Yixing felt his body hit the snow, before he started to slide. Frantically, he tried to slow his sideways roll, but the ground was much too slippery. He landed with a thwump, his entire body becoming buried under a thick white blanket. Another thwump sounded beside him a second later. He slowly checked all of his joints and muscles to make sure the fall hadn’t injured anything important. Luckily, all his bones were still intact but his arms and legs were sore from the tumble. He slowly sat up, groaning and turned to see who had fallen with him.

It was Kai.

The taller boy sat up with a grunt, brushing snow off his clothes and out of his hair. Yixing was too stunned to move, until Kai walked over to him and held a hand out to help him up. His expression was as cold as the air around them, and something told Yixing that Kai was thinking, this is your fault. Yixing blinked, trying his hardest to keep his expression neutral, and took Kai’s hand. They were both wearing gloves, but Yixing’s heart still did a little hop and skip.

The two stood in an awkward silence, neither knowing what to do. After what seemed like an eternity, Yixing was able to muster his courage to speak. “So, how do you supposed we find the others?” That was the worst thing you could say right now, he chided himself.

Kai shrugged, pulling out his phone. He made a ‘tsk’ sound when he realized his had no signal cause he was in a different country, and no wifi because they were too far from the lodge. He glared at Yixing before turning and walking away.

“Where are you going?” Yixing shouted and ran after him. Kai didn’t answer, and continued following a path with a gentle upwards slope. He trudged through the snow so quickly Yixing had to jog to catch up, mostly because every few feet he would slip and have to regain his balance. Though Kai did not turn around, he stopped every so often and waited until Yixing was close behind him.

Yixing suddenly became very scared. He wasn’t sure where he was, he was with someone he barely talked to, and worst of all he had a huge crush on said person. He wished he hadn’t agreed to Luhan’s “plan”. If only he refused and partnered with Luhan instead, none of this would have happened. At the same time, he could try to talk to Kai and get to know him better, make the best out of what he had.

You’re not brave enough, Yixing, he sighed to himself.

But he had to try right? What should he say? “Are you enjoying the trip so far?” was a stupid question, since clearly this trip was not going well. They weren’t close enough friends for Yixing to ask any personal questions, but he didn’t want to sound lame by asking something like “What’s your favourite colour”. Finally, Yixing settled on asking about school. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kai suddenly spoke.

“Are you tired?” he asked. Yixing was so deep in thought he hadn’t noticed he was breathing hard, and all of a sudden a wave of pain washed over him. His legs were sore from the fall, and running through snow hadn’t helped. He winced, his legs almost buckling.

“A little out of breath, yes,” Yixing admitted.

Kai sighed and looked around. He spotted a log a few feet away and brushed the snow off the top, sitting down on one end of the log. Yixing dragged himself to the log and collapsed on the other end. He sighed with relief. He stared at the sky, catching his breath. He didn’t notice that Kai was staring at him with inquisitive eyes, as if he was thinking, why isn’t he scared of me?

After a few moments of rest, the pair continued up the path. Suddenly, the wind picked up, and a flurry of snow blasted them in the face. Kai swore loudly, using his arm to shield himself from the harsh blizzard. Yixing pulled his scarf higher on his face and felt panic surge through him. He could barely see two feet in front of him, and all trees and foliage blurred into the landscape. Even Kai became a shadowy silhouette in front of him. He felt Kai grab his wrist and start pulling him forward, and all he could do was follow.

Yixing didn’t know how far they walked before they found a little niche in the side of a rock face. Kai pushed Yixing into the cave and followed after, sitting down in the middle of the ground. Yixing fell on his knees from the force of the push and stayed there to catch his breath. “Are you okay?” Kai asked.

The shorter boy repositioned himself so he was sitting. “Yeah,” he said, panting. “I’m fine.” He pulled a tumbler out of his bag and took a sip, sighing as the hot tea warmed his insides. He held the drink out to Kai. “Would you like some?”

Kai reached out with his right hand and winced as he took the drink. Kai swore and switched hands to take the drink. He landed in a weird position with his wrist underneath him when he fell, thus it was a slight bit sprained. He checked his wrist and he realized it was swollen and red. Yixing noticed and gasped. “Is your wrist sprained?”

Kai shoved his hand back into his pocket, and flinched again because he accidentally used too much force. Yixing scooted closer to Kai. “Let me see,” he said, gently placing a hand on Kai’s arm. His “motherly instincts” had kicked in, as Luhan liked to call it. Kai sighed and reluctantly pulled his hand out of his pocket. Yixing rolled up Kai’s sleeve and checked his wrist over, nodding. “It’s just a minor sprain, I’ll wrap it for you.” He pulled out a first aid kit from his backpack and began to work on Kai’s wrist.

The taller boy sat still and allowed Yixing to treat him. Kai watched him as he worked, expertly wrapping his wrist in a bandage. He also realized this was the first time Kai had seen Yixing up close. They were of different kinds, thus they were never seen anywhere near each other. He studied Yixing’s face. The corners of his mouth were turned up, almost as if he were permanently smiling. He also had a dimple on his right cheek, and his eyes were a warm shade of brown, like melted chocolate. Under the dying sunlight, the shadows danced across his face, and his eyes sparkled whenever his irises caught the light. He seemed…

Beautiful.

Kai flinched as the thought came to mind, so hard that he flinched again because his wrist was still being wrapped. Yixing looked at him with concern. “Sorry, did I wrap it too tightly?”

Kai took a moment to regain his composure. “No, it’s okay.” Why did that suddenly come to mind? He’s never found girls or guys to be good looking, always assuming that if someone was beautiful, they were terrible on the inside. He’s never let anyone come close enough to him to develop any feelings for them, but it’s not like anyone came close to him anyway. Yes, he was aware of his terrible behaviour, but it was too late to change that now. Besides, it was better being alone, he could do whatever he wanted. All he needed was Sehun.

Right?

“There we go,” Yixing said, securing the bandage with medical tape. “It should be fine after a few days. Try not to exert yourself too much, and use your other hand more.” He looked at Kai and they made eye contact for a few moments. Yixing blushed and looked away. “I-I mean, that would make it heal faster, its n-not like you can’t use your h---”

“Thanks.” Kai said. Yixing blinked, shocked for a moment before he smiled. There was that dimple again, Kai thought. He stared at the opening of the cave. The snow was still coming down hard; who knew how long it would be before the blizzard stopped. Even though it was cold, they sat in a comfortable silence for a while before Yixing finally spoke.

“Do you believe in happy endings?” he asked.

Kai raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Yixing smiled. “When I was little, my mother told me that everyone has a happy ending. No matter how bad things seem, good things will always happen to those who worked hard and waited patiently.” He paused for a moment. “Do you think that’s true?”

The taller boy made a sour face. “Why are you telling me this?”

Yixing suddenly felt self-conscious. He rubbed the back of his neck, and said in embarrassment, “It’s nothing, I just wanted your opinion.”

Kai sighed. “Real life isn’t the same as stupid children’s stories. Happy endings are bull.”

“Oh,” Yixing said quietly. “But you must have had happy moments you wish could last forever right?”

Suddenly, images flashed through Kai’s mind, back to the days when he laughed with genuine happiness, when he and Sehun lived comfortably. The images contorted into bloody crime scenes, caution tapes, and social workers, the sounds of sirens and rain ringing in his ears. “No,” Kai answered. “I don’t.”

Yixing don’t know where this new found courage came from, but he decided to push for more information. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Kai gritted his teeth and forced the images back into the cage in the depths of his mind where he kept them locked. “No,” he replied.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean t-----”

“Just shut up okay?” Kai snapped angrily at Yixing. He glared at the shorter boy, who flinched and shrunk away in fear. Somewhere deep inside he wanted to apologize for shouting, but he pushed the feeling away.

He stood and walked towards the entrance. “It stopped snowing, let’s keep going.” Yixing gathered his things silently and followed Kai back onto the path. 

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A/N: That awkward moment when you're updating your fanfiction while in class LOL

So finally finished this chapter, its a  little longer than usual, so I hope it wasn't too wordy or anything. Thanks for waiting so patiently for updates, I know that not all of you may still be reading this fic, but thank you to those who still do, and to those who are new, HELLO AND WELCOME :D

I'll be honest in saying that I don't know when I'll have the next chapter up, since midterms are coming up (cries) but I'll try! Besides writing fanfiction is way more fun than studying xD

I'll end my little schpeel there, so thanks for reading and commenting, I'll do my best and I'll talk to you next time :D