Dulce Periculum

28. Free Once More

Yeosang kept Yunho in his ward for another two days. They ran frequent tests on him and Yunho did some cognitive exercises to prove to Yeosang he hadn't taken permanent brain damage or was lost to some demon.

Though Mingi didn't come to see him to resolve the many questions spinning in Yunho's mind, he saw the rest of the team.

Jongho snuck in right the next morning with fresh flowers, muttering at the door with Yeosang when Yunho woke up. As he stirred, his trainer looked sheepish at being caught with the flowers in his hands, but Yunho asked him to come in to thank him.

They sat together for a while and Jongho made sure Yunho was feeling okay. He gave everyone a mighty scare. They were unsure if he got hit by a stray bullet from Auresce and after finding out the truth; it didn't get any better. Apparently, Yongguk himself studied up on all the known information of demon abilities right now.

Yunho was touched to hear how everyone cared about him. When Jongho left, his gummy grin wished Yunho a speedy recovery.

"I will see you soon at training. Don't miss out."

"I will catch up, sir," Yunho smiled back, and he actually looked forward to it. Despite his mistake and the lingering parasite in his mind, his abilities served him well in that last battle. Bora had been right. Tenebra's system allowed even people like him fulfilment. If he could train some more and get used to guiding, he might live a long life Auresce never would have allowed him.

Lying there in boredom all day, Yunho missed her a lot. He hoped she found a good place.

Wooyoung and San also came to visit him once the rumour spread that he was up. Wooyoung asked Yeosang at the door first if it was fine to disturb Yunho and even in their worries, his friends were so considerate towards him.

When the pair made it in, Wooyoung teared up at seeing Yunho among his white sheets.

"How are you?" He choked out as he sat by his side and San rested his hands on Wooyoung's shoulders behind him, as if he were the one to do the guiding now.

Yunho took Wooyoung's trembling fingers and squeezed them gently. Guiding sparked back at him on impulse, but Yunho felt alright without it.

"I'm okay now. Everyone took care of me," he assured his quiet sniffles and Wooyoung wiped at his eyes.

"I was so scared. We promised you that you would be safe, and then you were the only one who went down. I thought you might die from what Mingi described."

Yunho didn't tell him he thought the same. That amount of pain would have killed him if it had been accompanied by a matching physical wound. He didn't want to brush it off as nothing.

"Poor Wooyoung even pestered Yeosang to sleep by your side because he felt guilty, but Yeosang kicked him out," San snickered fondly, just as glad to see his roommate in one piece.

Yunho had to smile back.

"Thank you for taking care of me. It was my own fault, really. I didn't know something like that would happen."

"I would have kicked that demon's ass if I had been there," San muttered ominously. Yunho accepted their displays of friendship, contrasting as they were. Wooyoung's shorter fingers played with his mindlessly.

"Let's all go out to eat together soon. Forget about stupid rifts and stupid demons. The big downside in Tenebra's team is that everyone gets a heart attack when a friend gets hurt," Wooyoung demanded, and Yunho had to admit he preferred this over the nonchalance towards loss in Auresce. He much rather soothed his friends than be alone in this world.