It Follows {Book One}

15

Thursday, August 16
15 days

•Yuta•

Yuta leaned his head back against the door, and let out a long sigh. His heart pounded in his chest, and he took his damp t-shirt (he wasn't sure if it was from sweat or tears, or even if it was his own) and wiped at the dried tears on his cheeks. It didn't work very well, as he still felt the stickiness every time he moved.

But Yuta didn't care about that. Not now at least; it was finally quiet.

After hours of holding Sicheng against him, so he was bent over Yuta's shoulder as he coughed and coughed, vomit all over the floor only to choke, and cough some more, Sicheng had finally fallen asleep. It was a vicious cycle, and Yuta's heart shattered when Sicheng shouted hoarsely that he 'just wants to die already', through his tears. Yuta had never heard anything like that, he didn't know that a voice could be filled with so much fear and misery, and even now, he could still hear the words echoing in his mind.

Kun had tried taking Sicheng to the aisle where the others were kept, laid out across empty shelves. But Yuta refused to let anyone touch him. If Sicheng was put with the others, that meant he was going to die. Yuta knew it was going to happen soon, but he still hoped that they could have a few more days together. That's all he wanted. Maybe those last few days could be peaceful for them. Sicheng might even feel better. Yuta thought that he would be okay with him dying, as long as he wasn't hurting.

Sicheng let out a soft whimper over Yuta's shoulder. Yuta rubbed his back, trying to lull the boy out of his nightmare.

Yuta had already decided that once Sicheng was dying, more than he already was (and Yuta figured he'd be able to tell, it didn't really take a genius), he would take the little blue capsule he hid in his bag. Then they could die together.

He didn't want Sicheng to be alone in death.

He gently lifted Sicheng off of him and gently layed him down on the cold cement floor. Sicheng didn't seem to mind, and despite no longer having the comfort of his boyfriend, he stretched himself out to cool himself down.

Yuta lifted himself up off the floor, quickly reaching out to steady himself when he got to his feet. His body still hadn't adjusted to the heat, and Yuta had never been a fan of warm weather. And this was record breaking, fucking die if you're outside for fifteen minutes weather. He heard over the radio that Japan had flooded a week ago, and was now totally submerged underwater. Part of him wished he was there. Dead, right along with everybody else.

"Taeyong," Yuta said as he approached the crouched figure beside who he assumed to be Jisung. "How is he?"

It was late, around that time where reality seemed to be a bit altered. Yuta always found the strangest things happened then. Like waking up at a friend's house in the middle of the night, or walking through the woods in the dark. It gave him the same feeling of walking out of a late night movie into an empty mall.

The majority of the lights were shut off, but then again, they hadn't been turned on for days. They found it was best to keep it as dark and as cool as possible. Which was nice, especially for those like Jeno and Jisung, who seemed to really only be suffering from overheating.

"Not any better," Taeyong replied with a sigh. "But not any worse either. What's up?"

"I don't think Sicheng is going to last more than a few days."

Taeyong nodded. He smelled of alcohol.

"So I was thinking that when he died, I'd take the pill."

Taeyong didn't say anything.

"I want to be with him. So I was going to ask if you could," Yuta trailed off and scratched nervously at the back of his neck. "Like, just not move us apart."

"You want to die with him. Like . . . literally, at the same time. With him."

"Yes," Yuta's voice cracked, and he felt tears burning his eyes again. "Taeyong, you didn't see him when he found out about Taeil. He was devastated, I found him hugging his body a couple days ago, bawling his fucking eyes out."

"Yuta, that's a lot to-"

"I can't leave him alone, okay?! He's fragile."

"He'll be dead, Yuta," Taeyong's voice was suddenly harsh. Yuta blinked, and a few tears rolled down his cheeks. Taeyong stood up, finally leaving Jisung's side. He stepped towards Yuta, reaching out and shoving his shoulders back. "All of us are going to be fucking dead. It doesn't matter. None of this matters at all, okay?"

Yuta shook his head as he stumbled back. "You don't mean that, I know you. You're just saying that because of Jaehyun."

Taeyong shook his head wildly, bringing his palms up to either side of his head. "I'm not . . . Jaehyun's fine. He's fine. This has nothing to do with him. He's fine."

"Yeah?" Yuta cocked his head to the side. "Is Renjun fine too? And Taeil? And Doyoung? Taeyong, he's fucking dead! Get it together, man! Jesus, fuck, you have a kid on the ground behind you, who needs you, and you go and get fucking drunk, like the rest of us aren't suffering just as much!"

Taeyong didn't speak for a while. He stared at the ground, nodding slowly. "I miss him so much," He said slowly. "I would've taken my pill already, but I have to take care of Jisung. I'm not going until I know I've done all I can. Until he doesn't need me anymore."

"What about Kun?"

"He's busy enough already. I'm really proud of him," Taeyong started to choke up, and he wiped at his eyes furiously with his jacket sleeves. "I just wish everything wasn't so fucked up."

"Hey," Yuta said, reaching out to hug him. One of the most awkward and uncomfortable hugs of his life. "Everything's always been fucked up. But it's gonna be over soon."

"It better be, I'm sick of this."