love you later | yeonbin ✓

022

There's a loud knock that makes Soobin's eyes snap open in an instant. It takes him a moment to reorientate himself. The light is streaming in from the wrong side of the room, only hints of sunlight basking the room in a soft lilac color. It must still be terribly early and he's about to close his eyes again when-

Oh.

His eyes land on Yeonjun's face, mere centimeters away from his. He must have fallen asleep looking after him, too worried to go to his own room at the other end of the hallway. He's on top of the covers, and the last thing he remembers is laying down just for a moment, just to rest and fight the crick in his neck he'd been getting from sitting at the edge of the bed all day. He'd been worried, yes, but he must have also been more exhausted than he thought.

His heart feels a little lighter when he notices the red in Yeonjun's cheeks has evened out a bit, that the paleness underneath does not look as striking anymore. Soobin props himself up on his elbow, reaching up with his free hand, a few centimeters away from touching Yeonjun's cheek when the knocking interrupts his movement and makes him flinch.

He's still half-asleep, doesn't really know why anyone would be showing up when the sun isn't even fully up yet when it clicks. Wooyoung. With a bolt, Soobin sits up, swings his legs over the side of the bed, and runs down the stairs. He's not sure what he was expecting but when he throws the door open, there are two guys standing in front of him. They're both with dark hair that looks like it has been messed with a lot overnight. One of them is standing a little bit behind the other, eyes wide despite the sleep lingering in their corners.

"Where is he?" the guy right in front of Soobin asks.

"Upstairs, his bedroom."

The guy only nods, face closed off and serious as he pushes into the house, barely stopping to slip out of his shoes before he quickly runs up the stairs, the other guy and Soobin hot on his heels.

It isn't like Soobin hadn't been worried anymore, but the tension in the room feels suffocating all of a sudden with all of his fears rushing back in. He'd been pretty helpless on his own, had only been able to cool down Yeonjun's temperature, but having someone here who knows what they're doing, who can actually figure out what's wrong with Yeonjun is both a relief and scary at the same time. Because what if it's bad news? What if the spell was too much and somehow put Yeonjun in this sleeping state for eternity? What then? Soobin would never be able to forgive himself.

He stays back, the guy who Soobin assumes to be Wooyoung sinking down on the bed right where Soobin had been sleeping just minutes ago. He does all the same things Soobin had done multiple times throughout the past 18 hours or so - checking Yeonjun's pulse, his breathing, his temperature with a gentle hand to his forehead.

"It was a bright light you said? And then he just collapsed?"

"Ye-" Soobin's voice gets stuck, and he clears his throat. "Yeah. He's been unconscious the entire time. Though I do think his temperature has gone down a bit."

Wooyoung nods, his eyes not leaving Yeonjun's sleeping form. Then he sighs. "Sounds like simple magic depletion to me. He's probably just exhausted. I can make him something to drink, something stronger than this." He gestures to the glass that's standing on Yeonjun's nightstand. Soobin had already forgotten about it. "But obviously he needs to be awake for that. So I think all we can do is wait."

Soobin's heart sinks. He's done nothing but wait and without realizing he had gotten his hopes up for a magical fix that would make Yeonjun wake up immediately. His shoulders drop in defeat. "Okay."

Wooyoung looks up for the first time, a soft smile pulling at his lips. "Sorry. But his body needs to recharge and there's not much we can do while he's asleep." There's less tension in his shoulders now that he's seen Yeonjun, a kinder look on his face as he gets up from the bed and walks over to where Soobin and the other guy are hovering near the door. Soobin must be doing a horrible job at masking his disappointment because Wooyoung smiles at him, says, "You did a good job, Soobin. Getting his temperature down is important."

Soobin tries to smile at him, but it's half-hearted at best.

"Sorry for just bursting in, by the way. I'm Wooyoung. And this is San. He's my assistant."

San smiles at Soobin, doesn't do much more than mumble a soft "Hello" and bows lightly.

"Don't worry about it. This was more important." Soobin is still standing by the door, but his eyes are fixed on Yeonjun's sleeping form. He shakes his head before he looks at their guests. "I'm sorry, do you want anything to eat? Or to rest? You must have been traveling all night."

Wooyoung's smile only widens. "I can make something to eat, right after I make the potion for when Yeonjun wakes up. San will help me."

"Okay. Well, I tried cleaning up the study a bit, and I can show you where Yeonjun keeps his ingredients and where all the tools are and-"

"Soobin."

"Hm?"

"It's fine, I got it."

There is a hint of laughter laced into his words, and Soobin blushes slightly when he realizes he'd been trying to take the reins, was prepared to lead them to Yeonjun's study, and explain things to them when they probably know a million times better than him anyway.

He clears his throat awkwardly, scratches the back of his neck. "Right."

"You on the other hand should probably take a break, hm? Take a shower, get some proper sleep maybe."

Soobin is about to protest but something in Wooyoung's gaze makes him shut right up. Instead, he nods. He's not exactly wrong. Soobin is still in his clothes from the day before, all wrinkled now and he feels a little gross, could definitely use a shower. But even though he's not alone anymore and there are other people here looking out for Yeonjun now, something is tethering him to this room, each step taken away from it feeling like walking on glass.

"He'll be fine," Wooyoung interrupts his racing thoughts, and for a moment Soobin wonders if his magical abilities might have something to do with mind- reading. "We'll look after him while you take a break. And I promise if anything changes, if he wakes up, we'll call you immediately. Okay?"

It is hard to argue with that logic when there's nothing he can do anyway, so he just nods. They leave the room, the door propped open just slightly and while Wooyoung and San take the stairs to get started on making breakfast and Yeonjun's potion, Soobin drags his feet down the hallway. He pauses for one more second to look back towards Yeonjun's room.

Then he opens the door to what has become his bedroom over the past few months, feels the sound of it closing behind him reverberating through his empty chest like thunder. He's grateful to not be alone, to have confirmation that Yeonjun is going to be fine.

And yet, somehow he just knows he won't be able to relax, won't be able to feel whole until Yeonjun opens his eyes again, smiles at him, probably finding a million silly reasons to tease him. He's not quite sure what's scarier - the waiting, or the flickering knowledge at the back of his head, telling him that his fear means more than it probably should, and that none of this is meant to last.