More Short Stories!- Kai Ships Only

Sookai- Contained

Everyone else made it to earth but them. The rule was the first to arrive was the first to leave. That's fair. Except the rocket that was supposed to retrieve them, exploded during launch. They didn't even make it to orbit. Everyone in that unit died. The launch pad was blown to pieces. Soobin and Kai were stuck on mars.

Kai searched the fridge for something to eat but there wasn't much. If they weren't rescued soon, he guessed maybe a week until all of their food was gone. Things seemed bleak as the radio crackled in the background. When the rocket crashed, they were told just one day until rescue came. One day became three. Three became a five. Now, they were going on a week without any sign of progress. Their hope was as empty as their rations.

Soobin was busy writing a letter to his family. He already decided they were going to die up there. His family deserved to know that he loved them and it meant the world that they supported his dream to go to space. The fridge door clanged shut. Soobin looked up to see Kai come back with nothing. They didn't say anything when they made eye contact. He just watched the younger leave. When Kai's footsteps were no longer within earshot, he went back to writing.

Kai was checking out the greenhouse. He had a choice. Use their, already low, water supply on their plants or for themselves. He chose to use half of it for the plants. Soobin would probably scold him for that later but if they had a shot at more food, Kai was going to take it.

Watching their water diminish into the soil was painful. The tank was at their critical point now. Kai ate a couple of cherry tomatoes, a few strawberries and a shot of water. That was going to be his only meal of the day. He long decided to be the first to die if it came to that point. Soobin had a family who loved him and friends who cherished him. Who did Kai have? No one. His existence wouldn't be missed. He picked a head of lettuce then put together a small salad. Ranch dressing from the fridge was added for flavor.

Soobin looked up to see a bowl and a fork being presented to him. As he ate, he asked "how bad is it?"

"We only have a weeks worth of food left and maybe five days of water."

Kai started to leave. His stomach rumbled as he entered the doorway. Soobin said "wait. What did you eat?"

"Enough." Kai left towards the bedroom. Barely eating didn't give him a lot of energy for anything. Once he laid down, he stared at the purple-blue sky. A single tear slipped onto the pillow as he thought of dying. The crackle of the radio was the perfect white noise to send him to sleep.

Soobin walked into the bedroom with his half eaten salad. He sat on the side of Kai's bed and just watched him dream. His fingers gently brushed the younger's hair away from his forehead. Those black strands were still fluffy despite their lack of a real shower. The last "shower" they took was wiping a bunch of wet wipes on themselves. Even with all of their water conservation efforts, the tank was still at a critical point. Soobin wondered how his skin was so clear as he kept mindlessly finger combing his hair.

Kai's eyes fluttered awake. He rubbed his eyes then sat up. "Hey. I was having a nice dream. What's up? Did we get an update?"

"Eat."

"I did eat."

"Stop. I know what you're doing."

Kai rolled his eyes then laid back down into the blanket. He turned towards the wall so he didn't have to face Soobin. "Leave me alone."

"I will when I see you eat this."

"I told you. I already ate. May I continue my dream now?"

"Fine." Soobin stormed out with the bowl. He had to stop himself from throwing it in the trash out of anger. The rest of the salad was shoved into his mouth. Kai was the most stubborn person he had ever met. Each bite frustrated him further. The empty bowl was tossed into the trash. Soobin was going to talk some sense into him as he made his way back over.

He stopped in his tracks to see that Kai wasn't alone in the bedroom. The younger appeared to be dreaming. A shadow of a man was standing over. His lips were pressed against Kai's ear. Soobin couldn't hear what he was saying. It sounded like a disorted growl. The shadow figure looked up to see they weren't alone. It floated upwards, phasing through the ceiling, then disappeared into the dust. Soobin ran towards the window to try and find him. He turned around when he heard the wrinkle of the blanket. "...Kai? Are you okay?"

Kai rubbed his temples. "Ugh. Can you please stop waking me up from my dreams?"

"Tell me about them." Soobin quickly sat on the edge of the bed.

"You want to know about my dreams?"

"I really really do."

Kai arched his eyebrow at how serious his colleague was being. "Okay? All I dreamt about was someone to go back to. Someone who would be there at my apartment and greet me as I came home. Just someone to love me... that sounds so fucking depressing."

"Did you see who they were?"

"Yeah. My husband before he died."

"Oh... Kai, I'm so s-"

"Save it."

Soobin bit his lip. "What did he say to you in the dream?"

"That I need to get out of here. He said you'd either be my savior or my downfall. I was about to ask him what the hell he meant but then you woke me up. Again." Kai genuinely didn't understand why Soobin looked so concerned. It was just a dream. He laid back down assuming that was the end of it.

Soobin kept looking outside. He knows he didn't imagine that.

To Kai's surprise, he found the taller crawling under the blanket with him. "Is your bed broken or something?"

"It's cold in my room."

Arguing wasn't worth it. Kai flipped over with the intention of going back into his dream.

Soobin was not going to sleep until he saw that shadow thing again. He had to know it was real. He wanted to protect Kai because no one deserved it more. Hearing that he lost his husband was gut wrenching. Soobin had a boyfriend of his own. They weren't in love but the thought of losing him wasn't pleasant. He had never been in love before. He had no idea what it was like to share your soul with someone. Kai rolled over in his sleep. His head rested on Soobin's chest as his arm wrapped around his body. Soobin sat completely still. His heart was in his throat from how warm the younger was. He didn't know what to do. He awkwardly held him when he remembered to breathe.

Time ticked by. The crackle of the radio turned into that same distorted growl. It bellowed "he's-he's killing himself. And y-you're letting him. You're letting him DIE." The voice started screaming "SAVE MY HUSBAND! S-SOOBIN CH-CH-" The radio shut off. Soobin held Kai closer to his chest in the silence. The radio clicked on once more. That familiar crackle came to life as Kai snuggled his chin further into his chest. He didn't know what to do.

One of them was going to make it out alive. If Soobin chose to be the savior, he would sacrifice himself for Kai. Otherwise, he would be his downfall.