COSMOS | seongjoong

chapter 9.

it had been about 20 minutes since hongjoong has that call with seonghwa, and he couldn't lie— he was worried sick about the latter. he already had a bad feeling about seonghwa leaving to go there in the first place— he felt like something was going to go wrong. his suspicions only increased after the call, and they were only further confirmed when he saw seonghwa walk through the door to their dorm.

hongjoong swore he felt his heart drop to the ground.

seonghwa barged in with a shuffle, and he looked as if he was going to fall apart any minute. he was heaving, from hongjoong assumed was a mix of running, and however he got the bruises that littered the skin that was exposed. the shorter male was scared that seonghwa might have more under his clothes.

hongjoong immediately sprinted over to the other to assist him. "seonghwa!! what happened? where did you get all these bruises from? was it sungjoon?" hongjoong probably should've held a softer tone with less blunt questions, as seonghwa started to tear up at the mention of his injuries. no matter how many times this happened, he still didn't want to think about it; he really didn't want to feel it either. "i'm alright hongjoong... he just got a little upset with me. we broke up though... so that won't happen anymore," seonghwa looked over to the latter with a sad smile, however, it was one that gave hongjoong the greatest amount of relief. as soon as he heard those three words, happiness pumped through his body. they really broke up? was all he could think. he decided to put those thoughts behind him for now, as now was not the time for them. "seonghwa! you're obviously not fine. please get some rest. i'll order us some food— is there anything you want? oh god i'm so worried," the raven-haired stumbled over his words, but still managed to get them to form comprehensible sentences. "okay, i'm sorry... i'm just beyond exhausted. i'm sorry— i know i promised to cook for us..." the older male trailed off, kind of feeling guilty. he hated breaking promises. but hongjoong didn't understand; it's not like he broke it on purpose, and even if he did, the latter wouldn't have minded either way.

"don't worry about that hwa. your health is the most important thing to me right now."

seonghwa finally surrendered as he laid down on his mattress. he let out a sigh of relief as he finally got to relax his body— his body had felt oddly heavy as if gravity had suddenly become ten times more intense than ever before. even though today had been an awful day for seonghwa, he definitely knew one thing.

maybe since sungjoon was out of the picture, he could start openly expressing his thoughts and feelings about hongjoong.

and hongjoong felt the exact same way.

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hongjoong's pov

i was now almost 2 hours after seonghwa made it back to the dorm. during those 2 hours, i made sure to give all my attention to the injured man; i took care of his bruises and cuts, and even fed him— of course, he tried to object to it, but soon just came to accept the action as he knew i wasn't going to stop.

he was now dozing off with his head against my chest, and my hand in his hair. seonghwa you never manage to not be beautiful... i could honestly look at him forever; hell, i wouldn't even mind a job based on studying seonghwa's features. he was just that ethereal. once i heard his soft snores, i smiled to myself. i'm so glad he's finally able to rest, he's been through way too much today. it was almost ironic how much comfort i got from comforting seonghwa. i just wanted to take care of him for as long as the world would let me— until i die, for lack of better words.

the feeling of tranquility started to arise in my body, so i got into a more comfortable position (without letting go of the sleeping male beside me), and closed my eyes— all without taking my hand out of the other's sort locks. his body was so warm, it was honestly the perfect thing to cuddle; i wouldn't want anything else.

as i started to doze off, my headspace was only filled with one thought in particular;

sweet dreams, hwa.

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seonghwa's pov

i was abruptly awoken by a violent beam of sunlight appearing over my closed eyelids. i groaned in frustration; i didn't want to wake up yet. i turned onto my side in hopes of being able to fall asleep again.

the hope for that idea was quickly diminished as i soon heard a voice; it was definitely hongjoong.

the younger male was singing softly to himself as he scrolled through his phone; he was seated at their small dining table, with what appeared to be food from the bakery a few miles away from our campus. did he really get breakfast? i could've cooked...

i slowly sat up; but that was short-lived, because i immediately dropped back down to the bed. my body hurt like hell. this seem to have grabbed hongjoong's attention, and the next thing i knew, i saw him in front of me with a concerned expression. "is everything okay, hwa? your body is probably sore... please get some more rest. i called in sick for both of us, so you don't have to worry about classes. it's already 2 pm anyway, so just rest as much as you can okay?" hongjoong ranted on. it made me smile— he seemed to care for me so much. he had been this way ever since we moved into the dorms, and the strength of that feeling just got stronger as the days went on. it was ironic to me because sungjoon was almost the exact opposite.

i snapped out of my thoughts as i needed to respond to the latter. "2 pm?! i really slept that long? i'm so sorry joong, you really didn't have to stay back from your classes for me," i was upset that he did that just to look after me, especially since i knew he would work five times as hard than he had to in order to make up for the work that he missed out on. i decided i would push that thought to the side for now, and i'd keep an eye on him later. "oh, but i wanted to," he paused, a playful smirk forming on his face. "were you hungry hwa? i brought a few breads and pastries from that bakery you liked... i was hoping it would make you feel better?" he stated with a questioning tone. i reassured him with a smile and a nod. i felt as if i was going to melt; he was really doing all this just for me...

the rest of our day was just filled with carefree, light-hearted conversations, cuddles, movies, and even more cuddles. hongjoong really went out of his way just to put a smile on my face. i didn't even feel sad at all today thanks to him, god i love him so much. it made me even happier; maybe even at ease— because the latter seemed to genuinely enjoy our time spent together as well. it didn't seem like some chore he felt obligated to do for whatever reason.

as hongjoong and i finished our last movie from our binge-watching session (yes, you guessed it, it was still a minion movie; rise of gru, to be specific), we both bid each other good night as i turned my lamp off. as i cuddled into joong's warm embrace, i drifted off to sleep with a small, content smile.

i love you so much, hongjoong...

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this chapter was a little bad , i'm sorry 😭😭 it was kind of a filler , but an important one(?) but anyways , i hope u all enjoyed it ! and i promise the other ateez members will show up more soon .. maybe even next chapter 🤓🤓

— iya 🌼