do you remember the end? [1/5]
Title: do you remember the end?
Author: Anonymous until 1/30/14
For: insuhouciance
Pairing: Baekhyun/Kris [side: brief!Baekhyun/Chen, Chen/Suho, Luhan/Xiumin]
Word Count: 32,077
Summary: When Baekhyun imagined the end of the world, he never thought he’d survive it.
Warnings: strong language, sex, character death, murder, and mentions of torture
Rating: R
One
one.
When Baekhyun imagined the end of the world, he always pictured a big catastrophe, like in those big movies with empty plots but amazing computer graphics; something like 2012 and stuff. He had bet on great volcanoes blowing up, or thousands of tornadoes destroying cities, or even colossal tsunamis eating whole continents at once. His friend, Jongdae, always said the world would end like in one of those zombie apocalypses video games they always played until ungodly hours; some weird virus transforming humanity into the undead until society became chaos. Baekhyun’s mom, on the other hand, believed in God's punishment: that one day fire would rain from the skies and wash humanity of their sins.
Baekhyun lived to see they were all wrong, though. When the world as they knew ended it didn't end in fire or zombies. There weren’t any colossal waves or tornados. It didn't end in a big series of events. It wasn't anything huge, really. The end of the world, actually, started with something very very small.
It started with bees.
÷
Baekhyun places his backpack on his back, counting the amount of canned food they have left. He looks back at Jongdae, who is sitting by a corner, breathing heavily. They have been thinking for weeks that leaving their hiding place is probably the best option. Joonmyun has grown far too sick for them to stay there; they have no medication and the food is growing sparse. It’s never wise to stay for too long in one spot. Baekhyun knows they are leaving traces behind, clues that there has been someone there. But there isn’t much they can do until Joonmyun is able to leave on his own feet.
Jongdae walks towards him, pressing his lips on a thin line, before starting, "Are you sure? I can go."
"I'm quicker."
"I know, but-"
"You're the best shooter. You need to stay," Baekhyun tries to smile, but only a shaky spasm of lips comes out.
Jongdae bites his lips. "You don't have to do this for him."
"Oh come on, Jongdae. We're a team, ok? He saved both of our asses when shit went down. He could have very well just taken you in his car, but he came back for me," Baekhyun breathes in, and in that moment Joonmyun leaves out a painful whimper. Jongdae shivers.
Funny thing, Joonmyun used to be a doctor back in the day when the sun used to shine up the sky and things weren't so fucked up. People didn't die of colds or fucking infected scratches. And that’s exactly what is eating the man up right now. A single scratch, something he hid from them because he thought it would be nothing, but then suddenly Joonmyun's whole leg was the color of death.
"All he needs is an antibiotic. That is all Baekhyun. Don't go play the fucking hero and stay out for longer than you need to. And don't trust anyone, if you see anyone you fucking run, are you listening to me?"
Baekhyun jumps on his place, shaking his anxiety away. "I know."
"Last time you trusted someone we ended up needing to kill the bastard and I don't want to go through that shit again."
"Roger."
"And don't break into houses, you know there is always someone inside, and if someone tries to get you just run-"
"Sure thing, mom," Baekhyun cuts him off, rolling his eyes, and his friend stops, glaring at him with annoyance, "I’ll be fine, ok? Honestly, I've done this a billion times. I am better at this than I was at my old job."
Jongdae laughs at that, and Baekhyun feels better when he sees his shoulders relaxing at least a little. He smiles at his friend, trying to calm him down, trying not to show him how terrified he is of going outside. But he has to leave at once, or he'll never gather the courage.
They hug awkwardly, and Baekhyun can actually feel Jongdae's hands shaking against his back. The man stops him one more time before he is about to leave, shoving a knife on his hand and a handgun on the other.
"Don't you fucking die on me, asshole," he says, and Baekhyun smiles, before unlocking the door.
"I'll be back before you know it."
÷
When the bees started to disappear none of them thought anything of it. Baekhyun still remembers casually bringing up the matter on a dinner as if it was some funny trivia he saw on the internet (not all that much important than talking cats and dog memes), and Jongdae honestly looked at him as if he was the most boring person in the world. The only one who gave a shit was Joonmyun.
“How many bees died at once, you said?” He had asked, furrowing his eyebrows and leaning his forearms on the table.
“Hm,” Baekhyun started, mouth full with rice, “like a hundred thousand, I guess.”
Joonmyun widened his eyes, "That's actually worrying."
Jongdae had looked back at him, voice monotonous, "really?"
"Yeah. I mean, bees are what scientists call an indicator species, which is like-"
"Oh. Nevermind. I don't give a shit," Jongdae had cut him off with that douchebag smile he knew how to do so well, making Baekhyun almost spit all of his rice from laughing so much. Baekhyun kind of regrets not listening to him now.
Because if he did, then he would have known the bees were just the start of the collapse of humankind. Bees dying may have seemed like a small thing, and at the beginning even the media made it seem as a small, insignificant happening. No one cared about bees, except for weirdos like Joonmyun who were always preaching about the balance of things. Maybe flowers cared about bees too but they couldn’t say anything. But if the world was not a good environment for bees it is just obvious to assume it wouldn’t be for humans too, after a while. But they only noticed how wrong things were when people started to die.
It was all so sudden Baekhyun ended up losing track of things. One day it was only a small thing in the dark side of the news, just a little note on the newspaper. People were dying of colds, medicine that once used to work didn't work anymore. The viruses were harder to track, and harder to kill. Farming and agriculture were getting sparse from the hardness of the soil. The trees were bringing no fruits, the cows were milking no more. Gray, massive clouds were taking over the skies on smaller, non-important countries - clouds of chemicals, of pollution. But the authorities kept saying this was just a trivial thing; that it happened from time to time. “It’s the course of the world,” Baekhyun remembers hearing a scientist saying in the news one day, “nature needs a time to rest before it goes back to normal.”
But it never went back to normal. And then from a note on the newspaper, suddenly it was on the news’ headlines. There were kilometric lines on the hospitals entrances and yet not enough doctors to treat all of the sick. Everything was going crazy, and there were so many people dying they didn't even have enough ground to bury them. In the hospitals, there were more people lying on the ground than in proper beds. In the streets, the hungry were multiplicating. The prices for basic food were going up by the minute because of the bad harvests. It didn’t take long for inflation to rise and rise, to a point when shopkeepers stopped tagging the prices. And from that to total chaos it was just a small step.
Baekhyun still quite remembers the time in between the first spark and the total decay of humanity. Society is built on strong pillars, and when one of them fails, it is just a matter of time for the others to crumble as well.
The first pillar to crumble was health care. With the hospitals closing, people started to fight for medicine that were just mere palliatives. From fighting to killing it was just a small step. Only the rich had the money and the power to get control over newer and more efficient things, and of course, soon enough security was just a dream, and another pillar was gone. People would break down houses, murder whole families for a pill or for a single apple. It was funny, in some morbid way. Baekhyun was a Philosophy major and he had spent countless nights buried in books that tried so hard to explain what made people human, what set us apart from the animals. Humans spent so much time trying to prove how unique and rational they were, but once you take them from their comfort zone they are just as wild. Humanity was gone. Baekhyun would rather take the fucking zombie apocalypse, killing and ripping each other throats for brains, at least they had the decency of being dead while doing so. The people Baekhyun saw breaking into his neighbors’ house, taking their things, their pride and their lives by the end of it were very much alive, if their victorious screams could say anything.
If it weren't for Joonmyun, Baekhyun would have been the next. College was closed, the owners of the comic book store he worked for had left for a smaller city; they thought it was safer. The broadcast systems were already hanging just by a thread, just a few channels hanging on. There was no food in the supermarkets anymore, and in the ones that still had some, gangs started to take over them and charge higher for the products. There were no more police officers on the streets, and the ones who stayed started to abuse their power.
It was scary the way the world was collapsing, but instead of fighting it, humans were actually the ones helping bringing it down.
Baekhyun was too terrified to leave the house, all he did was watch the news and pray for it all to stop soon. It didn't, though, and the time he saw a horde of people breaking into the store of the old lady by the corner, that was when Baekhyun almost lost it. The woman always would give him a sweet for free, telling him he reminded her too much of her deceased son. And all he did as they dragged her out of the store and shot her in the head was stay hidden inside his apartment, eyes as wide as they could be, sobbing like a lost child. He was ready to take his life when Jongdae marched in and took the knife out of his hands.
All tv channels went off air after that. The government shut down and then fell, or at least that's what the voices on the streets said. The police gave place to street gangs and militias. There were no rules, no laws. Society was dead, and so was humanity as they knew it. And it all happened only one year ago.
But even until this day Baekhyun still thinks the worst part is the cold. The gray cloud, that was once so unimportant, is now spreading through the whole world. Baekhyun had heard some talk about how it didn't get to Canada, but everyone thinks nothing bad ever happens there, so he doubts it very much. The sun is there, still on its place, hidden behind the clouds, but it's like he can't even feel it. Most of the time the weather is cold, even though it only snows from time to time. Baekhyun hates it when it does - the snow now is this gray, sometimes even black thing; it makes things look even gloomier. It’s not like the cold is even that severe, but even when the temperature it’s not that low Baekhyun still shivers. The problem is the lack of warmth, the lack of sunlight. It has been so long since Baekhyun last saw the sun. Sometimes he feels like he is going to go crazy whenever he looks up to the sky, the gray infinity embracing him against his will.
When he steps outside he can already feel the heavy atmosphere. The air is heavier now than it used to be, it hurts to breath, but he is getting used to it. He places his scarf around his face to protect him from the dust, and puts his hoodie over his head, trying to show the least of his face he can. Their hiding place is on a Central area. They were always on the move but ever since Joonmyun got hurt they had to stay in the same place for months. It was this small cellar of a department store, filled with boxes and women's clothes. It wasn't the safest place in the world, and Baekhyun knew it, but they couldn't afford moving around anymore. Joonmyun's skin was sickly pale - even paler than his usual stay indoor's self -, and he was even starting to hallucinate. Thanks to God, no one ever tried to break into their place.
Baekhyun kind of remembers the neighborhood he is in, he notices when he takes a look around. It once was a pretty heavy traffic avenue, but now it is completely empty. There are cars abandoned through the sidewalk, boxes spread on the floor. There is this heavy mist in the air, but the mist has been there for a long time now. It reminds Baekhyun of how Joonmyun would always say the whole world reminds him of this terrible real version of Silent Hill, and he has to suppress a laughter. The neighborhood in the opposite side from where he once lived, but it was kind of close to the Manga store a college friend used to work part time. If he walked a few more blocks he'd probably get there. Baekhyun even considers the thought, thinking that some good old Dragon Ball would really get him through the days with a little bit more positivity. Goku probably has some nice stuff to say to get him going. But he shakes the idea away. He needs to stay as close as possible. So, as smoothly as he can, he starts to move.
By his calculations (his watch stopped working months ago), it is probably some time around 8pm. Jongdae was always against the idea of him going out at night, but Baekhyun always considered it safer. At night time, he can move through alleys and dark streets without worrying about being seen. If there is something Baekhyun is proud of, in this new fucked up life of his, is his ability of coming and going completely unnoticed. It's a weird thought, really. Sometimes bad things happen only to bring the best side of you. Baekhyun had always struggled with the idea of feeling himself completely useless and not actually stellar on anything in particular, and he needed the world to end for him to find his talent.
He finds the pharmacy he wants to go in with ease, getting there with no big problems. Months ago when they got there, so desperately trying to find a hiding place as quick as possible, he and Jongdae had find this small drugstore on a small street. Of course, the whole place had been already robbed and broken to pieces, but somehow the storage room stayed locked and intact. Jongdae had found the key for it on the coat on a dead body that seemed to be the owner, and they had keep it until this day. He takes the knife Jongdae had given him and hides it under his sleeve. The entrance is all broken, and the place is wide open, and Baekhyun looks around before silently sliding in. Baekhyun is pretty sure he has a lighter in his backpack, but he has no need for one. He has studied the place, he knows where he can step, he knows where to look. He can feel the blood pulsating inside his veins and it almost feels like being alive again. The worst part is the entrance - the place where you're most vulnerable, so when he finally makes it to the door of the storage room he holds his breath. Last time he came to this place was for taking a storage of inhalers for Jongdae, and he remembers very well the door being intact, but now the lock is broken. Someone that wasn't them had been in there, but Baekhyun doesn't plan on staying inside long enough to find out if they are still there.
Baekhyun inhales deeply placing the knife between his teeth and wielding his gun. Carefully, he opens the door and waits for any reaction. After nothing happens, he slowly goes into the room. Quietly, he walks towards the shelf he wants, only to find that it is way emptier than before. It makes his head heavy. They need to get the fuck out of that place and go back on the move. Soon enough the whole place will be completely empty, and it will become their tomb.
He shoves the antibiotics in his backpack, and ends up picking up some other random meds too. Better safe than sorry. Baekhyun inhales deeply again, closing his eyes, wondering if he should try the grocery shop by the end of the avenue. It is a longer walk than he planned, but they are running out of food, and with those new people around it may be empty soon enough.
The thought is still running through his mind when he feels something cold against the skin of his neck and a heavy breath behind him. From the corner of his eye, he sees a flashlight and a gun, and almost instinctively he closes his eyes.
"Put the gun down," he hears a low whisper in his ear, and he lets the gun fall from his hand.
Fuck.
÷
Jongdae still quite remembers how the Sun once felt. But just quite.
Memory is a fascinating thing, but in this matter it really sucks. He spent twenty years of his life feeling the sun burning his scalp, but one year without it and he only reminisces figments of it. He can only remember it more clearly when he links the feeling with memories, like the first day he met Joonmyun at the beach, the constant blabbering coming from Baekhyun vanishing as he watched the man walking his dog, the sun burning his shoulders. It is really not fair.
"Jongdae?" He hears Joonmyun whispering, and he gets up at once, walking towards him. He holds his boyfriend's hand, and it scares him how cold he feels. Joonmyun once used to feel warm against his skin, just like the sun, but now Jongdae can almost feel himself forgetting how it was.
"Are you all right?" He asks uselessly. The last time Joonmyun was relieved from his fever hallucinations Baekhyun was still there, and it has been a whole week since Jongdae saw Baekhyun walk through that door.
"Sure, I'm fine," Joonmyun lies, and Jongdae smiles at how, even when he is almost dying, he still thinks of him. Joonmyun tries to smile at him, but then he smiles becomes a flinch of pain. Jongdae holds his hand. "Where is Baekhyun?"
"He-," Jongdae's voice trails off, and he tries his best to smile a little as he lies, "he will be right back. Just yesterday he went out to find meds for you."
"Shouldn't he. Be back by," Joonmyun's face distorts itself in a painful expression, "Be back by now?"
"He probably is around, trying to find some food or booze, I don't know. You know Baekhyun. He knows how to take care of himself, right?" He smiles a little, but Joonmyun is not there anymore to reassure him. His eyes are closed again, his breathing steady as he drifts back to unconsciousness. Jongdae feels hot tears burning on his eyes, and he clings to Joonmyun's now limp hands, "right?"
Jongdae can't really help but break down in sobs, still clinging to Joonmyun, head falling until it reaches his boyfriend's chest. He is kind of amazed at the fact that he still has so many tears to cry, though. He'd thought he already dried them out by losing everyone he loved, every single family member, every friend. The only ones whom he has left are Joonmyun and Baekhyun. And now the latter has been missing for a whole week. In older days, Jongdae wouldn't even care all that much. Baekhyun was always that kind of friend who vanished for days and then appeared one Friday with a six pack and snacks and a new party for them to go. But now things are different. He has no idea where he is.
He doesn't even know if he is alive.
Jongdae closes his eyes, trying hard to stop crying. Under his forehead, he can feel Joonmyun's shallow breathing, and this crazy thought crosses his mind. It has been years since he has done it. Years since he had believed this could bring him anything. But Jongdae is completely hopeless and alone.
So he closes his hands together, breathing heavily before saying a prayer asking for help. For Joonmyun to get better. For Baekhyun to come back soon.
÷
Baekhyun wakes up with freezing water against his face. He immediately sits up, eyes hurting when he opens them, and there is light in the room. He has been in the dark for so long now, inside that small, smelly room, their only company being the hand that sometimes hands him food and water.
"Dude, it smells in here," he hears a deep voice saying, and then hands on his shoulders.
"Are you strong enough to walk?" Someone says, and then a piece of bread is stuffed inside his mouth. "Eat this. Boss wants to see you."
And with that Baekhyun is forced to stand up, his legs not being strong enough to stand himself by the lack of use and lack of food. How long has it been since he was captured? One week? Two? He completely lost count. A man with pitch black hair and plump lips is helping him, and when Baekhyun looks at him, he smiles a little. It takes Baekhyun by surprise. The man helps him to walk out of his "cell", the two of them leaded by this extremely tall guy with messy brown hair and a deep voice. He has a funny expression on his face that totally doesn't match his try-hard aggressive attitude.
"You go in," he tells Baekhyun when they reach a door on the other side of a dark, green corridor. Baekhyun shakes his head, trying to tell him he can't walk by himself, but all that comes out it's a feeble yelp. The lanky man smirks. "This serves you right for meddling in our area."
Baekhyun thinks that maybe it would be wise to tell him he didn't even know that area was already claimed, but his tongue refuses to oblige him. And then the man by his side tightens his grip under his arms, and the other rolls his eyes.
"Jongin, you're not supposed to be nice to our fucking prisoners."
"He can't walk by himself, dumbass, how is he supposed to go in by himself then?"
The boy named Jongin opens the door and carries him inside, not even caring about how the other boy sighs irritably. This new room is too light for Baekhyun's liking, and he closes his eyes, grunting in pain. He is carefully placed on a chair, and his back hurts so much, and he feels so weak he almost falls from it, but is held in place. Jongin whispers something to him, letting Baekhyun lean against him until he finally finds a position. The man opens his eyes slowly, trying to get used to the light. They are in a wide room that looks like an old stock room, filled with boxes and some other chairs. There are three other men there, and the taller guy is already by their side while Jongin stays close. Baekhyun wants to ask them where the fuck he is, but his mouth is too dry for that, and he ends up coughing.
Some door is open, and Baekhyun can hear footsteps approaching him. He looks up when he feels a shadow hovering over him, and he can't quite distinguish the lines of the person’s face. The man sighs loudly.
"Why is he in such a deplorable state?" He asks, a low voice echoing through the place. The boy who is still by his side scoffs.
"Chanyeol."
"He was meddling in our area, what was I supposed to do, throw him a party?" The lanky boy from before, Chanyeol, replies exasperatingly. Baekhyun almost wants to laugh. All he wanted was a fucking antibiotic.
"I-" he starts, coughing again. The tall man picks up a chair, turning it around and sitting right in front of him, crossing his arms around the backrest.
"Minseok told me you alone got inside that drugstore, is that correct?" Baekhyun looks up to him, feeling tired. "Bring him some water."
When Baekhyun feels the liquid against his dry and chapped lips, he clings to the hand giving him water with such ferocity he can feels his own nails craving into skin. The other person doesn't seem to mind, though, holding the cup for him until Baekhyun drinks so much he almost throws up.
"I'm sorry for this," the taller man says, and this time Baekhyun can see him better. He has a long face, with a pointy chin and thick eyebrows. His eyes are soft, though, which kind of contrasts with the way he is furrowing his eyebrows. "Chanyeol sometimes thinks we live in an action movie."
"Where am I?" Baekhyun manages to speak, and it scares him how weak his voice sound to his own ears.
"I'll ask the questions, if it's ok," Kris replies shortly, "You were alone in that drugstore. What gang are you from?"
"Gang?" Baekhyun chuckles dryly. "I'm from no gang."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not lying."
Kris stares at him for a while with interest.
"Ok, then," he says, getting closer to him, "you're telling me you survived a whole year all alone?"
Baekhyun stops. He doesn't trust them, and he is nowhere near giving out his friends' location. But at the same time, he doesn't know what else he can do. Joonmyun is dying, and Jongdae probably already gave up waiting for him. He feels scared, imagining Jongdae all alone with that wound on Joonmyun's leg growing bigger and blacker, filling the room with that stinky scent that used to make Baekhyun nauseated enough to ignore his hunger and stay so long without eating.
"His expression says enough," he hears Jongin saying, and the taller man smiles at the boy as if they are sharing a secret.
"How many?" He asks, and Baekhyun stays silent. The man sighs. "What do you get by staying silent? Worse things come to worse you'll die, and we’ll find them anyway. If you talk to me now, we'll do them no harm."
"Am I supposed to trust you?" Baekhyun sneers, and the other shrugs.
"You're not supposed to do anything. But you don't have much choice."
Baekhyun glares at him for a while, thoughts racing inside his head. "What do you want from me?"
"Look," The man starts, taking the plate of food Jongin brings for him. He tears the bread in half, giving one for Baekhyun. "We have food. Shelter. Security. If you were any ordinary fellow you'd be dead by now, just by entering in one of our areas-"
"I didn't know it was your area," Baekhyun explains, "I've been there for months!"
Jongin raises an eyebrow at that. "Were you? We never noticed-"
"Guess you have a security glitch, then," Baekhyun smiles, biting on the food. Feeling something that solid hitting his stomach makes him feel a little bit of life creeping back inside of him. Their leader seems to like Baekhyun’s little attitude, though, because the little smile on his face grows.
“My name is Kris,” he tells him, “and the neighborhood you’re in it’s our territory. We’ve got that fair and square -”
“By fighting with other gangs and terrorizing the people who actually used to live there?” Baekhyun retorts.
“- we were just in the process of recognizing it when Chanyeol and Minseok found you in that drugstore,” Kris continues, not even flinching by what Baekhyun said, “We don’t kill any fellow survivors, but we don’t like people stealing from our stock. However,” he stops, inhaling, “we are also willing to help anyone we /can/ help. We don’t kill innocents. If you’re from no other gang, then there’s no reason for me to do anything to you. Now. You’re not lying to me, are you?”
“No,” Baekhyun replies seriously.
“Good. How many people there were in your group?”
Baekhyun stares at him for a while feeling his blood pumping inside his veins. He doesn’t trust any of those people, but somehow he thinks Kris is at least being sincere. He doesn’t want to fuck shit up, but the guy is right. He doesn’t have all that many other options. He looks around, trying to find an escape route, but there is only one door, and it’s right by Chanyeol’s side. None of them have guns, though. And really, Kris is sitting so close to him, and his stance only show complete willingness.
"We're only three,” he finally says, voice ringing with surrender, “Me, and two friends. One of them is hurt, and I needed antibiotics. That's why I was in that drugstore."
"Only for antibiotics?"
"Yes. Nothing else. What kind of dangerous shit could I even get in a drugstore? He's dying, and I needed to save him. I own him that much."
Kris stares at him for a while, while Chanyeol scoffs from his corner, rolling his eyes, "do you think we'll believe that? That you guys actually survived in a three people group?"
"Some people can do that."
"He is lying-"
"I don't think he is lying," A man cuts him off, and Kris looks back at him. He has fluffy brown hair, and soft eyes. "He’s been here for a week. If he were a part of any gang we'd have them all on us by now."
"Or it's all a set up."
“You’re paranoid,” the man replies, looking back from Chanyeol to Kris, “trust me. He is telling you the truth.”
Kris looks back at Baekhyun with interest. “What’s your name?”
“Baekhyun.”
“Baekhyun,” he starts again, “going back to my initial question. Minseok told me you got into that drugstore all alone, and if you’re telling me the truth, you’ve been in that neighborhood for weeks without any of us or the gang before us tracking you. How?”
Baekhyun smiles a little, a rush of pride filling him in. “I’m good at not getting caught.”
“You had a gun. And a knife. How did you get that?”
“You know even before this getting a gun wasn’t that hard.”
“Fair enough,” Kris smiles, “and about the two others…”
Baekhyun knows what Kris means. It’s time for Baekhyun to sell his fish. The boy is not dumb. He knows there is only one way for him to survive this talk. “One of them is a very good shooter. The other is a doctor, so-“
“A doctor?” The man with fluffy hair butts in. “Kris, we need-“
“I know,” Kris tells him, looking to the floor. “We have a very funny situation here, Baekhyun. We need someone with your particular talents. And we need a doctor,” the man sighs, stretching his back. “You can join us.”
“You didn’t mention my other friend.”
“We have plenty of people who can use guns, we don’t need him.”
“No deal without him.”
Kris snorts, “you’re not really in the position to bargain.”
“Then kill me. I don’t care,” Baekhyun tells him, looking fiercely in his eyes, “I won’t tell you where they are. You’ll lose your snatcher and your doctor.”
A short man by the side of fluffy-hair-guy wheezes at that and Kris looks back at him with amusement. The man only shrugs. “Boy has backbone.”
“Ok, Baekhyun,” Kris tells him, turning around to face him again. “The three of you that is.”
Baekhyun smiles at that, and Kris handles him the other half of the bread. The man looks around, a part of him kinda waiting for the other people to hurt him now, but actually all of them just seem relieved. Jongin helps Baekhyun to stand up, and even Chanyeol seems to have a more natural stance now. The man with fluffy hair approaches him.
“Hi, I’m Lu Han! Are you still feeling weak?” He asks, and Baekhyun nods. “We should get him something more consistent to eat.”
“Welcome on board, I’m Minseok,” the short guy tells him, patting his back, and Baekhyun tries to smile back. Jongdae would kill him when he finds about Baekhyun joined a gang when they tried to stay out of that route for so long.
“Ok, so,” Kris starts again, and now that Baekhyun is standing up he seems even taller. “Where are your friends?”
÷
Jongdae is abruptly woken up by noises outside the door. His first reaction is to jump in front of Joonmyun, and to his utter surprise, his boyfriend is awake.
“They have been here for a while,” Joonmyun whispers, and Jongdae holds his breath. He picks his pistol, loading it. There is a sudden thud against the door and he holds the gun up, pointing towards the door.
“Fuck,” he curses when there is another bump, and then a laughter he quite recognizes. Jongdae widens his eyes.
“Baekhyun?” He screams, and there is a small moment of silence.
“Jongdae!” He hears Baekhyun’s voice. “Jongdae, you idiot, open the door!”
Jongdae laughs out and loudly, ”dude, it’s so good to hear your voice”. But then he stops, Joonmyun holding his arm.
“There are people with him. I’ve heard them.”
His smile vanishes, and Joonmyun points to his gun. Jongdae almost feels like screaming at him. He knows his boyfriend doesn’t trust Baekhyun all that much, but thinking he’d betray them like that it’s just ridiculous.
“Baekhyun,” he starts, “you’re not alone, are you?”
“No,” Baekhyun replies promptly, and Jongdae holds his breath. “There are some people with me. But they’re ok, Jongdae. They want to help Joonmyun.”
“You dumb fuck,” Jongdae whispers, not lowering his gun. He looks at Joonmyun, who shakes his head vigorously.
“Don’t open that door!” He whispers and Jongdae can feel cold sweat running down his temples.
“Baekhyun. What the fuck is this?”
“You don’t fucking trust me?” Baekhyun screams, slamming the door, and Jongdae feels his heart tightening by how offended he sounds. “I’m trying to save your boyfriend’s life, and you think I’m pulling one on you? After all these years?”
The man gulps, the hand around the gun getting slippery by sweat. He takes one step closer to the door, ignoring the frantic “no”s Joonmyun is whispering.
“You promise me you’re telling the truth?”
He can hear Baekhyun wheezing, pissed, as he whispers an outraged, “now he makes me fucking promise this,” there is a moment of silence before he says, “yeah, I promise you. I promise, Joonmyun.”
Jongdae can’t help but snort at that, putting the gun down as he takes away all the boxes they piled in front of the door. When he is done he takes a deep breath before taking the keys from Joonmyun’s side, the man looking at him with worry.
When he opens the door, the first person he notices it’s obviously Baekhyun. He looks skinnier than he remembered, his collarbones stark against the fabric of his extremely dirty brown sweater. The boy smiles at him, and that’s when Jongdae notices he is surrounded by three men way taller than him.
“God, this place smells like shit,” a man with big ears says, entering the room without even giving Jongdae a second glance. Not that he cares all that much. He pulls Baekhyun into a tight embrace, almost not believing he’s seeing him alive.
“I thought you were dead!” Jongdae whispers on his ear and Baekhyun laughs dryly.
“Didn’t know you didn’t trust me anymore!” He says, backing away from the hug. “Making me promise-“
“I trust you. But Joonmyun was…”
“I know. I understand.”
Jongdae looks up, noticing a very tall guy behind Baekhyun. He has blonde hair with deep black roots, and his face looks stiff. Probably from trying very hard not to throw up with the stinky smell inside their little hiding.
“Hi,” he says, “I’m Kris. We’re from the gang who takes care of this area of town. You’re with us now.”
“What?” Jongdae yelps and Baekhyun shrugs him off.
“I had no choice, ok? Don’t look at me like that. And they’re cool. I’ve been with them for a few days now, and they have a pretty solid hide out and food. And medicine, which your lovebird needs. I’m telling you, Jongdae, they’re fine,” he adds when he notices Jongdae’s completely stunned expression. The only thing he asked Baekhyun was for him not to deal with strangers, and he comes back as part of a fucking gang. “Except for the time they locked me up without food for like a week but…”
“They did what?”
Baekhyun only laughs at his face, and the guy named Kris rolls his eyes at him, “did you really have to mention that?”
The man walks towards Jongdae, and he notices that in the happiness of seeing Baekhyun, he almost forgot about Joonmyun. He makes his way among all those new people, getting to his boyfriend, who seems way less terrified than Jongdae was expecting. Some smaller boy with fluffy hair is helping him to stay sit while another, who seems way too young, examines his leg.
“I don’t think there’s any way to save it. We’ll have to cut it.”
“I thought so,” Joonmyun whispers, sighing. His boyfriend’s eyes meet Baekhyun’s, and he bows his head, apologetic. “But I need antibiotics first.”
The boy nods. “And water. You’re completely dehydrated.”
“I’m sorry, but are you a doctor?” Jongdae asks the boy, who looks at him with a blank face.
“Obviously no or we wouldn’t need one.”
“Sehun went to med school. Before.” Kris tells him, and Jongdae nods. “We have antibiotics back in our hiding. And we brought water. All we need to know is if we’re going to have you guys with us.”
Jongdae stares at the wound in Joonmyun’s leg for a moment. Sure they’ve been surviving on their own for that whole year, but Jongdae knows it has been barely. Baekhyun always had to risk his neck to fetch them food, and one small scratch almost took Joonmyun from him. And when he compares himself to all those other boys, he seems badly fed and taken care of. The three of them had made the pact of never joining any gang because neither of them wanted to stoop that low. They know what gangs do. All the killing, the raping. But he trusts Baekhyun wouldn’t meddle with that kind of people, and if he said they are fine, they really are.
He lifts his face to look at his boyfriend, and Joonmyun simply gives him a soft smile. He knows what that smile means.
“We’re going with you.”
÷
It took them two days to take care of Joonmyun’s leg. They ended up having to cut it, and Baekhyun doesn’t even know how he survived the whole process - no morphine, no painkillers, no blood reserves. They craft him a crutch that he starts to use after a few weeks in bed for recovery. And even with all that, he rarely complains. He even comes to Baekhyun one day, asking him for forgiveness for thinking he turned on them. Baekhyun tries to play it cool, joking around and even making some dumb insensitive joke about his new condition, but Joonmyun only laughs. He totally has a whole new level of respect for the man now. Not that he needs to know.
Their hideout is huge, and also very very ugly, even though Jongdae likes to say it has a bucolic touch. Baekhyun calls it architecture major bullshit, the thing is old and ugly, and that’s it. It’s an old factory far away from the center of town, almost leaving the city. The building is rectangular, with broken windows that the boys fixed with pieces of wood and old doors. It has two floors, but they never use the upper one, out of fear of anything collapsing. The outside walls were painted yellow a long time ago, but yellow is not really the color it has now. There’s spray paint all over them, and it has some cracks here and there. Overall, Baekhyun can’t help but think the old building has quite of an apocalyptic-horror-movie feel to it, both outside and inside.
And as time passes by, they end up getting along pretty well with everyone, to Baekhyun’s surprise. They had been alone for so long he seriously thought he’d never fit in. But the guys are nice, and easy going, and they actually seem pretty happy having them around.
“New people, new stories. We’re all bored of each other,” Minseok tells him one day, and Baekhyun quite understands. It’s actually pretty nice having other people to talk to for a change.
In total, their gang was made of nine people; they are twelve now that Baekhyun, Jongdae and Joonmyun joined them. There are the ones Baekhyun knew back when he got captured, and ones he meets only a few days later. But overall, they are all pretty nice and welcoming, which seems to take his friends by surprise. The idea they had of gangs were basically what they used to see on the streets, and a group of cool guys being nice wasn’t exactly what they had in mind.
It has been just two months since Baekhyun joined them, but he already feels quite comfortable. Things have been easy so far. Baekhyun was assigned for the research team, and every week he leaves their hiding together with Minseok, Kyungsoo, Yixing and Jongdae to get food, and find new places that haven’t been completely ransacked. It’s funny how having a purpose completely changes Baekhyun’s view of things, and it’s like life is back in his veins again, making his heart pump, beating loud and clear.
For the lack of a better place, he, Jongdae and Joonmyun were all sleeping on mattresses on the floor of the stockroom until Minseok finally arranged them up better once they found enough available wood to build three extra beds. Jongdae and Joonmyun get a small room for themselves, and Baekhyun is put together with Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. They get him new clothes, and for the first time in a whole year, Baekhyun remembers what it’s like to be clean.
“Enjoying yourself?” He hears a voice asking, and just then he notices Kris caught him while he was sniffing his clothes. They didn’t smell nice, or anything, Jongdae found them in a convenience store, and they were all pretty much two sizes bigger than Baekhyun, but they were better than his disgusting old clothes that he wore non-stop for basically one year.
“Don’t you know how to knock?” He sneers, and Kris leans against the doorway, crossing his arms. “I have a room now as you see. You should knock.”
“You like your new room?”
“It lacks on the looks department,” he complains, pouting mockingly as if he is analyzing the room, and Kris chuckles.
“Sorry I couldn’t hang some fancy paintings on the walls.”
They sure need it, Baekhyun thinks, but he doesn’t say it out loud. The room is only big enough for a bunk, where Kyungsoo and Chanyeol sleep, and now Baekhyun’s little bed is squeezed in between the wall and their bunk. The walls are all rusted, the kind-of-greenish painting practically all gone, and the only light is a lone lamp, hanging by some wires. It’s not the prettiest place in the world, and it smells a little weird, but it’s better than the pile of boxes Baekhyun used to sleep in that small room he shared with Jongdae and Joonmyun.
“It’s all good,” he says, looking at Kris with a thankful smile, “it’s fine. Thank you.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” Kris replies, and he seems a little shy, “just- feel at home ok? I know it’s hard when everything is such a mess but.” He stops, and then he smiles. “I’m glad you’re with us now.”
Baekhyun simply nods, and Kris leaves, closing the door behind him. The man sighs, sitting down, looking around his room. He’s glad he has a place now too.
One | Two
Author: Anonymous until 1/30/14
For: insuhouciance
Pairing: Baekhyun/Kris [side: brief!Baekhyun/Chen, Chen/Suho, Luhan/Xiumin]
Word Count: 32,077
Summary: When Baekhyun imagined the end of the world, he never thought he’d survive it.
Warnings: strong language, sex, character death, murder, and mentions of torture
Rating: R
One
one.
When Baekhyun imagined the end of the world, he always pictured a big catastrophe, like in those big movies with empty plots but amazing computer graphics; something like 2012 and stuff. He had bet on great volcanoes blowing up, or thousands of tornadoes destroying cities, or even colossal tsunamis eating whole continents at once. His friend, Jongdae, always said the world would end like in one of those zombie apocalypses video games they always played until ungodly hours; some weird virus transforming humanity into the undead until society became chaos. Baekhyun’s mom, on the other hand, believed in God's punishment: that one day fire would rain from the skies and wash humanity of their sins.
Baekhyun lived to see they were all wrong, though. When the world as they knew ended it didn't end in fire or zombies. There weren’t any colossal waves or tornados. It didn't end in a big series of events. It wasn't anything huge, really. The end of the world, actually, started with something very very small.
It started with bees.
÷
Baekhyun places his backpack on his back, counting the amount of canned food they have left. He looks back at Jongdae, who is sitting by a corner, breathing heavily. They have been thinking for weeks that leaving their hiding place is probably the best option. Joonmyun has grown far too sick for them to stay there; they have no medication and the food is growing sparse. It’s never wise to stay for too long in one spot. Baekhyun knows they are leaving traces behind, clues that there has been someone there. But there isn’t much they can do until Joonmyun is able to leave on his own feet.
Jongdae walks towards him, pressing his lips on a thin line, before starting, "Are you sure? I can go."
"I'm quicker."
"I know, but-"
"You're the best shooter. You need to stay," Baekhyun tries to smile, but only a shaky spasm of lips comes out.
Jongdae bites his lips. "You don't have to do this for him."
"Oh come on, Jongdae. We're a team, ok? He saved both of our asses when shit went down. He could have very well just taken you in his car, but he came back for me," Baekhyun breathes in, and in that moment Joonmyun leaves out a painful whimper. Jongdae shivers.
Funny thing, Joonmyun used to be a doctor back in the day when the sun used to shine up the sky and things weren't so fucked up. People didn't die of colds or fucking infected scratches. And that’s exactly what is eating the man up right now. A single scratch, something he hid from them because he thought it would be nothing, but then suddenly Joonmyun's whole leg was the color of death.
"All he needs is an antibiotic. That is all Baekhyun. Don't go play the fucking hero and stay out for longer than you need to. And don't trust anyone, if you see anyone you fucking run, are you listening to me?"
Baekhyun jumps on his place, shaking his anxiety away. "I know."
"Last time you trusted someone we ended up needing to kill the bastard and I don't want to go through that shit again."
"Roger."
"And don't break into houses, you know there is always someone inside, and if someone tries to get you just run-"
"Sure thing, mom," Baekhyun cuts him off, rolling his eyes, and his friend stops, glaring at him with annoyance, "I’ll be fine, ok? Honestly, I've done this a billion times. I am better at this than I was at my old job."
Jongdae laughs at that, and Baekhyun feels better when he sees his shoulders relaxing at least a little. He smiles at his friend, trying to calm him down, trying not to show him how terrified he is of going outside. But he has to leave at once, or he'll never gather the courage.
They hug awkwardly, and Baekhyun can actually feel Jongdae's hands shaking against his back. The man stops him one more time before he is about to leave, shoving a knife on his hand and a handgun on the other.
"Don't you fucking die on me, asshole," he says, and Baekhyun smiles, before unlocking the door.
"I'll be back before you know it."
÷
When the bees started to disappear none of them thought anything of it. Baekhyun still remembers casually bringing up the matter on a dinner as if it was some funny trivia he saw on the internet (not all that much important than talking cats and dog memes), and Jongdae honestly looked at him as if he was the most boring person in the world. The only one who gave a shit was Joonmyun.
“How many bees died at once, you said?” He had asked, furrowing his eyebrows and leaning his forearms on the table.
“Hm,” Baekhyun started, mouth full with rice, “like a hundred thousand, I guess.”
Joonmyun widened his eyes, "That's actually worrying."
Jongdae had looked back at him, voice monotonous, "really?"
"Yeah. I mean, bees are what scientists call an indicator species, which is like-"
"Oh. Nevermind. I don't give a shit," Jongdae had cut him off with that douchebag smile he knew how to do so well, making Baekhyun almost spit all of his rice from laughing so much. Baekhyun kind of regrets not listening to him now.
Because if he did, then he would have known the bees were just the start of the collapse of humankind. Bees dying may have seemed like a small thing, and at the beginning even the media made it seem as a small, insignificant happening. No one cared about bees, except for weirdos like Joonmyun who were always preaching about the balance of things. Maybe flowers cared about bees too but they couldn’t say anything. But if the world was not a good environment for bees it is just obvious to assume it wouldn’t be for humans too, after a while. But they only noticed how wrong things were when people started to die.
It was all so sudden Baekhyun ended up losing track of things. One day it was only a small thing in the dark side of the news, just a little note on the newspaper. People were dying of colds, medicine that once used to work didn't work anymore. The viruses were harder to track, and harder to kill. Farming and agriculture were getting sparse from the hardness of the soil. The trees were bringing no fruits, the cows were milking no more. Gray, massive clouds were taking over the skies on smaller, non-important countries - clouds of chemicals, of pollution. But the authorities kept saying this was just a trivial thing; that it happened from time to time. “It’s the course of the world,” Baekhyun remembers hearing a scientist saying in the news one day, “nature needs a time to rest before it goes back to normal.”
But it never went back to normal. And then from a note on the newspaper, suddenly it was on the news’ headlines. There were kilometric lines on the hospitals entrances and yet not enough doctors to treat all of the sick. Everything was going crazy, and there were so many people dying they didn't even have enough ground to bury them. In the hospitals, there were more people lying on the ground than in proper beds. In the streets, the hungry were multiplicating. The prices for basic food were going up by the minute because of the bad harvests. It didn’t take long for inflation to rise and rise, to a point when shopkeepers stopped tagging the prices. And from that to total chaos it was just a small step.
Baekhyun still quite remembers the time in between the first spark and the total decay of humanity. Society is built on strong pillars, and when one of them fails, it is just a matter of time for the others to crumble as well.
The first pillar to crumble was health care. With the hospitals closing, people started to fight for medicine that were just mere palliatives. From fighting to killing it was just a small step. Only the rich had the money and the power to get control over newer and more efficient things, and of course, soon enough security was just a dream, and another pillar was gone. People would break down houses, murder whole families for a pill or for a single apple. It was funny, in some morbid way. Baekhyun was a Philosophy major and he had spent countless nights buried in books that tried so hard to explain what made people human, what set us apart from the animals. Humans spent so much time trying to prove how unique and rational they were, but once you take them from their comfort zone they are just as wild. Humanity was gone. Baekhyun would rather take the fucking zombie apocalypse, killing and ripping each other throats for brains, at least they had the decency of being dead while doing so. The people Baekhyun saw breaking into his neighbors’ house, taking their things, their pride and their lives by the end of it were very much alive, if their victorious screams could say anything.
If it weren't for Joonmyun, Baekhyun would have been the next. College was closed, the owners of the comic book store he worked for had left for a smaller city; they thought it was safer. The broadcast systems were already hanging just by a thread, just a few channels hanging on. There was no food in the supermarkets anymore, and in the ones that still had some, gangs started to take over them and charge higher for the products. There were no more police officers on the streets, and the ones who stayed started to abuse their power.
It was scary the way the world was collapsing, but instead of fighting it, humans were actually the ones helping bringing it down.
Baekhyun was too terrified to leave the house, all he did was watch the news and pray for it all to stop soon. It didn't, though, and the time he saw a horde of people breaking into the store of the old lady by the corner, that was when Baekhyun almost lost it. The woman always would give him a sweet for free, telling him he reminded her too much of her deceased son. And all he did as they dragged her out of the store and shot her in the head was stay hidden inside his apartment, eyes as wide as they could be, sobbing like a lost child. He was ready to take his life when Jongdae marched in and took the knife out of his hands.
All tv channels went off air after that. The government shut down and then fell, or at least that's what the voices on the streets said. The police gave place to street gangs and militias. There were no rules, no laws. Society was dead, and so was humanity as they knew it. And it all happened only one year ago.
But even until this day Baekhyun still thinks the worst part is the cold. The gray cloud, that was once so unimportant, is now spreading through the whole world. Baekhyun had heard some talk about how it didn't get to Canada, but everyone thinks nothing bad ever happens there, so he doubts it very much. The sun is there, still on its place, hidden behind the clouds, but it's like he can't even feel it. Most of the time the weather is cold, even though it only snows from time to time. Baekhyun hates it when it does - the snow now is this gray, sometimes even black thing; it makes things look even gloomier. It’s not like the cold is even that severe, but even when the temperature it’s not that low Baekhyun still shivers. The problem is the lack of warmth, the lack of sunlight. It has been so long since Baekhyun last saw the sun. Sometimes he feels like he is going to go crazy whenever he looks up to the sky, the gray infinity embracing him against his will.
When he steps outside he can already feel the heavy atmosphere. The air is heavier now than it used to be, it hurts to breath, but he is getting used to it. He places his scarf around his face to protect him from the dust, and puts his hoodie over his head, trying to show the least of his face he can. Their hiding place is on a Central area. They were always on the move but ever since Joonmyun got hurt they had to stay in the same place for months. It was this small cellar of a department store, filled with boxes and women's clothes. It wasn't the safest place in the world, and Baekhyun knew it, but they couldn't afford moving around anymore. Joonmyun's skin was sickly pale - even paler than his usual stay indoor's self -, and he was even starting to hallucinate. Thanks to God, no one ever tried to break into their place.
Baekhyun kind of remembers the neighborhood he is in, he notices when he takes a look around. It once was a pretty heavy traffic avenue, but now it is completely empty. There are cars abandoned through the sidewalk, boxes spread on the floor. There is this heavy mist in the air, but the mist has been there for a long time now. It reminds Baekhyun of how Joonmyun would always say the whole world reminds him of this terrible real version of Silent Hill, and he has to suppress a laughter. The neighborhood in the opposite side from where he once lived, but it was kind of close to the Manga store a college friend used to work part time. If he walked a few more blocks he'd probably get there. Baekhyun even considers the thought, thinking that some good old Dragon Ball would really get him through the days with a little bit more positivity. Goku probably has some nice stuff to say to get him going. But he shakes the idea away. He needs to stay as close as possible. So, as smoothly as he can, he starts to move.
By his calculations (his watch stopped working months ago), it is probably some time around 8pm. Jongdae was always against the idea of him going out at night, but Baekhyun always considered it safer. At night time, he can move through alleys and dark streets without worrying about being seen. If there is something Baekhyun is proud of, in this new fucked up life of his, is his ability of coming and going completely unnoticed. It's a weird thought, really. Sometimes bad things happen only to bring the best side of you. Baekhyun had always struggled with the idea of feeling himself completely useless and not actually stellar on anything in particular, and he needed the world to end for him to find his talent.
He finds the pharmacy he wants to go in with ease, getting there with no big problems. Months ago when they got there, so desperately trying to find a hiding place as quick as possible, he and Jongdae had find this small drugstore on a small street. Of course, the whole place had been already robbed and broken to pieces, but somehow the storage room stayed locked and intact. Jongdae had found the key for it on the coat on a dead body that seemed to be the owner, and they had keep it until this day. He takes the knife Jongdae had given him and hides it under his sleeve. The entrance is all broken, and the place is wide open, and Baekhyun looks around before silently sliding in. Baekhyun is pretty sure he has a lighter in his backpack, but he has no need for one. He has studied the place, he knows where he can step, he knows where to look. He can feel the blood pulsating inside his veins and it almost feels like being alive again. The worst part is the entrance - the place where you're most vulnerable, so when he finally makes it to the door of the storage room he holds his breath. Last time he came to this place was for taking a storage of inhalers for Jongdae, and he remembers very well the door being intact, but now the lock is broken. Someone that wasn't them had been in there, but Baekhyun doesn't plan on staying inside long enough to find out if they are still there.
Baekhyun inhales deeply placing the knife between his teeth and wielding his gun. Carefully, he opens the door and waits for any reaction. After nothing happens, he slowly goes into the room. Quietly, he walks towards the shelf he wants, only to find that it is way emptier than before. It makes his head heavy. They need to get the fuck out of that place and go back on the move. Soon enough the whole place will be completely empty, and it will become their tomb.
He shoves the antibiotics in his backpack, and ends up picking up some other random meds too. Better safe than sorry. Baekhyun inhales deeply again, closing his eyes, wondering if he should try the grocery shop by the end of the avenue. It is a longer walk than he planned, but they are running out of food, and with those new people around it may be empty soon enough.
The thought is still running through his mind when he feels something cold against the skin of his neck and a heavy breath behind him. From the corner of his eye, he sees a flashlight and a gun, and almost instinctively he closes his eyes.
"Put the gun down," he hears a low whisper in his ear, and he lets the gun fall from his hand.
Fuck.
÷
Jongdae still quite remembers how the Sun once felt. But just quite.
Memory is a fascinating thing, but in this matter it really sucks. He spent twenty years of his life feeling the sun burning his scalp, but one year without it and he only reminisces figments of it. He can only remember it more clearly when he links the feeling with memories, like the first day he met Joonmyun at the beach, the constant blabbering coming from Baekhyun vanishing as he watched the man walking his dog, the sun burning his shoulders. It is really not fair.
"Jongdae?" He hears Joonmyun whispering, and he gets up at once, walking towards him. He holds his boyfriend's hand, and it scares him how cold he feels. Joonmyun once used to feel warm against his skin, just like the sun, but now Jongdae can almost feel himself forgetting how it was.
"Are you all right?" He asks uselessly. The last time Joonmyun was relieved from his fever hallucinations Baekhyun was still there, and it has been a whole week since Jongdae saw Baekhyun walk through that door.
"Sure, I'm fine," Joonmyun lies, and Jongdae smiles at how, even when he is almost dying, he still thinks of him. Joonmyun tries to smile at him, but then he smiles becomes a flinch of pain. Jongdae holds his hand. "Where is Baekhyun?"
"He-," Jongdae's voice trails off, and he tries his best to smile a little as he lies, "he will be right back. Just yesterday he went out to find meds for you."
"Shouldn't he. Be back by," Joonmyun's face distorts itself in a painful expression, "Be back by now?"
"He probably is around, trying to find some food or booze, I don't know. You know Baekhyun. He knows how to take care of himself, right?" He smiles a little, but Joonmyun is not there anymore to reassure him. His eyes are closed again, his breathing steady as he drifts back to unconsciousness. Jongdae feels hot tears burning on his eyes, and he clings to Joonmyun's now limp hands, "right?"
Jongdae can't really help but break down in sobs, still clinging to Joonmyun, head falling until it reaches his boyfriend's chest. He is kind of amazed at the fact that he still has so many tears to cry, though. He'd thought he already dried them out by losing everyone he loved, every single family member, every friend. The only ones whom he has left are Joonmyun and Baekhyun. And now the latter has been missing for a whole week. In older days, Jongdae wouldn't even care all that much. Baekhyun was always that kind of friend who vanished for days and then appeared one Friday with a six pack and snacks and a new party for them to go. But now things are different. He has no idea where he is.
He doesn't even know if he is alive.
Jongdae closes his eyes, trying hard to stop crying. Under his forehead, he can feel Joonmyun's shallow breathing, and this crazy thought crosses his mind. It has been years since he has done it. Years since he had believed this could bring him anything. But Jongdae is completely hopeless and alone.
So he closes his hands together, breathing heavily before saying a prayer asking for help. For Joonmyun to get better. For Baekhyun to come back soon.
÷
Baekhyun wakes up with freezing water against his face. He immediately sits up, eyes hurting when he opens them, and there is light in the room. He has been in the dark for so long now, inside that small, smelly room, their only company being the hand that sometimes hands him food and water.
"Dude, it smells in here," he hears a deep voice saying, and then hands on his shoulders.
"Are you strong enough to walk?" Someone says, and then a piece of bread is stuffed inside his mouth. "Eat this. Boss wants to see you."
And with that Baekhyun is forced to stand up, his legs not being strong enough to stand himself by the lack of use and lack of food. How long has it been since he was captured? One week? Two? He completely lost count. A man with pitch black hair and plump lips is helping him, and when Baekhyun looks at him, he smiles a little. It takes Baekhyun by surprise. The man helps him to walk out of his "cell", the two of them leaded by this extremely tall guy with messy brown hair and a deep voice. He has a funny expression on his face that totally doesn't match his try-hard aggressive attitude.
"You go in," he tells Baekhyun when they reach a door on the other side of a dark, green corridor. Baekhyun shakes his head, trying to tell him he can't walk by himself, but all that comes out it's a feeble yelp. The lanky man smirks. "This serves you right for meddling in our area."
Baekhyun thinks that maybe it would be wise to tell him he didn't even know that area was already claimed, but his tongue refuses to oblige him. And then the man by his side tightens his grip under his arms, and the other rolls his eyes.
"Jongin, you're not supposed to be nice to our fucking prisoners."
"He can't walk by himself, dumbass, how is he supposed to go in by himself then?"
The boy named Jongin opens the door and carries him inside, not even caring about how the other boy sighs irritably. This new room is too light for Baekhyun's liking, and he closes his eyes, grunting in pain. He is carefully placed on a chair, and his back hurts so much, and he feels so weak he almost falls from it, but is held in place. Jongin whispers something to him, letting Baekhyun lean against him until he finally finds a position. The man opens his eyes slowly, trying to get used to the light. They are in a wide room that looks like an old stock room, filled with boxes and some other chairs. There are three other men there, and the taller guy is already by their side while Jongin stays close. Baekhyun wants to ask them where the fuck he is, but his mouth is too dry for that, and he ends up coughing.
Some door is open, and Baekhyun can hear footsteps approaching him. He looks up when he feels a shadow hovering over him, and he can't quite distinguish the lines of the person’s face. The man sighs loudly.
"Why is he in such a deplorable state?" He asks, a low voice echoing through the place. The boy who is still by his side scoffs.
"Chanyeol."
"He was meddling in our area, what was I supposed to do, throw him a party?" The lanky boy from before, Chanyeol, replies exasperatingly. Baekhyun almost wants to laugh. All he wanted was a fucking antibiotic.
"I-" he starts, coughing again. The tall man picks up a chair, turning it around and sitting right in front of him, crossing his arms around the backrest.
"Minseok told me you alone got inside that drugstore, is that correct?" Baekhyun looks up to him, feeling tired. "Bring him some water."
When Baekhyun feels the liquid against his dry and chapped lips, he clings to the hand giving him water with such ferocity he can feels his own nails craving into skin. The other person doesn't seem to mind, though, holding the cup for him until Baekhyun drinks so much he almost throws up.
"I'm sorry for this," the taller man says, and this time Baekhyun can see him better. He has a long face, with a pointy chin and thick eyebrows. His eyes are soft, though, which kind of contrasts with the way he is furrowing his eyebrows. "Chanyeol sometimes thinks we live in an action movie."
"Where am I?" Baekhyun manages to speak, and it scares him how weak his voice sound to his own ears.
"I'll ask the questions, if it's ok," Kris replies shortly, "You were alone in that drugstore. What gang are you from?"
"Gang?" Baekhyun chuckles dryly. "I'm from no gang."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not lying."
Kris stares at him for a while with interest.
"Ok, then," he says, getting closer to him, "you're telling me you survived a whole year all alone?"
Baekhyun stops. He doesn't trust them, and he is nowhere near giving out his friends' location. But at the same time, he doesn't know what else he can do. Joonmyun is dying, and Jongdae probably already gave up waiting for him. He feels scared, imagining Jongdae all alone with that wound on Joonmyun's leg growing bigger and blacker, filling the room with that stinky scent that used to make Baekhyun nauseated enough to ignore his hunger and stay so long without eating.
"His expression says enough," he hears Jongin saying, and the taller man smiles at the boy as if they are sharing a secret.
"How many?" He asks, and Baekhyun stays silent. The man sighs. "What do you get by staying silent? Worse things come to worse you'll die, and we’ll find them anyway. If you talk to me now, we'll do them no harm."
"Am I supposed to trust you?" Baekhyun sneers, and the other shrugs.
"You're not supposed to do anything. But you don't have much choice."
Baekhyun glares at him for a while, thoughts racing inside his head. "What do you want from me?"
"Look," The man starts, taking the plate of food Jongin brings for him. He tears the bread in half, giving one for Baekhyun. "We have food. Shelter. Security. If you were any ordinary fellow you'd be dead by now, just by entering in one of our areas-"
"I didn't know it was your area," Baekhyun explains, "I've been there for months!"
Jongin raises an eyebrow at that. "Were you? We never noticed-"
"Guess you have a security glitch, then," Baekhyun smiles, biting on the food. Feeling something that solid hitting his stomach makes him feel a little bit of life creeping back inside of him. Their leader seems to like Baekhyun’s little attitude, though, because the little smile on his face grows.
“My name is Kris,” he tells him, “and the neighborhood you’re in it’s our territory. We’ve got that fair and square -”
“By fighting with other gangs and terrorizing the people who actually used to live there?” Baekhyun retorts.
“- we were just in the process of recognizing it when Chanyeol and Minseok found you in that drugstore,” Kris continues, not even flinching by what Baekhyun said, “We don’t kill any fellow survivors, but we don’t like people stealing from our stock. However,” he stops, inhaling, “we are also willing to help anyone we /can/ help. We don’t kill innocents. If you’re from no other gang, then there’s no reason for me to do anything to you. Now. You’re not lying to me, are you?”
“No,” Baekhyun replies seriously.
“Good. How many people there were in your group?”
Baekhyun stares at him for a while feeling his blood pumping inside his veins. He doesn’t trust any of those people, but somehow he thinks Kris is at least being sincere. He doesn’t want to fuck shit up, but the guy is right. He doesn’t have all that many other options. He looks around, trying to find an escape route, but there is only one door, and it’s right by Chanyeol’s side. None of them have guns, though. And really, Kris is sitting so close to him, and his stance only show complete willingness.
"We're only three,” he finally says, voice ringing with surrender, “Me, and two friends. One of them is hurt, and I needed antibiotics. That's why I was in that drugstore."
"Only for antibiotics?"
"Yes. Nothing else. What kind of dangerous shit could I even get in a drugstore? He's dying, and I needed to save him. I own him that much."
Kris stares at him for a while, while Chanyeol scoffs from his corner, rolling his eyes, "do you think we'll believe that? That you guys actually survived in a three people group?"
"Some people can do that."
"He is lying-"
"I don't think he is lying," A man cuts him off, and Kris looks back at him. He has fluffy brown hair, and soft eyes. "He’s been here for a week. If he were a part of any gang we'd have them all on us by now."
"Or it's all a set up."
“You’re paranoid,” the man replies, looking back from Chanyeol to Kris, “trust me. He is telling you the truth.”
Kris looks back at Baekhyun with interest. “What’s your name?”
“Baekhyun.”
“Baekhyun,” he starts again, “going back to my initial question. Minseok told me you got into that drugstore all alone, and if you’re telling me the truth, you’ve been in that neighborhood for weeks without any of us or the gang before us tracking you. How?”
Baekhyun smiles a little, a rush of pride filling him in. “I’m good at not getting caught.”
“You had a gun. And a knife. How did you get that?”
“You know even before this getting a gun wasn’t that hard.”
“Fair enough,” Kris smiles, “and about the two others…”
Baekhyun knows what Kris means. It’s time for Baekhyun to sell his fish. The boy is not dumb. He knows there is only one way for him to survive this talk. “One of them is a very good shooter. The other is a doctor, so-“
“A doctor?” The man with fluffy hair butts in. “Kris, we need-“
“I know,” Kris tells him, looking to the floor. “We have a very funny situation here, Baekhyun. We need someone with your particular talents. And we need a doctor,” the man sighs, stretching his back. “You can join us.”
“You didn’t mention my other friend.”
“We have plenty of people who can use guns, we don’t need him.”
“No deal without him.”
Kris snorts, “you’re not really in the position to bargain.”
“Then kill me. I don’t care,” Baekhyun tells him, looking fiercely in his eyes, “I won’t tell you where they are. You’ll lose your snatcher and your doctor.”
A short man by the side of fluffy-hair-guy wheezes at that and Kris looks back at him with amusement. The man only shrugs. “Boy has backbone.”
“Ok, Baekhyun,” Kris tells him, turning around to face him again. “The three of you that is.”
Baekhyun smiles at that, and Kris handles him the other half of the bread. The man looks around, a part of him kinda waiting for the other people to hurt him now, but actually all of them just seem relieved. Jongin helps Baekhyun to stand up, and even Chanyeol seems to have a more natural stance now. The man with fluffy hair approaches him.
“Hi, I’m Lu Han! Are you still feeling weak?” He asks, and Baekhyun nods. “We should get him something more consistent to eat.”
“Welcome on board, I’m Minseok,” the short guy tells him, patting his back, and Baekhyun tries to smile back. Jongdae would kill him when he finds about Baekhyun joined a gang when they tried to stay out of that route for so long.
“Ok, so,” Kris starts again, and now that Baekhyun is standing up he seems even taller. “Where are your friends?”
÷
Jongdae is abruptly woken up by noises outside the door. His first reaction is to jump in front of Joonmyun, and to his utter surprise, his boyfriend is awake.
“They have been here for a while,” Joonmyun whispers, and Jongdae holds his breath. He picks his pistol, loading it. There is a sudden thud against the door and he holds the gun up, pointing towards the door.
“Fuck,” he curses when there is another bump, and then a laughter he quite recognizes. Jongdae widens his eyes.
“Baekhyun?” He screams, and there is a small moment of silence.
“Jongdae!” He hears Baekhyun’s voice. “Jongdae, you idiot, open the door!”
Jongdae laughs out and loudly, ”dude, it’s so good to hear your voice”. But then he stops, Joonmyun holding his arm.
“There are people with him. I’ve heard them.”
His smile vanishes, and Joonmyun points to his gun. Jongdae almost feels like screaming at him. He knows his boyfriend doesn’t trust Baekhyun all that much, but thinking he’d betray them like that it’s just ridiculous.
“Baekhyun,” he starts, “you’re not alone, are you?”
“No,” Baekhyun replies promptly, and Jongdae holds his breath. “There are some people with me. But they’re ok, Jongdae. They want to help Joonmyun.”
“You dumb fuck,” Jongdae whispers, not lowering his gun. He looks at Joonmyun, who shakes his head vigorously.
“Don’t open that door!” He whispers and Jongdae can feel cold sweat running down his temples.
“Baekhyun. What the fuck is this?”
“You don’t fucking trust me?” Baekhyun screams, slamming the door, and Jongdae feels his heart tightening by how offended he sounds. “I’m trying to save your boyfriend’s life, and you think I’m pulling one on you? After all these years?”
The man gulps, the hand around the gun getting slippery by sweat. He takes one step closer to the door, ignoring the frantic “no”s Joonmyun is whispering.
“You promise me you’re telling the truth?”
He can hear Baekhyun wheezing, pissed, as he whispers an outraged, “now he makes me fucking promise this,” there is a moment of silence before he says, “yeah, I promise you. I promise, Joonmyun.”
Jongdae can’t help but snort at that, putting the gun down as he takes away all the boxes they piled in front of the door. When he is done he takes a deep breath before taking the keys from Joonmyun’s side, the man looking at him with worry.
When he opens the door, the first person he notices it’s obviously Baekhyun. He looks skinnier than he remembered, his collarbones stark against the fabric of his extremely dirty brown sweater. The boy smiles at him, and that’s when Jongdae notices he is surrounded by three men way taller than him.
“God, this place smells like shit,” a man with big ears says, entering the room without even giving Jongdae a second glance. Not that he cares all that much. He pulls Baekhyun into a tight embrace, almost not believing he’s seeing him alive.
“I thought you were dead!” Jongdae whispers on his ear and Baekhyun laughs dryly.
“Didn’t know you didn’t trust me anymore!” He says, backing away from the hug. “Making me promise-“
“I trust you. But Joonmyun was…”
“I know. I understand.”
Jongdae looks up, noticing a very tall guy behind Baekhyun. He has blonde hair with deep black roots, and his face looks stiff. Probably from trying very hard not to throw up with the stinky smell inside their little hiding.
“Hi,” he says, “I’m Kris. We’re from the gang who takes care of this area of town. You’re with us now.”
“What?” Jongdae yelps and Baekhyun shrugs him off.
“I had no choice, ok? Don’t look at me like that. And they’re cool. I’ve been with them for a few days now, and they have a pretty solid hide out and food. And medicine, which your lovebird needs. I’m telling you, Jongdae, they’re fine,” he adds when he notices Jongdae’s completely stunned expression. The only thing he asked Baekhyun was for him not to deal with strangers, and he comes back as part of a fucking gang. “Except for the time they locked me up without food for like a week but…”
“They did what?”
Baekhyun only laughs at his face, and the guy named Kris rolls his eyes at him, “did you really have to mention that?”
The man walks towards Jongdae, and he notices that in the happiness of seeing Baekhyun, he almost forgot about Joonmyun. He makes his way among all those new people, getting to his boyfriend, who seems way less terrified than Jongdae was expecting. Some smaller boy with fluffy hair is helping him to stay sit while another, who seems way too young, examines his leg.
“I don’t think there’s any way to save it. We’ll have to cut it.”
“I thought so,” Joonmyun whispers, sighing. His boyfriend’s eyes meet Baekhyun’s, and he bows his head, apologetic. “But I need antibiotics first.”
The boy nods. “And water. You’re completely dehydrated.”
“I’m sorry, but are you a doctor?” Jongdae asks the boy, who looks at him with a blank face.
“Obviously no or we wouldn’t need one.”
“Sehun went to med school. Before.” Kris tells him, and Jongdae nods. “We have antibiotics back in our hiding. And we brought water. All we need to know is if we’re going to have you guys with us.”
Jongdae stares at the wound in Joonmyun’s leg for a moment. Sure they’ve been surviving on their own for that whole year, but Jongdae knows it has been barely. Baekhyun always had to risk his neck to fetch them food, and one small scratch almost took Joonmyun from him. And when he compares himself to all those other boys, he seems badly fed and taken care of. The three of them had made the pact of never joining any gang because neither of them wanted to stoop that low. They know what gangs do. All the killing, the raping. But he trusts Baekhyun wouldn’t meddle with that kind of people, and if he said they are fine, they really are.
He lifts his face to look at his boyfriend, and Joonmyun simply gives him a soft smile. He knows what that smile means.
“We’re going with you.”
÷
It took them two days to take care of Joonmyun’s leg. They ended up having to cut it, and Baekhyun doesn’t even know how he survived the whole process - no morphine, no painkillers, no blood reserves. They craft him a crutch that he starts to use after a few weeks in bed for recovery. And even with all that, he rarely complains. He even comes to Baekhyun one day, asking him for forgiveness for thinking he turned on them. Baekhyun tries to play it cool, joking around and even making some dumb insensitive joke about his new condition, but Joonmyun only laughs. He totally has a whole new level of respect for the man now. Not that he needs to know.
Their hideout is huge, and also very very ugly, even though Jongdae likes to say it has a bucolic touch. Baekhyun calls it architecture major bullshit, the thing is old and ugly, and that’s it. It’s an old factory far away from the center of town, almost leaving the city. The building is rectangular, with broken windows that the boys fixed with pieces of wood and old doors. It has two floors, but they never use the upper one, out of fear of anything collapsing. The outside walls were painted yellow a long time ago, but yellow is not really the color it has now. There’s spray paint all over them, and it has some cracks here and there. Overall, Baekhyun can’t help but think the old building has quite of an apocalyptic-horror-movie feel to it, both outside and inside.
And as time passes by, they end up getting along pretty well with everyone, to Baekhyun’s surprise. They had been alone for so long he seriously thought he’d never fit in. But the guys are nice, and easy going, and they actually seem pretty happy having them around.
“New people, new stories. We’re all bored of each other,” Minseok tells him one day, and Baekhyun quite understands. It’s actually pretty nice having other people to talk to for a change.
In total, their gang was made of nine people; they are twelve now that Baekhyun, Jongdae and Joonmyun joined them. There are the ones Baekhyun knew back when he got captured, and ones he meets only a few days later. But overall, they are all pretty nice and welcoming, which seems to take his friends by surprise. The idea they had of gangs were basically what they used to see on the streets, and a group of cool guys being nice wasn’t exactly what they had in mind.
It has been just two months since Baekhyun joined them, but he already feels quite comfortable. Things have been easy so far. Baekhyun was assigned for the research team, and every week he leaves their hiding together with Minseok, Kyungsoo, Yixing and Jongdae to get food, and find new places that haven’t been completely ransacked. It’s funny how having a purpose completely changes Baekhyun’s view of things, and it’s like life is back in his veins again, making his heart pump, beating loud and clear.
For the lack of a better place, he, Jongdae and Joonmyun were all sleeping on mattresses on the floor of the stockroom until Minseok finally arranged them up better once they found enough available wood to build three extra beds. Jongdae and Joonmyun get a small room for themselves, and Baekhyun is put together with Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. They get him new clothes, and for the first time in a whole year, Baekhyun remembers what it’s like to be clean.
“Enjoying yourself?” He hears a voice asking, and just then he notices Kris caught him while he was sniffing his clothes. They didn’t smell nice, or anything, Jongdae found them in a convenience store, and they were all pretty much two sizes bigger than Baekhyun, but they were better than his disgusting old clothes that he wore non-stop for basically one year.
“Don’t you know how to knock?” He sneers, and Kris leans against the doorway, crossing his arms. “I have a room now as you see. You should knock.”
“You like your new room?”
“It lacks on the looks department,” he complains, pouting mockingly as if he is analyzing the room, and Kris chuckles.
“Sorry I couldn’t hang some fancy paintings on the walls.”
They sure need it, Baekhyun thinks, but he doesn’t say it out loud. The room is only big enough for a bunk, where Kyungsoo and Chanyeol sleep, and now Baekhyun’s little bed is squeezed in between the wall and their bunk. The walls are all rusted, the kind-of-greenish painting practically all gone, and the only light is a lone lamp, hanging by some wires. It’s not the prettiest place in the world, and it smells a little weird, but it’s better than the pile of boxes Baekhyun used to sleep in that small room he shared with Jongdae and Joonmyun.
“It’s all good,” he says, looking at Kris with a thankful smile, “it’s fine. Thank you.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” Kris replies, and he seems a little shy, “just- feel at home ok? I know it’s hard when everything is such a mess but.” He stops, and then he smiles. “I’m glad you’re with us now.”
Baekhyun simply nods, and Kris leaves, closing the door behind him. The man sighs, sitting down, looking around his room. He’s glad he has a place now too.
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