Jongin is drunker than he expected to be. 

He's not trashed by any means, barely over the edge of tipsy even. But his sight has that certain fuzz going around the edges and he's sure that his breath smells just bad enough that kyungsoo might scold him. Well, not really scold him, because kyungsoo only pretends to have a stick up his . Maybe his better half will just a bit about being a true salary man now, getting drunk with coworkers on a random Tuesday night. Jongin only realizes he's smiling sappily to himself when his chapped lips begin to sting. He his lips and tastes the subtle taint of blood from a small crack in his bottom lip. Kyungsoo is religious in his application of chapstick, never leaving the house without it. Jongin has grown too used  to his counterpart always carrying a stick, he never bothers to pack his own.  

The brunette gives a lovesick sigh and closes his eyes to enjoy the soft warmth of red wine in his stomach and kyungsoo on his mind. Only a crunch in the snow rather close behind him brings him out of his cheesy thoughts. Jongin is surprised to catch sight of a figure walking just to his right, almost beside him. In a small town like his it's unusual to see people out after ten on a weekday, and while this isn't the first person Jongin has seen on his walk home from the bar, he's thrown off by how close they are. A fine layer of snow has covered the empty streets and the sound of their footsteps breaking the surface is loud in the silence. While Jongin is still pondering how he could have missed the sound of the figures approach a woman's voice breaks the silence. 

    "It's cold, isn't it?"

He looks at her instinctively and feels the hairs rise on the back of his neck. 

She's beautiful; ethereal in the way the moon light touches her face and turns her skin to a mask of ice. The gaze on her face is hungry and her smile is amused. Jongin fixates on her teeth. 

How drunk is he? 

A burning sensation pricks his bottom lip and he watches in frozen fascination as the woman pulls the tip of her finger away from his mouth. He vaguely wonders when she got close enough to touch him. She doesn't look away from him as she speaks, her finger rising to her nose and her nostrils barely flaring as she sniffs it. 

    "Poor thing, and your lips are so chapped. You’ve even got a little cut."

She her finger and smiles at him. 

    "I can help you with that."

****

    Jongin wakes up to the feeling of something soft and warm against his forehead. There's a low humming in his ears, like the radio left on in another room, and the back of his throat feels uncomfortably dry. The parched feeling is distracting and he wants to open his eyes and sit up, if only to search for a glass of water. 

As the desire to get up grows stronger Jongin becomes increasingly aware of the heaviness of his body. It's as if his skin suddenly weighs thousands of pounds, the weight making it stretch taught against his bones. Too taught even for him to blink his eyes or call out for help. His head is starting to hurt from the weight, his neck straining to keep it from snapping off his body. The surface he's laying on is too soft, much too soft to support him and he's sure he'll sink straight through  the earth. 

Jongin feels himself beginning to panic, the thirst the least of his concerns now as his subconscious begs for his body to move. 

    "Jongin?"

The sound is like a warm wash cloth over his face, melting his stiff features. Jongin feels his eyelids flutter and cool air fills his mouth when his lips part. 

    "Jongin? I think he's waking up, Baek. I'll call you later... sounds good, I'll tell him."

Kyungsoo looks beautifully concerned when Jongin finally opens his eyes and the brunette takes a grateful breath at the sight. The cold air rattles down his throat and through his chest, reminding him of the dryness in his mouth. 

    "Water. Please..." the words grate Into the air and Jongin feels somehow like those shouldn't have been the first words between them right now. But kyungsoo is an angel and has a glass prepared to hand to Jongin. He waits for the younger to down the glass, somewhat sloppily, then helps him to sit up. They sit in silence for a minute and Jongin coughs awkwardly, throat still somehow uncomfortable. He could tell kyungsoo was waiting for something. 

    "Um. Good morning?"

That was, apparently, not what he was waiting for. 

    "Good morning?! Jongin, it's almost four in the afternoon! You stumbled in after two in the morning and collapsed in the foyer saying your head was exploding. You were burning up and I put you in a bath of ice. You passed out when I went to get pain killers. How much did you drink last night?! I thought you were