jimin's laughs echoed throughout the house as he rode on taemin's back. he was so close to falling as taemin ran past everyone and everything.
"jimin, you'll fall!" he heard yoongi yell as they passed through the hallway.
jimin giggled, "i'm fine hyung!"
"slow down taemin! you're gonna break everything!" jimin slapped his head as his arms wrapped around taemin's neck.
"who cares?" taemin laughed.
it's been like this almost every day the past month. the group participated in as much activities as they could, distracting themselves from the terror of biters outside.
jimin's depression always snuck in on him. that sudden black pit of sadness that overwhelmed him to the point of just wanting to leave everyone.
but, his friends helped that. they always did.
especially yoongi and taemin. of course, he wouldn't admit it, but he liked yoongi. he was sure the latter didn't like him back, but that didn't stop his obvious crush on him.
he loved the way yoongi smiled. he loved how yoongi protected him and made him laugh. it just felt like home with him. it felt like the "l word."
and, his best friend taemin. after yoongi, taemin was the closest to jimin. he was like the best friend he never had.
taemin wouldn't dare to see a frown on jimin's face. he was such a clown that jimin couldn't stop smiling around him. he was thankful for taemin.
the group of six found taemin when they were looking for more medical supplies. jin was the best doctor, so they had to make sure he had all the supplies he needed.
taemin had a knife stuck in his leg, his cries alerting the group. wherever there was a human that needed help, they were there.
jin, of course, used his medical expertise to help the crying man. the group fought off the biters that were so close to taemin. to this day, he has been a member of the group, along with his lengthy scar on his left leg.
the group consisted of jungkook, jin, namjoon, yoongi, himself, hoseok, and taemin.
they were a family.
"wait! i'm gonna barf." taemin suddenly stopped, letting jimin get down.
he held his stomach and covered his mouth as jimin watched with laughter escaping his mouth.
"told you to slow down." he shrugged.
"oh whatever." taemin rolled his eyes as he followed jimin back to the living room.
"it's always you two." namjoon rolled his eyes as the partner and crime pair came into view.
"blame taemin." jimin almost sat next to yoongi, but stopped when a knocking on the door alerted the group.
as jimin started walking to the door, jungkook stopped him.
"all of you stay here. i'll get it." jungkook walked past jimin to the door.
"he's always acting like some sort of leader." jimin playfully rolled his eyes.
with caution, jungkook opened the door to see three men standing, one with a wounded arm.
"hi, i'm sorry, we found this as we-"
"how'd you get through the fence?" jungkook questioned.
"oh- it was broken. must have been walkers. we mean no harm, sir. our friend is injured. we just need help. please." one of the men begged.
jungkook scanned the man's wound and nodded with a smile, "of course. sorry for the hostility. come in, we have a good doctor."
the men gratefully smiled and walked in before jungkook, who shut the door behind them.
"who is this?" jimin rose his eyebrows.
"guests. one's injured. jin?" jungkook followed the trio.
"of course. what happened? are you bit?" jin walked to the group to scan one's arm.
"oh, of course not! i think i broke it when i fell." the male sheepishly smiled.
"well, good thing we have jin! do you guys want some water?" jimin smiled as he walked to the three.
"um... sure! thank you so much." one said.
"my pleasure." jimin pledged as he walked into the kitchen.
the rest of the group acknowledged the three strangers as they eased into the living room.
nothing seemed dangerous or concerning in regard to the three strangers. it was just a simple gesture to help, what they loved doing.
jimin came back to the group with three small jugs of water. "what are your names?"
jin continued to patch up the injured man's arm as he spoke, "i'm jae-jun."
the begging man that pleaded to come inside answered next, "changbin."
"jackson." the third man politely smiled.
"nice to meet you all." jungkook grinned, the group continuing to exchange names.
"so, where were you guys? did you have a shelter?" hoseok questioned.
"we did, but it got overrun by biters. we lost all of our comrades. we've been on foot every since then." changbin avoided eye contact with the group as he bit his lip.
"i'm sorry. if you need anything, we're here. you can even spend the night, if you need." namjoon smiled his charming dimple as he offered his hospitality to the three men.
of course, survival was the top priority. but, what harm could it do to be nice? they were all fighting the same battle, against the same biters.
what would they lose?
--
a week passed with the three strangers living under their roof. everything was going smoothly, and the boys were easily able to form relationships with each other.
the full group decided to make some toasts to their survival so far. it was nighttime and the wind outside was chill. no biters were heard, at the moment, and luckily, there was a shelf full of alcohol in the kitchen.
"taemin, get some glasses and please stop dancing. it's honestly suffering." jimin playfully rolled his eyes as he talked to his friend.
of course, he could watch taemin dance all night long. he was just that good. if anyone could dance to any tune, or no tune at all, it was taemin.
taemin stopped spinning, "fine. jackson, come help me since my best friend thinks i'm a terrible dancer."
taemin ruffled jimin's hair as he walked past him to the kitchen, jackson following with a smile.
jungkook eyed the group surrounding him. everyone was happy. it was as if the world didn't change.
his attention turned to jae-jun and changbin, who sat close together on the brown couch, away from everyone. jungkook didn't know why, but they seemed real distant tonight.
they were whispering in each other's ears, not sparing glances towards the rest of the group. curious, jungkook walked over to them.
"you guys okay?" jungkook stood in front of the pair, who grew startled at his presence.
"we're fine. just some personal things we're talking about." changbin answered, a smile forming on his lips.
but, for some reason, the smile wasn't a pleasant, polite one. it was kind of chilling.
maybe jungkook was reaching into things that didn't concern him.
"of course. we're pouring drinks, if you want to join." he decided to leave the pair alone as he walked to the kitchen.
"more drinks for us!" jimin rose his glass and clinked it with taemin as the two brought the wine to their lips.
namjoon hung his arm around jin's shoulders as he happily drank from his glass, jin doing the same. yoongi felt an overwhelming feeling of annoyance for some reason as he watched jimin and taemin interract.
he didn't know why he felt this way. he couldn't be jealous, could he?
he shook his head and poured himself another glass of wine, hoping to sip away any feelings of jimin he was thinking of.
laughs could be heard throughout the house as the boys drank their feelings away. everything felt like pure bliss.
but how long would that moment last?
--
jimin's eyes were snapped open at the sudden sound of glass breaking.
he immediaetly sat up, realizing he was lying on the hall way floor, his mouth rank of alcohol. next to his body, was his empty glass of wine. he couldn't remember anything that happened in these past few hours or why he was on the floor.
he attempted to stand, using the brown wall of the house as an object to lean on.
he walked closer to the kitchen and living room area, following the sound of broken glass.
he yawned and rubbed his eyes as he walked closer, getting annoyed at his wet shirt, which could have been from the wine.
what he saw next made him freeze instantly.
he stood in shock as the kitchen was completely a mess. glass was everywhere, and there were droplets of a red susbtance on the counters and floor.
was that blood?
but it wasn't the kitchen area that made him freeze. it was the sight of his best friend bleeding on the kitchen floor.
taemin was dying on the floor.
"taemin!" jimin screamed as he ran to his best friend, his lifeless eyes struggling to stay awake.
"taemin! taemin, please, what happened? what happened?" jimin shouted as he applied pressure to the side of taemin's neck, as blood gushed out from the side.
it was a stab wound. who would do that? who would stab taemin?
"jim.. jimin." as taemin tried to speak, blood spat out of his mouth.
"taemin.." jimin cried helplessly.
he screamed for his friends. yoongi, jungkook, hoseok, jin, namjoon, jackson, jae-jun, and changbin.
"oh look. the first one up."
jimin turned around at the sinister sounding voice to see jae-jun standing in the hallway, a bloody broken piece of glass in his hand.
not realizing, jimin pleaded at him, "jae-jun! someone hurt taemin, find jin-"
"how dumb can you be? i stabbed him. i hurt your precious friend." jae-jun grinned at the sight of jimin's trembling lips.
jimin felt like he was in a nightmare, "w-what?"
jae-jun chuckled, "changbin, deal with jungkook. jackson, take care of the taller ones. i'll handle the rest."
"what's going on? why are you doing this?" jimin's body was frozen. he couldn't move.
his hands were covered in taemin's blood and he felt like his world stopped.
he looked down at his best friend. the life slowly drained out of his eyes. his skin was turning blue and a pool of blood surrounded the pair.
he didn't know how much time passed. there was chaos all around him. screams and the sound of biters snarling crowded his mind.
though, he didn't care about any of that. taemin was gone. right in front of him, taemin died.
he didn't know why he couldn't move. it felt like his body was glued to the floor. he was in a state of shock, his eyes wide and filled with horror.
"taemin!" jimin recognized jungkook's voice as he ran to the pair.
jungkook looked in horror at the unresponding body of taemin. he turned taemin's head to see the stab wound on the side of his neck.
he rose his hands slowly, taking in the vast amounts of blood on his hands.
this was his fault. he let those men in. he let those men hurt his family.
"jimin.." jungkook gulped, afraid to face the male.
"are they dead? please, tell me that they're dead." jimin's voice came out in a whisper.
"they are." jungkook could only reply.
"oh my god." hoseok's eyes widened as the rest of the group came up to the red sight in the kitchen.
"chim." yoongi immediately knelt down by jimin, placing his hands over jimin's.
"chim, look at me. please." yoongi's voice cracked.
of course, the group all cared about taemin. he was like a brother. but, the bond jimin had with him was different. it was stronger.
yoongi knew this would take a heavy toll on jimin. they all did.
jimin's eyes didn't move from taemin's face. he felt empty. he felt like someone took a knife and aimed it inside of his stomach, taking out anything they could find.
his tears couldn't fall anymore. he was numb.
jin attempted to snap jimin out of his gaze, "jimin, please. he'll turn and-"
"i don't care." jimin numbly stated.
"chim. look at me." yoongi placed a finger under jimin's chin, forcing the latter to look at him.
yoongi's heart wrenched. the light that shined so brightly in jimin's eyes was faded.
yoongi sucked in a breath, "we will get through this. i promise we will."
jimin held yoongi's caring gaze. "how?"
"first, let's get up, okay? please?"
jimin hesitated as yoongi slowly got on his feet, his hand held out for jimin to grab.
"please?" yoongi pleaded.
jimin sniffled and took yoongi's hand, letting the latter help him up.
the group was interrupted at the sound of an evil snarl. their attention turned towards taemin.
that is, the new taemin.
his eyes were yellow and veiny. it was a terrible sight. this was someone they all loved. and now, he was someone they had to kill. taemin snarled and looked around to find any flesh he could.
before jimin could react, yoongi covered his eyes and bent his head down on his shoulder.
"don't look, okay? don't look." yoongi soothed, massaging jimin's head.
yoongi nodded at jungkook, who gave a nod back in return. he grabbed a piece of glass that was still on the floor. helping, hoseok held down taemin's arms and namjoon held down taemin's legs.
jungkook drove the glass deep into taemin's skull, the sound of crushing sending a repulsive shock throughout the group.
jimin sobbed in yoongi's arms, keeping his eyes closed. yoongi fought back tears as he held jimin, not thinking of anything else.
as much as he was hurting, he knew jimin was hurting more.
jimin didn't know what to do. he was sobbing uncontrollably in yoongi's arms, completely frozen.
he wanted to run to taemin. to shake him and wake him up from this nightmare. he wanted everyone, including himself, to wake up.
this couldn't be real, right?
what kind of humans took someone's trust and threw it out the window as they stabbed you in the back?
he wanted to light jae-jun's body on fire. he wanted him to suffer. he wanted to do the most inhumane things to him, as if he were a piece of garbage. he wanted to hurt the whole group, in fact.
from now on, he won't make that trusting mistake again.
he won't risk his friends' lives by being nice anymore.
he will not let anyone else die.