Yunho looked around the insides. The truck itself was relatively clean. Her bow was on her side, as far away from him as possible. Understandable. She drove on the road, for the most part. Many times there was a blockade of cars, and they had to drive on the grass on the side, which forced the car to use more gas to not stick.

“You know Gangneung is a tourist trap, right?” Jiyeon also seemed to refuse to look at him.

“Yeah. I wanted to see it with Jaejoong. At least once.”

Jiyeon snorted. “So—”

“Don't say it.” Yunho glared at her, as if daring her to say it. He knew it, and she knew it. Only fans said it, as a rebuttal to those who despised the thought of the two together.

“Okay, okay. Fine. But if we're all going to be with each other for a while now, at least entertain me how you reunited.”

Yunho gave her a long look. She didn't seem much of a threat, and she did agree to take them with her, and she was taking them to where they wanted to go. He didn't see anything wrong with telling a possible fan of the brief reunion. Yunho took a deep breath, and recounted the story from the beginning. Jiyeon stood silent for the entire story. At times, she took her eyes off the road to look at him for only a moment at a time.

“And luckily we were awake—One of the soulless had somehow learned to open doors.”

“What? How? They're mindless...killing...things!”

“That's what we said.”

Jiyeon thought for a moment. “If they're actually learning things, and are not just the zombie that we thought they are, we've got an entirely different problem. We have to fortify our sleeping areas in a different way, follow different routes, stash things properly, lock doors...” She said the last bit with an accusing glare.

“Hey, we didn't know until just this morning. Left that shack before any more of those things figured it out.” Yunho sighed, and rubbed his eyes. He was still tired from the walking yesterday. If only he hadn't...

Up ahead, a blockade was in sight. Jiyeon groaned the moment she spotted it. She slapped the steering wheel, and stopped on the brakes hard enough for the seat belt to lock. “I bet they're bandits.”

“Careful, I see spikes on the floor past the barricade.”

Jiyeon inspected the area as she nodded. The blockade was an entire road wide. If they wanted to get around it, they would have to go on the grass. “There could be spikes in the grass, too. We have no choice.”

Yunho rummaged through his bag, and took out a tub of food and the water bottle Jaejoong had given him. It was half drunk. He looked at Jiyeon, catching her curious look. “If they're bandits, they want something to survive.”

“Yeah, but they're not gonna just take that when there's an entire camper on the truck. They'll think it's full of food.”

“It technically is.” Yunho sighed and they both stared ahead. There was a banging behind them, from inside the camper. Yunho turned around. “Bandits ahead.” He said as loud as he could without shouting.

Jiyeon glanced at the direction the banging came from, then in front of her. Three people with guns were waiting behind the barricade. “There's a pistol hidden in the middle compartment, side pocket of the door, under the seat, and the compartment in front of you.”

Yunho looked at her, surprised she had not one gun, but four. He had to ask her later where she got them.

Jiyeon drove up slow, and stopped when they told her to. Two men walked up to the driver's window, and third went to the passenger side. Jiyeon rolled down her window. “Can I help you boys?”

“The toll is 5 pieces of food.”

Jiyeon looked at Yunho, who held up the two pieces he had already out. “We only have these.”

Two of the men laughed. “Do you think we're idiots? You have yourselves a camper. So here's what we're going to do: Both of you are going to get out the car, the little miss is going to stand five feet from the truck, and you're going to to the back and hand us 10 pieces of food. Then when we give you the clear, you can drive away.”

Yunho frowned, but did as he said. He didn't have the guts to question a man with a gun pointed at him. When the door opened, he made sure his hands were visible, and walked to the back of the camper.

Yunho refrained from making any sudden moves or sounds, and opened the door. He was greeted with a rifle pointed in his face by Changmin. Five. The rifle adjusted to the man behind him. “Give me 10 pieces of food and drink.” Yunho tried to use his best leader voice, trying not to panic anyone. After a half second glance at him, the rifle was lowered, and Changmin obeyed, still eying the rifle behind him.

Changmin gave the man who wasn't pointing a rifle at him the food: Chips, beef jerky, canned goods, trail mix, and some water. The bandit took the food with a “Thanks,” and left.

A man still had the rifle pointed at Yunho. They waited in silence for an eternity. “Lift the spikes!” The man no some distance away hollered. Two more men ahead rolled up the spikes. The barricade was now open. “You can pass!” The man shouted back at him. Yunho hurried in the car, hardly closing his door before Jiyeon drove again.

Once they were out of range from the bandits, Jiyeon sped through the road. “That could have gone so much worse.” Her left leg was jittery, and knuckles white.

Yunho sighed a relief, and nodded.

Inside, Jaejoong loosened his grip on his child only when Changmin put the gun down.

The tallest one in the camper set it on the wall side of the bed, and sat next to it, still shaking. He took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. Just seeing a gun was terrifying. Having to pick one up even more so. But actually planning to use it? He had only thought he would need to use it on those things, and had no problem with it. However, humans were a different problem.

Yoochun pat his knee, jerking him back to reality. He sighed, and ran his fingers though his hair, pushing his bangs away from his face. They were beginning to stick from the sweat. They never bothered him before, when he danced, but damn they were annoying now.

The truck his a bump on the road, and the camper jumped up. Jaejoong broke the silence. “JinHee, do you understand what's happening?” He figured it was time to tell her.

JinHee looked up. Seeing her father like that was worrying. Of course she understood, but she didn't know why her father was so scared, so she shook her head.

Jaejoong took a deep breath. “Remember back in the beginning? When I found you hiding in your mother's closet? And the soulless were trying to get you?” JinHee nodded. “I had to kill them. Do you know what to kill is?”

“It's when you make someone die.”

“Right. Death is—was permanent.” JinHee tilted her head. Was? “Before the soulless existed, death was permanent. If someone was killed, they stood dead forever.”

“Forever?”

Jaejoong nodded. “Forever. But now that there are soulless, when someone is killed, they don't stay dead. They come back as soulless.”

JinHee's face lit up like a light bulb appeared over her face. “That's how they're made!”

“Yes. But soulless are not nice. They will not hesitate to kill you for food.”

“What do soulless eat? Maybe if we give them some kimchi they'll go away.”

“Soulless don't eat human food. They eat meat.” Jaejoong opened his mouth, and hesitated. But she needed to know, for her safety. “Human meat.”

JinHee gasped, then made retching sounds. “That's yucky!” She quieted then, staring at nothing. “Does this mean...mom is never coming back? Or Junsu?”

Jaejoong shook his head. “No. I'm the only family you have left.”

She hugged him, and rested her head on his chest. “I know. You're my real dad.”

Jaejoong looked down to see a smile on her face. “How?”

“Mom told me.”

Yoochun laughed. “Finally that's out in the open.”

Jaejoong got to eye level with his daughter. “Now listen: this part is very, very important.” JinHee nodded. “We know that Soulless are attracted to sound and light so far. That means, when we're outside you need to be quiet and you can scream. And at night, you can't turn on the lights.”

JinHee puffed out her chest, putting on a brave face. “I'm not scared of the dark! The dark is scared of me!” They laughed, but one question was still itching at JinHee's brain. “Before, you hit the soulless on the head, and they stopped moving.”

Jaejoong nodded. “That's how you kill the soulless.”

The group chat until the truck stopped. It felt like they were being robbed only five minutes ago, but the low sun told otherwise. Changmin picked up the rifle.

Up front the doors slammed shut. Changmin aimed.

Yunho opened the doors, only to jump back at the sight of the rifle. “Put that thing down! It's just us!” He nearly yelled. Changmin sighed a breath of relief and set it next to the door. “Come on out. Bathroom break.”

They hopped out, one by one. Jaejoong had to hand JinHee to Yunho before he could jump down. Jiyeon stood off to the side with a baseball bat and looked mildly pissed off. A hunch told Jaejoong that stopping was Yunho's idea. He hid his smile.

Changmin stretched to his toes. “How much farther?”

“About an hour. But what are you guys planning to do once you get to Gangneung?” When she saw the looks on everyone's faces, she sighed. “You guys think on that while I take the child to the bathroom. Come on, kid.” She hoisted the baseball bat over her shoulders, and headed to the side of the road with the woods on it. JinHee looked up at Jaejoong, who nodded, before following.

“We find a good, defensible place in Gangneung, wall it off, and clear the area of the zombies and stay there until we run out of supplies.”

Jaejoong crossed his arms, shooting glares at Yoochun. “You mean like we had at my place?” He couldn't help it. He missed his house—mostly the alcohol—even though they would be dead had they stood there any longer.

“Exactly like that. Preferable something by the coast.” They all murmured in agreement.

Jiyeon came back a few minutes later with a hopping JinHee. She looked to be talking her ear off, judging by each other's faces. When she finally noticed Jaejoong, she shouted “Daddy!” And ran to him with open arms. Jaejoong still wasn't used to being called such thing, and caught by surprise when she ran towards him. Jaejoong picked her up with a glance at Jiyeon, and placed her on his hip.

She didn't say a thing. “So? Have you guys figured out your plan, yet?”

“We're still going to Gangneung. Wall off an area close to the coast, clean out the soulless in that area and probably stay until we've run out of supplies.”

Jiyeon nodded, her baseball bat planted firmly on the ground as she leaned on it. She was familiar with the word soulless—Yunho had told her when he told their story. “That could work.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, sure. If we had an unlimited amount of ammo. But I'm sure you guys haven't killed squat in these last few days. Especially with guns.”

“We have killed a few soulless.”

Yunho raised his hand. “I killed one with a lamp.”

She ignored him. “You guys will need gun training, sooner or later. Child included.”

“But she's just five years old.”

Jiyeon looked directly at Jaejoong. “And if she doesn't know how to protect herself, she'll die. Is that want you want, father of a five year old?”

Jaejoong stared at her. When he realized she wasn't giving up, he sighed, and shook his head. “No.”

“Good. Because you five are going to need at least basic training before we get anywhere near Gangneung. It just so happens we're about an hour away.”

Yoochun crossed his arms. “And what makes you qualified to teach us?”

“My dad was a hunter, and a marine for the United States.”

“And you hunted with him?”

Jiyeon froze. “Sometimes. But he did train me.”

“So you, who has hardly applied your training knowledge, wish to train us.”

Jiyeon glared at him. She wanted to punch that stupid face. Maybe she would get the chance if they were attacked, and get to claim she thought he was a zombie. Or soulless—whatever they call those dead things. “Do you want to live or not?”

Yoochun opened his mouth, only to have it covered by Changmin's hand. “Yes.”

“How did you even get so many guns? Did you raid a police station?” Yunho asked with a half smile on his face. He was only joking.

“Yes. By the time I got to the police station with my family's guns, all of them were gone. Only two were there, and he was already bit. So I strolled in and took as much ammo and guns as I could carry.”

“Even if we were to train, we have nothing to train on.”

“We can pin some boards on some trees. We can't go in with you guys knowing nothing.”

“We've survived this far.”

“And where's Junsu?”

Changmin clenched his fists, heading towards her before he even knew what he was thinking of doing. Yunho saw what was going to happen and got between them. Changmin tried shoving him out the way, but he wouldn't budge. “Don't you ever talk about Junsu like that! You don't know him! You don't know how he died! You have no right.”

“Changmin, please, calm down.” Jaejoong touched a hand on his shoulder, trying to force him to still.

“Did you hear what she said? Did you?” Jiyeon crossed her arms, staring directly at Changmin.

Yunho hushed him. “Keep your voice down!”

“We need her; We can't fight.”

Changmin shoved Jaejoong out the way, and accidentally elbowed Yunho in the nose. He stopped. Yunho held his nostrils close, feeling the blood already. JinHee rushed to him, and tugged on his shirt. Jaejoong crowded him, getting close to inspect the damage.

Yoochun sighed. “Just stop, Changmin. Get mad at me, if you have to. Not her.”

“It wasn't your fault.” Yunho managed to say.

“Yes, it was. Me and my damn leg were too slow to get through the window, and Junsu paid for it. Don't take it out on the wrong person, Changmin.”

Nobody objected. Jiyeon glanced in the direction they were heading. Dark clouds loomed over the mountains.

“Let's get a move on. I want to beat those rainclouds before we hit Gangneung. Yoochun, switch with Yunho.” Jiyeon headed to the driver's side, and tossed her baseball bat behind the seats of the truck. “We'll train later.”

Yoochun dragged his feet to the passenger side, and hoisted himself up and in.

Inside the camper, Jaejoong found a box of tissues that Yunho could use. He helped plug Yunho's nose, while Changmin and JinHee watched across the seat.

“I'm sorry, hyung.”

“We need to stick together. Getting angry isn't going to help anyone.” Yunho sounded and looked ridiculous with two wads of tissue coming out of his nose. JinHee giggled at the sight.

“You're right. I...I'm sorry.” Changmin hung his head, staring at the speckled pattern on the table.

“It's alright.”

JinHee fell asleep within minutes. Changmin placed her on the bed, at the request of Jaejoong. He lay there of his own accord, drifting some place between sleep and wakefulness.

“Ooh, I wish I had a camera.”

Yunho smiled. The bloodied tissue now in the trash bin. “What would you do with it if you did? There's no output for the pictures.”

Jaejoong stared at him, his forehead creasing in confusion. The world changed too fast. Some bad, like pictures, and some good, like Yunho. “Polaroid. We should find a Polaroid.”

“What about film? Who has a Polaroid laying around anymore?”

Jaejoong sighed when he gave up. It occurred to him they hadn't had a moment alone for a long time. Well, technically they still weren't alone. But it was good enough. Jaejoong smiled, an idea forming in his head.

Yunho knew the look, from years of having that same look cast on him, and eyed him the same look. He didn't say anything, and allowed his other to do the talking. Jaejoong kissed him, a quick one first, eyes closed. Yunho returned the kiss, deeper than the peck he was given before.

Jaejoong. Jaejoong. Jaejoong. Jaejoong. Jaejoong.

It didn't matter how many times Yunho thought it. It didn't matter if it was shouted from the mountains or whispered in the dead of night. Each whisper, each shout, brought him a memory. A sensory. From the smell of his morning breath, to the brown glow in his eyes. His hands wrapped around Jaejoong's thin body, and his other's hands were placed around Yunho's neck.

Perhaps he was trying to play catch up, from the times he cried Jaejoong's name at night and nobody answered, or maybe from the times that he thought Jaejoong's name and the only thing that came to mind was a blur of pale skin and whatever hair color Jaejoong had for the month. But they were here now. Together.

Jaejoong pressed his back against the window, one leg propped over Yunho's thigh while the other dangled off the seat. Yunho scooted closer. They were both on autopilot without even realizing.

Yunho thought his other's name again, and cracked his eyes open. The sight astonished him, and he couldn't help but stare. Yunho absorbed every detail he could get that had changed since the last few minutes he had looked at him. From this distance, he could see the smallest crack in the skin. The faintest lines of age that stood out against the smoothness.

The truck went over a bump and their noses crashed together. Yunho winced and pulled back to rub it.

“Guess it's still sensitive.” When Yunho looked up, maybe it was a trick of the eye, but Jaejoong was glowing like a Christmas tree on the night of Christmas eve. Smiling. Like 2009 never happened. “What is it? Do I have drool on my chin?” Jaejoong panicked, and wiped his chin. There was indeed drool there, but that wasn't what he was staring at.

“I love you.”

“And I love you.”

Ps. Next week's (oct 30) chapter might be delayed a day, so I gave you guys an extra 1000 words than I usually write.