WHO ARE YOU?|ATEEZ FANFIC (In Editing Progress)

Chapter 21|Waiting for the enemy

Everything was quiet. The first rays of sun that had been brought by the morning lit up the horizon and a group of birds flew chirping over the Manson, where the eight boys were lying peacefully in their beds and sleeping. From Wooyoung’s room came the snoring of Mingi, muffled by a pillow. He was lying on the edge of the bed with only the pants of his pajamas and his upper body, his face not covered with a pillow. Wooyoung was lying next to him. Snuggled up in his blanket, he lay on the soft mattress and slept soundly. He would have slept like that for hours, would have stayed in his dream, which for once wasn’t a nightmare, when suddenly a loud, deafening noise thundered through the Manson and shook him from his peaceful sleep.

“WHA-“ he opened his eyes in shock and jumped up. Mingi, who was barely able to stay on the bed anyway, was so frightened by the loud noise that he flinched, lost his balance and tumbled out of bed with a loud bang. He hit his bottom on the laminate floor and hit his head on the side table of the bed.

“Ouch! Shit!” he cursed and curled up on the floor like an embryo in pain, holding the back of his head and cursing quietly.

“Damn it.” He grumbled and opened his eyes slightly.

“What the hell was that?” he asked as Wooyoung was just struggling to free himself from his blanket and standing up. He came around the bed and went to Mingi to offer him a helping hand.

“Sounded like the doorbell.” He said as Mingi took his hand and let him help him to his feet, when at that moment the door suddenly opened and the two were startled again.

“Is everything okay in here?” Wooyoung immediately relaxed again when he saw Hongjoong, who was standing in the doorway with a worried look and his hair all messed up from sleep, holding the door open. Wooyoung nodded.

“Everything’s fine. What’s going on?” he asked nervously and Hongjoong just shrugged his shoulders cluelessly.

“I have no idea. Come on, let’s all go and see.” With that, Hongjoong disappeared out the door and Mingi and Seonghwa looked at each other uncertainly and hesitantly for a moment before Mingi finally took Wooyoung by the hand and left the bedroom with him. It was uncomfortably quiet in the hallway. Everyone else was already there and was standing behind Hongjoong at the stairs while he waited for Wooyoung and Mingi to join him. Wooyoung looked out from behind Mingi a little nervously and carefully looked at the faces of the others. It was the first time he had seen them since yesterday morning after his falling out with Jongho. He was standing at the very back of the row next to Yeosang and holding him by his shoulders. He didn’t even look at Wooyoung and Mingi when the two had reached the rest of the group. San, on the other hand, who was standing further up with Seonghwa and Yunho, turned slightly to Wooyoung and looked at him with slight concern. The fact that he hadn’t even come to dinner yesterday had made it clear to him again how much the argument with Jongho must have hurt him. And the fact that the others and he only partially stood up for him and didn’t really hold Jongho back certainly didn’t make things any more pleasant for Wooyoung. San could see how uncomfortable he felt suddenly standing with them again, without a word, without even hearing an apology. He kept his eyes down and hid behind Mingi, who stood in front of Wooyoung like a protective half-naked wall of muscles and even looked slightly grim at San when he noticed his gaze on Wooyoung. San immediately turned around and lowered his gaze when Hongjoong turned around and the boys staggered after him.

“Come on.” He said and then slowly walked down the stairs. Hesitant and unsure if this was a good idea, Seonghwa, Yunho and San followed him and the rest ran behind them with Mingi and Wooyoung bringing up the rear. They arrived at the entrance area and all looked nervously at the front door. No one dared to go forward to at least see through the window who was standing at the door and who had woken them all up. They were silent for a moment until Seonghwa finally gathered all his courage and walked past Hongjoong to the door. Hongjoong looked at him in shock.

“What are you doing?!” he asked nervously and Seonghwa looked back briefly with a gentle look to calm Hongjoong down.

“I’m just opening the door.” He answered. Hongjoong hesitated and took a few steps forward, wanting to help Seonghwa, but Seonghwa raised his hand dismissively and shook his head. Hongjoong stopped a few steps away from Seonghwa and looked questioningly at the older man.

“You stay with the others. I’ll do it.” He said. He looked determinedly at Hongjoong until the latter accepted Seonghwa’s decision with a quiet sigh and somewhat reluctantly walked backwards to the others and stood protectively in front of them.

“But first look through the window.” Hongjoong said as Seonghwa was about to reach for the door handle and open it. He paused and looked at the window to the right of the entrance door. Whether he wasted time looking through the window or not, either way, if someone was at the door he would have to face them anyway as soon as he opened the door. He took a deep breath and shook his head slightly. He didn’t have the patience to check first whether their morning guest was friend or foe, or whether there was anyone else at the door, like yesterday. Without hesitation, he grabbed the door handle. Behind him, he heard Hongjoong calling, but he ignored it and pulled the door open with a strong tug until it was open and Seonghwa suddenly looked into two pale, empty eyes that looked at him emotionlessly. He froze and stared at the black-clad man in front of him. Nervously gulping, he lets go of the door and examines their guest. His face, which Seonghwa could see very well without the black mask that the Halateez usually wore, somehow reminded him of himself. He couldn’t quite describe it. This boy seemed younger, had sharp eyes and a completely different hairstyle, but to Seonghwa it felt like he was looking in the mirror. After a few seconds, when the Halateez still hadn’t said or done anything, Seonghwa gathered all his courage and cleared his throat.

“W-what do you want?” He asked with his voice trembling in fear of the black-clad man, but the Halateez didn’t answer. For a moment he did nothing, which made Seonghwa quite nervous, when he suddenly took his hand out of his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. He held the letter out to the confused boy, who hesitated, looked at the letter and then back at the Halateez.

Another letter?

He thought confused before looking at the letter again.

“W-what is this?” He asked him hesitantly as the Halateez suddenly took a step closer. Seonghwa immediately backed away in fear and Hongjoong took advantage of this, stretched out his arm and grabbed Seonghwa by the wrist, before he pulled him back behind him, where Yunho and San both took his hand.

“Are you crazy?” San asked looking at Seonghwa in shock.

“He could’ve killed you.” He continued, while Hongjoong looked at the Halateez with cold eyes.

“What do you want from us?” He asked. His tone and the strength in his voice sent a shiver down Seonghwa’s spine. He knew that Hongjoong could be strict, but now Seonghwa found him quite intimidating. The Halateez, however, did not seem to be intimidated. He lowered the hand in which he was holding the letter and then slowly bent down to place the letter on the mat in front of the front door. Hongjoong and the others watched him tensely and when the Halateez had straightened up again, he raised his hand and grabbed the hem of his black fedora hat. Confused, Hongjoong frowned as the Halateez nodded politely to them and then suddenly took a step to the side and disappeared behind the wall of the house.

“HE-“ Hongjoong immediately jumped towards the door and stuck his head out of the doorframe to see where the Halateez was going, but when he looked out into the morning mist surrounding the Manson, he could no longer see the Halateez. He vanished.

“What the hell…?” Hongjoong muttered in confusion and stepped out the door. He ran down the stairs to the terrace and stepped into the fog. It felt cold on his skin and an unpleasant shiver ran down Hongjoong’s spine, but he simply couldn’t find the Halateez anywhere.

“Hongjoong.” He suddenly heard Seonghwa’s voice behind him and turned around. Seonghwa was standing in the doorway, holding the small black envelope in his left hand, holding out his right hand to Hongjoong.

“Come back inside. It’s cold.” Seonghwa said. Concern for Hongjoong was written all over his face and after Hongjoong looked around again and sighed in frustration, he turned back to the house and went back. Back at the house, Seonghwa closed the door again and Hongjoong rubbed his arms, shivering. He didn’t know how cold it could get here so early in the morning.

“Then let’s see what the Halateez have to say to us today.” Seonghwa finally said. Hongjoong and the others immediately turned to the eldest, who was already fiddling with the opening of the envelope and carefully opening it. He pulled out a small piece of paper, just like the first letter they had found on the doorstep. He unfolded it carefully before reading out loud what was written in the letter so that the group could understand it.

“You have two hours. Find the door. He has the key” He said. Hongjoong paused slightly and looked at Seonghwa with a questioning look.

“Thats all?” he asked in surprise and Seonghwa nodded.

“Short and sweet, like the last love letter from our creepy friends. Doesn’t sound like a threat at all again.” He said ironically, put the note back in the envelope and then rubbed his forehead in frustration.

“What kind of door are we talking about here?” He then asked and the boys shook their heads cluelessly. Mingi shrugged his shoulders ignorantly.

“I actually thought we had found every door in the house.” He said and Hongjoong nodded slightly.

“I actually thought so too.” He agreed with Mingi and then looked around ponderingly.