Black & Silver // ATEEZ

Tiny

Hongjoong

I opened my eyes... and immediately regretted it. I sat up with a groan, holding my hand up to block out the white light shining on my face.

I opened my eyes again a little slower. My vision focused on three figures in front of me: Yunho, Seonghwa-Hyung, and Min. They seemed okay; Yunho had a bandage around his forearm, Min had a dull cut on her chin, but that was it. I glanced behind them and found Wooyoung, Byeol, and San sitting side by side on a bed, the latter finally eating something healthy as his sister blabbered on and on. She had a long scar on the side of her neck, but even that couldn't keep her from being over the moon since she finally had her brother back. Wooyoung didn't seem capable of not grinning. Mingi and Yeosang were sitting on the sofa between the two beds, staring at a phone and a book respectively, and the maknae walked into the room just as I sat up groggily. I realized we were in a hospital.

"Wha...?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"You're awake!" Min said with a huge smile, giving me a tight hug.

"Ah, Minnie, that hurts..." I gasped as she squeezed my shoulder. She pulled away quickly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Min gently touched the bandage wrapped around my right bicep. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... How long was I out?" I asked, folding my legs up on the bed.

"Just all night and all morning." Seonghwa-Hyung said. "Yeosang and San are already up— everyone else was mostly fine, so the nurses just gave them first-aid. The doctors said that we're all clear and can go home whenever. How are you feeling, Hongjoong?"

"I'm good. My arm hurts a bit, though." I replied honestly, lifting up my right arm a little with a pained expression.

"Broppa, you should really gain some muscle," Min joked with a smile.

"Yeah, Joong," Seonghwa-Hyung said. "Your clone was stronger than you!"

"Shut up, you guys." I laughed. It felt so good to be with them again...

I didn't want to give it up.

"Hyung," San called out to Yeosang, and we all quietened down and took a listen. "How did you know the way out of the house?"

"Oh, it used to be my grandmother's house." He replied as if he was just announcing the weather. There was a bandaid on his cheek and the side of his shirt buldged slighlty as if there was a bigger bandage under it, but otherwise he looked okay.

"What? Really?" Mingi said, setting down his phone and staring wide-eyed at the elder next to him. "We always hung out in the warehouse right next to it and you never told us?"

"I never knew," Yeosang shrugged, not looking up as he flipped a page. "This one summer after high school, when my grandmother passed, my father and I decided to go look at the house. I think we stayed there for a month or so."

"I'm so sorry, Hyung... We made it go, well, kaboom." San said, setting down his empty plate on a side table.

"No, no, it's okay." Yeosang said. We stayed silent, however, and he looked up from his book. "Honestly, it's okay. She's passed, my dad died, and they're all probably having a peaceful afterlife up there or wherever. I don't mind being alone— and actually, I'm not. I have all of you guys, right?" I smiled at him as we agreed.

"This is probably where a group hug comes in, but I think I'll pass." Wooyoung said. Mm, how I missed him. We stayed silent for a moment, lost in our own thoughts.

"So what now?" Jongho asked, standing off to the side.

"High school reunion?" Yunho suggested with a grin.