Ateez Roommates - Seongjoong

Where are you going?

Seonghwa got back to his room and locked the door, sliding onto the floor.

Why did he say all those stupid things to upset Hongjoong? It was something about the way he clearly thought he knew everything about him when he didn't know anything at all that just bothered Seonghwa so much.

He wasn't even trying to be mean. He had just expected Seonghwa to be a total prude when he didn't know the first thing about him. Of course once things got started Seonghwa couldn't stop.

He knew exactly why he said what he said but it didn't help him at this point. Hongjoong had a whole idea of what Seonghwa thought of him—one that Seonghwa had pretty much entirely influenced by treating him like shit—that Seonghwa had no chance of changing. So he kept it up.

He knew they were bound to fight at some point but he was dreading it. He had also hoped it would be Hongjoong that started it.

Yet Hongjoong honestly handled it really well. Seonghwa felt like the only asshole. Which just made him more upset.

If they'd been alone Hongjoong probably would have really gone off on him.

Seonghwa let a tear of frustration fall down his cheek before quiet sobs followed.

He never wanted to snap like that it just happened. And Hongjoong was the biggest catalyst for his anger. He always held himself above Seonghwa because he was following his passions and Seonghwa was being realistic.

It's not like Seonghwa loved the idea of running a major corporation in the future but he knew he had the talents to get there and in doing so, he would make his parents proud and be able to support his family with their every need. Wasn't that what everyone wanted? How could Hongjoong be so selfish as to pursue a hobby as a career? What if he never succeeded?

Seonghwa was sick of thinking about him and wanted to just stay out of his sight for a while so he made plans to stay away from Hongjoong as much as possible. At least classes would be starting so he'd have plenty of reason to avoid people.

Switching into his pajamas, he slipped into bed and cradled his Toothless plushie in his arms.

...

Hongjoong definitely noticed that Seonghwa was avoiding him. He was grateful for it as he wasn't sure he could stay calm the next time they fought. But he found that it was hard to keep their disagreements a secret from the rest of the floor, especially after the rooms nearby had heard them the other night.

The first person to approach him was Jongho.

"So. Sounds like you and Seonghwa aren't so friendly after all."

Hongjoong had whipped around, surprised at the directness.

"It's okay, I've been there. I used to hang around with a bunch of assholes in high school and eventually I snapped at them, but we never really stopped being friends. Although I certainly wouldn't want to be RA's with them." Jongho laughed at that and gave Hongjoong a hefty pat on the back before returning to his room.

Hongjoong could still feel the sting. That kid was strong.

San had come to his door later that night to offer him a plushie since he had heard them while he was walking to the bathroom. Hongjoong thanked him profusely but insisted he was okay and San could keep his plushies. Of course Hongjoong didn't know that San offered one to Seonghwa too who also insisted he was okay.

With both of them keeping their distance, things were flowing normally on the floor. A few times students had come to Hongjoong's room with questions, either to vent about something or just for company, and it made Hongjoong very happy.

He'd gotten to know one person on the floor in particular since he came by almost daily just to chat or spill tea. San's roommate, Jung Wooyoung.

He was also getting to be pretty close with the two tall boys that he had helped carry the futon.

Mingi was fun to hang out with as he was pretty funny and often had Hongjoong crying laughing with some of his remarks. Yunho was a bit of a goofball and didn't necessarily open up right away but once Hongjoong reached out, he took a liking to him. Yunho always listened to what he had to say and often gave pretty good advice—unless he was joking around. Sometimes Hongjoong couldn't tell the difference.

He also ended up bonding pretty well with Jongho as they were practically next-door neighbors. He had talked to Yeosang—Jongho's roommate—a few times but he hadn't really gotten him to open up just yet. Meanwhile him and Jongho had had some pretty deep conversations and he even found out that Jongho had a little bit of a crush on Yeosang.

This is why he was so moved to help when Jongho knocked on his door in a panic.

"Woah woah woah calm down, who's there?" Hongjoong groaned as he'd just been woken up at 2 in the morning.

"It's Jongho. I wouldn't knock unless it was important. It's just that Yeosang isn't here and he's supposed to be here—well he was supposed to be here hours ago and he's still not here and he's not answering me and—"

"Hey, slow down. Explain the situation," said Hongjoong calmly, now fully awake.

"Yeosang had cheer practice until 8 yesterday and he told me he would walk back with Felix but he didn't show up by 9 so I texted Felix to see if maybe they had been hanging out but Felix never walked back with him since Yeosang had already left. And I've been texting and calling him for the past few hours and he's not responding. I want to go look for him but I've been working on my paper that's due tomorrow but I've decided this is more important so I wanted you to come with since you know campus a lot better than I do," blurted Jongho, who was hardly any less panicked than before.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. You stay and work on the paper, I'll go find him, okay? Don't worry he'll make it back safe. He's probably just with a friend and he's probably sleeping."

Hongjoong reassured Jongho, bringing him back to his room and closing the door before he could protest. But Hongjoong was worried too, and took off at a quiet speed-walk down the hallway so as not to wake anyone.

Unfortunately, not everyone was quite asleep as Seonghwa nearly collided with him as he was leaving his room to go to the bathroom.

"Woah—Hongjoong? Where are you going?"

But Hongjoong didn't have the patience or the time to respond and he continued forward, ignoring Seonghwa.

"Hongjoong!" Seonghwa called as loud as he could without yelling.

At that moment a voice from the lounge responded,

"Apparently Yeosang is missing. He didn't come back to the dorms yet and he's not answering his phone."

Seonghwa turned to see Wooyoung with his computer taking a sip of his iced americano.

"Thanks—wait why are you still up?"

"Homework," was all he said before turning back to his laptop.

Seonghwa shook his head and ran back to his room to grab his car keys, coat, and shoes before rushing after Hongjoong.