When you get back to the dressing room, you thank your own staff for their hard work as they pack up the room. One by one, they slowly leave the room, leaving you all alone, but that only lasts for a few moments when you hear a soft knock at your door. Looking up through the mirror in front of you, a smile pops up on your face as Joochan walks closer to you. “Hey there.”

           “Hi.”

           “You looked good out there.” He says to you. The small compliment leaves you blushing. “Do I not look good all the time?” you ask him teasingly. Chuckling from behind you, he ducks his head down and whispers in your ear, “You always look good.” Playfully you push him away while checking to make sure that no one was seeing your interaction.

           It wasn’t like your relationship was a secret, well, at least between your staff it wasn’t, but if word got out that you were dating your own bodyguard then you know that the internet would have lots to say. Getting up from your chair, you let him lead you to the door, “C’mon, it’s time to go.”

           As you and your team make your way out of the studio, you are bombarded by your fans. Of course the security team does the best that they can to keep them away from you, but just as you are about to make your way into your van, a fan slips through the barricade and desperately grabs onto you, attempting to pull you into them.

           Trying to ignore the pain, you do best effort to rid the fan off of you, hitting them in an attempt to let you go. “Ow, you’re hurting me.” In the next second, the tight grip releases your arm, and you don’t see what has happened to the “fan,” but you do hear it. The sound of a person hitting the ground could be heard, and before you could turn around and see what has occurred, your manager rushes you into the van.

           Once you’re settled in the van, the driver drives off and your manager asks if you’re okay. Without saying a word, you give her a nod. She asks you again while observing your arm, which now has a red imprint left from the man’s hand. Her stare makes you hide your arm, as you tell her that you were fine and just wanted to go back to the hotel. Without saying another word, you put your earbuds in and shut your eyes, ignoring the texts from Joochan.

           When you arrive at the hotel, you wordlessly make your way up to your room, ignoring the concerned looks everyone was giving you. Making eye contact with Joochan, you mouth the word “later” to him, letting him know that it was okay for him to come up to your room.

           While you sit in your hotel room, attempting to forget about the whole ordeal that had occurred, you decide to scroll through Twitter. However, you see your name trending, and even though you hated searching your name on anything, you can’t help but let your thumb press on it. The first thing you see is a video and you can tell that it’s from earlier. Wanting to know what had went down you hesitantly click on the video. The point of view is from a someone the was on the side, and from there you can see the aggressor’s face. As you watch the video, you can see the frantic look on your face as your attempt to free yourself from the fan and then you see Joochan quickly come up to the pair of you and grab the man, slamming him down to the ground. Instinctively, you grab onto the part where you were gripped, ‘Huh, I guess that’s what happened,’ you think to yourself.

           Your thoughts are interrupted when you hear knocking at your door. Cautiously you approach the door when a familiar voice begins to speak, “Y/n, it’s me.” Recognizing the voice instantly, you quickly unlock your door and open it, revealing Joochan with a concern look on his face. Quietly stepping aside, you let him into the room. Turning around after shutting the door closed, you are enveloped in a warm embraced. You relax into Joochan’s arms, breathing in his familiar scent.

           “Are you doing okay?” Joochan asks after a few seconds. Contemplating whether you want to tell him he wants to hear or the truth, you decide to tell the truth. Weakly, you say, “No.” Joochan’s arms tighten around your body before separating from you, looking you directly in the eyes, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there quicker.” Quickly shaking your head, you let him know that it wasn’t his fault.

           “But it’s my job to protect you, and I couldn’t even do that today.” You could hear the guilt in Joochan’s voice, and it made you feel worse.  “But you eventually came, that’s all that matters.” Gently grabbing the arm that the man had a hold of, Joochan observes the imprint that was still present, and brings it up to his lips, planting a soft kiss on the area. “I promise that I wont ever let you get hurt like this ever again.” Bringing up a word to brush his hair out of his face, you say, “I know.” Silence then fills up the room as the two of you softly gaze at one another.

           The silence is broken when Joochan speaks up, “You have a few hours before your next schedule, is there anything I can get you or do for you?”

           “I just want to relax with my boyfriend and cuddle with him, can you do that for me?”

           Smiling and leading you to the bed, he says, “I think that’s doable.”

           Once the two of you were comfortable in the bed, you let your eyes shut, relaxing in Joochan’s arms as he softly sings to you.

A/n: feel free to let me know what you thought of this, feedback is always welcomed!<3

It all started at the age of 17 when Joochan and Y/N have started their junior year in high school. They argued so much that they both ended up in detention several times. Joochan always teased Y/N, and she didn't like it, so she defended herself. When it was finally time to go to college, she thought she would finally get rid of him and never see him again in her life. Joochan thought the same thing. It was until today. They met as Y/N hurried through the campus to her shift at a cafe nearby.

"Oh my god! Not you again, Y/L/N," you heard Joochan shouting at you from behind.

"Shut up, man. Return to the trash you came from," she yelled at him, running on to work.

As the days went by, they met more and more, not only on campus but also in the cafe where she worked.

"You must be kidding. What a coincidence to meet you here, Y/N," his arrogant voice was like an injection for her ears. Pretty annoying.

"Can you just order and go to hell, please?" she rolled her eyes, annoyed.

"You shouldn't talk to customers like that. Maybe I'll complain about you to your boss," he smirked, folding his arms on his chest.

"Try it once, and I'll kick your ass so much you won't sit on it for a month. Now please, order something," the blood in her veins began to harden.

"Was that supposed to scare me? You're still funny tho. One americano, please," he finally ordered. Y/N nodded, taking money from him. She turned around to make him the americano, so he could leave quickly.

"Here's your order. Don't come back, bye," she placed his order and smiled.

"I'll come back soon, don't worry," he grinned at her and left with a cup in his hand.

The wheater was awful for a few days since it was winter. It was freezing and snowing. It was late at night when Y/N's shift was over, and she was on her way to her apartment on campus. She barely saw anything because of the snowing. She was just in front of her apartment as she slipped on a frozen puddle, falling backward. But she didn't fall on the ground but in someone's arms.

"Hey hey, watch out," his voice was startled. He helped her stand up.

"Thank you for sav-" she turned to face her savior with a smile, but when she saw Joochan, her smile faded.

"You again. You should finish it," Joochan's provocative smile made her want to punch him.

"Thanks," she snapped at him.

"Ohoho, you should act more polite to someone who saved your ass," he came closer to her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. His smile was still the same.

"Don't touch my hair! Am I touching your hair? Now I do," she tugged lightly at his hair to move him away.

"I was thinking lately about us two. Perhaps we could make a truce, high school is over, and we are old enough to stop behaving like children. Don't you think?" he tilted his head to the side and smiled kindly at her for the first time in their acquaintance.

"Are you trying my patience, or are you serious for the first time in your life?" she frowned, analyzing his look.

"I'm deadly serious. So, I promise you I won't make any jokes about you. I am not going to act like an arrogant idiot anymore. Here is my hand to prove that I am serious," he held out his hand to her, which she accepted after a moment's hesitation.

"Same for me. I'm going home. I could invite you for tea or coffee, but we have only made a truce. So I'll invite you when we know each other longer. See you later," she smiled nervously, leaving him on the spot. Joochan waited for her to enter her building, and then he went to the dormitory.

The next morning Y/N was preparing to go to the lecture, looking in the mirror to see if she had a crumpled shirt when she noticed that one of her strands of hair was blond.

"What the hell?" she took the strand of hair between her fingers and stared at it for a good 5 minutes.

"Am I still dreaming or what?"  she pinched herself, whimpering with pain.

"I don't know what to do with this," she sighed. She ended up making a bun, so the strand of hair wasn't very visible.

"I'll try to dye it when my classes end."

On the other side at the same time

Joochan was sleeping peacefully when his roommate woke him up with loud noises coming from the kitchen. He growled, rising reluctantly to see what was happening.

"Ah, Hyung. I didn't want to wake you up, but the pan slipped out of my hand when I wanted to make breakfast," the younger boy bowed to him with a silly smile.

"Are you okay?" Joochan looked in the fridge at what he would have for breakfast. He found some yogurt.

"Yes, I am. Hey, have you been to the hairdresser?" Bomin asked him, looking at Joochan's hair.

"No, why?" Joochan looked at him with confused eyes.

"You have a blonde strand of hair there," Bomin pointed at the hair. Joochan put the yogurt on the kitchen isle and went to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Indeed there was one strand of blond hair.

"What am I suppose to do with you?" she talked to the hair. She grabbed the phone, searching for an explanation for why the strand of hair had turned blonde out of nowhere. She couldn't find much. When, after a long search, she found a forum where one girl had the same problem. At the end of her post, she wrote that it appeared when she met her soulmate.

For perhaps the hundredth time, she had tried to dye the strand of hair to black. But it didn't work like always. She was in despair. She didn't know what to do with it.

She sat on the bathtub, holding the strand between fingers.

"Maybe, I've met my soulmate too."

It was Friday evening, Joochan was coming to her place. It's been three weeks after their truce, they became friends and sometimes went out to eat together, but most of all, they had a literary project. She was waiting outside the building when her apartment was. Joochan finally appeared.

"Hey. I brought some chicken for us," he grinned at her, walking in.

"Thanks! I haven't eaten yet. Can we eat first and then look up at the project?" she asked him, closing the door behind him.

"Okay, that sounds fine," he nodded. Y/N noticed that he has a blonde strand of hair too.

"Have you been to the hairdresser?" she asked him, sitting on the couch.

"I was just about to ask you the same question," he sat next to her, placing the bag with chicken on the small table in front of them.

"I asked first," she winked at him, which made his cheeks blush lightly.

"I wasn't. The day after our truce, I woke up, and Bomin pointed that out. He tried to dye the strand of hair, but it didn't work. So I let it be. What about you?" he looked at her. He saw the shock in her eyes. She was silent, making Joochan a little bit worried.

"Y/N? Are you okay?" he asked cautiously.

"Uhm. I don't know. I am just thinking about something," she said, still looking shocked.

"About what?" Joochan tilted his head, waiting for her response.

"I have the same story as you. I have the strand of hair blonde from the day after our truce. I was wondering what could have caused it. So I searched and found one post about a girl whose strand of hair turned blonde. That strand

was touched by her soulmate," she said, looking at him to see if he didn't find it as strange as she did.

"Are you trying to tell me that you are my soulmate?" his eyes were shocked, as were hers.

"Nobody except you touched my hair. I am shocked because we used to be enemies, and now we are soulmates," she shrugged.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

You cover your ears, rocking in the corner of your apartment behind your couch. Your front door was shaking from the mass amounts of force being pushed against it from the infected who were trying to get in.

And they were going to get in soon.

When the virus first arrived to your neighborhood, it wasn’t much to worry about. The news said that only the elderly and infants were at risk; since your apartment complex was mostly university students and a couple middle aged families, it didn’t seem like an immediate threat. That was until someone from floor 5 got sick and then someone on floor 8 and then Seungyoon got it and it was suddenly a big problem.

 You had to kill your roommate Seungyoon with a kitchen knife a few weeks ago, his now dried brown blood stained the couches and seeped into the floor; you had also had to throw his body over the balcony, the irony smell of Seunyoon’s blood making you feel ill. You still remember the sight of his body (it wasn’t even him anymore) twisting in unnatural ways to try and get a taste of your flesh. You remember the image of his body crushed on the pavement after you got rid of it and how you puked all over his bedding when you saw the mess of infection covering every inch of his room as he tried to hide from you. 

But mostly, you remember how he used to smile and how he would make you tea when you had a bad day. You remember how loudly he sang music when he was cleaning and how he loved to make you laugh. Killing Seungyoon was one of the hardest things you’ve ever had to do, but you promised yourself that you would try to live for him, as it’s what he would have wanted for you.

Tears threatened to escape your eyes as you thought about your fate. It was all for nothing now. The amount of time you had spent rationing food so that you wouldn’t starve to death, the pillows you had placed on the ground to damp the sounds of your footsteps, even the many sleepless nights were you would keep watch just in case something happened.

that all meant nothing now and you were going to be ripped apart for nothing.

Suddenly, the door busted open, and a horde of your neighbors (they weren’t really your neighbors anymore, just monsters that looked like then) rushed in. You screamed by instinct, before you quickly ran out onto your balcony and shut the glass door behind you. It was pointless, but you still needed to fight until the end. The horde bashed themselves against the glass, their self-destructive behavior bone-chilling as you had known these people well.

“This is it.” you said to yourself flatly, tears suddenly stopping, “This is the end of the line for me...”

The glass of your door starts to crack at the excessive pounding. Zombies were crawling over their counterparts to get to you; you stood against the railing, only a few feet from the door.

All you could feel was fear.

It wasn’t dying that scared you, but becoming one of them. You knew what it had done to Seungyoon and you knew that you’d rather die than lose yourself to this virus and become a monster.

Not being able to look your fate in the eyes, you turned around looking out into the burning cityscape you once called home. You thought about how pretty this city was before reducing to ash; buildings were on fire and you could hear screams and gunshots ringing out through the silence of night.

The sound of breaking glass brought you out of your thoughts. The crack in your sliding door was growing and you knew you only had a few moments left. You thought of jumping from the balcony; joining Seungyoon as a corpse instead of a monster. It would be much less painful way to go to, falling to heaven instead of being ripped apart. Death was just a part of life and this seemed like a better opt-

“Hey, are you bit!?”

You grip onto the railing, and turn to were you heard someone call to you. On the adjacent balcony, there stood a guy in a volleyball jacket, a sense of urgency in his expression. You were shaken from your fear for a moment; you had completely accepted you fate and were planning on going out on your own terms, but the appearance of a man threw you off.

“wha-”

“I asked if you’re bitten!” He yelled, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. The man seemed impatient, probably because he could see the crowd on the other side of the glass.

“No I didn’t get-”

“Then get over here so I can pull you over!” He commanded, reaching his arm towards you, “Hurry, they’re gonna break through...”

Something snapped inside of you; suddenly you no longer wanted to die. The universe had given you an olive branch and you needed to take it not just for yourself, but also for your roommate/best friend because he couldn’t. 

You rushed over to the right side of your balcony and reached out grasping desperately at your neighbor’s strong hands. His balcony was maybe a meter away, so you just were able to get a hold onto his hands by standing on your toes. Just as he gets a good grip, the glass of you sliding door shatters, sending the monsters out of your apartment like a wave. The ones closest to the front were either pushed from the balcony or trampled by the zombies after it. 

“Fuck!” You cried out, before trying to get your feet onto your railing as soon as possible. You stumble a bit, before finally making it over; except for one of the zombies to grab you by the foot just as you dismount for your neighbors balcony. The volleyball man held onto you firmly yanking on your arm so hard that you thought it’d rip out of its socket.

“Get off!” You shouted, before twisting and kicking the heel of your foot into its face as hard as you could. You do this a couple more times before your shoe pops off and you’re free from the monsters grip. However, you are far from safe, as your legs swing and hit the railing of pretty boy’s balcony, leaving you dangling from his grip.

“I’ve got you!” He grunts, gripping onto your wrists while slightly repositioning for a better grasp, “I’ve got you-”

Just then the zombies start hurling themselves over your balcony towards you, slamming against your body one after the other only to plummet to their death. You scream out in pain, torso pressed against the slatted railing of the balcony over and over again as your hands grow weak from holding on.

The man grits his teeth and mumbles swears under his breath. His fingers are practically digging into your forearms at this point and his legs are basically locked in-between the bars of the railing to keep him from tumbling over due to the weight of another human being dangling from him.

He tries to pull you up more, letting out a anguished shout from all of the strength he’s exerting. You can barely breathe; you’ve been hit at full force by dozens of those monsters by now and the feeling of your chest being crushed against the railing again and again begins to burn. Bruising was evident at this point, and you started to cry yet again, letting the tears flow from your eyes.

Soon, you are pulled high enough that you can crouch your legs up and set foot on the outside of the balcony. There are no more zombies left in your apartment, but you scramble to quickly get over the railing; you land flat on your face while the volleyball guy lands on his butt from pulling you so hard. You both sat in silence for a moment, only the sounds of the horde piled bellow and the heaviness of both of your breathing could be heard.

“What a wonderful turn of events!” The pretty boy pants before chuckling breathlessly and holding out a hand for you to shake. “Nice to meet you, neighbor.” You scoff at his sarcasm, grabbing his hand firmly to shake it, standing as he does. He nods towards his door, opening it for the both of you to go inside.

It is very neat; the layout was identical to yours, but he decided to decorate his home with... nothing. There were a couple sleeping-bags piled in the corner of the room, a big sofa was pushed off to the the side to make room for the kitchen table he dragged into the middle of the room; the table was covered in a plethora of things such as a radio, what looked to be a tackle box filled with survival gear for hiking, and a pile of packaged saltine crackers. The walls were bare except for two photo frames; one was a photo of what seemed to pretty boy’s family and another with a volleyball team of boys holding a trophy.

“Make yourself at home I guess.” The host himself offered, sitting down at the table to play with the radio. now that you weren’t fighting for your life, you got a good look at the guy. He had rich, brown hair, parted down the middle and soft eyes that narrowed as he focused on his task. He had a nice build, and the volleyball jacket with the number 55 on it seemed to fit him perfectly. But you noticed other things, like the paleness of his cheeks and the bloodstains on his jeans. He looked exhausted, but you were sure you didn’t look much better...

You sat across the table from him, catching his attention. He smiled gently at you, retreating his hands from the radio to clasp them together on the table.

“So, I guess I should introduce myself...” He stated, eyes creasing a bit as he beamed at you, “I’m Joochan. Hong Joochan.”

‘What a nice name’ you thought to yourself before responding to the volleyball guy.

“My name is (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” You said and reached out your hand for him to shake. Joochan took it and shook your hand firmly, “I just wanted to thank you...”

“for what?”

“for saving my life obviously! I would be dead - or worse - if it wasn’t for you.”

“It was nothing! I assume you would have done the same for me if I was out on the balcony.”

You nodded at the boy’s innocent goodness. Joochan seemed to have this genuineness about him and you found yourself growing a sense of fondness for him.

“Well, I just wanted to thank you...” You replied, a quick nod before looking down at your hands, “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you...”

“Just stick with me.” Joochan requested, making your head perk up as he explained, “Its safer if we have numbers; well I guess a number. and I think the end of the world kinda sucks when you’re all alone.” You burst out laughing from his successful attempt to brighten the mood. His grin widened, glad he could make you happy with a stupid joke.

in all honestly, Joochan was just happy to speak to another human being after what seemed to be weeks of isolation. He had been locked up in his house alone like it was a prison. He felt like he was going mad, not eating or sleeping and listening to the shuffling of the monsters upstairs. He thought he was the only one left alive in the building... But like the idiot he was, of course his literal next-door neighbor was still living. He knew that he had to save you; if you had passed, Joochan thought it would be like loosing all of humanity - or at least a symbol of it.

You stopped laughing, looking at the boy with a playful glint in your eyes; Joochan was happy it was you and not anyone else. Your fun attitude, your strong will, your attractive energy; he knew he liked you already and this could definitely work out.

“I guess we’ll have to be a team then.” You agreed with a smirk, “a team that kicks zombie ass and isn’t alone in the apocalypse.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been maybe a week you had been with Joochan in his apartment. He seemed to be doing well for himself, enough food that you could actually eat a meal every once and a while and a pile of furniture making an impenetrable wall in front of his door. You had gotten to know Joochan pretty well, his enamoring personality and quick wit made trying to stay alive much more enjoyable (as enjoyable as survival can be). That was, until he asked you about something you didn’t think he would ask about.

“So... did you live in the apartment next door?” Joochan questioned; it was nighttime and the two of you sat in the corner of his room on sleeping bags. You were reading one of his many books, trying to distract yourself from the noises of monsters close-by, “Or did you migrate from another place..?”

“I lived there.” You stated simply, turning to look at him with a furrowed brow, “Why do you ask?”

“i just know that was Seungyoon’s apartment...” He responded crestfallen, looking into his lap, “we used to play volleyball together and I never knew he had a roommate...”

“Joochan, I’m really sorry but can we not talk about him? please?”

“Yeah, of course” Joochan agreed softly, giving you a weak smile, “I’m sorry for bringing it up, I was just-”

Joochan stopped when he heard your quiet sobs, quickly turning his attention to you. You sat, bottom lip ticked tightly between your teeth trying to stop the pain in your chest. You couldn’t bear to look up at Joochan; it had been a while since you had heard his name said out loud and it brought it all back.

“Oh don’t cry!” Joochan exclaimed, scooting closer to you and gently placing his arm around your shoulder. The warmth of his body was comforting, but it didn’t stop you from weeping into your lap, “I’m so sorry. Everything will be okay...”

“I remember the day he got infected he spent the whole day in his room. He didn’t tell me about it and I was afraid he was mad at me because I told him I couldn’t go out to a party that weekend.” You sniffled, chuckling bitterly at the memory, “I remember when he did eventually come out of his room, and I could tell right away something was wrong. He looked as white as a ghost, eyes sunken in and sweat bleeding through his shirt. I-” Your voice broke, tears flowing again recalling what had happened when you had to kill your best friend. Joochan rubbed your shoulder reassuringly, trying his best to comfort you in your state of distress. He didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, but he could tell you were hurting and traumatized from the experience and wanted to help you through it as much as he could. With gentle coos and hushes, he helps you steady your breathing enough to continue; you grip onto his jacket tightens as you speak, finally expressing all the feelings you have been trying to get rid of for survival.

“Oh Joochan he didn’t even look like him. His eyes were glossy and he just looked wrong. Seungyoon whispered to me that he had been hiding something from me and showed me a giant black and blue gash on his arm. He didn’t have to tell me what it was because I already knew.” You choked out, letting your mind word vomit the vivid memory, “I didn’t know what to do. I stood frozen before making him sit down on the couch with me. I remember stroking his hair as he cried, telling me he was afraid to die. It was the only time I had ever seen Seungyoon like that and I comforted him because it was all I could do to make it easier for him. And when he turned, and I had to...” You let your sentence trail off, feeling the dread and despair creep into your soul. You held onto Joochan tighter, letting your emotions take control of you actions for the first time since Seungyoon passed.

“I know it must have been hard for you.” He said gently, pulling you from the sinking feeling in your chest back into reality, “I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like and I’m truly sorry for what you had to go through...” 

You leaned more into Joochan, finding comfort in his caring nature and warmth. He wrapped his other arm around you in a hug, shifting so that you wrapped you arm across his torso and leaned your head on his shoulder. He drew small patterns onto your back and held you tightly before he continued.

“But I bet he would be proud of you for being so strong and resilient,” Joochan expressed, sliding down so that the two of you were laying down on the floor. You weren’t complaining, as fatigue and exhaustion began to set in and you could feel yourself get sleepy, “and I think Seungyoon would want you to keep fighting and he would want you to heal...”

You wiped your face dry with the back of your hand, feeling a sense of peace replace the despair in your heart. Joochan was right and talking about Seungyoon’s final moments helped you heal in ways you didn’t expect.

“I think he would want the both of us to be strong.” You agreed with a small smile, “I think we have to keep fighting for all the people we’ve lost. they’ve earned it...”

“I think so too.” Joochan agreed, shifting to let you go before you snuggle closer to him. “can we just stay like this for a bit longer..?” You asked weakly, drowsiness taking over your senses. Joochan let out a soft yes, pulling you in closer to him. You could hear his heart beat gently and found solace in the softness of his t-shirt under your cheek. 

“rest up (Y/N),” He whispered sweetly, combing through your hair with one hand and rubbing your back with the other, “We have a long day of staying alive tomorrow. I promise, I won’t let you die and we can get through this together.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” You replied sincerely before falling asleep in Joochan’s warm embrace.

_____________________________________________________