fic: untitled drabble #16 (jukyu, zombie apocalypse au) [#tigerinside2022]

[moriendum]

fandom: tbz
pairing: juyeon/changmin
rating: T (warning for death mention)
wordcount: 300 words
tags: zombie apocalypse au, emotional hurt/comfort
a/n: crossposted from twitter in 2023.

Juyeon looks peaceful like this.

The tear tracks are still too visible, though. Changmin touches his face, careful not to wake him. When the tears were still falling, he hadn’t seen them, exactly. He held Juyeon close to his chest, whispered words he hoped would help, and strained his ears for any noise, much like he’s doing now.

Outside, he can hear Sangyeon and Haknyeon. He can’t make out the words, but it sounds like an argument. Other than that, he doesn’t hear anything.

Changmin thought they were far enough away. They all thought they were, and that here, the chances of seeing someone from their past, from before all the death and the gore, would be minimal. No one expected to find one of their loved ones this far, turned into something that barely resembles a person anymore, a mindless corpse hungry for flesh. Juyeon definitely didn’t.

And that takes strength, Changmin thinks. It takes a strong soul to withstand that and not be irreversibly broken afterwards.

He feels his own eyes stinging. When he sniffles, Juyeon opens his eyes.

“Are you crying?”

Changmin shakes his head and swallows the treacherous tears. “No.”

It’s obviously a lie, but Juyeon won’t call him out on it. He looks at Changmin like there’s nowhere else to look, nothing else to do. Maybe there isn’t.

“Go back to sleep,” Changmin croaks out. He clears his throat and draws invisible, featherlight lines on Juyeon’s cheek with his fingertip. “We’re probably staying here for the night.”

Juyeon doesn’t argue. He closes his eyes again, and Changmin makes to move his hand away, but Juyeon whispers, “Don’t. I like it.”

So Changmin stays. He keeps Juyeon close and traces the tear tracks on his face, wishing he could wipe them away along with the memories of that day.

But Juyeon will be ok. He needs to believe that. There is nothing else to believe in but themselves.