Not much changes between Sunggyu and Woohyun. Not that there’s much time for things to change. But Sunggyu tells himself just because he has someone like Woohyun, sneaking kisses to him between innocent movie character deaths, doesn’t mean things should change. Woohyun stills tries to interlock their fingers, and Sunggyu still fights him on it, finding the sensation odd at best. They still trade words like carefully crafted jabs. And Woohyun still calls Sunggyu pretty, much to his distain.

The only thing that changes is that Woohyun’s taken to grabbing at Sunggyu in front of the others in a manner that can only be construed one way, and when dinner comes around, Sunggyu makes sure that Woohyun has double servings of everything.

Dongwoo’s sharp eyes don’t miss a beat, and holding up the line of hungry people, he demands to know, “Why does Woohyun get extra?”

Woohyun does his best to bite back a smile, moving along with a knowing look to Sunggyu.

Sunggyu gives Dongwoo a half serving and says, “Because I’m dating Woohyun, not you.”

He’s practiced the words about a million times. It’s always in his head, but he’s said them so much he feels confident and capable declaring that he and Woohyun are an item. Woohyun’s been explicitly clear, as well, that they are a couple and exclusive.

“You and Woohyun are?” Dongwoo protests. It take Sunggyu a moment to realize Dongwoo is the only one who hasn’t picked up on the fact that he and Woohyun have been excessively touchy with each other.

“You can’t really be this dense,” Hoya says, hiding his face with his tray.

Sungjong rocks on his feet and touches his index fingers together adorably, telling Dongwoo, “Sunggyu and Woohyun are together. Like married people.”

Sunggyu rolls his eyes. “Not quite.”

From ahead in the line, Woohyun calls back, “Give it time!”

“Married people,” Dongwoo mumbles out, shuffling along. “Like married people.”

Sungyeol, with Jiyeon balanced expertly on one hip, tells Sunggyu, “I think you may have broken him. Also, I think the two of you are cute.”

Across the commissary Sunggyu can see Myungsoo. The young cadet is carefully hoarding himself over an empty table. The second anyone tries to approach and steal a seat, he lashes out, pulling at the space protectively, daring anyone to try and take it from him. It’s kind of endearing, the way he’s making sure Sungyeol and the others can all eat together.

“Yeah, well, your boyfriend is cute, too, if not a little depraved.”

Sungyeol holds his tray out to Sunggyu. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“You’re sleeping in his quarters, aren’t you?”

They’re holding up the line again, but Sunggyu can’t bring himself to care. This is the last time he’ll be attending his duty, and the last time his friends will all get to eat in one place.

“But we don’t have ,” Sungyeol says bluntly, not caring who hears. He adds in a quiet tone, “Not from a lack of effort on my part.”

The last sentence makes Sunggyu look back to Myungsoo. He seems relieved now that Woohyun’s joined him in an effort to protect the table, and Sungjong’s there with Hoya a second later to start filling seats.

He wonders what kind of a man Myungsoo is, to be ually attracted to someone who’s just as interested, but not actually engaging in anything ual. Maybe it’s the age difference, or maybe Myungsoo is just traditional. Sunggyu can’t say. But Sungyeol is certainly attractive, and there must be some valid reason why Myungsoo is resisting.

Sunggyu says confidently, “ doesn’t define a relationship.”

Sungyeol seems to pause over the words, then gives Sunggyu a firm nod and moves along the line.

Five minutes later Sunggyu is still serving people their dinner, while his friends are laughing and enjoying themselves. He envies Hoya who traded his dinner service with someone on the breakfast one.

“If you stare any harder you might set something on fire.”

Sunggyu turns towards the voice, finding the officer in charge of his duty station. Sunggyu bows his head respectfully and apologizes, “Sorry. I let myself be distracted for a minute.” He portions out green beans onto the next few trays with extra diligence, as if to prove himself to the older man.

The officer asks, “Are you staying on the ship? Or getting off tomorrow with the others?”

“Getting off,” Sunggyu says easily. “I don’t have sea legs like you.”

The officer laughs and gives Sunggyu an easy shrug. “Go ahead and go sit with your friends. It’s probably the last time you’ll all be together.”

The thought is terrifying. Not only because it means he likely won’t see Woohyun or Myungsoo again, but that this means he won’t see Yunho, either. At least not all of them in one place.

Sunggyu tries not to look too gleeful as he takes off his apron, potions himself out a meal, and then heads out into the main area of the commissary.

“Gyu!”

Yunho’s at a table with his friends on the left, but Sunggyu can see Woohyun waving him over from the right. He stands in the middle aisle, acting as a roadblock to those around him, unsure where to go.

Yunho, extremely perceptive as ever, seems to notice his dilemma. He smiles kindly at Sunggyu then motions for him to join Woohyun and the others.

“How’d you get out of your duty?” Hoya asks when Sunggyu joins them.

“Someone took pity on me,” he returns easily.

Underneath the table, at least partially hidden from prying eyes, Sunggyu feels Woohyun’s hand on his thigh. The pressure isn’t ual, and it’s not even that intimate. It’s just a patient hand, waiting for the moment when Sunggyu lets his left hand drop over it. Sunggyu squeezes Woohyun’s hand in the full commissary and the meal continues on like usual.

Afterward the seven of them, eight if they count Ji, end up packed into Woohyung’s room, simply because it’s the biggest that they have to choose from. Sunggyu sits next to Woohyun on his bed and tries not to think about how much he’d like to press Woohyun own onto the sheets and kiss the air from his lungs.

“So I guess this is it,” Hoya says. Sungjong’s head is pooled in his lap and the youngest of them is already showing signs of sleepiness. Sunggyu anticipates he’ll be asleep within twenty minutes. “The last night.”

Myungsoo looks comfortable sitting cross legged on the ground and asks, “None of you are staying on?”

Hoya scoffs and Sunggyu says, “I think we’re all going, except for you and Woohyun, of course.”

Woohyun sighs, “I’ve tried to talk my father into letting me go. He’s picked a great time to get clingy.”

“It won’t be so bad,” Dongwoo decides, joining Myungsoo on the floor. “Because most of us will be together, and it’s just temporary, anyway.”

Sunggyu can’t help asking him, “Do you really think it’s temporary? Do you think the French are going to invent some magical cure overnight? Dongwoo, they’re dumping us on this island because they’re trying to consolidate what’s left of the population in this area, and I severely doubt we’re ever going to see Korea again.”

“Sunggyu,” Sungyeol chastises.

At the foot of the bed Jiyeon is sleeping soundly, one tiny fist shoved up into . It’s disheartening for Sunggyu to think that she’ll never know the place she came from. She’ll never set foot on South Korean soil, and all she’ll have to know about her birthplace is what Sungyeol can tell her.

What they all can tell her.

Because she’ll have more than Sungyeol. She’ll have an uncle in Sunggyu, and in Dongwoo, and Hoya and even Sungjong. The lot of them will be together as the years pass, and it’s something worth noting.

So slowly and deliberately, with Woohyun’s hand tucked in Sunggyu’s, he says, “But you’re right, Dongwoo. We’ll be together, so it’ll be okay.” He can’t think about not seeing Woohyun again, not now that they’ve just found each other. He has to concentrate on what he does have, and that is a future with loyal, dependable people.

Myungsoo seems to surprise them all by declaring, “I don’t want any of you to go. I … like us being together like this.”

Sungyeol’s head tips onto Myungsoo’s shoulder and Sunggyu remembers he isn’t the only one losing someone he cares for. Sungyeol can’t possibly stay on the ship with Jiyeon in his care, and Mygunsoo can’t leave. They may never see each other again as well.

“I know,” Sunggyu says sadly. “I know.”

A few hours later the first warning bell for curfew sounds.

“We’re going to head out now,” Sungyeol says, drawing himself off the ground slowly. He turns to Sunggyun as Myungsoo lifts Jiyeon carefully and asks, “We’re still meeting first thing in the morning, right?” There won’t be time for breakfast, at least not for civilians, but Sunggyu knows they’re all determined to be together when the time to come leaves.

“Of course,” Sunggyu says, stretching his arms over his head.

Hoya lifts a sleeping Sungjong up fairly easily, but Dognwoo holds them up, telling Sunggyu, “I talked it over with Hoya already. I’m going to squeeze in with either him or Sungjong tonight.”

Sunggyu frowns deeply. “Why?”

“Because,” Dongwoo says, holding the door open for Hoya. “I’m going to get to see you every day after this, maybe for the rest of our lives.”

“Perish the thought,” Sunggyu says, trying to sound serious, but failing.

Dongwoo continues, “But you only have tonight with your brother.”

“Come on,” Woohyun says, cutting in. He wrangles an arm around Sunggyu’s middle and starts nudging. “I’ll walk you back to your cabin.”

Sunggyu’s actually thought about sending his last night on the ship with Woohyun. He’s young and hormonal, and he’s entertained the idea of having with Woohyun almost obsessively over the past few hours. After all, there won’t be a real opportunity for them to have it any other time. But in the end his thoughts have always come back to Yunho. As much as Sunggyu likes Woohyun, he wants his last night to be with his brother, even if they’re just laying next to each other, the both of them pretending to sleep.

“I’ll be there,” Woohyun says when they’re outside of Sunggyu’s cabin. “Tomorrow,” he adds for clarification.

“When I leave?”

Woohyun gives a weighty nod. “When you leave. I … I hope you don’t mind.”

Sunggyu does not like to be manhandled, even by people he likes, but Woohyun’s fairly grabby, and he’s habitual in throwing his weight around like he doesn’t know how strong he is. But because this is their last night together, Sunggyu doesn’t push at Woohyun when he’s pressed back against the steel wall by the shorter male. He doesn’t protest, either. He simply lets it happen, his hands on Woohyun’s shoulders, knowing the importance of the moment.

“Are you upset with me?” Sunggyu asks, interested in the truth. “That I didn’t decide to stay on the ship?”

Woohyun rolls his eyes, pressing a kiss to the corner of Sunggyu’s mouth. “I knew you would go, since before my father thought up his plan to increase the size of what’s left of the South Korean military. I’m getting kind of good at predicting you now.”

Tersely, Sunggyu points out, “You’ve known me a few days.”

“Is that really it?” Woohyun says in wonderment.

“I know,” Sunggyu replies, “it feels like you’ve been annoying me for years.”

Woohyun only smiles at the words, and presses in to kiss Sunggyu properly. “I’m not mad or upset or disappointed or anything,” Woohyun says as he exhales. “I’m just sad.”

Sunggyu leans forward suddenly, catching Woohyun off guard. He slinks an arm around the back of Woohyun’s neck and pulls him in for a brain searing kiss. This is it, he tells himself, kissing Woohyun with every bit of him he has to give, this is the end.

The cabin door opens and someone clears their throat.

“Yunho,” Sunggyu says, more flustered from his brother’s sudden appearance than Woohyun’s kisses. “I … uh …”

Yunho tells them both softly, “It’s nearly curfew. Woohyun, you won’t want to be out afterwards, and Sunggyu, you have a big day tomorrow. You need to get to bed.”

“Ah, okay.” Sunggyu tries to get his feet working, but they feel heavy with cement or maybe just regret. Neither can he fathom the idea of letting go of Woohyun’s hand, to make their separation complete. Luckily, Yunho isn’t glaring. He’s only looking on with sympathetic eyes.

“Go,” Woohyun urges after a moment more. “I told you I’ll be there tomorrow to see you off. I meant it.” And then against the odds, even with Yunho watching, Woohyun steals a quick, meaningful kiss. Then he’s off, darting down the hallway towards his cabin.

Yunho ushers Sunggyu into the cabin, shutting the door behind him. He asks, “That kid really likes you?” There are a million and half wrong ways for Sunggyu to interpret the question, but he knows Yunho better than himself, and he knows what his brother means.

Sunggyu teases, “Say hi to your future brother-in-law the next time you see Woohyun.”

Yunho flicks Sunggyu playfully, but warns, “Don’t even joke about something like that. Not yet. You’re way too young to be considering marriage to anyone.”

Sunggyu shucks his shoes off and questions, “Because I’m headed to university next year? That’s unlikely, Yunho. I’m not going to go to college, I’m not going to learn a trade of some kind, and my future is never going to be anything like what either of us could have predicted. At this point the rest of my future might be being told what to do by military guys with guns, trusting others to keep me alive. Or maybe I’ll be a farmer. People need to eat, right?”

“It doesn’t matter what your future holds, Sunggyu. It only matters that you’re alive long enough to have one.”

Sitting on the bunk he’s slept on every night for over a week, Sunggyu says, “I really like, Woohyun. Don’t get me wrong, he’s greasy as all hell when he talks, but I think he gets me. And when he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter to him. Plus, he’s really hot.”

Yunho chuckles. “Sometimes I forget you’re seventeen, Gyu. You’re not a little kid anymore. Maybe I should be bracing myself for you to … have a relationship with someone. I just thought the first relationship you had would be with someone a little less high profile.”

Sunggyu shakes his head. “I like Woohyun, but it’s a relationship that isn’t going anywhere. Woohyun’s the captain’s son. He’s staying on the ship. And I’m going to the island. What kind of relationship can we have with those circumstances?”

“Sunggyu …” Yunho sits carefully next to him on the bed. “I have to ask again. Just one more time, okay? Have you fully considered what going to the island means?”

“Don’t you think it’s all I’ve been thinking about since the announcement was made?” Sunggyu demands. “I know, okay, I know that if I go I won’t get to see you again for a very long time, if ever. I know.”

Yunho leans heavily against Sunggyu. “I just want you to be happy.”

“Nothing about this makes me happy. No matter what I pick, I won’t be happy.”

Shoulders slumping, Yunho says, “Maybe I’m just being selfish, asking you again to reconsider staying on this ship. When you go, it will be a long time before we’re together again. But make no mistake, we will be.”

Sunggyu forces himself to say the words that he’s been thinking all along. “You don’t know that. Not for certain.” He may go his whole life without ever seeing Yunho again after tomorrow.

“We will.”

“No.” Sunggyu bumps his shoulder against Yunho’s. “Because there are a million things that could kill either of us. Maybe infected get on the island somehow. Maybe the Chinese come back for round two while this ship is vulnerable. Maybe either of us runs out of food, or gets sick, or whatever. My point is, this ship isn’t coming back here for a long time, if it ever does. Anything could happen between now and then.”

There’s some horrible aggressiveness that flows out of Yunho, the kind Sunggyu has never seen from him as his brother wrenches his arm hard, pulling them face to face.

Yunho grounds out, “You are my brother, Sunggyu. You are the person I love the most in the world. And I don’t think you properly understand what that means. If you had been on the base when all of this infection business started, I would have abandoned ship long before I let the captain take me even a foot away from you.”

Sunggyu shoots out, “Then if that’s the case, you’d just be killed along with me. No one survived who was on land. Not anyone who was in the thick of it.”

“Then I would have died,” Yunho says seriously. “And no one, not this infection, not the Chinese, not the captain of this boat, not anyone, is going to stop me from coming back to this island to see you again. And when I do, I won’t let anything separate us again. If that means picking you up and dragging you on the ship, then so be it. And if that means me staying on the island with you, or going somewhere else with you, then I’m okay with that too. We have to separate for now, but when we’re together finally, it won’t happen again.”

Sunggyu believes Yunho, more than he’s ever believed anything before in his life.

With a groan, Sunggyu stands and starts pulling at his clothes, intending to change into the one pair of night clothes he has. In the morning he’ll have to pack all his belongings, but he doesn’t anticipate it taking more than a few minutes. He’s got a couple shirts now, an extra pair of pants, two pairs of socks, and a mystery novel that one of the cadets traded him for extra servings for him and his three friends a day ago. He supposes he also has what’s left of his bath supplies, but that’s not much. Otherwise, he doesn’t have any real possessions.

“Do you know where you’re going after all the civilians get off?” Sunggyu asks. He unclips his identification bade and tosses it onto Dongwoo’s empty bunk. “Back to South Korea, right?”

Yunho nods, pulling his own shirt over his head. “The official word is that we’re going back to look for pockets of survivors, but the truth is, there are a lot more South Korean military and civilians vessels that survived by keeping their distance from the mainland than originally thought. We’re going to meet up with them, and solidify our forces with some of our allies”

“Then what?”

“Gyu.”

Sunggyu waves a hand. “I know. There are some things you can’t tell me, even if you know I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

Yunho hesitates, confliction written across his face, then he says, “It’s true that the Americans and the French are working on a hunch they have about a possible cure. And they’ve teamed up with the British at this point. But until they make any kind of progress, the world that we’re currently living in is only growing more dangerous by the second. The Japanese will protect you on the island, and that kind of protection doesn’t come without a price. That’s all I can say.”

Sunggyu steps out of his pants and reaches for the cotton pajama bottoms he sleeps in. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“It’s nothing you have to worry about,” Yunho assures. “And I got you on the priority list of civilians disembarking tomorrow. You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be better than okay.”

The words make Sunggyu more than a little curious. “Priority?” He doesn’t like the idea of being prioritized over anyone, especially his friends.

“You and Dongwoo,” Yunho says, “and getting him on there with you wasn’t easy, I might add, but I knew you wouldn’t go without him.”

“Go where?” Sunggyu pulls at the drawstring on his pajama bottoms. “Yunho?”

“Look,” Yunho eases out, “everyone who goes to the island is going to be protected. That’s the truth. But some areas of the island are nicer than others, and if I’m sticking you there, I’m going to make sure you have the best. I have some pull on the ship, with the captain, and I’m using it in this instance.”

How little Sunggyu likes this is probably written all over his face.

“I don’t care if you look at me like that,” Yunho says. “I want you where there are more soldiers to protect you. I want you in a more secure area, and nothing you can say will change the list of priority civilians that has already been forwarded to the island. Deal with it.”

Sunggyu wants to argue that if this is the end of the world, there’s no place for inequality, or the placing of certain people on priority lists, but he also knows when he has to accept things as they are. At least for the moment. So he takes a deep breath and tells Yunho, “Thank you for including Dongwoo.” Of course this also makes Sunggyu worry about his other friends, especially Sungjong who’s so young. But it’s a worry for tomorrow.

“Speaking of,” Yunho questions. “Where is he? Curfew is in a few minutes.”

Sunggyu sits cross legged on the bed and says, “He’s spending the night with some of our other friends. He thought we might want to be alone.” He pats the spot next to him, indicating that he’d rather Yunho sleep in the same bed with him one last time, rather than in the spare across the cabin.

“Thoughtful kid.”

“He isn’t usually,” Sunggyu remarks. “But he has his moments.”

They end up laying in bed, pressed shoulder to shoulder, talking about anything and everything. Sunggyu knows Yunho so well, they know each other so well, but the last of their secrets are shared in the following hours.

Yunho confides, “You know how much I love you, right?” When Sunggyu grunts his approval, Yunho continues, “I didn’t love you so much in the beginning.”

Sunggyu only shrugs. “You’re not that much older than me, Yunho. Five years. I don’t know that many five year olds who are stoked to have a new baby in the house, taking all their parents time and energy.”

“Yeah … well … it lasted more than a couple years. My dislike for you, that is.”

Sunggyu finds this odd, because he can only ever remember Yunho being the big brother who patched up his skinned knees, held his hand when they crossed the street, and always made sure he knew he was loved.

Sunggyu suddenly says, “I broke your pocket knife. The one dad got you for your twelfth birthday, with your name etched on the handle. It was a complete accident, I just wanted to look at it because you said I was too little, and I swear to you, that’s all I meant to do. I know you really liked that pocket knife. And I let you put the blame on Kangmin because I knew he liked it just as much as you.”

Yunho returns, “We nearly ended our friendship over that knife, you know.”

Sunggyu winces.

“I almost let you drown, once.”

Sunggyu supports his head with an open palm as he turns on his side. “Really? When?”

Yunho tells the story with what seems like a lingering sense of guilt, which is so much like Yunho that Sunggyu can’t bring himself to be surprised.

“You were seven,” Yunho says, “and I took you to the nearby park because I wanted to hang out with my friends. I turned my back for just a second. Mom trusted me not to do it, and I’d convinced her that I could be trusted.”

“If I was seven, you were only twelve, Yunho.”

“It doesn’t matter, Yunho sighs out. “I turned my back, you fell in the pond and got tangled in the plants growing underwater. I didn’t even know you were in trouble until someone started screaming about a kid drowning.”

“So what happened?” Obviously Sunggyu is alive and well, but he’s never heard this story before and is completely invested.

“I jumped in after you right away, of course,” Yunho says, reaching out to press back some of Sunggyu’s bangs. “By the time I dragged you out of the water you were screaming bloody murder, but I was so damn thankful you were breathing that I just hugged you until you started hitting me to let you go. Then I took you home to mom, told her everything, and I spent that entire summer inside, scrubbing floors and cleaning windows and paying for my mistake.”

The story almost makes Sunggyu angry. “You were twelve, Yunho! Twelve year olds make mistakes. You shouldn’t have been punished that severely.”

“I didn’t even care,” Yunho insists. “I was just so glad you were alive. And that was the moment, Gyu. That was the moment I went from seeing you as a burden, to loving you more than anyone else.”

Sunggyu eases out, “Yunho? I’m not afraid to die. I don’t want to, but I’m not afraid. I’m just afraid I won’t see you again, no matter what you say about us meeting in the future. That’s what I’m scared of.”

Yunho wraps him up in strong arms and Sunggyu, despite his anxiety, feels some peace. Yunho can’t take away the fear, and he can’t really protect Sunggyu anymore. But for the moment, a hug is just enough to get by.

Sunggyu and Yunho don’t sleep at all. For the entire night, as the moon passes over the ship and day draws closer, they don’t sleep. They just talk. They talk more about the past, some about the future, and simply try to appreciate the present.

When the sun comes up Sunggyu rolls of the bed, but surprisingly enough, he doesn’t feel the least bit tired. Maybe because he’s anticipating what the day will bring. Maybe because his adrenaline is keeping the feeling from reaching him.

It takes him four minutes to pack, during which Yunho dresses in his uniform. And then just before six, when they’d usually be heading towards the morning meal, Dongwoo knocks on the door to the cabin.

“On time,” Yunho says, giving Dongwoo a firm nod. “Good. I’ll be walking the both of you to the designated area. You’ll take a smaller ferry boat to the island itself. This ship is way too big to dock at the harbor. “

“Where are--” Sunggyu starts, then sees Hoya and Sungjong coming up behind Dongwoo.

“Get going,” Yunho says, sidestepping Sunggyu to leave the cabin. “We can’t be late, and trust me, you don’t want to be the last to arrive. It’s going to take a lot to just get you on the island.”

“Like what?” Hoya asks, keeping Sungjong close.

Sunggyu ignores his brother for a minute, asking Dongwoo, “Where’s Sungyeol?”

Dongwoo shrugs. “I thought he’d be here already. Maybe he’s already where we’re supposed to go. The aft deck, right? We have to get processed first.”

When Sunggyu turns back to Yunho, he’s telling Hoya, “You’re all cleared to leave the ship right now, but you’ll have to go through a full medical check before anyone will let you through to the residential part of the island.”

Sungjong asks, hesitation in his voice, “What if we’re sick?”

Kindly, Yunho says, “You’re not. You’re not coughing, you’re not pale, and the doctors on the island just want to verify that you’re not carrying anything that might affect the population. You can understand them wanting to be careful, right?”

Sungjong gives a hesitant nod and Hoya tells him, “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

Yunho starts prodding them along again, and Sunggyu has plans to look for both Sungyeol and Woohyun when they get up on deck.

There are at least a hundred people up on the aft deck, maybe a hundred and fifty, and if it weren’t for Yunho’s hand on his back, Sunggyu would be completely lost. He only knows where to go because Yunho is pushing him along, taking him to the front of the line where a smaller group of twenty or so are waiting at the lift on the side of the boat. The small ferry is already bobbing in the water waiting for them.

Yunho shakes hands with an officer nearby and says, “This is my kid brother, Sungmin. He should be on the first boarding list.” Yunho reaches for Sunggyu’s identification badge and the officer, Sungmin, checks both him and Dongwoo off the list attached to the clipboard in his hands.

“You two ready to go?” Sungmin asks, handing their badges back.

“No,” Sunggyu protests, right away. He turns to look behind him, not seeing Hoya or Sungjong anywhere. Neither is Woohyun around, or Sungyeol. Sunggyu can’t go without them.

Another officer appears, and he starts checking more people off his own list, and within a minute people are being ushered towards the ferry.

“You can’t hold anyone up,” Yunho says, turning Sunggyu to face him.

Sunggyu feels a surge of panic. “I can’t go without my friends.”

“Sunggyu!”

Sunggyu turns sharply at his name, finding Sungjong and an older man, certainly not Hoya, by his side. The older man, who bears enough of a resemblance to Sungjong to be related, has his nose pushed deep into an open folder stuffed full of paperwork, and Sunggyu thinks he’s seeing Sungjong’s father for the first time.

“Where’s Hoya?” Sunggyu demands.

Sungjong looks more than a little frightened as his father starts to pull him along, their names already accounted for with the other officer. “I don’t know! I lost him in the crowd.”

“Sunggyu,” Yunho says, pressing his mouth near Sunggyu’s ear so he can still be heard, but keeping his voice as low as possible. “The priority civilians go first. I didn’t say anything earlier because I didn’t want to upset your friends. But not all of them are on this list. They’ll be going out later.”

“I’m not going without them,” Sunggyu says again, and this time he means it. He can see Sungjong descending down to the ferry, looking terrified while his father barely regards him at all. For Hoya not to be with Sungjong, says something very terrible to Sunggyu.

“Hey, Yunho,” Sungmin calls out, not looking patient. “We have to get a lot of people off this boat. Get your brother in line.”

The ferry is starting to fill as a baby cries in the distance. The sound alone makes Sunggyu spin, looking for Sungyeol. Maybe Sungyeol is on the next ferry. Sunggyu just needs to see him to feel better.

“Sunggyu.” Yunho wraps him up in a tight hug, one that feels like a long goodbye. “You have to go now. They won’t wait for you and you can’t lose this priority.”

“We’re just going?” Dongwoo asks. A half second later, he’s being pushed by Sungmin towards another officer who’s helping people down to the ferry. He’s gone before Sunggyu can register the action.

People are getting antsy around them, visibly so, and Sunggyu starts to feel uneasy himself.

“Wait!” a strong voice calls out. “Wait for us!”

Sunggyu nearly sags with relief when he sees Myungsoo pulling Sungyeol along to their position. Jiyeon is wrapped protectively in Sungyeol’s grip.

“Where have you been?” Sunggyu shouts at him, more out of relief than anything else.

Myungsoo ignores them both, telling Sungmin, “This is Kim Sungyeol and Kim Jiyeon. They’re late write ins, but they should be on your list. I have authorization to call the recently promoted first officer if there’s any problem getting them on this first ferry.”

“Kim?” Sunggyu asks, head cocked. He knows for a fact that Sungyeol’s family name is Lee.

“No need,” Sungmin says quickly, checking Sungyeol’s identification badge. “I have them written in on here. Congratulations, Myungsoo. Hell of a way to kick off a marriage.”

“What?” Sunggyu hears himself ask.

Myungsoo is trying to desperately push Sungyeol towards the ferry as Sungyeol calls back, “We just found out about this priority thing. Getting married was the only way to get Jiyeon and myself on it! Family of servicemen qualify for it. I’ll tell you everything later!”

Sunggyu feels more than a little stunned.

“You’re going now!” Yunho snaps.

Sunggyu’s almost off his feet then, being dragged by Yunho to the lift that’s rising back up for the last trip down to the ferry.

“Yunho!” Sunggyu calls out. “Woohyun said he’d be here.”

He can’t go without seeing Woohyun. He can’t go without his last goodbye and one more kiss. Life can’t be so completely unfair, can it? Aren’t the zombies enough?

“I love you and I will see you again,” Yunho says, a promise in his words. He sets Sunggyu on the lift and stands clear of it, not too far from Myungsoo who’s all but hanging over the edge of the boat, waving sadly to both Sungyeol and Jiyeon.

“Find Woohyun!” Sunggyu pleads to Yunho. “Tell him … tell him …” He doesn’t even know. He can only hold the strap to his bag nervously. “Will you please tell him that I--”

He doesn’t have to finish his statement because Woohyun is by his side, saying, “Tell me what?”

Sungmin calls out, “That’s the last of them on this trip!”

The lift starts down and Sunggyu wobbles. Woohyun is there to steady him, and Sunggyu stares in disbelief.

“What are you doing here?” Sunggyu asks, his voice hoarse from surprise.

Woohyun’s got a travel bag hooked over one shoulder and a huge smile on his face. “I was sitting there last night, you know? Sitting there and thinking. And I thought to myself, what exactly is keeping me on this ship? A father I don’t talk to? That’s no reason to stay, not when my super hot, super smart boyfriend is going off and I may never see him again.”

Sunggyu hits him hard in the shoulder. “You shouldn’t be coming just for me!”

The last thing Sunggyu wants is for Woohyun to regret his decision down the line.

“I’m coming for myself,” Woohyun declares. “I mean, also for you, but mostly for me. I don’t want to be on that ship. I just don’t. I want to make a life for myself in a place that I feel comfortable, and you make me feel comfortable. I can’t say I won’t change my mind down the line, or want something else, but right now, this feels right.”

It’s a hard step down from the lift to the ferry, and immediately they’re bombarded with Sungyeol, a crying Jiyeon and a hysterical Sungjong.

“Hoya’s still on the ship!” Sungjong says, pulling on Sunggyu.

Sunggyu looks back to the ship as the ferry gives a lurch. He can see Myungsoo and dozens of other people, some of them shouting now. He can even see Yunho, who’s crying but not waving, clearly refusing to say goodbye. But Hoya isn’t in sight. Hoya is nowhere to be found.

“It’ll be okay,” Sunggyu promises, even though he doesn’t have a clue if this is true. “We’re all going to the same place. Hoya will be on the second or third ferry. I promise, Sungjong. He’ll be there.”

The ship is getting smaller, and Yunho is almost a speck in the distance as the ferry starts to dock at the island’s harbor.

“No going back now,” Sungyeol says, bouncing Jiyeon gently in an attempt to get her to calm down.

“Married?” Sunggyu has to ask, even as he feels the warm, comforting weight of Woohyun against his back. It’s distracting, but not enough to make him forget that Sungyeol’s gone and done something completely unexpected.

“Yeah,” Sungyeol says simply, hoisting Jiyeon a little higher in his arms. “Once we get settled, I’ll explain everything.” Then he raises and eyebrow at Woohyun who’s distracted by the people swarming around the port.

Sunggyu parrots back, “Once we get settled, I’ll explain, too.”