"i heard footsteps-"
"-cheol, shut up."
both jeonghan and seungcheol hugged onto a trembling chan as they hid away behind a bush that reached waist height. a specific sound that resembled footsteps came near them combined with heavy breathing. they couldn't exactly tell what age they had to match the breathing with, making it an even bigger mystery as to who was approaching them.
"i'm scared.." chan whimpered, crying continuously and trying to find more protection by burying his nose in seungcheol's chest.
both seungcheol and jeonghan gave each other a glance of worry, having absolutely no clue what they had to do. running didn't seem like an option right now since the unknown presence was too near to jump from their hiding spot. but staying wasn't exactly alluring as well.
making it all turn into a situation where the lives of the three boys depended on the next few minutes..
the sound of twigs breaking underneath the sole of a shoe with screams of students that still ran over the terrain in the distance. until the footsteps momentarily stopped on the most unlucky place in the entire forest.
right in front of the bush.
just when the three boys came to conclusion that their lives were over, a way too familiar voice was heard just a mere couple of inches away from them.
"i don't see anyone here hao, shhh calm down it's okay. let's pretend for now that they were still alive, we really have to worry about a good hiding spot for now. baby, shhhh i'm here, okay?"
"who died!" jeonghan shot up from his hiding spot once he spotted both junhui and minghao, making them jump and nearly scream from his sudden appearance. which also, unfortunately, made minghao's crying only worse.
"fuck! you scared me, you idiot." junhui released his frustration in cussing as he pulled minghao closer against his body.
"junhui, please explain!" chan suddenly blurts out, getting up from his hiding spot as well. his tears momentarily stopped and his eyes widened to a level where it became quite frightening. as if he lost control over his body he walked up to junhui and reached for his collar, intertwining his fingers with the fabric of his t-shirt "who died?"
tears started flowing again when he looked directly into junhui's eyes. "we-"
"- who died!" chan became hysterical, his voice raising to a dangerous high level as he started screaming slurs of non consisting words. seungcheol however was quick to lay his hand flat over his mouth to mute the audio that left his throat, forcing chan to release junhui's shirt, who looked obviously startled as well.
"shh shh, chan calm down." seungcheol whispered to chan, who loosened up his tense body against his warm chest, turning around and continuing to sniffle in his shoulder "junhui, what happened out there?"
"i.. we-" junhui took a deep breath before continuing. he clearly needed a moment of preparation before saying the horrifying things he'd seen out loud "on our way over the open spot i stumbled and i kind of struggled with getting up. of course with that taking in a lot of time, the shooter came near us as well. he- he.."
junhui had to take a small pause to swallow away the rising lump in his throat. however, that didn't stop the stray tear from leaving his eye and staining his cheek, shimmering in the weak light of the moon.
"he shot a group of students in front of our eyes.. minghao and i knew two of them from the school's soccer team." minghao's crying only seemed to increase on junhui's words, making him nearly claw his hands in his boyfriend to keep his trembling body standing "we just had enough time to escape before he shot us as well.. and i'm sorry, we haven't seen anyone else from our group.. i have no idea where they went to."
on an instinct jeonghan ran forward, wrapping his arms around both the chinese boys in an attempt to reassure them the least. "i'm so sorry you had to see that." he whispered, feeling both their arms sneak a way around their waste and seungcheol joining the hug together with chan on their sides.
"you're safe now." seungcheol whispered to the three crying boys, although jeonghan's head peered up a little on his statement. they exchanged a look of uncertainty, knowing that seungcheol's words weren't exactly the guaranteed truth. in fact, they weren't even sure yet if their chances of surviving through the night were high. or at least a little higher up than fifty percent.
the shooter was still walking freely somewhere on the terrain. they weren't even sure if he already reached the forest or if he was still busying himself at the open spot.
"how about we walk a little further into the forest. that wouldn't do any harm, right?" jeonghan offered, checking if seungcheol approved his plan as well. he received a nod and a small smile from the raven boy, who let go as first and wiped away chan's tears for what felt like the millionth time that night.
jeonghan followed his example and let go of the chinese couple, who remained in their former position; junhui's arm tightly wrapped around minghao's shoulder to prevent him from sinking through his trembling knees.
with a heavy sigh jeonghan looked to the ground that was littered with old leaves and several other organisms that grew from the soil. he tried to focus on anything else than the silent sobs from the three teens behind him and the indistinct screams in terror. the idea of students being brutally shot just a fair mile away from them made him feel horrible, powerless and inhumanly sad.
until a strong hand wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer against a warm body. with a worried look in his eyes jeonghan's head peered up at his boyfriend, allowing himself to lean a tad bit closer against seungcheol.
"cheol?" a quiver went through jeonghan's voice before he burst out in tears as well, silencing his sobs so the others wouldn't hear them. the last thing he wanted to do was increase their worries. "are we going to survive tonight?"
seungcheol sighed before he gently pressed his lips against jeonghan's cheek. "i don't know." he answered in all honesty "i have absolutely no clue what our chances of surviving are. or what on earth is happening out there."
"i.. i don't want to die cheol.. i finally feel happy now i'm with you.." jeonghan whimpered, clinging onto seungcheol's arm and checking behind them if the three other's were out of hearing distance.
"let's not lose all our hope babe. i'm still here to protect you, no matter what happens." seungcheol rubbed reassuring circles on jeonghan's upper arm with his thumb "let's just find a better hiding spot for now and see what happens. it has to end at some point, doesn't it?"
jeonghan nodded sadly, unexpectedly reaching up to cup seungcheol's cheek and steal a kiss from his lips. "remember everything we've done together?" seungcheol whispered, making jeonghan nod for a second time "if we were able to do that, we're able to figure this out too. we're a team han, the strongest team i know. and besides.."
seungcheol stole another quick kiss as he shamelessly winked, flattering the younger. even in this type of situation seungcheol's charms were the same as usual. "..we still have a future to spend. remember when i promised you to marry you one day?" jeonghan nodded again, his tears finally stopping entirely, "well, as you notice i still call you my boyfriend and not my husband yet. and i still have to propose to you in the most romantic way ever. so, we'll make it out alive, don't you worry."
and even when seungcheol saw jeonghan's sorrows visibly getting less, his worries only rose up more. they were just a bunch of teens.
how were they supposed to fight against an adult. not to forget;
that the person they were fleeing away from, was armed.
