outbreak | svt

eleven

incheon, 01:05 AM

jihoon looks behind him, making sure the others were following. they were currently walking through the city, trying to see if seungkwan and hansol had landed elsewhere and were lost. 

he didn't like it one bit, though. 

not that he didn't want to find them, it was just cold, the wind was blowing at a steady pace, and he was tired. 

suddenly, a cold hand worked its way around his shoulders.

he whips his head around, expecting it to be soonyoung. turns out, its actually seungcheol.

"hey, jihoonie. what's up?" he asks, smiling down at him. he was at least six inches taller than him. "nothing. just cold and tired." jihoon says monotonously, still looking forward. he thought it was a weird question to ask in this scenario, but he decided to answer it anyway, not to be rude.

seungcheol said nothing to that,  just keeping his hand slung around jihoon's neck.

                                                                                             ......

so far for seungcheol, his plan is working.

he wants to see if he can spend enough time around jihoon, so maybe he can remember him. if he even saw him. there's probably a possibility, but he doesn't want to think about that. unless, the person that he saw that day wasn't jihoon. then, he'd be in a situation. but, he's certain that it was jihoon. he's positive. 

right now, he's just focused on jihoon, this rather beautiful boy to the side of him, to remember him. if it even was him.

"so, ji, what did you do before you joined with the facility?" seungcheol asks, raising an eyebrow. 

"uhm..." he starts, slightly thrown off by the nickname, more by the fact that he didn't actually know the answer to the question.

"well, i don't really know. like, before the outbreak?"

"mhm," seungcheol says, removing his hand from jihoon's neck, "that is unless you don't want to share."

"no, that's okay, i'll tell you. just make sure you're still watching for seungkwan and hansol."

"okay, whatever you say, hoonie."

what's with all the nicknames?

"okay, well, before this, i used to work for a small, secret company," he starts, not knowing what to do with his hands, so he makes random gestures that have nothing to do with what he's saying, "and i was a hacker there. i would always hack into security systems for them."

jihoon looks down to see that he's now messing with his already messed up cuticles. maybe he's nervous?

"until, we got caught one day. we fled before they could catch us, though. we had nowhere to go, so we were living in an apartment for a few months until we could get back out and get jobs."

he turns to see if seungcheol is still paying attention and sure enough, he was.

"so, one by one, the very few people that worked there got jobs and were able to continue working. on the other hand, i was the only one who couldn't get a job. it was either i didn't have the experience or they just didn't look at my resume. so, i was left with trying to pay the rent of that apartment and trying to find a job."

"i remember when taeyong came up to me one day, while i was walking back to my apartment and asked me if i wanted a job. he asked me basic questions like, what skills do you have and sorts like that. i told him that i was good at coding and hacking. he then told me i got the job. i was so amazed, it was great."

jihoon laughs then, recalling the memory.

seungcheol smiles at this like it's the best thing he's ever heard.

jihoon thinks it's weird, but he rolls with it.

"what happens then?" seungcheol asks, genuinely interested.

"well, here i am. none of you guys were here when i joined, you all came the next year. when the first outbreak happened, he asked me to go with a partner that he picked out for me, and we went to daegu. i was in charge of telling people to--wait...."

he stops then, turning to seungcheol and examining his features.

suddenly, jihoon makes an 'o' shape with his mouth and gasps.

"that's where i've seen you before! were you in daegu while i was there?" jihoon asks.

seungcheol smiles, dimples popping out.

"mhm, you saw me, didn't you?" seungcheol says.

"yeah, i did" jihoon says, ducking his head.

seungcheol smirks and says nothing, because that was much better that saying, i think i love you.

                                                                                        ......