Empire | ATEEZ

003

Embarrassed. That was what Seonghwa felt as he paced back and forth outside of the coffee shop, trudging across the pavement as he occasionally glanced through the windows to see you standing in line, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as you read the menu.

He ran a hand through his ashy blond hair, now messy and tangled, as he sighed in frustration, finally managing to gather the courage needed to go up to the door only to halt as his hand wrapped around the handle, staring down at it for a moment as he shook his head.

"I should stay away," Seonghwa said to himself, knowing very well that it would be the only right thing to do, the only thing that would keep you safe and let you live your life, the only thing that would make sure you didn't get involved in anything else, anything more dangerous, than you already were.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he mumbled to himself, looking through the glass as you happily accepted your coffee from the worker behind the counter, feeling his breath catch at the bright smile on your face.

He let go of the handle as he took a step back. "Hongjoong would kill me," he breathed, turning around to walk away "I have a responsibility to live up to. I'm bad news-" cutting himself off with a sigh as he whipped back around towards the coffee shop after only a couple of steps only for his eyes to widen as he crashed directly into you.

He gasped as you cried out in surprise, instinctively reaching out to support you as you dropped your coffee and hissing in pain as the hot liquid splattered all over him, seeping through the shirt and into the gauze protecting the wound in his abdomen.

〄

"I am so, so sorry," I gasped, staring wide-eyed at the mess I had caused, at the cup and lid scattered on the ground, and the coffee which was now everywhere on the man's white dress shirt, "I-" I began, halting as I looked up at a familiar face framed by ashy blond hair, his dark eyes holding a look of mixed surprise and.. guilt?

"You-" I breathed, taking a step back and pushing his hand off my shoulder, "What are you doing here?" I crouched down to pick up the cup as he opened his mouth as if to answer, nothing but the ghost of an explanation leaving his lips.

"I thought I told you that I didn't want to see your face ever again," I said, standing back up to face him, "That's a little harsh," he mumbled to which I scoffed, "No, what's harsh is threatening the person who saved your life with a knife but no sane person would do that, right?"

He smirked at that but the smile on his face quickly melted away into a look of pain as I turned around to push him away, earning a strained grunt in response as my hand touched his stomach, my eyes widening in realization.

"Your wound-" I said, immediately reaching for the hem of his shirt and pulling at the fabric only to freeze as he grabbed my wrist with a look of panic on his face, "What are you doing?" he hissed. I ripped my hand out of his grasp with furrowed brows, "Well, Sherlock, I'm no medic but coffee really isn't good for stab wounds so I wanted to check-"

"Not in public!" he exclaimed, the tops of his ears turning red as he stared down at me, "Oh calm down, you child, it's not like I was going to strip you naked. I just wanted to see if anything had happened to the bandage-"

"You really need to work on that tone of yours," Seonghwa said, his voice dipping an octave and bringing a wave of heat to my cheeks. I cleared my throat, "And you really need to work on your attitude," I grumbled, grabbing his hand before dragging him with me down the road.

〄

"You really don't have to-" Seonghwa tried only to fall silent as I put a finger to his lips and pushed him down on the couch, the man leaning slightly back against the cushions and staring after me as I went to fetch the first-aid kit.