Minho groaned as he opened his eyes, a massive weight on his chest. He looked down and saw the top of Taemin's head. Evidently, the boy's search for warmth had led him to use Minho as a heat source. Minho couldn't help but chuckle. He would never get tired of Taemin's antics, even the subconscious ones.

"Hey, wake up," he muttered. Taemin mumbled and sat up, his hair in perfect order and his clothes only slightly wrinkled. Minho got up and helped the younger boy to his feet, watching Taemin yawn and shake his head a little.

"Do you think there will be alarm clocks in the next place we go to?" Taemin asked as he slowly looked around for the pile of food. He stumbled over to it under Minho's watchful gaze, collapsing on it with a groan and slowly pulling a smushed sandwich from under his belly. He held it up as he rolled onto his back and started eating. Minho made his way over and just watched the boy eat.

"How many eggs do you think you're crushing now?" Minho asked, raisin an eyebrow. Taemin stuck his tongue out and kept eating, even as Minho scooped his arms under Taemin's body and lifted him. The younger boy only blinked, as if this had nothing to do with him.

"Want a bite?" he asked, holding out the sandwich to Minho's lips. The older boy rolled his eyes and took a massive bite before setting Taemin onto his feet. The boy pouted as he noticed the huge chunk missing from his breakfast before he continued to eat. Minho finished out a half-cracked hard-boiled egg and peeled it, stuffing it into his mouth and chewing with difficulty. He washed it down with pure condensed milk, flinching at the sweetness. He lowered the now-empty can and wipe the corner of his mouth.

Suddenly, the eggshells and can were snatched away, and Minho blinked as Taemin scurried to a corner. Minho, naturally, followed, his head cocked with curiosity. Taemin was standing the can up and then stood a little distance away.

"What are you doing?" Minho asked as Taemin started tossing pieces of eggshell. The boy smiled sweetly as some of the hard flakes clinked into the can and some shattered on the floor.

"I'm playing," he answered sweetly, as if he were a two-year-old throwing paperclips into a milk jug. As if this were an innocent world, and this game just another careless pastime. Minho didn't even try to stop the little twitch of a smile that found its way to his lips. Taemin was special, there was no doubt about it.

"Can I play too?" Minho asked, holding out his hand for a few shells. He chuckled as Taemin happily dropped a whole fistful of shells onto Minho's palm. The older boy chuckled and looked from one flat disc to the top of the can and gently tossed it, grinning as he made one in.

"Wow! You're good," Taemin said, eyes wide as Minho kept making perfect shots. The older boy chuckled and pulled Taemin closer, standing behind him and gently wrapping a hand around his wrist.

"It's all in the wrist," he said, gently guiding Taemin's hands through the motion. Taemin eagerly tried, the eggshell just nearly missing the small opening on the top of the can. Minho chuckled as he watched, leaning his head on Taemin's and smiling at each attempt.

"I'm so close!" Taemin exclaimed as a shell bounced off of the can's edge. Minho chuckled as he watched Taemin try one more time, the small sliver just barely making it into Taemin's goal. Still, it was a small victory.

"Congratulations," Minho laughed as Taemin started to dance with happiness. The younger boy wiggled his shoulders and shook his hips, making Minho laugh even harder. Taemin turned around and leapt onto Minho's arms, nearly giving the older man a heart attack.

"Thank you for teaching me! Thank you so much!" Taemin squealed. Minho's hands fumbled to support Taemin's weight, and they ended up on the backs of Taemin's thighs, feeling the boy's rough fingers on his neck.

"No problem," he said slowly after he'd gotten his bearings. When Taemin had finally clamored down and they were on the road again, their spirits ha been lifted. Their hands were clasped, just how they both liked it, and they were smiling broadly. Even Minho was grinning from ear to ear for no other reason than the fact that Taemin was by him, even with his club dragging behind him.

"You know what? I really wish I had a puppy or something," Taemin mused. Minho laughed as they walked, passing an abandoned government building. Anyone that could flee—governors, presidents, prime ministers, queens and kings—had already fled. There wasn't much to see now in these buildings. Without their big leaders, they were just piles of junk waiting to be raided.

"Why?" Minho asked as he looked up at the steeple-roof. This building had been a city hall, probably. He sighed as he walked past it, watching the building's prestige crumble as it was disregarded yet again. Taemin hummed happily as he pointed to a small alleyway.

"Because I see one," Taemin said brightly. Minho looked up and saw a little white tail sticking out from the dark alley. As they neared the wagging furry appendage, they could hear soft panting.

"Taemin, we can't afford to keep a puppy," Minho said sternly, already doing the mental calculations in his head of how much food the dog would eat and how much voice it'd make. Taemin pouted and let go of Minho's hand as the dog backed into full view. A rancid stench hit Minho and Taemin's noses.

"Zombie!" Minho shouted as Taemin let out a little shriek and scrambled back. The monster ambled from the seclusion, its jaw half-fallen from it's jaw. It moaned as it swiped at the pale-white dog, which leapt out of the way deftly and launched at the zombie's cheat. It was struck to the side as Taemin watched in horror.

"Save it!" Taemin squeaked, pushing Minho forward. Minho flared as the zombie advanced at the bristling animal, who was in a battle-ready stance. Its wolf-like muzzle was curled up in a snarl, and its claws scraped at the gravel of the street. Minho knew that the zombie could tear it apart in a second. He quickly shrugged off his blanket hump and picked up his club.

"Hey!" Minho shouted, distracting the warring creatures. The zombie's head turned, and Minho had to swallow the bile that rose to his throat from its appearance. There was no nose, or anything on its left cheek. In face, the whole left side of the face was just a mess of dissolving bone and wriggling maggots. The right side wasn't far behind. The skull was already peaking out from the head. However, as the creature dashed forward, Minho was reminded that it was still deadly.

"Watch out!" Taemin squeaked as Minho swung his back and felt the wood connect with the monster's head. The creature tumbled to the side, yelling out in incoherent agony. It got up on barely-there knees, running on fury of an inhuman nature.

", this bastard won't die," Minho snarled as he gripped the beam tighter. He glared the thing down, seeing no sign of surrender. Great, he was doing this the hard way. He raised his weapon over his head and yelled as he charged, bring his club down as hard as he could on the monster. The zombie roared again.

"Yeah! Go Minho!" Taemin shouted from the sidelines. The zombie turned its ugly, bloody, rotting head towards Taemin, and Minho felt his heart jump to his throat in panic. He hit the monster on the head again, only to have the creature turn and yank the club from Minho's hand.

"!" Minho swore as the creature ran at Taemin. Minho lunged at it, smashing his fist into its skull and watching it fall forward. He back away, snarling softly, as the zombie struggled to its feet and faced him again. He could see Taemin in the background, his beauty that he had to protect. With that in mind, he lunged in for a tackle.

Unfortunately, he missed.

The zombie's hands pushed him onto his back. He landed with an off as the monster pinned him with incredible strength, and Minho's hands instinctively flew up to just stave off its attacks. He found himself on his back before he even knew what had really happened, and he could only see the zombie's half-eaten face, its slacked jaw and its melting eyeballs. The smell was horrible, like death and life and . Minho snarled as he tried to push the monster away, dodging it's snapping jaws. He could feel each lunge get closer and closer to his throat.

Then, there was a flash of white, and there was no snapping. Minho saw the neck, now, crawling with maggots and almost completely eaten away at. He let out a strangled cry as he pushed the decapitated corpse off of his body. He looked over at the dog and saw it with the scalp in it's jaws. It locked eyes with Minho and the boy felt a slight tinge of awe for the creature.

"Aw! Who's a good doggy?" Taemin cooed, rushing to the animal before Minho could say anything. The dog immediately dropped the head at the sound of Taemin's voice and, as Minho watched in shock, began to prance around Taemin.

"There's still blood in its mouth," Minho pointed out, but of course, no one seemed to hear him. He eyed the pair of frolicking creatures, one grinning and one wagging its tail. Taemin looked blissfully happy, and Minho felt a smile play on his own lips. He walked over to pet the dog, but immediately, the creature sat down. It just looked at Minho, wary and completely still.

"He likes me better," Taemin giggled. The dog just locked eyes with Minho, the pair edging around the other. Finally, the dog got up and sniffed Minho's outstretched hand. It dipped its head in acknowledgment before going back to Taemin. Minho frowned.

"Are you kidding me? What's so scary about me?" he seethed as he watched the dog act like some puppy with Taemin. And Taemin... Minho immediately ran forward and grabbed both of Taemin's wrists to stop him from moving around so much. Something about Taemin smiling like that made Minho want to punch something.

"Minho," Taemin whined, pouting at Minho and bouncing up and down. "Come on! I really think it's a good dog! It helped you kill a zombie! Can we keep it? Please?" The whining was almost as bad as the smiling. What was so damn special about the dog?

"N—" Minho was about to shut down Taemin's request when he felt something against his leg. He looked down to see the dog, pressing against his shin with the largest, shiniest eyes that Minho had ever seen on a dog. Now that was just unfair.

"Minho, please?" Taemin murmured, stepping closer and looking up at Minho with those begging eyes that he'd been dying to dry anyway. He watched Minho's internal struggle, knowing that Minho would give in because who doesn't love puppies? Puppies were like hugs. Hugs are amazing.

"Fine, fine, the dog can stay," he snarled. Taemin yipped like a puppy himself, stooping down and hugging the dog happily. The animal nuzzled Taemin's face all over, barking joyously. Minho rolled his eyes, looking away from the sickeningly sweet scene.

"Thank you." Taemin's whisper was suddenly by his ear, and Minho felt the soft kiss hit his cheek before he could even comprehend what had happened. He jumped slightly and looked over at the boy's shining eyes. He felt Minho's arms around him before he processed the action as a hug, felt the boy's lips on his cheek again before he processed the feeling as a kiss.

"You're welcome," he whispered, feeling the emotion stir in his heart before he processed the feeling as the first inklings of a crush. A crush in a world infested by zombies, thieves, and death.

Of course, this would happen to him

~

"Pluffy! Come here, Pluffy!" Taemin called as he kept tugging Minho ahead, their hands still entangled. The dog trotted ahead, looking around at the desolate street, with the greasy blades of grass growing at the roadside and the faded, dusty advertisements still trying to grin under all of the dirt. Taemin panted to keep up. Behind him, there was a very confused boy who was trying to figure out what seemed like the whole world.

If he like Taemin—truly liked Taemin—it could prove disastrous. He knew that from just sheer inference. He knew that Taemin was an idiot at heart. An angel, everything beautiful and adorable all in one, but an idiot nonetheless. If Minho also became an idiot from love and lost track of the big picture, they could both be dead. He'd already taken in Pluffy and tried to tackle a zombie bare-handed. He didn't need to make anymore bad choices.

Right. The best course of action was to act like he didn't like Taemin like that, and maybe the feeling would stop.

"Minho, should we stop for lunch?" Taemin asked, turning around and grinning at his friend. Minho cleared his throat to try and calm his heart before nodding very business-like. He sat down in the middle of the street on the warm pavement, getting his pack off of his shoulders.

"Yeah, let's do that," he said. He pulled out food from his bag as Taemin grinned. His smile sent Minho's heart beating at a million miles an hour, a sign to Minho that meant that only horrible, terrible things could follow. After all, when had anything good ever come from a stupid crush?

"Great! I'm going to get Pluffy," Taemin said, rushing off. His whole body was tingling with excitement. He'd always wanted a dog and a friend, and now he had both! And he knew that Minho wasn't like all of the "friends" he used to have. Minho would never hurt him. Not ever.

Pluffy trotted back to Taemin at a single call, his tail beating at his own back legs enthusiastically. The three sat down to eat, with Taemin tossing scraps of saucy meat at Pluffy from his can of Chef Boyardees. Minho just ate, watching Taemin in all of his Taemin-y glory.

Why did he even like Taemin? The kid was completely inept, physically unable to fend off anything larger than a moth, and just all around easily distracted. Yet, he was something that had been missing from Minho's world, something that made everything seem alright just from his mere presence: Innocence. Maybe it was the innocence that made Minho's heart thump, the sense that Taemin smiled with genuine happiness and laughed because there was still good in the world.

"Hey, Taemin, have you ever dated before?" Minho asked. Taemin looked up in shock and blushed a sudden, furious red. Oh no. The younger boy's heart sped up like a jackhammer. He felt his muscles stiffen.

"N-no..." Taemin whispered. He could never, ever let Minho know his secret. He could never tell Minho anything about who—what—he was before. He was going to be happy from now on, and his past was not something happy.

Plus, what would Minho do if he knew? He'd probably leave, like all of the other "friends" that Taemin had had. He'd be disgusted! He'd never be Taemin's friend again! And Minho made Taemin happier than the boycould ever imagine. No, he couldn't let Minho leave. He just couldn't. Minho was the closest thing he had to a prince, the closest thing to true happiness that Taemin had other than his secret picture.

For a moment, Taemin thought about showing the picture to Minho. He thought about telling Minho how important that happiness was to him, just like how important Minho was. He felt like telling Minho all of these things, but he never could. If he did, then he'd have to tell Minho about all of the things leading up to the sketch, why he'd gotten a sketch in the first place, and those things were all back in the unhappy times. No, it was best that Minho never knew.

"Taemin, are you okay?" Minho asked softly. There was a change in Taemin's face, which always worried Minho, but even more so given that he l—no. He definitely couldn't like Taemin. It was a matter of survival! Life or death! He wasn't about to throw that away for the sake of "feelings."

"F-Fine!" Taemin exclaimed. Pluffy, sensing the tension, bounded forward and dived right at Minho, covering the older boy's face with and whining for attention. Minho groaned and rolled his eyes, rubbing Pluffy's sides half-heartedly. Taemin squealed happily and sprung on the pair, hugging them both.

"Yay! You're friends!" he exclaimed. Minho gave Taemin and odd look, in his cheeks. Why? Why, out of all of the people in the world, did he have to develop a crush on the most uselessly dense human on the face of the planet.

"Taemin, it's a dog. Pluffy is an animal," Minho said slowly. Big mistake. Instantaneously, Taemin's eyes were huge and round and shiny. Pluffy copied the expression, and suddenly it was just an ambush of cuteness.

"But we can still be friends, right?" Taemin whimpered, tugging on Minho's shirt. The older boy groaned and sighed, trying to look away, but Taemin was relentless in his efforts to assert that Pluffy was a friend, even if Minho wouldn't admit it. He leaned even closer, not knowing how fast Minho's heart was beating by now.

"Y-yah, friends, sure, just get away!" Minho said, his face burning as he fell over backwards. Taemin, being Taemin, didn't seem to hear Minho's command and instead toppled onto Minho's chest. The boy's radiant smile really wasn't helping the whole "don't have a crush on Taemin" thing.

"And you're my friend too, right?" Taemin said, with no indication of wanting to get off of Minho's body. The older boy rolled his eyes, wishing that a butterfly or something would just fly overhead and distract the kid.

"Yes. We're friends," Minho said, irritated at how high his heart leaped at the word. Friends. Why? Why did his head get so muddled at the idea of being friends with Taemin? Why did his entire body go cold and hot and cold all over again?

"Yay!" Taemin exclaimed, standing up and looking around. "We should leave this place, though. It's starting to get dark and stuff." He hurriedly waved his arms at Minho, who groaned as he got to his feet. Pluffy ran around his angle, barking and growling.

", I think there are monsters nearby," Minho snarled as he pick up his beam. Taemin whimpered as he saw how Pluffy was bristling. Minho was suddenly grateful for the dog. At least it was good at scenting the ing zombies.

"Behind you," Taemin whispered, and Minho his heel, feeling his club connect with a skull. Taemin screamed as he kicked the zombie in the gut, recoiling in horror as the monster staggered for a moment. Pluffy leapt up, fastening his teeth in the zombie's ribs.

"There are more," Minho snarled as he heard the shuffling of feet. The sunset dyed everything red, and Minho could see the shadows of the would-be attackers elongate in front of him. He turned, faced with three half-eaten monsters, their bodies a mess of muscle and pus and peeling skin. He backed away as Pluffy finished mauling his prey and turned to face the next wave.

"Die!" Taemin shouted as he started throwing pebbles. One ofthe zombies turned as a rock hit its head, growling as it advanced on the young boy. Minho bristled as he trie to fend off the other two. One of them grabbed his arm, and the other lunged for his cest. Pluffy was faster, though, and all Minho saw was the dog pouching and then the zombie was on its back, blood gushing from under Pluffy's clench muzzle.

"Hang on, Taemin!" Minho shouted as he punched the zombie that was restraining him. The monster moaned and stumbled back, clutching its face. Minho kicked its stomach, sending it flying onto its back. Minho finished by bashing in its skull and then turned to see how Taemin was faring.

"Minho! Minho, help me!" Taemin was screaming as he tossed another small stone. It hit the zombie in the head, but the monster wasn't fazed. Minho roared as he charged at it, swinging his club to smashing into its ribs. He couldn't let it take Taemin. He just couldn't. Not Taemin.

"Get the away from him," Minho snarled as he placed himself between the monster and Taemin. He felt Taemin's slim hands on his arms, clutching him close. The zombie snarled as it lunged, and Minho swung one arm to punch its nose in. His knuckles scraped against its bones as it staggered back, collapsing in a puddle of blood.

Finally.

"Minho, you're hurt," Taemin whimpered. Minho looked down and saw the scratches on his knuckles, his blood pulsing between his fingers. He shrugged and turned, wrapping Taemin up in a hug.

"You scared the out of me. Don't you ever ing do that again, okay? Let me kill them. Don't put yourself in danger," he whispered. Taemin's hands were over his shoulder-blades, gently rubbing Minho's back.

"I don't want to be useless anymore, though. I want to help you," Taemin whimpered. Minho couldn't help but chuckle a little, pulling away and kissing Taemin's forehead. He couldn't even begin to express how much he wished that Taemin just stay that radiant, innocent beam of happiness in his life. No blood on his hands, no weapon in his grasp. Just Taemin, a smile on his face.

"I just want you to be safe," Minho whispered, leaning back to see Taemin's eyes glimmer with happiness and his lips forming a grin. It made Minho wonder if there was a single thing in the world more precious than that smile.

"But I want Minho to be safe too! I want Minho to be safe so that he can stay with me forever!" Taemin said with a small jump of happiness. Minho's heart thumped with that simple word, that single notion of forever.

"I will be with you forever," Minho promised, and that smile made Minho fall for Taemin all over again.

A/N - I've just been dying to use the word "Pluffy" XD

More to come! Comments are love~