hydra | svt

CHAPTER SIXTY.

wonwoo

"guys, quiet! they're waking up."

the walls of my living room are bursting at their seams, swallowing down all ten of us as we sit and wait for jihoon and soonyoung to come around. there's barely room to breathe as i shuffle in with two glasses of water and probably more advil than necessary.

the couch as been reserved for jihoon, who's smaller frame is moulded snugly into the two-seater. a space on the floor has been arranged for soonyoung, who is practically swaddled in every itchy woollen blanket i could find at such short notice, as well as any cushions that aren't under jihoon's head.

as i zigzag through the groups of people towards soonyoung i stop by joshua and seokmin, who are nursing their own glasses of water as well as a splitting headache. wordlessly, i hand them an advil each to take the edge off; they swallow the thing dry and immediately drain their glasses with a grateful half-smile.

"soonyoung? are you there?" mingyu's soothing voice helps pry the fire mage's eyelids open, kissing them gently and giving the rest of his body the energy it needs to properly awaken.

he blinks all but three times before the floodgates open and he throws himself into seokmin's arms, reduced to a blubbering mess. seokmin is a known softie and immediately melts into soonyoung like a mother to her child.

"oi, stop crying like a loser," jihoon croaks as he slowly props himself up on one elbow, i hand him the pill and a drink, which he accepts with a firm nod and a fleeting grin, the kind that one makes as they hold back their tears.

soonyoung can barely get a word out through all the snot and salt of his own tears, gesturing vaguely to each of us in turn before starting in a fresh round. seokmin has taken the liberty of patting him gently on the back, shushing him and reassuring him that it's alright to be overwhelmed; i forget that he himself was in a similar situation not that long ago.

it seems like soonyoung's waterworks are having a domino effect - it's like a dam has opened in my living room. jihoon cries silent but steadfast and minghao and jun are beginning to sniffle. seokmin has now resigned from his role as the caretaker and is now balling along with soonyoung, just exchanging noises of pure emotion.

"how do you feel?" i ask jihoon, giving time for soonyoung to calm down a little, at least to a level where the noises he's making are human.

"apart from like i got hit by a bus, very overwhelmed."

oh how i missed his straightforwardness.

i offer a pat on the back as junhui squeezes the ice mage's right bicep as a gesture of affection. now laughing, jihoon wipes away the remainder of his display of emotion with the sleeve of his hoodie and steadily downs the water.

"refill?" i ask. he shakes his head, looking over at soonyoung.

"YOU GUYS!" he cries out, just now discovering his ability to put his thoughts into coherent sentences. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

i bite back the urge to remind him that he could not have missed us if he had no idea who we were in the first place but i let him have his moment, his usual theatrical aura already warming my heart.

as soonyoung suffocates seokmin, two notification alerts ping through the room.

"i just added them both to the groupchat!" joshua explains, waving his phone in the air to prove his point.

soonyoung seems nonplussed, but confusion settles on jihoon's icy features.

"how did you kn-"

"anyway! welcome back to seventeen guys, we missed you lots!" joshua speaks hurriedly and thankfully jihoon lets the question fizzle away on his tongue, instead exchanging smiles with the rest of us.