Archive of Our Own

He fucked up. He fucked up so bad. All for a can of peaches. 

Everything had been going so well; Jungkook had managed to sneak into the grocery store undetected, most of the infected inside were clickers - aside from one or two runners - and they were all stock-still, dormant. There were a couple of clickers at the back of the store, groaning and clicking as they roamed around but it’s not like they could see him, so they were relatively harmless, so long as he stayed silent. Key word: silent. He’d looted through every aisle he could access safely and before long his rucksack was full of every kind of non-perishables he could put his hands on. Jungkook was surprised he’d managed to find so much, by now - 20 years since the world went to shit - one was lucky if they could even find a matchbox, let alone food. He decided not to question it and count his blessings. 

He’d been on his way back to the window he’d climbed in from, when he saw it. Sitting on the top of a shelf like the holy grail; canned peaches. Dole, his mum’s favourite brand. Jungkook figured he deserved a treat for making it this long, alone, without getting bit. That and it had been so long since he’d eaten something that wasn’t cold, canned beans and stray berries he’d find every once in a while. Mind made up, he strolled over to the shelf, leg poised to climb it and grab the tin when it happened. Before he’d even been able to put his full weight on the first shelf, the entire thing caved under his foot, collapsing on itself and sending every item that was on it flying about the aisle. As if that wasn’t enough, the shelf, seemingly miffed at having been broken, decided to throw itself back, taking down every other shelf with it. And down they fell, like the dominoes Jungkook used to play with when he was younger. Except when those dominoes fell, it wasn’t life threatening. 

Before the last shelf had a chance to hit the floor, Jungkook was already sprinting towards the staff room he’d noticed at the other end of the shop, hoping it’d lead him to safety. As he ran, he took out one of his weapons - a baseball bat with nails hammered at the top of it, he figured a gun would only attract more infected and the small mob he had chasing him was already more than enough. 

He kicked the door open when he reached it, dodging out of the way with a yelp when a runner came tumbling through, snarling at him. Jungkook wasted no time hitting it out of the way and slamming the door shut behind him, grabbing a chair to shove under the door knob. It would only buy him a few extra seconds, but he’d learned by now when dealing with the infected that time was precious and a few seconds could save or kill you. 

He frantically looked around the dark room for a way out, his heart beating so hard it was all he could hear. His knees almost gave out with relief when he saw a sliver of light, and he burst through the door which led to an alleyway - once upon a time, this was probably where the workers would come for a smoke break, he thought offhandedly. 

The alley had led him into the forest which wrapped around the back of the building and Jungkook darted into it, flinching when he heard the sound of a door bursting open behind him. They were coming.

Now Jungkook continues to sprint through the large masses of trees, swatting stray branches and plants out of his way as he runs. He has no distinct destination in mind, doesn’t even have a clue where he is, he just wants to make it out of these woods alive. He’s been running for a solid five minutes now, surprised that neither his legs nor lungs have given out. As the screeches and growls sound fainter, Jungkook looks behind him to see he’s gained several feet on them, and mentally pats himself on the back for having blocked the door with that chair. Those few extra seconds may have just saved his life, he’s pretty sure he’ll be able to get out of this alive. 

And then, because whatever deity that controls the universe seems to have it out for Jungkook, it’s at that precise moment he stumbles and collapses on the dirt covered ground. He hears something snap but he can’t tell whether it’s his ankle or the branch he tripped on, he’s too busy worrying about the fact that he’s seconds away from being eaten alive to figure that one out. One of the runners seems to be faster than the others - maybe it had been an athlete in its past life - and is hurtling towards Jungkook with no sign of stopping.

So yeah, he’s about to die.

He thinks about the books he used to read, and how when faced with death the characters seemed to enter some kind of calm and acceptance of their fate. And looking death straight in it’s blood-covered, rotten, decaying face Jungkook thinks those characters are full of shit. He doesn’t feel calm right now, nor has he accepted the fact that he’s about to get the flesh torn off of his bones, while he lies there helpless and screaming. In fact, he’s the opposite of calm, he’s scared shitless, his heart is about to fall out of his ass or mouth (it hasn’t decided yet), and he’s seconds away from bursting into tears because he can’t believe that after so long this is how he dies. Mauled to death in the middle of a forest by a runner, all because he’d wanted a fucking can of peaches.

It’s getting closer now and Jungkook closes his eyes bracing for impact - there’s no way in hell he can run his way out of this one - and… Nothing. 

Instead of a bite, he hears a gunshot, then the thud of a body hitting the ground. 

Someone pulls him up roughly by his arm and Jungkook comes face to face with quite literally the most beautiful human he’s ever seen; dishevelled hair, blood splattered face, eye patch and all. 

The man looks over Jungkook’s shoulder, then back at him.

“Run.”

✦✧✦✧

The stranger takes off without looking back and Jungkook quickly darts after him, he doesn’t have to be told twice, he’d gladly follow the pretty man to the ends of the earth. It’s either that or stay here and become clicker dinner, and besides even if the guy turns out to be a murderer or raider, Jungkook would much rather die at the hands of a handsome man than a walking corpse. 

If he wasn’t currently evading death, Jungkook would think about how problematic of a statement this is. Actually, no he wouldn’t, he virtually has nothing to lose. Ever since he got separated from his brothers, Jungkook has put his all into his survival on the off chance that he might see them again. But at times like these, when he’s running away from the infected, dodging trees, climbing walls and diving under cars, Jungkook wonders whether any of this is worth it. Wonders what’s stopping him from turning around, running into the mob behind them and letting them have at him. Do his brothers think he’s dead? Are they dead? Did they ever come back for him? He hopes they didn’t, the horde that had separated them had been massive, it would’ve been a bloodbath if they had. It'd been a miracle he’d even made it out unscathed. He wonders where they are now, whether they made it to Busan and found Jackson. He hopes they have, hopes they’ve found a home there and are safe, hopes they know he doesn’t resent them for leaving. It wasn’t their fault, if anything it was his, there’s nothing they could’ve done. God, he really really hopes they don’t blame themselves. Or worse; each other. 

Jungkook’s snapped out of his thoughts by the stranger’s voice and realises two things: 1) they’re out of the forest and on an empty street and 2) the stranger’s voice is deep. 

“Up here,” the man says, climbing on top of a car and onto the roof of a house, with such practiced ease that Jungkook has no doubt he’s done this countless times before. Jungkook clambers after him clumsily, holding on tightly to the hand the man offers to pull him up onto the roof. It’s one of those houses with flat roofs, so Jungkook doesn’t have to worry about slipping and sliding down to his death. He peers over the edge to see the infected crowded around the car, arms outstretched as they snarl up at him.
“Come on,” the gruff voice says. “Some of them know how to climb shit.” 

Jungkook’s eyes widen slightly and he nods, following after the guy, who’s taken to running across the roof and jumping onto another one. Jungkook gapes, gulping uneasily.

“‘Jump isn’t that big,” he reassures but it does little to convince Jungkook. He does it anyway, sprinting as fast as possible to give himself as much leverage as he needs to land on the other side safely. When he does, he looks behind himself, realising the gap between both houses was less than a metre wide. It makes it easier for him to jump from house to house until they land in another empty street, this time surrounded by tall apartment buildings which loom over them. The stranger leads them into one of the buildings, making a beeline for the staircase which they climb up until they reach the rooftop. Jungkook’s heart leaps into his throat - what is it with this man and roofs? - and he watches with baited breath as the guy makes his way to the other building across, via a wooden plank strategically placed between both roofs. 

Jungkook slowly inches to the edge, breath hitching when he sees how high they are from the ground. That’s at least a hundred foot drop, and the wooden plank is barely a foot wide.

He starts to shake his head, morbid flashbacks plaguing his mind unprompted. “I- I can’t-”

“I’m heavier than you are, it’ll hold,” the guy says, oblivious to Jungkook’s inner turmoil. He nods, knows he has to do it, lest he wants to live out the rest of his days on this roof. Jungkook steps onto the plank with shaky legs, and tries not to think about what happened last time he was in a similar position. He fails. 

“Fuckfuckfuck-” he whispers under his breath, as he shuffles more than walks until he reaches the other side, and almost cries out of relief.

“We’re here, come on,” the stranger says, barely leaving him the time to gather his bearings as he heads down the building’s fire escape. He slides open a window, and holds it up for Jungkook to get in, slipping in after him. 

Jungkook watches quietly, hands tightening nervously around his bag straps, as the guy pulls off his eye patch and shuffles about the room - a studio apartment, Jungkook notes - before settling at the kitchen sink, where he bends down to wash his face.

“You have running water?” Jungkook blurts out, eyes wide. The guy only grunts in agreement, scrubbing the blood off of his face and patting away the excess water, before turning back to Jungkook. 

“Everyone cleared out of the city when the outbreak first started, so a couple buildings have water that’s been sitting in the pipes since then.”

“Ah.” Jungkook nods.

“When’s the last time you showered?” 

Jungkook flushes crimson, scratching the back of his head. “Um, I don’t remember.” He shrugs.

“‘Can tell,” the stranger says, eyebrows rising. “You can use the shower. Water’s cold though.” He goes over to a dresser and pulls out a drawer, rummaging through it until he finds some clothes and a towel. “Here. Just throw your clothes out.”

“Um, thanks,” Jungkook mumbles, bowing slightly. He drops his bag by the window and toes off his shoes, making his way to the bathroom.

He locks the door behind him, leaning against the wood with a heavy sigh, shoulders drooping. He drops the clothes and towel on the counter, hands resting on the edge of the sink as he peers into the mirror. 

He doesn’t even know who he’s looking at.

His hair, long and unruly, is matted around his head, frayed ends curling up just above his chin. His lips are dry and cracked and bleeding, in dire need of some sort of hydration. He licks over them and promptly regrets it, grimacing as he tastes his own blood and dirt from when he face planted the ground back in the forest. And he’s lost so much weight, his cheeks are sunken in, making his eyes look even bigger than they already are. Trekking halfway across the country and sparsely eating will do that to you. 

All in all, he looks like a mess. He’s surprised Mr. Pretty Stranger didn’t sprint in the opposite direction when he saw him.

Jungkook sighs again and undresses, dropping his clothes in the little bin beside the toilet. He turns on the shower, the pressure is pretty weak and the water tepid, but to Jungkook it’s a luxury. He jumps in, grabbing the bar of soap on the edge of the tub and lathers himself until he’s covered head to toe in suds, resembling a snowman. He steps under the spray, letting it rinse him off and watches, nose wrinkling, as the murky water swirls down the drain. Jungkook finds himself wishing he could disappear and swirl down the drain too. 

✦✧✦✧

It’s half an hour later when Jungkook steps back into the living room, damp hair falling into his eyes, clothes hanging off his scrawny frame. His stomach rumbles loudly at the scent of food and he watches as the man extinguishes a fire on the balcony to come back inside with a pot of what looks like rice, beans and- is that spam? He puts the pot on a small table with two plates and glasses of water, gesturing towards it. Jungkook all but sprints to sit at the table, grabbing the water and gulping the entire glass down. “The water’s potable?” He asks as the man loads his plate with food. “Not exactly. It’s been sitting there for two decades so you have to boil and let it cool first.”

Jungkook nods, shovelling spoonfuls of rice down his throat. It’s bland and a little burnt but Jungkook can’t remember the last time he had a hot meal and he’s not about to complain. They eat in relative silence until the stranger decides to break it. “What’s your name?”

“Hm?” Jungkook looks up, cheeks bulbous with food. “Um.” He covers his mouth to chew and swallow. “Jungkook.”

The stranger hums. “Taehyung. Say, Jungkook, do you make it a habit to be chased by infected? Because everyone knows not to roam on that side of town. Hasn’t been cleared yet.”

“Oh, I’m not from here. Just- passing through I guess.”

“Alone? You seem kinda young.”

Jungkook frowns at that. “I’m twenty!”

Taehyung raises his eyebrows. “Could’ve fooled me,” he mutters. “I’m twenty-five.”

“And I’m not alone,” Jungkook continues, ignoring him. “Well, I wasn’t at first. My brothers and I, we got separated.”

“What happened?”

“Horde,” Jungkook says simply, not wanting to elaborate. Taehyung nods at that, hand coming up to rake his hair out of his face, eye patch gone, and only then does Jungkook notice it.

“What’s wrong with your eye?” He blurts out, squinting and moving forward to get a closer look. One of Taehyung’s eyes is all white, iris rimmed with red veins and it looks scarily similar to runners’ eyes when they first turn. Wait. What if he’s bit? What if he’s turning right no-

“Birth defect,” Taehyung says, voice clipped, not offering any other explanation. He tugs at the collar of his turtleneck and before Jungkook can ask any further questions, he speaks again. “It’s getting dark, we should head to sleep. You can take the couch.”

Jungkook nods, standing up to make his way there but barely takes a step before he’s yelping and falling to the floor. Huh, so maybe that snap in the forest hadn’t been a branch.

He pulls up the leg of his trousers to see his ankle, bruised red and swelling. He hadn’t noticed until now, the adrenaline must have finally worn off.

He feels Taehyung crouch beside him, taking his leg with careful hands. “You’ve sprained it. All that running around probably didn’t help either.” He presses it gently and Jungkook winces. “Can you walk?” He asks, but before Jungkook can even try, Taehyung seems to change his mind, picking him up bridal style and putting him on the bed. 

He sits next to Jungkook, inspecting his ankle then reaches into a bedside table and pulls out a med kit. Jungkook watches as he spreads some kind of ointment on his ankle, then wraps it with a bandage. Taehyung puts the kit away and grabs a couple of cushions from the couch to put under his foot. “You need to keep it elevated. Don’t put any weight on it. It’ll probably take up to two weeks to heal, maybe three.”

Jungkook nods. “Thank you. How do you know all this?”

“My parents were doctors.”

Just when Jungkook thinks he’s about to elaborate, Taehyung stands up abruptly instead. “I’ll take the couch, you can sleep here. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Jungkook says quietly, watching as the other flits around the room, blowing out the candles.

He lays back on the bed, staring at the darkness and tries to fall asleep.

✦✧✦✧

Jungkook wakes up the next day to blinding sunlight and a throbbing leg. He sits up, hissing and wincing, and pulls back his pant leg, grimacing at how the skin around his bandage is bright red. Well fuck.

“Hey, is it supposed to hurt this mu-” he lifts his head as he speaks, stopping when he sees an empty couch. Did Taehyung leave? Jungkook looks around the small space but sees no traces of the other man, and the big rucksack he’d left next to the window is gone. He must’ve gone somewhere, Jungkook concludes. He settles back on the bed, deciding to sleep off his pain before it gets unbearable.

He wakes up again a few hours later (he guesses, he doesn’t have a watch), the sky is a little bit darker and Taehyung is still not back.

After an hour or so, Jungkook grows restless, lying motionless on the bed, and decides to concede to his curiosity. He hopes Taehyung won’t be mad at him for snooping. He swings his legs off of the bed, careful to not put weight on his ankle, and using the wall as a crutch, slowly makes his way around the room, exploring every nook and cranny and drawer he finds. Jungkook finally settles on a small dresser, the one Taehyung got his towel and clothes from, and lowers himself slowly onto the floor so he doesn’t hurt his leg.  Rummaging through the drawers, he finds nothing but clothes, weapons and some canned food. He’s about to give up and go back to bed - having found nothing of value to curb his nosiness - when he opens the bottom drawer. There’s a small photo album, a small notebook that looks like a diary and a few small trinkets; a watch, a necklace, two rings - wedding rings, Jungkook guesses. 

He picks up the photo album, flicking through the pages and smiles at the pictures of a happy couple and a baby.. He wonders whether they’re Taehyung’s parents, or whether they belonged to whoever used to live here before- Before.

“What are you doing?”

Jungkook jolts at the gruff voice, dropping the album back into the drawer and slamming it shut. He turns to see Taehyung standing at the window, toeing off his shoes. There’re blood splatters on his face and the shoulder of his shirt is ripped.

“Sorry, I was just- What happened to you?” Jungkook asks instead, opting to change the subject. He uses the dresser for leverage to lift himself, only stumbling twice.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” Taehyung evades the question, dropping his bag to help Jungkook sit on the bed. “Your ankle is still healing.”

“Sorry.”

“Have you eaten?” He asks, as he goes to wash his face at the sink. Jungkook's stomach growls at the mention of food.

“Um, no.”

“Why not?”

Jungkook shrugs.

“You’re so small, it’s a wonder you’ve made it this far. You gotta eat,” Taehyung comments, taking a towel and some spare clothes.

“I’m not small ,” Jungkook huffs, crossing his arms.

“‘Smaller than me.”

“By less than an inch.”

Taehyung smirks, though it’s more of a slight tug of his lips. “Still. Pretty skinny too.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes, laying back on the bed.

“I’m gonna shower, then I’ll make something to eat.”

“Hm.”

Jungkook hears the bathroom door close and sighs, settling further into the bed and closes his eyes. 

When he opens them, it’s pitch black outside and the room smells faintly like smoke. He sits up and sees Taehyung cooking something over the fire on the balcony, his stomach twists and growls again. He scoops up whatever he’s made into two bowls and comes back inside handing one to Jungkook, and sits at the end of the bed to eat his own. 

They eat in a relatively awkward silence, broken only by the sounds of chewing and spoons scraping against bowls. When they’re finished eating, Taehyung wordlessly takes his bowl and goes to rinse them at the sink. 

“How’s the ankle?” He asks when he’s done, wiping his hands on his shirt.

“Hurts.”

Taehyung hums, sitting back on the edge of the bed and lifting up his pant leg. He hisses sympathetically at the sight of the redness. “It’s swelling a bit. You really need to stop putting weight on it or it won’t heal.”

“Sorry.”

“I’ll see if I can find something to ice it tomorrow,” Taehyung says, mostly to himself.

“Thank you,” Jungkook mumbles as Taehyung helps him settle under the covers to sleep. “Night.”

“Goodnight.”

✦✧✦✧

The following week goes pretty much the same; Jungkook wakes up to Taehyung gone, he sleeps most of his days away to curb his curiosity and pain, Taehyung comes back, checks his ankle, they eat and sleep. Only difference is, Jungkook’s ankle is slowly getting better. The swelling has almost completely stopped, the redness subsided, turning into a yellowish green colour instead, and though he can’t properly walk without limping, Jungkook can still put a bit of weight on it without feeling searing pain. 

Which is why now, instead of being in bed like he normally is, Jungkook is flitting around Taehyung’s small studio, cleaning up what he can. There’s only so many naps he can take, and lying motionlessly in bed like a vegetable is driving him insane. Besides, he should probably practice putting more weight on his ankle right? So his muscles won’t be as taut when they heal? Whatever that sounds plausible to him. 

He’s already gotten a lot done; he’d been awake when Taehyung was getting ready and had waited until he left to get out of bed so he’d have more time. Jungkook’d washed the few dishes laying around as best he could without any soap and the lukewarm water from the tap, had folded Taehyung’s clothes and put them away - he had the tendency to just throw them off when he got changed - even managed to start a fire and boil some water so it’d have time to cool by the time Taehyung got back and made them something to eat. And now, with the room almost spotless, Jungkook had taken to sweeping the floor with the small brush and dustpan he’d found under the sink. He can’t crouch, meaning he’d had to resort to getting on all fours and putting most of his weight on one side of his body. A terribly difficult feat, judging by how his stomach, arms and leg have started to ache, but seeing as he’s been lazing around and just eating for the better part of a week, Jungkook figures he could benefit from a slight workout. Silver lining. 

He’s making his way to the little bin by the fridge, basically hopping on one leg - being on his feet all day has made his bad ankle and leg cramp up - when someone clears their throat and Jungkook yelps, dropping the brush and dustpan into the bin. He spins around and sees Taehyung leaning against the window frame, arms crossed with an eyebrow cocked. 

“Jesus,” Jungkook hisses, pressing a hand to his chest. 

“No it’s Taehyung,” the other deadpans. “What are you doing?”

Jungkook scratches the back of his neck. “Cleaning up?”

“Thought I told you to stay in bed.”

Jungkook groans. “Yes but.” He starts, taking a step forward. Bad idea. His leg gives out and he flails, then falls. Luckily for him, before his face and the floor can meet in a passionate kiss, Taehyung catches him, dragging him back to bed. Jungkook flinches slightly at how quickly Taehyung got to him, but doesn’t comment.

“‘But’?” Taehyung prompts, sitting on the floor and gesturing to him to show his foot.

“I’m bored . And sick of staying in bed all day. And shouldn’t I be putting weight on it anyways? To get it used to it or whatever.”

“Sure, when it’s healed. But it hasn’t.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “And how do you know that?”

Taehyung levels him with a look, then grabs his ankle and squeezes slightly. A jolt of pain shoots up Jungkook’s leg and he gasps, swatting Taehyung’s hand away. “Shit that hurts!” He frowns, cradling his leg.

“That wasn’t even a fraction of your body weight.” Taehyung says and Jungkook rolls his eyes again. “Alright, smartass.”

“Give it another few days,” he says and stands up, getting his clothes to go shower. He pauses. “Do you like books?”

Jungkook looks up from where he’s sprawled back on the bed like a distressed Disney princess - his Namjoon hyung taught him about those - and nods. “Sure.”

Taehyung nods back. “Okay.”

The next day, Jungkook wakes up to a small pile of books on the pillow beside him and smiles.

It’s another week and a half before Jungkook musters up the courage to ask Taehyung where he goes. His ankle is practically fully healed according to Taehyung, Jungkook had finally listened and stopped putting weight on it so it could recover quicker, and it doesn’t hurt when he walks, only slightly when he runs (he’d tested that out by running laps around the room when Taehyung was gone). Taehyung finally stops reprimanding him like a child when he finds Jungkook out of bed, but rather encourages him to try and be up more to strengthen the muscles, and even lets him help make dinner, which is what they’re doing now, peeling potatoes Taehyung had snagged from an abandoned farm while he was out.

Jungkook puts down his knife and observes the man before him; his hair, long and black, almost grazes his shoulders and is always tied into a small bun at the nape of his neck, stray strands falling into his face, his eyes, one chocolate brown and the other white, which Jungkook sometimes flinches at the sight of, a tiny part of him still convinced Taehyung’s actually turning and might kill him one day. Very tiny though. Taehyung stretches, scratching his jaw and Jungkook notices he’s wearing a turtleneck again, he always does, even to sleep, though he figures it’s probably for an added layer of protection against the infected.

Jungkok clears his throat and Taehyung glances up questioningly. “Um. Where. Where do you go?”

“Hm?” Taehyung cocks his head.

“You know when I wake up and you’re gone, where do you- what are you doing?”

Taehyung’s eyes widen slightly, clearly caught off guard by the question. “Working.”

Jungkook squints. “Doing what?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Taehyung says dismissively. “Where were you going?”

Now it’s Jungkook’s time to be confused. “What?”

“Before I found you. You were going somewhere right?”

“Oh. Jackson.”

“Jackson?”

Jungkook nods. “It used to be a ghost town, but they turned it into a settlement. It’s almost like a real town, like- like before . At least that’s what my parents used to say, I wasn’t born then. And they have food farms and houses and electricity ! Because it’s by the sea. I think it’s called hy- hydro-”

“Hydroelectricity?” Taehyung offers.

“Yes that! And they have electric fences all around the town to keep it safe from infected.” Jungkook sighs wistfully. “Sounds like home.”

Taehyung scoffs. “No such thing as home. Not in this world.” He pauses. “Wait, did you say by the sea? Where is it?”

“Busan.” Jungkook takes his map from his backpack to show him. 

“ Busan ?” Taehyung parrots, incredulously. “You know we’re in Seoul right? You’re gonna go all the way across the country alone? It’ll take you weeks.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Jungkook shrugs. “I have to find my hyungs. We were on the way to Jackson before we got separated, I know I’ll find them there. And. I don't have to be alone. You- you could come with me.”

“No.”

Before Jungkook can protest, Taehyung stands. “I’ll take you to the outskirts of town, but then you’re on your own.”

Jungkook frowns, a pang of hurt in his chest but he ignores it. He’s made it this far on his own anyways, he’ll be okay. “Whatever. Fine by me.”

“How’s your ankle?”

“Doesn’t hurt much, I can walk on it.”

Taehyung nods once. “Good. We’ll leave tomorrow.”

✦✧✦✧

The next day when Jungkook wakes up, it’s still dark outside, the sun only just starting to peak out. Taehyung, who’d woken him up, is sitting on his couch, packing supplies into his bag and Jungkook opts to go take a shower. God only knows when his next one will be. “Those are for you.” Taehyung points to the clothes at the end of the bed with his chin. Jungkooks hums his gratitude, taking the clothes and towel into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. He places them by the sink and rakes his hair out of his face, looking in the mirror. He looks drastically different to when he’d first arrived here, less like a walking corpse and more like the living, breathing boy he is. He’s gained a considerable amount of weight; eating regularly and resting has certainly helped, his cheeks are fuller, eyes have (mostly) returned to their big, childlike state without making him look like a skeleton, and his bones aren’t protruding from his skin. He’s still a little on the thinner side though, his muscles haven’t come back and his hair is much longer, way past his chin now. He sighs at his reflection and turns on the shower, jumping under the spray.

When he steps out of the bathroom dressed and towelling his hair dry, Taehyung is standing by one of the kitchen chairs with a pair of scissors.

“Sit.” He pats the chair and Jungkook eyes him warily. 

“Why?”

“Your hair. It’s too long. Easier to grab.”

Jungkook frowns, wanting to say that Taehyung’s is much longer than his but: a) it’s way too early to argue and b) he’s still a little hurt from last night and would rather keep his conversations with Taehyung to a minimum. Instead he shrugs, plopping down into the chair with a sigh. 

Taehyung makes quick work of his hair, hands flying around his head and dark locks falling to the floor as he cuts. Barely ten minutes have passed by the time he’s done, and he hands Jungkook a cracked mirror. His hair, once long and unruly, now hangs just above his eyes and he shakes through it with his hand a few times before putting the mirror down. “Looks fine, thanks.”

Taehyung hums, going to rummage through his drawers. “You got a gun?” He asks Jungkook and the latter nods, taking out a handgun from his bag - he’d found it on a dead cop.

“Know how to use it?”

Jungkook rolls his eyes at that. “No, I’m carrying around a weapon I can’t use for shits and giggles.”

An amused smile tugs at Taehyung’s lips and he raises his hands in defense. “Ammo?”

“Not a lot.”

Taehyung tosses him two boxes and picks up his own weapon, a rifle, as well as an ammo belt which he wears like a sash. He also tosses Jungkook a thick leather jacket and matching gloves. “Leather’s harder to bite through.”

Taehyung heaves on his large rucksack and Jungkook has to admit he look pretty cool; his hair’s tied back like it always is, a few strands falling into his eye while the other is covered up with his eye patch, there’s a gas mask dangling from one side of his bag, crowbar on the other and he’s holding an axe, his rifle hanging at his hip. Jungkook pulls on his own bag and picks up his bat, pushing his gun into the hostler on his thigh.

“Ready?” Taehyung asks.

He nods. 

“Let’s go.”

Jungkook follows Taehyung outside of the window and down the fire escape, being extra careful when he jumps and lands, the last thing he needs is to hurt his leg again before their journey even begins. Once they’re on the deserted streets, Taehyung stops and turns to him.

“Stay close to me, stay on your guard and don’t talk to anyone.”

“Who would I even talk to?” Jungkook asks, cocking an eyebrow. “There’s only us here. And infected.” Taehyung turns back around and they start walking.

“Fireflies.”

"Fireflies?"

Taehyung nods. “Hm. They’re a militia group, overthrew the military when this all first started and took over most cities around here. They run this city. Well, most of it.”

“Are you one of them?” Jungkook asks, taking longer strides to catch up with Taehyung. Can’t the guy slow down? He just recovered from a busted ankle.

“God, no,” Taehyung scoffs. “Not anymore.”

That piques Jungkook’s curiosity. “What happened?” He asks tentatively only to get shut down once again.

“Doesn’t matter,” Taehyung dismisses. “Most roads are blocked, so we’re gonna have to take a detour. Might take a while so get ready for a hike.”

Jungkook shrugs. “Used to it.”

“That’s the spirit.”

They’ve been walking for a couple hours now, taking breaks every so often so Jungkook doesn’t strain his ankle. The sun is out full beam, beating against their backs but there’s still that recognisable morning breeze and sharpness to the air when Jungkook breathes in. They near a gated subway entrance and Taehyung stops. “Mask on. Spores.” Jungkook digs into his bag and takes out his mask, wiping the lenses with the hem of his shirt, before slipping it over his head. 

“Careful down there,” Taehyung says, voice muffled by his mask as he unwraps the chain holding the two gates together and pulls one open with a creak. “Watch out for clickers and stalkers.”

Jungkook nods back, gripping his bat with steady hands as he follows Taehyung down the stairs and into the darkness of the tunnel. The further they walk, the less sunlight illuminates their path until they’re completely submerged in blackness. With a click, Jungkook turns on the flashlight attached to his bag strap and Taehyung follows suit. When they reach the turnstiles, Jungkook grimaces at the blood and guts caked onto the metal fences, they’re definitely gonna run into infected down here. They climb over the turnstiles and onto the platform, Jungkook’s eyes widening at the sight before him; he’s never seen spores so dense, the air almost looks opaque green, one breath of that and he’d probably turn instantly.

They walk along the platform stealthily, careful not to draw any attention to themselves, and Jungkook flinches every time he hears a croak or screech. Despite the countless infected he’s encountered, that never gets old. He can’t help but notice that Taehyung doesn’t seem particularly phased by their surroundings, but then again he can’t see his face from where Jungkook’s walking behind him. Maybe he’s crying. Doubtful. They near an abandoned subway car and Taehyung makes a beeline for it. “In here.”

While Taehyung pries the doors open, Jungkook turns so they’re back to back, scanning their vicinity. He sees a shadow move in his peripheral and turns his head, whispering over his shoulder. 

“Any luck?”

“It’s jammed,” Taehyung whispers back. “Gimme a minute.”

With a quiet grunt Taehyung forces one door open and it moves with a loud creak, still not wide enough for them to slip through. 

“Ah shit,” Jungkook mutters. “We’ve got company. Hurry. ” He lifts his bat, readying himself for a blow as a stalker comes sprinting towards him, limbs flailing and snarling menacingly, his weapon comes down with a sickening crack and squelch, blood splattering against his shirt and the glass of his mask. It takes another few blows before the stalker actually dies, and by then he’s got clickers joining the party. They’re much harder to kill without a gun, but the last thing he needs is to alert all of the infected in the area of their location. Jungkook picks up a glass bottle he sees on the ground and throws it away from them, hoping it’ll make the clickers change direction.

It does not. 

They stall for a few seconds before one of them screeches as if saying ‘does he take us for idiots?’ and they charge towards him. 

“Fuck.” Jungkook hears Taehyung hiss behind him and looks over his shoulder to see the latter abandoning the door to brandish his axe. Stupid idea, because in the milisecond he has his back turned, the clickers have gained on them and one of them grabs him by the shoulders and shrieks in his ear, trying to take a bite out of the side of his face. “Shit!”

Jungkook falls to the ground, wrestling with the creature and in the corner of his eye sees Taehyung is too busy with two clickers of his own to help him. He grunts as he attempts to fight off the clicker which blindly scratches and swats at his body. He’s lucky they can’t see otherwise he’d been long dead by now. With one hand he reaches into his boot for the small hunting knife he keeps lodged in there and pulls it out, stabbing repeatedly into the clicker’s head. He knows it won’t be enough to pierce through the many thick layers of fungi and touch its brain to kill it, but it’s enough to have the creature curl in on itself and thrash for a few seconds, which gives Jungkook the time to get up and grab his bat. He pounds it onto the clicker, suppressing gags as the nails pull out bits of flesh and fungi with every hit. It takes several more swings before the clicker dies and Jungkook’s chest is heaving from the exertion.

There’s a beat of silence, then he hears thunderous footsteps coming in their direction. Before he has the chance to react accordingly, there’s a fist on the neck of his shirt pulling him into the subway car. Taehyung slides the doors shut and sets off in the direction of the next car. “Get up, let’s go.”

They run to the end of the car and climb into the next one, Taehyung using a metal bar he finds on the floor to block the door. “Come on, that’s not gonna hold for long there’s too many of them. We need to get the fuck out of here.”

After passing through several more cars and platforms, they reach the end of the train and Jungkook can see daylight (it must’ve stopped when it was on its way out of the tunnel) but-

“It’s a dead end,” Jungkook states, voice rising slightly to a panic. “There’s no doors. We’re trapped.” 

“We’re not.” Taehyung says, reaching up with his crowbar to tap the ceiling and pushes open a hatch. Jungkook squints at the sunlight which comes streaming in. In the distance, he can hear clicks and groans and turns to Taehyung worriedly. “They’re coming.”

Using the handle bars for leverage, Taehyung heaves himself up and out of the hatch and onto the roof of the train. The door behind Jungkook rattles and Taehyung reaches a hand down. “Quick, give me your bag.”

Jungkook immediately complies, quickly glancing over his shoulder, and jerking back when the door bursts open, the infected crawling in.

“Shit!” Taehyung extends his hand down again. “Jungkook jump, I’ll pull you up.” Jungkook reaches up with a jump and Taehyung catches his arm, pulling him up. He’s almost out, head and shoulder out of the hatch when something grabs his hurt ankle, pulling him back down. “Ah!” He winces in pain, panicking when he feels himself slip back down and out of Taehyung’s grasp.

“Tae-”

“-I got you.”

With a grunt, Taehyung pulls Jungkook out completely and slams the door hatch shut, sitting on it for good measure.

“Fuck,” Jungkook wheezes out, lying back against the roof to catch his breath. 

“Yeah,” Taehyung breathes back with laboured pants. They’re silent for a few moments, recuperating, until Taehyung speaks up. “You okay?”

Jungkook nods. “Yeah. Fucker grabbed my ankle down there.”

“Shit, does it hurt? Can you walk?” 

“Hm. Should be able to.”

“Okay. We’ll find a place to set up camp till tomorrow then. Can you manage a couple more hours?”

“Yeah, think so.”

“Good.” Taehyung stands up, offering his hand. “Come on.”

An hour or two later, they reach an empty forest clearing and Taehyung decides they’ll camp here for the night. He puts down his bag reaching into it for his bottle and takes a few sips, Jungkook does the same.

“Hungry?” Taehyung asks, taking off his gear. Jungkook’s stomach growls in response and he nods. “I’ll scope out the area and find something. Make a fire?”

“Sure.”

Taehyung grabs his axe and sets off into a dense cluster of trees. Jungkook, who’s still recovering from almost losing his leg (and life) just over an hour ago, is a bit slower, ambling around the clearing to find dry sticks and leaves. He makes a small pit with some rocks, and tosses in his tinder and tries not to think about how everything could’ve gone terribly wrong back there, tries not to think about what could’ve happened had Taehyung not been there. He fails. Remembers the last time he’d come so close to being taken by a horde, and how it’d been the last time he saw his brothers. Jungkook shakes the thoughts away. He’s fine. He’d survived and he was here and he was fine. He’d find them in Busan. He would. Jungkook doesn’t realise how lost in his thoughts he was until he feels a hand on his shoulder and jerks away from the touch, reaching into his boot.

“Hey, it’s just me,” Taehyung says placatingly. “You okay?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I just- yeah. Sorry.”

Taehyung doesn’t say anything, just eyes him warily and hums. “It’s clear, we should be safe for the night. Found this.” He holds up a dead rabbit by the ears. “Looks like you.”

Jungkook doesn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or insult, he’s used to being compared to rabbits - his family used to call him ‘bunny’ - just not dead ones. Taehyung decides for him. “It’s a joke,” the older one chuckles, sitting down to start making their food.

“Didn’t know you knew how to make those,” Jungkook counters. “Didn’t even know you could laugh.”

“Shut up.” Taehyung rolls his eyes, lips tugging up slightly. “Get me a knife would you?”

Jungkook complies, ignoring the warmth in his chest, it’s probably the hunger. Yeah, definitely the hunger.

Taehyung makes quick work of their food, and within an hour or so, they’ve eaten, he’s checked and wrapped Jungkook’s ankle and they’re trying to fall asleep. Well, Jungkook is trying, Taehyung is snoring away beside him. 

He stares up at the night sky above him, littered with stars and a white glowing orb, and thinks about how his own chest glows when Taehyung looks at him with worry in his eyes or how his lips quirk in a slight smile every once in a while. Then he promptly shakes his head, scoffing silently at himself. Willing away the warmth in his cheeks. It’s just a crush, he tells himself. Temporary, fleeting; it’ll probably go away by the time they reach the edge of town and go their separate ways, he bargains. 

A small, traitorous voice in the back of his head lets him know that he probably just likes the idea of a hot guy looking after him and well, Jungkook can’t argue with that, can he? That’s probably all there is to it. Taehyung saved his life and now he’s stuck with knight in shining armour syndrome, or, well, in this case, pretty-apocalypse-survivor-in-eye-patch-syndrome (it’s a working title). Yet he can’t shake the feeling that he doesn’t want Taehyung to leave him, wants them to make the journey to Jackson together (‘safety in numbers’ Jungkook tries to lie to himself, but even he can’t convince himself to believe that). He knows these are pretty strong feelings to have for someone he’s known for a little over three weeks but Jungkook has always been an overachiever. 

He groans quietly, throwing an arm over his face and feels a lot like the highschool kids with crushes from the books Seokjin hyung read to him when he was younger. Before he knows it, Jungkook drifts to sleep, images of him, Taehyung and his brothers flashing in his mind.

✦✧✦✧

It’s been a couple of days, and they’ve almost reached their destination according to Taehyung. It’s a Firefly checkpoint, where they keep track of anyone who comes in or out of their part of the city. Jungkook wonders if his hyungs had to go through one on their way to Busan too. Things feel different between him and Taehyung as well, less awkward and quiet. They talk a lot more now, even though it’s still pretty surface level; favourite colour, favourite foods, scariest encounter with an infected. Taehyung’s even taken to making more jokes at Jungkook’s expense, and he pretends to be mad but it never lasts longer than an hour. (And if Taehyung smiling and laughing at him makes Jungkook fall deeper every minute, that's nobody’s business but his own.)

Like now for example:

“You’ve never had pizza, what.” Taehyung stops in his tracks, making Jungkook stumble into him and almost fall. They’re walking through a thick forest, and Taehyung had decided to stop in the middle of a rather dense cluster of trees, meaning he’s way too close for comfort and honestly that can’t be good for Jungkook’s heart. “How have you never had pizza? That’s-”

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “We’re in the middle of an apocalypse that started before I was even born where the fuck would I have had a chance to eat pizza, Taehyung? Can’t exactly pop down to the closest supermarket and get one can I?”

“Okay cool it with the attitude please,” Taehyung laughs, turning to continue walking (and yes Jungkook lets out a shaky breath of relief, shut up). “We’re gonna have to get you some,” he continues, holding up a large branch to let the younger crawl under it. “Dunno how, but we’ll find a way.”

“Sure, sure,” Jungkook acquiesces, rolling his eyes again. Then, because he’s nothing if not a bratty little shit (Jimin’s words): “I bet it’s not even all that good anyways.”

Taehyung’s face goes through all five stages of grief in that moment, and Jungkook almost feels bad. “Don’t even joke about that. What do you even know about what’s good, you’re a child.”

“I am twenty, not three I’m not-”

“Stop.”

They’ve the woods now, and are on a large stretch of road with abandoned cars and skeletons, one side leading back into the trees, and the other leading towards what looks like an old military base.

“We’re here.” He turns to Jungkook, face stern and devoid of any traces of laughter. “When we go in, just stay behind me and don’t talk to anyone. I’m serious okay? The guys here, they’re assholes, ‘just run their mouths saying the dumbest shit. And you’re pretty so they’ll have a field day with you but just ignore them and stay close, okay?”

Jungkok hums, but he’s too busy processing a specific part of that sentence to even care about what Taehyung is saying right now. ‘You’re pretty’, he said. Just like that. As if it was a fact, not even a compliment. Pretty. Pretty. I’m pretty, what.

“Hey.”

Jungkook blinks out of his thoughts and Taehyung is a good few meters away from him. “What are you doing, keep up.”

Jungkook scrambles to get closer and as they approach the large gates he can feel the tension and annoyance rolling off of Taehyung in waves. 

“State your name and occupation!” A guy with a rifle peers down at them from the top of the gate.

“Just open the fucking gate, Minhyuk.”

“You’re no fun,” the guy, Minhyuk apparently, says and Jungkook thinks his voice is irritating.

With a rattle and a clank, the gate slides upwards and the pair step inside. Taehyung leads them down a dark corridor, until they reach a large room. A long desk occupies the majority of one of the walls, littered with papers and guns, the rest of the room is like an open area with chairs, tattered couches and bean bags, each one of them occupied. There’s a door on the wall near the desk as well, and someone standing in front guarding it. 

Once they step inside, all chatter stops and Jungkook gulps as he feels eyes following them to the desk, skin crawling from the attention.

“Hey! Look who it is, our very own hybrid.” A man sat with his feet crossed on the desk, ‘greets’ them with open arms and a grin. “How’s it going Tae? S’been a while hasn’t it? And you’ve brought a friend .” He cranes his neck to look at Jungkook. “Hey there, pretty.”

Jungkook grimaces, it certainly doesn’t feel the same as when Taehyung called him that. Taehyung sighs, stepping in front of him. “Don’t talk to him. I’m going out.” He nods towards the door. “Dunno when I’ll be back.”

“You’re going out there? In The Jungle? Why?”

“What’s it to you, Jisoo? Just write it down in your little notebook so we can get the fuck out of here.”

Another guy, sitting beside Jisoo, speaks up. “I’m willing to bet it has everything to do with the lil’ cutie behind him.”

“Taehyung you’re babysitting now?” Someone else asks.

“‘Babysitting’? Yeah right, they’re definitely fucking.” Another voice, then laughter.

“He must be pretty good if Taehyung’s going out to The Jungle for him.”

“Do you guys ever shut the fuck up?” Taehyung spits. 

“Now, now Tae, don’t be like that,” Jisoo says condescendingly. “We’re only admiring your little boyfriend here. Though you wouldn’t mind sharing would you? Daewon here just got dumped by his girl and it’s been a while since his dick has seen something other than his hand right, Dae?”

Cue more laughter and Jungkook’s uncomfortable, angry too, doesn’t like how they talk as if he can’t hear every word they say.

“You’ll help me out right, doll?” Someone says, Daewon , Jungkook guesses and his voice is too close for comfort. 

“Didn’t I just say to not fucking talk to him,” Taehyung says but Daewon ignores him, hand inching forward to touch Jungkook’s waist. “I’ll fuck you better than h-”

Jungkook’s had enough. Before the asshole can even get the rest of his sentence out, he’s sprawled on the floor, with Jungkook’s boot crushing his hand and a gun on his nape.

“Touch me again and I’ll blow a hole through your skull.”

Jungkook looks up and he has a dozen guns aimed at him. 

“This bitch broke my hand!” Daewon wails and Jungkook grinds his foot down even harder. 

“I’ll break even more than that if you keep talking, bitch .”

“Alright enough!” Jisoo stands up, looking annoyed. “Guns down. Taehyung get your boy and get the fuck out of here.”

The guy guarding the door by the desk, opens and nods towards it, and Taehyung grabs Jungkook’s hand pulling him away without another word. They walk down another long, dark corridor, illuminated only by a few faint bulbs.

“You alright?” Taehyung asks, when they’re alone, and Jungkook is too pissed to process the fact that he’s still holding his hand. 

“Those guys fucking suck,” he answers instead.

“I know. Can’t stand them. Sorry about that.”

Jungkook shrugs. “Whatever, I’m fine. Where are we going? What’s ‘the jungle’?”

“It’s the part of the city the Fireflies haven’t taken over yet, it’s too dangerous. You’ll find just about anything there. Infected, raiders, hordes. It’s called that because it took the hardest hit over time; overgrown forests, trees, collapsed roads, you name it.”

“So why are we going there?”

“It’s the only way out of Seoul.”

They reach another gate which slides open and- Wow yeah, Jungkook gets it now.

There are thick, tall trees as far as he can see, grass and vines scaling up the sides of the building, and he sees a few cars that are more shrubbery than vehicles.

“This used to be a motorway, you know?”

Jungkook’s eyes widen. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah. Come on, it’s getting dark, we should find somewhere to camp for the night.”

Taehyung sets off and Jungkook can still feel a phantom warmth around his palm.

✦✧✦✧

“What would you be doing now if the world hadn’t gone to shit?”

It’s the next day, and they’ve made it through a night in the jungle, and with the way Taehyung has described it yesterday, Jungkook counts it as a miracle. He doesn’t want to jinx it but even now, when they’ve been walking for hours and hours already, they’ve yet to encounter any life threatening situations. Though Jungkook should know by now not to push his luck.

Taehyung hums, pondering the question. “An artist probably.”

“Really? You draw?” 

The older shrugs. “Sometimes. Photography too, my dad used to carry around this old film camera and take pictures of everything, I always thought it was so cool.”

“That’s nice,” Jungkook hums in turn with a smile. It’s the first time Taehyung has mentioned his family of his own volition and he doesn’t want to prod. “I can see you as a photographer.”

“Yeah?” Taehyung looks back at him with a grin. “What about you then? What would our Jungkookie be, if he wasn’t going around breaking people’s hands?”

“Shut up. He deserved it. Should’ve broken his wrist too,” Jungkook scowls, fake angry to distract himself from the ‘Jungkookie’.

“Remind me to never get on your bad side,” Taehyung laughs, and honestly with how deep he already is, Jungkook doesn’t ever think he could.

“I think I’d be a singer,” Jungkook starts. “My mum used to tell me about how, before, singers would write songs, and dance and go around the world performing in front of people who supported their music; fans, she said. And I think I would’ve loved to do that.”

“Yeah, I could see that,” Taehyung smiles. “Sing something for me.”

“And attract every infected in the area? Hard pass.”

“Obviously not now .” Taehyung rolls his eyes. “Just, someday, I dunno.”

“Someday,” Jungkook echoes quietly. A traitorous, traitorous thing hope is.

“Maybe I would’ve done your album art.”

Jungkook frowns because, what. “My what?”

“Album art?” Taehyung repeats, then turns around again, slows his walking. “Wait. Don’t tell me, you don’t know what an album is?”

“I-”

“How do you know what a concert is but not an album?”

“I know what an album is, thank you very much. I just thought it was music though, why does it need art-”

Taehyung cackles. “Oh my God, you’re like a baby, I have so much to teach you.”

“This again, I’m not- Stop acting like some wise, old man when you’re only five years older, Taeh-”

“Hyung.”

“What?”

“You said it yourself, I’m five years older so call me ‘hyung’.”

“Oh,” Jungkook said dumbly. “Okay. Hyung.”

Taehyung smiles softly, and starts walking again. “Anyways so yes, so much to teach you. First pizza, then-”

His words are cut off when an arrow flies past them, almost grazing his face, and lodges itself into the car window behind him, shattering it.

“Fuck, raiders. Get down!” Taehyung grabs his arm, and drags them to crouch behind an upturned car.

Jungkook takes out his gun to count how many bullets he can spare but Taehyung pushes his hand down gently, shaking his head. “Too many of them, we’re gonna have to run.” There are still arrows and bullets hitting against the car and it’s only a matter of time before one of them gets lucky and pierces through the vehicle.

“See that building over there?” Taehyung nods to the large, glass shopping mall across the street. “When they stop to reload, run.”

Jungkook nods, crouching beside Taehyung and waiting for his signal.

It takes another couple seconds, but then: “Go!”

The pair take off in a sprint, hiding behind post boxes and cars when the bullets get too close for comfort, until they make it to the mall. 

“Spores, mask on!”

It’s a feat and a half, but Jungkook manages to get it on while sprinting at full speed. Once inside, it’s dark and Jungkook can barely see anything except the yellowish green particles in the air. Taehyung takes his hand and leads them up an escalator when he hears glass shatter behind them.

Raiders are clearly not ones for stealth it seems, Jungkook thinks. Or intelligence either, because with that grand entrance of theirs, they’ve alerted just about every infected in the building. Great.

“Fuckers,” Taehyung mutters, when they hear clickers, and yeah. Jungkook’s sentiments exactly.

Every shop they try to hide away in has its gates down or is barricaded, leaving them stranded in the middle of the mall. They head down another flight of stairs, and Jungkook can hear hammering footsteps behind them but can’t tell whether they’re human or not, doesn’t bother to find out, they all want him dead anyways. Just as they’re rounding a corner, he feels a body tackle him to the ground, face first - well, mask first - and pressing a gun to his neck. Like muscle memory, he reaches into his boot and pulls out his pocket knife, stabbing blindly. Knows he’s successful when he hears a cry and the grip on his neck loosens slightly. Then he hears a gunshot, and the body on him slumps to the ground, he turns on his back to see Taehyung holstering his gun and holding out his hand. “Come on.”

The older takes them across the floor, and behind a magazine kiosk, out of sight.

“They’re fucking everywhere, jesus,” Jungkook mumbles, dusting himself off.

“Fuck,” Taehyung whispers, staring at him.

“What-”

“Don’t talk!” He hisses. “Fuck, your mask.”

Jungkook reaches up, and winces when his finger catches on the glass of his mask, cutting it. Well, that’s not good. Jungkook doesn’t wanna die from spores in the middle of a mall, while he’s being hunted down. Jungkook doesn’t wanna die, period. But it’ll only be a matter of minutes, until the spores get into his system and contaminate him.

“Do you trust me?” Taehyung asks and Jungkook nods almost immediately. “Okay. Hold your breath.”

Jungkook complies and watches, heart pounding when Taehyung takes off his shattered mask, then his heart thumps even louder, eyes widening when Taehyung takes off his own mask. He tries to protest but Taehyung shakes his head, levelling him with a look. “Just trust me. Please. ” He puts his mask on Jungkook, then takes a deep breath of the spores around them and what?

“See? I’m fine,” Taehyung assures. “Now come on, let’s get out of here.”

Jungkook doesn’t have time to start asking questions because Taehyung grabs his hand again, and they take off towards a large set of double doors which say ‘staff only’. Hopefully it’s a break room or a stockroom; anything which could lead them out of here. Taehyung barges through the door and wedges it shut with a chair, though it probably won’t hold for long. The older says as much and reaches for Jungkook’s hand again, but he inches away.

“You’re bit,” Jungkook says, staring at the wound on Taehyung’s leg, blood seeping through his jeans.

“Kooks, we don’t have time for this, I’ll explain later, please, we need to g-”

“I’m not going anywhere with you, you’re bit,” Jungkook spits, he might like Taehyung but he’s not stupid enough to risk his life hanging around someone who’s infected. “And- and you were breathing spores and you didn’t-”

“Okay, okay look.” Taehyung pulls up one of his arm sleeves, showing faded scars of bite marks and scratches on it. “See? All from infected but I didn’t turn. I- I’m immune. It’s a long story and I promise I’ll explain, but right now we need to get the fuck out of here. Jungkook, please.”

“Fuck fine,” Jungkook agrees because he maybe be pissed and confused, but he values his life. Taehyung reaches for his hand again, but Jungkook steps back, crossing his arms and ignoring the look of hurt on his face. “Lead the way, then.”

Taehyung nods and sets off wordlessly, Jungkook trailing behind him. They run along the stockroom, passing towers of crates and packaged goods stacked high until they reach an exit door, which leads them to a small back alley.

“Thank fuck,” Taehyung mutters, grabbing a wooden plank from the ground to lodge inbetween the handles. They climb over a short wall which leads them onto a main street, with towering apartment buildings covered in moss, vines and grass. Almost as if nature is trying to swallow the city whole.

It’s another fifteen minutes or so until they finally stop running and slow to a walk, leaving the main street to find a small, abandoned theatre hidden away behind the buildings. It looks empty and quiet, Jungkook can only hope they don’t run into any surprises in there.

They manage to squeeze through one of the stiff doors, and Taehyung does his best to barricade it with whatever he can find. When he’s done and turns around, there’s a gun trained on him.

“What the hell are you?”

∘✧ ──── ✧∘

“Jungkook.” Taehyung drops his bag and puts his hands up in an attempt to placate him. “Put the gun down, ple-”

“No, just tell me what the hell is going on! You- you were bit, an- and you can breathe in spores? And what, you’re immune ? What the fuck, Taehyung. Is this some kind of sick ploy to kill me-”

“ No, no, of course not. Please just let me explain. I promise I’ll tell you everything, just- just put it down.”

Jungkook reluctantly complies, slides the gun back in its holster and sits on one of the couches. As far as he can possibly muster. And it hurts, but yeah Taehyung gets it. He’d never meant for him to find out this way. Though if he’s being completely honest, he never meant for him to find out at all. He was only supposed to take him out of town and then they’d go their separate ways, he’d never expected to become so attached to the younger. Doesn’t think he could leave him now, after how far they’ve come. It’s only been a little under a month but after spending every waking hour together, Taehyung doesn’t think he could bear to never see the younger again. He has to fix this.

He sits on the other end of the couch, respecting Jungkook’s space and lets out a breath. 

“So. When this all started, I was around five? Almost six. And when my parents and I tried getting out of the city, like everybody else, I got bit. I started turning but then it stopped. Like nothing ever happened. That’s how I got this.” Taehyung points at his covered eye and pulls down the side of his turtleneck, showing faint, black veins crawling up his neck and under his jaw. “My parents were freaking out, thought I was gonna die, but after a couple of weeks, the bite started fading like any old scar so we didn’t do anything about it, didn’t tell anyone. A couple years passed and the Fireflies had already started taking over the city, but at the time it was different. They had doctors and scientists; they tried to help people. Went around treating people who were hurt and injured. My parents wanted to help out, since they were doctors too, and they thought it was our best chance at survival; they had food, shelter, so we joined them.

“Eventually we found out they weren’t just helping people for the fun of it, they were trying to find a cure. There were others like me, and they experimented on them to try and find an antidote but it never worked. They all died. My parents knew the same thing would happen to me so we never told anyone about what happened when I was younger. Except it happened again. When I was 15, we went out on a food run and I got bit, didn’t turn. But this time we weren’t alone, there were other Fireflies with us and they told everyone about me. They were all so mad, told my parents and I we were selfish for keeping it to ourselves as if it would’ve made a difference. They hadn’t made any type of progress in years , and every person they experimented on died. My parents weren’t selfish, they aren’t bad people, they were only trying to protect me. Save my life. Most people understood and forgave us but some didn’t. Including one of the scientists. For some reason he was convinced that I was the answer to everything, that I would be the ‘test subject’ that finally worked out. He begged and begged my parents to let him experiment on me but obviously they said no.

“Then one day, they went on a food run and I stayed behind. Wanted to play games with the other kids or some stupid shit like that, I dunno. Then the guy, the scientist, Dr. Lee, he was called, got a bunch of older kids to help him and they took me, tied me up in his lab so he could do whatever the fuck it is he wanted to do. And my parents they- their group came back earlier than planned and they found out, and it didn’t go over well. All shit broke loose, like a fucking civil war.” Taehyung chuckles dryly, staring at his hands. “My dad he- he shot Dr. Lee, killed him. He was so angry. And one of the leaders of the Fireflies, at the time, didn’t like that. Dr. Lee was his brother, so he, he said they’d keep me. I was only just a kid, he said, it wasn’t my fault, but my parents would be exiled. That’s what they told me ‘exiled’. But I’m not a fucking idiot, I knew my parents wouldn’t leave me there, they weren’t exiled , they were- they were killed. Shot.” He lets out a shaky breath, wiping harshly at his eyes, he hates crying. “Over time though, when I grew up, I think he started to resent me. In his eyes, I was a constant reminder of his brother being killed so he had me do their dirty work. Me and others like me. Instead of his guards, or whatever, he sent us to kill the infected, clear out areas for them to take over. We were just kids, most of us barely eighteen, but he didn’t care. Since we were immune he figured we wouldn’t die, or if we did better the hybrids die, than the actual humans. His words. 

“That’s what I was doing when I found you, I was on the way to clear out that grocery store, so they could get more food. It was never- I never had any bad intentions, I swear.” Taehyung turns to Jungkook, looking him in the eyes. “I would never hurt you, Jungkook, ever.”

Jungkook’s own eyes are red rimmed too when he looks away, wiping his cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I- Honestly, I never thought I’d stick around long enough to have to tell you. But then when I did, I just, I guess I was scared of how you’d react. Thought it’d scare you away.”

“Fuck,” Jungkook groans, head falling into his hands. Then he straightens up eyes earnest. “I’m sorry about your parents, you didn’t deserve that,” he says, always so kind even when he’s the one being wronged. “But fuck , this is- this is a lot. I need a sec.” He stands up and Taehyung panics, reaches forward. “Wait-”

“Taehyung, I just- give me a minute. Please.” Jungkook grabs his gun and sets off, disappearing up the stairs.

“Shit,” Taehyung groans, head lolling on the back of the couch, he rubs his face with his hands. 

He stays like that for a while, until he hears footsteps coming in his direction. He straightens up quickly, thinking it’s Jungkook coming back: it’s not.

“Well, well, what do we have here?”

✦✧✦✧

Jungkook makes his way up the grand staircase, walking with no distinct destination in mind, until he reaches a large balcony which overlooks the secluded street they came in from. It’s high up enough, and the pillars wide enough to hide him from view when he crouches behind one of them. His head falls into his hands and he sighs, still processing the information he’s just been given. So Taehyung’s immune. A ‘hybrid’, as those jackasses back at the checkpoint so nicely put it. 

Why hadn’t Taehyung just told him?

Maybe not when they’d first met, he figures “hey, I know I’m saving your life from flesh eating monsters but also surprise! I’m half one of them” wouldn’t have bode well, but what about after that? He thinks Taehyung had plenty of chances to let him know between then and now, didn’t he trust him? And what did he mean when he said he never thought he’d stick around? Did that mean he’d changed his mind? That he was willing to stay? Go to Jackson with Jungkook?

He groans quietly, distressedly ruffling his own hair. He’s so confused. Taehyung confuses him. This whole time Jungkook had been convinced that his feelings had been one-sided, that Taehyung only really tolerated him because he’d promised to help him out of the city, that after they separated he’d never see Taehyung again and have to get over his stupid crush eventually, but now? Taehyung seemed to actually care for him, whether platonic or not, he still felt something . And Jungkook doesn’t know what that means for them, if it even means anything. Taehyung probably just sees him as some dumb, little kid he needs to get to safety. But he called you pretty, that traitorous hope reminds him. 

Jungkook shakes his head, hoping it’ll shake away the thoughts as well. It doesn’t. He should probably ask, right? Find out where they stand. But he won’t. Doesn’t wanna risk rejection; he’s never handled it very well.

Jungkook looks up and catches his reflection on the glass of the door and scoffs. Here he is, in the middle of a world-ending apocalypse, agonising over whether a guy likes him back. He wants to laugh at the absurdity of it all. 

He’s about to get up and head back downstairs, when he hears distant voices. He freezes, peeks out from behind the pillar to see those same raiders - though there are significantly less of them now, only four - making their way inside the theatre via a side door. He doesn’t remember Taehyung barricading any side doors.

“Fuck,” he mutters, taking out his knife and crawling back inside. He hears footsteps coming up the stairs and hides behind one of the curtains, waiting for the assailant to get close enough before he jumps out, stabs him in the neck. And because Jungkook is apparently the unluckiest person alive, just as the dead man drops, another one pounces on him - he hadn’t been alone - sending them crashing to the floor. Jungkook struggles quite a bit; the man is twice his size, but manages to dodge most punches. He wiggles around enough to free his arm, takes the man’s gun from his holster whilst he’s busy trying to disfigure Jungkook, and shoots. The shot is noiseless and the man groans, slumping sideways to the floor. 

Huh. Silencer, cool. Jungkook pockets it. He pushes the man off of him and stands, flinching when he hears a gunshot coming from downstairs.

“ Taehyung. ”

∘✧ ──── ✧∘

Taehyung lunges for his bag and rifle, only to have them kicked out of his reach and two sets of arms pulling him to his knees. 

“Ah, ah, I don’t think so,” says the shortest of the bunch. He seems to be the oldest too, probably their leader. “You and your friend have cost me a lot of my men, you know that?”

Taehyung scoffs. “It’s not our fault you decided to go guns blazing in a building full of infected.”

“Boys, we have a comedian on our hands!” He laughs but it’s dry, void of any emotion. “Where is that friend of yours?” He asks and Taehyung stalls.

“He- he’s gone. Left. I’m the only one here.”

“Gone but he’s left a full bag of weapons and supplies here?” Another one asks, gesturing to Jungkook’s bag with his foot. And fuck, yeah, Taehyung didn’t think that one through. 

“You two, go find him.” He nods towards the stairs and Taehyung starts to rise to stop them, only to be punched in the stomach, hunching as the air gets knocked out of him. “Where do you think you’re going?” The one who punched him chuckles, dragging him back to his knees and holding him there. 

“What’s with the eye patch? What’cha hiding under there, Jack Sparrow?” Leader guy cackles, clearly pleased with his own joke.

“I don’t think Jack Sparrow had an eye patch actually,” the other guy says, prompting them to start bickering for a few seconds. It gives Taehyung just enough time to reach into the back of his jumper for the small pistol he keeps hidden there, pull it out and shoot at the guy in front of him. The one behind him freezes for a second, clearly shocked at the turn of events, allowing Taehyung to roll away from him, aim and shoot, but. Nothing. The pistol only clicks, mag empty. Well shit, he should remember to load it more. The raider pulls out his own gun, training it on Taehyung when-

“ Tae! ”

The man smirks, turning to aim his shot at Jungkook’s figure sprinting down the stairs, and Taehyung goes on autopilot. Springs to his feet and tackles him to the floor. The gun goes flying across the carpet, and Taehyung reaches for it but he’s not fast enough - mind still reeling at the thought of Jungkook almost getting shot - and now there’s a knife lodged in his side. 

Jungkook approaches them, shoots the guy dead and that’s all fine and dandy, one less threat to worry about, but there’s a knife lodged in his side.

Jungkook seems to sense something is wrong when Taehyung doesn’t straighten up from where he’s crouches over, and pulls him back, gasping when Taehyung’s body just gives out, sprawling onto the floor, blood seeping from his shirt to the carpet. 

“Oh my God,” he breathes, voice bordering on hysterical. “Tae- he- you- fuck .” Jungkook puts Taehyung’s arm around his shoulder, carefully rising and laying him on the couch. He pulls up the older’s shirt and pulls out the knife, gasping again when a gush of blood comes out and presses his hand against it. “There’s so much blood, what do I do?”

Taehyung winces at the pressure, voice shaky when he speaks. “In my bag there’s a first aid kit, you n- fuck, you need to stop the blood and clean it.” He looks at the blood stained knife on the floor and grimaces, it’s definitely sizable. “Probably gonna need to stitch it too.”

“What?” Jungkook’s breath hitches, and he looks up eyes wide. “I can’t- I can’t do that, I, I don’t know how, I’ll hurt you-”

“Yes you can, I’ll show you.”

“ Fuck . Okay. Okay just tell me what to do.”

Jungkook takes Taehyung’s bag and tips it out completely, frantically searching for the first aid kit. When he finds it he opens it and takes out a cloth, hands shaking so hard he almost drops it. 

Taehyung takes his shaking hands and squeezes. “You need to calm dow-”

“ Don’t tell me to calm down ,” he snaps. “You- you’re hurt, you’re bleeding Tae, how can I calm down.” There are tears welling in his eyes now and Taehyung’s chest seizes.

“Hey, hey,” he soothes, pressing their forehead together. “I’m okay, I promise. But you need to calm down so you can do this.” He wipes Jungkook’s tear stained cheeks, pressing a kiss to the top of his head and leans back on the arm rest, hissing at the movement.

Jungkook nods to himself, pressing the cloth against the wound, muttering soft apologies when Taehyung grunts in pain. It takes a couple of minutes for the bleeding to stop and he grabs another cloth, drenching it with almost half the bottle of antiseptic to clean it. The sting hurts like a bitch and Taehyung says as much, causing Jungkook to grab his hand and squeeze it. When the cut is as clean as Jungkook can get it, he takes the needle and thread, looking to Taehyung for help. The older explains the process in as much detail as he can, talking Jungkook through sterilising the needle and thread.

“Ready?” Jungkook asks, needle poised to make the first stitch and Taehyung isn’t, not at all, but the last thing he needs is for the younger to panic again so he nods. The needle pierces through his skin and Taehyung screams through grit teeth, almost blacking out from the pain. Jungkook pauses, squeezes his hands, mutters reassurances, then continues, makes quick work of it and he’s a fast learner, Taehyung finds out. Before long the wound is stitched up and he swipes some more disinfectant on it, then grabs a bandage, wrapping it around him. When the bandage is secured, the pair let out a breath at the same time, Taehyung slumping further into the couch, chest heaving. There’s sweat beading on his brow and his heart is going a hundred, maybe even two.

Jungkook rips one of the cloths in half, spilling some water from his canteen onto it and wipes it on Taehyung’s forehead. He makes the older drink some too, presses half an outdated cereal bar into his mouth despite Taehyung’s protests and sits back on his knees, resting his head on Taehyung’s thigh. 

Jungkook reaches for his hand, squeezes and Taehyung can feel tears seeping through his trousers.

“I’m okay, Kooks, you did so well. We’re okay, hm? We’re gonna be okay, I promise.” He says, raking a hand through the younger’s hair.

Jungkook sniffles, nods wordlessly and closes his eyes. Taehyung waits until his face relaxes and his breathing evens out to close his own eyes and fall asleep.

It’s been a month and they’re in Daejeon now; Taehyung thinks they could’ve made it to Busan by now, but the whole getting stabbed situation set them back a couple of weeks so he could recover. They’d found a small lakeside house, empty and still relatively clean, and had decided to shack up there for a little while, because who knows the next time they’ll have access to water before getting to Jackson? They had been staying here a few days already to rest, and were planning to set off again the next morning. 

Taehyung startled when Jungkook suddenly groaned beside him, taking up almost the entire bed as he stretched, then rolled towards him, face planting his chest. Taehyung chuckles, running a hand through Jungkook’s hair. Okay so. They had definitely gotten closer over the last few weeks, it seems the incident back at the theatre had been the catalyst of their relationship; made them realise how important they are to each other. Taehyung wants to laugh at the past version of him who’d genuinely thought he and Jungkook would’ve gone their separate ways by now. Taehyung doesn’t think he could ever let him go now. Doesn’t want to.

“Hyung.” 

“Hm?”

“Hi.” Jungkook rubs his face against Taehyung’s shirt then looks up, eyes still droopy and half closed from fatigue, bedhead sticking up in every direction - his hair had grown again, curling just above his cheekbones - and lips pursed in a natural pout. Taehyung wants to kiss him. Yeah… Those feelings are a thing now too, but he doesn’t know what to do about them so he pushes them away. A tiny voice in his mind tells him that if he were to kiss him, Jungkook wouldn’t mind but Taehyung ignores it.

“Hey. Slept well?” Taehyung asks, watching as Jungkook’s eyes close involuntarily and he fights to keep them open. He’s just too cute.

Jungkook hums and nods, rubbing his eyes. “Had the best dream,” he mumbles voice groggy.

“Yeah? What about?”

“Mm well.” He shifts to lay on his back, facing the ceiling. “We found Jackson, and we were on the beach and it was sunny.” He pauses. “My parents were there too. I miss them.”

“What happened to them?” Taehyung asks quietly.

“The usual; got bit. Shot themselves before they could turn.”

“Fuck, Kooks, I’m sorry.”

Jungkook shrugs. “Don’t be. Shit happens,” he says matter-of-factly, but his shaky voice betrays him.

“Come back, I’m cold,” Taehyung pulls Jungkook back into his arms. “And tell me more about Jackson, I wanna know what I’m walking into,” he adds, hoping it’ll distract him. 

Jungkook huffs a laugh but complies anyway, words muffled on Taehyung’s chest.

It’s another hour or two until they finish talking and finally get out of bed, having decided that Taehyung would go on a food run by himself - they’d started to run a bit low on provisions - while Jungkook stayed behind to watch the house and start a fire.

As he slides out of bed, getting ready to leave, Taehyung looks at Jungkook still sprawled in the sheets and finds himself thinking he could get used to this. Can’t wait to find Jackson if it means waking up to this everyday with a beach at their disposal. He smiles softly at the younger rolling around in the bed like a kitten and dons his gear, this time remembering to load the pistol he keeps hidden in the back of his trousers with ammo. 

Taehyung approaches the bed and presses a kiss to Jungkook’s forehead, giggling quietly when the younger scrunches nose. That’s also a thing they do now; kisses to say goodbye even if it’s only temporary.

“See you soon.”

“Later, hyung.”

“And this time actually remember to start the fire?” Taehyung teases, throwing a pillow at him. “Don’t stay in bed all day.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes so hard it’s almost audible. “You sound like my brother, go away, bye !” He pulls the covers over his head and Taehyung’s chest almost aches with how fond he feels.

“Bye Kooks,” he says, tossing another pillow at him then running out before the younger can retaliate because Taehyung values his life.

It’s a thirty minute walk back into the village where more houses are - the lakehouse had been quite secluded - and Taehyung feels a little uneasy at the thought of Jungkook being so far away and alone, but he knows the younger can take care of himself. The little town is deserted; the houses aren’t even boarded up as a sign of people having tried to survive, it looks like they all just left or gave up, though Taehyung can’t blame them. There’s not much to live for in a world like this, no such thing as home or family, he’d discovered that firsthand. He himself had been hanging on by a thread, wondering why the fuck he’d been trying so hard to survive when there was no point until Jungkook had stumbled into his path: his own little angel of life (corny as that sounds). Gave Taehyung something to fight for, a future to look forward to - as friends or something more, Taehyung didn’t care, so long as he could stay by his side.

He eyes the biggest house on the street, thinks how once upon a time a large family must’ve lived here, which hopefully means he has a better chance of finding more food. Also means a higher chance of more infected but he doesn’t think too hard about that. He walks up the long path leading up to the house, watching how the grass patches sandwiching it are overgrown and unruly, they reach his knees. Taehyung wonders how they would look were they still green and groomed, maybe there’d be flower beds lining the outside of it, kids running around playing tag, maybe even a paddling pool. He smiles sadly, trying not to think about what must’ve happened to the family and heads inside.

The inside of the house is dark, the curtains are drawn, leaving only a few slivers of sunlight to creep through. It’s quiet too, not even the groan or shuffling of a stalker. Taehyung thinks he might have lucked out but still stays on his guard. The kitchen is grand, has a kitchen island and a dining table, and still plenty of space to roam around. He quickly rummages through all of the cupboards, making a point to avoid the fridge because he’d made that mistake one too many times, and comes out empty handed. He’d half expected it; a house this big, he’s likely not the first to have thought it’d be full of food, doesn’t make it any less disappointing though.

He continues to loot through the house, hoping to find some helpful supplies, and stumbles across a med kit. It’s half empty, only has a couple of plasters and bandages, but he’s come to learn by now that anything is indispensable in this world.

He slips out of the house, closing the door behind him and repeats the process for every other house on the street, there’s only a dozen, and two and a half hours later, he comes out with some extra clothes, more first aid supplies, a shotgun, but no food. Taehyung sighs as he closes the last door of the house he’d just gone through; they’re going to have to be a lot more economical with what they have until they at least reach Daegu, hopefully there they’ll have more luck.

He heads back down the path he came from and realises how every house he’d gone into had been empty, not even a single dead body; a ghost town. He hasn’t come across one of those in a long time and wonders where all the people are now, whether they’re still alive. Unlikely. 

Taehyung takes almost an hour to get back to the lake house, because he’d taken a detour in the woods to see if he could catch something: no luck. He hopes they can fish something from the lake.

As he nears the house he can see smoke, smiles because Jungkook had actually started the fire this time instead of sleeping the day away, then that smile promptly drops when he opens the door and hears voices inside. Voices that aren’t Jungkook. Taehyung takes out the shotgun and rushes into the house.

✦✧✦✧

Jungkook falls asleep again as soon as he hears the door close and wakes up an hour or so later, this is the most comfortable bed he’s slept on in a while and he's gonna take full advantage of it before they leave, sue him. He slips out of bed and shuffles around the house, which is more of a cabin, a little disoriented. He figures he still has time to kill before Taehyung comes back and heads outside, taking one of the towels hanging on a tree branch to wash himself in the lake. Jungkook cleans himself and his clothes, leaving them to sun dry on the large rocks which separate the lake from the land. He towels himself off and goes back inside to put on some clothes - the previous owners of the cabin had left a lot behind - then heads back outside and gets to work. 

He starts by filling up a large pot with water, then makes a small fire to boil it clean, filters it through some cloth and charcoal - a trick he’d learned from his mother - then boils it again and lets it cool. He leaves it to the side for Taehyung to cook with when he comes back and then repeats the process so he can fill up their canteens and the empty water bottles they’d found lying around. By the time he’s done, he’s sweating from the heat of the fire and the sky has started to darken slightly. He makes a larger fire, lights up the lanterns hanging around the garden, and makes to go light some candles inside the house, when he hears shuffling inside and voices. 

Jungkook curses quietly when he realised he’s left all his gear upstairs and settles on the metal fire poker he’d taken from the fireplace and creeps inside.

He takes advantage of the fact that the sun is going down rather quickly, and sticks to the shadows, making his way towards the voices.

“-sure there’s anyone here,” one of them says.

“I smell smoke coming from outside though, I’ll check it out.”

Jungkook waits with bated breath until the intruder is within arms’ reach then jumps, tackles them, weapon poised to stab when-

“Jungkookie?”

“Jimin, we heard noise what is-”

“Jimin?” Jungkook whispers looking down at the man underneath him. “H-hyung?”

“Oh my God,” Jimin croaks, sliding out from under Jungkook to tackle him into a tight hug. “Jungkook-ah, you- you’re alive .” He strokes Jungkook’s hair, the latter sobbing into his neck, shaky hands coming up to wrap around his hyung’s waist. “I can’t believe y- I thought you wer-” Jimin hiccuping sobs cut him off and he holds the younger even tighter, like he’s scared he’ll disappear if he lets go.

“Jimin-ah, what happened?”

Jungkook glances up at the sound of that voice, gasping when his older brother, Seokjin rushes in, followed by his boyfriend Namjoon.

Namjoon does a double take, eyes widening in recognition then drops to his knees, gasping in turn, hands coming up to cover his mouth. Seokjin is alarmed for a second at his boyfriend suddenly collapsing but then Jungkook croaks out a broken ‘hyung’ and the elder’s eyes snap to him.

“Gukah?” 

“Hyu-” Jungkook can barely even get the word out before he’s wrapped up in bigger arms and cradled against a warm, broad chest. 

“Jungkook-ah, is- it’s really you? You’re oka- you’re alive?”

“Hyung, it’s me, I- I’m here.”

He feels two more set of arms wrap around him, holding tightly, and despite his current situation; a deserted cabin in the woods, in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, Jungkook thinks that wrapped up in his hyungs’ arms again he’s never felt safer.

They stay like this for a while, hugging and crying, until Namjoon mentions that he can’t feel his legs and they break out into laughter - even though it’s really not all that funny - and stand, still holding hands, unable to let go.

“I can’t believe we found you,” Jimin smiles, cupping Jungkook’s cheek and wiping a tear.

“You were looking for me?” Jungkook asks and they all nod.

“Of course we were,” Namjoon says, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “We found it, you know. We found Jackson, it’s real Guk-ah. But it- it didn’t feel right without you.”

“It was hyung’s idea,” Jimin says, nodding towards Seokjin, the latter just watching Jungkook silently, patting his hair, stroking his back, as if making sure he was real. “He was convinced you were still alive, that you’d been looking for us, so we had to meet you halfway.”

Jungkook tears up again, hugging his brother tightly. “You did it. You found me.”

“I did,” Seokjin sniffles, dropping a kiss to the top of his head.

“Let’s go sit outside and talk,” Jungkook says, wiping his eyes and nose with his hand. “It’s warmer, I started a fire and-”

They all startle when the front door bursts open and Taehyung comes barging in with a shotgun in his hand. “Get the fuck away from him,” he trains the gun on Seokjin and Jungkook panics stepping in front of him.

“Hyung stop! Put the gun down, I’m okay.”

He walks towards Taehyung, the latter fretting over him once he’s within arms reach. Taehyung extends his arm to brush away Jungkook’s tears which makes his sleeve roll down and-

“Jungkookie get back, he’s bit!” 

Jungkook looks up in time to see Jimin pulling out his own gun and he wants to scream because why is he surrounded by such dramatic people.

“Everyone just shut up !”

The room goes silent, everybody looking at Jungkook expectantly and he sighs. “Hyungs, this is Taehyung my- my friend, he’s not infected it’s just- it’s a long story. Taehyung these are my hyungs I told you about. The ones I was separated from, they were looking for me.”

“Oh.”

“Let’s just, let’s all go outside and eat and talk. There’s a lot of catching up to do.”

They all sit around the fire and eat, Seokjin having whipped up a small feast of kimchi fried rice. Jungkook wants to cry because he didn’t think he’d ever taste kimchi again. Taehyung seems to share the same sentiment, if the way he’s scarfing down his plate is any indication.

“So you’re immune?” Seokjin says after Taehyung had given them a watered down explanation of what had happened to him. “That’s- wow. You know back at Jackson there’s a hospital, well it’s more of a house-turned-clinic but, they’ve been running experiments, maybe they could run tests on you-”

Taehyung tenses up, staring resolutely into his plate and Jungkook reaches for his hand and squeezes, catching his brother’s gaze and shaking his head frantically. Seokjin seems confused but he takes it in stride anyway, backtracking and apologising. “Or not, you don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with, sorry I just- More rice anyone?”

Namjoon smiles apologetically at his boyfriend’s tactlessness and Jungkook rubs Taehyung’s knee with his other hand, changing the subject.

“So what’s Jackson like? Is it like Mum and Dad, described?”

“Even better, Guk,” Jimin pipes up, setting down his plate. “It’s even bigger than we thought, they’re always expanding further out to nearby towns, trying to accomodate more people. We have our own house! It’s a bit further away from the middle of town since we’re new, but it’s near the beach. You'd love it. They have a school for the kids, as well, though there aren’t many of them, maybe like two dozen, Namjoon helps out there, the children love him.

There’s even a bar, with actual alcohol, they got it from a brewery a few miles away from the town. They’re trying to make their own too, but it’s- um, definitely a work in progress,” he grimaces.

“The people there are nice too, everyone knows we’re doing our best to survive so no one really starts shit. There’s been a few close calls, but they get kicked out or killed. It’s fucked, but I guess they’re doing what they think is best to protect the town, you know? Can’t risk an uprising or someone gathering up people to take over Jackson. 

“The families who run it, the Jungs and the Mins, they’re really nice. Especially the sons, Yoongi and Hoseok, you’d love them. And it’s safe, they’ve only had one or two break ins with raiders but since then they’ve upped the security and it hasn’t happened again. And no infected. There’s an electric wall all around the town that keeps them away and there are patrols that get rid of them when they get too close. It’s like heaven, Guk.”

Jungkook sighs wistfully and smiles. “Sounds like it.”

“Is it far from here?” Taehyung asks, squeezing back.

“Like a week and a bit? Give or take.”

“Maybe even shorter since we know the way now,” Seokjin says, handing Taehyung another bowl of food; peace offering. Taehyung accepts it with a small smile, offering some to Jungkook, insisting when he refuses. Namjoon eyes the interaction, cocking an eyebrow at Jungkook questioningly and subtly nodding at Taehyung but the younger shakes his head, he does not want to have that conversation now. Namjoon stifles a laugh but drops it, turning back to his meal.

“We should set off tomorrow,” Seokjin starts, leaning back in his seat. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we’ll get there.”

“Yes but before that.” Namjoon stands to rummage through his bag, then plops into Seokjin’s lap holding out a bottle of whiskey. “Snagged it from that house we stayed in a couple days ago, remember? Was waiting for the right moment to get it out.”

Seokjin sighs and takes the bottle, shifting so Namjoon rests comfortably against his chest. “Baby, one sip of this and I’ll be dragging you around all morning, you know you’re a lightweight.”

“So?” Namjoon says, snatching the bottle back and opening it. “We’re celebrating, we found Jungkookie!” He takes a quick mouthful, then hands the bottle to Jimin before Seokjin can react, smiling prettily and batting his eyelashes exaggeratedly. Jungkook can see Seokjin positively melt at the sight and yuck he did not miss that.

“I’ve had to deal with that everyday,” Jimin says, reading his mind. “Glad the three of us can share that burden now.” He passes the bottle to Taehyung, then pointedly eyes their joined hands. “Though it looks like I’m still gonna be third-wheeling. Fifth-wheeling? Whatever.”

“Shut up,” Jungkook mumbles, flushing, he can feel Taehyung’s gaze on the side of his face but resolutely stares at the ground.

He wills his cheeks to cool down and when he looks up a few minutes later, Jimin and Taehyung are talking animatedly and laughing, probably at him since he hears his name mentioned a couple of times and Seokjin and Namjoon are making out, bordering on indecent. Jungkook takes in the scene before him and smiles, thinks this is the happiest he’s been in a long time.

A few days later and they’re passing through Daegu, Seokjin and Namjoon are ahead, leading the way, Taehyung and Jimin are chatting away in the middle - the pair had gotten quite close over the past couple of days, and Jungkook watches them all with a smile. Taehyung turns to look at him and drops back, nudging him with his elbow. “You okay? You’ve been kinda quiet today.”

Jungkook hums. “Just thinking.”

“Oh no.”

“Shut up.” Jungkook swats his arm and Taehyung dodges it laughing. 

“Thinking about what?”

“Jackson. I’m so excited to get there and see everything. I feel like I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes.”

Taehyung nods. “Mm, me too. First thing I’m doing when we arrive is getting a drink.”

“I wanna see the beach.”

Taehyung laces their fingers, he’d become a lot more tactile lately and it wasn’t good for Jungkook’s heart or cheeks. “We’ll go together.”

“Ugh,” Jimin gags. “And I thought they were bad. Break it up lovebirds!” He wiggles between the pair, throwing an arm around both.

“The bell tower!” Seokjin suddenly exclaims, pointing at it. “We’re almost there.” He takes out an axe and Namjoon follows suit, taking out his own weapon. “Be careful though, there’s a lot of infected in the area. ‘Think there might be a horde nearby.” He turns to his little brother. “Jungkook-ah stay close.”

Jungkook nods, remembering the last time they were faced with a horde, he doesn’t want that happening again. Jimin moves so that Jungkook’s in the middle now, as if that’ll change anything, and takes out a rifle with a suppressor.

Following Seokjin’s lead they make it to a riverside just under an hour later, having only come across one or two runners.

“This is it,” the eldest says, walking towards a pile of branches and large leaves, unveiling a small motorboat. “This’ll take us to Busan.”

“Didn’t know there was a river from Daegu to Busan,” Taehyung ponders.

“There isn’t,” Namjoon says, pointing at some fallen street signs on the ground. “It used to be a highway but roads collapsed and it flooded over time.”

“And this is the only way to Busan?”

“Mm no, you could probably go around the water, into the woods, but it’d take much longer and God only knows what you’d find along the way,” Jimin explains. 

“Alright enough chatter!” Seokjin says. “Someone help me flip this. With any luck, we’ll be in Jackson by sundown.”

“I’m so excited,” Jungkook mumbles to Taehyung and the latter smiles back, squeezing his hand.

Though Jungkook should’ve learned by now that luck was never truly on his side.

Seokjin pulls on the boat’s lever to kickstart the engine and it splutters and coughs but doesn’t start; that in itself is a problem. It could’ve stopped there, should’ve stopped there, but the second he lets go of the lever, the boat silences, and another noise replaces it. Clicks, groans, screeches. They’ve attracted the horde with all that sound, or at least some part of it.

“Shit,” Namjoon sighs, lifting his gun but Taehyung lowers it, shaking his head.

“There’s too many of them.”

And surely enough, Jungkook can count at least two dozen hurtling towards them. At least.

“In here!” Jimin sprints towards a nearby gas station, shouldering the door open, but it doesn’t budge. Seokjin and Taehyung rush to help him, but even with the added weight it doesn’t move. Jungkook spots a red ladder scaling up the side of the small building, shakes it a few times to check that it’s sturdy and calls them over. “Up here quick!” He shouts over his shoulder, knowing he’s attracted the attention of a few infected. They all clamber up to the roof quickly, Seokjin knocking down the ladder with his axe once they’re all safely up so none of them can climb up after them.

“What the fuck do we do now?” Namjoon says, dropping to a crouch, holding his head in his hands. Honestly Jungkook has no idea. They’re pretty much stranded up here, on a rooftop, surrounded by infected.

At the back of the building there’s a small area, gated away from the infected where the bins are, but it leads into the trees and he doubts they’ll get very far. Doesn’t even know if they’ll find a way out.

“We need something to distract them,” Jimin says. “Give Jin hyung enough time to figure out what’s wrong with the engine so we can get the fuck out of here.”

“And how do you suggest we do that, Min? We’re stuck up here,” Seokjin huffs, kicking a stone off the roof. It hits a clicker in the back of the head, and it turns, flailing at the air as it searches for the perpetrator. Under less dire circumstances, Jungkook would’ve laughed.

“The bell tower,” Taehyung suddenly states, clicking his fingers. “If someone were to ring that, it would attract them right?”

“Yes. And every other infected within a three mile radius,” Seokjin says, sitting on the edge of the roof. “How are we gonna ring it if we’re all stuck here?”
“I’ll go,” Taehyung says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“What? No you won’t.” Jungkook frowns. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m immune Kooks, worst case scenario I get bit.”

“But-”

“And besides, better the hybrid goes than the actual humans right?” He says trying to lighten the mood but Jungkook frowns even deeper.

“That’s not fucking funny Taehyung, you’re not going.”

“Jungkook.” Taehyung levels him with a look, voice serious. “Do you have any other ideas?”

The younger shakes his head. “There has to be another way, we can-”

“There is no other way unless we wanna live out our days up here.” Taehyung turns to the others. “Guys back me up.”

Jimin looks apprehensive but he nods. “Gukah he’s right, it might be our only chan-”

“How can you say that!” Jungkook knows he’s being too loud, but there are tears welling in his eyes and he’s past the point of caring. “What if he dies out there?”

Taehyung softens, taking his hand. “Jungkook-”

“I’ll come with you.”

“No,” Seokjin says, getting up. “You’re not going anywhere. I’m faster, I’ll go with him-”

“No you won’t, I’m going alone,” Taehyung says, not leaving any room for discussion. “I’m faster alone.” Then he turns to Jungkook, the younger practically sobbing at this point. “I’ll be quick, I promise. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Tae-”

“If I’m not back by sundown, promise me you’ll leave without me.”

Jungkook gapes at him. “ No !”

“Promise me,” Taehyung insists but Jungkook shakes his head. 

“Jungkook-ah, baby, please ,” he says voice desperate. He cups Jungkook’s cheeks, resting their foreheads together and Jungkook swears he sees tears in the older’s eyes. It only serves to make him cry harder. “Please. Just promise you’ll go if I’m not back, please.”

“You- you said we were gonna be okay, you promised ,” Jungkook sobs, voice catching on every other word. “You said we were gonna see the beach together.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry baby, I’m so sorry.” Taehyung wraps him up in a hug, holding tightly and kisses the top of his head. “I’ll come find you, I swear I’ll make my way back to you, but I need to go, Gukah.”

“Okay,” Jungkook whispers, nodding, mostly to himself. Taehyung’s grip loosens as he lets go and Jungkook’s heart clenches. “Wait.” He cups Taehyung’s jaw, reaches up and kisses him softly. Taehyung stalls for a moment, surprised but melts into it, arms wrapping around the other’s waist. Taehyung deepens the kiss and Jungkook makes a small noise but lets him, hand threading through his hair. Eventually they pull back for air, foreheads resting against each other. “Be careful,” Jungkook murmurs, stroking his head. “And come back to me.”

“I will,” Taehyung says, then he’s gone. Lets go to say goodbye to the others and Jungkook turns away staring at his feet, can’t bear to watch him leave. He doesn’t even realise he’s crying again until a pair of arms wrap around him and Seokjin shushes him quietly, petting his hair. 

His legs give out and he’s carefully being lowered to the ground, cheek resting on the older’s lap.

Seokjin hums quietly, a song their mother used to sing to them when he was younger, and Jungkook closes his eyes, ignores the groaning and snarling below them, focuses on his brother’s voice and falls asleep.

When he wakes up, the sky has gotten considerably darker and the horde is gone, he spots Seokjin and Namjoon in the distance fixing the boat. Taehyung did it. He sits up quickly, wondering how the fuck he slept through the sound of the bell and glances around. 

“You’re up,” Jimin says, crouching before him and stroking his hair. “Get up, come on. They’re done, we need to go.”

“Where’s Taehyung?” He asks as he stands, rubbing his eyes. He repeats the question when Jimin silently stares at the ground.

“He’s not- He didn’t come back Gukah.”

“What? But he- he said said to wait until sundown, maybe we need to wait a little longer-”

“Sundown was almost two hours ago and he rang the bell hours before that, it’s- I, I don’t think he’s coming back. I’m sorry Jungkookie.”

Jungkook starts to protest weakly but Jimin shakes his head.

“We have to go.”

“Fine,” Jungkook sniffs, lump forming in his throat. He knows they have to go, he promised Taehyung but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.

He follows Jimin off of the roof and to the boat wordessly, eyes fixed on the ground. 

“All set?” He hears someone ask but can’t pinpoint the voice, everything sounds like white noise to him right now. A hand helps him onto the boat and another strokes his back.

“I’m sorry, Jungkook-ah.”

He doesn’t say anything.

The engine of the boat starts and he watches as the gas station gets smaller and smaller until it completely disappears from view.

Three weeks later

They’ve been in Jackson a while now, and it’s everything like Jimin described, if not better. They’d been welcomed with open arms, given food and water, especially Jungkook. It seemed as though Seokjin, Namjoon and Jimin had told the whole town of their missing little brother. Their house is one of the best parts of the whole place, it’s small, but has three bedrooms and overlooks the beach. Jungkook spends most mornings on the back patio, watching the sun rise from the dark water below. The house even has a working TV, though they rarely use it, there’s no satellites, obviously, and Jungkook has seen the few DVDs they have enough times to last him a lifetime. Also after hearing he liked to sing, Mr. Min, Yoongi hyung’s dad, had gifted him an old record player with a couple of disks, ‘vinyls’ he’d called them. Jungkook likes it a lot. He plays music every night to sleep so he doesn’t have to be left alone with his thoughts. His favourite is one by Frank Sinatra; the songs are slow and smooth. Peaceful. It’s called jazz, Seokjin had told him. Jungkook likes jazz. He thinks Taehyung would’ve liked jazz too.

“Jungkookie oppa, why do you look sad?”

Jungkook snaps out of his thoughts and looks at the little pouting girl in front of him, Naeun, she’s his favourite though don’t tell anyone he said that. Just like him, she doesn’t have any parents and lives with Eunbi (her ‘bestest friend in the whole wide world’) and her parents. She can’t be more than eight but she’s always smiling and caring, and helps Jungkook out when the other kids won’t listen. It only happens very rarely, they all like him, but he’s still new and it takes some getting used to. After a week and a half of him moping and crying in his bed, Namjoon had offered a change of environment and had taken him along to the school to sit in one of his classes. Jungkook had liked it a lot, he’d been smiling and giggling by the end of the lesson, the children were too cute, and now he teaches them music. Well. He’s more of an aid to Ms. Lee the actual teacher, she’s tall and very sweet and used to be a musician before- before. She knows how to play just about every instrument. Jungkook just helps her keep the kids in check and sings when she needs him to.

A small hand takes and shakes his wrist and he blinks, looking down at Naeun. “Huh? Oh, I’m not sad Naeunie, I’m just thinking.”

Naeun frowns, she doesn’t seem convinced and says as much. “Lying is not good, oppa.” She runs to her desk to grab something, then runs back, plopping a tiny bunny plushie in Jungkook’s lap. “Here. This is Loopsy. I hug him when I’m sad.”

Jungkook’s heart melts. “Oh no, Naeun I can’t take this, it’s yours.”

The little girl shakes her head, pinning him with a look and Jungkook won’t lie, he’s intimidated for a solid two seconds. “I have more at home promise! Also he kinda looks like you.”

Jungkook smiles, then remembers the last person who’d said he looked like a bunny and he wants to cry all over again. “Thank you, Naeunie.”

“You’re welcome!” She chirps, lunging forward to hug him. 

Then Jeongyeon, another woman, about his age give or take, who also works at the school, comes into the classroom to collect the kids for lunch. They all rush out of the classroom and to the dining hall, trailed by Ms. Lee.

“Jungkook-ah you coming to eat?” Jeongyeon asks. “It’s jjajangmyeon today.”

Jungkook shakes his head, it sounds good but he doesn’t think he can stomach food right now. “Save me some for dinner?”

“Of course!” She beams and startles when she hears a small yell. “Yah! Minhyuk stop biting Sooyoung’s hair!” She smiles apologetically at him then takes off down the corridor, leaving Jungkook to chuckle after her.

✦✧✦✧

It’s a few hours later and Jungkook is sitting at his favourite spot on the beach watching the sun go down, Loopsy poised next to him carefully. There’s a small wooden house tucked under the cliff he’s sitting on, with a long winding path that leads to the sand and water. It’s old, could do with some renovation but he wonders why nobody lives there. Maybe they think it’s lonely, hidden way from the rest of the town. But Jungkook thinks it’s perfect. Would be perfect. He closes his eyes as a strong breeze washes over him, breathes in the fresh air and the salt from the sea.

“I really wish you were here,” he mumbles to the water. He hears footsteps behind him and a hand ruffles his hair.

“Knew I’d find you here.”

He lifts his head and sees Hoseok smiling down at him. 

“Hey hyung.”

“You okay?” He crouches beside him and Jungkook hums with a shrug. “This is cute,” Hoseok says, picking up Loopsy and flapping his ears. “Looks like you.”

“Why does everybody say that.” Jungkook rolls his eyes.

“‘Cause it’s true. Now come on.” The older stands up, pulling Jungkook up with him and hands him a rifle. “Patrol time.”

That’s Jungkook’s least favourite part of the day; patrolling the front gates. It’s tedious and his shift takes hours, but he figures it’s the least he could do seeing as he’s been given a home now. He groans but follows Hoseok back to town all the same, stuffing Loopsy in his pocket.

Once they get to the gate, he climbs up to the watchtower, waving at Yoongi and Jihyo at the other tower. He sits on the fabric camping chair and waits. That’s all they do really; wait for the threat that never comes. It’s so boring, he hates it. It’s getting dark so the lights come on, all fluorescent and blinding. He waits. A couple of hours must’ve passed by now and Jungkook starts to doze off, lids heavy when he hears Hoseok’s walky-talky crackling.

“Got a visual,” Jihyo’s voice said. “A man, looks young, he’s bleeding all over.”

Jungkook stands leaning over the railing and peers out, he can barely see anything, the man is still pretty far away and blurry.

He grabs the binoculars to get a better look and- “Oh my God,” he mutters.

“Shit, he’s bit,” Jihyo hisses. “Get ready to shoot.”

“No!” Jungkook screams, snatching the radio from Hoseok. “Don’t shoot. Do not shoot! Noona please trust me.” She looks over at him from the other tower then nods.

“Stand down guys, don’t shoot.”

Jungkook clambers down the ladder, running towards the gates. “Open the gates! Open up the gates!”

“You heard the kid, open the gates,” Yoongi’s voice filters through the radio. 

Jungkook waits until the gates are open wide enough for him to slip through, and runs to Taehyung. The latter, having recognised him, starts to run too, though it looks like he’s limping. They meet in the middle, jumping into each other's arms and Jungkook is already sobbing in his neck, Taehyung is too, if the wetness he feels on his shoulder is any indication.

“You’re here, you- you’re alive,” Jungkook cries, slipping off his eye patch and cradling his face.

“I said I’d find you, didn’t I? ‘Said I’d come back to you.”

“I thought I’d never see you again, thought you’d-”

“Hey, I’m okay, I promise. I’m here now.” He kisses Jungkook and hugs him tighter. 

“I’m home.”

Taehyung sprints down the street, apologising to the people he bumps into, and dips into the bar. The few people inside smile when they see him, they return to whatever they were doing, hardly phased by his appearance. When he’d first arrived, a little over a month ago, he’d been welcomed by most of the town after his friends had explained who he was. Some had opposed at first, convinced he’d turn and kill all of the town but after Jungkook’s very, let’s say persuasive convincing, they’d agreed reluctantly. He doesn’t even wear his eye patch anymore.

He sees Mina and Dahyun behind the bar polishing glasses and makes his way over, hands slamming on the countertop from his momentum.

“Are you being chased?” Dahyun asks, cocking an eyebrow.

“No?” Taehyung says, chest heaving.

“Then no running in my bar.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes. “It’s not even your bar, it’s your dad’s-”

“Which makes it mine by association,” she huffs.

“Alright you two, don’t start,” Mina says, ever the mediator between them both. “Do you need something Taehyung?”

“Do you have wine? Or I dunno something sweet?”

“Sure.” She nods. “What are we celebrating? You finally done with the house?”

Taehyung nods in turn and Dahyun beams, clapping her hands together. “Ahh he’s gonna love it!”

“I hope so,” Taehyung smiles shyly, scratching the back of his head.

“Here.” Mina hands him a bottle of something pink. “It’s only strawberry juice, we’re in season so there’s a lot to spare. I’d give you wine but well, I think we need to tweak the recipe, it tastes very vinegary?”

Taehyung grimaces. “Well thank you, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Good luck!” They shout after him.

He runs out, passing by Dahyun’s house where he plucks a few flowers, he’s sure she won’t mind, goes through the town square, until he reaches the school. It’s hometime now, he can tell by the kids rushing home or waiting for their parents. Jungkook’s probably still inside. He makes his way in and to the classroom, leaning on the doorframe as he watches Jungkook flitting around the room, picking up stray pens and instruments. When he’s rearranging the desk, Taehyung sidles up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist. “Hey pretty.”

Jungkook startles, instinctively reaching for a weapon, but relaxes when he hears Taehyung’s voice.

“What did I tell you about creeping up on me?” He turns around, resting his hands on Taehyung’s shoulders.

“That it’s fun and I should always do it?”

“Haha. Very funny.”

“I know, maybe I should become a comedian for the kids.”

Jungkook swats his arm, then leans forward to kiss him. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Taehyung grins. “I have something to show you.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll see when we get there.” Taehyung hands him the flowers and takes his hand, pulling him outside.

When they reach the beach, Taehyung makes him hold the juice and covers his eyes with his hands, walking them towards the house. “Ready? Keep ‘em closed.” He opens the door and leads them inside, closing it behind him. “Okay open!”

Jungkook does and gasps when he takes in his surroundings. Taehyung, along with the help of a few friends he’s made here, had been fixing up and decorating the house. They hadn’t been able to find any paint nor figured out how to fix the glass of one of the doors - hence the peeling white walls in the living room and bathroom, and the door boarded up with wood - but he had found some furniture in some of the empty houses and had been able to arrange it to the best of his abilities. The house itself is small, only one floor, the bedroom and bathroom on the right side of the house, while the kitchen and living room are open. But the floor to ceiling windows let in lots of light and make it look bigger than it is. It does mean that they’ll have to snuggle up with extra jumpers and blankets during winter, but Taehyung doesn’t mind.

“Is this what you were doing when I was at the school?” Jungkook asks, sitting and bouncing on the sofa.

“Maybe.”

“You’re amazing, I love it. I love you.”

Taehyung smiles softly. “I love you.”

“Ah it’s perfect!” The younger springs up, dashing off to see the bedroom.

Taehyung thinks Jungkook is being too nice; he hasn’t figured out how to make the electricity work yet, just about every door in the house creaks loudly when opened and the shower bursts out with ice cold water every five minutes.

It’s far from perfect but it’s home.