On The Surface | WooSan

16 - Wounded

It was a regular Wednesday night when San stumbled through the entrance, wincing when slowly closing the door behind him, not expecting to see Wooyoung in the living room area this late. He slightly jumped seeing his husband lay comfortably on the sofa and immediately turned his back to him.

"San! You're finally home!" Wooyoung called out while sitting up. "I was a little worried when neither of you responded to my texts. Did something happen?"

"What? No!" San chuckled nervously while carefully taking his shoes off. "You didn't have to wait here. Go to sleep. It's late."

Wooyoung smelled something fishy. He perceived the other's movements, noticing he behaved... not San-like. Upon asking why he wasn't looking at him, San answered that Wooyoung would see him every day anyway, and asked why he so persistently wanted to look at his worn-out face at night. Wooyoung got up at that, clearly witnessing that something was off. San did not usually speak phrases like these. When he heard Wooyoung walk closer to the kitchen island he turned his back to him and treated the glass of water in his hand as an excuse to continue to avoid him.

"Look at me." No reaction. "San!"

San sighed, accepting his fate, knowing that there was no purpose to hide it any longer. He slowly turned around to face Wooyoung, and once their eyes met, the latter gasped. There was an evident bruise at the corner of his lower lip and the swelling under one of his eyes immediately stood out to Wooyoung. It probably wouldn't take long for it to turn black. Wooyoung instinctively cupped San's face and frowned. When he said it looked bad, San could only let out a short laugh.

"You should see the other guy. Yunho nearly gave his face a completely new shape."

Wooyoung snorted, his tone still caring regardless. "But why did it hit you?"

"You really think I will just send my bodyguards into a fight and stand there unbothered? There were five guys in total. Obviously, I won't just sit and watch."

Wooyoung chuckled while shaking his head. San didn't have bodyguards for no reason, but he still understood where he was coming from. When Wooyoung asked to take care of San, the latter immediately denied the offer.

"Don't even bother, I'm fine."

Wooyoung sighed. So stubborn. He wondered if San was injured somewhere else since he seemed a little uncomfortable and made sure to not make any hasty movements. Of course, that didn't go unnoticed from Wooyoung's eyes. "Where is it?"

San groaned in frustration. "Wooyoung. It's fine."

"Oh, really?" He asked while pressing down on San's shoulder the slightest, earning a wince from the other. "Will you stop playing the tough guy?"

San pinched the bridge of his nose, soon regretting that as well because practically his whole face was hurting, and eventually agreed with a sigh. "In sickness and in health, huh?"

Wooyoung snorted at that and shook his head while laughing. He couldn't deny the relief that was spreading in his chest though and asked San to make himself comfortable (if possible) on the sofa until he'd return. He ran up the stairs to get his emergency bag and was with San again not even five minutes later. Wooyoung roamed around in it a little until he found everything he was looking for. Ointment for wounds, disinfecting spray, and one-time gloves were prepared in no time. San just watched Wooyoung do his thing until the latter was ready to apply some ointment on the corner of his lips.

"Try to hold still," Wooyoung spoke softly while carefully holding San's chin in place, "this might sting."

The disinfectant Wooyoung applied may have stung a little, but it was no comparison to the pinch in San's chest at the fact that he felt genuinely taken care of. He couldn't recall a lot of moments in his life where he experienced this exact feeling. Where he willingly let someone close enough to treat his wounds like this, with a level of intimacy that nearly drowned him. And he wasn't just talking about physical wounds. He meant the ones inside of him too. Wounds that slowly healed thanks to Wooyoung, scars that he accepted, and flowers he slowly made bloom in his chest — where he thought there was no water left for them to grow, Wooyoung had made it rain. In some way, just like that. And that was absolutely terrifying.