i.

His stomach rumbles. He ignores it in favour of finding stable footing in a rumble of concrete debris. A sniff, and he finds his nose clogged, ashy and burnt dust from the air around him. His mouth feels like sandpaper, parched and gritty. It can’t be good. But then again, it’s not like there’s anything really good about this world anymore, not after the infection, Kihyun thinks, long since having given up on being bitter. He doesn’t really have time for bitterness anyway, not while he’s still alive and needs food. With renewed determination, he swallows the dust in his dry mouth, looks down at the dark pit of rumble below, then at the pale apparition in front of him.

“You’re sure there’s food below? Because that’s a heck of a way down.”

The ghost can’t speak – Kihyun doesn’t really have enough energy for him to sap to be able to materialise properly – but he nods, eyes wide and sincere. He makes a couple of gestures, none of which Kihyun really gets, but he figures the ghost is trying to assure him that the trip would be worth it. His stomach rumbles again. The ghost grimaces. Kihyun scowls. Well, he thinks, looking down at the darkness under his feet. It’s not like he really has much choice. Kihyun closes his eyes, tries to get used to the lack of light. And then, he crouches down, reaches around for a footing.

Here goes nothing.

ii.

There's a dusty shelf with two cans at the bottom. It's more than Kihyun has, sure, but he also almost broke his leg coming down, the thought of which has him shuddering when he recalls how close he had been to becoming kebab on the stray steel reinforcement bar sticking out from the fallen concrete. Kihyun turns to the ghost, raises an eyebrow wearily. The ghost hunches, waves frantically to a pile of concrete rumble a little to the side.

Kihyun sighs. “I'm only doing this because I'm ed if I don't find more food anyway.” He doesn't speak very loudly; it's not like there's anyone around to hear him anyway, besides stray spectres. This one next to him does a weird shake, which Kihyun pays no mind to until he hears a shuffle, and then Kihyun jerks, turning.

He knows better than to call out. That's something he'd learnt early on. Instead, Kihyun goes very still, watching. He catches a blur – an animal with four legs, too fast to decipher – and then, a soft pad, the sound further than before. He doesn’t move yet. Instead, Kihyun waits, waits till he's sure the animal is well and truly gone and there's no sound other than his own slow breathing. Only then does he relax a little, snatching the two cans from the shelf and shoving it into his bag. He turns to the ghost.

“This way right?”

The ghost nods.

Kihyun moves. And then –

iii.

The first thing Kihyun sees when his heavy lids finally lift is the ghost, too close and more concerned than he's seen any ghost. The last thing he remembers was being in the fallen remains of the basement mart, trying to find food –

Food!

Kihyun reaches out, trying to find his bag. Or he attempts to, at least, because his arm hurts when he tries to move it. And it feels… restrained. When he looks down, it's not concrete trapping him as he'd feared, but... bandage tied to his neck?

“What...”

“I wouldn't move too much if I were you,” someone says, so quietly it takes Kihyun a moment to realise that a person had spoken. His first reaction is elation, something like relief at finding someone else alive in this wretched world. The sense of joy is very quickly dampened by the sobering thought that anyone who has survived this long past the outbreak is someone worth being cautious of. So Kihyun tries for something safe.  

“…Who are you? Why am I here?”

There's a figure in the shadows, broader than anyone Kihyun's seen post-outbreak. A sliver of light graces his arm, highlight curved over muscled flesh. The man – and Kihyun’s almost positive it’s a man – looks healthy, healthy and strong even for someone pre-outbreak, and it... it just doesn't make sense.

“Are you a ghost?” Kihyun half-asks, only realising he's said it aloud when the man chuckles, voice soft.

“That's a first.”

The man leans forward into the light, and Kihyun finally properly sees who he's talking to. The first thing he notices is the messy hair – trimmed, because it's not too hard to find scissors in a city – but uneven, like the man never quite got the knack of cutting hair enough to make it decent. Beneath the messy mop, his eyes are clear, his features almost soft with the rounded tip of his nose and plush lips and yet, he somehow looks predatory. Maybe it's his gaze, sharp and unreadable. Kihyun doesn't shudder, but the ghost he had forgotten was still beside him definitely does.

“Okay,” Kihyun says, managing to keep his voice calm and neutral, “So you're alive. You still haven't answered my question. Who are you and why am I here?”

The man frowns slightly. If Kihyun doesn't know better, he'd think he's offended. Or hurt. The man raises a hand to his chest, brows raised.

(Surely, that’s not a pout. Right? He is still mostly in the shadows. Maybe Kihyun’s wrong.)

“First of all, I saved you. The bandage should have tipped you off.”

Kihyun looks down. Despite the pain in his arm – he hopes it’s not broken because , that would be so much trouble – the bandage looks decent, and does a good enough job at preventing him from injuring himself further. Still…

“How did I even injure myself –”

“Oh. You don’t remember?”

Kihyun shakes his head.

“You fell in here while trying to get more canned food,” the guy says, grimacing. “The food’s there, by the way.”

In the direction that the guy’s pointing, there’s a small stack of canned goods. It’s more than what Kihyun had in his bag. And it’s definitely enough to last him a while, if he can just get away from this guy, who hopefully won’t demand he shares.

“Thank you,” Kihyun says, as resolutely as he can. He makes to stand up, but the guy’s faster than he is.

“You probably don’t want to do that.”

Kihyun ignores him, putting the cans into his bag. “Why not?”

The guy sighs. He’s seated again when Kihyun turns back, fully in the light now even if it’s just a single dim bulb that flickers.

“We’re still in the basement, duh.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow.

The guy matches his look.

“There’s no stairs anymore, it’s all collapsed. Do you think you’ll be able to climb up there with one broken arm?”

When Kihyun finally takes stock of his surroundings, he realises that there really is only one way out – the same way he came down, or fell down, if the stranger’s words are to be trusted. When he steals a glance at the ghost, who’s since passed through concrete walls like he’s also finding another way out, all he gets is an apologetic shake of the head. Oh, great.

“Well, the answer is obviously no.”

The stranger looks apologetic too.

“Yeah, it . But at least you’ll have some food to last you.”

The guy looks like he wants to say more. But then Kihyun blinks, and the guy’s already jumped up the table, lifted himself through the only way into and out of this place. He’s gone in the next breath. So Kihyun turns to the ghost.

“Well… I guess it’s just you and me now.”

Instead of answering, the ghost slumps, falling to the ground. He draws his legs up, head tucked into his knees. The ghost looks like he wants to cry, even though Kihyun’s probably the one who should be crying. Kihyun pinches his nose with his uninjured hand. This is going to be a long night.

On the bright side, at least he finally has some food.

iv.

There's a tiny rustle.

In the instant that the noise breaks through dreamland, Kihyun goes from sleeping to wide awake immediately. Adrenaline courses through his body but he doesn't move. Zombies are attracted by big movements, and Kihyun didn't think any would find their way through the debris intact but he's not taking any chances. Slowly, Kihyun opens his eyes, tries to spy the intruder in the dark. And then –

“It's just me,” the man from earlier breathes, quietly like he knows better than to startle Kihyun. “Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up.”

What, Kihyun thinks, wide awake but apparently not enough. He glares at the guy, brain trying to catch up. “Why are you here?” Even if the guy had helped him earlier, Kihyun’s not exactly sure what his intentions are. The guy takes a step back, raising his arms with the palms out.

“Um, I was just checking if you're okay. In case you got a concussion from the fall or something…”

“I think you're supposed to prevent people who might have concussions from falling asleep in the first place,” Kihyun cuts in mildly.

“Oh.”

The guy looks taken aback, like he didn't actually know. Kihyun wants to roll his eyes, but it's hard to when this is the first alive human being he's met in ages – the first person he’s talked to in a while – and the guy’s curled in on himself, seeming genuinely sorry. Kihyun deflates.

“It’s getting kind of old calling you stranger in my head. Do you have a name? I’m Kihyun.”

“Oh?” The stranger’s head lifts, eyes wide. Earlier in the day, he’d looked predatory, but now, with a small smile on his lips, he suddenly looks much younger. “I’m Hoseok.”

v.

Hoseok, Kihyun learns, is the same age as him.

“Technically I’m a year older because I’m born in March,” Hoseok says, chin resting on his palm as he watches Kihyun count his food rations. Kihyun has tried his best to pace himself, but an injured man needs more food, who’d have thought?

“Do you want me to call you ‘hyung’ then?” Kihyun comments, sighing internally at how little food he’s left with. He doesn’t know how much longer he’ll be stuck here while his arm heals, but based on his consumption rate so far… it doesn’t look good. Ignoring his stomach, Kihyun packs all the cans back into his bag. He can skip today. He turns back to Hoseok, who has something like a pleased expression on his face. Something dawns upon Kihyun. “Wait, you do want me to call you ‘hyung’.”

Hoseok looks up, definitely pleased. “Would you?”

He sounds hopeful. Kihyun runs a hand through his hair. It’s been two weeks since he fell in, and Hoseok’s come back every day to check on him. He redressed Kihyun’s bandage yesterday too. Even though Kihyun had been initially guarded around him, he’s started to relax enough around Hoseok to talk to him the way he’s been talking to the ghost.

(Speaking of the ghost, Kihyun’s unfortunately still not strong enough to let him materialise enough to talk, let alone send him off. He kind of feels bad. This is the longest Kihyun has taken to send a ghost off.)

“No,” Kihyun ans