I. Sweet melody

Non-idol!CF!Jung Wooyoung x CF!Fem!Reader

ATEEZ

Five feet apart AU

Word Count: 2k (I know is really short, but I liked where it cut so I’m getting on writing the next one)

Summary: Wooyoung just met an angel, this beautiful almost ethereal girl that lived five rooms away from his, yet, why was she ignoring him that hard?

Warnings: Angsty thoughts, sad and kinda depressed Wooyoung, mentions of insomnia and the CF, hospital setting.

A/N: This was an inspiration hit (didn’t last long btw), hope you enjoy it. And please, if you spot any error, tell me.

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Sleeping was usually hard for Wooyoung, and this is not trying to intend that he doesn’t sleeps, or he dislikes it, all the contrary, he loves sleeping as much as he loves eating and cooking, and he loves it a lot. The thing is that, despite his liking for resting, his illness and himself didn’t allow him to as much as he’d want. There were nights were his mind just wasn’t up to sleep, either the meds causing some insomnia and giving him more energy than what he needed at night or his thoughts making it impossible of him, his ears picking all the sounds around him and holding on tight to them to the point were it was frustrating.

On the other nights when falling asleep wasn’t the challenge, the action of sleeping consistently without any type of disruption seemed to be an even worse for the man. Sometimes being awoken by the alarm of low oxygen levels in his blood at 11 p.m., or his body coughing him awake at 2 a.m. along with a lot of other stuff such as food sickness, headaches or other symptoms his body just turned on while he was fast asleep. Forcing him out of his dreams really constantly.

And tonight, much to his unfortune, it was rather a really annoying mix of both. Being woken up around 11:35 p.m. by some phlegm stuck in his throat causing him to cough in order to breathe again. And then, still drowsy and wanting to go back to sleep, even if his eyes were closed and his body relaxed, he wasn’t able to reconcile with dreaming again, a groan leaving him as he fumbled to his right side, tired.

After some more trying and failing to fall asleep again, the black haired man accepted his defeat against his body, picking up some chatting from outside his room, two male voices from which he recognized one, Doctor Seo Eunkwang’s voice resonated not too far away from his room door, probably from the front desk as he apparently gave an hospital introduction talk to the other male voice, which sounded younger.

He laid down for some more minutes trying to either identify the other voice or fall asleep again like it could be some sort of miracle he could hope for, damn well knowing it wasn’t actually going to happen anytime soon.

Tired of turning around over and over from left to right, feeling uncomfortable in his own bed under the blanket that now crumpled at his feet he felt the need of getting up, his bare feet making contact with the cold tiles of the white floor, eyes wandering around to find his slippers, slowly slipping his feet in once he spot them. The mattress cracked slightly under the shift of his weight as he stood up, stretching his back muscles, his right arm sore of staying on a weird pose while trying to sleep.

Where was Wooyoung going? To explore the hospital. Was it really late for that? Yes. Did he care? Actually no, considering that if he couldn’t sleep the least, he could do was something productive.

Closing the door behind him and putting his mask on over his oxygen cannulas the man was ready to go.

The hospital wing where he stayed at was actually pretty quiet, the furthest from the ER as possible, the only sounds that could be heard were the machines working inside each room muffled by the door along with the casual chatter between the night shift nurses. Walking where his feet guide him to, he spotted Dr. Seo, waving goodbye a man a little taller than him but much younger, probably near Wooyoung’s age, bag in his shoulder and ready to head home.

Right, he was one of those that could leave the hospital and go home, unlike him.

“Is something wrong Wooyoung?” The doctor asked as he spot his new patient.

“No sir, I just couldn’t sleep so I’m going to walk around a bit.”

“Oh sure, be careful of the other CF patients, they tend to walk around too.” He smiled, warning him sweetly as he started walking again towards the elevator. “Goodnight.”

“Mhm. ‘Night.” He waved, his eyes following the older man until he was out of eye reach.

The other CF patients.

All he has heard from the multiple nurses he had talk to was about the other CFs, yet he never spots any of them, almost as if they were a legend, a ghost that haunted him.

“You are the new guy?” Another voice pulled him out of his thought, turning around just to be met by a pair of big dark eyes that smiled at him friendly, the guy that Dr. Seo was talking to.

“Uh, yeah… I’m Wooyoung.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Seonghwa, one of the night shift nurses.” The man said, his mind leaving a bunch of files on the desk besides him.

“Same to you.” He muttered, quickly scanning the man, wanting to pay attention to who he was talking to and who he very much would see every day. He was a bit taller than Wooyoung, but not too tall to stand out for it, his hair was black and a bit wavy as it rested against his forehead, parted in the middle, his eyes were happy and curious, his face quite peculiar, in a good way, giving him an air that reminded Wooyoung of a calm river.

“You look quite young to be a licensed nurse.” He spoke his mind, bringing a chuckle out of the nurse, who nodded along with his words.

“I’ve heard that a lot lately, but I graduated not too long ago, I’m almost 24.” He said, checking occasionally on the monitor for any patient call.

“Alright, I’ll leave you be.” He says, passing the little bag with his little portable oxygen tank through his arm for it to hang in his shoulder. “See you around I guess.”

“See you Wooyoung, I’m going to be here if you need me.” He said, nodding to him as he smiled warmly, not in the pitying type of way other nurses smiled at him on his previous hospital, this smile Seonghwa held was more of the friendly kind, a genuine one.

“Bye.” He said seconds before turning around and keeping up on his walk, hands resting on his sweatpants’ pockets, mind concentrated in analyzing the hospital he now habited, the white walls he would see now daily, mind formulating his new routine.

It wasn’t until he reached the glass walled bridge between his wing and the middle hospital wind that he was able to spot the night outside, the shining lights of the hospital surrounding, big building rising high not too far away, the dark but clear sky allowing the almost full moon to be appreciated by the eye, it may not be much but for Wooyoung, it was enough to put a tiny refreshing smile under his mask.

“I guess it won’t be too bad.” He muttered for himself, eyes scanning the lights until something grabbed his attention, his ears picking some sweet voice humming lowly to a song he could not pinpoint where he heard it before.

It was kind of enchanting for him, his feet moving to where his ears said, following the sound to find the source of it, hearing it from his right, back to his hospital wings and up the stairs, the more he walked the louder the sound got and the more he liked the tune of it. He went up the stairs, not too slow but definitely not fast or harsh enough for his steps to be easily heard.

Bip, bip.

“Fuck.” He couldn’t help but say, checking up on his oxygen tank to see if it was already that low, but the little screen held a pretty noticeable 75%. “Huh? What was that sound then?” He thought to himself, checking his phone to find no notifications.

“Oh shit.” He heard, not noticing until that very moment how the humming had stopped until all he heard was rushed steps, closer and closer to him, almost startling him until, from the top of the set pf stairs he saw a figure, a female figure, who was panting a bit. “Move!” She exclaimed, and who was he not to, so he moved to his side, his hips resting against the railing before she almost sprinted down the set of stairs and got lost, her steps slowly becoming further and further, until he didn’t hear them anymore.

“Well, that was something…” He said to himself, alone again in the staircase, silence ruling now. “Wait, the song…” He started, gaze looking up to the rest of stairs that went up for at least two more stores and then down, action that he repeated a couple of times. “It was her?”

Still, his heart wanted to hear more of the song, so hopeful he kept on the set of stairs, set by set until he reached the door of the rooftop. He maybe could go to the rooftop, but he had forgot his sweater back at his room and didn’t want to catch anything that would make his life harder. How would it feel like wanting to do something and being able to do so without thinking of conditions? Wooyoung did not knew, all he knew was to always have his sickness in mind, his whole world revolving around it even if he spited it.

He surrendered for the night, having no more choice that going back down. Reaching his floor, he looked out to the unexplored wing of the hospital, not finding it in him to go and keep on looking around this new home of his, resigning to just go back to his room, and maybe talk to Seonghwa if he was around. He needed new friends here.

Steps slow and light, hands on his sweatpants’ pockets, mind somewhere far away, unconsciously humming to the sweet melody he heard on the stair case, the melody still fresh in some corner of his memory, replaying over and over again like a broken record player, but he didn’t mind at all, not when it brought such a warm feeling inside of him, contrasting severely with the cold air of the air conditioning the hallway had, skin cold and inside warm, making him feel cozy in his body after quite some months of it.

“You’re back that soon?” Seonghwa asked, spotting the black-haired as he walked out of one of the rooms, some sort of content concern in his features as he closed the door, the cart of supplies guided by his opposite hand.

“Got bored, going to try and sleep a bit more.” He says, nodding to him before walking up to his door. “Goodnight.” He said before opening up and closing behind him, taking his mask off and the oxygen tank, putting it in its place besides his bed. The melody still playing in his mind, gears unable to process anything else.

His back hit he mattress, cold again after his absence, blanket refreshing enough to make him feel comfortable again, snuggling until the blanket sits under his now bare feet, the moment his head hits the pillow he doesn’t feel the same heaviness of insomnia again, a part of him hoping to sleep, and the other having no hope in feeling well rested the moment the morning hits, used to his unintentional routine. He tries closing his eyes, shifting away from the window and the light that came from the outside, maybe he needed curtains.

While recalling his day, he reached his “outing”, the people he met and what he had heard, unable to move forward of the melody in the stairs while not knowing why; slowly and unexpectedly the sweet humming in the back of his mind soothing him to sleep.

Having a good night of sleep was something rare for Jung Wooyoung. But tonight, it apparently didn’t bother him at all, a sweet melody ghosting his ears and a pair of unknown eyes appearing just before dozing off into his hospital bed.

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