Chapter Text
The moon had become full once more, Yugyeom acknowledged it once again and walked back to the boardroom to make the mark on it. This was their 7th full moon since they had enough time to count again.
"Hyung, how are things in the garden?" he asked the male as he entered.
He was tired, covered in sweat he dropped himself into the chair across from the younger. His long hair stuck to his face and neck, and he finally collected himself to speak. "we will continue rationing."
"Is it the soil?"
He older scoffed, "I have experimented with so many bags of compost..." an arm rose to wipe his forehead of the newly emerged beads of sweat. "Its just a bad harvest."
Just a bad harvest... Yugyeom was growing tired of those words. Months of work. Venturing out into the streets just to end up with "just a bad harvest".
"You need... Should I get more egg shells? I can look for different types of sand too." he said nearing him. He was growing desperate, when. he'd imagined food security before it was for money. This was another thing, a thing he could not understand no matter how much he'd tried. "Jaebeom-hyung, there must be something we can do."
He didn't get the answer he wanted. Or an answer to begin with. Because all Jaebeom did was, walk away from him and head to his room. And Yugyeom watched him as he did, followed his body with his eyes through the glass walls of the boardroom before he disappeared behind the frosted glass door of his room.
Great.
His eyes searched the room, until finding the file of all the research they had conducted. He couldn't believe that over a year ago, I would have walked into the supermarket across the road and gotten his breakfast, lunch and dinner without struggle.
And now... Now they couldn't even make enough beansprouts to feed 3 people.
He dropped the file onto the desk and left the room. The office building that they had made their home was empty. So empty that it still made him uncomfortable.
Reaching the kitchen, on its table he found crates filled with the food they had to eat. A single into the air he picked up a bin, its side read 'YPJ Entertainment' a reminder of what kind of business the building used to house. Water poured into the blue bin, and half way through. He pulled away from the sink, turning to the foods he began rinsing them.
Yams, sweet potatoes... Again. He sighed out in the air. The food he detested most in the world was they only thing that would show up without fail.
But carrots, spinach and cabbage joined the lot after months of disappointment. He excitedly grabbed a carrot and bit into it, "you're stealing food again?"
Yugyeom choked, felt carrot bits lodge the themself into his throat as he tried to recover from fright. He turned around and waves a hand.
"Where's Jaebeom?"
Yugyeom clears his throat many times before speaking, "in his room."
The man pulls away before walking, Yugyeom hears him shout to announce his arrival. "Jaebeom-ah, Jinyoung is home with some goods."
Almost as if it were a signal, yugyeom ran to the door to peep at Jinyoung. Curious. Jinyoung would only scavenge around the region. It had been approximately three months since since he found anything note worthy.
Because no one came back to the city. All had either fled, died or turned. All but them.
Yugyeom returned to the boardroom after cleaning up the kitchen. Inside he found Jinyoung staring at some globes.
"Hyung... What is that?"
Jinyoung looked at yugyeom with a look he was afraid of, "there are two possibilities. It could be a black light. Or it could be a uv light."
"A uv light?" he walked closer, this could help with the food garden. His excitement blossomed at the thought.
"Don't get too excited, we're not sure if it works yet." Yugyeom sighed, "Yugyeom, where are you going tomorrow?"
He sighed once more, "I'm going to look for more fuel. This time around the Hannam area." he crossed to the topographical map of the city that hung on a board near a solid wall. His fingers following the routes as he illustrated his path. "I will stick mostly close to the river, if the infected decide I'm their next meal... Then it's time for a swim isn't it?"
"The generators aren't working as much as they should since we have the rest of the building shut off, but we can't let the supply decrease so much. Especially if we're unsure about whether or not this winter is gonna be like the last."
"Well I hope so." Jinyoung said.
The other two stared at him, "we were starving." they both said.
Jinyoung rolled his eyes, "I took a walk. Do you know how good that felt? To take a walk through the city?"
Yugyeom could remember, he cried on their first day. Ran around in the high snow, before turning blue because of the cold. The infected laid on the sides of the road. Stiff and unmoving In the cold.
Jinyoung had said that it was because they were technically dead that they became like that. That whatever that was left of their blood couldn't flow.
But it was also because they were technically dead that they rose when the days got warmer.
"Hannam-dong it is!" Jinyoung deviates from the topic.
They could not repeat that winter, as happy as they had been. Yugyeom had become so weak that he could not cover his long distance work. Where Jaebeom had tried to take his place but came back with a scare of frostbite.
And before he knew it, the sun rose again. He dressed up for his trip and sat down at the breakfast table with his housemates.
Mornings like this were always silent, no ounce of certainty existed for Yugyeom's safe return. Sipping bowl of soup and eating through some mielie he chewed and swallowed through his own nerves. The weather was getting hotter, and the infected were getting faster.
Then the time came, where he climber put the window of the 1st floor. He looked up at the two men watching him every now and then.
They had become the family he hadn't had, and now a family he couldn't imagine surviving without.
His feet touched the ground and he waved for them to pull the rope up. Jaebeom would wait for him at the window like he did every other time. Yugyeom blows a kiss at the pair, before sprinting off without a word.
Everything that needn't to be said was spoken the night before. If he died then the pair would not have to worry about feeding another person. If he made it back. Then the lights would stay on even longer.