned why. Hell, they had lived in the same dorm for over six years, they knew what Heechul was like when he got irritated over something.

Kibum was calling them several times a day, apologizing that he couldn't get through the snow, asking if everything was good. He was the most composed of everyone, along with Han Geng, who called them twice a day – once in the morning, once in the evening – and checked what the situation was.

Youngwoon was a wreck. Apparently it took him all of the almost two years of military training to keep his calm and not just take the first tank he could get his hands on and drive through the whole city to get to his hyungs and dongsaengs.

Jungsu spent hours after hours every day on the phone, calling their managers and the company and arranging everything, and being the leader of the biggest group he felt it was his responsibility to check on every other group, too. TVXQ was doing fine – they had loads of food, and Yunho and Changmin seemed pretty content as long as they knew Junsu, Yoochun and Jaejoong were fine. Taeyeon was doing a good job with her girls, SNSD was apparently doing fine mostly because of their leader's capability of keeping hysteria under control. Taeyeon had promised to take care of the f(x) girls, which Jungsu was very grateful of.

Jungsu had also checked on Zhang Liyin and Kangta. Both of the solo artists seemed very moved by the action, and assured they were doing fine. Before he had had the time to contact The TRAX, Jungmo and Jay had called them. They weren't that close with any of the members left in the dorm, except Sungmin in Jungmo's case, but it didn't matter – they were label mates, and Jungmo had simply stated that if Heechul worried about them, so did he.

SHINee boys, on the other hand, were a mess. Apparently Taemin was completely freaking out, Kibum was on the verge of a nervous breakdown because he couldn't go out, Jonghyun and Minho kept fighting and Jinki was simply unable to handle the mess in their dorm. Jungsu pitied the poor boy, and made sure to check on them at least twice a day if not more.

Sungmin sighed, listening to the sounds of their dorm. Jungsu was already on the phone, and he was yelling. It scared Sungmin. Jungsu never yelled. Suddenly the door opened, and he raised his head to see Shindong walking in, a small smile on his face. The male sat down on the edge of the bed, and Sungmin sat up, taking the cup his friend offered him. He breathed in the smell of coffee, and nodded, grateful for the small gesture.

"Has it stopped?" he asked after taking a gulp, knowing the answer even though he asked. Shindong's smile disappeared, and he shook his head, sighing.

"No. It's snowing even more than yesterday. And the lights flickered this morning. It freaked Teukie-hyung out, he got really scared that we're losing electricity." Sungmin's eyes widened in terror, but Shindong's hand was there, on his knee, rubbing it soothingly. "Don't worry. The lights are on, see? There's nothing to worry about."

Sungmin nodded hesitantly, taking a few gulps of coffee. The drink warmed him up, and he offered his friend a small smile. "Thanks, hyung, for letting me sleep here."

Shindong chuckled, and ruffled Sungmin's hair. "Any time, Min-ah. Any time."

Just then the door burst open, and a pale leader frowned at the two on the bed. There were dark circles under Jungsu's eyes, and Sungmin was scared to see him in that kind of state. "Sungmin-ah"  Jungsu's voice was strained. "Why are you here? Why aren't you in your dorm?"

"Hyung, he slept with me last night" Shindong said, his voice soothing. Jungsu frowned. "Now is not the time to engage in homoual activities!" he barked, making both of the two gape in horror.

"Hyung, EW!" both of them wailed.

"Teukie-hyung, I wasn't sleeping with Shindongie-hyung like that!" Sungmin exclaimed, nose scrunched up in disgust. "He's my best friend! Ew, eww! I was scared so I asked him if I could sleep in his bed!"

Jungsu seemed to stop in his tracks, and sighed. "Right. I'm sorry, Shindongie-ah, Sungminnie-ah. I'm a little stressed." Shindong snorted. "Right. A little."

Jungsu frowned. "Sungmin-ah, would you please go to your dorm? I want to know Kyuhyun-ah is okay. Also, please ask Jongwoon-ah and Ryeowook-ah to call me. And tell Hyukjae-yah and Donghae-yah to come up here, I want to kick their asses for not answering their phones." Sungmin nodded, a small smile creeping up his features. He knew the leader simply wanted to make sure the two kids were fine. He had promises to keep, after all. And Hyukjae was a cry baby.

Sungmin got off the bed, tugging the hem of his pyjama to cover his thighs, before waving at his hyungs and heading to the door. He ran a hand through his hair as he padded down the stairs, and rang the doorbell. He was greeted with the sight of a tired-looking Jongwoon. The brunet let him in, and he arched a questioning eyebrow, before his hyung simply scratched the back of his head. "Wookie cried the whole night" he murmured "he's sleeping now. Please be quiet."

Sungmin nodded. "Teukie-hyung wants you and Wookie to call him and make sure everything is okay, but I think it'd be better if you went up and visited him. Maybe Wookie could calm him down. He's a mess." Jongwoon nodded, and retreated to his room, closing the door silently behind himself.

Sungmin sighed, and headed for the bathroom. After a quick shower, with a towel wrapped around his hips, he entered his and Kyuhyun's room, just to find the maknae sitting by their desk, headphones on his ears, obviously playing StarCraft. He chuckled silently, and began pulling stuff out of his wardrobe, pulling on a pair of dark blue jeans and a simple black t-shirt, and since it was quite chilly in the dorm he grabbed a random sweater from the floor and pulled it on, making a mental note to ask Kyuhyun if he had told Jungsu he had stolen his clothes. The white thing was definitely from the leader's closet.

After getting dressed, Sungmin approached Kyuhyun – who, apparently, still hadn't realized he was there – and tapped his shoulder lightly. The maknae didn't budge. The older of the two sighed. He really didn't want to interrupt the younger male – Kyuhyun had been oddly angry since last morning. Knowing it was useless trying to reach the gamer, and decided to simply go find Hyukjae and Donghae. Apparently, Donghae had headed to the 11th floor dorm some time during the morning, since he shared a room with Jungsu but was nowhere to be found from the 12th floor.

He didn't have to look for long. The two were laying on Hyukjae's bed, apparently browsing through old pictures. Sungmin peeked over their shoulders and smiled sadly as a picture of Heechul and Han Geng flashed on the screen. He missed the Chinese man. Not that he didn't miss Heechul, but Geng was always good at calming everyone down.

Sungmin plopped himself on the bed, startling both of his dongsaengs. "Hyung!" Donghae whined "never do that again! I almost got a heart attack!" Hyukjae seemed to agree, since the brunet was furiously nodding, holding a hand on his heart and looking like a deer in headlights.

Sungmin chuckled. "Sorry. Teukie-hyung wants you two to go upstairs so he can kick your asses for not answering your phones." Both of the younger boys winced and glanced at each other, and then to the cell phone carelessly thrown to the floor. "Oh, right" Hyukjae muttered "I forgot it ran out of battery..."

The two's hyung sighed and shook his head, before giving Donghae's a friendly pat. "Well, good luck dealing with him. I suggest you go up now, instead of in half an hour. He's freaking out." With this, Sungmin stood up and headed to his own room to see if Kyuhyun had finished his game.

He entered the room, and closed the door behind him, just to see the maknae still abusing the keys of his laptop. Sungmin hopped on his bed, propping his upper body up with his arms, leaning his chin on his hand. Kyuhyun was steadily destroying every single alien and what ever things those were that appeared on the screen, a concentrated expression on his face.

"Kyuhyun-ah" he tried after a couple of minutes, but got no response as Kyuhyun simply stared at the screen, big headphones tightly clasped over his ears. Sungmin sighed, and sat up, poking his dongsaeng's shoulder gently. The younger still didn't respond, but after killing a few more aliens he paused the game, took off the headphones and shot his hyung an irritated glare. "What is it, Sungmin?"

Sungmin frowned at the lack of honorific, and crossed his arms, huffing in an annoyed manner. Apparently Kyuhyun hadn't gotten rid of the attitude problem he was sporting, whatever the cause of it was. "I simply wanted to know if you were all right, you ungrateful brat." Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. "Well I certainly am not all right, you interrupted my game" he snapped "now, if you'd be so kind, get out."

Sungmin couldn't believe his ears, and he threw his arms in the air, anger boiling inside him. "Cho Kyuhyun you have absolutely no right to order me to get out of my own damn room!" His voice was raising with every word.

"Fine, stay, but stop bothering me, I have more important manners to attend to than your annoying nagging" Kyuhyun stated, completely nonchalant, and set his headphones back on his head.

Sungmin wanted to scream. He wanted to hit the maknae. Hard. Preferably with something. Like a chair. Or his own laptop. "FINE" he yelled, turning on his heels. "I'll leave your highness alone then, have fun with your precious aliens! I hope some ten-year-old brat kicks your and makes you choke on your own stupid spaceship!" He stormed out from the room, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

Inside the room, Kyuhyun sighed, a dull ache in his chest. "You always leave me alone anyway" he muttered, before resuming his game.

Sungmin stormed to the kitchen, angry tears pricking the corners of his eyes. Why did the maknae have to be so mean to him? He was simply trying to be nice. He was just carrying out the task Jungsu had set him. Kyuhyun didn't need to kick him out of his own room and be so rude.

Opening the fridge and pulling out a carton of chocolate milk, he sighed. Sometimes he felt like Kyuhyun was the closest person to him on Earth, hell, sometimes he even wondered if he felt more than simple friendly attachment to the other male. But then there were these days, when Kyuhyun would act rudely and be mean, and Sungmin found himself crying over how badly the maknae treated him.

Sighing again, Sungmin poured some of the brown drink to a glass, and drank. After swallowing, he glanced at the window, and his mood darkened even more. The storm was only getting worse. At this rate, their Christmas dinner would consist of instant noodles. That wasn't the thing bringing him down the most, though. If the snowing didn't stop, it would mean they would spend Christmas with nine people instead of fourteen.

"Sungmin-hyung" a timid voice said, and Sungmin turned his head to see Ryeowook standing in the doorway, rubbing his eyes, hair sticking in every direction. Apparently the male had just woken up from his nap. Sungmin smiled gently. "Yes, Wookie-yah?"

Ryeowook slowly padded towards Sungmin, and wrapped his arms around his hyung's waist when reaching him. Sungmin his dongsaeng's hair affectionately as the slim male hid his face to his chest.

"Hyung, it's not stopping" Ryeowook mumbled, the fabric of Sungmin's clothes muffling his voice. Sungmin sighed, glad the other couldn't see his pained expression. "I know, Wookie. But I'm sure it will stop in a few days, and we can spend Christmas together with everyone. Kangin-hyung will snap at Heechul-hyung, Kibum-ah will read a book and Siwon-ah will be all happy and tweet stuff about Jesus. Just like all our Christmases."

Ryeowook looked at his hyung and frowned. "Sungminnie-hyung, I might be younger than you, but I'm not stupid. It's not stopping, we both know it."

Sungmin scowled, looking angrier than he had meant to. "It will stop, Ryeowook-ah. It will stop and we will have a wonderful Christmas with everyone." He regretted seeming so angry immediately when Ryeowook pulled back, looking scared.

"Wookie-yah, we should go" Jongwoon called from the living room. "I told Jungsu-hyung we'd come up when you woke up." Ryeowook nodded, still looking at Sungmin, and sighed. "I'll see you later, hyung" he muttered, before joining Jongwoon and leaving the dorm.

Sungmin sat down, folded his arms on the table, and let his head rest on his arms. Great job, Sungmin, he thought. Now you've offended Ryeowook too. Do you have to make everyone angry at you?


Sungmin woke up hours later. The room was dark, and his back hurt from sleeping crouched over the table. The first thing he noticed was that someone had draped a blanket over him sometime during his nap. He smiled, grateful at the person, before noticing that his glass of chocolate milk was empty. He frowned. He was going to hunt down the that had drunk his-

"Sungmin-hyung" a voice cut his plans off, and just now he realized he had woken up because someone had made him to. He looked up, smiling tiredly. "Yes, Donghae-yah?"

Donghae answered with a smile of his own, and it unnerved Sungmin to see it wasn't as sincere as usually. "Jungsu-hyung wants you to come up for dinner. You left your cell to Shindong-hyung's room so they sent me to get you."

Sungmin nodded and stood up, trying to stretch his back a little. "Right. Shrimp noodles, here I come." Donghae chuckled at this, and they headed to the dorm upstairs where everyone was already gathered around the kitchen table.

Sungmin offered his friends a smile, and took a seat next to Jongwoon, avoiding the empty space beside Kyuhyun on purpose. He wasn't going to risk sitting with the maknae, in case he was still angry at his hyung. Sungmin wasn't one to be angry for a long time, but Kyuhyun held grudges for days sometimes, and he didn't want to feel awkward when enjoying his dinner.

Ryeowook set the pot of hot water on the table, and everyone poured their bowls full. A few content sighs rose from the people surrounding the table along with the delicious smell of spices. After around two minutes, everyone dug in. During all this, no one had uttered a word.

"Manager-hyung is taking care of our schedules" Jungsu suddenly announced, startling Hyukjae so that he spilt noodles on himself. Donghae chuckled at the rapper's frown, and handed him a napkin. Sungmin glanced at the leader, noticing the troubled expression on Shindong and Henry's faces as they, too, surveyed their hyung.

"Unfortunately that's the only good news I have for you."

Everyone stopped eating, ten pairs of eyes fixated on the blonde. Jungsu sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I made the usual round of calls today. Apparently Jungmo has fallen sick over night. And pharmacies are running out of drugs since planes can't get through the storm."

Sungmin paled. Jungmo was his friend. And judging by the sound of Jungsu's voice, it wasn't just a cough he was suffering from. "How is Youngdeok-hyung?" he answered, voice strained.

"I'd like to say he's fine, but to be honest he's freaking out. Their manager can't do a thing for them since they live in separate dorms. Manager-hyung told us to absolutely not go out, dress as warmly as we can and sleep with as many blankets as we can. Just... Make sure to keep yourselves warm. We don't want anyone to get sick now."

Sungmin moved his stare to his noodles, not really listening to Jungsu's explanation of how all the managers had given all artists the same information, and the hysteria in the SHINee and SNSD dorms was getting worse. Apparently Yuri and Seohyun were total messes while Jinki was on the verge of a mental breakdown because of Taemin and Jonghyun.

"I'm going to call them" Sungmin muttered, not bothering to properly excuse himself from the table. Worried glances lingered on him as he made his way to Shindong's room, where he supposed his phone was.

Finding his cell phone from the night stand, he dialled Jay's number, and raised the device to his ear, anxiously listening to the beeps. After fifteen seconds or such, someone picked up, a tired voice answering: "hello?"

"Youngdeok-hyung, it's Sungmin here" Sungmin greeted.

"Ah, Sungmin-ah. How are you? I hope well."

Sungmin nodded, then remembered Jay couldn't see him. "I'm fine, thanks, just a little stressed. I heard about Jungmo-hyung."

There was a moment of silence before Jay sighed and answered. "Yeah. He's barely able to get up from the bed. It's probably a virus. He has high fever, and his nose just keeps running." He chuckled. "He almost threw his note stand to the wall when he got bored and tried to play guitar, but his nose would run all over his chin if he didn't sneeze all the time. It would have been hilarious if I wasn't so worried."

Sungmin wanted to laugh, he really did, but all that came out was a croak that just made him sound all the more miserably. He sighed. "Okay. Not counting in Jungmo-hyung's condition, how are you generally hanging?"

"Pretty good. We have enough food to last for two weeks – a week since it's Jungmo I'm living with, that pig –, anyway, we were waiting for Jungwoo and Minwoo to come over. They were supposed to come here today, actually, but obviously they can't. I'm more worried about them. Since they knew they were supposed to come here, they don't have that much to eat in their apartments."

"Ah, I understand... Well, I'm happy you won't be starving, hyung. We're practically living on instant noodles, cereals and bread at the moment."

Again, Jay was silent for a moment, before continuing silently: "Sungmin-ah, don't worry too much. Jungmo will be fine. And so will you." Sungmin smiled gratefully. He wasn't really that close with Jay – sure, they had talked since Jungmo was a good friend of his – but still the older male's words comforted him.

"I know Jungmo-hyung will be fine. I trust you to take good care of him, Youngdeok-hyung."

Jay laughed. "Of course I will. After all, even though he's a food-consuming monster that throws stuff around I love him. I don't want to end up living in this dorm alone so I simply can't let him die because he's too lazy to stay alive."

Even though Jay was seemingly joking, Sungmin couldn't help feeling a cold tug in the pit of his stomach at the slight strain in his voice. "Good" he croaked, then cleared his throat. "I have to go now, before Hyukjae or someone else eats my noodles. We're in the middle of dinner. Tell Jungmo-hyung I said hi."

"Oh, right. Jungmo will be happy to hear you called. Say hi to Leeteuk-ssi and Kyuhyun-ah for me."

"I will. Bye bye, Youngdeok-hyung."

"Bye, Sungmin-ah." The line went dead.

Sungmin sighed, and set his phone down, before heading back to the kitchen. "Teukie-hyung, Kyuhyun-ah, Youngdeok-hyung said hi" he announced, before sitting back next to Jongwoon and digging back in to his noodles. They were rather cold, but he didn't really care.

After finishing dinner, pretty much all of them huddled together in the living room. Zhou Mi had wanted to watch Titanic, but Hyukjae and Donghae had insisted they watch it on Christmas day when everyone would be home. So, instead, it was Antique Bakery running.

"Why are we watching a movie about gays?" Jongwoon asked, leaning on Jungsu who was absent-mindedly his hair, and his lap serving as a pillow for Ryeowook. "Because it's pink" said eternal maknae mumbled from near Jongwoon's crotch, desperately trying to keep his eyes open.

"That's a not a reason" Jongwoon answered, though he didn't really mind watching the film. It was pretty cute. "Yes it is", Ryeowook insisted, his words barely audible. "Sungminnie likes pink. Pink will make him happy."

Jungsu chuckled and reached to Ryeowook's cheek. "Such a considerate dongsaeng" he said affectionately. Sungmin looked at the young vocalist, eyebrows raised. "Why would you- "

"It's useless, Sungmin-ah" Jongwoon cut him off, a small smile lingering on his lips. "He's already asleep." And when Sungmin peeked at the eternal maknae's face, he noticed that his hyung was indeed right – Ryeowook's breathing was steady and his lips slightly parted, eyes closed, as he slept peacefully. The aegyo king chuckled, and redirected his concentration back to the film.


After the film had ended, everyone made their way back to their rooms. No one was in the mood to stay up late – they were all hoping they would have to get up early the next morning, since that would mean they had schedules, and having schedules meant going out. Jongwoon proved to be surprisingly strong as he simply picked Ryeowook up from the couch bridal style, smiled good night to the members and headed downstairs.

Sungmin bit his lip as he tapped Jungsu on the shoulder. The leader spun around, looking at him with sleepy eyes. "Sungminnie-ah? Shouldn't you be going downstairs already?" Sungmin looked at his feet. "Hyung, can I, um... Can I sleep with you tonight? If it doesn't bother Donghae-yah."

Jungsu's eyebrows rose, but he smiled at his dongsaeng nonetheless. "Of course you can. I'd enjoy that. Hae has been sleeping with Hyukjae-yah for a couple of nights now, so it won't bother him." Sungmin's eyes lit up, and he hugged the older male. "Thanks, hyung! Uh, I'll get my blanket and pillow and change and brush my teeth. I'll be back in a moment!"

Sungmin dashed out of the dorm and down the stairs, wanting to get back as quickly as he could. He bolted to the bathroom, brushing his teeth with the speed of a lightning, startling Hyukjae in the process. The poor rapper was taking a shower when his hyung simply ignored him and brushed his teeth and washed his face, threw a quick "sorry, good night, Hyukkie!" before skipping to his and Kyuhyun's room.

Sungmin threw the sweater on his bed, followed by his shirt, and glanced at the maknae who was abusing his computer key's while laying on his bed, this time without headphones. "Kyuhyun-ah, I'm going to sleep in Teukie-hyung's room tonight" he announced, pushing his jeans off searching for the pyjama he had stuffed somewhere under the covers of his bed. "So you don't need to worry about me bothering you!"

"Good" Kyuhyun simply answered. "I was considering locking you out of the room since you'd just nag at me for not letting you sleep, and I don't need anyone bothering me because of their well-needed beauty sleep."

Sungmin froze, before his hands curled into firsts around the pink pyjama's hem. Angry, he grabbed his blanket and pillow, and his heels. "Why are you so mean?" he yelled, stomping a foot. It made no sense. He had done nothing to Kyuhyun. Why was the maknae being so terrible?

"Why are you so annoying?" Kyuhyun simply shot back, not even bothering to look at his hyung. Sungmin bit his lip, hard, as he dropped the things in his hands and grabbed he nearest object – a small pink-covered bible Siwon had got him when he had been depressed some months ago. He flung the book at Kyuhyun, and it hit between his shoulder blades.

"! , Sungmin that ing hurt, what the- " Kyuhyun started, but was interrupted as he had to duck. Otherwise a box of toffee would have hit him straight to the cheek.

"What the is your problem!" Sungmin yelled, throwing one last object at Kyuhyun before stomping a foot again, and grabbing his stuff. "I'm ing tired of you acting like that, if you really hate me so much just say it to my face!"

"Sungmin - "

"SHUT UP, I don't want to hear it! !" Sungmin exited the room, slamming the door behind him, and kicked it hard enough to cause cracks. He turned around to see a very scared Donghae standing in the doorway of the kitchen, before he choked a sob and rushed to the door, wanting to get out of the dorm as quickly as he could.

Sungmin dragged himself up the stairs, and rang the doorbell. It only took a couple of seconds for Jungsu to open the door, and the brunet pushed past him, not caring if it was rude or not. He headed for Jungsu and Donghae's room, threw his pillow and blanket on Jungsu's bed and crawled under the covers, curling into a small ball of miserableness.

The door clicked shut, and the lights were turned off. Sungmin felt Jungsu sitting on the bed and lying down. "Sungminnie" the leader called out softly, wrapping an arm around his dongsaeng's waist and gently pressing against his back. "What's wrong?"

Sungmin couldn't take it. He couldn't. Turning around, he clutched his hyung's shirt, sobbing into the fabric as tears slowly streamed down his cheeks. "Kyuhyun is stupid" he sobbed "I hate him, he's an ."

Jungsu Sungmin's hair, holding the crying male gently. "What did he do?" And Sungmin told everything about how Kyuhyun had started being weirdly annoyed at everything and everyone the morning before, and how it had just gotten worse all the time. "I don't know what to do" he finally whispered, only a few stray tears on his cheeks anymore.

Jungsu sighed, and gently dried Sungmin's face with the sleeve of his pyjama shirt. "I'll talk to Kyuhyun-ah tomorrow, okay, Sungminnie?" he promised, and received a small nod as an answer.  "Good. Now, we should sleep. It's been a long day. Maybe tomorrow will be better."

Sungmin honestly doubted it would, but didn't voice his thoughts. After all, he knew Jungsu was just as stressed about the situation as he was, and for a moment he regretted letting everything out like that. The last thing the leader needed was a fight in his dorm.

"Good night, Jungsu-hyung" he whispered, wrapping an arm around the older male's waist. Jungsu smelled like the vanilla coffee scented shampoo he used. It was oddly calming. "And thank you."

Jungsu chuckled, and held his dongsaeng against himself. "Good night, Minnie" he answered, tucking Sungmin's head under his chin and drifting in to sleep, calmed by the way the other's chest was steadily moving against his own.

Sungmin was woken up by loud, yelling voices outside the room. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and noticed Jungsu was nowhere to be seen. Trying to wake up properly, he could make out someone screaming, someone else crying loudly, and a couple of voices saying something.

Suddenly wide awake, Sungmin jumped off the bed and ran to the door, yanking it open. He hurried to the living room, coming face to face with a scene that immediately told him something was horribly wrong.

Jungsu was pacing around the living room, cell phone on his ear, outright screaming at someone. Donghae was sitting on the couch, loud wails and sobs wracking his body as an equally, though more quietly, crying Hyukjae hugged him and rubbed his back. Henry and Zhou Mi sat on the couch, gripping each other's hands, looking terrified. Kyuhyun was sitting on the floor, pale as a ghost, his head in his hands, gripping his hair. Ryeowook was on the floor, hugging the big soft dice they sometimes used during games to his chest, his face pressed against one side of it. Jongwoon's hands were on Ryeowook's shoulders, rubbing soothingly, though he looked scared to death.

"What..." Sungmin started, as a hand was set on his shoulder. He turned around to see Shindong standing behind him, brows furrowed in a desperate expression. "Hyung, what's going on?" He was barely able to ask – the answer would surely be something he didn't want to know. Had something happened to Jungmo?

"Heechul-hyung has disappeared" Shindong whispered. Sungmin's eyes widened in horror as he turned to look out of the window. The blizzard was still there – raging, cold and deadly. He turned back to his hyung, his eyes begging for all of the members to just start laughing and say it was a sick joke.

"His manager can't find him anywhere. Our guess is that he's trying to get to the TRAX dorm. Manager-hyung was stupid enough to inform him about Jungmo-ssi's situation."

It made sense. Jungmo was one of Heechul's closest friends. And Heechul might be the biggest on earth when he wanted to, naggy and irritating and mean, but he was one of the most reliable friends one could ever hope to have. Kim Heechul never left a friend behind.

"It's been an hour. Jungsu-hyung is calling the police. For the third time." Shindong sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sungmin had never seemed his best friend so agitated, and it scared him more than anything.

"Has anyone called Youngdeok-hyung?" he asked, his voice shaky. Shindong nodded. "Teukie-hyung called him right after calling the police for the first time. He also called Kibum-ah, Siwon-ah and Kangin-hyung."

Sungmin looked at his friend, a question hanging in the air, which was answered by a stern shake of head. "No, he didn't call Hankyung-hyung. He doesn't need to know. There's nothing he could do from Beijing anyway, and Teukie doesn't need another scared-to-death dongsaeng."

Sungmin nodded, understanding the situation. He agreed. Shindong continued, "all the other groups have been informed about the situation. Everyone's keeping their eyes out, if Heechul happened to pass by their dorms."

Sungmin nodded again, and glanced at Ryeowook, now understanding why he was hugging the dice. His face was pressed against Heechul's picture. The singer let his knees give out, and he crawled to the eternal maknae, sitting down in front of him wrapping his arm around the trembling figure. Ryeowook answered the touch by hugging Sungmin tightly, the dice now pressed between them, one hand from both of them clutching the fabric.

And then, Sungmin prayed.


Two hours later the dorm had quieted down to the point where it was scary. The only sounds were the howling of the wind outside, and the silent, choked sobs still coming from the dancers that were now huddled together on the sofa. Hyukjae was pale and silent, and held the silently crying Donghae to his chest, his knuckles white as he gripped the fabric of Donghae's sweater.

Henry, Zhou Mi, Jongwoon and Ryeowook were all sitting in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in front of all of them, although none of them drank. Occasionally, a silent clink was heard as they twirled their spoons in their mugs, staring into the depths of the brown liquid, all of them looking tired and scared. Shindong was in his room, sleeping behind a closed door. Jungsu had disappeared, but Sungmin could swear he could hear faint, ragged sobs coming from behind the closed door of Heechul's room.

Sungmin was sitting on Jungsu's bed, blanket draped over himself, leaning against the wall. He spun his cell phone in his hands, having texted Jay ten minutes earlier about if there was nothing new considering Heechul and / or Jungmo. He had closed the curtains, not wanting to see the storm going on outside, knowing his friend could be somewhere out there, laying in the snow, trying to crawl forward as warmth left his limbs–

Sungmin choked a desperate sob as the door opened, and an auburn-haired figure stepped inside. Sungmin raised his head, glancing at the one coming in, and immediately lowered his gaze to his hands again. "What do you want?" he questioned, his voice lacking the venom he had wanted to be there.

Kyuhyun was silent for a moment before answering. "I just wanted to see if you were okay" he then answered, simple and honest, and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. Sungmin scoffed. "Well, I'm not. You can leave now." Kyuhyun furrowed. "Hey, I was just trying to be nice, you don't need to be so rude."

Sungmin's head snapped up as he directed his glare at the maknae, his eyes shooting daggers. "Shut the up" he spat, clutching the blanket to prevent himself from launching at the other and strangling him. "You've been nothing but rude to me, and it seems like whatever I do bothers you. Please leave. Now."

Kyuhyun's expression darkened, and his jaw clenched in apparent anger. "Fine, whatever, I'll just continue being rude to you and won't even try to make it up to you- "

"SHUT THE UP" Sungmin screamed "I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear you, I don't want to look at your ing ugly crater face, just get the OUT."

Kyuhyun's face fell as Sungmin's words slapped him straight to the face. The older regretted his words immediately, but he was angry. He was not going to take them back, not now when Kyuhyun was finally showing some emotions.

Just when Kyuhyun opened his mouth, apparently attempting to say something, the familiar ring of Jungsu's cell phone could be heard from the living room. Sungmin stumbled off the bed and hurried out, simply pushing Kyuhyun out of his way. Jungsu sped right past him, and leaped to grab his phone, answering it.

After less than a minute of silence, the phone fell to the floor as Jungsu fainted.

Hyukjae screamed. Donghae screamed. Ryeowook screamed. Henry and Zhou Mi yelled the leader's name. Shindong, being the only one able to keep his cool and sanity, quickly reached for their hyung's phone.

"Park-ssi? Park-ssi, what happened?" a voice called from the device, before Shindong raised to his ear. "This is Super Junior Shin Donghee here. Park-ssi isn't able to continue the call at the moment, please explain the situation to me" he explained as he retreated to his room, shutting the door behind himself to keep the screams out.

After a couple of minutes of screaming, Hyukjae bursting into uncontrollable tears and Jongwoon looking like he was going to faint, too, Jungsu had woken up and Shindong came out of his room. His face was sickly pale and he looked like he was about to throw up as he eyed the leader, curled up and sobbing on the floor.

"Hyung" Kyuhyun rushed to ask. "What is it?"

Shindong took a deep, shaky breath. "Youngwoon-hyung has disappeared along with some soldiers from his regiment."

Jungsu howled like he was in pain, and Jongwoon burst into tears. Ryeowook started sobbing violently, not able to breathe because of the force of them. Kyuhyun had to take support from the wall. Henry slumped, gripping his hair. Zhou Mi's eyes watered as silent tears started running down his face. Hyukjae's sobs increased as Donghae started crying as well.

Sungmin's knees gave way as he fell to the floor. He couldn't breathe. His head spun. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't. Not Youngwoon-hyung too. Not all of his hyungs. Ryeowook scrambled to Jongwoon, desperately clutching his sleeve, yelling and screaming that Jongwoon-hyung had to stay with them, he couldn't disappear too.

Sungmin gasped, desperately trying to get oxygen to his lungs, trying to breathe, but he couldn't. He couldn't. Everything was spinning, and he felt nauseous. He faintly even registered the tears that had started flowing from his eyes, uncontrollable, blurring his vision.

Someone tugged his arm, but he couldn't stand up. There was no strength in his limbs. Another hand joined the first one, and he was forcefully pulled up from the door. Someone started leading him somewhere, who, he didn't care, where, he didn't care about that either.

The last thing Sungmin registered was being pulled on a bed and a blanket draped over him as a strong body joined him under the covers, a pair of arms tightly wrapping around him as he clawed and clutched at this someone's shirt, howling and wailing in physical pain from the amount of fear.


Sungmin woke up, throat sore and sporting a terrible headache. What he concentrated on, however, was the person next to him that held him tightly. He glanced up, and noticed an acne scarred face staring sternly at the wall. Kyuhyun's lips formed a tight line, and there were tear streaks on his cheeks. Had he been crying? Silly question. Of course he had. Sungmin wanted to hit himself for thinking that Kyuhyun, however mean he was, could be heartless enough to not cry in this kind of a situation. Then again, he wanted to slap himself for many things.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, and Kyuhyun's arms twitched. Apparently the male hadn't noticed he was awake. "I didn't mean what I said earlier. I mean, I did want you to shut up, but I didn't mean the... Other stuff."

"Like calling me an ugly crater face?" Kyuhyun's voice was emotionless and dull, and it made Sungmin's chest clench.

"Yeah." He was ashamed of himself, for saying such things to his dongsaeng. His friend.

Kyuhyun sighed. "Why do you spend your nights in other rooms?"

Sungmin's eyebrows rose to his hairline as he tilted his head to look a Kyuhyun. The maknae was still staring at the wall, so he directed his gaze at the male's shirt. "I'm scared to sleep alone" he murmured "I feel so cold."

"Why do you never sleep with me? Do you dislike me so much?"

Now Sungmin was really and honestly confused. Although somehow, the question made sense. It felt like pieces were beginning to find their places. "Of course not" he exclaimed "I just... I don't want to bother you."

Kyuhyun sighed. "Sungmin-hyung, do you really think I would be bothered by you sleeping next to me?"

"Well lately you have seemed to be bothered by everything I do..."

Kyuhyun fell silent for a moment, but Sungmin knew the gamer well enough to not disturb him, knowing he was merely thinking about how to put his words. "I'm jealous" he finally stated, making Sungmin's eyes widen. "And lonely. I'm jealous because you sleep with everyone but me, and I'm lonely because you always leave me alone."

Sungmin wrapped his arms around Kyuhyun's waist, and squeezed as hard as he could. "I'm sorry, Kyuhyun-ah" he whispered "I didn't know, I... I didn't think you would be lonely. I'm so sorry." He felt horrible. He was proud to say he was the closest to Kyuhyun from all the members, but still he had missed something like this. And during such important time, too!

Kyuhyun sighed heavily, falling silent again. Sungmin bit his lip, unable to think about anything to say, to he simply clung tighter to his dongsaeng, wishing he could show the other how sorry he was. He just didn't know how.

Suddenly, there was a phone ringing. Both of them tensed as they recognized the ringtone as Jungsu's. There were grunts, a pained yelp, and a crash. Apparently someone knocked over a lamp, or something.  They heard a voice answering the phone – Shindong. So Jungsu was either out cold or simply unable to do anything coherent.

The phone call was, however, abruptly cut as the buzzer rang, repeatedly. Clearly someone downstairs was abusing the poor button. Someone, most likely Shindong, opened the door. Kyuhyun and Sungmin glanced at each other, confused. Who the hell was coming from outside in this weather?

Heechul.

Both of them stumbled off the bed, the blanket getting stuck in their feet, but they didn't care as they hurried to the door and to the entrance way. Apparently all the others had had the same idea, since the door was already open, and the members were running out from the dorm.

Sungmin didn't know when his and Kyuhyun's hands had found each other, but he gripped harder, his heart beating wildly in his chest and blood rushing in his ears. God, or anyone out there, up there, let it be Heechul, he prayed. Please, I'll do anything, just let it be Heechul, safe and sound.

He ran face first to Zhou Mi's back as the Chinese man had stopped in shock, and Sungmin pushed the lanky figure out of his way as his eyes met the person climbing up the stairs.

Or rather, the people.

Five men clad in all white clothes and black quilted vests were hurrying upwards, towards them, black clothes drawn over their mouths and noses, goggles covering their eyes. They had hoods pulled over their heads and Sungmin couldn't make out any of their faces, but what caught his attention wasn't them, but what they were carrying between them.

Who they were carrying between them.

A figure was supported by two of the soldiers, a blanket wrapped around his body, full lips having a bluish shade and a feverish red shade in the white of his eyes. He wobbled up the stairs, being yanked and pulled forcefully, pushed from the back, and it could be seen that it was hard for him to even stand.

"HEECHUL" Sungmin screamed, but didn't have the time to bolt forward before a voice interrupted him.

"Get the out of my way brats" a muffled, familiar voice ordered, and Sungmin backed off. All of them did. In a tangle of limbs, sobs and wails of "Heechul" and "hyung" the young men rushed back to the dorm, making way to the soldiers.

Heechul was forced up the stairs and into the dorm, as someone shut the door behind them. "Someone go put the shower on immediately, warm water but not hot so it won't burn him" one of the biggest of the soldiers ordered, and Ryeowook immediately ran to the bathroom as the soldiers continued rubbing Heechul's body and started pushing him towards the tell tale sound of running water.

The door to Jungsu's room opened, and the pale leader stepped out of his room, apparently woken up by all the commotion. His eyes, still sleepy, widened, and his mouth opened. "What- what's going on- "

A soldier pushed through the Super Junior members, muttering a "get out of my way" before reaching their hyung and pushing him back to the room, closing the door behind them. Everything fell silent before a loud cry was heard from behind the door, telling them Jungsu was again crying uncontrollably.

"So it's really Youngwoon-hyung" Jongwoon whispered. Shindong let out a shaky breath and slumped to the floor, leaning to the wall and closing his eyes. Sungmin's gaze was shifting between the bathroom door and the door to Jungsu's room, where loud sobs could be heard from now.

Henry was the first one to regain his composure, turning to the remaining two soldiers that had taken off their goggles and masks, and were now standing awkwardly in their entrance way and listening to their leader cry his eyes out. The Canadian bowed full ninety degrees. "We can't express how grateful we are." Sungmin couldn't do anything but admire Henry's strength as he, too, bowed, with all the other members.  Even though the mochi's voice was shaking, he kept strong.

"Please, take your shoes and coats off, you can leave them here. The least we can do is offer you coffee or tea. Unfortunately that's all we have to give right now, we're running short of food. Please, follow me." After the two men had taken their boots off they followed the brunet to the kitchen, the members following them in turn. No one said a word.


After about an hour, a swollen-and-red-eyed Jungsu had joined them in the table, along with an also swollen eyed Youngwoon. Apparently the reunion had been full of tears. It took another half an hour for Heechul, Ryeowook and the two soldiers that had accompanied him to the shower to emerge from the bathroom.

Heechul was still shaky and had to be supported by the two men, but they weren't needed for longer than approximately three seconds before Jungsu had launched himself from his chair and pushed them away, hugging the diva tightly. He kept yelling and scolding his friend, while all the time thanking God and every other higher power he could think of along with the soldiers that Heechul was alive. He kept repeating, "why, why would you do that", "you are a big ing idiot Kim Heechul" "I hate you", and had to be pried off by Youngwoon so that Heechul could sit down and have a cup of warm tea placed before himself.

Donghae, having been silent and scared, reached a hand and brushed it over Heechul's. "Hyung" he choked out "I'm glad you're safe." This was when the Super Junior diva gathered his strength to offer his dongsaengs and one hyung and weak smile.

"I just might start believing in that God dude of Siwon's, you know" he joked weakly, clutching the tea mug in his shaking, cold hands. "Or at least consider it."

Hyukjae broke into tears for the umpteenth time that day. He was back. Their hyung was back, and safe, and first of all – alive.

Sungmin chuckled, as a hand suddenly wrapped around his wrist and pulled him up. "Excuse us" Kyuhyun said, bowing a little, and dragged a very confused Sungmin after him to Shindong's room, closing the door behind them.

"Kyuhyun-ah? What is it?"

Kyuhyun wasn't looking at him, but at the wall, taking deep, unsteady breaths. Sungmin set a hand on his dongsaeng's shoulder, concerned, and was sure his heart was going to rip itself out of his chest when Kyuhyun turned around, facing him with his lips pressed into a tight line, his eyes red from trying to hold back tears that threatened to spill.

"Hyung" he tried to speak, his voice broken and unsteady. Sungmin stepped forward, yanking his hand from Kyuhyun's grip, and set his hands on the maknae's cheeks, desperately trying to search for the reason to this reaction from the dark watery eyes. He felt helpless, so helpless, watching the other break like that right in front of him.

"Kyuhyun-ah" Sungmin tried, Kyuhyun's cheek, gently, but with a hint of desperation in his touch. "Kyu, Kyuhyunnie, what's wrong? Tell me, what is it?"

Kyuhyun tried to take a deep breath, but ended up coughing and hiccuping. "I- Sungmin" he gripped Sungmin's arms, panic in his eyes as he looked at his hyung. "For a moment I- if it had been you- if it had been you that disappeared- "

Suddenly, Sungmin was yanked into a tight, desperate embrace, Kyuhyun's one arm circling his waist and the other holding the back of his head, pressing him against the maknae's toned body. "I like you, Sungmin" Kyuhyun choked out, his voice broken and small "I like you so much."

And Sungmin knew what Kyuhyun mean as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around the trembling male's neck, the auburn curls gently, with shaking hands. "It's okay, Kyu" he whispered "it's okay. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Ever."

For a moment, Sungmin wondered how he should continue. How it would affect him, and Kyuhyun, and the group. Finally he decided he'd think about that later.

"And, Kyuhyun" he whispered "I like you too."

Kyuhyun pulled back, a tear or two running down his cheeks, where Sungmin wiped them away from. They stayed silent, simply staring at each other, drowning into each other's eyes before the taller of the two hesitantly leaned forward, and Sungmin answered by reaching upwards, closing the distance between them as their lips brushed against each other.

Although both of their grips tightened around each other, the kiss stayed sweet and gentle. The slightest bit of desperation could be felt in the way their mouths pressed and moved together, but it wasn't important. Their eyes were closed, hands holding to whatever they could hold on to, as Sungmin turned his head slightly to deepen the kiss.

Hesitantly, Kyuhyun's tongue slipped out to slide over Sungmin's lower lip, and the older gladly opened his mouth to grant access. And no matter the tongues moving together, experimenting and mapping out mouths, it was sweet, calm and gentle, because they knew they didn't need to rush. Neither of them was going anywhere – they had all the time in the world.

As they finally pulled apart, Sungmin's cheeks were flushed and a gentle smile graced Kyuhyun's lips. "Will you stop being mean to me now?" the older vocalist asked, his eyes wide and sweet, and the gamer couldn't help but chuckle softly at the adorableness of his... Boyfriend. Yeah. He guessed that was what they were now. And it made him all warm and fuzzy inside.

"I will" he promised, lovingly the side of Sungmin's face as a smile made its way to those perfect bow-shaped lips. Though suddenly, Sungmin seemed bothered, as the corners of his lips crooked downwards. Kyuhyun arched an eyebrow, and Sungmin hid his face to his chest.

"I don't think you're ugly" the brunet mumbled against his shirt. "I like your scars."

Kyuhyun couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly, having instant noodles as Christmas dinner didn't sound that bad.