The two had wandered their way to the shore, fingers entwined, shoulders bumping into one another as they continued towards the south end of the beach. Somehow, it was enough just to be near each other.

“So, what was your life like? Before the Red Force?” Sulli asked, pulling her hair behind her ear, the wind carrying it all sorts of ways.

“Before the Red Force?” Xiumin repeated, turning his gaze all around as he tried to pull up some memories. “I dunno, nothing special. There was lots of studying involved.”

Sulli laughed. “Just studying?”

“Yeah.”

She grinned at him. “Nothing else?”

He shook his head, shrugging. “Nope, not really. Everyone sort of had their friends and I was just kind of there. I felt kind of invisible… I guess.” He drifted off, suddenly melancholy.

Tilting her head, Sulli tried to examine his expression, face scrunched in concern. “What do you mean invisible? I see you just fine,” she smiled softly.

Inhaling, he awkwardly returned her gaze. “Like I said, I was just kind of there. And even if I wasn’t, no one would have noticed any different.” He paused for a moment, trying to gather the words. “No one has ever really cared about me before. I’m not interesting or fun. I’m easy to forget.”

Sulli stopped, forcing Xiumin to turn to her, a brow raised. She had her other hand on top of his now, looking down at it as her fingers tapped on his wrist. “You know, you’re one of the first people I’ve ever been able to relate to, before.” Her eyes wandered out towards the horizon, staring at the crashing waves in the distance. “I’ve always been tossed aside, forgotten. I was lucky enough to have Minho when I got older.”

Xiumin suddenly noticed her lips begin to quiver.

“I just wanted someone to see me… I just wanted someone to love me.” Her little hand went up to her face, wiping away a few tears that started to fall. “I’m sorry, Xiumin, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “No, don’t apologize, it’s okay.” He helped her wipe away the tears, tucking her hair that had come free behind her ear again. “To be honest, I’m confused as to how anyone couldn’t love you.” The second the words came out, he almost wished he’d picked them more carefully. He seemed to be implying something that he wasn’t so sure that he should, yet.

“You’re sweet,” she laughed weakly, nose stuffy. Even with puffy cheeks and red eyes, her smile seemed to brighten up the entire beach.

The Frost Force smiled back at her. “Not really, I’m just not good at lying.”

Sulli’s eyes seemed to light up, the corners of now refusing to return limp. “Let’s sit down for a second, I’m a little wore out.”

“Yeah, okay.” Together they found a place in the sand near the shore, Sulli’s arms over her knees as they stared out into the water. It was nice just to listen to the wind brushing over the waves, taste the salt in the air. It was probably the most peaceful the two of them had felt in a long time.

“Xiumin…”

“Yeah?”

“You said you would stay with me, right?”

He turned to her as he’d done so many times, trying to read the look in her eyes. “Yeah, of course. Why?”

“I’m scared. I’m really, really scared. The world seems so hopeless but there’s so many things I wanna do. For as long as I can remember, I dreamed of starting my own family and getting married. I always said I would be the most loving, nurturing mom in the world, and now I’m scared I won’t even get that chance.” Her voice faded, chin between her knees now. “I guess, though, if I have someone like you by my side, I can be content until the very end.”

Xiumin couldn’t really express how badly he wanted for her to realize that dream. It was so simple and he was so sure if anyone deserved to realize it, it was her. “Don’t say such sad things. We’re not dead yet, so maybe there’s still hope for everything to end well. We might have to start over, but I think we can manage.” Sulli could see him grow a little shy, “Besides, if anyone should get to be a mother someday, it’s you.”

Not sure what she wanted to say, Sulli fell into him, letting him wrap an awkward arm around her, head falling on top of hers.

Jaejoong had disappeared shortly after he gave Chanyeol his warning, leaving the redhead alone in the wastes. He stared at the ground, mind in a faraway place, putting together all the pieces of information the Necromancer had given him. Anxiety rose in the pit of his stomach, threatening to burst from his wound and leave him at his knees. Beyond that, dizziness was rising in him, his head suddenly so heavy he thought his neck might snap in half. Vision became a blur, breathing a chore. Chanyeol could barely get his hands in front of him before he fell face-first into the ground.

It was strange how different his side of the room was from Kai’s, as if there was an invisible divider between their spaces. While D.O.’s space seemed to be meticulously organized and tidy, Kai’s was a chaotic mess, a stack of boxes in the corner nearest his bed that seemed to be spilling out their contents onto the floor. Had D.O. been a more extroverted person, he might have gone out of his way to clean up Kai’s mess himself.

He sat on his bed, staring absentmindedly at Kai’s corner. The white walls in the room looked gray without the light on, only a faint light from the windows coming in. There was some sort of peacefulness in the shaded room, a sort of quiet that seemed to take hold there. Even Kai, whom was normally full of laughter when Taemin was around, sat quietly on his bed with a magazine in hand. D.O. could never help but notice how different Kai was when Taemin wasn’t around. It was almost like night and day.

Even without Taemin, though, Kai seemed to be so charismatic. People gravitated towards him, adored him. He was everyone’s best friend somehow. He had connections, options. In that moment, D.O. realized Kai was everything he’d ever dreamed of being.

Kai sighed, tossing the magazine aside. “It’s too quiet in here. Mind if I turn on some music?” He’d already gotten up, making his way to the stereo before D.O. even answered.

He shook his head. “No,” his voice was barely above a whisper, “I don’t care.”

Music filled up the quiet room, making D.O. a little less shy. He wasn’t very good at sparking up conversation most of the time, but he was getting better at it. He’d managed to get fairly comfortable with talking to Baekhyun, but when it came to people he admired on a higher level, he couldn’t seem to find words. D.O. knew it was strange to have barely spoken to his dorm mate. It wasn’t like they’d never spoken once before, just that D.O. was never the initiator of conversation.

Looking to find his voice, D.O. barely uttered: “Where’s Taemin at?”

Kai raised a brow, sitting back up on his bed. “Not sure. Should be coming around sometime, I would think. He never leaves me alone on a Sunday,” he chuckled faintly, leafing through another magazine.

“Oh, right,” D.O. replied awkwardly, trying to think of something else to ask. “You guys have known each other a long time, right?”

“Mm, yeah, for as long as I can remember. We grew up together, I guess.”

So much frustration began to build up. If there was one thing about Kai, it was that it was near impossible to get him to say more than a few words. As was already stated before, Kai with and without Taemin was like night and day. Only Taemin could bring the devil out of Kai and turn him into a hell-raiser.

“How did you guys―”

Taemin came bursting through the door, Kai’s face already lighting up. “Hey, man! My mom is flipping out! Eunhyuk went running by our house and he ing broke the sound barriers and smashed all the windows in the house!” He could barely contain his laughter. “Come on, you gotta see this !”

“Really? What was he running for?”

“I dunno, but my mom is like: Taemin, why didn’t you tell me this was going to happen? You rotten child, do you know how much this is gonna cost!” he went into a strained falsetto, the two of them running out the door to make their way towards the little suburb area where they grew up together, leaving D.O. alone in the dorm.

Hunching over his knees in the bed of the truck, D.O. stared down at the dirt and rust by Baekhyun’s feet. They were still headed southwest in hopes of finding some supplies in the heart of the Capitol, though the sky was still gray and the land around them looked barren and hopeless.

“How you doin’?” Baekhyun asked, eyes squinted against the wall of wind that was hitting them both in the face.

“Hm? I’m fine. Why you asking?”

Baekhyun held back his hair, keeping it from smacking him in the eyes any further. “Just makin’ sure. You’re really quiet most of the time. Makes it hard to know if you’re dealing with everything alright or not.”

D.O. looked over the horizon, his eyes squinted at the wind now, too. “I’m just trying to stay alive. I’m okay.” He paused, turning to look at Baek again. “Thanks for asking. People almost never ask me how I’m doing.”

The sable-haired Force gave a faint smile. “No problem.”

Minho continued driving them forward on the dirt road, Lay staring out ahead hoping to see either a small city or something green. Only a few moments ago, he’d tried turning on the radio in hopes of finding some music only to remember that the majority of their world was dead and no one had time to radio DJ.

In the back of the truck, Baekhyun was also looking ahead, D.O. spacing out into his own thoughts yet again. He was used to seeing nothing but dead fields and dirt road, but not too far ahead, something in black with a tint of orange caught his attention, and his heart stopped.

“D-D.O! Look ahead, tell me you see this, too!”

D.O. got up, he and Baekhyun now standing and looking out over the cab of the truck at the indiscernible heap on the side of the road that Baekhyun was pointing at. “No way,” D.O. muttered, the closer they came to the heap, the more he could make out what it was.

Baekhyun pounded on the top of the truck. “Minho! Up by that on the side of the road! Pull over there! Pull over up there, Minho!” His hands were shaking, his eyes glued to that black and orange mess on the side of the road. Earlier he knew that they’d find something. He didn’t realize that something was a someone.

Lay was now looking up ahead, and now that they were hardly an eighth of a mile away, he knew exactly what he was looking at. The Healer already had his hands on the door, pushing it open before Minho could totally park the car.

Baekhyun jumped out of the bed of the truck, racing to his side. “Chanyeol!Chanyeol!” As Lay made his way over, Baek had his shaking hands on Chanyeol’s dusty body, turning him over so his face was out of the dirt. “Tree of Life, Chanyeol! Tell me you’re alive, you bastard!”

“Stop shaking him, Baekhyun, he’s unconscious.” Minho stood over them alongside D.O., all of them watching as Lay examined Chanyeol’s body. “He’s wounded―badly.”

“I can’t believe you’re alive, you bastard,” Baekhyun muttered to himself. “Can you fix his wound, Lay? Please, Tree, tell me you can!”

A familiar feeling of pressure began to overcome the Healer as his hands pulled Chanyeol’s clothes away from the wound on his belly, exposing it fully. “Well, I can try. But there’s bad news…”

Baekhyun’s eyes were about to fall from their sockets. “Bad news, what do you mean bad news, what’s wrong, Lay?”

“He’s infected.”

“So’s Sehun, he’ll be fine. It’s okay, he’ll be okay. Come on, Chanyeol, wake up, man!”

“He’s been through Hell and back,” Minho said, staring over the redhead whose body was dirty, clothes ragged, skin sickly pale. He may as well have been a corpse.

Lay placed his hands on top of Chanyeol’s wound, helping it close up and heal a bit. “There’s not much I can do without the same potion I’ve been giving Sehun. The infection is just gonna fight the healing process. To be honest, I’m surprised he’s survived this long. He should be dead.”

“The guys a fighter. Lay him in the bed of the truck and we’ll speed back to Suju,” Minho already made his way towards Chanyeol’s unconscious body to help Lay and Baekhyun lift him into the back of the running truck. “D.O., why don’t you sit in front with me so Lay can keep an eye on him, huh?”

He nodded. “Oh, yeah, sure.”

The boys hopped back into the truck, Minho turning the truck around and sending them back towards Suju. In the back, Lay held Chanyeol’s head at his temples, trying to return him to consciousness while Baekhyun cried tears of relief.

The others had heard screaming, the lot of them having run to Chen and Tao’s side at the opening of the woods. By the time they’d gotten there, Lully’s ghostly form had disappeared, leaving the Lighting Force trembling at his knees and Tao silent and wide-eyed.

“What happened, is everyone alright? I thought I heard a girl, where’s Sulli?” Ryeowook asked, Suho making his way to Chen’s side.

“She went with Xiumin, I don’t think it was her,” Krystal explained, staring at Chen, glancing in the same direction that Tao looked.

Tao didn’t take his gaze away from where he last saw Lully. “I’ll explain later.”

“Come on, Chen, it’s alright. Get up, man, let’s go back by the fire,” Suho had a calm voice, nurturing so instinctual for him. But Chen screamed out immediately.

“No! No, I can’t, I can’t! Take me somewhere else!” he cried, hands shaking and lips curled back as he fought sobs.

Suho shot a look Tao’s way as he continued to try and pull Chen to his feet. “What the hell happened, Tao? Huh? Another hallucination?”

“Something like that.”

“What the hell is this?” he held up his wrist, now adorned with something hand-woven, smiling with yet confused eyes.

Lully pulled her own wrist up, which had one to match his in brown and another that was purple. “Friendship bracelet! I have one for you and me and one for me and Nana! You can’t ever take it off, okay? Otherwise, I’m gonna be really mad at you and to be honest I probably won’t be your friend anymore.” Her voice had gone up in pitch towards the end of her sentence, arms folded as she pretended to be serious in her threats.

Chen laughed, looking over the brown bracelet. “Is that right? Maybe I should cut it off right now, save myself some pain,” he grinned devilishly at her, taking a shove to the shoulder.

“Chen, that’s mean!”

“I was just kidding, Lulls, you know I’m not serious, right?”

Her lips were pursed, giving him a pouting look. “You’d better take care of it.”

“I will, I promise.” He pinched the knot on it, “I really gotta keep it on all the time? Even in the shower?”

“Well yeah, if you take it off then it’s like saying you don’t wanna be my friend.”

Unable to keep a straight face, he replied, “But then it’d be like having you in the shower with me every time.”

“Chen! Stop it, why do you gotta make it sound so dirty? Tree of Life, what am I gonna do with you?” She’d shoved him over again, making her way back to her room to complain to Nana, too embarrassed to let him see that her face resembled a tomato. “Men are so disgusting, Nana, I swear to the Tree!”

Still on his bed looking towards her dorm, Chen laughed to himself. “I guess I’m never taking this off then, huh?”