Yesteryear

Second Attempt

It rained in Prague the second time Wooyoung hurried to the institute full of foolish hope to save his lover. He prayed it wouldn't rain in France as well, even if the wet mud of the trenches had to come from something. A slippery slide down there could mean certain death.

Wooyoung ignored the school class in their foyer that stood there with their wet little rain coats and the teacher's umbrella dripping water all over the place. His brief grin flashed at them before he dashed into the conference room.

With no time to waste, he hadn't even eaten that morning. His stomach had been in nervous coils for another sleepless night and he knew that his arrival at the French battlefield would mean nausea for his body. No need to eat if he was jittery on nerves and threatened to throw up anytime.

Wooyoung stormed into the meeting room, ready to switch his clothes and race right over to the travel room.

It was seven in the morning. San couldn't be dead yet or else his body wouldn't have still been warm in the late afternoon. Wooyoung had it all planned out. He would race to find San, would get him anywhere that wasn't near the battlefield, would tell him to stay away and then would return right back home before his nerves caught up on him. San would be confused and would want him to pause, but Wooyoung didn't have the time. He was already playing with a risky mission that shouldn't get out to their higher-ups as him travelling in time for anything but work.

His masterful planning was stopped short when he spotted the man in the room. Dressed in the classy suit Yongguk wore only when he had to appear in front of visitor groups, Yongguk sat at the table. He had crossed his legs and his nimble fingers elegantly scrolled through the tablet on the tabletop at his side. When Wooyoung barged in, Yongguk shut it off after a glance at the frantic man.

Wooyoung threw him a puzzled look as he hurried over to his compartment of the cabinets and wrenched out his clothes. Without regards of Yongguk's prying eyes, he stripped off his hoodie and shirt.

"Anything you need, boss?" Wooyoung asked while he undid his pants. Yongguk averted his gaze politely but remained rooted in the spot.

"I'm worried about your mental health, Wooyoung. You've been focusing on San a lot, but you don't notice how much this drains you. This hope you have to rescue him; what about you when it won't work?"

Wooyoung slipped into his breeches first and buttoned up his shirt. He left the boots for last, still not used to their small heel.

"I will do my best to succeed, but if I don't, I can just be sad again. The world will keep moving," Wooyoung brushed it off. The fewer thoughts he wasted on it, the easier it would be to overcome the second round of pain. Death hadn't lost its meaning to him; he knew of its permanence. But he would try to find a way to be with San. If his desperate yearning kept Wooyoung going, he would make use of it.

"You were already getting better, Woo. Now your eyes are haunted again. They are horrified about his death and what you saw of the war. Your brain can't process these things well if you continue like this. They will haunt you."

Wooyoung zipped up his boots and stomped around a few times to test their firmness on his feet. When he slipped into his jacket, Yongguk's frown deepened. He knew his words couldn't penetrate the walls Wooyoung had built around his vulnerable core.

"So what, not as if I sleep these days, anyway. The payoff if I succeed is much better. What is collapsing once if it means I get to be with San if I push through?"

Yongguk stood from his seat. Even from the distance between them, the height and authority he had over Wooyoung was intimidating. One wrong step, and Yongguk would lock the time machine away from Wooyoung. He shouldn't play with Yongguk's concern for him.