A/n: Dear lord guys I haven't updated in so long I'm so sorry ㅠㅠ Time flies when you're busy as heck D: Anyway, I'm sorry, here you are. This is a sort of short chapter and I know I for that but it's better than nothing, right? 미안합니다 ㅠㅠ

The days continued counting down, seeming to go by faster than ever for Minseok. Before he knew it, there were only three weeks left until the first of December.

Baekhyun kept Minseok on lockdown at all times once he was back home. He made sure his schedule fit Chanyeol’s so there was definitely always someone to keep an eye on Minseok. Every day, he made meals and tried to get the older to eat, always with very limited success. Having stopped exercising and lost interest in life, Minseok’s appetite had greatly shrunk. As a result of this, his weight stooped very low; having always been healthily rounded, it was a bit scary to see him becoming pale and skeleton-like. It concerned Baekhyun what he would become after… well, once December came.

It was very hard for Baekhyun to watch as Minseok grew worse as the inevitable drew nearer. Baekhyun felt like crying all the time, for his hyung, and for Luhan, and for the world because they all were suffering in this. Even when his cold passed, he felt sick constantly, and somehow he wanted it all to just be over but at the same time he never wanted the end to come. Because when it was over that meant there was no hope left for Luhan, and Minseok would have to endure that and it was unfair.

Even worse, Minseok begged him for days to let him go back to China, to do something, and Baekhyun had to refuse him every time. After a few days, Minseok didn’t ask him anymore, and somehow it was harder to think about the older giving up than it was that he wouldn’t accept the inevitable.

In mid-November, it became unbearable to Baekhyun, and he said the older down to talk with. He wasn’t even sure what he was planning on saying, but once he decided on it, he knew he’d have to do it, for both of their sakes.

“Hyung – can I ask you… about you and Luhan?” was the first thing that came out. Right away, Baekhyun wanted to take it back, feeling tactless. Unable to do so, he just carried on, trying to word things more carefully. “Just… I know you two are friends, but…”

“You think I’m overreacting,” Minseok cut in quietly. Baekhyun’s jaw dropped and he immediately backpedalled, but Minseok went on over him. “Because I care that my best friend is going to die. You and him, you’re all I’ve got. I don’t think Chanyeol’s ever liked me much, or my coworkers.”

Baekhyun didn’t bother trying not to see the tears in his eyes. He had them in his own, anyway. Instead he just pulled Minseok into his arms, holding onto him tightly for a moment before saying, “I didn’t mean that at all, hyung.” Minseok gave a tiny shrug. He was more indifferent now than he’d ever been, and it was nearly palpable (and very painful). “I was just wondering if maybe – you and Luhan – if there was something, you know, more between you guys…”

It took Minseok a moment to answer, and Baekhyun figured out the answer for himself in that time. “No,” he mumbled. “I’ve told you I’m not gay. I mean it.”

“I know,” Baekhyun answered softly. “But there can always be exceptions.”

“Maybe. But Luhan isn’t mine.” He was quiet for a second, and then added, “I’m glad anyway. I couldn’t do it – do this – if… It’s already so hard…”

Baekhyun didn’t know what to say to that, and so he comforted Minseok as best he could without words. There were a lot of things he could say, and things he could tell the older, but he didn’t. Because that would just make things so much more severe than they already were. The things that Baekhyun knew weren’t something that Minseok ever could. At least, not for a very, very long time.

“

The countdown was officially at two weeks to the day. Two weeks until it was all over. On the clock the numbers had climbed to over three billion now. Somehow, it felt like people were fighting harder than ever, protesting against it even now, but also it seemed like the world had given up. They were in the depression stage, almost at the acceptance point now. Whether they accepted it or not, it wasn’t changing. Two more weeks, and then it was done.

Another two weeks and Chanyeol would be out of a job, too. He wondered if his guard status would look good on a resume, or if it would discourage people from hiring him. Wouldn’t they be bound to wonder if he had been the one to kill their friends, their family? Regardless of if he was just doing his job – and the fact that he hadn’t actually killed anyone himself. No one would believe that, anyway.

This was becoming Chanyeol’s main concern. While Baekhyun was worrying over Minseok, Chanyeol was left alone to worry about what their future would be like. Though he was making a lot of money right now and saving up a lot of it, those saved funds would only last for so long after December arrived. He didn’t want to leave Baekhyun, or himself, in that kind of trouble when they’d had enough to deal with these past few months.

He didn’t know how to talk to Baekhyun about it. Baekhyun was in his mode where he’d become super focused on the problem at hand, and wouldn’t listen or think about anything else in the world. He devoted himself to the one thing entirely, and to take on anymore would cause him too much stress and force him to shut down. Chanyeol knew that about Baekhyun well. On the other hand, if Chanyeol waited to tell Baekhyun, he would be stressed out further at the suddenness and would be mad at Chanyeol for not telling him sooner.

(Being Baekhyun’s boyfriend could be difficult, sometimes.)

In all honesty, Chanyeol wasn’t that much better. He wasn’t good when faced with difficult situations, and his emotions tended to cave in on him, causing him to resort to what he thought was the most logical option. This, however, made him seem really horrible, sometimes, because he came off as heartless and inconsiderate. He just didn’t have control over his emotions; so instead of using them, he suppressed them until they built up and came out – usually in a bout of anger. 

That had begun to build up again. What with his frustration towards Minseok’s inability to accept what was happening, and his jealousy because the older had stolen all his boyfriend’s attention away, as well as the stressful difficulty of his job and the depressing situation of the world, and on top of that the worry about his future both financially and socially, Chanyeol felt he had so much on his plate. He knew it was only a matter of time before he blew up. And he didn’t want to do so on or around Baekhyun.

For that reason, he had taken himself largely out of Baekhyun’s life; sleeping and spending most of his time at their apartment instead of Minseok’s, only going to the other’s place when Baekhyun had to work and Chanyeol was needed to babysit. Ever since Minseok had come back from China, Chanyeol had been limiting his time with Baekhyun. Because he was really considering breaking up with him.

It wasn’t that Chanyeol didn’t love Baekhyun; he did, far too much and more selfishly than he ought to. Just the idea of dragging him down into whatever mess Chanyeol would be starting next month (and ending who-knows-when) made Chanyeol want to keep Baekhyun away from him. Baekhyun deserved to get away from it, to not have a constant reminder of this worldwide genocide or whatever it was, and if he was dating an ex-guard, things would be as hard for him as for Chanyeol.

Of course, he couldn’t break up with Baekhyun right now, not with everything already in their lives. But soon, next month… And in the meantime, Chanyeol had to begin distancing himself from the other.

He didn’t even think Baekhyun noticed the change, honestly, but he supposed maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe Baekhyun was thinking along the same lines as him, and had realized the problems they would have together soon. Maybe Baekhyun wanted Chanyeol to break up with him, so he wouldn’t have to.

Which was how Chanyeol broke his own heart. As soon as the thoughts occurred to him, his mind decided to latch on to them and take them as the truth. He was losing Baekhyun, or maybe had already lost him. Baekhyun probably would stay with Minseok, and maybe they’d end up together; even if Minseok said he wasn’t gay, maybe they’d stay together and it would turn into something. And Chanyeol would just be alone. Maybe he would die alone. Maybe he would cry himself to sleep every night until one day his heart just couldn’t take it anymore, and then one day he just wouldn’t wake up.

He wished Baekhyun would notice that something was wrong, or say something to suggest that he actually cared, but he didn’t. They worked opposite shifts and barely saw each other more than a few minutes a day, hardly enough time to have any real conversations. On the day that marked two weeks before December first, though, there was two hours between the end of Baekhyun’s shift and the start of Chanyeol’s, and Chanyeol decided that it was time to face reality, and tell Baekhyun what was on his mind, how he saw their future.

When they were both in Minseok’s living room, Baekhyun pulled him down onto the couch and kissed him softly. Chanyeol pulled away first, but Baekhyun held onto his neck still lightly, giving him a small smile.

“What’s up, ‘Yeollie?” he murmured, reaching up to his cheek gently, lines wrinkling his forehead. “You look upset…”

Chanyeol swallowed hard. “I… am,” he said quietly. Baekhyun’s frown deepened. “I’m worried about – about us, and everything.”

“What do you mean?” Baekhyun’s eyes were growing concerned now. “Did I do something?”

“No,” Chanyeol shook his head. “It’s not that. Just, you know, when I’m – starting next month, I’m gonna be out of a job, Baekhyun, and-”

He was interrupted when his phone began ringing. Who was even calling him right now? He strongly considered ignoring the call, but upon checking the ID, he decided to answer it.

“Hey, Chanyeol,” Sehun’s voice came through on the other line. “Are you busy right now?” Chanyeol was going to answer that, yes, he sort of was, but Sehun continued on without allowing him to get a word in. “I know I might be a bit late on this, but whatever. There’s no way to get your friend out of the prison alive, right?”

“Um, yeah,” Chanyeol said slowly. “You’re the one that told me so, yeah?”

“It’s obvious then. He has to be dead. If you want him out, I’ll have to kill him.”

“

Sehun didn’t hear anything more from Chanyeol after the Minseok guy returned to Korea from China. He assumed they had finally given up, but he didn’t know, and it wasn’t his place to care anyway (as if he would). He didn’t say anything to Luhan, other than to answer him when he asked if Minseok was okay, saying he’d gone back home. After that, he more or less ignored him.

Surprisingly, it was difficult to pretend that Luhan didn’t exist. Sehun couldn’t make him just blend in with the crowd anymore, and he hated himself for that a bit. A part of him said it was guilt, but it wasn’t his fault this was happening and there was nothing he could do. Still, every time he passed the boy’s area as he was pacing, he felt his chest tighten a little, as if to remind him of his failure.

It was just one person. There were thousands in this place, what difference would it make to save one? They all had had lives, family, friends, backstories; it wasn’t just Luhan. He’d done his best, and that was something because just the fact that he had bothered to try was something more than he was usually willing to do. So it shouldn’t matter. It didn’t matter.

Why did it have to bother him still?

Every day was bringing them closer to the end, and every day that Sehun worked he had to struggle to fight off guilt. I don’t have any control over this! It’s not my fault, or my problem. I tried, there’s nothing more I can do. No matter what he told himself, he couldn’t make himself feel at ease. It drove him nuts. What had he done to deserve this? From now on, he was never helping anyone again; he didn’t need to go through all this aftertaste of turmoil.

On the seventeenth of November, out of absolutely nowhere, the answer came to him. He was doing his usual rounds through the camp when something entirely not unusual occurred. On the other side of the prison there was a cry, and Sehun didn’t even have time to look before he heard a gunshot. He glanced in the direction of the sound, and saw a fellow guard picking out a prisoner from the crowd, their body limp; dead, or to be dead soon.

For a moment, Sehun froze in place, watching the body get taken away. It was an unspoken rule that if you killed a prisoner, you were the one who took care of the body – meaning you took it out to one of the loading vans for them to take to a holding center for the dead. Sehun began moving again, not paying attention to the world around him, lost in a sudden influx of thoughts.

That’s it, then. Sehun was pretty sure the door guards were supposed to check whether a prisoner was dead or not when a guard took them out, but they didn’t really care, and so they didn’t bother to. Which meant all Sehun had to do was “kill” Luhan – without actually killing him – and then take him out. It was so easy – why hadn’t he thought of this before?

At the end of his shift, he hurried home. Only in the safety of his apartment did he call Chanyeol, and explain his idea. Initially, Chanyeol seemed against it, but as they continued to go over the idea, it was clear he was winning the other over. Soon, Chanyeol was agreeing to talk to his boyfriend, and the Minseok guy, and then he would get back to Sehun about it. Sehun, meanwhile, would have to think things through and plan very carefully; if he got caught, it would mean trouble for both him and Luhan.

Sehun figured that trouble wouldn’t last long. If something went wrong, they were both dead.

“

Kyungsoo wasn’t sure where Jongin went, but he didn’t seem him again. A day, and then two, three, a week went by, and Kyungsoo knew for a fact that he had shifts with Jongin, but the boy never showed up to work. There was always someone else there for him. After a week, Kyungsoo asked one of the replacement co-workers why they were there instead of Jongin, but they only told him they’d switched shifts with him.

So that was it. Jongin was avoiding him on purpose. He’d taken himself out of Kyungsoo’s life for good, probably was looking for another job so they wouldn’t ever have to encounter each other again. In the end, it was Jongin who left. Not that it mattered to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo had other things to worry about, anyway. Like the fact that his father called one Saturday evening and invited himself and a client over to Kyungsoo’s for dinner the following night. Kyungsoo’s parents, the client and his daughter, as well as the client’s girlfriend (see: mistress; it was almost a guarantee the client was married. That’s how it worked in Kyungsoo’s father’s business world). Dinner for six, Kyungsoo would prepare it, no questions asked.

These things happened from time to time; Kyungsoo would be called last minute to come out to dinner, or go over for lunch, or this or that when his father had a client and wanted to show off his brilliant son who would be his successor in just a few years. It wasn’t often that the meetings would take place at Kyungsoo’s apartment, but sometimes Kyungsoo’s father that it was a good idea. His clients got to see that, if you were involved with him and his business, you would be well off; even Kyungsoo, who hadn’t started working at the place yet, had his own apartment and everything. It was all just a way to show off.

When these whims occurred, Kyungsoo wasn’t given a say, he just did as he was told. Fortunately for him, he wasn’t working on that Sunday anyway, so he was able to get up in the morning and go shopping, and then spend the day preparing a meal for his unexpected guests. They would be arriving at four. Kyungsoo had places set and steaks on low heat, cooking slowly, at three thirty, and then he was changing into more formal attire. Not a suit, his father had said, but a dress shirt and pants would satisfy.

At quarter to the hour, his parents arrived at his door – his father had a key to the building and the apartment. Kyungsoo expected this, and was in the kitchen readily when they entered without knocking. He hurried over and shook his father’s hand with a bow, and then glanced at his mom, slightly behind the man and smiling widely. He bowed to her too, and she stepped forward to give him a polite, formal hug (if hugs could be formal). Then they removed their shoes and took a place on Kyungsoo’s couch.

“How’s business, father?” Kyungsoo asked, because that was all he knew to talk to his father about, and all the man would want to talk about anyway.

“Going quite well,” he was answered formally. His father had an air of indifference, as though it was all beneath him, even when his whole life was consumed by his work. “This client tonight is very important, but he’s a laid-back, family man. He and his wife had a hard divorce, but he’s close to his daughter. The girl’s around your age, Kyungsoo, so be sharp.”

Kyungsoo knew what that really meant. It would be good to make ties between the two families if he and the girl were to hit it off, start dating. That wasn’t happening, but Kyungsoo nodded as if he would try anyway.

The client arrived with his daughter a few minutes before four, apologizing and saying that his girlfriend was running a bit late and would be there around four-thirty. Kyungsoo’s father assured him it was no problem, inviting them in and introducing them to Kyungsoo and his mom. The girl’s eyes flashed over him and she gave a tiny smile that wasn’t unfriendly.

Things seemed to roll smoothly over the next several minutes, and at nearly four-thirty there was a knock on the door. His father’s client uttered something about if that was his girlfriend, but Kyungsoo wasn’t sure how she would have gotten in, even if she had been told the floor and room number.

Just as he reached the door, his stomach sunk as a thought occurred as to who it might very well be.

Jongin seriously couldn’t have picked a worse time to show up at his door, high as anything. There was no way Kyungsoo could confront him right now; if his father so much as saw Jongin, Kyungsoo would get in trouble. So Kyungsoo quickly excused himself and stepped into the hall, closing the door behind him.

“Company?” Jongin wondered lightly.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kyungsoo snapped. “And don’t tell me you’re coming back, because I’m not letting you stay here anymore. You need to leave now and not come back – ever.”

“You having dinner with your girlfriend or something?” Jongin asked.

“Answer my damn question,” Kyungsoo hissed, and he was sure his blood was actually boiling. How dare Jongin just come back like the past week hadn’t happened – like he hadn’t been swapping shifts to avoid Kyungsoo, like he hadn’t left after kissing Kyungsoo and not explaining a damn bit of it? He was supposed to have left – Kyungsoo could handle that – not come back, like he always did.

“Hyung, I know I keep messing up, because I’m messed up, but I really like you and every time I try, I just end up coming back anyway. So I know I make everything really hard, but can I ask you to forgive me again anyway?”

Kyungsoo slapped him. He didn’t even think, his hand just acted of its own accord, hitting Jongin across the face with as much force as he could. “No! You can’t ask me that because I won’t! I’m not doing this again and again-” His fingers curled and he kept hitting Jongin wherever he could. Even when Jongin lifted his arms to defend the attacks, Kyungsoo swatted at his wrists and sent his hits under Jongin’s defense. Finally Jongin seemed to just give up on protecting himself, instead grabbing hold of his shoulders and pinning him back against the wall, and once again Kyungsoo found himself being kissed by Kim Jongin.

Futilely, Kyungsoo tried to beat on the younger’s chest, but Jongin didn’t stop, and Kyungsoo’s hits became weak until finally he just gripped onto the front of his shirt and held himself up. Jongin still didn’t quit; he would pull away a millimeter only to press back again harder, and then he fought to press Kyungsoo’s lips apart, breath panting into Kyungsoo’s mouth when he was successful. Kyungsoo whined. His mind had gone into overdrive and he could feel himself pulling on Jongin’s shirt, trying to bring their bodies closer. He’d forgotten how to think, because the past week had been pain and desertion and trying to deny that Jongin meant anything to him, and this was perfection, blissful feeling that was digging into his heart, and somehow it hurt but more than that Kyungsoo wanted it for the rest of his life. Just this, just Jongin and Jongin’s mouth on his and the feeling that Jongin wanted him so bad he was dying, and Kyungsoo feeling the same damn way. It was so stupid, so, so dangerous, and he didn’t want to have to stop for anything.

“Oh, my gosh.”

If Kyungsoo would have panicked at the sound of someone else nearby, then he was sure hearing that voice was going to give him a heart attack. He shoved Jongin away from him, pulling back and staring down the hallway at the person he hadn’t heard approaching.

.

 A/n: I was considering writing more, but I think that's a good place to leave off, don't you? ㅎㅎ Not really, this felt rushed ㅠㅠ (but it's called Sudden for a reason :o) I'm sorry again, I'll make it up to you all. <3 If you don't hate me too much, let me know your thoughts~