It's You

Chapter 13

For a moment Gaon thought he was on a boat, the ground rocking, but only until he smelled a familiar scent of expensive cologne and heard a steady, rhythmic beat against his ear.

He was warm and comfortable, a slight ache in his ribs whenever there was an unevenness on the floor and the hold around his body tightened momentarily accompanied by a soft grunt.

Nevertheless, Gaon turned deeper into the protective embrace, sighing contently. He'd been so cold earlier, a coldness in his core that couldn't been lifted with soft blankets or hot drinks. Though, now, he felt warm again, something had melted the ice in his soul.

It took longer for the realisation to set in.

The slight rocking wasn't a dream.

The warmth encasing him wasn't from countless, fluffy blankets.

No, it was Yohan carrying him like he weighted nothing, like he wasn't a grown man entirely functional to use his own two legs.

Stiffening, he held his breath, waiting for the moment the older realised he was awake and put him down.

"Go back to sleep, Gaon-ah."

A shiver ran down his spine at the deep, soft voice. Reluctantly tilting his head up, he looked at Yohan's face questioningly, face pulled into a frown. Yohan hadn't put him down. Why? Why was he telling him to go back to sleep instead of letting him down?

"I can't," he admitted, not feeling tired at all, merely... exhausted but he didn't think he could fall back asleep when his whole body felt on fire.

This should have been the point Yohan finally put him down.

Instead, a fond smile adored his lips as mirth danced in his dark eyes and he murmured: "Is that so? Then at least put your arms around my neck so I got you better."

Gaon's eyes widened, lips falling open slightly as he waited for the other to chuckle and tell it was only a joke. He waited and waited... The other shoe had to drop sometime this was too good to be true. Why would Yohan be so cruel to prolong this twisted joke?

Yohan arched one eyebrow, smile falling from his lips as he asked worriedly: "Gaon-ah? What is it?"

Praying inwardly that it wasn't a joke because Gaon wasn't sure he could deal with that kind of twisted fun right now, he hastily wound his arms around Yohan's neck, almost causing them both to fall at the sudden move. Cautiously, he glanced at the other, heart beating faster when he found him smirking tenderly, face soft as Yohan looked down at him.

"Careful, jagi... Gaon-ah. How are you feeling now?"

What had Yohan been about to call him? Furrowing his eyebrows, he put his head back against Yohan's chest, lips pressed together tightly. A phantom whisper of 'cheating boyfriend' rung through his mind and he abruptly remembered what had happened earlier.

They had been walking around when he had remembered something before losing consciousness. Had... Had Yohan been about to call him by the name of the person be had cheated with?! Was this the proof that it hadn't been a stupid misunderstanding after all?! And, oh.

Soohyun.

The woman he'd talked to had been Yoon Soohyun. Soohyun who had died in Gaon's arms. Soohyun whose last words to Gaon had been of love and worry for him. He'd felt so... so... Devastated? Was this the right word? In that moment he had felt cut open, defenceless and utterly afraid. Hurt had flooded his body, wrecked his heart and soul but Gaon wasn't sure how to feel now. Soohyun had loved him - apparently - but Gaon himself had no memories of her other than those two and while he remembered the agonizing pain he'd experienced in that night, it had felt nothing like the heart-wrenching, world ending anguish when he'd thought Yohan dead.