TW// mention of car accident and death
It was a bright sunny day but inside, it was dark and gloomy. Mingi looked around again from his perch on his bed. Yeosang lay on his own bed across the room, staring at the ceiling. Hongjoong and Seonghwa were also sitting in darkness in the room right next door. Yunho was on the couch, Wooyoung was in the kitchen, and Jongho was on the floor in front of the TV, which was off. Just then, the door flew open.
"I'm home," San yelled. "Why is everyone so quiet?"San, come here," Wooyoung called from the kitchen.
"What's up?"
"Manager got into a car accident. They don't think he'll make it."
San's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"He might die, San."
No wonder it's so quiet, he thought.
"Can we visit him?"
"He's not conscious San." San looked down and went to his room to think.
The dorm was quiet for the next hour until Wooyoung called out that dinner was ready. Everyone came down slowly. They ate in silence and went back to their respective silent places.
The next day dawned bright and early. Hongjoong woke everyone, and they started getting ready for the day. They went through the motions of getting ready and going through the day. The next few weeks passed much the same way. A new manager was in the process of being hired, and everyone had become friendly with him.
About three months after the accident, the doctors started talking about taking the former manager off of life support. His family asked that they wait a little longer even though there was almost no hope for him. A week after that, he opened his eyes.
"Manager is what?" Mingi screeched into the phone. "He woke up?" Everyone came running into the room staring at Mingi, who slowly hung up the phone.
"Manager is alive," he said, turning to them. "He woke up." Everyone quickly got ready to go and drove over to the hospital. The manager was awake and aware. San started crying when he saw him. "We thought you would die," he sobbed.
"It'll take more than a car crash to kill me, Sannie," he comforted him.
They spent a few hours in the hospital room before heading to the dorm. A few days later, their manager went into rehab. He told them that he would no longer be their manager because of his condition, but they would always have a special place in his heart, and if they ever needed anything, they should not hesitate to ask him. "Same to you," Hongjoong told him." We'll miss you as our manager. Get well soon."
Ateez continued to achieve great things with their new manager, but they never forgot their old one. They visited him from time to time, helping out with the things he could no longer do. They helped him move to a wheelchair accessible flat, and they helped him get his new job. They were all happy with where they were in life, and they were happy to have each other.
