HUMAN | YUWIN [ ✓ ]

NINETEEN | IMPROVEMENT

the pain, oh god, the pain. it felt like it was tearing sicheng's stomach apart with how powerful it is. the wound's still bleeding, seeping through his fingers of the hand he tried to cover it with. there's still blood running from his poor nose, though it hurt much less than the stab wound.

his eyes look around, looking at the scene before him. he doesn't know where ten and johnny had gone within the mess that appeared to formerly be the lab. but, not too far away, he could see yuta. he was laying down although... he wasn't stirring. no one could mistake the lack of life sicheng had just seen.

a scream of grief is torn from his throat as he tries to stumble over to him after standing up, but his legs give out and he falls onto his knees, sicheng reaching out a hand to grab at his boyfriend.

tears made his eyes sting, the wound hurt and bled more, the smell of blood was too strong. when sicheng's eyes move up, he suddenly sees the figure of taeil standing there, his glowing, striking blue eyes visible in the darkness.

his lips curl into a smile and sicheng sees the knife in his raised hand, ready to strike down on him —

"sicheng?" a voice cuts through the tense silence. it's soft, barely heard, yet it forces him to look down at the supposedly dead body of his own boyfriend. yuta's eyes are wide, as usual, big and shiny in the lack of light. he looks terrified. "winwin? are you okay?"

but he should be dead. especially with that knife that had been dug into his chest right where his heart is. yuta props himself up on his hands, leaning in closer to sicheng's face.

then, he wakes up.

yuta's there, looking concerned from where he sat on the seat right next to the bed sicheng was confined to. his eyes were red from crying. again. his hand comes to rest on top of sicheng's and he relaxes. "chengie," he says quietly.

"i'm fine," sicheng replies to assure him. "it was just a stupid nightmare."

yeah, seeing your boyfriend dead is a stupid nightmare, sicheng thinks with a frown, any faint trace of a smile on his face disappearing. he's been in the lab for at least a week now, the only company he regularly gets being yuta. dr. lim and donghyuck don't exactly count, but johnny was nice enough to say hi every now and then before he stopped coming entirely by the middle of the week. then, it was just yuta.

but he doesn't mind that it's just him and yuta. sicheng could hardly care about johnny visiting, let alone ten of all people.

"oh, okay," yuta relaxes. "i just got worried, winwin."

"no need to be," sicheng says as he feels a rush of affection for his boyfriend. "i think i'll be out soon. i'll just have to come back every now and then to get a check up on how my injury's healing."

"that's good," yuta replies happily. "it feels so weird sleeping alone now, y'know?"

"trust me, i know," sicheng grins. to think he would've rather been alone at one point, not having yuta in his life. to think yuta was also originally off-limits....

eh, who gives a shit?

"c'mere," sicheng speaks, making grabby hands for yuta. the other suddenly looks amused as he happily leans into his open arms.

"you want a kiss, don't you?" he questions teasingly.

"how did you know?" sicheng beams.

"i know you," yuta pulls away just the right amount to lean back in for a brief kiss.

it's reassuring, in a way. sicheng feels safe as he melts into the kiss. yuta changes his angle just the smallest bit, before finally pulling away. pressing a peck onto sicheng's lips before easing back into his chair. they exchange sweet smiles, before their conversation changes the topic.