His Hands That Heals

Trapped In The Snow

At 8:30 PM, the clinic was supposed to be closed.

But outside, Seoul had turned into a white nightmare. The weather alert was screaming on everyone's phone: * Heavy Snow Warning Level 3. All buses and subway lines stop operation at 9 PM. Do not go outside.*[Emergency]

Minho looked out the window in horror. The snow was already up to his knees. "Doctor-nim! We need to leave now or we will be trapped!"

Ji-Hoon, who was finishing a patient's chart, looked out too, his face serious. "The last bus to my apartment left 10 minutes ago."

Mrs. Kim had already left at 7 PM. It was just the two of them now. Alone.

The lights flickered. Then the old heater in the clinic made a loud _BANG_ sound and stopped. The warm air stopped coming out.

"Ah... the heater is broken!" Minho panicked, rubbing his arms. He was still in his thin blue scrubs. "It's going to be so cold tonight!"

Ji-Hoon quickly took off his white coat and put it around Minho's shoulders. "Wear this."

"But Doctor-nim, you will be cold!" Minho said, surprised by the sudden kindness.

"I'm wearing three layers. You are wearing one," Ji-Hoon said coldly, but his ears were red.

They tried to call for help, but the phone signal was dead because of the storm.

It was freezing. The temperature inside the clinic dropped fast. Their breath became white smoke.

"The on-call room has one blanket and a small electric pad," Ji-Hoon remembered. "Come."

The on-call room was tiny — just 3 square meters, with one small single bed, one blanket, one pillow. It was meant for one doctor to nap, not for two grown men to sleep together.

Minho stared at the single blanket. "O-only one?"

Ji-Hoon coughed, suddenly very awkward, not cold at all anymore but nervous. "...It seems so. The clinic is poor."

Minho was shivering hard now, his lips turning pale. His thin blue scrubs were useless against the cold. He was hugging Dr. Kang's white coat tightly.

Ji-Hoon looked at him, sighed deeply, and made a decision.

"Minho-ya," he said for the first time without -ssi, his voice low. "The electric pad is only big enough for one person. If we both get sick tomorrow, the clinic can't open. So we have to share body heat. It's... it's a medical necessity for survival in hypothermia. In the Alps, they do it."

Minho's eyes went wide, his face exploding red. "S-share? You mean... together? On that small bed?"

Ji-Hoon's face was even redder than Minho's, but he tried to look professional and calm. "It's just for warmth. Don't misunderstand. I am a doctor. This is first aid."

He lay down first on the tiny bed, his back against the cold wall, leaving a small space. He opened the thin blanket.

Minho stood frozen, heart beating like crazy. _Dr. Kang Ji-Hoon... the ice prince... wants to share a blanket with me?_

"Are you going to stand there and freeze to death? Come quickly," Ji-Hoon said, trying to sound cold, but his voice was shaking.

Minho slowly, slowly lay down next to him, so close that their shoulders touched. Ji-Hoon pulled the blanket over both of them.

Under the blanket, it was warm from the electric pad and from Ji-Hoon's body heat. Minho could smell mint soap again. He could hear Ji-Hoon's fast heartbeat.

Neither of them spoke. Outside, the snowstorm raged against Hongdae.

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