Timeless: Hours of Anguish [ATEEZ Hogwarts AU]

Monday, December 5th

Monday, December 5th. 5:02AM. Hogwarts, Hospital Wing. Choi Jongho.

Jongho woke up feeling like he'd been hit by a truck. His head was throbbing and his mouth felt dry, as if he'd come back from the dead. So, he only stared up at the ceiling for a minute, giving his body some time to regain its senses.

It seemed to be early morning, seeing as the room was still fairly dark, only the warm glimmer of the rising sun dowsing the Hospital Wing in an orange light.

Someone had wrapped Jongho in a thick blanket, making his body feel comfortably warm between the soft sheets, despite the chilly air in the room.

Blinking away the tired feeling that was still tugging at his eyelids, Jongho slowly started to remember why he was here.

He didn't dare move at first, worried that his shoulder might start hurting again.

Only when Jongho moved his head to look to his right, he noticed that Yeosang was by his side, immersed in a book. He had charmed a little ball of warm light to float next to him, just bright enough to allow him to read.

Jongho smiled to himself. What a nice view to wake up to, he thought.

"I must still be dreaming."

Yeosang's head perked up at the sound of Jongho's voice. He looked at him with widened eyes and quickly put his book down on the nightstand. "You're awake."

"Sure am," Jongho chuckled in response. "What were you reading?"

Yeosang looked over to check the book cover as if he'd already forgotten. "Oh, well, just something about star constellations and lunar phases. I have to hand in my sky chart for Astronomy class tomorrow."

"Wait, what day is it? How long was I out for?"

"It's Monday, you were asleep for about twenty-five hours. How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," Jongho replied, "but I'm alright. You?"

Yeosang seemed relieved. "I'm fine."

"What about the others? And Wooyoung?" Jongho tried to sit up but regretted it instantly. The sharp pain in his shoulder caused him to flinch and bite his lip.

"Don't worry," Yeosang said as he gently pushed Jongho back into the pillows. "They're all okay. Nothing more than a few scratches. And Wooyoung is still asleep. San is with him. Nurse Vane said that he should wake up today."

Jongho let out a sigh of relief and nodded to himself.

"You should worry about yourself first. Your condition was by far the worst," Yeosang added, his expression turning worried. "For a moment there I thought... I thought you might..." His words trailed off and he averted his eyes.

Jongho smiled and took Yeosang's hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Yeosang looked down at their hands for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes then widened as if he'd suddenly remembered something, and he jumped to his feet.

"What am I doing? I should get Nurse Vane!" he muttered and turned on his heel before Jongho could say anything.

Instead, Jongho looked after him, watching him as he disappeared into the little office Nurse Vane usually stayed in.

Holding Yeosang's hand was something Jongho had let himself grow far too accustomed to. It was almost pathetic how much he missed his touch mere seconds after he'd let go of him.

I just can't do this. Not right now at least. Yeosang's words still rang in Jongho's head.

It was no use. No matter how much he wanted to get closer to Yeosang, right now just wasn't the time. Sure, they had managed to get Wooyoung back, but Jongho doubted that much had changed about Yeosang's view on what was going on between the two of them.