#and @ jeon jungkook... even god rested on the seventh day. there's no way

[arckook]

to the stars - four

one - two - three

pairing: jeon jungkook x reader, park jimin x reader

au: zombie apocalypse

warnings: violence, gore, gunshots, implications of cannibalism

word count: 3.9k

description: It was always you, and Jimin, and your best friend Jihyun.But fate, regardless of whether you believed in it or not, had other plans for you.Jimin told you once, “It’s a tough road to the stars.“Nowadays it was hard to believe the stars were somewhere you could reach.

You were pretty sure all those years of your parents forcing you to go to church and pray for the future paid off, as Jungkook slowly but steadily became less sweaty and less pale over to course of the next week or so. You couldn't deny that you'd become frustrated with how repetitive the days were– make breakfast, read your book slowly (so that it would take longer to finish), check Jungkook's wound, make dinner, talk to Jungkook, go to sleep. It was always the same, but in a way you'd gotten used to it through your frustration.

You'd learned a lot about Jungkook, and maybe that helped with the having to live and spend almost every hour of the day with him. He always wanted you to talk about your life, but you'd managed to stay pretty vague about most things, only really getting specific about Jihyun and some aspects of your childhood. Jungkook told you about how he used to convince Dayeon to do adventurous things she would always freak out about, and how in return she would make him study. You could definitely tell Jungkook wasn't the type of person to spend lots of time studying, and the image of petite Dayeon dragging him into a high school library made you laugh everytime he brought it up.

On the seventh day of being in the cabin, you talked until Jungkook fell asleep like normal, then went to sleep yourself. But your dreams... your dreams didn't want to be kind to you like they had been recently.

The wall of the backyard. Tall, grey, menacing as it stared down at you. It looked taller than normal. Almost impossible to climb.

"Y/N!" you spun, Jimin coming into view from around the corner of the house. "Y/N, go!"

You looked up at the towering wall, turning back to see Jimin running, running, running but never getting closer. "I can't!" you called. "I can't!" you couldn't seem to manage to say anything else.

"Y/N, go!" he shouted louder, and then they turned the corner. "Just go!"

You nodded frantically, digging your fingers into the crumbling asphalt of the wall. Would it topple as you climbed? You scrambled your way to the top, looking back, but Jimin was just as far as before, and now very far out of your reach.

"Jimin!" you yelled, trying to extend your hand to him. But no matter how fast he ran, or how many times you sobbed his name, or how loud he shouted for you to help him, you fell backwards, falling, falling, falling...

"Y/N," a voice called out to you, but you thrashed against the surface you were on, tears running down your face as you gasped his name; Jimin, Jimin, Jimin, and tried desperately to reach him. "Y/N!" "I'm sorry," you cried, hands ripping through your hair until you felt another pulling them away. "Y/N, wake the fuck up!"

You cheek stung as you opened your eyes, vision blurry from the tears gathered in them. You blinked profusely, pushing yourself into a sitting position until your eyes focused on the figure, or rather boy, sitting next to you, his good hand clutching both of your wrists and his face vague as he regarded you.

"Jungkook?" you asked weakly, his hand gently letting your wrists go as you went to rub the wet trails away from your eyes. Had he just smacked you to wake you up? What the hell? He simply nodded, still looking at you intensely as he sat back. You squeezed your eyes shut and open, then combed through your admittedly very tangled hair before realizing that you'd been sobbing in your sleep, and that must be why the boy beside you was so focused on you. But you could figure what it was that had made you cry like that, and you didn't want to explain unless he specifically asked you.

"I'll get you some water," Jungkook said quietly after a few moments of silence, grabbing your water bottle and walking out the front door, probably going to the side of the house where you'd found a well on the second day (since your bottles had run out then).

You sat in silence while you waited for him, wondering briefly how he would get the bucket from the well with one arm when you'd been doing all the work this whole time, before you remembered how he'd picked you up with no effort when you were running from the infected a week ago. You tried to collect yourself, steady your breathing and hope you didn't look like a mess– after all, you were starting to become friends (using that word loosely) with Jungkook and you didn't want all the effort to go to waste by having freaked out while sleeping.

Jungkook walked back in with the water, seating himself on the couch again as he handed it to you. You accepted and took a long sip, hoping how cold it was would help you calm down. It was more silence until Jungkook spoke up.

"So who's Jimin?" he asked bluntly, but avoided your eyes. You'd somewhat been expecting that question at one point or another, so you sighed and just rested the water bottle on your lap as you reclined in your place. "The person who gave me my ring," you replied vaguely, letting your eyes shut. "That tells me a lot," Jungkook said with sarcasm. "I told you about Dayeon, about my brother and my childhood. Seems like this Jimin person was important but you've never mentioned them." You sighed again, a hand coming up to rest over your eyes. "I don't like thinking about it." you said quietly. "Much less talking." "Why?" Jungkook asked, his voice more gentle than usual. He didn't prompt you further even though you expected him to. You bit your lip, wondering if it was better just to tell him rather than try and avoid the conversation for who knows how long until you two parted ways.

"Jimin," you said, opening your eyes and letting your hand slide away from your face. "Was the love of my life."

Fall - One Year Ago

"Y/N," a familiar whisper from beside you rung out, your mind that had been unable to rest long enough for sleep lighting up at the notion of someone talking to you. "Are you awake?" "Yeah," you whispered back, sitting up on your elbows to find Jimin stood by the bed. "When did you get up? I didn't even hear you." "An hour ago when you were actually sleeping," your boyfriend replied, a mischievous smile on his face. "Come on, get up." You sighed, but did as he asked, rising from the bed and slipping into the sneakers you left beside it before grabbing a coat and turning back to Jimin, already expecting that you were going somewhere. He was crazy like that– even though the government specifically told everyone to stay inside the walls, he disregarded the rule pretty frequently and had snuck you out various times. "We're not going too far, don't worry," Jimin said as he took your hand, leading you onto your balcony like always. You nodded. As long as it was with him, you didn't care where you went.

Fifteen minutes later, you were still inside the city, only walking up the fire escape stairs outside a random tall building. Or so you thought it was random.

"Here we are," Jimin said proudly, looking back at you with his brilliant smile that always brought one to your face as well. You were standing on the roof, looking across it but not finding anything that stood out to you. "Okay," you said, chuckling. "So, why are we here?" You were replied to with a shove to your shoulder and a pouty expression, making you laugh again.

"Y/N," said Jimin, grabbing onto your face and holding you still, suddenly serious. "Today is a special day." "Really?" you asked, brow furrowing. It wasn't his birthday, right? You weren't really keeping track of the days recently, but you were pretty sure it wasn't late enough into fall for it to be Jimin's birthday. "No," he said, tugging at your cheeks to bring your closer to him. "It's our third anniversary."

Your eyes widened, surprised. "What?" Jimin suddenly pouted again, letting go of your face and turning away. "Geez, why do I have to remember everything around here?" "Oh my god, shutup," you said, shoving him back and laughing breathily at his stubborness to admit he wasn't actually mad at you. "Happy third anniversary then." "Sorry, can't hear you, too busy forgetting all our important memories." You laughed, grabbing your boyfriend's arm and tugging it roughly. "Jiminnn," you said. "Sorry, what's that? A fly buzzing around my arm that somehow knows my name?" "Oh my god," you repeated, forcing Jimin to lace his fingers with you as you pulled him around to meet his eyes. "I love you." you said quietly, a smile lining your entire face as you looked up at him. Jimin's demeanor softened, his hand interlaced with your own squeezing it tightly before he took your cheek in his other once again. "I love you too," he said, eyes full of emotion. "More than anything else, really." You hummed in response, stepping closer to place your head in the crook of his neck, relaxing in his familiar scent and warmth. Jimin's hand slid from your cheek to your hair, fingers gently stroking through it as he knew it calmed you.

You spent a few minutes like that– just being in each others' company. After this long as a couple, you'd already had a million existential conversations and emotional talks and discussed every preference you possibly could. Nowadays, just being with Jimin, just standing together and basking in each other's love was all you needed.

"Y/N," Jimin said after some time, the vibrations of his voice resonating in your own chest. "Yeah?" "Will you marry me someday?"

You pulled your head away in shock, staring up at the man you loved wholeheartedly with wide eyes, not having expected that at all. His expression was fully serious, lips set and eyes brimming with a sea of emotion as he held tightly onto your hand.

"What?" you managed. "I want to marry you," Jimin said with the utmost assurance. "Not now. Not soon, even. But someday, after all this is over, you're who I want my life to be with. You're it for me, Y/N. You're who I want, you're all I need, and I want to marry you."

Your jaw hung open. Suddenly, you felt overwhelmed with the pounding of your heart and the way your entire body had lit up with warmth, with excitement and happiness. You felt tears burning at the back of your eyes, knowing that all the emotions you were feeling would definitely make you cry.

"Yeah," you sniffled, throwing your other arm around Jimin's neck. "I'll marry you someday, of course I will." "Good," breathed Jimin, a smile finding its way back onto his face. "That's good." "Did you think I would ever say no?" you asked, almost laughing at how he flushed from embarassment at your question. "I don't know," Jimin said, looking away bashfully. "I hoped you'd say yes." "Well, I did." you said, reaching up to kiss him quickly, pulling away as his eyes flashed back onto you. "Where's my ring?" "Oh!" Jimin exclaimed, letting go of you to scramble through his pockets until he took out a blue velvet ring box. "It's right here, actually." You laughed in pure amazement. "I was joking, Chim! How the hell did you get a ring?" "My brother found it in some abandoned house, and he brought it to me since I told him I was going to propose to you." Jimin explained softly, seeming shy. You pinched his cheek, nearly squealing in delight. "Tell him hi! Tell him I love him!" you said, now smiling widely even though you could still feel tears brimming at the corners of your eyes as Jimin opened the ring box facing him. "You're supposed to love me, not my brother," he scolded as he took the ring out, not showing you. "Sorry this is such a backwards proposal." "I don't care," you said hurriedly. "Good," said Jimin, slipping the ring onto your left ring finger. "That's good."

Present

"Oh," said Jungkook simply, looking at his hands and not you. "Oh?" you said. "Really?" "Sorry," he responded quietly. "I guess I just didn't expect that kind of story from you." "What, do I seem too coldhearted to have been in love?" you chuckled, trying to make the atmosphere lighter than it was with your eyes still red from crying and Jungkook avoiding looking directly at you. "No," he denied quickly. "I guess... I don't know, actually. I'm just surprised." You hummed, not expecting more elaboration as you let your eyes shut again. "Sorry I never mentioned it," you said, figuring it was something you should say. "No, it's fine," Jungkook replied, and you suddenly felt his eyes on you. "But, Y/N," he paused, breathing in. "If you were engaged to Jimin, why were you sobbing his name while you were asleep?"

You stiffened, nails digging into your palm. Better... better to be blunt, you guessed.

"Because he's dead." you said, squeezing your eyes shut. "Because Jimin is dead, and it's my fault."

Maybe you should've expected that after spilling your story about Jimin to Jungkook that things would be a little different between you two. Or maybe not; his personality was after all the type to be unbothered by most things.

Only two or so days had passed, and yet Jungkook seemed to have much more concern for you than he ever had in the past. You didn't know if it was because the past two days you'd woken up in tears once again, or because he felt bad that you'd lost your significant other and he hadn't, or what– but you couldn't deny that it was a little strange and you almost wanted things to go back to the way they were.

He didn't bring up Jimin or your ring again though, and you were at least thankful for that.

"Y/N," Jungkook's voice called through the open front door as you pulled more water up from the well, keeping an eye on the infected that were standing just far enough away from you. "Yes?" you called back, pulling with all your strength to lift the bucket up to the top. He had paused, not replying, and you frowned as you brought the bucket onto the edge of the well, letting out a deep sigh when the weight was raised from your arms. "I think... I think we're out of food."

Your eyes shot open, head whipping to the door as if that would do something.

"What?" you shouted, hoping you'd heard wrong while you unscrewed the lids of both your water bottles.

"I think we're out of food." Jungkook repeated louder, confirming it. "Damnit," you whispered to yourself, filling the waters quickly before chucking the bucket back into the well. You stalked back into the house, expertly swerving around the infected in the yard that you'd gotten so used to.

"Are you for sure?" you asked as you walked into the main room to find Jungkook standing helplessly by the kitchen cupboards, a solemn expression painted across his features. He nodded as you came up to stand by him, opening all the cabinets and pushing aside empty jars and boxes. Of course you'd realized when you first got here that there wasn't much food; you knew you couldn't stay here that long. But it seemed like only a week and a half was too short, there had to be more... "I've checked everything." Jungkook said plainly, his head dipping backwards as he let out a long sigh. "It's all done. There's like a couple crackers left." You resisted the urge to scream in frustration. If you'd left a couple days earlier you'd have had food to bring with you while you worked your way back to some kind of previously civilized area– but Jungkook just had to insist that you couldn't leave until he was completely healed.

"How's your shoulder, then?" you asked, sighing to try and relieve your stress and stay calm. "Better," Jungkook said, shrugging. You rolled your eyes. "I know it's better," you snapped, feeling your annoyance rise up again. "I already know that. Tell me something more specific, please. Can you lift your stupid rifle like you insisted you had to be able to do before we leave?" Jungkook's eyes narrowed. "Are you seriously going to blame this on me?" "Well, if it hadn't been for your 'criteria' we would've been gone by now. And we would've been gone with food." Jungkook scoffed, pushing himself off the counter and walking away from you towards the couch. "Whatever." "Whatever?" you exclaimed, trying to keep your voice from getting shrill. "That's all you have to say? We have to go, Jungkook! We have to leave, right now!" "My 'criteria' still applies," he hissed, looking over his shoulder at you. "I still don't think you're a good shot, and I'm not going anywhere until I know I'll be able to defend myself."

Myself. So it was back to him and you now, separate, not you two as pair. Great.

"God, you're ridiculous," you said, huffing out of frustration as you grabbed your bag and shut yourself in the bedroom. You hoped he'd be thankful that you were giving him the night to decide whether or not he'd come with you in the morning when you left.

The next morning, you woke when the bright sunshine filtered through the sheer curtains on the bedroom window and straight onto your face. Even though it had disgusted you, you'd taken a blanket from the bed to sleep on, thoroughly shaking it off and flipping it to the side that had been facing the air and not the sheets before resting your body atop it. You'd slept pretty well in comparison to the past few nights– maybe you'd needed to let off the anxiety about your situation in this cabin in order to sleep well; or maybe it was that you'd decided you were leaving, whether Jungkook wanted to come with your or not was up to him.

You grabbed your bag, standing and brushing yourself off as you looked in the mirror hanging on the wall across the mirror for the first time since you'd been here. Jesus fuck, you thought to yourself as you inspected your painfully dirty hair, grimy skin and dark purple half-moons under your eyes. Yeah, you really needed to get back somewhere where it was a little easier to clean yourself up.

Pushing open the bedroom door with a squint, you expected to find Jungkook either sitting or sleeping on the couch, but he was doing neither. In fact, he was not in the house at all. You furrowed your brow, feeling worried for a moment before you resolved yourself– you had in fact made your decision, and if he wasn't around to ask you where you were going, that meant he'd made his as well.

You grabbed the last few crackers from the cupboard and ate them quickly to staunch the slight pain in your stomach from hunger, then walked over to the coffee table and picked up your water bottle and pistol, before you noticed something strange.

Jungkook was gone, and so was his rifle. But his backpack sat on the couch, not moved from where it had been yesterday when he'd been looking through it.

You sighed, trying to keep yourself from wondering where he went as you gathered anything else you'd left out, standing at the doorway of the cabin for a moment before resolutely sighing once more and shutting it behind you, turning to face the yard of infected that you'd become so familiar with.

You hadn't made it too far past the house when you heard it.

Your head snapped towards the sound, eyes widening significantly as you froze, your body tensing while you tried to figure out what direction it had come from. A shot. The unmistakable sound of a shot. You thought it was coming from your right, so you immediately beelined left, watching your feet carefully to make sure you didn't step on any leaves while attempting to be stealthy.

Your grip on your pistol tightened considerably as you continued through the woods, feeling your heartrate go up in mild fear. You didn't want to be afraid; you wanted to be strong and resilient and not let it bother you that you were sharing the forest with someone who seemed to be shooting who knows what. But frankly, you were not that strong or resilient, and it scared you.

Crack.

Your heart pounded twice as fast as soon as you heard it– the same crinkling of leaves sound that you remembered from your and Jungkook's encounter with the crazy man whose house you'd pretty much stolen.

You whipped around, pistol coming up to what would be eye level of someone a little taller than you, when your eyes met with a very familiar doe-eyed gaze.

"Jesus, Y/N, what the fuck?" Jungkook exclaimed, hopping back a few steps as his hand on his good arm went up in defense. You lowered your gun, sighing in relief. All that paranoia and it had just been Jungkook. Right? "Were you shooting in the middle of the forest for no reason?" you asked, bewildered and trying to make sure you two were safe. Jungkook rubbed the back of his neck, seeming embarrassed. "You... you seemed pretty mad last night about me wanting to stay, and I understand why, so I was testing how well I can shoot." he then paused, looking you over, his eyes narrowing as he noticed your ensemble. "Were you... were you planning to leave without me?" You bit your lip. "You seemed pretty set on staying, Jungkook. And I frankly don't want to starve." Jungkook regarded you with a hard gaze, jaw tight as he was obviously thinking. "You know, everytime it seems like you're getting better, you pull some kind of selfish shit and make me regret liking you." he said, gritting his teeth. Your brows knit together.

"I'm sorry?" you asked in amazement at his attitude. "I'm the selfish one?" "Yeah, youre the goddamn selfish one," Jungkook snapped, looking at you like he couldn't believe you didn't agree with him. You laughed sharply. "Okay, Mr. 'I won't leave because I'm prejudiced against girls in the apocalypse'." "Oh my god, there you go again," Jungkook went off. "You're so goddamn pretentious, it almost hurts to listen to you talk!" You scoffed. "You're completely ridiculous," you said sharply, rolling your eyes and turning away from him, beginning to stalk away. "This is why I was okay with leaving you behind in the first place!"

You were expecting a reply from Jungkook– something heated, shouting, and then more crinkling leaf sounds as he would stomp away. And yet all you heard was a muffled cry, and as you spun on your heel in a fraction of a second, the sound of a gun being cocked at your head.

#bts x reader #jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook x reader #park jimin x reader #jimin x reader #bts fanfic #fic #tts