Seonghwa pov:
I just stand staring at the seven younger boys in front of me, not knowing how to start. "Seonghwa Hyung, come sit down." Hongjoong says. My whole body tenses at the formality, I don't move. I then feel someone grab my hand to lead me to the couch. I look up to see Jongho with a soft smile, I instantly feel calmer. Too calm. I shake my head as we sit to firmly keep little space away.
"Hyung, we just want you to know we're not mad or weirded out over everything.." Yunho starts. "We're just worried about you and we want to be able to help you, it's not just your job to look after us. We need to make sure you're okay too.." Jongho finishes, still holding my hand. I look at them all, giving me sad smiles. I don't know what to say too them.
"Umm... I'm okay I promise," I start, whispering slightly, "nothing is wrong, I was just really exhausted from this week and I think I just got a bit overwhelmed. That sleep really helped so I'm all good now." I say lying to their faces. They look at me, I think they know I'm lying but they just look and nod, Jongho even gives my hand a squeeze. However Hongjoong just sits there, he's the only one that decides to say something.
"Seonghwa," he says sternly, "We all want you to be well, but we just know there's something more to this than you just being exhausted," he continues and pushes further. He definitely wants me to tell them, even though he doesn't know what it is. "You have been spacing out and not talking. You even called me joongie and Jongho, jongie! And Yunho even noticed some changes in your tone too!" He raises his voice slightly, getting frustrated.
I can feel the tears start to well in my eyes as Hongjoong talks. Why is he pushing this. "We just want to help you but you're lying to our faces! We're you family, don't you trust us?!" He finally finished, everyone is silent. My cheeks are burning and I'm pretty much crying now, I finally hit my breaking point.
"FOR GOD SAKE. OF COURSE I TRUST YOU. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT AND WHY ARE YOU FUCKING PUSHING THIS? I SAID I'M FINE. AND PLUS IM THE OLDER ONE HERE, YOU DONT NEED TO LOOK AFTER ME" I yell.
The rest of the group just stare at me, not knowing what to say. This is the second time I've yelled at them within a day. I start sobbing and my whole body just shuts down. I feel awful, one for shouting again and two because my head is pounding, I can feel little space taking over more and more as time slowly goes on. I just keep my head down and bring my knees up, not knowing what to do next...
Jongho Pov:
Hwa has just yelled at us for a second time within the past day. I let go of his hand while he yelled, moving over slightly due to the shock. I look around and everyone is sitting, eyes are mixed with shock and concern for our Hyung who I refocus my attention on. My worry immediately outweighs the shock as he is now sobbing, curled up into his knees, not moving.
Everyone is now looking at each other to gauge what we should do next, some of us with glossy eyes from seeing our hyung crying, especially Hongjoong because he pushed him. I decide to take the lead. I move closer to Hwa again, slowly taking his hand in mine to pull him into my lap for a hug again. He leans into my tight grip as he did yesterday like it's a safe space. We all sit in silence for a little, while Hwa calms down to a sniffle and I finally say something.
"Hwa, baby..." I begin softly, the pet name feeling so natural, "It's okay if you don't want to tell us what is wrong, but we really want to be able to help you in any way we can. It doesn't matter if you're the older one, we all look after each other because we're a family." I finish still with him in my grip as I stroke his hair. Everyone is watching closely, nodding in agreement, with Woo and mingi whispering about something. We all sit chatting lightly while we wait for Hwa to say or do something. I keep him in my grip, with him still sniffling...
----------------------------------------------------------
A/n
Seonghwa is getting even more stressed about his secret and Jongho is just being the perfect caregiver without realizing 🥹 also what could woo and mingi be whispering about ?
Sorry for the slower update, the weekend got crazy busy but I wanted to still get this out as quickly as possible!
Also I edited the intro a bit cos I got an idea I wanted to add that would be so cute :)
Remember you are loved and worthy of love<3
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
- Mel -
YOU ARE READING
ᵒᵘʳ ˡⁱᵗᵗˡᵉ ʰʷᵃ | ˢᵉᵒⁿᵍʰʷᵃ ᵃᵘ
Teen Fiction"ᴵᴹ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴼᴸᴰᴱᴿ ᴼᴺᴱ ᴴᴱᴿᴱ, ʸᴼᵁ ᴰᴼᴺ'ᵀ ᴺᴱᴱᴰ ᵀᴼ ᴸᴼᴼᴷ ᴬᶠᵀᴱᴿ ᴹᴱ" ᴵ ʸᵉˡˡ. ᵀʰᵉ ʳᵉˢᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ᵍʳᵒᵘᵖ ʲᵘˢᵗ ˢᵗᵃʳᵉ ᵃᵗ ᵐᵉ, ⁿᵒᵗ ᵏⁿᵒʷⁱⁿᵍ ʷʰᵃᵗ ᵗᵒ ˢᵃʸ. Disclaimer! This is all fiction. It is just inspired by ateez and not a reflection of who they might be in real life...