“Papa,” someone whispers in Minseok’s ear. “Papa.”

 

Minseok doesn’t need to open his eyes to know that it’s barely light outside. However, the boy softly poking his cheek with his fingers will not relent. Experience has taught him that, unless Minseok opens his eyes, Jongin will continue poking him until the end of time.

 

“Papa,” he says again.

 

Taking a deep breath, Minseok opens his eyes and looks at Jongin, warmly tucked between him and Luhan. God, in what second did this kid jump into their bed? He didn’t even feel it.

 

“Hey, buddy,” Minseok greets, pulling Jongin’s too long locks away from his face.

 

“Are you awake now?” The boy asks innocently.

 

“Sure am,” Minseok answers kindly. “Why don’t you go wash your hands for breakfast while I get ready.”

 

“Ok,” Jongin replies, scurrying off at top speed. 

 

Minseok closes his eyes once again and attempts not to fall back asleep. Next to him, Luhan still slumbers without a care in the world. He thinks that, when Jongin is older and he has no kids jumping into his bed at the crack of dawn, he’ll actually miss these moments, but when he looks at the clock currently reading 6:15 am, he thinks maybe he won’t. He’s not sure yet. 

 

As he sits up, he lets his arm fall accidentally on purpose over Luhan’s sleeping body.

 

The response is automatic. 

 

“What? What?” Luhan mumbles, a little panicky, as he sits up and blinks tiredly at Minseok.

 

“Oops, sorry,” Minseok whispers. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

 

“Yeah, right,” Luhan says as he flops back down and covers his head with his pillow. “I hate you.”

 

“I love you, too,” Minseok replies laughing, knowing Luhan will not be able to fall back asleep. It’s five minutes until their alarm goes off anyway.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Love you.”

 

Swallowing a chuckle, he goes into the bathroom to get decent for breakfast. Today is Friday so that means it’s pancake day.

 

As he heads into the kitchen, he stops by Soojung’s room. His only daughter is sprawled on her bed, a curtain of long black hair covering her pillow. 

 

“Time to get up, sweetheart,” he says softly as he pats her back.

 

All he hears is a loud groan as an answer but it’s enough to know the twelve-year-old is awake. She loves pancakes so she’ll move quickly.

 

It’s only fifteen minutes later that the whole family is gathered in the kitchen, all awaiting his pancakes. The TV blares on in the background but Minseok pays no mind to it, mostly focused on the chocolate chip-filled batter on the pan.

 

“Hey, babe,” Luhan greets him, properly this time. He puts his arms around Minseok and rests his head on Minseok’s shoulder. “Those look delicious.”

 

“They better be. Pancakes are my thing,” Minseok replies.

 

Luhan laughs and slaps Minseok tenderly. 

 

“Ew, dad,” Soojung exclaims. “Stop it.”

 

“As you wish,” Luhan says bowing down playfully. 

 

Soojung just rolls her eyes but can’t help the smile on her face. 

 

“May her royal highness set the table, please?” Luhan asks the girl.

 

Soojung, being the good yet snarky oldest child she is, takes whatever her dad gives her and starts setting the table. Jongin, on the other hand, is stuck to the TV. Minseok notices he looks a tad too into it and, as soon as he’s done with the last pancake, proceeds to remove the 6-year-old from the screen.

 

“Baby, you’ll hurt your eyes.”

 

“I’m not a baby,” Jongin replies with conviction.

 

“Right, not a baby. Go eat your pancakes.”

 

As Jongin moves to sit at the table, Minseok catches a glimpse from the TV. A lot of bad news, as usual; something about a virus, which peaks his attention, but he’s thoroughly distracted when Jongin suddenly says, “I lost my tooth!”

 

“What?” Luhan says. “Let me see.”

 

Minseok turns round to the tabe and sees that Jongin has, in fact, lost his second front tooth. He now has a toothless smile that is too cute for words. Minseok wants to take pictures immediately.

 

“Smile, baby,” he says, wasting no time. 

 

“Not a baby,” Jongin says but smiles anyway, wide and toothless.

 

Minseok smiles looking at the result. Someday he’ll print the many pictures on his and Luhan’s phones and put them on an old fashion photo album. Someday.

 

“You’re an old man now,” Luhan says. “Maybe you should get a job, start paying rent.”

 

“I can’t get a job! I’m 6!”

 

“6-year-olds used to work all the time back in the day, didn’t they, Papa?” Soojung adds mischievously. 

 

Looking at Jongin’s outraged face, Minseok cracks before he can answer, but not before he takes a picture and sends it to his brother. As he unlocks his phone, he notices there are a couple of messages from Junmyeon already.

 

-Are you watching the news??

 

-Minseok?

 

huh? not yet-

 

what’s going on?-

 

He gets no reply but doesn't try to call him. Junmyeon is a surgeon and is usually busy during the day. Minseok doesn't want to bother him if it’s not urgent. He hopes it’s not.

 

“Alright, kiddos, let’s get to school,” Luhan says, pulling Minseok from his thoughts. He picks up the dirty dishes and puts them in the sink. “I’ll get those later.”

 

Minseok huffs because that will likely not happen. However, he doesn't have time to pick an argument because he needs to drop everyone off. Minseok is in charge of making sure everyone is where they need to be; well, at least for the time being. After working fifteen years for the U.N. as an investigator/researcher, he is now on leave working as a full-time dad/driver/cook and whatever else his family needs. It’s been a nice change of pace.

 

“I’m ready,” Jongin says, backpack in tow.

 

“Where’s your sister?” Minseok asks him.

 

“She can’t find her inhaler. She’s such a doofus.”

 

Minseok bites his tongue so he doesn't laugh. Jongin would not appreciate it if he thought Minseok was laughing at him. “Isn’t she?” he replies instead.

 

“We’re gonna be late!” Luhan shouts as he rushes from the bedroom to the front door. “In the car, everyone!”

 

Once Soojung is in sight, Minseok grabs his keys, gets his phone and heads out.

 

--

 

Traffic , Minseok thinks. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken a central avenue to get to the kids’ school, but there isn’t exactly any other road to get there. This is his own fault. He wanted them to go to the best school in the district which was sadly located downtown. It’s also convenient since Luhan works right around the corner at a publishing firm. It was just too convenient to pass up.

 

“Authorities are still baffled by what seems to be a strain of rabies spreading through the population. More than twelve countries have confirmed cases and more are expected to make announcements later today. It is unclear what–”

 

“Daddy! Where’s Watson?” Jongin asks from his booster seat. “I thought he was in my backpack but he’s not!”

 

“Sweetie, he can’t come to school with you, you know that,” Luhan replies, using his calm voice to avoid any spectacles. Last time Jongin lost Watson he had a full blown tantrum.

 

“But he’s gonna be home alone.”

 

“He’ll be fine, Jonginnie. He’s a big boy, remember? Like you,” Soojung cleverly intervenes.

 

Minseok holds his breath as he awaits for Jongin’s reaction, and is relieved when he takes his big sister’s explanation and settles down.

 

When he gets his eyes back on the road, he realizes they haven’t moved an inch. This traffic is insane, it shouldn't be this bad this early in the morning.

 

“What’s going on, do you think?” Luhan asks quietly so the kids chatting in the back don’t hear.

 

“Not sure. Junmyeon sent me a weird text this morning but he didn’t exactly say anything,” Minseok says. “Maybe it’s an accident or something. I’m sure it’ll be fine–”

 

A loud crash interrupts him mid-sentence, enough to make him jump. When he looks at the origin, he notices a motorbike has hit his side mirror and has taken it clean off the car.

 

“What the ,” he mutters, hoping the kids didn’t hear him. He steps out of the car and sees the motorbike rapidly advancing down the street.

 

“What the hell?” Luhan says, incredulous. “Be careful, babe.”

 

Picking up the busted mirror, Minseok tries to look ahead to see what’s holding everyone up. The cars seem to be stuck in position but there isn’t any smoke or police lights that he can see. It doesn’t look like an accident.

 

“Get in your vehicle!” He hears from behind him. It startles him into compliance so he barely gets a quick look at the police officer shouting before quickly returning to his car. “Stay in your vehicle! Do not exit–”

 

But the police officer is no longer there. Instead, there is a garbage truck making his way through the stationed cars and people, without a care as to who he’s hitting or hurting.

Jongin starts crying and Soojung screams at the sight.

 

Freaked out but seeing a way out, Minseok puts the car in drive and follows behind the truck. 

 

“What are you doing?” Luhan asks, grabbing Minseok’s thigh in fear.

 

“It’s our way out,” Minseok replies. He steps on the gas pedal and hopes that the truck will clear a path to exit the city center.

 

“It’s ok, baby, calm down,” Luhan tells Jongin who is still crying. Soojung seems to have stopped, but Minseok knows she’s still upset. He just hopes it won’t trigger an asthma attack.

 

“It’s ok, Jongin. We’re ok,” Minseok adds.

 

“Soojung, get back in your seat,” Luhan says. He sounds a bit too panicky and, when Minseok looks through the rearview mirror, he sees the reason is because Soojung is not on her seat anymore. “Soojung, now,” he insists more forcefully.

 

“Honey, get back on your seat,” Minseok tells her. “Now, Soojung. Get back in your seat and put your seatbelt back on.” Even while putting his command voice front and center, Soojung doesn’t budge.

 

He’s about to turn back and pull her when they’re hit on the side by a bus. It drags them a few feet before they stop completely.

 

He’s a bit dizzy, a bit slow after they’re hit, but he feels mostly ok. He’s definitely cut his brow on the window. , Soojung was sitting right behind him.

 

“Soojung, are you ok?” He asks worriedly.

 

“Soojung, are you hurt?” Luhan adds as well. “Jonginnie? Anything hurts?”

 

Luhan nearly climbs into the backseat to check on the kids but returns to the front quickly. Minseok wipes blood from his face and winces at the sting.

 

“She’s fine,” he informs Minseok. “Are you ok?”

 

“I’m fine,” Minseok answers but Luhan doesn’t believe until he’s checked his face.

 

“It’s small,” he concludes. “We’re ok. We’re ok.”

 

Thankfully, they weren't going very fast or he’d be telling a different story.

 

A sense of urgency suddenly overcomes him and he knows they need to move. They need to get out of the car. They need to leave the city right now.

 

“Get your things, Jongin. Soojung, take your backpack,” Luhan is saying and Minseok is put into motion with those words. Luhan’s receptiveness is out of this world, Minseok thinks. Thank God Minseok has him by his side.

 

“Out of the car, everyone. Let’s go,” Minseok affirms further.

 

Minseok has to climb out of Luhan’s door and pull Soojung through Jongin’s but they finally make it out and start walking down the street. There are shouts coming from behind them but everything is such a mess that he can’t make out anything in the throng of people running. He just knows they need to go.

 

As he searches for a vehicle to get into, he notices a person, a strange pallor to their skin and torn clothes, trying to enter someone else’s car by banging their head into the windshield, the people inside shocked into staying put. Once he manages to break through the thick glass, the wild person ups and bites the driver before moving onto their next target. 

 

What the actual ?

 

Minseok is shocked at the behaviour. He can’t think of what would cause a person to act in such a way other than extreme mental illness. For some reason he doesn't think that is it. This person looks clearly physically ill. He knows one doesn’t discard the other but this is something else altogether.

 

The driver of the car, now spasming on the ground, convulses for what seems to be no more than fifteen seconds before standing up and repeating the cycle with another victim. 

 

It’s too ing crazy to be true, Minseok thinks. He looks back at Luhan and notices that in the moments he used watching the wild spectacle before him, his husband has already found a car for them to use.

 

“Get in the car, Minseok!” He shouts. “Come on!”

 

Minseok obeys without question and gets into the passenger seat of the car. He looks at the kids in the back and sees they’re no longer crying but they are definitely scared out of their minds. Minseok can’t blame them. He’s also scared. He has no idea what’s going on.

 

“Call Junmyeon,” Luhan tells him and Minseok obeys yet again.

 

Minseok dials Junmyeon’s number but it goes straight to voicemail. He dials again without change. He dials a third time before giving up entirely. It’s unlike Junmyeon to even pick up his phone so Minseok wasn’t expecting much. He tries calling the hospital where he works but, when that number also goes unanswered, he starts worrying about his brother.

 

“No one’s picking up,” Minseok tells Luhan.

 

“Not even the hospital?” Luhan asks, and Minseok shakes his head. He sees Luhan taking a deep breath before taking the highway up north. Minseok can’t lose his brother. He’s the only family he has left other than the ones with him. His parents died when they were very young so, being only a year apart, they had had to raise each other.

 

Luhan takes Minseok’s hand and squeezes tight, probably knowing what’s going through Minseok’s head.

 

“Daddy,” Jongin says from the back. “Daddy, Soojung…”

 

Minseok looks at his daughter in her seat and realizes she’s wheezing. .

 

Thankfully, the SUV Luhan picked up is huge and Minseok has no problem climbing into the back to sit next to Soojung.

 

“Hey, baby girl,” he whispers. “You’re ok. We’re all ok.” He rubs her back and can nearly feel her chest rattling through her shirt. “Come on, in through your nose, out through your mouth. You’ve got this.”

 

“Jongin, get your sister’s inhaler from her backpack,” Luhan tells the little boy.

 

“I already looked. It’s not there,” the boy answers softly, probably afraid that Soojung will get in trouble.

 

Minseok takes a deep breath and thinks. He has stashed backup inhalers all over the place, there has to be one nearby. There was at least one in the car that they abandoned in the middle of the road. There was one in his backpack in the trunk of said car. Luhan carries a couple in his bag as well.

 

“Do you have your bag with you, Luhan?”

 

Luhan, looking like he wants to punch himself, says, “I left it in the goddamned car.”

 

“It’s ok,” he says, mostly to himself. “Come on, baby. There you go. In and out slowly.”

 

He continues coaching the girl, breathing along with her and encouraging her, but it’s not doing much. “We’re going to need a pharmacy,” he ends up saying. “Jongin see if there’s any water for your sister in the back.”

 

The back of the SUV is huge and filled with things. Maybe they’ll find something useful.

 

While Jongin is rummaging in the back, Minseok’s phone starts ringing. He nearly drops it in his haste to pick up.

 

“H-hello?” He says, smiling at Soojung so she doesn't worry.

 

“Minseok? It’s Yunho.”

 

Yunho, his old coworker from the U.N. They had investigated more than one illness outbreak together, and had travelled through some of the most dangerous places in the world trying to find cures and treatments for terrible diseases. If Yunho’s calling him then they’re in deep trouble. “What’s going on, Yunho?”

 

“Where are you?” he says without preambles.

 

“We’re on the I-95 heading north to New York. I can’t get a hold of my brother.”

 

“I’ll see what I can do about him, I’m heading that way, but I’m going to try and send someone to get you. Get somewhere you’re easily visible. Hopefully we’ll be able to send a chopper soon. Can you hold on an hour?”

 

“What’s this, Papa?” Jongin interrupts innocently.

 

Minseok heart nearly stops as he looks at the little boy holding a hunting rifle. He quickly takes the weapon from Jongin’s hands and checks the safety is on. 

 

“Go sit down and buckle up, please,” he tells the boy. 

 

Jesus, that took five years off his lifespan.

 

Focusing back on the phone call, he adds, “What are we dealing with?”

 

“We don’t know yet. Have you encountered it?”

 

“Yeah,” he says without getting into detail. He’s still astonished at the rapidness with which the driver of that taxi had been infected. “We’ll be waiting for you. Don’t forget about us.”

 

“Get somewhere safe, Minseok. We’ll try as hard as we can to get to you guys.”

 

“Thanks, Yunho.” He hangs up. 

 

He looks at Luhan reassuringly, knowing he’ll have to tell him everything once the kids are settled and they can’t hear the grown ups talk.

 

Luhan nods once and focuses back on the road.

 

--

 

Soojung seems to calm down during the ride, slumping on Minseok as they drive. He tries calling Junmyeon five more times but to no avail. He has no clue where his brother could be. He might not even make it to New York before they get picked up.

 

“There’s a pharmacy right there,” Luhan says into the rearview mirror once they arrive in Newark. Minseok takes a deep breath and prepares the kids.

 

Jongin looks upset as he puts on his backpack and Soojung is trying very hard not to cry.

 

“This is the plan, kiddos. Daddy’s going to drive us to the pharmacy, we’ll pick up Soojung’s inhalers and get some food and then we’ll drive away, ok?”

 

Soojung and Jongin both nod obediently while Luhan enters the commercial complex’s parking lot. There are hundreds of people running around desperately, some getting food, some gettin survival supplies, others getting TVs and electronics. Minseok can’t reproach anything right now, uncertainty brings chaos and people react differently when set against a situation such as this.

 

They all get out of the car quickly, Minseok strapping the rifle onto his back, and walking towards the supermarket. There is a pharmacy inside and Minseok is praying they have enough albuterol to last them a couple weeks. He doesn't think they’ll be able to find another one any time soon. This whole thing looks like chaos.

 

“You go get the medicine and I’ll get us some food,” Luhan tells him while picking up Jongin who, surprisingly, goes willingly. He’s been refuting all things that he deems as babyish but Minseok guesses now is not the time to want to be a big boy.

 

Taking Soojung’s hand, he goes into the back where the pharmacy is supposed to be and starts rummaging through the shelves in search of the Albuterol. Soojung’s asthma has tapered off in the past couple of years but you can never be too sure she won’t have a serious attack.

 

He’s having trouble finding anything useful when a man comes in from the back with a handgun. He looks calm and collected as he points it at Minseok while chaos reigns behind them in the aisles of the supermarket. 

 

Moving to stand in front of Soojung, he lifts up his hands, showing he’s not a threat and hoping the rifle at his back won’t make the guy just shoot. Behind him, Soojung grabs his shirt and crumples it in her fist.

 

“What do you need?” The man asks, no emotion showing on his face.

 

“Albuterol.”

 

The man moves calmly, going straight for a drawer where he fishes three boxes and hands them to Minseok. Maybe he works here. Maybe he’s a junkie who doesn’t want anyone near his newly found stash. “They’re supposed to outgrow the asthma,” he mentions conversationally.

 

Minseok doesn't answer but takes the boxes with surprisingly steady hands. He’s always been good under pressure. It’s one of the things that made him good at his job.

 

“Here,” the man says, giving him two boxes of a different inhaler. “These work like a charm on my kid.”

 

“Thanks,” Minseok says dumbfounded, turning around and walking away as fast as they can.

 

That was surreal, he thinks as he searches the aisles for Luhan and Jongin. The supermarket’s shelves are half empty already, most people scrambling to get whatever’s left. 

 

With Soojung’s hand held tight on his own, he continues searching for any sign of Luhan and Jongin, but this is a large supermarket and there are too many people. 

 

He pauses mid-step next to the gross bread Luhan favors when he hears Jongin screaming, “Papa! Papa!”

 

“Jongin! Luhan!” he shouts back. He runs, tracing the screams to a kart rolling slowly down the yoghurt aisle, Jongin crying and screaming inside. Jongin seems ok, only scared, but Luhan is not with him.

 

“Luhan!” He calls. There’s a scuffle near the end of the aisle and Minseok approaches it with the rifle drawn. He can’t see what it’s about, the fight just off his range of view.

 

“It’s all I ing have!” Minseok hears Luhan shout.

 

Minseok’s blood boils as he approaches and sees three men gang up on Luhan to try and rob him. Luhan tries valiantly to get them off but three against one is not a really fair fight.

 

Minseok shoots a warning shot into the air and two of the men immediately run off. However, one of them, the largest one, aims his own gun at Minseok and shoots. Thankfully, he’s a terrible shot because it lands far from where Minseok is standing. 

 

The man continues to shoot and, knowing their lives are at risk with some shooting up the place, Minseok aims for the man’s chest and shoots. The large man goes down hard and Minseok lowers his weapon.

 

Luhan gets up quickly and wraps around Minseok. He doesn't know which of the two is trembling the most, but he does know that he wants to get the out of this supermarket as fast as he can.

 

“, Minseok.,” Luhan exclaims. “Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

 

“I’m fine,” Minseok answers. “I’m ok. Are you?”

 

Luhan doesn’t get a chance to reply.

 

There is a police officer walking directly towards him and he clearly saw all that went down, including the large dead man currently lying in a pool of blood. . Not knowing what else to do, he lifts up his hands and rifle in the air. This cannot end this way. He cannot get arrested right now, he still needs to find Junmyeon and get his family to safety. 

 

His heart beats wildly inside his chest as the police officer walks closer, a determined look on his face. However, the whole situation is so ed up that the police officer walks right past by him and starts collecting food from the shelves.

 

Seeing the opportunity, Luhan grabs the kids and pulls Minseok’s arm to get them out of the store. Minseok is a little shell shocked. He killed a man that was threatening his family. He’ll probably never be tried or judged for doing so. He’s walking away scot-free.

 

He doesn’t even notice the moment they step out of the supermarket and into the parking lot. 

 

“Where’s the car?” Soojung asks worriedly, interrupting Minseok’s line of thought.

 

“,” Luhan replies.

 

Minseok’s breathing picks up. What should they do? They can’t stay out in the open, it’s too dangerous. Their experience inside the damn supermarket is a clear example of why they should find shelter right now.

 

Thoughts going a mile a minute, his eyes land on a building complex across the street. It’s tall enough to be able to be seen from the top if– no, when the chopper comes get them. 

 

It’ll do.

 

“Let’s go there,” he says to Luhan, pointing at the apartment building.

 

Luhan, probably seeing what Minseok himself is seeing, nods and starts running towards the entrance. Minseok picks up Jongin while Luhan grabs Soojung’s hand.

 

They reach it no time, thankfully, but have to dodge a few of the wild people on their way. One of them follows them into the building but a well aimed bullet to the head seems to stop him.

 

He doesn’t dwell on it, following his family up the stairs and into the hallways. There’s no time to think about anything other than getting to safety.

 

They find the staircase easily and start climbing but, on the third floor, they find an infected person coming down. They quickly exit the staircase and close the door tight behind them. 

 

Minseok puts Jongin down to make sure there are no infected people coming their way.

 

“We need to get to the rooftop,” Luhan says.

 

He has no way to communicate with Yunho so no way to know when exactly they’ll be getting picked up. He has no official ID on him anyway since all of that is safely tucked away in his closet.

 

“Jongin?” Luhan asks, interrupting Minseok’s spiralling thoughts. “Jongin!”

 

“Jongin!” Minseok shouts. He was right here a minute ago, damn it.

 

He starts inspecting the hallway but this is a large building with several apartments per floor. There are many ing hallways and many ing doors.

 

He hears Jongin before he sees him, standing in front of a closed door and screaming, “let me in!” at the top of his lungs.

 

Luhan runs to get him, picking him up instantly while Minseok grabs Soojung’s hand.

 

Miraculously, the door Jongin was screaming at opens, and Minseok wastes no time herding everyone inside the small apartment.

 

“Thank you,” Minseok says to the three people inside. “Thank you.”

 

“No problem,” the man says in accented English.

 

Luhan sits Jongin and Soojung on the couch and makes Soojung use her inhaler just to be on the safe side. Minseok sits across from them on the floor with his rifle safely tucked next to him, watching as the young family of four moves around the kitchen.

 

A young boy, probably around nine or ten years old, stands between his parents, watching them curiously. The apartment, tiny as it is, seems to barely accommodate the family that lives inside. Now, with an extra four people, it seems even smaller.

 

The couple don’t look afraid of them at least. Minseok would not blame them if they did, showing up the way they did. He’s grateful for the reprieve from the outside world right now.

 

The woman whispers something that sounds like Korean to the boy and the boy dutifully approaches them and asks, “would you like something to eat?”

 

“Please, thank you,” Luhan says.

 

Minseok’s forgotten most of his Korean, not having practised it since his parents died when he was young, but he still remembers the basics. 

 

“Thank you,” he says to the family in accented Korean. 

 

The couple smile gently as if it’s no big deal, like they hadn’t just saved them from certain death by letting them in.

 

“Please,” the man says, offering some beer to him and Luhan while the boy hands some juice boxes to Jongin and Soojung.

 

The small family all smile but don’t try to interact further. Minseok, needing to do something, fiddles with an old radio on top of an even older TV. He turns the knob to see if he catches anything but the only thing airing is an official message telling everyone to stay indoors and save food. Not very helpful, Minseok thinks.

 

When he makes sure that there’s absolutely no other information on the radio, he turns to his cell phone. He’s been more and more afraid to try and communicate with Junmyeon. What if he finds out something he’d rather not know? What if Junmyeon’s dead? What if he’s become one of those things roaming the street? It hurts to even think about it. However, by some miracle, his phone rings but there’s no identified caller. Could it be...

 

“Junmyeon?” He says into the speaker. Luhan, having been focused on getting Jongin to sit still, looks up in surprise.

 

“Minseok? Where are you? Is everyone ok?”

 

It’s Junmyeon on the other line. Minseok looks at Luhan and smiles. “We’re fine, Jun. We’re somewhere in Newark.”

 

He hears his brother’s sigh of relief before continuing, “I’m with Yunho. We were evacuated by chance into a U.N. post. He says they’re doing everything they can to come get you but it’ll probably be tomorrow. Sunrise,” he says.

 

“Ok, that’s ok. We’re safe for now,” Minseok replies. 

 

“Tell him I’ve got flares,” Luhan says.

 

Minseok obeys and passes on the information. “Will you be where they take us to?”

 

“I don’t know. I’m not much of anyone, unlike you, you big shot,” Junmyeon says as he laughs. “They say we’ll probably get sent to a refugee camp whenever they figure out where that will be.”

 

Lowering his head and rubbing his eyes, Minseok knows just what that will look like. Refugee camps can become dangerous and lawless over time. However, considering Junmyeon’s skills as a surgeon, he won’t be released easily. Minseok just hopes he can be there with him soon enough to get him out.

 

“Be careful, Jun.”

 

“I will be. Take care of the kids. See you soon.”

 

“See you.”

 

He hangs up and takes a deep breath. Luhan is looking at him intently but he can’t bring himself to talk right now. He needs a minute. A long minute.