#4-1

[prommytheus]

they’re in my head

[jkkyks]

And MY Kylian did it once again♥️ worthy always worthy!!!

[thedreamingfish99]

Bright Sun Chapter One

5-8 x Reader

Summary Sawol is tired of seeing the two of you fight over everything and hate each other, but for better or for worst, a traumatic event might be what was needed to bring 5-8 and you closer to each other. Warnings : Slow burn, Ansgt, Hurt, Possible death Words : 4K Notes :

A/N: Haven't wrote anything in a while, but after watching Black Knight (Because Woo Bin is my god ever since School 2013) and absolutely falling with his character, I looked for fanfics and was disappointed by the small amount. So here I am trying to help some other lost souls like me. I really hope you enjoy! - - - - - CHAPTER ONE

The sky was getting clearer by the day, the sun beaming through fewer and fewer clouds as time passed. Sawol opened his window, pulling his arms on the edge to press his face against the grid and take his head out in the wind. He had started doing this every time 5-8 would light himself a cigarette, not really enjoying the smell of it, but truly loving the feeling of the caress of the wind on his face.

Even after they had stopped Cheonmyeong trucks from polluting the air, you still couldn't survive outside for more than twenty minutes without a mask. It was no surprise, it would probably take decades for them to be able to roam the earth free of a mask, if ever. But twenty minutes was no small feat compared to the eight minutes it used to be.

Sawol took a deep breath, even polluted, the fresh air tasted much better than the filtered one he was used to.

“It smells so good.” He whispered, taking in another full breath.

“Smells the same as always, polluted.”

Sawol turned to face the stoic man beside him, no expression showing on his face as he took one last inhale of his cigarette before exhaling and throwing it out of the truck's window. He then pressed on the switch, closing the windows with no pity for Sawol's arms that got pulled up with them.

He quickly regained his posture in his seat and faced his driver.

“Have you no joy in life except cigarettes?’’ Sawol asked, honestly curious.

5-8 gave him an empty glance before turning his attention back on the road. Knowing he wouldn't get any response, Sawol continued.

‘’Why can't you even enjoy the freshness of the air? You gave that to us!’’

5-8's mouth twitched with annoyance.

“I didn't give anything to anyone, I only took down the worm that was eating us alive.” He grunted in reference to Cheonmyeong.

“Fine.” Sawol pouted.

He folded his arms on his chest, his attention turned back to the road. It was quiet today like it had been for the past couple of days that he had gone on deliveries with 5-8. It had barely been a week since the event of Cheonmyeong's takedown and Sawol was still healing from the wounds he had gotten in the tournaments finals and the drugs that were administered to him. Well, that's the excuse he gave to everyone at the moment, not that it was a lie, his head was still killing him and he would feel some dizziness take over him from time to time, but in all honesty, he didn't feel quite ready to be on the road alone. He was scared to mess up and disappoint 5-8 on his first day.

Sawol shook his head to chase those thoughts away, he already had a solution, no time to dwell on that now.

“The sun..”

Sawol turned a confused look toward his friend, and raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain. 5-8 gave him a side eye and let out a long sigh.

“What brings me joy.’’ He continued in a low tone. ‘’ I like seeing the sun more and more every day.”

“Oh,” Sawol breathed out, remembering the question he had asked a few moments ago. A large grin grew across his face.

“What? You think it's more stupid than smelling the air like an idiot?” 5-8 teased him. ‘’At least I'm looking at something visible.”

Sawol took offense but didn't let his grin die. He turned in his seat to face the older man, who watched him from the corner of his vision, eyebrows raised in a quiet question as to why the younger one was smiling.

‘’Y/N and you are so much more alike than you think.’’

5-8 rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed upon hearing this, he let out an incomprehensible mumble, the grip on his steering wheel tightening. Sawol laughed at the sight of such visible emotion from the usual oh-so-unnothered legend.

‘’I can’t be as annoying as 6-2, that's for sure.’’

‘’I don’t care what you think or whatever quarrel there is between you too, it’s still true. You two are the same.’’

5-8 gave him a tired look and went back to concentrate on the road. Sawol was annoyed, his grin long gone. He lifted his legs, and feet on the seat and hugged his knees, resting his chin on them as he quietly watched the view from his window. Turned his back on 5-8, giving him the silent treatment. He hated the constant bickering going on between those two. Right after 5-8, Y/N was his closest friend. She was always there the whole time of his training when he was preparing to compete in the delivery man recruitment tournaments. She gave him amazing advice, trained him to fight, to drive better, and even helped him learn a few manners, not that he really listened during those sessions but still! She took care of him, brought him food when he forgot to eat by training for too long, she even took him to her place a few times so they could hang out, but mostly so she could be sure he rested well enough for him to heal and be ready for the next day. She took care of him like a big sister while his wasn’t available, and he loved her like family. Sawol let out a sad sigh, what in the world did he do to deserve that his two favorite people have a pure hatred towards each other? He never knew where those mutual feelings came from, not that he didn’t ask, that he did and many times. But he had never gotten a different answer then;

‘’She’s annoying’’ ‘’He’s annoying.’’

Their similarity used to make Sawol laugh about the situation, he remembered telling them that hating the other was pretty much like hating themself, but he only had reserved cold glances in return. Now, Sawol was just annoyed by it, desperate that their relationship would change for them to at least bear each other, enough that he could talk about the other without being ignored or interrupted by an insult.

The mutant closed his eyes, his head was starting to hurt.

- - - -

5-8 sent him a few glances, feeling slightly bad to make the younger one upset. He knew 6-2 was a sensitive subject with Sawol, he adored her so much. 5-8 used to wonder why, being such an annoying person as she was, but after hearing so many things she did for the youngster, he did at least understand and respect that fact. But it wouldn’t change the pure annoyance he felt towards her. 5-8 wasn’t used to feelings much, to him, his feelings were more of an observation than an experience. He did feel happiness, but he wouldn’t really laugh. He did feel sadness, but he wouldn’t cry. He never really felt deeply, with the exception of his hatred for Cheonmyeong… and his annoyance for 6-2. This woman could make him boil with anger sometimes, everything related to her, he would feel it times 10, and he hated it.

5-8 let out a sigh, he untightened his grip on the steering wheel and looked at Sawol. Sawol made him feel too, like the younger brother 5-8 never had. He cared deeply for him, more than he would admit, and he hated to see him upset, especially when it was against him.

‘’Why?’’ 5-8 resigned and asked. The youngest didn’t even open his eyes as he asked;

‘’Why what?’’

‘’Why do you think we’re so alike?’’ 5-8 gritted his teeth. ‘’Me and the annoying one.’’

Sawol jumped on his seat, eyes widened in surprise. He couldn’t believe what he had just been asked.

‘’W-what did you?’’

5-8 was starting to get annoyed, he didn’t even want to talk about it. He just felt bad for the kid and he was tired of the silence, he was used to no silence at all when Sawol was around, and he liked it this way. The man let out a grunt, looking back at the road.

Probably scared that this chance would never come again, Sawol decided to answer without forcing the grumpy man to repeat himself. He sat back comfortably in his seat, a soft smile stretching his lips.

‘’It’s what you said about the sun.’’

5-8 blinked in confusion, he glanced at Sawol as if pressing him to continue. He couldn’t help but be curious, no one really seemed to care about the sun except for him.

‘’Y/N, I mean 6-2 to you,’’ He let out a small chuckle before continuing. ‘’She showed me her tools and her notes, you’d love it, you know? She goes to one of the tall buildings in the old city. The same roof at the same time every day. When the sun is at its zenith, she said that’s when you can enjoy its warmth the most. She takes notes about it, some kind of research she told me. She notes the warmth and the brightness of the sun, and its color too. She notes the amount of clouds in the sky and the purity of the air. She showed me some of her tools, but it was honestly too complicated for me. I saw some drawings in her notes too, she’s really good… Anyways, you guys both love the sun. That’s what I meant.’’

5-8 didn’t really know what to think, he would love to see your notes and the tools you used, but he would never admit it to anyone, especially not to you or that traitor Sawol, who he knew would rat him out.

He was honestly surprised to learn you had such an interest in the evolution of the clarity of the sky as he did. He always thought he was the only one obsessed with seeing how bright the star could be without being filtered by the clouds and the heaviness of the air. He wished he could come to feel the warmth of the sun with you... 5-8 ignored the excitement that took his heart, curious about something else.

‘’How does she manage to make her delivery on time?’’

“Ah..’’ Sawol let out, itching the back of his head from embarrassment. ‘’She doesn’t really take any break.. and often works overtime.’’

5-8 raised an eyebrow at the confession, no breaks meant no lunch, and overtime meant less rest. Both of which meant a dangerous accumulation of fatigue that could prove mortal if she was ever attacked. Hunters were still pretty active in the area, and even though things were getting better, some of them just loved the thrill of the hunt and the killings... If you kept going like this, something bad was bound to happen.

‘’Don’t encourage her.’’ He heard himself say. ‘’Late deliveries give us a bad reputation.’’

That was half true and 5-8 knew it, yes he didn’t approve of late deliveries, but in all honesty, he felt a little worried. He might find you incredibly annoying, but you were still a fellow delivery man, and Sawol truly cared about you. 5-8 did not want anything bad to happen. Sawol snorted at the comment.’’

‘’Pfff, Mr.Perfect. You’re the only one that's never late. ‘’

- - - - -

You let out a grunt, lifting your head slowly. You felt your forehead with the tip of your fingers, feeling the crease the steering wheel had left on your skin. You dozed off again… It wasn’t the first time, and you were quite unhappy with your sleeping self to find the hard steering wheel so comfortable since it left you with a quite visible mark that took hours to disappear completely.

A throbbing headache attacked you as you opened your eyes, the light of the hangar too powerful for your exhausted self. After a tired sigh, you grabbed your cap and pushed it as low as possible. Today had been pretty rushing and you felt on the brink of collapsing. You unlocked your door and kicked it open, grabbing your notes at the same time. You climbed down off your truck carefully, contrary to your usual jumping to the ground. You barely had time to slam the door shut when you heard your name being screamed from behind. You quickly turned, just in time for Sawol to jump in your arms. Thankfully, your truck was there to catch you when you fell backward, having received a running mutant straight to the chest.

A painful complaint escaped your lips, the hard metal hadn’t been gentle with your back. Sawol quickly took a step back, grabbing your shoulders and giving you a worried look.

‘’Are you alright?’’ he asked, his face twisted with guilt. ‘’I’m so sorry I shouldn't have jumped on you like that.

You gave him a comforting smile as you gained back your balance.

‘’Don’t worry about it kid,’’ you said, shuffling his hair to tease him. ‘’You’re just heavier than it looks!’’

Sawol laughed, taking a few steps back to let you breathe a little. You watched him as he tried fixing his hair, he was smiling, but his eyes still seemed worried. You knew it was probably more about how tired you looked than from the hit you took. You felt a tightness in your chest, not liking that look on his face. You took all the energy you had left to jump back on him, locking your arm around his neck and messing his hair even more with your free hand.

‘’Revenge!’’

‘’Yah! Let me go!’’

Sawol fought you back but weakened by your laughter and your exhaustion, it didn’t take him long to free himself. With a fake angry look on his face, Sawol tried fixing his hair once again. You let your arm rest on his shoulder, heavier than you would’ve wanted, but the young man didn’t complain, and gladly let you subtly use him as support without having to ask. When he gave up on his messy hair, he smiled at you fondly.

‘’Don’t work tomorrow.’’ he whispered to you.

You hummed, not sure if you agreed or not.

‘’I’ll be fine.’’

Sawol let out an exasperated sigh, it made you feel more guilty than you thought.

‘’If you come with me..’’ you quickly added.

Sawol’s eye widened and he gave you the brightest of smiles.

‘’Of course!’’ he shouted happily.

A soft chuckle escaped your lips as you looked at the young man. You tried your best to observe his beautiful features glowing with happiness, it would make a nice drawing for later.

At the thought of it, your smile dropped. Anxious, you patted your pockets and looked around on the grounds, searching for your notes. When you finally spotted them a few feet away, you felt your heart stop as a hand was already reaching for them. you took a step in their direction but quickly stopped when you lifted your eyes only to be met by the dead look on 5-8’s face.

‘’You dropped this.’’ he simply said, handing you back your notes.

Your hand reached out to it, and you took hold of your notes, brushing your fingers with his by accident. You quickly retracted your hand, pressing the notes against your racing heart. You never liked it when someone touched your notes, except for Sawol which you cared for like a little brother. But the discovery of the notes and research you were doing would’ve been enough of a reason to get you killed when Cheonmyeong was still in power, making you used to keep them hidden. The bastards might not be in power anymore but you had kept the habit of keeping your research to yourself. The fact that you had some random sketches mixed with them also played into this, some of them private enough that you tried to keep them hidden even from Sawol… And even more to one of the most annoying men on earth, you wanted to keep them away, especially from him.

Still feeling the warmth of his skin on the tip of your fingers, you quietly thanked him. you tried not to think of the abnormal beating of your heart, concentrating on the fact that you now needed to wash your hands from having touched his annoying self.

5-8 eyes lingered on your small figure, his face void of expression. You suddenly felt quite self-conscious, you cared more than you’d like to admit what the man might think of you, and you knew right now you were barely holding it together.

‘’You look like shit.’’

His deep voice surprised you, and your eyes widened feeling pretty hurt by his comment. You wish you had something clever to bask at him in return, but your usual witty self seemed absent, asleep deeply inside out. Thankfully, Sawol ran to your rescue.

‘’Even on her worst day Y/N will always look better than you!’’

5-8 snorted at his comment, an amused look in his eyes as they never left your sight. You couldn't help but blush under his intense look. You were happy your cap was helping you hide a little bit of your flustered face. ‘’No one as handsome as you though,’’ you said breaking the awkward moment you felt stuck in. You pinched Sawol’s cheek, the smile you made appear on his face quickly leaving replaced by annoying and pain.

‘’Yah! I’m not a kid!’’ he screamed, hitting your hand so you let him be.

You let out a laugh and tapped his cheek playfully. Sawol pouted and caressed his reddened cheek with his hands.

‘’I’ll see you tomorrow, handsome,’’ you said before starting to leave, making sure to ignore 5-8 still standing close by.

- - - - -

The warmth of the sun on his face felt amazing, he had taken off his mask to appreciate it to the fullest. He felt at ease, thinking that this must be what paradise feels like. Sawol took in a deep breath, but before he had the chance to exhale naturally, he received a strong punch in the stomach, making him lose all his oxygen. He sat up in a jolt, caught by an uncontrollable coughing fit.

‘’Yah!’’ he spat between two cough.’’You wanna kill me or what?’’

Sawol barely had time to catch the mask you threw him before it would hit him in the face.

‘’Come on,’’ you laughed. ‘’Time’s up.’’

The two of you slowly packed your things back in the backpack you used to carry your tools and made your way back to the ground level, 30 flights of stairs below. No wonder you were so in shape, Sawol thought.

Reaching the floor level, Sawol took care of moving the big wooden wall you always put up to hide the entrance of the building you used to hide your truck. It was mostly a bunch of tall broken windows, but they were fortunately big enough for the delivery truck to enter the building's lobby so it wouldn’t stay outside, exposed, and left alone for hunters to take advantage of.

After finishing to slide the barricade away from the door, Sawol was surprised to find you sitting on the passenger side of the truck. He quickly jogged up to your window, his heart racing with anticipation.

‘’Is this what I think it is?’’

You watched him jumping from one foot to the other, not being able to contain his excitement. ‘’Mm,’’ you hummed positively. ‘’Hop in Mr. Delivery Man.’’

A small joyful squeak escaped his lips before he ran up to the driver’s side and took his seat. Sawol felt his breath being taken away as he caressed the steering wheel with profound admiration. He couldn’t believe he was actually sitting on this side of the truck for the first time. He let his eyes wander, taking in as much as he could, but the multitude of buttons and switches changed his dreaming expression into a frown. He had no idea how to use any of these. Your laugh took him back to reality, and he sent you a sheepish look.

‘’Help…’’ he whispered shamefully.

You burst out laughing even harder at the pitiful sight he offered you, looking like a child in front of a new toy that he didn’t know how to use. When your laugh came close to an end, you pointed at a few of the commands. Sawol followed your finger, looking closely and listening to everything you said with more attention than he had ever given to anything before.

‘’That’s the radio to contact other delivery man, we have a common channel, but if you want to call someone privately, you have to enter their number here,’’ you explained, pointing at a num pad before turning to something else. ‘’Here’s the lights control, there’s the camera around the truck, and here’s the defense settings you can use.’’

Sawol kept listening intently until she was done showing him everything, he exhaled deeply, impressed.

‘’I would’ve never known any of this on my own! Thank you.’’ he smiled at her, eyes sparkling with joy.

‘’I remembered when you told me you didn’t feel ready to be left alone,’’ you said softly. ‘’Well you’re not alone, I’ll show you everything so you’re ready when the time comes.’’

Sawol felt his heart melt. He couldn’t help but wonder why 5-8 hated you so much when you were probably the most caring and gentle person he knew.

The day was still young and you had quite a few deliveries left to do. Sawol let you show him the rope for the first few, but he then forced you to wait in the truck so you could rest. It was clear to him that you were exhausted and you needed the rest. He couldn’t help but smile when he came back from a home delivery just to find you in a profound sleep, head resting against the window. Sawol took on him to continue the rest of your deliveries as quietly as possible so you could sleep as much as you needed. A few hours later, Sawol had just made the last delivery and he was driving back towards the hangar, feeling quite proud of himself for the successful day that had gone by. He felt immensely grateful that you had taken time to show him the ropes, and after today, he felt confident that he would be fine on his own, that he shouldn't have to be scared to disappoint 5-8 when he’d be given his own truck. Plus, he couldn’t help but feel reassured that you had slept for a few hours, you deeply needed the rest and he was sure today had been quite helpful in putting you back on your feet.

Sawol's glance wandered from the road to its surroundings, he was surprised when he spotted a sand storm racing straight towards them. It hit them a few seconds after he had seen it, making the visibility outside incredibly poor. Sawol couldn’t help a rush or anxiety take over him, but he didn’t panic, he knew the way to the hangar by heart, he didn’t need to see far in front or the GPS. They were gonna be fine, he thought, no need to wake you over this.

Sawol took his foot slightly off the gas pedal and opened his lower beam. He continued driving carefully, not wanting to hit anything. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until he saw a dark figure lying in the middle of the road. Sawol rapidly hit the brakes, waking you up from the sudden stop. He gave you a quick reassuring glance before putting his mask on.

‘’Stay inside,’’ he commanded. ‘’It’s probably nothing.’’

- - - -

A/N: I don't know when the next chapter is gonna be posted, hopefully soon enough, but I might take a while with the Christmas vacation coming up, I hope you understand! Be sure to leave a comment to let me know what you thought! Much love!!

[dilebe06]

My Top Female Characters of 2023

[mshroomcake]

Chainmailin'

[nylwnder]

WE. OWN. TAMPA.

[hellsite-yano]

YOU THOUGHT I WAS DONE WITH YOU TIDDYBOY??

IN MY COUNTRY WE CALL THIS THE PORK STRAT

[18thcenturythirsttrap]

HARVEY ELLIOTT 💎

[0alanasworld0]

Oh abde

[howdthebruinsdo]

they won!

[rana030]

[neyxmessi]

damn he really scored with his hair blowing in the wind 😭😭

[heartz4hisch]

that was so smooth pretty princess

[thedreamingfish99]

Bright Sun Chapter Two

5-8 x Reader

Summary

Sawol is tired of seeing the two of you fight over everything and hate each other, but for better or for worst, a traumatic event might be what was needed to bring 5-8 and you closer to each other.

Warnings : Slow burn, Ansgt, Hurt, Possible death

Words : 3K

A/N: Heya sorry for the long wait, I've been pretty busy in December, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

- - - - -

CHAPTER TWO

You pressed your hands against your eyes, trying to take away the sleepiness from them. You had been sleeping so deeply it took you some time to truly come back to reality and take in the situation. You watched as Sawol slammed the door shut, quickly running to the front of the truck. You could barely see him through the violence of the storm, but the low beam helped cut his silhouette from the dark. You squinted your eyes, trying to see what had made him come to a stop, that’s when you spotted the supposed dead body laying on the ground.

You felt your chest tighten with fear. 

‘’It’s a trap!’’ you screamed at Sawol even though he couldn’t hear you.

The fear took your sleepiness away in an instant. You opened your glove box, grabbed your handgun as fast as you could and quickly threw yourself out of the truck without even taking the time to put on your mask. The panic rushing through your veins barely made you feel the heavy landing your ankles endured. The visibility was horrible, and you cursed yourself for forgetting to at least grab your goggles. The sand was violently slashing at your face, your eyes were burning, uncontrollable tears flying down your cheeks, but you kept running until you could reach Sawol. He had disappeared into the thickness of the storm.

A scream resonated not too far away, your grip on your gun tightened as you raised it in the direction of the noise. Worry was crushing your chest, you felt so close to throwing up. That scream sounded too much like Sawol. Taking a few careful steps towards the scream, you suddenly saw a few shadows appearing through the thickness of the storm.  They seemed to be fighting and it seemed to be five against one, five hunters against your friend. Your running came to a sudden stop when you saw the lone shadow get hit and fall to the ground. 

‘’SAWOL!’’ you screamed, afraid of the worse.

The hunters’s shadow turned in your direction at your shout, but you were already raising your weapon and firing away at them, rage disrupting your usually soft traits. It didn’t take you long to take care of the five shadows, watching them fall rapidly one after the other each time you shot. You had always been an incredible shot, that was your strength. Being a delivery woman, you knew you needed more than to know how to fight with your fist to survive. You were strong, yes, but there would always be a bigger enemy and that’s why you trained more than anyone with every weapon available to you, and guns were your choice of preference, always. 

After observing the lack of movements from the downed hunters, you rushed to Sawol’s immobile body.

You fell to your knees next to him and held his head, calling his name repeatedly. His lack of response was worrying, but after looking for a pulse, you felt your entire body relax with relief. He wasn’t dead, only unconscious. You searched for his wounds, only to find the back of his head bleeding. If he hadn't been a mutant, you would’ve been extremely scared, but having already survived being shot in the head, you felt safe to assume he would be more than fine. 

Taking a deep breath, you grabbed a hold of him and tried to lift him. He was truly heavy and it took you a lot of effort to get yourself as straight as possible. You slowly carried him back to the truck, taking a painful amount of time, as you breathed heavily from the effort it was taking you. Inhaling an insane amount of dust by doing so. 

Getting Sawol’s unconscious body back in the truck took you an awful amount of time. By the time you were done, you could barely breathe. You hadn’t had any clean oxygen in too long, mixed in with the dust, you felt like your lungs were on fire. You weren’t really aware of how you made it back to the hangar, feeling on the verge of passing out any seconds, you uncontrollable fits of cough probably being the only thing keeping you awake. 

As soon as you stopped the truck, you kicked your door open, but couldn’t control your loss of balance due to your weakness and crashed hard on the concrete floor. Your vision was blurry, you felt your name being screamed and strong arms wrapping themself around you. You grabbed onto their shirt, coughing loudly, managing to breath out Sawol’s name before passing out.

- - - - -

5-8’s eyes widened as he caught your truck rushing through the hangar dangerously fast. You brusquely came to halt a few meters from where he had been supposedly cleaning his truck for the last hour, looking for an excuse to wait for your arrival with Sawol. 

Curious of your panicked entrance, 5-8 felt his worry raise. He started walking in your truck’s direction, only to see you falling from your seat and hitting the floor heavily. Panicked, 5-8 ran to your side, yelling your name. He grabbed onto you, lifting your head to face his. The man felt his heart drop at the sight of your wounded face. Your eyes were bloodshot and quite literally crying tears of blood. Your whole face was full of open wounds from the sand slashing at your face, blood bleeding out of your nose as well as surrounding your mouth from all the heavy coughing you had gone through. 

‘’Y/N… Y/N can you hear me?’’

You didn’t answer him immediately and tried, unsuccessfully, to focus your eyes on him. 

‘’Sawol..’’

5-8 had barely heard you by how hoarse your voice sounded, but still understood. He blinked in confusion, suddenly realizing he had forgotten about his young protege at your pitiful sight, he gave a quick glance around him, seeing a few delivery men rushing over.

‘’Kid’s still in the truck, take him to the infirmary.’’ he instructed them. 

They nodded and rushed to Sawol’s side. 5-8 turned his attention back to you, feeling his heart drop when he realized you had fully closed your eyes and looked unconscious. 

“Y/N..? Y/N wake up!”

Tightening his hold around your shoulders, he placed his free arm under your legs and picked you up. 5-8 carefully made his way to the infirmary, keeping a strong hold on you. Your head was pressed against his chest, directly above his heart, making it resonate even louder inside of him. 

A painful moan escaped your lips, you seemed to have gained consciousness again but hadn’t opened your eyes yet. 5-8 was honestly wondering if the loud beating of his heart woke you up. He looked down at you, your face distorted by pain. 5-8 bit his lips and started walking a little faster than before.

‘’Lay her there.’’  4-1 ordered him as he entered the small infirmary. 

He slowly laid you down on a cold metallic table, making sure to carefully put your head down on it. 5-8 barely realized his hands lingering on you, until 4-1 pushed him aside, resulting in a strange coldness on his fingers, already missing the warmth of your touch. He stumbled backwards, anxious by his own inability to be of any help in your recovery. He stared silently at you while 4-1 slid an oxygen mask on your face. A sudden coughing fit took you, making you sit up. 5-8 took a few shy steps towards you, wanting to help, but 4-1 just pushed him out of the room. 

‘’Your staring is annoying and you're in the way, make yourself busy elsewhere. ’’ she said harshly but with a glint of warmth in your eyes. ‘’She’ll be fine.’’

She slammed the door right in front of him, leaving 5-8 feeling extremely confused. He blinked a few times, trying to get his thoughts back in order, and slowly walked back to your truck. The only thing he seemed to be able to do to help in the moment was taking care of your truck. He climbed in and moved it into your designated parking lot. 

Even after being done, 5-8 couldn't seem to be able to remove his hands from the steering wheel. He was gripping it tightly, looking straight into the void in front of him, completely lost in his thoughts. 

What had just happened? 

He gripped his shirt, feeling his blood pumping strongly. 

What were those feelings? 5-8 had always been so calm, had always managed to keep a stable grip on his emotions, keeping him in constant control of his actions. But when he saw you falling off your truck, your face crimson red from all the blood, he just lost it. He didn’t even think of Sawol until you called his name and felt ashamed at the realization. 

There was one thing 5-8 truly hated, and it was to lose his ability to control himself, unconsciously, he had always been aware of your ability to make him lose his calm, and he hated it. This was the main reason why he found you so annoying, why he never wanted to talk or even think about you. This was the foundation of his hatred for you. But he would never admit it, nor what those kinds of feelings might actually mean. 5-8 closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He chased away his thoughts, not enjoying the rush of uncontrollable feelings it brought him and, and regained his usual emotionless state of mind. 

As he opened the door, ready to jump down the truck, his eyes caught on your notes, safely tucked in the door’s net holder. 

Without thinking, 5-8 reached for it, not able to resist the temptation. He opened it carefully, as if it was a precious relic and observed every page, one after the other, without being able to stop himself even though guilt logged itself in his stomach. His curiosity was way stronger. He had dreamed of laying eyes on those notes ever since Sawol had told him about your research. 

5-8 couldn’t believe it, he honestly didn’t know what to think of it. Not really knowing what to do, he closed your notes, putting them back to where they belong. Still in shock, he mindlessly walked back to the infirmary.

His fingers slid across the pages full of charcoal. He liked the feeling, it was rougher than the pages of the books he had scavenged over the years, the paper of your notes were thicker, they felt nice under his touch. He truly understood why you cared so much about this book, yes it was your notes, it was months of your for you, but the book in itself was an antiquity, a precious treasure of forgotten times. Everything was screens now, they didn’t produce paper anymore, and when your pages would be filled, you’d have to look for a new one yourself.

5-8 didn’t know how long he stared at it, flipping through each page one by one. He read every note you wrote, admiring how detailed you were, calculating the percentage of pollution and warmth produced by the sun. He found himself enjoying the small doodles you had made all around. At first they were mostly your equipment and probably the landscape around the rooftop you went to. But then he saw some portraits here and there, mostly you Sawol, which made him smile. Sawol smiling brightly or sleeping on the ground. There were some other delivery men as well as sketches of trucks and some decent looking places in the hangar. When he reached an empty page, 5-8 unconsciously flipped through the rest of the book, making sure he didn’t miss anything else. He stopped himself near the end of your notes seeing a few pages darkened by the brush of your pencil.

He felt his heart skip a beat as he opened the first page filled with drawings hiding at the end of your book. They were all drawings of him, pages filled with frozen moments of his life. He admired himself, painted with a smile on his face, saw himself boxing with a punching bag, cleaning his truck, giving instructions during some of their secret meetings. Many of the drawings were just of his face in many expressions. 5-8 felt warm, incredibly warm. He had difficulty breathing and tried unzipping the top of his vest, barely succeeding from how much his hands were shaking. He had completely forgotten about any precious thoughts of changing the weird feelings he felt towards you into hatred and annoyance. All he could think about right now was his heart beating so loudly he thought it might explode, and the fact that you had been watching him, drawing him. 

- - - - -

Painkillers numbed every part in your body, you didn’t feel much of anything anymore, except for the burning of your eyes and your throat. 4-1 had left some time ago, saying you were fine, but that the sand had irritated your mouth, nose and eyes until they bled, and that your lack of clean oxygen was probably what had made you pass out in the end. There wasn’t much else she could do to help you, only time could heal your wounds now. You had been relieved when she told you Sawol was fine, that he had only passed out from the hit he had received behind the head, but that he’d probably wake up soon. She then had left you alone in the room with his sleeping body. 

You climbed down the table slowly, your head throbbing from pain, and made your way next to Sawol, grabbing a chair and placing it next to his bed. You sat there a while, holding his hand and waiting. 

The infirmary door suddenly opened behind you, making you jump in surprise. Hand pressed against your chest, you took a deep breath when you saw 5-8 standing in the doorway. He had scared the hell out of you. He raised an eyebrow at you, in a quiet request to come in. You nodded in response, not really surprised that 5-8 had come back, he was probably worried about Sawol. 

But you didn’t feel ready to face the man, not when the memory of his strong arms holding and carefully bringing you to the infirmary filled your mind. After seeing him again, your thoughts were uncontrollably filled with him, you remembered his warmth and the feeling of his heart beating against your head.

The more you thought about it, and the more what 4-1 had told you sounded wrong. You hadn’t passed out from the lack of clean oxygen, you had passed from being in 5-8’s arms. Feeling the blood rushing to your cheeks, you turned your attention back to the sleeping beauty next to you, hiding your flustered expression to the man entering the room.

You watched from the corner of your sight as 5-8 walked around Sawol’s table until he stopped near his head. You watched silently as he delicately placed his hand at the top of Sawol’s head and gently caressed his hair. 

“How is he?” 

Your heart skipped a beat upon hearing his deep voice. You lifted your eyes to meet him, but when you opened your mouth to answer him, no sound came out of it, only a hoarse attempt to work ‘’Fine’’. You coughed loudly, and 5-8 quickly interrupted you before you could try again.

“Rest your voice, it’s fine.’’ he reassured you. ‘’It’s probably gonna take a lot more than whatever happened to kill this kid.’’

You felt a chuckle attempting to escape your lips, only to come out as another set of coughs. You groaned, face twisted with pain. 

 5-8 brows furrowed as he looked at you, an unusual warmth in his eyes. 

‘’Sorry…’’ he smiled softly. 

Your eyes widened at the sight, was he smiling… at you?

Feeling your heart beating furiously, you didn’t know what to do nor where to look to try and hide your reddening face. You didn’t know how to deal with this, was he kind to you only because of your state at the moment? This was unusual. You know how to deal with his annoying remarks, you were good at feeling annoyed at him as soon as he addressed you. You were also extremely good at observing him from afar, since the man was annoyingly handsome and quite satisfying to draw. But the moments of calm and joy you observed from him were usually not directed towards you and you didn’t have to deal with that heartstopper of a smile, not like you did at the moment. And you couldn’t help but love the way he softly smiled at you, eyes sparkling with something you couldn’t identify. And you couldn’t help yourself but hope he’d smile at you again and again and again…

You shook your head, trying desperately to chase away  the flush of your cheeks and come back to reality. 5-8 was looking at Sawol, he seemed lost in thoughts as well. You cleared your throat, trying to ignore the pain of doing so. 

‘’I… I’m sorry.’’

You knew those words were yours, but they were said in a voice far from yours, it was strange hearing yourself talk like this, and it definitely did not feel good. 5-8 looked at you confused, the expression on his face clearly asking you for more details.

‘’I-it’s my fau-fault he got hurt. I sh-should’ve be-’’

‘’Stop it…’’ he interrupted you more harshly than he would’ve wanted. ‘’You need to rest your throat.’’

You frowned, wanting to explain yourself, but he continued, surprising you with the softness of his words.

‘’Plus, Sawol is a grown man and a certified Delivery man, he’s more than able to defend himself. It could’ve happen to anyone.’’

5-8 stood up before you could even try to add anything else.  He silently walked to the door, your eyes following him with every step. He opened the door, ready to leave, but stopped himself in his tracks and locked back at you from above his shoulder.

‘’Take some few days off, you need some rest.’’ 

You felt your heart burst into your chest as you watched him rapidly exit the room. you could swear you had seen some colors on his face.

A/N : I really enjoyed writing this chapter, some feelings are starting to show up! Hoping to see you for the next one. Much love!

[ultrakill-ost-showdown]

[quinnwho]

another osu goal