#i was debating whether or not to put hongjoong on here | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

atzfilm · 2 years

Text

as the world caves in (m); ten

pairing; hongjoong x reader, mingi x reader, ? x reader

word count; 6.1k

genre/warnings; fantasy-ish, apocalyptic au, angst, fluff, blood(a lot), weapons, miscommunication, bullying, death mention, blood, cutting finger (slightly descriptive), anxiety mention

summary; a mysterious virus has taken over the world, resulting in the undead and the new ‘eden race’ of humans. desperately trying to find your brother jongho with your friends, you stumble across another group in an abandoned hospital tent. strangely, they’re looking for him as well.

previous chapter | next chapter

Chapter 10:

"Ready?" Wooyoung stands at the door, head turned to Hongjoong. They've packed up in no time, only four bags between all of you. You stand, ignoring the shot of pain in your stomach. There's time to complain once you're on the road, far away from this place. You hold the keys between your fingers, debating on how you should approach this. By now, Mingi must have told the others about what happened. Yunho expressed that you are free to leave whenever you like, but with information like this… You're not sure what your standing is with them now. The four of you know too much about them. They could inform other government agents about what transpired here.

Wooyoung grips his shotgun, eyes on the door. "Plan?"

"Get out. If they want to talk, let them talk. But we're leaving today, whether they like it or not," Hongjoong holds a pistol in his hands, knives tucked away in holders on his hips. You have a few on you as well, in case things go sideways. But all of you want to avoid fighting. There's already enough killing going around as it is.

"I should have let him speak," you say after a moment, staring at the door. "I fucked it up, didn't I?"

“If someone ever told me they worked for the government, I’d fuck off out of there too, love. Don’t put this pressure on yourself when it doesn’t need to be there. Now that we know, it’s a strong possibility that they weren’t going to let us go without a fight. Who knows what they wanted with Jongho. It makes sense why they’re so desperate to find him again,” San says softly. He holds his bat, balancing it on his palm. "Don't know what Mingi's plan was when he gave that letter to you, but it's not necessary information anymore. Jongho wrote that letter telling us to high tail out of here. He was with them for five years, I doubt he'd just write that to make shit up. Especially when it comes to family."

Wooyoung’s eyes slide to you, "You alright? You look pale."

You nod, "Fine." Your voice is low. Ignoring the pain in your side will only make things worse, but you want to leave. Staying another night with people who work for the government just isn't an option. Not after everything. "We just need to go."

Hongjoong nods, moving closer to you. Wooyoung glances at all of you before swinging open the door, shotgun aimed outside. He's first to walk out, San close behind. Hongjoong moves when you do, hand hovering but not touching you. Despite everything, you're thankful to have him next to you. You step outside first, stopping immediately once you see what's in front of you.

The four of them stand there. Eyes on Wooyoung’s gun. Their gazes slide to you, Hongjoong moving closer when he sees their line of sight shift. Mingi is the only one not meeting your gaze, standing just behind Yunho. They seem to surround the entrance to the door in a half circle formation. Waiting for the four of you to leave the farmhouse. You grip your knife on your side, eyes narrowing as you meet Yunho’s gaze. He holds his hands up in surrender, eyes flicking to Hongjoong.

“We aren’t here to kill you. You can lower the gun.”

“Not a chance,” Wooyoung scoffs, holding it steady. “I’m not gonna drop my guard for some government agents.”

“Former agents. We aren’t part of them anymore. Haven’t been for a little over four years now. We’ve moved past that point in our lives. If you would just let us explain why we were, and why we gave it up.”

Hongjoong steps forward, blocking your view completely. San lingers back slightly, taking his place next to you. “Why? Why should we let you explain how you were part of the people who killed hundreds of thousands of normal, breathing humans? Why should we pretend to care about anything you say? Your people killed my parents, Yunho. My family. I don’t give a shit about why you joined it and why you didn’t, because that isn’t my problem. What my problem is is all of you blocking our way to the cars.”

“You’re not taking a car,” Seonghwa laughs, shaking his head.

“Hyung,” Yunho says, before looking at all of you. “How about this - you let us explain ourselves, and if it doesn’t match up to your standards, you can take one of the cars and leave. Clean break.” He keeps his hands up in the air, head tilting so that his gaze meets yours. The warmth that you’ve grown accustomed to seeing is still there despite the circumstances. You wonder if it’s always been a façade to keep you there. Are his words true? Will they let any of you go? You ponder for a moment, San rolling his eyes.

“And why should we believe a word you say?” he asks, brow raised. “You’ve lied to us this whole time. Your stories can be just more lies.”

You zone out a bit on their conversation, staring at Mingi behind the rest of them. He keeps his gaze down, avoiding stares from everyone else. The tough exterior that he emits whenever he’s around any of you is dropped at this moment. He seems to be tucked in on himself, arms crossed against his body. His eyes move from the ground, sliding to yours. They widen before softening, nodding slightly.

“Fine,” Hongjoong says, interrupting the moment. “Speak.”

“We aren’t dogs, Hongjoong. We take no commands from you,” Yeosang sneers, eyes narrowing. “If it was my choice you’d be long gone from here.”

“Settle down, all of us,” Yunho interrupts. “I can speak about our position without getting into many details. As you know from Mingi’s confession, we were all part of the military. I was forced into it when this all started, right from my college campus. My faction recruited Eden into our ranks. We weren’t part of the ones that entered homes and destroyed lives. But I did leave for a reason. One of our many tests caused death to a lot of the Eden. I decided that I couldn’t be part of it anymore. That was four years ago. We took over this facility, destroyed it from within with Yeosang’s help.”

“So this isn’t your father’s farm?” You ask, and he shakes his head.

“It is. My father was part of the military. He is the one that converted our farm to this when they came to us just before the meteor hit and told us of what’s to come. He was always filled with pride for his country. Undergoing this task was something decided easily. It later destroyed our family since this was our farm, but that’s besides the point. It was converted, that is why it is so protected. Everything you see around us is preparation from him and the government combined.”

“What about the rest of you? You were forced into this, but the others?”

“We were all forced to join at different points in time,” Seonghwa says. “Our stories aren’t relevant and many are private, but we all came together and decided that we should leave. It was quite humorous, once I think about it, over breakfast one morning. The sergeant in charge of our unit came into the dining hall and told us the upcoming plans of the military. That moment changed us all. We were so delusional into thinking that we were in the right after so long of doing it. That moment, that order to kill every civilian that approached the fence was a shift. It was a reality check. No one in their right mind would do such a thing, especially if they’re not infected. Even now, I mourn the deaths of the Sick. It’s been half a decade so I am sure their souls are long gone, but it is disheartening to see it. I’d rather rot than kill the innocent for seeking isolation and assistance.”

“Kill every civilian…?” Wooyoung curses under his breath. “They’re actually more horrendous than I give them credit for.”

“They are. Jongho knew about a lot of the activities because of his brief stay in military hands. But he never heard of that order because by that point, we were rid of all of the military personnel on this land. He didn’t know about our past. We planned to tell him eventually, but he happened to stumble upon the information himself. That is why he ran away from us. Because he thought that we were going to send him off to the military ourselves. That wasn’t and still isn’t our intention.”

“What is your intention with my brother?” You ask simply.

“We just want to make sure he’s okay,” Mingi finally speaks up, sighing softly. “I knew after that moment he would never trust us again, and I’m fine with that. We didn’t lie to him about our past, but we did walk around the truth. It is our fault that he lost his trust in us. We just want to make sure he hasn’t been found by the military. They want him as badly as you want to see him."

"Why? Why so much emphasis on my brother? Why care about him compared to other Eden?” Your tone is persistent, stepping out from behind San. He moves where you move though, keeping his eyes on the men in front of you. You pay no mind, too angry as you speak. “Everyone wants him, everyone wants my brother but no one can seem to tell me exactly where he is and why they want him. I just… I don’t believe that you want to track him down to make sure he’s safe. I just don’t, Mingi.”

Seonghwa nods slowly, “It wouldn’t make sense because you barely know us. But it’s mostly true. The other part is that he has something that we all need to survive. You, as well.”

“What does he have?”

“The cure,” Yunho says simply. “Your brother has the cure for this illness.”

“You’re fucking with us,” San scoffs, shaking his head. “How can he have the cure?”

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. If you would like us to show you, we can,” Yunho lowers his arms, digging in his back pocket. Wooyoung’s gun follows his movements, even as he takes out a small camera. He gestures to Hongjoong, tossing it to him carefully. He catches it with ease, turning it on.

“This shows everything. Our words don’t do it justice, so if you see for yourselves, you’ll understand.” He takes a step back, gesturing to the others. “Give them space.” They begin to move, but Wooyoung cocks his gun.

“Hey…” San furrows his brows. “Chill, Woo.”

“They move, they can grab a weapon. No chance,” he says, aiming back. “Stay where you are. Hongjoong and y/n can look at the video and tell us if it’s legit.” Hongjoong glances at you, questions in his eyes. You only nod in response, watching closely as he presses play. The video stutters for a moment, before the familiar face appears on the screen. You almost drop the camera, taking it from Hongjoong’s hands, fingers trembling.

“Attempt forty-one,” Jongho says, adjusting the camera. His hair is longer, tucked behind his ears as he stares at the lens. The bags under his eyes were apparent even in the low light. “Last few attempts yielded few results. This is going to be our last attempt for tonight then we’ll resume it later on. Currently, I am in the room with Kang Yeosang, Song Mingi and myself. We will be using my blood this time for a benchmark on how the virus affects it. Our results have not been edited, mostly because this is a shitty camera--”

A snicker behind the camera makes Jongho grin. His eyes flick back to the lens. “And without hyung’s commentary, I will begin.” He holds out the camera, one of the other guys taking it from his hands. He walks over to the petri dish, slicing his finger with a scalpel. He squeezes it tightly, watching as it drops into the sample. He places the sample underneath a microscope, the low hum of the camera zooming in filling the silence.

Jongho peers into the microscope, silent for about a minute. He lets out a low sigh, pulling back and looking at the camera. “Sample number forty-one was unsuccessful-”

“Wait,” Yeosang appears from behind the camera, peering into the scope. “Jongho, you’ve got to be shitting me. Are you-” He moves away from the scope, staring at the sample before peering back in. “Choi, your sample is killing the virus.”

“What?” the camera falls, swears falling from Mingi’s lips as he picks it up again. He moves closer to the sample, all of them surrounding it. Jongho looks into the scope again, eyes widening.

“No fucking way,” he utters, eyes flicking to the camera. “Sample forty-one was a success. It was a success…” He rubs his forehead, shaking it slowly. “What the Hell, what the Hell!”

“I’m getting Seonghwa and Yunho. They need to see this,” Yeosang speeds around the table, a door swinging open in the background. You hear his steps rush up steps in the distance, silence between Mingi and Jongho. Mingi places the camera on the table, the both of them finally coming into frame. Without words exchanged, Mingi embraces Jongho. Your brother is hesitant at first, before he lets his hands wrap around Mingi’s body.

“You did it,” Mingi says softly, pulling away. His hand reaches up, as if he’s going to touch Jongho’s cheek, but he pulls away once his gaze moves to the camera. Mingi backs up, rubbing his hands on his pants as he stares at the sample. “We need to continue to monitor it to make sure it’s permanent, but -”

“There’s a big chance the cure may be me,” Jongho murmurs, eyes widening. “But why? Why me? What’s different about my blood? The government had to have tested Eden against the virus before me. What makes mine different?”

“We can continue to analyze the data and see what changed. It can be the air quality, your diet, any combination of it all that kills the virus. There’s so much to go off of-”

Jongho’s eyes flick to the camera, joyous expression slipping. Without another word, he walks over, turning it off.

You stare at the thumbnail, Jongho's face staring back at you. It's different to see him on camera instead of a photo, to hear his voice again. It's a bit rougher over the years but you can still hear the soft tone of your brother. You want to press play again just to hear him speak, but you know it isn't the right time. So with great hesitancy, you look up from the camera to the others.

Hongjoong's hand covers yours. Right when he touches you, you realize how much you're shaking. You stare at your hands, the trembling going over to his as well. You let him take the camera, passing it over to San as he looks at the others.

"Jongho is the cure." You murmur. Your brother is the cure to all of this. To everything.

"As far as we know, yes. We haven't had the chance to continue our testing because he left soon after. But Jongho is special. His blood has certain compounds that allow him to be resistant to the illness. It can change everything," Yunho says. "But it's his choice in the end whether he wants to use it or not. We won't force his hand either way. As we've said before, we just want to find him. Make sure he's okay. And tell him we aren't who he thinks we are."

"You expect us to drop everything and stay over a five minute video?" Wooyoung asks, brow raised. "It only makes me think that you want him for the cure and nothing else."

"We do want the cure, Wooyoung," Yeosang’s tone is sharp as he speaks. "But every single human does. That's up to no debate. We want to be able to live freely again, to not have to worry about turning into one of the Sick. And we don't want you to leave, at least not without us testing y/n."

"What?" You say, eyes widening. "Testing my blood?"

"You're twins, y/n. There’s a high chance that you can carry it. You might be walking around with the cure like Jongho without even knowing it. If we take a sample just to see –"

"Absolutely not," San interrupts Seonghwa, rolling his eyes. "Who do you guys think you are? We said we're leaving. What part of that do you not understand?"

“And risking the chance that she could have the cure flowing through her veins?” Yunho inquires. “This isn’t going to change our search for Jongho if she has it or not. We’re still going to search for him with or without your help. We just… we want it to end. Who knows how many of us are left free of the sickness. Living like this forever isn’t something that we want. y/n,” Yunho turns to you. The calm, kind look in his eyes is gone. Filled with desperation. Fear. At a complete juxtaposition from what he usually looks like. “I know you want to find your brother. Most of us lost the family we have, and I personally, would give anything to see them again. To save them from the fates that they suffered. Without hesitation. Staying a little longer could save them. Could save people from suffering as long as they have. We could save everyone.”

“It’s not our job to save everyone,” Hongjoong says as you stare at Yunho, at a loss for words. “We’ve lost enough, Yunho. If there’s a slight possibility that her blood is like Jongho’s, if word gets out… she’ll be hunted. Not everyone wants this to end. So many people we’ve come across believe that this shit we’re in is a higher beings plan. And so many just love the thrill of it. There’s so much crap that’ll be thrown at her face. And we don’t trust you, Yunho. Any of you. You can show me all the footage you want and have Jongho on video saying that we should trust you, and we still won’t. How long has he been gone? A few months now? People change in months, Yunho. His words back then could be something completely different now.”

An unreadable expression flicks across Yunho’s face. The others behind him don’t say much, faces empty. You stand there and listen to their words, thinking. This shit, finally being over? You never thought it was a possibility, at least not in your lifetime. There’s too much destruction to fix, too many things that lead to more hurt. But the slightest possibility that it can be over. That you can have a semi-normal life, that the next generations wouldn’t have to suffer what you’ve all been through. It’s a dream. And a few hours ago, it was an unachievable one. You touch your side, still sore. The words that are about to come out of your mouth are going to be completely stupid. Completely and utterly stupid. But just as you’re about to say something, Seonghwa interrupts you.

“We’ve all had lives before this. And there’s a big fucking chance that we won’t survive to see a glimpse of what we had before. I doubt it, to be honest with you. But I want to go back to something like it. It’s exhausting to wake up each day and think about how it may be your last. And I know behind the annoyance in your voice right now, Hongjoong, the chance is still lingering in your mind. We haven’t asked for many chances, but we just hope that you may consider this one.”

It’s a plea. One that you can clearly see, despite the frown on his lips. Although you’ve been around for a short time, you’ve figured him out a little. The anger isn’t exactly what he’s feeling. You look at Wooyoung. His lip twitches when you meet his gaze, eyes flicking to the ground before focusing on the others again. San doesn’t meet your eyes, squeezing your arm slightly. Two no’s. You meet your best friend’s eyes last. You expect him to be the third, but his lip quirks. Yes.

Hongjoong wants to give them a chance. It leaves you stumped.

It’s up to you now. You can either split it up, or say no. You look at the men, until your eyes move to Mingi. He rubs his neck, a red mark painted against his skin. You didn’t notice that before. Not when you were with him. Something isn’t right.

“Will you let us go if I test out my blood?” You ask. San and Wooyoung’s expressions drop at your words. “I give you my blood, you let us go. I don’t stay here for testing, I just give you a few vials and we go. Mingi is the one that draws it, no one else.”

“y/n-”

“We agree,” Mingi speaks up, interrupting Yunho. A flicker of anger crosses Yunho’s face. You say nothing, gripping San’s shirt tightly. “I’ve done it before, I can do it. Then you can go.”

“Thought you said you aren’t holding us here?” San quirks.

“We aren’t,” Mingi says, “Just the blood. That’s all. You go and we go back to normal. We don’t have to see each other again.”

“Perfect,” Hongjoong says, clasping his hands. We’ll wait in the barn. Come get us when you’re ready. Before nightfall, because we’ll be long gone by then.”

Yunho says nothing, turning on his heel and walking off. Yeosang nods at you, following behind him. Seonghwa lingers with Mingi as he stares at you. He opens his mouth to say something, but changes his mind, letting Seonghwa guide him back to the house. You watch them go, anxiety rolling in your chest. You feel San’s finger on top of yours, realizing that you never let go of his arm. He touches your hand softly.

“It’s alright.”

“Yunho did something to Mingi,” you say, looking at your friends. “That red mark on his neck? It wasn’t there before. And we haven’t been standing outside in the sun long enough for him to burn. There’s something going on between them.”

“So called best friends,” Wooyoung lowers his gun, shaking his head. “Should have shot them and ran off. Why did you agree to give them your blood, y/n? They’re agents, they could do anything with that. It’s not wise to do.”

“I know,” you say, rubbing your arm. “That’s why I’m not giving it to them.”

Wooyoung furrows his brows. “But you just said-”

“Why do you think I asked for Mingi to be the only one to draw blood? I’m going to convince him to take it from one of you. They test it, see that it doesn’t work, and we get the fuck out of here,” And find your brother, hopefully. “Maybe convince Mingi to come with us.”

“No,” San says, shaking his head. “Even if we wanted to, Mingi wouldn’t leave them. They’re his family. That’s like me leaving one of you and joining them. There are just some people you can’t save, y/n. No matter how much you want to.”

“It’s just a thought,” you say softly, thinking. “Do you… do you think that I might have the cure? If Jongho does, there’s a strong possibility that I do too.”

“And?” Hongjoong raises his brow. “Are you willing to hand it over to them? We’ve been through a lot of shit, y/n. And especially with them. This whole time that we’ve been here, things have been happening. Yea, there’s the Sick around out there, but something about this place isn’t right. I don’t think any of your DNA should linger around in their labs. Don’t you remember when they went around to our homes? Taking samples of our blood?”

“Jongho was taken soon after that,” you say, swallowing slowly. Maybe they’ve known this whole time. It isn’t too far-fetched, but you don’t let your mind linger on those thoughts. “But they seemed too shocked in the video for it to be faked. They didn’t know about Jongho.”

“Them, yes. But the higher ranks in the military? I wouldn’t put it past them. I’m sure these guys are just looking at the records they left over.” San says, walking back to the barn. “Who’s volunteering in your stead?”

“I will,” Hongjoong says, following San. You slowly follow after them, Wooyoung close to you. “Then we’re gone, right?”

“Right~!” San says from the front, opening the barn door. Hongjoong rolls his eyes at his cheery voice, following close after. You hesitate.

“y/n?”

You look at Wooyoung. You don’t have to meet his eyes to know he’s worried. You smile at him softly. “It’ll be fine.”

“You didn’t answer his question. We’re leaving right after this, right?” he asks you again.

“I hope so, Woo,” you murmur. “I just… I don't have a good feeling about all of this. If Yunho’s willing to hurt Mingi, his best friend… how far is he willing to go to get what he wants? You saw how angry he was when Mingi spoke up before him. He didn’t agree. I don’t think they’re going to let us leave without a fight. And I don’t want anyone hurt, not after what we’ve all been through. I can’t even help the way I would before this stupid shot in my side.”

“It won’t get to that,” he says. “We won’t let it get to that.”

“But you can’t promise that,” you say. “You can’t promise that they’ll let us go.”

“I can’t,” he says simply. “But I will try my best. We’ve gotten this far - a few strangers aren’t going to stop us. We’re too close to finding your brother to give up now. And I’m sure he’s waiting for you to find him as well.” His hand reaches out, steadying you as you walk over small rocks. “We’ve got to try, y/n.”

You nod slowly. Wooyoung is often the one you go to, his calm demeanor often calming your anxiety ridden one. Like before, he’s very straight-forward with his words. It’s comforting when you speak to him. Although at this moment he’s sugar-coating it a bit, he isn’t lying to you. You nudge his arm.

“Think they’ll fall for some strawberry juice as my blood? Maybe peak their interest enough that they’ll wonder why I have the DNA of a fruit?”

Wooyoung snickers, rolling his eyes. “Might not fool Yunho, but I’m sure it’ll stump Yeosang. His thoughts are pretty empty.”

“Don’t be mean!” you laugh. “What do you have against that guy?”

“His face,” he narrows his eyes. “He’s too handsome. One man can’t possibly hold that much power and be mean. Life just isn’t fair.”

“You say that like you’re not handsome, dumbass,” you stumble over a rock, and he holds you upright.

“You think I’m handsome?” Even through these circumstances, he smirks, wiggling his brows. “Round two is always open for you.”

“Can’t believe you’re thinking about sex at a time like this.”

“You started it!”

previous chapter | next chapter

tags: @haechanniesunflowers @kpopnightingale @vanishingboots @moonctae @bangtanxberm @honeysbbae @havetaeminforbreakfast @mirror-juliet @knucklesdeepmingi @captainjoongiekissme @roroswitherose@a1sh1teruu @goldenstarmermaid @meowsannie@atinytease @jenniie-tm (won’t let me tag~) @honeydewjoong (won’t let me tag~)

#fic: atwci #mingi x reader #hongjoong x reader #yeosang x reader #san x reader #wooyoung x reader #yunho x reader #ateez x reader #ateez fanfic

145 notes · View notes

blossom-hwa · 2 years

Text

Paradise |3| - SEONGHWA

A slightly shorter chapter, but it’s all the lead-up to the action >:) please enjoy!!

Banner credits to @blueprint-han!!! <3

Pairing: Seonghwa x gender neutral!reader

Genre: fluff, angst, reincarnation!au, witch!au

Triggers: death, semi-graphic depictions of blood and gore

Word Count: 8.5k

When you die the first time, Seonghwa makes a promise. In a second life, he swears to keep it.

Part 1 >> Part 2 >> Part 3 >> Part 4

Ateez Masterlist

The school looms tall in front of Seonghwa, stone walls and glass windows staring down at his small figure as he walks with Hongjoong through the front doors. If it weren’t for his friend and his sure, confident steps, Seonghwa might have just stood on the steps for hours, debating whether or not to go in at all.

Several staff greet them by name. Seonghwa does his best to respond appropriately all the while not showing the fact that his hands have started shaking like no tomorrow. Hongjoong must realize, though, because he only gives everyone quick smiles before telling them they’re here to see Eden, which gives them the exit that they need. Seonghwa lets Hongjoong lead him down empty hall after empty hall until he stops in front of the familiar door marked with Eden’s name.

Swallowing hard, Seonghwa knocks. He tries to wipe his hands off on his robes – they’re sweating, that’s so gross – but then the door swings open and Eden is there and Seonghwa has to put on a smile and pretend everything is just fine because his teacher is opening his arms and grinning and saying something about ‘favorite students coming back to visit.’

“Don’t lie, your favorite student is Hongjoong,” Seonghwa says lightly, accepting the hug after Hongjoong takes his. “I’m fine with being second favorite.”

“Who said you were even second?” Eden laughs. “I’m just kidding. Come in, both of you. I think we have things to discuss, or you wouldn’t have come off schedule.”

Seonghwa takes a careful seat on the low couch in Eden’s office. Hongjoong gives him a reassuring glance as he sits next to him. Eden pulls up his office chair. “So what is it?”

Hongjoong has to nudge Seonghwa in his side before his mouth unsticks enough for him to speak. “Before…” He swallows. “You said that if I had questions about my… this reincarnation thing, I could come to you.” Eden’s nod encourages him. “I’m trying to figure out why I’ve been born again. I think have some of the pieces now, I just can’t put them all together. So I wanted to tell you what I have and see what you think. At least so far.”

“Of course.” Eden leans forward. “Go on.”

Seonghwa blinks. Tries to steady his breath. It’s Eden, it’s just Eden – Hongjoong took it well enough in the end, so maybe the Goddess Mother will answer his prayers and Eden will as well.

“In school, you taught us about blood witches.” Seonghwa swallows. “In my past life… there was one.”

He’s looking down. Seonghwa doesn’t know when he started looking down instead of into Eden’s eyes, but it’s easier to look at the floor than at the possible expression on his teacher’s face. “I know you taught us that blood magick corrupts inevitably in the end, and maybe that would be true, but the witch I knew was kind. They weren’t corrupted at all. They used their magick for healing potions and never hurt anyone, I know that, they left from their coven and –”

“Seonghwa.” It’s Hongjoong. His voice is easier to hear than Eden’s. “Slow down, okay?”

Seonghwa tries to breathe. Hongjoong’s hand presses warm against his own. It helps. “Sorry.”

Eden doesn’t say anything. Nothing that Seonghwa can hear, anyway. It could just be him trying to gather his thoughts, pick up where he left off in his rambling mess, but even as he opens his mouth to speak, Seonghwa feels a chill begin to settle on his skin, a chill that wasn’t there before.

He keeps going anyway.

“They died.” The words fall from his lips like glass, shattering on the floor. “They died because their coven found them, and I was too late to do anything to save them. And – I think –” He swallows. “I think the way they died has something to do with why I’m still here. Something maybe to do with blood magick or the coven itself –”

“Seonghwa.”

The chill grows colder.

“Are you sure this witch died because their coven found them?”

He snaps his head up. Hongjoong’s hand tightens around his palm. “What?”

Eden meets his eyes with a steadiness that Seonghwa wants to tear off his face. “Do you think they could have been lying to you?”

Lying?

The word spins and spins and spins – it multiplies – it whirls through his mind and bounces off the edges of his skull – it keeps spinning, a whirlwind, and Seonghwa can’t do anything but –

“Lying?” he gasps. “With their dying breath?”

The image of your face, skin ripped and torn, enters Seonghwa’s vision. He blinks, tries to clear it away, reminds himself that it’s not real, it’s not real, he’s living another life and that was in the past. You aren’t here. You aren’t here. You aren’t –

Seonghwa looks up to see red splashed across Eden’s face.

“Blood magick corrupts.” His teacher’s voice echoes tonelessly in Seonghwa’s mind as blood drips down his cheeks, down his nose, into his mouth as he opens it to speak, lips turning cracked and split and bone dry. “You don’t know the truth, Seonghwa. They could have been lying to you.”

It takes Seonghwa everything to tear his eyes from the blood dripping onto the floor around Eden’s feet, the pool growing and spreading towards the tips of Hongjoong’s shoes. Seonghwa’s fingers tighten around Hongjoong’s in a vice grip – something in him feels his friend’s concerned gaze boring into his soul – but before he can force himself to loosen his grip, Eden’s words finally pass through the murky red pools of blood on the floor and Seonghwa’s grip grows even tighter.

Lying.

Lying – like you would ever lie to him, like you’d ever do such a thing to him with your dying breath –

“You weren’t there,” Seonghwa manages. “You weren’t there – they wouldn’t have – Eden, you –”

He can’t breathe. There’s no air in his lungs. He gasps as the blood touches his shoes, begins to flow up, up, coating his ankles, the sticky metal tang sharp in his nose.

It’s not real. It’s not real. Seonghwa gasps again but the iron smell of blood coats his throat and he can’t swallow. It’s not real, he knows it isn’t – if it was real, Hongjoong and Eden would have said something but they don’t seem to notice anything.

Breathe.

Not real.

Breathe.

Not real.

Breathe –

He looks up and instead of seeing Eden’s face, he sees yours. Ripped open and bloody.

Real.

Hongjoong is yelling. Hongjoong is yelling at someone and Seonghwa can’t tell who, can barely remember who’s in the room besides the two of them. But the musings quickly wash away with the sticky blood coating his hands and legs and face and throat and he can’t breathe, he can’t breathe, he can’t breathe –

Everything goes black.

. . .

When Seonghwa’s eyes open, there is blood on his hands.

He doesn’t scream. In fact, he feels resigned, even calm as he stands, wiping his palms on a cloth he seems to have pulled out of nowhere.

His gaze travels almost carelessly to the ground where a body lies, slashes ripped into its back where a knife still sticks out of the skin.

A scream begins to build in Seonghwa’s throat. Just begins. But before it can so much as settle on his tongue, his first life brain takes over and accepts the horror tearing through his heart with ease and he turns away, dropping the bloodstained cloth into a bag at his feet.

With a clinical detachment, Seonghwa looks over his hands, then his torso. He sighs at the bloodstains on his shirt. There’s more blood on his pants, but they were old, anyway. Sooner or later, he’d have to burn them. The shirt, though, was newer. Disappointing.

Some part of his second life brain itches to scream. Just what in the world is going on?

His first life brain just thinks at least I won’t have to worry about getting more blood on my clothes when I pull out the knife.

Pull out the knife?

Pull out –?

Seonghwa kneels down again, wrapping his hand carefully in the longer folds of his sleeve. He barely has enough time to process why before his cloth-wrapped fingers close around the handle of the knife still jutting from the body’s back and pull it out.

The unnatural sensation of dragging a blade out of flesh and bone tingles in Seonghwa’s hand even after it’s been pulled out of the skin.

Blood drips from the knife onto the floor. Seonghwa wipes it off the blade with the towel from before. All the while in the back of his mind he wonders why he doesn’t touch the metal, doesn’t put the knife into an easier position for him to clean it –

His eyes flicker to the body on the ground and the slash marks littering its back. Black lines the edges, as though the wound was burned, and the faint scent of burning flesh lingers in the air.

Oh.

Iron.

He’s holding an iron knife. A knife that burns magick.

Who on earth could first life Seonghwa hate enough to murder someone with one of the deadliest weapons known to magick kind –

One step closer to wiping out the coven, first life Seonghwa thinks.

Oh.

Oh, Goddess –

He killed a blood witch. One of your former coven, he’d guess. He killed a blood witch and did it with ease, without pause, barely flinching at the blood on his skin – there wasn’t even a scratch on his body wrought by the dead man on the floor. He’s done this before. Several times.

Enough that he can simply cross another murder off of his list of those who will pay for your death.

First life Seonghwa finishes polishing the blade and sheathes it at his side. With a last wayward glance at the body on the floor, he leaves.

The vision goes black.

. . .

No one wakes Seonghwa up this time. Rather, he comes to on a small couch, eyes heavy and bleary with realizations from a dream. When he looks down, he half expects to still see blood coating his skin, but there’s nothing. No blood on the floor either, which means he was just hallucinating.

Just hallucinating.

Seonghwa swallows. Hallucination or no, he can still feel the sick sensation of dragging a blade from still-warm flesh in his hands, resonating through his palms. That’s not a hallucination. It’s a memory.

When he looks down again, he can almost see the handle of the knife between his fingers, iron blade flashing in the fading sunlight.

Fading sunlight. Seonghwa blinks and sits up. He and Hongjoong arrived at the school in the early afternoon but the sun is now low in the sky – he’s been out for at least a few hours. They’re still in the school, even if Seonghwa doesn’t recognize where exactly he is…

There’s shouting the next room. Faint, but there.

And one of the voices sounds like Hongjoong.

He stands up and almost immediately falls back down. The walls swim and the floor feels like the ceiling for a second before his vision come back into focus and he’s on the ground on his hands and his knees. He breathes once. Twice. Three times. The next time he stands, the world doesn’t lurch so much beneath his feet.

Slowly, Seonghwa makes his way to the door at the other side of the room. The shouting grows louder the closer he gets – that’s definitely Hongjoong, even if Seonghwa’s brain can’t fully make out the words – and then he’s at the door and his fingers have reached out to grab the doorknob.

The yelling doesn’t stop when he opens the door. It keeps going and only ends when Hongjoong says his name and Seonghwa makes a sound from his throat that somehow cuts through the mess.

Eden and Hongjoong whirl around. Eden looks infuriatingly calm, while Hongjoong looks ready to blow something up. And he very well might have, if Seonghwa hadn’t appeared on time.

“Oh my – Seonghwa.” Hongjoong rushes over. “Are you okay? You just collapsed, and –”

“I’m fine.” Seonghwa offers him a tight smile. “For now.”

“Seonghwa.”

He hears Eden’s voice. He hears it, even if he doesn’t want to acknowledge it. Every instinct in his body fights to turn towards his old teacher, but Seonghwa keeps looking at Hongjoong. “I think we should go now.”

“Seonghwa.” For the first time, Eden’s voice sounds a little frantic. “Seonghwa, I –”

“I don’t know what Hongjoong told you, but it took a lot of courage for me to come here.” Seonghwa speaks to Eden without looking at him, eyes fixed firmly on Hongjoong’s shoulder. “I know what you think of blood witches. I thought the same of them for a very long time because of you. When I finally decided to seek you out, I had hoped you would be more open, or that you would at least listen to me before accusing me – or anyone – of lying.”

Silence.

“You don’t know them. I did.” Seonghwa takes a deep breath. “I can figure this out alone. I think it’s time to go.”

Eden doesn’t say anything as Hongjoong supports Seonghwa on their way out the door.

. . .

“Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Seonghwa stares at the floor. No, he doesn’t, but at the same time…

“There was no blood on the floor.”

Hongjoong blinks. “What?”

“Today, when I…” He waves a hand, trying not to remember the scent of blood clogging his nose and throat, his mind screaming as he spun into unconsciousness. “There was no blood on the floor.”

“No…?” Hongjoong shifts on his bed. “There wasn’t. Blood, I mean. If that’s what you were asking.”

Seonghwa almost laughs at his friend’s confusion. He might laugh, too, if he was on the receiving end of whatever he’s saying. “Remember when I was talking about my dream?”

“The one where they…?”

The one where they died?

He nods. “They – it was their blood.” His voice trembles. “The dreams, the other dreams with blood, the ones that started when San found his witch –”

“Goddess, Hwa.” Before Seonghwa realizes, Hongjoong is settling on his bed, taking Seonghwa’s hands between his even though he usually avoids touch. “That was… that was them?”

Seonghwa nods. Half of him wants to tell Hongjoong to let go lest blood stain his fingers too, but the other half reminds him that the blood wasn’t real and anyway, the touch feels nice. Comforting. Seonghwa lets himself sink a little more into Hongjoong’s grip. “Sometimes I wake up and I expect to see blood on my hands,” he admits, voice bleak. “Today, when Eden started talking…” He tries to breathe. “I saw blood everywhere. On his hands, on the floor, and I knew it couldn’t be real because neither of you reacted but when I looked at him, I saw them and I just –” His voice cracks. “There was blood, Hongjoong. So much blood.”

So much that he can almost smell it now.

“I’m going to kill Eden,” Hongjoong mutters. “I swear –”

“You can’t blame him.” Seonghwa’s heart twists when he admits it, but didn’t he feel the same way when he first found out your magick lay in blood? “But I don’t – I don’t know if I can see him again. At least not for now.”

“Of course,” Hongjoong says immediately. “We’ll leave tomorrow.”

Seonghwa’s heart settles in relief. “Thank you.”

“It’s not a problem, Hwa.” Hongjoong squeezes his hands one more time. “Try to get some sleep before we go, okay?”

Sleep. Seonghwa blinks. Right. That. Unconsciousness where he’ll be forced to dream of –

Oh.

He already dreamed.

“Hongjoong.”

His friend hums. “Hm?”

“When I was out, I had a dream.”

“About what?”

Seonghwa stares at his hands. He can almost feel the weight of the knife in his palm, see the blood flowing down his fingers. Calm. Resigned.

“I killed someone.”

He takes a deep breath.

“And I didn’t regret it.”

. . .

Somehow, even after that terrifying statement about his past self and the conversation that follows after, Seonghwa manages to fall asleep again. Residual exhaustion from his earlier panic attack probably helped.

“Helped” turns out to be a very loose term when Seonghwa finds himself warding off blood magick, sigils flaring all over his body, as he twists and weaves around a woman clearly trying to control his blood from beneath his skin.

And –

Oh, Goddess, the pain. His own body rebelling against him. Blood trying to extricate itself from his skin. Seonghwa keeps moving, keeps going even when it feels like he can’t control his own body, but this blood witch must be weaker than the others because she doesn’t manage to open more than a single cut on him before he steps in and thrusts the blade into her throat.

She falls to the floor. Seonghwa takes a moment to breathe. The tang of blood fills his nose and tastes metallic on his tongue – it’s disgusting – but he can’t even focus on that because if this is how it felt for him to fight the control of a single inexperienced witch, how must it have felt for you, trying to stay alive long enough to speak to him with so many wounds painting your skin?

In the end, your body couldn’t even have been yours, blood tearing itself from your veins under the control of those Seonghwa swore to kill.

His eyes blink awake to gray morning light. No tears paint his face, but his head pounds like he’s been crying all night. Groaning softly, Seonghwa forces himself to sit up in the small bed that creaks beneath his body when he moves. If his dream did anything last night besides give him a killer headache, it only confirmed what he thinks he vowed to do in his past life – to avenge your death by wiping out as much of your former coven as he could.

He almost laughs. What would any of his family or friends think if they knew what his past self had done? Murdered, killed – who would have thought Seonghwa, sweet and gentle Seonghwa, had the instinct for revenge the way he did? They wouldn’t believe it.

Or would they?

Hongjoong did. It took a little bit of explaining, but he did believe Seonghwa committed that murder when they spoke of it last night. Something both rises and drops in Seonghwa’s stomach – he’s glad Hongjoong believed him, but how? And why?

Instinctively, he turns to the other bed across the room. Maybe he’ll ask when Hongjoong wakes up –

The bed is empty, blankets rumpled messily at the end of the mattress. Seonghwa blinks. Since when was Hongjoong already awake?

Doesn’t matter. Maybe he went to find coffee. Seonghwa smiles, almost, as he stands up from his own bed. He can’t have gone too far off, so in the meantime, maybe he’ll tidy up the room a bit before they leave.

The door swings open when he’s almost finished folding the rumpled blanket. Seonghwa looks up. “Oh, Hongjoong –”

The look on his friend’s face speaks of storms and clouds, even as blue sky begins to peek in through the window. Seonghwa frowns. “Joong? What’s wrong?”

“He’s here.”

It takes him a second to figure out what Hongjoong means, but when he does, suddenly the morning light feels cold and Seonghwa wants to hide. In a corner, under the bed, just somewhere so he won’t have to meet Eden face to face. “How?”

“I mean, he knows where we usually stay when we come.” Hongjoong pinches his nose with a sigh. “I went downstairs to check with the owners when the first train leaves and he was there. Wouldn’t let up, so I told him I’d come up and ask you if you’re okay with talking.” He fixes Seonghwa with a glare. “Don’t say yes unless you really want to. He’s the one who hurt you, not the other way around. You don’t owe him anything.”

Seonghwa’s fingers have bunched into the blanket, curling it into his grip until his nails bite into his palms even through a layer of fabric. With effort, he unclenches his hands. “What does he want to say?”

“Apologize.” Hongjoong shrugs. “That’s about all I got from him.”

An apology would be nice. Seonghwa weighs its merits. If Eden truly is apologetic, they could maybe still work together on this – which he kind of needs, since even though he knows more about his past life now than he did yesterday, he still doesn’t know what he’s doing here with a reborn soul. Besides, just because Eden wants to apologize doesn’t mean he has to accept it, right?

“Can you stay in here?” Seonghwa asks. “In case…”

“Of course.” Hongjoong answers without hesitation. “But Hwa, are you sure? You told me yesterday you didn’t think you could see him again, at least not for now.”

“I’d like to try. He hurt me, but I understand it – you do too, right?” Seonghwa tries for a smile. “Besides, we still do need help. At least I do. If he can maybe dig up some information on blood covens or something, it would be useful.”

Hongjoong still looks a little unsure, but he disappears back out of the door and Seonghwa can hear his footsteps receding down the hall. He waits in silence, trying to calm his heart as it pounds faster and faster.

It still feels like his heart is in his throat when a knock sounds at the door and Seonghwa calls out a choked “come in,” but Eden almost looks worse than he feels when he walks through the door, Hongjoong following closely behind. It makes Seonghwa feel a little better in a mean way.

Awkward silence falls. Seonghwa fight the urge to be the one to break it. Hongjoong was right – none of this was his fault, none of it at all. If Eden wanted to talk, he can talk, but Seonghwa wont’ do the talking for him.

But Goddess, it’s awkward.

“I’m sorry.” Eden finally breaks the quiet, lowering his head. “I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday, Seonghwa. I should have listened to you speak before jumping to my own conclusions. I told you before that I would always be there to listen and help if you needed it, but I broke that promise yesterday because of my prejudice. I’m sorry.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Seonghwa watches Hongjoong press his lips together into a thin line. He’s clearly not impressed, but his face looks resigned, which settles Seonghwa’s heart. Eden apologized. It was sincere. He admitted he was wrong, acknowledged the promise that he broke, and doesn’t seem to be fishing for a response. Hongjoong seems to think the same.

“Thank you.” Seonghwa looks at his teacher. “I appreciate you coming here to apologize.”

“Thank you for hearing me out.” Eden shifts his feet. “I understand if you’d like me to leave now, but thank you for agreeing to listen to me first.” He swallows. “It’s more than I did for you.”

“I understand it.” Seonghwa quietly unclenches his fingers from the blanket. “I thought the same way at first. That’s why I never told anyone anything, not even you or Hongjoong – I was trying to work through it myself. But I still need help, now.” He doesn’t look at Hongjoong, who probably won’t be happy with him later. “Are you willing to listen?”

Eden blinks. “Of course.”

“Okay.” Seonghwa carefully keeps his face blank. “Do you know where to find anything about blood covens?”

. . .

Impressively, Eden doesn’t freak out right then and there. He gives Seonghwa enough time to explain that no, he doesn’t plan on joining a coven, he’s still a kitchen witch like he always was before, he just wants to find out more about the coven you were in because he thinks it might have something to do with why he’s here now. He still doesn’t look at Hongjoong, even though he can feel his friend boring holes into the side of his head with his gaze.

Eden takes it all with a nod and a promise to write soon with whatever he can find. He apologizes again, Seonghwa tells him it’s fine, and they part ways amiably if not entirely comfortably at the front of the inn. The tension will fade in time, though, Seonghwa thinks. Or at least hopes.

It takes a month before he gets a letter and not a moment too soon because Seonghwa thinks he might be going insane. The Goddess Mother keeps sending him dreams, blood interspersed with handheld moments and kisses that give him whiplash every night. Some mornings he wakes up feeling the burn of blood magick beneath his skin. On others, he keeps his eyes closed longer to linger in the memories of charging moonwater with you under the stars or sitting together in front of a warm fire, huddled under blankets with your arms wrapped around each other.

Things at home keep him occupied most of the time. Blood magick doesn’t dominate the witch’s life anymore. Yeosang notices the leaves of his plants twitching around them and hypothesizes an affinity for green magick, which they immediately take to. The witch smiles more, not just around San but around everyone, and as the scars fade into thin lines, they learn to speak with a voice louder than a whisper, learn to laugh without hiding it behind a hand. It’s nice to watch them grow more comfortable in Seonghwa’s home.

But he keeps wondering – just what connection do they have with him? With you?

Because there’s no way there isn’t a connection. It can’t just be coincidence how San’s witch almost died and how you actually died, nor the fact that both of you have – well, had, in your case – connections to blood magick, even if San’s witch doesn’t practice it anymore. They nearly died on Seonghwa’s doorstep. If that wasn’t the Goddess Mother sending him a sign, then the dream he had of blood and gore the same day they showed up certainly was.

“What if your witch was reborn too?” Hongjoong asks Seonghwa one day, eyeing the witch reading a book in a corner of the shop. “Ever thought of that?”

He has, many times. But he knows what Hongjoong is implying and knows that what he’s thinking can’t be the case. “I have,” Seonghwa admits. “But even if they might have been reborn, they’re not the same person as San’s witch. I’m sure of that.”

Well, technically he isn’t sure. There’s no way to prove it, not unless you somehow come waltzing into his life like San’s witch did his. But in the same way Seonghwa has always felt those knowing tugs in his stomach when it comes to calla lilies and paradise and forest green, he knows, somehow, that you aren’t here. That the witch San found in the forest, ripped apart and barely breathing, isn’t you.

(Even if they were, Seonghwa wouldn’t say a word. He couldn’t do that to San.)

Hongjoong sees something in Seonghwa’s eyes and thankfully drops the subject, because the witch has just looked up from their book and is smiling uncertainly at the two of them. Seonghwa gives them a quick smile before plucking a few crystals he doesn’t need off the shelves and hurrying Hongjoong somewhere else.

He wants to ask. He really wants to – needs to, probably, if he’s this certain the witch has something to do with him. But Seonghwa hesitates, not least because they’re definitely still traumatized and won’t want to talk. Maybe he’s just putting it off. Maybe he’s just being a coward. But Seonghwa tells himself to wait for Eden’s first letter, at least, before asking the witch.

The letter comes when Hongjoong has gone to the next town over. Seonghwa walks to the post office and has to restrain himself when he receives the envelope, Eden’s seal holding the flaps shut. He all but runs back to the shop, giving a brief thanks to the Goddess that the store has already been closed for the evening, and slits the envelope open. Several sheets of paper lie folded inside.

Seonghwa picks up the first one and begins to read.

Dear Seonghwa,

I’m sorry it took so long for me to send any word, but written histories on blood covens are rare, and many of the sources that exist are riddled with inaccuracies. I didn’t want to give you any false hope or frustration in the meantime. Please forgive me.

That being said, I have found some possible covens that your witch might have been from. They are from varying locations and focus on different areas of blood magick, so some you might discard at a glance. I’ve taken notes on each, which have been enclosed here as well. Let me know if this is helpful – in the meantime, I will try to do more research.

Stay safe and well,

Eden

Carefully, Seonghwa picks up the notes. He unfolds the first, revealing a sheet of paper covered from top to bottom in Eden’s script. Circle of the Twilight Flame is emblazoned at the top, underlined once. Beneath the heading, Seonghwa scans over every bullet, every fragmented sentence Eden wrote. Extremely secretive. Focuses on deadly potions. Rarely uses spells. Power extended over several villages in the neighboring country before an untimely collapse due to divisions within.

It seems plausible. Nothing in it feels strange. But Seonghwa remembers you speaking of hexes, not just potions, and if this coven rarely used spells, then it probably wasn’t yours. He puts the paper aside and picks up the next.

Crescent Coven. He discards that one too. Seonghwa knows the region they apparently had power over, and it doesn’t match with the landscape he’s seen in dreams. It’s not right.

Seonghwa scans each page, discarding paper after paper onto the table nearby. With every sheet of notes he puts down, his heart sinks further and further. Even though there are only eight covens total, Eden clearly put so much time into all of this – the notes are so meticulous and organized, Seonghwa can’t imagine doing this much research in just a few weeks – and Seonghwa doesn’t want it to all go to waste. But even though one or two of the covens seem promising, none of them feel right. Not truly.

Until there are only two papers left in the pile and Seonghwa picks up the first to see Wielders of the Thorn written in bold at the top, words practically burning into his sight.

The next thing he knows, he’s fallen to the floor.

. . .

Seonghwa’s vision is blurry and everything hurts. Everything.

The pain feels familiar, his body ripped open from the inside, torn apart by needles within. But compounded. Not just because wounds gape all over his skin, but also…

Regret. Furious, angry regret at a tiny mistake in watching his back, a mistake that allowed someone to get too close, to send a shard of iron between his shoulder blades that burned, burned enough for him to fall without striking home with his own knife, burned enough to give the last witches time to shout a hex that turned his blood to ashes and fire, smoldering through his veins and then his skin as he screamed and screamed and screamed –

He’s dying. If he isn’t already dead yet. Which he probably isn’t, because he can still feel pain, and didn’t San tell him that touch is one of the last senses to fade upon death? Or was that hearing?

“Smell goes first because it comes with breath. When you stop breathing, you stop being able to smell.”

Seonghwa can’t even smell the metallic tang of blood pouring from his skin.

“Sight is next, when your blood leaves your brain as your heart stops.”

That explains the fuzziness.

“Touch leaves third when blood flow stops.”

Seonghwa thinks a tear might fall when the pain begins to fade – relief, guilty relief that it’s ending, that it won’t hurt so much anymore. Thank Goddess it won’t be here until the end because the pain, the sheer pain of his skin ripping itself apart from the inside…

How did you bear it in the end, bear it enough to give him last words that weren’t a raw scream?

There are tears, definitely, even if he can’t feel them sliding down his face. Relief, yes, but anger, fury, guilt at the relief – you were brave, so brave until the end, swallowing the pain as he could only cry, sob, his tears mixing with the blood on your skin. But – Goddess –

Someone’s talking. Someone’s speaking and Seonghwa can hear it.

“The last sense to go is hearing. Your ears will continue to carry sound to your mind until you are no longer alive to process it.”

You heard him. You had to have heard his last words, the last I love you before you went. Seonghwa doesn’t – no, he can’t believe that the Goddess Mother, the mother who gave him magick, would have ruined that last moment for him and you, made it as though it never happened for you even if it happened for him. You heard him. You had to.

But that’s not important. Not now. Because as Seonghwa lies dying, smell gone, sight gone, pain gone, he hears something. The hiss of a name.

“Make sure Jiyoon is still asleep.”

Seonghwa’s eyes snap open. Tears have soaked into his shirt and the floor feels cold beneath his fallen body. He blinks once, twice, barely registering the darkened shop and the papers scattered on the ground around him because he heard a name.

Jiyoon.

San’s witch refused to go with him until they were as sure as possible he wasn’t related to someone named Jiyoon.

He sits up, wiping the last of the tears away. This isn’t a coincidence. If this is the same Jiyoon, Seonghwa has a problem – and so does San’s witch – because that means this Jiyoon from a coven of blood witches is still alive, still out there, and will most likely try to hunt them down the second he realizes they’re alive too.

Which means Seonghwa can’t put it off anymore. He needs to talk to someone.

Someone staying at San’s cottage.

. . .

San answers the door in a bathrobe, blinking with tired eyes. He was probably getting to bed. “Hwa?”

“Hi.” Seonghwa tries to muster a smile. “Sorry for coming over so late, but – are they home?”

. . .

The witch takes a cup of coffee before sitting down at the kitchen table. Seonghwa refuses the offer for a cup of his own – his mind is racing too fast to deal with the added effects of caffeine – but as he stares at the witch from across the table, he kind of wishes he had a cup just so he could have something to do with his hands other than twist his fingers around each other in some weird, tangled dance.

San isn’t here. Seonghwa had told him it was something he needed to talk to the witch about alone, and he hadn’t complained much, just gone to sleep. He’s going to have questions later, judging by the look in the necromancer’s eyes as he glanced back one more time before leaving the kitchen, but Seonghwa can field those later.

Now, though, he kind of wishes San were still here. Or even Yuna, whom he asked to leave with San before he started talking. A comforting presence who knows just a little about his past life, just that he’s a reborn soul, would help.

But no. Seonghwa’s fingers tighten around each other. Just like most other things, this is something Seonghwa has to work through on his own. Only he knows what’s happening with himself – describing it to others wouldn’t do any of it justice. There’s no way they’d understand.

Even the witch in front of him won’t. Not completely, at least. But they’ll understand more, because they’re a part of his story. A large part.

He just needs to figure out what role they play.

“Seonghwa?” The witch puts down their cup, eyes disturbingly discerning as they stare at him. “You good?”

Goddess. This was so much easier in his head. Maybe he should’ve planned more before coming, waited a little longer… “No, not really.” Seonghwa swallows. “Can I ask you some things about… before? Only if you’re comfortable answering.”

Careful eyes seem to pierce right into his soul. Seonghwa really wishes he had something with which to keep his fingers occupied. “Sure,” they finally say.

He takes a deep breath. “When you underwent your magick training, did you learn anything about reincarnation? Reborn souls?”

Their fingers tighten around their cup, but other than the rigidity, the witch still looks calm. “No,” they reply. “Should I have?”

“No, actually.” Seonghwa sighs. “It’s not a common thing, from what I know. I was taught that it only really happens when someone has left some important unfinished business in their first life, goals unmet like revenge, broken promises… things like that.” He avoids adding love for fear of smelling the metallic tang of blood in the air, your blood, even though that’s physically impossible. “Anyway, um. I’m not saying it’s something you need to know. Even in traditional magick curriculum, there isn’t much of it because it’s such a rare phenomenon, right, and –”

“So what’s wrong, Seonghwa?” the witch asks, cocking their head. “You’re stalling.”

He is. Very much so, just like he did with Eden. Curse San for bringing such a smart witch home. Seonghwa sighs again, fists clenching. “I’m a reborn soul.” A little bit of dumb pride ripples in his chest when his voice only wavers on the last word. “And when you are one of these reincarnations, you get dreams or flashbacks about your past life. I’ve been having them since I was maybe fifteen, sixteen.”

They nod. Silent. Listening. Seonghwa appreciates it, but a part of him almost wishes they were filling the silence with him. It’d make him feel a little less unsure. A little less alone.

He steels himself. You’re the only one who has any semblance of an idea of what’s going on. “In my last life, there was a blood witch.” Seonghwa pushes on, trying to ignore the tiny flinch of the witch sitting in front of him. “They were… kind of like you. I think. Correct me if I’m wrong. They were brought into the coven, forced to learn blood magick, and eventually ran away. Only….” He takes a deep breath. “Their true calling was blood, not like yours is the earth. And no one found them the first time they escaped. Not until much later.”

A narrowing of eyes, a slight nod. Seonghwa forces himself to go on even as his voice begins to shake. “They were not a dark witch,” he says. “Not corrupted. They knew the blood hexes and jinxes that could kill someone – they’d performed them, though not willingly, when they were forced to train – but what they focused on were healing potions.”

The witch’s eyes widen, coffee mug forgotten on the kitchen table. “Healing? With blood magick?”

A vision washes across Seonghwa’s eyes, a vision of ginger root, a silver knife, a drop of blood on his fingers and the slight sting of a cut that you bandaged quickly, scolding him gently to work more carefully. But there’s more to the scene now – he sees the stems of calla lilies lying where you stood, flowers neatly piled by their side, and when you pull away with a smile, you quickly sweep the flowers into a pale pink and purple mass and drop them into the bubbling cauldron nearby.

The vision passes almost as soon as it comes, but it’s enough for Seonghwa to allow himself to smile just slightly. “Yeosang has taught you that calla lilies are poisonous in almost any potion, right?”

“Yes.”

“The few where they aren’t poisonous… those brews use blood magick.” A memory pops into mind, of sitting in a classroom in front of Eden and explaining this on the fly without knowing where or when he came about this knowledge. His smile dims slightly. “Kind of ironic that blood magick can be used for healing, but deadly poisons can counteract each other. It’s a similar sort of thing with deadly magick and a deadly poison, blood magick and calla lilies. They’re very potent – they can bring someone back from near death if administered quickly enough, but these potions are extremely difficult to make.” The words come to his lips easily, like the knowledge has been with him forever – something he must have learned in the lifetime before and only remembered today.

Interest piques in the eyes of the witch. Seonghwa can almost see them filing that information away, jotting it down on a mental piece of paper and sticking it in one of the no doubt many bookshelves crowding their mind. “I see,” is all they say. “So what does this have to do with me? Besides the similarities between our stories.”

Jiyoon. You came here about Jiyoon. Seonghwa swallows. “They died, eventually,” he says, voice low. “The coven found them, and…”

He doesn’t have to say it. The witch’s visceral flinch, one hand rising to touch a scar on their jaw, and the shudder that ripples through the room tell Seonghwa he doesn’t have to describe what happened. So he doesn’t. Even though he still half expects to see blood staining his palms when he looks down.

“I’ve been having dreams. More dreams.” Seonghwa really wishes he had a coffee now, just a warm mug of something to wrap his shaking hands around. “See, I – I cared for them. A lot.” I still do. “And when they died, I think I made a sort of vow, I guess. I tried to wipe out the coven.” He swallows. “I think I got close. But tonight....” He briefly tells them how he visited Eden, how Eden has been doing research and sent the first letter today. “One of the covens he said might match was Wielders of the Thorn.”

The witch sits rigid. Silent. Their eyes have locked onto Seonghwa’s, not allowing him to break contact until he explains every single thing.

“I had a vision.” Seonghwa swallows. “I died. A blood hex.” He can’t suppress the visceral flinch that ripples through his body at the reminder of the pain. “But before then, I heard something. Someone said a name.”

Make sure Jiyoon is still asleep.

Jiyoon. Seonghwa swallows another flinch. “When you came here, there was someone you were trying to avoid at all costs. His name…” He looks up at the witch, waiting for any sign that will tell him not to say the name, that they’re not ready to hear the name again, but there’s nothing. Just the tiniest jerk of a nod.

“It was Jiyoon, wasn’t it?”

Another shudder runs through the room. Seonghwa can physically feel the vibrations of their magick shifting, dissonant, unsettling. He forces his magick not to press back. The last thing the witch needs is someone to cage them in when they probably already feel so vulnerable.

“Yes,” they finally say, voice barely a whisper. The single word reaches Seonghwa through gritted teeth and tight lips. Their fingers clench tightly, so tightly around the mug in their hands that he almost worries the cup might shatter under the force of their grip alone.

“That was the name they said in my dream,” Seonghwa says. Goddess, if this continues, he might accidentally set San’s tablecloth on fire or something. “They said… make sure Jiyoon is still asleep.”

“He was a child?”

“I guess. I didn’t see him.”

Silence falls in the room. The witch drops their gaze down to their coffee, now undoubtedly cold – Seonghwa could warm it up with a charm, but they don’t seem to care. He swallows hard, squeezing his eyes tightly shut against the memories welling up in his vision, hissed whispers and an iron knife sinking into his back before his veins split and blood began to spurt onto the ground –

“It was just me and him.”

Seonghwa blinks. “What?”

“When I was younger, there were more of us.” The witch’s eyes remain blank, but haunted. “But a lot of them were already very old and people were still hunting the coven, so many died before I grew much older. I was young, probably twelve or thirteen when everything – when everything fell apart – I’d already undergone several years of training, but that was… that was child’s play, child’s fucking play compared to what Jiyoon put me through when everyone else was dead.”

“Everyone else?”

“He was insane.” They shake their head. Seonghwa can see their fingers trembling as the vibrations grow stronger. “I remember him telling me one time – he was drunk – that he was glad he did it. He said the way they were teaching was too weak. It wasn’t… it wasn’t allowing us to reach our full potential, or some bullshit like that. But yeah. Most people died of old age, or they were caught by hunters. Some of the students survived because we were better at hiding. But…”

“But?”

“Training killed them.” The witch swallows hard. “I survived... I survived because I was weak. Even Jiyoon realized it was a waste of energy to try and train me as hard as he trained the others, so he mostly kept me around as a... a source of blood.”

A source of blood. Their words echo in Seonghwa’s ears, over and over and over. A source of blood.

Not a human. Not an equal. Not even a student. No, just a resource.

A source of blood.

“I don’t know how I survived it,” they whisper. “But in the end, it was just me and him. Everyone else had died.”

Horror rises in Seonghwa’s throat. “Everyone?” he manages.

“It was a small coven. Thanks to your first life, I guess, but... yes. Given the numbers, it isn’t that surprising.” The tiniest smirk lights on the witch’s face before it disappears. “Jiyoon never talked about why the coven was such a small group, just said that he was going to build it back stronger than ever and I was going to help him on this… quest.” They shudder. “I figured out pretty quickly that trying to force people to become blood witches wasn’t going to work. Jiyoon just thought the people he… coerced, weren’t trying hard enough.”

Seonghwa doesn’t have to guess at what kind of punishment that merited. The haunted look in their eyes, the way they stare at their hands as though they’re some kind of apparition, a phantom limb they can’t believe actually did the things it did, tell him all he needs to know.

The question slips from his mouth before he can take it back. “Did you try hard enough?”

“I don’t know.” The witch stares at the table. “I didn’t perform to his standards, I know that much. Like I said, I was just the source of blood.” Seonghwa shudders. “I don’t know how much of that was because I just couldn’t hurt the people he placed in front of me, or because my true calling is green magick, not blood. Performing blood magick… it hurt. So much. I could do it, even do it well sometimes, but it hurt.”

That makes sense. Every witch has a main calling except eclectics like Hongjoong, who have a hand in several. It’s possible to dabble in other branches, but it becomes extremely difficult when the magick becomes too advanced. Seonghwa has never experienced physical pain on his brief forays into elemental and astral magick, but if someone was forcing themselves to do advanced blood magick, the darkest form of power, he doesn’t doubt that pain would come with it.

They sit in silence for a while. Seonghwa tries to digest the information the witch has just given him, tries to fit it into the narrative his dreams have shown. He imagines they’re trying to do the same with all that he’s told them.

The witch breaks the silence first. “Why did you tell me this?” they ask, looking back up. “You wouldn’t have told me all of this, I think, if there wasn’t a reason.”

They’re right. He wouldn’t. But the problem is, Seonghwa doesn’t exactly know the reason. All he knows is that this witch has some role to play in his second life, has something to do with completing whatever unfinished goal he left in his past. What it is, he’s still trying to figure out – he came here in the hopes that talking would give him some idea, especially because of the witch’s connection to Jiyoon, but there’s something missing, still something missing… why would the Goddess Mother show him that vision?

He looks down and almost screams.

There’s blood on Seonghwa’s hands. Blood, so much blood, staining his palms and fingers and crusting under his nails – his skin is bathed in it, sticky redness that he instinctively knows he can’t wash off, not easily at least –

Fingers appear between his, ghostly, phantom-like, and then your voice speaks.

“They were always going to find me. We knew, Hwa.”

“Seonghwa?”

The blood disappears. A vision.

Seonghwa keeps staring at his hands.

They were always going to find me.

We knew, Hwa.

Goddess.

Oh, Goddess –

We knew.

“Seonghwa!”

His head snaps up, eyes meeting those of the witch now on their feet across from him. “What happened?” they ask, poised for action. “Do you need something?”

Seonghwa’s throat feels scratchy when he tries to use it. He has to cough a few times before it feels smooth enough to speak. “You asked why I told you this,” he says, voice rough. “I think I know why, now.”

Slowly, the witch sits back down. Their fingers immediately wrap around the mug again. “Why?”

He has to force himself to speak, like he doesn’t actually believe what he has to say, but with each word that leaves his mouth, Seonghwa only grows more certain of the truth.

“Jiyoon is going to find you.”

Silence. Blood swims in and out of Seonghwa’s vision. He can almost feel your cold corpse beneath his fingertips, the warmth drained out of your skin – blood soaking his hands and his knees, dripping into the grass around your body.

His voice shakes on the next sentence.

“And when he does, he’s going to try and kill you again.”

If you enjoyed, please don’t forget to reblog and leave a comment to tell me what you thought! Thank you for reading and have a lovely day <3

(1 reblog = 1 prayer that no one gets hurt too badly in the next chapter f)

28 notes · View notes

songmingisthighs · 3 years

Text

[20.50] wooyoung × reader ft. ateez

⇀ how do you win a stupid argument ?

⇁ buckle up, it's best friends!ateez y'all

It was supposed to be a fun night in.

All 8 boys were free of schedule and were beyond sick of their dorms so they decided, without telling you that they were having a sleepover at your apartment until they're sick of it or their manager came dragging them back to their dorm.

Everything was going smoothly at first.

Seonghwa and Hongjoong picked the movies obviously from your netflix which they had been leeching off of, Yunho, Mingi, and San brought snacks, Yeosang and Wooyoung brought drinks, and Jongho brought extra bedding for all of them to crash on.

You guys were 2 movies in before San began whining about needing to go to the toilet but not wanting to miss anything. Seriously, what could you possibly miss from twilight?

So you all decided to take a short break before continuing with your impromptu twilight saga movie marathon. As stupid as it is, you guys were actually enjoying it. Even Jongho.

"(Y/N), we're out of popcorn," Hongjoong called out, breaking your conversation with Mingi as he mindlessly drop the popcorn bowl on your lap, making you glare at him, "I'm not your errand girl, Hongjoong, make the popcorn yourself,"

"Sure, okay," surprisingly, he got up and grab the bowl from your lap. You thought he'd just go and make the popcorn himself, but before he walk to your kitchen, he stood by you while tilting his head, "you have the fire department's number on speed dial, right?"

You narrow your eyes at him, understanding what he meant.

Not really wanting to deal with a burnt down kitchen, you groaned, stood up, and grab the bowl from him, "you're lucky I'm such a nice person," you grumbled.

Hongjoong grinned widely at you, happy that you're abiding to his request.

"Aww, cheer up champ, you know I only ask you because you make the best popcorn," he then slung an arm around your shoulder, "come on, pancake! I'll watch, you cook!" He exclaimed while practically dragging you to the kitchen.

You both passed by San who had just finished his business in the toilet and see Wooyoung getting in.

As you made Hongjoong his popcorn, and the others debate which team they were on, Jacob or Edward, and whether it'd be more efficient to be a vampire or a wolf, but the debate was halted when a loud scream was heard from your bathroom.

You all halt all movements for a split second before rushing to the bathroom to see whether or not Wooyoung is okay. You told Hongjoong to stand by the popcorn as it is about to be done.

You bang the bathroom door 3 times before yelling, "Wooyoung? Wooyoung! Are you okay? What happened, what's wrong!?"

When no sound came from the other side, you were ready to run back to the living room, grab Jongho and told him to break your door open.

But thankfully Wooyoung opened the door before you were able to do anything else.

"Jesus Christ, Jung Wooyoung you scared the living shit out of-"

"Why did you put the tab of your toilet paper over?"

You furrowed your eyebrows at him, "I'm sorry, what?"

Wooyoung pointed at the toilet paper roll that hung on the dispenser by the toilet, "appology accepted, but answer me, why did you put the tab on the outside aka over ?"

"Appology accepte- what? Wooyoung are you okay? Did you hit your head?"

He sighed at you and crossed his arms, "I didn't hit my head, no, but you might have because why would you put your toilet paper in that position? THAT'S WRONG!"

Still not quite getting what his problem is, you just shook your head at him, "I just put it that way because that's how I always do it, what's the big deal?" You answered him before walking away to rejoin the others.

But Wooyoung still wasn't satisfied, "noooooo no no no no no, (Y/N), no," he caught up to you and grab both of your shoulders, "you need to repent, (Y/N), come back to the righteous path," he whined.

You tried shrugging his hands off of you but he kept a firm grip, even staring so deep into your eyes to the point that you kinda feel violated.

"Jung Wooyoung, it's just a toilet paper placement, what the heck is your issue with it?" You asked, starting to get irritated, "my issue is that it's not in the correct position!" "Yes, it is!" "No it's not!"

Finally noticing the commotion between you and Wooyoung, the others turned to you both, "wait, what's happening?" San asked, eyes blinking in confusion.

Wooyoung jab a finger to your shoulder, "little princess here put her toilet paper weird!" He shrieked, making you cringe at the sheer loudness of it, "I did not," you cut yourself off to push his jabbing finger off of you, "put it weird, YOU're the one who put your toilet paper weird,"

You don't know how but you've fallen into the argument. Maybe it's because of Wooyoung's persistence.

"There's nothing weird about putting the tab under! It's more efficient a-"

Before he could say more, Seonghwa had cut him off, "YOU're the one who put the toilet paper like that!?"

Blinking confusedly, Wooyoung just nod at his older member.

Seonghwa groaned and glared at him, "that's so unnatural! I had to reposition it so many times but it kept going back to the previous position, I even blame Hongjoong for that!"

Hongjoong, who was back on his position on the mat with a fresh bowl of popcorn scoffed, "told you it wasn't me, I'm whimsical, not a lunatic,"

"Wait, I don't get it," San piped in, "what toilet paper tab position are we talking about?"

Wooyoung ran back to your toilet to procure a toilet paper roll. He demonstrated which side is over and which side is under.

"Oh, pfft the correct side is under, of course," San said, which earned him a shove to the side by Yeosang, "no, the correct one is over," Yeosang said, which prompted a new debate between them, "why would it be over ? If you put it over then the toilet paper will be contaminated by the bathroom's germs!" "As opposed to the very clean toilet wall? Nice logic, San, where did you get it? The corner mini mart?" "Hey! They're the only one who sell that one chocolate milk from Japan, they're heroes!"

Wooyoung turned his attention back to you, "see? I got San on my side," to which you rolled your eyes and scoffed at him, "really? You're proud of that? I've got Kang Yeosang on my side, he's the one with the braincell," hearing that, made San snap his head towards you for a split second, "hey!" He exclaimed to which both you and Wooyoung ignored.

Jongho casually strolled in and plop himself next to Hongjoong, picking some popcorn from the bowl, "I don't get this stupid argument, why don't you guys just use regular facial tissue?"

That, brought a whole new argument to the table.

Hongjoong was the first to spoke up against him, "Jongho! It's called facial tissue!" Jongho only raised an eyebrow at that, "yeah? So?" "It's for faces! Not for butt wiping!" "Well, if that's the case then toilet paper isn't for butt wiping either!"

"Guys," Yunho called from the corridor, trying to get all of your attention.

But no one was listening to him, too immersed in the argument.

"No, no, see, if not for butt wiping, what would toilet paper be for?" Seonghwa asked Jongho.

Jongho shrugged, "I don't know? Toilet purposes? Wiping hands? It was Hongjoong hyung's logic," he defended himself.

"Guys," Yunho called once more.

Yeosang rolled his eyes at Jongho, "then the name should be hand tissue!" He exclaimed.

San piped in, "that doesn't make any sense? Why would you need tissues just for one specific thing? Things could have double function," Jongho clapped his hands at that, "see? Now that's logic!" "Really? So you agree that toilet paper tabs should be under?" "What? Heck no, over is the way"

Having had had enough of being ignored, and seeing that the argument is nowhere of being done, Yunho took a deep breath and yelled.

"GUYS!!!!!"

It proved to be effective as suddenly everyone was looking at him.

"Mingi got his head stuck on (Y/N)'s barred bedroom window" he said simply.

Hearing that, you immediately ran over to Mingi, Wooyoung following first, "God fucking damn it, Song Mingi! What the heck did you do!?" You yelled which was answered by muffles from your bedroom. Soon everyone followed to help their friend.

And with that, the toilet paper argument was long forgotten.

Or at least, for now.

249 notes · View notes

latte-fairytaekwoon · 3 years

Text

𝑵𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒂𝒊𝒏 (𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊) 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢 (𝐀𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐳)× 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 (𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞)

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭, 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟, 𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭.

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 5.4K

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨. 𝐇𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐡𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐩𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 (𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞), 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐢- 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐧- 𝐆𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐍' 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬/ 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲- 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲

𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @little-precious-baby @yunhoiseyecandy @yunhofingers @brie02 @deja-vux @rvse-miingi @multidreams-and-desires @galaxteez

◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈

Waving enthusiastically at the crowd cheering loudly at the end of their performance, Mingi's eyes were scanning each and every one of the sections in the auditorium. To anyone it would seem as though he was making sure to shine his beautiful and radiant smile to all the adoring fans that came to watch and support him and his members, and yes that was partly why. But it wasn't just that. He had hope as he scanned every face in there. Hope of once again seeing her again. He could hear his own heartbeat pump against his ears, the sound drowning out all the chanting coming from the thousands of fans gathered in there.

Sensing what was going on, one of his members couldn't help but let out a sigh. Leaning in close enough so he could hear him, he whispered in his ear.

"She's not here Mingi."

He expected such words from his best friend, who although with good intentions, seemed to try to ground him back down to earth and inadvertently crush his hopes. But he never took it personally. He knew Yunho was only trying to look out for him and spare him more heartache. Nudging him slightly, the equally tall male swung an arm around Mingi's broad shoulders, plastering on a smile out to the crowd once more as he led them backstage as slowly the members started to walk off the stage as scheduled. Accepting that the night was over, Mingi pulled his face away from the crowd and began walking away. He would have ultimately called it another uneventful concert that ended the same way and just go back to change into his normal clothes and then join the rest of the group back at the hotel to lounge and rest.

But he felt a something strange, pulling and beckoning him to look back at the scatter of people behind him once more. Slowly, he tried his head, unsure of where to look exactly, eyes wandering around aimlessly. Until they spotted what he believed to be a familiar red scarf wrapped around a person's neck, effectively covering up the bottom half of their face while their head had a matching beret that covered their forehead entirely. Although he couldn't see much other than their body frame, he felt his heart swell up, legs unable to move as he stared at the figure. Yunho stopped when he felt Mingi no longer walking behind him. Walking back to him, he put on a smile so as to not act suspicious and began pulling him away.

"Mingi..we have to go."

But Mingi stayed grounded, still scanning the figure he had locked his eyes on. The person began walking away, almost as if they didn't even acknowledge him.

"Wait hold on-"

Just as he was about to run off the stage and follow them, Yunho harshly tugged on his arm and fiercely guided him backstage, waving out towards the people still watching them so as to not arouse suspicion or have them think something was wrong.

"Mingi, it's not her. You always swear it is but it's not."

Yunho didn't mean to sound so aggressive towards his long life friend, but he cared about him too much and didn't want him getting false illusions that would only end up in him getting more hurt than what he already was.

"I know but it's different! Yunho she was wearing the scarf I gave her. I know it was it!" He insisted, anxiously looking towards the door, debating whether or not he could make a dash and catch up to the individual.

Shaking his head, Yunho placed his hands on top of his friend's shoulders.

"Mingi.....there's a million red scarfs out there. And you were too far away. Honestly I think....."

He hesitated before speaking his next words, knowing how sensitive Mingi got with the topic.

"Forget about her."

As if on instinct, Mingi shook his head.

"No! I can't. I promised I'd wait for her and I'm not breaking my word. I'll stay faithful to it until she comes back."

"But what if she doesn't?! It's been over two years Mingi! Face the facts. She's not coming back. Y/N never loved-"

"Don't say that! She did- she does love me! I know she does!"

Yunho took a step back. Seeing Mingi become so agitated and frustrated like that truly terrified him. It was always dangerous to have him get mad or overly worked up. Sensing that he probably startled his friend a little too much, Mingi ran a hand over his dyed blonde hair, a despondent sigh coming out his mouth.

"Hey Yunho I'm sorry..... I think.... I need some air."

After changing into his normal clothes, Mingi didn't get in the van like most of the other guys who just wanted to go relax back at the hotel, nor did he follow Wooyoung or Hongjoong to go check out some of the nearby stores. He simply walked in the opposite direction, mindlessly strolling the streets of the unfamiliar city he was currently in. The slight rumbling of the skies and the subtle scent of dew signaled that it was more than likely going to start pouring rain soon. Even though he was wearing one of his long trenchcoat, the slight breeze that blew across sent tiny chills down his spine, nearly making his teeth chatter.

As if it were a beacon, Mingi stumbled across a small and cozy looking coffee shop. Making sure it was still open, he cheerfully greeted the sweet looking old woman behind the counter, who seemed to brighten up at seeing such a handsome young lad at such an hour. Very calmly and politely, he ordered just a simple caramel cappuccino, which the owner was delighted to whip up for him. Just as he took out his wallet to pay, he had a weird inkling feeling for some reason.

"Uh..... do you perhaps sell hot cocoa?" He inquired nervously.

After getting confirmation that they indeed made hot chocolate, Mingi asked if there was any possible way they could add peppermint to it. He could already feel the judgmental stare about to be given to him as most baristas did with such an unpopular request. Although she seemed surprised by the special addition of peppermint, she didn't hesitate to assure him she'd definitely make it as he liked. Mingi felt so grateful to the kind lady, making sure to leave her a generous tip before taking both of his drinks and going back outside.

Spotting a nearby gazebo, Mingi went over and sat down on one of the benches that were placed underneath the roof of it. Setting the hot mint chocolate down next to him, he sipped his cappuccino slowly, being careful not to burn his tongue on the scorching hot liquid. It had the perfect amount of foam in it, with not too much caramel added in it so the strong espresso could still be made out. Wiping off some of the froth that accidentally got on the tip of his nose, he peered down at the untouched drink next to him. Chuckling dryly to himself, he picked up the cup and scanned it with deep curiosity.

"You always were so different and unique." He mused to himself.

Putting it back down, he began to think it was absolutely silly to have bought it just because of some momentary whim he felt back in the coffee shop.

Or was it nostalgia?

Mingi began to believe it was the latter, especially considering what month it was. After all, it was during this exact same time 2 years ago, on a cold and gloomy November where everything started...

Or perhaps ended?

◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈

Exhausted panting came from all 8 of the sweaty bodies of the males in the room, about half of them were already reaching for their water bottles to gulp down the contents before proceeding to try catching their breath once more. The strict yet kind eyes watching them announced they would be taking a break before saying they'd be rehearsing for another hour or two. Simultaneous groans and protests were elicited by the members, who were already tired from thinking about burning a few more calories with their intense dance sessions.

"Looks like I'm missing the new episode of aot." San dramatically layed on the floor, arms sprawled out.

"I'm calling first dibs on the shower when we get back." Seonghwa declared, not afraid of using his status as the oldest member if it meant getting himself cleaned.

"Aww Hyung! You take showers that are way too long! You'll finish all the hot water like last time." Woow already began nagging, which in turn started another argument between his both of them, with San and Yunho joining in to offer backup if necessary.

Ignoring their pointless bantering, Mingi took the time to call up his girlfriend to let her know. It took quite some time for her to pick up his call, it had actually become a rather recent and constant habit of hers, contrary to before when she'd immediately answer on the second ring.

"What?" Her voice sounded somewhat annoyed and tired, which Mingi guessed had something to do with her work.

"Hey baby, looks like I'm going to be staying late at the company for practice. I'm sorry, I really wanted to spend time with you, but I'm not sure it's possible." He could feel his heart pounding as he began imagining her disappointed and disheartened look.

As expected, he heard her sigh through the other end, a brief pause where he only heard her breathing before she finally spoke up.

"That's fine. I'm going to be pulling extra hours today anyways so....don't be sorry. Maybe it works out in the end."

Mingi noticed how dry and monotone she sounded, as if it didn't really bother her that this would yet be another week where they hardly spoke and spent time together for more than 10 minutes.

"Oh ok....take care then, and remember to eat a snack in between hours ok? I don't want you starving yourself ok baby?"

The girl on the other end of the line didn't need to see him to know he was more than likely pouting at her as usual, always fussing to her about her health.

"Ok. Take care Mingi."

"Y/N!.............."

He bit his lip before saying the next words.

"I- I love you." Although he forced a smile on his face, his voice trembled with fear at saying that.

"I....I know. I gotta go."

Once more, she hung up without repeating those same words back to him. Mingi didn't understand why his girlfriend of forever seemed to be acting strange. Lately she hardly had anything to say, she looked less and less animated each time they video chatted, the dark circles under her eyes were becoming more prominent and judging by the way her cheeks looked a little sunken and clothes looked baggy on her, he fussed she was not eating properly.

But the thing that scared Mingi the most was seeing her soulless eyes. Those eyes that once held the entire stars in them, were now empty and completely void of any emotion. She never initiated any form of physical contact with him, it was always him pulling her into an embrace or placing a kiss on her head, nose or lips, and even when she reciprocated them, they were always cold and almost robotic.

It was starting to terrify him.

"Mingi!"

He nearly dropped his phone when the tiny leader called out to him.

"Break time is over. We gotta start again."

Putting his phone back in his bag he promised himself that even if he left at early dawn, he would go over and see his lover. He just had to.

◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈

Letting out a long and exasperated sigh, Y/N kicked off her heels and left them on the front of the door, her toes aching after all the grueling and arduous hours of both sitting and running up and down floors. Her once neat bun now had various hairs poking out from several places and was now drooping lower than in the morning. She slumped her tired body over to her bedroom, ready to just indulge in a warm shower and then head to bed. But the last thing she expected to see when she turned on the light, was none other than her boyfriend.

"Hey." He waved his hand at her, a soft smile on his lips.

She was momentarily confused with his presence.

"I thought you had practice." She raised an eyebrow, her tone sounding more accusatory than with delight.

"I did...but then I came over here." He explained.

"Why?"

Mingi blinked at her question, stunned that she would even ask why. Getting up from the bed, he slowly walked over to her cautiously. Once he was right in front of her, he reached a hand out to caress her cheek.

"Why? I naturally wanted to see you.....hear you...touch you."

Arms wrapping around her waist, he lowered his face until he pressed a soft kiss to her mildly chapped lips. Although he felt her give in after a while, he could feel that her heart was not in it. Every brush of her lips felt extremely languid and emotionless, even after he had turned a little more desperate and began to trail messy kisses across her jaw, her hands did not move away from her sides, her head only tilting to allow him more access to her skin. Before he could move to pull off her shirt, she stopped him by gripping his wrists.

"If you don't mind I'd like to clean myself off first."

Not even giving him a chance to say anything, she pushed past him and made a beeline to the bathroom. Shutting the door behind her, she leaned her back on it, staring into the floor for a few minutes in a somewhat catatonic state. Taking a deep breath, she slowly removed each one of the articles of clothing on her body, all of them feeling like a heavy weight on her. Ripping the scrunchie off her hair, she tossed it onto the floor so it could join the pile that had already been made in a corner. Sliding the glass door open, she got inside the shower and quickly turned on the water, first the splashes coming out at an almost freezing temperature, which although her body shivered at, she did not shrink away from. Then the water finally adjusted to a more warm temperature, not too hot but warm enough to soothe her sore muscles.

Closing her eyes, she decided to simply bask in the warmth of the water coating her body, shutting off her mind from all the spiraling thoughts that had been clouding her mind for the past weeks, refusing to go away and seemingly taunting her at every hour when she least expected it. She hurt, she was in pain yet there were no physical evidence of it. She could barely eat more than 2 bites of any meal she intook because it suddenly felt too full. At nights, her eyes drooped heavy with sleep, yet her restless mind wouldn't allow her even one full hour of sweet slumber though that's all she wanted.....

She just wanted to fall asleep and hopefully never wake up so as to not feel the pain and emptiness she felt.

So lost was she in the moment that she failed to hear or notice the one individual coming in to join her until she felt familiar hands come to wrap themselves around her waist.

"It's all right love. It's just me." Mingi softly whispered when she gasped lightly at the sudden touch.

Letting her relax under his touch before doing anything else, Mingi's fingers slowly began drawing circles around her hips as he kept his face buried in her neck. Inhaling deeply, he could make out her unique scent that his senses had committed to memory, but could also faintly discern a somewhat different odor that he had never before detected on her before. It was slightly off-putting to him, but he opted for brushing it off. After all, she worked with several people at her job.

Slowly, he began peppering kisses along her shoulder, which seemed to trigger deep and blissful sighs to exude from her nose. His hands moved up to cup around her breasts, kneading at her soft skin while the thumbs grazed over her sensitive nubs in a careful motion. Soft moans poured out from her mouth. Tilting her head back, she reached a hand up to bring her lover's face to hers so she could kiss him. Her moans were now being eaten up by his mouth and tongue as his fingers stroked between her legs, probing at her folds and rubbing at her clit. Pulling apart to catch her breath, Y/N looked up at Mingi with longing and desperation.

"Please....more." She begged at him.

Prying her folds open, he carefully inserted two of his slender and long fingers inside her, her walls practically sucking him in. She felt so tight around him, her walls hugging and clenching all around his fingers. Y/N threw her head back against his shoulder as she began grinding against his hand, savoring as she was finally feeling something, anything in a long time. Her hand had moved to pet at his head, her fingers brushing away his now damp hair in gentle caresses. Wanting to see, feel him more, she removed his hand away from her mound and firmly pressed him towards one of the walls, where she then began to kiss him hungrily and in subtle anguish.

Mingi just allowed her to take control for that moment, his heart lightening up at finally getting some reaction from her. He let her take a hold of his erect cock and pump him slowly as her mouth sucked on several patches of skin on his neck to leave tiny blotches across it. He missed this, he missed being intimate with her and missed having her touch him, not to fulfill any sexual yearning, but to be close to her. He always saw these tender and passionate moments as a display of their love and bond.

Soon the water had been turned off and both of their dripping bodies were fumbling out and landing on top of the bed. Mingi hissed softly as he watched his beautiful girlfriend sink down and his length.

"Fuck. It's been too long."

Sitting up, he wrapped his arms around her, wanting to be as close as possible as he began to roll his hips up. Wanting to take his time, Mingi took one of her supple breasts and stuffed it in his mouth, giving it various light suckles and then adding a few kisses onto it. Y/N began panting and moaning uncontrollably, so many emotions rushing through her all at once. It seemed as if all that time of not feeling anything had left her somewhat numb to emotions that now she was beginning to feel overwhelmed by all the ones that were hitting her now:

Love, lust, passion, anger, fury, agony, guilt, one by one they all crashed into her head and heart. It was becoming too much for her and it began to scare her somewhat. But she didn't want them to stop, she wanted to cling onto those emotions just a little longer, no matter what or how. She hadn't even realized her hands had placed themselves on Mingi's broad shoulders, holding her steady as she began to bounce herself on top of him, slow tears trickling down her cheeks as muffled cries of desperation were being choked back and bitten back by her lips. Her fear of not feeling anymore soon turned to rage, and it was manifesting itself as she fucked herself on her boyfriend, who by now had noticed the change in her mood.

Mingi tried to grip her hips down, but she didn't seem to care and tried to push his hands away. His calling out to her fell upon deaf ears as she swatted his hands, tat were trying to steady her, away. Finally, he firmly held her wrists and kept her from moving as he forced her to look at him.

"Y/N!" He sharply exclaimed, breaking her out of her trance.

Feeling her body starting to shake, Y/N looked away in shame, her eyes threatening to spill out more tears.

"Baby, look at me, what's wrong?" Mingi gently cupped her chin.

Not meaning to be so mean, but Y/N brushed his hand away and began to climb off him.

"I'm sorry.... I'm so sorry."

Getting up, she ransacked her drawer and pulled out some clothes and dressed herself in an inhumane speed.

"Honey, we can talk about it-" Mingi tried to touch her once more but she pulled away once more.

"I don't want to talk about it! Please! I just want to go to bed."

Marching over to the closet, she grabbed some spare pillows and a blanket.

"I'm sleeping on the couch." She firmly stated, not about to let herself be dissuaded from her resolution.

"Y/N, please don't do this. Stop shutting me out."

With one final attempt, Mingi grabbed her shoulder and turned her arousal to face him, eyes intently searching and scanning every inch of her face for a clue as to what was bothering her.

"Talk to me love, you know you can."

Y/N opened her mouth, about to spill what was on her heart, but ultimately decided against it.

"I can't.....I'm sorry. Just please....let me be for now."

Mingi's hands fell to his sides in defeat as he watched the most important person in his life leave him there, alone. He hated this, hated having her become so distant from him. He could feel it in his heart that sooner or later she was going to snap and hurt his heart, probably more than what he was imagining.

But he was ready for that moment.

◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈

Having gotten absolutely no sleep that night, Y/N ended up getting up just hours before the sun was supposed to rise. Making sure to make as little noise as possible, she made sure to bundle up since it was chilly outside. She looked over at the peaceful and sleeping figure of her boyfriend, who was softly letting out subtle snores as his hands clutched around a pillow, holding onto it as if his life depended on it. He could never fully call asleep unless he was holding something, that something always being her. She could make out a faint wet patch on his pillow where his cheek rested, tell tale sign that he had been crying the night before, just as she had done.

With a kiss to his forehead, she left the house and headed out, her destination still unclear. She just walked wherever her legs led her to, whether conscious or unconsciously. There was hardly a soul around to keep her company on that lonely and cold morning walk in the autumn breeze. Her teeth were chattering inside her mouth whenever a rather blunt force of air swooped past her, making her lick her lips as she felt them drying up even more.

Without realizing it she had come across a small and serene park, a trail specifically used for early joggers right in front of her. Following the trail, she kept her head down as she slowly strolled through the immense trees surrounding her. The golden and garnet hued leaves were scattered about all around the semi dead grass, some of it blowing through the air. She paid no attention to them though, she paid no attention at all to her surroundings. She couldn't feel anything anyways, even the cold air was becoming numb to her at this point.

"Mind if I join you?"

She halted in her steps when a low voice spoke from behind her. She didn't need to see him to know who he was.

"How'd you know I was here?" She questioned him without turning around still.

"Lucky guess."

Moving in front of her, Mingi's tall figure loomed over hers, studying her mood which right now seemed apathetic and melancholic. Standing there all quiet for a brief moment, Mingi was the one who decided to break the ice.

"I love you, you know that right?"

Without even batting an eye, Y/N slowly nodded. Expecting that reaction, Mingi chuckled dryly.

"You know it's been a while since I've heard you respond at all to me saying that...."

Once more, she had no expression on her face, hardly even blinking as she stared right through him, almost as if he wasn't there. But she was listening to him, and he knew it too. Brushing some hair behind her ear, Mingi let out a deep sigh.

"Y/N...... I know you're not ok. I don't know how or what it is you're feeling, but I want you to know that I'm here for you. Maybe you should go see a therapist, a doctor, I don't know. We'll find out what's wrong so you-"

"Mingi I don't know what I feel for you anymore."

He felt as if a knife had been plunged at his chest. Although he expected her to say something that would hurt him, he still wasn't fully ready to hear those words.

"Just 2 months ago you said and thought differently. Back then you always told me you loved me and cherished me." He kindly reminded her.

"Maybe feelings change." She bluntly stated.

"Yes they do which is why I don't believe you when you say you don't feel anything for me anymore. I know my Y/N, I know the girl I fell in love with and I know that these past weeks, seeing how you're acting.......that's not you."

She didn't move away when he cupped her cheeks.

"I know you still love me, I can see it in your eyes. Your love is just restrained right now. Just give it time. Trust me."

Choking back tears, Y/N finally made eye contact with him.

"Just end it Mingi. I don't have the heart to do it, so please just end things with me. Don't hold onto me anymore. Move on with your life and find someone who can love you like you deserve to be loved."

Mingi immediately shook his head, that being an option he was not accepting.

"Baby, do you need some time on your own? Some time alone? I can give you that. Maybe that way it'll be good for you to use that time to get help and-"

"Mingi I cheated on you." She confessed.

His body stood frozen in place at her admittance, yet he was not shocked at all. The weird scent he detected on her and the way she sometimes recoiled from his touch as if guilt ate her alive, he always had that thought on the back of his head.

"So you fell in love with someone else?"

Y/N let out a sob.

"No.......absolutely not. It meant nothing and I just did it because I wanted to feel something, anything and he was right there. But that's no excuse and I'm sorry Mingi. I'm sorry I'm not the girlfriend you deserve. You deserve so much better than me. Someone who's not broken, foolish and dead already. So please..."

Her hands came up to hide her face as she began crying like she hadn't done in a long time.

"Just forget about me....."

Even if she didn't want it, Mingi embraced her, holding her tightly as she tearfully spilled her heart and emotions out. His heart ached for her. She was suffering, emotionally and mentally she was in pain and she didn't even want to admit it. He couldn't force her to get help, but he couldn't just leave her like that. It would tear him apart if he did. Stroking her hair, he waited until her sobbing and hyperventilating had calmed down before saying anything.

"Y/N.....you need some time alone. We....need some time alone. And I'm willing to give you as much time as you need to heal. But you have to promise me that you'll get help. It's not fair for you to keep living this way. You deserve to be happy."

Pulling back, he used his thumbs to brush away some of the tears off her cheeks.

"But this doesn't mean I'm ending things nor forgetting about you. This is only a break until you're all better and ready to come back to me."

Y/N stared at him in disbelief.

"Song Mingi, you're an even bigger idiot than I thought you were."

He giggled softly at that.

"I'm an idiot who loves you and will always love you. And this idiot knows you still love me, even if your brain refuses to let you believe it now."

Pressing his forehead against hers, he shut his eyes to keep himself from crying.

"I'll be waiting for you until you come back to me....."

Taking off the red scarf that was hanging on his neck, he wrapped it around her neck and softly padded it on.

I know you'll be back."

◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈

He left her with a final kiss on her lips and watched her walk away, disappearing from his life for about 2 years. Rain had begun to fall then just as it was falling in that moment. Picking up the untouched peppermint hot chocolate and discarding his cappuccino on a nearby trash bin, Mingi stepped out of the gazebo and began walking back to the hotel, not caring about getting soaked in the pouring rain. Perhaps it could help to mask the tears that were beginning to spill out from his eyes. He had never felt his longing for the person he still regarded as his soulmate so dearly as he felt right then and there. He felt as if his oxygen was being caught off, his hope was beginning to dwindle, all the words his friends would often say to him were revolving around his head.

Were they right? Should he stop waiting for her? Was he wrong? Should he just move on?

He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard someone open an umbrella behind him, the person hovering it over him so the rain wouldn't hit him anymore. He felt his heart beating harshly against his chest, some overpowering sensation telling him to turn around, which he slowly began to do. The first thing his eyes caught was the familiar red scarf tied to the person's neck. He recognized it immediately. And when he looked up at the face that was looking back at him, he no longer had any doubts left.

"Y/N...." He whispered out.

Through tears in her eyes, she smiled at him, not a fake nor cold one, but a genuine and heart warming smile, just like the one she had plastered on her face when they first met each other.

"Hey Mingi. How are you?" She asked.

"I...I'm fine. ....how are you?" They both knew what he was referring to.

"I'm a lot better actually. Taking medication still sucks but I'm a lot better and happier now. My therapist has been working with me all this time so...yeah.." She seemed a little awkward talking about it, but Mingi wasn't going to push her.

"I'm glad, I truly am happy for you."

Looking back at the cup in his hand, he held it out to her.

"It's probably not hot anymore, but it's your favorite."

Y/N was surprised that he even had or remembered what her favorite was. Taking a small sip, she couldn't help the tiny grin spreading on her cheeks.

"It's perfect. I never liked it super hot either way."

They both chuckled at that known fact between them. Soon there was another silence between them, and once again it was Mingi who broke it. Brushing some hair away from her face, he stared into her eyes.

"I love you."

Looking up at him, her eyes no longer void nor cold, but instead full of life and love, Y/N answered back.

"I love you too."

Unable to hold himself back, Mingi held her tightly, overwhelmed with emotions as he finally held the love of his life in his arms once more.

"I knew you'd come back to me...."

◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈⊰──────⊱◈◈◈

231 notes · View notes

hongism · 3 years

Text

mists of celeste ➻ 34

➻ pairing: ??? x fem reader ➻ genre: space au, pirate au, space pirate!ateez, angst, smut ➻ Word Count: 6.7k ➻ Rating: M ➻ Warnings: language, violence, guns and weaponry, blood, future warnings tba ➻ summary: Sneaking aboard the ship of a renowned space pirate may not have been the best idea, but you’ll have to make do with what fate has handed to you

⇐ previous | next ⇒ | masterlist

✧✧✧ act five ➻ part one

“Wooyoung.” The voice is soft on your ears, and you revel in the peace it provides while you can, mind bringing the comforting image of San’s feline features without hesitation. Merely the sound of his voice fills your chest with warmth. It’s something that blossoms and spreads throughout your whole body as you begin to slip into consciousness. “Wooyoung, get up. They brought us some food.”

Wooyoung.

A hand clamps down hard on your shoulder. Your eyes open against your will, fluttering lashes that reveal a dimly lit scenery around you. The same scene you saw before with it’s cold, metal walls and rattling chains that rupture with noise every time someone shifts a muscle. It hits at that moment. This is not your body, you are not seeing with your own eyes or hearing with your own ears; you are merely looking through a piece of foggy glass and watching this dream – if it can even be called that – unfold with no control. At first, you had a sliver of control over the body and you moved on your own, but now it’s like you are merely a ghost inhabiting Wooyoung’s body alongside his consciousness.

That lack of control is terrifying, to say the least. Seeing things happen and not being able to help or do anything at all. You felt this fear once before, when you were trapped in prison and watching your team unravel and come apart because of your actions. Now, you are witnessing the repercussions of your identity in a whole new light.

San’s sharp features fill your vision. A hand reaches up between your bodies and cups the man’s cheek, turning his head left and right as your eyes flit over his face in search of something.

“Bruises are worse today.” It’s Wooyoung who speaks, soft and mellifluous tone falling from what should be your lips but isn’t. The entire situation is a bit baffling because you can’t reconcile where your consciousness ends and Wooyoung’s begins.

“I’m fine. They brought us some water. You should use it to clean your cuts before they get infected.”

Wooyoung waves the Spectre’s concern off and shakes his head.

“I’m fine. My knee is the only thing still bothering me. Once they take the chains off I’ll be able to set it properly. Ribs okay today?”

“Peachy,” San murmurs, hand coming up to rub at the mentioned spot subconsciously. “I’ve broken plenty before. This is no different.”

“Except you haven’t had proper treatment. I don’t even know if it’s a stable or transverse or oblique fracture… could even be comminuted for all we know.” Wooyoung lifts a shaky hand to his hand and combs through the charcoal-colored strands with no direct purpose. “I-I don’t know – I don’t know how to treat broken ribs. Yunho didn’t – I never asked him h-how to and I—”

“It’s fine, Wooyoung. I won’t die from a broken rib.”

“And if one of the bone shards is lodged in your lung? Think you can survive a hole there? Just… j-just let me know if anything changes. I don’t know what I can do if you start coughing up blood but I’ll figure something out.”

San is silent for a moment. His gaze shifts to the dirtied floor where thick iron chains weave crude patterns over the tiles. They cling to his wrists and ankles, a bit too loose but not enough for him to slip out of them. Wooyoung bears the same kind along with Mingi off in the corner. The Spectre seems to debate something for a moment before he glances up at the ceiling for a half-second, then he pulls closer to Wooyoung to mutter in his ear.

“They’ve been watching us for days. If we can break the cameras then I can use my abilities to—”

“To what, San?” Wooyoung interrupts. He shakes his head ever so slightly and heaves a deep sigh before speaking again, this time quieter than before. “The second a camera feed goes dead, they’ll send someone here to investigate. Mingi is too weak and injured to fight, you can hardly move or stand up straight with that rib, and what am I going to do? I can’t fight as well at you two, and I certainly can’t defend all of us, not with these chains and not on my own. Besides, the collars you and Mingi have are specially tailored to your class. They’ll restrict your usage of your abilities and you’ll only get hurt worse if you try using them.”

“But we – we have to get back to the others. We don’t know what they did with them or if they were taken too. They could have taken Y/N a-and Yunho and Yeosang. And who knows what happened with Hongjoong in the arena or if Seonghwa and Jongho found him?”

“I’m sure they’re okay.” Wooyoung’s tone remains noncommittal, but there’s something about the way he speaks the words with enough certainty to imply that he knows something San doesn’t. San rubs at the skin under his shackles. His wristband must have been taken because it’s nowhere in sight, and you can only assume that they did the same with Mingi’s as well. “We need to wait for a better opportunity. See where they’re taking us and why. We’ll find the others when we can, but right now… let’s get through this together.”

“Fine, but at least clean the cuts on your arms while you can. Who knows when they’ll bring fresh water by again.”

“Give it to Mingi. His injuries are the worst.” San inhales sharply. His lips part to no doubt deny Wooyoung’s request, but the shorter man levels him with a small shake of his head. “Please, San. I need you to trust me when I say that I will be fine.” Wooyoung glances over to another corner where said Berserker sits with shoulders slumped and head hung. You can’t tell whether he is awake or not, but that doesn’t seem to be important because San manages a hesitant nod then goes to approach the man.

Wooyoung watches San’s back as he walks. It’s careful, calculating, almost vigilant and the moment he decides San is at a far enough distance, he whips around to face the corner. Eyes glare holes into the seam of the wall and floor.

“I know you’re there, Y/N,” he whispers, and if you weren’t practically in his body, you would struggle to hear the words. You can’t even properly panic at his direct acknowledgment of whatever this is — he knows you’re there, whether it’s seeing through his eyes or pushing your subconsciousness alongside his. “I don’t – I don’t have time to explain. They’re transporting us to a different facility today. I think they’re going to separate the three of us into different cells. One of the guards mentioned putting Mingi in a steel cage on his own. I’ll try my best to convince them that we should stay together. I…” Wooyoung pauses, lips darting over his dry and cracked lips. “If they separate us, I w-would be able to explain this better but – listen, Y/N. I know this must be confusing and disorienting for you, but I need you to do two things for me when you wake up. First—”

“Wooyoung!”

Wooyoung cuts his thought short with a sharp hiss and a quickly exhaled curse.

“His fever is getting worse.”

“Fuck,” Wooyoung mutters, turning back around and rushing over to where San kneels beside Mingi’s hunched form. He brings a hand to Mingi’s forehead, brushing the damp hair there back so he can have better access, and even you can feel the heat emanating from the Berserker’s skin. Wooyoung withdraws his hand quickly and reaches down for the hem of his shirt. “Get the water for me, I need to make a rag of some sort to put on his head.”

Wooyoung yanks at his shirt, ripping it along one of the side seams and tearing all the way to the other side of his waist. San moves behind him in a rush to get the water as Wooyoung bunches up the wad of torn clothing.

“Mingi, can you hear me?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you mention the fever earlier?”

“Didn’t wanna worry you both.”

“Ah, Mingi…” Wooyoung sighs. San comes up on his side and delivers a glass of water into one of Wooyoung’s waiting hands. “I need you to lie down flat on your back. We’ll put this on your forehead for now, and I’ll look over your stomach again, okay?” Wooyoung dunks his makeshift rag into the cup, soaking it thoroughly while San reaches forward to tug Mingi’s shirt up to his sternum. The moment Wooyoung’s eyes flit over to glance at the newly-exposed skin, you are overwhelmed by the urge to vomit.

Right beside Mingi’s left hip, nestled close to the band of his pants and almost as long as a small blade, lies a broad cut. The skin around it is swollen and angry, holding a yellowish tint to it that you can see in the lowlight of the room. It is wide open, and the stretch of Mingi’s taut skin does nothing to keep the wound sealed shut. You don’t need to be a doctor to realize exactly how bad the cut is. San and Wooyoung exchange a nervous glance, and the worry in San’s eyes is so palpable and thick that it nearly chokes you. Wooyoung’s hands tremble as he eases Mingi onto his back. Water splashes over the floor, and Wooyoung nearly drops the rag in his efforts to calmly place it over Mingi’s damp forehead.

“Woo—”

“I know! I know it’s bad! Okay? L-Let me think this through.” Wooyoung sits back on his heels, tongue swiping over his lower lip. “Mingi needs rest right now. We can’t do anything without supplies a-and we need to just hope that they won’t let him die.”

“And if they don’t care?” San questions. He clamps a hand down hard on Wooyoung’s shoulder and pulls the man to face him head-on. “We don’t even know why they took us, let alone what they plan to do with us!”

“Yeah, well, quit looking at me like I have all the answers! If they wanted us dead, they would have killed us by now. There’s no way they would go through all this trouble to just let us die before we even get to our destination.” San’s hand falls away from Wooyoung as the Spectre sits back as well, eyes glued to Mingi’s reclining form. “It’s the middle of the night, San. I’m sure they’re planning something for the morning if they’re giving us food this late so let’s hold out a little while longer. Get some rest, I’ll watch over Mingi for a bit and make sure he can sleep okay.”

San pulls further away from Wooyoung at that, relenting in his arguments to return to his corner of the all too small room, and Wooyoung watches him go with lips pressed into a thin line. He doesn’t stop staring at the man until San is curled into the corner with his eyes shut. A sigh passes through Wooyoung’s lips as he turns back to Mingi, one hand stretching out to smooth down the Berserker’s hair.

“You comfortable, Mingi?” He asks. Several seconds pass in silence, and the only sounds that can be heard in the room are the steady and raspy breaths falling from the Berserker’s lips. “Hm, I’ll take that as a yes.” Wooyoung lets a couple more minutes go by without saying a word or making a sound, and it’s only when he seems confident that both San and Mingi are asleep that he speaks again. “Y/N, when you wake up, tell Seonghwa that the moon is shining over cold waters. I know it sounds weird, but he’ll know what it means. A-And Yeosang. Please tell him that I’m okay and he doesn’t need to worry. Then give him the same message as Seonghwa, okay? He’ll… he knows what’s going on b-between us, this whole connection, all of it. He can explain it to you for me. I would – I would do it but I can’t risk Mingi or San overhearing this. It’s already risky enough like this. I’m gonna send you back now before one of them starts asking questions.”

Something cold blossoms in your chest, like someone is trying to claw their way out of you and rip you apart from the inside out.

“Look after Yeosang while I’m gone, Y/N. I won’t forgive myself if something happens to him and I’m not there.” That’s the last thing you manage to hear before shadowy tendrils snake across your vision and bring you back into pitch-black darkness.

You wake up with a start, jerking back into full consciousness in your own body, and you jolt upwards into a sitting position. Everything burns and aches. Sweat beads your brow, slick down your back as well even though the room is cold. Of course it’s only a dream, a weird premonition that plagues you every time you lie down to sleep at night. It has been three days since that day in the arena, the one where three of the crew were stolen away from under your noses, and these dreams have become incessant in their persistence. This one was a first though: the first time Wooyoung has ever acknowledged your presence and spoken to you the way he did, and no matter how much you try to rack your brain, you still cannot get it to make even an ounce of sense.

The right side of the bed remains cold to the touch. It’s a familiarity, yet at the same time, it burns a hole deep in your chest which will linger for hours on end. Seonghwa hasn’t left Hongjoong’s bedside in days. He refuses to look you in the eye when you two are in each other’s presence. You can’t pretend that you don’t understand why because it’s blatantly obvious given that it started the day you met with Jisung and had that emotionally-charged conversation afterward. Yeosang won’t leave the room he’s staying in, and Jongho stays with him for hours on end just to try to ease some of his broken emotional state. Yunho is the only person who tries to maintain a sense of normalcy, but even so, he can’t do much. You have yet to hear a true apology fall from his lips, and until he gives you that much, you are content to greet him with a cold shoulder as petty as it might sound.

As for Jisung, you haven’t heard anyone breathe a word about him in days. You are positive that Seonghwa is going to meet him during the day at some point because the man will disappear for one or two hours then visit Yeosang for the same amount of time before returning to his incessant vigil at Hongjoong’s bedside.

You positively despise everything about the situation you all have been thrust into, and at the forefront of it all are these damn dreams. It almost seems as though the universe is trying to punish you for being the reason why the others were taken – San and Wooyoung, more specifically – because why else would you see through Wooyoung’s eyes and see the direct results of your mistakes. Even a cold shoulder doesn’t do anything to ease your worries, and thus you push your way into the room across the hall with a new sense of determination. You don’t stop until you reach your intended destination, lingering beside Seonghwa’s shoulder where he kneels at the side of Hongjoong’s cot. He shifts his chin to the slightest degree as he look at you out of the corner of his eye.

“Did you sleep okay?”

You aren’t sure what your plan was when you decided to come to Seonghwa. You haven’t thought about what you want to say or should say, but it seems a bit odd to lead with something like ‘every time I go to sleep I wake up in Wooyoung’s body and see through his eyes’ so you can’t very well start with that. The issue is that you don’t even know where to start with this conversation or what to say.

“Um…” You trail off, thought dying in the back of your throat. Seonghwa twists to look at you more directly now.

“Y/N?”

“T-The moon—” you cut yourself short, tongue darting out to wet your lips. “The moon is shining over cold waters?”

It doesn’t process right away. The man blinks back at you with confusion shining in his bright and round eyes, and you are ready to backtrack and tell him not to worry about it. Then, Seonghwa’s expression goes flat, color drains from his features, and his mouth falls agape. He jerks his head forward to stare at Hongjoong’s unconscious body, eyes darting all over the place, while you can do nothing except stand there and wait.

“Who – how do you… god, hold on.” Seonghwa squeezes his eyes shut so tightly that it hurts to look at. He brings a hand up to rub at the spot between his eyes, lips barely moving a centimeter when he speaks next. “Where did you hear that?”

“Wooyoung asked me to tell you that,” you whisper back. It’s utterly illogical since the two of you are alone in the room and Hongjoong isn’t awake, but you’re afraid to speak any louder than that, like you’re divulging a secret for just the two of you to hear.

“Wooyoung. When did he—”

“Last night.” Seonghwa lifts his chin.

“How?”

“I-I don’t know how to – to explain it. He told me to deliver that message to you and to Yeosang as well.”

“That… that explains why I couldn’t find you last night,” Seonghwa murmurs the words under his breath, and you’re almost certain that he isn’t intending them to be for your ears until he jerks his head to look you in the eye. “Daichi knew where you were but said he couldn’t tell me.”

Ah, so he was in the Dreamscape last night. Waiting and looking for you. While you were off inhabiting Wooyoung’s body and living in his consciousness. Then does he not know?

“You mean you didn’t – you weren’t there?” You inquire, tone a lot less confident all of a sudden.

“Where, Y/N?” Seonghwa pushes himself to his feet and stands at his full height, looming over you a little bit as he moves to stand in front of you. “What exactly did you see last night?”

“What is Wooyoung?” You ask rather than answering his question. Seonghwa tilts his head to the side a bit and looks off to the wall behind you. He inhales sharply, tongue dragging over the front of his teeth, and his hesitance tells you all you need to know. “Seonghwa.”

“We need to go to Yeosang,” Seonghwa says after several deep breaths of silence. He reaches down to grab your wrist, fingers nearly closing around your skin when you yank your arm back in defiance.

“You’re just – no! Why can’t you tell me what he is?”

“I don’t even know what you saw last night or what you mean by he told you to deliver a message. It is impossible for that to happen. Even if he is a — it’s impossible.”

“Is he a Si—”

A hand clamps hard over your mouth, Seonghwa’s other hand flying up to cradle the back of your neck as you jerk backward, and you blink at the man in utter shock. He doesn’t look back at you, however; his eyes are glued on Hongjoong’s reclining form, eyes so wide that you think they could bulge out of his head. He watches the steady rise and fall of Hongjoong’s chest go undisturbed for two, five, fifteen seconds before letting his hand drop back to his side.

“Not here,” he hisses under his breath, and for the first time, you hear him speak directly to you with a certain sense of vehemence in his tone. “Y/N, please.” You manage a small nod, unsure of what else there is for you to say, and Seonghwa takes hold of your hand again, this time letting his fingers slip through yours. You don’t know what comes over you in that moment; perhaps it is simply a leftover sense of bitterness that bubbles deep in your gut.

“Yet if this is what you truly want… if you have a chance to rest peacefully at last with someone you love, who am I to deprive you of that? That is all I could ever want for you.”

You tug your hand out of Seonghwa’s grasp, pulling it close to your chest as you turn around and head back towards the door. Turning around now would be a mistake; you can’t bring yourself to think about the expression of pain that surely crosses his features.

“I’m sorry. I would do anything for you, but I cannot force you to stay. That is the one thing I cannot bring myself to do.”

There is so much left unsaid between you two right now, so much you want to say but can’t, and you know that it will probably be the way for quite some time. You would rather run from this than face it head-on and look Seonghwa in the eye to tell him that you need him to make you stay because the guilt that eats away at your gut won’t let you stay otherwise. You don’t stop to see whether Seonghwa is following you, but you don’t really need to because you can hear the soft shuffling of his footsteps trailing after you as you step out of the room and into the hall. The air around you is too stiff and quiet. The silence brings the starkly haunting image of the cell San, Mingi, and Wooyoung are trapped in to mind.

You wait beside the door as Seonghwa knocks on the wood and calls out softly to Yeosang inside. When it cracks open, you expect to see the blond standing in the doorway; rather, it’s red eyes and dark hair that greet you, and you make brief eye contact with Jongho before he redirects his focus to Seonghwa.

“Need me to step out?”

“Yeah, you can go downstairs and eat with Yunho. He should still be down there.”

Jongho nods twice then glances back over his shoulder. He says nothing more as he steps out of the room and replaces Seonghwa’s spot in the hallway. You’re about to follow the lieutenant in when Jongho lands a hand on your arm, squeezing tightly at your forearm and pulling your focus towards him for a moment.

“How are you holding up?”

“…Could be better,” you murmur back.

“We’ll get them back soon.” Jongho sounds so confident, and you can hardly feed into that confidence yourself thanks to the turmoil rushing through your mind without cease.

“Yeah, I’m sure we will,” you lie, pressing a smile onto your lips if only to reassure the Berserker. Whether he believes you or not remains to be seen. He steps away and continues on down the hall, however, so you can escape his scrutiny for the time being and follow Seonghwa into Yeosang’s room.

The first thing to hit you is the darkness of the room. All the lights are turned off save for a lamp beside the bed and the soft morning light filtering in through the window. Yeosang sits in front of the fogged glass with his back to the door, illuminated by the pale light. In this atmosphere, you can truly see his princely features and it makes perfect sense how he could have been a prince in the past with the sharp angles of his jaw, even slope of his nose, blond hair falling in soft waves around his head and resting flat against the back of his neck. If you didn’t know how cruel he could be, you would dare to say he looks almost angelic with the sun’s rays hitting his hair and reflecting off it in soft halos.

“Yeosang,” Seonghwa starts, tone hovering above a whisper.

“More plans from the double agent today?” Double agent? You don’t realize what he means by that until Seonghwa clears his throat and drops his chin to his chest. Jisung.

“No, there’s something else we need to discuss.” Seonghwa shifts to look at you, and it’s only after he gives you a small nod that you realize what he wants. It’s on you to bring up the topic of Wooyoung, to deliver the message he gave you, and to start this conversation. Yeosang swivels in his seat as slowly as possible. You choke on air when he looks directly at you, not even bothering to spare Seonghwa an ounce of his attention once he notices you are in the room as well.

“Wooyoung asked me to tell you th-that he’s okay and you d-don’t need to worry,” you whisper. It’s hard to meet Yeosang’s intense stare, and you regret it when you do because of the sheer lack of emotion in his dark eyes.

“Wooyoung asked you to tell me that. Right.” Accusatory, cold, disbelieving. How the fuck are you supposed to get this man to believe what you witnessed with some weird string of words that he’s supposed to know the meaning of? “Do you take me to be an idiot, Y/N? Why the hell would I ever believe something as ridiculous and inconceivable as that? Don’t tell me you believe her, Seonghwa.”

“You should just — the moon is shining over cold waters,” you sigh, squeezing your eyes shut to hide your frustration.

“Where did you hear that?” There’s a shift, wood scraping hard against wood, and all of a sudden, you’re forced to open your eyes because the man is in your face with hands clenched so hard around your biceps that you can feel the bruises forming already.

“Yeosang,” Seonghwa warns. He takes a step closer to the two of you.

“Where the fuck did you hear that?” Yeosang demands, louder this time as he presses so close to you that his breath cascades over your face.

“Wooyoung told me to tell you that,” you spit back. You shrug his hands off you with a quick jerk of your shoulders, stepping back a bit to put some distance between your bodies. “Because for some fucking reason, I can’t go to sleep at night without waking up in his fucking body and seeing through his eyes with zero control or ability to do anything for myself like I’m some backseat driver in his consciousness while I watch him spend hours trapped in a cell with San and Mingi until he either falls asleep or ‘decides to send me back’, whatever the fuck that means!”

“What?” Seonghwa exhales, head whipping so hard you could get whiplash just from watching him. “Y/N, what did you say? I thought — you mean you didn’t go to the Dre— you didn’t see him there?” You’re acutely aware of the way Yeosang’s eyes flit from Seonghwa’s body to yours, cold and calculating as ever, but something in his features expresses a pre-existing knowledge, like he knows exactly what Seonghwa is talking about with needing an explanation. It sends shockwaves of panic through your body. You can’t stand the way he’s staring at you; it feels too much like he is picking you apart piece by piece.

“W-What? What the fuck are you saying?”

“Oh, cut the damn act, Y/N. I know what you are.”

Both you and Seonghwa reel on Yeosang, and your vision spins with the haste at which you move. He huffs out a laugh, lips twisting at one corner as he grins at you with a sense of cruelty to his gaze.

“If you’re going to pretend to be something, you ought to do a better job, especially seeing as I’m the only true Elitist on the crew. I don’t know who you thought you were fooling, but even if Wooyoung hadn’t told me what you are, I would have known regardless.”

“W-Wooyoung? Wooyoung told you what I am?” You stammer, eyes as wide as saucers. “How did he know?” Your eyes go directly to Seonghwa, and you search for answers in the man, or at least some indication that he was the one to tell Wooyoung about your identity but he shakes his head. Given the shock on his features as well, you’re inclined to believe that he truly had nothing to do with Wooyoung knowing.

“Did he not tell you anything? Not even about the meaning of that phrase he gave you? How typical of him to get sidetracked.” Some of the hostility slips away from Yeosang’s tone at the mention of Wooyoung in such a way, and he shakes his head a bit.

“He said he couldn’t explain because Mingi and San could overhear. But I still don’t understand what’s going on or why this is happening. Why didn’t this happen with the two of us?” You direct the question to Seonghwa, hoping for some sort of answers from the man given his previous knowledge about Sirens, but what you get instead is disappointment and confusion.

“I’ve never even heard of such a thing happening, never read about it, or seen any sort of legend talking about this type of connection,” Seonghwa says through a sigh. “Yes, Wooyoung is a Siren just as we are, and while I had my suspicions about your identity as one, he is the one who came to me and confirmed it because… because he had a dream of sitting in a black lake with a red moon and seeing your reflection in the water instead of his. I didn’t know what it meant back then, and I don’t know now.”

“W-When?” You can’t recall a time when Wooyoung was ever in your body or if you even realized that he was there.

“Right after you came onto the ship. In the first four days you were hiding in that box, Wooyoung came to me saying that he saw a girl’s face in the water, and when I asked him to describe her features, I instantly knew it was the one who I ran into outside the airlock. You.”

“And you two were just — you weren’t going to tell me that this was happening? Or that Wooyoung knew all this time?”

“Seonghwa and I are the only two people who know about Wooyoung’s identity. It’s been that way for six years. Not even Hongjoong knows, and that’s exactly how we intended for it to be. You would never have known if not for this connection between the two of you.” Yeosang blinks between the two of you. He folds his arms over his chest, letting one hand rest under his chin. He says nothing more than that but you can clearly see that there is more on his mind than merely that.

“Then what about the meaning of the phrase? You said it had a meaning, Yeosang.”

“The moon is shining over cold waters. Wooyoung’s moniker is Tsukio, meaning moon. Your moniker is Umiko, is it not? Child of the sea? We came up with it as a failsafe in this sort of situation, where if Wooyoung was in danger and you happened to inhabit his consciousness, then he would give you the code to deliver back to us. Seonghwa would tell you his identity as a Siren, and I would do my best to explain whatever I could in Wooyoung’s absence. There is nothing he does not tell me, even down to matters like this.”

“I don’t understand why Seonghwa doesn’t have this ability as well though.”

“As I told you, Y/N, all Sirens are different. They interact in different ways, and they all have different abilities. Yeosang and I haven’t stopped looking for answers or trying to find even the slightest bit of information about this. Given what Wooyoung has told us, we have only come to one conclusion. You are the sea, and Wooyoung is the moon. No matter where you are in the universe, the seas are always influenced by the moon and tied to the moon in some way. Tell me, Y/N, have you ever seen Wooyoung in your dreams before this?” Seonghwa pauses to let you process and answer the question. His eyes search yours for any sort of response, but you can’t come up with one right away.

“H-Help! Someone – someone help!” You cry out, voice croaking like a frog, and your throat burns from the effort. One of the chained prisoners in front of you turns at the sound of your voice. Dark charcoal hair flutters in the still air as he whips around to face you, eyes wide and curious as they land on you. All the air leaves your lungs. Your heart constricts painfully in your chest, and you choke on nothing as his face comes into focus.

Wooyoung.

A cloaked man steps in front of you and effectively blocks your line of sight before you can examine the sight further.

Wooyoung.

A searing pain blossoms over your cheek, and it takes a moment for you to process that the person has just punched you.

Wooyoung.

Another blow comes down on your head. You feel your body go down before your mind catches up, and you enter a harsh freefall. Your chains clatter as you tumble to the ground.

“Y/N!”

“You have,” Yeosang states, arms falling limply by his sides. You’re about to agree when another memory hits you out of the blue, something you haven’t seen in a long time, all the way back from when you had the surgery on your arm and when Wooyoung plugged an anesthesia shot in your neck.

The dream is beginning to fade, darkness swirling into one large mass, but before the serenity around you can disappear entirely, you catch sight of something new. Amongst everything that is familiar and known, this is completely foreign. A new figure, shorter than Daichi for certain, but also bearing dark hair. He stands off at the other side of the lake, near the shore like Daichi had been, but his back is facing you. He bears garbs like yours, white and flowing despite the lack of a breeze.

“Twice. After the surgery on my arm and after the m-mission to get the serums.”

“You merely saw him? Not through his eyes?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“And now this is the first time you’ve seen through his eyes.”

“No. It started the first time I went to sleep after what happened at the arena.”

“And you waited four days to say anything?” Yeosang scoffs, face contorting into a scowl in an instant.

“He didn’t speak to me until today! Without that damn phrase, you would have called me insane and not told me anything.” Yeosang opens his mouth to retort, but you jab a finger at his face before he can. “Don’t try to tell me I’m wrong.”

“I think…” Seonghwa trails off, puffing his cheeks full of air and exhaling deeply. “I think Y/N and I need to speak with Daichi about this. It sounds like this connection – whatever it is between the two of you – it sounds like it’s something that is triggered when the other is in danger. Wooyoung inhabited your body when you were dying in the boxes in the cargo hold.”

“He had control though,” Yeosang cuts in.

“He had control over me?”

“Over your body, yes. He told me that he climbed out of the box in the middle of the night and left a blood trail leading to the box. He knew San would be on the first shift to do inventory in the morning, he knew San would have mercy and not be able to kill you, and he knew that San would be able to pick up on the blood trail leading to your box.”

“He…” He saved my life. Your throat closes in on itself. Wooyoung is the only reason San found you in that box. You probably would have died the next day if not for him.

“She was physically incapable of doing even the bare minimum at that time. But you said you have no control over Wooyoung’s body?”

Two shaky hands dart up to your neck, clasping around something terribly cold and metal. It’s a collar of sorts, and it refuses to budge even a centimeter as you try to yank at it. A finger slips under the ridge of the metal. You brush over the cold skin there only to find a blossoming scar across your neck, one that spreads no matter how far you move your hand along the collar. You jerk your hand out from under it with a growing feeling of disgust churning in your stomach.

“I h-had control the first time. But for less than a minute. Like once W-Wooyoung was fully conscious again, he took control.”

“I need time and my notes back on the ship,” Yeosang mutters. “Y/N, I’ll need you to come visit and tell me everything that has been happening in these dreams, along with all the things that started happening when you first came aboard. Once we’re back on the ship, of course.”

“Well, that will be coming sooner than expected.” You and Yeosang glance over at Seonghwa at the same time, eyes wide with unspoken questions. “We’re going back to the ship this afternoon. Yunho plans to transport Hongjoong back with Jongho’s help. He’ll make the rest of his recovery there, but we need to get moving. Jis–our double agent finally figured out where they’re taking the others. Geofflan system, planet Dorado.”

“Seonghwa, that’s—”

“Yes, I know, Yeosang,” Seonghwa interrupts. His lips twist into a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and no matter what way you look at the grin, you only see sadness in it. “We would inevitably have to go there at some point. I can’t keep running forever, can I?”

Dorado? Why does this feel familiar?

You peer at the side of Seonghwa’s head in silence, mulling over the words and racking your brain for that sliver of a memory about Dorado.

“Maybe Hongjoong found a lead on Dorado, and that’s where we’re heading next. Seonghwa might be tense because of that.”

“What’s so important about Dorado?”

Jongho’s eyes find yours and suddenly grow wide. He shakes his head a few times, but the nervous gleam that dances across his eyes doesn’t escape your notice.

“Perhaps it’s time for me to go home and face my demons after all,” Seonghwa whispers, letting his smile stretch a bit wider. It falls away a second later, and something dark takes over, something you decide you don’t want to see cross Seonghwa’s features again. Because in that moment, you see something sinister and cruel, and all the legends you heard about the man come to life before you. The stories of a man in a black cloak bearing a silver scythe in one hand with a gun in the other, the fearless killer who stands beside the Scourge of the Black Sea rearing death in his wake. When Seonghwa turns on his heel and leaves the room, you see it. The dark shadows billowing behind him curl outwards and sweep across the floor, crude shapes built by the light in the hallway, and that cloak of darkness sits on Seonghwa’s shoulders. It’s like the Lieutenant of Death has crawled his way out of the dark abyss of hell that Seonghwa kept him buried in, and the face he rears horrifies you.

✧✧✧ a/n: hehe 👁👁🍿 jk um what is there to say about this except hi hello! new act! act five! lots of exposition for this part, i’m sorry about that, there’s a lot to explain and thus it takes a lot of time to explain it, but this is only the first layer of explanation so aidjfoidsjfio strap in!!

taglist: @faeriewoobin @sugarrimajins @atinyinwonderland @2504-life @lil7bluedragon @sparklychangbin @jeong-uwu @jeonartemis @anothershorthuman @xxbluestrifexx @haotheheckk @noonawriter @lostscenarios @nlost21 @mirror-juliet @okokokok123-45 @purple-aeon @theoinkypiglet @toothlessshiber @atinyarmyx1 @simpforhyunjin @hwangwoosan @vampire-jimin @softyubi @drumboydowoon @chatsgotmytongue @just-a-starfruit @babydolljo @scintillating-souls @khjssss @felixity @rawrrainn @hewwo-from-the-other-side @hangsxng

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

277 notes · View notes

justsomefluff · 3 years

Note

Hi I have ADHD and sometimes I forget to take my meds which makes me quite hyper, can you do a reaction with ateez where you forgot to take your medicine and is really hyper?

Guess who’s back-back-back again-gain-gain...After a long time because im lazy lmaoooo. Here it is, thank you for being patient my dearest. and please do take your meds its important <3 Keep yourself happy and healthy always anon

ALSO, i do not have ADHD so this is just based off of what I have been told about it or how friends who DO have it have explained things to me. If i offend or misrepresent ANYTHING please let me know. I tried to write this pretty neutrally without a lot of detail on the actual disorder.

Hongjoong:

Kind of oblivious at first

Like “oh they’re a lil fidgety today”

But as the day goes on he’s like

“something is amiss”

You’re moving all over the place, being a lil chatterbox

And he’s gettin a lil suspicious

“Heyyyyyyy,” pretty much clotheslines you as you speed through different rooms because you won’t (read: cant) STOP

“Did yooooouuuuu… take your meds?”

Smiley face. Wink. “No.”

Immediate understands

But begs you to take your medication because you sometimes get embarrassed of your hyperactivity later

Like you feel like you were annoying him or something

and he assures you that you weren’t bothering him, but anxiety be like that so, ya know

Just doesn’t want you to overtire yourself or feel bad late

Seonghwa:

Overprotective

Always asks you if you took your meds in the morning

Likes a routine and wants to make sure youre always happy and healthy

But if he oversleeps and gets thrown off

And therefore does not remind you to take your medicine…

Freaks out a lil

Mini heart attack

Mostly feels bad because he feels responsible

How could he forget to take care of you this way?

Then you have to expend all your extra energy assuring him that even you forget sometimes

But then he starts setting reminders in both of your phones

Will even text you when he’s away for work uwu

Best of intentions…low-key a nag… but Mama Hwa

Yunho:

Will lowkey bask in your hyperactivity

Like AYYYYYYYY

Like he knows its important for you to take your medication but…

Every once in a while he finds it kind of fun

Will take you to dance practice with him even if its his day off

Thinks it will be the only time you will commit to learning an entire choreo with him lmaooooo

Also kind of lets himself go a little bit

Like lets spend the day being crackheads and just expend all of our energy

And then cuddle at the end of the night when, inevitably, we are too exhausted to move

Loves that he gets to see that side of you and gets to share in good memories like those

But still reminds you to take your medicine the day after

Yeosang:

(he’s so cute im over here sobbing)

Honestly, I see him being the slightest bit overwhelmed by it

Like have you seen him when Wooyoung gets hyper

he’s like Whoa, child

Wants to calm you down ever so slightly

Like “be gentle with me, I am but a child”

But will still laugh at your antics

Of course, he loves every part of you

Everything can just kind of be too much for him sometimes lmao

Will take you places and do activities with you until you are both worn out

Will make you take care of him the rest of the night and tease you

Like “look what I have to put up with. You made me walk so much today”

But its gentle and sweet at the same time

San:

Thinks its funny but is actually concerned on the inside

Kind of worried that you might hurt yourself while youre speeding around

Tries to convince you not to wait until tomorrow to take the next dose

Follows you around just waiting to catch you if you slip

Damn near wraps you in bubble wrap when you stub your toe

Like, San… “I can still function, sir”

“But you stubbed your toe”

“Everyone does that sometimes”

Starts to calm down when he realizes that you really are gonna be okay, you’re just going to experience the day a little bit quicker than normal

Twice the speed of the average human

Speedy, he calls you

Squirrel comparisons on the way

Mingi:

Why do I feel like he wouldn’t even notice lmao

He’d just be like “wow, they have a lot of energy today”

Goes about the day normally

At the end of the day, you tell him about everything that you were able to get done

Whether its work, school, cleaning, errands, binging a TV series, or ALL of the above

And he’s like… “how”

And you’re like, well let me tell you about the lil thing I forgot to do this morning

Clueless lmao… “What did you forget?”

“Mah meds.”

“Ohhhhh…”

Then he tries to understand how you managed to do all of those things without your meds

And you’re like… I probably half-assed them but

At least they’re done!

Wooyoung:

Just makes fun of you the whole time

Like lets be real

He’s hyper on his own

And loves seeing you that way because he can relate to it

Also, you do some stuff that might not be the smartest because you’ve got so much energy to expend

“DONT SLIDE DOWN THE HALL IN SOCKS”

Laughs when you fall

Joins you though because, while mildly dangerous…

Looks fun

Never lets you get self-conscious about anything because he is really good at matching your energy the whole day

Is awesome at just letting you work through the day at the pace you feel is right

Somehow manages to keep up with you the entire time, no matter how hard it can be sometimes

Jongho:

Another one who is a little bit overwhelmed

Kind of shy and introverted and quiet in general

So if you get super-duper talkative and loud he might be kind of thrown off his game

Like how do I handle this

How do I be the best boyfriend during this

Overthin-King

Just internally debating whether he should tell you to take your meds, join in on your activities, or just let you ride out the hyperactivity on your own

Spends the entire day thinking about it’

Ends up letting you just do your thing on your own… not that he decided that was the best option

He was just too busy thinking about it to actually make a decision lmao

66 notes · View notes

hanatiny · 3 years

Text

More Than Friends

a/n: Whether you have someone to dote on today or not, happy Valentine’s day~ Not only is this a not-so-little something for the holiday of love, it’s also a thank you for letting me reach 300 followers <3

pairing: best friend!Yeosang x genderneutral!reader

genre: fluff

word count: 2684

warnings: high school AU, friends to lovers, Wooyoung is no.1 wingman (or at least tries to be), Yeosang is absolutely whipped, reader is unfortunately very oblivious

-----

January, and with it your winter break, had come and gone - you probably wouldn’t have even realized it was February if it wasn’t for the excessive amount of heart-shaped, overly cutesy decorations that were littered across the hallways of your school.

You groaned internally, making your way past your classmates and towards your locker with a sigh. February itself wasn’t what bothered you so much, what made you positively abhor the month was how lovey-dovey everyone around you acted during that time.

You’ve never really had any interest in relationships and you made sure to make that clear, which is why you were surprised to find a neatly sealed light pink envelope in your locker.

You looked around subtly, wondering if the person who put it there was still around before quickly deducing that they probably weren’t. Curious, you turned over the envelope in your hands, just in case it was meant for someone else entirely. All you found however was your name with a heart and a tiny butterfly doodled next to it, which meant that this letter was indeed meant for you.

You chuckled endearingly, although mildly disappointed that your secret admirer’s handwriting was too ambiguous for you to correlate with a person. Before you were able to lament it more, a quick glance at your phone in your hand revealed to you that you were going to be late if you didn’t get moving.

Stuffing the letter into your pocket, you quickly gathered your books for your classes and booked it to your classroom after pushing your locker shut again.

You couldn’t focus at all however because you were unable to think about anything else other than who the person who had slipped the letter into your locker before you arrived that morning might be, and - more importantly - what exactly the letter was going to say.

Too occupied with your daydreaming, you failed to notice your usually calm and composed childhood best friend fidgeting under the desk behind yours.

Lunch couldn’t come soon enough for either of you, especially not for your mutual close friend Wooyoung who had been practically glued to both yours and Yeosang’s hips the moment you both left the classroom.

You heaved a sigh as you slumped down into a chair at a free table in the cafeteria, Wooyoung seating himself opposite you with Yeosang right next to him.

“What’s gotten into you today, Y/n? You seem so unusually out of it!” Yeosang elbowed his friend, at which the younger whined exaggeratedly but didn’t comment.

You pulled the pink letter out of your pocket and flicked it at Wooyoung to let him inspect the item before handing it back to you, his head tilted in confusion as he cocked a brow at you.

“You’re this worked up about a letter of all things? Don’t you normally just throw love letters and stuff away every year without even looking at them? What’s so different about this one?”

You shrugged nonchalantly while Yeosang poked at his food, listening more intently to the conversation than he allowed himself to let on, “No idea, Woo. Maybe I should just open it and find out for myself what’s so special...?”

You muttered the last part more to yourself than either of the males sitting at the table but they both still heard you clearly, prompting Wooyoung to nod enthusiastically and offer some what he hoped to be encouraging words, “Yeah, you totally should! Worst case scenario, you can just politely reject whoever wrote that.”

“Good point, I might as well... Here goes nothing.” You murmured under your breath, carefully opening the envelope before pulling out not only a piece of paper but also a small tube of strawberry chapstick which would’ve likely dropped to the floor if you hadn’t caught it in time.

You discreetly slipped it into your school bag after inspecting it briefly before your hands quickly unfolded the letter and dropped the envelope onto the table carelessly before beginning to read.

~~~~~~~~~~

My dearest Y/n,

I hope you don’t mind me confessing like this. I’m simply too nervous to voice my feelings out loud...

To yourself, you may not appear as someone special. To me however, you’re like a celebrity. You’re the most important person to me, and I wish we were closer than we already are as of now.

You’re a fresh breath of air to me, you’re not like anyone else. Everytime I talk to you I learn something new, and I think that’s beautiful.

Just like everything else about you. Your eyes remind me of stars the entire galaxy with how bright they shine, and I feel like I could get lost in them if I looked for long enough.

Your smile can light up an entire room, and frequently lifts my mood so effortlessly that it leaves me wondering how you continue doing it. Your voice is like music to me, and your laugh is my favorite song. And I want to be the reason that song keeps playing.

So, if you’d be willing to give me a chance to do so... meet me at the cat café later today after class. You know the one.

I hope I’ll see you there ♡

~~~~~~~~~~

You were so engrossed in the words on the paper that you didn’t look up in time to notice your friends’ reactions as you read before they recomposed themselves; a faint hint of a blush still tinted Yeosang’s cheeks while Wooyoung’s form relaxed after briefly tensing up slightly.

You folded the letter again and slipped it back into its envelope before, once more, dropping it on the table. You smacked Wooyoung’s hand away when he tried to reach for the letter, causing him to whine at you again as his lips formed a pout when you finally looked up at him.

If his eyes didn’t betray his curiosity, you would’ve said he was simply sulking because you hit him, but you knew better than to be that naive.

“No Wooyoungie, you won’t get to read it. At least not now.” You narrowed your eyes at your longtime friend as he huffed in disappointment, “But why~?”

“Because I can’t trust you to keep your mouth shut. The entire school would know about this by the end of the day.” You bit back, smiling triumphantly at the stunned silence Wooyoung offered in return.

“Touché.” Yeosang murmured, pushing his tray away to rest his arms on the table instead while he eyed you, wondering if you had any suspicions about the letter’s author.

As if reading his mind, your mouth opened to speak and Yeosang couldn’t help but focus on your lips, although he kept it as discreet as he possibly could.

“I want to meet up with the person behind these words. Something feels different about them... I initially suspected it to be Hongjoong, but his handwriting is nowhere near this neat."

Wooyoung snickered at that, but allowed you to continue and voice your conclusion.

"So for now, my secret admirer is a complete mystery to me."

"To you, and to everyone else." Yeosang added under his breath. He had a tendency to be quiet, so you weren't put off by this whatsoever.

"Indeed, Sangie...~" Yeosang felt his heart skip a beat at both the nickname and the somewhat affectionate lilt in your tone.

He was promptly yanked back out of his reverie however when you collected your belongings and stood to leave after checking the time on your phone, his eyes not straying from your form in the slightest, “In any case, we should probably get back to class.”

You turned on your heel and walked out of the cafeteria with Wooyoung in tow, the latter noticing his friend staying behind for a little longer than necessary but not commenting on it as Yeosang beamed, visibly lovestruck. It was a miracle to him and Wooyoung both how you didn’t take any of the countless hints he had given over the past few months, whether they were intentional or not being up for debate.

Completely zoned out, Yeosang jumped in his seat when the bell rang, prompting him to hastily grab his backpack and make a beeline for the classroom he shared with you, with quick steps.

He saved himself from tripping over his own two feet more than just once before he finally slid into the seat behind yours, breathless. You turned to face him, quirking an eyebrow inquisitively.

“Are you alright, Yeosang?”

It was a simple question, and yet the clear concern laced in had the blonde’s heart lurching in his chest once more as he nodded with a reassuring smile. He hated how cliché his crush presented itself, as if he was just hopelessly infatuated with you.

This was absolutely the case, as the way his heart rapidly pounding in his chest proved, but that was beside the point.

You thought it was suspicious that he didn’t seem to trust his voice because it was in no way like him to be this flustered - or perhaps you should rather say insecure. You shrugged it off though and turned back around to focus on your lecture, thinking he may just be feeling a bit under the weather.

Both of you found yourselves unable to keep your minds from going off-track, however. Yeosang was still excited about the prospect of possibly having a very real chance to be with you the way he wished to, while you kept wondering about who your secret admirer may or may not be.

The end of your torturous classes didn’t come soon enough for either of you, Wooyoung mysteriously nowhere to be found when you and Yeosang finally left the school building. You were relieved to find the crisp morning air had warmed up considerably over the course of the day, somewhat surprising considering the time of the year, and exhaled deeply, pulling a soft endearing chuckle from Yeosang’s lips.

You grinned at your friend, having always quite enjoyed the melodious sound of his voice before your expression shifted to a miniscule frown when you were eventually forced to part ways with him. Because no matter how close the two of you were, you still lived in different neighborhoods.

You turned to face him with a small smile, adjusting the shoulder strap of your bag before wrapping your arms around Yeosang in a tight but warm hug before meeting his eyes again, “I’ll call you tonight and tell you how my date went, yeah? See you tomorrow, Yeosangie~”

You waited for him to nod and boldly leaned up to peck his cheek before walking off in the direction of your house, not aware of the way you had flustered the poor boy. If it had been possible he would’ve melted into a puddle right then and there on the sidewalk, his face flushed a bright red from calling your meetup a date as he walked on in the direction of the cat café he wanted to meet you at.

He could only hope that you’d stick to your word, and actually show up.

Meanwhile you squealed in excitement when you rounded the corner, making a run for it down the street to your home. You slammed the door shut behind yourself, thankful that noone else was home presently so you could get ready and calm down your nerves in peace.

When you had finally made yourself look somewhat more presentable than you did while wearing your school uniforn, satisfied with your appearance before halting your steps when your open school bag caught your eye. After a moment of hesitant consideration, you spread the strawberry chapstick you were gifted across your lips.

Fully content now as you took one last look in the mirror, you grabbed your phone and keys to stuff into your pockets as you left your house to make your way to the café a few blocks away.

When you arrived there, greeted casually due to being a regular at the establishment along with your friends, you were led into the outside area where the cats were allowed to roam freely.

You would often jokingly call it the ‘fluffy garden’ when you were younger due to the amount of felines you’d be able to interact with. Now however, you paused mid-step upon realizing what you were seeing.

Yeosang, your childhood best friend and secret crush, lying on a blanket on the grass. He had ditched the school uniform’s jacket for his own, personal favorite jacket, you mused as you took in his posture. He had one arm hooked underneath his head while the other rested on his side, his hand petting the small cat that had positioned itself on his chest and purred from his attention.

As if sensing your presence, the animal licked Yeosang’s fingers gently before scrambling to hop off of him and run to play with its furry friends instead. You regarded the scene with a fond look in your eyes before heat rushed to your cheeks when Yeosang finally turned to face you, flashing you the breathtaking shy smile you adored so much before beckoning you over and gesturing to the space on the blanket next to him.

You watched him turn to meet your eyes when you positioned yourself next to him, a smile tugging at your lips.

“So... I take it you were the one who ‘sent’ the letter, Sangie~?” The male in question nodded sheepishly, secretly finding it cute how you never stayed consistent with the nicknames you gave to people. “Yeah, it was me. Wooyoung helped though... the chapstick was his idea, among other things.”

You hummed at the nervous laugh that slipped past his lips as he waited for your reaction, “I expected as much. A mystery how he managed to not snitch, truly...” You trailed off, reaching to brush a strand of hair out of Yeosang’s handsome face. “What’s also a mystery is how neither of us seem to have picked up on the signals we tried to send each other.”

Yeosang tilted his head slightly, subconsciously leaning into your touch as he eyed you with somewhat furrowed brows, “But I thought you weren’t interested in relationships, Y/n?”

“I did say that, but I’m making an exception for you. I guess what I’m saying is... I like you back, Yeosangie. As in... like like you.”

You bit your lip in anticipation of his next move, practically seeing the cogs turning in his head before his face lit up with relief.

“I’m so glad to hear that, I was actually even worried you had changed your mind and wouldn’t come in the first place.” Yeosang took a deep breath as he took in your shy but genuine expression, “Can I... would you let me kiss you?”

You nodded, gently tugging him close by means of his jacket before he even had time to react. Your kiss was clumsy, as expected from two people your age, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. It was perfect, just like you were to each other.

He grinned at you when he pulled back, “Did you put on the strawberry chapstick~?” You giggled in response, “Mhm, I sure did. What’s interesting though is that you taste like vanilla... and I happen to like vanilla~”

You spent the rest of the afternoon and evening talking and playing with the cats until it was time for the café to close, and you left to make your way back home. Together this time, hands interlocked.

Yeosang kissed you again lovingly when you reached your doorstep and promised to pick you up before school the following day before walking off into the night, a bright smile on his face.

You had barely set foot into your house and heard the door click closed behind you, when your phone vibrated in your hand. You didn’t need to check to know who was calling you at this hour, amusement filling you as you heard your now-boyfriend’s voice on the other end of the line.

“Well Y/n, how was your date~?”

—– Taglist:

@cometoceantrenches @ddeonghwva @galaxteez @illicit-roses @inkigayeo @latte-fairytaekwoon @little-precious-baby @moonlit-lixie @multidreams-and-desires @nightqueennyx @truebluejoong @twancingyunhoe @vocalyunho @yunhoiseyecandy

Network tag:

@8makes1teamnet

#8makes1teamnet #ateez fanfic #ateez fluff #ateez yeosang fluff #yeosang fluff #kang yeosang fluff #t*mblr pls do ur thing and tag everyone pls thank you <3 #also please don't let this flop lmao I put so much work into it-#hanatiny writes

123 notes · View notes

mae-gi-writes · 4 years

Text

Awkwardly In Love | Mingi (ATEEZ)

Volleyball player! Mingi can’t seem to take his eyes off the girl on the bleachers whose got her nose stuck in her book.

Genre: FLUFF AND CUTE AWKWARD MINGI SBGKJDGJ I CAN’T HE RUINS ME.

Word count: you just gotta know that it iz quite a long ride. I apologize for that.

----

She's always got her nose buried in her book.

That's what catches Mingi's attention at first.

See, he's not one to read. Nor does he have any interest in reading and books and the things that come with it. Growing up in a household full of children involved in physical sport, books had counted for nothing but a minimal afterthought. That, and the fact that their financial struggles made it so that they didn't spend on books if it could be helped.

So seeing her always carrying around piles and piles of books has Mingi wonder how much extra cash does she have to spend on all this imaginary stories.

When he realizes that the reason she's always on the same spot on the bleachers is due to her cousin being in the same volleyball team as he is, he can't help but start asking questions.

"Yeah she's my mother's sister's daughter," Hongjoong says with a small affectionate smile, "we basically grew up in the same household so she waits for me after classes."

"You guys close then?" Mingi asks in a forced nonchalant tone. He keeps his eyes on the ball being served on the other side, palms already closed and upturned at the ready.

"Ready?" His teammate calls.

"Yeah!" They both holler.

He serves. The ball swoops in a beautiful arc and Mingi steels himself before receiving the ball with trained precision.

Pack!

"Closer than siblings," Hongjoong answers as the ball flies over the net, "why do you ask?"

Mingi is about to answer when he spots the ball. Hongjoong sweeps in, steering his legs to tap the ball high in the air.

Tap!

Mingi's head swivels up, catches the ball to throw it back at Hongjoong.

Pack!

"In!" The referree calls to signal that they've marked the final point to the game. The pair allow sighs to leave their lips as they slowly make their way out of the court.

"Uhm," Mingi's chest heaves up and down with effort. Sweat dots his forehead as he racks for an excuse, "just curious I guess."

"Want me to introduce you?"

"Uh-- I--That's not--necessary--"

It's too late though, for Hongjoong is already calling out her name, "Y/N!"

Her head lifts from where it's been buried in her book.

Her cousin motions for her to come forward and no sooner is she stepping down from the bleachers that Mingi's neck flushes bright red, and he knows deep down it's not from the fact that he's just exercised.

"Y/N, meet Mingi my teammate," Hongjoong's grin is definitely one that is suggestive, which does nothing for Mingi's confidence.

"Hi," she sends him a warm smile, extending a hand. Mingi shakes it and can't help but notice how tiny her fingers are in comparison.

Delicate fingers, so breakable. Cute.

"H-Hi, I'm Mingi," Oh god, he hopes he doesn't sound like an idiot.

"Mingi's always been on the team. He's the ace after all," adds Hongjoong.

"Ah, that's cool," Y/N nods.

That's how it starts really. At every practice, Mingi makes it a must to talk to her, even if it's juet a tiny greeting, or a slight wave of his shy hand whenever he's already on the court when she stumbles in with her pile of books tucked under her arm. There's just something about her, something that pulls him in like an invisible string even though he can barely make his way through one sentence when he's gazing straight into her eyes.

Once, he musters up the courage to ask her about the book in her lap and the amount of joy flushing up her cheeks makes it so palpable that he feels giddy from her own excitement.

"I'm currently reading Peony in Love," holding up the book so he can see, she continues, "it's a historical novel about this Chinese girl that falls in love with someone who isn't her betrothed, then dies only to realize that this someone is actually her betrothed."

"That's actually really heartbreaking."

"Yeah well, so are most romance stories," she shrugs, "like the titanic."

"I've never actually watched it."

"What?! You're kidding me?"

He shakes his head, ducking his head in embarrassment as he wonders whether she thinks of him as a loser because of his apparent lack of intellectual knowledge.

But instead, he is faced with her enthusiasm, "we should watch it someday! It's like a classic, you'll love it if you like dramatic endings."

"You--" he feels his chest tighten in excitement, "you're serious?"

"Of course I am! I'll let Hongjoong know."

His heart does drop a little at Y/N's cousin's name. He'd hoped that they'd be alone, just the two of them.

Nevertheless, he makes his way over to Hongjoong's flat on the said night and is surprised to find not just the pair of cousins But an entire group of familiar individuals that he's seen hanging around the corridors and classrooms.

"Hey you came!" Hongjoong claps Mingi's back as he steps into the doorway, "I invited some of my close friends too. You probably know them."

As Mingi greets the rest of the group whe exchanging soft pleasantries, he finally catches sight of Y/N's figure darting between tall frames before she emerges, grinning, "hi, Mingi right?"

He can't help but blush right down to his toes, "h-hey, what's up?"

"Sorry for all the noise. The guys just wanted to crash here. Told them we were watching titanic and they promised they wouldn't make running commentaries."

"It's alright. I know them all a little. We're in the same class."

"Ah cool. You guys all in the same major then?"

Mingi scratches the back of his head, "nah I'm in Psych. But since they're all in the sciences like Hongjoong we do have same classes."

"Cool. I wish I could've taken Psych," she puffs up her cheeks into a pout and Mingi's fingers itch to pinch her cheeks.

She can't be that cute. She just can't be.

"So are we starting the movie or what?!" One of the guys --his name is Yunho, Mingi guesses -- calls out.

"The way you're talking Yunho, it's almost like you're the one who really wants to watch it," Hongjoong replies sassily while throwing both arms around Y/N and Mingi respectively before guiding them to the tv room. He dips his head towards Mingi's ear as the group settles in, "don't worry bro, I'll make sure you sit next to her."

Blushing furiously at the older boy's comment, the latter doesn't even have time to defend himself when he is being pushed onto the couch right next to Y/N's figure.

"You a big tears kind of guy?" The girl murmured, popcorn in lap. She extends it out to Mingi, who shyly grabs a handful.

"I guess it depends," Mingi murmurs, "are there animals in there?"

"Oh so you're that kind of guy."

He flushes. What kind of guy is she referring to?

The movie starts with the narration of an old lady gazing at a sapphire necklace, bedore the screen gives way to a shot of the ship itself in all its splendour, glistening a bold black and white in the midday sun.

Mingi knows he should be concentrating on the movie. And it's true, he really should, especially when Y/N had asked him to because it is clearly a classic he can't possibly miss out on. But alas, his eyes keep dashing back and forth between the screen and Y/N's face, stealing looks whenever she is not looking. It's almost like a magnetic pull tugging his gaze back to her no matter how hard he forces his eyes away; flitting over her eyes focused in attention, eyebrows furrowed at the middle with her mouth hanging open like a child amazed with naked wonder.

What can she possibly be thinking? What is going on inside that imaginative mind of hers?

What magical dimension is she traveling to without his knowledge?

It's only when the romance between the two protagonists start blossoming that he finally tears his eyes away to focus on the movie itself, all the while sensing Y/N's heat permeating from her body to his in a way that causes a permanent flush in the back of his neck.

The movie ends all too soon, with tears in Y/N's eyes and some of the other guys as they debate over the ending and how stupid Rose was for not giving Jack some space on the wooden board.

"Well to be fair, he would've probably sunk the entire board," Seonghwa argues. He's the pretty boy that everyone knows of, the one whom every girl has been crushing on since his admittance to their college.

"If I were Rose, I wouldn't want to keep living without the love of my life," Y/N points out, "I would've drowned myself with him."

"Jesus Y/N, that's terrifying," Hongjoong says.

"It's true though!"

The look in her eyes whenever she spoke of movies was a look of naked excitement. Like now, Mingi spots the familiar fire burning through her gaze, a gaze he finds alluring on her. It's like it breathes life into her face. It's similar to the one she wears whenever she's reading.

A few days later on campus, he bumps into her hurrying out of the library as he walks in, almost sending her flying before his arm snatches out to hold her shoulder.

"Sorry," he says hastily while putting her back on her feet and releasing her like she's just burnt him.

"S'okay," Y/N sends him a reassuring smile, "where you going?"

"Assignments. I'm late on my research paper because of practice," Mingi scratches his head. He nods towards her books, "what caught your interest this week?"

"Oh I'm just re-reading A Darker Shade of Magic," she grins like a little child being caught. Something in Mingi's heart softens like butter.

"What's it about?"

"It's so cool, it's like this guy with a super cool coat that has hundreds over coats inside it. And he's a magician and there are parallel worlds that have different wavelengths of magic. So he can travel through the different worlds and--" she stops abruptly then before her cheeks colour in shades of pink, "sorry. I'm rambling again--"

"No no no," Mingi cuts her off, causing her to blink, wide-eyed, "please...continue. I--I like it when you talk about your books. You--You always seem so alive and excited."

"Oh," her face flushes even more as another troop of butterflies tickle Mingi's stomach. She's so damn cute! "Thanks...Mingi."

He tries to analyze the flickering expressions on her face, though he guesses it is close to feeling embarrassed.

"A--Anyway I--I'll get going," Mingi hurriedly says, moving past her with flaming red ears upon realizing what he has just said, only to feel her hand clamp down on his.

He turns to see her, averted gaze and all, little fingers clamped onto his shirt, "do you--do you want to...go see a movie sometime?"

----------

Hongjoong had threatened Mingi with a multitude of ways of killing him in case he broke Y/N's heart, albeit the fact that the taller man stated that no, they weren't going on a date,.and anyway flirting had never been Mingi's strongest points anyway.

"Sure. If it's not a date, what is it then?" Hongjoong had asked with a roll of his eyes.

"It's just two people hanging out," Mingi had protested through red ears and scarlet tinged cheeks.

As per the said man's suggestion, the pair decides to meet up at the cinema entrance to choose the movie of their choice. Y/N is decked in a simple white t-shirt, loose cut-off jeans with red sneakers, and as Mingi silently admires her sense of simple fashion the heat that rises through the back of his neck is enough to make him avert his gaze bashfully.

They settle on a romantic comedy and he volunteers to buy the popcorn so that she can find some decent seats. As he settles into the cinema room and the lights dim into darkness, he places the popcorn box into her hands, waving her off upon her rising protests.

"But you--"

"I'll share it with you, don't-- don't worry," he replies, hand scratching the back of his neck.

Don't sweat it, he says to himself. It's fine. It's not a date. It's just two friends enjoying each other's presence.

Halfway through the movie, Mingi reaches for the popcorn only for their hands to collide. He retracts it like he just burnt himself, causing the said girl to chuckle softly. She reaches over then, with a handful of popcorn, before plopping it straight into his mouth without warning.

Mingi blinks. Heat goes straight to his ears.

When his eyes find hers, she only graces him with a timid smile, before returning back to the movie, totally unaware that his heart is now practically galloping out of his chest.

Jesus, what she does to his heart.

Mingi has never been so whipped in his life, but right now, he's pretty certain that he doesn't mind if that means she can accept his heart.

"Well that was fun," Y/N says the moment they step out of the cinema hall, "wasn't expecting it to be so lovey dovey though."

His head ducks, "I'm sorry," he mutters, "I didn't know you weren't into--"

"Oh no no! Not at all! We both chose it. You have nothing to feel bad about!"

"I'm not that into movies," comes his mumble.

"What?" Y/N stops in the middle of the road as she blinks up at him in shock, "you should've told me!"

"I wasn't interested in seeing the movie, I just wanted to see--" he hesitates slightly, "you."

What the fuck Mingi, he feels like choking himself foe his stupidity. Why was he acting like a total turd? This was ridiculous! She's just a girl, a cute one sure, but still! It's almost like he's lost all ability to make conversation.

He tries once more, "I'm--I'm sorry I shouldn't have--“

“No, I“m the one who's sorry. Here, let me treat you. Ice cream?” and then, her eyes widen, "you do like ice cream right?"

That'a enough for his lips to tilt up into a smile, "I'd love ice cream."

---

Once they settle on a bench at the nearby park, it seems like all nervousness suddenly ease from Mingi's consciousness and slowly, he starts opening up to the said girl as they lick at their ice cream cones. The sun sets over the horizon, turning the blue sky in scarlet hues that reminds him of summer days that last forever.

"Architecture's tough but honestly, that was the only thing my parents would let me study," Y/N says, empty ice-cream stick in hand as her gaze sweeps over the park and its passerbys.

"I guess it makes sense, considering our economy recently," Mingi agrees.

"And you? Why Psych?"

He lifts his shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, "I guess I just like analyzing people. It's intriguing, knowing how people think, how they act around others."

"You want to be a therapist?"

"I don't know if I'm strong enough to help people get out of their problems when I can't even help myself."

He feels her eyes on him and finds interest in the way the wind blows across the grass blades.

Her voice is soft when she says, "you don't have to be that kind of hero, if you don't want to."

His heart swells with warmth and sudden affection, though he says nothing but nods in agreement.

It's easily past ten when they trudge back to Y/N's house, with nervousness swimming through Mingi's stomach in apprehension to Hongjoong's earlier threats, though Y/N reassures him that Hongjoong is mostly all talk and no action. That reassures the tall man slightly, until his feet start bristling upon spotting her front porch.

"Thanks for keeping me company today," Y/N tilts her head up, her profile bathed in the backlight of her house, "next time, let's not go to the movies."

Mingi's heart skips, "I didn't mind it."

"I know, but I want to do things that you like too," she grins.

A surge of courage rises through his chest as he tells her that he'd like that a lot too.

Except the thing that falls out of his mouth instead is, "I like you too."

She blinks.

He blinks back, realization settling in like a dull ache in his stomach.

Horror sweeps through him. Oh no.

It hadn't been in his plan to expose himself like this, exposing himself like a dog who wants a tummy rub, but then again there's no sign of rejection that flickers across Y/N's face, which he takes as a good sign as he fumbles for the right words, "uhm, I-- I mean, I didn't mean--"

"You didn't mean that?"

"What?" His eyes widen, "no no! Of course I mean it, I just--"

He gasps at his own words, cupping a hand over his mouth as the girl before him explodes into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"Oh my gosh," her eyes crinkle up into those adorable crescents of hers, "you're so cute."

Scarlet pink blossoms across his cheeks. Averting his eyes, he wishes that the floor can just come and swallow him up right there and then.

"Right," clearing his throat, one hand reaches up to scratch his ear, "well, I-I'll just go--"

He's halfway turning around when Y/N's hand trickles through his, as gentle as water flowing through his fingertips.

"Wait," she murmurs.

His breath stalls. Inhaling a soft breath, he slowly shuffles back, not daring to meet her gaze when he feels like he's just put his heart on the table for her to do with as she pleases.

Her voice is a gentle breath of a whisper, "don't go."

And then, she's up on her tippy toes and pressing a light kiss to his cheek. Mingi's skin practically lights on fire as another round of butterflies erupt in his chest at her touch, and he can't help but stare down at her, jaw slack, as she gives him the shyest smile he's ever seen.

Cute! His mind screams. Cute cute cute!

"So," Mingi's mind comes back into focus upon hearing her voice, eyes finding her biting down onto her lower lip, “Well, uh--I guess--I guess this means I--I like you, or something.”

"uhm,” his ears are so hot with heat he feels they might fall off as he forces himself not to gawk at her, though it’s proving to be quite difficult as he’s trying to muster the courage to come out with a reasonable answer.

“I--well, uh--how does this--I don't know--do you want to...uh possibly,” he swallows thickly, before exhaling the words in a rush,”...goouttodinnerwithme?"

Y/N blinks in confusion, "I'm sorry?"

Come on, Mingi! He thinks to himself in growing desperation. Don't be such a wimp!

"Do you... want to...go out with me? S--Sometime?" His throat is clogged with so much embarrassment he fear he might choke.

But when he feels soft fingers trace his chin, he looks up, right into her dark brown eyes sparkling with a tinge of playfulness, excitement and naked joy brimming at the corners.

"I'd love that," she whispers.

And she lifts herself up once more to land a kiss on his mouth, softly, shyly, a mere brushing her mouth against his.

Mingi stumbles upon impact, hands unconsciously grasping her waist as his back comes in contact with the railing lining her porch.

His eyes are wide when she pulls away, biting her lower lip like she can't help but feel nervous from this bold action that has taken him by surprise.

"What--" Mingi chokes on his words, lapses into silence while staring down at her.

The girl merely glances down. A blush taints her cheeks and even though his fingers are shaking and he feels like his heart is about to jump out of his chest at the mere prospect of their closeness, his body moves before his brain does.

Closing the gap between them, it's his turn to press a kiss now, a chaste one that tells her that he reciprocates these feelings wholeheartedly. And Y/N responds by wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer so that their chests touch, mouths moving slowly in harmony as they chase each other and mold together in a way that leaves Mingi breathless and his heart stuttering like he's just won a race.

If it is, then it's the most importance race of his life.

It is only when they pull apart, breathing into each other with barely millimetres separating their mouths, that he can't help but laugh at the realization that this girl in his arms is his.

"What?" She says while smiling up at him. So gorgeous, so breathtaking. And she's his.

"Nothing," he can sense the heat flooding his cheeks once more, "I just-- I'm just...happy."

And there it is, that same smile that he loves so much. The smile that holds magical words and countless secrets to the amazing mind she beholds. He can't want to delve into her thoughts and pick at her brain, knowing that all of them are going to be precious memories he'll hold dear to his heart.

That smile.

Hongjoong's voice suddenly erupts out of nowhere like a nightmare, "don't think I didn't see you guys kissing out there!"

---

I’m so whipped for Mingi and he’s like 2 years younger so I feel like such an old noona *sighs*.

Anyway, let me know if you’d like more Ateez content! <3 Stay safe guys, and thanks for reading!

323 notes · View notes

canyouhearthevoices · 2 years

Text

‘HALA HALA’ Lyric Analysis

Released with the Zero to One album 2019.

Pretty snazzy. Introduced us to HALATEEZ/Suicide Squad, and was the first ATEEZ song from their perspective. It also introduced a lot of the motifs associated with them, such as fever, dancing, and fire. And, of course, it introduced us to Demon ATEEZ (especially San).

In other unique things it introduced;

Masks

The warehouse

Wooyoung as the possible villain

The death/dream state

Possible possession (?)

Mingi’s loudspeaker thing (the little hand-held mic/radio he uses. Hongjoong has the megaphone, but that was introduced in ‘Say My Name’)

Spray paint/the red paint/lighting

The song title is pretty self-explanatory. It does, of course, point back to the whole idea of whoever writes ATEEZ’s English lyrics not knowing/using correct syntax/grammar, but the vibe comes across perfectly, and that is what is most important. It’s obvious - the fire in their hearts have awoken and ignited, and now they are ready to burn out, living their short lives in all the glory that the Treasure will bring. Exciting, villainous, and sad.

Can’t say I’ve noticed anything in particular about the lyrics and who says them etc. There is debate about whether the part of the chorus where Seonghwa is centre counts as his lines or not. I generally choose to think of them as his lines, but lots of people don’t.

Actually, now that I think about it, for all the heavy lifting this song and performance did, it was very simple. Low-budget MV, outfits, performances etc/ Simple song with simple lyrics. And yet it became one of ATEEZ’s most popular and well-known songs, and lots of people have no idea that it isn’t even a title track! It is possibly the most important ATEEZ song, other than ‘Treasure’, ‘Precious’, and ‘INCEPTION’. There is nothing overly complicated that needs explaining here - it speaks for itself! I guess this just shows how sometimes the simple things are the best. As my grandma said - a good artist knows when to stop.

Full lyric analysis below the line.

‘HALA HALA’ (Hearts Awakened, Live Alive)

‘Makes the new me’ is also translated as ‘A new side of me’, which, from what I can gather, is just a more literal translation of the Korean, since this is a common Korean phrase.

‘Until the wind of the desert touches the end’ also translated as ‘Sand touches the end’ - both just literally relate back to their beginning of being in the desert, and reinforce both how HALATEEZ are ATEEZ, just from a different dimension, and how cyclical the storyline is.

At this point in my analysis I began to wonder why Hongjoong always gets the really important verses in the songs. It’s really weird (or is it?). Here are some possibilities:

I just notice it when he says it since he’s my bias (It’s possible, but not likely, since I look at all of the lyrics equally and only who said them secondarily. Also, now I have started searching for important things that other members say, so it’s not likely that this is the reason)

Since Joong does rap parts that is when it is easier to squish in lore/exposition (as the rap is less structured and just needs to have general flow rather than the tighter rhythm of the rest of the song). This then leads me to ask about Mingi - he gets some lore, but not as much as Joong. I think this is because Joong’s style leads to him rapping fast, and he can put in a lot of emotions while telling the story, while Mingi’s rap is powerful and that is usually what his lyrics are about). Basically, it’s stylistic.

In a similar vein, the other members (vocalists) would get less since they are mostly singing the chorus and some verses, and so tend to get repeated lyrics. Of course the chorus lyrics are important, but there’s only so many times you can analyse ‘HALA HALA’ or ‘I know you get Deja Vu’ and come away with different meaning. Once it’s said once, it’s kind of served its purpose.

Hongjoong often starts/ends songs, and the beginning of the song (as well as the later rap parts) is often the section of the song that has the most storyline/exposition. So, naturally, he gets these bits of exposition (think the end of ‘Precious’, or the start of ‘Wonderland’).

He’s the Captain/possibly the most central figure in the storyline, so it makes sense that he would say a lot of the exposition. Looking at some of the teasers etc, and also at the Diary film + what was shown in the ‘Fever eXtended’ concert, he’s keeping some sort of diary/log as well, and therefore it makes sense that he is the one telling/driving the story. Also, a lot of the storyline things he says in his rap directly relate to his character, so it’s not like he’s a bad choice for those parts. He’s probably the only choice for those parts, of they’re about him.

Hongjoong is a lyricist, and is probably involved in these lyrics + their writing and therefore at least a tiny bit involved in who speaks/sings them and where the storyline goes.

Now, we can debate about whether or not it’s fair that Hongjoong has a lot of the most important parts, but I think overall it doesn’t really matter, especially since this is only a small thing people look at (most are focused on who gets the most lines, not who gets the most storyline). As for a conclusion? I imagine it is a combination of all of these factors.

Wow, big tangent. Back to HALA HALA.

Last line here also translates as ‘never dying spark of fire’. Nice. Both are good.

The verse also translates as ‘bit hotter, so that you can’t stop / hold up its going to burst up / lets go / hurry up now’. Either works. The original expresses the heat of the fire and the explosion, while the alternative shows how the fire is unstoppable, and expresses that HALATEEZ theme.

Line ‘There’s a suicide squad in the real world’ also translates as ‘suicide squad the reality’. Not much difference there. I will note that this is the first instance of the ‘Suicide Squad’, and not only is it a reference, but also seems to be what the group call themselves. This has led to some people, such as Bookish Theories, referring to the group as the ‘Suicide Squad’. I also think that this is the correct name for the group in the lore, but of course, ATINY, and ATEEZ themselves, refer to the group as ‘HALATEEZ’ (actually, ATEEZ write it as ‘HALA TEEZ’, which is interesting’). Although I think ‘Suicide Squad’ is best, I use ‘HALATEEZ’, as that is what most people know them by.

The first bit of this verse also translates as ‘Burst up, that first spark’.

I found two alternate translations for this verse:

‘I’m like a changed God don’t change your post it’s valuable.’

AND

‘Will change just like the gods changing those words around changing that value.’

Honestly, the original here is a little odd. What does ‘I like god’ have to do with anything?

The first alternative is nice, and probably the best one (?). Mingi saying he is like God expresses a lot. First, the capitalisation of the word (although this may just have been based on the background of whoever translated it) relates it to the Christian God, who is all-powerful (as opposed to Japanese kami, for instance, which are much less powerful but just as important). This shows Mingi (and HALATEEZ’s) power and confidence, but also suggests that they have taken the place of gods - a place they don’t belong - and that this action leads to their downfall.

As for the second alternative - I just really like the phrase ‘changing those words around changing that value’. I think this shows the control that HALATEEZ want to have over their own story, and also the metanarrative elements of the story. It also reminds me of similarities between songs, such as ‘Treasure’ and ‘Precious’, and the slight differences in the lyrics for those songs which give them vastly different meaning. I don’t know if this is exactly what Mingi is referring to, but this is what it makes me think of.

First line also translates; ‘Finally we’ll show what we speak’ (this makes me think of ‘The Real’ and ‘Awakening of Summer’)

‘Yeah there’s no choice’ translates to ‘you ain’t got no choice’ (both are nice).

‘This song is really dreamy’ also translates as ‘Going like that dream song’. I think the second one better expresses the idea of dreams in the storyline better.

I know I don’t discuss choreography in this post, but I think it’s important to mention the death that comes at the end of the song. They go crazy, and then are killed/destroy themselves. Very HALATEEZ.

Conclusions

Nice. I like it. Very important, very well done. It did maximum work with minimum complexity, and earns its place in each and every ATEEZ performance, concert, compilation of choreography, etc that it is a part of. Many may not like it because it is a bit too noisy, but that’s honestly the whole point, because that’s what HALATEEZ are.

Introduces a lot of the motifs as well. That’s important to mention.

#ateez #atiny #lyric analysis #hala hala #hearts awakened live alive #treasure #treasure ep 2 #zero to one #treasure ep 2: zero to one

4 notes · View notes

atinytokki · 3 years

Text

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Chapter 8: The Black Crow

A blurry light illuminated the darkness from the central table, accompanied by the blurry sounds of two separated groups catching each other up on the events of the past months.

The five had decided to spend the night in their new lodgings, a large but comfortable space that could sleep all seven officers if it needed to, and Mingi was slowly draining his bottle while he sat with the others to deliberate their course of action.

“....and so the mermaids sped us here, to Geobugi, where thankfully we caught you in time,” San finished explaining. “Although, I suppose the destination is the same. Haemin territory.”

Hums of acknowledgement echoed around the table before Yunho spoke up. “We ourselves only recently arrived, but I think it’s relevant to let you know the situation here. Pirates are united again, and they want to join the war. Our rescue mission looks to them like an opportunity to justify their involvement.”

San and Jongho glanced at each other but didn’t rush to give their opinions. After a moment, Seonghwa’s quiet voice filled the space.

“Hongjoong told us to stay away from all this. He told Wooyoung and Yeosang to stay away. Do we really think they’ll want to be rescued from a conflict they’ve been dragged into only to turn around and start the fight again?”

“I understand that, hyung, I do,” San broke in, a cloud drawn over his face as he spoke urgently. “But I’ve been running away all this time and I’m so, so sick of it. I know you came out here in your princely attire to join the battle and I respect that you may have changed your mind, but you haven’t seen the enemy like I have.”

Jongho nodded. “I wish to fight as well. Haemin won’t stop taking innocent lives once we rescue Yeosang and Wooyoung from the Crow.”

Yunho sighed and took a swig of his own bottle before turning to Mingi. “Well, Quartermaster, what do you think?”

Mingi startled. What did he think?

He thought all of this felt wrong. He could hear the familiar tune of their crew happily dancing and singing a drinking song in the next lodging house over, and he could feel the ocean breeze gently caressing his face, and he could sense the eyes of his friends on him, looking to him for his answer, but he was drunk and dizzy and wanted more than anything to just turn back time.

Whether to stay safely tucked away or whether to risk their lives and fight didn’t seem like his decision to make.

“I say we wait to see what Yeosang and Wooyoung have to say about it,” he settled on, downing his drink and tossing the bottle in the bin. “There’s no use trying to make up our minds now.”

A knock sounded at the door before anyone could debate him.

“Medical visit!” Maddox’s voice sounded from the wooden porch, and when the rest looked to him, Mingi stood and opened it for the fellow quartermaster.

Namji stood there next to him, arms full of supplies and hair pulled back by a whale bone shard, and glanced around the room until she spied Jongho sitting on one of the sofas off to the side, his injured leg propped up on the arm.

“Two have come, two more remain to be saved?” She asked as she entered the room and set down her things.

Seonghwa opened his mouth to correct her but, faltering, settled on answering “Yes.”

“Excuse me, but I hardly think this is necessary,” San butted in, crossing his arms and taking up residence next to Jongho on the sofa. “I’ve already looked at his wound and treated it.”

The woman blinked and suddenly went beet red. “Choi San?” She asked hesitantly, reaching out a hand to be shaken when he confirmed. “I remember you from your past visits. I doubt you remember me though, you were in quite a hurry.”

He squinted at her until the memory resurfaced. “The apothecary shop?”

“Yes!” Namji beamed and nodded, going about removing Jongho’s bandage while she explained. “I still work there but I’m the surgeon for the Stardust now— or at least I will be when we finally set sail as a crew.”

“Setting sail as a crew?” Mingi questioned Maddox, eyebrow raised and a smile playing on his face. “Without Eden?”

“Oh, no, we’ll pick him up from the Mystic’s Island, next order of business.”

“And if he doesn’t want to come?” Yunho scoffed. He couldn’t imagine Eden rejoining the action after the devastating injury he had sustained.

“He will,” Maddox assured them. “By now if he’s with her, he knows the situation. You told me yourself a few nights ago how much of the war she had foreseen. The time for waiting around has come and gone. And the men will be happy to have their captain among them again.”

Mingi’s shoulders fell in defeat and he accidentally made eye contact with Seonghwa.

It was too bad they didn’t have that option themselves.

San and Namji were still arguing, pleasantries out of the way.

“But if it’s infected and the blood rushes to his head then—”

“But see, there is no open wound, so he’s in no danger of that.”

“Will one of you just get me walking again?” Jongho interjected with a tired grumble.

It took some effort for both surgeons to agree on a course of action and work together, and as they settled down and treated their patient, Mingi wandered to the balcony and gazed out at the lights of Geobugi.

Even the pirate islands close by to the east were somewhat visible, just as lively in the night as in the day. Dots of light decorated the shoreline, their golden rays bouncing off the moving water, making them appear to be floating on a bed of stars.

In the centre of the town, a tree stood tall. The leaves were few and far between but light decorated its branches, so full of candles that from far away it looked like it was on fire.

“What is that?” He muttered to himself, not expecting an answer and startling when Maddox came up behind him and answered solemnly.

“Geobugi has no graveyard. That tree is the next closest thing. Although I have to say, I haven’t known it to be so illuminated with funeral candles since Eden’s presumed death.”

While Mingi pondered the fact that it was apparently a funeral ritual for Hongjoong, Seonghwa spoke up from his own quiet musings.

“Eden had a funeral? We didn’t see this tree when we came here to pick up our crew. Hongjoong never mentioned it.”

“No, I don’t imagine he would’ve,” Maddox sighed, and Mingi understood why. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to see what was going on down there, even as the sound of singing drifted up enticingly from the tree gathering to their lodgings.

He followed Maddox down the suspended bridges to the town centre anyway, with Seonghwa, Yunho, and San in tow. Namji remained with Jongho to set him up with all the medicines he’d need for the next few days while the others slipped away.

Just as he’d suspected, pirates surrounded the tree with candles in their hands and music on their lips. They were singing, but it was more a dirge than a shanty, murmurs occasionally interrupting the tune as they left their lights in the tree and returned to their ships.

Mingi noticed none of their own crew was there to honour the dead, and he wasn’t surprised.

“It’s upsetting to see all this... grief. I’m not accustomed to the sight of it from older pirates,” he admitted, voice choked up slightly, though he told himself it was from the smoke.

“Grief is a sign of love,” Maddox finally answered, gazing at the spectacle himself with the twinkling sparks reflecting off of the moisture in his own eyes. “And love amongst a crew is a strength, not a weakness. The many outcasts here know that bond well, we’re all outcasts together.”

Even though most of the pirates here didn’t even know Hongjoong. And if they did, it was as a rival, not a captain.

“Goodbye, Pirate King,” came a whisper from beside them, and Mingi jumped again before turning to find the source. A woman with her hair newly bleached and chopped short stood next to their small group, nursing a candle of her own and surveying the stars. “I’m sorry for slapping you that time, and you’re forgiven for stealing half my weapons supply.”

Mingi couldn’t help but chuckle. He recognised her, although he couldn’t remember where from.

“Aewol of the Lioness?” Yunho supplied, and she turned to him and nodded, a couple of intricate plaits bouncing in her hair as she did. “If anything, I expected you fellow pirates to resent him,” he admitted, and it was exactly the thought on Mingi’s mind.

“Well, his criminal activity was a bother sometimes but actually worked in our favour,” Aewol explained. “And I don’t just mean that because he kept the Navy occupied with their obsession with the ATEEZ, he really inspired others to keep this legacy going. We have a rebuilt pirate haven after all, and more islands joining the pact than ever before.”

“Hear, hear!” Another pirate cheered before rounding the tree and approaching. This man was tall and looked ten or fifteen years older than them. “There was a time we put up the white flag when we saw the ATEEZ on the horizon.”

“Really?” Aewol snorted out a laugh.

“Really! I’m older than you new pirates, my crew was tired, but we had supplies cordoned off just in case— a tax to the Pirate King, the crew called it— but he sailed right by, never stole it.”

Seonghwa’s brows were drawn together, and he couldn’t help but grit out bitterly, “He was our captain. You never even met him, how can you mourn him?”

Another young pirate with his hair pulled back into a ponytail spoke up from the other side of the tree, guarding his flame as he walked over to join them.

“Because he was more than your captain,” he tried to explain. “We never met him, but he represented us all in a sense.”

Mingi surveyed the faces of strangers around him and couldn’t help but sigh. “I’m not sure how he’d feel if he was aware that people thought of him that way.”

“Well, you knew him,” the younger pirate pointed out with a shrug before setting his candle on one of the lower branches. “Tell us about the Pirate King.”

Suddenly all attention was on Mingi and he didn’t know what to do.

From the bold flags and bright candles to the tears in their eyes, he could tell these pirates didn’t want to know about Hongjoong as a person, his flaws and his humanity, only his legendary acts and larger-than-life personality traits.

They wanted to hear a thrilling tale in line with their pre-existing notion of him.

It was that daring boldness that made piracy appealing, Mingi realised, not the quiet days of fair weather he cherished with his captain. It was heroes becoming myths that would go down in history, and they might as well have been anonymous.

But Mingi didn’t want to think of Hongjoong that way, so he stood there gaping like a fish while Seonghwa began putting them straight.

“Well, firstly... his name was Hongjoong,” he struggled through his sentences, trying to find a way to do the story justice. “And he... h-he was just a boy from Panhang at first. Like anyone else.”

“We grew up together,” Mingi continued. “Although I did most of the growing.”

Chuckles sounded from the growing crowd and Mingi swallowed his nerves. Hongjoong would have smacked him upside the head for that joke if he were there.

“After his parents drowned and again after Eden was presumed dead, he seemed to know what he wanted. I don’t think he faltered in that for a long time.”

That was just about all Mingi was willing to divulge. It was the origin of their journey as a crew after all, and it brought them up to the present, but everyone was still staring at him as if waiting for something really exciting.

“There are things he went through— things we went through— that I don’t think the world ought to know,” he finally sighed, deciding to let them make their own inferences. “But some of the stories you’ve heard are true.”

“Including the tale of the kraken?” One man shouted from the back.

“Yes, it was Wooyoung’s shot that finished it,” Yunho filled in, only to be overwhelmed by more questions.

“And the fire tornado on the deserted island?” A woman asked closer to Mingi.

“Right, we were all there,” he confirmed. “I jumped into the inferno myself...”

And just like that, all those harebrained escapes and knick of time rescues became epic tales to be circulated around the islands until they no longer bore any resemblance to the truth.

Mingi knew it was bound to happen, but he returned to the lodging house as soon as he could anyway.

The recognition was good in measure, but something about listening to Hongjoong be discussed in the past tense was grating on his ears.

It had been the final straw when an old sailor announced, “May a westerly breeze blow his spirit over the sea to wait for us at rest in the new world.”

But he knew it didn’t matter what all those pirates thought of him, or even of the ATEEZ.

Maddox was right about one thing for certain— the bond amongst a crew.

“You think he can see all those lights, wherever he is?” Mingi whispered softly in Jongho’s direction as he slumped on the sofa next to him, nursing his dizzy head and holding the younger boy as tightly as he could while minding his injury.

“I don’t know,” Jongho tutted, but he didn’t pull away from the embrace. “He didn’t bring his spyglass with him.”

...

“Nothing but blue for miles and miles,” Hongjoong muttered as he stretched his hand out the porthole window again, letting the spray of the waves meet his skin. “And we’re definitely headed south.”

The lack of ice flecking the ocean was already a good sign they had made considerable progress.

“Is the water warmer?” Yeosang asked as he stood and made his way over, wiping the sweat from his face. He was exercising as often as he could, determined to be physically fit for the task should something go wrong during their escape.

For a while he had been hiding muscle under that timid form, and his head was full of combat knowledge, collected quietly until the time came to strike. That moment was approaching with every mile closer to Haemin they travelled.

Hongjoong nodded and drew his arm back in, sinking to the floor impatiently.

“It shouldn’t be long then, right?” Wooyoung asked, mouth full of the midday meal as he cringed away from the concerned steward who was warning him to slow down.

“I doubt we’re even halfway,” Hongjoong huffed. “The distance between the colonies and even Haemin’s outlying islands is vast.”

Which meant they were sailing half a world away from everything they ever knew and everyone they ever loved.

“Why is it always the three of us?” Wooyoung groaned as he finally passed off his bowl and stretched out on the floor.

The steward rolled his eyes and saw himself out without another word.

Hongjoong stretched out next to Wooyoung on the floor and gave him a pinch to the arm for taking up his space. “We just can’t stay away from each other, I suppose.” It was one constant they were all grateful for.

“Oh, admit it!” Wooyoung laughed gleefully as Yeosang lay down on his other side. “Yeosang and I are your favourite children.”

Hongjoong spluttered but wasn’t given a chance to retort.

“Who cares about his father? That’s you now,” Wooyoung jabbed, and giggles broke out between the three of them.

“That still makes for one dysfunctional family,” Yeosang pointed out, hiding his laugh behind a hand and shoving Wooyoung lightly.

He always knew how to raise their spirits.

“I do hope the rest are safe, especially Seonghwa,” Hongjoong said under his breath when the moment had passed.

Wooyoung and Yeosang glanced at each other.

“Why Seonghwa? He was fine when I saw him last,” Yeosang responded immediately, heart beginning to pound when he didn’t receive an answer for a moment. What did Hongjoong know that he didn’t?

“Haemin is trying to kill him.”

Oh, just that.

But Seonghwa was likely safe with others, Yeosang knew, so he willed his heartbeat to slow down to a healthy speed and tried to rationalise for Hongjoong’s sake.

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” he muttered. “They tried once in Namhae, with the explosion that ironically nearly killed you. You should’ve seen the amount of security at the palace.”

“But now he’s made himself an easy target,” Hongjoong sighed. “He was here on the Black Crow, planning to fight with the Navy. I have no idea why or where he is now, but I read the intelligence myself. He’s in danger yet again.”

It was another one of those constants, especially now that the older pirate had a crown and a royal title.

But it was of no use that they knew of this supposed assassination plot that Seonghwa himself didn’t.

A familiar knock sounded softly from the door and Byun and Park entered with news.

“Admiral Kim is paying you a visit within the hour,” Byun directed his words at Hongjoong, accompanied with a grimace. “I don’t know why it took him this long, but we had better prepare.”

Yeosang nodded and helped Wooyoung to his feet. They had discussed in advance what to do when this inevitably happened. They couldn’t hide away in the hold forever, at least not in the same room as Kim’s favourite prisoner.

As Lieutenant Park— the officer who was supposed to be on guard— refastened the chains around Hongjoong’s hands, Yeosang and Wooyoung followed Byun out through the cramped deck hallway to the infirmary.

The Black Crow was massive to the extent that a crew member on one deck of the ship would likely never come into contact with a crew member on another. It was certainly capable of hiding two young pirates so long as they disguised as soldiers.

But Yeosang and Wooyoung wanted more than a place to hide, they wanted to be in on the action and that required something more.

“Hang on,” Byun suddenly whispered, stopping in his tracks and causing a small collision behind him.

“What is it?” Wooyoung hissed, already half concealed behind the nearest barrel in case someone was approaching.

“A longboat is missing,” came the reply, barely louder than a breath, no more than a passing thought.

“I didn’t expect to have deserters this early on in the war,” Byun explained as they walked past the empty space where the boat should be and hurried into the infirmary. “Strange that the Admiral hasn’t mentioned anything about it.”

But then, he was clearly busy with other things.

Surgeon Oh rushed them inside and took out a pair of nondescript navy uniforms from the back of one of his cabinets, handing them off to the stowaways.

“This one stinks,” Wooyoung complained, holding his nose and watching with disgust as Yeosang immediately began to change into his own.

“We didn’t exactly have time to order new ones made,” Oh countered with an exasperated sigh. “They’re borrowed from the crew.”

Yeosang buttoned the jacket up to the neck and nodded Wooyoung on.

As reluctant as they were, they were soldiers of necessity. It was the best plan they had.

“Here are the bandages,” Oh continued, carefully applying a few strategic coverings to their faces.

Yeosang’s birthmark was painstakingly obscured this time to avoid a similar incident to the one at the Namhae prison, and hats were shoved on to hide their colourful hair from view.

“If anyone asks, you’re greenies who each received a face full of powder burn in the battle and are lucky to be alive,” Byun supplied as he opened the door for them, knowing it was a common enough occurrence to be believable.

“Lieutenant? Accompany me to the bilge deck,” a call carried across the working crowd and halted them before they could.

It was the Admiral, finally ready to pay his visit, and his voice made Yeosang clench his fist in livid silence.

“...after you’re finished with those patients. You too, surgeon,” Kim added when he noticed them.

Wooyoung and Yeosang both fixed their eyes on the deck respectfully, faces completely devoid of emotion.

If Yeosang had to speak to the man, he might punch him in the face.

“Of course, sir,” Byun answered swiftly, motioning for Yeosang and Wooyoung to hang back a moment for appearances. It was best if they weren’t seen together with the lieutenant again as low level recruits.

They waited a full thirty seconds after he and the Admiral disappeared into the lower decks before following, pressing against the door to try and hear every word, every movement.

“Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m here?”

It was Admiral Kim’s voice, that snobbish lilt he liked to tease with, and it didn’t sound like Hongjoong was taking the bait.

There was a brief pause before they heard their captain respond, not a direct answer to the question but a response nonetheless.

“Was the battle to your satisfaction?”

Kim barked out a laugh and the sound of clapping followed. “Yes, you performed beautifully. Excellent results. However, I have a problem.”

Another silence stretched on for a few seconds, long enough that Yeosang began to fear punishment for not answering would follow.

“What is it?” Hongjoong sneered when Kim was likely at his breaking point. He liked to have control of the conversation.

Yeosang leaned forward to peek through the door, still open a crack, risking discovery just to be able to lay eyes on the scene.

“The men are far too taken with you and your charms,” Kim was explaining, as if scolding a young child. “In fact, between here and Haemin, I expect you will have completely seduced them and it will be you, not me, who is in charge of this ship.”

Yeosang wondered what would happen if he and Wooyoung attacked the man from behind while the lieutenants secured the door.

They could dispose of him in a moment or two, but would the rest of the ship consider it a mutiny or a liberation?

“We cannot have that, can we?” Kim nearly growled, toeing the prisoner with his boot to elicit a response.

Hongjoong shook his head stiffly, but his expression didn’t change.

“Indeed,” the Admiral sounded satisfied and turned to the officers standing next to him. “Would you say he is in sufficient health for a visit to the main deck, Oh?”

The surgeon’s eyes flickered between Hongjoong and the Admiral before he uttered an emotionless, “Yessir.”

Kim may have suspected Hongjoong of winning over the crew, but he still had no idea that his own officers had been won over as well.

“Then see it done. The men need to be reminded that Lucky is a prisoner, not a captain.”

Yeosang and Wooyoung made all possible haste to reach the main deck before the men dragged Hongjoong up with them, standing just out of the way a few paces off from each other and peeking over shoulders and around cannons to see what they had no power to stop.

To Yeosang’s surprise, Kim simply had the lieutenants chain Hongjoong to the mainmast and walked away.

There were a few soft murmurs around the deck, but no major outcry, even after the Admiral returned to his cabin.

One at a time, the lieutenants returned to the hold, and one at a time, Yeosang and Wooyoung joined them.

“At least we know the disguises work,” Wooyoung tried to cheer Yeosang up, unwrapping his neck and discarding the unused bandage on the floor. “Now we have to figure out how to communicate with Hongjoong in broad daylight.”

After an hour or two of the Admiral remaining in his quarters while Hongjoong worked himself into as comfortable a position as he could outside, it became apparent that the punishment would continue for longer than they thought.

“It’s raining...” Yeosang noted absently as he noticed Hongjoong wipe his eyes against his shoulder and slump to his knees with a tired sigh. He was hugging the mast with his hands chained in front of him, and by now they were likely stiff and sore, not to mention soaked through.

“He’ll be out there all night most likely,” Byun kept his eyes on his boots as he confessed. “If it goes on too long, Oh can lawfully make a recommendation to move him inside... but such an act may look suspicious.”

“It’s a fine line you’re walking,” Wooyoung snapped, and Yeosang had to hold him back from attacking the guilty lieutenants.

“We all knew the risks, including Lucky,” Park came to Byun’s defense. “If you know anything about Kim, this is the lesser of a multitude of evils.”

Yeosang glanced out at the rain streaming down the window.

Perhaps he didn’t know the Admiral as well as he thought.

…

When San stumbled back to the lodgings, he didn’t expect to find anyone awake.

The night was deep and dark, just a few hours off from the first grey hints of dawn and having spent most of the time getting acquainted with the other pirates on the island after their vigil, he was tired and in need of some sleep before they set sail.

San still couldn’t close his eyes without seeing Hongjoong’s face, but there was no more chance of stalling so he’d have to bear with it for a while.

So it was to his great surprise that San discovered Seonghwa of all people, lying awake with his crown in his lap, finely crafted jewels catching the light of a single flame quivering atop a candle on the table next to him.

“What does it even mean,” he whispered, glancing up at San. “To be the prince on an island so untouched by royalty?”

There was hurt in his eyes.

San deflated and moved over to his own bed, pulling his boots off while he thought about how to answer. He wasn’t sure he even could.

San had been paddling away from Namhae with the last ounce of strength in his arms before he ever knew Seonghwa had even made contact with the royal family.

He had missed out on so much that seeing the crown gleaming in the boatswain’s hands now was a foreign sight altogether. He had no idea what that reality meant to him, why he couldn’t just leave it behind.

“Hongjoong is the Pirate King here, the crown has no power compared to that,” Seonghwa muttered, setting it on the table next to the candle and trying to settle back comfortably. From a few houses over, wind chimes clinked together gently in the breeze.

“Even if it did, is it something you actually want for yourself— the palace life and everything that goes with it?” San finally asked through the roughness in his throat, fiddling with the edge of his jacket.

“There’s nothing in it for me without the ATEEZ.”

It was reassuring to hear that, and San found himself relaxing before thinking about the future.

“And if the kingdom and these pirate islands can’t peacefully coexist at the end of all this? What then?”

Seonghwa turned to face him and shrugged. “Then I have to give it up. I’m not leaving you to fend for yourself again.”

San bit his shaking bottom lip and crawled into the hammock with Seonghwa, wrapping his arms around him tightly. “At least you have a common goal with your brother, the king. We all want Haemin defeated.”

Seonghwa hummed sleepily, eyes falling shut. He was too tired to argue, even if he wasn’t convinced joining the war was the best option.

San blew out the candle with a quick puff of air and settled in. He breathed Seonghwa in while he held him, and swore under his breath never to take any of their small band for granted again.

He had been adrift for far too long, and when he had Yeosang and Wooyoung safe with him as well, maybe then he’d finally be home.

Sleep came to him speedily, but it was a light sleep.

Something jolted him out of it when it was still dark in their shared room, and San wasn’t sure what it was but he was prepared to ignore it and let his eyes fall shut again until Seonghwa made a noise.

It wasn’t any sort of coherent word, just a mumble that sounded almost like a whimper, so San opened his eyes and turned his head.

An intruder clothed from head to toe in black was crawling in through the window with a sword drawn and pointed toward them.

San jerked up and reached for his gun, suddenly remembering it was still next to his own bed but being cut off by the attacker before he could reach it.

He threw a punch, but the stranger dodged it, and as he stumbled over air his opponent made for Seonghwa, raising the blade to end him in a single stroke.

Thankfully, Seonghwa rolled out of the way and found his own gun, trying to load it in the dark with shaking hands and yelling for help, hoping someone would wake up and come to their aid.

If he wasn’t imagining it all, it seemed like this assassin was here to kill him.

In an instant, Jongho was on the intruder, tackling him from the back and wrestling him to the floor.

Completely by chance, the assassin kicked his injured leg in a lucky shot, causing his knees to buckle and his grip to loosen.

With the growing sound of footsteps, the intruder’s options were dwindling. There was little chance of killing his target now that the entire room had woken up. And it was a room full of experienced pirates, so to pick a fight with all of them at once would be suicide.

“Don’t let him get away!” San yelled, grasping his gun and shoving his feet into his boots while the assassin leapt back out the window and pulled himself on to the roof.

Yunho jumped out after him and San was right on his heels, climbing over the tiled eaves of the lodging house and letting Yunho help pull him up.

The assassin had jumped the distance between their roof and the next one, and was skilfully leaping across them as silent as a shadow, hoping to lose his pursuers in the chaos.

But he had followed them here to a pirate island, a nest of enemies with nowhere to hide and nowhere to run.

“Cut him off at the waterfront?” San suggested, popping up out of a tumble as he moved from a higher building to a lower one.

Yunho grunted his acknowledgement and broke off to the west, sprinting across a roof beam in the direction of the shipyard while San went straight after the assassin and tried to direct his path from behind.

If they were successful, they’d have the intruder trapped between them. Then he could surrender or they could take him by force. San had no preference.

Just when he thought the assassin had started to turn towards the ship masts peeking up in the west, a pair of daggers came flying towards him.

With a yelp, San ducked by slipping into a crack between buildings. Keeping his eyes trained on the escaping assassin, he hauled himself up from the balcony and jumped to the next roof to continue in pursuit.

All this running on unstable ground was tiring, but evoked the memory of his successful rooftop chase on the Fortress island and made him push harder. The terrain wasn’t flat like it had been then and the stranger he was chasing was much more agile, so he had to become light on his own feet and do everything in his power to catch up.

Trying to slow the runner down, he shot a few rounds in the assassin’s general direction. It didn’t succeed in fazing him, but it did cause him to turn west, and a smile began to grow on San’s face.

This was their territory now, not the stranger’s.

Sure enough, just as the assassin reached the last roof before the docks, Yunho emerged from behind a chimney stack and shoved him to the tile.

San met up with him immediately, joining in and helping to restrain the man. The sun was beginning to rise, and in the pale early morning light the stranger wasn’t recognisable, even after Yunho ripped off his mask and looked him in the eyes.

“Who are you?” He growled, shaking the intruder by the shoulders and gripping him tightly to encourage an answer.

The assassin didn’t speak, letting the contempt in his eyes tell the pirates all they needed to know.

San was busy emptying his pockets and lifting any and all weapons from his person, but pressed him into the tile roughly for good measure, trying to get the man to talk.

“Who do you work for?” Yunho’s hands were on the assassin’s arms, restraining them behind his back and pulling the man to his feet. “What is it, you don’t want to squeal?”

San strapped the assortment of weapons to himself and helped escort the prisoner off the roof, liking the craftsmanship of the daggers and considering keeping them.

“That’s alright. He’ll change his mind when we’re done with him.”

...

Wooyoung couldn’t eat. He was too focused on the door, waiting for it to open for a lieutenant with news.

Yeosang had been coaxing some breakfast into his mouth when it finally did.

Park stuck his head in to announce that they were heading to the shipwreck site of a fellow navy ship to pick up survivors and continue into Haemin, a detour which would delay their arrival and subsequent escape.

“That’s all?” Yeosang scoffed. “You didn’t mention anything about Hongjoong’s health to him?”

“You people are useless,” Wooyoung spat before he got a chance to apologise, shooing the lieutenant out and beginning to pace the room.

It was like all these men knew how to do was hurt people and take lives. None of them had the guts to stand up to Kim and tell him to let Hongjoong go belowdecks again.

“It’s so stuffy, I can’t breathe in this,” Wooyoung whispered as he wiped his sweaty hands on the uniform, undid the clasps to expose his chest and slumped down the hull wall. “How much longer?”

Yeosang sighed and buttoned it up again for him, pulling him to his feet. “Let’s go take a look.”

As always, they had to bandage their faces up and be careful not to raise any suspicion when they were in a public area, but their concern for Hongjoong and his rapidly worsening injuries was too great to simply sit around until he was returned to them.

Wooyoung went to one side of the main deck and Yeosang to the other, communicating with his uncovered eye that Byun happened to be standing just to Wooyoung’s left.

The lieutenant looked to the average sailor like he was simply keeping an eye on the proceedings of the morning, but Wooyoung knew he was watching Hongjoong intently and followed suit.

The prisoner hadn’t woken yet, his arms limp around the mast and legs tucked in underneath him to avoid being rained on.

“He can’t hold his own weight up anymore,” Wooyoung observed under his breath, just loud enough to make Byun flash a glance at him. “Before, he would probably rather lick his own wounds in a corner like an animal than let the navy help him.”

“Dying changes a man,” the lieutenant shot back quietly. “What he saw was an opportunity, and I for one am very glad he took it.”

Surgeon Oh approached and whispered in Byun’s ear just as Wooyoung opened his mouth to retort, and instead of engage in the hushed argument any longer, Byun signalled Lieutenant Park to help him remove Hongjoong from the mast and get him below. It seemed the surgeon had secured Admiral Kim’s permission.

Wooyoung still didn’t think they ever needed it.

He signalled Yeosang to meet him in their bilge deck room again and the two shuffled around anxiously until the lieutenants appeared with Hongjoong, awake now and grateful to be set down on the floor to lie still without being chained.

“Are you alright? Do you need anything?” Yeosang rushed to ask in a low voice.

Even his throat was watery, and Hongjoong coughed up some rain before answering, “I’m fine. It wasn’t even ten lashes.”

Public punishment by cat o’ nine tails was extremely common in the navy, and it was a surprise that Kim hadn’t jumped at the chance to dole out the blows himself.

But it had them wondering why this situation was special.

Wooyoung’s mouth ran away from him.

“What did you do to make him hate you so much?”

Hongjoong paused where he was pulling off his soaking uniform and replacing it with a dry one and met his gaze.

A cool breeze swept the space in that moment and all of them shivered.

Finally Hongjoong broke the silence and dropped the wet clothes to the floor.

“It’s complicated.”

Yeosang gave Wooyoung a warning glare to let it slide until their captain was dry, fed, and rested, but Hongjoong went on as he buttoned up his new jacket.

“I was different back then, the day we first met face to face. More reckless. And I had no fear of the evil of men, only the unforgiving nature of the wild.”

Wooyoung nodded and scooted over, bringing a blanket with him and wrapping it around the both of them.

“When it was over, I was afraid only of myself,” Hongjoong sighed, before his eyes cleared and he began the story from the beginning.

“At the time, Mingi and I were focused on building the ATEEZ from the small boat I started with to the ship both of you knew when we met. We procured weapons and materials through a variety of means, but inevitably our travels took us to Kon— a paradise for shipbuilders, but also the Navy’s back yard. I was careless in my approach, and I managed to keep Mingi and the ATEEZ safe from discovery, but Kim took me into custody and, well...”

Wooyoung’s eyes were drawn to the faint pink trace of Hongjoong’s pirate brand. The burn couldn’t hide from someone who knew where it was, and the Admiral had referred to it as a souvenir he had gifted himself.

“He remembered my name from the sinking of the Stardust, and the thought that I might continue what Eden had started clearly terrified him,” Hongjoong explained, pulling the blanket tight around him. “I’m sure he had made up his mind to kill me as quickly as the process would allow, but somehow Mingi mustered up the courage and the skill to break me out completely by himself.”

Yeosang chuckled fondly as he joined their huddle and the lieutenants made their way out with the wet clothes. They knew when their presence was no longer required.

“Getting out proved to be more tricky than getting in,” Hongjoong went on. “There was... a guard.”

He exhaled shakily and Wooyoung had a feeling this was where the story went south.

“We didn’t hear him approach, but he yelled out suddenly from behind us and drew his gun,” Hongjoong’s words and the rocking of the ship were the only sounds as Wooyoung and Yeosang held their breath. “So I-I drew mine, and without thinking, fired it. It was just another instinct after surviving alone on that island, I never meant to kill him... but he shot as well, the bullet hit my leg, and while Mingi dragged me away I looked to see what I had done.”

He lowered his head into his hands and didn’t speak for a moment.

“Admiral Kim had arrived, and he cradled that guard in his arms and cried. He kept saying ‘my son’ over and over again, and from that day on, his hatred for me increased a hundredfold. I don’t think I fully understood until Namhae. Anyone associated with me is nothing more to him than a bug to be crushed.”

“It’s not your fault, you didn’t murder his son in cold blood,” Wooyoung insisted, taking his cold hand and squeezing it. “You said yourself, it was an accident.”

Hongjoong didn’t pull away, so Yeosang leaned over to join in. He could relate personally from his own memories of a steaming gun and a bleeding sorcerer. “The first kill is always the worst.”

But it was so much easier when you didn’t know what the dead left behind. When you couldn’t imagine a devastated wife, or starving children, or… a weeping father.

Their captain simply trained his eyes on the ceiling and shook his head just the same.

“I’m sorry anyway. Because I can live with his voice in my head and Kim chasing me around the globe, but I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you as a result.”

Glancing around the hold, Wooyoung knew they had been very close to that reality several times.

“If we play our cards right, neither of those will be the case,” Yeosang pointed out, sitting back and stretching his muscles.

“That’s true, although we have some planning to do thanks to the change in course,” Wooyoung grumbled as he followed suit but saved a teasing smile for Hongjoong, whose eyes were already heavy lidded and fading fast.

“Join us when you’re ready, Captain. I’ve been dying to have you boss me around again.”

...

Maddox arrived at the lodging house to find the assassin already captive and bound to a chair, the officers of the ATEEZ all wide awake and taking turns intimidating him.

Maddox wondered if they were aware how much they spoke to each other without words.

“There was a distress signal,” he explained when Mingi approached with his eyebrow raised, motioning for the men he’d brought to stand by the door.

“We have everything under control,” Mingi assured him smoothly, and Maddox had figured as much but he had to admit he was curious about what was going on.

“Do you mind if I join you?” He asked cordially, and Mingi gave him a shy smile and a nod.

Seonghwa was seated in front of the intruder, not the slightest bit shaken by the attempt on his life.

He had a hand on the scruff of the man’s neck and wasn’t afraid to get in his face, refusing to allow his eyes to be avoided. Maddox guessed his approach was somewhat tame compared to others.

“Your name,” the prince growled. “That’s all I’m asking for now.”

The assassin held his silence for a few seconds before swallowing, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously as Seonghwa stared him down.

If he tried to lie, they’d know it instantly. Seonghwa had that look in his eyes, like he was asking a question he already knew the answer to. Like he was simply leading the other through an exercise of asserting dominance, where at the end of it the assassin gave him everything he wanted or had a body part broken courtesy of Jongho.

“Jang, at your service,” the man finally spat, smooth features contorting angrily.

Seonghwa smirked and petted the assassin’s neck almost tenderly. “See?” He cooed, his voice as gentle as if he were speaking to a child. “That wasn’t so hard.”

Noticing Maddox’s presence, Seonghwa beckoned him over to whisper in his ear. “Might we speak privately?”

Maddox nodded and signalled for the men he’d brought to guard the assassin. They didn’t want him slipping away while Jongho had his leg tended to again.

When they were outside with the morning sun on their faces, Seonghwa sighed deeply and turned to face him.

“I’ve seen him before.”

Maddox was confused. “What? Where?”

“It was in the square, the day Hongjoong died,” Seonghwa blinked as if remembering against his will. “He was at the execution... he works for Admiral Kim.”

“And yet he tried to kill you when he knows who you are,” Maddox snorted out a laugh, running a hand through his already disheveled hair.

This was turning out to be more of a headache than he’d thought.

“All along...” Seonghwa muttered bitterly, his eyes fixed on the distant waves beyond the docks. “Kim had been planning to kill me at sea and make it look like an accident, just a tragic casualty of war. It doesn’t surprise me in the least.”

“Then it’s a good thing you left when you did, you might not have had anyone to fall back on,” Maddox couldn’t help but notice, straightening his shoulders and asking the younger man for a course of action. “What do you want to do?”

“Relax your security,” Seonghwa suggested after a moment, pushing back off the railing and facing him.

Maddox’s mouth worked silently as he tried to understand. “But...”

“He can lead us to the Black Crow,” Seonghwa’s jaw was set and he insisted without even consulting the rest of his crew, that was how sure he was they would go along with this ridiculous scheme.

“Seonghwa—”

“I’m betting he’ll try to escape to inform the Admiral.”

Maddox sighed and looked down at the docks for any unfamiliar ship. There was a single longboat that looked like the Navy’s, but he wasn’t certain it was enough evidence. “You’re sure he knows where they’re headed now?”

“Kim would want confirmation the job was finished,” Seonghwa reasoned. “He must have told Jang where to meet him.”

Maddox chewed on his lip while he considered it. Their band was travelling south already, but a little more specificity to navigate with would undoubtedly be an asset. It was probably worth a try, as much as he didn’t want to admit it. Not to mention the Stardust’s sailing master Jihan would thank him for it.

“Alright, it’s better than nothing,” he finally agreed, shaking hands with the prince and amicably parting ways. It looked like Eden would have to wait.

He took his extra men with him and returned to the Stardust officers’ quarters. Their master gunner and master-at-arms were already seated by the door, ready to go.

“Soomin, Jonghoon,” he addressed them, searching around for his hat. “Pack your things, we’re headed to Haemin.”

...

Taglist: @serendipityunho @celestial-yunho @atzjjongbby @89staytinyzen21

A/N: Our journey continues southward! Let me know if you noticed any interesting details or have any predictions for the future, and thanks so much for reading and keeping up with Treasure! It means a lot <3

← Previous | Masterlist | Next →

18 notes · View notes

in-my-world · 4 years

Text

Heaven - Two (Hongjoong AU)

Genre: fluff, (slight) angst, suggestive

Warning(s): food mentions,

Words: 1k

A/N: if you ever want me to tag you to the post, or add a tw feel free to ask!

A couple of days had passed since I first met Hongjoong. Jules was busy making heart eyes at the band’s bassist Mingi, and since she was really my only good friend I stayed home.

____________________________________

I sat watching reruns of a horrible reality show, but my mind was actually taken with a debate, whether I should order food for lunch or buy groceries. I hadn’t bothered to get dressed, or shower in the morning. But knowing I wouldn’t get paid until next week and looking around my kitchen for ingredients and coming up empty handed, resulted in me having to go to the store.

I listened to music as I pushed the cart around the almost barren grocery store, avoiding eye contact with people and keeping to myself. I was thankful it was past Christmas so the same songs would stop being played on repeat.

I turned the corner to walk down the canned foods aisle and stopped dead in my tracks. I almost did a quick one eighty (180), in hopes to miss the familiar man; luck was not on my side that day.

“Oh, fancy seeing you here _____,” the familiar blue haired boy called out.

Hongjoong was dressed in black jeans, his white button up shirt tucked into the waist. His leather jacket was in the kids seat of the cart. He looked drastically different in business attire than when we met; he was in bleached splotched jeans and a cut up and messily sewed t-shirt that night, and yet he managed to pull off both looks flawlessly. I instantly regretted not changing out of my pjs, or at least making myself look presentable.

“Hongjoong, hi,” I probably looked ridiculous.

There he was looking like a white collar dreamboat.

His face lit up in a smile, his eyes shone like stars and his posture was relaxed.

Several elderly folks passed by us as we stood there.

The squeaking of a cart wheel snapped me out of my stupor, “how are you?”

His eyes went from looking at the contents of his cart to me, he let out a laugh that made my heart flutter, “I’m doing good, hey we’re having a show this weekend, you should come.” He suggested, something I wasn’t going to pass up.

I nodded, “yeah, I’m sure Jules would have probably dragged me along anyway,” I laugh and relax feeling relieved that he laughs with me.

“Cool, I’ll see you there,” he started, “I better go, I have a lunch date with my parents tonight.”

I grab my phone from my bag, “we should exchange numbers, so I can know when your shows are.”

He sends me a smile and takes the mobile device from my hand, “that was smooth _____.”

I take my phone back and we exchange smiles before passing each other and continuing our grocery shopping.

____________________________________

I carried the reusable shopping bags down the hall towards my door. I scolded myself at check-out for once again forgetting the millions I had at home. I struggled to get my keys from my pocket, when I finally managed to retrieve them and look up I saw my mom standing at my door.

I take a deep breath putting on a fake smile, “mom, what are you doing here?”

Not even a ’hello’ from her before, “I was wondering if you had heard from the friend I set you up with last week.”

I didn’t fail to notice her look me up and down, although she was a master at hiding her true thoughts.

I bit back a remark, “nope, they probably decided I was out of their league and didn’t bother.” I smiled sweetly.

My mom’s face dropped into a scowl for a split second, before a polite smile returned to her face.

“You want to come in, you came all the way here after all, I just need to put away the groceries.” I unlocked the door and pushed it open with my shoulder shuffling awkwardly into the kitchen.

My mom stayed in the hallway, “no I should get going I am having dinner with your brother and his wife,” she remarked, putting emphasis on the word wife.

I nodded, “bye mom.” I said before shutting the door, and locking it.

I leaned against it and heaved out an audible sigh. I felt drained and angry; why did she have to make a house call to ask something like that, other than to come and judge me. Being the youngest and also being single was what most people my age did, it was normal to work on yourself first before devoting yourself to a relationship; at least for my generation it was, she was stuck in the 1800s. I shook my head to clear the thoughts and started to put my groceries away.

I hadn’t managed to grab anything useful to make a full meal, so I was once again debating on a microwave single serving meal or order take out. My growling stomach signaled that it wouldn’t be able to wait so I kept out the microwave dinner. The food was edible and filled my empty stomach, but I still craved something sweet. Looking through my snack drawer, I spotted one last pack of my favorite snack food. I grabbed it and took it to the couch. I was about to stand and toss away the trash when my phone went off.

I was feeling a little less sorry for myself after eating the empty carbs. The television was on playing whatever was on after the reality show. I was about to stand and toss away the trash when my phone went off.

I opened the message and paused, why was Hongjoong messaging me? I read through the message and sent a reply smiling to myself and clicking the lock button. He had only asked if I had gotten home safe, but it made my chest warm. Why was he so kind to me after only just meeting me? Why did he decide to give that ride home, regardless of his home being in the same direction as mine?

Ask to be tagged if you want! @mountainsluna

#ateez #Ateez hongjoong #ateez scenarios #ateez fluff #ateez hongjoong scenarios #hongjoong fluff #hongjoong scenarios

27 notes · View notes

soulangel · 5 years

Text

I Love You - Choi San

Summary: After a big fight with San leaves you in the rain at the bus station, all you can think about is going back to him.

Group: Ateez San x Fem!Reader

Genre: Angst which turns into fluff?

Warnings: Minor talks of panic attacks and sadness. Small amounts of swearing

Word Count: 1,864

With rain falling around you like your tears showing their presence in harsh droplets, you dragged your suitcase through puddles. Your shoes were soaked through entirely about 20 minutes ago, and the shorts you were wearing gave no support on warmth whatsoever. Your shirt see through and showing off a pink pushup bra you’d had on. You could feel your phone vibrating in your short pocket yet refused to answer it as you looked every which way for a place to rest yourself for a moment. Sopping wet hair clung to your cheeks and neck in thick chunks as you whipped your head around behind you. You thought you heard someone calling your name before a flash of lights caught your attention. Your phone vibrated again for the third time in 5 minutes, and you decided to stop under a bus station waiting area to check who it could be. 2 missed calls from your friend from work, 5 missed called from Hongjoong, and 20 missed calls from San. 3 missed messages from each person.

“Where are you? Why am I getting calls at 3 am saying you’re not at home?!” Your friend had messaged you. You just rolled your eyes and told her to ignore whatever was being said.

“Hey it’s Hongjoong. Please tell me you made it somewhere safe! San is freaking out thinking you’re off somewhere getting hurt. Can I come get you? Please respond!” The frown on your face deepened with every word you read until you were about ready to cry fresh tears.

You sat down on the bench for a minute to collect your thoughts seeing as everything was starting to hit you at once like a train wreck hitting in the most busy town during rush hour traffic. Gasping in breaths to stop yourself from a panic attack you didn’t hear the bus coming to a stop in front of you. “Miss, are you okay? Looking to get on?” The driver had asked you gently, though loud enough for you to hear him over the rain and sound of the bus’s engine. You gave him a fake grin and shook your head. “N-No thanks! Just catching my breath!” You called back before waving at him as he got ready to drive off. Your phone vibrated again when you raked your hands through your hair and you groaned out loud at it. “What do you want?! First you tell me to pack my shit and leave, now you’re calling me for whatever reason! Make up your fucking mind San!” You screamed into your phone, catching yourself off guard with the hostility in your voice. He choked back on a sob once he heard just how pissed you were with him and felt the words die in his throat. “J-Jagi I-” You scowled into the phone at hearing the timid sound of his voice. He took in a shaky breath and tried again, “Jagi I’m sorry I said those things, please come back so we can talk? Please.” He choked again, luckily after he finished talking so he wouldn’t have to try again. You were about to say something when you felt the weight of the situation growing in the pit of your stomach. Like your friend said, it was 3 am and you were in shorts and a see through shirt with soaked shoes. If you managed to change into clothes in your suitcase, who knew how long they would last before you’d have to change again? Plus there was nowhere for you to go at this time of night. The bus that just left was the last one of the night, and you couldn’t ask your friends to come get you since most of them worked early in the morning; which was in at least 2 hours. You were stuck on what to do, and it was starting to frighten you. Finally feeling the fear rising in you, you pressed the phone closer to your face and sniffled a little, glancing in every direction to make sure you were alone. Something you didn’t think to do in your anger until just then. “S-San, please come get me....I’m sorry for everything I said. I’m scared.” You whispered into the phone, unable to bring your voice up in volume as your panic settled into your system. He was about to respond to you when you heard a car pull up in front of you. The window rolled down to see a very frightened and concerned manager staring at you, Hongjoong in the passenger seat. “Y/N! What are you doing out here?! Get in the car before you catch a cold!” He shouted at you while waving his hand to get in the back of the car. You stood up on shaky legs and started moving forward, your suitcase trailing behind you before Hongjoong stepped out of the car and sprinted over to you to grab the luggage out of your hand. “Get in the car Y/N. I’ll get this.” He said softly with a small smile as you just stared at him wide eyed. “H-How did y-you find m-me?” You asked just as softly, feeling yourself shivering the slightest bit. He quickly put the suitcase in the back of the car before he grabbed your hand to lead you to the backseat door, opening it up for you. He then held your arm as you slowly slid into the backseat, too numb to understand anything. Hongjoong crouched down a little to see that you were in the seat before he closed the door as softly as possible and ran to the other side to get in back beside you. As your best friend, it was his duty to keep you as safe as possible when San wasn’t around, and this seemed like one of those cases to him as he slid in right beside you to wrap his arms around you, successfully trapping you between himself and the door for security. You gripped onto his shirt and felt the tears falling before you were able to comprehend what you were doing. “I-It’s over Joongie….it’s over.” You whispered, the brokenhearted whisper barely reaching his ears. He looked down at you as you continued shivering in his arms and frowned deeply, taking a hand to rake through your messily clumped and drenched hair. It would take about 10 minutes to get back to the dorm rooms, but the problem was getting you to actually go up with him and their manager that was going to be the challenge. And he knew it as he debated on whether or not he should call the guys to get ready to help pull you up the stairs. As if knowing what he was thinking, you rested your head on his shoulder and whimpered softly. “C-Can you just take me to San? Please?” You brokenly asked, starting to close your eyes due to the warmth of the car and Hongjoong’s embrace.

“-Aby? Jagi, can you hear me? Hey....Jagi! Y/N!” Someone was shouting at you. Blearily opening an eye, you looked to see who was calling for you and gave a sleepy smile at the familiar face in front of you. “Saaaaannnniie!” You croaked out, arms reaching for your boyfriend, until you realized you were buried under three different types of blankets, and the voice you thought would be loud and happy, was barely a crackled whisper. Relief flooded San’s face before the tears he’d held back came to surface. He crawled into the bed beside you and-wait bed?! You frowned a little as you tried sitting up to see where you were only to realize the blankets were completely covering you up to your neck. Pouting, you flopped back against the pillow and managed to turn your head to your boyfriend. “I’m sorry.” You whispered, wanting to immediately get that out of the way since it was eating at you from the inside out. It was probably what was making your stomach hurt. San shook his head and pulled you to him, kissing your cheeks as he did so. Somehow he’d managed to spoon your cocoon and stroked your cheeks, staring into your eyes while fighting back a fresh wave of tears. “you have no reason to apologize Jagi. I shouldn’t have yelled at you the way I did, especially with how stressed out you were, and me too. Please don’t leave me again. I can’t be alone.” He whimpered, head burying into your neck to hide in your hair. You managed to twist your head just a little to give his cheek a kiss and rested your head against his. “Ssshhhh it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere ever again. I’m sorry I wasn’t helping you with your stress like I should’ve. We’ll get better at this. I-I love you.” You told him, biting your lip once you said the fatal words you were afraid of speaking for the last few weeks; one of the reasons you’d started getting stressed out. His head popped up away from your neck and he stared at you wide eyed. “Wh-What did you say?” He stuttered, backing away from you the smallest amount to see your face better. You smiled awkwardly and giggled, a blush painting your cheeks. “I love you San. I loved your even through our fight, I loved you when I was at the station wondering what I was going to do, I loved you when Hongjoong and Manager brought me back, and I love you now.” You said gently, leaning in to kiss him on the lips this time. He squealed against your mouth which earned a small frown to grace your face after you pulled away. “What the hell?” you wondered, watching as the man stood up on the bed and jumped on it for a second. He then launched himself over your bundled figure and kissed your cheek 10 times, until you squirmed away from him. “I love you too! So much!” He said happily, cheeky grin adorning his face when you just gave him an ‘are you really going to do this now’ look. He kissed you one more time before running out the door like a kid on Christmas Day. “GUYS SHE SAID SHE LOVES ME!!!! SHE SAID IT! WOOYOUNG YOU OWE ME $10!” You heard him screaming throughout the dorm. Collective groans sounded through the dorm. “Wait who said it first!” Yunho cried out, and you knowing your boyfriend was going to say himself screamed as loud as you could, “I did!” More groans sounded around the house. “YOU COULDN’T HAVE WAITED TIL HE SAID IT FIRST COULD YA?!” Wooyoung boomed from the doorway with a heated glare. You pouted innocently before grinning at him. “Nope. Yah, don’t hurt me I’m injured!” You responded before yelping at the contact of the bed dipping and bouncing you in the air slightly. Seven more bodies landed around you, your boyfriend on top of you as everyone started whining and or yelling at you. You just rolled your eyes. “If it makes you feel better I love the rest of you too....just not the same.”

#kpop au #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop angst to fluff #ateez #Ateez imagines #Ateez scenarios #Ateez Hongjoong #Ateez san #Ateez angst #waterfallsandrosebudsworks #choi san #kim Hongjoong #Ateez fluff #waterfallsandrosebuds: Ateez #San #Hongjoong

275 notes · View notes

kpop-bg-roleplay · 3 years

Text

(I've decided to send all of our replies in one here for an overview so far! The rest of our rp is going through asks!)

Finding the same nine people you were joking around during the day, carrying weaponry and dealing with drugs in a dimly lit alley way was more than a shock to your system. The first to acknowledge your presence was Hyerin, and holy hell did her expression carry a complete 180' from how she looked that morning. Was this really the same person? "Elise, what are you doing snooping around? The night is a dangerous place."

-----

"I was about to go home actually", I answered her while holding my grocery bag slightly tighter in my hands at the scene in front of me. "What did you do to those people?", I asked the whole as my body language showed tensed up shoulders, ragged breath, pupils widened and having an even more paled up face than usually. The scene in front of me could be out of a crime scene. Bodies on the ground and only the guys I've called my so called friends standing in the middle of it.

------

All she did was look at Hongjoong, who immediately caught onto what she was thinking about and ordered the others to get back in the group car. Joining his right-hand, Hongjoong rolled his eyes, "None of your business, unless you'd rather get scarred."

------

"Alright. I've never seen anything", I asked him as I morphed my face completely blank despite my stiff posture before looking behind me briefly and then making my way, passing the car while only shaking my head in dissappointment at Hyerin.

------

They had no other business that night, and returned to the car before Seonghwa drove back to the cafe. Sighing as they all walked inside, Yunho needed very little incentive to gather intel on you; you had found them out - in a way - after all.

------

"I'm home", I called out and walking inside my house to sort my groceries inside the fridge. I didn't hear anything besides the Amazon Echo greeting me back. Walking inside the living room to turn the lights on, with a beer glass in my hand I then went ahead to recall the memories of what happened a few hours ago. The bodies on the ground, Hyerin and the others being completely different from how I know them and knowing now that they're somehow involved in something criminal, I've decided to stay away from them as good as possible.

------

Finding your location, then everything else about you was easy. Yunho scoffed as he made his way through your systems, who actually kept Echoes? Especially when they're such easy targets. Yeosang couldn't have agreed more as he rerouted through the smart devices in your home, the data falling in his lap like candy. Meanwhile, Hongjoong, Seonghwa and Hyerin were in the leader's office discussing what they would do with you. Leave you and possibly risk having you reveal them to the police, or keep you under watch.

------

"And... another night alone with no friends to help me finish my food from yesterday", I sighed softly to myself as I looked at the time and walking upstairs to the attic. I opened the door to reveal hundreds rolls of paintings I've been doing in the past. When you walk upstairs, you can smell the plastic mixed in with a white substance called C17H21NO4 or for the Day to Day person between us, Cocaine. I use that particular powder in my paintings, hidden in the pigments and the paper that can be used to smoke it as a cigarette or joint. I've had some encounters indirectly with the dealers from BigHit and Pledis but had managed to keep my name clean up until now. I've started early with selling it in the black market as dupes for certain museums. The actual thieves swapped them out with mine and I can still see one of the not caught paintings in the next Art museum. Nobody has to know that unless they start to actually burn the paintings that most of these are priceless. I always have them in big jars that are labeled as Sugar and Flour, one being more intense than the other but the results are mostly the same.

The thing is, I started at the age of 15. I was stupid and unknowingly sold them online to finance my living expenses for some pocket money after my escape from the organization. Then I found out about it through an unknown source that works for those people and...here I am. Not even Hyerin knows about it, because I always lock the attic and most people wouldn't be assuming that there are illegal drug paintings in there in the first place anyways. She never seemed to be interested in it and asked me questions.

Here I am, making sure that my newest painting gets sold online as the address is always changing in alphabetical order. It can't be the same route as it's another drug dealers territory and he's a scary bulky man that I ALMOST broke his nose when we were talking the first time I've put it in there. I got away with a few bruises anyways, no big deal.

A few days since then passed after the encounter that they're in the mafia and I kept my distance with each member of Hyerins friend group. I went the other way when I heard familiar steps, excuse myself from attending classes and turning in my assignments online, and I ignored Hyerins texts and calls as good as I can. But...the Mafia people are persistent more than the scam callers or mild inconveniences on the street to make you donate to a charity.

I heard my bell ring one night on a Saturday, while I was finishing my painting for the night. I kept the door to my attic open and walking downstairs with my mask on before opening up. Well, it wasn't for sure the neighbors that got my packages or the delivery guy I've been waiting on for 20 minutes. It's them. And I immediately tried to close the door shut.

------

A week's worth of research, intelligence gathering and hacking on part of Yunho and Yeosang had paid off. And they weren't in the mood to be patient. In silent agreement, Seonghwa and Mingi kicked the door down together, the group walking in with a beyond intimidating presence. "Gather everything of value, I want to see this place ransacked, understand?" Hongjoong ordered, no room in his tone for debate. Hyerin seemed to have taken an interest in the jars, and began to walk towards you, "Interested in the world of narcotics, are we? How fascinating." Her words weren't scary on their own, but with a handgun in her hand and the more than evident danger she carried with her, Hyerin could induce a nightmarish fear in even the most hardened individuals.

------

"Do whatever you want, but if you want to take something... you have to pay for it first", I began saying and being to list all of the prices at each item they're holding, "You". I pointed at Mingi first who's holding my lamp, "I got it from Ikea for 25,99€ plus the light switch. You". I pointed to Hyerin as she's taking an interest in my jars of cocaine, "That includes highly concentrated cocaine and because it's opened it's going to be released in the air around us that will get us addicted. It's also 3000€ worth per kilograms. You." I then pointed at Yunho and Yeosang, "Individual paintings are worth 5000€ each, customized fakes are 10.000€ and up worth. The the ones you're holding are for my customers that pay lots of it and if you want to snatch it it's 40 Million€ worth. You". I pointed at San and Wooyoung carrying out my pigments, "I made these myself and they're mixed with the cocaine. I would say 500.000 in total and You." I pointed at Hongjoong and Seonghwa that is taking a sit on my couch, "390€ and 5.99€ each of the pillows. And lastly, you." I looked over Jongho with a tired sigh, "Please don't raid my fridge...". I sighed softly before doing the math in my head, "That'll be 4.518.421,98€, please. I take checks too". And despite being terrified of every member of the Mafia people, I managed to sit down on the couch to cross my arms over my chest. Until I got a gun against my temple, which made me raise an eyebrow. My forehead started to sweat, my hands got clammy and my throat dried up immensely but I took a deep breath to calm myself down. "What are you going to do with me once you took everything out of my house and killed me? I mean, I didn't tell anyone about your hidden secret,Hyerin. I've lived my life in peace and didn't meddle in on your business. Don't you think that I deserve a different death than a gun against my head?", I began to speak slowly and looking at her direction with a small smile despite her glaring that already killed me, "I want to be killed in a different way, not like that"

------

Maybe the three eldest of Ateez had a twisted sense of mercy, or maybe they were interested, but once Hongjoong had processed how much money you could possibly bring in, he was at Herin's side, whispering in her ear. With an amused smirk, Hyerin put the gun back in the holster and chuckled, "Since my friend here is so~ interested in your works, Hongjoong thinks I should let you go." Her laugh was dangerous, as she called for the the others to bring the artworks to the van. Walking to you, Hongjoong crossed his arms, "You'll make us quite a bit of profit, you'll be pretty useful with us. " He remarked, voice twinged with interest. How much could you make them? Well, that was for them to find out. And it would cost you absolute loyalty to the mafia, and Seonghwa was still unsure whether you'd be a good fit.

------

"I choose death please", I replied blankly and sighing softly as I immediately shake my head at their direction and pointing at Hyerins gun, "Please shoot me, or roll me over with your car or burn me alive. Anything to satisfy your twisted fake conceptions of sadism."

------

A dark, slightly seductive (well, to the others, with you, who knew?) chuckle fell from the other female in the room, as she ran her tongue over her lips. Fuck, that was hot. Sadism? That would her be middle name. "Oh, oh~ I haven't been in the Crimson ward in so long~ maybe I should give our little friend here a personal tour?" She taunted, flicking your chin with the tip of her nails. "I agree with Hongjoong, let's take this one with us."

------

"Careful, I bite", I played along with with her and holding her cheek gently to kiss her forehead lightly, "But I would rather go ahead and begin suicide than leaving my house in the middle of the night. I can't leave physically this place, unless you want me to paint ugly paintings that aren't worth lots of money? I wonder what would happen if I just killed myself now?"

------

Okay, you were a brave one. Amused, Hyerin pulled you to your feet by you collar and whispered, her breath fanning your neck, "From now on, your life is in my hands, understand that? And don't you worry about the quality, you'll have a much better studio for your art." She saw something in you, and she wanted to harness that. The other members had long since emptied the apartment of your artworks, and they were in the van. They'd definitely sell to the highest bidder, and my God there were crooked curators who'd kill to get hands on your art.

------

"Let me say goodbye before I go", I requested to her and gently taking her hands off my collar to take a few steps back. "Would you be kind and wait outside? I won't take long", I added with a small smile that seemed almost too forced but I refused to cry infront of anyone

------

"Very well. Make it quick, and don't you dare think about running." Hyerin replied simply, her arms folded at her chest. Reading emotions was no effort, and it was clear you had no intention of streaking your face with tears in their presence. Walking by the door, she gave you one last look before she stepped outside, silently ordering the soldiers in the other cars to surround the building. Trying to flee wouldn't be a good idea, nor would breaking the miniscule amount of trust Hyerin had granted you.

------

Walking to my room that I usually put in my clothes in my luggage, I somehow played it off with no suspicion whatsoever for now. Taking out a piece of paper to then start writing a note to people who are going to be searching for me, at least I hoped that someone would care about me in my friend group. I sighed softly as I kept it short and simple to write down a simple note of me being taken away to a remote place for awhile. Wiping my tears away from my eyes as I hide the note in between the broken cracks of the house, I walked out of my room to do a last room tour to then join the group again. "My luggage, here's also my ID... I don't think I need it anymore from now on", I mumbled and avoiding their eyes as good as I can while handing my belongings to them. Walking over to the trunk, I willingly climb in to avoid talking to anyone as good as possible.

------

By the time you stepped inside the trunk, the others had all piled in and were more than just a little impatient to get back. Taking the wheel, Seonghwa pressed his foot on the gas and soon you found yourself on the way back to the...cafe? The Twilight Cafe was probably the most innocent looking cafe on the street, and that's where they were returning to?

What?

Parking round the back, the members all filed out, entering the cafe and taking a seat. The three eldest remained, ordering the soldiers to bring your belongings into the main part of the building, and Hongjoong pulled you out of the trunk, a bored stare in his eyes.

"You'll be escorted to the living quarters. Don't cause any trouble; I'm not looking to get my gun out right now."

------

"Yes, Sir", I replied in a small whisper, following the people inside while keeping a straight face. I couldn't even hide my stiff posture, how I'm holding my hands behind my back as if I'm a prisoner and the bloodied underlip that I've bit on the whole time. It didn't help my situation at this point on how my stomach started to rumble loudly during the ride and how nauseated I'm feeling due to motion sickness.

I didn't look around the cafe at all, too scared to anger even more people and knowing that I'm not going to get my freedom back at all is the worst thing that could be happening to a human being. I know that I'm fucked at this point. Sometimes I wished to be not able to draw or paint, maybe then I'd be a normal person with a bright future.

'I want this nightmare to end already... please help me', I thought to myself almost desperately and started to pray in my head already. I'm thinking of ending my life at this point, ending the pain and start somewhere new. I think it's out of question right now and the pressure only pumped up my adrenaline rush in my system. My survival instincts are tingling and my heart beats even louder than a hammer against a wall.

The steps stopped ultimately, and I snapped out of my trance. It's a small room, enough to sleep in and change your clothes. Plus an attached bathroom, that didn't have security cameras. I'm slightly thankful for it at least, they give me the privacy to an extent. I didn't think much of what happened afterwards, nodding along the order for tomorrow and I was finally alone. Alone as I can get, at least.

So I quickly walked inside the bathroom to get everything out of my system and let my guard down. I cried in silence, hugging my knees and hiding behind my hands to muffle out my sobs. "I want to...go home", I whispered gently to myself and swallowing thickly, my body started to shake violently due to the pressure. I'm currently having a panic attack and I couldn't control it entirely. For some reason, I managed to pass out on the bed, shaking violently to the core and desperately trying to stay conscious to not cause even more problems.

------

Once you had been escorted from the initial cafe space, Hyerin immediately got up, getting her phone to discuss the latest findings with the financial heads at KQ -one of which she was a deputy to. There was much to discuss. And she'd definitely have to work overnight to draft up a reasonable report to KQ.

Among all the staff that walked around the complex, one stood out. Younger than Ateez's youngest, a high rank that almost rivalled Ateez themselves. With a tablet in hand, she walked through the dorms until she arrived at your rooms, a mutter of 'this wasn't used before...' coming from her.

She entered your room, making no announcement that she was entering. Maybe she had received similar training to the mafia members themselves, because her presence was palpable in the air. She tsked when she saw your condition, placing her tablet on the windowsill and walked over to you.

"Come to your senses, you've been brought here and you need to hurry up and accept it. Now what's you name? I have to provide KQ with accurate reports."

------

"Elise Liddell, Ma'am. I would appreciate it if I could use this night to eventually finish my mental break down until tomorrow morning", I answered her as quickly as possible, almost making it sound that I've rapped and my still shaking body leaning towards the cold wall. Wiping my tears away from my eyes, I avoided her gaze despite listening to her instructions intensely. "I'm just an ordinary artist, my paintings aren't real to be original.", I continued further, then quieting down as I don't want to spill out more information about myself and why I'm even doing my current profession as follows. 'Over my dead body, I'll be free in no time, even if I have to plot against them somehow', I thought, straightening my posture and eventually looking at the person nearby the windowsill. "What am I supposed to do tomorrow morning? I have to go to college and I don't want to be raising suspicion over my disappearence that soon", I asked her, coughing slightly as the crying made me thirsty, yet knowing that those bastards are going to love it to see me dying of dehydration soon.

------

The girl almost laughed. Almost. Scoffing, she tilted her head and gave you an overly sweet smile. But her eyes held something much, much more dangerous. "I'm not going to stop your precious little mental breakdown, go right ahead~."

The very idea that Ateez had someone as young as the girl in front of you working with them definitely seemed off. Shouldn't she at least be in school? Reaching for her tablet, she was quiet for a moment before meeting your eyes.

"Ateez will take care of that. If you require something to drink I will put in a notice for the staff to provide a water dispenser."

------

"The absence of me entering college should be because I got either pregnant and have to leave due to my VISA or because I'm going back to Germany to fulfill one of the courses there. Any other reason isn't acceptable at all", I sighed softly and nodding slowly at the water dispenser for my casual use. "Anything else that I need to know?"

------

All she did was roll her eyes. It wasn't her problem, neither did she care. Whatever excuse they came up with would have to be the one you accepted. "You're not to enter Hongjoong, Seonghwa or Hyerin's office without letting either them or myself know beforehand." About to continue, her focus is drawn to someone calling her name.

"Minnie, you're needed in Seonghwa's office."

"Okay Kai, I'll be there."

At least you knew her name. Leaving the room and shutting the door behind her, you were left to your own devices, and thoughts, again.

------

'If she's going to tell them what excuse they should use in order to get me out of there, they also don't know who I'm close in contact too.', I thought to myself, drinking the water that Kai brought earlier to then walk to the bathroom and using some of the time to clean myself up as good as possible. The room had my luggage inside and instead of hyperventilating the whole time, I looked straight at the camera to flip off with my perfectly long nails to the person who watches me now. The ordering process of my stuff, made me calm down just a little bit, despite the shaky hands and the low blood pressure I'm feeling on my body the whole time. I sighed softly to myself, taking out my Notebook to write down the first informations about today.

----

Holy shit I forgot how long our responses were. Also I am practically gonna include eveny group I stan in this plot.

The rest of the complex was active, like a city that never slept. Throughout the night, footsteps rang through the building, staff - and some of Ateez themselves - working the night shift, keeping all operations stable. One location in particular that was lit up like daylight was the camera and intel rooms, where Yunho was asleep on a bed in the back, while Yeosang watched the moniters with his team, rolling his eyes as he checked the camera in your room. Thank God he’d only have to keep that camera installed for another few weeks. Watching new arrivals for their three month probation period was a pain, and more often than not he left the task to some unsuspecting staff. And that’s exactly what he did.

“Hey, Yang Jungwon, watch our new arrival, I need a smoke break.”

“Y-Yes Sir!”

#roleplay prompt #prompt #submission #thisisnoteuropeanstyle #ateez #ot8 #oc #x y/n #mafia au #tw smoking #smoking tw #smoking

3 notes · View notes

latte-fairytaekwoon · 4 years

Text

𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 (𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑗𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑔×𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟) 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑

𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔: 𝐾𝑖𝑚 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑗𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑔 (𝐴𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑧)/ 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 (𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒)

𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑟𝑒: 𝐹𝑙𝑢𝑓𝑓, 𝑆𝑚𝑢𝑡

♡♡ 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑚, 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑦 𝑠𝑚𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 @seacottons ♡♡

♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ♡

Hongjoong tapped his pencil on the notepad impatiently, sighing for the 7th time in the minute that passed. He looked at the clock, signaling that it was almost 10:30.

Maybe I shouldn't have asked her to come. It's already late.

He had a tendency to forget that unlike him, most individuals don't like to stay up at odd hours of the night, especially not to work. But he always worked better and got inspired more during the nights. Something about the dark blue sky, crystal glittering stars and even the bustling sounds of the city awakened his senses, enticing him to start writing lyrics down, or play a few melodies on his piano. Of course, sometimes he had the usual composer's block, struggling to come up with the right music or words. Or he ended up feeling lonely and in need of comfort.

That's where Y/N came in. He'd always call her up and asked her if she wouldn't mind keeping him company, a pout always on his lips, almost like a child expecting to be refused. But she'd always be there for him, and he truly appreciated it. And tonight, he was particularly antsy about seeing her. He was getting anxious as more and more time passed and she was nowhere to be seen. Not even a text saying where she was exactly at the moment.

He was about to pick up his phone again to check up on her, when the rattling of the doorknob let him know someone was outside. He had obviously locked the door, never liking to be disturbed by anyone, so he wasn't surprised to hear the person on the other side knock. He got up and opened the door.

"Hi! I'm here!"

A dripping Y/N scurried inside the studio room, getting as close as she could to the heater that was next to the couch. Hongjoong stared in shock as a tiny wet trail was left on the carpet.

"Baby, did you walk here?" He asked, his voice full of concern.

"Well yeah....." She fidgeted with the sleeves of her sweater. "I didn't know it was going to rain and the weather didn't seem too cold, but then tiny sprinkles turned to a heavy downpour.....

But I'm here now!" She said that last part more enthusiastically, trying to ease his mind a little.

But now he felt even more bad than before. She could easily have gotten sick and it would have been his fault.

"You could have just taken a cab back home love."

Y/N pouted at him.

"I know...but I wanted to see you."

His heart melted at her words. She said the same words he had been thinking all night long. Taking small steps, he threw his hoodie over his head and held it out to her.

"Here. You'll catch a cold if you stay in those wet clothes. Take them off and put this on. I'll go see if I can find some towels somewhere."

Y/N nodded and took it. She began unzipping her sweater as Hongjoong went out the door to check the supply closet at the end of the hallway. By pure luck, there was a wide array of freshly cleaned towels on the top rack. He grabbed 3 and placed them underneath his arm before closing the door and making his way back to the studio room.

"I found some towels for-"

He stopped abruptly when he saw Y/N standing there, completely naked. His eyes trailed down her body, some parts still dewy from the rain.

"What? You said to take my clothes of." She reminded him, snapping him out of his trance.

He cleared his throat.

"Well yeah.... I just assumed you'd keep your underwear on."

Y/N chuckled.

"But then your hoodie would get wet, then what would we do Einstein?"

Hongjoong smiled shyly. "I guess you have a point there."

Y/N was about to take a towel from him, but he pulled his arm away before she could reach for it.

"Allow me love."

He began patting her shoulders with the towel, getting some of the wet drops off them. Then he bunched some of her hair in the towel, squeezing any excess water out.

"Let me know if I accidentally pull too hard."

Y/N knew that wouldn't happen. He was always so careful and gentle when it came to these things. Once he was done with that, he discarded that towel and replaced it with another one.

"Jesus, did you get sucked inside a hurricane?" He teased her.

"You're so mean. I wouldn't even be in this condition if you didn't ask me to come." She retaliated.

"I know. I know love."

His hands began traveling down her torso, rubbing softly at her skin. He kept his gaze away when he swiped the towel across her breasts, making Y/N snort.

"Hongjoong, you've seen me naked at least 7 times. Stop acting so innocent."

He blushed at her words and hesitated to continue his task of drying her.

"Here, let me finish."

She took the towel away from him and finished the task he couldn't. She took the hoodie he had given her and threw it over her head, the length of it barely covering up to her mid-thighs, but it would have to do.

"You can turn around now, you drama queen." She rolled her eyes at his acting.

He turned his head and his heart fluttered as it usually did whenever she'd wear any of his clothing. It was kind of a reminder that she was his and his only, a sort of sense of ownership over her, as outrageous as it sounded. But Hongjoong would be the first to admit that he was indeed possessive over Y/N. She was just so beautiful and precious to him, he couldn't help but think that way at times.

He leaned and just pulled her into an embrace, holding her as if he hadn't seen her in years. Y/N reciprocated the action by wrapping her arms around his waist, getting the hint that he wanted to stay in that position for a while. He began caressing the back of her head, her hair still humid, but he didn't care. His other hand ran up and down her back, occasionally drawing random shapes into it.

Before he knew it, he was placing kisses on the side of her face, eventually kissing her forehead and resting his lips there. Y/N smiled fondly at that. Forehead kisses were Hongjoong's way of telling her he adored and cherished her profusely. He mentioned it to her one day when he had done that more often than any other times. Ever since then, she loved it when he did it, now knowing there was a meaning behind his actions.

Pulling back, he cupped her cheeks and squished them gently. Puckering his lips, he moved her face side to side, cooing softly at her.

"Who could not fall in love with such a cute face like this?"

She cringed at his words, but Hongjoong knew better. She did have a love-hate relationship with him babying her.

"You're such a dork." She let out a tiny yawn after she said those words.

Hongjoong pouted. "Oh love. I'm sorry for making you come out so late."

She shook her head.

"It's fine. Did you want something in particular?"

Hongjoong hummed softly, thinking about it. He wanted to hold her, that was for sure. But he also knew he wanted to try something, if she was up for it. Smirking, he brushed some hair off her face.

"Well.... I still have a few verses left to finish. What do you say if we try a little..... cockwarming?"

Y/N's ears perked up at the idea.

"Cockwarming?"

"Yes think about it love. Me nestled inside you, while you take a nap on my lap until I finish the song?" He looked to her with hopeful eyes.

She eyed him suspiciously.

"And what about when you're done?"

Hongjoong wiggled his eyebrows.

"Well, if you're not too tired, we could try something else."

Y/N giggled.

"Are you sure you'll be able to control yourself?"

Hongjoong smiled before picking her up and wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Only one way to find out love."

He set her down on his desk and began unzipping his pants. Taking his cock out, he stroked himself a few times before sitting down on his chair. Turning his attention back to Y/N, he pulled her off the desk, placing her on top of his thighs. He licked his fingers before slipping them in between her folds, wanting to make sure she was wet enough so it wouldn't hurt her in any way. He slowly slid them in and out of her, occasionally scissoring them, stretching her out. He glimpsed over at Y/N, who was biting her lip as she tried not to let out any noises.

"You worry about me, but I think it's you who won't be able to resist." He chuckled.

Y/N rolled her eyes. "We'll see."

Satisfied with his job, Hongjoong lifted her up and maintained eye contact as he slowly sank her down onto his length. They both moaned at the warm feeling, it had been so long since they were like this. Y/N let her legs dangle and she rested her face on his shoulder. Hongjoong wrapped his arms around her.

"Take a rest. I'll be done soon enough"

Y/N mumbled something incoherently, already dozing off thanks to Hongjoong's warmth and his scent that she loved inhaling. Muttering a small 'cute', he went back to work.

The words were now flowing even smoother than before. He always did say he worked a lot better if Y/N was around. The others would always think he was just being delusional, but he disagreed. Her presence just makes him more calm, serene and helps him focus. He'd often joke about her being his muse, but even she would often roll her eyes at his statement.

He didn't know how much time had passed, all he could hear was the sound of his pencil scribbling on the paper and Y/N's faint breathing on his neck. Once in a while, he'd give her thigh a gentle squeeze or kiss her arm that was wrapped around his other shoulder, where her head wasn't. He had completely forgotten he was even inside her.

He was only reminded of it when he looked at the time that was marking that it was almost midnight. He debated whether to wake her up and take her home, or rearrange the couch so it could become a bed. Eden was the one who suggested keeping a sofa that could turn into a bed, and even kept a couple pillows and blankets in the studio since Hongjoong practically lived there at times.

But then again, she looked so comfortable and peaceful, and it wouldn't be the first time he slept in the chair. Turning off the light, he began closing his eyes, wanting to drift off to sleep as well.

But then Y/N shifted in her sleep, causing Hongjoong to jolt up and hold her hips, thinking she was going to fall. She groaned softly and shifted even more, causing his cock to twitch.

Oh my God.

He thought he was doing so well, and he could cool himself down, but the feeling was too good. Without thinking about it, he began to gently roll his hips up against hers, ever so slightly so as to not wake her up. At least that was the plan.

He smiled mischievously though when he heard her moan against his ear. He could feel her growing wetter, making it easier for him to slip in and out of her.

"Fuck." He whispered to himself.

He was getting even more turned on by the fact he was practically fucking his girlfriend while she was asleep. He shouldn't get aroused by that fact, but he was. And to know that even in her sleep she was moaning boosted his ego.

Y/N fluttered her eyes open, whimpering slightly at being woken up with an intense need. She lifted her face and was met with Hongjoong's face, his eyes full of lust and desire as he continued rolling his hips against hers.

"I'm sorry baby. It was just too tempting."

He apologized, but she knew he wasn't the least bit sorry. And she wasn't mad either way. It was definitely one of the best ways to wake up. She placed her hands on his shoulders, to steady herself as she began grinding down on him, not wanting him to have his fun only. Hongjoong hissed at the change of pace, loving the way she looked: in his hoodie, on top of him and desperate to get some release.

Hongjoong's hands went to her waist, pressing her closer to him as he kissed her passionately, his tongue slipping inside hers. His hands wandered inside the hoodie, cupping her breasts and playing with her nipples, causing her to shudder and tighten around his cock.

Hongjoong pulled back, gasping for air.

"Fuck baby. If- if you keep doing that, I w-won't be able to last much longer." He told her, trying to hold back as much as he could.

Y/N chuckled and challenged him.

"Then make me cum."

Oh. Those 4 words always set Hongjoong off. One of his hands went down between her legs, his thumb playing around with her clit. His lips attached themselves to her neck as he sucked and nibbled on all her sensitive places, having memorized all of them. All of that, plus the way his strokes got even deeper and faster had Y/N whimpering and panting above him. Hongjoong pulled back only to tease her:

"What? You asked me to make you cum and that's what you're going to get love."

His free hand wrapped around her neck, squeezing it enough to make her dizzy, but not harshly. He growled in her ear:

"Now do it baby. Cum all over my cock. I want to feel you come undone before I fill up your pretty little pussy with my cum."

She threw her head back as she clenched around him, his words being the final straw for her to break and release all over him with a soft cry of his name. She hid her face on his neck, gripping him tightly as he helped her ride out her orgasm. Her walls clenching and squeezing him tightly had him coming undone seconds after her. She felt his hot cum coat her walls, his voice muttering curses as his movements stilled, trying to catch his breath.

After a minute, Hongjoong looked back at her.

"Baby? You good?"

She nodded. "Tired."

"I know love. Hold on."

Getting up, still inside her, he walked over to the couch and set her down. He began to miss her warmth as soon as he pulled out of her. Grabbing one of the previously acquired towels, he wiped her inner thighs where some of his cum had dripped out.

Y/N was pretty much half asleep by now. So Hongjoong tried to move her as little as possible as he adjusted the couch to turn it into a bed. Grabbing one of the blankets from under his desk, he covered Y/N with it and layed down next to her, pulling her against his chest.

He stared at her sleeping figure for a while, admiring her features and smiling to himself. His finger traced her lips slowly before he pecked them with tenderness.

"I love you Y/N."

He wasn't expecting her to answer, but she surprised him when she unconsciously nestled herself closer to him and mumbled 'I love you' back to him, causing him to giggle at her cuteness.

She truly was such a precious being.

♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ♡

#ateez #ateez scenarios #ateez smut #ateez imagines #ateez fanfic #ateez fanfiction #ateez hongjoong #kim hongjoong #ateez fluff #ateez hongjoong smut #ateez hongjoong scenarios #ateez hongjoong fluff #ateez hongjoong fanfic

463 notes · View notes