Rekindled From The Ashes

Awake

Two weeks.

It's been two, long, tortuous weeks for Wooyoung since Jongho has been in his induced coma. Wooyoung has mostly stayed at the hospital, hardly leaving his side unless Yunho or Hongjoong came by to check on the both of them. Seonghwa stopped by one day with Harper and Juno, both kids were so happy to see their uncle Wooyoung. Especially Juno.

He hardly wanted to let go of him when it was time for them to leave, Seonghwa's wife had to coax the toddler with promises of ice cream on the way home. He left, but he released a few tears before he left reluctantly with the couple and his best friend.

Wooyoung was happy to see them, they chased away those thoughts that have been swarming his mind since Jongho's accident. Thoughts of possibly loosing him... or never waking up...

He took a week off of work the first week, mostly because he was afraid if he left Jongho's side the younger would suddenly take a path for the worst. He didn't want to be away from another love that died without him next to them. And the nightmares of San's death have returned to him as well.

He wakes up shaking and having a panic attack after dreaming of chasing San in a burning building. The room would suddenly feel extremely hot, and he would instantly be covered in sweat. Some nights it was San in the flames, some days it was Jongho in the burning house.

He can't sleep after those, if he tried they would just resume where he left them. Most nights, he's awake by 1:30 and stays awake the rest of the day until he passes out from exhaustion.

When it was finally time for him to go back to work, he tried his best to keep his focus on the task at hand and not on his cellphone or his thoughts. He had a big report that needed to be done before a certain deadline and he worked his ass off to finish it with all of this going on. When he was finally done, he placed it on his boss's desk while he was in a meeting and went back to his daily routine.

However, an hour after turning in his report his boss emails him to come to his office immediately. Wooyoung sighs, he immediately started to panic and think that maybe he found a flaw in the report even after Wooyoung picked it through with a fine toothed comb. He knows he's on the shit list with the boss for missing so many days, but hopefully he can give him a break if Wooyoung explained himself.

He knocks on the cedar door, a deep voice answered behind it and he opened it slowly, "You wanted to see me Mr. Jeong?"

"Yes, Wooyoung. Come in and shut the door behind you," he answered, not looking up from the papers he was writing on and looking over. His glasses were sliding down the sharp bridge of his nose, and he occasionally had to stop to push them back up into focus. Wooyoung obeyed, sitting on one of the uncomfortable leather chairs Mr. Jeong had in his office. Once he sat down, his boss finished the page he was on before taking his glasses off and staring at Wooyoung

His dark irises didn't soften as he took in Wooyoung's sunken cheeks and dark bags under his eyes. He simply tilts his chin up and spoke coldly, "It was my understanding you took an unplanned leave for a week."

"Yes, sir my boyfriend was in the hospital and is currently in a coma," Wooyoung explained himself, suddenly feeling as if he is on trial.

"I see. But you managed to get your report done and turned in just on time. I was actually just looking it over and checking the statuses," he picks the stack of papers up and hands it to Wooyoung. Instantly, red ink caught Wooyoung's eye as he looked over his report that had been marked on all over by Mr. Jeong, "As I was looking it over, I began noticing many flaws in the report that were inaccurate. For your job, you're supposed to be on top of the changes within the company and frankly after looking at your imperfect attendance I can see why your records are flawed. So, I got in contact with Kelly who takes over for you while you are 'sick' and her reports are more accurate than yours. I want you to get with her and look over her report, then I want you to use that report to fix your many mistakes. And that report better be on my desk by the end of the day or I'm going to have to take extreme measures into my hands. You wouldn't want that would you Mr. Jung?"

Wooyoung felt panic rising in his chest and his breathing started to get shallower and come quicker. But then, just as quick as a panic attack rose, anger rose with it and he stands. He takes the report in his hands, ripping it in half right in front of Mr. Jeong's face. The manager's eyes widen slightly as Wooyoung did so, and if his hair wasn't receding his eyebrows would be lost in his fringe as Wooyoung throws the shredded papers at him, "Fuck you. I quit."

"Excuse me?" Mr. Jeong scoffs, standing, "You can't quit! Are you really going to quit after being told to do your job correctly?!"

"No, I'm quitting because I should've a LONG time ago!" Wooyoung snarls, knocking everything but the computer on Mr. Jeong's desk off, "You're a piece of shit man, you're a piece of shit manager, and after many times of seeing the secretary leaving your office with her hair and outfit a mess, you're a SHIT OF A HUSBAND AND FATHER!" Wooyoung screeches, stomping over to the door and slamming it open against the wall, undoubtedly leaving a giant hole in the dry wall. He grabs the door knob, gathering the courage to look behind him as he sneers, "You can mail me my last check. You have my address." And finished his statement with slamming the door shut as hard as he can.

He stops at his desk, taking the photos of his friends off of the desk and his phone before leaving. He never had very much belongings, not seeing a reason to keep so many at his desk like most people.

Maybe this was another reason why he never kept any personal belongings at his desk. His adrenaline was still pumping as he left the building, flipping off the building with both hands as he walks to his car. Once he got in his car, he drove off towards home. He was shaking from the adrenaline, but overtime, panic settled in and he had to pull over to throw up from the sudden stress.

He just quit his job. The job that has been giving him hell for four years. He feels... freedom. But the fear of paying his bills and such started to sink in and he starts breathing quickly, panicking again. But it all washed away when he heard his phone ringing, digging it out of his pocket to see the number of the hospital flashing.

His heart races as he calmed his breathing down enough to answer the call, "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Mr. Jung Wooyoung?" A kind female's voice asked, Wooyoung can practically feel her smile down the line.

"Yes this is he," Wooyoung answers, placing a hand over his heart. It was pounding a mile a minute.

"Mr. Jung, could we possibly have you come to the hospital? Mr. Choi woke up and he refuses to do anything until he has seen you."

Wooyoung's heart stops as the words play over in his mind. He takes in a sharp breath and tears prickle his eyes as he nods, "Yes! Yes, I-I'm on my way! Please tell him to get looked at, I'll be there soon."

"Absolutely, we'll be waiting for you."

Wooyoung hung up the phone and instantly put his car into drive, merging onto the road and driving as fast as he can. He almost didn't believe it, this must be a dream. He pinched himself harshly, yelping only to smile afterwards with a delighted sob of happiness.

This was no dream.

***