wasteland, baby!

36

Jungwon doesn't know where the fuck he's going. Partly because he can't fucking see where exactly it is he's going and also partly due to the fact that he doesn't know where the fuck he is.

He doesn't know how long he's been walking for now, but the sun is beginning to set and Jungwon's absolutely freezing. His face and body fucking hurts from the few hits Jay got in, but he immediately pushes that thought away. He can't think about Jay right now and not start to freak out again about what happened. He needs to at least find a place to lie down before he can do that.

He wants to listen to music, but then remembers he left basically everything he owned back in his backpack. He wraps his arms around himself tighter and instead hums the tune to a song he liked when he heard it on the radio.

He feels like he's back at square one. Like the past half-year didn't matter because he still ended up back where he began; alone and lost, and still not knowing if his family was okay or not.

He tries to focus on memories of his family instead. The sound of his mom laughing, warm and bright; his dad, strong resilient and how he always reminded Jungwon of a superhero, able to fix anything he put his mind on; and his sister, always so full of love even though Jungwon knew he got on her nerves the majority of the time. He keeps those thoughts at the forefront of his mind as he keeps walking straight, trying to distract himself from the cold and motivating himself to keep moving.

He eventually finds an abandoned little store off the side of the road and he hurries inside, thankful for a chance to finally rest.

It's a little dark when Jungwon makes his way inside the building. Jungwon's seen Jay inspect an area enough times to know he should do that, but he's so fucking tired and couldn't give less of a shit right now, so he just drops to the floor, exhausted and not wanting to think about anything for a while.

No such luck, though. As soon as he closes his eyes, all he can see is Jay. How he'd looked on the ground, all bloody and beaten because of him. How terrified he had looked when Jungwon pulled the gun on him. When Jungwon pulled a fucking AK-47 on him. Jungwon huddles in on himself tighter.

What the fuck had he been thinking?

He hadn't been thinking, Jungwon reminds himself. That was the problem. He never thought things fucking through.

What Jay had said to him had hurt him, vicious and painful to remember, cutting deep and making him feel worse about what he already had had to do. But then he remembers how he had cut into Jay's skin with his fists and Jungwon kinda wants to throw up again.

He never thought things through... and now he was here, alone in the dark, freezing, without his best friends, without his family, without Maeumi, without Jay.

Alone with nothing but his thoughts was always a dangerous place to be, but Jungwon couldn't help but think about how different it would be if Jay were here with him.

Jay pressed up against his side, cradling Maeumi close to his chest to keep him warm as he joked with Jungwon, trying to get him to laugh. Jay laughing at his own stupid jokes and Jungwon leaning over to kiss him because the sound just made him feel nothing but pure adoration. He gets lost in his thoughts about Jay, feeling completely empty and knowing he wasn't going to get that back now. He clutches at himself as tightly as he can.

He's so lost in his hurt that he doesn't hear the rustling to his side until it's too late.

The zombie is on him before he even has a chance to understand what's happening and immediately panic settles in. He tries to sit up, push the thing away, but the zombie is bigger and stronger than him and Jungwon's head hits the floor HARD when the monster pushes him back down, snarling and snapping his mouth inches from Jungwon's face.