“Please, please can we walk? Just this one time?” Taemin whined at Minho's side, tugging at his sleeve.

The taller frowned down at him and crossed his arms, leaning against the big wooden doors.

“Taemin, it’s cold and it’s snowing,” he muttered, “I don’t want to prolong our walk into the city and I doubt Nicole wants it either.”

“But that’s the best part!” Taemin exclaimed exasperatedly. “It was so long ago I was out when it was snowing!”

Minho looked at the boy with brows raised skeptically. “If I recall correctly, you were out in the snow last year… and the year before… and the year before.”

“One year is a long time.” Taemin pouted at him.

Now Minho was looking at him in disbelief. “You think one year is long? What about a hundred, then?”

Taemin's expression fell slightly and he opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Nicole suddenly appearing beside them.

“Sorry! Did I take long?” She asked worriedly. The other two shook their heads. “Okay, should we go then?”

“Taemin wants to walk.” Minho grumbled.

Nicole sighed and tilted her head at the boy. “Really, Taemin?”

He looked at her pleadingly. “Please?”

She studied his face for a moment before she let out another sigh and shook her head in defeat. “Fine. It’s because it’s snowing, isn’t it?”

Taemin nodded, jumping in place. “Thank you!”

“Nicole.” Minho sighed as the other skipped in front of them out the doors.

“What?” She looked at him, her expression turning slightly sad. “At least he has something left to enjoy… we shouldn’t take that away from him even if we are starting to loose hope.”

Minho just stared ahead as they followed Taemin, not answering her.

“Hey, you two should do this too!” Taemin called a few meters in front of them, his neck bent back and his tongue stuck out to catch the snowflakes.

Nicole and Minho looked at each other, before meeting Taemin's expectant gaze and reluctantly following his actions. Taemin gave them a big smile as they each had caught a few flakes on their tongues, straightening their necks. Then he started skipping in front of them again, into the forest, throwing himself into drives of snow and running around. Minho and Nicole watched him tiredly, wondering where the boy got all his energy from.

They didn’t have the time to elaborate their theories, however, as Taemin suddenly stopped with a horrified gasp. They tensed up slightly before rushing to his side, fearing the worst.

“Taemin?” Nicole asked worriedly. “What is it?”

The boy looked at them with big, shocked eyes that were starting to fill with tears.

Both Nicole and Minho frowned, searching the ground for whatever was upsetting the boy so much, but not finding anything.

“Taemin, if this is some trick-” Minho cut short as the other threw himself to the ground and started digging furiously.

Nicole and Minho watched him in frightened curiosity, wondering what on earth he was doing, and soon they saw what had made the other start crying. Nicole clamped a hand to and Minho's breath hitched slightly at the sight.

A young man had been buried beneath the snow. And judging by the bluish sheen of his skin, he had been there a long time. None of the other two had the heart to tell Taemin that the young man was probably very much dead and that he should stop his lunatic shoveling.

Taemin sniffled, finally freeing the man from his snow prison, and picked him up in his arms.

“Taemin-” Nicole started but was interrupted by the boy.

“We need to get him back to Jinki.” He said determinedly, his voice steady despite all the tears. “Now.”

“Taemin, I don’t think-” Nicole tried again.

“He has a heartbeat!” Taemin shouted at them. “It’s very weak but if we take him back now he can still make it!”

Then abruptly he stood up, carrying the young man in his arms, and rushed back the way they had come, not giving the other two a chance to speak until they finally caught up with him at the gates to the front of the house.

“Now what?” Minho muttered. “Suppose the shield will just lift?”

“Jonghyun!” Taemin shouted at the top of is lungs, ignoring the taller. “Please! I know you hear me! Please just this once! He’s still alive!”

Nicole and Minho looked at him as if he had lost his mind, watching his every move tentatively when he tried taking a step forward. It seemed as if he collided with an invisible wall and he stumbled slightly, trying to regain his balance.

“Please!” Taemin shouted again, tears still running in streams down his cheeks.

“Taemin,” Nicole put a hand on his arm, “you know the only ones who can go in and out of this shield are us. We can’t bring a normal human inside.”

“I don’t care!” The boy shouted. “I want him in now!”

Minho and Nicole glanced at each other helplessly, silently wondering if they should just knock the boy out and hide the body of the young man.

“There is nothing we can do.” Minho mumbled and Taemin glared at him.

“There is!” He yelled. “Just because that idiot-”

He stopped and his eyes widened, as the air in front of them seemed to shimmer slightly. All three of them stared at it in shock, not really comprehending what was happening. Then Taemin took a small step forward, and another and suddenly he was running again, up the front yard towards the doors.

“Thank you!” Taemin shouted as he ran.

Nicole and Minho followed hurriedly, suddenly realizing they actually still had a chance of saving the young man. They actually had a shot at saving a life for once.

There is still hope in the world after all…

A/N: I've been having this on my mind all day and was finally able to write it down... I wrote quite fast so I don't know about the quality... 

I hope you like it though! :D

My brain's a mess so I shouldn't probably write anything else...

Bye~! ^_^