Cold beams of light streamed in from the window and straight onto Jongup’s eyes which annoyed him a little but it was far better than being poked awake by long cold fingers. With a huff, he slowly peeled open his eyes, vaguely wondering why he always woke up when he was having the most wonderful of dreams and blinked away the sleepiness slowly. From the faint light coming in from the window it couldn’t have been that much longer after dawn and a frown crossed the youngsters’ face because it had been an awful long time since he had woken up at this hour. Well, okay, it had actually only been a week but it felt like a long time ago.

Funny that, how the world could change in a comparatively short amount of time but Jongup just shook his head and thought against trying to over analysis everything. This safe heaven they had found would only be temporary, they couldn’t stay here for too long else they would get careless but there was nothing to say that they couldn’t return. That would mean that they would all have something to look forward to and that made a smile form on Jongup’s lips.

Though the next second it was wiped off his face when his eyes fell on Zelo’s bed, which was empty.

That of course wasn’t unusual, his younger brother appeared to have no problem surviving on the barest minimum amount of sleep but it was more the fact that the other’s bed was made up as if no one had slept in it that made Jongup begin to worry. Zelo never made his bed, he was a lazy lout even with a sleeping bag and had to be reminded at least five times to put it back into the bag. Half the time Zelo would forgo even taking the sleeping bag out of the storage bag because he was that lazy and never wanted the hassle of trying to get it back in. So, for his bed to be made up, a very terrible thought began to creep into Jongup’s mind.

Shaking his head, Jongup hauled himself upright, pulled on a set of clothes which he had left by his bed and hurried out of the door to see if Zelo was in the bathroom or downstairs in the kitchen. Both were devoid of any sign of his tall younger brother but he did find a worried looking Youngjae in the kitchen. About to ask what was troubling the elder, Jongup’s eyes fell on the plates of food which had been neatly arranged on the table. A selection of Ramen, some rice dishes and a large selection of bacon, eggs, sausages and beans which were all carefully stored in pans that would keep them nice and hot throughout the day.

Jongup swallowed, “Himchan’s been busy...”

“Busy doing what?” Himchan’s voice made the pair jump as they turned to see their elder brother coming downstairs in clothes he had clearly slept in and hair which was splayed about in a crazy style. He was yawning and looking refreshed for the first time in a long while which was highly unusual indeed.

Though when his dark eyes landed on the table filled with food, they widened almost comically before hurriedly switching to the kettle which was filled with water, the five cups that were only used for special occasions all set beside them with coffee and tea ready to go. He turned as pale as any walker in a matter of seconds before charging back up the stairs with a cry of, “Yongguk!”

At the exact same moment, Daehyun came in from the back door, looking haggard and pale as well as mud splattered and a whole lot worse for wear, “The fishing boat’s gone! I went to try and get an early catch but...”

“Zelo wouldn’t take it, would he?” Jongup panicked, as Youngjae barrelled passed him, shortly followed by Yongguk who was pulling on a jacket with a look that was thunderous to those who did not know him but filled with worry and grief to those that did. Himchan quickly caught onto Jongup’s arm and they hurried out of the door after their brothers. Youngjae was checking the car whilst Daehyun had run back to the small jetty where the fishing boat had been before but now Jongup noticed that there was a thick fog clinging over the lake which made it impossible to see.

Yongguk was already making his way towards another house, his feet pounding hard against the muddy ground to make an audible thumping noise but for some reason Jongup could not bring himself to move. There was too much chaos, too much noise despite the fact that there was only them there and he just felt inclined to stand still. Turning his head to look out towards the water, as Himchan went to join Youngjae and Daehyun as they went to dislodge another boat from the next jetty across that had miraculously survived, Jongup found his feet guiding him to the edge of the jetty.

The fog was still pretty thick, almost obscuring the whole of the lake as if they were in a mere little pocket that had survived the darkness and despite being able to clearly hear the yelling of his brothers, Jongup thought that everything had just become far too quiet. It was strange, lingering and sort of harrowing in a lot of respects but Jongup could not explain why he only felt concern.

Reaching the edge of the jetty, he cast his eyes into the fog and searched for any signs of movement that could come from it. There was nothing of course, just the gentle lap of water on the wood and for a second Jongup felt as though the world had held its breath.

“Thank you,” Zelo’s voice sounded in his ear, making Jongup start and straighten up, just able to grab onto the wooden post at the end of the jetty to stop himself from falling in to the cold water below, “Thank you for being my brother, for protecting me and looking after me. I’m sorry, I always knew that this day would come but I am greateful for being able to spend my last days with you.”

Spinning around, Jongup let out a strangled sob when he found no one behind him and he turned back to the water unable to find his voice as a boat slowly bobbed its way out of the fog towards the jetty. It bumped quietly against the wood and Jongup did not need to look down to know that it was empty but he did anyway. There was a pile of neatly folded clothes in the bottom as well as a single Polaroid photo resting on the top. As carefully as he could, Jongup hopped down into the boat and let his fingers reach out gentle for the picture.

It was one that he had not seen before, or at least it had been a long time since he had seen it.

It was a photograph of their whole family, with their mother, father, all five brothers and a small happy looking Junhong who was proudly showing off some toy. For a few seconds Jongup could not process the image and then he remembered that it was the time when they had all gone to the fair the night before Junhong had gone to begin his testing. It was the last time that they were a happy family together, before all of the darkness took hold and threw them into this dark, scary and unholy life that they now had to face every single day.

“Junhong?” Jongup whispered gently, “But wait...no, you can’t be...but we were meant, you were I....Himchan! Yongguk! Youngjae! Daehyun!”

His cries were answered in a matter of seconds, the youngest barely even registering the fact that he had begun to start screaming and wailing at the top of his lungs as tears poured down from his eyes as grief swallowed him whole. It couldn’t end like this, it just couldn’t.

Several pairs of arms wrapped themselves tightly around the crying boy, though no words were spoken as all four of them were in tears. They stared out across the fog strewn water, knowing that somewhere out there was their little brother but it would be impossible to reach him now. He had made his choice, had chosen where he would pass and despite all of their hard work just to keep him alive, Junhong was now leaving them behind.

Though suddenly, the fog dissipated to reveal a stunning sunrise that tinged the water with all the colours of the rainbow. Multicoloured ripples ran across the waves, lapped at the shore and then dived into the murky horrible mud to spread out in a web across the floor as all of the natural tributaries, plant and tree roots which lit up with the colours of the sun, sky and sea. All around them nature seemed to bloom back into life, leaves sprouting bigger than they ever had been before in vibrant shades of green, bright blossoms foaming the most glorious flowers and fresh grass, furnished with daisy’s and buttercups pushed through the darkness to bring forth a new beauty and life.

Yongguk twisted his head to the other side of the lake, watching as the gnarled, blackened trees untwisted themselves and became whole once again, sprouting forth fruits the likes of which he had almost forgotten about entirely. The old vegetable patch which had been started by their mother years ago but had not been revived started blooming, larger than life vegetables growing straight out of the ground and their old orange trees bursting with ripening fruit.

He bore witness to it all, watching it all grow right in front of his eyes and for a second the eldest wondered if this really was a dream or not.

Then for a fraction of a second he thought he saw Zelo out on the small wooden platform that they used to play on and the boy looked to be so calm and relaxed that Yongguk could not believe it. He did not want to believe it in the slightest, because part of him knew that this wasn’t happening in the slightest, that Zelo could not be there, smiling that oh so bright smile and waving at them.

“Make the world a better place for everyone, hyungs!” Junhong called out to them all as he waved, “Remember our promise and smile every day!”

Just as quick as he had appeared, Junhong was gone and the five remaining brothers collapsed onto the now thickly growing grass as they all shared their grief over the loss of their youngest brother whilst the rest of the world rejoiced in the miracle that had occurred. The five brothers remained together for the rest of the day, watching the world bloom back into life and letting their tears stain the newly fresh grass to forever be a reminder of the innocence boy they had strived always to protect.

authors babbling: I'm sorry! But this was planned from the start and there was no way to change it. Sorry also for the long time to update this fic, two conventions, a trip to Seoul (which is glorious and given so many ideas for Dance which will be sorted out soon I promise) and then a mega busy week at work sort of caught up with me but we're practically there. One chapter to go on this and then I'll be done. Sorry if I made any of you cry but it's a bittersweet end, right?