Jooheon groaned softly. Something was tapping at his shoulder. And whatever it was, it was persistent. He stretched out an arm and brushed at his shoulder, feeling nothing but air. Satisfied, he withdrew his arm and resumed his deep breathing.

Until the tapping started again. This time, Jooheon tried to ignore it. Maybe if he pretended it wasn't there it would stop. But it didn't.

"Stop it, hyung," Jooheon murmured.

The person stopped for a moment, but then continued tapping even harder.

"What?" Jooheon cracked an eye open. "Oh."

Changkyun kneeled next to the couch, leaning over him with a stoic expression on his face. "You're older than me."

"I wasn't... how do you know?"

Changkyun casually handed him his driver's license. "Sorry," he offered an apology. "I was curious."

Jooheon replaced the card in his wallet, too tired to be angry and just glad that Changkyun was talking to him and had at least apologized. But that changed the moment Changkyun opened his mouth again.

"I'm leaving today."

Jooheon looked up, surprised. He was less put off by the fact that Changkyun was leaving, more the fact that Changkyun had said "I'm leaving" and not "we're leaving".

"What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving," Changkyun repeated. "This wasn't a permanent home. The ramen is nice and all, and I'll take some of it with me, but I can't stay here."

"Why not?" Jooheon argued. "We have everything we need here. Food, water, a place to sleep. Why give it up? And what about me?"

"I don't know this place. I've only lived here for two days. There are zombies all around here, all through the hallways. For all I know, this place could be someone else's home. And if it is, they're probably either waiting for us to leave or planning an attack to take this place back. People want to avoid confrontation, so they'll use violence over diplomacy to get the job done. Trust me on this. You don't stay in one place for too long. You keep moving, that's how you stay alive. Better to just take some ramen and leave everything else behind. You don't have to, but you can come with me if you want."

Jooheon sighed. He though he'd found the perfect deal. After Hoseok's death, he'd spent a couple months in the apartment they had stayed in together, occasionally raiding other apartments, supermarkets, and convenience stores to stock up on food until he'd run out of both food and places to look. It was more dangerous the farther Jooheon went out everyday, and the last few days he would just lay in the apartment with no will, stubbornly convincing himself that a single can would last him another week.

It hadn't, and Jooheon would've died in the convenience store if Changkyun hadn't come along. But the ramen here? It could last for months. And Jooheon wasn't willing to let that go.

"If you're really leaving, I'll stay here," Jooheon said. Even though he and Changkyun weren't necessarily friends - far from it - Jooheon thought he could get along with the guy.

He tried again to convince the other to stay, but Changkyun persisted in going.

"When are you leaving then?"

"Now." Changkyun slung a backpack onto his shoulders. "I already packed everything, just woke you up to see if you wanted to come."

"Oh." Jooheon looked crestfallen.

Changkyun stood. "So you're staying?"

Jooheon paused. "Yeah."

"Alright." Changkyun went to the door and looked through the peephole. "There's a few of them out there, and much more in the streets."

"I always go by roof. You can get around that way."

"Yeah, but I have camouflage." Changkyun pulled the hood of his hoodie over his head and took out his knife. "If you're squeamish you might want to look away."

Jooheon watched as Changkyun pulled the dead zombie away from the door and laid it out on the floor. Changkyun sliced its chest open with no hesitation and reached inside. Jooheon averted his eyes and turned his nose away from the scene when Changkyun started to pull guts out of its body and smear blood and whatever other bodily fluids there were over his jeans and hoodie.

"And... done." Changkyun was covered in a thin layer of dark red substance. With his face hidden beneath his hood, he looked like a member of the undead, and from what Jooheon could sense from the couch, smelled like one too. "I'll take this guy out when I leave," Changkyun gestured towards the remains of the zombie he had cut up, "but you should back something against the door. They like to knock on them sometimes."

Jooheon nodded. "Good luck out there."

Changkyun snorted. "I'll be fine. Be careful stuck in here. Don't get into any trouble."

"Don't worry about me," Jooheon said. "And - before you go, I just want to thank you, for helping me out yesterday, and bringing me here."

Changkyun opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then decided against it and gave Jooheon a tight nod. He left, dragging the zombie body with him, and Jooheon watched as he made his way through the hallway, moving gradually in a slow, stumbling gait, until he went out of sight of the peephole.

Jooheon pushed the couch up against the door as a barricade and then lay down on the couch to finish his rest and go back to sleep.

It hadn't been ten seconds before a click sounded from the door right next to his head. Jooheon's eyes snapped open and he bolted up. He froze in place, trying to be as silent as possible so that whatever undead creature was on the other side of the door wouldn't notice him.

But instead of snarls and moans he heard a hushed whisper, "Did you unlock it, Daddy?"

And a reply, "Yes, sweetheart. I'm just trying to open it now."

There was a grunt on the other side as the man leaned into the door and tried to force it open.

"Daddy hurry! They're coming!" Jooheon could hear the fear in her voice.

The father shushed her. "I know! Keep your voice down!"

Jooheon cautiously moved and looked through the peephole. A man and a little girl crouched in front of the door. The man had his shoulder to the door, but the couch Jooheon sat on prevented the door from budging. The girl uselessly tugged on the doorknob. And already there were a few zombies shuffling into his view. The man shoved his daughter between himself and the door and took up a fighting stance. He clutched a key in his fist, but Jooheon did think he had any other weapon.

Seeing the family in such immediate danger, Jooheon finally sprung into action. A part of him was still asleep and didn't want to risk his life for people he didn't know so early in the morning. But the greater part of him berated himself for not acting sooner.

And so Jooheon leapt off the couch and began pulling it back against the door, shouting to the two outside, "Hold on!"

The door inched open slowly, too slowly. The man had nothing but the key to the door to fight with, and there were already three zombies intent on the poor man's flesh. The girl saw her father frantically fighting off a losing battle and pounded her fists against the door, simply trying to will it open faster, oblivious to the noise she was making.

One floor down, Changkyun stopped and listened to the loud, albeit muted banging. A zombie brushed against him as it tried to make its way towards the sound, which was a floor above them.

Changkyun considered continuing on his way alone. It had always been like that, at least after what had happened to his brother. Changkyun pressed his lips together and tried to suppress the bad memory. He wondered what was going on with the banging. Had Jooheon gone insane? He'd only met the man the day before and barely knew him, but Jooheon was obviously resourceful enough to get out of the convenience store and make his way to the apartment. He wouldn't just randomly start banging on walls.

Whoever or whatever it was suddenly stopped, and Changkyun almost took that as a cue to turn his back and leave. But something else made him turn the other way and head back to 7A. He'd offered Jooheon a chance to come with him, and the man had refused. Why was he going back?

He told himself that he was just curious about the banging noise earlier. But he knew that was a lie. He had already abandoned Jooheon once, and he'd gone to the apartment regardless. And even if his first impression turned out to be wrong, he had a respect for Jooheon and thought he was a good person.

A high-pitched scream rang out and then cut off sharply. Changkyun made up his mind. A minute ago he had staggered through the hallways like a zombie, but this time he ran and dodged through the shambling corpses back to 7A.

Changkyun arrived at the scene and saw Jooheon standing in the open doorway with his mouth gaped open and eyebrows upturned in an expression of sadness. Before him three zombies were too busy gorging themselves on what looked to be a man and a small girl to notice him. The girl must have been the one who had screamed.

Jooheon blinked rapidly, and as Changkyun came closer he saw a single tear escape from the corner of his eye and trace a slow path down his face.

Changkyun strode forward and easily put down the three zombies with a swift stab through the head of each.

"I - I was too late," Jooheon stammered. "You were right, they lived here. They came back, and I couldn't help them in time..."

Changkyun stood in front of Jooheon awkwardly, not knowing what to say, but Jooheon didn't need him to say anything. He gazed at Changkyun with watery eyes, and as he blinked more tears slid down his face.

And then, somehow Changkyun ended up holding Jooheon in his arms. He hesitantly patted him on the back as Jooheon sobbed into his shoulder. Jooheon clutched Changkyun tighter, not caring about the gore smeared all over his hoodie.

Changkyun eased him back into the room and closed the door quietly, in case they had attracted any other zombies. He sat on the couch with Jooheon and rubbed his back gently without saying anything.

After a while, Jooheon stood up and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "Wait here," he told Changkyun.

Jooheon took his backpack and went into the kitchen. Changkyun could hear the wooden cabinets opening and closing and the plastic of the ramen packets crinkling. And then Jooheon walked back into the living room, zipping up his backpack.

"Let's go."