“I have some bad news.”
That wasn’t necessarily the best thing to wake up to, so Kei just tried to go back to sleep with a soft groan in response, hoping that it would tell whoever it was that he was not in the mood to hear bad news right now.
“Come on Chan, wake up, we’re snowed in. The shoot was canceled for the day due to poor conditions.”
This piece of information did make its way through his groggy brain, processing slowly as he cracked open an eye to see the blurry figure of Daiki standing beside the bed.
“Then that’s more reason to get out and let me sleep some more,” he grumbled in response and put his face in his pillow again to block out the light from the curtain being opened.
“Come on Chan! We’re in Hokkaido, it would be a shame to spend the whole day in the hotel.”
“Who said anything about the whole day? Just give me another couple hours,” he grumbled, wishing that Daiki would just leave him be for now so he could get some more sleep.
“Fine,” he sighed audibly. “I’ll go find Yamada and get some breakfast, just don’t stay in here all day, okay?”
Kei just waved his hand a little in response as Daiki finally left, leaving his room quiet again.
-
Even though Kei hadn’t managed to get back to sleep after that, it was still a couple hours until he finally got dressed and ventured from his room. It was very cold so he was bundled up in his warm pants, long sleeve and a fluffy sweater and hat, along with a pair of glasses to keep him relatively disguised. Not that there were many people around to begin with, but he always knew it was better to be safe, being on the end of a couple of unsavory tabloid articles.
Clearly someone else had the same idea as him - a very familiar figure sat in the lobby area, drinking what he assumed was coffee. He was wearing his hair back under a cap and Kei saw he was wearing a pair of sunglasses too, dressed in a hoodie and jeans. Kei wanted to just stop and stare for a moment, but he decided he wanted some of that coffee too.
“Morning, Kei greeted him, quietly so as not to startle him. Yuya glanced over at him with a smile in greeting.
“Morning, you’re up late.”
“Not really. Daichan barged into my room earlier and I couldn’t sleep again,” Kei scoffed, though it was playful. “Where are the others now?”
Without even being asked, Yuya grabbed another mug and poured him some coffee, handing it over as he replied. These kinds of moments were what warmed him the most.
“I’m not sure, my guess is they went to be tourists or they’re playing in the snow somewhere.”
“You didn’t want to go?” Kei asked, keeping his tone nonchalant as he took a sup from his coffee, immediately feeling the warming effect that it had.
Yuya shook his head.
“I wasn’t really feeling up for it.”
Kei eyed him over the edge of his mug.
“Why? Your injury isn’t acting up again, is it?” His voice was low in case anybody overheard, gesturing to his leg that had been hurt not that long ago.
“No, nothing like that,” Yuya denied with a wave of his hand. “I felt like I’d just rather enjoy the time inside, since we don’t actually have to work.”
Kei nodded knowingly, the two of them were in agreement once again.
They enjoyed their coffee in silence for a bit longer, relishing the quietness of the hotel. Their manager had chosen well for them, it was quaint, there weren’t too many patrons and it had good amenities too. Including large windows, which Kei’s attention was drawn to.
“It does look pretty magical though,” he commented with a smile, Yuya glancing over as well to see what he was looking at. It had started snowing again, and it was really nice to look at.
“It does,” Yuya agreed wistfully. “Cold as hell but magical.”
Kei snorted at that.
“You’re not much of a winter guy, huh?”
Yuya shrugged, a playful smile tugging at his lips.
“You know I’m more of a summer and sea person. It’s always a struggle when I can’t wear sandals anymore.”
“I know that feeling,” Kei nodded with an exaggerated solemn expression, chuckling after. “Maybe it would be fun, though. To take this rare opportunity and go play.”
Yuya gave him a curious look, but smiling at his suggestion.
“I’m a little surprised to hear you say that, Kei.”
“Me too,” Kei laughed a little. “But it’s not often that we’re in Hokkaido during the winter, I do want to go enjoy it and I hope you’ll join me.”
Yuya was quiet for a moment before giving a rather reserved sigh, followed by a smile.
“I can’t really say no to you, can I?”
Kei beamed in response.
“Nope.”
-
The two of them got bundled up in the appropriate winter gear, asking a nearby manager where they could likely find the others before heading out.
“Yup, as I said, cold as hell.”
Kei couldn’t help but laugh again at Yuya’s complaint. They were both dressed well - jackets, hats, mittens and even boots but he still seemed displeased.
“It’s colder than Tokyo, yes, but look at this!” Kei exclaimed, lifting his hands as if to gesture to the sky. “It’s beautiful too.”
Yuya chuckled, and when Kei looked at him, his gaze seemed fond which lit some warmth inside him, enough that he didn’t really feel the nip of cold on his cheeks anymore.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”
“Come on Yuya! Enjoy it with me!” Kei stuck out his tongue and caught a particularly fluffy snowflake on it, grinning over at him. “See?”
That made him laugh again.
“You’re such a kid sometimes.”
“What’s life without a little bit of whimsy?”
They continued walking in a comfortable silence now, since they were sure that the others wouldn’t be too far away. And as expected, the familiar figures came into sight. It seemed like Yuto and Chinen were in the middle of trying to build a snowman without many accessories, Yabu and Hikaru were laughing and Yamada and Daiki who were tossing snowballs at each other, which was pretty on brand for them.
“Are you sure you want to get in the middle of that?” Yuya’s breath was close to his ear, making his skin tingle all over as he glanced in his direction.
“You only live once, Yuya.”
Kei grinned and jogged over, kicking up loose snow as he went.
“Chan! You got out of bed!” Daiki’s voice was breathless with laughter.
“Yuya came too!” Yuto’s tone was excited as he looked up from their fort. “Come join us, isn’t it fun?”
“You guys are way too enthusiastic,” Yuya commented, but he had still managed to catch up to Kei pretty quickly.
“I say let’s enjoy it.”
Kei’s limiter was off already, being around the others boosted his energy level significantly and he found himself joining in on the snowball fight, even tossing one at Yabu who was still just watching.
“Hey!”
“Not just standing around, you have to participate too.”
“He makes a good point,” Hikaru agreed with a wicked sort of grin. Soon enough, everybody was participating in the snowball fight. Laughter and yelps as cold snow hit them could be heard from a distance, probably because they were a pretty loud group. Somewhere along the way, Kei and Yuya were hiding behind the snowman that the youngest two members had built, using it as a shield of sorts which did help for a while until Yamada and Daiki came from behind, which incidentally startled them and caused them to knock the snowman figure over.
“Hey! We worked hard on that!” Yuto yelled, though he was laughing and a bit out of breath from the physicality of the activity they were doing.
“Sorry, sorry!” Kei yelled out as he raised his arms. “Calling for a truce.”
“Are you tired already, old man?” Yamada’s voice was teasing towards him, but even Yabu flopped down into the snow to rest too, cheeks pink with cold and exertion too.
“I agree, truce.”
Yabu laughed as Hikaru flopped down beside him, probably glad they were wearing snow pants too. Given that they had come here for work, they were fully prepared for the weather. While Kei went to huddle up next to Yuya for a bit of warmth as Chinen and Yuto were starting to presumably rebuild their snowman as they were rolling snow into balls. Ever the energetic ones.
Kei wasn’t sure how long they stayed out, laughing and playing together and enjoying the magic of the season that they usually didn’t get a chance to enjoy due to the lack of snowfall in Tokyo. By the time they had gotten to the hotel, they were spent and cold (they had insisted that they stay to help finish the snowman) and definitely hungry.
As they ate their dinner - hotpot and plenty of rice, Kei looked around between all of the members who were laughing and joking with each other.
He really thought there was nowhere he’d rather be.