fever | ateez lore story

CH 6

•the watcher•

It's Monday morning, and the morning of San's birthday. The boys are currently up and early in the warehouse, suffocating with stress.

Unfortunately, Sunday's recording session was cut short when Jongho's basketball team had an emergency meeting. One of their best players ended up with a severe ankle injury, and their game against Jinju Academy was coming up real soon. They had to get someone from the B team to play, however, A and B teams had different types of training, and Jinju Academy were known for having great players. Jongho was not taking any chances, and trained the B team player until the sun went down.

"Hongjoong, school starts in half an hour. We can finish this later." Seonghwa's says softly, checking the time on his watch. The boys are scattered across the room, all of them resonating the same panic as the other. Hongjoong is playing the same bar of the song on and over again that it's giving everyone a headache. There's a slight discomfort in the final chorus, and it's making him itch the longer he goes without the solution.

"It's just...I feel like it's missing something. It sounds too similar to the first and second chorus, so it's quite bland. I just...don't know what to do about it." He huffs, playing the bar again.

"Seonghwa's right. We still have after school. We just need to try and stall San until we figure out what's missing." Mingi suggests, and everyone comes to an agreement. Hongjoong unplugs his laptop from the speakers and switches everything off.

-"Okay, but we need to run straight here after school. Every minute is golden, and if we're gonna make some treasure, we're gonna need every minute. Mingi, since it was your idea, are you okay to stall San while we all figure out the end?"

"I'll try. But we all know how persistent he is. The longest I can hold him is probably 15 minutes. So you better do it quick." He explains, hoisting his backpack onto his shoulders.

---

The minute the school bell signals the end, Hongjoong and the rest sprint out the room and out of the grounds like their life depended on it. For people who did not know what they were doing, they would've thought they were running to save their lives from a murderer.

They make their way to the warehouse, sprinting down the street, the thudding of their feet enough to make an earthquake.

"I've not- ran like this- in ages!" Wooyoung yells in between breathes, his brown hair displacing itself at it blows in the wind.

"Stop talking- keep running!" Seonghwa demands, overtaking the younger one.

Once they reach the warehouse, they scurry inside like a group of mice, slamming the irons gates with a loud slam.

On the other hand, Mingi and San have just exited the classroom, their hands too busy playing rock, paper and scissors.

"Ah, I win! Give me your head." San boasts, holding his middle finger back with his thumb.

"That would not of sounded nice back in the 14th century." Mingi says, bending his neck down, ensuring that his head is level with San's hand. San lifts his hand up, and strikes the crown of his skull, the place of impact aching.

"There goes a few of my brain cells." Mingi hisses, rubbing the top of his head.

"Aha, sorry Mingi! I won't do it that hard next time." San says, leaning for a hug. Mingi scoffs, sensing a lie behind that statement. San holds his fist out for a rematch, watching the slightly older one do the same.

-"Rock, paper, sci-"

"Wait." San suddenly says, his eyes scanning through the crowd of people as they leave the classroom behind him. Mingi watches him do so, tensing up when he realises what San is doing.