"You should stay here." Minho simply says, not sparing the other a look.

Seungmin stops digging his hand onto Changbin's closet, he is currently finding a bagpack as they also get ready for their plan to get out there once again and hopefully get themselves some food and then to find their friend.

"What? No, hyung, I can't just stay here and do nothing. Jisung is Lix and my best friend."

"Jisung is my friend too. Look, Seungmin, there's no time for a chitchat right now, I need you to stay here with Felix."

"Bold of you to assume that Felix just wants to stay here and do nothing." Seungmin says, it's meant to be a murmur but the older hears him anyway.

"Right. Both of you are so stubborn." Minho clicks his tongue then looks at Seungmin again, an unreadable look on his face. He's thinking of more ways to convince the younger but he seems to be out of words everytime he looks at  Seungmin's cute face. He just slaps himself mentally for that certain thought.

"What?" Seungmin's small voice pulls Minho out of his little daze.

"I want you and my brother safe in here. Changbin and I will find Jisung and bring enough food for us." Minho says without looking Seungmin in the eyes, snatching the bagpack that he got from the closet.

"Wait- eh, hyung! Come on, I can run just fine like you, I won't be a pain in your ."

"You're already a p-" Minho cuts himself off, glaring at the younger. "You know what, fine. If you die I will spit on your dead body." Seungmin just blinks his eyes to the retreating back of the older. Like what was that? Does he hate him now, that much? He just wants to help, okay? Jisung is his friend, he can't just stomach the thought of lazing around here while knowing the possibility that his friend is out there. Seungmin just sighs and then finds another bagpack for himself.

 

"You know, it's funny, how we still laughed at the zombie movie we're watching last night and it turned out to be haunting us now." Felix says while zipping up his jacket.

"Yeah, well, life's unpredictable like that." Changbin answers, he is having a hard time creating some words to tell Felix to not come with them and that his home is the safest place for him. He takes pride of being good at words but this situation now is difficult apparently.

They were getting ready to go out because one- to find Jisung and second- to look for (read: steal) some food along the way, you know, like the scenario in every zombie movie? Classic move.

"I know! Like the guy in the movie, he has that big baseball bat, you still have yours, babe, right?" Felix excitedly asks.

"I think so, under the bed, maybe?" Changbin answers, not fully catching up the words Felix had said.

"Okay, I'm not encouraging you to bring that, baby." Changbin then hurriedly supplies.

"Why not?" Felix stomps his feet like a baby, pouting.

"Because we're not in the movie, this is real, okay? And I don't want you to get hurt."

"That's so sweet. But you're also implying that I don't know how to use it. You're understimating me right now."

"As much as I want to see your hot carrying that thing around and see you smashing some zombies' brain with it, I don't want you to get hurt, in movies it was easy to watch the actors kill those thing but in real life, it isn't."

"How did you know though?" Felix stubbornly asks, still pouting.

"I just know." Changbin sighs, why is he even surprise, it's not like he didn't know that he's dating a stubborn cutie.

"Eh, please, babe? I promise I'll be careful with it. Plus I have you, I will be safe and there's hyung and Seungminie too."

"You're not gonna stop pouting until you have it, are you?" Changbin sighs, too whipped and too in love with his boyfriend to deny his wishes. His initial plan of making Felix safe just flew out of the window.

"Fine!"

"Yes! Love you!" Then the younger excitedly squeals and ducks down under the bed to find that baseball bat.

"Okay, you both done?" Minho suddenly gets inside Changbin's room, looking so ready and all, Seungmin is tailing behind him.

"Look, hyung! Cool, right?" Felix says, a megawatt smile on his face as he shows off the bat in his hands.

Minho isn't even impressed, "Lixie, you're not gonna bring that. Gimme that!"

Felix hurriedly hides it behind him, "not you too, hyung! I know how to swing this thing." Felix scoffs, what is this with people understimating him?

"I know, baby, but still no. Give me that."

Felix whines, shaking his head stubborly, "no.." Changbin even shakes his head and just turns to get some coats for Minho and Seungmin.

"Changbin, you can't let him carry that thing, come on." Minho turns to Changbin for help who in turn just hands him two coats after a click of his tongue.

"I tried."

Minho groans, "ah, whatever!" He can't believe this, he doesn't wish to be dealing with stubborn kids. He then goes to the door, leaving the other three.

 

"Okay! First, we need to get some food real quick, then let's find Jisung. Contact him again if-" Minho is being cut off by Seungmin.

"No! Let's find Jisung first then food and go home."

They begin to bicker just outside Changbin's gym/home, Felix on his side is confused and don't know where to look or who to listen, his phone in his hand.

"It's best if we have food already in our bags so when we happen to find Jisung, we all can get back here." Minho adds.

"We'll have a weight on our backs while we're in search of Jisung, it's best if-"

Changbin sighs and clears his throat, "guys, calm down."

"It doesn't matter, it's easier that way." Minho continues.

"Uh guys! There's a little problem." Felix says suddenly, louder than the two.

"What?!" And then Minho and Seungmin both shouted while looking at Felix.

"Uh," he sheepishly smiles now that the attention of the two is on him. "Uhm, there's no reception. We can't contact Jisung at this situation."

The two blink in unison and Minho seems to be the first to recover, "fine, let's find Jisung first."

 

The walk to a deserted highway is quiet, but there's disgusting growling noises from a distance that they could hear once in a while, Felix would shiver hearing it, his grip around the bat is tightening.

"The city feels like a desert already." Felix observes, "are there still people alive out here?" He adds. His boyfriend beside him just shrugs his shoulders.

"We don't know exactly, Lixie. Stay close together, okay? We'll go home after we find Jisung."

"Don't worry about me, babe. I know how to take care of myself."

"Hmm, better be safe."

Felix hums back, looking down at the phone in his hand again, still no service.

Jisung's flat is a three-minute drive away from Changbin's gym and since they're walking and not taking short cuts like they have used too, they'll be there around five to six minutes. It's safe for them to trek into the wide space, the highway, since they don't know what happened to the people around the neighborhood and they chose to walk than bringing a vehicle with them. Too much noise will just send the zombies towards their direction. Right? It's always like that in movies.

"Hyung, you okay?" Since they started walking, Minho is relatively quiet. Seungmin on the other hand is quiet too but once in a while he'll hum or nod his head partaking to Changbin and his boyfriend's coversation.

Felix's brother hums, "I'm fine, why wouldn't I?"

"You seemed quiet since the start of our walk," Felix flinches at his own voice, he knows his hyung that well, he's only quiet when he's stressed or mad. Felix hopes that it would be neither of the two, he doesn't need those kinds of Minho at this moment.

"Well, stop flirting with your boyfriend like we're not here then." Minho stops walking, eyeing Seungmin for a bit then to his younger brother, there's a glint of mischief in his eyes and the corner of his lips are twitching to a small smile.

Changbin just chuckled upon hearing that and Felix immediately flushes, "we're not flirting! We're just talking about-" he is being cut off by Minho's soft laugh.

"I'm just playing with you, baby." Minho reaches out to ruffle at the pouting Felix's hair.

"Hyung!" Felix whines. It's rare to see  his older brother being openly affectionate with him but he's not complaining, he likes his brother this way better. Don't get him wronh, he loves his brother despite his attitude, but he also knows that Minho is a kind and a good person.

The scene warms both Changbin's and Seungmin's hearts. The latter doesn't know that this hyung still has the ability to smile and to make his brother smile and he likes this side of Minho more.

"Don't worry, Lixie, we'll get home. Though I told you not to come along with."

"I don't wanna sit and do nothing knowing that Jisung is still out there." Felix pouts.

Minho sighs, "I don't know, I feel like you and Seungmin are siblings instead, you're both stubborn."

"Hey!" Seungmin flushes at the sudden attention and couldn't utter anything but the infamous and boring hey while Minho chuckles.

"What will happen next, hyung? Is the world ending?" Minho chuckles at the way Felix's face scrunches into a confused and worried look.

"We'll cross the bridge when we get there, Lixie. Don't worry, just go to your boyfriend and be gross."

"Ah, hyung." Felix whines which made Minho laugh so hard, before leaning forward to plant a kiss on top of Felix's crown.

"But what if there's no bridge to cross?" Felix murmurs, taking the second to lean more against his older brother's side.

"Then I guess we'll gonna die together." Minho answers with a humor.

"Well, that's very reassuring, hyung." Felix pouts.

 

 

"Oh no," Minho mutters, there's two of them growling their way towards them after taking the first corner of the subdivision of Jisung's location. One of them is already advancing towards them with a full on speed that had Minho thinking, "what the ? He thought this is marathon!" Minho positions himself, ready to pounce on the incoming monster but is slightly shocked at Felix running towards it then slams the bat on its head.

There's two seconds of Felix just blinking his eyes in awe, he cannot believe he just did that, the zombie is now unconciously lying on the ground.

"Yeah!!! It worked! Did you see that?" Felix's eyes twinkle in amazement, he feels like unboxing his unknown skills that he didn't know he has. Felix does a happy dance, oblivious of the other three who look at him in shock.

Changbin mutters a silent because he can't believe he just let his boyfriend slip away from him like that.

"Felix, you can't just do something like that! You idiot!" Minho says as he took big steps towards his brother and flicks his forehead.

"Aw! What? I'm fine, hyung. The bat's really strong." Felix grins while easing the sudden pain on his forehead with his palm.

"Uhm, guys-"

Remember, there's two of them, but Seungmin is confused as to why this one's not running so fast towards them unlike the first one, it just slowly walking towards them, growling, although he's grateful by that because he can't deal with a fast speed runner zombie all by himself but still he's worried.

Changbin is the first one to notice Seungmin's dilemma and just walks towards the zombie, knocking it out with a strong punch. He's owning a gym for a reason. Seungmin could feel his breathing back to normal.

"Ah, my gosh, I think my heart just stop beating for a second there."

"Oh , that was so hot, babe!" Felix hollers, ignoring his older brother who's still scolding him.

They proceed to trek the pavement as if nothing happened. Thankfully, aside from those two stray zombies, the pavement was deserted. Arriving the building where Jisung lived, they are cramped into the elevator after pressing the button that Felix and Seungmin had used to do when they're staying over Jisung's unit.

Silent growlings could be heard inside each unit of the building and Seungmin cannot help but murmurs nonsense, it's his habit when he's scared or stressed. He's scared, that's a given and he's also stressed. Imagine waking up one morning and this was all what greeted him. He just went out to buy some groceries when everything started to get messed up. He thinks he's in another universe because this is not the usual world that he lives in.

A hand on his shoulder makes him jump and immediately pulls him out of his daze, "hey, you okay?" He's also confused. Why is Minho like this? One second he's hot and another second he's cold.

"I- I'm fine, Jisung is fine right?" He can't help but asks.

"He's stubborn like you and Lixie, so I'm sure he's gonna be fine."

"Yah! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't think too much, I bet Jisung's-" Minho is cut off with his little brother's shriek. They don't notice that they're standing just outside of Jisung's unit's door already.

"Hey, guys, Jisung's unit is a wreck! Oh my God and he's not here. Oh no! Is he-" Felix panicks.

Changbin calmed him down, letting him sit on the sofa, "Lixie, just breathe for me please, you have to calm down."

Seungmin is on alert too, he could feel his heart beat so erratically, Jisung is not here and the door is already open and there's...

"Guys, is this...blood?" Seungmin couldn't almost utter the last word, he can't stomach it if this is Jisung's.

"Calm down! We're not sure of that yet." Yet. Seungmin feels like fainting and he unconciously reaches out to Minho's shoulder and braces himself to remain standing due to his legs shaking, his breathing is uneven.

There's a strong arm around his waist, pulling him against its owner's side, "Seungminnie, you gotta relax, please you have to breathe."

In a second, Minho makes Seungmin sit on the sofa across the one where his younger brother is on, he then cups the younger's face with his hands, "breathe, Minnie. In and out, nice and slow, come on."

It's odd but Seungmin obediently does just that. He takes air through his nose and takes it out slowly through his mouth. Minho smiles at him warmly, this is the same Minho who happened to save him in that grocery store.

"Good, good. You're doing just good. Repeat it for a few times until you feel calm." Seungmin closes his eyes, still breathing in and out nicely and slowly just like what Minho had told him.

Minho turns to look at his own younger brother on the other side, he's thankfully calm now, thanks to Changbin. Then he turns back to look at Seungmin again, the color of his skin is back to normal now that he's calm.

"Stay here, I'll quickly see Jisung's room." Seungmin nods his head. But before Minho moves, he looks at Seungmin in the eyes.

"What I mean earlier was that, Jisung was as stubborn as you and Lixie, you three are so stubborn to still want to live for another years, and I'm sure Jisung won't just let his life end so easily as letting a zombie bite his head off without seeing you two first, don't you think?" Minho has an odd way of comforting people, he knows he's not good at it but he would say that it is effective if the small smile on Seungmin's lips is anything to go by. And Seungmin appreciates it so much.

"I wish you're like this all the times, hyung." Seungmin says in a small voice.

Minho sighs, "don't get used to it."

"Thanks, hyung. Now, I'm sure that you can't really spit on my dead body if you are so willing to let me breathe nice and slow now." 

"I- whatever. Just stay here!" Minho scoffs, his ears are now red, dashing his way out of Seungmin's face. There's something warm swarming in his belly at the thought of making Minho flush. He doesn't know that he's capable of doing that. He makes his way to Felix, his freckled friend looks calm now as well, and for once he wantzls to stay put for a while and be obedient. He didn't think he would make it any longer if he'll see another blood inside this room. So instead, he sits beside his friend.

"How are you now, Felix?"

"I could ask you the same but I'm fine. Changbin is going to check Jisung's room or find anything useful here."

"Hmm. I'm okay now, but I'm worried, you think Jisung is alive?"

"Changbin said that Jisung won't let his die just like that because he's stubborn like us." Seungmin laughs at that softly.

"It's funny that your brother thought the same and told me the same." Seungmin is sporting an unexplainable smile onto his face and Felix sees just that.

"You have gotten closer to my brother lately, is there something between you two?" Felix smiles softly at him, God, he wishes there is something going on between them.

Seungmin blinks his eyes, "what? Oh, no, we're not that close, okay? I don't even realize he's the Minho who's also your brother."

"Oh right, because you won't even listen to anything I said, all you did when we get together was study. Now that we're in the zombie era, I hope you learned something useful for this situation?"

Seungmin groans, "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just a nerd, I know. And please don't say it like a permanent time, really, zombie era?"

"Isn't it? I think we're in the new era ."

"Just how many zombie movies have you watched before this huh?"

Felix just giggles, "how did you two meet earlier? I mean, you and Minho hyung came together to Bin's gym?"

"Ah, that. He kinda saved me from that monster when I was buying groceries at Prince Store."

"Oh, yeah, my brother worked there."

"I noticed his uniform, I mean, before we changed into these comfortable ones. He brought me to his unit and just took out late lunch together and then changed our clothes, since then I didn't understand what just happened."

"M-me too, you know, Binie and I are supposed to be grocery shopping earlier b-before you two c-came." Felix flushes as he remembers what really happened earlier before the grocery shopping to happen. Seungmin just ruffles the younger's hair.

"It's no one's fault, Lixie. We didn't know this was going to happen."

Felix giggles once again, "well, I'll just think that this is a blessing in disguise situation. If not because of this, Minho hyung and you won't be talking to each other now."

"What? How is that important? I want the old situation with my life back, not this."

"You know, Minho hyung really li-" Felix stops himself after seeing his brother and his boyfriend emerge from their friend's bedroom.

"We think Jisung was out there, probably finding you two, since he can't contact you anymore since the reception had lost." Minho announces.

Seungmin looks at him expectedly, there's a sudden trum of his heart when thinking about Jisung being alive, "you're not just saying that to make us feel okay, right?"

"Jisung's important stuff wasn't in his room and he seemed to be packing some stuff up, his cabinet full of bags was a mess." That didn't explain well if Jisung is really still alive but there's a chance that he got out of here alive.

"What are we going to do now?" Felix asks in a small voice.

"Baby, pack your bagpack with canned goods and noodles left in Jisung's kitchen, we'll get out of here and find him." Changbin says simply. He too will find some things that will be useful for them, probably some flashlights, he forgot to bring some from his own home and it'll be dark soon. The electricity was already out, there's nothing they can do but to survive on their own now.

Seungmin then stands up, "I'll help him."

Minho smiles and nods at the younger before helping his brother  stands up from the couch.

"Be strong, Lixie, we'll be crossing that bridge now."