A/N: Sorry for the super late update! These past few weeks have been busy (this is why i shouldn't start a fic during a summer lit class), but as of this update, you can start expecting a new chapter every Sunday at the latest~ This chapter was super fun to write...

               Dongsung woke up around eleven am to Sehyuk's hand on his cheek. His skin was burning, and as he blinked his eyes open, he brought them up to meet Sehyuk's, which were staring him down with pure frustration.

               "Keep watch?" He said, slightly under his voice, clearly not wanting to raise his tone, but frustrated to the point he may.

              A smile formed on Dongsung's lips, but he fought it back and looked around as if he weren't to blame, but he had no one else. He had fallen asleep by the window, thinking about their future, thinking about what they were going to do the next day. He had exhausted himself beating on the shop door, and was happily full and warm from their makeshift dinner. Of course, he felt kind of bad, but he could only help but smile because nothing bad ended up happening, and they both got a full nights rest on the hard floor of the general store floor.

               Sehyuk breathed out in frustration, but said nothing else. He knew he shouldn't be mad at Dongsung. It was only their second day out on their own, and while he thought that should have made him a little more alert, he knew they were both exhausted from walking all day after living in a 10x10 room and only walking for their tests which were performed in a seperate 10x10 room for the rest of the day. "I wandered down the streets while you slept, I figured you would have woken up by now but I must have figured wrong. There's a mall, a big one, like a shopping center, that i can see far past the end of the street. We're going there."

               Dongsung shrugged at Sehyuk's order, and pushed himself off the ground, trying to stand up without falling due to his legs being asleep from sleeping sitting up all night. He waddled over behind the counter and took Sehyuk's bag he had left, and started filling it with cans of food, and chugging down the last quarter of the remaining water. He tossed the lighter in with the cigarettes as the final items, then closed the bag and slung it over his shoulder. Sehyuk joined him only moments after he had finished packing the bag, and picked up the apron, handing one to Dongsung, and then tying the other somewhat fashionably around his waist.

               "I'm not wearing that."

               Sehyuk gave Dongsung a grave look, prompting Dongsung to find space in the bag, then resorting to tying the apron around the strap before they headed off.

               It only took about an hour to reach the mall Sehyuk had spotted, far far along the road that lied perpendicular to the one the general store was on. By the time they reached their location, the two were glad but slightly caught off guard to find that the automated sliding doors entering into the main shopping area still worked. The sun had just risen to its peak, and the heat was beginning to get to the two boys who were still clad in their outfits from the Building. Wearily, the two stepped through the doors and were greeted by a horrifying digitalized voice which spoke no logical words. Figuring out that the mall still had working electricity in some areas made the boys excited, but worried about who else may have discovered the same fact. Very few lights were still working, in fact, none of the overhead lights worked at all, but large construction lights were set up in certain areas that made the halls completely lit, the first sign to Dongsung and Sehyuk that there had been people here, but they moved along, knowing that whoever was out here would probably be in the same situation they were, and hopefully, not hostile.

               The two wandered further inside and set about scouting out the area. The mall was set up in a large circle, whichever way you went, left or right, you would return to your starting location at some point, and the two furthest ends were connected by one large store in the center: what used to be a music shop. Benches set back to back for those long mall trips were set up every several meters with a trash can at every other one. Shops lined either side of the path way, and there were four entrances to the outside, the two positioned in front of the entrances to the music store seeming to be the main ones. Sehyuk spotted what seemed like it used to be a movie theatre entrance attached to the mall, but rubble was piled up in front of the entrance making it impossible to get into without a long time moving all the concrete slabs that had fallen. The shops that had an exterior wall were the most destroyed, some with small holes and gaps that small animals could squeeze through from the outside, and some with holes large enough for small children to fit through. On the interior shops, though, most of their structual integrity had been held up, and even most of the (Plexi)glass windows still held strong, but they were pitch black unless one were to pull one of the construction lamps from the hall inside.

               After scouting the whole area for a little over an hour, the two took a break on one of the benches and shared what they had found. Dongsung spoke ad nauseum about what he had found. He was excited, to say the least, as this was the first time they ever had the chance to choose for themselves, and while the supply was limited, they were going to get to find things they liked. After sharing the information both of them had gathered and they had a chance to take a breather, the two got on the move to go after what they had both wanted the most: clothes. There were several clothing stores, it was a mall after all, but they settled on one that was on the exterior wall and had a small hole to the outside that let some natural light into the store. The racks were fairly empty, only a couple hangers with clothes on them remaining, but there were piled of clothes lying on the floor that ranged from jeans to dresses and everything in between.

               The two fell apart from each other, slipping into their own state of being as they rummaged through all the clothes looking for what fit, and what they liked. They both stripped down to their boxers, throwing their jumpsuits aside, agreeing with each other that no matter what they never wanted to see those jumpsuits ever again.

               Dongsung took slightly less time to find the clothes he would settle on. He slipped on a slightly oversized black and white tee covered in a nonsensical pattern and a pair of dark skinny jeans to match. He tied a hooded denim jacket around his waist before pulling the shirt over it and fluffed up his hair as he looked in the mirror. Smiling at himself, he called over to Sehyuk who had just finished slipping on a pair of black jeans and stood topless over a pile of cotton shirts.

               "Clothes really change everything." Dongsung noted, picking up two other shirts he had debated over and trying his best to shove them in the bag he was carrying. After a small bit of effort, he stopped his cause and decided to carry them with him, assuming they could find some more reliable bags in the store.

               Sehyuk had grabbed a couple of shirts of his own. He had opted for a pair of black jeans and a tank top, but much long Dongsung did, he grabbed a long sleeved red plaid shirt to tie around his waist for the night time. He grabbed another tank top and a couple of tees as well and threw them over his shoulder, knowing they would find something better to carry their supplies in rather than the makeshift back he had thrown together a couple of nights before.

               The two of them gathered other articles of clothing that they both thought would be useful in ways other than wearing them, and ended up leaving with a couple of long cotton dresses to be used as blankets, and one winter coat to use as a pillow. They also ended up walking out with a hat each, both sporting a simple black snapback to help block the sun during the heat of the day. Looking as though they had robbed the store clean, the two boys exited with arms full of new items and nowhere to put them. They both ended up dropping their piles on a bench just outside the store front, and Dongsung sat down lazily next to his pile, sighing deeply.

               "Sit down." He offered, patting the bench next to him, and next to Sehyuk's pile of clothes. "We've walked nonstop for the past two days, and besides we're going to have to stay here overnight anyway, there's only a couple hours of sunlight left. Not enough to find a new place to settle for the night. Plus it's warm in here it's perfect..."

               Sehyuk obliged, and sat down next to him, leaning over and resting his elbows on his knees.

               "What if we just stayed here?" Dongsung suggested, causing Sehyuk's eyes to go wide, and look at him with a slight confusion. "I mean, who are we going to find out here? There may be someone but we can scout during the day and come back here at night. It's warm, and there's a good supply of clothes and other items. There's no food in here, but surely we'll find some nearby. If we find some backpacks we can head back and clean out that general store from last night."

               "We'll stay one night." Sehyuk replied curtly after he let a silence sit in the air for a few seconds, making sure Dongsung had said his piece. "If there's no one living in here with how much is still left here, then I highly doubt there's anyone around, scouting won’t help. You can only cover half the ground you could normally cover in a day."

               "But there has to be someone here!" Dongsung interjected, "There's lights, someone has set up lights around here, they couldn't have been here before Him, they're set up with generators. Sehyuk, look—"

               "Dongsung, if we move around we're more likely to find someone. If we stay here we're just sitting ducks."

               "Why didn't you want to tell me why you were a Cinos student?"

               Sehyuk stared at Dongsung, his mouth open, ready to refute whatever silly plan Dongsung had to try and keep him to stay in the mall, but he had no comeback for what the boy had changed the subject to. "Excuse me?"

               "Why didn't you tell me why you were a Cinos student." Dongsung repeated himself, looking at Sehyuk with an expectant gaze, "I know you know why you were there, we all did. You're not stupid."

               Sehyuk bit his lip and looked away from Dongsung, staring into the light of the construction lamp instead. "We should find somewhere to sleep, like a furniture store or something. We can settle down early and have some beans or something. Relax, plan out what we're going to do tomorrow."

               "Come on, I opened up to you why are you so special that you can't tell me. We're the only two out here were better off knowing about each other than not, Sehyuk. How am I supposed to know you're not just hiding this from me so that you can do something behind my back?" Dongsung's voice rose as Sehyuk started picking up his things and got ready to walk off and find a place to sleep. "How am I supposed to know you're not just using me for your own gain?!"

               Sehyuk rose from the bench with his things in his arms, and turned to walk away, only to be stopped by Dongsung in front of him in a second. The taller boy seemed to tower over him in this moment, and all leadership he had in the relationship fell to the wayside as Dongsung asserted his dominance. "I need answers." The younger said, his voice lowering to an inside tone, making him seem even more threatening in some ways. "I need to know we're on the same team."

               "I have no answers."

               "Bull ."

              Sehyuk looked up to Dongsung, who was uncomfortably close to his face, but he didn't dare step back. He wouldn't allow Dongsung to hold dominance over him. "They never told me. And I. Don't. Know." Dongsung took a step back at Sehyuk's strong answer, but the darkness didn't fall from his normally bright eyes.

               "I want more than that."

               "Dongsung. Dongsung! Don't you think I would tell you if I knew?! I've known you since before Cinos and you would have crashed if I hadn't been there. What, being in the normal program for a year before being switched to Cinos? I told you how to make it through and I wouldn't have escaped with you if I didn't plan on staying with you. I could do it on my own. I've always known there was something special about me, but unlike you, I've never been able to pinpoint it. I'm sorry I can't give you a full answer, that's all I have."

               Dongsung stood in silence, his head falling backward, his eyes directed at the ceiling. Somewhere inside he felt bad for pushing Sehyuk, but he was tired, and his pride wouldn't let him lose. He breathed out, then reached out to pat Sehyuk on the shoulder before pushing around him. The younger man picked his things up off the bench, and walked ahead past Sehyuk, who followed him. "We should find somewhere to sleep."

               "Like I said."

               The two walked in silence, arms full, until they came across a home amenities store that came complete with a king sized therapeutic mattress in the far back. The air between the two was thick after the standoff. They stood silent on either side of the mattress in the very dimly lit store.

               "I'm going to go find a restroom." Sehyuk spoke clearly, cutting through the heavy atmosphere around them. He left swiftly, leaving Dongsung to mull over their chat alone in the eerie silence of the technology store. Most things in the store seemed to be intact, but this area seemed to be the one most picked clean by scavengers. The bed, and other things that were too heavy to carry any long distance, seemed to be the only things filling the space along with several broken unusable appliances and electronics. Dongsung wadded up the jacket they had lifted from the other store and put it at the head of the bed to use as the pillow, then did the same on Sehyuk's side. In all honesty, he felt bad, but he wouldn't say anything about it to Sehyuk. Instead, he made the bed up as well as he could, then snuggled himself in, trying to make himself as warm and cozy as possible.

               "Goodnight Dongsung," Sehyuk whispered to Dongsung a few minutes later, who was already halfway between sleep and consciousness. The smaller man curled up under the makeshift covers and buried his head in the soft jacket. The two had never slept on a mattress so comfortable, and in that moment, neither of them would have ever wanted to leave. Only minutes after the hushed words Sehyuk had whispered, the two were dead asleep, only the sound of light breezes through the halls remained.

               —

               "WAKE UP." Dongsung squinted through a bright light at the intruding voice. Through the bright light aimed at the two boys, it was impossible to see whoever the owner of the demand was. "Get up now, and state who you are and why you're here."