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Finally, after a few rough weeks it was sunny outisde. We could breathe a little. Knowing it won't rain again tonight we should probably search around for more wood and food cause our supplies are getting thinner by the day. Our small group currently lived in a camping-like area. We try to make the best of it but it's definitely not the safest place be. Some roofs are leaking and since the rain is basically deathly we can't let that happen. Also the idea of getting robbed or surrounded by these monsters didn't sound appealing at all.
At first, it was only me and Aeri. She's my best friend since we were kids.
Our moms met in a park and decided a play date would be a good idea, which it turned out to be, as we are basically inseparable since that day. She's the clostest thing to family I have right now. Since the day everything went to shit and the world changed irrevocably, I haven't heard from my family. I tried looking for them but they weren't in our house or anywhere near once I got there. I don't blame them for leaving, after everything started, they must have been scared for their lives like everyone else including me. I just hope they're somewhere safe and they're all okay.
When we were on the move, God knows where, just somewhere safer than the streets where anyone could see us, we met Mark and Jeno. We weren't that far from our hometown probably as both the boys I recognised from school.
They were in a shop,broken windows letting us take a look inside, fighting off three older men, I can only guess in self-defense. Mark was on the floor wrestling with one, the other pushing Jeno into a wall and trying to punch him while the third guy was just laughing like a maniac. After sharing a look we decided to at least try and help them.
As quietly as we could getting into the building,each of us grabbing an empty bottle from the shelf and swinging at the guy standing in the middle of the chaos.
The boys made it out with only a few scratches and bruises. So we left the place and decided to stick together. Just to be safer.
With Renjun, Chenle and Jisung the story was a little more complicated. Leaving a sour taste in my mouth just thinking about it.
We met them after setting up camp. At first when they approached, we thought they had bad intentions, as we didn't recognise them at all but our assumptions turned out very wrong when everyone calmed down and we let them tell us their story.
"Before we met you, we were staying in some abandoned building. It wasn't that bad, no one bothered us since no one knew we're there. But," Renjun pauses.
"It came crashing down when Lele went to check the area in the evening. We all took turns every day but this time the rain caught us off guard." Jisung picks up. "When he came back screaming..we just had to do that." He looks at Chenle with so much sadness it's hard to look at.
They had to stab him in the eye, we all knew it would only stop what's coming for a few months but even a few more months with someone you love is better than just letting them die on the spot.
We knew it was hard for every one of them, they were lovers after all, and knowing one of them will be gone in a period of time and the two will be left with a gaping hole in their hearts that no one would be able to fill is heartbreaking. So we let them stay, at least that way we could try and make it to another day, without loosing anyone else in the process.
Us and the guys quickly became close. Treating them as siblings. Well, maybe not everyone, because me and Jeno had a thing going on and off, nothing serious but it was nice to have someone close in that way. Being able to feel another warm body close to you at nights when no one could see.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was evening time. Everyone wanted to make a bonfire, so we gathered what we had to and made it happen. It was a nice change, to relax like that.
Mark and Jisung found some vodka while they were on a run for supplies, so it definitely made the evening more interesting. Almost as if nothing bad ever happened and it was just a friendly gathering. We knew we couldn't get drunk but at least letting loose a little , after what? 4 months since everything started and everyone was on edge every single day, made it slightly bittersweet.
After an hour or so, everyone was singing and laughing. It was dark and a little chilly outside but no one seemed to care. After our phones and every electronic device we had died, we kinda lost track of the actual date and time. It's not like it really mattered anymore but not knowing thse things always made me feel a little uneasy. At least no signs of any rain coming. That's a good thing.
From the corner of my eye I see Chenle standing up and walking away. I tell Jeno, who's sitting besties me that I'm going to stretch my legs a little. He nods in response.
As I approach the black-haired male, he looks at me and smiles. "Of course you would come and check on me." I smile and walk closer, standing beside him on the empty road. "You know it."
We stand in silence for a beat or two and I decide to ask him. "Are you feeling okay? Why did you leave?" He sighs and looks up at the stars. "Yeah,I'm fine. But sometimes I hear these terrifying sounds like back then, when I was about to change.." He looks at me with sad eyes and I automatically want to cry. "And I know it's not the time yet, but I also know it's approaching and it's scaring me. Knowing I will have to leave everyone," He looks back at our little group. "Knowing I will have to leave the two loves of my life is breaking me.." He sniffs and with tears in my eyes I can only hug him as tight as possible, trying to reassure him that everything will be okay and we will be with him until the end.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was mine and Renjun's turn to go look for supplies but Jeno decided to tag along since as he said "I can't cook for shit and I'm sure they'll do better without me making a mess trying to help."
A nice day,some birds singing and the sun shining, almost reminding me of the summer vacation last year. My parents took me and my sister for a trip, inviting Aeri and her mom. She sadly couldn't go because of her work but she let her daughter tag along after she promised to stay on her best behavior and a kiss on the forehead for the both of us. We were so happy. Now all we have is memories.
Me and Jeno were rummaging through whatever was left on the shelves in a store we found like two miles away from our camping place. Renjun was guarding the enterance, just in case.
I was so focused on finding something, anything that wouldn't be useless that I didn't notice the ugly thing walking on the other side. It grabbed my arm, trying to bite me. I started screaming, trying to pull away. Things were falling down as I put all my strenght into pulling my arm out of the zombies grasp. It's head looked like a deformed baloon with deep cuts in some places, no eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Suddenly blood splashed everywhere, making me gasp closing my eyes as a piece of it's head fell to the ground with the rest of the body following right after.
I open my eyes and look at a smiling Jeno. "You're welcome princess." I scoff lightly, rolling my eyes. "Thank you but you will be the one washing my clothes." I say as he's already turning to continue whatever he was doing before. The boy laughs. "Whatever you say."
Renjun walks into the store and looks at me with wide eyes. "What the fuck happened to you?".
"This guy right here," I say pointing at the dead thing on the floor with my foot. "Tried to bite my hand off. But it's all good now." I smile.
When we come back,everyone asks what happened because of course they do, they're curious and worried. Who wouldn't be. After I explain everything, Mark, the sweet guy that he is, hugs me and tells me to be more careful next time. That night me and Aeri cuddle,we haven't done that since we were 10 years old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One evening, Aeri decides to go hang out with the boys a little but since Mark wasn't really in the mood to play games and such, he came to spend some time with me in mine and my best friend's camper.
He lays on my bed and pats the space next to him. I shrug and lay down, placing my head on his lap.
We didn't have anything better to do at the moment so we decided to get to know each other a little better, asking each other questions back and forth. It was nice. I'm surprised Mark haven't dated anyone seriously before. He's such a silly, sweet, caring guy. Anyone would be lucky to have him. Hopefully he still gets the chance to find true love.
I hope we all do. Well, maybe not our lovely trio. They're already experiencing the purest form of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jisung is very shy and awkward, so it's a little hard to get to know him. He mostly keeps to himself and talks with his boyfriends, but I can tell he's trying his best.
As far as I know from Renjun, he's always been like that. He told me on one of the rainy days,when we couldn't go out of our campers that even before everything started Jisung was the same.
He didn't have many friends at school, his only real friend was Chenle. After Renjun came here to study from China, he somehow managed to worm his way into their friendship.
He made Jisung realize that he was actually whipped for Chenle and that he should finally confess to him because it was obvious the other feels the same way. After the both of them got together, nothing really changed between the three of them, except the little kisses and hand holding when they thought Renjun wasn't looking.
The older chinese boy soon realised he wanted to be a part of their relationship, so when he got invited for his cousin's wedding in China he decided to take the duo as his plus one (well, plus two in that case). He confessed his feelings at the end of the night, after too many drinks and told Chenle and Jisung they didn't have to do anything about it, that he only wanted to get it off his chest. But Jisung took his hand, Chenle kissed his cheek and told him how they were thinking about it since a while now, and how if he repeated the same thing the next morning, sober, then they would officially ask him out. And the rest is history.
I'm glad they have each other, that Jisung found his people, that he's warming up to all of us. He's the youngest in the group, and even though we all lost someone, after the inevitable moment comes, and Chenle is not with us anymore, we will all be here for him. For each other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You know sex doesn't solve every problem, right?" I ask, holding the dirty tools one of the boys had with them, while Jeno is trying to fix a mysteriously (Jisung did it) broken makeshift bench. "Actually, yeah it does." He says, trying to screw some nail in, so it holds the planks together. "It's facts and it was proven by scientists"
I look at him laughing because he's being ridiculous as always. "The scientists must have been as smart as you huh?"
"Hey, you never know," He scoffs, grabbing another nail. "What if after we have sex, I happen to get a brilliant idea and somehow save the world?"
It's my turn to scoff. Not that I would mind if he actually got that idea but still. Let's be for real. "Please, the only brilliant ideas you get are the 'what to eat for breakfast' kind." I brush my hair back with my free hand.
"Besides, once we're on the move again, we seriously need to find you a girlfriend, or boyfriend, whatever" I smile.
He chuckles, finishing up his work and grabs the tools from my hand. "You're the one to talk." He starts heading to his camper to put them down. "But seriously, it also builds up your stamina. We need all the work out we can get" He looks back and tries to wink.
I laugh, speeding up a little to slap him on the back of his head. "Just shut up."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After three days with no rain in sight and countless meetings, talks and persuading, we finally decide to move, take only necessities and leave everything else behind to find a better place. Not that it was bad, but having an actual roof over your head would make life a little easier.
"Do you guys think we will be able to find a place to stay?" Jisung asks as he takes a sip from his water. We've been walking for a few hours now, with nothing particular in sight.
"Yeah," Aeri answers, she's walking beside me, holding a spare shirt over her head to cover a little from the sun. "I think we should take a break, eat something, then continue." She smiles. "We've been walking for a bit now, there has to be something near."
I nod, looking at the other guys. We all agree it's a good idea. My tummy has been rumbling since we last saw a pharmacy. Which was like 30 minutes ago. I wonder if she heard it.
We sit under a tree and only now do I notice my legs feel like jelly. The break was very needed after all. Mark takes out some protein bars we found the day before and hands them out to everyone. There's silence between us for a moment, the group seemily lost in their own thoughts, before Jeno speaks up.
"I hope you all remember the tips I gave you and the tricks I showed you for self defense." He says, looking around at everybody. "Yeah we do, we trained a lot, don't you worry that big head of yours." Renjun says, crumbling the wrapping in his hands.
"My head isn't that big." Jeno glares. "Have you seen Mark's?"
At the mention of his name Mark looks up and gasps. "Hey! Chenle's is definitely bigger than mine." He says pouting. Everyone laughs and Chenle hugs him. "Whatever you say, bighead."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's the next day. We slept in the back of a gas station, after we got what we could from there. I'm so tired of walking but since no one here can drive and we didn't see any car anywhere I guess it'll have to do.
Suddenly, Renjun stops. I turn around and look at him confused. "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"
"Do you guys see that?" He points somewhere to the left. After I squint a little, in the distance I can see what seems to be a fort. High walls all around, fences, and some people who seem to be guarding the place on the side.
"Damn." Aeri speaks, pulling everyone from the shock. "I think we finally found what we have been looking for." She smiles and looks at Jisung, who returns the smile.
"Let's go check it out." I say looking at everyone. "But be careful guys, let's not make any noise and try to hide at first, so we can get a closer look." Mark adds.
As we approach closer, Chenle reminds everyone to make no noise, and to go to the left side, where there's a fence instead of walls, so we can looks what's happening inside.
We hide in the bushes beside the fence. I have no idea why they kept it there. Anyone could sneak up on them any moment. Just like we were doing right now but it's not like we were bad people. We were just trying to find a home.
Out of nowhere I make eye contact with a girl. Fuck, she sees us.
I'm starting to panic inside, my hands getting a little sweaty. No one else seems to notice. Great guys, 20/20 vision for sure. I look at her, pleading. Mouthing for her to please not say a word.
The girls just smiles, showing me a thumbs up, as she comes closer to the fence, I decide to finally move as well, coming face to face with her.
She's gorgeous, I can't even lie. Short black hair with bangs, big brown eyes and a dimple on her left cheek. The girl decides to speak. "Hi, what are you guys doing there, hiding?"
"Umm..we were just trying to look what's going on." Chenle replies. "Yeah, we're not dangerous, we just need a new, safe place to stay." Mark adds. I keep staring at her, I can't help it. When I see pretty girls, I don't know how to function, sue me.
She looks at me again, smirking. God save me. "It's okay, we're a safe space for people that need it. You guys are more than welcome to stay with us." She smiles, turning to the rest of my friends. "But we have two main rules everyone needs to follow."
"What are the rules?" Jisung asks, coming closer, standing behind Jeno, hiding a little.
"After you come near the main gate, someone will ask for all your weapons and search you. The second rule is you will have to work somehow within the community. You know, be useful." She laughs.
"We can do that." I finally manage to say. She smirks again, asking us to go around to the main gate.
Just like she said, a guy with a pretty smile asks us to take out all our weapons and searches us. He introduced himsef as Jaemin.
As I scan the area around, the little town seems very homey. I look at Aeri and the rest. They also seem to notice the nice atmosphere here. My eyes stop on Jeno as he is the last one to be searched. The guy, Jaemin, says something funny apparently,as Jeno laughs and the tips of his ears turn red. I smile, maybe he found his special someone.
The girl returns as the search is over. "I can now properly introduce myself. I'm Minjeong." She smiles. "I work in that bakery over there." She points to the direction of the bakery. It's nothing fancy but what could we expect in a situation like that. It's good enough.
"I'm Mark." He smiles. "This is Renjun, Jeno, Jisung," They wave, in that order. "Aeri, Chenle and Jimin" He takes the initiative to introduce everyone. As my name leaves his lips, Minjeong looks at me. "Nice to meet you all." She winks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Days,weeks went by. It rained sometimes but it's fine, we finally had a solid roof to stay under. Everyone found some kind of job.
Jeno helped Jaemin with guarding now our town. I saw with my own two eyes as they were getting closer and closer with each other, so it wasn't as big of a surprise to me as it was to everyone else when they announced that they were dating. Jeno was more than happy to tell me their bedroom escapades which earned him a slap on the back of his head and some threats of spitting on his pastries if he actually continues.
We all knew the day of Chenle's turning was coming closer. He didn't want to eat much anymore. Laughing less and less each day. But his boyfriends tried their best to be there for him, spend the last weeks, maybe days together, as close as they could get, knowing that it'll never be the same for them anymore. Everyone tried to spend time with him, but we also didn't want to snatch him from Renjun and Jisung. So instead of haning out one on one we made a few gatherings with music and drinks to try and cheer all of them up. Not sure if it worked, maybe it did for at least a little. Maybe for a split moment they were able to forget about what was coming.
Aeri worked in daycare. Minjeong introduced her to the girl already working there, Ningning. She was nice and fun to be around. I hung out with her and Aeri a few times. It was cute how they both interacted with each other and the kids.
One night, after we both got to bed, Aeri even told me how she's slowly falling for Ningning, but she doesn't know if the girl likes her back. I told her she's being absolutely ridiculous and that everyone around sees how Ningning looks at her as if she hung all the starts in the sky. Hopefully one of these days, one of them will finally put on their big girl pants and ask the other out.
Mark decided to join the group that went on runs for supplies twice every week. He said he likes the challange and he doesn't want anyone from our group risking it. There he met Donghyuck. I love the guy already. He annoys Mark to no end and it's so funny to witness.
Sometimes I help him tease Mark and when he rolls his eyes and walks away we count it as our personal little victory. We know he's not actually that annoyed, he just "likes to play hard to get" as Donghyuck says. In their spare time they write songs together, Donghyuck sings and Mark plays the guitar. I know because I got it out of Mark, not because I stalk them or something.
As for me, Minjeong convinced me to help her in the bakery. I'm not that good but she says I will get better with time and practice makes perfect. Maybe I should believe her on this.
The place is closes after 1PM, so we spend quite a lot of time either with our friends whenever they're free or alone.
She shows me all the books she somehow collected. We tell each other stories about our lives, before everything happened and after. It feels like I met my soulmate. She's introverted most of the times and I'm quite literally the opposite but somehow it works.
She gets so confident and bold when she's with me. Always giving me some flirty remarks and winks or smirks. I'm trying not to stay behind and flirt just as much but sometimes she manages to make me stutter over my words and eventually shut up.
Today she asked me on a date. We were cleaning up, about to close the bakery when she dropped it on me.
"You know, I think it's about damn time you go on a date with me." She says as she's scrubbing the counter. I almost choked on my spit, the broom I was sweeping the floor with falling from my hands. "Excuse me?" I say turning around to look at her.
"I think you should go on a date with me." She repeats, smirking. I gape, looking like a fish out of the water. "What? Cat got your tongue Karomi?"
"Um, no, you just surprised me, that's all." I say, still pretty stunned. "So?" She asks. "Will you go on a date with me?" She leans on the counter, looking at me expectantly.
"Hell yeah I will." I finally recover. She laughs and gets back to cleaning. "Good."
We go on a date on the weekend. Apparently she managed to get our friends to set everything up. It's a pretty setting, I'm surprised they were able to do that. A table with pretty flowers (that Jisung found) and cutlery. Little lights hanging all around on the trees. (She told me Donghyuck shook the ladder so Jeno fell while hanging them up and made a fuss about it, pouting and whining and made Jaemin kiss it better, while Mark scolded Donhyuck for being an ass.)
Everyone else was in the kitchen in the house closest to us, making food for us. I don't know how she persuaded them but I sure am impressed. I guess it's just her charm but it's not like they had a choice anyways.
We sit at the table and I look at her. "This is all absolutely stunning, I can't believe you made it happen." I say, looking around at everything.
"It wasn't that hard, really. And there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, you know it." She answers, I look at her and see only sincerity in her eyes. She's smiling again and it makes me want to melt into a useless pool of gay.
Suddenly someone coughs, getting our attention on them. I look up, only to be met with a sight of a dressed up Chenle, with a silver tray, holding our food. I try not to laugh as he's rolling his eyes. "Who made you do that?" I ask, smiling.
"Jisung with his puppy eyes and Renjun promised to try to make my favorite food, who else." He grumbles but I see him smiling a little. He sets our food on the table and leaves.
"This is amazing." I say laughing, looking at all the food. "I told you, I would do anything for you." Minjeong says, smiling, her dimple showing once again making me coo inside.
"Stoop it." I whine. "Don't make me kiss you right now before we even get to try the food." She laughs, getting her fork up. "Okay okay, how about after we eat?"
"Hmm," I rise my eyebrow, pretending to think. "Sounds like we have a deal." I say, as we're digging in. The food is actuallt pretty good. I'm sure it was mostly Aeri's and Renjun's doing. I have to thank them all later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wake up one fine morning to warmth engulfing me from the back. I slowly turn around, trying to not wake the other girl up. We're face to face, her arms wrapped around me. I gently take the hair that's fallen on her face with my finger and stare at her, wondering how in the world could someone be so goddamn pretty. Like, her parents really gave her some powerful genes.
I look up and see her looking at me, smirking. "You should take a picture, it will last longer."
I know it was supposed to be just a joke, but she has a point. "Actually, I think I might. I will borrow the polaroid camera from Jaemin." I reply, looking at her lovingly.
She laughs. "I know he loves you, not as much as I do by the way. But good luck convincing him."
"Wait," I say, surprised. It seems like she paid no mind to the words that left her mouth. "You said you love me?"
She looks at me, caught off guard. "Wow, I wasn't supposed to say it like that, I wanted to do it in a more romantic setting but I guess it just slipped." She says, looking a little sheepish.
"You know that any setting is perfect when it's with you, right?" I ask, grabbing her hand. "And I love you too, Mindungie. So much." She gently holds my face with her free hand, looking me in the eyes. "It better mean that you'll officially be my girlfriend or I swear." She says.
I giggle. "Of course, but only if you'll be mine." I say, leaning closer. Our lips meet halfway, in a kiss.
Being in love and having your friends with you makes everything better. Even the end of the world, when changing seasons making you forget how much time has passed, people disappear yet nothing seems to go further. Love, any kind, makes it easier to try.