Yoosung lurched from his seat, his worry for Saeran overriding his anger. Jaehee was already there, kneeling next to the leader, her face worried. Dalton inched away, looking guiltily at his fists. The crowd became a sea of whispers.

Yoosung and Jaehee lifted Saeran's arms over their shoulders and he struggled to stand, white hair plastered to his forehead. Yoosung placed a cold hand on Saeran's torso and gently pressed against an area, pulling away calmly when Saeran cried out.

"Feels bruised, but not fractured," he murmured to Jaehee as they carried Saeran to the infirmary. "It'll heal by itself but it's gonna take some time, and it's gonna be hard to breathe and move too much."

Vanderwood met them by the doorway and Saeran, still conscious, groaned as he was helped into an infirmary bed.

"Yoosung, help him. Jaehee, come with me."

"But-!" Yoosung couldn't even finish protesting before Vanderwood and Jaehee were out the door to go calm the Cold. Most of the patients were asleep, but some gazed worriedly at Saeran and Yoosung. The young apprentice felt uncomfortable with so many eyes on him, so he closed the curtains around Saeran.

The leader's bright eyes flickered and he grabbed Yoosung's wrist, "Need to talk to you," he wheezed. Fuck his attempt of losing his feelings! He didn't care... He could like Yoosung if he wanted to. Avoiding Yoosung wasn't even going to work in the first place.

"Not now..." Yoosung said softly, and gave Saeran a cup of water as he hooked him up to an IV with medicine, nervously poking and securing the needle to Saeran's forearm, who didn't even wince. "When you feel better," Yoosung murmured, and slipped outside the curtains.

Saeran sighed and sat back against the pillow, his ribs aching painfully. It's okay... He'd apologize when he woke up...

...

Yoosung busied himself until lunchtime, in a slightly better mood than before. He and Vanderwood told the restless Cold that Saeran would be okay, but he'd need a couple weeks before he could fight and do much activity first.

Dalton was extremely repentant, trying to enter the infirmary twice in order to apologize to Saeran, but the leader was still sleeping. Yoosung brought patients food, even if they were perfectly capable of getting up, and changed bandages before shooing them out of the infirmary, also managing to constantly check if Saeran was awake again yet.

Emille hid her smirk well every time Yoosung went to see Saeran, expecting Aubin any day. As the afternoon drifted on, only about ten patients in the small hospital remained. Emille, tired of Yoosung's restlessness, sighed and got up, walking out to the laundry room, tired of feeling useless.

...

Yoosung entered Saeran's wall of curtains for what seemed like the thousandth time, one last glance before he went to his dorm room. However, Saeran was awake, reading a book from the small stand next to him that also held his cup of water.

His eyes immediately flashed to Yoosung, who jumped slightly, surprised, nearly dropping his own stack of medical books.

"Hey," Saeran said carefully.

Blinking, Yoosung stayed still, mouth opening and closing like a fish before he was able to squeak out a greeting in return. Yoosung set his books on the stand next to Saeran and stood awkwardly, mind fumbling for the questions.

"Is he awake?" Yoosung heard Vanderwood squawk from the other side of the room.

"Yeah," Yoosung called back shakily.

"I owe you an explanation, Yoosung," Saeran said evenly. That was what Yoosung had been waiting for, "Sit."

Yoosung perched nervously on the side of Saeran's bed and looked down.

"I'm sorry I was so angry last night. It wasn't your fault, I was just being an ass."

"It's okay."

"What happened to your eye?"

"I tripped."

"Yeah right. Who punched you? I'll give them a friendly reminder not to do it again."

"No, I'm telling the truth," Yoosung frowned slightly.

"Okay, fine. Have it your way."

There was a moment of awkward silence before Saeran spoke again.

"Yoosung would you come closer for a moment?"

Yoosung looked up at Saeran and leaned forward. Without warning, Saeran's arms were suddenly around him, pulling him to his chest. Saeran winced as Yoosung's hands brushed his ribs as he placed an arm on either side of Saeran to support himself, but bit back the pain and tugged Yoosung closer, until he was practically on top of Saeran.

"Saeran...?"

"Shush."

Saeran closed his eyes and inhaled, wincing at Yoosung's stiffness to his touch. When he let his grip loosen, Yoosung sat back, eyes wide. Saeran merely smiled sheepishly, and shrugged.

"Let's go outside tomorrow night."

Bewildered, Yoosung climbed off the bed, arms tingling and cheeks flushed, nodded once, and then slipped away.

Saeran smiled hopefully to himself.

...

The next day, things were back to normal. Since Saeran was unable to teach, Yoosung trained with Jaehee and a small group of other Cold members. It made him self-conscious, but Yoosung tried his best to show that he was not, in fact, a weakling, just clumsy.

Jaehee looked proud, so Yoosung took that as a good sign, and attacked the punching bag until his muscles throbbed.

Things were surprisingly painless, no matter the awkward hug they'd shared the day before.

Vanderwood and Yoosung kicked out the patients that were done healing, grinning as he protested that their heads hurt or that they needed more bandages.

"Lazy scum! Go get to work! I checked your head yesterday, and it didn't hurt then!"

...

Night came surprisingly fast.

When Vanderwood retired, and Emille watched from her bed, Yoosung walked quickly to Saeran's bed, helping him carefully to his feet, and then walking in comfortable silence to the fortress's exit, up the stairs to the heavy door.

Before opening it, Saeran turned to Yoosung. "Close your eyes," he instructed softly, and Yoosung did without hesitation, eager to be outside again.

He felt Saeran's long fingers curl around his wrist, and then pull him into the cold. The snow crunched underneath the two boys' feet as they walked forward, the cold breeze wrapping invitingly around them, refreshing and alive.

Yoosung heard the door close behind him and Saeran kept walking, about 20 paces or so, before stopping and lifting a finger to Yoosung's chin, tilting it up.

"You can open your eyes now," he whispered, and as Yoosung obliged, his mouth dropped open in awe.

The sky was alive with light. Colors danced around each other, purples, blues, greens, pinks.

Yoosung gasped and grabbed Saeran's hand, interlacing their fingers. Saeran felt his face flush, and he glanced sideways at Yoosung, who seemed otherwise preoccupied gazing at the night sky.

"It's beautiful... why was I kept from this for so long?" Yoosung asked as his eyes skipped to the distant dome of Aithne.

"Hey, Saeran?"

"Hmm?"

"Can... can we try that hug again?"

Saeran looked quickly to Yoosung, and immediately fell into his wide, velvety violet eyes, which shone with the sky's light.

Slowly, Saeran pulled Yoosung closer, avoiding pressing their torsos together too hard, and this time, Yoosung's hands looped up and around Saeran's neck, pressing his face into the taller man's shoulder, breathing in his cologne.

"I miss training with you already," Yoosung murmured randomly.

Saeran only tightened his arms around Yoosung's back, not trusting his mouth to give an appropriate answer to the topic. He'd probably just spout some nonsense about how he 'wanted to stay like this forever', which was true, but from his viewpoint, decidedly cliche and cringe-worthy.

The night wasn't as cold as it usually was, so Yoosung relished in the fact that he could stay out for longer, gazing at the sky from his place in Saeran's arms. It was comfortable and warm.

A while later, Yoosung began to shiver. He pulled away and smiled apologetically.

"Let's head in," Saeran said softly, and they walked back inside together.

....

HEY! Sorry I haven't updated in a bit, I've been SUPER busy as I'm finishing school! I'll update as much as I can today, but I'm actually heading to Paris rn... love you guys! Leave a vote if you liked :)