fever | ateez lore story

CH 13

the watcher

Seonghwa is as light as a feather, running his fingers across Yunho's cuts. He pulls back when he suddenly hears him hiss, a thousand apologies leaving Seonghwa's mouth.

"What actually happened to you, Yunho?" He asks strictly, like a parent asking their child for honesty.

"Yeh. You look as if the pole grew arms and pulled itself from the ground just to hit you." San jokes, watching the healing process at work.

Yunho's excuse was "I ran into a pole and fell on my face", which was the most ridiculous thing they've ever heard. Seonghwa asks Yunho again with slight frustration in his voice because he, as well as everyone else, hates lying. And Yunho's usually so honest, so this kind of behaviour is so unfamiliar to them, hence why I don't like it.

Yunho sighs before he answers.

-"I told you, I ran into a po-"

"You ran into a pole and fell, yeah yeah." Seonghwa bites, tired of his lame excuse. That shut him quickly, as his lips press together and his head falls, avoiding the eyes of everyone around him. A wave of guilt washes over Seonghwa suddenly, and he draws in closer, apologising for the sudden outburst.

-"Yunho, be honest. We're all friends here, so you don't need to hide anything. Whatever it is, we'll help you through it. Just trust us, okay?"

They see in his face that he's thinking about it, and then the hesitation's gone. His head rises and he inhales a deep breath before he explains.

"I was on my way to Mingi's house until Min-J and his group...jumped me." He explains. Gasps and mumbles from the boys erupt, but Seonghwa stays quiet, the shock ridding him speechless. They can't believe they did this to Yunho. If anything, they'd of expected something like this to happen to Mingi than to anyone else, as mean as it sounds.

At the thought of Mingi, Seonghwa looks around the room to find him situated at Wooyoung's side, both hands balled into fists. He lets Hongjoong take care of Yunho while he goes over to Mingi. Judging by his face, he's already heard the on-coming, 'don't do anything stupid' speech, possibly from the Class Captain's assistant.

"You heard it already, yeh?" He asks before anything else, and his head nods slightly. Seonghwa puts his hand on his shoulder and rubs his thumb against it, giving Mingi a soft smile.

-"Don't need to hear it again, then."

A harsh "aish" leaves Wooyoung's mouth as he aggressively claws at the back of his neck.

"If I wasn't so scared of Min-J's group of assholes, I'd-" the end of Woyoung's sentence ends with odd swishing noises as he begins to box the air, before dropping his hands onto the classroom desk with a loud bang. Min-J and his group are only human beings, but no one understood how a group of nobodies end up being the most feared in the school. There is no need for such attitude, and to be honest, Min-J's setting himself for failure like this.

"I've spoken to head office about it, and they'll talk to Min-J and his group. Don't worry about it." Hongjoong explains, and Yunho just responds with a nod. To the boys, they have never seen Yunho so drained out of energy. Even if he has a bad run with someone, he'll smile like nothing happened. This situation must have really gotten to him. Their golden retriever lost his bark.

"There's nothing they'll do about it." Mingi suddenly says, drawing the attention in the room.

-"A meeting with his parents will be held and the next thing you know, he's back laying hands on you guys again. A conversation won't stop him-"

"And how are you gonna stop him, Mingi? He'll just laugh in your face if you try." Jongho bites. In his eyes, he did not mean any offence towards Mingi. If anything, he was trying to ensure Mingi's safety, not wanting his big brother to be hurt anymore. But in Mingi's eyes, Jongho was underestimating Mingi and his way of standing up for him and his friends. Mingi was not taking it.

Everyone's only filled with surprise as they watch Mingi approach Jongho, ripping those earbuds of his out of his ears.

"Like you'd do any better. Are you saying you can stop him and I can't?" He interrogates. The height difference between Jongho and Mingi only makes Mingi look more threatening. He doesn't mean to be, but because of past history, Mingi made a name for himself in school, so the intimidating factor about him is unavoidable.

Jongho's eyes widen, his eyebrows huddling together and his hands held up in self-defence, as if Mingi was about to box him.

-"I didn't say that, I'm just saying-"

-"Don't underestimate me, Jongho!"

"Stop it!" The rooms flinches as Hongjoong's voice boom and echo around the classroom. It catches everyone off guard, as he never usually raises his voice. He's always so composed, so this is a shock to everyone. Even to me, but his leadership is something everyone, especially Seonghwa admired. It's just now, everyone is scared of him. It's the way his jaw clenches and his face contorts into anger that makes everyone back up, not even thinking of trying to calm the situation down.

Hongjoong comes between the two classmates, lightly pushing them way from each other.

"No one's underestimating you, no one is claiming you said something different. But listen to you both right now. It's embarrassing having to hear his conversation from two people who are mature enough to listen and understand the other person. Am I wrong?!" He interrogates, steam emitting from his ears. Seonghwa feels San cower behind him, his hands pawing onto the hem of his blazer. Seonghwa turns his head to look at him, giving him a smile to try and to let him know this is a normal part of friendship, to give him some sort of comfort. When he transfers from school to school, surely this is one of the things he does not want to experience.

"Am I wrong?" Hongjoong repeats, the two boys shaking their heads before Hongjoong continues.

-"I am your greatest friend, and I care about you both. But I am also your class captain, and I have a duty to report whatever conflict or attempt at conflict happens within school grounds. Don't make me do something I'll regret. Now apologise to the other and get out of here. Class starts in 5."

Hongjoong slides himself out from between Mingi and Jongho and tugs at the sleeves of their blazers, pulling them closer to the other. The awkward silence and the sudden intimacy between them two draws giggles and supressed laughter from the others in the room. That's how you know how unserious they can be.

"Sorry." They mumble to each other, avoiding eye contact like a bunch of children. Suddenly, Wooyoung shoves Mingi into Jongho, the two colliding in a ghastly embrace. Their bodies stick to each other for a few seconds before Jongho's arms snake their way around Mingi's long torso, and the room bursts into laughter. Mingi, on the other hand, does not do affection well, so instead of reciprocating the hug, his large hand pats the back of Jongho's head rhythmically, more laughter being drawn from the rest of us.

"Okay. Now beat it. I don't want reports of any of you being late." Hongjoong giggles. As they pull away, the smiles on their faces brightens up the room, and they act as if Mingi and Jongho weren't a word away from a fist fight. Everyone exits the room, on the way to class, leaving their argument in the room.

But just because it gets left doesn't mean it's not bound to happen again.