It was cold.

The bed that was usually warm was chilled with the absence of one missing body.

It was lonely.

The emptiness of the other side when his arm strayed to the opposite side, made his eyes slowly creak open.

It was quiet.

The cold alarmed Jongin, for Kyungsoo never left unless he left a note, and through the faint sunlight that streamed through the shaded window showed no evidence of such. After the cold, it was much more the silence that made Jongin's heart beat stutter and quicken.

Sitting up slowly, his hand searched the opposite side, as if that will reveal where his Hyung was - it was more of a precautionary though, to make sure he didn't miss a note that may have gotten lost within the bedsheets. But there was nothing. And that got Jongin out of the bed, looking around the room for a single sheet of paper that would show where his Hyung may be.

"Yah.... Hyung...?" Jongin's deep voice echoed throughout the silent apartment, bouncing off the walls and trinkets of old action figures that Jongin found here and there.

Taking a deep breath, he checked the bathroom when nothing called back to him, exited their bedroom and looked around the studio living room and kitchen. But there was no one. There was nothing to hide in the small, though empty apartment. Kyungsoo wasn't one to hide and play a prank on Jongin either.

So Jongin moved to Kyungsoo's favourite part of the house, the kitchen to make sure that there wasn't a note there. But due to nerves, and fear that his hyung had just disappeared with no warning, he checked every nook and cranny of the kitchen. In the fridge, under the cabinets, in the kimchi fridge, the oven, the sink, the dishwasher, even the garbage. Nothing.

".." He mumbled and pushed his long fingers through his dark brown hair, one hand on his hip and the other traveling down to the back of his neck to rub.

Swallowing hard, he racked his brains to think back and see if Kyungsoo had told him he'd be going anywhere early in the morning. To check, Jongin pivoted on his heels and looked to the microwave at the time. 5:31AM. No.

-

Two hours passed and there was no sign of his beau. Jongin was sitting on the couch, in his jeans from yesterday and the shirt that Kyungsoo stripped from him the previous night.

Two hours passed and Jongin sat, waiting, hoping, his heart never calming down, for the worst was in his mind.

-

This was a time of injustice and murder, strict rules and fear. The future of which they thought they would never live was upon them after Seoul rose from its ashes. One of the five cities in the entire world that remained. Seoul. Chicago. Tokyo. Moscow. and Dubai. Other than that only villages and towns scattered across the barren plains of the world, disbanded the soulless mountains, and cowered the black beaches.

-

It was enough for Jongin. He figured he'd head upstairs to room J09 to check with their close friend to see if he knew where Kyungsoo was. After several fruitless attempts of calling Kyungsoo's cellphone, which rang throughout the apartment in forgottenness, Jongin was on his last leg.

Getting up from the black leather, he made it to the door in five large strides, his body already bending at the waist and his hand already grabbing for his shoes to help flip the back when he slipped his foot in. Standing up straight once they were on semi comfortably, he took no time unlock several bolts to open the door. And the opening of the door, the breaking of the sealed, cut off, soundproofed apartment, came sirens and screams.

It was upon them again.