fever | ateez lore story

CH 4

•mingi•

-"Mingi-ah!"

Here comes the man-child.

He throws himself on me and I can't help but laugh, the crown of his head just about reaching my nose. I pull an earbud out and return the hug.

"Anyone ever tell you how loud you are?" I joke, shaking my head.

He's a lot different to the San we (or I) first met 3 months ago. He was a lot more comfortable with the others and even got close to them quite quickly. With me, however, he seemed...afraid. It pained me because I saw what he was like with the others. I got jealous, thinking "why can't he like me, too?". At one point, he was struggling so much with chemistry, and I was the only one who understood the homework. He felt no choice but to ask me for help, but instead of finishing the homework, we spent the night at his playing 'Cham-cham-cham' and the word association game. In the end, we didn't finish the homework, but he and I gained a friend

"I was thinking of creating a choreography for Fireworks after school today at the warehouse! I came up with this shoulder move that may look weird at first, but with the right energy and vibe, it'll look sick!" He begins, demonstrating his idea. His shoulders rhythmically shake while his hands clasp in front of his chest, then he claps them together and brings them up like flames, catching the attention of the people in the hallway. When I notice the stares we were getting, I pull on his collar to straighten him up hold him still with my arms, trying not to laugh at the embarrassment he just brought onto himself.

"Stop it. People are staring." I giggle. Still can't help the stares coming our way. But it's not towards San, it's towards me. I watch as a few of them whisper among themselves. I know exactly what they're thinking; since when did the school delinquent get any friends? I can only answer with; I made friends because people actually gave me a chance and did not turn me away.

About after school, we're supposed to be recording. How am I supposed to lie to him?

Just...pull something out your ass.

-"Yeah, about after school, I'm quite busy. I still haven't done the chemistry homework we failed to do that one night I bruised your forehead when playing 'Cham-cham-cham'." 

I handed it the next day after.

"Mingi, that was due almost 2 months ago..." San says. I feel like he can sense that I'm lying. The way he stares at me through the corner of his eye...yup he can definitely tell.

"You know me. I don't like doing homework. But Mrs Park warned me if I don't get it done, she'll call my dad. You know what my dad is like." I tell him, watching as his eyes look around the hallway. He scoffs and a smile appears, but I know I made him feel like shit.

"Yeh. It's alright! We can do it another time." He laughs, scratching the nape of his neck.

I can't seem to stop making people feel terrible, can't I? Even when I'm being nice.

---

•jongho•

I watch in concentration as the ball continuously bounces up and down, making sure that there isn't a dent or a flat spot that could soil it's direction when bouncing. While doing that, I sing the melody of San's birthday present.

Celebrate for you~ celebrate for you~ eh

-"Jongho!"

I almost fall back as San comes up on the bleachers, scaring the lights out of me. I hope he didn't hear the melody I was singing.

"Hyung, be careful. You could hurt yourself if you fell." I say, chucking the ball to him. He catches it with a little winded groan and hurries down the bleachers, making my blood pressure rise with how close he is to tripping down them.

"I like the melody you were singing. Is that something for 'Fireworks'?" he suddenly asks and I feel my blood run cold. I press my lips together and stare dumb at him, shaking my head.

"N-no. It's nothing, I was just concentrated, is all. I sing random tunes when I'm concentrated" I answer in a panic, taking the ball from his hands. He rubs his hands together and throws them behind him, his cat-eyes glinting with excitement of some sort.

-"Please tell me you're not busy after school today!"

The urgency in his voice...I'm guessing the others have told San they are busy after school, as well.

"You see...I have basketball practice. We have a match coming soon so we need to, you know, make sure we're in shape." I lie, rubbing the nape of my neck. His cat-eyes turn cold and he stares at me like prey. I can see his jaw clench as he chews down on anger before he lets something out on me. He suddenly inhales and his face relaxes, transitioning back to normal as if he wasn't a breath away from biting my head off.

"That's totally okay! I have stuff to work on anyway." He says, and with that, he heads off, his dark hair bouncing.

God, I know everyone else found it as hard as I did to reject the poor guy. His eyes were literally brimming with anticipation to show us the lyrics and melody he came up with. But if we want this birthday surprise to be a surprise, he have to keep it away from him. We have under a week to finish it, too.

Sorry, San.