A/N: Sorry for not updating guys, I was on a ski trip :P leave a vote and a comment! See notes at end :3 Enjoy~

For the rest of the morning until lunch, Vanderwood showed Yoosung where all of the supplies were kept and pelted him with questions about what he did and didn't know medically. 

Can you set a bone? Can you deliver a baby? Can you mix cement for casts? Can you determine a cold from a fever?

Yoosung answered as honestly as he could, and thought he did a pretty good job, but Vanderwood still gave him a huge pile of medical books to read. 

"Study up."

"All of these?" Yoosung squeaked.

"Problem?" Vanderwood raised an eyebrow.

"No, sir..."

"Good, let's go to lunch. Leave those here." Vanderwood marched through the door, barely holding it open for Yoosung.

Just like breakfast, people streamed in, laughing and talking, shoving each other playfully as they sat down at their unassigned assigned seat. A lot were still sweating from training. 

Yoosung quickly sought out the table that he, Cylus, and Jaehee had sat at earlier and sat down to wait for them.

Lunch was large bowls of potato salad (except this kind was cold, a taste that Yoosung again preferred to heated) and long sliced of bread with different meats, cheese, and vegetables on separate plates.

Yoosung piled a little bit of everything on a white slice, and then shoved a corner in his mouth, eyes crinkling, trying to smile at Jaehee as she sat down next to him. The freshest flavors he could imagine exploded and mixed in his mouth, and Yoosung closed his eyes in bliss. 

Jaehee laughed and clapped Yoosung on the back, nearly causing him to spit out his food at the taste. The woman's long, silky, brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and sweat shone on her forehead. She had shed her light jacket, so she now only wore a tank top, her biceps flexing. 

Yoosung gulped down his sandwich, only thinking about how easily Jaehee, not to mention Saeran, could crush him in a fight. Whatever strength and knowledge he had gained earlier this morning during training seemed minuscule compared to the experience of the rest of the Cold... He had a lot to do... But what was he thinking; Yoosung had been here for less than two days. Patience. 

When Saeran didn't show up for lunch, Yoosung asked Jaehee about it.

"Yeah, he doesn't come sometimes. Probably working."

"Oh," Yoosung missed the presence of the leader. He brought a sense of unity to the resistance, where they felt grounded, together, "Can you tell me about him?"

"Who, Boss?" Yoosung nodded. "Well it's not really my place, and you'd be better off asking Vanderwood, but I'll tell you what you should know. Saeran was banished from Aithne 7 years ago. He arrived when the previous leader was dying. Upon meeting Saeran, the leader chose him to take over. Saeran agreed, the king died, and Boss became our leader. Saeran doesn't talk much about his past life, or why he was banished, but, from what I've heard, he changed his appearance as soon as he arrived for some reason..." Jaehee trailed off. 

Yoosung nodded, puzzled, "Thanks."

Cylus then sat down, immediately laying his head on his arms, breath shaky. 

"Hey, you okay?" Yoosung asked hesitantly. 

Cylus looked up and Yoosung flinched. The whole left side of the young boy's jaw was darkening red, swelling too. 

"God, Cylus, what happened?" Jaehee asked worriedly, fishing some ice out from the nearest water pitcher to press it to Cylus's cheek.

"It's that jerk, Ryder. We had to do one-on-one and the jerk pummeled me! He's five years older than me, plus, he's a fucking gorilla."

Yoosung looked in the direction where Cylus was glaring, and saw a large man with dark hair and bulging muscles crack his knuckles and grin happily.

"I'm gonna kill him..." Jaehee muttered under her breath, and Yoosung remembered that Jaehee was the head of training. 

Yoosung looked at the floor, not sure what to do... what to say... He was usually pretty awkward in general, but the tension had grown now and he felt pressured to say something. Thankfully, Jaehee spoke up again.

"How was your training, Yoosung?"

Yoosung groaned, and suddenly, things were better, and he was thankful. He had witnessed too much of that tension in the Courtroom. 

Jaehee and Cylus listened to Yoosung recount the torture of training, laughing as he told them about it with open expressions and reenacting different scenes with exaggerated flamboyancy.

As people began to trickle away from the tables, Vanderwood approached Yoosung, holding two small baskets. 

"Gather some lunch for our patients. Not too much; we don't want them puking." 

Yoosung nodded and said goodbye to Jaehee and Cylus, who were getting up as well, and started putting leftover food in his basket, avoiding sugary things.

He met Vanderwood at the hallway, and they walked down to the infirmary together, talking about their plans for the rest of the afternoon. 

...

"Find his back."

Yoosung sat on a stool next to Emille, a pregnant woman who lay in one of the infirmary's beds, stethoscope on, the flat metal piece pressed to her bare stomach. Emille was from Tannon, the kingdom run by the unknown High Justice, and was very pretty, with dark brown skin and straight black hair. She spoke with deep, flowery voice that left a hum through Yoosung's hand when his fingers accidentally skimmed her bulbous stomach. 

"You'll hear the baby's heartbeat from his back," Vanderwood said softly, and repositioned Yoosung's hand to the left. Suddenly, Yoosung could hear a quick pulsing thump from the stethoscope. He jumped a little and Vanderwood and Emille laughed, watching as Yoosung's face split into a smile. 

"His name is Aubin. After his father," Emille murmured, and her voice was foggy through the stethoscope. 

"Hello, Aubin," Yoosung cooed under his breath. He didn't notice Saeran enter the room and come to stand next to him. He just stayed fixed to the sound of the tiny heartbeat, grinning.

"Cute," Saeran thought to himself.

When Yoosung saw the shadow and looked up, he nearly fell off his stool.

"Saeran!" 

"Hey. Jaehee told me you wanted to go outside. Vanderwood, I'm gonna take him. You'll manage, I'm sure."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't take him too often though, he's good at this."

Saeran looked down at the still-flustered Yoosung and smirked, "I had no doubts. Bye, Emille." 

The woman waved, Yoosung handed Vanderwood the stethoscope, picked up his medical books, and followed Saeran out the door. 

Saeran turned right at the infirmary door, down the hallway that lead away from the Main Hall. Yoosung had noticed a staircase at the end of the hallway earlier, and now they were walking towards it, Yoosung's heart hammering at the thought of being outside again. 

They walked up the stairs together, and Yoosung saw that they lead to a heavy-looking metal door with rubber insulation around the edges. Yoosung placed his books on the steps and waited as Saeran wrenched the door open. 

A cold blast of wind hit the two men full-on and Yoosung's eyes widened. He looked to Saeran for permission, and when the leader nodded, Yoosung lept out the door, whooping loudly, bending down and flinging snow up to the bright blue sky, breathless at the beauty of the pure white and blue contrast of the horizon. 

Saeran watched from the doorway, smiling to himself as Yoosung romped around, laughing as the snow clung to his clothes, not minding the cold. 

Yoosung was shivering soon, but he didn't care as he flopped down in the snow, feeling it compact underneath him. 

"Snow," he whispered, and giggled, sitting up and shaking the snow from his hair. His fingertips were getting numb, but he wanted to stay outside for hours more. He looked around him, and saw the dome of Aithne on the horizon, and rocky mountains covered in snow towering up behind it. 

To the left, he finally saw Calida, the kingdom where V was... It was quite literally a castle, with white-peaked turrets and everything. Yoosung grimaced but didn't let it get to him.

Instead, Yoosung looked back to Saeran, "Is snow edible?" He asked loudly.

"Yeah, as far as we know."

Yoosung scooped a big pile up with his bare hands and stuck out his tongue, tentatively tasting it. It's just cold water... Yoosung opened his mouth and took a large 'bite'. He giggled as it melted in his mouth, but now his fingers were freezing.

Yoosung stood reluctantly and tried brushing himself off, but the snow was melting into large wet spots due to his intense body heat, and he was feeling very cold. 

"Come on in. You're gonna freeze," Saeran called, and Yoosung pouted but retreated to the fortress. Saeran closed the door behind him before facing the blond. 

"Oh jeez, you're covered in snow. You'll catch a cold and you don't have another set of clothes... Come with me. I have some spare." 

"Really? Okay... Sorry."

"No problem. Don't want the doctor getting sick." Saeran winked. The two walked back down the stairs, past the infirmary, through the main hall, and then down the hallway to where Yoosung remembered Saeran's office was. They entered the office, which was just as cluttered as the night before, and Saeran led Yoosung to a door that the blond hadn't noticed before on the wall to the right. 

The door opened to a large room, with a bed in the back, a red sofa, and a fireplace, as well as a dresser and another door that was left ajar that held a small bathroom. Yoosung remembered how embarrassing it was asking Vanderwood where the bathrooms were earlier that afternoon.

Saeran crossed the room to his dresser and began rummaging through the messy drawers. He muttered to himself as Yoosung looked around, finding himself by a bookshelf that held ancient-looking books and loose piles of papers with messy scrawls of black ink wedged in uneven lines. 

A small bottle of light amber liquid was placed on the top of the shelf, and Yoosung picked it up and unscrewed the lid. He inhaled, and closed his eyes in momentary bliss.

Yoosung would've never taken Saeran as one who wore cologne, but as he melted into the scent, he realized that it was the only way someone could smell so nice. The cologne smelled like fresh mint, vanilla, cinnamon, coffee, and apples all rolled into one, and Yoosung thought that he could be happy smelling it for the rest of his life.

The sound of a drawer shutting snapped Yoosung out of his daze, and he quickly capped the cologne and turned around. 

Saeran held a dark grey shirt and maroon loose-fitting cotton sweats, which reminded Yoosung of the harem pants that some of the women in the Northern district wore, their tattoos peeking up from the waistband of the soft fabric.

"These should fit you, and they've been washed recently."

"Thanks," Yoosung said quietly, accepting the clothes. It only then occurred to him how he was supposed to change. 

Yoosung had always been self-conscious of his small frame, but he could usually hide his insecurities pretty well. The Cold had unintentionally made him doubt his physique again, with their broad chests, and toned stomachs. He wanted to be strong like that...

Saeran turned to stoke the fire, and Yoosung slipped out of his pants quickly, and pulled on the soft cotton sweats, and then began taking off his shirt. That's when Saeran turned around. 

Yoosung gulped, and blush crept onto his face. Saeran froze, then slowly turned back around, heart thumping. Well okay then. 

When he was done changing, Yoosung thanked Saeran quietly, then slipped out of the room. As soon as the door closed, he tugged at his hair in embarrassment and frustration. He then realized that the shirt smelled like the cologne he had found on Saeran's bookcase and cautiously lifted the fabric to his nose before inhaling deeply, smiling to himself.

Yoosung returned to the infirmary and read his medical books while Vanderwood sipped tea until dinner time.

During dinner, Saeran ate with the Cold, but he and Yoosung never made eye contact, and Yoosung felt his cheeks burn every time he glanced in the leader's direction.

However, simple shirtlessness in front of one person didn't prepare him at all for showering. About half of the men in his dorm showered at night, including Cylus, in a long room with dozens of showerheads protruding every few feet. 

Everyone undressed casually, laughing and talking like it was no big deal. Yoosung gulped and did his best to hide himself, but Cylus laughed at him and led him to the showers, totally shameless. 

Yoosung stood under the too-hot stream of water, straight from the boiler room, and breathed through the streams running down his back. The water made his blond hair turn brown, and he flicked it away from his face, self-consciously rubbing sudsy water on himself. 

When he was done, Yoosung and Cylus wrapped towels around themselves and changed into soft sweatpants that served as pajamas before talking together on the top bunk. Cylus's bruise had darkened and spread slightly. It looked like it hurt, but Cylus pushed away Yoosung's worry.

Soon, someone went around and blew out all the lanterns, and Yoosung returned to his bottom bunk, sliding under the crisp white sheets. 

After an hour of tossing and turning, Yoosung reached down to the small basket by his bed that held his clothes and felt for the soft fabric of Saeran's shirt. He lay on his side and held the shirt to his nose, inhaling slowly. 

Yoosung fell asleep smiling. 

...

A/N: Hey guys :) holy shit this took a long time to write, it's a longer chapter than usual. I really hope you guys enjoyed it :) 

From now on, I'm gonna have things pick up pace a little. I have a better idea of where I want this fic to go, and I don't want to drag it out. We're looking at at least 10 more chapters, hopefully, and I'm gonna actually start getting to the Yooran portion of this >:) 

Updates will be twice a week, I hope :) 

thank you for reading! see you next chapter <3