✘ Even If The World Ends Tomorrow - 今

Chapter 1

It was the middle of the night, one week before everything ended.

Lee Chan curled up in his bed, shivering. Sleep seemed impossible at this point, when the only thought that ran through his mind was the inevitable doom he would have to face with his fellow members in a week.

All he felt was fear. Ever since scientists discovered the secret waiting to kill them all, the secret of the world's end, it had been the thought occupying everyone's minds. For a year, the entire population of the earth had lived in terror, talking only in hushed whispers, as if they were afraid of being overheard. Now that the end of the world was nearing closer than ever, things had only become worse.

Chan looked over at the clock on his bedside table. It was five minutes past midnight. He'd been tossing and turning for over four hours, unable to get a wink of sleep. He didn't want to spend all his time worrying about his unavoidable death in merely seven days. But it was just too scary, too horrible to not think about.

He'd always heard that question, a simple question at the time, but one of infinite meaning now. "What would you do if the world was ending?"

Every time, Chan had responded without thinking much. He'd try to spend as much time as possible with his members, because they were something like his second family, his twelve older brothers. His real family was great and all, but Chan felt at home with the members, like he finally had a purpose.

As he thought about the members, his heart ached. He longed for them, longed for the comfort they could bring him. But could they bring him comfort now, when they were all equally terrified? Would they be able to calm his worries, the way they always had?

Screw it. He hated being alone.

He stood up and walked to the door, his pillow and blanket in his arms. He doubted he could sleep either way, but somehow, he felt safer with his hyungs. He needed someone, anyone, to hold him tightly, to tell him things would be okay, even if it was a lie. Chan would rather hear lies than the truth. The truth was that they were all going to die, and no one wants to dwell on that.

His feet led him to the room the two eldest members shared. Seungcheol and Jeonghan had a special way of comforting him. Despite the four-year age difference between them and Chan, the youngest member felt a parental connection to them, especially Jeonghan.

He knocked on the door. "Hyungs, are you awake?" he called out softly.

"Channie? Come in." said Jeonghan's tired voice from inside.

Chan twisted the doorknob and entered the room. There were two beds, but one was empty, as Seungcheol and Jeonghan lay together in one bed. Both looked as if they hadn't slept in weeks. Then again, they probably hadn't.

"Sit here." insisted Jeonghan, patting the small space on the bed between him and Seungcheol. "It'll be cramped, but I'm sure we can pull it off."

"You couldn't sleep either?" asked Chan. Immediately after he said it, he wanted to hit himself. Of course they couldn't, the world was ending!

Seungcheol shook his head, moving over so Chan could lay down. "It's hard to think that we won't be able to live anymore in just a week."

It was then that Chan realized, Seungcheol and Jeonghan were having just as hard a time as the others, if not worse. It wasn't that he'd thought the elder members were completely carefree, but they acted so strong in front of everyone else. It was hard to see a new side of them, where they were just as vulnerable as him and the others.

"Don't say that." said Jeonghan, shivering. "I don't think any of us want to talk about it."

"Okay, fair enough." agreed Seungcheol. "I'm sorry."

"It's true, though." said Chan. "We're all going to die, and there's nothing we can do to stop it. We just have to sit here and await our fate, as if nothing's wrong."

Jeonghan teared up at the bitterness in Chan's tone. "Channie... don't think like that. There has to be a way out."

Chan sighed. "You don't mind if I stay here, do you?"

"Of course not." said Jeonghan, wrapping his arms around the maknae. "It's going to be okay, Channie. I promise."