Youngjae took a deep breath, muttering quiet reassurances to himself. He'd never gone outside alone before. His left hand remained on the cold ladder rung, the sharp tendrils numbing his palm and fingertips, while his right hand held a katana. His ray gun was tucked behind his shirt into his pants, the metal pressing against his back.

One last huff, and Youngjae lifted himself up towards the exit. He couldn't get to sleep, so he figured he could maybe squeeze in some time to train. He had nothing better to do anyway. Several moments later, Youngjae emerged out of the bunker, his head poking out of the ground slowly. He twisted around, trying to take in his surroundings. There was nothing in sight. It was almost impossibly dark, and Youngjae ducked back inside to fetch a flashlight.

Afterwards, Youngjae hauled himself out of the bunker, flashlight and katana in his hands. When he looked up, a sliver of the moon peeked from in between the leaves like a smiling mouth, and the stars twinkled brightly beside it. The wind blew around Youngjae, whispered in his ears, chilled him to the bone, but he knew it'd be only temporarily once he began training. Taking a deep breath, Youngjae began walking towards the clearing. With each step he took, the beam of light bounced around, making the shadows dance and bewilder him slightly; Youngjae tried to keep to the familiar path, though.

It wasn't very long before Youngjae reached the clearing, and he sighed with relief. Youngjae flicked off the flashlight, and, while the clearing wasn't very brightly lit, he knew he'd get used to it. He unsheathed his sword, holding it up in front of him as if confronting an unseen foe, and then––

Something blinked in the brush directly in front of Youngjae.

Eyes widening, Youngjae kept completely still as he tried to determine what exactly was in front of him. A pair of shining orbs blinked in the darkness, and suddenly, the pair shifted, lifting higher off the ground. Youngjae didn't dare breath. Whatever was in front of him, it was large––larger than him. Fear and adrenaline shot through his veins, sending shock waves through him, and a cold sweat broke out, starting with his hands; he could physically feel himself shaking.

I'm going to die, Youngjae thought in horror. He tightened his grip on the hilt in an attempt to stop trembling, and dragged his eyes across the expanse in case there were more. Might as well go out with dignity.

Youngjae carefully pulled out his ray gun, and held his katana out like a staff.  Whatever was in front of him, he needed to have some distance from it.

There was rustling on the other side of the darkness, and Youngjae tensed. This was it. He grit his teeth as the glowing pair of orbs approached, and saw a bear emerge into the clearing.

"Oh my God," Youngjae whispered, taking a small step back. He looked up, sizing up the bear, and estimated its height at about seven feet. The fear increased slightly, and Youngjae felt panic beginning to seep into his consciousness. "It's a bear. Of course it's a bear. It just had to be a bear."

The bear took several steps forward, its head tipped back as if trying to sniff out its surroundings. Youngjae blinked, hoping to go unnoticed by the bear. When the bear, however, caught sight of Youngjae, it tipped its head to the side, and lumbered forward.

Youngjae's breath hitched, and he let loose a laser beam, surprising both him and the bear. There was silence for a moment, and then the bear let out a deafening roar. Yelping, Youngjae shot the bear several times with his ray gun, but it didn't seem to faze the animal as it began to charge across the clearing. Youngjae continued to shoot the bear, though. The laser beams flew out, illuminating the clearing like fireworks, but each beam seemed to be absorbed by the bear's fur.

The bear had come close enough now that Youngjae could see its gaping mouth and yellowed teeth. He picked up a faint whiff of the breath and nearly fainted at the pungent scent.

No matter how much Youngjae wanted to move, he couldn't seem to lift his feet, he couldn't even bring himself to lift up the katana. The bear lifted its paw, and Youngjae leaned back, his eyes locking with the bear's. However, the bear crumpled to the ground at Youngjae's feet.

Youngjae let out a huff of breath, and fell to the ground with relief.

"I almost died," Youngjae said to himself in disbelief. "I almost got mauled by a bear. Because I wanted to train. I'm not... I can't...do this anymore."

Taking a deep breath, Youngjae lifted himself up, and stared at the bear for a moment before picking up the scabbard on the ground. His hands were still shaking as he tucked his ray gun back into the back of his pants, and picked the flashlight up. He needed to get back to the bunker before anything else happened. He didn't think he'd be able to take it.

//

Youngjae snuck back inside the bunker, luckily unnoticed, returned his katana and ray gun, and, upon entering his and Daehyun's room, dropped onto the bed. Nearly dying by a bear had drained him, and all he wanted to do was to sleep and never wake up.

//

The next morning, Yongguk, Daehyun, and Youngjae stood in the control room, surrounding the table with the holographic map floating above them.

"Hurricane left about an hour ago," Yongguk informed Daehyun and Youngjae. "If we go fetch the van now and everything goes as planned, we'll be in District 7 by evening."

"Cool," Youngjae commented with a yawn. He was practically dragged out of the bed by Daehyun, and the sooner they were in that car, the sooner Youngjae could go back to sleep.

"Youngjae," Yongguk began, and Youngjae snapped his mouth shut mid-yawn, only now realizing how rude he must have been. Yongguk pulled a phone out of his pocket, and slid it across the table to Youngjae, who barely caught it. "That's yours. The members' numbers are in it already."

Youngjae stared at it, amazed at the antiqueness of it. He'd seen Daehyun's before, but he'd never seen the phone in full detail. Old World, by the looks of it. Youngjae pressed the button at the bottom, sliding his finger across the screen and finding the members' names and numbers listed there.

Youngjae looked up again, sliding the phone into his pocket. "Thanks, Yongguk."

Yongguk smiled. "No problem. Now, let's go. We have an entire day of traveling ahead of us."

As the three of them headed towards the ladder, Daehyun let out a quiet laugh. "This is gonna be great."

//

There were two vehicles stashed away from sight just slightly further down the mountain. Both were white vans, somewhat inconspicuous, and were large enough to hold whatever they were going to get (at least they were around a couple years old; anything before the Great War would have definitely raised suspicion). Himchan, Jongup, and Junhong—or Hurricane—had left an hour earlier, and were on their way to Districts 2 and 5.
 
Youngjae sat in the back of their van with their bags, trying not to tumble around with every turn the van made, while Yongguk and Daehyun sat in the front.
 
"You alright back there?" Yongguk asked, making a sharp turn and Youngjae yelped as he rolled across the back. "Sorry... Don't worry, we're almost at the base of the mountain."
 
In the passenger seat, Daehyun snickered. "Yongguk, you're the worst, holy ."
 
"What do you mean?" Yongguk replied, making another sharp turn.
 
Youngjae let out a groan as he tumbled backward and sideways. He felt a faint pounding beginning to press the sides of his head.
 
"He sounds like he's gonna die," Daehyun whispered to Yongguk.
 
The leader glanced back at Youngjae briefly. "If you feel like throwing up, there's a bucket somewhere in there."
 
Youngjae did see the bucket. It rolled along in the back with him and the rest of their bags, and he briefly considered it, but he hadn't reached that point—yet. "Thanks..."

How was he supposed to sleep now?
 
//
 
When they reached District 7, Youngjae was pretty sure he was numb from the waist down. It'd taken nearly an entire day by car, just like Yongguk had said, and, despite their many stops, Youngjae just wanted to stand up and stretch.
 
Youngjae peeked past the front seats to see where they were. "Where are we?"
 
Yongguk parked the car beside a curb, switched off the engine, and leaned back. "District 7. You see that store across the street? We're going tonight. For now, just rest up."
 
"Yeah... I gotta take a piss," Daehyun piped up not long after. He even squirmed a little in his seat.
 
Yongguk glanced sideways at Daehyun and let out a sigh. "Take Youngjae with you. I'll watch the van."
 
"Alright."
 
Daehyun opened the passenger-side door, and stepped out, disappearing around the side of the van. Suddenly, the back doors flew open, and Youngjae hopped out. He stumbled a bit on his wobbly legs, but steadied himself using Daehyun.
 
"Are you okay?" Daehyun asked as he closed the doors.
 
"I can't feel my legs," Youngjae deadpanned.
 
"Can you walk?" Daehyun took a few small steps forward.
 
Youngjae rolled his eyes as he followed Daehyun. "I'm not completely incapable of walking. I just have to get the blood circulating again."
 
Shrugging, Daehyun pulled a pair of sunglasses and a hat out of his jacket pockets. "Put the sunglasses on."
 
Without a second thought, Youngjae slid the sunglasses on as Daehyun placed the cap on. They began walking down the sidewalk, their footsteps making quiet taps on the concrete. They'd walked a couple blocks before coming even remotely close to someplace open with a bathroom. Any farther, and Youngjae feared Daehyun might have headed into an alleyway.
 
The pair walked into a fast food restaurant where the employees smiled politely and seemed to know that the both of them were criminals against the government. Youngjae tried to smile back at the employees behind the counter as he followed Daehyun into the restrooms.
 
"Oh, that was smooth as velvet," Daehyun teased as the door closed behind them.
 
Youngjae's cheeks grew hot. "I was only being polite."
 
"Is that what the Inner District ladies like?" Daehyun asked, walking up to a urinal.
 
Youngjae followed Daehyun, making sure to stay a couple urinals away. "District 7 doesn't count as 'Inner'."
 
"Come on, you're a city boy. You know what girls like, don't you?" Daehyun persisted with a laugh.
 
Youngjae shrugged as he finished, and walked to the sink to wash his hands. Did Daehyun always talk while going pee? "I wouldn't know."
 
"Really now?" Daehyun asked. He zipped up his pants and headed to the sink beside Youngjae.
 
The door opened before Youngjae could reply, and a tense silence fell over them. A businessman walked in, seriousness seemingly etched into his very being. He looked above Daehyun and Youngjae's heads into the mirror to fix himself, but a look of recognition and shock emerged on his features as he focused his attention on Youngjae.
 
"I know you," the businessman stated.
 
Youngjae blinked as he stared at the man. That was impossible. Nothing about the man seemed familiar to Youngjae—at all.
 
The business man moved his sleeve up, and looked at his transceiver watch, bringing up a hologram of the news. He scrolled through it, his focus engrossed in the hologram. Panic progressively seeping into him, Youngjae glanced at Daehyun, who made a signal toward the bathroom door. As they inched to the door, the businessman suddenly gasped.
 
"You're..." He stared at Youngjae and Daehyun in horror, his eyes wide. "You're both—"
 
"Leaving," Daehyun interrupted, taking Youngjae's hand.
 
They rushed out of the bathroom, through the restaurant, and out the double doors. The businessman shouted something incomprehensible, but Youngjae knew what the businessman realized. And Youngjae knew why that had occurred.
 
"I was on the news," Youngjae mumbled quietly, almost to himself. "I'm wanted by the Republic."
 
"Yeah, but maybe you can mull on that a bit later," Daehyun replied, glancing backward. "We're kinda being chased right now."
 
Youngjae looked back, and saw a few Auxiliary officers chasing them.
 
"We're going to get caught," Youngjae said. Despite his conclusion, he picked up his pace.
 
"No, we won't. Shut up, Youngjae," Daehyun declared, his grip on Youngjae's hand tightening.
 
"But— Ahh!"
 
Daehyun made a sharp right, nearly pulling Youngjae's shoulder out of its socket, and they ran down an alleyway. They squeezed into a niche inside a wall, pulling a hanging tarp in front of them like a curtain.
 
Footsteps approached soon after, and Youngjae covered his mouth in fear of being heard. "Where'd they go?"
 
Another pair of footsteps. "I don't see them."
 
"Dammit."
 
As the officers walked away, Youngjae let out a sigh of relief. Daehyun reached over, and pulled the tarp back slightly to peek outside.
 
"We're alive," Youngjae breathed, closing his eyes. This was even worse than nearly being mauled by a bear. He was still trembling from the fear and adrenaline.
 
Daehyun let go of the tarp, letting it fall back into place. "I'm calling Yongguk."
 
As Daehyun moved to take his phone out of his pocket, Youngjae belatedly realized how close they were standing. Staring just above Daehyun's head, Youngjae did his best to press himself against the wall as Daehyun reached into his back pocket to fetch his phone, but the space didn't allow for much space. Then, Daehyun's knee—of all things—brushed against Youngjae's crotch, and Youngjae bit his lip, pushing his lower half against the wall in a desperate attempt to avoid detection of his growing hard-on.
 
Daehyun waited for Yongguk to pick up, but noticed Youngjae's stiffness. "Youngjae, are you okay?"
 
"Y-yeah," Youngjae said, glancing at Daehyun before darting back to the wall. "No problem here."
 
There was an amused grin on Daehyun's face as he realized the situation. "We shared a bed and you're awkward abo—" Daehyun stopped short, the grin melting of his face. "Yongguk, we were almost caught. We're taking a detour back."
 
Youngjae bit the inside of his cheek to distract himself from the surge of heat rushing downward.
 
"Are you sure you're alright?" Daehyun asked, moving again to stuff his phone into pocket.
 
Youngjae nodded because he just couldn't trust his voice anymore.
 
"Well... I was thinking maybe we could make a wide arc back to the van. We'll have to use the alleyways, but we should be able to make it back by nighttime," Daehyun said, squeezing out of the niche. As if as an afterthought, he added, "If we're quick."
 
"Okay," Youngjae replied, following Daehyun out of the cramped space. There were too many things going through his mind all at once and the first thing he wanted to do was get rid of his stupid hard-on.
 
"This way," Daehyun said, leading the way, and Youngjae seemingly switched to autopilot, not really paying attention to his surroundings as he walked beside Daehyun.
 
"By the way," Daehyun began, glancing back at Youngjae, "you're really sensitive."
 
Youngjae stopped in his tracks, eyes wide and cheeks flushed with embarrassment as Daehyun laughed.

"Youngjae, come on, we have to get back to the van."

A/N: Hooray for awkward boners. And maybe bears???????? And my titles are slowly becoming more and more unrelated to the chapters. Next thing you know I'm blatantly copying lyrics.

But omg their comeback. I'm not even remotely okay. Don't look at me and my ugly sobbing. There are tears all over my laptop and 1004 is playing in the background. Goodbye I am done.

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