The Fear of Fascination || Ateez SciFi x Fantasy

Chapter 21

When San woke up, he sat up in his own bed. The soft mattress in the house he shared with Jongho in Ektore; not the pallet in the centaur's secret cave in Mythlik. All it took was a glance to survey the whole room, and with how undisturbed everything looked, he instantly knew they had gone. Without waiting for him.

He was about to scramble out from under his blankets when the door swung open and a man with the darkest hair he'd ever seen walked in. The onyx strands were parted neatly down the middle, the ends just barely grazing ear tips. It took a while for San to put a name to the stranger's face, but by then Wooyoung was already sitting at his side, placing a wooden tray of refreshments on the bedside table.

"You're awake," breathed the unicorn lord. He leaned forward, almost eager to reach out, only to falter and repress himself with a mere twitch of his arm. "How are you feeling? Wonho said the more you sleep, the quicker you'd heal, and you'd been asleep for almost twelve hours."

San did not care how his body felt. In fact, he wished he could abandon it so that he would not have to drag anyone into trouble for his sake ever again. Especially those he loved. Suddenly he was angry, and before he could stop himself the words were already out. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he blamed, bunching up the bedsheets in his palms. "You know someone's going to get hurt– die, even. So how could you let them go? How could you let Jongho walk into danger!"

A look of pain flashed across Wooyoung's eyes, and San knew just then he should not have been so harsh to a man he barely knew. But it was too late, the damage was already done, and he knew what was coming next. "I'm– I'm sorry," he stuttered feebly. "Jongho was already upset that I made him sleep with a dose of Peace Lily, otherwise he would've gone for Yunho way earlier... He knew you wouldn't let him go, so he made sure I wouldn't wake you." He glanced up furtively and quickly added, "But don't worry, Mingi is with him and they've only left for four hours... So how are you feeling?"

San slouched his shoulders and released his clenched fists. Despite the long rest, he was tired. He was thirsty and hungry, and spasms of agony were iron fingers trying to split his head into two. He wanted to hit the man in front of him and hug him at the same time. He was never good with sharing his emotions with others, so all he managed to say was, "Tell me what happened while I slept," before reaching for a bowl of water on the nightstand.

"Well, shortly after we put Jongho down into a nap, you took your medicine and fell asleep, too," Wooyoung said. "Mingi decided to stay with Jongho at Wonho's place since they had to leave through Portal Glade anyway."

Grudgingly, San nodded. He understood that no matter what he said previously, Jongho still believed that the wounded person in his latest vision was Yunho and that it was his responsibility to make sure nothing severe would happen to the healer. He returned the empty bowl to its tray and reached for a snack, expecting the mini sweet buns that were the only food he and Jongho kept around the house. Instead, he was greeted with a plate of... homemade sandwiches?

As he bit into one timidly, he spotted a glint of anticipation in Wooyoung's eyes. It must have shown on his face how nice it tasted – the exceptional combination of melted cheese on avocado – because the unicorn lord broke into a wide smile as he explained, "I made those earlier for my breakfast, but since you're awake now, feel free to eat as much as you like. I can always make more for you! Well, only if you want," he finished sheepishly, his cheeks puffing up with how happy he looked. San replied with a small smile, suppressing the urge to wolf the sandwich down.

The jovial moment passed, and Wooyoung's voice dropped an octave lower when he continued with the more serious side of events. "With Mingi and Jongho resting, Wonho suggested for me to bring you here. I agreed. It seemed right to let you heal in your own realm... even though it hasn't exactly been prospering, with the Crescent Stone stolen and all."