Survival Instinct // Namkook

chapter 31 - what now?

The moment they were thrown out of the building, the door slamming behind them, Jungkook didn’t waste a second. His arms were around Namjoon before he could even think, pulling him into a tight hug. Namjoon’s body tensed at first, rigid and unyielding, but after a moment, he allowed himself to relax, his hands settling awkwardly on Jungkook’s back.

Jungkook’s relief was palpable, his grip firm as though he feared Namjoon would disappear if he let go. "I thought—" Jungkook began, his voice shaky. "I thought they’d kill us."

Namjoon didn’t respond, his eyes distant, lost in thought. He glanced back at the towering building behind them, the place where his old friend—no, the man he used to know—was still inside, ruling over a broken city like a ghost from his past. The dizziness from earlier still clung to him, the world around him slightly blurred. His body ached from the rough handling, but he couldn’t focus on the pain, not now.

Jungkook pulled back slightly, just enough to look up at Namjoon’s face. “What do we do now?” His voice was quiet, filled with concern and a sense of uncertainty that Namjoon wasn’t used to. It made something stir inside him, something that felt dangerously close to attachment.

“We sit,” Namjoon said simply, his voice rough. He gestured to the ruins nearby. “Just... give me a second.”

The three of them moved to the remnants of an old wall, crumbling and worn down by time. Namjoon leaned against it, trying to steady himself as he sat down, his mind still swirling with memories of Yoongi. It had been years since they’d last seen each other, and the apocalypse had turned the boy he once knew into something... darker, more dangerous.

Jungkook sat beside Namjoon, his face still etched with worry. He was quiet for a moment before finally asking the question that had clearly been eating at him. “So... you knew him? The guy inside. Suga?”

Namjoon let out a slow breath, his gaze fixed on the ground in front of him. He had hoped Jungkook wouldn’t ask, but he should’ve known better. Jungkook was always full of questions. “We were... childhood friends,” Namjoon admitted, his voice low. He didn’t elaborate, didn’t offer any details. He didn’t want to.

J-Hope, who had been sitting nearby, observed the exchange quietly. He tilted his head, looking between the two of them. “You guys seem kinda similar,” he said, his voice more lighthearted than the situation called for. “The way you act, I mean.”

Namjoon frowned, but he didn’t argue. In some ways, J-Hope was right. He and Yoongi had always shared a certain intensity, even as kids. But now, after everything they’d been through, it was more pronounced. They had both been hardened by the apocalypse, changed in ways neither of them could have predicted.

“Yoongi changed,” Namjoon said after a long pause. His voice was softer now, more contemplative. “We both did. After everything went to hell, we lost touch. I didn’t know what became of him until now.”

Jungkook watched Namjoon closely, sensing the weight of the memories he wasn’t sharing. There was a sadness there, hidden beneath Namjoon’s usual stoic demeanor. Jungkook didn’t push, though. He knew better than to force Namjoon to talk if he wasn’t ready.

J-Hope, always one to fill the silence, spoke up again. “It’s weird, right? Running into people from your old life? Like... who they used to be and who they are now, it’s like two different people.”

Namjoon nodded slightly, though his mind was far away. “It is.”

Jungkook glanced between the two of them, unsure of what to say. He hadn’t known Namjoon for long, but the more time they spent together, the more he saw glimpses of the man behind the walls Namjoon kept so carefully constructed. There was a complexity to him, layers that Jungkook hadn’t fully unraveled yet.

As they sat there, the city around them eerily quiet, Jungkook felt a strange sense of calm. For now, they were safe. Namjoon had saved them—again—and even though the situation was far from ideal, Jungkook couldn’t help but feel grateful.

“We should probably figure out our next move,” J-Hope said after a while, his voice cutting through the silence.

Namjoon looked up, his expression hardening once more. “We’re not staying here. Not with Yoongi watching.”

Jungkook nodded, even though he still had so many questions about Namjoon and his friend’s past. But now wasn’t the time to ask. Now, they needed to focus on surviving.

And for some reason, despite everything that had happened, Jungkook found comfort in the fact that, for the time being, they were still together.