White Sand Hourglass; Yeonbin

11

(UNEDITED)
Soobin and Yeonjun look around the field near the cabin finding twigs and branches anything that could be used to make a fire. Yeonjun was a few feet away from Soobin picking up small twigs near the trees. Most of the fallen branches and twigs were wet due to the snow so he had only gathered a few sticks that were completely dry.

Yeonjun looked up at the trees but as usual, the branches were covered in snow and they wouldn't work to build a fire, but something caught his eye along the covered branches. He reached up and brushed off the snow revealing a crabapple. The red round fruit hanging from a stem. He smiled looking at the fruit and instantly thought about Soobin. He turned to look at the boy but Soobin was busy looking at the floor and wandering around randomly looking for dry sticks and branches from a far distance.

Yeonjun turned back around and quickly pulled the crabapple from the tree branch, taking out a piece of cloth from his pocket and wrapping the red fruit while placing it back into his pocket. The prince grabbed the few branches he picked up and started making his way toward the winter guardian to show him what he found.

He was halfway towards Soobin before a loud crackle could be heard from underneath him. The winter guardian quickly turns to look at the boy with pure fear in his eyes.

"Don't move hyung" Soobin says dropping everything he was carrying and sacrificing the dry branches that he found. He holds his hand up telling Yeonjun to stay where he was and to not take any more steps forward.

"You are on top of a lake" Soobin whispers crouching down and dusting off the layer of snow beneath him revealing the frozen water. Hearing those words caused Yeonjun's breathing to become heavy considering that he was in the center of that lake. There was no way of knowing how deep it could be or even how cold.

The prince was considering dropping everything in his hands to minimize the weight he carried but he wasn't sure if there was another weak spot around that would cause the whole area to break and sink under.

Soobin began to slowly make his way towards Yeonjun, the ice snapping beneath his feet with every step he took.

"Don't step forward anymore...I will walk to you" Yeonjun says calmly stopping Soobin from putting himself in more danger. "No, it's too dangerous Yeonjun" Soobin protests. The prince ignored Soobin and started to take steps towards the guardian.

He could feel the ice breaking beneath him. He tried to stay calm and control his breathing but with every step he took, he felt his heart dropping knowing that any moment now it could be possible for the ice to break completely.

Soobin crouches back down and places his hand on the floor. His brown orbs turn blue in seconds. The boy was trying to freeze the ice more to stop the ice from breaking even further. A layer of frost spread around the area while the ice beneath froze again preventing the water from seeping between the cracks. The ice was finally able to hold Yeonjun's weight as he walked closer to Soobin just a few feet away now.

The winter guardian's eyes turn back to brown, his face filling with fear again. "Yeonjun don't move!" Soobin yells.

In just a split second the ice beneath Yeonjun snaps loudly and breaks swallowing the prince into a deep pit of cold darkness. At that moment every single thought and emotion clashed inside Soobin. He felt his heart drop seeing Yeonjun disappear into the depths, he knew that the prince only had a few seconds of survival down there. So without much thought, he took off his heavy coat, ran towards the hole, and dove into the frigid waters.

It was complete darkness and silence under, it was terrifying. Soobin couldn't imagine how Yeonjun felt or how much pain he was in.

With all the commotion and sounds from outside the rest of the boys ran out of the cabin. They quickly noticed the hole in the icy lake and ran towards it before Avila stopped them. "What are you doing? You have a death wish?" the older lady grunts pointing at the frozen lake. They couldn't pass or their weight might carry all of them down, they couldn't risk it.

"We can't just let them drown or freeze to death!" Kai shouts back trying to walk forward to help his friends but Beomgyu pulls him back.

"Avila is right, we can't risk one of us sinking too," Taehyun says. The boy's expression was calm but his emotions were filled with fear and worrisome. They all were, they could only stare at the hole in hopes that Soobin and Yeonjun would resurface back to safety.

After a few long seconds that felt like minutes, a hand reaches up towards the surface grabbing the edge and causing a layer of frost to spread.

"Go," Avila says.

The forest guardians run towards the boys while Soobin uses his last strength to pull up the unconscious boy from the freezing waters. Kai and Beomgyu pull Yeonjun out of the water while Taehyun helps the winter guardian.

"Hurry and get him warm" Soobin whispers out of breath, he falls to the floor his hands still touching the ground while trying to catch his breath. "But hyung you-" Kai exclaims before getting cut off from Soobin.

"Hurry!" Soobin shouts.

"Get him in," Taehyun tells Beomgyu and Kai. The two boys hold Yeonjun while walking towards the cabin entering the warmth of the place. Kai and Beomgyu place the prince on the small worn-out couch, immediately taking off the boy's coat and shirt leaving him in his wet pants.

Kai runs to the kitchen to gather a cup of hot tea that is still warm from that morning. Avila gathers a few blankets placing them on top of the stone-cold boy while grabbing a few dry clothes.

Soon Taehyun enters holding onto Soobin, "Are you okay?" Avila asks.

"I'm fine, I can handle it" the winter guardian responds letting go of Taehyun.

"I have some dry clothes here," the older woman says placing them on the table for Soobin.

"Thank you," the white-haired boy lets out while grabbing the clothes and heading to an empty room but not before looking at the unconscious boy lying down.

"Once his body temperature rises, start a warm shower for him," Avila tells Kai who was pouring the warm tea down Yeonjun's throat.
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