Jongin was allowed to leave the hospital after three days. Kyungsoo left ahead so he could check with Jongdae whether Jongin could stay at his house as well. But when Kyungsoo arrived early in the morning, Jongdae was not there. Minseok was repairing the door handle to the living room door when Kyungsoo walked in.
“Minseok!” He turned around surprised.
“So you have decided to come back? How’s Jongin?” Minseok asked.
“Good, he’ll be allowed to leave this afternoon. But he has nowhere to stay, as long as I cannot get a job I cannot afford a place of my own. I wanted to check with Jongdae whether Jongin can stay here, too”, Kyungsoo said. Minseok finished his repair work with a smack onto the handle.
“I don’t think he’ll mind. There is a new sofa in the living room, Kenta bought it for you anyways”, Minseok said. Kyungsoo was surprised and walked into the living room.
“Kenta bought it for me?” he asked. Minseok nodded.
Kenta himself was sitting on one of the sofas, headphones on and a very concentrated expression on his face. He noticed Kyungsoo entering however and put the headphones down.
“Kyungsoo, you’re back!” he called with a smile.
“Hi, Kenta. Sorry for not contacting any of you, I was with Jongin at the hospital. He did not trust the doctors there and almost died because he did not take his medicine”, Kyungsoo said. Kenta waved with his hand.
“I’m working for the city security now”, Kenta said proudly.
“Great, is that why you bought all that?” Kyungsoo asked looking around. Since his last visit a lot had changed, the house was clean and had new furniture. Kenta nodded.
“Jongdae lets me stay here so I helped him make it inhabitable again”, Kenta said with a grin.
“I earn quite a bit now since I got promoted. I bought these sofas, they’re good to sleep on”, he added.
“Would you mind if Jongin stayed here, too?” Kyungsoo asked. Kenta shook his head.
“Not at all, you’d have to share that sofa though”, Kenta said and glanced over to the door.
But Minseok was no longer there, a distant sound suggested he had either moved to the kitchen or upstairs.
“You cannot sleep upstairs anymore”, Kenta said. Kyungsoo frowned.
“Did something happen?” Kyungsoo asked. “Is it because of Minseok’s treatment?” he added anxiously. A strange expression appeared on Kenta’s face.
“The bedroom is their room now”, he said. Kyungsoo opened his mouth.
“Do they get along now? It was a bit – frosty between them when I left”, Kyungsoo said sitting down on the sofa next to Kenta. Kenta tapped onto the hologram in his lap and it switched off with a buzzing sound.
“Getting along, I guess you could call it so”, Kenta said. Kyungsoo frowned.
“What, why?” he asked worried. It looked very odd to see Kenta suppress a giggle.
“I came home earlier a couple of days ago and they seemed to get along very well then”, Kenta said. Kyungsoo frowned.
“What do you mean?” he asked puzzled.
“They were doing – uhm – They had – you know – they probably thought that they were alone otherwise they wouldn’t have been so loud”, Kenta said. Kyungsoo finally understood and looked away.
“I see”, he said, trying his best to keep his voice calm to not make this awkward.
“I didn’t think Minseok was interested in that”, Kenta said then. Kyungsoo looked at him.
“You know, some of the older ones were really cold and emotionless. Some of them were trained to become guards themselves at the camps. But among people my age there were a lot more who were completely different. They said I could not feel like a normal human being but I never saw a difference. Maybe I think a bit differently but I never felt differently”, Kenta said thoughtfully. Kyungsoo smiled.
“Well, I’m sure there is and never was anything wrong with the way you felt. It was a lie they told you”, Kyungsoo said.
“But Minseok was exactly like that”, Kenta said. “At the shelter he was trying to be a bit more friendly and approachable but you could tell that he did not really care about anyone. I didn’t think he would ever care about anyone”, Kenta said.
“Well he is doing that therapy, it is supposed to help him regulate his hormones and so on”, Kyungsoo said. Kenta hummed.
“But he did the therapy for Jongdae”, Kenta murmured. Kyungsoo was surprised.
“He did the therapy for Jongdae?” he repeated. Kenta nodded.
“He wanted to know whether he would feel something for Jongdae if he was normal. That’s what he said – already back then… when Jongdae appeared at our shelter in the desert”, Kenta said.
“You sound like you don’t really believe that Minseok feels anything for Jongdae”, Kyungsoo said quietly. Kenta looked at him when he was not smiling he gave the same air of alertness and caution as every other Aureum Luscus.
“I don’t think the therapy really worked on Minseok. It caused him only pain”, Kenta said.
“You think he only pretends to like Jongdae?” Kyungsoo asked shocked.

Kenta flinched and looked up, Kyungsoo followed his movement even though he had not heard anything to startle him. The door was opened only a smidge so Kyungsoo could not tell whether someone was standing there. But Kenta obviously did and judging from his expression either Minseok or Jongdae must have been in front of the door. Kyungsoo got up and walked over to the door but no one was there. Sounds from the kitchen told him someone was cooking so he walked over into the kitchen. Minseok was cutting vegetables and Jongdae was there, too, for some reason he looked as if he had just worked out really hard.
“I’ll just take a shower”, Jongdae said when Kyungsoo came in.
“Jongdae”, Kyungsoo said. Jongdae turned around.
“Hi, Kyungsoo. Don’t worry about Jongin, he can stay”, Jongdae said. “Minseok already told me”.

He walked past Kyungsoo without showing any sign that it had been him to overhear the conversation. Kyungsoo washed his hands in the sink and joined Minseok. When he heard the sound of the shower he glanced at Minseok.
“Minseok, can I ask you something?” he asked carefully. Minseok hummed.
“It is a bit – it’s a difficult question”, Kyungsoo said quietly. Minseok stopped cutting and looked at Kyungsoo.
“It is about the education they gave you all at the camps”, Kyungsoo said. Minseok showed no reaction.
“I heard they taught you about relationships and friendship and so on”, Kyungsoo asked.
“Yeah, they showed us videos and we read about it in stories”, Minseok said.
“So even though you had not experienced it, you would have an understanding about those things?” Kyungsoo asked. Minseok’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you getting at?” he asked.
Kyungsoo looked at his hands. That would mean that Jongin should understand what their closeness meant. Or did he interpret it differently?
“I’m just trying to understand Jongin better”, Kyungsoo murmured.

Minseok relaxed a bit and hummed again as he turned back to cutting the vegetables. Kyungsoo watched Minseok’s back while Minseok was roasting the food. The burden of not knowing what someone else was really thinking and feeling was unbearable. Kyungsoo wondered how much Jongdae was suffering or if he pretended, too, not to see and blindly accept Minseok’s attempt at being close. Was he stupid for believing that Jongin could possibly feel something, too?
“I’ll go and pick up Jongin now. He’ll be waiting for me already”, Kyungsoo said. He left just when Jongdae returned from the shower.

Jongin was indeed waiting for him impatiently. He looked relieved when Kyungsoo appeared and rushed over to him.
“We’re going to stay at Jongdae’s house for now. Minseok and Kenta are there, too. Is that alright with you?” Kyungsoo asked. Jongin nodded. They had just left the hospital, entering a busy street when Jongin stepped very close to Kyungsoo.
“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo asked with a glance at Jongin. Jongin seemed to dislike big crowds of people and his eyes were nervously scanning the masses of people. Kyungsoo hesitated but then carefully reached for Jongin’s hand. Jongin jumped at the sudden touch but when he saw that it was Kyungsoo’s hand, he relaxed.
“It’s alright”, Kyungsoo said.

Kyungsoo who knew the city better by now, took a route away from the big main streets. The narrow alleyways were dimly lit and occasionally they saw a few people sticking their heads together in corners. The city government would have denied the existence of shady people in this glorious city but they were there. The stories about the Aureum Luscus that the people of the city had been told were fundamentally different from the ones Kyungsoo had grown up with. But the massacre at camp three and the fights at camp two had eventually been spread through rumours. Kyungsoo wondered how many people really wanted justice for the Aureum Luscus because they were genuinely distraught by what happened and not just because they were scared of them. The yellow glowing eyes were not helping, Kyungsoo was one of the few who was used to them and found them rather fascinating. Most people did not dare to look them in the eyes and so did Jongin’s glowing eyes keep every shady person in their shady corners during their way through the side alleys.
“Jongin”, Kyungsoo said when they stepped out of the narrow side alleys into a little street leading to Jongdae’s home. It was not very busy here, most people were inside for dinner but a few teenagers and one or two adults were walking down the street. Jongin hummed.
“If you follow that street you’ll see the ocean. We’re very close. If you want to we can go there after dinner”, Kyungsoo said. Jongin nodded.

Kyungsoo led the way to the house and unlocked the front door. A delicious smell immediately welcomed them, Kenta was babbling about something. Kyungsoo closed the door behind them and kicked his shoes off, he smiled at Jongin and brought him into the kitchen.
“… but they have a really- Jongin”, Kenta called happily stopping midsentence.
“Hi”, Jongin murmured.
“Well, have a seat. There is still plenty. Minseok is really good at cooking”, Kenta said. They sat down and joined in on dinner.
“As I was saying, you should definitely go and check it out, Minseok. There might be something that catches your interest. Same goes for you, Jongin”, Kenta said. Jongin looked up from his plate, his mouth already stuffed with food. He gulped down the large portion.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, I did a course at university today and they also showed me around the campus. It’s pretty amazing and the professors know a lot. They have all sorts of subjects you can study and some courses are at a good level”, Kenta said. Jongin turned back to the food.
“Study at university?” he asked. Kenta nodded. “Not really my thing”, Jongin said and started shovelling food into his mouth again.
“You haven’t even seen the campus and you’ve never been to a university before, how would you know?” Kenta asked shoving his chin forward.
“I’ll go and check it out”, Minseok said instead. Kenta smiled satisfied.
“Maybe we can go together or Jongdae can come with us”, Kenta continued.
“I have to work and you should not skip workdays either, Kenta”, Jongdae said.
“You work?” Kyungsoo asked surprised. Minseok and Jongdae exchanged short glances.
“Yeah, it’s nothing official though. But I cannot let Kenta pay for everything”, Jongdae said.
“I said it would be fine”, Kenta threw in.
“How did you get that job?” Kyungsoo asked quickly. Jongdae continued eating before looking at Kyungsoo and answering.
“Not officially. It’s more of doing a friend a favour and he pays me for that. It’s still dangerous in this climate to go against the rules. You know, not everyone was happy how the trials went. I heard a few things”, Jongdae said. Kyungsoo put his chopsticks down.
“What did you hear?” he asked.
“Well, we did commit several crimes that is not to deny, Kyungsoo. People find it hard to accept that we were pardoned solely because we contributed to exposing and stopping an inhuman experiment going on”, Jongdae said.
“And not everyone likes that the Aureum Luscus get special treatment. Every one of them who has shown special talent in an area has been offered good positions. They are allowed to work”, he continued.
“You’ve been offered something too, Minseok?” Kyungsoo asked. Minseok tilted his head.
“In a city that strives for peace and harmony, a person who is good in war and fight strategies is not needed”, he said calmly. “Have they contacted you, Jongin?” Minseok asked. Jongin shook his head.
“I’m not surprised, though. He was in hospital and until a few days ago they were not optimistic about his health improving much”, Kyungsoo said.
“I’m sure they will contact you soon”, Kenta said. “What was you SE-area?” he asked then.
Minseok’s hands shortly tensed and Jongdae looked like it cost him all effort and strength to not shout. Kenta seemed to be completely oblivious to the tension he had caused.
“I never had one”, Jongin said simply. Kyungsoo bit down the question and told himself to wait until later.
“How? Everyone has one”, Kenta said surprised. “Minseok had three!” Jongdae put his chopsticks down.
“Okay”, he said and cleared his throat. “How about getting the sofa ready for Kyungsoo and Jongin?” he said to Kenta.
“Why?” Kenta asked looking disgruntled at being cut off so abruptly.
“You can do the dishes if you don’t want to –“, Jongdae continued.
“Okay, okay”, Kenta muttered and got up.
“Sorry about that”, Jongdae murmured. Jongin shrugged.
“I left the camp very early”, he said. Minseok looked at him.
“You left early?” he asked.

Jongin rolled the chopsticks between his fingers until he stopped abruptly as if he remembered someone telling him not to do such a thing. He put them down.
“I ran away when I was 11”, he said. Jongdae opened his mouth.
“How old are you right now?” he asked. Jongin tilted his head.
“20”, he answered.
“You survived 9 years on your own?” Jongdae asked.
“Well it wasn’t always easy”, Jongin said. “I got caught two times. The first time wasn’t too bad actually, it was a little village. They had no clue about me or the stories about us. They let me live there for 5 years”, Jongin said and his eyes looked into the distance.
“Until the village got attacked”, he added then. “I was just fine for another couple of years, then I wandered further east and ran into Kyungsoo”, Jongin said.
Kyungsoo shifted and cleared his throat.
“You were the one who caught Jongin?” Jongdae asked.
“I’m not proud of that either”, Kyungsoo said sharply. “I didn’t know what they were going to do with him. At my town they had everyone thinking the Aureum Luscus did not really exist, except a few people from the military, the government and obviously doctors and scientist who knew the truth. They brainwashed us into thinking the Aureum Luscus’ genes were the solution for many deadly diseases”, Kyungsoo said.
“I noticed that he was not treated well. Junmyeon and I met at the institution where they held Jongin captive. Junmyeon was a scientist there, we exchanged information regularly. Junmyeon told me just how bad they treated Jongin and we both helped Jongin escape. Well, we escaped with him basically”, Kyungsoo said.

After cleaning up together, Kyungsoo and Jongin went out for the promised walk. There were a few people outside now, dressed up, obviously going out. They climbed over the railing and slithered down a slope and jumped right onto the sandy beach. It was a stretch of the beach that was not used by party people. Kyungsoo took off his shoes and enjoyed the sand between his toes.
“Take your shoes off”, Kyungsoo said to Jongin when he saw that Jongin was watching him. Jongin followed Kyungsoo and took his shoes off.
“Feels nice, doesn’t it?” Kyungsoo said with a smile.
Jongin hummed. Together they walked to the waves rushing back and forth. Kyungsoo had never seen Jongin’s eyes light up as they did when he saw the ocean for the first time. He said nothing so Jongin could enjoy and take it all in. Jongin walked into the waves, the salt water splashed against his legs and sprinkled his pants and shirt but he did not seem to mind. Kyungsoo touched his arm when Jongin went in deeper.
“You cannot go in at night time. We can come back tomorrow”, Kyungsoo said gently. Jongin frowned a bit but nodded.
“Let’s walk a bit”, Kyungsoo said.
They walked along the shore, the waves splashing against their feet. At some time they had stopped and sat down in the still warm sand. Kyungsoo let himself fall onto his back.
“Look up”, Kyungsoo said.
Jongin who was sitting, let his head fall back into his neck and looked up. The velvet blue sky spread clear above them with the stars glittering. Jongin’s lips slowly lifted into a smile and Kyungsoo felt his heart skip at that. He sat up.
“Jongin?” he said quietly.
Jongin looked at him, the smile was already fading but he looked comfortable and happy. They were sitting so close that their legs were touching, their fingers were barely touching. Kyungsoo leaned a bit closer.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked quietly. Jongin looked back at him, confused and puzzled.
“Yeah”, he said then.
Kyungsoo leaned over to Jongin and touched his cheek. It was hard to hide his nervousness now, Jongin must hear his quick breath. But Kyungsoo did not want to rush into it, he kissed Jongin very carefully. It was a very chaste and soft kiss. But when Kyungsoo pulled back he felt dizzy, he looked up into Jongin’s glowing eyes. There was still confusion but slowly something else mixed into it. Jongin lifted his hand and touched Kyungsoo’s cheek. His hand was a bit rough and sand was still sticking to his palm. Kyungsoo leaned in again and rested his forehead against Jongin’s. This time he saw how Jongin closed his eyes and strangely, his heartbeat calmed down. The endless worries and anxiety of the last weeks seemed to be washed away, he too closed his eyes. Here he was with Jongin. He had thought for terrible long weeks that Jongin was dead and he would never see him again. Jongin remained close, leaning against Kyungsoo, his hand on Kyungsoo’s cheek. The tips of their noses touching slightly.

*

“Are you going to tell Kyungsoo that you’re working for Junmyeon now?” Minseok asked. Jongdae pulled the curtains shut and turned around.
“No, he is far from forgiving Junmyeon and Junmyeon is not making it easy for Kyungsoo either. It’s almost as if he is provoking Kyungsoo on purpose”, Jongdae said.
Minseok crossed his legs and leaned against the wall.
“Why should he do that?” he asked. Jongdae shook his head.
“I don’t know, it was just a thought. I guess Junmyeon is just conflicted when it comes to Kyungsoo”, he said and crawled onto the bed next to Minseok.
“Conflicted?” Minseok asked.
“Well, Kyungsoo is everything Junmyeon secretly wished he was. Kyungsoo was very successful at his hometown, he was Lieutenant. At his age! He was apparently also popular. He is very skilled and talented. I guess, since Junmyeon failed in the military, his parents probably wanted him to be someone like Kyungsoo. He’s jealous but conflicted because Kyungsoo was his only friend”, Jongdae said. Minseok frowned. Jongdae smiled.
“I did not deduce all of that. I only recently heard that Junmyeon was in the military as well but didn’t do too well”, Jongdae said. Minseok leaned his head back against the wall.
“Are you okay?” Jongdae asked carefully. “Ever since Kenta mentioned the SE you’re very tense”, Jongdae said. Minseok gave him a side glance without moving his head.
“Sorry”, Jongdae said quickly.
“You want to know my SE-areas?” Minseok asked roughly. Jongdae shifted.
“No, you don’t have to tell me”, he muttered.

Downstairs Kyungsoo and Jongin just returned.
“You know, next time I’ll show you the campus. It’s really nice”, Kyungsoo said.
His thoughts wandered off to two boys, his friends… he had not forgotten about Baekhyun and Chanyeol. But he still didn’t know what they were doing or how they were. He knew that none of the city people had died, so Baekhyun should be fine. But Kyungsoo didn’t know how to approach him again after this. He knew from Chanyeol’s reaction that Chanyeol surely did not want to see him ever again.
“What is it?” Jongin asked. Kyungsoo had stopped in the hallway lost in thought.
“Huh? Nothing, I just – thought of something”, Kyungsoo murmured.
Jongin’s eyes narrowed a little but he said nothing. They walked into the living room where Kenta was sitting with crossed legs leaning over a hologram. He was talking to himself under his breath.
“No that cannot be right. No, no…”, he muttered. He looked up shortly when the two entered. “Hi”, he said absently with a disgruntled expression.
“What’s wrong?” Kyungsoo asked. Kenta tapped the hologram device.
“They wanted me to check this, the new program is not working. But I checked everything and I cannot see why it does not work”, Kenta said. He pulled a tablet over which was lying next to him and tapped the screen. Jongin leaned over.
“Maybe it is the program that is faulty”, he said. “No, it isn’t. A computer calculated it and it found no mistakes”, Kenta said.
“But there is a mistake”, Jongin said.
Kenta turned his head so fast, he almost snapped his neck. Kyungsoo leaned over too and saw a complicated long list of calculations on the tablet screen. “Here”, Jongin said and tapped a chain of calculations.
“It is a small mistake with grave consequences”, Jongin said and corrected it. Kenta took out a second tablet to re-calculate.
“My god, you’re right”, Kenta murmured.
“Did you just calculate that in your head?” Kyungsoo asked baffled. Jongin’s eyes wandered over the rest of the calculations.
“The rest is correct. You should check the computer, this could be a deliberate mistake”, Jongin said but Kenta was already nodding.
“Someone might have slipped in that mistake so the program would not work”, he said. His fingers flying over the tablet, typing a message.
“What kind of program is that?” Kyungsoo asked.
“The new security system for the court building. Not that I am allowed to tell you actually”, Kenta said. “I have to leave and report this”, he said and got up.
He got changed at the speed of light and stuffed the hologram device and the two tablets into his bag. He rushed out without another word. Kyungsoo closed the living room door and turned around. Jongin was sitting on their sofa. It had already been pulled out and transformed into a bed.
“Jongin?” Kyungsoo asked. Jongin looked up when Kyungsoo sat down at the bed.
“What is this SE-area they had been talking about before?” Kyungsoo asked. Jongin looked at his hands.
“How much do you know about the camps?” Jongin asked.
“Not much”, Kyungsoo replied.
“When we were old enough, around 10 years old, we had to go to the camps. They called them boarding schools and they were a lot like it. We had our dorms, school education and so on. But depending on how obedient we were, they put us in different camps. They tried to find out our special skills. We were told that we were exceptionally intelligent, some of us had a talent for specific areas and received extra training in that area. That’s why they called it Special Education, short SE. From what I heard it wasn’t just ordinary stuff like mathematics or programming or language learning, they taught other skills as well”, Jongin said. Kyungsoo frowned.
“That doesn’t sound too bad… it seemed like it really upset Minseok however”, he said. Jongin looked away.
“Like I said, they teach you anything if you show talent for something, even if you do not want to be good at something”, Jongin said. “I left because of it”, he said.
Kyungsoo stared at him. “I thought you had no SE”, he said. Jongin shifted, he avoided eye-contact.
“They do tests to find out your skills and before you are put into those courses and trainings, you’re told which courses you will get”, Jongin said. Kyungsoo wanted to inch closer but he could tell that Jongin did not want to be touched right now.
“They said we were aggressive and violent but who handed us the knife and the gun?” Jongin asked. Kyungsoo opened his mouth.
“They… tested children in using knives and guns?” Kyungsoo asked quietly.
“No”. Jongin finally looked up. “They tested us in our ability to kill and they were very delighted to find that most of us were lacking the empathy to feel regret or have trouble cutting up things”, Jongin said. Kyungsoo felt sick.
“What exactly let they – practice you on?” he asked although he did not want to know. Jongin shrugged.
“Anything, animals usually. But I know that the SE would teach you how to kill humans as well”, Jongin said.
“What would your SE have been?” Kyungsoo asked. Jongin looked at him.
“You would not want me close to you if you knew”, Jongin said. Kyungsoo reached out his hand.
“Nothing you say could ever change that”, he said quietly. “If you think that would make me turn away, you forget I killed an innocent young man to free you”, Kyungsoo said. Jongin looked at Kyungsoo’s outstretched hand.
“I would have been trained in martial arts. And primarily, how to kill without weapons”, Jongin said. Kyungsoo slid closer and took Jongin’s hand.
“Well, you ran away”, Kyungsoo said.
“Not for the reasons you are hoping for, I guess”, Jongin said and looked away.
“What was your reason then?” Kyungsoo asked.
“I wanted to decide myself whether I killed and whom and how. I’m not human, I don’t think I can be, no one of us can be. We were made and created to be different. But I’m not a killing machine they can use to their purposes”, Jongin said.
“You can decide now for yourself what you want to do with your life. It is yours now”, Kyungsoo said. Jongin turned his head and looked at Kyungsoo.
“Let’s go to sleep”, Kyungsoo said then.

But Jongin seemed to be restless and turned around countless times.
“What’s wrong?” Kyungsoo asked and touched Jongin’s shoulder. “Is it because of what we talked earlier on?” Kyungsoo asked worried. Jongin turned around so he could face Kyungsoo.
“Can’t you hear it?” he asked. Kyungsoo held his breath and listened very hard but he heard nothing. The house was silent aside from Jongin’s breathing.
“No, what?” Kyungsoo asked.
Kenta had not returned yet and Minseok and Jongdae probably had gone to bed, too. Jongin looked distressed and pulled the pillow over his head. Kyungsoo tried his hardest but he could hear nothing that should cause Jongin so much discomfort.
“Do you want me to talk so you won’t have to hear it?” Kyungsoo suggested helplessly. Jongin took the pillow down and nodded.
“Okay”, Kyungsoo said shifting. Jongin inched closer.
“If I’m not allowed to work I will try and apply for university. I want to study geography. A – a friend of mine studies geography. I met him here in the city and he helped me a great deal with getting you into the city. But he got shot while following me and I think he only realised then that I had been lying about my identity the whole time. I’m afraid he won’t forgive me. His best friend surely won’t, he really didn’t like me at all. They had just started dating when I went through with the plan and my friend got shot. I think he had suspected me to be only pretending to be someone I wasn’t”, Kyungsoo murmured.
“You made friends pretending to be someone you weren’t?” Jongin asked.
“Yeah”, Kyungsoo said and looked up at the ceiling.
“I told them I had been sent to the city to work here. I told them I was working for a doctor – which was not completely untrue, though. But I didn’t tell them about my past and I didn’t tell them about my plans. They showed me around the city and got me the unregistered phone with which I could finally contact the others. They had no clue that they had helped me getting you into the city. It was nice however. For a while I was just Kyungsoo, an ordinary guy living in this city, enjoying the afternoon with friends. But sometimes it was really hard”, Kyungsoo said.
“For the longest time I did not know what was going on outside of the city. I only knew that there were fights in camp two. Giang had hacked the security cameras and I saw how that guard had held you down, there was so much blood. And I kept seeing that scene over and over in my head. I thought… I thought the entire time I had lost you”, Kyungsoo ended. He suddenly had a lump in his throat and felt very cold. He turned his head and saw that Jongin was looking at him.
“You thought I was dead?” Jongin asked. He watched the tears trickle down Kyungsoo’s nose and over his cheek.
“But you came to the hospital”, Jongin said.
“I was in prison for a few weeks until my official court hearing. As soon as I got out I started trying to get information on what had happened at camp two. And when I saw that some had gotten out alive, I started looking for you. I hadn’t seen you dying so I just hoped that somehow you got out of there”, Kyungsoo said. Jongin inched even closer, their faces were just millimetres apart.
“Junmyeon came and freed everyone who had been locked up. He shut down the camp with an official note but he came personally. He took me with him”, Jongin whispered. Kyungsoo froze.
“He did?” he murmured. Junmyeon had told him but he had hardly believed it. Jongin nodded.
“He has become very strange”, Kyungsoo said quietly.
“He was already very different when I arrived at the city. For a moment I had all those crazy thoughts that it wasn’t really Junmyeon. But then I saw that it was really him and the good life of the city had already poisoned him. He enjoyed it and he does now more than ever before. He indulges in the power he holds”, Kyungsoo said bitterly.
“Sorry, I got side tracked”, he added then. Jongin slid down a few inches and nuzzled his head into Kyungsoo’s chest.
“Is it quiet now?” Kyungsoo asked.
“Yeah”, Jongin muttered sleepily.
“Good night”, Kyungsoo said quietly. He hardly dared to move because he didn’t want Jongin to move away from him or to wake him. He listened to his steady breath, it was barely audible.

Finally! I know you've been waiting for this moment to happen: the kiss.
I'm sorry it took so long (the slow-burn) but it was important that the kiss happened in a situation in which they both felt safe and comfortable so they could properly decide that they want the kiss and not rush into it.

Also, university just started again and the workload this semester is insane, so I will try my best to continue updating regularly but please forgive me if I am a bit late...

I hope you enjoyed the kiss!! Let me know what you think!