Part 7.

Jaehyun and Taeyong walked down the beach together. The sun was setting bathing them in its golden light and the sky was turning pink and red. Jaehyun had his hands in his pockets, wearing his shirt loosely and he found himself looking at his feet. He looked up; tested his heart and found himself full of emotions as his eyes landed on Taeyong’s face and he felt as if his stomach was hollow. There he was: face washed clean from the mud, hair a little long and messy, scars covered his shoulders beneath his torn clothes and he still looked as stunning as ever. Jaehyun’s mind went back to watching Taeyong laugh on the boat, beer in hand and eyes gleaming. 

This was the shell of what Taeyong was before. Jaehyun wondered if he was also just a ghost of what he had once been. Jaehyun felt like that. As if his soul had shrunk and now couldn’t fill the body it once fit perfectly with. 

  “When you fell…” Jaehyun started and Taeyong raised his gaze. “I held onto you. I held on so tight but it wasn’t enough.” Jaehyun’s voice was thickening and it was hard to speak. Taeyong’s hands were gripping onto him now and he looked down into the other’s large eyes. “I couldn’t hold onto you.”

Taeyong reached up and gripped the hair on the back of Jaehyun’s head, tugging him down, but also caressing the same place. “Don’t.” He pleaded in a small voice and Jaehyun cried. His hands held onto Taeyong’s hips and the other was so skinny.

  “Did you know? How I felt?” He asked and Taeyong frowned slightly. Jaehyun smiled a little, cupping Taeyong’s face. “I’m in love with you.” He said and Taeyong blinked.

  “You love me?” He asked in disbelief and Jaehyun nodded before chuckling.

  “We just kissed.”

Taeyong blushed. “I know but… We kissed…” He then realized and Jaehyun couldn’t help but laugh. He was so happy to have Taeyong right there. In his arms. Alive.

All this time he had just waited for Taeyong’s body to wash up on the shore or for Johnny to come home with bad news. It had been terrible and now he almost couldn’t believe his eyes, Taeyong was with him again.

  “Can I do it again?” He asked and Taeyong looked out on the water, face lit up by the sun. He turned to look up at Jaehyun with a small spark in his eye and Jaehyun felt a rush of butterflies before he pressed his lips to Taeyong’s. It was tentative and he gently moved his lips against the smaller’s. 

Taeyong was crying, but he kissed Jaehyun back with a deep passion. “Is this really real?” He panted as they separated.

Jaehyun nodded and made sure Taeyong was looking at him. “This is real. We’re together.” He assured the other. Taeyong beamed.

They sat by the fire, all of them quiet as they reached the point of explaining. Ten and Johnny was wondering how to tell Taeyong about Taeil and they were also wondering if Taeyong had met anyone else. 

Taeyong looked up and Johnny met his gaze. Taeyong looked taken aback. 

  “So…” Ten started. “We should fill each other out.” He said. “Tell each other about what has happened these past weeks.”

Taeyong curled his hands into fists, pressing them against his mouth. He looked troubled yet he managed to say the words. “I was the only one surviving.” He said and looked away from Ten and Johnny’s faces that were sitting across him. Jaehyun put a hand on Taeyong’s thigh. He was tugging at the sleeve of his jacket. 

  “We were attacked.” He said as he relived the horrors of the storm. “Taeil was taken first.” He said with wide eyes and Ten put his face into his hands. Johnny just watched Taeyong talk with only a twitch of his brows. “Yuta got bitten.” He said and Johnny just kept staring while Ten hit the sand with a cry. 

  “.”

  “The morning came and… I was alone.” Taeyong looked up at the others. 

Jaehyun held Taeyong’s hand in his. “Not anymore.” He told the other and Taeyong nodded. Johnny stood up and walked towards the water. Taeyong watched the other walk away with worry and tried to get up to follow him. Jaehyun held the other back, shaking his head. “You know he was close to Taeil.”

  “.” Ten cried again as he pressed the heel of his palms to his eyes. Jaehyun held Taeyong’s hand up to his face, pressing it to his cheeks and looking at the fire, he was crying too. 

  “We’re gonna die here aren’t we?” Taeyong asked. Nobody answered. Johnny roared in frustration and he went down on his knees, leaning over; probably crying. Taeyong looked at the fire as Jaehyun started crying even louder. 

They were all doomed.

  “You’re all doomed.” Johnny smiled evilly as he looked up at the group. Taeil chuckled while Yuta leaned forwards.
 
  “You’re saying this because you’re the werewolf?” He asked and Johnny just huffed. Taeyong was holding onto his chin as he looked deep in thought.

  “Or he could be the seer?” He suggested and Johnny gave Taeyong a playful look. 

Ten drank from the bottle of beer in front of him. “Or he’s being over-dramatic.” Ten said and looked at the others. “The thing that should worry us is that it’s so quiet from over there.” He said and pointed at Jaehyun who looked taken aback by the sudden attention. 

  “Yeah, why is it so quiet over there, Jaehyun? Had a rough night?” He asked and Jaehyun sighed taking on the mask of his new role. 

  “I couldn’t sleep because of all the noise coming from over there.” He said and suggested Taeyong who looked offended. 

  “Some of us are barricading our doors!” 

Taeil grinned and his eyes met Ten’s. Ten eyed Johnny before looking back at Taeil. Taeil’s gaze dropped to the ground. He tried to forget how much Ten cried that night. 

Johnny woke up the smell of ash and he stared at the fireplace that was now grey and cold. The sun was rising, bathing the dark sky with a bright blue and cool yellow light. Ten was turned away from the fire and Johnny swatted away a bug that was crawling in his hair. He lied to Johnny’s right, head pointing his way and feet towards the other two. Taeyong and Jaehyun lied tangled together on the other side of the fire. The taller sat up and eyed the horizon. The waves rolled in and the wind played with Johnny’s hair. 

It was a quiet morning. Now they knew for certain. Taeil and Yuta were gone. 

Taeyong and Johnny were sharing survival skills as they ate breakfast. Ten and Jaehyun were mapping out the areas Jaehyun had explored on his hunting trip. 

  “Do you want… to go see Yuta?” Taeyong asked as they were getting ready for their daily chores. Johnny and Ten shared a gaze before Johnny nodded. 

  “Let’s go see Taeil too.”

Taeil and Johnny couldn’t sleep because of their roommate arguing with his girlfriend. So now the two sat facing each other on their beds. Johnny didn’t have his laptop in his lap, instead he looked at Taeil as if expecting the other to speak. 

Taeil just smiled. 

The corner of Johnny’s lips went up slightly. “Aren’t you going to ask me questions to ‘get to know me better’?” He asked and Taeil shook his head. 

  “Aren’t you going to ask me questions?” He smiled and Johnny huffed. 

  “Fine.” He said. “Since I can’t sleep. Why not?” He smirked and made himself more comfortable, Taeil did too. “Why are you friends with those guys?”
Taeil smiled as if he expected this. “Well, ‘those guys’ are all people I know from various places. I met Taeyong in High School. He was a junior and he came up to me because I wore a shirt with a quote from his favorite author.” Taeil chuckled at Johnny’s expression that looked like he was about to throw up. “Yuta tagged along when we all went to the same Ethics class. Yuta had strong but very good opinions.” Johnny tilted his head to the side as if he actually agreed to some extent. “Jaehyun the college freshman whom Ten had taken to himself at one party-”

  “As if hooking up with?” Johnny interrupted the other and Taeil gave Johnny a look that made the other shut up. 

  “Jaehyun was being attacked by girls; well he is handsome after all. Ten saw him panic and showed him the roof. Actually I think he was thinking of making a move on Jaehyun but that was when they found Taeyong crying.” - Johnny’s brows shot up and Taeil quickly added: - “Taeyong has it hard at home.” - Johnny looked away and nodded, but he looked a bit interested. - “Jaehyun and Taeyong spoke for so long Ten eventually fell asleep and they asked me for help to find Ten’s room. We became friends after that.” 

Johnny huffed again. “How bro-mantic.”

Taeil chuckled. “Alright my turn.” He grinned. “What’s your favorite color?” He asked Johnny who laughed.

  “Seriously?” He asked at first but Taeil only smiled. Johnny looked out of the window before shrugging. “If I had to say a color it would be green.” 

  “Why?” Taeil asked and Johnny looked thoughtful.

  “Where I lived when I was younger…” He said with a frown as he tried to remember. “I just remember it was so green around me. Green gives me a sense of calm I guess.”

Taeil thought for a moment. “Why did you move?”

Johnny’s eyes moved up to meet Taeil’s. “The orphanage was in town. So I had to live with that fact.” Taeil couldn’t hide his surprise and Johnny looked up at the wall. “It’s quiet now. I’m gonna try seeing if it’ll stay that way and go to sleep.”

Taeil just nodded with a small ‘yeah’. There was something not good about the way Johnny spoke of the orphanage. This made Taeil wonder who that woman who was with Johnny at the beginning of college was? She had looked wealthy while Johnny barely even looked at her, she kept talking to him but he just turned away. Was that his foster mom? 
 

The next morning Taeil gave Johnny a smile and Johnny smiled back. That’s how they went from merely living with each other, to actually becoming friends.

They walked along the beach after securing their camp from the monkeys. Johnny and Taeyong were in the lead while Ten and Jaehyun were talking in the back. 

Johnny and Taeyong were chuckling and talking when Johnny looked up from the sand, eyes trying to find the spot where they buried Taeil. 

  “, Taeil!” He muttered and he started running. Taeyong stopped and looked ahead only to see large creatures gathered around something and that was when he realized: The gorillas were stealing Taeil’s body, or what was left of it… 

A/N: Just realized that I should watch Missing 9, but I heard that Chanyeol dies and I'm like..... why does every exo member die in movies/dramas????