Rivals Seongjoong Ateez

13

   Seonghwa's pov

    "Please, just leave Aurora. I want to leave, and you clearly want your crown." That was the first thing Hongjoong said to me as he looked in my eyes.

His eyes showed so much pain, insecurity, and longing as they met mine. I could even see the smallest hint of anger as well behind his eyes.

"Baby-"

"You could've told me if you loved me less, Seonghwa. You didn't have to abandon me without a word like that. I know I come from an extremely humble background, but I hoped you saw past that. I hoped you saw how much I love you," Hongjoong said, eerily calmly. He aggressively wiped at his wet cheeks before standing up from the bed.

He took off my onesie and tossed it to me before heading to his closet. He pulled on his own clothes then continued to pull mine and their hangers from the closet.

I felt nothing from his side of our bond as he handed me all of my clothes. I threw the clothes in my arms to the side and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

"Let me go! Don't make this hurt more than it should!" Hongjoong exclaimed as he tried to free himself from my arms.

"This isn't how we end, Hongjoong. I won't let it end like this! We're soulmates! I love you!" I kept my arms around him as I lowered my face closer to his. When I leaned forward to kiss his lips, he turned his face to try to evade my kiss.

"Then why don't you act like it anymore?!" Hongjoong shouted. He finally managed to tear himself out of my arms and backed away from me.

"I didn't mean to yell at you, Seonghwa, but you've hurt me so bad." He dropped his head knowing that his louder voice had scared me.

"How do I fix this, Hongjoong?" I asked softly.

   "All I want is for you to still love me now as much as you did before we arrived here." My soulmate's voice was small and weak as he was asking for the bare minimum from me.

Hongjoong, who had endlessly shown me how much he loved and cared for me- taking me on dates, keeping our pace slower as I had asked, keeping me safe, calming me down from my anxieties, and so much more- was asking me for the bare minimum in our relationship.

I cried softly as I realized that. Had I really made him feel unloved? Did I really make him feel like I didn't love him anymore?

"I do, Hongjoong, I do still love you now just as much as I did before we arrived," I cried quietly as I walked back to him. He kept his head down and his hands held in front of himself so I could see them.

Even when he's the one hurting, he still makes sure I know he wouldn't push that pain onto me?

I knelt down so I could look up into his eyes. I lifted my hands to give him the option of taking them or not.

With quivering lips and more tears in his red and bloodshot eyes, he shakily lifted his right hand in a fist with his pinky up.

I was quick to lock my pinky with his and stamp our thumbs together in a pinky promise. Hongjoong sobbed again and dropped his weight onto me as he hugged me. I gasped as I felt how much more thin he had become in just the last two weeks.

His muscles were quickly fading away and he felt far too light compared to normal.

Normally, when he hugged me, he felt like a weighted security blanket against me-warm and cozy and kept enough pressure to make me feel safe- and now he almost felt lighter than my youngest sister?

"Oh, baby... what have I done to you? You've lost so much weight... I'm so sorry," I cried as I buried my head in his shoulder.

"Did I do something to make you-"