Part 10.
 

It was in the bakery that they all met. The group of friends was sitting together when Johnny stepped inside and Taeil found himself getting up from his chair. Johnny looked like he was about to turn back around and yet he took some bread and went to the cashier; giving Taeil time to run over. 

  “Johnny,” Taeil started and Johnny didn’t even spare the other a glance. He was looking through his leather wallet for the right amount of cash. The cashier eyed the two. “Please, I’m sorry.” Taeil said and reached out a hand but he never touched Johnny’s arm, instead his hand hovered above it. 

Johnny sighed and looked up, the cashier looked at each of them before awkwardly turning away to occupy herself. Johnny finally turned around to face Taeil, but his eyes were harsh. “I don’t know why you thought it was the right thing to do. But it really wasn’t, Taeil. It just shows me that I really can’t trust anyone. Guess that I am always right.” He snapped and Taeil lowered his gaze.

  “To hell with that Johnny.” A voice said, and it made something in Johnny’s expression change, Taeil watched the harshness in his eyes falter when they moved to look at the person that spoke. Taeil looked to his side and noticed Ten that had suddenly appeared beside Taeil. “You’re ing wrong.” He said and Johnny frowned but he didn’t argue with Ten. “And you don’t have to be gay to show that you care about someone. We all know that makes no sense.” 

Johnny’s grip around the paper bag tightened and the paper made a loud crumpling sound. Taeil looked at Ten before eyeing Johnny. So he had said something about that. He had used Ten’s uality to hurt him. 

  “No… Johnny wouldn’t say that.” Taeil said in a horrified whisper and Johnny looked pale. 

Ten looked up at Johnny. “Well he did.” 

Taeil looked up at Johnny with shock in his eyes and Johnny met his gaze. The look in Johnny’s eyes was fragile, he was fidgeting, not standing still and Taeil noticed the others were behind them now. Taeil waited for Johnny to say something, but the other lowered his gaze to the floor and Taeil lost all hope. Ten huffed and turned away and Taeil slowly followed.

  “I didn’t mean it.” 
 

Everyone turned around but Johnny was looking at Ten. He stepped closer and looked into Ten’s eyes and Taeil was the only one catching what he said to Ten. 
 

  “I wasn't right about that.” 

Johnny didn’t leave the room when the others came over. Ten still didn’t talk to Johnny as much as he did before but it was better. Johnny sheepishly spoke up at times and Yuta seemed to freeze momentarily before answering, including Johnny into the conversation. 

Taeil and Johnny finally started talking again, but it wasn’t the same. Taeil knew it would never be the same again. 

Maybe one day, Taeil could get his redemption.

Even if Johnny was up and walking, it seemed as if Ten hadn’t recovered completely. He sat awake while staring at the fire at night. Johnny fell asleep and Jaehyun did too. Taeyong watched Ten cautiously before going to bed too. One time he woke up and Ten wasn’t there. When he looked around he saw Ten walking towards them, hands covered by mud. The other was acting strange.

That morning he barely ate. Taeyong had cooked porridge for them and yet Ten had this empty look in his eyes. Johnny reached out a hand and put it on Ten’s shoulder. “Hey, you should eat.” He said and Ten blinked as if he just came out of a trance. He looked up at Johnny with wide eyes before nodding, and then he ate but it was almost mechanically. Taeyong decided to stay awake that night and by staying awake he also heard Johnny and Ten talk:

  “Do you really think we’ll be saved?” Ten asked. He and Johnny were lying with their heads close together near the fire, and Johnny was lying on his back looking up while Ten was looking at the flames. Johnny hummed. 

  “It’s possible.” He said. “It has happened before and we just… we just have to keep going.” 

Ten was quiet, there was this look in his eyes, it was different from before. It wasn’t just the thing that happened to Johnny, Taeyong was sure. A tear escaped Ten’s eye and rolled over the bridge of his nose. “What if it isn’t possible?” He asked and Johnny turned his head to look at Ten. Taeyong pretended to sleep since he was in Johnny’s view. He still tried to peek at them to see Johnny’s reaction.

  “What do you mean?” 

Ten shrugged and acted as if he was scratching his nose but he was wiping his tears away. “Just… what if?” 

Johnny looked back up at the sky. “Well, that thought won’t bring us anywhere.” Johnny said. “Thinking we’re gonna die we can just as well go out to the sharks and let them take us for a late night snack.” Ten frowned but Johnny continued. “If we don’t keep on going we’ll fall apart. If we lose hope we’re dead.” 

Taeil and Johnny sat opposite each other again. It had been months since the incident and it had almost been forgotten. Their exams were just around the corner, yet their neighbor still had issues with their relationship because once again the two couldn’t sleep because of the noise. 

  “I have a question.” Johnny said and Taeil looked at him. “What happened to Ten’s mom?”

Taeil’s brows flew up. “Dude, last time I told a story that wasn’t mine to tell we didn’t talk for three weeks.” 

Johnny chuckled. “I won’t be as obvious as Ten was about it.” 

Taeil shrugged. “Fine.” He said. “All of us know at least.” He added to assure his own mind that it was okay to tell it to Johnny. “His dad is a mortician. Mother died of cancer and his dad did the work on her himself. Ten watched his mother’s dead body be prepared for the burial.” Taeil spoke about it in a rather nonchalant way but Johnny could see that it was because the subject would become too heavy for him if he let it stay on his tongue for too long. “The thing is, Johnny. We all go through  - some more than others.  We just have to be there for each other. That’s what friendship is about; it’s being there. Sometimes you don’t even have to talk, you just need company and a friend is that company.”

Johnny frowned. “So that means… that I have had a friend?” He asked and looked up. Taeil’s eyes moved to meet his, they were wide in surprise. 

  “You had a friend?” He asked with wonder, never having heard anything positive from Johnny’s past and this made his heart grow with hope. 

Johnny’s gaze dropped to his feet, and then they looked up connecting with Taeil’s hopeful gaze. 

  “I did.”

Ten sat up at some point after Johnny had fallen asleep. The two had been holding hands, Taeyong had seen Ten caress Johnny’s hand even after the taller had fallen asleep. It was endearing to Taeyong. He couldn’t help but feel happy that at least out of all this madness such purity could still blossom. Johnny and Ten. Maybe Taeyong should’ve seen it coming. 

As Ten sat up, Taeyong pretended to roll over and sleep with his back to the dying flames. Ten got up and after a little while Taeyong was sure Ten was walking away. Taeyong got up and swiftly followed Ten. After all, that was how he survived all this time, by staying quiet and not gathering attention. 

Ten walked with slumped shoulders, from what Taeyong could see in the moon’s light. Then as he reached the rocks and turned right into the jungle his movements showed diligence and Taeyong had to follow the sounds Ten made as the other climbed up a hill. Taeyong frowned as he got up in the trees instead of fighting through the dirt like Ten did. He found himself feeling worried but also curious as he made sure to take the thickest branches and blend in with the shadows whenever Ten turned around. Ten was very quiet. Too quiet. He was the one who always muttered to himself doing tests, making the teacher shush him and throwing him a sharp look. He wasn’t one to hide what he was feeling with everything he did. He was either humming along to a song or hands dancing along to a tune the others couldn’t hear. Ten was the one who never let a fight go if it was worth fighting, he didn’t let people shame him for his uality, always confronting them fearlessly. He loved a good competition and was confident. 

Now being the one to follow a silent figure that should be Ten, Taeyong wondered if the college kids that went out on that boat-trip had all really died in those waters. Taeyong knew he could never be his old self again. Jaehyun seemed to hold onto the last part of himself and Ten showed no signs of who he had been. Johnny was the only one who seemed to be so much more than what he presented to them before. Johnny was the one who had always been hollow, only giving so little and never letting them in. Now he had been cracked open, he reached out and he was honest with them in a whole different way. Taeyong looked at Ten who stood in a clearing that faced the slope of a mountain side and Taeyong frowned at Ten who dusted himself off and then looked up. The moon hung beside the mountain top as it was rising and Taeyong tilted his head to the side and eyed Ten’s silhouette. What was this kid up to? 

Ten rubbed his hands together and climbed the mountain side as if he already knew it. Taeyong looked up towards a cliff that seemed to reach out over the jungle. Some shadow of something that definitely didn’t belong to the jungle was up there. Ten kept looking up at it.

Taeyong gasped.

Ten was going up towards the cliff.

The fall from that cliff looked 100% deadly. Taeyong almost fell down with realization. 

Was Ten going to kill himself?

Instead of going to get Johnny and Jaehyun Taeyong sprang down and ran for the rocky wall that would carry him up to where Ten was. As he landed on the ground he noticed a cloud cross the moon and realized how dark the sky was. It would rain. Which meant the rocks would become slippery, and Jaehyun and Johnny were sleeping out in the open…

They would wake up and find Taeyong and Ten gone.

Taeyong cursed to himself and sped up, which meant that he slipped and cut his hand but he couldn’t let that slow him down. “Ten!” He called when he was in ear-reach. The sky was now letting the rain fall and Taeyong almost couldn’t see Ten, he could only hear the boy cursing out loud. 

  “Ten!” He called as he reached a grassy part of the mountain, Ten was facing another slope but this time it was too muddy for him to climb. 

Ten turned around to face Taeyong, squinting at him in what little light the moon gave them through the clouds. “You followed me.” He said, voice barely above a whisper, as if he was shocked or disappointed in Taeyong’s actions. 

  “Of course!” Taeyong argued. “How could I just let you go out in the jungle on your own?” 

Ten eyed the moon when the clouds thinned out and let them both be bathed in a pale light. He looked back at Taeyong. “Leave me alone.”

  “I won’t.” 

Ten groaned. “What? You don’t trust me to take care of myself? I ing survived this island too! I may have had Johnny and Jaehyun, but if I didn’t do something myself I would’ve been as dead as Taeil and Yuta!”

Taeyong’s eyes widened. “Don’t.” He pleaded softly, but it was also a warning. 

Ten re-adjusted his footing and Taeyong realized the other was standing in a pool of mud. “I’m trying to help!” He then said and turned towards the slope again. “For once, I want to do something. Get us out of this place!”

Taeyong blinked. “You’re not… you’re not going to…” He stopped himself before he could up even more, but Ten caught onto it.

  “What did you think I was going to do?” He asked, Taeyong caught the suspicion in his voice.

  “I had no idea, Ten!” He defended himself. “You’ve been acting so strange. What are you trying to do?” 

Ten didn’t answer and Taeyong continued to talk, but Ten said something that wasn’t loud enough for Taeyong to hear. “I found stuff belonging to a survivor.”

Taeyong frowned. “What?” 

Ten walked forwards and passed by Taeyong to crawl down the mountain. “It doesn’t matter.” He said and Taeyong followed Ten down. 

  “No, what? Ten please explain!” 

They reached the bottom which was the clearing where Taeyong had seen Ten stop and eye the mountain. “When Johnny got hurt I didn’t just sit at the beach, I ran into the jungle. I found a cave and...” Ten looked at Taeyong. “There’s a reason as to why I think we may not make it.”

Taeyong tried to find something to say but instead just went with what Ten was saying. “Why?” 

  “We’re not the first ones to be here.” Ten said and pointed towards a dark path that Taeyong hadn’t noticed. “We’ll not be the first to die here either.” 

Taeyong could on stare at Ten who turned back towards the path leading down to the beach. There was a finality in his voice that left no questioning of his words. Taeyong though had to find his breath again before he could follow Ten. He turned back to look at the path, but knew he didn’t have the heart to go check it out. Feeling sick to his stomach he quickly crawled up into the trees to find his way back, once again following the sound of Ten’s steps. 

He was scared. Because if Jaehyun and Johnny found whatever Ten had found, they would definitely lose hope. Johnny couldn’t take a hit like that, Jaehyun would definitely be defeated.

If Ten had given up already… the other’s would follow through with him and Taeyong knew he couldn’t let that happen. No matter how hopeless it all looked, he wanted to fight until the very end.

But could what Ten had found be their end? Would it end like this?

A/N: On my way home form the exo concert I planned a very important scene. It was so nice meeting you, kpopfangirl4 !!! I've met two of my readers in real life now. We stood together in the pouring rain waiting for the doors to open for hours, so if that isn't bonding I don't know what it was. I've come out  of the concert hall as a new person, finally seeing EXO in real life... it was more than I could ask for. 
 - On an important note I'm going away on a weekend course, so if I am not updating or replying that's why! <3