Rebirth; A New Age || seongjoong || ATEEZ

Chapter 15 : Leader's Grief

There was a moment in time where all the memories Seonghwa had flashed before his eyes. He always thought that was something which would only happen when someone was dying, and even that itself was a myth, but that was the only time he heard of something like this happening.

But it wasn't his whole life that was flashing before his eyes, it was just certain memories he had. Specifically, the ones he held with San and the other men around him. Time slowed again, San's screams of pain and fear were stretched out like light fragments as Seonghwa stood still and just watched. No one else was better off, even Wooyoung who was the closest to San's shaking body was stunned dumb with an unaccepting look on his face.

None of this was real, it couldn't be. This was the part where Seonghwa woke up- this was where the nightmare finally ended. Out of all the horrors that had happened to him and everyone else, this one would be the cherry on top that would finally be the pinch to wake him up.

Seonghwa just watched San sit back on his heels and hold his hand up once more, the flesh was torn completely, a hole that he could see through. It was almost as if someone had shot a bullet through his hand, the wound oozing blood and the flesh hanging by a thread. The easiest word that Seonghwa's mind could provide was 'gruesome', even though he constantly saw wounds a hundred times worse than what San had.

The shots firing in the near distance still weren't able to pull Seonghwa from the slide show of his memories. He couldn't tell what look was plastered to his face- but he knew it wasn't anything comforting. There was at one point where San made eye contact with him, his face void of any color and covered in a thick layer of sweat, and the expression he held only seemed to panic more.

He pulled his hand back closer to himself, trying to hide the bite wound from everyone around them. He shook his head back and forth, bending over as he gagged a few times, it was almost like he was trying to hide the fact he had been bitten from the rest of them. Even in his state of pure distress, San knew what was going to happen next.

"No..." he gasped out, pounding his other fist to the concrete. It was hardly there and Seonghwa only saw his lips move rather than hearing the hoarse gasp that followed when his fingers refused to move.

He had always looked grown-up, San always held a certain level of grace to him that screaming maturity and a level of high control over his body- so seeing him curled up on the street, crying out for anyone to help him- but also screaming at them to stay away because even though San knew what was going to happen, he still didn't want to die.

He was sucking in air, Seonghwa could see the way his body was heaving heavily like he was unable to fill his lungs or like he was drowning in the air itself.

That's when Wooyoung finally broke his statue-like stance, his cry rivaled San's easily. He fell down to the ground on his knees, no doubt bruising them terribly, with a shaky arm outstretched to the man who just sacrificed his life because he once again was unable to protect himself.

He opened his mouth to let out something other than sobs, but nothing came out. San had his forehead pressed into the ground again, still gasping out to try and keep himself conscious.

And once again, there was a moment where Seonghwa wondered if he stayed still long enough if one of the zombies would come and pick him off too. He wondered if maybe they would be kind enough to sink their teeth into his skin and plague him as well- end his suffering so he wouldn't have to see San change. He couldn't bear it, he wouldn't be able to live through that.

No matter how hard he tried to move, his limbs would not cooperate. His fingers and legs were completely numb. He couldn't feel anything other than his pounding heart and his conscience. It was like his body didn't even exist anymore. He was vaguely aware of Hongjoong's body behind his, he could almost feel him. Hongjoong wasn't moving either- none of them were. And while all of this had maybe happened over a span of twenty seconds, they couldn't afford to freeze.