EVERLAST [EXO Baekhyun]

CHAPTER 10 - VISITORS

He remembered it like it was a nightmare. Maybe because it was. Baekhyun was filling the bottles with water when a bush jerked. When he glanced up, he heard chatter. English, it sounded like. Perhaps survivors from the plane? But when he saw the head of a person, he realized it was a male with hair way too long to have been a recent survivor, and that was without mentioning the grime stained on his face with a beard as un-kept as could be.

Luckily, he was back with Rona now. He didn't have to worry about the people for at least a few minutes. Or at least, he didn't have to worry about them attacking the pair. Baekhyun was almost certain he wasn't spotted. If he was, he would've been followed. That was what he told himself to bring a small sense of comfort. It barely worked, but it worked enough that it allowed him to speak.

"People...?" Rona said slowly, her tongue twirling and tying over each letter, "there's other people on this island?"

"I only saw one, but I'm assuming there's others. I saw a guy, and he was peeking over a bush and like... I don't know, standing there cryptically. He didn't see me as far as I know."

"There's some good news. What else is there?"

"I don't know, all I know is that it freaked me out that other people are here and t-there could be more people or animals or things. We just don't know because we didn't explore the other end of the island."

"Do you really want to?" she asked.

He couldn't answer. On one hand, exploring was a great idea. Get a feel for the land and understand what they were up against. It was important, but Baekhyun didn't care. That was the other hand. Risking being in danger just to find out what else was in this hellhole didn't appeal to him. He already killed animals and fed himself berries every day for lord knows how long. Unless there was a rescue waiting on the other side of this island, exploring wasn't worth the risk in his humble opinion. But maybe the business major would think otherwise.

"Do you?" he asked, trying to hide his vulnerability behind a strong tone.

"I'm not sure. Maybe we should just stick to our side of the beach and not worry about the people. If they haven't hurt us so far and they didn't see you, then I'm sure it's fine. Makes me wonder how people are living here though. If we get desperate enough, then sure we can seek them out. Otherwise..." She took two stones and plopped them in his hands. "We should work on starting a fire. First thing's first: I'm hungry."

"Hunger overtakes groundbreaking information?"

"Literally any day of the week."

He chuckled but found himself agreeing, him striking the stones together near the wood they already lined up. "Do you know anything about this?"

"No, but I do know you need kindling. Maybe dry leaves? You're not going to be able to just set the wood on fire... I think. I'm not exactly good at this."

Baekhyun wasn't either, so he stacked a bunch of (hopefully) flammable leaves near the wood and kept banging rocks together. After two minutes of no voices and him making loud noises with his hands, he decided to clear the air. "How are you doing? Both mentally and uh, with the whole period thing..."

"I'm not sure how to answer that, to be honest. I've always hated periods, but at least I know you won't judge me for having mine now."

"I never would. It's a natural thing, why would anyone judge that?"

"Oh you'd be surprised." She kicked at the dirt while Baekhyun worked, but still no progress was made. "Don't be a woman. It sucks."

"It does?"

"Oh yeah," she said, swatting the air with her hand. "For starters, the pressures of society suck ass. Secondly, we always have to shave even on bad days, otherwise we get judged. Thirdly, periods. Fourthly, dripping out of your hoo-ha and wondering what the fuck it is: period blood, discharge, juicy juice, or some new color you've never seen before. Oh and have I mentioned giving birth? Yeah - giving birth sucks. Fuck vaginas."