I opened my eyes as an uncomfortable warmth pressed into my side.

After crossing the river, we made our way through the trees until we reached a grassy plain on the other side. By then it was getting dark and most of us were pretty tired, so Luhan suggested we all make camp and take a break. 

Kai and Sehun were stretched out across the grass, Suho and D.O's jackets draped over them as blankets, while Chanyeol was curled into my side, using my arm as a pillow. He was like a large baby; taller than me, yet I still felt the need to protect him, especially in his vulnerable state. 

Suho was closer to the younger two, resting his head on the sleeve of his jacket that covered Sehun, while D.O.'s head was on his stomach and he laid perpendicular to the shorter man. 

A glance to my other side told me that Luhan was awake, lying on his back and staring up at the stars with mild interest.

I sat up carefully, frowning at the realization that the uncomfortable warmth was Chanyeol's body. I touched his forehead, not surprised to find that he was burning up from a fever. 

"Is he going to be okay?" I whispered to Luhan who was watching me now.

Luhan made a face, crawling over to us to inspect Chanyeol. "We have to hurry," He muttered worriedly, standing up and brushing stray blades of grass off his clothes.

The others were roused by his movements as well as they all slowly got up groggily, Sehun complaining that he was still tired. I explained Chanyeol's state to them, which seemed to wake them up, and they all began to prepare themselves. It wasn't until we were all awake and ready to go that I realized that Chanyeol was still asleep, his breathing laboured as he rolled onto his side on the cool ground.

"Chanyeol?" I whispered, shaking him gently. "We're going now, you have to get up."

Chanyeol whined deep in his chest, his eyes screwing shut.

"Chanyeollie?" I called again, louder this time, and feverish eyes opened to stare into mine.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, his voice rough and groggy.

"Yeah, we're going now, alright?" I asked, smoothing hair out of his face and trying not to frown at the burning temperature of his forehead.

He took a deep breath before nodding and standing up. I watched him warily as he seemed to be overcome with a bout of dizziness and nearly fell over again, but he managed to right himself and nod at me reassuringly.

I was amazed at his resolve but my heart also sank as I realized that if we didn't find Kris soon, he might very well die.

We all continued on our way, walking across the grass in silence.

***

Our quiet journey went on until I heard the faint crash of waves on a shore and smelled salt in the air. "Is there a beach nearby?" I asked, glancing around as we climbed a hill.

"Uhh..." Luhan bit his lip guiltily and I couldn't help but glare at him accusingly.

"Luhan?"

"Well." Kai, who managed to get to the top before the rest of us, stared ahead with disbelief etched on his face. "What do we do now?"

Casting another accusatory glance at Luhan, I ran up to the tall brunette, pulling a tired Chanyeol along with me. "Luhan?" I called over my shoulder, unable to take my eyes off the sight before me.

Suho, D.O, and Sehun all ran over, curious and let out gasps as they took in the vast ocean spread out at the base of the hill.

"We need to cross that," Luhan admitted when he reached the top of the hill.

"How?" I asked, my patience wearing thin. Unless Luhan could pull a giant ship out of his , I was sure that our journey had reached an end. 

Luhan, sensing my irritation, smiled apologetically pointed to my side, where a stone path made its way down the hill and onto the sandy beach. 

"What?" I walked over to it in confusion, wondering if it would turn into a stone bridge that we could take across the water.

Suho walked over to it and tilted his head to the side. "Is this important?" He bent down and pointed to one of the pieces of stone. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that an elaborate tear drop was carved into it. 

Chanyeol bent down, tracing a finger across the engraving, and bit his lip. "I have this feeling..." He grabbed the stone by its edge and began lifting, struggling slightly to remove it from the ground. With Suho's help, the stone came loose and was flung from the earth, flipping over to reveal another etching, this time of a snow flake.

The tallest brunette slid the stone back into place, pressing it down into the ground with the snowflake side up, and just as I was about to ask how that would help, a cold wind blew over us, sweeping down the hill and across the beach.

We straightened and watched with amazement as the wind blew over the ocean, freezing it as it went. Before our eyes, the churning waters turned to snow and ice, transforming the beach into a winter wonderland.

"Woah." Kai said, expressing my thoughts perfectly.

"I guess we have to cross that," Suho muttered, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luhan smirk approvingly.

***

I only had one thought as we made our way across the frozen ocean. It was cold. No, cold was an understatement. Although I shouldn't have been surprised by the drop in temperature, I couldn't help but internally complain at the almost unbareably freezing weather. I turned my gaze on the boy who was now leading the shivering pack and sent a glare at his back. He couldn't have warned us about this beforehand? At least then we could have brought something a little warmer to wear.

"It'll only be like this until we get to the other side of the ocean," Luhan called back as if he sensed my irate thoughts. "When we pass those mountains over there it'll get really hot," He explained, pointing at a few snowy peaks in the distance. "That's where Kris lives." 

I was glad to have some idea as to where we were going, but the mountains seemed way too far for comfort and I could tell that I wasn't the only one suffering as we trudged through the snow. 

Kai and Sehun were huddling together in an attempt to preserve warmth, a feat that was nearly impossible when it felt as if the air stripped all heat from our bodies. I pitied them, knowing that they were the youngest in our little group. Suho seemed to have the same idea, as he pulled the jacket from his shoulders and placed it around the kids. It was built for the autumn weather so it probably didn't do much right now, but it was able to block some wind from the poor kids and they both shot Suho grateful glances as he pulled his sweater tighter around himself and made his way back to D.O.'s side.

I looked over at Chanyeol who hadn't said a word since we passed the river, and to my alarm found him pale as a ghost, struggling to keep up with everyone else. Reminded of his current condition, I ran to him, throwing my arm around his shoulder. "Are you okay?" I asked frantically, feeling guilty for letting him slip my mind for even a minute.

He nodded weakly, but even that movement seemed too much to bear as he lost concentration and stumbled, nearly falling face first in the snow. I secured my grip around him and pulled him tighter to my body, mentally cursing Kris for putting him in this position. More guilt assaulted me then; it was my fault that Kris was even gone in the first place. 

Feeling greatly indebted to my best friend, I took my own jacket off, mimicking Suho's earlier actions, and wrapped it around the sickly tall boy.

"I'm okay," Chanyeol managed to get out before succumbing to a fit of coughs. I shook my head and pulled the jacket tighter, forcing him to lean on me so I could support some of his weight.

After walking for almost ten minutes, I observed the state of my friends and realized that we couldn't possibly continue this for much longer.

"Luhan, we need a break!" I called out, hoping that he even heard me as the weather was getting worse and now tons of snow and wind were assaulting our bodies, blowing my voice away along with our remaining warmth.

Luckily for me, Luhan turned and paused, waiting for us to catch up to him. 

When we did, he seemed apologetic. "I'm sorry guys, I guess I forgot how delicate you normal people really are."

Kai snorted at the word delicate but he was unable to make his usual sarcastic expression. 

"We can stop for a minute if you want," He continued, peering at each and every one of us with concern.

"I don't think that'll help much," Suho stuttered, his voice shaking as he shivered. "We need to get warmer."

I glanced around, looking for some form of shelter, but there was only flat plains of white as far as the eye could see. 

Luhan gnawed at his lip before breaking out into a grin. "Wait here, I'll be right back!" He turned and ran off, disappearing into the snow that fell around us.

"Great...." Suho groaned, suprising me with his uncharacteristically bitter demeanor. "He really at this whole leader thing," He quipped.

With a sigh, Chanyeol collapsed onto his , hugging his knees to his chest for warmth. I took a seat next to him, my heart beating achingly as I took in his shaking hands and wind burned cheeks. I was overcome by another wave of guilt and realized that I hadn't really gotten the chance to talk to him about any of this since Kris left.

"You know..." I began, not even knowing if he could hear me over the howling blizzard, "I'm really sorry. For... You know, not trusting you." I felt awkward, as if my words had no meaning now.

"It's okay-" He began, shaking his head but not meeting my eyes.

"No, it really isn't. But you have to understand, I was just worried about you. I know I broke my promise and I know I screwed up majorly, but I didn't mean to hurt you. I was scared that-"

"Scared? Baekhyunnie, I'm not a kid. I'm not going to run off with any stranger who offers me candy. I know what I'm getting into." Chanyeol was frowning now, but at least he was looking at me.

"I know! I know that. But you were gone for two months, Chanyeol, two whole months. And no one knew where you were, not Suho, or D.O. or Kai and Sehun..." My voice was cracking and my lips fought to form words in their frozen state but I had to keep going, to make my best friend understand why I had made the mistakes I did. "I didn't know what was going on and when you came back and acted like nothing happened... It hurt, Chanyeol. I didn't know what to think."

Chanyeol didn't have a response for that, in fact, he actually looked contrite.

"I'm sorry. You know, it really bugged me to have to keep things from everyone, especially you, but you know why I couldn't say anything, right? And somehow, not saying anything felt better than lying to you guys." He paused, gnawing on his chapped lips briefly before continuing. "But oh, Baekhyunnie, I wanted to tell you so bad. I wanted to tell you all about Kris and gush about how happy he makes me and I know you would have loved to hear about it..."

The fire that sparked in his eyes with excitement caused me to smile despite the bitter cold around me. I hadn't seen him this happy and alive in what felt like so long and I silently thanked Kris for being able to make him that way, then I silently cursed myself for taking Kris away. 

"We'll find him, Chanyeol, I promise you that," I said, grabbing his icy hand. 

Chanyeol nodded, smiling at me.

"And then you can introduce me to him, but for now tell me all about how happy he makes you." I winked, pulling him into a one armed hug.

I saw the others watching us curiously, but they stayed far away enough to give us privacy. Suho smiled at us when he saw the hug, and D.O. looked relieved. They turned to the two younger ones and proceeded to talk to them.

Chanyeol and I talked quiety, the tall boy telling me every little detail about his lover from the way Kris' smiles could look so awkward that he couldn't help but laugh every time he did so, to how Kris was fluent in multiple languages. "And he's so smart, Baekhyunnie, but he doesn't flaunt it."

Chanyeol chattered on and on, and in the back of my mind, I wondered where Luhan went, but at the same time, I hoped he would be gone for longer as I watched the fire in Chanyeol burn brighter with each word. I had never seen him so in love before, it made me feel a little jealous, but in awe at the same time.

"And he likes to hear about you too," Chanyeol spoke, placing his still warm forehead against mine. "He likes to hear about the time I dared you to chug a bottle of soya sauce at Kai's birthday party and you ended up vomiting in his mom's shoes, or the time when we hid from those bullies in the washroom and school and you feel and got your foot stuck in the toilet and we had to get a janitor to help you out."

I rolled my eyes, feeling embarassed that Kris had probably heard every ridiculous story about me by now, but also a bit pleased that he didn't hate my existence. Well, he probably did now, I thought with a frown.

"And I know that he'll understand when I tell him that you were just looking out for me, Baekhyunnie, he always said he was happy that I could protect you when he couldn't," He spoke and I felt guilty all over again, this time, not for not trusting him, but Kris. The more Chanyeol spoke about the tall blonde, the more amazed I felt with him. This guy was a true gift to my best friend, and if I had to choose for anyone in the world to have him, it would be Kris.

Before we could go on any further with our talk, the blizzard died down, the weather still cold, but bareably so. Luhan walked up to us. "Alright, let's go guys, I just had to... Turn up the thermostat." He grinned as if he just made a hilarious joke that none of us understood, and Chanyeol and I shrugged at each other. It was probably some inside thing that only people from Exo would understand.

With renewed energy, our group carried on towards the mountains, me, feeling a little bit more hopeful that everything would be alright.

Wow I've been gone for a while. So SO sorry, but I hope  you guys haven't given up on me yet! A bit of a filler chapter, but we're getting a bit closer, so hang in there.