Aurora - You are my light (Ateez x reader)

FIFTYSEVEN

My breath caught.
I was the first to run. Barefoot, without thinking, down the cold corridor, past the cabins, up onto the deck.
The air there was strangely still. No wind. No crashing waves. Only the pounding of my heart in my ears.

And then... I saw him.

Not on the railing. Not on the mast.

He was crouched on the deck itself. The blue bird. Huddled in on himself, feathers ruffled, wings pressed tight to his body as if he had fallen from a storm and washed up here by accident.

Slowly, movement stirred in the scene.
San stepped out from the shadows, almost soundless. Behind him came Wooyoung, Seonghwa, Jongho.
No one spoke. No one dared come closer.

The bird lifted his head.

His gaze wasn't that of an animal. It was knowing. Ancient. And so human it made my stomach clench.

Then it happened.

A shudder ran through his body like a surge of electricity down his spine. He twitched, fell sideways, spreading his wings as if to escape. A scream, shrill and alien, tore through the stillness and then: light.

Not blinding, but unnaturally muted, bluish, as though under water.
The bird's body began to flicker, its outline blurring. Feathers came loose in slow motion, drifting through the air, glinting like scales.

And from the center of the transformation, a body rose.

Slowly. Trembling. Bare except for the shredded remains of dark trousers hanging from him like a remnant of another life. His skin was pale, marked with scratches, gashes, signs of cold, of struggle. His ribs stood out beneath the skin, every breath seeming like a small victory over oblivion.

Yeosang.

San was the first to move forward. No words. Just his steps, dull on the wood. He looked at him as if to make sure this wasn't just a trick of the mind.

"Yeosang...?" His voice was barely a whisper.

Yeosang lifted his head.
And then, Wooyoung broke. "YEOSANG!" No hesitation, no second thought. He nearly crashed into him, wrapping him up, holding him like a drowning man clinging to a lifeline. "You stupid idiot... you... you...!"

Yeosang didn't move.
Not at first. Only his lips moved.
"I'm sorry."

His arms lifted hesitantly, closing around Wooyoung, pulling him in.
It wasn't a loud reunion. No dramatic outburst. It was deep. Heavy. Like a stranded heart finally allowed to beat again.

San joined them, a hand on Yeosang's neck, his forehead pressed against his.

"You asshole," San murmured, voice hoarse with relief. "We thought you were dead."

His eyes were closed. And when Yeosang placed his other hand against San's chest, a silent sob broke out of San, one even the salt air couldn't smother.

I took a step back.
Watched Jongho lean against the railing, Mingi tug his hood off without a word. Seonghwa's lips pressed together, as if forbidding his jaw to tremble. Even Hongjoong, who never let anything through, had his eyes closed.

We stood there.
Nine again. Whole again.
And every single one of us had just woken from a different kind of darkness.

But Yeosang's body could barely hold him up.
He sagged into San, whose hands steadied but couldn't carry all of him. His weight was barely more than a shadow, yet enough to make Wooyoung's grip falter. Yeosang's knees buckled.

I was at his side in an instant.

"We need to get him below," I said, already crouching, fingers searching for his pulse. Faint. Uneven. He felt cold. Not from the morning air, cold from the inside out.