Eric felt the sun shining on his face as he slowly stirred from his deep slumber. “Gosh, when was the last time I’m able to sleep for so long” Eric thought to himself stretching his long arms. The sun was shining into his eyes so Eric had to squint his eyes when he looked around for the figure he had grown accustomed to in a day.  “Hyesung?” Eric mumbled as the sleep has yet left his body. No response; his eyes grew big and let out an expletive. “What the hell is he thinking?!”

Eric jolted up to his feet and was ready to run after Hyesung when he fell flat on his face. “! Dammit” as he felt a trickle of blood flow out of his pretty nose and used his hands to wipe it off. “I’m gonna make him pay for this when I find him!” he swore to himself as he steadied himself on the cave wall and whacked his legs to life. Once he was sure that he won’t fall again he grabbed his crossbow and headed out the only entrance to the cave.

“Where the hell is he?” Eric could feel panic rising when he reached the entrance and Hyesung was nowhere to be seen. “Calm down… he couldn’t have gone far with that thigh of his. “Hyesung!!!” Eric roared and immediately regretted. If Hyesung can hear him, those things could too and the last thing he needed was to have a herd of zombies coming his way before he found Hyesung. “ Eric! If those things are attracted to this area, how the hell is he gonna fend for himself?! ” Eric scolded himself and started to run into the woods towards the border for he was sure that was the direction Hyesung would be heading but that would be depending on whether Hyesung gotten his directions right.

Eric heart was thumping wildly; he was at his brink of sanity when he remembered seeing a herd of zombies moving in the woods, towards his hideout yesterday. In normal circumstances, he would get off his vehicle, kill those s and hunt for some meat before heading back. But he had Hyesung with him and it isn’t a good idea to leave him unconscious in his vehicle when he hunted. He was telling himself that once Hyesung gets better he can get rid of this burden and move on but now he knew otherwise. He couldn't explain his reaction towards Hyesung too, maybe it was becuase his lack of company for the past 4 years or it might be due to Hyesung's vulnerability. He couldn't make up his mind either but what he knew for sure is that he will never let this person out of his sight again; he wouldn’t make it without him, weak or not.

Eric was sprinting through the woods trying to make as little sound as possible with his eyes scanning through every motion in the trees. With his professional hunter eyes, he spotted a few squirrels and a deer around three miles away but a slow constant movement caught his eyes. He nearly buckled to the ground when the wave of relieve overcame him, he never felt so grateful before. “I swear to god, once I get hold of you, I’ll never let go of you again, you idiot. You hafta pay for making me feel like this with your company for eternity; whether you like it or not” Eric thought to himself as he launched towards his injured prey. 

“Hyesung-ah!” Eric hollered as he reached his target. “Thank god I found you! What the hell were you thinking?! Sneaking off in the morning like that? Why didn’t you wake me? Don’t you trust me? You don’t think I will find Junjin for you?” Eric shouted angrily, he was blaming himself too as those were his exact thoughts the night before and he already felt like a scoundrel. He grabbed Hyesung into a tight embrace “Don’t you dare do this to me again! Do you understand?! Oh my god Hyesung! I thought I lost you!” Eric continued as emotions started to drown him. “Do you know how stupid you are thrashing around in the woods with an injured thigh without any weapons? Why didn't you take any?! Even a dagger is good... You could be dead in an instant if those s attacked you!”  

When he didn’t get any response from Hyesung, Eric lessen his grip and lowered his blazing gaze into Hyesung’s  eyes searching for an answer. “Hyesung?”  Eric repeated when Hyesung stared blankly back at his and tears started to roll down his rosy cheeks.

“Oh my god, Hyesung, don’t cry. What happened? Are you hurt? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout at you but I was in such a panic when I didn’t see you when I woke up. Just don’t ever do it again okay?” Eric said as he softens his stance and wiped the tears away from the lovely face.

“Eric” Hyesung breathed when he finally found his voice. “Why did you come after me? …I…I… I don’t want to put anyone into danger again.”

“Wha…”

Cutting Eric off Hyesung continued “Just like my mates from the orphanage, they died because of me. I don’t even know if I can find Jinnie. How can I just pull you along with me into the unknown danger? I saw them Eric, everything has gone wrong; people dying everywhere and coming back to life, chasing after us. My mates, they were all bitten and eaten alive; the sound of their screams is still ringing in my ears” Hyesung managed to choke out in despair before crumbling down onto a fallen tree and hiding his face in this arms refusing to face Eric.

He hated himself for feeling so relieved when Eric found him; he was so scared, wandering around looking for directions towards the border and his thigh was starting to bother him when the rush of adrenaline he felt when he left the cave began to falter. He was contemplating whether to turn back to look for Eric but his conscience was stopping him.

“Eric please, just go, leave me alone. I will find Jinnie and I will do it by myself; I’d rather die than seeing you getting killed because of me” Hyesung continued weakly contradicting to what he actually wanted. He didn’t want Eric to go, he know he won’t be able to survive this alone; it’s suicidal. But what can he say? He can’t be so selfish. Three people had already lost their lives because of him and if he followed Eric, he will only be a burden to him.

“No.” Eric replied calmly, his steadfast gaze never leaving the figure.

“What? Why? You don’t have to do this Eric; I’m no one to you. You’re better off without me” Hyesung whispered looking up at Eric and a breath was caught in his throat when he met his gaze. The warmth in Eric’s eyes was filling Hyesung’s hungry heart and Hyesung couldn’t stop the tears flowing out. How in the world is he going to let this person go? The only person apart from Jinnie who gave him a sense of security, offered him comfort, and made him feel content. Guilt was killing him.

“Because it’s a NO Hyesungie.  Please stop crying already, are you made of water?” Eric said with a grin growing on his handsome face. He felt wonderful; Hyesung didn’t leave him because he didn’t want his company. Hyesung cared about him, that’s all that mattered.

“No… But…”

“You need me Hyesung” Eric continued ignoring the protesting Hyesung as he pulled him up. “You won’t last a day without me and you know it” Eric added factually with a huge grin plastered on his face.

“Eric… I”

“Move!” Eric roared as he shoves Hyesung behind him and shot an arrow at the figure rushing towards them.

“See, how can u survive without me? You cannot even sense that thing behind you” Eric smirked as he continues to fire several more at the contorted figures staggering towards them.

Hyesung quickly sobered from his self pity state when he saw the zombies coming from all directions. He raised his legs to kick a few asses himself and regretted immediately. He had totally forgotten about the injury on his thigh when he did that, but he still has his fists and he knows that they wouldn’t fail him when he managed to smash a few brains and twist several necks.

“Yeah right! If I have this stupid thigh working the way I wanted, I’ll be able to show you what I’ve got!” Hyesung retorted as his fists continue to smash through the faces. “Yuck!”

Suddenly a pair of rotten arms grabbed Hyesung from behind causing him to lose whatever balance he’s got and landed on top of the owner. Hyesung panicked, however, before any damage was done, an arrow plunged into whatever is left in the eye socket.

“Before you can show me what you have got, please try to stay alive?” Eric smirked with a twinkle in his eyes as he walked over to retrieve his arrow from the bodies and grab Hyesung by the wrists to help him up. "And take this." Eric said and handed Hyesung a handgun.

“Get away from me, I don’t need you. I can search for Jinnie perfectly on my own” Hyesung frantically said turning away as his face started to turn crimson red.

“Convince yourself with that sentence first” Eric oh so happily replied as he spotted the intense blush on Hyesung’s face.

Not knowing how to contradict that fact, Hyesung sighed.  He tried to control the burning sensation on his cheeks and turned back to Eric. He failed miserably. Eric was looking at him so lovingly he didn't know where to look. He didn’t know how much more embarrassment he could take.

“Whatever, suit yourself” Hyesung told the tree behind Eric.

The grin on Eric’s face cannot get bigger.

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A/N: Hey hey! As promised a late night update! Thank you guys so much for the subscriptions! I can't imagine so many people are reading my first fic! You guys are awesome! Thank you again *Bows down 90 degrees!* Comments are very much appreciated too! ^^ Cheers!