Empire | ATEEZ

001

By the time we finally made it to my apartment complex, I was so out of breath that the burning in my lungs was almost more painful than the intense hammering of my heart against my ribs. And to make it worse, we still had to make it up several flights of stairs before we could call it a day.

Looking at the stranger and then down at myself, it was hard to say which one of us was going to die first.

I almost cried out in relief as we finally made it to my front door, my hands shaking as I fumbled for my keys and helped the man lean against the wall, his eyes still closed, as I finally managed to find the right key and push it into the keyhole.

I pushed the door open before turning back to help him only to squeak in surprise as he fell against me and both of us stumbled into my apartment.

I rammed my head into the wall as he pressed against me and cried out in pain as he tried to support himself with his free arm that wasn't clutching the wound, feeling lightheaded and dizzy only to blush as I stared up at him, incredibly flustered from how close he was standing, from how he was caging me, trapping me, with that one arm.

"The couch," I blurted, my eyes widening as I glanced into the living room behind him and carefully pushed at his chest in an attempt at guiding him in the right direction, my eyes anywhere and everywhere but on his figure as he stumbled and fell onto the cushions, turning over with a groan as he kept his hand firmly pressed to his abdomen, breathing raggedly.

I swallowed thickly, trying to calm my breathing as I hurried into the bathroom and rummaged through the cabinets only to breathe out a sigh of relief as I finally managed to dig out the first aid kit, pulling out gauze and cloth and running back into the living room with it only to pour it onto the coffee table.

My heart ached with mixed panic and fear as I glanced down at him, noticing the drops of sweat on his face as he clenched his eyes tightly shut, furrowing his brows and cursing under his breath which made me shake my head and brush off my worries.

As long as I locked the door to my bedroom later, I should be safe, I told myself, hurrying into the kitchen to get some water, checking that it wasn't too hot, and making my way back to the couch where I sat down on the floor and took a deep breath.

With shaky hands, I reached for his shirt, the action making him flinch. I gasped, immediately pulling back only to freeze as he shook his head, "I'm sorry," he breathed, clenching his teeth, "I'll stay still. Just get it over with."

I nodded my head slowly, biting my lip as I lifted his shirt and stared at the wound. Luckily, there was no object to be removed, only the cut itself. The bleeding had stopped somewhat as well, so I didn't need to apply pressure. I reached for the cloth on the table and dabbed slightly at the bloodied skin which made him wince.

"I'm going to try and clean it, alright?" I said, dipping the cloth in the water as he nodded his head furiously and bit his lip, groaning in pain as I carefully rinsed the wound, washing away the blood and dirt only to pause as I reached for another cloth and held it up to his face.

"You can bite down on this if you want-" I began only for my eyes to widen as he immediately took it in his mouth and clenched his teeth around it, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye as I went back to tending his wound.

"How the hell did this happen?" I mumbled to myself, rinsing the cloth in the water before continuing. "Absolutely insane," I whispered, "I am absolutely insane."

After cleaning the wound, I had to once again run to the bathroom and search the cabinets, cursing at the mess I had made when I finally dug out the cream I was looking for, stumbling back to the couch and crouching down next to the stranger to apply the antibiotic cream before finally, and carefully, pressing a bandage on top.