#Sweet Home Season 1

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Song Kang as Cha Hyun Su

Sweet Home Season 1 (2020)

[persephone-tim]

When the new hyperfixation is so strong your art gets good...... Eun-hyeok my wife

[orchidbloom]

My favorite genre is pretty men covered in blood

[akittyboy]

Another Life (part 6): Green Home

Sweet Home FF | Hyunsu x Eunhyuk

Retrospectively, it never even occurred to Hyunsu that Eunhyuk wasn't planning on leaving together with the rest of the Green Home survivors. 

.

.

.

This memory pulls another one from the recess of his mind. An early one. One that Hyunsu seems to have lost in the backlash caused by his cursed wing, or perhaps it was the greedy monster inside of him that had hoarded it for his own safekeeping, holding any minor spark of hope and desire that Hyunsu might've ever felt like a snare around his neck.

Or maybe it was him, hiding it away instead.

The faded memory is of a fleeting kiss in the dead of the night. Nothing more than a caress, really. A misguided press of lips against his own when the scariest thing was the monsters roving outside, when there was still hope for salvation as indicated by the governing military on the flickering, late-night news and a sense of belonging, a place they could call home.

The Green Home apartment complex, a high-rise in an neglected redevelopment area, has always been a sight for sore eyes with cracks in its walls and untamed gardens full of weeds, yet in this memory it seems to shine brightly. 

For a few weeks it had been Hyunsu's whole world. 

They sit in silence in the cramped arcade room that smells of mold and old sweat, just after another raid of the abandoned apartments upstairs. The setting sun paints them in burning orange through the tiny, reinforced basement window. Hyunsu is exhausted, his body still not fully mended from the fall he took when he got thrown around like a rag doll by one of the nastier monsters, first into a wall and then down the stairs from the tenth floor. There's a tiny furrow nestled between Eunhyuk's fine eyebrows where he kneels in front of him, one wiry hand poised under Hyunsu's chin to keep his face angled under the light. 

The sharp smell of antiseptic is gratifying in the way it cuts through the thick, tense air. Hyunsu doesn't know where to look, brown eyes wide and unblinking as he stares self-consciously at the murky ceiling, while Eunhyuk swipes meticulously with a sanitized cotton pad across his temple with careful strokes, wiping away grime and caked up blood, only to find the skin beneath already healed. 

Eunhyuk sighs and pulls away, throwing the used pad into the bin on the floor next to them with a little more force than might've been necessary, causing Hyunsu to jolt like a startled animal. 

He coils instantly into himself with a strained wheeze, pressing the curve of his spine against the chipped wall while quickly tugging his legs up onto the makeshift cot. The plastic slippers slip off his feet with a loud smack against the floor and Eunhyuk grimaces faintly as he's left to helplessly watch Hyunsu hug his knees tightly to his chest and then push his forehead into the circle of his arms, desperately trying to disappear into the void of his own headspace.

Now that Eunhyuk is done playing caretaker, Hyunsu expects to be left alone so that he can heal in peace. Yet, he can still feel Eunhyuk hover above him when he stands up with a faint squeak of his sneakers and a rustle of his clothes, his piercing gaze burning where it lands on top of Hyunsu's head.

Hyunsu stiffens, steeling himself for a reprimand, a stern talking to for wasting their already meager medical supplies when he doesn't even need them. He's bound to regenerate with or without their help; flesh knitting together into one solid mass and bones cracking, rearranging themselves into place. And sometimes it hurts so damn much that he hopes it'll be his last time. Still, they should've just left him lying at the bottom of the stairs, where he'd landed with a loud smack onto his back, spine fractured in several places, until he's lucid enough to stand on his own again. No one asked them to drag his mangled, lifeless body across the whole damn entrance floor back to the arcade, letting the other residents flock around nosily to watch in disgusted awe. 

No one asked anyone to do anything at all. 

So why is Eunhyuk still here? Hyunsu doesn't need an audience while he wallows in pain.

Nonetheless, Eunhyuk sits down carefully next to Hyunsu's curled up form — a tense ball of green with mismatched socks — and asks in his serious voice, "Does it hurt somewhere else? How are your ribs? You're breathing strange. Let me check."

Hyunsu shrinks immediately away when he senses Eunhyuk's hand hover in the air next to him. He clutches even harder at his elbows, pressing his knees tighter together and urgently shakes his mop of shaggy hair, trying to divert Eunhyuk's unsought concern. 

He doesn't need this sort of fleeting kindness. It will only make him weaker by breathing life into an impossible dream. It's already enough that he has a duty here — protecting all of these people — a fundamental purpose to keep him going. Hyunsu doesn't need more, doesn't even dare to ask. He's not worth it. Not after what happened to his real family.

A sigh and then Eunhyuk scoots away to give him some space, hands resting simply in his own lap as he studies Hyunsu in the dim light, head tilted to the side. 

Eunhyuk is quiet for a few minutes then, letting the dense silence fill in the blanks as he goes through his options; of simply giving up and not dealing with Hyunsu and his fragile self-esteem. There's no time for any delicacies right now. As long as he doesn't turn on them and keeps doing his job of hounding the upper levels for food and other necessities, then it doesn't matter what kind of state or mood he's in. As long as Hyunsu does what he's told to do. That's all they need him for.

But then Eunhyuk's hands curl into fists, blunt nails scraping against denim, as he recalls the way Hyunsu's slack face lit up with the faintest of smiles. It was a fleeting thing that Eunyu managed to coax out of him with her unconventional social skills, delighted to share her questionable knowledge about the world. And Eunhyuk wants to try again. 

After all, Hyunsu isn't really a monster. He's just a broken human, like many other of them. 

The only real monster here is Eunhyuk. 

He knows what the other residents say behind his back.

"Please. Let me check that everything's alright and then you can rest," Eunhyuk presses sternly, naturally slipping into his leader mode, patiently waiting for Hyunsu to come out of his hiding. God knows he's handled enough tantrums with Eunyu.

"Why... do you care?" Hyunsu whispers sluggishly, a death rattle reverberating through his chest with each word and the tiny hairs stand immediately on end along Eunhyuk's forearms at the disturbing sound. "Go away. I promise. I'll be as good as new for the next run." 

Hyunsu's voice is thick, perhaps with tears or perhaps with blood that might be pooling in his lungs. 

Eunhyuk pushes his glasses up his nose with an index finger, critically cataloguing Hyunsu's condition, pulling various textbook diagnoses from memory to try identify whether something might match the mess he has sitting in front of him.

"What? Do you have a death wish?" Eunhyuk taunts then flatly to get some kind of rise out of Hyunsu to gain understanding of his current state. It's hard to tell when his default personality is... well, a wet blanket. "The next supply run is hardly relevant right now. I want to make sure that you are alright. You're important to our group. Everyone's survival depends on y—" 

Eunhyuk breaks off to inhale when he feels oxygen shrink inside the room, Hyunsu's huddling form shrinking along with it, and then tries a little gentler, "We don't know how this whole golden hour thing works. All we know for sure is that infectees have potent healing abilities during this time frame, but they're not impossible to kill, since it's the last outpost before they turn into full fledged monsters. This means that you can still die, we just don't know when or how it works. Do you get it? You can't be constantly rushing into things. If something happens to you..." 

Eunhyuk trails off, letting the silence speak for itself. 

Hyunsu huffs wetly into the circle of his arms, hunched back stuttering with each wheezing breath. He fidgets in his man-made cocoon for a few seconds that seem to stretch into infinity but then finally looks up from in between his messy bangs with a certain air of stubborn determination, eyes hard and a reply on the tip of his tongue.

There's an apprehensive flutter in Eunhyuk's stomach and for half a second he expects to get flipped off, and in sign language at that.

However, Hyunsu freezes up unnaturally before he can even get a sound out, shock rippling across his pale face. He makes a strangled noise, his huge eyes bulging out of their sockets just as all of his joints lock up and his shoulders start to shake uncontrollably, rapidly turning into violent, full body spasms. The loud rattle of his teeth bounces ominously around the walls.

Eunhyuk makes a stifled noise, sitting fully upright in alarm, feet shuffling against the floor as he crowds closer, hands fluttering indecisively in the air around Hyunsu. He doesn't know what to do, hasn't ever seen anything like this before.

But before he manages to make sense of things, Hyunsu's eyes roll back into his skull and he throws his head back, smacking it straight into the wall behind him, causing the cracks in the dried out paint to deepen — run higher up the wall. A strange, gurgling sound comes out of Hyunsu then, lodged deep within his chest, followed by a squelch and a pop of viscous bubbles when a blob of thick, slimy blood wells up between his lips. It dribbles sluggishly past the swell of his lips and then down his chin, making its way down his wiry, stretched out throat in glistening rivulets. 

Hyunsu gasps and then gulps helplessly, the knot in his throat bobbing as he tries to swallow down whatever's left of the blood in his mouth. Fuck. One of his broken ribs must've punctured a lung.

"Shit. You're bleeding." Eunhyuk grabs blindly after the plastic box with first aid supplies somewhere next to him on the cot, reaching for Hyunsu with his other. "Where does it hurt? Cha Hyunsu?"

Hyunsu only makes a wet gurgling noise, blinking back stinging tears as he clamps a trembling hand over his slick mouth, covering his blood-stained teeth. His terrified eyes slide shakily sideways, landing on Eunhyuk where he flounders around — unusually panicked. Hyunsu can't decide whether to fold over and disgracefully cough up half a lung right there in front of this four-eyed devil or just bear with it and swallow down the wet, lukewarm blood that keeps rising to the back of his throat, pooling on the flat of his tongue, flooding his mouth with a tangy taste of iron. Now that the healing process has kicked in, his body is viciously rejecting, pushing out all excess fluid that has accumulated from the internal damage to his organs. 

However, it doesn't take long for the rejected blood to rise up to his nasal cavity and for Hyunsu to start choking on his very own bodily fluid, blood dripping from his aching nose, closing all possible paths for air. His head begins to spin madly, nauseatingly, when the lack of oxygen finally gets to him and at this point Hyunsu purely blanks out, his vision reduced to twirling pinpricks of white as he keels over sideways, straight into Eunhyuk's arms.

For a while, there's nothing but the overwhelmingly loud pounding of his heart inside his ears and the stinging burn within his swelling chest as he gags and coughs relentlessly, spewing blood all over himself, fat drops of red with dark, slimy chunks of something splattering onto the floor and on Eunhyuk's sneakers, on his clothes, making a complete mess out of everything.

Hyunsu isn't sure how much time has passed when he feels a steady hand rubbing his back in soothing circles and then a cool palm pressing briefly against the sweaty column of his neck, where he sits slumped against Eunhyuk's side — who had for some reason decided to stay with him through the whole gruesome episode. At least Hyunsu didn't have his skull bashed in this time or any of his other bones sticking out inconveniently. Seeing blood however, in one way or another, wasn't as groundbreaking anymore.

"Cha Hyunsu? Are you awake?"

Feeling movement against the cradle of his shoulder — when Hyunsu drowsily rubs his forehead against him — Eunhyuk turns inwards and carefully cups the side of Hyunsu's clammy face, nudging it upwards from the guise of shadows to inspect his current state, to make sure that Hyunsu is back with him. Their eyes lock in the gloom. There's clotted blood on Hyunsu's chin, full lips smeared with dark red. Hyunsu's irises are wholly black, glinting like two pools of fresh ink, pulling Eunhyuk in.

With tresses of mattered hair curling wildly around his ashen face and dark strands sticking to his sweaty forehead, Hyunsu looks thoroughly wrecked, completely defeated by this world, by his own infected body, by the monsters inside and outside.

Eunhyuk's lips tighten into a harsh line, a strange caricature of a reassuring smile that pulls strangely at the lines around his mouth. Trying not to alarm Hyunsu, he slowly raises his free hand to swipe a cotton pad across Hyunsu's lower face, across his pliant lips and chin, carefully wiping the worst of it away. Once he's done, he throws the soiled pad away but leaves his other hand on Hyunsu's cheek, thumb swiping along the thin, grayish skin under his eye, looking at the strange half-human before him — who just might outlive them all. But at what cost? Can he even make it alone? 

Eunhyuk's resolve softens. Hyunsu should survive. For all of them. He's the only one who can.

There's a flicker of something alive within Eunhyuk's dead-eyed stare, beyond the blood-splattered lenses of his glasses, that sends a spike of adrenaline through Hyunsu's veins, lighting up his brain. 

Eunhyuk had stayed. He stayed when everyone else had left. 

And while everyone usually stare at him with fright and resentment clear in their eyes, Eunhyuk simply just looks at Hyunsu, always with a faint frown like he has machines running analyses on everything inside his mind — the way he looks pretty much at anything and anyone. Eunhyuk might not be the most forthcoming or sociable, but he doesn't treat Hyunsu any different from the other Green Home residents.

Is this what you want? The monster whispers against his ear, sitting on Hyunsu's other side, grinning widely from ear to ear, white teeth shining in the midnight gloom. 

Hyunsu blinks, body twitching. His bony fingers dig into Eunhyuk's thigh, dirty nails scraping across the coarse fabric of his jeans — drenched in Hyunsu's own blood. Something twists deep inside of him. A need. Hyunsu subconsciously tilts his chin upwards, a faint nudge against his mind that he can't control.

In turn, Eunhyuk's keen eyes rake beseechingly across Hyunsu's vulnerable expression in the poignant silence that for a precious moment shields them from the rest of the world — a fragile dream within a nightmare. A heartbeat passes between them and then Eunhyuk ducks down, squishing Hyunsu's soft cheek in the curve of his palm to hold him still, and lightly presses his mouth against Hyunsu's slick lips that taste of iron. A ghost of a kiss. A consolation prize. 

Hyunsu doesn't even have the time to close his eyes, nor feel repulsed by it. Too shocked that it even happened at all. He doesn't know what he really was asking for, when he tipped his head up. The monster giggles obnoxiously next to him.

As it is, neither of them get to linger in the moment. A mad jingle of bells erupts from the main entrance hall, followed by several shouts that force them to jolt apart from each other, eyes wild in the dark, instantly on alert for the next threat that might be jeopardizing the safety of their home. 

Hyunsu springs to his feet, shoulders hunched, already clutching at his electric spear with both of his hands while expectantly glancing over at Eunhyuk with his pitch-black eyes, waiting for him to take the lead. Eunhyuk adjusts his glasses as he stands up and carefully doesn't comment how Hyunsu forgets to wear his slippers as they make their way to the main hall, the fabric of his socks softening his footsteps. 

Once the imminent danger is out of the way without any serious causalities, they never talk about the kiss. Of what use would it be? There's no time for such feeble things when merely staying alive, being able to wake up the very next day, is already a novelty. Nonetheless, Eunhyuk always makes sure to be on watch in the camera room whenever Hyunsu goes off on supply runs thereafter, keenly following his progress from across the wall of flickering silver screens.

<< previous part | next part >>

[inky-evergreen]

Just finished watching the first season of Sweet Home with my parents and it was GREAT! I mean almost all my favorite characters died and I was crying my eyes out but it was still great :3

[iamcatmansblog]

In my sweet home era OH MY FUCKING GOD THE SHOW THAT IT IS????????????????????????

[planet-reblog]

This is soooo f-Ing cool istg—

Sweet Sweet Green Home

—–

Just finished watching S1 and I’m already dying for the S2 PLZ HLP

[jarpadandjensens]

#SamWeek2024 || Day Two : Home [@suncaptor @seasononesam ]

[neo-zone]

Anyway, more tease and sneak peak for Sweet Home season 3

Gonna put this "keep reading" in case some people don't wanna be spoiled

Interesting things to note :

Hyun-su's monster side is still in control at season 3

It seems that the main conflicts will be Hyun-su vs Eun-hyeok and Hyun-su vs Bamseom Neohumans (including Wui-myeong ofc)

Hyun-su's real self will be absent, as he resided to the back of his consciousness to rest after nonstop batch of trauma he was forced to deal with. How long it is, well, we will only know when season 3 is released

Hyun-su's monster side seems to only do what real Hyun-su thought/would do rather than acting on his own personal interest/gain

More confirmation of Hyun-su x Eun-yu

The ambiguous potential of Eun-hyeok and Eun-yu's plot point not having a happy ending

Ah, fuck. I guess my fear about antagonist Eun-hyeok really gonna come true 🫠🫠🫠🫠 And what the fuck is the "we don't know if it's gonna be happy ending or not"???? OH, COME ON 😭😭😭😭😭

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Sweet Home Season 1 (2020)

[t4kara]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ~ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

I'll be honest, I don't exactly know how to write any of this properly. Since this is my first time writing it will most likely be quite bad so I'm sorry if there are any spelling errors or if it doesn't make logical sense, I'm also writing on mobile so the formatting might be different on other devices than how it is for me so, please keep that in mind! However, I'm open to any criticism in the comments! Also please don't post my content anywhere else (without giving credits)!

Enjoy~

Word count: 591

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ~ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

~ Cha Hyun-su (dating) Scenario ~

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ~ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Based on Season 1:

A Blessing

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ~ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You're both sitting in the quarantine room on the couch after Hyun-su came back from getting supplies due to Eun-hyeok and some of the other survivors request, during the supply run he had gotten injured by an monster.

Although he regenerates quite quickly you still decided to place some bandages over some of the wounds that would take a little while longer to heal. He told you not to waste them since he would be healed soon enough, you insisted saying it was the least you could do for him since the others didnt seem to pay his injuries any second thought, although you knew they were just scared of him and the chance he could possibly hurt them, you thought it didn't excuse the way they were treating him.

Once you had finished bandaging his wound the two of you simply sat in a comfortable silence, while you leant your head on his shoulder and gently tracing the scars on his right wrist, his gaze was following your hands movements, you knew the story of how he had made the scars and the reason as to why. When he first told you the story of them, he expected you to look at him disgusted at how he had done that. He thought you'd see him the way he saw himself but you assured him that it wasn't his fault for doing that to himself and that you loved him regardless of his scars and in fact you had even said you found them beautiful, like you did every part of him.

You'd never forget how flustered he was in that moment you told him that his scars were beautiful, his face was bright red even his ears were too. He couldn't even look at you, far to embarrassed since he wasn't used to compliments in general, yet one about something such as his scars, something so personal to him had made his brain go into overdrive and he had became a complete flustered mess. (although of course you couldn't complain because he looked adorable)

You were just subconsciously tracing his scars with your fingertips. You hadn't yet noticed how his eyes had shifted from watching your hands movement to simply admiring your face, the way your lips looked so soft, the gentle expression that your face held, the unspoken love that was swirling around your (beautiful) eyes.

He was sure of it at this point, you came into his live at the toughest of times, like a small light that had chased away a darkness that was trying to consume his soul and mind, he was convinced you was a blessing sent by a unknown god that had heard his silent prayers for something, someone, to save him. He was forever grateful for whatever god had sent you. He felt as if he didn't deserve you but he didn't want to let you go, he didn't know if that made him selfish but rightfully he didn't care either, he was grateful to have someone like you, someone like an angel and he was even more grateful that you had chosen him to hold your heart, to keep it safe.

He was sure that you were his one and only, his other half, his light to his own darkness that plagued his soul, you were his reason to survive, even if he was infected you was his reason to try and survive this new formed world. As corny as that sounded in his mind, he was sure that was the case.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ~ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

END

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ~ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ~ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

I have no real idea if this even makes any logical sense since I finished writing this at around 3am on a friday! But if it does and you'd like more leave a comment and a heart! (Or don't nobody will force you too!) Please remember not to copy or repost my work on any other sites and claim it as your own thank you!

Have a good night/day, lovelies!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ~ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

[stevie-petey]

Blurb Idea:

First time Steve saw reader? Or other way around!

🫶

hi dear !! gonna do the first time reader saw steve since steves first time seeing her can be found in this chapter !

enjoy <3

"whos that guy with all that hair?" you nudged jonathan to get his attention. theres a boy a few seats away from you in the lunchroom. hes surrounded by all the kids youve deemed as "popular". he has his head lazily thrown back with a relaxed smile on his face and for some reason he interests you.

jonathan shoves a sandwich in his mouth, which grosses you out. its been a few days of friendship with the guy, so youre still learning all his gross habits. when he finally responds, his mouth is so full of food that all you can hear is, "stebe herentun."

"who?"

he swallows. "steve harrington. hes a year older than us. bad news."

you look over at steves table again, frowning. bad news? the guy looks like he wouldnt hurt a fly. "we sure hes so bad?"

jonathan eyes almost pop out of his head. "yes, im sure, y/n! he hangs out with those assholes from yesterday."

this makes you frown even more. yesterday, you had to throw your carton of milk at some idiots who were bullying jonathan. they had been calling him all these lame names, like poor and loser boy, without any ounce of creativity.

blegh.

youve decided that whoever steve harrington is, if hes friends with those kids from yesterday, then you want nothing to do with him.

but then, from the corner of your eye, you see steve bend down to pick up some trash one of his friends have mindlessly thrown onto the floor and then walk it over to the trashcan. your eyes follow him, you watch as he separates himself from his group without so much as a huff, as if hes perfectly happy to be doing the right thing.

then, after steve has thrown the trash away, you see him apologize to the janitor for it, giving the old man a small wave as he does so.

huh.

"yeah, we dont like steve harrington." jonathan says, going back to his sandwich.

you hum at your friend, not really paying attention to him now. youre still watching steve, who has rejoined his friends and once again has resumed his suave and laid back composure. hes once again too cool for it all.

interesting

"yeah, alright." you finally say and return back to your own meal.

youre not exactly sure who steve harrington is, but maybe no one else does, either.

[sweethome-thoughts]

Ui-Myeong : My hungry ass couldn't be a brain surgeon

Hyun-Su : What do you mean ? What do you mean by that ?

[akittyboy]

Another Life (part 5): the end

Sweet Home FF | Hyunsu x Eunhyuk

Hyunsu doesn't understand what's going on, doesn't understand the sick feeling twisting in his gut, the strange thundering of his heart that resonates through his whole body like a shockwave. The monster stirs finally inside of him, dark and smooth, rearing its ugly head. And for a little while Hyunsu doesn't even remember where he is, eyes glazing over.

.

.

Wet snowflakes whirl through the cold air, finding their way inside of the collapsing structure of Green Home apartments. Everyone has already fled the building through the underground tunnel. It's just Hyunsu there, clothes in tatters, body and mind shattered, standing barefoot under the damaged alcove of the first floor entrance, right where the reinforced truck had rammed straight into the building.

Unfazed by the blasts of military fire, igniting with bright flares somewhere far off in the murky distance, Hyunsu stares blankly at Yeongsu's pink fleece scarf wrapped around his arm. It's a gentle reminder to keep himself warm, but he's cold. And alone. Exactly what he's always wished to be; for everyone to just disappear and stop tormenting him.

Even so, he never meant for his intrusive thoughts to become everyone's reality. 

Was it his fault — all of this too? This strange apocalypse? 

After all, so many people have already died as a result of Hyunsu's incompetence. He'd been too late to save Jaeheon and the one to let Uimyeong in. He'd killed Han Dusik with his bare hands. And now, how many more would have to die because of him? Maybe Hyunsu should've jumped off a bridge, just like Kim Dohun edged him to, plunging straight into ice-cold water, letting the harsh streams rip his body apart, before any of this could even begin. If he hadn't been such a coward, maybe then his family would still be alive. If only he hadn't foolishly hoped for something to change; for his cowardly friends to grow a backbone or perhaps his parents to see past their own selfish greed, past their superficial fear of not being able to live up to social norms. If only he could — but he couldn't. 

It's unfair. 

What had he done that was so wrong? Why was he worth less? Why did he have to stay silent and just take it?

Why couldn't he just kill them all?

It that what you want?

Dazed, Hyunsu still manages to catch movement out of the corner of his eye and his messy head turns sluggishly around, shoulders curled inward, legs tense and ready to spring. It's hard to tell what's real and what's merely the demon lurking inside his head when the cacophony of wicked whispers intensify into a surging roar, bleeding straight into his thoughts and clogging everything with KILL! KILL! KILL!

His right hand curls into a tight fist, nails digging into his palm. He can feel his skin bristling and bubbling, splitting apart along the length of his forearm as shards start to push through the scar, an agonizing burn forming at the base of his spine all the while his body fights against the unnatural change. Whether Hyunsu wants it or not, his body is ready to fight, to smash, to throw the impending threat around. 

His teeth ache, so he clenches harder.

But it's just Eunhyuk, dirty jeans and red flannel. A shard of light splinters from the bright military beams outside and skitters with a harsh glint across his glasses, briefly shielding Eunhyuk's eyes from view. As the leader of their ragtag team of residents, reduced to nothing but mere scraps in the span of a few hours, he still manages to stand tall and unyielding like a warrior amongst the surrounding rubble, thin lips pressed into a tight line. 

Keeping his gaze on Hyunsu, Eunhyuk takes a wary step in his direction, all the while yanking on the thin wire connected to his earbuds, ripping both pieces of plastic from his ears when the shrieking signal reaches an unbearable volume, piercing through his brain, warning him about the monster in close vicinity.

And somehow, seeing a familiar face amidst the ruins of their home, no matter how ambiguous their relationship has been, makes Hyunsu's whole world turn on its axis, rewinding everything that's ever happened. The voices stop. His knees buckle as he begins to crash like a deadweight to the ground, but Eunhyuk is there to catch him.

They both stagger to the side as Eunhyuk gathers Hyunsu's gangly limbs into his arms and holds him in a bone-crushing grip; an arm around his crumbling waist and a surprisingly steady hand fisted into his greasy hair. Slightly taller, Hyunsu folds easily around him, putting the full weight of his uncoordinated limbs onto Eunhyuk.

It feels familiar, Hyunsu notes vaguely from within the crook of Eunhyuk's neck. Yet he hasn't been in such close proximity — that didn't entail killing one another — with anyone in weeks, months, maybe even years. Not even his mother hugged him like this. Hyunsu's heart misses a beat at this particular thought, followed by a pang of sharp pain through his chest when a sea of white chrysanthemums flashes through his mind — identical black stripes running across three picture frames.

Thankfully, he doesn't get much time to linger within those awful memories when a powerful explosion shakes whatever's left of Green Home apartments with renewed force. Eunhyuk swiftly ducks his head with a muffled swear word but he doesn't stop clutching tightly at Hyunsu, tugging him even closer with a harsh grip on his neck to keep him safe, Eunhyuk's palm sticky with sweat and grime against Hyunsu's skin. The bearing walls groan alarmingly as more debris rains over them with big chunks of cement blocks and plaster clattering to the ground, peppering their hair with flecks of white, forcing both of them to inhale a mixture of smoke and cement dust that whirls over heir heads in hazy billows. 

Huynsu's chest wheezes with each agonizing breath. He can feel Eunhyuk's ribcage stutter alarmingly as well and it sends a spike of irrational worry through him; Eunhyk is human. He can't die. Not yet. Not like this. Hyunsu grinds his teeth to hold back the ripping wail that suddenly wants to crawl up his throat, and clings only tighter to Eunhyuk instead. 

Maybe if he could just get control over his wing? Then he'd be able to shield them both from death and destruction.

"I repeat, you're all surrounded," an autonomous voice booms from the outside, cruelly invading their space. "Surrender the infected and we will spare your lives!"

A helicopter whirs far too close by the gaping hole in the wall, the loud noise scattering across the ruins of Green Home. A beam of bright light swipes against the bare walls in search of them.

Hyunsu panics, pushed into a corner like some wild animal without an actual choice of his own, his whole body starts to spasm in Eunhyuk's arms. His right arm twitches, flesh ripping apart and knotting back together as he fights the rampaging monster inside of him. It's like a rabid dog, trying to tear itself off its leash, scrambling madly to the front of Hyunsu's mind, set on taking control.

Let me out, the monster demands. Let me out so I can KILL everyone, and then you'll be free... don't you want that?

Don't you want that, Hyunsu?

Hyunsu can't control it when his head snaps back, lips already parted, eyes glazing over into pure darkness.

But then Eunhyuk's low whisper cuts through the chaos inside his head as he traps Hyunsu's trashing body within the circle of his arms.

"You're okay. Everything will be alright," he soothes.

Those words are an obvious lie, yet Hyunsu can't help the gasping breath of air that suddenly finds its way down and then back up again from the very depths of his chest. The tormenting storm settles inside of him. Everything feels suddenly clearer, quieter. And with the decrepit sense of relief come the hot tears, rapidly welling up in his eyes, causing his vision to blur. He can't help it. His sanity is nothing but a thin, silver thread struggling in the wind.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles as he crumbles, voice thick with tears. "I'm sorry."

Eunhyuk is the only one to ever look at him like a real person; someone to depend on rather than an inconvenience, even now, when Hyunsu could so easily hurt him.

Hyunsu squeezes closer with a wet sob, burrowing his damp face even deeper into Eunhyuk's shoulder, hiding from whatever's out there. The military. The monsters. An unknown future. A life without Eunhyuk. Death. His trembling fingers clutch at the stiff, unwashed fabric of Eunhyuk's shirt as he clings to him, finding home in the curve of his neck, breathing in Eunhyuk's comforting scent of sweat and musk and something so purely human, so alive. It sets his insides on fire, pooling like liquid gold in the pit of his stomach... but for what purpose? 

Hyunsu knows that he eventually — soon — now has to leave, give himself up for the sake of this decaying world, to at least save the others. Save Eunhyuk and Eunyu.

He was planning to die anyway, had even set a date for it. With all things considered, he was already a dead man walking. 

Yet, he yearns for someone to save him, to reach a hand out through the dense darkness holding him in its embrace and whisk him away from this nightmare. Even back then, when they held him down and punched and kicked him over and over again during recess, or when they poured dirty mop water over his head in the school bathrooms, he wished that someone would say something — anything. Take his side, see him, make him feel human and not like an abomination, who deserved to be treated like that to repent for whatever unknown crimes he's committed.

And Eunhyuk did. It might not have come from a good place initially but he still took a gamble and placed his life in Hyunsu's hands. He'd seen Hyunsu as an equal, as someone capable enough to trust in times of need, when his own family never even tried.

This belief sparks a strange desire inside of Hyunsu. 

Something vile and shiny crawls in under his skin and stays there, simmering under the surface.

In the end, he pulls away, forlornly watching Eunhyuk's arms fall back to his sides, which causes a puff of dust rise into the air from his clothes. Hyunsu wipes awkwardly at the dampness clouding his eyes with the heel of his hand, making an even worse mess out of his dirty face than before, and then carefully unwinds Yeongsu's scarf from around his right arm. He doesn't want to ruin it, although it's pretty much soiled with blood and dust already.

"I should've given it back," he whispers, voice hoarse, as he presses the soft fabric into Eunhyuk's hand, fingers eerily cold when they brush against Eunhyuk's. It's just a piece of fleece but it feels like something else, something more. 

Eunhyuk stares at him pensively through the cracked lenses of his glasses, but then nods once in understanding while clutching at the pink scarf. The muscles strain around his mouth and his chin quivers faintly as he holds back whatever's eating at him, clawing viciously at his insides, looking for a way out. Eunhyuk's nose stings, warming with an oncoming tickle of blood, but he holds that back too.

And perhaps there are things Eunhyuk could've done better, words he should've said, but none of that matters now. It's the end of both of them anyway. 

"It's not too late," Eunhyuk tries nonetheless, even if he doesn't believe it himself. But what would he be, if he wasn't a master at extracting himself from his personal feelings?

Huysun shakes his head sluggishly in reply, expression already vacant, mind miles away from the present. He has already made up his mind and Eunhyuk's heart sinks, shoulders dropping in disappointment. Maybe he did believe in his own lie, after all.

Hyunsu's eyes are completely black, gleaming like onyx marbles in the dark, when he strides catatonically past Eunhyuk, through the main Green Home entrance and finally steps out into the illuminating snow, where the biting wind instantly tugs and bats at the tattered scraps of his clothes. Where Eunhyuk can hear gun shots being fired.

Retrospectively, it never even occurred to Hyunsu that Eunhyuk wasn't planning on leaving together with the rest of the Green Home survivors.

<< previous part | next part >>

[lostiolite]

Theres a small piece of me that dies inside when i see people tag a fic under the sweet home drama AND webtoon even tho they are two DIFFERENT storylines... (And characters)

"'Sweet home season 3-' STOP! 🤚🤚🤚 remove the the [sweet home (manhwa)] tag RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!" i say, shaking my head in disgust.

[blmpff]

they did this for me: ripped black suit, no shirt, and blood 👌