𝐆𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢 (𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐙! 𝐟𝐟)

𝙲𝙷. 𝟹𝟻 ☯︎︎ 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚎

His fists bunch up as time tics right past them, neither of them moving an inch. Kurenai soon notices his curled-up fists and her slight smile turns downcast, her eyes becoming gloomy and sorrowful.

It becomes unbearable for Seonghwa to see her this way, a sharp pang rising in his chest at the mere thought of ever trying to kill the woman. To distract himself, he moves his line of sight over to the screen on her left that displays her vitals.

Taking interest in the screen, Seonghwa studies the woman's steady but slightly slowed heart rate and everything else. It's then he remembers the threat San made clear to him earlier. Looking back now on that threat, he can see how foolish he was to contemplate taking Kurenai's life.

Subconsciously, Seonghwa lifts a hand to inspect the drip chamber on the IV. He gives it a couple of flicks before looking down at the catheter that steadily releases the IV fluids into her bloodstream.

He sighs, still refraining from engaging in conversation with Kurenai and turning to check her wounds instead. Moving a hand to peel back the new gauze pads covering her stomach, Seonghwa gently tries to feel around the wound for extra swelling when Kurenai hisses in pain, snatching up his wrist which startles him.

"S-Sorry." He stammers, keeping his eyes away from her face and trained on the wound on her stomach. She's still holding on tight to his wrist and when he sees that she's not letting go, the raven-haired man lifts his gaze to meet hers, quirking an eyebrow at her. "Do you plan on letting go soon or...?"

"I have something I've been meaning to ask you. Have you... Do you remember when we first met?" The question catches him so off guard that when he opens his mouth to answer he's left at a loss for words. He closes his mouth to not look like a total idiot, coming back to his senses and answering her curtly.

"I do. We met on the retrieval mission where I almost left you paralyzed—."

"No, not that. I'm talking about our trainee days. The very first time we met." Seonghwa sucks in his breath, looking down at the hand that's still clamped around his and swallowing the bubbles rising in his stomach.

He hates it. He hates the way he feels sorry for her when he should be feeling spiteful. He hates the way her injured form makes him feel like he should be protecting her. And above all, he hates the way she still manages to make him feel warm on the inside, something that shouldn't be his first reaction to her touch. He should be repulsed but instead, he secretly wishes that she keeps her hand there just a little longer.

"Would you care to refresh my memory?" His voice comes out low and gentle, opposite to the tone Kurenai was expecting from him. She looks away for a moment. 

"We met at MALUS's main tower." She starts, jogging what little memory she recovered while
escaping the large building. "I think we met somewhere in Max's medical wing. In a janitor's closet. I don't know why we were in there though."

Seonghwa chuckles, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue. Her words light up a memory of his that he held dearly, surprising him that she was able to recover such an old moment.

"You were running from a guard because you had stolen his keycard to get candies. You bumped into me along the way and dragged me to hide in a janitor's closet with you."

The edge of Kurenai's lip turns up into a weak smile as he delves deeper, bringing back more pieces of the lost memory.

"Yeah, I think I remember now." She laughs slightly, wincing when she feels a pain shoot up her torso and biting down on her tongue to keep from making a noise, but a small whimper manages to slip from her lips.