Pink Star Ateez x Seonghwa

28

   Seonghwa's pov

  "Today is your final evaluations, Seonghwa, Hangyul. Please, begin when you're ready Seonghwa." The judge nodded.

  I took a breath to calm myself, then began with the vocal re-evaluation.

  I sang my own song this time; the one I wrote for Jay just before I quit producing and making music.

  "You did much better with this song, but we've never heard it before. Who is it by?" Another judge asked. I smiled softly.

  "It is mine. I made it myself quite some time ago," I said. The judge's eyes widened before they nodded, writing something down on their paper.

  "Now, for the rap portion." Another judge said, giving a small smile.

I heard as the speakers played the song Hongjoong, Mingi and I had chosen; The Leaders.

  Hangyul went next, then we were to hear who passed into Ateez immediately.

  "Seonghwa, I'm sorry, but we have to let Hangyul into the group. He's younger, and has the skill set we've been looking for."

  I felt my heart drop to my stomach, but I forced a small smile as I nodded knowingly.

  "Thank you for the opportunity to try," I said, then walked out of the room. A camera followed me out, capturing me as I walked to find my soulmates in our meetup room; hongjoong's studio.

  "How did you do?" Yunho asked. I pursed my lips and shook my head.

  "They chose Hangyul over me. I'm still the real winner here, though; I have you seven incredible men as my soulmates and lovers," I said, a small but genuine smile on my lips.

  Mingi stood up from the couch and wrapped his arms around me, letting me lay my head on his shoulder.

  "Seonghwa? I have a different offer for you," the ceo said, stepping inside of the studio as well.

  "Would you like to be a producer here?" He asked. I looked towards my soulmates, who smiled reassuringly at me.

  "I would," I said. The ceo grinned and patted my shoulder.

  "Good, you can start next Monday." He then left the room.

"Another occupation to keep me away from performing; amazing. I'm not good enough for a group or solo, so I'm put behind the scenes," I laughed dryly and shook my head.

"I can't believe this is where I ended up."

Hongjoong and Jongho both felt how terribly I did and came to hold me between themselves.

"Sweetheart, it's okay. You'll end up on stage soon; I can feel it," Jongho muttered, kissing my forehead. I smiled somberly and shook my head.

"Maybe it's better for me to stay back stage than be on stage. It'll keep my mental health a little better, right?" I said, looking calmly at Jongho despite the silent tears going down my cheeks.

"Oh, Hwa," Jongho mumbled, laying his head against my shoulder. I sighed and shook my head.

"I'll work my way up. I'll prove I'm good enough to debut, even if it kills me," I said. The seven men surrounding me looked concerned, but knew not to say anything in opposition.

"Just take care of yourself, love." Hongjoong kissed my cheek sweetly, not caring that my tears soaked his lips.

  "I'll try.." I mumbled. At that moment, Hangyul knocked on the open door of Hongjoong's studio.

"Group mate or not, this room will be off limits to you unless I am in here with you. This is my studio." Hongjoong looked up at Hangyul, who held his hands out in mock surrender.

"Then why's Seonghwa in here? He's not a part of Ateez." Hangyul snorts.

"He's our soulmate, remember? And now he's the biggest shareholder in KQ, and on top of both of those, a producer. He's got a lot of say-so in what happens to Ateez and Xikers." Yunho claimed. I smiled softly at my soulmates standing up for me.

Hangyul rolled his eyes and walked out of the studio.

"He's gonna be trouble; I just know it," I said. As I said that, the ceo came back into the studio.

"Since Hangyul is the new member of Ateez, he will have to move into the dorms with you. He's off to pack his stuff as we speak." He nodded then left once more.

Weeks later, Hangyul was doing his best to make sure I liked him. He would help me clean the house, do the dishes, cook dinner, and even wake the other members.

   I thought he had simply just become nice, wanting to make a solid impression on me since I'm an employee of KQ and a shareholder. What I didn't notice was how my soulmates all became more anxious around him.

It was taking Hangyul a while to wake up Jongho, so I walked into my youngest soulmate's room to see what was happening, only to find the newest member holding Jongho by his shirt, a fist held backwards readying himself to hit him.

  "Lee Hangyul, if you hit Jongho I will make absolutely certain you are blacklisted from performing anywhere in South Korea. Do you understand me?" I asked, yanking the man backwards by his collar away from my soulmate.

  "Hwa," Jongho mumbled, lightly placing his hand on my shoulder, his gaze low.

  "Yes, Jjong?" I asked, roughly shoving the bastard away from my soulmate and I. I faced Jongho and reached to gently lift his chin so he would look at me, but he flinched away from my hand.

  "Jongho, go to Hongjoong, okay?" I asked softly, turning back to Hangyul, who had laughed seeing the younger man flinch.

  "I'm not an idol, and I probably never will be because of this decision, but that's fine," I said, pushing up my sleeves, grabbing Hangyul by the collar, and punching him as hard as I could on his nose.

  Hangyul let out a scream and tried to throw a punch back, but I caught his fist and punched him again in his jaw.

  We continued fighting until Mingi and Yunho were picking me up off of Hangyul, who was now laid on the carpet, his face bloody and his nose definitely broken.

  "Seonghwa- stop. We'll be okay. Get off of him!"

   "If he was hurting Jongho, then he must've hurt one of you as well. Who?" I asked, looking at my seven soulmates.

  "All of us," Yeosang softly spoke, being the only one who couldn't lie to me.

  "Bail me out, 'cause I'm heading for jail," I said, turning back towards Hangyul, who flinched and tried to scoot away from me.

  "Oh no, don't you try to run- ack!" I coughed as Hongjoong grabbed me by my collar and tugged me into a hug.

  "Hwa, stop. Please, stop," Hongjoong begged. I could feel the back of my shirt getting wet from his silent tears as he held me close.

  "Get the hell out. If I see you again, you're dead."

  Hangyul nodded, standing up and running out of the dorms.

"What did he do to you?" I asked, turning around in the hug. I gently caressed hongjoong's back, feeling him tense with a soft groan.

  "Too much to talk about," Hongjoong mumbled.

  "I'm sorry I never noticed," I apologized, holding Hongjoong closely. I kissed his forehead sweetly.

"We never told you, Hwa. It was our cross to carry, and we should've just gone to the ceo or the police about it, but we didn't. It's not your fault," San says, coming forward to kiss my cheek.

  "Are you guys going to tell?" I asked. They nodded.

  "If we don't tell first, then Hangyul could get away with this." Yunho shook his head.

  "Alright, let's head out once you're all dressed."