The next time he comes to, Wonwoo is dizzy and confused. His head swims as his bleary eyes blink up and try to focus on the face hovering only a few inches above his, the unidentifiable person’s hands bloody as they attend to the gash on Wonwoo’s head. His skin feels numb around the wound, which could only mean that the numbing gel from the first-aid kit was used on his head, or he’s finally died and is experiencing some form of afterlife.

Wonwoo smiles groggily up at the being, grateful to see a familiar face. Do all angels look like Soonyoung? Unless this was hell, then it would make a little more sense.

“You’re not dead,” the Soonyoung-lookalike answers wryly, like he could read his mind. “And I can’t read your mind, Wonwoo. You’re just thinking out loud. Even with a concussion you’re still a smartass, I see.”

It takes Wonwoo a couple minutes to comprehend what has just been said to him, slowly coming to his senses when he realizes that his head is throbbing fiercely even with the numbing gel too soothe the pain, and that the Soonyoung-lookalike is, in fact, Soonyoung himself.

“What’s going on?” Wonwoo finally thinks to ask, grunting in discomfort as he attempts to sit up and look around, but Soonyoung—the real one, not an angel or a demon or whatever—just pushes him back down with a stern look on his face.

“I just finished stitching up your wound but you’re going to need to take it easy because of that concussion,” Soonyoung explains, falling back from his kneeling position over Wonwoo’s head to sit cross-legged on the floor next to him instead. “Can’t have you dying on me after surviving until now. The bio-scan I took of you with the PDA didn’t show any blood clotting or hemorrhaging, so long as you don’t strain yourself, you won’t die in your sleep. Hopefully anyway.”

Wonwoo stares up blankly as he processes this information, slowly coming more and more into his senses as he takes in their surroundings from where he’s lying on the floor. He’s still in his life pod but now the hatch overhead is open to the outside world, which could only mean that Soonyoung must have found him somehow.

“I think I remember hearing you over the radio, but my body stopped responding before I could do anything about it. I was sure I was going to die.”

“Nah, you would’ve been fine,” Soonyoung assures as he gets up to rummage around the compartments of Wonwoo’s life pod, likely in search of more survival supplies, and the taller man wrinkles his nose in mild disgust when Soonyoung wipes the blood from his hands onto his dive suit before touching anything. It was better than nothing, Wonwoo supposes, but the sterile-environment-loving scientist side of him can’t help from cringing at the blatant disregard of sanitation.

“So how did you find me?” he asks before he can dwell on the action any longer, sitting up much more carefully than before as he continues to watch Soonyoung look around life pod five.

“Luckily you were conscious enough to reboot your PDA, so when you passed out the AI sent out a distress signal. It was a long swim for me to get here though, you could have bled out if I didn’t show up on time.”

Wonwoo chuckles humorlessly at the idea. “Honestly I thought I’d die with your nasally voice over the radio as the last thing I’d ever hear.”

“Wow. You’re welcome for saving you, by the way,” Soonyoung retorts, although he snickers a little before the sound wanes just as fast. The older man pauses mid-search to stare up at the open hatch overhead for a couple beats, expression contemplative as the sounds of the waves outside crashing against the walls of the life pod filter inside. “It could still wind up being the last thing you hear though, just so you know.”

The thought is sobering, and a sense of doom settles deep into the pit of Wonwoo’s stomach when Soonyoung turns around to meet his gaze.