Yeonjun paced back and forth on the empty street, kicking away rocks and stones that were by his feet, hissing as the grits hit the broken windows of the vehicles around him. He slowed down as he stared at the torch in his hand, frowning at the thought of running out of charged batteries soon.

Shaking away the thought, he looked around him.

The civilians were all huddled up by the park, muffled cries and whispers filling the area. On the other hand, the remainder of the squad were sitting helplessly on the ground, playing around with the bottles and pebbles that washed up with the floods, talking among themselves about everything and anything.

He wondered if the others were doing alright. It was difficult to spot anything in the distance as it was dark, even as he tried to shine the light towards the dangerous region.

A part of him felt like an outcast, knowing that in his small group of friends, he was the only one who stayed behind. He felt powerless, useless, unworthy. He felt alone – but he knew that there was no room for such unnecessary thoughts.

He trailed his eyes over the squad, smiling at the sight of Felix finally resting up, the gauze around his waist still intact. He saw the way Wooyoung and San were sitting next to each other, comfortably talking to each other despite the grim on their faces; he knew they were worried about Yeosang. He saw Minho consoling a frightened Jisung, while Seungmin and Changbin were bickering away to lighten up the mood.

Leaning against a car was Hoseok, his eyes still dim and shadowy, but it was clear that he was slowly healing. Standing by another vehicle was Haseul, Soyeon and Yeji.

“Yeji…”, Yeonjun trailed off with a whisper. He closed his fists at his side, before marching towards the trio.

“Yeji, umm, can I talk to you?”, he asked without a thought, yet a thousand thoughts were clouding his mind. He lowered the brightness of the flashlight, not wanting to blind the others.

Haseul rose to her feet, clapping her hands to rid the dust on her palms. She nodded, “Soyeon and I were going to use the washroom anyway, so stay here with Yeji.”

Yeonjun waited for the two of them to leave, bidding them with a small wave. He then approached the one by the car, resting his body against the surface of the metal. Letting out a sigh, he turned off the torch. He just wanted to talk to her; the light was unnecessary.

“How are you holding up?”

Yeji cleared , “Honestly, there were better days… I’m just worried…”

“Well, yeah, now’s not a really good time, is it?” Yeonjun paused for a moment, contemplating the question spiralling through his mind. He prayed that he wouldn’t make the other uncomfortable with what he was about to say.

“Yeji…”

“Hmm?”

He frowned at the minimal response, but he couldn’t blame her. He knew that his sudden approach probably seemed inappropriate. “I know that we haven’t really talked much through the semesters, but I know you’re a good person and I enjoy being around you, so I was just wondering… When all of this is over, would it be alright if I were to take you out somewhere special?”

He lied; he knew next to nothing about the other, and he couldn’t recall any time when the two of them hung out unless it was during class. He lied, but he liked her, and he knew he liked her from the way his heartbeat would pick up its pace at the thought of her name.

Despite that, he found himself creasing his brows and curving his lips down, confusion and sorrow pulling him down. He was feeling at unease for several reasons.

One; Yeji didn’t seem to be surprised at all, rather she hummed in approval, her face indistinct within the darkness. Yeonjun wished he had his torch on, before understanding that she could simply be taking this lightly, while he was being completely serious.

Two; his mind immediately wandered off to something a close friend of his once told him. He heard the voice in his mind speak in a soft whisper: ‘When you are with the one you love, your heart should be calm and relaxed. If not, it’s probably a crush, hyung.’

Three; his heart was still as agitated and exhilarated as before, yet he noticed streaks of blue flooding his sight, telling him that he was not as joyous as he expected himself to be.

Four; he began to wonder whether he truly liked Yeji, he began to question his thoughts of being so certain about this. He pondered upon the possibility of being mistaken all along.

Five; he heard the same voice from earlier, telling him to keep Yeji waiting until everyone was safe, and suddenly, the response of the troubled woman beside him didn’t matter. He realised that he shouldn’t have come here.

“Yeonjun?”

He broke out of his reverie, turning his head towards the other, who was still hidden within the darkness. He quickly flicked the switch of the torch, directing the light towards himself, shutting his eyes as the bright light harshly focused on his face.

“, someone help!”

Both Yeonjun and Yeji whipped their heads towards the source of that alarming voice. They stepped away from the car, the cold sensation of the metal fading away from their backs as they began running towards a group of people.

Soyeon and Haseul were there too, holding two torches, just as panicked as the ones at the centre of the circle.

Yeonjun pushed his way through, widening his eyes at the sight. He let out a soft gasp as he saw distraught written all over the figure’s face, lying on the ground with their eyes painfully shut, the two nurses on either side.

It was Seungmin; he was shivering on the ground, not out of cold but out of fear and pain, his face contorted in agony, his breathing uneven and rushed. One of his arms was tightly pressed against his stomach, almost as if he was keeping his organs from falling out, while his other arm was resting upon Jisung’s leg, the latter holding his hand tight.

“Seungmin, when did this happen?”, Soyeon asked as she kneeled down and let her eyes focus on the younger’s leg. She rolled his jeans further up and frowned at his pale skin, a horrible blue patch spreading out from his ankle. “…”

“I-I don’t know! Ugh, it’s burning, it’s itching!”, Seungmin cried out as he let out a hiss through his clenched teeth.

Yeonjun kneeled down, looking at the younger suffering – just like the pitiful lady from earlier did, just like his butler. He knocked down a lump in his throat, his hands starting to shake out of concern. He wished he could help, but all that he could think of was the harsh probability of having to kill the other before it spread out to the others.

“Resist it, Seungmo, please!”, Minho insisted as he pressed down on the other’s leg, just above the line of the blue spot, trying to prevent the mysterious liquid from distributing further along. “Did you play in the puddles or something? It must be the rain, or did you get bitten and scratched by the woman too?”

“N-Nothing, I did nothing! I was with you a-all! , please don’t shoot me!”

“Seungmin, no one’s going to shoot you. D-Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out. Damn it, if I had that hammer, we could’ve numbed his ankle or something!” Yeonjun didn’t notice the awkward looks of the others at his obnoxious yet reasonable suggestion. He let out a heavy sigh, blinking his eyes repeatedly as he tried to rack his mind for a solution.

“If this gets any worse, we’ll have to restrain him somewhere… Oh, poor boy…”, a woman’s voice spoke this time – one of the civilians that happened to joined the assembly.

Before any of the scrutinising and fretful nurses could speak, they heard a choir of shrieks resounding from behind.

Yeonjun turned around, quickly grabbing the torch that Soyeon loosely held. He waved the torch around, trying to focus on the approachi