Oneshot: Let's Try (save the world)
Let’s try (save the world)
Amber-centric (OT5, Amber/Luna)
3,350w
pg
”Are you going to take two of each animal with you, as well?” The world is ending so Amber decides to build a boat.
(Written for unniedearest’s 2013 Halloween Challenge, using the prompt (non-zombie) apocalypse. This fic is honestly so ridiculous and holds no scientific basis whatsoever. Sorry about that. Cross-posted to AO3.)
It’s all you hear about on the news these days, how the ice caps are melting and the sun is getting hotter each year. Entire species’ of animals are becoming extinct as the world watches; still, everyone looks at you like you’re crazy when you suggest building a boat.
It’s your last week of school and all the kids in your class laugh at you. The girl at the desk to your right rolls her eyes and makes a joke about Noah’s ark (“Are you going to take two of each animal with you, as well?” she sneers), it’s not funny but you laugh anyway. Even though you want to cry.
After class two girls approach you. Krystal and Sulli, you know their names are. You’ve never really talked to them, but with the world ending, now is as good a time as any to start.
“We’ll help you build a boat,” Sulli says, and you don’t know if it’s some sort of joke that they’re playing on you, but there’s no malice in her voice and Krystal’s head bobs from beside her as she smiles.
“Okay.” You say gratefully.
Okay. You are going to build a boat.
Krystal’s uncle used to be a boat builder. He owns an old factory near the outskirts of Seoul and doesn’t find it weird when three teenage girls turn up and ask him if they can make use of it.
“It’s for a summer project!” Krystal promises, and her uncle just nods, tips back his bottle of fast warming beer and hands her the rusting keys. Then you - three teenage girls in the middle of an impeding apocalypse that everyone wants to ignore - try to build a boat. To take your mind off of things.
The factory is home to an abandoned almost-finished boat from before Krystal’s uncle retired. The boat isn’t exactly what you were expecting, maybe you were picturing something more like Noah’s ark, but it’s a good place to start. No one knows how much time you have left.
The government are doing the best they can, big things and small - working together with other countries, raising the foundations of houses near the coast, building walls, subsidizing sunscreen - but it’s not enough. Nature has a mind of its own and no government can stop what’s on the agenda.
Every evening at six the newscasters tell of more doom (“Today in the Southern parts of the United States residents experienced the highest temperatures ever recorded…”), it’s not good but you try to look on the bright side - you have friends and they’re helping you build a boat. You have friends and living your life with them is fun.
One day a small puppy wonders into the factory that you’ve claimed as base and you entertain thoughts of bringing him with you. That is, if the shambles of wood and metal ever decides to float, Krystal’s uncle and his friends help out sometimes but you’re just three teenagers. It’s a work in progress, but you have faith.
The sun keeps getting hotter, the winters can’t even be called that anymore, but you’ve got time. Hopefully.
The three of you have only been fixing up the boat for three weeks when the group gains a new member.
Victoria is a bit older than you are and she slides into the role of mother duck seamlessly. She’s Sulli’s neighbor and when she invites herself to one of your apocalypse meetings at Sulli’s house you don’t know what to think at first - people have laughed at you and called you crazy for your idea, you don’t want another person to judge you, it's already hard enough to stay happy.
She sees the plans that Krystal’s uncle has drawn up for your boat, the to-do list and agenda, and askes to help. Victoria’s resolve is hard and she is old enough to drive so really it’s win-win.
She doesn’t judge you or call you crazy, she smiles down at you and you smile back.
Your group increases to four humans and one dog. The boat is big enough for that. Victoria fills a void that you didn’t know was there.
There’s this one day in July when the temperature is so high and you’re all so hot that things almost fall apart.
Sweat drips down the side of Krystal’s neck as she stumbles over a stray piece of wood and drops the tools she’d been holding.
Sulli snorts quietly from a few feet in front of Krystal and you watch on helplessly as Krystal turns towards Sulli, rage painted openly on her face.
“What are you laughing at?” Krystal sneers and the smirk is all but wiped from Sulli’s face. Krystal doesn’t wait for an answer.
With cheeks flushed red, she glares at all three of you - Sulli standing next to the half-repaired boat, Victoria atop of it, eyes quiet, and you with your hands half outstretched wanting to calm the storm that was building in the room, but not knowing how.
“This is stupid.” Krystal spits, eyes ablaze, as if the heat in the atmosphere had manifested within them and an inferno was brewing, “Why are we even doing this? It’s a waste of time. We’ll all be dead soon anyway.”
She glares and turns on her heel. She leaves the factory before you realize she’s right.
She's right. This boat won’t be your saviour, you’re not Noah and this isn’t an ark. God isn’t sending a flood to wipe out humanity, this is the universe that’s angry and no boat will protect you from the destruction that is coming.
That doesn’t really matter though. It’s fun. It’s helping you cope - cope with the reality that faces you and everyone else on this planet - and you don’t want to stop. You don’t want to stop this crazy mission, you want to keep fixing this boat with these three girls, even though it won’t save your life. So you tell Sulli and Victoria that.
Sulli nods and leaves the room at a run. Krystal comes back an hour later, cheeks still flushed but eyes more calm. Sulli’s hand is on the crook of her elbow and she breathes deeply.
Krystal doesn’t apologize, but there’s nothing really to apologize for. She grabs her discarded paintbrush from the floor and looks at you with a raised eyebrow.
“What are you just standing around for?” She asks. From the corner of your eye you see Sulli grin towards Victoria. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
School is not in session - and you doubt that many people will turn up even when the new school year does begin - but you still go to your choir meetings every Tuesday and Thursday evening.
The boat has still yet to be finished. Krystal has been working hard on the paint job and Victoria’s been making progress on the interior with Krystal’s uncle, but there is much to be done.
These days your project tends to take over many of your thoughts (which is for the best really) but not today.
The star of your choir, the girl who gets all of the solos because she deserves them is a girl who goes by the name Luna.
She sings big, smiles even bigger - though you see how the lights behind her eyes flicker and dim whenever a resentful look is casted her way by another member of the choir. It makes you sad and you tell yourself that one day, before the world ends, you’ll stand up for her and be responsible for the happiness and smile in her voice.
You enter the choir room early and Luna is the only one there. Today will be the day you approach her, you think, because her eyes are dark and you can’t stand it.
“Luna? What’s wrong?” You ask, ready to tell her that the other girls are just jealous of her talent and what is that saying about flattery? But there are bigger things at play here. The world is close to ending, it shouldn't be surprising.
You put your hand against her shoulder gently and she shrinks away from your touch with a hiss. It hurts but you try not to take offense. She must see the shock on your face though; because she casts an apologetic look your way.
“It’s not you,” She says, and you find that you believe her, “It’s just-” She pulls the light fabric that covers her shoulders back to reveal a bright red patch of skin. Angry, glaring sunburn.
“I forgot to put sunscreen on this area. I was only out in the sun for five minutes,” She says with an unhappy look to her shoulder. Her voice trembles when she says, “I guess the world really is going to end soon.”
Someone with a smile so bright that it rivals the sun shouldn’t be so sad. The boat can definitely make room for five people and a dog so you tell her your story.
You tell Luna about the factory and the boat that you are building, about Krystal, Sulli and Victoria and how you’re going to sail away from the end of the world. It might sound crazy - it probably is crazy - but by the end of your story Luna is grinning and her hand has fallen from the angry red skin of her shoulder to find a home on yours.
When you ask her, “Would you like to join us?” Luna's smile shines brighter than any light.
“I would love to,” she says. She stays by your side for the entire practice and when she sings she’s looking at you.
(From that day on you keep a bottle of soothing sun cream in your bag, just in case Luna - or anyone else - needs it.)
You’re a bit apprehensive about how the others will act to a new addition. They say they’re fine with it but you really want your friends and Luna to get along. Nerves tear at your heart and you blame the heat.
Luna grabs your hand when you’re about to enter the factory. She’s exited (”I don’t really have a solid group of friends,” she says), but you can tell she’s just as nervous as you are.
You grip her hand tightly, this is important.
The three of them - Krystal, Sulli and Victoria - are sitting in a circle on the hard floor when you enter with Luna in tow. Sulli is holding a small fan towards Krystal. She spots you first.
The way her eyes scan over Luna’s body as you approach makes your frown. Just for a moment though, because it doesn’t take long for Sulli to break out in a grin and hold the small fan into the air as she waves her arms.
“Welcome to paradise.” She says and it’s slightly tongue-in-cheek because this is definitely not paradise here, in this too-hot factory on this too-hot planet, but things could be worse.
By the end of the evening, the boat is that much closer to being finished and you’re all singing songs in the spacious room, listening to your voices bounce off of the thin walls with matching grins on your faces, and it's as if the apocalypse doesn’t matter.
You look around around you, at your two close friends, trustworthy unnie and Luna-with-the-blinding-smile; you grin and glance out of the window into the dark night.
The moon shines brightly and you thank it for saving you from the sun. If only for a few hours.
Eventually Krystal’s uncle declares the boat "as good as done" and the five of you don’t really know what to do from there.
Weeks have blended into months and if the world still worked the way it was meant to then it would be fall, school would be right around the corner, and you might have even applied for university if things had been different.
A few long moments pass in silence before Krystal coughs the words “test-run” into her fist and you look around to see everyone smiling and nodding.
A test-run it is.
None of you have ever driven a boat before but you manage to convince Krystal’s uncle that back in China Victoria used to do it all the time. He doesn’t ask any questions.
Ever since the rising sea levels became such an apparent threat, and the government dedicated so many resources to coastal maintenance, none of you are exactly sure how legal it is for you to drive your boat down to a marina and gallivant across the Han River, but the world is ending and there are worse things you could do.
Krystal’s uncle backs his truck down the ramp and releases the boat. Victoria turns the key and pushes forward on the accelerator. With a wave and a cheer the five of you are off, into the water that you pretend will be your saviour.
It’s almost beautiful enough for you to forget how hot it is, and when you forget how hot it is, you can almost forget that sooner or later the burning ball in the sky - the one that’s meant to preserve your life on this planet - will end it all.
The boat is impressive and you make a note to thank Krystal’s uncle again for even letting you all go ahead with this crazy mission, but maybe that’s the thing. Everyone has gone a little crazy, so crazy is kind of normal these days.
You kind of like it, crazy is fun when the five of you are together.
When there’s only half a tank of gas left Victoria slows the boat to a stop.
The engine shuts off and the wind stops wiping through your short hair. You become aware of the feel of Luna’s arm pressed against yours, it’s comforting, it’s nice. There’s a canopy over your head, but it’s not enough for protection - every few minutes one of you reaches over for the sunscreen. That’s nothing new though, the Earth is a dangerous place. You take all the protection you can get.
It’s only after a few minutes of silence that Sulli speaks up.
“This boat won’t save our lives, but I’m still glad that we did this.” She says.
“Me too.” Krystal smiles and nudges her shoulder against Sulli’s.
“I can drive a boat now.” Victoria adds, grin devious as she holds the group’s dog in her arms.
Then from beside you, Luna leans forward and looks at you all in appreciation, her gaze lingers on you the longest though.
“I have friends now.” She says simply, and you can’t stop the way your hand reaches out for hers. You’re so glad that you invited her. So glad that you’re a group of five girls who haven’t let the end of the world break your spirit.
The sunburn on Luna’s back has all but healed, but you’re all so much more tanned than you’ve ever been before, the rays from the sun are relentless.
The interior of the boat is decorated with photo’s of your childhoods and you almost don’t believe that the grinning child with the milky white skin is Sulli, that the small child standing on a beach in California in her sister’s arms is Krystal, that the girl sitting underneath some trees in China, shielding her from the sun is Victoria, and that the girl pressed to the side of her twin sister, smiling without a care, is Luna.
You’ve changed so much since these photos were taken. You’re not children anymore, and now you’ll never have the chance to be adults.
There are worse things though.
Victoria powers up the engine and turns the boat back to the dock.
The wind hits your face, the hot air whipping past you as you race back to what you know.
You head back to the inevitable end of the world. But there are worse things.
At least you've got friends.
The world deteriorates quickly, nations flood, one after the other, and predictions are that there won’t be long now for anyone.
The five of you stay strong though.
Every second night you spend together in the factory. It’s important to be with your families in times like this but the five of you kind of are family now.
Sometimes you think, what if it could? What if this little boat that Krystal’s uncle had been hiding in his factory for years could save you all. What would you do?
Krystal would surely bring her sister; Sulli, her nephew and perhaps her friend Jiyoung; Victoria would drive the boat all the way to China to protect her family; Luna would bring her twin sister, and you… what would you do?
The boat would never make it to America to get to your relatives, maybe you’d bring Ailee and Henry but you know for certain that you would make sure the four girls on either side of you right now made it through because they are your family. They matter so much to you. You would have broken already if not for them.
Krystal, Sulli and Victoria are lying together on your left side, blankets strewn messily around them, but heavily asleep. You’re not though. You can’t sleep.
You turn your head to the right and see Luna looking back at you. Your hand makes its way into hers as she lies next to you on a mattress in the warm factory. Her hand is hot in yours but she squeezes tightly and doesn’t let go.
Her eyes glint in a way that makes you want to give her a world that isn’t close to dying, as she sits up and nods towards the boat. It looms quietly in one corner of the factory, a strong symbol of everything that you’ve come to care about.
Your hands are still entwined as she pulls you over to it.
With hushed words she speaks, her eyes gleam in the dark light and you find yourself thanking everything that’s good in this world that you haven’t seen her eyes dark like they were in the choir room. Not since you brought her to the factory, not since four became five and she entered your life as more than just a voice and more than just a smile.
She says thank you and leans her head against your temple. She says you’ve made the last few months the best she’s ever had and although she’s it makes her want to cry that you didn’t enter her life until it was almost over, she’s happy that you came at all.
Her fingers play with the collar of your shirt as your hands reach out to cup her face.
“You’re the most beautiful thing in my life right now. You burn me like the sun, but you’re even more important.” Your words are whispered and clumsy, they don’t make much sense, but you hope Luna finds meaning in them. You hope she understands.
You think she must because she looks at you from so close, with eyes so full of something, and her breath hitches. She leans in slowly, so slowly, and when her lips brush against yours you know you’ve told the truth.
Her touch burns in the best way and your heart beats faster than it ever has before. She is the most important thing to you.
With the world ending you shouldn’t be thinking about love, but as you flush down to your bones with Luna’s lips on your own and the three girls who hold you together, lying mere meters away, you don’t stand a chance.
There’s beauty everywhere, love is everywhere.
The sun is burning hot and destruction is coming but all you can think about is love and Luna and friends and what a beautiful life you’ve had.
The end of the world doesn’t cancel out all of the good that you’ve seen.
The oncoming apocalypse has tethered the five of you together. You’re mad at it for a lot of things, but you’ll never be mad at it for that.
There’s beauty everywhere.
It’s the five of you, a dog and a boat at the end of the world, and it’s beautiful.
You’ll stay like this until you die.
A/N: apparently i’m really bad with deadlines, left this until the last minute, did hardly any research so i’m sorry for the distinct lack of sense this makes and the overly gushy outcome. :S ahhh. now on to the second challenge fic!
Amber-centric (OT5, Amber/Luna)
3,350w
pg
”Are you going to take two of each animal with you, as well?” The world is ending so Amber decides to build a boat.
(Written for unniedearest’s 2013 Halloween Challenge, using the prompt (non-zombie) apocalypse. This fic is honestly so ridiculous and holds no scientific basis whatsoever. Sorry about that. Cross-posted to AO3.)
It’s all you hear about on the news these days, how the ice caps are melting and the sun is getting hotter each year. Entire species’ of animals are becoming extinct as the world watches; still, everyone looks at you like you’re crazy when you suggest building a boat.
It’s your last week of school and all the kids in your class laugh at you. The girl at the desk to your right rolls her eyes and makes a joke about Noah’s ark (“Are you going to take two of each animal with you, as well?” she sneers), it’s not funny but you laugh anyway. Even though you want to cry.
After class two girls approach you. Krystal and Sulli, you know their names are. You’ve never really talked to them, but with the world ending, now is as good a time as any to start.
“We’ll help you build a boat,” Sulli says, and you don’t know if it’s some sort of joke that they’re playing on you, but there’s no malice in her voice and Krystal’s head bobs from beside her as she smiles.
“Okay.” You say gratefully.
Okay. You are going to build a boat.
Krystal’s uncle used to be a boat builder. He owns an old factory near the outskirts of Seoul and doesn’t find it weird when three teenage girls turn up and ask him if they can make use of it.
“It’s for a summer project!” Krystal promises, and her uncle just nods, tips back his bottle of fast warming beer and hands her the rusting keys. Then you - three teenage girls in the middle of an impeding apocalypse that everyone wants to ignore - try to build a boat. To take your mind off of things.
The factory is home to an abandoned almost-finished boat from before Krystal’s uncle retired. The boat isn’t exactly what you were expecting, maybe you were picturing something more like Noah’s ark, but it’s a good place to start. No one knows how much time you have left.
The government are doing the best they can, big things and small - working together with other countries, raising the foundations of houses near the coast, building walls, subsidizing sunscreen - but it’s not enough. Nature has a mind of its own and no government can stop what’s on the agenda.
Every evening at six the newscasters tell of more doom (“Today in the Southern parts of the United States residents experienced the highest temperatures ever recorded…”), it’s not good but you try to look on the bright side - you have friends and they’re helping you build a boat. You have friends and living your life with them is fun.
One day a small puppy wonders into the factory that you’ve claimed as base and you entertain thoughts of bringing him with you. That is, if the shambles of wood and metal ever decides to float, Krystal’s uncle and his friends help out sometimes but you’re just three teenagers. It’s a work in progress, but you have faith.
The sun keeps getting hotter, the winters can’t even be called that anymore, but you’ve got time. Hopefully.
The three of you have only been fixing up the boat for three weeks when the group gains a new member.
Victoria is a bit older than you are and she slides into the role of mother duck seamlessly. She’s Sulli’s neighbor and when she invites herself to one of your apocalypse meetings at Sulli’s house you don’t know what to think at first - people have laughed at you and called you crazy for your idea, you don’t want another person to judge you, it's already hard enough to stay happy.
She sees the plans that Krystal’s uncle has drawn up for your boat, the to-do list and agenda, and askes to help. Victoria’s resolve is hard and she is old enough to drive so really it’s win-win.
She doesn’t judge you or call you crazy, she smiles down at you and you smile back.
Your group increases to four humans and one dog. The boat is big enough for that. Victoria fills a void that you didn’t know was there.
There’s this one day in July when the temperature is so high and you’re all so hot that things almost fall apart.
Sweat drips down the side of Krystal’s neck as she stumbles over a stray piece of wood and drops the tools she’d been holding.
Sulli snorts quietly from a few feet in front of Krystal and you watch on helplessly as Krystal turns towards Sulli, rage painted openly on her face.
“What are you laughing at?” Krystal sneers and the smirk is all but wiped from Sulli’s face. Krystal doesn’t wait for an answer.
With cheeks flushed red, she glares at all three of you - Sulli standing next to the half-repaired boat, Victoria atop of it, eyes quiet, and you with your hands half outstretched wanting to calm the storm that was building in the room, but not knowing how.
“This is stupid.” Krystal spits, eyes ablaze, as if the heat in the atmosphere had manifested within them and an inferno was brewing, “Why are we even doing this? It’s a waste of time. We’ll all be dead soon anyway.”
She glares and turns on her heel. She leaves the factory before you realize she’s right.
She's right. This boat won’t be your saviour, you’re not Noah and this isn’t an ark. God isn’t sending a flood to wipe out humanity, this is the universe that’s angry and no boat will protect you from the destruction that is coming.
That doesn’t really matter though. It’s fun. It’s helping you cope - cope with the reality that faces you and everyone else on this planet - and you don’t want to stop. You don’t want to stop this crazy mission, you want to keep fixing this boat with these three girls, even though it won’t save your life. So you tell Sulli and Victoria that.
Sulli nods and leaves the room at a run. Krystal comes back an hour later, cheeks still flushed but eyes more calm. Sulli’s hand is on the crook of her elbow and she breathes deeply.
Krystal doesn’t apologize, but there’s nothing really to apologize for. She grabs her discarded paintbrush from the floor and looks at you with a raised eyebrow.
“What are you just standing around for?” She asks. From the corner of your eye you see Sulli grin towards Victoria. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
School is not in session - and you doubt that many people will turn up even when the new school year does begin - but you still go to your choir meetings every Tuesday and Thursday evening.
The boat has still yet to be finished. Krystal has been working hard on the paint job and Victoria’s been making progress on the interior with Krystal’s uncle, but there is much to be done.
These days your project tends to take over many of your thoughts (which is for the best really) but not today.
The star of your choir, the girl who gets all of the solos because she deserves them is a girl who goes by the name Luna.
She sings big, smiles even bigger - though you see how the lights behind her eyes flicker and dim whenever a resentful look is casted her way by another member of the choir. It makes you sad and you tell yourself that one day, before the world ends, you’ll stand up for her and be responsible for the happiness and smile in her voice.
You enter the choir room early and Luna is the only one there. Today will be the day you approach her, you think, because her eyes are dark and you can’t stand it.
“Luna? What’s wrong?” You ask, ready to tell her that the other girls are just jealous of her talent and what is that saying about flattery? But there are bigger things at play here. The world is close to ending, it shouldn't be surprising.
You put your hand against her shoulder gently and she shrinks away from your touch with a hiss. It hurts but you try not to take offense. She must see the shock on your face though; because she casts an apologetic look your way.
“It’s not you,” She says, and you find that you believe her, “It’s just-” She pulls the light fabric that covers her shoulders back to reveal a bright red patch of skin. Angry, glaring sunburn.
“I forgot to put sunscreen on this area. I was only out in the sun for five minutes,” She says with an unhappy look to her shoulder. Her voice trembles when she says, “I guess the world really is going to end soon.”
Someone with a smile so bright that it rivals the sun shouldn’t be so sad. The boat can definitely make room for five people and a dog so you tell her your story.
You tell Luna about the factory and the boat that you are building, about Krystal, Sulli and Victoria and how you’re going to sail away from the end of the world. It might sound crazy - it probably is crazy - but by the end of your story Luna is grinning and her hand has fallen from the angry red skin of her shoulder to find a home on yours.
When you ask her, “Would you like to join us?” Luna's smile shines brighter than any light.
“I would love to,” she says. She stays by your side for the entire practice and when she sings she’s looking at you.
(From that day on you keep a bottle of soothing sun cream in your bag, just in case Luna - or anyone else - needs it.)
You’re a bit apprehensive about how the others will act to a new addition. They say they’re fine with it but you really want your friends and Luna to get along. Nerves tear at your heart and you blame the heat.
Luna grabs your hand when you’re about to enter the factory. She’s exited (”I don’t really have a solid group of friends,” she says), but you can tell she’s just as nervous as you are.
You grip her hand tightly, this is important.
The three of them - Krystal, Sulli and Victoria - are sitting in a circle on the hard floor when you enter with Luna in tow. Sulli is holding a small fan towards Krystal. She spots you first.
The way her eyes scan over Luna’s body as you approach makes your frown. Just for a moment though, because it doesn’t take long for Sulli to break out in a grin and hold the small fan into the air as she waves her arms.
“Welcome to paradise.” She says and it’s slightly tongue-in-cheek because this is definitely not paradise here, in this too-hot factory on this too-hot planet, but things could be worse.
By the end of the evening, the boat is that much closer to being finished and you’re all singing songs in the spacious room, listening to your voices bounce off of the thin walls with matching grins on your faces, and it's as if the apocalypse doesn’t matter.
You look around around you, at your two close friends, trustworthy unnie and Luna-with-the-blinding-smile; you grin and glance out of the window into the dark night.
The moon shines brightly and you thank it for saving you from the sun. If only for a few hours.
Eventually Krystal’s uncle declares the boat "as good as done" and the five of you don’t really know what to do from there.
Weeks have blended into months and if the world still worked the way it was meant to then it would be fall, school would be right around the corner, and you might have even applied for university if things had been different.
A few long moments pass in silence before Krystal coughs the words “test-run” into her fist and you look around to see everyone smiling and nodding.
A test-run it is.
None of you have ever driven a boat before but you manage to convince Krystal’s uncle that back in China Victoria used to do it all the time. He doesn’t ask any questions.
Ever since the rising sea levels became such an apparent threat, and the government dedicated so many resources to coastal maintenance, none of you are exactly sure how legal it is for you to drive your boat down to a marina and gallivant across the Han River, but the world is ending and there are worse things you could do.
Krystal’s uncle backs his truck down the ramp and releases the boat. Victoria turns the key and pushes forward on the accelerator. With a wave and a cheer the five of you are off, into the water that you pretend will be your saviour.
It’s almost beautiful enough for you to forget how hot it is, and when you forget how hot it is, you can almost forget that sooner or later the burning ball in the sky - the one that’s meant to preserve your life on this planet - will end it all.
The boat is impressive and you make a note to thank Krystal’s uncle again for even letting you all go ahead with this crazy mission, but maybe that’s the thing. Everyone has gone a little crazy, so crazy is kind of normal these days.
You kind of like it, crazy is fun when the five of you are together.
When there’s only half a tank of gas left Victoria slows the boat to a stop.
The engine shuts off and the wind stops wiping through your short hair. You become aware of the feel of Luna’s arm pressed against yours, it’s comforting, it’s nice. There’s a canopy over your head, but it’s not enough for protection - every few minutes one of you reaches over for the sunscreen. That’s nothing new though, the Earth is a dangerous place. You take all the protection you can get.
It’s only after a few minutes of silence that Sulli speaks up.
“This boat won’t save our lives, but I’m still glad that we did this.” She says.
“Me too.” Krystal smiles and nudges her shoulder against Sulli’s.
“I can drive a boat now.” Victoria adds, grin devious as she holds the group’s dog in her arms.
Then from beside you, Luna leans forward and looks at you all in appreciation, her gaze lingers on you the longest though.
“I have friends now.” She says simply, and you can’t stop the way your hand reaches out for hers. You’re so glad that you invited her. So glad that you’re a group of five girls who haven’t let the end of the world break your spirit.
The sunburn on Luna’s back has all but healed, but you’re all so much more tanned than you’ve ever been before, the rays from the sun are relentless.
The interior of the boat is decorated with photo’s of your childhoods and you almost don’t believe that the grinning child with the milky white skin is Sulli, that the small child standing on a beach in California in her sister’s arms is Krystal, that the girl sitting underneath some trees in China, shielding her from the sun is Victoria, and that the girl pressed to the side of her twin sister, smiling without a care, is Luna.
You’ve changed so much since these photos were taken. You’re not children anymore, and now you’ll never have the chance to be adults.
There are worse things though.
Victoria powers up the engine and turns the boat back to the dock.
The wind hits your face, the hot air whipping past you as you race back to what you know.
You head back to the inevitable end of the world. But there are worse things.
At least you've got friends.
The world deteriorates quickly, nations flood, one after the other, and predictions are that there won’t be long now for anyone.
The five of you stay strong though.
Every second night you spend together in the factory. It’s important to be with your families in times like this but the five of you kind of are family now.
Sometimes you think, what if it could? What if this little boat that Krystal’s uncle had been hiding in his factory for years could save you all. What would you do?
Krystal would surely bring her sister; Sulli, her nephew and perhaps her friend Jiyoung; Victoria would drive the boat all the way to China to protect her family; Luna would bring her twin sister, and you… what would you do?
The boat would never make it to America to get to your relatives, maybe you’d bring Ailee and Henry but you know for certain that you would make sure the four girls on either side of you right now made it through because they are your family. They matter so much to you. You would have broken already if not for them.
Krystal, Sulli and Victoria are lying together on your left side, blankets strewn messily around them, but heavily asleep. You’re not though. You can’t sleep.
You turn your head to the right and see Luna looking back at you. Your hand makes its way into hers as she lies next to you on a mattress in the warm factory. Her hand is hot in yours but she squeezes tightly and doesn’t let go.
Her eyes glint in a way that makes you want to give her a world that isn’t close to dying, as she sits up and nods towards the boat. It looms quietly in one corner of the factory, a strong symbol of everything that you’ve come to care about.
Your hands are still entwined as she pulls you over to it.
With hushed words she speaks, her eyes gleam in the dark light and you find yourself thanking everything that’s good in this world that you haven’t seen her eyes dark like they were in the choir room. Not since you brought her to the factory, not since four became five and she entered your life as more than just a voice and more than just a smile.
She says thank you and leans her head against your temple. She says you’ve made the last few months the best she’s ever had and although she’s it makes her want to cry that you didn’t enter her life until it was almost over, she’s happy that you came at all.
Her fingers play with the collar of your shirt as your hands reach out to cup her face.
“You’re the most beautiful thing in my life right now. You burn me like the sun, but you’re even more important.” Your words are whispered and clumsy, they don’t make much sense, but you hope Luna finds meaning in them. You hope she understands.
You think she must because she looks at you from so close, with eyes so full of something, and her breath hitches. She leans in slowly, so slowly, and when her lips brush against yours you know you’ve told the truth.
Her touch burns in the best way and your heart beats faster than it ever has before. She is the most important thing to you.
With the world ending you shouldn’t be thinking about love, but as you flush down to your bones with Luna’s lips on your own and the three girls who hold you together, lying mere meters away, you don’t stand a chance.
There’s beauty everywhere, love is everywhere.
The sun is burning hot and destruction is coming but all you can think about is love and Luna and friends and what a beautiful life you’ve had.
The end of the world doesn’t cancel out all of the good that you’ve seen.
The oncoming apocalypse has tethered the five of you together. You’re mad at it for a lot of things, but you’ll never be mad at it for that.
There’s beauty everywhere.
It’s the five of you, a dog and a boat at the end of the world, and it’s beautiful.
You’ll stay like this until you die.
A/N: apparently i’m really bad with deadlines, left this until the last minute, did hardly any research so i’m sorry for the distinct lack of sense this makes and the overly gushy outcome. :S ahhh. now on to the second challenge fic!