Snowed In

Unchained Melody

Seunghan ended up pacing around in his fuzzy socks for the next hour, before Sohee finally dragged him to the sofa and forced him to sit down, handing him yet another mug of tea.

"You have to stop," he said.

"I—where are they? I'm freaking out," Seunghan said. "I can't—like what if they're alone on the road, stranded? Will they survive out there?"

"Seunghan," Sohee said slowly, hand gently on his wrist.

Seunghan gulped.

"Relax," Sohee said, his eyes wide. Seunghan stared at the little freckle below Sohee's eye.

"I—sorry, I know."

"There's nothing we can do," he said. "The snow is probably too heavy. But we know Sungchan, he's smart, he'll keep them safe. And Shotaro's in the other car, okay, the boys are safe and I know their smart enough to get out of harms way."

"Okay," Seunghan said, hand's clammy.

Sohee looked around, eyes widening at something behind Seunghan.

"Look at this." Sohee sprung up off the sofa.

Seunghan's skin prickled where Sohee's hand had once been.

Sohee walked over to a record player sat on an old wicker cabinet on the adjacent wall, a stack of dusty vinyls leant next to it. He flicked on the player, a slight buzz radiating in the air. He shuffled through some of the records before pulling out an old vinyl. Sohee placed the black disk on the player, and gently adjusted the needle and Seunghan waited as it scratched and then begun to play an old song.

"Unchained melody," Sohee said, smiling, looking away. "My mom used to play this song in the winter and she'd force my dad to slow dance with her in the living room." He laughed. "Good memories."

An old, tangy vocal sprung out of the player, raspy from the old machine. A smiled bloomed on Seunghan's face. What was Sohee doing?

"Come here," Sohee said, holding up a finger.

Seunghan's heart leapt.

"Wha—"

"Come here, let's distract ourselves."

"Sohee," Seunghan whined, whimpering over to him.

He carefully took Sohee's hands, looking down into Sohee's eyes as he was still a good portion shorter than him. They started rocking back and forth.

Woah, my love, my darling
I've hungered, hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time.

Sohee's smile was wide, all teeth. Seunghan loved his smile and his little teeth, if that could be something to love. They rocked back and forth, Seunghan playfully spinning in a circle as Sohee laughed, holding his hand. They laughed, letting the old song fill their ears and fill the much-too-large cabin with warmth. Seunghan felt absolutely ridiculous but in the best way and he forgot all about his worries, at least for a short time. Seunghan let his arms drift over Sohee's shoulders, Sohee's arms hugging down Seunghan's slender waist, as the disk skipped over to the next song, a more upbeat bop.

Sohee sprung back, doing a little step and hop, smile wide and bright and Seunghan joined in his little jig. The two danced. Danced. Freely and unhinged as some saxophone solo filled the air of the cabin through the scratched record player.

After three full spin throughs of the record, Sohee and Seunghan collapsed on the sofa, Seunghan's face aching from smiling so much. Sohee fell next to him, shoulders squished together.

"That was fun," Sohee said.

"Thanks," Seunghan said, staring into the fire once more, it's musty, pine-needle scent catching his nose.

"What for?" He could feel Sohee's eyes on his.

"Distracting me."

Sohee laughed. "I don't want you to worry so much."

"I know, I'm a worrier."

Sohee snuffed. "It's okay."

Sohee surprised him, curling into Seunghan's chest, pulling a blanket over the both of them. Seunghan froze, watching as Sohee's small body curled into his. He could feel his warmth and his rad-a-pat breathing. They sat like this in silence for a while. Snow fell heavily outside and the fire still cracked away.

*

It was late and after an entire day of road travel, Seunghan knew they were both exhausted. They'd left for their separate bedrooms, Seunghan showering and then washing up, still, the imprint of Sohee's body felt on his chest. He threw on some Shin Chan PJs and crawled into bed, laying there in silence. Complete and utter silence that he hated. How could anyone sleep like this? No white noise. He couldn't even play on his phone to fall asleep.

He rolled over, mind racing thinking of Sohee's almond eyes staring at him. The way Sohee's body so easily fit into his as they dance. Sohee's toothy smile. That little mole under his eye.

He couldn't sleep. He quickly sat up, knees underneath him as he looked out the window at the quickly falling snow. Snow didn't fall like this in Seoul. It was sort of beautiful, if not haunting. The thick conifer trees held such darkness and Seunghan kept thinking he spotted bright eyes staring at him between the shadows. He looked away, looking out at the interior of his room.

The silence.

It was too godamn quiet.

He sprung out of bed, shuffling his socked feet through the now cold, dark cabin and down the hall. Sohee's door was open ajar and he gently snuck in, Sohee was curled up in bed like a small puppy. He stopped at the door, noticing Sohee wasn't asleep at all, curled in a scrunched bedsheet, staring out the snowy window. He shifted, catching Seunghan's eye.

"Oh."

"I can't sleep."

"Me neither," Sohee mumbled. "It's so quiet." He could spot his smile behind the bedsheet.

"Well I could, I mean--"

"Can you sleep with me?" Sohee said, barely a whisper.

Seunghan nodded, body shaking, maybe from the cold, maybe from absolute fear. He crawled into the other side of the bed, laying flat on his back, staring at the ceiling fan in Sohee's room. This was probably a stupider idea. What was he supposed to do now?

"I hope the members are okay," Seunghan said. "I hope they found somewhere to stay."

"Same."

"What a trip this has turned out to be," he laughed.

"Not as planned, but I'm glad you are here with me."

Silence.

"I'm cold," Sohee mumbled.

"Oh, same."

Sohee shifted his head, catching Seunghan's eye. Seunghan met his longing gaze. He thought it was longing. He didn't actually know but something was pulling at him hard to pull Sohee into his body and hold him close, so he did.

He pulled Sohee from behind, wrapping around him, cupping his small body into the curve of his own, hands entangling in front of Sohee's waist. Seunghan's cold lips pressed into Sohee's neck and he knew he was testing it, pushing it, but he let himself anyways. The smallest—smallest, of moans escaped Sohee's lips, and if it weren't for the near dead silence of their isolated getaway, Seunghan may not have heard it, but it was enough for Seunghan to go further, and gently kiss his neck, squeezing closer.

Seunghan finally felt warm, and the gentleness of Sohee's breathing, enough to finally lull him to sleep.