Yesteryear

Yongguk Returns

Despite his promise, Seungyoun didn't show up the day Wooyoung got discharged. The man had glanced at his clock multiple times now, wondering when Seungyoun planned to show up and if Wooyoung should wait so they wouldn't miss each other. Perhaps Seungyoun had failed to mention another impromptu job to Wooyoung, too.

With his things already packed and his coat by his side, Wooyoung sat on his bed and wrote a message to the other man. The doctors and nurses had bid him their goodbyes earlier and explained how he had to go about his injury from now on. No sport, no heavy lifting, and only precise exercise to get his arm back to its usual functionality. Wooyoung had thanked them several times for their care and promised not to carry another bullet from over a hundred years ago into their hospital. Not that he could remember anything about the ride in the ambulance and the surgery. They had thanked him with some laughter and told him to take care.

Seungyoun's profile picture was a selfie with his grumpy cat on his arm. Wooyoung found their chat still empty of any information on when the man arranged to arrive.

Yo, you showing up? Did the nurse devour you?

Wooyoung lowered his phone and picked up his book from his nightstand. He had finished Lady Death and the other one. His bookmark marked its way halfway through the last one and he was glad to get discharged two days earlier than anticipated, or else Seungyoun would have had to carry another library into the hospital for him.

For his lack of pickup services, Seungyoun replied fast. So he wasn't stuck in traffic or overslept.

Something came up, and I had to fill in the paperwork that Yongguk usually does. I won't be able to come. Hope you find your house by yourself xoxo.

Seungyoun texted with an obnoxious number of emojis to bother Wooyoung.

With a roll of his eyes, Wooyoung pulled his shoes over to put them on his feet. Should he ask if they needed his help? Seungyoun helping with paperwork had to mean that Yongguk was majorly over-tasked with it and that happened only once in a blue moon. Even if Yongguk denied Wooyoung of partaking in work, Wooyoung at least wanted to sneak around his back and aid from the shadows where Seungyoun supplied him with work.

The additional stress was probably about Wooyoung's reports. The medical industry had to be mad at their finished research project and demanded explanations. Wooyoung might have to go to several interviews to explain why they had failed. Since Wooyoung was out of commission, Yongguk did that tiresome job for him.

Feeling bad, Wooyoung tied up his shoelaces. He expected the extra work once he handed the final paper in, but he didn't expect to be unable to shoulder it. Yongguk would never complain to him about it, but Wooyoung had a sinking feeling that he should apologise for creating even more trouble than he already did with his sudden incident.

Maybe Yongguk would appreciate a bottle of some good alcohol. We would never say no to one of those.

Wooyoung rose from the bed while crafting his arrangements to worm his way back into Yongguk's heart. He had to wait for the nurse to hand him the approved files for his discharge he had filled out earlier and then he could leave. He used the time to tidy up the room as efficiently as possible, trying to make sure the people cleaning up after him wouldn't have more work with it than necessary. Soon, his slippers sat next to each other at the bottom of the bed and he opened the windows to allow the fresh breeze in.

Spring felt its way through the coldness. The heads of the first snowdrops peered through the thin layer of snow that barely covered the tops of the grass anymore. The sun shining from above melted away the white blanket and kissed Wooyoung's skin with its warm rays after a long period of coldness.