Long Journey || ATEEZ

The Aftermath Brings A Horrifying Revelation

"San! SAN! Open the door – quickly!!"

A puddle-sized droplet of fear plopped into San's stomach as he jumped to his feet. Hongjoongie-hyung was home – and that should mean good – but then why was his voice so panicked?

Not wanting to make his hyung wait any longer, San rushed to the door and unlocked it. As the door swung open, Hongjoong's pale, wide-eyed expression – and Seonghwa's unconscious body – stumbled through. 

"H-hyung?! What happened?" San asked, backing away as Hongjoong practically ran into the room, and set Seonghwa down gently in the living room area.

"I—I don't know – he was attacked or something," Hongjoong said, his eyes stricken with panic. He looked around frantically. "Where's the first aid kit?"

San immediately jolted into action, and hurried off into the bathroom, coming back seconds – precious seconds – later, holding the first aid box. Chewing on his lip nervously, he set it down beside his hyung and opened it for him. In the meantime, Hongjoong had ripped off Seonghwa's shirt, and was studying his wounds with distress.

"San," Hongjoong said, catching his breath and trying to force his voice – as well as the rest of him – to stay calm and measured. "Can you go into the bathroom and wet a towel with warm water? Thanks."

San nodded wordlessly, trying not to shake so much, and returned with what was needed from him. He slowly receded, leaving Hongjoong to do his work; he couldn't do anything but watch as his hyung slowly, steadily and carefully dabbed at the small cuts scattered all over Seonghwa-hyung's body. Hongjoong reached into the first-aid box, and it was then he noticed that his hyung – Hongjoongie-hyung, whom he respected so much and adored – was shaking. Quite violently, in fact – like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. There was something else lingering in his eyes – other than fear and forced calm – that San couldn't quite place.

San flinched as Hongjoong began to clean Seonghwa's wounds, now with a disinfectant wipe.

Having finished that, too, Hongjoong asked for San to hold Seonghwa up as he bandaged the injured assassin.

Agonising minutes passed, and finally Hongjoong had finished. He leaned backwards with a sigh, sweat sheening on his forehead.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Call 119 for me, will you San?" Hongjoong said, avoiding the question. He wasn't quite sure, that was the problem. When he had been bandaging his friend, the pulsing, angry red energy that lingered underneath various points in his skin had felt powerful, and damaging; Seonghwa's internal wounds were more serious than one would initially think. "Tell them our address, and that we're going to need a demon healer over here – tell them a lot of internal damage has been caused by a powerful Dark Energy source."

"A lot of internal damage?" San echoed, worry flooding his face.

"No, no," Hongjoong reassured, swallowing down his own fear and uncertainty and instead painting a comforting – but fake – smile onto his face. "It's not too bad, but it's better that we have a professional to do something about it."

San clenched his fists as he gently set Seonghwa back down and reached for the phone.

"Hyung," he said, looking down at the floor, empty of confidence. "I'm not a kid, y'know. I can tell – that Seonghwa-hyung's badly hurt. I can feel it. He's gone a pale grey," he said, gesturing to Seonghwa's chest.

Hongjoong frowned, a tad guiltily.

"Sorry," he said. "I shouldn't treat you like you're a child. You're an adult too."