Index:

(YJ) - Young Jae speaking
(DH) - Daehyun speaking

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Hurried footsteps could be heard intermingling with panicked breathing. A small boy’s heart raced quickly as wide eyes looked here and there, trying to find the right path to go to. Everywhere he looked, there just didn’t seem to be a place that would bring him to any form of safety. If he could just find him, then maybe, just maybe, he would be able to escape his pursuers. “There he is!”

A small gasp escaped his lips as he turned a corner. Where could he go? Where could he lose his pursuers? His eyes quickly landed on a familiar crawlspace that seemed to be big enough just for him to fit into. With little to no hesitance, the small boy quickly ran up to the crawlspace before getting down onto his hands and knees. Gathering up as much of his courage as possible, the small boy quickly began crawling inside, just barely keeping himself from being seen by his pursuers.

Slowly but surely, the small boy continued crawling through the dark, cramped space with hope within him. He was certain that he had gotten away from his pursuers, so that meant that he was close to safety. Soon, he would be able to live freely without having to worry about curfew or following orders from bad men. Soon, he would be able to live happily and hopefully, the person he agreed to meet at the safe place would be there too.

Well, it wasn’t necessarily safe. It was safe enough to hide for a moment, but it wasn’t safe to stay there for too long. Still, it was the best place for them to meet and it brought comfort to the young boy whenever he was there. Whether or not they got caught though... that was an entirely different question.

In an instant, the small boy felt his head bump into something. Let out a small whine, he moved back a bit as he rubbed his head. Sure, it was completely dark in here and he couldn’t see where he was going, but that couldn’t mean that the way was blocked! Attempting to look at the object in front of him, he raised his hands and tried to push as hard as possible as he let out a small grunt. Little by little, the object blocking his path began to give way before finally , it fell forward. With a small, satisfied sigh, the small boy crawled out from the crawlspace before getting to his feet.

He had to shield his eyes since they had gotten used to the dark, but once they had adjusted themselves, he began to slowly look around. Where was he? The small boy couldn’t necessarily remember where that crawlspace led to or if he really did use that space before, but that didn’t deter him. After all, he was safe for the time being, so this place couldn’t be all that bad!

As he began walking, curiosity began to kick in as the small boy looked around. Here and there, things seemed to catch his attention. Whether he checked it or not depended on how interesting it seemed. It had only been about ten minutes since he had begun walking, but already, his backpack was near full of interesting objects. Now, whether he used these items or not was an entirely different question. After all, he just liked the look of these objects.

Once he was certain that nothing else would fit into his backpack, he frowned as he decided to pass by any other objects he saw. As much as he wanted to take everything with him, he just couldn’t do so. Of course, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t trade out some things for a few other things.

Entering one of the ruined buildings, the small boy look around in awe as he tried to imagine what this building must have been at one point. It was large and appeared to have a large dome like roof, but the roof had caved in from the explosion about five to six years ago. Stepping into the large, empty, area in the middle, the boy’s eyes soon landed on a figure laying in the center. At first, he had thought it was a complete stranger just sleeping in the middle. However, as he got closer, his eyes widened and a smile crossed his face as he quickly ran forward.

Quickly falling to his knees by the figure, the boy leaned forward a bit as he began to shake the sleeping figure. He was here! He really was here waiting for him! He couldn’t help but feel joy as he looked at the person’s face. Though, had he really taken so long that the person decided to take a nap? “Young Jae! Yooouuung Jaee~! Wake up!” (DH)

Young Jae stirred a bit, but he quickly swatted away Daehyun’s hands. Daehyun furrowed his eyebrows and frowned as he continued once more in an attempt to wake Young Jae up from his nap. “Young Jae! Wake up! We have to go or else we’ll be in big trouble!” (DH)

“What do you want...” (YJ) Young Jae mumbled a bit as he finally opened his eyes. Through sleep-filled eyes, Young Jae stared at the blurry face of the small boy. He rubbed his eyes a bit, trying to clear out his vision before looking at the boy once more. Who the heck was this kid and why did he look familiar? “Who are you..?” (YJ)

“It’s me! Daehyun! You don’t remember me? You said you would bring me away from the bad men!” (DH) Daehyun sat back on his heels as he frowned a bit. Was it possible that Young Jae forgot everything about what they said to one another? That couldn’t be! “Did you really forget, Young Jae?” (DH)

Wait. What..? Young Jae pushed himself up to a sitting position before he stared at the boy once more. He couldn’t be... could he? Could this boy really be Daehyun? It would explain why he looked familiar, but then, why was Daehyun a child and what did he mean by bringing him away from the bad men? “Hold on.. Explain a bit more. What bad men? What are you talking about? Why would I take you away to anywhere?” (YJ)

So he really did forget! It brought sadness within Daehyun, but there didn’t seem to be anything he could do to get Young Jae to remember everything. It seemed like he was just going to have to tell Young Jae everything and hope that he ended up remembering. “You promised that you would bring me away from the bad men because they were being mean and hurting everyone! I remember that you said that they were being mean because they were.. um.. trying to be a dictator so that they had the power to control everyone, but because we were really good friends, you decided to bring me with you to safety! I even remembered that you said that when I’m old enough, then we can get married.” (DH)

Hold up. Young Jae had been following Daehyun’s every single word and understanding exactly what he was saying. After all, it was a generic plot line in various movies and video games and it made complete sense. HOWEVER, the part about marrying Daehyun when he was older was DEFINITELY out of the question! He was, in no way, a e! Why the heck would he ever promise to marry a child once they were of age?! Young Jae was already twenty-six and this kid was like, what, nine?! For the time being, Young Jae would just have to pretend that.. Daehyun didn’t say that last part. They needed to focus on the rest of what Daehyun said, especially if he was being followed. “Then.. let’s get going. We might get caught if we stay here any longer than necessary.” (YJ)

“Okay! Um.. Where are we supposed to go to?” (DH) Once the two were on their feet, Young Jae looked around. He didn’t recognize the area for the time being, but that may just be because the place was in ruins and the fact that they were inside rather than outside. Maybe if they were outside, he would be able to tell what city they were in, though that was fairly unlikely.

“Let’s head outside first. I need to.. collect my surroundings.” (YJ) Daehyun nodded before taking a hold of Young Jae’s hand and waiting. It took a moment for it to click, but after a bit of staring awkwardly at one another, Young Jae finally realized that he was supposed to lead the way. With a small sigh, Young Jae began walking with Daehyun happily walking by his side. “So... What city is this?” (YJ)

“Did you forget that too? We’re in New York City!” (DH) New York City..? Then he should have known what this building was. No, wait. That would be a lie. Young Jae had only lived in New York City for nearly two years now. Sure, he had the layout of the city memorized, but he didn’t know all of the streets and buildings.

It took them a few minutes, but after they made it out, Young Jae noticed the lettering on the outside of the building. Although some letters were missing, he instantly recognized the name of the building. “The Solomon Guggenheim Museum...” (YJ)

Why didn’t he recognize the building from the inside? He had been to this museum before since it had become renown for its dome like ceiling. This building was on fifth avenue, located between eighty-eighth and eighty-ninth streeth. He knew exactly where he was now, but the main problem was... where exactly was this safe place that Daehyun was talking about? “Young Jae..? I’m really hungry.. Do you have any food?” (DH)

Young Jae looked down at Daehyun, whom looked up at him with wide, curious eyes. When was Daehyun ever not hungry? Still, he couldn’t resist the innocence within Daehyun’s eyes. With a small sigh, Young Jae used his free hand to check his pockets before shaking his head. “I don’t have any on me.” (YJ)

“But you didn’t check your bag..” (DH) Bag? Young Jae reached up to touch his shoulder before finally realizing that there were straps in front of his shoulder. Furrowing his eyebrows a bit, Young Jae kneeled down before taking off his backpack and setting it in front of him. Opening it up, the two looked inside of Young Jae’s bag curiously as Young Jae began to rummage through whatever he had inside.

There were clothes, a small pillow that had a zipper that went around through three sides, and there was a flashlight. Reaching the bottom though, Young Jae finally noticed that there was something neatly wrapped within foil. Pulling out the two objects, Young Jae opened up the first one before revealing a sandwich. Daehyun’s eyes instantly lit up as he crouched down and looked up at Young Jae’s face. “Can I have it?” (DH)

“Let me check it first.” (YJ) Young Jae peeled away the top slide of bread, revealing the contents within. From what Young Jae could tell, it simply had peanut butter and strawberry jelly within. Taking in a relieved sigh, Young Jae pressed the bread back on top before handing the foil and its contents to Daehyun. “Here. We should probably find more food though.” (YJ)

“Wow! Thank you!” (DH) Daehyun happily took hold of the sandwich as he wrapped the foil around the lower half of his sandwich. As Daehyun began eating, Young Jae unwrapped the other object. It was the same kind of sandwich as Daehyun’s, so Young Jae just mirrored Daehyun’s actions and put his backpack back on before the two began walking once more. “I really like how tasty this sandwich is! What kind of food are we going to eat next?” (DH)

“I don’t know yet. It looks like we might have to look for it..” (YJ) Daehyun nodded, though the majority of his attention was on his sandwich. Young Jae took a bite as he tried to think. Where could they go to get more food? As nice of an idea as it was, he doubted that there would be any food at the majority of the markets that New York City had to offer. With the current state that the city was in, he doubted that its destruction had occurred recently. Still, it was their only bet on finding food at this point. Though, they did have to get to safety first. “So.. Do you know where this safe place is?” (YJ)

“Me..? Um... Oh! I remember you told me that we have to leave New York and, um.. I.. think we have to go to New Jersey..” (DH) Daehyun tried to remember what Young Jae told him a few days ago, but that information didn’t seem to want to come ho him for some reason. Well, maybe it wasn’t that important. After all, Young Jae was the one who told him and that meant that Young Jae knew where they were going! Wait.. If Young Jae didn’t remember some of his memories earlier, then did that mean that.. “Did you forget where we were going too, Young Jae?!” (DH)

Looking up at Young Jae, his eyes widened with worry on his face as the two stared at one another. How was he supposed to get out of this? Young Jae really had no idea where they were going and if he lied and wasn’t all that convincing with it, then Daehyun would be able to see through his lie with little to no problems. He had to think and keep himself calm. Turning his gaze forward, he decided that it was probably best not to make eye contact with Daehyun while speaking to him. “No.. I didn’t forget. I was just.. testing to see if you knew.” (YJ)

“Oh.. Okay!” (DH) Was it really that easy? Then again, with how Daehyun is at the moment, his child-like form and naivete might be intermingling a little too well at the moment. Still, it was better than having Daehyun pestering him about it. Young Jae didn’t necessarily have the patience for children, which is why he didn’t want anymore children once the two babies they had were all grown up.

That was right.. Him and Daehyun were going to be having children soon. Since it was almost Daehyun’s birthday, Young Jae could assume that five to six months have passed already. Just four to three months left before their babies were born and that’s assuming that they’re born within a nine month span. That means that he needed to finish up here before they were born. Daehyun was definitely not going to be able to take care of anyone on his own, though.. he did hire Taeyeon and Sooyoung for that job. Were they even still around at this point? They could have left without him knowing, which did make sense. Why would they help around the house when they weren’t even getting paid? They were technically complete strangers to them, so they held no responsibilities or loyalty to them.

After some time, Daehyun was finally starting to get tired. Although Young Jae was currently still able to keep going with no trouble, Daehyun just didn’t want to go any further. With a small whine, Daehyun tugged at Young Jae’s hand a bit in order to gain his attention. “Young Jaee... Can we sit? I’m tiiired!” (DH)

“You have enough energy to talk, so keep walking.” (YJ) Daehyun let out a loud whine before pulling his hand out of Young Jae’s hand and plopping down onto the ground. Young Jae furrowed his eyebrows as he looked down at the kid, whom had a pout on his face. “Get up. We can’t rest here.” (YJ)

“No! I’m tired and I wanna sit!” (DH) Young Jae let out a slight groan as he ran a hand through his hair. They couldn’t just sit out here in the open if they were supposedly getting chased. He recalled the Daehyun back in that underwater building telling him to lay low, so that’s what they had to do. Still, Young Jae did have to realize that this Daehyun is a child and couldn’t necessarily keep going as long as he would if he had been an adult. With a small sigh, Young Jae quickly looked around before his eyes landed on a nearby building.

“Alright. We’ll go rest over there, okay? We can’t be out here like this.” (YJ) As Young Jae pointed at the building he was talking about, Daehyun looked over to where he was pointing. He still had a pout on his face, but he nodded a bit as he looked up at Young Jae. He raised his arms towards him, confusing Young Jae as the two stared at each other. Why was Daehyun raising his hands towards him? “What are you doing?” (YJ)

“Carry me! I’m too tired to walk!” (DH) Young Jae’s right eyebrow twitched as he furrowed his eyebrows yet again. He was just being a brat now! Young Jae didn’t know if Daehyun had acted like this as a child, but if he had done so, then he truly had grown a lot. Folding his arms, Young Jae shook his head.

“No. You have to walk on your own.” (YJ) Daehyun crossed his arms as he furrowed his eyebrows as well. He just said that he was too tired to walk! Young Jae let out an irritated groan as he crouched down and looked at Daehyun straight in the eye. “Get up and I won’t have to punish you.” (YJ)

“Why are you being so mean?! I hate you!” (DH) Daehyun turned away, refusing to talk to Young Jae any further. Young Jae ruffled his hair out of frustration as he sat down as well. What the heck was he supposed to do?! Young Jae wasn’t going to baby the kid by carrying him, but it seemed like it was the only way to get him into the building.

“Get up already! Do you want to be caught by the bad guys by sitting out here?! Do you?!” (YJ) Daehyun briefly glanced at Young Jae before looking away. He took the time to think and as much as he wanted to just sit here and rest, he would rather not get caught by the bad men. Holding his pout, Daehyun slowly got to his feet before he began walking towards the building with clear sadness on his face. Young Jae let out a small sigh as he followed after Daehyun, looking around to make certain that no one else was around.

Once inside the building, Daehyun made his way to the closest couch before sitting down on it. Young Jae took the seat next to him, letting out a sigh of relief as he took off his backpack and set it down beside him. He looked down at Daehyun, seeing the pout that just didn’t seem to want to leave Daehyun’s face. “You need to apologize for your behavior.” (YJ)

“No.. You’re being mean..” (DH) Had it been anyone else in the real world that he knew, Young Jae would have smacked the back of their head already. After all, Young Jae was just being logical and trying to make certain that they remained safe in an apparently dangerous world. However, considering the fact that this was Daehyun as a little kid, Young Jae let out a small sigh. If he was going to be a father to newborn babies soon, he needed to learn to have a bit of patience and to actually be kind to the children. Unlike everyone else, whom are fully grown at this point, he couldn’t be so harsh with children. Raising a hand, Young Jae placed a hand on Daehyun’s right shoulder before pulling the little kid in.

“Okay, fine.. I apologize for my behavior.” (YJ) Daehyun looked up at Young Jae, his pout holding before he laid down and rested his head on Young Jae’s lap. Young Jae let out a small sigh, but he wasn’t mad or anything. At least it seemed like Daehyun had accepted his apology. Looking down at Daehyun, Young Jae had a slight smile on his face as he began to run his fingers through Daehyun’s hair. “Are you going to sleep?” (YJ)

Daehyun nodded his head as he kept his eyes closed. It probably wasn’t a good idea to fall asleep here, but Young Jae didn’t want Daehyun to tire out too much. He just hoped that Daehyun didn’t end up sleeping for too long.

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Young Jae jumped a bit as he took in a deep breath. Wiping his face, he blinked a little too fast for a second or so as he looked around. When had he fallen asleep? He didn’t recall falling asleep, but it was clear that time had passed. Nighttime was upon them now, making it difficult for them to see all around them. The only light source came from the moonlight, but it might be better this way if they were going to stay hidden from any pursuers. Now that he thought about it though, he hadn’t seen anyone chasing after them. Either this was something that he should be wary about, or no one knew where they were.

Movement on his lap quickly caused Young Jae to stiffen as he held his breath. Slowly, he looked down before he saw the sleeping form of Daehyun. Letting out a small sigh of relief, Young Jae sat back as he ran his hand through his hair. He had completely forgotten that Daehyun was sleeping, so it was rather worrisome to feel something random moving on his lap. For all he knew, it could have been a wild animal that would have harmed him in some way. Would he have been able to escape from a wild animal unscathed? Probably not, but that wasn’t important for the time being.

Looking back down at Daehyun, Young Jae watched for a brief moment as Daehyun slept peacefully. What was Daehyun dreaming about? Young Jae didn’t want to wake Daehyun from his sleep, but he knew that they couldn’t stay here any longer than necessary. He lightly shook Daehyun’s shoulder as he quietly spoke. “Daehyun... Wake up.” (YJ)

Daehyun stirred a bit, but it wasn’t enough to wake him just yet. The two repeated this process two, maybe three times, before Daehyun finally decided to begin waking up. “Mm... Five more minutes..” (DH)

“You have to wake up now. We need to start moving again..” (YJ) Daehyun whined a little as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. Through sleep filled eyes, Daehyun looked around for a moment before looking up at Young Jae. Young Jae smiled slightly as he moved some hair away from Daehyun’s face. “Okay. Let’s start moving, alright?” (YJ)

With a small nod, Daehyun sleepily got to his feet before waiting for Young Jae to lead the way. As Young Jae began walking, Daehyun held onto Young Jae’s hand before sluggishly following after him. Young Jae knew that with Daehyun’s current state, it would only slow them down for a bit. Having him walk would wake him up a bit more, but at the same time, Young Jae was feeling a bit bad for not letting Daehyun get more sleep. His mind seemed to be arguing with itself before finally, he had decided on a course of action. Bending over a bit, Yonug Jae picked up the small boy and made certain that Daehyun was comfortable before he began walking.

To his surprise, Daehyun was actually really light, lighter than he should have been. As he assumed earlier, he still thought that Daehyun was about eight or nine, but he was certain that he should have felt a bit heavier. He leaned back a bit, raising Daehyun’s shirt before finally noticing just how skinny the boy was. How long had it been since he’s had a full meal? He bit back tears as he lowered Daehyun’s shirt back down before pulling Daehyun closer for a hug. Although a bit confused, Daehyun happily wrapped his arms around Young Jae’s neck as he rested his head a bit. “I hope we make it to a safe place soon..” (DH)

“Y-Yeah.. me too..” (YJ) Although this world was only part of his mind, it felt all too real to just simply ignore. He held the boy close as he stuck to the shadows, keeping his eyes and ears open for anything that might get them into trouble. Now was probably the best time to ask Daehyun questions about this place. It would definitely be a bit more beneficial if he knew what was going on. “Daehyun..? Why is this place in ruins?” (YJ)

“The explosion from... I think four or five years ago. I don’t really remember it too much, but I know that a lot of people died from the explosions.” (DH) Young Jae nodded a bit and he did wonder what had been the cause behind the explosion, but for the time being, he wouldn’t question it. “Did you really forget everything..?” (DH)

“Uh... It appears to be the case.” (YJ) Unknown to Young Jae, Daehyun had a sad look in his eyes as he tightened his hold on Young Jae. Daehyun actually felt bad that Young Jae had forgotten everything and he really wanted to help Young Jae regain his memories, but he really didn’t know how to go about doing so. “Hey.. What do you like to eat?” (YJ)

“Eat? Are we going to eat soon? I’m hungry..” (DH) Young Jae mentally kicked himself. Why did he have to remind Daehyun about his hunger? When it came to food, it was always best to keep one’s mind off of it instead of bringing up such a topic. “Can we eat soon? Do you have anymore food?” (DH)

“I.. uh.. We’ll eat soon, alright? I’ll make certain to obtain some food for you.” (YJ) Daehyun nodded as he closed his eyes a little. He wasn’t sleepy anymore, but it was nice to be carried like this. “So.. Why do you trust me?” (YJ)

Daehyun pulled away a bit as he looked at Young Jae with slight confusion. However, he merely smiled happily as he hugged Young Jae once more, resuming his previous position. “Because you helped me a lot and you didn’t do anything bad to me like the bed men did.” (DH)

Wait. What exactly did these men do to Daehyun? Even if it did somewhat annoy or even anger Young Jae, he decided that it was probably best not to ask. If he found out what these men had done, then Young Jae may end up letting it get the best of his judgment, which was something he definitely shouldn’t let happen.

Looking around, Young Jae’s eyes soon landed on a corner store. Should they try it out? There was a very small chance that there would be anything left in there, but it was probably best to at least try it out. Taking in a deep breath, Young Jae made his way over to the corner store before opening the door.

Stepping inside, he looked around a bit before Daehyun’s curiosity took over as he sat up a bit to look around. Setting Daehyun onto his feet, Young Jae pulled his flashlight out from his backpack before he began to search the area. Daehyun did the same, but he was looking through the items that weren’t exactly edible. After all, toys of all kinds just seemed to always draw his attention.

When it came to things like vegetables, fruits, or even bags of food, Young Jae had to ignore those. More than likely, those things had expired already, thus making them inedible. When it came to the canned food though, it seemed like there was still a few things left over. Letting out a sigh of relief, Young Jae began to look through the canned food, making certain that they weren’t expired before putting them into his backpack. Sure, it wasn’t the ideal thing to be carrying around when they weighed so much, but it was the only thing that they could bring with them that wasn’t growing some sort of fungus on it.

“Look Young Jae! This toy is super cool!” (DH) Young Jae looked up as he saw Daehyun running towards him with some sort of robotic action figure in his hand. As Daehyun came to a stop, Daehyun squeezed the toys’ legs, causing the toy to punch forward with both arms. “Isn’t it cool? We could play together and fight the evil bad guys that want to destroy the whole world!” (DH)

Young Jae would have said something about leaving behind things they didn’t need, but a child’s innocence was necessary. Taking that away just wasn’t something that should be done. It was the only thing they had before they had to grow up into the real world. Sure, this wasn’t the real world, but he still didn’t want to be the one to take away his childhood. “Yeah.. We can play later, okay? So put it in your bag for now so you don’t lose it.” (YJ)

“Okay!” (DH) While Daehyun was busy with that, Young Jae finished up what he was doing before putting his backpack on. It was fairly heavy, but it wasn’t something that he couldn’t handle. It was just a matter of whether Daehyun would be willing to walk alongside him as opposed to being carried like a little kid. “Are we going to eat soon? That one looks really yummy!” (DH)

Looking at the item that Daehyun had chosen, Young Jae’s right eyebrow twitched as he stared at it for a moment. Did Daehyun really... find spam acceptable looking? Young Jae didn’t necessarily like the look of spam, but then again, knowing how Daehyun is, he’d just about eat anything. Plus, there was the fact that Daehyun hadn’t eaten in a long while. It would have been nice if they had rice or even bread to pair up with the spam, but it seems like Daehyun would have to eat it by itself. Picking up the can, Young Jae looked at Daehyun and held it for him to see. “Are you certain that this is something you want to consume?” (YJ)

“Con.. sume..? I don’t know what that is.. but I do want it! Can I have it? Pretty pleeease?” (DH) Young Jae nodded as he looked around a bit more. Maybe there would be something that could be paired up with the spam. After all, it wasn’t necessarily all that filling by itself and he doubted it would get Daehyun to keep from constantly asking about food.

“Pick something else you want to eat as well. You’re super hungry, right?” (YJ) Daehyun’s eyes seemed to light up as he happily nodded. His eyes instantly stared at the cans, his hands sorting through the cans as he picked the ones that seemed to catch his attention the most. Once he was done, he held them all out for Young Jae to check. After all, he did have to make certain that they hadn’t gone bad already. He didn’t necessarily approve of some of Daehyun’s choices, especially since he seemed to have added another can of spam and about three cans of vienna sausages, but they could probably just hold onto those for now. For the time being, he could at least add in the mixed vegetables that Daehyun had chosen in order to attempt to counteract all of the meat. “Okay.. We’ll save some of these for later, okay? Is it alright if you eat the spam with the vegetables?” (YJ)

“It’s okay. I want to know what they taste like!” (DH) Did Daehyun really not know what they tasted like? So that meant he had literally chosen based on how the image on the can looked. Sure, that’s how most people chose, but.. with how old Daehyun probably was, it was a bit surprising that he didn’t even know what the vegetables in the can tasted like.

Then again, maybe it wasn’t. With how skinny the poor boy was, it was possible that whomever was in charge had been holding back on the rations. Well, hopefully Daehyun would end up liking what was in these cans. Looking around for a bit, Young Jae took a moment before finally spotting a nearby pan that was still wrapped up. He walked around a bit more, grabbing the things that he needed before he soon led Daehyun back outside the store. “Where are we going?” (DH)

“We have to find a place to cook these things. I don’t want you eating spam straight out of the can.” (YJ) Daehyun nodded, but he didn’t necessarily understand why. They walked around for a few minutes, trying to find a place that wasn’t out in the open before finally settling on a nearby hotel building. Entering the building, Young Jae led Daehyun to where the kitchen would be located before the two quietly stepped inside. They looked around, inspecting the surroundings before making their way over to the stove. They could have simply just used one of the pans here, but that would have involved washing the dust off of it and he doubted the water would still be running after all of these years. Though.. maybe it didn’t hurt to check. He did, after all, still need a spatula. “Daehyun? Can you check if that sink is working?” (YJ)

“Okay!” (DH) While Daehyun did that, Young Jae turned the dial on the stove as he waited. The sound of gas could be heard escaping from the stove top, but there wasn’t a clicking sound. That was rather obvious, since electricity wasn’t working around here, which was why Young Jae had taken a box of matches and a lighter from the corner store. Pulling out the lighter, Young Jae had just lit the fire on the stove when Daehyun’s voice penetrated the near silence. “The water is working, Young Jae!’ (DH)

Young Jae stood up straight, his eyes landing on Daehyun and the nearby sink. He could clearly see the water running, but how was that even remotely possible? It shouldn’t have been working, but maybe this was a good sign. No, wait. They needed to see if the water was still good. They couldn’t just go using murky water to drink from. Yes, he didn’t trust tap water, but it was most likely the only source of water they’re going to find that isn’t directly from the ocean. “Let me see if it’s alright to drink first.” (YJ)

Daehyun nodded as he stepped away from the sink a bit. Young Jae made his way over to the sink and stared at the running water as his eyebrows furrowed. Using the flashlight that he had been holding the majority of the time, he attempted to see as much of the water as possible to tell if there were any obvious implications that would say that the water wasn’t exactly safe for either of them. So far, it looked like normal water, so all that was left was actually testing it. Looking around for a moment, Young Jae quickly grabbed the nearest spatula before holding it under the water. A few seconds passed before Young Jae finally deemed that the water wasn’t too acidic. Then again, that should have been obvious since the faucet didn’t seem to deteriorate from letting such liquids run in the first place.

His eyes did notice the nearby dish soap, but there wasn’t any point to washing the spatula if the water wasn’t any good to use. Setting the spatula down, Young Jae looked around once more before grabbing a nearby pot. He filled the pot up to a comfortable level before bringing it back over to the stove. He moved the pan over to one of the other empty spots on the stove top as he set the pot on the fire. He raised the fire, letting the water begin to warm up. There was nothing else he could do but try and kill whatever bacteria was in the water. “Do I have to drink warm water..? Can’t I drink from the sink when it's still cold?” (DH)

“No. There could be bacteria or parasites in the water and since I can’t tell for the time being, this is the safest way we would be able to drink any of the water. If you really want something to drink, then open up one of the cans of fruit and drink the juice.” (YJ) Daehyun nodded as he quickly began rummaging through Young Jae’s backpack, which had been set off to the side earlier when Young Jae took out the lighter. Once Daehyun got his hands onto a can of peaches, Daehyun climbed up onto the counter and sat down as he looked down at the can happily. However, confusion began to set in before he looked up at Young Jae.

“Young Jaee! How do I open it?” (DH)

“Use the can opener.” (YJ) Daehyun nodded before he rummaged through Young Jae’s backpack once more. He stuck his tongue out at the corner of his mouth, focusing hard before he finally spotted the can opener. Now that he held both items, he stared at the two items before looking back at Young Jae.

“How do I use the can opener?” (DH) Young Jae let out an irritated sigh just as he got another fire started. Looking at Daehyun, he could barely see the confusion on Daehyun’s face. How did he not know how to use a can opener?! Was this kid just devoid of every little thing that was considered simplicity?

“Just give me the damn thing!” (YJ) Taking a few steps towards Daehyun, Young Jae snatched the items out of Daehyun’s hands, which caused Daehyun to jump with surprise, before he quickly opened up the can of peaches. Once that was done, Young Jae roughly handed the can back to Daehyun before throwing the can opener into his backpack. Without another word or even checking to see if Daehyun was alright, he quickly went back to cooking.

Daehyun frowned as he looked down at the exposed peaches. He felt bad that he had gotten Young Jae angry, but he didn’t know how to make him happy. He could have offered some peaches to Young Jae, but he was afraid of getting yelled at again. Though, as he stared at the peaches, he didn’t exactly know how he was supposed to eat it without getting his hands wet. Utensils weren’t exactly something he was familiar with, so, he could only do what he thought was the best thing to do. Since he didn’t want to bother Young Jae, he simply dug his hand in as he ate each of the peaches one at a time.

Upon hearing the sounds of slurping and various other liquid related sounds, Young Jae briefly glanced up at Daehyun before finding himself staring in disbelief. What exactly was Daehyun doing..? Setting the now opened can of spam down onto the counter, Young Jae walked up to Daehyun before pulling the can of peaches out of his hand. “What are you doing?! You’re making a mess! Look at you. Now we have to get you cleaned up! Do you even process your actions in that head of yours before you do them?!” (YJ)

“I didn’t know how to eat it..” (DH)

“Then why didn’t you ask me?!” (YJ)

“Because I didn’t want to make you more mad at me!” (DH) Daehyun jumped down from the counter before he ran off out of the kitchen while crying. Young Jae let out an irritated groan as he turned the fire off under the pan and lowered the fire under the pot before taking hold of his flashlight and running after Daehyun.

It wasn’t safe for Daehyun to run off on his own. Even if there wasn’t anyone else within a fifty mile radius, that still didn’t mean that Daehyun couldn’t get into some form of danger. Stepping out of the kitchen, Young Jae looked around for a moment. Where had Daehyun ran off to? He was currently standing in the restaurant and so far, all the doors that led into the restaurant were still closed, so that meant that Daehyun was still in the restaurant. Though.. there were plenty of tables with table cloths to have to search through. Plus, the debris around here added a few more hiding places for the kid to hide in. “Daehyun! Reveal yourself this instant!” (YJ)

“No! I hate you!” (DH) Well, at least he knew that he was right about Daehyun still being in here. Though, how was he supposed to find Daehyun? If Daehyun was truly avoiding him, then he could easily run from table to table just to get away from him. Young Jae let out a small sigh as he sat down in one of the chairs.

“Daehyun.. I apologize about my behavior, alright? I didn’t mean to get angry at you. I was just getting.. frustrated and I took my frustration out on you. Please come out?” (YJ) Well, at least he got something out of this experience. If he was too harsh on the child, then they would end up locking him out. If he was too nice, he already knew that they would try to take advantage of him so.. he needed to somehow stay in the middle.

“Do you mean it..?” (DH) Young Jae looked across the table, finally noticing that Daehyun was peeking from the other side. Young Jae nodded as he watched Daehyun slowly stand up. With a sniff, Daehyun quickly wiped his face with his sleeve before running around the table and wrapping his arms around Young Jae. “I’m really sorry too, Young Jae.. Can you.. show me how to eat the peaches?” (DH)

“Alright.. Come on. Let’s go back to the kitchen.” (YJ) Getting up to his feet, Young Jae swooped Daehyun up into his arms as he began walking. He hugged Daehyun closely, a warm smile on his face as he felt Daehyun hugging him back. Maybe... being a parent wouldn’t be so bad after all.

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[[ My Own Thoughts:

Okay!
I quite liked this chapter, to be honest.. xD
Though, next chapter will be a bit.. worrisome.
Sooo.. I’ll try to get it up soon. x3

Comments are loved!
I like to see what everyone thinks about the fanfic and if I’m doing well with them. x3 ]]