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

Chapter 21|Waiting for the enemy

It was a loud gong, the same loud gong they had heard when the Halateez had briefly visited, that woke the boys out of bed very early the next morning. Seonghwa, who had taken Wooyoung's place in the cuddle bed that night, was so startled that he fell out of bed with a loud thud. The rest of the bed was immediately made up as well and San looked out of bed with a mixture of panic and concern on his face.

»Hyung, are you okay?« he asked the black-haired one on the floor, who rubbed his butt with a grimace and then nodded. While Yeosang and Yunho were already sprinting out of bed and to the door, San helped his older friend up and then they went to the room door together. Just as he stepped out of the room door, the other room doors opened as well. Hongjoong walked straight towards Seonghwa while Jongho rubbed his eyes sleepily. A large body came out of Wooyoung's room first and Wooyoung hid behind it. Mingi, who was the big body, held Wooyoung protectively behind him, which struck San as odd since Mingi tended to be the scaredy-cat of the group most of the time. Now he was protecting Wooyoung.

»Is someone at the door?« Hongjoong asked the eldest, and he just shrugged unknowingly.

»I don't know.«

»Let's go.« Hongjoong told the others to follow him, and they did. As they walked down the hallway, San slowed his pace so he walked alongside Mingi and Wooyoung, then carefully grabbed Wooyoung's hand. The black-haired looked at the blonde in confusion, but he didn't look back and just kept walking without letting go of Wooyoung's hand. They all went down the stairs in single file and then stopped a few meters from the door. Hongjoong hesitated and looked at the group.

»If they wanna fight us, we'll look ridiculous.« he joked, seeing the brightly colored pajamas the seven boys in front of him, including himself, were wearing.

»Shall I open up?« asked Seonghwa, who was the eldest after all, but Hongjoong shook his head.

»I'll do it. You stay here with the others.« Seonghwa nodded, and then Hongjoong turned toward the door, while Seonghwa stood infront of the younger group members. There was no peephole in the door to look through and through the windows he couldn't see the right angle to see if anyone was at the door, which meant he just had to dare. Without hesitation, he yanked open the door and stared out. Into nothing.

»Huh?« confused, he took a step out of the door and looked around.

»No one there.« he murmured, and the others started toward the door.

»What does this mean?«

»It means that there's no one at the door.« Hongjoong answered Jongho's question, noticing something on the ground below.

»Wait a minute.« the group tried to look over Hongjoong's shoulder as he crouched to pick something up off the floor.

»Another letter?« Yeosang asked annoyed as Hongjoong turned to them with the letter lying on the doorstep.

»Let me read it.« Seonghwa held out his hand and Hongjoong handed him the letter. The eldest opened it and briefly scanned the writing before letting him through.

»Dear Ateez, In today's clash, the leader holds the key. Find the keyhole before they arrive. You have two hours after the letter arrives. Much luck, Halateez.«

»Another time constraint.« Jongho grumbled.

»At least he was a bit more polite this time.« Jongho made a face and looked at San questioningly.

»Who cares if the letter is written politely?«

»Us. I guess the sender is different and seems nicer to us than the other one.« San took the letter from Seonghwa, ignoring Jongho's annoyed eye roll, and frowned after reading it quietly a second time.