The two had been sitting in silence for nearly an hour but to them, it felt like Hyunjin had just left. Seungmin held Jeongin's head in his lap, stroking his hair softly.

But something was bothering him.

Hyunjin's confession.

Right before...

He had been trying so hard not to think about it. It made everything hurt so much more.

But he couldn't get past it.

All this time...Hyunjin had liked him?

And now that he finally knew...Hyunjin was dead.

He couldn't do anything.

Not that he wanted to...he had Jeongin. But...it felt like such a betrayal to just pretend the confession never happened.

Knowing Hyunjin liked him. And knowing Hyunjin was dead. It was all too much at once. He needed air. He needed to get out of this place.

He moved to stand, accidentally jolting Jeongin's head off of his lap and onto the floor. Jeongin grumbled quietly but he was mostly just curious about Seungmin's sudden movement.

"Seungmin? What's wrong?"

It was such an innocent question. But it stabbed Seungmin like a knife.

"What's wrong is my friend is dead and there's nothing I can do about it."

Jeongin slowly looked at his hands, startled by the rise in volume.

"He's my friend, too."

Seungmin looked away.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"It's okay...it was a stupid question."

Seungmin felt the tears returning, after finally getting a hold on them.

"He's really gone..." he whimpered, his voice cracking.

"Hey, come here," Jeongin whispered, standing hesitantly with his arms extended.

Seungmin shook his head, wiping his eyes.

"I'm fine. I'm the hyung."

"Barely."

Seungmin smiled, just a little.

"Come on."

Jeongin kept his arms outstretched and Seungmin sighed dramatically before walking over to him. But as he was engulfed in the maknae's firm embrace, he began to lose it.

"Why'd he have to tell me now?" he whispered as tears started rolling down his cheeks.

"It was his last chance," Jeongin whispered, rubbing his back softly.

"I just feel-so guilty! How did I never know!? All these years! He's probably been miserable ever since you and I started dating, and I never knew! What if-what if at some point he had planned on asking me out?? We might've-we could've been something!"

Jeongin's hand slowed.

"Are you saying, you wish you'd given him a chance?"

Seungmin pulled back a bit, wiping his nose.

"What? No!!"

"Cuz...I'd understand. He's...Hwang Hyunjin. And I'm just..."

"You're Yang Jeongin. And you're the most special and beautiful person I've ever met."

Seungmin was looking right into his eyes.

"I'm just saying..."

"Well stop. I'm not having second thoughts. This doesn't have anything to do with us. I'm just-so overwhelmed. It all happened so fast...I can't-I can't believe he's really..."

They both nodded in silence.

"I'm sorry...I wasn't jealous or anything...it's not fair to feel sorry for myself right now."

"Hey, you're just processing everything. So am I. We just need to be here for each other. That's all we can do right now."

Jeongin nodded and the two pulled apart slightly. It felt like Hyunjin's ghost was there, watching them. Everything felt horrible. It was stifling.

"Do...do you think Minho hyung is okay?" Jeongin whispered.

Minho.

Seungmin had almost forgotten the gunshot earlier. He hadn't thought about anyone but Hyunjin ever since they'd gotten to safety. A wave of uneasiness passed between the two of them.

"I don't know."

He knew it wasn't what Jeongin wanted to hear, but they both knew his odds weren't great. At least he had Bang Chan and the girls.

Although, he realized he truly had no idea what had happened to either of the girls. After the gun went off, everything was a blur.

The only thing he could see clearly was Hyunjin's empty expression. His absolute terror. How ready he was to kill himself.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to erase the image.

"Minnie, it might just be us."

"I know. But it's okay. I'm going to protect you."

"We're not very strong on our own..."

"We'll have to be. Chan is trusting us to get to the control room. We can do it."

"It's still so far down the hallway. And what if communications are down? If it's really a zombie apocalypse, they might have taken down power already."

"It doesn't matter. We need to see. If anyone else is still alive, we'll be able to find them and save them. They're counting on us, Jeongin."

"I know. I'm just worried we're the worst team for this task."

"Hey, we fought our way here and took out those guys all on our own. We can do this."

Jeongin's eyes followed Seungmin's gesture to the zombies whose bodies lay limp in the corner.

"So going for the head really takes them out? Even with the virus?" he asked, almost forgetting they'd gotten into such an intense encounter earlier.

"I guess."

"How did you know that would work?"

"I didn't. It was just luck. I guess...I got so worried about keeping you safe that I kind of went on autopilot for a moment."

Jeongin looked at him with a soft smile, his eyes shining in admiration.

"We can do this," he said confidently this time.

Seungmin turned back to face him, his face heating up at the intense expression on Jeongin's face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because my boyfriend is awesome."

Seungmin laughed.

"I'm awesome? Why's that?"

"Because you took out three zombies with your bare hands! And you don't even remember doing it! A true OP moment. I'm honored to be in your presence," he smiled goofily, unable to stay serious as he bowed dramatically.

Seungmin laughed, pulling him to his feet and sweeping him up into a soft kiss.

Jeongin pulled back in surprise.

"What was that about?"

"I love you, Jeongin. I'm so happy you're okay. If I lost you I don't know what I'd do. You're the only reason I'm still standing."

"Minnie," Jeongin whispered, holding his face in his hands. His thumbs traced his cheeks softly.

"We're going to make it out of here. And we'll find the others. I know we can't be the only ones left. I just know it."

Seungmin nodded.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

Jeongin smiled softly, stepping back and moving his hands down to Seungmin's shoulders.

"I love you, too."

Seungmin reached up to fix Jeongin's hair, pushing his wild strands back behind his ears.

"We can do this."

"We have to."

"For Chan."

"For everyone."