A Day In September - BTS Zombie au

57: Last of Kin

Those oddly polished shoes of Hyunjae's didn't last too long. They were muddy and dark crimson stains ran down its sides, courtesy of a heavily bleeding Sam. Hyunjae sat stoically inside his wagon, staring at nothing in particular as him and his men were lead towards Dong-seok's camp. The sun was a couple of hours from setting, as a mourning Hyunjae spent some time with Sam's body to say goodbye, proceeding to clean him up with the help of Namjoon, Jin and Taehyung. The last was a lot less affected, finding himself apt to take care of a corpse. Hyunjae found it difficult to handle the corpse of his dear friend, and so did Namjoon. The latter couldn't deny that despite the mishap with Haneul, he had grown fond of Sam; everyone had. Well, except Jungkook but he could safely say he held no grudge whatsoever.

Hyunjae clutched tightly onto his coat jacket, refusing to wash the massive blood stain as Jin had offered to do so. It was a morbid memento, but a memento nonetheless. The stain had turned a dark brown and had stained Hyunjae's white button up, however he didn't seem to care. Though he tried to remain strong, his eyes would gloss over with a distant glaze of sorrow everyone could see.

It was quite tragic that Sam would not feel the joy of finding his sister alive and in good hands. At the realization, resignation washed over Hyunjae's face, but he seemed overall glad to be able to fulfill Sam's dying wish.

Mara clung languidly to Jungkook, brooding over how Haneul would react to finding out that the only flesh and blood she had left was gone. As disconnected from Haneul as Mara felt, there was now something to tie them together. They both had no family left and would have to rely on to the company of people that might or might not have their best interest and safety in mind. When Mara hoped for Haneul to be humbled, she did not mean this. There was nothing humbling about losing your only brother. Not only that, but Mara believed neither Sam or Kai deserved their untimely fates, so life had a pretty brutal way of teaching lessons.

You couldn't really miss people you did not know, but Sam and Kai were the kind to leave a lasting impression, and their absences were palpable.

Jungkook and Mara lead the way to Dong-seok's that evening, followed by Namjoon on Oreo and Hyunjae in his wagon. Jungkook could see the cabin growing closer, and he glanced over his shoulder at Mara, gauging her mood before speaking in a hushed tone.

"Let's hope Hyunjae doesn't ask about her bruises. It could be bad," Jungkook whispered.

Mara felt her stomach drop, and she sighed, "It's going to be noticeable as fuck. I shouldn't have beat her ass even if she deserved it."

"No, it was justified," Jungkook tried to hide his grin, "And hot."

Mara airily chuckled, "Shut up."

As the group neared the allied campsite, a figure, particularly buff and loaded with weapons
came to view. Dong-seok leaned on the fence, peering through the trees into the forest. His narrowed gaze was intimidating and Stoney, and his furrowed brows did not radiate friendliness. Despite being a man of warmth and kindness, he did very little to hide the lengths he would go to to protect those he loved. He was gentle yet unafraid, cautious yet uncowardly, compassionate yet unforgiving.

He was the very well thought out definition of what a man was, and certainly a role model Mara would've loved for Namjoon's group to constantly have around.
Namjoon would have been embarrassed to admit his actions against me to Dong-seok, Mara thought.

Mara glanced at Namjoon, accustomed to his stoic nature yet wishing he would show some sense of humanity every now and then, just as he had two days prior. Mara was proud of his noticeable changes, and she was relieved that things were getting better. The desire to leave was no longer present, but the girl would not hesitate to pack up if things went back to how they were. The risky and endangering environment that Namjoon's camp once was, was not a safe place for Mara to have ever been in.