Minhyuk hums a small tune under his breath, his long fingers curled round the steel handle of the bucket containing today’s meal. He knows Hyungwon doesn’t much like getting his food like this, pre-killed and all, but he needed to do it like this today. Their stock is running low, so they need to keep things clean around here to attract more animals to their... humble abode~

The man can’t help but chuckle at himself under his breath as he steps back over the threshold into their home. He’d never imagined himself to be a domestic-type, having instead always envisioned himself as a glamorous graphic artist and his husband-to-be as a successful model... They’d have kids, sure, but only after they lived their lives. So, you know, maybe in their early thirties.

He’d never imagine he’d be stuck doing all the duties of a housewife at only twenty-five.

He walks to the back of the house, where the door to the basement is. He doesn’t bother putting on gloves or protective gear like he used to, despite it being right there by the door, where he always keeps it. He knows now he doesn’t need it, will never need it when dealing with his love.

Even though they’ve never spoken vows to each other, and never will now, he knows the “‘till death do us part” bit is still applicable, and he trusts Hyungwon will do everything he can to keep the death aspect from ever happening. Especially now, considering his... condition.

Minhyuk descends into the inky blackness of the basement, still clutching his fiancé's dinner tightly in one hand as he now sets the other against the grimy, slick wall to keep himself steady as his eyes adjust. He blinks unevenly into the shadows, trying to discern solid from shade. There’s a low groan and a quick sort of shuffling, but Minhyuk doesn’t get nervous or scared, remaining still where he stands. These are normal reactions for him now.

There’s only a single source of light, a barred-up window letting in what little light is left out in the world. Minhyuk zeroes in on it, waiting for his love to emerge from the furthest corner.

“Wonnie,” he coos, kneeling as he sets down the bucket. “Come on out, I brought dinner.” There's another groan, followed by more scuffling about against the brick floor, before his love steps into the light.

His handsome features have started to decay, his skin rotting away and falling off to reveal bits of his skull. His clothes have deteriorated a bit, too, different bugs throughout the past months eating away at them. Minhyuk had thought they’d have more time before Hyungwon began looking like this, like some B-list horror movie reject, but he supposes it’s just another side-effect of the mysterious virus that’s overtaken the world.

Hyungwon slumps forward, his stringy hair falling into his lifeless eyes. He claws at the floor, his left leg having broken after taking too hard of a fall on one of their many expeditions to find this sanctuary from everyone else and leaving it unusable. He reaches forward with a thinning arm, pulls the bucket close. Though, he isn’t strong enough to do so, not really, and the bucket falls onto its side.

With an inhuman growl, Hyungwon leans close to the floor and starts to eat messily through the mess of animal flesh and organs that spills out. Blood covers his face and hands, gets up his nose and into his eyes, but Hyungwon just continues his hungered frenzy and pays it no mind. Minhyuk sighs through his mouth, the stench of death filling his nose otherwise, and he kneels down to get comfortable on the floor. He props himself up on the heels of his hands, his head tilted to the side as he watches his love eat.

Used to, he was disgusted with the almost savage way his once-refined fiancé now eats, but he’s grown used to it. After all, what’s a messy eating habit in the grand scheme of things?

Hyungwon finishes faster than should be possible considering his sloth-like movements for literally anything else. His dull, empty eyes fall on Minhyuk, and the man feels a twinge in his heart as he thinks that maybe, just maybe, a light of recognition fills the Undead's eyes. He knows that’s impossible, that there’s supposedly nothing left of his soul mate in this shell, but it’s all he has left now. His family’s gone, his friends... All he has left of the days before the apocalypse is his Wonnie, or rather his Wonnie’s physical presence, and that’s still enough. Without it, he’d have ended things months ago.

The empty man pulls himself forward, his groans turning almost plaintive. He reaches Minhyuk’s side, carrying with him the perfume of rot and decay, and he drops his head into Minhyuk’s lap.

He doesn’t move again for some time, and Minhyuk only shifts to start combing through his hair. The blood gets on his fingers, on his clothes, and he’s pretty sure some of Hyungwon’s flaking flesh falls onto the wearing fabric of his jeans... He doesn’t mind though, not really.

Minhyuk glances down, his smile so pure and loving.

“You and me, babe, till the end of the world,” he says softly, as if not wanting to disrupt the calm that had followed Hyungwon’s feeding. It’s the same words they’d said to each other, back before they’d known Hyungwon had gotten infected. The memory is so bright, so full of hope...

Well, even if the end of the world has come, it’s still them and them alone.

And that’s enough <3