It was mid-November, and I was trudging through three feet of snow because, much to my disappointment, bodies didn’t just bury themselves. The white blanket beneath my feet creaked treacherously, like a loud laugh that echoed through the empty forest. Taehyung—or Hyun, as Jeong, the charismatic boy, affectionately called him—still felt the steel fingers of guilt on his heart.

Why did I even agree to this? he thought. He stopped, leaning on his shovel, and looked up at the dark sky. Nothing moved. Even the stars, like invisible observers, were frozen, giving no sign of their presence.

A body wrapped in dark cloth lay a little further away, in the middle of the snow blanket, like a detail of a painting that the artist forgot to erase. “You didn’t want this, did you?” — the cold voice of reason cut through his consciousness, but Hyun only chuckled.

He took a step forward, and then a branch cracked somewhere nearby. Taehyung froze, clutching the handle of the shovel in his hand. — Chon? — he muttered, almost not hoping for an answer.

And then, as luck would have it, the snow curtain opened — Jeongguk came out of the shadows of the trees, his black cloak blending with the night landscape. — Hyun, I thought you could handle it without me, — a dry smile flashed in his voice, but his gaze was serious, tenacious, like a hunter's. — You've been here forever.

— And you try to do it faster, if you're so smart, — Hyun snapped, but his hands were shaking from the cold, mixed with the approaching fear.

Jungkook came closer, looked at the roughly wrapped body and snapped his fingers, as if urging Taehyung to action. “Come on, let’s finish this. The sooner we get him out of here, the sooner we can leave.”

“Then what?” Taehyung snapped, his voice shaking like a string.

Jungkook came closer and leaned in to his ear. “Then we’ll pretend this never happened.”

Taehyung felt the icy rush of heat on his skin turn to heat. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the shovel and began digging. And the stars, still silent witnesses, now seemed even colder.