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“Watch out!” Soonyoung screams as he pulls the trigger. The gun’s loud bang sends shivers down Jihoon’s spine as he was greeted by the horrifying sight of a zombie currently falling on its back, its hands frozen in mid-air in what was clearly an attempt of grabbing him. The zombie crashes on the ground with an unceremonious thump and Jihoon heaves a sigh of relief, noting the smoking bullet hole on its forehead. He sends Soonyoung a grateful look while he sprints towards him, heart hammering against his chest as a result of the close encounter with the zombie. “Thanks.” He tells Soonyoung. “No problem. Wouldn’t want a cutie like you to die.” Soonyoung replies as he shoots Jihoon a flirtatious wink, making the younger roll his eyes in exasperation. Trust Soonyoung to flirt even in situations like this. “I could have died back there. How could you even afford to flirt now when we’re trying to survive a zombie apocalypse?” He scolds Soonyoung. Said boy laughs in return, eyes crinkling and mouth wide open. Jihoon has to admit, even in soiled and torn clothes, disheveled hair, and that stupid laughing face of his, Soonyoung still manages to look good. Like more than good. And Jihoon’s just a tad bit grateful that he has Soonyoung for a companion. “More reason to do it then. We’ll probably die eventually so I might as well flirt whenever I want to.” Soonyoung replies with a grin across his face. “So, where to now, cutie?” The older asks. “Going back to our camp is clearly out of the question.” Jihoon frowns as the reality of what Soonyoung said hit him. He hates this part, having to find a new place to stay. But he also hates it when they’re in one place for far too long and he starts to feel restless and unsafe. His head is starting to hurt just thinking about how they’re going to find a new temporary safe place. He still hasn’t fully come to terms with their situation but hey, who gets fully used to constantly watching out for brain eating creatures with rotting skins and horrible breath that would feast on your brain if you’re unfortunate enough to get caught? “Well, we could start of by borrowing a car. We’ll figure things out when we hit the road.” He suggests. Jihoon really can’t bring himself to say the word stealing. Nope, it’s just not in his morals. He may not look the part, with his resting bitch face and all the rebel vibes he gave off, but Jihoon actually likes sticking to the rules.Apparently, Soonyoung could not care less. “Stealing a car, it is.” Soonyoung declares with gusto. He says it so casually, as if stealing a car is the most normal thing to do (well, it is considering their situation) that Jihoon’s eyes feel like they went out of their socket from rolling too much. It seems that lately, his eyes are quickly reaching his daily eye rolling quota all thanks to the guy whom he’s (un)fortunately stuck with. The pair trudges on in search of an empty and, hopefully, functional car they could use. They stay on the path near the central road, so they could easily maneuver their way out once they find a car. They walk in relative silence, eyes darting out every now and then for an abandoned car or a nearby threat. Jihoon can hear the soft thump of their feet as they hit the earth and the crunching sound of the fallen leaves underneath his red converse. He feels uneasy, and it’s probably because he was still on edge due to the encounter with the zombie a while ago.Soonyoung, who was walking ahead of him, stops and turns to look at him. Jihoon stares at the older curiously and quirks his eyebrow as Soonyoung smiles at him. “Come on! Let’s walk together.” Soonyoung says while gesturing to his side. The corner of Jihoon’s lips tugs upwards as he walks the remaining steps between them. As soon as he catches up with Soonyoung, they resume walking and are once again enveloped in silence, this time more comfortable than the one before. Jihoon remembers when he first met Soonyoung in this situation. It was already after the outbreak. People were running for their lives, scrambling to any safe place they could find as everything went into chaos. Jihoon was locked up like a hermit in his apartment when it all happened and was completely shocked once he went outside. It was total destruction and if it wasn’t for a zombie that started chasing him, he would have stood out there completely dumbfounded. He ran as fast as his admittedly short legs could carry him, ignoring the pain burning through them. He hadn’t run like that since kindergarten, for goodness’ sake! And because his short legs were rusty when it comes to running, the most natural thing to happen was that he’d trip.And trip he did.Fortunately, someone helped him get up and dragged him to another alley, and the two of them ran (Jihoon limped) until they arrived at a place they deemed to be safe enough. It was only when the adrenaline ran its course that Jihoon was introduced to the stranger he was with (“The name’s Soonyoung.” He said. With a wink, of course). They stuck together ever since and the rest was history. Sometime between the third and the fourth useless car they’ve checked, Soonyoung tried to make conversation. “Hey Jihoon, do you know why they named zombies zombies?” He asks Jihoon with a grin. “No, I don’t.” Jihoon replies, his curiosity piqued. “Why?” “Well, we all know that zombies like brains, right?” Jihoon resists the urge to roll his eyes and say duh. “and we also know that brains start with a B…” Soonyoung trails off with an impish grin on his face. Ugh, Jihoon knows where this is going. He should have known better than to ask why. Soonyoung never says intellectual things in situations like this. “Don’t say it.” He says with a warning tone. Unfortunately for Jihoon, Soonyoung doesn’t understand the concept of warnings. “Aaaaand they just want some b’s. Get it? Some b’s. Zombies!” Soonyoung proceeds to laugh hysterically at his own joke. This time, Jihoon doesn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes. He even indulges the urge to punch Soonyoung on the arm. “You are the lamest person I know.” Jihoon deadpans. Soonyoung pouts childishly. “You wound me, Jihoon. You wound meee!” He says as he dramatically places a hand over his heart. “Seriously, the joke is lamer than the name of that dancer you worship so much.” He tells Soonyoung. The older stares incredulously at Jihoon. “How dare you insult the great hurricane-blower and shining star Hoshi!” “He’s lame. Seriously, what kind of idiot names himself Hoshi? A star? Really?” Soonyoung’s tiny eyes widened. “We-well, at least it has a meaning and isn’t as stupid as Woozi!” he retorts. Jihoon glares at the older. “I’ll have you know that Woozi is a creative name! Unlike Hoshi!” Cue childish bickering that goes on for three minutes. “It isn’t!” “It is!” Soonyoung proceeds to imitate the famous Spongebob meme while spatting out Jihoon’s previous words. “It Is, iT iS, bLaH bLaH. It is– wait, do you hear something?" Soonyoung suddenly jerks back. “It– what?” Jihoon freezes. Soonyoung points to a green car not far ahead. They’re both in defense mode by this time, fingers on their respective gun’s trigger and feet positioned in a way that would allow running in an instant.They approach the car carefully, with Soonyoung in the lead. Jihoon’s breath hitches when his gut tingles the nearer they get to the car, as if telling him to run the other way. He glances at Soonyoung for a split second before a distinct growling sound immediately snaps his head back to the car’s direction. “I don’t think this is a good idea.” He half-shouts, half-whispers to the older. Soonyoung looks at him briefly before turning back to the car. He seems to contemplate for a moment whether or not they should proceed further and the look he sends Jihoon’s way gives the younger a sense of relief. Sadly, the relief is short-lived for as soon as they stepped away from the car, the growling sound turned louder and a brief glance behind them told them its source. “Run!” Jihoon shouts as he dashes across the road in hopes of outrunning the frightening creature in their pursuit. The word fuck repeats itself in his head a bajillion times when he dares a fleeting glance at the horribly disfigured mutt that was chasing them. Why does this have to happen to him? Of all creatures there are in the world, why does it have to be a dog to end him? Sure, it’s not really a dog anymore, but still. It once was a dog, and Jihoon loves dogs. Determined not to die yet, Jihoon runs faster and looks around for something he could climb. He spots a building with its fire escape ladder down and swiftly climbs up. Oh, thank Jesus, he thinks. However, Jihoon should have known better than to think his ordeal is over because he soon spots Soonyoung with the zombie dog about to catch him. “Soonyoung!” he desperately yells just as the dog bites the older on the leg. Soonyoung falls down with a shriek. The dog bites viciously on his leg but the older doesn’t give up without a fight. He desperately kicks at the mutt trying to gobble him up while struggling to aim his gun on its head. He succeeds, and the zombie mutt falls on its side as the road turns silent once again, three gunshots echoing in their surroundings. Jihoon immediately climbs down the building and runs to the older. “Soonyoung, what the fuck?!” He lashes at the other irrationally. He helps the older sit up, desperately trying to ignore the huge bite on his leg. “Ji-Jihoon,” the older struggles to breathe, “shoot me b-before I turn.” He pleads. The infection is obviously starting to spread. His skin is starting to rot, and his eyes are turning glassy. He sends the younger another pleading look when the other stays silent. Jihoon’s tears unknowingly starts to fall. He knows what he had to do. They’ve agreed on this from the start. Slowly, he lifts his hand to Soonyoung’s temple, finger shaking over the trigger. “I…” he trails off. Now’s his only chance to say it, and time is slowly running out.
“I… I lov– “ he bows his head and closes his eyes shut, cutting off the tears. When he looks up, a huge smirk is plastered on his face. “I beat you, idiot.” He says before shooting a grinning Soonyoung in the head. Jihoon opens his eyes. He yawns as he turns to the side table with a scowl on his face. Judging from the annoying ringtone coming from his phone, it’s Soonyoung calling. Swiping his phone to the right, he inhales sharply before placing his phone on his ear. “I beat you idiot. What kind of death was that? A dog, seriously?” “Good morning to you too, babe.” Soonyoung greets cheerfully. “You won! It’s 7-7 now. Hmm... Maybe I shouldn’t have killed the zombie that tried to eat you earlier…” “Just wait for the next dream, I’ll definitely survive again. On. My. Own.” He replies haughtily. Soonyoung’s laugh triggers the butterflies in his stomach. “Don’t get too cocky now. I just got tired of running, that’s all.” “Tsk. Save your excuses for someone who actually believes them.” He retorts. “And by the way, your jokes are so lame. Some b’s? Really? Why do I even have you for a soulmate?” “You love me.” The other replies before making weird kissing noises. Jihoon just rolls his eyes in fondness. “Anyway, I want to go back to sleep. I’ll pick you up at 7?” Jihoon hums in reply. “Great!” Soonyoung yawns. “Love you!” Jihoon smiles. “Love you too, idiot.”