Lost Boys {Book Two}

Faster We're Falling

Yuta looked down at the ant crawling over his fingers.

Usually he would've killed it, crushed the tiny thing under his hand. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Lately, he couldn't bare to kill anything, even the spiders Sicheng cried about. He'd cup them in his hands and walk them outside. A year ago, he wouldn't have even gone near them. But there was too much death, and not just people.

Most of the human and animal carcasses had been eaten by the surviving animals—foxes, birds, stray dogs and cats, et cetera, et cetera.

It grossed him out, but at the same time, nature always takes care of itself. So when he saw trucks of armed men in uniforms driving into the city, he panicked.

He and Yukhei had gone outside and were spotted not too long after by one of the groups. At first, Yuta thought they were mobs, the ones with money for actual weapons. But as they walked closer, Yuta realized their uniforms were camouflage. They wore matching berets and had badges pinned to their chests. They were soldiers.

When Yuta asked what was going on, they explained that the government was cleaning up the streets. All the garbage was being taken away, any salvagable vehicles would be brought into the government and used for rescues. Injured animals would be taken to wildlife rehabilitation centers where they would be cared for and then released. The homeless would be paid to help clean up the streets and rebuild the cities, cook food, and repair houses. Couples would take in orphaned children after being approved by child protective services.

Yuta was absolutely ecstatic. He and Yukhei ran all the way back to the studio, where they excitedly told the others about what they had seen.

Sicheng fell into his arms, shedding a few tears but assured Yuta that they were tears of relief.

Yuta wondered if the government had made it out to wherever Jeno, Jisung, and Donghyuck were. He hadn't heard from them in days, but he was sure they were fine. If Jeno and Donghyuck survived by themselves, surely they could do it again, especially now that they had each other.

Behind him, the boards that had been nailed across the windows of the studio fell to the ground.

"Howdy," Yukhei's head popped out through the open window. "Nice, huh? We have natural light now."

Yuta pulled himself to his feet and turned around. "D'you think they'll turn the electricity back on?"

"Pretty sure," Yukhei said. "They need it to rebuild, don't they?"

"Yeah," Yuta brushed his fingers through his too-long hair and pushed it back away from his face. Sicheng, Yuta, and Jisung had let their hair grow out quite a bit. Chenle cut his own hair, along with Yukhei's, Donghyuck's, and Jeno's.

Xiaojun, Hendery, and Yangyang stuck around. They didn't stay in the studio (thank god) due to lack of room, and instead they stayed across the alley in what seemed to be a supply room for one of the restaurants up the street.

Yuta still wasn't sure how he felt about them, since Chenle told them to speak chinese to him and refuse to translate. It had been a week, and Yuta had still never had a conversation with them.

Not for lack of trying though, Yuta had asked them many questions about anything he could think of, but they'd just snicker and mutter something in chinese. Yuta even asked Sicheng to please, please tell him what they had said. But Sicheng would only shrug and turn away, thinking Yuta didn't notice him fighting a smile.

Needless to say, Sicheng went without kisses for the rest of the day. By far the worst punishment Yuta could think of—in fact, he himself almost couldn't take it.