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They say that somewhere in the depths of Canada, a beast sleeps. It mustn’t be roused, lest the land be plagued with eternal cold and blizzard. The beast is the keeper of all the frozen water falling from the sky and covering the land. And somewhere deep in Canada, the beast sleeps now no more, unleashing a hellish weather upon the nation in which only the strongest survive. Snow that covers all in white, leaving no trace of existence otherwise. Some call it the end of the world, some call it a time of no redemption, but some-
“It’s snowing, it’s snowing!”
The happy human alarm clock roused the cabin awake. A certain blonde-haired boy was wide awake and determined to make it so for everyone else. And the occasion? The thick flakes of snow floating down peacefully outside his window.
“Chan-hyung! Up! Now! It’s snowing!” With a certain aggressively positive attitude, he drew wide open the door of the older’s room.
“Hyunjin, a world war could have started, and such excitement is still too much,” Chan mumbled from where he was tangled in the sheets.
A figure hidden equally under a pile of blankets next to the boy snorted gravely,
“Go defend us, Hyunjin. We’re going to sleep some more.”
Hyunjin widened his eyes, facing such an attitude from Seungmin, whom he trusted and loved.
“Absolutely not!” Hyunjin entered the room as if those within it were in need of some serious lessons on the importance of snow.
This was completed through a furious attack and tickle fight that pulled everyone else in the house out of their dreams immediately.
~
“So,” Hyunjin, the leader of the fun-in-the-snow operation, addressed all the sleepy heads gathered now in the living room, “we have to build a snowman, and a snow fort, and have a snowball fight, and make snow angels, and bury ourselves in the snow, and-”
“Hold your horses there, champ!” Jisung proclaimed. “Breakfast comes first.”
“Thank you, Jisung. We’ll eat breakfast, and then you can spend all the time you want outside,” Chan spoke, as he handed a thirsty Jeongin a bottle of water, while also picking up a stray blanket from the floor.
“Fine.” Hyunjin pouted, nodding.
“Great! We’re having Lucky Charms!” Minho jumped up, speaking for himself and Jisung at once.
Chan chuckled,
“No, you’re making your bed. Go on, everyone.”
Mumbled and grumbles followed as the crew slugged off to make their beds.
“Oh, Canada! So much snow!” A now-content and awake Seungmin pointed out.
“Yeah, something Korea will never provide,” Chan chuckled, “snowmen, forts, snowball fights; all in one day.”
With this, the pair that had already finished making their bed were off to start on breakfast.
~
The group of young travellers felt fulfilled after a delicious breakfast; which did, in fact, include Lucky Charms. At that moment, it was time, the first in their trip that would last two weeks, where they at last felt compelled to put on the snow gear they bought in advance. Canadian snow gear was warm, and of wonderful quality, as far as they could tell. It even included a special material that seemed to project even greater happiness on our snow-loving angel.
“I’ve got my snow pants on, and I am officially ready to build the biggest snow fort that anyone has ever seen!” Hyunjin bounced excitedly, pulling on his boots.
“Minho and I will out build your fort,” Jisung teased.
“I’m going to build a fox out of snow!” Jeongin announced.
“That sounds great, guys, but I do have a little job for you after-”
Chan’s voice was drowned out by the sound of cheers as the team raced out the doors, leaving his little job far behind and forgotten.
Sighing, the oldest shot an observing look at the three snow shovels standing outside the door and shrugged. A job that can surely be postponed. And with that, the Korean-Australian followed excitedly to enjoy the wonders of a bright, snowy Canadian day.
~
The exact measurements, no one knew, but the snow was enough for everyone. Every dream was lived out that day. And it didn’t stop falling until the boys had spent a good hour playing around and having a blast greater than that from an atomic bomb. Through all this, Chan had forgotten all about the favour he was in need of until the snow had stopped, and his eyes got caught on their vehicle.
The rented van was dusted generously in the tasteless confectioner’s sugar, and the driveway was an untouched plain of white quick sand. And that entailed that it’d trap one up to the knees easily. Chuckling under his breath and the analogy, Chan turned to his group of childish buddies in their twenties and announced formally,
“Boys. That’s enough playing for today. I have a job for you all.”
And so magnified was his voice with urgency, that the boys stopped their play and turned to face him. Groans sounded from all sides when he shooed them into the house to plan the mission. And they didn’t know it yet; the dread of the shovelling of a Canadian driveway, but they’d find out soon.
“So, I assign snow-shovelling duty to Seungmin, Minho and Jisung. We only have three shovels, so we’ll have to take turns. I’ll prepare lunch with Felix in a bit (once you’re almost done with the snow). Jeongin, Hyunjin and Changbin will stay ready to switch out once the first group is done. Does that work?”
Chan’s arrangement sparked controversy, as it was certain to do.
“How come you, with your big, mighty, powerful arms, get to cook? I can cook, and you can shovel!” Jisung protested.
“You can’t cook,” Minho remarked.
Jisung rolled his eyes,
“You were supposed to be on my side!”
“I, on the other hand, don’t have strong arms at all.” Hyunjin crossed his arms.
“But you love snow,” Changbin pointed out.
“I also love to cook!”
“You can’t cook,” said Jisung.
Hyunjin pouted, but it was in vain.
“I, on the other, other hand,” Changbin began.
“You can’t cook,” Minho and Jisung sang together.
“Well, who said we have to be able to cook,” the fifth terrible cook (Jeongin) stepped in, “We can order delivery.”
“And risk the life of the poor delivery man who will freeze to death making his way here after his car gets trapped in a giant pile of snow and shuts down and then explodes,” Jisung warned in a sinister tone.
“Shut up and get your boots on. Let’s get this done before sundown.” Seungmin, who was all set for the task, rolled his eyes.
And the giggling pair that was set to accompany him made their way out the door in no time to begin the mission.
~
Out in the snowy, chilly desert that was the driveway of the rented cabin, a battle was taking place. Minho and Jisung were engaged in a passionate role play as military officers out on a particularly dangerous mission, while Seungmin was more centred on the taking off and putting back on of his mittens as his palms sweat profusely, then froze to an ice-cube state, and it repeated.
The snow wasn’t as light as everyone had hoped, but the fact that it was ideal for snowmen was worth the sacrifice of it weighing “more than if I had lifted Chan, who was laying on the couch with a 25 kg weight,” as quoted from Jisung.
“Snow-smasher, I’ve encountered deadly conditions. It’s really bad out here, Snow-smasher, I don’t think I can go on. Over,” Jisung spoke as he pushed dramatically on his shovel, attempting to move snow he had gathered.
“Commander Icicle, hang in there. I’ll come rescue you! Over,” Minho cried before running toward his partner, his own shovel in the air.
“Would you guys chill out? No pun intended,” Seungmin complained. His back hurt and his arms were tired. He had no clue how his companions were still in such high spirits.
Without blinking at the other’s remarks, Minho pursued his acting, clearly envisioning a storming blizzard ahead of him as he trekked towards his companion.
“Commander Icicle, do you copy?” He called out, imitating a walkie-talkie in his hand (invisible, of course).
After passing another imaginary distance, Minho repeated the question,
“Commander, do you copy? I can’t see you. Over.”
After this continued for a while longer with consistently no response from Jisung - who was engaged in the act of one freezing to death, Minho finally located him.
“Commander! Are you alright? Say something! Stay with me, Commander!”
Minho shook an “unconscious” Jisung desperately.
“Guys!” Seungmin, who was now alone at work, exclaimed.
At the same time, Snow-smasher picked up his see-through walkie-talkie to address Seungmin at last,
“Sergeant Freezie! We need back-up! Commander Icicle is hurt! It’s bad!”
However, before Seungmin could come to the rescue, or even complain about his code-name, a sound of relief was heard. Commander Icicle and Snow-smasher (who was fake-crying over the body of the former) both jumped up at Chan’s voice that announced the change in snow cleaners.
“Best news I’ve heard all day!” Seungmin grunted as he brushed past his elder at the threshold.
“Aw, don’t be dramatic,” Chan teased.
“You give it a go, Australia boy!” Minho exclaimed, aggressively dumping his snow gear by the door.
“Australia boy who’s older than you! Watch it!” The Australian playfully threatened to slap the Korean boy.
And well, not to sound biased, but the second team was much less interesting in their snow work. Pretty much all that came from them were curses (from Changbin mainly) and more general, less harmful complaints from the others.
From this experience, the group learned the hardships an average Canadian household lives through during winter. Though the second team didn’t trek long distances in a fatal military mission, they returned just as exhausted only two hours past lunchtime.
That being said, just as Chan felt satisfied with the sight of a clear driveway, the others feasted their eyes and not only on the delicious lunch on the table.
“Well, at least we can leave tomorrow for that tour of the city! And you know what, we’ll go tobogganing afterwards,” the driver (Chan) proposed.
“Yes! It’s the least we deserve!” Hyunjin cheered.
“That wasn’t so bad, really,” said Jisung, chewing half-heartedly.
Felix let out a chuckle,
“Please, I saw you and Minho putting on an Oscar-worthy performance out there.”
“Yeah, while Seungmin actually worked,” Jeongin added.
“We worked, just in a different way.” Minho rolled his eyes.
Jisung nodded enthusiastically,
“We helped keep him entertained, so that he’d work harder.”
After glancing at one another and then at the actors, Jeongin and Felix burst into laughter. The rest of the group followed.
~
That night was a rewarding one; spent with laughter, movies, and snacks to compensate for the physical energy spent on work that day. Eight boys snuggled up in the living room, playing truth and dare, is sure a warming sight to see. The karaoke that followed was sure loud and bright, but just as wonderful. To finish, when all fuel was wasted and no one dared move, they sweetly cuddled together for a good old drama (that each individual had seen more times than they’d seen their own reflection).
Chan, at that moment, looked over his gang of buddies and couldn’t help but smile just at this. Felix to his right, Jeongin to his left, Hyunjin resting his head on Changbin’s lap, Seungmin, Minho and Jisung piled up on blankets on the floor. It was perfect. Everyone was exhausted and happy. What more could one ask for?
“This drama just gets worse, anyone else think so?” Jisung proposed, rolling lazy onto his back once they had finished the fourth episode.
“Don’t be so pessimistic!” Felix protested.
Jeongin giggled,
“Honestly, I think it does, too. We need to find something new to watch…”
“Right on! Who’s up for a horror movie?” Changbin excitedly grabbed the remote, which he was in the best convenience of reaching.
And just before the slightly delirious group could gladly agree, Chan took on his motherly role and announced,
“You are all going to bed. It’s almost two o’clock in the morning, and we have plans for tomorrow.”
“But hyung!” Minho had just begun his protest when it was shut down again.
“No. I’ll already have a hard enough time getting you guys up. Go wash up now and to bed!”
Groans of disappointment sounded (as always), but no one resisted, as the eldest was firm. And so it was washing up, PJ’s and to bed for the boys. So, as the bedtime conversations died down from Minho and Jisung’s room, everyone was off fast to sleep.
Eight boys, Chan, Minho, Changbin, Hyunjin, Felix, Jisung, Seungmin and Jeongin had rented a cabin to stay for their vacation in Canada. They came from South Korea, where they didn’t get much snow. They were very busy in the snow that day and looked forward to the next. The beast in the depths of the country’s core growled no more, as it grew comfortable for a short nap. After all, while it would sleep, the snow would fall no more, but remain perfectly as it is; in all its thrilling beauty.