duality ➵ an ateez superhero au

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫: meeting the one that's half dead

MEETING THE ONE THAT'S HALF DEAD

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"wooyoung.. wooyoung, no. no you're not gone." san has fished wooyoung's body out of the bathtub, his whole body completely soaked, clothes drenched in brown bath water. but it wasn't like he cared.

he could already feel the body start to cool, there wasn't a heartbeat. no matter how many places san tried to find a pulse, no matter how many chest compressions he had done whilst he could, no matter how many gods he prayed to. wooyoung was as dead as the hoard of zombies they had just massacred to get to him.

he cradles the body so gently, like it was made of porcelain and was about to crumble at any second. san knew he shouldn't get emotional, he knew he shouldn't cry and he desperately tries to hold in the sobs that so badly wanted release. he wanted to pour his emotions out, to let them leave his body before he would explode.

"sannie don't cry."

so it was yunho that followed him.

"i-i can't stop."

and so he doesn't.

he clutches wooyoung's body even tighter around his chest, his heart aching and sobs wracking his body when he can't feel the other's arms around his own torso. he'll never be able to feel the other's arms around his torso.

he felt the tear coming. he could sense it, feel it forming.

"let him grieve." seonghwa voices from the doorway, out of breath and huffing because he, and the rest of the group, had to run to keep up with those two.

"oh you do not understand. sannie, i need you to calm down. you know you can't cry."

yunho curses when he sees a single diamond form in the inner corner of san's eyes. san was quick to catch it before it fell onto wooyoung, even if he was dead he wasn't going to risk it, and pockets the tear, hoping that no more would come but also well aware that he was too emotional for the tears to stop.

"you cry diamonds?" seonghwa was amazed when he watched the perfectly shaped, diamond roll out of san's tear duct. another one starts to fall down his cheeks and he lifts a finger gently to touch it, rub it off but yunho slaps his hand away.

"don't touch it! don't even come close to him. not when he's crying and this emotional." yunho practically shoves seonghwa backwards and out of the way. "those are going to be some very cursed tears if wooyoung meant a lot to him."

"cursed?"

"part 2 of san's powers are his cursed tears. the more powerful the emotional, the more cursed the tear. even happy emotions, if strong enough, despite being positive will still form diamond tears that curses anyone to complete misery. hours, days, months, years. we keep them in a safe deposit somewhere at the facility, san can go and drop them off when we get back." yunho explains, using his hand to keep seonghwa back and away from san.

"yes let him grieve, just don't come anywhere close to him whilst he does."

"how do you even know all of this?"

"felix..." san's hoarse voice was barely over a whisper, but loud enough for seonghwa to know that now was not the time to ask that question.