THE male looked at his hand and saw crimson red blood dripping in it and he realized that it’s coming from his own mouth, he can’t prevent the overwhelming panic that’s taking over but he was distracted when he heard a voice. He looked at its direction and saw the younger male looking at him with such fear in its eyes and he can’t help but smile apologetically at him. He wanted to assure him that he’ll be alright when his own body betrayed him, groaning in pain as he hit the ground.

“No!” the younger male ran towards his direction and kneeled beside him, “No way. Y-You said that you’ll catch up but why?”

“They wanted me so I decided to stop them..” he mutters, trying to calm the younger male by holding his hand, “They wanted to kill everyone along with me so I decided to let you all escape. They wanted me along with some collateral damages and I wouldn’t let them..”

“You said that you’ll catch up. I knew it!” the younger male squeezed his hand tight.

“I’m sorry. Please don’t weep such sad tears for me,” he said, trying to comfort the younger one from the pain, “Your tears.. I am not worthy of it. You don’t deserve to be sad just because of me.”

“Don’t even dare to say such things! I have been with you for years! I am willing to be in whatever part of this mad world with you!” the younger one exclaimed which surprised the dying male beneath him, “Heck! I would do everything just to be with you! That’s our pact, right?”

“If you fail then let's do that together and if you succeed then let’s still do that together.” the dying male muttered as he lets out a laugh, making him wince in pain “That hurts. Y-You still treasure that one?”

“Of course, I do!” the younger male stated, smiling sincerely at him “This is my own will.”

“But you knew what’s about to happen to me, you should’ve just left me. What if those evil people comes back for my corpse?” he asked, trying to scare the younger one so he would flee to safety.

“Then I’ll die here. Beside you.” the younger male stated in a firm tone, “Dying is painful but the mere fact that you’re beside me makes it comforting. At the very least, I was able to stick to my promise.”

“Y-You’re so silly..” he can’t prevent the smile on his face as he kept on staring at his companion, “Fate have already decided what’s about to happen to me and I accepted it. You, on the other hand, should've fled with the others and live the life that I wouldn’t be able to have. You wanted to be a well-known alchemist, right? Then achieve it. Reach the stars for me.”

“Achieving it without you on my side is worthless,” he stated in a firm tone again, gripping on his hand tighter and not even letting go of it “It’s like walking on a throne without any lights in it.”

“You’re so silly.” he stated to the younger one, shaking his head slightly in amusement.

He started to feel Death's grip on him as he kept on catching his breath, sight getting blurry every seconds that passed and the urge to close his eyes. But he couldn’t. Not now when his companion is in a despairful state, he wanted to apologize for making him feel like that. He doesn’t even deserve to be weep for someone that is meant to die in a miserable state like him. And it became more miserable to die in front of the person that cherished him the most, he wanted to continue his life with this person.

He wanted to continue his daily routines while this rascal would barge in and ask him to accompany him on his silly antics. He wanted to witness how this rascal would achieve his dreams and that smile that he would let out once that he has his grip towards his success. He wanted to witness how this rascal would fall in love with someone and build a family in which he’ll take care of this rascal’s children. He wanted to see him grow. He wanted to continue living with him just like what they promised.

He wanted to live.

But fate is against that. And he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, he’ll die in this day-beside the person that he cherishes.

With his remaining strength, he muttered the rascal's name and tried to touch the younger male’s cheek using his free hand but he felt bad when he stained the pretty face of this rascal with his own blood, “Sorry.”

And with the memory of a person that accepted and loved his existence, he accepted Death’s grip on him. Slowly vanishing to the world of the living as the cries of someone became faint in his ears.

••••••••

[ june 9, 20xx | first day ]

     
      AS Yeosang opened his eyes, he can feel the warmth from the blanket wrapped around him and he seems to be hugging something fluffy. He realized that it’s probably one of the plush that's from his roommate, he mentally reminded himself to thank the dude later.

He suddenly remembered the dream and he can’t help but groan, “It’s sad.”

Yeosang looked at his phone just to notice that it’s already 5 A.M. and looked around for his roommate but it seems that he wasn’t even around. He immediately went to the bathroom and took a shower as he took a pair of clothes- one of his sweatpants and sweatshirt then immediately wore it because of the cold. There aren’t any heater in this abandoned factory and he was thankful enough because it have electricity and water—something that doesn’t exist on an apocalypse-like place.

There’s a lamp on the ground and a note in which he took, there’s even a cute drawing of a dog in it which made Yeosang smile a bit, ‘Hey. I’ll be on the rooftop for the daily observation and you’re actually gonna proceed there then use this lamp since the place is still dark.

Good morning too! —San’

“Dork.” Yeosang muttered as he took the lamp along with his phone.

As he opened the door, the dark corridor welcomes him with an eerie feeling that he decides to ignore as he looked for the stairs that will take him to the rooftop. In which he found a few minutes later and dashed to the entrance of the rooftop, opening it and the door creaked which made everyone in the rooftop look at him.

“Good morning, Yeosang.” Seonghwa waved his hand as a small smile was seen on his face.

“So you’ve finally woke up, huh?” San stated, smirking a bit before looking at the telescope once again.

“What are you guys doing?” Yeosang asked.

“Monitoring them,” Yunho said as he looked at the brunette, “It’s our turn since Hongjoong hyung and the others are asleep right now.”

“Ah. I see,” Yeosang said as he went beside the doctor, “So, any observation?”

“They gather around in three different areas depending on the time,” Seonghwa stated as he opened a notebook.

“They’re in the mayor’s mansion around 3 A.M. and it seems that it’s for their daily announcement,” Yunho said while looking at his binoculars, “You can see the mayor in the platform as if he’s announcing something.”

“It’s like they’re still alive but not like the ones that you usually lived with,” Yeosang commented as he took a peek on the binoculars, “So, where’s the other two meet-up points?”

“Second one is at the town’s plaza, there’s also a platform there where the mayor also announces something around noon” Seonghwa added as he flipped a page on his notes.

“And the last one?” Yeosang asked.

“It’s six in the evening,” San stated as he glanced at the brunette, “On your family’s manor. They stay there as if it was a must. They’re literally inside the mansion for two hours which we call the ‘golden time’ because we’re allowed to travel around and get the amenities and stocks that we need.”

“Why are they in our manor?” Yeosang muttered.

“Probably because it’s huge?” Yunho wasn’t even sure so he sighed.

“This is quite complicated.” Yeosang muttered once again then gave the binoculars back to Yunho, “As much as possible, I’d like to help you until we can solve this mystery since I'm stuck here with you guys.”

“In order to gain some information, we need to kidnap one of the blackened ones and interrogate them.” Seonghwa stated which made everyone looked at him, “But that is quite difficult because I’ve tried to interrogate some of my samples but they won't say a thing aside from the fact that they're looking for Eve in order to attain Eden again and again that I just kept on ending their new lives.”

“So we need to find the Eve first in order to gain information?” Yeosang asked.

Seonghwa nods, “Exactly.”

“But how?” Yunho asked as he sat beside Seonghwa.

“We need to have some information about that and there’s one place that we can get that,” Seonghwa stated as he smirked.

“Where?” San asked, blinking innocently at the eldest male.

“The town's library.” Seonghwa took a town map and drew an ‘x’ on a building.

“That’s a tough one,” San stated as a pout can be seen on his face, “The library was guarded by blackened ones! There’s always two or three blackened ones that kept on guarding it. We need to make sure that they’re away for a minute or two in order to enter that library.”

“Exactly.” Seonghwa stated as he took a deep breath as if it’s something that’s important “We need a plan.”

“Hongjoong's a great strategist. He’s our leader!” San chirped, raising both of his hand on air.

“We’re still discussing about it so probably after a day or two, we’ll be able to infiltrate the area.” Seonghwa stated before fixing his stuff, “As much as we monitor them, it seems that they’re spreading now and that means they’re back on searching for the Eve again.”

“We should back now, Yeosang.” Yunho tapped his shoulder in which Yeosang nodded.

He looked at the sky and saw nothing but the grey clouds, making the whole place dimmed without a chance of any sunlight shining down on them. For a certain reason, it feels nostalgic as if he saw this kind of sky before until a glimpse of something hitting him on the neck made him gasped, touching his own neck as he sighed in relief when he realized that nothing happened at all.

“Yeosang! Let's go!” He looked at San which held his hand and he lets himself get dragged by the energetic male.

The moment that they’ve arrived on the main hall of the factory, they saw Hongjoong along with the others making some kind of stew and was distributed to the other citizens that was stuck in the factory. Yeosang felt a pang on his chest when he saw the despairful looks from the citizens while Hongjoong looks so exhausted, he can even hear some of the children sobbing in fear. But he wasn’t able to express it, his face remained stoic as ever—as if he never cared at all.

“Good morning, Hongjoong.” Seonghwa went beside the redhead and patted his head, “Rest for a while, we’ll be the ones in charge.”

“But—” Hongjoong wasn’t able to reason out when Seonghwa immediately cut him off.

“Wooyoung.” The younger male looked at Seonghwa as he tilted his head in curiosity, “Take Hongjoong to his room and also, take Yeosang with you.”

“Why do I need to drag him too?” Wooyoung glared at Yeosang which immediately looked away as he lowered his head in guilt.

“Because I think that you need to settle something down,” Seonghwa stated as he took the ladle from Hongjoong, “Off you go, Joong. Take a good rest and we’ll be the ones in charge for now. You deserve to rest too, leader.”

“As if you’ll let me exhaust myself.” Hongjoong lets him get dragged by Wooyoung and Yeosang that seems to be ignoring each other's presence.

“Thought that you’ve slept but Seonghwa-hyung probably noticed that you’re tired,” Yeosang mutters as he kept his eyes on the floor.

Hongjoong chuckled, “Just as always.”

“Hyung, you shouldn’t force yourself too much.” Wooyoung sounds like he’s really worried and Yeosang just kept closed his eyes because he yearns for the younger male's concern too.

It took them a few minutes to arrive in front of Hongjoong’s room as the redhead thanked both of them and retreated inside, leaving Yeosang and Wooyoung on an empty corridor. Yeosang just kept on avoiding the other’s glance and looked down, ready to be shouted at by the younger male.

“I don’t think that we have anything that we can talk to.” Wooyoung suddenly stated as Yeosang looked at him.

“I’m sorry.” That was the only thing that Yeosang could say on Wooyoung.

“I don’t care,” Wooyoung growled, clenching his fists “You left me! I thought that you hated me because I was loud and annoying! I felt horrible until I’ve heard that you’re having fun on the city!”

“Having fun? I wasn’t.” Yeosang immediately shook his head in denial.

Wooyoung glared at him once again, “Liar.”

“I’m not,” Yeosang mutters, looking down on the floor once again.

“You’re always like that.” Wooyoung can't help but shake in anger as he kept on glaring towards the brunette, “Always apologizing and not even doing anything but leave.”

“Wooyoung—”

“You’re always like that.” The younger male spat before turning his back on Yeosang as he walked away, only the footsteps can be heard around the hall.

Yeosang was left alone, staring at the younger male’s back. He can’t help but feel bad when Wooyoung acted like that, he had been lonely and scared. Yeosang was always there for him but he left him, he left the poor boy to continue living in fear and isolation.

“Yeosang?” He felt someone tapped him and when he glanced at the person, it was his own roommate looking at him with a worried expression on his face, “You’re crying.”

“Oh.” Yeosang can’t help but feel empty right now.

“There, there. Cry until you’re alright,” San stated in a hushed voice as he embraced Yeosang tightly, “Cry it all out.”

San was expecting for the boy to wail but Yeosang kept silent, as if he was crying silently and not voicing out anything at all. As if he’s a doll that can’t even talk yet the tears streaming down his face clearly shows that he’s a human. But instead of saying anything, he just let the brunette do whatever he wants until the time that he’ll be fine.

••

“The Eve is in the town. You need to keep on finding the Eve.”

As the mayor finished his announcement, someone wakked beside him. The blackened mayor looked at the person wearing a black outfit with a hat and mask to cover his face and the blackened can't help but think that it's useless.

“Regarding the Eve, if you really want to get that one then why won’t you abduct one of those scavengers?” the person asked, letting out a devilish grin when he lowered his mask as it showed his nose and mouth.

“We’re doing the best that we can, Monsieur.” the blackened mayor stated as he looked at the other ones that is still in search for the Eve, “We will find it in order to attain Eden.”

“Indeed.” the Monsieur said, fixing his sleeves “You only have seven days to get your hands on the Eve, mayor.”

“I’m aware of that,” the blackened mayor replied, feeling a bit of fear towards the man beside him.

“Your efforts will be wasted if you’ll let the Eve run around after the seventh day, you need to bring the Eve to me. Understood?” Monsieur asked in such a firm tone that it made the blackened one nod, “It’s a nice thing that you’re cooperating well. But hey, I’d like to inform you about one more thing.”

“And what is that, Monsieur?”

Monsieur smiled a bit once again as he looked in the grey sky, “Adam is also here and he’s near the Eve.”

.-----.

hello! sorry for the late update! i was too busy on spazzing for these dumbasses and yep! we’ve just got our second win recently! ♥ aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

also thank you for reading this (if anyone’s reading it..that is)