ATEEZ Still Present

Chapter 8

"You're upset and don't bother lying about it because I can read you like a book," Wooyoung said as walked over to Yeosang who was folding up his blanket. They had been at the island for the designated two days that had set aside and were now packing up and preparing to set sail once again.

"I'm fine Wooyoung," Yeosang said with a sigh. Wooyoung knows him better than that though and could tell something was bothering the younger. He glanced around at the others who were still packing before deeming the two of them unneeded in this instance. He quickly grabbed Yeosang's wrist and tugged him away from their campsite and over into the woods slightly.

"You can talk to me Yeo, you know that. You're my brother and I hate seeing you bottling things up inside," Wooyoung said quietly, moving his hand down slightly to hold Yeosang's hand gently. Yeosang smiled softly and stepped closer, resting his forehead against the others.

"Wooyoung I am fine, I promise," he whispered.

"But you don't seem fine, you look really on edge," Wooyoung said as he took a step back.

"I talked to Seonghwa the first night we came here, told him about what happened when we were kids. It's just got me a little down after thinking about everything again," Yeosang said with a sigh.

"Oh Sangie, I'm sorry you had to relive that," Wooyoung said softly.

"It's fine Youngie, I wanted to tell him about it. It makes me sad to think about what we went through but also proud of how far we've come," Yeosang said with a small smile. Wooyoung was relieved that it wasn't anything too big and Yeosang was going to be ok. However he still wrapped his arms around Yeosang's shoulders and tugged him into a hug, holding him tightly. Yeosang smiled softly and hugged Wooyoung tightly.

"I love you," Wooyoung whispered.

"I love you too," Yeosang replied softly.

"You're so cuddly and cute sometimes you know," Wooyoung said absentmindedly, patting Yeosang's back. Yeosang rolled his eyes but paused when he noticed movement off to the side. He frowned slightly and looked over to where the movement was. He didn't see anything but it started to make him feel slightly unsettled. Wooyoung however, had no idea and continued on.

"I could just stay here all day hugging you, you know," Wooyoung said, rocking them side to side with a giggle. Yeosang started to feel even more on edge, his hands instinctively reaching up to grip Wooyoung's shirt in his hands.

It all happened so quickly, he barely had time to react and Wooyoung wasn't able to register what happened in any way. Out of the trees lunged a large brown bear, letting out a growl and head straight for them. Yeosang cried out and gripped Wooyoung's shirt tighter and spinning him around. He held him tighter and bent down to try and shield him, Wooyoung's eyes going wide in panic as he saw the bear lunging for Yeosang's. He saw their life flashing through his eyes, the intense fear that this was it, his brother was about to get ripped open by a bear. He closed his eyes and held Yeosang tighter as Yeosang braced himself for what was to come. However no pain came, just two whistling sounds, a growl of pain and a thud. Yeosang and Wooyoung remained holding each other tightly with their eyes closed, not wanting to open their eyes in case the illusion of comfort would go away when they opened. After a few more seconds though, they slowly separated and turned around to see what happened.

"San," Wooyoung breathed out in relief, his knees almost buckling as he saw the older boy standing over the bear with his bow, two arrows lodge in its throat. Yeosang breathed out in relief as well and immediately turned into Wooyoung's side, burying his face in his neck as his body shook slightly. San glanced over to the two of them with a frown and sighed.