Archive of Our Own

"Yah, Jiho, open the door!" his mother calls from the kitchen and Jiho sighs loudly as gets off the couch, lazily shuffling his way.

He gets the keys off their place on the wall, not bothering to check who it is before unlocking the door quickly, reveling Choi-ahjussi on the other side.

"Jiho-yah!" the elder smiles fondly, "are your parents home?"

Jiho nods, adding "mom's in the kitchen," and moves away from the door, expertly avoiding the hair ruffling he knew would come.

He locks the door and returns his spot on the couch, kicking his legs up the table, and sinks into a comfortable lull while listening to the news.

It's ten minutes later when his mother and Choi-ahjussi get out of the kitchen. He wakes up just in time to see his mother's frowning face before she whacks his legs with a kitchen towel, and he drops them to the floor and straightens up in his place immediately.

"Mr. Choi is not feeling well, so he'll stay here overnight so we could watch over him." She informs him, and he just shrugs in return. Ever since Choi-ahjussi lost his wife and son he became kind of a family, so this bothers him as much as his uncle staying over.

☢

Jiho wakes up in the middle of the night when he hears a strong thump, followed by the sound of something breaking, and he rushes out of his room blindly, baseball bat in hand.

When he gets to the living room he sees Choi-ahjussi doubled over on the floor, groaning in pain. He doesn't think twice before he starts yelling for his parents, and they come running shortly after.

"Go back to sleep," his mother tells him after he helps them place Choi-ahjussi on the couch. "we'll take care of him, don't worry." She kisses his forehead and he clears it off with a disgusted pout but goes back to his room without saying anything.

He closes the door behind himself to drown out the noise.

☢

When he wakes up again it's already morning, and he stretches lazily in his bed before checking his mobile phone, seeing a text from Kyung telling him to come over. He texts back that he'll be there after he eats something, and changes clothes quickly.

He opens the door and takes a few steps before realizing something is terribly off, and when he rounds the corner of the corridor he sees everything in his home is trashed. Broken furniture decorating the floor, next to what seems and smells like vomit, and even some broken glass and china.

He walks tentatively into the kitchen, trying to keep as quiet as possible, until he sees his mom crouching in front one of the cabinets, pulling everything out. "Mom?" he asks, voice low.

She stops in her search and turns slowly to face him, and Jiho takes a step back, breath hitching when he sees her face. "Wh-what happened, mom?" he croaks, voice breaking. Her face is so pale it's practically white, her eyes a sick yellow, and when she stands up he can see her whole body is bruised, her hand even gnawed off.

She makes a sound deep in her throat which makes her son shiver as she comes his way and he runs to the living room where he finds his father sitting next to what seems like a half-eaten body, and his stomach twists when he realizes this is probably Choi-ahjussi.

He doesn't think twice before running to the door, grabbing the keys and getting out, locking them inside. "I—I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to bring help!" he yells and goes straight to the stairs, unable to keep still enough to wait for the elevator.

☢

He barely has time to process what just happened before he finds himself knocking frantically at his best friend's house, not stopping until the door opens. "Good morning, Mrs. Park." He says, trying his best to smile.

"Good morning, Jiho-gun." She smiles back at him and steps away from the door, allowing him to enter. "Kyung! Jiho's here!" She calls.

Kyung slides his way in socks and pajamas, grinning at his scowling mother before shifting his gaze to Jiho. "When did you start eating so fast?" he asks smugly. "Couldn't wait to see me?"

The other chuckles halfheartedly, not answering,

"Hey, what's up?" Kyung frowns. "You okay?"

"I…" Jiho starts and then pauses, not knowing what to say. "My parents." He blurts out, "Something happened to them."

"What do you mean? Are they okay?" Mrs. Park asks worriedly.

Jiho shakes his head. "Choi-ahjussi came to our home yesterday saying he didn't feel well… and when I woke up today my parents were pale and bruised, and their eyes were yellow—" he cuts himself, not wanting to talk about the fact they probably ate Choi-ahjussi.

The Parks share a worried look. "Why don't you stay here and I'll go check on them?" Mrs. Park offers, and when Jiho shakes his head again she adds, "Grab something to eat, anything. I'll call an ambulance on my way, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything is just fine." Kyung says, squeezing his shoulder in a try to relax him.

Jiho can't bring himself to relax, but he nods and offers her his keys. "They… they don't act like themselves. Be careful." He mumbles.

☢

Jiho spends the two hours until Mrs. Park gets back pacing, unable to stand still no matter how many times Kyung will try to get him to just sit down and relax. He barely eats anything, the image of Choi-ahjussi body imprinted in his mind and only making him worry even more. What will Mrs. Park say when she finds out?

When she finally comes back, none of them are ready for what she says. "Your parents were infected by some kind of kidney virus, Jiho-gun. It's unknown how it works but…" she takes a breath. "Your parents are dead." She informs him with a sad look in her eyes.

"No." Jiho says sternly but his voice breaks as he continues, "you can't… you're lying, right?" tears swell in the corner of his eyes. "You… they can't be dead, they were fine just yesterday—" his voice breaks and he starts crying.

Kyung just hugs him tightly, saying nothing, but then his mother separates them. "I'm sorry, Jiho," she doesn't even bother with the suffix, "but you might be infected too. You must leave now." She says, voice hard.

"Mom, what are you saying! He just lost his parents!" Kyung yells at her, trying to grab Jiho, but his mother shoves him away.

"I can't risk you, Kyung." She gives him a stern look, "Now, leave, Jiho. There are men outside waiting to get you to the hospital." She says politely, but the look on her face is anything but.

Jiho spares Kyung one last look before dropping his head and turning around, starting for the door.

☢

Jiho lies on his side on the hospital bed, crying. Both his parents are dead, he is not allowed to see his best friend anymore, and the hospital staff doesn't even treat him like a human being for he might be infected.

They had taken so many vials of blood from him, he can barely stand right. Not to mention the snarls and ill-jokes, the off-handed promises of so many shots he won't feel anything else ever again.

He tries to muffle a sob when he hears someone passing next to his room, covering himself under the thin sheets when he hears the door open.

"Jiho?" He hears and buries further under the sheets. The steps come closer to him and he tightens his hold, but he's too weak and the sheet it ripped easily from his hands. "Hey."

Jiho blinks a few times, his eyes taking a while to focus on the person before him- Hanhae. "Hyung? What are you doing here?" He can't hide his confusion.

"Kyung told me what happened, and I couldn't let you stay here alone after…" He clears his throat before mumbling, "after you just lost your whole family."

The younger feels the tears stinging his eyes again but tries to hold them back, "thanks, hyung." He sits up, and the older sits next to him, hugging him to his side.

They sit in silence for a few moments until Jiho calms down. "We should get going, I don't want us to be caught," Hanhae says, pulling away from the other and quickly getting ahold of his wrist. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Jiho stumbles after him.

Hanhae shoots him a look. "Well… the rumor of you being infected with a deadly virus has already spread so… we're running away." He says with a shrug as if it is not a big deal.

But it is. "What?"

"I guess we can go back to your place for a bit, no one dares go there…" Hanhae keeps talking, mostly to himself. "We need to get some supplies anyway, and we can't go to my house."

"Hyung, stop!" Jiho honest-to-god screeches, "what do you mean by running away?"

"I mean the moment they find out you got out they'll hunt you down, and I'm not staying here and waiting for you to die, okay?" He looks at him with a pointed look before turning away again, "so are you coming or not?"

☢

They make it back to Jiho's trashed home, the building seemingly vacant. Jiho frowns but doesn't comment on it, making his way in through the open door. Part of him expects to see his parents' bodies sprawled on the floor, but they are nowhere to be seen. He holds Hanhae's arm tightly when he remembers his father's ill form crouching next to Choi-ahjussi's body.

"You okay?" the older asks, and Jiho shakes his head a no. "We'll be out soon, I promise. Let's just take some things, okay?" he says and sends Jiho away to his room while he goes into the kitchen.

Jiho enters his room with a feeling of dread and helplessness. He keeps his eyes on the floor, knowing everything else will remind him of his family. He walks slowly to his closet, pulling a large bag pack and shoving in things he thinks might be useful.

Hanhae joins him a few moments later, holding canned food and not meeting his eyes. "Does Jiseok know about… everything?" he asks and Jiho realizes he doesn't know.

He scrambles to his bed, searching for his mobile phone, and calling his brother as soon as he finds it.

Jiseok left home two years ago, when he was Jiho's age- he wanted to move to Seoul and got into a big fight with their parents which ended in him leaving and them cutting him off from their life, making Jiho do the same.

They kept in touch for a while, calling each other secretly, but then they got too busy and it just slipped off his mind, even more so when they moved out of their old house and he didn't have Jiseok's old room right next to his.

He holds the phone next to his ear, waiting and waiting but his brother doesn't answer. He tries two more times before throwing the phone at the wall.

Hanhae pulls him into a hug, tightening his hold when Jiho tries to break away. "Stop it." He says firmly, "stop, just relax." He doesn’t release the other until he does that, and then he walks over and picks up the device.

He puts it back together and turns it on, placing it near the younger. "We're taking this with us, and you'll try to reach him when it's not the middle of the night, alright?"

Jiho nods weakly, falling on his side and burying his face in his sheets. "Can we stay here for the night?" he mumbles.

The elder stays silent for a few long moments before answering "just for the night."

☢

They finish preparing everything they will need for leaving before collapsing on Jiho's bed. They have about two hours until sunrise, and they both have no idea how no one came looking for Jiho yet.

They lay on the bed side by side, facing each other. They should get some sleep but neither of them can. "Is it true?" Hanhae mumbles as if the younger can read his mind. Jiho frowns confusedly and he laughs lightly before elaborating. "That your parents ate Choi-ahjussi." He says it like it's a normal thing.

Jiho closes his eyes and turns away from the older, not answering until he feels him moving next to him, hugging him from behind. "Yeah." He mumbles back, and they say nothing else.

☢

They wake up to the sounds of sirens, and it takes them mere seconds to shoot up in the bed and quickly grab their stuff.

"Let me go first," the older says, "I'll distract them so you can get away, we'll meet by the park, okay?" he squeezes Jiho's hand in reassurance.

He nods and Hanhae doesn't waste any time, walking out of the building in a relaxed manner even though he has a huge bag with him. He can hear people yelling at him for being around but Hanhae speaks too quietly for him to catch what he says and he waits for the talking to die out before peaking behind the door.

The moment the street is clear enough he sprints out, and for a moment it feels just like those nights they would sneak out and go to parties, except that now he needs to sneak out and run for his life.

☢

He makes it to the park in record time and, luckily, it's too early in the morning for anyone to be there.

He sits on one of the benches and fiddles with his phone, calling Jiseok a few more times and getting to his voice mail every time. He starts to panic when twenty minutes pass without any sign for Hanhae, but then he hears a car honking near.

His first instinct is to run, but when he looks over he recognizes the car- his parents' car- and when he looks at the driver's seat he sees Hanhae. He jogs over quickly, confusion probably written on his face because the moment he is close enough the other calls, "figured we'd need a ride."

Jiho nods and places the bag in the back seat, climbing in the shotgun soon after and they hit the road, Hanhae driving them outside of the neighborhood quickly and soon enough they're heading to the nearest highway.

Kyung calls three times, and each time Jiho wants to answer but Hanhae won't let him, claiming the police might be using his phone to track him, them.

Jiho ends up just turning his phone off and after finding a comfortable position in his place, falls asleep.

☢

He dreams about his parents eating him alive before Hanhae is jerking him awake, and he straightens the moment he opens his eyes, gasping for breath and ignoring the wetness in his eyes.

"It's already noon and we didn't have breakfast…" Hanhae says, not mentioning what just happened.

Jiho shakes his head. "I… I'm not hungry." He mumbles, his voice rasp.

Hanhae just nods. "We're at a gas station, so I'm just gonna go grab something real quick and we'll drive away, okay?" he asks but doesn't really waits for an answer.

Jiho scrambles for tissues the moment he gets into the store, cleaning any evidence of his tears.

☢

They end up in a random guest house a few cities over, and fortunately (surprisingly so) the news about Jiho hadn't spread yet. They get a small room with enough place for two futons, but none of them complains.

They lay down facing each other even if it's too dark to see each other's faces. "Where are we going, hyung?" the younger asks, his voice just above a whisper.

"I don't know." He answers truthfully, "we're fine now but in a few days…" he leaves the rest unsaid.

They fall asleep just like that.

☢

The few days they thought they had turned out to be a full month, much to their surprise, and they're just passing through another's gas station convenience store when they catch the news.

The reporter goes on about a deadly virus which kills people in up to twenty-four hours, but then they come back- they come back to kill others.

The pair share a look as the girl behind the counter lets out a terrified gasp. "What do they mean?" she asks them, and they both shrug in unison.

A few minutes later Jiho gets a call from Kyung. It's been three weeks since the last time he called him, and Hanhae shrugs in response.

Jiho puts the phone on speaker.

"Jiho?" he hears Kyung's shaky voice on the other side and he missed it so much he almost cries out in response.

Instead he replies with his own shaky "Kyung?"

Kyung lets out a gasp. "You're alive!" and Jiho only gets to release a short laugh before he continues. "Where are you? What happened? Are you alright?" he bombs him with questions.

Jiho spares a look at Hanhae before answering. "I ran away… ("yeah, I figured, you ass!" Kyung says and he ignores) with Hanhae. We're already pretty far from home. How is everything there?"

Kyng is quiet for a few moments. "The week after you disappeared more… more people were infected. My family got away just before they called a lockdown." He mumbles. "I'm afraid, Jiho. I miss you." He adds in a softer voice.

Jiho swallows the lump in his throat. "It's okay, Kyung…" he assures him, "I miss you, too." Hanhae makes a sound deep in his throat. "Hanhae misses you, also." He adds.

"Where are you guys?" Kyung asks. "I… maybe I can… join you guys?" his words are muffled and Jiho can hear Kyung's mother yelling in the background.

Jiho puts the phone on mute and looks at Hanhae. "Can he? Please?"

Hanhae eyes him from the corner of his eye, trying to concentrate on the road. "We can't go back, Jiho—"

"—He's my best friend!" The younger whines.

"We can't risk it." He frowns. "For all we know they might still be searching for you, for us!"

"I can't leave him alone." Jiho mumbles.

Hanhae looks straight at the road, "he left you."

Jiho gasps. "He didn't mean to! He had no choice!" He yells and ignores Kyung's voice coming from the phone, calling his name.

Hanhae stops the car in a bus station. "I came to his house before picking you up from the park, I told him to come with us and he said no. He said he can't." He looks him in the eyes. "He had the choice."

Jiho looks at the older with wide eyes, unbelieving, and takes a few moments to process everything before saying, "well, he chose now." He sinks back in his place. "Please, hyung." He mumbles and adds a pout.

Hanhae groans and cover his face. "Tell him to text you where he's at. We're going to get him."