Cursed Hearts | ATEEZ

027

I trained with King Jongho the following days, grateful for the fact that the King of the South was willing to make time for me as Wonho, his champion, wanted to train for himself, refusing to see anyone before the next trial, having locked himself in his room and denied anyone the opportunity to talk to him after Changkyun, the contestant from his sector, had passed away.

I couldn't help but feel bad as I remembered the enormous male I had been so afraid of back in Budapest, remembered how the look in his eyes had absolutely shattered as he realized that the younger contestant hadn't made it back. Survivor's guilt, I told myself, realizing that a sliver of that guilt had been clinging to me as well ever since I had barely made it through the first trial.

I had improved combat-wise thanks to the auburn-haired king, bulking up slightly as muscles began to show through the bruised skin that I had to soak for hours every night to avoid the pain that would otherwise cling to the the following morning.

It had become a habit to curse out the male in my head as I dragged my exhausted and spent body back to bed after hours upon hours of training with him, beyond grateful for his help but in the long rong, I had become unsure if his sessions would end up killing me before the trials did.

During the week after Taeyong and Wooyoung's argument, I had only caught glimpses of the King of Autumn as he lingered in the grand hallways, hurriedly turning corners as I crossed the marbled floors, hiding behind the intricately sculpted columns as I moved past him, following me like a lost puppy, looking beyond guilty as if he had done something wrong, as if he didn't dare talk to me. At least, until one night.

〄

I was unable to bite back the smile on my face as I pushed the doors to the kitchen open and slipped into the marvelous space, carefully flicking the lightswitch before waiting a couple of seconds as my eyes adjusted to the golden glow flooding the room, pushing away the shadows and the night as I made my way over to the counter and excitedly tapped my fingers against the cool surface, trying to figure out what tonight's midnight meal would be.

I giggled a little as a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, pressing me close against a sturdy chest which immediately made the smile on my face falter slightly as I furrowed my brows.

Usually, it was just me and the King of the East who snuck out to rummage around in the kitchen, but this was definitely not Yeosang, I realized, shivering slightly as the king pressed his face to the side of my neck and let out a deep breath.

I could feel his steady heartbeat against my back as I straightened a little, picking up speed as I cleared my throat and asked, "Are you hungry?" to which Wooyoung nodded into my neck, "Will you help me cook?" I asked, the king once again nodding his head, the action making me giggle as tried to get away from him only to stop as he tightened his embrace.

I sighed, "Wooyoung, you don't have to hide from me. You haven't done anything wrong. Besides, most of the spots you have chosen have been pretty obvious so I've just been pretending to not see you most of the time but this, this is definitely the worst one," I chuckled, trying to make a joke as his heartbeat picked up.

"I'm sorry," the King of Autumn said, and I knew exactly what he was talking about, knew that he was still thinking about the argument. "It's fine," I whispered, and it was. "I just- I had hoped the two of you would get along but it's fine, really, no one even got hurt. Now let go of me and wash your hands so we can get started."