Rebirth; A New Age || seongjoong || ATEEZ

Chapter 9 : Eye for an Eye

"Wooyoung..."

It was as if time stopped, not that it really allowed for it, but everything moved in slow motion. The sounds of distant gunshots and men yelling were drowned out, Seonghwa's body felt like it was underwater as he watched Wooyoung crumble to the floor.

His legs had given out, knees bending too far forward that they could no longer support him. The whites of his eyes shined brightly with the flashing lights around them, it was evident by the way all the blood had drained in his face and the way his hands were shaking, that Wooyoung was too far into a state of shock to even really cry.

Seonghwa could only watch with his mouth open as Wooyoung began to shake even worse as he brought up his bloodied hand and arm to look at it like it was a foreign object. Seonghwa had seen a lot of fear in someone's eyes before, he had seen it all, but the way Wooyoung had looking at the hand that had held the gun and shot the bullet... it was a completely new look.

"Wooyoung-" he tried again, reaching forward but as soon as he did he felt a sharp pain crawl up his spine successfully stopping any further movements. His body froze immediately, retracting his arm with a sharp hiss.

That... was not good.

"Seonghwa..." Wooyoung was finally calling out to him, reaching his hand out but then pulling it back close to him like it was wrong of him to reach out to Seonghwa with such a bloody hand.

Seonghwa looked at him once more, the pain spreading across his chest as Wooyoung looked limp and completely out of it. He could see his pale face turning a shade of green, and it was evident in the way that Wooyoung was looking around blindly and then squeezing his eyes shut and slapping a hand over his mouth that he was about to be sick.

Seonghwa panicked, jerking around to where Yeosang was still sitting up against the wall but had found the sense to at least grab his gun and hold it close to him. He too had some blood streaks across his cheeks, and it was clear how much he had been crying with the way it stained down his neck.

"Yeosang-" he choked out, surprised to find that his throat hurt and sounded hoarse as he tried to speak. The younger looked at him, at least able to acknowledge his presence even if it was a little delayed. "Take Wooyoung- get out of here!"

Yeosang's lips parted, shaking his head. "I can't..."

"What do you mean you can't?" Seonghwa's throat felt raw, but it didn't stop him from yelling out.

"Because I can't Seonghwa!" The sound of Yeosang's voice was bone-chilling... the fear and the pain behind it was enough to knock Seonghwa off his balance a little.

Seonghwa felt his body cave in a little more, his lower back aching with each movement he took. Yeosang was giving him an absolutely heartbroken look, his eyes watering again as he clenched his teeth together when Seonghwa couldn't find the words to say anything.

"I can't leave- you take Wooyoung and get out of here!"

Seonghwa was shaking his head before he even realized it, his eyes looked over Yeosang's limp body looking for any bite or claw marks. He couldn't find any visible ones, but the way that Yeosang's eyes were slowly losing their hope and his body was sinking in on itself, Seonghwa's stomach started to twist in an ugly way.

"No- we aren't leaving you behind," he challenged, trying to move forward but the spikes of pain flared up again as his face scrunched up into a grimace. "Are you- are you hurt? Did you get bit?"