“Do you know where you're going?” Junmyeon asks as they pass the same abandoned gas station for the third time. He glances over at Yifan from the passenger seat and Yifan can tell that his boyfriend (it still feels so good to say) is starting to get nervous. Junmyeon's brows scrunch in the middle, a trademark of the younger man that is absolutely and stunningly attractive. Yifan suspects he would get hit if he ever admitted this to Junmyeon.

 

Yifan reaches across the car and rubs the wrinkles out of Junmyeon’s forehead with his thumb, not wanting to admit that it is his own nervousness that is causing them to drive around in circles, “We’re fine. I just haven't been out this far before.”

 

Junmyeon shrugs but consents to having his anxiousness petted away, nuzzling a bit against Yifan's massive hand. Yifan grips the steering wheel that much more tightly with his free hand, tonight’s plans all that much more front and center in his mind. He always finds it difficult to concentrate when Junmyeon is being cute and if Yifan is being honest with himself, Junmyeon is always cute. He glances down at his cell phone one more time before making a sharp left into a rather desolate-looking parking lot. Tonight's date was definitely an exercise in both planning and nerves.

 

Junmyeon stops his cuddling for a moment and glances around, “This is a . . . motel?” His voice shakes a little and Yifan feels his heart sink.

 

Ever since he and Junmyeon had made their relationship official, ever since he'd slipped a key to his apartment into Junmyeon's hand (so far, unused), he had struggled with making it clear that he wanted something . . . more to their relationship. He knew from the way Junmyeon’s hands sometimes lingered on his waist and how desperate their kisses would sometimes become that he wasn't the only one thinking about what could happen if Junmyeon were to simply not go home at the end of the night.

 

“Yeah,” Yifan responds, though his voice is softer than he would have liked. He turns off the car and they sit in silence for a moment while Yifan composes his thoughts. He reaches for Junmyeon’s hand, “I thought . . .  it might be nice to spend some time together.”

 

Junmyeon hesitates in his answer and Yifan blurts out in a word vomit of excuses, “Or I could take you home. It’s fine. I didn't mean to presume, I just thought that after all this time we could—”

 

“No,” Junmyeon said firmly, “I . . .  I would like that. To spend the night.” Junmyeon laughs easily and looks away, “I just thought it would be a little more romantic and—” Junmyeon leans across the center console and presses a kiss to Yifan's temple, “—not on a night when the Walking Dead is new.”

 

Yifan blushes under Junmyeon’s attention and reaches down to start fiddling with his phone, “I put a lot of planning into this.”

 

Junmyeon relaxes back into his seat and takes in the scene. Yifan knows immediately that he isn’t impressed. If Yifan hadn’t planned it himself, he wouldn’t be all that confident in his paramour either. The motel is run-down and that's putting it kindly. The paint is old and yellowed and visibly chipping. One of the rooms has a knocked-in door and when Yifan toured the facility earlier in the week, the room he’d selected had a dripping faucet.

 

It was perfect.

 

Junmyeon draws in a deep breath, “This place is creepy.”

 

“You like creepy,” Yifan answers with a careful hope that he didn't just fuck this up. His phone remains silent in his hand.

 

“In television shows, sometimes.” Junmyeon adds the ‘sometimes’ quickly, as though someone is going to catch him and set him down for a Poltergeist marathon if he doesn't hurry up and amend his statement. “I like creepy when I’m home and safe. When I have my blankets and my popcorn. And maybe . . . you?” Junmyeon fiddles with the hem of his shirt.

 

Yifan’s body goes hot and he rushes to meet Junmyeon's lips with his own, alive with the idea that Junmyeon—nervous, shy, scared—would trust him like this. He runs his hands through Junmyeon’s hair, tugging gently on the back, pulling him in closer for a deeper and deeper kiss. Junmyeon mews something against his mouth and opens up, letting Yifan taste him, and they're making out like teenagers, messy and excited.

 

Yifan's phone vibrates uselessly in the cup holder, its owner pointedly ignoring it. Maybe there was no need to execute his great plan. Junmyeon was near shivering with an excitement that Yifan had hoped for but never anticipated against him and he didn't want to spoil a thing.

 

Yifan begins to move lower, sucking little bites onto Junmyeon’s pale neck and further and the car is starting to get hot. “We should go inside,” he mumbles into Junmyeon's collarbone.

 

Junmyeon starts to nod, but suddenly pulls away. His eyes are big and the color seems to fade instantly from his cheeks. “Yifan?” and he says it in a way that every little syllable is carefully pronounced, “I think there is someone watching us.”

 

Yifan sits back and looks around, “I don’t see anyone.”

 

Junmyeon lifts a finger and points towards the barely lit office, “There.”

 

Yifan squints and finds that yes, there is someone there. Small and compact and obviously staring in their direction, though his face and most of his body is shrouded in the darkness. The office lights are a dim yellow and don't offer much. Yifan reaches for his keys, about to turn on the car so they can get a better look at their visitor when his phone begins to vibrate again. Caller unknown.

 

“Is he . . . coming this way?” Junmyeon squeaks, pulling himself up in his seat in genuine worry. Yifan chokes on something in his throat and fumbles with his keys, watching in embarrassment as they fall to the floor board at Junmyeon's feet. “Yifan, is—he's walking really funny, right? Is he hurt?”

 

Yifan hurriedly locks the doors from the inside and takes Junmyeon's hand in his own again, starting to feel a bit of worry himself. He agrees with Junmyeon—the man is walking strangely, dragging his feet and his arms hang at loose, dead angles, not matching his stride. “We're fine. I'm going to take care of—”

 

SLAM! Against the passenger window comes another man . . .  or not a man anymore, this one much taller, thinner with a long face. It’s grotesque, deep cuts seem to scar across his face and his mouth is gaping, blood everywhere. Junmyeon screams and attempts to climb like a cat into Yifan’s lap, away from the creature as fast as he can manage. It snarls in frustration and claws at the window, leaving bloody fingerprints and thick smudges of black against the car. Yifan wraps his arms around Junmyeon’s middle and pulls him even closer.

 

“What do we do?” Yifan blurts out, grasping Junmyeon’s shirt, “What do we do?”

 

They can clearly see now that the first man has also turned into something not at all human. His clothes are shredded, the fine details coming into focus as he continues his slow, methodical drag towards them. His face is equally deformed and his entire front is covered in what must be the remains of a previous victim. Junmyeon glances between the two creatures with worry, his eyes starting to water with tears but his forehead crinkling with determination. Yifan can look nowhere but at Junmyeon, who is even more gorgeous now than he has ever been, pressed against Yifan like this.

 

“What do we do?” Yifan whispers.

 

Junmyeon nods, mostly to himself, and turns to press the hardest kiss against Yifan’s lips, “This place isn’t safe. We have to get out of here. We have to get inside, see if we can find help. You don't have an weapons or . . .  anything really in here.”

 

Yifan takes careful instruction and reaches into his pocket for the motel key, “I picked the keys up earlier today. You know, just in case you said yes? If we can get past the zombies—”

 

“Walkers,” Junmyeon corrects without a second thought, looking between the two creatures and the motel. “We can outrun one of them for sure. Maybe both, but I don’t want to chance it. We need to make our move as soon as possible. Right now.”

 

The walker at their window has pressed his mouth against the glass and chews and tongues furiously at it. Yifan's skin crawls; it's all so much more real than he ever imagined it to be and this isn’t what he had in mind for tonight at all. The walker’s very skin seems to peel back from his exposed cheek bone. The first creature is accelerating, getting closer and closer to their car. Junmyeon grabs for the motel key and hauls himself up and over the seats into the back. “Follow me.”

 

Yifan nods and lets Junmyeon take the lead. Junmyeon presses himself against the back door, “We’ll run at the same time. Which room? Where are we aiming?”

 

“103,” Yifan says with a cracking voice, the growls of the first walker starting to be audible, “The room right on the corner. You see?”

 

Junmyeon grunts something like an acknowledgment and glances back at the creature pressed to their window before looking back to Yifan, their eyes locking, “We can do this. We can make it, together.” He smiles, his eyes disappearing in twin crescents of happiness that probably shouldn’t be there considering their situation and it makes Yifan’s heart skip a beat or three.

 

“On my count? Three?” Junmyeon asks, wrapping his hand around his door handle. Yifan consents and does the same; the walker’s growls grow louder and more pronounced.

 

“One,” and Yifan turns to look at Junmyeon, the creases in his boyfriend’s forehead deepening as he observes their surrounding. It’s not that Yifan didn’t think that Junmyeon was capable, he just didn’t expect it to be so . . . arousing.

 

“Two,” and Junmyeon’s lips are pouted out in protest to their situation and Yifan considers how pink they are and it’s not enough to think of kissing Junmyeon, he’s embarrassed to think how immediately he wants the younger man’s lips on other parts of him and his ears burn.

 

“Three,” and Junmyeon pushes his door open and Yifan follows blindly, brushed with a sudden realization that he always wants to be following Junmyeon blindly, always wants to be with him on some adventure, wants to cement this strange moment—groans and all—in his mind as the moment he knew. They reach the door sprinting and Yifan fumbles with the undersized keys but they manage to get inside long before either of the creatures can redirect their attack.

 

But as soon as the door closes behind them, the whining screams of the walkers suddenly muffled, Yifan is subjected to a very different attack; Junmyeon has him pressed against the door in a kiss that tastes like excitement. Junmyeon’s tongue traces and tastes Yifan’s and Yifan has never known him to be so . . . dominant, but it’s nice. Strange and nice and . . .

 

“You’re good to me,” Junmyeon whispers against Yifan’s lips, “No one I’ve ever dated . . .  no one, has ever been this interested in me before. In the things that I love.”

 

A quiet groan and the sound of scratching is heard behind the door and Yifan feels his entire body tremble. The actors he hired were far better than he expected. Almost too good, he thought, as Yifan found himself as scared or more so than Junmyeon.

 

Junmyeon’s eyes disappear again in a brilliant smile, “No one else could have pulled off something like this.”

 

“You knew?” Yifan shakes his head. “That the zombies were—”

 

“Walkers,” Junmyeon laughs, “Walkers and yes, silly . . . ” He punches Yifan lightly in the chest before pressing their bodies even closer together, “But honestly, you didn’t have to chase me in here. I would have come . . .  I would have come to bed with you without something so elaborate.”

 

Yifan swallows and is shocked by how loud it is. He shifts on his feet, worried that Junmyeon can hear how hard and how fast his heart is beating, “I wanted it to be memorable or special . . .  or something.”

 

“Nothing could be more special,” Junmyeon says with a suddenly smaller voice, the small Junmyeon that Yifan is more familiar with. His cheeks are pink. His lips are pink and Yifan feels crude to wonder if other things are pink.

 

The actors, still wrapped up in their roles as walkers, slam against the door again and Yifan feels his entire body tighten. He falls back into character because it’s easier this way, “This place seems secure enough. I don't think they're going to get in . . .  it might be old, but the locks look good. Maybe we should stay here for the night? Wait them out?”

 

Junmyeon seems to appreciate the effort and claws his fingers down Yifan’s chest, “I think you’ve got a good plan. They’ll lose interest by the time the sun’s out, as long as we keep the lights low.” Junmyeon glances up at Yifan through his lashes, his bedroom eyes, “And don't make too much noise . . . ”

 

Junmyeon pushes himself against Yifan and it’s only then that Yifan realizes that he’s not the only one who may have been looking forward to tonight. Junmyeon’s ears are nearly burning but he reaches his hands in between them and cups Yifan carefully. It’s enough . . .

 

Yifan grabs him by his shoulders and begins leading him to the bed, nearly lifting Junmyeon in his arms in his anticipation and his delight at Junmyeon’s returned affections. Junmyeon’s small hands paw at the hem of Yifan’s shirt and Yifan is convinced that his skin might boil off. He lets go of Junmyeon and removes his shirt as quickly as possible, tossing it away and letting Junmyeon take in the sight of him. Junmyeon’s eyes wander over him and he feels a bit nervous, bare and unsure. It’s not that he hasn’t had sex before—it’s not that he hasn’t been with beautiful men before. But there is no one as beautiful as Junmyeon. No one as—

 

“You have condoms right?” Junmyeon whispers, teasing a few fingers over Yifan’s flat stomach. “Cause I plan to ride the—”

 

Yifan chokes on the filthy words that pour out of Junmyeon’s mouth, made more filthy and seductive by the innocent, sweet image that Junmyeon usually portrays. He knows his erection is clearly visible, growing larger and uncomfortably constrained in his jeans and when Junmyeon sits lightly on the edge of the bed and leans in to nuzzle against the bulge, he’s nearly undone.

 

Yifan runs his fingers through Junmyeon’s hair, encouraging him, and Junmyeon’s tiny mouth presses kisses against his clothed body. It’s teasing on an epic scale and he wants all of this so much more than he ever thought possible. “Yeah . . . yeah, I have condoms. But Junmyeon—you don’t have—”

 

But Junmyeon is already hard at work, unbuttoning Yifan’s jeans with his teeth. His ears are still so pink and it’s a grotesquely erotic combination, his gentle blush and his eager sexuality that had surely been bubbling under the surface this entire time. Yifan can still hear the actors outside, groaning and whining and scratching at the drawn windows, but his everything else is so focused on Junmyeon, he can’t be bothered to give them any indication that it’s fine, go home, your employer is getting laid.

 

Junmyeon is still fully dressed, adding another element of the forbidden and erotic to their activities, when he slowly unzips Yifan’s jeans and tugs them down over his slim hips, boxer briefs and all. Yifan knows he’s a little . . .  larger than average but it’s Junmyeon’s gentle, almost playful ‘oh’ when he finally sees Yifan in all his nakedness than makes Yifan’s nerves bundle up again.

 

“We don’t have to . . . ” Yifan replies, even though the way that Junmyeon just licked his lips tells him that he shouldn't have worried, “We can just . . . hang out. I bet we have time to catch the end of the new episode we just—”

 

“Stop,” Junmyeon whispers, taking Yifan’s shaft in his small hands and squeezing carefully. Yifan moans and his eyelids flutter a little. Junmyeon smiles, obviously pleased with himself. “Are you nervous? Yifan?”

 

The way Junmyeon says his name makes Yifan feel so vulnerable, so exposed. He nods almost imperceptibly, but Junmyeon seems to understand at once and sighs into another welcoming smile.

 

“You’re always the one taking care of me, Yifan,” Junmyeon says with a voice that is all plotting and design, “You’re always making these plans, taking me places, showing me things. Let me take care of you for once. If you're nervous, let me take care of you.”

 

And Junmyeon opens his small mouth, swallowing Yifan whole.