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it's a thirty minute train ride to andong, thanks to the unreachable speed of the new revolutionary trains. duck is awake through it all despite the latter's trying to put him to sleep, but he's calm and busy sucking on his pacifier, eyeing taehyung once in a while as the dark haired boy sleeps, head next to jeongguk's lap.
yoongi eyes jeongguk, cautiously watching him. jimin notices. he always notices the way yoongi cares for taehyung, and he doesn't want to feel jealous but. . . him and yoongi had a past. jimin wants yoongi in his present now. ( they had ended things abruptly, going their own ways, but now they were back on the same road, it had to mean something. )
not much is said between them, they only talk about the infection and what they'll do after it's done. taehyung's hair is still damp as jeongguk runs his hand through it. "has your brother contacted you?" jimin asks yoongi.
"he said he's told the authorities that we'd be arriving shortly. they're waiting for us at the station," yoongi replies, double checking his phone for the correct information.
jimin hums, standing up and looking out the window. it's raining now, the skies are a dark shade of gray. taehyung wakes up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "taetae!" duck is excited to see his hyungie awake, so he slides off the seat and runs to him, hugging his legs and resting his head on his lap.
taehyung picks him up, "hi duck. are you feeling ok? tummy still hurts?"
duck shakes his head and rubs his belly, giving taehyung a thumbs up. "want a snack? gummies?" taehyung unzips his backpack and pulls out a pack of gummy worms, feeding the little one whilst also taking bites himself.
"holy shit," jimin gasps, making everyone look out the large window.
across the railroad tracks, at the first stop, there are thousands of zombies. unlike downtown busan, where zombies were more dispersed, here, they were all over the place. upon hearing the train, their attention snaps to it, running at an animalistic speed to try and catch it.
"the train will automatically stop for five minutes at this station since there's no driver. just close the windows and cover up the door," taehyung sets duck onto the side, standing up and pulling down the window coverings. trains like these were the new revolutionary thing for the wealthy in korea, taehyung knew a fair share of information.
jeongguk splashes water over the door's window and rips apart the magazine pages, pressing them against the glass. "we have to be quiet for a bit ok? it's like a game, stay quiet and you can eat the whole bag ok?"
duck nods and sits down on the floor, against the seats. he covers his mouth with his hand and gives the boys a thumbs up. jimin sits next to him and keeps him company, showing him some game on the phone.
taehyung slides the divider to the other side of the compartment and enters what seems to be a sleeping area. he doesn't take the time to glance around the luxuries that decorate the room, he's used to them. jeongguk, who follows him in and closes the divider, takes in the decorations. he finds it ridiculous that people would even need all these things.
and then his eyes fall on taehyung. despite wearing baggy clothing and looking like hell, he stands out in a room full of riches. jeongguk wishes there was a way to stop the fluttering of his heart when taehyung looks at him, giving him a pressed smile.
"you ok?" they both ask at the same time, voices just barely above a whisper.
taehyung let's out a laugh through his nose, nodding as an answer. jeongguk nods too, sitting down on the convertible couch. taehyung joins him, laying his hands over his thighs as he lets out a sigh. "maybe they can take me home with my parents," taehyung whispers, voice full of hope.
jeongguk can't agree. he can't promise anything to taehyung, there's an ugly feeling in his gut about taehyung's parents. the train begins moving once more, though they don't feel the sudden force of inertia. "the men at the apartments told you that they would dump the bodies in the water? i wonder what company was ordering these experiments. and-and how many bodies are still in the water? you said minhyuck was eaten while in the water. . ."
"you don't let any detail slip do you?"
taehyung turns to look at jeongguk, eyes adverting from his eyes to his lips, and although he tries to be sly about it, there's no denying what he just did. he laughs, "i'm just trying to put together a hypothesis. i can't help it, my parents always did it."
"were- are they like super nerds?"
taehyung scrunches his face up and laughs, and fuck, jeongguk has gone waaaay too long without hearing him laugh that it feels like he's hearing him for the first time. "they're neurologists too, but they specialize in the company since it's more profitable."
so that's why they're loaded with money, jeongguk raises his brows, "shit taehyung, so you're like crazy rich."
taehyung frowns, growing uncomfortable at the mention of his money coming from jeongguk. "i'm sorry, i shouldn't of brought that up," taehyung mumbles, eyes focusing on the carpet.
"no, no, don't."
taehyung looks back up at jeongguk, and in his eyes is nothing but sincerity. it feels like his jeongguk is finally coming back. his safe haven is coming back.
