Summer, the Woods, and Magic | SeongSan/SanHwa (Oneshot) ✔

Summer, the Woods, and Magic

Some disclaimers and whatnot before you start reading, that this story
(1) includes descriptions of blood; don't read if you feel you might get triggered (refer to the Description section to view all content warnings),
(2) is purely fictional, and therefore
(3) is not meant to represent ATEEZ members in any way.

*There will be other notes down below after the end of the story, so please keep an eye out for those!

—————

|
|
|

The sight made him dizzy. Mostly it made him angry.

San had chosen to run all the way from the main gate rather than hop onto a chariot because he'd thought it would take too long. He'd decided that closing his bakery so early in the afternoon would be worth it in exchange to meet someone he cared deeply about after weeks. Yet he wasn't prepared to see that 'someone' be in such an awful physical state.

He could've collapsed and hit his head on the floor if a man he knew as one of their camp messengers hadn't grabbed his shoulders mid-drop.

"Oh Lord. That would've caused another problem. Thanks, Yunho." He nodded his head once to the tall guy and leaned against the brick wall at the room threshold, afraid his legs might give out any time soon. "Now, Seonghwa... what did they do to you this time?"

Inside, lying down on a brown leather couch was another male with his left arm draped over his forehead. His eyes were closed, but it didn't indicate he was sleeping. Rather, San guessed it was done to suppress pain because his eyebrows were furrowed. Bandages were wrapped around his right arm, lower ribs, and ankles.

San shuddered, couldn't even bear imagining how painful it must be.

"I've been here for almost an hour trying to get an answer for that, but your boyfriend won't talk about it," Yunho said. "Going from there, though, I can kind of conclude that it's got something to do with, well"—he coughed—"our lovely neighbouring camp just outside town."

Seonghwa snarled, "Ain't no way you describe that camp as lovely."

"Ah, it was meant to be sarcastic, Your Majesty."

"Stop calling me that." Seonghwa opened his eyes. His position allowed him to view both San and Yunho's blurry reflections from the window at the other end of the room. "I could easily request the higher-ups to cross your name out of the list for this winter, just so you know."

"Uhm, guys—"

A loud banging sound from down the hallway left his words to dangle in the warm breezy air.

"What the hell was that?" Yunho was quick to stride his way out.

Once he pinpointed the source of the chaos, he peeked his head back in. "San, you better stay here with Seonghwa." He unsheathed his sword that had been hanging on his left side. "I've got some stuff to do."

"Try not to get killed!" Seonghwa half-shouted.

"Oh, how I wish someone would just kill me right now!" Yunho shouted back, his voice echoing in the passage.

Once the sound of Yunho's shoes clacking on the marble floor had gone faint, San walked over to the sofa and sat down on the armrest.

They were left in silence as the younger one scanned the other's body from head to toe, trying to locate any other visible scars. San's brows crinkled, his glare intense.

Seonghwa felt fear starting to course through his veins. He looked away when his boyfriend raised his hand.

"I was just going to fix this," San said as he readjusted a bandage on the lower ribs area.