Remembering Elizabeth (Featuring Suho and Sehun)

That night the boys went to dinner and I went to the ballroom. I’ve found that just being in that room makes me feel better. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the music. Or maybe it’s the beauty. Whatever it is, I like to go there when I feel like I do now. Lost.
I turned the music on and went to stand under the big chandelier. I didn’t feel much like spinning so I laid down so that I could look up at it. I thought about the ball. Sehun was supposed to take me but I didn’t think that would happen now. At this point, I didn’t know if he would even dance with me. I closed my eyes and wished for the chandelier to fall on me.
As I lay there with my eyes closed, I heard footsteps echoing throughout the room and my heart began to race. I thought I was alone. I opened one eye and then the other to see a very handsome face staring down at me. He smiled and then laughed a little.
“Are you alright?” asked Kai.
“Not really,” I answered.
He laid down beside me. “Wow! The view is so much better from down here. Wonder who painted this ceiling!” he said.
The high ceiling was all different shades of purple with gold accents everywhere. There were designs hidden within designs and the artwork was very intricate. “I don’t know but it must have taken forever,” I said.
We laid there enjoying the ceiling and the music for a little while and then Kai said, “This is fun and all but why don’t we find something else to do?”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Let’s go out,” he said.
I leaned up on my elbow to look at him. “You want to go somewhere with me?” I asked.
“Yeah. Why not?”
“I don’t know. You don’t really know me,” I said. “Won’t that be weird for you?”
“Would it be weird for you?” he asked.
“Everything is weird for me. I don’t know anyone,” I said.
There was a pause as the meaning behind that set in and then we laughed.
“Well, this is the perfect chance for us both to get to know each other. Right?” he asked.
“I guess so,” I said.
“I mean, I could go out with Sehun but he’s in his room brooding and he would be about as fun as a broken toy,” said Kai.
“Sehun didn’t go to dinner?” I asked.
“Nope. He’s been really grouchy since he got hurt. He likes to sit in his room on his laptop and pout.”
“Oh,” I said and laid back down.
“So, shall we go see what trouble we can get into? I hear you’re good at finding trouble.”
I sat up. “What! Who said that?”
“Isn’t it true,” asked Kai as he sat up too.
I couldn’t deny it. “Maybe,” I said. “Where do you want to go?”
“Mmmm… Let’s go to the mall and then decide from there,” he said. He smiled and no one on Earth could say no to that smile.
I started to get up. “Wait! Why didn’t you go to eat?
“I just didn’t feel like being in the middle of the madness tonight,” he said. He stood up and put out his hand to help me up.

Half an hour later, I met Kai in the entrance hall. He held the door open for me and I just happened to notice Sehun watching us from the balcony. I gave him a small wave but he just turned and left. My heart ached.
When we got into the car, snow was coming down like crazy. It was one of those late spring snows that could either melt and be gone by morning or turn into a three day blizzard. Kai didn’t seem worried so I didn’t worry either. As he let the car warm up, he asked what I would like to listen to.
“Do you have VIXX?” I asked.
He laughed a little and raised his eyebrows as he tilted his head. “Okay then. I do actually.” He put a CD into the player and VIXX began to play. “I have EXO too if you were wondering,” he said.
“This is good. Thank you,” I said.
He laughed out loud at that and I began to feel a little better.
He started to pull out of the garage when I remembered something. “Wait! Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure,” he said and put the car in park.
“Can you call Suho and tell him that we are going?” I asked.
“He won’t care. Besides, he’s not your father. You don’t have to check in with him,” said Kai.
“Actually, I do. I promised him that I wouldn’t go anywhere tonight. Can you at least text him for me?”
“Can’t you text him?” he asked.
“I don’t have a phone,” I said.
“Alright.” He pulled his phone out and sent Suho a text. “There. Now he knows.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Do you have your seatbelt fastened?” he asked, looking around me.
“Yep. I’m all set,” I said.
Kai’s phone chimed and he looked at it and laughed. “He says it’s not a good idea.” He sent Suho another text.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go then,” I said.
“It will be fine. Jun likes to worry.” He put the car in drive and pulled out. We rode in comfortable silence for a little while and then he asked, “Are you and Sehun, like, a thing?”
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“You don’t know?” he asked and changed gears.
I looked out the window at the people we were passing. “We had a fight. I don’t think he likes me much anymore.”
“Just because of a fight? I doubt that. Sehun can be hard-headed when it comes to an argument but he’s also pretty loyal. He wouldn’t give up on someone just because of a fight,” he said and shifted again.
“There’s more to it than that. He’s not just angry. I think he’s also disappointed,” I said.
“Just give him some time. Sehun usually works things out if you leave him alone long enough,” he said.
I looked over at Kai. “What made you ask?”
“I see the way you look at each other so I just figured. I’ve never seen him look at anyone else like that.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Not since I’ve known him,” he said.
Kai’s phone rang and he handed it to me. “Would you answer that please?”
I took it but I had no idea what to do. “Just swipe it,” said Kai.
I moved my finger across it and read Little Big Man on the screen. I laughed as I answered. “Hello?”
“Who’s this?” asked Suho.
“Elizabeth,” I answered.
“Where are you guys?” he asked.
“On our way to the mall. Why?” I asked.
“I told Kai that he shouldn’t take you out. The storm’s getting pretty bad. We cut our dinner short and we’re on our way back now. You two should probably come on back.”
“Here, you should talk to Kai,” I said and handed him the phone.
“Hey Jun,” said Kai. He listened for a second and then said, “I’ll bring her back in one piece. It’s not that bad. We’ll be back soon.” Suho said something and Kai answered, “Alright. I will. Don’t worry so much.” He listened. “Okay, bye.” He hung up and shook his head just as we pulled into the mall parking lot. It was almost empty.
“Do you think they are closing early?” I asked.
“I don’t know. There’s only one way to find out.”
Kai parked close to the entrance and then ran around the car to open the door for me. These guys are such gentlemen. The wind was blowing harder than before and the snow was hitting us like bullets. We hurried to get inside.
The mall was three stories and I was struck by the busyness of it. There weren’t that many people but it was still noisy, with lights and screens and moving ads trying to get our attention. A train for children ran around a track in the middle and within that was a play area that looked like a fairyland.
“First things first,” said Kai and he took my hand. We went into a phone shop and I looked around while he talked business with a man who looked like he stepped out of a magazine. While they were talking, a guy walked by the shop and yelled in, “Hey! Jongin!”
Kai turned around and waved. The other boy came in. He smiled at me as he passed me and went over to where Kai and the phone man were. He said something to Kai and they turned to look at me. I heard Kai say, “Nah, she’s with me.”
The other boy nodded and said, “Aha, I see.”
Kai laughed and shoved the boys shoulder. “No. She’s a friend,” he said.
“Mm-hmm,” the boy said. Kai shoved him again.
They finished their business and the boys came over to me. “Elizabeth, this is my friend Taemin.”
I held out my hand, “Nice to meet you.”
He took it and then looked at me strangely. “Sorry if this sounds rude but aren’t you that lost girl that Junmyeon saved?”
“That would be me,” I said. I blushed a little. I hated being known as the “lost girl”.
“She’s Sehun’s lady,” said Kai.
“Sehun has a lady?” asked Taemin and they both laughed.
“I told you, I’m not his lady anymore,” I said. I tried to hide my sadness.
“Yes, she is,” said Kai. “Let’s get coffee. Tae are you coming?”
“Sure. I have a few minutes. I was waiting on Wonshik and Savannah to pick up the mic he ordered so I got some shoes,” said Taemin, indicating the bag he was carrying.
“Wonshik’s here too? Awesome! Guess what Elizabeth? You’re gonna get to meet a member of VIXX!” Kai grabbed my hand and we walked that way to the coffee shop. He sat me down at a table while they went to order. He said he knew what I would like which was good because my last encounter with coffee was a bad one. I was a little worried about this one.
I didn’t want to show my excitement at getting to meet a member of VIXX but I think it was all over my face. I had looked them up a few times on the computer in the library but I didn’t tell Sehun. Or Suho. I didn’t recall a member named Wonshik though. I guess it was like with EXO and they also had stage names. I really hoped it would be Leo but meeting any of them would be amazing!
Kai and Taemin came back with tall cups of coffee and Kai handed me one. “It’s a latte,” said Kai. I sipped it and it was sweet and creamy with a hint of cinnamon. He was right. I LOVED IT!
“Thank you Kai,” I said and took another sip.
“You’re very welcome and I got you something else too,” he said and handed me the bag he got at the phone shop.
“What? You what?” I was stuttering as I took the box out of the bag. “You got me a phone?” I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t even really know me!
“You didn’t have one and I thought you should. I also programmed all of EXO’s numbers in there too. That way, if you have a problem, you have a lot of brothers to get you out of it,” he smiled that big beautiful smile and squeezed my hand.
I took the phone out of the box and couldn’t figure out how to turn it on. Taemin laughed and took it from me. “Where have you been? Living under a rock?” He turned the phone on and started hitting buttons. A lot of buttons.
“What are you doing?” asked Kai.
“Putting Shinee’s numbers in there too,” said Taemin.
“Why? She doesn’t know them,” said Kai.
“She knows me,” said Taemin.
“Jinki will kill you if he finds out your giving his number to strange girls,” said Kai and took a sip of his drink.
Taemin just smiled and kept hitting buttons.
“So will Key!” said Kai.
I came out of my stunned silence to say, “I have amnesia.”
They both looked at me and then at each other. “Huh?” asked Taemin.
“I wasn’t living under a rock. I was kidnapped and they gave me amnesia. That’s why I don’t know about the phone,” I said.
It was quiet. Taemin looked at Kai and said, “Well, that just got real.” He took a drink which left him with a pink mustache.
My drink wasn’t pink so I wondered what he got. It looked really good. The drink. Not the mustache.
“What kind of coffee did you get?” I asked Taemin.
“Um, it’s a Cherry Blossom Frappuccino,” he said.
“Can I taste it?” I asked. I don’t know why I was being so forward all of a sudden.
He handed me the phone and sat his drink in front of me. I took a sip. It was delicious. I handed his drink back and asked Kai, “Can I get one of those when I’m done with this one?”
“If you still want one. That’s a lot of coffee. You’re going to be bouncing off of the walls.”
He and Taemin continued to talk while I played with my phone. In the contacts, he put everyones real names so I would have to remember who they were. I heard a deep voice behind me and my heart began to race. It was Ravi!
“Jongin! How have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while,” said Ravi.
“I’ve been busy. I hear you have too,” said Kai.
“Pretty much,” said Ravi.
He was holding hands with a really pretty girl that I assumed was the Savannah that Taemin mentioned.
“Oh! Wonshik, this is a friend of mine, Elizabeth. She’s a huge fan of VIXX,” said Kai.
“Nice to meet you,” he said and smiled.
“Nice to meet you,” I said back.
He leaned over to whisper in my ear but loud enough for Kai and Taemin both to hear, “You have really good taste. VIXX is a lot better than EXO or Shinee in my opinion.”
“And this is his fiance, Savannah,” said Kai as he reached over to punch Ravi in the arm.
“Hi,” she said shyly.
“Hi there,” I said.
“Well, Tae we had better go. They said that the mall’s closing early because of the storm,” said Ravi.
“We better go too then,” said Kai.
We all said our goodbyes and the three of them left. Kai helped me with my coat and apologized for not getting me a Cherry Blossom Frappuccino but said that he’d get me one next time. I loved that he assumed there would be a next time.
When we stepped outside we couldn’t believe how bad the storm had gotten in such a short amount of time. It was coming down so hard we could barely see to get to the car. Kai helped me get in and put on my seatbelt. He cleaned off the windows which became covered again as soon as he was done. As I watched the snow piling up, I worried a little about making it home. Kai was soaked by the time he got into the car and he turned the heat on full blast. He rubbed his red hands together and blew into them.
“Here, take my gloves,” I offered and began to take them off.
“No! You put those back on. I’ll be fine when the car warms up,” he said and I reluctantly did as he said.
It was a short trip but we had to go extra slow so it was taking a long time. Cars were pulled over or stuck on the side of the road everywhere. The cars that were still moving were sliding around or barely crawling. I didn’t talk so that Kai could concentrate on driving. He didn’t try to talk either. I think it was a lot worse than he had expected it to be.
He decided at the last minute to take a shortcut so that we would make it home sooner. It was a route that no one used anymore since they put the big road in and he said there wouldn’t be any traffic or danger of someone sliding into us. We were fine until we came to a steep hill that Kai had forgotten about. The hill was one of the reasons they had built the big road because so many wrecks had happened here during the winter and it was completely snow covered right now. Kai put the car into the lowest gear and we slowly made our way down.
Halfway down, the car hit an icy patch that was hidden under the snow and Kai lost control. The car began to spin and I covered my eyes while he cursed in Korean and tried to regain control of the car. It was impossible. I decided to peek when we stopped spinning but it was a mistake. All I saw was the tops of trees and then we dropped. I covered my eyes again and screamed while Kai threw an arm in front of me and we went over the embankment. It was a long drop. It felt like we were rushing to the bottom of the world when we came to a sudden stop at the bottom. We had hit a grove of pine trees which shook the snow from the branches that hit the top of the car with a thud. The roof actually caved in a little. The impact drove the seatbelt into my chest and I lost my breath. I felt like I was choking and like I was going to throw up.
I looked over at Kai and found him leaning against his door at an odd angle. I was afraid he was dead so I unbuckled my belt and began yelling his name as I tried to sit him up straight in his seat. The side of his head was beginning to swell from where he hit the steering wheel. He wasn’t responding no matter how much I yelled or shook him.
The car had stalled and it was already getting cold. I took my gloves off and searched Kai’s pockets for his phone but it wasn’t there and then I remembered that I had a phone. I looked around for it but it was gone. I was starting to panic when I found it in the floor. I fumbled to get it out of the bag and the box because my hands were already so cold that they didn’t want to work. The boys hadn’t shown me how to turn the phone on but I pushed everything until the screen finally lit up. I remembered to swipe my finger across it and it flashed to a screen that had a picture of a group that I assumed was Shinee since Taemin’s face was beaming up at me from the middle. I put my finger on the contacts button at the bottom and I couldn’t feel anything. That couldn’t be good. I looked for Suho’s name when the menu came up but of course I didn’t find it. My head was still fuzzy from the impact but I remembered that Kai had used everyone’s real names. Suho’s name wouldn’t come to me so I read through them until I came to Junmyeon and then I remembered. I touched the phone icon beside that name and hoped that it was him as I put the phone to my ear. The phone beeped so I pulled it away to look at it. A pop-up window told me that I had five minutes of battery left. These things don’t come fully charged? I thought angrily.
I heard a tiny, “Hello?” so I put the phone back to my ear. “Who is this?”
“Suho?” I wasn’t the least bit successful at keeping the panic out of my voice. I needed to hurry before the phone died.
“Elizabeth? Where are you calling from? I don’t know this number,” said Suho.
“My phone. Listen, I don’t have much time. We’ve wrecked. Kai hit his head and I can’t get him to wake up.” The more I talked, the more afraid I became.
“Dear God! Where are you?” Suho sounded panicked now.
“I don’t know. We went over a bank and hit some trees. My phone is about to die. I don’t know what to do. What should I do? It’s starting to get really cold,” I said. I knew I sounded whiny but I felt whiny.
“It’s going to be okay. Keep trying to wake Jongin and keep both of you warm. I’m calling emergency services now. Is the car running?” he asked.
“No. It stopped,” I said. Suho made me feel a little calmer.
“See if it will start. If it will, run the heater. But listen Elizabeth, if you smell gas or exhaust, cut the car off. Understand?”
“Yes,” I said and tried turning the key. It didn’t start at first but then it did. I didn’t smell anything so I turned the heater on full. “Okay. It’s running,” I told Suho.
“Are you sure you don’t smell exhaust? That’s important,” he said.
“I’m sure,” I said.
“Now, can you see outside?” he asked.
“I can if I roll the window down,” I said.
“Okay, see if you can open the door instead,” he said.
I tried it but the snow was piled too high and it wouldn’t open. I tried Kai’s but his was the same. “It won’t open,” I told Suho.
He paused. “Open the window for a second and see what you can see and tell me.”
My phone beeped three times. I got very scared. “My phone’s about to die, Suho,” I said.
“It’s okay. I need to know what you can see so we can find you,” he said. He was trying his best to sound calm but I still heard the fear.
I rolled the window down and snow fell in on me. It was freezing. Everything was a blur. I saw trees and snow and darkness. If I looked up I saw branches but they had already filled with snow again and were hanging heavily over the car so that I couldn’t see out of them. I rolled the window back up. “I can’t see anything but trees and snow, Suho. It’s getting dark and I’m really scared. I think the tree branches are covering the car. What if it’s hidden?”
“It’s going to be okay. Emergency services are searching for you right now alright? I don’t remember any hills going to the mall. Are you sure…”
That’s when my phone died. “No!” I screamed. “Kai! Kai! Please wake up! Please! I don’t know what to do! WAKE UP! KAI! JONGIN!” I lost it. I began to shake him but he was limp. His head was swelling even more and I couldn’t remember what to do in an emergency. I started to breath heavily and I got dizzy. I knew I had to make myself calm down so I held my breath for a second and then let it out slowly. I felt better.
Kai’s hands were turning a deep red and when I felt them, they were icy. I put my gloves on him and searched again for his phone. I finally found it but it was in pieces. It had shattered when we hit the trees. I tried to turn it on anyway but nothing happened. I wanted to cry but I was afraid the tears would freeze on my face. The heater was going but it was still getting colder. I checked the settings and it was on the hottest. I also looked at the gas gauge and wished that I hadn’t. The indicator was very close to the “E” and once it was gone, so was the heat.
Please Kai! Wake up! Don’t be dead. I looked at him and decided to see if he was breathing. I put my hand under his nose but my hands were still too cold to feel anything. I put my ear to his nose and I thought I heard a slight noise so I laid my head on his chest but I couldn’t tell through his coat. I opened his coat a little and put my head against his chest. He was breathing. Thank you God! I buttoned him back up.
All I could do was wait for help. I looked through my phone box and there was a charger but not an adapter for the car. I looked through the glove box for anything I could use but there was nothing. I watched as the gasoline needle got closer and closer to the “E” and listened for any sounds of help coming for us. It was silent except for the wind that sounded like whistling when it blew through the trees and the more snow that piled up on the car, the darker it became on the inside. It was creepy and I shivered from fear as much as from the cold.

About an hour after we went over the hill, Kai began to stir. He turned his head and made a sad little sound. “Kai?” I asked hopefully.
He mumbled something that didn’t make sense and it may have been in Korean but I couldn’t tell. He still hadn’t opened his eyes. His hands twitched and I prayed he wasn’t dying. “Kai?” I asked again.
His hand went to the swelling on his head and I grabbed it and said, “No. Don’t touch it. You’re hurt.”
He finally opened his eyes a little. They were unfocused but he looked around. Then with a sudden burst, he sat up and grabbed the steering wheel.
“Where are we?” he said and looked terrified.
“We went over a hill,” I said and grabbed his arm. “It’s okay. Suho is sending help. Just sit back. You hurt your head.”
He tried to touch it again but I stopped him. “What happened?” he asked, confused.
“We slid over a hill,” I said again.
He looked over at me and squinted. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
“No. I’m fine. Please, just sit back and rest. You might have a concussion,” I said.
He sat back but he was still looking around like he didn’t understand what was going on. “Did you say Suho was coming?” he asked.
“He’s sending Emergency services,” I said.
“I need to call him,” said Kai as he started searching his pockets. I handed him his phone and his eyes grew big. I’m pretty sure he used a Korean swear word and then he said, “What about your phone?”
“It’s dead. I called Suho and then it died but he knows what happened and he’s getting help for us,” I said.
“He doesn’t know where we are! We took the old road and they won’t look here! And it’s already dark. They’ll never see this black car tonight!” Now Kai was panicking.
“I told him we went over a bank. He’s smart. He’ll figure it out,” I said. I had complete faith in Suho. He always saved me.
Just then, the car began to sputter. Kai said another swear word and sat up. The car died and he tried to start it four times. “Well, there goes the heat,” he said. “This isn’t looking too good for us.”
“Help will be here soon. It will be okay,” I said. I wanted to keep my own spirits up as much as raise his.
“I need to get out and see what’s going on,” he said. Before I could say anything, he tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. “Try yours,” he said.
“I did. It won’t open,” I said.
“Try again,” he said.
I pulled the handle and the door tried to open but only a crack. The cold started to flood in through the tiny space so I pulled it shut. Kai looked around and then unbuckled his belt. He climbed into the back seats and tried those doors but they were just as stuck as the front doors. He climbed back into the front. “It’s hard to think,” he said and put a hand to his head.
“Just don’t fall asleep okay?” I said. I had remembered that it was a bad idea for someone with a head injury to sleep.
“I won’t. I don’t think I could. My eyes don’t want to focus. How bad does it look?” he asked and turned the wounded side of his head toward me.
It looked bad but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “It’s not that bad. Just don’t mess with it.”
He leaned back in his seat. “It’s getting really cold. Wait! Why am I wearing the gloves?” he asked as he took them off and handed them to me. “Put these back on right now!”
“Your hands were so cold when you wouldn’t wake up and I didn’t want you to freeze or get frostbite,” I explained and put the gloves back on. They didn’t help much. They were only cloth mittens and they didn’t hold the cold out very well.
“I’m fine now. You wear them. You know, if they don’t find us soon, we are going to have to figure out some way to warm up. If we are out here all night, we could freeze to death,” Kai said and stared at me.
“We’re stuck. What are we going to do? I’m already so cold I’m shivering.” I was getting really scared.
Kai turned the key to check the time. It was 8:13. “I have an idea. If they don’t find us soon, we’ll have to do something a little drastic but I don’t think we have a choice. I can feel my body temperature dropping and I’m shivering too. Tell me if you stop shivering or if you stop feeling cold. Promise?”
“I promise,” I said, my teeth chattering.
We both tried bouncing to create body heat but it didn’t help much and we soon got tired. Kai’s head was hurting worse and I was worried he was going to pass out on me.
He looked at me. “I’m so sorry,” he said.
“It wasn’t your fault! We hit ice. It could have happened to anyone,” I said.
“It wouldn’t have happened to us if I had listened to Junmyeon and stayed home. I’m so so sorry. I won’t let you freeze! I promise. No matter what I have to do, I won’t let you die.”
“Neither of us is going to freeze, okay? They will find us soon. We just can’t panic,” I said.
We both stopped talking and put our faces inside of our coats, hoping our breath would warm us up some. We stayed that way for a long time and it must have been working because I started to feel better. I stopped shivering and the pins and needles in my legs stopped pinching me. I started to feel warm but I hadn’t heard from Kai so I looked over at him to make sure he was okay. He looked at me over the edge of his coat. “You don’t look like you’re shivering anymore,” he said. His teeth were still chattering.
“I’m not. I actually feel pretty good. I’m warming up,” I said.
“That’s not good,” Kai said and turned the key again. It was 9:30.
I was confused. Wasn’t it good not to be cold? “Why isn’t that good?” I asked.
“Because it means your core temperature has dropped too far down. You are going into hypothermia. We have to do something quick and you aren’t going to like it,” he said. He began unbuttoning his coat. “Climb in the backseat.”
“What? Why?” I thought his head injury had started making him crazy.
“Go now!” he said more sternly.
I did as he said but it was hard to move my legs and it took a few minutes. I felt like I was moving in slow motion. He followed and climbed into the back beside me. “Take off your coat,” he said.
“Are you okay?” I asked. I didn’t think he was. Maybe the cold had gotten to him and he lost it.
“Listen, we have to bring your core temperature up and the only heat we have in this car is body heat. We need to put our bodies together, skin to skin so that my body heat can bring your temperature up or you are going to die. Take your coat and sweater off,” he said.
I still thought he had lost it but I did as he asked. It was a little worrisome when I took off my sweater and I couldn’t feel the cold. Maybe he wasn’t crazy after all. I was highly embarrassed sitting there in my bra with a strange man. Then I thought about what he had said and realized we were going to have to lay together, chest to chest. If the cold didn’t kill me, the embarrassment was going to!
Kai took off his sweater and put it over both of us. We maneuvered until we were laying down, he was mostly on top of me, and he pulled both coats over us. I could feel his heart pounding. “When your temperature goes back up, it might start to hurt but, whatever you do, don’t move away from me.” He pulled one of the coats down to cover our thighs and the other up to cover our heads. I was afraid his arms would freeze because he was using them to cover mine. He was breathing hard and his breath was warming me where it touched.
After a little while, I said, “I’m getting really sleepy.”
“Don’t go to sleep! Don’t! Okay?” he said. He sounded afraid.
“I don’t know if I can help it. My eyes won’t stay open,” I said and my words were getting slurry.
“Elizabeth! Wake up! Now! I know, let’s sing a song. What do you know?” Kai asked.
“I don’t know any. Sorry,” I said and I was almost asleep.
“You know what Sehun told me?” he asked.
That woke me up a little but I felt fuzzy headed. “Sehun hates me,” I said.
“No he doesn’t. He told me something different. Sehun told me that he was so jealous over you that it made him sick.”
I woke up a little more. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you know how Baekhyun wrote that song for you? And how he plays it for you every night and it’s the only way you can sleep soundly? Sehun said it makes him sick to his stomach,” he said.
“Bacon didn’t write that song for me. He wrote it and then I said I liked it. That was all,” I said.
“Nope. He wrote it for you. He told me,” he said.
“No he didn’t,” I said.
“Oh yes he did. And if Sehun could see us right now, well, first he would throw up. Then he would try to kick my ass.”
“Not anymore. He hates me,” I said.
“Why do you think he hates you?” he asked.
I didn’t know if I wanted to tell Kai but why not? What could it hurt? “I lied to him. I told him that I didn’t know the man that attacked me in the alley but I did. It was Kyung.”
“Kyung who?” asked Kai.
I almost told him his last name but I caught myself. “I don’t know. That’s all I remember. Now Sehun thinks I also lied about whether Kyung raped me or not.”
“Did he?”
“No. Nothing happened but Sehun won’t believe that. I was so stupid. I ruined everything,” I said.
“I don’t think so. I told you, Sehun is super jealous over you and I’m sure the thought of your kidnapper putting his hands on you again, much less doing something to you, almost killed him. Just keep telling him the truth and he’ll come around. I’ve never known him to feel this way about anyone before. I think it will all work itself out.”
“Oww!” I was starting to feel sharp pains in my legs.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“No! My legs are cramping up,” I said. The muscles felt like they were drawing up into knots. Kai reached down and began massaging them. At first it hurt so much I wanted to scream and I know I whimpered. Then the muscles began to relax and I felt better. The pins and needles were back.
“Thank you, Kai,” I said.
“I told you, I’m not going to let you freeze,” he said.
Laying there with him became comfortable. I wasn’t embarrassed anymore. I was quite warm but I worried about him so I began to run my hands over his back to keep him warm. I felt him become hard against my leg but I ignored it and I was glad that he did too.
“How is your head?” I asked.
“It feels like it’s going to explode,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could do something,” I said.
“I’ll be alright. I wish they would hurry though. I really need to pee,” he said.
“So do I!” I said.
We cracked up.
“The coffee was a bad idea!” he said and we laughed again.
“Hey, you have it easy,” I said.
“How do you figure?” he asked.
“You just have to roll the window down and go. I have to sit down!” I exclaimed.
“Are you kidding? You think I want to expose the big guy to this cold? He might freeze!”
“The big guy?”
“Damn straight!”
We cracked up again. His laugh was infectious. Just hearing it made you want to laugh more.
After a few minutes, Kai said, “There’s always the bag the phone came in.”
“For what?” I asked.
“For you,” he said.
“I hope you aren’t suggesting what I think you’re suggesting,” I said.
“You might change your mind when it gets a little worse,” he said.
I thought about it. “You might be right,” I said. “When I think about it, it’s not that bad of an idea.”
“I really gotta go!” he said.
“Me too!” I said.
“Okay, here’s the plan. I’ll roll this window down and go while you hold your ears and put the coat over your head. And sing. I don’t care what. I have a shy bladder and I can’t go if someone can hear me. Then, I’ll grab the phone bag and I’ll go under the coat and sing while you go and you can throw it out the window. Then we’ll meet back under the coats because I’m sure we are going to freeze half to death. Sound good?”
I had to go so bad that it sounded like the best plan ever. Kai left the warmth and safety of the coats and he screamed and laughed when the cold air hit him. I put my hands over my ears and sang. I could still hear him yelling because of the cold. He climbed back under the coats and he was frozen.
“You don’t realize how warm it is under here until you go out there,” he said. “Here.” He handed me the phone box with the bag inside. “I thought this might be easier for you.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I said and climbed out of the blankets. I felt like I froze instantly. I had jeans on so I had to pull them down to my knees to get the box to fit between my legs. It actually was an ingenious solution to this problem. Props to Kai! I finished as quick as possible and threw the box and all out of the window. It was harder to get my jeans back on but I finally did and then got back under the coats. The relief was instant. In both ways.
Kai pulled me back against him and moved us until my back was against the seat and I was laying mostly on him. “I think this is more comfortable. Don’t you?” he asked.
“Yes.” I laid my face against his neck. He was warm again already. We laid like that for a long time, listening for the emergency services to save us. It was silent. Soon, Kai’s breathing became slow and even and I knew he had fallen asleep. Listening to his breathing and his heartbeat made me sleepy too and it wasn’t long before I joined him.

When I woke up, Kai was still asleep and we hadn’t shifted much. I felt achy and stiff all over. At least I’m not dead. I looked at Kai and realized I could see him so it must be daylight. His head looked worse in the light and I worried that he had died in the night because it didn’t seem that he had moved but just as I started to get scared, he turned his head. His hair fell to the side and I realized something else. Kai was beautiful! I kissed his cheek. I don’t know why. I had an opportunity and I took it.
I put my head out of the coats for a second to look out the window but all I could see was snow.
“Kai? Kai. Wake up.” I shook his arm and he stirred.
He squeezed his eyes together and stretched while making a sucking in noise through his teeth. He opened his eyes and quickly covered his mouth. “Good morning,” he said and smiled. “Sorry about my breath. Morning coffee breath is yuck,” he said.
I covered my mouth too and said, “Then I have the same thing so I probably wouldn’t notice.” He laughed and sat up. We didn’t lose skin contact as we sat up and he kept the coats pulled up over us. I was mostly in his lap anyway so I moved against him to get comfortable.
“I can’t believe they haven’t shown up yet,” he said. “I hate to tell you this but I have to pee again.”
“Okay. I’ll cover my ears,” I said.
Kai rolled the window down but the snow didn’t fall away. It started falling inside the car but when he pushed it to knock it out, it didn’t move. He pushed harder but it still didn’t budge. He hit it. Nothing. He began to dig a small hole but he found only more snow. “Uh oh,” he said. I watched as he dug farther and when he got to his elbow, his hand finally broke through. We looked through the tunnel he had dug and saw that it was still snowing. Hard.
I started to lose it again. I found out something about myself. I have claustrophobia. The thought of us being buried in the snow terrified me. I rolled the other window down and started to dig a hole of my own.
“Stop, Elizabeth. Stop! STOP!” Kai pulled me away from the snow and rolled the window back up.
I had almost become manic. “We have to get out. We need to get out, Kai! We are going to suffocate in here. We’ll run out of air. Help me dig,” I said and tried to roll the window back down.
Kai took my hands and turned me to face him. “Look at me,” he said. My eyes kept straying to the snow covered windows. “LOOK AT ME!” he demanded. I did. “We are not going to suffocate. We aren’t that far in the snow and since it’s daylight, the rescue workers are going to find us pretty quick, okay? Got it?”
I nodded. It was hard to breath.
“Jun has probably figured out which road we took by now and they are trying to figure out a way to get to us way down here. Right? It will be no time before we hear them pushing the snow away from the doors,” he said.
I nodded again. I didn’t believe it for a moment. We were buried and it was still snowing. We are going to die here! “I’m cold. Can we lay back down?” I asked. I wanted to cry.
“I’m cold too. Come here.” Instead of laying down, I laid in his lap as he sat there and put my head against his chest. He pulled the coats over us.
“Will you sing to me?” I asked.
“You want VIXX?” he asked and laughed.
“No. Sing me something from EXO.”
He began to sing and it was beautiful. I could feel the vibrations in his chest and it comforted me. He sang a few songs and then his throat was dry.
“I need to listen to EXO more,” I said.
“Yes, you do,” he agreed.
A thought hit me. “Do you think the radio will work?” I asked.
“Hmmm… maybe. We could listen to the news and see if they say anything about the weather.” Kai sat me in the seat and leaned up to turn the key and to turn on the radio. He found a station that was playing the news. He sat back and I returned to his lap. His skin was cold. I rubbed his arm to warm him up.
The announcer on the radio was speaking in Korean so I didn’t know what he was saying but Kai sat up and pulled the coat down to be able to hear it better. I heard the words EXO’s Kai and I knew something was up.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“Shhh…” he answered. He listened more and then he sat back. “Well, we’re missing,” he said.
“I knew that,” I said.
“Yes, but now everyone knows it. It’s national news. Apparently they didn’t realize that we took the back road because they are still looking on the main road.” He sounded disappointed.
I leaned back against him and just listened as the radio played. We were in so much trouble.

As the day went on, we accepted the fact that we were probably going to spend another night in the car. We stopped listening to the radio so that the battery wouldn’t die. We played some games that Kai taught me and we talked about silly things and important things. We laid back down and fell asleep quickly. Partly from boredom and partly from lack of energy. With the coats over our heads and sharing Kai’s sweater, I didn’t feel as panicky about being buried in the snow. I felt like we were cocooned in a protective barrier somehow.
A noise woke me up. It sounded like a very muffled voice. I listened and then I heard it again. “Kai! Wake up! I hear something.”
He squinted at me and said, “What?”
“I think I heard something.”
Just then, the front door opened and I heard a voice say “They’re not here!”
“Wait!” we yelled at the same time. Kai pulled the coat down and a man stuck his head in the door and looked at us.
He yelled something in Korean behind him and then to us he said, “Hold on just a second. We have to get to the back door.”
We sat up and forgot that we were wearing the same sweater as we watched the snow being shoveled away from the door. When it opened, a light blinded us for a second. Everything became a frenzy of movement and noise. There were rescue workers of every sort there. I put on my own sweater and coat and I lost track of Kai. I looked for him but there was so much going on and so many lights flashing that I couldn’t find him. When we made it to the top of the hill, there was media everywhere. Camera’s were shoved in my face as the workers tried to get us to the waiting ambulance. It was very unnerving. Reporters were yelling questions that I couldn’t understand. Microphones were being pushed toward me and one struck my cheek. One woman even tried to get into the ambulance but she was pushed back out.
Finally, the doors were closed and two very sweet men checked my vital signs as we drove to the hospital. I didn’t feel like I needed to go to the hospital but they insisted. They said that I was dehydrated and my blood pressure was high. I had a bruise on my chest from the seatbelt but other than that, I was okay.
At the hospital, they did the same tests and when I told them I was fine, they couldn’t understand me so they just nodded and smiled and gave me an I.V. I asked about Kai but no one could tell me anything. They left me alone for a while so I laid back on the bed and waited.
The door opened and Sehun came in and immediately pulled me into a tight hug. I was so shocked that I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even hug him back. Suho came in after him but he didn’t let go and I put my arms around him and pulled him closer.
“The doctor said that you are perfectly alright but are you really?” asked Suho as he came around to the side so he could see my face.
“I’m good. Kai kept me warm and safe,” I said.
Sehun just held me.
“How is Kai?” I asked.
“He has a pretty bad concussion and they are doing some scans now. We won’t know anything for a while. They said we can take you home but I’m going to let Sehun do that. I want to stay with Jongin,” said Suho. “I’m so glad you’re okay. You are giving me gray hair! You know that?”
I smiled at him. He smiled back and kissed my cheek.
“Sehun, go ahead and get her home. I’m sure she’s more than ready to go.”
“Mmm-hmm,” said Sehun. He still hadn’t loosened his grip. It was okay. I could stay there in his arms forever.
Suho left and after about five more minutes, Sehun finally pulled away but his hands never left me.
“I’m sorry,” he said and he had tears in his eyes.
“Stop it!” I said. “I’m the one that’s sorry.”
He nodded and I knew he was trying not to cry. “Let’s go home,” he said.
I felt like I had been saved twice.

Notes