Minho felt numb. Hongjoong and Seonghwa took turns trying to talk to him, let him know he wasn't alone. But he hardly even heard their questions.
Chan was dead.
Hyunjin was dead.
For all he knew, Jeongin and Seungmin were dead.
Hell, the other three were probably dead.
This was real.
People were really dying.
All of the zombies in the hallway—they were real people. And now Chan was one of them.
He couldn't ever face him. And he couldn't even imagine what had happened to Hyunjin's body since he'd last seen it. He never wanted to leave the closet again.
But he knew Hongjoong and Seonghwa had plans to get to the control room. And he knew they were only waiting around because they felt bad.
He knew he was ruining their mission.
But he almost wished they would just leave him and get on with it.
Clearly he wasn't in any condition to make it there. He would only slow them down. Logically, they should've just left him behind by now. But they refused.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Hongjoong asked, coming over to sit down as Seonghwa walked away to stretch his legs.
"Well—in case you hadn't noticed—there's a bullet lodged in my thigh. So I'm not feeling great."
"That's...not really what I meant."
"You mean how am I mentally coping with the fact that I looked directly into the soulless eyes of two of my best friends? I'm gonna have to go with not well."
"Minho, you know you couldn't have done anything to save them. It's not your fault."
"Clearly. I'm not the one who fucking bit them."
"Look, I'm sorry. This is a really shitty situation. But you need to believe me when I say that Seonghwa and I are on your side. We may not know each other the same way we know our own members but that doesn't make a difference. We're not going to abandon you."
"At this point, I kinda wish you would."
"I know you're lashing out because you're upset. So I just wanted to tell you that we're here for you. Okay?"
"You really don't have to be. I'll be fine on my own. Why don't you two go ahead and find the control room? You can always come back for me if you feel guilty."
"Minho, we're not just going to leave you here. You're more important than getting to the control room."
"But if you get to the control room you can save everyone who's still alive. So theoretically, it is more important."
"It's not a guarantee. And even so, it's not worth it to sacrifice a life for others. That's not a bargain I'm willing to make."
Minho looked away, signaling that he was done talking. Hongjoong sighed, standing and walking over to Seonghwa.
Seonghwa put his arms around Hongjoong, holding his waist at arms length and crossing his wrists over each other. Hongjoong looked up at him with a glum smile.
"So? How is he?" Seonghwa asked, keeping his voice low.
"Certainly more talkative than before."
"That's good," Seonghwa said encouragingly but Hongjoong shook his head.
"He's still being difficult. He won't stop talking about staying behind. He wants us to just go ahead without him."
Seonghwa looked down at the ground.
