What Time Forgot | Minsung

|7|

The walked for hours, Minhos shoes rubbing his feet in all the wrong ways.

Jisung hadn't spoken a word to him since they exited on the river bank. He stayed quiet for the most part, eyes glancing up at the stars every so often.

They came across an old neighborhood, after two hours of aimlessly wandering in the woods. At least that's what it felt like to Minho but everyone else seemed to know the directions.

"Can we stop for the night?" Felix asked, motioning to the buildings in front of them.

"Yeah," Hyunjin said "let's see how many there are and we can pick the safest one,"

"Cold.." Minho whispered to himself, his damp clothes not doing anything to keep him warm in the slightest.

Jisung turned to Minho, glaring at him like he'd just said the most awful thing.

"It's okay," Felix said and fell in step beside Minho and smiled softly, "the buildings are a little warmer inside.. even though the do look pretty decrepit. I'm sure we can find some blankets too maybe even a change of clothes,"

Minho looked up at Felix with a small smile and nodded.

They made it to the buildings and looked around for about twenty minutes before they decided on one. In the middle of the houses, one that looked the most in tact and the most promising for goods.

They made it inside, the house dark and terrifying to Minho. Jisung was completely silent as they made their way inside, closing his eyes and standing in the doorway until Hyunjin found a little oil powered lamp and a few cables and lit them with some matches he'd also found.

Jisung only opened his eyes again.

Minho walked around the faded memories of the home, looking around at the old family photos that were broken or filled with dusts or faded from too much sun exposure. They seemed happy.. and he wondered where they were now.

"They had a whole closet full of blankets!" Felix said, coming back with a whole armful of quilts and smaller fleece blankets.

"There's not much food," Hyunjin said, coming back with a few cans of canned fruit, "but it's something,"

"You seem pretty gloomy for a guy that just escaped an insane asylum," Felix said and walked up to Minho with a grin.

He shrugged, "it's been years since I've been in the open.. so it's strange.."

Minho glanced at the others, jisungs eyes lingered on him for a moment before he walked over and grabbed one of the cans of fruit, pulling the tab and opening it. He plopped on the dusty couch and began eating, not sparing Minho a single glance otherwise.

"How about we go find you some clothes?" Felix asked Minho and kept that same bright smile on his face.

"Okay," Minho answered and nodded.

The two boys made their way up the creaky stairs of the house, taking their time in case some decided they were too heavy and collapsed. They held a candle in each of their hands to light the way.

They made it up safe though, and Felix began looking around the rooms. Minho followed, taking in the different personalities of the rooms.

One thing in particular caught his eye.

In the main bedroom, which he assumed to be the parents of this used to be household, there was a night stand. The deep oak wood nightstand held a lamp and a little money jar that had spare coins inside of the old currency.

Though, sitting on the nightstand, there were two rings. Two wedding bands that lay there, untouched for who knows how long. A small note lay beside them that read.

"I know, my love.. times are hard.
The new world is nothing like we thought.
It's scary, terrifying that we are being tormented by our own government and I am being forced to be on their side. But trust me, I will come back for you.. I will, my love. If you have faith in nothing else, have faith that our love will reach miles and miles away, and that it will stay strong no matter how many leaps and bounds it takes for me to come back to you. Have my ring as a symbol of this promise. That I will always, always return to you.

I love you, forever.
Love, Junseo"

Minho felt saddened by this.

Taking the other wedding band as a sign that he never came back. That he probably died out there fighting for the commander in this awful war. He wondered if he'd ever seen him, wondered if they'd ever crossed paths.

"I found some clothes," Felix said, coming into the dimly lit room and glancing at Minho and down to the note on the nightstand.

Minho looked back at Felix who was still looking at the note. The others eyes then moved to Minhos and he gave him a small smile.

"Don't let the past lives lived here get to you," Felix said and swallowed, "I know it's hard, but it makes moving forward to difficult."

"He never came back," Minho said softly.

He'd never had a chance to see what it was like in the outside after the reform hit. So seeing it all now was difficult.. so so difficult that he never ever imagined he'd feel this way. That he would feel so sympathetic towards broken stories with no ending that made anyone happy.

"You should change and lie down," Felix said, glancing at the paper again, "I'm sure you're exhausted,"

Minho looked down at the rings one more time before he nodded and swallowed heavily

"Okay.." he agreed.

Thirty minutes later, everyone was changed and lying down in the living room. They'd pulled mattresses from other rooms and made little beds that they could rest in for the night. Hyunjin and Felix sharing one as they cuddled, fast asleep already.

It took hours for Minho to fall asleep though he was exhausted from never truly recovering from his sickness the week before.

Even as he focused on everyone else's slow breathing, he was too caught up in his own mind to allow himself to rest properly. He was also terrified of what was to come. He knew nothing of what to expect and somehow that terrified him more than he could ever expect.

It was only after hours of aimlessly having his eyes closed that he fell asleep.