stumbling over roots, branches scratching their exposed skins and chills running down their spines as jihoon and soonyoung ran through the darkness of the night, seeking shelter from the horrendous murderer that came closer with every second that passed. there was no time to waste, especially not when silence took over the loud sounds that were audible before.
the continuous shots had now calmed down as well, only sounding once in a while. soonyoung wasn't exactly sure whether they created a large enough distance or if they ran straight up to him, the bullets seeming to sound everywhere around them.
but he knew that if they dropped the fast pace they were running on, they might get caught. and at this point, it was already pretty clear that he was able to shoot anyone that stood in his way merciless.
"s-soon..young.. i'm tired.. please take a break.." jihoon breathed out, sliding his hand away from soonyoung's grip as he let his body sink down against a tree. his entire body lacked energy, even the adrenaline they had felt a while ago that kept them running was entirely gone now.
it was as if he found peace with the horrifying fate that awaited them.
"please we can't stop now." soonyoung whined, visibly still hoping that it would be okay somehow "what if he finds us? we really need to make it out alive!"
"soonyoung, can you for once give up on that crazy optimistic vision of yours?" jihoon snapped, instant regret kicking in once he saw how soonyoung's eyes lost it's joy completely. they had been clouded with worries since they had entered the forest, but jihoon's words however managed to make it even worse.
the once so energetic dancer dropped his shoulders, staring into the darkness with empty eyes, his sight unfocussed. not even the shots and abrupt screams of students managed to bring back any sense of life into him, he wasn't even capable of flinching anymore. it seemed as if jihoon's words had brought him back to the stone cold reality, which seemed so hard to accept.
"soonyoung?" jihoon weakly whispered, pushing himself up from the ground to check what damaged he had caused on soonyoung, this time "soons, i'm sorry.. i didn't mean to say it in that way.."
"no no, you shouldn't be apologizing, you're right after all." soonyoung averted his gaze to his grey all stars, wiggling his feet up and down in agony "he'll find us eventually. we've seen him killing out there on the open field, if he finds us there will be slim to no chance of surviving."
jihoon made a step closer to him, eyeing the boy's obnoxiously bright colored hair while his head hung low, strands of hair covering his eyes. "i really shouldn't have said that.."
it was the sudden realization that jihoon stood in front of him that made soonyoung peer his head back up on a slow pace, carefully glancing at the smaller boy in front of him. even in this type of situation he managed to notice their height difference.
"stop apologizing silly" a small yet genuine smile appeared on soonyoung's face as he eyed the smaller male, who fidgeted with the sleeves of one of soonyoung's oversized sweaters. after the night of the campfire, jihoon refused to take the pastel colored clothing off. "we're both scared with absolute no clue what to do or to expect. i get why you said that. it's best if we just prepare for what might happen-"
"-no soonyoung, it's not about that." jihoon said, choking back a sob as a stray tear left his eye, shimmering in the light of a half moon "i'm sorry for always insulting you. it's always me who tries to take your positivity down or anything related to that. i know you're good at brushing it off but i'm not stupid, i see perfectly well that i'm hurting you with it."
at this point tears of regret mixed with fear were flooding down his cheeks, staining his milky white skin. "i really don't mean ninety nine percent of the things i say to you." he cried out, trying to keep his volume at least a bit down "just... ah.." he let out a frustrated groan, lowering his eyes and glueing them to the surface of the ground "..ignore what i just said."
"oh i'm not going to ignore everything you just said to me." soonyoung giggled, moving a step closer to jihoon, which the younger was surprisingly comfortable with "listen, i know you're not being serious most of the times. cuddling me the first night we were here proved me how much you actually care."
"but what about all those who call me a cold and distant person? don't you start believing those rumors at some point?"
"hoon, they clearly never listened to your songs before. because if there's anyone in this world who i'm sure has more feelings than what anyone around him sees, it's you. you're so strong and so vulnerable at the same time, and your lyrics was able to tell me that." he whispered while wearing a lighthearted smile, which jihoon missed unfortunately "and the way we cuddled of course."
"i'm sorry.." jihoon choked out, still not able to look up. even when soonyoung just proved him there was nothing to be afraid of, he was still so scared of rejection.
"you know what, come here you.." soonyoung opened his arms and felt how jihoon instantly sneaked his arms around his waist, placing them a little higher on his back as he pulled his body all the way against the dancer.
"i'm scared soons.." jihoon's cry only came out as a muffled whisper due to his mouth being pressed against the fabric of soonyoung's shirt.
"i'm scared too. but i promise that no matter what happens tonight, i'll be here to protect you." soonyoung assured the trembling boy in his arms, swirling locks of his blonde hair in-between his fingers.
the silent atmosphere that hung around them seemed so heavy, making the ambience of the night only more frightening. until a sound pierced jihoon's hearing, which seemed to calm down the sobs that left his throat.
it was soonyoung, humming onto the melody of one of jihoon's first songs. it brought vibrations down his chest where jihoon had his head resting against, reassuring him with just the tone of his voice. he never knew one of his own songs could sound so beautiful, being sung by the boy he adored so dearly.
soonyoung carelessly kept going, both boys accepting their fate of being caught. they realized it would happen anyways at some point. then why not take the best out of it by holding each other close, romantically slow dancing in the middle of a forest.
they both didn't even realize that the gun hadn't been fired in about five minutes already, too caught up in each other to notice. until a loud sound that neared the terrain pierced their hearing, making them flinch but peer their heads up in unison.
it was the familiar sound of a siren that neared them..
