Part 6.

The forest was easy enough to blend into. After crying for a whole day, watching the blood seep out of his friend and drench his shirt, he picked himself up and survived. He remembered how his friend had gasped for air, smiled even though his pale face clearly showed that he hadn’t much time left. 

Burying his friend deep enough to make sure that no animals would come for him, he had looked out on the water and heard Taeil’s screams. It had still been dark, they had been swimming for hours and then they’d felt something. That cold feeling of fear running down your spine and looming in your feet. Taeil had been taken first, the moon lit up a pale creature that had shot out of the deep and pulled Taeil down. The boys had screamed. Calling out Taeil’s name in hope that he would appear again with a laugh.

Taeyong had hit his head hard and was still fighting the urge to give into passing out. Yuta swam with a waterproof flash-light; he had fought his way out of the cabin, pulling Taeil with him. They didn’t know where the island was and then one of them was attacked as well.

Yuta saw it before it came. He turned to face it with a scream and he was grabbed around the torso but with the flashlight he beat down upon the snout of the shark. Taeyong stopped swimming and watched the flashlight light up Yuta’s face that was distorted with fear and rage. Taeyong thought he heard amongst Yuta’s screams that he said Taeil’s name. The shark let go and Yuta began swimming the opposite way. Taeyong followed and dived in. Then they felt the waves go in one direction and when they felt ground and saw the flashlight hit a wall of trees they let out relieved groans. Taeyong quickly crossed the distance between himself and Yuta and went beneath Yuta’s arm to support the other. They dragged themselves onto safe ground and passed out in the sand. 

There was too much blood when Taeyong woke up to the sound of Yuta’s whimpers. The sun rose above them, it was early morning. “Taeyong.” Yuta cried and Taeyong immediately sat up and looked down at the blood spotted shirt. 

  “What do I do? Yuta what do I do?” Taeyong cried. Panicking; he pushed away Yuta’s shirt to check the wound. A half moon of thin cuts revealed the bite of the shark and it went from Yuta’s hip to his arm-pit. Blood kept on leaving his wounds and Yuta winced and looked at Taeyong apologetically. They both knew it. Yuta would die and Taeyong would be alone. 

Taeyong wouldn’t have it, he thought of any solution and ran into the forest and came back with leaves to lie beneath Yuta. He ripped his shirt and wrapped it around the spots where the skin had been torn open. He found freshwater that had been collected in a cracked coconut that lied upon the ground after the rain yesterday. He gave it to Yuta and he brought the other to lie in shadow from the sun. He built a fire to make sure no animals came to take them and when the shadows stretched their way over the ground and Taeyong fed Yuta coconut, he lost hope. Yuta was so pale, the blood had stopped some places and Taeyong decided to put mud in the others, but it could maybe create an infection, but it could also stop the bleeding. Yuta held his hand and rested his head in Taeyong’s lap.

  “You can do it.” His hoarse voice whispered and Taeyong bit his lip.

  “You will survive.” He said stubbornly.

Yuta grinned. “I can’t let Taeil go to hell alone.” Taeyong chuckled but then bit down on his trembling bottom lip. 

  “Jaehyun tried to save me.” He said. “Ten was swept off deck. Johnny’s… Our Johnny was clinging onto the mast.” Taeyong caressed Yuta’s hair. “They were too young to die, Ten had so many plans. Taeil just got his first job as a singer.” 

Yuta’s grip on Taeyong’s hand was tighter for a moment. “Sing for me.” He whispered weakly and Taeyong looked up at the stars. 

  “What song?”

Yuta hummed in thought and for a moment Taeyong saw Jaehyun’s face across the fire. He was smiling encouragingly. Johnny sat on his other side, eyes upon the flames. Ten was handing a beer to Taeil who cleared his throat. Yuta readied his guitar and played a few chords.

  “Ooh La La by Faces.” Yuta said and Taeyong smiled and tapped the rhythm on his leg. He heard Yuta hum the melody softly. 

  “Poor old granddad. I laughed at all his words.

I thought he was, a bitter man, who spoke of women’s ways…”

Taeyong saw Johnny smile a little, he was playing the complicated melody on guitar, eyes focusing on the strings and Ten was rocking along to the rhythm. Jaehyun was beaming or was it just his eyes that reflected the flames? 

  “I wish that, I knew what I know now, when I was younger.” Taeyong sang and Taeil, Yuta and Ten sang along. Johnny mouthed the words and Jaehyun laughed heartedly and sung while clapping along. “I wish that, I knew what I know now, when I was younger…”

Taeyong didn’t know when Yuta stopped tapping along to the rhythm or when his voice had vanished. Taeyong looked down upon the new guy in high school that he had disliked at first meeting and saw a small smile upon his pale lips. His eyes were closed and Taeyong didn’t need to call his name, but he did. He didn’t need to blow air into Yuta’s lungs or try to make his heart beat again. Because Yuta was gone.

Taeyong was alone.

  “You have a girlfriend?” Johnny asked looking up from his laptop as Yuta was telling Taeyong and Taeil about this girl he had been seeing. 

Yuta looked impressed by the fact that he caught Johnny’s attention. “Yes Johnny, something you would also have if you actually spent time with people.” 

Johnny squinted his eyes. “Well, what are you then?” He asked before going back to typing. Taeil chuckled while Taeyong laughed at Yuta. 

  “Ten has a new boyfriend, though.” Taeil informed them and Johnny eyed the other, listening. Taeyong frowned. “Didn’t they have something going on for a while?”

  “It was because Hansol was afraid of coming out.” Yuta said. “I know him from Japanese studies. This guy read freaking , as if he wasn’t gay.” 

  “I would believe you could read a good story with gay characters without being gay.” Johnny piped up and Yuta jumped.

  “Sometimes I forget that you’re here.” He muttered and Johnny rolled his eyes. 

Taeil nodded. “That’s true. But good for Ten.” 

Taeyong nodded. “At least some of you guys are getting it on.” 

  “Are you looking at me?” Johnny asked and Taeyong blinked.

  “Oh no, I was just staring into space.”

Johnny narrowed his eyes on Taeyong. “Yeah, right.” He muttered and Taeil grinned. 

  “Life isn’t about being in relationships. Friendships are just as important.”

  “And we’re all best friends!” Ten’s voice cut through as he entered with Jaehyun. Johnny roamed through his drawer to find his headphones and he moved away when Ten dropped down on his bed. Jaehyun and Taeyong shared a gaze before Jaehyun sat down on Johnny’s bed as well. Johnny was visibly pouting at the fact that people were invading his personal space. Taeil smiled fondly before nodding at what Ten said. 

  “Let’s stay friends.” He said and the others nodded in agreement. They eyed Johnny who only looked up at the fact that somebody was looking at him. Ten snickered at the other. He always found Johnny amusing. 

Yuta crossed his arms while looking at Johnny. “We’re quite a peculiar group though.” He pondered. 

Taeyong found a stone and carved Yuta’s name into the surface with another stone. He leaned his head upon it and cried. He cried until he had no more tears to spill. Then he looked out upon the water and then turned towards the jungle. Without much thought he grabbed the waterproof flashlight and brought it along with him.

He quickly found out that trees were safer than the ground, but that snakes thought the same. He made a make-shift knife and he caught a sleeping snake off guard. He cooked his food on the ground, wrapping it in leaves and lying it in the edge of the warm fire. If he needed to be quick he put it on a stick and held it out. He brought a torch along with him to frighten the black panther that had come to like him very much. He found a cave in the mountain and hid from the panther there. He was covered in mud and had liana wrapped around his waist with small snake-skin pouches that held poisoned berries or edible berries. He knew which one was what. He had figured that out when he ate one but then barfed it up when his body reacted oddly to it. He had lied the whole day at the bottom of the cave. He had been sure he would’ve died, but being quick and drinking a lot of water he had somehow washed it out. 

 

  “He’s completely wasted.” Yuta said as he and Ten looked down at Johnny on the couch of the living room. People were still partying around them, talking loudly and screaming along to the loud music. Johnny’s eyes were half-lidded and he was muttering words that made absolutely no sense to the two. Taeyong had just went into the garden. Yuta and Ten had no idea if Jaehyun was there too and they both knew they would end up interrupting Taeil’s mission in finally talking to the girl he liked. Ten tilted his head when Johnny lifted up his shirt to scratch his chest. 

  “How did I manage to get him drunk?” Ten asked and looked up at Yuta. “He’s a giant.”

  “I think this is the first time he tried alcohol to be honest.” He said as he crouched down to wake the taller up. 

  “I just wanted to get him drunk enough so that he would speak about his past. We all know each other’s stories but he never mentions anything other than the fact that he “has a reason for not trusting people”. I mean it would be nice for us to know why so we won’t make the same mistakes.”

  “Can you not talk and help me with this?” Yuta asked in a strained voice and Ten was about to help when two figures caught his eyes. 

  “Aha! Taeyong!” He called out and Taeyong looked at him with wide eyes. Yuta looked up at the other as well. Ten noticed Jaehyun look away until his eyes caught the sight of Johnny. “Why do you guys look so… Nevermind. Johnny is absolutely gone.”

  “Help a bro out, please.” Yuta pleaded and the two went over to help the others get Johnny up in a sitting position before they dragged him over Jaehyun’s back in order to carry him home. As they reached the street Taeil’s voice called out for them. 

  “What happened?!” He exclaimed and then gasped at the sight of Johnny. “What did you do?!” He said while looked at Yuta and Ten. 

Ten huffed. “Yeah right blame me. He’s not a ing kid.” 

  “You don’t know!” Taeil said while trying to get Johnny’s attention but the other was far gone.

Ten stepped forward. “Then tell us!” He shrieked. Taeil stared at Ten in disbelief and but noticed the others were looking at him. “You know what is going on, but how can we be close with him if we’ll never know him. How can we avoid situations like this if we have no idea of what is going on in that guy’s head?!” 

Taeil looked at Ten before his gaze dropped to the ground. Jaehyun groaned a sentence about Johnny being heavy and he started walking. Taeil and the others followed along.

  “Alright I’ll tell you.” Taeil promised and took Ten’s hand in his. “Just don’t treat him too differently… or he’ll know.”

  “He’ll know either way.” Yuta muttered and zipped up his jacket as they travelled through the cold night. 

 

Taeyong built fires upon the beach which had lured Johnny and Jaehyun to search for it, but they never got close because of the mountain’s rough land and the panther. It was when Taeyong thought he’d expand his territory he had clashed with Jaehyun. He wore a head-band of leaves and almost blended in with the jungle. Jaehyun had red painting from beneath his eyes and down his face, it faded at his mouth and two white dots with a black one inside them made it look like he had four eyes. He carried a spear and he had looked so tall and lean. His torso was bare and painted on the back to make it look like a face. The only weird thing was his sneakers and Taeyong couldn’t help but smile. 

The two neared each other slowly. Jaehyun reached out to touch Taeyong’s face and Taeyong let him. Jaehyun grabbed his water bottle and poured some into his palm. He washed off the mud on the left side of Taeyong’s face and he gawped.

  “Tae…” He gasped and Taeyong reached up to grip the hair on the back of Jaehyun’s neck and pulled him close. Jaehyun released a muffled yelp as their lips were pressed a little painfully against each other, but he pulled Taeyong’s smaller body against his own.

  “Am I in heaven?” Jaehyun asked and Taeyong chuckled against his lips.

  “No this is definitely hell.” He told the other and they laughed. 

Had anyone ever seen Ten smile this much, they didn’t know? But Ten released a scream and charged at Taeyong. “MY PRECIOUS!” He had cried and cupped Taeyong’s face and kissed his cheeks. Johnny had stood deadly still, eyes wide and knees trembling. Jaehyun had to catch him when he fell over.

  “I’m seeing ghosts.” Johnny had muttered.

  “Then we’re seeing them too.” Ten said with a fond voice and Johnny then fought his way out of Jaehyun’s arms and jumped on Taeyong as well. His tall figure had to bend over to embrace the smaller and Taeyong looked at the others with wide eyes.

Johnny held the other close. “Thank you.” He said eyes squeezed closed. “Thank you for staying alive.” 

Taeyong pulled back and looked into Johnny’s eyes. “Thank you for keeping them alive.” He said because he knew it was Johnny who managed to do that. “We should’ve listened to you more often.” 

Johnny smiled. “Life would be no fun if you all listened to me.” Taeyong chuckled and Ten covered his mouth, eyes teary. He embraced Taeyong as soon as they started walking towards their camp. Johnny wiped his cheeks and Jaehyun patted the taller’s back. 

They had found one of their friends. Did this mean that luck was on their side?

Could they get out of here alive?

A/N: Thank you for all the comments, I am so excited to share more with you!!!