Empire | ATEEZ

038

The surgery had taken several hours and, when it was finally done and the doctor, albeit warily, approached Seonghwa who was sitting just outside the operating room, seemingly without having moved as much as an inch, the blond was finally able to release the breath it felt as if he had been holding the entire time.

It was a sigh of relief more than anything, and Seonghwa slowly leaned forward and pressed his hands to his face as his body, exhausted and sore, screamed for sleep and the release which he had been denying it the entire time.

But he couldn't rest, he told himself, not yet. He mumbled a, "Thank you," to the doctor who quickly hurried away again as if, deep down, he had known exactly who he had been talking to.

It took every last sliver of willpower left in him to lift himself out of the chair, dragging himself over to the room in which he knew you were now resting, recovering, and silently slipped through the door.

Looking at your unconscious figure, seemingly asleep, he once again found himself to be grateful, relieved, more than anything as he remembered how broken you had looked on the rooftop, covered in blood and barely able to keep your eyes open.

"We're moving her back to the headquarters as soon as she wakes up," Yunho said as he carefully closed the door after letting himself in as well. Seonghwa hadn't even noticed him appear before the advisor's hand weighed down on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

He nodded a little, "The doctor seemed-"

"Namjoon's got it covered, the paperwork as well," Yunho mumbled, "I believe Jeongguk put in a good word for her despite the fact that we ruined his party."

He sighed, "Seonghwa, she's alive. We got here in time, now it's just a question of when she'll wake up. Because she will. That'll have to do for now so stop punishing yourself for it."

"We owe her our lives," was all that he could say, the words having weighed down on him, not just all night but ever since he had woken up in your apartment months ago, realizing that he was alive and that he would forever be indebted to you because of it, because of the fact that you had saved him, all of them.

No one had ever cared about him the way that you did. Empire, the others, loved him like a brother, like a family member, but the fact that you loved him, truly loved him-

And that he hadn't been able to protect you.

No matter what he did, he always caused trouble, for you especially. No matter what he did, people either got hurt or killed. He had been the one to barge into your life, and then to rip you from it and drag you into a world of criminals and danger. In the end, you had almost gotten killed because of him.

Seonghwa turned his head away from the bed, from you, as he closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to stay awake.

"You should really get some sleep," Yunho said, his words barely audible in the second-in-command's ears as he zoned out for a moment.

Still, he mumbled, "I will, don't worry," lying through his teeth as he felt the advisor pull his hand back before sound of the door closing swallowed up his footsteps, disappearing as he left him alone in the room with you.

"I'm just going to watch over her a little longer," Seonghwa mumbled, letting his eyes flutter back open as he moved the chair a little closer to the bed and reached for your hand, intertwining his fingers with your own as he ran his thumb across the back of your hand in small circles.

He wasn't going to leave your side until you woke up again.

He was going to stay right here by your side until you were better, until you were no longer hurting.