fever | ateez lore story

CH 15

•the watcher•

"Meet at the warehouse after school"

Before any of the boys stepped foot onto school grounds, they receive this urgent text from Hongjoong. The lack of vocabulary and demanding undertones of the simple message raises concern for the boys, who now ponder in their heads about what's to come, rather than focusing on class activity

---

Clock strikes for lunch time, and everyone lines up for their food. All but one.

"Anyone see the captain?" Jongho asks, picking up a dinner tray and passing it down behind him. Seonghwa takes the tray and passes it behind him, shaking his head.

-"He wasn't in science class. I had no partner."

"Haven't seen him the whole day." Mingi responds, one earbud sitting comfortably in one ear and the other hanging loosely around his neck.

"Neither have I. You think he took another day off?" Wooyoung wonders, the song they recorded coming into his head. As if San can read minds, he says exactly what Wooyoung was thinking.

-"Maybe he's working on the song we recorded. You know, a few final touches and a little editing."

"Woah, I was just thinking about that!" Wooyoung exclaims, the two of them laughing like two little brain cells in their own world.

"He can't keep doing this, though. The school is already concerned about his consistent absence. He was just getting better by come to school for a week, as well." Yunho sulks, his assistant-brain switched on. Yunho has been Hongjoong's assistant for as long as Hongjoong became class captain, and he can't see himself assisting anyone else.

"Let's hope he'll be in school tomorrow. If not, drag him in, Yunho. As his assistant, assist him in getting to class." Yeosang jokes, lightly nudging Yunho's shoulder, eliciting a childish giggle from him.

Once they all got their food, they settled down around a trouble, just enough seats to fit them all, leaving one for their absent captain, who they deem is still present in spirit.

"Wah~ this kimchi stew is so good!" Jongho sighs after swallowing a spoonful of it with rice, diving back in for seconds.

"Mhm!" Yeosang hums, mouth stuffed.

-"JEONG YUNHO!"

The sudden, unsolicited outburst of a teacher's voice scares the poor souls out of the boys that Jongho and Yeosang almost choke. The table shakes as they all jump, their drinks spilling slightly onto the clean table. Yunho freezes, like someone had just pulled him out the deep freezer to defrost. The others avoid the source of the scary voice, looking around at each other or the dining room, feeling the eyes of their fellow classmates dart towards them. From a relaxing moment where they enjoy their lunch, they now become the centre of attention.

"Where is your captain?" President Han strides towards the blonde male, who swallows his food too quickly, almost choking on it. He stands abruptly and bows towards the president, hands glued to his side and a flush of panic on his face.

"I've been told by the captain that he is not feeling very well, today. He has decided to take the day off to rest." Yunho lies, staring straight into President Han's threatening eyes.

The boys know exactly what Hongjoong is doing, but telling President Han is an invitation for him to expel Hongjoong, and Yunho can't bear for that to happen.

The way President Han glares at Yunho makes him contemplate whether he can read through his lie or not. His palms become soaked with nervous sweat that he lightly pats them dry on his school trousers, sniffing a little to calm himself down. Yunho prepares himself for the worst, wondering what will happen to him after Hongjoong gets expelled.