Mists of Celeste - an Ateez Fanfic

act three ➻ part one

"Have you been sleeping alright over the past few days?"

You glance over at San out the corner of your eye, catching his stare on you as the two of you walk through the corridor. Your gaze flits away from his in less than a second, and you redirect your focus to the floor under your feet rather than on his concerned expression. Despite heading to two separate places, the two of you walk side by side as you approach the training room. Seonghwa is waiting for you there – another sparring session meant to be rehabilitation for your thigh – whereas San is going to eat in the mess hall.

"It could be better..." You admit, letting a small sigh slip through your lips, and you bring a hand up to your hair. "Yunho gave me some medicine to help me fall asleep and stay that way."

"I got the same thing," San laughs, but the sound is dry, and there is no humor in it. The implication behind his words hurts a bit – the idea of him suffering and struggling with nightmares the same way you are – but you aren't one to chastise him. "I'm glad to hear that though. You deserve some good rest. Truly."

The softness and gentleness in his tone causes your stomach to turn in all sorts of ways. You press your elbow into his side, trying to brush off the sudden wave of embarrassment with nonchalant words.

"Don't get all soft on me now, San."

"It's a little late for that, don't you think?" San pushes a bit more mirth into his tone. When you glance at his face, you can see that he's being serious, and again your gut can't quite handle that. Luckily San decides to speak once more and save you the trouble of getting flustered. "But I won't get all soft on you, if you catch my drift."

"Ew," you scoff, rolling your eyes back when San cackles at his own jokes. The levity between the two of you is welcome though, even if you have to suffer his awful jokes.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," San exhales and lifts his hands as though to defend himself from another attack.

"You're lucky we're parting ways here. Otherwise, I would smack you upside the head."

"Come on now, there's always time for more," San chuckles, bringing a hand up to rub at his neck. You press your lips into a thin line and shake your head rather than responding. "Alright, I'll leave you alone for now then."

"I'll see you later," you say as you bring a hand up to wave at him.

"Have fun with Seonghwa. Not too much fun though."

"Oh, I'll try my best. Don't worry."

San passes another smile in your direction, and you return the gesture before dipping into the training room. As soon as you step through the doors, you are greeted by Seonghwa and Jongho. The shorter dark-haired Berserker welcomes you first, lifting a hand to wave at you when you step through the doors.

"Oh, are you sparring today too?" You ask. Jongho laughs a little and tosses something your way all of a sudden. You barely have time to register what it is before you catch it, swinging a hand up to snatch it out of the air before it hits you in the face. You blink down at the roll of tape he threw your way with a questioning gaze.

"Seonghwa is feeling a bit moody today, so I'm gonna be sparring with you instead," Jongho explains, a coy smile playing at his lips. You glance past his shoulder to look at the raven-haired man in question. He stands off to the side a bit and wraps tape around his own wrists as well, sleeves pulled up over his biceps. He glances at the back of Jongho's head when the man mentions him, eyes rolling ever so slightly before moving to settle on you.

"You can go ahead and get warmed up, Y/N. Jongho already got warmed up earlier, so he's ready to go whenever you are."

You nod in response, tugging the tape Jongho passed your way around your palms and wrists with haste. As you move, Jongho trails after you. He catches the tape when you toss it back to him and square up with one of the punching bags.