You woke up in your bed feeling a little disorientated. The last thing you remembered was Youngjae and Zelo taking Jongup away. You had had some dreams as well, but you weren’t going to think about them yet. You sat up and looked around. The sky was bright outside, so the storm must have passed, along with a fair amount of time. As you sat up, you groaned, soreness hitting you all over. Then worry for Jongup took over and your heart started picking up speed. How long had you been asleep? What condition was Jongup in? Despite your soreness, you had too many questions to just stay where you were.

Just as you swung your legs over the side of the bed there was a knock at your door. You looked up, unsurprised to see Jongup standing there. He was wearing a white tank top with dark blue jeans and bare feet. But the expression he was wearing was more important. He was concerned about something, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at you.

“Hi…” You said, figuring that the conversation had to start somehow.

He walked into the room a little. “Hi.. How are you feeling? Youngjae said you passed out on the floor.”

“Ah, right…” You looked away from his face, your eyes wandering down to his waist. You no longer felt the pain in your side and you wondered if he was pain-free or not. “I just woke up, but I’m fine. How about you? You’re the one who got shot.”

He looked down at the obvious bandages around his waist, under his shirt. “I’ll heal, this is nothing. You should’ve seen the time Daehyun accidentally stabbed me with his knife. That was a near-death experience.” You both laughed and you shook your head at the thought of Daehyun doing something so careless.

“Well I’m glad you’re feeling better.” You said, smiling at him.

He smiled back and came to sit next to you, the worried look in his eyes fading a bit. “I’m surprised that everything worked according to plan, to be honest.”

“True, things could have gone the totally opposite direction.” You played with the frayed edge of a hole in your jeans.

It was quiet for a moment and he sighed. “I.. I have a question.” His eyes wandered around the room for a second before looking at you again. “What did you mean back there? When you said ‘I feel it, too’?”

You felt your face get a little hot and you sighed. You didn’t want him to feel guilty, but it was probably better to just tell him the truth rather than have him find out later down the road. “Okay, so I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but basically… When you were shot, I felt it, too. It was like the bullet went right through me. I felt everything. The whole time. That’s probably why I passed out, now that I think about it. My body was just so confused.”

“What..”

“And when Himchan was stitching you up, I felt that too. Damn, that was awful.” You shivered a little as you remembered the stabbing and tugging sensations you had endured. You looked over to see his face in the exact expression you didn’t want him to make. Practically horrified at the thought of what you went through while he was unconscious. Guilt set in in his eyes immediately after that.

He moved closer and pulled you into his lap, hugging you tightly and burying his face in your shoulder. Even his mental tone had extreme emotion. “I’m so sorry…”

You hugged him back allowing more of your skin to touch his. The feeling of finally touching him after what felt like forever was so calming that you almost didn’t know what to say to him. Every muscle in your body relaxed, it felt almost like you were melting. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not actually hurt. I’m safe and sound, you don’t have to worry about me. But I’ll be worrying about you. I have to make sure you don’t overdo it and start moving around too much before you’ve properly healed.” You moved one hand to run your fingers through his hair soothingly.

He was quiet for a few minutes and you just stayed in his arms, thinking calm things. He sighed and eventually pulled his face away from your shoulder. “You’re right. I’m still sorry, though.” He looked at you and you smiled, seeing the tears in his eyes.

“I know. But I’m telling you- it’s okay.” You reminded him as you brushed your thumbs across his cheeks. You then rested your hands on his shoulders as his eyes drew you in once again. Your heart beat a little faster and you felt the air around you change. He brought his head closer, leaning his forehead against yours. “Too close- asdfjkl” You couldn’t help your thoughts as you freaked out about his proximity.

Jongup laughed and pulled away, an endearing spark in his eyes. “So you feel the same way, huh?” You bit your lip and looked at him, nodding a little as you picked up what he was implying. “Everytime I touch you, I have to keep my thoughts very controlled or distracted. But I guess that’s not really needed anymore?”

He seemed uncertain but you couldn’t even reply with a coherent thought. You covered your blushing face and hid on his shoulder, screaming internally. At this he laughed again, the mood lightening considerably.

“Hey are you awake yet? Also, have you seen Jongup? I can’t seem to find-” Himchan stopped in your doorway and stared at you two for a second. You got off of his lap, standing up a little too quickly. You swayed and stumbled to the side. You would have fallen, but Jongup caught you around the waist, an amused smile gracing his lips.

“I’m here.” He told Himchan, standing up and making sure you were okay before he let go. The second you lost contact, you felt cold. You wanted his warmth back. It was addicting. It wouldn’t hurt to just touch a little, right? You didn’t have a chance to test that thought out, though. He walked toward Himchan right as you were reaching after him.

“Hey, Yongguk wants a family meeting so everyone can be introduced to Sae.” Himchan regained his composure, but there was a little smirk on his face. He turned and began walking down the hall, with Jongup following him silently. “Are you coming along or what?” Himchan’s voice echoed down the hall and you jumped a bit.

You walked quickly out of your room, trying to catch up to them. “Wait, yes, I’ll be right there!”

★☆★☆★☆