They walked in silence for a while.
Donghyuck closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the sun, letting the warmth wash over him. Jeno was dripping with sweat and Donghyuck felt horrible for Jisung who was thrown over his shoulder.
Jisung had passed out almost as soon as they started on their journey, but Jeno insisted that he would be fine, he just needed rest before he could walk on his own along with them.
The streets had been surprisingly peaceful. They had come across a few people and Donghyuck had been afraid they might be mob members, but nobody stopped them. They were all too run down and ragged to even notice them, and the few Donghyuck did make eye contact with just gave him a small nod. Donghyuck gave some of his rations to a little boy they passed in an alley. He was skin and bones, but the way his eyes lit up when Donghyuck smiled and handed him some saltine crackers made his heart swell.
Strange how Donghyuck felt more alive now than he did when he wasn't in constant danger.
"Let's stop here for a few minutes," Jeno said. He set Jisung down on the blacktop. Jisung hissed and sat up, rubbing his burnt arms.
Donghyuck stayed standing and looked around. The first time he'd went off on his own to find Jeno, he hadn't payed much attention to anything. Might've been because he had almost frozen to death, but that didn't matter. He didn't recognize anything, but even if he had payed attention, how easy could it be to recognize a bunch of sand and broken down cars? They were everywhere.
"Sit," Jeno said as he took a sip of his water. "We still have a long ways to go, don't wear yourself out."
Donghyuck rolled his eyes but sat down across from Jeno anyways. Jisung was fully awake, but he sat there without saying a word. He kept eyeing Donghyuck, and he was afraid he would freak out and grab him again, but he never did.
Donghyuck turned his attention to Jeno. Jeno leaned back on his hands and tilted his head up towards the sun. His eyes were squinted when he looked back at Donghyuck. "What?"
"Nothing," Donghyuck shook his head. Looking at Jeno, how much he'd changed over the past year, Donghyuck couldn't help but be reminded of Mark. When he and Mark first got together, Mark wasn't much bigger than him. He was a scrawny, wannabe rapper with too-long hair that was always flat against his forehead and pinned there beneath a flat brimmed hat. But as they grew older, Mark grew out of his awkward phase. He filled out, bulked up a little. Donghyuck teased him for not growing that much, though Mark was still taller than him. Though, not by much.
M
ark finally stopped wearing his stupid baggy outfits and actually developed a non-disgusting sense of fashion, which consisted mostly of jeans and hoodies, maybe a striped button up short-sleeve shirt, or if they were at school, his letterman jacket. He wore it every single day without fail.
'I'm the captain of the team,' Mark would say every time Donghyuck asked why he always wore it. 'I have to make sure everyone knows.'
The only Canadian in school was captain of the hockey team. Who would've thought?
Across from Donghyuck, Jeno tugged on his sweat-soaked T-shirt. He had gained a lot more weight since they had lived in Target. He looked healthy again, and had even put on a lot of muscle. Being separated from the rest of them definitely did Jeno a lot of good, despite putting Sicheng through hell.
