fever | ateez lore story

CH 10

•the watcher•

All the boys gather in their usual spot again, Yunho falling behind and being the last one through the gates. His ghastly yawn echoes through the warehouse and catches everyone off guard, sounding like a haunting ghost.

"Any wider, Yunho, and you'll catch a fly." Mingi teases, slapping the older one's back slightly to wake him up.

"Exam season is coming up and beating my ass. I can't even remember the last time I had a long sleep, let alone a good one." He explains, rubbing his eyes from fatigue.

Hongjoong drops his backpack on the floor and scans the room, mentally doing a headcount and realising someone was missing.

"Anyone seen Yeosang?" He asks. Speaking of the devil, Yeosang tiptoes through the gates, almost as if he was not wanting to be noticed.

"There he is!" San calls out, and everyone warmly greets the student. Hongjoong is thrown off slightly, as he notices Yeosang wearing a hoodie with the hood up and cinched around his face. The others gush at how cute Yeosang looks, like a little button, but Hongjoong feels uneasy.

Once everyone goes back to whatever conversation they were in before Yeosang came in, Hongjoong slowly approaches Yeosang, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"It's like, 30 degrees outside. Aren't you warm in that hoodie?" he asks kindly and concerned. Yeosang turns to Hongjoong slightly to respond, but to his mistake, the bruise that lines his cheekbone peeks out from the hood, and Hongjoong notices the dark spot immediately. Hongjoong's soft face falls serious, his eyebrows furrowing and his eyes darting to Yeosang's sharply. He pulls him to the side, away from everyone else. He carefully moves the cinched line of the hood to reveal more of the greenish tint that litters Yeosang's face, his breathing becoming heavy.

"What happened to you?" He whispers, watching as Yeosang's eyes looks everywhere but at Hongjoong.

"I'm fine, it's nothing." Yeosang lies, pulling the hood back over to cover it again. Hongjoong clicks his tongue, baring his teeth as they grit together.

"Don't lie to me, Yeo. Who did this to you?" Hongjoong demands an answer, his eyes softening before he ends up scaring his fellow classmate. Yeosang refuses to answer, pressing his lips tightly as if the truth were to slip up any moment.

Suddenly, Wooyoung flings himself around Yeosang's shoulders, making him panic.

"You ready for training today?" Wooyoung asks. His eyes look over to the sullen one, watching as Yeosang's cheek beings to reveal itself to him, and all of a sudden, the high energy that was bursting out of Wooyoung turned into rage and concern. He pulls his friend by the shoulders and forces him to look at him, his hand ripping the hood off of Yeosang's head.

"Yeosang...who did this to you?" The difference between Wooyoung and Hongjoong is that Hongjoong manages to keep his emotions away from his voice. But with Wooyoung, when he feels his emotions, they become too passionate. The loud concern in his voice echoes in the warehouse, catching the attention of everybody else. They look over and share the same worry as each other, all of them approaching Yeosang.

However, surrounded by support, Yeosang can't help but feel he has no choice here. No matter how many times he lies, they will never believe him. Especially Wooyoung, who knows Yeosang like the back of his hand.

"I stood up against my father. I told him I was done with violin lessons. I guess it was the way I approached it that he didn't like." He explains, rubbing the nape of his neck and letting out a nervous, breathy laugh, expectant of what the others were to say.

"However you approached it, no one should lay their hands on their child like this." San protests, his brows furrowed in frustration. Yeosang's head hangs low, but from the corner of his eye, he notices Mingi's fingers collapse, squeezing tightly until his knuckles turned white. Seonghwa steps forward and runs the back of his fingers along the bruise carefully, hoping that it provided some sort of soothing element. Before he knew it, Yeosang is pulled into a hug, Seonghwa's large hand resting on the back of his head, and the other rubbing his back softly. The rest of them crowd round and join the embrace, the air around Yeosang become warm with love. He can't hold himself back, so the tears that were beginning to well up in his eyes fall, and dampen Seonghwa's shirt, his sobs muffled against his chest.

Yeosang begins to shake with panic. He begins to wonder; if this is the reaction his father had when he quit violin lessons, how is he gonna react to Yeosang leaving the company? Just the idea of the situation makes his head spin.

"I don't know what to do." Yeosang sobs, the group pulling away from the hug. Jongho's hand is warm on Yeosang's shoulder, his thumb gently rubbing back and forth.

-"You know what to do. You know what is right. We'll help you through whatever it is, hyung. Okay?"

The others nod in agreement, despondency never leaving their eyes. Yeosang wipes his face gently with the sleeve of his hoodie, sniffing and suddenly, laughing.

"I must look so dumb right now." He giggles. The others laugh at how cute he was, but the uneasy worry doesn't disappear.

"I have some cream in my bag. Give me a second." Seonghwa says, stripping his backpack from his back and digging to find the healing cream. While he does so, Hongjoong pulls Yeosang into his, his head resting on his shoulder.

"You're gonna be okay. Whatever happens, we'll be right here." He says softly, and Yeosang nods, knowing that whatever Hongjoong says is nothing but the truth. Though he's only known him a year, the friendship they have with each other feels like it has lasted a lifetime.