fever | ateez lore story

CH 9

•wooyoung•

For the entire trip to the warehouse, my brain has working out whether Yeosang is still mad or not. Judging by the way he avoided me for the past couple days, I'm sure he still is. I haven't really been doing myself any favours by ignoring him the same. I've somehow just made my worries worse by avoiding him.

I'm beside San at the moment, but my eyes are glued to the Maltese in front of me, his hair bouncing the same way it always does. He's deep in chat with Jongho, and I don't want to ruin it. I just need the right timing.

When we reach the warehouse, the empty space greets us with an echo of our chatter.

"Right. Show me what you've got guys." Hongjoong starts, setting himself down on the couch.

Finally!

I rush over and drop down next to him, pulling my notebook out. The page scribbled with song motives opens and I begin the explanation.

-"We've decided that, because the instrumental sounds very cinematic and sad, we chose a dramatic theme. In simple terms, it's about reaching for something you can't touch. Like, you see something in a dream, but when you wake up, the dream is lost, either because you can't remember it or because it was so important to you, but it doesn't exist in reality, only in your dream."

"It's like seeing a dream within a dream." San follows from behind me.

Couldn't of put it better, to be honest. I've just used a dictionary worth of words and San just summarised it in a sentence.

"A dream within a dream? I like that idea." Hongjoong says. I nod, agreeing fully.

-"Show me the melody."

I flip the pages quickly and find the melody in notes, my writing very messy but legible. To me, anyway.

I ask Hongjoong to start at the chorus, and I start singing.

As if I have dreamed a dream
I am looking for you
You are the dream I live in, the dream I can never awake from
Every day and night, I'm gon' chase you~

Me and Jongho harmonise at the end, and when we finished, they erupted in a collected woah!

"That was amazing! Whose idea was it to sing the final bit in English?" Yunho asks, his face still written with amazement.

We all point to San - the English king. Out of all of us, I think he can speak English the best.

"Of course, it was me. I am the English King." San says in the most exaggerated American accent. I start creasing, my high-pitched laugh inviting the rest of the them to join in with me. Even Yeo, thankfully.

---

We work on the song for hours, with Hongjoong issuing everyone a line or a verse. He truly is an amazing producer, because the allocated roles fit perfectly. Everyone had a few idea which tweaked our original ideas but it only made the song sound better.

This next bit, I want Yeosang to have it. I issued these lines to be mine initially, but Yeosang has a very distinctive voice that I think would suit these lines much better;

Finding traces you've left
I'm wandering for you, you're a dream

"Um, these are Yeosang's lines." I say quietly to Hongjoong, who reads them quickly before calling Yeosang over.

-"Yeo, your turn."

He hands Yeosang the book and he reads over them, his nod of approval reassuring me.

"Cool, I like it. How does it go?" He asks. Hongjoong looks over to me, and then back to Yeosang.

I know what he's planning to do. But I beg, please don't do it.

-"Not sure, but I'm sure Wooyoung wouldn't mind showing you."

And he did it.

Yeosang finally looks over at me and smiles. I never realised how deprived I was of his attention until I felt a bubble of sadness burst in me. I've missed him.

We make our way to a corner, where I can show him the melody, and apologise.

"So it goes like this." I begin. I sing the melody tapping my hand against my thigh to stay in rhythm. I let Yeosang give it a try, watching how focused he is in getting it right. He looks at me for confirmation, and I give him a timid smile.

"I'm sorry, Yeo. For everything I said. I know you've been having a hard time, but I've been too caught up on chasing what I want that I forgot to consider your feelings. You don't have to forgive me but I want you to know that I'm sorry." I say, swallowing back tears.

It's true. I've been so focused on trying to get what I wanted, I neglected Yeosang's needs in the process. Me and him made a promise that if we were to debut, we'd do it together. At any cost.

I avoid his eyes by looking down, scrapping the concrete floor with the sole of my shoe. Suddenly, I feel warmth cover my body, and two long arms snaking their way around my back, the embrace tight and sincere.

"I'm sorry, too. I know how much you've anticipated for this debut for a long time. I'm also sorry about the way I just threw it onto you. It was worrying you for a while, and I could see it." He speaks so calmly, like he's never been angry before. This is the Yeosang I know and love. And missed.

He pulls away, patting my shoulder lovingly.

"I've thought about it, and I've decided. I'll keep my promise to you. At any cost."

I say, watching as he face falls into concern.

"What do you mean?" He questions, that perplexed look on his face morphing him more and more into a Maltese.

"You think I'd let you leave without me? No way. Like I said, I hate promise-breakers. I'm not becoming one." I insist, running a hand through my hair.

He stares at me for a second too long, I begin to think his system has lagged.

"I can't let you do that, Wooyoung. You're so close to debuting with Yeonjun and the others. Don't let me hold you back for something I selfishly want." He protests, his hands waving in front of me.

I refuse. I made a firm promise to him, and I intend on keeping it. Like I said; "at any cost."

-"Who said it was selfish for wanting your freedom? I see you during practices. You've lost your spark. There was only one person I can think of who could put out the fire you had in you, and it's your father. I don't want you to lose yourself, Yeosang. What I do want to see is us, setting the stage on fire with thousands of people saying our name. It's us or nothing."

If you listen closely, I shot his heart with an arrow. I didn't mean to speak so deeply, but judging by the face he gives me, that it exactly what I just did.

He falls into me, the hug tighter than earlier.

"You're truly something else, Jung Wooyoung. I only wish for everyone to have someone like you." he whispers.

Never have I heard someone say that to me before. Hearing it for the first time really surprises me. I never thought I meant that much to a person.

When he pulls away, I quickly wipe away the tears that fall, feeling slight embarrassment.

"You're so dramatic, Maltese." I tease, lightly punching his arm to ease the awkwardness.

I hate how awkward things becoming when an argument has been resolved. Like, the tension is gone, why are we embarrassed? Makes me giggle just thinking about it.

God, I can be so unserious sometimes.

—-

•hongjoong•

I watch their embrace. From a few meters away, I can feel the sincerity. And, are those tears, Wooyoung? Got too emotional, eh?

Timing is everything.