Aurora - You are my light (Ateez x reader)

FIFTYFIVE

Something tickled my nose.

Not painful. Not annoying. Just... there.
A teasing brush across my skin, light as a feather drifting in the breeze.
I tried to turn my head, but my body felt heavy, like it was buried in warm sand.
The sounds around me were muffled, like they were coming through thick wood or water.
Voices. Distant, yet oddly familiar.

"...and then she just whipped the siren off the railing with this glowing lash. I swear to you."
"You're being ridiculous."
"That wasn't ridiculous. That was a masterpiece. Borderline sexy."
"Borderline?"

I knew those voices.

Wooyoung.
San.
And was that Jongho quietly laughing?

I wanted to say something, but my mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton.
I cleared my throat, or tried to.

"Did you hear that?" someone whispered.

The room fell silent.

A chair scraped across the floor. Footsteps. Then the soft dip of weight next to me on the mattress.

"Aurora?"
The voice was gentle. Cautious.
San.

I opened my eyes just a sliver. Light stabbed through, but I could make out blurry shapes. The ceiling above me. The muted wood of the cabin. And the pale blue of a shirt draped over the bed's backrest.

"I think she's awake," San said, louder now.

"Told you!" Wooyoung burst out. "I could smell it. Smells like trouble again."

"Or maybe that's just your shirt," Jongho mumbled.

I blinked.
The faces came into focus.
All three of them were gathered around my bed. Jongho sat on the chest at the foot of it, San leaned forward at my side, and Wooyoung stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, looking like he was trying really hard not to show how relieved he was.

"How... long?" I rasped.

"A few days," Jongho said softly. "You were completely out."

I swallowed. My throat felt dry, my lips cracked. But I didn't feel broken.
Just... tired.
Like my body had fought for too long and finally given up for a bit of peace.

"What... happened?" I whispered. "The ship? The others..."

"Still floating," San said. "Thanks to you."

I closed my eyes for a moment and let the weight of those words sink in.
Thanks to me.
But for what, exactly?

And then...
a jolt in my chest.
An image.
A voice.
A look.

Yeosang.

My breath caught.

I opened my eyes, tried to sit up.
A hand landed on my shoulder at once. San. Firm, but not harsh.

"Easy. You're still too weak."

"Where is he?" I whispered. "Yeosang. I saw him..."

Silence.
Not dramatic.
Just quiet. Careful.

No one spoke right away.
Not even Wooyoung.

And that told me everything.

My stomach twisted. Nausea rose in my throat. My limbs went cold, and my heart pounded too hard in my chest.

"No," I whispered. "No. That... that can't..."

"We don't know what happened to him," Jongho said calmly. "He went overboard. Since then..."