Work Text:
It started with earthquakes. And then fires. And then volcanoes erupting.
There are rumblings and sirens and chaos. Everyone is running in different directions, each running away from something. It's futile at this point. Everyone already knows the world is ending and no amount of running can save anyone from it. But then again, it's human nature to want to survive—to want to live, to want to make it out alive somehow—no matter how pointless it is or for how briefly it would be.
It's human nature to want to survive. It's also human nature to want to protect.
That's why in the middle of buildings collapsing and cars burning, here is JL running north—to the direction of fires and smokes and explosions. A phone is clutched tight on his right hand while he tries to call Juwon. His hair is a mess, there are tears on his clothes because he just barely came out of a building that collapsed during the strongest earthquake he has ever felt. He feels a piercing pain on his right leg where one of the debris fell a while ago but he ignores it and continues dialling for his cousin, his best friend, his soul.
“Juwon, come on, answer your damn phone!” JL dialled again after his call got sent to voicemail for the nth time. He considers it a miracle that there is still cellular service right now but he doesn't want to take his chances. Any time now, the signal might get cut off.
The next time he put his phone near his ear, the damning beep greeted him and he cursed hard, “No service, fuck!”
“Jay.”
He gets stopped by a hand being put on his arm, firmly putting him in place and turning him around before yanking him away from a falling something he just noticed. He feels his tears falling and annoyed at his emotions, he wiped at them hard. The same hand stopped him again, softly pulling his hands away. JL sobbed, angry tears still falling and mouth pursed into an angry pout.
“Jay, can you hear me?” He nods, a sob escaping from him.
“Can you see me?” He lifts his eyes and looks at him straight in the eye. He nods, feeling rather comforted at the familiar sight of stern eyes looking at him, unwavering.
For a second, JL forgets about the end of the world. For a second, he doesn't notice the car burning a few meters away from them, the fastfood restaurant beside them being half a rubble, the volcano puffing out smoke and lava, or the sound of horns and sirens and helicopters. For a second, JL forgets about the world and lets himself see the strong and comforting look on Steven's eyes.
“Good,” Steven smiles at him and JL lets himself breathe properly. The look on Steven's eyes is unchanging. It's still unwavering despite the bruise on his forehead. It's not shaking even with the slight blood on his lips. It's not changing even with the tattered clothes and messy hair and bloody knuckles and limping legs. He gives JL the same unwavering look while patting the younger's shoulder, “We're almost there. Just a few meters away and we'll reach Juwon's university. Think you can still run?”
And JL gets reminded exactly why Steven is the anchor that holds them—holds him—together. He's unwavering, even in the face of a literal end of the world.
“Yeah. I still can.”
Steven nods, lips forming a proud smile and eyes crinkling slightly, “Good. Let's go. Juwon must be waiting for you.”
JL nods again, tears dried out now and resolve once again coming back to him—more solid and almost tangible. He turns around and runs. Steven's presence behind him giving him a sense of security and safety. Which is ironic considering it's the end of the world. But JL never questions it. It's Steven, after all. Steven will always be his source of comfort and warmth and safety. Even while the world around them burns.
“It's a mess in here.” Steven is panting as he comments at the mess that greeted them when they finally reached the gates—or what used to be the gates—of Juwon's university. It took them a couple of earthquakes and fires to get here and their bruises and burns are getting worse but it's worth it. JL thinks it's worth it, at least, because he finally reached Juwon's university.
“You memorized the way to his room or something?” They start walking inside, almost instinctively steering away from the burning trees and cars.
JL nodded, sure of himself. He was able to send Juwon a message during the earthquake earlier—firmly reminding the younger to never get out of campus because he will come. He knows Juwon saw it because there's a reply of affirmation to him and JL knows Juwon will follow what he says. And even if he doesn't find Juwon inside his classroom, JL is sure he will find Juwon inside this campus.
“If Juwon isn't in his room, where do you think he would hide?”
JL ponders about it as they approach Juwon's building. Half of it has collapsed and JL tries not to think of the worst case scenario as he remembers Juwon's room being on the fourth floor of the building.
“Somewhere around the field, probably,” JL answers as he tries to think about a way to climb up the stairs to the fourth floor. Juwon's room is fortunately not included in the part that collapsed but now JL has to figure out how to get to the floor he needs to be.
“How do you think we can get to the fourth floor?” He turns to Steven and sees the older looking up at the building with a contemplative look on his face. JL once again turns to the building and looks here and there, trying to see if there's a way they can climb up.
“Juwon!” JL startles at the sudden shout from Steven. He turns to the older, who has both hands on the sides of his mouth, shouting, “Juwon, are you there? We're here!”
JL almost wants to laugh at the sight. It's stupid and dumb but he copies what Steven is doing and shouts, “Juwon! Where the heck are you!”
And almost comedically, Juwon's head peeks out from the fourth floor of a half collapsed building, brows furrowed and looking pissed at them, “Fuckers, what took you both so long!”
Both he and Steven laugh at the sight of their youngest friend looking like a pouty baby amidst the mess of rubbles around them. Juwon grumbles again, “Don't laugh! I almost died, you know!”
“Unfortunately, you're not special. We also almost died,” JL crossed his arms on his chest, his sass coming out despite the seriousness of the situation.
He sees Juwon stand up and he worries for a second because the building could collapse any time but Juwon was brushing his hands off some dust and leaning on the railings, “You think I can jump from here, hyung?”
Horrified, JL whips his head towards Steven who thankfully shakes his head, “Hold on. Don't do anything stupid, Ju.”
“Shut up!”
JL rolls his eyes, opting to shut his mouth this time or else they won't be able to finish here. He looks at the surroundings again, trying to figure out how to haul Juwon from the fourth floor of the building. He was just about to suggest something when Steven moved from his side.
“Ju, can you come to this side and climb to the tree right there?”
Juwon didn't answer immediately. He took a few steps to the left and there's a contemplative look on his face as he seems to be assessing whether he can climb up the tree right beside the building or not.
“Think you can do it?” JL couldn't help but ask to break the tense silence between the three of them.
There's a nod from Juwon and JL doesn't know if he should be relieved about it or not. Maybe he should. But he's still nervous about it. It's not going to be easy and they don't exactly have the luxury of time. From the distance, there's another explosion and the ground they're standing on shook for a bit.
Neither Steven nor Juwon minded the tremors. JL worried his bottom lip as he watched Juwon take a tentative step closer to the rails, eyes focused on the branch near the building. He sees Juwon take a quick glance at them—to Steven, specifically—before pushing himself up to climb to the rails. JL could stop himself from stepping forward, worried and nervous, as Juwon stepped on the branch carefully.
“Slowly, Ju. Don't rush. It's okay.”
JL stopped on his tracks when Steven suddenly said it. Unconsciously, he turned his head to Steven who remained watching Juwon climb down the tree like a hawk—his arms half-raised, brows furrowed, and posture rigid. From JL's side, he looks like a predator ready to catch his prey. But that's not quite it, either. Because Steven is anything but a predator, JL corrects himself. Instead, Steven looks like a lion ready to prowl at anyone who so much as breathes wrongly near his cub.
As Juwon successfully jumped down and Steven immediately rushed out to check on their youngest friend, JL pursed his lips and swallowed the chuckles threatening to spill out at the image of Steven being the lion and Juwon being his cub. It's the end of the world and he will surely take this idea to the grave. Juwon has always been fond of tigers, after all, he won't exactly like being compared to a cub of all things.
“Wow, you look dashing.”
Or maybe he should. Just to spite his cousin.
“You don't look so bad yourself,” JL says with an eyeroll at the younger who laughs at him but pulls him in for a hug. JL melts into it, arms immediately coming up to wrap around his bestfriend, feeling his breathing and warmth. He closes his eyes and relishes the feeling of being alive and holding his soul in his arms.
“I'm glad you kept yourself safe,” he murmurs on Juwon's shoulder.
The hug tightens as Juwon answers, “Of course. You promised you'll come get me.”
They separate after a few more seconds of just hugging each other. There are so many things JL wants to say but they don't really have much time. He turns around to ask Steven what to do but he catches the sight of Steven looking at them with the fondest eyes he has ever seen. JL finds himself being out of breath at the sight.
It's only because Juwon practically bounces towards Steven that JL flinches and he shakes his thoughts away. He takes a deep breath before walking to follow the two.
“It's the end of the world and you still want banana milk?” JL deadpans as he watches Juwon hoard a few bottles of banana milk from the refrigerator of the store they went to. He shakes his head while Juwon beamed at him in glee.
The three of them found a usable car when they went out of the university and they used it to roam around and find shelter to go to. But Juwon insisted they get something to eat and drink first. So they stopped at a convenience store that's miraculously still intact.
“Are you guys done? We need to be quick because this could collapse anytime.”
JL raised the plastic bags full of food on his arms and grinned at Steven who sighed at the sight of him, fond and endeared. He laughed and walked out of the store, trusting Steven to drag his cousin out of it. He placed the bags on the backseat before walking over to open the passenger seat. He paused, though, because he finally noticed the surroundings.
The city he grew up in is now unrecognizable. The buildings which used to be bustling with crowds and lights are now reduced to rubbles because of the earthquakes. The streets that used to be full of people going out and about are now deserted. If JL squints enough, he could see some dead bodies all over but he pushes the thought away and raises his head to look at the sky.
It's dark and it looks… angry.
At who? The people, maybe. JL wonders if the human population is finally being punished by nature.
JL takes a deep breath and turns to the store to call the two but they come out just in time and he feels his dread lessening at the sight of Steven pulling Juwon by the collar and basically manhandling the younger boy to the car. He laughed and opened the passenger seat, sliding inside and waiting for Steven to get into the car.
“Where should we go, hyung?” Juwon asked when Steven started driving away.
“I think that storm is going to be strong. We need to find a place.”
JL looks at the window and sees the sky again. Dark clouds heavy with rain and storm and rage. He gulped at the sight of it swirling and looking like it's chasing after them.
“South, then?”
When JL looked at Juwon through the rearview mirror, Juwon was hugging an opened chips on one hand and his other hand was sipping on a banana milk, looking rather relaxed at the backseat. Like it's just another random Tuesday. Like it's not quite literally the end of the world.
“Yep. Seatbelts, Ju. I'm speeding up.”
Juwon straightens on his seat and grins as he buckles his seatbelt. JL does the same and braces himself because when Steven says he's gonna speed up, then he's gonna speed up.
“Maybe this would do. Let's try going in,” JL murmurs as he takes off his seatbelt and opens the door on his side.
The rain started pouring a few minutes ago and the storm brewing earlier looks darker and more feral now. Steven stopped their car in front of a deserted looking house far from the city.
“What do we do if there's someone there and they don't let us in?” Juwon stood beside JL in front of the house, never minding the rain starting to get more aggressive.
“We beg,” Steven moves to press the doorbell of the gate. JL crosses his fingers and prays they will be allowed in.
When no one came out of the house, Steven moved to open the gate (that fortunately was left open) and entered the premises while calling out, “Hello? Is anyone here?”
JL and Juwon followed him, hands full with the bags of food and drinks they got from the store. They stood behind Steven while the latter knocked on the door to the house, “Hello? May we come in?”
“Is the door even open, hyung?” At Juwon's question, Steven twists the knob of the door open and they all breathe a sigh of relief when it does. Steven turns to them with a grin and JL couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Why this hyung looked so proud of it, he doesn't know but he doesn't say anything about it, either.
Steven walked in, calling out a soft, “Excuse us. We'll be going in.”
“I don't think anyone's here,” Juwon whispers from his side as they follow Steven inside.
The house looks cozy and warm save for some things knocked over. There's a crack on the screen of the television, and a cabinet fell over leaving shards of glass scattered on the floor. JL looked up to see the few cracks on the walls as well. Other than the mess, the house looked rather fine. In fact, it looked inviting enough that Juwon was already plopping himself on the couch while putting all the bags of food on the wooden coffee table in front of him.
JL shook his head at the sight, following the younger and placing the bags on the same table, too. He doesn't sit down, however, because he walks inside the house and decides to go to the direction of what he guesses to be the kitchen. His mind won't shut up if he doesn't make sure the house is safe and secured. He scans the kitchen; there are broken glasses everywhere, the water is surprisingly running well, the dinner table isn't usable because it broke down, and the refrigerator fell over. JL grimaces at the sight of food and drinks wasted and thanks Juwon in his mind for forcing them to stop by the store.
Steven was coming out of one of the rooms when JL went back to the living room. He eyes the blankets and pillows on the former's arms and laughs when he tosses it on Juwon's slouched figure. There's a muffled grumble from Juwon they both ignore as JL says, “The dinner table is broken and the refrigerator fell over but there's water.”
There's a nod from Steven as they both look through the windows, “I'll check it later. For now, let's secure the house.”
JL nods, walking over to the Juwon-shaped pile of pillows and blankets and yanking it out, “Stop being lazy and help us out.”
He's answered by a pout but Juwon complies, either way. The three of them work together to secure the windows of the house and check it for any cracks or leaks. JL finds one of the rooms big enough for the three of them and he decides to clean it up from the mess of things that fell over so they could sleep in it later. He thinks Steven wants to sleep in the living room but the room seems to be the better choice.
He says as much when they meet in the living room again. The storm now upon them. JL can hear the roaring of thunder and flicker of lightning from where he stood. The rain fell over the roof of the house—strong and unrelenting. He can hear the smash of winds against the windows and he ignores the tremors from it. He feels dizzy just thinking about whether the shelter they found could protect them throughout this storm—however long it may last.
Steven agrees to his suggestion and they all carry the bunch of pillows and blankets to the room JL just cleaned.
He was making their bed for the night and arranging pillows and blankets when Juwon came in, eyes crinkling in delight, “I found some clothes, Jay! Look!”
When he raises his head to take a look, Juwon is out of the messy and tattered clothes from earlier. He's now in black sweatpants paired with a gray hoodie that seems to actually be too big for him. He raised a brow and was about to say something when Steven emerged inside the room also in different clothes from earlier. Gone were the messed up and bloodied clothes, he's now in a cozy all black attire—black sweatpants and black sweater with a white shirt peeking out from under it.
He shook his head especially as Steven raised his armful of clothes that he and Juwon definitely chose for him. He stood up from his crouched position and grabbed the clothes from Steven before going inside the other room to change. He doesn't like that he's changing his clothes without washing his body but it's the end of the world. He doesn't really have much of a choice.
The sight of Steven dabbing cotton on Juwon's arm greeted him when he entered the room clad in a white hoodie probably a size bigger than him and great sweatpants. Steven inclines his head at him, “C'mere and let's treat your wounds, too.”
JL sat on Steven's other side and watched the latter finish up cleaning the few wounds on Juwon's arms and legs. He purses his lips in a contemplative pout as Steven turns to him and rolls his sleeves up to take a look at his wounds. Steven must have brought all these from the store, he thought as Steven dabbed gently on his wounds.
“Thanks, Ven,” he murmurs quietly as Steven finishes up. Steven gives him a soft smile before turning Juwon and asking the latter to treat his wounds, too.
The storm is still upon them. It isn't letting up and JL prays it doesn't last for too long. The rain pours against the roof of the house angrily and he can feel how hard the winds are smashing against the windows. If he listens enough, he can probably hear the trees swaying and probably falling over because of how strong the storm is.
But he finds himself unable to be afraid of it as he watches Juwon and Steven bicker over the ointments. This may be the last night they have on earth and he thinks it's enough. He finds himself feeling content about it. He feels cozy and warm and safe. The world could end today and it's okay.
As JL lies sandwiched between the two—Juwon on his right hugging his waist, Steven on his left with a hand clutching his left hand and face hidden near his hair—he finds the sound of the rain and thunder not quite terrifying. The world could end as they sleep and that would be okay. Because his soul is holding him tight and his heart is warm against his hair.
He closes his eyes and breathes, relishing in the feeling of being alive and warm and breathing. He finds the end of the world not quite scary but as he feels Juwon tighten the hold on his waist and Steven places a soft kiss on his ear, JL finds himself whispering a prayer.
To not let this be the end.
For this to not be the last.
He sleeps holding that prayer close to himself. But whether he wakes up for another day or not, it doesn't really matter to him. All that matters is that he has Juwon and Steven beside him. Like they have always been.