Taehyun stood by the exit door, Kittichai by his side. He couldn't quite fathom that they were about to exit the building for the first time since everything had begun. He stared blankly at the door, a range of emotions running amok inside of his mind.
"Do you want to open it or do you want me to do it?" Kitt asked, breaking Taehyun's train of thoughts.
"I can do it." He responded softly, not sounding very confident as he reached out to push the door open with trembling hands.
Kitt moved between the door and Taehyun, grabbing his hands mid air, stopping him from opening the door.
"Tae, you don't have to come if you're scared. There isn't anything wrong with not being ready; please don't force yourself just to prove a point." Kittichai spoke in a soft tone.
Taehyun looked down at the floor, becoming a bit shy from the contact. "I-I'm okay, I'm not scared."
"Hey, look at me, I'm serious." Taehyun only looked up when Kitt placed his hand gently under his chin, raising his face to look at him.
"As long as you're here with me..." Tae muttered as he gazed at Kittichai, completely beguiled by Kitt's attractive features.
"What do you mean by that?" Kittichai asked, withdrawing his hand as he rubbed the back of his neck, appearing a bit shy or awkward to Taehyun.
The reaction caused the artist to frown, retracting his hand from Kitt's grasp as he became embarrassed. He scratched his head as he tried to think of what to say. He was scared of Kittichai's reaction if he said the wrong thing. "Ah... I-I mean..."
"You mean?" Kittichai questioned, visibly taking a step closer to the artist.
Tae quickly took a step back as he tried to think of what to say.
"I-I mean..." He stuttered as he struggled to think properly.
Kittichai appeared to be enjoying his struggle because he took yet another step closer. "Mhm?"
"I mean... because you are a total badass!" He blurted, all his rational thoughts flying out the window.
"You think I am a... a badass?" Taehyun could see Kitt's smile falter as he asked.
The artist bit his lip, he wanted to run his head through a wall. Never in his life has he ever said something so foolish. It wasn't necessarily a lie, but that wasn't even remotely close to what he meant when he had said, "As long as you're here with me."
"I wouldn't say I am a badass, I think I was just raised to handle more stressful situations than most other people experience." Kitt stated, taking a step back from Taehyun. The artist watched as Kittichai turned towards the exit once again. He might've imagined it, but the slightly younger man seemed to be a bit disappointed with his response.
"I didn't mean to say-" Taehyun began, but was cut off by Yeongsu's voice as it came through the radio.
"Ya! Where are you two? The longer you wait the worse the situation could get."
Kitt responded, "we are going now, I was just making sure we have everything." He then turned to Taehyun. "Are you sure about this?"
"I am, because I trust you." He shot Kittichai his boxy smile, hoping to reassure the brunette that he was going to be alright.
Kitt stared at him for a moment too long, a slight red tint appearing to dust over his features, it was barely noticeable to Taehyun so he thought he was seeing things. When he squinted to try and get a better look at Kittichai's face, the brunette turned towards the door.
As Kitt put his hands on the push handle, Tae had a sudden burst of confidence. Pursuing a reaction from Kitt, he boldly placed his hand over top of his and pushed the handle with him to open the door; the interaction seemed to have caused Kitt to freeze because he stood stiffly in the doorway while Taehyun made his way around him and cautiously stepped outside.
Looking around, he noticed that the blanket that had covered the front fence was now torn to shreds as if something tore it apart with its teeth or claws; with the sight of the blanket giving him goosebumps he turned back to Kittichai.
"Kitt-ah?" He asked as the other man finally took a step outside, clearly observing everything as he did so.
"Come on, let's go." Kittichai gestured to the dumpsters that sat alongside the building adjacent to the apartment building. Taehyun watched as Kittichai jumped onto the dumpsters and then jumped to grab the roof ledge. He pulled himself up onto the roof, leaving the artist awestruck at his athletic abilities.
Approaching the dumpsters, he reached up and grabbed the lid. Once he managed to pull his body halfway up the dumpster, he awkwardly threw his leg out to the side, trying to get it on top. He felt like he had done a split once he finally got his leg on top and then crawled his way onto the lid. Slowly standing up, he made sure not to slip or do anything that could cause him to fall. By the time he had successfully stood on the dumpster he was breathing rather heavily, he hadn't been aware of how out of shape he was until that moment. When he looked up to the ledge of the roof, he gulped; the ledge looked too high for him to even reach, let alone pull himself onto.
Just when he was beginning to feel that maybe he wasn't ready to be outside, Kittichai's face appeared over the edge.
"I got you." Kitt whispered as he laid on his stomach, reaching his hand down to offer help.
Tae jumped, reaching for Kitt's hand; he didn't think he could make it, but was proven wrong as their hands met. Kitt had a firm grip as he caught his hand and pulled him up to the roof.
"Thank you." He said to Kitt who looked as if he hadn't even broken a sweat. "Do you do this often?" Taehyun joked quietly.
"What? Climb onto buildings?" Kitt chuckled, "all the time."
Tae smiled to himself as he watched the brunette jog towards the next building. To his surprise he wasn't feeling too nervous, Kittichai seemed to have a way of making him forget his worries. Shaking his head, he followed after Kitt.
As they approached the tallest building in their path, Kitt came to a stop in front of Taehyun. Waiting for Kittichai, he simply stood by waiting for their next move.
"This tall building here is our spot right?" Kittichai spoke into the walkie.
Yeongsu responded quickly, "right spot, just figure out how you are going to get down from the roof."
"How do you want to proceed?" Kittichai asked Tae.
"I think there are only two options. We either go into the back alley that we were in when we first arrived here and sneak around or we take a more direct approach and exit through the main door of that building." Tae gestured to the tall building in front of them.
He watched as Kittichai approached the edge of the roof cautiously and looked down onto the main road. It was dimly lit by the street lights, so they could see what was out in the open. "I don't see anything, we should take the direct approach." The brunette said, "let's hurry."
Taehyun waited as Kittichai quietly walked over the wooden plank that connected the two buildings. Once he was across, he followed after him cautiously. The window of the building was shattered completely, the glass littered the floor making it nearly impossible to walk quietly. Each step they took created a loud noise as the glass broke into smaller pieces under the pressure of their shoes. Eventually they made it to the stairs and made their way down two flights. Kitt stopped in front of him as they neared the last step to the bottom floor. Tae glance around Kitt and scanned their surroundings, every window had been broken in. There was more glass on the bottom floor than there was on the upper floor.
"Hey, I don't know what is taking you two so long in there, but I suggest you hurry because whatever you are doing seems to be drawing in some unwanted attention." Yeongsu said through the radio.
"What do we do?" Taehyun questioned.
"Bear with me here." Kittichai stated as he bent down. "Get on my back."
Taehyun stuttered, "w-what?"
"We will make less noise if I pick you up." Kittichai responded.
Awkwardly nodding his head in agreement, he gently got onto Kitt's back. He began to cautiously maneuver across the glass, occasionally stepping on the broken shards. The artist was more surprised that Kitt wasn't stepping on as much glass shards as he had expected him to. Once outside, Taehyun was set down gently.
"Come on." Kitt said, taking him by the hand.
Allowing himself to be pulled along by Kitt, they snuck alongside the building towards their objective. The closer they got the more nervous he became.
Just as they got within distance of their objective, something shimmering on the ground behind the truck caught Taehyun's attention. Stopping, he released Kitt's hand as he eyed the broken object; this caused Kitt to turn towards him in a panic, clearly worried something had happened to him.
Tae quickly snuck towards the back of the truck where a car had been abandoned. Picking up the large chunk of the shattered mirror, he quickly examined it. Looking into the mirror, he noticed the movement from behind him; a creature was stalking him while his back was turned to it. Kitt must've noticed the lurker as he ran up to him, he quickly took him by the hand, giving him a stern look right before pulling him towards the front of the truck. Kitt stopped as another lurker rounded the front of the truck. Luckily it hadn't spotted them yet as it looked towards the building that they had exited from, the noise from the broken glass must've drawn it's attention and lured a few other nearby lurkers in. Kittichai gently pushed Taehyun down onto his stomach and gestured under the truck. Tae crawled under the truck and was joined by Kitt as he rolled underneath, bumping into the artist as the one lurker came around the back of the truck. It walked awkwardly and slowly as it tried to find them. It gurgled and groaned, causing the other lurker in the front to approach it. A few moments passed as they laid under the truck. Taehyun's heart felt like it was about to burst as it beat rapidly. He was surprised that nothing was able to hear the loud thumping in his chest. He let out a shaky breath causing Kitt to turn towards him.
"Are you okay?" Kittichai mouthed to him silently.
He nodded his response; Kitt didn't seem convinced, but turned back to the lurkers as they clicked some strange noises to each other. Taehyun had a bad feeling about whatever the lurkers were doing. He put his hand on Kittichai's arm and lightly squeezed. Kitt turned to him once again and shook his head, putting his hand over the artist's hand that was still on his arm. Kitt shot him a small reassuring smile, the gesture made his heart skip a beat, but he was too nervous to react to it otherwise.
After about ten minutes he watched the two lurkers as they began to separate, the one from the front of the truck began to lumber away from the truck and into a alley that was off to the side of the truck. The other lurker trudged to the back of the truck and then turned around and made its way back to the front.
Taehyun felt Kitt give his hand a light squeeze before he gestured with his head towards the back of the truck. "Let's go to the back."
Kittichai was first to crawl out, followed by Taehyun. Once he was out from underneath the truck, Kitt offered him a hand, helping him back to his feet. Taehyun watched as the brunette looked around before pointing to the back of the truck. Nodding his head, Kitt created a step for him with his hands. Kitt hoisted Tae up into the truck before climbing up after him. The slightly younger man pulled the canopy closed just as the Lurker came back around.
The artist sat behind the crates in the back of the truck, his heart still beating rapidly from anxiety. As he tried to calm down, he watched Kitt as he slowly tiptoed towards him. He took his sword out of his belt and placed it on Taehyun's lap before he released a shaky sigh and sat down next to him. Looking down at the sword on his lap, he felt a little less uncomfortable about the situation. He then looked back to Kittichai as he was expecting the brunette to scold him for being reckless when he had grabbed the broken mirror, but he shot Taehyun another reassuring smile instead.
The two of them sat in the back of the truck in complete silence for what seemed to be about two hours, he could hear the lurker still walking around outside the truck. To Taehyun, it seemed as if the lurker was patrolling around the truck looking for them. He believed that the lurkers had a form of communication and that wherever the other lurker disappeared to would be bad news for him and Kitt.
Kitt must've grown tired of waiting because he stood from his spot, picked his sword back up, and approached one of the crates. He slid the sword between the cracks of the crate and pried the lid off.
"Well the bad news is that it isn't weapons, but the good news is we will have enough food to last us a couple of months." Kitt whispered.
"That's great, but how are we going to get the crates back to the penthouse safely?" The artist asked as he watched Kitt pry open multiple different crates.
"Well..." Kittichai picked up the broken mirror that Taehyun had laid on the truck bed next to his leg. He then went to the exit of the truck and pulled the canopy open just enough to see out. Tae simply observed as Kitt held the mirror outside the truck. "If we can get into the front of the truck then getting it to the penthouse should be a breeze."
"Okay." He said as he approached Kitt. Kitt handed him back the mirror and opened the canopy. Taehyun laid the mirror back on the truck bed as Kitt climbed out of the truck silently, once he was on the ground he turned and held his hand out for Taehyun as he began to climb down. Tae took his hand gently and allowed himself to be help him down to the ground. Once they were both down, Kitt snuck over to the corner and peered around the corner at the driver's door. He motioned to Taehyun with his hand, clearly wanting the artist to follow him. They tiptoed up to the door and reached for the handle, Kittichai attempted to pull the handle to open the door, but the vehicle was locked.
"You've got to be kidding me." He hissed quietly as he tried to pull the handle a few more times. The situation just kept getting worse as he witnessed Kitt give one last tug, setting the alarm off on the truck. "Shit!"
"Move." Taehyun ordered as he climbed up to the door.
"Tae, w-what are you doing, we need to go? It's too dangerous." Kittichai stuttered as he grabbed Taehyun's hand. He looked at Kitt's face for a moment. His eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was drawn into a frown. He had beads of sweat forming on his temples. He had never seen Kitt look this scared before, but Taehyun could tell that the brunette had grown nervous and anxious.
"Just trust me, I've got this... j-just keep me safe." Taehyun stated as he gently pulled his hand out of Kitt's and reached into his pocket pulling out a bobby pin and paperclip, which thankfully he hadn't emptied since breaking into the detectives room earlier.
He looked back at Kittichai as he scrunched his face in a strange manner; drawing his sword from his belt, he shook his head as he turned around. He had his back turned to Tae protectively as the lurkers began to come out of the shadows in groups.
Taehyun glanced around nervously as he skillfully put the bobby pin in the key hole. "What did I just do... We're so screwed." He stated as he focused completely on unlocking the door.
"Aish!" Kittichai growled, drawing Tae's attention from the lock. He watched as the brunette swung the sword down on the one lurker who had been pacing around the truck. It hadn't made an attempt to grab Kitt, but had tried to serve as a distraction as another one approached. The second one lunged at him, ramming into him with force, knocking him off balance. It wrapped its hands around his arm that he held the sword with and caused him to stagger into Taehyun's leg. Kitt switched his sword to his other hand, but Tae could tell that the angle wasn't good enough for him to be able to kill the lurker.
"Move your head!" Tae shouted.
Without any hesitation, Kitt leaned his head away from the lurker. The artist kicked the lurker right in the face with the bottom of his shoe. The creature staggered backwards releasing its grip on Kitt's arm. Kitt was quick to turn the sword around and stab the lurker straight down through the skull.
Kittichai seemed to be doing his best to keep the lurkers away from them both, but was visibly struggling with the amount that were trying to attack them.
A few moments passed by quickly; Taehyun usually would've already had the door unlocked, but he was anxious and nervous which was causing his hands to shake. He was very stressed.
Continuing to shift the pin around with his shaky hands, he finally felt a change in the lock. Relief briefly washed over him, before it dissipated. Just as he had begun to feel that he was in the right spot a lurker grabbed his leg and pulled him.
"Kitt!" Taehyun shouted as he tried to kick the creature off of him. The lurker was surprisingly strong as it held his leg in place. He was able to kick it lightly a couple times which kept it from biting him, but it wasn't fazed by the light kicks its face received. The kicks were only a minor setback for it.
He could only watch as Kitt rushed over, grabbing it by the collar of its torn suit. He then threw it back into another lurker causing them to collide and fall to the ground. The brunette backed up closer to Taehyun, probably to ensure that none of the lurkers had the chance to touch him again. Tae quickly took the chance to focus back on the lock, his memory didn't fail him as he adjusted the bobby pin back to the right location. He began to turn the pin slowly, to ensure that he would not to break it. Once he finished turning it, he heard the truck unlock causing its alarm to stop blaring. He then opened the door and quickly climbed into the drivers seat.
"Come on." Taehyun reached his hand out to Kitt as he held the grab handle with his other hand.
Kittichai killed the closest lurker and turned to take his hand. Taehyun pulled him up quickly. Once the brunette was in, he shut the door before any lurkers had the chance to reach in and block it. Tae hit the lock button as Kitt threw his sword on the seat and ducked down towards the gas pedal. "Please hurry, they're beginning to horde the truck." He panicked.
"Turn the radio back on and let Yeongsu know what is going on." Kittichai stated as he appeared to begin to hotwire the truck.
He did as he was told and grabbed the radio from the younger man's belt.
"What the hell is going on down there! Are you guys okay? Is anyone bit? I could hear the alarm from here." Yeongsu seemed to be freaking out as soon as Taehyun had turned the radio back on.
"We're fine, the vehicle was locked and when we tried to open it, it set the alarm off. We aren't injured and we are safe inside the truck." He explained, leaving out the finer details of how Kitt had pulled the handle one too many times. "We're going to be on our way back soon with the truck."
"Thank god, I'm going to beat both your asses when you get back. You just cost me twenty years of my life from worrying about you two." Yeongsu snapped, but he could tell how relieved Yeongsu was that they were safe.
Once the truck started, Kitt climbed onto the drivers seat. He shifted the gears and backed it up a little ways away from the horde. He did a U turn and drove away from Hina's apartment building.
Taehyun rushed to buckle in and held onto the safety bar tightly, his knuckles turning white. He had paled a bit as the truck started to move quickly. He looked down at his feet and sat stiffly, flinching when they hit bumps.
"What are you doing?" Yeongsu questioned, concern lacing his tone.
"I am going to bring it around the block. The horde of lurkers can't see where I go if I make a detour. Once I get there I will enter the back alley of the building." Kittichai stated as he made a turn.
"That's a good idea." Yeongsu said. "I won't be able to see you though."
"We will be safe." Kittichai stated.
Taehyun hadn't heard the last of the conversation as he got lost in his thoughts, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Tae?"
"Taehyun-ah?"
"Lee Taehyun!" Kittichai called in an anxious tone.
His eyes shot open as he looked at Kitt who had a worried expression on his face as he glanced between the road and the artist, Kittichai had placed a hand on Tae's leg.
He blinked at Kitt a few times. "W-what?" He said in a weak tone. He didn't even notice the beads of sweat on his forehead until Kittichai spoke again.
"Are you okay? Were you hurt? You're sweating and look awfully pale, what's wrong?" Kittichai seemed to be panicking a little bit.
"I-I'm fine." He said. "I d-don't like riding in c-cars or t-trucks." He stuttered an explanation.
A look of relief washed over Kitt's flawless features, "May I ask why?"
"I r-rather not e-explain while in a v-vehicle." Taehyun struggled to get the words out as he watched Kittichai nod.
"Just hang in there, we'll be there shortly." Kitt smiled warmly at him, "you're doing great. Just look at me and nowhere else."
He was surprised at how Kitt attempted to keep his mind off of things. He stared at Kitt who was watching the road carefully. He seemed to be avoiding bumps and debris as he tried to make the short drive as comfortable as possible for the artist. Taehyun was silently grateful for the brunette's sympathetic and compassionate nature. Honestly, he couldn't help but stare at the other man with both adoration and admiration.
A couple minutes passed before they reached the apartment building. Kitt backed the truck into the alleyway and parked the back of the truck just on the other side of the wall of dumpsters. He quickly turned the truck off so that there wasn't any noise left to draw in any more attention.
"You did awesome today Tae." Kitt stated as he turned to him. He had just stopped shaking from the trip. He released his grip on the safety bar and put his hand on Kitt's which had slid off of his leg and had come to rest on the seat next to him.
"Thank you. I appreciate what you did for me today. I was a bit reckless, but you had my back." He smiled at Kittichai, who seemed a little stiff as he shifted his body under the artist's gaze. Taehyun quickly became aware that he was making Kittichai feel uncomfortable and withdrew his hand, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
He looked down at his feet as it fell silent in the truck, "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable Kitt, I'm sorry." He apologized, a tear making its way down his cheek. He hadn't wanted to admit how much it hurt him to see that Kittichai seemed to feel uncomfortable with him.
Kitt turned towards the artist when he apologized, but Taehyun turned away as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his fist over his cheek. He wiped away the few tears that had run down his face, hoping Kitt wouldn't notice.
"Tae..." Kittichai said his name gently as he seemingly tried to get the silver haired man's attention. He ignored him though as he wiped another unwanted tear from his face. "Lee Taehyun, didn't I tell you earlier to look at me and nowhere else?"
Taehyun couldn't help but blush and go wide eyed at the statement. He looked at Kitt, confused by his words.
"You don't need to apologize to me. I will always have your back, nothing you do will change that." Kitt smiled as he caught Taehyun's hand as he had just wiped another tear away.
"Really?" He asked, a bit uncertain of himself.
"I mean... just between you and me," Kitt gave him a playful smile. "You can go ahead and make me even more uncomfortable."
"P-P-Pardon? W-what? What d-do you-? W-what?" Taehyun sputtered hopelessly, his whole face becoming hot as he became embarrassed and shy from what Kittichai had dared to say. "Y-you're just j-joking right?"
Kitt visibly tilted his head as if he was thinking, "I don't know; you tell me, Tae Tae."
Taehyun couldn't even respond as he blushed a deeper shade of crimson from the nickname. He covered the bottom half of his face with his hand as he attempted to hide his obvious embarrassment. The action caused Kitt to laugh at the artist's dilemma, Tae couldn't help but stare at Kitt as he let out a genuine laugh. He hadn't really heard him laugh too much since they had met, but he thought his laugh was adorable.
"Aish." Kittichai tone suddenly became serious as he looked outside, ducking his head down a bit. "Why now?"
Taehyun looked out the window, the sun was beginning to peak over the horizon and light up the once dark alleyway. He could make out the lurkers that were beginning to lumber towards the truck.
Kitt suddenly pushed Taehyun down on the seat and laid over top of him in a planking position.
"Wha-?" Taehyun was about to speak, but Kittichai put a hand over his mouth.
Taehyun felt like he was running a high fever from how much he was blushing. Kitt was laying on top of him, his face was so close that he could feel his breath. It was a bit uneven and fast, which he assumed was from the stress of the situation outside. He continued to stare at Kutt, he hadn't noticed the strange feeling that had made its way to his abdomen and down a little lower. His eyes widened in shocked as realization set in. He hoped that Kittichai was too focused outside to notice anything. He held his breath as Kitt removed his hand and turned to look at him. His cheeks looked like they were tinted a slight pink, but Taehyun couldn't really tell because his skin was just a bit too tan.
"Tae..." Kittichai whispered gently. Taehyun's breath hitched in his throat from the way that Kitt said his name.
"Kittie?" He responded in a way that sounded a little intimate. He hadn't intended to sound that way, but under the circumstances he was specifically under, it caused him to react in a way that he wasn't familiar with.
Kittichai lowered himself a little bit, clearly relaxing on his arms since he had been holding himself up.
"Are you uncomfortable?" Kitt asked him, this didn't help Taehyun's position because now Kittichai was practically breathing in his ear.
"Uh... n-no." He stuttered a reply.
Kittichai seemed to examine the artist's expression before a smirk crossed his lips. He leaned in towards the side of Taehyun's head and gently blew some air against the artist's ear. Kitt then backed up, looking directly at his face, as if looking to see his reaction.
Taehyun flinched as a shiver ran down his spine.
"Kittie, w-what are you doing." Taehyun breathed out, barely audible. His eyes drifted down to Kitt's lips. He bit his lip as he stared up at Kitt. He probably had a really lustful look on his face because Kitt began to bite his own lip. Taehyun wasn't really sure what was happening, but he attempted to make a bold move.
Taehyun picked his head up and slowly approached Kittichai's lips. Kitt seemed to freeze up at Taehyun's actions causing him to hesitate for a second, he quickly regained his courage as Kitt's words replayed through his head. "You can go ahead and make me even more uncomfortable".
He leaned in more, their breaths hot and heavy; mixing together as their faces grew closer. Taehyun's lips just barely brushed against Kittichai's as a loud thud interrupted them and caused both of them to jump away from each other.
They exchanged confused looks, nothing could be seen from their current position. Kittichai took the initiative and slowly pushed himself up off of Taehyun. He peeked out the windows.
"There are five lurkers out there." Kitt whispered to Tae who was still trying to collect himself as he tugged the bottom his shirt down.
"How are we going to get into the apartment without them noticing us?" Taehyun asked in a partially breathy tone.
"We'll figure it out, let's just be patient."