Part 5.

16 Days
 

They were getting closer. All of them. Closer than they had been before and closer than they would ever get with someone else. They shared blankets and fed each other, helped each other, cried with each other. Johnny wasn’t too fond of it, but he found himself needing his friends more than ever. Like the small comforting touch of Ten’s hand on his arm or Jaehyun’s smile of reassurance. He thought back to two days ago when Jaehyun brought home a boar, it was very tiny but enough and they had a feast. They dried up the meat and put it in the cooler. Ten had created a bowl out of wood to gather water in instead. 

Johnny must admit. Ten impressed him. He had always been extra annoyed by Ten, the two of them had never really matched but now… now they had found common ground and Johnny was sure their friends wouldn’t have believed the sight. 

They sat down by Paradise and Johnny took out his dagger, he was carving figures out of wood to pass time. Ten was picking flowers and braiding them together. They fell into a comfortable silence. Most of the time they didn’t really speak. Johnny liked that a lot, he never thought he would actually be able to sit in silence with Ten. He was a very talkative person. 

Johnny noticed Ten drop the flower crown he was making and the other released a sigh that made Johnny sure something was bugging him. Acting like he hadn’t noticed, he waited for Ten to speak.

  “Do you feel it?” Ten asked without looking at Johnny, he was staring upwards towards the trees’ crowns. 

Johnny sat up straight. Feel what? He wondered and found himself imagining that Ten was confessing to him right now and he couldn’t make any answer. To be sure he asked; “Feel what?” 

Ten shrugged. “The change.” He said and looked at Johnny who avoided the smaller’s gaze.

  “I do.” Johnny nodded. They had changed, all of them. “As much as I dislike actually liking you guys, it’s a nice change.” 

Ten chuckled. “You like me.” He said in a teasing voice and Johnny huffed. 

  “You’re cool now.” He said and Ten turned his body to face Johnny with a cocked brow.

  “So I wasn’t cool before?” He asked and Johnny laughed awkwardly while leaning away from Ten who had balled his hands into fists. 

  “I mean, you’re cooler.” Johnny corrected himself in order to prevent Ten from beating him up. The smaller one could throw punches that hurt.

Ten chuckled and nodded. “That’s what I wanted to hear.” He said proudly before tugging his knees up to his chin and he put his arms upon his knees and rested his chin on top of them, watching the mountain with a thoughtful gaze. Johnny found himself watching Ten instead.

They were singing now and dancing around the fire with smiles on their faces. Jaehyun caught another boar and they were having a feast. Ten made up moves and acted like a native of the island; making odd sounds and weird dance moves. Johnny was pointing and laughing, falling to his knees because of it. Jaehyun threw his head back and looked at Johnny who started speaking broken English.

  “You - very pretty - be my food.” He joked and chased Ten around until he turned towards Jaehyun. “You - very strong - fight me.” He joked and Jaehyun laughed and turned his side to Johnny that started playfully punching him. The two fell to the ground as they wrestled each other and Ten’s laugh filled the night. 

Day 20.
 

It was raining. Jaehyun was too tired to go hunting after he had fallen down a hill the day before. He had a few cuts and bruises but Johnny let the other sleep and covered him with the sail they used as a blanket. Ten ran a hand through Jaehyun’s hair. “We’ll gather some berries or fruits for tonight’s dinner, okay?” He spoke softly and Jaehyun hummed. 

  “Please don’t be away for long.” He said and Johnny frowned but nodded sternly.

  “Don’t worry.”

  “He’s lucky he didn’t break anything.” Ten sighed and Johnny hummed as they walked, avoiding a low hanging branch.

  “We’re lucky he didn’t break anything. We’re all too important; if one gets hurt it will affect us all.” 

Ten nodded. “Hopefully we’ll all stay safe and get through this.” He said and Johnny nodded. 

Hopefully.

Hope was all they had.

Ten and Johnny inspected the berries they had gathered at Paradise. “Pretty sure this is toxic.” Johnny said and Ten pouted before throwing them over the edge of the cliff. Johnny gave him an apologetic smile and Ten brought forward a yellow fruit. “The monkeys didn’t see me. This one…”

  “Isn’t that a mango?” Johnny asked and the two broke it open to smell it. Ten held it up and both of them leaned in. Johnny closed his eyes at the fruity smell and opened them only to see Ten’s round eyes look back at him. Their faces were very close.

Johnny leaned back and Ten lowered the fruit. “Jaehyun would love that. Didn’t he love mango?” Johnny asked before trying to focus on sorting berries again. Ten looked like he was deep in thought. He muttered a reply that proved that he was elsewhere.

  “Yeah he did…” He said as he put it back in the bag they’d made out of the sail. Johnny watched Ten that kept staring into space. “Johnny…” He then spoke and Johnny acted as if he hadn’t been looking at Ten by fixing his gaze on the berries. Ten was looking at him and Johnny dared himself to meet the other’s gaze. “I can’t allow myself…” He started, tears welling up in his eyes and Johnny dropped the berries as he watched a tear drop. “To feel like this.” Ten said and Johnny looked down before moving his gaze up to Ten’s again, this time mirroring the sadness in Ten’s eyes. Ten inhaled shakily, crying out. “Not when Jaehyun lost Taeyong like that.” He cried. “But I can’t stop it either.”

Johnny gripped his own hand taking in Ten’s words. Ten wiped his cheeks with a soft frustrated cry. “It felt so suffocating not to at least tell you. I’m sorry.” He sniffled but his voice sounded steadier as he went back to the berries. 

Johnny watched Ten sort through them for a moment before he spoke. “It’s not one-sided.” He said and Ten’s eyes snapped up to meet his in surprise. Johnny focused on his own hands. “You’re not the only one holding back.”

He met Ten’s gaze and it seemed as if he had left the other speechless. A smile pulled at the corners of Ten’s lips and he looked down to hide a blush. Johnny did so too and the two of them got back to work. 

On their way back they were mostly walking in silence besides small talking. Johnny walked a bit ahead on the narrow path and he kept rubbing his fingertips against his thumb as he felt his hands tickle. His heart felt as if it had grown double the size, his chest was going to burst. What was unspoken and kept safely in the back of his mind had been said aloud: He had fallen for Ten.

In this crazy, ed up situation his heart decides to open up and let someone in. Johnny felt relieved though, because one thing he knew and that was that Ten loved with all his heart.

Could Johnny do the same? And would it get in the way of them surviving? What if one of them died? Wouldn’t it make it all harder if they let this grow to something more? 

Johnny almost slid to a stop as they were walking down hill. Ten looked at him with questioning eyes as the taller turned around and Johnny stepped up a bit, Ten’s eyes were level with his from where he stood and he cupped Ten’s warm cheeks with his large hands. Ten blinked but let Johnny step closer, towering over Ten who looked up at Johnny. “I just need to try it once.” He said in explanation but his eyes were on Ten’s lips and he found himself leaning in. Ten inhaled sharply eyes fluttering closed. Johnny couldn’t breathe as his nose brushed against Ten’s. Butterflies spread from his stomach to his chest and up his spine and neck. He had never kissed anyone that he liked before. His mind was racing telling him to stop. This was his friend, Ten. The boy he thought was the most annoying out of all in the group. The one that defended Johnny when people looked down upon him and called him a freak. The one who dragged him out of the room to take him to the movies with Taeil. The one that buried Taeil and saved Johnny the sight of his friend’s dead body. The one whose smile ended up being Johnny’s source of light. He made Johnny’s heart beat faster and he made Johnny want to be nice. 

  “It’s okay.” Ten whispered and Johnny caressed the other’s cheek, breathing in again to prepare himself.

Their lips met and the butterflies were replaced by this feeling of calm, as if everything was right as soon as they kissed. It was just him and Ten and it was just right.

 

Johnny was in his room that he shared with Taeil. The smaller always invited his annoying friends that Johnny somehow had found himself co-operating with. Yuta came in first swinging his arm and clasping Taeil’s hand with a “what’s up, bro?” added to it. It made Johnny want to puke. Yuta turned towards Johnny and even with Yuta having voiced once that he didn’t really like Johnny - Yeah, they thought Johnny didn’t hear them but he did. - Yuta greeted Johnny and the taller looked up from his laptop and nodded in reply. He liked that Yuta kept his distance compared to Jaehyun who always came over to make sure he got his “bro-fist” from Johnny. Johnny couldn’t help but snort when Jaehyun said: “Fist me up!” 

Taeyong came in wearing his hoodie and with his hands in his pockets. Yet even if he wore all black he had an innocent smile on his face and Yuta jumped up giving him a loud greeting while Taeil merely smiled. Jaehyun though turned slightly pink as he gave a shy smile, moving aside for Taeyong to take a seat on the bed.

And for the final guy, the worst of them all; Ten. He came inside announcing his presence by exclaiming “who do you love?” while lifting up fast food. Johnny eyed the bag and went back to his work on his laptop but before he knew it two round eyes appeared above his screen. 

  “Do you want some fries, Johnny-boy?” He asked, voice slightly muffled because of his mouth being behind the screen and Johnny frowned, closing his laptop and getting up.

  “I’m going to the library.” He said and Taeil got up too. Outside in the hall of the dorm it was much more quiet. Taeil looked up at Johnny with a soft smile. 

  “We’re going to watch Star Wars. I know you love those movies so I suggested them.” He said and Johnny knew what that meant. 

  Please join us, Johnny. 

He looked away, down the hall where light crept in by the windows at the end of the hall. “Fine.” He sighed and Taeil beamed. As soon as he went inside Johnny heard Yuta ask if Johnny was joining them and Ten whining that Johnny always left when they came over. Johnny frowned before he decided he would finish up the review he was working on and then go back.

He still didn’t get why he did that, but there was something about those guys. They were okay. 

23 Days

Jaehyun walked with cautious steps. He had walked maybe a bit further than Johnny had advised him to do. Still after 3 weeks on the island or as he has counted:  23 days. He couldn’t help but fear the jungle. They had gotten through the fear of the water and had pulled the sail with them to the shore. But the jungle still had dangers. Jaehyun though didn’t see Ten or Johnny show it anymore. Johnny as always didn’t reveal any emotions, but Ten could be read as an open book. He did not like the jungle, but it didn’t look as if he feared it. He wasn’t the one to go alone into it Jaehyun might add, no he always went with Johnny blabbering about the younger needing someone with him. Johnny would just always go to his spot by Paradise. What they did there Jaehyun didn’t know, he doubted they were like Taeyong and him. Still Johnny did seem nicer to Ten, maybe something had changed?

Jaehyun’s expression turned into a sulk. Was he a thirdwheel? 

The boy shook his head and then prepared himself for the clearing he would face on his right. Pigs and boars lived there and he could bring one with him home. He would soon see a break in the tight bushes, but before he did that he heard a strange sound. It was something big in the trees and it sounded clumsier than a monkey and bigger than one. It hopped from branch to branch. Could it be a panther? 

Jaehyun stopped and looked up. Raising his spear up above him if something jumped down, but as he did he saw a bush-clad creature fall from the tree crowns and land on the path. The creature rose to full height, standing on two legs and Jaehyun heard alarm-bells ring in the back of his head. It looked human! It could be a cannibal!

Then the creature turned around, brown wide eyes meeting Jaehyun’s and they both seem to freeze.

Jaehyun didn’t even hesitate or re-think; he knew it immediately. 

It was Taeyong.

A/N: Alright we all knew Taeyong was alive uehehhe