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The walk home was hushed in the best kind of way.
The streets were darker than usual, the shops already starting to close for the night. The only sounds exchanged were their footsteps and the occasional laugh between them.
"That was a good date," Seong-ah uttered, hands tucked into his pockets as he walked. "The food was really good."
Woo-yeol glanced at him. "You said that about like three different things."
"Because they were all good," the man said, reminiscing about all the food they had eaten.
The darker-haired man let out a defeated sigh as he spoke. "Whatever you say, piggy."
Woo-yeol added, "You'll have to help me clean up the place when we get back."
Seong-ah visibly slumped in defeat, groaning as he dragged his feet along the gravelly pavement. You could hear more protests and grumbles from the man, but they were left ignored.
Woo-yeol fumbled with the slightly rusty apartment keys, fighting to get it open.
"I'm hungry again," Seong-ah dry begged.
"We JUST ate, you're like a bottomless pit," he grunted, opening the door. "We have plenty to eat at home. I'll cook something quickly."
The moment they stepped inside, Seong-ah kicked his shoes off and strode towards the kitchen.
Tripping up over piles of crap left on the floor and almost tripping over the walkway rug, Seong-ah turned around perplexed.
"Aren't you gonna turn the lights on?"
The silver-haired man groused as he was hunched over in hunger. "I can't see shit," he continued, walking back to the door.
Click, click, click.
Frantic flicking of the light switch repeated until they both just stood and stared at each other. Walking to the bathroom, Woo-yeol babbled, "Oh, the bulb must've blown."
Flick, flick, flick.
Great.
The pair desperately hustled towards all the switches in the house.
On and off and on and off.
Shit, the power went out.
The darkness was thick and the lack of light outside didn't help. It was so black they couldn't make out anything from each other, to the furniture.
"We were gone for like what, four hours? And this is what we come back to!" Woo-yeol vented.
"Yeah I think the power went out," Seong-ah inputted, walking back to the kitchen after enabling his phone flashlight.
Suddenly, a loud stomach grumble silenced the both of them. They snickered to themselves and made their way towards the kitchen.
The taller man ambled towards the refrigerator, using the phone's torch to guide him. "I'm pretty sure there's still some beef in the fridge," he said, drawing the handles apart.
Without any warning, as he opened the fridge door, the stench of death instantly whacked him in the face.
The pair just remained there, repulsion visible on their faces, looking inside the fridge.
Eyeballing the wet, thawed food that was now incredibly inedible. Like one more sniff of it would send them both to the hospital.
Woo-yeol could practically hear his wallet setting itself alight, watching half their groceries go to waste.
Dissatisfied and grossed-out noises came from the couple.
"I think the electrics stopped too," the shorter man murmured slamming the fridge door shut.
"You think?" Woo-yeol's palm met his face in frustration. The irony was almost hilarious, how after an unusually successful date night, they came home to a power cut.
Abrupt hope sparkled in their eyes as they both seemed to remember they had a fully stocked pantry, having went shopping only a day or two ago.
In unison, they sighed in relief, walking to the pantry doors.
Looking back at them, empty as a dried well. Was absolutely nothing.
The pantry was completely vacant besides a few discarded boxes and food packets.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Woo-yeol gritted his teeth, his hands gripping onto the back of his head. "WE LITERALLY WENT SHOPPING LIKE A DAY AGO," the distressed man scrambled, trying to grasp the logic behind their food-swallowing pantry.
Seong-ah looked like the world had been crushed right in front of his eyes.
He looked at the bare shelves, feigning ignorance as the taller man looked down at him.
A loud sigh fell from his mouth. "How did you manage to finish an entire pantry in two days?"
"I don't think I did," Seong-ah said, his expression not changing.
"You don't think?" He said distrustfully and sarcastically
He shrugged. "I would remember something like that."
"You ate three boxes of cereal yesterday."
"That's different, that was breakfast," the smaller man huffed.
At this point Woo-yeol had just given up. He should've known by now that talking to a greedy man wouldn't get him anywhere.
Silence rang through the atmosphere once again, the apartment was much quieter without the hum of the electrics. The only things they could hear were the occasional wind wail and a protesting stomach.
"Are you that hungry?" Woo-yeol asked as he tried navigating to the front door in the darkness.
The puppy-eyed man vigorously nodded his head, the flashlight pointed at his face.
"Alright, we'll head out for food until the electrics are back on at least," Woo-yeol said, smiling while going to grab his coat. Both spontaneously wrapped each other up in the hallway, preparing for the freezing weather outside.
Right when the locks of the doors clicked and the door cracked open, there was an intruding noise interrupting them.
KRA-THOOM!
They both looked back, bewildered.
"That wasn't your stomach, right?"
Suddenly, the whole house shook to it's core. The pelt of rain hit hard against the windows as deep strikes of thunder continued.
The two stood there frozen.
They didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Accepting a devastating fate, there were two sighs of defeat.
"Well atleast it didn't happen on our date," The lighter haired boy optimistically pointed out.
"Yeah I guess you're right," Woo-yeol agreed, raking a hand through his hair.
The downpour continued stronger as if to mock them, bolts of lightning shooting downwards.
Out of the blue, Woo-yeol remembered he was supposed to be the responsible man of the house. Just then, lightbulbs immediately went off in his head.
The man quickly ran to the pantry, seeming to recall something.
"What are you doing?" The blank-faced clueless man asked, following him into the kitchen once again.
Woo-yeol turned around confidently and announced, "I have an emergency stash."
"Of what?"
"Food," he said with a smug grimace.
"Why?" He said, looking slightly betrayed knowing his boyfriend had hidden food from him.
"In case of a zombie apocalypse or something."
"A zombie apocalypse?" Seong-ah replied, trying not to snort out loud.
"Or something." He shrugged his shoulders as he knelt down in the pantry.
"And you thought that was more likely than me eating the pantry?" Seong-ah asked, sharply, crossing his arms.
He paused.
"...In hindsight, no."
The man sulked louder, audibly pouting and whinging.
The metal safe was hidden under old boxes at the bottom of their pantry. The safe needed a four-letter password to be opened. An unmissable red label was taped on the top of it that read 'Do Not Eat unless emergency'.
Woo-yeol grinned smugly as he input his birthday into the padlock, clicking open the safe.
The cocky man's face immediately went limp as the vault door swung open.
The safe which once held things that could help you survive some sort of global disaster, now contained nothing but cobwebs. The few crumbs at the bottom laughed at the man, practically calling him pathetic to his face.
Seong-ah stood behind Woo-yeol absent minded, staring out the window.
"How the hell did you manage to find the emergency food."
Seong-ah slowly began to back away shamefully. "Before you get mad, I want you to know I enjoyed them."
"That does not help," The man now had his head in his hands once again, begging for mercy.
"They were really good."
"THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO SAVE US."
"Well, at least we still have time to restock it before an apocalypse arises,"
Woo-yeol sighed, completely defeated.
There was still no noise to the apartment, the only sign of life being them. The two of them were now sat on the floor of their dimly lit kitchen. Other than enjoying each other’s company, there was very little to do cooped up at home.
"I love you, but I cannot believe I'm trapped in a blackout with the person who ate the apocalypse supplies."
Seong-ah pouted. "It was an emergency though…"
"SORRY?" The baffled man flapped his hands around in utter shock. "SO YOU PRIORITISE YOUR HUNGER OVER, WHAT? A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE? A TORNADO? A DEADLY VIRUS?"
"Technically, me being hungry was the emergency."
Woo-yeol was about to lose it until he thought back on the past and remembered Seong-ah was pretty much a national threat when hungry. So in the moment, the food stash most likely did prevent a disaster happening (such as Woo-yeol’s credit card getting maxed out or the house being eaten).
The man, now much more calm, stared beyond the kitchen and out of the long, black edged windows. Every couple seconds there would be a short-lasting flicker of light, followed by an angry crash of lightning.
Seong-ah’s eyes naturally gravitated towards the outside too. The midnight sky was the same pitch as their un-illuminated home. The couple grew closer as they sat and watched the rain roll down the windows and hit the pavement hard.
Eventually, they both came to the agreement waiting around wouldn’t do them any good.
The taller man stood up, holding his hand out for his lover. "You can hold out until the morning, right?"
A small, hesitant nod was visible from him as he was lifted from the ground. Even though there were still audible stomach growls, they just ignored it and got ready for bed.
Using the almost-dead cellphone as a flashlight, they both undressed themselves preparing to sleep.
There was a low throat clear coming from the smaller boy as he mumbled, "yknow what would be fun right now?"
"What?" Woo-yeol replied, turning his head around.
"Fucking In-the-dark-"
"No." The exhausted man immediately shut the idea down.
"Bu-"
"No buts."
"It’s just like being blindfolded-" he continued, enthusiastically.
"No-thats not the point-," Woo-yeol exhaled tiredly.
Seong-ah was then forcefully thrown into bed, the heavier man pinning him down.
The rain never died down, and the sound of refrigerator hum still couldn’t be heard. Eventually, the two of them fell asleep. Their feet were intertwined under the covers, their chests pressed tightly together. The space between them closed even more every time they flinched in their sleep.
As time passed, the stomach rumbled eventually stopped as deep sleep confined both of them.
"LET THERE BE LIGHT!" Woo-yeol exclaimed proudly, flicking the kitchen light-switch on and off.
The morning sun forced its way through the thin curtains hung over the windows. The rain had stopped, and all that was left were puddles on the ground.
Victorious smiles were shared between both of them.
"Can we go out and get food now?" Seong-ah beamed.
"Sorry, first comes fridge cleaning duty," Woo-yeol said, very matter-of-factly, as if there was no way for him to get out of it.
The hungry man could practically see everything in his line of vision shatter around him. Stuttering as he plead, the man begged to be fed. However, seong-ah was left unsuccessful, spending thirty minutes throwing the contents of the fridge in the bin.
They stood at the checkout for a good 25 minutes as the cashier scanned their weekly food shop.
"Your total comes to ₩1,000,198, thank you for shopping with us."
You could practically hear heads turning as people heard the amount. Everyone had cleared from the Till they were using, as they knew they'd be waiting for hours.
The noise of the supermarket settled as both men walked back to their car with two trolleys worth of groceries.
Children turned and stared as they loaded up the car. The tooth-rotting piles of junk food made anyone wonder how Seong-ah hadn't had a heart attack yet.
"Where does all that food you eat go, anyway?" Woo-yeol asked, pinching the piggy's cheeks as he thrashed about.
"I dunt knoughww" Seong-ah whined incoherently as his cheeks were pulled harder.
"If this food disappears in more than a few days, we're having a serious talk."
Opening the car door, they both entered the vehicle. Seong-ah with a shopping bag on his lap, hoovering up ready-to-eat meals.
Throughout the drive, Woo-yeol had to keep reminding him NOT to touch the bag with the emergency stuff in it. Once out shopping, they decided it was best to restock the food stash. And this time with better security.
By the time they got home, the fridge was full again, the pantry was stocked, and Woo-yeol had replaced the emergency food storage.
This time, he locked it.
Then he locked it again.
Seong-ah stared at the three padlocks attached to the steel safe, "Do you really not trust me?"
Woo-yeol looked at him with furrowed brows. "You ate supplies meant for a zombie apocalypse," he drawled.
"I was hungry."
"The zombies weren't even here yet." The dark-haired man said dumbfounded.
"Exactly. I saved them the trouble."
Woo-yeol exhaled.
"You're lucky I love you."
Sat at the table together, hot meal placed on the table, the two of them feasted.
Out the window, dewdrops dripped from sharp blades of grass as the sun leaked into their apartment.
Seong-ah gorged to his heart's content, the toned, well-built man having the much smaller portion.
By the time they finished eating, the apartment finally felt normal again.
The fridge was full, the lights were back on, and Woo-yeol could finally stop thinking about the disaster that was the previous night.
Almost.
He looked up just in time to see Seong-ah gazing at the kitchen.
"Don't."
Seong-ah blinked and frowned, "I didn't even say anything."
"You didn't have to," the larger man crossed his arms.
"I was just wondering what we bought," He grumbled.
Woo-yeol glared at him. "You were wondering what you could eat next."
"That too."
Woo-yeol sighed, setting his spoon down.
"You know we literally just restocked everything, right?"
"I know."
"And the emergency stash is locked."
Seong-ah looked offended. "Why are you bringing that up again?"
"Because I'm still processing the fact that you ate food meant to survive a zombie apocalypse."
"It was good food," the silver-haired man disconnected from reality thinking about all the snacks he found in there.
"That was not the point."
"I didn't know the zombies were coming," Seong-ah rolled his eyes as they narrowed slightly.
Woo-yeol stared at him in disbelief. "The zombies weren't the emergency."
A pause.
Seong-ah smiled.
"Exactly, I was hungry."
Woo-yeol closed his eyes.
"I know. That's what scares me."
Despite everything, they couldn't help laughing.
The blackout had been a disaster, the emergency supplies were gone, and somehow Seong-ah was still exactly the same.
At least the house was fully stocked again.
For now.