POV: Jin-BTS
Time: 15:37
I'm missing someone...
Ni-ki.
I sprint back into the room.
The sound of crashing windows and breaking doors echo through the mall.
Ni-ki's passed out next to the door.
I reach Ni-ki and put him on my back, glass showing us both as the zombies spill in through the windows. Seungkwan tries his best to hold them off as I run back out the fire escape, but he's soon overpowered and taken to the floor. I hear the tearing of flesh as I reach the door.
I make it out and lock it behind me.
Everyone is waiting outside for us. I see Vernon being consoled by Wonwoo.
"We need to go..." I pant.
"Follow us, we know most of the places around here by heart." Joshua says.
He starts to walk across the road, into a dark alleyway.
Everyone starts to follow.
"You know your way around this thing?" I ask.
"Yes." He replies.
Wow, I can't see a single thing in here and everything smells like garbage.
"Uhm... I think we take a left here..." Joshua says in the dark.
I follow his voice. My eyes aren't made to see in such poor lighting.
"If we go straight from now. We'll end up in the bakery." Joshua says.
"No, we'll end up in the jewellery store. If you want to go to the bakery, you have to take the second left." Wonwoo informs.
"Oh yeah... ok. Just continue up a few more steps and then we take a left." Joshua corrects.
"You guys seem to really know your way. Like, really, really know your way." I say.
Joshua chuckles. But it's a hollow, and sad one.
It's as if he's trying his best to push away the death of Seungkwan.
"Ok, take a left now."
"Ouch, that hurt." Dahyun says, turning too early, banging into the wall.
I hear a chuckle from Momo.
"Is that funny to you? I just got hurt!" Dahyun retorts, which just makes Momo laugh even more.
We continue to follow Joshua. There's a pocket of light not far from here, so he starts to speed up.
We reach the end of the tunnel and Wonwoo peeks his head out.
"There's no zombies, we can go in." He says.
We go through the steps into a room with sunlight flowing through a window on the ceiling. It looks like a storage room, the one you find in all the standard bakeries.
"We can stay here for a bit, but not for long. There definitely aren't enough resources to even last us a day. Maybe we'll just stay the night." Joshua says.
We all start to settle down, finding spaces to wait out the rest of the day. I put Ni-ki down and sit him up on a box crate. I lift to check his face for any big injuries. I find none. The only thing is a bloody nose. I wipe it with the hem of his jacket.
I feel around his ribcage, checking for anything misplaced or broken. The only thing I find is a small bump. It shouldn't be too bad. He's probably passed out because he's exhausted or because of the shock.
He'll be fine once he wakes up.
I sit beside him, leaning on one of the shelves. They're packed full of small plastic containers and cooking tools. Some of the tools are huge.
Maybe we can use them as weapons.
"Guys... There're some metal tools here, we can probably use them..." I say.
"Yeah... we actually could. I mean, we do need protection... against the- the zombies..." Yeji says.
Everyone walks towards the shelf next to me, finding anything sharp they can use to protect themselves with. I grab myself a knife from a wooden cutlery stand. The knife is not too big, but not too small either. It comes with a small case and the words 'Saladmaster' are engraved on the blade.
The name rings a bell... I remember that my eomma used to use knives from the same brand when I was young. They were flawless and they always got the job done.
I guess I got a good choice of knife then.
I tuck the knife, case on, under my shirt, held up by my belt.
I sit back down as everyone starts to go back to their corners of the room, weapons in hand.
"Good thinking there, Seokjin." Wonwoo says, brandishing a huge cleaver.
I smile.
I really hope they still trust me even after what happened in the mall. Ryujin and Chaeryeong definitely still hate me.
"Uhm, Wonwoo... do you know any gas stations nearby? We could try to loot it and we might even find some cars." I ask.
"Hmmm... I don't know... but we shouldn't be far from one. Maybe there'll be one within a 3-to-4-mile radius?" He replies, uncertain.
"Ah ok..." I say.
He turns back to Vernon on the other side of the room. He has bloodshot eyes due to repeatedly rubbing his tears away. Joshua is sitting next to him, his eyes puffy.
We're both on the same page; we've both lost something.
My eyes also start to tear up. I remember the van. I remember everything. I remember Seungkwan and all the others we've lost along the way. Some died fruitless deaths like Felix. Some died heroes we will remember. Like Seungkwan.
"Seungkwan hyung..." I hear Vernon mutter.
"Shhhh... It's ok... It's ok..." Wonwoo says, staying strong for the group.
Joshua soon breaks down in tears. It's so out of his character: he never used to how much emotion when we were in the mall.
He leans on Wonwoo, hiding his face. At one point, Wonwoo can't take anymore, and droplets of water appear on his glasses.
I feel like crying too. But I don't allow myself to. Jungkook wouldn't want it. Neither would the others. They would've wanted me to strive on, making sure we survive.
And I'll promise them that.
I'll also promise them that I'll get them out of this too. We'll find a cure. We have to. We'll cure the members and save Korea. Somehow...
I sigh. That's stupid. This isn't a fairy tale. Not everything has a happy ending. I shouldn't give myself false hope.
I lie back. The room is completely silent apart from occasional sobs. I plague myself with my thoughts. Whether that be retracing my whole story until now or just random memories. Memories with the members.
I trace back to our first meeting. How Yoongi absolutely hated 'Bullet-Proof-Boy-Scouts' as our name. How J-Hope always used to always discipline us when we got moves wrong in the choreography, although most of the times it was me who made the mistakes and blamed it on the music being too quiet. I remember our time at the mall. I didn't chat to them enough; I wasn't there for them. They weren't a complete group.
But now it's too late. There's no way to reverse time.
They're all but memories now. Silly little memories.
It's all because of Jimin. If he hadn't left or even just drove better, they'd all be alive. If he had found a better way of driving, we wouldn't have had to take a second trip. Tzuyu and Ryujin wouldn't have been hurt.
I hate him. Even though he's dead. I hate him.
"Seokjin? Are you ok? Why are you crying?" Yeji asks.
"What? I'm not crying." I say, wiping my eyes. I wasn't aware of the tears running down my face.
"You're lying, I can see the tears on your face." Yeji says.
"It's just that I had a staring competition..." I say, embarrassed. Everyone in the room is looking at me.
"Really? A staring competition? With what, the ceiling?" Yeji says, laughing. It lightens up the mood a lot.
Jeongyeon turns to me,
"No but like, seriously, why were you crying, Seokjin? Was it because of the mem-"
She's shoved by Nayeon, who tells her to stop.
"Nayeon, it's fine, I'm telling you guys, I wasn't crying... or anything..." I lie.
"You're literally stuttering. It means that you're lying." Hyunjin points out.
"No, no I'm fine... it's just that my eyes are just like that..." I say.
Yeji suddenly stands up and walks over to me.
"What are you-"
She hugs me.
"I saw you do this with Ni-ki, maybe I should give you a taste of your own medicine." She explains.
"I'm fine. I don't need it." I say.
"What do you mean? You were crying!" She says.
"I wasn't crying! Stop thinking I was crying!" I retort, trying to pry her away from me.
She suddenly turns tense. The atmosphere changes quickly.
"Seokjin. You're like an older brother to me, you know that, right?" She says, in a serious tone.
"Am I really?" I say.
"Yes. And people close to each other always help one another." She points out.
"But what-"
"So, I want you to tell me, Seokjin, why you were crying."
"But what-"
"Just tell me."
"But-"
"Tell me."
Tears come back into my eyes as I recall the memories. I try my best not to cry and I tell them to her.
"It's ok, Seokjin... please don't go and put all this weight in your shoulders... And... It's ok to cry, you know? Don't feel embarrassed to cry. " Yeji says.
I nod slowly, trying to stop myself from crying. I can't take it anymore.
I cover my face and burst into tears. Yeji pats my back.
"Let it all out, Seokjin... please don't carry this on your shoulders..." She says.
My crying slowly stops. I wipe the tears from my face.
I turn to face Yeji, who's still hugging me.
"Thank you...Yeji... you do seem like a younger sister to me... Even- Even though you're more responsible..." I say.
She chuckles and nods. We hug each other for a few more seconds.
Yeji stands up and goes back to Itzy, who are all staring at me.
Wait.
The whole room is staring at me.
My ears go bright red.
Bang Chan, noticing my very obvious embarrassment, changes the subject by saying,
"Uhm... It's getting late now... We should probably wrap up for today and go to bed. We still have to travel in the morning."
Everyone nods and starts to make some space to sleep. Chaeryeong still stares at me for a bit with a shocked expression until Yeji tells her to go to bed.
I look at Ni-ki. He's still unconscious.
If he stays sitting for so long, he'll develop back pain. So, I lay him down on the floor next to me.
I sigh.
I lay back, shut my eyes, and go to sleep.