"Don't you dare look out your window, Darling everything's on fire."

-Taylor Swift, Safe and Sound

 

 

                Outside the window, some people could be heard screaming, even though it was so late at night. Most of the lights that lit up downtown Seoul were shut off, as they had been for weeks. Part of the city erupted in flames.

                Everybody was required by police to stay inside their houses at all times. Of course, when your house was on fire that nobody even knows how started, it wasn’t the best idea to stay inside. But if there was no excuse like that, everybody found outside were usually shot down by the police.

                The world had become a sickeningly deadly place. People roamed around wherever they wanted. Police shot people like there was no tomorrow; of course, that was always a risk people faced at this time. Fires started without any source. Natural disasters shook the Earth almost every day. People were dropping like flies.

                A certain eighteen-year-old boy was falling apart.

                Minho could do nothing but watch and offer a shoulder to lean on as his boyfriend broke down. Taemin was permanently traumatized on a number of levels. His gaze didn’t seem right anymore. The normally cheerful and bubbly boy had lost his light.

                Minho remembered the first incident where Taemin started to lose himself. It was just after the first few tsunamis and earthquakes started happening. There was news of a few people losing their minds and subconsciously killing innocent people.  Taemin was just coming to live with Minho at that time.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                “Umma!” Taemin shouted down the hallway of his house. A woman appeared quickly, rushing to hug her son.

                “You be careful now, you hear me? This world is a dangerous place now, you never know what’ll be around the corner.” She said.

                “I know. Don’t worry, I’ll stay safe.”Taemin smiled.

                “Maybe you shouldn’t go, maybe you’re better off here.” She murmured quietly, looking around the hallway anxiously.

                “Umma, I want to go. I’ll be okay.”

                “You’ll take care of him, right?” Taemin’s mother looked over Minho who was standing in the doorway.

                “Of course I will. I won’t let anything touch him.” Minho promised sincerely.

                “Minho-Hyung will keep me safe.” Taemin said.

                “Oh, I know he will. He was always good at protecting you, ever since you were kids.” Taemin’s mom smiled sadly. She hugged Taemin tightly again.

                “Oh what am I going to do without you?” she muttered.

                “Appa will be back from America soon, won’t he?”

                “Hmm, not as soon as we thought, Chickabiddy.”

                “What? Why?”

                “Taesun’s got the Disease.”

                “Really?” Taemin gasped.

                Taemin’s mother nodded with a sad sigh. “They won’t let infected people fly home. And your father won’t leave without him, no matter how many people try to convince him.”

                “Taesun’s gonna die, isn’t he?”

                “I’m afraid so, Chickabiddy.”

                “I guess it’s inevitable. We’re all gonna die someday soon, right?”

                “Oh, Taemin, don’t talk like that. Come now, I can’t hold you up any longer.” She hugged her son once more before letting him off. “Minho, you treat him well.” She smiled.

                “Of course.”

                “Come here. Give me a hug.” She hugged Minho as well.

                “Okay, Umma, enough.” Taemin smiled.

                “Hey, I raised you and might not see you again for a while. Let me have my moment.”

                “Goodbye, Umma.” Taemin waved once he and Minho stepped out the door. Taemin’s mother stood and watched until they were both out of sight, a stray tear sliding down her cheek.

                It was two days later when Minho and Taemin received a visit from a police officer. He stood very straight and seemed so formal, it scared Taemin a bit.

                “Mr. Lee Taemin?” he asked. Taemin nodded mutely. “I’m afraid I have some bad news.” Taemin got nervous. What had happened to send a police officer to him?

                “Please, come in.” Minho said with hospitality, appearing next to Taemin. As the police officer walked into the main room, Minho put his hand on Taemin’s arm and looked at him with reassurance.

                “Mr. Lee, your mother lives several blocks away, am I right?” the police officer said.

                “Y-Yes.” Taemin gulped.

                “I’m afraid your mother has passed.”Taemin’s breath hitched in his throat.

                “W-What?”

                “Your mother was out at the stores, and a group of Lunatics arrived. They were convinced they were zombies. They attacked her and before the police got to shoot them, she was dead. I’m so sorry.” He didn’t seem sorry.

                Taemin couldn’t speak. His hand covered his mouth and he stared in horror at the policeman. It didn’t seem real. To die that way, because of Lunatics believing they were zombies….that was horrible. He got up without a second thought and left the room quickly.

                “I’m sorry. He’s a bit shocked.” Minho said to the police officer.

                “Don’t worry; I think I would do the same if someone told me my mother was eaten alive.” The policeman smiled for the first time. “Well, I’ll take my leave now. I think he needs you.” The man winked before leaving the apartment.

                “Tae?” Minho called down the hallway. He found Taemin in the bedroom, curled up on the floor, his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting between them. “Tae,” he kneeled beside the boy.

                Taemin was crying, his breathing uneven. He wasn’t even aware of anything happening around him. He wasn’t aware that Minho had come in. He wasn’t aware that Minho had sat next to him and was trying to calm him down. It was like he was trapped in his own little world of pity and sadness.

                He stayed like that, oblivious, for three hours.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                The next time Taemin lost himself was a few months later.

                After the police told everyone to stay inside, Taemin and Minho had stopped receiving visits from Key, Jonghyun, and Onew. Taemin missed seeing them very much. Unfortunately, the phone service was very scarce and was only available to certain people at certain times.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                Taemin and Minho were sitting on the couch, Taemin resting between Minho’s legs comfortably. Suddenly the phone in the other room started ringing. Taemin and Minho both looked at each other confusedly. They hadn’t gotten a call from anyone for a month, at least.

 

                Taemin was the one who got up first and picked up the phone. The connection was bad, but he could make out that whoever was on the other end was crying.

                “Jonghyun?” Taemin asked. “Are you crying?”

                “It’s Key.” Jonghyun said.

                “What happened?”

                “He…He’s at the Earth Medical Treatment Center. He’s gotten the Disease.”

                Taemin nearly dropped the phone. Minho looked at him curiously and Taemin handed him the phone.  Minho talked to Jonghyun for a minute before hanging up the phone and turning to the boy standing next to him, still in shock.

                “Jonghyun said we’re allowed to go visit him, but not for very long. Do you wanna go?”

                “Yes.”

                Taemin and Minho got ready quickly and left the apartment for the first time in months. Outside, everything was a mess. Some of the houses were in ruins. The pavement was cracked and jagged. It was odd to see everything so messed up, for it was peaceful in the apartment.

                The EMTC was located a few miles on the outskirts of Seoul, the giant building in the middle of what used to be a cornfield. Everything was dead now. The giant building seemed almost abandoned from the outside, but once you stepped in it was crazily loud and populated. Beds lined every few feet of the rooms, sick people dying on each one of them.

                Minho led Taemin to the hallway on the far corner of the big room. Everything was eerily quiet in the hallway. At the end, double doors opened to another room, only slightly smaller than the last, which was almost as crowded.

                Taemin saw them first when they stopped in the doorway. Key was sitting cross-legged on a bed, his back against the wall behind him and his arms crossed over his chest. Jonghyun was sitting next to him and Onew was sitting on the floor.

                “I hate this, I freaking hate this.” Key complained.

                “Key-Umma!” Taemin called out cutely.

                “Taemin, get over here!” Key pulled Taemin into a hug. While they talked and smiled happily, Minho pulled Jonghyun over to the side.

                “So what’s the deal?” Minho asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

                “He caught it sometime last night, I don’t even know how. We haven’t left the house in like…a long time.” Jonghyun said. Tear marks were visible on his cheeks and his voice sounded a bit raw.

                “There’s no cure to the Disease, is there?” Minho asked. Jonghyun shook his head and looked down.

                “They say that he’ll last a few weeks, if he’s lucky. Right now he’s not really feeling any pain, and that’s good. I don’t want him to…you know, die painfully I guess. He just hates the lack of freedom. He doesn’t like to be cooped up.”

                “But haven’t you been locked up in your house for a long time?”

                “Yeah, but that’s different. They hardly let him get off his here. At least at home he could move around.”

                Less than an hour later, Taemin, Minho, and Onew were all forced out of the EMTC, the nurses demanding visiting hours were over. Jonghyun was only allowed to stay when Key started screaming and threatened the nurse.

                “Well…” Onew started awkwardly, “It was good to get to see you guys again.”

                “Key-Umma’s gonna die.” Taemin said bluntly.

                “Umm… I guess.” Onew said.

                “Taemin, let’s not think about that now.” Minho said, putting a hand on the younger boy’s arm.

                “What’s the point of avoiding it? Taesun died. My father died from staying too close to him. Key’s going to die and Jonghyun is probably going to catch the Disease too. We could freaking die from being in there for an hour!” Tears threatened to fall from his brown eyes.

                “We’re not gonna die, Tae.” Minho said softly.

                “How do you know? We’re all gonna die and there’s nothing we can do to stop it! The world is falling apart around us!” the tears started to fall.

                “Stop, Taemin, stop.” Minho grabbed his arm.

                “Don’t touch me!” Taemin yanked his arm away. “Just don’t touch me.”

                Taemin began to walk away, heading across the field in the direction they had first come. Minho moved to run after him. Onew grabbed his arm and Minho looked back at him.

                “He’s only stressed. He’s in denial and he doesn’t know what to do. Don’t worry, he’ll get better.” Onew said. Minho nodded and followed Taemin across the field.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

 

                He didn’t get better. He continued to lash out regularly, whenever he heard news of anyone dying. He seemed so sure they were going to die. They were, and Minho couldn’t deny that, but Taemin acted so depressed all the time Minho didn’t want to openly admit it.

 

                About two weeks later, it was announced that Key was dead. Taemin cried for almost the whole day, and when Minho dragged him out of the apartment (they were allowed to leave for a bit and Minho wasn’t about to pass up that chance) he didn’t seem to want to do anything. Jonghyun wasn’t much better when they met up with him and Onew. He was going to move in with Onew because he couldn’t stand to be alone, and definitely not in the place he had live happily in with Key for years.

                Taemin would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. Usually his dreams would be about some form of death, either those of the people around him or crazy ones about deaths his mind conjured up to torment him until he cried. Usually it didn’t take much for his tears to spill over. Minho would always, always, make him talk about them. Most times, talking about dreams make them seem silly and not as scary as you made them out to be, and Minho knew this.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                Minho was already awake and on the phone when Taemin started screaming at around three in the morning. He quickly said goodbye and hung up the phone with a sigh.

 

                Taemin was screaming still, his tears spilling out of his eyes quickly. He was sitting up in bed, his legs crossed in front of him messily. Minho went over and sat down next to him, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy until he stopped his hysterical screaming.

                “What was it about this time?” Minho asked quietly, rubbing circles on Taemin’s back.

                “Being killed by the Lunatics,” Taemin said quietly.

                “And how’d they kill you?” Minho pressed.

                “They….they believed they were zombies.”

                “And they ate you?”

                “Yes…” Taemin whispered.

                “Anything else?”

                “My Umma was there. Standing on the side, screaming at them to go away.” Taemin sobbed. “They didn’t listen to her, and she turned to me and told me to run, but I couldn’t.”

                “You’re okay, now, don’t worry.” Minho hugged him tighter to his chest. “I’m here now, don’t cry.”

                “Don’t leave me. Just don’t.”

                “I won’t, I won’t.”

                He decided now probably wasn’t the best time to tell him that two of their best friends had died.

                The morning came far too soon, the sunlight brightening the room with its obnoxious light. When Minho awoke he saw Taemin standing by the window that they ALWAYS kept the blinds closed on, staring out at the city intently. He quietly got up and went to stand behind him. Taemin didn’t even flinch. He was completely in his own world.

                The scene outside the window was a bit scary. Several houses and building were reduced to charred remains. There was literally no one on the streets. Not a single soul seemed to be in the city. Most curtains were drawn on all the houses remaining. Lights flashed in the distance, no doubt police cars, most likely going to another fire.

                “Minnie, come on.” Minho grabbed Taemin’s hand and gently pulled him away from the window. Taemin finally looked at him for the first time, his eyes wide.

                “It’s terrible out there.” He said quietly.

                “I know,”

                “So many houses have crumbled. So many people have died.”

                “I know, I know.”

                “How did we sit here and not know all this time that the city’s falling apart?”

                “Actually-”

                “You knew,” Taemin accused, “you knew about every fire, every disaster, and you haven’t told me.”      

                “Tae, listen for a minute.” Taemin nodded wearily and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Onew’s apartment caught on fire last night. They didn’t get out.”

                “That’s why you weren’t in bed last night when I woke up.” Taemin concluded.

                “Yes,” Minho nodded. “I’m sorry.”

                Taemin started to cry for the umpteenth time. Minho cradled the boy in his arms and held him as Taemin sobbed.

                “We’re next, Minho, I know it.” He said. “We’re the next to die, and there’s nothing we can do about it!”

                “We’re not the next to die, don’t talk like that. Push those thought out of your head.”

                “But it’s true! Everyone else has died; just take a freaking look outside! We’re done for.”

                That night, Taemin’s dream involved a burning building and a lot of screaming.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                And now here they were, about a month after Jonghyun and Onew were caught in the fire. Taemin couldn’t sleep through the night peacefully more often than not. Minho sometimes caught him staring out the window. He tried his very best to keep all the curtains closed so Taemin couldn’t see what a mess it was.

 

                The city was falling apart so much faster. No one knew how the fires were starting. The food supply was getting dangerously low. The river had overflowed too many times for comfort. Minho heard news and from what he gathered, the world wasn’t doing much better.

                It was amazing their apartment was even still standing.

                One night in mid-July, at about two in the morning, Taemin screamed, only once. Minho awoke and looked at him, but he was still. Just as Minho was going to lie back down, the younger boy screamed once more. Minho moved over to touch him, but Taemin was still unaware.

                Minho held the small boy in his arms. He was shaking wildly and muttering small things to himself. Every once in a while he would scream out. But through everything, he never acknowledged the fact that Minho was beside him. He never even opened his eyes.

                He was trapped in his own nightmare and it scared Minho to death.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                “What do you mean?” Minho basically shouted at the lady in front of him.

                “Mr. Choi, please calm down.” The lady said while writing something on her clipboard. “Mr. Lee has been diagnosed with a serious case.”

                “No, that’s impossible. He hasn’t left the house!”

                “No one knows how it spreads, Mr. Choi, just that it does.” The lady looked over her glasses.

                Taemin sat on the couch, looking up innocently at the two arguing people in front of him. Everything was vague. After his episode last night, everything seemed very confusing, as if he wasn’t fully there.

                “We expect Mr. Lee to be fully moved in by this afternoon.” The lady said. “He doesn’t need much, only a few sets of clothes.” With that, she turned and walked out.

                Minho turned to stare at Taemin. Taemin looked back with innocent eyes, his brown eyes resembling those of a deer. It was hard to imagine this fragile little boy dying. It was shocking that he was right all this time; they were the next to go.

                Because Lee Taemin had been diagnosed with the Disease.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                “Take me into Seoul.” Taemin demanded a few weeks later, sitting on his bed in the EMTC. Minho stared back at him in confusion.

                “What?” he asked.

                “Take me to Seoul.” Taemin repeated.

                “Why?”

                “I’m going to die. I want to see everywhere one last time. If they’re still standing of course. I want to see my family’s house. I want to see Key-Umma and Jonghyun’s house. I want to see the remains of Onew’s house. And I want to see our apartment. One last time.”

                “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

                “Yes. I am going to die, Hyung, and I want to see these places.”

                “Okay, I’ll talk to the nurse.” Minho got up and went off in search of one of the bitter ladies running the place.

                After a lot of arguing, some calls made, and some persuasions, Taemin was allowed to spend the day in Seoul. He smiled brightly for the first time Minho could remember since Key died.

                “How am I going to die, Hyung?” Taemin asked during the car ride back to the city.

                “Tae,” Minho sighed, “Can you please stop thinking about that?”

                “It’s inevitable. I am going to die. I just want to know how.”

                “They said usually people just die peacefully, in their sleep.”

                “Not painfully then?”

                “No.”

                “That’s good.” Taemin smiled and ended the conversation.

                They went to Taemin’s family’s house first. It hadn’t been harmed much on the outside, but the inside was pretty much a disaster. The pictures that usually hung from the walls were all on the floor, most of them broken. Everything was on the ground.

                “It’s a mess in here.” Taemin said bluntly, going around and touching everything. He picked up one of the picture frames off the floor and looked at it. It was a family portrait from a few years back, but the glass was cracked over the picture now.

                “They never made it back from America.” He whispered.

                “What?”

                “They never came back. They both died in America.”

                “I know.”

                “Let’s go.” Taemin said, hanging the broken picture frame on a hook on the wall.

                Onew’s apartment building was a mess of black ruins. Ash covered everything. The walls were all caved in on each other, and all you had to do was poke a spot on the remaining walls and part of it would crumble.

                “People’s bodies are in this mess.” Taemin stated, staring into the destroyed building.

                “Maybe,”

                “Poor people.” Taemin sighed, “It’s too bad they couldn’t get out in time.”

                “Yeah,” They stood in silence for a while, staring at the ash-covered ruins.

                “Come on,” Taemin said, snapping out of his trance, “I wanna see Key-Umma’s house.”

                Unlike the other places they had visited, Key and Jonghyun’s house was still fully intact and spotless. It was as if no one had touched it since Key died, which was probably true. The door wasn’t locked, but still no one had come in to take anything.

                Taemin walked around and touched everything, opened drawers and cabinets to look in them. He found some old Polaroid photos in one drawer and pulled them out to look through them.

                “Are you sure it’s a good idea to look through other people’s things?” Minho asked. Taemin looked back at him for a second.

                “Hyung, they’re dead. I don’t think they’d mind.” He looked back down at the photos. “Besides, they loved me.” He smiled.

                “They have a picture of me here.” Taemin said a minute later, holding up a picture of him a few years ago. He smiled at it for a second and put all the pictures back in the drawer. “Most of the pictures are of Yoogeun though.” He smiled sadly. Yoogeun was Key and Jonghyun’s son, who caught one of the early cases of the Disease.

                “Are we done here yet?” Minho asked.

                “Yeah, I’m done.” Taemin got up from where he was sitting. “One last place now, back to our apartment.”

                “Okay, let’s go.”

                Taemin stopped in the doorway to their apartment. He looked around and smiled faintly. He knew this place like the back of his hand. He had spent almost a year locked up in this building, and he could remember every moment of it. He really didn’t need to be here. He looked down to his hand that was entwined with Minho’s and he smiled.

                Taemin sighed. “One day soon, you’re going to come back to this place and I won’t be holding your hand.”

                “Yes,” Minho said, “but just because you’re not by my side doesn’t mean you’re not in my heart.” He leaned down and kissed the younger boy, cupping his face in his hands.

                “You’re gonna catch it this way, Hyung.” Taemin breathed.

                “I don’t give a damn right now, Tae.”

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                “I don’t want to go back, Hyung.” Taemin cried from the doorway. “I’m gonna die there, it depresses me, don’t make me go back.”

                “Taemin, you have to go back. It’s not our decision.”

                “Whose decision is it then? It’s my life, why can’t I die where I want to?”

                “I don’t want to make you go back there, I don’t. But it’s not our choice, Tae. Come on.” Minho grabbed Taemin’s hand and pulled him outside. Taemin pouted, but followed anyway.

                It was getting late and the sun was starting to go down. The drive back to the EMTC was in silence, staring out at the darkening sky. Taemin groaned and pouted when the large building came into view.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                “What if I die tonight?” Taemin asked later that evening, around 10:00. He sat cross-legged on his bed, his hands subconsciously playing with Minho’s fingers.

                “Then you die.” Minho stated simply.

                “What’ll you do?”

                “I’ll go home and wait until I die as well.”

                “If I don’t go to sleep…Will I still die?”

                “You can’t stay awake forever, Tae.” Minho chuckled.

                “Still, I don’t want to die. Not yet. And not like this.”

                “How do you want to die then? This is the best way I can think of. Painless. All the other ways would harm you somehow.”

                “I guess you’re right….but dying here isn’t as good as it would be dying at home, in a place I like to be, and with you.”

                “Come on now, let’s stop talking about that. You should sleep.”

                “I don’t want to sleep, Hyung. If I sleep, I could die.”

                “Why are you still thinking about that?”

                “Because my brain knows!” Taemin cried. “My brain knows it’s going to die. It’s shooting off alarms in my head telling me to go to sleep and not wake up, but I don’t want to! I don’t wanna die yet, Hyung, I don’t want to!”

                “Shh, shh,” Minho gathered the broken boy in his arms. He didn’t even bother telling him it’d be alright. That would be a lie.

                “I’m going to die, I’m going to die.” Taemin chanted through his tears.

                “Shh, stop it, Tae. Stop crying. Just close your eyes and go to sleep and I won’t leave you alone.” Taemin eventually quieted down and noticed how tired he was.

                “I love you, Minho-Hyung.” He leaned up and pecked Minho’s lips once before lying down and drifting into a light sleep.

                “I love you too, Minnie.” Minho whispered.

 

 

 

~~~^_^~~~

 

 

 

                The next morning the sun didn’t seem to shine as bright as it usually did. Maybe this was because it was dying. Maybe it was simply because a bright, shining star didn’t survive the night, by the name of Lee Taemin.

                Minho returned to his apartment, and wandered around aimlessly for a while. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon when his eyes landed upon the calendar on the fridge and noticed the date. July 18^th.

                “Happy Birthday, Tae.” He whispered to himself.

                That night as he slept, bright lights awoke him. He blinked and was met with a bright orange light and the sound of people screaming. The apartment building was on fire. He simply laid his head back down and ignored it. As he slept, the fire across the furniture in the room, finally landing on the bed.

 

 

 

 

FIN