Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Seo Changbin was a student at JYP University doing a degree as a Nutritionist. The man had always loved food and wanted others to understand that food can taste good and also be good for their bodies. He’d spent hours upon hours of his free time learning the nutritional values of many of his favourite meals and always tweaked some recipes to fit his standards. As he was a first year, he was only just finding his way around the campus, figuring out where all his lectures would be. He decided to check out all the lecture halls before finding his dorm room so he didn’t fumble when trying to find his lecture hall. As his suitcase trundled behind him and he’d gotten a feel for the halls and corridors of the university, he bumped into a taller man with a shoulder-length blond hush-cut.

“Ah, I’m so sorry!” Changbin held his hand out to the boy who was now on the floor, who took it with grace, pulling himself up and dusting himself. Changbin noticed the eyebrow piercing immediately, the high cheekbones the man stunted and the fine figure the man had. If he weren’t so worried for the man, he would have swooned. “I’m Seo Changbin, I apologise for bumping into you.”

The man grinned and licked his lips to respond, a glint of metal poking through his lips.

“Hwang Hyunjin. I’m okay, don’t worry.” He held a hand out for Changbin to shake, which he did. Hyunjin looked him up and down before taking his hand away and bringing it to rest on his hip. “Though, I wouldn’t mind if you took me out for dinner as an apology.” He flirted with Changbin, grinning down at the boy. Changbin didn’t know what to do except blush and stutter.

“Ah, well, you see, I’m new, I don’t know what I’m doing yet and also there’s like-“ He was cut off by a long, slender finger against his lips, forcing him to stop talking. Hyunjin smiled at him and took his finger away.

“Ah, it’s all good, don’t worry!” He watched as the shorter boy pulled his suitcase closer to himself. “I’m new too, have you just arrived?” He asked, wondering what Changbin wore when he wasn’t in a full black outfit.

Changbin nodded and looked at the wall, noticing the winning art-piece of the university’s Fine Arts department. He asked, “Are you an art student here?”

Hyunjin smiled and fiddled with his many rings. He turned to Changin and put a hand on his shoulder before saying, “Welcome to the university, Seo Changbin.” He gripped his shoulder before letting go and wandering off down the halls and disappearing from Changbin’s sight. The dark-haired boy thought about why Hyunjin hadn’t answered his question, but shrugged it off in the end before continuing down the hallways until he made it to the exit.

Whilst he was walking through the flower meadow on his way to the dorm buildings, be had to stop and admire a stranger who was smelling the flowers. Technically, students weren’t allowed to venture into the flower meadow, but this beautiful blue-haired boy with freckles was stood shamelessly in the middle of the meadow, smelling the flowers to his heart’s content. Changbin watched for a few more seconds before continuing his walk to the dorms, keeping a mental image of the blue-haired boy.

As he shunted himself and his suitcase through the doors of the first two-story dormitory, he realised he didn’t know which building he was supposed to be in. He pulled out his phone and ran through the entrance email before realising he was supposed to be on the other side of campus, where the slightly older dorms stood. He groaned and turned around, this time bumping into an older student.

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I keep doing this!” This time, thankfully, no one fell over and Changbin bowed slightly to apologise. The boy he’d bumped into shook his head and waved his hands.

“Ah, no it’s all fine, don’t worry about it! These things happen, but we’re okay.” He clasped his hands in front of him and bowed back to Changbin. “Ah, new students are on the other-“

“Yeah, other side of campus. Only just remembered.” Changbin waved his phone a bit before making his way back to the door and shuffling out, his suitcase before him. As he walked past the flower meadow again, he noticed the freckled boy had disappeared. He looked around as he walked, hoping to find a glimpse of blue hair as he walked, but found nothing as he passed through the middle section of the school again.

After some walking and a few smiles having been thrown his way, Changbin made it to the older dorms. He made a bee-line to the tattered sofas in the main reception area so he could sit and give his feet a break from all the walking he was doing. He wouldn’t lie, but he had thought the university was smaller than it actually was. He smiled to himself as he remembered his welcome from Hyunjin and wondered when he’d next see the blond boy.

Just as he thought this, Hyunjin sat himself on the sofa opposite Changbin and crossed his legs, leaning an elbow on his thigh to seem a bit closer to the darker haired boy. Changbin brightened up immediately at the sight of someone he almost knew.

“Hello, Changbin.”

“Hiya, Hyunjin.” The two smiled at each other until a tall, brown-haired boy sat down hard on the far end of Changbin’s sofa, engrossed in his phone. Both boys eyed up the newer company until Hyunjin plucked up the courage to ask for the boy’s name.

“Lee Minho.” Was the response, as Minho didn’t even bother to stop texting. Hyunjin rolled his eyes before grabbing a glue-stick from his bag and throwing it in the direction of the newer boy. It wasn’t his fault that the glue-stick literally went straight to Minho’s forehead.

Minho glared at Hyunjin, eyes wide like a rabbit’s. Hyunjin stuck his tongue out and rolled his eyes.

“Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine?” He asked Minho, leaning back into the cushions of the sofa. Before Changbin could take another breath, another person made themselves present, leaning on the cushions behind Changbin.

“What’s this about sunshine?” The voice was deep and Changbin couldn’t help but think it was the voice of an angel. He turned around to see the owner of such an angelic voice, only to be shocked when he was met with a slim, freckled face that sported a soft smile and was framed by blue hair. “I’m Lee Yongbok, but you can just call me Felix.” Changbin raised an eyebrow in confusion. “My English name is Felix.” He confirmed. As the group nod almost in unison, Hyunjin made a sound of excitement.

“Oh, you’re that model! The Louis Vuitton model!” He got up happily and walked around the sofa to admire the boy before him. Though Hyunjin was taller than the blue-haired boy, he made a show of his admiration, complimenting Felix’s nose and freckles, talking about the darkness of his eyes, and simply tried his hardest to make Felix blush.

“Ah, I’m only a clothing model! It’s not like I’m on the catwalk or anything.” He smiled, his blush making his freckles all the more noticeable. Hyunjin grinned and leaned down to meet Felix at eye level.

“Oh, but you are the prettiest man I’ve ever laid my eyes on. I could just eat you up, sunshine.” He said softly, making Felix smile and hide his face in his hands. Changbin shook his head at the show the two were making and turned to Minho.

“Are they being serious?” He jabbed a thumb at the very flirtatious Hyunjin and the rather embarrassed Felix, but didn’t receive anything more than a shrug. Changbin sighed and folded his arms, not thinking he could survive a whole day with these lot. Before he could make a move up to his dorm number, the door he came through slammed and an older boy groans and heavily slumped into the seat where Hyunjin was originally sat. Changbin made a face at the boy, watching as his sneer turns into a grin.

“Oh, hello there! I’m Bang Chan, but you can just call me Chan.” Chan held a hand out for Changbin to shake, which he did. Changbin didn’t need to feel through his hands to know that this boy worked out, he can tell by the biceps the boy had. He felt a rush at the thought of someone who he could happily work out with.

“Seo Changbin. It’s nice to meet you.” He took his hand back and leaned on to his knees. “So, uh, what’s got you in such a mood?” He asked, fiddling with his thumbs. Chan shook his head.

“This is the first year’s dorms, but I’ve been placed here as an ‘Elder’, apparently.” He shook his head once more before grimacing at Changbin. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I just wanted to live in the fancier buildings.” Changbin shrugs and smirks.

“No, no, I get it. You don’t wanna be stuck with the newbies.” He leaned back into the sofa and locked his hands together on his stomach. “Yeah, I get why you’d wanna leave.” Chan grinned at the boy sitting in front of him before he looked him up and down – what is with everyone suddenly looking at him all over? Chan licked his lips before moving his attention to the boy sat next to Changbin, Minho.

“Oi, Minho, try not to be a dick to these poor kids.” He said, giving Minho a warning glare before the boy gives a very cat-like grin.

“I won’t promise anything, Channie.” He warned back, turning back to his phone to continue where he’d left off. Changbin pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows before deciding not to say anything, which was probably for the best.

Chan rose to his feet fast, making everyone in the room turn to him. He glanced around and remembered he needed something in his pocket, which he spent an abnormal amount of time searching for. Once he pulled out a piece of small paper, he looked around the room before speaking up.

“Right-oh. I need these people to follow me to their shared dorm rooms. It may seem weird, but these are four bedroomed floors, so eight people per dorm. Altogether, in this building, there are twenty four students.” He clears his throat before reading out names. All the other boys in the room who Changbin hadn’t seen yet turned their heads to hear Chan speak. “Seo Changbin,” He glanced at the boy sat in front of him and smiled, “Lee Felix, Hwang Hyunjin, Han Jisung, Yang Jeongin, Kim Seungmin and Lee Minho.” He looked around at a few others who’d brought themselves closer.

Changbin glanced at the boys he’d be sharing the dorms with and grinned. They seemed to be an alright bunch, just by looking at them, but then again he couldn’t be too sure. As he grabbed his own things, Felix spoke up with that delightfully deep voice of his.

“Ah, Bang Chan, you only read off 7 names.” He stated, waiting for the other to read out some other boys name. Instead, Chan grinned.

“Correct, Lee Felix. That is because you’re all dorming with me.”

Minho groaned and stood up, bringing his bag to his shoulder and stalking up the stairs before Chan chuckled and ran his hand over his face. “Oh, he’s gonna be so pissed off at the uni for this.”

As they climbed the stairs, Hyunjin practically hung off Changbin, complaining about the amount of stairs in the building being way too many for his poor little legs. Changbin sighed in wonder, what sort of man at Hyunjin’s height and figure would worry about stairs? He continued to let the taller boy hold on to him until they reached the top floor, which turned out to be a lengthy yet spacious corridor behind a heavy set of double doors, four doors at each corner, leading into an open kitchen and living space. As Changbin awed at the fully furbished living room, he turned to see Minho swinging open the kitchen’s cabinet doors and sighing heavily.

“Channie, still no cooking supplies.” He stated quite loudly, not even turning to find the boy, instead slamming the cabinets shut. Changbin heard a grunt from one of the rooms as he sighed himself into the very comfy sofa. As he made himself comfortable, Chan walked into the kitchen space, typing out a very passive aggressive text.

“Are they being for real? Do they just expect first years to bring their home kitchen utensils with them?” He held a hand to his forehead and shook his head. Changbin grinned to himself as he leapt up from the sofa and ran to his bag which he’d dropped at the entrance of the corridor. As he made his way back with his duffel bag, which made a worrying clanking noise, he saw Chan and Minho tilt their heads. They stared in disbelief as he dumped his home cooking supplies on the large kitchen table.

Chan chuckled and ran his hand over his face before turning around to laugh loudly. Minho shook his head in mock-disappointment.

“I’m here to study Nutrition, so I thought it’d be better if I brought my own stuff.” He said as he sorted out the pots and pans into size order. Minho placed both hands on the edge of the tabletop as he watched Changbin sort all the appliances.

“I think you and I are gonna be on good terms.” Minho grinned all cat-like at Changbin, who scrunched his face up in happiness. As Minho helped Changbin put the pots and pans into designated cabinets, Felix strolled into the kitchen space, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

“You thought you were the only one who brought kitchen supplies?” He held out large baking trays, a set of long ones for thin bakes and a set of variously deep ones, likely for cakes and sweet treats. Changbin and Minho grinned at each other before making Felix help them in setting the kitchen up. Chan watched in amazement as Minho held his hand above Changbin’s head so the shorter didn’t hit his head of the countertop after placing trays in the lower cabinets.

Chan hadn’t seen Minho this polite since the beginning of his first year, before all the shit he went through during his lectures. He smiled to himself as he heard giggles echoing in his ears from the three boys. He had a feeling this little group would become close very quickly.

He walked through the corridor before stopping at an open door, where Seungmin was sat on the edge of a neat bed staring out the window. His suitcase sat between his legs and his other two bags laid on the top end of the bed, squishing the pillows.

“You alright there, Seungmin?” Chan leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. Seungmin smiled softly before rolling his eyes and turning to Chan.

“Yes, Dad. I’m fine.” He smiled sarcastically, to which Chan chuckled at. The younger boy likely didn’t expect the laughs as his face fell and he paled slightly.

“Aw, you’re funny. Don’t get too lost up there.” Chan raised his eyebrows and pointed to his head. Seungmin just nodded in response before turning to look out the window again. Chan turned again to the corridor, where Jeongin was still stood at the entranceway. “You not coming in?” He asked quietly, gesturing openly to where Changbin and Felix were hitting each other softly with frying pans to Minho’s annoyance.

“Not yet. I’m a whole two, three years behind you guys. I don’t wanna intrude.” Jeongin was quiet, too quiet for Chan’s liking. Instead of letting Jeongin deliberately distance himself from the group he’d be living with for the whole year, Chan took the younger boy’s suitcase from his shaking hands and carefully unhooked the shoulder bag from Jeongin’s arm and shouldered it on to his back. As he went to walk away, he noticed Jeongin’s hesitance and carefully took one of his hands in his own, leading the smaller boy into the living space.

Hyunjin had sprawled himself out on one of the three sofas, but Chan dropped Jeongin’s bags on to the floor before leading him to another sofa. As Chan sat down, taking Jeongin with him, Hyunjin smiled lazily at the two of them.

“So, Jeongin. My name is Bang Christoper Chan. Call me whatever you like. Unfortunately, you’re stuck with the seven of us until the end of the year, where you’ll then be placed with both second and third years.” He rolled his eyes. “Unless you’re lucky enough, like Minho and I, to get Elder duties.” Jeongin giggled and put his feet up on the sofa, sinking into the corner. Chan grinned at him, glad to see him settling in, albeit hesitantly. “Now, I get you’re feeling lost, especially as you’re at University two years early, with no idea where you’re going, or even no clue where you stand with people. What I can assure you, however,” He leaned over to Jeongin and ruffled his hair, “it’s that you can always come to me for any help.”

He saw Jeongin’s expression soften and almost melted at the boys hopeful expression. Hyunjin chuckled from his sofa.

“Also, I can tell you just by looking at him, Minho will sort out any problems you have with both teachers and students.” He added as he writhed around and stretched on the sofa. Chan smiled.

“Oh yeah. Minho has to be kept on a tight leash unless I let him off it. People are afraid of him, though.” He mentioned, making Jeongin make a worried face. “Ah, it’s okay though, he’s never had any issues with the people he lives with. That is a promise.” He held out a pinky for Jeongin to take, who took it happily.

As it got later, Jisung made himself present. Minho took it upon himself to be the controlling parent of the group, which drew a long sigh from Chan as Minho lectured the new boy about home rules.

“How was I supposed to know about a curfew? I don’t even know you!” Jisung gestured wildly as his voice grew louder with each word. Hyunjin butt in.

“Well, if you were here… You’d have known, wouldn’t you?” He made a warning face at the other boy, who only scoffed in return.

“The only people you know are the people in this dorm so far, right?” He shook his head. “That’s just sad. I know all eight of the guys in the dorm below us.” His voice was loud enough for Seungmin, who’d only really just left his room, to leave and go back to his bedroom. Chan groaned loudly and Minho cleared his throat.

“Well, I guess that just makes everything completely fine then. It’s not like you could be kidnapped on your way home from a club or anything. It’s not like you could’ve been hurt or anything.” Minho crossed his arms in his seat, giving Jisung a hard glare. “Sure, we don’t know each other, but you’re still my and Chan’s responsibility. Do you even know your way around campus yet?” Minho’s eyes were full of dislike for the boy in front of him, whose ears were burning in embarrassment.

“Look, I’m old enough to make my own decisions. If I choose to stay out-“ He got cut off by Minho, who held up an index finger to the boy.

“If you choose to stay out, you let someone in the dorms know.” He hissed. “You may be ‘old enough’ to make you own decisions,” He air quoted ‘old enough’ in annoyance, “but Chan and I have a habit of worrying over our responsibilities. So either you follow curfew, or let us know when you’d be getting home.” The response Jisung gave was not one that Minho expected. He’d thought the newbie would continue to make a fuss judging by his earlier outburst, but he was unexpectedly greeted by Jisung welling up a bit and nodding before he ran off to wherever he’d placed his bags.

Minho turned to Chan with a very worried expression, something Changbin had not thought was possible for the boy considering his original demeanour. Chan made a gesture towards Jisung’s room, where Jeongin had been kicked out from and was pouting like he’d just been told ‘no’. Hyunjin waved the youngest over and grabbed a juice box from the fridge, something Chan had thrown in before he wrote a long, long shopping list. Only Minho and Chan had jobs at that point, so the shopping would be paid for by them until the other boys got their stuff together.

Minho shook his own head and also grabbed a juice box before he steeled himself for the conversation he was about to have with Jisung. Chan gave him a thumbs up and Changbin’s face contorted to one of concern. As Minho disappeared into the under-furbished room, Changbin turned to Chan to ask a very vital question.

“How badly will Minho discipline Jisung?” He watched as Chan’s lips pursed as he thought. Chan thought long enough for Jeongin to have finished his juice and thrown the box into the recycling bin. Finally, Chan opened his mouth.

“I, personally, think that Jisung will be okay.” He nodded to himself. “Minho may be a little fond of him already, judging by how he reacted to him coming home late.” He shrugged. “Whatever, they’ll act how they act.” He turned to the stove before shaking his head and pulling out his phone. “Right, take out for tonight,” He turned to Changbin, “is that alright?”

Changbin nodded and mentally went through his weekly meal schedule before deciding it was absolutely okay to have one cheat meal. Hyunjin and Jeongin were alright with the idea, Jeongin getting up from his seat at the island to grab Felix and Seungmin from the room they’d decided to share. He came back with an annoyed Seungmin in his grasp and a grinning Felix, who Changbin still couldn’t believe was a real person.

Chan called for Minho, who’d just messaged him his and Jisung’s order, and started ordering for everyone. Whilst they waited, Hyunjin sat next to Changbin and leaned his head on the table, eyes focused on Changbin’s face. He watched as the shorter man’s eyes turned up as he grinned at his phone and saw how his nose scrunched when he laughed. Hyunjin hadn’t ever thought a man was adorable until he’d heard the laugh Changbin let out at a funny video he’d just watched.

Instead of letting the thought pass by, Hyunjin focused on it, letting it fill his mind. He was a little confused, but smiled at the fact that he was getting to understand himself better. Changbin finally noticed the staring and put his phone down, joining Hyunjin on the table, and rested his cheek on the tabletop. They smiled at each other and stayed laying cheek first on the table, staring into each other’s eyes.

“Hey, Hyunjinnie.” Changbin muttered, smile wide on his face, his nose scrunched slightly. Hyunjin giggled and brought his hand underneath his head to lean on.

“Hiya, Changbinnie.” He replied, eyes fluttering shut at the comfortable position he was in, despite being hunched over a bit. Changbin sighed softly at the nickname and wished the moment would last forever.

Of course, nothing ever lasted nicely and Jisung opened the door harshly and whined that Minho had ordered him the wrong thing, to which Chan shrugged and waved his phone in Jisung’s face, showing that the delivery was on its way. Jisung made a show of play hitting Minho’s shoulder, who just rolled his eyes and made his way over to Chan.

“Channie, Jisung and I are sharing a room. You gotta figure out who you’re going with now.” He leaned his forehead on Chan’s shoulder, who patted the back of the taller’s head.

“Well, if I’m correct, I’m gonna be with Jeongin as these two,” He pointed to the two whose heads were on the table, “are likely gonna want to share.” Minho moved his head to see Changbin and Hyunjin, who seemed to be in a deep mental conversation. He rolled his eyes and removed his head from Chan’s shoulder.

“How can anyone be so intimate when they’ve known each other not even a full day?” He asked, still watching the two as he crossed his arms and leaned onto one hip. Chan put an arm around Minho’s shoulders and pulled him into a side hug.

“Aww, is Lee Know jealous?” He grinned, rubbing Minho’s side. He got a firm hit to the chest as Minho walked away from him and over to Jisung. Chan knew he didn’t mean it really. He watched in amusement as the tips of his best friend’s ears burned red before he turned to the next awkward conversation.

He sighed and crossed his arms again. “Seo Changbin, Hwang Hyunjin. Get a room.” He noticed how Changbin’s cheeks burst with colour as he sat up and stared wide-eyed at Chan, and how Hyunjin’s eyes slitted as he grinned. Neither boy really made a move to leave though, which only made Chan groan. “Guys, seriously. You need to start unpacking. Are you rooming with each other or would you like to be separated?” He asked.

Changbin stared at Hyunjin, who was still grinning wide. Chan made a gesture, pretty much asking, ‘well?’

“We’ll room together.” It was Changbin, to Chan’s surprise, who answered. Hyunjin looked just as confused as he likely wasn’t expecting Changbin to take the lead. Chan nodded and leaned back against the counter, wondering what would happen in this situation. He’d known of people who roomed together and ended up together, but those who ended before they could move out had made it everyone else in the dorms’ problem. He really did not want that to happen in his own dorms.

“Alrighty then.” He clapped his hands together twice. “Chop, chop! Go unpack whilst you wait for the food!” He moved forward, making a shooing gesture to the two boys who struggled to get out of their seats. Chan watched as his new dormmates scrambled to their room and sighed a great sigh of relief, thankful to have them out of his hair. He then turned to the sofas, where Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin seemed to be in a deep and enthusiastic conversation.

Instead of interrupting and making a fuss of them, Chan decided to just watch the personalities of the three. He could tell by Felix’s accent that he was raised with two native languages, one being Korean and the other likely being English. He could tell because he had the same issue with certain words and sounding way too English for even his own liking. As he continued to watch their conversation, he noticed that Seungmin didn’t make much effort to insert himself into it, instead nodding along and making noises depending on how he wanted to react. As Jeongin and Felix talked mainly to each other, Seungmin’s eyes flickered back and forth to each boy, sometimes out the window, sometimes towards the kitchen. It was as if he couldn’t stay still, but was forcing himself to.

Chan went to sit next to the boy. He reached into his pocket when Seungmin closed up and crossed his arms and legs, and pulled out his notepad and a pen. He handed it to Seungmin, who took it with hesitation, but started doodling on it. As he doodled, Chan noticed he talked a bit more. He made a mental note of that.

The doorbell rang through the dorm and Chan jumped to his feet immediately, making his way to the stairs and running down. Once Felix realised what it was for, he made a run for the stairs too, as a chance to help the oldest member of their dorm.

Changbin exited his room, Hyunjin still unpacking, and made his way to the top of the stairs. He then ran to the kitchen and started asking everyone what they wanted to drink. Though there wasn’t a wide range of drinks for them to have, he made it work with the juiceboxes and water. He made sure to leave one for Chan, knowing the oldest would probably want to drink the thing he bought.

As Chan and Felix made their way up the stairs, food in hand and seemed to be having a nice chat, everyone made their way to the kitchen. They all sat or stood at the island, or on the island in Jisung’s case, and didn’t even bother with cutlery as chopsticks had come with most of the meals anyways. Changbin shushed everyone as Chan passed out the meals.

“Thank you, Channie!” He beamed at the older boy as he took his food with a slight bow. Chan grinned back at him but flustered hard at the bow. He’d never been good with the formalities of South Korea. He smiled to himself as he realised that this group of boys may be what he needed to settle down.

They ate in silence as they each enjoyed their food. Hyunjin marvelled at just how much food Jeongin could fit into his mouth at once and Changbin scarfed down everything in his takeaway box in record time. Felix laughed loudly when he noticed the shorter boy’s empty box and started piling some of his own food on it, which made Changbin blush at how easily the blue-haired boy gave up his food for him.

Changbin watched in muted bemusement at how Chan and Minho shared food with each other, giving each other the largest pieces of meat or the biggest vegetable part they could find. As the sky got darker with each passing minute, Jeongin grew more and more restless, which then seemed to catch on to Seungmin, who started to fidget in his seat more. They were both glancing at Chan, waiting to be excused.

Minho noticed this too and he nudged Chan with a sharp elbow. As Chan yelped in pain and rubbed his side, Jisung let out a loud snort and accidentally spat rice everywhere. This resulted in the entire group bursting into giggles and almost instantly back into conversation.

“Chan-hyung?” Jeongin called. Chan turned to him with eyebrows raised in a question. “May Seungmin and I be excused?” Seungmin seemed instantly relieved as he nearly slumped over in his seat. Chan nodded and Jeongin thanked him as he went straight back to the sofas with Seungmin in tow. They fell into the sofa together and made easy conversation about video games.

Felix and Minho helped Chan clean up as Changbin shoved the last few mouthfuls of rice into his mouth and once he’d finished, he helped tidy the last few pieces. He threw a few plastic chopsticks into the recycling after having rinsed them off and threw a quick glance at the other boys to see how they were getting on. What he didn’t mean to see was Minho pressing a chaste kiss to Chan’s jawline. Changbin turned back to the recycling box and blinked a few times as he shrugged it off.

Minho and Chan had obviously known each other a while, likely having met during their first year, so it wasn’t entirely unlikely for them to be involved with each other that way. It just caught Changbin off guard. He sighed slightly and waited a few more seconds, just to be safe, before he turned back around and acted like nothing happened. He said his goodnights, waved to Jeongin and Seungmin, who were pretty tangled up on the sofa watching TikToks, and made his way to his and Hyunjin’s room. He'd realised that Hyunjin had left the table not long before, so had to steel himself for whatever laid behind that door.

Hyunjin’s blond hair was thrown into a slightly messy bun, the back half of his hair flowing to his shoulders. He wore an oversized tee, which draped over one shoulder, showing off his pale, porcelain skin. He was led on his front on his bed, closest to the window, with his feet kicking behind him as he scrolled through his phone. He’d taken both his eyebrow and tongue piercings out and they were sat in a small, clear case on the side table. He glanced up from his phone to see the intruder, but all apprehension melted away when he saw it was Changbin.

“Changbin!” He beamed, the brightness of his smile catching on Changbin’s heart and making him crumble. Hyunjin sat on his knees and haphazardly threw his phone on the side table, the thud ringing through Changbin’s ears.

“Hiya, Hyunjin. How are you?” He asked as he closed the door behind him and made his way to his bed. He sat on the edge of it and leaned his arms on his knees, which made him lean closer to Hyunjin’s side.

“I’m alright. Did you enjoy dinner tonight?” Hyunjin responded, all attention centred in on the other boy. Changbin made a ‘so-so’ gesture before frowning.

“I don’t usually like having two cheat meals in a week, but sometimes it can’t be helped.” He explained, his arms coming up to cross against his chest. Hyunjin made a noise of understanding and moved to sit on his bed properly.

“No, I understand. You’re studying Nutrition, right?” He nodded when Changbin did and carried on. “You must really enjoy it to feel bad about two cheat meals in a week.” Changbin grinned as he nodded.

“Yeah. I really enjoy cooking, but I have to cook around my exercise routines, so there’s a whole weekly food board I make so I know what to buy and what to prepare the night before.” He smiled softly as he spoke, watching Hyunjin’s facial expressions. A lot of people thought that Changbin’s obsessive food behaviour was odd, but he wasn’t getting that idea from Hyunjin. He was rather thankful for that.

They talked and talked until Chan came and knocked on their door to tell them to go to sleep. Even after Chan had left, Changbin and Hyunjin kept on in a whisper instead of choosing sleep. They had talked enough for Changbin to see the sunrise behind Hyunjin, making the boy seem ethereal. His breath caught in his throat and whatever he was about to say died in his throat. Hyunjin saw the boy staring.

“Ah, do I have something on my face?” He asked in a hushed tone, wiping his face with his hand. Changbin shook his head.

“No, you just look so beautiful like this.” He muttered under his breath. Hyunjin’s shirt was so low he could see where his collarbone and shoulder joined, Changbin thought of nothing but what the skin would feel like on his lips. He blushed at the thought of it, but couldn’t get the thought out of his head. He let himself stare at Hyunjin, whose face had turned red in embarrassment, and smiled at the boy.

“But do I actually have something on my face?” He asked again. Changbin shook his head again and savoured the fact that the sun behind Hyunjin made him look angelic, the sun right behind his head forming an almost-perfect halo.

“I’m telling you now, Hyunjin, you do not have anything on your face. You’re perfect.” Changbin emphasised, gesturing to the boy as proof. Hyunjin burned beet red at the compliment and thanked him, his legs kicking the side of his bed frame. Before they could continue to ogle one another, because Hyunjin was watching Changbin’s expressions as he talked and thought he was the most handsome man ever, Hyunjin had suggested that they both go to sleep as there was a Fresher’s Meet for all new students later on in the day. He didn’t want to miss it because he really wanted to meet as many people as possible.

Changbin agreed easily and they both got into their beds and passed out until gone noon, much to Chan’s upset and Minho’s disappointment. Changbin freaked out a little the next afternoon because not only did he have a second cheat meal that week, he’d also skipped out on breakfast on a very important day. He was writing down his meal plan for the week, trying to see where he could make up for the lost calories, when Hyunjin sat up fast and straight in his bed. It made Changbin jump so hard he threw his pen at the other boy, making the sleepy Hyunjin yell out a curse.

After many apologies from both boys, they agreed to go out later on and get food ingredients so they didn’t have to get take-out every night and break Chan’s bank. Changbin seemed to be the only boy besides Minho who knew what the word ‘health’ meant, as Hyunjin would make ready-meals when left to his own devices, Jisung made instant ramen, Jeongin ate cold pizza and Felix would just forget to eat. Changbin couldn’t ask Seungmin as he was holed up in his and Felix’s room for the afternoon, reading some book he had to finish before the first lecture the next week.

According to Felix, it had been the only thing he’d done all night. Changbin worried for the boy, but understood how stressful English as a language was to learn, let alone read and understand the language of nineteenth century English. None of the boys, including Chan and Felix who both spoke fluent English, could understand why Seungmin had chosen English Literature of all subjects to study. Jeongin supposed it was because the brunette wanted to know more about it’s past.

“Wouldn’t he have chosen European History, then?” Chan said, making a very good point to a now-confused Jeongin. It was 3pm when Seungmin finally left his and Felix’s room, which made everyone sigh in relief.

Changbin was scrolling through his phone on the sofa, Hyunjin led on his stomach over Changbin’s resting legs, messaging his mother. Seungmin slumped in the seat next to them, ignoring Hyunjin’s swinging legs. Changbin raised an eyebrow at him and watched as Seungmin scowled.

“What are you looking at?” He almost snarled, arms crossed and eyes slitted in defiance. Changbin just grinned and reached over to ruffle his hair. Seungmin squirmed under the feel of it, never having had his hair fluffed up by someone else before.

“Would you like something to eat?” Changbin asked, tapping Hyunjin’s lower back to make him get off. With a whine, the taller boy rolled off Changbin’s lap and onto the floor, Seungmin almost cackling at the entire time. “Hyunjinnie and I were about to go shopping so we don’t destroy Chan’s bank.” He said as he watched Seungmin’s head nod in agreement.

“Yeah, you guys can go do that. I think I’m gonna see if Felix wants to take a walk with me.” He muttered, getting up from the sofa and making his way over to the blue-haired boy and resting his hand on his shoulder.

“They seem friendly.” Hyunjin remarked, grinning up and Changbin from the floor. Changbin held out a hand for him to take, which was taken with enough enthusiasm to drag him down to the floor too. They giggled on the floor for a moment until Chan threw a pillow at the two of them from one of the other sofas, making the giggles turn into full on belly laughs as the two writhed around on the floor. Chan got a message from his phone, the ping barely making itself heard through the floor laughter, and Chan’s face paled.

“Minnie.” He turned to Minho, who’s eyebrows were furrowed. “Emergency lockdown in three, two-“ He was cut off by shutters slamming to the ground from the hallway. “Now.” The room went dark, save for the small green lights that were used specifically for this situation. A muffled noise from Jisung could be heard from his room, likely thanks to his lights turning off and the shutters on the windows falling so harshly. Minho rushed into the room to calm him down from the oncoming panic attack everyone could feel coming.

“Isn’t this a practice test?” Felix asked, apprehensive in voice, yet firm in person. Chan shook his head.

“Unfortunately not, no. Usually the fire alarm would be today, then lockdown on the fourth day in. Not the other way around.” He placed a hand to his forehead and sighed deeply, the rush of air through his mouth grounding him a little bit. “Maybe they changed the schedule without telling us?” He asked, mainly to himself.

“That would seem the most plausible.” Jeongin piped up. “The likelihood of an actual lockdown is very low, so I think they caught everyone off-guard so we could understand how to act if it were the real deal.” He explained, watching everyone’s reactions from his seat at the kitchen island.

Minho and Jisung came in a few moments later, hand in hand, and sat at the island too. Jisung’s breath was shallow and he kept ducking his head. Minho was constantly having to attempt to ground him every time his breathing grew too fast for his liking, which was apparently all the time, by running his hands through his hair, or patting his cheeks, or squeezing his hands as hard as he physically could without hurting the other. It was safe to say they were both freaking out a little bit.

Felix, Seungmin, Chan and Jeongin seemed to be the rational half of the group, as Hyunjin and Changbin were already saying their goodbyes to each other, hugging each other and clinging onto each other as if the other were already dying. Chan had to resist the urge to record the scene before him, but Seungmin and Jeongin were already pointing their phones at the two on the floor, recording their blackmail for the term (and longer, if they were petty enough). Felix shook his head and sighed as he sagged in his seat, patting Seungmin’s back to at least attempt to make him stop. He did not stop.

Once Chan had figured out, after ten long minutes, that the lockdown was not planned, all the hysterics had stopped and everyone was huddled around the kitchen island. Seungmin had placed his, Chan’s, notebook in the centre and had drawn a very accurate map of the University, dorms and all. The restaurant was close by, so if they needed to, they could call administration to bring them food up via the old, small lifts designed for plates or bags of food.

Chan thanked whatever God there was that he was put in the older building, as the newer ones didn’t have that feature, so asking for food whilst under lockdown would be a different challenge for them to find out. Hyunjin turned his phone flashlight on, leaving it in the centre of the island, where the flower meadows were drawn on the map, so everyone could finally see each other better. Felix thanked Hyunjin, the first of few words they had spoken to each other that wasn’t flirty. Hyunjin nodded.

Changbin couldn’t really grasp the situation properly. It was like his friends from the past had put a headset on him and told him that was his future; it didn’t feel real. Real, like how he could feel Hyunjin’s hand holding his, the warmth seeping into his skin like it was the only warmth he needed. Real, as in the taste of last night’s leftovers after two hours had passed. Real, when Felix had asked if he was alright. That was his breaking point.

“Felix, I don’t think I am.” He shook his head slightly, almost having forgotten that Hyunjin’s head was resting on his. Felix looked at him with a grim expression, taking his other hand into the two of his and squeezing. “Is this real?” He asked, voice breaking at the reality.

Felix sighed and shrugged.

“If it were a practice run, Channie or Minnie would have been informed.” He responded, running his thumb over Changbin’s knuckles. The three of them sat like that for a while, Hyunjin with his head on Changbin’s, Felix gripping onto Changbin’s hand, and Changbin holding both of their hands to mentally support himself.

Jeongin had left at some point, much to Chan’s disagreement, to go and see how other members of the building were faring. A few creaking noises had been made, but nothing loud enough to worry anyone in the vicinity. It was when they heard a crash from the dorm below that they grew worried for their missing member. As the doors to their own dorm flew open, they all stood and watched as Jeongin and eight others clambered through the doors.

Chan immediately ran to the other boys in the room, helping to push the door shut and press against it, wondering what happened for all nine of them to be scared out of their minds.

“Hongjoong!” One of the new boys called, throwing something behind him for the other boy, one with black roots fading into blond and then blue, to catch. The boy, Hongjoong , caught the thing and yelled for everyone to get behind him. They did, Jeongin clinging to Chan, and Hongjoong waited for the doors to slam open. Chan could see then that he was holding an aerosol can and a lighter, aiming straight for the double doors.

Whatever was behind the doors slammed against them. Chan was thankful that they were made of a double layer of sturdy metal or else he’d have had to make extra traps for whatever was lurking out in the hallways.

The doors shook, but never budged from their place at the entrance. What could have been only three minutes lasted for an hour in everyone’s frightened minds. It fell silent in the end and everyone almost breathed a sigh of relief until Chan shook his head, bringing a finger up to his lips to silence them all. Noise may make the thing come back. Everyone stayed silent.

Jeongin was breathing heavily into Chan’s neck, his heartbeat pulsing. He’d only wanted to check on the other boys, to make sure they were all alright. He didn’t mean to endanger everyone. And yet, here he was, waiting for that odd looking, monster-like creature to tear him and everyone else into shreds.

Once they’d heard a slam from the downstairs entrance, all sixteen people in the room breathed out harshly. The boy who threw an aerosol can to Hongjoong introduced himself as Song Mingi. He introduced all his dormmates and thanked everyone for allowing them shelter from the monsters.

“There was a man who’d come to fix the air-con. We didn’t know his name, but we fell into lockdown with him.” Wooyoung explained. “He didn’t finish fixing it as he was too busy trying to call his daughter.” He turned to Mingi and pulled him into a side hug. “I don’t know what happened. One moment he looked and acted like a normal, worried human being. The next… it wasn’t a person.” Mingi squeezed Wooyoung’s shoulder and carried on for him.

“He went to the bathroom, probably to splash some water on his face. When I checked on him, there was blood everywhere and no human to be found. Just… an amalgamation of sorts. A blob of I don’t even know what.” He let out a hefty sigh and let go of Wooyoung, turning now to Jeongin. “If you hadn’t come down at that time, to talk to us, we might all be dead with the way it attacked us.” He patted Jeongin’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

Now that Chan paid closer attention to the new boys, he noticed how bruised up they all seemed to be. San’s dark hair was ruffled and matted, covered in blood from a large gash on his hairline. Seonghwa had what seemed to be a handprint of blood on his left cheek, smearing into his undercut, and had a bruise forming just above it. Hongjoong’s hands were slashed up, likely from where he’d grappled with the broken mirror the monster had thrown at them. Mingi’s hair sparkled with broken pieces of mirror, a slight cut on his neck making everyone worry by how much it bled.

Chan watched as Yeosang ruffled Mingi’s hair with a grin, his clothes bloody from where Hongjoong had clutched him on their run up the stairs. Jongho was pacing outside Chan and Jeongin’s room, where Jeongin and Yunho were talking.

Chan shook his head and went straight for Minho, pulling him in for a strong, harsh hug. Minho, in confusion, tried pushing away in embarrassment, but Chan just held onto him, now crying into his shoulder. Minho, at the feeling of the wetness of his shoulder, held Chan in his arms and fell to the floor with him as Chan muttered his worries into the others ear.

Changbin had stood in complete shock for the entire experience, Hyunjin’s grip on him so harsh he felt a bruise forming. How was it that only Chan and Jeongin were capable of helping the other boys? How was it that only the oldest and youngest member of their dorm knew what to do in the situation?

He sat with Hyunjin still glued to his side and they mumbled to each other about the things they had seen and heard throughout the few hours they’d been stuck in lockdown, trying to figure out how either of them could help the rest of the group. In the end, they could come up with nothing, but Changbin couldn’t shake off a feeling about what Mingi had said earlier.

“Hey, Mingi?” He called, leaning far over the edge of the sofa to see the other boy. Mingi turned and hummed at Changbin. “You said the bathroom was covered in blood.” Mingi nodded.

“Yes, but there was no body. We believe the monster ate the man.” He replied, turning his whole body to the boy. Changbin made a confused face.

“Wait, you think the monster was there already?” He asked, his confusion making his voice heighten. Mingi nodded and furrowed his eyebrows. “Did you not check it out the moment you moved in?” Mingi turned to the others and asked them, all others shrugging or shaking their head.

“I did.” Yunho said, voice loud as he exited Jeongin’s room. Jeongin was glaring at the group from behind him, obviously annoyed that his conversation was finished before he wanted it to be. “There was nothing in there that would have suggested a monster, or anything of the sort.” He supplied, eyes glancing at each boy. Changbin’s lips pressed together in frustration.

“If the monster wasn’t there before, then what..?” He stopped in his tracks. “The guy who was fixing your air-con, what happened for him to go to the bathroom?” He asked, trying to piece together everything before the world went to shit.

“He was having a nosebleed. Quite a bad one, I believe.” Seonghwa said, face wet from scrubbing the bloody handprint off. The bruise on his cheek was fully formed now, the dark welt almost shutting his eye. He had a hold of Hongjoong’s hands, holding them under the tap to get rid of any shattered glass and dust.

As Changbin connected the two dots, Hongjoong let out a pained whine, eyes filling with tears, yet biting down on his cheek to stop himself from cursing or yelling. Mingi comforted him, whispering in his ear about past events in their lives that they were grateful to have attended. Changbin watched as tears streaked Hongjoong’s face, yet he grinned between breaths.

“Does that not seem odd to you? He has a bad nosebleed, runs to the bathroom, covers it in blood and there’s a monster that eats him?” Changbin shook his head. Jeongin let out a gasp and pointed at Changbin.

“You cannot be the only smart one here, Changbin. The air-con guy is the monster!” He yelped at the same time as Hongjoong, both gasping at each other and pointing at each other.

“Nah, that can’t be true!” He made a face, eyes wide and mouth open.

“It must be.” Yunho spoke. His hair was brushed out and his lips were cracked from biting them. “It makes more sense as I was in the bathroom the night before and there was no monster.” He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s the only answer that makes sense, really.”

Wooyoung nodded, pressing a damp cloth to San’s hair, cleaning the blood from it and cleaning up the gash that was still pouring blood down his face and into his eyes.

“How are you all so hurt?” Felix asked, immediately running for his emergency first aid kit he hid under the sink. He pulled it out and opened it up on the table. Changbin thanked the boy’s intuition, as Changbin himself hadn’t bought a first aid kit.

Whilst there weren’t any proper bandages in it, Felix’s first aid kit held a lot of ointments and creams, with plasters and patches galore. Felix brought Hongjoong, now with blood-free hands, to the island and placed him in front of him. He brought the boy’s hands to his eyes and rubbed his thumb over his wrist.

“I’ll be okay. I promise.” Hongjoong said quietly, eyes wet with unshed tears. Felix shook his head and brought cotton swabs an ointments closer.

“I’ll clean them properly. No infections.” He mumbled, bringing an ointment covered cotton swab to Hongjoong’s hand. “I’m sorry. It’ll hurt.” He was very gentle with how he cleaned and plastered up Hongjoong’s scratched up hands, careful when he had to pull out long, thin shards of mirror from the skin. With every wince and harsh intake of breath from the taller boy, Felix would shush him quietly, every now and then letting his thumb run across the veins on this wrist.

Once the last plaster was settled, he pressed a chaste kiss to each fingertip and gave back Hongjoong’s hands. He didn’t realise how red the other’s face was as he’d called over San, with his torn up hairline. He pressed rubbing alcohol into a cotton pad and held one of San’s hands in his own, letting the boy grip hard when the pain came. He cleaned around the cut mostly, trying to figure out how to get the wound to stop bleeding.

From what Felix knew, areas with thinner skin were more likely to bleed with vigour. He pressed a soft tissue to San’s head with one hand and laced their fingers together with his other. He traced circles on the back of San’s hand with his thumb to distract the boy, muttering things about stitches and gauze. San paid as close attention as he could in order to ignore the throbbing pain in his head.

Felix breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled the tissue away and no blood followed. He squeezed San’s hand and grinned at him. “You’re all good now, San.” The other boy blinked owlishly and smiled, bringing a hand to cup Felix’s face in his thanks.

“How do you know all this stuff, Felix?” Jisung asked, still wound around Minho. Felix smiled and threw the tissue into the bin beside him, beckoning for Mingi to come over.

“I’m here to study Nursing, so I need to know as much about wounds as I can without going straight for a surgeon job.” He replied, watching as Mingi’s eyes fluttered shut when he pressed a hand to his jawline and tilted his head. Felix dipped a cotton swab in the rubbing alcohol and ran it along the edge of the wound, feeling more than seeing Mingi’s face scrunch up in pain. He ran his thumb up, past the edge of Mingi’s lip and shushed him politely.

“Oh, that’s hot, actually.” San said, almost in disbelief to himself that he’d said it. Felix peered over Mingi’s shoulder at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Is this not something that distracts him?” He asked, hand still cupping Mingi’s jaw. Seonghwa grinned and brought a hand up to his mouth to try and hide it. San stared at Felix in shock.

“It’s distracting me just as much as it distracts him!” He could barely control his voice, a slither of frustration evident in his statement.

“You’re just jealous it’s not you right now, San.” Mingi strained, his voice raspy from the angle his head was tilted at. Felix could feel the grin on his lips. He continued to clean the cut on Mingi’s neck, but put a large patch over it anyway.

Changbin could say himself that the scene he just witnessed was a little bit hot. He heard Hyunjin’s breath hitch in his ear when Felix asked about the distraction, but he tried to focus on the real issue on their hands; the monster.

“Has anyone else had a nosebleed recently?” He asked, watching as many heads turned to him. Most of them shook their heads, but Seungmin was left deep in thought.

“Seungminnie, what is it?” Felix asked, yanking Junho’s arm towards him so he could clean the grazes on his forearms. Seungmin shook his head.

“I get nosebleeds a lot, but they’re never bad. The last time I had one was three days ago, the day before I came here.” He muttered, hand at his mouth where he nibbled at a hangnail. Chan pulled himself from the floor, Minho following suit, and pulled Seungmin into a weird, squashed hug.

“If it’s not bad, it’s fine.” He turned his head to Seonghwa, who was inspecting Felix’s handiwork. “Seonghwa, you said the nosebleed was bad, right?” He asked, staring fire into the other man’s eyes. Seonghwa took the defensive.

“Yes. Pouring. There is almost a puddle where he stood when it happened.” His voice was strong and his demeanour was powerful, almost scaring Chan by just being there. But Chan was just glad. Glad that Seungmin wasn’t turning into a monster the way the air-con man had. “Though, we still don’t know what really made that monster.” He added, likely just to make Chan doubt himself in annoyance.

Seungmin rolled his eyes and Felix patted Jungho’s hand, Jungho’s arms covered in colourful plasters.

“Thanks, I’ll let you know if I feel like murdering you for the fun of it.” Seungmin said, sarcasm very evident in his voice. Seonghwa paled a little bit.

“Oh, no, that’s not…” He took a step back and brought a hand up to his face. “I’m sorry, Seungmin. I’m just worried. Really worried.” He sighed and Felix could see the exhaustion on his face, the sunken eye, one was swollen, the thin cheeks and the cracked lips.

“Seonghwa?” Hyunjin piped up from Changbin’s neck. Seonghwa hummed in acknowledgement. “How do you think we could help right now?” He asked, eyes glaring over Changbin, piercing into his soul. Wooyoung stepped in front of Seonghwa.

“Why? Can you not?” He asked in response, arms crossed and defiant against Hyunjin. Hyunjin rolled his eyes and stood up from the sofa, Changbin still in his grasp.

“Well, I don’t suppose you see any food here, no? There’s no food, we don’t have anything to store water in… How do you expect us to support you and everyone else? We can’t even support ourselves.” He gestured wildly as he spoke. His little speech made everyone look around the room and see that there was nothing for them. Jisung started hyperventilating, which meant Minho had to let go of Chan and comfort the boy.

“Hyunjin,” Wooyoung said through gritted teeth, “we are not enemies. We want to do what we can to help you, because one of you saved us. Two of you helped us fend off the monster. Whilst there isn’t much we can do, we can still help.” He watched with eyes of steel as Hyunjin folded in his gaze, lips pouting as tear welled up.

“I’m sorry, Wooyoung. I’m just scared. We don’t have any food.” He mumbled, sitting back on his knees on the sofa, arm wrapped around Changbin’s. Seonghwa grinned.

“Oh you may not, but we do.”

Chapter Text

The boys were struggling, that much was evident. Seonghwa had wrapped a bandana around Mingi’s neck so his slow-healing cut wouldn’t be exposed, though the patch over it helped, and Yeosang was tracing the coloured plasters on Jongho’s arms.

Chan, Changbin, Wooyoung, Hongjoong and Jeongin were sat at the table, map of the dorms drawn by Seungmin, tracing out entrances and exits. They’d been planning the food-heist out for a whole day and a half and now was the time to act. Many times they’d heard thumps at the doors, but Chan had stated that it could be the monster, much to Hyunjin’s despise. All Hyunjin wanted was to leave this place and go back to his family, who were all probably worried out of their minds about how he was faring.

Changbin let out a very dull ‘whoop’ when the plan had been chosen. They would leave in an hour to get the food and water from the ATEEZ dormitory. Hyunjin still couldn’t understand why they’d called it that as none of them were born in the 80s, though the year did have some very good songs, Hyunjin could admit that much.

When discussing the plan, Felix had agreed to stay in the stairwell, right at the top, so if anyone yelled out an injury he could come running. This meant he was still available, but not in any immediate danger. Hyunjin could see Chan’s relief the moment the freckled boy had agreed. Hyunjin turned to Jisung, who was huddled in the corner of the sofa.

“Do you think we’ll get to go with them?” He asked, placing a gentle hand on Jisung’s knee. The other boy shook his head and sighed.

“As if. We’d end up dragging them down, or we’d get eaten by the monster.” He remarked, biting at a hangnail. Hyunjin scowled and yanked Jisung’s thumb away from his face.

“We’re not gonna get eaten, moron!” He responded with a fire in his voice, trying to show Jisung that the situation wasn’t really that bad.

As Changbin clapped and everyone turned, a loud ping echoed through the kitchen and living room. Chan checked his phone and his eyes widened in shock. He ran straight to where Minho and San were talking on the corridor floor. Minho was staring at his phone too and he let out a frustrated groan, forcing himself to stand up and talk to everyone else.

“Alright everyone, group meeting!” He spoke loud enough for Seungmin to get out of his room with Yunho, an earbud hanging from both his and Yunho’s ear. Seungmin and Yunho shook their heads and took out the earbuds, Yunho giving his to Seungmin. San pulled himself off the floor and joined Hyunjin and Jisung on the sofa, turned to see what Minho would say next. Minho turned to Chan, obviously expecting him to break the news. Chan cleared his throat.

“I’ve just been messaged by the official government number. The entirety of South Korea is under lockdown. Apparently there’s,” He looked to his phone, “a widespread illness that isn’t contagious, but is very deadly.” He turned to everyone, exhaustion starting to show on his features. “The symptoms include, but are not limited to: nosebleeds; auditorial and/or visual hallucinations; extreme heart palpitations; and an extreme desire.” He looked harder at the phone and showed it to Minho, who stared at it with just as much confusion.

“Desire? Desire for what?” Yeosang asked, concern harsh in his voice. Minho shook his head.

“It doesn’t say. It just says extreme desire is a symptom of the disease.” He replied, arms folded and glaring daggers at the phone. As he unfolded his arms again, his fingertips brushed Chan’s and his ears burned at the contact. They hadn’t been able to get properly close behind closed doors since their first day back at the university, and he really wanted a full-on bear-hug from Chan. But he didn’t want to outright admit it, so he just waited for Chan to get the hint.

Which wouldn’t happen soon enough, because he, Changbin, Jeongin, Hongjoong and Wooyoung were getting ready to leave and get the food they all desperately needed. They’d started to fill everyone’s water bottles with water, as no one knew when the water would turn off, and everyone was terrified that they would be left with nothing.

Hongjoong had his aerosol can and lighter as well as a length of barbed wire wrapped around his knuckles in case he needed them for up-close combat. Felix had suggested against the idea of the barbed wire as he’d only just stopped feeling the pain of the scratches and cuts from his first encounter with the monster, but it wasn’t like either blue-haired boys could control each other. So Hongjoong stuck with what he knew: fire and fists. Where he’d gotten the barbed wire from, though, no one knew.

Wooyoung held a kitchen knife against his chest before stabbing it through a pocket and hanging it from his trousers, easy for him to grab if necessary. It was also at an angle where, if he tripped, he wouldn’t end up stabbing himself and dying. He prayed he didn’t trip for the sake of everyone else.

Hyunjin watched as their oldest, Seonghwa, helped Jeongin with a large flat pan, showing him how to swing it without hurting his wrists. Whilst Seonghwa would have liked to go, he was too worried about Yeosang, Jongho, Yunho, San and Mingi to actually go out and fight a monster. He, like Felix, was more likely to hold the team back than help out. Hyunjin didn’t really understand why, as the more defence the better, but he could see the relief in Hongjoong’s eyes when Seonghwa agreed to stay behind.

Chan was prepped with the sharp end of a broom that he’d snapped in two and whittled down with his hunting knife, which was held in its protective case hung low on his hip. The thing suited him, Minho thought, though Chan didn’t even hunt. Chan was vibrating with anxiety, which Minho knew as normal, but everyone else did not. It rivalled Jisung’s tremors during a panic attack, and Chan was just stood holding the sharper end of a broom, though no sign of worry was portrayed on his face.

Changbin thought he could get away with just his brass knuckle-dusters, but Seonghwa convinced him to bring a couple of extras, namely lighter fluid and a few forks to throw. This was the only time he was glad there was someone who smoked in the building, or else there would be no fire at all. No way to immobilise the monster for longer than a few moments.

Hyunjin watched with hunger at the shorter boy, who’s tank top seemed all of a sudden too tight on him. He was surprised at himself for his thoughts and shook his head before he turned back to Jisung.

“At least we’ll have someone to look after us whilst Chan’s gone.” He nodded pointedly in Seonghwa’s direction. Jisung shook his head.

“The dads are leaving, meaning we only have the mothers. We’re gonna be in so much shit for things we don’t even do.” He groaned as Minho made his way over to the boys. “Hiya, Minnie.” Minho nodded at him, lips pressed tightly together in worry. He crossed his arms and Jisung looked at Hyunjin. “See? He’s such a mother. Worrying for his boys.” He teased, running a finger along Minho’s forearm, watching as the other pulled his arms away and started pacing.

“Meems?” Chan called and Minho could barely contain the skip in his step as he walked over to Chan. “We’ll be as safe as physically possible. I’ll be as safe as I can.” He held Minho’s face in his hands and pressed his forehead to the other’s. He muttered something to Minho and it made Minho smile and well up.

“Oh, shut up you big sap.” He wriggled out of Chan’s grasp and held his hands in his own, pressing a kiss to each knuckle. “Be safe.” He said before he turned back to Jisung. A tear fell onto his cheek and he sighed deeply, wiping his face. He glared at the boys sat on the couch and the two turned away, glancing at each other in concern.

Whilst Hyunjin and Jisung could see that Minho and Chan were in some sort of a relationship, they didn’t want to ask in case it was just a super-close-friends situation. Hyunjin had once had a couple in his old high school class that were super touchy, but then got all confused when people asked about their relationship, so it wasn’t completely out of the question in Hyunjin’s mind. But Jisung didn’t know about those sorts of relationships.

“How long have you two been together?” The younger asked, leaning closer to Minho to distract him. Minho blinked in confusion.

“Almost our whole lives. Why?” He asked, leaning into the conversation by resting his head in his crossed arms on the back of the sofa. Jisung shrugged.

“I was just wondering. You two seem really close is all. Like a couple.” He commented, pressing his lips together at Hyunjin’s grimace. Minho blushed pink.

“Ah, well… I’m way too awkward to say anything, but Channie and I aren’t a couple.” He looked like he wanted to say more, so both Hyunjin and Jisung leaned in further so Minho would elaborate. “Yet, I’m hoping.”

Jisung nodded and pursed his lips as he moved away. Hyunjin watched as Chan spoke with Wooyoung about the oncoming amount of adrenaline and how to avoid an adrenaline-induced panic attack, but he stayed leaning into Minho’s space.

“Why ‘yet’?” He asked, voice low as he looked up at Minho. The older smiled and sighed.

“Because this whole situation has me struggling to see why I shouldn’t just tell him that I love him.”

Hyunjin gasped rather loudly, alerting Changbin. The short boy ran over to Hyunjin and placed his hands on his cheeks.

“Hyunjinnie, what’s wrong?” He asked, concern written all over his face. Hyunjin grinned and held his hands over the others. He didn’t say anything, but leaned into Changbin’s touch and soothed the boys arms.

“Nothing, Changbin.” He smiled. “Where did that come from?” He asked, looking into the other boy’s eyes. Changbin tilted his head in confusion. “That nickname. You keep calling me ‘Hyunjinnie’.” He emphasised the nickname and watched Changbin’s face turn red and chuckled when he stuttered. He placed his hands on Changbin’s cheeks and pulled his forehead to his own. “Tell me later, when you get back. Stay safe out there.” He ran a thumb over Changbin’s cheek and waited for him to leave. When he did, Hyunjin turned back to Minho, who was grinning wide.

“So… You and-“ Minho couldn’t finish his sentence as Hyunjin’s hand was held firmly over his stupid grinning mouth and Hyunjin’s cheeks were pink with embarrassment. Minho took this opportunity to lick Hyunjin’s hand, resulting in a gag from the other and a face full of his own saliva being wiped across his face. The older laughed loudly and swiped at his face and Hyunjin gagged even louder and started to tell Minho how disgusting he was. Jisung watched the whole ordeal happen from his corner on the sofa where he was curled up.

Felix came over to Jisung and gave him a slight head-pat, something Jisung hadn’t received since the beginning of the whole lockdown. It was only natural that he’d be touch-starved and would follow the hand that touched him in order to get more contact. Felix chuckled lightly and teased Jisung until he huffed and crossed his arms in annoyance, then he leaned behind the boy and hugged him from behind, burying his head into the crook of his neck.

Jisung sighed in comfort and brought his own hand up to run through Felix’s blue hair, earning a deep sigh from the younger, which tickled Jisung’s neck. The day-older boy leaned his head back so he was more connected to Felix, feeling his shoulder against the back of his head. They stayed sat like that, Felix’s hands flat against Jisung’s chest, head in the crook of his neck and Jisung’s hand running through Felix’s hair, head resting against his shoulder, until Chan called for Felix.

Seungmin watched the whole thing from the entrance to his and Felix’s room, which Seonghwa was trying to allow for two of his dormmates to stay in as well as Seungmin and Felix. The boy didn’t know how to feel about the scene he’d just witnessed, feeling both fond and upset at the two’s interaction. He was a tad confused, but didn’t think much of it.

Seonghwa suggested to Seungmin that Yunho and Mingi stay in their room, as he and Yunho had spoken and listened to music together, which Seungmin begrudgingly accepted. Whilst he didn’t like the idea of almost complete strangers bunking with him, it meant that he could maybe make a couple of friends who wouldn’t live with him once the issue was over. His heart warmed a little at the thought of real friends, he never really had any when he was younger as no one liked his blunt personality.

As Yunho made his way over to Seungmin, the boy had come to the conclusion that, in the end, he didn’t mind extra roommates. He smiled at Yunho, who smiled back, and went over to Chan.

“If you don’t come back, there’s gonna be problems.” He stated, bringing an accusing finger up to Chan’s face. Chan looked confused for a moment until he smiled warmly and calmly moved Seungmin’s hand down, holding it in his own.

“Seungmin, I promise I’ll be back.” He said, squeezing Seungmin’s hand to comfort the boy. “And I’ll be back with food too, hopefully.” Just as he spoke, Seungmin’s stomach growled and he glowed pink in embarrassment. Chan chuckled and took his hand from Seungmin’s, the younger immediately missing the enveloping warmth of Chan’s hand. To distract himself, he went to wish Jeongin luck.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine.” Jeongin sounded confident, almost nonchalant about the whole situation. “There’s a small chance that we may get eaten by the monster, but we can’t immediately say it’ll happen. The monster may have gone to the ground floor and we may only be a few minutes. The monster may be there and we may have to fight it, though the chance of it winning is low.” As if to emphasise his point, he held a hand out to the crew behind him, where Wooyoung and Hongjoong were remembering and pointing out pressure points on humans and Chan and Changbin were explaining their plan to Seonghwa, who was nodding along and taking notes.

Seungmin sighed and rolled his eyes before he pulled Jeongin into a full bear hug, almost squeezing the boy to death. “Seungmin, we’ll be okay.” Jeongin whispered into his ear. Seungmin shut his eyes tight as he prayed for the boys’ safe return and let Jeongin breathe after the hug. As Seungmin opened his eyes, he was met with a full, bright smile from the younger and he felt like the world would end if he lost that smile.

“I’ll see you soon, Jeongin.” He said, keeping a straight face and feigning the urge to hug the boy again. Jeongin nodded and Chan called his name, which meant the smile Seungmin wished to see for the rest of his life vanished and a cold gaze took its place.

Seonghwa watched as Wooyoung and Hongjoong said their goodbyes to the group, Hongjoong stopping at Seonghwa long enough to hold his hand and squeeze it hard; his way of saying goodbye to the older. Seonghwa couldn’t hold his tears for long and left to hide in Chan and Jeongin’s room for privacy. He was followed by San, who held onto the oldest as they both shed a few silent tears for their now missing members.

Changbin gripped his brass knuckles tightly and thanked his mother for shoving them into his gym bag against his will. He’d spent enough time saying his goodbyes, so he quietly walked over to the heavy double doors that guarded them from the outside where Chan was stood with an arm around Jeongin. He greeted them quietly and shook out the tension in his shoulders, it was almost too heavy for him to bear, but he breathed in deeply and let out a long, quiet breath. He turned to Wooyoung and Hongjoong, who had also said their goodbyes to the group and were engaged in a very strong mental conversation, eyes never leaving the other’s.

“Are we really gonna fight a monster?”

Changbin almost didn’t hear it, but Jeongin’s small voice was loud against the doors in front of them. Chan sighed and squeezed the youngest’s shoulders.

“Only if it fights us.” He replied, removing his arm from Jeongin and reaching a hand for the door. The moment he turned the handle, Felix’s hand overlapped his and Chan turned to him. “Felix?”

“Let’s do this together. As a team.” Felix responded, voice strong and unwavering, the warmth of his hand calming Chan. The older boy nodded and they both pushed the door open, Felix holding the first aid kit to his chest. There was no sound and all six boys filed out into the hallway, Felix turning to smile at the remaining dormmates in the hallway before he too went out into the dark hallway. The door shut behind him, a loud echo in the quiet dorm.

Jisung shuffled closer to Hyunjin and leaned his forehead on his shoulder, surprising the taller boy.

“Jisung, what is it?” He asked, tentatively placing a gentle hand in Jisung’s hair. The other boy sighed hard and didn’t answer, instead he shuffled further to cuddle into Hyunjin’s side with his knees up. Hyunjin ran his fingers through Jisung’s hair and he could feel his heartbeat on his side. They stayed like that on the sofa until Jisung’s breathing evened out and Hyunjin realised he was asleep. Minho joined them on Hyunjin’s other side, but kept to himself in the other corner of the sofa. Hyunjin turned his head to him and reached out an arm, which Minho huffed at but brought himself under the arm and settled into Hyunjin’s other side.

Hyunjin, now sandwiched between two boys he’d met the day before, felt more content now than he ever did before, even when he was lost in his art. He turned and buried his face in Minho’s hair, pressing a ghost of a kiss to his hair. He caught himself before he did it again and moved his face away, deciding to just run his hands through both boys’ hair and he let himself succumb to the exhaustion.

San and Seonghwa, now joined by Jongho, were all in a pile on Chan and Jeongin’s floor, Seonghwa laid down and San led on his chest. Jongho sat next to them cross-legged, hands held in San’s and Seonghwa’s arm wrapped around his torso. None of the three budged, even when Seonghwa’s arm fell limp around Jongho, even when San joined him in slumber. Not even when Jongho shuffled to join the two led on the floor.

Funnily enough, all eight members of the second floor dorm had already met each other before, be it in a library for a study group in middle school or a bump in on a coffee run. They all knew each other and, though their knowledge of each other was limited, they’d all grinned like lunatics at each other when they found out they were all in the same dormitory at the same university. They each believed it was fate playing it’s cards well for them.

Yeosang, on the other hand, was torturing himself with the endless possibilities that they’d never see one or two of them ever again, and was all alone at the table in the kitchen. He’d watched as Jisung, Hyunjin and Minho all fell asleep on each other, and he’d heard the sniffling coming from the room where Seonghwa, San and Jongho were staying, yet he’d stayed where he was, suffering at the hands of himself.

It was only when Yunho came out with Seungmin in tow that he realised his face was streaked with tears and he was frowning hard. He tried to keep himself together, but the smiles on Yunho and Seungmin’s face threw him off and he let out more tears than he wanted to. Yunho saw the struggling Yeosang all by his lonesome and dragged Seungmin with him to the kitchen island. He and Seungmin sat down next to Yeosang and Yunho gave the teary eyed boy a gentle nudge.

“They’re coming back, Yeosang.” He said, voice calm and low, certainty laced in his words. Seungmin leaned in over Yunho and gave his hand to Yeosang, who took it carefully.

“It may take longer than we want it to, but Chan will look after them. So will Hongjoong. They’re responsible.” He confirmed, running his thumb over Yeosang’s knuckles. The older boy nodded and wiped a stray tear from his cheek.

“No, I know, I’m just so worried.” He whispered, not wanting to wake the three boys on the sofa. Yunho and Seungmin looked at each other and Yunho nodded as Seungmin grimaced. Yeosang watched as Yunho stepped away, leaving one seat between Seungmin and Yeosang.

“Yeosang, I’ve known Chan literally a day, but I live with him now. So do you, at least for now. We have to trust that he’ll look out for everyone, even if we don’t believe it.” Seungmin comforted, both hands now enveloping Yeosang’s. It was odd for Yeosang, as he used to be the one comforting people. Now, a younger boy he’d met merely hours before held his hands as he cried. The thought of the whole thing made him break out into a slight giggle, hiccupping as he cried too.

Yeosang felt conflicted; did he take the little affection given to him, or did he push it away? The answer was instant, as he moved to the seat between himself and Seungmin, and he laid his head on the younger boy’s shoulder and let himself cry freely, feeling completely safe in Seungmin’s arms.

Yunho watched from the counter, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t want to wake Seonghwa; the poor boy was exhausted. But he couldn’t just ignore the tears that everyone were shedding. He almost sprinted to Seungmin’s room when he remembered his backpack, which he’d been lucky enough to grab before he had to run for his life. He took the bag with no hesitation and ripped it open, four packs of instant noodles glowing up at him from the bottom of his bag. How he’d split it between ten of them, he had no idea, but he’d try.

He grabbed all four packets and ran to the kitchen, scaring the daylights out of Seungmin and Yeosang as he searched the cupboards for a deep pan. He found one and brandished it to Seungmin, who was leaning away with a worried look.

“Ah, Seungmin, sorry!” Yunho apologised quickly as he filled the pan halfway with water. He placed it on the stove and tried working the knobs. When nothing happened, he groaned loudly and looked around, hoping for a switch at the wall that turned on the oven. He found it and switched it on swiftly, immediately going back to the stove and turning a knob. Where the flame started, he put the pan over it and waited for the water to start boiling before he tore open the noodle packets and shoved them all in at once.

“Yunho, what..?” Yeosang started, but stopped when he saw the noodles on the stove. “Oh, nevermind. Carry on.” He closed his eyes again and stayed hidden in Seungmin’s side. The younger boy was starting to look uncomfortable, but he stayed where he was, making sure not to move too much when he needed to shuffle about.

As Yunho added the flavour packets, he didn’t check what they were and he didn’t really care, San stumbled in from Chan’s room, where Seonghwa and Jongho still stayed asleep. He was shirtless, as he usually was whenever Yunho saw him, and was rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“Yunho-hyung, what’s this?” He asked, a yawn ending the question. Yunho glanced over at him before he turned his attention back to the still cooking noodles.

“I forgot I had these. There may not be enough for everyone, so I’ll pass for now.” He pointed to the hastily torn noodle packets, where San was shuffling over to slowly. Yunho felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist, making him jump where he was stood.

He knew it was Mingi, who had disappeared from everyone’s sight earlier on, and leaned back into the shorter boy’s hold. He sighed into the contact as he stirred the nearly boiling water with a large spoon he’d found.

“Where’d you run off to then, little Mingi?” San asked, coming back over to the pair and leaning against Yunho, who rolled his eyes at the younger. Mingi buried his face into Yunho’s shoulder, the taller boy letting out a breathy laugh. Yeosang sighed behind them and Seungmin let out a giggle at the interaction, the group feeling calmer than before thanks to the tall boy.

“So, why’s everyone here at uni then?” Seungmin broke the calm silence, drumming his fingers on the island top. San grinned and turned to him excitedly.

“I’m here to study and become a veterinary nurse!” He said, voice wavering with happiness. “I love animals, I’ve always wanted to make their lives better as best I can.” It was odd, Seungmin thought, to see such a strong-looking man gush about his love for animals. It made him smile softly and reach one hand towards San, who took it happily. His face fell when he remembered the situation they were in. “Though, I think right now it’s the humans that need more help.”

Seungmin responded by pressing his lips together into a flat line and squeezing San’s hand in reassurance. Yeosang, from his spot on Seungmin’s shoulder, gestured for the taller boy to come to his side. As San left Seungmin’s grasp, everyone was startled when a loud crash came from the stairwell. They all froze and Yunho turned the stove off and moved the boiling ramen-filled water away from the heated area.

The crash had woken Jisung, who was now all too aware of his surroundings and was hastily moving from the sofa to the kitchen, footsteps silent on the carpet. Hyunjin was groggy as he woke thanks to the loss of warmth from his right side and watched as everyone glanced at each other and towards the double doors. Everyone was silent, even breathing was difficult to keep quiet, so no one dared to let out a breath.

Mingi watched in awe as Jisung, one of the smallest and probably most anxiety-riddled members of the group, tiptoed to the doors and silently placed an ear against them. He could faintly hear someone behind, likely Felix, shudder a breath. Jisung turned to the group and placed a finger to his lips, his breathing quietly turning ragged as he placed a light amount of weight against the door as he turned the handle. Mingi couldn’t hold himself back as he too rushed over to the doors, as silent as he could be, and stood next to Jisung as they both let a singular door crack open.

At first glance, nothing was wrong, just the sounds of Felix’s laboured breathing. Jisung rushed to his side at the edge of the stairs and soothed his back, muttering breathing techniques to calm the taller boy. But Mingi could smell the blood in the air.

When he was young, his sense of smell was always an issue. He could smell everything. One time, he was on a train heading towards his middle school, and he’d smelled a woman’s perfume. It was so sweet, so overbearing for him, like she’d doused herself head to toe in the stuff, that he’d almost thrown up.

Now, as the smell of iron entered his senses, he felt that feeling again. The feeling of being so powerless to stop the smell from invading, to stop the issue that had caused the smell in the first place. He glanced at the two boys at the top of the stairs and decided that then was not a good time to make his reaction a problem. He saw Jisung tense as Felix let in a gasp for air, worried about the monster that had reacted so well to sound.

When Mingi was involved with the little issue a few hours before, he’d never been so afraid. Never been so scared of a being. He’d seen how the monster reacted when it had crashed into the mirror, how it held claws to its ears and whined at the sound. He realised how sensitive the thing was to sound and shuffled over to the two at the edge of the stairs. Mingi hooked his arms underneath both boys arms and dragged them back, Jisung letting out a little yelp at the contact before covering his mouth with one hand. Felix had nothing left in him, just letting the taller of the three drag him back into the room.

Seonghwa had awoken when Mingi dragged Jisung and Felix back into the room. He looked even more exhausted than when he wasn’t sleeping, but there was nothing Mingi could do about that. He let go of the two boys when he’d successfully dragged them to the end of the corridor, ignoring Yunho’s questioning eyes and Jongho’s terrified stance. He walked back down the corridor as Minho ran to Jisung and Felix, quietly making sure neither of them were hurt.

He didn’t know that right behind him, Seungmin was stalking.

==

Changbin was steeling himself up, ready to fight some giant monster that had hurt his friends. Was it too early to call them friends yet? He didn’t have to ask as he glanced at Wooyoung, who smiled as their eyes met. It was evident that they all thought of each other as family already, despite not really knowing them.

He grinned to himself as they wandered the stairs, every now and then sending a quick thumbs up to Felix at the top of the stairs. It was quiet on the stairwell, not even their breathing was heard despite the echoing of their footsteps that traced the walls. Changbin glanced at Chan, who was still vibrating with pent-up energy that he seemed to be finally reigning in. He held tighter onto his brass-knuckles, fists tight and nails digging into his palms.

A resounding echo of a scrape entered the stairwell, making Wooyoung freeze where he was stood. Hongjoong and Chan, at the front of the group, held arms out to supposedly protect the others from whatever oncoming threat there was. Instead of staying behind the outstretched arms, Changbin stubbornly stood next to Chan, knuckles closed harsh around the knuckle-dusters. Jeongin joined him, frying pan held high, ready to swing at the next thing to make itself shown. Wooyoung stayed behind Hongjoong, but brandished his knife and prepared himself for an onslaught of pain and adrenaline.

When nothing happened, when nothing came around the corner, Hongjoong and Chan stared at each other, weighing the pros and cons of the situation. They stared for a moment before Chan took one experimental step out, the same time Hongjoong brought out the aerosol can and lighter. Moving in tight twos, with Changbin guarding the back end of the group, they continued, step by quiet, tense step, down the stairs again.

Changbin glanced up before the sight of the freckles left his sight and waved, happily watching a smile brighten Felix’s face before it disappeared from his view as the rounded a corner. They’d barely made it past the corner when Chan and Hongjoong stopped dead in their tracks and Jeongin and Wooyoung ran into their respective leaders. Jeongin almost complained at the emergency stop before he saw the… thing, in front of them.

It was completely other-worldly. It held human characteristics, like ears, eyes and a mouth all in the same sort of space as on a humans face, but it was so gross. Wooyoung almost fainted then and there, terrified of the being in front of him. Its claws were longer, he felt, than what they were when he’d first encountered the creature. It didn’t make sense, it was still a human, right?

Chan was weighing up a list in his head, between good and bad. Good being that the monster hadn’t noticed them yet, but then he thought that could’ve been a set trap to make them think it was okay to keep moving, so also bad. Good that it was around their height and therefore not that much of a strength difference, but bad that they didn’t know if becoming a monster gave it completely out-there supernatural powers. He glanced at Hongjoong, who seemed to be having the same problem.

He felt way out of his depth in the environment. He had five other lives in his hands, five living people he was responsible for, as well as the other ten he’d left behind so he could go out and get food. He held his homemade weapon in front of him, sharp end out. There was no describing the amount of pressure he felt he was under, like he was drowning in the ocean with no means of escaping. Yet, his body had fallen calm, no longer shaking vigorously, only trembling slightly at the monster’s every movement.

Wooyoung watched how Chan forced his body to calm, and Wooyoung himself was finding it very hard to act normal in this circumstance. He took as deep a breath he could as quietly as possible, so deep his ribs started to ache, before breathing it out, slow and quiet. It made the adrenaline and anxiety almost wash away, but not enough to keep the tremors out of his hands. He was glad he wasn’t Yeosang, as the boy had uncontrollable tremors in his hands, and sometimes arms, no matter the time of day. The thought of the other boy had him remembering why he was out with a kitchen knife dangling from the ripped pocket in his trousers.

He took the knife from where it sat in his broken pocket and gripped it hard, knuckles whitening around the steel handle. He glanced over at Changbin, who was also gripping his knuckle-dusters with whitened knuckles. Whilst the two had spent only a day and a half together, Wooyoung felt a sort of kinship towards the short boy, like they’d spent months together.

In Hongjoong’s case, he ran his thumbs over the sharp pricks of the barbed wire and allowed himself to become grounded as he watched the monster twist and turn like it was being possessed. He paid little attention to it, though, as he surveyed the surroundings of the stairwell.

They were only a few steps off before they would reach the second floor, meaning they were so close to getting the food they needed to make it through the lockdown. Hongjoong lowered himself to the floor and took an older lighter from his pocket and throwing it down to the first floor from the railings. The lighter hit the floor, the plastic splitting loud enough for Felix to hear it from the top end of the stairs, if that hitch of breath was anything to go by.

The weaponed boys stood in shock as the monster clawed heavily at its ears before leaping onto the railings, claws outstretched and ready to tear into flesh. Changbin watched on as the terrifying creature let out a sound so horrific, he had to cover his ears, which was hard with the brass attached to his hands. The monster dropped through the railings and to the first floor, but not without landing a slash with its outstretched claws.

The monster was well out of their sight when Jeongin let out a hiss and clutched at his shoulder, where blood seeped into his shirt through a tear. He was closest to the monster after Hongjoong had backed off when it had jumped to the railings, but he didn’t think he was close enough to have been hit. He took a couple steps back, going back up a few stairs, and looked up through the railings to where Felix was worriedly gazing down at their general direction. The freckled boy smiled down at Jeongin and the younger took his bloodied hand from his shoulder and waved at up him with a pained grin.

Felix let out a shuddered gasp, eyes wide, and he tensed up, unable to move. Jeongin shook his head with a frown, trying to explain through expressions that he was okay, but Felix was stuck. From the awkward position they were on the stairs, Jeongin couldn’t see what had made him rock, nor could he see who’d hooked their arms under Felix’s and dragged him away, or even the person who’d let out a cut-off squeal.

Jeongin turned to the group, who were looking at him in fear and worry. He realised why, as he stared at his hand and then his shoulder, which had started to throb in the oncoming pain. Blood dripped down his arm and there was a faint handprint on the sleeve where he’d pressed his other hand. He let out a faint groan before he turned to Chan, who was careful as he made his way to the youngest, making as little noise as possible. Jeongin let out a slight whimper at the pain that suddenly made itself evident in the entirety of his left arm, wincing when Chan held onto his right shoulder.

“Jeongin? How bad is the pain right now?” Chan asked, voice low and breathy. All the oldest wanted to do was wrap the youngest in bubble wrap and keep him from harms way, but the only thing Chan could do was console and attempt to convince the stubborn boy to go back up the stairs and to the dorm. When Jeongin glanced at his shoulder and grimaced, Chan tried again. “Do you think you can carry on?”

Jeongin glared at Chan at the idea of going back. He’d started this journey with them, he should complete it with them too. What made him rethink his decision was the fact that Chan’s nose was bleeding. It was only a trickle, likely thanks to the sudden change in weather as it was almost storming outside, but it was still a nosebleed. One of the things the government had warned them about.

“Channie-hyung, your nose…” Jeonging whispered, bringing his pain-free hand to the elders face and wiping the blood on his top lip, mainly trying to convince himself that it wasn’t real. But it was very real, and it was very real blood. Chan’s eyes locked with Jeongin’s and he took a few steps back.

Chan turned to Hongjoong and Wooyoung, who were glancing back and forth from each other and Chan.

“Was… Was the air-con guys nosebleed like this?” He asked, wiping the blood from his face. He was starting to get a tension headache and he could feel the blood drying in his nose. Hongjoong and Wooyoung shook their heads.

“His was worse.” Hongjoong mumbled, taking small and tentative steps towards Chan. “I think this is just because of the drop in pressure.” His voice was strong when he spoke, likely so he could calm Chan. Like Hongjoong had thought, the nosebleed was much less like a river and more like a dash of rain. It lasted only a moment and wasn’t enough to even be a warning. Wooyoung nodded as he agreed with Hongjoong.

“Yeah, Chan, I think yours is just because of the weather. Do you have a headache or anything?” He asked, eyebrows furrowed. Chan nodded and the relief on his face made everyone feel so much better. “It’s way more likely that you’re experiencing a nosebleed because of pressure change than…” He turned to the railings and a loud wail made his point clear.

Changbin’s sigh broke everyone from their trance. He was bent over, hands on his knees, breathing in deep gulps of air. Wooyoung rushed to his side and rubbed his back to soothe him. “Changbin, Chan is fine. He’s just experiencing a normal, human nosebleed.” He calmed, helping Changbin breathe normally again. Hongjoong watched in fondness as Wooyoung continued to calm despite his stupidly outgoing and loud nature. He turned to Chan, who was engulfing the youngest, Jeongin, in a bear hug, kindly missing his entire left arm in the hug.

“I do agree with Chan though, Jeongin.” He watched Jeongin’s glare over Chan’s shoulder bore holes through him, but was relentless in his concern. “At least get the wound seen to. I’ll let Wooyoung go with you so you’re not-“

“As if I’d let you guys die because two of us weren’t there to distract that stupid thing.” Jeongin interrupted, scoffing. “I’m staying until the end, I mean that.” His gaze was stoney and he didn’t break eye contact from Hongjoong, even when Chan let him breathe properly again.

Chan smiled softly at Jeongin’s stubbornness and understood where he was coming from. Before any of them could get another word in, a loud, echoing sound of metal on metal scratched against the walls of the stairwell, making everyone cover their ears and drop to the floor.

Jeongin looked up through the gaps in the railings to see two boys, Seungmin and the tall boy with the patch on his neck, Mingi, scraping knives and cutlery against the steel railings. Faint, desperate cries and moans floated up from the first floor. Jeonging turned to the other boys in front of him and crawled over to Chan and Hongjoong, pointing to the doors to the ATEEZ’s dorm. The two eldest understood what Jeongin meant and started to crawl towards the double doors, gesturing to Changbin and Wooyoung to follow.

All five boys made it to the doors, which were barely closed thanks to the monster’s earlier outrage, and shuffled in, Hongjoong first and Chan last. Once Chan had made it through, Changbin and Wooyoung shut the doors as best they could, what with the scratch marks having warped the metal so they didn’t close fully.

But none of that mattered to them. What mattered was that they were in the ATEEZ dormitory, where actual, physical food resided, and Changbin could smell it. Or at least the beef jerky. They kept stealthily quiet as they made their way through the open corridor and into the kitchen/lounge area, which mirrored the other dorm perfectly. The only difference was a large, dark spot that marred the carpet in the corner of the living area, and a sprinkling of shattered glass, sparkling up in the dim lights.

The group avoided the blood-stained carpet and the sparkles on the floor and followed Hongjoong and Wooyoung into the kitchen. They opened cupboards and drawers and marvelled at the sight of all the food. Changbin let out a whine of relief as he quietly unzipped his backpack, which no one remembered him wearing or even bringing with him, and started shoving packets of things into it. Chan turned towards the door with his homemade weapon held in front of him, ready to attack if the monster came barrelling in. Wooyoung crept towards one of the unopened rooms and gestured for Jeongin to follow. As the two slipped inside, a knock at the double doors shook everyone to their cores.

Chan turned to Hongjoong, who was now stood next to him, and the two made their way to the doors, hearts thumping against their chests. Hongjoong placed a hand on one of the doors and gently, if hesitantly, pushed on it to open it slightly.

Mingi shoved through the door, Seungmin’s wrist tight in his grasp. The younger of the two held the first aid kit Felix was supposed to have, so where could Felix have gone? Hongjoong glanced at Chan in panic before Mingi yanked Seungmin in and pulled the door shut.

“Felix isn’t dealing well.” Mingi whispered, bowing slightly to Seungmin in apology as the younger rubbed at his wrist. Seungmin shook off the apology and held the kit up to Chan.

“Jeongin’s with Wooyoung,” He pointed to the room they’d gone into, “in there.” Seungmin nodded and turned to the room, Mingi bowing to the eldest before shuffling behind the younger. Before he could get far though, Chan held his wrist and kept him behind. “What happened?” He asked, eyes full of worry. Mingi grimaced.

“I’m not sure, but the smell of blood was so bad. Will Jeongin be alright, do you think?” He asked, worried about the youngest of the group. Chan nodded.

“That boy’s got fire, I think he’ll be perfectly fine.” He let go of Mingi’s hand and reached up to check the wound under the bandana and patch. The bleeding had ceased and a scab was starting to form. Chan held onto the bandana and shoved the patch into one of his pockets. “It won’t heal without letting the air get to it. Leave it here.” Mingi nodded and rushed off to the room Seungmin was waiting at the door to.

Hongjoong and Chan watched as the two younger boys greeted Jeongin and Wooyoung, Mingi by hugging the life out of both of them and Seungmin with a polite bow. As the door swung shut behind them, Chan could hear the faint, terribly hidden giggles Wooyoung and Jeongin were fighting.

Chan turned to Hongjoong.

“I’ll help Changbin fill rucksacks and water bottles. You guard the door.” When Hongjoong tilted his head to ask why he was the one guarding the door, Chan pointed at his weapons. “You’re more likely to make it out alive, murder the monster AND get everyone to safety than I am with a broomstick.” He grinned. Hongjoong nodded and Chan turned back towards the kitchen.

It was hard to stay quiet all the time, but Changbin was a master at silencing all crinkly packaging. Every time he put something in his bag, he’d make sure it was placed at the right angle where, even if jostled about, it wouldn’t make even the smallest sound. When Chan had made it to where Changbin was filling his bag, the shorter had filled only half his rucksack. However, unlike most other people, Changbin was able to pack where half a bag fed half a village. Nothing was thrown in haphazardly and he was able to fit in a few bottles of water on top of all the food he’d shoved in there.

Chan watched in wonder as Changbin expertly filled his bag and one he’d found in the corner of the kitchen with enough food to last all sixteen of them for a week, maybe two if they rationed it properly. Once Changbin had zipped up the second bag, he handed it to Chan, almost putting it on for him. Without another word, the youngest of the three in the corridor/kitchen/living room area gestured for Hongjoong to hand over his small backpack.

The eldest shook his head, but Changbin just rolled his eyes and yanked on the straps, making them come apart at Hongjoong’s shoulders and fall into his hands. Hongjoong looked like he was about to fight Changbin, but a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder from Chan made him reevaluate his decision.

Changbin stacked a few more water bottles into the bag, eyes widening when he saw the many spare carrier bags Hongjoong held onto which were shoved in a pocket inside. He pulled out the three extra bags and opened them all up, spreading them along the kitchen island to fill.

He filled one about halfway with fruit and vegetables, another fully with snacks and sweet treats, and the third only half with meat and rice. He turned to Chan, smile wide on his face, and gestured for the older to come over. Once Chan had overseen the haul of food, Changbin reached out tentatively.

“Channie… This’ll be enough for a while, right?” He asked, voice no louder than a whisper. Chan looked at the food again and nodded.

“Enough for a while, yes, Binnie. Probably not long though.” He drew the younger boy into an awkward side hug, until Changbin sighed and wrapped his arms around Chan’s middle. Even with Changbin’s face smushed into Chan’s collarbone and the awkward angle they were stood at, Chan felt content. Someone cleared their throat behind them and both Changbin and Chan turned to where it had come from.

Seungmin was staring at the two with furrowed eyebrows and arms crossed. When Chan shrugged in question, Seungmin just rolled his eyes and came closer to the two still hugging.

“Chan-hyung, aren’t you in a relationship with Minho-hyung?” He asked quietly, eyes glaring at both him and Changbin. Chan grinned and leaned closer to the younger boy.

“Not yet, but I’m planning on it.” He whispered before moving back to his original position. “Besides, right now I’m comforting my bro. Nothing romantic about it.” He swayed side to side, making Changbin hide a laugh in Chan’s shoulder. Seungmin once again rolled his eyes.

“Still. Whatever, you’re gross anyways.” He scoffed before turning back to Wooyoung and Mingi, who were engaged in a deep and quiet conversation about orange juice. Seungmin clicked his fingers and turned back to Chan. “You guys got the orange juice, right? It’s all Mingi was talking about.” He shook his head.

“Ah, I’d ask Changbin, he was the one who packed everything.” Chan responded, patting Changbin’s back. Seungmin’s jaw dropped when he saw how neatly everything was packed.

“I refuse to believe this oaf knows how to pack like a pro. Who even are you?” He asked, arms crossed and leaned on one hip. Changbin stuck his tongue out at Seungmin from Chan’s shoulder before unwinding himself from the older boy and trudging over to the younger.

“Ah, you’re mean, Seungmin. You wound me.” He hit Seungmin’s shoulder playfully and held out Hongjoong’s water bottle filled backpack. “This is for you to carry on our way back, please and thank you.” He could feel Hongjoong clawing his hair out at the thought of someone else wearing his bag, but Changbin didn’t really care because it was full of life-saving fluids and someone without a weapon should be the one to take it.

Seungmin took the bag, but not without making a fuss of it, huffing and stomping away without really making any noise. He told Mingi to collect a bag or two and go with him straight back to the third floor dorm before the monster realised there was no more itchy noises and decided to go back. Changbin handed Mingi the carrier bags of meat and rice and vegetables, deciding that snacks and sweet treats should be last as they weren’t as necessary as the other foods. Chan felt very proud that he put everyone’s health first, even in times of crisis.

“Changbin, you’re very good with dietary requirements. Why is that?” He asked, head tilted and eyes squinting. Changbin gestured to the whole of himself before grinning.

“Channie, you don’t look like this on just sweets.” He replied before he let out a small scoff at himself. “No, well. I’m studying Nutrition, or I’m supposed to be.” He explained, rustling through the snack bag and lifting it. “Food is my passion, and I want everyone to experience it in the best way possible.” He smiled at Chan before lightly pushing his shoulder. “Now come on, we need to get this all back to the dorms. No one left behind.”

As Changbin sauntered off, Hongjoong giving him a good wack around the head with an umbrella from his room in annoyance about his bag, Chan started to feel really emotional all of a sudden. He could feel the emotions bubble up inside and he worried for the boys he had to look after. He’d already failed to protect Jeongin, even in that split second, even though the youngest assured him he was fine and would heal well.

Chan started to well up, immediately swiping the tears away so they never fell. He had no reason to cry, it wasn’t about him. This entire thing, the plan, was for everyone. He had no reason to feel so upset when the food was on its way back to the group just upstairs. He was doing this for everyone. This wasn’t about him.

After some desperate wiping of tears, Chan straightened up and met up with everyone at the doors with a bag of water bottles and ramen in his hands. Wooyoung smiled at him in reassurance, Mingi holding his hand to assure himself they would be safe. Seungmin grumbled about how long he took, but was shut up when Jeongin pinched his side. The youngest smiled up at Chan shyly, slashed shoulder now wrapped in a gauze pad and some bandaging. Chan silently thanked Seungmin and Mingi for helping them out and bringing some hope with them through Felix’s first aid kit.

Ah, that reminded him. Chan told Hongjoong to scout the outside whilst he went to find the bathroom med-kit. Once he’d let everyone know where he’d be, he searched for the med-kit in the bathroom cabinet. Instead of the med-kit, he found a few boxes emergency insulin, which he put in his bag immediately, and 5 packs of anti-depressants, which he also scooped up. He wasn’t the type of person to just ignore someone’s physical and mental needs just so he could leave the room more quickly, no way. He continued to look for the med-kit.

Changbin wondered what was the hold up and decided to help Chan search for the missing med-kit. It took them an awful ten minutes, but soon Chan found the blasted thing behind the sink cabinet, meaning it was hidden. He rolled his eyes at the idea of someone hiding it. It was a stupid thing to do, especially if you needed it but forgot where you’d hidden it.

Changbin had found two cans of gas in their search, which meant that maybe someone had brought a camping stove with them. After he asked around, he’d come to the conclusion that it was likely Yunho, as Mingi had mentioned that the older enjoyed camping. He rustled around in suitcases, finding many trinkets and things he had a little giggle at, before he made it to what was likely meant to be Yunho and Mingi’s shared room. He searched around for a bit before he looked under one of the beds and dragged out a large case.

He unzipped the case and a small, two pan sized camping stove glowed up at him. Changbin almost sobbed in relief before he zipped the case back up and reached under the bed again. He gripped a cold, cylindrical can and pulled it out, revealing another gas can. That was three cans of gas that they could probably get a week’s worth of dinners from.

He scooped up his findings and dumped them in Wooyoung’s arms when he left the room.

“Excuse me?” Wooyoung asked, eyebrows furrowed as he stared down at the heavy case and gas can. Changbin just smiled and tapped his nose in response. He skipped over to Chan, who seemed to be ready to leave.

“Ready then, hyung?” He asked, reaching for one of the two bags Chan was holding. The older boy nodded as he rid himself of the extra weight, knowing that to Changbin, the weight was nothing.

Chan turned to the rest of the group, who were all stood in the corridor and holding bags of sorts, whether they be duffel bags or carrier bags full of stuff. He reached for the door handle and shunted the doors open a crack, just to check on the whereabouts of the creature.

Once he deduced that the coast was clear, he stood back and motioned for Hongjoong to move out, aerosol can and lighter held out in defence. As the boy took a step out, Jeongin let out a slight huff at the wait and moved forward himself.

Chan almost threw himself out to bring the boy back, but held himself back as it would cause a scene, one the monster may hear and go back to attack them. He let out almost a hiss at Jeongin, who only grinned back at him.

Seungmin followed suite, then Mingi, Wooyoung and finally Changbin. Once everyone was on the stairs, heading up in a line one behind the other, Chan himself stepped into the hallway and tip-toed up the stairs. It was tense, and every minute sound made them all stop in their tracks and prepare for a fight.

But nothing happened. They got to the top, where Felix was supposed to be but wasn’t, and the door was held open for them by Jongho, who was rubbing sleep from his eyes.

It was silent, aside from the heavy breathing Changbin was doing, and it was almost worrying. But Chan made no fuss. No noise was better than that thing’s wailing. He thanked Jongho for keeping the door open for them as he handed the backpack to him before he made sure the doors were closed and locked properly. It was then and only then that he let himself breathe normally again.

He instantly turned to look for his childhood best friend, who was already hastily speeding towards him.

“Heya, Meems.” He got out just before the younger boy barrelled into him and wrapped his arms around Chan’s neck. The older smiled into Minho’s shoulder and breathed in his scent. “I’m okay.” He didn’t glance up from his shoulder, knowing that everyone was already celebrating their food haul in the kitchen.

It was just Chan and Minho in the corridor. And if they were more than just best friends at that point, no one needed to know.

Chapter Text

Seungmin cleared his throat at the sight before him. He’d originally gone back through the corridor to grab the last two bags that Chan was holding, but did not expect to be greeted by the sight of Chan and his ‘best friend’ in a very passionate lip-lock.

“If you’re that happy to be back, give me those bags and get a room.” He stated, holding out his hands for the bags. Chan and Minho sprung apart and both had bright blushes burning their faces.

“Ah, yeah.” Chan cleared his throat and picked up the bags he’d dropped before his very emotional greeting. He hands them to Seungmin with an awkward expression, still blushed up with stiff movements. “Sorry.”

Seungmin only grinned in response as he turned on his heel and left the corridor. Minho giggled through his embarrassment, hand over his mouth as he tried to contain it. Chan turned to him and raised his eyebrows with his hands on his hips. “Oh, this is so funny, isn’t it?” He asked, sarcastically nodding. Minho only laughed harder, doubled over at the entranceway.

“Sorry, sorry!” He apologised through the laughter, waving a hand up. “Not funny at all.” He gained a bit of composure as he stood up again, hand still hovering over his face. Chan took his hand and laced his fingers with Minho’s.

“Okay, maybe it was a bit funny.” He smiled, bringing their interlocked hands to his lips to kiss Minho’s knuckles. “I love you, Minnie.” He whispered against the back of the other boys hand.

Minho responded by throwing himself at Chan again, this time for a bone-crushing hug. They were only separated by the younger’s stomach, which was demanding a meal, and they giggled as they made their way to the kitchen, hands still intertwined.

They were greeted with congratulations and wolf-whistles, meaning Seungmin, of course, had already told everyone. Chan and Minho could only smile as Yunho passed a small bowl of ramen for them to share. Whilst the meal was nowhere near filling, everyone had finally eaten something, which to them was a massive win.

“Here’s to the six who went out and saved our lives.” San held up a juice box in a toast, which everyone cheered quietly to. As Wooyoung was dramatically reenacting how Jeongin got slashed up, Chan’s eyes wandered the room, wondering where three certain people had gone.

Felix, Jisung and Mingi were nowhere to be found, despite Mingi having only just come back. As Chan scoured the living room area in search for the three boys, he saw crumpled up tissues, red with blood.

He immediately ran to Felix and Seungmin’s room, where a small trail of blood droplets lead the way. He slammed the door open, surprising all three boys who were sat on Felix’s bed.

The freckled boy had red eyes and blood smeared all over his face. A large pool of a dark substance, likely also blood, sat at the floor beneath his feet. There was red all over his clothes and bedsheets. Mingi’s eyes were wide and alert.

“Felix-ah?” Chan reached out, voice quiet and wary. The younger boy looked up at Chan properly, eyes filled with tears. He shook his head and turned to Jisung, who was knelt at Felix’s feet, rubbing circles into the boys thighs in comfort.

Mingi stood up, going straight to Chan.

“It’s just like the one that man had.” Was all he said, but it was enough to set Chan’s heart on fire. He turned back to Felix like a deer in headlights. He tried to step closer, but Mingi held him back. “Give him space, he’s been crying for a while already.”

Chan refused to listen, he was stubborn, and one of the seven people he was supposed to care for was in trouble. Chan was the only one who could help. He closed in on Felix and Jisung quickly and Jisung made it to his feet to greet him.

“Be nice to him, Channie-hyung, he’s going through a lot right now.” Jisung almost pleaded, a hand resting on Chan’s elbow. The older boy nodded and held Jisung’s wrist to make sure he stayed.

“None of you leave,” He turned to Mingi, “please.”

Mingi nodded and closed the door, but didn’t move any closer. His hand hovered over the handle momentarily, debating on whether or not he should make a run for it, but he stayed nonetheless.

“I won’t leave.” He mumbled, leaning against the door. Chan sighed in relief, thankful that the taller boy didn’t bolt. He turned back to Felix and sat next to him on the bed.

“Felix, can I clean you up a bit?” He asked, voice laced with concern. Felix turned to him, fresh tears running down his cheeks and nodded. Chan sagged in relief and fished in one of his pockets to pull out an opened pack of tissues, the same ones Seungmin used to help clean up Jeongin.

Mingi, who’d brought in a few supplies, held out a bottle of water to Chan, who poured a bit onto the tissue. He brought it up to Felix’s face and gently wiped his cheek. Felix’s new wave of tears made the cleaning a little easier, wetting the tissue and his cheeks at the same time.

Once his face was clear of blood, Chan took out another tissue and doused it before taking Felix’s shaking hands in his and wiping them down too. Jisung stayed at Felix’s feet all throughout the cleaning process, muttering sweet words to him and quietly thanking Chan over and over again. They stayed like that, Chan and Jisung comforting Felix and Mingi sticking to the door, until Felix fell asleep from the exhaustion of his tears. Chan laid him down on his bed and tucked him in, turning to Jisung.

“Stay with him, I’ll bring you some food.” He patted the younger boy’s shoulder and quietly moved to Mingi. “Come on, let’s leave them.” He said, reaching for the doorknob. Mingi stopped him.

“If Felix turns now, we need someone to protect Jisung.” His eyes were cold as he stared at the two at the bed. “What should I bring them?” He asked, hand now closed over the handle. Chan listed off a few items and Mingi left the room.

He turned back to the sleeping boy and stood at the end of his bed. Jisung had bitten at his lips enough for them to bleed and he held Felix’s hand through his slumber.

“He won’t turn. Hyung, he can’t turn.” He stated, voice raising an octave. Chan just sighed. He went and sat next to Jisung, who was shaking now. He took Jisung’s other hand in his own and squeezed hard.

“Jisung-ah, we can help him get through this.” He said, voice low and calming for Jisung to hear. “There has got to be something to stop him from turning, or at least delay it.”

Jisung nodded and rested his head on Chan’s shoulder before he piped up, voice lower and trembling slightly.

“Are you and Minho-hyung finally done with your pining?” He asked, trying to make light of the current situation. Chan snorted, freezing as Felix shuffled in his sleep. He grinned at the question.

“Well, I should hope so.” He replied, squeezing Jisung’s hand again. “If him snogging the life out of me didn’t mean something, then I don’t know.” His grin only widened when Jisung let out a gasp at the statement. He kept his excitement quiet as he didn’t want to wake the sleeping boy next to them, instead opting to shake his and Chan’s hands around.

“Oh, that’s just the cutest!” He whispered, eyes sparkling and wide as he shook with the excitement of the information. “Channie, you’ve got a boyfriend, I’m so jealous!” He changed moods instantly, suddenly slapping the other boys chest in annoyance. “Ugh, now you’re gonna be all lovey-dovey everywhere you go…” He took his hands away, separating from Chan, and crossed his arms over his chest.

Chan let out a huff of a laugh, shaking his head. He gave Jisung a pat on the head and let his hand run through the youngers hair. If Jisung were a cat, he was sure the boy would purr with how content he looked at the affection. As he let his hands rest at the side of Jisung’s head, he smiled down at the boy, who looked like he was about to doze off.

“How old are you, Jisung?” Chan asked, taking his hand away. Jisung sighed at the loss of affection and blinked at the older boy.

“I’m nineteen, why?” He replied, head tilting slightly to the side. Chan’s eyes widened at the response and he let out a surprised scoff.

“Wow, you didn’t take a gap year?” He asked, leaning in closer so he didn’t raise his voice any higher. Jisung shook his head. “Oh, I feel old.” He chuckled, leaning back and crossing his own arms.

“Why’s that? How old are you, hyung?” The younger boy asked, watching intently as Chan grimaced.

“Well, I’m twenty-two. I do not like that you’re so young and in the same dorm room as me.” He sighed, but realised that what he said could be taken badly. He tried to amend his words. “I mean that in an ‘ I’m in my second year, why am I with the first years? ‘ way, not anything else.” He confirmed, looking into Jisung’s eyes.

He was shaking with barely-contained laughter, so when Chan met Jisung’s eyes, the younger boy just burst into laughter, accidentally waking Felix. The door slammed open and Mingi came in panting, eyes wide and a small plate of apple slices in his hands.

“What’s the problem?” He almost yelled on entry, apple slices almost slipping off the plate and onto the floor. The whole thing made Jisung’s laughter increase in loudness and Felix’s confusion worsen. Chan shook his head at the scene before him.

“Nothing’s wrong, Mingi-ah. Come and sit with us.” He waved him over, moving slightly to make room on the floor beside Felix’s bed. Mingi was hesitant at first, but made a few tentative steps towards them before finally making the last few steps quick as he dropped to the floor with legs crossed and apple slices in hand.

“What’s happening?” Felix asked in English, shocking the group with his accent. Despite the initial shock of his accent, Jisung grew giggly at the sight of the boy. His hair was all messy and ruffled thanks to the angle he slept in and his soft eyeliner was smeared across his eyes. It gave him an awful looking smokey eye.

“Ah, he looks like JYP.” Mingi commented, his voice quiet, but everyone heard. How could they forget the wonderful University Lead? That man held some power, which is why no one had dared to say anything rude to him yet. But for a group of boys with nothing to lose? They could say whatever they wanted and would feel no remorse.

“I’ll give you free dinner for the rest of your days at the Uni if you say that to his face.” Chan grinned, giving Mingi a light punch on his shoulder and taking the plate of apple slices from him.

As Felix was sat up, he could finally eat something. Chan knelt up properly and held an apple slice to Felix’s mouth. The tired boy leaned forward with an open mouth and put the whole slice in his mouth, as well as half of Chan’s finger.

Chan made a sound of disgust, but it was only joking as he was still grinning and shaking his head. “C’mon, man, that’s not okay.” He said to the freckled boy in English. He could see how Mingi and Jisung turned to each other with wide eyes and grinned at the sentence from the corner of his eye. He wiped his finger on Felix’s bedsheets.

As the younger boy munched on the apple, Chan held out the plate with his non-occupied hand and offered it to the two on the floor. Both gladly accepted a piece and the sound of crunching filled the room.

“Chan-hyung, can you get me Seungmin, please?” Felix asked. Chan grinned and rooted around in his pockets for the last tissue in the pack and wetted it with a bit more water. He cleaned around Felix’s eyes to get rid of the eyeliner and stood up to place a quick kiss to his forehead.

“That was Channie magic, so you stay human.” He smiled, “I’ll go grab Seungmin for you, Lixie.” Chan turned to Mingi and handed him the plate with the last two slices of apple on it. “I’ll be right back. If anything happens, scream as loud as you can and we’ll all come running, okay?” He said to both Mingi and Jisung, who both nod quickly. He gave them both a pat on the head as he made his way to the door and exited.

As he left, he was greeted with a giant hug from Minho, who’d been waiting for him to leave the room for a while. He hugged the younger boy back and kissed his forehead before he turned to the kitchen, where Yeosang and Jongho were chatting to Changbin and Hyunjin. Chan gave a quick peck to Minho’s cheek just as he walked away to find Seungmin.

Minho left for his room, where Chan suspected Hongjoong, Wooyoung and San had hidden themselves away in. He believed he was correct when the three boys plus Minho were nowhere to be found when he scanned the living area. He said hello to Seonghwa and Yunho, who were talking on the sofa’s and laughing with each other. Chan was glad to see that many of them seemed to be enjoying their time together despite their unfortunate circumstances.

He finally sat down at the kitchen island, where Yeosang was splitting pills in half. He was the owner of the anti-depressants, Chan had realised, and was splitting them so he could take them over a longer period of time. Whilst it wasn’t the best idea, Chan thought with furrowed eyebrows, at least Yeosang wouldn’t be without. Half a pack had been split, which Yeosang thought was good for now and would tide him over until the lockdown would end.

“So Innie’s wound will heal quickly, Seungmin reckons?” Changbin asked, leaning against the island with hands interlocked. Jongho nodded.

“Seungmin said to Yunho-hyung that it’s only a flesh wound and it would heal with a light scar. Nothing to be too worried about.” He said, also leaning against the table with his head in his hands. “Though, I’m more worried about how Jeongin isn’t completely terrified at what it might mean for him, what if he becomes infected?” He worried. Yeosang placed a hand on his shoulder, grinning when the younger boy wriggled away from him.

“Jongho-ah, the government themselves said that the disease isn’t something you can ‘catch’. It’s based purely on desire, right?” He turned to Chan for confirmation. Chan shrugged.

“A strong desire is one of the symptoms, so I’m not entirely sure.” He responded. It made sense though, even though there was no known cause of the disease. “I’ll ask Felix about his thoughts on the matter.” He said, reaching out to place a hand on Yeosang’s head and ruffle his hair.

The younger shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“How old are you? Acting like I’m a child…” He complained, meaning absolutely none of it judging by the grin on his face. Jongho chuckled beside him.

“Now you know how I feel, hyung.” He remarked, arms crossed as he leaned back on his stool. Changbin had to stop him from falling off the stool when he leaned a bit too far and Hyunjin laughed so hard he himself fell off. Changbin all but dropped to the floor when he did, but both boys were giggling all the way.

Chan grinned and said his goodbyes to the group and waved to Seonghwa, who’d caught his eye. The taller boy smiled his way and Chan smiled back before he went into Minho’s room to say hello to the three missing boys from earlier.

“Oi oi, how’s everyone holding up, then?” He asked as he opened the door. He didn’t have any time to close it before a hand pulled him straight through and to the window. Minho held a finger up to his lips, making him shut up, and pointed to the window. Or what was outside.

A terrifying scene met Chan’s vision and he thought he’d collapse in the fear of it. What could have been no less than a hundred monsters crawled through the University campus, climbing signs and buildings and tearing them to shreds. Chan saw Wooyoung’s very silent tears that stained his cheeks and he could feel the horror radiating off of San. He turned to Minho, who faced the wall out of fear, and moved to be in front of him. “Meems, we’re not out there. We have food. The government-“

“What has the government done for us so far, Channie?” Minho cut him off in a broken whisper, eyes wet with unshed tears. “They’ve warned us, but given us no instructions on how to handle the situation. Let’s face it, they’ve left us.” He sighed and rubbed his arms as though he was cold.

Chan stayed silent as he pulled his lover into a hug. They stood like that, tense and fearful, until Hongjoong let out a squeak. Chan turned to the window immediately, though there was no immediate threat.

“Hongjoong? What is it?” He hissed, moving to where Hongjoong was stood to see what he saw. A large, clawed hand was gripping the outer wall of their dorms so hard it cracked the concrete. It came from a being that was hidden around the corner of the building, so no one could attempt to find the owner of the hand, but just the thought of whatever it could be horrified the group.

Mingi appeared behind them, but dared to say nothing as that God-forsaken scent of iron filled his senses again. He did a quick once-over of everyone to check it wasn’t them and, once he’d double checked, he turned to awkwardly sniff at the window. He grimaced and reached up to close it, only able to drag it halfway before something tapped at the wall next to him.

Hongjoong moved fast, but not as fast as Chan in the end. The Aussie had made a quick effort of a weapon, a comb-shank, by tearing his hands down the teeth and ripping them all off. It was slammed deep into the monster’s palm, giving him time to shut the window as it writhed in agony and Chan pushed Mingi away to get him to run. Mingi refused, even when the smell of even fresher blood, from Chan’s hand probably, flooded his nose. He refused to let Chan do this by himself.

Hongjoong had already evacuated Wooyoung, who was experiencing an adrenaline-induced breakdown, and San was stood in the corner of the room, watching on in shock. The monster was desperate in its attack against the window. Even though the building was old, Chan thanked everyone involved for triple glazing. Whilst the first pane was smashed almost to pieces at the first hit, it somehow held on for a second hit. Chan held his breath, waiting for a third.

When nothing came, he took a step back, straight into Mingi’s chest. The younger, but much taller, wrapped his arms around Chan’s torso and dragged him out of the room in silence. It surprised Chan so much that he actually had nothing to say in the shock of having just been literally dragged out of the room and placed on the floor like he were a puppy being told off.

They all stayed silent as Hongjoong pulled the door shut silently, making sure the monster wasn’t seen by the rest of the group. He did, however, turn to the kitchen to place a finger against his lips, signalling for everyone to be quiet. The giggles and laughter that Chan had grown to loved died out as everything fell silent, including the breaths that no one dared breathe.

As Mingi finally let go of Chan’s torso with an apologetic bow, he finally registered the fiery, stinging pain in his palm. He wanted to run to the tap and run the feeling of the blood away, but he knew that any noise made now would alert the nearby monster and put them all at risk.

He turned to Minho, who was pressed flat against the wall beside the door, knife in hand and ready to strike. Chan was so, so angry that anyone had to be in that position, so terrified of what might come through that door that they weaponize themselves and prepare for torture. It pained him to his core that someone he loved felt so unsafe that they needed an actual weapon to defend themselves. He tore his eyes away to save himself the pain.

He saw Hongjoong’s eyes glance from the hyperventilating Wooyoung beside him to Chan’s bleeding hand, but Mingi seemed to have a hold on the bloody palm and brought a tissue to dab at the blood. Chan watched Hongjoong as he turned to Wooyoung and attempted to get the dark haired boy to follow his breathing pattern as silently as possible. The relief that was felt when Wooyoung corrected his breathing was overwhelming for Hongjoong as he slid to the floor and brought his knees to his chest. Chan wanted to give him a hug, but given the circumstances, he would have to wait until later.

Once the noises had subsided and there was no noise for around twenty minutes, Minho’s watch helping time it, Mingi let go of Chan’s hand and let the older climb up from the floor and over to Hongjoong’s now-shaking body. He engulfed the younger in a bone-crushing hug as best he could at the odd angle and almost broke down himself when he felt Honjoong’s tears against his shoulder. They stayed in the awkward hug for as long as everyone else let them, which ended up being until Hongjoong fell asleep against Chan, who picked him up and moved him over to the sofa.

“We’re gonna have to make a barrier for the window, if it gets smashed into again it’s gonna break for real.” Jeongin muttered under his breath, leaning against Yunho at the kitchen island with him arms crossed. He’d come out of his and Chan’s room after the whole problem arose and ran straight to the kitchen and into Seonghwa and Yunho’s arms.

Jeongin glanced at the sleeping Hongjoong on the sofa and then to Chan, who was sat in front of the sleeping boy and brushing the hair from his forehead. He called, very quietly, for Seungmin to check his hand, as well as to rebandage Hongjoong’s hands.

“I don’t think we have the materials to make any form of barriers, Jeongin-ah.” Yunho wrapped an arm around the younger boy, pulling him into a side hug, making sure to miss the patch and bandage on his shoulder. Jeongin sighed into the contact and almost melted into the taller boy.

San turned to Wooyoung, sat at the kitchen island now with Changbin and Hyunjin, and wrapped him into one of their most emotional hugs yet. They refused to let one another go, deliberately squeezing each other’s hands to prove they were there. Changbin had never seen such open and sweet people before, but San and Wooyoung seemed to be the first two. Seeing them together gave Changbin high expectations in a partner and he knew that whatever he wanted was near-impossible.

After seeing San and Wooyoung cling together like their lives depended on it, Hyunjin turned to Changbin with a sigh and slumped in his chair.

“Wow, it would sure be nice to get a hug right about now. You know, especially seeing as we almost died.” Hyunjin muttered just to annoy Changbin. He grinned when he caught Changbin’s eyes rolling.

“Goodness, so needy.” He sighed before crushing him in a bear hug. “Is this okay? Feeling better?” He asked sarcastically, releasing Hyunjin to let him catch some air. The younger of the two grinned sheepishly before dragging him back into a less-harsh, more loving hug. They giggled into each other’s hair as they clung to each other.

Yeosang, still sat at the island next to two now-clinging-for-dear-life couples feeling like a fifth wheel, sighed and leaned his cheek against the table. Jongho snickered from where he was stood on the other side of the island, turning away from Wooyoung, San, Hyunjin and Changbin to find Seonghwa. His eyes fell to the sofa, where the oldest was brushing Hongjoong’s fringe from his face and lightly tracing the features on his face. Jongho instantly became disinterested after that sight.

He turned to the other oldest, Chan, who was being bandaged up by Seungmin. He started walking over to talk to them, but Minho, Chan’s partner, wrapped himself around Chan, causing Jongho to sigh and turn back to the kitchen area and slump next to Yeosang.

“Struggling there, Jjong-ah?” Yeosang snickered, sitting back up with his head in his hands. Jongho rolled his eyes at the nickname.

“Since when was everyone in love with each other?” He asked, frowning at the sight of so many couples in such a small space. “And don’t they care about privacy?” He questioned rather loudly, turning specifically to Wooyoung and San, who were still very much caught up in each other. Thankfully for Jongho, Hyunjin and Changbin had broken their hug to just sit and stare at each other, which, to be honest, was just as vomit-inducing for the younger.

“No one cares about privacy in apocalypse settings, Jongho.” Yeosang said, leaning back into the table. Jongho rolled his eyes for the hundredth time that night before joining Yeosang face-first to the table. Giggles erupted from the end of the table, where Hyunjin was shaking his head and Changbin’s shoulders were shaking thanks to the laughter he was trying to hide.

Seungmin moved from Chan to Hongjoong’s sleeping body with grace, first aid kit held in both hands and he brought out a new set of bandages and a small bottle of disinfectant. He allowed Seonghwa to watch him as he carefully cleaned and rebandaged Hongjoong’s hands, making sure not to wake the sleeping boy.

“How are you doing, hyung?” He asked, packing his things quietly and turning to the older. Seonghwa shrugged, stroking Hongjoong’s hair absentmindedly. “Hey, it’s fine if you’re not okay Seonghwa-hyung, you just have to let someone know so you don’t suffer.” He smiled at him, something he didn’t enjoy doing.

Seungmin didn’t like smiling, especially after high school. Something about his braces made people think his smile was weird, so he hid it with his hand. Even after his braces got taken off, he made sure to hide his smile in case he weirded people out. He didn’t hide his smile this time, and Seonghwa grinned weakly back at him.

“Thank you, Seungmin-ah. You’re sweet.” He replied, reaching a hand out to squeeze his shoulder. Seungmin felt a surge of appreciative-ness towards Seonghwa and he decided that this was his favourite hyung.

“I’ll leave you alone, but I’m always free to hear you out.” He offered, taking the first-aid kit in his hands and standing to leave. Seonghwa smiled and turned back to face Hongjoong, still limp on the sofa. Seungmin left the two to find Jeongin again.

He then turned to the kitchen area, where Yeosang and Jongho were face down on the kitchen island, surrounded by three very happy couples. Chan and Minho had moved over to chat to Hyunjin and Changbin, who were both blushing and stuttering wildly as Wooyoung and San watched in amusement.

He decided to find Jeongin as soon as possible so he could help the other two to hide from the sappy romantics. He found the youngest in front of Han and Minho’s room, seemingly analysing the door. He greeted the younger with a raised brow.

“We need to barricade this properly, but no one wants to move the sofas away from the living area.” He almost whined. “If we die anytime soon, I’m blaming them.” He shook his head. Seungmin grinned, hand hiding his face, and he grabbed Jeongin’s wrist to drag him away and into Chan and Jeongin’s room before just dumping him on the bed. “Wh- Seungmin?” Was all he could get out before the older left.

About thirty seconds passed before he came back with Jongho and Yeosang in tow. They too were thrown on the bed, but they immediately climbed into it and sighed in relief.

“Thank you, Seungmin-ah, we were gonna die if they carried on yapping the way they did.” Yeosang said as he snuggled further into the sheets, completely ignoring thee complaints from Jeongin as he yanked on the duvet.

“Yeah, thanks Seungmin, if I had to hear Changbin stutter about how he just thought Hyunjin was ‘one of the prettiest people he’d ever met’ whilst also denying his feelings, I’d have thrown up and died.” He groaned, staying atop the duvet and annoying Yeosang when he refused to move and let him have more sheets. “Suffer.”

“Like we haven’t just suffered the exact same torture.” He huffed, pursing his lips. “For me, in theory, love is so sweet. But actually seeing it in front of me just makes me want to set fire to myself.” He admitted, grinning up at Jongho’s horrified face.

“Please do not set fire to yourself. Despite myself, I kind of like your presence.” He responded, arms crossed and upset. Yeosang just huffed out a laugh as he fell into slumber. Jeongin rolled his eyes and fell backwards between the two. Whilst the bed was small, Seungmin dragged the other twin bed over and joined them.

“Ugh,” Jeongin groaned, “I forgot, we’ve gotta be, like, super quiet now.” He sank into the pillow and smushed his face into it. Seungmin dragged Yeosang’s lifeless body over onto the twin bed he just brought over and somehow convinced Jongho to join the older on it before he sat next to Jeongin.

“It’s okay, Jeongin. We won’t make any noise anyways.” He pointed to Yeosang, who was completely conked out and fast asleep. Jongho seemed to be nodding off himself, falling further and further down the headboard and into the rumpled covers next to Yeosang. Seungmin made sure to keep his voice to a whisper anyways. “It’s not like we’re making as much noise as the happy couples out there.” His voice was sarcastic when mentioning the others outside the room.

Jeongin only nodded as he turned around to meet Seungmin’s gaze. The older of the two brought a hand to Jeongin’s hair and carded it through, watching as his eyes closed and his features softened as he relaxed into the touch.

Despite his prickly exterior and serious gaze, Jeongin was constantly seeking physical affection and praise from all the elders. However, he felt like, as the youngest, he should play into the role of someone who knows more than they really do. He thought that if he seemed smart, people would like him more.

The issue was that he held onto this role with such vigour that he started losing himself in the sarcastic remarks he’d make, forgetting whether or not he really meant what he was saying. He put on a nonchalant stance so people wouldn’t see how terrified he really was, even after everything that had happened.

But Seungmin knew him better than the front he’d put up. Seungmin knew what it felt like to be disliked, hated even. He never wanted anyone to feel that way around him, so he tried his hardest to make it clear that every mean thing he said was a joke, apologising even if they knew it was a joke. So when Jeongin took down his walls and put away the mask, he felt like he’d cry.

To have someone open up to you, someone who never wanted to open up to anyone, is something to treasure. To Seungmin, it was the diamond in the rough he’d been searching in. It gave him hope for the boy melting in his touch, hope that he grasped for desperately. He wanted nothing more than to save the boy in his hands, save him from the horrors of the world, even if they were only a few months apart in age.

He didn’t stop stroking Jeongin’s hair, even after he fell asleep.

Chan had checked in on the sleeping boys at some point, just to ease his mind that they hadn’t been eaten by a bloodthirsty monster. He’d relayed the news that the four were just sleeping to Hongjoong, who was groggily sipping water on the sofa, aided by Seonghwa. Wooyoung had helped himself to his well-needed dose of Choi San and finally peeled himself away from the other boy, joining Hongjoong and Seonghwa on the sofa and wrapping himself around them instead.

Chan was left momentarily stunned, was San okay with that? He turned to the other boy, who was just watching with nothing but fondness towards Wooyoung, but he caught Chan’s stare and winked devilishly. Before Chan could properly react, someone creeped behind him and stood next to him, shoulder to shoulder.

“It’s late. You haven’t slept.” He could tell by the smooth voice that Yunho was behind him, almost a whole head taller. Yunho turned and placed a hand on Chan’s shoulder, almost pushing him to one of the rooms, Chan wasn’t sure whose was whose anymore, and shoved him inside.

“Dude, it’s not that bad. I’ve pulled all-nighters writing essays.” He retaliated, trying to make his way through the doorframe again. Yunho, with his stupid height, blocked him by leaning fully on the frame and reached his hands out to block the area he hadn’t filled.

“Nuh uh. Go to sleep. I bet you’ve never been under this amount of stress before.” Yunho countered with a shake of his head. Chan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms before dropping to the floor to attempt to crawl through the space between Yunho’s feet. He was met with the frowning face of Mingi, who was also on the floor on his stomach for some reason.

“Mingi? Why are you on the floor?” Chan asked, tilting his head and furrowing his brows. Mingi crossed his arms under his chin and raised his eyebrows.

“Chan, you’re the only one of us who hasn’t had even a wink of sleep.” He reached out with a hand and brushed some of Chan’s hair from his eyes. “I think you need it, considering the fact that you’ve been on your feet supporting everyone.” All this was said between Yunho’s legs, so not the best place. However, it needed to be said, and now was the perfect time, even in the most awkward place.

“Would you like me to bring some of your belongings so you feel more comfortable? I believe this is Hyunjin and Changbin’s room.” Yunho asked, looking down at the suddenly very tired-looking man on the floor. Chan sighed and stood up.

“Can I know how Felix is doing first? Before I do or say anything else?” He asked Mingi, who was now stood behind Yunho and Chan realised then just how small he was compared to them.

Mingi nodded before turning on his heel towards the sick boys room. Yunho stayed in his place and made sure to keep a close eye on Chan, who was pacing the room, refusing to even look at the beds. Mingi came back a few moments later, Jisung hot on his heels.

“Channie-hyung!” Jisung greeted, eyes wide and sparkling. Chan ran to the blocked entryway and smiled at the younger boy.

“Hello, Jisung-ah. How’s Felix?” He asked through Yunho’s arms. Jisung smiled as he responded.

“He’s okay, he wanted to leave the room, but Seungmin popped his head in for a bit. He told us that Jeongin was, like, super emotionally unavailable, but apparently Seungmin wants to help him, like, work on it and stuff.” Jisung rambled, gesturing as he spoke, sometimes moving to pull away a hair from Yunho’s sleeve. “So, Jeongin is now with just Jongho and Yeosang, and Seungmin is with Felix right now.” He clarified.

Chan had to take a little moment before responding. Jisung’s word dumps were probably something he’d have to get used to as he continued to live with the hyperactive boy.

“Okay, Sungie, thank you. Please could you get Minho for me? You can stay, just please get him.” He asked, now sort of clinging onto Yunho’s sleeve. Jisung nodded with a grin and wandered off to find the older’s partner. Mingi turned to Yunho and flicked his forehead before running after Jisung with Yunho clutching his forehead. Chan didn’t even try to escape because the ordeal was hilarious.

He was glad they could joke about in times like these. Once Jisung came back with Mingi grinning from ear to ear and Minho with a face like he’d just eaten the sourest sweet ever, Chan remembered that they were all still just young adults, too young to know the real world, but too old to be naïve.

He waved to Minho as the younger pushed him towards the bed and dragged Jisung behind him. Yunho watched from the doorway, one hand on his forehead and the other wrapped around Mingi’s torso to prevent the other boy from following. After a quick word, Mingi decided to be the one to watch over Felix and Seungmin, just to make sure that neither are alone should anything happen.

As Minho joined Chan under the covers after having shoved them over the older, Jisung tugged free of Minho’s grip and ran to the other side of the bed to be next to Chan. The two spooned Chan, each falling asleep before the eldest, but Yunho closed the door when he noticed Chan’s eyes flutter in fatigue. He let go of the door as a feeling of dread washed over him completely.

Trusting his gut, he always had, he went straight to Felix, Seungmin and Mingi, almost knocking the door off its hinges when he barrelled in. Whilst Felix hadn’t turned, he was bleeding very heavily from his nose again. Seungmin had pressed a wad of tissues to his face and Mingi had taken the sheets from Felix’s lap so they didn’t get more bloody than they already were. Yunho breathed a sigh of relief, but still thanking his instincts as he knew something worse could’ve happened had he not listened.

“How are you?” He was quiet as he sat next to Felix on the bed, something only Chan had done since Felix’s first nosebleed. Felix just sighed as he bled into the tissues.

“I miss everyone.” He muttered, eyes filling with tears once more. “No one wants to be near me except Chan, Jisung and Seungmin. And even then, only Chan hugged me.” He cried into the tissues as well, making the paper wet with tears and blood. “And this stupid nosebleed won’t stop.”

Yunho tugged the younger boy into a hug, one made to apologise. He silently apologised for not noticing sooner how isolating everyone had been to Felix, for not bothering to check up on him before now. And he apologised for how cautious everyone would end up becoming of him over the next few days.

“I wish I could stop this for you.” He admitted into the boy’s blue hair. He didn’t care that blood and snot ruined his clothes, he only cared that he’d accidentally hurt someone. He kept hugging the boy until his nosebleed stopped and he took the sheets from what he guessed was Seungming’s bed and gave them to Felix.

He shushed Seungmin, who had started to glare at him about the sheets, and tucked the younger boy in, brushing his hair from his face and smiling softly at him. Just as he was about to say goodbye and let him sleep, Yunho was interrupted by San opening the door, bowl of chocolate chip cookies in his hand.

“There were only, like, three left thanks to Changbin, but we saved them for you.” He said, handing the bowl to Mingi and Seungmin. He turned to Yunho and wrapped an arm around his shoulder before peering down at Felix. “You okay?” His voice was dripping with actual concern and not for his life, but concern for Felix. His face mirrored that concern, eyebrows furrowed and mouth in a frown.

“I’m okay, San-hyung, thank you.” Felix stayed beaming like pure sunshine up at Yunho and San, and all San wanted to do was bawl his eyes out and put Felix in his pocket. Instead, he nodded and patted the younger’s cheek, momentarily stopping to trace the freckles adorning his cheeks.

San took his hand back and smiled down at the ray of sunshine, who was once again trying to avoid the sleep he so desperately needed. Yunho made a quick note of that, it wasn’t Felix’s first time needing to replenish his energy after one of those massive nosebleeds. He turned to Seungmin, who was writing something down in a small notebook, the one Chan had given him.

As he finished writing something down, Seungmin caught Yunho’s gaze and held steady, almost daring. Yunho unwound himself from San and wandered over to the youngest boy in the room, waiting to see his reaction. Mingi shuffled over to Yunho and linked his arm in the tallers, waiting for Seungmin to say what he needed to say.

“Everytime he wakes up, he lasts about five to six minutes before needing to sleep again.” Seungmin supplied, “When I asked him the first time how he felt, he was still almost completely asleep, but he told me that all he wanted to do was save Jeongin.” He let out a sigh as he flipped through some pages. “Even though we haven’t been here long, he’s already lost weight, I’m estimating between two and three pounds, which isn’t good. He was already skinny, you know, since he’s a model, but this,” He smacked his hand against the page, “is way too much.” He looked up at Yunho and Mingi, who were both nodding along.

“I can see why you’re so worried for him.” Mingi responded. “Though, don’t underweight people get tired way quicker than non-underweight people?” Yunho nodded beside him.

“When Hongjoong fell ill,” He shuddered at the memory, “he was so, so tired.” He hated remembering the past about his friend, and that memory was probably one of the worst. He utterly refused to even think about it. “But I think we’re focussing on the wrong thing here.” He sighed, watching Mingi and Seungmin as they made surprised faces. “Gosh, no one remembers anything about the symptoms?” He asked, eyebrows raised as both Mingi and Seungmin thought back to earlier in the day. Or yesterday, they tried not to care much about time anymore. It was dark outside, so it was likely to be yesterday.

“Nope, I’m confuzzled.” Mingi said, pressing his lips together in acceptance that he didn’t pay attentions. Seungmin shrugged after a few more minutes of flicking through pages and scanning through the words.

Yunho sat on the floor with his legs crossed and didn’t even budge when Mingi grinned and laid his head in the olders lap. Seungmin sat cross-legged in front of the two, leaning in to hear the answer.

“So, one of the symptoms is desire, right?” It was a rhetorical question as Seungmin’s eyes lit up and he sighed to himself and Mingi wriggled in his lap in annoyance. “Okay, so. Seungmin,” The younger sat up straight after hearing his name, “you said Felix rambled about wanting to save Jeongin, right?” Seungmin nodded. “Well, Felix came back with Mingi and Jisung after suffering from a panic attack. Jeongin and the rest of the group came back later on, but Jeongin was heavily wounded.” He watched their reactions as the two connected the dots. Well, Seungmin did, Mingi just stared up a Yunho in expectance. He rolled his eyes at the boy in his lap and placed a hand in his hair. “What if Felix saw the wound? Or even saw it happen. That would send anyone into a panic attack.” He wasn’t finished, but he hated having to spell everything out for the two.

Seungmin must’ve noticed how bored Yunho was becoming of telling the story, so he jumped in to finish it off.

“So the desire to save Jeongin, likely from the thing that hurt him, set off the disease inside him?” He wondered if it really was true, because that would mean the disease laid dormant inside of everyone.

Yunho breathed a deep breath and nodded, hand carding through Mingi’s short blond hair. He paid close attention to the way Mingi’s eyes fluttered shut at the feeling of Yunho’s hands pressing and scratching along his scalp, his face that of pure content. The taller grinned down at the younger boy, who was practically putty in his hands.

Seungmin watched their exchange and feigned annoyance. He missed Jeongin already, the youngest of the group had already forced his way into Seungmin’s heart, meaning he never wanted to part from the boy. Despite the fact that Jeongin was seventeen, Seungmin felt like he and himself were meant to be in each other’s lives. Whether that meant fighting for his time or having to fight off his hyungs, Seungmin would do anything for Jeongin’s gaze and smile. Oh, he really missed Jeongin after having seen Mingi and Yunho.

He didn’t realise he’d let out a wishful sigh at the interaction and was startled out of his thoughts when Yunho snapped a finger in his face. He shook his head to get rid of his past thoughts and glared at the older boys.

“Go and make sure the maknaes are okay?” Yunho suggested, hand still gently massaging Mingi’s scalp. Seungmin held back a smile and nodded as he got up. He said goodbye to Felix, who was still sleeping in his fresher sheets, as well as San, who just grinned in response, and waved goodbye to the pair on the floor as he left.

He shut the door behind him and practically skipped to the room he’d left earlier, where Jeongin, Jongho and Yeosang were likely still sleeping. Seungmin had not realised just how much he missed the other’s presence until he entered their room, where the three boys were still sleeping. He made his way to the bed and climbed up the bed to his spot from earlier, squeezing himself between Jeongin and Jongho. He enjoyed the heat the boys radiated and let himself sink into the heat and allowed sleep to take over.

Jeongin had woken up when Seungmin entered the room, but waited until his breathing had evened out before turning over and brushing Seungmin’s fringe from his face. He’d never understood why his mother smiled at his father the way she did, but he seemed to gain a little bit of an understanding when Seungmin’s face scrunched in his sleep. He felt so fond for the older boy, because Seungmin just knew everything Jeongin was thinking and knew how to act around the boy.

Not to mention the wrapping of the bandages around his shoulder. Seungmin had been so careful and cautious when wrapping him, making little butterflies flutter in his stomach. No one had ever touched him with that amount of gentleness like Seungmin had then. As he watched the boy’s face twitch in his sleep, he realised that Seungmin felt like the home he never had.
He fell asleep next to the boy of his dreams, feeling more alive than he ever had before.

Chan woke besides his best friend, but also squished by their current tagalong, Jisung. He didn’t mind, really, that the younger spent as much time as he did with them, almost never giving them any alone time. He felt like the nineteen-year-old’s best friend with the way Jisung acted around him.

Minho had his hands wrapped around Chan’s torso when the oldest felt something really, really wet along the back of his neck, where Jisung’s face was situated. He groaned to himself as he shook both boys awake and shucked his shirt off, pressing it straight to Jisung’s face.

Jisung let out a quick retort, but his eyes lit up at Chan’s naked form.

“Wow hyung! You’re, like, buff as hell!” He grinned, pulling the shirt from his face. What surprised Chan the most was that Jisung’s face was clean, not a drop of blood in sight. Maybe he imagined the feeling in his stress-induced mind.

A quick hand along the back of his neck and a glance proved he was just going slightly insane as his hand came back wet, but colourless. He let out a sigh before he wiped his hand on the bed.

“Jisung, you drooled on my neck.” He said, voice gritty with sleep. Minho let out a snort as he reached out for the youngest of the three and dragged him into an awkward hug. Chan rolled his eyes and asked them, “You hungry?”

“Always, hyung.” Jisung replied, sighing contentedly into Minho’s hold. Minho just responded with a shrug.

“Right, okay Minnie, that’s super helpful, thanks.” Chan said sarcastically. Minho just rolled his eyes and shuffled further into the sheets. Despite his act, Minho was never a morning person. None of his lectures were in the morning because of this, the first week of his morning lectures never started or ended well thanks to his awful morning attitude and it really ruined morning lectures for him.

Chan just left the room, shirtless and with a slowly drying neck. He saw Honjoong, Seonghwa, Changbin and Hyunjin chatting still in the kitchen, but he could tell that Changbin was slowly losing his mind at the idea of no set meals.

He greeted everyone and pulled Changbin away before handing him a random notepad, they were everywhere it seemed, and a pen from his joggers pocket. Changbin looked completely and utterly lost until Chan explained himself.

“I’d like for you to make a weekly meal plan for the sixteen of us, with whatever ingredients we have.” He smiled at the smaller boy, noticing a little flint in his eyes at the task given. “Though, just stick with one meal a day. We don’t have enough food to last us much, so we have to be careful.” He explained further, but Changbin just nodded.

“That’s fine, cool even.” He grinned, getting straight to writing down names and average heights on the pad. “Thanks, hyung. I’ve been dying over there trying to ignore it.”

Chan shrugged off the thanks before a certain blue-haired, freckled boy who should’ve been in bed stepped foot into the kitchen.

Chapter Text

“Where’s Jeongin-ah?” The angelic boy asked, socked feet padding softly against the tiles of the kitchen floor. Chan knew something was off considering Felix looked awake, properly awake, and his voice was strong in his question.

Chan had to weigh the pros and cons. Something was off and Yunho’s expression showed it when he appeared from Felix’s room. Hongjoong had mentioned at one point down the road that Yunho’s instincts were never wrong and that Chan should trust any fear or worry on the tallest boy’s face. He did.

“Felix-ah, I’m glad to see you up and about. How are the nosebleeds?” He tried to steer Felix away from the conversation. The younger stood his ground though, and an awful feeling grew in Chan’s stomach when Felix’s face twisted in anger.

“Where’s Iyen-ah?” His voice was no louder than before, but the fury was evident. Chan turned his gaze to the boys eyes and realised why he’d felt so on-edge the entire time. Felix no longer had beautiful deep brown eyes, as they were replaced with pure black. No sclera, no iris, just a pure void.

Whilst it put him off to no end, Chan had to deal with this in a professional way in order to prove he was worthy of the leadership role the rest of the group had placed him in as the eldest. He held his ground as Felix’s face untwisted and reverted to a neutral expression, his eyes unchanging.

“Lixie. You need to go back to bed.” Chan used his parent voice, like he was speaking to a young child who refused to eat their vegetables. Felix jolted in his spot, making Chan take a slight step back. “Felix. You just need some more sleep, okay?” There was no way in hell he was going to fight the boy in front of him, so he tried his utmost hardest to keep him human. Even if it was completely and utterly terrifying.

Felix tilted his head and finally looked around him, turning to Yunho and letting out a broken sob before he dropped to the floor and cried his poor bleeding heart out.

“Is he safe?” He asked between sobs. “Is Iyen-ah okay?” He curled into a ball where he lay, nails digging into his cheeks as he cried.

There was no way Chan was equipped to deal with a monster, not even a monster yet, who was going through a breakdown. Before Chan could say anything, Hongjoong let out a little sigh and made his way down from where he sat at the island. Chan watched as Seonghwa held out his hand for Hongjoong to squeeze before he left.

“Felix-ah? Can you look at me, please?” He asked, voice low and soft as he crouched down to meet Felix’s face on the floor. “I need to show you something.” He turned to Yunho and gestured to the room where Jeongin slept. Though Yunho shook his head at first, a threatening glare from Hongjoong made him change his mind. “Hey, Felix.” He was quiet when he reached a now-unbandaged hand down to where Felix could see it from the floor.

Felix’s dark voids seemed to gaze at the scabbed up hand in front of him and he flinched where he lay. Hongjoong joined the blue-haired boy on the floor properly, taking his hands in his own.

“Where’s Jeongin-ah?” Felix whispered, tears streaked down his face. Hongjoong shushed him as a yawn made the topic of conversation known to the pair.

“Felix.” Hongjoong’s voice was demanding as he held out his palms. It forced the freckled boy to pay attention to what he had to say. “You stopped my hands from getting infected. You saved my hands. You saved me.” The words of affirmation sunk into the infected boy in front of him and his whole body shook with the force of the sobs he was heaving.

Hongjoong finally saw the whites of Felix’s eyes, and his natural brown iris slowly bled into the black. He was back, as well as extremely upset. Jeongin had joined the two on the floor and wrapped himself around Felix, his sleepy affection making Felix feel worse.

“Jeongin-ah?” Felix grasped onto the youngest just to make sure he was, in fact, a real being. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Iyen.” He hugged Jeongin with vigour, almost making the youngest boy fall back to sleep with the warmth that engulfed him. Jeongin, whilst still feeling very tired, woke up a little bit more and realised what was going on before he wriggled in Felix’s hands and attempted to swat the boy away.

“Hyung, I’m fine. Seungminnie bandaged me up.” He said, shuffling away Felix a bit more, unaware of the blood suddenly pouring from Felix’s nose and into his hair. Chan sighed in annoyance and shook himself from his spot in the kitchen. He ruffled Felix’s hair and prompted both him and Jeongin to sit up so he could clean them.

“Oh, there’s so much blood, Lixie.” He muttered when he wiped the bloodied boys face with a wet rag Hyunjin had thrown him. Whilst he couldn’t hold the disease against him, it wasn’t like Felix had known before that he was almost fully infected, Chan felt worried to get too close to the boy. Then again, Jeongin was literally smothered by the apologetic boy and he hadn’t been hurt.

He cleaned Felix’s face and attempted to dab the drying blood out of Jeongin’s hair, but he gave up when Felix kept getting in the way, snuggling into the younger and wriggling when Chan kept trying to pry them apart. Something had happened during the infection and the freckled boy had become an affectionate mess, someone who couldn’t be apart from another person for too long without becoming agitated and whiny. Chan sighed at the two, now sat up but still attached to each other.

“Channie, I’m sorry.” Felix muttered when he took his face away from the youngest’s hair. Chan patted his head in response and stood up to throw the bloodied rag in the sink. Jeongin huffed when the oldest left him to be hugged to death, but made no move of his own to get out of Felix’s death grip. He let himself get smothered in the affection despite his initial complaints.

“Ah, Felix, your hair…” Changbin pointed to the boy’s hair, which was suddenly very blond at the roots. Felix completely ignored him though, too busy petting and loving on Jeongin, who was getting increasingly bored of it. He’d stopped writhing in Felix’s grip and just let it happen, knowing it would probably be like this for a while. The ordeal had made a few members of the ATEEZ dormies stumble into the corridor to make sure no one was dying or dead, but each one, Wooyoung, San and Jongho, cooed at the sight of the two snuggled in the middle of the kitchen.

“Oh my goodness, if that isn’t just the cutest thing.” Wooyoung remarked, linking his arm with San’s and leaning into the other.

“And I thought that man was intimidating at first… Unbelievable.” San grinned, patting Wooyoung’s arm that was linked in his. Jongho said nothing, but looked like he was going to explode with the cuteness aggression he was experiencing. He wasn’t exactly the best at explaining his feelings through words, but neither actions, so he ended up suffering by himself forever.

“Jongho looks like he’s gonna combust.” Wooyoung commented, looking in the younger’s direction. Jongho responded with a strangled whine before he turned on his heel and leaned his head onto the wall beside him.

“I can’t even.” He just muttered, deciding not to look at the two in the kitchen for his own sake. San and Wooyoung giggled together at their youngest and both practically skipped to the kitchen to see why Felix and Jeongin were tangled up on the kitchen floor.

“Lixie, Innie, why are you cuddling without me?” Wooyoung asked, unlinking from San and crouching to the floor to meet Felix’s eyes. Once their eyes met, Felix pouted and reached out to pat Wooyoung’s cheek. “Oh? What is it?”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help like I was supposed to.” Felix whispered, stroking under Wooyoung’s eye with his thumb. The older only grinned and sighed as he moved closer to engulf the two. Jeongin wriggled, annoyed with the amount of affection he was receiving, but not immediately leaving the two enveloping him.

“Hyungs, this is mean.” He sighed, moving his head away from Felix’s to get some of his own air. Wooyoung just grinned and beckoned San to join, but the moment the older took a step to join, unable to ever say no to his best friend, Felix writhed out of Wooyoung’s hold and stood up. Jeongin joined with a huff, straightening out his hoody and taking a step away from the two. He glanced at Felix’s hair to see if what Changbin had said was true and, sure enough, Felix’s roots were a bright platinum blond. He tilted his head at the sight and hummed quietly.

It was pretty, it suited Felix, but how it happened, he couldn’t figure out. He could tell it had grown a few inches as well, developing a cute waviness to it that Felix didn’t have before. His hair had been bright blue when they first met a few days prior, right to the roots, and had been naturally straight. He sighed to himself before he turned to San and bowed apologetically.

“Are you okay, Jeongin-ah?” San asked, snickering at the boys hair after Chan had assaulted it with the wet rag. The youngest just scowled and turned to Jongho with a grimace. It only made the second youngest’s shoulders shake with oncoming laughter, to which Jeongin only shook his head and went back to the room where Yeosang was still sleeping. Jongho followed suite, hiding his laughter with the sound of clearing his throat.

Felix was stood dead still in the centre of the kitchen, staring into San’s soul. It made the older rather uncomfortable, but he bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself together. Wooyoung waved a hand in front of Felix’s face, right in front of his eyes, but got no reaction. Nothing could snap him out of his trance, not even when Hongjoong clapped his hands right next to his ears.

All Chan could think was that the boy was in some form of hypnosis, his sclera was flickering from white to black, like those swirls on hypnosis videos. He walked over to San and pushed his shoulder, moving him with force. Felix’s eyes never budged from the space San had been standing, meaning he wasn’t staring San down like he wanted his blood, more like he’d been stuck, unable to move his eyes. Chan moved his gaze to Felix’s unnervingly unmoving eyes, watching as they changed from white to black.

“Felix, can you hear me?” He asked, never breaking eye contact with the younger. Felix nodded, a jerky movement, like his head was forced to move. “Hold on for me.” Chan said, his eyes pleading. Felix let out a gasp, the noise confirmation that he still breathed, still lived.

“Chan-hyung?” Hongjoong whispered, coming next to Felix, staring at the two who were essentially just staring at each other. “Felix-ah? How do you feel right now?” He asked, placing a hand on the freckled boy. The feeling of another person shook Felix out of whatever battle he had been facing as he slumped to the floor once again. Hongjoong looked over at Chan with a face of alarm before dropping to the floor with the younger.

Chan watched on, sort of curious. Would Hongjoong deal with it in a way Chan couldn’t? He watched as Hongjoong grasped onto Felix’s shoulders, shaking him slightly. What was really odd, in Chan’s opinion, was that Hongjoong’s hair was growing.

First, Felix got sick, then become a monster for a few minutes, wailed about Jeongin and ended up with an almost-makeover. Chan had never gotten to see Hongjoong’s eyes.

“Seonghwa?” Chan asked, softly. “Did Hongjoong have a nosebleed?” His eyes left the two on the floor and stared right into Seonghwa. The younger shook as he nodded.

“It wasn’t bad, not like Felix’s. We thought it was like yours. Because of the weather change.” He admitted, tucking his longer hair behind his ears. “But he did have a nosebleed.”

Chan nodded in response. He turned back to Hongjoong, who’s hair was no longer the mesh of colours it used to be, but a plain brown. He mentally noted that hair change was a way to tell if someone was changing. Also, the nosebleeds didn’t have to be heavy to signify change. He wished he had a spare notebook then.

The two on the floor seemed to be deep in a mental conversation, Felix’s eyes dark as the night. From the angle he was stood at, Chan couldn’t tell whether Hongjoong was as far into the infection as Felix was, but after a few steps around the two, Chan verified it.

Hongjoong was flickering. He was shaking and his eyes were swapping from bright to dim. Black bled into white before white bled back into the black. He was losing himself, Chan realised, as Hongjoong’s face twisted in emotions. His hair, now a plain brown, grew into some sort of shaggy mullet, with a longer section appearing from the nape of his neck, a rattail.

Chan laughed to himself in a deranged state. How was any of this happening? A disease that turns you into a monster for wanting something a bit too much? How did that make any sense? And it altered your appearance, as if extreme hair growth and eye colour changing was normal from any disease.

A hand tugged at his wrist and he was met with the concerned face of Kim Seungmin, one of the youngest in the dorms.

“Hyung? What is Hongjoong-hyung doing with Felix?” He asked, voice low and eyes glaring. Chan shrugged and ran a hand through his hair.

“I think they’re communicating?” He offered, face morphed into one of annoyance and upset. “Hongjoong should have told me that he had a nosebleed.” He muttered, taking a light step back when both Felix and Hongjoong stood. Neither’s eyes were dark now, but both boys look completely knackered.

“Oh, Hongjoong-hyung, Felix-hyung, your hair.” Seungmin noted, a hand pointing to his own hair to see if it had changed over the course of the few days. When he felt that the length was the same, he glanced over to the kitchen island, where Hyunjin, Changbin and Seonghwa were sat, their hairstyles having remained unchanged too.

He turned back to Hongjoong and Felix, who were almost swaying where they stood. He shook his head from his thoughts and moved to help them get to somewhere they could lie down and sleep. He took Hongjoong back to the sofa, where he then beckoned for Seonghwa to go, then he took Felix back to his bed, where Jisung was looking around in a half-asleep panic. Mingi and Yunho were passed out on the floor, cuddled up together and San was nowhere to be found.

Jisung almost melted with relief when he saw Felix was still human-ish, aside from the sudden hair change, and helped Seungmin tuck him back into bed. The older of the three thanked Seungmin and laid down next to Felix on the bed, wrapping an arm around him and instantly falling back to sleep. Seungmin chuckled and made his way out of the room, stepping around Mingi as he was sprawled out on the floor.

Seungmin went to wake Minho, he knew the older could sleep through almost anything considering how cat-like he seemed. As he entered the room where Chan had to be forcibly dragged to bed only a few hours earlier, he noticed how Minho was lead comfortably on the left side of the bed, surrounded by messy bedsheets. Jisung had probably thrown them off in his haste to find Felix. Minho looked adorable with his stupidly fluffy bed hair, something Seungmin never would’ve considered the older boy to be.

He seemed to be content in his sleep and all Seungmin wanted was to feel content with him. So he climbed into the bed, covered himself with the sheets and let himself fall unconscious.

Chan was tired. He wanted to go home and see his family again. As if he read his mind, Changbin turned to him and gave him a gentle hug. He’d left the notepad on the island next to Hyunjin and held Chan in his arms like it was the only thing he could do. And, to be honest, it was.

Changbin didn’t know how to deal with feelings in the way most could. All he knew how to help was by feeding and hugging. As the food was currently being rationed, he couldn’t make any food to help the older boy, so he had to do the next best thing; hug.

“Chan-hyung, you’ve done really well.” Hyunjin smiled, coming up on his other side and running a hand down his arm. Chan shivered at the touch, but the words warmed him inside. He stopped feeling the harsh sting of annoyance, and instead allowed himself to feel the presence of the two boys beside him.

He felt a wetness on his cheeks for what felt like the hundredth time that week. Hyunjin brought his hand up to Chan’s face and wiped his tears, letting the older boy wrap his arm around his shoulder, his other over Changbin’s, and brought the three of them together in a warm, slightly damp hug. They stood like that in the area between the kitchen and corridor until the light from under the shuttered windows died.

Once they’d unwrapped themselves from each other, Changbin squeezed Chan’s waist once before finally letting go. Hyunjin pulled away and brushed Chan’s hair from his forehead before pressing a gentle kiss to the centre.

“We’re here for you, Chan.” He whispered, pressing his forehead to Chan’s. “Whenever you need us.” His breath ghosted the elders nose and Chan huffed out a laugh at the sensation. He pressed against Hyunjin, enveloping him into another hug. It felt a bit more intimate this time, even with Changbin’s hand squeezing Chan’s shoulder, and Chan felt a burn of shame in his belly.

He was hugging them and crying in front of them, the boys he’d only met mere days ago. He hadn’t cried in front of Minho until their ninth month into first year, when his first set of exams were around the corner and eating him alive. Sure, the stress was different this time, but he still felt awful that he was being this intimate with someone, multiple someone’s, who weren’t Minho.

The thought made him well up again, pushing his face into the crook of Hyunjin’s neck to hide himself. Changbin’s hand soothed his back as he openly bawled into Hyunjin’s shirt, hand coming up to ball into the taller’s shirt. He knew he’d have to face Minho soon, and maybe even talk about this with him, but he really couldn’t deal with it at that point.

“Hyung, it’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.” Another voice presented itself, Hongjoong. He joined Hyunjin and Chan’s hug, pretty much engulfing Changbin too, and said, “We just have to take it one day at a time, right?”

The words soothed Chan’s brain, made him realise how pathetic he felt. He was focusing too much on the big picture, when all he had to think about were the people he cared about. The one’s who helped him to overcome a giant monster, save everyone from malnutrition, and the ones who protected their home.

Then he realised that Hongjoong was awake. Awake and human. Sure, his hair had lost it’s colour and had grown in length, his silly little rattail hung over his shoulder, but he was still very much human. Chan couldn’t have asked for anything more.

“Joongie…” He muttered, turning his face from Hyunjin’s neck to properly face the boy. He brought a hand up from Hyunjin’s now very crinkled shirt to place it on Hongjoong’s face, dragging his fingers from his forehead, around his left eye, to settle on his cheek. He smiled wetly, watching and feeling how the younger’s face moved to smile back at him. “Thank you.”

Then, he did something he would definitely regret, especially now that a sleepy, half-delirious Minho was watching from the hallway.

Chapter Text

As Minho watched Chan pull away from Hongjoong, he didn’t feel anything but content. A small smile played on his face even as the love of his life kissed another man. He decided, in his half-asleep daze, that he was happy that Chan was happy.

He padded over to the group in the entrance to the kitchen area and, he’d blame the deliriousness for this, joined in on the group hug. Hyunjin stared at him in complete and utter shock, knowing for a fact that Minho had just witnessed Chan and Hongjoong. Chan turned in his grasp, fear and guilt written all over his features.

Minho smiled at him in the hug and pressed a kiss to his forehead, like Chan had done to Hyunjin. Changbin groaned into Chan’s shoulder.

“Why is everyone kissing, this is supposed to be a group hug, not an orgy!” He complained, reaching down to pinch Chan’s side. The eldest flinched and wriggled as Changbin tickled him, but couldn’t escape thanks to the four pairs of arms holding him in place. As the group erupted into fits of giggles and laughter, Hongjoong looked up to Minho, who was just smiling back.

The small interaction between the two gave Hongjoong the confirmation he needed, and he smiled back at the older, happy that he wasn’t about to ruin anything. He pulled away from the hug and watched as Chan fell to the floor, laughing hard enough to be unable to breathe as Changbin and Hyunjin toppled on top of him and continuing with their attack. Minho stayed stood up and wandered over to Hongjoong.

“I’m happy that Chan is happy. I need to have a proper conversation with him about it, but how are you feeling right now?” He asked, and Hongjoong stared up at him in awe.

“I just let your man kiss me, and you’re asking how I feel?” He pointed to himself, his face contorting in confusion. Minho nodded, a look of complete certainty on his face. Hongjoong huffed out a breath and scratched the back of his head, where his rattail started. He didn’t even realise, running his hand down the braid and noticing how long it was. “Ah, well… I’m okay, I think? I’m more worried about how this will affect yours and Chan’s relationship.” He admitted, bringing his braid over his shoulder to properly look at it.

There were beads and jewels threaded into the braid, which glittered in the false lighting of the kitchen. Minho ran two fingers over the rattail, watching as the jewels twisted and twinkled in the light. Hongjoong smiled up at the other, who was now ruffling his shorter hair gently.

“It’s not a bad thing, to be in love and to be honest about it.” He mentioned, still ruffling Hongjoong’s hair. “And that’s not about Chan.” He made a point to look at Seonghwa, sitting on the sofa with a look of pure confusion on his face. Hongjoong grimaced.

“Oh, fuck.” He turned away from Minho and made his way to the older at the sofa. “Hey, ‘Hwa.” He kept his voice quiet for fear of scaring the man. He kept his face neutral as Seonghwa looked up at him, jaw slightly slack and eyes glazed over.

“Are you serious?” He asked, voice low and wobbling. Hongjoong scrunched his face and walked around the sofa to join his other half. He took Seonghwa’s hands in his, making sure Seonghwa’s engulfed his, and looked him in the eye.

“I love you, Park Seonghwa.” His voice trembled as he bared his soul to the other man. “I love you so much, I’ve written so many love songs with you in mind. I’m sorry I betrayed your trust-“

Seonghwa cut him off with a finger to his lips, hands bringing Hongjoong’s with them and to his lips. He kissed his knuckles and rubbed over a few of the scabs that hadn’t fully healed yet.

“Joongie, you haven’t betrayed anything.” His voice was scratchy as he spoke. “I just wish you’d told me that you were this full of love, for more than the seven of us already.” He smiled at the other, who’d begun to tear up too, and the two pressed their foreheads together. “Now we really can’t have you all to ourselves.” He whispered, grinning when Hongjoong giggled in their little bubble.

“Whenever you want me, I’ll be there.” He kissed Seonghwa’s palm. “And that’s a promise, darling.” He smiled. The two were shocked out of their bubble when someone yelled, “Auntie, Mum and Dad are snogging on the sofa again!”

Wooyoung was loud as he made his way to their sofa before he grabbed their collars and separated them. “I already said, both of my honeys, to include me when kisses occur!” He rather needily placed his head between theirs, expecting cheek kisses as soon as possible.

Only Seonghwa gave in, with Hongjoong shaking his head in annoyance to the situation. He rarely got one on one time with Seonghwa, but he could never outright tell Wooyoung, or anyone really, to just leave them alone for a minute. Once Wooyoung felt his cheeks had been thoroughly kissed, he turned to Hongjoong. “You’re no fun.” Was all he said before he rounded in on the elder and planted a very wet, very long kiss to Hongjoong’s left cheek.

The older boy imitated throwing up once Wooyoung had finished, but watched as Chan saw the ordeal. The oldest seemed to be at ease knowing that he wasn’t making a big deal of something when everything could’ve gone so much worse. Hongjoong beckoned him over with a ringed index, watching as Minho joined them too.

“This is something that needs much talking about.” Hongjoong stated from his spot on the sofa, playing absentmindedly with his rattail’s charms. He carried on when all three boys nodded. “So, Seonghwa and I are in a relationship the same way that you,” He pointed to Minho, “and Chan are in a relationship.” Minho nodded. “Okay, but both ‘Hwa and I are in the same relationships with the other members of our dorm.”

“That’s like, actually possible?” Chan piped up, leaning over the sofa just as a tap at the window made them all jump. Hyunjin was halfway to his and Changbin’s room when he’d heard it, reaching over to Seungmin’s cable-covered baseball bat.

He joined the four in the living room, bat held in both hands at his side.

“Cute convo, but we’re still in an apocalypse.” He muttered, watching Hongjoong drag the barbed wire from his backpack, which was now hanging low against his back. Hyunjin sighed as he reached over and tugged at the straps, shortening them so the bag was tight against Hongjoong’s back. The monster-boy grunted and wrapped his hands, much to Seonghwa’s despair, with the wire.

He took a guarded stance with Hyunjin beside him, each one of them searching for the sound again. Mingi had padded into the kitchen, Yunho half-asleep against him, before sighing heavily and picking up one of the pans to attack with. Yunho, despite being confuddled with sleep, grabbed one of the meat cleavers from the knife block, swapping it for Mingi’s pan. Whilst the pair looked like they’d fall asleep if they closed their eyes again, they were both prepared for a fight.

Nothing in this world would be entirely in their favour ever again, Minho decided. They’d have to fight for everything they got. That is until he peered through the metal shutters.

Two floors below, on the barely grassy lawn at the front of the dorm rooms, stood six boys. The youngest could have only been seventeen, with full cheeks and bright eyes. Minho wondered how a high-school student had managed to get onto the university’s grounds, before realising rules no longer existed and it was a free-for-all. He raised an eyebrow at the group before hefting the shutters up and putting a hand out to show everyone it was okay.

Hongjoong breathed a heavy sigh of relief and dropped the barbed wire like it was burning, Hyunjin gently placing Seungmin’s bat against the back of the sofa. Mingi put the meat cleaver in the sink to keep it out of harm’s way and Yunho just threw the pan onto the side before they both made their ways to where Minho was stood to see the newcomers.

Just as they’d made it to the window, they were shocked to their cores to see one of them, a thin boy with bright orange hair that could rival Ice Spice, hovering at their window. Literally. His feet no longer touched the floor and his hair blew gently in the wind. Minho tried not to look shocked, though he’d literally witnessed someone’s hair change colour and grow with no physical help.

The boy knocked on the window once, then phased entirely through it. Minho took a step back to allow him in whilst also mentally screaming because, whilst the hovering wasn’t too bad, the boy had just passed through glass like it wasn’t even there. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, another one of the guys outside had just so happened to be in their living room? How did he even get there? Minho had to sit down.

Just as he took a seat on the ground and placed his head in his hands, Mingi was already starting to scream about the boy now sat on the sofa, with purple hair and blue streaks. The boy seemed to wave off the screaming and shouting and just glanced around before speaking in perfect English.

“Nice place you’ve got. I see there’s food.” He observed, pursing his lips. Chan perked up at the sound of another English speaker and gritted his teeth at the comment.

“There are sixteen of us already, it’s not lasting the whole week.” He huffed. “If you’re looking for food, I’m sure there’s a few convenience stores around here that haven’t been completely ransacked.”

Minho struggled to keep up with the foreign language, barely understanding anything Chan had said after ‘sixteen’ as he spoke so fast. The two held strong eye contact before the orange-haired boy huffed and tapped his foot, his arms crossed.

“Keeho-hyung, we need to go. Seobie looks like he’s gonna combust or something.” He said in Korean, giving Minho’s brain a little break from the harder language being spoken. The boy on the sofa, Keeho, stood up and nodded. He spoke again in English.

“Look, we’re not looking for a fight, but there are monsters everywhere.” His face was grim as he spoke, and Hyunjin was translating the conversation as best he could into Minho’s ear. “We just need a place to lay low for a bit. We wondered if we could crash in this building?” Keeho’s eyes were pleading as he stared at Chan and Minho stood up.

“Absolutely no-“ He was cut off by Chan’s hand over his mouth. Damn this man for being such a softie.

“How many of you need to stay?” He asked, hand still clamped firmly over Minho’s mouth. Keeho’s eyes lit up at the possibility of a chance to stay.

“There’s six of us, but only four of us will eat food.” He replied, turning to the orange haired boy, who grinned in response. “Soul and Seob only eat when they’re healing slowly, they’re halfies, not proper monsters.” He explained, gesturing wildly as he spoke. Chan nodded along and seemed to think about it.

“Yeah, we’ve got two like that, too.” He bit his lip before visibly softening and nodding his head. “Come on, bring your friends. Have a bite.” Minho watched as Keeho’s eyes brightened impossibly lighter, before the younger disappeared from his space in the living room and a loud rumbling was heard from the staircase outside.

The other four boys who were stood outside crashed through the double doors with no effort thanks to the first two boys. Whilst they were both skinny and young, Chan knew immediately that the first two through the doors were the turned ones. Their eyes gave it away, black as the vacuum of space. The other boy already in the room, Jiung, was hurriedly turning away from the two ‘halfies’, as Keeho had so politely put it, who were excitedly introducing themselves to everyone in the room.

The youngest was Kim Jongseob, who was actually seventeen years old like Minho had thought, who had only recently turned. According to Keeho, he used to have dark brown hair that was very straight and refused to even fluff up when ruffled, but the youngest of the group now had very blond, rather curly hair that had been tied into two space buns, courtesy of Taeyang.

The sudden hair change matched up with Hongjoong and Felix’s turning, the latter having just come out of his room to see what all the racket was. After he’d seen the new group of boys he immediately went to retreat back to his room and Jisung, but was stopped by Shota, or Soul as Jongseob had called him, with his fluffy brown hair, bright smile and his adorable Japanese accent. Felix couldn’t resist the eighteen year old, instantly taking the hair bands offered to him by Taeyang and dragging Soul to the sofa to mess about with his hair.

As Felix braided Shota’s hair on the sofa, Chan turned to Keeho, who seemed to be the leader of their little group, judging by his demeanour.

“There’s an apartment below us, with four bedrooms, a kitchen and living area as well as a bathroom. Feel free to stay there for however long you need.” He offered, arms crossed to show that he was still in control of the situation, no matter how out of his depth he felt. Keeho smiled and nodded, matching Chan’s stance as he looked down at the man.

“Look, man,” He said in English, “I really appreciate it. We’ve been trying to find living human beings for a few days now. And food that hasn’t been half eaten by feral cats or something.” He grinned, trying to make light of their dire situation. Chan just grimaced. “Sorry.” Keeho dropped his arms to his side and slouched where he was stood.

Chan motioned for both him and Keeho to move away from the rest of the group, along with Minho and Hongjoong. As they made it to the room with the very broken window, that was once Minho and Jisung’s room, they made sure to steer clear of the window and talked in hushed voices.

“Keeho-ah,” Chan started, “I’m sorry to say this, but there really isn’t enough food for twenty-two people. Like, at all.” He watched as Keeho’s face fell grim and he nodded. Chan turned to Hongjoong and Minho, seeking out their opinions. Minho spoke up first.

“I’m against you and your group staying here.” He said bluntly. “Not because you’ve got ‘halfies’, or whatever they are, no offense.” He turned to Hongjoong who just shrugged it off, “But we cannot feed and house so many people at once. We have four people who have turned, which is not only extremely dangerous, but also terrifying. The thought that all four could turn into real monsters at the same time is a horrifying thought because we aren’t prepared for two, let alone four. Again,” He turned to Hongjoong, who was grinning and shaking his head, “no offense.”

“Minho-hyung, none taken. I see where you’re coming from. If ‘Hwa or Jjongie had turned like me, I too would be wary of them.” He replied. “Keeho-ah,” He turned to the youngest, “please don’t take any offense to anything we say, we just have to put our own before you and yours.” He placed a hand on Keeho’s shoulder and squeezed it to reassure him. “If you want help looking for another place where you can stay, I’ll be more than happy to help.”

Keeho looked like he was about to cry by the glaze over his eyes, but he held his composure with a stoic stance. He nodded along to what his elders had to say and he completely understood where they were coming from. How could they house more halfies with them, after all they’d already been through? It had been hell for him and his group when Jongseob had turned. Shota had already turned when they stumbled across him, Taeyang and a heavily injured Jongseob, but he was fine, he didn’t hurt any of them and had been so happy to see other living humans after all they’d been through.

To Keeho, Shota was like a sun in his bleak solar system, where Jiung was a constant crick in his neck and Intak seemed completely oblivious and way too positive given their situation. Shota was the one who’d pulled him from his darkest days with stupid jingles, a squeaky laugh and many, many homemade friendship bracelets.

When they had been nursing Jongseob back from hell, Shota had made soup from their limited food sources, recounted their stories from a future unknown and kept everyone’s hopes up at the thought of hearing him sing every morning. Even when their resources dwindled on the third day, Shota made sure that everyone was relatively okay by feeding them the last scraps, telling them there was still hope if they left when they did.

And when Jongseob turned, Shota convinced them that their youngest would turn out like him and they’d have to worry less about food and more about finding better shelter than what they had made do.

So Keeho knew what it felt like to want to keep your loved ones safe from the outside world. He completely understood what Minho and Hongjoong felt. So he agreed.

“Alright. We’ll leave once we’ve found somewhere that keeps us sheltered and has food nearby. Anything that helps to keep us all safe, including you guys.” His eyes were filled with fire as he looked into Minho’s eyes.

Minho nodded his head in agreement, watching as Chan huffed a breath and looked to the floor. He turned to Hongjoong, who was fiddling with the end of his rattail.

“Hongjoong said he’ll help you, and so will we, to the best of our abilities.” He said, head bobbing as he spoke. “Only four of you need to eat, right?” Keeho nodded. “Right, we’ll pack enough food for you, Taeyang, Jiung and Intak. How you decide to distribute it is up to you. You can take two of our backpacks, considering how none of you have one.” He made a comment and saw how Keeho’s lips pressed into a line at it. “What you can’t do now, Keeho-ah,” He glared daggers into the boy, “is rely on your weird powers or your younger members to get you out of every situation. From what I can tell, Taeyang and Intak aren’t like you.”

Keeho nodded at everything Minho said, eyes focused and hands fidgeting at his side. Minho took a deep breath and held his hand out. Keeho eyes it suspiciously before taking it and shaking it. “We will help you from here. Once you’ve found somewhere, we will leave. Is that alright with you?” He asked, squeezing Keeho’s hand lightly.

“Yeah, actually. I know how it feels to want to keep everything you love safe.”

The three people who were assigned to help the six younger boys were Hongjoong, Changbin and Wooyoung. Jongseob had been defiant with the choice, asking insistently for Felix or Jeongin to be there instead, but Chan put his foot down as the eldest against the youngest.

“For the last time, Jeongseob-ah, I am not allowing either of them to go with you.” He had a hand on his forehead and was tapping his foot in agitation. Never had a kid ever gotten on his nerves like that. “It’s too dangerous for Felix, he’s reliable, yes, but I need him to stay here as he’s still newly turned.” He excluded Hongjoong as he was older and had experience in fighting, despite Felix’s sixty-three taekwondo medals. “He’s not able to make split-second decisions like Hongjoong, and Wooyoung knows his way around making a weapon from anything.”

Wooyoung may have had a little breakdown the day before, but he was adamant that he was just surprised and caught entirely off guard, so he wasn’t at all prepared for the situation. Now that he knew what he had to do, he could create all the plans he needed for the outside.

“But hyung, Changbin looks like all he knows is how to squat and drink protein shakes!” Jongseob bit back, arms crossed and face angry. Chan glared at him as Changbin’s eyes widened in offense.

“I’ll have you know that man knows how to ration one meal between eight people. Would you rather waste the food we’ve given to you within the first day of searching and starve, or would you rather be able to spread it out over several days? And don’t even think of using the excuse that you don’t need to eat, because you friends still do.” He shot back, gesturing towards Keeho, who looked like he wanted to strangle the youngest, Taeyang, who looked like he wanted to leave as soon as possible to find their new base, Jiung, who was poking Keeho’s shoulder just to be annoying, and Intak, who was chatting with Wooyoung about breakdancing.

Before Jongseob could make another statement about either Changbin or Wooyoung, Shota butted in to resolve the situation.

“Seobie, if we leave now, we’re more likely to find somewhere that monsters haven’t thoroughly destroyed. And we may be able to keep some of the food for the others so they don’t starve whilst you and I look for food.” He stated, arms wrapped around the youngest. Jongseob continued to glare at Chan, but didn’t say anything further. Shota turned to Chan with an apologetic look.

Chan sighed and turned away to let Hongjoong talk to the group, having had enough of them. He reached Minho as Hongjoong pulled a map from God knows where and rested his head on his shoulder. Minho patted his head and wrapped his arms around him.

“How are you feeling, love?” He whispered into Chan’s hair. Chan just let out a groan and melted into the head pats and hug. “We’ll talk this out later, hmm? When Hongjoong, Changbin and Wooyoung come back.”

Chan felt a pinch of pain knowing that Hongjoong would be leaving, but he couldn’t imagine how the rest of his own partners would be feeling. He turned slightly in Minho’s arms and watched how both Hongjoong and Wooyoung were bidding farewell to their lovers. Hongjoong was in the middle of bringing Seonghwa down to kiss his forehead in goodbye and Wooyoung was in a full bear-hug with Jongho and San.

Mingi and Yunho had already said their goodbye’s and were chatting to Seungmin and Jeongin about what should have been their uni courses. Chan turned back to Minho and brought a hand up to caress his cheek before pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

“Thank you for not getting upset. I’m sorry.” Before Chan could continue, Minho placed a finger against his lips and shook his head.

“It’s fine, Channie. I love you for having so much love to give.” His eyes were fond as he spoke and Chan couldn’t see even the slightest trace of a lie. He smushed his face into Minho’s chest before forcing himself out of his grasp to move towards Hongjoong, who was giving Intak and Jiung a quick rundown of their plan.

“Hongjoong, may I speak with you for a moment?” He whispered into the younger’s ear and Hongjoong nodded before rolling the map back up and letting the other two know when they should be ready. Once they got to the hallway were Minho was stood leaning against the wall, Hongjoong looked between the two older boys with an awkward expression.

“Ah, Hongjoong.” Minho greeted with a nod and peeled himself away from the wall. Hongjoong nodded back and kept silent. Chan grabbed both Hongjoong’s and Minho’s hands before he spoke up.

“I’m sorry this has happened. I love you, Minho, with my entire body and soul.” He made sure to keep direct eye contact with the younger as he confessed, then turned to Hongjoong. “And I hope you’ll take my… confession?” He paused as he squeezed Hongjoong’s hand. “Into consideration. I’m struggling to understand myself with these new feelings, but I really want to be with both of you. Hongjoong, you’re like my rock, I’m able to rely on you when I doubt myself, and Minho, you help me feel like I’m worth something when I feel like I’m not. I know the situation we’re in is messed up,” He looked around at the shutters along the living space and kitchen windows before he continued, “but I hope you’ll both give this a chance.”

He squeezed both their hands and gently brought them both into a hug, where both his… partners? - he didn’t know how Hongjoong really felt yet, but he’d like to - hugged him back and with the same tenderness he held onto them with.

As they left each other’s embrace, Minho saw how Jongseob was watching the three of them with a look of confusion. He just grinned at the teen before turning his attention back to Chan and Hongjoong.

Without moving from his spot, Jongseob whispered to Shota, “Wasn’t Rattail Guy with Snow White?” which earned him a snort and a shove to his shoulder.

“Seobie, I think they might, like, all be together.” Shota replied, pointing to where Wooyoung and Changbin were comforting a very distraught Hyunjin at the kitchen island. Jongseob scrunched his nose up in confusion.

“Isn’t that weird though? And they’re, like, all guys too.” He said, feeling more than seeing Keeho walk up beside him. Shota greeted the older with a hug and a kiss to the cheek, which Keeho chuckled at.

“I don’t think so.” Shota responded, still hanging onto Keeho. “Do you get weirded out about how I act with hyung?” He asked.

“Well, sort of. Hyung’s not gay so I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate it. Plus, it’s not, like, a sixteen-way thing so it’s not super weird, just average weird for you, Soul.” The youngest responded, to which Keeho scoffed.

“When did I ever say I wasn’t gay, Seobie? And what’s even considered weird anymore?” He asked, watching Jongseob’s face drop. As the youngest spluttered for an excuse, Keeho just pulled Shota back to his side and let the younger cuddle into him. It was the best feeling, in his own opinion. “Shota is perfect the way he is, even if he barks in interviews or does fruity freestyles at fanmeets.” He grinned, feeling Shota poking at his ribs at the teasing comment.

Jongseob opened his mouth to continue, but stopped when he turned to properly look at his hyungs. Shota had wrapped himself around Keeho’s thin waist and his face was pressed into Keeho’s neck, and the older seemed to be enjoying it with one arm loose around Shota’s shoulders. Jongseob scrunched his face in disgust.

“You two are so icky.” Was all he said before he flounced off to where Taeyang was speaking to Felix on one of the sofas. Shota turned to Keeho to press another kiss to his cheek, the older sighing in defeat once Jongseob had run off.

“He’ll come around, I know he will.” Shota muttered, nuzzling into Keeho’s neck before peeling himself away to follow the youngest. Whilst Keeho missed the heat from the brown-haired boy, he shook his head and wandered over to where Hyunjin was still in tears and hugging the life out of Changbin, one hand out to clutch Wooyoung’s shirt.

“Hello, hyungs. I’m sorry for all the trouble we’ve caused.” Keeho bowed politely to them to show just how apologetic he really was. Hyunjin, whilst his face was buried into Changbin’s shoulder, shook his head.

“No, no, Keeho-ah, it’s fine, I just can’t stand them going away.” He said, voice muffled by Changbin’s ridiculously buff shoulder. Keeho wondered how much he benched. Changbin nodded.

“It’ll be okay, though.” He stated. “It means we get to see first-hand the situation outside the building. We’ve already come into direct contact with a monster, so we need to know if there’s a danger scale or if they’re all just as dramatic as each other.” He explained, running a hand up and down the crying boy’s back.

Keeho nodded and tentatively held a hand out to press against Hyunjin’s shoulder. The older pulled away from Changbin and his hand left Wooyoung’s shirt to pull the younger boy into a bone-shattering hug. Keeho winced at Hyunjin’s strength, but copied Changbin’s soothing actions by running his hands along his back.

“I’m sorry this is happening, but I won’t let anything happen. This is my fault you and you partners will be split up, and I deeply apologise for that.” He heard Hyunjin’s sobs stutter for a moment and the older boy pulled away slightly to look at his face.

“My partners?” He asked through a hiccup. Keeho nodded and looked at Changbin and Wooyoung for confirmation, but Changbin was bright red and Wooyoung seemed to be holding in laughter.

“Yeah? Aren’t you all, like, together or something?” He asked, glancing between the three of them and then to where Hongjoong was leaning against Yunho as both boys were talking to San. Wooyoung let out a snort before full on laughing.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’ve only got seven partners, not fifteen!” Wooyoung spoke between his laughter, wiping at his eyes. Changbin seemed be vibrating where he stood, stuck between making a joke or something else.

Keeho’s eyes widened as he realised that he had been wrong about the group. Hyunjin was now giggling in his arms and Keeho didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry, I just thought…” He trailed off, knowing that whatever he’d say next would make everything way more awkward than it already was. “Wait, so who are your partners, Wooyoung-hyung?” He asked, trying not to touch Hyunjin even though the boy was still half-laughing half-sobbing in his arms. Wooyoung smiled and a small blush painted his cheeks.

“So, my partners are Jongho, San, Mingi, Yeosang, Yunho, Hongjoong and Seonghwa. Though, I think Hongjoong may be dating Chan now as well, but I’ll have to ask when we get back.”

Keeho was beside himself at that point. He’d not expected only half of them to be together considering how they all acted together. Did they even know half were pining over the other? And were they all just dating a few of each other, or all of them? His brain was momentarily being fried at all the thoughts, he had no idea how to handle himself.

“Keeho-ah? Are you alright?” Changbin asked, worry written all over his face. Keeho nodded, unable to verbally answer as he may just blurt out a question without thinking of how they’d react. Changbin reached over and pulled Hyunjin away from him before placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it. “I understand that’s a hilarious amount of information to take in right now, but you seriously don’t need to worry about it.” Keeho just nodded again, his eyes focusing in on Changbin’s. “Just worry about getting you and your group to safety, alright?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve gotta focus on. Thanks, hyung.” He responded, but turned to Wooyoung. “Seven boyfriends? Man, you’re one lucky guy.” Wooyoung guffawed at him and clapped him on his other shoulder.

“Oh, you’re funny, Keeho-ah. Let’s be friends!”

Keeho laughed awkwardly and turned away harshly from the three before accidentally bumping into Mingi, who was attempting to make it over to Yunho, and knocking the both of them over completely. Mingi had just passed in front of Jiung, who had been trying to get to Keeho, so the three of them went down like dominoes.

Whilst Keeho had immediately jumped up so he didn’t embarrass himself further, Mingi had leaned over Jiung, one hand beside the red-heads face and the other over his own forehead. Jiung’s legs were between Mingi’s, one knee up and pressing into the older’s inner thigh. Mingi was kneeling, one knee braced beside Jiung’s hip and the other being pushed to the side thanks to how Jiung’s own knee was pushing him.

Keeho watched as Jiung squeaked in fear when Mingi removed his hand from his forehead to place on Jiung’s cheek as the older checked his face for injuries. Mingi let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the other wasn’t hurt, just terrified of their close proximity. He smirked at the red-head, bringing his leg away from Jiung’s knee and sitting up, effectively straddling the poor boy and watching in sadistic awe as the younger’s face erupted into a red blaze.

“Hey, you okay?” Mingi said, voice lower than what Keeho had heard from their very limited interaction in the first few minutes of them arriving. He’d done it deliberately, Keeho realised, as Jiung brought his hands to cover his face as he nodded slowly.

Jiung had always been quite averse when it came to skinship and being close with others. When Keeho had met him in high school, he’d completely shut down the idea of even being able to pat Jiung on the shoulder or back as the younger always shied away or pushed Keeho’s hand hard enough for it to hurt. But Keeho knew that all he had to do was break down the tall, concrete walls Jiung had put up, and soon, little by little, cracks had formed and a small, Keeho shaped hole had formed in them. Since then, the two squabbled and found different ways of annoying the other, but Jiung never shied away from him anymore.

So to see his best friend blush and become jelly in the presence of another, someone who wasn’t Keeho, it made his blood boil. How had it taken two whole years for Jiung to even lock pinkies with him, but only a few moments for this giant to hold his hand and pull him up from the floor. And keep a hold of his hand even after they were both stood upright?

Keeho, despite being smaller than Mingi, shoved the older’s shoulder to break their hands apart.

“Hey, sorry, but he doesn’t like skinship.” He almost growled at the other, keeping a harsh grip on Mingi’s shoulder, placing his entire body in front of the now annoyed Jiung.

“Keeho, it’s fine, I-“ He was cut off by Keeho’s finger in his face, effectively shutting him up. Jiung crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. Keeho glared him down, eyes filled with hurt and he looked so pissed that Jiung did shut up. Mingi was watching with amusement, a twinkle in his eye as how Keeho protected Jiung so fiercely.

“Sorry, man. I didn’t know.” He said to both boys, watching as Jiung’s eyes widened and noticing how Keeho’s protective stance didn’t change. He held his hands up in defence, seeing how Jiung proceeded to reach out and tug as Keeho’s wrist and pull him away from the taller boy.

A chuckle from behind Mingi broke the tense atmosphere and Mingi felt someone drape themselves around his shoulders. Yunho.

“Don’t worry, Mingi’s too much of a princess to get his hands dirty. There’s no way he’d attempt anything of his own violition.” He said, voice low and making Mingi shiver. When Yunho called him ‘princess’, that meant Mingi had to stop, whatever he was doing. Mingi was never one to press Yunho’s buttons, so he stopped.

Keeho was amazed. Only a few words from the even taller boy - God how tall even was he? – and Mingi stopped pressing. What sort of relationship did they have? He knew Wooyoung was dating all of his roommates, but he didn’t think that maybe they were all dating each other. That made more sense, especially after seeing whatever Mingi and, was it Yunho? Whatever those two had going on.

Yunho’s hands had wound themselves around Mingi’s chest, holding him in place. Keeho spared a glance at the older’s hands, meaning to only get a glimpse, but after seeing just how big they were, he couldn’t help but stare. He’d never seen anyone as tall as Yunho before, not in real life anyways, but his hands made it to number one on his list of things that he was attracted to in a guy.

God, what was Keeho doing? He had come here for help, which he’d very successfully gained, not to simp over all of the sixteen guys who’s very kindly offered their help to him, in the record time of an hour. In order to get away from Yunho’s knowing smirk and Mingi’s even more knowing grin, Keeho turned to Jiung with a face full of frustration and desperation.

Jiung just responded by raising his eyebrows and pressing his lips together. He then glanced at something behind Keeho, something that made him shocked enough to become slack-faced and make his jaw hang open slightly. Keeho turned, hackles raised in case Shota, Jongseob or the other two halfies, Keeho only knew of Hongjoong, had turned. But he wasn’t met with a fearsome monster that was ready to eat his face off.

Standing next to Yunho and Mingi was a carved marble statue, a man so beautiful Keeho had to grasp onto the back of the sofa so his knees didn’t buckle beneath him. Keeho didn’t have to worry about monsters killing him when there were many, many extremely stunning men that had him considering jumping out the building instead of teleporting. He attempted to regain his composure before asking for the boy’s name with a shaky voice.

The boy stared at him with a look of confusion before answering in heavily accented English, “My name is Kang Yeosang.” With the most adorable lisp Keeho had ever heard. He genuinely considered jumping out the window now. Then he realised he had asked in English, not Korean, which was why Yeosang had been confused at first. He remembered all the Korean he knew then, understanding the difficulty of talking in a language you barely knew.

“Hello, Kang Yeosang, I’m Yoon Keeho.” He said in his best, most formal Korean as he bowed politely, in a perfect ninety degree angle, which made both Mingi and Yunho wolf-whistle and whoop for him. “I hope we’ll be acquainted soon as my friends and I will be staying in the dorm room below until we find a new base outside.”

Yeosang was completely taken aback by the language used by the boy bowing before him. He had his hands up to his face as he blushed the same colour as his birthmark as he muttered about the formalities being unnecessary. Keeho shook his head, still in the perfect bowing position, as he spoke again. “You are so perfect, I cannot stress my need to show you that you’re perfect.” He said.

Mingi agreed rather loudly, pulling Yeosang into one of their messiest kisses yet. Keeho stood up and averted his eyes by turning to Jiung, who had one hand on his head and the other on his hip.

“You are my most embarrassing hyung.” The red-head said, sparing a quick glance to the couple behind Keeho. “How in the bloody hell does that even work?” Keeho sighed and tried to block Jiung’s view. “A three-way kiss? I bet that takes a lot, like, a lot a lot of practice.” He crossed his arms and nodded in agreeance to himself. “Mad respect to them, for real.”

“Jiung, stop being British for, like, two seconds and give them some privacy?” Keeho hissed, grabbing the younger by his shoulders and forcibly moving him from the scene that he himself had not witnessed. They were definitely intruding. Jiung shoved at his shoulder before whistling at the three who were apparently still at it.

“Oh, hell yeah, Mingi-hyung! That’s how you-!” Jiung’s mouth was smacked and covered by Keeho’s hand and his entire face was pushed towards the door. Both he and Keeho were giggling messes when they’d passed through the door and slammed it shut. They were now in the room that Keeho had been part-interrogated, part-invited by Chan, Minho and Hongjoong, the one with the shattered window.

They were still giggling to themselves, and maybe partially to each other, as they sank to the floor with weak knees and hurting stomachs. Keeho’s hand that had been on Jiung’s mouth had slipped to hold onto his neck, which suddenly felt too thin, too frail against Keehos’ grasp. He went to pull away, his face paling at the idea of Jiung being weak, but the red-head gripped onto his wrist and forced it back.

“Jiung, I-“ Keeho was a weak man and the look in Jiung’s eyes made him even weaker. It was an unspoken thing, between the two of them. Something they had both seen, had both acknowledged, but both had agreed to stay away from it. All of a sudden, that agreement made itself scarce when Jiung looked at him.

“Stay?” Jiung whispered, pressing Keeho’s hand firmly against his throat. Keeho could never resist Jiung, even when every fibre of his being told him to.

San was crying with Hyunjin when Hongjoong had called everyone to the kitchen to properly say goodbye and make sure everyone was accounted for. They had each been given little chores to do around both the upstairs and downstairs apartments and even in the basement where the breaker was situated. Whilst some were told to do their chores alone, others, the ones who had to leave the safety of the dorms, had to go in twos or threes.

Wooyoung, who was comforting San and Hyunjin by engulfing them in hugs and the occasional kiss, forehead and cheek for Hyunjin and lips for San, had perked up at the clapping coming from Hongjoong. The elder threw his and Chan’s phones on the table and everyone fell silent.

“So, we have no data. That’s fine though, as I use Apple,” He held up his phone with the distinct iPhone logo on its back, “and Chan uses Samsung.” He then held up the eldest’s phone, which was one of the newest Samsung Galaxy’s. “So, we can message and call as long as there’s signal. My team will take my phone, and Chan’s team will take his phone. We will let you all know when we are on our way back and whether or not we’ve found a suitable place for them to stay.” He looked around to see everyone nodding their agreements.

“Hongjoong, Binnie-hyung and I will take Jongseob, Shota-“

“He prefers Soul!” Wooyoung shoots a pointed glare at the youngest.

“Fine. Hongjoong, Binnie-hyung and I will take Jongseob, Soul, Taeyang and Keeho, wherever he is, with us as we look for their new base.” Wooyoung said, pointing a finger around the group and looking for the youngest leader. “And where’s Jiung, too?” He then gasped before glaring at Mingi, Yeosang and Yunho, all three of whom had wild hair and kiss-bitten lips. “You’ve corrupted them, they’re gonna be too terrified to face us anymore!” He pointed in accusation to the three of them. As if the two boys had realised they were the topic of discussion, Keeho and Jiung made an appearance, making Wooyoung gasp again at the sight of them.

Jiung’s already wild hair positively stood on end and his shirt was crumpled, showing a sliver of his stomach. His face was flushed and he looked dazed. Keeho looked smug as hell and, whilst his hair looked completely frazzled, much more put together compared to Jiung.

Wooyoung positively glared at Mingi, Yunho and Yeosang. “You ruined them. They were just pure, innocent babies when they arrived!” He whined, pulling Jiung to himself so he could flatten his hair and un-ruffle his shirt. Keeho made a face.

“I’m literally the same age as you?” He pointed out, raising his hands to his sides and shrugging. Wooyoung just waved the comment off and continued to fuss over Jiung, who was sticking his finger up and his tongue out at Keeho. “You’re a child, Jiung, stop being rude to me.” Jiung responded by shaking his head and putting his index finger and middle finger up in a backwards peace-sign before waggling it at him.

“God, that’s so British.” Chan snorted, the words coming out in English. Jiung grinned and waved at the rest of the group.

“The Brits are the weirdest, which is why I love them.” Jiung responded with little accent in his perfect English, leaving the group astounded once again. Changbin groaned at the younger before deciding that murder was not on his twenty-twenty-four bingo card this year.

“No because what the hell is a crumpet?” Mingi asked as he crossed his arms and shook his head. Seungmin nodded in agreeance.

“I love tea, but does it always need cold milk in? Why don’t they heat the milk too if they wanted a hot drink? Why put cold milk in a hot drink when you want a hot drink?” He rambled, arms gesturing wildly. The group laughed. “Oh and don’t even get me started on that monstrosity they call ‘beans on toa’-“ His mouth was stuffed with a tissue, one found by Minho.

“Let’s just get on with this.” He grumbled, placing his elbows against the kitchen island and hiding his eyes with a hand. Hongjoong agreed silently, tapping certain areas on the map and explaining the things that people would need to do.

The group fell silent as the plan was explained, save for Jongseob jostling Taeyang under the table several times. Once everyone knew the plan once again, everyone got ready to do their jobs, some more dangerous than others. Wooyoung turned to San and brought their foreheads together, deliberately right in front of Jongseob.

“Sannie, I’ll see you later?” Wooyoung asked, catching Jongseob’s awkward expression from the corner of his eye. San grinned and nodded against Wooyoung’s head.

“Amicus?” He said, voice risen like a question. Wooyoung smiled and gave him a quick peck on his lips.

“Ad.” He replied, waiting for San’s arms to wrap around him as they finished their joint phrase. San’s arms did just that and he whispered in Wooyoung’s ear as the younger said it loudly.

“Aras!” They stayed hugging until Jongseob made an obnoxiously loud retching noise. As they split, San stuck his tongue out at the youngest and Wooyoung grinned widely as his stuck his own tongue into San’s mouth and very happily made out with him. Jongseob turned away and rushed to distract himself.

San and Wooyoung parted and the two smirked to each other. They laughed together and continued to hug, even though Hongjoong was glaring at them for making Jongseob uncomfortable.

Seonghwa joined both San and Wooyoung in their long-lasting hug and pressed a kiss to Wooyoung’s head before physically prying him off of San so he could go do his job. Wooyoung whined and groaned about how he was gonna suffer for so long because Jongseob was “a sour lemon.”

Jongseob glared warily at the older before turning to Soul and tugging on his arm. Soul distractedly pulled the youngest into a side hug and stared at Keeho from afar. The youngest stared up at Soul without any malice and brought his hands to play with the ends of Soul’s short, messy braids.

“Hyung.” Jongseob’s voice was low, and Soul tore his gaze from Keeho to finally look at Jongseob. The two stare at each other for a few moments before Soul smiles and pokes Jongseob’s cheek.

“Let’s get ready to leave.” Soul said, tugging on Jongseob’s sleeve and bringing him to the entryway where Hongjoong and Changbin were stood, deep in conversation.

As Hongjoong notices Soul and Jongseob, who are followed by Wooyoung, Taeyang and Keeho, he says three words that they were all dreading to hear.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Jiung felt worried the second Keeho stepped foot out of the double doors. He’d spent the past weird years of his life with him, according to Ahjussi after explaining their predicament those very long days ago, and he’d not left his side even when this situation came about. Both Ahjussi and Taeyang had both admitted to not knowing the year they came from, nor the known cause of their apocalyptic future. Jiung had questioned for hours with no answer from either of them.

Now, as Keeho left the safety of the building, all Jiung could think about was how he was going to die and there was nothing Jiung could do about it. This was the future that Taeyang, Jongseob and Soul’s ancestors had lived through and the present that Keeho and Jiung had been teleported to.

That was it, right? Jiung’s teleportation caused the rift in time, if he hadn’t been so intent on going to 2020... He shook his head. There was no time for ifs or buts, he had to follow the chores Hongjoong and Chan had left for him.

He pulled the paper from the neat pile on the table, his name written in neat English, no doubt Chan. He wondered for a moment if Hongjoong could speak the language before placing the paper in his pocket and turning to find Intak. He found the boy chatting with Seonghwa and San about clothes and the things he wish he’d taken with him before they had to run.

“Intak-ah. What are your chores that the hyungs set?” He asked, waving his own paper from his pocket. Intak’s face scrunched in disgust at the idea of chores. San grinned and patted the younger’s shoulder before he pulled out his own piece of paper and placed it next to Intak’s resting hands.

As Intak turned away from the papers, Minho appeared behind Seonghwa and gave Intak a very threatening look, one that suggested that the tissues be brought out again. Intak gave his sheet a quick glance, seeing how Minho’s expression wavered from the corner of his eye. He picked the sheet up and pretended to really look through the tasks given to him and saw how Minho turned and took a step to talk to Seonghwa.

Intak shoved the sheet in his pocket and made a break for a room with a lock. He bolted through the door and slammed it behind him, turning the lock and resting his forehead against the doorframe. He heard a strange noise behind him, so he turned slowly with only one eye open.

Lee Felix looked stunning. Everyone knew Felix from his shoots with Louis Vuitton for Vogue. But at this moment in time, Intak believed Felix to be absolutely ethereal. His hair, now fully blond, reached his shoulders in loose waves, his ears pointed, elven-like, and these large and utterly beautiful feathered wings protruded grimly from his shoulder-blades. Intak was even more stunned by the fact that Felix’s eyes were the opposite of his exterior. His eyes were dark and void-like, contrasting greatly with his pale freckled skin.

As Intak continued to look in awe at the being in front of him, he noticed the stance that Felix had. As though he were guarding something. His nails, outstretched and cat-like claws, were a worry, but Intak could see the sleeping form of someone in the bed behind Felix. Instead of moving to either leave the room or go towards the sleeping figure, Intak decided to move to the window and look out of it.

He motioned for the ethereal being to stand with him, but the boy did not move. His wings stretched further and he bared his teeth, each one sharpened to points. Intak just shrugged at the gesture.

“Are you gonna get your chores done, Felix?” He asked, glancing at the feathers that fell to the floor. They were sharp, like everything else about the boy. His once soft features, specifically his eyes, were all sharp-edged, giving him a harsher look to him, more so with the large wings and sharp claws and teeth. Felix practically snarled at the boy before he licked his lips and took a step backwards, towards the bed.

Intak blinked twice, trying to figure out how Felix had become the way he’d become. It could’ve happened slowly, first the teeth, then the claws, and lastly the wings. But Intak believed it was all at once, considering how fresh the blood dripping down his fingers and back was. The more he looked, the more Intak noticed different things about Felix’s change.

Before his change, Felix wasn’t super toned or anything, but he wasn’t exactly super skinny either. Now, Intak saw how his forearms had a small amount of muscle to them, enough to compare to the eldest of all the groups, Chan. Intak also noticed how Felix’s freckles had seemingly doubled, stippling his neck and forearms with little marks, whereas those areas had been almost void of them before.

Whilst Intak tried to ignore the blood dripping onto the carpet, he turned away from the boy and to the scenery outside the window. “If I were able to leave now, I would. I don’t like being a burden to you all, really.” He muttered, knowing that Felix could hear him with those elfish ears of his.

“No.” Felix’s voice was already deep, yet his turning seemed to have made it that little bit deeper, enough to make Intak’s spine shiver with the single word. The younger boy ignored it in order to get more words from the halfie. He turned on his heels to face the other.

“I certainly feel like one though. I don’t think I can help the way you all can.” He gave a small smile to Felix, watching as his feathers bristled behind him. The action seemed to annoy the blond as his eyes twitched and his teeth were bared once more.

“Not burden. Kind. Helpful.” It seemed to hurt Felix to speak, and the boy needed to take large gulps of air after he spoke, which almost made Intak think more about it. Until Felix lunged.

Han Jisung was terrified. He’d been sleeping when a splatter of something warm and red hit the bedsheets and the wall he was facing as he’d attempted to get some sleep. Felix hadn’t said anything, just let out a groan when an odd sound, a crunch almost, ripped through the air. Jisung didn’t want to think, he’d hoped it was all just a weird dream he was having.

Someone had barrelled in, making Felix shoot up from the bed. Jisung’s feet were getting cold where they poked out of the end of the bedsheets. Surely whoever had come in could see he was there and that he needed help, right? But the boy, someone Jisung couldn’t put a face to by just his voice, had only talked about chores.

Jisung heard Felix’s noises, his growls and snarls. Whoever was facing him really had balls of steel, Jisung would admit. He wouldn’t have lasted this long facing someone who could eat him at any given moment. The boy said something about being a burden and it piqued Felix’s interest, enough so that he actually responded. His voice was a little gravelly and so very deep, making Jisung shiver more than usual at the sound. Felix’s voice haunted Jisung in ways he’d never admit out loud.

However, Jisung noticed how Felix was panting heavily between his words. He shifted slightly to get a better view, but two large feathered things blocked him from Felix. It hit him then that the younger had turned and was currently in an almost normal conversation with the other person, who seemed completely unphased that Felix had these massive, sharp even, wings emerging from his shoulder blades. The room fell quiet.

Jisung slowly, very slowly, peeled the bedsheets from his side and made his way to get up. He’d meant to be slow with that too, but he saw how Felix tensed slightly, in a way that Jisung knew what he was going to do. He’d seen that stance hundreds of times with the kids from his last school. Felix was going to fight.

Jisung flew out to kick the back of one of the younger’s legs and watched as the winged boy crumpled to the ground with a surprised shriek. The noise alerted the others outside the room and Jeongin came hurling in with the comb-shank that Chan had made the day before. Hyunjin followed not a moment later, with his fists raised and Seonghwa flanking him.

Before anyone could move again, Jisung tackled the half-stood Felix back onto the ground and held him in place, wrists pinned to his sides and Jisung straddling the boy. Felix hissed and bared his teeth, his wings almost limp as he attempted to get away from the older. As he was so newly turned, he’d never used his wings before, so the mechanics were unclear to him as no one had reported new appendages that were fully functional. Or wings, for that matter.

“Lixie!” Jisung grunted as he was shunted from the way Felix kicked out. “Either you stop, or I make you stop.” His voice was stable despite the writhing boy beneath him, a demanding tone thrown in to see what Felix would do. What Felix did was stop.

The blond gave out a cut-off whine and Jisung watched as his eyes flickered, showing how he was flitting in and out of control. Jeongin came to Intak’s side and pulled him out of the room, muttering under his breath, “Yeah, he’s got this.” Hyunjin and Seonghwa followed, but the eldest held back to stand in the doorway and make sure no one died.

Jisung stayed straddling Felix even as the boy contorted to fit his weird-ass wings back into his body. Jisung and Seonghwa both watched with worry as the boy lost his breath once the wings were stored back inside of him. His claws became normal, blunt nails and his teeth changed back to their original state. His eyes continued to change from a dark, endless void to his normal, deep brown gaze.

“Jisung. I think you can let go now.” Seonghwa said, clearly worried that Jisung was going to either hurt Felix, himself, or the both of them. The younger shook his head.

“I’m not letting go until I get my ‘Lix back.” He muttered simply, not even bothering to spare a glance back at the eldest. He heard Seonghwa sigh and turn on his heel, footsteps fading as he left their space. His eyes never left Felix’s though, whose own eyes were finally sticking to their deep, chocolate brown. A quick once-over and the boy seemed to be fine, aside from the fact that he was being pinned to the ground.

“Sung?” Felix’s deep voice was so quiet, almost silent as he spoke. Jisung nodded and cupped Felix’s face with his hands. “’M sorry.” He apologised, his eyelids drooping as he brought his own hand up to brush Jisung’s jawline.

“It’s okay, ‘Lix-ah. I’m just glad I got you in time.” The brunette responded, his voice quiet to match Felix’s. The blond let out a soft sigh as he brought himself up on one elbow and caressed Jisung’s cheek, letting out a light huff of a laugh when Jisung squished his cheeks.

“You look so beautiful like this.”

And Jisung did. He was wearing his sleep-hoodie, which was almost three sizes too big and a pair of short shorts, probably stolen from Minho as they hung low on his hips, but were almost invisible as the hoodie drowned Jisung. Felix wanted Jisung to know how beautiful he was, with his hair tousled slightly from the attempt of sleep and the red on his cheeks from the exercise the moment he stood up.

All Jisung could do was blush. He stayed where he sat, in Felix’s lap, but squirmed as the younger-by-a-day complimented him quietly. “You can get off me now, I feel like I’ve just been hit in the head with a microwave.” Jisung pouted as he slowly and very sadly removed himself from the younger.

“How do you know what being hit in the head with a microwave feels like?” San asked from where he leaned against the doorway. Seonghwa hadn’t closed the door after he left and San had heard the whispers when he passed to clean the hallway floor. Sure enough, a mop and a quarter filled mop bucket sat behind him, water mixed with some sort of soap that Seonghwa had found. Felix smiled softly.

“When we were moving out, to South Korea, we were throwing things that were broken or heavily damaged into the skips. My sister, Rachel, had taken apart the microwave for its electrical parts and just left the shell.” He licked his lips, feeling parched as he spoke. “Um, yeah, she threw the shell of the microwave into the skip. Unfortunately my head was right in her aim. Fortunately, I didn’t get knocked unconscious and fall down the stairs of the skip, but I did become mildly concussed.”

Jisung giggled more and more as the story progressed, ending up gripping Felix’s arm to keep himself stood. San, however, noticed that Felix’s breathing had become a little raspier, and his lips were extremely dry. He turned to Mingi, who was already half way up the hallway to them and motioned to the younger to bring a drink with him. Mingi nodded and turned a one-eighty on his heel as he headed back to the kitchen.

“Right, well, yeah I guess that’s an upside?” San questioned, an eyebrow raised to go with the matching smirk on his face. Felix’s heart fluttered for a moment before he realised that he’d fully turned, yet was still alive and well where he was stood. It didn’t make sense, he should’ve become a mindless zombie and stayed that way. So why didn’t he?

Jisung’s grip tightened as he pulled himself up from where he was hunched over, grounding Felix from becoming too stuck in his head. The blond looked at the eldest of the three stood in the room, who was now handing him a bottle of water, and took a deep gulp before he voiced his worries.

“I don’t know what that makes you, but I’m sure Channie-hyung can ask Joongie-hyung if it’s happened to him, Soul-ah or Seob-ah yet.” Jisung said, wrapping his arms around Felix’s shoulders in an attempt to cheer him up. It almost worked, but then Felix started to worry about if it had happened to Hongjoong, Shota or Jongseob yet. “I’m sure if they’re anything like you, Lixie, everyone will be fine. We have to trust them.”

Felix nodded and turned to drop back into his bed, now hydrated and sleepy enough to conk out for a week. Jisung smiled to San before trudging over to the older and gave him a strong bear hug, one San immediately reciprocated. “Thank you, hyung.”

“It’s certainly no problem, Jisung-ah. Now, let me go find Intak-ah and see what happened.” San pulled away first, only to be tugged back in with an annoyed Jisung.

“Wasn’t finished.” Was all he said as he squeezed the life out of San. “Oh, I want to talk to Intak anyways, you need to mop the hallway so Seonghwa-hyung doesn’t go insane.” Everyone at this point knew how much of a clean freak Seonghwa was, so everyone made sure to tidy up after themselves when they needed to. Jisung patted San’s shoulders and gave his arms a squeeze just to appreciate his muscles before he left to talk to Intak about the situation.

San was left to his own devices finally, and he gave one last lingering look at Felix before he sighed and dragged the mop and bucket to the end of the hall to start cleaning. Seonghwa saw his hesitation from where he was sat sipping some water at the kitchen island and raised an eyebrow before he set his bottle down and went to San.

“Are you okay, darling?” Seonghwa asked, running his hands soothingly up and down San’s back and pressing close to the man. San just grinned and turned to face the eldest properly.

“Better now you’re here like this.” He pressed a soft kiss to Seonghwa’s lips, letting himself linger more than he usually would. As they parted, Seonghwa held San’s face in his hands and bumped their cheeks together in a sappy display he never usually showed. “I guess we’re both missing them bad, huh?” San smiled, watching as Seonghwa rolled his eyes but nodded in the end.

“Joongie shouldn’t be long, nor should Woo.” He muttered against San’s cheek, pressing himself against the other so there wasn’t any space between them. “But yes, I miss them very much.” He admitted, shivering as San’s hands circled his waist. They were about to kiss again, but were interrupted by a loud sneeze from behind them.

“Shit, I’ve been found.” Yunho sighs before turning to his accomplice, Jeongin, who was bright red in the face and his jaw on the floor.

“I literally need a boyfriend right now or I will pass away from lack of kisses.” He states, frowning but still very red. Yunho shook his head with a grin at the youngest, but joined his two boyfriends at the far end of the hallway. “Oh, but don’t think I don’t miss Binnie-hyung. I miss him a lot, but he’s not, like, my boyfriend so I don’t know how weird that sounds to you, or whatever.” Jeongin rambled, continuing to speak even though no one was telling him that he was wrong. Yunho’s eyebrows raised and Jeongin caught the movement, causing him to stop speaking entirely as Yunho held an arm out, signalling for the youngest to join him where he was stood.

Jeongin moved to Yunho, who brought him closer with an arm flung over his shoulders, and forced him to join the weird huddle that the group had become.

“Oh, Innie.” Seonghwa smiled and wrapped Jeongin into a love-filled hug. “Just because you miss someone doesn’t automatically make you attracted to them. It’s okay to miss people because you like them as a friend.” He comforted, watching as the youngest’s face, which had calmed down a bit, blushed bright red in full force at the words.

“Hyung, please, I don’t like Bin-hyung.” He smushed his face into Seonghwa’s chest and hid himself from the world with San chuckling besides them and Yunho’s hand patting his shoulder comfortingly. “God this is so embarrassing. I’m sorry for, like, watching you be stupidly sappy and in love.” Seonghwa laughed at Jeongin’s apology and shook his head, the younger feeling it through his body.

“Yes, I know. We’re stupidly romantic, we love each other.” He grinned, placing his chin carefully on the top of Jeongin’s head. “But you’re welcome for comfort whenever you want it. None of us will push you away, because we likely need it too.” Seonghwa smoothed the younger’s head and gestured behind him for Yunho to properly join their hug and for San to start mopping as he couldn’t stand the dirty floors. San just rolled his eyes before dipping his hand in the not-yet dirty mop water and flicking it at the eldest.

Unfortunately for him, Jeongin got a splash and Yunho pushed at San from where he stood with his arms enveloping both Jeongin and Seonghwa. San grinned and let out a little snort as he regained his balance and smushed the mop into the bucket.

“Wooyoung would be so pissed at us right now.” Jeongin muttered under his breath, now properly sandwiched between two of his favourite hyungs, Chan was always first, and he allowed himself to be swept up in their love. It wasn’t long until San was nudging at their feet with the mop and the three separated, Jeongin as red as a tomato and Seonghwa and Yunho both smug with themselves.

“Right, Innie-ah. Your chores.” Seonghwa clapped the youngest on the back and left him with his piece of paper and a smirking Yunho. As the eldest sauntered off, hips swaying with the knowledge that Yunho and San, maybe even Jeongin, were staring, Yunho held the youngest close to him.

“Ah, bed-making. Unfortunately, there are only eight beds and sixteen guys. Whatever will we do about that?” He asked sarcastically, bringing his face closer to Jeongin’s as he studied the crumpled piece of paper that was getting more crumpled by the minute. Yunho turned to see Jeongin’s face properly and was met with a very red and flustered eighteen-year-old.

“Hyung, I can do it by myself. Don’t bother helping me.” The shaking boy said, voice slightly trembling as he edged a bit further away. Yunho nodded and took a step away, taking his hands from Jeongin’s person and holding them politely to his sides instead. He didn’t miss the reluctance in Jeongin’s eyes despite the words he was speaking.

“I might have to though.” He replied, noticing San’s wiggling eyebrows from the corner of his eye and flipping him off subtly. “We may need more blankets and I know there are more downstairs. We can get a group to go down and-“ Jeongin interrupted him with a shake of the head.

“If we do that, we’re likely risking the chance of those people getting hurt, or killed. I don’t want that. I may be a kid, but I’m not stupid enough to play with people’s lives, hyung.”

Yunho smiled to himself and looked into Jeongin’s eyes. He saw nothing but fire and anger.

“Okay, that’s fine. But we will be stuck for warmth if we don’t get more blankets or clothes. It may be September, but it’s gonna start getting colder the closer we get to October.” He nodded. “I suggest both you and I go.”

“And me! Youngie’s been out there and he told me all about how to defend yourself against the monster in the stairwell. I can help!” San called from his furthest corner in the hallway. Jeongin giggled and nodded, a noise that Yunho had grown to love. Was it bad that he was feeling this way? Then again, he’d fallen for Jongho, who was two whole years younger than him, and Jeongin wasn’t that much younger than him, right? He felt so conflicted that he hadn’t heard a single word the youngest had spoken, so when he focused in on him again, Jeongin was looking at him expectantly and he hadn’t an answer to give.

“Ah, sorry, I zoned out a bit there. What did you ask?” Yunho looked between the two as he noticed San’s cat-like grin and Jeongin’s raised eyebrow.

“Wow, hyung, you were right.” Jeongin called behind him, slightly pivoting to face San, yet keeping his eyes on Yunho. The sight made the eldest’s heart flutter a bit. “He is so in love.”

Yunho’s eyes bulged out of his sockets at the words.

It was safe to say Hongjoong was suffering.

Keeho would not shut the ever-living hell up and Jongseob was starting to do the same. It was even worse that Wooyoung would instigate the conversations and also not stop yapping, no matter how many glares Hongjoong threw his way. More often than not, the younger would grin and stick his tongue out at him. With each new topic came a new wave of words that were spoken too fast for Hongjoong’s overworked brain to understand.

It was only when they got to an abandoned library that he finally snapped at them.

“Look, I get that we all have different ways of coping with stressful situations,” He started, ignoring Wooyoung’s eyeroll, “but in no way does that mean keep being loud and noisy so that the weird monsters on the rooves of every building we’ve just passed can come and kill us.” He spoke with such a coldness to his tone that even Changbin shivered.

Hongjoong eyed everyone up and lingered on Keeho, who just stared right back without a single trace of guilt. It was like he was deliberately trying to piss him off and it was absolutely working. “Keeho, you’re supposed to be someone that Jongseob and Soul look up to, and so far only Taeyang has been the one with the right attitude.”

He wasn’t even exaggerating. Every stop to hide from a monster hadn’t been because of Soul or Jongseob’s super-hearing, but because of Taeyang sensing a change in air pressure, as odd as it sounded. Hongjoong couldn’t help but thing that Taeyang was a halfie too, but thought better than to bring it up.

He watched as both Keeho and Jongseob rolled their eyes in sync. All Hongjoong had wanted for them was to be safe, yet they couldn’t even shut their gobs to save themselves. Hongjoong wanted to rip his hair out and skin the two. He couldn’t even look at Wooyoung with how disappointed he was.

“I think what Hongjoong-hyung is trying to say,” interrupted Changbin, noticing how Hongjoong was just getting angrier as the scolding went on, “is that the monsters attack sound, or wherever sound is coming from.” He stood in front of Hongjoong to properly face the two, three really, offenders. “You guys didn’t just put yourselves in danger, but everyone else in the group. Maybe even people who are still alive and hiding.” He crossed his arms as he continued, seeing how both Keeho and Wooyoung started to look a bit guilty. He’d have to work harder for Jongseob, but it was a given considering the fact that Jongseob was a teenager. “There could’ve been mothers with their children, who may have only just escaped death by mauling, that had found shelter finally, and you could’ve potentially brought their end thanks to your non-stop yapping.” He stared directly into Jongseob’s eyes as he spoke, and finally the flame in the young boy’s eyes flickered.

“Jongseob, Soul. You’re both halfies, like me.” Hongjoong took over, standing next to Changbin. “But if you,” He jabbed his pointer finger into Jongseob’s chest, “put any of us, including yourself, in danger again, we’re dropping you. Fend for yourself if you’re so goddamn cocky.” Hongjoong left it at that as he walked away, hesitant to reach for Wooyoung’s elbow and drag him with him.

Changbin watched as the two slinked away, one more peppy than the other, and sighed from his nose. He turned to Taeyang, who was leaning against a ransacked bookshelf.

“I’m sorry about that, but he’s right.” Taeyang held his hand up to stop Changbin.

“They clearly needed it. I don’t think either Keeho nor Jongseob will speak much in public from now on. Well, until you stop paying attention to them. I don’t know about Wooyoung though, he seems like a real menace.” He spoke, watching as Jongseob tugged on Soul’s braids and called them ugly.

“Yeah, Woo’s a weird one. I’m ninety percent sure he riles Hongjoong up on purpose.” Changbin responded, shaking his head at the idea. “I’m still sorry though. I’ve only ever been that harsh to my sister before, when she-“ He cut himself off. No one needed to know the him before this apocalypse. But Taeyang stayed quiet, like he was waiting for Changbin to continue. “When she starved herself.

“That wasn’t harsh though, it was a reality check.” Taeyang sighed, referring to the recent conversation. “But people need them. It just depends on how difficult they’re being.” He gestures to Keeho, who’s sulking in a corner and kicking a bookshelf. “I’m going to placate him. Save yourself if Seobie comes to annoy you.”

Taeyang left him for Keeho and Changbin brought a hand to run down his face in the stress he was feeling. He shucked his backpack off and threw it behind the receptionist’s desk and started to look around for Hongjoong and Wooyoung. He had no idea where they were until he heard a quiet “Shut up.” from the bathrooms.

Instead of remembering that people want privacy when in the washroom, Changbin thought nothing of it and stormed into the bathroom. He wasn’t even that surprised, all things considered, but he was a bit peeved that Hongjoong had Wooyoung plastered against the wall with one hand in Wooyoung’s pants and the other pressed against his mouth to prevent any noises.

“Okay then, hurry it up. I know you’re an exhibitionist Young-ah, but this is just not it. There are children outside.” Changbin shook his head as he left, completely ignoring the whine directed at him as he shut the door. He grinned to himself, knowing that ‘Young-ah’ was going to leave Wooyoung riled up a lot longer, much to Hongjoong’s despair.

Changbin picked up on Wooyoung’s little kink whenever Changbin accidentally walked in on him with one, or more, of his many boyfriends. It had started at first with a door left slightly ajar, so Changbin had gone to see who was in the room. It was Minho’s room and two figures were on the bed, one pinned and the other doing the pinning. Changbin caught a glimpse of Wooyoung’s flushed cheeks before locking eyes with the pinned boy and making a run for it, making sure to slam the door behind him. After that, it was like Wooyoung wanted Changbin to see everything and that’s when Changbin caught on.

“Everyone, wait until hyung and Wooyoung come out before going to the toilet. Hongjoong is a gross crier, I don’t want to subject you to that.” He lied, Hongjoong cried very prettily, Seonghwa had told him.

Jongseob gave him a look before another roll of his eyes and another hairband taken from Soul’s hair to untie his braids that Felix had so cutely put in for him. Soul didn’t mind, he could always ask Felix to put them back in once they inevitably went back.

“Would you ever consider getting more piercings?” Soul’s voice was quiet against the overlapping voices in his head, but Changbin heard him well enough to be able to answer. He took a seat next to the boy, much to Jongseob’s dismay, and crossed his legs. Soul was curled in on himself, his legs held against his chest like he was trying to appear as small as possible. He was skinny enough that Changbin wondered if he could fit the boy’s wrist between his thumb and pinky finger.

“I would, but only a few. I wouldn’t go all decked out like Hyunjin.” A familiar pang of sadness zipped through his body as he spoke Hyunjin’s name. Soul nodded and closed his eyes in contentment as Jongseob ran his hands through his hair. Changbin leaned his head against the bookshelf and closed his eyes to think about his friend. Were they friends, though? Friendship had never felt like this for Changbin, so he didn’t know if it was supposed to or not.

“He’s the one with the tongue piercing, right?” Soul’s voice was soft, like a fluffy blanket on a winters day. “I think he’s pretty cool.” He whispered, wondering if Changbin was asleep given his steady breathing.

“You’re right.” Soul jumped as the elder replied. Jongseob tugged on his hair and he let out a small hiss at the feeling. “Hyunjin is probably the coolest guy I’ve ever met.” Changbin admitted, his voice just as quiet as Souls. “I really like him, but it’s weird ‘cuz I feel different around him.” He muttered, pretty much feeling Jongseob’s eyeroll more that seeing it.

“Yes, yes, we get it hyung, you’re dumb and in love, blah blah. Save it for another silly rom-com.” Jongseob placed his cheek on Soul’s shoulder as he spoke to Changbin. “I really hate people who are in love. Why are you so happy when that person could just up and leave you one day because ‘vibes are off’ or whatever?”

Changbin’s eyebrows raised and even Soul looked a little hurt. “I’m not wrong!”

“You’re a little bit wrong, Seobie.” Soul muttered, his eyes slightly glazed over. “People don’t leave just because ‘vibes are off’. If they really love you, they’ll ask what’s wrong and how they can help. People don’t just leave if they’re actually in love.” The older halfie shrugged Jongseob’s face away and took a few steps to the side. “I think you’ve just been around the wrong people.”

Changbin nodded in agreement and beckoned Jongseob closer. The seventeen-year-old held back until Changbin took the initiative and reached out for the boys hand. Jongseob went to pull away, thinking the skin-contact was cringe, but Changbin held on.

“If someone left you for that reason, Jongseob, they never loved you. You can’t let yourself think that everyone will leave because you don’t fit them at all times.” He comforted, watching as Jongseob squirmed under his hand. “Just let the people who truly love you, love you. Whether you think it’s cringe or not. And yes, I do know what that means, I’m not a fossil.”

Jonogseob let out a little snort, but Changbin saw that as a win. The youngest had actually listened to him as opposed to pretending to listen and answering with a “Yeah, whatever.” It meant that Changbin got through to the teen, something even Soul, the boy’s best friend, struggled with.

“It’s hard to hear you say things like that, Seobie. Did you really think I’d end up leaving you just because we don’t match?” Soul asked, his voice wavering. Jongseob shrugged and hung his head.

“It’s fine, cuz, like, you don’t love me. We’re just friends.” He answered, refusing to look up and meet Soul’s eyes. Changbin saw how upset and hurt the brown-haired boy was.

“So me saving your life meant nothing to you? Not even a little bit? What, you though I helped you because I was told to? Do you even understand how much you mean to me as a person?” Soul didn’t stop with his onslaught of questions, even as he saw Jongseob’s eyes glisten.

Changbin turned to Taeyang, who was stood by the entrance to the library with a stolen vape in his hand, puffing his recent toke into the dreary air. The younger made no move, like this was normal.

“Let them get it out of their system. It’s been brewing for a while.” Was all he said before he slinked into the fog of the outside to get away from the oncoming argument. He at least had the idea to close the door to muffle the foreshadowed shouting match from the outside horrors. Changbin took a deep breath before he shook his head for the what seemed like eightieth time that day.

“Look, Shota. We’re halfies. You only saved me because you didn’t want to be the odd one out again.” Jongseob responded, not even bothering to look the older in the eye. Soul scoffed at his real name.

“Actually be serious right now, Kim Jongseob. You think I put myself in danger just because I wanted to be selfish? You’re right in that aspect, but you’re giving the wrong reason. Yeah, I was selfish, but not because I didn’t want to be the ‘odd one out’.” His voice rose as he continued, his voice cracking as his eyes welled. “God, you’re parents raised you to think that everyone would leave you because they thought you weren’t anything special. But I do. I think you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and that’s even before Keeho-hyung.” Jongseob opened his mouth to speak but Soul’s glare prevented him from interrupting. “Yeah, you’re more special to me than hyung. But you’re not the only one who is internally freaking out right now. You’re, like, so prejudiced that I can’t be fully honest with you, and it’s literally draining the hope from me that maybe, just maybe, I can truly care for someone.” He stopped to take a breath, and Jongseob took the opportunity to speak.

“Shota, I’m not prejudiced. Not me, anyways. That’s just how I was raised, my parents taught me so many things that go against the world I was forced into. You all broke me out of some habits that I thought were normal, but you all convinced me were bad. Remember how I used to bottle everything up until I, almost literally at one point might I add, exploded? Who was the one who told me to start talking about how I felt? You. Also, yeah, you’re the odd one out. You always have been. I knew it the moment I first made eye contact with you. But, you know what? I stayed. I stayed, even though I had a feeling it would all go to shit.” He had looked up to meet Soul’s gaze halfway through his speech and, after seeing the olders eyes all teary, started to cry.

The two stared at each other until Jongseob spoke up again, his voice quiet compared to his loud rant. “I stayed because of you. Because I couldn’t leave you alone. If it weren’t for me, Keeho and Jiung would’ve left you with Ahjussi at that mall.”

Soul flinched. He knew it was true. Keeho had looked at him like he was feral at the time. Soul had just turned and his face was covered in blood, smeared by both himself and Jongseob. Jiung didn’t even take notice of him until Keeho made a comment about the blood. If Jongseob hadn’t pleaded for Soul to go with them, he would have been left behind.

“So… it’s because of me that you stayed? You wanted me to be with you?” Soul’s voice was meek. Changbin wanted nothing but to scoop him up and wrap him in bubble wrap.

“That was the whole reason I turned. Because I had this stupid, long-lasting desire to keep you around.”

The unspoken confession landed in Soul’s heart and he broke down. Jongseob had so many internal conflicts, and this had obviously been one of them. Changbin watched as Jongseob hesitantly made his way over to Soul and awkwardly patted his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Soul. I’m not a very good person.” He admitted.

Soul shook his head, tears streaming down his face, and engulfed the younger in the most emotional hug Changbin had ever witnessed. He’d decided he’d seen enough when he heard the door to the bathroom open and Wooyoung cleared his throat.

He quickly ran to the couple and informed them to leave the two youngest alone.

“Youngie, did you even wash your hands?” He asked in disgust as he saw the other wipe one hand on his trousers. Hongjoong rolled his eyes and forced the younger back into the bathroom. “Oh, that is just gross.” At least Hongjoong had made an effort to look like he hadn’t been doing whatever it was he was doing in there. “How did you even go for so long? Those two have been arguing for almost an eon, I swear.”

Hongjoong shrugged and overshared with Changbin. “You need to shut the fuck up right now hyung.”

“Alright Mr ‘I’m in love with my best friend but don’t want to say anything for fear of ruining what we already have’.” Hongjoong responded, ignoring Changbin’s honestly disrespectful glare. “Seriously. When we get back, you have got to say something. Take it from someone who did the same.” He patted Changbin’s shoulder and turned to Wooyoung, who had two paper towels to dry his hands with.

The three talked about where the best area to sleep would be before they were hit with the smell of artificial strawberries.

“That was the sweetest thing I’ve ever vaped in my entire life.” Taeyang said as he finally rejoined the group. Changbin raised an eyebrow but chose to say nothing. “So, Seob and Soul are… are they together now? Does anyone know?” He slumped when three sets of shrugs answered him. “Honestly, they have to know that their feelings are mutual by now. I’m sick of being a fifth wheel with them and Keeho and Jiung.”

Wooyoung held a hand out to Hongjoong, who shook his head and handed him a whole packet of Fruit Gums. “What’s the bet?” Taeyang asked, eyebrow quirked.

“I said that Keeho and Jiung were a couple and Hongjoong thought I was deranged, so we bet on it.” Wooyoung said with a smug grin. Changbin snorted and turned to Hongjoong.

“Seriously, Hongjoong? Betting on couples now?” He asked, his voice finally showing the exhaustion he was feeling. “Actually, whatever. Where are we sleeping?”

Chan had let himself take a peek into Felix’s room, where he’d fully passed out on the bed, his chest rising and falling with each stable breath. Chan sighed in relief that he hadn’t fully turned and that no one had been hurt. He closed the door and pressed his forehead against it.

“Are you okay, hyung?” A voice called quietly from behind him. Chan turned slightly, not moving his head from the door, to be met with Jongho. “You seem really stressed, is there anything I can do for you?” The younger asked, his hands behind his back to hide his fidgeting.

“Have you done your chores?” Chan responded, a smile forming on his face at the younger. Despite Jongho being a few inches taller than him and also built from his obvious time at the gym, he definitely found a way of appearing small.

“I did. I portioned all the meat and have stored it in the freezer.” Jongho paired his response with an eyeroll. Typical. Chan forced himself away from the door and properly faced him.

He weighed his options before making sure that Seonghwa wasn’t anywhere to be found. Once he’d decided the coast was clear, he beckoned Jongho closer to him.

“I’d like to see how the monsters move. Would you help me?” He watched as the youngers eyes practically lit up and he nodded with no hesitation. “Wonderful. Let’s go to mine and Jeongin’s room, the view’s better there.”

He moved towards his room, Jongho hot on his heels. They made it into the room as quietly as humanly possible and closed the door. It let out a small creak as it shut and both Chan and Jongho winced. They stood stock still until they were sure no one was coming to investigate. “Under my bed, the one with the grey bedsheets, is a small laptop bag. There should be a pair of binoculars attached to the strap.”

Jongho crouched to the floor and slowly dragged out the laptop bag, smiling at the stickers and pins that adorned it. He untied the binocular strap from the bag and handed them to Chan.

They both went to the window and didn’t bother to open it. Opening it would put the whole group in danger, not just the two of them. Chan took the lens caps off the binoculars and held them to his eyes. He searched for a moment before zeroing in on a small, dog-like monster. He handed the binoculars to Jongho to let him see before writing some things into another one of his many unused notebooks.

“It’s whole face opens up.” Jongho shivered and almost gagged at the sight before pulling the binoculars away and handing them back to Chan. “That is so gross.” Chan made a note of it before taking back his binoculars. “What’s the point in this, hyung? They’re monsters, they’re probably always murdering things and destroying buildings.”

They didn’t need to be reminded of their own close encounters with the beings. Chan grimaced as he himself witnessed the dog-monster’s mouth splitting through its entire face.

“Yeah, that is pretty gross.” He admitted, taking more notes. “Well, my dear Jongho,” He grinned as Jongho made a face, “the point is that, by witnessing their day-to-day behaviours, we can see what makes a monster,” he pointed to the door, where at least one halfie, Felix, lay behind, “and what makes a monster.” He pointed to the dog. “There’s very clearly a difference. I want to find it.” He held the binoculars back up to his face and kept searching.

Jongho shrugged, it sort of made sense to him. But why go through all the trouble when they all knew that full-monsters were ruthless and murdering beings with no conscience?

“Do you think there’s a hierarchy?” He asked, leaning against the windowsill next to Chan. “Like, the big ones are the ones that control the little ones?” He saw Chan’s eyebrows quirk.

“That’s what I’m sort of looking for, really.” He replied, putting the binoculars down and writing another note before turning to Jongho. “You’re asking all the right questions though. What were you hoping to study before everything turned to shit?” He asked, his hip jutting out as he stood on one leg. Jongho didn’t look at Chan’s hips, no he did not.

“I was hoping to study Law. I’d read a lot about the course here and was planning to become a lawyer.” He huffed out a laugh before glancing out the window. “Obviously that dream isn’t happening.”

Chan sucked in a breath at the negativity.

“Well, if we can figure out how to create either a vaccine against this thing, or even a cure, I’m sure we can get you back on track.” Chan gave a tight-lipped smile to the younger, who just nodded in response.

Chan forced Jongho into a hug, an easy feat considering how they were already really close, and the younger squirmed for a moment before melting into the touch. They stayed for a moment, even swaying a little. Jongho hesitantly placed his hands on Chan’s hips, his fingers twitching slightly. Chan let out a sigh besides the youngers ear.

“Thank you, hyung.” Jongho muttered into Chan’s neck. Chan patted his back.

“Don’t ever think that you can’t pursue anything just because the world’s ending.” He replied, giving the younger a tight squeeze before letting him go. “I want you to experience everything. Even in the middle of an apocalypse.” He saw how Jongho’s cheeks turned pink as he smiled cheekily.

“I’m holding you accountable for everything I do then, hyung.” He attempted to hide his fidgeting once again, but Chan grabbed a hold of his wrists before he could put them behind his back. Jongho rolled his eyes. “Including this.”

Before Chan knew what had happened, Jongho had the eldest pinned against one of the walls, just beside one of the beds. His own. Chan tried to say something, but he was cut off by one of Jongho’s hands pressing against his face. Jongho breathed heavily against his ear. “I want to say something before we leave here.”

Chan nodded slowly, understanding that he wouldn’t be able to escape. Jongho had definitely spent a lot of time in the gym. His breathing regulated and Jongho slowly removed his hand from Chan’s face.

“Okay. Tell me what you want to say.” Jongho stepped back as Chan answered, letting his hands fall and bowed as an apology that Chan waved off. “Chill, it’s usually hard to get my full attention, so I get it.”

“I want to help you to the best of my ability, with everything.” Jongho said, eyes filled with a burning passion. “But, if I turn,” He stopped Chan’s interruption with a hand to his mouth again, “if I turn, I want you to be the one to kill me.”

Chan’s eyebrows rose so high in surprise that Jongho swore they met his hairline. “Not because I don’t want my boyfriends to see me like that, but because I trust you and I respect you way too much for someone I met a few days ago. You’re a great leader, but for some reason I can see you doubt yourself.” His arms crossed halfway through his speech and Chan’s jaw was limp. “Hyung, you’re the most experienced of us, not just because you’re older. I respect the fact that you took the role of the leader when you could’ve stepped back and let someone else take the role, someone who isn’t fully aware of every minute detail in every plan they’ll have made.”

“Jongho-ah, I’m literally just some dude. I’ve studied Law for, like, a year now, and there’s no way I’m ever going to let that happen.” Chan cut him off with a shake of the head. “My brain isn’t even fully matured yet!” Jongho sighed.

“Hyung, your brain is the most mature one in this building, and outside too.” He crossed his arms. “Don’t put yourself down just because you don’t think you can do this. You can, and you have been. Quite well, if I might add.” He grinned at the older. Chan just looked at Jongho like he was delusional.

They stared at each other for a moment, each holding their ground, until Chan crumbled and his hands met his face. Jongho watched as he rubbed his face vigorously until he dropped his hands to his side and slowly looked up.

“Jongho, why do you think I can do this, be a leader?” He asked, his voice quiet like he was sharing his biggest insecurity. Which, in a sense, he was. He’d never thought of himself as leader material, had never thought that he could be responsible for, and keep alive, multiple other people. He saw Jongho’s lips twitch up into a little smile.

“Chan-hyung, you take care of people without expecting anything back. Anyone who’s ever lived knows that that’s the first step to becoming one of the best leaders. You just want to help for the sake of helping.” Jongho stepped forward and took Chan’s hands in his own. “You are absolutely made to be a leader, and a good one at that.” He added, running his thumbs over Chan’s knuckles.

Chan hadn’t seen Jongho take part in much skinship with any one of his boyfriends besides Yeosang. It was odd, firstly, being on the receiving end of the care he’d usually be the one giving, and, secondly, Chan felt weirdly relieved. Relieved that Jongho cared enough to hold his hands when he was feeling vulnerable. Relieved that he was capable of having a serious conversation and be looked after once he broke down into tears like he had just then.

Relieved that someone had seen his efforts and gave enough of a damn to give back the care he’d given out.

As Chan silently broke down, tears streaking down his cheeks, the relief flooding his chest, Jongho enveloped him into a strong hug. It made Chan cry harder, because shouldn’t Jongho’s partners be getting this sort of treatment on the daily? Why was he so touch adverse?

“Jongho.” Chan whispered once his tears had died down. Jongho hummed into his hair, his lips just brushing the shell of his ear. “Thank you. Thank you for seeing that I’m trying really hard to be a good leader.” He leaned back to look at Jongho’s face.

Oh, how Chan could gaze into those eyes for the rest of his life. He noticed how Jongho’s eyes flicked lower, to his lips, and he noticed how Jongho wet his lips with his tongue. He saw the question in the younger’s eyes as he looked back up and Chan nodded.

Jongho’s eyes widened in surprise and Chan smiled before leaning in.

“Mingi, I thought we’d agreed on no blankets at the table?” Seonghwa said, helping Minho with the camping stove. Mingi let out a low grumble and the elder turned to see him, Yeosang and Hyunjin all wrapped up together in one of Hyunjin’s outrageously fluffy blankets at the kitchen island.

Yeosang was cuddled into Mingi’s left side and Hyunjin on his right. “Okay, you can, but only because this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I wish I didn’t have to save my battery or else you’d have all been attacked with pictures.” Seonghwa conceded, smiling softly as he connected a gas canister to the stove and lit the fire. He heard a breathy giggle from behind him, no doubt Yeosang from the tone.

“I thought that Jongho-ah would have joined us. Where is he?” Minho asked, turning to the now giggling trio at the island, and all three shrugged. “Okay then, well, one, or all, of you go and find him. He can portion for multiple people and I’m only doing veg today, no meat. Tell him he can portion the carrots and green beans for now.” Minho reeled off a small list for the trio to relay to Jongho once they’d found him. All three, Yeosang and Hyunjin still hanging off Mingi, set off to find the second-youngest and rushed down the hallway to start by asking San.

“Oh! Jjongie? He went with Channie into one of the rooms on the left, I can’t remember which one, sorry.” The cat-like boy smiled and preened as both Mingi and Yeosang gave him a peck on each cheek. Hyunjin, always wanting to be extra, did the same, but with more strength and sound effects, and San responded by pulling him in for something no one expected.

He had spun Hyunjin around and dipped him before placing a soft, quick kiss to the boys lips and bringing him back up to stand and let him go. Hyunjin had turned bright red but was grinning from ear to ear, already planning his revenge. Mingi and Yeosang hadn’t even bat an eyelid at the idea of their partner kissing someone who none of them were dating, which meant that Hyunjin had almost free reign with his revenge.

The three said goodbye to San, who had gone back to the unfortunate mopping that he hadn’t even started, he’d apparently been chatting to Intak about sports and hadn’t picked up the mop since.

Yeosang knocked on the door to the first room on the left and it was opened by Han, who was sat in a triangle with Jiung and Intak. As the boy had opened the door from the ground, his body was slightly contorted and Jiung took it as an opportunity to tickle him. Mingi looked around for Jongho, who was nowhere to be found, and apologised before Yeosang shut the door, Han’s laughter being muffled by the wood.

Hyunjin led the way to the second room on the left, but his knock fell short as he heard heavy breathing and some muttering behind it. He pressed his ear to the door, not really noticing that Mingi and Yeosang had done the same. He couldn’t make anything but a name out, Jongho’s name to be precise. He smiled to the other two and barrelled into the room with Mingi holding onto his shoulders and Yeosang wrapped around his waist. The blanket fell as the three stopped suddenly in the doorway.

Chan and Jongho were sat on the bed. Well, Chan was sat on the bed and Jongho was sat in Chan’s lap. Both of their lips were red and swollen, and Jongho’s shirt had ridden up from where Chan’s hands had been exploring the younger’s back. As Chan stared at the three in the doorway, his hands falling to hold Jongho’s waist, Jongho hadn’t hesitated to latch onto his neck to give the intruders a show.

“This has got to be some messed up form of favouritism because how has it taken hyung only, what, three days? And it took me three months to get him to hold my hand.” Yeosang grumbled, his arms crossed as he leaned into Mingi’s side. Mingi tutted and held Yeosang closer to him. All Hyunjin could do was stare, because Jesus Christ Jongho seemed to be depraved.

During Yeosang’s whining, Chan had started to run his nails along Jongho’s waist, causing the younger to shiver above him. Chan stared Mingi in his eyes and brought his hands to Jongho’s front, making a show of squeezing his pecs and taking off the younger’s shirt. Jongho had let out a whiny sound as he broke away from Chan’s skin to get the shirt off and that was when Hyunjin had decided he’d seen enough.

He dragged Mingi and Yeosang out with him and he shut the door behind them. He continued to drag the two with him back to the kitchen, where a waft of something spicy made itself clear. Hyunjin ran straight to Minho and slumped against his back.

“Channie and Jjongie are doing inappropriate things, Minho-hyung.” He whined, hooking his chin over Minho’s shoulder to watch him cook. The elder sighed and turned the flame to low.

“Hyunjin-ah, nothing like that really bothers me. Chan is a very loving person, and if he is comfortable doing these things, then it’s fine. I love Chan, that’s not going to change, and he loves me too. He doesn’t love just me though, and that’s great even, because Hongjoong is badass and Jongho can protect him if he needs protection.” He spoke, waving a spatula around as he spoke. “I absolutely adore Channie, I have done for the past two years, and if I loved other people, I know Chan would still love me even if I wasn’t monogamous.” He stopped for a moment and turned the flame back up high, stirring the noodles and veg in the wok he’d found. “Not that I am monogamous, though.” He muttered, something only Hyunjin would be able to hear.

“Me too, hyung, me too.”

Minho didn’t let his emotions at the words show and instead flipped the wok a few times before deeming the food ready to eat. He called Seungmin over, who had been sulking on the sofas whilst listening to Seonghwa yap about Lego, who then started to bring the plates to Minho and let him dish up. Every set was given a pair of chopsticks, made of metal and therefore reusable, and Minho yelled for everyone to come eat.

Chan and Jongho took their sweet time, to no one’s shock in the end, and Han, Intak and Jiung were almost attached at the hip when they arrived simultaneously. Jongho glanced between Minho, Chan and Seonghwa before he sat down, fixing his shirt that was still half up his torso. All Minho could do was grin and roll his eyes before giving the most disgustingly loving eyes to Chan and hand the eldest his plate. Chan took it graciously and smiled even more lovingly up at Minho.

“Gag.” Seungmin stated as he started eating, almost snorting noodles when Minho glared at him in response. “What? You’re being the sappiest people at the table and I’m not allowed to make fun of it?” He looked at the elder expectantly.

“No, you’re not allowed to make fun of it, Kim Seungmin. Just because we’re happy and you’re not-“

“Okay, yeah, whatever,” Seungmin interrupted, “you’re just homophobic, I get it.” He shook his head with a fake sigh. “Honestly, old people just need to understand that some of us aren’t like them.” He pointed with his chopsticks towards the couple and Intak laughed so loud he made Han jump and, once again, snort his food all over the kitchen island.

“Hannie-ah! Don’t waste your food! You need to stay healthy, and wasting food isn’t going to help that.” Minho scolded, watching as Han cowered from where he was sat, again, on the kitchen island.

“I’m sorry, hyung, Intak-ah just made me jump.” He pouted, moving his plate from in front of him towards Minho. The elder just sighed and shook his head.

“Honestly, it’s like I’m babysitting all over again.” He took Han’s plate and gave him a look. “Don’t. I know you’re going to make a joke about me feeding you, but I am not currently in the mood to play along.”

Han’s face fell as he was caught out and he looked down at the counter again. Chan smiled to himself at the interaction, glad that some domesticity was maintained even after all the issues they’d faced. He glanced over at Jongho, who was smiling at Minho and nodding his head along in agreement.

He still needed to talk with everyone about his growing feelings for a lot of them, but he thought to focus on the one that went further than the rest. Chan wanted to talk to Minho and Jongho together before anyone else, then Seonghwa and Hongjoong when he could. And, if he faced the truth, Seungmin and Hyunjin as they seemed way too cute cuddled under Mingi’s giant fluffy blanket for Chan to even consider his feelings just friendly. Seonghwa had to, once again, make the no-blankets-at-the-table rule known once more, just for two tongues to be stuck out at him.

Ah, what a life he was living. He wondered what others were getting up to.

Changbin was going to kill Jongseob. The youngest was pretty much asking for it at that point. No matter where they were, what weather it was, who he was patrolling with, Jongseob would always whine about something. And he was good at it, too.

Good enough that, if Hongjoong didn’t stop him, Changbin would wrap his hands around Jongseob’s throat and squeeze hard. But, oh wait! Jongseob couldn’t die like that, so Changbin would have to find some form of firearm in order to put him out of his misery. Misery in the form of Jongseob.

Changbin couldn’t wait to get home after they’d broken into a closed-off abandoned cinema and both Soul and Jongseob were enamoured with the idea of living there. It wasn’t that far off the uni grounds anyways, so if they were desperate, the Piwon group, what Soul had named them, would be able to run back and get help within an hour.

“Hongjoong-hyung, I am going to snap Jongseob’s neck and force him to stand so that it can’t heal properly ever and he’d be stuck with a crooked neck for the rest of his life.” Changbin admitted, his teeth almost gritting together as Jongseob threw an empty can of diet coke at him.

“He’s literally a kid, Binnie, it’s not his fault it’s like this.” Came the reply, and Changbin was going to pull his hair out in frustration. They were literally four years apart, what was the difference? And why were Taeyang and Hongjoong huddled together in the corner whilst Wooyoung entertained the children by throwing things around?

“Hyung…” He whined, with the worst aegyo voice he’d ever put on for another person. Wooyoung’s head snapped towards him and he skipped over, asking what to plead for. After Changbin responded, he continued to plead. “Hyungie… we need attention too…” Both Wooyoung and Changbin whined, making cutesie faces at the eldest and wiggling their shoulders.

“Aren’t they grown ass men?” Jongseob asked, his face contorted in horror. Soul nodded solemnly and turned around to join in for the shits and giggles. “Shota, please, no. I’m going to off myself.”

How Hongjoong was dealing with it was absolutely astonishing as both he and Taeyang simply ignored it. Jongseob was suffering because he had to hear and see the scene occur, but Hongjoong just glanced between the three sets of puppy-dog-eyes and just turned away with a slight shrug.

It took another five minutes of non-stop aegyo, and a lot of whining from Wooyoung, that the three decided it was time for a snack break and Changbin pulled a browning-banana from the depths of his backpack. He split it in three, one for each annoying human, and offered half of his own piece to Jongseob, who shook his head vigorously. He didn’t even offer it to Hongjoong or Taeyang, and he scarfed the whole thing in one go. It kind of made Jongseob wonder… He shook his head, that was stupid. They’re here to find a home and here Jongseob was, thinking of weird things.

He ignored the stupid feeling in his gut and turned to Taeyang and Hongjoong before deciding they’d done enough huddling to start annoying the two. As Jongseob creeped over to the two, he heard Hongjoong say something he’d normally cringe over, but this time felt a surge of longing for. Odd.

“Well, we need to hurry because I miss my lovers.”

Huh. Seriously, what was going on with Jongseob? Yeah, he and Soul had made up and he’d finally regained that part of his life, but the twinge he felt at the word ‘lovers’, and the fact that the only person he could relate that word to was Soul… He was just becoming sappy. That was all. He was absolutely not in love with his absolute number one person on the whole planet. At all.

He barely acknowledged how Taeyang had called his name and he’d just stood there, unreadable expression on his face and unmoving. Well, Jongseob was doomed and he suddenly wished he could die a normal, human death, not with a bullet through his brain. He stayed unmoving until Soul entered his vision, eyes full of worry as Jongseob heard his name called.

“Sorry…” He muttered, turning away from the only love he’d ever experienced and turned to Changbin to drag him away. They nearly reached the toilets, but Changbin forced them to a stop with his stupidly hot muscles. God, something was wrong with Jongseob today.

“We are not going in there. Those two have ruined my liking of public toilets.” Changbin visibly shuddered at the thought of ‘those two’ and took Jongseob over to the stairs that lead to the projector room. “So, what made you space off like an astronaut just then, hmm?” He asked, arms crossed and the hands under his biceps were just so appealing to Jongseob, he had to swallow his words as he thought of a real sentence to say in response.

“I’m, like… losing my shit? I think?” He nodded as he thought once again. “Yeah, totally losing my shit. Kind of wish I were a human so I could live a long life and then die of old age instead of live a long time with the worry of fully turning and murdering everyone I like.” He slumped further against the wall the more he spoke, almost lying on the floor by the end.

“Ah, yes. The very-normal-in-this-scenario-for-a-seventeen-year-old-halfie existential crisis. How do you go about coping with your feelings?” Changbin asked, his arms flexing as he gestured. What the fuck, Jongseob?

“What the fuck? Is it bad that I think about other guys when there’s one guy I know for sure I’m in love with?” He asked aloud, only half hearing himself speak. “Like, hypothetically speaking.” He added, just to make sure Changbin didn’t think he was a shallow person. Changbin chuckled under his breath.

“Yes and also no. Yes, because you are seventeen and there is only one other seventeen-year-old in this building as well as the other. No, because you’re a teenage boy. But, yeah, no one’s gonna get involved with you, kid.” Changbin brought a hand to ruffle Jongseob’s already-unruly blond hair and the youngest could feel his hair frizz up.

“Okay. Whatever.”

Oh, how Jongseob hated himself.

Taeyang had always sucked at working with people. Ever since he’d had to room with Keeho the two days before the lockdown, he’d not spoken more than around ten words to him per day.

But now, Taeyang missed Keeho.

On their way to the cinema grounds, Keeho had gone inside a small, seemingly family-owned store and had not come out. He seemed to have entirely disappeared. Taeyang knew he’d left his watch at the dorms, so he couldn’t teleport and do something stupid. So where had he gone?

After Soul and Jongseob had wandered around the area and reported no signs of any monsters, Taeyang had started to worry. Not because he’d started to miss the younger, that was later, but because he knew Keeho couldn’t take care of himself. When the world was normal, Keeho had asked, the first night after they’d been dropped, if Taeyang knew how to work the washing machine. After that, it was considered Taeyang’s job to do both of their laundry at the laundromat with whatever money the group could have scrounged.

If Keeho couldn’t be bothered to learn the basic instructions of a washing machine, then how was he going to survive in the wild with nothing but a shard of glass? He’d put all his trust into Jongseob and Soul and had forgotten that maybe, just maybe, he’d be separated from them and he’d have to fend for himself.

So Taeyang had every right to be worried for Keeho. But now he missed him.

“Hongjoong-hyung, please. He started off in our group and we need to find him.” He practically begged, holding the map close to his chest so Hongjoong had to pay attention to him.

“What good would it be? We’d just be putting people in danger when he shouldn’t have gone off by himself!” Hongjoong all but hissed, reaching out to take the map, but Taeyang took a step back.

“Please, hyung, he’s the only one who knows me. Properly. I was with Jongseob and Shota before, but they only ever cared about each other. Only Keeho cared about me, for real.” He pleaded, his heart pounding as he watches Hongjoong’s face turn sour. His demeanour shifts though, and Taeyang believes that the group needs to act fast.

“You know what? Okay. I’ll help you.” Hongjoong sighed, his hands running down his face as Taeyang nods and puts the map in front of them flat so they can both see. They talk about it before Hongjoong sighs harder and shakes his head. “This will take forever.”

“I’m sure it won’t, hyung. We’ll check the surrounding perimeter, we can’t trust the halfies as they likely just didn’t care.” Taeyang responded, pointing towards the trampoline park behind the family-run store that Keeho had disappeared in. “He’s probably in there, knowing him.” He grinned. Hongjoong let out a groan before responding.

“Well, we need to hurry because I miss my lovers.” As he spoke, he decided to use some of the precious battery on his phone to shoot a text Chan’s way.

Miss you. Tell my loves I miss them too so they don’t feel left out.

Chapter Text

She surveyed the building with difficulty, after all, looking through binoculars with only one working eye wasn’t easy. She caught a glimpse of a person though, two people, through one of their windows and immediately pulled the binoculars away from her eyes and turned to her friend. After a look from her friend that made her sigh, she answered.

“Seeing that happen in real life was not on my 2024 bingo card.”

“Well, at least we know where the group is hiding now.” Her friend shrugged. They both turned to their captive, who was glaring up at them with enough sass to put Hermione Granger to shame. “I’m sure we’ll get what we want with our offer.”

“Seobie? You okay?” Taeyang’s concentration on the subject broke as their youngest held an unmoving, slightly confused look on his face and he stared at a hole in the floor. “Jongseob?” The younger blinked up at Taeyang and turned away, meeting Soul’s gaze before muttering out a half-whispered apology. Jongseob grabbed Changbin by the wrist and dragged him away.

“Is Jongseobie alright?” Wooyoung asked, tearing pieces of banana skin off and eating it. Hongjoong cringed outwardly at him, getting a face off pure and utter outrage from the other. Hongjoong loved that he and his partners were able to speak to each other almost telepathically. It made him miss the rest of them even more, and he frowned before he slapped the banana skin out of Wooyoung’s hand and enveloped him into a warm bear-hug. He could practically feel Wooyoung’s sly grin directed at Taeyang as he extended his grabby hands to the other but was met with a firm shake of the head.

Wooyoung moved so that Hongjoong walked backwards and was almost smushed straight into Taeyang as the younger had barely moved despite the knowledge of what was to come. The smallest of the group was hugged from behind and he felt Wooyoung’s giggle from his chest. Wooyoung’s hands wrapped around Taeyang’s shoulders and Taeyang’s around both Hongjoong and Wooyoung’s waists.

Hongjoong still didn’t feel that comfortable with Taeyang, but the younger knew when the hug was too long for him and pulled away. Hongjoong stayed attached to Wooyoung for another few moments before kissing his cheek and pulling away reluctantly. Taeyang was very polite throughout the whole ordeal and kindly looked away when Hongjoong placed affection onto Wooyoung.

“Okay then, Taeyang. Let’s go find Keeho-ah.” Hongjoong spoke, his voice slightly weary and he ran his hands through his hair with the same level of tiredness. Taeyang nodded and marked the area on his map in red writing, signifying it was their safehouse of sorts. “I vote that Jongseob, Soul and Wooyoung stay and Taeyang, Changbin and I go out to find him.” Hongjoong noticed Wooyoung’s already-pissed-off demeanour, but spoke nothing of it. “That way, if things go wrong, there are three people here who can get help. Youngie, you have your phone, right?” Wooyoung suddenly seemed guilty, his posture changing at Hongjoong’s words. “Yeah, Youngie, I’m not stupid. You bring it with you every, and not for innocent reasons either.”

“Right, do all of you think I’m some sex-obsessed fiend? You guys are the ones with weird ass kinks, and I indulge in them because it’s good to be curious, as you yourself have said, hyung.” Wooyoung defended, his hands rising in his innocence.

“Please, we all know you bring them up and dinner one day and then wait for us to take the initiative because you’re too scared to say anything about it in the bedroom in case we ‘freak out about it’.” Hongjoong quoted the last few words, recalling the argument he had with Wooyoung about his bedroom habits. “I’m just saying to you guys now,” He pointed at Soul and Jongseob, “do not go rifling through his photos. It’s all likely hidden in a folder and you do not, under any circumstance,” he glared at Jongseob from where he seemed to shrink in on himself, “want to see those pictures.”

He took a slight breath and looked around the room before nodding to himself and turning to Taeyang to come up with any ideas to save Keeho.

“FYI, Binnie, most of the pics are of me. It’s usually Yunnie or Sannie who take the pics.” Changbin placed his hands on his ears throughout every word. “Aw, Binnie. Are you embarrassed about my sex-life? Or are you annoyed you don’t have as many loving and attentive partners as I do?” He teased, poking Changbin’s cheek and watching the older deflate at the words.

“Ew, you’re so gross talking about that in public.” Jongseob cut through Wooyoung’s taunting and pushed his hand from the eldest’s face. “No one wants to hear that, hyung.” His arms were crossed and he’d put his scrawny body between Changbin and Wooyoung.

Wooyoung giggled.

“Oh, okay then, Jongseob. Tell me,” He dropped his voice low so only Jongseob could hear as he brought his face closer, “does Shota know about your lovey-dovey goo-goo eyes directed towards him?”

Jongseob’s face burned a bright red at the question and his posture dropped as he fumbled for and answer. Wooyoung giggled at the youngest and waved his hands around. “Oh! I did not know it was this big of an issue for you!” He watched in mock-awe as Jongseob hid his face in his hands as Changbin reached out to rub his back in support.

“Youngie, wasn’t that a tad bit too far?” The eldest asked. Wooyoung shrugged.

“Binnie, if I knew this would be the reaction, I wouldn’t have done it here of all places.” He smirked. “Probably somewhere a bit more private so he could yell at me like he so desperately wants to right now.”

“How did you even know!?”

It took another half hour for them to calm the youngest down before they each came to sit in an awkward semi-circle and even consider talking about the different ideas they had to save Keeho from wherever he’d run off to. Shota had come to the conclusion that Keeho had been abducted by aliens, Jongseob thought he’d been eaten by a monster, Wooyoung believed he may have been kidnapped by other survivors for ransom, and Taeyang just wanted him back. Neither Changbin nor Hongjoong cared enough to make any assumptions about where the younger had run off to.

“If he’s been kidnapped, it could be for good reason.” Wooyoung offered.

“What, like, for food?” Jongseob made a face of disgust. “We’re not that deep into the apocalypse yet, right?” Soul shrugged.

“No, you fucker. I wasn’t suggesting that people are already resorting to cannibalism. I’m just saying, if he were kidnapped, he could be traded for food or shelter, or something.” Wooyoung said, looking around the circle for any sign of understanding. “Oh my god, he could be given to some random group as a monster distractor in exchange for food, water or shelter. You’re all literally smarter than me!” He cried out in frustration.

Hongjoong understood, but just wanted to piss off Wooyoung for fun. It wasn’t like much was going on.

“Yeah, that does make sense, Youngie.” Changbin responded, cracking his knuckles. “I’m trying to think of where he would have been kidnapped though.”

Taeyang rolled his eyes.

“We literally lost him when we were searching for the cinema. At the corner store.” He reminded with sass. Jongseob snorted and Soul nodded. The group fell silent as they waited for a plan, each turning to Hongjoong, who was completely lost in thought.

“We’ve already searched the area, are you sure there was nothing wrong with the outskirts?” He asked, turning to both Soul and Jongeob, who both shrugged.

“Didn’t pay too much attention, to be honest. We were just looking for Keeho, who wasn’t there.” Jongseob offered. Hongjoong let out a sigh from his core, showing just how exhausted he really was.

“But nothing seemed off?” He asked, practically praying for anything. Soul shook his head and Jongseob shrugged. “Oh my fucking God.”

Jisung clung to Seungmin as Hyunjin threatened him with death after the brunette had thrown one too many green beans at him. Seungmin was easy to give him up to the older as Jisung’s offer of ‘hugs and love’ wasn’t really up his street. Before Hyunjin could land a single hit to the younger, Minho balled up one of the tissues from the tissue box in the center of the table and proceeded to shove it into Hyunjin’s open mouth, despite the many men shouting at Hyunjin to make a run for it.

Hyunjin spluttered as the layers of tissue got stuck on his tongue and gagged many times before thinking about using his hands to remove the item. Almost immediately he was throwing the spit-covered tissue ball straight at Minho, who dodged it easily with a tilt of his hips. His entire upper body pressed against Seonghwa, who was sat next to him, but the taller didn’t even flinch despite the contact being so sudden. He apologised, moved away, and laughed at Hyunjin as Jisung reenacted the whole ordeal with intense exaggeration.

Though the group were laughing and enjoying each other’s company, Chan couldn’t help the overwhelming anxiety that filled him. Hongjoong’s message had started it, at first he felt like he could stand on his tiptoes and take the stars straight from the sky to hand to the other for even thinking of letting him know he was alright, but then he remembered he had to tell everyone else. Yeah, okay, he knew that he had also gotten with Jongho, much, much closer to Jongho, but it still felt wrong that he was with someone else’s boyfriend. Many someone else’s boyfriend.

Yeosang nudged him from his left side, where the younger was sat. Chan turned to him and didn’t really expect to see the other so up close despite their sitting next to each other.

“Chan-hyung, are you okay?” The others deeper voice made his heart burn as he thought about Felix in the other room, unable to share the meal with the rest of the group due to his random-turning only mere hours before. It made him feel even worse than he already felt.

“Sorry, Yeosang-ah, I don’t think I can eat anything right now.” He placed his chopsticks down politely and stood up. “I’m going to check in on Felix, see how he’s doing.” He announced, moving his chair quietly so he could get out.

“Okay, Chan, let me pack your food. Or do you want to give it to Felix? He hasn’t eaten yet, has he?” Minho said, getting up from where he was stood too, making his way to Chan with his plate in his hand. “Let’s share it with Felix, hm?” He smiled, picking Chan’s plate with him.

Mingi suddenly stood too, watching with reddened cheeks at the two’s conversation.

“I’ll go too. I have to tell him something.” He admitted, looking relatively small considering his actual size. Chan had once heard Yunho calling him a ‘princess the size of a small building’ and had the phrase running through his head every time he looked at Mingi. It made him giggle as he nodded.

With three meals and three men gone from the table, the gaps were easily filled by random chatter and laughter throughout the group.

As Mingi approached Felix’s bedroom door with his food in his hands, he felt the sudden urge to just run. “Oh my god, hyungs, this might kill me.” He jogged on the spot for a few awkward moments before nodding to himself and turning to Minho and Chan, who looked both confused and fond at the same time. “It’s nothing, let’s go.”

As the door was opened, they were greeted with Felix’s terrifying wings once more, but no sharp edges or stabby things were visible at all. In fact, even his wings seemed fluffier than they had been before. His hair held a ring of light to it, which only made Chan think of angels. But that was impossible, considering the turn from before.

“Well, aren’t you just beautiful, Lee Felix.” Minho stated more than asked. “Almost beautiful enough to appear at a Louis Vuitton fashion show.” He teased, setting Chan’s plate of food and chopsticks down in front of the boy.

Felix turned to them, his chocolate brown eyes surrounded with a ring of black, almost like a hypnotising swirl. He finally, after a few minutes of staring at them, acknowledged the food and pushed it towards Chan.

“I don’t need this, but you do, hyung.” His voice was deeper than Chan had last heard and the eldest watched as the soft-looking feathers shook behind Felix.

“Thank you, but I’d like for you to taste it. I know for a fact that Minho can cook very well, but you haven’t tasted how good his food is as you turned the day after our takeaway.” Chan pushed the plate back towards the youngest. “Just for the taste, ‘Lixie.”

Felix seemed apprehensive as he brought a few vegetables to his mouth, but ate once he saw Chan’s expression. Almost immediately, his eyes lit up with the flavour, Minho having allowed himself the use of a small chunk of butter to make sure there was something to look forward to when they ate the veggies.

“Minho-hyung, this is amazing!” He almost moaned, reaching for a few more green beans at the taste. “Channie-hyung, you were right, Minho-hyung’s food is just beautiful.” He said to Chan with his mouth full. Chan grinned fondly and sat down next to him without much of a care, smiling when both Minho and Mingi followed him.

Chan took a swig from his water bottle and watched as Minho took a bite of his own food and nodded his approval. He picked up a few noodles with his chopsticks and, with a hand underneath to prevent any spillages, held them up for Chan. The eldest moved onto his knees to lean over and eat the food from the chopsticks.

“Am I just a fourth wheel?” Mingi asked, taking his own bite.

“Only if you want to be, exit’s right over there.” Minho pointed with a sarcastic tilt to his voice, only really noticeable if you’d spent enough time with him to figure him out. Mingi pouted before shaking his head.

“Nah, I like you guys too much.” He admitted, a slight blush to his cheeks. He took another bite and made a noise of appreciation. “Oh, I love food.”

“More than you love the man who made the food for you?” Minho teased, scrunching his nose up at the idea. Mingi shook his head vigorously.

“Absolutely not, hyung.” The pink-haired boy said, shovelling another mouthful in and ignoring the looks given to him by both Chan, Felix and Minho. “I actually wanted to say to Felix that I thought he was very pretty, and I would trust him with my life, halfie or not.” He sounded very nonchalant despite the redness of his face. Chan was smiling hard now, his cheeks starting to hurt at the cuteness aggression. Minho smirked and returned to his meal as they group noticed how Felix’s wings shivered, each feather rustling quietly at the movement.

“You’re very polite about this, Mingi-hyung.” Felix stated, watching how Mingi couldn’t even meet his eyes. “Given the situation, I’d have thought you’d be more…” He couldn’t really finish his sentence as he didn’t have a word for what he’d thought, but Minho finished it for him.

“Ah, Felix thought you’d be well out of bounds, Mingi-ah. He thought you’d be completely put off the idea because he’s a halfie.” He had made sure to finish eating before he spoke, so his hands were free and very expressive as he spoke. He pointed many times to both Felix and Mingi, each boy blushing further.

“Yes, Mingi-hyung, that’s what I wanted to say.” Felix concluded, almost cutting Minho’s little rant off. “But thank you, I’m glad you think I’m pretty and that you feel safe in my presence despite the obvious.” Mingi nodded, and the group continued to eat until their plates were empty.

They were soon joined by San, who wanted Mingi cuddles, and Jongho, who wanted to have a chat with Minho. He also invited Chan, who collected the plates and said goodbye to Felix, Mingi and San as he left. After he’d put the plates in the sink, he moved to the sofas, where Seonghwa, Jongho and Minho were sat waiting.

Seonghwa spoke a few moments after Chan had sat down.

“Chan-hyung, I’ve noticed that yours and Minho’s, and yours and Jongho’s, relationships have grown over the past few days. Will you explain to me the depths of your feelings?” His voice was neutral, as was his face. Chan felt intimidated in his presence.

“Well, Seonghwa, I was hoping to date the both of them. I want to prove that I am in love with them both, and am willing to do anything to prove it. I’m sorry that the way our relationships have come about were very, very different, but I can say, with real meaning, that I love them both.”

He felt like a son trying to convince his dad that he really truly loved a girl. Except it was two men, of varying ages. And Seonghwa was younger than him. He could feel himself flush, reaching for Minho’s hand for comfort. Jongho saw the act and huffed, instantly placated when Chan pressed his other hand between the younger’s hands and intertwined them.

Seonghwa watched the scene unfold and gauged Chan’s affection towards the two.

“And Minho-hyung, how do you feel about Jongho?” He asked, watching how the elder turned red and how Jongho almost hid his face from everyone.

“We’ve… had a conversation. We both want this to work, so we’ll do whatever we can for it to work.” He explained, holding Chan’s hand in both of his and playing with his fingertips. It calmed both him and the eldest down.

“As long as you’ve spoken to him already, that shows me you’re really dedicated.” Seonghwa responded, a small smile playing on his face. He watched as Chan’s face relaxed, and he held both Jongho and Minho’s hands firmly, Seonghwa’s own hands twitching as he fleetingly wondered how Chan’s felt. Would they feel as calloused as they looked? Oh.

“I really think this could work, I mean, you guys have made it work, right?” Chan looked at Seonghwa with his dark brown eyes that made the younger practically melt. Oh, Seonghwa thought, is this what gets them? “I thought if we talked about it, we’d figure it out the same way you did.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Seonghwa stated. “It took a while, originally it was me and Joongie, but then Yunnie came into our life, then the rest of them. It all stemmed from one conversation with Yunnie, then suddenly we were all together.” He smiled at the trio before him. “This is our conversation, where we are true to our feelings and don’t feel the need to fake anything.” He watched the twitch of Jongho’s nose as the youngest cringed at his partner. “Jjongie, it’s not stupid to be honest.”

“I know, hyung. I’m just not as openly touchy-feely like the rest of you guys.” He said with a shrug. Seonghwa nodded in understanding, Jongho was the least open with touch when it came to it.

He saw how mushy Jongho could be, and he knew that, with the handholding, Jongho was serious about his relationship with Chan and Minho, just as serious as his relationship with his other seven partners. He nodded.

“Okay, thank you for communicating this to me.” Seonghwa smiled brightly, getting up and pressing a kiss to Jongho’s temple. “If anything happens to Jjongie and you don’t tell me,” His gaze turned dark as he turned to Chan and Minho, “I will feed you to the monsters myself.”

“Please, I’m really not worth anything to them!” Keeho’s head was pounding, whatever mixture his kidnappers had put on the towel they wrapped around his neck was so potent he felt like he was breathing in bleach. Maybe it was bleach.

He was immediately shushed, one of the four giving him a distained glare. He wriggled his hands around in their confines behind his back. He could tell they’d used zip ties. Damn. All he thought about was how Taeyang was going to kill him for not paying attention to his surroundings like he’d said to. That was if these girls didn’t kill him first.

He took in the stairwell up to the dorm where the people who took him in were hiding. It was easy to find them, really, but he was wondering if these girls knew about the monsters hiding here too. He tried not to breathe too deep.

He turned to see the girl behind him, the one who seemed to be leading the other three. If he guessed correctly, her name was Karina. That was what the girl with the eyepatch called her.

“They’re on the highest level.” She said, her voice devoid of any emotion. Keeho glared at her, going to open his mouth before she pointed her makeshift spear at his throat. “Don’t make this any harder for us.”

“Ugh, I wish there was an elevator or something.” The blonde girl, Keeho didn’t know her name, complained. Her voice was pretty, but Keeho didn’t dwell on it for much. Maybe she was a singer or something. “I don’t know if I can be bothered with all these stairs,” She sat on the first step, carving something into it with her dagger, “especially after all that walking we’ve done today.”

“If we hadn’t done all that walking, we wouldn’t have met this guy.” Karina snapped, her spear still way too close to Keeho’s neck for his own comfort. The blonde girl’s expression dropped and she apologised quietly.

Keeho rolled his eyes.

“’This guy’ is named Keeho. It’s so lovely to meet you.” His expression was bored and his voice dripped with sarcasm. He couldn’t be bothered to have a fight. “And if you wanted any information on these guys before you went in there guns blazing,” He turned to Karina, "you could have just asked.”

The darker haired girl with a bread knife and some seemingly-homemade gun of sorts gave him a sceptical look.

“But would you tell us?” She asked, her voice low in the echoing stairwell. Keeho shrugged.

“You never asked, so I’m not sure. I don’t even feel like a welcome guest here.” He was still sarcastic, even in the face of danger, in this case Karina. Taeyang would berate him so bad for his behaviour. He could die, and he’s still being stupidly sarcastic. Taeyang would absolutely kill him.

The girl with the eyepatch rolled her eyes.

“We’re not letting you go, if that’s what you mean.” Karina shook her head, her spear still raised.

“Well, that’s not what I was suggesting.” Keeho replied, instead looking down at the spear and shrugging his shoulders to motion to the chemical towel wrapped around his neck.

“Giselle, wasn’t this thing supposed to make him dizzy and useless?” Karina hissed. The girl with the bread knife and weird gun shrugged. So Karina and Giselle. What were the other two called.

“Funny, I feel fine. It just stinks.” Keeho responded, grinning. “I don’t like smelling like my bathroom after my mum just cleaned it.”

“What makes you think we care about your feelings?” The blonde girl called from the stairs. Karina shot her a glare, but she lowered her spear.

“Winter, quiet.” She said, her voice almost loud enough to echo through the room. The blonde girl, Winter, rolled her eyes. Karina, Giselle and Winter. Now who was the fourth?

Keeho shut his mouth, finally. If he wanted this girls name, he’d have to figure out her personality besides sarky. He squinted as he looked around, noticing a slight movement from the windows beside the entranceway. He made sure to keep his face unchanged.

“So, if we take this thing from around your neck, you’ll tell us what we want to know?” Karina asked, looking for any form of emotion on Keeho’s face.

He smiled. It wasn’t hard to trick people, and he was very capable of making people care about him by saying little white lies. He turned his back to Karina and held three fingers up behind his back.

“Three questions. Think carefully. If you take these ties off, you’ll get more.” He looked at the other three. Winter stood up from the stairwell and walked over, her shoes making no noise on the usually squeaky flooring. They must be her favourite shoes if they were that worn. She nodded at Giselle and the fourth girl.

“Okay, we’ll bite.” Keeho grimaced at the wording. Karina untied the towel and took it away, throwing it on the carpet by the sofas. Keeho smiled and turned around to her. “How many of you are there?” Keeho thought for a moment, mentally tallying up the names he remembered. Then, he added a few more numbers and prayed it would put them off entirely.

“There are twenty five of us in total, but some are out searching for food, as you know.” Keeho answered, watching the cogs in Karina’s head turn as she paced around him.

“Okay.” She fell silent for a few minutes, her pace slowing as she turned back to him. “How many halfies?”

That threw him off, he didn’t think she’d know about them. Well, he could lie again, it wasn’t that big of a deal as his life was in danger.

“If I remember correctly, there are nine halfies.” He lied through his grin, knowing only four people of the twenty two of them were actually halfies, but he couldn’t let them know that, could he?

Karina pressed her lips together and looked at everyone’s weapons, and the shard of glass they’d confiscated from Keeho. Keeho moved his weight onto his left hip as he spun around a bit, catching a set of eyes from the entranceway before they moved away, out of sight again. That was Soul. He smiled a little harder, trying not to make it too obvious to the girls.

“Any thoughts, girls?” Karina asked the others. Giselle shrugged.

“I have a gun. I can take some if it comes to it.” She replied. Bold words from a dumb girl, Keeho thought, she’s not seen an upset Jongseob yet. He was ruthless.

Karina nodded.

“Ningning?” She turned to the girl with the eyepatch, there it was. Ningning. Now he knew their names, he could manipulate them. Good for him.

Ningning walked up to Keeho and stared him directly into his eyes, her own single eyed glare making Keeho’s palms sweat.

“How much damage do you think a single bullet could do to three people?” Her question stopped Keeho dead in his tracks. Why was she so sinister? Goddamn, he’d underestimated her.

“Probably a lot.” He answered, his voice low as he stared back at her. “But how much damage could an upset halfie do when he finds out you took his leader?”

She blinked at him before a flurry of movement from the entrance. The door slammed open and Soul dived straight into Ningning, snatching the sniper rifle from her back and yanking on it, like Ningning was nothing but a hindrance to his taking of it. He pulled until it came from her back and lifted her by the neck, throwing her to the side.

As Keeho took in the damage Soul had created, the doors almost off their hinges and the glass shattered, he was then faced with his sweetest friend. Soul’s eyes, black like the night’s sky, glittered with the recognition of Keeho, his face devoid of emotion and his ears pointed like an alien’s. When he smiled, Keeho saw the pinpricks his teeth had become.

Being a halfie must be so tiring on Soul, Keeho knew how much Soul like his body as it was before he’d turned. The younger walked up to Keeho calmly, using the sharpness of his now black nails to tear through the zip ties keeping his hands together. Keeho wringed his wrists, seeing how the ties dug deep enough to leave deep red, nearly purple imprints.

Soul held his wrists when he dropped them, running his thumbs over the indents on his inner wrists.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Steph-hyung.” He whispered. Keeho was glad that Soul kept his head on, even when he was turned. He pulled Soul into a hug and rested his chin in his blond hair.

“It’s okay, I knew you’d come eventually.”

As the two shared a heartfelt moment, Hongjoong and Wooyoung were fighting off a very pissed off Giselle, dodging her swings with the sharp bread knife and instead leading her closer to Winter, who was in the midst of a fist-fight with Changbin. She seemed to be winning, Changbin was too much of gentleman to really hurt her.

Wooyoung didn’t care, slamming into her side as Giselle took another swing at him, moving his head to the side so her knife embedded itself into Winter’s shoulder, causing her to let out a gut-wrenching scream. Hongjoong landed a well-placed punch to Giselle’s stomach and watched as she fell to the floor coughing and spluttering. He turned to see if Jongseob needed help with the leader, but he ended up not needing to, instead reaching down to take Giselle’s gun from where it was tucked into her bra.

He then sat next to her, watching as Karina and Jongseob fought.

He’d never thought two halfies would ever attack each other, they were same blood, but here he was. Karina was almost unrecognisable, all sharp edges and metallic armour, whereas Jongseob was rubber, every hit landed by Karina only being rebounded in a stronger form by Jongseob.

Jongseob let out a terrifying screech, like a cat being attacked, before lunging and throwing Karina through a window. Unfortunately for the group, a hoard of monsters were hanging around that side of the building, so Hongjoong stood up and breathed deeply, trying to find the anger to connect with the monster side of him.

He’d figured it out ages ago, before he’d left to find the Piwon group their new home. He had to find pure, unbridled anger inside of him in order to become his halfie self, and that wasn’t difficult. He thought about his mother, his father and his brother. His family before his home. He thought about the pain they caused him, and all of a sudden, he was in an all-out brawl with a monster three times his size.

The being was massive, all muscles and strength. But Hongjoong was agile, and his stamina as a halfie was tenfold his normal stamina. And he was a Dance major. He was not losing this fight. The monster gave a hit that Hongjoong barely avoided, but it was slowing down, its movements sloppy and its hits not making as much damage to the greenery around as they once had.

Hongjoong’s nails were sharp and hooked enough for him to climb the trees around the flower meadow with no trouble, but he hadn’t realised how far from the dorms he’d gotten. That was good, considering the monster was obliterating everything in its path, so Hongjoong let himself take it further away from the dorms before he even let the worry for his partner and friends take over his mind. He focused on taking the monster away from them so they had one less thing to worry about, even if it was hell bent on murdering him.

Jongseob still hadn’t finished with Karina, even if she had glass sticking out of her from all directions. It actually made her more damaging, having so much glass embedded in her already sharpened body, but Jongseob had no care for it. He shook her and threw her around like she was a ragdoll, glass slashing his palms and making him bleed, the thick black blood dripping down his arms and fingertips. It healed in moments, but Taeyang watched from the shadows with fear. He didn’t want them to be hurting themselves, but he couldn’t fight the same way Wooyoung or Changbin could, he hadn’t even found himself a real weapon yet.

So Taeyang watched Karina’s fighting style. She was swift and relied on speed to land her hits, the weight with which she swung with not actually dealing much damage. He saw how Jongseob returned the hits with little force, showing just how soft Karina was landing her punches. Then, it clicked in Taeyang’s mind.

Because Karina was so speedy, her stamina must have been through the roof. If her stamina was high, then she didn’t need to worry about being strong when she could fight for hours. She was working on slowing down her opponent, Jongseob, by not stopping. She was wearing him down until she could really start fighting. Taeyang sighed, he’d have to get involved after all. Or maybe not.

“Shota.” He called in a hushed tone. The young halfie turned to meet his gaze, where Taeyang gestured to Karina with a nod of his head. Soul got the memo, breaking his hug with Keeho and shaking himself off before he blurred.

Soul was full of energy, no matter what he did. He was always speedy, but Taeyang had never seen someone move as fast as Soul did in those moments. As Jongseob started to waver, his hits nearly missing their target, Soul appeared in front of him and shoved his entire fist through Karina’s body. His hand, covered in a thick black substance, Karina’s blood, formed an impossibly sharp point. Karina gargled up a wad of blood, spitting it onto Soul’s shoes.

“This wasn’t your fight.” She heaved through blood-filled lungs.

“It was my fight the moment you touched the people I love.” And with that, he dropped Karina and caught the spear Changbin threw to him before stabbing it directly into her heart. She let out a hiss before her eyes became white and her body became soft. She no longer looked like the metallic monster that had raged through the building. She looked like herself, human.

Soul stepped away from her, turning to Winter, Giselle and Ningning, who were all huddled together with fearful faces. “She’ll be fine in a few hours. Take her away from here, as far away as you can.” He snarled, showing the sharp pinpricks of his teeth. “If I see any of you again, even if I catch a glimpse of you,” His voice was hissing, “I will not hesitate to do the same to you as I did to her.” He gestured to Karina where she lay in a pool of her own blood, his hand still sharp.

His words got through to them and they stared up at him for a moment before Ningning sprung into action, shuffling speedily over to Karina’s body, dragging her to the entryway with a struggle. Giselle scowled at Soul before standing and following, staring at the gun in Wooyoung’s hand, previously in Hongjoong’s. Wooyoung shook his head, and Giselle moped as she left the vicinity.

“I’m really sorry.” Winter muttered. “We had no other choice.”

“You had many choices.” Changbin sighed. “You just chose the worst one. If there is a problem, of any kind, you bring it up to Karina.” He watched Winter’s nod before his gaze softened. He placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. “I’m not going to say you can come to us for help, but if food and shelter is a problem, there are many buildings in the surrounding area that are abandoned and near food stores. Before you resort to violence to get what you want, choose the easier option.” He squeezed her shoulder and looked over to where Ningning was arguing with Giselle for help carrying Karina. “Surviving peacefully is about one thousand times more easier than fighting to survive.”

He let her go, and Wooyoung rolled his eyes to hand Giselle’s gun to Winter.

“Don’t use it on humans, just the monsters.” He advised. “Tell her that.” Winter nodded and thanked the group before turning on her heel and following the rest of her group.

Hongjoong watched them leave, one hand on his hip and the other spinning Winter’s spear behind him.

“Did we give Ningning’s rifle back?” Keeho asked when he finally regrouped with them. Wooyoung shook his head, turning to show the large gun slung across his back. “I think we should, what if they need to clear out an area before they go in, or something?”

“Hyung, when have you ever cared about that sort of stuff?” Jongseob asked, annoyed. He was back to his human form, and he looked exhausted.

“Jongseobie, you saw what just happened. Without Karina, they’ll be unable to survive without weapons.”

“So they can find more? I don’t see what the problem is.”

Keeho pinched the bridge of his nose and ran his hand down his face, shaking his head.

“Oh my God, Jongseob, do you just not care that three humans have no energy left and their halfie is incapacitated?” He asked, his voice rising slightly in volume.

“Whether or not they have a halfie, they shouldn’t have left their first hiding spot if they didn’t know how to handle it!” Jongseob huffed, his arms crossed. A sheen of sweat covered his forehead.

Soul dragged his feet to Jongseob and forced him into a hug.

“You shut up.” He ordered into the youngers hair, voice faint from tiredness. “I want to go to sleep.” Jongseob rolled his eyes, arms still crossed, but he leaned into Soul’s shoulder with little resistance.

“Yeah, I guess I’m pretty tired too.” He replied, face buried into Soul’s oversized shirt.

“Then, it’s decided. You stay with us until we clean out that theatre.” Hongjoong declared, clapping his hands together. Wooyoung nodded.

“If we rest up, doing it tomorrow will be easier than attempting it now. Let’s eat, then sleep. My knuckles hurt.” He mumbled, flexing his hands in front of him. Hongjoong sighed and took one of Wooyoung’s hands in his own and started to pull him up the stairs. Wooyoung took it as the perfect opportunity to drag Changbin along with his other hand, with no issues from the other.

Soon enough, the entire group made it to the top floor where their friends and partners were resting, and Wooyoung made a noise of excitement.

“I missed Hyunjin.” Changbin sighed. He’d been sighing a lot lately.

“Good thing he’s right behind those doors, then.”

Hongjoong called Chan on his phone, and the other picked up with a ‘What’s up, love?’, making the younger blush. Wooyoung cooed at him.

“We’re here, let us in please.” He asked politely, ignoring Jongseob’s overdramatic retching and Keeho's cringe.

"God, you guys are gross.” He commented.

“Homophobia.”

“I’m bi?”

A few moments into the conversation, the doors opened and Chan looked at them with a grim smile.

“Chan?” Hongjoong asked. “Are you alright?”

“We lost Mingi and Felix.”

“Excuse me?!”

The group erupted into chaos, Wooyoung and Hongjoong losing their shit so bad Changbin had to grab both of them by their collars and hold them in place.

“You fucking lost them?”

“Where the fuck are they? They’re not dead, right? That’s not what you meant, right?”

Wooyoung was practically feral already, but this level of franticness, not even Hongjoong had seen it. He turned his gaze from Wooyoung to Chan.

“Chan, you better explain.”

Chan only shook his head and gestured them in.

Chapter Text

Mingi was terrified. He had no idea where he was or how he got there. He remembered the nose bleed, Felix looking horrified, and Chan rushing for tissues. Then, nothing. Literally nothing.

So how on earth did he end up in the nearby town’s arcade and bowling alley?

He looked around for any sign of life, monster or human. Nothing. Not even the still-flashing lights of the arcade machines provided him with any hope of life. He wandered for a bit, trying to map out a way home in his mind, but he couldn’t do much without something to write on.

He looked around for any paper, even a receipt to write on, but the more he looked, the more he realised how clean the place looked. It even felt like it’d been hoovered in the past few hours. He suddenly felt like he wasn’t alone in the building.

And he was correct, he was not alone. There were fourteen lanes in the bowling alley, and thirteen of them were lit up fully. With the lights flashing so much, he couldn’t really make out the figures other than the fact that they all looked relatively human. But he couldn’t be too sure now, they could all be halfies for all he knew.

At least he had his new powers to help him, if he could get them out. He didn’t know how it worked, but if Hongjoong could go apeshit at the drop of a hat, then it couldn’t be too hard, right?

He wouldn’t try until these thirteen people made themselves a threat to him, though. They could be nice people. One had disappeared. Goddamn it.

“Um. Hello!” He called out. “I’m really sorry for coming here, I don’t remember how I did, I’ve just recently turned, you see.” No movement from any of the figures. “If I could find the exit, that would be really helpful. I want to get home to my friends and partners.”

Not even a tilt of a head like he’d usually get. Tough crowd. “If you want any help with anything in exchange for information or something, that’d be really appreciated.” He offered, trying to gauge any form of reaction. Because he couldn’t see their faces, he had no idea what any of them were thinking.

“You want to help us?” Someone sounded from behind him and he turned, slightly scared.

“Uh, yeah, if you need it? I can only help so much, and I’ve only ever been in the next town over, but I know how to survive in this world.” He replied, watching the person’s face contort into confusion.

“How long have you been a half-breed?” They asked, and Mingi tilted his head.

“A half-breed? Like, a halfie? Half-monster?” He asked, watching the stranger nod. “Literally like…” He thought for a moment, remembering the sun’s placement before he lost consciousness. “Where’s the sun at in the sky, right now?”

“Just before dusk, why?” The stranger crossed their arms. Mingi did a bit of maths and answered.

“About three hours. Like I said, recently changed.” The stranger raised an eyebrow. Mingi shrugged, not knowing what else to say. The stranger just pointed towards an exit sign. “Um, if there’s nothing you want, may you tell me where the exit is?”

“We will not harbour a recently-turned. We have enough as it is.” They stated, almost pushing Mingi towards the exit. Mingi let himself be forcefully pushed out of the building before he contemplated asking for directions to the University.

“Hey! Sorry, do you know where the JYPE University is? My friends and I were hoping to scrounge it for supplies.” He lied, putting a demeanour of confusion on. The stranger stopped pushing him, taking a moment to think.

“Find the North entrance to the village. Go straight on from there, it should be visible once you make it to the next town.” They directed. Mingi sighed in relief.

“Thanks, man. Appreciate it.” Mingi patted their shoulder, seeing how they flinched and smiled in almost agony. “Oh, sorry.” The stranger waved him off and walked back into their claimed building. Mingi looked around, having nearly no idea where he was. He wandered for a bit before finding a cute little fountain in the centre of the town, lighting up once he’d found a town directory. It had small illustrations of some of the buildings, but he was more interested in the directions, finding the little N with a bit of searching.

After mapping out a route back in his head, he started walking, the cold biting his fingers as he flexed them, trying to warm up with a bit of movement. He was really starting to feel the cold now, upset at himself that he hadn’t layered up despite not knowing he’d turn. He could smell a fox about.

Suddenly worried, he made sure his steps were quiet as he moved, the wind picking up and causing a freezing chill to wash over his whole body. He was tired. He kept walking.

Before long, with the wind and the cold, and the lingering fox, he saw a road sign stating the next town over was a whole mile away. He sighed. It was starting to get dark and, even if he ran, he likely wouldn’t find good shelter before the temperature dropped further. He kept on the pace, deciding that the more he kept on, the more likely he was to see his boyfriends and friends again.

It was dark when he’d finally gotten to the entrance of the town, the road having thickened into an actual road. He looked around, slightly familiar with his surroundings. If he carried on, he’d make it to the mall before he froze to death. At least there he could make a fire and finally get some warmth. His hands were so cold they were starting to turn blue. He could only imagine how his face looked.

After walking for what seemed like an eternity, his legs tired and frozen all over, Mingi finally came across the shopping mall an hour’s walk from the University. He thought about it for a minute, taking in a deep breath when he just continued his journey. He’d been walking forever, but another hour wouldn’t hurt. Right?

The fox was following him, his chilled brain supplied. He turned, sniffing the air as he did. As soon as he faced the back of the mall, he was surprised to see a small fox, one that didn’t seem old enough to have left its mother yet, staring straight at him. It was sat like it had been waiting for him to notice him, and once he did, it lolled its tongue out like a dog would.

He tilted his head at it, showing his confusion in a way he knew it would understand. It seemed to shrug before it skipped towards him.

“Hello there! I was wondering when-“

“I’m sorry?” Mingi was stood dumbfounded. The fox could talk? That wasn’t possible, he must be so cold he was starting to hallucinate. “You’re a fox.”

The fox ruffled its coat.

“I am.”

“Foxes can’t talk.” Mingi stated, feeling stupid talking to a fox he was hallucinating. But the smell, it smelled so real.

“I was unable to talk until recently. I would just yip like any other fox.” It said, sounding unimpressed. Mingi nodded.

“O-okay. Yeah.”

“Shall we continue?”

The fox padded on, turning before sitting and waiting for Mingi. “Come on. You’re looking for something, right?” Mingi nodded, wondering why he was still talking to this fox.

“Sorry, yeah. Let’s go.” He answered, following the fox. “I’m, uh, I’m Mingi.”

“My… friends… have called me ‘Hyunwoo’. It’s nice to meet you, Mingi.”

Mingi blinked and nodded. Hyunwoo. Okay, a talking fox called Hyunwoo, he could deal with that until he warmed up. “My… My friends went missing, recently. I’ve been trying to find them. That’s why I was in the forest near you.”

Mingi hummed, still walking behind Hyunwoo. “I miss them.”

“I miss my friends too. I’m going back to where they’re staying.”

“Ah, the University.” Hyunwoo stopped to plod beside Mingi. “That’s what you’re doing, I thought you were just walking with no real destination.” He admitted, a rough blast of wind fluffing up his coat. “It’s cold.”

“You’re telling me.” Mingi scoffed. Hyunwoo fell silent. “Sorry.” Mingi muttered, hugging his arms to his chest. Hyunwoo wandered off, leaving Mingi alone. That was it, Mingi thought, no more hallucinations. But he started to miss Hyunwoo the further he walked. It was so, so cold.

“How do you even lose a man that tall!?” Hongjoong yelled, getting right up in Chan’s face.

“Well. You try having your eyes everywhere, all the goddamn time!” He replied, a bite to his voice. “Yes, I lost him. He was with Felix, and when I went back to tell him to help clean up, he was gone! Felix was confused because he was here one second, and the next he wasn’t.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. It was starting to darken, and Chan was worried about how cold it would get outside.

“Chan, Felix is wanting you.” Seungmin poked his head out of his and Felix’s room. Chan looked at Hongjoong before turning to go to Felix. He entered to a distressed and crying Felix.

“Hey, what is it?”

“I was supposed to be with him.” The blond cried, reaching for Chan, who swept him into his arms and cradled him. “I was supposed to make sure nothing happened.”

“Aw, ‘Lix, this isn’t your fault.” Chan consoled, reaching up to run his hands over Felix’s hair. It was soft and smelled like the flower meadow outside. “I should’ve been here to make sure nothing happened.”

Chan had left once his plate was finished, Minho having followed and the two leaving Felix and Mingi together. Now, Chan should’ve stayed. It wouldn’t have been like this, he thought.

“And, his nose,” Felix cut himself off with a deep breath, leaning back to wipe his eyes, “his nose had just started to bleed.”

The statement made Chan feel even worse. He should’ve been there to help Mingi, so maybe his turning wouldn’t have taken him away. He sighed and wiped Felix’s neverending tears.

“It’s okay, Felix. I’m sure he’s safe out there. He knows the town well, Yeosang told me.” He hushed, pulling Felix’s forehead to his own. “He’ll be okay.”

“I need to go out there and get him.” Chan shook his head.

“If you do that, then we’ve lost two people.” He countered, seeing Felix’s resolve crumble. He caught Felix when he sunk further to the floor. “I don’t want to lose two very important people.”

Felix nodded and continued to cry into Chan’s chest.

“I wish none of this happened.” He whispered. Chan silently agreed, still holding Felix tight.

As Felix slowly finished his tears and fell asleep in Chan’s arms, Chan considered all the possibilities. If Mingi had just disappeared into thin air, then he was likely now able to become invisible, or blend into his surroundings. But wouldn’t he have made sure they knew he was still there? So it must have been something else. Teleportation?

He chuckled to himself. That only happened in sci-fi films. But then again, he watched Felix breathe deeply, nothing about this situation wasn’t screaming sci-fi. So, it was a possibility. Teleportation.

How did that even work?

“Hyung?” A quiet voice cut through the silence. Chan turned to face the door, where Yunho’s head peeped through. “Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you.” Chan nodded and swung his head to say, ‘Come in.’

Yunho sat beside him, watching Felix sleep with a look of fondness on his face.

“What’s up?” Chan asked, his voice low. Yunho looked sheepish.

“Right,” He took a breath, “this will sound really weird.” Chan shrugged and looked at Felix. “Yeah, almost the same kind of weird, I guess.” Chan turned back to him again, watching as Yunho figured out how to say what he wanted. “So… Mingi and I have known each other much longer than the others. Since we were kids.”

He looked so sad Chan wanted to bundle him up too. “He and I always considered ourselves soulmates.” He laughed to himself. “We have a deeper connection to each other than we do anyone else. I know he’s coming back.” He struggled to find the words. “There’s this pull, inside of me. And it hurts.” He grasped at his chest. “But, every few minutes, it hurts less. Like he’s… coming back to me? It sounds weird but, that’s how it feels.” He smiled to himself. Chan thought it over for a moment. It was an idea, yes, but a reliable one? He’d have to find out.

“That’s good. That you know he’s coming back.” He bumped his shoulder against Yunho’s. “If… When,” He corrected, “he comes back, you’ll be the first to know.”

He looked at Yunho, who was now properly looking at him, tearful, but with a wide, happy grin.

“Yeah, I guess.”

The two leaned against each other, Yunho’s head falling onto Chan’s shoulder. Hongjoong watched them from the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed. Minho dragged him away by the elbow.

“Leave them be, we’ll find him.” He assured. Hongjoong rolled his eyes but let himself be led.

Minho led him to the kitchen and sat him down next to Hyunjin, who was deep in conversation with Changbin about their escapade. Changbin made everything to seem much more extraordinary than it actually was, but Hongjoong just smiled at the two. “So,” Minho started, sitting opposite Hongjoong and handing him a small bowl of grapes. Where did he even find those? “You are upset.”

“I’ve had a very busy day, Minho.” He answered, shoving a few grapes in his mouth and chewing slowly, savouring the sweetness. Minho placed his head on one of his hands against the table.

“I know, but you’re upset.” He stated. Hongjoong rolled his eyes.

“Are you trying to psychoanalyse me by watching me eat grapes?” He asked, shoving a few more in. Minho snorted. He leaned back in his seat and just observed him as he ate. “You’re weird.” Hongjoong shook his head.

“Thanks. The only other person to have outright told me that was Chan.”

Hongjoong grinned.

“I would’ve thought Jisung would’ve said it at some point.”

“No, Hannie says I’m mean.” Minho grinned, leaning back and stretching his arms over the table to take Hongjoong’s hands, ignoring the looks from Changbin and Hyunjin. “How can I help you?”

Hongjoong just held onto Minho’s hands. The brown haired boy rubbed his thumbs over Hongjoong’s palms, soothing him in a way he didn’t know he needed.

“Hello, darling.” Seonghwa’s voice whispered into his ear. He turned to his partner and smiled warmly up at him. “Ah, yes, Minho’s very good at soothing people.” Seonghwa shunted Hyunjin over a seat so he could sit next to Hongjoong. It was getting darker outside. “How are we feeling, my love?”

“Tired.” Hongjoong admitted. Seonghwa was the first person he’d be completely honest with, and always had been. “I’m so tired.”

“I get that, Joongie. How about we get some sleep, then?” Seonghwa rubbed his back, Hongjoong just letting him. He nodded, before remembering what he was staying up for.

“Mingi. I can’t let him come home and be alone.” He tried to reason, getting a firm shake of the head from Seonghwa. Hongjoong pulled his hands from Minho’s, the cook getting back up to take the empty bowl to the sink.

"He won’t be alone, he’ll have everyone here to greet him and make sure he’s warmed up and fed.” The elder smiled warmly at him. “So, knowing now that he’ll be safe and sound when he finds his way back, will you finally get some sleep?”

Hongjoong had no answer. He just sighed and buried his face in his hands. Seonghwa was still smiling as he guided his boyfriend away from the kitchen and down the hall to the room he knew Jongho and Jeongin were hidden away in.

He was greeted with two set of warm, beautiful smiles from the youngers who were chatting on the bed as he led Hongjoong to the other side of the bed to help him get comfortable.

“Oh, hyung, let me help you.” Jeongin said, standing and pulling the covers away so Hongjoong could get under them. Seonghwa smiled up at Jeongin and thanked him, getting into bed with Hongjoong once the other had gotten comfy. “Would you like some water?” Jeongin asked, ready to run to the kitchen for them.

“No, thank you Jeongin. We’ll be okay for now.” Seonghwa responded, wrapping Hongjoong up in his arms as the younger drifted off almost immediately after getting warm. “Jjongie? Tell Sannie that Hongjoong’s asleep and waiting for Mingi.”

Jongho nodded and went to leave, not before grabbing Jeongin’s wrist to leave the others alone as they slept. Seonghwa chuckled to himself at the two and sighed into his embrace.

“Hyung!” Jongho called quietly into the hallway. About five different people turned to him. “Ah, right, Sannie-hyung.” He pointed to San, who was talking with Han and Wooyoung.

San bumbled over to him without a question, wrapping his arms around Jongho’s shoulders in a hug, which was immediately pushed off once Jongho had felt it was enough. “Sannie, Hongjoong-hyung is asleep with Seonghwa-hyung and they both want to be woken when Mingi comes back.” He said, San’s hands still on his shoulders. He remembered that he was still holding onto Jeongin, by his hand now, and pulled away from both boys.

San grinned his cat-like smile at him and nodded.

“Okay, we’ll wake them when Mingles is back.” He replied, nudging Jongho’s shoulder. Jongho huffed.

“Mingles?” Jeongin asked with an eyebrow raised. San nodded. “You guys are so sappy, oh my God.”

San giggled and Jongho rolled his eyes.

“Tell me about it.”

The three made their way to the living room, where Jongseob, Shota and Keeho were all led in a tangled mess on the sofa.

“Oh, hi guys.” Keeho said from where his face was partially buried in the sofa cushions, Shota led flat out on the elders back. “We were wondering where you guys were. Since Chan and Hongjoong’s little yelling match, the rest of you kind of split off and left.” He yawned, attempting to bring a hand to cover his mouth, but Jongseob’s legs prevented him.

“Well, you guys seem comfortable.” Jongho teased. Keeho scoffed.

“As comfortable as it gets with two little monsters lying all over you.” He said sarcastically. San just grinned and perched himself on the arm of the sofa, bringing his legs over to not bump any of the three.

“We’re not really monsters though, right?” Shota asked, a worried tilt to his voice. Keeho laughed.

“No, Soulie, you’re not really monsters. I was only joking.” With his free hand, the one behind his back, Keeho reached up at an awkward angle to pat Shota’s head. “You’re too much of a cutie to be a real monster.” He brought the younger closer to him, ignoring Jongseob’s grumbles as he was jostled around. He almost kicked Keeho in the back of the head.

Jeongin motioned to the other sofa, where Seungmin sat with a large map out in front of him. Jongho followed him to the other, but San stayed where he was sat. Jeongin sat on Seungmin’s left and Jongho on his right. The brunet didn’t even budge, likely not even realising the tow was there as he mapped out every road in and out of the town.

It was a large town, nearly big enough to be a city, but Seungmin was worried that Mingi was out of town.

“Chan-hyung said to not worry too much, Seungmin.” Jongho said, nudging Seungmin’s knee with his own. Seungmin grumbled, using a small magnifying glass to find any walking paths that could have been exits.

“Where did you even get that?” Jeongin tapped it, Seungmin glaring at him as the magnifying glass slipped across the map.

“Changbin gave it to me.” He said, his tone light as he carried on searching.

“Hey, put it down, you won’t do anything with that because it can’t magically find him.” Jongseob said from where he was now bunched up on the other sofa. Seungmin huffed, crumpling one edge of the map in his hand.

“You don’t know that.” He answered, finally at his breaking point. “We just lost someone, someone many people in this building care about dearly. That’s already happened once with Keeho-“

“But we got him back.” Jeongin said softly, soothing up and down Seungmin’s back. “We got him back because Soul, Jongseob, Hongjoong, Wooyoung and Changbin all risked their lives to save him.” His words hung heavy in the air as silence fell. Seungmin turned to him, his eyes red and wet with unshed tears.

“Yeah. But that doesn’t mean you and I can’t risk our lives for Mingi.” He answered, his voice breaking. A tear fell and Jeongin reached up to wipe it away.

“It means we need to make a plan. It means we need to rest, to take some time to think as a group about what we’re going to do.” He pulled the magnifying glass away from Seungmin’s hands. “So, I won’t let you do this alone.”

A fox screamed outside.

Mingi was so, so cold. He tried hugging his legs to him from where he lay on the frozen floor, but he was too tired, too cold to attempt it. Hyunwoo watched him before deciding to lay in the slight curve of Mingi’s laying form, trying to warm him up with his dense fur.

“Give me a moment.” The fox said. Hyunwoo had left for a small amount of time to try and find someone, anyone to help Mingi, but when he’d come back with bad news, Mingi had collapsed. Mingi’s teeth were chattering so fast he couldn’t even speak and his breathing was getting slow.

Hyunwoo yelled, a loud noise that was so unmistakably a fox. No one came. He screamed again. And again. Over and over he screamed, for his voice to become hoarse and his throat to hurt painfully. But someone had to hear him. Someone had to save Mingi.

Hyunwoo was starting to feel the cold in his bones, glad his body heat was transferring to Mingi even if it didn’t seem to do much. He screamed longer, but no one came. The lights in one of the rooms in the highest apartment turned off. He hoped it was someone who could help. He screamed once more before curling further into Mingi and letting the last of his body heat be taken.

A voice. Someone calling, calling for Mingi. Hyunwoo didn’t have anything left in him, all he could manage was a quiet call.

But it was enough, someone was coming. Light flashed in Hyunwoo’s eyes, and someone called for Mingi again. Hyunwoo closed his eyes, glad someone was there for Mingi.

“Do you think they’re okay?” A deep voice, one that sounded hoarse from crying, burned into Hyunwoo’s brain. He felt warm, not from his coat, but from someone holding him. Didn’t this person worry about wild foxes?

“I’m sure they will be, Felix, we caught them right at their last minutes.” Another voice, sweeter and melodic. Hyunwoo let out a sigh and buried further into the heat.

“Oh my God, that’s so cute.” A voice smooth yet gravelly at the same time, Hyunwoo breathed in the scent of the person who’d just spoken, the same person he was being held by.

“Chan, be careful. Foxes can be tricky if they’re not used to humans.” A calculative voice, Hyunwoo thought, he knew what he was talking about. Good thing Hyunwoo had been surrounded by humans mere days before.

He attempted to lift his head, a large, warm hand petting his head.

“Hello there.” Chan spoke, quiet and calm. “My name is Chan.” He spoke slowly, as if he were speaking to an animal. Then again, he was, Hyunwoo supposed. He turned his snout to face Chan properly.

“Hello Chan. I’m Hyunwoo.”

Silence. Hyunwoo looked around him, blinking slowly as he took in three other faces. A blond boy with the most beautiful face he’d ever seen, another blond boy whose hair was so fluffy he thought it was a cloud, and a boy who looked more like a puppy than a boy. He chuckled to himself. “Yes, the fox can talk.”

“Um, yes, hello.” The boy with the deep voice and pretty face, Felix, answered.

“I’m Haku Shota.” Shota held his hand out as though he was expecting a handshake from the fox. Hyunwoo stared at him. “You have paws, you can shake my hand.” Shota stated, not understanding the problem.

“Yes, I suppose.” Hyunwoo blinked at him. He could sort of feel his tail wagging under the blanket he was wrapped in in Chan’s arms. Chan laughed.

“He’s happy to see people.” Chan told the others. The puppy-like boy nodded and watched in awe, and Shota grinned. “Intak, go and get Mingi. I’m sure he’d like to thank his saviour.”

Hyunwoo snorted.

“I just did what anyone would.”

“No, if you weren’t there, I would have frozen to death.” Mingi said. Hyunwoo could finally catch his scent, the wind not whipping it away every second. He smelled like cinnamon, almost.

“Well, I’m just glad we were close to your friends.” He replied, watching how Mingi seemed much more full of life than when he was outside. “You look warm.”

“I am, thank you, Hyunwoo.” The fox nodded. Chan’s grip on him loosened and he went to flex his legs outs, finally feeling the warmth in his bones. He hopped out of Chan’s arms and stretched out, feeling his joints pop with the lack of movement. His back legs were all tingly from pins and needles and he was still trying to gain control over his ever-wagging tail. Yes, he was glad to see people again, but he didn’t need everyone to know that.

He yawned, his jaw popping as he did, and his ears caught all the voices in the building.

“There are so many of you here.” He stated, hoping and praying that at least one of them was one of the friends he’d been separated from. He couldn’t smell anyone familiar though.

“Yeah, there’s twenty-two of us here, twenty-three including you.” Intak stated, adding another name to what seemed to be a chore list. Felix smacked his shoulder.

“Intak, he’s a fox! What sort of chores are you expecting him to do?” Intak looked at Felix with a hint of annoyance and rubbed his shoulder where Felix had hit him.

“Um, excuse me for thinking Hyunwoo could help us sniff out intruders and food? Maybe, if you thought about it, having a fox around could be more helpful than you may have expected.” Intak flicked Felix’s forehead and went back to writing Hyunwoo’s name below Jongseob’s. Felix held his forehead with pain and Hyunwoo let out a laugh, sounding so much like a normal fox he forgot he could do it.

Everyone turned to him. He pulled his ears close to his head and his tail stopped wagging. Chan stood beside him and pet his head again.

“Come on, guys. Let’s not ogle Hyunwoo every time he does something.” He sniffed the air. “Is something burning?”

“Ah, we left Jongseob and Jiung to cook.” Shota said, a slightly mischievous grin on his face. Hyunwoo rolled his eyes. They must have been the worst cooks in the group if everyone started freaking out the way they did. Intak made a noise that could have been a mix between a harsh exhale and a sneeze as he left the room, and Felix ran out as soon as he heard the names. Shota stood and stared behind Hyunwoo without any sort of look on his face.

“Are you okay?” Hyunwoo asked, sitting at Shota’s feet. Shota didn’t answer, he seemed to have gone completely blank. “Shota? What is it?” The young boy seemed to be staring at something through the window, and when Chan went to look after Hyunwoo encouraged him to, Chan also stopped still. “Chan?”

“Get Hongjoong.”

Hyunwoo hadn’t heard Chan’s voice so authoritative before, so he sped through the building with little issue, weaving between people’s feet and ignoring the smell of smoke until he came across a boy who smelled awfully like Chan.

“Are you Hongjoong?” Hyunwoo asked, tongue lolling out as he panted from the speed he’d run at. The boy turned and looked down at him.

“Ah, no, my name is Lee Minho. Hongjoong is over with Seonghwa and Hyunjin. Over there.” Minho pointed towards three boys playing a drawing game on the living area floor. Hyunwoo thanked him and ran over to the three.

“Hello!” All three boys startled at the talking fox and Hyunwoo rolled his eyes at them. “Sorry, I’m looking for Hongjoong?” They all turned to each other and Hongjoong stood, patting the two others on their heads as he did. “Hello, sorry about that.” Hyunwoo apologised, walking beside Hongjoong as he led him to Chan. “My name is Hyunwoo, it’s nice to meet you!”

“Yeah, you too. Kim Hongjoong.” Hongjoong seemed slightly bewildered as he spoke to the fox, but convinced himself this was normal. A halfie fox, that’s what Hyunwoo was.

“Chan wanted to see you, that’s why I was searching for you.” Hyunwoo stated as he sat outside the door where Chan and Shota stood behind. “Something outside caught Shota’s eye, and he stopped doing anything. So, Chan looked, and he too is stuck still.” He explained, nudging the door open more with his snout. Hongjoong followed, worried.

“Chan? Soul?” Hyunwoo blinked. He sat in front of Shota and looked up at him, the boy completely unmoving, unblinking. He smelled like fresh mangos. Hyunwoo sniffed again. Aside from the faint burning smell from Jongseob and Jiung’s attempt at cooking and Shota’s mango smell, he could smell ammonia. The scent of a decaying body.

He ran over to Chan, where Hongjoong was fussing and deliberately not looking out of the window, and pressed his front paws against the window sill. Pulling his body up, he caught a glimpse of what was outside.

“Hongjoong?” He asked once he was safely back on the floor. “Do you know who that is? There is a person stood outside, and they smell like they’re dead.” Hongjoong blinked down at him.

“A dead person walking? Like a zombie?” Hyunwoo scoffed, a weird noise coming from a fox.

“Not really. Like a person with a lot of dead flesh.” He explained, blinking hard. “Wait, I think I know who that is.” He ran out of the room, finding Mingi as soon as he could.

“Oh, what’s up Hyunwoo?” The tall boy asked, moving from the kitchen island as soon as he saw the fox.

“My friend, Jinsik, he’s outside on the building opposite ours right now.” He breathed out, Mingi’s eyebrows raising and his eyes widening.

“Oh really? Hey, that’s great! Why don’t we invite him in?” He exclaimed. Minho hit him around the back of the head with a spatula.

“And use more of our precious food on strangers? I think not.” The cook shook his head. “As much as I’m all for inviting people over, I’m not letting another person step foot in my home.” He turned to Hyunwoo, looking guilty. “Sorry, Hyunwoo. We just can’t afford to lose more food that fast.” He admitted. Hyunwoo shook his head.

“No, it’s okay. Would it be alright if Mingi and someone else accompanied me to go and see him?” He asked, his tail wagging harshly behind him. It was hitting someone’s leg and he turned to apologise, but they were looking down at him as though he were the sweetest thing they’d ever seen.

“You must be Hyunwoo? I’m Yeosang, it’s nice to meet you.” Yeosang introduced, reaching his hand out for Hyunwoo to sniff. He did, and Yeosang smelled of lavender, calming him easily. Hyunwoo wanted him to go and help him get to Jinsik.

“Would you mind helping me go to my friend?” He asked, watching Yeosang’s eyes light up at the idea. It was only afternoon, a whole day had passed since Hyunwoo had been brought into their home.

“Yes, I can. Let me know when you want to leave.” Yeosang smiled. Hyunwoo nodded and padded back to where the two Hongjoong had left were still sat on the living area floor despite there being a whole sofa free.

Seonghwa and Hyunjin, Hyunwoo recalled. He sat next to the one he believed to be Hyunjin and flopped into the boys side, getting comfortable where he lay. He wanted to get as acquainted with everyone as he could before he left.

“Hiya, Hyunwoo. Chan mentioned a fox, but I wasn’t aware you were a talking one.” Seonghwa spoke, his voice delicate and pretty, and Hyunwoo felt himself slipping into sleep.

“Yes, I’m a talking fox. Only you guys and my other friend know, though, so don’t go spreading the word.” He joked tiredly. He yawned, a little noise sounding as he closed his mouth. Hyunjin started to shake with laughter he refused to let out. “You can laugh, everyone else does.”

“No, no. I’m not laughing because of you.” He eventually got out. “Look.” He pointed towards Seungmin and a rather fox-like boy were talking about something, the fox-like boy tilting his head each side whenever he spoke. “He’s so cute, what the hell?” Hyunjin giggled, shaking Hyunwoo by the shoulders. He wiggled a bit in Hyunjing’s grasp but let the boy do what he needed to get the cuteness aggression. If he started squeezing, Hyunwoo would bite.

Luckily for Hyunjin, no biting occurred and everyone was safe. “I need to go squidge those adorable cheeks right now, oh my God.” He huffed out, moving to get up despite Hyunwoo’s protests.

“Hello, Hyunwoo. I’m Seonghwa, that was Hyunjin.” The other boy who Hyunwoo correctly named Seonghwa introduced. “Did you want a hug?” He asked, his boba eyes sparkling in the artificial light of the room. Hyunwoo just huffed and sat beside him.

“No, thank you. Just something warm to lie on.” He replied, making himself comfortable curled up beside the elder. Seonghwa nodded and tentatively brought his hand up to Hyunwoo’s ears, trailing his fingers from the tips all the way down his neck and back. Hyunwoo let out a small yip. “That tickles.”

“Ah, sorry.” Seonghwa pulled his hand back. “You have very nice fur.” He complimented. “You look very young, for a fox.” He mentioned. Hyunwoo sighed.

“Before I could speak, I stayed with my mother. I think I’m around eight human months old, nearly 5 fox years.” He explained, butting Seonghwa’s hip with his head. “I left my mother when I started to speak your language. Thought I could help out the humans with the knowledge of the forest.” He scoffed to himself. “I couldn’t, there not here anymore.” Seonghwa patted his head.

“I’m sure not all of them are gone, didn’t you say one of your friends are outside right now?” He asked, scratching behind Hyunwoo’s ears, which perked up at the mention of Jinsik. He sat up quickly, shaking his fur out and looking around for Mingi and Yeosang.

“Yes. Mingi, Yeosang and I were going out soon to say hello.” He said, stretching quickly before padding over to the kitchen island where Yeosang was talking with a very confident looking boy, and Mingi was in deep conversation with Intak and young boy who looked like he should’ve still been in high school.

“Hello again, Hyunwoo.” Yeosang greeted. “Sorry, Keeho, I have to help Hyunwoo with something.”

“I’m sorry?” Keeho asked, staring at the fox as though he were a piece of gum on his shoe. “You’re helping a… fox?” He snorted at Yeosang and crouched down to see Hyunwoo’s face properly. “A tiny little baby foxy? Aww, he’s just so cute.” Keeho cupped Hyunwoo’s cheeks and squidged them together a bit, scratching his chin with his thumbs.

“Whilst I appreciate the attention,” Hyunwoo started, revelling in how Keeho stopped in his tracks, “I do have somewhere to be and a friend to find.” Keeho sat back on his knees, taking his hands away from Hyunwoo’s face.

“Oh.” Keeho said dumbly. “Right.” He stood, brushing his hands on his jeans. “Um, want another person along? We don’t know who else is out there.” He offered, an embarrassed flush on his cheeks. Hyunwoo did his best at a grin.

“Only if you want to. Thanks.” Keeho nodded and looked between Yeosang and the fox. “We will be leaving in a moment, I need to talk to Mingi.”

He left the two to their own devices for a moment, skipping over to Mingi, Intak and the young boy before nudging Mingi’s ankle with his snout.

“Heya, Hyunwoo. We leaving?” Mingi asked, watching Hyunwoo’s nod and saying goodbye to Intak and the other. “Which direction should we go first?” He asked, pulling a second jumper over his first, both as fluffy as Hyunwoo’s fur.

“I’m not sure yet, he’s been moving around a lot.” He sniffed the air for the ammonia. “I just can’t understand why he smells like that. He’s not a halfie, and none of you guys smell like that.” He racked his brain for any ideas. The only thing he could think of was if Jinsik had turned when he was gone. But it still didn’t explain the smell.

“Maybe we can ask him?” Yeosang offered, Keeho following closely behind. Whilst Mingi and Yeosang were bundled up for the oncoming freeze of outside, Keeho still stood in a long-sleeved shirts and his jeans.

“You may want to layer.” Hyunwoo advised. Keeho scoffed and shook his head.

“I grew up in Canada. I’ll be fine.”

“If you freeze, I’m not helping you.” Hyunwoo sighed. “Are we all ready?” He asked. Mingi, Yeosang and Keeho all nodded with differing levels of certainty. “Okay then.” He started to scratch at the doors at the front of the hallway and he yelled his goodbyes to everyone, a chorus of goodbyes replying. Mingi opened the door and off the four went.

Keeho regretted his decision, in the end.

Chapter Text

Intak had at first been worried about Hyunwoo, but remembered that foxes live in the wild, and Hyunwoo had been a normal fox cub before he left his home to follow his hopes in helping humanity. Now, he was just annoyed at Taeyang for not following them like he said he would.

“Why didn’t you follow them?” He asked the red-head, who scoffed at him and shook his head.

“The fox would know. He’s got a better sense of smell than anyone else here, including Mingi.” He answered, taking one of the small bunches of grapes from the fridge. “It’s incredible that we’ve been here so long and we haven’t lost power.” He said absentmindedly. Intak rolled his eyes.

“If you’d have just kept your distance-”

“Even if I kept my distance, he’d still know I was there.” Taeyang interrupted, popping a grape into his mouth and wandering to the room with the broken window. Intak followed him like a dog. “He could smell his friend from Felix’s room, even though his friend was outside on the other building.” He was getting annoyed, Intak could finally tell.

Taeyang fell flat on his back onto the bed furthest from the window. Intak sat awkwardly behind him. As the red-head munched on his grapes, he contemplated whether Mingi, Yeosang and Keeho was a good trio when fighting. Did they even bring weapons with them? Keeho had been given his watch back after the whole kidnapping fiasco, and he’d kept it on ever since, so at least there was that.

“Why didn’t you bring your gun with you?” Intak asked quietly, watching Taeyang’s face. The elder shrugged.

“Didn’t think I’d need it here.” He answered, throwing a grape at Intak. “Get out, I need to think.”

Intak rolled his eyes and made a show of being upset, but left when Taeyang threatened to punch him. Once back out in the hallway, Intak looked around for Jiung, who seemed to be... knitting? The telekinetic was talking with Seonghwa, who seemed to coach him through the process of making... whatever he was making. He made his way over to the two sat on the floor outside Felix’s room.

“Hi guys.” Intak greeted, sitting on Jiung’s other side. “What are you making?” Jiung shrugged and gave him the sideye.

“We’re just doing some practice swatches.” Seonghwa smiled, his own knitting looking far more practiced than Jiung’s mess of a swatch. Intak didn’t reply and watched as the two carried on at their own paces. As Jiung’s got more messy and he became more and more frustrated, Seonghwa’s piece became longer and perfected, each row straight with no dropped stitches.

“This is a piece of shit.” Jiung stated, putting his piece in his lap with a huff. Seonghwa only rolled his eyes and picked up the needles, which had slipped out of their rows, holding them up to Jiung’s face threateningly.

“Don’t make it harder than it has to be.” He said through mockingly gritted teeth. Jiung grinned and took the needles back, unwinding all his rows and starting again. Intak watched as the two continued before deciding it was boring and looking around for something more interesting. “Intak, ask San if he’s still got eyes on Mingi, Yeosang, Keeho and Hyunwoo for me?” Seonghwa asked over his knitting. Intak nodded as he got up and left to find San.

The elder was sat cross-legged on the kitchen counter with Chan’s binoculars to his face. Intak stood behind him and brought both hands hard own onto his shoulders.

San jumped so hard the binoculars fell from his hands into his lap and he held his hand to his chest.

“Jesus, don’t do that!” San complained, turning where he was sat to glare at Intak. “What do you want?” Intak grinned at him.

“Sorry.” San rolled his eyes and looked at him unimpressed. “You still got eyes on them?” Intak asked, his eyebrows knitting together as San’s face twisted into worry.

“Yeah, but they’re not doing much. I saw Hyunwoo talking to the guy he called his friend,” He sighed and crossed his arms, still sat on the side, “but they guy wasn’t talking back. I think something’s wrong.”

Intak nodded and looked around at everyone. Felix had come out of his room to talk to Seungmin about one of the books the younger was supposed to study for his course, and Hyunjin, Changbin and Jongho were having what seemed to be a deep conversation. Hongjoong and Chan were curled up on one of the sofas as Minho ran his hands through both of their hair as he held an easy conversation with Jeongin on the floor. Han, Yunho and Wooyoung were drawing awful self-portraits, and Shota and Jongseob were awkwardly smushed together on the other sofa.

It didn’t seem like anyone wanted to go out into the cold weather to help with Hyunwoo’s case, but Chan seemed to consider Hyunwoo part of the group already, so Intak decided to ask him what the next course of action should be.

“Okay, San-hyung. I’m going to talk to Chan-hyung, see what we can do.” He said, patting San’s shoulder. “Keep an eye out for us.” San nodded and turned back with the binoculars, leaning further into the window as he did.

Intak wandered over to where Hongjoong and Chan were laid out comfy and leaned over Chan to show himself to them. Chan sat up, practically dragging a cranky Hongjoong with him. The younger of the two hadn’t slept much before Mingi had been found, so he was upset that his sleep was once again being disturbed, more so when he saw who interrupted his sleep.

“Hello, Intak. What’s up?” Chan asked, wriggling as Hongjoong tried to force him to lie down again. Intak shuffled on his feet.

“Yeah, um.” He glanced back at San, suddenly feeling awful. “Sorry for waking you. San-hyung said he thinks something is wrong.” He explained, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Chan nodded and thought for a moment. “Hyung said that Hyunwoo was trying to talk to his… friend? But the guy wasn’t responding.” He watched as Chan’s face contorted into confusion.

“We have movement!” San called out. “They’re going into the building now. I’m going to see if we have a window in here that faces the room they’ve gone into.” He explained as he lifted himself off the side and wandered around the living area with his binoculars in hand. Chan sighed and ran one hand down his face, the other rubbing Hongjoong’s shoulders.

“Sorry, Joongie.” He apologised, looking at Minho for help, who nodded and stood up to take Chan’s place on the sofa. “I have to go do leader things. I’ll be back soon.” He kissed Hongjoong’s forehead and stood up, ignoring the upset whingeing from the younger. Chan turned to Intak.

“So, do you know what we should do?” Intak asked, feeling slightly intimidated by the elder. Chan pressed his lips together and sighed, his head hanging.

“We make a rescue team. Just in case.” He replied, placing his hands on his hips and looking around the room. “Felix!” He called, watching fondly as the blond peeked his head over the back edge of Shota and Jongseob’s sofa where he was sat with Seungmin.

“Yes, Chan?”

“Come here for a moment.” Felix got up and left his book with Seungmin, the other also peeking his head over the sofa to see what was going on. As Felix padded over to Chan, his fluffy socks and pyjama’s making him look tiny to Intak, he said hello to everyone. “Do you think you could help us go collect Mingi, Yeosang, Keeho and Hyunwoo?” Chan asked him. Felix nodded. “Are you able to turn yet?”

Felix sighed.

“I think it relates to the feeling of being too crowded, or even uncomfortable. In the presence of a stranger,” He thought for a second, “yeah, I reckon I could. More so if he’s dangerous to everyone.”

Chan nodded and peered over at Shota and Jongseob. “Hyung, they’ve already fought this week, let’s not make them do it again.” Felix spoke, placing an hand on Chan’s elbow. The elder nodded and smiled warmly at the boy.

“Yeah, Mingi’s down there too. I’m sure he could tap into his inner monster to help.” Intak suggested, feeling a little overwhelmed by the thought. He hadn’t known the group long, but he started to consider them family with how often he was around them. Chan nodded and turned to San, who was awkwardly hanging out of one of the living room windows with Wooyoung supporting him so he didn’t fall out.

“San, would you like to come with us?” Chan called over, watching how the younger scrambled to get back inside, his grip iron-tight on the binoculars.

“Um, yes please, two of my boyfriends are out there!” He answered, passing the binoculars to Wooyoung. He ran off to go and put some more weather-appropriate clothes on. Chan chuckled to himself.

Taeyang had decided to make an appearance, tapping Intak’s shoulder to get his attention.

“I’m going to go with them. Keeho’s out there.” He said. “Again.” Intak nodded, moving out of the way so he could talk to Chan.

As he did, Jiung wandered into the living area with Seonghwa, confused why everyone was suddenly moving around when they’d been comfortable just moments ago. Intak went to him and explained the situation, not enjoying the way Jiung’s face became more and more worried.

“So, can I go? I know I can’t do much, but if I use my powers, I can help.” He asked, his concern so evident that Intak could feel it radiating from him. Intak shrugged.

“You gotta ask Chan.”

“Ah, poor Channie,” Seonghwa sighed, “always the first to go to, but always the last person to ask for help.” He shook his head and made his way over to the eldest to check in on him.

“He’s been asking me if I’m alright every five minutes.” Jiung mentioned. Intak looked at him in confusion. “I think he feels like he needs to take care of people, all the time.”

“Yeah, that’s how our Seonghwa is.” Yunho said, appearing from almost nowhere. “I heard from Sannie what was going on. Is there anything I can do?”

Intak sighed and Jiung shrugged. “Okay then, I’ll stay here and help cook for when you guys get back.” He answered himself, patting both boys on their shoulders and asking what everyone wanted to eat. Though there were few options, everyone agreed on stir fry in the end.

As Jiung went to speak to San, he was blocked by Wooyoung.

“Just FYI, San’s weapon of choice is a switchblade.” He paused, waiting for Jiung’s reaction. “Which is not here.” He emphasised, his arm reaching out towards the rooms where they’d hastily shoved their belongings the week before. “Go and get it?” He asked.

“Get it yourself?” Jiung asked, almost offended that he’d even been asked.

“I’m about to cook. You get it.” Wooyoung huffed, pushing Jiung by the shoulders towards Changbin and Hyunjin’s room. Jiung rolled his eyes but got moving, his shoulders hunched and arms crossed. “What a moody kid.” Wooyoung muttered, turning to Yunho in the kitchen area, who was eyeing a pan with apprehensiveness. The younger boy moved the older out of the way and took the pan from him, commandeering the kitchen like he’d lived there for years and it was his own.

Yunho watched fondly as his boyfriend manoeuvred around the place like it was his job, and whilst it sort of was his job, he was completely in his element. Yunho loved this part of Wooyoung, the part of him that not only did as he was told, but was also doing it well. The part of him that was more perfect than the rest of him. Cooking had been something Wooyoung was always passionate about, and though he was a whirlwind in the kitchen, shattering bowls and haphazardly throwing the ingredients around, he was amazing at it. Yunho loved it when Wooyoung cooked, it meant a full belly from the littlest things. If he was being honest, Yunho was just as in love with him as he was Mingi. Then again, that went for all of his boyfriends if he was really honest.

“Need any help at all?” He asked, watching with his arms crossed and leant against the island as Wooyoung shook his head as he skinned some carrots.

“Get drinks for everyone? Set the table? Help, but don’t help me here.” The younger shrugged, hands swift with the peeler. It was Changbin’s, and Yunho knew Wooyoung thought of the elder as someone special. Though Wooyoung was very honest and blunt about his feelings, he’d always had issues when asking another person to love him like he did them. But Jongho had always rolled his eyes and pushed him, and San had loved him unconditionally when he came home in tears after a shit date. Though Wooyoung was the most in-love person to have entered their lives, Yeosang had been the first to say they all just wanted him happy, Mingi had been the first of them to wine and dine him, even after their rocky start. Yunho had been the first to actually say the words “I love you,” to him.

Seonghwa and Hongjoong were the first to help him through the troubles he’d gone through when he first realised he was in love with other people. Wooyoung had been so distraught, so hateful towards himself, for just being in love. They had shown him the love he should give himself, the love he should share with everyone.

Yunho got to work setting the table with chopsticks and small bowls, placing juice boxes next to everything, the ones that Changbin had scrounged from their outing. He was reminded of how Wooyoung thought of Changbin.

“Youngie?” He called, the other grunting from where he was placing noodles in a wok with the carrot skins and some greens he’d found. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” Wooyoung scoffed. “But also happy that I’m here with you guys. Why? Is everything alright?” He asked, turning the hob low and facing Yunho. The elder struggled to word what he wanted to say.

“I can tell. About Changbin.” He settled on, watching Wooyoung’s lips press together in stress. “I’m happy. You should tell him.” Wooyoung sighed and turned back to the wok, stirring slowly in thought.

“I would, but he likes Hyunjin.”

“Who likes me?” Said boy came sauntering over, taking a juice box from where he claimed his seat and sitting down. “You okay?” He asked, seeing Wooyoung’s face.

“Don’t worry about it, Wooyoung.” Yunho placated, realising how stressed Wooyoung was becoming. “I know you’ll do the best thing for yourself.”

“Wooyoung, if you like Changbin, tell him.” Hyunjin piped up, shocking both Wooyoung and Yunho. “Yeah, sure, he might like me, but you don’t know until you ask. I like him, but I also want him to be happy with the person he likes. If that’s you, then I’ll be happy for the both of you.” He thought for a moment. “But if you guys are capable of being in one big happy polycule, then I’m sure he’ll be comfortable with the both of us.” He smiled mischievously, watching Wooyoung roll his eyes.

“I think we met the right people, for them all to be so… okay, with us all together.” Yunho stated, walking over to wrap his arm around Wooyoung’s shoulders.

“Puke, you guys are so gross.” Hyunjin joked, faking disgust at the two. “I want all happy lovers obliterated.”

“You never know,” Wooyoung replied, pointing at Hyunjin with his spatula, “that might be you soon.”

Hyunwoo was stunned. Not only was Jinsik outright ignoring him but was also acting as though he weren’t there. No matter what Hyunwoo said, spilling Jinsik’s deepest secrets, the other would just not speak. Mingi’s face turned disgusted once the deepest secret had been revealed, and even Keeho frowned.

“That’s a bit-“ Yeosang cut himself off as he remembered his opinion didn’t matter when Hyunwoo’s friend wasn’t responding to it himself. “Dude, can he even hear you?” He asked quietly, crouching down to Hyunwoo’s level.

“I’m not sure.” Hyunwoo sounded upset, like he’d expected Jinsik to just welcome him with open arms. “The thing is… he smells weird.”
“Yeah,” Mingi agreed, nodding, “he smells like death. Or close to it.” Hyunwoo made an experimental yip as Jinsik started walking away, hoping to get at least a small reaction, but nothing again.

“Something has to be wrong.” Keeho said, looking around for any sign of an ambush. “This can’t be right.” He muttered, staying quiet to keep an ear out.

Yeosang rolled his eyes and turned to Mingi.

“Do we even know what we’re up against?” He asked, leaning into Mingi.

“Or who.” Mingi replied, patting Yeosang’s shoulder before following Jinsik as he walked to the stairwell. “Sorry, sir, I was wondering if-“

As he reached out to touch Jinsik’s arm, he was hit with both the immense smell of rot and a cold so deep he could feel it in his eyes. He pulled away and stuck close to Keeho, who was furthest at the back, trying to hold back a retch.

“He smells so, so bad.” Hyunwoo said, and he let out a little sob. “I think he’s dying.”

“I died a while ago, Hyunwoo.” Jinsik finally spoke, his breath forming misty in the air. His mouth never moved. “It was too cold down south. I was separated from the group, around the same time as you.” The admittance hung in the air.

Mingi blinked a few times and turned away to heave up his last meal. Keeho looked disgusted but patted his back a few times as Yeosang ran over with his little flask of water. Hyunwoo sat in front of Jinsik, his nostrils flaring at the smell of his friend’s decay.

“How are you still,” He looked up at him with wide eyes, “alive?”

Jinsik didn’t smile like Hyunwoo wanted him to. Like he’d expected him to.

“I don’t know.”

They were all gathered in the stairway, and Jinsik continued to walk, taking each step slowly like he was unable to speed up. In all fairness, it made sense for him to be slow. His robe crunched, like it had been frozen all year, like no amount of warmth could thaw it. Like no amount of warmth could thaw him.

“Mingi? Are you alright?” Yeosang asked, rubbing Mingi’s back as he stayed hunched over on the ground. Mingi nodded and took a swig from the flask.

“I will be.” His voice was hoarse and his eyes were teary. “We can’t let Hyunwoo be alone with him.” He whispered. “I’m worried.”

Yeosang nodded and gestured to Keeho to follow them.

“So,” Keeho spoke, speeding up to catch Jinsik, “you froze to death?” He was next to the boy, who looked too young to have died. His features were literally frozen in place, his mouth slightly open and his eyes unblinking. He had a sheen of frost all over.

“Yes.” It was weird, Keeho had to admit, for the boy to speak without moving a single feature in his face. Like a ventriloquist. “I died before the virus, when Hyunwoo was a little fox cub we’d found separated from his mother. We took him in, kept him warm in our tiny dorm room.”

“Where did you stay?” Keeho asked, mentally filing away any piece of information he was given.

“We went to different schools, but we tended to meet most nights in Minjae’s room. He went to a high-class school that let students live on campus.” Jinsik hung his head. “We had to climb up the gutters to be able to get in.” He sounded amused, though his face never moved. He turned to Keeho, features pale and, quite frankly, terrifying. “But when the winter came around, we were found by the Dean climbing the gutters. We were thrown out, Hyunwoo was given to animal control, who ended up just leaving him in the forest to fend for himself. My mother,” Jinsik sighed, the tension leaving him very slowly, “she threw me out, thought I was too difficult to deal with.” He scoffed, turning to Hyunwoo.

They shared a few moments to just look at each other.

“Your mother,” Hyunwoo muttered, shaking his head, “she was so vile to you. For no reason.” Jinsik nodded.

“It was below freezing that night, and I had no way to get warm.” He sighed. “So I died that night.” He’d very obviously accepted his death, though Keeho felt as though something had been left unsaid. He kept quiet about it.

Jinsik turned back and kept walking. Keeho and Hyunwoo followed as Mingi and Yeosang stayed back. Hyunwoo’s ear flicked towards the other building where the others were staying, and he gave Keeho a fearful look before he skipped over to Jinsik, keeping his nose shut to the smell of the other. Jinsik’s breath danced in the moonlight. Had it gotten that dark already?

Keeho sighed and continued to follow.

“God, it’s freezing!” San whined, sticking close to Chan, who seemed to run warm all the time.

“It’s not that bad.” Chan smiled, keeping San warm by wrapping his arm around the other. Taeyang and Jiung shared a look of annoyance.

“Not to be rude, or anything,” Jiung piped up from where he was tightly wrapped up in at least three jackets, “but do we even know where they are in that building?” He asked, watching as Chan’s confident strides faltered for a second.

“Nope!” San exclaimed, turning his head over Chan’s shoulder. “But I’m sure we’ll find them.”

Taeyang rolled his eyes.

“We can’t search every room.” He said. “We should start at the higher levels, where they’re more likely to be.” His logic couldn’t be fought with, Jiung agreed.

“Yeah, we’ll probably find them based on the heat from Keeho’s sarcasm.” He joked, nudging Taeyang’s arm. Taeyang scoffed.

“Yeah, that and Hyunwoo’s fox sounds.”

San glared at both of them.

“Channie, stop them.” Chan only shrugged. San shook his arm and the older only grinned at him.

“It’s been difficult, San, to find light in our situation. Let them have some fun.” He rubbed San’s shoulder and chuckled at the expression on his face. “So, there will be a lot of stairs, guys.” He looked over at Taeyang and Jiung, who were having a gander at the building in front of them. “Get ready to get your steps in, yeah?”

Jiung sighed and Taeyang nodded, both getting ready to spend most of their evening climbing up and down the same set of stairs to find their missing members.

Felix had held back, staying at the door in case any intruders decided to cause a distraction to the group.

“Hyung, why can’t I come with you? I thought that was the whole point of me coming along?” He called from the doors. Chan looked around for a moment and shrugged.

“If you want to come along with us, then hurry up.” Taeyang snarked, hefting his, Hyunjin’s, bat over his shoulder. The barbed wire wrapping it’s top spiked his head and he winced. Felix chuckled.

“Yeah, ‘Lixie, come on.” San called from Chan’s arm. He seemed to really like the eldest, Jiung noted. Gross. “Last one up the stair’s a sore loser!” San exclaimed, leaving Chan to rush up the stairs, his switchblade poking menacingly from his trouser pocket.

“If you drop that thing you’ll hurt yourself!” Chan yelled up the stairs where San had disappeared. He shook his head. “If it stabs him and not a bad guy, we’re in big trouble.”

“Leave him to it, hyung.” Felix said, helping Taeyang untabgle the barbed wire from his long hair. “He’ll be okay.” Chan just nodded and started up the stairs to find the missing boy. Taeyang just wanted to rip the bat from his head, hair be damned, but Felix thought his hair was too good to lose, so he just let the blond unknot it from him.

“Felix, just pull it out.” He said. Jiung snorted.

“That’s what she said.” He snickered. Taeyang shot him a dirty look. A distant cry broke the humour and Jiung looked like he was going to be sick. “I suddenly don’t want to be here anymore.”

“Too bad,” Felix sighed, “we’re here now. Let’s go.” Luckily he’d untangled Taeyang from the bat and the two were already running up the stairs before Jiung could gather his confidence. Not wanting to be left behind, he followed with anxiety crawling up his throat.

He was completely out of breath by the time he’d made it to the highest floor, and very nearly threw up his anxieties when the smell of rot hit his nose. A corpse faced him, with Keeho behind. Keeho had a look of pure disgust at the… person? Was that a frozen person? Jiung didn’t know what to do, so he just looked around, saw Mingi and Yeosang outside on the roof and moved to join them. Chan, San, Felix and Taeyang were nowhere to be found.

“Hey, guys.” Jiung said, his voice trembling. “What’s going on?” He laughed awkwardly. Mingi shook his head and Yeosang gave him a concerned look. “I think I’m gonna throw up.”

Yeosang pressed his lips together and led him further away from the smell of rot and handed him Mingi’s flask of water.

“Small sips, Jiung. It’ll be okay.” He soothed Jiung’s back as the other took tiny sips. “That person is Jinsik. Hyunwoo’s friend.” He explained slowly. “He smells the way he does because he’s frozen. Dead.”

With that last word, Jiung did throw up. Yeosang looked away grimly and carried on soothing Jiung’s back. “Get it out, that’s it.”

“Oh my God, that’s horrifying.” Jiung muttered, wiping his mouth. Yeosang just sighed and handed him a tissue from a little pack in his pocket. “That’s actually so awful.” Jiung stood up straight, facing Yeosang, who just nodded.

“He’s still walking, but he died before the virus broke out, so we’re not sure how he’s still…” Yeosang trailed off when Mingi joined them.

“Hi, Jiung, feel a little better?” He asked, his voice raspy from having also been sick moments before. Jiung turned to him with an unamused look. “Yeah, I know.”

“Where’s Chan?” Jiung asked. “He came up after San ran off, and Felix and Taeyang came up after them.”

Yeosang shrugged and Mingi looked around.

“They’re not here. I don’t know where they could have gone.” Mingi said, running a hand through his short pink hair. He hadn’t seemed to change much since Jiung had last seen him, considering how Felix and Hongjoong had changed physically after their turning. He did seem to look like he’d put a little bit more muscle on, though Jiung couldn’t be too sure.

“They must be on the lower floors then.” Yeosang offered. Jiung sighed and drooped a bit. “It’s alright, I’m sure they’ll find us.” He placated, seeing how Jiung seemed worried. “Your friend, Taeyang. He seems really capable.” Yeosang smiled. Jiung nodded.

“Yeah, he looked after Soul and Jongseob in their timeline.” Jiung mumbled, already missing the rest of the group.

“Timeline?” Mingi asked. Jiung nodded.

“My group, me, Taeyang, Keeho, Intak, Soul and Jongseob, we’re all from different timelines. Me and Keeho are from a past timeline, Intak’s from this timeline, and Taeyang, Soul and Jongseob are from a future timeline.” He explained, watching how Yeosang grew more and more surprised and how Mingi looked more and more confused as he spoke. He smiled. “Difficult to understand, I know. We were just as confused, trust me.”

“Wait, when did you guys get here? To this timeline?” Mingi asked, his eyebrows so furrowed they almost merged into one. Jiung giggled at the idea.

“Intak. Me and Keeho were told about an issue that would need our powers at this time, and Taeyang, Soul and Jongseob were trying to get out of a drone-infested future.” He replied. “After hearing about the future, I thought this timeline would be affected by drones, but,” He gestured around himself, “apparently not.”

“Well, there’s the butterfly effect.” Yeosang offered. “One change can cause a change in everything. Maybe all of you coming here changed that.” Mingi outwardly groaned and folded his arms.

“I barely passed Physics, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He huffed. Yeosang smiled.

“The only reason you passed was because Jongho and I drilled Newton’s laws into you.” He turned to Jiung. “And that was just the basics.” Jiung smiled.

“Oh my God, Jiung!” Felix cried as he barrelled into the boy. Jiung held his arms away, not sure how to react. Felix buried his face into Jiung’s neck. “We couldn’t find you, we were so worried.”

Jiung looked up and saw Taeyang waiting at the doorway. Felix pulled away and apologised, which Jiung waved off.

“Come on, that Jinsik guy has something to tell you guys.” Taeyang called. Felix hugged both Yeosang and Mingi before he took Yeosang’s hand and pulled him along.

“That’s your boyfriend, isn’t he?” Jiung pointed to Yeosang and Mingi nodded. “And you’re letting him be taken by another guy?”

Mingi laughed.

“Jongho accused me of stealing Yeosang too. I’m not scared, I know Yeosang loves me.” He said, pushing Jiung towards the door where Taeyang was watching, his face contorted by something Jiung couldn’t place as he almost glared at Mingi’s hands on Jiung. Mingi seemed to take the hint and let go of Jiung’s shoulders and dropped his hands. Jiung looked between Taeyang and Mingi, wondering what the hell just happened.

Jiung pointed to Mingi and looked at Taeyang, confused.

“Wanna tell me what that was about?” He asked with an accusing tone. Taeyang just rolled his eyes and peeled himself away from the doorway to follow the others. Jiung shook his head at the elder and joined him in following.

They found themselves in a room that looked as though it had been left in a panic. Clothes were strewn on the floor and the desk looked like someone had sweeped everything off.

“So,” Jinsik started, looking at Hyunwoo sat on the bed, Keeho standing at the door with his arms crossed, Yeosang on the desk, Mingi just outside the door, and Taeyang and Jiung finally at the doorway, “about my friends.”