Blooming | Ateez Hongjoong

18 • Dream comes true?

Seeing Hongjoong laying his back on the sofa with closed eyes, Hyemi shuffles towards him and gently draps a blanket which is grabbed from the boy's room onto his worn out figure, managing not to wake him up. After carefully saving all the files on his laptop, she sets the device into 'sleep' mode.

Her face reads content as she sits herself on the couch facing him. In all honesty, the sight of her friend in his oh-so-fluffy sweater, staying 'wrapped' in the blanket looks too soft and peaceful to look away.

Then, a sigh is released out of stress when Hyemi muses over how much of a scaredy cat she is.

She can't help thinking about earlier when they were on the way home. Despite making promise to herself that she would strike a conversation with Hongjoong first, it turned out nothing worked.

Not gonna lie, sitting in the car with him without saying a word was odd to believe. Blame that menacing silence for being so prominent, it made her feel like walking on eggshells, to the point she only dared fidget on her seat with the lightest movement possible.

Long story short, she chickened out.

As if the still-on light in the living room isn't lively enough, without any prior warning, her phone has to blares a loud tune, coming along with a reminder that was actually set after her conversation with Emi had settled.

>> TALK TO HIM <<

With a startled expression, Hyemi hurriedly turns off the sudden string of sound then tucks the phone back in her pajama pocket before breathing out in relief.

Her moment is short lived as the man across from her begins stirring and snaps his once heavy eyelids open. The disturbing tune does wake him up.

As Hongjoong sits up, his hands quickly follow the blanket with an attempt to stop it from dropping to the floor. Vague hint of surprise passes his face once he has a clear view of the one before his eyes.

All of a sudden, Hyemi happens to forget what she's supposed to say, especially in situation where his eyes meet hers directly like this.

Great.

"Joong─"

The sentence is cut halfway thanks to her stomach that unexpectedly lets out subtle growls. Well, subtle but audible enough for both of them to hear.

"..."

"..."

As if whatever tension leaps over the window and disappears in thin air, the room is now filled with the boy's fit of good laugh after a mere while of silence, causing Jang Hyemi's face to switch from stiff to bashful.

"Shut up, will you?"

Disapproving her request, he turns his thumb up side down teasingly and lets his body vibrates to no end as it joins the same rhythm with his own giggles.