The Invasion (Part 2 of the KaiSoo Fanfic Series)

Chapter 1

The colder season has come to the desert, which makes the temperatures drops significantly at night from what they are during the day, so a fire is the only way to assure that everyone stays warm enough during the night, especially the baby since it's the youngest of them all. While Chanyeol and Suho try to get a fire started for the night, Jongin draws another X in the sand. He's lost count of how many he's drawn since their very first night in the desert, but he Xiumin calculated that it's been around six months since their escape. 

Words can't describe how awful Jongin feels for forcing all of his loved ones into a less than fortunate situation, especially when he looks at them and notices how much weight they've lost. But at the same time, what else could he have done? They were already thinking when they were in The Dome and sooner or later, they would have been caught for that and banished here anyway. It's hard to recount all the dried up skeletons they passed on their journey, and Jongin can't help but think that if it wasn't for him, they could have added more to that already large number. It's better that they escaped how they did because at least they're together and not on their own, right? That's what Jongin hopes. 

A sigh blows from his lips as he lays the stick down, taking a temporary seat in the sand. He stares at them and his mind wanders back to the ones he drew before at the other spots they've rested at. Six months doesn't seem like a long time, he thinks, but it does when you've spent the whole of those months walking through a merciless desert looking for some sign. Scorching temperatures during the day and freezing ones at night: no wonder it's called the Sterile Desert. 

How can anyone survive more than an hour out here? Jongin doesn't know, but somehow he and all of his friends have. Perhaps it's a miracle, he often thinks. Maybe the gods are watching over them and keeping them safe. But sometimes, he also thinks maybe it's the universe's way of telling him that he's on the right path. He's read many adventure books and all of the heroes in them have gone through struggles like Jongin and his friends are right now and they ended up with a happy ending. So, maybe all of these trials will pay off for them one day and they, too, will get a happy ending. 

"Hey." Kyungsoo's voice brings Jongin out of his trance and he smiles a gentle smile at him before walking toward him and sitting down beside him. "Chanyeol and Suho got the fire going. I think it's the biggest one yet. There's no doubt that we'll all stay warm tonight."

"Good," Jongin says, smiling back at him. After that, he looks back at the marks in the sand, prompting Kyungsoo's eyes to follow him.

"How many does that make?" he asks him, his not as cheerful as it was only a few seconds before. 

Jongin glances at him before answering with a sigh, "Well, if Xiumin is right, about 182."

"Wow," the elder comments, exhaling lightly and crossing his legs. "It feels like it's been longer than that, doesn't it?" 

"Yeah, I guess it does," Jongin replies. He furrows his eyebrows a little as he says this. To be truthful, his entire perception of time has been skewed by the desert. It's as if it has physically embedded itself in his mind and is deliberately messing with him. 

"When do you think we'll get out of here?" Kyungsoo asks him in a voice that's now completely serious. Jongin turns his eyes toward him and takes note of how his face is slightly compressed. "If it's already been six months," he goes on, "who's to say it won't be another year or even more until we finally reach the end of the desert or until someone rescues us?" He averts his eyes away from ahead of him and looks at Jongin. "It could be another decade until we leave this place." 

As much as he wants to give him an optimistic response, the only thing Jongin can do is sigh and pull Kyungsoo into his arms. His head now resting against the younger's chest, Kyungsoo can hear Jongin's heart as it falters in its beats, causing him to wrap his two arms around his waist in a hug. Jongin doesn't even attempt to fight off the smile growing on his lips, tilting his head downward ever so slightly in order to take in a whiff of Kyungsoo's soft hair.