SURV!VE FOR YOURSELF ... the boyz ?!

[ O9 ] - WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN.

Changmin stared up blankly, watching the shadows of the curtains dance across the ceiling. A million thoughts ran through his head, but he could only pull the covers tighter around himself.

He could hear Juyeon's breaths as the older boy lay on the other couch — too soft to be fully awake, but not steady enough to be asleep — and sighed.

After they were both banned from Chanhee's probably-much-warmer room, the two boys were forced to take the living room couches, which were still sliced up and uncomfortable. Even after getting rid of the ruined pillows and cleaning up all the blood and glass, the room was still a mess, one that would probably never be properly fixed.

Changmin shivered. "Juyeon?" he called hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm a little cold," he said, teeth starting to chatter. "Do you have an extra blanket?"

"No, I don't," Juyeon replied apologetically. He paised, and then... "We can double up, though. If that's okay."

Changmin nodded before remembering the other boy couldn't see him. "Sure."

Juyeon got up, his silhouette dimly visible against the silky rays of moonlight, and sat down next to Changmin, pulling his own blanket over Changmin's. The two adjusted on the couch, and sat there for a couple of moments in silence.

"You okay, Changmin?" Juyeon asked. "You've been quiet ever since we saw Jinho."

Jinho. That must've been the roommate — the one who who had fallen from the window. Changmin felt strangely guilty, as if the boy would still be here if he'd known his name. Why did he feel as if everything was his fault?

"I'm fine," Changmin responsed softly.

"Are you sure?"

Changmin bit his lip anxiously, hesitating before finally saying: "No. I'm not sure. I'm... I'm not okay."

The older boy put a gentle arm around the trembling Changmin. "We can talk about it, if you want," he suggested. "I'm not good at giving advice... but I can listen."

Gratefully, Changmin leaned against Juyeon's warm body. "I'm just... I'm scared," he said. "I don't know what's going on, I don't know why this is happening, and..." He paused, voice breaking slightly. Juyeon held Changmin tighter. "...I feel weird staying here."

"What do you mean?"

"Like..." Changmin bit his lip again. "Like something's going to happen." He then shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"No, no, it's okay," Juyeon reassured him. "Trust me, after what we went through yesterday, I wouldn't boame you for being even a little bit traumatized." With another smile, he repeated: "It's okay."

Changmin leaned into the comforting hug. After some moments of silence, he asked: "Can you tell me something?"

"Something?"

"I don't know, anything to take my mind off of everything that could go wrong tonight."

Juyeon paused, before starting to talk. "Did you have a roommate?" he asked.

"Yeah," Changmin replied. "My dorm is co-ed, though, so mine was a girl."

"Would I know who she was?"

Changmin considered it. "Mmm... nah," he replied simply. "How about you?"

"I did have a roommate. His name was- is ... Hyunjun," Juyeon answered. With a soft, barely noticeable sigh, he explained: "Two days ago, he left for a trip to Japan."

Changmin couldn't help but notice the slight change in Juyeon's tone when he talked about his roommate. "I'm sure he's okay," the younger boy reassured Juyeon. "I mean, maybe Japan's safer than here. Surely the whole world isn't like Korea, that'd be..." he trailed off. Although the sentence was unfinished, both boys knew they were thinking the same thing — the world was ending.

Changmin tried to shake away the thought. "I'm sure your roommate — Hyunjun — is safe there," he repeated. "If we get out of here, we could join him over there."

The moon cast soft rays on Juyeon's hopeful smile. "'When we get out of here'," Juyeon corrected his friend. "I'll take you there personally."

Changmin laughed quietly. "I'm going to hold you to that, you know," he joked.

"You should," Juyeon replied, smiling. "I promise I'll get us both out of here, Changmin."

And in the dim light of the waning crescent moon, two boys found solace, in each other's arms and warm promises.

WORD COUNT // 711 words

AUTHOR'S NOTE // jukyu cuddling <3