↳ supermarket。

@▸ wang yiren。 flashlight? check.

backpack? check.

two way radio? check.

but it was his own foolishness at that moment which led him to his teammates disappearance. the moment he became distracted by his own worries of whether he brought everything with him, they vanished before his eyes. yonghee curses to himself, wishing that he pushed forward with them instead of becoming so focused on his belongings. who knew what kind of danger he readily exposed himself at that moment? it definitely didn't help that he would have held the team back eventually had another sleeping episode caught up to him. he was anxious about this raid since this morning –– wondering how exactly they would pull this off without an injury or two.

stepping out of the research center was a bad idea but food wasn't exactly something that refilled itself automatically. still, yonghee wished the scientists would have considered his gardening ideas more seriously. if that happened he wouldn't have to find a corner to hide himself in, inside a frigid supermarket.

"hello? guys?" he presses the button on the two way radio, "anyone there? i think you forgot a guy at aisle uh...damn i can't even read the sign."

@▹ kim taehyung。 Minho could not even look at Taehyung, there was so much shame inside him and he felt so bad. He had not wanted Taehyung to see him like this, this weak and trembling and so very exhausted. So close to just breaking apart because he had not eaten any human meat in days. And he was scared he might lose it in front of Taehyung or maybe even hurt the other. How could he? He always only wanted to keep him safe and sound, that was all he had always wanted.

“I dreamed I would eat you.” Minho’s hands were shaking and he could feel tears in his eyes, his heart beating so fast. “I dreamed I ate you while you were alive and screaming and I woke up and I was so close to your throat and I-“ He took a shaky breath and closed his eyes for a moment so the tears would not fall. “All I could do was grab my backpack and run.” He bit his lip and shook his head, sweat on his forehead while he held onto the shelf, not wanting to fall again. “I was so scared I would hurt you.”

There was a small sob leaving his lips. He had always tried to be the strong one, always tried to protect Taehyung and their other friends. “I did not know at first. That I had the virus. I just… the nightmares and the shakiness. I thought it was just because of all the stress.” He frowned and looked at Taehyung. “It was not.” And he had only realised it when he had woken up so close to Taehyung, lips almost touching the other’s throat and he had felt like his world was crumbling.

“I know it’s not my fault. But… I am dangerous and… I have not eaten any kind of human meat for days and…” Minho looked at the bandage on his own arm. “It got infected so I can’t even eat my own skin right now.” He felt bad for letting Taehyung know that he had even gone the length to eat his own human flesh because he did not want to be any danger. “I’m so so so sorry, Tae. I’m sorry.”

@▸ lee minho。 Taehyung looked at the other with pure confusion on his eyes with the word he uttered but the next sentences that escaped from his old friend's lips made him feel like an ice cold water being poured on his body. His lips parted in shock before closing it again, it was like there was an iron rod stuck inside his throat at the information he just received. No, it can't be. Not Minho. No, no, no. Anyone but him.

He knew his thoughts were full selfish but the other had become most important person for him and he thought it was completely unfair that the universe wanted to take him away from him. Was it not enough that he took his life away from him? His family abandoned him. He lost everything.

"Minho I-" He swallowed the lump on his throat, hand reaching out for the male but it hang on the air as his feet stayed rooted on his spot. "W-why you did not tell me?" He asked with pure desperation on his brown orbs, mixed with pain and sadness. Now he understood why the latter left him. He just hoped this was just another nightmare because it hurt more than he came to realization when his parents left him when he was still a baby.

"It is not your fault." He bit down on his lower lip and tears started to gather on his eyes, hands clenching on the side of his shirt as he tried to calm his emotions down. 'I am sorry I couldn't protect you, I failed.' He added inside his mind.

( open; random starter )

The first thing that caught Taekwoon's attention when he stepped foot into the market, was the smell of rotting food. It seemed that the store was looted when the outbreak first began, for there was broken glass, scattered packaging, and strangely enough, graffiti tags. He couldn't help but wonder who in their right mind would voluntarily enter a place like this in such a dangerous time just to spraypaint the floor. 'Oh, well,' he thought. 'Let them have their ten seconds of fun.' Most of the meat had long since been picked from the freezers and coolers when people in denial (the infected who refused to accept their fate) attempted to satiate their strange appetite with animal flesh. This meant the items decaying were produce and dairy, which were far less pungent- thank the gods. Of course, he would still rather be anywhere else than this.

Why was he even here? He chose to wander into this dangerous, smelly place for no better reason than to see what supplies would be useful to his goal. He wasn't even surprised to see a stranger... but he was wary. They stood all the way across the store, doing whatever it was they needed.

@▹ kim taehyung。 For a long moment all Minho could do was stare at Taehyung. Sweet, soft, friendly Taehyung, once one had broken through the hard shell and entered the part where the other started caring about one. And it hurt Minho to see him like this, even know after Minho had hurt him so horribly, he was still so friendly and loving. It hurt, knowing Taehyung was still here to help after all Minho had done.

Carefully he took the other's hand, his own sweaty and a little to warm, before he took a step back, shaking his head. "Please. You need to stay away from me," he said, voice raspy and weak and his eyes looked so very sad. He did not want Taehyung to know but he needed to because otherwise the other would feel horrible forever, maybe even think it was his fault, maybe.

"I'm infected," he then whispered, trying to hold onto a shelf to keep himself upright. "I'm infected and I am in a bad condition so please-" he said and took a deep breath, feeling dizzy. He hated this situation. Hated being so weak because he had tried so badly to protect his friends and especially Taehyung who meant so much to him. He was his family and all he had left but now he could not even protect him anymore. Dreaming of eating Taehyung's delicious flesh had scared and scarred him so how could he just stay close to the other?

"I'm so so so sorry," he said and bothered his bottom lip. "I'm so sorry."

@▸ lee minho。 Even though he tried to act ignorant but he still looked over his old friend through the corner of his eyes. He tried to convince himself that he was used of being alone but in the middle of this catastrophe, it was really hard to hold on by yourself. But at the same time trusting too much in this situation also could lead into betrayal, because he believed people will do anything for survival even sacrificing one another.

He hated that Minho sounded so weak and looked completely devastated when he was the one who left in the first place. He was the one who hurt him but the other made it like it was the exact opposite. It made him feel even more angrier and made his emotions went all over the place.

That day when he woke up and found out that Minho had left made him feel like cold water being poured on him. What made him feel worse that the older male left without any single explanations, no notes, nothing. It made him feel like Minho never really cared about him that all those times they had spent times together was nothing but meaningless lie.

He hissed lightly when he saw the male falling down on the floor and letting out a small sigh. His eyes travelled on the latter's figure and realized that he looked injured. Without him realizing, he already came closer to his old friend and offered his hand but he looked the other way. "You are still as clumsy as ever." He muttered under his breath.

@▹ kim taehyung。 Seeing Taehyung like that tore Minho’s heart apart. He still remembered how hard it had been to get Taehyung open up to him and how close they had been. Even know Taehyung meant the world to him and he just felt so horrible. He had not wanted to leave but waking up with the need to bite his best friend and eat his flesh? No. Just no. It had scared Minho so much and even know he could smell how tasty the other’s blood was.

“Tae, I’m so sorry,” Minho said, his voice raspy and weak and he was sure if Taehyung got closer he could see how he was shaking and how glassy his eyes were. The fever had spiked in the last few hours and Minho knew it was one of the symptoms. Like being able to smell blood even though the people were away or how much the normal food started to taste disgustingly or the nightmares he had almost every night. He was infected and he had been ever since he had left. How could he stay with a group of friends, people he cherished, if it meant he was danger or even death to them.

The words hurt so much and he took a deep breath, biting his lips. “I’m sorry,” he repeated before he looked down and took a step away and then another. But his legs were weak and shaky and he missed the box behind him. He tried grabbing for the shelf to hold onto it but instead there was a sharp pain and he cursed before falling down to the ground.

A small, painful sound left his lips and he whimpered because it hurt. Curling in on himself he held his hand and arm – there was a bandage on it too he was hiding it under his clothes. Taehyung probably thought he had just left because of some stupid reason. But he had not. He definitely had not. He must have hurt Taehyung so much.

“I’m so sorry.”

@▸ lee minho。 A frown on his face deepened when the other acted like he just did not ditch him like he meant nothing to him. For the first time in his life, that he decided to let someone in through the thick walls that he surrounded himself in. He finally thought that he had someone he can trust, someone to lean in when he hated to show his vulnerability to anyone but he did show it in front of the male in front of him.

But the other abandoned him when he knew, he knew that he has a huge abandonment insecurity. The fact that his parents left him astray in front of the orphanage without any explanation made a huge scar on him, but it also made him stronger as a person and closed himself up from everyone around him.

When he met Minho, he was extremely persistent on his attempt to get close to him even after countless rejections and ignorance that came from him. Though he finally softened up to the other male but looked where it lead him, another abandonment. "It is none of your business." He replied coldly and tried to ignore his existence as he started to walk through the alleys between the shelves in the abandoned supermarket.

"Can you just leave me alone? Because it seems you are so good at that." He commented rather harshly, did not even spare a glance at his old friend.

@▹ kim taehyung。 It was Taehyung.

Minho would recognise the other everywhere, even if he was without his glasses, he would recognize Taehyung everywhere and anywhere. His voice was still the same and so beautiful like the last time he had heard. Biting his lip, he took a step forward before he stopped. He felt so bad for not being able to stay with Taehyung and that he had not even be able to stay goodbye to his friend but sometimes things were just like this.

“Taehyung,” Minho said and looked at the other, biting his lip. “Why are you here? The group should not be here. This area is dangerous,” he added and frowned, biting his bottom lip. Now that was bad. He wanted Taehyung to be safe, not here, and Minho wondered how he had ended up in here, in the chaos that surrounded them. The supermarket itself was pretty instable and could crash down on them any time but he had always been pretty reckless and so had Taehyung.

“I’m sorry,” he then mumbled, head down and wondering how angry the other was. Oh, he was probably pissed beyond.

@▸ lee minho。 It was that time again that Taehyung needed to search for supplies for survival purpose. Since the time the only person he ever let in through his thick walls left without words, leaving him into a cold reserved person he used to be. After that person walked away from their group, he soon followed because the reason he stayed in the first place was because of him.

The male wore his gray hoodie, hood covering his brown hair that got a bit longer since he hadn't cut it for a while paired with comfortable sweatpants and pair of sneakers. He entered the supermarket after looking around, making sure there were no infected within his vision. He walked through the alleys of the supermarket, wanted to head to the food section until he heard a familiar voice calling out his name.

He froze on his spot, eyes widening before slowly turning his head and there he was standing there like he never really left. He parted his mouth in shock before closing it again, trying to process if it was really Minho in front of him. Then his expression changed into that emotionless façade he used in front of others. "Minho."

@▹ kim taehyung。 It was around noon – or was it later – when a soft drizzle and slight rain covered Minho’s footsteps and left his footprints on the ground once he entered the supermarket. Even here he could feel the rain though the building was at least protecting him from the wind. He looked around curiously – the supermarket was already pretty run down, but last time Minho had checked the place he had still found some things he thought of needing.

Food and first aid supplies were already almost all gone, but toothbrushes or headphones were still easy to be found. It was something Minho wanted to use and he sometimes found batteries – a blessing as he was still using his old music player he needed batteries for. When he was feeling too overwhelmed, it was helping him a lot to calm down. Stretching a bit, Minho grabbed a few things that were still in the shelves before he heard a sound – immediately he froze, his eyes widening.

Grabbing his knife he was looking around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming down – and once he saw the face, he let his knife go down. No. No, that could not be. Minho had left the area his friends were supposed to be in, he made sure to get as far away as possible and now he saw them here? /Him/ here?

“Taehyung?” Minho could feel his heart beating fast, his fingers trembling slightly. That could not be.