【Ａｓｐｈｙｘｉａ】 seongjoong

Recovery

*Not beta read

Beeping.

It was the first thing Jongho heard when he felt his consciousness begin to return to him. He felt that his head was pillowed on something firm but a bit soft and a scratchy material lay under his fingertips. Antiseptic and chemicals assaulted his senses. His head felt heavy and was pounding, bright light shining through his still closed eyes. Through all of the negative, there was something warm and soft curled around his right hand that gave him a sense of comfort.

His eyes fluttered open.

White filled his vision and, for a moment, he had too squint as the light became infinitely brighter. All he could make out was white as he turned his head lightly to the left. Faintly, he registered that he must be in a hospital.

How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was facing off against the Ghoul who had killed Xion but anything after was a blur. Was Wonho ok? What happened to the others?

Shifting in the bed, he gave a sharp inhale as his body gave a brief shock in pain. Apparently it was too soon to move and his body was protesting. Jongho's shift in motion, however, caused something to wiggle beside him and whatever around his hand to contract lightly. Looking to his left, the young agent spotted a head of sandy brunette hair laying on his bedside, a hand wrapped securely around his own. Jongho smiled softly.

Yeosang. He had stayed by his bedside while he recovered from whatever happened. There wasn't a force on this Earth that could have stopped the utterly fond look that overtook Jongho's expression as he reached out with his free hand, softly brushing it through the silky locks. The agent's heart felt itself swell by at least three times.

The touch must have alerted the sleeping beauty as there was a sudden shift in his breathing as he inhaled deeply, a sure sign of waking up. Yeosang scrunched his nose briefly before his own chocolate irises blinked open sleepily. For a moment, the older looked around blearily as he tried to register his surroundings. Jongho's soft chuckle caused the other's head to snap up at the sound. In a flash, Yeosang was up so quickly that the chair he had been resting in flipped and clattered to the floor.

"Jongho!" The other cried in alarm at the sight of the once sleeping agent. The sharp movement must have been too much for Yeosang as he suddenly gave a pained cry and clutched at his side. That was when the younger noticed that the brunette, too, was dressed in hospital clothing.

"Are you alright?" Jongho asked in concern as he watched the other hiss through his teeth as he breathed deeply through the pain. He wondered why the older was even here in the first place. What happened? How did he get hurt? Was it bad?

"I'm fine," Yeosang panted as the pain finally subsided, standing up a little straighter. "How are you? Are you feeling ok? Do I need to get a doctor?" The other worried, for once his concern and emotions so clearly visible on his face.

Jongho let his heart do the funny thing one more time before he just gave him a winning smile. "I couldn't be better." Then he frowned. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" The younger agent just shook his head. Yeosang sighed. "There was an explosion. You've been out for about five days now."

Jongho's eyes widened at that information. Five days? Explosion? Suddenly, he vaguely recalled pinning down and finally cornering the Ghoul he was after followed by a white light. He was in point blank range, how in the hell had he survived?

As if sensing the question that was budding in the other's mind, Yeosang pointed to the side table beside his bed. Turning his head, Jongho wasn't exactly sure what he was looking at. On the nightstand there a mangled and scorched piece of metal that was twisted every which way as if it had been through the ringer and didn't even vaguely resemble what it once might have been.