"Yeah. I guess." He takes a deep breath and opens the door anyway.Jung Taekwoon studied the man before him in a mix of concern and confusion. What did N mean? How could the man know that he was immune? Had he been infected before? Taekwoon's mind brought to him the image of the marks he had seen on the tan man's skin since they day he had saved him. N hadn't known where they came from, just that they had long since healed before they met.

Now all the abnormal scars made sense. They weren't so strange if you thought of them as different kinds of bites, perhaps from the same animals that had wasted away in all those cages. But why? What had happened to N? He didn't want to ask. If N knew, he would tell him when the time was right.

"Well, if you're immune to Ragnarök you still need to stop the bleeding." Taekwoon knew N just wanted to get away from Yoonchul's body but at the moment, among the carnage, they were safest. They needed to take a moment to do something about his wounds.

"Fine." N reluctantly took off his shirt and ripped off the legs of his pants to expose his injuries. The other man winced simply at the sight laid out before him. They wounds looked bad. He needed stitches at the least on most of them but Taekwoon was afraid of doing anything that would complicate the healing process later when he got N to a doctor.

"Good." Taekwoon got out the first aid kit and took off his shirt, covering it in water, and started cleaning N up with it so he could treat him properly.

~~~~

N was seriously watching a quiet Taekwoon as he worked on the small man's wounds. Was he thinking about how N knew of his immunity? Would he ask him? He didn't want to answer that. Based on the memories he was getting back, his entire team, all his friends, would hate him.

Hell. If N really wanted to get technical... He was directly linked to all of it. He had a part in Yoonchul dying. After the mission N would reveal everything he learned about himself and accept his fate as penance for Yoonchul's life. It was only right.

"N..." Taekwoon was shaking his shoulders gently. N realized he must have let his mind wander. Tears were pouring down his cheeks.

"T-Taekwoon..." Before N could really comprehend it, he was sobbing against the other man's chest, Taekwoon's strong arms wrapped around him like he was sheltering N from every awful thing the world had to offer. "Please... Please never hate me... N-no matter what... I... I need you... I... I am nothing without you..." He could die knowing the others hated him. He deserved it. He deservedto have Taekwoon hate him too. But N couldn't handle the thought of the man he loved throwing him out of his heart. The thought alone made his soul ache and his head dizzy. Just the idea of Taekwoon hating him was worse than any zombie he could remember facing.

"I could never do that, N." Taekwoon was trying to soothe him, giving him soft kisses all over his face. "I love you. I am hopelessly in love with you. I have been since the very first day I found you covered in blood and dying. Nothing could change that."

"I... I love you too, Taekwoon." N started taking steady breaths to calm himself before he began to hyperventilate or pass out. Finally he was able to function again. Taekwoon held onto him for a few moments longer, even after his shaking had subsided. He was grateful. He needed the other man more than he had thought. He needed him more than air, really more than anything.

"Can you continue this mission?" Taekwoon asked as he stepped away from N, inspecting him. N noticed his wounds were bandaged. He figured that Leo probably used some form of liquid stitch that could be dissolved easily by the doctor, if he made it back, to keep his wounds shut and stop the bleeding.

"I have to. Don't worry. I can manage." He kissed Taekwoon and turned to leave. "Come on." On his way out he grabbed some access cards from a hook, just in case something happened to him, they could still get through the labs to the antidote. He said one last, sorrowful goodbye to Yoonchul before following Taekwoon out of the back door.

~~~~

As they moved on to the next house, Kim Wonshik noticed a few more crows join the first one. Whatever. Birds were the least of his worries. He starts the sweep of the house for any of the infected that were still... fresh, for lack of a better word. It was clean so he sent Daehwan to investigate the livingroom and kitchen. Jaehwan was directed to search the bedrooms.

As always, he had to keep watch, make sure they weren't ambushed. He'd rather be by Jaehwan's side, making sure he was okay. But there he stood, letting his eyes wander around the house's entryway. Making sure no zombies made it inside.

He wasn't really looking for anything. Clues were never by the front door. He was just trying to kill time. But then he saw it, a picture of a familiar face in a frame on the wall. N with some guy about his age.

It had been taken a while back. They were both probably teenagers. The mystery guy had his arm around a smiling N's shoulders, holding him against his side. It looked like N had taken the picture himself. They both looked so happy. It almost made Wonshik sad to think N might never be as happy as the teen in this photo ever again.

He slipped the picture out of the frame and turned it over. Faint writing on the back said "ByoungJun and Hakyeon". One of those names belonged to N.

~~~~

Lee Jaehwan found a photo albums in a bedroom, hidden in a loose panel on the wall beside the bed. The room looked like it belonged to a very messy, unorganized male. The cover of the book just said 'Hakyeon' in messy letters. He opened it and instantly let out a scream, dropping the book. Wonshik was by his side in moments. Daehwan came quickly after him, bending down to pick up the album as Wonshik seemed to be checking to see if Jaehwan was okay.

"What's this?" Daehwan questioned as he opened it. Wonshik and Jaehwan both leaned in, curious to see what was inside. All Jaehwan had seen at first peek had been N. N was in all the pictures.

There were pictures of N smiling and pictures of N looking off in the distance, unaware of the camera. Pictures of N being playful, of N being pouty, laughing, crying, angry, happy, tired. N with some guy, holding hands, hugging, posing, kissing, snuggling... Then there were the pictures of N blushing in bed with the same guy and pictures of N sleeping, his tan skin bare.

"Was this his boyfriend or something?" Jaehwan wondered as he looked at the picture of N sleeping. He looked so happy. Jaehwan noticed little marks on his skin, like a person's nail imprints, and bruises on his neck like... Like Hickies. Oh ew. He didn't need to see post-ed N pictures. That seemed like a bit more than a friend should know about someone.

"Taekwoon might not need to see the N pics." Wonshik decided, pulling them out and putting those pictures in a separate pocket from the album. "I'll give them to N later in private... Though I guess his name must be Hakyeon. They might be sentimental to him."

Jaehwan had a sinking feeling in his stomach. N had a boyfriend here? So where was his boyfriend now? He hoped N could handle anything they may come across in this hell. Even an undead ex. Was he really even N's ex if he wasn't exactly dead and they didn't exactly break up? Did Taekwoon have undead competition?

~~~

Lee Hongbin was now 100,000% sure that abandoned schools were terrifying. So far they had only ran into the one zombie but it didn't stop him from jumping at every noise. Hyuk was constantly checking on him.

Nakhun had gotten really quiet. More so than usual. Hongbin was worried for him. He knew his mind was hung up on the loss of his boyfriend but the loss of focus in this place was not a good idea.

They stopped at a display case in front of the gym. Class pictures sat in frames inside. Hongbin guessed they didn't have any trophies because nobody was allowed in or out of the compound. He scanned over the faces in the photos until one face caught his attention. N's graduation class picture. N looked like he was laughing while another student held him in his arms.

"Look." Hongbin pointed and the other two came to look. Nakhun made a disinterested sound and went back to his hell twister of painful thought.

"They look cozy." Hyuk commented, breaking the glass in the case to take out the photo. "Let's keep it for N." Hongbin nods but he felt sick.

N was raised here? That meant N's parents were a part of this. Had N played a part in this as well, after his graduation? Smiling N in the picture made Hongbin angry. How could he be so happy with what had been happening around him?

~~~~

Han Sanghyuk put the picture in his bag and looked at Hongbin. He could tell that something was bothering him. But they really didn't have time to stop and chat about it.

"Let's keep going." Hyuk checked both bathrooms across from the gym and found nothing but some bones and old blood stains. Relief overtook him, having already had enough of zombies for a while.

"We should check the gym now." Hongbin decided. It was the only place left to check in the school but Hyuk felt reluctant. He just wanted to drag Hongbin and all their remaining friends back to the van and all the way back to the safety of their heavily armied training facility.

"Yeah. I guess." He took a deep breath and opened the door anyway.