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yeppeojiwrites · 6 years ago

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beauty and a beat 6: power outage//multigroup crossover

summary : after spending the afternoon with byounggon and the other four members of cix, they’re forced to stay over at your house after their power goes out during a storm.

pairings : reader x byounggon (ft the other members of cix! esp seunghun!!)

word count : 4,851

a/n : this was originally going to be a super long chapter but i decided to chop it in half

(he looks cute here)

reminders:

plain text is english

bold text is korean

italicized bold text is korean with honorifics

“This is really nice,” you commented as you and Byounggon walked through the C9 Entertainment building lobby.

“I think so too.” he agreed. “The food here isn’t as good as YG’s though.”

The two of you stopped in front of a poster of Jinyoung.

“C9′s golden boy,” Byounggon sighed. You nudged him with your shoulder.

“And you’re a part of C9′s golden group.” you reminded him. He looked down at his feet and tried to bite back a smile.

“Cheer up, baby!” you sang, doing an over-exaggerated version of the iconic dance. He snorted and pushed your arms down.

“I’ll stop you before you embarrass yourself.” he whispered. You rolled your eyes and nodded.

“I’ll take you to meet the guys now.” he said, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you towards the elevators.

After a couple minutes of waiting and riding in the elevator, you found yourself waiting outside of one of the practice rooms and listening to muffled laughter and talking.

“Why do I feel nervous?” you asked, running your hands over your jeans to get rid of any moisture.

“You don’t need to feel nervous.” he assured you. He opened the door and slightly entered the room.

“Guys, my friend is here.” he announced.

“Tell them to come in,” you heard from inside of the room. Byounggon stuck his head out into the hallway and motioned for you to come inside of the room.

You sighed softly and walked in. You shared a split second of eye contact with all of them before bowing.

“Hi, I’m (Y/N).” you greeted them before smiling as if your heart wasn’t on the verge of falling out of your chest.

“Byounggon...” one boy started.

“You didn’t tell us she was...” another trailed.

“Tall? Yeah, I get that a lot.” you laughed. The other boys laughed too.

“Byounggon, should we introduce ourselves?” Seunghun asked Byounggon. The older boy shrugged.

“Might as well.”

They introduced themselves one by one and you felt yourself smile after they all finished.

“So...are you like the female version of Han Hyunmin?” Yonghee asked. “Your Korean is really good.”

You shook your head. “Nope, both of my parents are mostly African American. I decided to start learning Korean when I was younger and my sister encouraged me.”

“That’s really impressive.” Seunghun said, sitting on the floor of the practice room. Everyone else in the room sat on the floor with you and Byounggon sitting next to each other and Seunghun sitting across from you. “How were you able to stay so focused?”

“My brother-in-law is Chinese and my sister promised to get me Korean language books if I promised to learn some of the same phrases in Mandarin.” you explained. They nodded in response.

“And just so you guys know, you don’t have to speak so formally. I’m younger than Jinyoung.” you informed the boys, surprising them.

“Really?” Jinyoung asked. You nodded.

“People usually think that I’m older than I actually am because I’m tall.” you clarified.

“So are you fluent in Mandarin?” Hyunsuk asked. You shook your head.

“I’m not fluent but I wouldn’t be completely lost if I was randomly dropped off in Shanghai.”

“Now that we know her language abilities, let’s talk about the important issue.” Seunghun stated, causing everyone to look over at him.

“What’s the important issue?” Jinyoung asked. Seunghun looked between you and Byounggon with a mischievous smile.

“How long have you and Byounggon been seeing each other?” the chocolate-haired boy asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

Your eyes widened and you quickly shook your head.

“Oh, we aren’t- I just- Byounggon and I-” you started.

“You and Byounggon what?” Seunghun teased.

Byounggon wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you into his side, laying his head on top of yours.

“We’re just close friends.” he said brightly. When you moved your head to look examine his expression, he wriggled his eyebrows at you.

“Are you sure?” Seunghun teased, looking at you pointedly.

You nodded as you pushed the older boy away from you playfully.

“Of course.“ you smile.

A few hours after the introduction, you found yourself in Byounggon’s studio. You were in a computer chair sitting next to Byounggon with Seunghun sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone.

You maintained two feet of distance from Byounggon and his computer as he read self-written lyrics over a self-produced song.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“It’s really good, Gon,” you started. Byounggon looked at you expectantly.

“But?” he prompted.

“It isn’t anything major, just some English grammar mistakes.” you explained. “Let me see your book.” you said, holding your hand out for his songbook.

He handed it to you and you grabbed a pencil from the pen cup he had on the computer desk and fixed the mistake with the book on your lap.

“You had ‘I can’t seeing you anymore’ but it’s supposed to be ‘I can’t see you anymore’...do you get it?” you asked. He hummed and shook his head.

“Let me see it.” he said, turning your chair so that you were facing each other. The two of you were so close that your knees touched.

“Is this better?” you asked in a slightly shaky tone. He nodded with a sly smile on his face.

“Okay so see...you had ‘I can’t seeing you anymore’ but it’s supposed to be ‘I can’t see you anymore’...so do you get it now?” you asked.

He nodded before resting his arm on the armrest of his chair, propping his arm up to rest his chin in his hand.

“This is why I said you should teach me English.” Byounggon chided.

“I’m not an English teacher, I’m an 18 year old girl.” you told him. “And that’s your fault for not paying attention in your English classes.”

“Seunghun and I were too busy learning Japanese in case Yang Hyunsuk wanted to ship us off to Japan like he did to iKon.” Seunghun hummed in agreement.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that,” you frowned. Byounggon laughed.

“I’m joking. Loosen up.” he said while patting your head.

“So what did you want to get for dinner?” he changed the subject. Seunghun gasped from his seat on the couch.

“We’re getting dinner?” he exclaimed. Byounggon looked over at the boy and nodded.

“I promised her food if she came to visit.” the older boy explained.

“I was joking when I said that.” you said as you poked his knee.

“You still came to visit~” he replied in a sing-song tone.

“Because I’ve only ever been to two entertainment companies and I wanted to see where you worked~” you replied in a similar tone. He made an ugly facial expression at you and you responded with one.

“Okay, stop flirting, you two.” Seunghun interjected.

You looked over to him with a surprised expression. “We aren’t flirting-” you started.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard it all before.” the boy dismissed you. “I’ll go get the rest of the boys to help us decide what to get.” he said as he stood up from the couch.

“Don’t do anything weird while I’m gone.” Seunghun instructed before leaving the room.

“Is he always like that?” you asked Byounggon.

“No, he’s just worried.” he replied.

Forty-five minutes after watching the five boys argue over what to order for dinner, you found yourself sitting on the floor of CIX’s practice room eating pizza and chicken with the boys.

“Hey (Y/N)?” Jinyoung asked. You looked over to the boy as you wiped your mouth with a napkin.

“Did you have a Wanna One bias or a Produce 101 pick?” he asked. You quickly nodded.

“Of course.” you answered.

“Who was it?” he whispered.

“I’m not telling you directly.” you whispered back.

“Was it me?” he asked, leaning forward.

“Was it?” you avoided the question.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you.” he replied.

“I’m still not telling you directly.” you reiterated.

“It was probably you,” Seunghun whispered to the boy.

“I never said that it was him.” you lied while taking a second slice of pizza.

“You never said that it wasn’t either.” Yonghee interjected.

“What about Treasure Box? Did you have an ideal line-up for Treasure?” Seunghun interrogated.

“I liked the Team A line-up and Keita and Mashiho are really talented.” you answered. Jinyoung started to complain but Seunghun shushed him.

“Who was your favorite trainee?” Seunghun pressed. You noticed Byounggon gesturing to himself in your peripheral vision.

“What if I said Choi Hyunsuk?” you laughed. Byounggon stopped gesturing towards himself and glared at you.

“I knew Byounggon the most out of all of the trainees so I guess he was my favorite, but Seunghun,” you gestured to the boy, “and Choi Hyunsuk are really talented as well.”

“I was slightly disappointed with your answer at first but now I’m flattered. Thank you.” Seunghun smiled. You nodded.

Jinyoung sighed. “So you can tell them who you like from their show but-”

“I liked you and Daniel and my Produce 101 pick was Kim Donghyun.” you cut him off. Jinyoung tried to hide his smile.

“Why did you like me?” Jinyoung asked.

“Aren’t you asking for too much?” you laughed.

“I like knowing these things.” he replied. You sighed.

“I’ll give you the fansign answer.” you replied.

You put on your best cute face and batted your eyelashes.

“Because Jinyoungie is the most handsome and the coolest, uwu!” you said in a disgustingly cute voice. The boys sat in silence and made confused eye contact with each other for a second before bursting into laughter.

You flopped down onto the floor and sighed. “That took five years off of my life span.”

“That was great.” Hyunsuk laughed.

“Please don’t tell anyone about this.” you begged.

They reluctantly nodded, agreeing to protect your image.

After another hour of hanging out at the C9 Entertainment building, you decided to leave since the rain had let up for a while.

“It was really nice meeting you guys, thanks for letting me hang out with you guys.” you smiled. “You guys are going to do great things when you make your debut and I can’t wait to watch you guys grow as artists.”

They responded with a chorus of ‘thank you’s and you smiled.

“I’ll see you guys around, okay?” you said.

“Wait! Do you give hugs?” Yonghee asked. You quickly nodded.

“Of course!” you said before opening your arms to hug the boy. He hugged you back tightly.

“Wait, I want one too!” Jinyoung exclaimed. “A hug from my biggest fan!” he joked.

Eventually, all of the boys lined up for hugs with Byounggon being at the end of the line.

“I’ll hug you now because I don’t want to get in trouble for hugging you downstairs.” Byounggon informed you.

“Okay.” you said as he pulled you into a tight hug.

“This is nice,” he said, pulling you closer.

You nodded.

“Alright, you two, break it up.” Seunghun said. “Go ahead and take her downstairs, Byounggon.”

“Yeah, I should leave before it starts pouring again.” you agreed.

“Let’s head down then.” Byounggon said, leading you towards the elevator.

The other four watched you and Byounggon leave. When you were out of sight, Jinyoung turned to look at the rest of his members.

“Byounggon likes her.” he said. The other three nodded in agreement.

“Totally.” Hyunsuk agreed.

An hour and a half after leaving the C9 building, you walked out of the bathroom after having a shower. You sighed when you heard rain hitting the side of your apartment building and walked over to your window.

It’s still raining? you thought as you watched the rainwater pool in the small dips on the street. Your focus on the puddle-lined street was quickly drawn to the sky when you watched a large lightning bolt flash across it.

“One Mississippi...two Mississippi...three Mississippi...four- did their power go out?!” you gasped as you watched the lights of a few apartment buildings and homes a few neighborhoods away blink out after a loud crack of thunder echoed across Seoul.

Well, I hope they’re okay, you thought as you sat on your couch and turned on your TV.

The TV displayed an emergency broadcast on KBS 1.

“If you’re just joining us, the time is 11:17 at night and we are in the midst of an electrical storm,” the anchorwoman said. A man scrambled to the desk with a sheet of paper before running out of the shot.

The anchorwoman looked confused for a split second before twisting the slightly wrinkled paper so she could read it.

“We have just received reports from multiple sources of a complete power outage in a district about forty kilometers west of our broadcasting building with...no back-up generators available to provide power.” the man scrambled back up to her desk with another paper. “The Korean Electric Power Corporation, or KEPCO, is projecting that power will be available at 9 in the morning if all goes well.”

“We are being told that every back-up generator in the district has failed.”

The program moved into a different segment but kept a scrolling border on the bottom of the screen that repeatedly described the situation.

You changed to another channel after ten minutes and opened your phone to look at your friends’ posts and tweets on your private social media accounts. You were about to like a post when your phone began to ring.

“Byounggon? What’s up?” you asked in a confused tone.

“I need to ask you something...” he trailed off. Your eyebrows furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” you asked.

“Do you have electricity?”

“My TV and lights are on so I’m going to that assume I do.” you replied. “Let me guess, your dorm is in the district that had the power outage?”

“Yeah...” he trailed off a second time. “Hyunsuk was in the shower when the power went out and now he’s cold and wet.”

“Do you guys have a place to stay? It’s going to be even more humid later this evening.”

“That’s kinda why I called you.” he sighed. “I have a really big favor to to ask of you that you can totally say no to but if you don’t, I promise I’ll owe you for the rest of my life.”

“Byounggon, you don’t have to beat around the bush. Just go ahead and ask.” you laughed.

“Can we stay at your apartment for the night? Like I said, you can say-”

“Byounggon,” you tried to stop him.

“-no but I promise I’ll owe-”

“Byounggon.” you tried again.

“-you for the rest of my life. Hell, I’ll even owe you in the afterlife-”

“Lee Byounggon!” you exclaimed, silencing him. “I think I have enough room in my apartment for you guys.”

“Really?” he asked. You stood up and walked to the area where the two bedrooms were and checked them.

“Yep. Three of you will have to share a bed but as long as you guys are okay with that, all of us will be able to fit.” you informed him.

“I could ki- I mean, I’ll let the boys know.” he stuttered.

“Were all of you able to take showers?” you asked.

“No, Seunghun, Yonghee, and I weren’t able to shower. Do you mind if-”

“Do you actually think that I would stop you guys from showering?” you asked in disbelief.

“I don’t want your utility bills to go up,” he tried to argue.

“Byounggon, don’t worry about it.” you assured him.

“Make sure you and your members pack everything you’ll need for tonight, call two taxis or a taxi van, grab a bunch of surgeon’s masks and make sure that Hyunsuk’s hair is dry before you come over here.” you commanded.

“Oka-” he started but you cut him off.

“Make sure that the taxis come to the back entrance of your apartment building so that your sasaengs don’t see you guys leave. Be safe and don’t worry about repaying me because that isn’t what I’m worried about.” you finished.

“Did you get all of that?” you asked.

“Alright.”

“I’ll send you the address after we hang up, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll- We’ll see you soon, (Y/N).” You hummed in agreement before hanging up.

“I need to change my sheets,” you sighed as you stretched your legs.

You looked down at the tattoo on your left arm.

“And put a sweatshirt on.”

“It feels so good in here,” Yonghee sighed as he entered your apartment.

“Hurry up and take off your shoes so you can move out of the doorway,” Seunghun groaned from the outside of your apartment.

“He’s so annoying.” the younger boy whispered to you. You looked over his shoulder at Seunghun and back at him before nodding in agreement while laughing.

“What are you two saying?” Seunghun almost yelled.

“Nothing.” you and Yonghee replied in unison.

One by one, the boys entered your apartment, taking their shoes off and walking into your living room, looking around.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” Seunghun said while looking at the framed photo of you and your sister that sat on your TV stand. “You guys look alike.” he commented.

“Did you make some of the songs on these?” Hyunsuk asked as he looked at the albums you kept on your shelf.

“Why do you have a framed photo of 2PM?” Jinyoung asked as he picked up the frame.

“Do you have a kid?” Yonghee asked as he picked up a framed photo of you holding your (then) one year old niece.

“Woah, that’s my niece!” you corrected the boy. “We probably have similar features because my sister and I look alike.”

You coughed a couple of times to get their attention as they looked at everything you had in their living room.

“So are you guys going to discuss room placements before or after showers?” you asked.

“’You guys?’ Aren’t you going to going to sleep in one of the rooms?” Seunghun asked.

You shook your head as you walked over to the couch and sat down.

“If you will notice my blanket and pillow,” you gestured to said items, “I will be sleeping in the living room.”

All of the boys voiced their opposition.

“This is your house though!” Jinyoung reasoned.

“I would feel bad if I slept in your bed while you slept on the couch.” Yonghee agreed.

“I can take the couch if you want,” Byounggon offered.

You shook your head.

“I can afford to sleep on the couch and potentially hurt my back because I work in the studio and not on the stage.” you shut them down. “Go be comfortable. You guys have had a long night.”

“Are you sure? Because if not-” Byounggon started.

“I promise I’ll be okay. I have to make a few overnight calls anyways and I wouldn’t want to disturb you guys.” you assured them.

“Now go get showered and go to sleep.” you said, pointing them in the direction of the bedrooms and bathrooms.

“Wait a minute!” you stopped them. The turned and looked at you expectantly.

“I make pancakes on Sundays and I was wondering if you guys wanted-”

“Yes.” Hyunsuk answered immediately.

“Seunghun, let her finish next time.” Byounggon scolded the younger boy.

“You think I’m going to pass up on the opportunity to eat American pancakes without having to leave South Korea?” Hyunsuk scoffed.

Byounggon rolled his eyes.

“Let’s go get showered, kids.” he sighed.

At around 12:50 in the morning, you opened your contacts app on your phone and scrolled a bit before pressing on a contact.

“Hopefully she’s awake.” you whispered as you tapped the phone icon, starting a call as you sat on the couch with your earbuds in.

The phone rang several times before the person you were calling answered.

“(Y/N)? What time is it there?” your sister asked.

“Good morning to you too, Aaliyah.” you laughed. She sucked her teeth.

“It’s almost 1 there? Aren’t you supposed to be calling Mom in a couple of hours?” she asked.

“Yeah, so, about that...” you started.

“What did you do?” she asked in the same voice she uses on your niece, Stella.

“So we’re in the middle of an electrical storm...” you trailed.

“What did you do?” she reiterated.

“Some friends of mine were at their dorm and the power went out while they were taking showers and it won’t be back on for another couple of hours and the nearest hotel is too far away from their entertainment building so I offered to let them stay over here until they had to leave to go practice in a couple of hours.” you finished, bracing yourself for the chewing out you were about to get.

“That’s it?” she laughed.

“Yeah.” you laughed nervously.

“You were worried about a sleepover?” she asked. “The girls are nice though, right?”

“Oh.” your eyes grew large. That’s why she was so okay with it.

“What do you mean, ‘oh?’“ you could practically hear her stick her neck out.

“I thought-” you started before she cut you off with a gasp.

“They’re boys, aren’t they?”

“Uh...here’s a hypothetical question. If they are boys, would you tell Mom?” you asked before biting the inside of your cheek.

“I wouldn’t tell Mom because of the Sister Code, however, I would totally hang it over your head until you got married or until you turn 30, whichever comes first. Hypothetically, of course.” she responded.

“Bless you, you kind soul.” you sighed in relief.

“So who’s in your apartment? Your two boyfriends?” she teased.

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you and Mom...Chan and Changbin are not my boyfriends.” you groaned. “I have a different group in my house.”

“How many are in this group?” you could hear her shift in her bed.

“There’s only five of them.” you answered.

“So I’m going to assume that they aren’t Ateez then.” she concluded.

“You’re correct.”

“Do you think they’re cute?” she teased.

“Cute?” you repeated.

“Who is cute?” Byounggon asked as he sat down next do you on the couch.

“Who is that?” your sister gasped.

“Someone that I thought was going to bed.” you gritted as you tried to push the boy off of your couch.

“Is he the only one that’s awake?” she asked.

“Yeah.” you said.

“Is that your sister?” he asked. You nodded.

“I heard ‘unnie’...is he talking about me?” your sister asked.

“He is.” you responded. “Oh, I forgot to tell you! They thought that Stella was my daughter.” you changed the subject.

“Really?” she gasped.

“I guess I have that ‘toddler mom’ look.” you laughed.

“Hmm, I guess so. Wait a minute- You’re avoiding the question!” she realized.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. So anyways, it’s still raining here and-” you started.

“Which one do you think is cute?” she pressed.

“I’ll send you the official photos from their Instagram account and I’ll let you decide.” you deflected.

Byounggon rested his chin on your shoulder as you opened the Instagram app on your phone. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Why does he sound closer than he did earlier?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” your voice wavered.

“Suuure. Are you sending the photos?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m just going to send them to your DMs, I don’t want it to send the photos and the names out of order.” you responded.

“I’m waiting~” she sang.

“Here’s your monthly reminder to not quit your drawing and animation jobs to become a lounge singer.” you joked.

“Okay, Miss Stick-Figures.,” she responded.

“Okay, Mrs. Can’t-Carry-A-Note.” you retorted as you sent Aaliyah some photos. You both laughed at your dumb, half-awake roasts.

“What’s so funny?” Byounggon asked, pulling you back to lay on his chest on the couch.

“I’ve only gotten four photos of four different boys, where’s the other one?” Aaliyah asked. You sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Aaliyah and Byounggon asked at the same time in their respective native languages.

“Let me switch over to Mandarin to answer, he can kinda understand English and I don’t want him to know what I’m saying.”

“Fine.”

(in Mandarin) “The guy who’s still awake is really handsome. I’m struggling to find a photo of him without throwing my phone across the room.” you told your sister. Your sister snorted while Byounggon groaned.

“You’re so mean!” Byounggon complained.

(in Mandarin) “He says that I’m mean.” you laughed.

“Just go to the row that has his photos and choose one. I really have to see him if you think he’s cute.” she urged.

“I’ll send you the photo where he’s sitting on the platform and holding a shutter.” you quickly decided.

Byounggon took the earbud out of your left ear (your right earbud had the mic) and leaned down to your ear.

“You guys are talking about me, right?” he whispered, his bottom lip slightly brushing against your ear.

You shivered and cleared your throat loudly, making him laugh.

“What did he do?” she asked.

“Have you gotten the photo yet?” you ignored her question.

“Aw! He’s so cute!” your sister cooed. You rolled your eyes. “Bring him home for Thanksgiving this year, alright?”

“What’s ‘Thanksgiving?’“ Byounggon asked you. You turned around to look at Byounggon and gasped when you saw him wearing your earbud in his ear. You took your earbud from out of his ear and playfully slapped his arm as he laughed at you.

“He heard you.” you whispered into the microphone. Your sister’s laughter filled your ears.

“What’s he like?”

“He’s really annoying. But he’s also really sweet and hardworking and caring.” you respond. You look up at him to see if he understood you and he looked back at you with a blank stare.

“You sound like you’re dating him~” she said in a sing-song voice.

“I’m not~” you replied in the same tone.

“Is he tall?” she asked.

“He’s an inch or two taller than me.” Aaliyah lets out a pleased hum.

“Oh, Stella just came in here...she wants to see your face, is that okay?” your sister asked.

“Yeah, but just for a little while.” you agreed. “It’s almost 1:45 and I don’t think Byounggon’s is going to go to the room to sleep if I stay on the phone with you.”

You leaned up from Byounggon’s chest and stood up.

“Where are you going?” he asked, reaching for your hand.

“I’m gonna go to the kitchen for, like, three minutes to talk to my niece.” you informed him. “Stay in here, please. My voice is going to go up like five pitches and I don’t think anyone else needs to see that.”

“Okay. Tell your sister I said to have a good day.” he agreed.

“Byounggon said to have a good day.” you told your sister.

“Tell him I said thank you,” she responded. “I think he’s the only one of your boyfriends who has ever talked to me.” Aaliyah realized.

“Hmm..I guess that makes sense.” you agreed. “He’s not my boyfriend though.”

“Yeah, sure.” Aaliyah responded.

After the end of your phone call, you walked back into the living room to see a half-awake Byounggon stretched out on the couch you were planning to sleep on.

“Byounggon~” you said, poking his shoulder. He opened his eyes slightly to look at you.

“Hmm?” he asked.

“Go to your room and sleep~” you said in the same tone that you used earlier.

“Don’t want to.” he mumbled as he turned away from you.

“The couch isn’t good for your back, Gon.” you reasoned as you attempted to flip him over.

“It’s not good for your back either, (Y/N).” he responded. You sighed and pulled his arms so that he was sitting up.

“Gon, you’re not sleeping in here.” you asserted.

“Well I’m not moving.” he said.

“If you go to the room, I’ll tell you what my sister and I were talking about~” you bargained.

He reluctantly got up from the couch and you dragged him by his forearm to where the bedrooms were. You checked your room and saw three bodies under your sheets and tried to bite back a smile. You opened the door to the other room and tried to push him past the doorway but he stopped you by holding his arms across the doorway.

“What were you and your sister talking about?” he raised an eyebrow.

“You guys. Now go to bed.” You tried to push him into the room but his arms stayed in place.

“You spent a lot of time looking at my photo.” he smirked.

“My sister thinks that you’re handsome.” you answered. “Go to sleep, Byounggon.” you pleaded.

He leaned forward so that his face was close to yours.

“Do you think that I’m handsome?” The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

“Yes...now go to bed!” you whisper-yelled as you pushed him into the room, having caught him off-guard with your sudden confession.

You walked into the living room and laid out on the couch, sighing as you threw your blanket over yourself.

“He’s so annoying.” you grumbled as you closed your eyes.

#yeppeojiwrites #cix #cix scenarios #lee byounggon #byounggon #byounggon scenarios

17 notes · View notes

starryseo · 6 years ago

Text

outbreak. | seo changbin.

pairing ↠ changbin x gender neutral!reader [ ft. woochan, minsung + hyunmin ]

genre ↠ zombie! au !!! that should sum up the genre lmao but there’s angst + fluff if you squint hard enough

wc ↠ 12,010

summary ↠ through an outbreak of the undead, you make new friends and fall in love. thanks, zombies.

warnings ↠ profanity, death, blood the whole lot, sorry :D

a/n ↠ poured my entire soul into this, so i hope you all like it!

The bus ride home from school was long but nothing less than exciting, especially since it was a Friday and the last day of school. You and your friends had managed to crowd the very back of the bus, Hyunjin sprawling out on Jisung and Felix whilst Seungmin dozed off on your shoulder. You had no idea how he managed to sleep so peacefully with the other 3 being so rambunctious right next to you. They were laughing at something on Felix’s phone and you rolled your eyes when Felix and Hyunjin dabbed together - even Jisung had facepalmed and he usually joined them on their antics.

You all got off at the same stop, heading to Felix’s house. He had moved here from Australia, and you welcomed him with open arms, becoming the best of friends in the shortest time. You taught him the ins and outs of the school and the best food places in your small town. In return, he made your childhood that less lonely, sneaking his toys into the garden for late night spy missions and undercover theatrics. You enjoyed having his company, most of your neighbours being adults, so having a kid next door lightened up your days. Growing up with him was an adventure in and of itself: he was always ready for action and games, but you knew that he would always be there for you if you were ever feeling down, and you couldn’t have asked for anyone better.

Whilst the 4 boys made their way into Felix’s house, you popped into yours quickly, reminding your mum that you were staying over next door; you dropped your school bag in your room, deciding to take your sleeping clothes later in the evening.

“Have fun, y/n, I’m going out shopping!” Your mum called from downstairs, and you quickly finished changing your clothes.

“See you later!”

You heard the door shut and you grabbed your shoes, putting them on before locking and leaving the house too.

You knocked on Felix’s door, only for Hyunjin to open the door partially.

“What’s the password?” He asked, only showing half of his face through the opening.

“Hyunjin is an idiot,” you rolled your eyes, pushing on the door to enter.

He made a weird sound indicating that that was the wrong answer, so you tried again, smirking.

“Hyunjin loves-”

“No one!” He interrupted, cheeks blushing lightly, as he swung the door open. You entered, laughing as he glared at you. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” you hummed, taking your shoes off before following him inside.

The sun was setting outside, telling you a good few hours had passed of alternating between watching movies and playing games. You had just given up your controller to Jisung, choosing to sit down during the next round of Mario Kart. You sat besides Hyunjin who was busy taking pictures of himself on Snapchat, scrolling through all the filters and making the weirdest faces.

“Hey, Felix, when are your parents coming back?”

Said boy didn’t even blink as he spoke, eyes focussing so intently on the screen in front of him, “I don’t know, sometime next week, I think. They’re gone for this weekend, though, business trip or something.”

You leaned your head on Hyunjin’s shoulder, yawning with your eyes barely staying open. He turned his phone to face you, the filter he had chosen was zooming into your face too close to be cute and you scrunched your face, the filter contorting it into something much worse.

“You look so gross,” he snorted, saving the video he took and you rolled your eyes.

“Says you,” you weakly retorted, closing your eyes to try and get some shut eye.

“I am beautiful,” he enunciated, shaking your head off his shoulder, “Right, Seungmin?”

“Uh, I wasn’t listening. Come again?”

“Guess that’s a ‘no’,” you snorted, laughing as Hyunjin pouted.

You could see his mouth open to reply, but a crash sounding from the kitchen made him pause.

“What was that?” Jisung finally spoke up, eyes still not moving from the TV screen though.

All 4 boys then proceeded to shout “not it!” and you huffed, getting up from the sofa to check out what was happening.

You opened the door to the kitchen and froze at the sight. The glass patio leading to the garden had broken, letting in a cold breeze, but that wasn’t what terrified you. Digging through the food you all had left out was, what looked like, your neighbour Mr Kwon.

He threw the food to the ground, turning around so you could see him, but you wish he hadn’t. His face looked like it was peeling off, his skin discoloured having lost its vibrance. There was something growing over his face, blinding his vision because you couldn’t see his eyes at all. His lips bared a vicious snarl, blood trailing down from the corners. As quickly and quietly as you could, you shut the door, rushing back to the others.

“You’re not gonna believe this,” you started, closing the door behind you just in case, “but that was Mr Kwon.”

“What, from next door?” Felix asked, finally looking away from the screen, “Why’s he here?”

“Forget that, why’d he crash in?” Hyunjin jumped in.

You struggled to form coherent sentences, your thoughts jumbling chaotically in your mind, so you just exclaimed, “He’s a zombie!”

Hyunjin burst out laughing, “Yeah, sure y/n, ‘cause they really exist.”

“Shit, man, I actually got worried there,” Felix chuckled, turning back to his game, “What really happened though?”

“I’m being serious, you dumbasses!”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes, muttering, “I’ll go check it out.” As soon as he stood up, however, there was a banging at the kitchen door. “What the hell was that?”

“Now do you believe me?” you asked, pulling Hyunjin back from going to the door.

You hadn’t even noticed Seungmin stand up until he started speaking, peering through the curtain. “They’re not lying,” he started, pulling on the curtain again, “Look outside.”

You all crowded around the curtain, just in time to see a person - well, a zombie - running hazardously down the road, straight into a car. The car rammed into the zombie, knocking it down to the ground before driving off. After a few seconds, however, the zombie jumped right up, running after the car.

“What the hell was that? It’s gotta be a joke, right?” Jisung panicked, running his hand through his hair as he moved away.

“Does it look like a joke?” You said, exasperated, “We have to get out of here now.”

Hyunjin was the first to go, slightly opening the door and looking out into the passageway. Once he gave the all clear, you followed him out, rushing upstairs into Felix’s room. They grabbed the overnight bags they had left there yesterday, Felix making one for himself and grabbing his essentials.

“Alright, so, who wants to kill the zombie downstairs?” Jisung asked, facing the group.

“I think you should,” you joked, “what better time to put those Battlefield skills to use?”

“I suck at that game!” he exclaimed, shaking his head wildly.

“Rip in peace Jisung 2k18, you won’t be missed,” Seungmin snorted, making sure he had everything in his bag.

“Why are you all so rude to me?” Jisung whined in return, the biggest pout present on his face now.

You rolled your eyes at his actions, opening Felix’s window, thankful that your rooms were opposite each other.

“Wait, y/n, what if your house isn’t safe either?” Hyunjin jumped in, standing besides you.

“We should at least check, right? We have no food otherwise, unless you want to fight off the zombie in the kitchen.”

You stood on the ledge outside of Felix’s window. It was big enough for you to step onto the ledge outside your window; you pulled open your window, looking through to make sure the room was empty. This time you gave the all clear, and the boys followed you into your room as you shut the door.

“Jheez, y/n, what if I was a burglar?” Felix quipped as he came in last, “You should really lock your windows.”

“What would you do, kill them with your selfie stick?” Seungmin deadpanned, shutting the window once Felix was in.

“It was the only weapon I could find, okay?”

You packed a bag for yourself, making sure you got everything before standing besides the others.

“Alright, so, who wants to see if this house is clear?” Hyunjin asked.

“I vote Felix since he’s got the weapon!” you joked, laughing as he immediately gave the selfie stick to Jisung.

“I think Jisung should go instead.”

In the end, Seungmin and Hyunjin went, the former holding onto the lamp that was in your room and the other actually holding the selfie stick.

They came back a few minutes later, saying they had locked the doors and done all the curtains. The house was clear. Your trip to the kitchen was short, you all grabbed whatever food you could, taking some pans and kitchen knives to protect yourself - Felix had grabbed a wok, using it as a helmet - and you made sure to grab the medical kit from the bathroom and some tools (a hammer and screwdriver, some duct tape and whatnot) that was in your store before making a safe retreat to your bedroom to draw up a plan.

“Okay, was there anything you remember about Mr Kwon?” Felix asked, turning to you.

“Not much, I mean he was just going through the food we left out. And, I-I don’t really know how to put this, but he didn’t have eyes.” The boys perked up at this, all facing you. “It was like there was some- some weird thing growing over his face, he even turned around and looked straight at me, but he didn’t move, like he couldn’t even see me. And there was blood on his face, I just-” you couldn’t finish, chills running down your spine as his face flashed in your mind.

Felix held onto your hand, a silent way to tell you you didn’t need to explain further, and you joined him on your bed.

“Hey guys, check this out,” Seungmin called after a few minutes, pulling out his ear plugs and changing his settings so everyone could hear. The radio was playing and a male’s voice was speaking out over the background noise.

“We instruct -- not to leave their homes; stay inside where -- safe and border up your -- and windows. The military -- an evacuation, but -- not leave your homes. Evacuate to the --. I repeat: do not -- your homes; evacu-- to the -- borders--.” And the radio cut off.

You managed to make out most of the message despite its continuous cutting off, yet you had no clue where to evacuate to.

“That was helpful,” Hyunjin scoffed, “we could barely hear the guy, what does he expect us to do?”

You all shrugged in reply and Seungmin returned to scrolling through various news updates on your laptop, trying to find out more. You went onto your phone, scrolling through your contacts until you found the right one.

Mum

[20:43] You:

mum??

are you ok??

pls tell me youre ok?

why arent u replying??

have u heard yet?

u need to get to a safe place

there are zombies?? everywhere

mum!!

“Has anyone’s parents actually replied to them?” you asked, sighing as you dropped your phone in your lap.

You saw Felix and Jisung shake their head, still staring at their phone.

“My dad messaged me,” Seungmin whispered, “half an hour ago.” His grip on his phone tightened and he never looked away from the laptop’s screen. “We- We were playing games and I didn’t think it was important and now… Now he’s not replying, I don’t know what to do.”

Felix went over to comfort him and the room was left in a sombre ambience until Hyunjin’s phone ringing broke the quietude.

He answered it immediately and his face lit up when the person started speaking. “Yeah! We’re all fine here, we’re at y/n’s house! Oh God, I can’t believe you’re oka- Dad? Dad, what’s happening?” His face dropped and his words became a lot more rushed and panicked. “What’s going on? Are you okay? Dad? You there? What’s-”

His phone fell from his hand and he froze, eyes slowly glazing over as his fingers trembled. Seconds ticked by as anguish bombarded Hyunjin right in front of you; fear anchored him down as he plummeted to the ground, shoulders quaking with every sob that left his lips; tears endlessly streamed down his face like a broken dam and agony shook him to the core, his face was screwed shut - eyebrows furrowed and eyes closed so tightly. His lips quivered disastrously, mouth barely letting out his cries. You could do nothing but console him, rubbing circles on his back as Seungmin held onto him tautly, trying so hard to calm him down.

His eyes were tear-stricken and red hours later, despite him having washed his face several times. None of you wanted to talk about it, deciding it best to come up with a survival plan to get through this. Seungmin hadn’t left Hyunjin’s side and you were thankful he was there to be his shoulder to cry on. You couldn’t understand how Hyunjin was staying as put together as he was, you reckon you never would.

Mum

[22:25] Mum:

y/n, pls tell me you’re still alive

Are you okay?

Where are you?

Pls tell me you’re safe

How are the others?

Are you all together?

[22:27] You:

Thank god youre okay

im fine

we’re fine

we’re at our house

where are you???

“Guys!” you called out as soon as you got the messages, “My mum’s answering me.”

“Is she okay?”

“Where is she?”

“She said the store she was in locked down when news broke out and she was stuck there with no service,” you started, reading and replying to her messages, “she’s with the army, going to the evacuation zone.”

“Ask her where it is,” Jisung said, looking over your shoulder at the conversation.

“It’s at the southern border of the city, the army’s trying to get everyone there onto helicopters.”

[22:34] You:

what should we do??

should i come to you?

god im scared

i dont know what to do

mr kwon got turned and he came into felix’s house

im scared mum what’s gonna happen

[22:36] Mum:

You’re gonna be fine, okay?

Stay inside, make sure everything’s locked properly

Cover your windows

Stay together okay

Don’t go anywhere

The army will come for you

They’ll help you

You’re all safe right?

None of you are hurt right?

[22:39] You:

yeah we’re fine

no one’s hurt

[22:39] Mum:

Okay y/n

Stay strong okay?

I have to go

[22:40] You:

why??

mum what?

you can’t just go

we dont know what to do

[22:40] Mum:

My battery

Is dying

Cant talk long

Stay together ok

Stay safe

I love you

so much

[22:41] You:

ily too

mum??

You watched as her status changed from ‘typing…’ to being blank and you locked your phone, sighing.

“Of all times for her battery to die,” you murmured, sitting on your bed, leaning against your headboard.

“We should get some sleep,” Seungmin spoke up, “We’ll take turns standing guard just in case then we’ll get up at 7 and see what to do next, okay?”

You all agreed with him, Felix and Jisung taking the first shift together. The two of them would wake you and Seungmin up at 3 o’clock to switch. You decided Hyunjin would sit out of staying awake, he looked like he was already having enough trouble falling asleep and this wouldn’t have helped him at all.

You woke up groggily to Felix’s face, unaware of when you had managed to fall asleep. “Please tell me that was just a nightmare.”

“Afraid not,” he mumbled as you sat up, “You good?”

You nodded, getting off the bed so he could lie down. “I’m fine. Did your parents reply?”

He shook his head as he stared off at your ceiling. “Complete silence.”

You held onto his hand, squeezing it tightly to comfort him and his lips tilted into a smile as he returned the gesture. “Try and get some sleep, yeah?”

He nodded, closing his eyes and you let go of his hand, joining Seungmin on the floor.

“Do you think he’ll be fine?” Seungmin whispered, gaze fixed on Hyunjin who was also sleeping on your bed, along the foot of it. You looked at his face, the lamp in your room barely giving light to the red lines that cascaded down his cheeks replacing the trail his tears had left.

“Hopefully,” you sighed. You knew he would try to brave himself through it, but you had no clue what was going through his head, especially after hearing what he had - he hadn’t spoken about it since, but you couldn’t imagine it being anything remotely nice. “We’re there for him either way.” You said, tapping Seungmin’s hand to reassure him. He nodded, giving a tight-lipped smile, before turning back to your laptop.

“The outbreak’s spreading further apparently,” he said, eyes scanning over another article, “but there’s nothing on how this started.”

“How can they not know?” you grumbled, scooting closer to him to read the article. “It had to start from somewhere, right?”

“Maybe the people that started it are trying to keep it hidden?”

You snorted at that, “They’re doing a great job of hiding it.”

By the time it was 7, all of you were awake, still in disbelief of current events. You took turns using the bathroom, making sure no one was alone at any time - even if the house was currently safe, there’s no way of knowing what could suddenly happen. You all had a quick breakfast before you decided to put the first part of your plan into motion: getting your garden tools. Although you had grabbed tools from inside your house, they would only be good if the zombies came extremely close to you, which wasn’t ideal. The garden tools, being a lot bigger, would at least put some distance between yourselves and the zombies when you were attacking, and, now that it was day time, you would be able to see if there were zombies around a lot more easily. The journey to the shed was short and you were thankful there were no zombies on your way there. The same couldn’t be said for your journey back.

You each had grabbed whatever shovel, hoe and rake you could find - you all rolled your eyes when Jisung picked up the chainsaw, Hyunjin finally speaking up to mock him, saying, “that would just attract the zombies, you dumbass” - and made your way back. When you left the shed, you all stilled instantly. Mrs Kwon was there. And, much like her husband, she was no longer human. She was standing by the garden door leading into your house, and you were so glad you all had taken everything with you before leaving.

“I have an idea,” Seungmin whispered, “but it’s a bit risky. Get back in the shed first.”

As quietly as possible, you all made your way inside, shutting the door between you and her.

“We need to get out of here, obviously,” he started, glancing back at Mrs Kwon, “I think we should jump the fence.”

“What to my house?” Felix asked, “But Mr Kwon could still be there!”

“Once we’re in yours we can jump to his garden. We’ll look for his car keys then get the hell out of here.”

“That just might work…” Jisung mumbled, lips pursing as he pondered over the plan.

“But what if there’s a zombie in Kwon’s house?” you asked. You hated the idea of that since this was your only plan, but the what-ifs stung your mind, making you doubt everything.

“Then,” he sighed, “Then we fight.”

The plan was set in motion. Mrs Kwon had come into your garden leaving a gaping hole in the fence between your and Felix’s gardens, so you all planned to go through that. However, she was wandering dangerously close to your exit so Seungmin grabbed a small flowerpot and chucked it at your garden door. Instantly, Mrs Kwon sprinted that way, ramming through your garden door and entering your house. You all dashed to the hole, not thinking twice before you ran for the second hole Mr Kwon had created between his and Felix’s garden. Luckily, he had broken his own garden door to get into Felix’s. Hyunjin was the first to enter and Seungmin stayed at the back making sure nothing tried attacking your group’s backs. You stuck together, searching for his car keys when Jisung spotted them hanging inside the kitchen. He quickly ran to it, grabbing it so you could all run to his car. The run there was safe too and Hyunjin, as best as he could, drove away. Fortunately, the car was big enough so you could put your bags and tools on the car’s floor and still have a enough leg space.

“So, who’s up for some light shopping?” Felix joked as Hyunjin passed a shopping centre.

“If you’re leaving, get me some more food,” Jisung said, winking at Felix.

“Wait, stop the car!” Seungmin suddenly said, staring outside of his window. You all let out groans at the abrupt stop.

“Fucking hell, Hyunjin.” Jisung grumbled, rubbing his head that had hit Seungmin’s headrest.

“Sorry, I panicked,” he shrugged, “why’d you make me stop?”

“Look over there.” He was pointing at a group of zombies that had formed a ring around a kid who had climbed onto a statue. “It looks like Jeongin.”

Jeongin is Seungmin’s neighbour; Jeongin’s parents had asked him if he could take Jeongin to school everyday since he only recently moved here from Busan and didn’t know his way around. The two of them got a lot closer, Seungmin treating him like a younger brother, so he would sometimes join the 5 of you when you went out together.

“Shit, I think it is him,” Jisung squinted as though that would help magnify his vision.

From what you could see, he had some sort of object in his hand that he was hitting zombies away with if they got too close.

“What should we do?” Felix asked, suddenly moving the bags to grab the garden tools.

“I could drive into the zombies?” Hyunjin suggested, putting his hands back on the steering wheel.

“No offence, but you could barely drive in a straight line on the road,” you retorted, “any better ideas?”

“Why don’t we just do what we did to Mrs Kwon?” Jisung proposed. “The zombies are blind, but they’ll hear the car coming towards them, and they’ll go after us instead, no?”

“Yeah, but how would we get rid of them then?” Seungmin wondered, biting his lip as he looked back at Jeongin.

Jisung was quiet after that, probably trying to figure out an answer.

“Okay, I got it.” Seungmin said, undoing his seatbelt. “I’ll stand by that car over there, whilst you go pull the zombies away from Jeongin. Drive past my car and I’ll set its alarm off so the zombies crowd my car instead. Then, you guys go get Jeongin and I’ll run to you, okay?”

Despite your choruses of “no, what the hell?” he opened the door, jumping out of the car, leaving with nothing but a quick, “he needs help.”

“Fucking hell,” Hyunjin mumbled, starting up the car and heading straight for the zombies. He horned at them after making sure Seungmin was in place and, just like planned, they left Jeongin alone, chasing after your car instead. Hyunjin drove on, past the car Seungmin was at and you watched as Seungmin kept pulling on the car’s door handle and hitting it with the hammer he took until it started blaring. Just as you had hoped, the zombies ignored your unmoving car and ran after the other car. As you drove past the herd to Jeongin, you noticed that one zombie had trailed away from the crowd, following Seungmin who was running to you. Hurriedly, Jeongin jumped into the front seat, dropping his weapon, and Felix shouted out for Hyunjin to help out Seungmin. The zombie had tackled him but it looked like he had managed to whack it away with his hammer as it was no longer on top of him. Hyunjin rushed, reversing into the zombie just as Felix swung open his door and grabbed Seungmin’s arm, lifting him into the car. Hyunjin drove away as Seungmin pulled the door shut, narrowly missing the zombie that had just jumped up and attacked the door.

“You okay, Jeongin?” Seungmin asked, panting heavily.

The younger boy nodded, eyes glossy as he spoke, “Thank you. All of you. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up.”

Jisung reassuringly squeezed his shoulders as the other sniffled, handing over a tissue too.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re running out of fuel.”

“Why Mr Kwon, why couldn’t you have filled up before turning?” Felix bawled, pouting.

“Have fun filling this up because I’m not leaving the car ever again.” Seungmin grumbled, leaning on Felix’s shoulder.

You took out your phone, checking where the closest petrol station was and you directed Hyunjin for the next 10 minutes until you reached it. It looked bare, only a white van with random words spray painted on it was at a pump.

“Three of us should fill the car up and check the store and the others should stay here in case people try stealing the car.”

You, Jisung and Hyunjin had kindly volunteered to go outside, leaving the other 3 in the comfort of the vehicle. You watched out keenly as Hyunjin filled it up fully, before you made your way to the adjoining store. Weapons at the ready, you walked in one by one. The place was half-trashed but you couldn’t hear any zombies until you saw it.

Jisung took one look at the dead body and puked whilst you shuddered at the sight. The zombie had been shot cleanly through the head and was laying on the ground in a pool of murky blood. There were flies orbiting it and the odour spread like wildfire.

“That’s so fucking gross,” Jisung croaked as Hyunjin rubbed his back. You spotted the drinks at the back, slowly making your way to get water for Jisung when you were caught. A man, looking in his late teens, held a gun up at you.

“Shit, don’t shoot,” you said, holding up your hands innocently. The man kept the gun pointed at you, snatching away the shovel that was in your hand.

“y/n? What’s goi-”

“Don’t move boys,” another man’s voice interrupted Jisung and you turned your head to see another guy behind your friends with a gun.

“Fuck, please don’t shoot us,” Hyunjin said, “we just want to get some food then we’ll go.”

“Shut up and walk forward.” The guy behind him instructed and they both followed until they were standing besides you.

A third man appeared from another aisle, also holding a gun which he kept lowered. “Are you guys alone?”

“And don’t try lying,” the man who had caught you finally spoke up.

You shook your head and Jisung spoke up, “N-No, our friends are outside, please don’t-”

“Shut up,” the second man repeated.

“What are you guys doing?” A fourth man had appeared from an adjoining room behind the till, stealing your attention. “Changbin, Minho, lower your guns, what the hell?”

The second man started whining, “Woojin, you killed our vibe.”

Woojin, the fourth man, rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Minho. Sorry about them,” he cracked a smile, “I leave for a couple minutes and they think they’re badasses. I expected more from you Chan.”

The third man - Chan, you assumed - shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, “Lighten up, Wooj, we weren’t going to kill them.”

You stared at the strangers warily, moving closer to Jisung as the other 4 gathered together.

“W-We should just go,” Hyunjin murmured grabbing Jisung’s wrist and turning to leave.

“No, wait!” Woojin held his arm out, “Look at what you idiots have done,” he berated his friends, “I promise we’re not going to hurt you, are you guys alone?”

“They’re not,” Changbin, the first man, answered for you.

“Look, I think this store is a lot better than some stuffy car, right? Why don’t you call them inside?”

“Wait,” Chan interrupted, “None of you are, uh, injured are you?”

“I hit my head against the headrest, if that counts.” Jisung said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Dumbass,” you mumbled, elbowing him, “he’s asking if any of us have been bitten, right?”

He nodded to your question and you told him that none of you had been.

You had teamed up. Despite having never seen these people before in your lives, you had teamed up with them. You decided to start trusting them when they gave you guns - you didn’t want to ask how they had gotten them - but you figured if they had some hidden motives, they wouldn’t have given you weapons. After stocking up with food, medicals and other stuff, you joined them in their van, ditching Mr Kwon’s car there. It reminded you of the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo because there was a row of seats for the driver and 2 other passengers, and then a row lining each length of the vehicle with plenty of empty space in the middle. You were sat in between Changbin and Felix, no one speaking over the rumble of the car.

You switched your phone on but, seeing no new messages from your mum, you sighed.

“Still nothing?” Felix questioned, pursing his lips.

“Yeah, you?”

“Same here.”

“Alright, team!” Woojin clapped, breaking everyone out of their silence, “We don’t seem like much of a team right now and we can’t go on like this. I think it’s about time for introductions. Changbin, start us off!”

“Wassup, I’m Changbin, I’m 19 and I never fucking learned how to read.”

“That’s so goddamn old and you only turned 19 last week,” Minho groaned, dramatically facepalming as Changbin grinned.

You all laughed at his reference regardless, the mood lighting up easily after that. You all explained your day yesterday and how Jeongin had joined you.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Minho interrupted, “why were you even at the shopping mall this morning, Jeongin?”

You all listened intently since you hadn’t asked Jeongin this either.

“I went shopping yesterday,” he started only to be interrupted by Minho again.

“You were there overnight?” he exclaimed, “How the hell did you survive?”

“Let him finish you idiot,” Changbin snapped and Minho just stuck out his tongue at him in return.

“When everyone started going crazy I hid in some supply closet that was left open. When I woke up the next morning, there were just zombies everywhere, all the normal people had gone. As I was leaving I tripped over some bags and a couple zombies heard and chased me - that’s when I climbed onto the statue; when they went crazy, I guess more heard and joined the party.”

“Damn, that’s wild,” Changbin muttered.

Even you were impressed that he had managed to live through that, especially considering how many zombies there were surrounding him.

“My story time now!” Minho exclaimed, jumping in his seat, “It all started when I was 3 years old and-”

“Right,” Woojin intervened, “as you can tell, Minho is just full of shit, so Chan, you go!”

“Chan and Woojin are lovers which is why he wants him to speak, F.Y.I.” Minho said, winking at Woojin.

“Damn right we are!” Chan grinned from the front, just as Woojin shouted out too.

“No, we’re not!”

“Anyways,” Chan spoke up, “Wooj and I were netflix and chilling in our apartment yesterday when Minho and Changbin, the scrapes, joined us-”

“We did not netflix and chill with them,” Changbin clarified, making a disgusted face.

“ANYWAYS, we were all together when Wooj, the loser, changed to the news channel because Minho kept making inappropriate jokes during the film and, well, take a guess at what the news told us.”

“Where’d you get all the guns from though?” Felix asked.

“Chan is a dodgy man-” Changbin whispered, only loud enough for you and Felix to hear and laugh at.

“We just found them on the ground, some were from behind the till at that petrol station, and this van?” Woojin told you, “This beautiful van was in a car rental place by our place, so we took it.”

The ambience was pretty comforting after that, Minho dramatically explaining something to Jisung, Hyunjin and Jeongin as Woojin and Seungmin bonded over some musical group they loved.

Changbin talked to you and Felix about how he had met the others: Chan and Woojin had been best friends through high school till now and Minho went to their uni, being a year below them - he had applied for their roommate ad (and had clearly been accepted). Changbin was Chan’s neighbour before he had moved out, the two of them growing extremely close over their mutual love of producing music and rapping.

When evening hit, Chan had parked the van in some abandoned car park. Woojin held a lever, pulling down the two seats besides Chan so he could swivel around, joining you guys at the back. “Alright,” Chan grinned, but you could see the fatigue in his eyes, “who wants to take first shift?”

You woke up to Changbin whispering your name as he shook your arm, “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

You grumbled as you sat up, running a hand through your hair in a futile attempt at taming it.

“What do you want?” you grumbled, eyes barely staying open.

“I want you to get up, it’s our shift.”

You groaned but got up, sitting at the front of the van with him. “How long is this for?”

“Couple hours, I guess,” he yawned, scrunching his face after. He looked like a child, rubbing his eyes and pouting, eyes barely open.

“Have you heard from your parents?” you asked, breaking the silence - if you were going to stay up with him for another few hours, you might as well try to become friends.

He snorted at that and you furrowed your eyebrows at his reaction. “Haven’t heard from them in years.”

Your mouth dropped slightly, not expecting that, “Sorry, that was-”

“It’s fine, you couldn’t have known,” he sighed, crossing his arms behind his head so he was leaning against the headrest. “My dad left when I was younger - don’t remember him much - and my mum died a couple years ago. Been living with my grandma ever since. What about you?” He turned his face towards you, no longer looking at the car’s roof, and the way the moonlight hit his eyes made them glisten.

“My dad hasn’t responded to any of my texts. My mum did, she said she was being evacuated, but then her phone died yesterday. Haven’t heard from her since.”

He nodded solemnly before facing the roof again.

He broke the silence a few minutes after. “My grandma,” he hesitated, but when he noticed you face him properly, he continued, “she used to make the best choc’ chip cookies, y’know? That’s all she’d be doing at home: baking. She wasn’t really good at baking anything else, but those cookies? Heaven in your mouth, I swear.” He grinned, still looking up. “She used to make them all the time for me, school lunch wasn’t complete without at least 2 of those because she used to make hundreds.”

His grin grew as he turned, all signs of fatigue completely wiped from his features, and it seemed his energy was contagious because you sat up properly too, the both of you facing each other fully.

“She taught me how to bake them, y’know?” He taunted, “Now, it’s a secret recipe, but I could maybe make them for you one day.”

“Maybe?” you quipped, “If they’re as good as you say, you have to make me some.”

He sighed dramatically, running a hand through his hair, “I guess I could spare some time for you.”

You stuck your tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes at your childish behaviour.

“Sorry about that rambling,” he laughed, his smile curving shyly, “that was really random.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you replied, “it was cute, she obviously means a lot to you.”

He nodded in agreement. “She was always there for me, y’know? I haven’t been the greatest kid,” he chuckled slightly before continuing, “but she’s never blamed me for anything and I swear she was the most understanding woman ever. I told her about this jerk in school that got me in detention and she was ready to throw hands.”

All of a sudden his laughs died down and a sombre look washed over his face. “We went back there when we found out; fuck, I ran everywhere, but the whole place was trashed and- and-”

“Hey,” you murmured, holding his hand and rubbing circles on the back of it to soothe him.

“I should’ve been there for her,” he said, looking straight at you, teary eyes shining under the moonlight. “I wasn’t doing anything special at Chan’s place, fuck, I should’ve just stayed with her-”

“You didn’t know, Changbin,” you consoled, “there was nothing you could’ve done.”

The next 10 minutes or so you spent calming him down, his sniffles slowly dying down as his breathing quietened.

“Please don’t tell the guys about that,” he joked, pursing his lips into a half-smile.

“Your secret is safe with me.”

The rest of the night was spent like that, the two of you sharing secrets and memories until hours had passed and you grew tired once more.

“I think it’s time to switch shifts,” Changbin yawned, closing his eyes as he rested his head on your shoulder.

“Go lie down, sleepyhead,” you nudged him, using the same nickname he had called you before, “I’ll wake them up.”

“You’re a blessing,” he mumbled, as he followed you to the back section of the van. You woke up Minho and then Jisung for their shift, laughing quietly at Jisung’s messy hair. You fell asleep after that easily, Changbin’s voice running through your mind.

You were on your way to the south when Seungmin got the news. You had just left an empty house you found on your way, everyone cleaning themselves in the bathroom and charging their phones before you left.

“Explosion at Seoul’s southern borders, army still in progress of a new evacuation plan.” The article summarised and all hope drained from your body - with no evacuation plan in place, what were you supposed to do? Run from place to place with zombies still around? With the sudden lack of military groups patrolling towns, most focussing on the horde of zombies in the south, rebel groups had risen, causing even more havoc than the zombies present. They fed off of the weak and powerless, instilling fear in towns all over Korea.

“Apparently a rebel group did it,” Woojin said, scrolling on his phone, “isn’t that great?

The next few days you spent jumping from house to house, trying to find a safe place.

Your old clothes were torn and filled with holes so you duct taped them around your arms and legs just in case a zombie ever got too close and tried to bite you. You all dressed like this before heading into a large supermarket to stock up on food and clothes that preferably hadn’t been torn to shreds.

You stayed as a large group, Chan, Minho and Jisung staying in the van to keep it safe and in case a hasty getaway was needed. The rest of you walked into the supermarket, the automatic doors sliding open and alerting two zombies that were close to you. As stealthily as you could, you moved to the right, following Woojin as he led you all away from the door.

“Oh shit,” he whispered, ducking behind the tills that were there. This place was crawling with zombies in every other aisle as far as your eyes could see.

“We couldn’t have picked a better supermarket,” Hyunjin joked, disbelief painting his face as he let out a quiet laugh.

“Look, the tinned aisle is over there.” Changbin pointed out at the far end.

“We’ll go there first, okay?” Woojin instructed, getting up from his crouch, “We’ll get the clothes after.”

You all nodded, following him through one of the aisles that didn’t have zombies meandering down it.

“What the hell is that?” you gasped, pointing down one of the aisles you passed by. Everyone turned to look at a grotesque, fungus-like plant growing out of the open freezers.

“Anyone up for ice cream?” Hyunjin quipped, cringing at the sight.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Jeongin grumbled, lips curling in disgust.

“Shit, they’re spores,” Changbin said, pulling up the mask he had left dangling around his neck. You all copied him, putting on your own masks to not inhale the spores. Woojin had told you that breathing them in could either kill you or turn you into a zombie - you didn’t know what was worse.

The aisle was long so you split off into smaller groups to get more items. Woojin and Jeongin stayed at this end, Hyunjin, Seungmin and Felix went to the middle and you and Changbin went to the far end. There were tin cans strewn all across the floor and you were careful to avoid hitting any until Changbin pulled you away, putting a finger over his lips, telling you to stay quiet. You furrowed your eyebrows at him and he pointed at the aisle where a zombie was crouching inside the aisle. You cursed in your head trying to quietly manoeuvre around this area. Felix dropping a can, however, made the zombie perk up immediately, crawling out and rushing towards him. Before you could make a move, Changbin had tugged you back, pulling the trigger on his gun, shooting the zombie straight in its head.

“Perfect,” you mumbled, hearing other zombies around the shop running towards you. Changbin told you to hold open the duffel bag you had as he swiped his arm along an aisle, tins falling in before you both made a quick escape. The others had caught on to what was happening, also trying to get away. You saw Seungmin take out his phone, hearing him shout Chan’s name into it as he sprinted away. A rogue zombie ran in front of you and Changbin, separating the two of you from the others. You grabbed his wrist, pulling him into another aisle. You were going to run down another aisle when Changbin called out for you to follow him as he turned left. You turned around, just in time to shout out, “Behind you!”

He turned, stumbling and falling over as a zombie tackled him to the ground, his gun slipping from his hand. You cursed, watching as he struggled to fight it, the zombie not halting its attack for a split second. You dashed to the gun, pulling the trigger and shooting the zombie’s back. Changbin kicked it off of himself before getting up, running away with you. You were even further from the entrance but at least you were in a zombie-free aisle.

“Shit, are you bleeding?” you whispered harshly, pulling his arm to look at it more closely.

“I’m fine, y/n-”

“Changbin, you-”

“We need to go. Now.”

On your way out, you saw Jeongin and Felix in the clothing area, grabbing what they could as the other 3 killed any zombies coming at them. The two of you joined in, pulling clothes from the racks and following behind the group, jumping into the van.

Everyone collapsed as soon as they got in. Everyone but you and Changbin. This was the most intense fight you had been in since the whole thing started. You reassured the 3 that had stayed in the van that you were fine and you watched as Changbin slyly wrapped his arm up once more, covering the bloody rags.

You had managed to find a safe home, everyone piling into the building and locking the door after yourselves. Whilst everyone lounged around downstairs, Chan, Jisung and Minho made food for all of you. You noticed Changbin slip away too so you waited a while before sneaking upstairs too.

“We should tell them.” You stated, shutting the bedroom door behind you.

“I feel fine, y/n,” he replied, shutting the med kit.

“Can I see it at least?”

“Is ‘no’ even an option for me?”

You grinned at that, sitting besides him as he turned to face you, arm stretched out in front of him. The bite didn’t look too bad, it seemed the zombie got him where his wrappings had thinned out, but you were still suspicious as to why he felt no changes in his body.

“What if,” you cautioned, “what if it takes time for the change to happen?”

“That’s the only thing I’m worried about,” he sighed. He seemed to be debating something in his mind, constantly biting his lip and fidgeting with his fingers.

“Okay. I’ll tell them.”

“And I thought Wooj and I were bad,” Chan chuckled as he nudged Minho and Jisung, “you should see these two together - I swear they can’t keep their hands off each other.”

“What can I say? He made a lasting first impression and now I’ve fallen in love,” Jisung joked, winking at Minho who smirked in return.

“Hey, look, it’s the real loverbirds!” Minho jested as he saw you and Changbin standing by the door together.

“Why are you guys over there?” Woojin questioned, “Come in and eat!”

You sat down besides Felix, quietly thanking him as he handed you a plate of food.

“Actually, I need to tell you something,” Changbin started, “I, uh, fuck, I’m so sorry,” he ran a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut. You watched as everyone stopped eating, becoming wary of what he was saying. Chan and Woojin shared a look and you figured they knew what Changbin was about to say.

“I got bit.” It was a quiet murmur but everyone’s eyes widening told you that they had heard, loud and clear.

“You’re okay, right?” you heard Felix whisper to you and you nodded, grateful he cared so much about you when you could only worry about everyone else.

“How do you feel?” Woojin asked.

“I feel fine, it hurts obviously, but nothing out of the ordinary, y’know?”

Woojin nodded and grabbed Changbin’s plate of food before leaving with Changbin and Chan. You could faintly hear their muffled chatter from upstairs. After that, you hadn’t seen Changbin, only Woojin and Chan came back, telling you the shift changes.

“Felix, have I ever told you how much I love you?” you said, shutting your eyes in utter bliss. “You are a man with magical hands.”

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” he dramatically sighed. He was massaging your shoulders, claiming something about this being a “best friend duty” because you were in an “emotional spot”.

“Seriously, I love you, man. Why don’t you do this more often?”

“Because I know you’ll take advantage of me.”

You elbowed him as best as you could, “You make it sound so wrong, I would never. Maybe Hyunjin would, but me? Never.”

“Speaking of Hyunjin,” Felix said, his suspicious tone of voice enticing you to turn around. “Have you noticed how close he’s gotten to Seungmin now? I’m not saying he likes Seungsnake, but that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

You snorted, “You’re only noticing this now? He’s been whipped for him since forever.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he whined, “We could’ve mocked him together!”

“Because I’m a nice person.”

“Who are you trying to kid?” You punched his arm lightly, grumbling something about him being a terrible best friend which he only snickered at. “Ah, I’ve missed this,” he grinned, swinging an arm around your shoulder and hugging you at an awkward angle, “even if all you ever do is abuse me.”

“When will you stop being so dramatic?” you laughed, tickling his sides.

“Never!”

After that random tickle session, you both move to lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

“Hopefully none of the others woke up because of that.” Felix said, crossing an arm behind his head.

“A bit too late for that,” Hyunjin grumbled, walking into the hallway where you two were laying down. He sprawled himself across you guys and behind him was Seungmin who sat upright besides Felix.

“Oh, you’re both here?” you said, looking at Felix who smirked hugely.

“Coincidence? I think not!”

You both burst out laughing at that and Hyunjin, probably catching on to what you meant, pinched the both of you.

Seungmin just mumbled, “Why’d I come out here?”

“Probably because your lover’s here,” Felix taunted, swatting away Hyunjin’s hand that was coming in to attack him once more.

“How about we talk about y/n’s lover, huh?”

“Hey, don’t bring me into this-”

“Yeah, you and Changbin, huh?” Seungmin said, raising his eyebrows.

“I can’t believe you’re joining in on this - this is exactly why we call you Seungsnake.”

That idea didn’t scare you. You and Changbin. It had a nice ring to it in your mind and you smiled subconsciously - Felix most definitely noticing - thinking over it again. You had grown unbelievably close to him throughout the time you’d been with him, and you knew you felt some sort of way towards him, but had decided against dwelling on it, more pressing matters at hand. But now that Minho and Seungmin had mentioned it, the thought of you and Changbin together hadn’t left your mind - Changbin hadn’t left your mind. You were praying that he would be fine, that the bite wasn’t strong enough or deep enough to change him, to turn him into that. You were wishing he would stay the same kind-hearted and understanding man you had grown to know him to be.

It had been a week. A whole week and when he walked out that door he was pretty much the same - a little more tired-looking - but he had the largest grin on his face you’d ever seen.

You all cheered when he was completely fine, just as Woojin scolded you all to keep the noise down, but you couldn’t contain your happiness. You jumped up when he left the room, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around your waist, embracing you tightly. The boys behind you all raised their eyebrows suggestively at him, not that you could see, and he flipped them off, grinning as he whispered to you, “Miss me?”

“Of course not,” you snorted.

He leaned back from the hug, raising an eyebrow, “I smell bullshit.”

You broke away from him, pushing his shoulder lightly. “I just couldn’t have you dying before you made me those cookies you promised.”

“Alright move aside, y/n!” Minho exclaimed, dramatically draping his arms around Changbin, “I felt so dead without you, lil’ Binnie.”

Reluctantly, he hugged him back, but you could see the smile on his face grow.

“Wait does- does this mean Changbin’s immune?” Jeongin pointed out, turning to Chan.

“I guess he is,” Chan grinned, “aren’t you lucky?”

You were coming back from the supermarket later than you expected, but still before nightfall. The sun shone down on a lone person standing in the middle of the road. When Chan drove the car closer, you noticed he was dressed in army uniform, holding his hand out for you to stop. He walked up to the window Chan had rolled down before speaking.

“Why are you out this late?”

“We were coming back from-”

The man dropped. Blood spewing from his neck and Chan yelled for everyone to get down, hazardously reversing the car to get away from the scene.

“Holy shit what just happened?” Jisung panicked in the back, turning his face to you.

“He just- Someone shot him!” you exclaimed.

Chan continued driving away from the safe house, and you messaged the team that had remained home of what happened, saying you wouldn’t be returning tonight.

“We can’t go back there tonight,” Chan informed you once he had stopped driving, “I’m guessing that a rebel group killed him, and they might have followed us so we can’t go back. You messaged the home team, right?”

You nodded, “I told them to stay alert too.”

“Okay, good.” Chan responded. He told you all about what shifts to take but you were all too scared to fall asleep, finding comfort in staying awake together.

You returned in the morning to see the house on fire, flaming zombies pouring in and out of the building. Frantically, you pulled your phone out, calling Changbin as Jisung and Felix spammed the others with messages. Chan drove closer to see what was happening and you jumped out of the van when you saw Hyunjin carrying a body. You took the gun out of your makeshift belt holster, Jisung and Felix joining you in helping. You walked alongside the group, shooting zombies from far and near as Minho was carried into the van. You shot a zombie that had gotten too close to Woojin and you watched as Jeongin bravely fought off some zombies, swinging around his shovel like there was no tomorrow. Seungmin had just thrown away an aerosol can, and you guessed that that and the lighter in his other hand were the causes of the fire.

You and Felix were the last ones standing outside, waiting until everyone had gotten into the van before you sprinted to it, too. You hopped into the van, Felix behind you and, just as he stretched his arm to shut the door, a metallic sound echoed in the van and Felix’s body dropped.

Your face dropped as you turned around.

“Felix?” you panicked, “Felix, get up!” You ran to his body, falling down next to him to see his eyes still open but his face losing its colour, his very essence slowly draining from his body. “Fuck, guys he-”

Changbin crawled next to you, slightly shaking him as he called out Felix’s name. “Bro, you can’t- Shit, Felix?”

“Is he-?” you heard Woojin asked, not finishing his sentence, and you could only nod in response.

Your eyes never left his. No tears fell, no more sounds left your throat, you were stunned into silence; you have never prayed harder in your life, wishing for this to be a horrid dream, or a terrible hallucination - you couldn’t lose him. Not like this. You held his hand that grew colder every passing second, eyes blurring as you tried to focus on his features, engraving them into your mind as though he would just fade before you.

The sound of Jisung crying caught your attention, breaking you out of your trance - all sorts of thoughts and memories, all about Felix, flying through your mind. You turned, hand still grasping Felix’s, as you saw everyone crowding around Minho. This was the first time you had seen him cry, eyes shut tightly yet tears slipped through. You stared at the scene until your eyes trailed to his legs, blood seeping through a tear in his trousers. Had he been bitten? You squeezed Felix’s hand one more time before joining the others around Minho. You sat besides Jisung, rubbing his shoulder as he cried. You could hear Minho weakly tell him that everything was fine, but it did nothing to console him. He looked nothing like Changbin when he had been bitten; Minho grew paler by the second, and you could tell this was hurting him, his jaw clenching in anguish, yet he put that all aside, focussing his attention on Jisung who couldn’t form a coherent sentence, tears rushing down his face.

Chan was driving well above the speed limits, not caring about the zombies that could be following behind either. He finally stopped at a grassy area that looked relatively clear. Woojin and Changbin carried Minho out as he groaned in pain at the movement. Hyunjin and Seungmin grabbed Felix as you comforted Jisung, although you weren’t in a much better shape. Jeongin held a shovel and he and Chan created a hole for Felix. You watched as Chan and Woojin lowered his body there, Jeongin bringing out 2 blankets, handing you one.

You sat on your knees by the edge, Hyunjin besides you and Jisung and Seungmin opposite. You each took turns saying broken words, speeches cut short by your crying as you stared at him. He looked peaceful, his features not curling in fear like they had over the past month, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to be happy. You felt immune to that emotion, every second you stared at him made your insides twist painfully and yet you couldn’t bring yourself to look away. You gripped the corner of the blanket and, with the help of the others, you covered Felix with the cloth.

You couldn’t bear watching Chan and Woojin cover him with the soil, finding comfort in Hyunjin’s embrace. Jeongin and Seungmin watched them, both putting up a stone cold facade, but you could see their eyes brimming with agony. You hugged Hyunjin tighter to you as he cried, his voice cracking as he tried to tell you that everything would be okay. Jisung had gone to Minho - you couldn’t imagine what either one was going through: Jisung having lost two of his closest friends in a single day, and Minho who, with every passing second, was losing control of his grip on reality.

You all gathered around him once Chan and Woojin were done. Each of you spoke to him and you hated how broken he looked, for the first time since you had met him, he actually looked scared and you wished you could take this pain from him. “Take care of Jisung for me, yeah?” he said at the end of your conversation, and you nodded your head. “And Changbin, please.” He added, sending a wink your way before he started chuckling. You breathed in harshly when his laughter turned to coughs, blood trickling from the corner of his lips. You used your sleeve to rub it away and he smiled grimly, his eyes shutting as he tried to control his coughs.

Once everyone had gathered again, Minho spoke. “Fucking hell, if I’m going to die now, I don’t want to see your sad faces!” You could hear the desperation and fright laced in his words and you all let out meek smiles at his attempt to lighten up the atmosphere. “God, I don’t want to turn into that,” he said, finally dropping his smile before he took a deep breath, calming himself down. “Okay,” he nodded, shutting his eyes just as a single tear left his eye. “I’m ready.”

Chan’s hand shook as he took out his gun, placing it in Minho’s hand before squeezing it gently. You all took one more look at him before walking away, Jisung’s gaze lasting a little longer, before he, too, turned. You heard rustling as Minho covered himself with the blanket and, what felt like hours, but were mere seconds, passed until you heard the gun go off.

Somehow Woojin, Chan and Changbin controlled themselves, picking up his body and burying him in the hole besides Felix.

After that, Hyunjin had ripped one of his shirts, grabbing a marker from inside the van, scribbling something down onto it. Changbin did the same, just as Jeongin collected two large sticks which he stuck at the top of where they lay. Makeshift headstones.

Felix’s read:

Just a little braver~

His star will shine forever.

Whilst Minho’s was:

The song is ended but the melody lingers on;

To unpathed waters, undreamed shores.

The drive away was filled with solitude and silence. Your eyes couldn’t stop trailing back to where Felix had lain, blood still seeping into the metal floor of the van. You felt Changbin snake his arm around your shoulders, bringing your head to rest on him. “Don’t look there,” he whispered, trying to focus your attention elsewhere. But the memory remained and Changbin’s warm embrace could never change that.

It had been a week of minimal contact, with the outside world and with others. Your group had managed to find a barely-held-together house that you resided in. The building, you felt, was like a physical representation of your inner turmoil, crumbling to pieces because of the disaster around it, yet it hadn’t broken down completely despite the forces working against it. The others around you were like your foundation, just about holding you upright enough to stand together, relying on each other for support. They were like your lifelines, the only reason you could carry the weight of what had happened. The past week was dismal, you all barely eating despite the fairly large amount of food you had, no energy in you to do anything, say anything. Until Woojin broke it.

You were all sitting in the living room, plates full of untouched food and glasses still full of water. “There’s a group,” Woojin started, looking at his phone, ignoring the plate of food on his lap, “they’re called the Dragonflies. They’re making a vaccine.”

His words struck you. There were people still out there with hope?

“We can’t keep living like this!” Woojin exclaimed; it was the first time you had heard him raise his voice like this and it shocked you. “Yes, they’re gone, but do you think they’d want us to live like this? Would Felix want you to mope around all day for him, because I know, for sure, Minho wouldn’t. We’re barely talking to each other! We need to rely on each other now more than ever, but we can barely look one another in the eye.” He ranted, getting up. “I can’t stop thinking about them either, but this isn’t the way to go. We need each other because there’s still hope out there. God damn it, they didn’t die for us to act like this!” He was red in the face, breathing harshly as he sat back down, running a hand through his hair. “They wouldn’t want this.” He looked at each of you; when he looked at you, that spark in his eyes ignited something within you. Felix’s saying, ‘Just a little braver’, meant you had to be stronger than this, especially in desperate times. Woojin was right, you couldn’t carry on like this. You had to be brave. You had to help those that needed saving. You had to find the Dragonflies.

It felt like forever since you had seen this kind of teamwork. Woojin’s speech had re-energised all of you, giving you the boost you needed to get off your butts and work hard. Woojin, Jisung, Seungmin and Jeongin stayed home, searching high and low for more information on the group, whilst the rest of you left the house, hunting for more ammo and weapons. As dodgy as it was, you crept through alleys, figuring they were the best places to look for firearms and such and, true to your thoughts, they were. You had enough money and goods gathered to buy decent weapons, but the alleyways were infested with dead bodies and zombies, guns scattered on the floor. You looted the people that hadn’t managed to survive, taking their guns for yourselves before you made your way back, unharmed.

The others had figured out that the group were residing in a university; you had no clue how they had pieced this information together since the Dragonflies probably wouldn’t have posted it so outrightly, yet the grins on their faces told you they were sure of themselves.

You had one final meal together, chatter kept low yet abundant, and the drastic change in atmosphere soothed you.

As usual, Chan drove, Woojin sitting besides him as they joked, Minho’s jokes about them being a couple running through your head, and, instead of saddening at the thought, you smiled.

“What’s got you so happy?” Changbin nudged, looking at you oddly.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” you joked, facing away from him like you didn’t want to speak.

“But,” he hummed, using a finger to turn your chin towards him, his face even closer than before, “satisfaction brought it back.”

“Do you always have to one-up people?” you huffed, pouting.

“I can’t help it,” he shrugged, grinning and throwing an arm around your shoulders to bring you closer.

“Get a room,” Hyunjin groaned from the opposite side of van.

“Salty because Seungmin’s playing with Jeongin and not you?” Changbin quipped, a smirk on his face.

Even Jisung broke out of his daydream to snicker at Changbin, singing, “Even Binnie’s figured out you love him.”

You laughed when Hyunjin stuck up his middle finger, muttering, “I hate you all.”

“Except Seungmin,” you coughed, said boy finally speaking.

“I can hear you all, you know?”

The Kyung Hee University. After travelling for so long just to get there, you had finally reached it. It looked abandoned, but you figured that that was the look they were going after to deter rebel groups from attacking. You snuck in, crouching behind the tree line to find the best point of entry.

“Shouldn’t we just go through the main entrance?” Jeongin suggested, “I mean, we probably look like a rebel group trying to sneak in, but if we speak to the guards that are most likely, y’know, guarding the entrance, we could get in a lot more easily.”

“That’s probably the smartest thing you’ve ever said,” Seungmin gasped, getting off of the ground.

“Oh God, but what if they shoot us anyways?” Jeongin asked.

“Why are you ruining your own plan?” you asked, looking at him quizzically.

“I didn’t think you guys would actually go along with it,” he replied, “I just want to get out of here, I hate insects.”

You rolled your eyes as he jumped away from some insect, clinging onto Chan.

“Let’s go then!” Woojin announced, leading the way to the entrance.

Jeongin’s plan had worked. There were multiple guards hidden at the entrance, pointing their guns at you. Woojin, with his amazing negotiating skills, convinced them that you were innocent and here to help. The guards had called, who you assumed were, the group’s leaders, a man and woman, but you couldn’t make out their features from the distance. They gestured to the guards and the large doors opened up for you to slip in, before they went back inside the building.

“They’re waiting inside for you.” One guard told you, nodding his head to another guard who led you to a room before leaving. You froze as soon as you entered the room.

The leaders of the Dragonflies were Felix’s parents.

Changbin grabbed your hand, brows furrowed as he turned to you, whispering, “you okay?”

“y/n!” Mrs Lee exclaimed, gasping as she walked in front of your group, “Thank God, you’re all alive!”

Her eyes scanned the group, noticing Hyunjin, Jisung, Seungmin and Jeongin, until they trailed back to you, eyebrows creased. Her eyes frantically looked over your group before she asked, “Where’s Fe?”

You gulped, hesitation and anxiety filling you and you didn’t trust your voice. You shook your head slightly. Her eyes flew to Hyunjin who looked downcast before Seungmin spoke up, “He didn’t make it.”

Changbin’s hand squeezed yours as he turned you so you were facing him, bringing his arm around you. Sorrow filled your body, eyes brimming with unshed tears. You couldn’t bear to see Felix’s parents so distraught, choosing to close your eyes and bury your head in Changbin’s shoulder. He comforted you, rubbing circles on your back, but you could still hear their agonising cries.

“H-How did he-?” Mr Lee started, voice breaking off at the end of his question.

Thankfully, Woojin stepped in. “A rebel group was targeting us.”

They nodded solemnly, and Mrs Lee wiped her tears before plastering on a half-hearted smile. “Well, you kids must be hungry, right? Let’s go eat.”

As Mr Lee led you all down, his wife pulled you back; Changbin turned around, a silent ‘should I come with you?’ but you smiled at him so he knew you would be fine.

“I’m sorry about that,” she spoke gently, and you could see her tears forming once more, “I shouldn’t have asked you like that.”

You shook your head, giving her a small smile, “You couldn’t have known.”

She returned your smile, futilely rubbing away her tears again. “We should join the others,” you suggested, so she could find better comfort in her husband, and she nodded thankfully.

“Thank you for being there for him,” she said, her hand resting on the handle to where the others were. “He always talked about you at home,” she laughed, so many memories filling her head, “I wish I could have been there for him.”

“He was the greatest best friend anyone could’ve asked for,” you replied, “he always had my back, I just wish I could’ve had his at that time.”

“It’s not your fault, y/n.”

“And it’s not yours either,” you emphasised, “but he would have been proud of what you’re doing - finding a vaccine - he just wanted this to be over, and that’s what you’re doing. That’s what we’re doing. Please let us help you. For Felix.”

“For Felix.” She repeated, pushing down the handle.

You sat besides Changbin and Hyunjin, digging into the food they had put on your plate.

“You okay?” Changbin asked, sipping on his drink.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you replied, “you worry too much.”

“Sorry for caring,” he jested, rolling his eyes.

“You better be,” you joked back.

He rolled his eyes again, swinging his arm over your shoulders to bring you closer to him. You didn’t expect him to kiss the top of your head, but he had, and you choked on your drink.

“Seriously, guys?” Hyunjin whined, “I’m trying to eat here, get a room!”

“Changbin,” Jisung started, staring at the man. You’d never seen Jisung look this serious, it was almost intimidating, until he said, “We need to have a serious talk before you pull moves on y/n.”

“Rule number one is no PDA!” Hyunjin interjected, and Jisung and Seungmin both nodded agreeing with him.

“Hey, just remember these rules will apply to you and Seungmin, too!” You announced, laughing when Hyunjin’s face dropped.

“On second hand…”

“So you admit you and Seungmin are a thing?” Chan jumped in, raising his brows suggestively.

“We’re a thing if you and Woojin are.”

All eyes turned to Woojin who just rolled his eyes ever so dramatically before swinging an arm over Chan’s shoulders. “I guess we’re a thing then!”

“Single people for the win!” Jisung exclaimed, high-fiving Jeongin over the table. “Let’s forget these losers.”

You were a strange bunch, brought together through disaster and despair, yet it was nothing short of destiny; an everlasting bond being kindled, blooming with love and trust and pure admiration for one another - that was the only way you could bring together broken hearts. Slowly, the pieces would fit together again, discoloured and damaged but filled with battle scars - your fight to this point wasn’t easy, but that’s what the others were there for. They were there to pull the pieces together when the whole world was pushing them apart.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty damn close.

damn that was,,,, long,,, hope you enjoyed it!!!

a quick heads-up!!! i’m gonna be changing (yikes i wrote changbin first lmao) my url to starryseo soon so pls don’t get confused!!!! i’ll have a lazy day w minho / felix up soon too bc i feel bad for killing 2 ppl off, only minho was supposed to die :((( (but who should i post first?? :0)

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