The morning air is crisp and chilly as Jimin and Jeongguk step out of the cab they took to the train station. Jeongguk swings his backpack onto his shoulders, readjusting his earbuds and stuffing his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. His camera is ever present, dangling from the strap around his neck. The ride there was silent for the most part, with Jimin making small talk with the driver. He didn't even bother addressing Jeongguk, knowing the boy wouldn't answer anyways. Jimin fiddles with the zipper of his military green jacket, orange hair stark against the early morning darkness.

Faintly, a droning, high pitched noise in the distance fills Jimin's ears. It even infiltrates Jeongguk's ears, causing the younger boy to remove an earbud and look around. Sirens. "What could be going on this early?" Jimin wonders aloud, not really expecting a response. Jeongguk points at smoke rising on the horizon, glowing orange at the base. Fire.

"The time of day doesn't stop morons from being morons." Jeongguk shrugs, and with that, his earbud is back in his ear. Jimin raises his eyebrows. That was the first time he had heard Jeongguk say something insightful. Well, something other than, "Can you get me some toilet paper?" or "Is dad bringing home food, or am I cooking tonight?" Had the mildly sassy comment been voiced by anyone else this early in the morning, Jimin would have snapped back with his own, but this is a step in the right direction for Jeongguk. Besides, he'll be spending the next three hours on the train with the guy, he might as well be civil.

The two men enter the train station, buy their tickets, and step onto the platform. Jimin glances warily at Jeongguk, who is scrolling on his phone. He gets nervous in social situations, Chiwon said. So far, Jeongguk seems fine.

"Babe, don't button your jacket, it looks weird." A voice catches Jimin's attention. He glances to his left to see two men, one looking visibly annoyed with the other, who is fiddling with the buttons of his coat. One's pink hair is vibrant, the other wearing a blue baseball cap.

"But I'm cold." The other sighs, but doesn't put up much of a fight.

"Sacrifices for fashion are sacrifices well made." The pink haired one says, teasingly pulling down the other man's cap. Jimin smiles slightly, looking down at the ground. They're cute. Jimin wants a relationship like that. He does have a boyfriend, but it's not as easy and true as the men a few feet away. Hyunjin is sweet, and handsome, but he doesn't tease Jimin, or joke around. He doesn't bicker over little things for the hell of it or criticize Jimin in any way. He says it's because he'll do anything for him, and that he thinks Jimin is perfect, but Jimin just thinks its because he's trying to get into his pants. Nevertheless, Jimin doesn't have the heart to break up with him.

The sound of the train whistle snaps Jimin out of his thoughts. He looks up to see the train drifting in on the tracks, steam coming out of the chimney, a screeching sound echoing as the conductor hits the breaks. The doors to the car in front of them open to reveal a man in the blue jacket that marks him as a member of the staff. His lips curve into a big, artificial smile as he steps out of the train. "All aboard, Train 134340 to Busan. Departing in five minutes." He announces to the crowd, and gestures to the door. Jimin has to slap Jeongguk's shoulder to get his attention, earning a scowl from the younger boy as they step off the platform and onto the train.

There are already many people on the train. The entire first car they enter is filled with baseball players, their voices way too loud and their behavior way too rowdy for this early in the morning. The time of day doesn't stop morons from being morons. Jimin rolls his eyes, slipping through the aisle and into the next car. He slips into a set of seats, Jeongguk taking the one next to him, keeping his backpack on his lap. Jimin relaxes a bit, rolling his neck. His eyes happen to look down, landing upon Jeongguk's phone screen. His heart breaks a little.

He's texting his mother.

hey mom, i'm just getting on the train now

I'm so excited to see you, sweetheart. I miss you so much. I'm going to try to talk your dad into letting you stay with me permanently

If that's what you want, of course

i'd love that mama

Perfect. I'll be waiting at the station for you. I love you so much Jeongukkie.

i love you too

Jimin has never met Jeongguk's mother, but Jeongguk seems to be so close with her. The only times Jimin has ever heard Jeongguk laugh or seen him genuinely smile are when he's been on the phone with her, or on FaceTime. He finds it so sweet, but also sad. Jimin hears Chiwon talk about Jeongguk's mother, and little of what he says is ever good. And Jeongguk has to listen to all of it.

Then there's the small but constant reminder that Jimin will never have that with his own parent who's not around. With his father.

A sharp smack to Jimin's leg distracts him from thinking about his father too much, and the orange haired boy lets his eyes focus to see Jeongguk glaring at him, his phone screen now angled away from him. "Enjoying some light reading?" Jeongguk snaps sarcastically, and Jimin fumbles for words to defend himself, coming up blank.

"Uh—no, Jeongguk, I was—" Jimin begins, but stops abruptly as a bright flash blinds him briefly. He winces and rubs his eyes, squinting at Jeongguk as his vision clears. The brunette merely holds up his camera. What a little shit— "Did you really just take a photo of me to interrupt—"

"Save it, Jimin." He says, and before Jimin can respond, the younger boy stands up, leaving Jimin open mouthed and with the flash of the camera lingering in his eyes. Leaning back against the seat, Jimin sighs. He might as well get some sleep.

Jeongguk, meanwhile, needs to cool off. Who does Jimin think he is anyways? He weaves through the narrow aisles, looking to find a bathroom to smoke in. He would have lit a cigarette on the platform a while ago, had Jimin not been there. If Jimin sees him smoking, Jeongguk has no doubt in his mind that he'll go straight to his dad like the golden child that he is. Jeongguk can't stand it.

Jeongguk knows what Jimin thinks of him: he's standoffish, entitled, a loner. He's wrong. Jeongguk does have friends, unbeknownst to his stepbrother. He has Bogum, a friend from his photography classes, and Yugyeom, the friend who he sits with in ramen shops late at night while they talk about life and the world and society's fucked up standards. So, yeah, he has friends, but he'd never tell Jimin or his dad and stepmom about them. They would never approve of Jeongguk's friends: scraggly, stoned kids with little motivation and a rebellious streak. And Jeongguk had discovered upon moving away from Busan that he didn't like talking to many people in the first place, so being quiet most the time wasn't an issue for him.

Jeongguk reaches the little cabin near the front of the car that holds the bathroom. Leaning against the door, however, is a man in a baseball cap. Jeongguk sighs, fingers itching with the box of cigarettes in his back pocket. The man glances up at him, offering him half a smile.

"I would head down to the other bathroom. My husband's in there...he'll probably be a while." The man explains, and before Jeongguk can respond, a surprised gasp comes from inside the stall.

"Kim Namjoon, you asshole!" He screeches, and the man, Namjoon, smiles a little bigger, sharing a knowing look with Jeongguk, who just stares. This is why Chiwon thinks he has trouble in social situations, but really, he's too unbothered to care.

"Sorry, Seokjinnie." He calls in, but shakes his head to Jeongguk. "Yeah, your best bet is the next car down." Namjoon says, voice lowered. Jeongguk nods, despite not wanting to walk through an entire train car of obnoxious baseball players. He offers a meek wave to the man in the hat and walks through the sliding door into the next car.

Boys in baseball team jackets laugh and joke, foul language spouting out of their mouths relentlessly. The only ones not acting foolishly sit in the back corner, Jeongguk observes. One boy is passed out on the other's shoulder, bleach blonde strands splayed out over his forehead as his lips puff out in a pout. The other boy is smiling gently to himself, reading a book, his bright red hair anticlimactic on the dull train. As Jeongguk progressively gets closer to where they sit and the end of the car, he can see the redhead periodically look down at the sleeping blonde on his shoulder, and his smile will grow, or he'll tighten the blonde's coat around him sweetly.

Ugh, love. If Jeongguk sees another couple before he has a little nicotine in him, he swears he'll puke. As Jeongguk opens the sliding door of the next car, he is met with two train attendants wearing their bright blue uniforms. They look concerned, and one is speaking in a hushed tone into his walkie talkie. The other knocks on the door to the bathroom.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" The attendant asks. No response is heard and Jeongguk sighs, tapping his foot impatiently as the attendant shrugs off the locked door and uses the master key to unlock it. The door slides open, but Jeongguk jumps back when he sees who is inside. A man is curled up on the floor, blood staining his clothes and his face. His hair is grimy and messy, his eyes wide and tearful. His lips quiver as he murmurs something inaudible to himself. This man has seen things. Jeongguk can tell by the vacancy behind his eyes, the blood underneath his fingernails, the way his whole body seems to tremble. An ID lanyard used in big companies hangs around his neck.

Kim Taehyung, it reads.

"Sir? Sir, are you alright?" The attendants ask, but the man doesn't answer, nor does he show any sign of even hearing them. Silent sobs wrack his broad shoulders. A strange feeling settles itself in the pit of Jeongguk's stomach. Something isn't right. The man's mumbling gets louder as the attendants attempt to pull him out of the bathroom, but as soon as a scream tears from his lungs and the attendants release their grip, he sits on his knees. His chest heaves with choppy breath and tears streak his bloodstained cheeks.

"They're all dead! Dead! They're—they're all dead! All dead! They're dead!" He shrieks, and Jeongguk's blood runs cold in his veins. Sheer, raw and genuine terror possesses Kim Taehyung, and he thrashes as the attendants do their best to calm him. What the hell is going on?

"Help, kid!" An attendant grunts, and before Jeongguk can fully process what he's doing, he's on the ground, helping hold down the writhing, shouting man.

"Shh! Shh, it's okay!" Jeongguk says, trying his best to soothe the stranger.

"It's not! It's not! Everybody's dead! They're dead!" He cries, and Jeongguk has to clamp his hand over his mouth, hearing the train car behind them begin to talk in hushed, concerned tones. He doesn't even notice the other attendants get up as he holds Taehyung down, one arm braced around his chest and pulling him flat to his own body, his other hand muffling his screams. He struggles so much his back of cigarettes falls out of his back pocket.

"Remain calm! Everyone, please stay seated! Please stay calm! Everything is fine!" The attendants call to the crowded car. Their last statement seems to enrage Taehyung and he sinks his teeth into Jeongguk's flesh. The younger boy winces and withdraws in surprise, providing opportunity for Kim Taehyung to squirm out of his grasp and barge into the train car.

"No it's not! Nothing is 'fine'! We are not fine! We're all gonna die!" He shouts, and the car falls silent, passengers staring in shock and slight fear of Taehyung. Jeongguk gets to his feet, slightly out of breath. All this for a smoke?

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Jeongguk turns around to the car behind the one Taehyung has successfully terrified at the sound of a loud succession of thuds. He sees their feet first, and realizes the thuds are staggering, heavy footfalls. His breath leaves him, though, at when he sees the blood staining the attendant's blue uniform, her arms and legs bent at unnatural and grotesque angles, and the hunched figure of another woman latched onto her, teeth sunk into the skin of the attendants neck.

The oxygen is practically sucked out of the dead silent room as both cars take in the blue, purple and green veins underneath parchment thin and cracking skin, the hair matted to foreheads with blood, the sickening cracking of bones snapping and joints dislocating. The sounds of the attendant's sobs fill each car before she finally opens her eyes. The entirety of her eyeball, pupils, corneas and all, is a milky white color, devoid of any emotion. Then, an even louder crack echoes as she leans back sharply, her entire spine halfing itself. Jeongguk doesn't even realize that they are no more than a yard away from him until the woman on the attendant's back throws her head back, ripping the attendant's carotid artery to shreds and splattering blood all over Jeongguk's face and clothes. The woman, no, the thing snarls, and that is when the two train cars break into chaos.

Jeongguk scrambles to his feet, only to be tackled back down by the attendant-turned-monster. Her hands grip his neck as he holds her off with one hand and his legs, groaning with effort. Viscous drool spills down onto his face and into his eyes, and he lets out a strangled scream as her hands tighten on his neck. He knows she is seconds away from tearing into the vulnerable flesh of his neck. Jeongguk's brain goes into overdrive as his free hand searches the surrounding floor for something, anything—

A familiar box, small, but big enough to—

Jeongguk picks up the box of cigarettes and crams it into the decrepid thing's mouth. It provides enough distraction for him to gather all the strength he has in his legs into its stomach, sending it across the train car. Jeongguk gets to his feet and sprints as fast as he can through the next car, where most people have cleared out, and four or five have been transformed into the same horrifying creatures. Some of the baseball players Jeongguk had seen not five minutes ago. As soon as they set eyes on him, they charge. Jeongguk screams as he sends his fist into one as hard as he can, but it isn't enough. He's knocked backwards into a pair of seats, arm muscles aching with effort as he holds the growling, groaning beast off of him.

Then, through the pounding in his ears, he hears a shout, a whistle, and a gutwrenching crack. The creature slumps onto him, and he throws it off, frantically sitting up to see the man in the baseball cap he had encountered earlier, Namjoon, he thinks, clutching a baseball bat tightly. He grabs onto the shocked Jeongguk's arm and practically drags him to his feet and halfway down the aisle before Jeongguk's feet process what is happening and he starts sprinting. They run through the train cars, hauling off on any of the few creatures that would lunge at them. Jeongguk struggles to suppress every bit of humanity in him, forcing himself to ignore every person screaming and crying for help as the monsters feast on their skin and veins and blood, as they're eaten alive.

Finally, they reach the car Jeongguk was originally sitting in, and utter mayhem is ensuing. Jeongguk's heart drops to the depths of his stomach. Jimin. Where is Jimin? He looks to where his and Jimin's seats are to see no one there. He doesn't know if he should be glad or more worried that he has no idea where Jimin is.

"Come on, they're up in a further car!" Namjoon shouts, bashing another creature's head in with his baseball bat. Jeongguk nods and continues to run, camera bouncing against his chest. The sound of multiples of pairs of staggering feet behind them fuel their mad dash to the car. Two cars down, they can see the last of the passengers gathering in one car. Jeongguk can feel himself pale as he realizes they're going to close the door any second now.

"Wait!" Jeongguk shouts, thighs burning as he pushes his legs faster. A familiar orange head perks up from behind the sliding glass door at the sound of his voice, and Jeongguk doesn't have time to feel relief that Jimin is okay because the door is shutting before they can reach it. Mere seconds later, Jeongguk and the man slam against the shut door, hands banging on the glass desperately. "Open up! Open the door!"

"Open the fucking door!" The man shouts. A man with pink hair behind the glass is held back by the crowd as he reaches for the door, screaming and crying. Jeongguk makes eye contact with Jimin, who doesn't look as panicked as Jeongguk would expect considering the creatures are half a train car away. Jeongguk looks down to see his smaller hand on the door handle, and anger and shock blooms in his chest when he realizes that Jimin is the one holding the door shut.

"Jimin! Jimin, please!" Jeongguk shouts. "Jimin!" He tries once more. Jimin, obviously conflicted, bites his lip and debates inwardly for half a second before sliding the door open, pulling Jeongguk and the man into the car. Jeongguk doesn't have time to unleash his rage on Jimin because he's turned around, holding the sliding door shut with all his strength.

"Let go." Jimin states, and Jeongguk's head whips around to look over his shoulder at him.

"Are you fucking insane?" He shouts, and Jimin shakes his head. Jeongguk can tell the guilt from nearly locking him in a train car with cannibalistic zombies is getting to his stepbrother.

"No. They don't know how to work the door. They're pushing, not sliding, see?" He points at the tens and twenties of people turned rabid monsters. Surely enough, he's right. The man in the baseball cap that has been helping him keep the door shut step back hesitantly, and the door stays shut.

The entire crowded car is silent, albeit the sounds of Jeongguk and Namjoon's heavy breathing and the relentless banging of heads and hands against the sliding door. The reality that his own stepbrother almost sentenced him to certain death is sinking in for Jeongguk, but it seems to sink in much faster for Namjoon, because suddenly, Jimin is pressed up against the wall, gasping for breath and begging for mercy that Namjoon is unwilling to give.

oop this is long but enjoy 💜