The evening had turned out to be a rather pleasant one as Himchan’s cooking went down a treat with Minho’s elder brothers and they soon had a small little trading session ongoing that wasn’t rough to handle or filled with back stabbing and deceit. It had not taken the group long to realise that they were in the same boat as one another with a very precious youngster to look after and ensure the longevity of until they found a safe way to remove the cure from their systems. The elders had all gathered in what had formally been a living room, using several old-fashioned lanterns to light up the space whilst they sat around a dug-out fire pit which provided warmth.

Their conversation went from basic survival methods to good locations to gather up supplies and to also mark off of the labs and other places which had already been cleared of the T-virus. Minho was the same as Zelo, needing the injections within the span of three and a half days to keep him functioning on any form of normal level and it was good to exchange information. They did however keep their own supplies of the t-virus hidden from one another, that was something that was simply not to be even thought about trading though no one mentioned it. An unspoken agreement had already been reached and that was probably for the best.

After a while their conversations turned into what had at one time been normal things, embarrassing stories, reminiscence of old times and it was just a nice case to be able to pretend that there was nothing wrong with the world. That those who were formally dead would be creeping back up in order to tear the living to shreds and devour everything that they could do. Watching from the landing at the top of the stairs, Zelo and Minho smiled happily as they lay on their fronts, chins resting on their hands and feet up in the air as they listened to the softly spoken words of the elders. It was a rare opportunity for them to see their brothers as they had been and it gave both the young boys a chance to reflect on just how lucky they were in order to be granted this very special moment.

Minho was the first to sigh, shaking his head sadly and turning away to head towards one of the bedrooms which they had claimed for themselves as it was one of the few that had bunk beds in it and Minho had always dreams of being able to sleep in the top bunk of a bunk bed. He had told Zelo back when they were in the academy that his elder brothers always stole the top bunk for themselves and he never had the opportunity to grab it for his own so when they had found that there was a room with bunk beds in it, Minho had called the top one from himself. Not that Zelo minded really, his feet stuck out of the end of the bed regardless because of his height it made more sense for him to take the bottom bunk.

Zelo waited a few moments longer on the landing, watching his brothers looking so calm and relaxed and able to smile at seeing them for once looking peaceful and happy. It was a sight that he hoped he would be able to remember for a very long time to come and he could only pray that if this all went according to plan then just maybe he would get to see them all smiling happily again one last time. Pushing that thought aside, Zelo shook his head and instead picked himself up off the floor to head to the room where he and Minho would be sleeping. They’re brothers thought that they were asleep anyway so it made perfect sense for them not to be disturbed for the time being.

He smiled when he saw Minho peaking at him from the top bunk and playfully leapt at the bars to bop the other on the head, “Ha, finally your taller than me for a change.”

“Oh, shut up,” Minho replied, batting his hand playfully at Zelo in mock revenge though it was clear that the smaller boy was quite happy with this, “You’re still as silly as ever I see.”

“Of course,” Zelo grinned happily, slipping around so that he could hang briefly from the metal bars under the bed, a bit like a monkey before letting himself drop onto the mattress below with a slight thump which had him grinning. “That’s one thing that’ll never change about me. Life’s too short not to be silly.”

Minho chuckled, “That’s especially true in our case.”

Humming a reply, Zelo found himself idly staring at his fingers for no good reason as he blinked and then let a sigh out through his nose, “Minho? Have you ever thought about…well, telling your brothers?”

There was a pause, quite a long one and Zelo was just about to say that they should drop the conversations when Minho’s head popped over the bars in an upside-down fashion with a curious expression plastered onto his face, “Have you?”

“Once or twice,” Zelo said, lightly shrugging his shoulders as he went to looking back at his fingers, before slowly allowing his hands to drop to his side, “But I think it would just break them somehow and I want my last days with them to be filled with joy and happiness you know.”

Minho nodded, “Yeah, I know what you mean. There’s already far too much sadness in the world at the moment, it’s nice to think that maybe we can bring a bit of joy back into it.”

Zelo nodded in response, smiling and letting out a little chuckle before turning to look at Minho again, “Are you sure that you’re that close to it all?”

Pausing again, Minho carefully flipped his body over the bars so that he landed on the floor ever so lightly on his feet before clambering over the blankets to the bigger frame of his friend where he landed on him. He smiled knowingly towards Zelo and nodded, “I’m sure of it. Are you scared of dying Zelo?”

Zelo shook his head, “Not really. That bit I came to accept a long while ago. I’m more worried about upsetting my brothers into doing something stupid now. They’ve looked after me so well that I fear once they realise I’m gone then…well…”

Minho snuggled against Zelo gently and let out a little sigh, “That’s the choice they have to make Zelo, we can’t do anything about it. We know our fate, it is already sealed but think of this. If through our deaths, the world is cured and this plague goes then they’ll be the heroes. The ones who never gave up on us and protected us and maybe that will be what keeps them going. There will be other people who’ll need them, others who will need to learn how to live in this new world, how to grow crops, how to sew and how to cook that wonderful soup of Himchan’s!”

Letting out a little giggle at the words, Zelo could help but grin, “Do you only ever think about food, Minho?”

“Not always,” Minho pouted playfully, “Just a majority of the time because it’s fun to do so. But you know what I mean, right Zelo? Our brothers are survivors. Yes, they’ll be upset, even I would be if you went before me but somehow, I just know that they’ll move on, they’ll survive and they’ll find a new life for themselves. That’s the type of people they are and the world will need them if it’s to be built back up to how it once was.”

Zelo hummed and hugged Minho closer, “I’ll miss you.”

“You’ll barely notice that I’m gone,” Minho smiled, “Plus once your time comes we’ll meet up again, in that place beyond the clouds where we can just run free and not have to worry about anything ever again. Won’t that be nice.”

A silent nod was Minho’s reply as Zelo’s eyes had begun to grow heavy, dropping shut of their own accord as he innocently drifted off to the land of slumber where his dreamt of the place that Minho talked about. The simplicity and beauty of it all which relaxed him down into a deep slumber. Minho was quick to join him in his sleep, chest rising and falling in the same steady rhythm as Zelo so it appeared that they were perfectly in synch with one another.

JR smiled as he paused in their open doorway, on his way to his own bed before letting out a little sigh of his own, “At least I won’t have to worry about you having nightmares tonight, Min.”

“He gets them as well?” Yongguk asked, also taking a moment to peak into the room with the two youngsters and signalling quietly to Daehyun to get his camera ready once again.

JR nodded, “Yeah. I guess they will always carry their secrets, huh?”

Neither one replied as the polaroid camera snapped brightly, filling the room with a bright white light twice before Daehyun pulled the shots away. He smiled and handed on to JR, “Here, I’m sure you’ve probably not had one of these in a long while.”

Taking the picture, JR frowned at it for a second before smiling brightly as the image began to develop, “Oh my, I forgot all about these. Thank you.”

“No problem, come on Yongguk, you need some sleep. Mama Himchan insists because you haven’t been sleeping properly the last three nights he says and he should know,” Daehyun said cheekily as he headed off to the other end of the house, dodging a hissing Yongguk who was trying to catch him in order to give him a full on nuggie before the slippery youngster could get away. JR just laughed, shaking his head at the pair before passing the photo to Baekho who smiled brightly at it.

It was amazing what a simple act of kindness could do to people and this was certainly something that would be very well remembered by all of them. Minho and Zelo continued to sleep, unaware of their brother’s antics and enjoying a peaceful night together for the first time in a long while.