Blooming | Ateez Hongjoong

14 • Caught

10:50pm , Hyemi steps out from the bathroom after a good 20-minute of shower with a towel resting on her shoulders, preventing the wet long hair to dampen her back.

Probably get home late late as usual is her initial thought when she goes downstairs to check if Hongjoong is home or not. The unchanged living room and her own experience living here with the boy prove her conclusion is aint wrong at all.

Speaking of the bad guy.

Her face tingles with disappointment as she eyes the well shaped baking pastries in the parchment bag which accompanied her the whole evening after leaving Hongjoong's office.

The treats were specially made for him. With the outcome of today's lesson, she was confident to flaunt her effort, to see his eyes widen due to how tasty the pastries were.

Nonetheless, he chose to eat out with his dear colleagues which is definitely the reason behind her down mood.

"It's his loss anyways."

Shoulders slump. Hyemi mutters in sarcasm with pursed lips, scooping the load of pastries in her arms to store them in the fridge.

Practically, it's not Hongjoong's fault since he had no clue about her presence to begin with. Just... She feels like her appearance was intrusive and unnecessary.

But even so, that incident has been lowkey upsetting her still.

*°• ✧ *•°๑

"Thirsty?"

Someone speaks casually as soon as Hyemi's figure comes into the corner of his eyes.

The said girl immediately snaps her head towards the voice's owner who still has his focus on typing on his laptop. In the dark living room, dim light from the device illuminates only a part of his face that effortlessly gives her a menace of heart attack.

"Gosh. You scare the hell out of me!" she snarls, voice almost cracks thanks to her dry throat that craves for some water.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Hongjoong points at the water pot in her firm grip which is about to be thrown at him then glances back at her in disbelief. "I'm not a thief though." he sounds offended.

Imagine if that pot ever came in contact with my head...

He frantically shakes that thought away by shaking his head in tiny.

Letting go of the pot handle, she reaches for the switch to light up the room to have a clearer vision and checks the time. "Seriously, it's nearly 3 in the morning. Shouldn't you SLEEP?"

"Not today," he replies with a faint smile.

"Don't overwork then," she advises plainly then turns away to head upstairs as quickly as possible.

"So you came over to give me something this afternoon?"

And how comes the culprit himself has the audacity to bring it up again?

This guy literally has no clue his curiosity is getting on my nerves right now.

Her back is still facing Hongjoong because the gloomy expression on her face is unwilling enough to be displayed before him. Discreetly breathing out, Hyemi attempts to let out the most nonchalant lie ever.

"It's fine though. I only waited at the lobby a bit then left shortly after."

Hongjoong, whose attention is completely shifted to her back figure, approaches the girl from behind as he gets up from his seat on the sofa.

"Really?"

"Yup."

"But Hyun said he opened the door and let you in my office." Sureness laces in his voice.

"That was Woong-" she immediately corrects him while wheeling around.

The turn is too quick for her conscience to process the up close proximity between both of them.

At the drop of a hat, she finds herself being taken aback by not only the sudden closeness but also something else.

Her eyes are undergoing an attack when Hongjoong's bare collar bone comes into view, causing a churn of flutter inside her to flip.

His black tee is the trouble.

It makes her think this look on him is quite attractive.

Wait. What am I even thinking?

"Ha! Caught you liar!" He grins in vitory.

On the outside, Hongjoong seems better than his friend in terms of remaining calm and collected by not showing his own fluster. Meanwhile, the man has to fight with these two problems on the inside:

First, the habit of patting her head has a severe difficulty in holding back when his eyes travel to the top of her head.

Second, the scent of her shampoo invading his nostril eagerly makes him feel a sense of home.

Stop. I'm supposed to move on.

In fact, neither of them know what is on the other's mind which is so ironic.

Resuming the conversation that weirdly turns quiet down all of a sudden, he looks at her in the eye.

"So." His firm tone sends chill down her spine. "Why you lied?"

**********

I planned on updating this on Mingi's birthday as a celebration but things became hectic and I was unable to finish the chap till today -_-||

Actually, I wanted to write another short story with main character Mingi or Jongho but the storyline is still a bit messy so... HAHA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINGI!! Remember that you are loved ♡

Please look forward to the next update (∩o∩)